Guard Dogs

I've had the pleasure of spending a few lazy days at home this week (minus one trip for 'stickers and stuff', I've pretty much been around most of the day). These are the sort of scary positions my dogs spend most of the day in while patroling the grounds. I will say they do move from room to room with me as I float about, but once planted-it's straight back into formation.

Sneak Attack

I don't read 'dog stories' anymore. I don't want to read about a dog's death at 2, or 20-I don't want to know that everytime you read the book-the dog always dies, I prefer my characters living at the end of a good book! But...I just accidently read one (it was a gift from someone). Let me start with-it was a beautiful book, and it was so well written, but my throat hurts so bad right now from all the tears. By about page three I realized this lady was writing about the lessons her dog taught her-I know past tense writing when I see it!That's all it takes for the waterworks-even KNOWING a dog is going to die in a books starts me crying. One of my favorite little frivilous blessings to thank God for, is the companionship of my two dogs. So now, I'm going to go and squeeze my dogs necks until they refuse to sit still anymore, but I am posting my three favorite things the author said about dogs, I love it when someone else says the words I wanted to say, but have never been able to string together. So, a few of my favorite quotes that Anna Quindlen was able to put on paper in Good Dog. Stay
"Human beings wind up having the relationship with dogs that they fooled themselves they will have with other people. When we are young, it is our significant other, when we are older, it is the symbiosis we manage to fool ourselves we will always have with our children. Love unconditional, attention unwavering, companionship without question or criticism."
"For children, the point of having a dog is something like the point of having a mother and father. Our job is not to do but to be, not to act but to exist. We are bedrock, scenery, landscape, to be often ignored and then clung to during difficult or frightening or, occasionally, happy times. My mom, my dad, my dog, my home, immutable, to leave and then to return to at will and leave again."
...and my favorite....
"But the life of a dog is not much of a mystery, really. With few exceptions, he will be who he has always been. His routine will be unvarying and his pleasures will be predictable-a pond, a squirrel, a bone, a nap in the sun. It sounds so boring, and yet it is one of the things that make dogs so important to people. In a world that seems so uncertain, in lives that seem sometimes to ricochet from challenge to upheaval and back again, a dog can be counted on in a way that's true of little else."

My first crush.....

This weekend, I picked up the long awaited, much anticipated New Kids on the Block tickets! My friend Amber and I are headed to the concert in October, and I can't even muster up a little shame when I share this news. We may not be friends by the end of the concert b/c it turns out we BOTH had a crush on the same New Kid (Joe!) (along with a few million other 10 year olds around the world). Ahhhh to be young.....living in a bubble (that obviously had very poor accoustics b/c I used to call this 'music'). I can't imagine why I'm still single with this sort of swinging social life, and pool of interest ;o)....

July 4th, 2008

July 4th this year included a picnic with family, visited by a few grasshopper friends, and followed by a great fireworks show. Today's church service included patriotic music, including the songs from each military branch where church members and visitors who have served, or are serving stand during each of their songs-it gives me chills every time I see it. I always love July 4th-but there is really something exciting about a 4th of July during an election year-it brings us back to country roots. I'm looking forward to voting in November!

Kaboom Town

I have heard about Kaboom Town for years, I've passed the signs, and listened to the radio ads since my teenage years.....which were a FEW years ago....and this year-I finally went. It was the most crowded fireworks show I've ever been to, but now, I completely understand why. The fireworks we amazing, a live stage hosted acts all evening, with vendors to keep you well nurished, and a movie projected on a live screen closed out the evening after the fireworks. We were also treated to a military air show for well over an hour, which is something I've not experience-complete with paratroopers.

Blue Planet

Last night I went to the Myerson with a group of friends. For three days there was a conductor in town who had written the score for the TV mini-series Blue Planet. The orchestra played live as we watched the scenes on the large screen anchored behind the orchestra. It was truly beautiful, and I would recommend it if it's coming to a town near you. There were some breathtaking moments, and some that made me laugh. Anyone that knows me well knows that I have a fear of whales (stemming from too much Jonah and the Whale requested as a child, and recurring nightmares to this day)....I will say I'm pretty sure this series has cemented that fear. I'm boycotting Shamu for awhile. There were three songs that left me really sad. I know there's a circle in life (I saw the Lion King ;o)), but I don't like to see it. In the end-it served it's purpose-this is real nature, not Disney-but I always prefer the happy ending.