The latest Quiz

Courtesy of my friend Scott, this is the latest quiz. He did not "Tag" me this time. I just copied from his blog because I thought it was cool.

Outside my window right now is: Darkness. It is 5:30 a.m. and I've been up to feed the dogs breakfast and they are back to sleep.

My daily rhythm is: Get up, feed dogs, drink coffee. Go to work, come home, dog park, dinner, read, TV, or internet, then sleep. I sound way more boring than I think I am.

I am thankful for: A great family, a great job, and great friends.

In the kitchen: Fruits and vegetables from Farm Fresh Delivery. A little heavy on the potatoes right now. Milk, cereal (chex, both corn and rice), splenda, coffee, dog food. 2 bottles of wine.

Breakfast: coffee. sometimes cereal. sometimes the work cafeteria scrambled eggs.

I haven't found: The winning lottery ticket.

Lunch: Sometimes I pack - sandwich or soup, chips, crackers, fruit, carrots, Laughing Cow Cheese. Sometimes I buy - whatever is in the cafeteria at work (salad bar, soup, grilled cheese, or "homestyle" line of green beans, mashed potatoes, and some sort of meat).

Supper: About the same as lunch. Sometimes I buy (last night was Fazoli's) and sometimes I cook or eat what is around (Sloppy Joe's, soup, spaghetti).

I am wearing: pajamas.

I am creating: hmmm. A cover for my sofa.

Bringing beauty to my home: Flowers can do that. And so can dusting.

I am reading: T is for Trespass

I am hoping: that the warm weather will last just a little bit longer.

I am making plans for: the Christmas season. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of year. Trevor comes to my house every weekend and we work on our Christmas craft, we go to all the downtown Christmas activities (zoo, Children's Museum, White River Gardens, the Circle of Lights, etc.). We have a great time together.

Dog Days

Yesterday, Trevor and I had a day devoted to the dogs. When we got up, we played with Sadie and Tiger at home. Around noon, we went to my work's Pet Owner's Club fall outing at the dog park and had lunch and were involved in all kinds of dog activities. We then went to my friend Naomi's house because she has 5 puppies that she is fostering and we wanted to see them and play with them. Then we went home for a while and fed Tiger and Sadie, and kind of chilled out. Then later that night, we went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which was a cute kids movie. (I could have totally fallen asleep, but I didn't, so that is a good sign).

I'm sure there will be some pictures of Tiger at the park from the photographer at the event. I'll post one here, if I can get it. We all had a great day!

Welcome Sadie

Sadie the Boxer came to live with us on Tuesday. She was rescued from a shelter by the Ketuckiana Boxer Rescue. Sadie is a lovely 8 year old girl, with big brown eyes and a bit of an under bite. Well, how about a lot of an under bite.

Sadie will stay with us until she can find a home of her very own. She is really a sweetie. She's 100% potty trained (no accidents even in a new environment), gets in her crate nicely, and enjoys a stroll around the yard or around the block. She is very, very, mellow. Loves her mealtimes and in between snacks too! She has some arthritis in her leg, which has been a challenge with the stairs in our house, but she is getting the hang of it. I think she's doing pretty well now, since she's had 5 days practice.

I can never figure out who would take their 8 year old dog to a shelter. I'm hoping they had a good reason and it wasn't just because she was older. I always think that you teach your kids how to treat people by how you treat animals. Sometimes people think I go to the extreme with my dogs' health, but they are happy and they feel good. Acupuncture, Reiki, clinical trials for Heart medications; my dogs have tried it all. I always tell my Mom that she should take comfort in seeing what I do for my dogs, because I would do nothing less for her.

Sadie is the dog that I would want if I was 70. I've never been a person to like the small dogs, but I'm always scared that a big dog will overpower me when I am old. Sadie is a very mellow girl and a great companion. And, like me when I'm older, she would prefer a ranch-style home.

My New Coffee Machine

Somewhere in the deep, deep, deep, back part of my mind, I know that my love for my new coffee machine is wrong. But I do. I love it. I am the owner of a new Keurig coffee machine. My Mom got it for me for Christmas. Yes, Christmas 2008. She had a 30% off thingy, and she gave it to me early. Way early.

For those of you who don't know, the Keurig is one of those single cup coffee machines. On a recent trip to celebrate my friend Linda's birthday, I realized that there were 2 things that I needed to make me totally happy. A single cup coffee machine and memory foam. I'm still working on the memory foam.

My Keurig came with a variety pack of 10 different K-cups, a small dixie-cup size serving of coffee that fits right in the machine. My favorite so far is the Nantucket Blend from Green Mountain coffee. But even I question whether I really like the coffee so much, or is it just the name? I do love Nantucket and I had a great vacation there with my friend Sarah Bell one May. (Hi Sarah!)

So, I've had coffee every day now for a week. Every morning when I am feeding Tiger his breakfast, I get to fix myself a lovely single cup of coffee. I've also had the Hot Cocoa, which Trevor also tried this weekend and thought it was very tasty. I need to get some of the teas. I'm not big into tea, but my Mom is, so I want to be prepared when she gets here.

I know that soon this machine will probably be on the anti-green list. I know. I know. But, just let me enjoy for now.

Everyday Weirdness?

My friend Mariandy wrote about weird things that have happened to her in her life in her entry "Everyday Weirdness". Check out the picture she took while driving home.

In her entry, she asks, "what are the weird things that have happened to us?". Hmmm......what are the weird things that have happened to me? All the things that come to mind are not necessarily weird, but they are memorable.

Like when I was 21 and in New York City for the first time. It was 1985, and I ended up on the subway with a gunman at some odd hour in the middle of the night. I remember that first trip to New York so well, because it was at a time when there were a lot of riots in New York City, the Times Square area hadn't been cleaned up at all, and as a Midwestern girl, there was definitely some fear of the unknown in going to the big city (although at 21, you don't really express any of that to anyone). Remember the Guardian Angels? They rode the subway because of how dangerous they supposedly were. I remember praying every time I had to go on the subway. So, that wasn't really weird, but it was memorable.

To finish out that story, I was really over my fear within 2 weeks. I spent the summer in New York working for the Fresh Air Fund. Actually, for the next several summers, I worked there, and when I lived in Massachusetts I worked weekends there too. I got pretty comfortable maneuvering my way around New York City, but I learned which trains to be on, and which not to be on, and I don't think I was ever on a train after midnight again.

I guess I'm still going to have to think about the weirdness topic.