itsmallo

I live in my own little world, where I spend my time making things like hats or a bat costume and my biggest worries are tests or paying for the radiator that my car needs. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is not very bad. In my little world, my only worries are things that work themselves out in the end. It's kind of a naive world, but it's mine and it's cozy. And I like it that way.

I take the GRE in 8 days and I'm not ready yet. I think I can get ready in 8 days and I hope I'm right, or right enough. I'm nervous, but it will be nice to feel like I can have my life back once it's over (if I don't screw it up). Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

This conference is so awesome, and it's making me wonder if perhaps my goal of a MSW isn't totally correct. I think I could be happy with a MSW, but I am wondering if there is something out there that I could be PASSIONATE about, the way I am passionate about improving the lives of children in poverty around the world.

Like, maybe Public Health? Maybe I could do public health with an emphasis on 3rd world countries - if that even exists? Truthfully, I don't think I would be passionate about, say, public health in the USA. Someone else's passion, not mine.

Something to truly think about, but I'm still looking into grad school, whichever avenue I choose.

yesterday

I took a nap

and I didn't crate the dog.

I thought,

"what's the worst

he can do

in 30 minutes?"

I woke up and saw

the worst he can do

in 30 minutes

is to destroy

my cell phone charger.

I got mad at him

and put his blanket on his head.

I think he liked that,

so then I said "bad dog!"

and ignored him.

Today,

I went to the cell phone store.

I was greeted by

an adorable specimen of a man.

I'd call him hot,

but I find the word

sort of crass.

Crass word or not,

he was cute.

He gave me a discount

and invited me to see

him perform for a

comedy club

at their open mic night

tonight.

Thanks, Beauregard,

Next time I'll only throw

the blanket on your head.

Since I've been here, we have gone to a baseball game, gone apple picking, made applesauce, apple butter, and apple crisp. I have gone to the zoo and hung out with a friend I haven't seen in 3.5 YEARS. It rained all day at the zoo so we huddled under the umbrella. When we saw the giraffes, someone asked what the zookeepers were feeding them, and they said "apples, carrots, and bananas." I always knew I loved giraffes the most. I also made two wristlets, and will hopefully finish one more tonight. I will have pictures of the wristlets later, like when I go back to Arizona. They are cute. It was my first time sewing with a zipper, and I think I did okay. One of them I made out of my dad's old pant bottoms (he still has them now, but my mom made them into shorts). And now today my sister and brother-in-law came over with my baby niece who is 3 months old and so adorable and so sweet and so precious.

I love Ohio.

Tomorrow I am going to eat pancakes for breakfast with my family, wear hand-me-down jeans my sister gave me (that fit awesomely), drive 2 hours to go to a zoo where I'll get in free and hang out with a dear friend I haven't seen since college graduation 3.5 years ago (it is kind of hard to hang out with people who live in PERU), have a picnic lunch with said friend, hang out with animals and said friend, eat dinner, drive home, hang out with my 7 year old niece who is awesome, hug and play with my sister's dog, hopefully play Whoonu with my family, and think about how fun the day is and how happy I am to be alive.

I should probably be studying for biology right now, but oh well. I did get the first unit done, and I'm close to being done with the second (which was my plan for this week). It's fun being a sort-of student, I think mostly because I like riding my bike to the school and picking when I want to go. It is so far a nice change of pace in my life.

The chapter for the second unit, the one I'm working on right now, is talking a lot about the Galapagos Islands (It's about Darwin, that's why). I have had a thing for the Galapagos Islands ever since I first learned about them! So it was fun learning about the finches there. Someday, I hope to go there!

I have been busy busy busy, but a good and productive busy. But I only have 3 days left of doing a job and a half, and then I'm going to Ohio! I feel good about everything.

And now, something totally adorable for your viewing pleasure: look what Bo learned to do! He is a good boy :)

On the fourth of July

in 2007

I wore my favorite-pink-dress

and went to my sister's house.

I cuddled my sister's endearing dog,

Higgins,

and picked him up

even though he was a little

too big to be held.

He got my dress dirty

but the stains have always washed out

of my favorite-pink-dress

ever since I got it in 2005.

We went on the roof (sans Higgins)

and watched fireworks from "A" mountain,

turned 90 degrees,

watched fireworks from a baseball field,

turned 90 degrees,

and watched another fireworks show

from a place I don't know.

Now it's 25 months later.

I am 25 and

my sister hasn't lived in the desert

for awhile now.

Higgins has gone to

the other side of the rainbow bridge.

And I still wear my favorite-pink-dress,

which I washed at the laundromat today

and it has no stains.

Today I drove home from a friend's house

and saw fireworks off in the distance.

I don't know

where they were from.

Turns out when you live somewhere so flat,

it's not hard to see

other people's fireworks.

I came home to

a different dog,

Beauregard Arthur Higgins,

who also gets my clothes dirty.

feeling bitter,

I demanded a recount.

It turns out

there were some hanging chads

(or something).

The score has been updated to:

Mouse 0, Mallo 0, and Mousetrap 0.8.

The mouse got 0

because he is no more.

The mousetrap got 0.8

for killing the thing

under International Humane Kill standards.

It got some pointage taken away

since the dead-mouse-indicator light

didn't flash.

I got 0

because now I have to dispose of

a dead mouse.

The first night,

I put peanut butter in the mousetrap

and turned it on.

In the morning,

no mouse.

The second night,

I turned the trap off

so the mice could learn

that they should go into the trap.

I added more peanut butter

and dog food

to sweeten the deal.

In the morning,

the dog food and peanut butter were gone.

The third night,

I restocked the peanut butter and dog food

and turned the trap on.

In the morning, no mouse,

and the food remains.

Round 1: mouse 1, Mallo 0.

I don't know what it is about mice

that makes me want to write

stupid poems.

I have a mouse in my house.

Or mice.

(Eww, gross, disgusting)

I bought an electronic trap.

I think it's the most humane way to go.

Because, I read that

when you use a no-kill trap, the mice can just come back inside.

And eat your peanut butter pretzels again.

Gross.

So, this trap is supposed to kill the mouse

(or mice)

instantly.

I hope it works.

I don't really like to share my peanut butter.

This is an homage to Kristen.

I had a beautiful trip to Ohio.

I did a lot of fun things. But the things I did weren't the best part, the company was. My family!

My sister showed me this youtube video the day before I left. I've watched it so many times since then (at least twice a day)! It's so beautiful. It took moving to Tucson to show me how precious it is to be with my family, even if we're only eating beans on toast together. Or watching Claire as she sleeps (or doesn't). Or going to the dog park. Or getting soft serve ice cream for the third day in a row (I'll have a twist, please!). Or laughing at the pup as he tries to eat mud. Or watching tv. Or talking.



The little bear had fun too, by the way. It was so cute to see how excited he was about green grass. And other things that are green! I think he's a midwestern boy at heart.

It was such a nice trip, and I was sad to see it end.

I didn't want to come back.

I love my puppy so bad.

He's the best puppy to me. He is just sugar! He is like pie - so sweet!

I took him to the dog park last week. It was his first time. He was nervous for about two minutes, and then had a ball running with the big dogs. And big people too (Er, big to him, anyway). He loves meeting everyone. My dog loves everybody. If you are alive, my dog loves you. Loves. You.

I finally got his hair cut last week! A guy at the dog park recommended a local business that is do-it-yourself dog grooming. So I went there, and cut his hair myself, under the owner's instruction! It was fun, and I was glad that I got to cut it (instead of a groomer) - because I'm the one who loves him most.

Here he is before - smashingly adorable, but a little too annoying to brush:



And after! He looks like a real poodle now.



I'm thrilled to be going to Ohio in just two days. I leave Wednesday morning. Hooray! I'll be staying for a nice chunk of time (until July 4). I'm so excited. I love Ohio! And I think Bo will too, since Ohio has people!!

I was talking to Kristen today and something she said reminded me of The Mercy House summer.

That was 4 years ago now, the only summer I stayed in Indiana.

My favorite thing about The Mercy House summer was this: there were about 16 (or so?) student interns at The Mercy House, a church I attended for awhile in Indiana. The interns hosted a free dinner (donations if you wanted, but never asked) 4 times a week, Monday through Thursday. That was one of their duties. The dinner was free to anyone in the community (really, anyone at all). I started out saying I'd go once a week, but easily became a regular.

I loved that summer.

Everyone was so nice and welcoming. And there was always something fun to do at the intern house, whether that was hanging out talking, going to get ice cream (like 5 times a week probably), even nap with a buddy, or riding in inner tubes down the White River. The White River is supposedly really dirty, but we never saw much trash, and you only live once, youknow?

I wish for another Mercy House summer.

I wish for a summer of open doors and open hearts.

My boss had her baby today. So I'm officially co-supervisor now.

So many changes lately. A new niece, moving, losing weight, breaking up, learning (and re-learning) to leave anger behind, getting my first dog & learning to train him, going to a new church (and deciding how involved I want to be there), planning for co-supervising at work while my boss is on maternity leave (starting... now), and thinking and praying over future plans - long term ones that would be big changes (a move to Columbus for grad school, unless God lets me know otherwise). Whew! Seems like a lot to me. But I feel good about all of them.




I think maybe God wanted me to have a puppy to show me that I am more uptight than I realized.

I thought I was laid back and good at not sweating the petty stuff. I am now having second thoughts about that.

I never knew that so many little things could annoy me. Like, when Bo bites and pulls on his bed. Or when he tries to turn over his food dishes (empty or full). Or when he pulls on his leash when he sees anyone walking near to us (he loves almost every stranger but that doesn't annoy me). Or how he tries to pull off my socks/shoes when I'm putting them on. And when he does all of these things over and over. He drives me wild sometimes. For no good reason. I kind of hate admitting that.

I hope I can chill out.

I'm glad he's a sweet bear who loves me anyway.

Claire was born earlier today!!!!


Welcome to the world, baby girl!


So happy to have two nieces!

I have been making bracelets lately.

I went to a beading workshop last week, and have since made these. The teacher invited me to come to more workshops, but I think I got the hang of it with the first one. Anyway, she wasn't a very good teacher! She didn't make sure the whole class was together, and then got all huffy when she had to re-explain things.

I'm going to try to take Bo on a walk again now. I tried to do so 30 minutes ago, but this is what happened:

- Took Bo outside. He went potty and poo. I bagged up the poo and threw it away.
- Walked more, Bo pooped again. We went back home to get another bag.
- Poo #2 was diarrhea, and a good amount of it was on Bo's back side.
- Bagged & threw away poo #2.
- Turned my hose on and hosed down the back half of Bo, to get the diarrhea off.
- Walked out of the patio to resume our walk.
- Bo laid down in a big pile of dirt, and since he was all wet, he now looked like he was half white and half brown.
- Hosed down Bo again.
- Let him dry off this time!

I discovered the artist Mika recently. Anyone heard of him? I got his CD, Life in Cartoon Motion, and I like it a lot.

I also discovered Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches recently. Dude, sign me up for a diet any day since I'll still be able to eat these. Yummy! My sweet tooth is very happy.

-------

Three weeks from today, I'll be in Ohio. I bought the tickets last night (waited too long and they were too much $$ grumblegrumble). So excited to go! I'll be there June 24-July 4. I'll be meeting my new niece, Claire Avonlea.

Who is still in utero. But due to be born any day. My guesses of her birthday to be June 2 or 3 are now wrong. Oh well!

Just can't wait. To have two nieces. Life is good to me.

Bo is coming, too, to Ohio. Little Bear's going to be a traveler soon!



He gets his last set of shots tomorrow, so I can bring him to the dog park soon. Fun!