Christmas.... in High Def

GUESS WHAT?!
Santa brought me a brand new camera! I really wanted one and Santa came through big-time. The result of this wonderful gift is that instead of photos from my highly reliable but not particularly high quality iphone camera you will be getting Lola and my life in high definition via my brand spankin new digital SLR camera!

Here's a few selections from the holiday weekend:

Lola is beautiful. 

She "likes" to snuggle

She is great at the staring game

She poses well

She loves to help cook

and hide behind trees

And protect us from the neighbor dogs

 And help cook some more

 Happy New Year Everybody!

Lola Helping...

We'll add cookie baking to her list of many talents.... Or more appropriately add 'Counter Shark' to her list of preferred activities

Awkward Safeway Stories (II)

Yes... Safeway has struck again. This time on a Tuesday evening. I suppose I will add that to the ever growing list of times not to shop for groceries. As I stood in line while my groceries were being scanned I had yet another awkward encounter in the Hazel Dell Safeway. This time it was not with the over-zealous checker, although (red flag #1) she did explain to me that, "I ALWAYS keep the register volume turned way up so that I can hear the double beep when I make a mistake! I don't know how the other checkers do it with the volume turned down...." and (red flag #2) "OOPS! just take your eyes off the scanner for one second and all sorts of things happen". Instead, it was a fellow Safeway patron who made things awkward. To set the scene, behind me in line were a woman in her late 40s early 50s and her teenage daughter. The woman was wearing a long coat and a scarf and pants. I had come directly from the gym so was wearing gym shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt.

Woman: "I wonder if we're from the same area?"
Me: silence (I assumed she was talking to the checker? or someone else? either way it seemed an odd question as I don't know why in blue blazes anyone would go out of their way to shop at a safeway far from their home.)
Woman: "I wonder if we live near each other?"
Me:  awkward smile/nod (I realized she was in fact looking at me and pointing while she said it this time... teenage daughter looks embarrassed now)
Woman: "I mean look at what you're wearing!"
Me: (realizing that she's taking issue with the fact I'm wearing shorts in December) "haha... oh well I just came from the gym"
Woman: "But still! Only in Oregon would you see this!... I mean you're wearing shorts, and I'm wearing a scarf!"
Me: awkward smile/nod (I'm really good at that)
Teenage Daughter: totally embarrassed silence.

And then I made my escape. HOWEVER. The awkwardness was not done there! Just when I thought I was free and clear. I put my bags in my car and was walking to return the cart. While returning the cart I noticed that one of the Safeway employees was walking around picking up all of the carts from the cart return. In an attempt to make his life a little bit easier I took the four floating carts in the immediate vicinity and pushed them all together so that they would be easier for the guy to pick up. Apparently I'm quite a natural at it because the man picking up carts yells in my direction, "Thanks, You're good at that! You must have worked at Safeway!"
Can you guess my response? Oh yes. the awkward smile/nod.

Communication from Black Butte

Well while I'm at work this week my family and Sarah and Paul and Lola are at Black Butte. I've been receiving some updates on how Lola is and I thought I'd share my most recent exchange with you -

Dad:

Me: What IS that?!

Dad: She killed a purple snake and a cow


Good to know that all is well in Lola-land! I know she's much happier at Black Butte where she has the full attention of many wonderful people but I still miss her! Can't wait for Friday

Lola Vanquished the Green Weiner

One thing she's destroyed that I'm actually very happy about! I replaced it with a rope toy purple monkey who is proving to be somewhat more substantial. Yay Lola!

RIP Green Weiner 12/13/2011

Lola weighs....

Almost as much as a bag of pig feed! I just realized that I haven't updated anyone... except Jake, Mom and Dad... on the state of Lola's  health and I am pleased to report that the dog warts are gone and Lola has made a full recovery. She has also caught up on her peanut butter consumption and as such weighs in at a whopping 45 lbs. But it's ok! She still lets me tote her around (proof below).

Although I thought it was important to update on Lola's health, that's really not the main reason for this post. In reality I just needed an excuse to share a little more dog related Christmas humor! As you know, we have reached the time of the year where pageants, plays, ballets, and all sorts of Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa (is that still a thing?)/Holiday celebrations occur in venues from the Met in NYC to the Pre-school on Kings Blvd (where I distinctly remember being cast as Mary in the nativity play... figure that one out guys). Most of these celebrations have some element of song and dance which give them a unique artistic flair. I myself participated in many a nutcracker as a small child. And although I never graduated beyond the role of  'Mouse' I gained an appreciation for the Christmas-time performance. With a little (or a lot) of time to spare I decided to start looking for something in the spirit of the holidays that Lola could participate in as well. Although I considered casting her as Max in my own personal rendition of The Grinch, I decided that might be a bit too ambitions for December 9th. After many hours of searching for something truly inspirational on the Internet I have unearthed a very short video that I find to be the epitome of artistic expression and musical genius:

CLICK HERE. WATCH IT. PLEASE! 

Ok so maybe not "genius" in the classical sense but now I really REALLY want to do this. So if any of you wonderful friends and family members  (I'm looking at you Minnie) want to participate we'll be having rehearsals starting this Saturday at 10am. Also if are concerned about how our production will be unique and inspirational don't worry! I have it covered! We will be wearing costumes*:

:

* For size references you should know that I am sporting the XL or 'Golden Retriever' while Lola is wearing an M. Please come prepared with the general size of your head to ensure proper hat fitting for the performance. Sample sizes will be available to try on at all rehearsals. 

** Yes this was totally mom's idea. and the result of a Target trip gone awry. I think we went looking for a tin...

*** Also, despite the smile in the photo, I'm quite embarrassed and would appreciate if this could be our little secret. Thanks!

**** Also also there's no way this is the last ridiculous Christmas themed post so don't even worry about it

Christmas Pageant!

Lola and I have been practicing. Check out our Dress Rehersal

In other more substantial news CONGRATULATIONS TO MADDIE! Lola and Sarah and I were jumping up and down watching the final! I don't think Lola really knew what was going on but she was very excited. And it was wonderful to have Sarah come watch it with us. Clearly worth the $18 investment to get ESPNU for the month of December!

I hope you are getting in the holiday spirit because we definitely are. Due to the fact that I now live in a neighborhood (yes this is the first time I have neighbors close enough that I can't sunbathe naked on the back porch. Not that I did that before but I'm just saying that I can't really do that now without scaring some small children) apparently I have to decorate for Christmas or become the neighborhood grinch. To help me in my decorating endeavors mom gave me some santa pigs which are very adorable and light up my front window! I'm slowly creating a very festive exterior to the house and the fact that Lola's destroyable item du jour is a dog bed filled with green stuffing she's doing her part to deck the halls. And stairs. And couch.... I am strongly considering letting her go nuts with a bag of white batting or something. It would make my house look like a snowy winter wonderland!

GO MADDIE

Make sure to follow Maddie/Stanford's National Semifinal tomorrow at 2pm PST on ESPNU, ESPN3.com, or gametracker on gostanford.com. We're cheering for you!

Love,
   Maddie's #1 and #2 fans!

I'm Thankful For...

So many things.

 I am an unbelievably lucky person and I could not have made it through this past year without the love and support of everyone around me. When I think of where I was last year and where I am today I am so humbled and so grateful for everyone around me who has given me so much. I can't possibly thank everyone in the space allotted to this blog post but I do want to acknowledge how much I appreciate everything that has happened over the last year. To my Princeton friends thank you for being there through the stress, the tears, the laughter, the distance, and the best Monday nights of my life. I couldn't ask for a better set of friends that I know will continue to be there for me for the rest of my life. To my grandparents, thank you so much for coming to graduation and supporting me. It meant the world to me to have you there even though I know it was a long ways from home. Also to my whole family thank you for the couch, bed, rug, bedroom set, armoire, knives, pots, pans, dishes, tables, buffet, fridge artwork, baking utensils, love, and support without which my house would not be a home and I would most likely be camping out on my living room floor.

Jake and Maddie thank you for being the best siblings and friends I could ever ask for. I am so glad I've gotten to see more of both of you in the past six months and I am so proud of everything you're doing. Finally I could, at this point, write an entire blog about how thankful I am for my mom and dad. From taking me to my job interview last thanksgiving to watching Lola while I went to the East Coast to see Craig for this one, I am so thankful to both of you for supporting me in whatever I do and encouraging me to live my life on my own terms in the way that will make me happiest. I know that you are truly exceptional parents and I am the luckiest person in the world ... well maybe one of the three luckiest people. I can't think of anyone else who would help me with anything from driving across the country to building an impenetrable fortress for my puppy, even when the idea of taking that drive or getting that dog seemed crazy. So thank you to everyone and I love you all so very much.

And oh yeah.... before I forget....

I'm thankful for Lola.