another Easter pic

I just looked at DbR's upload from the past week or so and I saw this one of me and the pups on Easter Sunday and I had to include here on my blog. It's Wednesday, 2 am and I still have much I'd like to do in Nashville, we leave Saturday morning. I started reading Team of Rivals which is just an enjoyable history about Lincoln and his cabinet. There is a yukky bug flying around and Peretz is dreaming. David may be too but he's snoring so loudly I can't hear the dream. I had a fun time today making a cake for father in law. It is nice to be on vacation.

Translucent Easter Bonnet

Leaving him at home with Peretz tonight while we go to the Station Inn.

So, about Pickles

Since my mom died last month DbR and I started planning a trip down to Nashville with the dogs to visit his parents and their dogs on his dad's 70th birthday week. Pickles hasn't had a face to face with Pepper or Berkeley and I was nervous about it. Pickles is generally a big dick and wants to always be the alpha and happily Peretz has come to grips with that from the get go. Meanwhile, Peretz has always known and been accepted into the Russell family of dogs, in fact, he came first and is sort of P + B's foster uncle.
So, in preparation I sent two of Pickles' blankets to Nashville along with a bone and a ball he had chewed and drooled on, believing in the experts who say that the scent of the strange dog will become familiar to the home dogs and he'll be more easily accepted, etc etc.
I was still very nervous the whole drive down from Massachusetts and the overnight in the Wytheville hotel didn't calm me. It didn't seem like either dogs are hotel dogs and they both (mostly Pickles, of course) were crazily preoccupied with the smells out in the hall (Pickles had his nose pasted to the doorcrack and spent most the night lying in the mini-vestibule) and wouldn't calm down. They relaxed for most the drive yesterday, however.
We got to Currywood Drive and let them run around the fenced in yard, without P + B at first. Pickles was in heaven. That dog loves to run run run and in the yard full of tennis balls he was pretty happy. Then we let Berkeley into the yard. Berkeley is a shaggy mutt, about 25 % larger than Pickles, same age. They scrapped pretty hard at first and no amount of yelling ceased that action. I was very upset, almost crying at the violence. The fighting continued and began to ebb. I was reassured by the Russells that that was what usually occurred, alpha was made clear and dog fighting ended. I was still worried, as Pickles still hadn't met Pepper and I was afraid the Peanut Butter gang would gang up on him and although Pickles kind of deserved it, he was definitely the aggressor, I was worried someone would get hurt, even a human when dogs were attempted to be split up.

"What if one dog bites the other dog's eye out?" I fretted, imagining the worst scenario.
"That wouldn't happen." I was reassured.
"I just don't want anyone to get hurt, get taken to the hospital."
"They usually yelp or tell us if they are hurt."

Pepper was introduced and Pickles attacked but when she backed down, peace haphazardly reigned. David wanted to nap after a while and so the four of us hunkered down in the bedroom and although at first the dogs napped for a minute, after a while longer they were anxious to go out and party some more. I grudgingly rose and feeling like showering but needing some product, I let the dogs out in the yard and asked Mr and Mrs if they would watch the four hounds while I went shopping real quick. They assented.

As I was leaving the store with my bag of hair stuff, toothbrush and new bag of balls, I received a call from David.

"You're up!" I declared.
"Yeah, my mom just woke me and told me she wanted to take Pickles to the vet because I guess the dogs got into a fight and his eyelid was tore."


We went to the emergency clinic and $450 and seven stitches later I have a dog on vacation who pushes against stuff with his lampshade hat as if it weren't there.
He definitely needs to be separated from the Peanut Butter gang. He seems happy enough, still chasing balls around the yard like mad. This morning he woke me up at 7 am and we went outside in the most gorgeous pink light and when I saw him running at full tilt I knew he was going to be okay.

Pickles was hurt in a Fight

Easter Sunday

where is my one day old spotted tiger?

Today after work I walked Pickles after getting totally bundled up. It was kind of raw outside. I was happy with the walk, though, after putting on the heavy sweater and heavy LL Bean jacket. Recently I was looking through my mother's pics and there is a pic of me with a less than one year old Sal on my back in one of those baby back packs and I was wearing that ol' green jacket, the same ol' green jacket from LL Bean. The thing works hard and now it's older than 15 yrs old. Good ol' jacket.

After the walk I went upstairs to put on play clothes and take off the stiff school clothes (i.e. brassiere) and after pulling on jeans and my new tee shirt I landed in bed. It was pretty nice and as I drifted off I heard Peretz down on the first floor bark bark barking and I could hear Pickles tearing around the house like a maniac which he often does after coming in from a walk. He'll start in the living room by the wood stove and run across the room to the hallway and run up the three steps to the first stairway landing and pant there for a few beats and then take off, running back the same way, at his top speed for inside the house and I could hear his feet on the floor scratching and scraping and running across the wood floor and it sounded very particular and idiosyncratic and meanwhile Peretz was bark bark bark. If someone was illustrating a dog barking, as a demonstration of the form of dog barking the picture would show Peretz with a word balloon which reads "bark" and that would be exactly him.

I heard all of this so loud and clear from the comfort of my bed and I heard Pickles take off again on his running route and I laughed out loud. I did not LOL but I did lay there in my jeans and comfortable tee shirt on my bed and I laughed out loud at the noise the dogs were making in the Bricker downstairs and at the dependability of them and their antics and their noises. Then I fell asleep.

One Step Forward is all that is expected

Sometimes Puppies Seem To Have Big Paws

People Make Me Laugh

Big Pink Pillow
Sunsets with Flower Buds
Dread, Resignations and
Other People's Triple Word Scores


On Facebook I read two comments tonight from women I know-well, one I know well and one I know peripherally. The woman I know well I love but sometimes do not like and the woman I know peripherally I find grotesque -on the inside and on the outside- and their comments I found completely superficial and self important. They dropped names and told stories which does nothing but seem to enhance their coolness- except to people like me who see through the guise keenly and skeptically and now I feel supercilious and resultingly self debasing because I would even have those judgmental thoughts flit through my mind.

"Are there any windows in here?"

the assessor from my mortgage company came and looked through the house, taking pictures! and making notes so that she can go back and (hopefully) tell the company the house is worth more than 90$ thou so that I can get that pmi (private mortgage insurance) taken off my monthly mortgage payment. it actually adds up to 50$ a month that I pay for that shit!!!
i think my house is well worth more than 90$ at least the other bank thought so when they gave me a home equity loan. i told the (nice) lady that i had all new replacement windows (even in the basement!), a new boiler (well, from 2002 anyway) a new roof, new bathroom tile, etc etc. i forgot to tell her about the new chimney (argh!)

She was nice, thank goodness, because she and i travelled around the Bricker for twenty minutes, her making drawings of the floor plan and hopefully taking pictures which show how lovely the house is, me being charming as can be. She was nonplussed by the room on the second floor which was soundproofed but enthusiastic about the pantry, even in its current state of chaos. "that's ok, though, it's a pantry!" "yeah, but I can't find my muffin pan!" I complained.

There is a cellphone on the Bricker's front lawn, thrown there by some errant knave.

blurb...up to minute news from Greenfield, MA

there was a cat-a dead cat in front of the elks club, lying on the grass between the sidewalk and the street. I could only see his large furry gray and white legs and some tail because the top 2/3rds of its body was covered with a nice quilted blanket. It was a large cat, at first glance i thought it was a small terrier-type dog but then i realized it was lying still, under the blanket and then I realized it was a dead cat. It was kind of strange.

distraction

When i was on the vineyard getting over a bad date or whatever, i often watched ww2 movies or that south park movie to distract me from the pain. After I became the only one living in the Bricker, I watched a lot of Buffy to dull that experience. Now I distract myself again with amusing stories up on the screen. This time it is Battlestar Galactica. It's pretty interesting.



My mother
His mother




mother mother blah blah mother

Happy, sad, okay, sad, not bad, sad...

When I was a kid and I was up and about, doing stuff around the house or whatever, and my mom was in bed sleeping while I was up, always made me feel funny. It was never right when she was sleeping (during the day) and I was awake. Of course this changed as I got into my teens and stayed up late watching tv. That was different. But when I was a kid during the few times she slept in or took a nap not on the couch I was always a little weirded out.

Education Reform

Just in time for Kid-say, "oh yeah!"

Klingon this.

'nuff said

new year, new voice

This morning I am amused at the thought that for this year I will post in my husband's manner:
Woke up hard this morning after long night. Loud snoring downstairs punctuated dripping from roof/ceiling along with throbbing of old wound renewed: bulging disc.
Need more weekend. Fingers are numb.

yay

yay! got a gyro for lunch from the greek place
yay! sunset is two minutes later tonight

Brunch is good

Brunch was great today. it was super pleasant and exciting to sit at the bar with regulars and family and watch other regulars, family and neighbors come stomping in from the snowy snow snow, draw up at the bar as well or join x's birthday party and start enjoying spicy bloody marys, risotto, great coffee and tasty everything else. There was at least seven kinds of meat at the party and just as many different cakes and the raucous partygoers (singing was often and gusty) were eagerly (and besottedly) offering platefuls to everyone. Lingering lasted until the cooks were free to amble from the kitchen and goggle at the snow while chatting us all up. Yay for Hope and Olive!

there were 74 views on my flickr yesterday. many people liked to look at this picture.



It is a picture of my husband in the park next to the Diamond Head park in Waikiki taking a picture of a kite. It was before we were totally swept up in a tropical storm which blew and drenched us. During the storm we were walking around a residential area and there were no businesses to duck into to stay out of the wet so we just slogged along and got totally drenched. Every once in a while a big gust of wind would whoosh us and I would be so surprised and helpless at the rainstorm all around us I would let out a yell or mini-screech. After a while DbR looked at me and joked, "nice bra". Sure enough I was a sight for a fatty wet tshirt convention! What had started as a nice walk around Waikiki in cloudy warm weather had turned into an unfortunate and slightly obscene event! I was embarrassed, to say the least. The bra I was wearing was perfectly serviceable and actually a nice support under a very thin summer shirt. Not to be worn fully drenched!
This is a pic of both of us before the storm:


see the nice light blue shirt? I looked awright. So we got drenched and then found the store we had headed out to find and in that store I bought a ten dollar dress. DbR continued wet. I felt sorry for the guy. This is a pic of us after I had changed. I had taken off my undies but was still wearing the wet bra, socks and vans.



I like my new ten dollar dress. I wonder if I can still wear it, in Massachusetts, in winter. Maybe I'll put on a sassy cardigan and wear the dress with knit thigh highs on new years eve at the hope and olive. It's a thought. I did walk around Waikiki in a wet tshirt. Why not wear an aloha dress in winter? No one tells me what I can do!

Feels like Honeymoon has just begun

View from Lanai:



We're ensconced in a super lovely hotel in Waikiki, a place I've never been. DbR has stayed in this hotel before and has fond memories which include a Japanese Restaurant and Honolulu marathon, both of which he will get a taste of on this trip as well. Sitting on the hotel room's balcony overlooking park doings and ocean to my left. It is a busy place even though it continues overcast. The sun may be breaking through, though, I am beginning to see people's shadows on the grass. I would like to go swimming, but not in the gloom.

Here is a picture of some of the food we ate at the fancy Japanese restaurant in this hotel. Delicious and beautiful.



Here are some pics I have just taken from where I am sitting right now.




The sun really wants to come out. Everyone concentrate.

lovely Kauai

THis is where we stayed in Kauai. We've checked out already today and are now just lally-gagging around loafing until our 6 pm flight to Honolulu. It was actually a very lovely cottage even though it had no to little internet. It stood near other cottages owned by a nice family. Also nearby was the Wailua River which became very muddy and full after monstrous rains wedn night/thurs morning. Our sneakers were out on the porch (we werent' allowed to wear shoes inside) during the storm and got wet. They've dried since. The cottage was lovely and we slept much better there than in Hauula.

claustrophobic

I hate seeing the husband all sweatly and disrupted in his peacefulness. Today was a helluva day. The flight from CT to TX was in someways worse than the twice as long of a one from TX to HI. I felt so hot and aggravated while waiting my turn to squeeze out of the plane -- it seemed to take so long and I had a hard time keeping calm and really felt like crap from the time we landed until I was in the airport, putting down my broken bag which was soon discarded. I expected the worse for the next leg-an eight and a half hour long jaunt to Honolulu airport. But I psyched myself up during the two hour layover in Dallas and I did some walking about, some stretching and really sorted myself out for a long long scene.

And it was long but I handled it okay. There was a hella cute baby boy two seats in front of us, he was about 8-9 months and just watching him cry and smile was a nice distraction. I slept a lot, I read Hollywood by A Burr. I tickled and tortured the husband, and when I was really really bored and grumpy I went to the bathroom and just stayed in the room by myself for a few minutes which was a relief. So I got through it and we got the car and luggage and the sun was setting just as we were figuring out how to go north on 63 and the condo isn't what I hoped but its not terrible and tomorrow should be lovely. hurray! my first honeymoon in hawaii has begun.

We Drove To CT

Sitting up in the Bricker watching an absurd show on the netflix instant download. Husband snores downstairs alone. Dog aren't home. The old lady in charge of the kennel (spa) where we left the dogs said she'd bring them a blanket. They have adjoining cells which each have a plastic pedestal where the dogs can lie instead of the stall's hard concrete floor. The cells have individual doorways which allow the dogs to go outside into their outdoor stall area from where they can see each other through the chain link fence. They can also look across to the pens of the other dogs which are kennelled there and they can also look up the nearby hill to see goats hanging in the yard and above that, a large fenced in area, also filled with individual kennels, all inhabited with st bernards, one after each gigantic other, all living to breed, all barking their heads off. Behind them is the farmhouse, the barnhouse and the cat=smelly shed room where the mistress of the kennel sells her wares and keeps her books.




This show is so sleazy and horrible great. It is touted by netflix as the Male Sex in the City and Anthony Head is superb, once more with feeling. I want to watch more but I should sleep and there doesn't seem to be more than one episode offered on the streaming netflix. I just heard a loud firetruck-like siren off in the distance of Greenfield.

I was told about this dog spa from my boss who leaves her dogs there. I guess it is fine and it's not super pricey and what I love is that it is five minutes away from the Hartford airport so we can pick them up super quick instead of driving all the way to Greenfield before seeing them. It is weird right now because since I am not on the plane travelling, I have this time to muse about the dogs and what they are doing instead of dealing with airports and airplane neighbors, crying babies and dry skin and rental cars. I am looking forward to picking up the dogs and bringing them home more than I am looking forward to getting on the plane and travelling to Hawaii. Please note: I didn't state "more than I am looking forward to vacationing in Hawaii." But I do have the time to wish we could have brought scraps of carpet to put down under their plastic pedestals and perhaps big fluffy dog beds to put on top of the pedestals and maybe some Indian



tapestries to hang about, I wish we could have tacked some photos up and perhaps we might have plugged in a radio they could listen to, although you know Pickles and Peretz would be arguing about the station choice constantly. Peretz will finally have his dominant will heard and classical or jazz music will waft about the closed in barn with all the empty stalls except those two over on the right, close to the front door, where our dogs from the cozy beds of Greenfield shiver the night away with the paltry heat promised to be bestowed upon the dogs after all the doors have been closed and the lights have been turned off. Cats and kittens will be the sole prowlers and the only sound heard is the very seldom yelp from that one cranky goat who sleeps on a sore buttock.

If our plane crashes, please go pick up the dogs at Meadowrock Kennels, rt 75, Suffield, CT and find them good homes amongst our friends and families.

last day of NOvember

So the husband and I got into a spat over leftovers. I find it somewhat humorous. We almost didn't have any leftovers and then it seems like there are so many leftovers but then the last of the dark meat, dressing and gravy was all heated up and piled on a plate and it didn't seem like enough for us both. Good thing I was generous with the last big wedge of Rum Cake (oh, that was so good...)!

Penultimate post of November

I do wish I were eating this right now.

dog threw up

Poor Peretz. Poor us humans, cleaning that crap up.

ate too much yesterday. halfway through the preparations DbR said that Neil and Fafnir might come over for dinner. He showed me how all of our dishes were vegetarian except the bird itself, the dressing which was now stuffing and gravy. I was wowed. DbR then pointed out the paltry five potatoes I had gotten, more than enough for us two but now we were four, maybe even six because Cooper and Jess were possibly coming as well. I was a little nervous and when we took out the turkey I had misgivings as did he, that it was too dry. He knifed out a bit on top of the white meat and it was actually very good as was the skin which he had rubbed with some nice spicy maple spicy stuff. it was spicy.

so it did become the six of us and Cooper brought over all this fancy scotch which was nice to taste and we downloaded star trek onto the magic netflix box and I fell in love with Bill all over again. I wish he was in the movie which is coming in May. boo hoo.

Did you know that I didn't like racism?

But I do love a big sweater and a funny winter toque.

I like Alex Baldwin

I'm sitting down watching Rosie Live and it's schmaltzy but awesome. Alex is on right now and seeing him makes me want to watch Outside Providence again. I'm kind of t'red 'cause when I came home I launched into constant kitchen motion for the last 3 hours. I wasn't even making anything for tomorrow. The last few nights DbR and I have been looking at each other at dinner time and wondering what the heck to eat because all the food in the house is generally earmarked for the thanksgiving meal. Sunday we had frozen pizzas, monday we had...oh, some curry rice thing he whipped up with all the extra stuff he could find and last nght we ate chinese (I had ginger milk bubble tea-yum!) but tonight I knew what was going to happen and I went to Fosters before coming home even though I had promised myself I wouldn't go to the store today. But I went because I wanted to get cake stuff and then while I was there I thought, "I should get dinner stuff." I thought, hamburgers! but since we split a meatloaf club earlier I thought there must be another meat we could enjoy and I contemplated the chicken for a while and while I was I thought "enchiladas" and then forwent the chicken for ground pork. So I came home and while DbR made filling for sweet potato pies and squash stuff I made enchiladas and then baked off the yummy chocolate cookies, pictures to follow.

I really like that Kathy Griffith.

Love is hiding who you are at all times, even when you're asleep

Watching 50 Rock, it's so great. This one actually stars Tim Conway who is pretty funny. It's a good show. Haven't watched any of the new ones, though. "My genius has come alive, like toys when your back is turned." Tracy Jordan

This evening since it wasn't colder than hell or raining like crazy so I decided I would take Pickles on a longer walk than usual. Since it has been dark before I even get home from work I lack the get up and go to go very far with him so I usually just saunter around the quick block. Now I actually know what I was missing and like I said, since it wasn't torture tonight, Pickles and I walked up to the flashing light and the Husband and Peretz tagged along. Just about at the corner Pickles and I saw a cute and curious shih tzu who crossed the street to see us. Pickles sniffed and didn't get too alarming but acted affronting enough to get Ms. Shih to walk back across. But then Cutie acted upsettingly, going over to the corner and crossing the street at the blinking light and then she wavered about the street as if to cross again and cars starting coming along at a quick rate and DbR and I were both very anxious about her. I left Pickles with his pals and crossed over to check out where Ms. Shih lived which hopefully was on her tags. She saw me coming and trotted away, away from Allen, up Beech and happily on her way home. Why was she allowed to wander about freely? Dangerous.



I miss days/walks like this.



Last night I was watching the third episode of the fifth season of Buffy and Giles was standing next to a bookcase and was looking at a certain book and I saw that on the same shelf as the book he had taken out and was looking at was the book LINCOLN by Gore Vidal. I think that's pretty cool because that book is great. (As is BURR) I also just enjoy episodes which focus on Xander.

Yay, worlds collide

I know stuff about my neighborhood

As I write this, I am choking a little on some particles which have been stirred up in my cellar by some blowing/vacuuming device which has been used by the guy from Deerfield Valley Heating and Cooling. We paid to have him come in and give the boiler a once over to make sure it is in adequate shape for this cold winter and he cleaned something or something with some tool which blew all sorts of debris dust smoke particles into the air, which have travelled upstairs to where I and the dogs are and it's making it hard to breathe and smells yukky. I also am disturbed by the cloudy quality of the air in the kitchen. Yuck. I did open the back door for a couple minutes but that action did not take much edge off the infusion. Poor Lauri. I feel sympathy for the slobs who live in Beijing and other polluted towns where poor air quality is an everyday thing. yuck.
The guy just came upstairs with a steaming bucket which I assume is filled with hot water from the boiler. I have the dogs on leashes in the kitchen and they are excited and interested in his comings and goings.

Big week has begun. DbR and I, "the newlyweds" are gearing up for our first Thanksgiving. I have never cooked the grand turkey dinner before, I have only made pies and cleaned up while boyfriends and others have cooked and done the dealio which is fine with me. But this year we have no where else really to go and I would very much like some turkey and stuffing so I've convinced Husband to come along with me on the Thanksgiving ride. He seems up for it. We went to Atkins and bought our 9.7 lb Plainville Farms turkey and some cranberries and potatoes and squash and mushrooms. Last week DbR made a super great spicy maple squash dish so I asked him to repeat that and I asked him if he could make a pumpkin pie and he opted for a sweet potato pie-yum. I think I am going to try to make those cookies again and I am going to follow the directions perfectly this time (see yesterday's blog for reference) and see if they can be moister. Although last night people did eat the cookies with gusto and when I complained that I wished they were more moist one guy said, "so they would be liquid" so who knows, maybe I am hypercritical about my cookies. I used white chocolate chips instead of chocolate chocolate chips and that may have been the trouble.

I have been looking through the November 08 issue of Gourmet and there are two main articles about Thanksgiving. One is the huge deluxe thanksgiving meal and the other is, "thanksgiving in four hours!" In the deluxe article there is a recipe for chipotle meatballs which I'd like to try sometime-not for Thanksgiving-and there is this other fancy recipe for wild mushroom bundles which look hella good and I asked the husband to take them on. We need something green at the table, right? So I'm nervous-I want everything to be yummy and I don't want us to argue and get aggravated in the kitchen together but we'll be okay. Yesterday while I made cookies and he the banana pudding, all was well. I wish we had more counter space though!!

Recipes always crap out

Lately I have been making cookies and cakes, etc. using recipes I find in Gourmet or on line. They are not Gourmet recipes, they are usually recipes found on the sides of pages, in the butter ad or the Ghirardelli chocolate ad. They've been turning out not exactly right-today I made these chocolate cookies and they don't look like the cookies in the ad, boo hoo, and they are kind of dry-not sweet and gushy, even though they have plenty of butter and choc. chips in them. I did make some alterations in the recipe which may have caused the imperfect result and it is not like the cookies are crap or anything. They are very chocolatey-just not super soup-y and moist. oh well.

DbR made a big batch of banana pudding, I have to laugh, it is pretty huge. DbR makes the pudding as a bunch of layers: cookie, pudding (made from scratch), bananas, cookie, pudding, bananas, etc and then on top a layer of whipped cream, yum. The thing fills up a large turkey roasting pan-it is fairly momentous. I think the cookies will go hella well with the puddin'. I kind of don't really like the cookies all that much. Anyway, we are bringing those desserts to the Hope + Olive tonight along with our Singstar game to celebrate 2 out of 3 of the proprietors of that restaurant and it should be good. I hope people like my cookies even though they are dry and tasteless.

I hope the stuff I make for Thanksgiving turns out tastier.

Saturday

"notify Agent Zarkov"

watching that Flash Gordon movie from the 80's. Its funny. Seems like Agent Zarkov is a little spaced out in this scene. What's going to happen? Been trying to keep the house warm with the woodstove. It's going okay. I wanted to take the edge off the third floor and warm the kid's room up a little. It just seems so cold cold cold.

wow, it's later than i thought

lately it has been hard keeping track of time. it's dark, it's light, now it's dark again. ok, it's dark but it's still early. no, it's late.
I did all the dishes and some laundry but there are so many plastic and paper bags strewn about the pantry it's disgusting and i wish i knew where my magic wand was put.

bedroom is also a mess. trying to heat the house with the woodstove. doing okay.

I will survive

First otter reaches Farne Islands

An otter has survived a "perilous" three-mile sea crossing to the Farne Islands for the first time, the National Trust has said.

The animal, more commonly found in rivers, has swum from the coast of Northumberland despite rough seas.

Head warden David Steel said he was stunned to find 60 yards of otter tracks on Brownsman Island, which is famed for its bird colonies.

The mammal has not yet been sighted, but it is thought to be still there.

Agitated behaviour by the island's gulls and puffins suggest the new predator has settled in.

Force nine gales

While otters in Scotland do live in coastal areas, Mr Steel said it was "a rare event" to see them by the sea in England.

For one to reach an island three miles offshore was, he said, "incredible".

"It is staggering that an otter could survive the perilous journey out to the Farne Islands, especially Brownsman, which is a long way from the mainland," he said.

"We almost had to rub our eyes with disbelief when we discovered the tracks," he told the BBC.

"We've recently had force nine gales and it can be tricky to reach the islands even on a relatively calm day, which makes this otter's journey a little bit special."

Mr Steel said the otter may be a young animal, fresh from leaving the family fold and seeking its own territory.

"It might be a lonely animal, but it will hopefully survive," he said.

"There'll certainly be plenty of food, plenty of crustaceans and fish to feed upon, but unfortunately, unless another animal swims out here, it might have a lonely existence.

"But there's no reason why we can't get a second or third animal. They are obviously exploring this area so, who knows, maybe in the future might have a small breeding population."

The only worry, Mr Steel said, was about the impact the otter might have on nesting birds next summer.

"Unfortunately, otters are carnivores. They will feast upon bird eggs and small chicks so at that moment it may be a slight concern."

In the late 1950s and early 60s, otters underwent a sudden and catastrophic decline throughout much of Britain and Europe, probably due to the combined effects of pollution and habitat destruction.

home with the guys

I blew off yoga. I'm just lazy. Came home after running a few errands and made a fire while husband made a pretty great dinner-tortellini with gorgonzola and a squashy side dish. Looks like us newlyweds are going to have to put a thanksgiving meal together at home. Might actually be fun, right?

Looking forward to watching an instant download of dirty harry. I used to watch that fairly frequently and I'm psyched to see it again. First, however, a dog walk. Feeling lazy about that as well.

hungry-er than usual

why does one get more hungry than the usual hungry when one is unable to eat as opposed to just not eating? Today I received the second half of my scraping and planing dental treatment, getting the remaining plaque and calculus taken off my choppers. Again, the yoga breath was very helpful. When the needles came into my mouth and poked poked poked at me, I found myself tensing up. When the laser stream hit my gums and other places, I found my brow was furrowed and my shoulders tensed. What I would do is stare at a corner of the drop ceiling and breath through my nose in that conscious fashion and the brow would unwrap, the shoulders would come down, the dental needle faded off and now I have the clean teeth and firm resolve to brush floss and poke with more intent and better purpose.

The scraping/planing woman would often murmur with concern while working on my wisdom teeth and had to come back to them again and again. I tortured her by saying, "well, it figures that the calculus would be attracted to the wisdom tooth!" oh, I know, I know, poor lady.

Now I'm hella hungry. Just cleaned the bathroom and looking forward to the mount everest of dishes-yay!

arbitrary rulings

today at work i was told that the cfo wanted to change the way i label some invoices which i enter into an accounting program and there was no real reason except for a whim, as i was told...i plead my case and then some kittens came into the office and i fled home with a migraine Ala nausea.

at home i had some alka seltzer and was yet again amazed at its acuity regarding absolution of all physical ailments. today literally as i drank it (and it went down very easy) i felt it healing as i felt it descend my esophagus. it was miraculous. i went upstairs and lay down with pickles under the blanket and felt better as i sipped my peppermint tea.

later i talked to the kid and a brilliant plan was formed for this weekend. i can't wait.

i did not go to yoga and i missed it. but then i went to dinner at the hope and olive. i had the meatloaf. it was perfect.

have i posted yet today?

why can't i remember how to publish links? argh
i remember i knew some stuff once but not any more.
i'm kind of excited because i made a group in facebook and it is very popular which makes me happy.
i miss my kid and i'm not sure when i am going to see him next.
guess i'll drink a beer and watch Buffy.

Make Food With Meat.

I have a headache and I should take a shower. I made a great new group on Facebook! Go join.

watching 90210

today was topsy turvy and for a while i was grumpy and for a while i was sick but now im relaxed and sure, i didn't get to see the concert i wanted to but that happens.

whhops!

where'd friday go? I forgot to blog. it was a nutty day. on thurs I found out that the guy who is Iron and Wine is playing in northampton tonight (saturday) and it was "sold out" except for those token 100 tix at the door. I was pretty bummed because I have been semi-obsessed with "Shepherd's Dog" since it came out last...Nove? Dec? and kind of really would like to see my favorite songs done live. Do I go down to Hamp at 5:30 and hang around to get a ticket? what a drag.

after work I wanted some husband time even though I had scheduled myself to go to an event in Hamp so he and I went out and saw a 7 pm showing of Quantum of Solace which was pretty great. Bond has a car race, a boat race and a plane race (navigating all the vehicles) it was good-there were some teen boys sitting behind us who had to keep checking in with each other about the plot. fucking losers. "who's Vesper?" idiots. and then when we were walking out some teen girl said to her friend, "the last one was so great, i don't know what the deal is"

right after i got home i jumped in my car and raced to hamp and saw winterpills who were great but too short a set and then while the other people who i didn't know played, etc. i had some pretty nice convos with peops i haven't seen in a while, which was a pretty nice catch up. i listened to JJ's rant regarding emails vs. phone calls which i appreciated and met up with Rosemary who is an old friend moving to Amherst. All i could talk about was the possibility of Sal's band playing Montague next week. I hope it happens (bites fingernails nervously).

its raining and crappy outside. i am about to leave for a yoga class at one and david just took Pickles out in the rain for a poo. i feel appreciative and guilty. i'll make it up to him with cake later!

Last Night at the Hope and Olive

last night we went out to dinner at the H+O "just for beer and salads" but we received more food than just that as we sat at the bar.
The highlights were the ribs I had ordered for seven bucks:



which were freaking amazing and that sauce on the side? i may create a shrine of devotion just for that sauce.
The ribs went perfectly well with these, which I think cost three or four:



yes, those are rutabaga fries which come with their own sauce, thank you very much. A very perfect meal is these two dishes together with a pint of Racer Five. I would like to all that for lunch. But wait, I'm a card carrying member of the meatloaf club! the decisions are killer! oh thank you DbR for making these photos available.

wow i almost spaced out...

...blogging today! I've sort of set as a goal an everyday/blog November, like I did last year on nomoblolo or whatever that website is. I noticed immediately that DbR blogs every day easy, doesn't have to even try, it seems, to blog two sometimes three times a day. I can sort of get like that, take an easy once a day but today, well, good thing blogger is on cali time.

today was annoying at work but the smoke cleared after lunch. one of my bosses sent me an email requesting a bottled water and candy run. that makes me laugh. then i walked down the cold drizzly street to do a bank run, which was fine since I bundled up and had my rain hat. sure, it wasn't as great as a September afternoon running into Thurston Moore kind of walk down the street but it was interesting and gives me a template upon which to compare those sweet summer afternoons.

then i went to yoga and it was a drag driving down the drizzly dark fiveten. the class was worth it though-sure i couldn't do standing head to knee but my camel kicks ass and everything gets thoroughly charged from that. bacon sandwiches for dinner rounded out the domestication of me.

My bras always seem too small

Today I had my teeth cleaned for the first time in twenty years. As I wrote before, there is much calculus which needed to be chipped away by the periodonal assistant. She was very nice. I felt the need to apologize for the gross plaque and for the need for her assiduous care. She used an instrument which sprayed a laser sharp stream of water onto my teeth and gums and I had to have the water (and blood!) sucked up by the vacuum straw again and again. The left side of my mouth was so numb that I kept feeling like I was drooling all over her and myself and I may have been but she was very kind and assured me repeatedly that all was well.

There were times when the laser stream was uncomfortable against my gum or I was simply swept away in the small panic of mouth care. It was then that the yoga practice I have been involved in came very much into play and proved extremely useful. When the dentist was in with the big Novocaine needle I was nervous and at other times during the scraping and planing I could feel myself get a little anxious. During those times (and in general during the procedure) I would look up at the drop ceiling and pick a spot in particular and breath in and out through my nose with deliberation. This usually worked to mellow me out and also to give me the needed oxygen. If I still needed mellowing I would count my breaths, not going over two-1.2.1.2-this also helped me to notice that my brow or face was scrunched up and who needs that? I would smooth out the whole package with precise prana.

Yoga almost mellowed me out

I am watching that tv show FRINGE and there is some gross thing inside someone's chest, some alien parasite and its grossing me out. It is so gross that I almost rather walk the dogs instead of watching. I don't really want to walk the dogs, I'm feeling kind of lazy and uninterested in walking around the block. I just want to sit around and be lazy.

Meanwhile, I went to yoga today and kept my blood sugar fairly high-around 200 through the class which I know is far from ideal but I was able to keep my energy up and did all the poses except for two--and I never do those two. I did really well, I think, but now I'm feeling pretty fucking lazy.

Tomorrow: tooth planing and scraping! yay!

cats and their toys

Harriet writes: she's doing great. getting and giving all the cuddles anyone (and dog) can stand. yay. i think i made the right decision there although i do need a mouse and mole killer. she was supergreat in the hunting department. good cat.

weird day

i'm cold and i tried to snuggle up with my husband but Pickles got in between us and it became awkward so i got up, flossed the teeth and came upstairs to my lovely bed which has plenty of room for me. cold though. that situation will rectify once i get down under.

today i went to yoga and it started out pretty nice even though there were some new girls who sat filing their nails and doing their hair while waiting for the class to begin. i always lay down in shavasana to calm my worried mind as well as i can before the class starts. these gals were not doing that. they were newbies. the blond gal next to me kept glancing over at me which i generally hate but i was able to tune her out alright. the class is an hour and a half long and by the 8th or so pose (out of 22) i was feeling weaker and more nauseous than usual. this continued the rest of the class and it never occurred to me that i had low blood sugar but i did and my energy ebbed and i only did one pose out of every two or so. it sucked. anyway, this is boring but i had planned on blogging once a day and right now this is what i am thinking about. when i first got to yoga and was just chilling on the floor noticing the other yoga practisers doing their non-yoga prep i was thinking about how i should write an essay about how strange people are with their workouts. it seems to me that if you go to the yoga class you should or, well, you might want to get in the mood, to wholly immerse yourself in the mindset of the Bikram practice once you get into the room and are about to start but i guess one has to come to that realization on their own. or not. i just find it distracting when people are distracted. i guess i'm a little bit of a yoga nazi. i'm sure i was distracting today when i was pacing around wondering what the hell was wrong with me when all i needed was a little vitamin water.

i know, whats wrong with me? i've only been a diabetic for 28 years, seems like i'd know the symptoms, right? well, i tested my blood sugar before the class and the meter read 300 which is hella high, that should keep me fine through an hour and half of major sweating. but either the test was incorrect or that insulin i had taken 3 hours earlier suddenly hit. that's unlikely. the test was wrong. in the car after the class i tested 72! yoink. i got home ok and there was chili and biscuits waiting which is always nice.

so thats my dumb post for this weird day. there is more that made it weirder but its personal and who knows, my mom could be reading this.

and you know about my interest in u.s. presidents and their families..

Just a thought about the united states for a minute. Slowly, as I get used to the idea that O actually did win and that the society in which I live actually is “better” than I gave it credit for, I start coming to startling and hopeful ideas. Maybe we American humans can start actually looking at each other, perhaps being more friendly and less antagonistic to each other. If this certain man was elected in by us united states citizens, maybe my fellow citizens aren’t the assholes I’ve believed them to be for the past forever.

Was I still hopeful back when Clinton was president? When did I become so jaded? Can I retrieve my non-jadedness? I think Clinton was just a quick relief, a good ol’ boy who fit in the u.s. presidential cookie cutter in a not great way. I like him and I have more respect for him now, I think, than when he was president, but while he was president, I certainly wasn’t renewed with hope for my country and awakened with astounding ideas of unity and fellowship the way I have been because of O’s election.

There’s a chance, a very happy exciting chance, that we right thinking awakened people can perhaps grab back this country and make it less of a killing belligerent monster that it has become under BushJr’s watch and, in the big picture, which it has become post ww2. Can I actually open my hope chest?

good ol' mom

So, My mom got a computer and needs a quick tutorial and so I asked David if he wanted to come on over to Syracuse and help her to figure stuff out that the ol' lady is new to learning. Always up for an adventure he said yeah and so here we are. I helped her pick up some sites and favorite some stuff and now she's on flickr-whee.

maybe going to visit Norm soon

something funny that happened today

Hail those playfully competitive sibling proprietors! the lucky ones: eaters and local foodies like me and DbR.

rainy days and mondays

The oldies channel is really getting me down today. Someone is really programming the sad ones.
I think I have a predilection.
Don't let the sun catch ya crying, yo.

feeling better feeling okay

Happy the election is over
Happy that hellish woman can fade into oblivion
Happy that the u.s. isn't as fascist as I had feared
Happy to make plans to visit the white house sometime soon

dinner is nigh

eh.

i am so nervous

what if obama wins and the republican party gears up to wipe us all out in 2012? what if the political machine of the u.s. is creepier than i expect and our new democratic president doesn't have the protection that our current president/murderer is given and tragedy ensues? why does my country's government fill me with dread/horrible certain darkness? I'm worried I'm worried I'm worried I'm worried I wish I could spend the day with Gore Vidal I'm worried I'm worried I'm worried I'm worried

ha!

I thought I had all of our accomodations squared away for the Hawaii vacation but the lady realtor emailed me and said she has a heavy heart because she overbooked during the time of our stay. I detested her vague delivery more than her incompetence.

Anyway, it is actually a good thing because I was enjoying the act of finding and deciding, investigating and mapping so here I have a whole new opportunity! yay for me.
I will find a way better place. It may not be next door to the shaved ice place in Haleiwa that DbR fancied so wholeheartedly but maybe we'll see this guy:


Here's hoping the Republican mob doesn't rule the u.s. like I fear it do.

German for 'Levensies?

Mittagspause

yay, November one

So, halloween is over for another year. I have to say I am a little bit relieved, as usual. We went around to a couple places and it was fun, etc. but I spent too much time last night feeling kind of hungry. I still am a little bit hungry. Carol and Dana had a pretty great to=do over to the Apollo Grille. There were some interesting peops but not enough food, ha ha. David won second place in the costume contest-Thanks to me! ha ha.

Dogs say hey

I want to be just like him.

sitting in bed with husband and dogs

we have the downloaded ELO concert on our netflix magic box on the tv and we are both on our silly macbooks. I am pretty relaxed, thanks to hot yoga and a nice dinner. I came home to find a sweetpotato meatloaf meal--it was nice.
there are a lot of people playing strings on stage with this band. They keep saying "its great to be back in England, it's great to be back in England." There is a guy with a bright blue violin.

Meanwhile, have i mentioned how much I love Etsy? I can just sit around with the laptop and buy something just wonderful like this guy:



and with paypal, boom! it is travelling to my mail box immediately! cool.

unsuccessful saturday

As I try to book our rooms/condo/etc for our trip in December I believe in a natural sense of entropy. Everything falls apart, including the human body and we have to rebuild and repair our old houses as needed.

Most people have a wish, a dream they work toward. It's nice to let it go and just sit back with a book and a drink. Many times we humans realize our dream is unattainable and we begin to resent our free time. Life is weird. I want to know how to do everything: cook mexican, use a sewing machine, use a synthesizer, play a piano, make the perfect fire in my wood stove, memorize the u.s. presidents, publish an amusing zine, find the mate that fits, etc. But the scattershot of my attention and interest has created a Lauri who can do and accomplish stuff okay but who has never excelled at any one perfect thing. Sometimes I feel betrayed by myself in this way. Everything is okay, is tolerable, but nothing is perfect.

teeth and gums

How Successful are Dental Implants?

Provided thorough criteria of case selection and clinical protocols are adhered to, dental implants can have a success rate of 97% or more. In some cases, such as in the anterior mandible, the success rate is close to 99%. Your periodontist will assess you and advise you if you are a suitable candidate for dental implants. To improve implant success, a CT scan is made of your jaw, generating a data file. This data allows a 3-Dimensional view of your bone; it’s true height, width, and most importantly, your actual jaw bone density exactly where each implant will be placed. Using sophisticated 3-D implant planning software, we plan the exact location of the implants. This enables us to do “virtual surgery” on the computer, vastly simplifying treatment planning, and reduces surgical time and discomfort.

Yesterday I went to a dentist for the first time in maybe twenty years. Actually, when I was pregnant for Sal, I had masshealth so I took the opportunity to go to a dentist. But I didn't follow up because I didn't have dental insurance. But that was just the one time since I graduated college in 1988. Well, during that time I brushed at least twice a day and for the last ten years, flossed a couple times a week. This wasn't enough for my good oral health because the dentist called me today to tell me that when he looked at my xrays he could tell that I have major bone loss. I also have some gross stuff called calculus hanging around my teeth. what a bummer. and there is one small cavity.

and I was so proud of my remaining four wisdom teeth.

Harriet Rules, all dogs drool

Word From Harriet:
FVP, her new roomie reports: "She really seemed to like reclining on the (carpeted cat)perch next to the woodstove. She also fell asleep this morning on top of the dog, who was under the covers, which was pretty cute."
Things are looking up!

spider bite and draft beer

There are two blog-worthy subjects I want to write about but I don't have the time right now to give them their due. I need to giddy-up with the dressing and dog walking and work going, etc etc. Let's just leave it like this

Thanks, DbR, for taking my picture. Thanks Target for having this costume ready for me to "slip into" as I clamor through your aisles. And thank you chickens everywhere.

thursday is a crazy kind of day...

sometimes i really want to close my door and stay quiet in my room. sometimes i don't want to take the towel off of my hair. sometimes i like music, sometimes i can't be bothered. i'm happy the cat is safely away from danger dogs. i sometimes feel my life is full of such sacrifices and even though it is the right thing to do (i.e. not selfish), i end up being the empty one. i don't ask for what i want all the time. it becomes too much trouble.

I like Figments' Twelve Bells. I was just listening to the song, "Settling" as I wrote the above. I wonder if it had some effect.

Anybody Want A Good Cat?

When I was in my twenties, I lived on Martha's Vineyard and I had a cat which was killed by two neighborhood dogs who had the run of the place. They came up onto my porch and smushed/bit my cat to death. It wasn't great.

Now I have the same situation pending in my own household. The dogs are fine with the cat separately but together they form a deathly pack who try to rustle her into a tight spot and...who knows? It didn't look good this morning for Harriet when I saved her from her trapped spot under the barstool with both dogs looming close by.

She's a good cat. She kills mice and moles and sleeps next to you, not on top. She's small and graceful. I'd like to save her life.

not bad, not good

good ol' Four Leaf Clover. Pork coulda been more tender, though. I guess nothing compared to the pork I had yesterday. mmmm. The event was at a park in Northfield on the connecticut river and it was lovely, even with overcast skies and mosquitoes. I brought ginger cookies and oatmeal cookies and the H+O brought everything else, even the Holy Smokes catering bus. I ate rib after rib and felt guilty but there was enough for everyone, even with DbR and I interloping.-
Afterwards I went to the showing of M*A*S*H, the final movie of the all-Altman-all-the -time weekend at the Academy of Music. I only managed to go to see two out of the 10-something movies offered. It was interesting last night at M*A*S*H, a movie I have seen many times, because I got teary-eyed watching the beginning sequence of that lovely song playing over the helicopters carrying the wounded. I paid closer attention to the helicopters and the bloody actors playing soldiers strapped to the panniers of the 'copters and I was able to take in Altman's anti-war sentiment more acutely than ever, really feeling that the helicopters kept coming and coming and the song was so lovely sounding and sad. The bloody make up was done so well and gor-ily and the sight of the soldiers' hands hanging listlessly in the air as these casualties were toted along really brought the horror home. I felt it.

There is a quick scene toward the end of the beginning credits where one of the orderlies falls under a stretcher he is carrying and I was bewildered when I heard someone laugh in the audience. I realized that viewers of the tv show M*A*S*H have been programmed to be the laugh track and that was where many of my co-viewers last night were at. This show is a sitcom so it's funny; go ahead and laugh when someone falls down. But not me. I didn't laugh so much and that certainly did not diminish my enjoyment of the film. I did laugh once, during the football scene when the players crashed into 2 or 3 wheelchair-bound soldiers. Sure, it isn't funny really but I laughed.

coming up next: more Heroes, I hope

oh i just have to mention real quick and i hate to go off so i'll just say that i think it is total bullshit, these socialist ideas our lovely republican administration (present and hopeful) want to put in place to save their cronies' asses (and rich retirement plans). fuckers. where is their socialistic support when i'm buying my mutherfucking insulin every three weeks? AHHHHHHhhhhhHHH!

my husband..

..took me out for luncheon cheeseburgers at the local grease joint here in lovely downtown Greenfield. It was nice. So far this first day back to work after the long weekend has been a challenge. I trust that the tide will change now, post calorie rush.

I like this guy

I also love a monday off, yay.
We've been invited to a special Hope and Olive employee party catered by the folks from Holy Smokes today. I'm pretty happy about that. I feel like I haven't eaten all weekend! what the fuCk? hungry.

Why does Pickles lick David's comforter?

So today I made DbR's life "like magic" and then was called a "solid citizen". I do feel like both. I do feel very very sore from stacking wood. We got around 2 cords of wood and we stacked it into two lovely solid rows. My body is tired and sore. We received the netflix movie player for the tv. very exciting thing to have when one is bedridden with old sore body. ooooh, what'll we watch?

egg with meat inside

It is too loud in here. Pickles is yelling, "rrrowwrrr rrrlowwlrr" and I'm sick of it. Sure, it's real cute but I'd love some quiet. Peretz is barking indignantly and I want quiet. Why can't I sit on the couch and have quiet dogs? argh

ate bbq at the Hope and Olive

cocatered by Holy Smokes, late of Hatfield. Really yummy and beyond any reproach. I got the ribs and could only eat one of four, I was so full so fast. They had these corn fritters with this maple butter outside coating -oh boy. I really cannot say enough about this gastromic orgasm. Best part of the weekend.

Even better than realizing I could lay/sit in bed and watch a dvd on my macbook. whoa.

lazing around being sick

DbR uploaded some word/publisher programs on my lappy after telling the laptop that it's going to have to forget I ever had a password because I didn't remember my password. Now I have to remember all my other passwords. How ironic. I don't remember more than one or two passwords at a time. Now he's outside telling his mom how silly I was not to remember all my passwords.

ok, this is all just silly. I'm delirious with silliness. I need a tissue and a snack, I think.

ha!

I was just going to write about how while calling my Kid I slammed a coffee table into my toe, breaking a large piece of the toenail off and then I looked at my last 2 blogs were about physical maladies and I almost stopped myself! Who wants to hear about my illin'?

The weird part was it really hurt and just as I realized how much it hurt the message time came on and I had to leave a message for him while enduring the pain stoicly. I think I managed but at the end my "call me soon" may have sounded a little querolous.

sore throat sore throat

house is empty, which is fortunate because DbR and i have no energy left for dogs and each other, much less visitors. Slept last night from 10 p -8 this morning. still a little faded.
wearing new pants, socks, shirt and boxer briefs from Gap outlet. I look like a boy but feel pretty as a daisy! should go walk Pickles.
coffee is almost working.

6 advil and counting

what a great party and i don't think i was the only one who had fun. thank goodness i am not expected to work today. wonder about all of our gifties. should probably go fetch them from the hope and olive. first time six grownups stayed over in the Bricker. I will not let this absinthe and murphy's headache get the best of me. it's a lovely lovely day. house guests are dissipating. i like lying on the couch with macbook.

funny funny funny

everything is nice--the house is hella full. i went to get donuts from adams this morning and would like to get my hair cut...it doesn't look that great. blah blah blah.
it seems like all the house guests are happy here...there's drama as usual in the lesbian quarter but that's life. tonight should be fun..i received a call last night from evelyn asking when guests were going to arrive. i guess she thought 5 pm but maggie knew it was 7. i love that goof=iness. i feel goofy but on the outside i bet i come off as annoying. oh well.
DbR's brother is obsessively playing guitar hero which is funny. I'm glad we have something to occupy and amuse. CB and I spent an embarrassingly long time playing Singstar yesterday. hee hee hee.

nice day day day

"Just back from yet another delightful brunch & a quick trip to the Bookmill, going to take my brother swimming in Green River now.

Beautiful, balmy day, quite perfect as last day's of summer go."
My husband wrote this today and he hit it right. My friends are here, DbR's bro is here, it's a nice day, we're relaxing, there is no real pressure and it is good. Time needs to slow down, though.

sunday

sitting here on my computer, david is on his computer, planning a brunch situation with extended people. reminds me of a time in my life i would go out to the black dog with (too) many people for a meal and the chaos would always cause a certain level of anxiety for me-- and i wasn't even the waitron! haw.

it should be hella nice, though. baby viewing is nigh. my shoulder hurts and the coffee is fresh. my weekend is too fast. bleh

shoulder hurts

What if I die before.....
Everything seems so tentative and brutal.
Feeling disoriented and sore.
Every time I think about being dysfunctional,
I stop myself with a little pep-talk.
The yard is a mess, the house isn't unpacked.
The office isn't packed, the dogs need walking.
Even when I'm sitting and lying down,
I'm not relaxed.
There so much to do and it's never going to get done.
ever.

But it's okay. It really is.
I drink beer and/or vodka everyday
but my tolerance is so low-and waning by the moment.

I don't sing as well as I would like.

bleh

the usual bitsy road blocks keep coming up as i approach the ecstatic point of publishing a zine where i'm ready to collate and in the case of Pawl Bitt, cut down to size...SH! almost done

full moon, weird air

DbR and I just walked dogs and it was a heavy, humid time. "I can't believe it's not raining!" He commented and I understood-it felt like it should've been.
There were little bugs flying around my head while walking which I absolutely abhore but besides that, the weather didn't bother me, in fact, I found it interesting and novel. I wouldn't want my atmosphere to be like that all the time but once in a while, maybe-
After the walk DbR took to his bed. The weather had ruined him.

The Day After

It's not so bad, September 13, except that I have to wait a whole nother year for my birthday to come around again. I would have liked more sun at the beach (there was none) and less driving in traffic but the company I kept was top drawer (best friend and husband), the food was good (sushi ym ym), and photo opportunities abounded.
here is a sample:


THis is what 42 looks like

somehow

my husband knew which comic books to get me, which Le Creuset to get me for my birthday. It's nice. I thought I asked for a metal bulkhead for my birthday. Somehow he seems to know that is not what I really want.

"Can I bring this to the beach and get it all sandy or are we worried about resale value?"

I love my birthday.

thursday

one more workday before my birthday weekend. i love my birthday, even when i'm alone, even when i don't have any plans...i always make plans for myself and create a good memory, at the very least, while enjoying the moment to moment. this year i have someone who, within his job description as husband, will have to spend my bday with me-he even took the day off. we're supposed to go visit the same beach i spent the day at (alone) when i turned 40. that was a good day--it somewhat deteriorated after leaving the beach but that was the night-it was a great day.

tomorrow will be great too. Roma is tagging along and i'm looking forward to swimming. just got to get through today-shouldn't be too bad. the morning has been top-drawer so far.

listening to Pablo Cruise's "Love will find a way" on youtube

just being slow

A month or so ago DbR came home one night from some time away from the house and there was a big puddle on my laptop. The laptop had been in a seemingly safe place-on the dining room table, in the middle of the room. I looked around and saw that the dining room chairs were scattered about in such a way to provide access for the dogs to jump up-on top of the table and computer and if they really were the bad dogs I suspect they are, one (or both, I guess) could have peed on my computer. My suspicions were immediate and terrible.

It wasn't dog pee. Somehow some driving wind had accessed the side windows above the dining room and seeped through the ceiling tiles down onto....right onto my laptop. why? why there? there was no other rain damage in the entire room. just my pc laptop.

well, the laptop was kaputt. it smelled funny and wouldn't turn on ever again and although I have another, big, desktop computer which I often use upstairs, I still missed having a computer with me when I slog around in front of the tv, downstairs, in the husband's room, etc. I decided to buy a new one. When I told DbR of my decision, he stated that he had already planned on getting me a refurbished mac for my birthday which is approaching.

I got the lappy today and am using it presently and it's nice, really clean, etc. My first present has arrived! thanks.

Battle of the Lazy Dogs

WHO IS THE LAZIEST DOG OF THIS PRE=Tropical Storm Downpour SATURDAY?
Is it Pickles, the lagabout?
Or is it Peretz, the sleeparound?




Let's let the only one able to really decide, decide.
Harriet: Who Is The King Of Snooze City?



Who do you think she'll crown?



oh, kitty!

crafts and such

So, I started working on my new zine a week or more ago and I'm really enjoying the pace. I have until Sept 22 when I want them to be perfect and at this point I'm just perfecting. I have everything mostly in place, now I can just fuzt. It's nice.

Meanwhile, my friend Nancy suggested I put my zines in Etsy, which is also nice, that someone would encourage me to do that...I have my reservations, who wants to order a silly little per-zine from some stranger in Greenfield, MA? But, really, the bottom line is who cares if they sell? It's just kind of fun and nice to be in Etsy.


DbR and I went to the craft fair in northampton last night which was really great..there is so much there to want to purchase and look at...after realizing that the only jewelry there that I really wanted was over $100 I started to look at things which were more like $10 and that stuff was usually funny creatures people made. DbR bought us something like this. Super cute. There were $44 stuffed creatures, which of course I would love to possess. I can't get over the price, however. I have to spend that much on a bottle of absinthe for the upcoming festivities! I can't spend it on fluff at this juncture! David really loved a guy like this, with a long funny beard. hella cute.


meanwhile, thursday night, after going to the Franklin County Fair and riding the "Freak out!" I came home and found myself sleepwalking. First time ever. I wasn't looking for food either...weirdness

That Lucky Old Sun

yay! received mine today-will go listen! if i can open this packaging.
go, Brian!