pearls of wisdom. or...something

Last week was not my favorite in the work department.  On Thursday morning I sat in my car in the parking garage for a few minutes willing myself to actually walk into the office.  And then I got out, and was standing at the passenger side of the car getting my laptop bag and coffee, and it was so windy that the car door blew into my head.

I literally saw stars.

My first thought was I'M BEING MUGGED but after I remembered it was an especially blustery day, I just headed into the office and thought "please, get me to the weekend."

I did indeed make it to the weekend, and it was a busy one.  Friday was Matt's birthday, Saturday I had a bridal shower, then Matt's parents came over for dinner, and on Sunday we had my family over for a birthday brunch for my dad.

You can see Annie was feeling especially crazy.

Speaking of craziness and Sundays, last Sunday my parents went to visit Emily at college so I was in charge of watching Pearl.

Pearl is now four months old and let me tell you, she is a wild thing.  She eats your shoes, both while they are off AND while they are still very much on your feet.

She bounds through the pond without a care.



And she would rather eat her bed than sleep in it.

My mom and I frequently walk at a local trail after work, and now Pearl has joined our walking club.  She has never met a person she doesn't ABSOLUTELY ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT LOVE and practically hops on her hind legs across the path to get to someone.  You can almost hear her saying, "PET ME, PET ME, OH PLEASE PET ME."

It's a little embarrassing.

She graduated from puppy kindergarten a few weeks ago and immediately took a giant bite out of the bottom corner of her diploma, which is proudly hanging on the fridge at my parents' house.

It reminds me of my junior year of high school when they would hang my D+ physics homework on the fridge.

I wouldn't say they were proud of the D+, but when it comes to physics, everything is relative.

(Get it?)

(Just a little physics humor.)

(And that's why I became an English major).

Anyway, the only time Pearl is somewhat calm is when it's time to go in her crate.  Then she flattens herself completely against the ground, and shimmies along the ground to her crate.

I can't tell you how much time I spent luring her into her crate with a pieces of hot dog last Sunday.

Maybe I'm the crazy one.

i have some thoughts on some things

In a stunning turn of events, the local weather forecasters barely made a peep about snow this weekend, and then on Saturday it ended up snowing all day long.  Matt ventured out in the morning to get a haircut and to buy the ingredients for a huge pot of spaghetti sauce (or as he would say, gravy) but other than that we hung out at home.  There's nothing like being home all day while it snows outside and a big pot of sauce simmers away.

On Sunday afternoon I braved the grocery store, which was twice as bad as usual because all of the typical Saturday shoppers (me) were there too.  For months I've boycotted the deli because the workers make something as simple as slicing half a pound of turkey seem like it's something as complex and time consuming as, let's say, brain surgery.  Also, the last time I ordered from the deli, my cheese looked like someone cut it with their toes WHILE DOING BRAIN SURGERY so I took a photo of it and emailed the store manager to complain.

And then the manager himself called and left me a voicemail.

Obviously I didn't call him back because what was I going to say?  The picture spoke for itself and also HOW DID I BECOME A PERSON WHO CALLS THE GROCERY STORE MANAGER TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE NEATNESS AND UNIFORMITY OF HER CHEESE SLICES?

Anyway, desperate times call for a pound of Cooper Sharp cheese, so I bit the bullet and took a number.  When it was my turn I ordered my pound of cheese, waited patiently, and then the the worker handed me a package with precisely one half a pound of cheese.

I told him I ordered a pound and he said, "Oh.  My bad."

Yes sir, your bad.  YOU HAD ONE JOB.

Anyway, when I got home I made the spur of the moment decision to empty out every single kitchen cabinet and drawer and reorganize.

We have a large kitchen that consists of 22 cabinets and 13 drawers.

(This is only half of it.  Also, how do you like that wood paneling?)

Needless to say, that was a decision I regretted the moment I emptied the final cabinet, but now everything is nice and neat and in a completely different place than it was 24 hours ago.  The timing wasn't the best because I left today for a 4 day business trip, so I hope Matt can find what he needs in there.

Before I hit the road today, I went to my parents' house today to check on Pearl while they were at work.  Two weeks ago, they brought home a calm, quiet, nervous little puppy.

And since then, you could say Pearl has turned into a bit of a wild woman.



I also had a Lean Cuisine for lunch at their house.  The directions on the box said to, "Place the flatbread on the revolutionary grilling tray."

Oh, so that's what we're calling cardboard boxes now, Lean Cuisine?  How fancy.

I got to my hotel around dinnertime tonight, so I ordered takeout from the Chili's right next door and went over to pick it up. Since I was only going to the pickup window, I wore a few pieces of apparel from my relaxation collection.

That's a fancy way of saying yoga pants and a hoodie.  I'm taking a page out of Lean Cuisine's book.

Unfortunately, there was a sign at the take out window that said, "Takeout customers - please see bartender."

Even more unfortunately, not only is tonight the first night of the Pennsylvania Farm Show which happens to be in this town, but also the college football championship.  The bar was packed with farmhands and sports fans.

The bartender asked my name and then went to get my order.  And when I say she came back with my bag of food, I don't mean a tiny, ladylike, there's-probably-a-small-salad-in-here-at-most bag.  I mean a Chili's SHOPPING BAG.

The container of food was huge.  For scale, here it is next to my laptop.

I think maybe tomorrow I'll just buy a Lean Cuisine and microwave it in my room.  With the revolutionary grilling tray.

While wearing my relaxation apparel.

a little pearl for your wednesday

I have so much that I want to write about Christmas.  I mean, Matt bought me a butter churner so that alone deserves it's very own post.

(This is my, "It's Christmas morning and I can't believe I just opened a butter churner" smile.)

But, I have to go to sleep so I can be up at o-dark-thirty tomorrow because my mom, Emily, and I are headed to NYC for the day to celebrate Em's 21st birthday.  She wants to visit the Museum of Modern Art to see the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit, which is an impressive 21st birthday pursuit.  When I turned 21, I pretty much just wanted to drink long island iced tea.

But first, let me introduce you to Pearl.

When our English Springer Spaniel, Rosie, died in April, I didn't think my parents would get another dog.  But they started talking about it a few months ago, and yesterday, they picked up little Pearl.

She's a Springer Spaniel and she's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Of course, I can just pop in and visit her, and don't have to worry about training/housebreaking/actually caring for her, but still.  You can't get any cuter than this.