Good things:
All three dogs exhausted themselves somehow, and have been quietly napping near me for nearly two hours.
Finished a friend's baby blanket.
Unpacked a little bit more (still at 95% unpacked and stagnant due to lack of places to put stuff, need to paint to decorate, etc)
Local honey from the farmer's market!  If this honey were any more local, it would be from my backyard.  Take that, allergies!
Finally remembered my cute orange sundress I bought for my birthday last year.  It's too cold to wear it in Wyoming, great for Kansas summer days.

Not so good things:
Sure, now that I'm wearing my cute orange sundress, it's nice and cool today.  Waste of a dress.  It's not work appropriate though, so might as well wear it today.
Sallie seems not to be completely house broken.  On the bright side, we needed to shampoo the front room anyway.

Stupid July anyway.

When I planned Drew's surprise, I picked July 3 because I have the day off and I knew he could take the afternoon off. We'd put the pups outside with four or five water dishes and some food, and be gone for most of the day. Now we are dog-sitting Sweetie again, so we'd put out another water dish and another food dish (and ice in the water dishes, Giacomo loves ice water).

Today's high is 100*.

Rescheduling the surprise..

Supposedly, Sunday is supposed to much much cooler and I won't feel as bad about leaving our pups out all day.

And on today, once my knees can bend without sharp pain piercing through my legs:
( to do )

I love my job and even though I'm doing a crazy long, sorta boring but I dig it, project to clean up records, it's great.  I love being back here.

I'm trying to avoid posting about nothing but work because not everyone loves libraries as much as I do.  And I'm looking up barcodes all day, that's not a good entry.

Good things lately:
Sallie seems to be pretty dang house broken.  We've left her inside a few times while we go out for a bit.  The first time, she went crazy and dragged out toys, pulled a toy off the window sill (at least 3' off the ground), ran laps on the couch where doggies are not allowed.  The second time, Drew gave her a rawhide. Sallie chewed on that rawhide the entire time he was gone.  Both times, no accidents in the house!

Tomorrow I'm taking Drew to a surprise.  I've had this in mind for months, ever since we decided we were moving back.  He's excited even though he has no idea what's happening.  I told him to take the afternoon off and he would like to leave for the surprise at 12:01.

What are everyone's plans for the weekend, independence related or otherwise?

I took these 6 excepts from a larger article . These 6 were the insights I hadn't heard about.

1. Tuck a hot-water bottle between your feet or wear a pair of ski socks to bed. The science is a little complicated, but warm feet help your body's internal temperature get to the optimal level for sleep. Essentially, you sleep best when your core temperature drops. By warming your feet, you make sure blood flows well through your legs, allowing your trunk to cool.

2. Figure out your body cycle. Ever find that you get really sleepy at 10 p.m., that the sleepiness passes, and that by the time the late news comes on, you're wide-awake? Some experts believe sleepiness comes in cycles. Push past a period of sleepiness and you likely won't be able to fall asleep very easily for a while. If you've noticed these kinds of rhythms in your own body clock, use them to your advantage. When sleepiness comes, get to bed. Otherwise, it might be a long time until you are ready to fall asleep again.

3. Take a combination supplement with 600 mg calcium and 300 mg magnesium before bed. Not only will you be providing your bones with a healthy dose of minerals, but magnesium is a natural sedative. Additionally, calcium helps regulate muscle movements. Too little of either can lead to leg cramps, and even a slight deficiency of magnesium can leave you lying there with a racing mind.

4. Eat a handful of walnuts before bed. Walnuts are a good source of tryptophan, a sleep-enhancing amino acid.

5. Take antacids right after dinner, not before bed. Antacids contain aluminum, which appears to interfere with your sleep.

6. Spend 10 minutes journaling the day's events or feelings after tucking yourself into bed. This "data dump" will help turn off the repeating tape of our day that often plays in our minds, keeping us from falling asleep.

http://www.gfranks.com/blog/2009/4/24/6-new-insights-on-sleep.html#ixzz0K2lFHBMa&D

I got a paycheck!

You need to read Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. I loved Handmaid's Tale, but this is SO much better. One of my new favorite books. I feel lonely now that I've finished it.

We went to the zoo with friends today and holy hell it's hot outside.  As in 100*.  A cold front is supposedly heading our way so tomorrow will cool down to a high of 92*.  I can't wait!  Though I plan on being inside all day.  Stupid summer.

The zoo was great, though we didn't get to see everything.  We'll go back soon.  After the zoo, we went to a flea market where Drew and I found a dresser for my yarn (we'll refinish it first) and Kate got a cast iron skillet.  Friends had to leave early, so Drew and I looked around a bit more.  I found so many Jim Henson toys and didn't buy any of them.  I found Red Fraggle and put her down and never found her again.  Sad!  I did find some more yarn, which I obviously need because I don't have much time to knit lately.  Whatever.

And now we nap because the sun sucked out all our energy.

Pirate Merry Month o' June 24 Argh!
Ray: yo :):)
Amber: hey
Ray: what up with thee?
Amber: hows it going?
Ray: i'm good
Amber: trying to finish moving in
Ray: ahh
Amber: need to find a screwdriver
Ray: :):)
Amber: if i can't find my toolbox i may just go down to the bar and get one!
Ray: hah

Just go in and say you need a man with a screwdriver

heh...joke
Amber: hehehe

i bet i'd get all sorts of interesting responses to that
Ray: i like your profile pic...and yeah, ya would
Amber: thanks!

i was hoping to get a toga one up, but so far havent had time to retrieve anything off the camers
Ray: and the one of you in a purple shirt on the couch looking up is a really good one
Amber: yeah, i think thats my favorite. i use that for everything
Ray: obviously...I'd say that though, i'm a guy :):)

it's attrative
Amber: speaking of attractive, you should go look at my cakes ;);)
Ray: cakes...lemme go see

mmm, very nice
Amber: yeah, thtat one of the things i do

remember that kelly video, shoes?
Ray: you did well :):)

kelly video? no, don't know about that
Amber: go youtube kelly shoes

unless youre at work...

and thank you
Ray: nah, i'm home

k
Amber: as for me, i really should get this stuff cleaned up so you dont read about my roommate killing me on CNN
Ray: i'm not exactly sure what you are talking about lol
Amber: good to hear from you, though
Ray: ohhh

i'm with ya now :D:D
Amber: i just moved into a new place, and a lot of my stuff is still in the living room
Ray: whats the video about kelly shoes i'm looking for about?
Amber: just search for kelly shoes and it should be the first or second result, itll say full version

Enjoy!
Ray: gotcha, thanks, and have good cleanup session

"you bake" :D:D

that could be the new way for saying someone is smokin' :):) or something

anyway, i'll be quite and let you get to it :):)
Ray: wow...that video was really crazy...

I figured out how to scoot in a skirt.

To quote Lorelai, "I love you, you're the greatest kid ever, and you're in a skirt, keep your knees together."

If you tell me I can't do something I want to do, I will prove you wrong. Simple as that.

Another school sent us some of our yearbooks and papers that they have been storing in their archives.  Why they had our yearbooks, we don't know.  I have six bankers boxes in my office, five of those are yearbooks.  I spent a while going through the boxes and sorting out what yearbooks need to go in our archives and what can go to another department at school.  I rolled from the boxes to my shelf and soon wondered, what did people do before they had wheels on their chairs?

... they probably got off their lazy bums and walked across their 8'x10' office.

Sallie had tried her paw at knitting and has made a knot of my yarn.  Dogs do not knit, pup.

I finally got my diploma yesterday.  It made a trip to Wyoming despite the fact that I gave Emporia my new address over a month ago.  Way to go, Emporia.  Anyway, I am a library scientist now.  I'm getting a white lab coat some day and might wear it to a teaching session.

"Never make someone your priority when all you are to them is an option."

He hasn't even friended me on Facebook. Has he you guys?

Granted, I wasn't really trying to attract him. Actually, I was feeling a little off-putting that night. So I'm not all that surprised. But also pleasantly undisappointed.

I guess one of these days I should start taking all of this a little more seriously. Especially since I've decided things aren't going to go anywhere with Coffee Shop Random. He just seems kind of ... dumb. And I just CANNOT ABIDE stupid boyfriends. I'd just as soon have an ugly one, to be honest. I mean, God gave us paper bags for a reason. ;)

Last night we headed to Wichita for a board game club game night.  I wasn't terribly sold on the idea, but tagged along anyway.  I ended up dropping Drew off at the comic book store and intended to go to a coffee house to read and drink lattes.  As soon as I turned off the gps because I realized I knew exactly where I was and the coffee house I wanted was just down the road, my phone rang--my almost-sister-in-law was in town and found bridesmaids dresses!  I drove to the mall to meet up with her and her mom (who shares a name with my grandma, this is just getting more and more complicated).  My dress fits perfectly off the rack!  The color is called iris and it's great.  I love the cut of the dress, it's fairly flattering.. it's definitely a bridesmaid dress though, I could only wear it again if I have a formal event.  All five bridesmaid dresses cost as much as one of the red dress I showed you.  I do like the red dress more, but it's not my wedding!

I also go to tell two salespeople I was looking for my sister-in-law.  It was fun.

Then I saw a dress on the clearance rack I had to check out--it's my size, though petite but whatever, half off, and green!  It's very cute.  It's a good sundress that is also appropriate for work.  

Sister-in-law and her mother headed home after I tried on the bridesmaid dress and the sundress.  I intended to go to Old Navy then Target then go get Drew, but my intentions hadn't worked out thus far--I got distracted by a few stores.  I did find my bridesmaid shoes for $9, though.  

After Target, THEN I went to get Drew--and didn't use the gps to get back!--and watched the last few minutes of a really complicated board game.  Just about the time I got into the comic book store, the rain started and it was pouring on the drive home--it looked like we were driving through a carwash, the rain was so heavy!  We beat the rain home by a few seconds.  When we pulled into the driveway, I saw Sweetie, our friend's dog we are dog sitting, in the front yard, just waiting for us.  I freaked out.  Searching for Sallie in the dark and the rain would suck.  I yelled for Sallie and she came around the corner of the garage.  The girls jumped the short part of the fence in the backyard.  Giacomo had been left inside because he's been a little frisky with his sister and a little rough, so he was fine.