Long time, no see!

Wow.

Well thanks to Rachel Ratliff for emailing me a link to her blog, it reminded me that I hadn't looked at mine in AGES - almost a year now, crazy!

Let's catch everyone up to speed.

Last spring I got 2 jobs, one working for the Fredericksburg Area Musem as a Front Line staffer. Basically I worked admissions and in the store. Secondly, I got a job providing daily care for a low-functioning autistic boy here in Fredericksburg. Two very different things, I know!!

I have enjoyed both of the jobs to a point. At first I got a lot out of both of them, but as time went on I was less impressed. I think this happens with most jobs so I'm not going to explain too much. However, the work as a clinician became tiring fast. Low-functioning autism is very difficult to deal with on a regular basis. Not being able to verbally communicate with a very frustrated 14 year old boy makes for a stressful work life. But still, it can be very rewarding. I taught him how to read out loud and we've gotten along really well.

As for Casey, we were together for about 3 months. I'm sad to say that I misjudged my abilities and I had to find her another home. She was growing exponentially and my apartment was far too small for such a rambunctious dog. (Also my roommate Rachel was not a fan of her.)

My roommate's boyfriend moved in for a large portion of the year, and they ended up getting engaged - they're getting married in Sedona in July 2010!

Thomas and I broke up in May. It was a tough decision to break up in the first place but spending the summer apart let both of us grow as individuals and definitely gave us time to mature a bit before getting back together in October.

I got a new car in June, thanks to my parents for a generous loan. Its a 2004 Mazda3 - manual! Yes this is my first stick and before buying the car I had had about 45 minutes worth of practice in my friend Dana's VW. But I love Chuck (my car) and we've traveled almost 13,000 miles in 6 months! Wow. We've driven all over Virginia (several times), North Carolina, DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania! <- my first trip to the "North".

This fall, I went into high gear looking for a new job. Lots of interviews later, still nothing.

Here it is January and I'm in the process of moving out of my apartment. My lease is up at the end of the month and I've currently quit both of my jobs. So I'm about to be jobless and homeless!

Well not quite - - I'm moving to Charlottesville to live temporarily with my Grandmother. I have 2 leads on jobs - one in Richmond (near Thomas!) and one in Northern Virginia. I'm excited about both of them, but they wont be hiring/starting until February. So thus I am moving.

So thats about it, or at least a general overview. I doubt anyone actually reads this, but in case they stumble across it - now you know.

Hopefully 2010 will be an amazing year and I will have lots to post about when I get around to it next spring ;-)

-Emma

THIS IS NOT CASEY....

....But it sure looks like it!

while this photo isn't of casey this is what i assume casey would have looked like when she was a puppy puppy!

HOW CUTE!

I'm feeling better about Casey now and we had a good evening. I went and got a baby gate to keep her out of the kitchen and for now thats working well. She can't jump over it because its a super tall.

We spent the evening trying not to get into trouble. We played with the kong and with her squeaky skunk. She was enjoying playing but she kept trying to mess with the gate - she didnt like it. Later on, I decided that it would be a good idea for her to have a bath, even though she just got a bath last week. Its bad for her to be bathed so much but she was just sooo dirty from the weekend when I boarded her. I just washed her bed today so I didnt want her getting it dirty. So now everyone is clean and happy.

I'm about to take her out and put her to bed for good. I know I'm beat so I hope she is too!

(PS -soon I should have some pics of Casey playing in the snow. I took them with caroline's camera. and she said that she would post them when she got the chance. - hopefully thats soon.)

-E

pokey little puppy

So I havent posted in awhile but a lot has been going on. Caroline came to visit and thus Casey was stuff in her crate for a lot of it. (caroline doesnt like dogs).

So that kinda blows, we also had a HUGE snowstorm.

ARGH - sometiems i get so frustrated with her. She gets into everything. and whines all the freaking time. I wish thomas was here to help.

Currently she whining/barking from her crate and im ignoring her. She got into the paper towels and is generally causing havoc.

However, because I still love her even if we're both bipolar sometimes, I'm going to post this adorable pic of Casey. This is how she prefers to ride in the the car!

manic monday

Today was anything but manic. Casey and I got up this morning and went out to the house where she'll be staying this weekend. The woman boards dogs for only $18 a day which is super cheap for this area. So thats a pro. Con side its not an actual kennel. Its just a woman with a house and a huge yard and a dog for Casey to play with. But we're gonna use her anyway because its cheap and I think Casey will have a good time.

Spent the rest of the day enjoying myself. Watching tv and just hanging out. Did all my laundry and ran a few errands. Nothing too serious. I have to do a bunch of stuff tomorrow and on Wednesday for my new job working for Creative Family Solutions. TB tests, fingerprinting, DMV records. Basically going places and waiting... and some more waiting... So pretty much BORING. But time consuming.

Casey had a break through today and she actually just chilled with me for awhile. That was kinda nice and maybe its a sign shes calming down. Speaking of her spaying - her incision looked a little infected today so I gave her a pain pill as well as her amoxicillin. Hopefully the swelling will go away soon. I hadnt really been worrying about it and still trying not to - but shes my baby so I have to.

-E

Weekend in review

Got a couple days I need to catch up on. Thomas came on Friday and he and Casey played for a little while. He brought his camera because I wanted to take a billion more pictures of Casey and we did just that. It was really fun to play with her and try to keep her from smudging the camera lens while trying to get a cute shot. We had planned to go to a party that night as well but instead fell asleep at 8 PM. Boring Friday night. oh well.


Saturday was full of sleep, me having to work and Thomas having some one on one time with Casey. I think he finally realized how overwhelming Casey can be sometimes because after about 2 hours he texted me asking what to do when she was super hyper. I told him to put her in her crate and he texted back sayings --- already done. LOL

We had our Valentines day on Saturday and we ended up going to this very fancy little restaurant in downtown Fburg. We both got to dress up - I wore a pretty dress and Thomas wore a button down and the bow-tie that the fam gave him for christmas.

We both decided to eat outside of our comfort zone. He got the charcuterie board for his entree and I got the roasted duck. Delicious!

I figured I'd waste some space talking about that so that I can come down here and post some more pictures of Casey. I have a bunch of SUPER adorable ones.


Today (Sunday) when we woke up it was sleeting so that was kinda a downer. But by the time we had gotten Casey up it had stopped so Thomas and I decided that it would be fun to take Casey to the dog park. We headed out there in the cold and Thomas of course took along the camera. We werent out there for long because it was so cold - but still got some cute pics.








































(PS - isnt she adorable in her red rain cape?? I think she looks SOO cute. I'm not a fan of clothes on dogs but I think this is useful but also fashionable. Red is her color. haha!)

more on flickr

-E

Currently Reading: Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

Gorgeous!

Found this today while "stumbling" - thought it was so cute and sweet!

It can be found here (its bigger there in case you cant see the cuteness of where the arrow is pointing)

Currently reading(finished reading): The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins