As our plans for Thanksgiving solidified this fall,
I knew I needed to find a place for our sweet Annie to stay while we were out of town.
I called our vet early on, and was surprised to discover they were full!
Weeks in advance!
And I was a few animals deep into the waiting list.
After a lot of calling around and worrying,
it hit me that I have a friend who might be willing to help.
She was wonderfully willing to dog sit.
I was so relieved.
I figured Annie would be easy, a piece of cake
... but of course, she proved me wrong.
While we were gone:
She shed a massive amount of hair on a daily basis. She threw up. She developed an ear infection and shook her head non-stop, causing her collar to rattle all night. She threw up again. She snored loudly. She threw up yet again.
Sometimes I'm driving down the road, looking only ahead, until I am forced to stop at a light, and I find myself looking around, and I realize the beautiful sunrise behind me. I might have missed it if I hadn't been looking.
Now I find myself being more observant, and I keep looking for that sunrise.
Have you seen any sunrises lately? What do you see on your drive?
My teenage son was sick with strep throat, so I worked from home in order to take him to the doctor, get meds and make sure he was okay. He was grumpy, but bearable.
However, when my 10-yr-old son returned home from school, that's when the fun began. Grumpy, sick, restless teenage son started messing with his little brother, who is notoriously short-fused.
Little brother lost his temper and kicked older brother in the knee ... older brother's inured knee.
Older brother lost it and smacked younger brother back ... which had me jumping into the argument, yelling, the dog hurrying from the room due to all the angry noise.
Moments like these make me wonder what I'm doing wrong. or right.
Am I raising heathens?
How much to punish, who to punish?
What could I have done preventably to keep this from happening in the first place?
Is it even possible to keep this from happening?
Why are boys so physical?
Please tell me other people have moments like this with their children.
Moments where they want to tear out their hair and lock up their kids in the closet and seal their mouths with duct tape.
Last March, while visiting San Francisco,
I experienced a local legend in action.
The Bush Man of San Francisco.
Outside the Alcatraz Ferry Pier, on Fisherman's Wharf, was a man.
A man, sitting on a milk crate, hidden behind large eucalyptus branches.
And ever so often, he would lunge from the bushes and yell at unsuspecting tourists,
causing them to scream and jump in fright.
And hoping to earn tips.
People (us included) stopped to watch as he scared other tourists who walked by.
It was very entertaining.
And strange.
I read Bared to You and Reflected in You by Sylvia Day for the BlogHer Book Club.
These two books are part of a series.(Crossfire Novels)
I think I read them both in one day.
Adjectives that come to mind after reading them:
intense.
steamy.
passionate.
Eva and Gideon are both damaged on the inside, but they fall in love with an intensity that scorches the pages. It's pretty hot.
However, they have to deal with insecurities and overcome some adversities to make their relationship work.
Usually I don't like the books with intense love-at-first-sight, all-consuming obessive love affairs, because the characters act stupid. (Like Twilight) But, I was able to put that aside and enjoy this series. It was fun to read.
And the true test of a enjoyable read, would I be willing to buy the next book in the series?
Yes. I think I would.
This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
I love to give personalized gifts.
And I also love to receive them.
So, I jumped at the opportunity to order a personalized, Alphabet Photography framed photograph for my home.
First
I chose my word, then I typed it into the website, where they showed me
the photos that would represent each letter. What was really cool was
that I was able to change the photograph for a letter, if I didn't like
it. (there were 40 or more photo options for each letter!)
When my shipment arrived, I was so impressed with how well packaged it was.
(and I wish I'd taken a picture before I tore into it!).
I absolutely love it.
The high quality impressed me.
The photos were taken by award-winning photographer, Jennifer Blakeley.
They used a 3” solid wood frame with a dark Chocolate finish accented with gold leaf.
The frame is matted with a museum quality double mat with a V groove.
It is even hand signed and dated by the artist
I know exactly where I'm going to hang it.
It gives my living room a little more pizazz,
a little more personalization
and a great conversation piece.
I love the photography!
Now I want one for each of my boys.
Good Christmas gift idea!
Great house-warming present.
Alphabet
Photography photographs everyday objects that resemble letters of the
alphabet,
and then arranges the photographs in a collage to create any name or
word. They have over 1000 photos from around the world to choose from.
See how it works:
The perfect customized gift that includes photographs from all over the world, this is the original Alphabet Photography.
Celebrity owners include: Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate, Tyra
Banks, Ryan Seacrest, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, John
Schneider, Nelly Furtado, and many more!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Alphabet Photography. The opinions and text are all mine.
Today I waited in line in 40 degree weather to do my civic duty.
I stood in this line for an hour and a half.
I probably should have done early voting,
but there's something kind of wonderful about coming together with fellow Americans
as we exercise our right to vote.
There's bonding. A sense of pride and solidarity, no matter who we're voting for.
I don't really drink.
I'm not against drinking,
but I just really don't drink alcohol.
I don't buy it.
I don't have it in my home.
Maybe because I have had some alcoholics in my life?
I really never drink,
Except on a rare occasion ...
like the one a few months back
when I saw these adorable, individual-sized wine bottles
at the grocery store.
So, I picked up a couple,
bought them,
took them home
and put them in the refrigerator
to promptly forget about them
for months.
Until tonight.
Tonight, I decided I felt like a little wine.
I had to hunt through my refrigerator to find those tiny bottles.
About halfway through one bottle,
I was done,
that was enough.
And then my 10-year-old found it and looked shocked.
(I told you, I never drink)
Then he ran to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
When he came back to me, he said, "Darnit, we don't have any orange juice."
What?!
He continued, "We can't make mimosas."
WHAT?!
"Remy, how do you know what mimosas are? When have you had a mimosa?"
He game me a little smile and said, "Oh, I've had one before, they're great."
