100 Things That Make Me Happy

 Possibly the only thing FaceBook does right is offer an  ‘it’s complicated’ as a choice of relationship statuses.  Love, after all, is very complicated if for no other reason that it encompasses many, many forms.  There’s the “OMG I love those shoes” love, and the “hunka, hunka, burning love” love, and “squee!” love, and … well you get the point.  Love is complicated.  When I saw Sin Pantalones’ 100 Things I Love post (borrowed from Mad Orange Fools) I knew I wanted to play along but as we all know I’m a little lazy (well, maybe a lot lazy) and I felt that things on my ‘love’ list might need qualifications.  Not to mention the things that might be omitted (purposely or not) that could only get me in trouble.  We also know that I no good at meme rules so this is my 100 Things that Make Me Happy list.  Just to keep balance I will do an unhappy list but truthfully ‘annoyed’ would probably be a better descriptor for that one – heh.

  1. Bird song.
  2. Pedicures
  3. New underwear.
  4. D’s laugh.
  5. 80′s music.
  6. Solving problems.
  7. Clean sheet night.
  8. The smell of fresh cut grass.
  9. The way Emma throws both front feet over her head when she first sees me after a long day.
  10. Duncan’s grin.
  11. The sound of moving water.
  12. Dappled light.
  13. Candles.
  14. The Hancock’s of Paducah Fabric catalog.
  15. Gerber daisies.
  16. Butcher birds.
  17. Chocolate.
  18. A good lemon drop martini (more sweet than sour).
  19. A clean house.
  20. A clean car.
  21. Sunflowers.
  22. Botanical gardens.
  23. Ice cold Mt. Dew
  24. Creme brule’
  25. The Fifth Element.
  26. November.
  27. Reading poetry out loud.
  28. Singing in the car.
  29. Fog.
  30. Perfume.
  31. Computer games.
  32. Interesting insects.
  33. Taking off my super socks at the end of the day.
  34. Cleaning house when D is not at home.
  35. Friday 5pm, windows down, radio up.
  36. The smell of bread baking.
  37. Garnets.
  38. Fall leaves
  39. Volunteer plants.
  40. Fugly shoes.
  41. Little bowls.
  42. Hiding my face from Duncan.
  43. The smell of a used book store or an old library.
  44. The tree outside my office window.
  45. The smell of stargazer lilies.
  46. Office supplies; especially pens & paper.
  47. Swimming at night.
  48. The smell of rain.
  49. Do nothing days.
  50. Making things.
  51. A cat’s purr (maybe not at 3am).
  52. Dragonflies.
  53. Baby zeedonks (seriously, is there anything cuter?)
  54. Old barns
  55. Blank paper and a freshly sharpened pencil.
  56. Soap stores.
  57. Eating out in fancy places.
  58. Fat quarters.
  59. Being capable.
  60. Butterflies.
  61. Milk and PBnJ’s.
  62. Orchids.
  63. Good wine.
  64. Friends.
  65. Finishing something.
  66. Museums.
  67. Parks.
  68. Mail (the good kind, not bills)
  69. A clean desk.
  70. Knowing that I’m counting down to a cruise…less than a month now.
  71. Bubble gum.
  72. When my nails are long-ish (they are never long).
  73. People watching.
  74. Having the right tool for the job.
  75. Roller coasters.
  76. Road trips.
  77. Pixar shorts.
  78. Cooking for a big group of people.
  79. Ladybugs.
  80. Jeans, fresh from the dryer.
  81. Bacon.
  82. Sunrise / Sunset.
  83. Being on the water.
  84. Having my hair done.
  85. Clever things.
  86. Batik.
  87. Halloween
  88. Poppies.
  89. Waking up without the alarm clock.
  90. Journals (though most of mine are empty).
  91. Cosmetic ‘freebies’.
  92. Sunlight through colored glass.
  93. Little note pads.
  94. Sappy movies.
  95. Things blooming in the yard.
  96. Bed time.
  97. Angry fish.
  98. Growing rosemary and basil.
  99. New bed pillows
  100. Smiles.

September 2, 2010 in 100 Things | 3 comments

Burried

You know you’ve fallen behind when even your mom mentions that you haven’t been blogging. Once again I’ve reached the point where I would say “I haven’t had time” but the truth is I haven’t made time. Emma went to work with me all last week and as fun as that is she puts me behind in what I’m supposed to be doing. Add that to being busier than normal and Ive been leaving work as late as 7pm. By the time I get home I’m either rushing around to get dinner together and spend some time with D or flying out the door to do something else – like glass or grocery shopping. None of which is neither here nor there but blogging is pretty low on my ‘things to do’ list.

A quick recap of the week would read work, vet, work, rain, rain, work, vet, rain, rain, work, glass … and you’d be caught up. Emma got a ‘hot spot’ Thursday that progressed from a thick place in her skin to full blown bloody mess in less than eight hours. On the way to work on Friday we stopped at the vet to have it checked on. We ended up with ointment and (to my surprise) having her staples removed because she’d healed so well. Last night we went to DrJ’s to wish his oldest boy bon voyage (he’s off to Italy for his senior year) and despite the crowd and the noise Emma did really well and she played really hard (and laughed at Duncan when he fell in the pool*).   She’s slept all day today but then so have the forty-somethings so you can hardly blame her.  Neither D or I bothered getting dressed today – hee.

Next week will be more of the same, hopefully with less rain and maybe a little more blogging.  What’s new with you?

* The pool is off limits to dogs due to hair in the filter but one of the kids was throwing the ball for Duncan and as Duncan dove for it the ‘the ground dissapeared’.  Our host was in the pool at the time and was not only not upset with us he was quick to help Duncan find the side to get out.  We are so lucky DrJ is a good friend and I hope we do a good job expressing that to him.

August 29, 2010 in Days Off, Everyday | 3 comments

Hush!

I was standing in the kitchen looking a bit lost when D asked, “What’s the matter?”.
I replied, “I can think of 900 things that should be done and only two I’d like to do”.
“What are the two?”
“Sit on the sofa and watch my movie (a Netflix DVD that has been here for three weeks unwatched) and eat something yummy for lunch.”

D’s yummy and my yummy are different, we had nachos made from leftover steak … I was thinking something a bit less mundane. But less mundane meant leaving the house and it seems I had suddenly (and happily) derailed myself from the days chores. It’s 3:15 and I haven’t done a darn thing except a little laundry. Color me happy.

I’m pretending this is Emma’s ‘momma come back to bed face’ and I’m heading back to the sofa. For the record though it’s more “STFU and lemme sleep!” I cant imagine where she picked up such language!

Shut up and let me sleep!

August 22, 2010 in Days Off | 4 comments

Emma…wiser

Once again … a craptacular week.  I’m as tired saying it as you are reading it.  The culmination was Emma’s surgery yesterday.  Well, yesterday and today.  We’ve been with this vet for twelve plus years and there’s only been one other time that I’ve been as upset with them as I was the last two days and that was more of a personality conflict with one of the doctors than with the business itself.  Yesterday when I dropped Miss Em’ off for her surgery I asked if the doctor would call me with an update; I was told no, but I could call them after 2pm to check on her.  Mildly annoying but fair enough I guessed and I went on with my day ( a day I was supposed to take off but was simply too busy to do so). 

When 2pm arrived I called and after a little time on hold the receptionist came back and said she was doing fine, but she’d have to stay overnight.  When I pressed her she said there had been three emergencies that morning and the surgery had started later than expected.  I pressed more and discovered they hadn’t actually started yet. I was told she’d be ‘too sleepy’ to go home.  I know there is no one there overnight but I could not get the receptionist to come to the right conclusion … Emma would be better off in her crate at home with someone to check on her than alone in the vet’s office from 9pm to 6am.  Grudgingly I conceded and then asked if the vet would call and tell me how the surgery went.  Again, no.  What time could I call?  Not until after 6pm but no one would answer then.  At some point my head exploded, I hung up the phone and went to my own doctor’s appointment and then a little retail therapy. 

This morning we called and were granted permission to pick her up which we did.  Knowing she was OK and having her home reduced some of my annoyance but not all…not by a long shot.  Still, she’s home and despite the most tragic of expressions she seems happy to be home.

The vet gave us the offending hip ball … grody right?

Emma's hip ball

And Emma really is Frankin-pup. 13 staples!

frankinpup

Is it just me or does she seem less puppy and more wise? Maybe its the meds?

Emma... Wiser

Finally, the most boring 61 seconds on the internet and the calmest you may every see our pup.

August 21, 2010 in Four Legged, Soapbox | 5 comments

Emma

Emma - hips2

I’m not sure you have to be a vet to see that something is terribly wrong with Emma’s bum.  Here’s what you are looking at:

1.  The ball at the top of the femur that fits into the pelvis to form the hip joint.

2. The top of the leg bone.  Yup, on the left the top of the leg bone is not attached to the ball.  Not only that it’s higher than the pelvis, meaning that her leg bone is sitting just under her skin making one leg about two inches shorter than the other.

3.  The femur.  There is a spur on what’s left of the ball and with each step it rubs the femur and has nearly worn it through.

Are you squirming with ouchies yet?  Luckily there is some good news. 

1. Emma wont be as big as we’d hoped and though we are a little disappointed not to have a ‘matching set’  being a little dog will make this a much easier thing for her to live with as long as we keep her a little on the skinny side.

2.  This is a very common surgery and most dogs do very well with it.  Because its so common its also down right affordable; four to five hundred dollars.  You might have just passed out but remember we are people who paid about fifteen hundred dollars for EACH of Mackie’s hips.  We might not have a spare five hundred sitting around but its so much less than expected we feel like we are getting a deal.

3.  The best news of all is that once the surgery is done they want her to be low-key for about a week and then (fingers crossed) she should be back to psyco-destro-puppy mutt and mutant-annoying-little-sister.

August 15, 2010 in Four Legged | 6 comments

Wish

This is not my living-room but I wish it were.  Well, maybe not the tables, and I prefer my brown leather sofa  but everything else I really love.  I’ve been painting a sign at work and rather than exhaust me with the process its making me want to paint the living room.  More specifically making me want to come up with a ‘me’ version of this living-room complete with the wall colors.  D is not so enthusiastic and the feeling will probably pass.  For now I’ll just imagine.

August 12, 2010 in Home Improvement | 3 comments

Duncan Delivers

August 9, 2010 in Four Legged, Video | 5 comments

Confession

I am on the verge of having an affair. Have you ever just met someone and against all odds and reason you are mad for them? It’s happened to me. I know its wrong, I know its foolhardy, and I know I shouldn’t even consider it but the temptation is so, so strong I cant hardly stop myself. Its happened before and I failed to act and I’ve regretted it ever since. I simply don’t know how long I can resist.

 

The truth is the don’t come in wide sizes and are unlikely to fit, I almost never get dressed up enough to justify them and nothing I currently own goes with them.  But, be warned, should they ever go on sale I might just own them anyway.  And yes, somewhere in the basement of this blog there is a post exactly like this over a pair of red suede shoes that I adored in exactly the same way but never purchased and even though I never owned them I miss them terribly.

August 5, 2010 in Everyday | 7 comments

Paper or Plastic

A week or so ago Amazon announced that for the first time electronic books had outsold physical books. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand it’s very alluring to imagine being able to take several books on vacation without actually lugging several books (Kindle says “carry up to 3500 books” – swoon). On the other to pay almost the same amount of money as real book but receive nothing tangible in return seems almost offensive.

When computers first began their move to mainstream you couldn’t get far without someone saying that computers would ultimately end the use of paper. I don’t know about yours but all my computer has done is increase the amount of paper I waste. The e-reader might be the first computer to actually accomplish what was promised in the beginning. Fewer printed pages equals less deforestation. If you care about such things at all that alone is a terrific selling point.

Then again, give up paper? There’s really nothing finer than the old-paper smell of a used book store, or the way it feels as you turn the page, or the faintly musty breeze it creates when you fan the pages through your fingers. I complained about the weight of books when I travel, but when I’m reading there’s something comforting about that weight in my lap. Books are comforting also when you see them shelved, row upon row. They are touchstones to points in your life. I know exactly when I read “The Outsiders”, how old I was when I read “A Winter’s Tale”, and I can tell you which books went on which trips. I don’t believe I could do that with an e-reader.

For me it’s a bit like opening a bottle of wine. Screw caps and faux corks are fine but they just aren’t as fun and they lack the nod to tradition that a waiter’s key provides. Ultimately I’ll probably keep a foot in each camp. When I do bite the bullet and buy an e-reader (oh yeah, it’ll happen someday) most of my reading would likely be done from it. But there will always be the favorites that are best enjoyed as the real thing and the books on that list I’d lug with me anywhere.

August 4, 2010 in Thinking | 3 comments

Blah and Other News

Had I taken the time to blog yesterday I would have said that the weekend was a pleasant mix of busy Saturday and do-nothing Sunday. I still stand by that but given the fact that D and I are both beginning to sound like Barry White sans the sex appeal its possible Sunday’s do nothing was the beginning of our slide into blech. The worst part about being sick at the same time is that neither one of us has much sympathy for the other … the old ‘I’m sicker than you’ game – heh. We’ve no idea where it came from but if you couple it with Emma suddenly having a bacterial infection on her tummy (poor spotty belly is all blisters) and one has to wonder if it’s cold / flu or something else entirely. I will say this, it’s a fast mover and hopefully it will move on as quickly as it arrives. Till then its vitamin C, copious amounts of hot tea, and resting whenever possible.

In other news: Emma had her 5 month check up over the weekend and her last round of puppy shots. Other than her exuberance over food hitting the bowl the ‘puppy’ part of her is nearly gone and she’s more of a ‘little dog’. It doesn’t look like she’ll make 50 lbs after all; probably more like 30-40. Her legs are so long though I think its still possible she’ll be taller than Duncan and her rat-whip tail is already deadly. We go back to the vet in two weeks for new film on her hip. Seriously, I don’t know what we’d do if all four legs worked properly. She’s a wild thing now; she’d be uncontrollable with four on the floor.

In other, other news: I made the flank steak part of this recipe last night and you would not believe how darned good it was! If you never cooked flank steak I’ll offer a word to the wise. That bit about tenting and resting and cutting across the grain and on an angle…very important if you want to be able to chew it. I plan on trying the whole thing as written someday but D is anti-bean so it probably won’t be anytime soon. Instead I caramelized some onions (adding a little of the marinade to them at the end of cooking) and served it wrapped in tortillas. Delish!

And finally, other, other, other news: There weren’t enough students for class this go-around. Meaning: no torch for six agonizing weeks! I may be forced to clean out the garage so I can torch at home. The. Horror.

August 3, 2010 in Everyday | 4 comments

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