Grown up, but still a lovely scoundrel

I think Oliver still holds the prize for the most charming/photogenic of all my dogs.

A Guest Beauty

This is young Mr. Q, a Lockeye pup out of a sister of Moon. He lives in Switzerland with Evelyn Constantinidis and her wonderful pack of dogs. Moon and Molly belong to an extended dog family who stays in touch with each other and I think that is part of what makes them so special-being able to share with people who truly understand how I feel about my dogs-because they feel the same way too.

It was only a few days ago Q was living with his siblings in Oklahoma-now he's off on his world tour.

Lent

No. I'm not Catholic, but I like the idea of sacrifice making you grateful for what you have and aware of what other's don't, so I typically give something up for Lent. This year, it's Starbucks. And yes, it hurts. It is my stress reliever comfort food protein source all rolled into one. But, it's 5 bucks a cup.

I went to the local hispanic market today-they had chicken thigh quarters on for 29 cents a pound. Score for the dogs and their raw meat diet. The lady in front of me was checking out, paying cash, and was going to have to put back a gallon of milk-without thinking I said, "No, no, I'll pay." And she was very grateful and I felt good.

Let's just say I don't dress for success on gardening/chore/dog days. I was in a muddy pair of jeans, t-shirt and my hair was sticking straight up, so this poor soul probably thought I was in bad shape too. But that made the gift all the sweeter. And suddenly, thinking of her kids who would have had to do without milk, I didn't feel nearly so put out that I didn't get a Starbuck's today.

Another miracle was that I was not at all conflicted about buying meat for my dogs when she couldn't buy milk for her kids. One, the meat I did buy was less expensive than premium dog food and much healthier, and two, they ARE what sustains me, just as her kids probably sustain her.

It's the first time in a long time I've mentally asserted my right to have things too. Maybe I should have given up Starbuck's a long time ago.

Hee heee heeee! HAW

Ooooooh yes, what a good week this has been in Oliver Land. That woman still has some craps and she bought me two pints of strawberries too. AND, a banana. With all that good fruit, who needs to eat the grungy old bird food? But she won't give me so much as one crap unless I eat my bird food.

I've learned some new words. Cody, Moonie, Lily. I hardly ever say Slim any more-I realize now that each of the furries has a name, just like I do. I am a bit confused about the one who they call "Oliver. What kind of idiot would name a furry after ME? I am Oliver, yet the woman refers to the brown scraggly one as "Oliver". That puzzles me. The world is full of sounds, why would you need the same sound for two different things? No wonder you people are confused.

HAHAH HAAAAAA! eeeeeeh, yes, yes, yes NO, NO NO....heh heh heh.........Happy Animal Wednesday.

PrePost

Tomorrow, which will be today when you read it, I'm sitting at the hospital with Daddy while Mom has her second cataract surgery. So, I thought I'd write something today to post for tomorrow. The only trouble is, I seem to have run out of things to say and share.

And its not like there aren't many wonderful things going on in my life, I'm just having a little trouble enjoying them. Depression is such a nasty, ugly, insidious disease. It creeps up on you and sucks the life right out of you before you can realize what's going on. Then, when you realize, you have to fight back the depression that comes from realizing you are depressed (again). Talk about kicking someone when they are down.

My strategy has been to work each day on what I can do, and to let the bigger picture kind of fade into the background for awhile. I don't much feel like looking at the big picture, and so much of it is truly beyond my control. Lots of it makes me really pissed off. WHAT? Obama didn't solve the financial crisis in the first 8 days? What kind of moron thought that was even possible?

I worked my ass off for a Master's in Journalism, and am too disenchanted to use it. I don't ever want to be like those people, the ones I read every day. Too disenchanted to be an accountant, too disenchanted to be a compliance officer. I look at the classified and know I truly can not do those things ever again.

My father mentioned that wanted to be a pooper scooper was sinking pretty low, and I snapped back "Not as low as taking big money to look the other way....." How the hell did I get so moral in my old age?

With a gift for writing, I could spin numbers so that even auditors would sign off. Falsifying numbers is bad-but in the big grey sea of subjectivity, the ability to spin an idea is priceless. Yay me. But I never believe my own spin, and that's why I couldn't do it any more.

I feel like an hold has been/never was. I feel like I had the "American Dream" and pissed on it because I didn't like the rules. I'm afraid I'll end up a crazy cat lady.

While Mom prepared Sunday dinner, Daddy and I watched some sort of extreme building show where this fellow had spent 40 years hand building a castle out of found materials. His life's work. It did keep him going and in good shape, but he didn't seem very happy. He was angry at the government and angry at people who didn't understand his vision. If I do end up a crazy old coot, I hope I'm not an angry one.

Prickly Pear

With permission from Jim Wakeland on one of my Yahoo Groups. I feel a bit prickly myself today.

Planting Onions

Mom is not supposed to bend over because of her cataract surgery. She finally relented and let me help plant onions-she poked the holes and supervised the placement and packing of the earth. I got down on my hands and knees (wearing my beloved wellies), rubber gloves and my knee pads and surrendered to the entire process. Her onions, her patch, her direction. We had one of the most special times we've had.

I took the surplus onions and planted them in my surplus dirt-not one little onion stalk was wasted. Mom and I disagree on many things, but onions are not one of those things.