My life as I know it

So last week, Pat called to tell me that his friend from college would be coming to Cleveland for work and would be staying with us for a night. I was really excited because I love visitors! Pat went on to say that he thought it would be fun if we went to Great Lakes Brewing Company for dinner when he's there. I got even more excited because I love going out to eat and we hardly ever go out to eat during the week! Somehow, though, the communication major misinterpreted the intention of the word "we." "What time are we going out to eat?" I asked Pat. "Well," he replied with hesitation, "when I said 'we,' I actually meant just us guys. You know, a guy's thing." I tried to play it off like I was totally okay with that, "Oh, it's just a guys thing? Okay. No big deal." But deep down, it was a big deal. I felt an overwhelming sense of rejection. So right now, they are out to eat and drinking Great Lakes beer while I a...

There has been a lot of speculation lately about whether or not my dog, Grady, has grown out of his "consumption phase" in which he swallows socks, underwear and all paper products. My response to this question is a very diplomatic one in which I just state facts: To the best of my knowledge, Grady has not consumed anything other than his dog food in X months. Prior to today, X meant about eight months. I have been really careful with my response to this question because it has been too hard to tell if his eight month "remission," if you will, was a result of the fact that he has actually outgrown this bad habit or rather if it was a result of his owners doing a better job of keeping all temptations out of sight (and therefore, out of his stomach). I wanted to believe it was because he had outgrown it, but secretly, I think I knew he hadn't. Tonight, unfortunately, Grady proved that my suspicion was correct; he has yet to outgrow this awful habit. When given...

I don't even really like the word panties. Actually, I despise it. But yet, I still find myself using the phrase "don't get your panties in a bunch," when a situation warrants such a thing. I'm pretty sure I've said it to Pat, who doesn't even wear panties. Go figure. Anyway, I bring this up because today, my panties are literally in a bunch. Not because I'm upset; my day has been quite pleasant, actually. Well, except for the fact that my panties are in a bunch. The problem is, I'm wearing panties underwear that are a size too small for me and therefore they are cutting off my circulation. I remember back in the day when I could wear a size extra small - in everything, including my underwear. And by back in the day, I mean all the way back to high school and perhaps my freshman year of college. It was a sad day when I had to go up to a size small. As you can imagine, it was an even harder day when I realized that I should go up ...

So first, let's state the obvious: I'm an inconsistent blogger who is absolutely incapable of blogging every day. Heck, it seems I'm not even capable of blogging every week! In my defense, I worked more in the months of March and April than I have ever worked in my life. Does that make up for it? I didn't think so. Moving right along... My lack of blogging has even caused me to stop reading other people's blogs because it was only making me feel worse about the fact that they were keeping up with their blogs and I wasn't keeping up with mine. Waahhhh! So, today is the day where I dive back in. What to talk about, what to talk about... Why don't I tell you about my day? The good news is, if you're not interested in hearing about my day, you can simply X out of this browser. It's much easier to shut me up virtually than it is in person. :) For those of you who think you're interested in hearing about my day, continue reading but let me warn yo...

Grady in his favorite spot Although there are so many things I can, and do, say about Grady's bad behaviors, he has some good qualities too. He is not really a "barker." Of course you'll hear the occasional barking when he sees people walking by the window, but we've been working really hard to correct this behavior because quite frankly, neither of us can stand it! But for the most part, you can leave him outside and he'll never make a sound or he'll sit in his favorite spot on the couch looking out the window, watching the "comings and goings" without making a peep. Lately, though, that hasn't been the case. It all started last week, one morning before work, when Grady started barking like crazy outside. Pat went to see what he was barking at and was shocked to find Grady standing in our driveway, barking like a maniac at our neighbor, Denny. If you knew Denny and knew his relationship with Grady, you would find this just as shocking ...

Do you remember the Saturday Night Live skit, Oops I Crapped My Pants ? It was always a favorite of mine and I still enjoy it to this day. Check it out if you've never seen it, it will be worth your time. Pat beat me home from work today, as I was at a hair appointment until 6:30 p.m. When I pulled into our driveway, I immediately noticed the bottom, plastic part of Grady's crate in our driveway. Next I saw the puddles of soapy water and my clean, wet dog. Oops, Grady must have crapped his crate (again). We've been through this song and dance more times than I can count over the last year. You walk in the back door and the smell hits you like a freight train. Next you have to figure out whether or not it's all over him and whether or not he can walk out of the crate or if you have to carry him out of the crate (which is no longer an option for me since he now weighs over 60 pounds). We've been watching his movements for the past few days, waiting for the weddin...

The last words out of Pat's mouth before we left for the grocery store were, "Did you dog proof the house?" We both walked back into the house to give it one more look. We moved anything made of paper off of the kitchen and dining room tables, we learned the hard way that moving paper into the middle of the tables isn't enough. He has long legs and he knows how to use them. Funny thing is, we have NEVER witnessed him jumping on the counter or our tables. He's at least smart enough not to do it in front of us. We made sure to close the doors to the bedrooms, we all know what he does with socks and underwear. We closed the doors to the bathrooms to prevent him from getting in the trash or the toilet (and he has done both). Finally, we shut the door to the basement just in case he could find any trouble down there. Feeling quite comfortable with the condition of the house, we left Grady alone while we headed for the grocery store. Neither of us really wanted to go....

Is there an appropriate amount of nicknames you can have for your pet? Or maybe a better question would be, how many nicknames is too many? I was just thinking about all of the different names I/we (but mostly me) call our dog, Grady, and there are a lot! I wonder if it gets confusing for him? Maybe that is why he only listens to me half of the time - because I only call him by his real name half of the time (actually, that's being generous. I probably call him by his real name much less than half of the time). Here are the different names I call my dog: Grady Grady Mac Grady Mac Robinson (his full, birth given name) Grady Boy Big Boy Buddy Mr. Fluffy (name given to him by kid at the vet) Fluffy Fluffer Mr. Fluffer Mr. Fluffer Pants Mr. Fluffer Pants Head Mr. Fluffer Head Fluffer Fluff (spin off of Flavor Flav) Stretcher Bear (I used to say this every time he stretched, now he stretches just to hear me say it) Wow, as I was typing these I started to get emba...

We had another great weekend! I was so excited to be home from Dayton and be back with my "pack" as Grady thinks of us. Being away from home is a great reminder of how much you love being there and gives you a new sense of appreciation for the phrase "home sweet home" when you return (especially if you spent three nights in a dorm room). Both Friday and Saturday night were very low key. Dinner and watching a movie at home, just the two (or three) of us. Friday night was Pat's choice so we watched Gladiator. I have been trying to dodge watching this movie for, oh, I don't know, the entire 5 years Pat and I have been together? Finally, when it arrived in the mail from Netflix on Friday and I realized how excited Pat was for us to watch it together, I succumbed. And I have to admit, despite the violent parts (which I tried not to watch), I really did think it was a good movie. On Saturday night, we went to dinner at Max & Erma's and used our anniversary...