More house pictures

Some of my favorite things about the house are the fixtures, fans and old glass doorknobs.

SOLD!

So my house was put on the market March 16th. It sold last weekend! On the market for less than a week! Now we are just waiting on the final paperwork. The couple who bought it want to close on April 4th! Very quick. I'm glad it sold so quickly, but of course am a little sad that my house won't be my house anymore.



Just a note: the white wicker furniture in the sun room/family room is the real estate agent's.

My Limerick

I am one of the thousands of people throughout the world who follow Nate Lawrenson's blog about his family: his beautiful wife Tricia who is awaiting a double lung transplant at the very hospital where their daughter Gwyneth remains after being born 15.5 weeks early. Tricia has cystic fibrosis and risked her life to bring baby Gwyneth into the world. Now both Tricia and Gwyneth are in Duke University Hospital, and Nate is there every day blogging about their experiences. They are an awesome family. Nate's link is posted on the right under blogs I read. Check it out; it's great!

Anyway, Nate posted a limerick in honor of St. Patrick's Day and challenged his readers to submit their own CFHusband-themed limerick. I didn't enter the contest, but thought I'd write one for Olivia instead. Here it is:

As Olivia grows older and stronger
Her arms and legs grow longer.
A beautiful woman she’ll be
We can all hardly wait to see
There are so many people who love her.

My first ever limerick I believe, although it may not follow the rules to a T. My dictionary defines a limerick as, "a light humorous, nonsensical or bawdy verse of five anapestic lines usually with the rhyme scheme aabba." Wikipedia adds, "A limerick has five lines, with three metrical feet in the first, second, and fifth lines and two metrical feet in the third and fourth lines. A variety of types of metrical foot can be used, but the most typical are the amphibrach (a stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables) and the anapaest (two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable).

Okay, back to work!!

Is Everyone Wearing Green Today?

Just wondering if everyone remembered to wear green today. I actually remembered for once. Of course every year that I forget to wear green, I just use the old "I have green eyes" bit. Doesn't count technically I suppose, but I haven't been pinched for not wearing green since I was in at least jr. high so I guess it works. On a completely random note, today is an ex-"boyfriend"'s birthday. A guy I briefly dated between bouts with Spawn (I call my xxbf, the ex from another life ago, Spawn of Satan or 'Spawn' for short) was born on March 17th. Don't know why I still remember that.

Anyway, Happy St. Patty's Day! Hmm...I think I'll look up the origins of this day since I really don't know why it's celebrated other than to give people an excuse to have a parade and drink green beer.

A Round of Applause Please

I went out last night for the first time in over 3 months! And, if I don't say so myself, I did a great job! I didn't drink too much, wasn't too anxious (although I did have my moments) PLUS I followed through and actually met up with a guy that I've talked to a few times on Myspace. He has some potential perhaps, if I can just stop myself from finding reasons not to talk to him and from commencing "Operation Ignore", which I'm famous for doing (involves responding less and less to text messages, emails, etc until they lose interest).

Anyway, although I haven't gone into too much about my drinking experiences on here, last night was an occasion for me to be proud of. Of course, one time does not mean a whole heck of a lot. We shall see...

Tonight

I might be going out tonight for the first time in a loooong time. I'm kinda nervous. I used to go out all the time when I got single about a year ago, but started drinking too much and doing stupid things, so I quit. Of course lately I've quit doing just about everything else too. I don't really want to go tonight, but I think if I don't start trying to come out of my funk soon I will become a hermit. So wish me luck...

Bailey??

This picture totally cracks me up! This isn't Bailey, but it sure looks like something she would do. I just had to share this picture because it makes me smile.

A Good Day

This is Olivia, Superbaby!

Peeking over mom's shoulder

I love her expressive eyebrows!

I got to spend time with Jodi and Olivia this afternoon. Olivia was adorable despite the fact that she was not having a great day. She is still struggling with vomiting after some of her bottles. She recently started Prevacid, which seemed to help for a few days, but the vomiting has returned although less frequently. I hope the Prevacid continues to improve her feeding issues so Jodi doesn't have to worry so much. Despite not feeling like her usual happy baby self, Olivia still smiled for me and talked to me. Jodi and I think her first word will be "mama" as she already makes mmmm sounds very well! Sorry Ryan!

I hope to remain healthy so I can spend more time with them. I think my antisocialness has paid off in that regard as I haven't gotten any of the bugs going around. I don't get exposed to too many germs when I stay in my office most of the day and stay home on the weekends!

A dog at my feet

Bailey doesn't want me to blog tonight because she is tired and ready to go to bed. I think I agree. I'm pretty sleepy myself for no good reason (other than the fact that I like to sleep). I'm excited for tomorrow though. I'm leaving work early to go hang out with my friend Jodi and her daughter Olivia. Olivia is such a cutie, and I'm excited to see how much she's grown since I saw her last. She is a micropreemie and was born at 23 weeks gestation. Her twin brother Logan died in September, but he must have given her his strength because Olivia is now home and thriving. She's a little over six months old and weighs about ten pounds, almost ten times her birth weight! She has passed test after test with flying colors. Her ROP (an eye problem many micropreemies develop) regressed on its own without surgery, she has no hearing issues, she shows no signs of cerebral palsy and she seems to even be conquering her feeding issues that almost every micropreemie goes through. And she's GORGEOUS to boot. I feel very privileged to be able to spend time with her as she is in almost total isolation right now until June (micropreemies are very susceptible to illness, especially RSV, which incidentally is at peak levels in Wichita this year). Her parents have done a wonderful job of protecting her.Well, I'm off to bed. Bailey is sleeping under my feet, but is "talking" to me with her Wookie noises. She's telling me she wants to go to bed. Hmm...I think I will post a random picture below this. For some reason I don't want Olivia's picture above the picture of you-know-who from my last post.

Here's a picture of my car.

In the Home of a Serial Killer

As weird as it may seem, I have a fascination with serial killers. Jack the Ripper, Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, The Hillside Strangler, Son of Sam, BTK. It’s what made me choose criminal justice as my major in college. To some, this makes me twisted, insensitive or a psychopath myself. I assure you I am none of those things. I guess instead of just being scared of the bogeyman, I wanted to know why there was a bogeyman. Murder is a horrible thing, but the majority of homicides are committed for specific reasons that while we may not agree with, we can at least understand: the murder in the heat of passion, the murder for financial gain, the murder to avenge a perceived wrong. It’s the murder for the sheer pleasure of it, the murder because “they” told me to do it, the murder to rid the world of those less worthy. These are the reasons behind serial murder. And these reasons are the ones I’m interested in.

I took a class called Serial Killers as a sophomore in college. It was the first semester it was offered and was taught by a professor who became my mentor as I continued my criminal justice degrees. This is the first time I learned anything specific about the serial killer known as BTK. BTK stands for Bind, Torture, Kill. This killer was responsible for the grisly murder of ten people in Wichita, Kansas, from 1974 to 1991. Since I was born and raised in Wichita, I had heard of BTK, but he hadn’t been heard of in so long that nobody really ever talked about him anymore by the time I was old enough to pay any attention. It was assumed he’d moved, died, been incarcerated or institutionalized.

BTK and his victims were the subject of numerous case studies throughout my college career. I saw crime scene photographs that I can still remember to this day; I learned about the victims, learned about the investigation from the man who was pivotal in cracking the case, Lt. Landwehr, and learned about the psychological profile of the killer who would not be arrested until 2005, fourteen years after his last murder. BTK was merely a case study to me. That is until February 26, 2005, when a phone call from my mother changed that.

It was a Saturday. I was working at Wendy's, where I was a co-manager (yes I had a bachelor's and a master's degree, but was still working in food service). A customer who came through the drive-thru told the register operator that "the police arrested BTK!" See, BTK had begun corresponding with the police again in 2004 after 27 years of silence. He left his "trophies" for people to find, wrote letters to KAKE studios, a local TV station, etc. Wow! BTK had been arrested! The police did not release who the man was. A short time later, my mom called to talk to me. She said, "you'll never guess who they arrested as BTK." "Who?!" "Well, they didn't release his name, but said he's the compliance officer for Park City." "Oh my god! Dennis Rader?" "Yes." Dennis Rader. The compliance officer for the town I grew up in. Dennis Rader. My brother's Boy Scout leader when he was a kid. Dennis Rader. My previous best friend's father. I couldn't believe it. All those years of studying BTK's case and I knew him all along. It's hard to describe the feeling I had when the realization hit. The crime scene photographs filled my head. Visions of my brother and I playing in his backyard with his children. I went to Girl Scout Camp with his daughter for years. We spent summers together at each other's houses, going to the swimming pool, playing in their tree house. We were inseparable at camp. I had lost touch with her once we hit high school and stopped going to camp. We went to different schools. But once I learned who her father was, I immediately felt great pain for her. How could the father she knew be the same person who brutally murdered ten people?

Although it was illogical, he'd been arrested afterall, I became anxious at times about him. He became my bogeyman. I remember barricading my bedroom door one night when I was home alone. I also starting keeping a knife in my nightstand. I would imagine him waiting in my closet for me to fall asleep. To this day, I still dream about him sometimes. And I still imagine what it must be like for his family. To know that they lived with the bogeyman, a monster, and never had a clue. That is what fascinates me about serial killers. You can know one and not even know it. I knew him. I spent time with him. And I've seen what he did to ten innocent people.

I still shudder when I see his picture.

Good Night

Bailey as a baby! Awwwww...

iPod Mania

I recently bought myself an iPod for my birthday and am addicted. In less than a month I have loaded 201 songs, including songs from 48 different albums. Forty-two of those songs I've purchased from iTunes (in my defense, I got 40 dollars worth of iTunes gift cards for my b-day). I can't get enough. I love being able to listen to whatever song I feel like hearing whenever I want to. Plus it's great to be able to have just the songs you like from any CD. Here's a list of my top 10 most played (not necessarily my favorite songs since a lot of times I just turn my iPod to 'shuffle' mode and it randomly plays songs):

1. Safe and Sound by Matthew West
2. Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson
3. Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns
4. No Air by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
5. Faster Kill Pussycat by Paul Oakenfold
6. Patience by Take That
7. Miracle by Foo Fighters
8. Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer
10. A State of Trance (disc 1) by Armin Van Buuren

As you can tell, I like all kinds of music. Rock, pop, classical, techno, R&B, hip hop, country, rap. I like some genres way better than others, but there isn't a genre that I probably couldn't find at least one artist to like. Not too keen on jazz or heavy metal though. I absolutely love movie soundtracks like Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, etc.

Okay, back to work for me!

Tennis anyone?

I couldn't end the day without posting a picture of Bailey! This was taken a couple of months ago. The snow is gone for now!

Pet Peeve #1

I didn't know what I wanted to prattle on about in today's post, but got an idea as I was driving home from work. I was driving on the highway behind a navy Suburban, license plate RGE 673 (okay, I'm joking about the tag number) when the driver put their hand out the window and threw out a piece of trash. This, to me, is deplorable. I hate, hate, HATE litter bugs! I mean what was the POINT of that? Who do they think is going to pick that up for them? Is their mother going to go along everywhere they throw out their trash and pick up after them? And what is so difficult about keeping the trash in your car and THROWING IT AWAY IN A TRASH CAN? To irritate me even further, she got off the same exit I did, pulled into the same gas station I did and filled her car with gas and was less than two feet away from a perfectly good trashcan not more than two minutes after she threw out her trash.

And let me tell you, people who throw out cigarettes? Well, I won't say what I wish would happen to them. But, I say, if you think the cigarette butt is too smelly/nasty/dirty to remain in your ashtray, then why are you smoking in the first place?

So anyway. Littering is a big pet peeve of mine. It just indicates laziness, thoughtlessness and selfishness. And studies show that litterbugs are uglier, fatter and less intelligent than non-litterbugs. Okay so I made that up, but it might be true.

Cuddle Time

My dog insists that she is a 10 pound lap dog instead of a 60 pound lab/pointer mix. I haven't the heart to inform her otherwise. As much as I like to pretend the opposite, it sure is nice to be loved unconditionally. Nothing like coming home to someone who is REALLY, REALLY happy to see you even if the night before you spent three hours on the computer when she wanted to play or forgot to feed her breakfast before you left for work (don't call the ASPCA, she won't starve!).

I don't wear all black

My mom says the picture of Bailey and me makes me look "Goth". I don't think I agree (I think it's the dark circles under my eyes due to genetics and yesterday's eye makeup), but here's another picture of Bailey and me to prove that I'm not Goth (not that there's anything wrong with that).

The Water Bearer

My mom sent me an email with personality traits for all of the Zodiac signs. It's odd how fitting some of them are. Hey I'm a believer. Well okay, in all honesty, I'm one of those who reads a horoscope and says, "Wow! It tells me I'm supposed to go out with friends tonight. How does it DO that?! I am going out with the girls tonight!" And then, when it says something like, "you will develop a more personal relationship with a coworker on the 5th" I scoff and say, "Horoscopes are dumb. There's no way a Zodiac sign can be accurate for everybody born at a certain time of the year. No way."

Well, here's another example of my wishy-washy-ness (It's a word. Look it up.):

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional. Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality.

Wow I say! It's pretty much dead on. Er well except I'm not optimistic. Quite the opposite in fact. A pessimist says the glass is half empty? Well, I say the glass is half empty and it's got a stupid crack in it and all the liquid is leaking out and puddling on the floor, and when I get up to (insert random task here), I slip on the liquid and fall on my butt. Right in front of that coworker who I'm supposed to develop a more personal relationship with on the 5th. BUT, everything else is dead on. With the exception of "very independent." I've apparently failed at this one too (See previous post about selling house and moving back in with parents at age 30). Oh and the inventive part. I don't think I've come up with an original idea in my life. And the attractive part. Have you seen me?! Ha ha. Okay so I'm jesting with that one. I think I'm hot. I check myself out at least 30 times a day. Ahem. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah, this pretty much describes me: pessimist (I prefer 'realist'), honest, intelligent, loyal (to a fault at times), odd (you can say eccentric, but I know what you mean Horoscope-writer!), a bit rebellious (I'd say more 'non-conformist'), and can definitely come across as unemotional (or even snotty), but really I'm just not good at expressing emotion. It's just awkward and weird feeling (I did mention 'odd' right?).

Okay. Back to work for me. Horoscopes and Zodiac signs totally get things wrong. My Aquarius traits don't mention procrastination anywhere! And I'm a professional at that!

Living with the parents...Again.

So my cute 1940s, full of charm and character house will be up for sale within a couple of weeks. It's bittersweet. I love my house. I love the hardwood floors. I love the fantastic woodwork. I love the crystal doorknobs with the skeleton keys. I love the cute little laundry chute. I love watching storms from my covered patio. It's the living alone part that I don't love. My fiance and I broke it off in February 2007, and I've been living there alone since, but started spending more and more nights at my parents' house. It just doesn't make sense to keep paying a house payment for a home I only visit to pick up my mail. This decision makes the most sense, but I will still miss my first "adult" home. Sigh.

My cell phone camera rocks

Bailey's nickname is Wiggler

This is her "I'm so sad" look

Puppy Paws!

I have to say, my cell phone takes pretty good pictures. I should probably try taking pictures of something other than my dog though. Eh, someday...

Green

I'm completely new to this blogging thing, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. My mom will probably be the only one to actually read it since my life is pretty boring. I have a pretty good sense of humor so I may crack a joke from time to time, although when put on the spot I may not be able to pull off any wit. I will probably post a bunch of pictures of my dog so get used to it, and I will most likely talk about a bunch of random things as I usually have a pretty odd stream of consciousness. And as you can see, I've already included a picture of Bailey.