A Great Book!

I love a book that makes me cry. When I'm so attached to a character that when something tragic happens, the tears just flow. Yes, I admit to crying at something that is pretend. But the character is so real!

I just finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. It was published a few years ago and every time I see it on the bookstore shelf, it whispers to me. Some books scream "HEEEEYYYYY! READ ME! I'M AWESOME!" But this one just whispered things like "I'm a gem of a story. You're heart will love me. C'mon pick me up and read me." So I finally responded to it's quiet call when I found a copy in my laundry room. (Note, I did not steal, there is a shelf where people can leave magazines and books for others to enjoy.)

So, it was fate and it was free. And I read it and it was wonderful! It's a family story of love, loss, heart, loyalty and determination all told from the dog's perspective. I don't know about you, but any book where a dog is a central character, I am sold! I don't want to tell you what happens because you should just read it to find out. But I am going to quote something from the book. This isn't a spoiler exactly, but you will get a whiff of what is at the heart of the book. And remember, this is a dog talking.

"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to. When I am a person, that is how I will live my life."

The dog in this book also believes that monkeys are not the closest relative to humans, but dogs are. And he makes 2 points to prove his case. 1. The Dew Claw. To him it is "actually evidence of a preemergent thumb" and that the dew claw has stopped it's growth thanks to humans and their domestication of dogs and "selective breeding." We did that out of fear, because if dogs continued to evolve they in fact would be the dominant species and put us humans down in the totem pole.

But his second point is bloody brillant!
"Case-in-Point #2: The Werewolf. The full moon rises. The fog clings to the lowest branches of the spruce trees. The man steps out of the darkest corner of the forest and finds himself transformed into.... A monkey? I think not."

It truly is a wonderful, tug-at-your-heart-strings read. The author nails the dogs voice, his need to communicate with humans, his wish to understand more of why we do what we do, his undying love for his master. Read it. It's good.

Girlfriends

Wanna hang with some beautiful, witty, upbeat, positive, hilarious and caring gals?!


You should hang with these girls. And yes, I included myself in this.

These three are quality women who brighten my daily life with their laughter!

To Spring... {1}

Wanna know what's awesome?!

Getting a new haircut and attempting to rock some bangs for the first time since 2nd grade!


It's put a little extra spring in my step for rest of the day, that's for sure! 'Course it helps that I get home and my boyfriend is all smiles!

A new haircut, new shoes, and the perfect dress are a few things that I think will make just about any girl grin ear to ear.

8.9

Japan. I can't find words to express the shock, horror and sadness at what has happened in Japan in the last 24 hours. How do you prepare and protect for such a disaster? This earthquake was so strong in shifted the Earth's axis by about 2cm (heard on 20/20 tonight.) It's hard enough when the ground you trust to carry you shakes and crumbles but then to be swamped with wave after wave of water.... where do you go? How far can you run?

I'm watching Anderson Cooper on CNN right now and when I first tuned in, the video of the water just knocking everything down in it's path looked computer generated. All the debris in the water looked like an air-shot of a heard of animals running together in a vast landscape. Everything that we create as a species is destroyed and traveling in this fast-flowing water.

There are people stranded on the roofs of buildings, no one knows if there are people who didn't get out of there cars before they were swallowed by the waves. The things I never think of in situations like this were brought to the front of my mind when the quake hit Haiti last year. Things like going to the bathroom, no food, the only things you have is what you have at the moment of the disaster, no communication, no knowledge of those you care for. A reporter just said that everyone she has spoken with has lost a loved one.

And the nuclear power plants with a cooling system that has shut down... if the radiation gets too hot....I don't even want to think... that would be an inconceivable disaster.

How does a society recover from something this awful? Step by step, but where do you start? You can't really get a mop and clean up the ocean in your neighborhood. And where do you go while you wait?

I realize I'm asking rhetorical questions and also questions that everyone in the world is wondering at the same time. But questioning helps me wrap my mind around something that is so huge and confusing while I try to understand.

I want to help, I just donated here. I want to hug and give and pick up and tell people it will be OK. But Mother Nature is a strong, fierce force. It's going to take a lot of world-wide hugs and caring to beat her.

Japan and all the other countries suffering from this quake/tsunami, you are in my heart. You are in my thoughts. Know the world stands with you, behind you, next to you. You will recover. You have to recover. Keep your faith in your hearts and patience in your mind. We are with you.

Movies, music, memories

I watched Footloose for the first time in a while (I would say years, but that's not true. I love my 80's movies and tend to watch all the ones I own every few months.) And the music in that movie, GA! I wanted to get up off the couch, grab my hairbrush, put on my red cowboy boots and sing along!

Footloose's soundtrack is just so classicly 80's. I mean c'mon, Holding Out For a Hero by Bonnie Tyler?! It doesn't get any better!

K wasn't nearly as impressed with the movie as I was hoping. But she may have been a year or two too young. I'm excited to get Grease through our Netflix! I put it on there just for her, so we can have a movie night complete with toe-nail painting and one of my ultimate favorite movies! Seriously, I rented that movie every weekend for about 2 years when I her age.

What is it about those movies? They're not that great, no Oscars were rewarded, no Golden Globes, yet every time I watch them I get filled with some sort of joy that only comes with a great soundtrack and memories. Most of those 80's movies I watched at someone else's house without parent supervision. I remember the first time I watched Flash Dance, I was staying at a friends and had asked to rent Dirty Dancing, and the mom came home with Flash Dance. I was too young for the racy parts but watched it anyway. I felt cooler than I should have at 9 or 10. I remember not being aloud to watch Dirty Dancing but it was a free-for-all at my sometimes-daycare, when my mom's friend's teenage daughter looked after me and her younger sister. And by look after I mean slept in til 1, so us kids had free-range of the remote control. It was awesome!

And now I watch those movies and relive childhood memories filled with the possibility of dance and dreams and being discovered for not only my acting ability but also my amazing singing along with the soundtrack. Those songs were awesome then and they are just as awesome now, mostly because of the memory of possibility I could imagine for my dream/famous life.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my Breakfast Club soundtrack and shake my grove thing!

Staying Positive

I was going to vent in this post about a semi-frequent customer who is rude and righteous every time she comes in to my store. But then I'm reminded of what my friend Liz said when I was complaining about her, "Just remember she's that way because she probably has no friends. I mean, who wants to be friends with someone who hates the world like that?"

Truth.

So moving on.

It was Chuck's birthday this past week and I'd consider it a success. My mom took us and the girls out for dinner to a new and local pizza joint and then afterward Chuck and I went out for a few beers. I've always thought I was a good gift giver, but this time I think I did the best I have yet! I got Chuck a wok and he LOVES it! He's said that he may never use a another pan again. It's so cute to watch him cook with it, the clean it and oil it up again. I think he has a crush. On a kitchen pan. Awe.

Work is moving right along. I'm still on the lookout for another opportunity but I haven't been looking that hard lately. Looking for a new job is wearing. And I just have to consider myself lucky sometimes that I have a job that I like and that I'm good at. I'm just not going to close the doors to other things.

I am itching for less snow. I'm not going to complain here about how much the winter sucks and about how damn cold it always is. Because I like winter. We've just had so much of it this year. I'm ready to have on a winter oat but not the heavy one. I'm ready to wear boots but not my Sorels. I'm ready to wear a pashmina for a scarf and not one of my home-made really warms ones. I'm ready for it to be 33-38 degrees and not 2-12. Baby steps. Maybe if this is all I ask for, Mother Nature will exceed my expectations. Maybe.

I Can Do This!

I think I'm starting to like running. Who am I and what happened to the girl who wouldn't run unless being chased with a knife?!

Yet here I am. Running. GA! I'm no longer chanting "I hate running I hate running I hate running." whenever I crank up the speed on the treadmill. When I started this right after Christmas I would walk a lap and then run a lap. Now I'm up to walking for 2 minutes and running for 3. And today I was thinking in my last run time "I think I could go for another minute." But that through myself for a loop and I didn't do the extra minute. And my last 5 minutes I upped the incline, to really feel it in my rear.

February was a rough month for me. Both Chuck and I fell off the exercise bandwagon. We just got lazy. I blame the winter. All the snow and cold just made me want to do nothing and I gained a little extra insulation in the last month.

But not now! I'm back Baby! And I mean business! Summer is coming sooner than we all think and I'm going to beach ready! I want to be healthy, fit, hot, and I want to get to the point where when I don't workout I miss it.

With these words written here I'm hoping it will help me stay committed. Other people have read it and with that it's holding me to my own promise.