The Poo

I call Jill a variety of nicknames. I also talk to her in the most disgusting baby voices EVER, but that's here nor there. One nickname in particular started something like this:

Jilly > Jilly-poo > Pooey-Wooey > Pooey > Poo

Before I went to work yesterday I had to take the chihuahua to the vet's office. She was on day 2 of diarrhea and vomiting. And while I'd thought she was getting better, a few scary poos later I decided she probably needed to be seen. My mother was convinced she was dying. I'm happy to report she was not.

The vet gave her a penicillin injection, shot her up with fluids because she was dehydrated, and sent me home with some meds for her. I'm so thankful to have such an awesome vet (who also moonlights as a country music singer... hilarious).

But the two days of dog poo? Definitely means Jill earned her nickname.

Photo of the Day: Puppy Love

Community Organizing

I found my dream job today. Well, I should clarify. My dream first-ish big girl job. In a career field that I am insanely interested in. The position: community organizer in Eastern Kentucky. Now, I'm not even ready for such a job yet. HOWEVER, let us discuss how perfect it would be for me.

1) I love Eastern Kentucky with all of my heart. I'm the first one to jump up and defend that area when somebody wants to talk smack about how it's nothing but a bunch of racist hillbillies with no teeth who can't read. For the record, it's actually a Democratic stronghold in the state. And a bunch of those hillbillies are pretty damned smart if you actually bother to listen to them. Not the kind of smart you find at universities, but that's nothing more than a lack of access and privilege. For example: did you know Rosa Parks was trained in the Civil Rights Movement in the mountains of Appalachia? True. That's where the folk song We Shall Overcome was reconditioned to match the CR Movement. It's an area of great culture and surprising innovation.

2) The position asked for three things, among many, that I think I'm especially capable of. 1) Have a knowledge of Kentucky politics. 2) Have experience in social media and networking. 3) Be hopeful. Hello! That's totally me.

3) The base starting salary is $32,000 per year, which isn't a ton, but acceptable. It also includes 15 vacation days per year, 10 sick days and 5 personal days in addition to a paid sabbatical every 5 years.

This is not the job for me yet. But it definitely motivated me to spend the next several months working on padding my resume a bit. I need to volunteer more and see what I can do to get on in some capacity in a non-profit or local organization. I'll do anything, I just need to start building experience.

So let's see, aside from the job aspirations let's see what else has been going on.

My friend Anna sent me a hilarious partisan birthday card. Which was awesome because 1) internet friends do actually rock, 2) she lives in Hawaii and I'm trying to figure out how to mail myself there , 3) I love political humor and 4) MAIL! I love getting snail mail SO MUCH. So much that it's inspired me to send more. Don't ask how many cards I bought from Etsy today. (KATIE!! One is for you!)


My seeds grew. And grew. And then grew some more. This was like 5 days ago and they are at least twice that size now. I'm not even sure that's a good thing. I'm starting to worry I'm going to be sprouting squash in the house.


Every Saturday or Sunday we have a big brunch. Brunch because it usually takes all morning to cook everything. Bacon, turkey sausage, grits, hashbrowns, pancakes or waffles, biscuits and EGGS. Side note: I'm obsessed with eggs lately. At the end of it we let the pups lick the egg bits from our plates. Because I'm so not anti-table scraps for dogs and because eggs are so good for dog's coats. (Molly is so soft and so shiny. Jack's is even less coarse than he used to be.) I just thought it was hilarious that Jack was licking his plate while it rested on his legs. That dog moves for nothing. Partially because he's deathly afraid of linoleum.


Oh and I helped my mom paint her kitchen a sort of turquoise this weekend. I'm kind of sad that the orange is gone (it was starting to seem a little too dark in there, though.) I can't wait to post photos of the transformation.

P.S. Primer is ridiculously hard to remove from skin.

Insert Clever Title Here

Jack just wants to be a lap dog like the other two. It's kind of adorable. It also hurts from time to time, but he doesn't understand that part.

*******
The run down

Classes: meh. I love, love, love, love, love my Modern American History class. Favorite professor, and the most kick ass subject ever: American history from 1974 through the election of Barack Obama. We watched Jon Stewart to open the class on Tuesday. That is awesome.

Haiti: is breaking my heart. I can't stop watching the coverage. As someone whose heart has been open to adoption for a long time now I just keep wishing I were at a stage of my life where adopting a couple of these orphans was an option. What a beautiful people, though. I hope they come back stronger than ever before after this.

Computer: I think mine is dying. It sucks. But what can you do? At least they aren't as expensive as they were when I bought the current one.

PS3: Jon used birthday money, christmas money and money my parents gave him to purchase one of these this past weekend. I'm completely smitten with it and the Netflix livestreaming feature.

Camera: I really want a new point and shoot. Something smaller than my fuji that I can carry around in my purse. I don't need it. But I'm pretty close to convincing myself I do. I'm beginning to smell a Birthday present.

Speaking of birthdays: I turn 24 this year. 24?! Where'd the time go?

In related news: I keep finding grey hairs in my head.

GREY HAIRS.

WHEN DID I GET OLD AND HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP?

P.S. What do you think, would going back to blonde cover these goofy stray hairs better?

P.P.S. It's for real like one hair. I find it in the middle of the top of my head every few weeks.

P.P.P.S. I still want it gone. Or at least not noticable.

Photo of the Day

I'm so thrilled the snow has melted. And today felt amazing. Almost spring-like if I dare say.



But Jack?


Jack is pretty much devastated.


He loved the snow. And the cold. And the frolicking.

Photo of the Day

This photo is classic Molly. Always wanting to both be on someone's lap, yet never content. She exists in some sort of heightened state of paranoia at all times.



This one? Just because.


I really hope I get a 50mm for Christmas. Santa, are you listening? Indoor shots would improve so much. It's taking a lot of self control for me not to just go ahead and purchase one. Sigh...patience is not a virtue I possess.

New Christmas list addition: The Dreamy Diana Lens

It's so pretty. Want. Want. Want.

Not a Quitter

I keep trying to blog, and blog, and blog. And nothing happens. You should see the list of saved drafts I have, it's sort of out of control. I miss this. The blogging thing.

But I've been busy. And tired. Distracted. Worried about things I shouldn't have even been worrying about (like a paper I thought for sure I failed only to get it back with a big fat A on it.) And I'll be honest, when given a few moments of down time I usually watch some tv show I missed because of studying instead.

But enough explanation, this is me blogging here because I'm totally not a quitter.

What's new?

Melissa Joan Hart follows me on twitter. No really. I send my tweets out into the world and she reads them. Omg, right? And she retweeted me once. Seriously.

I'm in love with the ABC show Modern Family. It is some serious comedy gold. That and Amy Poehler's Parks & Rec have saved my soul with laughter this semester.

I broke my iPod. Jon also broke every single pair of earphones for both of our iPods, plus a couple pairs of old ones and 2 replacement pairs. Freak accidents, all of it. But still, that's a lotta iPod breakin' going on.

Italian: Mi chiamo Aprile. Sono di Taylorsville, KY. Ho ventitre anni. Ho un fratello. Mi piace la musica e leggere. I could go on...but you get the idea. I know some Italian. Someone asked me the other day what I could do with Italian. Umm, take an awesome trip to Italy and not feel totally lost. Not the best reason to know a tad bit of a language. But you know what? It's enough for me.

Sunday I'm taking the brother and mother to see Michael Jackson's 'This is It.' Super excited about that, not going to lie. I hear it's pretty amazing. And by hear, I mean Liz Taylor told me it was on Twitter.

Holiday I'm kinda not all that into: Halloween. Holidays I'm kinda already stoked for: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cannot wait.

P.S. I love this dog.

A Tale of Two Mammals

Jack is pissed he got caught laying that close to Hercules.



His defense: it was the only shady part of the patio.

Herc remained unfazed.

No Animals Allowed

Things not allowed on my bed:

*Dogs named Jack

*Boys named Jon

And I made both of them leave, AFTER I took this picture.

Sticks and Ticks

A giant tick. An extra large needle. A bit of flame. A bald spot. And peroxide.



Having your boy give you a great stick afterwards? Worth it.

Cuteness

It's possible I don't give Jill enough coverage on this blog. Jack and Molly have gotten a lot of attention lately.

I think she was deliberately being extra cute today to solve this little *situation*.

First she dressed in a pink shirt and matched her mother.



Then she fell asleep while being carried around, only to end up staying asleep once my mother sat down.



That face. That underbite. Those paws.



She woke up when she got moved. So she hopped on over to my bed to lay ON ME while I watched tv.



She slept while STANDING UP.



So I guess what I'm saying it that sometimes it's cute to have a dog with a sleeping sickness. We really don't know what causes it. But the result is always the same: cuteness.

Photo of the Day

What I've learned: Molly and Jill are fascinated by infants.

Circus Dog

You've got Mommy Blogs, and then you've got Puppy-Mommy Blogs.

Guess which one I am?

Here is Molly licking from a plate WHILE STANDING ON HER HIND LEGS. I know, I know, not the first dog to do it. But she can walk on them, for a really long time.

That's skill, people. Real skill.


Circus Dog from apsies on Vimeo.

It's also me, avoiding homework on a rainy Wednesday. But whatever.

Photo of the Day

She's gone to the dogs

It's been a while since I've talked about the animals around here. Okay, maybe not...I have memory loss problems. What I am certain of is that my animals have been extremely cute today. Extra smooshable, if you will.

Look, first off, I'm not going to pretend this is normal. At all. But when you have cats, and I know this is a good reason why people choose not to have them, this is what happens. They get on shit that you don't want them on. And they do things you don't want them to do. Did you know cats have the 3rd highest IQ of any animal on Earth? Yeah, they do. Which means cats know, and they don't care. So my cat, Emily, is a total terror. Her favorite spot in the world it on top of the kitchen cabinets. She's NEVER affectionate, so don't think about touching her. She likes to bite us or attack our feet when we walk by, and torture the chiweenie because she squeals. Okay...she is the definition of hellion. I can't say enough bad things about this cat.

And if I'd given my Dad, the avid cat hater, this photo ten years ago and told him this was his cat in a basket on his kitchen counter he'd have called me a liar.



But come on, would you tell that face to move? Or to go on a diet? No. You wouldn't. Because she'd kill you in your sleep.

(Yes, that's an iron. My Mom doesn't believe in ironing clothes. That iron is a good 18 years old and is only kept in case of funerals. Or quilting, as was its purpose today.)

This is, of course, Jill. Jill likes to follow my Mom from room to room. She's not big on letting that woman out of her sight. My Mom's been busy today. Jill is exhausted. Can you tell?


Poor thing. My mother should really learn to rest, for the sake of the dog, you know?


I peeled back the covers to reveal Molly sleeping in my bed this evening. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

I dare you to think this isn't cute.

Double dog dare you.

Triple dog dare you.


Couldn't do it, could you? It was the puppy paws wasn't it? I know, gets me every time.

Photo of the Day

Poladroid



Download it, it's fun stuff.

When Dogs Attack

Vicious, isn't it?

Ugh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some Iodine!

Here's my tip of the day:

If it's ever cold and snowy and generally miserable, and you've been out shopping all day so you are at your wit's end. But! You want something homemade-tasting that doesn't cost a zillion dollars, nor take up a tremendous amount of time, then here is what you do.

Buy 2 cans of chicken broth, one rotisserie chicken from the deli ($3.50 at Walmart where I was yesterday picking up a prescription!), and a small box of bisquick. Bring the chicken broth to boil in a small pot on the stove, shred up some of the chicken breast from the rotisserie bird and add to the broth, with some of the skin (for flavor!). Then as it's boiling drop in dumplings you made from the recipe on the package of bisquick, cook as directed. When the dumplings are finished cooking sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

I don't know how great this was for me health-wise. But omg, did it ever hit the spot. And my mother was genius to point out the rotisserie bird idea, which was a total timesaver over having to cook one myself. (and cheaper!)



Remember that whole Jon's-growing-his-hair-out experiment? Yeah, finally over. We tied him to a kitchen chair last night and buzzed it. I'm only half kidding about that.



And finally, I just thought this was hilarious. Mom got home late Friday night, starving and willing to eat just about anything, so I got her something from Sonic. She was so hungry, yet also in the middle of telling a story to my Dad that she broke her own no-food-in-the-living-room rule and ate in there. But this is what happens when you attempt to have food in the living room:



They stayed like that, silent, until she finished.

Photo of the Day

Jill at the beach:

Photo of the Day

The little dogs sleep a lot. Actually all the animals sleep a lot around here. But the little ones especially enjoy sleeping on my bed. I think it's because my room has one of those gigantic windows, that while gorgeous, means at any given day...any time of the year, it's scorching from the amount of sunlight.

Dogs like it hot, apparently.











Cute isn't it?