The things animals say...

I lay in bed last night, laughing...at myself. I find it humorous how "integrated" my dog, Norman, feels in our family. STORY: I had gone to bed later than usual (class until 10pm, studying to minister Wed. night, and wind-down process had kept me alert until well past midnight), and Norman, being the loyal dog that he is, grudgingly stayed up slept in the living room, waiting for me to go to bed. Once I got there, I was so amused by this DOG...who thinks he owns everything we own pretty much owns everything we own. He had such a difficult time falling asleep...he was tossing and turning, kicking and snorting (he is a PUG after all), when finally he discovered the thing that would aid him in "getting comfortable"...a bone. He rushed off the bed and ran through the house (yes, you can tell he was running...once again, he is a PUG) to find this enormous bone he has been working on for many, many moons. He runs back to the bedroom, jumps on the bed, tucks it safely under my blanket and promptly snuggles up to sleep. It was hilarious. You could just sense that, in his world, something WAS NOT RIGHT!

But the thing that struck me most was that I was paying such close attention to these assertions of my dog's emotions. Why is it, we think we can understand our pets? I mean, I have never heard my prissy cat, Claire, make snooty and rude comments, but I am quite aware of those times that she wishes she could. Claire is also my diabetic cat, to whom I have to give twice daily shots. It's really hard for me (and I am not even the one getting the shot), yet she always nuzzles my hand or face when I am done. It's like she's telling me "I understand, I know you're just doing what you have to do and I love you anyways"...She can't speak so I am obviously reading a lot into a very normal cat behavior...but it's what I need to know, at that moment.

My other cat, Oliver, who gives a whole new meaning to the term scaredy cat can be timid when people are over, is also the bravest beast in the wilderness when he's up against a fly. He's such a lover, yet can be extremely ornery. He cuddles up next to you, strokes your face with his paw, and nuzzles your cheek with his nose, right before he takes a quick, yet small, bite of your face. Oliver has been in our family for 5 years now. I still never see it coming. Not to mention, Oliver is the most vocal cat I have ever seen. It seems like he wants to "talk" all the time, about anything. He doesn't like it when he doesn't know which room we're in (and God forbid we ever shut him OUT of that room), or when we are gone all day...and he tells us exactly how he feels...or so I think...


I had my wisdom teeth removed on Thursday and told Jeremiah I wanted NO ANIMALS bothering me while the drugs wore off. When I woke up, I saw three "concerned" animals sitting outside the baby gate that was hindering their ability to come see if I was okay. Of course, they never said that...So maybe my interpretation of my animal's personalities is simply what I would WANT them to think and say and feel about me. By the way, if Norman was a child...he would be a momma's boy. I am very much his

favorite =)

Just my thoughts for the day.

Bathroom Remodel

Okay, this is my third attempt at posting bathroom remodel pictures...grr...for some reason, they don't want to cooperate with me. Anyways, this is our completely remodeled..okay almost completely remodeled bathroom. 3 days of sweat (and a little blood), $300 $400 once you add in our bathroom lights, fixtures, and hardware but overall, we didn't kill each other. That's the most important thing!

These are our BEFORE pictures...It's important to disclaim that the walls were self-induced. In my defense, the Lowe's people said it was very easy to create this "faux rust" look. Apparently I am simply an anomoly of painting failure...





Here is our "working" pictures. We tore out the carpet (and cleaned all the cigarette butts from under our tub. Thank you to the gentlemen who built my house with such a spirit of excellence...grr... removed the baseboards, painted the walls, laid the tiles, grouted tiles, and replaced finished baseboard..all in three days work (one of which we were pleasantly surprised by friends from AR and got very little work done



















As it would turn out uploading photos to blogger is a horrifyingly disgusting job that makes me want to throw my laptop out the window not as easy as one might hope. I guess, this will have to be my plug for Facebook if you want to see more pictures of the job. Alas, our finished product!

My So-Called Life...

Well I decided, after much deliberation..to update my blog. I check it about every other day and think to myself "I should really post something" then I move on to something else....But, today, my tongue is still numb and Jeremiah hasn't returned with the ink cartridges yet for me to print some research documents for my group homework assignment....not to mention the percocet. There isn't much else I can do right now, except BLOG! So here it goes.

I don't really remember where my life was during my last post and I am too lazy to read back through it to make sure I adequately update you...You will just have to trust me. I will hit on the important notes. School is kicking my butt, but not quite enough to make me quit. In fact, the further we go in this class, the better I feel about it. I am feeling better and better about our team assignment. More and more confident about my APA writing skills, and somehow (no matter how difficult it feels) I am getting most everything accomplished, with the help of my loving and supportive spouse. He Rocks!

Weight loss?? Not as successful as I wish I were being. I haven't even hit the gym in the past two weeks. I probably could list 100 excuses and all of them be truth, but the HONEST truth is that I need to be working out. I may just need to change my format (maybe morning runs and pilates-yuck) I still hope to have lost 25 lbs by the end of 2009. That was a new year's resolution I made (along with finishing my duvet cover--also not done) last year and there is nothing I hate more than NOT accomplishing goals!! I think I need more variation in my work-outs. I get bored easily and then I just stop...haha...not very effective =) Although I must say, my two day jello diet is a good jump start on my workouts-and Biggest Loser just premiered..that always motivates me!!!! Maybe I need my friends to work out in the evenings more...ahem, Rene and Jen......

So, some exciting baby news. (haha gotcha!!). We recently went to an information meeting at the agency of choice (Dillon International) to go over all the ins and outs of international adoption. It was majorly an eye opener. The timeline was longer than we anticipated so that basically means, we have to start the process earlier than we originally thought. Our Application #1 will be turned in Jan. 2010 in hopes that we will have baby in arms by late Spring 2011 (also MSM graduation time) So scary to think its closer and closer. Its so much easier to plan it when its years away..but this is like, upon us!!! Of course, after the initial excitement and shock of meeting with the agency, I have been stalking a yahoo group that focuses on Ethiopian Adoptions and its had some long discussions about the race identity issues. Everything about it, I understand. As parents of a child of a different race, we have to make sure we are concious of the fact that our child will see the world differently than we do. They will face racism that I won't understand and it's my job to make sure that my child is surrounded by people that look like him/her. They will be loved beyond measure in our family and we will always talk about the beautiful canvas God created our family to be, but the world is still not perfect. I worry that, ultimately, he or she will wish they hadn't been adopted by white parents. How do you handle that??? Before this stalking incident of the yahoo group, our philosophy was that we would integrate our child in racially diverse communities (including the AWESOME heritage camps that Dillon puts on every year) and we would never talk about "having them" differently than any other biological children, but that each child would have a unique story...and everything else, we would handle AS A FAMILY when those issues arise. I just don't want to be looking at the world through rose colored glasses. We are confident that this is God's will. It just doesn't eliminate the scary aspects..... It can be SO HARD to have no choice but to trust God...and I LOVE God!

In other news, I have a girl's weekend coming up in two weeks with one of my dearest friends Ruth. I am SO EXCITED!! We plan to make pumpkin butter, fry donuts, shop, tour Tulsa, and just spend quality time together. I can't imagine anything better!!! I love her so much and I NEED this even more!!!!! That will be the same weekend as the end of my first course in grad school.....1 down, 12 more to go!!!

I will do a better job....ON the rare occasion that I don't have homework due, I will make it a point to post...I know, you guys are always itching to hear about my super-cool life!! Love you all so much!!!

I bet you didn't think I had moves like this...

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