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It's oops spelled backwards.
When you watch as much tennis as I have in the past 3 days, these are the kind of gems you pick up. These commentators are on-air for like 14 hours everyday, and there's really ONLY SO MUCH meaningful information to convey. When they start to get off script, things get more interesting. :) I was giggling all morning over "spoo."
Haven't been doing much other than working in the past few days. I did get some loose pages put away and my scrapbooks more organized. I love how neat they look filling up my bookcase. :)
Skelly was an exceptional bed hog last night. I mean, he's ALWAYS a bed hog, but this morning I ended up squished all the way over to Adam's side of the bed. How does that happen? He's only two feet long? On a related note, he has no idea that Daddy is about to come home and kick him out of our big comfy bed at night. Poor guy.
I edited some more scrapbook pages, but the photos didn't come out very well. :( I really do want to get better, so I'm going to try some new things (like using a tripod) next time.
I love the colors on this page about one of Skelly's best friends, Jack.
This page makes me happy; it's just really simple, but really fun to look at. I used my Slice on some scraps I had to make the flowers, plus some buttons and letter stickers and that's it. The story that the picture tells (this gatorade jug was the closest thing to a vase I had for my birthday flowers last year because we had moved just 2 days before) really makes me smile, too.
Well, dinner is over and Skelly is happily chewing up a toy. I have tomorrow off to clean up and be useful. Tonight I'm going to catch up on my blog reading and watch more tennis. :)
Pink and orange? Really? Who convinced you that that was a good fashion statement for the Australian Open? I mean, I know you're into bright colors and not afraid to wear pink, but come on. This is just painful to look at.
Alright, rant accomplished. I opened up this window to update my blog and at that exact moment, Raphael Nadal made his Australian Open debut. His wardrobe choice simply could not go unmentioned. In other tennis news, WTF Sharapova? Way to lose in the first round and look like an a-hole after signing a huge new contract with Nike. I love tennis. :)
I heard on the radio that today (January 18th) is the most depressing day of the year. Something to do with the holidays ending, debt piling up and cold weather/short days. For me, today was a great day. First, the weather was beautiful (high up to around 60). Then, I took Skelly to the vet for a vaccine and he was sweet and well-behaved. :) After lunch (and Nadal fashion-bashing), I went shopping. I didn't get a ton of stuff, (Why is dark brown cardstock so hard to come by? Can anyone explain that to me?) but it's always fun to browse.I decided to work on organizing my new stuff tonight rather than make some new pages. Here are a few I made yesterday that I'm pretty happy with.
I think this one is based on a sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays, but I don't remember which one. Oops.
This one is absolutely my new favorite. I used a sketch from Becky Higgins in an old Creating Keepsakes (Oct. '08 maybe?) that my mom got for me this past Christmas. I love the pictures, the paper, the design, the story, everything. Oh, and the cookies we made were pretty delicious, too. It all just makes me smile. Nothing to feel depressed about for me today. :)
Lucky me! Just after the Jets beat the Chargers this evening, and I was wondering what I was going to do with myself, I realized that it's already Monday in Australia and coverage of the Australian Open has started. Yay! It's been such a nice day to hibernate at home. :)
Tomorrow I have to take Skeletor to the vet to get the vaccines he missed out on last week when he was having problems with his appetite. He seems much improved since then (apart from puking up the nasty meat he found on the ground in our neighborhood), so I'm hoping it'll be a relatively quick trip. I hope to come home for lunch and then head back out to spend some of my Christmas gift cards. :) (p.s. I'm starting to notice that smileys at the end of paragraphs are kind of my thing. I like it. It's a happy little punctuation ending.)
Things have been good this week, if fairly boring. I generally feel good with where I'm at, and how things are working out. I've been trying to set more realistic expectations for myself, and it's really made a difference in my feelings of satisfaction. The way I see it, there's a constant current of stuff that needs attention pushing us back. Too often, I've let it push me back to far where I've had to flail around like crazy to get ahead. I want everything to be done perfectly, so I don't do it at all until I have enough time or energy to do it perfectly. Which is kind of ridiculous. There is no such place as "caught up," where there's nothing to take care of and everything is beautiful and clean. There is just life. Messy and imperfect. And that's OK. That's good.
Alright, enough personal philosophy. Here are two more pages I made this week. I'm still not very happy with my photos of pages, or with my photos in general. I still think bad photos are better than no photos. Maybe I'll pick up a photo book sometime this year, but I'm not going to set my expectations too high.
Yay! I'm in a good mood today. Here's why:
I've been scrapbooking. I don't have to go to work for another hour, so I took these pictures with good light. :)
Skelly is feeling better after a few days where he didn't want to eat. We even heard that a dog park is being built in our neighborhood. :)
Adam is coming home soon. :)
That's it, but that's enough. :)
So here's the story of yesterday...
The started off fine, even good. I was off all day, and that is enough to put a smile on my face in the morning. In fact, I was in a good enough mood to attempt to take Skeletor and Apollo out on a walk. Usually, Skelly and I go out every morning for about 35-45 minutes, otherwise he gets antsy and mischievous in the house. Since Apollo is visiting, though, they usually work out enough of their energy just egging each other on running around the house and the backyard. Plus, it's been CRAZY COLD here, so I haven't been too gung-ho about getting out myself.
Anyway, Skelly woke up and was whining at the garage door we always leave from like he really wanted to take a walk. I caved. It was a bad idea. We had to turn back after about a block for the sake of my sanity. Also, because Apollo was starting to wheeze from all the pressure on his neck as he was pulling, and I was starting to wonder how long my arm would stay attached at the rate we were going.
After that little mishap, we played around the house a little and tried to keep things tidy. After lunch I went to Walmart for supplies for dinner. I still wasn't sure until I got to the store and started wandering around what I was going to make (for the 319th family and for Mike and Lauren who were coming over to hang out). I got a marinade, some instant mashed potatoes, some frozen green beans and break-and-bake cookies. Not exactly gourmet, but good enough.
I left the dogs free in the house when I went to the store. When I got home, the only casualty was an old wooden ornament from the tree. Fortunately, I think I'll still remember that I was a Daisy Scout; I wasn't horribly broken up about it. I WAS pretty unhappy when I looked out to the backyard to check on the dogs a little later and found them shoulder deep in a giant hole in my backyard. I also found two smaller ones when I went out to fill it in. I guess I just have to hope that Skelly doesn't continue with this even after Apollo is gone.
The afternoon was fun. Lauren came over with Jack and the boys acted like any group of three boys. Skeletor was actually the most calm, but I guess since he's had all week with Apollo, fighting is not so exciting anymore. I was glad Lauren was with me to take the food over to the squadron family. We were both really confused because the house's mailbox was across the street, and we almost brought the food to the wrong place. After a bit of awkward small talk, we got out of there and came back to our house. Mike got back from work and we all had dinner. I was pleased that plenty got eaten. After dinner Mike and I tried playing 2-player New Super Mario Bros. Wii. We wasted about 40 lives trying to beat one level, but eventually it was too late and too frustrating. Maybe some other time. Mike, Lauren and Jack went home to chill.
Finally, the really exciting stuff happened. It was about 11pm. Apollo was already in his kennel. Skelly and I were reading in bed, about to turn out the light. He was squirming around trying to find a comfortable spot to lay, when I looked up and saw a weird lump on his butt. At first, I thought he might be about to poop in bed, but then I saw that it was pink. It was like the top part of his butt was swollen. Then I look at the rest of him more closely and I can see that his lips are pretty swollen. After a few minutes of freaking out and trying to decide what to do, I called the emergency vet and they recommended bringing him in. He went outside and pooped, but that didn't change the butt thing. I gave him a Benadryl I had from the last time his face got swollen from an allergic reaction, and we got in the car. Apollo looked fine, so I left him in his kennel and called Lauren to let her know where I was and had her check Jack. He was fine, too.
Forty-five minutes later, we made it to the vet. Of course, the swelling in both areas had started to go down. The doctor checked everything out (even expressing his anal glands "while he was in there"), and said it was most likely the same as last time: an allergic reaction to some kind of bite or sting. It likely wasn't a snake bite since that would have been a lot more painful. He gave him some more injectable Benadryl and some steroids for the swelling. A little after 1am we made it back home, very sleepy and $147 poorer.
Of course, I'm just glad that he's OK. I would do the same thing again in a heartbeat. He's my little boy, and sometimes little boys need trips to the emergency room. Whatever's going on, you can be sure there's never a dull moment. Sometimes I just wish these moments didn't overlap with my bedtime. :)
It's a little more crowded than usual here at the house. Somehow, when I was at the wedding on Saturday night, I ended up agreeing to puppy-sit the happy couple's 1-year-old German short-haired pointer while they go on their honeymoon this week. (They totally pulled a dirty trick. I mean, who's going to say no to a bride on her wedding day?) Apollo and Skeletor have been friends since Logan first adopted Apollo, and they get along pretty well. But Apollo is considerably bigger than Skelly, younger than Skelly, and also not neutered yet. Add to that Skeletor acting neurotic and possessive (i.e. sitting on my lap in the computer desk right now as I'm typing), and it's a lot for me to handle on my own. In the first few hours of yesterday morning I was seriously reconsidering my previous enthusiasm for adopting another puppy. Until they were both worn out and sleeping peacefully curled up on either side of me on the couch. Then it was just too cute for words.
Regardless, my quiet week with 3 days off in a row no longer seems so quiet. I also got roped into providing a meal for a family in our sqaudron on Friday (no idea yet what I'm going to make for them) and I have to pick up some provisions for the next care package being sent out. And I'd LIKE to get to my local scrapbook store, since it's having a 50% off EVERYTHING sale this week. Wish me luck.
Speaking of scrapbooking, I've decided to take a little break. It'll probably be only about a week. I just can't shake out of my "uninspired" funk. In the past two days I've started four different pages, hoping to get one finished and build up some momentum, but I just end up staring at the papers I've pulled out cluelessly. I think I need some distance and some fresh eyes. So this week I'm going to read, empty my inbox, tackle my to-do list and leave scrapbooking for next week. Maybe it will help and maybe it won't, but I just can't drive myself crazy staring blankly at my desk anymore.
Ok, time to finish addressing my Christmas thank yous so they can get in the mail today. And go check on the mysteriously quiet Apollo.
I have the morning free before I go to wedding this evening. I should be filling my free time with something fun or something useful, but I can't really get inspired to do either. I feel like I should scrapbook, but I don't really want to. Or, nothing is really grabbing me and pulling me in the right direction. My papers and photos just don't seem to go together and I'm not motivated to write a compelling story to go with either of them. I haven't vacuumed either, even though you can see that the carpets need it. Which means that I really should have vacuumed at least a week ago.
Knowing that these weird uninspired feelings will pass doesn't make them easier to deal with now. I hate knowing what should be done and yet not feeling any desire to do it.
What a downer post. I didn't really set out for it to be. And I don't really feel BAD, just weird, and I'm thankful for that.
Since I don't have much else to say, I think I'll go collect my barking dog from the backyard and lay down for a little bit.
