No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I can't say if my weekend was a good one or a bad one...and here's why.

My friend just adopted a dog. It's a Mastiff, so like a horse that barks. She's a really sweet dog though. She's playful and loves to just sit there in the same room as you and let you do your thing. The problem is...She's just such a *BIG* dog!! She drools everywhere all the time. And she sheds constantly. My friend is a total neat freak too, and I worry at some point my friend will decide she just can't deal with that much dog and clean up. My friend was going out of town for the weekend and asked me to watch her dog. Of course I said yes. I mean, I try really very hard to be the kind of friend to others I would want them to be to me. So, if a friend needs me to stay at her place and watch her barking horse, then that's what I will do.

Anyways. I went to her house...and I slept on the couch downstairs. It was so hot! this weekend, and she had said I could sleep on the pullout upstairs but it was too hot to do that so I slept on her couches in the living room downstairs. Ummm, her couches look nice and they are okay to sit on for movies and such, but not so much fun to sleep on.

Then there was the fact that this dog woke me up every night at 1:30 because it "had to go outside." Seriously. She would not stop nudging my face until I got up, put my shoes on, got her leash, and took her outside. For those of you who know me, you know how irritated I become when my sleep is interrupted. I become grumpy. It's one of those faults you have, you acknowledge, and you live with because changing it just isn't worth the trouble.

This went on from Thursday night to Sunday night. There were times when I had to leave and go help my mom. So I'd leave the dog alone for a few hours and come back. When I got back, I'd feed her and give her fresh water. She would then gulp the water down, and keep drinking, and drinking, and drinking; then she'd look at me--and start swishing her head back and forth!! Flinging her spit-water all over the kitchen!! URGH! About halfway through the weekend I was so over it. I didn't want to sleep on a tough couch. I didn't want to follow this dog around the house wiping up spit. I really didn't want to twist my ankles anymore as she tried to chase down every dog which crossed our path on our walks.

On the last night, I had to drive to the airport and pick up my friend and her boyfriend. I was exhausted from poor sleep and working and dealing with the dog. I just wanted to go to sleep.

But then, as I helped unload their bags from my car, my friend turned to me. She looked and me and said "Thank you for taking care of my dog." And the whole weekend was worth it.

That's not to say I'm jumping up and volunteering for the next dog sitting job!!

Taking a Second Look

My sister always makes fun of me for reading books before I go see the movie. She also makes fun of me because I love to see a movie right when it opens in theatres...and if it's one I really liked in theatres than I have to buy it like *Right* at midnight the night it comes out on DVD!!! So tonight has been a real doozy for her as I have spent the entire night watching movies based on books! :)

First of all: She's decided to come be a part of the Wine and Book Club I meet up with every other month or so. I go for the books, she's going more for the wine. lol We're going to talk about the book/movie The Help. Well she wanted to be able to have something to say if we got around to talking about the book, but she didn't really want to read the book. I kept asking her if she wanted to go see the movie and she kept saying no since I'd already seen it. I told her it was so good I'd go see it again. So we did tonight. And guess what: It was just as good the second time! It was definitely worth paying full price for the ticket again. Turns out she loved the movie too. We laughed and cried. She even had some pretty "insightful" things to say afterwards.

During the movie, I kept thinking about how Skeeter and Stewart didn't up together and how sad that was. Even my sister was disappointed by this. It was only after, when I was at home telling my mom about the movie, I realized just how important it was they not end up together. I mean, think about it: He's her first real boyfriend. He's the transition from the life she lived and the life she's striving for. Because of this, he needed to be someone who she could relate to and had some sort of common ground; but in the end, she needs someone else so she can move on. Another point is she needed that boost for her self-esteem. She needed a man to look at her and see the woman she could be; the woman she has all the potential of becoming but can't see in herself. Stewart wasn't necessarily a bad guy once I thought about it. It's so difficult to look at your own life and say it is all wrong and change everything. We can sit in our theatre chairs and criticize people like him who accept the "atrocities" but that's only because we've had the intervening 50 years to sort things out. And we expect these people to change overnight? It typically doesn't happen like that; you can't hate everyone who struggles with change.

So then there's the matter of me watching the movie Something Borrowed. My sisters and I saw it in the theatres, I bought it the DAY it came out, and I've already watched it twice since I bought it. To say I'm a little obsessed it a bit of an understatement. So, yeah, tonight I am watching it again. I love this movie. I love Ginnifer Goodwin!! She's so amazing. Plus her character is so much like me. Everyday I look at those around me and wonder if the things I am doing are making me happy, what would happen if I set out specifically do to the things I think will make me happy, and so on. I have had the soundtrack on repeat. "Running Around in My Dreams," "Poison & Wine," and "The Longer I Run" have already outranked songs on my iPod which have been on there for 4 years!!

So here I sit tonight. At home and completely exhausted from a long work week. Contemplating what I want out of life. It's a little heavy to handle tonight, so I'm just going to sit back and enjoy my movie. Get lost in Ginnifer Goodwin and Colin Egglesfield. Sounds like a plan!

Trust the Kids

I have some family in from out of state and they wanted to go into the city and scoushe around.
*Side Note for those of you who don't know: "Scoushe" has several definitions. Literally it means "a little bit;" like you use a scoushe of salt in your cooking. Other definitions include: 1) to meander without direction or with little direction; 2) a jerk/douchebag: a person of little consequence. Those are the big definitions.

Back to the story. Anyways, so my family said they wanted to see Navy Pier in particular today but it was pouring rain when we got there. My sister had brought my nephews into the city as well because they wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel and that wasn't going to happen. Honestly, we were all a little freaked out about how the boys were going to handle being couped up in the Pavilion at Navy Pier-which seems huge until it is *PACKED* with people trying to avoid the sporadic showers. Then you get antsy watching out for the boys, you have to worry about keeping them occupied but not breaking anything...basically it could have been a huge mess. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun.

We were walking in the Pavilion and there was a Build-A-Bear company inside. They were running a deal: Any animal, any outfit, and any shoes for like $30, so I decided to buy a bear for one of the boys so my sister wouldn't have to buy two or try and get the boys to share. I remember being a kid and remember how kids act from when I was a baby-sitter: They are never that great at sharing. I figured I would let them pick out a bear and we would get an outfit for it and everything. It was great. The baby picked out a black teddy bear, filled it to be "soft," picked out "Biker Boots," "Biker Chaps," a Harley Davidson shirt, a Harley Davidson bandana, and aviator sunglasses. It was seriously the CUTEST bear ever made. We were all so proud of it. The adults probably more so than the kids!! lol

After I pay for it, we go back in the line to see what his brother had decided on. We were in the line and asked him which one he was getting. He had picked up one of the less inexpensive puppies, so my mom-in an effort to "get the most out of the money"-was trying to talk him into getting one of the more expensive dogs. So he looked around again, but he was dead set on this dog. He just loved it. He loved being the one to work the pedal that filled the pup with stuffing and then putting the heart inside and the noise maker; he picked out some Disney Cars pajamas and Cars slippers for it to wear. He didn't embellish with anything else. He just kept it really simple. And you know what? That was one of the cutest puppies I've seen.

He brought it over after they had gone home to change and get cleaned up. The adults were playing a card game on the floor and he was sitting behind me on the couch, just cuddling with this stuffed dog. We asked what he was naming it and he said: "Puppy." My sister thought he was being crabby when he said this--because it was practically nap time the first time he told her-but when we asked him again tonight, he said the same thing. Again with keeping it really simple.

In the end, we went home with some pretty amazing stuffed animals. I'm not gonna try and be noble and say it was the simplest one that ended up being the best because it wasn't the best. It was just the one that taught me something: Kids do know what they want. It doesn't have to be grandiose or anything either. Sometimes, to get the most out of your money, you just have to really enjoy what you are spending your money on. A deal isn't a deal if you don't enjoy it. My nephew's dog may not have really saved us any money in the end, but I can't remember the last time I saw him this happy and calm!

Trust the kids. They can teach us a lot actually. Sometimes we forget how smart they really are. We think, because we have all this life experience that we have to know more than them or know better what's best for them. That's not always the case!

A Great Weekend

Sorry this one's so late....

Ever have one of those weekends where things are just going great? Where fun and amazing things just keep happening? I'm so lucky...I had one of those weekends!

It started out simply enough: I went to Target on Thursday to get stuff for the cookout I was having on Saturday. I went and got most everything I needed. Well, I couldn't find the rice milk--which I am becoming obsessed with!!--but I realized once I was in the car that I didn't look in the right aisle. Anyways, I'm in the check out line and the person doing the checkout couldn't have been more than 16 or 17. As she's ringing up my purchases I asked to apply for the Target card. I really made her day apparently. She kept saying how she had asked everyone who had come through her line if they wanted to apply and they were all rude when they said no...and then I came up and actually *asked her* if I could apply for one! She even did a little happy dance!! I smiled just because of how happy she was.

Then on Saturday I had some friends over for a small cookout. We made burgers and dogs and chicken and fish and sauteed peppers... I made pasta salad; some friends brought over salads and punch. We grilled everything outside, played music on the speakers. We just chilled, ate, played bags, and--when the weather cold down some--we lit a fire in the firepit and just relaxed. It was one of the most chill nights hanging out with friends ever and I realized how lucky I am.

Ever have that? Just a great moment? Simple pleasures with people who are good to you? Those are the best moments. Honestly.