condensation crosses

driving to church (the woods) this morning

pouncey has 2 balls

and he lifts his leg when he pees! sometimes. okay one time.

favorite colors

it's a landslide of blue!

this is from 4th grade - 1986. 

why does everybody hate yellow?

holding hands...and feet

is that cunnin or what?

charles darwin on expressing love

Man himself cannot express love and humility by external signs, so plainly as does a dog, when with drooping ears, hanging lips, flexuous body, and wagging tail, he meets his beloved master. 

-charles darwin 

pouncey is great at expressing highly enthusiastic love

first grade diary

this was my first diary. i was 7 years old. seems so cute and innocent, right? where a girl who could barely write would write about bunnies and rainbows. 

but no, instead i filled it with the names of every kid in my class and graded their appearance, intelligence, and niceness. also added their phone numbers. 

what a little witch i was! as much as i'd like to be an INFP, there's no denying i am an INFJ. i probably should have channeled this judginess into becoming a college admissions officer. 

boys impeticular

this is what happens when you make third graders do current events reports

scissorpaws

pouncey is so pigeon toed that he is scissor pawed! never is this more apparent than when he is bounding through a meadow. 

he also does a mean chow chow impression: 
 

the grace of the nacho

behold! the most nimble 9 and a half year old labrador retriever on the planet! able to transform himself into a rainbow to leap upon a rock! it's nachodoggy! and his sidekick pouncey tennisball mouth!

a very romantic moment

wicked beauty

pushin the good vibes

this isn't an entire "great list" like betsy does every friday, but here is my attempt at finishing this week on a positive note!

see that sticker behind smiling pouncey's face? it says "pushin the good vibe!" 

pouncey is pretty good at that.

it's a line from an ALO song "country camper."

"country camper" can be streamed for free here. the whole show is on archive.org here.


you don't even have to listen to get the gist of this funny story.

 "country camper"

it was obvious enough
that we weren't going anywhere too soon
side of the road
LA traffic friday afternoon

from where i was standin
it was worse than i'd feared
her front had disconnected
from her rear

freedom never came so easily
for my country camper
on the dodge chassis

i guess i had the fever
ever since i was a little man
a life so free of maintenance
you store it in the back of your van

she was a thing of beauty
1979
and i was feelin lucky
pushin the good vibes

and my heart was thumpin
as i drove her off
hit the freeway
destiny laughed and coughed

cause freedom never came so easily
when it costs more than you can afford to be free
sometimes the dream is better than the real
sometimes the dream is better than the real
thing

better than the country camper on the dodge chassis

well uncle sam bought her off us
for a thousand bucks and a lunch
sometimes you gotta cut your losses
while there's something left to be cut

freedom called us
and we did her dance
lost our shirts
and forgot our pants

sometimes the dream is better than the real thing
better than a country camper on a dodge chassis
*****

here's an example of a country camper:

i hope everybody has a wonderful weekend and all good vibes are pushed to their limits!

puppy puzzle

they go together rama lama lama ka dinga de dinga a dong

though the thyme leaves seemed dreamlike on account of that frosting

i am sick. so so sick. haven't been so sick since elementary school. i've been to the doctor, gotten awful though helpful antibiotics, and all that's left now is to keep warm, drink tons of tea, and wait. 

the morning frost crystallized the herb garden.

Thyme has a long history of use in natural medicine in connection with chest and respiratory problems including coughs, bronchitis, and chest congestion. 

It's anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, kills staph infections, strep throat, e.coli and more. See also, basil.

herbs glorious herbs.

mama? is that you mama?

watching the 'nature' show on pbs last night called 'odd couples' about different species of animals being friends. basically it was different animals (cheetah, deer) that were friends with retrievers. retrievers are very friendly animals!

pouncey was EXTREMELY interested in this show. he went right up to the screen when the dog who could have been his twin was pouncing around. he sat 6 feet from the tv and watched intently until it ended. when they showed other animals (goose and tortoise) he was not interested.  maybe his little pea brain works better than i give him credit for!

pets for obama

4 out of 4 dogs agree, obama with peanut butter on his ears beats riding on the roof


also cats find shelter under obama: 



 
and moose:

pouncey scribbles

not one to be outdone by his budding artist cousins, pouncey took a pen and made his own drawing on his dog bed! i see similar theme and execution - definite family resemblance.

this is what halloween in the 70s looked like

snow capped fall color

also a roof with sun tunnels

chris smither

i won another contest!

my answer "new orleans" gained me 2 tickets for the chris smither show last night at the grey eagle from the sweet blog ashvegas.

i love his songwriting. the lyrics ring true. i love his guitar playing. his fingers are confident.

 "Leave the Light on"

If I were young again, I’d pay attention
To that little-known dimension
That tastes of endless time
It's just like water, it runs right through our fingers
But the flavor of it lingers
Like a rich, red wine

In those days we were single – and we lived 'em one by one  
Now we hardly see ‘em – they don’t walk - they run
But I got plenty left I’ve set my sight on
Don’t wait up - Leave the light on
I’ll be – home - soon

I’ve never seen my life in such a hurry  -  
But if I start to worry – 
I get left behind
It’s like a party, but you don’t get invitations – 
and there’s just one destination
You better be on time

For years we rhymed in couplets - 
And we sang ‘em two by two
Now we hardly rhyme at all – but here’s a few
And if they hurt, there’s bullets left to bite on 
Don’t wait up - Leave the light on  -  
I’ll be – home - soon

That drummer in my head needs inspiration
There’s a lack of syncopation – 
the holes need to align.
It’s just so hard to leave these cages that we think in
By stages we just sink in - 
to a slow decline

For years we lived in waltz time – 
and we danced three by three
Now it’s hard to dance, but if you'll stick with me –
We’ve got what we need to spend the night on -  
Don’t wait up - Leave the light on  - 
I’ll be – home - soon

These races that we’ve run were not for glory - 
No moral to this story –
We run for peace of mind 
But the race we’re running now is never-ending. 
Since space and time are bending, 
There’s no finish line - 

But I'll live to be a hundred  - 
I was born in ’44 -  
32 to go, but I ain’t keepin’ score - 

I've been left for dead before  - but I still fight on – Don’t wait up  

Leave the light on
I’ll be home soon

I been left for dead before  - but I still fight on Don’t wait up 

Leave the light on
I’ll be home soon

the show ended with this cover "killin' the blues"



good lord 

live music is best

happy 40th anniversary

40 years!

that's longer than i've been alive!

what are they drinking here? bourbon? cranberry juice?

my dad's tuxedo is brown.

my mom is barely 21 years old. 

this is what weddings looked like in 1972. patterns, accordions.

 here's wishing the lovely couple 40 more years of wedded bliss! 

nacho & guacamole

i won a contest!

from the fantastic site betsylife, partnered with wholly guacamole.

a cooler just showed up at the door full of vacuum sealed guacamole and salsa!

fiesta! foreva!

autumn is a second spring...

...when every leaf is a flower - albert camus

happy birthday DAD

happy birthday to the greatest DAD, aka big popi!

this picture reminds me of what my brother chris looks like these days - exhausted but full of love!

eli

would like you to throw that ball

self portrait shadow

mushroom ball paw

fall colors pouncey

fall seems pretty early this year. but it's pretty pretty too.

don't drink the kool aid

this ad is from 1975.

"so do something sweet for yourself. save yourself some money. mix your sugar with our unsweetened kool-aid."

what kind of craptastic advice is this? 

put kimmy back together!

the year was 1980 ish.

the family had 3 kids under 6 years old.

the family had some gerbils.

the gerbils were kept in a cage with a wheel in the spare bedroom.

they named one of the gerbils kimmy.

kimmy learned how to escape her cage and was found in another bedroom.

for the safety of kimmy, everybody agreed to make sure she stayed in her cage in the spare bedroom.

one of the boys was playing with her and she tried to run out the door.

the boy may or may not have looked like this.  

the boy slammed the door shut to keep kimmy inside.

the door slammed shut on kimmy.

kimmy was split in half.  there were two arms on each side of the separated animal.

the boy screamed at his mother for the first time

PUT KIMMY BACK TOGETHER!

the mother laughed.

the children got a cat.

the children named the cat princess mary.

princess mary lived for 20 years.

3 dogs asleep on a bed

they're so cute when they're snuggling!

week at the beach

a week at the beach was awesome.

we took the dogs, and they were good boys.




pouncey had some trouble staying in control. he wanted to pounce after everything he saw. dogs are not allowed off-leash until november 15, so this was a challenge. nacho and eli had a ball.



we took some loooooong walks on the beach.



we ate like kings. the place had a kitchen and kevin made seafood feast after seafood feast. we had an awesome dinner at the fat hen.



we turned a gift bottle of grey goose into daily 'boat drinks' that improved the tone of the whole week. we played lots of pro-kadima.



we boogie boarded. scrabble. rummy. chillin.



celebrated 4 years of dating. all was well. all is well.

as fantastic as the beach is, there's no place like home. 

nacho wants to say hi

busted

i tried to take a sneak picture of all 5 of us sleeping on the bed, and instead caught kevin & pouncey holding hands/paws.

nanny nanny boo boo