Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead

Harrington loves going out in the snow and playing. He digs his little snout in the snow and burrows just like dachshunds are bread to do. Unfortunately for him, this winter is beginning to look a lot like last winter: almost now snow, and warmer than average days. The only snow we have had came at the beginning of December. It began on a Thursday night with an rain which froze and became a lovely (but dangerous!) inch thick sheet of ice. After that came about two inches of snow. The following week we got about eight more inches, but it all melted away in about three days. Since then, we have had a rash of 45 degree days. It even got into the fifties for a while.

I worry about this. Global warming is here, and I know I'm guilty of contributing to the problem, but the whole thing really scares me. During Yom Kippur, Rabbi Aaron spoke a lot about Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth." It finally came on Gabe's Netflix, and we'll be watching it this weekend. I know I'm going to be horrified not only with what I see, but with myself. I only hope that Gabe and I can grow from watching it, and really be inspired to be a part of a solution, and not keep contributing to a problem. If things don't change soon, we're not going to have ice-covered trees glistening in the sun, or snow for the dog to bound through. With that being said, I'm going to end this with the words of Margaret Mead.


"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Harri and Grandpa

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Dad and Harrington spent all of Christmas together... This, of course, included napping...

...and keeping on eye on mom and her camera.

It's back to work in the morning...

So the weekend was good. Mom and Dad came yesterday to celebrate Christmas. We had fillet mignon and lobster and it was tasty! They let Gabe and I open a present before Gabe left for work. It was a statue/sculpture of a black and tan dachshund rolling on it's back. It looks just like Harrington! Mom and I watched a cheesy Lifetime movie while Dad and Harrington napped, then the three of us watched "Love Actually." They left after that for their hotel, and Harri and I hit the sack around midnight. I wish wish wish we had stayed up till 1:00 a.m. to see the Woot. It was a BAG OF CRAP!! Gabe was on a call and missed it too. We were so upset! They sold out 3000 in 10 minutes! Woot off in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll get one in there.

Mom and Dad came back this morning about 11ish. I made them watch about an hour and a half of My Super Sweet Sixteen, and that was about all Dad could stomach. He took control of the remote at that point. Gabe woke up about 1:30, and it was time for presents! Mom and Dad got us a very generous gift card to a gas station because of all of the commuting I will be doing. It was really nice of them! I also got another gift card to Express which is perfect! I got a laptop bag, curtains for my study, and a dictionary. Perfect! Gabe got me a new all-in-one printer, a digital voice recorder, a laptop cooler, my spycam from the last woot-off, and a book.

They got Gabe a cordless drill, a bunch of tools, and a new electric shaver. He was excited about that. I got him a new tool box and tape measure to go with the new tools. Maybe he'll build me something! I also got him some shirts, a new winter hat, a book about Roomba, a gift card to EB Games, a gift card to Q'doba, and slippers. Harrington got Gabe new socks. I thought that was very nice of him seeing as Harrington steals half of them out of laundry baskets.

Harrington got two new toys (one of which is almost destroyed!!), two boxes of milkbones, and a sack of pig ears. He was very happy, and is now passed out on the couch.

Mom and Dad really liked the computer we got them. I think they were really shocked! They kept saying that we didn't need to do that. But really, they do so much for us, we really wanted to do it for them. I think we've even got them signed up to DSL and getting rid of AOL. Yay for us! Harrington got them the Dachshund-A-Day calender that he gets them every year. Dad got Mom a thing she can put on her chair and it massages her back. Those people at HoMedics are geniuses! He also got her two books (one was the wrong book), and a book of MSU cross-stitch patterns, which she already had. Oh well, she loved them anyway. Mom got Dad some crazy thing that is supposed to make his golf swing as good as the pros. We'll see how that goes.

After a delicious turkey dinner, my parents headed home. I did some studying and am getting ready for bed because it's back to work in the morning...but only till 11:30;)

Tall double mocha with a shot of vanilla

Today was a pretty quiet day, but I got quite a bit accomplished. Gabe and I had to go to the bank this morning and sign on the refinance of the car loan. Merry Christmas to me with a lower interest rate! The bank manager wasn't there today so we met with the assistant manager. When we walked out the door, I said to Gabe, "After that, I feel like I've known her forever!" In the 25 minutes we were there, we found out about her living situation with her boyfriend, and that although she has to work some Saturdays, he doesn't want her to look for a new job because of the perks. What perks you ask? Well, she gets three weeks of vacation time, 10 sick days, two personal days, and her birthday off. And, it doesn't roll over, so she needs to use it up January 1st so that's why she has so much time off in December. Also, she and her boyfriend are looking for a new place. They're currently living in an apartment, but looking for a condo. This way, they don't have to mow the lawn. SERIOUSLY!!! We were there to sign on a loan, not to become best friends with her!!! Oh well.

Went to Meijer's and got a gift card. The other day when I was there, I got a coupon for $10 off any gift card of $25 or more. So with that, combined with the Christmas bonus Gabe got at work, we'll be going grocery shopping this week on the Meijer family's dime.

After the Meijer run, I headed to Beaner's to study for the afternoon and stayed there for about 4 hours. My good fortune came when I met a gentleman and his wife in Beaner's. He noticed my casebook and stopped to talk. Turns out that he graduated from Cooley in 2000. He lives in the area and has a practice and specializes in what else...wills and trust. I talked with them for about a half an hour. He showed me a book that I should read, and we really got to talking about school and what to expect. I left with his phone number and e-mail address. It was pretty great.

So now it's a quiet evening at home. I just finished wrapping the rest of the presents and have settled in with Harrington for a night of Lifetime movies and Dr. 90210.

Perez Hilton is always right

Wow. Perez was on when he said Heidi Klum couldn't sing! For those of you who don't know this already, Ms. Klum just put out a cd in her native Sweden. I just saw the new Victoria's Secret commercial in which she sings about two lines from "Santa Baby." It was hideous! Now I'm not claiming that I'm the next Mariah or anything, but damn!

On a different note. The studying has begun. It's going well. Time consuming. I should get used to it though! New job is going well. I'm working mornings only in this new part-time gig. I was trained Monday and Tuesday morning, and was on my own starting today. It was pretty easy to catch on, and am enjoying what I'm doing. Plus I get to listen to NPR all morning and go home at 11:30!

Gabe's working a lot, but loving it. The fire academy starts the same day as classes, so he'll be even busier. He got me a "spy camera" (a digital camera shaped like a zippo lighter) for one night of Hanukkah. It's only 1.3 megapixls (yikes!), but it's fun to play with.

Other than that, not much going on. Just studying lots and working. Mom and Dad are coming this weekend and we're going to eat like kings! I can't wait. I know Gabe and Harrington can't either!

Have you ever taken a $337 hot shower?

Today was the last day at my old job. Although I will miss my coworkers so much, I can honestly say that I am glad I am done. I didn't need the stress and the micromanaging anymore. So come Monday, I will be working at my new post. I will still be in the same suite, which is nice because I'll still get to see my friends. However, I will have a new, much calmer, relaxed, and laid back manager. I also think it will help that it's the kind of job where I can really work independently. Hopefully everything will go well and it will work out with my school schedule.

Speaking of school, now it's time to really kick my ass into gear. Only a few short weeks until school starts. I've gotten through all of the pre-reading for school. Now it's time to start working on my assignments for the first week and for orientation. (I know, right? Assignments for orientation!)

I had been planning with Leslie for about a week for her to come over last night for dinner and watch a movie; a girls' night since her husband was out of town on business. I came home from work; however, to find my husband screaming from the bathroom. There was no hot water. The hot water heater went out. Of course I wasn't about to wait until the next day to get it fixed...a girl needs a nice hot shower in the morning! I called an emergency plumber at 5:30. He called me about 6:30 and said he had one more call before me and he'd call when he was on his way. Leslie got here about 7:00 with dinner and we started watching the day's episode of Y&R. The plumber called about 8:00to say he was on his way, and he arrived about 8:30. He knew what was wrong with the water heater, and went to his truck to get the part (he knew we had a whirlpool, as I told him so when he called). Unfortunately, he came back in and gave me the bad news that he didn't have the part in the truck, but there was one at the warehouse and he could go and get it. He left at 9:00. Plumber Ron got back here exactly at 10:00. Leslie and I were now in the middle of watching "Love Actually." Ron fixed the water heater and started his truck up at 11:00. He didn't come back in until 11:15. He told me that when he had called and I said we had a Whirlpool, he was sure he had the part in the truck. Unfortunately, another company's packaging looks just like Whirlpool's, and that was the part he had. So being Ron the nice plumber, he didn't charge me for the hour he left to get the part (the hour that was a half hour too long...what? did he go 15mph the whole way?) So here I am thinking I got this great deal. Wrong. $337 later, I have hot water. Let me tell you that the part for the water heater was only $35. The rest was labor. Fucking emergency call rate. Fucking hot water heater. Oh. And Plumber Ron said that next time this happens, I should let it happen after 5:00 p.m. What the fuck Ron???

The window got fixed today. Yes. That's right. Our window...in our bedroom. Gabe was sleeping last week, and and only been asleep about an hour, when our bedroom window shattered. $145 and 20 minutes this afternoon later, I have a new window.

Happy Hanukkah everyone! Gabe is at work tonight, so I had to light the first night's candle alone. We'll be in Lansing tomorrow and we'll light candles at my parent's.

Time to work on laundry

A quiet Tuesday evening at home...

I am so much more comfortable in my house when it clean. Since this is the case, why is that I am so unmotivated to clean it? My good friend Leslie is coming over Thursday night for a girl's night...so that was just the motivation I needed to get off my ass and take care of things! It is now 8:15 and I am a much happier person!

Right now, as I type, Gabe is out on his first official call as a member of the fire department. He got all set up with his gear and his fire radio and pager today. Let me tell you, they are crazy loud!! He's really excited, and he looks really cute in his turnout gear, so I hope it goes well. I guess we shall see in a little bit.

Work was work today. Training my replacement. I started to "let go of the reins" today. Tomorrow and Thursday, I'm making her do the job by herself, so it should be interesting.

Just heard the garage door open, so I'm off to greet my husband and work on some school stuff.