Things I've Been Thinking About

So, I do think about blogging more regularly, truly I do. In fact, for the last 6 months I've been writing down random notes to myself regarding things I'd like to blog about. But I've never actually gotten around to writing full paragraphs about these ideas, so I decided to just post the random notes. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to expand upon.

Consciously resting and taking time for myself as a way to soothe and care for my bodily self - i.e. moving away from a purely mind-identified life/self. Ironically, doing this helps me accomplish my mind-centered tasks (for example, writing a legal brief) easier and more efficient. So more time resting and nurturing my body = more productive mental energy time. Weird, I know.

If I stop revisiting a particular memory, does that mean I've gained all I need from that moment? Have I actually managed to move on? If that is the case, then awesome, awesome, awesome.

In October my women's support group encouraged me to unsubscribe, unplug, stop reading/listening to everyone else's thoughts and write some of my own. I unsubscribed from several over-posty types of blogs, gave up on a few podcasts, deleted some "samples" from my Kindle. What a sweet, sweet relief that was. And now I spend a least a few moments each day writing notes to myself. Not so much a journal, or maybe it is, if writing three or four incomplete sentences a day can be considered a journal.

Do dreams of rearranging, refurbishing, renovating my home (but not actually my house) = fixing up the house of my mind? And why is it that dreams of "my" house never remotely resemble an actual dwelling/building I've visited in the "real" world?

The social requirement for women to be thin, yet to never appear to be hungry. I notice this is a particularly middle-class requirement. In fact, the better off you are financially/materially, the less you are supposed to eat and the more food you are supposed to leave on your plate.

What is the difference between being nourished and well-fed? Or are they the same thing, really?

The awesomeness of my daily notes to myself and my Book of Me (thanks Havi!).

Okay, blogger's being weird, so I think I'll just post these for now. I have more notes, but I'll type those up later. :D

Oh, and here's a cute picture that never fails to make me smile (this is E, with crazy piggies):

The only weird thing about all this is that nothing about it feels weird . . .

Aka: The Story of Max

So, I had written a post about this on Thursday night, but, seriously, blogger for android ate my post. Thus, I am trying again from a real computer.

In late March 2011, our beloved dog, Sophie, passed away. We say she's gone to the big dog park in the sky (you know, the place with the eternally interesting new smells). We knew we would eventually want another dog, but the loss was just too great to get a new dog immediately. Sophie was my baby-dog. We got her 10 years ago, shortly before I became pregnant with M. She was there through both boylios babyhood & young childhood - she was even there when E was born. Sophie was smart, curious, gentle and sweet. I still miss her dearly. Here are two of my favorite pictures of Sophie B. Dogg:

Sophie taking a rest after a long hike

Sophie is skeptical . . .

We went to a pet adoption fair in May, but we still weren't ready yet, even though we met several cute dogs. My heart broke when we met a sweet old doggy about the same age as Sophie - I knew I couldn't lose another pet again so soon though. Shane was thinking we might wait until the fall to get a new dog. We talked about breeds we might like - even considering getting a "Konnichi-huachua."

Well, the plan to wait till fall got changed Thursday night. After dinner, I suggested we go for a walk. We randomly decided to walk down 400 East. When we approached a certain house, a small dog who kinda looked like a black Sophie with a stubby tail came out to great us. He smiled at us, smelling and licking my & M's fingers through the chain link fence.  The owner, Adri, stepped out into the yard and commented how strange it was that Max wasn't barking at us. We said we liked dogs and told her about Sophie.

Then she said, "Max is actually available for adoption." She told us how her circumstances had changed and she needed to find Max a home with kids who could keep up with his masculine energy. She indicated that he wasn't doing so good in a house that already had three dogs, although she had raised him and trained him for the past two years. Shane commented about how that's why we ended up adopting Sophie, too. We came into the yard to greet Max and he immediately started licking the boys, enthusiastically wagging his tail. We decided to take him for a walk to see how he did with us without Adri nearby.

On the walk I asked Shane if he was okay to get another dog. He said, "It kinda seems like he's already adopted us." I heartily agreed! We brought him back and said we would like to take Max home. Adri started crying and said how very happy she was, and how miraculous it was that he happened to find us. Some neighbors came out to say goodbye to Max, one commenting on how calm he was acting, even though he was surrounded by four apparent strangers!

So we brought Max home and he settled right in. He loves sniffing around our yard. He is definitely a bird dog - he barks to let us know when he's found one - and he thinks he can chase motorbikes of all kinds. He likes to sleep in our bed. He's very cuddly and happy. We've taken him back by Adri's house a couple times to say hello. He loves to see her and his old friends, but within a few minutes he's ready to keep walking with us.

Here are a few pictures of our new buddy Maxi-million:

Thank you so much, Adri, for teaching Max to be such a good doggy and for letting us make Max a member of our family.

Trying to blog from my phone

So this is an expirement, conducted from our back patio, listening to Jill Scott & enjoying the third glass of "no detectable sulfite" wine, 'cause I have allergies.

It's been an awesome few days. We've spent lots of time @ the Utah Arts Festival. M seems to enjoy watching dance. E not so much, unless there are leaps involved. The boyos got bear marionettes, which they love.

Plus, I've actually accomplished a few needed household tasks, which is truly amazing. I've listened to several awesome podcasts while cleaning & laundering, which made it way easier. What's amazing to me is how engaging in a fairly mindless task (like hanging laundry) sharpens my focus on what I'm listening to -- so much so that when I return to the same physical location later on I can recall exactly what I was listening to earlier. I've noticed the same phenomenon working on puzzles.

Also, Rene Marie's Voice of My Beautiful Country is simply impeccable, haunting & inspiring. You should take a listen, seriously.