Jupiter's Eighth Arch

A sad day in cyberland.

So I just wrote this awesome blog. I was previewing and doing some final edits. Then BAM. My safari unexpectedly quit. 

Tumblr is telling me that I have one unsaved post… and shows me a button to click on in order to retrieve it but when I click on it I get an error page. So. Sad. 

Oh well, lesson learned. Maybe I’ll try to again later…. 

Mama says, mama says

This morning, like every other morning, I had the Today Show on while I was getting ready. They were doing a report on how to help your college bound kids learn about managing money which mainly focused on credit cards. Well this got me thinking about all of the things I hated my parents for then, which in the end has lead me to be a (so far) happy and healthy young adult. So here I will provide you with some of the “crap” that I had to go through as a kid and how its affected me as an adult. I’m sure most of you can relate. 

Here are my parents. 

These were their rules. 

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What does one DO with a can of tomato paste?

One thing you should know about me is that I love to cook, however, I am never prepared to cook. I generally get the itch during the most inopportune times when I have about 3 items in the fridge or cabinet and I have no idea how to put them together. This was one of those times.

I know all about the “3 meal rule” as I like to call it. If you’re wondering what the “3 meal rule” is, it’s really simple. Go food shopping and purchase the items you’ll need for your next 3 pre-planned meals. Well never once have I followed that rule. I generally just go to the super market and grab random items not thinking much about how they’ll all go together, and just make it work. Every now and then I have a plan…. but then I usually get distracted by some other concoction I’d like to create and thus my planned meal gets pushed aside and I’m again left with all but 3 things to work with. So even with a plan, I fail.

Tonight’s experiment: What to do with a can of tomato paste.

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Top 10 reasons why I LOVE having a dog

10. Responsibility for a life other than your own.

Now, I realize that this may be a strange reason to love having a dog, but I can be a strange girl sometimes. Not that it’s necessarily fun to always have to worry about something or someone else, but it is kind of nice. It teaches you to be a little less selfish and let’s face it, that’s a lesson we can all learn. So yes, being responsible for another living thing is one of the reasons I love having a dog. 

9. You always have a partner in crime!

Abbott & Costello. Bonnie & Clyde. George Bush & Dick Chaney.  Everyone needs a partner in crime. They weren’t lying when they said that dogs are a man’s best friend. Although I’d still like to know who “they” are. Anyway there is nothing better than taking your dog and hitting the road. Whether you’re going to a friends house to hang, going on a road trip or participating in “take your furry friend to work day”, it’s nice to have something cute to take with you everywhere. I got out of this for a while. I used to take Kaylie EVERYWHERE when she was little. Then there was about a year or two when I stopped… not sure why. But now we’re back to being partners in crime… and we both couldn’t be happier! 

8. Animals meeting other animals? Priceless. 

This… was my cat Crim. Crim-cat to be exact…. although his real name is actually Criminal. And no, I did not name him (but the name turned out to be really fitting). I say ‘was’ because I had to give him away. Luckily, the young Billy Mays and his wonderful girlfriend Whitney decided to adopt him…. and they make great parents :) I couldn’t be happier about his new living situation (plus, they have another kitty too so he still has a friend… which is another case of animal interaction being pricelessly hysterical).

Ok, wow. Off topic. Back to the matter at hand: Animals interacting. Now it may look like Crim is killing Kaylie here but in fact, she survived and I’m pretty sure they were having a blast at the time. When I first got her, Crim was our only pet. He was king of the castle… cream of the crop. Then this weird furry ewok looking thing came into the picture and I gotta say, he handled it well. By wrestling with her and putting up with her crap. They then began a long lasting brother/sister relationship filled with fighting, sticking up for each other and the occasional cuddle. 

And if adding one more animal to the picture wasn’t enough, we added one more…. 

MAC. A/K/A - Mac-A-Moo. He was a hoot. He’s always been the gimp of our furry family. The only one Kaylie could beat up. He has no tail (due to somehow breaking ALL of it off), he snorts when he breathes and he can barely open his eyes. But he’s as cute and sweet as can be. The three of them together were just great. But poor Mac… he was the baby of the family as as such, he was always getting beat up. 

Just like the cheesy infomercial say, “But wait…. there’s more!!”

Bentley. The boxer who SWEARS he’s a lap dog. It took he and Kaylie a while, but they became close friends and cuddle buddies. They stick up for each other. It’s cute. He and Mac also have a special relationship. One in which Mac is consistently finding ways to get around Bentley because Bentley thinks he’s a toy. And often head butts him. It’s quite awesome to watch. 

I think you get the point. There is nothing like the dynamics of animal relationships whether it’s a dog they meet on the street, another friend’s pet or a new member to your own furry family. It’s stressful, cute, funny, endearing and all around awesome. And I’m glad I get to see this…. all the time. 

7. Making friends with strangers. 

Ok so this picture has nothing to do with anything but whatever. It’s cute.

People who own dogs know one thing: there is always the opportunity to make friends through your dog. This happened to me twice in the past 12 hours. Once was with a family that had an adorable dog. The breed was something like Havana or Havarty but it was not a town, nor a cheese. He was a dog. A little dog. And he kind of looked like Kaylie… maybe that’s what brought on the power struggle between them. Anyway we wound up getting into a long conversation about the Hudson Valley and the movies I’m working on and it was really nice! Then again this morning outside of Starbucks I met this really cool chick and either her brother or a kid she was babysitting or something. They didn’t have a dog with them but since Kaylie was with me, we were able to strike up a conversation about their dogs and how awesome it is to have them. I love that. I love that having a dog poses the opportunity to make friends with a total stranger. And yea, I get the whole “stranger danger” thing. I’m not saying I’m going to hang around and talk to some strange man in an alleyway at night because he said my dog is cute. My mama didn’t raise no fool. But what I am saying is that it’s a beautiful thing when two people who normally would never speak to each other can get into a lovely conversation because of a dog. Who knows what can come out of that! That, my friends, is the magic of human interaction.

6. A dog is only as good as his owner. A lesson about self. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a very adaptable person. I can deal with any personality type, any physical environment and pretty much whatever gets thrown my way. I’m not a huge stressor. Well neither is my dog. She can hang with the best of them. She’s one of those dog’s thats cool with old people, young people and anyone in between. And although she’ll run after any and every bird she sees, she is also pretty cool with every animal she meets. Not saying that she doesn’t get an attitude from time to time but you know how dogs are… if they can’t figure out who’s the boss by sniffing each other’s butts then they have a little growl sesh and then they know. It never really occurred to me that she was like me until I started seeing other people with their dogs and was really able to compare and contrast personalities. I guess in the end I’d have my parents to thank for raising me to be kind to others and adaptable to situations because in turn, I taught that to my dog. It gives me confidence that when I have kids, if I have kids, that they might turn out all right. After all, a dog is the ultimate parental test… and I’m pretty sure I’ve passed. 

5. Entertainment. Non-stop entertainment. 

I gotta say, there’s really not much that makes me laugh harder than watching my dog try to dig a hole to China in her doggie bed, or when she leaps like a bunny through a grassy meadow (I know, how Disney of me to say), or when she starts running back and forth for no reason at all. Like a madwoman. She just makes me giggle. ALL THE TIME. It’s better than TV… and when you throw other animals in the mix (see #8) it’s even better. 

4. Smiles are contagious. 

My dog makes people happy. Other people’s dogs make me happy. It’s just how things work. My old apartment complex had this cute old couple who lived by the water where I’d walk the dogs every day. They couple had moved there because the wife was sick and a house was simply too much for them to take care of. The old man loved dogs. Whenever he’d see us walk by, he would come outside and have these wonderful moments with Kaylie and Bentley and it made my heart smile. That may or may not have been the highlight of his day, I don’t know, but to see the joy that petting the dogs brought to him for those few moments was better than finding a hundred dollar bill in your pocket. To know that you helped bring someone joy, someone who maybe really needs it, is priceless. And beautiful. And sometimes gets me all chocked up (whatever, I’m a sucker for stuff like that!). No matter how busy my day was, or how late I was running, I would always take the time to let him have those moments with my dogs. Not only him, but anyone. It’s like a hug… you just don’t know what that simple act can bring to someone’s day. 

3. Puppy snuggles are the best. 

I believe this picture says it all. 

2. No one will ever be happier to see you than your dog. 

It doesn’t matter if you are gone for 5 minutes or 5 days, your dog will undoubtably greet you the exact same way. Like it’s the greatest moment in her doggie existence. She will jump up and down, she will run around in circles, she will bring you her toys, and she will kiss you until you make her stop (and even then she’ll probably keep trying). You could have had the crappiest, longest day EVER and the moment you walk through that door and see your dog ridiculously happy that you are finally home, everything else disappears. No friend, spouse or family member could ever do that. Ever. 

1. Unconditional love. 

Oh, hello there tumblr.

So, I started a blog today (clearly). Not because I think I’m interesting. Not because I think I’m a good writer, but because…. why not?

Ok ok ok, there’s a little white lie in there. Let’s say it’s partly because ‘why not’ and partly because I happen to be two months away from embarking on a journey of a lifetime. New Zealand. 

More about that later. 

I don’t necessarily have much to say right now, so I do apologize if this is dreadfully boring. Which, by the way, is not something I’d usually - or ever - say out loud. I’m not English. But I do like the way it sounds. Dreadfully boring. I mean, how much more on the nose can you get?

Anyway, I promise to keep us both entertained with lots of pictures and probably stupid videos and stories of the road. The initial goal of this blog when I first thought about it was to document my year in New Zealand… but the more I think about it, the more I am realizing that from time to time I just like to share stuff. So while I don’t know the exact direction this blog will take, I do know that I will be sure to have fun doing it. And so long as I’m having fun, hopefully you will be too!