Two Things

First: I wish the dog wouldn't let the cat eat her (the dog's) food.

Then: At the mall the other day. there was a small stout woman with a bun of black hair on the back of her head near the top. Lulu, from atop her dad's shoulders, said this: "Yep. There's an Oopma Loompa." Then she said, "You don't see that every day."

I am usually sensitive to people's feelings and try to gently correct my children when they say something that could hurt someone's feelings, but OH MY GOSH! I had to laugh. A. The woman didn't hear her, and B. Lulu's observations, both of them, were very, very astute. And hysterical!

What socially insensitive thing have you done recently?

Project and Consequences

Remember our newest project (click here)? A large portion of it got done on Saturday.

Doesn't it look different (from the picture in the other post)? It reminds me of a public park. You know, usable space surrounded by woods. I have big plans for that area, including a fence for the dog and a deck for the husband and a treehouse for the girls. I've already had a benefit from the new space, a bluebird couple has been spending a TON of time there. They're so pretty. If I had a better camera I'd show you, but they don't come close enough to where I am with my little camera to get a good shot. Also, this morning, the goldfinch, the boy one, was back at the feeder by the kitchen window. Yay! Birds!

On Sunday, I spent time clearing away the vines and brush left on the hill, where I'm hoping we'll be able to grow some grass eventually, but I got distracted by some buried treasure.

Those are some of my great-grandmother's iris bulbs. A decade ago, Moomie and I planted a bunch of them in front of the house, and Moomie took the extras and stuck them in the hill around back. I don't think they ever bloomed, and eventually they got over-grown by a miserable vine and some honeysuckle. I remembered they were somewhere near there but didn't know for certain where until I was clearing away the brush. Now they have their own little bed around the side of the house, which was occupied by a puny boxwood 10 years ago.

Sadly, all of the treasure I got from the hill wasn't so pleasant. I knew there was poison ivy there (Lulu says 'itchy ivus') and I thought I was careful, but the irises were such a nice surprise that I think I might have actually been careless because there is now a giant itchy spot on my right arm right where my arm bends and a smaller itchy spot in the same place on my left arm and itchy spots on my neck and shoulders around the collar of my shirt and also a little one down the right side of my face by my eye. Sigh. Itchy ivus sucks. I've been hitting the bottle pretty hard today...

Still, though, you can see all the way to the creek (should be cool to watch from a safe distance when it rains), and last night I saw a rabbit!

Today Is HG's Birthday & We're all Visiting His Parents

Abby's Vacation

I vacation in fear, in terror.
My fluffy blonde fur stands on end.
I need protection from the feline forces that plague me.
I am related to poultry, apparently.

Another Limerick (sorry)

Dancing for the Dog

Our Abby, a sweet little pup,
We make her wait for her sup.
The first dance was a trial
If she'd wait for a while.
Now she won't eat unless we jazz up.


(again, sorry)

Time Machine Wanted

I am a reactive person. And impulsive. Those are different enough that I think it's right to list both. Husbandguy isn't good with the foresight either, and neither of us is good at telling the other "no" when something is wanted. This has led to several (hundred) spur-of-the-moment decisions and consequential bail-outs down the road. Like a new car we couldn't quite afford (HG's impulse - Poppop bailed us out) and a For Sale sign in our front yard (my desire - we are just bailing on that). We love the car, still have it and use it way more than we would have the old car, and have learned our lesson about shiny, new-smelling things that we just can't pay for. The house is kind of the same thing, I think. Except in this case, the shiny new thing was a larger paycheck. Why not, then, a larger debt (mortgage)? Right?

We can absolutely use more space. Sure, we can (and will) pare down all the crap we have that we don't need, and the tiny kitchen works, it just doesn't have room for more than 1½ people in it at a time. But the girls and the dog all need a place to run outside, and we, being lazy, decided to take the easy route and just buy a back yard, not considering that, because of the real estate market we would probably have to take quite a bit less money than we wanted to sell the back yard we already have. It occurred to us; we just didn't consider it. You know?

Yesterday I realized that we were looking at it all wrong. Yes, a larger paycheck is nice. Yes, a larger paycheck means that we could have a larger space to call home. Yes, we are constantly stepping on each other and there's nowhere here to go for quiet time what with the giant TV right in the center of everything and always on (don't get me started on that - it's not on now, by the way, because I'm home alone). But we have ⅓ acre of land, and at the bottom of the steep hill that begins a scant 10 ft from the back of the house is a nice flat area. Sure it floods when it rains a lot, and right now it's heavily wooded, but the right people, with a little know-how and a larger paycheck (see where I'm going?) could turn the giant, currently unusable space into a fenced, grassy haven where there could be dogs and children running around safely and perhaps a gazebo (HG wants this) for quiet no-TV time and a swing set. And then when the market turns around and we list our house again, potential buyers won't be able to say they liked the house but want more back yard because it will be beautiful and useful.

My other plan, if this turns out to be too much, is to sell HG's parents' house and move them into this one and get a bigger one for ourselves. But that might actually be more work than a complete back yard overhaul here.

I want to clarify that not all of our spur-of-the-moment decisions have required rescue. We were married within 2 weeks of deciding we really wanted to get married more than 12 years ago. We had been talking about it for a while, but the deed was done lickety-split.

It's like, you know, whatever...

Last night someone I had just met told me that she feels like she knows me. I started to say that I have one of those faces (because I do - seriously - I look like that girl you went to 2nd grade with), but before I could say anything she added, "Because of the Follies. I had fun watching you in the Follies, and I feel like I know you." (first of all, wow! really?)

"Great," I said facetiously, "You know me as Zuzu [a clueless ditz]. That's not good."

And she said, "But I like you!"

We were coming from a meeting at which I managed to have an overwhelming coughing fit and had to leave the room just as the meeting was starting, and when I got back and everyone (EVERYONE) inquired whether I was okay, I said, "I'm just trying to get out of participating." Am I clever or what?

Don't say "Or what," because you'll hurt my feelings. Unless you're being funny. Then you'll only mock-hurt my feelings.

Back on track: It's been a long time since anyone outside of the Follies 2010 Writing Team has mentioned Zuzu (not counting my kids) or me in the Follies at all. It was cool of her to say something because, frankly, the glow was starting to wear off for me. Sure, I'm all participatey in the writing of the Next Big Show with all my funny suggestions and whatnot (at least 2 of my ideas are definitely IN the show in October), and that's cool and creative and those 6 people on the team with me appreciate me, but with all the other stuff, the house not selling, me messing up Lulu's educational future, the dog costing $80,000,000,000 and not having anything wrong with her, I haven't seen my mom in forever and she's only an hour away, etc., etc., etc... WHIIINE... Where was I? Oh, right. It was nice to feel special for a moment.

And isn't it weird that she was so affected by my performance that she remembers it even now, 5 months later? Maybe not weird, but... you know.

Oh Crap

I'm an idiot, apparently. Pete goes to a magnet school here so Lulu should be guaranteed a spot next year as long as we, her parents, jump through all the right hoops and apparently I missed one. I thought I jumped through it but must have missed a step because I don't have a confirmation and Lulu's school assignment for next year, which should now match Pete's, is "unassigned" and it's too late to go back. All we can do now is apply for reassignment and wait, but the guarantee isn't guaranteed anymore. I didn't enroll her in the school she's in this year because I didn't think I needed to so now she might not have anywhere to go next year. But we won't know until late April, when it may be too late to make arrangements for her to go to a good school.

And no one can figure out what's wrong with our dog except that she's really expensive.

Whatever (some randomosity fer ye)

One: Pete's teachers have been trying to get Pete into the Talent Development program at her school. You know, that little bit of extra attention for gifted students to help them not get bored (my elementary school called it the Gifted and Talented program). We found out this morning that they don't think that she's quite gifted enough. On the one hand, I think they're full of it. Because a. I'm her mom, and b. she's really bright, and c. I'm her mom. But on the other hand, I get it. She is gifted, but I am absolutely positive it wasn't completely evident to them due to the fact that a. she doesn't have a whole lot of experience with test-taking (she's a Montessori kid, after all), and b. she doesn't have particularly well-honed attention-to-details skills (she's working hard on that). But we know she needs challenges and her actual classroom teacher knows she needs challenges so even if the elitist TD people don't want her, we'll still help her develop her talents.

2: Last Sunday we started writing the Follies, which are scheduled for October 16 (mark your calendars Meme, TG, and Moomie - and anyone else...). You may recall that last year I joined the little troupe late and still managed to ROCK the show. Remember? (Click here...) Well, this year I am being all involvedy from the very beginning so it will SUPER ROCK. But not just because of me. We've got a fantastic little group of writers and a bunch of talented performers and I am all full of ideas and can't wait for our next meeting... All I'm saying is that there will be a pink flamingo neon light on stage... And that if we see Zuzu, she will probably be 8 years old...

III: "What's up with Abby?" you ask. (Go ahead and say it out loud. I'll wait...) Well, I answer, something is up. Something not good. I think, perhaps, whatever energy oversees the owner/pet relationships in our house is testing (or punishing) us due to our whole Howie screw-up (we get it - we messed up). Our poor Abby should have been spayed in December, but I opted to wait until January due to the fact that Santa went overboard, as she usually does, and Mrs. Claus was already rolling his eyes about the credit card bills. I made the appointment and everything for right after Pete's birthday, but the vet wouldn't do it because poor puppy had (what we thought was just) a urinary tract infection. So, a monthplus and half-a-dozen vet visits and a heatcycle and several$100 later, the bacteria is gone, apparently (the culture didn't grow anything), but the puppy is still full of crystals and is having accidents on the couch and in the kitchen and on the carpet (she's not allowed on the bed anymore). But there's no stone. No obvious explanation. So today they're checking her liver function. I tell you what, I am really worried about that little creature because a. her mom and both of her litter mates are dead, and b. she's ½ Maltese, a breed that is prone to liver shunts. And Mrs. Claus is rolling his eyes again about how expensive my stuff seems to be, but he gets that there's nothing I can do about it other than keep taking her to the vet to find out what's wrong. I think I'm glad we didn't have her spayed in December, now, because if something is wrong with her liver, we wouldn't have known and it could have been really dangerous to put her under. She's scheduled for spaying this Friday, though, and her doctor is still planning on doing it so maybe they can fix this other problem at the same time and everything will be the way it's supposed to be from now on... Maybe...

FORE! We're planning on putting our house back on the market next week. We're waiting to hear back from the agent, but that's our plan. So fingers crossed for us, okay?

Our "Watch" Dog

I was busy practicing my music for the coffeehouse on Saturday and didn't notice that it was time for me to leave to get Lulu from school until Abby put her paws on the piano bench, clearly wanting something from me. I didn't realize until I had shuffled her into her room and was driving away that she was telling me that the time had come for her to be put away so I could leave and bring home that other human.

I Am Not Just Deluding Myself

GO Santa! For Christmas, the girls asked Santa for a Wii, and being a thoughtful kind of guy, Santa also delivered a Wii Fit. I am kind of in love with the Wii Fit. I could take or leave the actual Wii - who has time to play video games? But (and I think I said this before) without the Wii Fit, I wouldn't exercise. Seriously. Sad, I know. Since we plugged it in a couple of weeks ago, I have "exercised" all but 3 days.

Lucky Dog If it weren't for the Wii fit, also, our sweet little bundle of puppy energy wouldn't get walks. I'm not super motivated to take her out, even though I should be, and the rest of the family says, "She's not my dog." I do make sure that she gets lots of playtime indoors and cuddling and brain-taxing training so she's not unhealthy, but the poor thing needs to go outside. I KNOW! So, when I feel like I'd like to be Wii Fit-ing but the TV is busy with something else inane, I strap that sweetie in her harness and we go around the block, about a mile, at a brisk pace. It's not much, but it's way more than we were doing. And it was one of my original reasons for wanting a dog.

Happy Birthday to ME! Today is my birthday. All I asked for was 1 thing: the AE Sports Active package for the Wii. And I got it. YES! I had zero time this morning to work out. I had literally 1.5 hours and I also needed to eat and shower and update my facebook status, but I plugged that disc into the consul and checked it out anyway. Guess what? It has pre-made workouts! So I could just say, "I want to work out for 20 minutes and not have to make any decisions about what to do next," and my Wii could comply. It was AWESOME!

Thin ≠ Fit You probably knew that already. So did I, but inertia is so hard to overcome. I told myself I needed to exercise. But I never "got around to it." It's not like I sat on my flat, tone-less butt eating cheese balls and watching My Stories. Often. But laundry and Facebook and driving to piano lessons don't do much more for your stamina than cheese balls and TV. So I picked the 20-minute, easy workout this morning because I was limited on time and was pretty sure I couldn't get through the hard one. Guess what! It kicked my tone-less butt! It was awesome!! I want to do it again. And again. And again until it isn't hard anymore.

Who Knew? Seriously, all it took to get me motivated was an avitar who somewhat resembles me and does air punches when I work a little bit harder than before.

I Know I know that I will eventually need more than my beloved Wii and a 20-minute walk with my fuzzyface if I want to be really fit and healthy. But it's a start. And I'm motivated to keep going, which might eventually turn into "going" outside or something. weird...

Farewell, Good Friend

I didn't get a photo of this because we were concerned that Abby might eat him, but I thought you might like to know that Stuffy was murdered last night. Husbandguy found him in the living room in a pool of his own fluff. Meanwhile Abby was chewing on his squeaker (HG said, "his brain") around the corner. His death was clearly violent, but judging from the tear in his neck, it was likely also quick. Poor creature. Stuffy leaves behind a weird green fish-looking thing, a rubber wiener dog in a bun (hot dog), and several different colored balls. He will be missed. And likely replaced.

Stuffy

This is Stuffy.

Santa left Stuffy peeking out of Abby's little stocking.

Stuffy is frequently the reason for a desperate, whimpering search for a great hiding place. We often find Stuffy behind pillows or under coats that have been left on the couch. One time, Abby even tried to dig a hole in the tree skirt to bury her. If one of us hears poor Abby whimpering, we don't worry that something is actually wrong with her; instead we ask whoever is closest to her whether she has her Stuffy, and the answer is consistently, "yes."

Best toy ever, apparently...

So, Actually, Turns Out, She's a Blonde

before

Who Knew?

I took Abby to PetSmart yesterday for her first real haircut and asked them to cut off the black tips but to leave her fluffy, and this is what we got: A New Dog!

after

Abby

Hey! Who's in Charge Around Here Anyway? Husbandguy doesn't think this is as funny as I do, but it's easily corrected so I'm enjoying laughing about it. Abby isn't sure whether she or HG is more dominant in our little "pack." On Monday, after he got home from work, great big HG had some trouble from our less-than-3-pound-puppy. She was doing this move near, not on, his feet that he didn't think girl dogs do (but they do) and which is an attempt to prove to the movee that the mover is more dominant. I think it's hilarious! The tiniest living creature in our house thinks she just might have more pull than the largest living creature in our house. HG, like I said, doesn't think it's as funny as I do. Yesterday I had him give her her dinner, and I am encouraging him to feed her and give her treats whenever the opportunity arises so hopefully the question in Abby's tiny puppy brain will be answered zippity quick. She didn't do it yesterday...

The Second Grossest Poop Experience I've Ever Had This morning, Abby correctly moved her bowels in the right place and everything, and when I was fumbling for her little puppy jerky treat, she turned and basically swallowed her... um... movement in one gulp. EW! SERIOUSLY?! EW!! The vet said to put meat tenderizer on her food and that would make her poop taste bad and she would stop, but I didn't have any meat tenderizer until I went to the grocery store yesterday so hadn't had a chance to try it and... EW!! SERIOUSLY?! Obviously I didn't give her the puppy jerky. And I did spike her food with MT this morning. I had suspected that she might be one of those dogs because of the way she was really, really interested in her poo, but I hadn't seen her actually do it. I wonder, though, if she's done it and we just didn't see because she didn't seem to be pooping much and her breath yesterday was very, very sour. Still, EW! But also, we love her and will fix it.

Color Abby's breeder thinks she's actually going to be a creamy tan color when she is all grown up. Right now, her fur on her back is creamy tan near her skin with black tips so she looks black unless she's ruffled. Does anyone know? Will she eventually lose the black. I don't care what color she ends up being. I'm just curious. HG won't speculate with me about it. He thinks it's a waste of time...

Catch Up

Lost in Translation At the veterinarian on Friday, the girls and I were waiting in the waiting room (as opposed to the bathroom, right?) and a lady came in with the scruffiest little poodle mix dog. His name was Ziggy. He was the cutest ugly dog I've ever seen in person. When the receptionist asked Ziggy's mom what was wrong with Ziggy, I could have sworn Ziggy's mom answered, "He's got boogers coming out his ass." I was shocked! Alarmed, really, that she would be so blunt, especially since there were 2 small children in the room with us (Pete and Lulu). I hoped they hadn't heard, or at least hadn't understood, her. But then the receptionist said, "Ziggy's got boogers coming out of his eyes? We'll have to do something about that!" Jeez, lady! Don't confuse me like that! I've only lived in this city 16 years. How can I be expected to understand the accent?!!

Wait, MN. Why Were You at the Vet? So you're probably wondering why we were at the vet, right? Because last you knew we didn't have any pets. I could tell you that we were just visiting, for old-time sake. But that would be a lie. Remember we were Eagerly Expecting something? Well, it came. And it's wonderful and fuzzy and... Oh! Just see for yourself!!

Her name is Abby. She's a dog. A maltipoo, to be precise. And she's teeny-tiny. Husbandguy wanted us to get a cat, but I wasn't interested in the cat hair and claws so I got us a cat-size dog. She weighs 2 pounds right now. Pete's a little afraid of her. Mostly because she's unpredictable and kind of mouthy, like most puppies, but she's a sweetie and follows both girls all around so I think Pete will get over it pretty quickly. So now we're I'm potty training and teaching her her name and getting her comfortable in her "room," which is our bathroom with a gate across the door. So far, so good. She's been here almost 4 days and has us pretty well trained, meaning she only has potty mistakes when we're not watching...

So there you go. That's what's new. And also, we've had pretty good traffic through our house. Even though it feels like sometimes our house is more on a tour than on the market, we're still hopeful...

MFI*

Warning Prepare yourself for a supremely boring post.

Where Have You Been? I am sorry I have been absent from the blogosphere. I hope you haven't abandoned me. I've been a little busy. Just a little...

On the Market We're selling our house. We spent last week (with Nana and Poppop's help) making it look like a model home. Well, as much as a house lived in by a family of 4 can look like a model home. We did a fantastic job, too. Our house looks awesome. Now if only someone would come look at the awesomeness...

Our Next Home Yesterday we spent some time looking at neighborhoods on the other side of town. I have been hesitant to actually look at houses because I didn't want to find the perfect one and not be able to get it since we still have to sell our house, but there is this one neighborhood that several homes for sale sort of in the area we are considering, and on the map it looks like it's right next to the highway (it is) and we wanted to see what effect that had on the neighborhood (just a little noise). While we were over there, we looked at another neighborhood nearby that we liked better (it has sidewalks!) and walked through a couple of open houses and really liked one and want it and now need our house to sell ASAP because the agent said they're taking the one we like off the market next week if they don't get any offers.

That's That See? Boring. I told you.

A Sad Off-Topic Remember my friend Dawn's puppy Cosette? She apparently has a liver defect and isn't going to make it. I am very sad about that. Poor puppy.

Anyway, I'll try to do better about writing now that we're done cleaning out the house. It would help if Poppop's crappy computer guy would give us our computer back.

*Missing From Internet

A Meme

Septembermom did not tag me for this so I stole it (and I am not taking it personally that she didn't tag me since I've been terrible about posting...).

The Rules for this meme:

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog. Replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, and add one more question of your own.

2. Tag other people.

What is your current obsession? Cosette. She is all I can think about. I can't wait for Dawn to send more photos. Next week she'll be big enough for us to go and see her in person. Aw! I can't wait!!

What are you wearing today?
My comfy old shorts with purple paint stains (that the guy at the pottery place said would come out when Pete accidentally painted me but which didn't) and a hole where Howie's claw caught them. Also my blue 3/4-sleeve shirt that I love almost as much as my stripey 3/4-sleeve shirt.

What’s for dinner?
Not sure yet. The girls had sandwiches of their choice, but I'm waiting for Husbandguy to get back from Pete's swimming lesson and we'll eat together.

What would you eat for your last meal?
Hmm... That's a tricky one... Would it include meat? Probably not. Probably something southwestern flavored with black beans and cheddar cheese. And chocolate cake, moist and dark with little or no icing, for dessert.

What relaxes you the most?
I had a funny answer, but it might raise alarms. It has to do with a prescription my neurologist gives me when I'm on steroids. Actually, it is accurate to say that Xanax relaxes me the most, but not the most often. That honor would go to reading, I think. Or a quiet house with no conflict...

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Maine. On the beach. With my notebook.

Which language do you want to learn?
Spanish. Definitely Spanish. Then I could talk to the neighbors. And anyone else who speaks Spanish but not English.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
Our next-door neighbors, even though we can't talk to them without an interpreter (something thankfully usually available in the form of a grandchild). I am on a mission to move to a bigger kitchen house in the very near future and wish I could take them with us.

What style is your current home decorated in?
Early Boarding House. This is a term I heard from someone when I was younger (Moomie, if it was you, take credit in the comments, okay?) and it is appropriate, I think.

If you were a time traveler what era would you live in?
I would want to go to the future and see how everything works out. Far enough into the future that some of the big questions have been answered.

What is your favorite color?
Blue. I am a big fan of just about any color, but blue is the best.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
The shorts I mentioned above. They are comfy and fit just right.

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was still technically a newlywed (1.5 years) and enjoying my 20's. No kids. No curfew. *sigh*

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
Cosette. Shhh...

What are you going to do after this?
Put Lulu in a bubble bath and finish folding the laundry that I washed on Monday and Tuesday (don't judge me!). I might write a little if I am inspired.

What are your favorite films?
I really, really like "Ever After." Maybe that's cheesy, but I'm a sucker for Cinderella. Oh! Also I love "Cinderella." And "The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh." And I loved those movies even before I had daughters. I can't think of any grown-up movies right now.

Your favorite books?
My 2 most favorite books of all time are "Little Women," which my dad introduced me to when I was in the 2nd grade and "A Prayer for Owen Meany," which I discovered on my own as a result of raiding my oldest brother's bookshelf. He didn't have that book, but he had a bunch of other ones by John Irving and I had to have more! (Do you want those books back, by the way, Big Brother?)

Do you collect anything?
I used to collect elephants and still have an elephant collection and welcome new elephants as gifts, but I don't actively collect them on my own at the moment. Oh, but I do collect recipes. And then I don't follow them...

What makes you follow a blog?
Humor, good writing. I also follow the blogs of people I know personally, which usually also include humor and good writing, which says something about the circles I move in, maybe.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
I had a veggie sausage on a mini bagel for breakfast. It was kind of downhill after that, unfortunately.

Ann's Question:What makes you comment on a blog?
If something in a post really strikes me, I usually leave a comment. I also like to leave comments every now and then to encourage bloggers I enjoy to continue blogging.

Amy's Question:What is your favorite thing to do when you have some free time?
Writing, reading, baking. Not in that order. Not sure what the order would be, though...

Tonya's question:What is a talent you wished you had?
I wish I knew more about decorating. It would be nice to put a name to my tastes and be able to find more things that appeal to me.

Gena's question:As you may know, I am all about "Serene Moments", so what is your "Serene Moment"?
I am woefully short on "Serene Moments" these days.

Noelle's question: If you could go to heaven who would you see, and why?
My grandparents. I miss each and every one of them and don't feel like I learned as much from them as I should have.

Vickie's question: Who is your favorite actor?
Oh, I don't know. Oh yes I do! It's Lulu. She is SOOOOO dramatic!!

Kelly's question: What was your favorite subject in school? I really enjoyed my language classes. English, Spanish, and Latin. It was fun to learn the history of the languages and their literature.

My Question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Or if you've already achieved that goal, what was it? I would like to be a published author. I think I'd like to see my children's fiction published, but even getting this most recent short story in a journal or something would count. I'm not trying very hard to achieve my goal, yet. Guess I should grow up...

Do I have to tag someone, even if I stole the meme? I guess I should. I'll tag Princess Sparklepants, ...45+aA, and Mommy T. You know, if you guys want to...

Loving Vicariously

This little cutie lives with my friend Dawn. Dawn let me pick a name for her. I picked Cosette. Doesn't it suit her? Can't you see her singing "Castle on a Cloud"? She's not quite 3 weeks old now, and Dawn promised to send me more photos as she grows bigger and fluffier. See the tip of her tail? It's white. That just makes me melt.

I just had to share. Last year at this time we were seeking out Howie, and even though I still think surrendering him was the best thing for our family, I do miss having a furry little sweetie around.

What's Up?!

Husbandguy should really learn to ask from time to random time what I'm up to. Here's what it is. Some of it he might want to know.

First, today I entered this.
Also, I am in love with this.
I am thinking about baking this.
I bought this.

There is probably more, but I can't think of it right now. If the links don't work, let me know. And don't worry, being in love with something isn't the same as acquiring that sweet, tiny, fuzzy, adorable thing.

Friends

2 things today. just random. about people you don't know. for the most part...

A male friend and I were talking and he commented on how he doesn't mind when his kids call him Mom because that just indicates to him that the care-giver role is blurred in their family. I'm not saying that clearly, but you get what he means, right? Mom and Dad are interchangeable and so both fill the same role. Anyway. I was thinking about that later and remembered that there were a few times, when we had Howie, that Pete called me Howie and I wish I'd remembered that when my friend and I were talking because I would have liked to know what he thought that indicated about our family. What do you think it means?

(I guess this second thing is actually about Husbandguy and me, but it starts with a story about someone you don't know) A different friend got her hair cut recently, and she told me she was angry about it because the stylist cut it too short and took a really long time doing it (so long that my friend had to miss her yoga class). My reaction to her story was, "That sucks!" and I offered to be angry about it with her if that would help. When I told HG about it later, he had a very different reaction. He said, "Why didn't she stop her from cutting it so short?" again demonstrating how different we really are. Me: I'm sorry that happened to you. Him: It's your own fault. In this situation it was funny. When he does it to me it drives me nuts!