My dog is an evil genius

Last night I embarked on an adventure. Since, when I am living on my own, I won't have help clipping Pippi's nails, I decided to try to do it myself last night. I waited until she was calmly lying on the bed, drifting in and out of sleep, and I approached her by first rubbing her belly and playing with her feet and she was fine. THE second I grabbed the clipper, it was like she became possessed. She wiggled and pushed and pulled and tried to get her foot away. I tried laying on her and putting her in a headlock, but even though I outweigh her by 80 pounds, I was unable to prevail. I fought the dog and the dog won. Seriously.

I almost wish I had video-taped it because it may have been almost as funny as this:




If I had done that with Pippi, I'd have no teeth. This dude is either seriously trusting or seriously stupid.

This morning, when I was getting ready for work, she was stretching out on the carpet beside me and decided to dig her paw into my foot and make my toe bleed with her unclipped claws. She's like the evil genius of payback.

Ironically, I received the "Love Me Love My Dog" print I ordered in the mail yesterday and framed it with the frame I'd bought just for it.

I may love her, but sometimes she can be a real jerk.

To add to my evening of FAIL, I was forced to get on the elliptical instead of going for a run after work because I was so incredibly dizzy. When I got off the elliptical, it was almost like I had drank a couple glasses of wine, but just in the "when I turn my head things are weird", not in the "wee, I feel great" way. Being the helpful friends that they are, Kara, Alyssa, and Amanda suggested that I take the first ENT's advice and gain a bunch of weight because it might help with the dizziness. While eating nothing but ice cream and peanut butter sounds tempting, I'm sure I'd get sick of them quickly, and I can't afford to replace all of my clothes for bigger ones.

It doesn't get any closer to a 10-minute elliptical mile.

I'm hoping tomorrow's long run isn't a dizzy one. Fingers crossed! Plus, I've got houses to see!

True!

Overachiever

I met with the financial counselor yesterday and, guess what. She didn't look at me and say, "You're screwed!"

 

Since I am all sneezy and gross, I felt the need to let everyone I came in contact with yesterday (the dental receptionist, the girl who cleaned my teeth, the financial counselor lady...) that "I'm not sick, I just have allergies." Most of them were like, "Oh yeah, so do I." However they were not sneezy nor gross. Liars.

So anywho, the financial counselor (Virginia), and I looked over my income and expenses and she gave me some helpful tips on keeping track of all the little expenses throughout the month using the envelope method, and told me she's proud of me. A complete stranger is proud of me! She then told me that she has two older sons who aren't good with money. Maybe I can make up for their lack.

I was instructed to put my name on one of the envelopes and
use it only on things for myself. I think that means I can get a
haircut, you guys!

After the meeting, I immediately (from my car in the parking lot of the counseling place) called the Community Home Trust to let them know that I'd completed the financial counseling session and she was impressed at how quickly I've "taken the bull by the horns". I'm currently first on the wait list for this fella. While it's not one of the homes I've been pining after, it's an end unit, it's larger than the ones I've been looking at, it has a double sliding door in the back, and it's closer to work. The possible drawbacks are that it's not new (I'm not sure how old it is) and it seems like it will need serious landscape help. I also don't know what the neighborhood is like.

Yeah...that ugly tree in the front has got to go.

There is an open house this Saturday for the house, which I'm going to and taking Jeremy with me, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully it's amazing and I love it and the talks can begin.

Today I will attempt another hour long run after work. I haven't had much luck staying un-sneezy and snotty while outside for any amount of time (including driving), so at worst, I'll switch it up and hop on the elliptical. Gosh, my life is so hard!

You think YOUR life is hard? I spend my days making sure this chair doesn't
fly away.

The attack

Yesterday I was attacked! Ok, not like that. I was trying my best to ignore it, but the allergy monster found me and I sneezed more yesterday than I think I had in the last month. I walked around yesterday with bloodshot eyes and a stuffy head and no one was like, "You look like hell". I'll take that as a win.

Thankfully my nose is still intact.

Last night I screwed up my system by taking two birth control pills (because I was too lazy to go to the pharmacy after my run yesterday), a Benadryl, a shot of nose spray, and a vitamin before bed. While I slept amazingly well, breakfast didn't excite me this morning and normally it's my main motivation to get out of bed. (Ok, that and Pippi pawing my face and jumping on me).

Today I get to go to the dentist and later this afternoon I am meeting with the financial counselor, and then all my prerequisites for getting a house through the Community Home Trust are done and the real talks can begin!

On a random note: I just pulled a tick off of Rocco's...manhood. Having dogs really is awesome.


And, because I have no other updates, here's some Hunger Games humor for you.

This made me laugh out loud this morning.

Oh Katniss.

Did you expect anything less from "the boy with the bread"?

Seriously. If you haven't read the books, you really knead to!

I wish my friends would send me texts like this.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some actual updates and a real post. (I know I know, don't get too excited).

Elmo's got moves!

Yesterday I got back on the horse, folks. And by horse, I mean the pavement in my neighborhood...in my running shoes. I decided to switch it up and, instead of running for a certain mileage, I ran for an hour. It turns out, running for time instead of distance makes me feel much less stressed during the run.

When I got home, after running almost six miles in 56 minutes, it occurred to me that not too long ago, six miles was a long run. This is my longest weekday run so far. I'm planning on keeping it up.

Since it was also yet another dizzy run, I had to take a couple of breaks to lean over on the side of the road to keep from falling over. This normally annoys the crap out of me, but yesterday it was lucky.

I hope it's a sign.

I was almost ran over by an older lady in a white car who apparently didn't think my life was very important. I attribute the fact that I'm still alive to the clovers...or, you know, because I jumped out of the way.

I was a good girl afterward and foam rolled and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but no pain in my left calf today! WEE!

best friend/worst enemy

Now for the home stuff. No actual updates until after tomorrow, but I've been decorating in my head. Since I bought the tumblers this weekend, I found some amazing place mats online. (No, I don't have a kitchen table yet. What's your point?)

My best friend's mom makes magic with a sewing machine and I asked her if she'd make me these magical place mats. I can't wait! (Never ever did I think I'd be excited about place mats :)

I'm also thinking of using stencils throughout the house (in small doses) to add some interest for cheap.

I love this one for a kitchen back splash.

Pebbles. Reminds me of the Flintstones :)

I saw a tutorial online on how to paint on curtains. So, buy cheap curtains and make them look expensive. Sounds like my kinda project! This pattern reminds me of the sun rising or of mountains. Great for curtains, right?

...except probably a purple color scheme...DUH.

Also, I'm totally making this to go in the hallway at the top of the stairs.

Oh, and it WILL be sweet!

And two must-haves:

Good stuff for the back door and hallway.

I am also in very dire need of new running clothes. I was grossing myself out during my run yesterday from the smell of my shirt. It's a stinky time to be saving money, folks!

On another random note, my friend introduced this video to me this weekend and it cracks me up every time. It will make your day brighter, I promise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfarDLRkSA&feature=fvst


Do you run for time or distance, or do you switch it up? Which do you like better?

Any fun home decorating ideas to share?

Mother Nature is a jerk

I'm waiting! No one has come to beat me up yet. I did not run twice since Friday like I had planned. Due to the fact that the entire weekend we had thunderstorms and tornado warnings, I decided to have my way with the elliptical for an hour on Saturday and then yesterday I lost all motivation after running errands and cleaning until 3pm. I'll be running today instead of taking my usual Monday rest day.

I think it's safe to say I will not be sufficiently prepared for my second half marathon in three weeks and if I PR it will be a miracle. I guess Hartford will have to be my redemption half.

Saturday morning I met my best friend and her daughter (who is almost six months old already!) for breakfast and some Target shopping. This little lady's smile is intoxicating.

"You'd be smiling too if you just downed a bottle of
boobjuice!"

Yesterday I went to Costco with Jeremy and Amanda and made my first (non-wall decoration) home purchase!

The puppy feet are an added bonus.

I just thought they were cool, AND they are plastic which is awesome news for me, Clumsy McBumpsintowalls. I think I unknowingly just decided the color scheme for the first floor.

After we got back from Costco, Amanda and our friend Korie went to get their nails done. I need a pedicure, but since I can't afford it right now, I stayed home and cleaned. Shitty trade-off, right? Well, I took care of my own toes for free.

Purple was probably not the best color choice, in retrospect.

So, this weekend was overcast and rainy with thunderstorms, the entire weekend. Today, Monday, it's beautiful and sunny, in the 70s.

I really want to punch her.

Don't be a dummy

Ok, don't beat me up for this, but I can't believe it's already Friday. I feel like this week has swallowed up all my time. Somehow.

I may be crude at times, but I would not
wear this.

One thing I'm officially sick of thinking and talking about? MONEY! For the love! The process of buying a house is mentally draining and I'm now more anxious than normal about saving money. The highlight of my week was being pre-approved for a home loan. Somehow I've got the bank convinced I'm a responsible adult. Suckers ;-)

I wonder if I can get one of these at
Lowe's.

NOW before I can continue moving forward in the process, I have to meet with a financial counselor (MORE talk about money) next week. I made an appointment for Wednesday but if I have to wait that long, I think I'll end up in a straight jacket. I'm trying to get it over with on Monday but we'll see how that goes. I hate waiting for people to call me back.

I've now been out to see the town homes I'm on the wait list for three times, and we plan on going back on Sunday to get a look at the progress on the inside. They've made a ton of progress, and I decided which one I want (no, but really, not getting my hopes up...)

I want my porta potty back!

Speaking of money, I've got something to run by you because it makes no sense to me.

I have two credit cards. They are both 0% interest cards and one of them is going to be charging interest starting in April, but has a "0% interest until 2013 on balance transfers" deal. Now, that's awesome, right? I transfer the other card to this one and continue paying no interest until next year. Sweet! Just to make sure, I talked to someone at the company who let me know that the balance transfer has a 0% APR, but the payments after that will have a 19.99% APR. Umm...what?! How is that a deal and why on God's green earth would anyone sign up for that? No wonder people are in such debt crisis in this country. So, if someone has a balance of $2,000 on their card, they are paying $400 extra dollars in a year that they didn't actually spend?! America, DO YOUR RESEARCH! This puzzles me so much. Yeah, I won't be taking part in that "deal".

This weekend I will be resuming running! If that Daily Mile app over there --->  doesn't reflect at least two running workouts between today and Sunday, I give you permission to come beat me up. Yes, I really just wrote that.


Any fun weekend plans?

Have you ever met with a financial adviser? If so, was it helpful?

Do you know where I can get a money tree?

Balls all over the furniture

This morning my friend asked me if there's any furniture I've been looking at. If I'm being totally honest, the only furniture I actually own is my bedroom set. He seems to think that I'll get a lot of things if I have a house-warming party. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't people get, like, wine and spatulas and brooms at house-warming parties? Apparently he's only been to house-warming parties of people with rich friends and family.

You think I can convince anyone that I need this?

Colorful BALLS!

Aaaaaand the ottoman. Amazing.

I think as far as furniture goes, the only things I'm not getting handed down to me are guest room furniture, a living room TV and stand, and random end tables and things. My mom has a couch (that they hate but haven't found anyone to give it to yet :-P), my brother and SIL basically want to replace everything and are looking for an excuse to give things to me...the kitchen table, silverware, and they want me to take the couch, but I'm pretty sure it would take up the entire first floor. I can only hope someone has bedroom furniture they don't want for a guest room. :)

Two things I've decided I want to do somewhere in my future dwelling are a "wall of letters" and a striped wall.

...but not in alphabetical order. How lame!

I question my ability to paint straight
lines.

So far I have an "H". If you have any ideas for fun (cheap!) letters, let me know. They all need to be different. If I were a teacher, I'd give the most awesome homework assignments.

Fast and furious

I had a busy weekend of doing home-related things. Friday I had an orientation with the Community Home Trust (company I'm trying to get a house through) and Saturday was a 6-hour New Homebuyer class. I learned a crap-load of things...a ginormous crap-load! I'm no longer scared of this whole process.

Two more exciting things: I put my name on a wait list for a townhouse AND I have an appointment this week with the bank to find out what amount of money I'll be able to borrow.

I drove by the townhouse and took some pictures after the class and then yesterday Amanda and I broke the law and walked through them. (They're being built and are due to be done in May).

I'm so glad the stairs were sturdy.

View from the master bedroom. I sorta hope they leave the porta potty.

The floorplans. Supposedly there are 2.5 baths. Anyone see the second
full bathroom? I don't.

The area where these houses are located is called Carrboro, which is a fun, interesting place. I'd even call it "eclectic".

case-in-point

I'm still trying to not get my hopes up, but it's easier said than done. I want this. BADLY.

I'm not going to lie. My running/working out has taken a serious hit this week. I've had a lot on my mind. However, this week, it's on! The beach is calling!

Dogs fart dog farts

Things are getting real around here, my friends. Really really real. I think I've hit a limit. I don't know what that limit is called, but I think it has something to do with filtering out the crap.

Last week I made it my mission to get rid of whatever recurring expenses I could. I canceled my XM radio subscription (that I've had since 2005!) and I canceled my main gym membership. Yes, you heard that right. No more gym membership! I still have my membership at the college gym, so I can take spin and other classes, but I'm saving myself $40 a month getting rid of those two things. Oh, hello running outside, workout DVDs, and doing weights in the living room.

As you may have guessed, there is, in fact, a method to my madness. Today I submitted my application to the Community Home Trust people to hopefully get the ball rolling on finding a place for Pippi and me to live. I mean, like, our own house!

But which doormat will I choose?!

I'm not getting my hopes up (ok, yeah, I really am). I feel like I'm embarking on an adventure. Hopefully it's not a long, painful one. Cross your fingers! Also, if you have any excess furniture, small appliances, or other home-y things, I'll be taking donations :)

In closing, I'd like to discuss a very serious issue: dog farts. We all know they typically smell really bad, but often they aren't silent and those ones are the funniest.

Last night Pippi farted and the smallest of noises came out. She whipped her head around to look at her butt and then looked at me like, "What was that?!" I think my brother has been blaming too many of his on her. Now she has a complex.

Dogs may do gross things sometimes, but it's things like these that make cleaning up after those times so worth it.

I mesmerize dogs with my awesomeness

This weekend I re-made a new friend.

I have a very comfortable lap.

Kara's dog, Peanut, and I got some quality time this weekend. I don't know who enjoyed it more. She's awesome.

The real story of the weekend is how I drove five hours up to Maryland to spend the weekend with Kara and Alyssa. Alyssa ran the Lower Potomac River Marathon and Kara and I spectated like champs.

This was much appreciated at mile 8.

The best response to this one: "He didn't train enough."

This was a huge hit. Runners keep Imodium in business.

At mile 19.5, Kara and I met up with Alyssa and Kara's neighbor Kim to run the last 6.5 miles with them to the finish.

This was around mile 11. Photobomber dude is getting schooled
by two girls.

Alyssa and Kara finished together and I decided to run in with Kim, who was finishing her first marathon! I also met a new blogger friend, Ashley. (Hi Ashley!) I am officially finally feeling confident about my second half in a month (at least I am today. We'll see what tomorrow brings).

My left calf is screaming at me today. I want to say I'm "looking forward" to foam rolling when I get home, but it's such a bittersweet activity. I tweeted about it this morning and my local Fleet Feet store responded. I'm about to take them up on this offer :)

More exciting news: A Facebook message today from Aspaeris Pivot Shorts led me to believe they may be coming out with new colors! Go over to their page and tell them what new colors you'd like them to come in. (Hint: purple! :)


What's your favorite color?

What's your favorite color to wear?

What's your favorite color to wear running?

A day of decisions

Let's get the bummy news out of the way first. I am, once again, single. Sorry folks, the HGG era, while short, has ended.

The most epic "sad" photo I could find.

HOWEVER (If you're a fan of FRIENDS, you know that's a fancy "but"), I also have fun news.

I'm not sure how it all went down, but on Sunday Alyssa is running the Lower Potomac River Marathon and Kara is running the last six miles with her. And, spur of the minute, I decided to join them for the last six. Of course they both are still trying to get me to register for and run the entire marathon, but seeing how much pain I was in after my half, I can tell you that ain't happenin'. Plus, I get my six miles in, get to run with friends, AND I don't have to pay for it. BAM. BOOM. KAPOW!

And also, because apparently I'm feeling extra ballsy today, I just registered for the Hartford Half Marathon in October!

Kari and Alyssa are both running this race (except they're both very advanced and are doing the full marathon). I know I had decided before that I wasn't going to do it, but I'm making some... "financial changes" in order to justify what it's going to cost me in airfare and to register.

Not only does that mean I get to see Alyssa like three times this year, but I also get to see Kari and Bungee AND go to Connecticut AND see Kara, Faith, and Peanut! I think this totally gives us BFF status. Totally worth the cost, no question.

And, since I'm at work right now, I will share the other good news for tomorrow. Wee!

I leave you with something to ponder.

Don't take away my wings!