Meet the newest member of our family:

Right now, her name is Eve. This is the name she came with from the SPCA, but we're trying to find a more fitting name. This pic doesn't do her justice, but seriously dudes, she is the sweetest most cuddly dog in the world. She is part lab, part pyrenees, she LOVES belly rubs and snuggling in bed with us, and she has the sweetest disposition. And I know you can't tell from this pic but she's HUGE. She's over 100 pounds. There is no doubt that she loves people. I'm completely in love with her. I couldn't be happier!! I feel like we are the luckiest people in the world to have adopted her and give her a loving home. Don't worry, more pics are coming.

We're THIS much closer to getting a dog. And I've already scoped out the one I want. His name is Mac, and as of 2:30 this afternoon, he is still in need of a loving home. Seriously dudes, how cute is he!!! In order to get a dog, we need money - money for the pet deposit we need to give our landlord, money for the adoption fee at the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA and then money for all the toys and food and treats and snuggly things we are going to spoil him with. In order to do this (and in spirit of spring cleaning), I am selling my clothes. Yup, come by and see me naked cause I'm selling all my clothes. Nah, just kidding, just the ones that don't fit anymore ever since I grew a big ass and also those that I still have from high school. No joke people, I still have clothes in my closet from high school. Not only can I barely fit one limb in the piece of clothing, but they look like they are from the mid 90s. I posted an ad on Craigslist and already have someone coming by to peek a look-see at them tonight. I even posted some pics on Flickr so no one wastes their time or mine. Granted, I could do this all at a yard sale (which I am still planning on holding sometime very soon), but maybe I can sell enough clothes for the adoption fee.

I'm still on track with my one project a night thing. It helps when I go to the gym in the morning cause then I have time at night to piddle around. I love to piddle around, let me tell you. Oooh, and tonight's Grey's Anatomy. Man oh man, am I going to get a lot done tonight. I wish I knew how to put up one of those thermometer thingys on my blog to track the money I raise to get the doggie. Wouldn't that be nerdy and fun?

So I followed through on my scheduled project last night and made these cute magnets for the fridge out of beer bottle caps and I also decorated some twigs from the backyard with some accessories from a holiday project I did a few years ago. At first I placed the twigs in the glass bottle downstairs on top of our entertainment furniture but it just didn't look right. Then we finally found the perfect place on our dresser in our bedroom. Very cute. I always forget about upstairs cause no one really sees it, and we aren't up there very much (just to sleep and shower - and maybe we do other things - I'll let your imagination take care of that one). But I should think more about our bedroom and making it cozy. I saw these cute embroidered napkins at Circa here in Cville and am now thinking they would be nice to put on the dresser, cause it's very bare and undecorated.

I also managed to clean out the guest room closet, where I hoard my keepsakes and memories from childhood. I go through these boxes every once in a while and always manage to purge them just a bit. I got rid of about three shoe boxes full of stuff. I learned a few things last night about myself - some of which I'm not too proud of.

1) I was quite a moody teenager. I kept letters from my best friend that she wrote me while in high school, and she was always apologizing. And let me tell you, she rarely did anything wrong. I was just a moody brat. Granted, I was experiencing teenage angst thinking that the world was ending, but still, who the hell did I think I was being all moody and bratty and taking out all my growing pains on my friends?

2) I kept a lot of stuff from my childhood, and I'm glad I did. Cause as I was going through all those cards and papers, it brought back memories that I was not ready to forget, and hopefully never will. Granted, I came across things that triggered some memories that I was more than ready to forget. It was like listening to a mix tape from when you were 14 and just hearing a certain song makes you feel weirdly uncomfortable.

3) Last night I read a lot of cards teachers in high school sent to me shortly after my father died, and they all had one point in common. My father's pride of me did not go unnoticed, and he made sure everyone knew it. Man, I think - no actually I know - I was and still am the luckiest person for having him as my father. He pushed me hard to succeed, but damn am I glad he did it. Cause I know I wouldn't be where I am today if he hadn't. The anniversary of his death is coming up - not something I dwell on but something that sneaks up on me and all the sudden I'm like shit - it feels like it was yesterday that he died but crazy cause it will be 8 years this Sunday. G-d I miss him.

Ever since my posting last Monday, I haven't been able to keep my eyes off the news. Seriously, I was getting a little worried about how much I needed my news fix, with all the media coverage about the Virginia Tech shooting floating around out there and then being shot into our head. There were moments, of course, where I wanted to shoot something into the head of the dumb ass newsperson asking a VT student how the mood on the campus was after the shootings. Dude, what the fuck do you think the mood was on the campus? In fact, I heard one newsperson ask a student who had been in a Norris Hall classroom when the shootings were occurring who managed to barricade the door - "How do you feel about being called a hero today?" followed by a painstaking 10 second lull in the dialogue as the student mustered the courage to respond to her idiotic question. Shut the F up. Anyhow, I was pretty useless last week at work, since every 5 minutes I needed my CNN intravenous shot.

Beans was taken from us by Mama and Papa B on Saturday. No joke, there was a tear or two. But I already have asked our landlord if we can have a dog, she gave us the okay (still need to put down a $500 deposit), and I already filled out an application to adopt a dog from the SPCA in Charlottesville. This is as good of a time as any to get one since N is almost finished with the semester so he will be more available to help with the dog. We got into a pretty slick routine while Beans was here, each of us taking on various duties in the taking-care-of-Beans-procedure. I'm totally ready. Seriously, dogs make a home that much more home-esque.

I painted our craft room this weekend a green color - called Wild Artichoke - or was it Wild Asparagus. Oh, can't remember. But I did it all by my lonesome - of course, not without some direction and guidance from N. You know, he did go to school where they teach you how to color inside the lines. But once I got started, I got into it. Granted, it was my first time ever painting so it's not perfect, and I learned what to do (and what not to do) next time. We are painting our bedroom next.

After the painting extravaganza, the wheels started turning and I became somewhat excited by the resolution of having one project a day that I complete (or work on) that makes our home pretty. Not just the daily laundry or dishes or vacuuming (though they need to be done ASAP or someone will get lost in the piles of dirty undies and billowing dust balls) but I'm talking about either painting a room or cleaning out a closet or organizing the kitchen or getting ready for our yard sale...you know that type of stuff. So, yesterday my project was planting a few baby spider plants in pots that were transplanted from a mama spider plant that I picked up from Freecycle. I hope they survive the move.

Hmm, what am I going to do today? Things on my list to do around the house: paint the bedroom (which I could start today by taping everything off), organize for our upcoming yard sale, clean out the kitchen shelves where we keep our food and spices, start on the knitted rug pattern, clean up the sticks in the yard...hmm, what to do. Of course, this plan will most likely go out the window as soon as I get another gig from the other job (the work-from-home-at-night-which-helps-pay-the-bills job). Anyhow, I got these cool old glass bottles off of Freecycle and was thinking of putting a bunch of twigs in them and attaching paper flowers. I saw the idea in a mag. We'll see. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but there is some inspiration over at Martha Stewart's site.

This weekend was full of nothing and goodness. Not much in the way of headline news occurred in our parts of town, but we did spend Friday night with new and good friends for some wine and dine (much more wine that dine). Then Saturday - gym, chopped off my hair, went to a few local thrift stores (I'll try to post some pics tonight), lounged around watching bad TV, did a few hours of work and finished off the night watching Volver. Good movie. Kept me entertained.

Yesterday was filled with hours of working on a project for which I thought the deadline was today, but was pleasantly surprised to learn I don't have to turn it in until tomorrow.

Oh g-d - word in. Check out CNN about shooting at Virginia Tech. At least 22 dead, 17 injured.

Hi Peeps. With AV gone for the next two days and JC out sick, I'm all here by my lonesome holding down the fort. My boss just got word that yet another attorney is leaving the firm. Not because he does't like it, but because of his wife's job. So, this really opens up a can of worms as to the future of the firm. Anyhow, that's all boring business stuff, so on to more cuteness.

I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our Charlottesville family. Meet Beans:

Beans is N's dog from home and lives up in Reston, VA. However, VB and JB went across the pond to England to celebrate the marriage of VB's son T, so we get to love and pet and snuggle and walk and admire Beans for the next two weeks.

This picture is photographic evidence of Beans' nightly ritual of arranging her blankets right before she plops down to sleep for the night. What's even sillier is that she spends all this time arranging her blankets (yes, she needs two - so high maintenance) and then she usually manages to settle only one-third of her body on one of the blankets. Sometimes she even fluffs a pillow for herself. I truly deeply madly love having her with us. She makes our home feel so cozy. There's something to be said of the feeling you get when you walk through the door at the end of the day and someone's there waiting for you. Welcome to our home Beans!

Favorite Color Swap Pal 2

I want to give a shout out to Kerin, my favorite color swap pal, who sent me such wonderful presents. Here is some of the funky yarn she sent me, for which I plan on making a drop stitch scarf. I think it will block pretty nicely, and a drop stitch pattern just seems to be the perfect pattern for this yarn.Kerin also made this fantastic journal. I've already pounced on her for a tutorial, cause I'm all intimidated by the wood and screws and hand drawn designs. No tutorial to be had, but I feel lucky enough just being gifted with such a pretty thing. I haven't written anything in it, and am thinking I may put photos in it instead. Not sure yet...
To read more about Kerin, check her out here. This was a fun swap. Not only did I enjoy receiving such pretty things, but I also enjoyed the giving portion of the swap.

This past weekend with MMG was pleasant. Ran a few errands, relaxed A LOT, and spent some time helping MMG get stuff in order. She is quite a busy real estate agent, always running this way and that way showing houses, listing houses, running from houses, etc.

I've become quite a gym junkie lately. Even made JC sign up for the gym, even though it was like pulling teeth. She finally fell under my spell and now we have been going to the gym every day (except for days we are exploring other parts of the country - such as home or boyfriend's home). While the benefit of toning is something to be treasured, I am most interested in increasing my energy level. With two jobs, and all the other responsibilities I hold, I am completely drained at the end of the day and just want to the lie on the couch scratching my belly when I get home from work. So I'm hoping that going to the gym will give me the energy to do the other things I love to do - like work in my craft room making my cards, painting, knitting, working on the garden, cleaning up the house (which is a shit hole right now), painting the walls in the house and other things. Also, for the next few months, I will be going this way and that - Passover in Plainview, JV and NL's wedding, my cousin's wedding in Chi-town, etc. So it's uber important that I do stuff at night during the week, or I will become a crabby bitch, someone no one wants to encounter.

Yesterday, one of the associates in the firm was offered a position elsewhere, and will be leaving in a month. Supposedly this change will generate a ton of work for me and JC, but we haven't felt the brunt of it yet. I know that a lot of her cases will be passed along to one of the managing partners, for whom I work directly, which translates into more work for me. But, I'm ready for it, kinda excited to learn more and get more involved.
Boy do we look tired. Here is JC and I with our shawls cause it's a freakin' freezer in here. And sometimes we like to pretend we are nuns.