Back in the Saddle

Well, I have resurrected my Match.com profile and have bought into the online dating scene, again. I have decided that instead of just stalking a couple of guys out there, I will actually throw a ball into their court and see if any of them will respond back. I'm keeping my expectations pretty realistic, but you never know what could happen. I hear that there are people out there that have met and fallen in love in this manner, and well, Mr. Right probably ISN'T going to just show up on Casa ABBA's doorstep and if he does it will be one of those times that I'm pretending to not be home because it is 3 in the afternoon and I'm still in my pajamas.....

I will keep you all briefed on the outcome. However, I promise to NOT become this lady: Woman watched NASCAR with deceased man for over a year. Primarily because I'm not a big fan of NASCAR...

August Blog Challenge Prep

For those of you out there who have been missing me and my pseudo-regular postings, I am hereby making a promise that in the month of August there will be at least one posting a day. I am able to do this because I have found a way to challenge myself (and do a little self reflecting). I will be documenting the following:

1. A recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts about yourself
2. Short term goals for this month and why
3. Why are you doing this blog challenge?
4. A habit that you wish you didn't have.
5. A picture of you and your friends
6. Something that you are looking forward to.
7. A picture of somewhere you've been to. 
8. A favorite super hero and why
9. A picture somewhere that has the biggest impact on you/inspired you.
10. Something you are proud of
11. Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Mad, etc. 
12. A person you would love to meet
13. Your Blog Story (who you are as a blogger, how long have you been blogging, where your name came from, etc.)
14. A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
15. A picture of you and your family
16. Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
17. Another picture of yourself as a baby!!
18. Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
19. Nicknames you have and why you have them
20. What does your future hold/where would you like to be? 
21. A picture of something that makes you happy. 
22. What makes you different from everyone else. 
23. Something you crave for a lot. 
24. A letter to your parents. 
25. What is your greatest fear? 
26. 5 books currently in your "to read" stack
27. A picture of you last year and now. How have you changed since then?
28. 5 books you recommend and why. 
29. Letter to your 18 year old self. 
30. Letter to yourself in 20 years. 
31. In this past month, what have you learned? 

I but this challenge out there to you all to stick through this while I learn about myself....

Pests I Don't Need

I checked my mail last night and when I reached into the mailbox I was assaulted by the familiar touch of a spider web, which promptly gave me the heebie-jeebies. I slowly pulled the mail out, now knowing where said spider might be. At the bottom of the pile I saw something that was similar to this:

After some research, I have determined that it was a juvenile black widow. I say "was" because I promptly smashed the bejeezus out of it. I had a similar experience in my mailbox when I first moved into Casa ABBA but with a more mature BWS. I'm going to have to be very cautious when checking my mail from now on.

Oh, and just in case anybody is wondering, I have complete ickdom going on right now as I've been looking through spider images trying to figure out what I had and all I see now when I close my eyes are those danged eight-legged freaks....

Animal Observations

I've been noticing some interesting (to me) phenomena lately about the dogs in my life...

• Whenever there is a doorbell (or any bell) ring on the television, Leo jumps up and runs to front door barking trying to welcome whoever is there. He can't quite understand why Mom isn't getting as excited. 
• This also happens when there is a squeaky toy squeaked on television. This happened last night and he woke up to look around and count all of his toys to make certain that there wasn't somebody else in the house playing with them OR that there wasn't one that he missed. 
• When visiting his friend Bailey, he gets SOOO excited...as does she. We were over there this past weekend and they practically knocked all the humans over in their excitement to get to one another. We sent them into the backyard for about 15 minutes so that they could burn off some of their energy. It also turns out that they will hide any injuries so that they will not look weak in front of their peers. Bailey has a strained or torn shoulder ligament and when she is on her own and/or Leo is distracted she does tend to limp but when the two of them are together running and playing there doesn't seem to be any noticeable limp.
• My friend Jennifer's dog Luke (Jennifer would be the person who found Leo for me and Luke is like his godfather) is a Great Dane and the most sensitive dog I've ever seen. When I was visiting Jennifer recently, the television was on without the sound and she and I were chatting and I looked at Luke and he had the most concerned look on his face as he was watching TV. I looked at what was on and it was one of those Sara McLaughlin commercials for ASPCA. Jennifer quickly changed the channel and said that Luke does get very upset when he sees those commercials and sees other animals that are in distress. If you haven't read the book The Art of Racing in the Rain and are a dog lover, I highly recommend it.