Parenting Styles

Recently we've been having some trouble with Hunter's nocturnal binge eating.  Mostly, the problem is that he's eating the buttons and zippers off Sam's clothes which is pretty much destroying them.

Sam is not happy about this situation.

We've tried to walk him more, make his chew toys available to him while he's in bed, and pretty much every other thing imaginable to no avail.  

It strikes without warning too... he will be fine for a few months and then he goes on these rampages where he's just absolutely unable to control himself.  

Sam wants to punish him, he says that Hunter sleeping in bed with us is a privilege that he is not deserving lately... he thinks Hunter should be relegated to the crate at night this week.  

I can't say I disagree with Sam, but I really enjoy my time with Hunter snuggling.  I am more used to having him in bed than I am Sam after 2nd year!  I also think Sam is being a little drastic.  I think Sam should focus on picking up his clothes so they are not such a target for Hunter in the first place.  

This has really made me realize that Sam and I have very different styles of parenting.  Not that I don't think that Hunter (or kids) should be held accountable for their actions, but I think some of the responsibility lies with the adult who let the pet or child get into that situation in the first place.

As soon as I saw what Hunter was doing last night, I immediately stopped him and put him in his crate.  He whined and was upset, sure.  Sam wanted him to shut up and was half asleep telling me he couldn't put up with much more of the crying, but I stayed firm.  I would not reinforce the idea that crying would get Hunter out of the crate on my life.   And sure enough, he eventually quieted down and I drifted off to sleep.  After a few hours, I woke up, let him out, and brought him back up into bed. 

3rd Year Begins

Today is Sam's first day as a 3rd Year Orthopedic Surgery Resident at UCI.  2nd year is over, and that means we have officially survived the most challenging year of residency!

That's not to say we didn't have our ups and downs over the last 12 months, because we certainly did.  But it wasn't as bad (nor did it seem as long) as I was preparing for it to be.  Hopefully this next year will bring with it more hours of sleep for Sam and less crankiness.  I feel badly for how exhausted he was this year and I appreciate how much he tried to not let his schedule interfere with our life outside of work.  Who knows, maybe I'll be relinquishing my "Ortho Widow" title!

To celebrate Sam's huge accomplishment, I decided to give him a little something he had mentioned that he wanted, along with two things we've needed that I have been meaning to get:

The first thing, was a muddler.  Sam is really into drinking Old Fashioneds but he doesn't have anything to muddle the bitters and sugar with.  I also love me a refreshing mojito during the summer months so it will serve all of our bar tending endeavors well.  And I purchased my favorite brand- OXO!  I bought myself their shaker and Sam can't get over how nice it is.  Having well-made cooking stuff really makes a huge difference!

The second thing is a lemon juicer.  We have a lime juicer and it's awesome!  The downside is that it doesn't handle lemons very well.  So for Sam's amazing lemonade and his latest creation, coconut citrus margaritas, we have to quarter the lemons before we juice them.  This is going to make the whole process so much faster!  And it will be great for seasoning fish and making my Green Energy Smoothie in the mornings.


Finally, Sam has mentioned that he wants a cast-iron skillet.  So I decided to take advantage of a Sur la Table sale and pick one up to surprise him.  Well, killing two birds with one stone, I selected a Le Creuset skillet.  I have been wanting to dive into the world of Le Creuset for a while but everything is SO expensive!  That said, as I wrote two paragraphs earlier, using well-made cooking stuff REALLY makes a HUGE difference.  So I jumped in.  I bought Sam the skillet and me the two-in-one pan and pot that can be used separately or together as a lidded pot.  I went with the Fennel color.

I wrapped everything up under Hunter's watchful eye in the last bits of our UCI wrapping paper.  This was pretty funny because it made Sam think I bought him stuff at the UCI student store... which I most certainly did NOT!

Girlfriends

Sometimes all that a girl needs is a day full of pampering with her girlfriends.

Sam was on call over night yesterday- he only has 3 calls left in his 2nd year of residency.  WOOHOO!

A last minute surprise, Carrie had the day off and decided to come down and visit for the day.  Carrie and I met in college, in a Spanish class during our junior year, and it turned out we were both Communications majors and had a couple of classes together for our major.  I think we took ALMOST every Communications class after that together- excluding the ones that one or the other had already taken.  She was a bright spot for me in school and since graduation I have really appreciating having Carrie and her fantastic family so close to Sam and I.  They have been so supportive of me and very welcoming and have always made me feel like I have family here in Southern California.

We had manicures in the morning at my favorite nail salon, grabbed lunch at The Counter (which is arguably my favorite burger place EVER), and then went down to my hair appointment with Jenn.  I'm a blond again!  I think Sam's happy but I'm REALLY blond- like it's going to take some getting used to for both of us.

We came home and took Hunter for a walk so I could get in my exercise.  I swapped the heavy cardio and weight lifting that I was supposed to do yesterday with the walk Amanda had scheduled for me today.  Even on my pampered days I can't take a day off from my health and fitness regiment.

We had a bit of a GNO after the appointment.  We went to The Daily Grill for dinner and picked up a dish for Sam that we brought over to him at the hospital.  Carrie hadn't ever been to the UCI Medical Center so Sam gave her the whole tour.

Being with Carrie made me feel so much better about all the stress in my life.  It is amazing what girlfriends can do for your happiness.

Now I'm exhausted from my workout and making dinner for us tonight and tomorrow night.  Hey, planning ahead is a good thing!  My legs still feel sore, but I do think I'm better off than had I skipped my workout and napped ALL afternoon.  As it was, I napped with Hunter for an hour before hitting the gym.

Anyway, here's to a great week!

3rd Year Approaches

Wow.  So this is Sam's last weekend of call for his second year of residency.  Starting June 1 he will be a third year orthopedic surgery resident and will be working at Kaiser during his first rotation.  

What does that mean?

Regular work hours.  9-5.  

No Saturday call.  Amazing!

It's going to be amazing.  I am so thankful for all that we've overcome as far as the crazy work hours and the stress of his second year of residency goes.  I am so glad to have all of this stress behind us.  

Not that I don't think this is going to be a cakewalk, but I am constantly hearing that the worst will be behind us once he's past this year.  I am sure we'll still have challenges, but I am so looking forward to the next chapter.

I am really, just so excited!  No more ortho widow days and nights for me!  We can be a little family on the weekends like we were during Memorial Day Weekend!

Respect for Military Families

Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow for the next wedding (Wedding Season 2013 may be our busiest yet) of the year.  Their Goddaughter is getting married in San Juan Capistrano kind of at the last minute because her fiancee has been deployed to the coast of North Korea (I think) and he will be shipping out prior to their original wedding date.

This is actually the second couple I have personally known who've had to change their wedding plans based on a change in deployment plans.  It's just really tough to think that you'd plan so much for this day and spend all this money and then something so huge comes up that is completely out of your control and you just have to go with it.  No questions asked.  No temper tantrums.  You give everything up and just make it work.

Military families, especially wives and husbands, are so fascinating to me.  I mean seriously, we talk about how strong and resilient the men and women in the armed forces are but the real strength is the people who are left here.  The people who keep the homes and families running all on their own.  Man, I am so impressed.  

I complain about medical school and residency but I am so thankful Sam won't ever have to ship out at the last minute and be away for months at a time.  Yes, our long distance relationship in college was hard, but by the time we were 21 we agreed we didn't want to do anything like that again.  And Sam may go off for a month and do away rotations abroad at some point, but it will be planned and very premeditated- and I can always go visit him!

So Much for Rest

Of course, my wonderful & amazing boyfriend has this week off and it's going to be absolutely hell for me...

Why does it have to work out that way???  I had wanted to take a day or two off and spend some quality time with him but that's not going to happen!

My boss's brother arrives today from NYC and he'll be videoing some client testimonials and videos for around our office over the next four days.  

OMG shoot me.  I still haven't even recovered from Jackie's wedding!  I would have loved to relax with Sam and Hunter, spend some quality time as a family and catch up on my reading that has completely gotten out of control.  Sam only gets 4 weeks off as a second year resident and I am going to be irritated for a while that one of his  rare weeks off was spent home with no plans and it fell on a week that was hellacious at work.

Wedding Season 2013

Wedding Season 2013 kicks off this weekend with the Kishmirian-Airoso nuptials.  I am flying up to Oakland tomorrow morning and will get to see Nonna and Papa on the way home from the airport to pick up the MDX to take up to Sacramento for the weekend.

Thursday night will be the rehearsal dinner and I'm so excited to see all my college girlfriends and the ladies from the bachelorette party again.  I think after dinner we're going to head into downtown Sac to do a little celebrating.  Lena, Heidi and I are sharing a hotel room that night so it will be quite the college sleepover!

Friday we'll be spending the day decorating Joe's parents' house and making our bouquets.  I think Jackie has appointments set up for us to have our nails done that evening as well.  She wants to do a bit of a girl's night out (GNO) at the hotel on her last night as Ms. Kishmirian so I think we'll all head back to relax after the mani-pedi experience.  Who knows, we might all need to get to bed earlier than expected after all our setting up!

Thanks to 2nd Year of Residency, Sam flies in late Friday night (he arrives in Sacramento at 11:40 PM) and my guess is I may need to skip some of the festivities that evening so I can take a nap before picking him up.  Hopefully he'll nap on the plane so he is a little bit rested before the big day arrives.

Saturday morning will be interesting.  I think we're going to head over to Joe's parents house around 9:30 or 10 so we can finish setting the tables and putting out the center pieces.  I'm a little nervous about getting all of that done the day of the wedding but that's why Jackie's the bride and not me!  She's so cool, calm and collected about the whole thing!

Anyway, the wedding will be Saturday evening after our hair and makeup team concludes the beautification process.  I was able to see Jackie's dress when I was in town for the bachelorette party and it's absolutely stunning.  She is going to be freaking gorgeous- although that would have been true regardless of the dress she had chosen!

In any case, here is the beginning of the 2013 Wedding Season!

Calendaring

It's amazing how quickly my calendar fills up... It's not even May yet and my weekends are already booked through June.  I do not say that to brag, believe me.  I would welcome a weekend of NOTHING.  No traveling.  No socializing.  No hosting.

Sam loves to go big on his Golden Weekends despite my desire to veg on the couch and recoup from the craziness.  Oh well!  Until the time when Sam has more free time I will be living and dying by my calendar.  

"Finals Week"

I am exhausted.  This was the longest week I've had in a long time.

Sam used to tell me that I had to "contain the crazy" during finals week in college.  He needed to focus on his exams and whatever drama was going on had to be shelved.  For the first time (I think ever) I told Sam I was "pulling finals week" during a Tuesday phone call while I was at my wit's end.

I attended a mixer event with my boss and sales manager on Wednesday night, and was up this morning at 4:50 to get to a conference in Anaheim.  Needless to say I am totally exhausted right now.  And sitting on the floor in front of the TV watching last Sunday's Walking Dead.  (Side note: I have appreciated the less gory Walking Dead story lines lately).

Lack of sleep, the stress of all these events for work, and Hunter getting up in the middle of the night the last couple of nights has taken it's toll.  I'm not sure if I want to pop open a bottle of Chateau St Jean chardonnay or spoil myself with take-out (neither of which are Making the Cut friendly ideas).  I would normally say that sitting down and curling up with a good book sounds like a good idea but even that sounds like too much mental effort.

If it weren't Sam's stupid 2nd year schedule maybe we could have had dinner together, but he's up at the hospital on call tonight and I am not really feeling like driving all the way up to the hospital to get dinner.  The hospital doesn't exactly have lots of healthy dining options near by.

I also realized that I have a hair appointment before Jackie's wedding scheduled at the time as Sam's great Aunt's birthday party on April 27.  I had thought (for some stupid reason) the party started at 3pm so I booked the hair appointment at noon.  Unfortunately BOTH things are set for noon.  So now I need to reschedule my hair appointment or arrive late to Aunt Elsa's birthday.  I just don't have too many options for getting my hair done with all the wedding festivities in the weekends prior to the wedding.  C'est la vie.  Perhaps I'll have to skip out on the gym Saturday morning and try to have my hair done earlier.

What They Didn't Tell Me

So here I am, it's 9:09 PM on Tuesday night and I am flying to Vegas tomorrow for my first-ever Sin City business trip.  What am I doing up?  Packing?  Preparing for our big awards dinner tomorrow night?  No.  I am up washing Sam's White Coat.

Why am I up doing laundry at this hour?  Doesn't Sam have two White Coats?

Well yes, he does in fact have two White Coats; however, the hospital laundry service got some kind of pink stain on one of his coats and I just can't quite get it entirely out.  Ergo, Sam refuses to wear that particular coat.  Ergo, we have to do laundry after work when Sam spills his freakin' coffee down the front of his coat.  Goddamn it.

Because Sam is post-call tonight, he was pretty comatose by 8 when Hunter and I got home from his makeup training session with Kate.  So he got up off the couch, rinsed off his dishes and put them in the dishwasher (huge victory post-call, let me tell you!) and then realized he had forgotten to toss his coat in the washing machine.

So now, I am awake, watching The Adjustment Bureau while Hunter naps on my lap.  It was a great afternoon for us- the first afternoon walk of our year.  And I even jogged a little bit!  I need to get back in shape, and these little jaunts are just one part.  I am going to shoot for the morning spin class tomorrow at 9:15 before our plane leaves.  And then there's another spin class Thursday evening.  Back in the saddle for me!

March 4 starts the big Making the Cut program with Amanda, my former personal trainer.  She is hosting a variation of the Jillian Michaels diet + workout plan.  I'm kind of nervous but also really, really excited!

10 Years Together

Today Sam and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary.

I guessed that Sam would be exhausted since he was on call over-night on Friday and Sunday.  I was prepared to make us dinner and relax on the couch together, but Sam completely surprised me!

He texted me that we should go out to dinner rather than me cook.  Then he walked in the door with flowers from my favorite florist- 30 minutes out of his way home!  Wow.  Aren't they beautiful!?!


We decided to go to 'our place' The Cannery.  We had drinks, we ate dinner and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  It was like old times, before second year of residency, back when Sam had energy and spark!

He drove me to dinner and told the whole while how great he thinks I am and how much he appreciates that he gives 110% at work (where he gets so little appreciation) and then can only give 20% at home and yet I am so supportive and understanding.  I cannot even tell you how nice it was to hear him appreciate me!  And to his credit, his 20% estimation is probably a little too harsh.  I so appreciate being appreciated!  Sam is such a sweetheart and nights like this one make being a ortho widow so worth it!

What a great way to start off our vacation to Tahoe- although it doesn't technically start until next week and Sam is fighting off a cold!  What the heck, at least we have each other, a cold and a long rest of the week until our trip are nothing compared to that.  :-)

Feeling Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving from our little family!

This year I am incredibly thankful for these two boys who complicated and enrich my life in ways I could have never imagined. 

I am also thankful for the friends who have become our Southern California Family.  Nick and Amy stopped by on their way to a family dinner, and Sohrab, Jenners, and Kanwar came for dinner. 

Having so many people to spend the holiday with certainly made it more enjoyable and festive. 

My mom usually helps coordinate the side dishes, but she and my Dad stayed in NorCal for Thanksgiving and this all came down to me.  For the first time, I made the entire Thanksgiving dinner without any assistance.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely!

I will admit the turkey was a little more dry than it has been in years past, and the stuffing could have been drier- but when all was said and done it was a pretty great meal.  And when feeding residents the bar is pretty low thanks to the UCIMC cafeteria, so I think everyone was satisfied! 

Most impressive, was that I had all the dishes in the dishwasher (which was running) or hand-washed and drying on the counter by 9:30 Thanksgiving night.  As Sam pointed out to me the following morning, I really did the whole thing- start to clean up- on my own.  I even found time to take Hunter on an hour walk and make it to the 9:15am Spin Class at the gym on Thanksgiving before I started cooking!

MNF with Kaepernick

So what can I say?  Today I worked a 9.5 hour day, went shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, stuffing, & cranberries down; sweet potatoes and asparagus to go), and got dinner started in time to watch the Niners Monday Night Football Kickoff.  Oh the life of a modern woman! 

We're almost to the 10 minute mark of the 3rd quarter and the Niners lead the Chicago Bears 27-0.  Boo-Yeah Bears! 

Colin Kaepernick is looking really good tonight, and it's his first pro start so I'm proud of him.  In fairness, the Bear's quarterback is out tonight as well so both quarterbacks are backups. 

I should really start folding Sam's laundry, but I just don't feel like doing housework tonight.  I already cleaned up everything from dinner... can't that just be enough tonight?  LOL.  He has a very light workload this week (thank you Thanksgiving!) and he was home by 6:30 tonight.  MNF is so much better when I have Sam to watch with instead of just Hunter.

Hunter, by the way, is doing much better since his run-in with my underwear.  I think he's completely back to good in fact.  We all went to Hunter's obedience lesson last night, followed by Chinese food take-out because we were craving soup.  :-)

I'm so excited to have the long weekend off, even if I have to work a few hours to keep from getting behind, it will be so nice to be able to go to the gym during the middle of the day, take Hunter on some longer walks (the poor guy hasn't had too many since the time change), and get some quality time in with Sammy.

Holidays

So the holidays are upon us!  I'm not someone who skips over the Pilgrims & Indians, Thanksgiving is still a VERY big holiday in our home.  In fact, I don't decorate so much for Halloween as I do for Fall in general.  We have lots of pumpkins and colorful leaves around the house, and cornucopia candlestick holders.

This year, Sam's on call the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I have my fingers crossed that he's got Thanksgiving-Saturday off completely, but even if he just has to go in for the morning and then gets to come home early that would be okay too.

It's kind of nice that we would be able to spend the holiday together since Sam will probably have to work Christmas Eve/Christmas since the residents try to switch off.

Anyway, here we are gearing up for the holidays and to celebrate, we've invited all of the residents we know in SoCal to Thanksgiving dinner at our home.  We'll see how it turns out... good, I hope!  We went with a Pilgrim & Indian themed evite and I'm going to make some cool hats like in elementary school so we can take a fun photo of the festivities. 

Obviously, even if it's just Sam, Hunter, & I we will have a great time.  :-)

Hunter & Me

Hunter & I started his Therapy Dog/Advanced 2 training class at Petsmart this morning.  There is another Cavalier in his class, Toby, who is a 3 year old Tri-Color with predominantly  black and white coloring.  I realize I am biased, but he's not nearly as cute as Hunter!

After class, we came home and were lounging on the couch and trying to keep cool despite soaring temperatures.  Here's Hunter's new favorite place to cuddle with me when I'm using the couch for a backrest and the ottoman for a desk. 

Around noon, Sam called and invited us to bring him lunch and hang out at the hospital for a little bit.  He was on call today and last Friday, so we were really excited to spend a little extra time together.  It was cool to get a mini (outdoor only) tour of the hospital and see where the Ortho Clinic is and where Sam does the majority of his work.  After we hung out for a while, Hunter and I headed back home.  

After dropping Hunter off, I ran to Target to pick up a few things- I was completely out of deodorant for one thing- and I found a coverlet for our bed.  Sam and I have trouble sleeping when it's really hot out because we both like to snuggle under the covers but get too overheated.  He had us switch out my down duvet for his cotton comforter but I haven't really noticed that I've been cooler.  My Social Media Strategist said she and her hubby had the same problem until they got one of these thick blanket coverlets from Target.  I am really excited to try it out tonight- I put the duvet back on and per Raleigh's suggestion will probably toss that to the bottom of the bed to sleep.  

I spent the afternoon prepping for the Final Project in my Marketing Class.  I did the majority of the spreadsheets and left only a few equations for my partner to tackle this week.  I will have to focus on writing up some concluding paragraphs later this week, but that shouldn't be too difficult.  Tomorrow I am going to conquer the only other thing standing between me and earning the marketing certificate: the Final Exam.  I am so anxious for this to be over so that I can focus more of my attention on my fitness/health and Hunter/our family when I'm not working.  With as little time as Sam has off, it kills me to have to work on homework while he's home.  And Hunter's training has fallen by the wayside so much these last 6 weeks because I am so focused on schoolwork that I haven't been working on reinforcing his skills.  I am really looking forward to having free weekends and nothing hanging over my head- I'll have a lot more time to get back into reading the King of Thrones series on my nook too!  

Last thought before bed: I watched Married to Jonas tonight and really enjoyed it.  Sure, they are definitely not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they actually seem pretty authentic and sincere and they may quickly usurp the #1 Hollywood Couple spot on my list.  Good luck to them, and may their relationship end better than most of famous couples who do reality TV.  

Ortho Widow

Monday- Sam is on call overnight in the hospital and doesn't come home

Tuesday- Sam gets home around 5pm, walks Hunter, and is passed out in our easy chair the entire night except for a 20 minute stretch between 8:45 & 9:05

Wednesday- Sam misses out on Ryan's last evening staying with us and the dinner and ice cream Ryan treats me to as a thank you, instead Sam arrives home at 10:45

Thursday- Sam gets home at 9:10, we finally get to catch up a bit before he goes to bed

Friday- Sam is on call overnight in the hospital and doesn't come home

It's doubtful that I am the first to coin the phrase, but I certainly feel like an "Ortho Widow" these days.  I am very thankful I have my little furry companion to keep me company during Sam's crazy long days... and for the 50% discount on cable that Cox offered me.  It's getting turned on tomorrow afternoon & a week from tonight I will be watching the opening ceremonies with a LARGE beverage celebrating the completion of my first big event at work.

Sigh... if only life had a Fast Forward button.

On Track

Hunter & I got up at 5 AM for our run this morning.  Boy does it feel good to work out in the morning again- I am definitely prefer it to the evenings when I'm home from work and want to relax.

I seriously thought about going to bed at 7:30 tonight.  Sam was on call last night at the hospital and he was exhausted when he got home today.  So, curled up with Sam and Hunter in our bed while we had a tropical rain storm outside, it was very tempting to give in and drift off.  However, I didn't think Hunter would sleep all night if we went to bed that early, or worse, he'd be up and destroy something while unattended.  Hunter and I took our evening walk, I washed my face (and applied some Biore strips), and now we're hanging out at the table blogging and intermittently playing fetch while trying to avoid waking Sam up.

Hunter loves fetch.  I almost wish I didn't teach him in the first place because he gets real pouty if you don't throw the ball back on his schedule.  And this poor kid is in for a rude reality check in about 12 minutes when I head to bed.  He would fetch all night if I let him!

Anyway, here's to Sam having this weekend off and me still having WAY too much homework to catch up on.  :-(  I hope by Sunday night I am in a much better place!

Independence Day

Last night Hunter & I were home alone because it was Sam's first overnight call of his 2nd year of residency.  As much as I used to hate being home along, having Hunter to spend my evenings with made it so much less lonely... even when Sam's on vacation I notice that I'm not as anxious, I sleep much better, and overall I'm a lot happier.  Looks like Dr. Galle was on to something when he suggested we get the puppy back in January...

Since Sam was overnight in the hospital, and the weather was overcast and misty, I kicked off the 4th of July by attending a spin class at the gym- it was so nice to be back in the saddle after 2 months off focusing on school and work.  I need to keep that up to help my stress level stay down.  

After the gym, I spent some time on my homework and touched base with my teacher and my classmates to clarify some questions I'd had.  Good news: she decided to cut WAY back on our assignments and make a lot of stuff optional, and basically everything else into group work.  Our class size has diminished to 4 so we're going to work as a group on ALL of our projects and the homework questions from the reading are our only individual assignments.  Yay!  I guess it pays off to talk to the instructors after all... and in her defense, she had planned for an 11 week class that was cut down to 8.  She told us she wants us to give her feedback and make sure that it's not an overwhelming about of work.  Awesome lady!

Sam got home around 2, and we hosted a bunch of the general surgery lady residents for a BBQ from 5-9.  We had originally thought we'd do a pool party but the weather wasn't cooperating and though the sun did finally come out, we stayed in the apartment.  It was really, really fun!  We had bratwurst, 1/2 of which we BBQ'ed and 1/2 of which I cooked in beer on the stove, and we also had Adele's special Jalapeno & cheese sausage- limited time offer at Costco.  Oh-so-good!  I also made a fruit salad, caramelized onions, and cooked bell peppers to go with our dogs.  Hunter was dressed for the party, and he was a BIG hit with the ladies (as always).  He was really, really well behaved and I was very proud of all of our hard work paying off.  I got a bunch of compliments on his shirt!


At about 9 everyone started filing out- they have M&M tomorrow morning (Morbidity & Mortality) where they have to talk about the patients that had complications to learn from the mistakes and situations.  Sam and I took Hunter for a short walk, and then headed to the balcony where we watched 2 sets of fireworks before crawling onto our bed.  Sam's got In the Army playing on his laptop, Hunter is chewing his bone, and I'm obviously blogging.  


I have to say, this 4th of July I am aware of how very lucky I am.  I am so thankful for Sam & how supportive he is of me despite his own busy schedule.  I am thankful that we have our little puppy, even if he is a LOT of work.  I am thankful for our supportive family made up of Santis, Galles, Burkharts, Hunters, & Celnikers.  I am so very, very thankful that I have a job I love and coworkers I enjoy spending time with.  And I am so thankful for my amazing friends.  This life keeps getting better and better, and I am looking forward to a very bright future!

Life as of Late

I miss blogging... not that I assume anyone is waiting with baited breath for my next post, but I feel a little guilty that I've fallen off the face of the blogosphere.  I do still keep up with reading blogs by my friends and those that I've stumbled across and enjoy reading, but there seems to be a lack of energy to keep up my own.  The goal is to change that!

Although I am busier than I have ever been, I am also incredibly happy.  I love my job.  I know I said that I was going to take my time and find the right fit during my job search, and boy did I hit the jackpot.  My boss is amazing- he cares tremendously for his employees on a personal level, he wants to build his business up and take us to the next level, and he is always open to sincere feedback.  Our management team is phenomenal- I love both our HR Manager and our Tech Manager to pieces, and I have really enjoyed myself during all of our out-of-work social events.  Our new Sales Manager is really great as well, he likes to have a good time, but he is very professional and his number one priority is preserving our company's dignity and the relationships we've built with customers.  And our technicians and office staff are top-notch as well.  I would be happy to have dinner and hang out with any of them!  I feel incredibly lucky to work with these individuals and I am thankful (almost) every day for the opportunity I have to be a part of the success of this business.

I am completely smitten with our puppy, Hunter.  Sam is 100% right when he says that seeing Hunter's face and how overjoyed he is to be around us is the best cure for a bad day.  We are still working our way through puppyhood and I occasionally want to tear my hair out (like this morning when I walked out of my bedroom to find a huge mess from Hunter pulling the fake mulch out of the faux potted palm tree in our living room) but on the whole he is an incredibly well-behaved little guy.  We've graduated from Beginning and Intermediate Obedience Classes and last Saturday we began the 6 week Advanced Training Course.  My goal has always been to have him pass the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Test and possibly have him certified as a Therapy Dog.  I had a great experience finding myself and through therapy while I was in college, and I might have considered it as a career had I not been so far down the path of Communications...  I would love to be able to give back to someone in need to give back.

Our home is good.  Sam and I decided to resign our lease and will be staying another 18 months... our longest time living in one place since we moved in together.  And I couldn't be happier about not moving.  Especially with his overnight call starting on June 3rd, I want to be in a place I feel safe and comfortable and where I know the area. 

School is almost over... I am taking my last class toward my Marketing Certificate at UCI this summer.  The course started this week and will finish August 19th.  It's going to be a whole helluvalot of work, and I'm wondering what I got myself into.  I keep reminding myself that I'll have a LOT of time to study while Sam's getting his footing as a second year resident, but this is going to mean reallocating resources from my personal life and professional life toward my academic life- an process that always worries me. 

More to come soon, this time I really mean it!