dallas is leaving for another 2 week stay up in the arctic tomorrow. last time he came back he was complaining of a problem called "baggage confusion." apparently there are other people like us out there that prefer to buy the cheapest bag possible thus everyone's bags look the same at baggage claim.

tonight we hopefully cleared up some of that traveler confusion with a VERY elaborate, expensive and most of all, professional looking paint job

dallas and i decided to decorate our yard for Christmas this year by adding some decorative bows. to be more cost effective we decided to make them ourselves. apparently this is something neither of us practiced in our former 4-H years

happy thanksgiving!

top things i'm currently thankful for:
1) my family
2) ezra
3) aunt sylvia's stuffing
4) 7 layer salad
5) pumpkin cookies
6) wii fit

also now that the big meal is over with my mom can now start with the Christmas stuff. she has hired some VERY professional decorators along with a live faux reindeer.
she has us all suckered inyes, very exciting

oh yes, thanksgiving in ludell ks. this is becoming an annual tradition since this has historically been the only time there are enough bodies around the house to get the ridiculous amount of Christmas lights up in a single afternoon.

it was a long day for everyone

headed home

today the (good attitude-ed) boys (which includes dallas and ezra) and i are headed back to ks for thanksgiving break. this leaves our kitty home alone. misery loves company, so if you are alone at home now, or over Christmas and would like to have a scrooge to hang out with i have thought of a great new company for some side income:
RENT-A-WILLIAM

yes, all you have to do is clean up hairballs, pretend that you don't like him (because he doesn't like you back), keep his food bowl full and give the little guy some whisker likins' treats when you use the restroom.

easy enough, right?
who's first?

men and their dogs

not a lot to report....
after last night, i decided that i should never be a professional bowler. unless of course, a score of 74 gets you a big time contract
other than that.... here is jon and bailey. bailey is a weird dog.
ez has some serious nails and so dallas decided it was time for a manicure. i think ez likes it

dallas is coming home today after his glorious 2 week stay in ND. last time he came home i cut almost 1.5 inches of hair off his head. we decided at that time we should see what he would possibly look like if he started losing his hair so i trimmed the top and left the sides longas you can tell this was very thrilling for him and we're hoping genetics are good and he gets to keep all of it

for my mother

many of you william lovers out there are most likely asking, "what happened to the fat cat?!"

let me assure you that william still has 7 of his lives and is perfectly fine. his first meeting with ezra was anti-climatic and extremely disappointing.
william's current activities include:
greeting me right out of the shower for extra attention
sniffing grass, rocks and other organic matter in back yard
and sleeping on top of chair

additionally he has started purring. we didn't know that this was possible but apparently he's hard up for some of the attention he lost 2 weeks ago

to each their own

since dallas has been gone for a while and is coming home this weekend, ezra wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get confused with the treat jars.

thus, ezra insisted that they be labeled just in case

before we got ezra i had several people tell me that having a dog was like having kids.

today i had both a dog and a kid and let me tell you-- they are NOTHING alike, although,
i have found a few similarities:
1) both drool
2) both like taking naps (sometimes)
3) both put everything in their mouth
4) both have similar dookie bagsafter spending an afternoon babysitting i have concluded that i am very happy with only my dog and will only consider kids in maybe 5 years

we had our spaghetti party last night. getting ready for it was a bit crazy since i didn't get home from the store until noon! yikes! here are a couple pics to sum it up:

jen and i made a saying on each of the bibs. here she is modeling #25 pre-party

poor lynn drew the mixer beater

and we concluded the night with a little twister.
bobbi has mad twister skills
by the end of the night ez and i were done for

today ezra and i are busy preparing for tonight's occasion:
andi's quarter life century crisis silly spaghetti supper and twister party!

pics to come tonight

apparently to be in the PRO club at fresh paint you have to be looking at facebook on your phone and drinking some form of coca cola during lunch. if you don't this you're prolly not cool

i've been off work the last couple days as i'm trying to stay off my feet and nurse my ailing hamstring back to the point where i can at least spin for 30 min without crying in the near 2 week future. moist heat is part of my recovering therapy....

ezra is pretty keen on my recovery too and found out he LOVES laying on the heating pad. thanks for helping hold it down buddy... don't know if it would stay without you

also, happy birthday tony stewart!

for a brief moment i thought that we could be a happy family
william is a party pooperalso, i regret saying duckie is no more

this is duckie.
we got him yesterday
duckie came complete with stuffing and squeaker
today he has neither, and is also half decapitated

ezra came for good today and we couldn't be more excited!
looking at this pic it's pretty obvious that maybe william isn't too keen on family time

today was bittersweet. i didn't get to race but we did get approved for ezra! YEAH!

in celebration i iced my leg, got my leg knots kneaded out, and we went to petco in preparation for ezra. william still hasn't figured out that he's getting a "little" friend

mmmm... new waterbowl, for me?

ah, a big cushion! how thoughtful!
in the meantime dallas can't wait to play fetch with his chuck-it (with the dog) so he practiced with william, and then, with me when william thought the game was hokey and decided to roll around in the grass. in hindsight we should have bought one of these months ago to help with the little guy's BMI issue

happy birthday to me!
happy birthday to me!

i had a very spectacular big 2-5 today.
thank you everyone who called or texted or facebooked me. it was a really great day!

today's agenda:
go biking with bobbi on her first mtn bike ride back from her accident (yeah bobbi!)
eat breakfast at lucilles
get my hair highlighted and cut
eat a delicious meal compliments of my aunt cindy
come home and clean our house so we don't look like bad people and can pass tomorrow's home inspection for the dog.

here are bobbi and i after biking.
i'd post a pic of my hair but i feel kind of weird doing that

in a few short bulleted items, this week:

1) i decide to spoil myself with birthday month present #1 and get a massage. the only reason i went was for my leg i hurt in this weekend's races. i have a severely strained hamstring and can't race this weekend.

2) dallas got back in town tonight from his week long "vacation" in north dakota only to leave again next week... ironically he thinks our 68 degree house is cold

3) we went to visit ezra again. we have a home visit this saturday. yikes! i'm more nervous for this than any job interview i can think of

4) william is in for a little surprise if we pass the home inspection. watch out kitty cat your world is going to be turned upside down

so having a pulled hip flexor could possibly be the worst thing ever

lisa and i needed a little pick me upper around 10:30 this morning and it just so happened that mc donald's was across the street from the bank. i splurged just a little and only got the 3 piece chicken selects
this is a OK thing to eat because there is a cyclist on the box, right?

well hello birthday month!
yes, i celebrate all november.
are you surprised?
you shouldn't be

tomorrow i get to go meet one of my possible birthday presents to myself: Ezra. can't wait!

even though i can't wait here's william's take on getting a dog friend