Happy Earth Day

Anyone who knows Tim and I would probably call us tree huggers. Ok, you do. BUT, whatever. It's how we live and we like it. We use organic everything (hair products, makeup, some clothes, laundry, soap, etc), we sleep on organic sheets, we eat organically, we recycle. We are currently looking into sustainable, eco-friendly items in which to renovate our house. Replacing items that are ok already isn't really "green" per se; however, the items we are talking about replacing (like carpet) are definitely not eco-friendly as they are and are actually quite harmful if you do the research (unless of course you get the "green" carpet... ours is not this).

I could go on about that forever but I try not to get on too much of a soap box about that on this website. The point is that even though today is the "official" earth day, I feel like every day is an opportunity to help the earth, even if you just recycle one thing.

I always feel bad because I feel like there is more that I can do to be even MORE green that I'm not doing. There are extremists out there and I am not one of them. However, I do think that the things that I DO do make a difference and I hope that if people aren't already, they start to adopt certain green habits. They are easy to pick up and what do you have to lose?

I saw a stat the other day that if everyone just bought 100% recycled napkins, 600,000 trees would be saved just from that. Think about how we could impact this earth if we all just took these little baby steps. I certainly try to do my part and hopefully today serves some sort of purpose to inspire other people to pick up little habits as well.

Happy earth day to everyone out there!

Growing like a weed...

Bella is growing like a weed. We took her to the vet a week ago and she's put on about 5 pounds since three weeks ago. She is now four months old and weighs 23 pounds. Not a huge gain but she has grown so much. Now I think it's time for her to put on some muscle to go with the bone growth. We're done with all first year shots now and just are waiting a few more weeks for puppy kindergarten to start which will be GREAT to try to tame the awesome boxer trait of "boxing" at every single person and dog she meets. It's actually kind of cute but as she gets bigger, it probably won't be a good thing. I realized this the other day when she started to do that and then I held her down but she proceeded to make a little toddler cry. I felt HORRIBLE. She wasn't even close to him, but it just intimidated him. At least she is a friendly dog... she wants to play with anything and everyone.

So far, hardly any more accidents. We have had two since the first week when we had about 6. She's been awesome in that respect. And it's a good thing too because apparently she has a sensitive digestive system. Ugh. I won't go into details but we have tried medicine that didn't really help but was supposed to "re-set" her and we tried a food that was supposed to help and nope, no luck. Now we are back to where we wanted to be on organic natural dog food with a natural probiotic to help aid her poor sensitive tummy since nothing else has worked. Hopefully this will work. It's been a challenge but apparently it's fairly common with boxers. At least we haven't had any accidents in the house... if we had poopy accidents, I'm pretty sure we would have had to tear out the carpet by now judging by the messes she's made outside. Ick.

We trained her to ring a bell anytime she goes outside and she has been great about that. She just runs to the door and jumps up and rings away. The two accidents we had involved her being extremely tired and forgetting to ring the bell (and us not watching her sniff away). Oops.

So... so far, so good. She has been a great puppy. I just can't believe how fast she is growing! She is so much fun though and we get so many compliments on her for her looks and how friendly she is to other people and to kids especially. It's been a lot of fun.

See some more current pictures below.

She has decided that she likes to pull every single toy along with her whole bed and all blankets out of her "house" (aka crate) right in front of us to get us to play with her. This was the first day she did it and it totally cracked me up.

Chewing on her bone along side her bed.

Here you can see how much longer she has gotten.

April 15 came and went...

Anyone who is an accountant understands the significance of the day April 15, even if we aren't all "tax" accountants. Anyone who works in public accounting reap the benefits of April 15... generally it means shorter work days, not working weekends, and a total shift in the attitude at the firm as a whole. It also usually means time off on the 16th and a "after busy season party" on the 15th. This year was no exception for our firm.

The week of the 15th was fairly relaxed for us. We had our after tax season party in downtown Seattle and took off the 16th from work. It was great. Of course for us "audit monkeys" (as my friend Jill so affectionately puts it), our busy season isn't technically over. This is no exception for me. I have still been fairly busy working but the lack of weekend work has made me more than happy. Plus, it's better to be busy than out of work in this economy, right?

See pictures below of after busy season party. Tim was there... but he apparently was designated photographer for the four pictures that were taken with my camera. Four is better than nothing.

Group shot. Someone had the brilliant idea that Washington red apple shots were a must. Fabulous.

"Maybe it's maybelline..." Nice action shot.

Group shot of us all prior to red apples.

And again. Cracking up at who knows what.

All in all the night was a success. Who can really complain about celebrating the end of working long hours?

Hoppity hop hop...

Happy Easter to everyone out there. It wasn't a great weekend for Easter egg hunts since we got all of our nice weather out of our system last weekend. Or WE didn't per se, but Seattle did.

This weekend we were stuck back in rain and cold. Next weekend we are supposed to be back to sunny and warm. That sounds great given that we are working no more Saturdays. Nor are we working much towards the end of this week since April 15 symbolizes the end of busy season. It's really more the final end for tax people but we (the audit people) keep busy through May-ish. But expectations shift a bit so it's a lot easier even if we are still busy. And we all celebrate "the end" by getting the 16th off and the "after busy season" party on the 15th .

Tim's working today and I'm just taking it easy. Since it's raining and I want no more exposure to creepy stalker dude, we aren't going on any walks today. We did go to the pet store which Bella was definitely all about. She made friends with a little french bulldog who was about her age (but much, much smaller). She also got new toys.... one of which was a turtle who she beheaded in about an hour after we returned home. It was hilarious to be quite honest.

We also worked out some at home. I decided that I need to get back in shape (this is my post-busy season 'get back in shape' kick that happens every year after not doing much for the prior 3 months). Bella apparently likes the floor exercises. Actually she likes to attack me while I am doing them. And then we wrestle and I throw Rupert (her new bear toy) and she gets him and then attacks kitties and then promptly remembers I am trying to do crunches so attacks me. And, repeat. Her little cycle cracks me up. Again, one of those times I wish I had a video camera in the house.

We have also been drinking a lot of tea and reading. It's been fabulous. It has been by far the quietest Easter I think I have ever had. Back home in Missouri, we'd always have tons of family over and it would just be a crazy day. I love that but I loved this quiet, relaxing day as well. It was wonderful. Hope everyone out there had a fantastic day as well.

Stalker.

I had a really creepy experience on Friday afternoon.

Tim was working and I was wrapping up our time at the client from hell (yep, finally). We leave fairly early and I am in a great mood. We have made great progress and I feel fantastic about where we are in the process. It's early and it's sunny so I go home to take Bella on a walk.

We go on our normal walk... through this little woodsy section of our walk which is a little boardwalk through untouched wetlands and woods. We get to the middle section close to the exit where there is an opening and a gazebo. We stop to let Bella go potty.

I look up and this dude is walking towards me. He yells, "Hi, remember me... we met the other day."

Um.... thinking, thinking... nope, pretty sure I have never seen you before in my life.

"Remember, I had two rottweilers?"

Um, nope. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a great memory for remembering people. That coupled with the fact that I have not had time to go on many walks around our house lately (unless it's been a rare chance with Tim), I KNOW that is not accurate that I have met him before...or even seen him for that matter.

At that point he reaches into his pocket...

As my heart rate doubles, I'm thinking, HOLY.HELL, GET ME OUT OF HERE.

He pulls out a camera.

"Can I take your picture?"

WTF?

Um, I guess. What the hell else am I supposed to do? I was caught off guard and at that moment in time yelling "NO!" and running away didn't seem totally appropriate.

He says that "his wife loves puppies at this age so he wants a picture of the puppy." My loyal , protective dog (ha!) is going nuts with the new person, wanting to play with him. We need to work on her protective skill. And by the way? His wife? He made a point to mention her about 100 times. I thought it was just a little weird.

So he takes the picture, tries to get me to tell him my name (no fucking way... sorry mom for the f-bomb), continues to small talk while I walk (aka: half jog) away.

I have had interesting experiences before but to me, this was just creepy. I'm pretty good at reading people and when things like this have happened before, it really isn't weird to me. But this? This just scared the shit out of me for whatever reason.

So at that point, we cut our walk short.

We turned around and walked on the streets home (by houses... you know so I wouldn't be alone in the woods with creepy stalker dude).

On the way home, on one of the main streets I see him AGAIN. He is taking pictures of us in front of us down the road. He sees that I see him and he HIDES. BEHIND. A. FUCKING. TREE. BUT CONTINUES TO TAKE PICTURES.

Before: Weird. Now: TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT.

We turn down the closest street we can to take a side route home. I assess that this guy is not in the best shape in his life and the puppy and I can surely out-sprint him if it comes to that. So we do. And we go into the house the back way, shut all of the blinds, and call it good. Meanwhile, my legs feel like jello and I am contemplating whether or not that night I should sleep with one of my samurai swords (aka: one of the knives in the set we have in our kitchen). I also was thisclose to calling the cops. Honestly. That might sound ridiculous but I did NOT like the feeling I got about this guy. And if somehow my hunch was right, well, then I probably helped someone somewhere. Except for I didn't call. Because I didn't want to deal with it. And I convinced myself that I was probably off base or too sensitive or something. Maybe I should have.

And, I keep telling myself that I overreacted on the one hand but on the flip side, I know I have never been so creeped out in my life. It was just weird. If nothing else, it was a small dose of what it must be like to be a celebrity and all I can say about that is thank god I am not famous. That? That would SUCK.

In a state of awe.

The past four days people in Seattle have been walking around with perma smiles on their faces. You might think they have just been smoking a ton of pot (which in some cases may be true) but in all reality, we are all high on bountiful sunshine. We have had highs in the upper 60s/low 70s for the past four days and cannot seem to get our minds around the fact that even though it snowed last week as an April fool's day joke, somehow mother nature felt guilty enough to give us the equivalent of the best of southern Cali weather. And what. the. hell. Um, we'll take it.

Of course it may not be so much as an "I'm sorry for the snow" but a "buckle up bitches, enjoy the tease." Later this week we are supposed to return to 40s/50s and rainy and this morning I even heard the potential for rain/snow mix at the beginning of next week. I'm skeptical they can ever predict out but the point is that this nice weather won't last and won't probably be back until, um, July. Regardless, we have made the most of it.

Over the weekend we took Bella on her first hike. It wasn't really a "hike" hike so much as a very challenging 6 mile walk that we ran part of the way. She was a little trooper and loved it. Sunday while Tim worked Bella and I did errands and played outside some more and yesterday we got even more sun/outdoors time in. It has been fabulous. This weather makes me miss Arizona so much. I love the sun and warmth. Today I am even wearing short pants and shoes with bare feet. It's getting crazy. Tomorrow we'll be back to boots and sweaters.

Below are some pictures of a playdate Bella had with her cousin Buck a couple of weekends ago (on another rare nice day). It wasn't as warm as it has been the past few but it was still sunny! Bella had a great time playing. She ran and ran and ran for two hours straight and then just passed out. It was too cute.

Chasing buck through the backyard.

There are chickens that live next door to Tim's sister. Bella couldn't figure out what exactly they were (and no, his sister doesn't live in the country). She actually just lives in one of the most liberal neighborhoods in Seattle. We love it over there. There is so much character.

Bella and Buck fighting over a monkey.

Bella and Buck attempting to be nice and "share" the rawhide.

And on Sunday- Tim getting ready to leave for work and Bella saying goodbye.

Amused

Yesterday I was driving through town after leaving Trader Joes with Bella in the car. We pass a gas station and hear tons of honking. We both jump.

We look over to see a range rover who has tried to drive out of the gas station with the pump still in his SUV. The other patrons at the gas station tried to warn him of this via honking. BUT he didn't listen, the pump flew out and hit his range rover. He jumped out and stood there looking at the damage on his car (we were stopped at a light and got to witness this whole event).

All I can say is seriously? You don't realize you haven't taken the pump out?

I try to be fairly tolerant of most people but come on. What an idiot.

Happy April fools day!

It's the first day of April and guess what that means?

IT SNOWS IN SEATTLE!!

You think I am joking but I kid you not. It literally snowed today. Big white flakes. I think mother nature is playing a huge freaking April fool's day joke on us. Unbelievable.

To say I am ready for summer would be an understatement.