A Capitalist Brew

I am happy to report that I brought home the gold in both sparring and traditional forms in the ladies green belt category!  How is that for some bling?

No Comments »

Today is the day we try to bring home the gold!  My ankle is still bothering me a lot, and I am quite nervous.  I am just hoping to bring home any medal at all.

More news by category Topic -: Buy phentermine saturday delivery ohio Tramadol hydrochloride tablets Picture of xanax pills Free shipping cheap phentermine Buying phentermine without prescription Safety of phentermine Pyridium Generic viagra cialis Cialis generic india Pink oval pill 17 xanax identification Buy free phentermine shipping Best price for generic viagra Information about street drugs or xanax bars Ordering viagra Snorting phentermine Hydrocodone overdose Lithium Amiodarone Get online viagra Order viagra prescription Order xanax paying cod Cheap phentermine free shipping Imiquimod Tramadol next day Linkdomain buy online viagra info domain buy onlin Pfizer viagra sperm Vidarabine Cheapest viagra price Prevacid Viagra cialis levitra comparison Dutasteride Lisinopril Thiotepa Female spray viagra Black market phentermine Betamethasone Cialis forums What does xanax look like Loss phentermine story success weight Order xanax overnight Viagra alternative uk Diet online phentermine pill Order xanax cod Mecamylamine Eulexin Cheap hydrocodone Buy cheapest viagra Viagra xenical Phentermine with no prior prescription Xanax in urine Macrodantin Cheap phentermine with online consultation Epivir Buy phentermine epharmacist Ditropan Woman use viagra Cialis erectile dysfunction Xanax withdrawl message boards Viagra online store Atorvastatin Generic ambien Is phentermine addictive Next day delivery on phentermine Buy online viagra Ethanol Natural phentermine Avandamet Xanax long term use Diet page phentermine pill yellow 5 cheap Cheapest secure delivery cialis uk Information medical phentermine Cialis experience Phentermine no perscription Compare ionamin phentermine Viagra cialis levivia dose comparison Noroxin Effects of viagra on women Buy cheap cialis Viagra shelf life Hydroxyurea Phentermine discount no prescription Buy cheap online viagra Dog xanax Online cialis Viagra class action Viagra price Phentermine without prescription and energy pill Hydrocodone cod only Nicoumalone Cheapest viagra Cheap ambien Vicodin without prescription Phentermine prescription online Phentermine snorting Mirtazapine Quazepam Isradipine Buy generic viagra online Xanax look alike Moxifloxacin Viagra experiences Piroxicam Nicorette Free try viagra Sotalol Cash on delivery shipping of phentermine How do i stop taking phentermine Xanax prescriptions Cheapest phentermine 90 day order Niacinamide Phentermine weight loss Phentermine

1 Comment »

We have entered our final week in this town.  Packing has become increasingly laborious.  I am so over it.  In fact, I have reached the point where I really would like to throw everything out rather than deal with packing it.  When not packing we are getting ready for the TaeKwonDo state championships this weekend.  I have been training hard, and I managed to take second place in the school’s sparring championship leading up to the tournament over the past 2.5 weeks.  My ankle is a bit sore from the training, but I don’t really have the time to rest it since I should be packing.  I started tearing up leaving class last night, and I told my friend that somebody better bring a large box of tissues for my final class on Monday night.  Well, I need to get back to that packing now.  Ugh.

No Comments »

I ran into one of my students yesterday while I was out getting my hair beautified.  I couldn’t help but immediately giggle to myself after she walked away as I was reminded of that scene in Legally Blonde where Elle runs into her law professor in the salon.  And the law professor says to Elle, “If your going to let one stupid pr*** ruin your life, your not the girl I thought you were.”  Unfortunately, I had no such sage words of advice to offer.

No Comments »

The words that come to mind when I think of Bella are “one of a kind”. She was truly a unique creature whose quirky nature made her perfect in our family. I am not sure that my words can do her justice, but to meet her was to love her. She would wiggle her way into your heart and get you to pat her head or throw the tennis ball to her. I will miss the way her little tail nubbin wiggled when she was happy and excited. I will miss the bright intelligence in her eyes until her last breath. I will miss the way she would come up beside me at my desk and nudge her head under my elbow to pet her. I will miss waking to find her standing next to me in the morning. I will miss having her beside me while I work and tripping over her while walking through the house because she was a “velcro dog” in every sense of the word. I will miss how people were scared of her, but we knew how loving and gentle her spirit really was. The birds and squirrels in the yard will not know what to do in the quiet that starts their day now. She has been gone for over two weeks now. I still feel a big empty spot in my heart without Bella, and we are trying to learn to live our lives without her. I don’t want to dwell anymore on the pain right now, and I am trying to celebrate the years we had together. Bella was so little as a baby, but she grew to be one of the biggest female dobermans we have yet to see. She was even bigger than a lot of male dobermans.

Bella loved the outdoors. She loved swimming and running in the woods, sniffing around to make friends with the other animals (birds, squirrels, turtles, etc.), or just lying outside while we worked or played in the yard.

Bella spent the first few years of her life in Mississippi before moving to the Washington, DC suburbs. This meant she got to visit the White House and play in over 18 inches of snow. Bella’s favorite things to do were go to the dog park and go for walks at Great Falls. Bella enjoyed those experiences immensely before moving south again to Alabama.

Bella was truly a member of the family more than just a dog. Until she could no longer jump on the bed, Bella treated our bed like her own and expected to go tell the Easter Bunny and Santa what she wanted just like all the other kids.

Bella did not have an easy life. She broke her back as a puppy, which was not discovered until she went to the vet school at Mississippi State when she was around 2. The local vet noticed a mass that he thought might be cancer and referred her to the vet school. She had surgery to remove the mass, which turned out to be a piece of grass that they thought she could have breathed in and migrated out her lung. She bore the scar from that surgery on her side for the rest of her life, and in that recovery process also managed to bite a chunk out of her leg while trying to get as the bandaged wound. Later in DC she would end up tearing the ACL in both of her back knees, but the recommended surgery was not an option due to the exhaustive recovery process and the fact that I was on modified bedrest with Brooke at the time. She was tough and managed to get along well without the surgery until about the last year of her life. And last summer you may remember that Bella had surgery to remove a fatty deposit on her chest but then almost died in the recovery process because they could not get her to stop bleeding for over a week after the surgery. Still, she pulled through and thrived until really the last couple of months when her body just started to get tired. Bella had a lot of tough things happen to her physically in her life, but none of those things ever changed her spirit. She even took the addition of two babies into the family with grace and learned to accept and love those children as part of her pack. She would have given her life for any one of us and loved just calling herself a part of our family. The feeling has always been mutual.

It’s hard to say you can learn something from your dog, but I learned something about life from Bella. Even through all the hardships she faced, Bella loved life. She was passionate about the things she loved and was always in the moment. That dog would bark every time we left like we had never left before and then would be at the door to greet you when you returned with her tail wagging. She would run out the back door 100 times a day after a bird or squirrel like she believed today was the day she was going to catch it.  She always had a smile for me.  Bella probably got to see and do more in her life than some people can say they have done.  She spent her days beside her family rather than alone in an empty house.  Bella lived a wonderful life and inspires me to try to live more in the moment and enjoy the small but precious things that each day brings.  I don’t know if I will ever be able to think about Bella without tears coming to my eyes and a lump coming to my throat.  She was so very special and is so very missed.  Bella, you will always be in our hearts and will always be loved.  I hope you are having fun as you run and swim without pain in dog heaven, and I look forward to seeing you again when the time comes.

2 Comments »

This morning I walked away from my desk to shower, and when I came back found that my phone was showing the contact information for one of my co-authors.  I thought this was strange because I did not try to call him but had read an email he sent me earlier in the morning.  This afternoon I get a call from him and find out that he received several mysterious phone calls from me this morning.  Or more accurately, he received several mysterious calls this morning from Luke.  Evidently as part of his raging terrible two disease he grabbed my phone and started pushing all kinds of buttons which allowed him to call my co-author multiple times.  He doesn’t have children but is a friend and had a good sense of humor about the calls.  I still apologized profusely and felt quite embarrassed.  Note to self: always lock the keyboard.  Always.

No Comments »

Getting ready for the state tournament and getting started sparring has been FUN!  I am loving this!  Today I had my first private lesson with my favorite instructor (I am so sad I am leaving him in two weeks), and it was great!  I learned so much in that short amount of time, and I had a blast working on my sparring with him.  I hope that the academy in our new town will be as great and filled with all the fun people we have here.

No Comments »

Just a quick post to wish my husband a Happy Father’s Day. He is a great dad, and my kids are very lucky.

Edit: Scott says I should add that I am lucky to have such a good babydaddy.

No Comments »

I am still having a really hard time learning how to live without Bella.  I am constantly reminded that she is not here and feel the loss in my daily routine from how I wake, how I eat, how I enter and exit the house, etc.  Every little thing about life is different.  Last night Scott was gone playing with his old man band, and I felt very lonely without Bella.  That was usually special time with us when she would crawl up next to me at my desk and then follow me into the bedroom where I would lie on the floor next to her and spend some quiet time petting her.  So, last night felt weird again.  I guess that is what continues to be hard…the continued sense of loss in the mundane tasks of life and the little things that continue to send me into tears at the most unexpected times.

The rest of our lives have been busy this week.  I am trying to get packing, Brooke has soccer camp all this week, and I have been trying to learn a new form and quickly catch onto sparring in TaeKwonDo.  Life moves on, and I am just trying to keep up with it.

No Comments »

Today we went and boxed up the remaining items in my office at school.  All that is left to do is return my keys this week.  It was about 4 years ago to the day that I first stepped foot in that building, and I guess that ordinarily I may have felt some nostalgic feelings about moving out and moving on from that point.  I could have looked back on how I felt 4 years ago at the beginning of the Ph.D. journey and how I feel today.   Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any of those things.  All I felt was sad that Bella is gone.  All I remember about 4 years ago was that Brooke was 7 months old and Bella was with us happy to have her own big backyard.  I think my depression and pain are getting worse as the shock is beginning to wear off.

No Comments »