The gloomy weather and my recalcitrant furnace are clearly conspiring to combat my happiness, but they're no match for my mule-headedness:
- Having depositions go better today than I'd expected.
- Learning my way around One Note -- it's an office supply/organizing freak's dream.
- Making significant progress in planning out all my home improvement projects. (Now if I could just win that small lottery...)
- Seeing (hearing) some of the amazing talent that's made it through to AI's Top 24. (Though very sorry to see sweet Jacee go. He truly has the voice of an angel.)
- Hearing Ryan Seacrest bust out with, "Baby lock the door and turn the lights down low..."
- Catching the little flip kick Josh Flagg did while traipsing across the crosswalk behind his two blonde assistants on MDL. (Words just can't do the maneuver justice, but I can't find a video clip of it...yet. Pic below will have to suffice.)
- Coming to terms with my severe reality/Bravo TV addiction.
- Looking over at my sleeping dog and seeing the look of contentment on his face.
- Busting out a new font color for the blog tonight.
:)
I've been neglecting my Smile Duty somewhat lately. It isn't that there haven't been any, but I think my brain is starting to show its age. Like dream-memories that fade with each waking minute, my happy's have been too soon and easily forgotten. I'd hate to think I'll have to start making hourly lists in order to compose my daily lists. Recalling one's smiles ought not be a chore. Anyway, today's:
- Riley awaking and getting up on her own this morning.
- Even though it appears to be on the fritz...AGAIN, the furnace is allowing me to "re-boot" it so that it will warm the house up before reverting to fritz-mode.
- Pringle's incision seems to be healing well, and he's not trying to lick it too terribly much.
- Celebrating the fact that two of my favorite people were born on this date.
- Taco Night!
- Watching American Idol with Riley and listening to her feedback on the various contestants (even if seeing Chris Medina go was heartbreaking).
- Retweeting Fred Thompson -- the man makes me laugh!
:)
My sister, Julie, is turning 50 tomorrow. I'm not quite certain how that's possible. After all, I'm only 28, and she's only 7 years older than me. Maybe this is that "new math" people are always talking about. I'll have to check that with her. (She IS a math teacher, after all.) Anyway, it seems appropriate to take this moment to set forth some of the many, many reasons I'm so grateful to have her as a sister and why I love her so:
- Her great big smile
- Her sense of style
- Her expressive eyes
- That she manages to have "good hair" even after working out
- Her easy laugh
- That she is my vocal twin
- That she is a Pisces (and some of my most favorite people in the world are Pisces!)
- Her choice in husbands
- Her dedication to training and staying in shape
- Her motivation of me to do the same
- That she's always been there for me
- That she's let me be there for her at times, too
- Her love for her daughter
- That she's like a second mother to my daughter
- Her appreciation for and understanding of math
- Her passion for teaching
- Her generosity
- Her tenacity
- That she will stand her ground when she knows she's right
- That she has endured great heartache without letting it harden her heart
- That she is the first person to reach out to someone else who's hurting
- That she frequently invites me to tag along in her life
- That she walks the walk
- Her insight into others
- Her empathy for others
- That she "let" me brush her hair and rub her back when I was little (I didn't care - I just liked snuggling in her bed)
- The time she brought me a bowl of ice cream to make me feel better when I was crying and hiding in my parents' closet
- The time she struggled to take me up to the pool riding on the handlebars of her bike
- Her and Karen trying to coax me down the slide at the pool when I was too scared
- All her hand-me-down clothes
- Watching her hug her great big Teddy Bear (was it "Mr. D"?) and cry over that boy
- Running to Arnoldsville and back with her
- The excellent example she set for party-throwing
- Visiting her at MIZZOU
- Traipsing to "Cafe Au Lait" (or was it "Olé"?), otherwise known as the dorm cafeteria, with her and her friends.
- Accompanying her to Bullwinkle's and Harpos (at the tender age of 11)
- Playing Ms. Pac Man with her
- Her car which needed no key to start it
- Knitting with her and "G-man" in the car on our way to Austin
- Being beaten by her repeatedly in Canasta
- Trying on swimsuits when she came to visit me in Chicago and discovering my uneven hips
- The hazardous trek back to my dorm from Water Tower - high wind plus solid ice = fits of laughter
- That she fell to pieces for me when they told me they'd need to put Riley on the ventilator
- The two of us climbing into bed with Grandma and having a heart-to-heart when she had a rough night
- Moore! Moore! Moore!
- That she came back and ran me across the finish line for my first triathlon -- and all the times since she's helped cheer me on
- Discussing her bunion in Vegas (Bunion Ass!)
- Erasing exes at Baby A's in Austin
- Sweet Home Alabama, Puzzling Penguins, and our lovely waitress at Waffle House
- That she always has been and always will be one of the best big sisters anyone could ever ask for.
That's just a random sampling of her many wonderful attributes and some of the memories -- both silly and somber -- we've shared over the years. People often say I remind them of her. I take that as a great compliment.
Happy Birthday, Julie! May the next 50 be all that you want them to be. I love you!
Far too often, I find myself questioning if taking on the role of dog owner was really a wise decision. I do love dogs, and I certainly love our sweet Pringle. It's rather hard not to love him -- the softest fur, the sweetest face, the very definition of unconditional love. But there's so much fur, and the almost constant need for attention. I'm gone much of the time, and feel this perpetual, nagging guilt for being a cruddy dog owner. And then there are the inevitable trips to the vet which never cost less than $300.
We had an unscheduled one of those this weekend. He'd had this spot on his arm (would it be the elbow? or the shoulder?) that I thought, initially, was just a scrape that would heal on its own. But it didn't. He kept licking at it, and it would bleed, and I finally resolved to take him in to have it looked at. So, to the doggy doc we went. We soon learned it wasn't a scrape after all -- it was a tumor. Small, and not terribly concerning. But, given its location, best to remove, rather than leaving it there to continue as a source of irritation -- for both him and me.
Okay - fine, remove that sucker! I was all for it. And though far from ecstatic about the $330 estimate for this latest veterinary adventure, not shocked either. So off the tumor came, and two hours later, Riley and I returned to retrieve our retriever, now sporting a shaved elbow/shoulder, stitches, and an "Elizabethan Collar."
He seemed to handle the whole process well. But he nearly gave me a heart attack at 5:00 this morning. I was already feeling guilty about that horrid collar. I don't care if it is clear -- no dog is happy to have his head stuck through a lampshade. It makes even the simplest of doggy delights, like sniffing the ground or lapping up water, or gnawing on a stuffed fox, next to impossible. And it seemed like it fit him so tight, I worried it might suffocate him. So, when he re-settled himself with his poor, coned head resting on my leg in the wee hours of the morning, I didn't really protest.
Truthfully, it was probably more a function of laziness than guilt on my part. But either way, I let him stay that way, until, finally, unable to find a comfortable position myself, I decided it was time for him to move back over to his own corner of the bed. I sat up and called his name and patted the other side of the bed. And nothing happened. There was no response from him whatsoever. I took a closer look, and saw that his eye was half open, but there was no movement, no reaction. I couldn't see him breathing. I called his name again, and still nothing.
And for about 5 seconds, my heart sunk through my stomach and my brain began the process of thinking the unthinkable. No. No, no, no. I don't care how much I gripe about his flippin' fur, the chewed up paper towels, the bagel he stole from me, the stuffed animals he regularly steals from Riley. NO!
I thought I'd lost him. I thought I'd let my poor sweet baby suffocate with a plastic cone on his head while laying there next to me. I jumped up off the bed and squeaked, "Pringle!" And suddenly, he lifted his head up. And looked at me as if to say, "You aren't seriously waking me up this early, are you?" Thank God! I hugged him and kissed his nose, and patted his head. And then got him to move back to his corner of the bed. But my heart didn't stop racing for a long time after that.
Yes -- being his human is sometimes a royal pain. But, no -- I wouldn't trade it. I'm proud and honored to play that role.
On a lighter note...the weekend's smiles:
- Having girl talk with Riley.
- Keeping my good friend company by text while she embarked on a much needed adventure, and hearing about said adventure the following morning.
- Seeing the e-collar on Pringle -- it's horrid and tragic in so many ways. But it is awfully funny looking, too.
- Spying Kurt and Brenda Warner and kids at the movie theater.
- Getting out for a girls' night of movie/dinner/drinks with Cari and Tina.
- Being left speechless at times by the movie we saw. ("No Strings Attached" -- cute, funny, endearing, and, in a couple places, unapologetically crude.)
- Recognizing and recalling that chemistry.
- Watching my girl ride her bike with confidence today.
- Enjoying the beautiful day by spending much of it outside.
- Burgers and milkshakes for lunch.
- Finally getting that gnarly pile of branches wrangled, cut up, bundled and out to the curb.
- Relaxing in the hot tub with Riley.
- Walking together to pick up our pizza-pizza for dinner.
- Realizing the abundance of smiles with which I'm blessed when I spend time with my daughter.
:)
I've never been 100% comfortable with the title of my blog. I felt like the explanation for it was fairly reasonable. But I know that, at first blush, it seemed a bit risqué, even though anyone who's read it could attest to the fact that the content is anything but. (Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up for debate.)
Tonight, a somewhat tamer title came to me. And so I've rechristened it as "Somewhere Over the Septic Tank," (though the URL, like a scarlet "A," will always hint at its unseemly past.) I also added a description to it while I was back there behind the curtain, fiddling with the controls: "20% Dorothy Gale; 30% Erma Bombeck; 30% Tim Allen; 20% Carrie Bradshaw...100% Susie." I guess that makes me a wry and handy dreamer/romantic. Or something along those lines.
So, on to the smiles:
- More sunshine and warmth (even if a bit windy).
- Coming to terms with the fact that the next 6 weeks are going to be insane at work, and feeling more excited than overwhelmed about it.
- Finally finding a Twitter app that syncs with Facebook on my iPhone. (That sentence would have made zero sense to anyone 5 years ago.)
- Staring up at the full moon.
- Continuing with my adventures in Crockpot Cooking -- Cheesy Mexican Hamburger Soup -- Olé!!
- Casey Abrams and the bass.
- For dessert tonight: Karmel Sutra.
:)
...and I have a few smiles to mention. BUT I'm starting to feel like the daily smiles thing is a cop out. All it really amounts to is a list -- and a brief one at that. It's helpful, in a method-acting sort of way. But it isn't forcing me to flex my writing muscle much. So, I may need to rethink this approach. For now, I have these:
- Sporting my new, bright turquoise blue emilieM purse.
- Listening to the Highlander not make its train whistle noise anymore.
- Finishing, finally, the gargantuan pre-trial report that's been haunting me.
- Feeling the warmth of the sun.
- Seeing all the Idol favorites I've mentioned previously survive Group Day in Hollywood -- and God bless that J.C. Bedeaux. Even in the midst of a song he'd never heard and after being unceremoniously dumped by his original group, he still had the voice of an angel.
- Giving myself a mani-pedi with obnoxiously bright colors.
- Realizing that my new DVR enabled me to watch the new Criminal Minds series (love Forrest Whitaker!), Off the Map, and SVU (goodbye Sonia :( ).
- Watching Bones, and hearing this: "You can love a lot of people in this world, but there's only one person that you love the most." Word.
:)
Sure would be easier to list the reasons Tuesday gave me not to smile. But I'd hate to drive off all 12 of my "followers," so here are the smiles Tuesday brought me:
- Auto body guy taking charge and getting my re-visit to the dealership all squared away for me.
- Hopey's birthday lunch.
- My car actually making its weird noise while the dealership tech was in the car with me. (Yay - they don't think I'm crazy -- at least not with respect to the noise in my car.)
- Flirty McFlirtinson.
- Reading the comments of FB friends in response to my whine about being back at the dealership with the car.
- Discovering it was voles, rather than aliens, who made the crop circles on my parents' lawn.
- Crockpot Endeavor #2 = success!
- Nyquil.
- P.S. Apparently falling asleep before properly posting the above.
:)
