At least he noticed

the setting: a cold winter afternoon in an unremarkable Tacoma neighborhood.

The husband: Hey, you got your hair done! You look like Velma! ... What? Why are you looking at me like that? Was that the wrong thing to say? I like Velma! I think she's cute!

now we're even

Seamus was stretched out along the floor next to the sofa and I freaked the poor dog out by accidentally stepping on the end of his pizzle while trying to seat myself on the couch. (Nothing gets your heart rate going like 100 lbs of snarling canine fury erupting underneath you like a leviathan from the depths of your shag carpet.)

He got me back later. He was lying in the doorway between the kitchen and living room and decided to get up right as I was stepping over him.

Doing the splits has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. Thanks, Seamus, for helping me achieve a fitness dream! Now, pass me the tylenol, ok?

Eureka!

My engineering colleagues were all quite baffled when I announced that I was going to graduate school...to study Scandinavian Studies. What use is studying Icelandic if you work as a highway engineer?

Well, I'm the only one in the office who knows how to read these Icelandic traffic signs.

Useless? I don't think so.

I came. I saw. I bought the T-shirt.

goodbye, old friend

The washer and dryer, who have faithfully served the previous resident and then us for a longer time than I have been on this earth, have gone to the appliance graveyard. The washer gave up the ghost last week, and so we decided to replace the pair. As much as I hate to admit, it really wasn't feasible to call a repairman to fix a washer that was approximately 40 years old.

So we are now the proud owners of a high-efficiency front loading washer and matching dryer. Oscar and I had a plan to replace the appliances one by one anyway. Next up, the fridge, then replacing the water heater with a tankless model, then the stove. Unless, of course, the existing geriatric appliances decide to die on their own schedule.

Operation Skinny Dog

Seamus and I have started our fitness program, which is a simple plan of taking him on at least a 30 minute walk every evening. Although he is a big dog, he weighed in at 104 lbs (47 kilos) during his last vet visit, which is too much. I hadn't realized just how conducive to basic fitness living in an urban environment could be. When I lived in Seattle, I never thought of myself as a fit person but I did walk an awful lot, just doing everyday stuff. Walking to the grocery store, walking the dog every evening, walking to the library (oh, how I miss having a library within walking distance of my home). These were chores but they didn't feel like work because the neighborhood was interesting. The neighborhood where we live now doesn't really have a center; it's just a bunch of houses contained within a grid of high speed city streets. So taking the dogs on walks just isn't very interesting. There isn't much to see except for more houses, plus the streets and sidewalks are in pretty rough shape here, so footing can be treacherous.

I know that these walks are good for Seamus and for me as well, but they really aren't very interesting.