Fendi & Emo - Rockin' Your Stockin'

Earlier this week the site was down because of an application that I was using that was “hogging” up all the server resources.  Since it is a shared server (with God knows how many people) instead of just removing or disabling the program, my host put the kabosh on the entire site.  I was pretty annoyed because that allowed me to do things the backwards / hard way only… as I wasn’t allowed access to my actual site, where I could have taken care of the problem in one foul swoop.  So the site was down for a day or so while I went to 2,310 different locations to try and solve the issue.  Let’s just say I’ll leave it at that, but I am a little annoyed with my host right now for not really being helpful, or timely since they said they would check overall resources in 24 hours… and that 24 hours was up Thursday…  *cough*  That’s why the site is only half done, because this all went down right in the middle of me working on it…

Annnnnnnyyyyyway, school for me starts this Thursday, and I already feel overwhelmed.  I ordered my books weeks ago and I have one.  One out of four.  I got an email yesterday saying I had to go to Target to buy one since it was way cheaper than going through the book store.  Thanks teach.  So technically I guess I have two, even though I haven’t actually gone to get it yet.  However, I called the bookstore and told them “Hey, this book has been sitting at West Campus for a week and a half… you think you could ship it… and what about this other one that’s been pending for a week… what about that one?”  The response I got was less than pleasurable with one book being dropped off by FedEx the day before my classes start, and one book being on backorder, despite the fact that they have 15 in stock for people who are picking up, until after classes start.  I ordered my books on the 3rd, how long do you wait for people to pick up their books… an eternity?  So yeah, totally sucks.  I hate being unprepared.  Jason’s school starts on the following Monday, and he’s already picked up his books, easy peasy.

A few months ago, I ordered a little device called a FitBit.  It took forever to get here (on backorder… just like everything I ever order) but I finally got it Thursday.  It is amazing to say the least.  It tracks sleep, and calories burned, and has an entire website to track all that and more.  The only thing I am truely disappointed with… is my results: (click it!)

The sleep feature is what really sold me on this little device, and so far this has been my worst night out of three.  My first night I was awoken 12 times, but got about 8 hours of sleep.  My second night I was awoken 23 times (!!!) but got about 7 hours of sleep… last night was obviously the worst because when I was woken up, I stayed up instead of being up for a minute or two.  The website also tracks your caloric intake, and water intake based on the foods you entered in, so it is really interesting to see the total caloric intake of what you eat versus what you burn as well.  So far I am in love with this tiny little helper, but I’m giving it at least a month before I give an absolute recommendation as I’ve seen a lot of pros as well as cons on their forums.

That’s pretty much it for now.  I’m off to force Jason to clean with me… we defrosted/deiced our freezer yesterday (easy to do in this heat) and now its off to organize the kitchen!

Why yes, yes I am one of those crazy people who celebrate their dog’s birthday, with a beef and bacon cupcake!  I can remember when I first picked up Lucy, in Tucson, and Jason wanted NOTHING to do with her (because he hadn’t seen her yet) and now he can’t spend a day without her.  I can’t believe she is 3; she is growing up so fast.  *sniffle*

<3 the Lucy Bob

P.S.  I will be working on this theme over the next week or so, so don’t worry, you won’t be blinded by this hideous bright green forever.  :)

Jason is working until 2 am, so I am trying my hardest to stay up until he gets home.  It is currently 42 minutes after my absolute bedtime (10.)  Generally, if Amanda doesn’t get to be in bed by 10 she is a TERROR.  I can only imagine what the children will be like.  :P  I need my sleep, and I value it completely.  I did take a nap this afternoon as I have NOT been sleeping well at all… however, I slept through the timer, and woke up at 6:05.  I flipped out, thinking it was a work day, and why hadn’t the alarm gone off, and OMG, where is Jason, why is he not in bed with me, where did he go… a few minutes later… I realized: oh, it’s Friday, work is over, and it is 6 pm not 6 am– we are all good.  Phew.  That is how much sleep I have been getting.  I don’t even know what day it is.

So as a few of you may know, Jason caved into my crazy last weekend, and he allowed me (I didn’t give him a choice really) to take our pups to a Dog Whisperer.  Not The Dog Whisperer, but a really good one, that not only helped us communicate, but gave us a lot of help with other things in training aspects.  Her name was Krista Cantrell, she has actually written several books, and been on TV and blah blah blah… and totally not a hoax, as I am sure know some of you thought she was… She had some AMAZING insight and knowledge.  Jason was skeptical until she got to Lucy, and then he was sold.  I recorded the session, that we went to with two of my co-workers (as one had been to her before, so we set up a “group” like session) but unfortunately, we had to stop recording during Lucy’s session, and when I went to save it, having not used the program, screwed something up, and the last hour (which was ALL Lucy) was not saved.  There are some interesting tidbits in there from Maggie (co-workers dog who went first), Landon, who is a ham, and Sadie (other co-workers dog), plus about 5 minutes of Lucy before we had to stop.  The file is about 2 hours long, but interesting.  You can find a zip version, and the straight MP3 version, here. 

A few weeks ago, I built a garden.  I think I mentioned it.  I put up pictures of it in the gallery.  Well, our sweet devil of a dog, Lucy, decided to jump into it, and have a hay-day in the dirt yesterday, demolishing everything in there.  I was so upset, I didn’t know what to do.  All the onions were shredded, and there was no saving them, and I got to save five out of the 6 jalapeno plants.  Luckily, we have a separated yard, and we moved the garden into the back yard, where they cannot get into (now anyway.)  Sadly though, I don’t think the jalapenos are going to make it.  I replanted them yesterday, and when I went to water them today… they were all shriveled and… almost dead.  So sad.  :(  Luckily she only got into one bin, and not both.  The tomatoes, cucumbers, and artichokes still have a chance.

As for the gallery, I added a few new pictures / categories:

• Camping
• The Garden
• And the kids and Jason sleeping on a Sunday  (really important, I know.) 

Enjoy!