So I haven't updated in forever. This is always a source of sadness and sort of a source of shame for me as well.  Writing used to be such a huge part of my life, yet as I got into college and realized I wanted to be a teacher of English (not just a writer/reader), I always thought it would still leave me with enough time to continue with my writing. And sadly, life really hasn't.

Anyone...how to update my current position after more than 2 months away? I guess I'll just say it's going great!

New year's resolutions:
1) Lose some weight
2) Post here more
3) Save some money and start looking into a house
4) Play with my dogs a lot more
5) Keep crafting my teaching skills to get better.

Hope everyone who reads this had a great holiday season and is doing well!

Found this on the internet and it made me smile, as I spend far too much money on my furbabies and I know of a few people that think I am nuts. I love my babies...

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog,"
or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog."

They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the
costs involved for "just a dog."

Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog."

Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog,"
but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog,"
and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me
comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand
phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust,
and pure unbridled joy.

"Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a
better person.

Because of "just a dog", I will rise early, take long walks and look
longingly to the future.

So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of
all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past,
and the pure joy of the moment.

"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away
from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog",
but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being
"just a man or woman."

So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog"
just smile... because they "just don't understand."

Written by an unknown Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

Got too much time on my hands....

Create cool Profile Comments



Love the blingee! Maybe I'll do more for my other animals tomorrow!

So the past couple of days in Vegas it's been about 116 degrees. This tiny baby kitten kept hanging around Mike and I's place, so the other day we decided to take him in and keep him.

I swear I am such a sucker for cute animals...all the sad little ones who want little homes come to me...

Here is a picture of Helmsley (his new name).




This is for sure our last animal..but we are nice and even now. Two dogs and two cats...

Going back home for a few days and won't really have internet access!

See ya'll on Wednesday! :-)

There are no words right now....I might be able to reflect more after the tribute show tonight, but for the time being...I'm just sad..

So as I'm watching RAW tonight, it is announced that the WWE will be coming to Las Vegas. I have a feeling that my life will not be completed unless I get the chance to tell Randy Orton how much he sucks in person...I need to go to this!!!

Tickets go on sale this Saturday, I'm hoping that they are actually affordable and that I can go! :-)

The school year is over and I'm ecstatic...I can't believe I've completed my first year as a teacher. I'm so happy and I feel fairly accomplished. There is about 100 things I might be changing for next year, but I do feel like this year turned out okay for.

Next year, I'll be in my same room, teaching probably the same classes (I'll definitely have 8th grade English again..I just don't know if I'll be doing more Cooperative Consulting or Accelerated classes).

Mike and I are going to go look at new apartment this week. I'm a little tired of the ones we have and I would love to have something a little nicer, with a working pool and appliances that aren't 17 years old.

The in-laws come tomorrow and I go home for a fews days in a few weeks.

And just for fun...new pictures of the babies!!

On an utter wim...I cutted my hair today. I kept talking about how much I'd wanted a bob again after looking at a bunch of pics of Victoria Beckham and then before I knew it, I was in the chair, getting my hair did.

It was well past my shoulders...but behold BadCellPhonePic!



I'm really liking it...it's too damn hot to have super long hair in Vegas and I feel a little more put together and adult with this cut. Plus I was really in a mood for a change.

The official dedication of my school happens this week and I couldn't be more thrilled! I got a new outfit and I think it's going to be fun.

This is Ollie...he was originally named Acorn and Mikey and I picked him up at a shelter over the weekend. He is a 2-3 year old Chihuahua.





Ollie and Rocky are best friends...the cat was sitting a little to the left and everytime I tried to push him into the picture frame so I could take a picture of all three he gave me a "Bitch...you better step off" look...so I just left him alone! :-)

Here is Murphy being awesome though..he thinks he's people...



Tomorrow, since Mike has the day off, we're going to give Ollie his first try at the dog park. We'd been taking Rocky daily since October and he loves it. Chihuahua's are known for being dog aggressive though, so Mike and I figured it'd be better to take Ollie on a day we both could be there in case he needs a time out.

All Ollie wants to do is be held, petted and lick our faces. I can't even picture the idiot that got rid of him. We rescued him from a no-kill shelter, who had rescued him on his last day. They were going to put him to sleep because he was "too scared" and they didn't think he would get adopted. I will never be able to go in another pet store again and watch people buy animals without thinking of my little Ollie.

That brings our grand total up to 2 doggies and 1 kit cat. I fear for the day Mike and I get a house, because if we can get 3 into a fairly nice sized one bedroom....just think how many we could fit in a house!!!

So last night Mike is coming home from work (he took my Jeep because it's been hot here lately and my Jeep has air conditioning, while his car does not)and a guy attempts to make a left that he has no business making due to the fact that he didn't have the right of way. Mike tries to break, but it's too late and we have an accident.

The other guy was clearly at fault thank God, so the officer ticketed him and our insurance won't go up, but I still need to get my Jeep fixed which is not very convenient.

I will never buy another vehicle that is not a Jeep in my life however. This is the second accident it's been in (neither time have I been at fault luckily) and the second time that I've driven my car home and the other person ended up with their car totaled. If Mike would have been in his vehicle it would not have been good, so I'm completely thanking God that he decided to take mine yesterday.

How close we can come to losing people. The other guys car was completely wrecked on the passenger side. If he would have had a passenger it would not have been good for them either.

Have you seen "I Can Has Cheezburger?" yet? You need too! I laughed for hours.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Also, I now have a Vegas cell phone number (and a sweet ass special edition Cherry Blossom Pink Motorazr phone). The old U.P. number will be dead shortly, so if anyone has the old number and wants the new let me know. I'm obviously not going to go posting it on the internet.

Change in the layout...I love this show so much...the only thing that could make it better is if it actually filmed in freaking Vegas..

Then again, if it did that I might start stalking, which wouldn't be good.

In other news I bought two awesome books for my classroom tonight..."100 Words To Make You Sound Smarter" and "The Bad Spellers Dictionary".

Looking forward to using them :-)

My dog apparently has one of the bigger penis' of all the boy dogs in the little dog section of the dog park.

I did not notice this though...but Mike did...

I think it's awesome how obsessed guys are with their dangly bits! :-)

I'm forever shocked by the generosity of kids. Today I went home with more chocolate than I ever expected, all tasty.

Happy Valentine's Day ya'll

I seriously had the parent conference from hell today...however, I'm over it already as it ended really good in the end. Kids should know that if they tell their parents a bunch of crap and then send them after me, I'm going to correct any and all incorrect information that their parents have.

I've made my first real friend out here in Vegas and it's nice. It's another teacher from the school. We have a good time hanging out with each other. I've spent so much time with Mike that I never really realize how much I missed a female friend.

In other news, I'm really, really tired lately. And I need to find a gyno in Vegas...boo!

And my kitty is now fixed, which takes a big load off of my mind.

Mike has this jacket he bought at Wal-mart for like $7.00. It is the cheap rip-off version of the much more expensive Abercrombie ones. It says Boston.

Guy At The Resturant: "Whoa! Nice coat! Are you really from Boston?"
Mike: "Nope! I'm just cheap!" (alright..I suppose it not that funny, but it made me laugh).

Tomorrow Murphy Cat finally gets fixed. It's funny how you schedule things on the calendar and have to keep pushing them back. It will be nice to finally get it done.

On the teaching front the next two weeks are so gravy. State testing starts this week and I have two days of that, then a three day weekend (For MLK day), then Mid-term exams...so while I have a lot of correcting, I don't have a lot of of actually planning/teaching to do.

Tonight we were watching a show called "The Best Brits" where they were counting down the top British actors to enter the U.S. When Orlando Bloom came on my overly intelligent husband said, "Seriously...he's British?"

Me: "The accent didn't clue you in?"

Mike: *shrug*

Belated Christmas wishes to everyone! It was a nice one this year. My mother and Mike's grandma came to Vegas to spend it with us. We got a lot of presents, but the crazy thing about being married is that you don't get individual presents anymore, you get a lot of "couple" presents. We got really fancy sheets, a new mattress pad, a ton of chocolates from a company back in Michigan, we both got some gift cards and some clothes as well. Overall, a very nice Christmas.

Mike and I decided last night since we have two laptops that are cruising towards death that for Christmas we ordered ourselves a new Dell desktop computer. We put it on a credit card, so we can make payments and I did get a nice discount for being a teacher so it all works out well. Now I just have to wait! Mike and I are so excited, but because we decided to build a Dell rather than just buy one of the already made ones, it's estimated ship date is January 8th!

My Christmas break has been really nice. Now I only have four more days of freedom before I'm back into the classroom...boo!

So now I am faced with the idea of two weeks off from teaching, I'm sort of weired out. What the hell am I going to do with my time? I'm planning on sleeping and cleaning and hypothetically getting something done for my classroom. Mike and I finally got all the Christmas presents bought today. I had to lower myself to buying a Celine Dion CD (I know...I know...)because I thought my Aunt would like the Live in Vegas one recorded at her show.

I would like to read a book too...one for fun, but I'm going to end up reading "Watership Down" because I have to teach it next semester.