Pluto is being incredible whiney the last few days. I think he's pissed that Innsmouth keeps hogging the couch. Sometimes I move her ...there I just moved her to the back of the couch and babydog just hopped on. GAH! He has spring fever something terrible. Speaking of Pluto, he just finished his second round of antibiotics and is due for a trip to the vet for another xray. :( I'll get Tim right on that.

I spend the majority of the day working on a project I said to myself that I would do for the past three years. I went through the majority of my digital camera pics, chose the ones I wanted, uploaded them to Kodak and bought them. They are having a sale that is 10 cent 4x6, unlimited quantity until April 3rd. At first I did only half of them because I was getting tired of it, but the shipping and handling was high enough to convince me to finish the bulk of it and most the most of the purchase. So I did. I am now expecting over 600 photos to arrive on my doorstep in the next two weeks. I am not even going to think about what I am going to do with them once they arrive, but I was getting so sick of not having any physical copies of photos, you know where you sit on the couch, or on the bed and just look at them? I was just getting more and more piled up because I didn't want to order any new prints if I still had three years to catch up on. SO. I am mostly caught up - up to November 2006. I am excited to be mostly caught up, but mostly I am proud of myself for finishing a "Big Goal."

I watched The Color of Paradise tonight...and it was so good. The story telling techniques were fantastic, touching, just right, not overboard....

I did think about going over to Laima's for artnight, but I wasn't feeling too hot all day. Next week (if you have it again) I will definitely be there.

Last week or so we ran out of good toliet paper, so the emergency roll of one ply, bark was installed. The next day I went to Target with Hilary and got some more, except neither Tim or I have gotten around to changing the rolls. So we have been using subpar toliet paper now for over a week. Let me tell you, I can't wait for the roll to be done. Yes, I could switch it out now, but that seems like a waste.:P

Our two neighbors -- the hippies and the druggies have vacated their houses. The hippies left to go to Florida and then California in their RV, and the druggie house was abandoned after the elderly uncle passed away -- both houses were fairly trashed. In the last week, though, they are being worked on. The druggie house was completely emptied -- all of the old man's possessions are on the street. I did walk by to see if there was anything I wanted, and surprisingly enough, the answer is no. It was too crappy. Now the hippie house owner is here today complete with a industrial waste bin -- I think they are going to do some major renovations insides. Well, I know they are. She bought the house for the sole purpose of flipping a year and half ago. Good luck with that lady.

The twins across the street are moving. Their house was on the market for only 2 weeks! So, potentially by the end of the year, we could have THREE new neighbors. Man.

I'm kind of at a loss of what I should to do. I mean, I have a care package I need to package up and send to a friend, but I would like to write a letter to go with it. So I guess that is one item to put on the list. ...oh right there, I should make a list, and I have, must, NEED to send out Pluto's dog license renewal as it is already expired and we need to have it done before the end of March before dog enforcement comes to escort Pluto away in shackles. No, I'm kidding. I think the fee just goes up dramatically. That also reminds me to send in state taxes... Man, I guess I do have a pretty good list for today so far. However, none of it seems very fun or interesting.

Last night I took advantage of the nice weather and went on a bike ride along side Tim on his nightly skate. After that, we walked the dog, then went to the library and then grocery shopping. My splurg items were: Stephen Colbert Americon Dream ice cream, salsa con queso (it's too salty though :( and strawberries? Eh, no not really. Maybe the ranch dressing? Eh, that's kind of poor. How about ... the angel food cake? Nah, I gotta make that...well crap. I guess I didn't get much in the way of junk food. Oh wait, I got cinnamon raisin bread! There, I did get three things. Whew.

oh and we bought a Better Homes and Gardens special edition magazine called Beds and Borders - that had 38 flower bed plans that we can pick from and grow. That's PERFECT for us since we are such newbies at this and need ideas and structure. However, I wasn't ready for the sticker shock -- 8 bucks for this magazine. Man, landscaping really doesn't come cheap. Well, it's better than paying a real landscaper to sketch us out a plan (not that we would ever even consider doing it).

The gutter need cleaning. I should go up and do it, but I think that everyone likes for me to have someone else around in case something happens, so I guess I'll have to wait on that.

I do need to take a shower. My hair is so greezy you can fry a potato in it!

It was rumored that he had been smothered, but to everyone's great shock he reemerged today. What? The Romantic. :)

Tim came home bearing flowers! A fresh spring bouquet that includes daisies, a carnation, some little purple flowers, some bigger purple flower and some yellow flowers that kind of look like the larger purple flowers. Man, do I know my flowers or what? But I loves them!

And the reason? No reason. Just flowers for me.

Ahhh..

I woke up this morning and realized it was raining. It was dark, the tree outside our window was drippy, there were no morning bird calls or crazy squirrels running around, it was starting to kind of get light, and my bed and Tim were cozy. This was also before the cats started in, so for a few minutes it was absolutely peaceful.

Tonight I am going to Sear's to pick up my new glasses and contacts. I'm a little anxious about the glasses since it was just me there to pick them out. What if I ended up picking out the worst possible pair ever? Hm. But you know, come to think of it, I am usually the one to pick out my own glasses anyway. In fact, I don't think I have ever had any input. Whereas Tim, well, he has had my input in almost everything that goes on his body. :)

I got the most awesome artwork in the mail yesterday. I cannot wait to put it on the new refridgerator that we are going to get. For the longest time I thought that one of our checks hadn't been cashed and waiting and waiting for the tax return to come. Then the other day I was doing bills (they almost got away from me this month) and I realized that the extra money WAS our tax return! I forgot I signed up for electronic deposit! Doh!

So, I am going to start shopping for a new fridge. Anyone have any recommendations? I've never bought a new fridge, so this is entirely new for me. Our fridge right now is not pretty. Not pretty at all, the bottom sealant has almost come off completely, almost everything inside is broken or cracked...I wonder if they make energy efficient fridges now? Hm. How exciting!

This weekend is the University student group Wunk Sheek Pow-wow. It occured to me the other day, that I have never missed it while I've been in Madison. I am sort of looking forward to going. I asked two folks if they wanted to go...I should follow up on that. I also invited bil Phil and Kandance to go, but who knows if they'll be busy (they always seem to be!).

Last night we watched the 1st half to Farscape the Peacekeeper Wars. I was pissed at how Farscape ended, with Aeryn and John being blown to bits, and kind of held a grudge for a long time. I'm glad to see that the picked up where they left off, but at the same time -- it just isn't as good as it was way back in the beginning. However, I'll watch the second half tonight and determine if it's a better ending than the series finale was. God, I used to love this show. I wanted to marry it.

We talked to the vet and she seemed to think that since Pluto HAD improved with the antibiotics and restricted activity that the chances of it being bone cancer decreased. So right now he is another 10 day round of antibiotics, smaller walks and lots of cuddling, then we will go in for another xray to see if there is any change. Whew...that is good news for now.

Today Tim woke up and realized that we had no breakfast. Then he decided it was a bad day, so we went to McDonald's. I went wearing my jammies, no bra and slippers, bespeckled with unbrushed hair. However since we were in the car the whole time I felt very ... "Hilary." Ha ha. I ordered a sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle but ended up getting a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle...so you see, if anyone was about to have a bad it would be me. Luckily it tasted just fine.

Let's see, today I am going to clean the living room and try to organize the guest room a bit. I scored a new bookshelf with wide shelves this past weekend (the hippy neighbors are moving!) and want to replace the little entertainment center with that. I guess I'll just put the little entertainment center downstairs for the time being. I am feeling that this might be cause for some good music, and quite possibly a shower...though I'm not really feeling the shower vibe right now.

Yesterday I went to Sears and forked over $423 dollars for an exam, a new pair of glasses (first in 7 years), and a year's worth supply of contacts. Thankfully, a years worth of contacts usually lasts me 2 years (at least), and new glasses last for a long, long time...so I just have to think of the long range benefit of paying this much now. You know, think about how much it really costs per month...or something like that. Anyway, so the glasses I got are half wire rimmed and iron grey....I'll take a picture when I get them in 7-10 days. Since I had gotten to the mall an hour early for my appointment, I walked around and helped myself to an Annie's pretzel, a McChicken snacker, and a small orange julius. I had a killer headache and thought that maybe some caffeine would help, but the girl at Starbucks (in Barnes and Nobles) was overworked, and I was running out of time. However that Orange Julius took my head ache away for at least an hour! It's a freaking miracle worker!!!

OH, and my eyes are stable. They have not changed since the last appointment...which now means that my eyes have been the same for ...(hmm ... 9 years!) Wow, is that good news. Nine years...back when I first started wearing glasses through high school they were getting worse every single freaking year. I was afraid and convinced that I would be nigh on blind by the time I reached my 30's. I was just talking with Hilary yesterday about bad eyesight and genetics.

My Mom and Dad had perfect eyesight and didn't need to get glasses until they were in their 30's. I think their parent's had good eyesight too ... so, why did I get such crummy vision? My two older brother's had perfect eyesight (I think they might need or have glasses now that they are in their mid 30's), but me, my younger brother James and Josh ... we all needed glasses from a young age. How does that work?

Well, the laptop keeping prompting me to update the computer which means it has to be restarted. :P I keep clicking 'later' but then it keeps coming up every 10 minutes or so. I should really be doing something "productive" anyway. Though I am treating today like my day off. I am going to pretend that I have the day off from everyday stuff to do whatever I want. You remember those kinds of days of right? They were the best. It's all about a frame of mind.

How should I start the second portion now that the morning has been filled with McDonald's and internet. Perhaps some Native American flute music and incense...ohh that sounds lovely!

I am really bummed about Pluto. I can't even look at him tonight without wanting to cry, so I snuggled on the couch with him and watched The Day After Tomorrow and The Riches while getting my afghan quota in for the day. His limp is still there (better) so...Tim is going to talk to the vet tomorrow to see the next step. It might be to take more antibiotics and then another xray to see if his foot has improved.

Beyond that we start getting into cost, how much does a biopsy cost? How much would it cost to amputate if it is bone cancer? How much pain will he be in? What can we expect to happen?

Sigh. I was prepared to have at least seven years with Pluto, not four. I'll feel better tomorrow. I know. I'll remind myself that the time we have had with him has been great. That he is the best first dog we could have ever asked for and he brought (and is still bringing us) lots of joy. That it might be nothing. That he'll be just fine.

I guess it's made worse when I think of how sad Tim will be if/when something happens to Pluto. I can't stand to see someone I love be hurt. It makes me angry. It makes me want to do something about it. It makes me feel frustrated.

I don't feel very eloquent tonight. I'll just stop now.

For today's "it's a beautiful day" walk, we headed towards the other side of 31 - where Heather and I used to walk. We wanted to see if that Sunprint Cafe was open -- it wasn't and it didn't even have posted hours. So we kept going and followed Acewood all the way over to Cottage Grove road and stopped in Dairy Queen to eat two super, chili dogs. :) The last time I had a chili dog was in Evanston like 5 years ago! Then we walked home and marvelled at how nice it is to have the sun up at quarter to six.

We are gonna have to go out again a bit later to take Pluto on a short walk. He's doing better and there is no visible limp. We THINK this means he might go on more antibiotics....and then get another xray in a few weeks. We aren't sure. Tim is going to call the vet with an update tomorrow.

Other than the Sunday walk, this weekend has been really mellow. I've been working on the afgan, practicing my naps and watching crappy tv movies, while spending some quality time with the husband.

Oh the afgan. so I am not doing granny stitches because this is a specific pattern...it looks more like a houndstooth pattern of white and purple triangles. I wanted a bit of challenge and to learn something different than just more granny stitches. :)

Boy, eating that chili dog sure hasn't given me that much motivation to think of something for dinner. I'm so over cooking right. :P I did clean the bathroom today! It needed it. I also opened the window in there so I could breath in some fresh air while I cleaned it. See, I don't feel bad about opening one little window in the littlest room in the house and not waste energy heating the outside world. So maybe that was my real motivation for cleaning the bathroom. Not because it was dirty but because I wanted fresh air inside the house for a change.

Of course the basement is starting to seep. :( I wish we had a dry basement. I wish we were zillionaires, or even millionaires and could just fix it ... install some tile drains, and then while we are at it, finish the basement. It sure would beat the heck out of mopping it up and starting the dehumidifier every day. Or maybe I wish I was a fearless handy woman that had infinite know how -- coupled with great creative problem solving skills - then I could do it all myself.

I can't believe the say it's going to be 30 again next Friday. I guess. I mean, 30 isn't that bad. I guess I'm just anxious for spring.

Humdee ho. I guess lots of people must be mired in winter blah's because hardly anyone is posting, I don't get no emails, and letters are pratically nonexistent. What's going on? Okay. Maybe that is an exaggeration, maybe I am just really antzy and want to be entertained nonstop. Perhaps it's too many weekends at home. I mean, I know to balance our lives we have to have stretches like this where we don't do anything, and it was nice at first, but I am looking forward to spring and summer where life is just a little more varied.

I have now done five rows on my afgan...this is going to be quite a feat if I finish it before Mother's Day -- when I plan on sending it to my Mom. :) I had no idea they took this long to make. I wish I had more movies or there was better TV on while I was doing it. Or I could sit outside and enjoy the weather.

This weekend we are going to see 300, but other than that nothing else is scheduled.

Next weekend, Christian and Cecci are in town for a bit and we might hook up with them for drinks that night -- but that will be St. Patrick's day so who knows where we will end up that isn't crazy busy. Or maybe he'll be too tired and cancel. You never know.

I wonder if Zoey is still going to visit in April. That would be better than nice.

Pluto is doing better, the antibiotics seem to be helping. We have started to take him on short walks again. He still needs to go back and have his feet xrayed in a few weeks to check on the progress. I hope it's not bone cancer.

My gosh! For the second time today (and third if you count last night), I have been mistaken for a male on the phone! Geez. This used to happen ALL the time, but not so much lately...until now. Two of the three was: Tim?

And the third said "Sir."

I thought deep voices were supposed to be sexy. I guess most people think men are sexy? Wait a second....or that sexy is male? Hm.

In any case, I have gone far too long without getting new contacts (on the last possible pair now) and I think I might want to get new glasses...although I don't know. You gotta figure the cost of the exam, plus contacts, and then glasses? What are we looking at here? Rich? The thing is though I can stretch a 6 mo supply of contacts into two years....so maybe it works out, and the last time I got new glasses was 7 years ago.

The current glasses are scratched to heck, they have been rolled on, the lense has popped out more times that I can count, the nosepads are green and rusted, and they are crooked (from me bending them back after I rolled on them). Anyway, so that appointment is for next Wednesday the 14th at 3:00. I can take the bus after work to East Towne. Woo!

Right now I am working on my first afgan. I wanted a big project so the DH and I went out to Michael's to buy yarn for this project. I also got some cotten yarn to make some nice dishclothes. I have one row done....and I'm only on my second try! It's off white and purple, and it's going to be for my Mom on Mother's day. I think she'll like it. :) If I can get it done by then, maybe this project is too big for that? I've never done an afgan before. I'll take pictures, fear not.

In other news, it's hard to get through my list today. I decided to just do what I wrote this morning and not embellish it. Yes, posting on Wazika is number two on the list, right after go through junk mail and sort bills, but before laundry part 1 (my goal is two loads -- washed, dryed and put away).