Where to begin?

Lots of "Happenings" have occurred around here since my last post. Let's see if we can get caught up... (Warning: This could be lengthy. I promise to go as short as possible and to not post pictures. Yet.)

--Marley was neutered on Friday. Don't get me wrong - I love dogs and I love that a mommy dog and a daddy dog make new puppies for us to love. I just don't want to take the responsibility when my little "daddy dog" gets friendly with the entire neighborhood! He was already quite friendly with my leg and the table and the couch and the... Let's just say it was time. He is now the proud owner of "The Cone of Shame". When we first put him in it and he was still a wee bit groggy from the surgery, we had ourselves some good belly laughs. (You know, the kind where tears stream down your face!) He ran around like a drunk chicken with his head cut off. He's still not quite used to the extra inches around his face so he often bonks into walls and furniture. Watching him sniff the back yard for the perfect place to use the restroom is stinkin' hilarious! Every so often he gets stuck on one obstacle or another and we have to go rescue him. We also got sick and tired of the sound of his tags hitting the plastic cone - especially in the middle of the night when he would run from one side of the bed to the other hoping someone would wake up and put an ice pack on his pain. (Yes, we put an ice pack on his wee wee. Fun times for the Hammond's!) So yesterday, we got out the tape and taped his tags to his cone. He's silent now. Woo hoo! I'll post pictures of his misery at a later date.

--At my second interview, I was told that they would make a decision within a week. So when I hadn't heard from them a week later we cried our tears and decided God had bigger plans. I stopped hoping and wishing and began praying for a new dream since God clearly didn't have teaching in His plans for me right now...

--Saturday afternoon we worked diligently to clean out the junky craft room and make it functional. I was doing some Internet research to see if the stuff from the back of the closet was actually worth some money when I happened to click on the junk folder of my old e-mail address. (I still can't even figure out why that e-mail was open, much less why I clicked there!) And there it was. Tucked away between the free shipping offers and the true junk you're embarrassed to admit even popped up on your screen. One beautiful, simple e-mail. "Mrs. Hammond, I am in the process of checking professional references for a few candidates and I need you to provide me with several at your earliest convenience. Thank you, from the principal you never thought you'd hear from but would love to work for." (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.) Once I recovered from the joy of seeing a letter addressed as "Mrs. Hammond" it began to dawn on me what this meant. They hadn't made a decision. It wasn't over! I could still have my dream job! I gasped and then began to shake. A lot. I recovered and sent off a list of references. I've thought of two more people I should have included in that list, but what's done is done. I don't think he needs sixteen e-mails from me saying "Oh yeah! Call this guy too!" Now I get to hurry up and wait! God's plan is perfect. He knows what He's doing. Now I need to learn to rest in it...

--We made the BEST taco salad on Sunday afternoon! Wow! I cut up raw chicken (EW!) into little bite size chunks, plopped them in a pan with olive oil and stirred them around with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper. (I know, they don't sound like they go together but they do! YUM! That combo is also good on those little red potatoes. Thanks Meg-a-boo!) While that was cooking itself into a tender yumminess, we waded up some foil and draped two tortillas over them, sprayed the tops with Pam, and stuck them in a 425 degree oven for about 6 minutes. We shredded the lettuce, stuck it in our cute little tortilla bowls, and shoved it all in a big bowl to keep the dressing contained. We topped it with colby jack cheese and honey roasted sunflower kernels. I used raspberry walnut dressing (my new favorite) and DJ mixed ranch and salsa. Top it all off with the delectable chicken and go to town. I'm already trying to figure out when we can have it again...

--Sunday night, we went to Nicklerama on a delayed month-a-versary date! It's your basic arcade, but you play with real nickles. We went to play Skee Ball, but ended up addicted to Deal or No Deal. We poured way too much money into that machine!! But, D.J. ended up with 100 tickets!! The prizes weren't fabulous, as was to be expected, but we had a GREAT time!! (What's with the double exclamation marks?)

--I've been reading a few famous blogs recently and now find myself re-telling the events of the day in blog form. (For some reason, I always do it out loud. And I usually pick a title for each story!) On weekdays when I'm home alone, this is no big deal. The dogs enjoy the soothing sound of my voice! HA! However, D.J. didn't find it quite as charming this weekend when I began to chronicle the cleaning process.

-- I have discovered that I cannot spell "convenience" without copying it from another source or using spell check. For those that have known me since childhood, this is no surprise. However, I find I've typed that word a lot recently and my own invented spelling is never recognized by the spell checker. I always (repeat: always!) have to look it up!

--Brandi has asked me to post my five favorite things. However, that could get lengthy seeing as how I can never narrow my lists down to just five. Therefore, I'll post them at a future date. Thanks for the compliment about my story telling abilities Brandi! I'm truly honored!

-- The bread just fell off the shelf in the pantry. (I knew it was going to fall when I stuck it up there this morning. And yet, I did nothing about it.) The dogs got up from their morning naps to bark at the sound. Marley ran into the wall with his cone which made him jump and run and made Cua bark even louder. Sadly, she's terrified of him so when he approached her in an effort to play, she growled and ran away. Marley took it as an invitation to chase until he hooked his cone on the corner and backed up. All is calm now and they're sleeping once again. But I'm glad you guys got to share in my moment!!

That's it from our neck of the woods. Was the post long enough for you?