Call me maybe

As you might have noticed, I took some vacation time over the past week.

I wanted to get some pretty cool little girls that I know some snowcones, but I didn't know what time the stand opened.

When I drove past at 2 p.m., it was not open. I figured I'd go to my Mom's house, waste an hour there with the kids, then go get snowcones at 3 p.m.

I explained to a little red-haired child that I was going to get her a treat, but I had to drive past to see if it was open first.

I told her if it was open, I would bring back something pretty tasty and delicious.

Her response, with a hand on her hip: "Well, are you gonna call me when you find out?"

Dude, you're four years old and don't own a phone...

If you're wondering, I got them my favorite flavor, Tutti Fruitti. They loved it and finished it all.

Pugfest!

When I adopted my Penny seven years ago, she decided to chew on a cord that was plugged in.

When I took her to the vet that morning, the doctor told me that Pugs are the only breed of dog who have their own festival.

Pugfest is in Milwaukee every year, he said.

Penny survived eating electricity and is now a grumpy, old, seasoned and experienced Pug. She's the Pug leader at my house.

And ever since that conversation with that veterinarian, I've wanted to go to Pugfest.

A few months ago, a rescue organization I adopted another Pug from sent out a Facebook message, asking for volunteers to help with Pugfest.

Pugfest! Of course I want to go!

I can't even describe how amazing it was.

Things I will note, though:

• My favorite Pug names were Waffles, Toast and Alfredo.

• I asked the names and ages of all the Pugs who came to my part of the booth. Popular names included Luna, Daisy, Lilly, Pugsley, Mugsey, and Duke.

• Petunia was also a cute name.

• The owner of Waffles expressed regret that her Pug didn't meet Toast at the event. I concur.

• People came up to me and told me their Pug has an Instagram account. Because of course he does.

• I did not meet another Penny, Raven or Pickles, which makes me happy. (I also might lurk the /namenerds subreddit and favor unique names.)

• I've never experienced such heaven in my life.

• My goal was to hug all the Pugs. I cuddled, petted and complimented every single one I met.

I remember several conversations I've had with my Mom in the past. Something about when you have kids, you want them to grow up to be independent. You want them to contribute something worthwhile to society.

The money raised at Pugfest goes toward helping Pug rescues.

I hope I contributed some small, small part to a not-for-profit group. I think it was a good use of my time.

The Kansas Pugfest delegation in Milwaukee.

That's a good lookin' Pug.

I waved hi to Chicago as we drove past it.

  

Baby Pug! Notice the crowd around him. 

"My dog has an Instagram account." Of course he does.

Fortune teller Pug at our booth!

He barked at the Pug statues and I laughed.

Do I smell beef jerky?

I would agree with this.

I got Captain America and Thanos! 

You're someone who's passionate and verrrry prepared to defend your values. You're a true idealist, and you always try to see the good in every person and situation. But on your crabbier days, you also have a dark and dangerous side.

Everyone's A Combination Of Two "Infinity War" Characters, And Here's Yours

https://www.buzzfeed.com/anaisbordages/we-cant-all-be-groot?utm_term=.fdrw97dLb&quiz_result=120959518_359721061#120959518

On things breaking

A part that I had replaced on my car six months ago broke the other day.

As a result, I could not shut my car door. 

College did not teach me what to do when your car door will not shut. 

This is a story about how life doesn't always go as planned. This is also a story about how you just have to roll with it sometimes.

-----

Nine days ago, I bug bombed my house. I cannot hire a big fancy company to bug bomb my house because I just paid a big fancy company to give me teeth.

Priorities, people. 

I spent a whopping $5 on a DIY bug killing kit, and I asked my Dad for some help early(ish) on a Saturday morning.

Killing bugs apparently involves turning off your pilot lights, which for me, means my hot water heater.

For the record, I was told to not mess with the pilot light. Also for the record, I didn't listen.

That night, everything was fine. My bath was hot and my house was bug free.

Life was good. 

On Sunday morning when I woke up, I had no hot water. None, whatsoever, not even an ounce of it. 

I did what any adult woman would do in this situation...I called Dad.

One trip to the store and a lit pilot light later, I had hot water. 

The next day, nadda. I had ice cold water.

Like I whined to my Dad: Why do you need an appliance to heat your water? Hot water heaters are the most inefficient things ever. Why isn't the water just naturally hot? This is the dumbest thing ever to spend money on.

The men in my life gave me that 'you're an idiot' look, and then said something like, Hey, stupid. Water comes from the ground and it's not usually hot when it does that.

Whatever, men. 

I had the privilege of of showering at my Mom and Dad's house that week. Because every adult woman does that, right? 

I bought a new hot water heater and my Dad came over on Saturday to install it. I woke up to my house smelling like gas, and I noped out of there so hard I could not have noped harder. 

I chewed all of my nails off that day. 

You guys, I have a new, shiny, brand-spankin'-new hot water heater. I think he looks like a Frank, so that's officially his name.

He's a sexy beast, that Frank.

tl;dr: I saved $100 by bug bombing my house by myself and then spent almost $500 on a new hot water header. And that part in my car is still broken. 

Some days you're the screw, some days you're the tire.

Photos

Random other things I found online that I love:

"If someone in my social circle ever pulled this shit, I'd disappear from their life so fast they'd think I'd been kidnapped by a black ops team. This dude has just torpedoed his reputation among anyone with two brain cells to rub together."

- Found on a reddit post.  :)

Failure

Stolen from LinkedIn:

What will most define whether or not you’re a “failure” is how you approach failing. It’s important to understand the difference between “you had a failure“ and “you are a failure.” People who think they are a failure because they had a failure will fail. People who understand that having a failure is probably a message that they need to modify their approach and try again—and to keep doing that until they find the paths to succeed—will succeed. That’s why most really successful people can point to many failures and learnings in their wake.