Breaking up is not that hard to do...

I had to break up with Facebook recently. It wasn't FB, it was me. I know that's what they all say, but I was just finding myself spending WAY too much time being concerned with people from my past finding me or seeing my shit or (god forbid!) trying to send a friend request. So I was trying to find them before they could find me, which, when it comes down to it, is really just cyber stalking. I know you've all been there, done that, too. Don't even try to front.

So I started contemplating life without FB. Could I live without it? Would I go through major withdrawal? Digging around on FB's FAQs, I read that deactivating my account wouldn't delete it completely; if I wanted to come back at any time, I could just log in and all my shit would be right there, just like it had always been. That thought was very comforting, so I clicked "ok" and when FB said "are you sure? are you really, really, REALLY sure?" I clicked "ok" again.

So here I am a month and a half later, sans Facebook. And to be honest, it's not that bad. I miss the photo sharing and staying connected to people that I probably wouldn't otherwise. But I'm not suffering from the crack-addict withdrawal that I assumed I would. Some day I may get connected again, but for now I'm taking a deep breath and forcing myself to actually call or write to people again. :)

School Picture

Here's Maddie's first grade school picture. I'm trying to decide if I want to order more, like with the fun and fancy backgrounds, but I'm having a hard time being ok with the Lifetouch prices. I'm used to Walgreens prices (like $3 for an 8x10 vs. Lifetouch's $13).

Anyway, until I decide, you can enjoy her 6 year old face here:

Wall Repair

And here is where we document the wall repair after Lulu's "incident," which we finished just in time to have people over for Halloween on Saturday.

As you can see, the lower baseboard trim was also ripped off the wall. We were able to salvage enough to replace the door frame and put a small temporary piece just long enough to reach the sofa. The majority of the baseboard trim behind the sofa is still missing.

Bad Dog

I have no words.

Ithaca Child

Maddie was featured in this month's local free child-related newspaper called the IthacaChild. We were approached by a woman with a camera who said she was updating the issue's "Kidspeak" section and she asked Maddie, "what would you do to make the world a better place?" Here's the page with her response:

Anniversary Night Out

For our 2 year anniversary on Tuesday, Mark and I drove to Skaneateles to stay at a resort/spa that I had heard was really nice. The Mirbeau has probably less than 50 rooms and a handful of them are in small cottages with private entrances. We stayed in the main building closest to the spa ;) where we spent some time in the large jacuzzi. We also had a fancy and expensive dinner in their restaurant. I had the salmon, which was apparently caught fresh that morning. It was a fantastic getaway in the middle of the week.

so pretty...

Simply Bliss Photos

Recently, we had a very talented friend take some family photos for us. Breanna's pictures are truly amazing! Be sure to check out more work by Simply Bliss Studios.

First Day of First Grade

Maddie started first grade on Tuesday. We've all been very excited for her to start first grade.



















School supplies? check!
First day dress? check!
Hello Kitty backpack? check!




















Nervous? no way! Ready to take on the world? oh yeah!



















We found out Maddie's good friend Fiona will be in her class this year. Yay!

First Lost Tooth!

Maddie's been anxiously waiting the loss of her first tooth. She's watched a lot of her friends losing their teeth and asking me when hers will start coming out. A question I can only answer with "soon, baby girl."



















Last weekend she was vacationing with her dad, so I didn't get to be there when it came out but I did hear the tooth fair came and gave her some cash in exchange for that little tooth. The going rate for a child's tooth these days? FIVE dollars! Talk about inflation. sheesh!

Mustachioed

Forever Home

This past Friday, Mark, Maddie and I welcomed the newest addition to our home: Lulu Mae Torres! Lulu was adopted from the Tompkins County SPCA and is estimated to be about 5 years old. The pit bull/lab mix had been there since October of 2009. She came in as a stray had been microchipped to a shelter in NYC before that. Essentially, we think she's been a "shelter dog" for the past couple of years. But now she has a forever home with a great fenced-in yard, daily walks, and lots of love.



Lulu is very sweet and calm. She doesn't jump up on anyone, rarely barks, and gives lots of kisses in exchange for pats. She is still somewhat wary of her new home, so she isn't really interested in playing fetch or playing for long periods of time, but she's coming around a bit. She also has absolutely no interest in a crate whatsoever, or a Kong filled with peanut butter for that matter... we will have to find some super yummy treats in order to get her more interested in the crate.

Lulu is also very reactive to other dogs, so we have been doing our best to teach her to be less reactive and reward her when she doesn't react to other dogs.


Lulu has been very curiously checking out her new surroundings these past couple of days. In fact, she's been kind enough to find some weak spots in our fencing (she escaped twice!), which were promptly patched.

Here you can see two of the gaps she is (or should I say was) apparently small enough to squeeze through:


















Lulu is very responsive to Mark as the "alpha" in the house. She is always interested in what he's doing and looking for his approval. She likes me just fine, but my commands are definitely not as respected, and so we are working on this too. So now we have 2 pets that prefer him over me. I'm beginning to think he chooses these pets diliberately... Regardless, we're all very happy to have a great family pet and even happier that Lulu no longer has to live life as a "shelter dog."