veronica is working on her new children's book:

princess pouty pants

remember, you heard it here first.
i just wish i could draw.
i would love to be a children's illustrator.
sadly, all my talent is with the tango.
no. not really.

nothing fills the broken heart
like shopping.
(well, whisky works too)
but at least at 10am on a sunday
shopping is a socially acceptable pastime

whereas the whiskey probably needs to wait a couple of hours

it's hard to go into Coach and realize
toemas doesn't need a new red leather collar and lead
even if it is on clearance

the boy is gone.
and 3 grown women sobbed.

then drank enough red wine
to float down the river of sorrow.

that being said, this is what i noticed about
death and a beloved dog...

1) when the vet says, "take all the time you need"
he really means, let's go folks, we need to use the room in 10 minutes

2) when they ask if you want to take the dog with you
you should consider if you can carry 60 lbs of dead weight (literally)

3) and when you decide that no, you shouldn't walk around the waiting room with a dead 60 lbs vizsla looking for the car keys, perhaps cremation IS a better option

4) and if they ask if you'd like the remains back, you might as well say no, as you are probably just as likely to get back the ashes of the fireplace as a dog, much less your own dog, that was probably toss into the incinerator with every other bloomin' animal that died that weekend.

daddy forgot to mention this to me growing up.
perhaps because he just buried our dogs next to the tomatoes.
but i thought you'd might one day need this info.

toemas, our beautiful vizsla,
is at play in the fields of the lord

i held him as the vet gave him the shot
his eyes watched mine
then his pupils dilated
and he lay down on his side

there was no last gasp
no whimper
no jerk nor twitch

he was looking at me
and then he was gone

we stayed until his paws turned cold
and i kissed his head
and told him i was sorry
and that i loved him

i know we did the right thing
but my heart still aches

i found the "lost" quilting book.
it was cleverly hidden in the bookcase
with the rest of my quilting books.

smart little bugger.

now..i just have to make it to the library
with said book
before it escapes again

one: i am currently watching in HDTV
the red sox game @ oakland
in the middle of the afternoon.

happy sigh

two: i got a notice from the library that a
book is overdue.
??????????????
shirley, you jest.
a quilting book.
seems reasonable, but i couldn't locate the book.
not in the house, the car, the driveway, or the fridge
so naturally, i must have returned it.

went to the library to give my tale of woe.
they said they'd look for it,
and asked for my library card.
um...my library card?
it should be here somewhere...
please stand by...
to which the librarian peered over her half glasses
and said,
"perhaps your library card is with
the quilting book since you can't seem
to find either one"

score two points for the librarian

duly chastised
i hung my head
and promised to try to find where the book went
(no promises on the library card)

anybody seen a quilting book
with a library barcode on it?

Author Fons, Marianne Title Quilter's complete guide / Marianne Fons & Liz Porter Imprint [United States] : Leisure Arts, 2000 Edition Rev. ed

LOCATION CALL # STATUS BROWSING (MAIN) TT835 .F663 2000 DUE 06-01-05

Phys. desc.	272 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm
Note	At head of title on cover: Leisure Arts presents
Bibliog.	Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-266) and index
Subject	Quilting -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
	Quilting -- Patterns
Alt author	Porter, Liz
Add title	Leisure Arts presents quilter's complete guide
ISBN	0848724666 (pbk.) : $22.95

jolie, the lemon & white english pointer,
has a security blanket.
it's so freakin' cute.

the blanket is actually a navy & white
cotton snowflake bath rug.
she carries it with her everywhere.

better the blanket than the dansko clogs.

(everything in moderation...everything else in excess)

went over to gustie's and spread wildflower seeds
across the back yard

don't git more excitin' than that.
'sure

ah dim sum..how i've missed you.
chomp, chomp, chomp.

two words: salted squid.

then off to the wedding expo
where we were accosted by an
over-exuberant Episcopalian
who wanted to do our wedding

um, no thank you.
now kindly unhand me.

so i decided today the tree in the front yard
needed pruning

i started with the little clippers.
moved to the larger clippers.
when i went to get the chainsaw
gina decided to investigate.

our fabulous neighbor jim said we could
borrow his trailer and put the limbs in the back
2 hours later...there was very little tree left
and no room in the trailer

so i decided to stop there.

today toemas was supposed to go see the behaviourist

but she wasn't able to get a flight back in time.
so there is a reprieve.

toemas knows something is wrong.
he won't leave my side.
and is currently asleep on my foot.

his days are numbered
and i am just so sad

saw the orthopod today for my month follow up.
he said the knee appears to be stable.
which promptly got back to my physical therapist.
who caused me great muscle pain and anguish in pt
(but in a positive caring way, of course)

i can barely walk my quads hurt so much
30 seconds against the wall in a sitting position - 5 reps
5 reps of 10 lunges (quads only)
some freakin' bend the left quad and touch the clock numbers with my right heel
and bike uphill for 10 minutes

(yipe...as they said in the cartoon)

reprinted by self permission:

IT'S OFFICIAL!

Peekay & SteveO are the proud parents of an itty-bitty, scrunchy-faced, baby boy! The new arrival, as yet still unnamed, was born at 6:15pm, weighs in at 8-lbs & 1-ounce and is a whopping 20-1/2" long. Peekay is doing fine, she is happily doped up after a near miss with a C-Section (the baby was really reluctant to emerge, evidently) and when I left she was happily sipping a Baskin Robbins Chocolate Shake and eyeing the McD's Cheeseburger left for SteveO.

happy birthday darling.

i had an interview today!
very nice people.
director of development.
small place.

wanted to stop by afterward and see friends
at the old red mill
but the interview lasted over 2 hours
and i needed a nap

i'll keep you abreast of the situation.

whoops.
i completely forgot.
but then again, with alzheimers...so did my mother.

sigh.

only 2 more episodes of *the L word* left
my palms are sweaty.
i'm sure it's nothing a little cold shower can't help.
is it me..or is jen freakin' you out too?
meh.
enough of her.

holy bat guts....
i got a credit card bill the other day
and my interest rate jumped from 5.9% to over 20%

what in the world?

and when i called the automated system a very nice woman said,
*um, we sent you a notice*
only she didn't say *um* because she was true professional.
and it only took me about 17 minutes to actually get to a *live* person

i'm not someone who yells at the people on the phone.
1) i've been the person on the other end, and frankly yelling is just bothersome
2) no need to add to the bad karma
3) well, i did yell at verizon a couple of times...but they REALLY deserved it
4) and frankly it's my own damn fault for my credit exceeding my income (else what's a visa for)

i DO hope you caught the Browning reference above in #4.
now take the rest of the day off
you must be tired.

so i had this bright idea:
i want to build a play house.
actually, i want to build a log cabin.

but i thought i should start small.
so i bought the plans to make a dog house.

and today i patronized the local lumber store
(home depot be damned...and they didn't have the lumber i needed anyway)
where the very nice gentlemen went through the entire materials list
and walked me through the blueprints.

so $487 later they promised to deliver the materials
to my door step

this doghouse is going to cost me more than my first car
but it'll probably last longer.

have i mentioned that i love chocolate banana?
yum.
naturally i was compelled to try the DD chocolate banana latte.
(naturally)

i also giggle at the bald Johnny Damon dunkin' d commercial.

the latte thing-y was okay.
i'll probably have to have a couple more
just to average out the samples.

what are my chances that i can get it decaf with splenda?

tonight is pizza night with good friends.
as well as a knitting party.
a lumber buying spree
(i see a play-house in my future)
and perhaps the planting of watermelon seeds.

but first, a trip to the library
where I forgot my card
and the persnickety man would not allow me
an unauthorized check out.
i can only imagine the absolute throng of unscrupulous people
clamoring to check out works of non-fiction
at the academic library under false pretense.

thankfully the chary charon
was dutiful in his diligence
or is that diligent in his duties

wow. it's may.
who knew?

should i declare a goal for the month?

a book a day?
learn swahili?
paint the house?
shave my head?
win the lottery?
play the lottery?

do the bossa nova in the front lawn.
memorize the scrabble dictionary.
go spelunking.
mine diamonds.
celebrate spring.
whistle while i work.
stitch and bitch.
eat more veggies.
switch to white wine.
nap once a day.
move indoor garden outdoors.
make water from scratch.
climb every mountain.
ford every stream.