Me and Dwight just went and had lunch at Jimmy John's! I had a free sub coupon, and I figured it would be Jimmy John's's birthday present to me. Dwight waited for me outside while I ordered my sandwich, and then sat next to me while I ate. He was super good and calm, even when a guy and his golden retriever came and sat at the table right next to us. It helped that I had a delicious meaty sandwich for him to focus on, I think.

I got an awesome birthday package from my sister yesterday, containing:
-tragic royalty playing cards: the royalty cards look zombie-ish in a Tim Burton way, and they glow under black light. overkill of cool.
-two glitter nail polishes (!!)
-two pairs of aerie underwear
-fun dip: every time I think about fun dip, I think of the scene in freaks&geeks when millie is eating fun dip while waiting for the school bus in the morning, and desario comes along in his trans-am (?) and double dips with his finger.
-25 free itunes songs that she got from ACL
-and...I'm sure I'm missing something, but I will add a picture of it later.



And from Aaron, who I made give me my present at midnight last night, got me a western looking leather belt with my name engraved on the back in cool font. It looks awesome and Killers-ish.

Random Gifts that the universe gave me:
1. The Killers tix for Dallas go on sale tomorrow morning.
2. My JImmy John's free sub card made its way to my desk just this week.
3. My tracking number started working today for my T&D bag, so it's just a matter of time till I get it!!
4. The library had, in its new books section, the new book by Stephen King.
5. I got a really nice and unexpected smile and "Good Luck" today from a friend in class before the test, which cheered me up.
6. When Aaron and I went to Ikea on Tuesday, we found a couch cover for our couch in the As Is area for only $10. Regularly, it's $200-300! Needless to say, we got it.

And I finished a test today, so the weekend is mine to spend however I want. I went to the library straight after the test and got 5 fat books to read, and it feels so luxurious to look at them.

I am not even going to worry about how I did on that test, and this is the last time I'll think about it for the next 72 hours, at least. It is just too hard to tell how I did on these tests.

Perhaps...studio movie grill and changeling tonight?

a whole day of entertaining myself

Aaron is at a friend's wedding today, which I had to skip in order to study. I didn't realize until last night (he left this morning) that I might not get that much studying done anyways, since I would have to deal with the dog all day.

dealing with the dog =
1. sitting on the floor, happily studying on the coffee table. feel wet nose encroaching upon arm. see flashcards and papers fall to ground, having been pushed by wet nose.
2. now, forced to sit on couch with said dog pressed tightly against my thigh, try to balance textbooks and notebooks precariously. have mini heart-attack as dog suddenly leaps up and barks in panic at voices outside.
3. watch dog, finally sleeping peacefully, start feeling quite tired, curl up next to dog and take a 3 hour nap.
4. repeat.

So, to prevent this much-feared chain of events, I set out to tire the dog out. Studied in the morning in bed. He did whine for 30 minutes but then went back to sleep and gave me a blissful 2 hours of uninterrupted study time. Get up, get dressed, play with him in yard for 15 minutes until the edge wears off. Come home, pick up keys, etc., stop at McDonald's for lunch, then dog park to wear him out so he will sleep for rest of day. Yell at him at dog park for eating throw up and drinking muddy puddle water. The problem was, the process of tiring him out tired me out as well.

Of course, it is all worth it to have my little old man-dog as my constant companion. I took him with me to Pizza Hut, even, to pick up my dinner--mac and cheese tuscani pasta with bacon. I go all out when Aaron's not here, obviously.

Oh and I just chewed a piece of gum that really upset my stomach. grumblegrumble.

Can I just say...I think this chimp might be my soul mate. This is exactly how I like to hold Dwight!



Ah, primates and our need for ventral-to-ventral contact.

I've noticed that since school started, all of my posts have been about school. This really must stop.

One political/mere observation thing. I have seen a lot of SUVs on the road these days with McCain stickers...which is to be expected, seeing as it's Dallas. Quite a bit more colorful, however, is the couple I saw while Aaron and I were *edit: driving around in Austin with my sister and Jordan*, sitting in their front yard with a McCain 2008 sign and another sign that proclaimed that Democrats are "Socialests". Very sad. If I were so serious about my opinion that I would make such a statement in such a public venue (they were right next to the highway...well they were that day, who knows where they'll park their trailer tomorrow?) I would do a dictionary check on those words I'm not quite sure of the spelling on.
This is partly in response to Jordan's newest post.

Yesterday we took Dwight on a walk in the West Village as part of our "socialize Dwight better" campaign. I'm glad to report he is losing his fear of railings and learning to further control his urge to pull on the leash.
We had one rocker-ish lady croon "Sweet baby" as we walked by (I enjoy people ogling my dog more than I enjoyed it when hispanic guys would yell similar things to me from their hoopties and make kissie noises).
Dwight also met this middle-aged Indian guy who was walking with his wife. I was happy about this because we were standing off to the side of the sidewalk, with Dwight in a sit to let a bunch of people pass. At first when I saw them coming toward us, I thought the couple seemed a little leery of Dwight, but as the guy passed him he said "pitbull" in an affectionate voice and sort of petted Dwight, and then stopped to ask us Dwight's name and got licked by Dwight. It was cute, and I like it when people surprise me in a good way.
We also saw a huge harlequin great dane leashless crossing the street with his/her owner. It was nerve wracking because I felt like at any moment this horse sized dog could come bounding over and freak Dwight out. I don't think he's ever met a great dane.
Oh! and last thing about the dog, I promise, we went to the dog park this weekend as well and Dwight met another pitbull, and they licked each other in the mouth incessantly. Must be a pit thing. Dwight does this to all other dogs, and the only dogs that have seemed to like it and even returned the favor have been pits or pit mixes.

Finally, Aaron promised in his blog that I would relate to you the details of our fight with the neighbors. I wasn't planning on doing it because it was making me sick to my stomach every time I thought about it, but I feel better about it now, so I will relate to you the conversation in script form, as precisely as possible.

Scene: Aaron and I in our house on a Saturday night. I am upstairs. I hear some racket outside and Aaron go out the front door. Dwight and I wait anxiously at the front door, wondering what is going on. Aaron comes back inside.

J: What's going on?
A: I heard some footsteps running by outside, so I went out there to see what was going on. It's those guys in the corner, chasing away the cats. I saw one of them disappear into their house, and heard him say, "That was fun."
J: Wha--

Aaron walks outside again, I turn off the living room light so I can properly spy out of our front window. I see the man who we will hereby call "The Asshole" coming out of his house with his white fluffy dog. He mumbles something at Aaron and walks away. Aaron flicks him off as he walks away, but his back is turned so he doesn't see.
Aaron comes back in.

A: It was that guy, the asshole.
J: Well, shouldn't we just go out there and tell them that the cats are neutered?
A: I don't know...should we?

I storm out, see the Asshole's partner, who we will hereby call the Fatty even though he is not so fat, just fatter than his partner the Asshole, and that is what Aaron has been calling him.

J (normal voice but with anger barely reigned in): Hi, I just wanted to let you know that those cats are neutered, so if they cause any problems, please just let us know and we will take care of it.
F: Ok. We know all about kittico and all that, and I know you and your husband are upset, and my partner would be the first to apologize.
J: Ok, well I just wanted to let you know. (makes move to walk away)
F: Well I know you're upset right now, but my name is Fatty and my partner's name is Asshole. We've lived here about as long as you have, and I guess we have never really talked.

editor's note: I had small-talked to Asshole a couple times, and had just said hello to both of them earlier that day. Also, we witnessed them having a loud fight in the courtyard a few weekends ago, in which one of them was apparently making the other one move out.

J: Ok.
F: And your name is?
J: Jennifer
F: And your husband's name?
J: Aaron

Asshole walks up, back from walking his dog.

AH (in loud, drunk, obnoxious voice): Um, what is going on here? Are they angry at me for chasing away some stray cats?!
J: I was just telling your partner here that those cats are neutered and part of a feral colony, which is legal in Dallas.
AH: Oh we know all about Kittico! But I looked it up on the internet, and Kittico is all about catching them, neutering them, and dropping them off somewhere AWAY from here.

editor's not: no, it's not. Kittico's website expressly tells people not to drop off cats elsewhere.

J: No, it's not. (looks confused)

Anyways, it goes on from there...here are a few choice excerps:

ONE
F: I mean, I get the granola...No offense to you guys, I mean, I used to work at Whole Foods.
J: What are you talking about, I don't even shop at Whole Foods.
AH: Oh bless your little heart, bless your little heart.
A: What does Whole Foods have anything to do with what we're talking about, we're talking about the cats, and you are busy stereotyping us.
F: I mean, you guys have a sticker saying Fast food kills on your window.

editor's note: the sticker is from a movie promotion, has a hamburger with fangs and says, "Eat fast, die young." Obviously, something totally up Aaron's alley...we eat fast food all the time as anyone who actually knows us can attest.

A: That's a movie promotional item!

TWO
F: You guys have never come around and communicated with anyone about these cats being neutered.
J: Well, I had no idea that anyone had a problem with them, seeing as no one has come to let us know. I didn't think anyone would have a problem with being nice to animals! (editor's note: I know, I sound like a 12 yr old. This is what they reduced me to.)
F: Well, you live long enough around gay guys and you'll realize that everyone's got a problem.
A&J: Oh, so now you want us to stereotype gay people and believe that they all hate animals?!
F: (pointing to a bunch of different ppl's doors) They're not gay, they're not gay, and we've talked to all of them and they all have a problem with you feeding those cats.

editor's note: I have never seen F&AH talk to anyone in the complex, and we are always out and about. We have talked to their neighbors, Mike and Joe, who actually took in two of the strays who used to be owned by a hispanic family who abandoned them when they moved. Mike and Joe are the ones who probably told F&AH about Kittico in the first place. Oh, and Mike said they were assholes.

F: LIsten, we are all really upset right now, but once he calms down, my partner will be the first to apologize about chasing the cats.
AH: No I will not, let me just say one thing, I will continue to chase STRAY cats away.

Grr. Anyways, this script form is tiring me out. Basically, the only thing they could come up with is that they let their cat outside, and don't want their cat to get diseases and fleas and ticks from our strays. I was like, if you're worried about your cat, you can keep him inside. And there's fleas and ticks just on the ground. And the cats are neutered so they're not going to fight their cat and thus, will not give the cat any diseases.
I mean, in my opinion, if you think your housecat needs to be outside sometimes to have a better life, then you have to deal with the risks of it being outside. It could get hit by a car, or any number of things. Everyone else cannot change their habits just to protect your cat, who is your responsibility. Anyways, there's a leash law for cats and dogs, and an exception for feral colonies.
Anyways, we moved the kitties' feeding place into the backyard and cut a little hole in the fence for them to get in and out. I am adding a door today, to make the hole as discreet as possible. We would have done this a long time ago if anyone had had the balls to come and tell us they had a problem with the cats.

I sort of hoped the guy would make it a habit of running off the cats, so one Saturday night I could string up some steel wire close to the ground and trip his animal-hating ass. It's not so much that he's mean to the cats, it's that he thinks he has the right to run back and forth in front of our doorway and make a racket and be a general jackass.
But he has not chased the cats again, despite vowing to.

Ok, now I'm worked up again, I will go make some flashcards to calm down.

Things I'm looking forward to:
1. My NBF package, which should arrive this or next week.
2. Camera Aaron's dad is getting for Aaron