Skunked again!

Damn dog! And with A working tonight too.  Once again he got it in the face and clearly took some in his mouth. He was foaming.  Scary stuff.  Not fun cleaning him up, but I think I got it off.  It helps that he's mostly white, so you can see where he was sprayed.

My dog has a hard head.

Ask me how I know!  Sunday night, I was playing with Boomer - he was running around my mom's house, having a grand time just dashing around.  As I knelt there, waiting for him to return - well - he returned.  He hit me head on - skull to skull.  I never saw it coming.  He came from behind and just clocked me.  It took me a little bit to get up.  No one even knew it had happened - they were all either out on the porch or in the kitchen.  When I finally felt like I could get up, I went and got myself an ice pack, then proceeded to the security of A's arms, crying because it hurt.  It really freaking hurt.  Dang dog has a seriously hard head.  My sister was worried about a concussion, but I never lost conciousness.  I think Boomer felt bad - poor dog was just playing.  But DAMN his head is hard. 

Happiness is...

....making plans.  Tomorrow is A's firehouse picnic.  The crowd may be small this year, but most of my favorite people will be there.  YAY!  Saturday, we are headed up to the Cape and will spend my birthday with my family.  YAY!  YAY!  Good things.  Happy things.  And, my knitting projects are coming along nicely.  I learned to make nupps.  I don't see a lot of them in my future, but I've done it. 

stuck

No change in the weight.  Again.  I think this is 3 or 4 weeks now.  If I were at my goal, I would be thrilled, but I really want to lose 5 more.  It's not that I look bad now, but I could look better and a few more clothes would fit.  And my goal weight is higher than I used to consider my ideal weight, so I don't want to keep increasing that number.  To further complicate things, I've got a little injury.  I think I've got shin splints in my right leg.  (Is it still the plural splints if it's only one muscle?)  The muscle is very sore, so I"m going to take a day or so off from my walking regimen.  And I'm going to try to stick to the plan more closely - but I've got some challenges this week.  What I don't want to see is the scale finally move - in the wrong direction.

What was God thinking?

Do you ever wonder that?  I do.  Like when I look at crab grass.  What was He thinking?  What useful purpose does crab grass serve?  I wonder what he was thinking with spiders and snakes and bees - but I do get that they serve a useful purpose.  But crab grass?  Not convinced.  It's annoying as all get out.  We finally get our front lawn looking good and WHAM crab grass.  It's a bit of a battle.  See, the neighbors to our left, the neighbors to our right, the neighbor across the street - none of them really give a hoot about the crab grass.  Well, the ones to the right might care, but they do nothing about it.  The one across the street is into the natural look.  At first, she didn't even own a power mower.  She used a environmentally friendly mower - aka a push mower.  The thing with those is that the blades can't move fast enough to cut all kinds of grass & weeds.  She finally got an electric mower, but fertilizer and weed control?  Not happening there.  And then there's the problem neighbors to our left.  I think they have embraced crab grass as a design feature.  It lines their driveway and sidewalk.  And it creeps over into our yard.  So, we fight on in the battle against the crab grass, a piece of God's creation that I just don't get.

Stuck

I've been stuck on the same number for a couple of weeks.  UGH.  I suppose though, it's better than the number going up.  I will rededicate myself this week.  My goal is to be down 5 by the 15th of September. 

New York State is big and other thoughts

New York State is really big.  I know it's not as big as Texas, California, Alaska and various other states - but when you come from little Connecticut, New York State is big.  We went to a shower for A's brother and his fiancee this weekend.  It was in the Finger Lakes Region.  That's about 5 1/2 hours from our home (6 if you are driving a little slower after getting pulled over for speeding).  It amazes me that we could be that far from home and still be in the same state.  I would see other cars with NY plates and think "Hey another NYer"  and then remember DUH - we're in NY.

At a barbecue with families from the firehouse, the wives were sitting around discussing things.  One thing discussed was that beige panties are dull.  Yes, they are boring.  But they have their place.  Like when you are wearing something on your lower half that is not completely opaque.  One doesn't really want to be wearing dark undies under that flowy white skirt, because if the wind snugs it up against your butt, they show.

I like seeing farms, farmland and farmhouses.  I just think they are pretty.

Proseco is good stuff.  I need to get me some.

Knitting in the car is relatively easy.  Tinking in the car, not so much.  Tinking sticky yarn like Noro Silk Garden, not my favorite activity.

adulthood is hard

Sometimes trying to be an adult downright sucks.  Trying to do the right thing is not easy.  Resisting the urge to have the last word in an argument is really really hard, especially when the other party couldn't do the same, but right now, that's what I'm doing.  I'm sucking it up and I'm not happy about it but I know it's best in the long run.  I'm angry and sad.  Trying to let the recent crabbiness just roll off my back.  But dealing with the digs, I can only let it go so long, but today I even said - hey this is not going in a good direction - it needs to stop - and it did momentarily - but the last word needs to be had and needs to be had and needs to be had.  And I'm sitting here hoping that I've let the last word be had by someone else.  How many times are you told "maybe you should have done X" as an answer to an argument before the last word ends up being "yeah, you're right"  I don't ever want that to be the last word, so here, I vent, so that it isn't the last word today and it never is the last word.

Happiness is....

... another finished object - especially when it's the afghan I've been working on for 4 months.  I'll be delivering the gift to my brother-in-law and his fiancee this Saturday at their shower.  So - a full shot and a close up shot.  Now back to knitting for me!

Happiness is....

....10 years together.  Ten years ago tonight, A & I had our first date.  I remember him telling me how much he loved his job, I remember thinking what a nice butt he had.  It was hot that night.  We went to Smith & Wollensky's in mid-town.  Afterwards, he walked me back to Grand Central Terminal and he kissed me goodbye.  Ten years later I still love kissing that man.

Tuesday weigh in

And it's good - down over a pound.  Still need another pound plus to be at my pre-vacation weight.  My goal is five more pounds - well really six, because I would like to break a barrier.  I'm feeling good, back on the program - although I will be cheating tonight - hot date with the hubby.  Anyway - getting up in the morning to walk is going well and sometimes I sneak in an evening walk with the dog - so it's good.

I haz a sad

Actually 2 sads.  One if for me and is kind of selfish.  Maybe not just kind of, maybe really truly, but please don't judge.  I found out that a friend is pregnant.  This is a friend who had professed to not want kids.  This is a second marriage for both her and her husband and he has custody of his son from his first marriage.  She would talk about not really wanting kids, but being cool with the stepson.  In that circle of friends, it was good for me to have a fellow childless person.  Even though she has the stepson and is a good mother to him, she and I could together be the ones who hadn't gone through labor, childbirth, diapers, etc.  Now, I'm alone.  I'll be the only one on the outside looking in now and that makes me sad.
My other sad is for me, for my whole family - but most especially for my favorite aunt.  My uncle has been diagnosed with lung cancer that has metastisized to his bones.  It's not good.  I don't know how much longer we'll have him.  Truth is, the last few years, he's been a grumpy gus and no fun to be around.  But I still love him and don't want to lose him.  I'm so sad for my aunt.  They've been married over 50 years.  We all know that someday we will all die, but how do you deal with it when you know it's coming.  How do you face things like his birthday this week is probably his last birthday.  How do you cope.  On the other hand, maybe it's a blessing to know it's coming, to be able to talk about things, to have time to express your love, to get to say goodbye.

BTW, I gained weight on vacation

And the title is the only thing in this post about my diet.  Today, I'm whining.  My husband had occasion yesterday to chat with some of my fellow town employees - a couple of cops.  Now, my relationship with the cops is not always the best - it's a management v union kind of thing.  They distrust management in general.  I have forged some good relationships, but there's always a little wariness on their part.  And, as with any department, sometimes I'm the one who wields the hammer - who says no, you can't do that.  Sometimes I'm nice about it.  Sometimes I can't be nice about it.  Sometimes, even though I am nice about it, I'm branded a bitch.  I don't enjoy that.  So, why this discussion?  Yesterday, my husband bonded with the cops over my being a bitch.  Yup.  That's what he did.  Told them how they might get it at work from me - but he gets it full force at home.  Yup.  That's what he said.  He thought it was funny. He even went on about how another employee will get something done for me either when he wants me to do something in return or when I go all out bitch on him.  How nice that my husband has bonded with the cops.  How nice that he has cemented my bitch reputation.  I was stunned last night when he related this to me.  I don't think he gets what he's done to me.  I should have addressed it with him right then, but I think I was too stunned to realize the full implication.  Now, I just want to cry.  I don't know how to undo what he did.  I don't know how to not care.
And then there's more.  He's always trying to convince me that I'm hot and sexy.  I'm glad he thinks I am.  I do see myself in the mirror and know that I can look good, but I am also realistic about myself.  So the latest thing to convince me of my hotness is to tell me that my number is up to 8.  What number you ask?  The number of guys in his firehouse that would ....um....well.....I'll just use his words.... that would want to fuck me if he died.  Over 5 is apparently a very good number.  I know that I should be flattered - but I'm sitting here thinking ewwwwwww - how do I face that group now, knowing that I've been discussed in that way.  At least I don't know which 8.  But seriously?  Guys talk about that at the firehouse?  What is up with that!  He's proud.  I'm skeeved.
And so it goes.  I just had to get that all out. 

Friday Photos

Flowers, flowers and more flowers, a little knitting and Boomer.

Happiness is....

.....touching base with old friends.  When my mom was down for the park rededication two weeks ago, I took her around to visit with some friends.  She hadn't seen some of them in a number of years.  It was fun to see them catch up.  And sad too, because it's entirely possible that she'll never see some of them again.  She doesn't come back to Connecticut too often these days, and even when she does, it's rarely to our old hometown.  So, I'm glad I was able to give her that chance, to sit and chat with old friends on a nice summer afternoon.

Still here

I've been a little busy, so haven't gotten to blogging lately.  I have done my weigh ins.  I was up a little last week, back down again this week.  That's an achievement actually - considering all the parties and dining out that I did this past week.  A 4th of July picnic, lunch and dinner out on Friday, picnic on Saturday - complete with Sangria and moonshine, plus some birthdays at work - it could have been bad!  But it wasn't.  But now, I'm headed up to the Cape for a week or so on Friday.  That can be dangerous.  I get out of my normal eating routines and tend to drink a glass of wine every night.  I do expect that I will get more exercise, but I think I need to watch it on the wine consumption.  And I need to plan for healthy meals and limit snacking.

Friday photos

Just one today, taken by a reporter for the local paper near my hometown, Michael Duffy.  Please don't rat me out for posting it.  Yesterday, my hometown rededicated the industrial park that was named after my father.  When my father was First Selectman (New England-speak for Mayor) of our Town, he negotiated the purchase of a large tract of land (600+ acres) to be used by the Town for an industrial park.  His thinking was that the commercial use would provide a strong tax base, many jobs and draw little on services - especially compared to the possibility of a residential development on the property.  When he died while in office, the Economic Development Commission that was overseeing the development of the property voted to name the industrial park for Daddy.  The Town recently decided to change the title to "business park" and so had a rededication.  We were invited for a ceremony.  It was so very nice.  We saw people we hadn't seen in many years.  But even nicer was hearing the tributes to my father for his tremendous vision.  The park has been open since the mid 80s and has generated over $20 million in tax revenues for the Town.  So, I'm there in the photo, in the white shirt.  That's my mom in the aqua shirt, with my nephew behind her.  The gentleman on the left is the youngest son of another man honored yesterday.  His dad was the chairman of the commission that guided the development of the park from it's inception until his death about 18 months ago.  They planted a tree and placed a memorial park in honor of the late chairman.  It wasw a nice day, a nice ceremony paying tribute to two men - one who had the vision and one who made the vision reality.

Happiness is...

....having a job.  That isn't what I originally planned for this week's post.  It was going to be about color in nature, but then I got an e-mail this morning that changed my mind.
Yesterday, I served on an interview panel for a municipal entity in a city near where I work.  It was for an accountant's position.  The last candidate of the day was a gentleman, probably in his mid to late fifties, who has been out of work for a couple of years.  It was a painful interview.  His interview skills are lacking, though based on his resume, his accounting skills are not.  There were long pauses between the questions and his answers.  I could see, as the interview progressed, that we were all trying to softball the questions and trying to coach him to good answers.  This morning, he sent me an e-mail thanking me for the interview - standard stuff.  I felt so bad.  His skill set isn't really the right one for this job - but I'm sure it will be for some other job - but with his poor interviewing skills, I think he may continue to be out of a job for a while.  I am very lucky to have a good job that I like and that is secure.  I am very happy not to have to be out there pounding the pavement.

Friday Photos

Lots of pictures of the garden - and there are more to come in the future.  And, of course, Boomer.

 These are two rose bushes that I transplanted when we had the driveway done.  They are surviving and blooming.  Yay!

 I'm not sure what this is, but I liked the orange blossom.

 I could do a whole study on this plant.  It's an ecinachea, aka coneflower - and the colors are great.

 A new garden area we created.  We got rid of some Rose of Sharon bushes.  The middle plant is a lamb's ear.  I love it!  Soft and pretty.

 Another addition last summer - decorative grass - that "bloomed" for the first time this summer.

 I love the changing colors on my hydrangea.

And - who else rounding up the photos but the Boom Doggie!

Happiness is....

....the solitude of the early morning.  It's going to be pretty hot today, so rather than wait until after work to get my exercise (usually a 30 minute walk) I decided to do it this morning.  It was lovely being out there in the early morning, with only a few other walkers and joggers and the requisite animal life.  It's such a peaceful time of day.  I plan to do the same thing tomorrow - going to be even hotter - and may keep it up through the summer.  It also has the added benefit of allowing me to come home from work and jump right in the neighbor's pool, with no guilt since I've already exercised!