Friday, February 25, 2011

Miss you, Monkey


Tragedy struck this week and we lost the smallest and scruffiest member of our little family…

11 years ago my ex-girlfriend dragged me to the Atlanta Humane Society to kill some time before a movie. I knew she wanted another dog but considering how much I disliked living with her current pooch, I was vehemently against bringing in another mongrel.

About 10 minutes into me poo-pooing every little puppy she pointed out, she suddenly went over to one of the cages on the wall, grabbed something black out of it and forced it upon me. I begrudgingly reached out and pulled the shaking thing towards me and said “I don’t even know what this thing is, but it is coming home with us!”. She was a two-time loser at the pound being brought in, adopted and then brought back again. I was smitten. I named her Gertrude.

She was a strange looking and acting dog to say the least. Her head was 3 times the size of her body, she was in severe need of canine braces, her hair was something straight from the mind of Dr. Seuss and she refused to be held or even pet. It wasn’t until my ex became my ex and was moving out that we found all the items that had mysteriously disappeared over the past couple of months. A razor, a spoon, pieces of paper, hair rubber bands, tissues…they all came flying out of the bottom of the box spring where Gertie had made a slit and stuffed her treasures. I think she was just a foster kid who had been dumped before, so this time she was collecting what she could for possible trades once back in the slammer.

Once when staying with my mother she decided to take her chances on finding her way home and was picked up by a lady on the on-ramp to the interstate. Having lived with my mother for 18 years, I couldn’t blame her.

We moved in with a friend where Gert became best buds with a cat named Pooty who used to climb on her back to reach the treats on a second shelf. A year later and we moved in with the bestie and the very first night she decided to head out the open door to troll the streets of the Highlands. She narrowly escaped becoming the dog of an Alabama queen that night, but fate always kept us together.

By this time she had finally grown into her head and became more and more affectionate. Each morning when the sun came through my bedroom window, she’d sit on the pillow next to my head and stare a hole in me until I’d wake up and raise the covers so she could scurry under and nestle down at my feet and sleep until I dragged her out of bed. She’d wait patiently at the door until the wee hours of the morning when Pablo and I would return home from the bars, holding out for the chance of getting a bite of whatever fast food we had picked up on our way home at 3am. She was a huge fan of a Krystal.

At 2 years old she happily welcomed her second mother and reluctantly put up with her new sister, Maggie. Thankfully Maggs never gave up trying to win her over and eventually they became constant playmates. Jules taught her how to fetch a ball and how to actually listen and mind. Together we settled into a domestic life of stability and more love than we knew what to do with.

She was a rotten dog who’d bark at a leaf falling in a 10 mile radius or just nothing at all, she would roll around in anything disgusting she found outside, loved eating cat poop and would stop 103 times on a walk to mark her territory. She was also smart as a whip and would learn any trick you threw at her if it meant a treat was coming.

Leaving Gert behind when we left to travel was harder than I could have imagined and I cried hysterically the entire ride from Athens to Atlanta and randomly throughout the years whenever I thought of how much I missed her little Fraggle butt. We were beyond grateful for our wonderful friends who took care of her while we were gone and loved her as their own.

Losing her this week was losing a chunk of my heart- a very scruffy, monkey-like piece of my heart.

She was the best Gert she could be, which wasn’t very good, but she was ours and we loved her more than life.

You will be forever missed, Monkey. Forever.

Rest in peace, sweet girl...








Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Who wants to buy a great house?!?

atlanta grant park house for sale

Okay, so if we're ever going to move back to Atlanta we need to sell our house and to sell our house we need your help putting the word out.

It's a 3bd/2ba house built just 6 years ago on the corner of 2 tree-lined streets in historical Grant Park. Professional landscaping, tons of storage, open and dramatic floor plan with soaring vaulted ceilings, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, a double-sided fireplace...the list goes on and on.

Check it out and give our realtor a call! Not looking? Then pass it along to someone who is or someone who may know someone.

round 2

The Wife is on a different kind of project this time so our next location is actually 2, with four weeks in both Poland and Argentina!!

To be completely honest, this was at the very bottom of our "want to go there!" list for this round, but after about 2.3 seconds I realized that even if it wasn't our first (or second, or third, or fourth, etc) choice, it wasn't Atlanta and yes there are some people stuck here again.

We're excited to be in Europe again with the possibility of seeing some friends and I can't wait to be back in Buenos Aires. Tango on the street, dulche de leche atop everything, parrillas, cafe con leches and streets that literally smell like leather...I love it there!

Monday, February 14, 2011

d.c.

We had a great weekend in our nation's capital...great food, wonderful museums, monuments, tons of walking, friends and a drag show brunch. I really couldn't have asked for anything more for a birthday weekend...













all the pics from the weekend:

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

last minute trip!

I totally admit that I've been a bit bored not traveling at all since we've been home. I'm sure being in the hotel for 2 days straight with yet another nasty cold didn't help last weekend, but I'm itching to get to an airport!

Thankfully, my lovely Wife decided to whisk us away to our nation's capital for my birthday weekend! Itch--->Scratched

Can't wait!!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Recharging

Being home is always a busy time for us. We’ve got oodles of friends and family to catch up with (which we are incredibly grateful for and enjoy every minute of) and then there are all the errands, doctor, vet and dentist appointments to cram in. With me picking up this little work gig and us getting the house ready to sell, we’ve been in serious overdrive.

Last year when we were home we traveled 3 weekends and spent 3 weekends at home. Considering our lack of time this year and the outrageous cost of flying in America, we’re looking at only one weekend away this entire round.

It feels weird to stay every weekend and be so settled. Yes, I realize that living in a hotel in a city for 6 weeks isn’t exactly “settled”, but it’s a world away from what our life has been for the past 2 years.

I’m a little concerned that we’re going to be in for a shock when we get back on the road, but Jules assures me we are just recharging and will be completely reenergized and raring to go when we head out in March.

We hope to find out next week where exactly we’ll be assigned to go Round 2 so keep those fingers crossed. We’re really hoping to head down under, but in all honesty it’s a pretty great round with a lot of great locales so we should be happy wherever we’re sent.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

the daily(ish)

One of the views from our new home...



The Midtown skyline is home to all of my fave buildings in Atlanta.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

the daily(ish)

When we were home for the holidays I got a little tour of turkey trophies at the bro in-law's house. I was seriously confused by the "beard" as I had no idea a turkey even had a beard, much less one that could be taken as a hunting trophy.

Thankfully, my new office offered up this guy who shed some serious light on the subject...



Who knew? I mean except wild turkey hunters.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011