Angie’s Drama

Anyone that knows Rob and I, knows that we have multiple puppy dogs. And by puppy dogs we mean dogs that range in age from 7-12 years old. We’ve been house-sitting for Rob’s Dad for a few weeks. Because we love all things doodle (our term for Labs) we’ve been trying to spend a few nights over there having dinner and hanging out. I have to preface by saying that our doodle Bella is Rob’s dad’s dog Lucy’s daughter. Apparently the hippity-hoppity gene runs rampant. Hippity-hoppity in Walker speak refers to a dog’s way of walking down stairs. The hippity-hoppity is when they must use both paws at the same time to jump down the stairs. Thus-hippity-hoppity. Both Lucy and Bella have the “hoppity” gene. None of the other Walker dogs have the gene. Thus, they’re special.
The other night, after watching numerous episodes of “24″, Rob and I fell asleep at his dad’s house. We woke up around 3:30am and decided to just spend the night at the house. We arrived home around 7:30am to find Vito (aka Chunky Monkey) locked in the bathroom. (Nothing new. He does it all the time.) This time, he had freaked out so badly, that he pawed the door jam and door. Now we have to sand the door jam and door so we can re-paint it. Gotta love the puppy dogs!

Let’s see. What have I been doing beside blogging? In all actuality, I’ve become super-addicted to facebook. I’m not proud of it. And by addicted, I do mean addicted. You know it’s bad when you’re having a face-to-face conversation with someone and it TURNS to Facebook. At least I know I’m not the only one. Myspace is soooooo last year.
Last week, my dad was in the hospital. He had been diagnosed with pneumonia and things weren’t getting better after a week. He was having a really hard time breathing so we called an ambulance. He was diagnosed at the hospital with blood clots that had moved into his lungs. After a week in the hospital and on blood thinner, they dissolved. He’s seems really healthy and geared up to stay on the heart healthy diet he’s been on. It was a scare, but thankfully my brothers and my aunts really helped with everything. His follow up appointment is tomorrow and we’re hoping he can get released to go back to work next week!!

Thankfully, after two weeks of coughing, sneezing and using seven boxes of tissue, I seem to be on the mend. My nose continues to be a beacon for Santa since it’s bright red and peeling like I spent four hours in direct sunlight on a ski slope. I really never thought my nose could experience a third degree burn when using moisturizing lotion. We have a really busy month ahead with friends coming into town, a million birthdays (including Rob’s) and some traveling on Rob’s part. My goal for 2009 is to be healthy, wealthy and wise. We’ll see how it goes!

HBO has some really great documentaries airing. By complete accident, I happened across Cat Dancers a few weeks ago. I immediately thought it would be something similar to the dog dancing on King of the Hill, but it wasn’t. It has more to do with a Seigfried & Roy type of act and the relationship between the three performers. I’m not giving anything away when I say things don’t end so well. We are talking about large performing tigers and such.
Last night was the documentary I’ve been waiting for: Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven. It was really interesting and centered around the famed New York restaurant closing their Palace Hotel location and re-opening in the Bloomberg Building. The dynamic between the owner and his three sons is really interesting and very telling.

Today, being the end all be all of ice storms, I took heed (yes, I said heed) and made a run to Walmart and Kroger. Let me just say that TWO women offered to help me put the 45lb of dogfood in the cart AND one gentleman offered to help me put it in my car. So, for Pete’s Sake, the “ghetto walmart” is not bad. My major issue was with woman #2 at Kroger’s on Sterling. Bitch. The minute she stood behind me in line she started with the over-indulging sighing. The person in front of me argued with the cashier about prices and I’m dealing with the over-exaggerated sigh. I realize that my check out person is under 21, so I turned around and let the one with the over-exaggerated sigh know, that it was going to hold her up a few minutes. Before anyone yells at me, the self check out lanes were 12 people deep, so it wasn’t an option. After over-exaggerated sigh lady tried to ring up my wine on her own, the manager stepped up, scanned me and sent the bag boy to get wine bags for me. Over-exaggerated lady about blew her lid. I smiled and said Merry Christmas to everyone around me!!!

* We went to Sam’s today for the BIG holiday sampling deal. It sucked. Granted, I’m not a member anymore. I don’t want to become a member and because I don’t want to become I member, I was charged 10% of my sales, even though I entered with a coupon. Regardless, that wasn’t the pissy part. According to the flyer/booklet, specific items were going to be tasted on specific days. The very first sampling area we encountered was ridiculous. They were out of the main item (as they all were), acted like they had no idea why we were standing in front of them, acted suprised when we asked to sample the other item they were showcasing and then, wondered why we were still sampling. After we each purchased a few boxes. WTH????? I understand that 90% of the sample workers were probably pissed they were missing The Wheel, but c’mon. A little personality goes a long way. I was also told that the item I was really there to purchase wouldn’t be available until tomorrow also pissed me off. A great deal. Especially since it was advertised as available for sampling today. So… I get to deal with all of it tomorrow. The item I’m buying is soooooooooooooooooo worth it.

After reading some post on a few blogs, I decided to post my own “6 Things That Make You Happy” and am also adding “6 Things That Really Piss You Off”. I know, the optimism is killing you.

Six Things That Make Angie Happy
* Robbie G. The boy cracks me up. Especially when I’m trying to be pissy.
* Waking up at 4:30am to Vito barking. In the bathroom. Which he locked himself in.
* A chilled glass of good chardonay
* Doing word puzzles. Yep, I’m a dork.
* Having money in my checking account.
* Going to any of the following: Sullivan’s, Jim’s Bistro, the Hoffbrau, Po Boys, the Fish House or Two Chez.

Six Things That Piss Me Off
* Reality shows that insist on recapping every single moment. I understand that they think the average person watching has the mentality of a four year old and my cognitive abilities may be far and away above that, but come on. When you spend 18 minutes of a 28 minute show recapping what happened that leaves like 10 minutes of actual show which they fielded from 3000 hours of filming.
* Jeff Conaway on Celebrity Rehab. He obviously likes the money he’s getting for doing the show. He obviously wants exclusive camera time because he can’t go six hours without threatening to leave. He actually hates the new girl because she refuses to beg him to stay. I do wonder what the hell he did that messed up his back so badly.
* Anytime someone inflicts cruelty on another person or animal
* People who drive with all their windows down. Seriously, I don’t want to hear your music or your conversation. Conversely, I don’t want you to hear my conversation. Roll em up.
* Drive thru employees that aren’t cordial. I’m not asking for pure elegance here. Just a simple, “Here you go” or “Thanks” would be better than pure silence.
* Burning anything in my kitchen. There’s not an exhaust fan so the entire house smells for days.

It was a pretty pathetic week since Rob and I were both under the weather. We skipped the Bradley game Friday night and watched it at home. Saturday night, we ordered Chinese and watched some movies with On Demand. Sunday, Rob had to go to the office and then to the shooting range to get ready deer season. Fun stuff I tell you. Hopefully things will be more interesting this week.

Rob and I are both under the weather this week. Thankfully, I got a flu shot a few weeks ago and Rob just got his today. I don’t remember him ever getting one before, but he happened to be at the doctor’s office today so he did. He said his glands were hurting and he was having a hard time swallowing. Thankfully it’s not strep throat, but it is laryngitis. Can anyone imagine a worse affliction for Rob? They said it’s an acute strain so he should be over it in four or five days. Let’s just say there’s gonna be a whole lotta talking when he gets better. Just warning everyone…

Your alcohol policy is STUPID.

We met some friends at Granite City (BREWERY) this morning for brunch. While I don’t normally drink in the morning, I do enjoy a good bloody mary or mimosa with brunch. Especially when we had been talking about it for a few days. Alas, we were DENIED. No alcohol served before noon in Tazwell County. Way to ruin a perfectly good brunch.