kimmers for life

You can basically sum up this post by saying I'm paranoid about MONEY

What are you paranoid about?

1. Falling back into debt and bad financial habits again in the future, after working so hard to get back on track.

2. Buying the wrong house. Paying too much and being forever stressed about making the payment. Paying too little and being forced to upgrade sooner than I want to. Buying too soon, before we can really afford it. Waiting too long and not getting as good a deal as we would now.

3. Spending too much on our wedding and regretting it 24 hours later. Letting the expense of the wedding push back when we can afford to buy a house.

4. Spending too little on our wedding and always regretting that.

5. Not selling my car quickly. Not selling it for enough to pay off the loan. Not selling it at all.

6. Making the wrong decision about the great debate with Dunkin's ears - To Crop or Not to Crop. Regretting it later either way.

7. Losing my job just as I'm turning things around financially. Ditto on Nick. In this economy you just never know.

8. Not getting the baby urge until it's too late and suddenly I'm either an old mom or no mom at all.

9. Never writing that book, because I don't have the time or it seems too overwhelming or I don't know where to start or I just plain don't believe in myself enough. Waking up one day and realizing I've lost any writing talent I ever had because I so rarely use that muscle where I used to flex it constantly.

What are you paranoid about? Head on over to Mama Kat's and link up! 

ETA: I'm overdramatizing somewhat here for the sake of the assignment... I assure you, there is plenty that I'm NOT paranoid about!

Life List

I've seen these floating around on a few blogs lately, and I love the way it's like a list of New Year's resolutions that you get your whole life to accomplish.

Initially I wanted to come up with 100 things to start my life's list, but I'm slowly realizing that 25 might be a more realistic number.

1. Buy a house. With a yard and maybe a pool.

2. Marry Nick. Make a couple babies in the next few years. Win the baby name battle.

3. Visit some exotic places. Safari in Africa. Volcano in Hawaii. Cruise in the Caribbean. Castles in Europe. California, Texas, Spain, Greece, Australia, I pretty much want to see it all.

4. Read as many books as humanly possible. And then read the best ones again and again.

5. Surf. In spite of the sharks.

6. Have the house that everyone gravitates toward for summer and holiday parties. Have the house that my kids' friends want to spend time in. Be the mom my kids' friends can go to with their troubles. Be the mom MY kids can go to with their troubles.

7. Finally write that novel I've been thinking of writing for the last few years.

8. Live near the beach. Live in the south. Maybe live near a beach in the south?

9. Perfect one really great recipe. Become a better and more varied cook overall.

10. Rescue a dog that needs a second chance. Volunteer at an animal shelter.

11. Go brunette. Get bangs.

12. Take ballroom dancing lessons.

13. Learn some Latin. Relearn all the Spanish that's gone out of my head.

14. Someday, somehow, in some capacity, write for a living.

15. Be someone's godmother. Be someone's grandmother.

16. Have a 50th anniversary party. Be as happy then as I am now.

17. Be an inspiration to someone in some way. And know it.

18. Get back on that banana boat!

19. Pink panty power hour. I KNOW I HAVE IT IN ME.

20. Dance like an idiot and not care who sees - GENUINELY NOT CARE.

21. Feel great in a bathing suit.

22. Do something completely random every once in a while, just in case I like it. Take an interest in the things the people I love are interested in. Be spontaneous. Enjoy the spontaneity of others.

23. Donate blood, in spite of my fear of needles and tendency to faint at the sight of blood.

24. Be the kind of person who can pull together the perfect outfit, perfect gift, perfect party.

25. Learn to whistle.

The battle of fleecey field

This weekend we hit Pet Smart for puppy supplies: leash, collar, squeaky toys, stuffies, and a plush little bed. FOR DUNCAN.

 

Which Jasper immediately called dibs on. When Nick saw him, he scooted him out of the bed and flipped it over assuming that was that. Clearly he forgot what a defiant little creature he was dealing with.

 

Ha! You think I care if the bed is actually COMFORTABLE? (see defiant death stare) (The water bottle was sloshed threateningly in his direction, and he flinched, but he held his ground. And looked maybe even more defiant.)

 

Then Nick tried to chase him out of the bed again, but Jasper was having none of it, and just threw him a big f you, kitty style.

(By the way if you look at the bottom of the picture? That is Jasper's bed. Which is EXACTLY THE SAME. Except older and rattier. He's no fool, he wants the good one!)

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

When Nick left the room, I flipped the bed back over and Jasper immediately dive bombed back into it. Then *I* left the room and Nick gave up and tossed Jasper a cuddle buddy.

Tomorrow we're going back to Pet Smart to get Duncan a new bed, since clearly his is now taken. The ratty one has been adopted by Simba, who is currently napping in it. I'd take a picture if he wasn't afraid of his own shadow but it's not worth the fallout.

I think today we learned that Jasper is the alpha dog in this household.

Will you forgive me for not posting if I give you puppy photos? Maybe?

So. Yeah. Clearly, I'm not doing too great with the whole blogging consistently concept. And I could blame a lot of things - work, tutoring, gym, puppy research, family stuff... but really? The biggest problem is actually something Mama Kat blogged about recently. She said something like how she doesn't understand bloggers who cry writer's block, and whenever one of the bloggers she reads has a dry spell, it makes her think that maybe the problem is really that there's something they want to write about but can't, and in the face of that they can't focus on anything else because everytime they sit down to write, the Forbidden Subject explodes onto the keyboard.

So not to leave you all with a giant teaser or anything, but I think I have a case of the Forbidden Subjects. And I promise, when I feel ok about posting it I will, and in the meantime i'll try to channel some of THAT energy HERE, because man, is this place getting cobwebby.

In other news, 6 DAYS LEFT TIL PUPPY!!! To say that I'm excited about this would be the understatement of the century. This weekend Nick and I went to Pet Smart and bought puppy supplies and picked up a flier about puppy kindergarten classes. On the drive home, we discussed Duncan's future education opportunities and just what sort of extracurricular activities might best secure his chances of being accepted to the Ivy League school of his choice. Something about taking obedience classes at Pet Smart feels sort of corny and part of me wants to research other options, but the next puppy class starts a week from this Saturday and well... it fits into our schedul and it's only $109, so I think we're gonna go for it. I can always research other options for his next class if I'm not happy with this one. The biggest reason I even want him to go to puppy kindergarten is to get used to being around other people and dogs, and I don't think Pet Smart or anyone else can really mess that up too much.

To remind you guys of the unbearable cuteness, this is where we left young Duncan, when he was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Try to wrap your brain around that for a second.

In case you can't quite wrap your head around it:

Fast forward 4 short weeks and he became THIS handsome little devil:

Seriously, I know I'm probably biased here but could this guy be any more adorable?! Tell he's not posing for that picture. What a little ham. I sense many future blog posts from you my dear.

Lastly, here he is at 8 weeks, cuter than ever and ALMOST READY TO COME HOME!

This Saturday is D-day... stay tuned for many overly excited Twitter updates! If I can figure out what the heck Twitpic is in the meantime, I'm sure there will be plenty of those too. It's a 5 hour drive each way to get the little guy, so I'll be turning to Twitter to keep me from utter boredom.

P.S. Nick and I are having potential cold feet on the name, so any last minute suggestions are welcome!!

The case of the shrinking cupcakes

I filled the Funfetti and the Butter Yellow cups exactly the same...

Stick them in the oven and then...

 

What the freak happened to the Butter Yellow guys?!

 

I swear to God, in the oven they looked identical. I take them out and suddenly it's Giants vs Dwarves.

Solution? Lots and lots of frosting. :)

Dunkin, 3 weeks old

 

All I can really say is awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Baby pictures are here!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that my future puppy (and the rest of its litter) was born on 4/16. I've been desperately extremely a bit worried about the little guys, because the mother never got her milk in and for a few days the vet was concerned for the puppies. However, another dog has successfully taken over nursing the puppies and they seem to be doing really well.

Well enough, in fact, that tonight the breeder EMAILED ME PICTURES!!!

*cue excited screaming*

Ahem. Allow me to present the 3 contenders currently vying for the coveted titled of Much Adored Demuth-Maule Pet.

First up we have Dunkin:

 

Dunkin is a playful rope chewer who likes long walks, camping trips and tearing stuffies to shreds. He's going to give us the Precious Moments face to sucker us into taking him home, and the second he's through our front door he's going to turn into a holy terror. But a really, really cute one.

That pose he's doing in the second picture? In about 5 weeks he's gonna be the puppy crouched down with his butt in the air, trying to goad his brothers into playing with him. Look, he's already working on his Come And Get It Sneer.

Next up is Strudel:

 

 

Strudel is a soft spoken gentlemen looking for a soft lap to nap on for the next 12 to 20 years. He also has the world's smallest puppy toes. And teeny tiny puppy ears. Damn these guys are impossibly small! I was so NOT PREPARED for the cuteness.

And finally, we have Twinkie:

 

Twinkie already has a strike against him because he's a black and tan, and Future Mommy and Daddy have been hoping for a chocolate and tan. But damn, he's so cute! I love how soft and shiny his coat looks. Also, if Nick looks at this picture carefully he will start to get nervous that this is the puppy we will take home, because he's already perfected the Chin Pose, and that melts my heart every time.

So! If you had a decision like this to make in about a week... WHICH PUPPY DO YOU TAKE HOME?

And if anyone has any tips on Convincing Nick That Everything Is Better In Pairs Or Even Triplets, that advice would be pretty welcome too.

Twitter is probably going to take over my life

But I'm telling myself that it will help redirect my focus to the blogging world on those days when I stay away because I feel like I "don't have time to post". Because really, who doesn't have time for 140 characters or whatever the heck Twitter lets you type.

Confession: I don't think I "get" Twitter.

Like, at all. And I refuse to read "directions" or "help sections" or anything that requires any sort of patience... so apparently I will be learning as I go.

But follow me anyway, ok?

ETA: Um. So I guess it would probably help if I told you where to follow me, right? Man, good start.

kimmerstweets

Dude, Kimmers for Life isn't even all that creative...

so explain to me why I FINALLY decide to sign up for Twitter, only to get to the first page and realize that someone else has already used "kimmersforlife" as their username?

Sigh.

Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies

Hmmm. Please try to ignore the gap in posting. I really have no good excuse for it. I would promise to do better and post more, but I'm sensing that will just lead to more guilt. So how about if I just say sorry and we move on to the updates. Sound good? Good.

Blah, blah, blah, we're moving in 4 days and hardly anything is packed. (Shocker.)

Oh, and we've worked from home for a few weeks now, and we LOVE IT. It's wonderful. Even better than we imagined, work stress is unimaginably reduced, it's pretty much all hearts and flowers.

Annnnnnnnnd I got a Kindle and I FREAKING ADORE IT. I was secretly worried that I would feel sort of lost without an actual book in my hands, but it was love at first sight. In the first week I bought and devoured like 5 books on it... now I'm trying to slow it down so we can, like, pay our mortgage and all that boring stuff. But the Kindle is wonderful. Best purchase I've made in a long time. Now I just need to find a cute case to toss it in when I'm not using it. Currently it lives in my underwear drawer where boyfriends and cats can't scratch it. :)

Now on to the good stuff.

Drumroll please... WE'RE GETTING A PUPPY!! Ahhhhhhh! We put a deposit down to have first pick on a litter of Miniature Pinschers that are due to be born on or around April 16th. As soon as they're born the breeder will send us pictures and let us know the colors and sexes of the puppies, and then when the puppies are about 3 weeks old we'll drive down (to freaking PENNSYLVANIA, because the breeder I chose is almost 5! hours! away!) to choose the one we want to take home when it's big enough.

I'm... so much more than just a little excited. I've wanted to get a dog for the last three years, and I'm so, so eager to finally bring this little furball home. I'm looking forward to having a dog around the house again. I miss tug of war and obedience training and a warm little body laying at my feet and about a million other great things that come in the Dog Ownership package. I also can't wait to see Nick with a puppy! Its a new experience for him and I'm excited that we get to share it.

This weekend my mom made Nick and I an enormous Easter basket. It contained, in addition to our favorite Easter candies, several (freaking adorable!) dog toys and stuffies and a ceramic food bowl. I swear, even my much-loved Cadbury Cream Eggs fell by the wayside once my eyes landed on those tiny toys. I check my email constantly hoping for that "the puppies are here!" notice will be sitting in my inbox. I stalk the breeder's website hoping for an update on the birth. I send Nick pictures of different colored Min Pin puppies incessantly, (currently we're leaning toward chocolate) to a point where he has begged me to please not send any more pictures until they are from our litter.

I think my brain hasn't really wrapped itself around just how LITTLE this dog is going to be! The feeling when I picked up that little squeaky giraffe was not unlike the feeling you get when you pick up a baby's sock. Just... how can something be this tiny?! I'm used to big, romping Dobermans! The smallest dog I've ever had (by a LOT) was 55 pounds. This puppy will be 12, AT MOST. That's MAYBE 3 pounds bigger than my cat! It just blows my mind. And that's as an adult... I literally can't imagine how tiny the puppy will be. I try to picture it and my brain just goes awwwwwwwwwwww and turns to mush.

According to the breeder, a due date of 4/16 means the puppies could be born anywhere between today and 4/20.

So now we wait.

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. you are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion" -Unknown