Good News!

I want to apologize again for not posting. These have been the craziest few weeks but now there is lots to tell.

First of all, I interviewed to become the marketing manager for a a new website set to launch this summer. The site will be a place for buying, selling and breeding race horses and there will also be a social networking and chat area of the site. For the first few months the launch will be in the UK and Ireland but eventually my job will evolve to marketing to the US as well. I got the job and have already started to do some work but my official start date is May 1st. I have so much to learn and take in about race horses, betting and race courses!

The next bit of news is that Jason and I have begun the process to adopt a dog. With Jason going away again we decided it would be best for me to have a companion. We can't handle a puppy so we decided to adopt an older dog from a local rescue. Friday afternoon we visited the rescue and after checking out all of the dogs they had there Jason and I were both drawn to the same dog. He was a 2 year old cross breed, and although he was quiet and a bit sad looking he did come right up to the kennel fence and sniffed us and seemed curious. We took him for a walk and fell in love with him, he's a really good dog who has just had a bit of a bad luck in his early life and we can't wait to bring him home. He is already house trained and will sit and shake on command (and sometimes not on command if he thinks he will get another treat out of it) and I think he will be the perfect dog for us. The problem with his previous home was that the original owner couldn't give him enough attention and he had too much energy for her so she handed him over to the rescue. He doesn't have any behavioral problems and we have a couple miles of sandy beach for him to run around on so I think we will get along well. Here are a couple photos of our boy! If all goes smoothly we will be bringing him home on Saturday!

Those are the two big things that have been happening the past few weeks. I am sure to have lots of stories over the next few months as I settle into my new job and being a new pet owner!

I'm a Bad Blogger!

I apologize for my two week absence. I have had a hectic couple of weeks. My parents were here for 11 days and left early yesterday morning. 

I do have one very exciting update, I have finally had a job offer and will start work on May 1st. I will give more details later when all of the particulars are ironed out. 

Now that my life is settling back into a normal order I will be back to blogging next Monday and I promise you a good one!

Quick Post

Well, some of you may already know but I have been in the process of interviewing for a job this past week and I have to complete this very challenging project for my interview, which is why I didn't post yesterday. I will just keep this short and sweet because I've got to get back to work.

The big story in the media this week was the G20 Summit hosted in London and the Obamas meeting the Queen. The media on both sides of the pond seemed to be ready to pounce on anything they considered to be a break in protocol and I think they were a bit unfair in their judgements of every action taken by the Obamas when they met Gordon Brown and the Queen. I wasn't sure why, Obama is always accused of being "too popular" in the media, which I think is what created the criticism in the first place. This was London's time to shine, a chance for Gordon Brown's government to redeem themselves and the Obamas came in and stole the show. I suppose I might be a bit bitter as well, and the British media definitely were.

I had to laugh that Obamas' gift of an iPod to the Queen which was loaded with photos and video clips of her was reported in the media as being an arrogant gift. However, in the next breath it was revealed that the Queen gave them a photo of herself, yet it was explained away as being just "the customary gift for dignitaries" so it wasn't judged so harshly as the iPod. So if I am reading this correctly, what the critics mean is that if the Obamas gave an iPod to every dignitary they met it would make it okay? I doubt they would agree, but it seems like a bit of an unfair double standard and I think it is very much the American way to treat people as equals. I think when you know you are going to get a framed photo of someone as a gift, an iPod is a clever symbol of American culture to give as a gift. I think one thing that this week proved is that the far right media's constant whining about Obama being a "rock star" couldn't be further from the truth, and the media aren't afraid to put him to the test. 

Here is a little article from Mental Floss about the proper protocol when meeting the Queen (got this from my friends over at Anglotopia). My personal feeling is that if you aren't a subject of the Queen all bets are off. It certainly may not be the traditional or even polite thing to do, but I feel a bit bad for the Queen that she is always treated so formally and I think she might need a hug or a high-five every once in awhile.