As Promised...and Maybe a Little More

Hello everyone. It was highly suggested I get on my blog and update by my mom's friend, and faithful reader, Karen. ;) You know, I used to give my bestie Katie a hard time when she didn't update her blog every minute of every day, but I am starting to understand. Katie had a new baby to update about. And I wanted to know everything about his first giggle, drool, and eye booger. I assumed she had all these amazing things to say and tell alllllll day long. But I'm sure all she wanted to do was get more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep. And since she was the one wiping said drool and eye boogers, I'm sure they lost all their novelty. It's hard to find things to write about when you are worried no one will care as much as you do.
Personally, with my own blog, I have realized a few things... I am not that interesting. I don't have a new baby. I have a dog. A terrible little mutt with no manners. And a new-to-us house in the middle of nowhere. I look at all these things and think, "I have nothing to say that would interest anyone; much less fill a blog post. And yet, people read. And can I tell you, it makes me feel awesome! And even though I am all these miles away, I still feel connected to all the people I care about back home. :) Now let's talk a little about Karen.

Karen and her husband, Andy, have been friends with my family since we moved in the same court some 25 years ago.  (We did a brief stint in Streamwood when I was 4.) My mom and Karen have been good friends ever since and Karen and Andy are like extensions of our family. Our English extension. Karen and Andy are from Liverpool, England, and moved here to the states years ago. I mention this because if anyone knows about being far from home and missing family it's Karen. But as she reminds me, at least I can hop in a car. I look at the 6-7 hour drive and think "I hate this drive, it's soooo  looooong, blahblahblah whinebitchmoan..." But when I am reminded that at least I do not have to take an umpteen hour flight sometimes with layovers, it kinda puts my short distance into perspective. And really, the last time I went home, I flew. Making my trip approx. 53 minutes. Had Luke left the airport for our house the same time my plane took off, I'd have beaten him. So really, I have to room to complain. So thank you, Karen, for being my little support system and for understanding what it's like to miss home but then also miss home while you're home. (You know what I am talking about) :) And also thank you for reading!! Now for the DeSoto updates...

Well it happened. I don't know how it happened, but it happened. Our dog graduated her first level of puppy classes. Don't get me wrong, the teacher admitted that in her 30-some years she's never failed a dog so really, it's more like 'No Child Left Behind' but I'll take it! And considering the class started out with 5 puppies, Kylie being the oldest, and ended with 3, I guess that says something. (One was given back to the adoption agency - really upset about that one - and the other didn't show up.) Also, at the end of class when we got our certificates, one of the dogs was asleep and the other was trying to take his certificate out of his 'mom's' hand and eat it while Kylie just sat there, I took that as a good sign. So yes. Our little hot mess is one step closer to being a model citizen. $106 later and we are signed up for the next session; along with the puppy trying to eat his certificate. Diesel. I love that dog.
Another Kylie update is that she turned 1 last week. I bought her a party dress and we had a great day. We got to go to the store and do a make up lesson for when Luke and I were sick and get a couple extra treats along the way. (The guy at the check out counter spoiled her rotten and she totally turned up the cute and took advantage. Flirt.) So now the countdown begins for year two when dogs are supposed to calm down. I'm not holding my breath, but if it worked for my parent's dog Archie, there is hope for Kylie.

Another Overton shocker is that apparently I have temporarily stepped out of retirement. Kinda.
The high school is doing Grease and Luke is doing the music side along with Aaron. A few months ago Luke told me he talked to the director and mentioned I'd "love to help! She's a theater person!" (I almost killed him. Jamie mentioned to me that Aaron learned to stop volunteering her for things a long time ago.Haha! It wouldn't be so bad if he warned me ahead of time instead of "Uh...by the way...") However, fast forward to a couple weeks ago and he told some of his students that I'd help them with their solos for the show. (I was irked but at this point, the damage was done) So I went in to help one of the kids and I haven't really left. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT going back into theater but it has given me something to do besides wait for Luke to come home. (Which some nights is after 8.) And I enjoy the kids. A lot. It's a good group.
I have also found myself sewing costumes, staying late, counseling kids, and "mother hen-ing" as I was told yesterday by the guy we are borrowing the sound equipment from. Either way, I never saw myself doing this again. And though it is most certainly NOT making me want to jump back on the stage, I offered to help again next year. The kids are just so much fun. (You'd think I'd want to go into teaching...and yet I don't. Figure that out. I can't.) At this point, I am trying to convince Luke to have a cast party here. The few shows he did in high school they would always go back to this one teacher's house, watch the video of the show and eat pizza. Most of these kids can't afford simple pleasures like pizza parties so I thought this would be the perfect spot as well as something special to celebrate the kids' hard work. I'm still working on it. I have a week....
On the flip side, Luke has found a new passion in musical theater and wishes he did more shows when he was younger. He is so excited about this show and I love just how excited he is. He is so good at what he does. I'm so proud of him!!! I am also trying to convince him to do some sort of lessons or camp for music/theater this summer. There are no arts in this town... some of these kids need this outlet. They are opening a new community center and I think it will be the perfect venue. Luke would be great at teaching it! Work in progress...

I think I am going to end my post there. Since it's been a month since I've posted last, there is more to update but I have a kitchen full of costumes that need to be sewn, store that needs to be checked out for a "Johnny Casino" costume, showers to be taken, nails to be done and dinner to be started all before 3. After this week, I will try to post again about all the home repairs and whatnot's.

Thanks for reading - especially you, Karen! And for the record, Katie's blog is still my favorite blog to read! I still check it every morning and every evening...just in case! :)
Have a good week everyone!! I'll leave you with some pictures! :)

We changed this wall from oatmeal to purple! Love it!!!

What is this, you ask? Kylie ate our house. Ate it. She is TERRIFIED of the vacuum so I put her on the porch so I could quick vacuum the rug. Just the rug. No more than 7 minutes later, I see her doing something but I can't tell exactly what it is. I bang on the window once. She looks up with chunks of our house falling out of her mouth. She knew she was in trouble  too cause her tail went between her legs and she ran to the other side of the deck. Luke was SO MAD. Thankfully he was at work and had time to process. (She was fine though. Idiot.)

This is Dexter. He followed my neighbor's kids and I tied him up out front so his owners could find him. They never came. So the next day I named him Octavious (Gus), and  brought him to Canines in Crisis where they found his microchip and his parents! He stayed with us for a day and a half and was a super cute dog. He is currently a foster with my neighbor and heart-worm positive. :( The guy doesn't really want him so I told him that if he is able to de-worm Dexter, I'd take him. We can foster him until he's adopted or keep him ourselves as he's an older dog (5 years) and hard to adopt out. (Everyone wants puppies) So keep a look out for more updates about Dexter! You may see him again! :)

The birthday girl in her fancy party dress!!! Cutest.Dog.EVER. I LOVE THIS GOOFY MUTT!! (Which is shocking considering Luke and I talked about it the other day and cannot find any redeeming qualities about her. She eats things she's not supposed to, she acts like a moron on walks, still chooses to have accidents in the house when she's pissed at us, jumps up on everything and everyone, does not listen for anything, and needs CONSTANT attention.)Yet I don't know what we would ever do without her. She is part of our little family good or bad. We adore her... We just can't seem to figure out how or why... ;)

Since Kylie now sleeps in her bed in our bedroom, she lets us know when it's time to get up. Right now.

Proof! We have a certificate of graduation!! I wanted to buy a frame for it but after we dropped $106 on the next class, I didn't have the heart to ask Luke to spend one  more dime...I'll buy one later this week when I'm by myself. ;) That sucker needs a frame and pedestal!!