Checklist...

It was a busy weekend but I did get some things accomplished. Let's see how I did, shall we?

1. Clean house.

OK, this is a pretty blanket statement so maybe we'd best break it down into smaller chunks...

1a. Make bed

Yes!! And even changed the sheets too...

1b. Laundry

Check. Although as soon as I put in the last load it seems to multiply again. What's up with that?

1c. Vaccum & dust

Well, can't be perfect. 1 outta 2 ain't bad.

1d. Dishes

hahahahhahahhahhahha. You said dishes, right? Yeah, that didn't happen. At least, not by my hand. RR, on the other hand, attempted to tackle some of that (poor bastard).

1e. Get office organized
Office? I have an office? I thought that was the clutter/junk room... 

2. Find out what the hell happened with my IRS refund check.
Well, this was a fail. Apparently I can't even inquire about the stoopid check until the 2nd. Did I mention I hate the IRS?

3. Try to get some money out of CPSL.
I think it would be more productive to go randomly dig in my backyard looking for hidden stashes of cash.

4. Walk the pups on the beach.
Success, kinda. We did lose a Chuck-It® ball. This one didn't float and the marshmallow didn't feel like swimming. Lesson learned...

5. Relax.

Finally, one I can check off my list...

We all had a nice weekend. Some of us more relaxing than others...

And now, it's time to tackle Monday...

(deep sigh)

However, when I got to work this morning this was waiting for me:

Breakfast. Wrapped in foil. Shaped like a duck. Awesome...

Thank you RR. Maybe it'll be a good day, after all...

It was nice while it lasted...

I filed my taxes last week. I (supposedly) am getting a refund. That refund was supposed to be here today...

It's not.

I hate the IRS.

So, instead of getting my hair cut and colored tomorrow I'll be cleaning my house instead.

Oh, and to make matters worse, CPSL has informed me that he's broke and can't refund me the $639 he owes me. Again, big shocker, huh? 

Is it 5pm yet? I need a drink...

Find your happy place...

Hello, dear readers. Because my boss is an asshat I am buried in work. So, no blog today really... Instead I will just post a bunch of pics that I took last night on the beach.

Enjoy!!

The start of the wonderful sunset...

Less pictures. More ball. Kthnx...

Artistic fail. There's a marshmallow in my way...

 Daisy, my golden child...

 I'm enjoying the sunset, mom. Leave me alone...

Sunset? What sunset? Where's the ball?

Me and the "man"... aka RR

I know... pretty gross...

 The whole group (look closely... Noelle is there somewhere)

RR, Dizzy and me...

Daisy contemplating the origins of the universe...

What happened to the flash?

Hmmmm... still didn't work. Dangit!!

A lovely end to the day...

How do you know? Ya know?

Had an interesting statement made to me the other day...

I was chatting with a friend and I asked him if he was dating. He mentioned that he had a "sort-of" girlfriend. Sort-of? What's that? Either you do, or you don't... right? But unbeknownst to me, there are apparently shades of gray.

I had no idea. I thought you either had a girlfriend or you didn't. Who knew?

Anyway, so I asked for an explanation of a "sort-of" girlfriend. He said that she was nice and that they had fun together (and have been having fun for the past 3 years) but that she wasn't the one. Wait. 3 years? Yup, you heard me right... 3 years. And not the one.

Of course, me being me, I had to ask why she wasn't the one. And how did he know she wasn't the one? Maybe she is and he just doesn't know it...

Basically what it came down to was this: she's just not that smart. Nothing to stimulate the intellectual side of his brain. But, the rest of his brain is doing just fine, thank you. Hence the 3 years, I would imagine...

But, of course, this got me to thinking about the big picture. How do you know when you've met the "right one"? And what is that, exactly? Do they come with bells and whistles and announce themselves accordingly? Boy, that sure would make things easier. Because I know that in the past I thought I had found the right one when it turns out it was a false alarm. They are sneaky that way...

I know that with RR I seem to have found a pretty good thing. I'm getting the best of all worlds, I think...

Cute and smart?      Check
Funny?                    Most of the time (best you can hope for, really)
Communicative?     Check
Photogenic?            When he doesn't crouch down like Dorf
Sensitive?                Oh yeah
Giving?                   Very
Has a good butt?     DEFINITELY

I think I've covered all the major items. He seems to meet the criteria pretty well, thus far.

Maybe someday down the road he'll get the "the one" label. Who knows? It could happen...

What happened to "never say surrender"?

The last time I was at Farmer's he issued the proclamation that he was giving up on internet dating.

Excuse me? Did I hear that right? My own personal McGuyver is tossing in the towel? How can this be?

He said he gave it a year and that nothing really came of it so he was done. Needless to say I was crushed. After all, as fabulous as he is, his geographical location sucks ass. I've lived in that town. It doesn't have anything to offer...

At the time I didn't bother pressing the issue because he can be a stubborn SOB and I didn't want him to dig in his heels and not speak to me anymore. However, since I hardly hear from him anyway (some nonsense about being busy... yada, yada, yada) I figure I have nothing to lose.

The biggest problem, as I see it, is the photos he uses in his ad. He will cry and whine and complain about the fact that they are fine because it is "who he is"... blah, blah, blah. However, you only get one chance to make a first impression and this:

is not exactly what I had in mind.

Don't get me wrong, it's adorable... but not exactly sexy per se.

So, while I was there I decided to try to get more sexy, manly, McGuyverish-like photos to help him out. However he was not exactly being cooperative.

Instead of getting what I wanted, I got this:

If you look closely, you can see that I am being given

the international sign of "You're #1". Although in this

case I guess I'm #2 since I'm getting it from both fingers...

Needless to say, I was not impressed. But not to be discouraged I decided to give it another go:

Still no success...

Did I mention that he's a stubborn SOB? 

However, it is quite impressive that he can give me the double finger while driving the tractor and loading my appliance. Told you he was talented...

I wish it would've lasted longer...

It was a good weekend. The sun was shining. The wind wasn't blowing (hard). And I spent most of my time outdoors doing fun stuff...

Daisy: Mom, he's touching me...

Noelle (aka Marshmallow): Pet me now. No, more...

Daisy: Seriously, mom. I don't wanna pose...

Noelle: You stopped petting me. Start again. Now...

RR: Are we done yet?

Daisy: I'm outta here...

Noelle: Still not enough. Scratch belly now!!

All in all, not my most cooperative subjects. But it was too nice not to take some pictures. Even though it caused this:

I am pouting now. Go away...

No, seriously. Go away...

I can haz log?

On Sunday it was finally time to introduce Elmo to the ocean. Since I've had him here, either I haven't had the gas money to get him to the beach or the weather has been too crappy to go. Sunday I had good weather and gas money. Poor Elmo had no idea what he was in for...

I loaded up the dogs, hooked up the trailer and set out for the beach.

Hey mom? I think someone stole part of our truck...

No one panic. They rode up in the cab with me. Which reminds me... I'm pretty sure the whole "chocolate is toxic to dogs" thing is a crock. My dogs proceeded to eat a whole box of chocolates (that I forgot were in there) while I was saddling 'Mo with no visible side effects other than a very satisfied look and much muzzle licking.

After that, I explained to Elmo what we were going to do...

You want me to do what?!?

Ain't gonna happen. No way, no how...

In the end, I managed to convince him it wasn't that bad. And for the most part, while riding through the neighborhood, he was on board with the plan. Until we came upon this:

What the hell is that thing?

It took much snorting, spooking and investigation before 'Mo decided that we could, indeed, pass the beast without anyone being eaten alive. But it got the evil eye the whole time we were riding by... just in case.

Then it was time to hit the beach. The sandy path down wasn't too bad... except for all the driftwood laying around. Those got snorted at.

Then we hit the deep sand... Elmo didn't really walk through it so much as throw his legs around in a blender like motion until we hit the firm sand. Then he planted all 4 feet and wouldn't move. I tried to convince him that we needed to move at some point but he remained firmly rooted to terra firma until a sneaker wave rolled in. Then we moved rapidly down the beach. Some would say in a blind panic. I prefer to think of it as an animated "lofty" trot. Perhaps a prance, even. But whatever. We were moving!!

Our trail looked a little "drunken sailor"...

Which way is the trailer?

That white stuff is WAY too close. Just sayin'...

 Time to go back, right? Right...

Eventually he settled down a bit and we rode down the beach for about a 1/2 hour. By then I figured he was on overload and it was probably time to head back to the trailer. But before we left the beach completely I wanted to get photo documentation of the momentous event...

Um, mom? I'm sinking...

No seriously. Time to go. The ground feels funny...

So we paddled back through the deep sand and up to the trail and then headed back to the trailer.

For his first time, he did pretty good. I was proud of the 'Mo...