Todd Being Todd

This is my dog, well this is my... rat that is technically classified as a dog. Some people call him cute. I call him mentally ill. The SC calls him Toody Woody. Not sure why she does that, but she does...must be a girl thing.

Any way, this is a shot post of Todd being Todd...enjoy! Pay close attention after his second go around. He almost falls over!

Real person...Bad model

And so at last, I am back.
To my four avid followers: I am back to satiate your ever-growing thirst for information pertaining to our lives.

I will just begin. My sous chef and I have been very busy the last few months. Yes, it has been that long since I have written. To summarize, since my last entry, I have graduated from NC State University and am all set to join the real world on January 17th. We got a dog. Well, he is more like a rat...a very bad, misbehaving rat...with more fur and a fluffier tail. I like to say that we received a bad model of a dog.

Currently I am in Utah where, upon my arrival, I was guilted into writing another blog. I then proceeded to procrastinate to the last second before I wrote the aforementioned blog post.

On December 18th, I graduated from College. It only took me seven years. No, I am not a doctor, or a lawyer, or anyone of real importance, just really slow. Two years off didn't help either. I graduated with honors from NC State University with degrees in Business Administration and French Language and Literature. On the same day, My sous-chef-in-law (aka Anna's sister, Alise) got married to her long-time love, Nate. After their wedding at the Duke Chapel in Durham they threw me a HUGE party! A bunch of people came that I don't even know. One of the stipulations to my party was that they got to dance together in front of everyone. Alise also danced with her dad and Nate danced with his mom, which I don't exactly understand. There were also a few toasts that were to Alise and Nate that I allowed to happen. I do appreciate the party though! Thanks a ton Nalise!

Before I graduated and the party was thrown we got a dog. It was a rescue Papillon. He is 6 lbs. 4 oz. of fur and fury! His name is Todd Hugo Potter, and he never ceases to bark. He barks at cats, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, other dogs (big/small/hairy/tiny/ugly/ pretty), his shadows (his own and others), bugs, elevators, paper, quarters, and grass and most other nouns you can think of. He is very well-behaved with S.C. and myself, buuuuutttt... he is basically terrible with everyone else. Maybe he won't be terrible forever, but I wouldn't count on it.

I guess we kinda like him.


I am going to be a real person soon. Yes, I will be one of those white collar, 9-6 (or possible 8-5 or 10-7) yuppies that has to work for a living to provide for his loving wife, future children, and rat. I am starting with Lenovo on the 17th of January. I will primarily be working in their sales department. I guess, though, it beats the state of limbo in which I have been living the last few weeks. The schedule for limbo is as follows:

7 am: wake up, walk the rat
7:15 am: go back to bed
8:30 am: kiss the sous-chef goodbye and bid her good day at work
10:30...ish am: wake up for real
10:45 am: put pop tart in the toaster oven
10:47 am: eat pop tart while watching arrested development on the 9 dollar-a-month-time- waster (aka netflix)
10:59 am: pause arrested develpment and pop in another set of pop tarts
11:01 am: resume
12:30 pm: walk rat
2:00 pm: get a call from sous-chef and tell her I will perfom the list that she has left for me before she gets home from work at 5:30
2:08 pm: maybe watch some hulu or...if the 11 hours of sleep isn't enough, take a nap.
2:09 pm: not write a blog post
4:00 pm: start on list that the sous-chef think will take 4 hours.
4:45 pm: finish the list
4:46 pm: sit around and call Anna every ten minutes telling her to hurry up and get home because I am bored and have conversations about the done list and the rat and work and the fact that I am in Limbo, and other things
5:30 pm: S.C. arrives home and the rat goes crazy.
5:35 pm: the rat sees a cloud on his walk and barks
5:39-11:00 pm: dinner/rat/movies/bliss/ hugs/ kisses/ fun with the S.C./ budgeting/ bill-paying/ etc.
11:01 pm: get ready for a tough day the next day and go to sleep

sooooo...yeah, I think working is better and much more lucrative. pop tarts are cheap.


that is my life right now. I will post pickies of the rat and the sous-chef and our glorious life very soon.

until next time, maybe a few months...

Rita's and St. Louis

My sous chef is gone. She has high-tailed it to the midwest on a business trip. I would tell you the name of the city, buuuuut I'm pretty sure the title of the blog says it all. Ok, for those of you who have yet to look at the title, she is in St. Louis. I, in turn, am left home...alone. I can do a lot of damage at home...alone. To be quite honest, I am not fit to run a household...alone. With Anna here, I become, as if by magic, more tidy. It's like, I want the place to look good so that we can enjoy each others company. When I have no company, I have already left a dirty bowl on the coffee table. One sec, I gotta go take that to the dishwasher...

K, I'm back. I really did go take it. I felt bad for those of you who were worried about my sanitary well being. So, in addition to the list of things I can't do alone, I would like to add one more...let me paint for you, if I may, a mental picture.

Imagine, you are at home in a very clean, one-bedroom apartment waiting for your sous-chef to arrive home from work. You come up with a dinner plan for the evening and start to execute it before she gets home. When she does get home, she realizes how much you are struggling in the kitchen without her mighty sous-chefness, and she cheerfully helps you create the artwork you will both enjoy for dinner. After dinner is prepared, she goes and lights the woodwick candle, and you prepare the glasses which will be filled with the nectar of the Gods, (i.e. Diet Dr. Pepper). Then, you both sit down, bless, and partake in what you both helped to create.

I will let you think of the meal that was prepared so that you can have an optimal mental picture.

After a delightful dinner, you clean up together to restore the very clean one-bedroom apartment to its previous glory. As the last dish is being put into the dishwasher, you...almost out of intuition to what the other is thinking suggest, "Hey, you wanna go to Rita's?" You hear, before the last word has even, escaped your lips, an emphatic, "YES! I'll get the keys!"

You walk together, out of your very clean one-bedroom apartment to the outside of your complex, where you see shining, like a beacon of hope, a neon sign -- "OPEN". You enter the establishment with your mouth watering, already knowing what it is you want. The girls behind the counter smile at you, recognizing your faces which frequent the establishment, and say, "welcome to Rita's." You stroll up to the counter and order a gelati with vanilla custard and (insert favorite italian ice flavor here). Your sous chef orders the same thing every time, a cotton candy italian ice. You pay, using one of the coupons you have amassed over the many times you have been here, and step out the door which reads, "Have an ice day!"

You step out, into the cool southern summer air that is threatening to turn into Fall, and as you stroll back to your very clean one-bedroom apartment, you take the first bite. You stop to taste the gentle combination of cool ice and creamy custard, and you truly believe, if only for a moment, that all is right in the world.

Exit mental picture

That was nice huh? Well that is what we do on a fairly regular basis. In fact, I would be doing that tonight if my sous chef wasn't in St. Louis, but she has forbidden me to do so because it is our tradition that we do together. I guess I will just have to lounge in my not-so-clean one bedroom apartment eating a hot pocket and doing homework. I'm bitter.

fairwell till next time

THE FIRST ONE

To our new public, we welcome you to our first blog which will chronicle our lives, libs, laughs, and loves. I know, I got a little carried away on the "L" words. I will see that it doesn't happen again.

To begin, me and my wife, my first love, Anna, were married on June 26th. We are exquisitely happy and enjoying our new life together. We live in Raleigh, NC in a one bedroom apartment which we love. It has a pool...and grills. Which brings me to my second love, cooking. This is a new one for me, I have recently (6 months ago) realized I love to cook. In fact 70% of the T.V. I watch is on the Food Network. Anna watches too, but she is much more talented as my sous chef. I love sous chefs.

My sous chef is a Sales and Marketing manager for the Raleigh Convention center. She loves it. Sometimes she comes home tired. I don't love that. All-in-all she enjoys her job and likes the people she works with. She is a real person, I, on the other hand, am not yet a real person. I will join all the real people in the world when I graduate in December from North Carolina State University. I am looking forward to it.

I have to go to un-real person camp now, (school), so I will tell you more about the newly formed Potter clan later. There is a lot more to tell. I hope you will listen.

Some people think I won't keep up with this blog, but I will. I will show them...I'll show 'em all!