serendipity.

basically I have nothing specific to say, so through serendipitous methods, I'll probably end up saying a lot... here goes:

I'm going to start with the fact that Melissa got ENGAGED last night! woot! I'm wayyyy pumped about that! This is a picture of the happy couple :) I get to be in the wedding! I'm no pro, so I'm kind of nervous, but I'm sure I'll be told what to do, and I can't wait!!!!!! okay, enough exclaimation marks... heh... but I'll wear a dress, get some gifts, and drink a lot at the bachelorette party! Word. Here are Mel and I... this is St. Patty's day 07. And the love continues to rock on :) Mel is great. She's smart and crazy and I love her! And Mike, her husband-to-be, is a pretty badass dude. So it'll definitely be great.

Okay, now that I've sufficiently talked too much about... un-funny things... we'll move on to the fact that Zulu (I seem to write a lot about this dog) tried to kiss me last night, but only succeeded in drilling her tooth directly into the bridge of my nose. It's now bruised, somewhat swollen, and has a cut on it. I swear, this dog must eat demons when I'm out of the house, because she's a piece of work. She's more protective and loyal than any creature I've known, but damn can she do some damage. She can even hurt you with her tail! None of it is intentional, she had a rough beginning, but I'm going to make her a puppy slipper if this shit doesn't calm down. I don't know if I've mentioned-- but I'm going to basic obedience with both of them, and I really enjoy it. I'm probably a dork, but I like going! And I like having training sessions with them every night... it's fun for us :)

Other than that, it looks like a house of some sort will pan out with Torrey and Tadra, the two girls I found on craigslist who go to UCO. I met Torrey, she's really cool, so I'm excited. I think I found the only other liberal in the state! hahaha...

And that's going to conclude this post... more to come. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

hokay, so...

So, my lovely dog, Zulu (top picture), is about 9 months old. I was given an approximate age, so from there I decided her birthday was October 29th, 2007. Therefore she is 9 months old-- today, in fact. She is awesome 95% of the time. Then, sometimes, just for fun, she'll shit somewhere. Today it was in her crate while I was at work. I know, as a fact, that her previous owners would hardly ever let her out of her crate, so she did everything in there... ate, slept, pooped... and that's sad and disgusting. But since I've had her she's gotten better in leaps and bounds. So, I know that when she has a small backwards slide like this that I shouldn't get mad at her- but sometimes it's REALLY bad.

Today I walked in my door to have the stench of feces jam itself up my nostrils and down my throat. It was repulsive. I got to her crate, where she was fullly covered in her own shit... and it was everywhere else, too. I had to lay a towel down so she could walk out of her crate on to it, then carry her to the bathroom and put her in the tub. After scrubbing her, I had to throw away the blanket in her crate and clean both of her toys that were caked in shit. I had to scrub out the tray in the bottom of her crate three times with disinfectant. Next I had to wipe down her crate, and the walls around it. I then emptied an entire bottle of fabreeze throughout the apartment.

After all of that, I was sweating like a whore in church, and feeling rather angry. The whole apartment still smells like shit, and it's hot as hell so opening the windows would only serve to cook the shit-house.

This proves that I love my dog-- but doesn't take away from the fact that I want to make her into a doggie slipper right now.

probably a boring update :(

Okay, from now on I promise to try and write in here a few times a week, so I won't have to do some super lame summary. I'm probably not going to really go BACK at this point... I'm just going to update on where I am now, and where I'm moving from here. So here goes:

Currently I am in the last month of my lease at the apartment complex that I'm in (Raindance). I will not be resigning another 6 month lease, because if I do they're going to jack my rent up by like 50 bucks, which on my poverty wages is an effing joke. So, I met two girls through craigslist, and I'm moving in to a house with them at the end of the month. It's near the dog park- which is so money- and it's $100 less per month. That's what I'm talkin about, bitches! Plus, we'll be splitting utilities 3 ways, so hopefully they go down a little as well. They are two 22 year old UCO students. They seem pretty suh-weet, and we'll be getting together tomorrow night for dinner... thai food. I've been dying to try some thai, so that works out beautifully!

As far as work goes... I'm enjoying what I'm doing and I'm learning a lot of stuff. It will be a great experience when all is said and done. I have about 7 months left. But that includes a few days off here and there, Erin visiting in September, and two full weeks of winter break :) After I'm done my year term on March 1 (I think) I'll be heading home within that week. I'm currently toying with the idea of temping, or working for my mother for a month, so that in April I can volunteer abroad in South Africa. I found a grant that will pay for volunteer travel, so I'm going to apply for that. If I get it, then I'll do it. If not, I'll decide whether I want to fundraise all the money, or if I should think about doing something else... or maybe I'll just temp longer to get the money :) At any rate, that's my asperation, and I'll probably do it... because that's how I roll. After I get back from that I'll continue taking American Sign Language courses at Philadelphia Community College. I'm starting the ASL courses here at OSU-OKC in a few weeks, and I want to finish the program through and be certified as an interpreter. I think it will be a good skill, and a great way to earn extra income, or even as a full time job for when I have kids or want to travel. I can make a flexible schedule to accomodate either of those things... so it sounds perfect to me! After I finish that program I'm going to start applying to get my master's. I'll probably apply to Drexel, Widener, St. Joe's, Villanova, etc... local colleges to get my master's from. For work during that time-- who knows? Hopefully I'll get a decent job that I can hold down and enjoy for a few years that will help me go toward the type of job I would ultimately like.

Okay, enough about all that... I guess that's all been in my head and I didn't realize it until I started to write it all down!

Other than that, both Zulu and Lucy are doing very well... I'll try to add pics of them on here tonight-- if I remember. My computer is floppy and pretty much a POS... so I'll have to go through and add them through their picture URL. Fun.

I've made some friends along the way here in OKC so far. I hang out with Sarah and Chris the most. They're a pretty bad-ass couple and I enjoy doing stuff with them. Sarah and I are going to a free women's self defense class this Saturday morning. We have played disc golf together, gone to a movie or two, some dinners, some drinks, many nights at their house playing pong, guitar hero, and just chatting. All-in-all, I'm actually kind of happy here, but I do look forward to getting back to the Philly suburb area... even though it's nowhere near as nice, or pretty, as OKC is. And I'll also miss the friendships that I'm finally fortifying here! It's always a catch 22 in my life. But I think it'll all work out for the best. Mostly because I'll make it :)

you say dress; I say fooling the MAN

Before I do a blog-update, I'm going to fill you all in on the glory (that I have just discovered) of dresses! I know, for me to say that somewhere very hot must have just gotten very cold. Anyway, I've decided that dresses are THEE best tom foolery since Freud being a coke head.

Wearing a dress is like wearing your favorite, giant, comfy t-shirt-- and it's publicly acceptable-- even at work! Seriously, a dress is the soft, flowy, not-so-distant cousin to the moo-moo. And I'm allowed to wear it to WORK, and I'm considered dressed UP! How clever, I say!

I just tried to look up the history of a dress, but it was a no-go. There's apparently a class I can take somewhere that will inform me about the history of a dress. I'll pass. For now...

Furthermore, wearing a dress makes getting ready even EASIER! Not only does it make you look more dressed up than usual-- it's EASIER! How fantastic! Putting on a dress removes the stress of having to find pants, a matching shirt, perhaps layered shirts, shoes, jewelry, etc. Putting on a dress cuts the majority of that headache out. It's like only having to find a shirt! No need to put pants on, no sir!

This genius device cleverly hides itself by being "too girly" or "too much fuss"... but where did it catch this bad rep? Smart, smart women over the years have kept this brilliant scheme to themselves to prevent a wide-spread dress epidemic. If dresses became the norm, there'd be no way to go up from there. So, instead, ladies have quietly discovered, then kept hidden, the secret of the dress.