Do not read this while eating.

Consider yourself warned: this story contains multiple references to things that, before I became a dog owner, would have made me throw up a little in my mouth.

Travis comes home today from a four-day trip to Montana.  I already wrote about what happened on days 1 and 2.  But Sasquatch likes to keep the surprises coming the whole time Travis is gone.

Yesterday was day 3.  Sasquatch pooped on the bed.  Luckily she pooped on the little protective blanket she is required to sleep on if she sleeps on the bed.  This is still problematic, though, because gross.  Also, how is it that I can sleep through that?  Did she try to wake me up to no avail?  I have often said that sleeping is my spiritual gift.  I'm mostly joking about it being my actual spiritual gift, but I'm absolutely positive that my ability to sleep anywhere and anytime, and to receive rest and peace in the process, was a very purposeful gift from a very compassionate God.  Every once and a while, however, my ability to sleep through things borders on ridiculous.  Freshman year of college my amazing roommate Chelsea was the medic in our dorm.  That meant that people came banging on our door at all hours of the night when they needed to be taken to urgent care.  One morning Chelsea was exhausted; she had been up all night at the hospital with a student who had apparently come into our dorm room after midnight, screaming because he had broken something (an arm?).  Chelsea has her own amazing gift.  She bolts right up whenever she hears the slightest sound.  I, on the other hand, had no idea any of it had happened.
And two nights ago, at some point while I was sleeping, Sasquatch pooped.  The upside was that it was pretty clear that 1)Sassy had in fact eaten all of those hairties, the extension cord, and the electrical plug, and 2)it had all passed through her system quite nicely.
Today was day 4.  I am trying to be a good dog-owner while Travis is gone, so I took Sasquatch on a walk.  We got all dressed (me in 37 layers, Sasquatch in her jaunty matching collar, harness, and leash), and headed out.  We paused in the yard briefly so that I could determine our route.  In the time it took for me to reason through the following:

• The usual zigzag through alleys, or something more adventurous?  (More adventurous) 
• Should we try crossing a main road? (No, definitely not.) 
• Okay, let's go South.  

Sasquatch found a piece of another dog's poo buried in the snow in our front yard.  And ate it.  Well she was mostly just holding it in her mouth, so I told her very sternly to "drop it."  I used the voice that carries all of the weight of my dog-watching mantra (I am stern.  I am tough.  My middle name is discipline, and dogs do not act out when they are left alone with me).  She did not drop it.  I tried shaking her head, but she held on tight.  So I did what you would do (so no judging).  I pulled it out of her mouth.  Then I realized that my beautiful little mitten was covered in poo, and had an internal moment pretty similar to the one I had upon waking up the day before.  My mittens are currently in the washer on the "hand-washables- intermittent agitation" setting, and if they are ruined I blame YOU, puppy.  Luckily I was given warm winter gloves by my boss only yesterday, so we set off again after a very stern talking to (from me) and a very apologetic leg cuddle (from Sassers).

All in all, it was a good walk.  And the positive consequence of Travis' time away is that I always end up a little tougher, a little more ready for whatever life has to throw at me, and a little more thankful for the gift of sleep.

sixth sense

Let's just be clear: Sasquatch knows when Travis is gone.   I mean that he can be gone for 2 hours at Starbucks, and she is a perfect angel while he's away.  But 2 hours into Travis being gone for a week and she eats an electrical outlet, or vomits all over the floor, or shreds a towel.  She knows.
Travis left yesterday morning for a friend's wedding in Montana.  We set up a large pen (tested the previous day), and when I checked on Sasquatch at noon she was fine and dandy.  Five hours later, I came home to find:

• dog greeting me at front door
• pen cast aside
• green Sharpie on the floor, chewed up
• extension cord that led to lamp and heater unplugged, chewed into two pieces

Today, the pen was smaller.  Reinforced.  Ready.  She escaped, unplugged the heater, and ate the plug. Only the little metal piece were left.  The house is cold.  She destroyed the heater.  

Now we are in the basement by the wall heater, and beside me on the couch is a large pile of socks, baseball caps, ski goggles, etc. that I have pried out from between Sassy's teeth in the last hour.

I am stern.  I am tough.  My middle name is discipline, and dogs do not act out when they are left alone with me. (Repeat 2x)

Numbers

Sasquatch weighs 66 pounds today. 
I have given out almost 800 business cards since August.
Travis and I will celebrate 2 years of marraige on Tuesday. 
I get to spend the next 10 months at home with my family.
The same airline lost my bag 3 times this travel season.
Forecasted temperature this Monday: Low 10, High 23. 
And time continues to march on!

UPDATE: Tuesday's forecast is Low 5, High 19.  We Huskissons don't stand a chance!

Post-travel expectations

Home at last. This week has been all about laundry, catching up in the office, and getting into a routine again with Travis and Sasquatch.  Oh, and the FIRST SNOW.  I am excited about snow like Travis was excited about the Rangers going to the World Series.  Our first snow did not last, but unlike Austin, Spokane will inevitably have snow that sticks, and lots of it.  I love when the world is all covered with white, clean and beautiful.  We're currently in that brief time of year when the ground is covered with pine needles, the trees are bare, and Spokane really needs the snow to look clean and beautiful.  So, snow, if you're listening, come again soon, and come to stay! 
We are also eagerly awaiting another arrival this week: my dear friend Chelsea and her husband David are expecting a baby on Thanksgiving!  I'm not sure why, but I got into the habit of praying for Chelsea and baby Jack-Jack during take-offs and landings this travel season, and now that I'm home that habit has just stuck.  Chelsea and David are going to be amazing parents; come meet them soon Baby Jackson!
Other things eagerly awaited:

• Thanksgiving with our Indianola family next week.
• An awesome job for my awesome husband
• The last Harry Potter movie.  I know, I know, but part 1 ended RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the book.  Try as they might, The Deathly Hallows Part 1 does not work on as a stand-alone.  I am ready to see the second half!

Did I mention I'm not great at patience?
Speaking of two of those three things: mom and dad, is my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at your house?

Living in Potter-land

On Thursday night we went to my seventh midnight Harry Potter premiere.  At this point, going at midnight was more about maintaining the streak than anything else since 1) my schedule has changed since college, and it no longer feels natural or fun to stay up until 3:30 am, and 2) I have gained just enough patience in the last few years to wait 18 more hours to see a movie after work the next day.  And let's add to the list of reasons why the midnight showing was probably not necessary both 3) Travis really wasn't stoked about staying up for it and 4) the theater was bound (and proved) to be full of high-schoolers and people dressed as house-elves.  Actually the house-elf costumes were pretty clever, but you get my drift.  With all these reasons against the plan, it was sheer stubbornness that made it happen, (and the fact that Travis found out two of our friends were going as well; Travis loves any time spent with friends).
Turns out it was really fun (for me at least- have I mentioned Travis hasn't read the book?), and it proved to be much easier than I anticipated to get up at 6:30 the next morning for work.  It helps that my job isn't really tiring, I guess, at least it isn't tiring when I'm not traveling.  On a related note, did you know it was possible to have a job that wasn't exhausting?  I certainly didn't.  Every job I've had up until this point required much more standing and running around than it did sitting in front of a computer, and the examples I've had from my parents have only served to reinforce the idea that work is hard.  Work is work, and you come home tired.  But now I know that there are millions of people who sit all day.  These are the people, I imagine, who have the energy to go out late at night on a Thursday dressed up as a Slytherin, or on a Friday to go clubbing.  (I don't think there's a proper way to convey the way clubbing sounds in my mental voice.  Give a nice big pause before it, then a shudder, and I think you'll have an approximate).
Back to topic.  The reason I was thinking about Harry Potter this afternoon is because Sasquatch and I were spending some time out in our yard, and I realized that we have a little (and by little I mean big) reminder of the Harry Potter in our back yard.  Travis and I have our own Whomping Willow.

First off, let it be said that our tree is not a willow, and it does not (that I'm aware of) come to life and club people into running for the hills.  But there is potential there.  Were there to be a magical enchantment on this tree, I think it would perform admirably well at scaring away the neighbors and any rogue flying cars.  It has knots, gnarled branches, and even a few hundred inch-long thorns. 
When Travis and I first moved in, we tried to convince ourselves that the tree was mostly not on our property.  It wasn't that we thought about it; it was just instinct to try and shirk the monstrosity off on the neighbors.  There is a sweet little swing hanging from one side, but it's like a wolf that, instead of taking the time to put on sheep's clothing, just put on the sheep's sock and called it good.
See for yourself, in these really dark and terrible iPhone photos:

Whomping Willow!

Knots and gnarls

Branches covered in thorns!

So there you have it, magic in our backyard!  Or you could see it as just a really ugly tree, but I'm a glass-so-full-it's-brimming-over type optimist.

Blessing . . . in DISGUISE!

First thing's first: I hope you read "In disguise!" in your best internal melodrama voice.
Second: here's a story.
Two weeks ago I flew home to Spokane from Portland on a certain airline (name withheld to protect its identity).  It was a direct flight.  I had checked two bags: a work bag, and a bag with all my clothes from the last week.  When I arrived in Spokane, my work bag had arrived, but not my clothes.  I was stressed and nervous, since it was Friday night and I was leaving on Sunday for another trip, and didn't know if I would have time to do my laundry before I had to leave again.  My bag was delivered by 10am the next morning, I had plenty of time to do laundry and re-pack, and all my worry was for naught.
One week later (this past Sunday), I was headed to Portland on another direct flight, once again on same unnamed airline.  Again, I checked two bags, and again a bag was lost, but this time it was my work bag. I was glad to have my clothes, being that I was in Portland for the week and didn't have anything else to scrounge up, and that I had high schools to visit starting at 8:00 the next morning.  I was stressed, though, to be missing my work bag, which included the materials I had intended to give the school counselors, my computer, and the binder with driving directions for the next week as well as the itinerary I had spent so much time typing up.  After an hour or so on my aunt and uncle's computer (at which point my aunt informed me that my travel schedule could be found easily by typing my name into google- helpful to me and scary to her), I had a make-shift itinerary, as well as directions, and lo and behold, my bag arrived in the morning before I had even left for my first visit!
So tonight, when the same unnamed airline lost my bag for the third time in two weeks, I was resolved not to be stressed.  The attendant at the lost baggage counter remembered me with a sympathetic smile (I am lucky to have thanked him in person last week after my bag was found the first time, for I made myself a useful friend before I knew I would be needing his help again so soon!), and guess what, ya'll?  This is the blessing part of the story.  When certain unnamed airline loses a bag, they give you a voucher for some miles.  A few days ago I was looking at my mileage statement and lamenting that it would take at least another travel season before I had earned anything worth using toward a flight to Texas, and Travis and I have been recently disappointed that we couldn't afford to go on our own.  One lost bag worth of miles wouldn't have really made a dent in the trip.  Two wouldn't have done it either.  But three lost bags?  I don't think you can have three lost bags in two weeks without some sort of divine intervention, and three lost bags, along with the miles I've earned, is a big step toward a ticket to Texas. 
In conclusion, tonight has a been a good night.  I am home with my little family (for just over 24 hours), I have realized that some mountains really are molehills, and I have been given a miraculous and entirely unexpected way to help my little family visit our bigger family in Texas.
Also, if you are a representative from unnamed airline, I am happy for you to lose my bag again.  It's time to work toward Travis' ticket!

Business (cards)

There are some great things about having business cards.  They help people see that my name is not, in fact, "Teeny."  (You have no idea . . .)  They make me feel grown-up and professional.  It is fun to hand things out.  Business cards allow people to feel like they can ask me questions later, and don't have to figure out all their questions right away.
However, there is a big drawback to business cards.  People have my email address.  They use it.  I am drowning in email, and not the spam kind you can immediately delete.  Every day, I receive heaps of emails that need to be responded to thoughtfully, and often require fact-checking, database-checking, checking with our all-knowing front-desk manager, etc.  Responding to these emails is enjoyable, and I learn a lot from all those various kinds of checking.  But there are just not enough hours in the day.
I do love my job, though.  I was thinking today about my favorite part, and I think it's actually the high school visits, as long as they have an acceptable number of students.  Zero students is a little sad.  54 students who have just been handed their yearbook hall-of-fame ballot and are filling it out while I talk is scary, not to mention bad for my self-esteem.  In-between seems to be good, and I especially love talking to a student one-on-one.    
Okay, back to the emails.  Chances are, if you're reading this, I miss you!

Compare and Contrast, part 2

Things Sasquatch and I have in common:

• Ginger hair
• Greenish eyes
• Reckless enthusiasm (stoked about everything)
• Love for Travis
• Love of the outdoors
• Enjoy snuggling/physical contact
• Emit large amounts of body heat
• Don't like to be alone
• Love naps
• Very flexible (physically)
• Very stubborn
• Love food
• No personal space boundaries
• Small enough Travis can pick us up/big enough that it's awkward

Ways in which I am not like my dog:

• Different species
• Sasquatch likes to lick things
• I have a job
•  And . . . that's about it

Infestation!

Well, the word infestation might be hyperbole.  Infestation is when there are literally hundreds of crickets in your store, and you spend weeks taking them off the clothes and floor (and dodging when they fall from the ceiling) and throwing them outside.  True Capezio story. 
This is nothing like that.
However, we do have a problem.  There are yellow jackets in our house.  How many have we found?  At least a dozen, probably closer to twenty.  Four at once in the corner window.  And today, the first sting.  Through my clothes, in the kitchen.  Maybe he didn't want pasta for dinner? 
Yellow jackets are scary, because 1)their stings are super painful (even three hours later!), 2)they do not die when they sting, and 3) they like to crawl around on the floor, where unsuspecting puppies might lick them up.  Travis has been using yellow-jacket spray, and on Tuesday the management company is sending someone out to do a treatment on our house.  In the mean time, I am treading with caution.  Do you think yellow jackets prefer chicken for dinner?

Unitasker and multitasker, sitting in a tree

I have been on the road for 4 weeks now (with at least one day home each weekend- I'm not that hard core).  I have been reduced to bullet points:

• I love when technology is unintentionally sarcastic: "You beat your high score by a whopping one point!"
• This has been a week of revelations for me.  I realized something about Travis on Monday: he is a uni-tasker!  That's the opposite of a multi-tasker, and a term introduced to me by the author of My Life as an Experiment (I did not read this book, but merely flipped through it in the airport bookstore.  College taught me to glean a lot from skimming).  This explains a thousand things about my marriage all at once.  I could fill an entire blog (not an entry- a blog) with things Travis' uni-tasking explains.  It is strange that this wouldn't be obvious, but Travis' brain is wired in a different way than mine.  He is wired to be extremely hard-working and focused, and is incapable of giving up an unfinished task and turning to another without great distress.  This is why Travis is a better driver than me, more observant, and quicker at getting things done.  It is also the reason why he doesn't love it when I talk during movies, try to discuss our marriage while he's fixing things, or suggest that he take a nap and come back to a project later.  I am the source of so much stress!  And this is just the tip of the iceberg that is "the ways I unintentionally stress out my long-suffering husband."
• You may have noticed that the Rangers won their first post-season series.  Ever.  This is an occasion for great joy in our home.  Travis has all sorts of traditions about watching the games, most of which have to do with wearing Rangers clothes.  The rules seem a little amorphous, but the gist is:
• Travis must wear a Rangers shirt, preferably a fresh clean one (I suppose this second part has more to do with hygiene than superstition, which makes me really glad I married Travis and not one of those "superstition over hygiene" guys).
• It is very very bad luck for me to take the Rangers hat off Travis's head during the game and put it on my head.  (See bullet point above about ways I stress out Travis.)
• It is, however, fine for Sasquatch to wear the hat . . .
• . . . but only if Travis is the one that puts it on her head.
• Lots of restaurants have delicious take-out, but some can make you feel sick the next day.  I've had good luck with Mongolian BBQ's taste-wise, but not stomach-wise.  Regular BBQ is usually fine on the stomach, but much more unpredictable in taste.  I have the second best BBQ of my life at Baldy's BBQ in Bend, OR last week (the best is Salt Lick BBQ, or Travis' brisket slow-cooked with Salt Lick sauce).  Tonight I had good-but-not-life-changing BBQ from Best Little Roadhouse in Salem, OR.  But it might have been better if they'd had pork ribs.  I always try baby-back ribs thinking I love them (years of Chili's commercial indoctrination is hard for my subconscious to ignore), but turns out I don't.  What I love are pork ribs.  Pork ribs in Salt Lick BBQ sauce . . . 
• I always stay up too late if I start blogging!  It's not as if you can afford to come into work groggy when the first thing you do is talk to a group of high schoolers at 8 am.  On Tuesday I was tired and drove past the high school in the fog, and was late!  Time to go to sleep.

Findings

Oh my.  Did you know you can look and see what people searched for when they first found your blog?  I didn't, but now I do.  Here are the results:

six flags

men's dance belt

nabisco crackers

donny sibbett indianola

huskissons.blogspot.com

wheat thins box

funny happy birthday coworker

guadalupe peak trip report

jeannie huskisson austin dance

lord of the rings wiki Wow.  One of those made me cry, and several made me laugh.  And men's dance belts?!  It's pretty disturbing to me that someone could be searching for dance belts and find my blog.  Maybe I need to remove that post.

Displaced

Sassy and I have discovered a new element in our relationship: competition.  We have great love and respect for one another, but lately I've noticed that we clash on one major issue: we both think we are Travis' main girl.  We both have every right to feel this way.  I am married to Travis, so obviously I would feel entitled.  And Sasquatch puts in the hours.  Four to six days a week, Sassy is the one sleeping curled up next to Travis on the bed, the one perched next to him on the couch while he watches the Rangers game, and the one he pours his heart out to in his daily tear-filled emotional outburst (that was a joke for people who know Travis).  But seriously, for all she does while I am gone, Sasquatch deserves a medal.  And instead, she gets displaced.  One to three times a week, I come home and take her spot on the bed, and on the couch, and I can just see the bewilderment on her open little face.  "What did I do?  Where do I sit?" her expressive eyebrows say.  So we try to fit her, but then I get bumped off the bed, the couch.  

Last night I was complaining about it, and Travis said "A dog is man's best friend." 

"I thought I was your best friend!" I protested.

"That's the saying," Travis replied.  "It doesn't say woman is man's best friend.  It says dog is man's best friend."

So there you go: I think we have our victor.  And for some reason, it only makes me smile.

Yes, I watch the Rangers games.

Travis with his main girl

Things to avoid in the future

A list:
1) Highway 242 through the Willamette National Forest and Mackenzie Pass.  1.5 hours of nausea and stress, with some beautiful moments but mostly roads so windy I couldn't look anywhere else.
2) Booking high school visits at 8 am.  High schoolers don't seem to enjoy being at school at this hour, and they sure don't want to schlep it over to the library and talk about 4 more years of school.
3) Booking high school visits at 2 pm.  See above.
4) Trying to get gas in Eugene, OR in a time crunch.  Make that anywhere in Oregon.  It is infuriating to me to not be able to pump my own gas, which I am capable of doing very quickly, and without waiting for the attendant to come outside/finish up with 4 other cars first.  I know I am a total insensitive jerk for saying this, and it offends my leftist politics, but sometimes catching a flight home feels more important than job creation.
5) Rushing through airport security before checking to see if there is food on the other side (vending machines do not count, since it is a huge hassle to purchase anything with cash/without a receipt when traveling on business), when you haven't eaten a meal since 6:30 am and your next stop is at 8 pm.

At least I like learning.

Complimentary bottled water provided

I've finished two weeks in Montana, and am half-way through my first week in Oregon.  So far Oregon is proving far more eventful!  Travel stories:

• Today a high school senior bowed to me.  It was a serious bow, too.  Awesome, but also super awkward, because I had no idea what to do back!  I kind of tilted my head.
• At Monday's fair in Roseburg I was interviewed by one of the news shows in Eugene.  I stayed in Medford that night, so I have no idea if it even aired.  Then today, I was taped talking to a student by a local Medford station!  The other reps were teasing me about all the air time.  I think it's because my table is always on the very edge of the room (it's usually alphabetical), and so there aren't too many people around and you can get the whole fair in the background.
• There is bottled water at every fair.  Often they come up and put more on your table when you're too busy talking to a student to protest.  I brought home 8 empty water bottles to recycle from 4 days in Montana.  My car is full of them now, but I'm flying home so I hope my next hotel recycles!  
• Best conversation with a student so far: 

            Sophomore boy (surrounded by friends): Where is Whitworth?

Me: It’s in Spokane, Washington.  Have you heard of it?
SB: No.
Me: Well it’s the second largest city in Washington.  (points it out on the map)

SB: What’s the largest?

Me: Seattle

SB (Getting quicker now): What’s the third largest?

Me: Tacoma

SB (really fast): Fouth?

Me (super flustered): Um, Bellevue?*

SB (almost yelling now): Quick!  What’s your favorite movie?!

Me: Wayne’s World.

SB and all of his friends, with blank stares on their faces: What’s Wayne’s World?

 After which I felt really old, and told them I was disappointed, and they should watch it.  *Turns out   it's Vancouver, which you probably would have known, but I am terrible at geography.

• Had a fender bender yesterday.  Very frustrating, but the police were helpful and understanding, and both cars were fine.  I called Travis first because it's just instinct for me to call Travis right away, but he reminded me that I need to tell my work, not him!  
• I am getting used to staying in a different hotel every night of the week.  Strange.  Also strange is that Travis and I are getting into a routine of only seeing each other on the weekends.  He admitted last night that it will be weird to have me home all the time again.  It's true, actually; I've never really lived in our new home with Travis, so I'm sure it will be different for him to have me there, carving out space and making messes and interfering with his established patterns.  
• Biggest lifesaver on the road: books on CD.  I drove 1300 miles my first week in Montana, 900 my second, and I'm getting up there this week already.  But I've never once felt drowsy or spacey, because the books always keep me awake and focused.  But they're not loud enough to be distracting.  So far I've "read" a modern romantic comedy (skipped the inappropriate parts; I am every bit as embarrassed hearing about people's fictional intimate moments as I would be spying on someone's real ones), a very long work of historical fiction about the royal family in 15th century England, and am working on a Michael Crichton thriller.  Next is another historical fiction, this one about the formation of the modern Middle East in the 1920s-40s.  (Skipped the rest of the thriller and moved on to this. It's terrific!  Has made me laugh out loud and cry already, plus the main character has a sweet and loving dog.)  Sometimes I get so hooked that I want to keep listening when I get to my hotel, but I've made a rule that I can only listen on the road.  That way I actually look forward to the drives.
• Biggest headache on the road: non-smoking rooms that smell like smoke.  I've never thought of myself as allergic to cigarette smoke, but aside from the moderate annoyance of smelling gross all the time, some of these rooms are giving me bad headaches.  One was so bad that I thought I had a full-on migraine, but then I went for a walk and within 15 minutes in the fresh air my head was fine.  I am getting savvy about requesting rooms far away from the smoking rooms, and about looking for hotels that are 100% non-smoking.  Next year that's going to be a major factor in booking my hotels.  Also, how do you get the smell of stale smoke out of your favorite pillow?!
• I've seen some really beautiful places.  I pulled over at a park in Montana one day and put my feet in Flathead Lake.  I've driven through many mountain ranges and alongside rivers.  I haven't taken nearly enough pictures.  I'll admit that I'm less-inclined to stop and be touristy than I would be if I were with family or friends.  
• I still, after 2.5 weeks of travel, haven't braved eating in a sit-down restaurant alone.  Most sit-downs do take-out, though you can tell that they sometimes resent it (maybe because of the lost tips?).  So lots of take-out, and lots of putting together meals at the grocery store.  I'm super tired of continental breakfasts and complimentary college fair food (read: bagels, muffins, cookies), and getting a little tired of the kind of food you can easily carry out (Chinese, pizza).  It may be that I get desperate soon, suck up my pride, and eat by myself at an actual table.  I did this once in Italy because my confident European professor told us she did it all the time, and that it was a liberating experience that every young woman should enjoy from time to time.  About 30 minutes into my meal (I was only doing the eat alone thing half-way, because I was reading a book), my professor showed up at the same restaurant!  She came over and said hi, then told me that she was going to go sit by herself so as not to rob me of the experience.  The Italians just looked sorry for me, though I did enjoy reading and eating at the same time, as I often do.  The only book I have with me right now, though, is called Heal Your Headache, and talks all about the myriad foods I shouldn't be eating, many of which would, I'm sure, show up in just about any dish I could order at a restaurant.  Not sure how to proceed . . . 

Oops!  Time to go to the next high school visit, then drive the 4 hours to Bend!  Chances are, if you're reading this, I miss you!

music video extravaganza

WARNING: This post is going to contain lots of links to YouTube music videos.  In other words, my dad is going to love it.
When it comes to music videos, OK Go can do no wrong.  Fun.  Choreography.  High concept.  High concept, fun choreography!  This is what I'm all about, people.  I wish you could see my "little girls with push brooms as tired, bluesy workers" dance.  I wish I could see it too, actually, since I taught it in Texas and then moved to Washington two days later.
Ok, it's go time (see what I did there?!):

• I smiled and laughed straight through this one tonight (and missed Sasquatch like crazy)

They are (almost) all rescue dogs, which makes it even more awesome!
And now a few favorites from the past.  I had hoped to embed these, but embedding has been disabled on most of them, so I am linking instead.  But if you have some extra time and want to be massively entertained, you should click at least one link.  I recommend the second one, if you have to choose.

• The video that started it all, "A Million Ways"
• My second favorite (to the puppies, seen above) also has embedding disabled.  But it features treadmills!  I wish I came up with this.  Every choreographer wishes they did.  Or at least I imagine they do.
• They actually made two videos for the next song, "This Too Shall Pass," but I prefer the Rube Goldberg version to the marching band version (which is still pretty great, and you actually can embed, so here goes)

Also, I'm in Montana.  I have had a great week, but I can't wait to go home and see my little family tomorrow!  Maybe Travis and I will get Sasquatch to do some tricks while we play hipster music in the background.

Rescues

Waking up pain free (or nearly pain free) after a really terrible migraine is one of my favorite feelings in the whole world.  Excuse me if I'm being simple and talking about things I don't really understand, but to me it is like being released from prison.  I always know the pain will be over eventually, but never when, and it can start to feel like forever.  I had maybe the worst migraine of my life a month ago, and was in awe of the sheer length of it.  How was it that I was able to be in so much pain for so long without passing out like people do in movies?  Every minute I thought "this is the worst it can possibly get," and then it of course did get worse, and this lasted for hours (7, maybe).  Finally I found myself waking up, which meant that I had fallen asleep.  Falling asleep is always the goal with a really bad migraine.  I have never just gradually lifted out of a migraine without falling asleep.  But falling asleep doesn't always mean it's gone. 
It's usually a pretty big improvement, though, and last month I woke up feeling like I could fly.  I was so grateful I cried, and laughed, and whispered "thank you" out loud a dozen times in the dark.  The thing about this whole falling-asleep recovery method is that it commands thankfulness.  I know I'm being rescued, because the cure happens while I'm unconscious.  And it happens that way every single time.  This morning I woke up from a bad migraine (but soooo different from last month's big bad), and I imagined that, while I slept, I had been carried (in a white dress, nonetheless; I can't help if my post-pain musings are cheesy) into freedom.  I felt so happy I could dance around the room, and that was saying a lot since Travis' terrible alarm had woken me up after only 4 hours of sleep. 
I know that God does not cause my migraines.  There are a lot of things about the nature of God I may not understand, but I have a pretty good idea about how he rolls when it comes to people in pain.  I also know that it is in my character to feel impatient about things, but God has used all these rescues to make me into a person who is just really grateful.  It's hard not to be grateful when you get rescued all the time. 

p.s. Sasquatch is grateful, too, for her huge birthday treat. She has been working on that thing all night, and of course has no interest in her breakfast now. Happy birthday Sasquatch!  

The move

Bullet points!

• Tomorrow we move into our very own rental house.  I really hope it's as great as I remembered, especially since Travis hasn't seen the inside.  Ever.  I am very used to trusting him to make big decisions for us, but I am scared of being the one that makes the big decisions without him.  If he dislikes it, we're stuck there for a year.  I am 92% sure, however, that it will still be great when we get there.  
• Moving into our ow house means we will move out of Katie and Phil's.  I can't even express how grateful we are for their generosity in hosting us this past month (actually more like 6 weeks for me), and how much fun we've had!  There is a lot to be said for having someone to share the cooking and dish duties with, not to mention built-in friends.  Sasquatch has become very attached.  Good thing we're only moving down the street!
• My dad is coming (and bringing our niece Angelina!) to help us move.  He is also bringing one of his beautiful picnic tables.  I am stoked!  We have never had a place for a picnic table before, or a yard, or a fireplace.  
• I hope the previous owners leave their firewood for us . . .
• Also need a lawn mower.
• Being a grown-up is a lot of work! 

YES.

I love Youtube videos of ridiculously talented youngsters.  And now that I'm not quite a youngster anymore, I don't even feel that twinge of jealousy you get when someone your age is really really amazing at something.  Case in point: LeBron James is pretty much my age.  Jerk.
But this girl is 11, so I just think she's awesome.

Plans

When I graduated from Whitworth, I sort of hoped I'd never have to write another paper.  I am actually willing to admit that a large part of the reason why I studied theatre and math was the relative low number or writing assignments.  I procrastinate on writing papers because they terrify me, and then I always spend at least twice as long as everyone else on them.
So I'm a little bit nervous about grad school.
The biggest perk to my new job (aside from being an awesome job working with awesome people at an awesome place) is that I can go to school for free.  We really feel like I should take advantage of the opportunity, since it's a pretty amazing one.  And Whitworth offers a program that relates to higher ed, a M.Ed. in Administrative Leadership.  If I take the GRE like yesterday and apply really soon I could even start in the Spring.
But I doubt that anyone will let me choreograph or graph equations for credit in my masters program.  It will be three years of getting home from work, reading, and writing papers.  Good thing I am married to Mr. Responsibility, or I'd probably never do it.  Also, the incentive for going right away is that, after four years at my job, I will have earned free grad school for Travis too (if he decides to go into education, business, or theology).  Ideally, I will finish before Travis starts.
Good thing God is bigger than my inability to start a paper.

Along for the ride

Travis takes fun very seriously.

I love being Travis' wife.  He is the best event planner, and is always coming up with new ideas for things to do.  I tend to fall asleep when I have down time, but Travis is all about leaving the house, going to new places, and not taking naps just because you can.
Also, I now have weekends off.  Evenings and weekends, actually, whenever I'm not traveling.  I haven't been home much on evenings and weekends since we got married.  This weekend, Travis and I went peach-picking in Greenbluff, took Sassy on a walk/run/hike on the hill behind Holmberg park, went to church (we are looking for a church home here- I really like First Pres), explored Manito park, and went grocery shopping together.  I didn't even take a nap today, because I wasn't bored or tired.  I feel like maybe a little bit of Travis' energy is finally rubbing off on me.  Actually, I feel like I've always been energetic, but I've been using it up working 60 hour weeks.  This new change of pace is delightful. 
However, still can't keep up with Sasquatch:

Yeah she's at the top of that hill.

Template

Because I blog a lot, my blog template is very important to me.  I really love mine (the dandelions in the corner are just like the ones on our wedding invitations/the beautiful mirror our friend made us for our wedding), but I am finding that it is super common and popular, and therefore maybe not worth sticking with in the long run.  What I really want is a custom template with actual pictures of actual places (and maybe dogs) I love.  I have no idea how to do this.  When I look online for blogger templates, all the designs I like have been downloaded hundreds, often thousands of times.  Still searching . . .

Something new

Thoughts on my first two weeks at new job:

• Having my own desk is great!  I love to organize the files and keep my purse and lunch in the drawer.  I have created a color-coded and alphabetized system for all the papers/maps/letters that randomly show up on my desk, and every time I file something it's a little victory.  
• I have never had a sedentary job before.  Past jobs have included: ropes course instructor, camp counselor, Curves trainer, dance instructor, touring actor, and shoe fitter.  Up and down and all around, basically.  But now I go to work and sit at my desk, then go to meetings and sit, then go back to my desk and sit some more.  I treasure the infrequent opportunities to run an errand (which is why I take paperwork everywhere instead of using inter-campus mail, and why everyone in HR and payroll knows me), and even the hour a day I'm on my feet giving a presentation.  Also, there is food in the office every day, and it's never healthy food.  I have been thinking about joining a gym so I can take aerobics classes, but it's hard to justify when we know that soon I'll be out of town, and it'll continue until Thanksgiving.  Travis has suggested I try running, since it's free and you can do it any time.  I'm tempted to try it, until I run around the yard with Sasquatch for 3 minutes and remember that would be a terrible, terrible idea.  
• I want to know how to do everything right now.  It was a point of pride at Capezio that I knew I could answer just about any question we came across in the store, from shipping and receiving to ballroom shoes.  It feels good to be competent and capable.  It is humbling to be the one with a lot to learn, and I am often afraid of over-stepping my bounds and saying something wrong to a student or parent.  It's a fine line to project confidence when needed, and be willing to ask for help when needed too.
• It's so nice to be able to eat lunch outside every day.  In Texas I would not have done this in August, unless I had time to shower and change afterward.  I usually eat at the picnic tables in front of the auditorium, but I'm not sure what I'll do when campus is full of students in a few weeks.  I'm thinking of bringing a picnic blanket and keeping it in my desk drawer so I can sit on the grass behind the little house where I work.
• I can't wait for everyone to come back to campus!  Most professors working and travel off campus during the summer, so I have only seen a few of the professors I was close with.  And campus is just so full of life when it's over-run with students.  Fall was always my favorite time of year there, so I'm bummed I'll be gone for much of it, but excited for the times when I will be there.  And I'm looking forward to becoming an accomplished traveler, a la George Clooney in Up in the Air.  I'm going to learn to put on my belt so fast, just like he does. 

Scaredy cat

It's open knowledge that I have never been much of an animal person, never really liked dogs, and never wanted to own one.  Now that I have a dog, and I am completely in love with her, I don't feel guilty about this.  But I do feel worried sometimes that I'll mess her up, since I have no idea what I'm doing.  
And now it's official: Sasquatch, 11 months old, is afraid of just about everything.  Here is a partial list:

• machinery noises
• riding in trucks
• people walking up to her
• people just standing there
• wind/rain/lightning
• fireworks
• stairs

We have no idea what we did to make her such a scaredy cat.  She is well-trained and pleasant in every other way.  But Travis will walk in the house, and the first 10 seconds are sheer panic until she remembers that "oh, that's the person I try to climb in bed with every night."  The fur on her back sticks straight up, her tail goes between her legs, she runs backward, and worst of all she barks.  The most grievous instance of "scared Sasquatch behaves badly" was last month when my mom flew to Austin to drive north with me.  The night before we left, Sasquatch wouldn't go anywhere near my mom without completely losing it.  Because my mom is super scary.
And today I have been trying to get her to play with me outside, but she refuses to do anything but sit by the door, I assume because it's windy.  I try to be brave.  I even spent an entire summer doing one thing that scared me every day.  But I feel like this wimpy dog must be picking up on some fear in me and projecting it to the world.  At least if I were a dog, I would be afraid of actual scary things, like:

•  aggressive dogs who like to bite
• eating sharp and/or poisonous things
• getting hit by a car
• getting lost.

If only she were afraid of these things.  Well, at least she's beautiful.

Good/Bad/Ugly

I had a hip hop student the past two years who would always start her turn at share time with "I have good news and bad news: which do you want first?"  I always picked the bad news first, because it's better to end things on a lighter note, but usually they were both just plain old news and one wasn't particularly worse than the other.  An example:  "The bad news is that my brother's birthday is next week.  The good news is that we are learning about African animals in school."  Oh did I mention she's six?
By the end of the year, a half dozen students followed this model for their share time, which was funny but took up a lot of time in which we could have been learning the two break dancing stalls I can do.  Now, it's my turn.
We'll start with the bad news first:
I had a monster migraine today.  I'm sure I've had migraines this bad before, but it's hard to imagine when you're in the middle of it.  How is is possible that my brain didn't just completely shut down from the pain?  Aren't you supposed to go into shock or something?  Maybe my body doesn't have the usual self-preservation mechanisms.  Anyway, it was about 6 hours before I started feeling any relief, and there's absolutely nothing good I can say about those six hours, so I won't try.  Needless to say I went home sick from work, which was double lame because 1) I really wanted to be there and 2) I had to drive home in pain.  I am now trying to eat some soda crackers- my first food since a whole day spent vomiting, and they seem to be settling okay.  I am also trying not to over analyze the last 24 hours, because there's really nothing I ate that I don't eat on a regular basis, I got enough sleep, and a person could go crazy trying to figure out what they did wrong all the time.  I finally fell asleep around 2 pm and woke up feeling a lot better (and extremely grateful for relief) around 3 pm.
Good news!
After all of that, I was able to make an appointment to view the red corner house that became my dream home this weekend.  It was a little nerve-wracking viewing it alone, but now that I've seen the inside I know Travis is going to love it.  There is so much storage!  A 2-car garage!  A fenced yard for Sasquatch!  A fully finished basement with 3rd bedroom!  A dishwasher!  Tomorrow I am going to call about the logistics of Travis applying without actually being here yet, and hopefully we'll be able to get our application in before anyone else does.
Ugly:
Please pray for the moving van that Travis is currently driving across the country, and for the fearless passengers.  Travis and Sasquatch are beautiful, but the trip itself is a beast and made all the more difficult by truck/trailer/dog.  I can't wait to have them here as soon as Thursday night!

Good call

Airplane dog

My new job is awesome.  Living in our Phil and Katie's basement is awesome.  Seeing good friends is awesome.  But being away from Travis and Sasquatch?  Not awesome.  We have been apart for 13 days (totally not counting), and it will be another 4 days until they arrive. Because you know what?  It takes a long time to drive from Austin to Spokane!  It took my mom and I four days with some extensive sightseeing stops on the third day.  But Travis is driving up in a 26-foot truck with a trailer on the back, so I think even without the sightseeing, they are going to take longer than we did.  I wonder if this would be faster . . .

I am trying not to have too much anxiety or guilt about Travis making the trip alone, since we are commanded not to worry, and if anyone on the planet can handle a crazy solo trip like this (plus dog) it's Travis.

And now, for a photo montage of the daring duo (in the exact order in which the pictures were taken):

Travel Notes: Day 2

WHAT ARE YOU?!

Day 2: Trinidad, CO to Rock Springs, WY.  Sunny and 95 in Denver, black skies and lightning storms in Wyoming.  iPod wouldn't turn on for hours, which was sad, because it was cool and stormy so we had the windows up anyway (oh, by the way, no AC).  But then Travis (via phone) helped me fix it, and we listened to the rest of Prince Caspian and part of Dawn Treader.

I also spent much of the afternoon puzzling over the miles and miles of fences along I-80 in Wyoming.  They were just fence sections, so they couldn't keep anything out, but someone obviously went to a lot of trouble to put them up and maintain them.  Our best theory at the time, based on the signs we read at a rest stop, was something about keeping some ground exposed during the winter so the lovely wildlife could forage for food.  We were way off.  These are snow drift fences, meant to save money and time clearing snow from the roads.  But I bet the lovely wildlife enjoy the fences as well.

Wild cows?

Travel Notes: Day 1

Day 1: Austin, TX to Trinidad, CO.  Long, hot (102 degrees, no AC), sometimes beautiful (New Mexico grasslands, I'm talking to you).  Listened to The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and half of Prince Caspian.  Liked the kids and the badgers, disliked insincere-ringmaster Aslan.  Mom and I made full use of a spray bottle with attached fan, as well as a cooler full of ice.  We tried putting towels in the cooler of ice, but this didn't actually make them as cold as you'd think. See more pictures of our trip here!

Texas does not have a lot of rest stops.  Instead they have picnic areas, which really means "you can pull over but you can't go to the bathroom here."  But some of the rest stops that do have bathrooms also have little museums and are super beautiful and air-conditioned. 

Tree full of turkey vultures.  These guys are huge and like raw meat.  Good thing I took that awesome accidental scenic route an hour out of the way!

Texas is huge!  But mom is still smiling, which is a credit to her character and ingenuity in road trip cool-down methods.

Young Me/ Now Me

Here's a great blog where they post pictures of people recreating old pictures of themselves.  It's even better than it sounds.  Case in point:

I had wanted to take a photo of my son standing on my hand just the way I had stood on my dad’s hand as a baby. My wife snapped the photo and we were amazed at how much I resembled my dad in pose in that 40 year time warp. I will note that although my dad was holding me up in the air outside along the side of a road, I was holding my son, Warren, over a soft bed!

Zedonk!

Look at this sweet baby:

Awesomely, this zedonk is named Pippi Longstocking

 Zebra dad, donkey mom.  Apparently, zedonkeys can't breed, which is just so sad.  Here is another picture:

I don't know this little guy's name.  Who else famously wore striped leggings?  The Cat in the Hat?

Another installment of

Yikes/Yipee!
Here we go:

Yipee!  I am done teaching.  Done choreographing.  Done at the studio, and done with everything job-related in Austin.  Two of the four dances went very well, and the other two were, let's be honest, a bit of a mess.  I really try to choreograph dances that will challenge the dancers even in the spring, when they will be performing them at competitions and in recital.  But teaching a dance that is, by design, too hard now, all in two hours, can be a disaster for the poor dancers.  You should have seen their poor glazed-over expressions.  Still, this falls into the Yipee category because they are taught and done, and another teacher will be able to figure out which parts are too hard and tone them down. 

Yikes!  Travis went to his family's house to change my transmission fluid, and I stayed behind because my head was hurting again.  It's been off and on.  Yesterday was pretty bad, and it reminded me of all those teaching days from this past year when I would get a migraine right as I started teaching, then have to deal with the music and wrangle the students and keep a smile on my face for the next 5 hours.  I really do think that the music is part of what triggers it, or at least doesn't help once it starts. 

Yipee!  This is a little yipee because I will not be teaching in Spokane, and even though I will miss it, it may be a change that my head needs.

Yikes! But yesterday, I did have to teach, and then was head-achy through our family party, Danielle's birthday party, and our goodbye reception at church this morning

Yipee!  All of which were really wonderful!  To my surprise, I didn't full-on cry once, though there were moments it was close.  It was especially close this morning at church when some of our friends and students got up to share memories of Travis and me.  They even made a circle around us and prayed for us (and okay I guess I cried a little bit, but you would too).  I loved hearing students, staff, and parents express that they would miss Travis' big heart and passion for the kids.  Travis even gave an awesome little goodbye talk about how important the youth are in the church, how much God values them, and how much they can do if they are willing.  I am so lucky to be married to this guy, and already so eager to come back and visit.

Yikes!  Watched The Brothers Bloom instead of packing. 

Yipee!  It was good.

Goodnight from the Huskissons!

p.s. Sasquatch is a noisy dreamer.  She grunts and especially hiccups, and it is the sweetest thing in the world.

Learning is NOT always fun

New things I've learned this week:

1. Dogs can have allergies
2. Allergies can cause eye and ear infections
3. Dogs can also need root canals
4. All of the above are expensive to treat, if you don't have health insurance
5. Guess who doesn't have health insurance?  Dogs. Specifically, my dog.

AND in the time is took me to write this, Sasquatch took off with both kitchen towels.  Good times in puppy land.

Remember when you looked like this, puppy?

Currently choreographing

17 Years by Ratatat

•  modern duet with 9 crates the dancers stack and push and move around.  It's very industrial but playful. 

Home by Marc Brousssard

• four little girls in workman jumpsuits with push-brooms.  bluesy jazz.  Man is it hard to find jumpsuits in children's sizes that don't say "correctional facility" on the back.

Game On by Pitbull

• latin/pumped-up-for-the-game jazz.  I'm trying to trick this out so my girls can win at competition, but it goes against my very nature. 

Good Vibrations Glee Cast Version

• this is supposed to be an old-school hip-hop duet for an 8 and 9-year old.  I am praying for inspiration like my mom said to do.

All are in progress (okay, Good Vibrations has not been started), all due by 9am Saturday morning.  I am feeling overwhelmed, but excited that I am four dances away from being done with work in Austin and starting my new job at Whitworth! 

Losing it

Terrible headache last night.  I have two kinds of really bad headaches: those during which I keep my cool, and those that turn me into a weepy mess.  Over the course of the past year, with near-constant migraines, I got better and better at keeping my cool.  Migraines that would have had me sobbing in the dark five years ago, skipping class even though I knew I'd lose 4% of my grade, were now my companion all the time, and I couldn't just lie in the dark all the time.  So with God's energy (because I had none), I dress-rehearsed shows, fit pointe shoes, taught dance to dozens of 5-year-olds, and led my d goup, and most of the time I did these things without falling apart.  I found it was helpful to 1) cut out any unnecessary activity, even if I really loved it (goodbye dance company, blogging) and 2) be really honest with the people around me that I was in pain.  Poor Travis had to hear it every day, but at least I wasn't keeping it to myself and then pouring it out in tears once a week. 
About 3 months ago, all this changed.  I finished the slow process of going off all my preventative medications (under the guidance of my favorite neurologist), cut out a few foods that were against my migraine diet but I'd been sneaking anyway (goodbye, pickles, you gave flavor to everything . . .), and received a huge gift from God: less migraines.  Far less.  Over the course of the past 3 months, I've had maybe 10 headaches that I'd describe as real migraines.  I've observed that some of them have been more severe and lasted longer than this past year- they fit the traditional model for my headaches up until this year, though, and the frequency fits too.  I'm really optimistic that I'm back to being a 4 migraine a month kind of girl (down from 20-25).  There has been lots of praising God in our household, and I feel like myself again.
However, when I do get a migraine now, or three in a row like I've had the last three days, it's very easy for me to lose my cool.  I forget the peace that God offers me and skip straight to being terrified that the constant pain is back.  The pain is mixed with anxiousness and regret and uncertainty, and it makes it a lot harder to fall asleep (if I'm in the position to do so) or go about my day (if I have to). 
This morning I woke up almost pain free (I took medicine, of course- my headaches take a long time go away on their own), with a very sore neck, but relaxed eyes, which is a good sign that it won't be back soon.  Migraine sleep isn't very refreshing, but I do feel refreshed by the clarity the morning brings.  Wherever I go, even if it's back into migraine-shadow, God is with me.

Travis quotes

After the Rangers game tonight, I turned on Make It or Break It, the cheesiest/best/only show about gymnastics.
Travis: I hate this show
Me: You hate this show?
Travis: Yes.  This show makes me hate people.
Me: Does it make you hate me?
Travis: No . . . but I wish there was another character on this show . . . who was an assassin.

Big mistakes

1) Say Yes to the Dress is a tv show is about a bridal store.  They always talk about how it's very important to pin down a budget with a bride, and only let her try on dresses within her budget.  Otherwise, she might try on and fall in love with something that's completely out of her price range, and then be heartbroken and unhappy in any other dress.  I've just committed the choreography equivalent of this error.  I have been trying for weeks to find the perfect song for a latin jazz dance I'm setting on my girls on Saturday.  NOTHING is right.  Not enough pop, not enough latin, not enough to dance to, not appropriate for 12-year-olds . . . And I finally fell in love with a song.  However, upon translation I realize that it is about a hotel-room tryst, and way into the realm of inappropriate for 12-year-olds.  On the one hand, they might not translate it.  On the other hand, there is an English-language version that lays it out pretty clearly.  Give a girl a break, Shakira!
2) I was about to go pick up props for my dances, then go to the studio and choreograph.  There is SO MUCH to be done.  But I walk outside and it starts storming.  Texas-style.  Which means there is no going anywhere unless you absolutely have to.  So I decided that I need to at least do something else productive.  The house needs to be mostly cleaned and packed by next Monday.  The logical place to start was un-folded laundry.  So I pulled it all out.  All of the unfolded laundry in the house.  And you know what?  It won't even fit on our couch.  We're looking at HOURS of laundry folding here, with more in the washer and dryer.

It's go time.

Also, if you know of a song that sounds exactly like "Lo Hecho Esta Hecho"/ "Did It Again," but isn't that song, let me know . . .