Hazy shades of winter

Happy birthday, killabeez!! I am so glad that you are here (both on earth and in Seattle!!). It's a privilege to know you.

And thanks for the birthday wishes of my own this past week. I didn't get to go to Portland like I'd hoped, but we may still go down next weekend if things work out. I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do with the dog, but hopefully somehow she'll be taken care of. I had a lovely lunch on my birthday with killabeez and Mr. Killabeez and kerithwyn up at Cafe Presse, and went from there to dinner at this new Irish pub & restaurant in my neighborhood with my neighbor ladies. By the time I got home, I'd had more than too much to drink from the day, so I just plonked down on the couch and watched TV. A good birthday, all things considered.

I have, though, been thinking so much of Sandy and my sister. It's the time of year, and just the feeling of missing them both so horribly. Of how unfair it all is. It was so bizarre to have our annual turkey bash with the Cannibals, and not see Sandy there, chomping on a turkey leg, being the life of the party as always. And every year, not getting the phone calls all day from sis_r, if she wasn't here already to have our birthday together. Life feels very empty.

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Yesterday I took TIlda all the way up to Woodinville to meet a woman who wanted to adopt her. Not only was she incredibly late and I had to wait around for 45 minutes, but then she dithered for another couple hours while I tried to answer all the questions and let her walk Tilda with her blind, geriatric Bichon who didn't seem to be interested in Tilda much. But honestly, it's a terrible place for the dogs to meet -- a busy adoption event at a pet store, full of barking dogs and people. So three hours later she decided to pass because her dog wasn't bouncing with joy, and I was grumbling about having too much work to do to deal with that. Poor Tilda was so confused and tired and thirsty and hungry. I was secretly hoping she wouldn't get adopted, so it doesn't bother me, but it bothered me a lot that I had to spend that much time and drive that far if she was already unsure and the whole thing was hanging on a very elderly dog bonding immediately with her, in a strange and challenging environment. At least we met a woman in the parking lot who loves pugs and she said she would check the web site to see if the adoption went through or not, because she was instantly in love with Tilda when we ran across her.

It's so weird that this poor kid has been passed over so much. I get people being wary about the kennel cough, but man, she is so adorbs, I would have waited on her if that was the case. She is a wonderful dog and if my life weren't so freaking stressful, I would keep her, no doubt. We've really only had one bad day, and one potty accident, and that's it for behavior problems. There are things I'm working on, for sure, like her maniacal barking and caroming off the dash and windows and seats when she's left in the car if I go into the store, but everything is really small compared to the kinds of behavior issues most dogs have who've been in difficult situations like hers. Her barking is so funny, though -- it sounds like... well, I don't have anything to compare it to, it's so crazy. We stopped at a 7-Eleven yesterday on the way home for liquids, and this guy was eating something in his truck, parked next to me. He said out the window, "I have to say, I've never heard a bark like that. It's really something." And I laughed, and said, yeah, and sometimes she sounds like a Wookiee, too.

This morning the guys from the crew that put in my new back yard came to winterize things and to cut down my beloved golden chain tree. It looks naked back there now. The trunk was so rotted that there were sections where it was hollow in the middle. And they didn't even have to grind out the roots much -- most of them were already rotten. I guess I'm glad it won't fall over on the new garage or the new addition or the new deck. But I really miss it and the birds it brings, not to mention no bees come April. I'm considering planting a new one out front, and putting in a mimosa out back in its spot. But that's not till spring. Which, at this juncture, feels terribly, terribly far away.

Now I have to start posting my latest job to the client so it'll be there for her Monday morning, and then I have to get started on Festividding and Yuletiding, OMG. [insert PANIC here]

Hazy shades of winter

Happy birthday, killabeez!! I am so glad that you are here (both on earth and in Seattle!!). It's a privilege to know you.

And thanks for the birthday wishes of my own this past week. I didn't get to go to Portland like I'd hoped, but we may still go down next weekend if things work out. I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do with the dog, but hopefully somehow she'll be taken care of. I had a lovely lunch on my birthday with killabeez and Mr. Killabeez and kerithwyn up at Cafe Presse, and went from there to dinner at this new Irish pub & restaurant in my neighborhood with my neighbor ladies. By the time I got home, I'd had more than too much to drink from the day, so I just plonked down on the couch and watched TV. A good birthday, all things considered.

I have, though, been thinking so much of Sandy and my sister. It's the time of year, and just the feeling of missing them both so horribly. Of how unfair it all is. It was so bizarre to have our annual turkey bash with the Cannibals, and not see Sandy there, chomping on a turkey leg, being the life of the party as always. And every year, not getting the phone calls all day from sis_r, if she wasn't here already to have our birthday together. Life feels very empty.

-----
Yesterday I took TIlda all the way up to Woodinville to meet a woman who wanted to adopt her. Not only was she incredibly late and I had to wait around for 45 minutes, but then she dithered for another couple hours while I tried to answer all the questions and let her walk Tilda with her blind, geriatric Bichon who didn't seem to be interested in Tilda much. But honestly, it's a terrible place for the dogs to meet -- a busy adoption event at a pet store, full of barking dogs and people. So three hours later she decided to pass because her dog wasn't bouncing with joy, and I was grumbling about having too much work to do to deal with that. Poor Tilda was so confused and tired and thirsty and hungry. I was secretly hoping she wouldn't get adopted, so it doesn't bother me, but it bothered me a lot that I had to spend that much time and drive that far if she was already unsure and the whole thing was hanging on a very elderly dog bonding immediately with her, in a strange and challenging environment. At least we met a woman in the parking lot who loves pugs and she said she would check the web site to see if the adoption went through or not, because she was instantly in love with Tilda when we ran across her.

It's so weird that this poor kid has been passed over so much. I get people being wary about the kennel cough, but man, she is so adorbs, I would have waited on her if that was the case. She is a wonderful dog and if my life weren't so freaking stressful, I would keep her, no doubt. We've really only had one bad day, and one potty accident, and that's it for behavior problems. There are things I'm working on, for sure, like her maniacal barking and caroming off the dash and windows and seats when she's left in the car if I go into the store, but everything is really small compared to the kinds of behavior issues most dogs have who've been in difficult situations like hers. Her barking is so funny, though -- it sounds like... well, I don't have anything to compare it to, it's so crazy. We stopped at a 7-Eleven yesterday on the way home for liquids, and this guy was eating something in his truck, parked next to me. He said out the window, "I have to say, I've never heard a bark like that. It's really something." And I laughed, and said, yeah, and sometimes she sounds like a Wookiee, too.

This morning the guys from the crew that put in my new back yard came to winterize things and to cut down my beloved golden chain tree. It looks naked back there now. The trunk was so rotted that there were sections where it was hollow in the middle. And they didn't even have to grind out the roots much -- most of them were already rotten. I guess I'm glad it won't fall over on the new garage or the new addition or the new deck. But I really miss it and the birds it brings, not to mention no bees come April. I'm considering planting a new one out front, and putting in a mimosa out back in its spot. But that's not till spring. Which, at this juncture, feels terribly, terribly far away.

Now I have to start posting my latest job to the client so it'll be there for her Monday morning, and then I have to get started on Festividding and Yuletiding, OMG. [insert PANIC here]