#3074 three things: Harley, my book haul, and Midway

my October wee calendar

Hello hello! I feel like I have been neglecting the seven of you, so I am eager to get back to a regular posting schedule on Thursday and Sunday. We'll see how it goes. I kinda want to write a recap of July, August, and September, but tonight I already have three things I want to tell you about, so let's go!

Harley before the enzymes

1. Harley. My sweet lab has been having medical issues. In January of 2025, she weighted around 82 lbs, and in September 2026, she weighed 52 lbs and was losing her hair. I took her to the vet we've taken all our dogs to since we moved to this house about 24 years ago, but the practice has changed hands and I don't think we have been getting the quality of care we used to get there. When I couldn't get a satisfactory explanation, I decided to see a different vet. I'm so glad I did! The new vet, Dr. B, has many, many years of experience and he practically diagnosed Harley just by looking at her, then confirmed his diagnosis with blood tests. Harley's pancreas is not working properly; it isn't absorbing all the nutrients in her food. He recommended giving her pancreatic digestive enzymes and told me about a website where I could purchase the product that he has been recommending for 30 years. Harley has been taking the enzymes since 28 September, and I'm happy to tell you that she is doing very well. The hair has already grown back on her feet and the tops of her ears. Soft little hairs are growing on her ribcage, and other areas where the skin was peeking through are filling in, too. Above all, she is so perky and a little feisty, more like the dog we adopted five years ago. She is running after the other dogs in the yard, she is wrestling with Mac again, and there is a mischievous sparkle in her eye that has been missing for awhile. I'll take her back to see Dr. B at the end of November to see if she has gained any weight. I think she has gained some because her ribs and spine are not as evident. I am glad I got a second opinion, and probably a new vet for the other two doggos, too.

book haul

 2. Book haul! Mom and Lizzie came to visit at the end of September and we visited many independent bookshops. I bought five books from the six shops we visited (I didn't buy anything at Sam Weller, but I bought two from Folklore.) I'm usually way too cheap to buy books, but I got caught up in the spirit of supporting local businesses. Plus, three of the shops we visited are woman-owned, so that was a bonus!  A quick run down of what and where:

• Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen from Dolly's Bookstore in Park City
• And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison from Lovebound Library in SLC
• Ramon and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson AND Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo from Folklore Bookshop in Midway
• This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page from The King's English Bookshop in SLC

There are a couple of other books in the pile that I bought before Mom and Lizzie came: The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman and The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon. Not pictured is Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig because I was reading it. I got all of those at The King's English, too.

Also, the menfolk and I went to Barnes and Noble on Sunday, and I got a book there, too: The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff. 

I always have trouble deciding what to read next, so my plan is to wrap each book in my TBR pile in pretty paper, like a little gift, give each of them a number after they are wrapped, then have someone pick a number for me when I'm ready to read the next book. I'll be wrapping soon, and I'll show you when it's done. I know it's silly, but it's fun, too. I did choose to start reading The Witches of Cambridge because spooky season.

3 Midway, Utah! Oh my everloving hell, how is it I haven't been to Midway in all the years I have lived in Utah? I have passed by it a time or two, but I haven't gone into the town before. I have been depriving myself of the cutest Hallmark movie town. I'm in love with it. Every little shop we went in was great, especially The Dainty Pear and the aforementioned Folklore. These two shops are dreamy. If you are a woman who is into the fantasy of having a little shop, like a bookstore or a fancy gift shop with a French cafe attached, these two places will enthrall you. 

Oh yeah, and it's beautiful up there in Midway, too. The town is tucked back in the foothills near Soldier Hollow. The day we were there, the fall foliage was near or at peak and the mountains were bursting with red, yellow, and orange leaves. The temperature was in the mid-70s, and it was fantastic. I am already looking forward to going back there. The Dainty Pear is having a Christmas market in mid-November and I am planning to go! 

I sort of think the day-trip to Midway was the best thing Mom, Lizzie, and I did while they were here, even though every day was pretty great. Sounds like I already have my Sunday post topic!

xo

 

#3046 three things: dog edition

Stella, Harley, and Mac

Time to check in with Stella, Harley, and Mac in this week's three things: dog edition.

1. Stella. On Sunday I took Stella to the emergency vet as I wrote in the last post. She was there from 11:30 AM to 6:30 PM. She had to be sedated so the vet could remove foxtails from her feet and clean her ears as both of them were infected. It wasn't a foxtail infection, just dirty ears that went really bad. The next day, Monday, Stella went to the groomer. She was just there for two hours and she looks really cute. Yesterday, Tuesday, she was still feeling a little low. She didn't want to be outside and didn't play with her toys at all. This morning she was a little more perky and frisky, although she would just catch the frisbee twice and then come inside. Right now, she isn't feeling well and is curled in a tight little ball on the couch next to T, who I think might actually be her favorite human. She is shivering a little and panting. She has eaten, but she wouldn't take her pain medication tonight. I'll see how she is doing tomorrow. If she's still acting like she is right now, we'll go back to the vet.

2. Harley had a vet appointment last week for some shots, which she didn't get. I think I wrote all this already. Harley is actually doing well. This might jinx it for me, but she hasn't woken me up in the middle of the night for nearly a week to go outside and she hasn't had any accidents in the house, either. Mostly, she needs a bath. Maybe I'll give her one this weekend. (Did I say that last week, too?)

3. Mac is doing very well. She loves to sit outside in the morning sun and watch the traffic go by. In the afternoon, she finds a shady spot and keeps watch. Mac is very intrigued by squirrels and turns to stone when she spots one in the neighborhood when we are out for our morning walk. When I say she turns to stone, I mean the dog cannot be moved. It's like she is frozen in place, only moving her eyes when the squirrel moves. When I put my hand on her to try to snap her out of her squirrel trance, she doesn't even acknowledge me. We have stood in place for many minutes watching the squirrel watch us. Harley could care less about the squirrel and just looks at me as if wondering why we are not walking. I guess it is a good thing that we don't see squirrels every day in the neighborhood. They might see us, but as long as Mac doesn't see them, we are fine. 

Enjoy the rest of the week!

#3036 three things: Harley, a short walk, and Harry Styles

 1. Harley health follow up. I took Harley back to the urgent care vet this morning for a follow up on her appointment last month. Last month she had terrible runny poop, she looked emaciated and uncared for, and her leg was hurting. She had bloodwork, xrays, and got a bunch of medicine out of it (and it was quite expensive.) I'm glad to say that she is feeling much better. She hasn't gained any weight; she's still around 53 lbs and the vet wants her to put on about five more lbs. To do that, I'm going to add puppy food to her regular food because puppy food has more nutrients and fat to help puppies grow. (This is the recommendation from the vet.) Harley had a great time at the vet today. She really loves to go for rides and have new people pet her. She was such a good girl that I got her a pup cup from Starbucks afterward. Now she is sleeping off the doggie downer I have to give her before a vet visit. She is mellow at home but a totally bonkers Lab at the vet.

2. We went for a walk! Since I broke my wrist, I haven't taken the dogs for walks. I did walk Mac a week ago with MT because Mac is a bit easier to walk. She is content to amble along and smell all the smells whereas Harley just likes to walk and pull. Because Harley had some doggie downer on board, I decided to walk them around the block. I held the leashes with my left hand and they were very good girls. I had no problems or worries. My wrist is getting stronger, and I am whittling down the time I have the brace on my arm. I'm still sleeping with it on, but during the day, I have it off for longer periods of time. The wrist doesn't really hurt. It is stiff and doesn't have full mobility, but it's coming along. I can lift and carry stuff that I haven't been able to manage for awhile. I have a follow up with the surgeon on Tuesday, so I'll let you know what he says about my recovery and next steps.

3. All Harry all the time. Maybe you know that Harry Styles released a new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.  I like the music. On Monday night I watched the album release concert on Netflix, and it was enjoyable. He performed all the songs on the new record top to bottom, then he did a few of his older songs. The first single from the new record, Aperture, is an ear worm. I wake up singing it. If you have five minutes, I highly recommend watching this clip of Harry's performance of Aperture at the BRIT Awards. It looks and sounds amazing, IMO. 

Enjoy the rest of the week!

xo

PS I just noticed there is no mention of Stella in this post. She is absolutely fine and is a happy, noisy terrier. She still loves to catch a frisbee and run around the yard. She is the definition of play hard, rest hard.

#3030 that b*tch scared my dogs

 

This isn't a three things post, but I like this pic of the dogs, and this post is about them.

Mac, the black dog, and Stella, the scruffy terrier, love to be outside. Harley, the white dog, likes to be outside if it is warm and sunny. We have a big backyard enclosed by a chain link fence.  The three of them lay in the yard and watch the world go by, barking at passers-by. The don't jump up and growl and act mean, although Mac does look kinda scary and has a loud bark, but she is very shy. Harley wants to be petted, and Stella brings a toy in hopes that the person will somehow play with her. Usually people will just walk on by. Sometimes I'll hear them say "Shut up!" Sometimes I will see them petting Harley or trying to get Stella's toy to throw to her. Mac doesn't want to be petted or played with. She'll stay away and bark or just watch. 

Where am I watching from, you may ask? My office window upstairs. I have a good view of most of the yard from up there so I can keep an eye on the dogs. 

Just now I was sitting down here at my computer and I heard the dogs barking, and I heard a person yelling at them. I looked out the window, and there was a woman in a red sweatshirt, pants, and a white bobble-hat absolutely losing her sh*t at my dogs. There's a green electrical box just outside the fence, and she kicked it ferociously a couple of times while yelling at the dogs. I could hear her upstairs in my office with the window closed yelling mean words at Mac who was at the opposite end of the yard - I couldn't even see her. Stella and Harley got scared and ran inside and Mac was right behind them, and the onery woman walked on up the street. Now all three dogs are inside and they are quiet. Stella is hiding in the closet. Harley is on her bed here in the office with me. Mac is hiding on T's bed. 

Honestly, I know the barking is annoying. It annoys me, but I also know they are dogs and that's what they do. I go for walks and dogs bark at me and I just keep walking. Maybe that woman didn't get a Valentine yesterday and she took out her frustration on my critters. All I can say is, "Have the day you deserve, ma'am."

#3029 three things: healing, Harley, and glasses

1. Splint off, brace on. Yesterday morning I had a follow up appointment with the wrist surgeon, well, his PA, anyway. Fun fact: the PA, Ally, is the same person T saw after is back surgery. She recognized me LOL. I was so glad to get that splint off! I do have quite a big scar on my wrist; it is three inches long, straight, and is healing well. The stitches were removed and I had an x-ray to make sure everything inside was right, and it all looks good. Now I am wearing a brace. I do get to take it off when I shower and when I am at rest, like watching the Olympics. Other than that, I have it on. The wrist feels fragile, though Ally tells me that's mostly a mental thing, although I am restricted from picking up anything larger than one pound for another four weeks. The skin on my hand and arm is extremely dry, so I have been applying moisturizer regularly. There is also quite a bit of bruising. I put a thin layer of Vaseline on the scar to keep it from drying up and getting icky. I will meet with Dr. Holt or Ally in about five weeks for a final follow up appointment. When the brace is off, I am doing gentle stretches of the wrist forward and back. I also gently swivel the wrist. No quick movements because that hurts like hell. Overall, I am very happy to have the splint off. 

2. Harley to the vet. In January or February 2025 I took Harley the Lab to the vet because she was overweight and losing hair and she just wasn't healthy. She had hypothyroidism and was put on medication.  She started to lose weight and was doing great, but she kept losing weight, and now she is so skinny I can see all her ribs and her spine. Over the weekend she started vomiting and having diarrhea, plus she hurt her left front leg, probably coming down the stairs or jumping off the bed. Today she has been somewhat lethargic and had the saddest puppy dog eyes ever. I called our regular vet, but they couldn't get her in today or for a couple of weeks, so they recommended another vet, not an emergency vet, but more like an urgent care. I called that office and got an appointment for 2:30 this afternoon. 

Poor Harley couldn't jump up into the car, so I had to scoop her up with my forearms to get her in the car. (The wrist was not involved.) The tech at the vet came and scooped her out of the car when we got to their office. Harley then proceeded to have the walking poops, runny version, in the exam room, so the tech moved us to a different room. Harley squirted in there two or three times, too, but I was able to clean those up. 

The vet got an x-ray of the leg (it's fine) and some blood work. She is still hypothyroid, but she only weighs about 50 lbs - she should be 55 - 60. The vet recommended some medicine for the diarrhea, a pro-biotic to get her gut right, and an anti-inflammatory for the leg. She also told me to feed Harley a little more food every day and to mix and egg in with one of her meals. We will go back to the vet in four weeks to see how she's doing. I'd love to see her put on a couple of pounds in that time. 

3. Wearing my glasses. Since the day after I broke the wrist, I have been wearing my glasses. Usually I wear contacts, but there was no way I could get contacts in or out with the cast or the splint. In fact, taking out my contacts the day of the break was tricky because I had to do it with just my left hand.  Now that I have the brace and can take it off, I might try to put in my contacts tomorrow. What I wanted to say, though, is that I'm glad I got new glasses in late December. When I got the new glasses, I opted in for the transition lenses that turn dark in the sunlight. I'm glad I did because my eyes are so sensitive to light, I wouldn't have even been able to drive with my old glasses because of the sun glare. It's been a long time since I wore glasses every day, but I'm sure glad I have a good pair now. 

EXTRA: I haven't written in my journal since the accident because I couldn't really grip a pen very well. Same with drawing and painting. I did one painting and it was not very pleasing. I was planning to journal today, but the Harley thing came up, so that will wait until tomorrow, but I'm really excited to write in my book again. 

Be safe!

xo

# 2964 three things I'm looking forward to in August

 It's time to turn the calendar page, and here are three things I'm looking forward to in August.

1. Lots of live music!  August is my busiest concert month at Red Butte Garden. I'm scheduled to work at five shows: Rick Springfield, Michael Franti, My Morning Jacket, ZZ Top, and Keb'Mo' with Shawn Colvin. There were supposed to be six shows, but Ray LaMontagne rescheduled his show for next year. In addition, I am going to see Chris Stapleton perform at Utah First FCU Amphitheater (formerly USANA Amphitheater). 

2. Trip prep! I know August is going to rush by and the trip to Central Europe will be here before I know it. August is the time to get my clothing and shoes selected, gather some art supplies, make sure all the documents are in order, and research is done. 

3. MT will come home. At least I hope he'll be back in August. When we were talking the other day, we thought he had a good chance to get home by the end of the month. He's gone about 210 miles as of today, and he's been on the trail for 19 days. If it takes another 20 days to go the next 210 miles, then he would have a week to travel the last 80 or so miles. It could happen. My wish is that he is home by Sept 4 at the latest, because I leave on the 5th, and I'd like to see him before I go on my trip.

BONUS THING:

*Harley got a clean bill of health from the vet. She did have a UTI, but I treated it at home with  cranberry-infused doggie urinary tract supplement chews I purchased on Amazon. Harley likes the chews, and it seems to have worked. YAY!

#2963 dogs get UTIs too

I was supposed to be in southern California this weekend. Things changed because of T's deep muscle contusion and the fact that he was having a hard time walking and seemed downright miserable, so I cancelled the trip and stayed home instead. After I made the decision to stay home instead of go on my trip, I had myself a little pity party for ten minutes or so, then I decided to make the best of it. I made a list of things I wanted to do: make art, write, clean the kitchen, read, and relax. It seemed like it would all be okay until Harley, the lab, got a urinary tract infection. 

How do I know she had a UTI? Well, she was leaking pee. Where? On my bed. Yeah. It was gross.

Thursday night I noticed she was licking her privates a lot, which is not pleasant to witness. She was up on my bed, lickinglickinglicking. I told her to stop, and she did, but the damage was done. There was a big, stinky wet spot . I stripped the bed - this was around 2:30 a.m. -- and stomped into the spare room, closing the doors. Mac howled. Stella scratched at the door. Harley felt ashamed. I laid in the bed obsessing about how to get the stains and smell out of the mattress. I googled how to do it, then I got on Amazon and ordered a waterproof mattress cover and a new pillow top for the mattress for good measure. I fell asleep around 4:30. 

T woke me up around 6:30 am because he needed something, so I got up and moved around slowly, thinking about having a nice cup of coffee. I never did get that coffee because stuff kept coming up, and I was tired and dragging. I called the vet around 10:15 to schedule an appointment for Harley to get some meds. They had an opening at 10:30, could I make it? HECK YEAH! We'll be there. The vet's office is just a few blocks away. 

The thing is that Harley gets way amped up when she gets to go anywhere. I always give her a doggie downer before going to the vet or the groomer, but since we only had 15 minutes to get to the vet, there wasn't time to give her the downer, and she was bonkers hyper. On top of that, Mac managed to slip out the door and run straight to the car because she wanted to go for a ride. Stella also got out and ran to the car, but she came back in with the offer or a cookie. Not Mac, though, so she just came along. 

The hour I spent at the vet was a total shitshow. The vet was busy, and I didn't want to wait too long since Mac was out in the car. I waited about 30 minutes and told them I'd call to reschedule. Harley and I got out to the car and the tech came running out and said she'd put us in a room right away, so we went back in. The plan was to extract some urine from Harley and test it to make sure it really was a UTI.. They were also going to draw some blood to check her thyroid because she lost four more pounds since we were there a month or so ago. (She's skinny - just 64 lbs now). However, no urine or blood was able to be drawn because the dog was so hyper five techs could not  hold her still enough to get any samples. The tech came back in, covered with Harley hair, to give me the news. We now have an appointment at 9:30 on Wednesday morning. Doggie downer will be given before the visit.

The new bedding arrived, and I made up my bed all fresh and nice. Ooh, that new pillow top is decadent! I'm happy to say the waterproof pad works nicely, however my sheets got leaked on and I again was stripping the bed in the early morning hours, laying in the spare bed, shopping Amazon for doggie diapers and UTI chews. 

Saturday I dutifully did a bunch of laundry and again made up my bed nice and fresh. The doggie diaper didn't fit. She liked the chew, and I think it's helping, but I decided that no dogs would be allowed to sleep with me. (I know. Why didn't I do that before? I don't know.)  I'm happy to say I had a delicious sleep last night, and I haven't even had to have a nap today. 

Between caring for the dogs and caring for T, the staycation wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be, honestly. Today has been a good day. though I spent the morning drinking coffee and reading, then I cleaned the house. It really needed it and I feel glad that I took the time. It's just much better. I've been reading, drawing, writing, and eating cookies I got from Crumbl yesterday. I've only left the house once today to get some ice. 

AN UDPATE ABOUT T:

The quad muscle has relaxed significantly, although T says that he now has pain in his calf muscle. I do feel a little tightness there, but I think he's mostly better. I don't know what will happen with his work at FedEx. I think he is worried about re-injuring that quad muscle. More to come on that.

AN UPDATE ABOUT MT:

My husband has been hiking the Colorado Trail for two weeks now. When I spoke to him earlier today, he was on mile 170.6, and he is a happy hiker!

Have a great week!

xo

#2941 three things: how are the dogs?

Stella, Harley, and Mac

It has been awhile since I wrote here...I didn't even realize how long it has been. how about an update on the doggos?

Stella went to the groomer yesterday for a (much) overdue bath and a haircut. I think she is perfectly cute with longer hair. I love the way it floops along when she runs toward me with her frisbee. However, she does not like to be brushed, or even petted for a long time, so her floopy gets tangles. Plus, the girl gets Dirty, yes, with a capital D. She plays so hard, and in the winter when the ground is snowy or muddy, she gets little dirt balls in her floopy fur. She was due for a spa day, and you can see that she is pleased with the result. We went to Starbucks and got a pup cup to celebrate her new style.

Harley was recently diagnosed with a slow-working thyroid. She had put on quite a bit of weight since her last vet visit a year ago, and there were other signs, too. She was lethargic, sleeping a lot more than the other two dogs, her eyes were always funny and kinda squinty, and she was losing hair. She had a bald spot on her tail! She just didn't seem excited about anything, and I just knew something was wrong. The vet thought it might be thyroid disease, so she took some blood samples from Harley and quickly found out her diagnosis was correct. Everything else in her dog body is fine, so we got some thyroid medication which she takes very well twice a day, and the changes came quickly and were very apparent. Her eyes cleared up, she plays with Mac again like they used to, chasing each other around the yard and wrestling. I can see that she is losing weight, and the hair on her tail is growing back. We joke that we liked subdued Harley, but she is so cute and fun again!

Mac is the same as she ever was. She loves going for walks and smelling all the smells along the way. If there's anything that motivates Mac, it is food, and she can be vocal about getting a treat. She is on the chonky side, so I have to be careful how many treats I give her. One fun thing is that she has started to be more interested in running after a ball in the yard. She has a particular squeaky ball that she loves. I can toss that around, and she will run to get it. Harley chases after her. Mac will bring the ball back into my general area, but likes for me to chase her around a little bit to get the ball. Sometimes she will press the ball right against my thigh or my bum, which is annoying. Somehow, I think she thinks it is hilarious. Mac looks a bit fearsome, but she is a sweet girl and the dog that is most easily frightened by strangers and noises that she isn't used to. 

There you go, a little update on my pack!

#2881 three things: lessons from my dogs

Each of my dogs have different dispositions. All three are sweet girls, each in their own way. I thought it would be fun to summarize their dispositions. MT, T, and I agree that these statements are pretty accurate.

Mac is a husky/black lab mix

Be like Mac:

  Stay watchful and interested

  Show excitement about things you like

  Be loyal

Harley is a yellow lab

Be like Harley:

Ask for the attention you need

Sleep deeply

Be friendly and affectionate

Stella is part terrier, part ? 

Be like Stella:

Enjoy your play time

Find comfort where you can

Be willing to accept love

#2875 the end of week 1

Hello from snowy SLC. It's been snowing most of the day. There's not a lot of accumulation in my yard, but it is cold, and I can see that the roads are slick. I've been feeling a little under the weather this weekend, so I didn't leave the house. I went out in the backyard with the dogs for about 10 minutes yesterday, and today I took the garbage out. I guess I figure if I didn't have to go anywhere, why would I?

When I wrote on Wednesday, I mentioned my No-Spend January challenge. As of today, I am seven for seven - no restaurant spending so far this month! I did go to Dutch Bros on Wednesday, and paid with money I had on the app, and I had Starbucks on Thursday, also paying with the app that had funds on it. Other than that, I haven't been to a restaurant or fast food place this week. It is a minor miracle, to be honest. I almost caved yesterday. MT went to Pocatello for the day, and it would have been so easy to hop in the car and hit a drive through, I didn't, though. I figured something out to eat at home, and I was fine. It is tough. The dependence on fast food is strong. 

This week had a really big day in it. The third of January is the day my dad passed away. It has been six years that he's been gone. I think about him at least a little bit every day. There are some days that I find myself talking to him (in my head) as if he were sitting with me. He is missed.

On January 3, just three years ago, we adopted our sweet lab, Harley. She is the snuggliest dog in our little pack. She's totally mellow until people come over or she gets to go for a ride or for a walk, then she's loses her doggie mind with joy and excitement. I'm glad she's here. Her arrival really calmed Mac down, so I'm grateful to MT for suggesting we get another dog.

The first week of the year at work is all about closing the books on the previous year. I was busy, but it was manageable. I am working just eight hours a day, and it's good. 

Usually I like to share some art on Sunday.  My doodles this week were lack-luster - the prompts were kind of lame. Not Jill's prompts; I don't consider those doodle prompts. Jill's prompts usually push me to work a little harder on the art, and it is more fulfilling. The little daily doodle prompts I find are to keep drawing something. This week's doodle prompts are: evergreen tree, bare trees, pinecone, cardinal, snowflake, snowballs, and icicles. Feel free to doodle and share, if you want!

I also find a lot of art that I'd like to try my hand at on Pinterest. I think I'd like to do a Pinterest- inspired project once a week or so, and maybe even practice sketching from a photo or something. I find that I can totally lose all sense of time when my pens, paints, and sketchbook come out. Drawing and painting have been a fun hobby. I'm glad to be doing it. 

What am I looking forward to this week? On Thursday night, MT will come with me to the Red Butte Garden volunteer reception. This year, the reception will be held at the Natural History Museum. We haven't had the reception at this venue before. The reception is always fun. On Saturday, Jill is having a workshop called "Let's Talk Creativity."  Other than that, it's back to five days of work, two at home and three in the office. We are supposed to get more snow this week. I also still need to clear out some Christmas decorations. (teehee)

You know what else is on my mind? Making my house a little more cozy. I haven't spent a lot of time or energy making my house cozy, like with lighting or pillows or...oh, I don't know. I just feel like nesting, I guess. We'll see where that goes. 

Ok, that's all for tonight. Have a great week. Take care of yourselves and be nice to you.

xo

#2837 weekend wrap-up

 It is still winter. I just looked out the window, and it's snowing. Maybe it's more of a chunky rain, but there is definitely moisture coming out of the sky and it's 35 degrees. Winter. I am ready for some warm sunshine. Remind me of these words when it is over 100 degrees in July and I am crying for cooler weather. 

Nothing much has been going on the last half of this week. I went to Trader Joe's on Friday. I like to find something new to try each time I go. I found a couple of things this time:

 This is a roasted garlic and pesto pizza with a Naples-style fried crust. One of the women at TJ's said she thought it was delicious, but was surprised at the small size. She said the box says it is three servings, but she ate the whole thing in one go. I probably will too. I'm planning to have it for lunch on Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to it. 

Why not tomorrow, you ask? Simple. I have something else planned for lunch tomorrow - tamales!

Yes, this is a bottle of sriracha seasoning in a powder form. I used a bit of this spice when I made home-fried potatoes the other night. I didn't use enough to really be able to get the sriracha kick, but it gave nice flavor. I'm going to have eggs for breakfast tomorrow and I'll sprinkle some on the eggs. Why powder instead of the OG sriracha sauce? I'm not sure, to be honest. Maybe on those days when I wish I had a little spice seasoning, it will be easier to bring this wee bottle with me than the giant bottle of sriracha that lives in my fridge. Stay tuned for more about this one.

Mostly I have just been doing regular weekend stuff. I had to go to Harmons to buy more coffee, and then I went to Target to pick up household stuff like toilet paper, dog food, and vitamins, just non-food stuff.  Since I went to Trader Joe's and to Target, I didn't have much in the way of regular groceries to buy this week, so I ordered them online from Smiths, and I'll pick them up tomorrow. I have kind of a love/hate thing with letting someone pick out my groceries. I've only done it a couple of times. I don't have them pick out fresh fruit or veg; I prefer to do that myself, and I got those items at TJ's. I don't shop for regular groceries at Harmons because the prices there are more than at Smiths, but they have the coffee I like, so I go there every couple of weeks. 

Today we got started on our tax prep. We meet with our CPA at the end of the month. Because MT is self-employed and because of the rentals, we have a lot of weird shit that is beyond my capability to Turbo Tax. The CPA is expensive, but reliable. I do my best to keep it organized throughout the year, but we still have to provide all the details for him to plug into his magic tax computer. We'll be ready to go for the appointment. 

Then, of course, there is art. I am sort of obsessed! I really enjoy doodling, painting, and trying new stuff. Pinterest is helpful for giving me something to draw from. I spend a lot of random minutes throughout the day looking at Pinterest, not just for art ideas, but for other stuff, too, like research for Paris and Barcelona, and recipes. Anyway, when I find something cool that I want to try out, I "pin" the post to my own boards. I noticed that I was getting a quite a few on a board I call Simple Art Drawings. Not that there is anything simple about art, but these are different that singular doodles, and I couldn't come up with a better name. 

That's not important, though. What is important is that I made a pact with myself to do at least one "Pinterest project" each week. Here's my first one:

I like it, generally speaking, but I notice on the original that the flowers and leaves are much closer together, and I like that better. I like the scribbly flowers and the overall looseness of the project. I will be trying this one again and working on spacing. Spacing has always been tricky for me. I work on "clustering."

For the art group, the weekend prompt was to do a series of at least three things that started with M. This week, I choose to do photos:

You've got your muddy dog legs, malasadas, and Mac. I wish I'd put Mac's pic above the malasadas so it would look like she was staring down at them. Missed opportunity.

MT gave Stella a little haircut on her nose so now she can see more clearly. Here is a look at all the puppers in photos I took today:

Stella

Harley

Mac

I just happened to catch Stella with her tongue poking out. Harley thinks I have a treat in my hand, and is ready to lunge. Mac looks unimpressed with having the camera in her face. She's also got a stray bit of someone else's hair on her nose!

Still snowing here. SIGH. I hope you had a pleasant weekend and have something fun planned for the week. Cheers!

#2831 mid-week check in

I listened to my favorite podcast, Vibe Check, today. The gurls (their terminology) talked a lot about the Grammy Awards. The three of them were mighty put out that Beyonce's album, Renaissance, was not named Album of the Year. I was kind of put off by their take on that topic. I listened to several of the albums in the category, and I thought they were all good. Yes, I'm sure Beyonce was disappointed, but don't you think Adele was bummed out, too? How about Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo? Those were good albums that I liked a lot. Bad Bunny's album was the first Spanish language album nominated for Album of the Year, and it was excellent. Harry Style's won the award for Harry's House, also a very good album, and I was happy for him. He did make me shake my head in disappointment when he said, "This kind of thing doesn't happen to people like me." I'm like, "Dude, you are a young white man. Stuff like this happens for people like you all the damn time."

Anyway, who really cares? Those awards are all subjective, anyway. Someone is going to get the award, and nine other people won't. So what? Does it make me not want to listen to Beyonce or Lizzo because they didn't win the Best Album Grammy? No, it doesn't. I will continue to listen to all the albums and enjoy the hell out of each one of them. 

I think this was the first time I was not on board with what Sam, Saeed, and Zach were saying. It's okay, though. 

You know what really annoyed me about the Grammys? It happened right at the start of the show during Bad Bunny's performance when the closed captioning on my TV said something like "non-English singing." Ugh. I don't know why there was closed captioning on the song. I don't even remember if there was closed captioning on any of the other songs. I usually ignore the closed captioning, but it was on and I saw it plainly during Bad Bunny's performance. Benito (that's what I hear his Puerto Rican fans call him) won an award a little later, and gave most of his acceptance speech in Spanish. I liked that. 

There seems to be a lot of heavy news this week. I'm still feeling down about the Tyre Nichols murder. The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is awful to hear about and those images of the crumbled buildings are terrifying, knowing that people were in their beds when the earth trembled mightily. I didn't watch the State of the Union address, but it's American politics, so it can't be good. Oh yeah, and the Jazz just traded three players, including Mike Conley, to get Russell Westbrook and some draft picks. 

Ugh! This is not a fun check in! I'm cranky/sad/bummed about so many things!

Ok...so what's good? Here's something:

This afternoon after work, I leashed up the doggos to take them for a walk around the neighborhood. Harley, the lab, is a terrible puller, so MT and I use a harness for her. MT told me to try attaching the leash to the loop on the front of the harness, then the leash would go between her legs and she doesn't pull as much. It really worked! She did much better today on the walk. I gave her lots of praise and kibble snacks along the way to reinforce her good walking. 

Stella gets so excited when we go for a walk that she yips and barks for a good couple of blocks. We stopped while she was in the middle of barking her fool head off, and I petted her and talked to her in a calm voice and she chilled out and had a good walk. 

Mac is an easy walker - I would have never thought I would say that when she was a puppy. She just trots along, sniffing everything and being good. 

After a day of work, I enjoy taking the dogs out for a walk. Sometimes I don't, like if it is raining hard or snowing, or if it's eleventy-hundred degrees in the summer, but most days I do take them out. There have been a few times when the three of them are out of sorts and are terrible walkers, and I'll cut the walk short, but it doesn't happen often. Mostly we all get straightened out within a block or so of the house. The majority of the time, it feels so nice to get outside, stretch my legs, breathe in the fresh air, and have fun with the doggos. Since Stella came to live with us, we have outside play time after the walk. Stella loves to play fetch. Mac has been getting into running after a ball - they have to have separate toys and throwing routes. Harley will sometimes chase a ball, but Mac always takes it from her, so Harley mostly just stands by me and waits to get a kibble and a snuggle. She's my sweetest girl. That 30 minutes I spend with the puppers after work is one of my favorite parts of the day, and I get to do it every day!

Yes, there are times when I really don't want to do it. Leashing them up, herding them out the door, getting them straightened out and walking in the same direction at roughly the same pace sometimes isn't easy or very much fun. Sometimes they pull and misbehave and eat poop out of the yards we pass by. Even on the worst days, though, there is usually something good and pleasant that happens. It is unusual for all three of them to act awful at the same time, and they almost always settle down. Come to think of it, if I don't enjoy the walk, it's usually because I reacted badly to the dog's antics. I lose my patience, and then the walk isn't good for me.

Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. I'm going to spend a few minutes doing a bit of art. I hoped that I would have some time to work on it earlier, so I could show you what I'm doing, but I read a few pages of one of my books after dinner instead of drawing. Maybe I'll remember to share it with you on Sunday when I post here again.

Enjoy the rest of the week! 

#2824 weekend wrap-up

It’s been a pretty good weekend. Yesterday might be my favorite day of the year so far. I slept in a little, then took the dogs for a walk and some outside playtime in the backyard. I went to a coffee place that is new to me, Brew Monkey, and it is so cute! 

It looks like a place I might like to go just to read and have a nice coffee and a change of scenery. The coffee, by the way, was quite good. Each month they have new specialty coffees. The one I had was called a Mocha Borgia, and it was a mocha flavored with cinnamon and orange. Yummy! I didn’t drink it there, though. I brought it home and enjoyed it with a sweet roll from Beardall’s Bakery. I was supporting the Magna small businesses! 

After breakfast, it was time for art. I am in a group hosted by Jill the Artist. Each month, she does a workshop for members through Zoom. I was unable to attend the live workshop event, but Jill records the workshops and posts them for the group, so I did that on Saturday around noon. It was a lot like some of our workshops in Crete in which we did some writing and some sketching and painting. It is good and fun.  We did a couple of sort of Valentine’s-related sketches, then we messed around with still life sketches and paintings. 

Drawing clusters of objects is a challenge for me. I have learned that it is easier for me to take a photo of a thing and sketch from the drawing rather than from the actual 3D reality. I didn’t take a photo of my collection of things that I drew. Maybe I will do that tomorrow and try it again. Anyway, here’s what I came up with yesterday:

It was kind of cool, because I painted the background first. The colors are kind of muted here, but it was mostly pink and orange. I let that dry, then I sketched in the candle, the mug and the plant. I decided to use my watercolor marker brushes to “paint” the objects.  

I can’t get over how enjoyable the “arting” is for me. Even when the results are wonky, it’s fun to try. Painting with watercolors is great. 

In the evening, I made myself a pizza. Using pizza dough I’d purchased at Trader Joe’s, along with marinara sauce and quattro formaggi cheese blend, I cooked it up in my cast iron skillet, and I thought it was good. Simple and tasty. I also took the dogs for a walk and had more outside playtime, and everything was working out nicely. 

I picked T up from work, and a couple of hours later, I picked MT up from the airport. It was nice to have everyone home! Stella even came up and slept on the bed with us. Yes, we had all three dogs and both MT and I in the bed. It was mostly fine. Stella would yip on occasion if someone got too close, but mostly, she was really good. I wonder why she decided that last night would be her first night on the bed? I could tell she was feeling very comfortable during the day because she had come up to my room while I was getting ready for the day or whenever I went upstairs to use the bathroom. Here’s a photo of Stella watching Harley wrestle with Mac: 

This morning, we all had a nice lie-in on the bed. MT was telling me about his vacation, and the dogs were being so good and everyone was calm. I took them out for a walk, and it was drizzling. By the time we got home, it was starting to snow, so we cut outside playtime short. I went to the grocery store. We had some inside play time, and then Mac and Stella got into a big scrum. They were fighting over a toy. Actually, each of them had their own toy, but they put them down near each other, and then got all territorial over the toys when they picked them back up to play again. It was awful. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid to reach for them in case they got confused and tried to bite me. It was very noisy and seemed to last forever, although I’m sure it was less than a minute. 

Now it is really quiet at my house. Stella doesn’t even want to play. She is up on the bed with MT, staying far away from Mac. The behavior is so unlike her, it breaks my heart. I was thinking that we were all getting along so well, now I feel like we are back to square one. The trust between them is broken, at least for today. They did go out for a walk with MT this evening and had their dinner, then Stella went right back upstairs. Mac is staying with me down here in the TV room. I hope we can get back to fun play times. At one point today, each dog had their own toy and I was tossing toys all over the place, and each dog was being very good about playing with her own toy. It was fun and it was so cute. Harley likes to have a ball rolled so she can chase after it. She then wants me to take it out of her mouth, and she gives it up pretty easily. Mac likes to have a ball tossed in the air so she can catch it, then she wants me to tug it out of her mouth, if I can catch her.  Stella likes to run after her toy and bring it right back for another throw. 

Mac and Stella both just went outside together, and although I can see that Stella is super wary about Mac, it looks like Mac wants to be friends again. She is wagging her tail at Stella and giving her space. I’m glad I’ll be home tomorrow to monitor their behavior. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for peace amongst the doggos. 

#2823 nothing much to say, but there are dog pics!

I’ve been wracking my brain for something to write about tonight. There are a dozen thoughts fluttering around in my brain like…

                Why is my tummy still so upset?

                              Wait! Lisa Marie Presley died?

                                         I did some stretching exercises today and it didn’t go well. I was tired and kind                    of sore. It was ridiculous.

   How is it possible that books I start at different times always seem to get finished at the same time?

       Does Bad Bunny make that air gulping sound on purpose? I’m gonna go with yes, but he figured it out to cover up bad breathing technique during singing.

           Stella is a non-stop playing machine.

I gave the dogs calming chews last night since they were all hyped up from playing and having fun. Those chews worked beautifully. We all slept soundly. I can’t give them those chews every day, though.

                    The Martian is one of my favorite movies.

                                  I HAVEN’T HAD ANY COFFEE TODAY (see first thought about tummy)

  MT will be home tomorrow night!

              I took a 30 minute snooze on the couch this evening and it was wonderful.

                   Mama and I had a nice chat tonight.

See? Lots of randomness, but nothing to really write about.

Here’s something: I managed to take a pic of the dogs while we were out walking this afternoon.

Also, we are all friends now:

And finally, a solo shot of Mac, because, why not?

Have a happy weekend!

                      

#2821 music Monday: Unholy

Today’s writing prompt was to write a haiku about my day.

I took time to make

Some art. Got creative! YAY!

Fell asleep on couch.

This one is also accurate:

Worked from home today

Played with the dogs; no walk - rain

Dentist appointment

I did take the dogs around the block this morning, but after work, it was raining and cold. I didn’t want to deal with getting wet and having wet dogs running around, so I sat on the floor with them for an hour and played. Stella loves to fetch, and steadily retrieved the toy I threw for her over and over again. The bad thing is that when she needs a drink of water, she will drop her toy in the other water dish - maybe she thinks the toy needs a drink too? - and then she’ll bring her dripping toy and her soggy whiskers over for more playtime. I have to trade out her toys so they can dry. Mac loves squeaky balls and wants to chase them, then wants me to chase her to get the ball back. I didn’t chase her, so she laid by me, squeaking the ball and play growling at me when I tried to take it away from her. Harley would occasionally rouse herself to play, but mostly she laid on me so I could pet her. She wanted all the scritches and rubs. 

For dinner, I made myself some chicken fettuccini alfredo using Rao’s alfredo sauce. It was highly recommended by my mom, and she wasn’t wrong. It was delicious! After a hearty serving, I was full and fell asleep on the couch with Mac and Harley. No room for Stella, who grumbled and slept on the loveseat. We are all very mellow tonight. 

MT was on Grand Turk island in Turks and Caicos today. He sent me a couple of photos and we texted for a few minutes. He said Grand Turk wasn’t very nice. The island had been hit hard by hurricanes a few years ago and hasn’t come back yet. He said if we ever went to T & C, we would go to Providenciales. It’s on my list of places to go!

Oh yeah, and I had a dentist appointment. Just a cleaning. Mattie, my hygienist, was very happy with the care I’m taking of my gums. She said she noticed they were much healthier. Flossing is the key, for real.

I filled up my first sketch book! It’s the one I took to Crete, and since I’ve been back, I’ve been doodling in it, and using it for a group I’m in that’s put together by Jill the Artist. I’ve been wanting to do something with the cover of the book to make it not look the same as other books I imagine will come, so I used some Christmas cards that I liked but were more prototypes than finished products, I guess. I trimmed them and glued them to the cover. 

I also did a little something with colors and lines, which I then cut up to fill in the blank spaces. Here it is before I cut it up:

Here’s the finished cover, all zapped up. I rather like how it turned out, and it was lots of fun for me. 

Maybe it looks like a hot mess, but it’s my hot mess, and I dig it! I’m constantly surprised about how much pleasure I get out of arting. 

Enough about my simple life. Lately I have been kind of obsessed with the song Unholy by Sam Smith and Kim Petras. I like the sound of it, sexy and naughty. I’ve liked it for awhile, but it’s really in my ear this week. The video is just as weird and wonderful as I thought it would be. Check it out!

Unholy music video

#2820 Saturday with Sandy

I had a very good night’s sleep on Friday/Saturday. For one thing, I was extremely tired. I took MT to the airport on Friday morning - he was on his way to Florida to go on a cruise with his parents and wanted to be at the airport by around 4AM for his 6AM flight. Neither of us slept very well on Thursday/Friday because we were worried about missing the alarm. Friday was kind of a daze. I took a melatonin to ensure good sleep and went to bed around 9PM. I got up this morning around 8AM. 

Another thing that might have made me feel so tired was that I received a shingles vaccination on Friday afternoon. My arm is still sore!

This morning, I fed the dogs and took them for a walk. They are doing well while we are out walking, but getting out the door is kind of a fiasco because they are so excited to go. Here’s a before-the-walk photo:

Mac is kind of blurry because she had just jumped up, all four feet off the ground. Harley wears a harness to reduce the stress on her throat when she pulls. Stella is excited about the whole thing. She often has this face.

After the walk, they are a bit more calm, and look like this:

Today was nice and mellow for me. After the walk, I made a pot of coffee, had some breakfast, then wrote in my journal for awhile. I cleaned up the kitchen, a fairly quick job, then settled on the couch to finish a book I’ve been reading since November. I liked the book, but I was reading other book club books at the same time. Since the book was my own, I didn’t have to hurry to finish it. I enjoyed the book, even though I thought it was quite long, over 500 pages. 

T had to work this afternoon, so I dropped him off, then decided to go to the library. I hadn’t been there for awhile, since I was reading my own books. I decided I needed a little something new, light, and maybe quick. What book to choose, though? WARNING: nerd alert! I didn’t see anything right off the bat that interested me, so I turned to my Goodreads list. There were so many books on the list, that I decided to sort it in the order I’d put the book on the list, and just pick the oldest one. I’d put it on the list sometime in 2020, so yes, the book was there, but it did not fit the new, light, and quick criteria. I got it anyway. As I was driving to Harmons to buy coffee, I had a stern conversation with myself. Why would I have books on my TBR list from over two years ago? There’s no way I was going to be able to read all the books on my list, so I decided to get rid of all the books I’d put on the list in 2020 and 2021. I went to another library, returned the novel I’d picked up at the first library, then chose another book that was still on the list and fit the criteria. I feel better! Currently, that TBR (to be read) list on Goodreads only has 34 books on it. Some of them I own, so it’s good. 

New book in hand, I decided to try out a coffee place in my neighborhood that I’d read about in the Axios Salt Lake City newsletter called Azúcar. It is a Latina-owned business and I was excited to try the Mexican mocha. I also got myself a pastry, which are locally sourced from Mexican bakeries. 

It was pretty late in the day, around 5PM, so the pastry wasn’t exactly fresh, but it still tasted nice. I think it was pineapple, maybe? The coffee was delicious. There’s the book I picked up at the library! I can see myself going back to Azúcar regularly. It was nice to sit there with my book and my delicious treats of coffee and pastry. 

Back home, I took the dogs for their evening walk. It was pretty dark and there was a lot of activity in the neighborhood for some reason, so we didn’t stay out long. The doggos were okay with it since it was their dinner time, anyway. 

After a nice chat with my mama, I watched a movie I’ve been wanting to see since I got back from Greece, The Two Faces of January. It is filmed almost entirely in Greece, with the first part in Athens, and the biggest part in Crete, including Chania. It was awesome to see familiar sites! I love to watch movies that are filmed in places I have been. 

Now it is bedtime. Mac and Harley are already sound asleep on my bed. Stella sleeps downstairs on any couch she chooses. I’ve invited her to come upstairs, but she rarely does. It’s okay. I don’t really want three dogs on the bed!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!