Baby it’s cold outside!

Well, I’ll tell ya’, it really is getting cold outside. I have seen photos of snow dustings from friends in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and New Hartford, New York, and doors each covered in a sheet of ice in Dayton, Ohio. 

So far as yet a sweatshirt has sufficed. I had to switch out my flip flops for socks and sneakers, but that was about it. Tonight I really should have worn a jacket to break this terrible gusting wind pummeling me as I walked the dog. It really was so forceful we had to bring the flag inside, and most of the decorations. The umbrella was blown into the pool! We fished it out but it was still so windy today that I couldn’t open it up to dry the inside. I flipped it over to dry more flaps and a gallon of water must have fallen from the folds.

I’m going to have to get my barn coat out and change out my fashion sweatshirt for a real one. Red ears need earmuffs or a warm cap and the neck is naked without scarf. I may not like decorating for the winter holidays before my birthday (in mid-November!) but I do like breaking out the mittens and scarves! I will even admit to (website) window shopping for fashionable coats. 

Baby it’s cold outside!

(clipart)

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Halloween, whatever you did. 

We sat out on the porch and handed out candy. This year, Nevada Day coincided with Halloween so the kids had the day off to run around in their costumes. I would have completely forgotten about Nevada Day but that quite a few kids returned my "Happy Halloween!" with chipper rush of "Happy Nevada Day, too! Did you know it is Nevada Day?" as they ran off to the next house. I had to laugh out loud, they were so cute, the 10 year olds. ;-)

I always wear a cute Halloween shirt and top my outfit with a headband of bouncy bats or a tiny witch hat with orange fur and fake orange braids hanging down my face. So cute. I even have some great earrings, care of my mother. She loved dressing up in her pediatric nursing office. Unfortunately, this year I had a terrible head cold and totally forgot about the earring pumpkins and bats. It would have been a great touch. Oh well, next year!

My plan was to dress the dog in a kiddie Jedi cloak but I couldn't find it this year (I think I gave it away). I do have a tunic Three Musketeer costume I considered, but I didn't want it ruined. Mom made it by hand, well with a sewing machine, but you get my drift.  I saved it for DH to wear, but he had to go to work on the graveyard shift, so no costume for him. I ended up using one of my decorating hand towels to tie around the dog’s neck.

DH was woken up with the first trick-or-treater, ugh! And by an adult, no less! I had the bowl of candy out and walked over with the dog to say Hi to a neighbor. A family popped over so quickly that both Donna and I missed them walking up (I bet they cut through my side yard). I ran back as soon as I could, but one woman had already pushed the bell. To be fair, they just wanted to make sure we knew the candy was out in case we had forgotten the candy bowl; some kids would take it all in one go. And they were right and being far more courteous than they needed to be; ringing the bell to let us know it was unattended. I just kicked myself. It was a good 2 hours early for DH to wake and I had the dog outside so he wouldn't bark at the doorbell. Ah well, best laid plans…

As it turned out, DH brought his coffee outside and handed out candy with me. We had the dog on a leash and he was great. No barking, just sitting there like a statue or laying around while kids jumped around him.

We almost made it through all of our candy, all leftovers from last year! I tried to only give out two pieces and then by the end I was handing out handfuls. Two years ago there were so many I was giving away my lunch snacks. Last year I bought way too much candy to make sure we were covered. I really wanted to give out cool erasers but DH voted me down. This year someone was handing out hotdogs and cupcakes. How cool is that!

To finish, I have to share some history on how we got to where we are today with this “holiday.”  Check out www.halloweenhistory.org/ and all the tabs they have.

Eat My Shorts

It was O'Dark30 when I was awoken from my slumber to the sounds of the dog chewing something in the bedroom as he lay somewhere near my side of the bed.

He has allergies, so I hoped he was just chewing on his paws. I wasn't conscious enough to realize the sounds didn't match.

Somehow later on the conversation comes up about what I heard and how DH found the empty toilet paper roll I had left on the floor to take down to recycle in the morning, eaten, or shredded.

Apologies all around, no big deal. The dog had food, so no idea why he chose to eat it that night and not any other night one might have been left previously; it is a mystery. DH theorized that he might have been bored; to which I wonder why the dog didn't just move around the house and play with his real toys.

Fast forward to later in the day or the day after...

I go to put on the only khaki shorts I currently own (pay no attention to the two pair waiting to be repaired in my office...). As I bend down to retrieve them from the floor (yes, yes, I know...) I see one of the belt loops has pulled out.

As I am thinking that I have never used a belt with this shorts before and so one loop out is no big deal, I realize that they feel a bit odd on....specifically the chewed parts. At the waist. Ugh.

The dog ate my shorts. They were clearly folded in half when the jaws clamped down and, not surprising, the dog probably laid on them to chew the TP roll. Ugh. Double Ugh.

I debated pulling a shirt over them, but the Jaws bite was too low to even keep the shorts up over my hips. So that thought was discarded quickly. I just had to toss them, well worn, Walmart special, that they were.

Of course, I had to tell DH, who figured they could be knock around house shorts and also thought the dog ate them by accident. Into the trash they went.  The shorts, not the dog and DH. I have running shorts to wear around the house...

I can't believe he ate my shorts. I hope every Pop Culture reference is also running through your head every time you read that the dog had decided to Eat My Shorts. 

Well, it should teach me to not put the clothes next to the drawer where they need to go but to actually bend down and put them back in said drawer. I didn't even bother to "ask" the dog if he recalled eating the fabric I might have held up to him to search for clues on "guilt." It was clearly an accident, or they would have been shredded also, and not just one rip...at the fold...amounting to two on opposite sides.

I just had to share because it was too funny. I thought about taking a picture to show ya'll, but space is limited and I think you get the picture. I might as well add, the bites were on the back love handles, nothin' is gonna hold up against gravity there.

Moral of the story: put your clothes away because you never know what chain of events will lead up to include the one and only thing on the floor.  

Too hot to handle

The sun, that is. Last weekend I was freezing in my house and decided to throw cleaning to the wind and just relax outside with a book, a large hoody sweatshirt, and some thick wool socks.

I eventually warmed up and discarded both additional items of clothing and decided to get some sun on my body. It has been about two years since this bod has seen the light. Working has its drawbacks, especially in offices with no windows. As I was planning on cleaning all day, removing all traces of a shedding dog, and then showering, I had not put on my usual dose of SPF facial moisturizer. The effects of this were quadrupled as the night before I had decided to exfoliate.

I did get a bit of sun, but “kissed” was bypassed for steamrolled. I went from reading my book and lounging outside with the dog directly into a dog walk during which a neighbor mentioned I had gotten a bit of sun. I was taken aback because I had not sweated once but that comment probably meant I would be burnt; all my mistakes of the past few days cascading through my brain.

My face did burn and so I have forgone my simple makeup and spot zit cream for only my SPF facial moisturizer during the day (rather a waste since the office has no windows, but the car does, after all) and a regiment of either cocoa butter cream or a potentate combo of vitamin E, A, and D cream. Well, the latter was potent before it dried up into a nice thick cream. I only had one dry spot, and no pealing-yet, fingers crossed.

Fast forward to this morning. The dog let me sleep in and I didn’t stir until a little after 9 am. We went outside and enjoyed the morning sun for a few minutes, debating whether I should have gone into work today with the clouds closing in. My dog was silently bouncing around and trying to pin me with those, it is potty time I need to go for a walk, eyes. So I threw on some socks and sneakers and head out the door, sans SPF. And sans sunglasses.

I tried to make my face into a blank mask and cast my eyes downward to not unduly tan in some wrinkles. I mentally kicked myself for not putting on the SPF this morning before I came downstairs. I still hadn’t had my morning coffee. After the dog did his business he seemed to be slowing down more than his usual. He will pull for exercise (my husband runs with him) and to sniff everything in the world (a habit I do not allow on our exercise walks) until it is time for him to go and then leisurely stroll afterward. But this morning it was slow. I took a look at him and his tongue was lolling out. 9 am is too hot for my dog to be walking around. Poor guy.

I had been thinking of waking up earlier to get to the gym before work. Since I am jonesing for activity I thought about adding in some cardio on my in between weights days. I had thought about just doing the couch to 5k program again on the treadmill I have at home, but the ones at the gym are so much nicer, so much. And I was thinking of the elliptical machines. We shall see. Unfortunately, the dog always wants to walk about 5 pm, he is very punctual, which is a very hot point in the day. I need to get him some booties to protect his feet and me some more SPF facial moisturizer. Or just get used to wearing a baseball hat.