Updates -- I'm getting awesome at these multi-purpose posts!

Piper
Last weekend, I was worried about leaving Piper with a co-worker while K and I went to Norman. Not because I doubted my friend's abilities to take care of her, but because I was afraid Piper would really take to her and forget about me, considering she and I had bonded so quickly, but I'd only had her a week, and my co-worker would be with her for two whole days. It took Piper and I less than two days to get attached.

Anyway, Piper was great when K and I went to pick her up. Things were fine on Sunday and Monday. At work, though, my co-worker stopped by my desk about something, and Piper got really excited. She was jumping on my co-worker and wagging her tail. It was obvious Piper was excited to see her. When my co-worker left my desk, Piper started whining and crying. She even barked. Piper does that when I leave, but not when anyone else leaves.

I'm not gonna lie -- I was a little sad to see that. I mean, it's good Piper and my co-worker got along. I'm glad about that. But Piper was still sitting there with me when she got upset about my co-worker leaving. Bummer.

Thank goodness it was better today, two days after the first incident. There's still a little change in Piper's demeanor when my co-worker leaves her sight, but she's getting better. Piper's also getting better about when I leave her for a bit. I'm glad about that. Having a puppy who gets separation anxiety is tough to deal with!


Mom
After my last post about the latest news with my mom, I decided to do what beingmccrary said and follow my heart. When is that ever a bad idea? I really had been thinking about the whole situation more, with the wedding getting closer. I knew it was the best thing to do.

I emailed my mom and told her I'd talked to the hairdresser. I said that the hairdresser had told me about their conversation and about how upset my mom was. I reminded my mom that she was the one who'd made the decision that they weren't coming, not me. I told her the decision was, always has been and still is hers. I addressed a few of the other things she'd talked about with the hairdresser, and I closed the email telling her once again that it's her decision, and she, her husband and/or his daughters are all welcome.

I got the standard response from my mom where she brings up shit that happened years ago and manages to play the victim even though she did this to herself. The email was hypocritical, and my mom is pretty forgetful for being frustrated at me for things she's done herself.

Although the outcome of the emails isn't good, I'm glad it happened. I let her know -- again -- that she was welcome. And she reaffirmed the fact that it's a good idea that she miss out on the ceremony.

I really wanted to email her back and tell her that even if she decided she wanted to come after all, she isn't welcome. I also wanted to tell her that I didn't want her to attempt to communicate with my anymore, that I'm done with it. I had the (very brief) email typed up, and K told me it probably wasn't a good idea to send it. I didn't, but I still want to.


ER
Things are better now, thank goodness. ER sent me an email apologizing for being so upset when we talked on the phone. She said some nice things and then said she really wanted to forget the whole thing and put it in the past. Sounded good to me.

She called me that night to tell me something that had happened at work, and things are pretty well back to normal.


Deployment
It's still not completely definite, but we're almost certain K will deploy in November. With the report that came out this week, K is thinking he has a pretty good idea of what will happen, and he might only wind up in Iraq for a year. It'll be tough, but a year is better than 15 months. It's insane how long a month can seem during a deployment, much less an extra three.

The area K will go is a safer area. Attacks there are down, so that's a huge blessing. Here's hoping it stays that way.

We should know more in the next couple weeks, but that's pretty much all we've got right now.


End
And that's officially all I've got. Sorry to keep doing lame multi-purpose posts, but it's crazy how busy I've been lately. I still have a scrapbook to finish. Eek!

So I might be getting a dog ...

I feel like I wasn't very productive this weekend, but now that I think about everything I did, I was pretty busy.

Friday night, a few of us went out for a happy hour after work for Br!an's going-away. I got home and was so tired from my week that I went to bed at 10:30. I didn't wake up until 10 the next morning (I did talk to K for about a half an hour when he called me at midnight, so I at least didn't sleep that whole time, right?). Jeremy called to let me know he was going to the gym at noon.

I hate going to the gym in the middle of the day. I had a lot of things to do, and if I waited until noon to work out, I'd get that much later of a start. I asked Jeremy what he was going to focus on in his workout: full body. Ugh. I couldn't resist that.

I got a few things done in my apartment before I went to the gym. I got a good workout in, and then I headed home and showered so I could start my list of errands, which included Wal-Mart, Target and going by our reception site for the Dallas wedding to pay a 25% deposit -- ouch.

That night, I hung out with ER and her boyfriend. We made dinner and watched a movie. I'd mentioned to ER how I'd told K if he deploys, I'm getting a small dog. ER got really excited. She has the greatest West!e ever. He's 13 years old, and she's had him since he was a puppy. She loves dogs. After dinner, she started searching dogs in our area. I found a couple that I really like. One is a Yorkie mix, and the other is a Cocker Spaniel mix. I emailed about those two and a couple others. We'll see what happens.

I hadn't planned on looking for a dog already, but it was fun to search through the ones online. Hopefully it'll work out to where if I am selected to adopt a dog, everything falls into place about the time K finishes his training before Labor Day weekend. That way, he can meet the dog with me. I don't want to pick one out without him seeing it first. After all, it'll be his dog too.

This morning I went to church and to lunch with ER, her grandma and her aunt. Immediately after lunch, we went to a friend's apartment for her sister's bridal shower. ER and I didn't really know her sister, but she basically eloped with a guy she'd only known three months, and none of the family was invited. Our friend was left to throw her sister a shower in a city three hours from where her sister -- and her sister's friends -- lives. It was a pretty nice shower, though.

After that, I came home and enjoyed just chilling out on my couch. I finally caught up on blog reading, and then I headed to the gym again for a nice cardio workout. Since then, I've been doing laundry and straightening up around my apartment.

It's been a pretty tame weekend, but I think I needed it. And since next weekend is my birthday weekend, I'm sure I'll be glad I (sort of) took it easy these last couple days.

One sleepy girl

I've been behind on sleep lately, and I'd hoped to catch up this weekend. It didn't happen. Friday night, I stayed up working on some things around my apartment. Saturday was a busy day full of errands, so I was definitely going to bed early that night. Jeremy had wanted to copy over some of my music so he could get some new stuff on his mp3 player. He wound up loading some new CDs onto my computer, and by the time I left his apartment, it was 1:30 a.m.

I was definitely going to bed early on Sunday night, and I was looking forward to it. And then my air conditioner went out. It's a long story, but I called the emergency maintenance guy. Here's a run-down:

• 8:00 p.m. -- I call apartment emergency line and leave message about broken A/C
• 8:15 -- Get call from George, who tells me he'll be over in 20 minutes to fix A/C
• 8:50 -- With still no sign from George, I call him back on the number he'd called me on at 8:20. I tell him I wanted to make sure he didn't fix my A/C unit outside and I didn't realize it. He told me he'd forgotten to call me, but that his Freeon-checking gauge was broken. He would have to go off-site to get a new one, and he'd come by in an hour. I said, "That's fine. But if for some reason you can't make it in an hour, can you please call me so I can find another place to sleep?" I made sure he understood that was important, and he told me he'd call me if that happened.
• 10:15 -- Still no sign of George. I call him again, but he doesn't answer. I leave a message. "Sorry to bug you," I say, "but I just really need to know if you'll be able to come tonight. I've got work tomorrow, so I've got to get to bed soon. Please call me back and let me know if you'll be able to fix the A/C tonight."
• 10:45 -- Phone rings. As I pick it up to see it's George, he hangs up (after like 2 rings). I immediately call him back. He answers the call, but he says nothing, and the background noise makes it sound like he's in a bar or at a wild party. He hangs up after 6 seconds. I try to call him back, and he doesn't answer.
• 11:05 -- Ever the optimist, I try to call him one last time as I'm leaving to go to ER's to spend the night on her couch. No answer.
• 1:45 A.M. Monday -- I'm awakened by my phone ringing. It's George. I don't answer.
• 9:05 a.m. -- I call apartment office to complain about the above events.

My air conditioner was fixed when I got home on Monday. Of course, it was running full-blast all day with my window open and the thermostat set on 65 degrees (another call was made to my apartment office about that). I was able to get to bed at 11:00 p.m., and it was awesome. I slept so hard that it felt like I'd been out for a whole 2 seconds before my alarm was waking me for work the next day (Tuesday).

I decided I'd have to go to bed early Tuesday night also, just to really catch up. I wasn't able to make cookies for the care packages over the weekend, so as soon as I got home last night, I ate a quick sandwich and started baking. I had one batch done just in time to rush to the gym to meet Jeremy a bit after 8. We worked out for a little over an hour, and I headed back home to shower and bake another batch of cookies.

I wrote four- and five-page letters to each of the guys I was sending packages to. I printed them out on pretty, colorful paper. I sprayed the two pillowcases I'd bought and washed for each of them with Febreeze so they'd smell extra fresh and clean, and I put them in plastic baggies so they'd stay fresh in the package. I wrapped the room fresheners I was sending in two Wal-Mart bags to lessen the smell so it wouldn't permeate the snacks in the box. I carefully placed the pictures and the letters in places the guys would see them quickly, but where they wouldn't get bent up. I packed everything tight in the boxes and got the packages ready to go. Believe it or not, by the time I'd packed everything, filled out the customs forms and taped up the boxes like they were carrying my tax records, it was after 3 a.m. I did a few more things I needed to get done, and by the time I climbed into bed, it was 3:45.

Needless to say, I was not happy to hear my alarm clock going off this morning at 7:45. I got up, though, and I mailed the packages on my way to work.

I've got another busy night in store, though. I'm driving to Louisiana after work and will work from home Friday so I'll get to spend more time with K, since I won't see him again until Labor Day weekend. That means tonight, I'll be packing. I really want to go to the gym tonight and get some ab workouts in, so we'll see what happens. No matter what, though, I hope I have much better luck with getting to bed at a decent hour tonight!

That's a lot of excitement in a 24-hour period

K got in last night, and we actually got to go to dinner on a Wednesday! We went to my favorite restaurant, Johnny Carinos, which I'd totally been craving. I got to have a bellini, which I absolutely love (Johnny Carinos makes 'em the best!), and some guy who works for the company was at the restaurant and bought everyone there a small bottle of wine (like a two-glass-sized bottle) since it was half-price bottle night. We talked and laughed so much during dinner that I was wondering if our server thought we were drunk (even after a bellini and a glass of wine, with the amount of food I ate, I don't think it was possible for me to get drunk!).

K's coming to my office today, and we'll go to lunch together. Tonight, I think we're going to work out together at my gym. I'm excited about getting to do those normal, everyday things with K. We don't get to do that very often.

And just after midnight, we're picking up my brother from the airport. Not very many people know he's coming in (I think it's just my dad, K and my dad's girlfriend who know), so he's surprising most everyone. To keep from ruining the surprise, K and I will drive to OK to meet my dad halfway so my brother can be home Friday morning. It's gonna be a long night!

Choosing my religion

Last Sunday, I did something I've never done in my life: I went to church by myself.

I'm a big people person, and for some reason, the thought of doing something by myself has never been that appealing to me. I can go to Wal-Mart by myself or to the mall by myself, and it's no big deal. Living by myself has made me a lot more comfortable doing things alone than I used to be. I can't imagine ever going to the movies or out to eat by myself, but going to church alone was actually kind of nice.

The church I go to here is ER's church. I've been several times over the last two or three years with her and her family, and even a few times without them. Her church is actually a different religion than mine. It's more liberal than the Baptist church (I was raised Baptist), but so are my beliefs. I really like this church. I like the members, the pastors and the tone of the sermons. I feel comfortable at that church.

I've been thinking lately about becoming a member there, but I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want to join a church only to attend every few weeks (can you even do that?). With everything still up in the air with K this fall, my future in Dallas is pretty uncertain. If K deploys this fall, I won't be spending all those weekends on the road driving to see him, so I'll most likely join the church. If he doesn't deploy, I'll be moving in May, so I'll just go to the church when we're in town. It wouldn't make sense to join.

One of the things that really appeals to me about this church is that I see it as a good compromise. K was raised Catholic, and this church seems to be a good balance between the Catholic and Baptist religions. The thought of converting to Catholicism is a little scary to me for some reason, but joining this church doesn't seem like such a big change.

The pastor is out of town this week, so I guess that gives me time to think things over and even talk about it with K when I see him this weekend. I think we're going to meet with his priest while I'm there too, so it'll be interesting to see if that comes up with him.

We won't have definite word on K's deployment until August or September, and I probably won't take any steps toward joining the church until after that news. At least that gives me plenty of time to think things over, talk to K about it, and ask plenty of questions with ER and maybe even the pastor before I make my decision.

Sorry to postpone ...

I had a huge, crazy weekend. I'm still exhausted -- and I went to bed at 9 last night!

K and I saw Spiderman 3 on Friday night, and I have to say I was kind of disappointed. The first two were definitely way better.

And that's all I'm telling you about the weekend for now. I know, I'm sorry -- really. I'll post tomorrow, though, all about it, complete with pictures! I know you're on the edge of your seats!

Oh, and I have to say thanks for all the comments after the mom post. I know that was a really long post, so I appreciate that so many of you actually read the whole thing. Thanks especially for reassuring me that I'm handling this well. It's good to hear that.