I went to the batting cages last night and my back is killing me today. It's pretty sad when you do minimal activity and it makes you sore! Wow, I must be in pretty good shape. My softball team made the playoff's, which is completely comical to me because, well, we suck. But we decided it might be a good idea to do a little practicing. It's always funny when we end up in the playoff's seeing as our main objective is getting together, eating pizza and wings and drinking beer. Oh well, I guess this is just a bonus.

So, there seems to be a problem with my neighborhood being targeted by door-to-door solicitors in the summer time. It is seriously out of control. In the last two weeks there have been at least 6 people that have come to our door and who knows how many come by during the day when we're not home. Isn't door to door anything kind of odd in this day and age? I mean, seriously, it's not only dangerous for the home owner but also the solicitor. And it's so fucking annoying. The Hubby is so funny, he literally looks at them out the window and doesn't get up to open the door. My dumb ass tends to always leave the screen door open but locked so the pooch can look out so they use that as an invitation to come up to the door. My tactic is to have the dog next to me barking her face off to perhaps scare them, deter them, make them leave. Oddly, NO ONE GETS THE HINT! One woman yesterday, who by the way had multiple missing teeth, told me, "oh, I'm used to talking over dogs and kids". I was like, well, I'm not and I need to take this dog out before she pees on the floor or attacks you...She kind of got the hint then. Apparently someone called the cops on the people yesterday. I saw a police car go down our street but then when I was leaving the neighborhood I saw the crazy bitches as someone else's door so it doesn't look like that even does any good. A few days ago when I "worked from home" I saw a guy walking back and forth in front of my house contemplating coming up to the door of a house with a large, barking dog. He chose correctly but that's just plain scary to me. Get away from my house and my neighborhood you creep. The one's that kill me are the one's that get aggressive or pissed when you tell them that you won't be giving them any money. It's really kind of frightening. Is there anything you can do about this kind of problem? Every time summer comes around it's like they swarm!

Anyway, things are blah. Who fucking cares. I may skip out on Thursday and make it a pool day since I seem to have no boss right now nor does anyone seem to care what I do, where I am, if I'm coming or going...la la la! I guess I should enjoy it huh?

It's a beautiful, Sunny, Summer day out! HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE!

BLAH...

I still have no idea what's going on with me.

My boss wants to take me with him and it's pretty much a done deal BUT now we have to talk to HR, get the job posted then get me to apply officially, etc, etc.

I STILL have had no communication with the new bitch or HR, surprise, surprise. So I know nothing about this gig and me and where I fit in.

I am completely conflicted as to whether I would prefer to be layed off with a severance package or if I want to actually have a JOB. There are so many pro's and con's for both situations. I mean, you can't really go wrong having a job with you know, BENEFITS. Not working for 6 months and being paid don't sound too shabby either BUT then I don't know if I have insurance and hey, I'm not working for 6 months and I don't know how that looks to a new employer that's looking to hire you...Who the fuck knows. I'm still in limbo.

One thing I do know is that I'm not sure if I can handle working for these new bitches. I don't even know if I can fake it. So if and when these stupid whores decide to communicate with me and let me know what's going on it will be a much better day/week...

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I have to admit mine was pretty good because I REALLY needed it.

God I need your virtual hugs today!

Anger has changed over to sadness and I can't help crying today. A male co-worker that has been here almost as long as me came by to ask how I was doing and I lost it and I think I freaked him out, ha ha, I felt so bad! I feel like a fool but it's just getting to be too much to handle. I literally feel like I'm going crazy.

My boss was let go. He wants to take me with him if he can but I am not putting all my eggs in that basket first because he needs to worry about himself right now and second it might not even be an option where he's going. I won't go into any more details but it just sucks.

I am hoping and praying to get layed off but who knows. Watch me be the last man standing. Fuck, if they get rid of everyone but me I'll die. I'm contemplating asking HR if the layoff/severance situation is an option for me and if so when can we get this ball rolling. I don't know if I can spend this whole weekend thinking about this.

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

It's 2:50pm and I feel like it's 2am. I am so exhausted. Mentally and physically drained. I don't know if I'm coming or going and I never thought this situation was going to effect me like this.

So, like every other Harry Potter geek on the planet I got my book delivered on Saturday. BUT, unlike every other HP geek I haven't started reading mine yet! Can you believe it? I'm almost scared to start because I know I won't be able to stop and and I just don't want it to be over with yet. I want to savor it and take my time but at the same time am afraid of all the spoilers on tv, the internet, blogs, etc. Oh well...

Another thing is that I may have a lot of free time coming up where I'll really be able to take my time and enjoy the book the way it's supposed to be enjoyed. We'll see soon.

I literally am beside myself. I don't know how to mask it. Work is absolutely miserable. Beyond what I thought it could be. I am just in a constant state of disgust. I have felt like I'm going to throw up since Monday morning and it gets worse every day. It is taking every fiber of my being to not expose the shit that's going on in my company but I know that won't solve anything. As a matter of fact it will probably only get me fired with no severance and that's unnacceptable right now.

The injustice is so disheartening. I want to scream and cry and punch someone. I want to laugh and just say FUCK IT! I want to go home and just hide under the covers with my dog. I want to go clean my house like a mad woman then mess it all up again. I literally feel like I'm going nuts. I can't believe I'm letting this place do this to me.

I was up until 2am copying all of my personal files over to my home computer from the last 8+ years I've been here and then back up again this morning getting all of the last bits. I don't even know how to feel right now. I know everything is going to work out for the best. I am a firm believer in that. And I would never put the importance of a job in the realm of health, family, love, LIFE. I don't even care about this damn job. It's more...I guess I am just mourning what's become of what used to be such a lovely place to work and be a "family". I'm mourning the loss of an era, good people, dedicated employees, the most talented, hard working individuals that have sunk their hearts and souls into a company and industry that has changed to a corporate hole where people are cold, cut throat ass holes who don't care anything about the people who started this thing, kept it afloat and made it the great place it is today.

It's like Yoko came in and broke up the band...again!

Anyway, I'm done now. I won't rant about this again. Well, maybe I will. Bear with me peeps!

Well, it was an exhausting weekend and I hate to admit why. Yes, we ate, drank, layed out and swam in the pool all weekend. Rough life huh? We did get the pooch comfortable in the pool finally and she was jumping in on her own and swimming around like a little fish. It was so cute!

I came into work yesterday to more bad news. 5 out of 5 people that all do the same general job in another department were "layed off", which doesn't bode well for the people on my team that also hold those positions, and a big guy up in our NY office is retiring in two weeks. Wheeeeeee! The fun continues. The mood and the tension in the halls yesterday was so bad that I literally felt like I was on the verge of crying and puking all day. I just couldn't wait to get home.

I wish all of this work BS was just over already and they would either let me go or just give us some hard info on the direction we're taking because this waiting around just sucks!

Anyway, hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hey Y'all

So yesterday, our pretty little princess Brit Brit was all over the rags. She apparently pulled over to a Malibu beach, stripped down to her skivvies and jumped right into the ocean. That girl...she's so crazy and spontaneous!

Okay, seriously, so she's nuts, we all know this. She looks horrible, blah, blah, blah. The scary thing is...I HAD ON THE SAME OUTFIT YESTERDAY! Okay, well, you can see I had on a "similar" outfit.

Now, I bought this dress? tunic? Shirt? because I thought it would make a cute little summer dress but when I got it home I realized that if I wore it as a dress I probably wouldn't be able to move or be anywhere near a minor breeze or I would be showing off my hoo ha so I decided it only appropriate to retire it to a SHIRT. Apparently Brittney had other ideas.

Here's the other thing. Instead of focusing on the fact that Brit pulled over and stripped down to go swimming which is, let's face it, NORMAL in her case, the pap's should have focused on the fact that BRITTNEY SHOPS AT FOREVER 21 because yes, that's where I got this top! HA!

Brittney shops at Forever 21, Brittney shops at Forever 21! (and apparently extensions R Us!)

Okay, so I realize that this blog is slowly but surely becoming like a first time mother showing off pictures and stories about her new baby and I know it's getting lame. SO - from now on stories about the dog will be limited to blurbs within a post as opposed to being the focus every day. We've just been consumed with this damn dog for the last few months. And she's so damn cute so how could you blame me?

So, with that said, OMG you should see what the dog did today, it was so cute...KIDDING!

So the hubby and I have been going over plans for a home renovation with an architect. It's going to be a disaster. Well, we have to decide on final plans first and that seems to be taking forever and on top of that um, it's very possible that I could be losing my job in a month or so and if that's the case and I don't get a severance package it's just not going to happen. I told TSO that if our relationship can make it through a home renovation, we can make it through anything...I won't bore you with any more details but I'll keep you posted if anything good happens.

I am seriously anticipating losing my job but it's so hard to fathom. I have had virtually the same job since college so I've never really been shit canned. I am oddly not worried and I'm still not quite sure why. I have every reason to be freaking the fuck out right now and I'm not. We are a two income household and I don't think our lifestyle can withstand such a drastic change. Could we make it work? Probably but that would kind of suck. I also have nothing in the pipeline in terms of a new job and I'm not making any movements there either...Somehow I just think this is all going to work out. I could be so utterly and completely wrong but I'm sitting back and let it all play out.

Honestly, other than shitty work, things are good. I am truly blessed with all the good things in my life. I have a great family, life long friends and an amazing husband. I'll have to admit that still seems weird that I have a "husband". I was never the girlie girl who dreamt of her wedding day and her dress and the colors she wanted (no offense to those of you who did, one of my best friends had her wedding planned by the time she was 15). But now I can't imagine life without him. I know...the mush factor of this post is growing and growing!

Do you ever just think about something in your life and know that it is completely right? I feel that way about the hubby all the time. He is the nicest person I've ever met. He is the cutest, sexiest man in the world. He takes such good care of me and puppy head. He is going to be a wonderful father. I look at him and I want to be like him, he just has such a great disposition. He makes me laugh all the time. My family loves him. Even though we had a great relationship before we got married, it's even better now. And after almost ten years of being together I am just as in love with him as I was the first year we dated. It just keeps getting better and I'm pretty sure that is an indication that he was made for me. I am a very lucky girl!

pathetic...

Check out this poor, pathetic little pooch!

Here is our baby on the way home from the vet last night. She was so out of it until this morning. I was so sad, I've never seen her like this and I hope we never have to again. Look at the lamp shade on her head. On top of being drugged up and discombobulated that damn thing is completely throwing her off. She'll stand up, confused and disheveled, then put her head down and won't move. Probably because she can't figure out what the hell this thing is around her head. We ended up taking it off because we felt bad and really she's just been sleeping for the most part and she hasn't been licking the wound so far so I guess she doesn't need it so much.

I didn't go to work today. I couldn't bear leaving her. Her daddy slept next to her crate on the floor all night last night. What a good daddy. It was so sweet. She's getting better today, she has a little bit more energy but she's still sleeping a lot and every now and then she'll give a whimper or a little weep. It's so sad.

Anyway, my job is so depressing. I have no will to show up every day and it is so hard to keep a smile on my face and pretend things are hunky dory. BUT, I have to. I wish I could go into business for myself but unfortunately that takes lots of money to get started too. Working is dumb.

Happy Tuesday.

I dropped my baby off this morning to be spayed. I was so sad. They gave her the the anesthetic shot and it hurt her. She flinched and gave a little cry. My poor baby. Then they took her back where I wasn't allowed to go. I hope she does well. Apparently they use a laser now so there's less bleeding and she heals quicker. I just wanted to cry but I know she's in good hands.

We're dog/house sitting for some family but only on the weekends for the next two weeks. The sitting started last night but since it's so far from the hubby's work he went home and I stayed over night. The dogs are two 9 month old retrievers and they are HUGE. One of their heads is the size of Nola's body. Well, these dogs sleep in their parents room but not in their bed so I had my dog in the bed with me and their dogs in the room and let me tell you...I might have collectively slept an hour the whole night. I had a splitting headache and I was seriously considering putting them all in separate rooms so they would go to sleep and shut the fuck up. I swear they would wait until I fell asleep every time and then one of them would stir or one would bark and then they'd all start. I got to see EVERY hour tick by on the clock. Until I got some real sleep between 6am and 6:32am. It's been a long time since I've seen night turn into day without being completely hammered and I'm not going to lie to you, it's really not that fun. This volunteer job could prove to be very interesting and exhausting.

One positive about this casa is the mammoth yard/pool/lounge area they have in their back yard. It's the kind of set up you see at a community pool or one that you pay to get into. They have enough lounge chairs and tables and seating for all of your friends and that will be put to good use in the next couple of weekends - I hope. Plus hey, naked sun bathing and swimming. What could be better than that?

Work should be better this week. We'll see. Hope everyone had a delicious weekend!

It's Friday, It's Friday, YAYY! YAYY! YAYY!

What a piece of crap week it's been...

Last night we played our last softball game of the season. We lost by one run which sucks but who cares really. We play for the pizza and beer. Which, speaking of, I went hard core last night with the team. I generally don't stay out too long because I have to work the next day, I have to go take the pup out and I guess I'm just lame. Well, last night was a throw down. I think I did 3 Irish car bombs and we had countless pitchers of beer. And the tell tale sign that you've probably had more than you need and should probably call it a night...taking the plastic cup of beer in the car with you so the last pitcher doesn't "go to waste"....Yeah, good decisions are always made while you're drinking.

Another great idea I had was to continue drinking when I got home after midnight AND to take the pooch for a long walk...BY MY SELF! I truly am an idiot. Oh well, we had fun. Today...not so much. I could not for the life of me get up this morning. And with the atmosphere here at work I wasn't really jumping out of bed or anything. I think I got to work around 10:30. I was ready for a nap by about 11. If I don't get out of here soon I am seriously considering taking a nap under my desk so we'll see.

Meeting friends in town from New Orleans out tonight. I hope I get some sleep beforehand or I'll be worthless. Yayy for the weekend. Hope you all have a great one!

Neighborhood Slut?

You decide...

So, it appears that our pup is pretty popular among the boys in the hood. I really think that our baby may be one of the only female dogs in our neighborhood because every dog/puppy we encounter seems to be a boy. We have our "regulars" who frequent the yard often and help us tucker our little monster out.

Our first boyfriend is Duke, the bulldog across the street. He's about two and although he keeps up with Nola pretty well she does a pretty good job of outrunning him on a regular basis and still having tons of energy to continue on. Here are some shots of Nola and Duke loving each other:

Nola also has a new boyfriend. He's a younger man and his name is Henry. He's a four month old Yellow Lab and he is so freakin cute. Recently during a play date Henry's mom told us that she was walking Henry around the hood and stopped to play with a 9 month old golden retriever named Gus. She said she mentioned that Henry had a new girlfriend named Nola to which Gus' mom replied, Oh, we know Nola, we've known her since she was a little puppy and Gus LOVES her. Apparently Henry's mom was not pleased so she got very territorial and told her that Nola was HENRY'S GIRLFRIEND. Well, Dukes mom didn't really like the story because she says that Nola is DUKE'S GIRLFRIEND! I think it's hilarious.

Here are some shots of Nola and Henry making out, I mean, playing:

We're having Nola fixed on Monday. Probably for our own good. I'm sad about it because I know she's gonna be scared but it'll be okay.



Work sucks, like I thought it would. I feel bad because I haven't had a chance to catch up on anyone's blogs these days. I am going to do that right now, instead of working! Yeah! I'll show 'em.

Back from vacation and not happy about it...

Yeah, it was really hard to put a smile on my face this morning as I walked into work, sat down in my cube and contemplated hanging myself with my mac book power cord for the 10th time in only 17 minutes....

Okay, it's not that bad, I guess. It's just a) really hard to come back to work on a Monday from vacation, and b) this is gonna be a really rough week at work.

The bitterness began when I worked Monday and Tuesday of last week when I was supposed to be on vacation. Unfortunately it just had to be done. You know, team player and all that bull shit...When I did come in on Tuesday it was like a political convention with the new president of my company acting as the hand shaker and baby kisser and it wasn't fun. I wanted to puke actually.

Our 4th of July was great. We took the pooch along for the festivities and she did great! I had a bad feeling that our black lab that hates taking baths was gonna be a wuss dog and not like the water. Thankfully I was wrong! She jumped in the river and jumped in and around it over and over for as long as we would allow it. She is our water baby and we are so proud! She dove in, she submerged her head quite a few times biting for sticks and logs and unfortunately she also stepped on something sharp, either a rock, branch or piece of trash, that sliced the webbing in her back paw. Unfortunately we didn't realize it until I noticed her licking her paw constantly the next morning. She's fine, she's not limping or acting weird but she's now on antibiotics and we're supposed to be soaking her foot daily in this iodine solution but that's a joke. You try soaking a 7 month old black lab puppy's foot in anything and see what happens...it's just not going to happen. The doc's also told us not to let her lick it. They said if she continues licking it they'll give her one of those "special dog" collars, you know, the one's that look like a lamp shade got stuck on a dog's head? No way Jose! My dog is not wearing one of those - the harness is as far as I go. And I thought it was good for them to lick their wounds, doesn't it heal it or does it keep it raw? (these questions are for you dog people that so often help me out!)

Anyway, after a long morning of vet's visits and all that mess we finally got on the road to the beach. It was very hard to leave our baby knowing that she had a boo boo. She was a little depressed and wouldn't eat at first but then I think she realized that she was really hungry and she got over it.

The beach was great and relaxing. Got to spend a little QT with my hubby while sunning our buns. Spent lots of time in the ocean and in the pool and was very sad to leave on Sunday.

This week my new bosses are visiting my office. They are here from LA. Everyone is all freaked out because we all have "one on one" meetings with them so that they can "get to know us". Translation = we are re-interviewing for our jobs in the hopes that they don't dislike us. Who knows what's gonna happen. Honestly, I don't really care. I'll get another job if I have to. That should be the least of my worries in life and really, isn't life too short to burn out on bogus shit like this? I think so. I don't think I'm cut out for corporate America as it is so this type of stressful, tense work environment does nothing but turn me off. I am not a cut throat executive type. I'm not a back stabber and a saboteur (sp?) - is that a word? . I'm not a jet setter or a public speaker and I'm proud of that. I have so many other creative qualities that probably belong in a smaller atmosphere anyway, but who knows what will happen. I'm just sitting back and letting it all fall into place around me. Wish me luck getting through this week...

4th of July

Happy Independence Day Everyone! Hope you have a great holiday and celebrate our freedom with the one's you love. Oh and the fireworks and the fact that we get a day off of work - Enjoy All!

The hubby and I decided to take vacation this week so we are just chillin' as of right now! Oddly for me it seems harder to post when I have all the time in the world than when I am working and busy and seem to have no time at all...?

We just did stuff around the house yesterday and then took the new jeep out with the dog. She loves it and we found this harness that has a safety belt attachment on it that isn't too obtrusive for her. She can still move around and it keeps her safe. The weather was just perfect here yesterday. Then last night we went to see Ratatouille last night with my sisters and little nieces and their mom's and then out to dinner. The movie was very cute and made me really hungry! Isn't it funny how cartoons can make you actually empathetic towards disgusting rodents? It makes them look so cute and lovable.

Today we're hoping to make it to the pool but have a few other things we want to get done around here. Tomorrow we head to down town D.C. to watch, arguably, the best damn fire works in the country. If you've ever seen them I dare you to find better one's anywhere...yes, I am biased, but they really are phenomenal. And then Thursday we're heading to the beach for some relaxation and fun in the sun! The only thing is that I am really going to miss our pup. She is just to sweet these days and I hate being away from her for too long...ahh, motherhood!