Sunday, October 12, 2008

Almost Done Painting and Pressure Washer Fun

There is seriously nothing more fun than pressure washing! I had been scrubbing the house to prep for paint... by hand. Gasp! Now that it is mid-October and I am down to crunch time with the weather, I was thinking of pressure washers... however they are $80 for a day long rental. Finally it popped into my head that Aunty Gail has a pressure washer! So I borrowed it, and had a fun filled weekend of painting. Everything is clean, and in a couple more days I should be done painting! It's so exciting!



Me post painting, Saturday night. This must be my worn out look.

A picture from the top of the house.


The mighty pressure washer. I've got to get one of these!


The library behind the house, from the roof.



Progress! By Sunday night 2 of the triangles at the top of the house are fully primed. Once they are painted, I am done! Jeff says they are called fascias... but I call them triangles.

Entertaining Doggy Pics

This coffee table used to be nice before Cosmo starting sleeping under it, running through it, etc. He's so cute, I still crack up every time I see his big butt under there!
Quinn put the Guitar Hero guitars on the couch to keep the dogs off. Well, without moving them an inch, Lily worked her way under them for a nap. She's our Guitar Puppy!


Sunday, October 5, 2008

Winter Coat?

I am so confused. I thought that when winter came around, dogs got winter coats. Meaning that their hair gets thick and nice in gearing up for the cold weather.

Bunny, in particular, is a mess! Her hair is coming out in giant tufts, and her pants are coming out by the handful. LITERALLY! Lily, who never sheds, is just as bad. There is hair all over my house and really scruffy looking dogs. I have to admit I really enjoy coming along behind Bunny and giving her hanging mats a big yank, though. She gets SO indignant about it, but it is such fun. We've gotten to brushing her once a day and it does no good at all.

All I can imagine is that since they are indoor dogs, they get all messed up when we humans do things like crank up the heaters. Anyone want to confirm for me?

Chilling On a Sunday

We've been having a very chill weekend watching stuff on the computer and doing homework. The Corgis are being precious as always, but this time I got pictures. Cosmo using Bunny as a pillow, and them both sacked out SOUND asleep... we're talking twitching legs, rolled back eyes, the whole 9 yards. It's adorable.





Quote of the day: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important that a person to be loved."
I like that. It came from a talk about not taking people for granted or for taking your time for granted.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

And Because That Last One Was So Fun...

What's your favorite color? Lime green, all the way.
What's your favorite animal? Dogs for house pets, cows in general, and giraffes at the zoo.
Who's your role model? Not sure I have one, really.

Family
How many siblings do you have? 1
How many people live in your house? 2
How many animals do you have? 5!
Where do you live(trailor, mansion, regular house )? Just a regular old house, ranch style, but it does have a living room AND a family room so it gives us a lot more space than the version that just has one of those rooms, and I like that.

Freinds
Who is your most valuable freind? Most valuable friend? Hmmm... lol, I think they are all pretty valuable to me!
Which friend do you look up to the most? I look up to a lot of my friends. I will make this interesting and name a few. I look up to Cheska because she has her head on straight and knows what she wants from life, and makes brave decisions. I look up to Desirea for really being in a good spot right now, and caring enough to always help out those who aren't.
How many best freinds do/did you have? I don't know that I could count them.
How many freinds have moved out of your city? Most of them, but a lot are starting to move back now.

Would you rather have...
coke or sprite? Coke, but I am trying to cut down on my carbonated beverage intake!
lunch or dinner? Dinner is far more interesting.
a sister or brother? I am pretty darned fond of my brother! I sometimes wonder if a sister would be easier to have taken over raising because I would "get her" better... but then I remember how nasty teenage girls are and come to my senses.
Mcdonalds or Burger King? Neither if I can help it.
boyfreind or freind? Hopefully one person who is both.
hug or kiss? Hug. I need a hug daily.
pinch or poke? Neither!
clown or doll? Doll

Survey Time

So I used to do these little surveys on Myspace a couple years ago. They were nice stress relief, but when I started to get totally addicted to them my friends began to make fun of me. For old time's sake... a survey.

About?
Name: Tavia, of course.
Ethnicity: About as white as a person can get without becoming transparent.
Height: 5'6" though Quinn swears I am 5'5." I am probably shrinking due to old age.
Hair Color: Depends on the week. Usually brown.
Eye Color: Green-ish.

Your opinions please?

Abortion: Oh this gets very complicated. I would never choose an abortion for myself, but I also believe that it is a moral decision and not a political one. If we start taking away a woman's right to make decisions for her body we are regressing back to the early 1900s. There are also many gray areas to the topic. Abortion is often used as a form of birth control, or to terminate a pregnancy where the baby would come out with no arms and an eyeball on their chin. For the sake of blogging peace, I will stop right here and say everyone has their own circumstances but it wouldn't work for me... unless maybe the baby was going to have no arms and an eyeball on their chin or I was going to die by giving birth.

Capital Punishment: Depends on the crime and if the person has been proven guilty beyond any doubt. Serial killers really do not need to be around.

Immigration: Hey, if you care enough to be here, care enough to come in legally. If you can't afford to come in legally, work hard when you get here, learn the language, and take the test. We're a far too accepting country, and we will accommodate you even after the fact... but don't walk into my place of business speaking a different language and then get angry that I can't help you. And for all those customer service departments who have different queues for different languages... um... JUST DONT! I went to Montreal once and came back with a darned good basic knowledge of French. They spoke English to me, but the signs are all in French.

War: I don't really know. War isn't the greatest way to solve problems, but when you have people who are irrational and want to hijack your planes and fly them into buildings, you can't exactly give them a hug and ask them to stop. If I wanted to think about the topic more in depth than that, I would pay better attention to the news and probably run for office.

America: Is kind of changing in ways I don't like. Still a great place to live overall, though.

Gay Marriage: I am neither gay nor married, so I don't think my comments on either topic would hold much weight with anyone.

The Economy: Kind of jacked. Ok, ok... extremely jacked. So jacked that it scares me, AND I have felt the effects of it in looking towards moving and realizing that's not as easy as it once was. Oh what I would give for a crystal ball and to have sold my house 6 months ago.

What???
Political Party are you: I think I am listed Independent but I typically vote Republican. Not because I completely agree with Republicans (see abortion not being a political subject, above) but fiscally I pretty much jive with what they say and money matters. Every time an election comes around (in my vast voting years at age 30, lol) I look into both candidates. I haven't voted Democrat yet. Obama had me going for a while... I like his ideas but think he is very unrealistic and the way he wants to go about certain things scares me a bit. McCain doesn't stand out as anything superwonderfuandfabulous, but he seems like a solid candidate with a good grasp on what can and should be accomplished. In all honesty, I would probably not vote Republican or Democrat ever, but since those are the only two candidates who ever have a shot at winning I figure I may as well put my vote where it is going to go towards a decision. Prediction: This will be my most commented blog yet.

Extrovert or Introvert: A little bit of both, depending on the situation.
Favorite sport: Basketball
Favorite person from that sport: Oh Kareem Abdul Jabar. Remember him?
Favorite person: Don't have one
Bothers you: Anything that feels out of my control drives me nuts.
Are you passionate about: Animal rights. I am too chicken to go let the mice out of the labs at OHSU, though.
Do you really think about yourself: I think I have a plethora of issues! Typically I mean well, but sometimes I try to be manipulative even though I really shouldn't because I suck at it (and it is the wrong thing to do). I am kind of self centered- I care a lot about other people but probably care too much about me me me.
Favorite culture: I haven't experienced many other cultures.
Most attractive ethnicity: Any mixed race person is usually very beautiful. Asian and white mix is usually gorgeous.
Favorite childhood cartoon: Wonder Woman (I used to have Wonder Woman roller skates AND underpants).

Favorite childhood memory: There are lots! Fishing with my grandpa in the boat; eating 3 Musketeers and spaghettios, drinking RC cola and watching Golden Girls with Grammy Violet every weekend; walking to Baskin Robbins with my mom was always a big treat; picking blackberries on the hill across from our house and coming home with huge buckets full of them, and gorging ourselves on them. Oh, and being TERRIFIED of super strict and sarcastic Uncle Jerry, who became my favorite family member as I got older. I remember the time I got a gum ball machine for Christmas and I walked around getting everyone to put a nickel in my gum ball machine and then I would give them a gum ball. Well, uncle Jerry put his nickel in and when we turned the knob no gum ball came out. He told me he wanted his nickel back and he was serious! I had to take my gum ball machine apart and give his nickel back because he said I was ripping him off otherwise! I am pretty sure I cried later in my room (but I am still a cry baby over everything) but he always tried to impart little bits of business knowledge on me, and apparently as a little kid he thought I was not too young!

Favorite subject: Definitely History. Didn't used to be, but I love it now.

What do you want to be when you grow up: I still have no idea!

What would be your ideal life: I would really like to own my own business, but I have no idea what I would do, so that is a problem. I am really sick of the working world, though, so I would like very much to keep busy, but be able to keep my own schedule and have a lot of free time. I would also like to travel a lot. I am into having money for the sake of travel, and other little comforts like a flexible schedule. And of course travel and flexible schedules are nothing if you are alone all the time, so I would like to be married to Jeff, have one or two kids, and a dog. Just one dog. Maybe 2 if the first dog gets lonely, but that is it. And since Jeff has allergies I have already decided we will be getting a Chinese Crested and a Standard Poodle :) More than anything, I would like to have an extremely simple life like I did as a kid. I'd like to spend weekends picking blackberries and eating them by the fist full (and having purple fists afterwards!) and having it be special to just go on a walk to pick up ice cream, and not watching too much tv or having such an emphasis on computers and games and all those electronic things that distract you from the people in your life.

Bunny, the One I Admire


I was driving the other day thinking about my dogs. This sounds silly to say, but I was going over their personalities and needs in my mind, and realized how much I wish I could be like Bunny.


Bunny is one of those really happy souls. She is almost always in a good mood and has a smile (literally) on her face. Even when she has stomach issues she is still happy and playful.


The thing that impresses me most is how she has handled her leg injury. Bunny can't walk at all anymore. She has to hop. She also can't stand for very long. So she will sit, or she will plop down on her belly. She doesn't let anything stop her, though. Sometimes she hops and hops and hops through the house, barking and playing with the other dogs. The point is, she has adapted, and has kept her same level of happiness. It's amazing.
The other thing I noticed is that Bunny lets things roll off her back. The other day I came out, and she and Lucy were hanging out through the baby gate. No worries, they are never alone unattended. But they were laying together really peacefully, and I was just shocked. Dogs are definitely not like people. They're better than us!


I would love to be able to take what life gives me and hop with it, and not hold grudges, all while keeping a smile on my face!