Monday, August 8, 2011

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I posted, so I have quite a bit to share. I've broken it into mini-chapters. Following you'll find Christmas in September Part 1, An Umbrella Would be Helpful, Health Care Coupons and A Little Bit Famous. A new adventure is coming up and I'll give you a hint: The post describing it will be entitled (re)Discovering Disney.

Christmas in September (Part 1)
     You may not know it, but I'm a tad obsessed with Disney's The Lion King. I watch it all the time (and yes, I still get teary when Mufasa dies). When I saw the preview for TLK on blu-ray (out October 4th-- Happy Birthday month to me!) to say I was excited would be the understatement of the century. Do birds fly? Do pigs eat everything in sight (probably?)? Then I was beyond super excited for TLK to come out on blu-ray. Then my friend told me that she saw that the movie-love-of-my-life was returning to theatres.

SAY WHAT?! That's right, Disney's epic THE LION KING is returning to theatres for a limited-time engagement. Yes, I will be at every showing, thank you for asking. Oh, and is there more? Of course there's more! It will be in Disney Digital 3D!!! I have yet to see a 3D film (outside of Disney World where, let's be honest, it's really more like 4D, since they spray you with water at the Little Mermaid stage show and you feel like bugs are crawling under you at the Bug's Life show (yes, Disney World is my mecca)). So it's only appropriate that The Lion King will be my first 3D experience. After all, it is my first love (sorry, hubby).

September 16th cannot come soon enough. Coincidentally that's also the day my Teach For America application is due. So 9-16 is my new favorite day of the year. Or is at least tied with Christmas for favorite day of the year. I'll post Christmas in September (part 2) after my first viewing of TLK in theatres.(!!) Or when I get out of jail for refusing to leave the theatre.

An Umbrella Would be Helpful
     I can't say I expected to be standing in the pouring rain in a bathrobe, rain boots and utterly umbrella-less.
 But morning commuters once again got a lovely look at a version of me most of the world is spared from seeing. The drowned-rat walking that beautiful collie must have been a sight to see. Then again, Charlie also looks like a drowned rat. Which must have made the whole scenario more interesting.
    The rain in Alaska is different than rain in the other places I've lived. Most of the time anything more than a semi-steady drizzle is called rain. So when my dollar-section umbrella broke after I'd used it 3 times (over 2 "rainy" months), I wasn't too worried. Summer was almost over and I'd barely used it because the rain was so inconsistent as it fell.
   At 7 a.m. one morning last week, Charlie woke me up with his tummy-ache face. I put on my hot pink bathrobe, grabbed his leash and shoved my feet in to my blue and white polka-dotted rain boots. I could hear rain when I first woke up, but expected it to be the same as it has been all summer.
   Once we stepped out the door of our building I realized I should stop expecting the weather to behave as I've always known it to. Because as soon as I get acclimated to some aspect of Alaska life, it changes. It was actually pouring down rain. And of course Charlie has to pace a lot and find a private spot to have his issue, so I ended up standing in the rain umbrella-less for a good 5 minutes. We were both rocking the drowned rat look by the time we returned to bed (both toweled off, of course. Stinky wet dog is way worse than just wet dog).

Health Care Coupons
  While I'm not a crazy coupon lady (yet), I do print coupons quite a bit (saves a ton!). J and I were talking the other night about coupons and then transitioned into the high cost of healthcare and he said he thought there should be coupons for healthcare.
 My response: Yeah, something along the lines of Free Stroke care* (valid only Monday through Thursday, 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., does not apply to other heart issues or anyone with known heart disease, insurance, blond hair, green eyes or long eyelashes.

Yeah, that's all. But we thought it was funny.

A Little Bit Famous
  My friend Melissa recently started a blog (it's great!) and I feel a bit famous. She cited me as her inspiration on both Facebook and in her blog. 2 internet mentions in one day? Heck yes! So I feel a little bit famous. Silly? Yes. Fun? Of course! Thanks Melissa!

That's all! Hope this makes up for my little absence. :)

....is it September 16th yet?


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Little Things Make Normal Days Great Days


I was completely hooked into Jen Lancaster's new book, If You Were Here (P.S., Finished it, loved it. Of course, I have a serious weakness for books about houses and her humor, so I was destined to love it anyway). I'd been reading before bed, but knew I'd need to actually get in my jammies and wash my face and whatnot. I went and did my pre-bed ritual and had left my book, open and bookmarked, on the bed so I could continue reading with the least amount of disturbance. When I walked into the bedroom this is what I found:

I can reads, too?

If the book wasn't upside down in this photo, I'd be convinced our sweet (read: dumb) Nala was actually smart and was in fact reading. But it wasn't...so assumptions about Nala's brain activity remain the same.

In other news, my Lion King movie poster (from the 2002 re-release at IMAX) arrived today. Disney Movie Rewards is my favorite club ever. Free Lion King movie poster pretty much guarantees my lifetime loyalty to you. J laughed when I mentioned removing the Monet print from its frame in order to immediately frame the LK poster. Apparently he thought I was kidding?


Monday, August 1, 2011

The Things We Do For Love

Years ago I got an e-mail that said something along the lines of "You can tell dog-owners who truly love their pets. You'll see them standing in the rain, holding an umbrella over their dog." If I knew who said this, I'd totally credit them, because plagiarism is NOT cool. But I don't. So, sorry.

I've been thinking about that post often. Especially when I'm out in the drizzly rain with my dogs. The girls HATE getting wet. Charlie LOVES it. In fact, he goes foraging through the highest grasses he can find to get even more wet.

Back on point. I was once again spending too much time reading Jen Lancaster's archives when Layla came and put her head on the couch beside me. Nala had the other end of the couch and I had my legs stretched out, taking up one foot of space between the back of the couch and the seat. Apparently Layla thought this space should be hers. She tries really hard to be subtle.

Here I am, innocently reading on the laptop. Layla sits on the floor and stares at me. Typically, this means she needs to go O-U-T (must spell, even in type, otherwise I will be obligated to actually take her o-u-t- because she can spell. And read, apparently. With her x-ray vision, since she's on the other side of the computer and not looking over my shoulder.) Anyway, moving on. Then she walks around the coffee table so she's now sitting a foot further away than she was five seconds ago. She stares at the empty spot on the couch. I pat it, inviting her up. She pouts. I snap and point and command her to get on the couch (sometimes an invite is not enough. You have to demand she sit next to you and allow you to pet her. She has this act down, trust me.) Does she get up on the couch? No. She moves a foot closer so she's in the same spot she was when we started this paragraph. She then puts her head on my wrist. Awe, cute. Petting ensues. Until I must scroll on Jen's page to continue reading.

The moment my hand leaves her head, she puts her head UNDER the computer, which as been comfortably resting on my lap, and tries to FLIP it out of my lap. For real. Subtlety just flew out the window. (But first she had to open the window, since our classy (Read: NOT) neighbors are smoking SO much outside that I had to close ALL the windows in our ENTIRE apartment).

It's only after she tried to sabotage my Jen-reading time that I realize what she wants. I move my legs and she jumps up on the couch, curls up precisely where my legs had been and falls asleep with her head on my ankle.

I can't even be frustrated, she's so darn cute. Also? I'm still a bit damp from holding the umbrella over the girls on our final walk of the night.