Conehead & Bathroom Etiquette

DAKOTA’S BATHROOM ETIQUETTE:  2

You’d think it would take more than two days back to begin blogging about the pup’s bowel movements.  No sir.  Not here on Rate Your World.  Just keepin’ it real friends.

In his old age, Dakota is definitely having trouble controlling his poop.  Some days he won’t poop for over 24 hours, others he can’t help but poop inside (at least I choose to believe he can’t help it, since he’s usually the best behaved dog ever).

On this morning’s walk we hit a new low.  As we walked outside this morning, I spotted a neighbor dog heading our way.  Considering how much Dakota still hates other dogs, we immediately turned the other direction.  We then walked down the long hall outside my apartment, and apparently he just couldn’t hold it.  He started pooping as I dragged him down the hallway to escape the other dog.  As soon as we made it to the other side I waited for the other dog to go inside, returned to pick up his poop, just to find him peeing all over the walkway.  Couldn’t wait 30 seconds until we hit the grass.  That or he wanted to make it very clear to all the other dogs in the apartment complex that this hallway is HIS.

Geez oh pete.  It was quite the morning walk.  The good news?  He didn’t poop on anyone’s porch, their belongings, or inside my apartment.  He definitely earns +2 for that.

CONEHEAD MURPH: 1

I have no idea what instigates it, but every once in a while something happens to one of Murph’s paws, and he just can’t leave it alone.  He licks and licks and licks until the pad on his foot has come off, he bleeds all over my apartment, and is forced to limp around on 3 legs.  The only solution?  Bringing out the trusty conehead.

Boy does it make my heart hurt and laugh at the same time.  And sadly it often lasts for 1-2 weeks before he finally gives up on trying to tear it off long enough to let the paw heal.  It’s gonna be a looooong 2 weeks if he keeps this up.

Below 5 because of how much I pity the little guy, but definitely +1 for entertainment value.  Especially when it snows out and it becomes his own little shovel.

FINDING THE PERFECT SONG FOR A WEDDING VIDEO: 8

I really believe the musical soundtrack of any video, but especially a wedding video, makes it or breaks it.  Just try watching any of these videos without sound and you’ll see exactly what I mean.  And because of my love of music, I actually LOVE this part of the editing process.  However, the more videos I edit, the more I realize I need to widen my collection of both artists and songs that can be used.  Eventually I’m going to run out, AND the more I have the easier it will be to find the perfect song for each couple/video.  Feel free to pass along any suggestions of artists OR songs in the comments.

In the meantime, one of my most recent videos which I think has the perfect song match

TSP and Two Lazy Pups

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOP SECRET PROJECT #1 (of 2011 at least): 10

Thanks to an old friend who randomly introduced us over e-mail, I’ve recently become involved with what I can only (at this time) call Top Secret Project #1 of this year.  Getting to think about all the components of a dream school, put them together in writing, and hopefully get them approved by the state, possibly leading to the opening of a new school as soon as 2012 is exciting to say the least.  I am lucky, excited and honored to have been included in the project.  This morning was another great morning of work with amazing people

INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATION AT COFFEE SHOPS: 8

Remember the good old days when you could sit around at a coffee shop for hours with college friends and spout intellectual theory and discuss the way the world should work?  Dropping big, academic words left and right to impress others, win the debate, or just convince yourself that your education really was worth the $40,000/year?

Yeah, the good old days.  I do miss those conversations (minus the pretention and big words that I preferred to substitute with smaller, easier to pronounce and understand words), but I don’t miss the kids in my classes who did this ALL THE TIME, about everything.  In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s what drove me away from academics (higher-level anyways), and from DC.  There’s a nice balance between the world of academia and the world of application.

BUT, that said, taking a trip down memory lane this morning was fun  One of the teachers I mentored this summer wrote me asking if she could pick my brain about feminism and teaching, as she’s currently working on her Women and Gender studies capstone, and also a NC Teaching Fellow.  I happily agreed, as she was one of my favorite teachers (shhh… we don’t really have favorites), and I love thinking about these things.  Turned out to be an amazing addition to the morning, as it reminded me that sometimes I can get too bogged down in actionable conversations and tangible takeaways, and no longer seek out the bigger picture, theory conversations that I did used to love.

She also enlightened me with her e-mail organization, the one compartment of my life I have yet to master in terms of organization (not counting my car…).  Check out the product a short two hours later:

MY NEW, IMPROVED & ORGANIZED G-MAIL INBOX: 8

Add in some intense labeling (color-coded of course), a three-tier starring system, and multiple inboxes, and I’m ready to take over the world.  The real test will be if it stands up over time, so I’ll revisit this rating in a week or two.

After this motivating coffee date, and the reclaiming of my inbox, I headed home to see this:

 

 

 

THE LAZINESS OF MY PUPS: 9

While it does make me jealous at times (-1), overall I’ll take this over THIS any day.  Thank you Murphy for growing up, and Kota for being so darn cute.  And for cleaning out my empty peanut butter jars with your giant tongue.  The recycling people thank you.

That’s all for now folks.  Until next time, just living for the tens

Hawaii’s Over the Hill…

It feels like it’s been a while since the framily got together (not counting the trip to Maine Paul, Ben & I just got back from- more on that later), so I was left with no option but to host a little get together this weekend.

Clearly it was only appropriate the theme was a Hawaiian Luau, considering that Sunday was the 52^nd anniversary of their statehood.  Chuquin and I headed out that afternoon and did our best to find some things to spice up the apartment.  I’d say we did pretty well…

 

Only things missing were grass skirts and coconut bras…

HAWAIIAN LEIS:  7

Finding great leis was a bit harder than anticipated, however.  I knew immediately where to head, as I’ve hit up Party City for leis in the past (surprisingly effective classroom incentive for my 11^th graders).   But I did not anticipate quite how expensive they’d be… $2 a pop for the average ones, and $3-$4 for the super colorful, thick and flowery ones.  I fell in love immediately with a bright yellow one, but forced myself to put it back when I realized I couldn’t afford one for everyone.  Bad taste for the hostess to sport a high-end lei while handing out the skimpy ones.

Ultimately we went with lei headbands, as they were two for $1, so I could purchase enough for everyone.  I added in a couple colorful smaller neck leis as well, and I’d say the combo did the trick.  That said, if money were no option we would have scored some awesome fluorescent ones.

 

ROSEMARY PINEAPPLE PIZZA: 10

I haven’t been this ecstatic about a new food option since Friday.  We picked up a bunch of stuff at Trader Joe’s in the morning, and after playing some beach volleyball out back decided to throw it all together.  We did pretty well, ending up with guacamole (it’s so good any country/state would be lucky to have it as part of their cuisine), fruit salsa, homemade tortilla chips, and lastly this delicious pizza.

I can’t claim any credit, as it was entirely Chuquin, but please allow me to gush for a minute.  It started with the $1.09 whole wheat dough from Trader Joes, covered with an olive oil/rosemary/Italian season blend, then topped with cut up pineapple (okay, I’ll take credit for this), and some mozerella soy cheese.  Yup, that’s right.  SOY CHEESE.  Those non-believers have never tried this brand, on this pizza.  LIFE CHANGING.  And I’d say that almost everyone who tried it would agree.

Couldn’t resist, and made a quesidilla tonight with the leftovers.  Almost as good, but not quite.

HAWAII’S VEGAN FRIENDLINESS: 2

While pineapple is certainly vegan, virtually every recipe we found online was not.  Hence why guacamole became Hawaiian due to my ability to make/change the house rules.

THE FRAMILY’S VEGAN FRIENDLINESS: 9

While I hate to be a pain to those who haven’t chosen a vegan lifestyle, I’m constantly debating with myself whether or not I can ask others to do their best to bring vegan foods while I’m hosting.  While the cheeses and eggs don’t bother me much, I must admit I really am not a fan of tons of meat parading in whenever I host dinners.  Last night had to have been the most vegan friendly dinner we’ve had, with the only exception being a little tuna.  And what’s more Hawaiian than tuna???  Exceptions can sometimes be happily made

Check out my plate full of delicious veganness…

MURPH & KOTA’S PARTY PARTICIPATION: 9

There was no hulaing, but they certainly looked good… the headband leis fit their necks perfectly J  In fact, they’re still wearing them today…

 

 

All in all another successful framily dinner.  The framily is constantly growing and changing, and it was great to have a whole bunch of new folks join.  Thanks Jill, Steve, Dan, Amanda, Jordan, Emily, Chris, Mauro & Chuquin!

 

Until next time, just living for the tens

Murph’s GIANT Bone

While at Target on Tuesday I walked past the dog section and had to glimpse (per usual).  IMMEDIATELY catching my eye was the largest dog bone I’ve ever seen in my life.  And oddly enough, the first thing I thought about was Murphy.

Not Dakota, my 80 lb. chocolate lab, but instead my 20 lb. puggle.  Because he’s so obsessed with food I could only imagine the excitement he would attack it with, and how hilarious it would be to watch him dragging, carrying, and struggling with this humongous bone would be.

Turns out I was not disappointed, as he has done all of the above.

Plus try desperately to bring it to bed with him.  Which is clearly impossible as he can barely jump up on the bed as it is, and can barely carry the bone on the floor, so it is QUITE entertaining to watch him attempt to jump on the bed with the bone in tow.

-1 for the gross thought of having a slobbery bone in my bed, and the whining that comes with me throwing the bone out of the bedroom so he’ll actually go to sleep.

Turkey Day 2010

HAVING THREE DOGS IN ONE HOUSE: 6

If there were two, and they were Murphy and Dakota, or even Maggie and Dakota, this rating would be several points higher.  However, when you’ve got these three all together in one house, it’s CRAZY.

First, you’ve got Murphy and Maggie chasing each other around, with Maggie’s high pitched puppy yelping, literally one yelp per step (so imagine her sprinting, taking about 3 steps a second).

Then, add food in the mix and you’ve got two puggles, with killer instincts when it comes to food, about to draw blood.

Luckily Maggie and Dakota continue their love affair, which is both adorable and convenient.  Except when Maggie insists on following Dakota around everywhere and humping his legs.  Nice one Maggie.

However, the rating is still above a five, as I love dogs, I love my dogs even more, and I LOVE the motivator to walk 6 miles every day (yes, my parents are insane- one 3 mile walk, or even 2 1.5 mile walks are just not enough.  We took TWO 3 mile walks every day I was home).

RETURNING HOME WITH TWO THOROUGHLY POOPED PUPPIES: 10

SCRATCH BEGINNINGS: 9

Another reason I love holidays is the free time to actually read a book or two.  While I headed home with Manhunt in tow, a recommendation of a student as it follows the entire story of John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln assassination, I ended up reading a new book I recently discovered called Scratch Beginnings.  The concept is interesting, and I must admit I went into the read with mixed feelings, yet open minded to what I would find.

The author, Adam Shepard, decides to take off from Raleigh NC and head to Charleston SC with $25, a train ticket and a sleeping bag.  His goal is to prove that the American dream is still alive and well by making $2,500, furnishing an apartment and buying a car by the end of a year.

The book is mostly spent telling the stories of those he encounters along the way, and how he ended up making it happen within 8 months.  The epilogue talks a bit about the bigger issues of poverty in America, and what this social experiment means for the American dream and how we begin to address the problems that are preventing some from getting there and causing others to stand still where they are.

While I’m not sure I agree (yet) with all issues and opinions presented, it was a pretty great instigator for Thanksgiving conversation among my family, and has given me a much needed reason to reflect on my own thoughts.  I find I spend so much time thinking about day-to-day survival in the world of teaching that I forget about the things that brought me here (and back) in the first place.  I’m going back to reread Nickel and Dimed now, which was part of the inspiration for Scratch Beginnings, and I think I’ll have a more solid grasp of my thoughts at the end.  In the meantime, it comes as a highly recommended read

THANKSGIVING DINNER: 9

I’m pretty lucky to have a mom who supports whatever my eating habits are (as they’ve grown progressively more restrictive over time).  This year she had the added challenge of creating a vegan Thanksgiving dinner.  I will note that this is a challenge created by her, as I insisted that PB & J was good enough for this vegan.

Despite that, I must admit I’m grateful for the effort as I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner as much as everyone else   Mashed potatoes (with fake butter and soy milk), corn, pumpkin rolls and stuffing not actually stuffed inside the turkey… A. MA. ZING.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that a point must be subtracted for the sickness I caused by eating too much.  Not unusual, not unfamiliar, but nonetheless pretty miserable.

This year was a small Thanksgiving, as it was just the immediate family and Ned, a blind man my mom met through the Blind Association and has now become a family friend over the past 7 (?) years.

2010 CHRISTMAS CARD PHOTO: 8

Posing with 3 dogs is not easy.  Why we insist on including all three, I’m not quite sure.  It does, however, provide some entertainment.

So considering the fact that we had to get all three dogs to look at the camera, while also catching all of us with our eyes open, I’d say we did pretty good

-2 for my decision (or lack of awareness really) to wear a shirt with reflective tape on it.  Oops… turns out it’s nothing a little iPhoto editing can’t fix

CELL PHONE HEADSETS: 8

While a 5 hour drive is definitely not bad, and I actually really appreciate the alone time to listen to incredible music, sing along, and brainstorm brilliant ideas for the classroom (or atleast ideas I think are brilliant ), it’s also nice to use the time to catch up with people I don’t talk to nearly enough.  And people I already spend too much time talking to.  Either way, the “company” is great, and without a headset I’d be way more of a hazard on the road.

-1 for the difficulty it can sometimes cause hearing, or making me sound like I’m in a wind tunnel.

-1 for the hazard of attempting to plug in the headset, and get each ear piece in the right ear, during the 15 seconds I have while my phone is ringing.  Why don’t I just leave it plugged in, you wonder?  Sadly my phone doesn’t actually ring if I leave it in, meaning I have to unplug and replug each time.  Not cool…

RETURNING TO GASTON: 5

This rating is not an indication of my love of my kids, or my love for teaching, but instead my extroverted self sad at leaving people again.  Sometimes I love living alone, don’t get me wrong, but it’s always an adjustment for me to leave a house full of people and animals for my house in Gaston where it’s just me and the pups.  Thank goodness for the pups

The GREAT news is that these next three weeks may possibly be my favorite three weeks of the year.  I love holiday season more than anything, and tonight I’m planning to put on Elf and put up the tree… followed by three weeks of good friends, great holiday parties (including the first ever hosted at my Gaston house!) and Secret Santa wonderfulness at school.  I CANNOT WAIT!  I’m even thinking of attempting Christmas lights on my house (and/or fence) this year…

Until next time, just living for the tens

Puppy Parade

*This is the first guest rating (of hopefully many), coming from Cheryl Smith, my twin sister and most avid blog follower.*

Sometimes it feels like everyone around me has adorable dogs, except for me.  I find this makes me want one even more than I did before!  The reality of it is, working in the city and commuting an hour each way to work, every day, just doesn’t seem realistic or fair to a dog.  Therefore, I have had to live vicariously through everyone else.

Luckily I am not alone in this, as my coworker seems to suffer the same problem.  Our way of coping is by dog sitting as much as possible, and surrounding ourselves with as many adorable dog pictures as we can.  It’s only somewhat embarrassing when people walk by our desks and ask if all of these dogs are ours, to which the response is, “Actually I don’t have a dog…  These are just my friends’ and families’ dogs.”

Therefore, as my first guest post I decided to rate the cubicle wall of my coworker.  Because of his love for everyone else’s animals, even those people he doesn’t even know, I had to rate this an 8.

Puppy Cuddling

While many have probably believed by now that this blog has gone extinct, I am here tonight to prove otherwise.

Returning to the classroom, this time to teach U.S. History and AP U.S. History, has been about as time consuming as I predicted, and sadly this blog has become one of the boxes on my to do list found under the ‘nice to have’ column rather than ‘must have’ column.  However, tonight’s occurrence has forced me to return.

Those loyal readers may recall my dream that one day my two dogs would be found cuddling like those on adorable postcards and greeting cards found at Hallmark and on those mass forward emails.  While this was my original goal in getting a second dog, I soon had to readjust my expectations when I fell in love with Dakota, who did not love the idea of cuddling with other dogs quite as much as I loved the idea of him doing it.

And tonight, after a long weekend with the parents and their puggle Maggie, this is what I found on my living room couch

Can’t rate this anything but a 10

Hopefully there will soon to be more where this post came from…

Another day (or three) in the Mountains

I love that I haven’t updated this since my last trip to the mountains… clearly it’s been a busy (and exciting) summer.  I doubt that this will slow down after the big move this weekend, but we’ll see how I can attempt to fit more regular blogging into the changes.  In the meantime, I just have to blog about yet another fabulous trip to the mountains

ROAD TRIP UP: 10

The boys had to work on Friday, but Laura, Snook and I decided to take advantage of an extra day and headed up Friday morning.  Crashing for free at a friend’s place, it was the perfect destination for my last weekend before moving.  Laura and Snook rode in one car with Preston, with Dakota, Murph and I rode in the Sooby.

I must admit I haven’t driven anywhere alone recently, and I forgot how much I appreciate time to think, sing and drive.

Friday was the perfect opportunity, along with a nice lunch stop where we picnicked on the grass   One of the rare trips where I actually would have liked to have driven some more…

After arriving Laura and I headed out to the Watauga with the pups to stretch our legs a bit.  Only about 5 minutes down the road from where we were staying… PERFECT!

DRIVING ON THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY: 8

Saturday began with a trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of my favorite places to drive in North Carolina (possibly anywhere).  Yielding views like this makes it pretty amazing… I couldn’t resist stopping and forcing the dogs to take pictures with me

However, there are downsides to driving on the Parkway as well.

1) if you’re trying to get somewhere quickly, this is not the way to do it.  All the tourists take the speed limit extremely seriously, however in light of point number 2, this might be  good thing.

2) As the driver I’m always distracted by the incredible views, and am thankful when I arrive where I’m going in one piece, still on the road.

DAKOTA’S PREFERRED ROAD TRIP POSITION: 10

Way better than when he lays on top of the crash pad (and spends the entire trip sliding around every time I turn or stop), and ADORABLE.  Didn’t even realize this was what he was doing behind me until we stopped along the parkway and I discovered this…

GRANDMOTHER BOULDERING:9

I’ve heard of this place for a while, but now I actually know where it is and could find it again.  SCORE!

About a 15 minute walk/hike off the Blue Ridge parkway, there’s a large collection of pretty sweet rocks.  Luckily Bill and Jen were headed up this weekend as well, as they came prepared with pages worth of beta.

While my climbing wasn’t as good as I would like (what did I expect after climbing so little this summer?), the other climbers were great, and I probably had as much fun taking pictures and being outside as I did actually climbing.  Plus, now I can head back anytime I want

MY CLIMBING PHOTOGRAPHY: 9

It just keeps getting better   Now if I could just get my autofocus to work…

NOT SHOWERING FOR THREE DAYS: 7

After leaving for the mountains I decided to protest showering for the extent of the trip, and it proved to be pretty nice.  Always better when you’re actually camping outside and don’t have access to a shower, it saved time and the trouble of worrying about doing my hair.  Pretty much didn’t touch it the whole trip.  Perhaps next time I’ll take it a step further and finally dread my hair like I’ve always dreamed about… was getting pretty close by the end of the trip anyways.

After a morning of climbing, a visit to a local Art festival, and some lunch from the Ham Shoppe, we headed down to the river for some much needed relaxation and swimming.

PICNICING BY THE WATAUGA: 9!

Only wish we had found a deeper swimming hole…

NORTH CAROLINA SKIES: 10

The skies are beautiful all over the state, but this one might take the cake.

HIKING TO THE TOP OF GRANDFATHER: 7.5

After another fabulous breakfast at the nearby Grandview Diner, Scott and I decided to tackle another trail up Grandfather.  The Profile Trail takes off literally about 5 minutes from where we were staying, which was PERFECT!

About 3.5 miles up we hit a fork… having gone up Calloway Peak last time we were in town, we decided to head towards Attic Window Peak, hoping to find some good views.

Did we ever

We spent about as much time taking pictures as we did hiking… okay, not really but pretty darn close.  Can you blame us?

We came to one overlook that had a straight cliff going off the side, which led to me freaking out, becoming a bag of nerves, and of course insisting on a photo shoot

Sadly we forgot to pack any food, and didn’t think about the fact that we wouldn’t return until 3.  Needless to say the hike down involved some hunger, exhaustion and shaky legs.  We finally made it back to the bottom

-.5: Not actually being sure we’d found the peak and having to turn around once we’d gone far enough.

-1: Extreme hunger

-1: Weakness that came with the extreme hunger on the way down

Sadly we headed home from there, and now it’s time to recover back in the triangle for my last week before shipping out

More on the move later, and until then, just living for the tens!

Afternoon in the Smith House

9

At least it’s a nine when it looks like this…

-1 because I’m usually doing work on the couch, and to be honest it’s starting to kill my back.  Other than that it’s wonderful

My Heart is Happier :)

I find my heart is just plain happier when I’m in the mountains of North Carolina.  There’s a legend that something special is buried deep below the mountains, causing visitors a feeling that can’t really be described, but can most definitely be felt.  I think it’s a feeling of a content heart.  That combined with the framily is bound to make one of the best Easters ever.  A slideshow to come shortly, but in the meantime a random assortment of ratings from the long weekend in Blowing Rock, NC.

THE PUPS: 8

I must say, I LOVE taking Dakota to the mountains.  He’s so good, that when I don’t have to worry about other dogs around I pretty much leave him off leash the entire time.  And he LOVES it.  Sticks right by me, but clearly loves the comparative freedom.  Plus, he’s up for anything, despite being a bit older.

Murph has also turned out to be quite the mountain dog.  While I still have to keep him on leash almost all the time (his nose is known to lead him far away at quick rates), his endurance is INSANE.  We took him on a six hour hike on Sunday to the highest peak on Grandfather mountain, and he was still pulling on the leash at the bottom.  Pretty impressive

All in all the three pups got along fabulously, minus a little humping, a little whining and some minor growling… overall a huge improvement

SATAN’S BALLS: 9

In the downtime between climbs/hikes, we hung out at our super chill cabin and enjoyed some delicious food.  My favorite had to be Laura’s homemade Satans Balls.  Made out of cake mix and icing, dipped in melted chocolate and then add sprinkles, they were HEAVEN.  Except for the fact that they were small and there were a lot.  Pretty sure I made myself sick off them on Saturday night.  Although that didn’t stop me from eating more for breakfast on Sunday morning…

CALLOWAY PEAK: 9.5

On Sunday Scott, Laura, Mazzi, Paul and I headed out to tackle Grandfather Mountain. After a couple side stops along the way, we finally found the entrance we wanted.  We hiked as a group for awhile, and about 2.5 miles in Laura, Paul and Mazzi headed back while Scott and I went on a search for the summit.

While it ultimately took about 3 1/2 hours to get to the peak, it was TOTALLY worth it.  The highest point on Grandfather Mountain, it provided a 360 view like none I’ve seen in a LONG time.  It was incredible.

-.5 for the snow/ice we encountered at the last steep pitch.  It resulted in several almost-falls, soaking wet/freezing feet (I was wearing my five-fingers) and a soaked/freezing butt (after deciding this was the safest way to descend).  However, we made it safely!

SUNRISE OVER PRICE LAKE: 10

This morning we decided to get up super early and hike to a lake about 2 miles away to check out the sunrise.  While we got a bit lost on the way there, luckily some nice folks on the Blue Ridge Parkway picked us up and brought us there.

Totally worth the early rise, both for the company and for the view.  Don’t get to see this very often…

THE COMPANY’S CLIMBING: 10!

We left Holloway Mountain with a lot to be proud of… Ben’s first time leading trad, Laura and Katie’s first outdoor ascent’s, Scott’s first climb outdoors with us, Liz’s first lead climb in the morning, and Jay, Paul, Mazzi and I looking better than ever.  Not much to complain about here

All in all another fabulous framily vacation.  Stay tuned for the movie- hopefully with audio this time!!!