Neighbors Be Crazy

In Claremont Ranch world we have no water. No water means a lot off weeds zero scaping. The Water Nazi drives the streets at all hours of the night looking for rule breakers watering their weeds lawns at 4am on their non designated watering day. The fine is hefty and only increases each time they catch you. After one ticket you realize trying to be a water rebel is not worth it.

Our nice, quiet, keep to your self neighbors moved to Hawaii and rented out their house. We found this nice letter taped to our door earlier this week.... 

 

Who does this? I am most positive that is was from our new neighbors. Everyone else has lived in the neighborhood for a long time and most of them have crap yards with weeds. Preston couldn't help himself and had to respond. 

Okay true, we have some weeds going on and not to mention a major ant infestation in the back yard. Since our neighbors are all up in our biz-naz surely they noticed the various landscaping company trucks at our house over the past couple of months. HINT, we have been gathering quotes to redo our yard this summer. 

The funny thing is Preston and I were both thinking that we should pull some weeds since the quote process is taking a bit longer than expected, but now after this letter I can guarantee there will be no weed picking at all. 

Neighbors be crazy! 

 

TUMBLEWEEDS... in our backyard!?!?

Our backyard used to look AMAZING. We had some nice bushes, a path, grass, fenced in garden. Then we got Augusta. We couldn't keep up with the yard work or find the motivation to pick weeds every day {read we are not yard people}. Before we knew it Augusta had dug holes and the grass was dieing {we have crazy water restrictions with not joke fines}. I am telling you this so you don't judge me when you see the pictures below.

Our backyard was in some real need of special attention. Without realizing it, we hadn't picked up our yard in a long.long time. This is what I raked up Saturday.  You are seeing that right, the piles are mostly made up of huge ginormous tumbleweeds. How did we get tumble weeds in our backyard when we have a fence? I thought tumbleweeds only "grew" in the country! Wikipedia says tumbleweeds form in the desert. Yep our backyard is basically a desert so that makes sense. I am not kidding, we probably have 10 large trash bags full of backyard shiznaz. 

Pile 1

Pile 2

In our usual fashion, Preston and I put money on the line to motivate each other to pick up the backyard. Basically if you do not pick it up during your week you pay the other person $20 and it's your turn again. Bribing the other person to do your shift is totally legal!

Any ideas on what we should do with our backyard? We have 2 dogs that love to run and play and bark. We never spend time on the patio, but I am sure this is because we are looking at dirt. We also hope to rent this house out a couple years so we would like it to be easy for non motivated renters as well.

Preston is voting for fake grass.  I cringe inside.

This is what I imagine.

I just read that fake grass contains varying amounts of lead, which gives off a smell and is obviously extremely hazardous for you. It also gets hotter than regular grass and can be irritating to the skin. Okay, who in their right mind would put fake grass in their backyard?!? And how does fake grass work with dogs?? Thoughts? 

I Need Cesar Millan

We kennel our dogs when we leave. We used to let me roam the house until Harley tour up our couches. After coming home to couch pillow stuffing everywhere and pillows outside we decided to start kenneling the dogs when we left.

It was the best decision ever. It seemed like they enjoyed the kennel and ran right into it.

Last week I got a new dinning room set from Craig's List {more on this later}. As a result, we moved the dog kennels downstairs. Today Preston came home from a trip to Pueblo {he works from home} and found Augusta waiting for him on the stars. Odd he thought as he knew he put both dogs in their kennels. He went downstairs to let Harley out and found that Augusta chewed her way out of her hard plastic kennel.

August's Kennel- lots of blood

Blood everywhere

How the hell does a dog chew themselves free from a kennel? What made her do this? Now what do we do? There was a lot of blood from her mouth. We can't let her chew her way out of another kennel. Any ideas/suggestions? Maybe Cesar Millan will read this and come to the rescue. Our thought process right now is to let Augusta roam the house {she has only chewed out of a dog kennel and fence} and keep Harley in the kennel. Will Harley become jealous? Please help!! We need ideas. Do you think she chewed out because we took the kennels downstairs?   

Photo Booth Fun!

We went to a wedding this past weekend. The Bride and Groom had a photo booth at the reception. What a great idea! If I had to do my wedding all over again, I would most defiantly have a photo booth. Most.Fun.Ever! Check out these crazy pictures! Some are so chaotic because you only have 5 quick seconds between each shot. Most fun I have had in a long time!!  

"I don't know how to put this but...

I'M KIND OF A BIG DEAL."

Preston's Wednesday night pool team won their league!! They won 23 matches and lost 4. In the pool world, this is a big deal. They actually win a pretty good chunk of change. 

Make It Rain Biotches

Hopefully they can carry their champion swagger to Vegas and do well in the tournaments!

 

{Random Shiznit}

I love the NBA Playoffs...

and Derrick Rose.

I am proud to admit I am a bandwagon Chicago Bulls fan. 

Bulls all the way! 

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On another note, I am a little obsessed with these rubber band watches. I currently own zero.

 

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I am in love with this ab exercise.

 My abs are on FIRE!

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Frank-O-Meter and I are not speaking until Friday.

 

{Liberating Decision}

I made a decision tonight to delete Network Blogger from Facebook. I cannot tell you how liberating this feels. It's like a ton of weight has been lifted. 

Sometimes I write about personal issues, such as weight loss, and to be honest I am not totally comfortable with Tom, Dick and Harry reading about it. I understand that the point of blogging is to gain readership, but at this point in my life I'm not ready to expose myself to the entire Facebook world of random-never-met-you "friends". 

I am hoping that by making my blog not as public, I will find the courage to be more open. Sometimes I want to write a post like this, but don't because I lack cojones.
    
I also want to say thank you for following and reading my posts. I really enjoy your comments and words of encouragement. Here's to new beginnings! 

5 Weeks until ALL THIS!!!

Putting It Out Into the Universe...

Some Day 

in the Near Future 

I am going to Own a 

BEACH HOUSE...

 or Beach Shack.

Words of Truth

As seen on Fountly and Chookooloonks.

How the Dalai Lama responded when asked what most surprised him about humanity: 

"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Preston's First 5K

This is so amazing, I have to share.

Preston's BFF got him to run in the St. Patrick's 5K on Saturday. If you know Preston or his BFF for that matter, you know there must be a bet involved.  These two bet on anything and everything. 


The Bet: Preston must finish the 5K within 2 minutes of BFF's time to win $100. Otherwise he owes BFF $50. 2-1 odds. 

How BFF stacks up:

- He is a runner, a fast runner
- He just finished up The Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Series- meaning he has been running outside since January
- He is training for some crazy race to Crested Butte or something insane like that

How Preston stacks up:

- He plays racquetball... with BFF about once a week or so
- The last time he ran was playing full court basketball back in January or so
- He has long legs   

 Ashley and I didn't start with Preston. We wanted to go our pace and run our race and not worry about Preston dying on the side of the road. 
 
Our paths did cross around mile 2.5. We were still heading North and Preston was heading South towards the finish line. When I saw him I got choked up. Unexpected! It hit me that he is really doing this. No training, no fancy pace calculating watch or spiffy running shoes. And it appears he is still alive going strong and beating me!!! 

Sure enough Preston finished his first 5K in 25:02!!!!!! 

 















So who won the bet? 

BFF did! Preston missed the 2 minute slot by 10 seconds!!!!

Hoarders

Saturday night (yes this is what I did on a Saturday night) after cleaning out the storage room The Hustler and I watched a couple rounds of Hoarders on A&E. 

Have you seen this show?! These people hoard everything: animals, trash, food, new items, old items and anything else you can think of. The episodes we watched were pretty disgusting. 

The first lady was hoarding trash basically and animals (goats, chickens, ducks). Half of the animals were deformed and some had diet due to lack of care. It was actually very sad.

The second man was hoarding trash and RABBITS!! The rabbits had bunnies and they took over the house. Oh ya, they were renting the house and the owners of the house had no idea it was being destroyed by rabbits.  
 
I was so freaked out by all the mess and filth that I went upstairs and cleaned the shower. I am a little embarrassed to say that it took me over an hour to clean. The soap scum was at its worst. I was in there so long I became afraid for my health. Inhaling the cleaning fumes cannot be good for you. 

The next morning I cleaned the top of my vanity. Nothing like watching some Hoarders to motivate me to clean!

Whirlwind of Random Thoughts

1.  I recently got a new computer at work!! I have finally emerged from the Dark Ages and I am loving, I mean truly loving life!

2.  I found out while I was Black Friday shopping that I am drawn to gadgets and technology. I love technology. See number 1.

3.  The Hustler surprised me and put lights on the house. White lights of course. He is slowly learning the do's and don'ts of Christmas decorating.

4.  I decorated this year in purple and silver. B-E-A-U-TIFUL!

5.  Augusta had to go to the vet today to get a sticker surgically removed from her paw. She is pouting as we speak.

6.  Just discovered The Big Bang Theory.  Where have The Hustler and I been the last 4 years!?

7.  My Christmas gift from The Hustler and my parents gets here tomorrow. A new bedroom set. So excited!!

8.  I am regretting that we didn't do Christmas cards this year.

9.  I decorated Christmas cookies with my BFF tonight. So much fun! 

10.  I showed up to my hair appointment yesterday, turns out I was a week early.

11.  I have not had a pop in 5 days! 

12.  Harley has destroyed 1 present and unwrapped 2 so far. We are now utilizing the kennels when we leave.

13.  I am burnt out of the internet, Facebook, Blogs and Reverb 10. What's wrong with me! :)  

14.  I still have not tried out my new Ocho Cinco running shoes.  

13.  I absolutely cannot wait to see all of my family over Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone! 

A Swim Story

I went to the gym today!!! You have no idea how good I feel about myself. I have been craving the gym for about a month now. Sometimes good ol' fashion running or swimming sounds fun. Today I swam. Tomorrow I am going to pick up my cool new running shoes. Next year (25 days to be exact), is going to be all about running; so much that I am naming my new kicks. Their name "Ocho Cinco". You'll understand once I show you a picture of them (or maybe you won't, I don't know).

The Hustler also played a hand in motivating me to get back to the gym. He and his BFF have been getting up in the morning to play racquetball/basketball. This goes to show what working out with a friend does to your motivation and accountability. I tell ya, The Huster literally jumps out of bed at 5:30AM in the freaking morning!! He hasn't missed a day yet! 

Moral of the story: workout with a partner.

Back to the swim. My swim was great, that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the lady who runs the pool at the gym. I call her the Pool Nazi. Honestly. Today she was giving swim lessons when I was about to jump into the water. Knowing that she is the Pool Nazi I immediately turned right back around and showered off before I got into the water. But even after I wash off and am dripping wet she still calls out to me, "You must shower from head to toe." Apparently my hair wasn't wet. Seriously lady!? Pool Nazi! 

That's not all. As I was relaxing in the hot tub I couldn't help but notice that Pool Nazi was teaching a new lesson to a group of 5 little girls. Pool Nazi was extremely MEAN!! Okay maybe I am exaggerating with the word mean. I think it had to do more with her tone (I sound like my mom- watch your tone). Anyways,the little girls where practicing their wall starts. She told the next girl in line "GO" and when the girl didn't move the Pool Nazi yelled "GO" in a very annoyed, very loud voice. Okay either the girl didn't hear you the first time or she was nervous and trying to psych herself up and froze.  There were a lot more instances, but I am a bad story teller so just take my word for it okay? 

I wish someone would tell Pool Nazi that these are little girls, who probably based on their experience in your swim class may or may not ever take another swim lesson again. Because of you they will either love swimming or hate swimming. Your job, Pool Nazi, is to teach them the fundamentals of swimming while allowing them to have some fun without yelling at them and shamming them! I doesn't sound very hard to me. But then again she is the Pool Nazi.

Obsessed.

I am officially obsessed with Celestial Seasonings Green Tea.

I drink caffeinated during the day and decaf at night.

I usually have 3 cups a day.

I tastes so darn good.

Ashley and I are going to tour Celestial Seasonings in Boulder sometime very soon.

It's on our Bucket List.

Hot Tea is very filling and sooting.

I am starting to like hot tea over coffee.

True Life Story

I woke up last night at 11:30pm to dogs aggressively barking. I realized our dogs were not in the room which meant they were probably the ones barking. I walk downstairs and yell, "Harley". He comes in from outback, but in a scared and hunched over position like mom it's not me. The barking still continues so I call Augusta. Sure enough it's Augusta. This strikes me as odd because Augusta hardly ever barks. If any of our dogs are barking it's usually Harley. But compared to the other neighborhood dogs Harley is very quiet.

I get the dogs back upstairs, tuck them into bed... Let me stop here. I know what you're thinking. Did she just say tuck them into bed? Yes I physically tuck Augusta into bed with a blanket. She gets cold easily. Harley is tough as rocks. He prefers to lay on his blanket. Back to the story... Two seconds later Augusta is up again barking aggressively. P-Dawg and I look outside... nothing. We close the curtains- thinking this will stop her. SHE KEEPS BARKING AND GROWLING! She jumps up onto our bed and lays at my feet, Harley goes and lays at the top of the stairs. The barking keeps up for awhile and then I fall asleep. 

Another bark. I wake up and convience myself and P-Dawg that I hear something. He gets up, grabs his gun and he and the dogs go looking throughout the house. I stay upstairs and look out our bedroom window into the back yard. I see naked P-Dawg and the dogs go out back and look around. Augusta starts barking, but they don't see anything. They shut the door and go back inside. I am still looking out the window when all of a sudden I see a person in a white shirt run across the neighbors back yard and out the gate (I actually hear the gate open and close). At this point I am glued to the window waiting, watching. I finally realize what I just saw and yell to Preston, "I saw someone and he ran down the road!!"

We then throw on some cloths and get into the truck. We drive around the neighborhood looking for any signs of life. Nothing.

We go home, tuck the dogs in and go back to sleep. Augusta doesn't make another sound for the rest of the night.

The next morning I notice our shed door out back is open. Odd. I don't remember it being open yesterday or last night. Could be a coincidence... 

We think the neighbors have a son. The loud blasting Metallica music is what tips us off. 

So the question is... 

Did I see a burglar or a kid sneaking out of his house? 

I got punched in the face by a Kindergartner.

This weekend I got punched in the face by a Kindergartner. And he totally meant to punch me in the face. He then proceeded to glance at his mom to see if she saw him punch me in the face, which she didn't. I then firmly pushed him off my lap, gave him the stink eye and ignored him. He then started to punch himself in the jaw, repeatedly. His mom didn't see this either. Nor did she see her wild child try to trip Ashley, jump on her back and break her fingers.

Some might think I should have told the mom what her out-of-control son just did, but she was having such a good time. Why would I want to ruin the one night of the month where she gets to forget about being a mom, hang out with other women, drink margaritas and smell Scentsy candles? Plus how bad would you feel if your son punched someone in the face that you just met?  

A Love, Hate Relationship

I love naps. Who doesn't? Naps can be your best friend or your worst enemy. At the moment, naps are my worst enemy. All I want to do is nap.  It is controlling my life. Take this weekend for example. Saturday I took a nap before we went to a BBQ. I didn't sleep at all Saturday night. Today I took a nap after the Broncos game. I am not going to sleep well tonight. I officially hate naps.

Stewie= Lori, Lois= Preston

I do this to Preston all of the time... just to say hi! It drives him crazy!!
I think it is hilarious!

need i say more.