So my folks went to Dubuque over Memorial Day weekend and got their new puppy. They decided to name him Winston instead of Panzar. Mom calls him "Winnie" and Dad calls him "Winston." He's an absolute doll. The first day Peter and I went over to meet him, he was VERY sleepy and just wanted to relax. So I held him and he fell asleep and took a nap on me. He's extremely soft.

I went over last weekend to watch him while my folks visited some friends for an evening. He's becoming a little more rambuctous (sp?) and loves to nibble on toes. But he's still so cute. Shermie gets a little annoyed sometimes. Winston isn't fully potty trained and has peed on poor Shermie's bed. Hopefully he won't be on Shermie's shitlist for too much longer.

Not much else is new with me. I finally got my answer from the funeral home in Washington and it was a negative. The economy is hard on the business right now, along with fuel prices being so high...

I'm pretty much just going to look around again. Time is running out, and so is my patience.

Peter and I are thisclose to getting ready to sell my Jeep. I have to replace the door handles, and get it detailed and we'll start advertising. Once we sell the Jeep, we'll start househunting! Peter got a raise today, so that was excellent news.

Probably on the forefront of my mind, more than anything in my personal life, is the flooding here in the midwest, particularly Iowa City of course. I'm just keeping families and businesses in my thoughts during this time. It's only going to get worse. I've never seen anything like this though. I will post pictures on here soon.

Speaking of pictures, I have posted three new photo albums on facebook, honeymoon pictures, Clayton & Molly's wedding in New Orleans, and an album of random pictures that I had on my digital camera eating up some space. There's puppy pictures, Totoro pictures, tailgating and holiday pictures on there as well. Better late than never! Even if it was REALLY late... especially the honeymoon photos.

Things to look forward to lately:

-Joanna's wedding... her bridal shower was a good time even though I didn't know many people at all. She loved her gift! The theme was "Around the Clock," and I was assigned 2pm. I don't know about anyone else, but naptime is 2pm if I had my way on a day off. So I gave her and Ben a hammock. I think it was a hit!

-Ann Arbor Art Fair... 5 days off from work in Ann Arbor, MI to spend time with Peter's family and spend money I don't have on art. I love it! The Art Fair in Ann Arbor is absolutely wonderful.

-My Golden Birthday... don't expect a large celebration. Once you've hit 21, your birthday no longer matters to anyone but yourself. :o) 25 just seems especially weird for me, don't ask me why.

-Lollapalooza... I can't go on enough about how excited I am for this- Radiohead, NIN, Rage Against the Machine, The Black Keys, Kanye West, etc etc etc... I am SO pumped for this. Last time we went (2005) we had an absolute blast. Hopefully the weather is a tad cooler for us this year... 100 degree temps in an open park when surrounded by thousands of sweaty people isn't that much fun... good thing the music more than makes up for it.

My summer is packed with fun stuff... let the good times roll!

P.S. Read Obama's book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. This man will be an amazing President. I will be PROUD to be an American again when he is elected.

One More Thing

This is awesome.

The Empire Strikes Barack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1mPBOLIipU

A New Sibling!

No, my mom is not pregnant (that would be uber-weird), but my folks ARE getting a new puppy! My dad has been wanting one for the last two years or so, but my mom has been hesitant because of the work that goes into training (potty, tricks, and otherwise) for a puppy. Not to mention the upkeep on cleaning. But, that was before my mom found a breeder for Bernese Mountain dogs in Iowa. Mom's loved Bernese for a while now. How would you be able to resist:

My parents have yet to name him... I want to be in on that. My dad was thinking of naming him Panzar, after the tank (since Sherman is also the name of a tank), but I guess they have put it on the list. They will be picking him up Memorial Day weekend, I think I have to work, but we will see.

Not too much else is new. Peter and I went up to Cedar Rapids yesterday for Cinco de Mayo and went out to dinner with Dorrie at her favorite Mexican place. I had a Dos Equis and a delicious plate of comida. We dropped Peter off at the guitar store and Dorrie and I went into my new favorite store- Ulta. Cosmetics, perfumes, hair products, oh my!

I'm going to call the funeral home in Washington today to touch base with them AGAIN. I wish they would call me up and say, "Rachel, we've been dreaming of having an intern like you. Can you start tomorrow?" But alas, you have to work for what you really want in this life, so I will be calling them.

That's all I've got. Wish me luck in my phone call!!

The Iowa Caucus

Well, not too much new has been happening. I suppose the only news to report is that Peter and I went to the Iowa caucus on Thursday (Jan. 3). I went in Uncommitted and Peter was for Edwards. After going back and forth between 3-4 candidates, I had to decide there and then who I wanted. I chose Obama.

I stood over by the supporters for Obama and it was unbelievably crowded. Peter wanted me to stand by him over with the Edwards supporters, so I did. There was, roughly, 325 people in my precinct alone, which was an AWESOME turnout. There were about 250 people standing for Obama, and the rest were dispersed among the other candidates- Edwards, Clinton, Biden, Kucinich, and Richardson. Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel didn't have any. Bantering and cheering and a little bit of chaos ended up in 6 delegates for Obama and 1 for Uncommitted. Peter and I decided to go over to Obama, so we at least counted for something. We were totally fine standing with the Obama people anyway because he's a great candidate.

I am still undecided on who should be the nominee for the Democrats. I think they each have strong points about them. Yes, even Hillary, although it pains me to say so. Anything is better than what we have now, but it's comforting to know that we would be in good, if not great, hands if any Dem won in November. It is between Edwards and Obama for me. It is extremely refreshing and exciting that Obama won the caucus in Iowa, but on ideas alone, I am torn.

Now back to watching the New Hampshire debates... ;-)