June 2006 Archives

I’m not sure if I’ve ever written about this particular quirk of mine before, so I may be about to make myself look even geekier than you already thought I did. Ha! Bloggers in the mirror may be geekier than they appear. But I digress. Anyway, I love maps. I always have. When I was a kid, I used to sit and pour over the atlas my parents had, making up stories, planning imaginary trips, figuring out how places fit together. They had a historical atlas too, which was even better because it showed how the world changed over time, and included stories with the maps.

I still love them. If I’m bored, or curious about something, I’ll pull out a map or look one up online, and then I’ll get sucked in. And I may have recently come home with a globe from Target. I didn’t need a globe, but I was unable to resist the pull of the low-priced, old fashioned style globe they had on display. Just a couple of months ago I discovered the satellite maps available on Google local and Google Earth. I bet I spent a good hour or two typing in addresses and poking around the satellite photos, scrolling up and down, seeing what happened if I clicked to pull back or zoom in. The Internet can be very cool. And useful.

Well, it all came together perfectly today when I was trying to tell a co-worker who is new to the area how close his house is to this dam that they are worried is going to burst. I was explaining in my vague and not terribly helpful way that I thought that a house at the very back of his neighborhood might be somewhat close, although I wasn’t sure how deep his neighborhood went, but I thought his house would ok. And then it hit me – show him the satellite map! It was perfect. Perfect, I tell you! He could see where his house was and where the lake and the dam were in relation to it, and be reassured. Even better, he was almost as enthusiastic about the satellite maps as I was.

The endless monsoon rains of the past few days must be having an affect on my brain – I have little or nothing new to say. Let’s see…

...someone at the American Legion is mighty confused about who my husband is and what he has done in his life. They just sent him a direct mail piece that asks if he is taking full advantage of the benefits available to him as a war-time veteran. He’s never been in the military. Now, he does have the same name as his dad, and his dad did fight in World War II…but not for the Americans. So no matter who they thought they were mailing, boy are they barking up the wrong tree.

...when we were house shopping, I did not want to move to Frederick. I really, really liked where we lived in Rockville, and wanted to stay closer in. Alas, there were literally no houses in our price range in Rockville, and the few other houses we saw in Montgomery County in our price range were unacceptable to me. And then there were the houses we saw up here in Frederick County, which had everything I wanted. So, we ended up here, and I have come to love it. Sure, I have a long commute, but it is so pretty here. And life really is better just a little bit farther out in the country. The stores are less crowded. The drivers are less insane. We can see more stars in the sky at night. And luckily for us, we ended up on the best street in the best neighborhood on the best side of the city. Or so we think, anyway. But for all the bonuses of living here, there are a few drawbacks. #1 – we desperately need a decent Indian restaurant. There are a couple, but they are bleh. A nice Thai place wouldn’t hurt either. #2 – the shoe store problem. There are a bunch of cute shops in the old town part of Frederick, but they are more gifty/boutiquey kinds of places. There are two malls. I’ve never been in one of them, but I had visited the other one a few years ago for some reason, and I was not impressed, so I haven’t gone since we moved here. But, I need to get a new pair of shoes for work. So on Sunday, I thought to myself, “Maybe it isn’t as bad as I remember it being” and went over to check it out. What I should have remembered is that my pal Becky once described this mall as the one she goes to when she gets homesick for West Virginia. And while West Virginia has many fine qualities (producing Becky and my grandmother, for starters) no one has ever gone on a shoe shopping expedition to WV. I didn’t see one pair of shoes in the whole mall that I even thought was worth trying on. I did pick up some buy one get one free stuff at Bath and Body Works, but other than that, the trip was a complete bust. They are putting in a Barnes & Noble, so I’ll probably go back again once that opens, but I sure won’t be going for shoes. Nordstrom, you are desperately needed in Frederick County!

...I was in the elevator at work the other day with a guy who had a cell phone, a Treo and a pager all clipped to his belt. He didn’t work in my office so I have no idea who he is or what he does, but all I could think was, who needs to be that in touch all the time? And what would it mean if all three of them went off at once? The apocalypse?

…and that’s pretty much all I’ve got tonight.

Well, you all are the perfect antidote to my stupid doctor! If ever I start to doubt that I can do this, all I have to do is go back to the comments on my last post to get re-energized.

I’ve been thinking about my doctor, and why she is (in my mind, anyway) so relentlessly negative. I believe she would say that she is trying to help me be realistic. What she doesn’t realize is how determined an infertile woman can be to get pregnant. I see my diabetes as my main obstacle now. And the way to control the diabetes is to eat right, exercise and get fit. Once I do that, I can move on to the next step of actually trying to conceive again. And I want to get to that next step with every fiber of my being.

My guess is that she typically deals with people who are more resistant to making changes than I am. I perfectly prepared to eat 1,200-1,500 calories a day, exercise 5-6 days per week and severely limit sweets and junk food for the rest of my life, for a few reasons.

First off, as I may have mentioned before, I want to have a baby. Hell, I want to have more than one baby, and I’m 35 years old, so time, she is a wastin’. I can’t afford to sit around being in denial and not dealing with this problem. My second reason is also infertility-related, in a way. There are so many terrible complications that can happen to you if you don’t manage this disease properly. And just my intensive interaction with the medical profession for my infertility has been enough to make me less than interested in having any preventable medical interactions in the future. I’ve had really nice doctors, but given a choice, I’ll skip the hours spent in waiting rooms and then again on the examining table, the endless labwork, the constant wrangling with the insurance companies over bills, the bruises, the tests and so on and so on.

Also, while many people with diabetes seem to believe that complications won’t happen to them, I don’t feel that way at all. Infertility happened to me. Why wouldn’t complications from diabetes?

And finally, I’ve seen the results of poorly managed diabetes firsthand. I saw my dad in the emergency room, incoherent and drifting in and out of consciousness with a blood sugar over 700. I saw him in the ICU on IV’s and machines for two days while his body recovered. No thank you. That is not going to be my life.

I’ve come up with a plan for dealing with Dr. Negativo. I spent Wednesday evening (after working out and eating my healthy dinner) constructing a spreadsheet to track my blood sugar levels, my food consumption and my exercise. I am the queen of spreadsheets, so believe me when I tell you that this sucker is comprehensive. I’m also going to incorporate an “inches lost” section, after several people suggested tracking inches instead of weight loss as a way of measuring my progress. I have to go get a soft tape measure before I can add that one though. And if my next appointment doesn’t go more smoothly, I am going to see if I can switch to another doctor in the same practice.

There are just a couple of items I’d like to bring to your attention, if I may.

First, on Friday, I guest blogged over at Jerri Ann’s after she graciously invited me to write about the changes I’ve been trying to make in my life lately. I think it turned out pretty well, so if you’re interested, please feel free to go check it out.

Second, also on Friday, I got an email from Dallas asking me to help spread the word about the library book drive for the libraries of the Gulf Coast. As a voracious reader and a lifelong library patron, how could I refuse? It is a worthy cause, and one I’m supporting. Go here for details.

Warning: Tantrum ahead.

I had my follow-up visit with the endocrinologist today. My numbers supposedly look fine, although since I want to get pregnant, she’s considering putting me on insulin because we can’t quite get my fasting blood sugar under 100. I can get it right to 100, but not under it, which is good if you don’t want to get pregnant, but bad if you do. I can’t explain why, but that just makes me want to say every swear word I know over and over again in a no-doubt futile attempt to express my frustration with all of this.

Also, they weighed me. And let me say right now, that I have absolutely, positively, without a doubt lost weight. I am not imagining that. Clothes I haven’t worn since I got married four years ago fit me now. Clothes that I was wearing three months ago are baggy and some of my pants would actually fall off if I didn’t wear them with a belt. People at work stop me in that hall because they can see the difference. So it is clear that I am not delusional.

The last time I went to the doctor, her scale said that I had only lost 8 pounds instead of the 15 I thought I had lost. I was not pleased by this turn of events, but I figured that perhaps my old and busted 35 year old rusty bathroom scale was the problem, so I went and bought a new scale a day or two later. My new scale was a pound away from the doctor’s scale, so I decided that meant I was starting from the same basic place. Now, I weighed myself before my diabetes class on Saturday, and my new scale said that I had hit the magic really losing 15 pounds number. I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure how to judge what my beginning weight was, because I can’t remember if I got the number from the crappy old scale or my checkup in March. Either way, today they weighed me again and the stupid scale said that I had gained a pound since I was there six weeks ago. That is physically impossible. IM. POSS. I. BLE! And yet the doctor won’t give me any credit for the weight I know I have lost. It really pisses me off.

And once again, she was very discouraging about my diet and exercise plan. She seems to think that I won’t lose weight no matter what. And she thinks I’m lying about how much exercise I’m getting and what I’m eating or something. It’s really, really annoying, and I don’t like her at all. I am working very hard. I’ve completely changed my eating habits, my routines and my life to get control of this disease and I don’t need some woman who had talked to me for a total of maybe 45 minutes to be telling me what I am and am not capable of achieving. She even had the nerve to tell me that my goal of getting down to 120 pounds is unrealistic. I’m 5 ft 1. That’s more than I should weigh, but it is where I think I can get. Shouldn’t she be encouraging me to get as fit as possible? I’ll tell you one thing – if that scale doesn’t show that I’ve lost weight when I go in for my next follow-up in two months, I am picking the fucker up and throwing it out a window, Keith Moon style.

As if any more proof was needed, here is a great story from the Washington Post about how a beagle saved her human’s life. And this isn’t the first beagle story like this. They are so clever and so loyal and so loving. Truly the best dogs in the world.

Ever vigilant, BatSeamus keeps an eye out for the Biscuit Signal over Gotham city.

This morning, for the first time since I got a glucose meter, I completely forgot to check my fasting blood sugar. I got up and walked Seamus, gave him his medicine and his breakfast, and then instead of testing my blood sugar levels, I ate a little breakfast and went back to bed. I didn’t even realize I had forgotten until I work up again. I suppose that shows that I really needed some extra sleep, but I find it particularly amusing that it happened after I spent most of yesterday learning about my diabetes.

In other news, if you were planning to shop at the Frederick Target anytime soon, I’m sorry. I already bought everything in the store, so you’re just going to have to wait until they get to restock. After my sleep-in, I got up and went on a little spree. Among other things, I got a new fan, a new surge protector, new workout videos, hair stuff and a pair of exercise pants. They had so much on sale this week! Much to my delight, the sale items included this cute striped canvas tote bag I’ve been eyeing for months. So I bought that too.

Now I’m doing laundry and trying to get back into work mode so I can take on what is sure to be another long and busy week. I sure hope it is a good one, for me and for you!

I spent the day at a diabetes education class, which was exactly how I wanted to spend my Saturday, particularly after the extremely busy week I had. Oh no, wait…that’s not right. I wanted to sleep in, go to yoga and then lounge around the house aimlessly, hanging out with John and Seamus, maybe doing a little reading, then perhaps taking a nap.

The class was fairly interesting, even though I didn’t particularly want to be there. Most people take it as a series of three classes during the week, but apparently most diabetics are shiftless layabouts who don’t have to work, because those classes are offered from 9-12 and 1-4. Not exactly convenient for those of us who have jobs 25 miles away. It was just me and one other lady who was accompanied by her very young, (possibly teenage) pregnant daughter. I think they thought I was snotty and a kiss-up for taking notes and asking questions, but then again, I may have judged them as being ever so slightly white trash, so we’re probably even. And yes, I can admit it, I was jealous of the pregnant teenager.

But anyway, I learned some new facts about managing diabetes and diet that I think will be helpful, and the lady teaching the class confirmed what just about everyone has said to me – I’m very young to have type 2 diabetes without being severely overweight. Just the luck of the genetic draw, I guess. But the thing I found frustrating about the class is that it was geared toward incremental changes, as if the people taking it would be resistant to doing anything to improve their health. And you know, even my endocrinologist was skeptical that I’ll be able to stick with a completely changed diet and exercise plan.

I’ve never been particularly good at doing things halfway. I’m either into a project 100%, obsessing about get it absolutely perfect, or really, I just don’t care all that much. But if I do care, well then watch out, because I am going to be all over every little detail. And what project could be more important than my long-term health? So don’t tell me that I only need to lose 10% of my body weight or that I only need to exercise 30 minutes a day. First of all, I’ve already lost 10% of my body weight, and it is clear that I have a long way to go. Second of all, I was getting 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise a day walking Seamus before I ever even knew I had diabetes, and obviously that wasn’t enough to keep me healthy. Incremental changes aren’t going to get me to where I want to be, which is managing my blood sugar and cholesterol without medication. Oh, and getting pregnant, of course, which means I have to lose enough weight that I can then stand to gain some back while I am pregnant.

Unless…perhaps they are using reverse psychology? Because if there’s one sure way to make me want to do something, it is to say you think I can’t do it. It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll get an “Oh yeah? Watch me.” type response. I can’t help it. That's just the way I am.

I really need to learn to be careful with my big pronouncements. Because naturally, after all my big talk about the new Hillary on Tuesday, I ended up working late and not exercising last night, and then missing yoga and working until after 9 pm tonight.

I did skip the whole pizza and fries for dinner, at least. Last night I made a real dinner. Tonight I had an English muffin with peanut butter and a couple of handfuls of cereal. I was tired, and it was 9:45, dammit. I did catch the very end of the Britney Spears Dateline interview as I munched on my English muffin (too tired to bother changing the channel. John must have watched The Office before I got home.) That girl needs to get herself some new handlers or something, because in just the five short minutes I was watching, she personified, and at the same time also managed to go beyond trainwreck.

Ooh, speaking of trains, I saw two new Metro trains been escorted down 270 on my drive home tonight. Thursday night must be transport Metro traincars night, because I’ve seen them a couple of times on my way home from yoga. It’s cool to see something that big being transported.

Or maybe not all that cool. I’m so tired I can barely see straight, so it is hard to tell. Not that I’m complaining, although missing my workout is not something I can do on a regular basis. As I said before about my current project at work, I love a challenge, and I’ve certainly got one in front of me right now. No danger of getting bored, that’s for sure. Exhausted…yes. Bored…no.

I’ve never used the phrase “by Jove” before. Like how I threw it in there all casual? Next up, I’ll be working on referring to someone as “hoss.”

Anyway, the miracle is that I went to the dentist this morning and I do not have any new cavities. I’m not positive, but this may be the first time that has ever happened in my entire life. It is certainly the first time it has happened in my adult life. I guess giving up soda and cutting way back on my sugar consumption has had more than one positive effect on my life.

And then I went to work, where I got to spend about a total of 25 minutes by myself at my desk today. No exaggeration. The rest of the time I was either meeting with someone in my office, answering questions, or meeting with people outside of my office. I even had one meeting that took place in the hallway. I had promised to have some copy ready for someone today, and I had to go back at the end of the day and explain how I hadn’t been in my office for the last six hours, so it wasn’t finished. Which was true, but also just not cool. I hate making excuses. I was proud of myself though, for sticking to my “my health comes first” guns and leaving at 6:45 to go the gym. That’s the way it has to be now. The old Hillary would have stayed at work until 8 or 9 and picked up a pizza and fries on the way home. The new Hillary will get up and go into work early tomorrow instead. I’m building new habits. Healthy ones. And I’m determined to see this through.

So really, a day of firsts all around. (By Jove!)

…and we’re all going to die. Not to get all alarmist on you or anything. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle, as usual.

I recently read an article somewhere that talked about how they suspect, but do not know, that declining fertility rates in first world countries could be tied to exposure to everyday household chemicals. Now, this theory plays right into my hippie-crunchy tendencies to worry about pesticides and fragrances and chemicals created by evil corporations, so I decided to do a little more research into the matter. Plus, some cleaning products seem to trigger headaches for John and sinus problems for me, so I figured maybe I’d pick up a couple of recipes for cleaning stuff with vinegar and baking soda and lavender or whatever, and then everybody wins!

So I got a book. I worked in a bookstore right after college, and I was a geeky library girl before that, so I usually turn to books for my answers. Well, books and now the Internet, but I still tend to favor books. In this case, that may have been a mistake. According to this book, just about everything in my house, from the foam in my couch, to the carpets, to my non-stick pans and my beloved Tupperware products, to the detergent I use to wash my dishes and my clothes, and the wax coating on my dental floss is chock full of harmful substances that disrupt hormones and cause cancers and destroy the planet.

It’s bad enough that I already spend a huge chunk of my time worrying about every single bite I take and the effect that it is going to have on my blood sugar and my efforts to lose weight. I do not need to add obsessing about the chemicals that apparently loom all around me, just waiting for their chance to strike. Seriously, this book makes it sound like you have to go be Amish to lead a healthy life. And the worst part is, it is filled with scary facts, and not nearly enough in the way of solutions. Now obviously I’m not going to trade in my Honda for a horse and buggy, nor am I chucking half my house into the front yard for some sort of purifying bonfire. I like modern life and its conveniences. I don’t really know how to react to all of this information. Can all of these products that are so readily available and so much a part of American life really be that bad for you? Aren’t there agencies and commissions and such that are supposed to protect us from this sort of thing? But then I think about how they’ve known forever that tobacco causes cancer, and yet I can go buy a pack of cigarettes any time I want to. Although there, at least it tells you right on the box “will cause cancer.” I don’t recall seeing a warning like that anywhere on my bottle of 409, my skillet or my couch.

Until I figure out what to do, I’ll just be cowering over here in the corner on my undyed cotton blanket, hoping that bottle of Windex doesn’t notice me. [Not really.] But I am trying to figure out what changes it might be worthwhile and reasonable to make. Perhaps I’ll poke around on the Internet for a few of those cleaning product recipes.

As I may have mentioned before, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed first thing in the morning. This morning as I was walking Seamus, I came up with a stupid saying that I’m pretty sure tops all of my previous morning slow-brainedness. (See? Still not good with the words. Too early.)

On Monday when we were walking, Seamus dove into a thicket of bushes and came up with a squeaking, terrified mouse in his mouth. Naturally, I freaked out, and started yelling “drop it! Drop it!” and being a good dog, he did. This took me totally off guard, because while Seamus stalks the odd bunny, squirrel or pine cone, he’s on the leash and never really gets to actually go after anything. Prior to this he’s always confined his hunting to stuffed bears, which he kills with great enthusiasm. Plus, he’s a beagle, so he’s more interested tracking scents than he is in actually catching anything. I don’t think he actually hurt the mouse, just scared it.

Every morning since, he has dragged me back to that thicket of bushes to revisit the scene of his triumph. I won’t let him go into the bushes, so he’s had to content himself with sniffing around them and inspecting the area just in front of them where he actually dropped the mouse. Well this morning, instead of trying to go into the bushes, he decided that he would pee all over them. And that was when I said it: “Good boy! I don’t mind you peeing on mousies. I just don’t want you to kill them.” Now there’s a sentence I’d be willing to bet no one else has ever said!

P. S. I don't think Seamus really hurt the mouse. He just frightened it. At least, there was no mouse corpse when I went back later, so I've decided that mouse was traumatized, but not injured. What? Please leave me my delusions.

Well Wednesday and Thursday looked remarkably like Tuesday, with the exception that I spent even more time in meetings today, and ended up coming home to work out instead of going to the gym.

They’ve just asked me to take on a very big project at work, so most of my days are going to be like this until, oh, about July 15th or so. This project is a huge deal, and I’m excited they’ve asked me to do it. I’m even more thrilled to have a co-leader tackling it with me, because it would be a lot for one person to handle all on their own. But it is nice to know that they think I’m the right person for the job. And I love a challenge, which this most certainly will be. Not in a bad way. It’s just a complicated project.

A complicated project that I need to go write some notes for, so I’ll keep this short. I did want to weigh in on something though, because it has been bugging me all week. Well, since the last election, really, but it resurfaced this week. I still don’t get all of the hysteria over gay marriage. Why do conservatives feel that gay marriage is a threat to straight marriage? With all of the problems facing this country and the world today, is this really the issue that people think we should be focused on right now? Or is the Bush administration just trying to build some street cred with their unhappy conservative base, while at the same time trying to distract people from focusing on what a mess this country is? Chris has already said all this very eloquently so I’ll just refer you to him, but I would like to add that straight or gay, your marriage is as valid and as special as you make it, based on what you put into it and how you treat the person you are married to. That’s what matters.

6:50 Get up slightly earlier than usual in hopes of getting to work by 9 for once because I have meetings all day starting at 9:30.

7:00 – 7:30 Walk exceedingly cute dog.

7:30 – 7:40 Check blood sugar (108, not too shabby) get snacks ready to take to work.

7:45 Get in shower.

8:00-ish Brush my teeth, get dressed (in skirt that hasn’t fit me in years!), gather my stuff together and get on the road

8:45 45 minutes and I’ve gone eight miles. Damn traffic.

8:55 Give up on getting to eat oatmeal at my desk and start on baggie of Puffins cereal I was bringing for a snack later.

9:02 Traffic finally starts moving at a decent pace.

9:22 Arrive at the office, no doubt making a great impression on the president of the company who is getting on the elevator to go to the 9:30 meeting as I get off the elevator to go by my office first. Damn traffic.

9:30-11:30 Meeting number one goes fine

11:30-12:45 Meeting number two, not so successful. We’ll see. We’re supposed to have lunch, but it doesn’t happen. Now I have no lunch.

12:45-1:00 Read through emails at my desk.

1:00-1:15 Stand in line at Chipotle for salad. I think the Chipotle line would move a lot faster if they ever opened up the second register.

1:20-1:40 Eat Chipotle salad at my desk. I didn’t get the dressing or the sour cream, but they put so much guacamole on this thing that I may well be eating an entire avocado. I sure hope this is raising my good cholesterol.

1:40-2:00 Talk to co-workers, get stuff ready for 2:00 meeting (number three)

2:00-3:30 Meeting number three goes very well, but we don’t get to cover everything we need to discuss. Make plans for meeting three, part 2 later this week.

3:30-3:45 Show up half an hour late for party celebrating a guy who just got promoted to Vice President. Arrive just in time for cake, which I can’t eat. Chat with co-workers, but don’t get the chance to actually congratulate new VP.

3:47 Arrive back at desk to start doing my work for the day.

3:50 Dammit! I missed a call from my brother who is just back from his three week trip to China.

4:00 Oh, maybe that’s Tim calling back now.

4:00:15 Dammit! Nope, not Tim. It’s a copywriter who is going to trap me on the phone and try to a) get me to commit to things I can’t commit to doing and b) pitch me on ideas.

4:15 Free from phone call. Must write copy of my own.

4:30 Take phone call from co-worker. Guess what? Another meeting goes on the books.

4:35-6:00 Work away. Finish copy. Discuss tests for tomorrow. Schedule yet another meeting.

6:00 John calls with story about how Best Buy called, and there’s a problem with my laptop. It seems it went on a rampage at their repair facility, injuring several people before bursting into flames and taking out half a warehouse. No, actually, it has finally been repaired and is ready for pickup! Yay!

6:30-7:15 Go to gym. Put in a solid 45 minutes on the elliptical machine. Try not to compare myself to the tiny, perfectly fit girl who comes in and does what looks like the hardest elliptical machine workout ever. Remind myself of all of the progress I’ve made. Also, if I tried to do that program, I’d keel over and fall off the elliptical machine. And no one wants that.

7:25-7:55 Whole Foods. Why does the healthy food have to cost so much more than the regular food? My grocery bills are insane now.

8:17 Crest the last hill on 270 and see Frederick spread out in the valley in front of me. The drive home is so much better than the drive in to work.

8:25 Pick up laptop from Best Buy. The Geek Squad has tied a little orange bow around it, which is a cute touch. But more importantly, they have fixed my laptop! I’m so happy to have you back little laptop.

8:35-ish Greet dancing, singing beagle. And husband, who is not dancing or singing, but does seem happy to see me.

8:45 Power up computer and discover that the folks at Best Buy have left their Batman DVD in my laptop. At least I know they checked to be sure the DVD player really was working.

9:00 Start reheating leftovers for dinner. Put away groceries.

9:17 Dinner. Veggie meatloaf, vegan gravy, mashed potatoes and corn and peas. Yummy.

10:00 Watch Rescue Me, happily typing away on my laptop. Dear laptop, I love you. Never leave me again. You know what else I love? Rescue Me. Sometimes it gets a little dark and bleak and violent, but it is also well written and acted and interesting.

11:30 Test blood sugar again. 123 – right where it should be.

11:39 Bed time. Good night!

I spent the weekend messing with stuff around the house. After a crazy week at work, I didn’t really want to go anywhere or do anything. So now my flower beds have been weeded (again), my files are organized, delicious meals have been cooked and their leftovers have been packed away in the fridge, the laundry is done and my house is clean. Well, as clean as any house I’m in charge of cleaning will ever be. Which means there’s an untidy pile of magazines stuffed into a corner of the bedroom, doggie nose prints on the windows, and most likely dust bunnies under the couch. I happen to find doggie nose prints charming.

One year in to homeownership, John and I are definitely still loving our house. It is our oasis, our refuge, our palace. I love that we have a little back yard where Seamus can bask in the sun and dig the odd hole. I love how we’ve made it our own. Sure, we still have to sort out what we want to do with the wallpaper in the living room, the dining room/office is kind of a mess and we have no furniture in one of the guest rooms, but it is our place and it is great.

I do have a few questions that I’m hoping those of you who’ve had a house longer than I have can answer. First of all, termites. We had a termite inspection last year before we bought the house, and we didn’t have any. Now the company is sending us notices saying that we should get the house inspected again. Do we really have to do this every year? And then there’s the homeowner’s association. They sent us a notice saying that when they did the spring inspection, our grass needed trimming (possible, depending on the day) our shrubbery needed trimming (done) our tree needed trimming (also done) and our front steps “need maintenance.” Now, my front steps look fine to me. Absolutely fine! They’re not dirty. The railings are painted black and not rusty or anything. And that’s pretty much all I can come up with in terms of front step maintenance. In fact, I would say that my front steps look like my neighbor’s front steps. I called the management company and left them a message telling them I’m going to need a little more guidance than that. They haven’t gotten back to me. What exactly can a homeowner’s association do to me if we disagree about something they say I should do? Can they fine me? Can I ignore them? Anyone got any Homeowner's Association stories?