More Love Less Hate

Zeb and I decided to make a family resolution this year.

ie: he told me his resolution and I loved it and wanted it as my own.

More Love Less Hate.

We will try to have more love in life.

To me this means not getting mad over the silly things, like my phone not working or the person in front of me in the checkout taking too long. I can get pretty mad over the most trivial things sometimes, because I let myself get mad. I will try to have this happen less.

I also want to love more. I want to love Zeb more and my friends more and myself more.

A Day Date

Zeb and I....we're not like most couples. We don't have the kind of jobs that give us a "regular" life. We're not 9-5ers, we're nights and weekenders.

My schedule usually looks like a split shift with clients in the morning and clients in the evening.
Zeb works at a liquor store and a pizza place so his schedule has him working five nights a week, especially on the weekends.

So our date time isn't in the evenings or on the weekends.

This week we had a date Thursday afternoon.

We started with lunch at our favorite place, Chelly's.
When we walked in, one of the servers said "Welcome home." (That should give you some indication of how much we go there.) a lot a lot.

Then on to the 1:55 showing of The Rum Diary. It was set in Puerto Rico so the colors were beautiful to watch on the screen. The story was entertaining too.

A good day date, I'll say.

My Night With Paul Simon.

Oh wow. We went to see Paul Simon last night at the Midland Theater and it was more than amazing.

The back story: Zeb came home one day to tell me that tickets for this show were going on sale the following Friday at 10am. So at 9:50am I was parked in front of the computer ready to get the best seats I could. Unfortunately, the seats were selling quick and I wasn't quick enough so we kept ending up with worse and worse seats. At that point I decided I didn't want to go if I had to sit in the back. I may have cried.

(I have a thing with concerts, if I'm not close enough to see some facial expression, I don't want to be there. I have a hard time seeing shows at the Sprint Center for this reason. If I'm going to watch the projection screen of you at the concert where you're performing, I would rather go home and put on the album and listen to your music. It's all the same to me.)

So....the dream of seeing Paul Simon wasn't panning out as I had hoped. Zeb (the calm one) thought we might have better luck calling Ticketmaster, and sure enough, we secured seats 15 rows back. Awesome seats. Amazing seats.

The show was so good.. Paul Simon was the cutest dancing man you've ever seen. His voice was beautiful and he and his band performed for two and a half hours. (He's 70!)

He played a lot of classic Paul Simon-"Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes"

some songs off his new album- "The Afterlife"

a couple of Simon and Garfunkel songs- "The Sound of Silence"

and some covers- "Here Comes the Sun"

It was the best night ever.

Last Night

Yesterday at work, I had a pretty grueling schedule. I worked for 7 hours with one small 30 minute break, and that break was just to allow me to drive from one gym to another. Now, I do love my job and love the people I train, but that long stretch of time just going going going is exhausting. Also, I am in charge of my own schedule. So there is that.

So I got home last night and Zeb and Peanut were on the couch watching TV and I told them both about my day. They were both very good listeners.

Peanut was so human in that moment; the way she listened and (I know) comprehended.

Then she got cuddly and had to lay down on Daddy's chest.

She's the best!

Around Here

These days we've been making a point to head to the park near us and let Peanut off leash. (Don't tell the cops).  I can't explain it, but she never runs in the yard like she runs at the park. She loves it there and runs and runs and runs....and smiles a lot too.

A Shuffleboard Surprise

Zeb and I began dating about 6 years ago. It was sometime at the end of September, although the exact date eludes us both.

Here's the story:

We both lived in Columbia and worked at the same restaurant.
I thought he was pretty great so I would follow him around at parties and tried to make conversation with him at work. He said he noticed none of this.

It wasn't until my LAST NIGHT IN TOWN that he showed interest back.

I was leaving to spend the summer in California, and then move somewhere else. He came to my going away party and we had the best time together.

Fast forward 3 summer months (and lots of phone conversations) and I was back in KC thinking about my next move....and thinking about Zeb. I headed to Columbia pretty quickly to visit him and see what would happen next with us.

We went to a hole in the wall and drank Budweiser and played shuffleboard for our first date.

So yesterday I told him I wanted to take him to lunch and drove him to a bar near our house with shuffleboard. We played for about an hour remembering the details of our first date, and claiming (both of us) that it was neither of our ideas to go to a bar we both didn't frequent to play a game we both knew nothing about.

Here are pictures from our 6 year anniversary date and proof that we have no idea how to play shuffleboard. Just check out that scoreboard!

Peanut. AKA...Etc.

Peanut
PeaButt

Pea Nart

Pea Blart, Mall Cop

Pinkleberry Dinglebarkin

Pink Butt

Bean Butt

Bean Bart

Pea Bart

Pea Bear

Baby Bear

Bay Bear

Boobs

Booby Buns

Boo Boo

Boo Bear

Toots

Tootie Bottom

Muffin

Muffin Top

It's a Dachshund Thing....

...You wouldn't understand. Or maybe you would.
I'll admit it. I have a thing with dachshunds....and the only way I can explain it in a way that makes sense is to steal that stupid Jeep quote....because I'm sure this obsession doesn't make sense to most of you, especially those of you without a dachshund to call your own. Perhaps it exists in other mediums for other people....exists in ways I can't understand. Maybe for you, it's a Chihuahua Thing (I don't get it) or a Cat Thing (I don't like cats). For me, however, it's dachshunds.

I can pinpoint the exact start of this obsession. August of 2007. That's when I met Peanut. A friend of mine and Zeb's suggested we go to City Pets some day if we're feeling bored to look at the cutest dog they have there....you know,

"just to look at the puppy...."

"if we're feeling bored"

I being the more practical of the pair had always said I would wait to get a dog when I turned 30 years old. That made sense to me. 30 symbolized stability and a house and a career....just like when I was 20 years old, I thought 25 symbolized business suits and casual Friday.

So there I was that August afternoon in 2007, 25 years old, falling in love with a puppy.

Now, don't get me wrong, if Practical Cheryl had her way, when it came time to get a dog, adoption would be the first option. I fully believe in adopting pets, but on this day, I was not looking to bring home a dog friend so there was no planning this experience...and, in this moment, I couldn't find Practical Cheryl anywhere anyway.

We spent a lot of time playing with this little puppy and then I  remember Zeb sitting in the play area holding her with the biggest smile on his face and begging me with his eyes to bring her home.

Bring her home we did not. No Sir!

We went home that day...

 and then went back the next day to get her.

There we are. The day we became a family. Me, Zeb and Peanut.

From that moment on, I have been a total dachshund person. I own several dachshund home decor items and often shop online for anything dachshund....jewelry, art, etc. I would have more Dachshund goodies to show for it, if I weren't so afraid of overdoing it and really geeking out and turning our house into a Dachshund Decor Heaven.

I have also had to stop myself several times from stopping my car and jumping out to pet other dachshunds I see walking around the city. I feel there is a connection among dachshund lovers. This small group of the population lucky enough to spend time with this little clown dog who is the silliest, most serious, smartest, most animated companion.