untitled

untitled (because I could not come up with a name)

half the time I wish I knew what levi was thinking and then the other half I’m glad I don’t because part of it would probably be - why do you make things so complicated ??
There is joy in a toy, a good meal, an unexpected snack or pats and kisses. Why must you get sad over things when i greet you so happy and my tail wagging ready to play and spend time with you?!

And he would be right what greater joy is there in the world than a wide smile and hug from a friend? a jubilant wagging tail of a dog delighted to see you and play? the subtle purr of a cat rubbing up against you as their tail wraps around your leg in a greeting of kindness?

These are the soft, sweet moments of care that surround and uplift us when life is harder than we thought it would be.I write this while softly stroking my sweet levi’s paw, and appreciating his quiet sensitivity to when i am completely off my game.

I understand it is not in everyone’s wheel house to have furry families - so for some, they will not agree, or even imagine a big dog and 2 cats in their bed as a gentle healing process. But for others they might completely get it. Maybe it is the blessing and curse of not being able to speak to each other across species, so communication happens through gesture - not words. It is actions of kindness, care, and love that work through their world.

Pats to know they are cared for, food to let them know they are secure and taken care of, play to share with them you enjoy their company.

I have relayed to my son several times that I wished I had a dog before I had him because of so much I learned from levi. I would have been a much (emphasis on Much) better parent.

Levi has taught me so much! The importance of discipline and also when to let it go, when it just isn’t going to happen that day and it’s okay. The value of intelligence and the understanding that with that intelligence comes a strong will of their own, that you must keep and foster and figure out how to let them thrive. And lest I let myself off the hook, the very serious responsibility it is to look after another souls well-being and heart. I wasn’t the best at that with my son, but I’m working on it. And I feel that our furry loved ones give us new chances to grow in that way.

As levi dreams at my feet - quietly barking and running with his paws, I take some faith in him having good dreams from his play time at the park. It grants me some peace.

And let’s not overlook the cats, I am lucky to have 2 beautiful sweetie pies (demons, that I love) - who also have an astounding ability to test my patience and then be adorable about 10 seconds later, which has me laughing into my sleeve so they cannot see that they were never actually going to be in trouble in the first place.

Sooo very similar to my horrible ability to chastise my son for wrong doings when he was young. Not that he never got in trouble, I just may have ducked in the bathroom to laugh about it before I had to come out and be stern.

(flashback to calvin and hobbes - cookie stealer moment, if you don’t know - it is hilarious, look it up) :) And yes, my son actually did this...giggles abound!!!

PS. completely unauthorized picture grab from the internet and definitely no endorsement from Bill Watterson

reindeer food

Reindeer Food - for little K for her birthday

I was talking to my dear friend the other evening and we were discussing his holiday plans with his family. He has a soon-to-be three year old and was expressing how forward he was looking to this year, since she will be able to really start building memories of their traditions for the holidays.

This brought to mind one of my favorite traditions that I used to do with my son when he was young - "Reindeer Food". It was a charming item that started with my Auntie E, giving me a little bag of the 'reindeer treats' when my sunshine (yes, the nicknames continue - link to 1,000 names) was about 3-4 years old. It was a small bag of oats (about a 1/4 cup) and glitter with a rhyme on it that was something like this - "Sprinkle on your lawn at night the moon will help it sparkle bright. As Santa's reindeer fly and roam this food will guide them to your home!" I embellished the rhyme slightly (shocking, I am sure) telling my pooka that "just like Santa gets milk and cookies to sustain him through the long busy night, the reindeer need special treats to help their flight". (cheesy? of course! it is a poem about flying reindeer [grin])

It was a really perfect idea, because by the morning the birds and/or squirrels had cleared away any of the oats - and voila! The reindeer had come!!

Since I was unsure where my Auntie had purchased the original bag - I simply made my own the following years. I did change it to a slightly more eco-friendly version by swapping out the glitter for shimmering cookie sprinkles that would melt away, plus it was super fun to make with sunshine. He liked to pick out which sprinkles to use that would sparkle the best, awww :) seriously cute! A delightful memory with my sweet boy.

Such an adorable and wonderful tradition - that we kept up every Christmas Eve, just before sunshine would go to bed, and we have passed it down to others since he outgrew it (sniffle). 

So now we are passing it on to little K (and her parents) and all of you.

Happy Christmas, with love, sunshine and I.

no coffee for me thanks

This past weekend my mother-in-law came to visit us, she is an absolutely lovely person. I described her to a workmate as Donna Reed meets the Care Bears, she is That nice. (yes, I am very fortunate) We had a great time and yesterday morning she flew back home. Her flight was Very early, she and blu eyes had to leave the house at 4 am. (yuck)

Blu eyes woke me up, as he always does, to give me a kiss and say goodbye, and most mornings 'I love you'. (I know - awww but he is not a mushy person by nature, unlike me, so it is a nice thing to hear when he says it) After this little ritual I drift back off to sleep. Zzzzzz...

In the clouds of slumber I felt something being laid over me, I woke up slightly - the room still dark - and hovering over me was a tall shadowy figure! Ahhhhh!
I start flailing at whatever was over me!!

Only to then hear blu eyes rumbling laughter,
"Easy baby, it's just me."

Me: groggy voiced, still half panicked and very relieved,
"But I thought you left"

Blu eyes (still laughing): "We did but it didn't take as long as we thought, so I came back by for some more coffee and to turn the AC on, it's going to be hot today. I didn't want you to be cold so I was just covering you before I headed to work."
(In hindsight this was very sweet, I was less grateful at the moment.)

Me: "You scared the heck of me!" (halting sigh)

Blu eyes (yes, still laughing): "I am sorry baby - go back to sleep."
(me thinking 'Not VERY Likely')
"Oh, and I took all the coffee, you will have to make more." he said as he was leaving.

Flopping back down on the pillow I thought to myself, after that adrenaline rush - who needs coffee!? Maybe an herbal tea :)

fire

Uncontrolled fire is probably the most terrifying thing in the world to me. Ever since I did a research paper in college about burn victims there is little I find scarier. And since I have had some experience with it in the past (see link to "the great outdoors, part one") you can see why.

Sooo, Blu eyes (my husband) set the grill on fire - again. (yes, again)  Now this isn't necessarily aweful until I was standing there watching the flames lick down the connection line to the gas canister.

Panic! (find fire extinguisher!)

Perhaps it is bad that my first reaction wasn't to get my husband out of harms way - as it was to get my puppy as far away as possible. However, that said, Blu eyes can take care of himself and puppy can't. So after making sure puppy was safe and protected I went on a search through the garage for the fire extinguisher .... but wait, we used it all up on the Previous grill fire! "%$^&*" so no fire extinguisher ... Damn.

The fire is still burning and Blu eyes comes and asks:
Him: Do we have any baking Soda?
Me: Yes, but not much.
Him: Whatever we have.

He spreads the baking soda on the fire, it smokes (a lot) and eventually goes out - Yay!
(the grill clean up is totally on him to manage) :)

But ... that got me thinking of the last fire I suggested baking soda for - and to this day it still makes me chuckle and tease my friend about. (and by chuckle - I actually mean fall over laughing)

My friend from college, LOVES cars - seriously loves them. He took a trip to Italy with his brother and their idea of sight seeing in Italy was to go to the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories. That level of loves cars. Take your shoes off - don't eat in the car ... you get the picture.

Now with that background, we were coming back from dinner and he was dropping me at my apartment, when we noticed smoke coming from under the hood of his car. He jumps out and lifts the hood, which of course adds more oxygen and increases the flames. It still seems manageable though so I go into my apartment to get a box of baking soda so he can put it out. I come back with a small box of baking soda to find the car engulfed in flames, the windshield has broken out from the heat, and the tires are melting - along with a fire truck hosing down his car.

Friend: I don't think that is going to help.
Me: (no words, just laughing - falling over laughing - had to sit on the curb while the firemen put out his car laughing)

exercise safety tip

Yes, I have had another exercise equipment blunder, isn't it ironic that by trying to stay in shape I injure myself so often?! (see also Why treadmills are the anit-christ and PBP)

My latest foray into the world of home gym items has been resistance bands, sorry about this 'J' (long time friend and personal trainer) but he recommended them because it is almost impossible to cause yourself injury ... I have proved once again how exceptional I am :)

Per usual, I was up late last evening and even puppy had given up and gone to sleep. So I had the TV on to keep me company, but I feel lazy just hanging out on the sofa and to combat that I exercise as I watch. I'm sure it isn't that much better but it seems at least somewhat productive. Especially since I was watching a long time 'guilty pleasure' movie - "Weekend at Bernie's". Try not to judge me too harshly, the physical silliness of it just cracks me up.

I haven't seen the movie in a while so I may (air quotes) have been paying too much attention to it and not enough to what I was doing. My routine was going well, about 10 minutes in - all good right? Of course!
Until...

I moved the band to do some leg exercises (still involved in watching the movie) and completely forgot I was wearing socks. Slippery socks paired with a smooth rubber resistance band that was fully stretched out, anyone want to guess what happened next??

If you guessed it slid off my feet and thwacked me right across my eyes really hard, so quick there wasn't time to close them, then you guessed correctly...

There was a bright flash of light - then Ouch!!!  (btw, it really burns when that happens, kids don't try this at home)

It was so fast it took me a second to process what had happened and then, as usual when I do something embarrassing, I begin laughing at myself!! ahhh - typical me :) The sound was so loud it scared puppy awake! And since no one was there to see it (thank goodness) I naturally have to share it later - haha, quirky but true.

So what did I learn?
I'm very glad I wasn't using a stronger resistance strap.
NO more socks when working out.
And maybe I should stick with just walking...oh wait - we all know that isn't really my thing either, bwhahaha!

thank you cookie monster

I saw a hilarious commercial with the Cookie Monster on Saturday for a company (won't mention who because I am not trying to promote anyone) - giggled the whole way through it. Here is the link if you're interested in just the fun of the cookie monster:
http://youtu.be/CCbWyYr82BM

So I woke up early on Sunday, very odd for me, as all of my return visitors will be aware of, stuck in my head was 'you should make chocolate chip cookies'... because 'COOKIES ARE GOOD'. "Yes, cookie monster-cookies are good" my brain told me, so by 7:30 I had coffee made, puppy fed, and was pulling baking goods out of the cupboards.

:) strange? maybe. unlike me? not so much.

So I started baking at 8:00 in the morning, 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies later - not enough - decided then that I really should make butterscotch brownies - because if cookies are good, well ... brownies are good too. Huge amount of brownies later, and by the way you have to be Hercules to stir these things! I was thinking - who is going to eat all this? I don't even eat sweets like that. (however, Levi - my pup - shared that he would happily partake of any leftovers (he had been at my feet for the whole cooking process), but since he can't have chocolate or pecans ... pretty much rules him out, much to his dismay! so of course I made him his own 'puupy safe' peanut butter cookies. and no, he isn't spoiled *wink*)

Then thankfully my boyfriend says, 'I can take some to work' - awesome!!

Luckily they taste amazing so not such a travesty, at least they won't go to waste.

Especially since I exploded flour all over the kitchen because my mixer was going too fast for the 'slowly add flour mixture' part of the recipe...oops!  But I think the lovely Julia Child would agree with me on this, if you aren't making a mess while you're cooking - you're not doing it right!

from here to there

I don't usually spend a lot of time on social commentary, mostly because it is so seldom funny and more often than not enrages people, but today I am going to make an exception. I am troubled at my reaction yesterday to another person because it was remarkably out of character for me.

So here is what happened, I was returning from the mall and stopped at 7-11 for a bottle of wine. A homeless gentleman was counting his change out on the top of a trash can by the door and stopped me and asked me for 30 cents. I had two quarters, so I gave them to him.

Most of you are probably thinking, 'Okay, big deal. what is the issue here?'

Here is the issue, I was so self absorbed I did not take the few seconds to ask him his name, introduce myself, see if there was anything else he needed, and normally I would have. When I got home and realized what I had done I was even more upset with myself because of the immense luxury item I was at the mall picking up. This is not to say that I do not think people should have nice things but since I do I am even more responsible to be generous and kind to those who do not. I had spent over 200 dollars on a new nib for my fountain pen and 50 cents on a fellow suffering human being within the same hour. And that is shameful.

And before everyone starts thinking I am a total sap, I do not always give someone money or assistance, I tend to rely on a gut instinct of what I see in their eyes when they ask. Scientific, no - but is how I go about it. And if I can offer assistance I introduce myself, ask their name, etc. Many times you see the same people each day, and you may be thinking - 'Well, then they will ask for something every day!' Truthfully, that has not been my experience at all, or at least not for Mary, Joseph, and Cliff; the three people I saw around work everyday when I worked in the city.

I said hello and used their name whenever I saw them, Occasionally they would ask for some change, a granola bar from the store, or once Mary wanted a small bottle of hand lotion but most days I would get a hello back and a smile for being remembered as a person.

My biggest recrimination on myself is that I know how easy it would be for all the items I enjoy; a warm home, a job, groceries, tv, ...the list is long; to be totally gone. Most of us are only about 2 months away from being in dire straights if we were to lose our jobs. I certainly understand after having been laid off a few years ago. I was fortunate that I had friends and family to help, but some people do not have that. And it just is not that far from where I am here, to where he is there...

VS - way to go!

I received a Victoria Secret catalog in the mail today, the fact that I order 'dainties' from them completely freaks out my son - so it is worth getting the catalogs just for that! ( I mean really, how does he think he got here, but he probably doesn't want to think about that either - ha! ) Anyway, it made me remember a funny occurance from last year. ( well, it is funny now )

I had placed an order for some new 'items' (quite a few new items actually) and had them shipped to my apartment, with instructions for the package to be delivered to the apartment office since I was not going to be home when it arrived. After a week without them arriving I checked my online order and it said it had been delivered ... called the office - no package. Looked up the tracking number - delivered to door. Drat!!! ( not really what I said ... ) Now what to do? and ...

Question: Who on earth steals a Victoria Secret package!?! It is on the label where it is from and obviously women are not all built the same! So how would you know anything would fit you?? Honestly!!

Called Fed-Ex, order confirmation at the ready - to say it had not been delivered, their response:
"We have the right to deliver to the door and not to an alternate location."
Me: "Then why have a shipping instructions box for comments if you can disregard it?"
No answer.
Me: "Well the package is not here, I never received it and you didn't follow my request. So I would like you to reimburse me for the lose."
Them: "Our records show it was delivered, so we are not responsible..."
The back and forth went on for a while - as you can imagine. The end result - they would do Nothing - even though they clearly didn't follow my written instructions. Ugh!!

Called the credit card I used to try to stop payment ... no luck there either, because the items were actually purchased by me and shipped. Drat - and double drat!! ( also not what I really said ... ) 

 Sigh!

Okay, called Victoria Secret and talked to a Fabulously nice customer service agent - explained the situation and that I had already called Fed-Ex and my credit card company and nothing could be done. Was there anything they could do to help because it was obviously stolen, at which point I stated my earlier question to her - she laughed and said:
"You may not believe it but it happens more than you would think, people steal it and then sell it on E-Bay."

Which brings me to my 
Second Question: Who the hell buys underwear off of fricking E-Bay??!
(BLAH!!) 

When VS sends items like that there are no tags or anything, how would you know it was new .... Just Ick!!

So VS actually stepped up and resent all the items on my order at no additional charge - Awesome! - I thanked her profusely. Still get the VS catalogs ( to freak out my son ) And I don't use Fed-Ex anymore!!


 

the 'tumbles' of passion

My long time friend and many years ago - boyfriend - reminded me of this ... for lack of a better word .... 'incident', after my recent birthday blog. It would appear that this year's writing theme will be about awkward naked situations - there are worse things :) And as my darling friend from a previous blog said, 'all the best experiences happen when you are naked, starting with birth'. So here goes ...

Back to my long time friend, we met in college, through - Hmmm how to say it - mutual acquaintances (and by that I mean, he was dating the sister of the man I was briefly and unfortunately engaged to, yes - truth is stranger than fiction, Any day!)) Neither relationship worked out well so my friend and I ended up getting very close in the aftermath of the terminally bad experiences we had with 'the others'. And given that he and I are still close today, I think I can count my blessings :)

He is a musician and songwriter, and I cannot help but say it, what woman isn't just a sucker for that (kinda makes me wonder time and again why I encouraged my own son to play guitar - now that he is close to adulthood it feels much more dangerous than it did when he was 10 ... sigh). And as any college students we were passionate for one another, but between classes and both of our work schedules, time together was limited. Soooo - I had a day off and so did he - hooray! I drove over to his house.

He still lived at home at the time and while his mother was always very polite - and truthfully I think she liked me for the most part but couldn't say it - we had different religious backgrounds so I wasn't exactly who she Wanted her son to date. His mother was to be away for the afternoon, so we could have some time alone ... all adult implications implied. ;)

He lived in a split-level house, with his bedroom at the top of the stairs and very visible from the foyer and kitchen - this will be important later ... unfortunately!

We were fully enjoying each other in his room ... when ...
His mom - " I am home." 
me - OMG!!! (she had to see my car outside so she knows I am here!) 
and we are definitely Not downstairs watching tv - holy crap ... what to do?!? 

In my haste and panic I literally flip backwards off of him - and catapult off the end of his bed in a heap of sheets and covers, while flying through the air my knee hits me in the mouth, so I am now lying on my back on the floor at the foot of his bed, naked - hurt - bleeding - adrenaline at full, and he is laughing so hard he is doubled over and crying and totally unhelpful! 

"Come help me bring in the groceries" his mother shouts up the stairs.

"Be right there!" he yells while attempting to help extricate me from the mass of sheets and covers between his laughter ... I punch him, hard! and then scramble to find my clothes, hoping I can dash up the hall (which is totally visible from downstairs, as I mentioned) to the bathroom while they are outside and pretend I was just per-occupied when she arrived! (which I was, but not in a way I want her to know!) I hiss at him to hurry out before she comes upstairs and give me time to get to the bathroom ... (Because really neither she nor I want her to find me and her son in his bedroom right now with the crumpled sheets and clothes everywhere!) He has hastily dressed, but looks very rumbled (of course) - I have gathered all my clothes in my arms and am hiding behind the door so he can slide out. He pops a brief kiss on my nose and still laughing slips out and down the stairs.

I am certain his mother knew, she just had the grace to Never speak of it ... thank goodness! And to this day my friend teases me about my less than Olympic quality dismount. :)

birthday security

Since my last blog I have moved, it is a lovely little single-family home, that I share with my son and boyfriend. It has the advantage of a security system which is very nice when my guys are away - and simple to use ... or so I thought until this morning. 

My boyfriend and I wake up at 5:30 this morning (for those who follow my writing you will know-I do not like the mornings) he gives me a kiss, tells me happy birthday and asks if since it is my birthday do I want to sleep in. I give him a grateful and groggy 'Yes' and snuggle back under the covers with my teddy bear and ask him to turn on the security system since I am going to sleep a little longer. 

I wake up some bit later and go into a small side room that works as my closet, strip off my night clothes and still sleepy try to find something to wear for the day...but there is this beeping sound - (head tilt) - where is that coming from? My phone doesn't sound like that ...  OH Sh*t! That is the alarm going off! 

Forgetting about my lack of clothing I dash ( and dashing for me is not quick ) to try and get to the keypad that is in the laundry room to turn off the alarm. Our house has A Lot of windows and only one with curtains, we may have to fix that after today! I reach the keypad just as the alarm timer runs out and the whole house sounds like a fire station on full alert. I am only in my birthday suit - which is hilariously appropriate - in a room full of windows and glass front door ... great! Hi neighbors!!

I punch in the key code in hopes that it will turn everything off ... 
keypad message "emergency alert sent - cancel?"
me "yes"
keypad message "sending"

Whew - I think, that was close.

I head back to my room to get dressed, and just at the end of the dining room I hear a woman's voice over the intercom (ps I didn't know we had an intercom!) 
"We have a reported emergency, are you there?" she repeats this twice before I can get back to the laundry room, still naked - but having grabbed a dish towel from the kitchen to at least cover some of myself. (and while I am not a very big person, trust me, a dish towel isn't going to cut it!)
me - "Yes, yes - I am here. I am sorry - I accidentally set off the alarm. I am fine."
her - "What is the passcode?"
me - I give her the key code that I have
her - "That isn't it, it is a word."
me - "What!?"
her - "It is a word."
me - "I don't know, we just moved in, I have never had to used the system before like this."
her - "Okay, give me your information, the police have been sent."
me - (internal monologue, Oh F***) gave her my name and phone number.
She hung up.

I fling the dish towel to the floor (not right to not wash it now, so it might as well stay there - well, you know.) and rush to get something on before the police arrive. Ahhhh. Just as I am pulling on some socks there is a knock on the front door - yep, it's the police. After several questions, my apologizing prefusely and them scowling, they leave.

Sheesh! It isn't even 30 minutes into my birthday yet ... oh boy.

I call my son to regale him with the mornings fun, and to laugh at myself a bit. He says:
"Well, it just really isn't a good birthday until the police show up (he is So my son...haha!) but usually you wait for later in the day for that!" He laughs.
"I know! I just wanted to get it out of the way early this year!" Hahaha!

So here is to another year of my getting older but alas, no more mature :)