No Bones About It

Where do you suppose that phrase originated? I'm sure a small amount of Internet searching would give me an answer. But that's not really what I have to say today.

It's bones that have caught my eye lately. They seem to be everywhere. At least everywhere around my neighborhood. Nearly every time I walk Tally she comes across a bone or sometimes two. Why are their bones littering the streets of Seattle's neighborhoods?

Perhaps it's just my neighborhood but that still leaves me wondering why? Are people deciding to dispose of the remnants of last night's meal on the street? What would possess someone to do that? Is it like feeding the birds except in this case you are deciding to feed the wild animals and my dog?

What wild animals are you thinking you are feeding anyway? The only "wildlife" I have seen in my neighborhood are two frighteningly large raccoons. Of course there's always the occasional roadkill opossum.

If anyone knows why my neighborhood is crawling in discarded bones I'd really like to know. I'm starting to feel as though I live on a burial ground and at any point bodies are going to come bobbing up out of the creek in the park a la Poltergeist. Just gave myself the willies at the thought of it.

...98, 99, 100. Ready or not, here I am.

I know why I started writing here 99 posts ago, but the motivation to keep writing here has most definitely changed since then.

At first all I wanted was a place to keep track of the things I found out there on the interwebs. Jotting them down on pieces of scrap paper just wasn't cutting it. I'd also become very attached to some other blogs that I wanted to carve out a little bit of the blogosphere for myself.

Over time the focus has changed to match my current real life focus. Be it a dog, or my job (big no no, I know), or my up and (mostly) down moods. I've kept some things back and put things here that perhaps I shouldn't have. But all of the posts felt right at the time. I think that's what really matters to me. It seems OK to write here. It will never make me famous but that's certainly not my goal. I want it to help me. To make me feel more connected to that big old gigantic web of a world and it most definitely has.

I feel like I now "know" a few more people and over time I'm sure that will only increase. It's been fun reading their hilarious posts and heart wrenching to read their sad ones. I'm a part of something much bigger than myself now and that is all I can possibly ask for. That's my motivation. That's what keeps me writing.

So 100 posts down and hopefully many more to come. Thanks to those who read what I've had to say so far. I hope that you'll keep right on reading because it makes you a part of something bigger than yourself too.

Dater, Dater, Dater

In the interest of trying to change my status from single to dating, I spent time updating my online profile yesterday. I've been on the same dating site for a long time and this is even my third separate attempt at using that same site. Yes, it's probably the one you think it is but I'm not going to say specifically, so there. I haven't been proactive about using the subscription to the site and I thought that should change. I mean I've spent the money I should at least try to get something out of it. Right?

I also took some time yesterday to peruse a few profiles on the site. I marked two as favorites and then just a bit ago I sent an email to one of them. I might email the other one as well but I'm on the fence about it right now.

Dating via the interwebs is not really ideal for me. I enjoy meeting people face to face much more than I do over email. I've gone speed dating two times recently and had a several of so so dates from those events. The process of speed dating is so much more rewarding than internet dating. You sit and talk to someone for a few minutes and then poof they are gone, off to their next victim, er I mean date. There's very little pressure to that format but all of the benefit.

If my new profile doesn't reel them in, perhaps I'll try speed dating again. It's tough out there. Not for the faint of heart, so wish me luck.

My name is not TechnoSavvy

My new cell phone has proved to me today that I am not as techno-savvy as I'd thought.

Shauna at Pickles & Dimes left a comment on yesterday's post about wanting to see more pictures of Tally. I was only happy to oblige because what self-respecting doggy mama wouldn't want to spread images of her adorable pooch all over the interwebs. Armed with my wonderful new LG Shine Camera Phone I took little miss Tally to the Dog Park.

My hope was that taking pictures of her with my phone would seem a bit less odd/obvious than if I had brought my digital camera.

This was our first trip to the Off Leash Area at Warren G. Magnuson Park. It's an enormous OLA and there were a LOT of dogs. Tally did really well but still has not completely warmed to the idea of playing with other dogs. Sniffing them, good to go. Anything else, big old huh? Nearly every owner who walked by us said how adorable they thought she was which needless to say puffed me up a great deal. There was one owner who actually started to cry when I answered her question about Tally's ears. That made me uncomfortable.

Anyway, I surreptitiously snapped a few photos with the camera phone knowing that today I'd bring in the data cable, take them off the phone and post them here. Data cable, check. Take them off the phone, huh? Post them here, apparently not going to happen.

The pictures are stuck. Stuck in phone limbo until I can somehow become smarter than the phone. The Owners Manual was no help and neither was pushing every button possible on the phone.

So my adorable new phone has locked up the photos of my adorable new dog and hasn't sent me a ransom note. Until I know how to make the swap we are at an impasse.

She's just so sensitive

It seems my poor little Tally has allergies. She's been scratching at her belly lately and has red patches all over her little self. Then yesterday she developed this flaky skin thing all along her back. We saw the Vet yesterday evening and took home some recommendations.

• Keep up with the Duck and Potato food
• Bathe her once a week (alternating between the medicated shampoo and the oatmeal shampoo)
• Wipe her feet after walks to prevent contact dermatitis
• Keep up with the fish oil
• Love her lots (Yes I added this one myself.)

Last night she got a nice long shower and some Benedryl. Then more Benedryl this morning in her Duck and Potato breakfast. Today I need to restock on her food and buy some sort of wipes to use on her feet.

She's a challenge, this little one, but I shall rise to the occasion. She's so worth it.

More blame to place?

Yesterday I blamed my intestinal rumblings on the licorice and today I am going to blame the licorice for the eruption on my chin.

As I was heading to bed last night I noticed that my chin was hurting a bit and was getting slightly red. This morning when I woke up my chin looked more like Rudolph's nose than a chin. And now as I sit here I have realized that it is not just one eruption but two.

Two large painful, enormous cystic acne blow ups. Oh the horror.

When I turned 30 I started to have regular issues with cystic acne. Then several months ago I read on one of my favorite blogs (I believe it was Sundry but I'm not certain so I'm not going to try to cite it, sorry) that she had stopped using moisturizer on her face and seen a dramatic improvement. So I stopped using moisturizer as well and switched to a daily sunscreen only. I was shocked at how quickly my acne subsided. Every now and again I would get small flair-ups usually around that special time of the month. But nothing like this.

The current condition of my chin is a painful reminder of just how often I used to struggle with those red mountainous lumps. So I am going to place the blame a bit on the licorice and a bit on the monthly hormonal swing. Because certainly that previous acne struggle is not back. This is a small set back but not a return to those conditions. Really it's NOT! No matter what my chin might be screaming at you.

Can you hear my intestines from where you're sitting?

If you do not want to read about my intestines then I suggest you go away now. You have been warned.

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The amount of noise emanating from my intestinal track today is downright embarrassing. Things are boiling, roiling and otherwise cavorting down there something fierce. While I'm not entirely sure of the cause I am leaning toward placing the blame on the licorice gorging of yesterday. That certainly isn't going to stop me from reaching in the drawer where they are hiding in plain sight and having more as soon as I finish eating lunch.

My intestinal functions and I have been trying to work out some sort of working arrangement over the past few months. I try to hold up my end of the deal by shoving fiber loaded food into my eating hole at every possible moment. The intestines still don't seem to be happy about it.

Like today they are squealing like a little baby pig. It's really not cool. My only saving grace is that the one person who might be able to hear it has had his head phones on listening to very loud music so far today.

I know I'm making light of it but it is quite a nuisance. It's not very much fun to be overrun by gas and its tumblings and rumblings. I suppose I'll just have to learn to live with it or perhaps by stock in Beano.

Enjoyment; current and recently past

Right at this very moment I am chomping on RJ's Natural Licorice in Raspberry and enjoying every single second. Nummy!! I grabbed lunch from the Pasta & Co up the street and just had to grab a bag of the licorice as well. I'm afraid to look at the serving size information because I've already had at least a half a dozen pieces and I do not believe I'll stop any time soon.

On Friday night friend Amy invited me to go bowling with her and most of her co-workers. Even though I was very nervous about going and the self-doubt voices were telling me to stay home, I went anyway. I had a great time.

On Saturday morning I went to Amy's where she cooked me a nummy starch on starch breakfast (my personal favorite) and then we went to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama (aka HHDL). Amy told me about a gathering of mutual friends that night that I wasn't technically invited to but that she said I should go to anyway. After I left her on Saturday early evening to go walk Tally the voices started again, this time they were really loud. They kept saying "You can't go. You weren't invited. They don't really want you there...."

I'm so sad to admit how close I was to actually listening to them and staying in. It would have been so easy and so comfortable to listen to them. But I didn't. I went over there and of course had a great time.

It happened again on Sunday. I really needed to go to the grocery store. The voices were telling me not to. Again I told them to shove it and did a bit of grocery shopping. I guess after not winning on Friday night or Saturday night the voices started to get desperate and tried to keep me down in any way they possibly could. But it didn't happen. I didn't let it happen.

So a big old nanner nanner to you, the voices in my head. You didn't win. I did. I met new people. I went places I hadn't been before. I laughed and ate and bowled a mean game or two. I'm going to add to my "value proposition" that I don't let the voices win. Serious resume booster, huh?

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Licorice update: I had to put the bag in a drawer to stop myself. But I really want more. What do you think is it OK to listen to that voice?

I love the Mountain

This morning my favorite radio station is broadcasting their morning show from a Tully's just down the hill from where I work. I planned on leaving the house early so I could stop by. As I was driving toward work my head kept telling me that I shouldn't go. That I should just go to the Starbucks I normally hit.

Why was my head telling me I shouldn't go? What was the problem? Well because it was out of my comfort zone of course. That silly little zone I've placed myself in that keeps me "safe and sound". Or at least that's how it feels, safe. But it's not safe it's just easy.

So I told that voice to shut the hell up and I went to that Tully's. It was crazy alive in there. I kept glancing over at Marty (the morning show host). I wanted so badly to go over and tell him how much I enjoy his show. But I didn't. I stood there and waited for my Chai.

As I walked out the side door there he was, Marty! He had gone out the front door and was headed to his car for something. He looked at me and said "Hi". I asked him how he handles being in there in all of that craziness. He said it was by leaving and hiding in his car. He asked if I worked near by and made sure I had gotten one of their 20 Funny CD's. I said yes to both and then gushed a bit and told him how much I loved listening to them. He was so sweet he grabbed my elbow and said a very sincere thank you.

So there you have it. I made those voices shut the hell up and got to say Hi to Marty. What a great way to start my morning. I feel so much more alive and awake and a part of the world. Well done me!

The World small Web

The other day I was stumbling around on Sundry's blog checking out some of the links she has listed. I've done this before and found many a great blog this way.

This time I clicked on one called fishsuit. I instantly was drawn in to the lovely images and quotes by Sofia. She sounds absolutely adorable I might add. I kept reading and kept getting these little glimpses of the blog author. He seemed vaguely familiar, but I didn't think much more of it.

Today I went back to fishsuit to read a bit more from his archive and found where he links to a few other sites as well. One was called Mico Verde which just so happens to be the blog of my friend and her husband.

My intuition about fishsuit was correct I do know him. We met years and years ago through Mico Verde. It just proved to me once again that the world is not wide and neither is the web.

It's overwhelming

I am feeling overwhelmed. I hardly slept last night because I kept thinking of all of the things I want/need to get done this week.

Oh and my house REEKED of Arm & Hammer Pet Fresh which is quite obviously the olfactory equivalent of the devil. Holy hell that stuff is so potent I honestly think that the stench of it kept waking me up. Can a smell do that? Can it invade your senses so much that it pulls you from your sleep causing you to yearn to smell anything else in the world other than that sickly sweet floral stench? I need to remember to tell Molly not to come over for a while, she'd most certainly barf at that smell.

But I digress, back to overwhelming feelings and not scents. On Sunday I finally bought a new cell phone. I didn't want to because I quite honestly loved my little Nokia brick style phone. I'd had it for years. I've lost count of how many. I knew how it worked and where to find all of the options and features. But alas poor little Nokia was starting to lose it. The battery would suddenly go from nearly fully charged to the dreaded "Battery Low" in mere moments. Then on Saturday some of the keys seemed to only work if I smacked the phone around for a bit. As fun as both of those new 'features' seem, since it is in fact my only phone I thought it was best to finally go in for an upgrade. I really wish I wouldn't have.

I decided on another Nokia because it seemed like the easy and safe solution. But this one is a flip phone and I don't like flip phones AT ALL. I also don't like the User Interface AT ALL. I thought because it was a Nokia that I would know where all of the features and options were without having to work at it, but NO. They changed the UI completely. It's horrid. I hate it. Hate Hate Hate Hate. Oh and would someone explain to me how a bluetooth headset is supposed to make my life easier? Now I have another thing to charge all of the time. How is that easier?

Yes I realize that I sound like a Luddite. I'm not. Well most of the time anyway. Apparently when it comes to cell phones I just want a phone. But from what I gather that is too much to ask. Ick. Now I need to crawl back to the cell phone store and get something else. Something that doesn't make me want to smash it into a million and ten pieces just at the sight of it. So that's overwhelming me.

Then there's training Tally. I had the first training session last night which was owners only, no dogs. I felt in over my head. The list of things they want us to try to teach them before the next class is LONG. I should be looking forward to training her but I'm stressed about being able to find the appropriate amount of time.

I also need to figure out a better way to give Tally a bath in my tub. The $40+ I spent at Home Depot last night trying to pull together a hand held shower option just doesn't seem like it's going to work. Of course I haven't tried it but I'm overwhelmed at the thought of it.

Then there's the whole needing to find a new job thing. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. The guy is coming today to start work on the patio.

OK yes I'm stressed and feeling overwhelmed but I know that it will pass. These things that seem like a huge deal right at this moment will all get dealt with at some point. I will make it through. Right? Really I will, right?

Things that bother turns into a brain dump

This entry was going to be about the issues of today at work but I realized that it's nothing new and that's boring. So I shall write about something else.

Really I will. Something else that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Something riveting and fabulous.

Crap I can't think of anything. So perhaps just a brain dump will have to do.

- Yesterday was a holiday in CA so there wasn't any progress made in the funeral preparations for my grandpa.

- Both my brother and I had strange things occur on Sunday that linked us both to grandpa which just happened to be the day he died. While cleaning Sunday morning I found a gold dollar that grandpa had given me at Christmas. I put it into this little box I have that holds memories of my other grandparents that have passed. I didn't know grandpa had died yet. My brother's birthday was the end of February and on Sunday my mom gave him his card from grandpa which had been mailed to her house. The message grandpa had written in the card was about the shortness of life and how my brother should enjoy every day.

- Tally seems to be doing better although I think the cold weather of the past few days was sapping all of her energy. I am working on switching her over to a Duck and Potato food that my mom has had good luck with for her very allergic dog. I'm hoping this helps solve her itching and feet gnawing. She hasn't had any other accidents or incidents since Saturday night.

- Saturday night I went to the wedding of two friends who I met through an ex-boyfriend. Of course he was there and he actually officiated the event. I made it through the evening fairly unscathed emotionally. Although his current girlfriend can't quite say the same. She was rather tipsy and at one point while on the dance floor backed into the bar area and smashed several glasses and cutting her elbow. Is it bad that this made me slightly happy? Yes, I know it's bad but still it did. So there.

Well that's all the news that's barely fit to print here today.