Interesting Solution...

I received this email today ~ thought I'd share!!

Like a lot of folks in this state I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit.

In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have no problem.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them??

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do on the other hand have a problem with helping someone sitting on their ass. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?????

The verdict....

Just got off work, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I know that inquiring minds want to know...so, I took Sheely to the vet this afternoon. The vet said that she couldn't tell at this point because its too early. She did notice that Sheely is starting to "develop bags"...but, it could either be a bad pregnancy or that she is really pregnant. So, we scheduled another appt in 3 wks as a follow up. I am suppose to watch her belly area to see if it starts getting any bigger or not. If her belly is bigger in three weeks, they will be able to do an ultra sound to verify the results. Not much news to report tonight. Gotta scoot...good night.

Shower curtain shopping...

Ok, so while I am sitting at home, sick and bored on St Patty's Day, I decided to look around on the internet again for a shower curtain in hopes I'd get lucky! I moved my "old" shower curtain to Ryan's bathroom tonight and decided to move forward on my mission to find something I like. DING DING DING! I got lucky and found this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond...and fell in love with it. I'm concerned about the greens in this curtain not matching what I have on the wall. So, I may have to repaint, but will go pick this up tomorrow and see what happens. I guess this will test my ability to match colors! I plan to pick up some mocha rugs to offset the green a little. Then, when I get my choc brown vinyl lettering back from Uppercase Living, I will put this on the wall as a decoration. I think this could be a nice looking bathroom once I'm finished. I also found a few more that I liked, but are very simple and probably a little too plain but can also be accented easily. Enjoy!!!



Mocha - pretty simple, but would look good with my green wall as well as mocha accents!










Chocolate suede - cute and simple and would look good with the green wall...and accent everything else with browns!












Stripes - cute, but has a tint of green that might look good with my green wall. I think this has too much reddish-pink in it! Too busy.





Anyway, let me know what you like. I'm slow to make decisions, but am now forced to make one quick or I won't be showering in my own bathroom for awhile!

p.s. I cannot post a new picture of Ryan's bathroom yet until he gets the new mirror hung up. My "old" shower curtain looks great in his newly painted bathroom! I came home from work the other night and he had put the new countertop, sink and faucet in. Looks so nice! I'm amazed by what he can do. He thinks I'm crazy for being so proud of him but doesn't realize how handy he really is. Not alot of people can just replace a countertop, sink and faucet without it being a 2 day project. He did it in 2-3 hours.

Happy St Patty's Day!

And, I'm at home sick! Boring. I came down with a nasty cold and sinus infection two days ago and its been nothing but horrible. I went to work today for about 7 hours and was suppose to go to a friends house to play Texas Holdem tonight. I didn't think that would be a good idea as my body would continue to stay weak if I went out drinking tonight. So, I'm home alone with my "assumed pregnant dog". Ryan went to play Texas Holdem to see if he can win some money. Fun fun. We were watching the news before he left and they said there are more cops out tonight than usual and they will be having checkpoints. Its normal for Sioux Falls to have these about once a month. He didn't seem too worried because he didn't plan on drinking for this reason. I'm so proud of him. I told him if he changes his mind to call me for a ride. So, we'll see how the night goes. Anyway, HAPPY GREEN DAY!

I think.......

my dog is pregnant! I came home from work today over my lunch hour and let her out of her kennel. Ok, I should go back a few days...last weekend I bought a used kennel for Sheely. She now has her own space with her dog house and loves it! And, being the worry wort that I have been about kenneling her, I am finally at ease knowing that she is happy. When its time to "kennel up", she runs right in there and is completely fine with it. Once in awhile she will wimper, but that's the extent of it. I hope she doesn't figure out how to "bark". ha.

Anyway, so I come home from work over lunch today and let her out to hang with me while I eat and chill a bit. I was rubbing her belly and noticed she is starting to get bags. She has been in heat for the past 3-4 weeks and during that time, I also noticed her developing tits. So, I'm somewhat excited about this, not that I want a bunch of pups running around, but the fact that my dog "might" be pregnant is kind of exciting. I've noticed since she's been in heat that she has been very clicky with me and has to be everywhere I am - even when I go to the bathroom. Its cute, but gets annoying once in awhile. She has also started listening very well and her whole mannerisms are amazing. She hasn't wanted to play "fetch" like she use to. I told Ryan last weekend that I thought it was odd and she's been so droopy lately. But, of course didn't think much of it.

Anyway, so I call the vet to tell them whats been going on. I asked if it was normal for a dog to get tits during their heat cycle, and she said no. Then, I asked if it sounds like she might be pregnant. She said, well, yes its very possible. If she's not pregnant she could be having a bad pregnancy and might be miscarriaging (if thats what ya call it in dog-terms). So, I set up an appointment to get her checked out next week Tuesday...so, I'll definitely keep you posted.

The scary thing is, we haven't seen her in contact with any other dog. The dogs she has played with are fixed/nuetered. So, if she is pregnant, we have no idea what the mix will be. Those couple of days when we were gone and she jumped the fence, very well could have done the job. I guess we will find out next Tues!

Addicted!

Ok, so I am starting to believe that I am addicted to blogging. During my 3 hr class (Investments = boring) on Monday night, I am trying to be a tentative student by listening to the teacher and comment on any questions he asks the class. By about the 2nd hour, I am seriously bored and trying to stay away from the blog world. But, of course, couldn't do it because I needed to do something to keep me awake. So, I load up my blog site and start reading blogs...and I'm having fun reading them as everyone wrote very interesting stuff on Monday. In the meantime, I stop periodically to look at the teacher and nod my head once in awhile so he still thinks I'm listening. By this time, my mind has shut down on listening to "How to price a stock and what price would you pay to get a return on your investment?" and start wandering and thinking about "crocs" and "Class Ring" and "being an intrusive blogger" and "little stinker" and "Dawson in SFalls"...the great blogs that come after a weekend. Without thinking, my fingers are going a mile a minute commenting on some of the Monday blogs not realizing what is going on in class. All of a sudden, the room gets quiet, I keep punchin' away on the keys, my teacher is still talking, but my fellow classmates are staring at me. So, I stop, look up and my teacher says, "Brandi, what do you think about this?" And, I was speachless. I respond, "Think about what?" He starts laughing and says that he has been talking to me for the past 5-10 minutes and I wasn't realizing it. So, I get defensive only because I'm tired and was not in the mood for class, and say, "I'm sorry, but I can only listen to this stuff for so long." The class starts laughing but my teacher didn't think much of it only because he is one of the big investment gooroo's at Wells Fargo. Its a good thing I have a good relationship with him and am doing well in the class because he really doesn't have any ammo against me.

Now, back to being addicted. I'm guilty in the first degree. And, after reading Kerrie's blog about whether its right or wrong to be intrusive on others' lives...well, I don't think that is the case. There is a reason why people blog. If they don't want you to know something about them, then they wouldn't post or choose the option to show the world their blogs. At first, I thought it was stupid and never thought I would EVER find the time to do it. Ya know what, I will always find the time to do something I enjoy. Not only that, I am finding that I am more in touch with some of my friends whom I don't talk to on the phone or see every day, weekly, monthly or even yearly. Its great to read different views that people have on specific topics; or what is going on with their children/family (I love the funny stories about what kids are doing and saying). Its fun for me to get those comments at work as it enlightens my day to think of my friends instead of just work. So, cheers to all of my friends reading this....go bloggers! (giggle).

The Flock ~

I just got off work...and need to vent a bit. I started getting up at 5am to go to the gym every morning this week. When we (Amanda, Ryan's sister, and I) arrived this morning around 5:30am, I found a line of people standing outside the building. My first thought was that we might have been sleep walking and ended up at Best Buy during Christmas time. I couldn't figure out what was going on (still half asleep). I asked Amanda what was going on and she thought the gym opened at 5am - only to find out it opened at 5:30am and these people flock to the elyptical (sp) machines & treadmills to make sure they get on a machine. Now, I thought I was crazy for getting up that early in the morning, but it seemed to be a normal thing for these other folks. At the same time, I was enlightened as I watched each of them get started with their morning work out. This has simply become a normal part of their day. They are working men/women who may have families to be home to every night after work, cook supper, etc. There just isn't time for them to do this in the evenings. I thought to myself, "Now that I am getting back into the swing of working out, I need to make this a part of my every day life." Its tough getting up that early, but must say that I "feel" better after a hard workout and have had a more positive attitude going to work, school, and back to work again.

Monday - 5:30-7am workout; 8-5 work; 5:30-8:15pm school; and back to work 8:30-11 last night.

Tues - 5:30-7 workout; 8am - 10pm work.
Wed - 5:30-7am workout; 8-5pm work; 5:30-8:30 class; will finally be home early to see Ryan.
Thurs - 8-6pm work; 6-11 (or later) work...as I do payroll for the company and never know what time I will be off.
Fri - 5:30-7am workout; 8-5 (or whenever I get off) work - and hope for an evening with Ryan.
Sat-Sun: I won't get into this...but, do end up working some hours over the wkend.

Now, its starting to make sense to me. If I hadn't gotten up to work out the past couple mornings, I wouldn't have had time to do it in the evening. I am realizing for me to stay happy and positive, I need to be doing this every morning; not only for the weight loss, but to stay sane with my busy life. I don't see this "lightening up" anytime soon or until I am done with school. Anyway, I didn't mean to get carried away here, but had to chuckle about the crazy work-out gooroo's in the morning!

Great News...

I received an email from my friend, Tanya, saying she is pregnant! The email brought tears to my eyes as she lost her first child (still born). My heart goes out to her and Lorne and I wish them the best of luck through this pregnancy.

I have had two great/best friends lose their first child to miscarriages and stillborn situations. I am saddened thinking about it because it was such horrible news when I received the phone calls from both of them. But, at the same time, see two strong women who haven't given up. I have much respect and loyalty for both of you girls (if you are reading this) because God has his way of dealing with things that we sometimes just don't understand. I truly believe he was watching out for you, your family and your unborn children. Now, one of them, Kate, had her second child, a boy, and its so great to read her blog everyday to see what a great mother she has become. The other one, well, she is pregnant again as I noted above and am looking forward to hearing about her progress and hope for the best. My prayers are with you Tanya! You need to start a blog so we can stay updated with you as you go through the next 7 months.

Love you both!!

Bathroom update ~

Ryan and I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday to look at shower curtains. I am not the quickest to make a decision because I seriously do lots of homework when it comes to picking out colors and matching things up. So, we look and look and look. Lots of ideas, but nothing really popped out (without me having to re-paint my bathroom). So, I didn't find anything, but spent some time on the internet last night looking around as well. Ryan's bathroom will not be finished until I find a shower curtain! Ha. Plus, he is still waiting for the new countertop to come in. I will definitely post pics when its completed.

She figured it out...

After all the snow we received here, Sheely figured out how to jump the fence this weekend. I guess it doesn't take much when she only had about a 2-3 ft spread to jump. I worked at the Home Show till 9:30 pm last night and Ryan went snowmobiling all day till 9pm last night. When we got home, Sheely wasn't here. I was a little scared, only to find a note on our front door from a neighbor stating that Sheely was in their garage. He said she had jumped the fence about five times before he decided to take her home with him. Thank god for friendly neighbors always watching out for us.

After church today, Ryan and I decided to shovel the drifts around the house to ground level so she cannot jump the fence - thinking we would outsmart her. WRONG. She still figured it out. All she wanted to do is go play with her friend, Duece, a white German Shepard who lives next door to us. Duece is 4 times Sheely's size, but they love to play together and size doesn't matter to either of them.

I guess this confirms our decision to kennel her. As much as I hate locking animals up in a kennel, we have no choice now. I'm sure the next thing we will deal with is a barking dog! Oh my.

Before...

Ryan is not working today or tomorrow and decided to paint the bathroom and tear everything apart. So, I took these pics last night before bed. I was really looking forward to painting over the clouds myself...but, was also glad to come home to a normal looking bathroom. I can't wait to "give" him my shower curtain, so I can get a new one for my bathroom. hehe.

When I got home at 3pm, the walls were painted and he just got the new light hung above the mirror. Now, he is moving the outlet (plug-in) about 2-3 inches to the left of where it is at now so he can put a bigger mirror above th vanity. Simple remodel huu!