Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Few things in life excite me more than the release of a trailer for a much anticipated movie. In fact, about once every week or two I got to www.apple.com/trailers and watch every trailer that might even remotely interests me. If I miss any previews at the movie theater, I’m royally pissed. There’s just something about a teaser trailer that gets me really excited. Today I found out that the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, and click here to see it. It’s great, and I’m pumped for November.

Oh, a new Twilight trailer was also released. It can be found at the official movie site. It’s going to be a good winter.

On a completely unrelated topic, what’s the deal with Kid Rock? He’s been, where, exactly, for the last couple of years? And then all of a sudden he releases this new song, and everyone loves him again. Ok, the only reason people like that song is because that song is pretty much Sweet Home Alabama. Come on! That’s cheating, Kid. That’s cheating. And I’m pretty sure Vanilla Ice got sued by Queen for doing something similar to that, right? Anyway. That’s my two cents.

Showers of Gifts

Yesterday Dallas and I had our first wedding shower. Well, actually, it was the second. The first was a surprise shower my former coworkers at the bank threw for me. But this was the first big one, and man was it big. We got a lot of cool stuff, including 4 griddles and 4 toaster ovens. Dusty, Dallas’s brother, also called their mom last night to tell her how proud he was of the gift he bought for us: a really awesome pancake griddle. Charlotte just laughed and laughed and had to tell Dusty that we already got 4 of them. All in all, we have to take back a lot of stuff, and we are going to get things we really really wanted, like silverware, towels, a vacuum, an iron/ironing board, etc. I’m hoping at the next shower we get plates and some pots and pans, because we have none of that.  I’m pretty pumped that we got the Magic Bullet blender system thingy, though. And a really nice new comforter with sheets. And little ol’ Sam Story got me some wine glasses! I really didn’t expect to get something like that at the church. This whole wedding thing is pretty fun, apart from the fact that Kathleen made me get blindfolded and feel up other guys’ legs. That was embarrassing.

In addition to the wedding shower, we got to go watch Stepbrothers this weekend. It was out of control and filled with very vulgar hilarity. I mean, it was really out of control. It was great, though. Now I’m back at work. Boo. But I did find out today that if I wanted to take my Arkansas history class, I don’t have to take it online or at night. I can take it during the day here, and I can just leave work, walk across campus to the class, and then come back when it’s done. We’re allowed to leave for one class a day. Plus, I only pay 10% tuition. That’s an extremely sweet deal. I applied today and I’m hoping I can get into the MWF class that starts in about…oh…3 weeks. That’ll be one task under control in my goal of getting certified to teach so I can go to grad school for Library Media and Information Technologies. Woot!

Randomness

In the last year I have discovered several things that quickly made it up the list to become some of my FAVORITE things in the world. Since I am here at work, bored, with nothing to do because my boss is out of the office, I guess I’ll make out a little list. I’m sure I will edit this a million times today, but at least it’s something to do, right? And by typing on my computer at my desk, it makes me look like I’m really busy working on something.

• Banoffee pie. I had my first little taste of heaven when I was in London last July/August. Now I’m not a huge fan of banana desserts. I mean, to me, if it ain’t chocolate, it ain’t dessert. But whatev. I figured I’d give it a shot because it was a British dessert, and if there is one thing the Brits do right, it’s their dessert. So out comes this banana/toffee/whipped cream thing, and OH MY GOODNESS. It is seriously the richest, sweetest, most wonderful thing I have ever had. When I got back to the States, I wanted to make one so bad, but I could only find recipes that used the metric system, and let’s face it: there’s a reason I got a liberal arts degree. I’m not much for math or science or converting or anything like that. But Paula Deen saved the day and provided a recipe using CUPS and TEASPOONS. Actually, her recipe was a little complicated, so I combined it with another I found and the end result was scrumptious (if there was ever a time to use that word, it’s now). The recipe is quick and easy, apart from the fact that you have to boil two 14 oz. cans of sweetened condensed milk for an hour and a half. But anyway, the point of this story is that I made banoffee pie and it was amazing, and I was proud of myself. I think I was even more proud of the fact that I managed to find “heavy whipping cream” at Wal-Mart by myself, without having to ask someone where it was.
  
• The Heather and DC Show. The only morning show I ever remember really loving was John and Zack on B98 when I was in elementary school and junior high. Then Zack left and it became John and Jen, and it lost its appeal. After that, I kind of boycotted radio for a while, and especially when I got my iPod. Now I had always heard of Heather and DC on Alice 107.7 (Little Rock). Everyone around here has heard of them, I think. But I hated Heather with a passion. I mean, I couldn’t stand to listen to her talk. I don’t know why. But then I started listening a little more, and before I knew it, I was completely obsessed with Heather and DC. Heather is hands down one of the funniest women I’ve ever heard of, and when you combine her and DC, it’s just pure entertainment. Throw Poolboy in the mix, and it makes the morning commute to Little Rock not only tolerable, but enjoyable. I mean, I’m excited to get in my car and start the drive, because I get to listen to Heather and DC! I love them so much that I permanently moved my iHome to my desk at work so that I could listen to them until 10:00, when the show ended. And I don’t leave my car to walk into the building until a commercial break or a song. Now that’s the sign of a good morning show.
  
• Steamed Broccoli. Ok, this is one thing I never thought I would have a love affair with. Growing up, my parents were never real sticklers about making me eat vegetables. We had an endless supply of Little Debbies, and my mom would let me drink Sprite for breakfast and when my brothers got suspicious, she’d tell them it was water. I grew up on fried food and the thought of steaming something was just foreign to me. Steaming vegetables and whatnot was for fancy folk in pricey restaurants, right? And come on, you’re telling me that steam is all you’re going to do to cook up those veggies? No thanks. I carried this snobbery about steamed broccoli with me until November of my senior year in college, which was less than a year ago. Then Dallas (who is now my fiancee), asked me out on a date after I took care of OTHER business (ahem), and after we bonded over several episodes of The Office. Part of our first date consisted of him cooking dinner for me. (Sidenote: I was very impressed and quite smitten by this point already). The dinner was lemon-pepper chicken, couscous, and disgusting healthy steamed broccoli. What was I going to do? He went to all this trouble of steaming this broccoli, and I was going to have to tell him that I didn’t like it! Now, I’ve been that person all my life (you know, the picky person, the person who always finds something wrong with a meal, who will never eat everything someone offers), and I really didn’t want to be that person on our first date. So I made the decision to suck it up and eat as little broccoli as I could get away with and still appear grateful. So this is what I did. But what was this? This broccoli didn’t make me gag. It didn’t make me want to spit it out. In fact, it made me want more of it! I’m pretty sure I ate more broccoli than anything else that night, and this is when I realized my love for steamed broccoli. So thanks, Dallas. And thanks to Birds-Eye for making those microwave steambags already full of broccoli.
  
• Blogging. I really love it. I could spend all day perusing through strangers’ blogs. Who are they? What are they like? What was their childhood like? I’m not a stalker, I swear. I’m just genuinely interested in what people write about. I look forward to new posts by favorite bloggers (Amy) every day, and I’m always a little disappointed when there is no new post. No pressure, though. And I love reading people’s blogs so much that I’m setting my mom up with one this weekend so I can read hers. I also have a goal to get Kathleen involved in this world (sorry Amy, but she’s entertaining). I love blogging so much that if I were to make a pro/con list for doing something new and unexpected, like moving to Alaska to teach for a year, blogging would be a pro. I would consider moving to Alaska just so I could blog about it. Dallas asked me the other day if I would mind going to Alaska for a while (his family is from Alaska), and the first thing out of my mouth was, “I could blog about it!” As you can see, it doesn’t take much to get me to agree to ideas like this. Anyway, I used to be an avid Xanga user, and then I stopped when the Facebook phenomenon happened, and then I had a blogspot when I went to London, and now here I am. I just can’t stay away.
  
• Indie Pop. This is my #1 choice of music genre. And of this #1 choice of music genre, The Format is my #1 favorite band of all time. Ok, to be fair, they’re actually tied with Dashboard Confessional because I can’t pick one over the other. (Sidenote: I was hooked on Dallas when he heard 3 seconds of my Dashboard ringtone, “The Best Deceptions,” and proceeded to pull it up on his iTunes. Dashboard is pretty special to us, and if you get a wedding invitation, some of their lyrics are on the inside of the front flap). Anyway. The Format is completely and utterly amazing and FUN and I am absolutely brokenhearted that they broke up. But I can listen to their music and I am suddenly 21 (like it was so long ago) and walking across the street to hang out with this really cool guy I just met named Dallas, who loves the same things I do and turned me on to this really cool band called The Format. But anyway, indie pop. Death Cab, The Format, Imogen Heap, The Postal Service, The Shins, Sufjan Stevens, etc. It’s all wonderful.
  
• Sparky Jones. I haven’t even had my Cairn Terrier puppy a whole month, and I have no idea what my life was like before this little rascal. The first two weeks were terrible, with the pooping and peeing in the house all the time. But now that he can hold it for longer in his crate, and now that he rings a bell every time he has to go outside to go potty, it’s pretty awesome. He has the best personality I’ve ever seen in a dog, and he’s so smart, and he’s so incredibly cute. The best thing ever is when I wake him up from a nap, and he’s still really sleepy, and he makes little grunting sounds when I pick him up. Man, that’s the best. And I’m completely obsessed with him. I know I am. It’s just that I’ve never had an indoor dog, so this is new to me, and I love it. That’s why Sparky gets the expensive Canidae all-natural dog food, and that’s why I boiled him a chicken tenderloin for breakfast this morning. Dallas thinks I’m a little ridiculous at times, but he’s my puppy and I just can’t get enough of him.
  
• Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. One of the greatest shows ever, even if it does come on Cartoon Network. It’s clever and wacky and hilarious. I admit, it scared me a little bit at first, but once you get past the strangeness of it, it’s so good. My kids will definitely watch this show, and I’ll watch it with them. Once again, this is another favorite thing influenced by Dallas.
  
• Entertaining Websites I Visit Daily/Weekly. This includes Dinosaur Comics, PostSecret, Stuff White People Like, LOLcats, Feministing, That’s Punny! (by the way, I totally had this idea a year ago and I never got around to starting it), Passive-Agressive Notes, Cute Overload, etc. This all provide me with a good deal of amusement, especially LOLcats.

Poop and Presents

Sparky is making progress. Instead of pooping in his crate and stepping all in it, now he poops in his crate and then covers it up with his puppy pad or whatever else is in there with him. It’s a start. At least that shows me that he doesn’t like laying in his own filth. I think we’ve reached a great milestone. In addition to that, we rarely have any accidents in the house anymore. The bell system is working, and at least now when he needs to go to the bathroom, he’ll go stand in front of the door. This isn’t foolproof yet, but I can at least let him wander into the kitchen without worrying about whether or not he’s going to leave me a surprise.

But seriously, Sparky is just the best thing. Everyone who sees him thinks he’s the cutest thing in the world, but he gets to go home with me. Getting a puppy was a good decision. I love that little guy.

On a different note, wedding planning is coming along nicely. I think. I mean, I thought I was almost finished, so I was just taking it easy and not really worrying about anything. That is, until I wrote a list of every little thing I had left to do, and the number was close to 40. 40 Things! It’s almost overwhelming. But it feels really good to cross a Thing off of my list when I finish it. Like when I ordered my wedding invitations (simple seal-n-sends), and when I ordered my bridesmaids gifts (which are super cute). Never mind the fact that while I ordered their gifts, I also added a brown, quilted tote bag with my new monogram embroidered into it in orange thread (SMJ, woo hoo!). But I deserve a little reward for being so responsible and efficient, right?

The joys of puppyhood

Now I love Sparky, I really do. I just wish he didn’t poop and pee in his crate, and then lay in it and step in it and sniff at it all the time. I’d give him a bath everyday, except that baths are bad for Cairn Terrier coats. So I resort to wiping him down with a puppy bath wipe and then spritzing him with crisp apple puppy perfume. It works pretty good until the next time I put him in his crate, and then the poop-n-pee process repeats. I get really mad and frustrated with him, but all it takes from him is one lap around the house running full speed, tongue lolling, ears pinned straight back, doing that little grunt he does when he’s really exercising, before my heart melts again and he can do no wrong. And when I pick him up to look him straight in the eye to try to get a point across in a low, growling tone, all it takes is that little tongue to sneak out and lick me across the nose. It’s not fair that puppies have such powerful weapons in their arsenal. And don’t even get me started on the sad look he gives me when I’m walking away from the crate, or the pitiful howling he does in attempts to get me to let him out of the crate. It’s almost too much. But I don’t cave. I don’t know how, but day after day, I put him in the crate, even though I know he doesn’t want to go in there, even though I know I’ll just come home to a dirty, wet, smelly dog. Who knew house training a puppy would be so hard?

Introducing Sparky Jones

After a little convincing and a lot of driving, Sparky Jones came home with me yesterday. I had to drive to Social Hill, Arkansas to get him, which is about 20 minutes past Malvern. That’s a lot further away from Conway than I had originally thought. The long trek was worth it, though, when I pulled up and saw three little Cairn Terriers running around. I picked the cutest one, of course, and man, he’s so tiny and cute. I had a cardboard box with a towel and a toy for him to ride in on the way back, but he would have none of it. I ended up driving the hour and a half back to Conway with a sleeping puppy in my lap. 

In case you don’t know what a Cairn Terrier is, think Toto from The Wizard of Oz. While that is the most famous example of the breed, my favorite example happens to be from I Love Lucy. Little Ricky’s dog, Fred, was a Cairn terrier. In a nutshell, they’re the cutest terriers out here, hands down. I don’t have any pictures of Sparky uploaded yet, but I found a picture online to give you an example. It’s pretty much what Sparky looks like, except he has a black muzzle, black feet, and black ears.

 

So there ya go. Sparky Jones. He’ll weigh about  14 pounds when he’s full grown. Now begins the awful task of housebreaking him.