A Life Less Ordinary: Eat, Sleep, Blog

Hello, hello everyone! Long time, no blog. Sorry about the lull, but there hasn't been a whole lot going on aside from job hunting and sleeping. But after an email from one of my favorites, I've decided that I need to get back to my blogging!! So here we go!

OCD in dogs. You're probably thinking, "Yeah right. There's no way a dog can be obsessive compulsive." Well ladies and gentlemen, meet my puppy, Elphie.

Elphie likes to be OCD with her food (like dog, like owner?). If the kibble in her bowl is not level or flattened out when it is given to her, the crazy little dog will flatten all the kibble to her liking. "How did you notice such a small quirk?", you might ask. Well, Aaron and I first noticed when the big dogs' food was spilled into piles and clumps on the floor one afternoon. About a half hour later, we looked to see how much of it our little dog had gotten her paws on. Turns out, Elphie lined up every piece of kibble that didn't get gobbled up by the big dogs into 3, flat, and almost exactly even rows. After that incident, we kept an eye on the pup the next couple of times she ate some food, and sure enough, she flattened out the food in her bowl before she'd taken a bite. I then decided to do some research on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in dogs to see if there was anything we should be watching out for. Turns out OCD in dogs is caused by stress, anxiety or boredom. Luckily Elphie's compulsions are not aggressive (like digging, barking at nothing, biting her feet, etc.) This worried me a bit because I didn't want my pup to be so bored that her last resort was to compulsively flatten her food! So of course my solution has been more walks and more playing (it never seems to end!), and it turns out that she still flattens out her food before she eats. I'm going to leave Elphie's diagnosis at weirdo with a chance of turning into full-blown OCD if she isn't played with and walked until her stubby little nubs can't walk any more! So what if my dog has a few idiosyncrasies? No one is perfect and it's free entertainment! To go along with her food oddity, my little pup is scared of the heater! Any time the heater is on in the room, she refuses to go near it. Elphie loves her squeaky bone, but she doesn't love it enough to run after it if I throw it in front of the heater. What a silly and crazy little pup!

Good news on the job front has finally come through for Aaron! He is working for a wind turbine company as a Wind Turbine Commissioner. He's getting paid well to work on wind energy, of which he's a big advocate, which is awesome! Except that right now he's in Montana doing his job :( For now, he's working there and getting paid to live in a hotel until the 23rd of December, which was hard at first for him while he was going through orientation and not actually getting to work on the turbines. Now, he's really enjoying getting to finally work on the turbines and working long days, which doesn't make it any easier for me, but I'm glad that he's enjoying the work more. After the holidays and New Year, he'll be going back to the same place in Montana for a few weeks and then may get moved to a different location, which is yet to be determined. In the meantime, I am still chillin' in Washington with my pup, and working at Old Navy. My job hunt, has not been going quite as well. I've heard next to nothing, no matter how late I stay up applying to jobs. To make matters worse, the economy isn't helping me work more hours at Old Navy. I've been sent home early twice this week because we haven't been getting enough business. At one point during my shift yesterday, there was not a single customer in the store and this lack of customers lasted for a good 20 minutes. At least I get some hours, right? At least enough to make car payments...

Whhaaatt?? Did I say car payments? YOU BET!

Mark this down in history, folks. I have a new car. Now don't have a heart attack. Breathe...breathe...breathe...

It's an '06 Ford Freestyle, so it's technically a crossover, but it looks like a wagon. Very spacious with fold-down seats, leather interior, 6-CD disk changer, rear sensors, Midnight Blue, power windows, power locks, AIR CONDITIONING, and last but certainly not least, cup holders. It's nicer and newer than any car I'd ever imagine having at age 22. Nothing fancy, which is why I like it, but it's my new whip, so hooray for me! (And I sure hope Ron is super-proud of me for taking his advice and getting a car instead of "fancy gadgets" with my first couple paychecks. See, I did listen!) I still haven't come up with a name for the car though, so if you have any ideas, send 'em my way!

In between playing with the dog, missing my boyfriend, working and paying off my car, I've actually been reading, believe it or not! I didn't work today, so I stayed up last night finishing the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, which turned out to be very good! A friend recommended it to me last year and I didn't get a chance to pick up a copy and read it until I got settled here in WA. Super-condensed synopsis: this woman get a divorce and travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia to find balance and happiness in her life. She begins her journey with practicing yoga, which I've always wanted to try, and after finishing the book, REALLY makes me want to try a session at the YMCA. Maybe once the New Year starts, eh? I suppose yoga on Wii Fit will do until then :)

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks that you might enjoy. Until next time...