The Poop Run

So Brett and I have been dealing with this phenomenon for a little over a year now. The Poop Run is what Billie Jean does when she needs to go #2. This dog will run over a block before finding the right place to go. She's also pretty private so this "spot" also cannot be within 15 feet of another person, dog or running car. If she sees a person, dog or a moving/running car the Poop Run must start from the beginning. Some nights we could spend 20 minutes running after this dog looking at her butt waiting for something to happen. The spot must also be hidden and also "perfect". Usually a "perfect" spot is on top of leaves, in between the curb and a car, hidden behind a house or down a scary alley. Pooping on top of snow is pretty difficult. A new method is to run back and forth across a snowy area to create a private divot in which to poop. That works pretty well.

I haven't asked but I'm pretty sure that the dog walker wants to murder my dog everyday when she is dragging her around attempting to poop. I'm afraid that if I ask I might get slapped by a neon blue poop bag she has in her hand.

The Poop Run has caused more than one problem before. Due to our dog's private bathroom needs she sometimes runs away from the park area to do her business. God forbid Oscar, Roxanne, Sadie or Birch see her poop. She'd never be able to live it down. When my dog is running away other dogs find it perfectly acceptable to go within inches of my feet. Me, well I'd rather a dog with some discretion but her private pooping is a little out of control. I think she might actually get embarrassed if someone/dog sees her pooping. Her head darts around like she's trying to hide and then gives me death looks like I was supposed to stop traffic while she is going.

The dog has issues. I have like 10 more years of the Poop Run in my future. Wish me luck.

2008 Review

We are a couple days away from the end of 2008. Its been a good year and I thought I'd review some of the highlights and low-lights.

I finally paid off my car. I own a car! Then it broke. Stupid car broke about 2 months after I paid that bitch off. Nasty.

In 2008 there was some baby news. My friend Matt is having a baby... well his new wife is but its 50% him. That's scary. If you have ever met Matt you'd be afraid right now. My friend Nancie is also having a baby. As a child she used to talk like the devil. I'm not kidding. She had this deep awful devil voice that she used to talk in. Lets hope her kid doesn't get that gene.

Also I learned the truth about child birth. All you women out there who are like "oh sure it was fine" are all lying. My friend Lauren just had a baby and told us the TRUTH. Her baby girl was a week late and after 30 hours just didn't feel like coming out. So she had a C-Section and said it was all just awful. Granted she's happy as a clam now with beautiful Annabelle but she told us the truth. It was awful. Anything over 4 pounds is like popping out a turkey. I might re-consider this whole mommy thing. I cant even keep a dog from eating Aleve and Vaseline. Shouldn't that tell you all something?

I joined a Krav Maga class. I loved it. I kicked some major ass. I also got the largest bruise known to man. I impressed some huge ass dudes by kicking their asses. It was pretty awesome. I keep waiting for someone to choke me or trap me so I can "go all krav on them". So far no takers.

The Celtics won their 17th Banner last June. It was amazing. After freaking out that Brett bought Celtics Season tickets it was all worth it. We went to almost all of the home playoff games and we were there the night they clinched the title. It was amazing. We cried and we smelled cigar smoke. It was great. Congrats Celtics. You deserve it!



I took part in a very important election. I'm excited to see what 2009 brings. Please make this economy better. I need to sell my condo in a couple of years and my friends need to get their jobs back!

I also learned some not so great things. I learned first hand what its like to deal with someone with addiction problems. One of my co-workers had a serious addiction problem and we had to deal with that in the workplace. It was an incredibly difficult time and I don't think I did so well. I've been around addiction before but this was a little different. We had to hide it and cover for her because we thought that was best. It wasn't. Hopefully we all learned how to react next time.

I got a new job! After 4 1/2 years at The Agency I left to take a job at The Smaller Agency. It was a great move. I'm leaving work earlier and working on projects that I did not have the opportunity to do at The Old Agency. It was a great career move for me. I'm also pretty excited about my negotiation skills. I got game.

Also in the not so fab 2008 news I initiated a law suit against my former neighbor. Its still on-going. He stole several thousands of dollars from us and we are hoping 2009 is the year we can make this right and get out money back. hhmmm maybe I can use my sweet Krav moves on that asshole. woot woot!

I painted the front room/office of our house. It looks great. It took me forever but I did it. All by myself. Next time I will be hiring someone. Painting is a bitch. Thankfully the sea foam green is now gone.



I went on my first cruise. It was only for 2 days but it was great. Apparently I get sea sick. Brett said I was a wuss.



I survived the first year of Brett going back to school. Its not fun - for either of us. I learned to talk to Brett "in clif note version" so he could still do homework and I could still tell him my daily stories. I cant wait for classes to be over.

I also had some great times this year with my family and friends. Kristy and Casey's trip to Boston was awesome.

We had a blast with Dick and Mich at the Cat House in Hyannis.

I also had an amazing time at the New Kids on the Block concert and rocked out like a retard.




i watched my puppy grow up. She will be two years old in April of 09. She still eats EVERYTHING including a bottle of Aleve and Vaseline. She also still has her weird quirks that makes her our dog. I cant imagine life without her. Isnt that what people say about kids? hehehe





I hope you had a great 2008 and I wish you a wonderful 2009. Love you all! -Jaci

House Modeling

I had 30 days to buy my condo. I think I did a pretty good job. Its a 777 sq feet rowhouse but its a nice place. Its a 1 bath two bedroom place with what looks like granite countertops and cherry hardwood floors throughout. Its on a nice street with lots of trees and within walking distance to a grocery store, restaurants and coffee shops. Its also a 10 minute walk to the T (subway) and there is parking on the street. We are on the second floor with one unit below and one above us. There is also a great roofdeck with a grill and a view of the city. In the summer you can see the fireworks on the 4th of July from the Charles River.

I walked into this place when we were looking and it felt like home. Everyone felt that way. Pretty sure my mom started praying that we could get this place.

I also knew it would be an easy place to sell again. That was one of the qualifiers. Since we move every couple of years it needed to be sellable with little to no improvements needed.

Since we moved in I had a walk in closet installed in the 8x10 room off the side of the second bedroom/office in the front. The walk in closet is not a common feature and I didnt see a single one in the 30+ condos I looked at in the city. Nice selling point right? I also painted the front room to a neutral color. It was a light green before - not a fan. I also bought a new kitchen fan (the other one actually broke) but it makes a big difference. I was watching HGTV today and thinking about how I would model my house when I go to sell and have an open house. Here are the things I would do.

1. remove the coffee table - dog ate it. Not good
2. remove the livingroom rug & polish all of the hardwood floors to a shine
3. remove all of the dogs stuff and clean out the closet so you can actually see the potential
4. remove the papasan
5. remove all pictures hanging on the exposed brick
6. plant some nice flowers in the outside pot on the sidewalk. Place more flowers on the steps of the lobby
7. remove the stuff from the closets to show that our clothes arent cramped in there
8. remove the couch from the office to make that room look larger
9. remove everything from the countertops to make the kitchen look larger
10. remove the coat rack - makes it cramped when you walk in

Those are my ideas. What do you think?

I remember looking at other condos and thinking that I'd like to see the closet without so many clothes and i kept thinking - will my stuff fit if theirs cant? So many people left their places so cramped and filled with their own personality. From watching HGTV i believe the best bet is to make it neutral enough that everyone else can imagine their own personality in the condo. We have a couple of years still but everything I do I always think about what that means for us and selling this place again.

Please don't re-send the chocolates!

Its Christmastime and working at an ad agency you get a lot of food gifts. Chocolates and pies and cupcakes galore! Its a bad time to think about a diet. Well... it normally would be...

On Tuesday afternoon I got a box of chocolate from one of my sales reps. I opened it up and ate a chocolate and some other people had some nuts. So the cleaning people wouldn't throw the box out I put it on my desk for the night. Wednesday morning I put the box back on the cafe table in the middle of the office. Around noon someone went to check out the goodies. Instead of lovely chocolates there were thousands of little tiny swarming bugs. We all screamed like little kids and tried to throw out the box as soon as possible.

The rest of the day I felt nasty. I was itchy feeling and sick. Then I also felt obligated to send an email to the company that paid for my gift basket. I wanted to let them know they should contact the vendor and also halt sending more before checking out the boxes. I also called my old agency and instructed them to throw out their box asap. The next day I got an apologetic voicemail and an email from the president of the company. I felt bad but I also ate bugs. In the email the president said she would be sending another replacement box. I quickly wrote back and told her it wasn't a big deal (a lie) and that she did not have to send a new box (because it would just get thrown out) very nicely. Come on! Who wants more bug chocolates??? NASTY!!!


Then I thought that would be the worst of it and it really was but I still continued to have food gift issues. I got a small box of peppermint bark and I brought it home. I opened up the box to have one after dinner on Friday and as I picked up the bark a big huge thick piece of hair came up with it. It wasn't mine. It was wrapped in my bark. Needless to say I threw out that box too.

Whats up with food lately? I think its safe to say I am officially on a food gift diet. No more for Jaci.

The Quest for the Best Boston Burrito

My husband has an obsession with Burritos. The man could eat one every day. He grew up in Southern California and now that we live in Boston there is a ongoing quest for the best East Coast burrito.

The other day was a first for me. Brett had read about this great burrito place in Beacon Hill and wanted to check it out. I Googled it and the website looked great. There were reviews from Todd English but for some reason I didn't read the FINE print. Apparently the burrito "restaurant" is IN a gas station.

Brett and I pulled up to the pump and went in for our burritos. They were great! They weren't the best of Boston but they were pretty damn good.

We are still on our quest. Any suggestions? Oh and see the last post... we tried Jose's in Cambridge and then came home to Billie Jean and some little blue pills.

A bottle of Aleve and Vaseline

Its what my dog had for lunch this past Friday.

Brett and I came home from some Birthday Burritos (we took the day off for our birthday) and the dog had taken a jar of Vaseline off my bedside table. She licked it clean. I got mad at her and threw the jar away. Then when I went into the office I saw 32 blue pills on the office couch. She had chewed the entire bottle but left 32 pills. I freaked. Aleve is made of Naproxen and is toxic to dogs. I called my vet and they told me to call Poison Control. $60 later I was on the phone with a doctor who was telling me that if Billie Jean had more than 2 pills she was screwed. At 2+ pills she would probably either have Kidney failure or ulcers. They made me give her two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide to make her vomit and that worked. Unfortunately no pills were in there. We had to go to the vets to make sure. She's my baby. I couldn't lose her.

We went to the vet and Billie was given a stomach full of charcoal and an IV. They wanted to keep her till Sunday. We left her overnight but on Saturday I didn't know if I wanted to keep her there. The idiot vet also called me and asked the following "Is Billie Jean a picky eater?" I literally almost reached through the phone to bitch slap her. Is she kidding? The dog ate Vaseline and Aleve. Pretty sure she'd eat just about anything.

Soo... I called again and asked how much the damage was already. $417 for Friday and half of Saturday. I made the decision to pick her up. There was no way I was paying another $250 for another night. I knew that I could drop her off the next day for more fluids for about $30. $250 vs $30? ya - I choose $30 and picked up my puppy.

She is doing much better. Yesterday she got more fluids and some drugs. I stayed home with her today and she is back to her old self.

My stupid dog. I will have to add this to the list of things she has eaten.