When I Love My Dog

Sandbox

We've had to re-vamp our small little yard for the silly dog. We made him a little sandbox and with the help of my dad, laid grass so he would stop eating all the bark. He LOVES the sand! As you can see, it's all over his nose!

Divine Intervention!

A friend of ours gives their little boy empty and washed out food containers. His latest favorite is a yogurt container. It inspired me to give Scout a water bottle scrunched up just enough to fit in his mouth. It provides HOURS of entertainment! And the best part is, I don't have to watch him...I can HEAR where he is!

B.F.F.'s

That elephant is Scout's B.F.F. They seem to like each other. Except when I let go and puppy gets a hold of him, if the thing was alive, Scout would have snapped his neck off. It must be instinct. He puts that thing is his baby jaws and flings his head around so fast, it's pretty entertaining. The best part about it is that he gets pretty tuckered out by it all and takes a nice little rest afterward.

This would be Brian's "I'm tired" smile. We had puppy just in the kitchen at first. We bought a baby gate and closed it off. It made for easy clean up of accidents, but everytime we would try and do anything in the rest of the house, this little guy would HOWL! I realize he's a hound dog, so he's got a nice set of lungs, but WOW! So, now he has reign over the downstairs. The king of the carpet! He's not allowed of the furniture, and luckily is too small to get up on it, so as long as we never let him on it, he'll know it's not for him.

It's A Boy!!

What a whirlwind this last week has been! Brian and I, kind of out of nowhere, are the proud parents of a beagle puppy named Scout. He's super cute, but neither of us realized what we have gotten ourselves into. We had a nice drive up to Oregon to pick him up, and from the car ride home, we knew this was going to be interesting to say the least. We've had him a little over a week, and I can hardly remember what a blissfully happy life we had before he came along. He's very fun when he's sleeping or playing by himself, but let me tell you, it's a challenge. I think this little guy is going to be the first AND last puppy we ever get! And a piece of advice for the rest of you, if you want a puppy...TAKE MINE! Or, get one that's already house broken. We've actually debated whether or not to keep him after getting up with him 3 times a night and cleaning up MANY accidents. I don't want to compare him to a baby, but just picture a baby who is not sleeping through the night, teething, potty training, learning how to run, AND biting people ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Holy Moly! We are seeing progress, and are actually very excited when his vaccines are complete and we can take him to the park and teach him how to play fetch. People passing by always stop and pet him and oooh and aaaah over how cute he is...IF THEY ONLY KNEW!

Happy Halloween!

Every year Brian and I go to a pumpkin patch around and get some "cheat sheet" stensils and carve fun pumpkins. This year was especially fun because we got to put them on our very own front porch! Brian was very proud of his white pumpkin, carved as Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas. Shockingly the albino pumpkin smelt like watermelon. I carved the same haunted house I have for 2 years now, but it never gets old, and with candle inside always looks spooky.

We had LOTS of trick-or-treaters and held an informal "costume contest" of who we thought was the cutest. The twin toddlers across the street dressed as a lizard and dinosaur came in a close second to little 9 month old Hannah who was a BYU cheerleader. (I wish I had a picture.) So anyway, lots of fun to be had on our street, and looking forward to having little ones of our own to play with all the neighborhood kids!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Party Place

So, I used to think that Hell was going to be just a big party place after we all die...we used to joke that if we went there, at least we'd be among friends. Well, yesterday I decided that the 3 guys who stole books from me will be there also and I'm not really that excited to see them EVER again.
We've had TWO THEIVES in TWO DAYS!! Seriously...what's the deal!?!? The first guy was just a moron who lucked out that I was at my store all alone, and as I was taking a phone call he stuck a book down his pants. I called him on it when I saw two corners sticking out of his rear end. I asked him, "Can I have my book back?" and he said, "What book?" I told him, "The one you've got down your pants!" At that point he took off running to his car. I followed him out to try and get his license plate number to call the popo but he took off too fast for me to get a good enough look. So that was thief number one. I was mad about it the rest of the day and couldn't really let it go. Even yesterday I was still mad, but it gets WORSE!
Yesterday 3 guys walked in and they all took off down a different aisle. At that point I kinda knew something was up. There were two of us here, (I manage a bookstore, and for those of you who don't know, NOBODY comes in this time of year, except maybe to buy a scan-tron because school started a month ago! S and I usually come in like every other day and are here alone, but he's in NY for a couple weeks so it's me and N for awhile.)
Anyway, I sent N after one guy, and i watched the other and you can tell when they're suspicious, they don't have a particular class they're looking for, and honestly, who wants to browse through textbooks?!?! So, as two of the guys walked out, one of them looked like he had something down his pants, so I took a really good look at the third one still in the store. He must have thought I was some kind of pervert looking at him like I did, but still, he was stupid enough to put a book down his pants!! What's the deal!?!?
This time, I wasn't going to let him get away. The conversation was about the same as it was the day before...

"I need my book back"

"what book"

"the one you have down your pants"

"I don't know what your talking about"

And out the door he tried to go. Luckily I had a practice run yesterday and this guy wasn't going to be as lucky. Since there were two of us, I was feeling a little more brave and tried to block him from getting out. N did the same thing and got right in front of the door to try and stop him. I think we both were a little too nervous to try and grab him or anything, so I followed him out and asked N to grab a pen and paper so I could make sure I got his plates.
I wrote down the plate from his Chester the Molester van...you know the kind, not mini-van but the kind with the blinds that pull down...Anyway, I went back inside seriously peeved and call the sheriff, they put me on hold for a while and when they finally got to me I gave them my report and they sent a squad car looking.
We decided to check out our security cameras to see if we could get a better look at them, and let me tell you, our cameras are a little cheesy because we've never really had problems before. I mean, there's one on the front door, our buyback area, into our office, and one down the aisle that's hard to see. Well after looking for awhile N actually spotted the lunatic in the act! Ready, ACTION! We couldn't have staged it better. He turned back down one aisle, turned around to face the camera and put the book in his pants. And CUT! We laughed about it for a minute...then were angry again.
We closed off our aisles so that we have to help each customer get their books, which is a little frustrating when we get the crabby ladies that want to look around and get all bent out of shape. whatever. I'd rather lose the crabby lady's business than have theives running wild.
Later in the afternoon a Sheriff came by to let us know they haven't found the car, but know where the residence is so he was going to check back again that evening. I was actually relieved that some kind of action was going to happen, even if it was just going to be a misdemeanor charge and a slap on the wrist in court.
Last night I started getting a little bit worried about coming in today. What happens if the cop finds them and they are charged? Are they going to come back all angry and try and get violent? I hope they don't come in the morning when I'm all alone. I was telling my husband all about it and he offered to take a day off work to come be my body gaurd. ;)
Thankfully, we've had one customer all morning. ahhh...i can finally breathe a sigh of relief.




So, let me just ask a favor...if you're planning on seeing any of these guys...tell them 'Hello' from me with nice kick in the pants where they've been carrying out my stolen books!

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!

Justin Timberlake came to Sacramento in September and I got to see him. (Thanks to my sis-in-law and an extra ticket.) M-I love your guts!!

I don't even know where to start. I had bought tickets to Justin Timberlake and when he cancelled his concert, I had them refunded....(long story)... He came to Sacramento last year and I bought tickets, but then saw how much they were selling for on ebay and sold them and made 100 bucks. So, this year, I bought them and decided I would do the same thing but they weren't selling for nearly as much, I couldn't even get my money's worth out of them so we decided we would go. Well, he cancelled his concert and rescheduled it for a couple weeks later. At first I was a little sad because I got all geared up to go, but then I realized I could get a refund, so that was a happy surprise. When this extra ticket came about, I was waaay stoked!

ANYWAY, it was AMAZING!!! We had floor seats and by the time we got in we were only 3 people back from the bar and like 10 feet from the edge of the stage. It wasn't until then that I got excited. I mean, I was excited to be seeing my celebrity crush since I was a kid, but I was a little afraid it was going to be some huge "mosh pit" like craziness since the floor was just general admission and no seats, standing only. (note to self, don't go for the heels next time you'll be standing for 6 hours)

Well, the first little while was pathetic, some no-name opened the show...Kenna?? He was a little poser trying to rock...I didn't get it. He had a few nice moves though. So what felt like 3 hours later (really, like an hour), Justin FINALLY comes out. At that point it didn't matter that my feet hurt, or that I was scrunched up to some smelly guy in front of me or the lady behind me was practically attached to me, I SCREAMED MY GUTS OUT! I'm not a real screamer either, I mean, I'll give you the occasional "whoo-hoo" of excitement on a roller coaster, but other than that I'm pretty conservative.

NOT TONIGHT....I screamed like the obsessed teenager I once was for NSYNC, only louder and longer I'm sure. At least I wasn't as bad as a girl a few people down from me who was crying. heh....

The show was AMAZING, at times Justin was literally like 10 feet away. And yes, as hot as E-V-E-R. My sis-in-law brought her camera and got some AMAZING pictures. I have a few blurry pics on my phone, but nothing worth showing off.

About half-way through, Timbaland came out which was cool, and with him he brought a fight about 3 people behind us..It was pretty funny looking back, but a little scary at the time. Some guy shoved this girl forward so of course it shoved the rest of us around as well. Except for the beer spilled on me and the fact that the girl's stiletto ended up in my foot, it wasn't that bad. Yeah, pretty...(i've got a pic of that too i'll put on here..it's a nice battle wound...one of my toes, a week later, was still numb from the nerve being pinched.) So, that was a nice highlight. The fight actually pushed us up a little closer, so that was fun. A little while later, we had a girl faint too...I'm telling you, I think we were in the wrong section. :)

Well, I was very sad for it to be over...I could have listened to him FOR-EVER!! The best concert I've been to by a long shot. His show was not only fabulous, but it was so much fun spending the evening with M. Thanks again for the great night!!

Monday, March 19, 2007

"civic duty"

Well, I was fortunate enough to experience the joy of my civic duty last week as I sat for 8 hours in Jury Duty. What a joke that was! I checked the status of when I needed to report and Monday, I was safe, Tuesday and Wednesday were clear as well, but Thursday I had to report at 8 AM! Really people...8am?? So I went down to the court house, checked in...sat around for an hour and then at 9:15 they showed us an informative 'orientation video'...(yes, informative if you're in the 3rd grade!) So really, what was the reason we were there at 8 if nothing...and I mean NO-thing happened between 8 and 9:15. Seriously! So, they called the first group...no Marissa...2 hours later...new group...no Marissa. In the beginning I was relieved that my name wasn't called, but with the minutes crawling by like years, I figured being in a court room would pass the time quicker.
Well, lunch finally came. They gave us TWO WHOLE HOURS for lunch! Hopefully that was just for us jurors and that not everyone in the court house took a two hour lunch or else I may start hoarding my tax dollars into some Cayman Island bank account. (Actually, I should start that anyway...) Regardless, what was I supposed to do around downtown sac with two hours?...I walked down 9th street and got some food..(whoo-wee a whole 30 minutes passed!) I went back to the court house and luckily it was nice outside, I sat on one of those REALLY comfortable stone benches and ate and read the book I brought...(which, don't get me started...I wanted to crochet, but they made me take the needle back out to the car...and so this boring book was helping the time go by that much slower.) I should have gone to the K street mall, but I don't really know my way around downtown. I mean, I realize it's on K street, but that's as good as it gets with me.
SO, after the excitement of a two hour lunch, it's back to the little jury waiting room: slightly more comfortable than a doctors office, less sterile, and you're sitting in chairs like they have at the airport, but sadly, once your name is called you're not on your way to some exotic destination. I sat there, trying to read my book but I think I read the same page 8 times before I actually turned it. If anyone was watching me, they'd think I had some serious mental incapabilities because of the 25 minutes it took me to turn a page. In the 8 hours I was there, I got through 40 pages. Yikes! Maybe that 3rd grade orientation video was perfect for me!
One more hour passed and still I sat waiting. The lady in the little booth announcing when a court room was ready kept giving us half-hour updates (which just made the time creep by slower). No court rooms opened in the afternoon so we sat there...waiting. Luckily they let us go at 3:30 instead of 5:00 because no new cases are opened after that time.
What a way to spend a beautiful day! And next year, they'll just call me up to do it again. Yipee! I hope jury duty is as blissfully happy for everyone else in the world doing their 'civic duty.' And can I just say something about this "Civic Duty" stuff?? I don't litter, I'm not a bank robber...in fact I haven't ever even committed a misdemeanor. That should be civic duty enough! PLEASE!