Meet…

I know this blog is for Bella, but I'm momentarily hijacking it to write about the newest member of our family.

Meet Duncan Rex…

He's two months old and just came home Saturday. Believe it or not, I think he's smaller than Bella was when we brought her home. He is a little bundle of joy!

The first day was fun, Bella was very curious about the little boy and it didn't take long for her to start playing with him. I was worried he would howl Saturday night once I put him in his crate to sleep as Bella howled her first night which is why she now has a permanent place sleeping in my bed. My main concern was the barking would upset my neighbors, so I figured if he started howling and wouldn't stop I would let him sleep with me just like Bell.

To my utter shock within about five minutes of whining he quieted down and went to sleep! Of course he woke me three times during the night to tell me he needed to go potty. Even after the potty times he only whined for five minutes and curled back up in his crate.

Since Saturday night Duncan has gotten progressively better at sleeping, last night he only needed to potty once. As of now we are going to bed about 10pm and waking up at 6am.

The past couple of days I had to work and had many errands to run and noticed Duncan has found his voice and howls when I leave, in turn Bella starts voicing her thoughts as well. This is not good, especially for condo living. Having free time today I decided to experiment. Duncan likes very much to cuddle and sleep in my arms; I like that too, but at some point I need to start getting back to normal. After play time this morning he started looking very sleepy, I gently removed him from my arms and put him in his crate. He starting whining so then I covered his crate with a blanket. I told him a mere 3 times "Quiet" in a calm yet firm tone and he went to sleep. I am in awe.

I love Bella, but Duncan is much less stubborn (knock on wood) and is much calmer. I hope is training goes as smoothly as his sleeping!

J. Pair Vs Ash Wednesday

What a blessed day I had yesterday. The day started off like any other. I was called in to work last minute because someone else was sick. Though unexpected I was happy to work as I'd been asking the Universe for more hours which in turn equals more moolah. After work I went to apply for a position at a local bookstore that had "Now Hiring" signs in their windows. I returned home after filling out an application and sat down to a wonderful PB&J sandwich with a glass of milk on the side. It was delicious, just what I needed. I no more finished my sandwich and noticed an email from one of my mom's co-workers saying her other place of employment was hiring by referral only and her boss was expecting me to drop in. I immediately took my dishes to the kitchen, put Bella in her happy place, and raced out the door. I found myself at Herfy's Burgers talking to a girl at the counter and told her the manager was expecting me. The manager asked me if I had any experience in the field. I did a mental grown, here we go, this is where my journey ends – barely any experience = no job. I told the manager I help my mom with her company and dealt with customers and I had volunteered at Husky Stadium, so what if it was in 2003 and it was only one day, I survived so that had to count for something right? The manager looked impressed and asked about my availability and proceeded to tell me to come in the following Friday for training. I could have hugged him, which would have been very awkward, so I didn't. I thanked him profusely and told him I'd be there Friday. It's not the job I expected to get, but that's okay. My mom hasn't heard her co-worker say anything bad about the restaurant which can't be said about all businesses. I'm excited and a little nervous. Once I get through training I'm sure I'll be fine, but the first days of new job are always a little intimidating.

If that wasn't enough excitement for a girl in one day I got a solo in choir too! Choir was scheduled to sing at Ash Wednesday and there was one little solo in the congregational music and my music director asked me to sing it. It wasn't my best performance ever because I only sang through it twice and the organ played the wrong cue notes, but who cares. It ended well and that's all that really matters. Oh yes, it was a very blessed day for me.

J.Pair Vs. Jell-o…Jell-o 1 Point

Once again I have failed at the simple task of making Jell-o.

I should disclaimer this by saying I'm not a bad cook. I can make excellent eggs – in various serving suggestions. I am a whiz at sandwiches, mainly because they are my favorite thing to make; so many different food groups in one tidy package. I'm getting better at making dinners. I've mastered spaghetti (or any pasta for that matter). Boil the water, at the pasta, and then add the sauce. When I am out on my own I won't starve.

It disturbs me though that I can't make something as simple as Jell-o. I should clarify; I can't make "Quick Set" Jell-o. I have now tried three times to make the "Quick Set" Jell-o and I can't do it. I've followed the directions to a T and it doesn't work. I can safely say it's not human error. As much as I would like to make "Quick Set" Jell-o I think I will hang up my apron on this and stick with the 4 hour Jell-o which does get jiggly. If anyone has any suggestions for making "Quick Set" Jell-o let me know, though it's a moo – point now.

J.Pair and the Career Change

Major changes have been happening in the Pair household, not including the Christmas decorations.

After much deliberation, okay not that much, I've decided not to pursue a career in opera. You see, I'd been thinking about my career off and on for a while and then I graduated. I had that feeling of "What do I do now?" and the feeling didn't go away. Of course I knew what to do, practice, audition, find a grad school, but the more I thought about it the less those things appealed to me. Fortunately I had a voice teacher who didn't mess around and flat out asked me if this is really what I wanted to be doing. Jackpot since I'm a chicken and wouldn't have admitted wanting to change careers. Seriously I'd been singing a good 15 years; I wasn't just going to back out.

It only took a few days after the conversation with my voice teacher for me to make the decision. Suddenly I was free, I had all these options open to me. I love to write so I could get a degree in English and a Masters in Creative Writing, I love to design interior spaces so I could go to interior design school, I could become a PE teacher and make all the little kids run the way we had to run…revenge could be mine! Nope, don't like that idea.

After a few days I started to wonder if I had made the right decision, but truth is I was never big on practicing (I did it because I had to) and don't tell anyone, but I'm not such a fan of classical music – this might be a problem as an opera singer.

So where does this leave J.Pair? Well I'm leaning toward interior design because I constantly wonder how I would change a room. Case in point, I was waiting in the doctor's office yesterday and the coffee table wasn't centered and a leg was turned. I promptly center the table and fixed the leg. However; I do love to write, so it's a tossup. I've already spoken to some family and mentioned the interior design idea as my new path, but I may have been premature about that. Now I just need to look in to interior design and writing programs and see which one speaks to me more.

As for the current job front, I'm working for my former employer – filling in when she needs it. I had an interview for a receptionist position and am eagerly waiting to hear back from them, I pray I get that job.

Blogging in Word???

Success, I wrote my blog in Word and it post on blogger!

J. Pair and the Puppy School

We are now going in to week five of puppy school. Unfortunately Bella had to miss school last weekend because J.Pair was sick. The first couple of weeks of school were great, we learned simple things like sitting. Now I'm starting to wonder if it's really working though. You see, everytime Bella does what she's suppose to do, but whenever treats aren't present, she doesn't do anything. Hmm. I'm kind of at a loss, maybe I just need to work with her a lot more, but that's A LOT of treats. I'm thinking I'll start working harder with her without the treats because I don't want her thinking she gets a treat for everything down the road when she should just do what I say.

Driving

Well this post probably won't be as entertaining as previous posts, but I feel a wee need to vent.

Part I

I believe I'm finding out who I really want in my life. You see earlier this year I planned a trip to California to hangout with friends and see a much anticipated film. After a few months of deciding on a weekend to meet, the large group lost some people; understandable, its hard to get a lot of people together.

I was told only the day before my plan was to take place that a new plan had been created. I find out everyone has seen the much anticipated film we all had planned to see together and no one wants to see it again (I still haven't seen said film) -my original plan was completely scraped without my knowledge.

I went with the new plan and met them in California. Once in California I was told all of us were driving (seperately) back to Oregon. I was a little miffed because it takes a long time to get to California and a lot of gas, why couldn't the collective group of friends just have met in Oregon to begin with? I'm a logical person and driving to Oregon by way of California isn't logical...at all. Despite the major waste of gas I forgave my friends, why? Because I love them.

Part II - A Few Months Later

Well, I still hadn't seen all of my friends and it just so happened I had an important meeting in California and I thought "great, I can have the meeting and see all of my friends" - wishful thinking. I found out a few of my friends didn't get off work until 6pm which is precisely the same time my other friends were leaving for Arizona to partake in less than moral fun. I tell them I won't be joining them in Arizona and what do I hear? -"We figured you'd say that."

I hung out with my friends after they got off work and we had a fantastic time watching movies and having good clean fun.

Point is I feel like with certain people my plan isn't good enough. I understand other people have their own plans, but I feel like I went out of my way to see my friends and some of them couldn't care less. They couldn't wait an hour to go to Arizona and spend some time with me? I've made various attempts to plan a trip to California, but they have yet to ask when would be a good time to visit WA.

I'll be completely honest, if I had a full time job I probably wouldn't care so much, but I make barely anything in a month, they have full time jobs (or close to it) and can afford to drive all over God's Green Earth, I can't. The writing's on the wall, I know who my true friends are.