December 2007

Liam has this semi-creepy way of sneaking up behind the dogs and trying to poke his finger into their butts. I try not to get either of the dogs too excited whenever Liam and them are together, lest I risk needing to yell the phrase “No Butts!” one more time to my son. The other day reached the peak of his obsession, as I’ve seen it. He was chasing Chani around the house, index finger pointed and ready, laughing maniacally in his best evil/devil laugh. I think he’s catching on that if he can get ahold of the tail, he can control it to some extent, and was trying to get at her tail that way. When that didn’t work, he got down on the ground, facing up; he looked like he was inspecting the under-carriage of a car. Now, I’ve had to tell Liam not to sit on the dogs, I really hope I never have to tell the dogs not to sit on Liam.

Mitch was over tonight and Carleen, him and myself took turns Googling our names. Both of them had very professional hits come up - Carleen’s work for her various Library Blogs, even a quote in the local newspaper, Mitch and his various projects. We saved the best for last, as it seems; check out the first two hits in the photo.

Yeah, apparently I’m a Gay Literature Author. But hey at least I get this great quote on Amazon.com:

Huxley continues to redefine erotica for the 21st century, breathing new life into a genre that was becoming very stale

Golden, baby!

So here’s my Daemon (from the Golden Compass Website):

Edit: Well screw it the code is screwed up, but here’s my daemon page.

The first time I took it I got a fox, which rocked, but this time I got a Crow, which is pretty cool too. Their descriptions are both very similar. Go ahead and answer the questions about me and see if YOUR answers about me give me the same daemon.

I’ve been teaching Liam sign language for the past few months now, and I wanted to keep a record of the signs he’s learned. Here’s what he knows so far:

• Light
• Fan
• More
• Water
• Eat
• Shoe
• Dog
• Bath

I think that’s all. I proud of him, and myself as well, this is the sort of thing that I would start and then just give up on, and I almost did, but then he just exploded with all these new signs that, after months and months of practice, finally just started popping out of him.

I would really like to be home right now but I can’t because our house doesn’t have any electricity. It started on Sunday, around the time Mike, Liam and I decided to decorate our holiday tree. I like being at my parents house but I hate this feeling of displacement. I don’t have the things I want or need right at hand around me. I had to tell Mike over the phone at work yesterday exactly what kind of panties my work attire required. It was rather farcicle since I’m sure my co-worker thought I was talking dirty to my husband on the phone.

I want to go home and decorate my tree. I was just starting to get back into yoga again, getting up early in the morning to get an hour or two of my own time before all the hullabaloo started. Sometimes, I just wish mother nature would stay out of my business, or at least tweak things more in my favor. Some nice fluffy snow, power back at my place but a complete power outage on the side of town where the library is? Now that would be nice.

Mike and I watched Golden Compass on Friday night. We were both trying our best to finish the book before we watched the movie but alas, we ran out of time. We read enough, however, to know that the movie does speed up the plot and as a result, kind of misses out on some of the emotion/relationship between the characters but given the depth of the book and the time alloted to the movie, they still did very well and it was a fantastic movie. There’s a great deal of controversy over this book/movie right now given it’s apparent “anti-religious”, “anti-Christian” themes and the proclaimed atheism of the author, Phillip Pullman, however, that warrants a long discussion that we can save for another time (when I actually have more time). It’s actually a trilogy and the real controversy doesn’t apparently appear until the third book when there’s something about the characters killing God. Obviously, I’d like to finish the books before commenting but all I can tell you is that so far the book is fantastic and the movie was a really wonderful watch. The little girl who played Lyra was great.

For now, here’s my daemon. If you haven’t read the book and need an explanation of what a daemon is go here and click on daemon. Really neat concept.

I guess a lion fits. I’m also a Leo, born in July. But the whole modest but proud seems a little contradictory but maybe that’s the point.

Dear family living on Macklyn Ave. in the house with all the pretty xmas yard ornaments in front,

I am so glad you decided to take a trip to Homeland last night. I know the last thing you probably wanted to do at midnight was bump into our misguided lost shivering beagle but I’m so glad you did. Turbo and I are connected in a special way. We both have this weird anxiety thing, we both step on people’s toes a lot but only because we want to make sure everyone’s ok and have some reassurance that we’re still loved even though we can be down right annoying sometimes. Most of all, we’re both far too curious for our own good which is probably why Turbo ended up at Homeland and why I end up reading seven books at the same time never finishing any one of them because I’m too curious to know what’s in the next book.

I’m also very glad that one of you had previously worked at a vets office because when we came to pick Turbo up this morning, his nails were clipped, his ears cleaned and his tummy full of pedigree chum. I had pretty much lost hope that Turbo would be found at all, but not only was he found, he was found by people who actually know a thing or two about taking care of dogs.

I really don’t know what else to say about you guys, except that you rock more then Chuck Berry.

___________

Dear Turbo,

If you were my child I would ground you for a year. But you’re not. You’re my dog so I guess all I can do right now is make up for the hugs you missed last night and hope you didn’t eat anything poisonous or moldy on your late night pilgrimage that will make you puke up green gooey stuff on my brand new rug.

___________

Dear Mike,

Had a great talk with you today at lunch. I can’t wait for our dinner/movie date tomorrow. You rock more then Chuck Berry and Led Zeplin put together.

We’ve lost Turbo again. Sometime last night while Mike was trying to get Liam asleep and I was still at work, he walked through our partially opened gate. Mike believes the meter man forgot to close it properly. That’s a possibility, however, I’m also inclined to believe, given the wind yesterday that the gate blew itself open. Mike and I had an argument over this last night which resulted in me voluntarily opting to sleep on the couch for the night. I’ve always believed that the fence/gate was insecure but because Mike is no fence expert and because our yard is a little awkward in shape, I never wanted to say straight out, Mike it’s a shitty fence can we please get something else a little stronger that doesn’t involve chicken wire. Half our yard is made out of chicken wire. As you can see, I’m still a little mad at my husband, despite the fact that I know I’m probably being way to hard on him.

So, my parents came over yesterday to help us look for Turbo but it was far to dark and given his past escapes it was almost certain that he could be half way cross town at that point.

For those of you who don’t know already, I was recently diagnosed with panic disorder (it isn’t extreme, thankfully I can still leave the house and go to work). My Thanksgiving week was not really a great Thanksgiving week. While everyone else was thanking their turkey and their family, I was simply thankful for the few pieces of sanity I had left in my head. I was dizzy, dazed and under the irrational impression that I was going to die of some horrible disease. I can’t even begin to explain how frightening, how real, and how paralyzing these feelings were. Mike and my parents got me through that weekend until I managed to see my most awesome doctor the following Monday. I’ve since seen a therapist who has set me to work on some exercises from a book which she refers to as the “bible” when it comes to treating panic disorders. Anyway, what I mean to say is, I really did not need to be dealing with a lost dog right now. It’s below freezing outside, I can only imagine how cold and alone he must feel. He has tags and the last time he got out someone found him and called us. I can only hope that a kind soul will find him again and we’ll get him back soon, but for some reason I’m hesitant to assume that we will be that lucky.

I’m angry, sad and confused. If you see me around today, please don’t attempt to cheer me up because I will probably only scowl at you. At this point, I don’t even think John Cleese could crack a smile out of me.

Turbo, if you’re out there please use that damn scent dog nose and find your way home.

UPDATE: Turbo was found last night around midnight, a few blocks away from our house. They found our number via our vet this morning and we picked him up - he’s nice and safe and sound now.

Liam was having a hard time this past weekend with the shots and I think he maybe getting new teeth in. Mike and I were pretty much at a loss as to what to do with him. It’s amazing what you can come up with when you get to that point….ice cube trays+water+food coloring+paper= happy Loki mess!

I came across this the other day when I felt very homesick and Googled “Stavanger pictures”. Someone living in Stavanger called Tanty keeps a daily blog where she posts random pictures from around the city. My brother came across this too the other day and seemed just as delighted as I. For someone who hasn’t been back to their hometown in over five years, this blog brings a lot of warm fuzzy feelings to my tummy. I really like the fact that her pictures are very random everyday shots, neighborhoods, random houses, not just the touristy stuff. Of course, it makes me even more homesick but still, it’s on my list as a must read blog daily.

I wonder if she takes requests. I would love a good shot of the three swords of Hafsfjord.

This is sweet, I might just have to do it for Liam. Instead of buying one, you could probably just make one of your own.

It’s been kind of a rough week. Poor Liam got his MMR shots last Monday and he seems to be showing some side affects. He’s had a low grade fever for the past few days. The fever is gone now but he’s broken out in a measle-like rash all over his face and chest. Apparently this is to be expected. We’re keeping him close to home now, trying our best to keep him cozy and comforted.

Liam is turning into the most curious little kid. Now that he’s walking, Mike and I take him for walks a lot to the park just up the street. What should be a five minute walk usually ends up being more like fifteen since he wants to stop and investigate pretty much everything. Acorns, leaves, dirt, dog poop, street lights. He’s also fascinating with curbs, walking on them, then walking back down. Anything new has to be experienced to its fullest potential.

My new nickname for Liam is Loki. Lord knows I’ve gone through many since he was born but I think this is the one that’s going to stick. Loki is the name of a Norse God (fire, trickster, he has many descriptions). Liam is cheeky in a very cunning way sometimes. I think the cheekyness is just a result of the fact that he’s getting smarter everyday. He’s learned to tease you and trick you. Like yesterday, Mike was crawling around the island in the kitchen playing a kind of peekaboo game with him. After two or three go’s of this, Liam figured out what he was doing and turned around, crawled back in the other direction and crept up behind Mike.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I just can’t believe it’s December already. I’m hoping to actually get xmas cards out this year. I’m kind of excited about this since I’ve been able to get back in touch with some old friends through Facebook.

Here’s a turkey shot. I’ve uploaded the rest to flickr. Mike made the turkey again this year, and again it was amazingly scrumptious.