One, YAHOO!
Two, it’s football season! Ya-double-hoo! And Brett Favre has started it out as the diva that he is and then — whomp! — a nasty sack! Love it.
Three, is anyone watching Project Runway this season? If so, let’s chat.
Archive Page 88
This morning I took Gracie out for a walk around the block in this absolutely nasty weather. I am not usually on the morning walk shift, but Aaron is out of town this week so I’m all dog duty, all the time. It’s really not a big deal, of course. Anyway, so as Gracie and I were rounding third, I noticed a dog and its owner were jogging towards us and going in the same direction we were headed. The dog + owner were still about a half a block away so Grace and I walked a few steps and I checked again. Obviously, we were not going to be able to make it home before they passed us, so I choked up on the retractable leash, had Gracie stand on the terrace part of the grass — smelling every blade — and waited. I kept my eye on Grace. Maybe that was my mistake. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the woman and her dog running and they were just out of arm’s reach. I think they startled Gracie, so she growled and lunged and the other dog growled and snapped and we (the owners) pulled the dogs away from each other and the woman + dog continued on with their jog. The whole thing lasted maybe three seconds, though that seems exaggerated. As the woman + dog are jogging away, the woman continues to glare back at us and I hear her say to her, apparently very intelligent, dog, “Are you ok?” Then after another couple of steps into their jog, she stops and examines the mouth-area of her dog, apparently looking for the savage bite Gracie inflicted. I think I said aloud, “Come on!”
Here’s the thing: I know I am not the best dog owner in the world. And I know my dog had a life on the streets that I know nothing about. And I know she can be unpredictible around other dogs. Usually she’s a-ok, but every once in awhile — and after six and a half years I still can offer no prediction as to when it will happen — she meets a dog who looks at her wrong or something, and she snaps. I take her to the dog park all the time and it’s never happened. But sometimes when we’re out for a walk, she snaps at another passing dog. Maybe even one that’s across the street. Sometimes, though, she completely ignores another dog that is barking relentlessly at her. I have no idea what she’s thinking or intuiting or feeling or whatever it is. Maybe she gets some signal or maybe she’s just in a bad mood or maybe it’s some weird thing about the leash…The point is that I don’t know. What I do know, though, is that it can happen. And for that reason, when the woman + dog came running towards us, I did what I could to mitigate the situation. The woman, however, did not. She did not slow her run while she approached an unknown dog from behind. She did not run further into the lawn to give the dogs space. She did nothing that, in my opinion, she should have done. And having done nothing, she then blamed me. Look lady, you ran up on an unprepared, unknown Gracie. What did you think would happen? Ugh.
And don’t get me started on the woman on the bus this morning who had a screaming toddler in a stroller. The screaming toddler was one thing, but the woman ignoring the tot to text for five minutes was quite another. And then what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. Finally — she must have been through with texting — she turned her attention to her toddler (mind you, she had another kid sitting quietly next to her, looking the picture of good behavior) and decided maybe he would stop crying if she took his sandals off. Now I know I’m not a parent, but this didn’t seem to me like it would quiet the unhappy boy. I was right. Screaming continued. And then a bizarre thing happened. A man in the back of the bus, presumably annoyed with the noise, decided that he would start mimicking the kid. So the kid would cry and then the man would scream out in imitation. It was really a lovely ride into work.
And then, as soon as I get into work and set down the pasta salad I brought for today’s work baby shower I am bombared with a ten-minute tirade about how my office neighbor’s computer doesn’t work properly and all of the permutations the IT folks are trying to get it up to snuff.
All in all, a great start for a Tuesday.
I used to think of myself as someone who really hated change. Things are tolerable, why change? I don’t think I’m really like that anymore. While I may not embrace change like some, I think I’m pretty open to doing things differently now and then. Particularly when it makes a lot of sense to change things up and the only thing holding back the change is sentimentality or tradition. Not that the latter two things aren’t important, but I try not to overvalue them and instead focus more on function and purpose. Though not always.
But here’s one thing I don’t get: why are websites always changing? I know I am guilty of that somewhat with my blog — I change the layout from time to time — but I don’t think I’ve done anything that ever creates any confusion. It seems that facebook makes weird layout changes weekly and I just noticed that wordpress, the host for this blog, has gone on and changed things up and I’m trying to adjust to it. And don’t get my started on flickr’s latest changes! The thing is, there are things I’d really like to change about all of those sites and they all pertain to function and making things more intuitive. But these are not the changes that have been imposed. No, no. They just seem to be change for the sake of change. Something I really have trouble supporting.
But, on the other hand, here’s a change I can really get behind. It feels like the tide is really turning. And that is something I support.
And, finally, on a lighter note: a shout out to Terry with oodles of thanks for sharing this. I didn’t think the first ones were all that funny, but as I paged through I had trouble containing my laughter and admit to doing a spit-take or two.
Tomorrow the family and I head north to Presque Isle for the annual weeklong vacation that includes super relaxation and fun with the occasional family-fueled drama. Here’s to more of the former and less of the latter! I wish Gracie could come. Why are so many places so anti-dog? It’s annoying and, frankly, uncalled for. Gracie brings nothing but love with her wherever she goes. Well, that and tumbleweeds of dog hair. But that’s nothing that a little (read: constant) vacuuming can’t cure. Have a good week, folks!
Only partially because I worry that I have alientated you, Dear Reader, I am going to turn to the ever-loved subject of babies. Well, sorta. Is anyone else out there watching the genius that is Bethenny Getting Married? As we already knew, Bethenny Frankel is the most charismatic, funny, brilliant member of the franchise that is Real Housewives. As one of the only members of the series that didn’t have a husband, or children, her plight was different than most of the others’. Now she has her spin-off and it’s 100% awesomeness. It is incredibly low on negative drama and incredibly high on laughs and silliness. The title should probably change since season one (will there be more?) is not complete and she’s already married and honeymooned. She’s now prepping for her baby, which is the major focus of the show. It’s a show about a woman who marries her dreamy guy (so charming and just this side of straight) while multiple months preggers. Now they await the arrival of the baby. And boy are they unprepared. Neither has ever changed a diaper and they have two hours of babysitting experience between them. This leads to unexpected gems of dialogue like this:
Bethenny (in referring to what she has just seen on the ultrasound): “It’s a mush, a blob and there’s a heartbeat. It could be an alien. I could be giving birth to a platypus. I have no idea, nor do I care, I just want it to be healthy. And a girl.”
This show has made my life only better.
life and puppies 