Lamest. Wife. Ever.

Yep, that's me today: the lamest wife ever (LWE for short)... Why, you ask? Read on, my friend and you'll soon see.

Meet Sugar, an 8-month old, rescued dachshund. Sugar was our dog for the 27 hours between noon yesterday and 3:00 pm today. However, she is no longer ours...

You see, ever since we bought our house, Shane has been asking if we could get a dog. Having grown up without any pets, it was hard for me to even imagine owning a dog, so it was hard to decide if I'd enjoy living with one. Luckily, everyone around us has a dog: Shane's parents have a yorkie, Amy and Change have a yorkie, Tom and Ashley have a puggle, the Guthries have frenchton puppies...so I've learned to love them all. We even babysat two dogs for a week at our house. Despite their many accidents and crying through the night, I was still warming up to the idea of having our own dog.

Shane eventually convinced me that the dog wouldn't feel neglected during the day while we were at work and sent me pictures of cute dogs whenever he found one on the internet. We even figured out a way that the dog would be able to go outside at it's leisure without letting it roam free in our house during the day. So we were all set and Shane started his search... Growing up, he had Brown Dog, who (in Shane's mind) was a dachshund, so that's what he wanted. After searching for a while, he finally posted a want ad on craig's list indicating he was interested in buying a dachshund and was directed to the Doxie Rescue website, where he filled out an adoption form. The lady called within a day saying she had Sugar, who she thought would be perfect for us.

So, Sugar came to visit... She was so cute and loveable. The lady from the rescue said our yard was perfect for her and was so excited that it might work out. However, the reason for her visit was so my skin could see if it was compatible with the dog...

You see, I have very fickle skin. It wasn't until the most recent warm spell that I really discovered how fickle it was. After holding the Guthrie's puppies in short sleeves, my arms would burn and itch and I'd end up with little bumps all over my forearms. They'd go away once I stopped touching the puppies and washed my arms off. That's not a big deal when I only see them once or twice a week, but we were worried that I'd have a similar reaction to Sugar, which would make me miserable (because enough arm itching eventually leads to nose itching, which leads to a stuffy nose, which leads to grumpy Jessica).

Well, within 10 minutes of holding Sugar, I had little prickles all over my arms and neck (she's a very snuggly dog). But the lady from the rescue saw how much we liked her and suggested we keep her overnight and try out some anti-allergy shampoo. We got the shampoo and washed her twice. Throughout the day on Saturday I interacted with 3 cats, 4 dogs, and Sugar, so I wasn't exactly sure which was causing all my itching. So this morning, I showered, put on clothes that hadn't been touched by any animal, put lotion on my arms (so my skin could recover from the day of itchy bumpiness) and went to church.

After church, Sugar and I sat down on the couch together. I hoped and hoped that my arms would be fine, but after about 20 minutes, the prickles began. By the end of lunch I had bumps all over... So, we had to call the lady from the rescue and have her take Sugar away...

Minus the itchy arms, it was really fun having a dog around. She got to meet almost all the dogs we know, found her new favorite toy, and played in grass for the first time in her life. She even slept in our bed last night (on Shane's side) because she wouldn't stop crying from her kennel...

We're hoping to do a few tests with the other dogs we know to see if I react this way to all dogs or if there's a pattern. Once we have a better idea, we'll try and find a dog that will work in our home. Until then, Shane will have to fill the void by playing with everyone else's dogs...

Life Lessons

So this isn't the update on life that I promised, and it isn't really about valuable life lessons, but it was quite an adventure. I wanted to blog about it when it happened last week, but time flies and here I am a week and a half later hoping I can to it justice...

Last week (on Wednesday) in Oakland, I learned that it is possible to spend 30 minutes putting 2 gallons of gas into a car. Not possible, you say? That's what I thought...

I made a quick trip to Oakland for one of our clients. On Wednesday, I was kind of out of work and getting a little anxious to leave, so I left the office at 2:30--almost 2.5 hours before my flight--for the airport (I was working 3 miles from the rental car return, I was already checked in, and I wasn't checking a bag--this was ridiculously early). I figured I'd fill up the rental car (we don't get reimbursed if we let the rental car place fill it up...lame), return the car, and get through security early enough to sit down to a decent lunch and still have time to do some sudoku before I boarded the plane.

At the gas station, I hesitate before pulling up to the pump because I realize I have no idea which side the tank is on. I generally pick the driver's side first (this has always worked for me in the past). So, I pull up to the pump, get out, realize I was wrong, get back in, and make a nice, wide (embarrassing) u-turn to the other side of the pump (+1 minute).

In the midst of my turn, I almost run over the teenage salesman who had decided to stand in front of the pump. I smile, trying to apologize for almost hitting him, but he takes it as an invitation to begin his sales pitch... After letting him begin to tell me about their "special, free promotion," I let him know that I'm in a rental car and I can't take what he's selling on the plane with me (+3 minutes). I probably should've let him finish, but I was really looking forward to my lunch and sudoku...

So I'm all set to get my gas (it must be noted here that the machine accepts my credit card/zip code without a problem), I've selected the fuel grade and everything. All I need to do is pump the gas, but when I hold down the handle, nothing happens... There's no resistance to the lever, and when I hold it down all the way, no gas comes out. After trying a few times, the disappointed salesman walks over and says, "Oh yeah, I think that pump has been having problems. People keep trying to pump gas and end up going inside to talk to the guy..." Awesome. Maybe if I had been nice to him, he would've warned me earlier (4 minutes).

I take the salesman's advice and go inside. I wait for two people to pay for their hot dog and gas. When it's my turn, I tell the man behind the counter about my problem. He looks at the register and says "Everything's okay on pump 5. It's ready." I explain that I've been trying. And then he amazes me with his response, "Well, you have to push the handle for the gas to come out..." Really??? Is that how gas pumps work? (+6 minutes -- this guy was in no hurry)

Realizing that the clerk is going to be no help, I decide to switch pumps. The little salesman laughs as I cancel my transaction on pump 5 and move the car forward to pump 6 (+2 minutes).

I get everything set up for a second time: open the gas tank, swipe my credit card, enter my zip code... But this time, the machine beeps at me and tells me to see the clerk. So back inside I go. I wait as someone buys a soda, and tell the clerk that it says I need to come inside. He says, "It won't let you use this card out there, you have do to it in here..." Instead of arguing that it worked earlier, I decide to just comply. Then he asks, "How much?" I tell him I want to fill it up. He holds on to my credit card and sends me back outside. I walk away, a little wary of what he might do with it while I'm gone (+6 minutes).

I pump the gas (FINALLY!!), which amounts to a whopping $4, and go back inside. I wait as the clerk returns to the counter and swipes my card. I sign the receipt, get in my car, and finally leave the gas station (+5 minutes). I took one glance back and I swear I saw the salesman laughing...

I still ended up being early to the airport, but not early enough to eat in a sit-down restaurant. Instead, I opted for a CPK pizza while I did my sudoku :).

Moral(s) of the story: Be nice to the little people (salesmen?); you may need them.... And, my favorite lesson of all: You have to squeeze the handle to make the gas flow!

(Sorry this was so long... I've been thinking about it since I left the gas station and decided it might amuse someone else too.)

...and we're back!!

I know, the title makes it sound like we went somewhere. I guess we technically did for Thanksgiving, but really I have no excuse for not updating my blog (except, in my defense, I did warn everyone that I would be slacking with the post I made here). I did have a lot of vacation time and work has slowed down (somewhat) so I really have no excuse now.

That being said, I don't really have access to my pictures (I'm on my work computer) and I don't have time to write anything just yet (I'm at work). But since Shane's in the Young Men's presidency now, I'll have plenty of time while he's gone on Wednesday night and all of this weekend! Stay tuned folks...I'll be back soon (hopefully).