March 31st, 2012

We're ending March on a bang, people! I got two pictures for today. Really, it's just a coincidence, but lets pretend it was a really exciting day that meant lots of pictures.

So, first off, there's some Daniel/Bootstrap cuddling.

I did not do anything to stage this photo, I merely photographed the goings on. Not that I've ever staged one before...

I just looked over and the two were snuggling like no tomorrow. I have many theories for why Bootstrap likes to snuggle with Daniel. But, if I'm really honest with myself, maybe he just likes him and wants to be close to him. Can't say I blame him.

For the second half of the day we went out, for once!!

Germany for sure does Easter better than us. I love running across these elaborate shrines to the holy holiday.

I'll admit, I'm not enormously religious. It's only in the past few years that I've even understood the significance of Easter. But, since I moved here, I've been obliged to appreciate it more. It's almost like Christmas, everything becomes more colorful and festive. I think it's one of the only things I'll miss when we finally move.

March 27th - 30th, 2012

Ever just have one of those days where you crash headfirst into the pillow? On the 27th, Bootstrap did.

Daniel and I looked over, and this is how he was sleeping. Like he had an incredibly long day and just couldn't keep his head up anymore. You would think he spent his day harvesting wheat in the fields, when in reality he spent the day sleeping and occasionally waking up to eat.


On the 28th we got a disturbing treat bag.

This dog looks either deranged or close to death. I don't know why he became the spokesperson of this particular treat bag, but we bought it anyway. I hope it doesn't have the same effect on Barnacle.

 I made so many cookies a couple days ago. Some to send to a friend, and some for home. I got about 3 bites of a cookie, on the 29th this is what was left.

Daniel is a cookie-eating machine. Being on weight watchers (again- maybe it'll stick this time) I only ate very little, and hoped he would eat most of the cookies I made. But, damn. These cookies lasted like 2 days.

Finally, today!

"Can we play video games, mom???"

Not much more to say about that.

March 25th & 26th, 2012

The ice has begun to thaw in Germany, so that means Barnacle gets to go on more walks - which he is psyched about. But, it's also a good thing for me, too, I get my ass off the couch more often at least.

One of the perks of nicer weather is nicer views. This is probably a third repeat, but what'reyagonnado? It's one of the only things I like about where I live.

Ta-Dah! Ansbach! The sad thing is we don't get this view from our windows. But, it does make hiking to the other side of housing more worth it. Though, when I go behind the other apartment buildings, I feel a little bit like I'm walking through someone else's backyard, which I haven't done since I was in fourth grade, and then I was just trying to steal people's pets.

Ok, not really.

Anyway, today is the obligatory Bootstrap picture.

Here he is, lounging in Daniel's gear. It looked kinda funny, seeing a cat lounging in the "warrior" wear, so I took a picture of it. I also took a picture of it because nothing else happened today, except that I lost five pounds on my first week back on weight watchers. I would've taken a picture of the scale, but there's no way in hell I'm broadcasting my weight. That goes with me to the grave. Unless you weigh my coffin and do the math. But, if you do that, you're a creep.

March 19th - 24th, 2012

Slipping into slacking. Well, not that anyone relies on this blog for their sole entertainment. But, I should keep up with it better, nonetheless.

Anyway, on the 19th I noticed German Easter decorations! I like Easter here, they decorate a lot, everything gets very colorful.

This fountain looks sad and bare after Easter's over. This was one of the first things I saw when I first came to Germany, so it holds a special place in my heart. So, maybe I'll take a picture of it every year, I guess we'll see.

On the 20th, I proved that I'm a friggin' klutz.

This is after the bleeding stopped. I sort of stabbed myself when I was trying to cut fat off of a roast. It just proves - trying to be healthy will get you stabbed.

True life.

The 21st!

I have this dinky phone right now because I was forced to get my iPhone fixed. Basically, my sleep button jammed out of nowhere, and after smashing it down with a pen didn't work, it became necessary to get it fixed. But, going from an iPhone to a shit phone super sucks. Just so ya know.

And, the obligatory Bootstrap shoot on the 22nd!

Here's Bootstrap trying to play with my fingers. Basically nothing happened, so I photographed this.

Anyway, yesterday, I finished The Hunger Games.

I was badgered into it and I actually enjoyed it, for sure. However, it's no Harry Potter guys. Nope, nothing will come close.

Finally, today!

This is where Big Brother sits to watch us in Germany.

Really, what happened was we took Barnacle for a walk and I saw this. It took a lot of effort Not to climb up it and perch, watching the farming equipment go by. My husband tells me it's to monitor hunting activities, but I think it's just for Big Brother.

March 13th - 18th, 2012

Forewarning: I missed a day. Kill me.

The day after my birthday was HILARIOUS. All because of Bootstrap, of course.

It started when I dropped the Dr. Pepper box on the ground so that Bootstrap could play in it. Almost immediately, Bootstrap zoomed at the open-end of the box, pushing it on his zooming path till he butted it up against the oven.

Once there, he proceeded to squirm around with the box until he was inside, then Barnacle lent a helping hand and pushed the box against the wall so that Bootstrap was trapped.

I saw all this, and I didn't stop it, mostly because I was laughing So. Hard. Instead, I took a video!

   

Eventually I let him out, don't worry.

 

So I missed a day, but you get a bonus picture AND a bonus video, it's a win-win.

 On the 14th it was Barnacle's turn to be a fricken Weirdo.

It turns out Barnacle has a foot fetish. He was literally licking, biting and prancing around Daniel's foot for at least ten minutes. It was weird/hilarious to watch. 

On the 15th I got a special treat.

Spring allergies! They came full force, and a full fifteen days before spring officially started. Sucks.

So, my amazing husband took pity on me and brought me allergy meds to my work. They're kind of magical, guys. Legit.

I missed the 16th. Nothing happened anyway.

But, on the 17th, Daniel got the beginnings of his man-cave. I'm already regretting suggesting this.

Yep, he got his own TV to play video games on. We put it in Barnacle's room - next thing to go in there: a couch. For now he has to sit on a sad kitchen chair. I suggested this, and he's way too excited about it, I'm almost afraid he'll never leave it. Only thing I gotta say - he's not getting a mini fridge in there. Or a toilet.

Finally, today, we learned Bootstrap is a vampire.

If you look closely on his neck, you'll see dried blood.

Basically, Bootstrap figured out how to knock the lid off the garbage. Awesome. So, today I cooked ground beef and put the discarded package in the garbage. Of course it was covered in blood. Bootstrap smelled the blood, like a true vampire, and decided it was too appetizing and knocked the lid off and lapped up the blood. I found him doing it and cut off his cow blood supply, but not before he covered himself in the blood first. 

Damn vampire pets.

March 11th & 12th, 2012

Almost halfway through March!

Yesterday, I updated my picture wall.

Basically, we have come to the conclusion that we're stuck in this fourth floor apartment for the duration of our Germany stay. So, I decided that we might as well make it homey. I ordered lots of Snapfish prints and we've recently taken to framing them and hanging them in the house. The living room has become much more cozy.

Finally, today was my birthday, and I got an awesome present.

Beer glasses from my fav' soap opera.

My sister, Renée, sent me The Hunger Games and also these beer glasses, made famous by Days of Our Lives. Hilarious. And Awesome.


I guess I gotta start drinking beer now.

March 10th, 2012

Today was birthday day! Well, really it was an excuse to drink wine at lunch and get out of the house.

So, of course we took a picture. I think this is my new fav.

We spent the day in downtown Ansbach, getting lunch and walking around. Then we went to the bazaar on-post and got some German goodies.

It was a good birthday day.

March 8th & 9th, 2012

Last night, March 8th, my brain decided it would be a great idea to start worrying about, well, everything. I know what you're thinking, midnight is the perfect time to start fixating on problems. Everything is very rational at midnight, you're thinking clearly, not tired....

Basically it led to this:

Tylenol PM. 'Nough said.

Today! We cleaned Barnacle's ears.

For the past few days, Barnacle has been scratching his ears a lot. When he scratches them, it sounds like a sail on a sailboat flapping in the wind. Today he was going to town scratching, so we gave up and cleaned his ears.

And he kept giving Ski bedroom eyes the whole time.

March 7th, 2012

Bonus picture day!

Number one! I'm showing off my Awesome birthday present from my sister, Emily.

I am Very Carefully drinking wine out of one of my beautiful new wine glasses.

In the past few years I have become a big wine lover. I pretty much don't drink any other kind of alcohol anymore, preferring to be classy with my white wine. (Red wine gives me headaches) I haven't progressed to box wine yet, and hope to never go there. But, I do love me some wine.

Bonus picture! I got my hair cut today!

I get a bunch of inches of bad energy cut off. Only women will really understand how cathartic a good haircut is, but honestly, I felt like I was cutting off a lot of anger and sobbing fits.

Anyway, I love it, and surprisingly my husband loves it, too. Surprising because my husband loves long hair, but I had him clarify: too short would be Above my shoulders. Unh! *facepalm*

March 6th, 2012

Today, I got emailed an AWESOME picture.

This is my husband. This is the only picture I've seen of him as a baby - well, a toddler. He's two in this picture.

I know that no one will love this picture as much as I do, but seriously, I LOVE it. From the Billy Idol hair to the chubby cheeks to the button nose, I can't get enough, and now I want so many pictures of him as a kid.

I don't know what it is about me and pictures; clearly I love them. I mean, I've done three years of Project 365s. In this instance, I just love seeing how he looks the same and how he looks different. Plus, it's nice to have an idea of what our kids might look like.

Ah, it's so cute!

March 3rd - 5th, 2012

Today's post is all about Bootstrap. But, what else is new?

So, on the 3rd, he was being cute.

See? When he's sleeping he's cute. When he's awake he's frequently running around the house like a damn freak.

On the 4th, there's an example of Bootstrap's assery.

Basically, Bootstrap likes to sit in the tub and knock shit off all the ledges. He has also knocked razors off the bathtub and onto the floor, so that Barnacle can find them later and chew them up, but thankfully not swallow them. See also: reasons I need a shower organizer.

Finally, the 5th is all about Barnacle's jealousy.

Bootstrap sometimes decides he needs to snuggle on my lap, and then Barnacle decides to pout. I swear, these animals are seriously like children, except if I put either in a stroller I would definitely be the crazy pet lady.

Even more than I already am.

March 3rd, 2012

Today I came to the abrupt realization of: who needs kids when I have a dog who does this!

I heard Barnacle romping around, making a bunch of noise, and I just knew he was up to no good. So, I walked over and found the dog. Doing this.

Of course my first reaction was to this was "God Damn it." My next reaction was to take a picture of the ridiculous animal. Then, I cleaned up all the ripped up, slobbery toilet paper that was scattered all over the room.

Having pets is fun.

February 28th - March 1st, 2012

It appears my life is run by my pets, for it's the theme of this post.

On the 28th, I swear I did not set this cat picture up.

I do admit that I put the box on the floor for the sole purpose of letting the cat play. The fact that he put himself into this cute/creepy position was totally his decision.

On the 29th I had a horrifying experience. My 100 pound dog decided he would take me for a joyride down the stairs.

This is the only bruise I can show you. The bruise on my ass is PRICELESS.

Basically, my dog - with choke collar - sensed that another person was in the vicinity, and took off down the stairs to get to that person, causing me to slide on my back and ass down concrete stairs. The elbow bruise is a bone bruise, and it hurts like hell. Whenever I accidentally knock it pain radiates throughout my arm.

But, my ass bruise is more colorful. However, I don't think I should share that with all of the internet.

Finally, today, I gave the stair dragging d-bag a playdate.

Wherein, he acted like a dork and played tug of war with a stick.

The good part is that I hung out with someone I really like, the dogs ran themselves completely out and Barnacle was tired for the rest of the day.

It's a win-win, really.