book review: marley & me

I know, I know, I’m not supposed to be blogging, but I’ve started reading the most amazing book — which I know y’all have heard of and may have already read – and I wanted to share my reading experience with y’all.

I’m sure many of y’all have heard of Marley & Me. It was a book that came out in 2006, and later in 2008 was made into a movie starring  Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson.  I admit I have wanted to read Marley & Me for some time now, but was skeptical that the book might not live up to all the hype.  Well, I am nearly 100 pages into the book and I’ve lost count with how many times I’ve laughed so hard that I had tears running down my face, or actually had tears of sadness well up in my eyes. The author has a mesmerizing writing style that hooks you instantly.  And while I am not  finished with the book yet, I whole-heartedly recommend it.  Also, the paperback edition that I am reading came from the bargain book section of my local BN — under $5!

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday for the last time

Well my bloggy peeps, I’ve been hemming and hawing over this post and I have edited it way too many times and I still don’t know if it says what I want it to say   But I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not going to write anymore new posts on a regular basis.  For me, writing posts, even if I scheduled them ahead of time, started to become a bit of a chore.  I may though,  on occasion, post a blog to share pictures of a sewing WIP  or maybe pictures of a yummy new recipe I’ve tried.   

I’d like to thank y’all for taking the time to visit my little nerdy neurotic blog and leaving me so many kind and lengthy comments.  Through blogging and flickring, it’s been very nice to connect with people from all over the world through a common love for stitching, reading, 4-legged furry family members, and weirdness — but now I feel the need to step back from this kind and generous online community.  I’ve been doing pretty good with my New Year’s resolutions so far:  more reading, more Scrabble, more trying new recipes, more chasing Benjamin around the house and playing hide n’ go seek, but most importantly, more quality time with the hubby and four-legged furry child.

And since I’m saying good-bye on a Wednesday, I should share one last weird thing about me.  But you know, I probably have enough weirdness in me that I could have named my blog ‘Keeping it Weird Since Yesterday.’  I am left-handed and so is my whole family which sounds pretty impressive until I follow that up by admitting that I am an only child.  But my hubby is left-handed too.  He has told me lately that he has gotten weird and neurotic about certain things.  I think my weirdness is contagious.  Viva la weird!!!

Are we allowed to pray for our pets?

I know it is common to pray for ourselves and our fellow-man, but are we allowed to pray for our 4-legged furry family members? Last night when I was petting Benjamin, my fingers felt a lump on his side.  I have no idea what this small lump is – it could be something, it could be nothing –  and of course I’m very worried.  We’re heading to the vet tomorrow morning — we’ve been going there since Benjamin was a tiny little puppy so I know we’ll be in good hands.        

I’ve often said that I love my dog as much as I love my husband.  Benjamin is my friend, my baby.  Benjamin is so kind, so loyal, so sweet, so funny, so loving, he is just so many things to me that I can’t bear to think something serious could be wrong. If it’s not wrong to pray for dogs, could you please keep Benjamin in your thoughts?

Edited 1/23/2010 12:45pm:  Thank y’all for your kind words and keeping Benjamin in your thoughts.  At the vet this morning, our vet inserted a needle into Benjamin’s lump to get a sample.  She feels strongly that it is, as Gretchen said below, an “old lady” fatty deposit lump, but hubby & I decided to still have the sample (now a smear on a microscope slide) sent off to the univeristy’s vet pathology lab to get a definitive answer.  We should hear something, either way, by the middle of next week.  Thank y’all again for your kind words and I’ll update this post again sometime next week — hopefully with good news!

Edited 1/27/2010 12:00pm:  The vet called to let us know that Ben has a tiny lipoma, aka an “old lady” fatty lump.  All is well!  I am so relieved!  Thank y’all for your concern!  We just have to keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn’t get bigger or cause him discomfort.  Personally, I don’t even think he knows he has it!  He was just glad to go the vet – he doesn’t mind being gently poked or prodded, because he knows he’ll get lots of pettings and treats from the vet staff! 

Benjamin is not a horsie

Clearly, I need to add “do more fun and exciting things outside of the house” to my New Year’s resolution list   Poor Benjamin, sometimes I think he wishes we didn’t have a digital camera.  But oh is he such a good sport about us taking crazy pictures of him.

“Crazy Chicken” is Benjamin’s new favorite toy.  Santa brought it!  And yes the toy does look a bit freaky, imagine how it looked peaking out of Benjamin’s Christmas stocking — eep!!  Most of the time when Benjamin runs around the house with his Crazy Chicken squeaky toy, I chase him around flapping my arms like a chicken.  He thinks it’s crazy fun.

Are these pictures below not priceless?!  Oh I laugh so hard when I look at them!  Clearly, Benjamin is wondering what the heck are his parents doing and why oh why does Crazy Chicken want to go on a horsie ride?!

And yeah, after that, the photo shoot was over   

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

The reason why I am fortunate enough to have never left behind my wallet, sunglasses, cell phone, etc… anywhere is that when I’m leaving somewhere (like the store or my office) I check, and then check again, to make sure said items are in my purse.  And then once I get into my car, I check, and then check again, as if my cell phone or debit card could have grown legs and leapt out of my purse on the walk from wherever I was to my car.

mid month recap

I’m recovering from perhaps a moderate case of the flu or maybe just a bad sinus infection.  Either way, I’m thankfully feeling better, but I am still very tired.  And my lingering cooties have left me with a runny nose and stuffy ears — but after reading lots on WebMD, I’ve switched from Sudafed to Advil in hopes that my eustachian tubes will become less inflamed and then start draining any fluid trapped in them.    

It’s in the high 60s today, nice and sunny and warm, all the more appreciated since it was cool and rainy over the weekend.  Benjamin can get a little stir crazy if he’s cooped up inside for too many rainy days so I know he enjoyed being outside today very much!     

 

We’ve started renting movies again.  It’s been years since we’ve done that.  I love the idea of renting movies but then I always feel like there is too much pressure to watch them and return them to avoid late fees.  A local video store lets you rent 5 not-new-releases for $5 for 7 days.  And yes, yes, I know netflix exists but I am stubborn.  Afterall, these words are coming from the person who thought CDs would not catch on, and now there are things like I-pods and MP3 players, whatever those are, that obviously are catching on.  (As a side note to the photos below, we rented ‘Children of Men’ again since hubby did not have time to see it the first time around).

Made pizza dough from scratch.  Recipe here, oh so yummy!  The pizza pan below came from Publix and was only $5 or $6.  A very good investment!  

Hope y’all are having a good January and New Year so far!

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

I am not a vegetarian (used to be, maybe I’ll try again in the future) but whenever hubby & I go out to eat I always order vegetarian.  For some reason, I fear food poisoning (which I’ve thankfully never had) if I order a prepared meat or chicken dish at a restaurant.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say I fear food poisoning (or am concerned about their observance of food safety rules) from “big box” type restaurants.  Yet, I have no problem selecting a chicken dish from a southern homecookin’ buffet or cafeteria kind of restaurant which doesn’t seem as clean and shiny as a ”big box” restaurant.

pictures of a tiny little benjamin

So last weekend, hubby & I went to Wolf Camera to print out our Christmas pictures.  I also found the CD that has Benjamin’s puppy pictures & thought I might share with you a few of my favorite puppy pictures.

Benjamin was a tiny little thing when I adopted him from our local animal shelter.  A wee little 12 pounds!  And check out those soft floppy ears!

The picture below is also from Benjamin’s first year, you can see him getting a bit bigger in size, but more importantly, you can begin to see his ears starting to stand up “alert” all on their own.  I loved his sorta floppy right ear, but eventually it stood up all on its own too!

I  think Benjamin surprised everyone by turning into an 80 pound dog!  More to love, that’s what I say!

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

Each night, I double-check the settings on my clock radio.  First, I press the “sleep” button to hear the music (and adjust the volume if needed) and then I press the “snooze” button to turn the music off.  Then I press the “wake” button to verify that my alarm is set for the correct time.  Then I repeat all the above steps.     

I really don’t know why I double-check everything as I am the only one who ever touches my clock radio.  I wish I could just get into bed and move the switch over to music wake-up and be done with it, but I always have to check to make sure everything is set right.  I’ve always envied that my husband can just get into bed, flip his clock’s switch, and settle into bed.

Trial separation

So back in late December I blogged about how I was considering not blogging in the New Year.  My main reason, which I think I forgot to share in that post, was that I wanted to more conscious of what I do (or don’t do) in my spare time.  I want to do crossword puzzles and other pencil word games in the evening — I think I have a tiny crush on my BananaGrams book.  Play more Scrabble.  Make time to read whatever book I’m currently reading in the evening  rather than just during my lunch break at work.  Benjamin would chime in and say that we should play hide n’ seek more often.  Watch less t.v.  

But something huge, at least in my little world, happened about a week ago.  My hubby has observed me for a year reading the Bible, and perhaps he is seeing little and big changes in me.  I know that I feel very different.  About a week ago my hubby said to me that he is very supportive of my Bible reading and knows that only good will come from it.  He added that he thinks it would be a good idea if he started reading the Bible too.  I had no idea how happy those words would make me feel.  I knew that last year when I began reading the Bible that it was my own journey – I didn’t realize how much I wanted someone to go on that trip with me….  

….Rather than a complete break-up, I have decided to have a trial separation with my blog for the entire month of January.  I have scheduled 4 “Keeping it Weird on Wednesday” posts that will ”go live” at 7:00am on January 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th.  I may pop in and post a few extra blog posts if anything going on in my life (weird or otherwise ) seems worthy of reporting.

Hhhhm, I don’t know how to wrap this post up properly.  Of course best wishes to y’all in 2010 and a HUGE thank you to everyone for leaving comments on my blog and saying kind things about my embroidery and sewing projects.