Brutus found a home.

That’s what the ABTR [Alabama Boston Terrier Rescue] website now reads next to his name. This past Saturday at the montly Kirkwood event, we finalized the adoption papers and officially rescued him from their organization. It really was pretty exciting and for his first outing in such a public place with other dogs, being in and out of the Feed & Seed supply store – he did really well. He was actually one of the best behaved dogs there to our surprise.

We were also informed that he is either one or two years old, but no older than two. We’re taking him to the vet this week for a routine check-up and to get microchiped, so hopefully we’ll find out more from the doctor.

He has a LOT of energy, but with daily walks and bike rides he seems to calm down just fine and cozy up to us on the couch. When he finally falls asleep, he snores….Loud…it’s super cute and makes us giggle.

foster parents

For the past few months, Leah and I have been working with the Alabama Boston Terrier Rescue to find the perfect and most punk-rock dog we could get our hands on. We have fallen in love with Boston Terriers, so we are pretty set on those. With the move to Decatur and taking time to get settled, we have just been taking it easy. But this week the opportunity arose to “foster” a dog for a week before a big event in Kirkwood (neighborhood arround here) where the have the dogs there so you can rescue them.  We took a dude named Cowboy  who was a stray and has been with the ABTR for a few weeks.  He is full of energy and slobber. He has a hard time of going anywhere in the house without a toy in his mouth and also has a hard time of just CHILLING OUT. His slowdown process cracks me up. (this after he wants to bite my shorts first) We’ll keep you posted on our time with Cowboy. Here are some photos.

 

The Frog Queen

This past Saturday, the Manleys and the Miottis  had a chance to catch Jeremy Enigk in concert not to far from our house.  For the un-informed, he was the singer for the seminal indie/alteranative band Sunny Day Real Estate.  He also has a small catalog of solo stuff as well.  We bought the tickets on a whim, expecting all solo stuff (which is great) but we were pleasantly surprised by at least half the set being old SDRE songs.  Not only did he play old stuff, he played THEE best songs off each release; songs that sort of played as the soundtrack to Leah and I’s meeting up and falling in love. In his encore he played “THE OCEAN” off of “The Rising Tide” which was a song that I told Leah years ago, after we got married, that I wouldn’t put on a Mix CD for a girl that wasn’t “the one.” It ended up on one of her mixes right away. 

It felt good to get goosebumps at a concert again.

Thanks to YouTube – here are some of the better SDRE/Enigk jams that he played.

City Living, is the life for US!

This post is both overdue and exciting [reverse order actually]

I shall now list the reasons we adore city living: [not in any particular order]

One – Community Living. We’ve already met our neighbors directly next to us, who are wonderful and continue to meet more and more each day. Our friends, old and new, simply stop in when they’re in the area. Invited or not, it’s always great to see them. Although any/everyone is always welcome, be forewarned that I’ll probably try to make you eat something while you’re there A lesson/style of living my grandma pennington taught me while growing up. Or we can simply decide and go out to dinner with friends at a moments notice.

The Farmer’s Market is 15 minutes away and so we can support local growers and also have access to international spices, vegetables, etc. In addition to some amazing antique markets and stores that are right along the way. And, recycling is easy and encouraged and actually benefits the environment, not a scheme that someone came up with to make money. It is refreshing to live like this again, we’ve really missed it. We lived in a quaint little town, Tustin, right before we moved to the ATL and just loved it. We could ride our bikes, hang out with neighbors, grill out and had our own space. when we began looking in February of this year, for awhile we were starting to think we’d not find a place like that again. But, we did and we’re so happy. It’s amazing how much your quality of life changes and increases when you’re where you’re supposed to be!

The starter on my car recently went out, and so we had it towed to Intown Auto, which is three blocks from our house in the Oakhurst Village. The guy fixed it the next day, was as nice as could be and even stayed late to finish the job. Granted he was probably not as cheap as some of the chains, but his work ethic and friendly – trust worthy approach was more than enough to justify the extra money. And it just felt good to support the “local guy” – and I know if we ever need anything again we can count on him.

Two – Access to friends, non-chain restaurants and shows/venues [list is not complete]. And it’s not just access mind you, but quicky, easy, non-expensive access. Most of our new favorite restaurants are within walking distance to our house or a five minute drive or bike ride [unless it's 80 degrees outside with 215% humidity levels - then we always drive.]

All which results in frequent visits, less gas consumption and freedom to explore and try new things without a weighty time commitment. Brian has the opportunity now to meet with more clients in person, meet new clients and work out of variety of coffee shops and other satellite work spaces, should the mood hit. Or, clients and friends can come and work out of our house with him. [Especially after this weekend, when we get the other desk organized and cleaned off] And, access/travel to work for me is much more convenient and less stress inducing.

TWELVE – Speaking of access to work – one of the most exciting new things to report is that i’ve started a new job!!  I was offered and accepted the Catering Sales Manager position with the TWELVE hotel downtown. [hence the numbering order, I didn't forget how to count if that's what you had assumed] After spending the last year working at the corporate office of a day spa chain, I realized quickly that this was not the best fit for me for a variety of reasons. However since I signed a NDA I will not go into the details. Suffice it to say that I am overjoyed with this new opportunity and as of this Friday, I’ve been there for two weeks and will have finished my training. I can’t really describe how wonderful it is to work downtown, but I am loving it and feel as though I’m back on track with the type of organizations I’ve aligned myself with in the past. The excitement of being in the city makes you feel as though you’re right in the heart of it all. My position described in a Reader’s Digest format is: part sales, part event planning and part organizing F&B [food and beverage] for all events booked at both our Centennial Park [downtown] and Atlantic Station properties.

So there you go, in case you missed it – we are blessed and quality of life has greatly improved – we are happy!

Bumper sticker Heart

I hate most all bumper stickers and car magnents. Your kid is an honor student. Good. I don’t care.  The things that look like a ribbon that says such trite things as “support our troops” or “freedom isn’t free”; I hate those. (duh we support our troops. Duh… freedom costs something) I’m not a big fan of people telling me all about their love of Wiccan life or Veganism or even the Christian who wants to tell me that his call will be un-attended to when the rapture happens. I don’t care.  I feel that the back end of a car needs to be left alone. Even when we bought our Subaru at Carmax, the first thing I did was get out a utility knife and take off the CarMax sticker on the back gate. For me, the back of your car is a window into your life and I didnt want to tell people that I’m “crazy in love with CarMax.”

That is until the past 8 years of the Bush administration, screwing up America and what it means to be a civil country with diplomatic clout. Leah and I have been so dis-heartened with the past few years of politics that it almost seemed hopless. That was until we watched this young dude from Illinois speak at the ‘04 Democratic convention. There seemed to be this positive hope.

All that said… I don’t want any stickers on the back of my car. I went through my punk-rock phase of sticking any band’s sticker on my 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlas Sierra. That was when I was 16. But I have recently made an exception when it came to supporting what I feel is the one presidential candidate that can make me be excited about being an American again. So a few weeks ago I ordered a pack of Shepherd Fairey designed, Barack Obama stickers and slapped one on my car. It takes a lot for me to “represent” anyone or anything on the back end of my car. This I believe to be true, that with Barack Obama, there is HOPE that our country can once again be respected in the eyes of the world, take care of it’s poor and treat people with the respect that they deserve as members of the human race.

Tonight Barack Obama will probably clinch the nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate, and as I watch CNN, I’m so happy to see an election and the democratic process go the way I hoped it would. The way my heart WISHES it would. It finally feels that I, as well as lots of other young people, are being heard and that their votes are not being stolen by a bunch of out of touch white dudes who want create a legacy, and not a better country. We shall see.