Anniversary Present

So, for C's and my anniversary he bought me 3 tickets to the Glee concert.  The seats were in the upper balcony and I was able to bring 2 friends to come with.  I brought C's aunt who is a major Glee fan, and a great friend of mine, and one of my high school friends.

Well, when we arrived at the concert, we were trying to find our seats, and C's Aunt asked an employee where the stairs to the balcony were.  He told us that he was supposed to be giving out tickets to people who were seated in the balcony, and handed us 5th row seats!  These seats were AMAZING.  We were at eye level to the stage, and could literally see the sweat on the cast. :)  The picture above is taken with my phone, so its not the best, but its obvious how great the seats were.

The concert was amazing.  Brittany needs to be showcased on the show as a dancer WAY more often.  She danced to a Britney Spears song (I can't remember which one) and was fantastic.  Mercedes is a fantastic singer, better than Rachel.  Mercedes gave me goosebumps (several times) when she sang, she was unbelievable.

It was really cute when Arty got up out of the wheelchair.  Obviously everyone knows the guy who plays Arty isn't in a wheelchair, but it still was really cute when Arty got up and danced. :)

Another wonderful moment was when Kurt "proposed" to Blaine.  Kurt said he had something he needed to propose to Blaine.  Kurt got down on one knee and said "Blane, will you... join Glee Club!"  I was gasping watching this.  I thought Kurt was proposing (marriage) to Blane.  Blane said yes. :)  I guess I was the only person in the audience who didn't read the forums/spoilers because this was common knowledge. Haha.

Anyway, Thank you C, the concert was amazing. :D

Hottest Day in 5 years

Its supposed to get up to mid to high 90's today.  Yesterday reached 96.  Lets just say, I never appreciated how close I live to the EL until now.  Having that 2 minute walk was a blessing.

Anyway, so Dog normally goes to Doggy Day Care on Wednesdays.  Seeing as how yesterday was 96, and today was going to be just as hot, I was a bit concerned that it would be too hot for him.  Dog gets to sit in air conditioning during the day at home (spoiled, I know).  But walks are pretty rough for him since he has such a dark coat (he heats up very fast in the sun).  We can go on a 20 min walk, and at the end of it, he is panting like crazy just do to the heat.  I feel bad for him.

So, since I pay about $25 for day care, I didn't really want him to be so warm that he hardly moves.  The whole point of day care, for him, is to get energy out.  So yesterday I called the day care place asking if the dogs were going to be outside today.  They told me that they were going to be inside, and it generally doesn't get hotter than 80 degrees due to the 30 foot ceilings.  Then they told me that they can give doggy breaks if we are concerned with overheating.  I told him I think that would be a good idea.

So at 7:15 this morning, I dropped Dog off at day care.  The employee takes Dog's leash and says "Hi Dublin!" Looks to me and says "How many breaks would you like?"  I laugh, awkwardly and say "Wow, you remember me from the phone?"  He kinda looks at me like I've grown a third arm. I've been taking Dog to Doggy Day care for a few months, probably some time in March we started.  But the day care place has as many as 50 dogs show up (Just on Wednesday!).  So I figured I sort of blended in with the rest.  Unfortunately, I don't, and I think I now have the growing reputation of "the youngest crazy dog lady."

New favorite video blog

So... My new favorite thing.... http://hartoandco.com/  Its a girls video blog titled "My drunk Kitchen."  Guess what she does... She gets drunk, and cooks.  The thing is, I REALLY think she is drunk in these videos.  You can usually tell because of the eyes.  I really recommend taking some time and watching it. 
Some of my favorite quotes ....

The episode when she is making cookies - At the very end she says - I think we just made biscuits.

The episode when she is making tacos - I appreciate all food that comes in tube form.
She also decides to put vodka (I think its Vodka, or its rum) on her tacos in this one. HAHA

The episode when she is making grilled cheese - Towards the end of the episode, after the sandwich is already cooking in the pan, she said - I don't have any cheese, make sure when you are making grilled cheese to have some cheese.

Those are some of the highlights in the 3 episodes I watched.  She has 8 or so episodes total.  I'll watch more later.

Its been a while... My fault

Sorry for not writing this week.  Work has been keeping me busy.


I'm not really one for following trends.  In fact, I was telling C's Aunt today, that the ideas I have had for my future wedding are now "trendy" and it kinda sucks!  It makes me so I really don't want any of those things anymore.

Anyway, all this is about the fact that I started reading Harry Potter recently.  I'm currently on book 5 and I LOVE the series.  I read them every morning and evening on the train, and I know they are very "easy" reads, but they are so great!

After I finish each book I've been comparing them to the movies, and well... they are VERY different.  I thought everyone was pretty biased when I heard them say the books are better, but now I agree.  The books are 100 times better than the movies.  The movies just go too fast.

Anyway, this is kinda a boring post.  Sorry.  I'm a bit tired.

Back to Reality

Well, I survived the trip to Alaska, and I am starting to look forward to Las Vegas in 2 weeks. :)

Alaska was a BLAST.  I saw a TON of animals, and I have a ton of stories.  I'll post them all in the weeks to come.

I think my favorite thing of the trip was hiking up to Mt Healey Overlook.  It was a 6+ mile hike and it was a lot of hard work!  I think I burned 2000 calories (haha). However, when I was done I had such a sense of accomplishment. :) Not to mention the views on the top of the mountain were AMAZING. :)

Gotta keep this one short and sweet, post more later.

Leaving for Alaska

Alright, in less than 24 hours I will be on my way to Alaska. :) Unfortunately I wont be posting while I am on vacation, so you will have to live without me.  I'll be gone for almost 2 weeks, but I'm sure I'll have a ton of stories to post about when I get home.

Bye for now Blogger. :)

Dog - Part 3

After calling the vet to schedule an appointment, I couldn't get in for another 3 hours.  So I tried to get Dog to eat some more food.  I cooked rice, (no luck) Chicken (no luck) Hot dogs (sorta interest).  I ended up hand feeding (I know its a BIG no-no) Dog 1/2 a hot dog before he decided chewing was too much work.

We got to the vet's office and eventually saw the vet.  The vet tech asked a ton of questions.  "How is his energy level?" This is when C and I told them we have had him for less than 24 hours.  We had no idea what his "usual" energy level was.  The nurse then asked us "Is he drinking water?" To which we both responded "We don't really know"  The nurse seemed to not understand that we only was with Dog for 20 hours, 8 of those were sleeping, and several of those were in a different vets office.  All I could tell her was that Dog wasn't eating, but it could be due to stress.

Finally, the nurse seemed to "get" it.  She left, and the vet came in shortly.  She listened to Dog's lungs for what seemed like an eternity.  That's when she said "Well, Dog has pneumonia.  He is very young, so you both need to be prepared for the outcome.  He may not make it."  As soon as she said this, I stopped listening.  All I heard was "blah blah blah blah."  I couldn't believe what she had just said!  Dog was already a part of my family.  I couldn't let him die. 

At that point, I tried to toon into the conversation again.  Basically, Dog was going to have to get a bunch of x-rays, and a bunch of fluids, and cost a BUNCH of $$$.  The vet left us so we could talk about how much money he was going to cost us.  I looked at C and decided there was really only 1 option.  To suck it up and pay the bills.  Dog was going to cost us about 3-5k due to the fact that he would have to go to emergency care overnight, and get multiple rounds of xrays.  But Dog was apart of my family.  There was nothing else we could do.

Later, the tech came back in and summarized everything for us.  She said I could open a 0% interest for 12 months "care-credit" credit card.  She also said the (first) bill was going to run about 1500 for the first visit.  Honestly, at this point I was so shocked I may have to put my dog down, that I really didn't comprehend anything.

C and I left, and went to lunch.  We decided to head to the shelter to tell them they adopted out a dog that was on death's door. When we arrived at the shelter, they were very busy.  We asked to speak to a manager, and when they asked why I said "We adopted Dog yesterday, and we were just told that he has pneumonia and may have to be put down." The two receptionists just looked at each other. They obviously didn't know what to do, and they said they would get the adoption manager, Megan (Name Changed).  Little did I know, Megan and I would become great friends over the next few months.

Megan came out, asked for the story.  After I told her, I started bawling and said "Can we still keep him?" She was shocked, I was shocked.  I still don't know why I asked that question. She quickly transferred us to a less conspicuous location while she made a call to see what the shelter could do to help us. 

TBC

Papa - The fireman

I've been scanning old family photo's to make a gift for my grandparents.  I've gone through about 800, and I think I have about 1000 to go.  And that is just the "loose" photos.  I still have hundreds of albums to go through to scan them also.

I found a few photos that are amazing.  I found a photo of Papa fighting a fire.  Its amazing.  I'm so proud to say my Grandpa was a fireman for the city.  Not much of my family were in public service.  One of my uncles was a detective, and as far as I know none of my uncles ever served in the military.  I know my Grandpa served in some war (Same Grandpa as the fireman), but he doesn't like to talk about it.  (My other grandpa served in some war too... I think) I'm sure it is really hard (emotionally) to fight in a war, and fight fires, but it would be nice if he could tell us stories. 




Thats why it was so cool when I saw this photo. I don't really know how firemen and their trucks work, but apparently that is Papa's truck.  I called Mom and asked her about it, and she said Papa gave this photo to Mom.  Some bystander took it and dropped it off at the station or something.  I guess he is somewhere either in the building, or on the ladder.

Its just so cool.  I look at the photo and smile just thinking that my Papa was one of those men helping to save people.

It almost makes me sad about my job.  I do not have a rewarding job at all.  I don't do anything to help others.  I do not see the results of my work, everything I do doesn't really seem "real." Looking at the past, I don't think I would have chosen my undergrad major if I could do it all over.  I think I would have chosen Nursing, or Vet, or Teaching.  Something that "gives back."

Personally, I don't have the guts to be a fireman, policeman, or in the military.  Which is why I admire all the people out there that risk their lives for me, and others like me.  So Papa, even though you wont see this, Thank you for helping save other people's lives.

And to every other service person out there... The men and women who are in the Military, Policemen, Fireman, ect.... Thank you for risking your life to save mine.

Its way too hot in this office

Alright, whoever decided to ventilate this building was retarded.  Seriously.  I currently work on the East side of the building, and it is like a freaking boiler in here for the majority of the day.  I swear it is approximately 85 degrees in here.  What happened to offices being a freezing 65 degrees? I would give just about anything for that.  You can always put on more clothes, but I can only (legally) take off so many.

I'm very close to buying a personal fan to have in the office.  I don't know if I can deal with sweating due to the morning sun all summer.  It is now after 3 PM and it feels like the air just kicked on and they are finally blowing cool air.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the air was on previously, but they should realize that the sun will always rise in the east, and having a wall of windows facing the east is probably going to boil the employees alive. 

If whoever designed the building were smart, they would have different thermostats for different sections of the building.  Unfortunately, I don't think our building designers were that intelligent. 

The worst part of it all??? I (along with the rest of my east facing co-workers) have to suffer.

Chocolate Vodka

Honestly, Whisky Fest was so much fun.  Not because it was a drunk fest (for others, not for me), But because I was able to talk to master distillers and owners of the brewers. I talked to an owner or master distiller (still can't remember, sorry) at Grand Traverse Distillery.  They distill whisky and wheat vodka.  I am a huge Vodka fan, so I was very excited to try the vodka.  It was one of the only booths that had vodka at the fest.

I was very intrigues by a dark vodka.  I asked the owner (I'm almost positive it was the owner) what it was, and he explained that it was a chocolate vodka.  He told me that his wife loves Chocolate and she asked him to make a Chocolate Vodka.  He then proceeded to apologize for the appearance of the bottle.  The vodka was bottled in an old wine glass, and had a table that looked like it was printed off a regular office printer.  It was very charming.  The owner told us that the vodka recipe had recently been finalized and the current (and first) batch was recently matured.  There wasn't time to make a proper bottle or label for it, but he wanted to bring it to the fest to see how it fared with the public.  Honestly... I think it was one of the best flavored vodkas ever.

The vodka wasn't sweet; I would say it was more of a cocoa vodka then a chocolate vodka.  It smelled wonderfully like chocolate, and tasted like cocoa (I can't wait for it to get on the shelves so I can mix it with hot chocolate.).  The owner explained that there were several sweet chocolate vodkas, and he didn't want to make one like that.  He said that if you wanted something sweet, there were plenty of things to add as a mixer, but you couldn't take the sweetness away.  And he was 100% right.  C's Dad bought us wonderful sweet chocolate vodka, and it tastes great over ice.  But personally, I think this new one is better.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Did you know that yesterday was Star Wars day?  May the 4th (be with you).  I had no idea.  I know a lot of people are Star Wars fans... I am not.  I appreciate Star Wars... but that's the extent to it.

I will not be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year.  It always stinks when it’s on a week day.  I decided I will not be drinking during the week anymore.  I already broke that this week because C and I went to a BYOB cooking class and we had some wine.  But honestly, I hate tequila, so it’s not much of a disappointment for me.

In fact, C and I had a "Mexican Party" last winter, where we made tacos and burritos and made margaritas.  The whole point of the party was to try and get rid of our tequila.  Unfortunately, as a gift, one of ours guests brought us a bottle of tequila. :-/ We still have more tequila now, than we did before the party.  (Not a drop of tequila has been drunk since that party.)

The only "tequila" I like is not even real tequila.  Its called "Hopquila" and brewed at "New Holland Brewery" in Michigan.  http://newhollandbrew.com/spirits/hopquila/hatter-royale/
C and I learned about it at Whisky Fest a few weeks ago.  Hopquila is not actually tequila; I don't even think it has agave in it.  The owner (or master distiller... I can't remember) explained that they accidentally distilled the barley twice when making Whisky.  The master distiller decided that the resulting taste was interesting, and wanted to play with it.  He decided to add some additional citrus tastes, and other "stuff" which has since developed into the 2nd most popular selling spirit at their brewery. 
The owner/master distiller (whoever it was) asked me if I would like to try it.  I asked if it smells like tequila, he said "sort of," I asked if it tastes like tequila and he said "sort of."  I was pretty skeptical, but I decided to take the risk. 
I smelled it, it didn't smell anything like tequila.  Already that was a huge plus in my book.  Then I tasted it.  It was heaven!  Honestly, I don't think it tasted or smelled anything like tequila.  It is probably one of my favorite spirits at the moment. 

That night, I also tasted a new Chocolate Vodka... But I'll write about that one tomorrow.

Trying to park in the city

Alright so I didn't post yesterday. Sorry. :( Allergies are kicking my butt.

Anyway, today I'm pissed about parking structures and how STUPID it is when they do NOT take any credit cards or take checks.

Alright, I can totally understand not taking checks.  They are completely out of date.  However credit cards? Maybe they don't want to pay for the credit card machine, but they would rather pay 1 person to sit there for 12 hours and pay them benefits? Yes I agree that it is terrible when someone's job gets taken away because of computers.  But come on, in this day and age, when the parking lot is in a city, a well populated area, they do not take credit cards.

I told the parking attendant that they should have a sign saying "Cash Only." She said on the way in there is a sign.  She was right, a small sign saying "cash only."  Come on, how many people are looking at that when they are driving!  I should have said it is dangerous to drive and read at the same time.  But whatever.

So when I told the attendant that I didn't have cash, because the miniscule sign was difficult to read while driving, she explained to me that I could go across the street to an ATM, or I could take an EL to my banks ATM. 

So for 2 hours, I had to pay $6 for parking, which is outrageous but what else can you do in the city, on top of that I had to pay $2 in their ATM fees, and another $3 in My Banks ATM fees.  So to go to the dr's I had to pay $11 in parking..... Jesus, sometimes the city sucks.