Fourth of July and Other Stuff

Where to begin? Hmm. I left for Joe's on Thursday. After I picked up Vince's dog, Buehrle, named after Mark Buehrle of the White Sox, Vince's favorite team because he's from Chicago. Buehrle is quite possibly the cutest dog ever, and I got to dog-sit while in Troy. 

Vince got reallllllly lucky with Buehrle. He picked him up from a guy who placed an ad on Craigslist, free, a mutt of some kind between Border Collie, Austrailian Shepherd and Black Lab. He's incredibly smart, but so energetic it sometimes trumps his smartness. Even when he was a teeny tiny puppy he would not go poop or pee inside, he waits till he's taken outside. He comes when called, even while chasing squirrels, and very rarely leaves the yard.

Anywho... I drove Buehrle to Troy so I could dog-sit. And we played in the yard A LOT. This dog does not tire. He'll get tired and go lay down in the grass. But 5 minutes later, he's up and dropping the ball on your feet. It was fun; it gave me something to do while Joe was working on Friday.

We also cleaned our vehicles this weekend. Joe cleaned his headlights, because we nearly died on the backroads in W. Virginia. We both vacuumed, wiped down, washed and waxed our cars. 

Turns out my truck looks pretty good, except for the dent with chipped paint that is rusting from some jerk in a parking lot.

(sorry for the white-legs-pic, Joe)

Then we played with Buehrle more. Joe climbed a tree. And I took Benadryl because apparently I am allergic to the stuff I was vacuuming out of my truck. 

On Sunday we went canoeing. Joe bought a Groupon for a canoe place near his house and we went 10 miles. The first 5-ish were not so cool because there were so many people on the river. After that, the wimps and the drunks were far behind.

The river is named the Stillwater River.... for obvious reasons. The water barely moves.

Wildlife.

Weed.

Just kidding. Sorta looks like it though, huh?

 

It took about 4 hours to canoe ten miles. Not too bad. I wasn't very sore either, which was good. We did encounter two rock dams that required skillful maneuvering by Joe. He's an expert canoe-er and is a certified watershed manager. In case you need one. 

We also at some point during the weekend had a campfire. We saw Super 8, which wasn't that great in my opinion. It had some terribly lame scenes and reminded me of Cloverfield, which I hated. We went to the Troy farmer's market and got some blueberries and cheese, and the meat shop for deli meat and cheese. Troy is totally turning into a hippie town. Joe loves it.

On Monday, America's sweet day of independence, we went to the outlet mall because almost everything was half off. We nearly stole clothes again from Banana Republic and J.Crew. That's the way to shop, I'm telling you. Sign up for email coupons and go to outlet malls. I got a pair of $98 black dress pants from Banana Republic for $7.50. And a J.Crew sweater for $15. Joe also got some amazing steals, though not as good as the time before (#22).

We also toured Ikea for like 2 hours and looked at furniture. Joe bought me a salad spinner. I'm not totally sure why, but it's cool and he's nice. Ikea is crazy yall. Crazy.

Monday evening we went down to the levee and watched Troy's fireworks. Not too bad for a little town. It was nice; we hung out with Joe's friend Ben and his family.

Tuesday morning I drove home, Buehrle sleeping in the passenger seat with his head on the console. I had to give him back to Vince which was sad. I want a dog even more now, as does Joe. Now is not the right time though. 

I'm trying really hard to find a job. It's painfully difficult. I know I am qualified for the positions I apply for, but it's incredibly discouraging to never hear back or have to deal with the corporate automated system. I know God has something planned for me but I would really love to know what it is. Before I'm homeless or poor or too far away to do anything.

...

*If you haven't signed up for Groupon for your city, you need to get on that, because some really cool stuff comes through. Also, if you like camping/hiking/outdoors stuff, check out the Clymb too. They have huge discounts on gear.