dog for a weekend, home for life?

This weekend we got to babysit the worlds cutest doggie-- Sputnik! (no, i don't have any pics....why didn't i take any pics of her? I am such a dummy!) We took so many walks my booty is sore (thanks Sputnik! no seriously, thank you. I don't cringe so much when i catch sight of my back side in the mirror) We had a blast walking all over the neighborhood, sniffing stuff, peeing on stuff, chasing squirrels. I almost want to get a Dog now... but i promised Clarke that when we adopted Hampton (our youngest fuzzy- the winner of the fuzzy fight a few blogs back) she would be the last animal for awhile.
Anyhoo- Clarke and i also drove around town this weekend looking for a new house- It felt so "marital". Husband and wife taking a sunday drive through neighborhoods, commenting on houses, well manicured yards, children riding bikes and dogs chasing cats. .. so Norman Rockwellian! It was nice. Its one of the reasons i moved back to the south. Say what you will about the american dream- the house with the white picket fence, the patch of grass, the dog, cat, and 2.5 children- but theres something to it. What draws me to this ideal is the promise of family, friendship and togetherness. I remember growing up in my old neighborhood; We had friends all over the hood. We had block parties, slumber parties, swimming parties, and birthday parties. Every night during the summer all the kids would meet at "the circle" (a central grassy spot in our neighborhood) and go for bike rides or roller skate. The adults would gather in someone's yard and chat about the week, drink sweet tea or somethin stronger, and play nurse or referee to us kids- whatever was required. Everyone knew to drive slow cause you never knew whose children would be drawing with sidewalk chalk in the street. My family's old dog, Belle, always slept in the middle of the road- towards the end of her life she became blind and deaf, and all our neighbors knew to look out for Belle when they drove by our house. Thats true friendship. Thats what makes life beautiful. Thats what i am looking for.
So- this weekend i played with a dog, and dreamed of my future. . . . This was a fabulous weekend!

Fabulous Flickr Friday!

Please check this out.... 2 of my favorite flickr chicks... one is a dear friend of mine who takes such funny pics-- my favs are her pics of the food she and her husband eat/make. hilllarious. plus, shes vegan and lives in prague so the food always looks a little strange. The next is a chick i stumbled upon while reading another chicks blog. . . go, see, enjoy-- be inspired!! ITs Friday for heaven's sake!!



Marketa's lunch....





Ann-D draws every day in her moleskin day planner. She has 3 years worth of drawings-- they are wondrous!

FABULOUS ALERT!!

Look what i found! I was pokin around on etsy and stumbled upon a BRILLIANT artist-- Badbird's Art and Embroidery Shop

I was thinking of using this artwork in a baby's nursery, but its not particularly childish. Its perfect for anyone who loves nature and has a slightly wacky sense of humor....enjoy!

"Frank the Gnome and John"

"Snail of Fury"


"Angry Bird"

"The Bluebird of Happiness and the Red Bird of Crankiness"- my personal favorite

POOP!!!

thats the only word i've muttered under my breath in the last 10 minutes thats "fit for public comsumption" Today is stupid. Lets all just go home and pretend today never happened.



Heres something that will make us all smile......

Hope your day is better than mine.

Oh yeah- and my husband was just looking at my last blog entry and asked, "why do you keep putting to Ls at the end of the word 'control' ?" To which i replied, "prolly cause i don't know how to spell it- ya jerk!" So now i know how to spell "control". I guess you could say thats a good place to start.

My Schedule

I'm 2.5 months away from 30. Now, I know that isn't old- but its older- and I'm feeling it. I feel behind schedule. . . like when i was born i was handed the schedule for my life and I just realized I am a few YEARS late to an important appointment. I know in my heart that there is no schedule. Everyone works in their own time and in their own way. But the dang social clock is ticking so loud that i can't hear myself think (or is that my biological clock- no wait- the alarm is going off on my biological clock- thats what that ringing sound is!!) I'm almost 30 and i still don't own a house, i don't own a car, hell I don't even own a dog! I just want to do so much and am having a hard time figuring how its all gonna smush into this time line i have created for myself.


The other night I cracked myself up. I was praying- correction- I was talking at God, telling God my schedule, MY timeline for the things i wanted to acomplish in the next year. I suddenly got the feeling that God was patiently listening to my lineup and quietly laughing at me. . . not in a mean way, but definately in an amused way. Like He appreciated my enthusiasm (and organizational skills) and was truly listening to the desires of my heart, but telling me to put the breaks on! Anything can happen- thats one of the great mysteries of life. Tomorrow is not a given, its a gift. I was instantly uncomfortable as i realized/remembered i was NOT in controll of my life. I need controll. I need my datebook and my google calendar, my big desk calendar with the inspirational quotes and the one that hangs on the wall in my cubicle with asinine sayings involving cats and kittens ("everything looks better with cat hairs on it"... what?) But at the same time i was comforted by the knowledge that someone far greater and more powerful than me, who loves me beyond all comprehension, WAS in control of my life. Thats a strange place to be- comfortable and uncomfortable all at once... kinda like laying on the beach, gazing at crystal clear water, warm sun, light breeze, corona in hand, and a crotch full of sand.

And now for something REALLY FABULOUS. (thank you natalie dee)

This is Fabulous.

This is really happening. Today we inaugurate someone who brings with him Hope, Possibility, Grace. In the (paraphrased) words of Michelle Obama, I have never been so proud to be an American. . .

Lets celebrate y'all!!! Heres some of my favorite pics of our new president. . .

this one is designed by a great artist Shepard Fairey, and is a take off of his "Obey Giant" street art. . .

These posters were being given away for FREE by Brooklyn artists at the website hyperakt.com-- I don't think they have any left, but they do great work- check it out!

Finally, I found a new favorite artist in my search for Obama art (Obamart?) Scott Hansen- His prints are for sale at ISO50 Shop. . . Birthday present to myself? absolutely.

Enjoy the day everyone- This is truely FABULOUS!!

My Life is a Musical

My fabulous husband found the tape of his proposal this weekend and put it on youtube, and I thought i would share it with y'all too.

Heres a little background. . . Clarke and I met in college and started doing musicals together- I was a theater major, and Clarke was in all the choirs at Auburn so we stole him when we needed great male voices for any of our musicals. We fell in love. And Clarke, becuase he knows me so well, and knows how much i loved to sing, and how i wished more people would just break out in song in everyday life, set his proposal to music, and then had the band play a song that i knew and let me sing my acceptance back to him. My husband sang with The Auburn Knights Orchestra. This all happened at the Knights reunion weekend- they have one every summer and all the members from each decade dating back to the 30s get together for a weekend and perform- Its a fabulous event!

Anyhoo-Last night we watched the proposal on youtube- I hadn't seen it for YEARS. I was blown away by how beautiful it was, but at the same time, got horribly embarresed at how bad i sound singing! And I said so. And I hurt Clarke's feelings. And I feel bad because i really do sound terrible singing, but Clarke reminded me (how could i forget!) that i had just been PROPOSED TO FOR HEAVENS SAKE! And then he told me to shut up and stop being so darn self concious and quit ruining one of the most precious moments of our life together. And he is right. So. I'm shutting up.

Please enjoy.