Meeting neighbors, poop in hand.

Without a doubt the most interesting way to meet the people in a new neighborhood is to get a dog and walk it during peak dog-walking hours (early morning and before and after dinner). There seems to be something about meeting people when you have a dog (or, better, when you BOTH have dogs) that opens up conversation so easily. And, when you're carrying a clear plastic bag full of hot poop in your hand, all modesty goes out the window and you become instant friends with someone who was just a stranger.

We live in a super neighborhood. There are lots of friendly people and many of those friendly people own dogs. On two instances, I've been out with Mia and have stopped to talk to someone new, only for her to suddenly have to go to the bathroom. There's nothing like talking to someone while an animal is relieving herself by your feet. Do you ignore it and just keep talking? Ideally, but when it's poop, ya gotta pick it up. Anyway, during those two specific instances, Mia has-- how can I say this?-- had some difficulty halfway through going potty. Both times, it seems she was passing something she should not have eaten (one time, fur off a toy, the second time, something that looked like string) and the actual passing part was apparently painful and awkward. Last week, we were standing in a neighbor's front yard talking about Halloween decorations when Mia squatted, dropped a little poo, then started running in circles while screaming and rubbing her bum on the ground. It took a few minutes for the rest of her business to come out, but before she finished, our kind neighbor's husband ran inside and got a wad of paper towels for me.

"Maybe you can pull it out," he suggested. I smiled weakly and said I'd give her another minute to try and push it out.

Sorry, but I'm not going to yank poo from my dog's bum in the presence of strangers. But then again, I think we're probably pals now. Because of the poo.

Love my husband

All week my husband has been sneakily leaving me Bauble Lulu charm beads for the bracelet he bought for me in Bar Harbor. He left one in a box on my nightstand and I found it before bed a few nights ago, then he slipped one on my bracelet while I was sleeping so I found it when I woke up and put my bracelet on, and he left a third one on my nightstand this morning while I was sleeping before he left at 5am for his Army Reserve weekend.

So sweet :)

Kristin the Hermit

Life after 8/7/2010 means that instead of planning a wedding, I fill my time with schoolwork. Plus, I'm able to freelance on my own schedule from home, so I don't have to worry about keeping hours at an office. This gives me lots of time to write and edit my thesis, walk the puppy, and, well... remain isolated.

Seriously, today before I took Mia out on a walk today, I smudged on some eyeliner to make myself feel like I was at least giving my appearance some kind of effort. Because, honestly, the only person I see on a regular basis is my husband, and he never cares WHAT I look like (bless his heart). The problem with working on my thesis and doing an internship and working from home is that, some days, I don't get out of yoga pants. I also assumed I would be more likely to exercise since I'm here a lot-- but no. The only activity I get is in the form of carrying laundry down two flights of stairs and walking the dog around the neighborhood a few times a day. Ideally, I'd be that energetic woman who gets up at 6am, takes the dog for a long run, showers and is cracking away at all her money-making writing projects by 7am... In reality, I roll out of bed when my husband gets out of the shower at 6:30 and proceed with the whole waking up process until 7, when I contemplate exercise, decide against it, shower, feed the dog and myself, then start interning at 8. I then procrastinate on doing my work until I can't anymore, do some work, procrastinate some more, get mad at myself for my lack of discipline, then get around to some more work.

I just.... I spend a lot of time by myself during the day, which I love (especially on days when my UC is bad and I'm sick and exhausted and out of it) but sometimes I miss human contact. I talk to Mia like she's a person who can give me opinions on my outfit (gray or blue t-shirt with these black yoga pants, puppy?) and force her to cuddle with me when I need a hug. I'm not lonely-- my husband comes home, we eat dinner and hang out. I get my recommended daily dose of human contact (also, there's facebook). But my schoolwork has really taken over my life. Actually.. I can't really blame my schoolwork, when it's a mix of a lot of things. But, I took it all on. I took on grad school, a marriage, a house, a dog, an internship, a freelance job with AOL. It really is too much all at once, but as long as I can keep treading water til the internship and thesis are done... I'll be fine. And then maybe at that point I can leave the house for more than a walk around the block, a trip to the grocery store, or a visit at my parents' house!

Here's hopin'.

So busy

I keep meaning to update my blog, but I can never find the time to do it. Right now is a good opportunity-- it's 10:15 on a Saturday night, I just finished editing 30 pages of my thesis and wrote an article for the website I'm interning for. I deserve a little break!

Mia is doing well. We had our first night of puppy class last Tuesday and she kicked butt. The other pup in the class is a freaking PRECIOUS Chow Chow named Mya, whose owner is Kristen (and her husband, Randy). This highly amused me (seems it doesn't take much...). Matt was gone for a week at the Reserves, which kind of sucked, but I survived it. We're starting to fall into a little bit of a routine, but it definitely feels like we're still trying to find our balance in this new life of being married, owning a home, and being parents to a puppy. On a daily basis I'm juggling a million things-- interning, writing, editing my thesis, working on Patch, working on the house, taking care of Mia. I'm exhausted all the time lately, but it's no wonder why! haha Today we had acupuncture appointments, Matt for his back and me for my Colitis, and our acupuncturist kind of helped me get my stress under control and put it in perspective. Sure, I've got a lot of things to worry about-- but really, they're not big deals. And I have a lot of wonderful blessings in my life right now that I'm so grateful for-- namely my husband and our home, health, and pup!

So right now we're sitting around watching ghost shows on the Bio channel. I might cry myself to sleep, they're so creepy-- but there's something awesomely autumn about it. Definitely excited for October-- it's one of my favorite months. I love when the season changes and I ADORE Halloween. Thankfully Matt is on the same page, and we're ready to be creeped out a little bit, to decorate our house with novelty Halloween stuff, and to enjoy our first fall in our house. I've mastered apple crisp and we've got cider in the fridge-- can't top that!

As disjointed as this post is, I think it reflects my fried brain. Maybe next time I'll have more cohesive, organized thoughts! I wouldn't count on it for a few months, though..

Wow...

Well, life after the wedding has been crazy. This is my first chance to sit down and blog in a while! We've been working on the house quite a bit and we're still not unpacked fully yet, but we're taking it one thing at a time. One room at a time, really. To add to the chaos, we adopted a little puppy, too! I also started an internship with www.yourtango.com and I'm still working on my thesis.

So, in short-- life is nuts, but I love every second of it.

Our puppy is Mia, a sweet black lab mix who was found in rural Tennessee living under a car with her mamma and her littermates. They were covered in fleas and had huge patches of fur missing. Poor little guys were such a mess! But the Critter Cavalry Rescue took them in, got them healthy, had them fixed, microchipped and ready for adoption. They were put into foster homes, and our baby Mia was placed in a home just 45 minutes from us. The whole thing happened fast-- we called about her on a Saturday, talked to the lady who runs the rescue on Sunday, and on Monday we were picking her up from the foster home! Our heads were spinning a little bit from how quick the process was, but I'm glad it was quick-- as soon as we adopted Mia, it opened up a space in the foster home for another dog in a shelter to get into a home and buy some time before being adopted. Especially in the south, the shelters are overrun with dogs and cats and unfortunately a lot of those shelters are high kill shelters. Animals that aren't taken from the shelter in a week or so are usually put to sleep. That makes me so sad! Now that we have Mia, I can't imagine now having her around and I really cannot imagine someone killing her because she had no home to go to. So, even though we had a lot on our plate already, we couldn't pass up the chance to help a rescue dog.

And we LOVE her!

She's a sweet little thing, who loves everyone she meets. She has a wicked little sense of humor and she's very smart-- she's learning so much so quick.

Right now she's sleeping on the couch next to me and once she wakes up, we'll probably venture out to the park (or maybe just a walk around the block). We're still working on the whole walking-on-the-leash thing, but she'll get it. If only Cesar Millan could pop in for some tutorials!

Home sweet home

Last night was definitely the "homiest" night we've had so far. We closed 3 weeks ago today (how time flies!), but most of the time we've been in the house, we've spent it unpacking, cleaning, organizing, etc. It's been raining for 3 days straight, and yesterday was so raw and bitterly cold that I went to the supermarket to stock up on some essentials, and decided we were having a cozy night in. I bought Bar Harbor Clam Chowder (I had to stop myself from squealing whenever I saw the can on the shelf!) and a loaf of fresh, warm Italian bread, along with some other must-haves (you know-- baking soda, vanilla extract, waffles).

I got home right before Matt, lugged my groceries in through the rain and put a pot of Trader Joe coffee on to brew. He came home and I announced that we were having chowder for dinner, then making banana bread, then watching a movie and curling up on the couch. He didn't argue, not that I expected he would. But I thought for sure he would want to tackle some more household tasks. Turns out, we both needed a break from it all. So instead, we had a cozy night while it rained and stormed outside! The coffee warmed us up, the chowder was DELISH and reminded me so much of our honeymoon, and the banana bread made the whole house smell great while it baked. We watched Defiance, which was awesome, and then headed to bed without organizing a single pile of clothing or unpacking a single box of stuff.

I wouldn't say we've gotten totally comfortable with this house being "home" yet, but last night definitely helped :)

IKEA! And a rainy Sunday..

Yesterday, on our two week anniversary, I cut my hair about up to my shoulders (will be going shorter in a couple more months... I think I need to ease into it), and then Matt and I went to IKEA! It was my first trip, and most people have been shocked to hear that I'd never been before. Well, I now understand why that was so shocking. How have I missed this for so long?? At least now I can say that I went, I purchased, I conquered.

And I'm ready to go back for more!

We spent a good solid 3.5 or 4 hours there and took home a TV stand, a coffee table (both of which are already assembled thanks to my handy husband), a sofa table and a bookcase. We also picked up some decorative things like baskets, some lanterns, and a rug for the living room. I couldn't believe the prices and the huge selection. I would rather drive an hour to IKEA any day instead of going fifteen minutes to a Cardi's. We never would have gotten these pieces for the same prices elsewhere. And honestly, I liked IKEA furniture a lot more than I've liked other stuff we've looked at.

Amazing. I'm so glad we went.

Today we've been moving stuff, cleaning, building, organizing... like mad people. Our plumber came this afternoon (on a Sunday! What a guy!) to fix our hot water heater. Matt hooked up the dehumidifier to a hose so we don't have to dump it every few hours. And now we're taking a little break, eating ice cream, and plotting out the rest of the afternoon. The sofa table will be built and the rug will be put down, but first I have to CLEAN. I'm so paranoid now because we just had a mystery bug problem (seems to be gone now... we woke up without any new bites), and all I want to do is scrub everything and vacuum every corner and get rid of every bit of dust so that this place is inhospitable to bugs. Also, we need to do some Raid bombs in our basement STAT because I saw a MASSIVE brown spider (I'M LOOKIN' AT YOU, LIS) on the wall last night when I went down to get the laundry and it sent me running up the stairs yelling, "OH, HELL NO. HELL. NO. HELL NO." So Matt did the laundry and killed the spider. But seriously. I want to bomb the hell out of those suckers. If you're a bug and you're living in my house, you will die. Only Michele le Rabit (said in a French accent) is allowed to live in or around our home. Not huge disgusting spiders or bugs that leave us with weird bites. Sorry, but you're all evicted.

The only thing I like about winter is the lack of bugs. So gross.

Well, Matt is on the floor with pieces of the sofa table all around him, so I should probably offer a hand. It's been a busy day, but I really like that it's been rainy and chilly. We've gotten so much done inside our messy, cozy house! :)