Peculiar Things, Internal Clocks

I can never seem to wake up on Monday mornings.  I mean, a get out of bed when I’m supposed to, but I don’t feel awake.  I’m just now beginning to feel a little alive, and it’s 11:30.  I’m not a morning person, and my own  internal clock doesn’t like to have to wake up at 6:00 AM.  I am OK with 7:00 and best at 8:00, but I honestly think that 6:00 seriously cuts in on my REM sleep cycle.  I also know that if I sleep later that 8 or 8:30 I feel almost as badly as I do when I’m up at 6:00.  Internal clocks are peculiar things.

My internal clock and my dog’s internal clock are both fairly well tuned; Lucy’s definitely more so than mine, considering she can’t really tell time.  Almost without fail, she keeps a schedule of:

6:00 am – Get up with Mommy, go potty, eat breakfast, then get back in bed with Daddy.

7:15-7:30 am – Go poop.

7:45 am – If the weather is nice, go outside to play while Mom and Dad go to work.  If the weather’s not nice, look down with sad eyes from the top of the stairs.

7:45 am – 1:30 pm-2:30 pm – Either spend morning playing outside with an occasional nap or spend morning inside napping.

1:30 pm-2:30 pm – Share lunch with Mom and go potty.

2:30 pm-5:20 pm – Either play outside or nap inside the house.

5:20 pm – Greet Mommy, poop, and play racquetball with the possibility of a walk.

6:00  pm – Go inside the house, eat supper, wait on Daddy to get home,  and greet him.

6:30 pm – Play with Daddy,  help Mom cook supper.

7:00 pm – Beg for Mom and Dad’s supper.

7:30 pm – Help either Mom or Dad do dishes.  Immediately followed by a potty break.

8:00 pm – Run / walk with Dad.

8:15 pm – Cuddle time on couch, watching TV with Mom and Dad.

9:00 pm – 9:30 pm – Time for another poop.

10:15 pm – 11:00 pm – Time to go to potty one last time then cuddle up in bed.

2:00 am – 2:30 – Wake Mom by licking her eyes so she will take me poop if I need it.  Go back to bed.

6:00 am – Time to start all over again!

When we stray from this schedule, we sometimes get a cranky pup, and that throws the entire schedule into confusion.  I’ve realized with her how important it is to keep some sort of schedule, that dogs and probably children seem to do much better with that stability.  Honestly, we all do.  Sadly, my REM cycle seems to want to stay off track with the rest of my schedules.

Fireside Nothings: January 15, 2009

Listened to: Snow (Hey Oh) from the album “Stadium Arcadium” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

• So… it snowed today. Ugh. Once upon a time I’m pretty sure that I loved snow, especially because it was so rare in Southeastern Oklahoma. I suppose that’s one of those side effects of growing older, you know, seeing snow as little more than an inconvenience on my commute to work. At least I’ve pretty much trained every PA at the station to make winter weather closings now, so I don’t have to be the responsible person who treks in at 4 AM to make sure each school gets the correct closing info on TV. Maybe some day I’ll appreciate it more, but I can’t help but dislike it mostly because it means that poor Lucy has to spend all her time stuck inside the house while we’re at work.
• I’m trying to not allow myself to suffer from that winter depression that often creeps into my soul on these cold, dreary days.
• On a fun note, we’ve made plans with probably our best married couple friends, Brandon and Erin Yarbery to go to Gaston’s White River Resort for a long, fun weekend in late March with our respective girls, Lucy and Lakota. It’s much easier to face these days with something to look forward to in the Spring. Now I just need to get some waders. I may or may not want to fish, but I love just wading in the water, and I sure Lucy will try to live in the river.
• Tomorrow is Friday, YAY!!! I can’t wait to be a big ole’ homebody this weekend, leaving only to attend church.
• As I sit here, I can’t help but contemplate the results of my inquiry I made of people with Tuesday’s blog. I should have known that I would open a can of worms when mentioning a subject as volitile as abortion, but I didn’t really expect to get a reply from some vigilante psycho extremist who seems to condone blowing up clinics. All I can do is shake my head and wonder at people. I will have to say that people like that with opinions like that are who give those of us who are Pro-Life a very bad name.
• I love how writing can make a rather, well, blah mood better. It really is a brand new day, or I guess tomorrow is. There are far too many things to be happy about to let things drag my mood down. Again, tonight as I sit her comfortably nestled between a sleeping dog and roaring fire, I am reminded how blessed I am to have a warm home with a fire, a husband, and a golden retriever who loves to cuddle when so many people are far too cold tonight. Family, friends – near and far, home, and even work are blessings that I take for granted more than I should.

Listened to: Brand New Day from the album “Simple Times” by Joshua Radin

On A Happier Note…

So, my previous post was my whiny, complaining, “Woe is me it’s a dark, dank, cold Monday” post. Posts such as that are part of the reason why blogs are such a cathartic outlet. That said, I feel I need to post some random, happier thoughts.

• For some reason, every time I just hear the Hershey Kisses commercial where the kisses are bells and play “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” I get a smile on my face.
• Playing Wii is fun, though you have to be careful not to break anything. Playing doubles with your spouse against the computer is even more fun.
• Cuddling on the couch with husband and dog is a must in this cold weather. We actually have a sort of competition to see who can get Lucy in their lap first, so she can keep us warm.
• I always have a good feeling when my nieces love being at our house so much that they don’t want to leave, even if we’re ready for them to go home.
• Going on almost five years of marriage only makes the heart fonder.
• For all the talk of hope we’ve heard this past year, Romans 15:13 talks of real hope.
  

  13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope ^(B)by the power of the Holy Spirit

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The girl with the long flowing blond butt-hair turns 1

Click on the above photo to watch Scrapblog

A year ago I knew that I wanted a dog. I wanted one very badly because I had grown up with a good dog and knew what wonderful friends and companions they are. I also knew that this time around I wanted either a golden retriever or a bernese mountain dog because they’re supposed to be so friendly. The problem was convincing Bart because he doesn’t like to change much of anything, and he’s always been more of a cat person. What I didn’t know a year ago was that a little puppy with orangeish / red fur and a white spot on both her head and chest was taking her first breaths.

I had finally managed to get Bart to consent to a “maybe” in regards to getting a dog for Christmas / anniversary. So, all fall I scoured over newspapers ads and websites looking for an affordable puppy. Finally on Sunday, December 16′th I saw an ad in the paper for golden retriever puppies, Bart was home to go look for once, and told me to give them a call. It just so happened that they were at the K-Mart in Springdale and had one female puppy. Bart said, “Let’s go get you a puppy.”

It was love at first sight, let me tell you. She was just so sweet and scared. When we drove to Petco to get supplies then home, she just kept her little head in the crook of my arm, while farting. Once we got home, she started settling in fairly quickly.

At first I wondered if it had been a mistake to get her. I loved her, but the lack of sleep and the extra energy a new puppy takes were both SOOOOO consuming. Then somehow, we all three got used to the new living arrangements, and developed a routine. Thankfully Lucy lives for routine. That has come in very handy with everything from potty-training, to bedtime, and especially our having to leave for work.

Even though she started out as “my” dog, she’s very much our dog, our starter kid. She’s as much a member of the family as anyone else. I look forward to playing hours of racquetball with her and coming home to cuddle up on the couch with her. She’s our little Blue-Light Special, our Puppy Snowflake, our Pumpkin, our Lucy-girl. I hope we have many more happy years together.

Obersvations and other Random Things.

• Friday morning I left work around 11 AM with what had to have been one of the most debilitating migraines I have ever suffered. I awoke feeling odd, but still quite able to go to work. Then, around 9, it hit me honestly like a freight train. There were none of the floaters that I’m accustomed to that warn me of a migraine, just nausea and sudden, rapid eye twitching. So, I finished the work that I had to complete some how and left. That sort of put a damper on my weekend. Though the pain subsided by that evening, I honestly felt off most of the weekend. Nonetheless, I completed a substantial amount of housework, played with the poochie-girl, and enjoyed time with Bart. Still yet, I hate migraines.
• I have started going back and reading some of my stuff in order to get to know my characters again. I trying, in all honesty, to “get back in the saddle” one step at a time.
• I had a particularly “huggy” puppy-dog this morning. She always is on Mondays though. She gets to spend so much time with us on the weekend, that when we start our weekly routine, it’s like she’s begging us to just stay home with her.
• I also think that if Lucy was a human, she would be one of those people who secretly poisons her loved ones so that they will have to stay near her, and she would have to take care of them. The joy she derived from spending Friday in bed with me while I slept off my migraine was unmistakable.
• My Sooners are ranked Number 1 in the AP Poll for the 69′th time, breaking a tie with Notre Dame. Of that I am very proud.
• How thrilled am I that the new TV season is here? More so than I should be, probably. Last night we happily enjoyed Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. Tonight there will be new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men, and Wednesday night is the return of Pushing Daisies! I love that show and have bought all but two episodes from iTunes. I’m sure I’ll have to get the last two soon.

“Dearest Friends”

These pictures are horribly out of focus, and the light is horrendous.  However, it’s not always easy to photograph a four-year-old and a ten-month-old puppy.  Nonetheless, I think they’re sweet and wanted to share.  This is Emma, my niece, and Lucy at our house on Labor Day after Emma and her sister, Kelsey, spent the night with us.  Emma calls Lucy her “dearest friend.”  Lucy’s fond of her too.  When their parents picked them up soon after this picture, Lucy kept looking all over the house for her girls.

"Dearest Friends"

These pictures are horribly out of focus, and the light is horrendous.  However, it’s not always easy to photograph a four-year-old and a ten-month-old puppy.  Nonetheless, I think they’re sweet and wanted to share.  This is Emma, my niece, and Lucy at our house on Labor Day after Emma and her sister, Kelsey, spent the night with us.  Emma calls Lucy her “dearest friend.”  Lucy’s fond of her too.  When their parents picked them up soon after this picture, Lucy kept looking all over the house for her girls.

Frivolous Wish List

Everyone has things that they wish for. Some are attainable, some are not. Some are within our control, and some are dependent upon other entities. Here is a list of just some of the more frivolous things that I wish for.

• I wish At&t U-verse would hurry up and debut here, in Northwest Arkansas because I’m more than ready to kick Cox Cable to the curbside. I’m ready to get many more channels plus HD and DVR and DSL for what we pay just for expanded basic cable and internet.
• I wish iTunes would start selling episodes of “Pushing Daisies” and “90210.”
• I want a steammop and sweepvac. I hate sweeping and sweeping but never getting all the dirt off the floor. Also, I think that a steammop would be ever so helpful in cleaning and disinfecting the floors.

The previous two were more attainable. The rest, well maybe in time, or not.

• I want either a high-end Macbook, a low-end Macbook Pro, or a Macbook Air to replace my computer at home. We’re seriously thinking of ways to condense the two upstairs rooms into one, so hopefully if we ever do get pregnant, the baby can have a room. This can be done by eliminating my computer desk and shelve, combing the contents of the bookshelf with those in our bedroom, and moving at least the spare bed into the computer room for now. I’ve been down on laptops for the most part in recent years as Bart and I have had laptops that died earlier than a desktop would. However, we’ve never had a Mac, my time spent on the computer at home has dwindled to where I stay downstairs and just surf the Net via my iPod Touch, I want a Mac, and we’re planning on getting a TB external drive to contain our files anyway. I’m often more inspired to write downstairs, away from Bart and whatever he’s doing upstairs because we don’t agree on music
• On my list of things I would like would be an iPhone. I love my iPod Touch and wish that more places offered free wifi hotspots. At least I know that when we switch to U-verse ( hopefully next month ) I’ll be able to access At&t hotspots for free. I will have to do without the iPhone though because we refuse to pay the ridiculous fees for the At&t data plan. Not that I wouldn’t love to be able to use ALL of the cool new iPhone / iPod Touch applications, but sometimes the price it too high.
• I want a Toyota Highlander. I know I have a great car that I love, but again with the thought of hopefully expanding our family in the near future, the Highlander with third row seating and a back where Lucy and future pups can have ample room.

That’s just about all of my wish list that I can think of for right now. Well, there are always those other, wholly unattainable wishes:

• Win the big Powerball lottery.
• Hire that guy in Cave Springs to build our dream house.

Random Thoughts and Observations: September 9, 2008 Edition

• I think that I’m getting to the point where I don’t actually need as much sleep as I would like to get. Hardly a night goes by when something or many things don’t wake me up throughout the night. Take two recent nights as an example:Over Labor Day weekend, my nieces, Emma and Kelsey spent Sunday Night with us. I was up off an on with them most of the night, including when Emma woke up at 4AM, and needed to know where I was. I probably woke her up, letting Lucy out to play like she sometimes enjoys doing in the very early morning hours. Somehow, I made it through that night, none the worse for wear, apparently. Last night, Bart woke me up, gnashing his teeth in my ear. Then I had to go to the bathroom and wrap my wrist because it was bugging me. When I went back to bed, Lucy was then awake and needed to potty. She then couldn’t go back to sleep, so I put her in the back yard. Just as I was finally getting to sleep I heard angry barking. Lucy must’ve found her possum friend again, so I had to let her back in the house to keep from angering the neighbors. I then got the hiccups. I never have hiccups in the middle of the night, but then my body has been all sorts of odd lately. Anyway, Lucy came back to bed with us and tried to get comfortable on me, but couldn’t due to my hiccups. So, I put her in the living room and closed the bedroom door. Finally I sort of fell asleep for a few hours. When next I awoke I checked on Lucy (because the last time I locked her out of the bedroom she ate a pen that leaked all over our carpet). She awoke again and joined us in our room, but in the floor. Somehow, I’m more awake than the dog, who stayed inside for her morning nap today, in our bed according to Bart. I don’t entirely understand it, but I’m managing, even though I feel like a nap usually in the afternoon.
• I am such a gadget whore that I’ve spent the past hour hitting the “refresh” button on endgadget.com so I can keep up with the latest Apple Event. New iPod nanos. I want one. I don’t need one, but I want one. I just hope to be able to update the firmware on my iPod Touch again. Genius looks intriguing.
• I don’t like that Facebook is going to force us to use “The New Facebook.” It’s all buggy and doesn’t work correctly. It’s too Myspaceish.
• I’ve decided to boycott all channels owned by Viacom due to the appalling way Russell Brand hosted the VMA;s on MTV this weekend. This includes the channels :Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Spike, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon, Noggin, The N, Nick Jr., TEENick, MTV, VH1, MTV2, CMT, and Palladia.
• I think that Arkansas is going to have their rear ends handed to them this weekend by Texas unless they play well all game and not just the fourth quarter.  I think that Oklahoma will prevail over Washington, unless the PAC 10 officials give the Huskies the game.

Lazy Sundays

• Personal Quote of the Day:  “Mothers are proud when their children can do tricks, not when they turn them.”

Today was what we in our family like to call a “Lazy Sunday.”  Most weeks we like to come home from church on Sunday and relax in preparation for another busy, tiring week.  After lunch I’ll clear the dishes if there are any, do a few chores, then spend some quality snoozing time on the couch with Lucy.  She loves Lazy Sundays.  There’s little that makes Lucy happier than the three of us cuddled up on the couch together.  Then I try to find time to read and/or write some as well as play with Lucy.  Some weeks we don’t get any rest at all, like last week, when we stayed busy from Friday night through Sunday evening.  After a week such as that, we were specially tired and not particularly healthy.  My sinuses have been getting the best of me, and Bart and I realized that we weren’t even in shape to go to church today.

Sadly, my body relaxed some at this thought, and though we went to bed at our usual time, we all three slept clear through to the time Bart and I would usually be arriving at church for Sunday Morning Services.  Though I know we should go as often as possible, I’m pretty sure God is OK with us using today as he intended as well, as a day of some badly needed rest.  If was even as though He gave us his blessing with a day perfect for ease and rest.  It’s the middle of August, and we’ve had a cool, rainy weekend.  That in itself is a rare, odd, and wonderful blessing; a day perfect for naps and rest.

It was also a day perfect for playing in the back yard.  The air smells clean, cool, and fresh from the rain, and the ground in just soggy enough for Lucy to leave a trail of water spraying behind her as she chases racket balls across the yard.

I love these cool, wet, autumnlike days.  There’s something about trouncing across soggy grass, letting the water seep through your shoes, down to your socks as the wind cools your face.  It feels like Autumn, the most beautiful, wonderful time of the year to me.  It feels like football weather, and I’m thankful we have two weeks of Olympics to carry us through until Opening Day.  The wet, slightly muddy grass, the cool, gentle breeze, the lingering scent of rain in the air, it feels like football weather.  It feels like Lazy Sunday