Huckleberry Friend

For Ashley…

aebennett16 — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:11:23 +0000

Last week I wore a shirt that I wore for my high school senior pictures. I think this says several things about me–not all of which are true: 1. I must be in great shape (HA! That would only be true if we were talking about a pair of pants from high school. I don’t even think I could fit a calf into a pair of pants from high school); 2. I’m really, really good at laundry (also not true…I literally hadn’t worn this shirt in the two years that I’ve been married, which means that my mom has laundered it WAY more than I have, which in turn means that my mom is amazing at laundry–true story); 3. My frugality knows no bounds (this is ridiciously true–also last week, I stopped off at the commissary to buy some dog food and was delighted to see a sign advertising the upcoming Caselot sale…turns out a large white tent sheltering a multitude of inexpensive bulk items sends shivers of excitement down my spine); and finally 4. I’m really not very stylish. Oh, and also one more thing…I’m old. A shirt from high school? That was six years ago! Oy vay…

So, in other news, we’re gearing up for a visit from Nick’s mom this week. I’m excited to get to catch up and (hopefully) check out the beach. May will be a busy month for us; about a week after Nick’s mom leaves, we’re planning a road trip to Panama City Beach for a wedding and (yay!) more beach. Then about a week after we return from that road trip, Danielle will be here to visit. I love summer–it means more opportunities for visitors (And Ashley, since I’m sure you’re reading this, you should consider being one of those visitors…bring the boyfriend, bring the dog, just don’t bring the cat…Angel doesn’t do well around cats ) Time to heat up some cheese grits and head back in to work for the evening.

Art al la Sophie

aebennett16 — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:03:21 +0000

I like to think of myself as a pretty grateful person. I’m grateful for my family, my husband, my job…But a few days ago, I was grateful for two very specific things: old carpet and non-waterproof ink. It was about 8:30 at night and I decided to hop in the shower while Nick watched the Sox. After my shower, I came out of the bedroom and found Sophie sitting at the door (she tends to do this when the bedroom door is closed since she would much rather the door be open). I just happened to glance at her back paw and saw a dark mark that looked like grease. I took a few steps forward to investigate and noticed a black bottle of ink (from my art stuff) laying sideways on the floor with little black foot prints all around the bottle. Turns out Sophie has a taste for art. Not only did she get ink on the carpet, but she has ear mites right now so she is frequently shaking her head. So I found black ink spattered on the wall in the living room, and on the wood floor of the living room. It looked like swirl art. We deposited Sophie in the bath tub and started scrubbing. Her mouth and tongue were completely black. After we cleaned her up, I started in on the carpet. If Bissel needs someone to be a spokesperson for their hand held carpet spot cleaner, I’m their girl. That thing has certainly gotten a workout since we brought Sophie home. Lucky for Sophie, she picked one of two bottles of ink sitting right next to each other on the same shelf–one bottle was waterproof, and the other was non-waterproof. Thank goodness this girl knows her ink. Also, thank goodness we picked a rental full of kool-aid stained carpet. I’ll be darned if I end up having to pay to replace carpet again.

Uh huh…ok…sure…Yeah

aebennett16 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:38:12 +0000

Sometimes I wonder, if I had all day to do nothing but write, would I have more to say? I’ve decided that I need to get over my bout with writer’s block; the only way I will ever get something published is if I just start writing. About everything. I know that it probably seems like, on the surface, I already do this. But I really don’t. I’m so concerned with writing something worth reading that I wait and wait to write and then nothing comes out. On that note, random thought for the day: How did Oprah get so famous? I mean really…I’m watching her right now and all she really does is say “Yeah…uh huh. Mmmm. Right. Uh huh. Ohhhhh. Right. Really. That’s great. Yeah.” No joke…I can do that. I do do that. We all do that. It’s called listening. So how exactly does one build an empire around “Yeah…uh huh” ? How is it that we, as her audience, listen to her every word, follow her advice, and think to ourselves at book stores “Ohhh that book has an Oprah circle on it…it must be good.” Does she really know how to pick a good book? Better yet, has she had the time to actually read the book? She seems pretty busy….As much as I would love to elaborate on this inquiry, I have to start preparing for tonight’s workshop. Time to channel my inner teacher. I’ll do my best to suppress the urge to go all Oprah on the students–”Right. Yeah…no, yeah. Ok. Ok. Uh huh.”

Happy One Week Eri!!

aebennett16 — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:36:11 +0000

Little Eri is one week old today! He is doing much better and, after a week under “tanning” lights, it seems that all the hard work to get him to eat and adjust has paid off. Still wish I could meet the guy in person…Ferdi got to go home this weekend which was great for everyone. I’m sure Catherine won’t feel better until she brings Eri home for good–but I can’t blame her. No word yet on how much longer he will have to stay at the hospital.

Our weekend in NC consisted of cleaning out the garage (finally! yay!), grocery shopping (booooo–which was made worse by the realization that the coupons I meant to bring were sitting at home in the trashcan because I had grabbed the expired ones instead…grrr!!!), playing with the dogs, and checking out the Botanical Gardens just down the road. Turns out North Carolina has the same pollen problem that Fort Rucker, AL has in the spring. There is a layer of yellow on EVERYthing outside. No joke, if you stand outside for 10 minutes, or put something outside, it (or you) will be covered in a chalk-like dusting of pollen. All I can say is, thank goodness neither Nick nor I have terrible allergies. The Botanical Gardens were really nice. Not alot blooming yet, but it was great to get outside and walk around. Pluuuuuusss it was free…always a plus in my book. Time to jet off to work for the evening…while I love having the morning to workout and just relax, I wish it didn’t mean that I have to work until 9 tonight It’s really not fair for me to complain, though–3 hours of work is no big deal.

Homesick…

aebennett16 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:18:25 +0000

Dear 24PetWatch pet insurance: here’s a tip…if I’m calling to cancel my service, don’t put me on hold for 30 combined minutes (20 mins the first time I called last week, 10 mins this morning) and then try to convince me that I shouldn’t cancel my service. I find it very ironic that I can call back at the same time and get through immediately to the sales department, who want to sell me a new policy. But to cancel, I have to sit on hold. I’m thinking your customer service department might want to rethink that strategy…

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, on to bigger and more important news! I WILL BE AN AUNT TODAY!!!! I want to go home I so wish I was there right now…I know there’s nothing that I can do, but I at least wanted to be there. Catherine started having contractions around one this morning, and I just talked to her (about 10 am) and she’s already 9 cm…more to follow shortly, but we should be celebrating a new birthday very soon!

Walking two dogs alone is NOT for the faint of heart….

aebennett16 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:51:01 +0000

Well. We did it. Angel, Sophie and I all went for a walk together. Except my shoe came untied as we reached the end of the driveway and remained untied for the entire walk because I couldn’t quite figure out how to keep both of them occupied long enough to reach down and re-tie it. And Sophie was terrified of the big, round, black monster (i.e. trash can) rolling around in the wind. We were doing really well until a semi rolled by with a backhoe on its bed. Sophie froze and just sat down, as if to say “Nope! I’m not moving any more mom!” I really thought I was going to have to pick her up and carry her back to the house. But after some careful pulling and prodding, we were back moving in no time. At that point, I decided to move our walk back to our street so that if Sophie decided not to move again, I could indeed carry her back home. So we proceeded to walk up and down our street. Until Sophie heard the power washer across the street, at which time I decided that we were done. But, by golly, we survived. I’m sure my neighbors got a kick out of the crazy lady trying to pull one dog back (Angel) and one dog forward (Sophie) this morning. At least I had sunglasses on so they couldn’t see the crazed look in my eyes. Perhaps after several weeks of little walks like this, we will all reach an understanding and we will be able to take longer, less stressful walks. That’s the goal.

This weekend was really fun. We arrived at the Harper House on Saturday just in time to hear the cannons begin firing. We quickly learned that they were no longer selling tickets for the battle because there were so many people at the battle site that, even if you bought a ticket, you wouldn’t be able to see a thing. So we wandered around the “village” for a bit (it was set up alot like Fort Ouiatenon) (sp?) and then started making our way back to the military camp. We began to notice that the battle sounds were getting closer and closer. So we forged on realizing that we could probably walk to the battle site sans tickets. At this point, there was only about 15 minutes of fighting left and people were already starting to walk back to the “village.” As we walked against the flow of traffic to the sounds of guns and cannons and “booms” I suddenly heard “Go boilers!” and looked up to realize that we were passing a fellow Boilermaker who was responding to my t-shirt. See, even in the midst of Civil War re-enactments, in the back woods of North Carolina, fellow Boilermakers unite! Anywho, long story short, we pushed our way through the crowd and were able to see some of the last 10 minutes of fighting. And, just as I love to do things, we did it for FREE! Ha…take that “$10 per person.”

Then it was back to the car to sit in traffic for about 45 minutes before moving. There were TONS of people there and they all decided to leave after the battle. So we sat patiently (sort of) and then eventually made it to location number dos for the day: Duplin Winery. It was wonderful! The tasting was very informative and, even though most of the wines were pretty sweet (they were all muscadine wines) I found a few that I really enjoyed. After the tasting we enjoyed dinner at the Bistro attached to the Winery where we also enjoyed the musical talents of a sweet old gentleman on keyboard.

Sunday found us enjoying the weather yet again at the driving range. Husband was very patient and became my instructor on how to hit a golf ball. I must say, I can see how people get addicted to golf. I had a few hits that just felt right and made me want to keep going. Perhaps a few more trips to the driving range and look out Tiger! I’ll be ready for my first round of golf. We tried a full game once many, many moons ago in Lafayette but I was HORRIBLE. So perhaps I can get a bit better and we can have even more hobbies to enjoy together. But now it’s time for me to wrap this up because I have to get ready for work…more to follow as the week continues!

Everybody’s Irish Today

aebennett16 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:25:06 +0000

Top o’ the afternoon to you all! Today I learned that I don’t have alot of green in my wardrobe. Make that hardly any green at all. But I improvised with a blue-green shirt. We don’t have much going on this week, but this weekend I’m dragging the hubby to a civil war reenactment. We’re going to watch the Battle of Bentonville, which originally occurred March 19-21, 1865. It was the largest civil war battle ever fought in North Carolina. At the very least, the trip will get us out and about in the state and it’s supposed to be a beautiful weekend to be outside. Plus I can mark “Civil War battle reenactment” off my bucket list Turns out my list is slightly different than husband’s–his includes sky diving. I’ll be taking pictures from the ground for that one

The rest of the weekend should find me cleaning the house to get ready for Ferdi’s visit and working on training Sophie. She needs to start learning commands or, at the very least, her name. She woke us up at 4:30 this morning to let us know that she needed to go outside. Buuuuut unfortunately she didn’t make it to the back door in time. Gotta give her credit for trying.

Not much going on…

aebennett16 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:37:03 +0000

Goodness…where to start today? Last week found me back home again in Indiana for Catherine’s baby shower. I’m hoping that maybe we get back home over the summer so that we can spend more time with family and friends. Never seems to be enough time to see everyone as long as I want to when I’m home.

In other news, I think that Sophie was a cat in another life. Unlike Angel, she would rather be alone in a seperate room of the house than in the same room as Nick and I. Unlike Angel, you have to pick her up and physically place her outside. She’s not a huge fan of taking walks, yet everything I read explained that Walkers need alot of exercise. I think her behavior in the past few weeks can be summed up by one of my coworker’s comments–as a shelter dog, we aren’t going to see her personality come out for at least a year. I look forward to the day that she finally becomes comfortable with this new life and comes up to the couch to nuzzle her nose under my hand so that I will pet her. Until then, I suppose we just have to be patient and continue to carry her around the house. At least she’s much lighter than Angel Nick tried to give her a bit of freedom last week while I was gone and let her sleep in her “room” with the door open. He woke up around 3 am to our bathroom trash littered around the bedroom and an entire drawer of socks also littered around the bedroom. Needless to say, she lost the privilege of sleeping out of her room. I am happy to report that if you leave the back door open (and I can now since it’s gorgeous outside) she will, after about 15 minutes, step one or two paws out the door. Of course, after 30 seconds, she runs right back in the house. But at least she’s learning to explore a bit. The funny thing is that Angel is completely confused by this new routine. She walks up to the open door and sits on the top step, looking at me like “Is it ok if I come in? You do know the door is wide open, right?”

It was nice to get back to work at the end of last week. I opened my schedule up for a few appointments so that I wasn’t completely “hour-less” during Spring Break. Tonight I have very few appointments scheduled, but I have a feeling that it is the calm before the storm. I’m sure we’ll be swamped toward the end of the semester. So I’m hoping to work on my own personal writing during this “down time”.

Sophie’s chance

aebennett16 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:57:56 +0000

We have a new family member. But before you go out and start buying onesies and cloth diapers, let me be clear–our new family member has four legs. And she likes to stand on the patio table and eat houseplants (real or fake, she doesn’t discriminate). And if you’re not careful when you watch her, she likes to slowly put her two front paws on the counter and snoop around. No pun intended, but she is a completely different breed than Angel. Her name is Sophie (although she doesn’t realize this yet and doesn’t respond to it) and she came to us from The Haven, a local no-kill shelter. She is about one and a half years old and has spent a year in the shelter. All she knows is shelter life. She is terrified of EVERY noise and spends a good part of her day hiding behind the end table and the couch. For a hound dog (she’s a Treeing Walker), she’s not too fond of the backyard yet and you often have to lift her front paws down the first step and then give her behind a little tap. Even then, you better be quick at shutting the back door, because if she sees an opportunity, she’s coming back inside. She is, however, fascinated with mirrors. So much so that she’s run into our full-length one a few times. I can’t quite tell you what made us decide to bring her home. I had been thinking for a while that it might be nice to have two dogs. But I didn’t really expect to get a second this weekend. I suppose it just felt right with her. She’s not aggressive at all, and she’s very patient with Angel’s hyper activity. I think the biggest reason I wanted her was because I felt like she deserved a chance. We all do. And she just hadn’t got her’s in life yet. So, Sophie, here’s your chance. Welcome to our family! As for Angel, she has been an AMAZING big sister so far. They’ve already played tug of war together and they are both quite fond of napping in bed. Up until now, Sophie hadn’t ever been in a house. So Sunday’s nap with dad, in bed, was the first time (that we’re aware of) that she got to sleep in a bed. I’m not sure if this is an indication of much she liked it, but she drooled somethin’ fierce during her nap. The ultimate goal with bringing another dog into Angel’s life (and our life, for that matter) is so that she (and the new pup) will have a companion. I have no doubt that this will take time. But I really think that it will be worth it in the long run, for both dogs. Unfortunately, I need to wrap this post up because Sophie seems to be a bit more comfortable in her surroundings and is starting to chew on the corners of every rug in the house. Time to redirect that desire to chew to the Nyla bone!

All the cool kids are doing it.

aebennett16 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:16:27 +0000

Tonight’s post will be short and sweet–husband is fading fast on the couch and I’m not far behind him. We found out yesterday that Ferdi got the position in Jacksonville and will be starting at the end of March. This is wonderful news! Nick and I are both excited at the thought of being so close to, not only Catherine and Ferdi, but also the little nephew. We’re looking forward to babysitting! And, of course, they can always babysit our little one as long as they have a fence….

I also found out today that a good friend of mine from Fort Rucker whom I worked with at YS will be moving here over the summer. So I’m super excited for her to get here as well. What’s next?! I half expect my mom to call me tomorrow and say, “You know, we’re thinking of getting a vacation home in North Carolina…” You (the reader) should move to North Carolina. All the cool kids are doing it That’s all for tonight. The Bennett family is heading to bed…but first I might enjoy some thin mints and milk. I should really send the Girl Scouts a thank you card. It’s because of their delicious cookies that I get my daily supply of calcium this time of year.