Daily Photo: January 30

Today's pic is photo evidence of adorable little Eli being a total bully.  Here he has forced Austin to teeter on the edge of the bed - just, well...because he can.  You'd think just to revenge Eli's stinky attitude, Austin would seize the chance to drop one of his world famous stink-bombs right in Eli's face.  But, alas, he did not.

On a separate note, I think Austin kind of looks like a kangaroo laying down in this pic.  You?  Google an image of a kangaroo laying down...its uncanny.

Together on Tuesday: Nifty Thrifty Shoppers...Are You One?

Thrifting...do you do it?  Do you go to thrift stores like Goodwill/Salvation Army or secondhand stores like Plato's Closet?  Do you look for deals on Craigslist?  Are you a yard sale-er or flea market shopper? Why or why not?

Well...I will just come right out with a confession...no typically I do not.  Now, this is where it gets a little bit weird - but just follow me here and see where we end up (hint: we are going to end up discussing one of my bizarre phobias).  By all accounts, being the analytic type thinker that I am, I should be a thrift shopper for number of reasons.  Yeah weird, I told you...just keep following me on this.  Logically, I know that thrift shopping is a great thing.  You save all kinds of money; but also, and sometimes even better, you find great things that you would not find in typical retail stores these days.  I love the idea of re-purposing household items, especially furniture.  That is a great idea that yields really great results...not just great results, you end up with a custom, perfectly tailored item to suit your needs.  I know a number of my friends who do this.  Not only do I love the pieces they end up with, I've actually found myself wanting their finished products for my own house!

So, if I love the idea so much then why don't I do it?  Well, the truth just comes down to: time, my dislike for backlogged projects, and this aversion/phobia I have about clutter (which I will explain more thoroughly later in this entry).

Mark and I both work a lot and it isn't uncommon for our day jobs to runneth over into the evenings and/or weekends.  On top of that, Mark also has a small business he runs out of our home; the nature of that business has its own time commitment and project-based demands.  When Mark is working on his side-business projects, I have other things that I want or need to work on - or just spend it enjoying time with my dogs.

Because of our pre-existing time commitments, Mark and I have found that our home improvement projects get further and further backlogged with every passing day.  I do not like this.  That is no secret - I just do not like having multiple projects started, sitting unfinished, and having no time to finish them.  For me, it just leaves this lingering feeling of unrest and I do not like having the feeling of unrest in my home; it just sort of haunts me and causes me unnecessary stress.  I refuse to add to this by buying items (such as pieces of furniture) that I've made great plans for in my mind; yet, the time needed to accomplish such a project never quite materializes.

This brings us to my completely false and misdirected association of thrift items turning into clutter.  I know, and will freely admit, that the thought of clutter that I attach to yard sales and flea markets is totally just outright wrong.  Please do not misunderstand me here - I am NOT saying that I think I am too good to buy secondhand items at yard sales/flea markets.  I've had plenty of secondhand things throughout my life; that is not where my issue lies.  My problem is that when I walk into a flea market or a yard sale - all that my mind sees is a conglomeration of stuff that someone else has decided they don't want (for what must be some legitimate reason...right??).  My other flawed line of thinking is that when I picture a flea market or yard sale in my mind, I default to images of dusty old nick-knacks, tea cup sets, and porcelain dolls.  Just things that I do not need cluttering up my house - I already have plenty of my own things cluttering up my house.  I am always thinking that I need to get rid of stuff, not acquire stuff that someone else no longer wants.  As mentioned above, I also have a sort of aversion (perhaps even a slight phobia) to this type of clutter.  I do believe that having this touch of a phobia to clutter actually does lead to my psyche blowing out of proportion the memories of things I've seen that I do not like at yard sales and flea markets.  So, now you MUST be thinking...'ok, no one likes clutter, but a phobia...really?  How does one get a phobia to clutter?'  I have no idea, actually.  I did not grow up in a cluttered home by any means.  We were just normal people with a normal amount of normal things.  I really have no idea where this has come from, but I do know that it is beyond just a normal dislike toward clutter.  While writing about this, I actually found myself getting anxious just thinking about it.  If I were to enter a hoarder's home, I probably would find myself unable to breathe properly and/or in the midst of a panic attack (not kidding).  Second confession...I won't even go to flea markets anymore because I just get the feeling of them closing in around me, sort of similar to how someone with claustrophobia feels.  I am still okay with yard sales - probably because they are typically outdoors.

Craigslist?  Well, I don't like it - just because as a female, I don't take any comfort in dealing with a total stranger on the internet with the likely possibility of having to meet them somewhere (even if in public) to finalize the purchase and exchange money and the purchased item.  Mark on the other hand has had some really good luck with Craigslist.  Especially after we bought the house.  He used it to find things we either needed to get cheaply at first since we'd just plunked down most of our saved cash toward the house, or, things we'd only need for a season or two and there was just no good reason to pay full retail price.  Some of these items included our first riding lawn mower (got us through that first summer when we didn't really have the cash to lay out for a new one), flat-bed pull behind hauling trailer, a yard roller, and things like that.

How about you?  Comment below and tell me all about the treasures you've found that I am missing out on!

Daily Photo: January 28

Double Dog (Photo) Dare!  Today I have a super cute pic of each dog.  You can't pick just one of these, so I am posting them both!

Coy Boy
This is Austin trying to look coy.  He does this sometimes, and it is just so darn cute!

Model Citizen
This is Eli just standing around looking fabulous!  He is one photogenic boy!  He's always dreamed of being a super-model, so I just try and help him live his dream by sharing these fabulous pics of him!

Daily Photo: January 27

Today's pic is one of the husband.  Over the past few days, he's decided to forego shaving.  I don't like it at all!  I hinted over the past couple days that maybe he should shave, but to no avail.  There are two reasons that I don't like it:
          1.  It hides his handsome face!
          2.  It is scratchy when he gives me smooches!

Daily Photo: January 26

Today is a pic of me looking totally ass-tacular.  I am sporting my newest fashion-less accessory, my neck brace.  Not the best pic, obviously but it does represent what part of our 'new normal' is these days.   No, I don't wear the neck brace all or even most of the time.  Only when I am having neck pain which I've been having the past few days.  When my neck hurts, I mostly just sleep in it or wear it at home to keep my neck stabilized so I can't sleep in such a way that I wake up with worse pain in the morning, and also so that if a sharp pain happens, I can't involuntarily react in a way that is dangerous for my neck.  It actually really helps; sleeping in it actually usually resolves whatever neck pain I am having.  Also, yes, it is possible to sleep through the night wearing a neck brace - you just get used to it after a couple times.  As you can see, you also get used to it and just go about normal life as well.

Daily Photo: January 25

Today's photo is an Engineer solving one of man's greatest problems!

The Problem
The beer was mostly accidentally frozen by his mini-fridge in the basement.  There was only a little bit not frozen, the rest was a bottled iceberg.  This picture is just a man and his dogs assessing the problem...

The Solution
This was the obvious solution that Mark and the dogs came up with - using a space heater to thaw out the beer.  It worked; although Mark said the beer was terrible after being frozen and thawed...no surprise there!

Daily Photo: January 24

Austin got really mad at me today.  Why?  Because it is frigid cold out and I wouldn't let him stay out in the cold longer than 10-15 minutes at a time.  He wanted to play with his buddy Henry, the dog who lives a couple houses down who was roaming the neighborhood unsupervised, as per usual (as a side note- Henry is like that kid in the neighborhood whose parents don't watch him, as a matter of fact they'd rather him be out of their hair, depending on other parents to supervise theirs as well; he shows up unannounced, overstays his welcome, doesn't know when to leave - yet you just don't have the heart to run him off).  So, for this he cold shouldered me this afternoon - clearly, my unwillingness to let him be out in dangerously low temperatures, makes me the most offensive and vile human currently walking the planet.

Daily Photo: January 23

This is how a small dog builds himself a sleeping fort.  And yes, you MUST have a dirty, raggedy old tennis shoe to put on top of your mama's pillow.  Clean pillowcase, please!

Daily Photo: January 22

This is me and Austin hanging out on the couch this evening - just a sweet boy and his mama!  And yes, that is Eli off to the side totally photo-bombing us with his booty!

Together on Tuesday: What Us ToT Writers Read

This week, we the writers, decided to turn the critical eye back around on ourselves.
What do I read?

I am embarrassed to admit, that I just have not been reading like I should as of late.  It certainly isn't for a lack of books or other reading materials.  I just choose to do other things rather than read, and admittedly, I really need to change that bad habit.  Being the daughter of an avid reader, I can say without doubt that my Mother would scold me if she new how little I was reading these days!

Firstly, I will tell you that my favorite book is The Great Gatsby.  I just love the story, the literary tools that are used in the writing, and I also just have a general affection for stories set in that particular time period.  If you have not read this book, I strongly recommend it.

My second favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird.  I just feel like it is a story that we can all learn from.  The story is just chocked full of life lessons.  I also love that the story is told through the perspective of a child growing up in the midst of a huge local controversy while trying to understand what all the grown-ups are so embattled with one another over.  All the while the children are also exploring life and mysterious people (enter Boo Radley...).

I also LOVE reading Agatha Christie books.  Specifically, her Hercule Poirot detective series.  One of the reasons that I like these books is that they really do keep me guessing right up to the very end.  As I've read through many of these books, I made a point to cast a critical eye on whether there was some tell-tale giveaway early on that reveals the 'whodunnit' part of the story, I have not found one.  I've also been mindful to look for a 'cookie cutter' footprint to her stories....asking myself, "is there a common thread throughout her books that make them predictable?"  To date, that answer is still no, not one that I have found.  She really did uniquely weave the story line and plot of each of her books.  While there are a number of common characters across the series, each mystery seems unique to itself.  I love that about her writing.  In recent years, I have drastically slowed down the rate at which I have been reading through the series.  I really want to get back into them.  One of my goals has always been to read every book in her Hercule Poirot series.

The book that I started reading last summer but did not get very far into was The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo.  It is the first book in a trilogy, and I need to challenge my self to read the entire series.  The author was Swedish and the story takes place in Sweden - so I did find that I was having to look up a number of words used in the book that I was not familiar with, so that did make it a bit more 'work' to read, but broadening my vocabulary certainly is no reason to not continue though the book, albeit at a slower pace than I would normally read.

Of course, I also always read the other ToT blogs!  We each bring a unique perspective to every topic, so I am always very eager to read what the other ladies have to say and see how we approach each topic differently!  That being said, use the links I've provided to hop over and find out what the other ladies recommend for good reads!  Go on now...scram!!

So, besides the ToT weekly blogs, what do you read??  Please share in the comment section below!

Daily Photo: January 20

This is how we do Sunday afternoons around our house!  Yes, he is tucked in right behind my booty with an added element of trying to cyphon away my body heat.

Daily Photo: January 19

Simple question about this one: because if YOU don't...why would anyone else do it for you?

Daily Photo: January 18

This is just freaking hilarious!!  Add in that it is pretty true to what Austin can, could, would, has done before and it is even funnier...or...scarier!

Daily Photo: January 17

This is one of our favorite restaurants in Louisville.  This is their second location which they opened just over a year-ish or so (how about that for scientific accuracy...huh?) ago.  Our absolute most favorite server, Maggie works at this location.  When we go, we always ask the host if she is working and if so, we try and sweet-talk our way into being seated in her section!  Today she was off, so we didn't get to see her.

Together on Tuesday: IT'S 2013 & WE'RE BACK!

Hey everyone!  Its 2013 and we are back!  Us brain-trusts here at ToT have decided to kick off this year by Listing our Top Moments from 2012 and our Hopes for 2013.

And of course, I'd be remissed to not point out that I didn't post my VERY FIRST ToT entry of the new year until the Saturday following our first Tuesday's post!

My Top Moments from 2012
These are not all happy moments - they are significant moments that defined 2012 for me, my friends, and family.

• Starting this blog and joining the Together on Tuesday group last spring!  Had I not done that, this blog entry itself would be non-existent! 
• Building the shop for Mark.  We did this in the spring as well.  He loves it and it really has served a tremendous purpose for giving him the type of space he's needed for projects.  Not to mention, the storage space we gained, oh the glorious storage space! Some events during its construction actually became the springboard for my very first blog entry!
• Starting my Yoga class at PM Yoga.  I cannot tell you how much I've benefited from the actual practice of Yoga in a studio setting.  But more than just that, they really do have a sense of community there.  They kept in close touch with me during my injury and recovery.  Certainly not because they had to; they did so because they truly cared.  It is rare to find people and businesses that truly care the way they do, so when you find it, hold on to them dearly and let them love and support you!  
• Spending TWO Weeks in Europe with my honey!  Granted we spent a lot of that time crammed into a tiny car trying to navigate our way around, it was awesome.  Two weeks that will forever stand out as some of the best & most memorable times of my life!  As an added bonus we also got to visit several really great friends who had moved there over the past couple years.
• Our friends Dayna and Blaine's wedding!  Their wedding was an incredible good time with people who were gathered in the name of love!  Not only the love between Dayna and Blaine but looking around, you could just see the vast amount of love that supports them from their friends and family.  No matter what these two come up against in life, they have many people who are there to support them!  Not to mention, that on top of all that, everyone had an amazing great time that night & I KNOW that is what they wanted for everyone!  
• The personal tragedies that MANY of my friends endured last year.  In my circle of friends, cancer was even more horrible than usual.  It just kept happening over and over again.  It became a juggernaut that we could not stop or slow down under any circumstances.  I watched my beloved, treasured friends go through cancer battles with their children, parents, siblings, spouses, and significant others.  Some we lost to the evil thing that we call cancer, and others are still fighting the brave battle and we continue to pray for their victory.  There have also been some who were able to declare their victory - and it is those who provide us with the hope that those still fighting may also do so one day.  One thing I have learned from this is that a hero doesn't need to wear a cape and make the local or national news.  Rather I have seen a number of plain-clothed true heroes emerge.  They are the loved ones who sit at home or in the hospitals after a long day's work and hold the hands, make gut-wrenching decisions, and provide comfort (sometimes until late in the night, knowing they have to get up early and try and work the next day).  
• Now, I feel obligated to follow that with a happy one!  My friend Elizabeth had their third child last year following a high-risk, difficult pregnancy.  Oh yes, and her husband spent most of that time serving and defending our freedom in Afghanistan...during which time she was in Alaska without any family nearby for support, all while keeping up with the daily needs of her other two children (who am I kidding here...she is supermom - she did FAR more than just 'keep up' with their daily needs!).  During this time, she also found the energy needed to provide other families of deployed military with support and comfort as well as serving as a vital line of communication when there was information coming out of the locations where their soldiers were located.  We are all so thankful that her husband returned home from Afghanistan just in time for the birth of beautiful Morrigan Sophia!  I got to meet Morrigan while they were here for Christmas, and she is a precious, mellow-tempered baby! 
• The single-most terrifying moment of last year (well above and beyond any fear that arose during my own medical crisis) was when I was present when a small child nearly died.  There is absolutely NO greater fear than when a child is possibly dying in front of you, and nothing that you've been taught to do in these situations is working.  There is absolutely nothing you would not sacrifice or give up; including your own life, any amount of money, or even your home in order to save that child.  Thankfully, in what I believe to have been the final possible moments of recovery, someone present was able to get her breathing again.  This is also the thing that I was most thankful for last year.  Her parents are able to hold her, love on her, play with her, and have hopes and dreams for her future.  I cannot imagine that having been ripped away from them that day.  
• This brings us to the big lurking event that you all knew would show up.  My horrible Neurological injury.  Horrible is the only way to properly describe it.  I nearly died.  I came face to face with my own mortality at an age when we typically do not give much thought to the possibility of our own death.  One day, I will tell you guys all about what happened, if for no other reason than to hopefully help prevent you from going through it.  However, for a number of reasons, I cannot do that right now.  But that day will arrive and I hope that someone is able to take something away from it that will help them in some way - just something to make what I've gone through somehow benefit the world. 
• I am going to end my memories with the final moments of 2012 - New Year's Eve.  We did not go out, party, and have a crazy good time.  Rather, we spent it here at home with our two boys.  Honestly, by midnight, I'd fallen asleep at least three times and Mark had to wake me up for the countdown!  But, 2012 was a hard, difficult year on many fronts and I was all to eager to kick it to the curb and start a fresh year!  The first thing that happened after I got my New Year's kiss from Mark, you ask?  I got out a confetti shooter that I'd bought and tucked away and tried to shower Mark in confetti.  Did NOT go as I expected...a piece of the confetti cartridge somehow flipped under his glasses and got him right in the eye...eek!  But, then again that is pretty typical for us - would you have expected anything less bizarre to kick of the year?  Probably not!

Hopes for 2013

• After all of the negative, sad, and scary stuff listed above you've gotta know that my MAIN hope for 2013 is for the health and well-being of my friends and family and their loved ones.  It JUST has to get better for them.  I hope this more than anything.  
• I hope for emotional healing for those who lost love ones last year.  There were many.  Too many, in fact.  There were times that in order to maintain an acceptable decorum, I just had to figure out a way to block myself from feeling the full gravity of the situation at hand - had I not done so, I surely would have crumbled into a sobbing, heap of an emotional mess either at work or in some other public location.  
• I hope that out of each of the tragedies listed above, I am able to find some valuable takeaway that helps me become a better, more compassionate person.  I really want to get to where before I form an opinion, I first think of myself in the situation and think about what I would want others to consider before judging me.  I have done that a few times recently, but I know that in order to grow as a person, I need to do this far more often.  
• I hope to be able to continue sharing my thoughts, experiences, successes, failures, and debacles with you through this blog.  Our ToT group really, really brings together a group of ladies with all different backgrounds, life experiences, and family & career situations.  We all bring a different perspective to every topic we write about.  I urge you to read all of them.  I read everyone's entries every week and regardless of the topic I gain new perspectives every single time.  
• Lastly, on on a more comical note, yet speaking truthfully...I really hope that Austin curbs his eating and destruction of inanimate objects.  He is really gifted in this area, that one is!  

Daily Photo: January 16

This is from this morning.  We had a bit of ice/sleet move through during the night, so this morning our back deck was a slippery deathtrap just waiting for the opportunity to send someone to the ER.  No dice, we won't be going on the deck until this sheet of ice melts.  Except for Austin that is - he decided to truck up the icy deck stairs.  Thankfully no run to the vet for Austin either!

Oh, one more thing!  Do you see those big piles of dirt lined up behind that fence line way back there?  That is one man's effort to be a total ass-bag and quite frankly he's pretty good at that.  He decided he didn't want the water run-off going across his property so he'd just block up the waterway.  Now it floods our yard and our neighbor's yard when it rains.  What do I say to that?  Game on ass-bag, game on.  Hope you brought your A-game because you are in the ring with me and you will need it.

Daily Photo: January 15

I am really, really thrilled about today's photos!  Tonight, Mark had the opportunity to attend a discussion/workshop with legendary bass guitarist Victor Wooten. I have heard a little bit of Victor's commentary about bass playing, and just music in general, and he really is very interesting to listen to.  I'm not even the least bit musical, and I hear things in what he says about his music that can be applied to so many other aspects of life.  Plus, Mark got the chance to meet and speak with him last night and said he is a super-cool cat, very friendly and conversational.  A far cry from the typical celebrity (albeit many of that type of celebrities are lacking in actual talent and are stock-piled to the hilt with booking agents).

At any rate, I am so happy that Mark got to go to this.  Let's face it, life has been REALLY stressful lately, and at multiple times, Mark has been the linchpin that has held our sanity (and life as we know it) together.  If anyone deserved to take a much-needed break from the stress and do something they truly, truly enjoyed, it is my Mark.

Daily Photo: January 14

Honestly, this is just an overwhelming week for me work-wise and my mind is so bogged down in that regard that I just realized that I didn't even take a photo yesterday or today!  However, this was very fitting for my yesterday.  I saw it in the morning, and got a good chuckle from it; however, before the day was over I'd had someone (not a co-worker - was worried that given the above statement about work you may think that, so I thought I should clarify) say something SO offensive to me that I was well past anger and into 'I really just feel sorry for you if you really think that way' mode.  Given the sentiment below, I'd have had to eaten an entire warehouse full of cookies in that particular moment!

Daily Photo: January 13

I just thought this was funny.  I am sitting here with the dogs and my Netbook, and needed a mousepad.  Austin was the convenient solution!

Daily Photo: January 12

This a a great photo of Mark and Austin this morning.  Mark & Austin are typically up before Eli and I on the weekends, and this was right when I woke up and they came back in to say good morning.  I really love this pic, true puppy-love!

Daily Photo: January 11

This was just Eli trying to resolve his itchy seasonal allergy symptoms.  This isn't an uncommon scene; but it is always funny and today was the first time I snapped a pic.

Daily Photo: January 10

This is one of those times where my daily photo is not a photo that I took, rather it is something that struck me as meaningful/insightful.  I wanted to post this because it represents a fundamental part of who I am as a person.  There are many times when I know that what I am going to say may ruffle some feathers, create some conversational discomfort, step on some toes, or even outright offend some people.  However, as I have often said up front, "what I am about to say may step on some of your toes, but I am okay with that.  We all need our toes stepped on once in a while to keep us grounded."  As a highly opinionated person, I simply outright refuse to pretend to agree with something that I do not fully stand behind -even if saying what I believe makes those around me uncomfortable.  We all, at times, need to be forced outside our comfort zone, that is how we grow as people, as individuals.

Daily Photo: January 9

This is a somewhat blurry view of downtown Louisville from my morning drive into work today.  I chose this because this has been my past couple of days - to work before daylight, home after dark, repeat.  The only assurance I had of daylight yesterday was when I ran out at lunch to grab a sandwich!

Daily Photo: January 8

Another one of the dogs.  I really love this pic because they are both in the pic, looking sweet & precious, and not snarling or fighting with each other!  They both look so peaceful doing their own thing.

Daily Photo: January 7

This is a photo of the office where my Neurologist is.  Today (especially my train of thought) has pretty much centered around my Neurology appointment and finding out the results of my most recent set of CT Scans.

Daily Photo: January 6

This is just a photo of my dresser - I spent most of Sunday going through and organizing my dresser.  Not to mention bagging up all the clothes that I don't wear or can't fit into anymore and getting them ready to be donated.  Made for a rather mundane daily photo, but it was a very productive thing to do!

Daily Photo: January 5

This photo is of me (okay, really just an arm, my leg, and a bit of side boob, LOL) and my 'babies' - my two sweet boys!  This is a pic of me and both of my boys sitting on the couch on a lazy, winter Saturday afternoon.

Since We Last Spoke

Happy New Year, readers!

As we've recently rang in 2013, I just thought I'd take a few minutes to catch you up on what The Dog Days of Life has been up to, as well as give you a brief look forward & update on things to come this year!

Christmas was very nice for our family.  We stayed in town and took plenty extra days off work to just relax and hang out around the house.  Since I had some slacker time around the house, I more fully utilized Instagram and made these hilariously edited pics of the dogs:

Austin went incognito this Christmas!  My FB joke was that he'd asked for a one-way ticket to Papua New Guinea & a passport under the name 'Rusty Shakleford' for Christmas!

I just thought this was funny because Eli is SUCH a grump; 

he'd be furious if he thought Santa was skiing on his nose while he slept!!

Between Christmas and New Year we got a teeny bit of snow, so of course we had to get out there and play in the snow with the dogs!

View of the snow from our back deck!

Mark and the boys playing in the snow!

Austin LOVES the snow!

Eli HATES the snow!!

Just to re-iterate: Austin LOVES the snow & Eli HATES the snow!

Together on Tuesday
I know, you've really been missing ToT, we have been too!  We are in communications 'behind the scenes' to coordinate our upcoming re-start schedule, topics, etc.  Most of us have checked in and all seem to being doing well, in spite of several of the ToT families (including my own) catching some of the winter flu season ick that is going around!  We are currently tossing our topic ideas into the hat; once we get dates assigned to those topics, we'll get rolling!  I'm very excited about some of the ideas we have in store!

**NEW IN 2013**
During our behind the scenes ToT discussions, Nancy brought up the fantastic idea of taking up a challenge to post a Daily Photo for the rest of the year, and I am totally IN for this!
What to expect:  my plan is to take and post a daily photo that sort of represents some aspect of that day.  Could be anything....and if you've read this blog much, you'll really know that it could be anything!  For the most part, my aim will be to post actual photos that I have taken myself.  My only disclaimer to this, is that from time to time, there may be a photo, graphic, etc...that I come across that could be so insightful, meaningful, or fitting that I just have to use it that day.  That being said, these will be few and far between.  Most days I'll probably just have a sentence or two explaining how that day's photo tied into my day.  The reading on these will be light in length, mostly just a small bit about the ins and outs of the 'dog days' of my life.  I am very excited about this in addition to our regular ToT entries!