Yeah, I'm still here, slowly picking up the daily rhythm again of chores and routine and limping through the rest of what was not a great August. The squirrels are stealing the large tomatoes from my garden while they're still green. I have successfully harvested one meager large tomato and it's frustrating. I didn't want to build ceilinged cages around my plants but I might need to do that next year around the tomato bed. And the herbs are stunted and I think the stain I chose for the ...
Friday 5: Everything in its place
Happy Friday! This week is my summer Friday, but it wasn't supposed to be. Fun fact: the Big!Work!Upgrade! that was supposed to launch yesterday has been pushed to September. I was planning on forgoing my Summer Friday today to work on pressing upgrade issues (if any), but it's not necessary. Moving the project has left me kind of adrift, because I had the next 2 months of work planned out in my head - upgrade, bug squashing, re-writing/redirecting reports to new server, PTO in September before ...
Murphy, April 2021
Earlier in the year the bottom panel completely fell out of our back screen door. The screen was already gone (thanks, Murph) but now the 'dog door' portion is large enough for Ollie to walk in and out of without having to jump. Win/win? Now that it's nicer out, we leave the back door open. This gives our black and white Muppet plenty of opportunity to get his zooms out. And when he's finished running he comes back inside and surveys his kingdom. Last month, Mom asked me how we ...
Beware the Dogs of March.
Actually, you don't need to beware. They're pretty friendly and snuggly. Ollie and Murphy are absolute pleasures to have around. And they are ALWAYS around Ollie has had a coughing issue off and on for a year now. The cough will pick up and the vet will put him on a round of steroids. As soon as he tapers off, the cough returns. His heart and chest sound good (for 13.5) and after some back and forth, our vet (whom we love and who loves Ollie) okayed keeping him on a very low dose of the ...
Murphy, February 2021
Some things about Murphy that I want to remember: He has a very loud bark but is not brave.He has little to no object permanence. If I put his toys in a basket, it's like I tossed them into a black hole. He will NOT pull the toys out unless highly encouraged to do so.Yet, he can and will sniff out dollar bills from inside my purse.He ADORES my mother. When she visits he goes out of his mind with glee and when she leaves he cries at the door.Like me, he is not a fan of winter. A snowy yard ...
Friday 5 and Happy Birthday Murphy
Today this noble knob turns 4. In his 4th year, Murphy learned compassion. If one of us is sick or blue, Murphy is RIGHT THERE. Lying on top of our chests when we're burning with fever. Licking our faces as we sit on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night. Snorfling close if we're sad. Murphy loves: Ollie, us, fresh tomatoes, tiny animals, chicken nuggets, my mother, cold coffee, clean laundry, and the TV program Vikings. Murphy hates: His own farts, strangers, noises, not being ...
Murphy, December 2020
Murphy has BIG FEELINGS, whether it's barkingly upset or barkingly happy or whiningly sad or growlingly irritated. As we headed into our first Christmas with Murphy back in 2017, we were worried that he'd destroy all of the holiday decorations. We were wrong. Because Murphy LOVES Christmas. He doesn't knock into the trees. He is respectful of the Christmas village. He tosses the regular sofa pillows on the floor but leaves the Christmas throw pillows alone. He never barks at the fire ...
Murphy, November 2020
WM's schedule involves teaching his classes via Zoom in the morning and an asynchronous block of time in the afternoon where his classes are open for anyone who wants to drop in. (They don't.) His mornings are spent in the office, and when he gets up to move to the living room for the afternoon, Murphy immediately jumps into his chair. The desk was his from the old high school and was going to be trashed. He asked to take it home instead, and he refinished it into this beauty. You can also ...
Murphy, October 2020
A warm hello to those found this site via my Postcards to Voters blog post which picked up some traction on Twitter! This is an old-fashioned blog, with a some journaling, some photos, some food, some pets, some hobbies, some books, no ads because I failed to hop on the monetization wagon -- you get the picture. Welcome! When we bought this house, I wanted a bird feeder. I put it on my Pinterest wish list and after convincing people I was not kidding and really wanted one, I received one for ...
Popcorn, Please!
I have created not one, but two popcorn-loving monsters. This is my view while carrying a bowl of freshly-popped popcorn to my desk. Ollie's vision is not good, but his nose knows exactly where the bowl is. Because this is the Internet, I will post a disclaimer that they don't eat a lot of popcorn, that I don't put toppings on my popcorn, and that they have been eating popcorn for years without digestive distress. ...
State of the Wardrobe
My wardrobe has two distinctly different styles: WORK (biz casual, blazers, fancy sweaters, dresses, jeans), or SLOB (fleece, elastic, hoods). Now that I'm working from home until at least January I'm trying to upgrade SLOB to include comfortable clothing that looks good on camera. That black and white long sleeved tee on top is from Old Navy and is very soft while looking professional, especially if I add a necklace. The stripes are spaced widely enough so as to not be a menace on camera. ...
Murphy thinks he’s people
I never know where I'm going to find this dog. ...
