I learned that this weekend at TRgirl and Randy’s. Thanks, Ask This Old House! I also learned that people with newborns do a lot of sitting around and watching TV.

I went up to Richmond to meet my nephew this weekend. He is six weeks old. Which means he sleeps, eats, poops. Repeat. He is less interactive than the cats. Also, apparently more fussy than usual this weekend. And really tiny. Still in newborn clothes. (Caveat: He is my nephew and I love him. I am just not a baby person. Well, until they are older anyway. Her friend has an eight month old- he was fun.)

Saturday we went to a cookout at their friend’s house. I haven’t been to a party with a keg in a long time. Randy thinks I should get one for my cookout. I disagree.

Oh, there was also a shopping trip to the TRgirl and Randy camping store. And I stole my load bars back from Randy- a Thule rack will make it easier to get my kayak on the car, because I have one of these.

Monday I had a riding lesson, and for the second time in a month I had a major anxiety attack while on Sandi. She got a bit upset by another horse, and it lead to my getting scared. It also forced Heather and I to work on emergency dismounts, which we have been putting off for years now. I spent the rest of the lesson getting on and off of the horse. I am more comfortable with an emergency dismount now, but still need to work on it.

Tuesday I went to Pub Quiz with Stace. We won third place. Well, with Danny, who was sitting next to us at the bar, so we made him part of our team.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July Turkey Shoot. (Note: You can only win a T-shirt at the 4th of July shoot). I spent all day at the fairgrounds. We hung out, had a cookout, made some money, and watched the fireworks from the top of the building. Which involved climbing up and down the rickety ladder.

Thursday was exciting- I cleaned the fridge and did laundry. Funny part: I was talking to mom as I cleaned the fridge, so she heard my exclamation of, “I don’t remember eating that.” She found this amusing, but when you live alone, there’s a lot of room in the fridge for storage, so…

While this picture does nothing to prove my not a baby person case,

this one seems to show me taking joy in the fact that the baby is crying.

Also, hello teeth.

So, I am getting a new bed. Since I’m upgrading a size (queen!) I mean a new bedframe and mattress set. I went out shopping on Saturday and found a set/bed that I liked. I was telling my dad about it and mentioned to him that the place charged a $5 per piece fee for removal of the old set, which I didn’t think was bad, but that I didn’t need as I was keeping the old set.

Dad: Do you have room for it? Are you getting rid of the futon?
WG: No, not getting rid of the futon. The bed will go in the guest room.
Dad: You have a guest room?
WG: Remember when you were here and you slept in the back room on the air mattress?
Dad: (to self) Slept on the air mattress? (to WG) Oh, on the air mattress. Yes, get another bed. Get another bed!

Or, I cannot make a decision, so I am turning to the internet.

I need new bedding for the new bed. Target has some on sale, and I was going to order it, but now I am confused. Do I order the light blue duvet cover and shams and match it with brown sheets and bedskirt, or do I go monochromatic with the blue? Or monochromatic, but then add brown accents? Or should I just forget the Target stuff and go with this?

The walls in my bedroom are brown with a faux suede finish. (HATE! To change it, I'd have to sand the entire room, which, also HATE!). Maybe even a dark taupe- there's quite a bit of grey in the walls. Taupe walls + hardwood floor + unfinished wood closet doors= need to add some color to the room with the bedding.

Oh, and when you're done with that, I need suggestions on a book to pick for book club in September. It must be available in paperback and be less than 350 pages.

Jenny tagged me for this meme, which has been going around the internets for a while. I haven't done it yet, although in theory I could probably make 10 such lists and yet not begin to scratch the surface of my weirdness.

Here's how you play: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird or random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "Tag, You're it" on their profiles and ask them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you.

1. I pick up accents very easily. I don't lose them as easily, which is why in any conversation I can sound Southern, Bostonian, and Canadian with word choices/orders of a Brit (blame BBC America for the last).
   
2. However, when all you can hear is Jersey, you need to flee. Things are about to get very unpleasant.
   
3. I didn't eat hamburgers for most of my life. About a year ago, I decided I liked them.
   
4. I can't sing. Unfortunately, I do have an ear for music, so I know when I am off.
   
5. I am sometimes embarrassed by my taste in music. It should be so much cooler than it actually is.
   
6. However, I have no compunction about telling people about how cool the Modern Marvels "Cheese" episode is.
   
7. I tend to sit with my arms crossed. People ask me if I'm cold.
   
8. My landlord once told me that I had the best set of tools that he'd ever seen a woman have. He meant that entirely literally, and it was my box of random fasteners that sent him over the top.
   
9. I will try to fix almost anything by myself, reasoning, "Hey, it's already broken!" My paper shredder is the latest casualty, but there is still hope for it.
   
10. I am terrified of fire, but the fear can be manifest in strange ways. Bunsen burners terrify me, but not alcohol burners. I love campfires, but I refuse to build them. I will roast marshmallows in one someone else has built.
    

Oh, I'm not tagging anyone. Unless you want to be tagged, in which case, tag!

Saturday I had a cookout. I was out running errands, picking up stuff (I have lots of Heineken. Come over!) when I got a call. Well, I didn’t get it- I got the VM when I got home. It was an acquaintance of mine, saying that she’d heard about the party from someone else and could she come too? The phrase, “I am unabashedly inviting myself,” was used. I called the person who had told her about the party and that she should see if she could come, all “WTF? I’m trying to keep the party small. Don’t invite people.” The self-inviter did not come, but did send me a somewhat nasty text message, which, way to get invited to the next one. Except no.

Note: if the person who had told her about the party had called me and said, “Can so-and-so come with me?” I would have had no problem with it. It was the calling me up and inviting oneself that I had a problem with.

One of the errands I ran was to the mall, where the Triangle Greyhound Society was having an event. I met dogs, I played with dogs, I talked with owners, and now I really, really want one. And I don’t see my landlord letting that happen.

On Monday I called my vet- Jasper's mouth had gotten very bad over the weekend and he wasn't eating. Now, the shot he needs to go for results in a visit that lasts less than 10 minutes, but since the vet's office is on the other side of town from me, closer to my office, getting him there is an hour-long thing. And I did not have the time this week. So, I asked if I could drop him off in the morning one day that week, which the don't normally allow for such a thing, but they took him on Wednesday.

(Sidenote: When I told Cdub I was dropping him off, she asked, "Will they keep him until you pick him up?" Nope. They will give him a map, though.)

When I dropped him off, the tech said, "Who do you have?" I said, "Jasper," which got the reply of, "I really should have known that."

When I picked him up that afternoon, I was at the front desk paying the bill. A different tech walked out from the back, saw me, and said to the receptionist, "Did you call back yet?" The receptionist said she hadn't, and the tech told her not to bother. This confused the receptionist, until the tech came out with Jasper and said, "I know who she's here for."

Maybe aquamama had a point when she said my cats require more maintenance than her kids.

I received my copy of Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies on Friday. While it has reinforced that I do want a greyhound, it has also made me realize that now is not the right time. I don’t have the time needed to properly train a dog; too much is going on right now. I have vacation coming up, the Turkey Shoot is gearing up, and then there’s this whole work thing.

Also, I probably shouldn’t ask my landlord to reconsider the dog thing at the same time I have to tell her that I locked myself out of the house and had to break in through the storm door, which now needs to be fixed. (This happened at 0645 on Saturday. I had to be somewhere at 0700. Oh, and I didn’t call my landlord because my phone was safely locked up inside the house.)

My new bed was delivered Friday. Love! I’ve upgraded to a queen size. The cats were confused when Cdub and I moved the old bed into the guest room, but they adjusted well and slept in there with me on Thursday night.

This means that I now have an actual guest room. This is good news for Phoebs and Angeler- neither one of them will have to sleep on the floor in September.

Friday night Stew and I went to see Waitress. It was excellent. You should see it. Although Stew did cry through the entire movie. I didn’t think it was that sad. Except for Adrienne Shelly.

Saturday was Habitat. I was working on putting up siding. I was up on the third level of scaffolding when I realized I was dizzy and nauseated. I got down and started drinking lots of water. Luckily, it was about 20 minutes from the end of our shift, and we had put most of the siding up while the other group still didn’t have their door up.

That night, we went to Downtown Live to see Night Ranger. Don’t go see Night Ranger. They were awful. We left after 3 songs and moved on to Tir Na Nog to see Walrus and then hit The Pour House to see some band that had a cowbell. Both of those bands? Good. Night Ranger? Bad.