It's Called Common Courtesy....

Our dog Lilly is the best dog ever, seriously. Except when you give her a chance to run outside. I mean, even open the door a crack and if you're not paying attention, she's opened the rest of the door with her nose and out she goes. She's even tried to squeeze through my legs before. It's ridiculous how hard she tries to go outside. Then when she makes it outside, she runs as fast as she can in whatever directions she faces first. But usually, it's the street. We are around the corner from a very busy street and that's the direction she usually goes in before I convince her to come back with treats in hand.

This last weekend she got out again. But this time was different. She saw someone. And if you don't know, beagles LOVE people. They want to jump on and lick every person they come in contact with. So this woman is walking in the road that leads to the busy road and Lilly goes straight for her (see map below). I was relieved because I just knew this woman was going to help me. NOPE. She just kept looking at the ground like she couldn't see Lilly. Before getting mad at the woman I made sure she wasn't in the middle of doing something. Nope. Just looking at the ground and walking. Then, she bends down and picks up trash in the road. Really??? All the while I am continually calling Lilly's name. At this point we are getting closer and closer to the busy road. I am getting terrified at this point and don't care how rude I sound. "Can you please grab my dog since she's standing right next to you?" Her response: "It's not my dog. You should've had it on a leash." I am livid, and yell Lilly's name once again and I guess Lilly catches onto my anger because she all of a sudden just lays down. I grab her and turn around to the woman and say "Thanks for being such a great neighbor." I know that I shouldn't have said anything to her but I just couldn't believe it. It's one thing when someone's dog gets loose and it's no where near you. I wouldn't expect for you to go running after it. But it's a different thing altogether when you see that your fellow neighbor is chasing after their dog and it comes right up to you. But instead to tell that person that they should've had it on a leash?? Did she really think that I let the dog go on purpose and was just chasing it around the neighborhood for exercise?? I know that I am partial to my dogs no matter how dumb they can be, but even if you don't have dogs wouldn't you at least have the decency to help your neighbor out??

What Are The Qualifications For Handicap Parking?

So for everyone who doesn't know yet, I have been sick. If you read my earlier blog, you would know that my blood tests took forever to get the results back. They thought for awhile that I had Lupus but I don't. I have Sjogren's Syndrome. The name sounds a lot more complex than it really is. It's a disease where my immune system attacks the glands for my tear ducts and my salivary glands. So basically my eyes dry out and my mouth gets dry very easily. Of course, some people with this disease also have joint pain, fatigue and other similar Lupus symptoms. I'm that lucky person.

So after I was diagnosed I began positive thinking. What are the benefits of finding out that I have Sjogren's? Besides the whole "not dying" thing, my mind immediately thought of handicap parking. In my defense I go to Wal-Mart A LOT and usually on the weekend because I go to school during the week. I have found that on the weekend a little bell goes off in trailer parks everywhere and everyone loads up in their trucks to go to Wal-Mart; a day excursion if you will. Other people go but it seems like these particular people stay all day and hog up the parking spaces. So I end up having to park in the last parking spot of the lot and walking across pavement that literally feels like a mirror reflecting the sun's beams directly into my eyeballs. (I mean, this could be dangerous for a girl whose eyes dry out quickly, right?) After I finally make it to the front of the parking lot, I see an oasis of parking spots-ALL HANDICAP. There must be hundreds of them. This always perturbs me because usually only ONE is being used. All those spots go to waste. Are the qualifications that rigid that only a few people are allowed permits a year? But why would Wal-Mart make all those spots if only a few people ever park there???

After coming home from the doctor and learning of my Sjogren's I decided to seize my opportunity to try and get a handicap parking permit. I got really excited - a little too excited according to Vincent. I went to the Texas Department of Transportation and this is what I found:

Disabled Parking Permits

Q:
Am I eligible for a permit?
A:
A person's medical condition must meet the legal definition of a disability to qualify. “Disability” means a condition in which a person has:

• visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses,


• visual acuity of more than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision in which the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less, or


• mobility problems that substantially impair a person's ability to move around; these problems can be caused by:

paralysis,
lung disease,
cardiac deficiency,
wheelchair confinement,
arthritis,
foot disorder, or
other medical condition causing a person to use a brace, cane crutch or other assistive device.

So it doesn't exactly have Sjogren's but I think I could use the "arthritis" card since my joints hurt. I'm definitely going to have a chat with my doctor on the next visit and see what I can work out. For all those judging me right now..................I'll wave at you as you park in the very last parking spot while I have front row Joe at the Ranger games, Cowboy games, concerts, and yes even Wal-Mart. :)

Awkward Situation

This is really not a big deal but I decided to post a blog about it because everyone deals with it but no one really talks about it.

Every morning I park in the garage at work and walk down the stairs and then about 50 feet to the side door. Every morning about 25 feet away from the door, some guy walks in and then holds the door for me. I then, depending on how far back I am from the door, have to speed walk or trot. This would be quite alright if I had my running shoes on, but 9 times out of 10, I have super high heels on that make it extremely awkward for me to trot in. So I end up feeling self conscious about trotting and looking stupid doing it (then again, who actually looks good trotting in high heels??). But it's just as awkward vice versa. I'm walking up and about 20 feet behind me there's a guy. I open the door and fatally turn my head to look behind me, out of habit. Yikes, now I have to wait anywhere from 30 seconds- 1 minute for the guy to get there. But you always pause as a female...should you hold a door open for a dude? You go back and forth.....yeah, because they hold the door open for you.....or no, they're dudes, they'll live. Anyway, if you have a guilty conscious like me, you hold open the door. So they end up trotting up so as to not make you wait very long. Sadly, on almost all the guys I hold the door open for and watch them trot up, I also see the beginnings of a sweat line across the forehead. That's just not fair for them to start their day off sweating.

My question is.....where is the line? I understand a couple feet behind a person, you hold the door open--that's common courtesy. And if they don't do it....you can be sure that I call them out on it--"Yeah, it's cool, you don't need to hold the door for me--I got it." But 15-25 feet plus behind a person? Isn't that too much? Should we really feel obligated to hold a door open when a person is that far back? I don't know about you but I don't want to start my work day out of breath.

Here's what I decided to try doing........not making eye contact. It works! You see the person ahead of you enter the door and you have no desire to run/trot/speed walk to make their life easier....instead, look up at the trees as if you see a special breed of bird that no one has ever seen. Or, I tried this one the other day, you think that maybe your cell phone might be ringing at 7:45am and you dig through your purse to find it, all the while muttering "Who could be calling me this early?" just in case they are in hearing distance. These tactics can also be used if you are the one entering the building. Obviously, if you are looking at the birds in the trees or trying to find the cell phone in your purse, you can be excused from "holding the door" duty, right?

This may seem absurd to some people but for those people that deal with this on a daily basis, you may be excited to try my new tactic. It may seem difficult at first but the relief it brings is so worth it!!!

I Hate Jake Wolf

Not really, but I wanted to grab his attention since I know he's an avid reader. Except he actually thinks he can make fun of me and my blog but yet he wakes up every morning all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and eager to read more of The Martinez Mafia. When you've become addicted to the Mafia, you give up any rights to make fun of blogs. Jake, deep down inside I love you but I had to give you a hard time since you gave me crap this weekend. Will you please continue to be my number 1 fan? Circle yes or no.

So this last weekend (more like 4 days) we went to visit my bigger yet younger Theta sis, Morgan. Morgs and Jake were married on Saturday the 7th (6-7-8, get it???). Anyway, we had a great time while we were up there. They bought a house right outside Louisville and we fell in love with it! Why can't Dallas have trees??? I would love to have big, shady trees in the front of our house but instead we have little sticks that will one day be the Kentucky trees that I love. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and I bawled like a baby walking down the aisle as a bridesmaid. I couldn't help it--Morgs looked beautiful! :) The wedding was at 2:30 and then afterwards most of the guests and all of the bridal party went down to Maker's Mark bar in downtown Louisville.

I only have pictures of the reception and after party because my husband thought that I (remember, I was in the bridal party) was going to take pictures of the bride and groom. (I still have yet to see an actual diploma from Baylor.)

So here are some of my pictures plus pictures I stole off of Morgs' Facebook page since I had no pictures of the happy couple. :) (Don't you just love their engagement pics???)

Giving Julie Knorr the hug she deserved (she hemmed her own dress!!)

Hilary, Amanda and myself (right after getting out of what felt like a non-air conditioned limo)

My favorite Kentucky boy---BLING!!!

Just some Theta girls looking HOTT--Bethany, Jessica (aka Hips), Sarah, and Julie

Bethany at sunset in front of the fountain (oh, and maybe a little too many drinks)

I didn't know Jake had friends but this girl who actually claimed to be his friend rocked my world!! Megan, aka Dr. Hahn (doesn't she look like the doctor from Grey's Anatomy??)

Can't get enough of Bling!! (We promise we'll come visit you in London!!!)

Congratulations Ryan & Katie!!

My best friend from high school, Ryan, got married this last Saturday in Oklahoma City. Though it was hot, it was a beautiful wedding and I'm so happy for them. At the reception, Vincent and I had a blast with Ryan's step dad's brother and wife. They were hilarious and on top of that, had the most gorgeous little girls.

I loved this amazing idea that Katie had at her wedding. Instead of party favors they had little browns bags (with a "Katie & Ryan" stamp on it) and then like 7 types of candy in jars to pick and choose from. I have never seen that before and it was a fantastic idea! I was going to take a picture of the brown bags but Vincent thought I was stealing his candy and ripped the bag trying to defend it. Oh well.

I am so happy for Ryan and Katie! And the fact that they're going to live pretty much down the street from us....yay!!! Congrats!!!