New Apartment Dilemma!

I have been meaning to make this post for awhile now. A week from today the boys and I will have a new home! It was quite the journey before deciding on that particular one. I started looking on the 1st of May. During that weekend I found one that I loved. I could picture the boys and I living there. The complex had a special going that was honored when you leased within 48 hours. So not wanting to miss out on the special nearly 48 hours later I went back to hold the apartment. There were 2 apartments I could choose from one with hardwood floors and one with carpet. Well my Cody would want carpet! So the carpet one was the one I reserved. The apartment was a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom that featured a nice size living room and an awesome master bedroom with extra vanity.

After continuing to think about things plus talk about the positives and negatives with my boyfriend I decided to keep looking since I felt the decision had been a little rushed. I had nothing to lose, I had an apartment reserved already. So the search was on to find something even better than what I had reserved. I spent most every day of that week looking for a better place. I was nearly tired of looking but decided to look at one more place before concluding my search. The complex that I planned to check out was owned by the same company as the other apartment I reserved.

When I went to check it out, I had no interest in a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment. But the leasing agent at the complex informed me that they were a better price than the 2 bedroom/1 bathroom because they had more of them at their complex. So I decided to look anyway. Mind you, I was totally set on only a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom. However, that changed real quick! I walked in and instantly turned to the leasing agent to tell her how much I liked the floorplan. It had a large living room and a big kitchen. Well what is considered to be a big kitchen in apartment living. Not to mention the kitchen was uniquely designed with the stove top and prepping area looking out at the living space. Most kitchens have the stove top facing a wall and the sink faces the living room/dining room.

After seeing that complex I was confused. Two days later I put a holding deposit down on the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom with the great kitchen. This meant I had 2 apartments about 3 miles apart reserved! I spent another day making up my mind. I talked things over and poured over the floorplan for each apartment with my boyfriend and his parents.

Cue the drum roll......the decision is the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom with the big living room and big kitchen. The extra bonus is that I will have stackable washer/dryer. I currently have no washer or dryer! With the big dilemma behind me, I look forward to showing the boys our new pad next Saturday!

My Awful Hair Appointment!

I truly don't enjoy getting my hair done. I'm the type that drags my feet about making an appointment. I now have a salon that does standing appointments made weeks in advance. I still haven't decided if I like that or not!

I made an extra appointment on this past Wednesday aside from my standing appointment. I'm still attempting to get my hair color back to it's natural shade. At the beginning of my appointment the stylist had her idea as to what she should do color-wise. Then the supervisor came over and told us a truer longer lasting color could be achieved if a pre-color toner was used first. Meaning there would be two treatments: pre-color toner then the color.

As it turned out the color did not cover-up the color of the toner that was used so they had to do the color twice. I had the stylist and her supervisor working on my hair at the same time. The reason they said the toner was not being covered properly by the color is that the stylist mixed the toner incorrectly. After all the treatments my hair is not at all near my true hair color. They wanted to do more stuff to get my hair to it's natural color but I was tired of being there. My appointment was at noon and I didn't leave the salon until a little after 6:00 pm. By far the longest hair appointment I've ever had!!!!! Not to mention the worst hair appointment I've ever had!!!!

I know I was only sitting in a chair for the majority of the time spent there but I was completely exhausted afterwards. I felt almost like I typically feel after sitting in the car driving for hours upon hours! That same type of tiredness set in. Now my dilemma is what to do to my hair next. I hate the color it is but I don't want to damage my hair by having too much done to it in a short period of time. Will I ever return to that salon? As much as I would like to not return I also believe they should be the ones to fix their mistake. I plan to spend this week rebuilding my hair then towards the end of the coming week I will decide what to do. Geesh!!!

I must say this...there have been 2 times over the years that I have agreed to a pre-color toner. Both times did not produce good results. Never again will I allow any stylist to do a pre-color toner!!! No way! In both instances for me the toner has altered the results too much!

Cody and the Tower Fan!

I purchased a tower fan towards the end of last summer. Now the boys fave spots in the living room have changed since last summer. They used to be allowed on the couch and chair but in recent months they were banned from all furniture except for the large ottoman. The ottoman is positioned in front of the window just for nosey Cody! Next to the ottoman is the tower fan.

Today while Cody was sitting on the ottoman I decided to put the tower fan on. I haven't used the fan very much so this was rather new for Cody to be so close to it. He kept looking at the fan. His face was becoming more and more freaked out. Those that know Cody know it doesn't take much to scare the little guy! He soon moved to position himself to not be in the direct line of the air but yet still be on the ottoman. He continued to look over his shoulder at the strange object blowing at him. Well it wasn't long before he decided he was moving to another area. Since Cody had vacated the prime air flow spot in comes little Simon. He jumped up on the ottoman and snuggled up on the very edge. Positioning himself as close to the tower as possible! The pugs are as different as night and day! Lol!

Long-Distance Suns Support!

I was so psyched for the Suns game last night. I had my bright orange shirt on even! Then they couldn't keep pace with those irritating Lakers. Every time I watch the Lakers the same thought crosses my mind....'how can anyone like this team?'

The city of Phx definitely supports the Suns wholeheartedly but there are a fair amount of Lakers fans that exist there too. I remember being out shopping once with my mom when we encountered a Lakers fan. BTW, this was in Phx long before Dallas had come into view! Anyway a sales associate booed my Suns shirt that I was wearing. He then told us the Lakers were the only team worthy enough to cheer for! I reminded this young punk that he was in the valley of the sun! Then I very politely gave him directions to L.A.!

Hopefully the Suns can do much better tomorrow night! I enjoy being a long-distance Suns fan. The tension/nerves of the city each game day was always something that I seemed to pick up on. It's a lot easier to just simply watch the games and not be bombarded with Suns info 24/7.

Stormy Dallas!

The Dallas area is currently being walloped by heavy thunderstorms. Storms that are predicted to last all weekend. I love the rain but the roads are a mess right now!

Of course I would choose today to take the boys to be groomed. When I arrived to pick them up it was barely sprinkling. By the time I paid the bill and got the boys it was pouring. Not wanting the smelling fresh clean pugs to run to the car through the rain puddles I decided to carry them. I'm sure that was a sight! Both boys were incredibly good and patient about being carried in a hurried fashion to the car.

Raccoon Encounter!

I know I have mentioned before there's a raccoon that lives in our complex. We've all seen him many times. He lives in the storm drain across from our building. Well the other night while walking the boys I needed to throw something away, as we approached the garbage bin Simon was on the prowl for something to eat. He has learned there's food most commonly found near trash bins. As I went to toss the bag through the cut out on the side of the trash there sat the raccoon. Now mind you it's late at night and it's dark out...keep those two things in mind please as I continue to the next part. My first reaction was to stand there in fear and scream! Cody responded instantly, stepping way up in front of me. Simon was oblivious as he was still on the prowl for something good to eat. The raccoon came out of the trash bin and in a defensive stance it did a sideways scoot out of our way and back to his storm drain.

I felt a little silly to have screamed so much but that thing sure did startle me. It startled me to the point that I was out of breath as if I had been running. Crazy! I'm still slightly embarrassed that I was so afraid of it. I'm glad Cody was on the defensive right away because Simon left me hanging!

Let me say this about raccoons...they aren't cute! Not one bit! In animated shows/movies and also in children's books they are illustrated to be rather adorable. They are freaky looking in my opinion. They also move weird! The way they scoot around reminds me of some of the moves the band NSYNC performed in their music video for the song "Bye, Bye, Bye".

Suns Move On...Spurs Go Down!

Way to go Suns! I decided I didn't care to watch Friday night's game. I thought they would most likely lose since it was in San Antonio and I couldn't imagine the Spurs dropping a game at home. The NBA playoff series are quite long so I refuse to organize my life around their schedule. That's how I grew up but that's no longer how I choose to live. However, I feel slightly different when it comes to football. Getting back to the Suns...Once again I didn't watch on Sunday either. I got up Monday morning thinking that the Suns likely will be playing on Tuesday since I could not fathom the Spurs going down in a 4 game sweep at home! Then I listened to my voicemail on my cell. There was a message that featured my mom hooting and hollering into the phone with pure excitement that the Suns had swept the Spurs! The funniest part of her message was when she declared it 'history being made'. Lol! I can only imagine how off the charts excited the city of Phx is today. I can picture numerous Suns banners all over town!

There's certainly a large amount of people in the Dallas area that are happy to see the Spurs season end too!

One Year Anniversary in Dallas!

Well as of today the boys and I have called Texas home for a full year! I can't believe it's already been a year. I thought I would revisit the events of day 1 for my anniversary post.

On day 1, I thought I had things so well planned out. The plan was to take the boys to a scheduled grooming appointment while I went to get my keys and waited for the movers. I was hoping the movers could have our things moved in before going to pick up the boys in the afternoon. However, things didn't go as planned. I found my apartment complex just fine but I could not find the grooming place. The movers called me while I was out driving around looking for the grooming place. I finally decided I had to just get back to my new apartment complex to sign my lease and get my keys so I could move in. The boys were so good while waiting for me to sign my lease as they sat in the car. Thankfully it was a nice day temperature-wise so no fear of them getting too hot. The leasing agent went out to check on them once while I was busy signing paperwork. By the time I was done with the paperwork the movers were waiting for me to open up the front door. The boys sat by on whatever piece of furniture was available watching each item be carried in. Once the movers were done it was time for lunch, I was completely clueless about the area and was so nervous about not being able to find my way back to my apartment. I think I stopped at the first thing I came to which was a Jack in the Box.

And of course on day 1, I became aware of a handsome guy that worked here. I remember being surprised that a guy worked in the office since I had spent the last few weeks being helped by a few different female employees in the office. I soon found out my move-in day was his first day of working here. Never could I have predicted that he would become my boyfriend a little more than 4 months after I moved in.

For the most part the day went rather smoothly. A little chaotic but what move-in day isn't somewhat chaotic? I have learned these streets a lot better but I still think Dallas is the most complicated city I have lived in. The streets loop around and go in all different directions. I used to think I had great directional skills then I moved to Dallas. I'm pretty sure my sense of direction stayed in Phx!

All of my stuff was in storage for years so things were dusty. I worked so long into the evening trying to clean up enough stuff to function for a few days while I slowly got boxes unpacked. I had no cable for the first month here so I set up rabbit ears. At the time I moved it was about 6 weeks before antennas were rendered useless. Not wanting to venture out again I ordered in pizza for dinner and sat at my kitchen cart which was sitting in the middle of the living room. I enjoyed pizza while watching whatever I could get to come in somewhat clear.

On day 1 at dinner time Simon peed on the comforter that was peeking out of it's bag. Apparently he was eager to mark his territory! Irritating!