Mandaj’s Neighborhood

It's officially fall and I'm drinking some amazing mint cocoa. I love the fall, the leaves, the smell, the fun, but I hate the cold. It's 50* here today and burr! We had to fix the basement window from where the lightning shattered the glass. We've been lazy and ignored it, but the temperatures have made it where we needed to fix it today or else. So we went out to the local hardware store, got some glass and put it in. Unfortunately I don't know how I did it, but the glass cut the bejeebers out of my finger. It hurts, to say the least. I need to get some pictures, but the other day I forgot to take my camera with me on my walk. Figure right? I usually do that. Other than that I've just been busy planning for story times at work & working. I'm trying to catch up on my reading but I've just not been motivated to do so. I need to get busy because some of the books are coming due in a few days....Labels: daily

Bella's loving lazy Saturdays just as much as I am :) She's slowly getting bigger! She's definitely got slightly taller & a little rounder. Plus she's doing extrememly well on the potty training issues. This morning she got up out of her bed & shot into the kitchen & I was like what in the world is she doing? (Which isn't a abnormal question to be asking about her since she's absolutely bonkers sometimes) So I was keeping an eye on her and she got to the corner of the stove and turns around to look at me with a "WTF come on I gotta go" look on her face, I got up and ran to the front door where she was waiting and she zinged outside to go! I was so proud of her :) She's only 2 days short of being 10 weeks old & I'm amazed at how well she's doing.Her personality cracks me up. She's a zinger that's for sure. She romps constantly throughout the day especially in the morning and at night. Poor Beethoven is like "Leave an old man alone!" but they're getting along really well. She gets so fired up & aggravated easily so we're trying not to play with her too much because we don't want her to get mean. She loves being by someone and sleeping, which is extremely adorable.Labels: Bella, daily

Taking the dogs to the pound today...

Man I needed a break this week. It wasn't one thing that made me feel this way it was just anything & everything. Therefore I'm extremely thankful I have a 4 day weekend, I don't go back to work til Wednesday & I'm reveling in the fact that I can hole up until then. So far I've been enjoying my families company & catching up on some reading. There's nothing better than relaxing and knowing that there's not going to be some sort of drama around the corner. I'm enjoying it a ton, can you tell? ha!I recently downloaded Ingrid Michaelson's new cd, Everybody and I love it! Here's a song from the new album. We also got a new puppy & here's a video of her being absolutely nuts.Enjoy!Labels: daily

This week has been insane. The weather for the last three days have been bordering on chilly during the day & extremely chilly at night. It's the middle of August. IN MISSOURI. Are ya kidding me?! Normally the temperature is in the 100's with heat indexes out of the roof but we've hardly had any days like that. It feels & smells like fall but I'm not ready for the summer to be over. Don't get me wrong, I love snow, Christmas time & drinking lots of mint tea however I hate having the "cooped up" feeling of having to stay in the house & it blistering cold all the time. Plus I'll miss days of doing things like this:Oh well it'll be back next year! I recently finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I really loved the book, her writing is amazing. It's full of amazing characters who draw you into their world and make you feel every emotion as if it were yours. Sam's intensity & sadness is so palpable that you want to reach through the book and hug him. The world Maggie describes & pulls you into is one that you won't want to leave. She weaves an amazing story that leaves you wanting for more. I cannot wait til for Linger!I also won a audio book of Shiver from Maggie's blog & if you keep an eye out in the near future you'll be able to win one too!Labels: books, daily, maggie stiefvater