Artsy Fartsy

One more greyhound-filled day before Paula and Karlo come home. What will Molly do with herself? What will I do now to avoid actually blogging? I just don’t know.

Paula mentioned once again that she is sorry to burden me with her dogs while she is travelling. Burden? Are you kidding?

I give you exhibit A:And then there’s exhibit B:Can you just imagine the work involved in caring for these two? I’m flat worn out! They nap so much, it makes me tired.

I hope that no one is sick of Peanut and Bentley this week because I am so busy at work that I have nothing else to talk about besides these two love-nuggets. Only one more greyhound day until their parents return from LA so enjoy the cuteness while you can.

You should be. Peanut is very snuggleable. Here we are having a private moment in the yard.
Then Bentley got in on the action. You can’t forget to give big brother some love.
And here’s my favorite action shot of Bentley and Molly playing.

Oh, by the way, you should never let a rescued greyhound off leash in an unfenced yard. And don’t ever let them play with small, fluffy dogs either. These are bad, bad ideas.

This is all I have to say today. Too much going on to write about. For now, just a big wet nose for you, courtesy of Peanut.

Looks like I caught them plotting something and they’re all putting on their innocent “not me” faces. Notice the squeaky bird toy in Bentley’s crossed paws. This bird was part of a game that will most likely last until Peanut and Bents go home next week. Bentley chooses one of Molly’s 300 toys. He plays with it, she glares at him. He gets distracted for a second, she sneaks in and steals it from him. He gets up and finds another toy, she steals it when he’s not looking. She’s quite the spoiled brat. “I haven’t played with it for months, but since you’re playing with it, I want it.”

Paula never believes me when I tell her that P and B have been very good house guests. Peanut’s a little curious and likes to get into trouble, but she’s been a perfect lady. I even forgot to move the baskets of bread and chips that I keep under the butcher block in the kitchen and she didn’t touch them all day. Last time she stayed over she took the yarn out of my knitting basket and just relocated it across the room. No damage, she just liked them better in her spot. This time I put the basket on the counter before I left for work, so no yarn-relocation games for Miss P.

This weekend I think we might all go for a nice, muddy run out back. I only have one orange safety dog vest so I’ll have to fashion something for the other deer look-a-like greyhound before we head out. It’s so cute to see the three of them running around chasing each other. I tried to catch them on video last night playing, but each time I hit record, someone squatted to pee and I didn’t think anyone really needed to see that.

OK, one more shot of Frick and Frack. Here they are enjoying a laugh at Molly’s expense, I’m sure. I bet they were picking on Molly’s short legs or something.

Professional relaxation specialists, Bentley (r) and Peanut (l) are spending the week at our house while their parents are on a business trip in LA. Here they are, worrying about the war in Iraq and taxes and whatnot. Boy, they really need to learn to let go.

I promised to keep their mom (Paula) updated on their stress levels while she’s gone by posting pictures each day. It also might help he not to miss them so much, but probably not.

Molly update: we went to the v-e-t yesterday where we learned that she’s been kissing too many toads because the “mole” on her lip was actually a wart! She had it removed in a quick and easy (for me) procedure and then she was rewarded with a trip to the pet store for a new treat. The vet told me not to worry about the tainted dog food too much since she hasn’t yet shown any symptoms and it’s been almost two weeks since she ate the food. Phew! Still, I’m keeping an eye on her.

Now that I don’t work in Hartford, the only reason I will travel there is to update the chalkboards at Max Downtown. Some days, usually early on a warm, spring morning, I actually miss Hartford. It’s so cute and convenient. The restaurants and shops are so lovely. I could actually understand why people move to cities to live. And then there are mornings like I had today.

I left the house a little later than I wanted, which left me to fight traffic and dodge jerks talking on cell phones as I made my way into the frozen wind tunnel that is Hartford. There were no parking spots on the street. The open spots were filled with frozen snow banks or the meters were inexplicably bagged. I drove around and around and finally found a spot blocks from where I had to go. Then I fed the meter - where a quarter gets you all of 10 minutes - and made my way to Max Downtown. It was so cold and windy, isn’t it supposed to be SPRING today? It was quite a crabby start to my day.

But I did manage to do this:And this:And there’s a Starbucks right next to Max Downtown so at least I had something warm to hold onto on the long trek back to the car.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and this is what I saw out my window yesterday. Disgusting. I’m sorry it gets shaky at one point. It must have been my uncontrollable sobbing.

Dog Food Recall (more info here)

Normally I don’t feel Molly the nasty “chunks in gravy” style dog food, but last week she had a can becasue that’s all that was available at the store. Now I’m watching her for signs of accute renal failure.

Luckily she has an appointment to go to the vet on Wednesday, (shh! don’t tell her), to have a little mole on her lip looked at. Like her mom, she’s starting to grow moles and this one on her lip is getting bigger and scaring me. Maybe I’ll have them draw blood for a kidney test while we’re there, just to be safe.

I did it again. More changes. I really don’t like my hair. I wish I had someone else’s hair. Someone with thick, luxurious long hair. Sadly, I may have been born with a swell craft gene and a brain that can hold onto random bits of trivia and song lyrics, but I definitely wasn’t blessed with hair.

I tried cutting bangs, that didn’t work for me. I tried getting a flat iron and styling it straight. Still not working. I called my sister (my hairdresser) this week and told her that I need an emergency appointment. I want all of my hair cut off.

I had her cut it off about a year ago and although everyone liked it and I pretty much liked it, Luke couldn’t stand it and I was tired of hearing him complain, so I grew it back. I want to be someone with long hair. I’ve always pictured myself as an old lady with long gray braids, but just because I can grow it doesn’t mean I should have it. I was starting to look like a hag with nasty, scraggly hair. But not any longer. This morning I stopped by my sister’s salon for a shearing. It’s all gone. It’s also straight right now because she likes to blow-dry it straight, but I can’t wait to wash it and see how curly it gets.

Now I have bouncy, perky hair. Short and flouncy. Actually, in one picture I took of myself I looked just like Amanda - glasses and all. Maybe secretly I want to be Amanda - except for that pregnancy thing, of course.