The look that says, "You disgust me."

At least, that's what I think of when his upper lip gets stuck on his teeth like that. Sometimes it's weird to think of me as a "dog owner." I don't compare myself to the nutters in "Best in Show" by any means, and nor do I talk of my dog like he's my child. I do feel protective of him though, and I do think he has a personality. Here, for instance, he's saying, "Now why aren't you down here playing with me? Pah! Do you honestly think I enjoy mutilating hand-knit wool socks by myself?"

Yes, Graham, yes I do.

It's a bit of a trip to look at pictures of him from the summer and see how much he's grown. Not taller, but more in the girth department. He's not a chunky dog, by any means, but he's a far cry now from the lean puppy who chewed an entire t-bone into submission (and when I say t-bone, I don't mean I gave him a steak--I mean he actually ate a bone) in Chuck and Ginger's backyard this past summer.

Today he's nine months old and looking more like a grown-up. Sometimes I think having a dog isn't worth the effort. But then he does something completely goofy, and it's almost worth it. He's certainly no picnic though.

On an unrelated note, it's a shame I'm spending my last free weekend holed up in my room with a headache and sore shins watching "Doctor Who: Confidential." I take that back. Seeing Ood break-dancing is a joy forever.

Mooses! Meeses! I want my moose to lay golden eggs for Easter!

Time for more updates! We've had a bit of snow on the mountains--none on the ground yet, but it's forecast that we may be getting some on Friday. I'm excited, but I was goofy and left my snow boots in Texas. Anyway, here's a picture of Pioneer Peak from our backyard covered in snow.


Aaaand here are some flowers on the back deck. Larkspur, to be exact. I love these.

Also, I finally finished my sampler about a week ago. Since then, I've started on one of the same pattern but different colors for my mom. I really enjoy needlework, and have been ever since I picked it up January of this year. I'm also getting better, which is exciting, and as if this project weren't ambitious enough, I'm already thinking about designing my own stuff and creating away.


Aside from my crafting endeavors, I've recently been promoted at work. The store opens next week, and I've been there for a little over a month. Yesterday I was offered a supervisor position in the Jewelry department (I was in photo) after having interviewed for it last Wednesday. There's a lot for me to learn in a very short time, but the fact that I got promoted so quickly and they had me training cashiers for over a week after just barely going through the training myself makes it pretty clear that they're confident in my abilities.

I don't, however, think the photo supervisor is too happy. At first I thought it was just because he was losing me, but now I think it's a little bit of resentment as well. I now have the same position he does (different dept), and he's more than twice my age. I won't let his attitude toward me affect my work though, and I'm determined to set an example and remain above petty jealousies.

As if I don't have enough to do, I'm auditioning for "The Spitfire Grill" next Saturday. I figure, sure, I'll be busy if I get a part, but now's the time to do it, since I'm only taking one class. I more than likely won't have an opportunity to act next semester.

Anyway! I'm going to bum around in my bed, cross-stitch, and watch "Iron Man." Oooohhh what an exciting life I lead!

***OH! I almost forgot! I saw three moose just outside our front yard a few nights ago. One of the calves tried to go for our maple tree, but luckily Jim got some chicken wire around it, so the young moose fledgling's efforts were foiled! I have a video, but I sound like an idiot, so I'd rather not make that available to anyone and everyone. If, however, you'd like to see it, feel free to email me, and I'll send it to you. :]

Moses supposes his toeses are roses

I'm up to a lot and not much at the same time. I got hired only having been up here for two days at a brand new target opening about 15 miles from my parents' house. Not horribly exciting, but it is the first of two Targets to open up here in Alaska, so I suppose it's pretty epic for some.

Oh, my, goodness--you would not believe all the work that goes into a new store. Shelves, pegs, a bizillion price tags... I'm feeling quite buff after two weeks of manual labor. However, I think I've made a bit of a name for myself among my supervisors, and I'm always volunteering for extra shifts and to cross-train (my assigned area once the store opens is in the photo lab). I've had several of them ask me if I am a "Team Leader" (not the highest, but still a bit of a supervisor). When I tell them I'm not, they say, "Oh, you should be!" I checked into it, and unfortunately there are none of those positions left, but they know I want it now, and I'm just going to cross-train as much as possible so I know the store like the back of my hand. I'm told it's only a short matter of time before I move up. Oh yeah.

In other news, I'm taking one class. Not my choice. Right now though, money's kind of tight, and it's all we could afford. Next semester I'll be able to take a few more (12 hours? crossing fingers...), but for now I'm enjoying my studio weaving class. :-D

In my free time, I'm still working on my Hungarian sampler I started at the end of July. I'm on section 5 of 7. Check it out:

Tom Baker's Dozen

I know the picture quality isn't great (picture of a picture with my non-zooming cell phone camera), but the resemblance between my grandpa in the late 70s and the 4th Doctor is quite striking.

I was excited.

Another exciting thing my friend Ken informed me of is that I actually saw David Tennant in "Comedy of Errors" and "The Rivals" onstage in London in 2001. His sister is working on procuring a picture of my 15 year-old self mock-licking his face on a poster. Didn't even realize it! What a trip!

Pho and Babies

We grabbed some pho with Chuck, Ginger, Liz, and Ruby before heading
to see "The Dark Knight" at the Movie Tavern.

Hurray for babies, noodle soup, and Christian Bale.

Stressed

Yesterday morning was rough. I woke to the acrid smell of poo and ammonia. Graham had had an accident in his crate (his first). I know he was sick--he wouldn't have done that otherwise. He also must have been up most of the night in bowel-agony, because it was obvious he was tired.

As I was cleaning him off at 6:30 in the morning in the tub, I noticed his left eye was squinted shut and he had green goo coming out of it. I automatically thought poo = conjunctivits. So after calling up work and letting them know I'd be late, I stayed with Graham until I could call the vet at 9 am. In the meantime, I was looking up home-treatments for canine pink-eye with Graham sitting at my feet. Poor little thing--he already had one eye shut, and as he was sitting, his other eye would flutter closed, and his little body would leeeeean to the left. Then he'd jerk up, and a few seconds later start to nod off again. So while we waited till 9, Graham and I took a nap.

When I got up, Banfield didn't have any appointments until 3. I was only scheduled till 5 that day, and they had a 5 too, so I took that one, planning to leave work about an hour early. I was getting ready to head to work, and noticed little spots of smelly-brown-ness on the carpet and started cleaning it up. I thought I was all done until I headed to the door, and there was a nice big pile of mess there. Poor guy must have run to the door as soon as he got out of the tub and just couldn't hold it in anymore. I couldn't even be mad at him--it wasn't his fault.

Anyway, later at the vet, they discovered it was a corneal abrasion (put some orange goo on his eye and showed me under the blacklight). I got some ointment to keep his eye dialated, as well as some antibiotic drops. That visit cost me $87. Fun stuff. I'm glad it wasn't anything horribly serious though.

On the bright side, Jon surprised me with Death Cab for Cutie tickets for tonight, so I'm looking forward to that. :]

*Attention Knitters Who Love Me:

This lady is awesome, and this sweater is even more so. I love the green she uses as well.



I am, alas, a horrible knitter. I'm sure I could probably get better, but I have about a million projects going on and I am better at crocheting, so knitting needles just feel foreign in my paws.



I propose that if you are a good knitter (*ahem* mom *ahem* grandma), you should feel free to whip up this sweater for me, and I will cherish it always. In green. Oh, and a medium.

Here's the pdf download: http://www.flintknits.com/patterns/ladysweater.pdf

The Great White North

Some of you may know that I'm heading up to Alaska this month on the 26th. As of tomorrow, that's only two weeks away! I am so terribly excited; I haven't been up there in five years. My mom moved up in August of last year and moved into her newly-built house on Lazy Mountain this spring.

I was thinking about my trip up today--looking around my bedroom at the mass of clean clothes piled up on the "hobo" chair, and then panning over to my medium-sized rolling bright purple suitcase. Should I start setting things aside to pack? Do I need a heavy coat? Boots? What if we go to a glacier? It's going to be cold, and my thin Texan blood won't be able to handle it. What about my crafts? Will I have room to take some stuff to work on? I feel so neurotic. I know I'm going to have to bring an extra, empty suitcase--not only to take a few things up for my mom, but to bring a few things down as well...

Uhhhhh spasmodic.

At the same time, I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately, what with the wedding a few weekends ago, seeing several movies with weddings, and then Chuck and Ginger having their baby. It's really hard sometimes to see my peers experiencing all the things I want but am apparently not allowed to have (at least not right now). I go back and forth between jealousy, frustration with myself, and frustration with Jon. I know he was a lot younger at the time, but it's especially hard knowing that he was nearly ready to propose to his ex-girlfriend who cheated on him multiple times while he was in Iraq. He's tried to make me feel better by saying, "In Minnesota, she was as good as it got--I didn't know there was anything better." I know he means to say that he's found something better, but of course I read into the negative side of the statement and see it as him just testing the waters with me since he knows there will always be something better out there. Sometimes I can make myself feel better, and sometimes I can't.

Right now it's pretty tough going. I'm trying to hang in there, but it's hard not knowing what, exactly, I'm hanging in there for.

Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby!!!

Chuck and Ginger had their baby Monday night! She's a girl (they were waiting to see), and they named her Ruby Nora Lynne, and she's pretty much perfect. :]

Crocheting things feeds the soul.

I stumbled across this video tutorial of how to make a crocheted neckline on a shirt. It looks really cool, and I already know how to crochet, so I think this is how I'll be spending part of my Monday.

Strawberry Cream Cake

This recipe is awesome, and sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. It is, however, pretty time-consuming.

If using a cake pan, you will need one with straight sides that are at least 2 inches high; otherwise, use a springform pan.

Serves 8 to 10.

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour (5 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup sugar (7 ounces)

5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Strawberry Filling

2 pounds fresh strawberries (medium or large, about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and

stemmed

4 - 6 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons Kirsch (I use "Pom" pomegranate--about the same consistency/flavor)

Pinch table salt

Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I don't ever measure the vanilla...)

1/8 teaspoon table salt

2 cups heavy cream

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour round 9 by 2-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper (I've found the best way to do this is just to trace the bottom of the pan on the paper and cut it out. The sides of the pan don't need to be lined). Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and al but 3 tablespoons sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in two whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.

2. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.

3. FOR THE STRAWBERRY FILLING: Halve 24 of the best-looking berries and reserve. Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit one hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup). In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.

4. FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixtre holds stuff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).

5. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2 inch borderfrom edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries. Serve, or chill for up to 4 hours.

Shotgun weddings are depressing

Jon and I drove down to San Antonio last weekend to go to an old classmate of mine's wedding (Jon didn't go to the wedding itself). I've known this guy for nearly nine years (since Germany), and I've always known he was the type of person who couldn't stand to be alone, even if that meant lowering his expectations.



Well, he got the bride knocked up, before he even intended for her to be his bride. I'm not so old-fashioned that I frown on pre-marital sex or even pre-marital pregnancy, but I don't think that should be the reason why two people get married, especially if it's obvious that the bride-to-be causes some thick tension with the groom's family. So much so, that during the married couple's first dance, the groom's mom got up and left for the girls' room, conveniently arriving back just as the song was ending.



I love the groom's parents. Love them. Always have--they're great people. It upsets me that after they left, the bride stormed outside behind the church (funny they got married in a church--they're Wiccan) and started yelling and venting all of her frustrations about the groom's mother to a few bridesmaids (using more than a few choice words).

It was pretty depressing. I'm sure the fact that it was a dry reception didn't help matters any. Ken (another friend from school) and I made the best of our soberness, and at one point I had to stop myself from yelling, "Jesus!" in alarm when a wall-hung candle holder fell off the wall (I remembered I was in a church just in the nick of time).

I hope things turn out well for them. The bride seemed nice enough...at least to the groom. Maybe it's just hormones?

The rest of the trip was fun though. Ken got a bottle of Patron for being a groomsman, so the first night, he, Jon and I drank a little bit and played some cards. I zonked out after my first drink. The next night after the wedding, we met the groom's family at Piedras Negras del Noche for some dinner, then went to the Riverwalk. It was nice to get away...even though there were little curlies on the floor of the hotel bathroom when we checked in.

I <3 Ikea (not to be confused with Huckabees)

I hopped in my trusty Kia today (or "trustier" these days, since Jon and Chuck fixed it up and I don't feel like it's going to explode) and drove to Denton for the second time this week to see Jon's sister, Ginger.* We were on a mission...to go to Ikea. This was my second time in the past week. So much Ikea. Almost too much to handle. Almost.

I was going specifically to get shelves to put above our two windows in the living room. I know it sounds weird--Jon thought so too--but I have full faith that it'll be awesome. Our books are overflowing, and all this potential space will keep my from feeling guilty about buying a boatload of books from the bargain table every time I got to Barnes and Noble (hardcover books for $6! A-mazing!).

$120 and a plate of Swedish meatballs later, I not only got two 70" shelves with "invisible" mounting brackets that slide inside the shelf, but also a hat rack/coat hangar that mounts on the wall, a few teal placemats, curtains, and a curtain rod, and I was set. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I feel good about the stuff I got. It'll make our place seem more homey, which is important to me, knowing that we're going to be here for another 14 months. I also got Ginger some cute finger puppets that she was hesitant to buy because she wasn't sure at what age they'd be appropriate for her baby. I decided that they were something she should have regardless, because they're just so dang cute.

Anyway, it's getting late. I will get some pictures up of the shelves and whatnot when we get them up. I also have a video of the dog that is pretty funny...may get that up soon too.

Later.





*When I was typing this, I accidentally typed "Gonger," which made me lawl.

"My favorite color...is light tan. My favorite animal...is poopies."

Dog updates: I've had Graham now for about 2 months. He's doing fairly well, but he's kind of a butt. We rarely have problems with potty stuff anymore. The last time he peed out of sheer exhaustion/excitement was about three weeks ago.
He does, however, have an issue with authority. He listens to me when we're alone, but not if Jon's there. And he listens to Jon if they're alone, but not if I'm around. He's totally playing us. Yesterday I caught him dragging his blanket from his crate all over the apartment. He looked guilty when I whipped out my camera, but not guilty enough to stop.


When we got him he was about 8 lbs, and now he's around 15. I'm hoping he won't get too much bigger, but he could hit as high as 25 lbs, though his body is built a bit more like a pug, which tends to be smaller than a beagle's (for those of you who don't know, he's a "puggle"--a beagle-pug mix). Both breeds tend to be overeaters though, so we're regulating his food intake so he doesn't become a wheezy fatty.

I guess I'm going to have to whip out those puppy training books I got months and months ago.

Liotta.

I think everything that has happened that has been blog-worthy has happened in the last several days, before I even started this thing.

Several weeks ago, Jon and I went with his sister, Lizzy, to Six Flags Over Texas as part of a work picnic-thingy for where Jon works. Our tickets were only five bucks, which is awesome, because I think they're normally around 45. At any rate, when we went to go eat at the picnic (some barely passable brisket and potato salad that had horseradish in it, which I hate--but that's beside the point), we sat down with a guy named Will who Jon knows from work. Will was there with his wife, and they were both pretty friendly and chatty. Conversation eventually led to Will mentioning he had a band, and then that he did all the instruments. I said, "Oh, so it's a one-man-band?" He said it was, and the only thing he was missing was a singer. Jon mentioned that I sang while I nodded with my mouth full. I swallowed and told Will I could do anything from Amy Lee to Gwen Stefani. He said, "I'm actually looking for a cross between those two."

Will said he'd keep in touch and let me know when a good time was to come over and listen to his music. We finally got to do that this past Friday (Jon was invited too). Will had me listen to the music (quite Evanescence-ey), and then he sang (and apologized for singing) while I followed along with the lyrics. Then we sang together, and then I did it by myself. As I got more confident with the song, I sounded better, and it's looking like I'll be singing and recording in a full-blown studio at least two of his songs.

Did I mention he's trying to get them into a few independent movies?

He said, "But don't get too excited--they has pretty low budgets. One's at 250,000, and the other's at a million. They thought they'd be getting 3 million, but it didn't work out."

Okay, I know that's not a lot of money by Hollywood standards, but I know of quite a few awesome, low-budget films (Napolean Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine).

Who knows?

Buffalo stew and spider bites.

Yesterday I got off work at two, talked to the leasing office with Jon about re-signing a 14-month lease at our apartment (they'll give us June and July rent-free), and then went home to clean up/organize a bit.

It was kind of a heated subject a few days ago when we were talking about possibly moving. I've been looking at new apartments on my days off for several weeks now, and it's been fairly stressful, because I haven't found anything decent and in our price range. It's either decent and too expensive, or nasty and cheap--neither of which I'm aiming for. Plus our current complex supplies our washer and dryer, which is wonderful.

After my fruitless searching, I came to the conclusion that it'd be in our best interests to stay at our complex, but I wanted to move into a different unit. It'd be the same layout, but instead of having a patio, we'd have a sunroom. This would be ideal, because then I'd have a workspace for my crafts that wasn't on the round and slick dining room table. If you've even sewn long seams on big pieces of fabrics, you'll know that if there's a round edge, your seam is not going to be straight.

Jon was not too keen on moving. He said that if we were going to move, it'd only be worth it if it were a different complex. Yeah, okay, I get that, but I need my space, damnit. He's got all his computer crap in our office, and there's hardly room to breath in there, let alone sew. Anyway...I think he didn't realize how important it was to me. So he figured that if we moved our bed that I could fit a large craft desk in our bedroom and have all my sewing stuff in there. No more clutter in the dining room! I'm okay with that compromise. I wasn't too excited about moving, myself.

Last night, Chuck and Ginger came over and I made Buffalo Stew from a recipe I got at Market Street. You'll be glad to know that no buffalos where harmed in the making of this stew--I used cow instead. It was pretty dang awesome, if I do say so myself.

In other news... My knee randomly started itching and burning today. I lifted up my pant-leg and my knee, and then half-way down my leg were flaming red and swollen. I'm pretty sure it's a spider bite. Awesome.

Time Lord Technology ("It's bigger on the inside!")

I've had a long past few days. Or rather, each day has been long, and they've been in succession?

Thursday I got off work at four, and Christina came and picked me up so we could drive to Frisco and go to Ikea together (that's about a 40 minute drive from Colleyville). She moved into her new apartment all by her lonesome several weeks ago, and she was in dire need of a fancy Swedish desk. I, of course, rarely pass up an opportuinty to go to Ikea, even if I don't need anything. We needed a cheap, industrial-type bookshelf at work anyway, and I offered to pick one up.

So we're at Ikea, and Christina's going nuts over all the cool crap, and after about half an hour has filled up her Ikea-supplied "want" list and asks to commandeer mine. She ended up deciding she would definitely be getting a desk with sawhorse-type legs (I'm jealous--it's awesome). So after a few hours in the showroom, and about twenty of me rolling around in the warehouse on the flatbed with splendidly smooth rollerblade-type wheels, we get my bookcase loaded and are attempting to load the glass desk-top. I pulled my back. Stupid sciatica. It wasn't really bad, but it was bad enough to make me do my stretches and want to avoid lifting the desk-top again.

Hokay! We got some guys to help us load the desk top, they made fun of me, whatever. Then we went to the little cafe, got us some 50 cent hotdogs, and kept an eye on our cart. We started discussing the logistics of getting the desk into Christina's Kia Sprectra (we opted for her car, since it's slightly bigger on the inside than my Rio).

Me: "Now, Christina, you're sure your back seats fold down, right?"

Christina: "Uh huh!"

Me: "Are you positive?"

Christina: "Well, yeah. Doesn't it come standard these days?"

Me: "No..oo... I have a Kia, and mine don't fold down."

Crap.

Yeah... We were going to make it fit. We folded down the front passenger seat. Didn't quite make it. Then we scooted the driver seat as far up as it would go. At one point I was in the backseat wedged underneath the desk-top using my head as a lever and using my foot to help lift at Christina's end. After a bit of grunting and lots of laughing, we finally got it in. We were so proud of ourselves. It was one of those times where it was totally natural and in sync to do a double high-five.

Unfortunately, the driver seat wouldn't go back very far, and Christina's pretty tall. We decided it'd be best for me to drive, and I did--sandwiched between the seat and the steering wheel with about 6 inches of space and my knees up. Oh yeah. I felt like I was in a ginormous go-cart.

When we got back to Christina's apartment, it was the same struggle, but in reverse, to get the desk-top out. And then up the stairs. Fun night.

Needless to say, I felt like I deserved a massage the next day. We'll thank the government for allowing me to afford that. Thank you, G Dubya.