Weekend

We had a truly fantastic weekend.

I left Friday early to finish the day working from home to await the arrival of Aunt Lissa. She showed up about a half an hour earlier than I thought and from the greeting I gave her you'd have thought it was the UPS man delivering those chairs Shawn and I are still thinking about ordering. :-)

We sat and caught up for a few moments and then I promptly took her for a cocktail and appetizer with an Ocean view. We of course chatted about our favorite lady Grandma Sugar and how incredibly amazing she is among many other fantastic, funny things. Shawn joined us after his chores at the Grocery store were all finished and we sat and laughed and enjoyed a few more cocktails. Tess stopped in for a quick cocktail to meet Aunt Lissa before her weekly Friday dinners with her family. If you know me then you know there is not much more that I love to do than to show off my family and friends. I was thrilled for two of my favorite people to get to know one another.

Shawn had to drive us home because I was too giddy from the conversations and cocktails to see straight. We got home and waited for Mom to get off work. Shawn manned the grill of sausage, tri tip and corn on the cob. The weather would simply not allow for an outdoor dinner so we had to move indoors.

Sometime after dinner Tess came back to start up a round of Apples to Apples to which Franny fervently tried to thwart. It took maybe 2 rounds for "I don't LIKE games!!" to turn into "I LOVE this GAME!!" I made everyone at the table promise to save at least 2 rounds of Beatles Rock Band and not to tire out early.

It worked! Mom rocked the drums, Aunt Lissa manned the microphone, Tess chose the music and I scored a whopping 1% on the gee-tar. What can I say...it was late!

Mom had to work early Saturday so we all saw her off and headed to breakfast. Aunt Lissa had to leave at noon for her flight so we got quite a bit of time to sit in the sunshine and catch up some more. I usually end up crying when our guests leave and this time wasn't different. Shawn just hugged me and told me we'd see her again soon and not to be sad. I waved until she drove out of the driveway and out of sight wishing she'd forgotten something or decided to stay one more night. :-0

According to Uncle Mike we promised to come out for the Eric Clapton concert in June so we may just see her sooner than I might have thought! :-)

Sunday found me rested and in need of some spiritual goodness. I had made plans earlier in the week to sit with Momma Kiedro for the morning service at church. It felt great and we made plans to do it again next Sunday and every Sunday after that as far as we can see!

After church I met Tess for a screening at the local movie theater of The Thin Man. It was fantastic. We're loving the throw back movies every week.

All in all a great weekend. The rain clouds are coming and it's supposed to be pretty gloomy all week.

Winston

This morning I woke up and was hoping to sleep in a few more minutes. I let Winston out of the bedroom thinking I could go back to bed for 30 more minutes and Shawn would let him out, feed him and put him away for the day.

10 short minutes later I feel my heart pound with fear and abruptly sit up screaming EARTHQUAKE!!! Okay so I didn't even bat an eyelash since I knew it was Winston. He pummeled his body up on the bed, dug his big nose under the crook of my neck, and collapsed his body down. Still wanting a reaction of ANY KIND he took his massive, beast-like paw and forcibly swatted my eye. MY ENTIRE EYE if not the entire left side of my cheek. It was when he didn't remove his paw from my face that I finally got up.

"FINE WINSTON YOU WIN"

Turns out Shawn does NOT read minds. Sigh. It's hard to stay mad at a pup who just wants to play. It's not HIS fault his ability to snuggle is thwarted with those paws and massive head.

iDeeli

I LOVE this site. There are so many fantastic deals on here that I had to share! :-)

Happy Shopping!!


www.ideeli.com/invite/caroline.blackwood

I Covet....

...this lovely print and think it would go nicely over our bed.

I saw something very similar for a lot more money recently at Warmth Company and was very happy to find it here:

http://www.my-sparrow.com/index2.php#/gallery1/5/

Lonely Little Petunia

I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch

an onion patch

an onion patch

mmm mmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm

mmm mmm mmmmmmm

ahh ahhh

ahh ahhh

mmmmmm mmmmmm

mmmm mmm mmmm

Robert the Neighbor

So it's really not a secret that Shawn and I have raised two of the most spoiled, co-dependent pups on the planet. Oscar is happiest when he's lying down by your side or even better: in your lap. He's a lap dog after all. A 20-pound-sheds-like-a-buffalo lap dog. :-)

When we brought Winston home I was out of work and therefore with him EVERY DAY. I would leave for a few hours at a time but he stayed in his crate. When I went back to work he went to "school" and made friends with Bella the St. Bernard and Gunnar the German Shepard. It was there that he learned the best thing to do while cooped up in a run in between play times was to bark. LOUDLY. LOUDER THAN THAT DOGANDTHATDOGANDTHATDOG UNTIL THEY LET ME OUT!

Well now that we've moved to the other side of the freeway we've built him a beautiful run and has to be on his own for 10 hours a day. Sometimes longer. I knew he barked and whined but figured he'd just grow out of it and get used to some alone time.

Last Friday as I was running all over the house getting ready to leave for the Sharks game work I heard a knock at the front door.

Cares: (looking confused thinking WHO is HERE?) Uhhh who's there?
Robert the neighbor: You're NEIGHBOR
Cares: (opening the door thinking OH CRAP) Hi!
Robert the neighbor: Hi there.I'm Robert I live next door. Hey nice Sharks Jersey, they better win today! So you're renting Louann's place? Wow I bet her boy must be up to here now.
Cares: Hi Robert, I'm Caroline. Oh, yeah my husband Shawn and I are renting from Louann, you know her pretty well then?
Robert the neighbor: Oh YES. I mean I helped her with all that yard back there. Is she still in Sacramento? Yeah I bet that boy of hers is so tall now. Sheesh.
Cares: Ummm well I didn't know she had a son, but I believe she's in Santa Cruz now. At least that's where our checks are going.
Robert the neighbor: Hmm. Well you know that dog of yours sure barks a lot....
Cares: Yeah...I'm so sorry he's not quite used to being all alone and we're working on getting him trained...
Robert the neighbor: ...Oh no, no, no I mean I was just talking to Mike across the street over there who was saying...now what was he saying again...oh something like 'well the poor pup is probably just lonely y'know'. I  mean I hear him at 7 in the morning when you let him out and I'm already up I get up at 5 but I can hear him.
Cares: (thinking she's pretty sure that's NOT what Mike the other neighbor was saying) Wow, well I'll make sure we're much more careful about it and if it gets worse let us know and we'll figure something out.
Robert the neighbor: Oh no no no, y'know I just got divorced...
Cares:....oh I'm so very sorry to hear that
Robert the neighbor:Oh NO! It's GREAT! I mean we're great friends I just bought her a house in fact. No it's great..I've been on 4 dates...coffee dates NOT dinner dates oh no I'm not ready for that yet. Gotta keep it light. Yeah in fact (chuckles) I had emailed this woman I met on one of those crazy online places...a psychiatrist...gotta be careful with those ones...and apparently she responded but I didn't get it for a few days...you know how these computer things work...who has the time all day? Anyway I called her after I finally got it and man she let me have it. Gotta watch out for those psyche people. Jeesh. Guess that was a good sign, not to take her out, huh? Yeah so if you know any single women...well I'll let you go..just wanted to introduce myself.
Cares: Oh, well great. It's so nice to meet you Robert.
Robert the neighbor: Yeah, you and your husband can come up anytime. We'll have a beer and some BBQ. It'd be great to have you guys. Well good luck to those Sharks!
Cares:(Shutting the door)Okay see you soon!
(looking at Oscar) BLINK BLINK BLINK
WHAT THE EFF JUST HAPPENED OSCAR? 

I ended up putting Winston in the garage that day just in case. Shawn bought the bark collar on his way home that night.

We haven't taken Robert the neighbor up on his offer to have beers and many more stories yet, but I will for the sake of this blog and the comedy that I'm sure will follow. All for the writing my friends.

Is This Thing On?

Yeah, yeah, yeah  I get it. I know. My posts are sporadic.

My fun friend and Pilates trainer/Drill Sergent Jenn said it best by calling this weather Bi-Polar. She's right. Two weeks ago I was spending my lunch hours getting a tan as I ran up and down SV Blvd. It was GORGEOUS. Then it rained. Then it rained some more. Then it HAILED. Not only did it hail, but it hailed mini versions of Winston.

Blink
Blink
Blink

I'm not kidding. I haven't seen hail like that in my life. Both dogs thought we were under attack and took turns barking at their loudest levels at opposite ends of the house. One would run north the other south making sure EVERYONE within a 45 mile radius would know that SOMETHING WAS REALLY WRONG AND LET ME AT 'EM!

This is the same barking that takes place anytime Oscar sees an animal/cartoon/Pablo Sandoval on the television. We'll never break him of that habit, especially since most of the time I laugh and egg him on. Poor guy. I wonder if it torments him. I mean how would you feel if you saw something you just KNEW needed your attention and you just.couldn't.get.it.

Wow that was a fun digression. :-)

I've got a trip to the City coming up with Jules. She's taking me to see Wicked and we are staying the night. I'm so excited that every time I think about it I squeal a little bit.

If you couldn't yet tell by this post, I took full advantage of the free coffee Starbucks is doling out when you bring in your own mug. I don't regularly drink coffee and so when I do I turn into a kid who's had too much sugar and has more energy than ever before and has no way to let it out but by acting like a complete and utter lunatic and justcan'tsitstill. I'm not kidding, my right foot hasn't stopped tapping and I finished my coffee hours ago. I've already written 4 reports, had a successful 1:1 with my boss, (success = no signs of an HR rep and termination package) ate lunch, responded to emails, and finished this post. I'm not looking forward to that crash and burn later this afternoon. ;-)

Hope your Thursday is as productive as mine's been!

-Cares

Taking a Compliment

Have you ever noticed that women have the hardest time taking a compliment? It may sound like a really bad generalization or stereotype, but in my experiences it's so true.

Instead of thanking someone for a compliment on our outfit we have to go into this long sordid explanation defending why we wore it, where we got it and how much it cost.

I was getting ready this morning and decided to throw my hair up instead of wash and dry it saving me about 20 minutes. I got to work, greeted my friends and received

"Oooh hi Caroline, I really like your hair like that. It looks good."

I immediately wanted to explain why I had it up and the fact that it was a last minute decision to not wash it...chitter chat chitter chat...As this was going on in my mind I somehow simply said "Hey Thanks" as I kept walking. I couldn't believe I didn't stop and give her a 20 minute dissertation on the matter.

Lesson of the day: When you get a compliment, just say thanks and rock the ish out of it!

P.S. DO NOT tell Charla that I just said "ish" she hates it. 

P.S. The above image comes from Dooce's website. Enjoy!

A few things

I don't have much to report on, but a few fun things have been happening in our world.

1. We've FINALLY got the garage semi-organized. The fact that I can even say we have a garage makes me smile.

2. The dogs are slowly getting used to the new place, though Winston has forgotten his manners and has relieved himself twice in the house. BAD DOG! We're resorting to taking him out every 30 minutes when we're home.

3. A big of Angleson history has surfaced. My second cousin Carlie (Named for the same Caroline Cramer Angleson as I was) found me on facebook. She is my Great Aunt Fifi's daughter. Apparently I met Aunt Fifi in Ventura when I was a wee thing but found it very flattering that out of all the Anglesons on Facebook she asked me if I was part of the Jack and Betty Jane family. I don't suppose it has ANYTHING to do with the fact that we share a name...C'mon that's just TOO obvious. ;-)
It turns out there's also a bit of Angleson drama that stems from oh so long ago ending with the my Great Grandfather Leon cutting Aunt Fifi out of his will. This led to a family estrangement of sorts which is why I've never met my second cousin or her family. Of course I will investigate and hopefully come back with many details.

4. March Madness has me in 2nd place with my Duke pick. If they win this weekend, I could take it all home. So jump on those Duke bandwagons; momma needs a new patio set!

5. I've been running during my lunch hour at work. I'm up to just over 2 miles. Yesterday was my best day yet: I made it all the way up and back and as I was waiting for the light to change to make my way back up the driveway to our building it began pouring. It felt awesome to finish my run it the rain.

6. I'm confessing that I'm super duper nervous to be turning 33. I don't know why this number has me rattled, but it sure does.