Ron Paul 2008

I have decided to support Ron Paul for President. This is a guy with some new and different ideas, which I honestly feel is what we need if we are going to get it together as a nation. If you are a Republican and are still making up your mind about primary candidates, I would encourage you to log onto his website, http://www.ronpaul2008.com/, and read about his stance on the issues that really affect our lives.

Christmas 2007!!

So the Burgii had a great Christmas this year! We packed up the fur and toddled on over to Pensacola on December 22 and stayed through December 27. The first night we were there, we attended the annual Vince Whibbs Automotive Group Christmas Party. This year, the theme was "Margaritaville." Contrary to what the theme might suggest, and much to my chagrin, there was no open bar. Bar humbug. Ahem... Anyway, I picked up the pieces and we had fun! Nik and I did a little Electric Sliding, as you can see below, and my mom and Uncle Greg won second place in the dance competition. You should have seen those two cut a rug - it was glorious. They totally got robbed. Here are some pics of the party.

We stayed with my parents, and per Ann's decree, my poor baby Maddie had to wear doggy diapers every night to keep her from spitefully urinating on the bed. I am happy to report that there were no unfortunate wee wee incidents the entire week, so the diapers proved unnecessary, although the humiliation probably did my little Alpha Maddie some good. During the day, we took the babies on long walks all through the neighborhood. They had so much fun that it made the poop-scooping well worth the effort.

In accordance with tradition, we had our family Christmas get-together on the day after Christmas. John and Hue couldn't make it this year with their little ones, and we missed them, but I hear they had a great time in Hawaii!! It was so great to see and love on my two-legged babies and to visit with the sibs.

This year, we decided to do something different. All the siblings, spouses, and grandparents participated in a spirited round of "Dirty Santa". It was so much fun. At the end of the day, Liz embraced the "Dirty" and prevailed by stealing the Coach purse from its rightful owner. Dad was such a good sport, pretending he didn't want it anyway. Here are some pics below.

Here I am with Dad and Deda. Dad was kind enough to open his best bottle of Shiraz, which was delicious.

This is Mom/Nonnie giving the grands a talk about the true meaning of Christmas before the Christmas carnage begins.

I love loot!

Today we had to get "back to liiiife, back to re-alityyy" which sucked but whatever. Anyway, we had a wonderful time seeing and visiting with our loved ones and I can't wait until we all get together again soon. To the fam: We love you guys!!!!

Time marches on

Last month I turned 28. No big deal. I'm not whining because I'm 28, but it finally hit me that I am getting perilously close to the age of decrepitude: 30. I kid, of course, we all know 30 is still young and spry. However, it is a milestone of sorts. Anyhoo, a friend of mine refers to our age group as being in our "twirties." I always appreciate a cute buzzword, but I am still panicking, thanks for playing.

As I forge ahead, I keep thinking back to those great times of old, my wild and well-spent youth, particularly the time I spent at Auburn. Let's recap the magical enchantment of 1998 through 2002. I was still on the Jack and Ann gravy train, and I drove a beat-up 10 year-old sedan with cow seats and fuzzy dice and one door that was a slightly darker "silver" than the rest of the car. I loved it though, and I think the cow seats made it cool.

My biggest "problem" back then was rolling out of bed at 8:00 to put on jeans and a t-shirt to get to classes by 9, which by the way were just a short walk down the road, and only lasted until maybe 2:00, at which time I had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted. Holy shat. I cannot even imagine having all that free time now. I mean, sure I had to study and stuff, but that took a couple hours TOPS - and that's only if I had an exam coming up. The rest of my time was spent hanging out with my roomies and the girls downstairs, watching lifetime movies and planning our next outing. Oh those were the days. I still relive them a few times a year when I get together with my pals. Here is a pic of us!

Saturday!

So today I was pretty productive! I did about 8 loads of laundry (wow I was wayyyy behind), cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, and cleaned out and organized my closet and Gavin's closet. I then took a couple big bags of stuff to Goodwill (from the closets of course) and then went to the gym. It's interesting. I used to be such a packrat, but I have recently developed a total lack of tolerance for clutter in my house. I think this may be because my office is so full of files and paper, and there is nothing I can do about it, so at home I want things to be different.

Also, Gavin bathed the dogs today! They really despise getting baths, but afterwards they are so soft, fluffy, and fragrant that I give them lots of love and attention and their quality of life increases drastically. Tomorrow we will take them to the greenway, which is a local park with trails and open pastures, and let them run around a little. Below are some pictures of a recent family trip to the greenway with Gavin's parents and their dog Sable.

Traveling

Here I am once again at a hotel in Hotlanta. I come here 3 or 4 times a year for work, but never have any time to see any of my many friends who live here because it's always a busy trip with lots of activity packed in. My hotel is actually pretty nice - I have a nice widescreen flat tv. Thanks firm! My rental car leaves a bit to be desired however. It ate ugly for breakfast. It's some kind of "sport wagon" with this metallic gold color. A picture of it is posted below. I think it's called an HHR. Should be called a GMO (gross me out). To anyone who has one, I kid, I kid. You should see what I drove in college and law school.

Sugarbear

This is my other baby, Sugarbear (foreground). Sugs is probably mostly lab, but fluffier than your garden variety lab, so we think she must be mixed with a fuzzier breed somewhere down the line. We adopted Sugarbear as a puppy after a friend found her abandoned at the flea market. If you don't count the 5 pounds of fur I vacuum from my living room every other day, Sugs is a ridiculously low maintenance baby. The Anti-Maddie, if you will. She is very good in the car, has no pissues, is laid back, non-barky, calm, snuggly, and soft. She loooooves little kids, although she has an annoying habit of tackling the smaller ones when she gets overexcited. We're working on that. She loves to sit at the top of the stairs and hang her paws over the very top stair. Her favorite pastime, however, is licking hands. Ooooh hands. Hands are delicious to Sugarbear. When she's done with one side she will flip the hand over with her nose and start licking the flip side. She is at her best when snuggling in the bed because she is like a big fluffy yellow body pillow. Essentially, her name fits her because she looks kind of like a polar bear cub but is much much nicer to strangers. Here are a few more shots of Sugs.

Working out

Working out has become somewhat of a struggle for me. Once upon a time in my life, I had all kinds of time to devote to my physical well-being. Now that I work full time (plus some) and am responsible for running an actual household, I find it more and more difficult to squeeze it into my day. I manage, but I’m starting to wonder if I’d just rather be fat. I work out extra hard on weekends to make my weeks easier, but my weekday workouts are now limited to the wee hours before work (excruciating on cold dark mornings), going after work (usually not an option because let’s face it I want a beer), and going at lunchtime. The last one is interesting. Something about taking a shower in a third location, putting your work clothes back on, and heading back to work is strange. Also, I have to pencil the food part in either an hour before or an hour after. On the other hand, it’s nice to get away, work out the mid-day frustration, and feel more productive afterwards. My gym is right down the road from my work so I can do this relatively quickly and easily if I remain focused. This scenario is growing on me. The fact is, I can joke about quitting the workouts, but I love to chow, so it’s this or I wind up on the Dr. Phil show, wearing a tent and attached to a crane. So I’ll just keep plugging along I guess. Encouragement is appreciated!

Christmas Card Outtakes

As any dog parent is well aware, taking family pictures with both the dogs camera-ready (or at least looking in the direction of the camera) is quite the challenge. This year's Christmas card fiasco is no exception... I hope you enjoy some of the outtakes.

Maddie

This is my baby Maddie. Maddie and I celebrated our 5th anniversary together in September, and I can honestly say that Maddie has presented every conceivable urinary challenge to me that a dog possibly can. Girlfriend has got pissues. She was housetrained when I got her, so that was great. But she has this thing about peeing when she gets excited. For example, when my friend Laura comes over, who Maddie looooooves, she automatically pees. I have to make Laura call ahead when she's on her way, and then reunite them in the back yard. I watch the spectacle and then hose her off, because she usually gets pee all over her hindquarters.

Also, Maddie has an overwhelming fear of the car. She freaks out in the car. I'm talking about loud barking and yiping and hurling herself against windows the entire trip. We have tried drugging her with these pills the vet gave us when we go on trips. Unfortunately, these magical pills also eliminate her pee control. Needless to say, I always have a healthy supply of doggy diapers from PetCo in my house (size small, with a little hole for her tail, and adorned with delightful renderings of puppies chasing butterflies.) We tried the dog "seatbelt" and a cloth muzzle, but she looked a little too much like Hannibal Lecter for my comfort. She managed to "houdini" her way out of it anyway.

Finally, Maddie does this thing we call "spiteful urination". If she is unhappy with me or Gavin, usually when we get back from a trip after boarding her, or if we trim her or scold her, she will pee in our bed, just for funsies. She knows she's not supposed to go there, she has already been outside to pee and it's not an emergency, it's just spite and manipulation. Teaching us a lesson. There is nothing like crawling into bed after a long day only to discover a cold wet spot of pee. Then she looks at me as if to say, " So you thought you were going to hit the sack? How wrong you were. Change those sheets and flip that mattress. I'll just relax over here in the laundry basket." We have learned to keep our bedroom door shut whenever we suspect that we have crossed her.

Pee problems notwithstanding, she is a sweet dog and we love her. She is endlessly entertaining. She loves to chase light and snuggle under the covers. So I guess I can handle her pee problems from time to time. That's what oxyclean is for.

First Post

So after becoming obsessed with the blogs of others, I decided to start my own glorious blog. The name of the blog is a play on our name, the Burgesses. That is a lot of ssss so a few of our friends shortened us to the Burgii. It's easier to say after happy hour.

I just want to talk about dreams for a minute. Not the kind of dreams you build your life upon, no no. The kind you experience when you pass out at night after watching Sarah Silverman and SouthPark. Why are they so weird? You would think they would make more sense. For example, the other night I had a dream that I went out and purchased a little white fluffy dog and named it Lorenzo. Lorenzo? Really? I don't know anyone by that name, and frankly I don't think it fits the fluffy white dog scenario, either. Maybe it would fit a tan, hairless dog with nice head-fur and a flair for flamenco music, but not my fluffy white dog. Anyway, since that time I have named my ceramic happy hour pigs on my desk Lorenzo and Lorenzo. It's appropriate.