Wednesday Wonders

I wonder what ploy Stanley will try next in his attempts to keep me from going to work in the morning?

So, here's what usually happens:

He sleeps on my bed, and around 4am he stretches along the entire length of me and puts his head on my shoulder. I think "how cute, my doggy likes to spoon!"... little did I realize, the first time this happened, that it would be sooo hard to get out of bed! In the words of Charlie Brown, happiness is a warm puppy.

We have a little bit of a routine to start the morning... when my alarm goes off, he knows it's time to go outside, so he stretches out infront of my bedroom door- just incase I try to sneak by him, so he won't miss me. As soon as we get downstairs, before going outside, he goes to his toy basket and noses each of his 3 favorite toys. After going outside, he eats and then comes back up to my room and jumps up on the bed while I get ready... here's where the "fun" begins...

One night I gave him a bath in my bathroom because the other bathroom is still being set up, and the next morning when I turned my shower water on, he bolted onto my bed and under my covers. When I came out to see where he went, he was laying on my pillows with just his little head poking out from under the blankets!

When I get ready, he used to try to pull my blow dryer out of my hands. Then, he would whine and attach himself to my knee when I would open the drawer that had my makeup in it. He also will bring one of his toys upstairs and run around, playing fetch with himself. Sometimes he'll sit and whimper on my bed, and as soon as I open my sock drawer, he's attached to my knee again. He's tried laying on my shoes, which doesn't work because I get another pair of shoes. After that didn't work, he tried parking himself infront of the laundry room door to the garage. Then it was infront of the hall door to the laundry room.

Lately he's also been laying in my closet, trying to be in the way as much as possible! Yesterday, he brought all three of his biggest toys upstairs, in my closet, and laid them out like a mine field, laying down with them!

Today he has his purple octopus up here, and he's diligently chewing it. Every now and then he will poke his head around the screen on my laptop and lick the keyboard.

I wonder what he'll try next?

100 Years of Faith

This is a picture of just one bookshelf at my grandmother's farm. There are over 100 years of bibles on this shelf, in two- maybe three languages. The oldest one I found on this shelf is dated 1904, and it's in Finnish or Swedish. Then there's quite a few books of psalms from the same time, and an English pocket bible from not long after that.



For now, I leave you with this question- what will your bookshelf look like in the next 100 years?

Just a Reminder...

Blog's going private as of February 1.

Send me an email if you want to be added as a reader!

Rest in Peace

There has been a lot of sadness lately, personally, nationally, globally. These are the words to a memorial prayer from when a family friend died; the lyrics to a song we sang when a beloved professor died, and even though they still make me tear up, they bring peace.

Remember that, while we never get over the loss of someone, we get used to not having them here, and the day-to-day activities slowly become bearable... it's okay to slowly let their memory fade, for a part of them lives within you. Talk about their life, laugh, remember the good times, and when that gust of wind picks up from out of nowhere, or you find a moment of silence taking your breath away as you look at the sunrise, know that the loved one lost is with you, and with God, in that very same moment.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripend grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight of night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

text by Mary Frye

Oh Dear.

Yes, I'm one of those people. I buy clothes for my dog now. (I couldn't help it, it was on sale! Still not waterproof, but Andy said he found a perfect jacket for my puppy to wear when we go walking) He's just so stinkin' cute!!!

Wednesday Wonders

Lately I find myself thinking in 3rd person-facebook status updates.

ie: driving to work yesterday, ... "wonders why people think they need to go 40 mph on the freeway when it rains." or "is pretty sure her desk is here somewhere!"

Takes me back to 8th grade, when talking about yourself in 3rd person was all the rage! Of course, I find myself doing it now and say "... wonders what it means that she talks about herself in 3rd person FB status updates in her head?"

Just think about how much more we would actually TALK to people if we didn't update 592 people with play-by-play status updates? I have friends in Sacramento, San Diego, LA, Boston, Melbourne, Oslo... the list keeps going. I used to write to them on a regular basis... now that FB statuses update everyone, I find that I don't write NEAR as much as I used to! It makes me sad; the art of penmanship and letter writing is lost on the digital age, and I used to pride myself on being one of the few who uses snail mail on a regular basis... Perhaps I'll challenge myself to write more letters ON PAPER.

So- my Wednesday Wonder?
Idunno. The exact closing phrase just flew out of my head while I was typing the last sentence to the above paragraph. Oh, the joy of hvaing a brain that's over stuffed right now!

Blogging in Private

Or private blogging...

As of February 1, my blog will go private. It doesn't meant you can't read it, it just means you'll need to send me an email so I can add you to the reader list. I'll keep my photo blog current, and don't worry- if you're on one reader list, you'll be on the other, since I sometimes post different things on my regular blog and my inspirational one.

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, and with the string of random profiles and comments I've had to moderate, I decided to just do it!

The Sound of Silence

No neighbor below me yelling at her children every single day.
No neighbor below me slamming her front door so hard that mail falls off of the table by the door.
No neighbor below me pounding on her ceiling when I stumble through sleep to the bathroom at 1:23am.
No neighbor below me talking on the phone until 2am on the weekends.

I'm not sure what to do with all this silence! Getting used to the sounds a house makes is always hard... but not too hard, in this case- the silence is definately welcomed! And all the space!! Almost all of my stuff is moved into the house now, and yet it still looks so empty. I'm really excited to have a house to decorate- furniture to pick out, pictures to hang. YAY!

The hardest part right now- aside from remembering what was put into which box or bag- is going without internet or cable until January 9th. I didn't realize I was still so addicted! I thought I was doing better about not being online after getting Stanley... And no calendar... haven't gotten a 2010 calendar for the house yet. That's actually making me a little nuts- but if you know me, you know how much I LOVE my calendars. I'll have to pick one up tomorrow...