Second Blooming

RTT: Good TV, Birkin and Dog Cologne

 

I am better. I am not fully well, but at least I'm up and around. Thank you all for your well-wishes. Because I am weird, I located on the internet  THIS WEBSITE where you can go and click the "Hear a typical TB cough" link and you will hear just what my cough sounds like. Though I do not have tuberculosis. It's very pleasant. That was sarcasm.

____________________________________

During my lengthy confinement, I went crazy on Netflix and have to share TWO fabulous finds with you!

1. Top of the Lake

 

Damned good.

 

I LOVED this show. It's an amazing 7-hour mini series which takes place in New Zealand, and is directed by the great Jane Campion. Top notch acting and writing too. It stars Elisabeth Moss from MadMen, who does a flawed but pretty decent Aussie accent. It's a beautifully-shot whodunit, that kept me hooked until the very end. Holly Hunter is almost unrecognizable as a wise-but-weird androgynous guru woman...

 

Cool.

 

But the real star of the show is New Zealand. Which comes across as both shockingly beautiful, and frighteningly rough. Y'all MUST Netflix it.

2. The Fall

Another stylish whodunit starring an American actress doing an accent. This time it's Gillian Anderson, doing a posh London accent, which is also flawed but pretty decent. Another strong female character, another good mystery. I highly recommend it also.

___________________________________

My friend Amanda was saying something on Facebook about an Hermes Birkin handbag, so I started poking around on the internet to see just how much one of these goes for nowadays. Apparently, they are available for between $9000 and $150,000. For a purse. This one is available HERE for $65,000. (I put in the link just in case you're in the market)...

 

It's a $65,000  purple purse.

 

Now, my immediate thought was "What kind of person could possibly justify purchasing a handbag for $15,000 more than the median American household income?" I mean, how could you live with yourself? People are starving. Homeless. It's a purse!

But then I got to thinking...maybe I've just been living too close to the poverty level for too long. Maybe, I have simply never experienced a $65,000 handbag. That might be the most amazing handbag imaginable. That handbag might make its owner an ecstatically happy person. It might be something beyond imagining. I mean, I can see spending a couple of grand on a handbag. If I had the cash, I'd drop $2000 on a bag easy. So just imagine how much better a $65,000 bag might be.

What do y'all think?

____________________________________

Unfortunately...

 

 

That's it!!

 

__________________________________

Our little dog, Fancy, stinks. It's not her fault, she needs to go to the groomer. But since I've been in bed for a week, and Fancy wants to be in the bed with me, the stinking has become an issue. As in, she's been banned from the bed. Which makes her sad. So yesterday, Jude and I went to the Petco and purchased her a new shampoo and...I love this...cologne. Yes, her very own doggie cologne...

 

It's very pleasant.

 

So we gave her a shampoo and blow dry and spritzed her with her cologne, and now she's fabulous! And back in the bed!

___________________________________

That is the randomness for today! Go see Stacy and the others!

Night

Shhhhh.

At this very moment, I am lying in bed. In the dark.

Jimmy is safely asleep next to me. He has the tv on, and is ostensibly watching an old episode of The Twilight Zone. But really he is asleep. I know this because he is snoring.

Jude is safely asleep in his bed in his room. He read himself to the point of exhaustion, then accepted a kiss and let me tuck him in, rolled over and was immediately asleep.

Fancy, our little dog, is safely asleep on Jimmy's feet. She was asleep on my feet, but it drives me crazy, so I carefully rolled her across the bed onto Jimmy. This didn't wake up either of them.

The bedroom is lit by the soft light of the television and of the laptop, which is resting on a little tray on my lap. The rest of the house is dark.

A fan is blowing on me, serving the dual purpose of cooling me off and providing soothing white noise, which blocks out Jimmy's snoring. The curtains to my right flutter softly in the breeze of the fan.

I have just taken a nice hot bath, put on my nightgown and slathered my body with all of my various creams.

The sheets are clean.

This is my favorite time of day.

Everyone is fed and bathed and safe, right where they should be. It's peaceful and quiet and nobody is asking me for anything or needs me to do anything. It's the time when I can be completely alone, and yet completely surrounded by my loved ones at the same time. It's the time when I can be completely serving of my family, nurturing and protecting, and at the same time, completely selfish.

This is when I watch my Netflix shows. And play my computer games. And nibble on naughty snacks. And sometimes even have a nice glass of wine or a cocktail. All by myself. It's very indulgent.

Happy, happy.

Shhhhh.

____________________________________

This post was inspired by...

Prompt #2 -  Write a blog post inspired by the word: Night.

Spin Cycle: Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for...

1. Jimmy, my weird husband. I love him despite his weirdness. And quite possibly because of his weirdness. Yes, he is high-maintenance. Yes, he has his issues. But he has a tremendous heart, and great integrity, and I believe the fact that he is universally beloved by old people, babies, special-needs children and dogs, is testament to the true nature of his spirit.
2. My boy, Jude. Every day, I thank God for the gift that is Jude, for entrusting him to me in this lifetime. I truly understand how blessed I am to have been able to finally have a child at the advanced age of 42, many women cannot. He is my light and my joy. Even when he's a pain in the butt.
3. Having had my Mama and Daddy. I miss them tremendously. They died too soon. But I would much rather have had a short time with these two loving, intelligent, fine people, than a lifetime with lesser parents.
4. Jimmy's family. Mommy, Pop, Aunt Grace, Tony, Niki, aaaaaaaaall of the extended Italian family. I came to them as a very tall, non-Italian, Texan, orphan, and they whole-heartedly took me in and embraced me as family. I am blessed to have them for me, and doubly blessed to have them for Jude. A boy needs grandparents (I never had any) and he couldn't ask for better.
5. My family and friends in Texas. Though I don't get to see much of them lately, just knowing that they are there, that I still have a link to my past and my childhood, that there are people who remember the child I was, gives me comfort. Plus, they're a lot of fun.
6. Friends. I'm blessed with a number of amazing, quality people around me who I believe truly have my back. I like to think that I have theirs as well.
7. Jude's tiny Catholic school. I have found a tremendously close-knit, loving, supportive, like-minded community, who believe in nurturing a child's body, mind and spirit. I may not adore every aspect of the place, or every teacher (or every parent - oops, did I say that?), but I wouldn't want him to be anyplace else. Plus, they're a lot of fun too - we Catholics love to party!
8. My church and church choir. What are the odds that I could find a church that is so liberal, with a choir that is so traditional? Always a joy.
9. Our sweet little house. It's not fancy. It's not big. But it is ours. And it's home.
10. Fancy, our dog. The sweetest little dog on the planet.
11. Health. My health, Jimmy's health, Jude's health, the in-law's health. Don't ever want to take that for granted.
12. Work when I can get it. I'd like to get more of it. But I'm grateful for what I get.
13. My writer's group. We've only been together for a few months, but this small group of women have been instrumental in getting me focused on some real writing. It's become a safe place, much "this can't leave this room" sharing is done. I look forward to it every month.
14. My old friends from college, who I've reconnected with. The best people on earth, and truly, the funniest human beings I've ever known. I adore them all.
15. Jude's Fourth Grade teacher, Miss Johnson. (Cue the music) Haaaaalelujah! I am LOVING this young woman. She's new this year, and she's also the most creative and most engaging teacher he's had so far. She seems to love teaching, and love all the children. And Jude is doing so well with her! Very happy.
16. Jude has finally found his sports. After years of watching him struggle with baseball and soccer, he has found his calling. Or callings I should say. That boy can run and swim. He loves it and he's good at it. And a special thank you to Roger, one of the fathers at our school, who has stepped up and stepped in to revamp the athletic department, and created the school's track and cross country teams. Changed my boy's life.
17. All of you faithful readers. Who read my ramblings and put up with the fact that I am a terrible reader of other people's blogs. I truly apologize, and am grateful for all of you. Even you lurkers who never comment!
18. Southern California's beautiful weather. Thanksgiving Day? High - 73 degrees. Low - 54 degrees. Couldn't ask for better weather.
19. Grandma's china/silver/crystal/linens. The one and only benefit of being the soul survivor of your family - you inherit it all. I love, love, love setting a table with all of Grandma's beautiful and elegant belongings.
20. The love of cooking and entertaining. I really do love it - preparing a special meal and serving it for special guests. It's one of my favorite things to do. And I think of what Thanksgiving must be for folks who don't much enjoy the preparation, and it must be a real drag.
21. This year's table of Thanksgiving guests. Family, friends, friends who are like family. Beautiful people, every one. Love them all.
22. Leftovers. Enough said.
23. That nice hot bath at the end of the night with a big glass of Cran-Bourbon Orange cocktail. Aaaaaah!

I hope you all had a beautiful, love-filled Thanksgiving that was as excellent as mine.

___________________________________

Thankful spinners...

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me - THANKS #!

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me - THANKS #2!!

Nain at View From Down Here

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me - THANKS #3!!!

Kendra at Life in the slow lane - NEW on THURSDAY!

Stacy at Stacy Uncorked - NEW on FRIDAY!

I am thankful for all of you!

 ___________________________________

Next week on The Spin Cycle...

Holiday Cookie Exchange

It's the countdown to the holidays! And while it might prove tricky if we were to all try to actually send cookies to each other, I would love for us all to share our favorite holiday cookie recipes!!

Grandma Betty's Snickerdoodles? Cousin Mary Frances' Fudge? Aunt Hulga's Berlinerkransers? Share all your favorites! Your one very favorite recipe or a whole batch!

Spin it. Post it. I'll link it!

Share your spin!
Highlight the code.
Copy to your HTML.
Et voila! Linked!

<center><a href="http://www.secondblooming.typepad.com/" _mce_href="http://www.secondblooming.typepad.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://secondblooming.typepad.com/spincyclekeelyresize.jpg /" _mce_src="http://secondblooming.typepad.com/spincyclekeelyresize.jpg /" alt="Second Blooming"></a></center>

 

RTT: Vote, Korean Pop Star and Real Spiders

Lots of bidness today.

First of all...

Just do it.

 

___________________________________

Thank you to everyone who asked/prayed about how Mommy fared Hurricane Sandy. A couple of you even sent me personal emails asking how she was. She would LOVE to know that she is so cared about by people "from the internets", but I can't tell her because then she would know I talk about her. Anyway, thank you so much. She, Pop and Aunt Grace rode out the storm together on Long Island, and came out just fine, and luckily, their electricity came back on within 24 hours. A big tree blew over in the backyard, but thank God, didn't hit the house. Instead, it landed on top of the neighbor's above-ground pool and pretty much trashed it. We're hoping the insurance will take care of it.

Now, when I say that Mommy came through the ordeal just fine, I don't mean to say that she wasn't a total and complete nervous wreck, because she was. MUCH worrying and fretting and blaming and second-guessing. But hey, that's Mommy. Pop, the war vet, actually said to me "Gretch, it made me wish I was back in Korea." My b-i-l Tony and his wife, the Amazing Niki, STILL don't have electricity, and so are staying with Mommy and Pop. Now remember, I stay there for many weeks at a time every year, but Niki and Tony are locals and so have never experienced this joy. Niki called the other day, sounding like she was about to have  a nervous breakdown, and told me that her esteem of me has risen tremendously. She's asked me to please say a novena that she survives the ordeal. It would be nice if all of you would join me.

___________________________________

I had the nicest visit on Friday with Aimee from AimeeWrites!!

 

Me and Aimee - aren't we cute?

She was down in LA from Seattle, visiting her sister, and so after years of an avid on-line friendship, we finally got to hang out. Actually, I picked her up at her sister's office, and gave her my ten cent tour of Hollywood, which consisted of driving around to all of the hotspots and pointing to them out the window while the two of us gabbed and gabbed about every damned thing under the sun! I mean, we never stopped talking! I don't think we finished a single subject, just kept tangenting from thought to thought. Never a dull moment. We did stop for lunch, where we were joined by Elizabeth...

 

 

Me, Aimee and Elizabeth. All cute.

 

I realize that I look exactly the same in all of these long-arm shots. I should really stop taking them. Or maybe do a series of them. Kind of a retrospective of unattractive long-arm shots of me with various friends. 

Anyway, much fun was had by all. Aimee was just exactly what I thought she'd be like. Smart, funny, fun. Isn't that amazing? Every time I meet somebody I've only known through blogging, I'm never disappointed.

So if any of y'all are headed this way, let me know. I'm up for another ten cent tour if you are.

__________________________________

On Saturday, Jude FINALLY had his first swim meet. He did great! I realize that video of someone else's child's sporting event is exactly what all of you are dying to see, so I'd hate to disappoint. Here is Jude in the 50 yd. Freestyle...

 

That is me, hooting and hollering. And yes, he did win his heat by a LONG way, but unfortunately, it was a slow heat, and he didn't win a medal. But for a first time out, I think he did tremendously well.

__________________________________

For about 4 days this week, Jimmy and I BOTH kept forgetting to buy our little dog, Fancy, her food. She was completely out. I realize that we are just the WORST doggy parents! We kept going in to feed her and realizing that we still didn't have any food, but we were too tired and lazy to make a special trip to the store. It's pathetic. I kept feeling guilty and therefore filling her food bowl with her treats. Lots and lots of treats. And yesterday I found out that Jimmy had been giving her Honey Nut Cheerios!! Apparently, he would pour it into her bowl just like it was kibble, and she gobbled it up! This can not have been good for her, right? Feel free to chastise us both!

__________________________________

All the kids, and I do mean ALL the kids, at Jude's school are obsessed with this tremendously silly video...

 

Have any of you ever heard of it? It's a Korean pop star named Psy.  I can't figure out if this is a world-wide phenomenon, or just Jude's school. His school is right in the middle of Koreatown, and we have lots of Korean students, but Jude has discovered all sorts of "Gangnam Style" parodies on the YouTube, so it must be popular elsewhere. Who knew? I apologize to all of you who just listened to this video, because you will now be singing this song for the rest of...your life. I can not get it out of my head. "Heeeeeeey, sexy la-dy!" ERghhhh.

___________________________________

Yesterday, when I finally got around to taking down the Halloween decorations, I discovered a large, creepy, real spider living on the fake spider webs I'd wrapped around the bushes in front of our house. And I couldn't figure out quite how I felt about the poor spider. Did he just happen upon this enormous web and think "Hmm, maybe, if I hang out here, the other spiders will think I made this myself and be terribly impressed." Or maybe he was just very confused, and thought that maybe he'd spun this huge web and forgotten, but decided to stay there anyway. Or maybe he was just extremely enterprising, and thought "I don't know why the hell some human hung this web here, but it's mine now!" What do y'all think?

___________________________________

Happy Tuesday. Again...

 

It's the American thing to do.

and then go see Stacy.

RTT: Bad Dogs, Tea Towel and Stent

It's Tuesday, so it must be...

Yet another site courtesy of my friend Amanda...

Dogshaming

The funniest damned site I've seen in a long time. I'm dying for Fancy to do something dreadful so I can publicly shame her. Jude and I obsessed over this site for an HOUR, laughing so hard we both cried and slightly peed ourselves.

__________________________________

 This is the funniest commercial I've seen in a while. The kids performance is fab...

 

It's not funny enough to get me to buy a jar of Ragu, but funny nonetheless.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Do y'all remember back during the Royal Wedding how I was lamenting my desperate need for a Wills/Kate Wedding Commemorative Tea Towel? Well, my friend Stacy just got back from Great Britain and guess what she brought me??

Don't you love it?!! I want to figure out how to display it in my house, but don't know what to do. It's kind of a ginormous thing to frame. Hmmm. Ideas?

____________________________________

I'm sure you all remember Darren from Daddy/Daughter Fun Time, who was my substitute blogger when I first left for New York. Well, just a week or so after his substitute gig, he almost had a heart attack! Had to have a stent put in his heart. Scary stuff! He's on the mend, but he and Lynn and his daughters would certainly appreciate it if you would all keep him in your prayers for a while.

And better yet, drop by his blog and read his hysterical account of his hospital visit. Warning: much talk of man parts. I've told him that he is no longer allowed to feign embarrassment over my tendency to talk about hot flashes and menstruation after I just read two posts about his balls. Anyway, please, please, pretty please do me a favor and visit his blog and leave a comment with a nice long, lingering virtual hug. His posts - Stress Test and Stress Test Part 2. Both hysterical.

____________________________________

My friend Lannyl sent me this in honor of Mommy...

 

Just about sums it up.

_________________________________

Made this for dinner last night, and it was so good I ate a bowl about the size of my head. It's super easy and quick - 15 minutes to cook.

Summer Shrimp Capellini

1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on or off

8 oz. (half a package) capellini or angel hair pasta

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. salt

 1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 lb. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, red pepper, salt, pepper, shrimp and tomatoes. Cook until shrimp is opaque and firm. Cook in 2 batches if your pan isn't large enough to accommodate the entire recipe. Add basil to shrimp and toss quickly. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Thin pasta cooks quickly, so be alert. Drain. Pour shrimp tomato sauce over the pasta and toss. Serve with Parmesan if desired.

Yum!

___________________________________

 That is all for today. Don't forget to head over to Stacy's for more random goodness.

Summer Kick-off List

Today, Jude's school year ends at 10:00. 10:00 am. I mean, why the hell even have school at all, right? But that's their tradition. The last day of school is only 2 hours long. Our little family tradition is that we then drop by Jude's old preschool to say hello to his former teachers who always fuss about how BIG he is. We then go to lunch - this year we're thinking the new Hamburger Hamlet which is opening on Larchmont this very day. Pretty exciting. But after that? Nada.

So I sat the kid down and we made a list of stuff we want to do this month. Some things were suggested by Jude, others by me. I'm guessing that you will be able to figure out which ones were which. No doubt some of this will work it's way into a Camp Mama adventure soon.

1. Nothing

We decided that we should have some days when we do absolutely nothing. I am totally down with that. I'm thinking that "nothing" will include watching tv and playing video games. That kind of nothing.

2. Clean Jude's Room

I mean REALLY clean it. He has toys on his shelves that he hasn't played with in YEARS. And his drawers are overflowing with stuff he's outgrown. It's time for a serious purge.

3. Visit the Tallest Building in Los Angeles

For YEARS we've been saying that we were going to go to the top of the US Bank Tower in downtown LA. While not as horrifyingly lofty as the Empire State Bldg., it's still pretty tall (1018 ft.). High enough to satisfy Jude and to make me wish I had a Xanax. I'm thinking we can work in a ride on Angels Flight...

...and maybe lunch at Grand Central Market. And a trip to the downtown library. Could be good.

4. Computer for Jude + Roller Coaster Tycoon 3

While this sounds like a generous gift for the kid, it is in truth extremely selfish. Jude has suddenly discovered the computer. Yes, it's time, I guess. He is terribly, terribly interested in YouTube and such, and wants nothing in the world more than Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, which is a downloadable computer game. And since I am totally unprepared to hand my laptop over to him...we have decided to buy him a desktop of his own. The El Salvadorian computer geek dudes around the corner say they can hook me up with a cleaned up used desktop for super cheap. It will probably last about as long as you would think a super cheap used computer would last, but that's okay. Jude doesn't know this is coming, so DON'T TELL HIM. He will discover it when he gets home today after the hamburger. Shhhhh.

5. Outdoor Family Activities

The other day, Jude and I played tennis. I am a poor tennis player, and he is...9, so we're about equal. It was sort of amazingly fun. In the middle of our match (I'm using that word loosely, as we didn't really keep score), Jude said "This is what they call an Outdoor Family Activity." And he was correct. After the tennis, we decided that we should try to do some type of Outdoor Family Activity every day. This could include tennis, hiking, running or swimming. I want to get Jude ready for cross-country in the fall, and maybe we could start running together. I'm hoping this gets me in better shape. Wish me luck.

6. Fun with Fancy

I used to take our little dog Fancy on outings all the time. But I'm afraid that other than her daily drive to school, we don't take her around much anymore. So we're thinking we should start taking her on walks and hikes around LA. Runyon Canyon is a cool place that's super dog friendly. Maybe she'll get in shape too.

7. Clean up our white trash backyard

I need to do my annual start of summer cleanup - trimming the scraggly trees, potting some new flowers, hosing down the house. I realize that to most of you, the idea of hosing down the house is odd, but it so seldom rains here, that the house actually gets dirty and needs a bath. And then, of course, we need to clean out the "pool", which is full of leaves and crap. Maybe I'll stick the kid with this.

8. Get to the beach

June in Los Angeles means a peculiar weather phenomenon called "June Gloom". June 1 arrives and the entire city falls under cloud cover. It's very strange. The rest of America is hot and sunny, and here in sunny California, it's cold and dreary. This week has actually been unseasonably lovely, but in the past, it's a tough month to get the the beach. We are determined to give it a try anyway. Even if it means the usual - Jude boogie boards until he's shivering and his lips turn blue, and I sit in my beach chair huddled under a blanket. It's still fun, damnit.

9. Finally Building That Damned K-Nex Roller Coaster

We gave Jude this cool K-Nex Super Cyclone Coaster for Christmas...

...and it's still in the damned box. It proved to be a little bit more complicated than we thought. But now that Jude's the terribly mature 9 year old that he has suddenly become, I'm thinking we can bang this together in a couple of days.

10. Sleep late every day

Oh yes. Every day. Just thinking about it is making me slightly weak with joy.

So that's the June plan. We'll see how well we stick to it. I'm thinking we'll at least accomplish #1 and #10.  Do you have a plan to kickoff summer?

__________________________________

This post was inspired by...

Prompt #1 - Ten To-Dos in June.

Spin Cycle: 10 Things I Love

God is in the details.

1. Fancy's Ride to School

Every morning, our little dog, Fancy, rides with us to school. Over the past year or so, she has experimented with finding the perfect position in which she can enjoy her outing to it's fullest. She has finally decided that it is as such - her back legs are on the back seat, and her front legs are perched on the armrest between the drivers and passenger seats. So this is my POV when I glance to the right while driving...

She's my little co-pilot.

2. Larchmont

Not far from our house, and even closer to Jude's school, is a little shopping area on Larchmont Blvd. It's a pleasant little strip of small businesses about 3 blocks long, lined with pretty ficus trees. It's the kind of place where you can park your car, grab a coffee or an ice cream, and walk up and down window-shopping to your hearts content. We go there almost every day. And every time we do, we meet at least 3 people we know. It's like Mayberry right in the heart of Los Angeles. Many of the shops are owned by folks whose kids go to Jude's school, and we're all pretty serious about supporting the local businesses. It's my go-to place for almost all of my needs. If I had another life, I'd want to own Chevalier's Books, which has been there for about 50 years. I could happily grow into my dotage as "the lady at the bookstore".

3. My Choir

Some nights, I  just don't feel like going to rehearsal. I have so much to do and I'm so tired. But I'll go anyway, out of duty, and DAMN if I don't ALWAYS feel better. It's like medicine for my soul. Healing. Uplifting. Always a good thing.

4. L.A. Jasmine Season

One of the most excellent things about living in our temperate, always pleasant climate, is that we have flowers blooming year-round. But Springtime is the best time of all, because that's when the jasmine is in bloom. Nothing is as heavenly as walking along a sidewalk and being surrounded by the heady, heavenly aroma of jasmine. Makes me weak!

5. Salut!

Every time our little dog, Fancy, sneezes, Jimmy politely, and in utter seriousness, turns to her and says "Salut!"

6. Being a Pious Prius Owner

About once a month, sometimes once every TWO months, I need to fill my Prius with gasoline. It holds exactly TEN gallons. I will now pause for effect while that sinks in .........................................

7. Jude's Profile

8. 99 Cent + Savings World

While the City of Los Angeles is filled with hundreds of 99 Cent stores, the 99 Cent + Savings World on the corner near us is the most excellent of all! When they first opened a couple of years ago, I was upset that they stuck a tacky 99 Cent store so close to our neighborhood. But I have come to be their best customer. They carry everything you would ever need! A raincoat for your dog?

They've got it! Eyelashes?

They've got it! Rabbit ear antennae? A habitat for your turtle?

Got it and got it! They've got it all. And interestingly, most of the things I buy I didn't even know I needed! But hey, they're all only 99 Cents +.

9. Quiet Time

Sometimes at night, if I can get Jimmy and Jude to go to sleep early, I get to snuggle into the bed with my laptop. It's dark. It's quiet. So peaceful. Then I like to plug in my earpods and watch something from Netflix. Maybe I even get a little snack. And a drinkipoo. Ah.

10. Spinners

Ever since taking over the Spin Cycle from Jen, I've come to adore each and every one of you. Really truly. Y'all have no idea how thrilled I get when I receive one of those little comments that says "My Spin is up!". I get so excited. "Oh boy! What did they say?!" And it fascinates me how everybody spins their post. So thank you to all of you for joining in! It means the world to me!

_________________________________

As always, PLEASE be polite and visit each of this weeks Things I Love spinners! Much love, all around...

CaJoh at CaJoh

Nain from View From Down Here

Ginny Marie from Lemon Drop Pie

Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me

Claire at Incognitus Scriptor

SuziCate at The Water Witch's Daughter

Jen at Sprite's Keeper - NEW on FRIDAY!!

Michele at It's a Dog's Life - NEW on FRIDAY!!

Kendra at Life in the slow lane - NEW on FRIDAY!!

Spread the LOVE!!

__________________________________

Next week on The Spin Cycle...

Friends

 

Who's your Ethel?

BFF, bosom buddy, comrade, cohort, pal, playmate partner in crime. We're talking Friends next week. Do you have a best friend? Does your kid? Any peculiar or unexpected friendships? Man's best friend? 

Spin it up. Post it. Let me know. I'll do the linking.

See you next Friday.

Share your spin!
Highlight the code.
Copy to your HTML.
Et voila! Linked!

<center><a href="http://www.secondblooming.typepad.com/" _mce_href="http://www.secondblooming.typepad.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://secondblooming.typepad.com/spincyclekeelyresize.jpg /" _mce_src="http://secondblooming.typepad.com/spincyclekeelyresize.jpg /" alt="Second Blooming"></a></center>

 

The Mind of the Dog

What our little dog, Fancy, thinks about all day...

___________________________________

This post was inspired by...

Prompt #4 - List 7 things your pet thought about today.

RTT: Paper Dolls, Doggy Treats and XS

Daylight Savings Time has kicked. My. Butt. I swear, I don't remember ever having a harder time getting my system to adjust. I am dragging. Of course, it probably didn't help that I went to a party on Saturday night and didn't get to bed until 12ish, which was of course 1ish with the time change. And I may have had one or four margaritas. But still...By now I've had plenty of time to catch up on sleep, but I am still dragging. Why is that? Age? Is that it? Yet another symptom of getting old? Or am I just lazy. Ugh.

___________________________________

And speaking of old and lazy...I got into Jimmy's car this morning and realized that his clock on the dashboard, which I have complained about being set to the wrong time for 6 months, because he never "fell back" the last time Daylight Savings Time changed... is now the right time again.

___________________________________

LOVE these!!

Downton Abbey paper dolls!!

You can print them all out from HERE.

_________________________________

Sunday night, Jude and I were in the living room watching Who Do You Think You Are?, when suddenly I heard a bang in the bedroom. A little while later, I heard Jimmy cry out for me in a weak voice? What the...? We ran into the bedroom, and there was Jimmy, with his hand stuck in the window. I should explain that we live in a 100 year old house, which has a number of old house quirks. The sash cords in all the windows are of varying degrees of functionality. Rather inexplicably, the windows in our bedroom operate backwards - the bottom sash stays put, and the upper sash panes open and close. In other words, you open the top of the window by sliding it down. Odd, yes. So apparently, Jimmy had been trying to open the window and the upper part of the window slid down really fast and crushed his hand against the bottom part. Poor thing. I tried desperately to pull the window back up, but it was totally stuck with his hand squished in there. I finally had to stand with one foot on the bed and one foot on the window sill and yank up with all my might and finally freed him! It was really scary, we both thought his fingers had been cut off or something, but after a couple of hours of ice and a handful of Advil, he ended up with just some bad bruises. Whew. But Jimmy is a BIG BABY about this kind of thing. Believe me, Jude's stoicism in the face of pain and injury comes from MY side of the family, not Jimmy's. He's most certainly going to milk his injury for DAYS.

____________________________________

Our UPS man has ruined our little dog, Fancy.

The rather clever man keeps one of the pockets of his brown shorts filled with doggy treats. Every time we get a delivery, Fancy runs out to greet him - straight to his right pocket. She's become very well-trained. Unfortunately, not as a guard dog. Now, every time ANYONE comes to the door, she runs out and starts to lick their right legs, expecting to be given a treat. The other day, the FedEx man delivered a package, and when she ran out to him he said "Sorry, I don't keep treats like the UPS man!" I guess he's ruined all the dogs in the neighborhood!

____________________________________

Two miscellaneous boring business things...

1. Don't forget to sign up for the appSmitten newsletter - HERE. Every sign up I generate I get a whole DOLLAR. So far, I've earned enough for a very expensive cup of coffee. Please help me out and get a cool newsletter that will quench your app-loving thirst!
2. Don't forget to subscribe so you can get an email whenever I post. The sign up thingy is on the right sidebar down a ways.

____________________________________

And since you just put up with that dullness, I will reward you with these funny things...

____________________________________

Okay, you've worn me out. Dang, this time change thing has kicked. My. Butt. Oh wait, I already said that, didn't I. Well then you should head over to Stacy's for more random thoughters.

Bedtime Story Redux

Disclosure: This is a repost from two years ago. But I love it, it fits Mama Kat's Workshop's prompt so perfectly and it defines my marriage succinctly, so here you go...

Bedtime Story

11:45 PM

Gretchen has once again stayed up too late doing something important and meaningful on the computer while taking a hot bath and drinking wine. Satisfied after achieving a new personal best in Family Feud, she closes the laptop, gets out of the tub, dries off and covers her body with all of her various special creams. She brushes, flosses, pulls on pajamas, and exits the bathroom.

She tiptoes into Jude's room and finds him lying spreadeagle, having kicked off all the covers, but with one arm firmly clutching his four favorite stuffed animals. Sweet. She tucks the blanket around him, sticks her nose into his neck and inhales deeply, then gives him a kiss.

When she enters her bedroom, she finds Jimmy lying in bed, sound asleep, with the television blaring. As usual. David Letterman has just sat down post-monologue and is chatting with Paul.

She walks to her side of the bed and tries to get into her spot. Unfortunately, Fancy, the dog, has chosen Gretchen's spot as her spot, and is also sound asleep, legs and belly pointing to the ceiling.

"Fancy. Come on honey. You gotta move."

The dog looks up, pissed.

"Move honey. Come on."

The dog won't move. Gretchen manages to shove her slightly to the right, and jam her own legs into the tiny space allotted her by the dog and the husband.

She then carefully arranges her pillows the way she likes them. Five pillows. One particular pillow under her head, two special large pillows on each side of her, creating her little nest. Unfortunately, Jimmy has one of her special pillows under his head. Stealthily, she eases it out and eases a "not special" pillow into its place without waking Jimmy. Whew.

Pillows arranged, she then pulls yet another jar of special cream out of the bedside table and rubs it into her hands and arms, followed by Vaseline, which she applies to her lips and forehead wrinkles.

All ready for bed, she looks around for the remote control, so she can turn Letterman off. Damn. No remote in sight. She looks around on Jimmy's side. On the floor. Under the covers. No remote.

She extricates herself from the sheet and blanket and pillows and dog, walks over to the tv, and punches it off manually. She then crawls back into the bed, squeezes herself back under the covers and arranges her pillows again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. Satisfied, she reaches over to turn out the light on the bedside table.

"And the man said...banana!" says David Letterman. The audience laughs and applauds.

Gretchen sits up.

"What the...?"

The television is on again.

Puzzled, Gretchen looks around. The remote must be in the bed somewhere, and she has accidentally hit it. She does another thorough search for the remote. Nothing.

"Well, this is ridiculous." she says to herself.

Again, she extricates herself from the sheet and blanket and pillows and dog, walks over to the tv, and punches the button manually. A little harder this time. She crawls back into the bed, squeezes herself back under the covers and arranges her pillows yet again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. Sighing heavily, she reaches over to turn off the light.

"And my son Harry said...It was like a monster dance!" says David Letterman. The crowd roars with laughter.

"No way!" Gretchen says, sitting up again.

She looks at Fancy, who is sitting up now, looking disturbed.

"Fancy! Did you do that? Are you on top of the remote?"

Gretchen digs her hand under the dog, disturbing her thoroughly. No remote.

She searches under the sheets, under the pillows. She feels around Jimmy, careful not to wake him.

"Well this is just silly!"

Gretchen angrily kicks aside the sheets and blankets and pillows and dog. Gets up and walks around the bed, smacks the off button on the tv, gets back in the bed, jams her feet under the covers,  jerks the covers back over her and arranges her pillows yet again. Fluff, fluff, fluff, pat, pat, pat. She reaches over and quickly turns off the light.

Silence.

"Number Two: Do I get a jet pack?" Much laughter and applause from the Letterman audience.

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

Gretchen sits straight up in the bed, the room filled once again with the light from the television.

Gretchen then realizes that the bed is now shaking violently. She looks to the right and sees that though Jimmy still has his eyes shut, his entire body is shaking with laughter. Slowly, he pulls the remote out and hands it to Gretchen, never opening his eyes.

"Oh, VEEERRRY funny, Mister." Gretchen says, snatching the remote and finally turning the tv off.

Dramatically, she settles herself at last into her nest of pillows.

Slowly, a sound builds in the dark and quiet room.

It's the sound of Gretchen giggling so hard that she's crying. Jimmy joins her, and they both laugh themselves to sleep.

__________________________________

Inspired to repost by Mama Kat's Prompt #2 - A time you were tricked.