medium crazy

aw. (again.)

I just love it when I find out that likable, under the radar celebrities are  together. They’re just so darn easy to root for! In this case, Ron Livingston, also known as “the guy from Office Space” or “Berger,” just married Rosemarie DeWitt, also known as Rachel getting married, or Midge, Don Draper’s season one lady on the side.

aw.

In honor of Veterans’ Day, please enjoy returning soldiers being greeted by their dogs.

classic maddie shot

Please pay particular attention to the tongue. It’s too bad there isn’t a Westminster category for Tongue Cuteness.

friday cute

I like to imagine they’re discussing health care.

so sad yet so cute

“These orphaned baby hedgehogs have been clinging to this stiff-bristled brush because it reminds them of their mother.”

How can I obtain one of these hedgehogs?

my week with maddie

On Monday morning I dropped Maddie off to be boarded for a week. I feel pretty guilty about it. For one thing, after our week together, we really became buddies. Also, Maddie HATES sleeping alone, so I keep imagining her in whatever crate they put the dogs in at night, crying out, thinking ”Why did you abandon me? Whyyyyy!?!?”

In a previous post, I may have implied that Maddie was a troublemaker who liked to chew on things and grab things she shouldn’t. After spending a week with her, I feel I should revise that statement. She has grown up quite a bit and really wasn’t mischievous at all while we hung out together. In fact, she was just a lazy, fluffy love cupcake who spent most of her time lying around napping or rolled on her back asking me to please rub her belly. In her defense, it was a hot week and the fluff was pretty dense.

Here is a good shot of the cutest little pink puppy tongue in the Live Free or Die state.

Here is Maddie doing what she spent much of the week doing: Lying directly in front of the fan and letting it blow in her face.

Just look at the fluff on those paws!! The hilarious thing is that under all that fluff, she has scrawny little legs.

Finally, here is Maddie in her favorite position in the house — the bed by a window that overlooks the street. Here she can both guard the house and lie down comfortably. This way she would nap, and then every once in a while if a stranger passed by the house she would look outside and let out a little growl. Then I would thank her for protecting me and she would go right back to sleep.

craftiness

I went to a friend’s baby shower recently. It was the kind of themed, personal, tasteful lunch event that would please Martha Stewart. I’m always impressed by people who do things that I wouldn’t do myself. The thing about me is, I hate crafts. I mean I don’t hate crafts, but I hate crafting them. I don’t think I’m necessarily terrible at it, it’s just not fun or interesting to me at all. I will not likely be a woman who knits or sews homemade Halloween costumes. But I’ll admire women who do!

Anyway: this baby shower had a lovely baby birds/eggs/nests theme. The favors:

Sweet, right? And the dessert:

She actually toasted coconut for the “nests” and made hungry baby birds out of fondant. Are you not impressed?

visiting with my younger self

I haven’t posted a whole lot this week mostly because I’ve been having a very hectic week at work. The kind of week where you’re not just at the computer, you are AT. THE. COMPUTER. Computing as though your life depended on it. Then I’ve gotten home at night to a big empty freedom house with an extraordinarily fluffy dog, and frankly sitting at the computer hasn’t been that appealing. With that said, this week my brother introduced me to Typing Maniac on Facebook, so that’s what I’ve been mostly doing the past two nights.

Anyway:  the week in New Hampshire has been interesting. I thought I would DO more while I was here with these free evenings. But of course, once I have the free time, I like it to just be free and I often end up not accomplishing much. (I suspect I’ll look back on this as the big tragedy of my character and will be forever kicking myself for not accomplishing more when I had the time.) But sometimes it’s nice to just do not much. And work has been so nutty that it’s been nice to have quiet nights. It has been strange not seeing M. for this long. I guess I am pretty accustomed to having him there as my person to talk to at the end of the day. I have, however, been sleeping like a newborn baby. Oh, the sleep.

So…before they left on their vacation, my parents gave me the rundown: when to put out the trash, what to feed the dog, bills to put in the mail, etc. In the midst of all this, my dad ended up showing me where something was in his closet and I noticed several large, stuffed manila folders on the shelves and asked him what they were. They were folders that contained mementos he had saved from when we were kids. So last night I took mine down and looked through it. WOW. Anyone out there who has kids or is planning to, consider having a folder for your kid’s childhood stuff. It contained drawings, stories, homemade cards, report cards, and letters to Santa, and it was seriously fun to look through and very sweet that he held on to these things.  Some of the items were so entertaining that I really feel I should share.

For example, here is a Christmas list I made in 1992 (also known as seventh grade):

I would like: new sweaters for school, a charm bracelet, Time, Love, and Tenderness (single) – Michael Bolton, Paula Abdul Forever Your Girl (tape), Super Mario Bros 3, Tetris, cat statues, new books, a Champion sweatshirt, Luke Perry poster, other posters.

Where do I begin??? How 1992 is this? I asked for a Luke Perry poster when I wasn’t even ALLOWED to watch 90210. And CAT STATUES!?!? Statues of cats, how do you not love that? This Christmas list is a true artifact.

And just to show that I was a young child of the 80s, here is a transcription of my letter to Santa from 1984, written in quite good handwriting for a five year old I might add (however the commas are mine):

Dear Santa I love you. May I please have little pony unicorn, flower princess, strawberry shortcake berry happy home, cabbage patch preemies, cabbage patch stroller.

And finally, I found a little book I made in school called “About Me.” It isn’t dated but I suspect it’s first or second grade. The cover is even laminated! We were clearly prompted as to what we should write about, but still…it’s good stuff. It reads as follows:

My name is Stephanie. I live with my mom and dad. I have one sister and one brother.

I like to spell. I know I am good at it.

I have trouble roller skating and swimming. It’s hard for me.

My favorite toy is Jem and Barbie Rocker dolls.

If I could plan dinner tonight, I would plan a big turkey, pepsi, spaghetti, NO POTATOES! (Ed: I did not care for potatoes.)

If I could have any name I would choose Mary.

When I grow up I want to write stories and be a teacher and be a famous singer (and an artist).

If I could be any animal I would be a bunny because they’re cute and fuzzy.

My favorite T.V. show is Little House on the Prairie.

I often think about if Mrs. Sabat will let me correct papers.

When I want to make friends with someone, I say “Hi! What’s your name?” and they would tell me.

If I was invisible I wouldn’t go to school. I would go into my mom’s room and watch TV all day.

Based on this book, I have to conclude that I was a very normal, well-adjusted, somewhat unoriginal child. A bunny because they’re cute and fuzzy!?! I wish I had been a little edgier than that. Like look at this illustration:

It’s the 80s and I make my new friend blond and named Jenny?? So cliche.

But I do have to give myself props for identifying the Jem and Barbie and the Rockers dolls by name in this illustration, and especially for making the star over the “J” which everyone knows is key to capturing the essence of Jem:

we don’t call her fluffball for nothing

Fluffball is due (actually way overdue) for a haircut next week. In the meantime, this is a picture of her face:

That is her FACE. She looks like a crazy Muppet dog. Here is her face after I did some clearing away of the hair:

I’m not even certain she can actually see right now. Yet that doesn’t seem to be stopping her from throwing herself down flights of stairs at maximum speed.

friday cute

tell me…

…Precisely what is it like to be so fluffy?