Friday, February 29, 2008

Happy Leap Day!


Hey, it only comes every 4 years, so do something fun today! We got one entire extra day this year- what are you gonna do with it?

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Newsflash: No Starbucks 5:30-8:30 TODAY

You may have already heard because it is, after all, national headlining news today. Starbucks will be closing from 5:30-8:30 this evening.

I was at the gym and saw only that is would close for the 3 hours, but since there was no volume on, I didn't get to hear why. I did, however, overhear two women on treadmills behind me reading the headline and then wondering outloud- WHY? Immediately following THAT news report, there was another one about some special deal Dunkin' Donuts was offering today. (Not as astounding, and so I don't remember the details.) So one of the treadmill ladies said to the other, "Oh, maybe it's in observance of someone that died." And the other lady replied, "Yeah, but 3 hours? It seems like just a moment of silence would be enough!"

Once I arrived back home, for some weird reason, I found myself still wondering WHY Starbucks is closing down for 3 whole hours today. So I googled it- And oh boy! There were lots of links to answer my question. It's just for some employee training.

But we're talking Starbucks. This effects many, and so it's big news. HOLD TIGHT, it's only 3 hours. And there's rumors that some good changes are on the way!!!

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Lovely Girl Next Door

I've been wearing the perfume by Sarah Jessica Parker called LOVELY pretty much since it first came out. So clearly, I love it. A few months ago, my friend Dolly, who usually has my same preferences in fragrances, told me I should check out the newer SJP fragrance too, and assured me I would love it.

Since I'm running a little low on Lovely, I stopped in Nordstrom to check out new possibilities. A lady at the counter asked if I needed help. So I told her what I was looking for. She helped me find the fragrance my friend had mentioned, which is called Covet. I squirted a little on a piece of paper, but the lady told me to put it ON myself, that the smell would be "green" at first, but then it would change and I would LOVE it. I did what I was told.

And I was waiting for the scent to change from green to something else, I told the saleslady how much I loved Lovely. She told me, "Lovely was very "girl next door". Sarah wanted to go for something totally different with Covet. So this one's very "Sex and the City". " And as she was saying this, I was smelling my wrist, where the perfume was. And ewww. Yes, not the girl next door I was looking for. Very heavy scent instead. Like a Channel no. 5. Which is NOT me. It smells like a fancy lady all dressed up with big hair and a lot of make-up. (Yes, to me, some things have a visual smell.)

So I told the lady this scent wasn't my kind of thing. She seemed to be still trying to convince me that it was. So I said, "Well, to me it smells like a dressed up, sophisticated lady- and I'm not really that lady." And she looked at me sadly, touched me on the shoulder, and said, "ohhh...." (as in "Oh. I'm sorry. That is sad for you." And I said, "No that's ok. I'll just buy more Lovely next time instead. I was just curious about this one."

I didn't think I was insulting myself at all to say I'm not a dressed up sophisticated lady. I thought it was so funny that she seemed to feel sad for me. I'd rather be the girl next door any day. And I'd rather be lovely, than covet for something I do not have.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

HomeBound

The good news is I think I'll be getting a LOT done around the house over the next few weeks.
The bad news is I don't think I'll be leaving the house much for the next few weeks.
The other good news is that I do love my home and the living creatures in it.
Which leads to the best news of all, and that is that Scout has her surgery behind her and is on the mend!

We picked her up from the hospital yesterday. And when I say hospital, I mean HOSPITAL. A 3 story animal medical building with elevators! Once we got to our surgeons suite, we were taken back to a private room. The nurse went over Scout's post-op care with us. Once we knew how many drugs we needed to keep her on for a while, and were reminded that she's not suppose to walk on her leg at all for about 6-8 weeks, and were told to use something called an e-collar so Scout wouldn't mess with her stitches, we were released back into the waiting room. And then they brought Scout out.

I must admit, I was pretty shocked when I saw her. So shocked that my first reaction was fear, followed by crying. Super helpful, I'm sure. Not the calm assertive leader I wanted to be for her. Her leg that they operated on looked like a big turkey leg. The shaved it completely- from her tail to her foot. (But NOT her foot, which looks very poodle-y now.) And she was wearing the e-collar, which I now know is just another word for large, plastic lamp shade. She was whimpering a whimper I have never heard from her before. And I think she'd been doing it all night because her voice sounded really hoarse. She was sort of staggering around as the nurse helped her make her way to us. She didn't seem like Scout at all.

My husband very kindly, but in so many words, told me I needed to suck it up. And he was totally right. We've watched enough of the Cesar Milan shows to know that Scout is looking to us to see how things are gonna go. I don't think my initial reaction was making her feel confident, or brave, or like this was just a temporary condition. I might have even been the cause of her pathetic whimpering. (Which by the way, continued on for about 2 solid hours.)

Let me tell you, yesterday was quite challenging. For all of us. Scout was either whimpering, or sleeping most of the day. Once we took the lamp shade off, she was able to calm down and get comfortable. As parents, Fermin and I decided that e-collar is doing more harm than good. I took Zoe on an extra long walk. She needed to get some of her energy out before spending time with Scout. (and so did I!) We all stayed home all day, and all night- Keeping our eyes on Scout. Fermin even slept on the floor beside her all night.

She already seems to be feeling better today. Which is good and bad. Good for obvious reasons- but keeping her off her foot is more challenging today than it was yesterday.

It's going to be a long couple of months. But lots of things are going to get organized around here. Some rooms will probably be painted new colors. And all the while, Scout will be healing. And by the time bikini season arrives, she'll be back in bikini body form!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hopalong Cassidy


For a few months now, my husband and I have noticed our dog, Scout, limping around. Usually, her limp happens after she's been running or jumping around. And then, usually the next day, she's back to normal. In fact, sometimes she has limped around so pathetically, and then within half and hour we catch her racing across the yard chasing a squirrel. So we weren't too worried. In fact, we often called her a "faker". And she gained the new nickname: Hopalong Cassidy.

But last week after our walk, she was REALLY limping around. She clearly couldn't put any weight on one of her back legs. Fermin asked me how she did it. And I hated to say it then (and now) but her injury seemed to happen when she squatted down to poop. After she did her business, she could barely walk. It was horrible. I was walking both her and Zoe, and we all felt pretty helpless. If Zoe and I could've picked her up and carried her home, we would've. But the best we could do was just slow down, and cheer her along. By the time we got home, I think Scouts whole body must have been aching. And Zoe and I were aching for her.

We all thought she'd make a full recovery, as she had countless times before, in a day or two. But this time, her hobbling around lingered...

So it ends up, Scout's cranial cruciate ligament tore. It's more of a degenerative problem in dogs than it is an injury. (Not caused from squatting to poop after all.) Tomorrow morning she'll go in for surgery to get it all fixed up. Then for SIX WEEKS, she's suppose to stay completely off if it- except,ironically, to get up and go to the bathroom. That's right, I said SIX WEEKS. But eventually, she'll be back in action. I won't be able to call her Hopalong Cassidy anymore, and for that, I will be grateful.

I know this recovery time of inactivity his going to be hard on her. And Zoe. And me! I'm already trying to imagine how I'm going to stop her from jumping around when I get her bowl out at dinnertime. And how are Zoe and I going to sneak out for our daily walks without Scout feeling left out?

The vet used the term "lame" when referring to the current state of Scout's leg. Scout's a Husky. She was born to run and pull sleds- or at least chase squirrels! SHE is anything but lame. She looks and acts about 1/2 her age. This is just a small setback that she will recover from.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Sex and the City

About a month ago I was clicking around through lots of TV channels and I came across the TBS 30-minute reruns of "Sex and the City". I got totally sucked in,watching a couple of these shows each day, for a week or two. I had tuned in for the last season- which I had also seen when it was originally on HBO. I loved it then, and I still love it. But I wanted to see the non-watered down version. I wanted not just the City, but the Sex as well!

So I went to my online Blockbuster account and ordered the first season. (Which I don't think I have EVER seen.) Having just come off the last season, and the series finale, it's so interesting to see how the show began, and how much it changed over the years. First of all, it really WAS "Sex and the City" the first season- and probably the first several seasons. But by the last season, it was more "Relationships and the City". Granted, I am watching the not-edited-by-TBS versions now, so I'm getting ALL of the dialogue. Lots of it is explicit- and funny- conversations about sex. Also, ALL of the girls- even Charlotte- sleep around quite a bit. In the beginning, Samantha was not the only slutty one.

In my opinion, the series got better. In the beginning they did some weird stuff, like Carrie spoke directly to the camera- mid conversation. (weird) And they'd have all these random characters on the streets of New York commenting on whatever the topic of the week was. (also weird) I guess the creators of the show figured out this wasn't working so well, and they changed it to just having Carrie narrate the show through the column she writes. Also, the show just got a little deeper and grown-up. It became a really touching series about relationships that clearly struck a chord with lots of women. And probably some men too.

Anyway, I'm going to work my way through the entire series. I'm so into it right now. I so admire Carrie for being an independent woman, a writer, a great friend, a fun girlfriend, a romantic, a fashionista, and really SEXY! So I was appalled the other night when a friend of mine told me that SJP was voted as "least sexy" in Maxim magazines a few months ago. That is absolute MADNESS.

A "Sex and the City" movie is in the works but I don't know if I want to know more. I don't know that I want to go beyond the beautiful ending they already had a few years ago. Sure, we all miss the show, but will a movie really satisfy us? I'm afraid it could ruin things. Don't all good things eventually come to an end?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

HA larious/ Burning Question

There are certain subjects I try to NOT write about on this blog. But they are usually the ones I want to write the most. Just to get it OUT. Up until now, I've been good about refraining when these types of things come up. But this feels undeniable.

Last night when we went over to my husband's father's house, my husband's mom said to me, "Kerri!!! You've gained weight!"

What I wanted to say, I didn't say. What I calmly said instead was, "Nope, I pretty much stay the same weight all the time."

Her reply was: "NO! Your legs!! and your ----" and she sort of pointed to her own butt rather than saying the word BUTT. Because now, THAT could be offensive. But the way she did it, loudly, and in front of the entire family was so tactful.

What do you say to that kind of greeting? I'm honestly not sure what I said. I was sort of mortified. I still am.

I've thought about it literally ALL DAY. Why is it bothering me to this degree? I have even started to wonder if I really HAVE gained weight. And a LOT of it, at that! And how did this happen? How did I let things spiral out of control as they have?

So what a a great question to pose: What is the funniest (yea, I'm trying to make light of all of this- no pun intended) thing your in-law has ever said to you?