kansas is like a box of chocolates...

you never know what you are going to get!

outside my apartment window this morning.

hey...at least i got a snow day out of it, i left work at 1 yesterday!

do you like that i have a coke machine right outside my window?  yet another reason i decided to live here.  except i really want one right now and i don't have any dang change!!

grrr!!!!

back? maybe...maybe...

so, i took a little bit of a break.  my true peeps will stay with me.  :)  i have faith in all of you.

but really, i took a break because i couldn't get on here and write anything somewhat happy.  for real.  i had an horrible experience at the park two weeks ago and i'm still dealing with issues from it.  the short story is that i was walking in the park and my dog may or may not have nipped at someone.  (there's not really any proof that he did it and that she didn't make the mark herself.)  it pinched her skin and didn't even break it, but she called 911 and of course the frickin' firemen came and then she insisted that they call the EMTs and then they came and then her friends insisted that they call the cops so they could report my dog.  poor nelson dog.  i know that it's scary if that kind of thing happens to you, but he's honestly never done anything like that and i told her he was up to date and that i would pay for her to go get her leg checked out.  she didn't speak english very well, so her friend was translating for me, but i think a lot was lost in translation.

no worries though, i was there legally, nelson was on a leash and the lady was just running past us going the other way.  he jumped over and (i thought) sniffed at her.  that is when she ran into the bathroom and came back out and showed me her wound.  i don't think she has much of a case if anything happens.  i hope.  unfortunately, the law always sides against the dog in these cases...in other words, the dog's owner.

anyway....nelson had to undergo a 10 day rabies quarantine at my vet's ($288) and i went and got him licenced with the city ($28).  i've also tried multiple times to get a hold of the family and have offered again to pay for her doctor's visit, but they haven't called me in almost two weeks.  i'm hoping the whole thing has blown over, but i'm not sure it is...here's to hoping!

how have YOU been?

rewind

i started this post tonight as a real debbie downer. i was complaining about all the had gone wrong with my day and i was starting to sound like a grade-a spoiled brat.

SO, i decided to turn my frown upside down....with an even better post!

without further ado...drum roll please...

the 10 things i'm negative BUT...positive about right now...

1. my dog threw up all over my carpet this weekend. three times. you know why? he got into the trash and found my can of grease...ewww. BUT...this did force me to clean my carpets (twice, because, EWW, gross) and clean up around the house.

2. kyle went to portland for two weeks for work. so we'll miss one of our weekends together. BUT...when he comes home next friday we are going to be in manhattan to volunteer for the BGC casino night! i'm so excited to see all my old buds from work i can hardly stand it!

3. it gets harder and harder every weekend to say good bye to kyle. BUT...he is dissatisfied with his boss/place of work right now (no, that's not the positive thing...sheesh, what kind of a person do you think i am!), so he applied to a few places this weekend and already has a phone interview! keep your fingers crossed, we may be living in the 'ta sooner than we expected! (which was never...so...yay!)

4. i don't care or know how it happened, but someone deleted some of my drawings. i don't think it was on purpose, but i was mad about it. BUT...the guy i can't stand is gone for two days on a trip and i don't have to listen to his crap for two blissful days!!

5. i'm totally swamped at work. BUT...i'm extremely lucky to have a job right now. like REALLY lucky. i have a couple of friends who have been laid off due to the economy. YAY for living in the wichita bubble where everything is always honkey dory!

6. i got my bonus today at work. it was about half of what i thought it would be. BUT...see above. i should just be happy i got one at all!

7. i spoke to my mom on the phone, i'm not getting as much in taxes as i thought i was. BUT...i reminded her we could claim my moving expenses and all the money it took for me to find a job when i graduated (i don't even want to tell you the amount it was...it was that much i had to spend) and the rebate increased! i guess interviewing in tulsa, st. louis, KC and many other places did pay off in the end!

8. my dog keeps barking at something outside and it's giving me a raging headache. BUT...i should be glad he loves me enough to bark at everything that comes within 3 feet of me. AWWW...

9. when i was doing my yoga dvd earlier, both my cat and my dog were all in my face, the WHOLE TIME. totally messing up my chi. for reals, animals, can't a girl get some peace and quiet to "work out"? :) BUT...i should be glad that i have such great animals that want to be near me all the time. they can't help it they are so adorable i have to stop the dvd to play with them for a few minutes.

and finally...the real kicker...

10. i was in a horrible mood to start off with this morning. my mom and aunt moved my grandparents into assisted living this weekend. i can't believe that my grandparents are going into that stage of their lives. it just feels like there is no going back for them. my grandmother keeps getting out of the little house they have in manhattan (she has alzheimer's) and my grandpa can't find her. luckily they have great neighbors who help her out, but it was too much for everyone to handle. so they are settled into an apartment with assisted living where she will be monitored with an ankle bracelet (stylish). BUT...i'm glad that my grandparents have lived such a wonderful life. they have four kids, 11 grand kids and i think we are up to double digits in the great-grandchildren. they have lived to the ripe old ages of 94 and 91 and i wouldn't put it past them to live much longer than that. i also love that my grandfather and i exchange emails often and that he can always put a smile on my face. i love that kyle and he can sit in the corner of a room for hours and talk about farming, gardening or just sit in silence and enjoy each other's company. i know i'm a better person for knowing this two wonderful people and that no matter what they have made a lasting impression on me. i love them both! (even crazy grandma when she pees in my mom's shoes...another day perhaps...)

and just to tickle your funny bone. here's a picture i sent my grandpa to cheer him up today. this is my cat, moe, sitting (YES, SITTING) up against my dog, nelson. too cute for words. awww...da brudder's lub each odder! (catie's cutsie talk translation...awww...the brother's love each other!)

moe says, "what the deuce are you looking at? ain't you never seen a cat sit up afore?" :)

random babble

i'm at my parent's house right now...on a "school" night (as i like to call work nights...too depressing to call them work nights). anyway, my hot water heater wasn't working AGAIN and i didn't feel like going to work tomorrow all smelly. and my mom and i refinished my dresser. you know, the one in my entry way, see my apartment tour to refresh your memory....

you back? okay. anyway, last night i came over here and sanded and filled some spots on the dresser and then i spray painted it tonight (eek...horrible to admit, i'm usually an eco-friendly person i promise, but it was WAYYYY cheaper, even though my parents own a hardware store. like way cheaper) it is a nice semi-flat black. so it will pretty much be like the my entertainment center, a nice semi-flat color. it's drying upstairs, but when it's back at my apartment, i'll take some photos of it for you. promise.

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does anyone know the laws about renting. doesn't it say somewhere that hot water is a necessity for life and it is an EMERGENCY when you don't have it. i hate my complex people, they think nothing is a big deal. my toilet seat was broken from the day i moved in until last week. and they only came to fix it because i called EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. to annoy them. i mean, i should just stop paying rent and get evicted. it's a better deal than breaking my lease. don't rent from cedarbrooke, i'm telling you, they suck. or any village park i should add, they are all the same people.

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i haven't blogged in a while and feel like a loser. sorry, guys, i'm sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seat to hear from me. right... :)

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you know how i blogged about being afraid i was going to get laid off? well, my friend kara from school got laid off, she was working for a large firm in seattle. she's moving back home (which is newton for you kansasans) and is looking for a job in wichita. any job. so if you know of any, send them my way. i'm still worried that i might get laid off. i wasn't too worried until we hired a lady that used to work for us here in the wichita office to work in our kc office, and she has her license. i have a year and a half until i can get mine. so...yeah...i'm pretty worthless to the company right now. although i do have a pretty full project load right now, so maybe they will feel sorry for me. maybe. but probably not.

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i'm thinking of buying a house. i pretty much figured out that i can get a house for around $80K...i was thinking college hill or riverside area. i found some awesome fixer uppers. my mom and i are going to look at a few on saturday and if i like them i'm going to take my boyfriend (who grew up working on rental homes all his life) to go look at them and tell me how much work it will need and how much it will cost. it's crazy, i could seriously BUY a house and my mortgage payment would be less than what i pay in rent. rent is redic in this town. for reals. wichita sucks sometimes. and i even live in the semi-ghetto. dang.

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my dog just walked by me and he still smells like skunk. not a lot, just enough to make your nose burn. he got sprayed THREE AND A HALF weeks ago. any suggestions?

wonderful weekends...

i really didn't think that being in a long distance relationship was going to be this hard. really, i didn't. kyle and i have been dating for about 6 years now, and for three of those we've lived at least an hour apart.

but even an hour apart isn't really that bad. i could still go and see him if i wanted to, but sometimes that meant driving home really late at night or getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to drive to work or school in the morning. now, we're down to weekends only. and it sucks, really.

now, we officially live 3 hours apart. and that's if i don't have to stop on the way up to his house. 3 hours?!? that's a lot of a weekend. i mean, that's SIX HOURS of driving for one of us. i'm really not sure how long i'm going to last here in wichita. being back up in onaga for the weekend just showed me exactly what i was missing out on. it's so beautiful up there, epecially when you see what wichita looks like. and then you add to the fact that i actually got to cook for two people, not just one (and a dog and a cat, but they don't really count, do they?) and do my laundry for free and live in a house that i wouldn't have to pay rent on. it's just kind of depressing to return to stinky old wichita and think about how much i'd rather be living up there.

this post is getting depressing...it was supposed to be about my wonderful weekend up north and it turned into a bash on wichita post! lol. oh well! i really do like living here, but i truly miss all my manhattan friends and of course, seeing kyle any time i wanted to. i'm sure everything will work out in the end, and since it's not worked out yet, it's not the end!

so, ANYWAY...i did have a wonderful weekend at kyle's house, although he doesn't have internet and i don't get my FB and blogger "fixes" in everyday...but that's okay, i did get to see him after all... :)

here's the line up of weekends to come...

sept. 13th - dustin and katie's wedding in emporia, ks.
sept. 20th - dalton and emily's wedding in some small town in nebraska...basically it's so far north we will almost be in south dakota.
sept. 27th - e.duerr comes to town on friday! and erin g's bachlorette party in KC on saturday, studying my butt off on sunday.
oct. 4th - my LEED test day...yikes! kyle is building a shed at his house this day as well.
oct. 11th - erin and kyle's wedding in axtell, ks.
oct. 16th - i'm on the graduate panel for the KSU Interior Design Symposium all day, kyle and i leave for vacation that night!
oct. 16th - 20th - on vacation to cachura valley, co!
oct. 25th - a FREE weekend finally...
nov. 1st - kyle and i's 6 year anniversary, my dad's birthday, and the KU/KSU game in lawrence! we're going with some friends of ours that have the same anniversary!

and i think that's all we have "booked" until thanksgiving...sheesh, we are a busy crew this fall!