Ruby as Vanna

Ruby as Vanna, originally uploaded by peevish me.

Here you see Ruby giving some scale to the scene. Now can you see how big this lock is?

I'd love to hear about the incident which prompted the extreme reaction of installing this monster lock. Or maybe not.

Lock-Up

Lock-Up, originally uploaded by peevish me.

We found this enormous lock on the inside of the handicapped restroom stall at Safeway. I felt like I was opening a vault, and I must say I've never felt so safe while taking a slash at a grocery store.

2 things

One: Tomorrow I must take down my photos from the walls of Ozo. This makes me sad as it gave me a warm but slightly-too-big-for-my-own-britches feeling to bump into someone and say "Oh, by the way, my stuff is hanging up at Ozo this month if you care to see it." all faux-nonchalantly. If my dear departed friend Mickey Troncale were here, he'd make a sour face, point a thumb in my direction and say (in an Eve Arden grumble) "Oh, get her!". Or, abbreviated, "GH!". He was a big one for abbreviations and codes. Anyhoo...

Two: I'm so glad we still have 3 live goldfish to moon over and feed.

Which Scarlet Letter must I wear?

This has been a very difficult week for me. After a long weekend filled with thunderstorms which sent Emma into a couple of hysterical spirals requiring 2 Benadryls (the dog weighs 35 pounds, fer Christsakes!), we finally decided we really couldn't keep her. This was wrenching for me and Lyra, and far less so for Ruby & Mr. Man. The final straw for me was when Mr. Man told me that when he comes home from work and has to sit and watch her make endless loops through our kitchen and living room, because nothing i mean nothing will make her stop, it made his stomach hurt. So then I had the double-whammy of guilt. I was the filling in a guilt sandwich where Emma was one bun and MM was the other. Not a happy place. As my long-time friends know, I'm the chick who picks them up off the street and keeps them forever. Or at least I used to be. If I were single, giving her up would not even be an option. But I'm not, and my husband does have a right to some peace in his own home, as do we all.

During my sleepless, guilt-ridden night between Monday & Tuesday, I composed a letter to the folks at The Humane Society detailing all the information I wish we had been given before we adopted Emma. I listed all her good qualities as well as the bad, and all the meds and techniques we had employed over the last 6 months in our attempts to alleviate her anxiety. In the morning on Tuesday I dropped off the kids at my friend Erin's house so I could take Emma to the HS by myself. I was prepared to be shamed and castigated by them. I told them our sad tale, and gave them the letter I had typed and printed. But they were so amazingly kind and sympathetic that I cried even harder. They said things like "You are allowed to have a life!" and "We want you to stay married." They offered guidance in case we changed our minds and wanted to keep her, but once they looked over all of our info. they said it looked like we had tried just about everything we could have. They felt good about being able to place her in a more appropriate home, or maybe they just said that to make me feel better. They offered me an exchange and gave me 6 months to choose another pet. I'm not sure that will be long enough. When I got back to Erin's house, she made me feel a little better by saying "They don't put down dogs that are so great with children. There are too many pit bulls around here. She is still adoptable." I sure hope she is right. Because we really want Emma to find a happy place.

I miss her so much.

finish this sentence

Friday was the last day of the school year for both girls, and Ruby brought home a huge amount of school work for us to sort into two stacks: 1. to be recycled & 2. too funny/cute/smart to throw away. Here are some examples of proverbs she was asked to finish. I'm only posting the ones she didn't know, and for which she invented her own endings.

"Children should be seen not playing."

"It's always darkest before morning."

"The pen is mightier than the pencil."

"A penny saved is good luck."

"Better safe than unsafe."

"Two is company, three is nice."

"The early bird gets luck."

"Don't count your chickens okay?"

Yesterday, to celebrate the beginning of our summer vacation, we went back to Sunflower Farm. It was warm and sunny and wonderful as always, if a bit too crowded. The piglets we first saw the day after they were born are now Babe-sized and way too cute, if dirtier than Babe ever appears to be. I also went for a long solo bike ride. You know what is fun? Riding a bike!

Happy Summer, ya'll!

so sweet!

I heard this story on NPR (All Things Considered) and learned about a Chinese police officer who found a great reason to take off her uniform. She is feeding hungry babies after the earthquake.

Flash Flood and Avalanche .... run

Flash Flood and Avalanche .... run, originally uploaded by JakeEssl.

turn around!

IMG_2172.JPG, originally uploaded by futemc27.

it's a trap!

Take That, Smoking Dogs

Take That, Smoking Dogs, originally uploaded by mikepirnat.

No fair.

a verdict has been rendered

Quoted from this article
Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

CAS said the unanimous ruling goes into effect immediately.

"I am ecstatic," Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy. "When I found out, I cried. It is a battle that has been going on for far too long. It's a great day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of disabled people."

get ready to laugh

I made this
Originally uploaded by *antonia*

I hope Antonia doesn't mind if I post this. The option was there, and resistance was futile.

she kills me

front blowing in

30 minutes ago it was 79 degrees here. Now it is 63 and dropping, with a possibility of snow tonight or tomorrow.

getaway, part two

Friday night we ate and drank at Osteria Marco.

i love the lamps, and the green wallpaper in the loo.

more resting, then Saturday night we met up with Kris' friend Liz and ate & drank at The Ninth Door.

devils on horseback

cafe and postres

We rode the free shuttle back to the hotel.

Kris & Liz got all caught up on high school gossip

Sunday morning we ate Mother's Day Brunch at Rioja.

St. Germain cocktail complete with house-made grapefruit bitters and grapefruit gelee. Deee-lish!



and then it was time to go back to the airport. Now I'm verklempt, so talk amongst yourselves. Topic: Mother's Day getaway 2010. We're thinking a warm beach in a nation knee-deep in avocados.

Oh yeah, we also went to the Hammond Candy Factory to buy peppermint pillows, elected not to attend the Chocolate extravaganza, but did see Baby Mama. Fun!

Now go wish Sinda a belated Happy Birthday!

getaway, part one

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel. We shopped in Boulder at Boulder Bookstore and Prana, where Kris flirted with a girl from Tyler, Texas. We ate at Centro and had a really bad server named Ashlee.

nipples!

Suddenly a stranger appeared. Poking her head out of the bathroom stall she appeared startled to see a photo session taking place.




We rested, and we read.


to be continued...

Did you know blogger will only let you use up to 200 characters worth of labels? annoying.

I'll be away this long weekend, in Downtown Denver with the 2 best friends a girl could have. Sinda & Kris are flying in tonight so we can recreate our lost weekend 3! years ago, this time without IKEA, but with the Prana Store in Boulder. Also, this time we can ALL drink, because no one has a bun in the oven. That we know of.
Loopy, I'll do my best, but you know how she is.

Try not to be too jealous, ya'll.

new poll up, because of him

He's dreamy and steamy.

Five days ago I saw a bald eagle circling the Hampton Inn on Hwy 287 (also know as Main Street). That's maybe a mile from our house. I felt like rolling down the car window and yelling up to it "The prairie dogs are just to your left, about 100 yards! Head for the creek, your can't miss them!".

Thanks for the kind words about my show, you guys. It means alot to me, you'll never know.

Now, on through that awkwardness. Two ways in which Colorado is weird:

Way, the first being that landlords are not required to make sure that their rental properties have running water and heat. Luckily for renters, there is a bill being considered in the current legislative session which could change that.

Way the second being that there is absolutely no governance over the funeral home business. I could set up a mortuary right here in my basement without any classes or certification and it would be completely legal. If only I could find a Rico to help me run it...

it is done! all but the business cards, anyway.

Yes, I got my photos up at Ozo yesterday. Hoo-ray! The snow stopped for about 2 hours just at the right time to schlep everything, and when I got there, they had all the walls clear for me, plus a step ladder. Now all I need is for my cards to come so I can drop them off, and for people to buy my stuff so I can pay the bills for this show. Everyone at Ozo was very nice and complimentary, which made me feel great. Jennifer asked which pieces I was hanging, so here they are. I'm posting them kind of small, but just click to embiggen.




















And yes, I still prefer Ruby's American Gothic, too.

good news/bad news

The good news: Yesterday I received a call from the Queen Lord Goddess of Awesomeness (leader of all things administrative and keeper-tracker of kids) at Ruby's school to tell me that someone had dropped out of the full-day kindergarten class for next year, so Lyra is in. Glory Hallelujah! Although we had been looking forward to pocketing the money we've been paying to her preschool every month, we will now gladly hand it over to the St. Vrain Valley School District just to have 6.5 hours of child-free time 5 days a week. Yes, Colorado has the weird half-day kinder system where, if you want your 5 year old to go full-day, you have to pay for it. In Boulder it is even stranger because there is a lottery to get into full-day. Here it is just first come, first served.

The bad news: Mr. Man and I decided that I would take the girls to Ruby's School District art opening and he would meet us there. I would leave from there to go to Boulder to hang my stuff at OZO. But guess what I did not know? Ozo closes at 6pm. I arrived there at 6:15pm to find the place locked up tight. So I will attempt to hang my photos today in between Lyra's drop-off time and Ruby's pick-up time. And guess what else? It's fucking snowing right now. Well, actually it is a snow/rain mix, but still. If only I had been able to do it yesterday, when it was 80 degrees and sunny. Now I have to schlep all these framed prints around in this "wintery mix" to borrow a meteorology-geek phrase.

Wait, hold the phone. I just looked outside and it is just snowing. No rain, only snow. ALOT. Fuck. And it is sticking, too. Happy May Day, ya'll! And tonight Ruby's school has a musical program which involves her twirling a ribbon around on stage while some other first-graders sing. There is an "Ocean" theme. She wants to wear her swimsuit. It all seemed so possible yesterday.

Moving on. Here are some photos from last night art show.

Ruby's Sunflowers

Ruby looking at the art. See, she's wearing a sleeveless dress!

Above and below are some pieces which caught my eye at the show. These are from some local middle & high school students.

This collage is amazing! It is life-sized!

Wish me luck for getting my pieces safely onto the walls of OZO today.

current weather conditions. Gah!