Hello! My name is Auburn Cameron Nunley!

Much better!

Last night went much better. Auburn played on the couch with us until she fell asleep. We tried to keep her up but after awhile she wanted nothing to do with us or any of her toys. This time we moved her crate into Doug's bedroom and put a blanket over the top. When we put her in there she whined but I could not hear her! Between the humidifier running in her room (on low), the bedroom door shut, our bedroom door shut, and our humidifier running, I did not here her at all. I slept very nicely. (Mostly because I was exhausted from the night before and I did not take a nap yesterday.) I hate leaving her in there all by herself but hopefully she will learn to love her crate. She did go into her crate, curl up, and lay down for a nap all by herself yesterday so I know it is working. It just still breaks my heart to hear her cry. Hopefully after a few more nights sleeping in the bedroom we will be able to move her crate back out into the kitchen.

This morning she wanted to play so she cried very loudly when we put her back in the crate while we got ready. We brought her back out after we showered but she was still mad that we were not able to give her our undivided attention. She is still not comfortable going to certain places in the house. She will stop at my bedroom door and not come in. She acts like there is a wall up and she can not physically get to me. It is so funny to see these "imaginary wall" spots. And she does not like my bathroom. She would sit in the doorway, on the carpet side, and watch me. Hopefully after this week she will learn our morning routine and feel more comfortable roaming around the house (under a watchful "potty" eye, of course!).

Still no accidents (crossing fingers) and she is learning where to go potty at. We have her following (as much as her attention will let her) us to the door when we go out and come back in. The back door ledge is quite a step for her little legs but she is learning to push herself up and over it. However, she hates the back door mat. She will not step one foot on it. She will go around to the end and extend herself over the mat. Yes. She is a mess!

I am a very proud Momma but I promise not all my blogs from now on will be about my puppy. But I can not promise there will not be tons of pictures!!! You know me!

The first 24 hrs

They say the first 24 hours are the worst. My question is for whom? Me or the new puppy?

When we brought Auburn home yesterday she was quite content. She did great on the ride home and slept most of the day. She has attached herself to a purple hand towel and seems to be enjoying her toys. She got to meet Belle, the baby German Shepherd next door, Sadie, Doug's Mom & Dad's Cocker Spaniel, and Abby, Rick & Lisa's mini Schnauzer. Auburn had many visitors and she loved being held by each of them. She even enjoyed playing with Trenton.

But the one thing she does not like (you guessed it!) is her cage.

When we first put her in it last night she whined for a few minutes and eventually fell asleep. Then at 11:20 she began to cry. I held out and she eventually fell back asleep. However, the time between her sleeping and crying disappeared and she was doing nothing but crying. I got up around 2 to take her out and we spent the rest of the night on the couch. She actually sleeps pretty good... with me next to her.

This morning we ate breakfast and I finally got her to (as politely as I know how to say it)do #2. She has no problem doing #1 and she is doing great about holding it until she gets outside. Then she played with Doug while I made us breakfast. I put her in her cage and the crying began. I swear it sounds like we are stabbing her with hot pokers. I was in tears half-way through my waffle. I tried not to go get her but my heart got in the way. I just held her while I was crying. Tomorrow is going to be so hard! Even though I will not hear her crying I will know she will be.

Here are a few pictures from out first 24 hours.

Another punch in the gut

Lately I have been in a "down-in-the-dumps" mood. I know everybody goes through a period in their life where it seems like they are stalled. Nothing is changing, you are not moving forward, you are not growing. You feel as if the gear stick in your life is stuck in neutral and a wrecking ball keeps pounding your side of the car over and over again. I keep asking, "When is it going to end?" but it never seems to stop. Just when I think things may be ok, I get another punch in the gut.
This time the punch came from the IRS. We try to plan and save for extra expenses but this one we did not foresee, and it was a big wrecking ball. Isn't it funny how you do not allow yourself to buy something or do something because it cost too much but then an unexpected expense happens and it just so happens to be the exact amount of the thing you wanted or wanted to do? Ironic isn't it!
Doug and I will be in our 30's soon. I know we are very lucky and our lives are much better than some; however, where we are is not good enough for me. I want more for us. (This refers to all aspects of our lives.) Is that wrong of me to want more? Am I being punished for setting higher goals and higher standards for us?
I feel like every time we take one step forward the wrecking ball comes in and pushes us two steps back. I feel like I am always playing catch up. Doug says I need to stop "expecting" so much and be happy with the way things are but why should I settle? If I want to be President of the US, why can't I strive to be that? Isn't that what we all should do?
I think Sex and the City did an episode on how you can't have it all. You can't be successful in life (work, money, personal goals) and be successful in love (family, significant other, etc). In life you have your health (mental & physical), family, friends, work, & wealth. Is it one or the other? Can you have a balance? Right now I feel like it is one or the other. I have family and friends. (Even though there are a few of them I am really missing right now!)I blame the others for my mental and physical health issues. Ha! Looking back now, I would say we once had work and wealth. So did I have to trade those things for family and friends? In what way is that fair?
I know I will eventually get out of the rut I am in, but if I get another punch you might see me running down Washington road screaming at the top of my lungs! Will you visit me in my white, padded cell?

Do you believe you can Jinx something? Part 2

Answer - YES you can!

First I would like to say "you are welcome" to all the Green Bay fans.

The first and most of the second quarter, I watched the game from the couch at Doug Mom's house. Green Bay played well.
The third quarter I moved to the recliner. The Steelers came back.
Right before the TD in the fourth quarter I moved back to the couch because of how bad Green Bay was playing.
Final score - Green Bay 31 Pittsburgh 25!

I have witnesses to this! Doug's Mom agreed with me that I should move back over to the couch and as soon as I did the Packers started playing like they did in the 1st quarter again. She even thanked me for moving back over.

I must truly have a gift. Now, I never know which way this gift could go. Moving to the couch could jinx the team I am pulling for or it could jinx the opposing team. I have no control! But I do know (confirmed now!) that if I am doing something and my team is playing good, I better not stop! And if they are doing bad, I better change it up!

So when is my Ticker-Tape Parade scheduled?

And yes, yelling at the TV DOES help.

Do you believe you can jinx something?

Do you believe you can jinx something? This could be an event or a person. Well when I think about it I do not rationally think I could effect something happening or someone else's life. However, when I am watching Auburn football I run out of the room when they are about to kick the winning field goal. I am not sure if it is a "I can't stand to watch" kind of a thing or if it is a "if I watch they won't make it" kind of a thing. As long as I can remember I have been this way when watching football games. Now I make Doug watch and tell me what happened. Even for the National Championship I was in the other room pacing back and forth.

But I think it goes deeper than "I can't stand to watch". When I started watching and cheering for the Braves in the play-offs, they lost. When I picked a Nascar driver and started pulling for him, he started loosing. There has never been a time where I felt that my attention had a positive effect. There have even been times when I chose not to watch a game because I would be scared they would lose because of me.

This weekend is the Super Bowl. Now I normally do not watch NFL football but with my Mother-in-law being a Packer fan and her entire family being from Wisconsin, I have been watching a few games here and there. We had tickets to the first Packer game in ATL but we sold the tickets. I did not watch the game and they lost. Then when they played the second time in the playoffs I watched on TV and they beat the crap out of ATL.

I have not watched many of the games this season but with it being the Super Bowl I plan on watching the game. So will I jinx the Packers by watching and cheering for them? Is it all in my head or can my cheers for a team really effect their performance? I think I will decided at half time whether or not I should watch the rest or not. And I apologize now if the Packers lose because of me.

GO PACK GO!

From one OCD to the other...

Last night I was sitting on the couch, relaxing, watching TV with my husband when I got a text message from Sara. I opened up the message and saw she had taken a picture of something and sent it to me. Now, to a normal human being this would not bother them or spark an hour long conversation but it is me we are talking about here. (Yes I can admit I am not in the "normal" category.)If you have not read my previous blog, http://heatheranddougnunley.blogspot.com/2010/05/peanut-butter-jar.html, then please read before proceeding to fully grasp my story.

Here is the picture Sara sent me...



... and up under it the caption read, "Is this acceptable for pnut butter jar?"

After my answer she called me "clinically insane". Then her husband, Wes, got in on the fun of my torment by asking if the best way to get the PB even was by using a fork or a cookie! He even took a shot at Doug and asked him to show him the proper way to make a bed.

The best part about the picture is it made me realize another one of my OCD complexes. You know when you open the PB jar for the first time there is a seal across the top? Well, in my house that seal has to be completely torn off. There can be no left over pieces around the edges like Mrs. Sara's. And of course it does not stop with just the PB jar. It has to be done that way on the Advil bottle, the vitamin bottle, any tubes of creams, any grocery item such as the salad dressing and PB, and on any other item you can think of that has a seal. I am thinking of renaming my blog to "Heather & Doug - The Married OCD Couple".

So if you ever want to shut me up and keep me occupied for a while, hand me your ugly PB jars and your bottles of Advil. I won't stop until they are pretty!

Yumm!

... nothing is sweeter than summer time and American Honey...

Well, I think I have found something sweeter! Milk and Honey Shoes is a web-site where you can design your own shoes! You pick everything out; from the heel height to the straps. Any color, any fabric, any style. How AWESOME is that! Yes, it is a little pricey but think of the time you would save from searching for that perfect shoe. I am saving now! I like 2" heels and I am not sure if they do it but if they do I am ordering me some peep toe, 2" inch heel shoes. Do you know how hard it is to find "cute" shoes with small heels?
Now let me warn you, the site is usually down. They have been getting so much publicity that their server can not handle the amount of site visitors. So if you can not get on the first time, try and try again. They are working on upgrading and hopefully will be done soon so we can all get our customized shoe ordering on!

http://www.milkandhoneyshoes.com/

I think I am going to need a bigger closet!