Kunoichi: Doggie Ninja

I’m gonna hijack Ichi’s space to post quite a few pictures of my latest Anthropologie trips. Anthropologie is pretty much where I go to feel better. As I have gotten older and farther removed from college, I’m getting mroe and more comfortable with spending money on clothes. It always makes me feel good to wear a new top to work, afterall.

Back in November, I took my first job at a software company that had a dresscode other than “jeans and a tshirt”. So Black Friday involved way more clothes than normal for me. But the bright side is that I have a thing for cashmere (oh so soft), so I didn’t really have to worry about tops.

But now it’s summer. Back in spring I bought several dresses, skirts and cardis from Old Navy. And I think that I began to really like dressing like a girl. OMG. Yes, I sometimes wear dresses. And I really started to get back into jewelry. Remember those days before I started playing basketball where every finger had a ring? Not quite there yet, but I’m more frequently wearing earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

But the point of all this: anthro. I have found a lot of excellent blogs that do dressing room reviews. It’s better than just reading a review because they take pictures. So you know what it actually looks like on a normal person with no style team backing them to get one nice picture. They also do OOTD (outfit of the day) to showcase styling and give you an idea of what it looks like in a regular situation.

So, Anthro is having a huge sale (and free shipping with an Anthro card) and I need summery work clothes. Match made in heaven I tell you. The above picture is the Rising Vapors dress in a dark grey which was cheap! (Even by regular standards. And yes, I’m starting to learn the names of things.)  Not sure how I’m gonna work it into work, but I’m gonna try.

More pretty after the cut!

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Sort of a followup, apparently people are actually getting off their couches (or at least grabbing their laptops) and emailing their congressmen in such huge numbers that they crashed the server! I’m so proud!

Constantly having to call IT to add more hardware makes us hard to ignore! Tell those load balanced servers to shove it! Keep emailing. And if that fails, call. And if that fails, it’s a recess, go track them down in your hometown. Tell them how you feel! They represent you afterall!

Moving is going okay. Ichi has developed a new love of cardboard. She already liked it, but now she feels compelled to eat it. HOWEVER, she does the cutest thing now. I gave her an empty roll from packing tape to play with (it’s cardboard) and now whenever I’m packing, she’s got the roll in her mouth. I think she thinks she’s helping. And she is (by staying out of the way).

Movers are hired, fridge is bought, fans are bought, light kits are bought, paint is picked out (and a sample bought), utilities are transferred, inspection is done and my closing appointment is set.

Expect a picture of me opening the door, but then no other input for a while as I will be very busy.

Things have gone about like this: I’m standing in Lowe’s and it occurs to me that the fans I’ve picked out, one is not an outdoor fan, so I find one but it has no light kit. So then I’m standing at the light kits trying to decide for like 30 minutes (there are only like 20 of them) and the Lowe’s guy is probably bewildered as to why it’s taking me so long. Why did it take me so long? I was trying to remember if flies and mosquitos are repelled by yellow light (or at least not attracted to it). I bit the bullet, buy the teastained light fixture and am on my way. I checked this morning, they are indeed not attracted to yellow light. The closer the light gets to ultraviolet the more attracted they are to it and I’m about as far as you’re gonna get without being dark.

Plus I figure, yellow light will be all “hey look, it’s night and we can see” but white light would be “hey look, it’s night, we can see, and EVERYONE in the neighborhood knows we’re out here”.

Many boxes are packed. I numbered the ones that are newly packed, but my closests are already  deep chasms of rubbermaid tubs. Hopefully everything will get in quickly. And then I can unpack, see what I need and go see folks in ATL for costume fittings and an Ikea trip sometime in July.

And finally, yes, I ordered a new phone. Not becuase it was a new release, but because my screen is doing some wacky things. It’s like it knows. It hasn’t shipped yet (because there’s no way I’m standing in line at 7am, no).

Cause that’s totally how she’s gonna view it. Her yard. And for that matter, her house. Closing should be on or before June 30. I anticipate it being more exciting after I get out of the financial stages.

Pictures

And because I was asked to: Registry. The bed bath and beyond registry gun was heavier than I expected. If you want to get something off there, but find it somewhere cheaper, by all means get it there. Consider it more a list of suggestions.  I’m tempted to make Ichi one on like Petsmart.com if they offer that. A couple of people have expressed wanting to get her a more outside oriented toy.

More to come soon, including trying to move with a dog that doesn’t like strangers. At least in the new house she hopefully won’t be as possessive as it won’t instantly be recognized as “hers”.

Since it would be my last opportunity really, to make BSG themed food (and particularly cake), I cooked a big dinner (apparently for myself) on Friday night.

I like my cake. I’m not particularly adept at frosting, but I think I accomplished the humor goal. And why yes, I did make gray icing. And yes, his eye sparkles with dreams of your destruction. Or freedom, take your pick. Maybe he thinks your destruction is his freedom. Doesn’t matter, the centurions are still my favorite characters. Them and Doc Cottle. And Tigh.

Click for the insides (they are special). Oh and there might be some spoilers, but I’ll try to keep it vague.

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So, this has happened twice now at my apartment complex and I intend that first thing in the morning, I will be alerting the staff. Tonight a young woman knocked on my door. After taking control of Ichi, who immediately began barking, she and I headed towards the door and opened it just enough for only the 2 of us to be seen (I used to live in a college town where people would knock and beg for money so they could see what was in your apartment and how long it took for you to unlock the door, so I’ve learned a thing or two). 

She began to disjointedly tell me her sob story about how she was going to be majoring in journalism soon (but looked much older than 17) and her mom thought it would be good for her to meet strangers (by knocking on their door alone at night?). And then here’s the kicker: she only needed x amount of points to earn a scholarship. Out comes the familiar set of cards. Laminated cards for me to pick out a magazine to buy, for which she’ll earn points. 

Last time it was a young man who needed to win a trip to Hawaii. Same cards. 

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I think Ichi’s just excited for her first Thanksgiving with us. Also, I think she’s counting on things to fall from tables and counters…she’ll take anything, but she’s clearly hoping for cheese and meats.

In other November news…I made a very grown up purchase. I think Mom and Dad were willing to chip in as party of my birthday partially becuase this is the first time in years I didn’t get a video game related item for my birthday. See, I’m growing up. It was a couch/loveseat set from Ashley furniture. Boy it’s nice to no longer have nails poking me in the back from the papasan chair.

Ichi’s favorite aspect of the new couches is that the combo forms a small traingle area in between them. Becuase of the way they are shaped, the table doesn’t close off this area. She now has her own tunnell like place in the apartment. Also, when there is company, she sits in between the loveseat and the sofa so she can get petted by everyone.

But yes, we leave in a few days for much good food and insane shopping (BlackFriday.info). I’ve committed to making cheesecake and I’ve picked it out.  I’ll let you know how it goes. BTW, here’s the one I made for St. Patrick’s Day. Bailey’s Irish Coffee Cheesecake. Thanksgiving will be Pumpkin Caramel.

So, secret time, I actually like going to ballparks. If I didn’t, it would have REALLY SUCKED to go to as many softball games as I have (some people were raised in barns, I was raised in a ballpark). I have an affinity for ballpark style foods. I have my patterns (at Jordan-Hare it’s always a hot dog, big drink, and a frozen lemonade, because, well, it’s hot and they’re tasty, but that’s football, it doesn’t count as ballpark food really). But my real love when it comes to ball park food is funnel cakes*. Sometimes they sell them at amusement parks (yes, I know the closest place to the entrace at Islands of Adventure to get one) and carnivals.

But I have other reasons, one of which being it’s pretty relaxing. At least, when kids aren’t blowing horns at you that kind of make them sound more like a dying moose.  There are usually people willing to make a fool of themselves for free tickets to a game that cost me .22 to get into (school supply night FTW!). And oh yeah, fireworks!

Last year I bought a new camera for our trip to Mexico. It turned out some BEAUTIFUL pictures, but one of the first places I took it to was to a ballgame on the 4th of July. After playing with the settings so much I don’t remember how to get it back, I got decent pictures. Shortly thereafter I found the fireworks setting. D’oh!

Friday’s game was my redemption. I got some excellent pictures now that I know about that and burst mode. Now, if I can just start remembering to take pictures of myself at some of these events, maybe my facebook profile picture wouldn’t have snow in it…in August.

Click the picture for the whole set. Keep in mind I was playing with some settings and they don’t release all the fireworks at once, so some are better than others.

And if you are wondering: Ichi’s good. We had a power outage last  night that made things a little difficult getting her into her leash, but otherwise, just fine. Also, thanks to her dorky “mom”, she’s thoroughly enjoying her scooby snacks.

*if buying me food at a ballpark and I’ve already had a funnel cake or they are out, the following foods may be offered as a substitute: hot dog, hot pretzel, big gigantic thing of popcorn, massive pixie sticks, large pickles, sour straws, cheese sticks, pizza, and last but not least, dipping dots. Keep in mind I like to have as many different foods as possible, therefore, unless it’s 0.25 hot dog day, pick something I haven’t eaten yet. If you bring me nachos with melted cheese, you do not know me at all.

I think I ask mom this more and more frequently. She’s probably tired of it by now. And while it doesn’t appear to be a huge thing for mom and dad (as dad seems like he goes through computers faster than he can fill them), I don’t even want to think about the day when Becca’s computer fails. I really don’t want to be there for that, honestly.

But, I’ve been thinking about backups a lot lately, now that I have 2 macs instead of just one. (SO LONG PC’S I WILL NOT MISS YOU.) Currently I’m running Time Machine, SuperDuper!, and .Mac MobileMe. MobileMe is the new .Mac, released less than a month ago and OH HOW I HATE IT. it’s supposed to “push”, it doesn’t, it “syncs”, but I’m not even sure it’s doing that correctly. My calendars are all out of whack (pieces of SOME of the calendars).

Granted, I redid a lot of stuff last night that seemed to fix the majority of the problem, but I’m still left contactless on my phone. It’s supposed to push to my phone and it has been more than 24 hours, nothing.

Well, now that I’ve vented the MobileMe back up frustrations, I’ll continue with my lecture on BACKING UP.

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Well, first off, Ichi and I made our first trip to the fairly new Huntsville Dog Park. To be fair, the Huntsville Dog Park was a nice place to congregate, but it’s basically a chainlink fenced in area under the interstate. However, kudos to whoever thought of putting it there, what a great way to use the area under the interstates! The shade was nice.

When we first walked in, every dog in the area came to check out Ichi. I swear, she thinks she’s a movie star or something cause everyone loves her. Eventually, she grew tired of her puparazzi and decided to check things out, which also involved shunning the dogs. Eventually I got her back to the dogs and owners (so I felt less awkward) and she started to play a bit. Honestly, what good is going to the dog park if she just chills on her own?  And at some point, play, turned to chase. This may have been the first time Ichi ever realized she’s not a big dog.

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