A Complainer's Blog

So the holidays are approaching and I thought I'd get into the holiday spirit by complaining and getting some annoyances off my chest. I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but the walls in our apartment are pretty thin. It hasn't really been that bothersome because our bedroom has closets and clothes insulating it and I don't have a problem sleeping. But the living room is another story. Almost every morning I can hear our neighbor – let's call him Scott, because that's his name – let out the rip-roaringest belch you've ever heard. I could set my watch by it and only be off by 30 minutes at most. He burps consistently between 8:00 and 8:30.

Scott has also been renovating his apartment for the past month. I assume he has permission from the landlord to be doing this, but he hasn't asked for permission from my ears. He did warn us ahead of time that he was going to be ripping out his carpets and refinishing the hardwoods. I thought, "How bad can it be?" Well, I don't know if he got bit by the remodeling bug or has watched too much Flip This Apartment, but he's been running all kinds of machinery and loud equipment for weeks now. And, working from home, I hear every bit of banging, drilling, sanding and belching that's going on. Currently it sounds like he's sanding something very large because it's taken two days.

Ok, I feel better.

On another note, remember the anti-dog-pooing sign? The other day it turned into this:



Marti does not grace this area with her presents (ha!), but we do regularly walk by it. I don't know who the sign is aimed at, but even if a dog were pooing every day in this area, I don't see why it's bothering anyone. It's all dirt, on the side of a building, where no one walks, ever. It just kind of irks me.

And finally, the dog park is in its 7th week of being closed. Marti is beside herself; she doesn't understand what's going on. The grass is looking much better though – meaning, there is actually grass again – so maybe Marti's Christmas present will be going to the dog park once we're back after Christmas.

Oh, Christmas Bush

Alan and I gave away our artificial Christmas tree before we moved to California. It was just one more big and bulky item that we didn't want to take with us. It was still a good tree though, so I donated it to the Walters household. Click here to see it in its decorated glory! I'm glad to see it found a good home.

Space in our apartment is limited, and while we had room for a tree, we didn't want to get a giant tree that would take over our apartment. I was thinking about one of those little evergreen-plant-in-a-pot types, but when Alan and I got to Safeway we saw these little 2-foot trees and had to have one. We took off the tag and went into the store to pay, with the idea that we would come back out and pick the best tree because they were all the same price. But when we got back out to pick the tree, we got it in our heads that the tree had its hopes up and was thinking that it was going to be the one coming home with us because we'd taken its tag off. We didn't have the heart to let it down, so off we went with the short little tree.

You know how usually you get your tree home and it's way bigger than you thought it would be? Not the case here. Once we got this little guy in the apartment it seemed way smaller than it did outside. We bought a tree stand at Target, and the tree stand is practically bigger than the tree itself. But once we got it decorated, I must say, it's pretty adorable. I love our Christmas bush!

Perfect Timing

I've come down with bad colds for each of the past three years. I can't just get a normal cold though; they inevitably turned into bronchitis and a cough that lasts a month. It hit me last week, and I'm unfortunately still feeling the effects. This cold had the worst possible timing though. I went to bed abnormally early last Tuesday, and Wednesday morning I just didn't feel quite right. Throughout the day I just kept feeling worse and worse. Add in a flight to Kansas City, and by midnight I was ready to curl up in the fetal position. What was this virus thinking? I had a niece to meet!

I did get to meet my adorable little niece, although I was super paranoid about getting her sick (as was her pa). I washed my hands like a germophobe and even covered my mouth bandit-style the few times I did hold her. That's ok, I was perfectly happy just watching her. Everyone had better brace themselves though. I've been deprived of baby snuggling and at Christmas she's all mine!

What a cutie pie!


As comfy as can be.


With big brother. They even have the same haircut!

California Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving just does not feel like Thanksgiving when there is no extended family involved, but our little family threesome made the best of it, creating new traditions all our own. Thursday morning Alan and I headed up to campus for the 2nd Annual Turkey Bowl. Alan was there to play and strain some muscles, and Marti and I were there to cheer him on.



Marti says RAH!



Two good halves of football, and Alan's team came out victorious, 2-1. Might I add that Alan contributed a significant touchdown, which could be seen in this picture if the sideline wasn't in the way. You'll just have to trust me that Alan was a star!



After all that exertion, Alan took a pre-dinner nap. Some Thanksgiving traditions never change.



After our big, wonderful, outdoor potluck Thanksgiving dinner, in which I ate way too much and got to see someone experience their very first Thanksgiving feast ("Very delicious!"), Alan and I headed up to Lake Tahoe on Friday to enjoy a day of skiing.

Alan and Marti among the knotty pine.



Saturday was opening day at Heavenly, so skiing was limited, but it was still really fun to hit the mountain and get my ski on. Another reason to love California: Several ski resorts within a 4- to 5-hour drive, a huge improvement over the 10-hour Kansas-Colorado journey. I'm going to make sure Alan and I have a few ski trips this year, even if I have to kidnap him.

Tag, I'm it!

My wonder twin friend Jenn tagged me, so although I'm not going to totally play by the rules, I'll play along. Plus, I was going to work out, and this gives me a good reason to put that off...or not do it at all. Funny, because Jenn is usually a reason that I DO work out.

My Amended Rules
1. Link to your tagger and post your own rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 1 to 5 people at the end of your post, and then link to your favorite blogs.
4. Let Nikki know she's been tagged.

Five facts about me
1. I hate, hate, HATE doomsday chain emails. The "If you don't send this to 20 people in 20 seconds you're doomed to have bad luck forever and the love of your life won't ever find you!!" type. Seriously? If it's an email worth sending, just remove the stupid threats and send along. Stop the cycle, people. Also annoying: Circle of fear emails that encourage urban legends. Snopes.com. Check it out.

2. I go through spells when food just doesn't sound good and I can't figure out what to eat. I still eat. But I am in a 2-month rut right now when making a grocery list and coming up with dinner ideas is the most boring, awful thing in the whole world.

3. Open cabinet doors and drawers always make me think of ghostly haunted houses, because on spooky shows that's how ghosts get their kicks.

4. Every time I put Marti's leash on I think of the movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. In this movie, the main character, part of a girl-and-horse diving act, learns to grab onto a horse running by her up a ramp and jump off of a high dive into water. I think of this movie because Marti, without fail, will circle around me and I have to wait until just the right moment to grab her collar and attach her leash.

5. I rarely vacuum. I think you're probably supposed to do it once a week, especially if you own a pug, but I just can't handle that chore. I think it has to do with the necessity of having to have the floor clear.

Tagged
1. Nikki

Not tagged, but other blogs I obsessively check:
Owned by Pugs
Atlanta Panda Updates
Go Fug Yourself
The Bachelor Recaps

And a video for good measure. The music cracks me up:
Charles the Pug

Frequent Flier

So I'm in the throes of traveling frequently again, which has limited my time and/or creativity in the blogging world. I guess it could be worse; only half of my traveling has been for work. I was back home for a wedding in late October, off to Phoenix the week after that, and I just got back from Vegas on Thursday night. In a couple of weeks I go home mid-week to see my little niece, thanks to a free flight I've earned.

At least when I was in Phoenix learning about telehandlers I was able to sneak out a couple of nights and hang out with Kyle. We had some good dinners, he showed me his apartment, and best of all, gave me a tour of his golf course. I must say, I do not feel sorry for the guy: his office is amazing.


We got out there right at sunset, which made it even more beautiful. Who knew that the desert could be so pretty? And, although I didn't get a picture of them, there were cottontail rabbits everywhere. We're talking hundreds of them; 10 of them on every green. They would scatter as we zipped around corners.

Then, I was off to Vegas this week for three days of crane classes. That's right: Me in classes, all day, learning about cranes. I sometimes wonder how I fell into this industry. And I'm not the only one. I was one of about three women there, out of a total of 150 participants. I felt like I was in one of those pictures: Which of the items in the picture doesn't belong? Erin...and 149 good ol' boys. Tough call. I was constantly getting asked, incredulously, "Are you a crane operator??" "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" They always meant it with the best of intentions--genuine curiosity about what would bring me to a crane conference. It was fairly amusing. They even felt the need to say "Gentlemen....and ladies" when I was the only woman in the class. And they also threw in fairly frequently how they knew a female crane operator who was better than the men. Thanks, guys.

What is not amusing to me, however, is a blonde joke in a professional setting. One day for lunch there was a taco bar, and I filled up my plate, but didn't see the "fixins" at another table. I finally realized where they were, after I was pretty much done eating, and someone goes "Well, she IS a blonde." I'm sorry, I can't even muster a smile for that. I have no problem with blonde jokes...I think they're pretty funny myself. But not in a professional setting, where I'm pretty much the only woman in the room. AND, they're called HIGHLIGHTS. I'm not even really that blonde.

But that wasn't nearly as insulting as what happened to me a couple of years ago when I had forgotten to bring my business cards with me on a trip. This buffoon of a man said, "Well, she IS blonde...I'm sure she'd forget her head if it wasn't attached." Wow. I had no words for that one.

At least most guys on this trip tried to be politically correct. Most of the instructors in the classes were from Florida, with thick southern accents. "Crane" was pronounced "crine" and one gentleman pronounced "specific," I kid you not, as "PACIFIC." As in the OCEAN. For the first few times I thought that surely I heard wrong. Oh no, he really was saying Pacific. He probably eats "pasketti" for dinner as well.

And I get paid for putting up with all of this.

Welcome to the world, little girl!

Reagan Jean
Born October 29, 2007*
2:53 p.m.
6 pounds, 10 ounces
19 inches

Two weeks early and a day too late! All during Crystal’s pregnancy I had been joking that it would be great if she had the baby a couple of weeks early, conveniently when I would be in town for a dear friend’s wedding. While little Reagan Jean gave it a valiant effort to emerge from the womb early, I still missed seeing her by about 24 hours. I am, however, not going to hold it against her, as I’m way too excited to have an adorable little niece whom I can’t wait to meet!

Proud Pa


Pretty in Purple


Cuddling with Ma


Welcome to the world little girl. You're loved by many!

[Erin's note: YES! She's in my favorite month of all, and less than a week from my birthday!]