States I've visited

I have only a few states left to go in the US, and most of them are in the Bible Belt.
Red means I've driven through it. Amber means I've slept there at least once, but don't really know it very well. Blue means I've been there multiple times or spent extended time there. Green means I've lived there, or have been there a lot.

You can make your own map at: http://www.defocus.net/visitedstates/generate.html

First Sunburn of the Year

My face is pink! I love the feeling of being sunburned. It's just warm and cozy.

I got my sunburn by apartment hunting. I unfortunately have to move because rent went up, and my roommate moved away. And I don't really want to live with anyone else, so I should probably get a 1 bedroom or studio so someone can take the larger space who needs it.

So, I hoofed it around some areas in uptown and eat street and phillips to see if there are any rentals around there. I have a couple I need to follow up with, because they looked promising. I don't really want to live in Phillips, but it's more convenient than Uptown, and I get less angry about the privilege in our country.

For some reason, every time I'm in uptown, I just get upset that white privilege exists, and that wealth is so concentrated with one class of people. I know it's not the fault of the people who live in Uptown, but people jogging with their dog past the lakes, or pushing their children in fancy strollers past their beautiful gardens just makes me sad. Especially when I then go to Phillips, where people are taking the bus to work on a Saturday afternoon, and asking strangers to help pay their bus fare, and the sidewalks and road surface quality is noticeably worse than in Uptown.

So, I probably shouldn't live in Uptown. Plus the bus ride would be 40 minutes instead of 15 from Phillips. Even though Uptown is prettier and safer. Plus, Uptown is expensive and tempting! So many amazing restaurants and coffee shops. In Phillips, there are good bakeries and coffee shops and stuff, but most of the restaurants aren't so veggie friendly, so I will spend less.

Found Pet - Thankfully!

Twice this week, I've almost had to make "LOST PET" signs.

First, I must have snapped the leash on the tag ring instead of the collar, because the second Hazel and I stepped outside, the ring broke and she zipped off after a rabbit. "ffuuu...." was my first thought. I ran around the block and neighborhood, calling her name, and asking random people walking by if they'd seen a dog. Considering it was 10pm on a weekday, there were only two or three people, and no one had seen her. Resigning myself to calling animal control, I trudged back home. As I turned the corner, who was sitting on the front porch but Hazel! I was so happy, I just gave her a hug and a "good dog" for coming home, and put the leash back on. We found the tags laying in the yard the next morning.

So relieved.

Today, I got up at 6 to feed the cat, and take the dog for a walk. I had a headache (not from a hangover, though! I went to bed at 10 because I was so tired!), so I went back to sleep for a couple hours. "Odd that the cat didn't come when I poured her food out. She must be hungry by now," I thought as sleep took me again. When I got up at 8, she still hadn't eaten her food. So I went searching in all her favorite spots. Not on the cabinets, nor under my bed, not in the shower, or in the closet. I had left the window in the living room open last night, so maybe she was still hunkered down there, even though the dog was in there. I pushed back the curtain only to find a big gaping corner of the screen pushed out. "Fuuuuuu.... How long has she been gone? She could be anywhere!" The last time I saw her was 10pm when she jumped off my bed after cuddling before I fell asleep.

So, I run outside, looking up trees and under neighbors porches. Around and around theg neighborhood I go. "Momo wouldn't go very far. When she gets scared, she hides under stuff or jumps up." A lightbulb when off after twenty minutes. "Is it possible she wiggled through the trellis skirt on my porch?" I went to look. Sure enough, there are definite signs of digging underneath the porch skirt. I go inside to grab a flashlight. I don't see her right away, but I go around the corner, and look again. Lo and behold, what is looking back at me but those two adorable green eyes? She let out the most piteous "mew." I pull the skirt back enough for her to wiggle back through, and she jumps into my arms, covered in dirt and spider webs.

Thank goodness my pets know where they live!

Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day!!

To celebrate, I baked and brought a french silk pie, pumpkin pie and berry pie. I should have taken a picture of the berry pie. It was my first crust I've made with a lattice top crust, and I put a cute little pi symbol on it. TASTED AMAZING TOO!!!!!

Hope you celebrated this irrational day!

Hazel

Saturday, Mommy helped me pick up my first doggy, sort of. She's a rescue dog that I'm fostering. She's really cute and friendly, and calm for a dog, but hyper and needy compared to the cat. Haha.

She is very clingy, in a good way. She is the type of dog who leans on your legs when you pet her, and gets a little anxious when you stop petting her.

But once she realizes you're not going to pet her in the next minute, she just lays down and chills out.

She also doesn't shed much. Lucky me!

There are some issues, though. I live in a predominantly Somali neighborhood, and we have yet to pass one Somali neighbor who isn't terrified of her. She looks like a shepherd or a rottie (and probably is a mix of both, with some other stuff in there), but she is a calm, happy and friendly dog.

She also doesn't recognize her name. Not sure if she was renamed, or if her original owners just didn't ever use it, but it's very hard to get her attention when she sees a squirrel or cat running away from her.

And good lord, can this dog poop! I forgot how much dogs poop! I only get one free bag a day, but use at least 3 or 4. I'm going to run out of bags! I'll have to buy more vegetables or something, just for the bags, because this is ridiculous. She pooped 6 times in her first 24 hours here.

My main worry, though? Momo. She doesn't like Hazel. She is curious, and will come and sniff around or creep over the wall or from behind the couch, but the second Hazel sees or smells her nearby, Hazel just wants to meet her! She is so excited to meet Momo! But Momo is terrified, and hisses and growls and is frozen solid. I have to carry her out of the room, and she goes and lies on my bed or in the kitchen for twenty minutes before she's calm enough to walk around normally. So, Hazel is confined to the living room while I'm home, and is crated during the day while I'm at work and at night. I'd love to leave her out at night, or during the day, but I can't trust her with Momo yet. I don't want to wake up to a beat up cat because I wasn't supervising closely enough. What I see as excited and happy to meet Momo may actually be a prey drive that I am preventing from manifesting.

We'll just have to wait a few more days to see if there is any improvement. So far, it's been mostly stressful between the two, which is too bad because they are both really friendly and sweet. Just not to each other, yet.

If you're interested in adopting Hazel, please let me know! You can also go to homewardboundk9rescue.com.

Life doesn't stop

Well, so far I've been sticking to most of my New Year Resolutions.

I guess I haven't been super good at making necessary doctors appointments, but I finally got the dentist scheduled for mid-April.

Exercise is going well. I catch myself checking myself out in the mirror a lot, so the getting in shape thing is working, even though I haven't lost very much weight. Any weight loss can be attributed to a bout of the flu halfway through January. Instead of a gym membership, though, I work out at home because I bought my brother's elliptical, and pay myself to work out. Plus instead of getting home at 8:30pm every night, I now can get home at 7, and work out at home. My cat enjoys sitting on me while I am doing yoga, and playing with my resistance bands and balance ball. Quality time with her is good, too.

Saving money is going mostly well. I can't eat less than $100 of food in a month if I want fresh fruit/veggies, which I do. I've been a super couponer though, and have only bought food at a restaurant twice since January 1st.

I don't think cleaning was a resolution, but I'm failing at it in any case. Now that my roommate moved out, I don't really have a reason to clean. She left some bowls and plates, and I brought mugs from home, so now I can go even longer before I have to wash them.

I have been winning at reading, though (you should read the hunger games and if you like fantasy, A Game of Thrones. Go!). And playing pokemon. And listening to new-to-me music. Also not resolutions, but things I'd been meaning to do.

I just need now to find a better job and a new place to live. I like my job, but if I can get a higher paying job with the same benefits, I will. I also can't afford to live in a 2 bedroom on my own, but I don't really like living with other people, I've realized. Perhaps a 1 bedroom would be better, even though it would reinforce my hermit-like behavior. But I'm a lazy, sometimes anti-social, crude person to live with. Perhaps living on my own for a while would suit me better.

Volunteering Experience 2

Through Wells Fargo today, I volunteered for Second Harvest Heartland. The group of us, who were mostly strangers who just happen to work for the same company, helped repackage food from bulk to smaller packages for distribution to different food shelves and soup kitchens.

What was our food that we were repackaging?

Dove Chocolate.

We took it from 24lb boxes, and put them in 2lb bags, then sealed the bag with a label and put them back in the boxes. My job was to seal the bag. The whole time, that episode of I Love Lucy was in my head, the one where she and Ethel get a job in the chocolate factory and end up eating and hiding all of the chocolates. I restrained myself, and only had 2 of the leftovers.

Proud of me, Mom? Mom has amazing will power, and restricted everyone in the house to eating only 2 dove chocolates a day. So tempting, but I've never broken that rule. Even when I'm not at home, I only eat two.

This is what I wanted to do, though.