Accidentally Involved in a Pet Parade and Bee's Procedure

We were accidentally involved in a pet parade this weekend. Late Saturday morning was beautiful, just slightly overcast enough to keep the air cool and a whisper of a breeze. Eric and I decided to take our show on the road. We loaded Cordelia into her little stroller and Bumblebee was leashed up.

We headed down the block and passed a guy with two purebred pit bulls (over which he had limited control) and a tattoo on his face. He was polite enough and kept his dogs off the sidewalk as we passed. I looked further down the sidewalk and saw more dogs, dogs in pants, dogs in hula skirts, dogs, dogs dogs. I wondered aloud if perhaps there was a dog show going on.

We drew near and realized that lo and behold we had stumbled upon a very sorry little pet parade. We saw a girl with pointy ears and a Star Trek outfit; her dog sat in a radio flyer made to look like the Enterprise. A woman approached us and asked if we needed to sign in. We looked at each other, both pondering a spontaneous entry into the parade, but then decided to just continue on as spectators---who knew how long the pet parade would last?

We continued on our walk and happened to spot a newscaster doing an interview and we walked right on through the background (later we spotted ourselves on the news and high fived). We moved on to the park and played with Cordelia and Bumblebee for a bit and decided to head back home. Little did we know that the pet parade was about ready to make its triumphant journey. We just stepped off the sidewalk and watched as the parade passed us by.

There were mostly dogs wearing pants. A woman, we assume was wearing a hospital gown as a costume, either that or she jumped out of her hospital bed and ran to the pet parade, and ordered her dogs to wave at all the people (all of the people being Eric, Cordelia and I). There was a disco rooster and by disco rooster I mean a rooster who was led by a young girl wearing a disco costume. There was a hairless cat wearing a costume (Eric thinks the costume was a Native American and I think it was Little Miss Muffet) and riding in an enclosed baby carrier. There was also a boy and his fat black lab dressed as a spartan. The only other spectators were an elderly couple in their lawn chairs.

Sooo, that was interesting...made our day extra special.

Also, today we drop Bumblebee off for her surgery. I will update you when I know more.

End of Summer Type of Morning

Summer is slowly drawing to a close. Days are not quite so hot, nights are downright chilly. I awoke this morning to rumbles of thunder (and rumbles of hunger, I wake up ravenous) as the first raindrops began to fall.

Cordelia awoke for a moment and then fell asleep on her father. I sat there staring at them, they were just too sweet. Then I felt creepy for staring at sleeping people. I got over it and just grabbed the camera.

I made breakfast and turned on the lamps.

I put on a sweater.

Watched on as Cordelia entertained herself.

What is your morning like today?

Projects Complete

Yesterday I completed the revamp of Cordelia's rocking chair and I did a bookshelf too!

Chair before


On the job


Completed chair


My helper


Bookshelf before


Completed bookshelf

Projects

I have been busting out a few projects this week. Who knows why since I've been so busy with preparations for my new teaching position and my thesis edits. I just have piles of projects, mountains even, that I am trying to get through. Several of those projects can be accomplished in under an hour, so I can work on them while Cordelia plays (by play I mean pull all of the clothes out of her dresser and parade them about).

Chair before the transformation


Chair revamp in progress

My first project is to recover this chair and paint the wood. I have made the cushion covers and now I just need to take a quick moment to paint. I will soon show you the completed project.

I also completed the dog pillows for my dog niece and nephew, Coco and JRake.

Dog pillows

Now I need to make a bag for myself. A bag that isn't a diaper bag. One that I can take to work so I can be the professional teacher instead of the frazzled mother with diapers and wipes galore. I am laughing to myself as I type this because yesterday I popped into the school to grab something and ended up meeting my colleagues with Cordelia on my hip, the encounter concluded with me grabbing Cordelia's hand and saying, "Wave bye-bye." So much for professionalism...

Do you have any projects in the works?

A Picture is Cuter Than a Thousand Words

A few photos taken by Eric yesterday afternoon.

How Could We Ever...

The other day Cordelia and I were visiting my mother while my dad was at work and Sam was at school. We stood out back on the deck and my mom asked the question we've all asked many times in the past (almost) year,"How could we ever have thought our family was complete without this little girl?"

How could we ever have thought that life was complete without her mischievous smile, her giggles, her sweet hugs (she will hug everything), without reading Baby Manatee 10,000 times a day, without those big cheeks, without dancing to Lady Gaga in the afternoon heat (her favorite), without those eyebrows arching when she is impressed with herself, without every little thing that she does?

Every single day for nearly a year now I spend some portion of time looking at this girl, filled with hope for her future and I feel such gratitude. I get to be her mother, this sweet and beautiful girl is my daughter.

Getting Stuff Done, Having Some Fun

Yesterday was a good and full day. I got stuff done and had some fun, a good balance.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a friend, Sarah, and her little ones over for morning cookies. She has a nearly 4 year old daughter, Madeline, who captured Cordelia's attention. Cordelia kept trying to sit in her lap, which kind of freaked her out, but Madeline handled it with all of the grace an almost 4 year old could muster.

After a nice long visit Cordelia, Bumblebee and I headed over to entertain my still recovering mother. Cordelia insisted that she accompany my mother as she water the plants, it's one of their routines.

My teaching lesson plans and dayplanner

I got some of the business of my new job taken care of (forms, paperwork, etc.). Did some lesson planning.

Did a little research on a vacation to the Oregon coast next summer. I am soooo excited!

Got some thesis work done.

Book from Tammie

I started to look over my book from Tammie.

Vegan Gumdrops

I went to check the mail and found a package. I looove getting packages in the mail. I received a load of goodies from Stacy in a little contest I won. She even included vegan gumdrops!

Eric and Cordelia

We stopped by the farmer's market and then came home for a quiet and lovely evening in.

Cordelia...she finally squeezed out a tooth!

What did you do?

Show Ahoy

I think I mentioned that Eric and I have an upcoming show planned. We are both planning to create new works between now and then, just to keep things fresh. The concept behind the show is a husband and wife split. Eric will have his aerial abstractions and his collages. I will have silhouettes and sculpture. The show opens in March so we have a little prep time, which will be much appreciated now that our schedules are filling up (you know since I'm a college instructor now).

The Three Graces



Artifact

Anyway, we are all aflutter with ideas and concepts as we move forward on this project. I am really excited to be getting back to it and of course I will keep you posted on our progress.

What have you been creating lately?

Busy Day!

Wow, I have a lot to accomplish today. I sat down to breakfast and started a to do list. Eric doesn't think I can do all this today, so now it's on. I had better get to it!

What is on your to do list?

Something New

The other day started strange. I awoke at four in the morning to the sound of my cat Ophelia saying, "Cerebro." I lay there in the dark, confused, trying to make sense of the fact that Ophelia could talk, that she'd chosen her first words to be Cerebro. I pondered the meaning of Cerebro for quite some time, wondering if maybe it was one of the X-Men. Finally, I drifted back to sleep. When I awoke I still wasn't 100% sure that Ophelia couldn't talk and I avoided eye contact for the rest of the day, easily done with someone who spends 23 1/2 hours a day sleeping. Apparently she spends the other 1/2 hour saying things like Cerebro.

Anyway I should have known that the day would be strange; once one strange thing happens there are usually more to follow. A short time later I received a brief phone call requesting a meeting on Friday...a meeting about a teaching job at the college. I was caught completely off guard, in fact I think I may have been genuinely flabbergasted. I spent all week wondering if I already had a job, if this was an interview, how would it impact our life, would I enjoy it, what class would I teach, etc., etc.

Friday morning rolled around and I got myself dressed. I tried to look professional as I assumed I would be younger than the rest of the faculty. I tried to cover the entire span of art history in my mind, but just started a weird mental chant of the code of hammurabi, repeating those words over and over---thankfully it was kind of pleasant. I put on some gray pants and Eric said that I needed to iron them. Ugh, who has time iron? So I changed pants and I fully intend to rid myself of the gray pants because I am not the kind of gal who advance plans an outfit and irons the night before. Sam stopped by and said that he almost didn't recognize me with my hair in a bun, which is kind of weird Sam maybe needs to get his eyes checked.

I left early just in case this was the one and only day that Wyoming had a traffic jam. Needless to say I arrived early; I don't think all of the cars in the state could make a traffic jam. I said goodbye to Eric, he dropped me off like it was my first day of school. I walked slowly into the building, looking back at Eric who gave me a thumbs up of encouragement.

I didn't even have to interview, I already had the job! I got the tour, learned about the class I will be teaching and before I knew it I was back in the car, my head spinning. I am starting in less than two weeks! I just have one night class so Cordelia will not need to do daycare or anything and I intend to keep it that way, but it's something to do and a way for me to feel as though I am financially contributing to this family. I am really excited and really nervous!

When I was in school I had an ongoing mental list of things I would or would not do if ever I was to teach a class of my own. Have you ever made such a list? If so, what was on it?

You're Fiiiiine!!!

Yesterday was a good day for Eric's ego. We all need--and deserve-- a day like that I think, but yesterday was his day to shine. The day did not start out with much promise. We had some trouble with electronic pieces of our car and it seemed as though it would be a couple of hundred smackeroos to fix it. We left the car alone for a bit and Eric was in something of a dark mood about the car for much of the afternoon.

Old photo, but I am sure he was feeling cool in this photo so I think it applies to this post.

Then we got a call requesting that Eric come and help at my dad's office. They needed a computer guy STAT. So, he showed up and fixed the problem, and then some, in a matter of minutes. He didn't pat himself on the back, but I think he couldn't have been judged had he done so.

Maybe it was the heady rush of solving the computer problem or maybe he'd just gone cray-zay, but we came home and he fixed that electrical problem in the car. Man alive he was riding high after that, feeling like Mr. Fix It. Well, deserved I thought.

Then as Cordelia was eating dinner she was laughing at his comedic stylings like he was the most HILARIOUS person to ever live, further inflating his ego. I would also like to mention that Eric's comedy routine included his own Wyoming version of the robot moonwalk.

Finally, at dusk Eric took Miss Bumblebee out so she could (ahem) poop. Cordelia and I were at the window looking out (to wave at Eric, not to watch the show). Across the street a car full of teenage girls pulled up to the stop and one girl screamed, and I mean screamed not yelled, at the top of her lungs, "Hey you with the dog, you're fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!"

First Thing in the Morning

I love the morning. I live for the mornings, always have. I wake up and the day is filled with promise. Yep, I'm one of those obnoxious morning folk. Unfortunately for my husband I married a non-morning person. For years while we were in college I would stay up late with him and I would try my hardest to sleep in just like a normal person. I would roll around in bed waiting for the time to pass. When I felt as though it were late enough I would give up and get up, then the waiting game would begin. I would go out into the living room and wait for Eric to wake up. Sure I am totally capable of doing my own thing, and I would, but I was always anxious for my best friend (aww so sweet) to join me. I would try really hard to let him be and more often than not I could...there are also the shameful times when I would start cooking breakfast and mabye do it a little more loudly than was necessary (sorry Eric).

Fast forward to a baby and then pass through the fog of feeding every hour, when day and night have no meaning beyond allowing one to view their own baby in different light. Cordelia does look lovely at 3 in the morning in case you wanted to know. Anyway, my time as come! We are now in a sweet spot, one I've been waiting for. We are all up and going first thing in the a.m. Our mornings are full of life and plans, it's wonderful!

The hat, by popular demand

We started out the morning with a photo shoot of the hat made by Keia. Thanks again.

Reading

Then Eric got suckered into reading Baby Manatee for the ten billionth time. My mother got Baby Manatee for Cordelia on a work trip to Florida a while back. She knows that I love manatees (the gentle donkey of the sea) and she was just facilitating the early relationship between Cordelia and the world of the manatee.

Spooning

I think the photo speaks for itself.


Oatmeal

We had some breakfast. Oatmeal, whole grain toast, and sweet sweet oj. Well, truthfully Eric had V8. He loves the stuff and I swear it tastes like I imagine scabs would taste...sorry it's just the truth.

Feet on the table

Cordelia likes to put her feet on the tray while she eats and chats. I like her style.

What was your morning like today?

Also, I was given an award by Kirsten, thanks! I am supposed to share 7 bits-o-info (done in the post above) and to share my award and pass it along to 7 other bloggers, but as you know I hate choosing favorites because I have so many lovely blogger friends, so consider yourself nominated! I'd love to learn more about you, as always!

Little Things

Here are a few of my little things today:

A couple of days ago I opened up the mail box and discovered this beautiful strawberry inspired hat for Cordelia, a gift from my blogger friend Keia (you can read her blog here).

Last night I met up with my friend Sarah and went for a glorious two hour hike. Actually we beat the old two hour record and whittled it down to one hour and forty six minutes. I am a little competitive and since I don't like to compete with others (brings out my dark side, we'll call her Lucinda), I just try to compete with my own self. Works best for all parties. Anyway, I kicked my own butt yesterday! I also enjoyed great conversation and breathtaking views of wild Wyoming.

When I got home from my hike Eric thanked me for taking some time for myself and then he just raved about our little lady and how sweet and wonderful she is. I guess they had some good father/daughter bonding while I was away.

Thrifty donation

Eric and I also went through our stuff and came up with a bag to drop off at the local thrift store. The hard part is dropping it off without going in...

Nothing more attractive than a man who puts away his own laundry.

My tomatoes

I am still getting tomatoes from my container garden. The grasshoppers have done away with the lettuce, but I can go into the grocery store and buy lettuce, they can't. I won't begrudge them the lettuce as they left my tomatoes and herbs alone.

My budding (pun intended) horticulturalist.


My wonky-footed pup, Bumblebee.

What are your little things?

Went to the Market, the Stones Stayed Home

Bumblebee has been a bit ill lately (shhh...chronic bladder infections). Eric took her to the vet on Monday and let me know that our "hippie vet" required x-rays the following day. Let me say that I met the vet and I am pretty unclear about the exact reason that Eric has for calling him a hippie.

Anyway yesterday morning I packed up Cordelia and Bumblebee for a trip to the vet. I hate leaving Bum at the vet, but it was necessary. I left the house feeling a little bummed about leaving Bee. Then I headed out and things quickly digressed. Cordelia cried, Bee whined, Bee puked her medicine up, I couldn't find the vet. While it was happening it wasn't all that funny, but now I'm laughing about it. Why not?

When we finally found the vet there was another basset hound there, named Diesel. For some reason that made me feel a little better. I left my little pup in their professional care and Cordelia and I went to check in with my mother (who is still recovering at home).

When I picked Bumblebee up a few hours later I got to take a look at her x-rays. She has bladder stones and she'll need a little surgery. Not too worry, the procedure isn't a big deal and she isn't in pain, it's just a way to keep the [whisper the next two words] bladder infections under control. When they brought her to the waiting area for me she was drugged up, like really drugged up. She's pretty entertaining when she's druggy, falling into and out of the car, but with a great attitude. She spent the rest of the day sleeping. Cordelia kept laying toys in front of her sleeping pal and giving her hugs, it was so sweet.

Later in the day we decided to head to the farmer's market and scope the scene, we left Bumblebee and her bladder stones to rest at home. There was music, food, fruits and veggies. The best part was when Eric was taking the beautiful photos you see below. I had stepped away to inspect the peaches and when I looked back there was a chubby boy with a thick Russian accent he was maybe around 8 years old, quizzing Eric about the camera. He had a LOT of questions and turned out to be quite a chatty little fellow. I watched the encounter from the sidelines and laughed as Eric sweetly answered his questions and patiently listened to his tales.

Then we headed to the hay bales to listen to some tunes. Cordelia was on the go. I looked at the other mothers bouncing their immobile babies, but then I had to look back to my little lady because she was off, trying to make her way to the pup laying in the grass. I love her independent spirit and her courage as she takes on the world.

After the market we came home and enjoyed a relaxing night in. What was your day like?

P.S. All of the photos are by my hubby.