Sad story...

I just read this heartbreaking story about a 15 year old girl with terminal cancer and the things she wants to do before the end...

It certainly puts all of my moans into perspective - Alice is a real inspiration. She has a blog of her own which is getting a lot of attention at the moment, and rightly so!

Catch-up

It's been absolutely ages since I last posted, and not because there hasn't been anything to write about, I just haven't gotten around to blogging!

Well my friend Taj visited for 10 days, which was lovely. We had a really good time - we went to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, then we did lots of stuff around Phoenix...

• 4 malls (she wanted to do lots of shopping)
• Phoenix Zoo
• Massages (I still had my gift card from my hubby for a 1.5 hour massage)
• Went to sit by the pool at Onel's apartment complex
• Yappy Hour at a really nice hotel/resort (for the Humane Society)

Taj left on May 2nd and on May 3rd my Mum and stepdad arrived, so there wasn't much of a gap between visitors! They stayed in a gorgeous resort, though, so hubby and I had the house back to ourselves. With my Mum and Stepdad we did the following:

• 1 mall
• Phoenix Zoo
• Spent a day at their resort in and by the pools
• Bearizona, a drive-through wildlife park in Williams, AZ
• The Grand Canyon
• Sedona

They also went horseback riding in the desert, which they really enjoyed. As you can see, we had a busy time with all our visitors!

I have to say, once everyone had left, it felt really weird. I think because since I moved here at the beginning of September 2010, I'd known they were coming in May and it was something to look forward to. Once they'd left, I just felt kinda empty. We don't have any other visitors lined up at the moment, although my friend Tamzin and her family are hoping to visit us next Easter when we'll hopefully have our new house. That's not set in stone though, of course.

I was feeling a bit down for a couple of weeks after my Mum left, but I'm back to normal now - whatever normal is, anyway!

We had a big problem with the pugs a few weeks back, their fighting suddenly escalated and it got to the point where we had to do something to sort them out. It was either get a dog trainer involved, or we'd have to consider taking Gracie back to pug rescue. The latter was something that filled us with dread, because we really have bonded with her (we've had her since early February) and we'd hate to have to part with her now. Also I'd feel so guilty because she'd have to go through the whole thing again - she was pretty messed up when she came to us, obviously confused because her original family had surrendered her, and I don't want her to go through that again! Besides, she's not really the 'problem' dog. Anyways, to cut a long story short, pug rescue recommended a dog trainer so we've hired her. So far we've had our initial consultation (which ended up being about 4 hours!) and one of our six training sessions (they're supposed to be 1.5 hours a time, and again she was here for close to 4 hours - just as well it's a fixed fee, and not hourly rates!). We still have issues with them but we're better able to handle them now. Hopefully by the end of the 6 weeks things will be a lot better. If not, well the fee covers any training the dogs might need for the rest of their lives, so we'll just have to have the trainer back again!

We've been told by our realtor that we should be hearing something about the new house in the next couple of weeks hopefully, so fingers crossed we'll get it! It's been over 2 months since we made the offer and because it's a 'short sale' these things take forever to go through - they haven't even accepted our offer yet! I just hope they don't try to raise the price or mess us around some other way...

Our pug Suzie has to go to the vet this afternoon, I think she has a stye on her eye, poor thing! Hopefully it won't need anything too much to treat it. I'm thinking maybe some ointment or drops or something. Also, hopefully it won't be too expensive either - last time she was at the vet (for a UTI) it was $132 (about £80). Actually now that I think about it, considering her 2 weeks of antibiotics and the testing etc, that's not too bad is it?!

I'm on a diet at the moment - I started on Monday May 30th so today is day 11. I finally bought some scales last Tuesday so Tuesday is now "weigh day". I weighed way too much last Tuesday... I don't really want to say here, but I don't think anyone reads this so I might as well! I was 209.4 pounds. I'm 5ft 8" and I have a big frame anyway, but even so, it's very bad! So I weighed myself again this Tuesday and I'd lost 1.5 pounds, I'm now 207.9 pounds. I was kinda disappointed because I was hoping to lose 3 pounds a week, but I think if you want to keep the weight off you're supposed to only lose 1 to 2 pounds a week so if that's the case, I'm right on track.

I've been very good and haven't broken my diet at all, so it's just a case of keeping up with it really. Ideally I'd love to lose 40 pounds but I definitely need to lose at least 30 I think. I'll feel so much better if I do it, and look much better too. If I keep losing 1.5 pounds per week, that'll be 6 pounds in a month, 12 pounds in 2 months, 18 pounds in 3 months... It'll take me 5 months (well 20 weeks, anyway) to lose 30 pounds... Yikes! That all depends on whether something else gets in the way of my diet, though. I can't say too much right now but we may have some rather exciting news in the not-too distant future! :-)

Sad...

This morning I was getting ready to take the dogs for a walk when hubby spotted a little chihuahua-type dog walking past our house, alone. I went out with a leash hoping the little dog would come to me but of course he/she was scared and kept going. I followed him for a minute and called for him a few times but although he did turn around and look at me, he didn't come. I couldn't get near him so I headed home, collected our dogs and put some stuff in my bag - a Ziplock bag with some kibble in, a bowl, a bottle of cold water, an old collar and a leash. Woefully optimistic even though I knew the chances were that even if I saw the little guy again, the chances of me getting near him (especially with our 2 dogs in tow) were very small. Well, I didn't see him again. I wish he would've known I was going to help him, but he had no reason whatsoever to trust me, I know that. Who knows what kind of experience that dog has had with humans... Had I been able to get hold of him, I would've brought him home to our house, put him in the yard with Suzie's old crate out there, given him food and water and figured something out... I guess we'd have taken him to the vet so they could scan for a microchip, and then go from there. At least he would've been safe. I truly hope that he'll somehow be OK, safe from harm and that he will eventually be rescued by someone decent who will take good care of him. It breaks my heart that he's still out there, alone and scared. Poor little mite. I'm not a religious person, but if there is anything out there watching over us, please protect that little dog and all other strays. While you're at it, please protect all the poor animals who are abused by people every single day. :-(

So, good luck little chihuahua-type dog. I really wish you would've let me help you but I understand why you were scared. I hope you'll find a caring person to help you very soon.

3 days to go!

Yesterday I managed to get all of my housework done, despite feeling really rubbish. I feel better today - I got up just after 6 this morning and made us coffee and breakfast, then took the dogs for a walk. When we got back I went and sprayed the weeds in the front yard and pulled the huge weeds in the back yard (there were some smaller ones that I sprayed too). Fed the dogs and then since then I haven't done a great deal! I made us lunch and then had an afternoon nap. I feel a bit more refreshed now so that's nice. I just need to do the dishes and that's my housework done for the day. I guess I'll have to do the dishes again tonight after dinner though, but I need to do them now too otherwise I'll have too much stuff to fit on the drying rack! Oh well. :-)

My friend Taj arrives on Friday evening! I'm really excited to see her, it's been ages! The last time I saw her was just before I left the country, I think the actual date we last met up was August 31st, so it's almost 8 months now. I'm really looking forward to seeing her, I think we'll have fun! :-)

I am a little apprehensive about her staying here with us, though, but mainly because of our dogs - she's not a 'dog person' so I'm not sure how that's gonna go! She knows we have the 2 dogs of course, I just hope it's not too much of an ordeal for her. I guess if it's that bad then she'll probably check into a hotel. Other than that, I'm not really concerned about her staying with us because there's no way she could be as much of a pain as my Dad was when he was here!!!

Speaking of my Dad, yet again we're playing that stupid 'game' where he was supposed to call me last week, didn't call, and now since Sunday he's been emailing me with no mention of it. Great! I guess this is how it's gonna be then. He's even got 3 weeks of vacation from work right now, and clearly doesn't have the time or inclination to pick up the damn phone and call me. Fantastic, huh? I mean, last week he wasn't working, this week he isn't and next week he isn't. He clearly isn't planning on calling me this week, either, because I replied to one of his emails saying that Taj is arriving on Friday and we're going to the Grand Canyon on Sunday, and he said "have a good time at the Grand Canyon". I don't really know what to do, because we had a big falling out over this before and I thought that that would make him realize he should call me when he says he will, but it obviously hasn't had any impact. I mean, after that falling out when he said he'd make more of an effort, he didn't even manage to call me one single time when he'd said he would. Now it's going on again. So to be honest I can't be bothered to say anything about it, because there's no point is there? The way he's going, we'll be estranged soon. I've only been gone for less than 8 months so as far as I'm concerned, if he's this bad already what will he be like in another year?

However I think about it, it makes me feel like shit. I mean, "it's just the way he is", "he just forgot", "he obviously doesn't care enough to call" - either way, it's not really good enough. It's not even like he's called while we're out, because our phone shows missed calls and if he had he'd probably have left a message - which he hasn't. So he hasn't called at all. No doubt he's just gonna wait for me to call him, so I hope he's prepared for a long wait. Next time I have something I want to tell him, I'll refrain from calling. I find it so disrespectful that he continues this behavior especially now that he knows how much it upsets me - that's the worst part of it. What am I to infer from that, please? Yeah - he's obviously not bothered enough about upsetting me to change his behavior. Nice.

Bleh...

This morning I got up 2 hours later than planned, because I didn't sleep very well and I felt crappy. I took the dogs for a walk and now I have a busy day ahead...

1. Feed the dogs

2. Do the dishes

3. Clean the kitchen

4. Dust

5. Polish

6. Vacuum

7. Mop the floors

8. Clean the bathroom

I guess I should probably have some breakfast, too. I'm so not in the mood for all this housework today! I'll probably feel better for getting it done, though.

6 months

Exactly 6 months ago today, hubby and I got married! Friday October 15th, a beautiful day in so many ways. I'm sure before we know it we'll have been married 10 years, we're really happy together and the time has flown by so far!

I love him more than anything in the entire world.

Tonight we're going out for a lovely meal to celebrate our half anniversary :-)

This is one of our favorite wedding photos...

Update

So, on Monday morning hubby called his Dad at work and arranged for us to go see him when his shift finished. It turns out we were right - his Dad didn't agree with any of the crap his Mom came out with, he said that she'd brought it up on their way home from our house that night and he told her that she can't go to someone's house and impose her beliefs on them. He actually told her he feels sorry for her for thinking she can do that! He had no problem whatsoever with what happened that night, and certainly doesn't agree with the "you're uninvited" thing or the "we won't ever come to your house again" bullshit either. As for the dogs not being welcome, he said she must've just said it to get at hubby. He also said that she should've said the same thing to Dave (hubby's brother) because she's being very selective with her criticisms. He said he'd talk to her and that she's being silly.

Last night hubby got a call from his Mom - she didn't apologize or anything, she didn't mention anything to do with what she said on Saturday. She then proceeded to invite us over for dinner this Saturday - to which hubby said, "We can't, we've already been this month, remember?" and she replied "Can't you just come anyway?" - er no, lady, can't you "just" apologize and we'll take it from there? She also then asked if we were taking the dogs with us to the Grand Canyon when Taj is here, because apparently she'd look after them for us if we wanted her to. Well, again, can you first apologize for all the bullshit that came out of your mouth?

So, we're not going on Saturday. Dave is coming here for dinner, but she thinks he's going there - that's not our problem. She should've thought about the consequences of her bloody diatribe before she spouted that shit, we never told Dave not to go over there. She said they were having other people over for dinner this week so I assumed nobody was invited, then hubby told us we're uninvited apart from once a month so whatever! Her loss, not ours. All this just because we don't say grace in our own house? Nobody stopped them from saying it, but they can't expect people to participate in something they don't believe in when they're in their own house! In their house, yeah, we participate but not in ours. I don't see why that's a problem anyway. The thing she really needs to apologize for is saying it was both her and their Dad who thinks all of this, when he has no such opinions - he thinks like a reasonable person, in fact. It's not exactly a little white lie, that's the kind of thing that could really damage our relationship with his Dad if we weren't so inclined to go and speak to him ourselves. She obviously didn't think we'd do that, and I bet she was pissed when she found out we did, but if she hadn't lied in the first place we wouldn't have had to. Plus, that's his Dad we're talking about - he has every right to speak to him, and so do I for that matter. She really thought she could just call and act as though nothing had happened... How silly is she? She at least needs to apologize, and since that's not happening then I guess we'll just keep our distance.

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Yesterday, the woman who's selling the house we offered on got out of hospital so she's signed our offer. We paid the earnest money too, so now we're waiting to hear something from her bank. Hopefully they won't mess us around but who knows? At least things are moving along now, it's a good sign. :-)

The whole thing is stupid, but