Peep Show

It's time for Peeps again. Check out the photo gallery in this article.

Big Foot Encounter

Mike and I were sitting on the couch this morning watching TV when Simon started barking uncontrollably while looking out the window. This is nothing unusual for him, so we paused what we were watching, hollered at him to be quiet, and when he wouldn't, I went over picked him up and brought him over to sit with us. He does NOT like this when he sees something outside he wants to bark at, so I spent a few moments trying to get him to quit squirming. It all happened so fast after that it took me a while to process what happened next.

As we are sitting there trying to calm Simon, a white fluffy mass bounces across our yard. Mike and I immediately looked at each other with a puzzled look on our face to see if we really saw what we saw: a white animal--too tall for a goat, bouncy like a kangaroo, and what seemed like a shaved llama. What the?!

We immediately ran to the window and watched as the creature bounced through my dad's empty lot next door and back behind the neighbor's back yard. "What WAS THAT," we both screamed, while simultaneously grabbing our coat and throwing on shoes. I scrambled for my camera and we raced out the door to check out what had just darted through our yard. I tried to have my camera ready while running through the lot just in case we got another glimpse, but I must say running and focusing a camera is not an easy task.

I guess we were running to hard and fast because as we rounded the corner of my neighbor's backyard, the critter, who had stopped for a breath, started darting into the woods behind our neighbor's house. I quickly snapped my camera and got a glimpse of him, but it's pretty blurry. I immediately went to make a call and ask my dad what it could possibly be (because he knows a lot about weird animals). His best guess, based on our description and the crappy photo that I snapped was that it was an alpaca (see picture below).

Now, I don't know about you, but my first question after "What WAS THAT," was "Why the heck is an alpaca running through our neighborhood??" I couldn't figure it out, but I came to the conclusion that someone is going to be missing that weird guy...after some research, I discovered he could be worth anywhere between $100 and $500,000. For the sake of the owner, I hope he was only worth $100 and wasn't some big time show alpaca that ran his half a million dollar booty through our yard.

Made for an interesting start to Valentine's Day, that's for sure. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.

Our alpaca looked to have been recently shaved and was not as furry as the other picture below.

Time for a change

21 Birthday parties
10 renovations
20 Christmases
132 campouts in the backyard
15 new friendships made
1 car crash into the garage door
1 horse, 62 pigeons, 1 rabbit, 326 bees, 2 cats, 3 dogs...even a newborn calf in the kitchen once
8 colors of paint on the walls
4894 bike rides in the neighborhood
36 games of capture the flag
6 new trees
1 snake in the washing machine
7140 +/- family meals together
863 hikes in the woods
1 very bad ice storm
8736 loads of laundry
Numerous amounts of laughter shared
Limitless prayers prayed
Countless tears shed
Endless "I love yous" expressed

The time for change has finally come. As of 2 days ago, I put my house up for sale. Soon I will have a new home. I will say good-bye to 21 years of memories in the place I have called home. I will drive away from the only house I've really ever known and drive on to a new place, a new house that I will come to know and love. And along with it will bring new memories. I used to fear change, which I think stems from my inability to adapt well to it. Surprisingly, I have opened up more to the idea and have gradually started accepting it. It's time for a new beginning, and I am excited. It's long overdue. I am ready. I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Pet Peeve

Like many of you, I have a lot of pet peeves, annoying things that just drive me batty. Yesterday I was reminded of one that quickly rose to the top of my list and I would like to take just a brief moment to step up on my soap box and vent. I promise it will be brief:

I would like to shoot the person who invented call waiting. Better yet, I'd rather sit them down and torture them and ask them questions about their childhood and whether or not they felt unloved growing up. What was once something that I was relieved to have, and got annoyed at people who didn't have it, has now become one of my least favorite technology inventions. Why? It is rude and intrusive. If I am having a conversation with you and you either A) tell me "someone's calling so I gotta go," or B) tell me "someone's calling so I'll have to call you back, or C) tell me "someone's calling, hang on a minute while I see what they want," you are telling me only one thing: "My conversation with you is not important," and that does nothing but make me feel annoyed and unappreciated.

The only good I see coming from call waiting is that when you are having a conversation with a person and someone "beeps in" to your conversation, you can see who it is and call them back AFTER your former conversation...and even then, you really only have caller-ID to thank for that.

Thank you. That is all.

On my vacation I...

went to my niece's Christmas program.
threw a surprise 60th Birthday party for my mom.
was shocked that we actually pulled off the surprise. :)
went to another Christmas party.
studied for my CMP exam (which I am taking this Saturday).
celebrated Christmas 4 times.
watched the entire season 4 DVDs of Lost (S5 premieres in 2.5 weeks!!!).
listened to Mike's granny tell stories about living in the early 1900's.
shopped.
studied some more.
did some scrapbooking.
cleaned my house.
watched a lot of movies on DVD.
bought my Britney Spears' concert tickets (YAY!).
have I mentioned studying??
took down my Christmas decorations.
made a short trip to Branson.
ate a lot of junk food.
started working on a list of small projects that need to be done before listing our house.
learned how to play "Apples to Apples."
got a pedicure.
hung out with two of my dearest friends.
studied even more.
took Simon to the Bark Park. Twice.
slept in.
stayed up late.
lounged around in my PJs a lot.
got sick of studying and remembered why I am not a student anymore.
debated what to do with my Christmas money.
priced some garage sale items.
house hunted.
studied.

Now it's back to the grind stone for 3 days, then I'm off to New Orleans to take this stinking exam! Thoughts and prayers are appreciated. :)

In New York I...

realized that everything truly is bigger in New York City.
won a bet that it wouldn't take us two hours to get to our hotel once our plane landed...enjoyed myself a nice cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks for winning.
rode around Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage.
walked around aimlessly looking for a restaurant in Central Park that unknowingly was $100 a person. (No we didn't eat there.)
woke up early to watch "The Today Show" being taped live.
saw Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, Al Roker, Kevin Bacon, and a quick glance of Harry Connick Jr.
went up to the top of the Empire State Building.
walked around NYC a LOT.
watched "Phantom of the Opera" and LOVED it!
rode 15 feet in a Town Car and then got out when he told us how much he was going to charge us to take us back to our hotel. Ha ha ha
saw the Big piano in FAO Schwarz.
got lost on the Subway.
walked around in the coolest Apple store I've ever seen in my life.
spent some time in the Museum of Natural History, which was the layout basis for the movie "Night at the Museum."
half expected the people and animals to come to life after having watched the movie.
was extrememly surprised at how difficult it was to catch a cab in a city with 13,000 taxis driving around.
ate New York Sirloin at Uncle Jack's.
learned quickly that restaurants in NYC do NOT give free refills for soda.
took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
froze my buns off everyday.
shopped in China Town and Little Italy.
saw the Brooklyn Bridge.
tried a piece of New York style pizza-YUM!
finally conquered the Subway.
walked through Grand Central Station.
waited two hours to eat lunch at the extremely over-rated Serendipity from the movie "Serendipity."
shopped at the largest Forever 21 I've ever seen in my life.
saw the lighted Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.
walked smack dab into a pole on the sidewalk because I was talking instead of watching where I was going. Yes, it hurt. BAD.
saw a TON of dogs walking around the city.
ate a vendor hot dog.
used the bathroom in the Charmin sponsored bathrooms in Times Square, where "the goin' is always good."
drank a ton of hot chocolate.
spent all of our money.
sat in the airport 3 hours waiting for a delayed flight.
nearly read an entire book in one day.
ran like a sprinter trying to win first place in a race trying to make a connecting flight.
decided the only thing I would have changed about this wonderful trip to NY was to come back when it wasn't 29 degrees everyday.

Pictures to be posted soon.

Guys beware

Fellas, as the holiday season is approaching, I have some advice:

Beware of the Doghouse.