The Mundane

When one is busy with a class, trying to incorporate the things she’s learned from reading Cesar’s Way (daily hour and a half walks with her dog among them), trying to keep up with her reading habit and trying to rid her mind of the lyrics of an insistent song from Dance Dance Revolution (which she frequently plays), not to mention her full-time job and keeping up with seemingly mundane activities as folding laundry, one has not much room in her head to think of blogs that are both interesting and informative.

How's that for a run-on sentence?

My vacation is quickly approaching, which is definitely something to look forward to. That is, if I didn’t have the bad habit of looking forward so far that I’m already feeling disappointed that my vacation is nearly over. The kickoff to this delightful week includes a trip to Grand Rapids, which is Chester’s old stomping ground. We’re mainly going to visit Chester’s cousin Mikey and his family, who I’ve grown quite fond of and consider (however presumptuously) to be like my own family.

Another not-so-delightful inclusion (or intrusion) into my vacation will be making major headway in the cleaning of our garage. I have bags and bags of clothes that I have hoarded with garage sales in mind. I am doubtful a garage sale will actually happen since it involves giving up two days of my time (at least) to watch strangers to root through my things. This cleaning will also include going through some things of Chester’s and putting them into plastic bins....with lids! That match! I suppose it’s good to keep in mind the little things that make us happy.

And that’s about all I’ve got swimming around in the old noggin for bloggin'.

The Unusual

It's funny how your mood can change so quickly. A short twelve hours ago I was sure the world was coming to an end when Chester spilled dirty (and when I say dirty, I'm not kidding around) aquarium water on the carpet. Six hours of sleep, one highly caffeinated beverage and one rice krispy treat delightfully dipped diagonally in decadent chocolate later, I'm feeling quite content indeed. I almost never make a coffee stop in the morning, but I was on my way to deposit my paycheck (I suppose it never hurts one's mood when it's payday, either...at least in the brief period before the bill export) and thought to myself, "why not?" Although there are probably plenty of good reasons why not, $1.60 coffee among them, sometimes it's nice to do things out of the ordinary, even if they're as small as that.

Ponderings...

As some of you may know (especially if you've been reading my blogs), my goal is to be back in school full-time by next fall. Before I figure out where I'm going, I need to pick a veterinary school so I can choose a 4-year that will help me out with that. As I was looking at the vet school application process, I discovered that, aside from the obvious GPA and GRE score considerations, one thing schools look at is your interest and involvement with animals, not including pet ownership (which is unfortunate, seeing as pet ownership has been quite a hobby of mine lately).

I got excited about this, since I'm volunteering at the Como Zoo and have already started this area of my future application. However, I thought why not step it up a notch? I checked out the website for the Humane Society near where I live, and they have a ton of positions open, including dog walkers and working in the surrender area, both of which would give me a good opportunity to work with and care for animals directly. There is a meeting on the 26th about this, so I'll have to wait until then to find out more, but I'm pretty excited! I'm going to pick up a copy of Cesar's Way (written by the Dog Whisperer himself) and read it before then to help with that AND seeing if there's something to be done about the levels of pestiness in my own dog (although aside from his fondness of brushing his drooly jowls on people and his general pestiness when company first arrives, he's a very good dog).

I was reading in my Psychology (of Adulthood and Aging) book today about a study that was done that found that people are more satisfied when they accomplish something without being promised a reward or being otherwise influenced by an outside party. Even though I had several setbacks throughout my college career so far, I feel ahead of the game for once and it feels good.

Gaming

Before Chester left for work this morning (at the ungodly hour of I-dont-know-when-but-probably-before-6), he announced that I am cut off from playing Final Fantasy VIII, which I have been doing lately more than I should be. He said I was talking in my sleep about the monsters in my dream ("Its a Level 3!"). I found this amusing, as I recalled the intensity of the dream. I was fighting monsters and had retreated into a treehouse where none could get in, that is, except for the Aarons (Alexis will find this amusing, I am sure). These were creepy flying monsters that looked like Jack White. Also, I told Chester about my dream-gun--an Xbox controller (wildly absurd, as FFVIII is a PS2 game)--which he kindly reminded me, in a note, not to forget on my way to work today. Just in case.