Comedy of Errors

Last week we were walking Miss Teen USA, when a certain series of events sent me into a fit of laughter and crying.

We were walking along a dirt path in the courtyard of our condo community.

Event#1 - I run into a tree branch with my face.

...The tree branch causes me to duck sharply to the side...

Event#2 - I put my head down straight into P&AF's shoulder, with a fair amount of force.

...and at the exact same moment...

Event#3 - Miss Teen USA decides that she sees something ahead and takes off running.

Event#4 - P&AF lets go of the dog leash as Miss Teen USA tugs strongly on the leash and I simultaneously ram my cheek into his shoulder on the arm that he is holding the leash with.

Event#5 - Miss Teen USA runs off happily, trailing the retractable leash behind her.

And the final event....I start laughing and crying at the same time. I was on very little sleep, and the dual tree branch whack with the shoulder smack really smarted. Add that to the fact that for a few days it had seemed like everything that could go wrong with Miss Teen USA would. So, this little series of events just seemed like the icing on the cake. But ultimately, I was at least half laughing.

What I Didn't Know About Dogs

It is actually possible for an animal to hog-tie itself. Seriously. It takes a little maneuvering, but it can be done.

We were out walking Miss Teen USA the other night, and she walked a little bit ahead of us. She was on one of those retractable leashes. She grabbed the leash in her mouth and began to prance ahead. (She's very proud of herself whenever she grabs the leash in her mouth, so she prances.) We then called her back to us. She stopped, turned to look, and caught her tail in the corner of her eye rather than seeing us. This caused her to spin around crazily after her tail, wrapping the leash around her own legs, tying them together, and then tipping her over. Hog-tied.

Hilarious.

It's Just Like The California DMV

I am a few days away from graduating. And today I receive a letter in the mail saying that something hasn't been submitted for my graduation, and my degree cannot be conferred until it is. I have been calling and emailing the graduate college for WEEKS trying to confirm that everything is submitted. I have not received one response. Although, someone from my department did tell me not to worry; he assured me that they wouldn't hold me back from graduating and that they were going through a big software conversion. I realize that software/database conversions can be pretty awful; I have experienced plenty of hiccups with that myself. I just can't believe that it brought everything to a standstill. And, I can't believe that 3 days prior to graduation they sent me a LETTER telling me that I haven't met the requirements. I feel like I am getting letters from the California DMV telling me that I have gotten toll violations when my car isn't even registered in California all over again. Every time I think that I have everything taken care of, it isn't. And, no matter what I do, I can't seem to proactively make sure that everything is done.