THAT'S JUST HER PERFUME..."NEW DOG SCENT"

I'm in the front yard with our dog Maya, and a girl who lives on the street (I don't know her age but she's in 4th grade) walks by.

Is this your dog?

Yep, she is.

Wow, I never saw it before. Is it new?

Uhh...nope.


Look kiddo, we're not talking about a car or a sweater here. I know, I probably need to cut you some slack.* But, who asks that about a dog? Is it new? I mean, if she was a chihuahua I could understand - those things always look the same. They could be 10 days or 10 years and you'd never be able to guess. But Maya is a big, 5 year old boxer. Her muzzle is going gray! So no, my astute little friend, she is most definitely not new.

*I could possibly be feeling a bit more sensitive than normal since we just found out that we'll be spending a ridiculous amount of our cash at the vet in the very near future. It just figures that as soon as the 5 year warranty on that baby expires...shit starts breaking down.

PROPER TRAINING

I'm making small talk with a little boy that's playing at our friend's house. His name is Maddox.

So how old are you Maddox?

I'm three.

[thoughtful pause]

But when I go to Disneyland, I'm two.

Fondue

We're watching some friends' kids and I thought it would be fun to serve them cheese fondue for dinner. The ages we've got are 4 & 7 (ours) and 5 & 7 (theirs).


their 7: "What should I try first?"

our 7: "The zuchini - to get it over with."



5: "Is this pork?"

Me: "Yep."

5: "I'm having pig for dinner?"

Me: "Uh...yeah."

5 (while dipping): "I'm having pig dipped in cheese for dinner!"

New Camera

I recently bought a new camera (a Nikon D40) that I've been drooling over for a while. I got it on the 4th of July and have been playing with it as much as possible ever since. Here's a set of photos from the last couple days...I'm still learning, but given my complete lack of experience with anything but a point-and-shoot, they're not half-bad. I really like this camera.

New Camera Set on Flickr

We're leaving on Sunday for a week at Lake Havasu so I'll have plenty more opportunity to play around - and maybe even improve. I'll update when we return.

The Perfect Storm

Here's a few things you might not know about me:

1. I hate boiled okra.

2. I don't understand the whole Crocs phenomenon. They're ugly, ill-fitting, clunky, and also ugly. But, what about all those bright colors, you ask? Ugly. Even on cute little-kid feet? Ugly and sad. Like an ugly, sad little clown.

3. Photos of President Bush, especially the photos where he's smiling and waving, illicit a physical response in me. (I'm talking about a response so strong, so full of disgust and distaste, that I have to look away from the offending image or risk my feelings of intense hatred and anger toward him burning through my brain and disintegrating my retinas, rendering me blind and thus wasting the very useful laser eye-surgery I had last year.)

So, knowing these things, you can imagine how distraught I was when I stumbled across this gem of a photo:

I'll bet he just ate a big plate of boiled okra too!

And also, are those "Office of the President" socks? Doesn't that look like the logo that's on the carpet of the oval office?

The little theatre-goer leaving Annie with her souvenir backpack.

Overheard at Job Day

My Mom (an ER nurse who was visiting the 1st graders at Emily's school yesterday, and had just mentioned that in the summer they unfortunately see alot of kids in the ER who drown in swimming pools):

"So, what can you kids do to make sure that you don't drown in a swimming pool?"

Kid 1: "Wear a life jacket!"
Kid 2: "Learn to swim!"
Kid 3: "Wear floaties on your arms!"
Kid 4: "Wear a seat belt!"

I'm wondering if that kid blacked-out during the motorcycle cop's presentation?