I have decided that it would be much easier to start writing down my thoughts as they occur. This way it will be easier to write! Ha! Not so easy for an only child. I have several thoughts and conversations (yes, with myself and imaginary people) several times a day. So instead it might be easier if I just wrote down the highlights. Even then, I think everything I say is witty and noteworthy -- I think it's that only child thing again.


So today was a rather busy day. The highlights were gym, Samson's grooming, Trader Joe's, Dentist, board meeting, and Farmer's Market. I'm sure some of you are thinking that, that is not so busy. To which I say, "Hey, I'm on Summer Vacation and more than one thing in a day is busy for me!"


So we start off the day at the gym. Zumba Class...I can shake it! 'Nuff said.


Then I drive overly furry boy to get a grooming in Salinas - that's an hour away for those of you unfamiliar with my area. I know it seems a bit extreme to drive one hour for a groomer. I'm sure you're thinking something along the lines of, "Damn, that must be one hell of a groomer in order to drive an hour!" My response...Nope, I just live in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and it's all highway miles - isn't that what you're supposed to say when your car has a million miles on it?


After dropping off Samson, who was scared as hell that another dog wanted to sniff his ass. His back legs were actually shaking! I mean isn't that what dog's do? Sniff each other's asses. That's like a handshake right? Great, I have the Howie Mandel of the dog world, minus the fame and fortune. Oh, so anyway, after dropping off Mr. Shaky Pants, I went back to the Dentist. This time to check how my 'restoration' was. Restoration...that's a fancy term for filling. You remember, last week I went to see Dr. Liar Dentist who said they could no longer give me my drug of choice. Well anyway, all I had to say was that it felt fine and he thought that was great. I didn't have to even open my mouth for him to check it. Yup, he soo did NOT want to deal with my crazy ass. Don't blame him. 


Then I went out to Trader Joe's -- LOVE that place! While there I found Salt Water Taffy! I was sooo excited. I LOVE that stuff. It takes me back to being a kid at Cedar Point. Before we left there we always bought a box of salt water taffy. They had the best! Which is ironic since it's on a fresh water lake and there is no salt water nearby. So, I bought some. I tried some and was disappointed that it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.


Then there was Target. I have a few theories on clothing and dressing rooms. Theory 1 -- the clothing makers are shrinking the clothes. What I mean is that a 6 from say 10 years ago is now currently marked as an 8 -- this is only the case for women of course. For men a M from 10 years ago is currently a S. You see it is a giant conspiracy to make women feel fat and crappy and make men feel good with their ever growing guts. Theory 2 -- dressing room mirrors are made at the same place that fun house mirrors are made. Yup, they are made to make women look FAT! I even think they added a few rolls...BASTARDS. Hmmm, IF theory 1 is true then maybe I should go into the men's dressing room. It should then shave off a roll or two. I think I will try this next time I'm trying on clothing.


Then a few more events happened which did not result in any more profound thoughts until I picked Samson up. The boy suddenly found confidence. He walked out of the groomers greeting everyone he saw. I seriously thought I had the wrong dog. I even checked his eyes -- one has an old injury which resulted in a cataract. Yup, I had the right dog. So the weirdo likes being bald...go figure.


I know this is getting long, but I have more to say so hang in there. 


Ah, now off to the King City Farmer's Market. I need lettuce and my usual spring mix f(AKA cute veggie guy) usually throws in a few free veggies...BASTARD was no where to be found! Now I am forced to buy my lettuce mix at Safeway and God only knows what kind(s) of pesticide(s) I may ingest. If I die of some weird disease...soooo his fault. On a happy note, the Strawberry guy (yes, organic strawberries) threw in free blueberries and white raspberries. Finally, I was paying for some white nectarines and the guy next to me looked in my wallet as I was getting out money! I mean really???? Yes, not only did he look he commented on the amount of money I had in it...to ME! He said, "You have a lot of money. You're rich." I responded, "Yes, rich like Paris Hilton, only I'm not as trashy." And no my friends, he was not hitting on me. He was old -- ok and if he was....GROSS!


Then I continued to drive around town, I was admiring all the new sidewalks. The town received a grant for Safe Schools Route. So money came in to install sidewalks, because as everyone knows, sidewalks will keep kids safer than figuring out how to keep them out of gangs and killing each other!


The board meeting. Apparently it started at 6, I thought it started at 6:30...oops. At every board meeting I have been at -- and I have been at quite a few -- someone asks the Assistant Superintendent of Business (fancy name for dude who deals with the money) a question about the budget, and the 'person' cannot answer?????? So today someone asked him a finance question. Don't ask me what it was I was having a rousing conversation in my head with Lady Gaga about the arts in schools. So the head finance dude then throws the question out to a lady in the audience. Of course she could answer it. Later I find out that the lady is actually this 'person's' Karl Rove. After that, each time a question was asked we could hear her saying the answer and then he would repeat it...freaky! 


One final thought. It is said that you should do what you love. I have discovered 2 things today. I love writing. If I could quit my job and just write what's in my brain - as scary as that is - I would do it in a heartbeat. Thing 2 I would love to not know shit, be able to ask my Karl Rove and get paid a buttload of money doing it!

So Pete and I had this 'brilliant' idea to do a 'do it yourself divorce'. Sounds easy enough right? WRONG! OMG I see why people pay others to do this shit for them. There are soooo many forms and of course being a legal thingy it's totally complicated! The more I read the more confused I am, and this has little to do with my stellar reading skills. Ugh, and on each form there are millions of little boxes one has to check. AND God forbid you do check more than one box or make any mistakes. 


Pete and I are on total agreement on almost everything. I say almost, because while we have agreed to everything thus far, there may be a thing or two that we disagree on. So the WHY do I have to ask someone to deliver the papers to him (even though he will most likely be next to me as I print them out)? I get it that not all divorces are as amicable as ours. I mean for crying out loud I ask about his new girlfriend and am genuinely thrilled for them both. I am about ready to hire a paralegal to do it for me. It seems like it might be worth it in the end....less headaches, cussing, crying and the like. Samson's response to all this...look at me and start licking various body parts.  I think the dog's got the right idea!


My point to my rambling....I'm frustrated and just want it to be over in order to just move on.

So I go to the dentist today on one measly tablet of Xanax. Really? He thought that would work? HA, I sat in the chair and began crying. Yes. I am a super wimp when it comes to drilling on my teeth. A few weeks ago he assured me all would be fine AND that my former happy pill (Halcyon) was no longer being used....LIE! I secretly believe that there was a note in my file that not only says I am a super neurotic patient, but a drug craving one as well. I saw my file one day and it did indeed say, in nicer words, that I am a super neurotic patient! At any rate, all went as well as possible, and at the end he admitted that Halcyon would be a good idea next time.  I am happy to report that half of my face was numb and I felt nothing. Okay, I did make him stop at least 20 times in 5 minutes. Don't get me wrong, I know how bad a patient I am and do apologize to all those unfortunate enough to deal with me.

Then there is Samson. Damn dog is still afraid of a new water bowl. I bought this waterdish that has a 'jug' so that he has an endless supply of water. I thought I was brilliant. NOT! He won't go near it. I took the 'jug' off and he still won't go near it. Ugh!

Out with the old and in with the new. I have replaced all of the old furniture in the living room with new stuff. Yup, I got rid of the 1960's brown corduroy couch and replaced it with a nice love seat w/chaise lounge attached. New coffee table, new chair, new side table and wall shelving unit all make it look like a real grown-up's living room! Thank you Ikea!! The only disadvantage was putting it all together, but I am happy to report that in less than a week it is all together and in use. In addition to the aforementioned stuff, I also acquired a new desk and chair. While my guest room and office are in shambles, I am slowly getting things in order.

After several hours one late night, I completed assembling the couch/chaise unit....what a pain! The next morning Samson and I were enjoying the fruits of my labor when he decided it wasn't quite homey enough. In order to give it that home spun touch...he  'revisited' his breakfast...on the couch.

Relatively quiet day. It started off at the gym...Zumba! I love Zumba!! I also had a hair appointment. I hesitated on doing it, but decided that in the end, I was worth it. I deserve to look good. This is one of the things I am working on...realizing that I am worth 'it'.

The Farmer's Market was...slow. I really want it to work out. These things are a good thing. I hope business picks up SOON. The strawberries are the best! It is an organic farmer (family farm) from Moss Landing. They are large and VERY sweet.

I took Samson for another walk this evening. He loves them! We encountered some kids. Some of the same ones we saw the other day. He was more accepting of the little girl. I brought treats with me. I thought that if the kids gave him a treat he might start to associate kids with good stuff. He took the treat from the little girl, but not the boy. He didn't eat the treat but at least he took it from her.

Another part of this be a single person, homeowner is the Ms. Fix it role I now don. Today I changed out 2 ceiling lights. One was in the hallway and the other was in the kitchen. The new ones are nothing special; I just couldn't handle the brass bases any longer. It does give one a wonderful sense of accomplishment to do things yourself!

After coming back from the gym (morning session) I received a phone call from a student's uncle. We'll call this student Johnny. Johnny went in to the hospital last Thursday for open heart surgery. He was born with a condition with one of his valves that needed immediate attention. In the fall, Johnny went in for a stint (or something like that), but sadly he was in the 2% non success rate. So the GOOD NEWS was that he is out of ICU, his heart rate and blood pressure are under control. Here's to you Johnny.

The boy, that would be Samson, LOVES walks. We went on another one today. No kids or strays...that was a bonus. When I asked him, "Do you want  to go for a walk?" He got very excited and ran into the kitchen -- where I keep the leash. He is sooo good that he knows to lye down so I can hook the leash to his collar. What a smart dog!

Whew, what a productive day. It all started with a trip to the gym. Almost passed out. Something about me and mornings...I'm not a morning person and I'm certainly NOT a morning workout person! It was a step class. One that I had taken a million times before. The only difference is that this was in the a.m. Okay, so some might say that 10 a.m. isn't that early...tell my body that!! And yes, I had a good breakfast.

Seeing as I hadn't died, I decided to go over to the district office and speak with the business person about my summer pay. So to catch you all up to speed, 3 years ago I went from year round schooling with a pay schedule to match to a traditional school year. The compassionate people involved (on both the district side and teacher side) made an agreement to continue said pay schedule until my employment with the district commences. Fast forward three years...new administrators who see things a bit differently (Wow, that was putting it nicely). So they want to shift my pay schedule. From an outsider's perspective it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it leaves me minus pay for two months until the new schedule kicks in. Anyway, Cindy -- at the D.O. business office -- was helpful.

Then I went to Lynn's Too! While it is a gas station/convenience store; it is also the proud owner of a moving van. The owners are very generous and lend out the van (free of charge; all they ask is you buy gas  from them). And since I worked with Melanie before she happily retired, I borrow it from time to time. This Saturday, Pete and I have made plans to make an Ikea run. I LOVE Ikea. We are buying things, for our respective homes, that are too big to fit in his car. We went a few months ago and it was a BIG hit.

Then I came home and did a little yardwork, looked at Ikea online (I'm getting things that aren't always in stock) to prepare, exercised on the Wii and went back to the gym.

After the second trip to the gym, Samson and I went for a nice walk. Encountered several stray dogs -- 2 which ran our from a house with the owner not far behind apologizing -- and children. Samson doesn't like either. I allowed the kids to pet him. He hated it! He must have been tormented by children at some point in his life. All the kids were gentle. It's important for his socialization to be a bit more confident and less skiddish.

After that, a nice dinner. Now we are relaxing...okay, I'm relaxing and he's chasing his squeaky tennis ball.

Sunday is the traditional 'outdoor lawn care' and laundry day. I happily did both. I cut the back lawn, nope not the front as half the sprinklers are broken and I don't care enough, so it's half dormant. Then I went a little crazy 'pruning' the trees in the back. Huge limbs have been cut. Very therapeutic, much cheaper than a therapist! Let go of the extra to make room for the new.

 

I have decided that I will clean one room per day. I started with the kitchen. Once I had the clean kitchen, I decided that I should cook something. So based on the herbs, spices and rice cooker (on loan) from Ana, I made a curry. Personally, I felt it had little flavor, but am hoping that letting it sit overnight and having some again tomorrow will allow the flavors to meld and it will taste better. Yes, I am aware that all this is very boring, but it is apart of my changes. Since being on my own, I've had little desire to cook -- not that I had that much desire before I was single.It seems so silly to cook just for one, but my eating habits have become less than healthy. So, I now have grand ideas of becoming as good a cook as Ana. Hey a girl can dream can't she?

Thursday I did not blog as it was my first official day of vacation. As per tradition, I did NOTHING! I start off all vacations by just kickin' it.

I began yesterday by going to the dentist. I HATE the dentist. Through the years, I have discovered that they have the ability to inflict pain. I'm not saying that they intentionally inflict said pain, they just do. I do feel sorry for those who deal with me at the office. I am no fun! The dentist informs me that I have a filling that needs replacing as it is falling out. I asked how long I could prolong the procedure...a few months. THEN he tells me that my favorite pill, the one that allows me to be knocked out while drilling occurs, is no longer allowed to be given out! WHAT??? Apparently these said law makers have never had a true phobia of pain! The best the dentist can do is give me Xanax. REALLY?? 'cuz that's gonna make me lose a day of my life -- I know it sounds bad, but it was the only thing that got me to the dentist.

Then I went out to Carmel to get dog food. Yes, I drive 1 hour and 20 minutes to get Samson his food. The only place that sells Mulligan Stew. While there I found small squeaky tennis balls! That was a huge hit. The boy played with them for over 2 hours! he wore himself out.

Finally, I went to Whole Foods. I swear the actress from Kindergarten Cop was there. The short one that played the principal. I had a whole witty thing to write. I started it last night, clicked the wrong thing and lost it all. So, today, not in the mood to recap everything. Sorry, the wit will return soon.