Pushkin
by Marjorie Kowalski Cole

The old cat sleeps
in the newly arrived sun. One more spring
has come his way
dropping a solar bath
on failing kidneys, old cat bones.
I check for the rise and fall of breath.

Once he stalked hares
across the yard, tracked down
chicken hearts with split-lentil eyes.
Fearless, disinterested, a poseur, a demideity.
He and the dog are strangers still
after years of eating side by side.

I remember times of wailing
into my couch, alone
and utterly baffled by life,
when suddenly a cat
would be sitting on my head.

Last week I pulled him snarling
from under a chair in Dr. Bacon's office,
held him while she examined his dull coat,
felt his ribs. Pressed where it hurt.
Eight pounds of fur and bone and mad as hell
but "He's certainly less anxious in your lap,"
she murmured, astonishing me.
I had no idea. Old cat, old friend,
have I reached some place inside,
added to your life
as you have to mine?

I first saw this poem on the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee website over a year ago, and it struck a cord with me then.  And now I'm drawing comfort from it this week.  I said goodbye to my sweet Frank this week.  Although he hasn't been well in over a year, and I've been preparing myself for his passing for quite awhile, I still get teary eyed as I write this.  He was my constant companion and shadow of mine around the house for the last 9 years.  We've been through so much together, and he was always by my side with a soft nuzzle to let me know he was there.  He slept by my side at night for 9 years, and I'll miss him.  He was my little guy, my Frizzle. 

One Little Word -- July

The July prompt for the One Little Word workshop has been the most 'me' prompt so far -- music!  More specifically -- a soundtrack for my word.  This month I created a personal playlist for my word.  Seeing as how I have music playing at all times while I'm at home or in my car, this prompt was a breeze for me, and super fun. 

I remember in my AP English class in highschool we were given the opportunity to either write an essay or create something for our final class project.  I created a mix tape, or soundtrack I guess, for a novel we had just read in class.  I remember thinking all the people that chose to write an 8 page essay were out of their fucking minds.  I have never liked writing essays, period.  So given the opportunity to make a mix tape as a final project vs. writing an essay about some famous important novel that I can't even remember, the choice was an easy one for me. Mix tape!!

So what I'm saying is I had a great time tackling making a playlist for my word -- heal.  The songs I selected don't literally include my word -- to me it was more about creating the playlist with songs that are important to me now, or have been important to me through my life, and songs that make me connect to my word.  After creating our soundtrack to our word, we pulled lines or quotes from each song to put on 9 canvases.

Here are my canvases:

Although I have only 9 canvases, my soundtrack has 13 songs:

1. My Sweet Lord: George Harrison
2. Given To Fly: Pearl Jam
3. Between Two Lungs: Florence & The Machine
4. Well All Right: Kid Rock
5. Fall On Me: R.E.M.
6. Get Better: Mates Of State
7. Up Up Up: Givers
8. Young Blood: The Naked and Famous
9. Fans: Kings of Leon
10. Someone Like You: Adele
11. Baby, What a Big Surprise: Chicago
12. Helena Beat: Foster the People
13. Crying, Waiting, Hoping: Karen Elson

Then I created a cover sheet for the project and burned my playlist onto a disc to include in my One Little Word notebook. 

On Twitter if I send out a tweet of something I'm listening to right then, I'll include the hashtag #nowplaying, so I put that as my cover sheet.  I put my CD in a sleeve I purchased in a DIY CD packaging kit made by Chronicle Books. 

Here are the lyrics I chose to include on my canvases:

Given To Fly: Pearl Jam
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away. The love he receives is the love that is saved. And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky. A human being that was given to FLY.

Between To Lungs: Florence & The Machine
I have this breath and I hold it tight.  And I keep it in my chest with all my might.  I pray to GOD this BREATH will last.  As it pushes past my lips as I gasp, gasp.

Well All Right: Buddy Holly via Kid Rock
We'll LIVE and LOVE with all our might

Fall On Me: R.E.M.
Buy the sky and sell the sky. And lift your arms up to the sky. And ask the sky, and ask the sky.  Fall On Me.

Get Better: Mates Of State
Everything's gonna get LIGHTER, even if it never gets BETTER

Up Up Up: Givers
Yeah we up up up above love. Yeah we up UP up through the clouds. Yeah we up.

Young Blood: The Naked and Famous
The bittersweet between my teeth.  Trying to find the in-betweens. Fall back in LOVE eventually.

Someone Like You: Adele
Sometimes it lasts in LOVE but sometimes it HURTS instead.

Fans: Kings of Leon
You know the RAINY days they ain't so bad when you're the KING.

Looking forward to what is in store for August!!

One Little Word -- June

The prompt for June was one of the most challenging of the workshop thus far.  It was called Creative Meditation.  We were supposed to create 9 different mini-canvases -- keeping our word in mind as we created them.  I think they were difficult for me initially because the instructor used the word "messy" in the description of the project.  As most of my close friends and family know, I do not mesh well with the word "mess"..... my mind may be a mess sometimes, but my living space and work space are not.  So when I saw the instructor's personal process video for creating her canvases -- I was worried.  I don't work with paints much in my own scrapbooking -- not because I don't think it looks cool.  I actually think it looks really cool.  But paint to me equals dirty hands, and I like clean hands.  I'm so type-A sometimes.  Anyway, long story short, I managed to get over my fear of getting my hands dirty and had a great time creating my most colorful prompt so far.

Here are a few pictures that show my 9 mini-canvases:

Admittedly, I didn't actually get that dirty creating these canvases.  I used watercolors as the background for two of them, and did a little bit of stamping on a few of them.  I purchased a few acrylic paints in lime green, purple, and turquoise, but ended up running out of canvases because I wanted to include a photo of Frank and Spuzz in the project. 

I like the way they turned out though -- they are all different bright colors, which makes me happy.  We were supposed to choose a color to use as a jumping off point for our canvases, but I knew right away I didn't want to focus on just one color.  And that is one of the cool parts about this project -- you can create whatever you want, and whatever makes you happy! 

One Little Word -- May

As you know from my post from yesterday, this week I'm featuring a series of posts to catch you all up on my One Little Word project from Big Picture Classes.  I know you guys have been waiting with baited breath for my next installment.....May!!

So, May's prompt was one of the least challenging so far.  In a word -- documentation.  We were encouraged to write down our ideas, thoughts, tasks, missions and stuff we'd like to tackle with our word this year.  Also create another cover sheet for the month. 

Cover sheet:

Hello May! Lovely to see you again......
Still using patterned paper from a kit from Freehand Scraps.  I think the star stamp is a Tim Holtz stamp - love his stamps!

And my documentation:

I'm not sure you can see in this photo what the template spaces say -- each 8.5 x 11 sheet has 5 spaces to write.  Each space is divided in to two smaller spaces. The top space says Task/Mission/Goal/Objective/Thoughts/Stuff to Tackle.  The bottom space says Comments/Observations. 

Here are a few of my written spaces:

1. Create new memories with another dog.....I fell in love with Spuzz the moment I saw him, and haven't looked back!!  So happy....
Comments: Spuzz is so different than Milo as far as energy level, he keeps me on my toes.  Looking forward to adventures!!

2. Work on educating myself on foods that are easy to digest after gallbladder removal, I would like my digestion to be more predictable.
Comments: More fresh foods!

3. Keep Frank as healthy and happy as possible. Do the best you can with his medication, and don't punish yourself if he is combative.
Comments: It is your strength that you realize Frank will not live forever -- you'll know when he is ready to go.

4. Create an outdoor space to enjoy.  So looking forward to my deck area -- a place to sit and enjoy the fresh air.
Comments: Don't forget to allow Frank to experience the wind and sun in his fur.

5. Do something active 3 to 4 times a week.  You enjoy walking, do this with Spuzz. Zumba class was fun a a great workout.
Comments: You are reminded more and more as time goes by how important your health is, you really have nothing if you don't have your health!

Those are 5 out of 8 "tasks" that I have documented so far -- maybe I'll jot down more as the year progresses.

One Little Word -- April

I think this week I'm going to do a series of blog posts catching you all up on what I've been working on the past few months with my One Little Word workshop at Big Picture Classes.  I've been having a lot of fun working on the project!!  I'm pretty sure I've already covered the first few months in previous posts, so I'll start with April.

April's prompt was called "Note to Self."  I had to write a letter to myself -- taking stock of where I am right now (or back in April), envisioning where I want to be, setting intentions, and writing it all out.  Also had to take a self portrait and make a cover sheet.  One of the cool things about the class is the instructor, Ali Edwards, creates templates for us to use.  We just have to fill in the information, either hand-written or typed, and pick out our own paper to use.   

Here is my cover sheet and self portrait for April:

Most of the patterned paper I've been using for this OLW workshop has been from a monthly scrapbooking kit I purchased from Freehand Scraps over a year ago.  Lots of colorful paper -- I've been using a lot of lime greens, bright pinks, and turquoise on this project.  I chose to keep my self portrait a little funky, using a picture I had taken with my iPhone one day when I was playing around with some glasses from my Tickle Trunk.  Tangent -- "Tickle Trunk?  WTF is that??" -- is probably what you're thinking.  I got the term from my bro-in-law, Mike, who is originally from Canada.  Apparently in Canada there was a kids show where there was a trunk full of props and costumes called "The Tickle Trunk" -- anyway, despite the creepy name for it, I have my own Tickle Trunk full of costumes, hats, and strange glasses.  You never know when you're going to need a Wookie costume, am I right?  I have a Wookie costume, BTW, so if you need to borrow it, just let me know!  Soooo, where was I..... yes, my photo.  I'm wearing some glasses from my Tickle Trunk. 

And my letter to myself:

I'll write it out because only like 4 people actually read this blog and I'd show you this letter in person if you asked, so why not write it out here.......right? Right.

Dear Jess,

Right now you are: Content. Emotionally you are feeling fantastic! Armour thyroid has truly changed your life. You are loving your new home and how happy you are creating this long term space for yourself. You are working on processing Aunt Judy's death - time and reflection will help you heal. You still think of Milo often, sometimes there are still tears. But you are looking forward to opening up your heart and home to another dog. Frank is doing as well as can be expected - you have accepted the fact that he will not be here forever and you must enjoy every moment you have with him.

One year from now I hope you'll be: Emotionally solid. Content with where you are in your personal and professional life. Drinking lots of water and sweating on a regular basis. Taking care of you. Opening up your heart to the possibility of falling in love. Loving Frank or loving your memories of Frank. Creating new memories with a new dog (or dogs!!). Laughing!! Connecting with friends and family. Continuing to be strong. Continuing to heal.

Love, Jess   

Ten Things -- iPhone photo edition

I've been taking a shit ton of photos with my iPhone lately.  It is super convenient just to whip out my phone and take a photo.  I can email it to myself on the spot and print it out within minutes.  Pretty much awesome.  So this Ten Things post is going to revolve around my most recent iPhone pictures, in chronological order.

1.  Spuzz has taken to retreating under the table when he's got something in his mouth that he knows he's not supposed to have.  Usually something that I'm worried about him swallowing and actually digesting.  Like a penny, or a button.  He loves to put everything in his mouth and my worst fear is that he'll choke on something or eat something that will cause an intestinal blockage.  His number one thing to chew on outside?  Tiny little bark chunks.  And he loves it even more when I chase him around trying to get said bark out of his mouth.  I've learned that it is better not to chase.  I have never acted so casual in my life.  Despite me acting like I don't care that he might as well have a grenade in his mouth, he still can sense my paranoia and continues to chew on bark like it is his last meal.

2.  I finally figured out what the mystery flower is in my back yard.  A lily.  Actually, my mom told me what it is.  She's like the Stephen Hawking of gardening.  She's a genius.  She would have made a great high school horticulture teacher.  But she raised two beautiful daughters instead, so eat your hearts out kids who had shitty horticulture teachers.  The flowers are actually a really cool orangey color, can't really tell in this picture because I used the super cool Instagram app to make it look super awesome.

3.  My back yard is currently being transformed in to an oasis.  First there was grass, then there were shrubs and flowers, and now there is a deck.  Well, about 50% of a deck.  The deck frame was built this week, and I'm pretty pumped.  It looks great and I'm excited to get it all finished up so I can start doing all my cocktail drinking outdoors.  Plus, who has two thumbs and a bunch of mint growing?  This girl.  Fresh mint + rum = homemade mojitos!!

4.  Frank.  Hmmmm.  Well, Frank is technically 'alive', but I'm not sure he is really living life to the fullest at this point.  He used to sleep 22 hours a day, and now he sleeps about 23 & 1/2 hours a day.  He rarely comes out of the bedroom and when he does it seems like he's in a haze.  He'll eat a little then retreat back to either under the bed or on the bed.  Sad as it is, I'm waiting for him to give me some sort of sign that he's ready to go.  I guess that sign will be not eating or not bothering to make it to the litter box to relieve himself.  Neither of those things have happened yet, so we wait and keep him comfortable.  And take pictures of him.  Like this one.

5.  Spuzz doesn't sit still long for the camera.  I gotta get the shot in when I can.  Here's a favorite ShakeIt app shot from today.

6. Random shot of my car seat fabric.  It was a total accident.  I was trying to get a shot of Spuzz in the car while we were in the drive thru line at Firehouse Coffee.  Have I told you they make the best iced mochas in Seattle?  I probably have.  Anyway, this fabric shot ended up happening and I kinda like it.  Looks abstract and cool.  Probably will put it in the ol' SMASH book.  

7.  Music.  New and old.  I was down in Ballard today and popped in to Sonic Boom to check out the Kid Robot and new music situation.  I ended up scoring big time in the Kid Robots department.  See #8 below.  And also scored in the new music department.  Picked up the Rave On Buddy Holly album -- it is an album of bands and solo artists doing Buddy Holly covers.  And it is freakin' awesome!!  I have a soft spot in my heart for Buddy Holly because it reminds me of my dad -- his favorite song is Oh Boy!  The stand out tracks on the album for me, so far, are Karen Elson's cover of Crying, Waiting, Hoping, and Julian Casablancas' cover of Rave On, and Patti Smith's cover of Words of Love. 

Also picked up the 25th anniversary R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant box set.  Well, I wouldn't really call it a box set, more than just a box.  Lifes Rich Pageant is, hands down, my favorite R.E.M. album of all time.  I'm not really sure what happens when an album gets digitally remastered, but I know that I love this album so much I couldn't not find out.  Favorite R.E.M. song of all time?  Fall On Me.

  

8.  After my Kid Robots luck from last week (Millhouse!! Otto!!), I didn't think I could possibly top it.  Well, today the Kid Robot gods were smiling down on me because check it out!!!  I got Devil Flanders!!

Kid Robot nirvana has been reached

9.  Look who decided to help me with some yard work?  This little guy.  He hasn't told me his name yet, any ideas?  But he's got a wheelbarrow so I'll let him stay for awhile.  I have a weakness while I'm in the garden section at the Ballard Fred Meyers.  They have soooo much stuff!  It's insane.  Not quite insane in the membrane, but close.  Couldn't resist getting this guy to put a little pop-a-color in with the dirt.  There is a yard and garden art store on 85th that I pass on a daily basis.  They have roosters the size of people and Snuffaluffagusses that I'd love to put in the yard at some point.  Probably after I can pass the purchase off as part of my quest to be an eccentric old woman.  I'm thinking I'm about 3 cats away from that happening.  So basically soonish.

10.  Jam-tastic.  Two of the people closest in my life are now making jam.  My sister has been making jam for a few years now and recently gave me a jar of peach jam.  I opened it last night and holey moley, is it delicious.  I'm planning on having some with every meal until I run out.  She just made strawberry-vanilla jam that I'm super duper excited to try.  I'll make sure to think about posting about it.  I can't guarantee a post given my lousy posting record as of late, but I'll definitely mull it over.  Gina has also started to make jam.  She used to help her dad can when she was growing up, but just recently tried making her first jam.  Strawberry-rhubarb.  I haven't tried it yet, but I definitely will after I'm all finished devouring Chris's peach awesomeness.

** I have been listening to Rave On Buddy Holly while writing this post and seriously, you need to go out and buy this album!  It is fantastic!!  It will definitely be on my list of favorites for 2011.**      

I *love* my SMASH book!!

I've been a crazy, lazy blogger as of late, and I apologize.  I don't really have any excuses, and I actually have stuff to blog about!!  I'll try to be better, pinky swear. 

Sooooo, a few posts ago I showed a video of K & Company's awesome SMASH book.  Well, they started shipping them out at the end of May.  This book and accompanying embellishments were made for me.  I have collected so much ephemera over the years, and where am I going to put it all?  Where am I going to put that newspaper clipping of a teenager break dancing for the Pope?  Where am I going to put that picture of Bea Arthur that Kim ripped out of that magazine on our plane ride to Las Vegas when I had mononucleosis in 2007?  In my SMASH book, that is where!!  I've been slowly putting years worth of pack rat papers into my first book, and it has been super fun.  Yesterday I actually worked on putting some more recent stuff in there.  Here are a few of my SMASH book pages:

One of my recent favorite pictures of Spuzz.  He's such a fluffy little guy, or at least he was up until yesterday when he got his second haircut.  I call him my little teddy bear, because when he's all puffy and floofy, his face looks like that of a bear, like a cartoon bear, not like a grizzly bear.  He's just so adorable.  That picture was taken of Spuzz right after I brought him home from the groomers.  A few months ago I bought an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer.  It prints photos up to 12in x 12in.  Not that I am in to digital scrapbooking, but I like the idea of being able to print out photos last minute for my scrappy scrap scrappin' projects.  Anyway, I took that photo of Spuzz with my iPhone -- ShakeIt app, of course -- and printed it out.  So fast and easy to have a photo printer at home, love it!

Some of you know my obsession with Kid Robots, some of you may not.  Anyway, long story short, I buy a lot of weird shit.  I saw Kid Robots for the first, and really only, time at Sonic Boom in Ballard.  I'm a fan of The Simpson's and Family Guy, so I was of course drawn to these little figurines.  Or I guess they are referred to as Art Toys.  Whatever.  Anyway, I bought a couple only to realize that you can't buy a specific character, meaning you buy an unidentified box and it is a surprise what character you get.  It's like Russian roulet but with cartoon characters and no one dies.  Not surprisingly, I didn't get the characters I wanted, so it became an obsession for me.  Every week or so over the past few months I'd go in to Sonic Boom and buy a couple Kid Robots.  The characters I *really* wanted?  Groundskeeper Willy, Millhouse, and Otto.  Well, I ended up getting Groundskeeper Willy fairly quickly.  And now that I've been playing this Kid Robot game for a few months, I actually have four, yes four, Groundskeeper Willys.  I have a Willy Army.  I don't even want to know how much money I have sunk into this venture.  I could probably add it up, but how much fun would that be?  It would just make me feel bad about myself, and I have no problem doing that on my own without bringing my "art toy" obsession in to the mix.  Yesterday I had a "feeling", it was like the gods of ridiculous crap were shining down on me and I felt their love surge in my general direction.  So I marched on down to Sonic Boom and bought 6 Simpsons Kid Robots.  Want to know a secret?  I cleaned them out.  Literally.  I bought every last Simpsons Kid Robot.  And what did I get?  Millhouse and Otto!!  YES!!!  My mission is completed and now I can focus my money on other ventures, like books, CDs, dog toys, and maybe retirement.  Oh, and SMASH book products!

Did I tell you I bought a super sweet polaroid camera?  A couple bloggers I follow have a fun little camera by Fujifilm called the Instax Mini.  It takes polaroid photos the size of a credit card.  How fun is that to tote around for instant SMASH book photos?  Well, I bought it a few weeks ago and have been having fun with it around the house and yard.  It takes MUCH better photos in natural daylight.  The photos inside the house have been mediocre at best, but hey, it is a "fun" camera, so I'm not expecting Annie Leibovitz results here.  I have another "fun" camera, a fish eye camera, that I should start using again.  It is an actual film camera.  So vintage!  Anyhoo, the above SMASH book page is capturing some pictures from around the yard. 

Anyone else out there SMASHing away?             

Ten Things!!

1.  Have you seen the movie Bridesmaids?  If not, you should.  It was hilarious!!  My sis and I checked it out a few weeks ago at Pacific Place.  So funny.  Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph do a bang up job, and the sleeper hit for me was Melissa McCarthy -- she plays Megan, the groom's sister.  Just check the movie out, you'll see what I mean.  Three words -- puppies wearing berets.

I also saw Hangover 2 with Kim and Casey.  Funny but totally predictable.  Kinda had the same recipe as the first one.  If you haven't seen it, wait for the DVD.

2.  Totally loving my SMASH book!!  Also found this cool SMASH blog.  Being a total pack rat of all things quirky, I have a lot of stuff to put in my Smash book from over the years.  I found a list of favorite movie quotes that I had written down from a few years ago.  Said list now lives in the Smash book.  Apparently I was on a Big Lebowski and Anchorman kick.  Here are some of my favorites:
- Years later a doctor will tell me that I have an IQ of 48, and I'm what some people call "mentally retarded"
- I told those fucks down at the League office a thousand times that I don't roll on Shabbat!
- You brought the fuckin' Pomeranian bowling? What do you mean 'brought it bowling' Dude? I didn't rent it shoes. I'm not buying it a fucking beer. He's not taking your fucking turn, Dude.

3.  I'm loving the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Codes and Keys.  It has been on repeat since I picked it up a few weeks ago.  All great songs but my favorites are Some Boys and Monday Morning -- also the title track Codes and Keys is pretty awesome.

4. In other music news, I saw Will Wakefield & the Congress Hotel at the High Dive in Fremont this past Friday night -- they rocked my socks off!  They were a welcomed departure from my usual music fair.  Check them out on iTunes or go to their next show on Thursday, July 21st at The Sunset Tavern in Ballard.

5. Remember when I told you about Pickwick?  Well I'm going to see them this Friday night and I'm pretty pumped about it.  They blew me away when I saw them at The Tractor a few months ago.  They are playing with another band that I haven't heard of, Shim.  Here's a reminder of how awesome Pickwick are:



6. Check out these super cool earrings my sis got me for my birthday.  They were made by one of my favorite jewelry designers -- Markhed Design.  I've shown her stuff on my blog before.  Love her work.

Hearts and Cross-Bones

7.  A few months ago I discovered the awesomeness that is An Idiot Abroad.  Have you watched it?  You should.  I've also been listening to Ricky Gervais's podcast -- he totally cracks me up.

8.  I've heard from quite a few people that I should be watching Game of Thrones on HBO, so I started watching it today -- just watched the first episode but I can tell it is right up my alley.  Sort of has a Lord of the Rings type feel to it.  Question though -- was monkey business between siblings a common practice in medieval fantasy lands?  Also excited because True Blood Season 4 is starting again at the end of the month.

9. I've had such a great experience taking Ali Edward's One Little Word workshop over at Big Picture Classes, I've decided to take another class -- Mastering Manual Mode.  Should be a fun project to work on over the summer, hopefully the weather will warm up here so I can get outside to take some pictures.

10. Spuzz has turned out to be quite the little rascal!!  He has soooo much more energy than Milo ever had, not surprising considering I got Milo when he was an old man and Spuzz is only 7 months old.  Spuzz is a chewer -- he likes to taste test everything in his path.  This includes the cords behind the television.  I came home from work one day and he had unplugged every cord behind the television.  Since then I have built a little fortress around the tv so he can't get his little mischievious self back there.  He seems to also like to poke around the laundry hamper, looking for stray socks (his most favorite thing of mine to chew on).  He hasn't destroyed any furniture yet, but that is probably only due to the fact that I have about 15 different varieties of chew toys to keep him occupied.  He's a sweet boy though.  He burps and it melts my heart every time.

Here's another video I want to share.  Galen Disston of Pickwick singing "My Best Friend" by Queen with the Seattle Rock Orchestra.  How cool is this?  I wish I would have seen this live.



                

Spuzz got a buzz....cut!!!

It will be three weeks tomorrow since Spuzz wiggled his way into my life, and my heart.  When I first got him he was a little timid, but let me tell you, over the last few weeks he has made himself perfectly at home!  He's a bit spoiled.....he has three new dog beds and they all happen to be in the living room.  The were all purchased separately and meant for different areas of the house, but he has dragged them all into the living room and he can be seen on any one of them throughout the day.  He has no shortage of chew toys, as he LOVES to chew and play.  With an emphasis on chew.  But if he has chew toy options he seems to leave the furniture alone.  Although I'm on a mission tomorrow to find a new clothes hamper.  He has fallen in love with chewing the wooden knobs at the bottom of the cheapy old IKEA hamper I've had since college.  I figure it is about time for a new hamper, plus I don't want his widdle mouth to get all splintered up. 

Handsome boy!!

Last Wednesday Spuzz had his first grooming adventure!!  Look!!  You can actually see his face!!  He apparently passed his first grooming with flying colors.  The lady that groomed him said he did a great job and that he was a really sweet dog.  He is a really sweet dog, I can vouche for that.  He's sweet and playful, and wiggles all over the place with excitement when I come home from work.  We are working *really* hard on getting him potty trained, and I think he's getting the swing of things.  Lots of baby talk in this house at the moment.  Lots of praise and pets and treats when he relieves himself outside, which is almost all the time now.  I've gotten on a walk / play schedule with him that has him going potty outside a couple times a day.  I had to rearrange a couple items in the house though -- I moved Frank's litter box into the kitchen (Spuzz had a few misfires on the rug that I keep under the litter box) in an effort to prevent accidents on the wood floor in the office.  Also totally took away the rug at the front door -- he seemed to like using that as his own personal pee-pee pad.  Since removing those two rug temptations, he has been really great about peeing outside.  Fingers crossed he continues to relieve himself outside!!


Such a gorgeous day at the beach!!

This past weekend was so beautiful, Spuzz and I made a trip down to the beach and the dog park at Golden Gardens.  The dog park has a "small dog" area, but at the time I went early Sunday morning, there were no small dogs in that area, but there were a bunch of small and big dogs in the main area.  I decided to go in to the main area with him and see how he reacted.  Let's just say he wanted to be a spectator that day :)  I set him down on the ground and immediately a happy big dog came over to say hi and Spuzz curled up into a little ball and wedged himself against the fence.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed with all the activity.  So I decided to pick him up and walk over to a bench where we could sit and just watch all the dogs.  I think he liked that just fine!  Maybe next time there will be some small dogs in the small dog side that we can meet.

Spuzz spectating

Spuzz loved the beach though!!  We didn't actually go on the beach, as apparently dogs aren't allowed on public beaches in Seattle, but we did walk around the non-beach area of Golden Gardens.  We found another bench to serve as our home base for people and animal watching.  Lots of other dogs, and a few geese.  We could also hear the sea lions barking which was pretty cool.  They were hanging out on a huge buoy a bit off shore.  Spuzz was pretty interested in the sea lion noise.  After our dog park / Golden Gardens adventure we went home and he took a well-deserved nap.  One tuckered out lil' dog!! 

Here are a couple other shots I took while at the park:

As you can tell, I'm still enjoying the ShakeIt app, but recently I have branched out with Instagram which is a new favorite!
  

Total knob jockey

In an effort to spice this stank burger up, I've been working on a few DIY projects around the house.  The first of which I talked about in a previous post regarding my crappy couch to shabby chic makeover.  It took very little time, and just a wee bit o' casheesh on my part.  Also on the DIY list was to change the boring knobs on my blue dresser.  Here is what the original knobs looked like:

Kinda plain jane, nothing awesome about them.  They weren't ugly by any stretch, but they didn't add any flavor to the dresser.  During one of my trips to World Market I saw they stock a variety of different knobs -- shapes, sizes, colors, etc.  I decided to do a little switch up with the dresser in my bedroom.  Here are some of the knobs I picked out:

The picture doesn't show all of them -- there are 12 total -- but you get the idea of what type of knobs I was looking for.  They aren't that expensive either!  I got a couple sets for $3.99 a set, then a few of the more colorful knobs were $3.99 to $4.99 each.  I think for the whole 12-knob transformation I spent about $40.  Here's the dresser now:

Not the greatest picture ever, but you get the idea.  It looks pretty sweet in person.  I find that, like The Dude's rug, it completes the room :)