Another Year Older...

So my birthday came and went - #42. I don't feel any different. Are you supposed to feel any different when putting another notch in that getting older belt? I dunno, maybe when I hit 50 I'll feel differently. No one believes I'm older than mid-thirties, so I should take it as a good sign I'm aging well. I do miss being carded at bars, I used to get that up until I hit around 33-34. But my hair was longer and I was about 10 pounds lighter then. *sigh*

For numero 42 I spent most of the day curled up on the couch, sick to my stomach, watching the episodes of Dexter I had missed over the last couple of weeks. No birthday dinner for me, except scrambled eggs and wheat toast. Happy birthday to me.....

Gobble Gobble

Wow, here it is the day before Thanksgiving.

I can't believe the year has gone by so quickly. For the first time ever, we won't be having dinner at our house. No rising at 6 a.m. to preheat the oven, chop & dice the celery, mushrooms, onions; no melting butter, no smell of turkey permeating the house. Worse yet, no leftovers to dine on for the 2 days following so I'll actually be forced to cook.

Oh how I adore those leftover turkey sandwiches made on dinner rolls and filled with turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. Fare thee well.

Not that going over to feast in the company of a friend's house is necessarily bad. It's just...strange.

I do have to bring a pumpkin pie, but that's it.

Something to look forward to...

So I'm counting the days until I leave for the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in lovely Long Beach, Cali.
Blue skies. Puffy white clouds. Lots of sunshine.
It beats the heck out of our grey winter gloom here in PDX.

And yes, even though it's more travel (which by this point I have grown ever so weary of) at least I'll be doing it up luxury style. Booyah! Last year my room had the most amazing view, especially at night. Of course, it is work and I'll be putting in loooooonnnngggg hours, but the trade off is totally worth it. I need a break from what's become a tedious rut and what better place to break out of a rut than beautiful Cal-i-forn-i-A. There will be beautifully dressed people and well-groomed dogs, all out for a couple of nights on the town.
What's really great fun is seeing many of the top dogs out for their nightly stroll on a major city street. It's truly a sight to behold and a simple explanation does not do it justice. I will have to try and capture the moment digitally this year. It's really quite the weekend in the dog world, even eclipsing that bastion of shows known as Westminster.

And what's my favorite breed of dog, you might be asking? Well, there are so many to choose from and some I've had and really loved. Our Labrador Retriever, Sadie, was the fourth family member for 14 years. To us, she was the epitome of man's best friend. However, traveling so much has precluded having a dog at this time so I get all the fun of playing with dogs at the shows and none of the mess to pick up afterward! If and when it's time to have a dog enter my heart, I am torn between a couple of breeds but these are my top three:

Bedlington Terrier

Tibetan Terrier (a very dear friend has a great breeding program)

Scottish Terrier
and of course, another Lab.

It's Like Chain Mail, Only Blog-style

You know how you get those emails telling you to include your answers and then forward it on to 5 of your friends? Yeah, this is like that only I'm not forwarding it on. Aren't you glad?

Things about me that you may/may not know:


4 places I've lived
1. Oklahoma City, OK
2. Tuttle, OK
3. La Puente, CA
4. Naples, Italy



4 tv shows I watch
1. Dexter
2. CSI (the original, NOT NY or Miami)
3. Survivor
4. Mad Men


4 movies I've seen more than one time
1. Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan
2. Rear Window
3. Anchor Man
4. Live & Let Die

4 jobs I've had
1. Carhop @ Sonic
2. Accountant
3. Secretary
4. Dog Show Superintendent

4 places I've been
1. Hollywood, CA
2. Rome, Italy
3. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
4. Dennisport, MA

4 people who email me
1. Laurie
2. Patti
3. Dee
4. Bill

4 fave foods
1. Spaghetti Carbonara
2. Peel-n-eat shrimp
3. Fuji apples
4. Lamb chops

4 places I'd rather be
1. A sunny, tropical locale
2. Camping just about anywhere
3. the gym
4. Getting a massage

4 things to look forward to
1. Work bonus
2. Thanksgiving dinner spent w/family & friends
3. Christmas in Hawaii
4. Losing those last 7 pounds!

4 things I'm thankful for
1. My health
2. My mother ('cause the good lord knows he broke the mold when He made her!)
3. My brother safely home from Iraq
4. My son's continued progress against depression

Just a Geoduck in the Muck

Lately I've been feeling discontent. In my personal life. In my professional life. A general malaise lingers, despite my best efforts to shake it.

So many things going through my mind right now.

The kiddo.

Finances (the husband is especially fond of this subject).

Work (I can't stand going and have to force myself out of bed every morning).

Let's start with the kiddo. He probably bothers me most and I believe he is the source of most of my tension. He now wants to switch colleges yet again, this time headed for a very liberal school where the curriculum is...how shall I say it - suspect? He says that for someone with depression and his emotional/physical makeup, it will be the perfect school. Nevermind the fact he's already spent his entire college fund bouncing from out of state school to out of state school. All of it is gone, we're robbing from Peter to pay Paul just to ensure he can have that all-important piece of paper. Now he has the brainstorm to get a $30,000.00 student loan (which we have to cosign)and shack up in a 3 bedroom house (at the cost of $1,400.00 per month, plus utilities) with 2 "friends" (unknown to us) starting in December.

Then there's the finances. The hubby is always trying to find a better way to infuse our monthly budget with additional $. This isn't a bad thing, so don't get me wrong. But when he talks of refinancing, changing insurance agencies, etc. all of a sudden and all simultaneously, I want to

I don't even know that I want to discuss work. *sigh* I didn't want the job to begin with, but it was the right move to make at the time (or so I continue to tell myself) for the husband's sake (basically it was something like, he took this job & I came too or else he had no job). I was a happily content government employee with almost 14 years time in grade.
I was truly happy!!! I worked for a wonderful person, had great coworkers, good hours, lots of holidays, seldom worked overtime, hardly traveled. Now I'm gone 29 weekends out of the year and I've lost track of the total number of days spent on the road. I hate going to the office, it's the same repetitive schtick over and over again. I'm tired of dealing with people. I'm tired of playing boss. I've started applying for other jobs that seem interesting, like one that caught my eye in yesterday's classified section seeking a personal assistant (but an individual, not a company) and I've signed up for a website which sends email notices of jobs fitting my description. I just don't know what I'm worth any more, if my current salary isn't overinflated for the market.

So here I am, stuck. Mired in indecision.