Me? Yeah I guess so. At least, that’s how I feel today. I don’t usually think of myself as a housewife, a susie homemaker – maybe, but not a housewife. This isn’t to say that being a housewife is bad, but I don’t see my job as keeping the house. My job is to do schoolwork and to look for a job, the housework just comes with it because I’m the one at home all day long. And once I find work, in house or elsewhere, I won’t be the one doing all the chores (granted my hubby pitches in every now and then, aside from his yard duty).

And I fully intend to work outside the house. Even when I get my own business started, I’m going to have an office away from the house. Working at home is awesome and all but it is exceedingly easy to get distracted. Plus I’ve heard many people who work way too much at home because they do not set “office hours”. With a real office there is none of that. I work from when I get there to when I leave and if I need to do some extra time, I stay late or go in early. Not to mention, I’ll be meeting with clients face-to-face and it’s nice to have a guaranteed space to do so in peace and quiet (as opposed to meeting out at a coffee bar or something).

Anyhow… This morning started with getting up at 7a.m. to let out and feed all the animals. Spent an hour checking some things online and then crawled back into bed to lie there for an hour till it was time to go for our walk. We took the dogs with us which… I’m not doing again for a long time. We got these “no-pull” harnesses at Petco the other day and yeah right, no-pull my ass. I knew we should have gotten the head halter ones, which yank their head back when they pull, causing them to slow down. The harnesses tighten around the ribs when they pull and that does not stop them, at all. They just pant and pull harder than before. By the time we got to the turn-around point they were drolling foamy nastiness… AND STILL FREAKING PULLING MY ARM OFF!!

So the solution is: I will walk all three dogs individually at dusk when it’s cooled off. This will keep them from spazing out and allow me to train them when to stop, sit, etc. No offense to my husband but he’s never actually trained a dog. I had a lot of good advice when my family hired a trainer for Kayla (our rottweiler) and I’ve retained it. Ashamed to say I haven’t implemented it on my dogs to the full extent. Ada and Ash are pretty good with sit, out, cage, upstairs, downstairs and Ada understands lay but neither get stay (Ada used to but doesn’t listen to it anymore). However, the puppy – Lani understands… sit, stay, down, couch, out, cage, room, bed, lay, and kangaroo (among many others). “Kangaroo?” you ask. Heh, yes, kangaroo. Kangaroo means to stand on her hind legs and then sit on them, so she looks like a kangaroo! She also knows what treat means and she goes f’ing a-wall when you say it.

But Lani understands all these commands because she’s actually been trained. Nathan (my big brother) did some before he brought her to me and then I continued it. I can add on to her command list very easily because she’s really very smart (despite acting like a retard sometimes). She learned how to play fetch in all of 10 minutes and now understands “get it” and “drop it” from playing. I did some training when Ada and Ash were puppies (this is why they know how to sit) but I didn’t do it enough to make it really stick, or for them to understand – oh mommy wants my attention. In combination with that they’ve learned some not so cool tricks from my husband, like jumping up and putting their paws on his shoulders – which they still try to do to me every now and then.

But this will all change in time. It may take a while but they’ll get it eventually. Let’s just hope it all sticks this time!

So back to what I’ve done today… After the walk, Joshua and I did our stay/yoga ball routine (30min dvd) and messed around till he went to work (he was making food n I was gaming mostly). After he was off I washed all three dogs, took a short break to catch my breath, and then vacuumed the house, cleaned the cat boxes, and gathered up the dishes & trash. I’m about to go do the dishes, which are (as ever) endless, after which I will shower and then fold & put away the laundry.

And my day doesn’t end there! Tonight at 7pm there is a meetup for the Hampton Roads Web Developer’s Brigade. I’ll be biking down to the mall around 6pm to meet with them. (I need 30 minutes between arriving and the meeting to cool down and change. Nobody wants to meet me when I’m all sweaty & gross heh) I’ve been looking forward to this meetup for a while so I’m glad a lot of people RSVP’d in the last few days and that it will be a good sized group. I’m hoping to make some lasting connections and network my ass off. Wish me luck!

I am so out of shape. This is evident by the fact that I am seriously exhausted from our work out this morning.

• We rise at 9 a.m. and go for a 40 minute walk.
• M-W-F we follow that up with stay-ball workout – 30 mins.
• Tu-Th-Sa we add in a short jogging distance.

Not very intensive exercise, but holy crap does it wear me out. I think the time we are doing it is a factor as well. We can’t make it any earlier because we both need our sleep, nor later because Joshua has to go off to work. So I’m just having to get used to it.

We are slowly working in the jogging because of my asthma. Joshua knows not to push me too hard because I will have an attack and it will be just as unpleasant for me as it will be for him. Nothing like making your heart race that you’re in an electric chair!

I am hoping to work up to running with Joshua. I know it’s going to take a long time, lots of adding on 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc. but I want to get back in shape and I’d like to be able to be active with Joshua without feeling like I’m going to die every 5 seconds. So we’ll see how it goes!

I know it can’t just be me. Over the last let’s say six years (since I legally became an adult) I have noticed a serious decline in the style of clothing. For a nation that is full of big fat asses, huge boobs, and every figure under the sun, we sure don’t have very many outlets for clothing in these sizes or shapes. We still fill our stores with this moronic selection made for the double zero, flat chested, walking ironing boards they call models. And while we, the larger people of America, complain to all high heaven, we don’t DO anything about it.

I’ve been the mall several times in the last month or so, either to just get out of the house or with friends to help them find stuff (cause I sure don’t have money for anything). I have not seen anything that could even REMOTELY fit me properly. And if it might fit me, it will show so much cleavage that I’ll blind people ten states away! Thank god I’m not working right now, I don’t know what the heck I would wear!

Cute but not for me

This summer it was impossible to escape a particular cut of shirt, the deep V cut you would usually find on a wrap-style dress. Now, I can tell you I have a couple items with this cut, two dresses and a top. And I have to wear a tank top underneath it in order not to moon the moon with my cleavage. (And I only don’t wear a tank top if I’m goin out to a bar or something where I don’t care about cleavage) These are awesome to women with no tits, but me? Not so much.

And then there is the material choices. Most of the things I do find that fit are either made out of some sort of lycra nastiness or a wannabe silk product. Neither of these are good ideas 95% of the time. As a result, back when I was still buying work clothes, I was constantly hunting down the cotton button down.

There is only one issue with the button down, and that is that most “fitted” versions just don’t fit. If left unfitted, they make me look fat and if fitted, they pull over the breasts in order to fit at the waist or if they fit in the chest the waist is too wide. Meh!  And don’t even get me started on finding pants that fit me… My thighs require a size 10 currently. Possibly a 12. But my butt only requires a 6 or 8. Add to that that I am 5 feet tall and you have a big pot brewing disappointment at every turn.

Long story short? I’d like people to start designing for REAL women HERE in the U.S. I want a selection to choose from and not have to go to some special store to find it. I want to be able to walk into every major women’s clothing store and be able to find at least five outfits that fit me. And what will I do to stores that don’t carry things not made for walking two by fours? I’ll simply not patron them and preach their evil to everyone who thinks about going there!

Sunday I finally got to hang out with Sarah again. It’s been months since I’ve seen her or really gotten to talk to her so it was very nice to spend time with her. We went to the Chrysler Museum to do some homework for her class and then to Ruby Tuesdays, which meh, I won’t even get into. We then headed over to her new apartment so I could see it and Muffin (her now HUGE but awesome kitty). We were going to head over to Wet Seal, to see if a pair of boots in my size would fit, but when we got to the mall we remembered it closes at 6 on Sundays. Instead we headed down to the Oceanfront to say hey to another friend and get this done…

No, it didn’t hurt. And I’ve been wanting to have it pierced for years now. It is my birthday gift to myself (one of em at least ;) ) and only cost me $30! It’s hurting much more today and yesterday than it did the night I got it pierced. Taking plenty of Aleve to help with the swelling and pain. And of course I am taking proper care of it cleaning wise.

Other than that… My baby is back home. The first night back together was wonderful and since then we’ve just fallen back into our grooves I guess. I have several things planned for us to go do though so yay. I’m glad to have him back home with me. <3