Maybe she gets depressed during the holidays?

Have you seen the bunny suicide books or calendars?

Last week I heard Lily making noises in the other room as I was getting ready for my day.

As I walked down the hall to investigate, she ran from the living room to the bedroom. I stopped at the end of the hall, looked to my right, and saw her:


Then I looked to my left and saw this:




Love, J

Before & After Photos, Holiday Edition

Before:




And after:




Love, J

Projects and progress - Part 4

The kitchen's done! Just in time for Thanksgiving.

This is what it looked like on inspection day, before we moved in:



Grandpa S. was his usual helpful self and painted it top-to-bottom with the hubs:





My father-in-law was resourceful and handy, finding a great, used dishwasher and then installing it for us:



And the hubs got to use the mad vinyl skills he picked up the summer he worked at the university floor shop in college:





And the final result...


Oooo, aaaah.



We replaced the oven with a garage sale find and the fridge with a new one. We thought the fridge broke one day, and then had the new one installed before I realized the old one wasn't really broke after all. Sort of annoying. But this one's way energy-efficient (and prettier), so it all worked out.



And even though everyone has lots of suggestions on what we should replace our counters with, they are staying put. I like the light color, the gold speckles in it, and even the fact that it's already stained in spots so that I don't have to worry about leaving stains of my own.

Love, J

Another picture-less post

I do have things to write today.

I'd like to show you the *new* curtains I scored at Value Village yesterday afternoon.

Or finally post some before and after photos of our kitchen.

And I've been meaning for a while now to share some other projects I've finished - slippers, scarf, gloves, headband.

But I'm not posting from home this week, and home is where all the pictures of those things are right now.

So I will wait.

And while I wait, I will sit with this sad dog, who thankfully is not in much pain anymore. And un-thankfully (for me. he doesn't seem to mind) has a heinous case of gas this morning.

He still only has the use of two legs. One front and one back.

And he looks oh-so-pathetic when he drags himself around the parlor, and off the blanket I had him laying on. Because he prefers to 'do his business' on the carpet instead. And then take a nap.

I guess even doing your business is hard work when you're short two legs.

Love, J

'The Blind Side'

(I must preface this opinion by warning you that I have bad taste in movies. A lot of my favorites are loaded with cheeze. I have seen 'Fools Rush In' probably 100 times, and it stars Matthew Perry. So take this with a grain of salt.)

We met some friends downtown yesterday to go see 'The Blind Side.' Someone else picked it, and I went along because I wanted to hang out with everyone, not because the movie looked at all compelling. If I had my way, we would have gone to 'New Moon.' This is because the first Twilight movie was so phenomenally terrible, I still have tears in my eyes from laughing through it along with every other person in the theater. A good example of how something doesn't have to be quality to entertain.

But none of my friends yesterday could appreciate why I wanted to spend $7 to see a movie that I knew was going to suck (haha, vampire pun!) They preferred to gamble on the probable mediocrity of the latest Sandra Bullock vehicle.

And I'm glad they did.

Because I liked it. Even though it starred Sandra (who apparently can act - who knew?); even though it was a little bit about football (but less than I'd thought it would be, thank goodness); and even though it was based on a true story (which usually means BOR-ing).

The movie had all of these things working against it, and it was still good. I laughed at a line or two in probably every scene, and I wasn't even laughing at the movie, but with it. It was endearing, and funny, and had a happy ending. And in my head, this is the Holy Trinity of what makes a movie lovable. I don't need suspense or drama. As long as each scene is interesting and there's some coherent plot-line, I'm happy.

Plus, it has Tim McGraw, who is completely adorable even with the goofy haircut they gave him.

And while I do cringe at the pathetically stereotypical poor-black-kid-turns-his-life-around-and-finds-salvation-through-his-athletic-prowess storyline, you can't come down too hard on this version of the story, because it actually happened in real life.

But I'm still waiting on a movie about an inner city kid who goes from the projects to NASA, instead of professional sports.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. But I am still looking for someone to go see 'New Moon' with me and not take it seriously.

Love, J

PS ~ After I posted this, I remembered that I did like Sandra Bullock in 'While You Were Sleeping,' 'Practical Magic,' and she was an awesome Harper Lee in 'Infamous.' For some reason when I think of her, I just always fixate on 'Miss Congeniality,' and 'The Proposal,' which I haven't seen, but just the trailer for it makes me shudder.

Free yoga tomorrow

Lily says, 'Go try yoga or I will be angry.'

I may have mentioned a few times how in love I am with the Spokane Yoga Shala.

Tomorrow is their big grand opening. And that means a chance for you to check out the studio for free!

From their website:

Open House November 21st, 2009

Please join us this weekend! Help us celebrate our beautiful new Shala! Both classes are free. We will be offering special deals, and more.

Saturday Schedule:

• 7:30am: All Levels Ashtanga with Shelley Alkier
  
• 9:30 - 11:00am: All Levels Flow with Katie Gehn
  
• 9:00-12:00pm: Free Massage from Therapeutic School of Massage

'And you won't like me when I'm angry.'
(Actually, you'd probably love angry Lily.
She's freaking hilarious.)

The hubs and I will be at Katie's 9:30 am class. Let me know if you want to car pool from the valley!

Happy weekend,

Love, J

Dog update

The sad face isn't accident-related.
He always looks a little concerned.

Poor Cooper.

He's still mending, but a visit to the vet for an update has revealed that one of his front legs has lots of nerve damage, and he may not be able to use it. So what should have been a really scary day, followed by a few painful months, ending in the carefree and goofy-cute life of a three-legged dog just got way more complicated.

We'll know in a few weeks whether the leg will heal. But I think he could totally pull this off.

Also, pretty Luna is still around. Are you sure you don't want to give yourself the early Christmas present of a sweet-tempered (housebroken! good with other pets! comes with free dog-sitting while you're out of town!) rescued lab?

Look how good she is, even when you bother her with a flashy camera while she's trying to nap.





See? She doesn't get angry, she just gets up and leaves.

Love, J


PS ~ If you crochet and want a very quick, girly gift idea, try this pattern.

It looks silly on me (I can't put my finger on why, exactly), but G can rock it.