Pioneer Woman cookbook giveaway.

@HeatherLC02 is giving away a copy of The Pioneer Woman’s new cookbook. Check it out! http://browneyedbell.blogspot.com/2012/03/pioneer-woman-cookbook-giveaway.html

How not to fall on your bum

Hey Sean,

I miss you and my tribe very much.  The local grocer just got in some hummus and the brand was Tribe–it made me think of you all.

Not much has been going on really.  I keep procrastinating polishing up the resume draft and even starting a cover letter.  There are a couple of jobs postings that I’ve seen in town, but obviously nothing like working at a concert venue like I used to do.  Plus there’s the whole thing about it being snowy and/or super cold, so I don’t really want to be walking to work.  Also, sharing Kyle’s car might be difficult.  I’ll try to get my own vehicle around summertime so I can go to school if need be.  It was so nice being able to walk to the grocery store this summer.  I miss being able to go out the door without having to layer up and strap on boots.

I still walk at least twice a day because Richard (the dog, see previous posts) demands it with his whining despite snow, sleet, or negative Fahrenheit temperatures.  Today I finally fell on my ass in the snow.  It had been pretty precarious for about a week, so I should have seen it coming.  It’s been icy near the garage where I walk and today we had a fresh 3-4 inches of snow.  So I thought the icy patch that I had kept balancing on, but not slipping on, would be covered with powdery snow protection.  This is not true.  Apparently my boot went down through the powdery part and hit the icy part with sliding ridiculousness.  Well, to be really honest it was actually my hip and hand, but it’s still the kind of thing that makes you say, “Fucking snow!”

Other than that the trees look beautiful today because they have a beautiful white layer on them for a frosted effect.  When I first got here I thought I had truly moved to the frozen tundra.  The temperatures were in the negatives and you could see the wind swirl along the ground with motes of snow like how sand swirls in a windy desert.  For now temperatures have been fluctuating to snow thawing temperatures, so you get a variety of cold states.  Apparently it’s a myth that the Eskimos have tons of words for snow.  They just have modifiers like in German that make words longer:  dascrunchysnowyo!  So, powdery or crunch snow, even though it can pile up and look menacing, is actually the easiest kind for walking despite sinking your boot into white and coming up with wet pant hems.  The ice patches and clear sleet are the worst because they make it more dangerous to walk on than a banana peel in a comedy movie.

So, basically during the day I try to keep the dog occupied, clean, look up recipes, stalk the tribe through the internet, just whatever.  When Kyle gets home we hang out, make dinner, and watch Netflix.  Tis a simple, comforting life.  This week Kyle and I have been painting the room upstairs, so that can be our room instead of the one downstairs.  The walls, closet, door, trim, and molding are painted except a few parts that need a second coat or touch-up.  It was fun to just kind of zone out and listen to music while painting.  Spotify is pretty neat, hmm?  I have yet to bust out all the music I saved on my external hard drive and sent up here  because I don’t have my laptop. Also, I think I lost my ipod.  Sadness.  That had a lot of pictures on in including the one of you guys looking kinda bummed at the airport.  That just means I’ll have to take more pictures when I get back!  Especially since I just got this crazy camera with a zoom lens on it.  I can make everyone look like a model!

I miss Houston a lot.  I hope to get back sometime in May or at least sometime in the summer.  Hopefully it won’t be too freaking hot.  I imagine last summer was brutal.  I can’t wait to see what’s going on with Adamantium!

Platonic Love!

The danger with dogs

Richard has not been seen for about 2 hours.  Kyle, our roommate and I have all tried calling him.  He usually runs home and beats any of our cars home at lunch time.  The few people that are around their homes at this time haven’t seen him, except for one guy that saw him around the same time that I saw him.

I had a bad feeling when I called him twice and I didn’t hear the familiar jingle of his collar tags in response.  He usually comes quickly when I call him and rarely have to call twice.

I told Kyle as much when he came home at lunch (toting the dog treats that just arrived in the mail).  So he drove around looking for him while I stayed home in case he came back.  This is a small town, so it doesn’t take that long to make a roundtrip drive.

After I dropped Kyle off at work I even drove around to his favorite running spot at the dam, around the neighborhood, and questioned kids at the park across the street from the house.

Obviously I’m very worried about him because I haven’t heard his tags jingle, his running, or anything.  I haven’t seen his jacket or collar anywhere either.

I just hope he gets home safely.  He’s run off on Kyle before and came back, so hopefully he’ll come right back.

 

UPDATTE:  The kids at the park had cellphones and called Kyle to pick him up like I asked!  Yay!  I was so worried.  Damn dog.

The double life of a dog

I walked Richard to the grocer’s yesterday and when I came back out to untie him from the post, a seventeen year old was staring at Richard.  Apparently the teen “recognized” a pale spot on Richard and thought he was his friend’s dog Sam who they lost in November.  I said he wasn’t trained and the guy replied that training him was next on his list and that he was a “kennel dog” with papers.  He also said he wasn’t sure if his friend even still wanted the dog.

Richard can be a pain sometimes because he’s not fully trained, but for the first time I really felt defensive of him.  I basically didn’t promise the guy anything and said he could contact Kyle if he wanted.  I think Richard has a good life here and with us.  Plus, he was found in December and flyers were posted around town.  So, not only did this “friend” lose his dog in bitter winter, he didn’t post flyers to find him, didn’t respond to the flyers that were posted , he also kept this hunting athlete of a dog in a kennel.  This is not a little toy dog that you just keep around the house for warmth, he needs to run at least if not be trained to do awesome skills.  Why have a dog if you’re just going to cage it up anyway?

Richard had frost bite on his poor ear tips and had a collar with “Scooby-Doo” on it.    He didn’t respond when I tried to call him “Sam” because his name is Richard!

Don’t ever let a 3 year old pick the room colors.

Dear Josh,

This is the crazy color scheme I told you about.  It’s a circus with black ceiling, trim, and doors.  Craziness.  Apparently the little one wanted the entire room black, but the parents thought that would be too extreme, so they came up with this lovely rainbow scheme.

The only problem is that this is quite possibly the hardest color arrangement to cover.  Black and red are supposedly the hardest.  So Kyle and I have bought the paint and supplies.  It’s slow going–so far we’ve only sanded down the walls.  We decided we both liked the color blue, so we went with a softer one and picked a dark maroon for ceiling and accents since that’s the color of our sheets.  I hope that color combination turns out well.  I thought some sort of teal and brown might be nice, but blue is relaxing.

I don’t know anything about painting, but I’ll assist with whatever.  I’ve already made Kyle get face masks after I saw crazy green color on a facial tissue from inhaling paint that we were sanding off.  We’re also going to rip up the carpet and shine up the wood underneath.  I just think carpet gets messy (having 4 cats and a dog in the house doesn’t help).  At least we don’t need to buy drop cloths to cover the floor since we’ll be re-doing it anyway.

It’ll be interesting to see what the final product looks like with all the books and furniture arranged.  Thanks again for helping me pack those books–it was like a second Christmas when I got them in the mail.

Peace and love, Brother.

You got a face with a view

Dear Tribe,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTPqPZzH-LA

This would definitely make a great wedding song, but I can’t help thinking of you all when I listen to it.  I miss you all.  A lot.

Love you.

Losing weight

Dear KK,

This is Richard Padovan (last name might change soon).  Padovan comes from the Padovan sequence and Richard because that’s what the guys at the shop named.  Kyle felt he had to stick with that name for political reasons.  When we bring the dog to the shop, they definitely call him Richard and remember him.

He would whine at hotel doors and at the doors at home.  I even caught him whining at the closet door near the front door.  Richard must not like closed doors.  The fool wants to be outside all the time.  On the first day back to Tapioca (current town) during a bought of me wondering why in the world I left everything I know and love 1.000+ miles away, Kyle tried to console me by saying, “You have me…and Richard.”  The Richard part made me want to cry harder because I really disliked that dog in the beginning.  He’s a hunting dog.  I’m not a hunter.  He’s definitely not trained, except for being house broken.  Richard is not a custom car that was designed for fit, form, and functionality.  He’s a rescue dog and you take what you get, I suppose.

There’s also this runaway rebel streak in him that makes him want to go 25 mph for a good while.  I know this because Kyle will “run” him with the car!  The trick is to not run him over and for him not to run off into the tall grass.  Now that I’ve seen him run like a crazy cheetah/antelope near the dam in town it gives me a greater appreciation of his power.  He’s an athlete.  Sixty pounds (minus some manly parts that he had removed recently) of running power.  There’s something to be said for dogs.  He has that comforting dog smell and sincere golden-eyed puppy stare.  His face is very sincere and sometimes a bit British.  Now that he’s fixed he whines much less and he hardly ever barks.  He has the potential to be a really good dog.

Sometimes I wish he was a cat.  I could pet him in the warmness of the house without going for a walk in -12 degree weather.  He could even be a cat who doesn’t use a litter box, and goes outside instead.  You are very lucky to be a cat lady.  Although you’ve had your own bouts with the feline companions to be sure.  There are 4 cats here to help with separation anxiety, but they belong to the roommates.

I should probably go for a 15 minute training session with Richard now.  We’re still working on “sit” and “stay.”

Give the felines a hug for me, would you?

Love you.