Message to Mary T

Last year, along about August or September, Tim went back to Maine for a friend’s wedding. While he was there, he met a young lady who told him a joke that cracked him up. When he told it to me, I decided to find a way to work it in to our upcoming novel because I like things that make Tim laugh.

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve read the entire blog of a fellow Montrose resident, and she featured that same joke in one of her blog entries. So, Mary T*, should you ever stumble onto this Live Journal or our book, I wanted to let you know that I didn’t steal the joke from you. I stole it from a six-year-old; don’t hate me for plagiarism. You can, however, hate me because I’m one of those women who puts up my hair in that half-bun, half-ponytail stickie-out style. I’ll understand.

*What, you think I’m going to link you to the joke? Buy our book, dammit.

I know it’s not news…

…that I am crazy about my friend and writing partner, Timothy J. Lambert. But the last week has just reminded me again as I’ve watched him with the Big Goofy Yellow Dog now known as River. I have always called Tim “the dog whisperer” because he taught Margot and Guinness many things after taking up residence in the apartment behind our house. They are wonderful dogs anyway, but he made them even better.

So I’m not surprised by his patience and kindness with River. Or the many walks he and River have taken as Tim has tried to find River’s home and family. Or the way he scheduled River’s upcoming vet visit so we can make sure he gets or stays healthy. Or the way he’s already taught River to sit, to behave well on a leash, and to accept his crate.

Just now, the girls and I sat on the office couch, staring out the window, as Tim came outside to put fresh water in River’s bowl. And watching this big, gentle dog wag his tail and follow every move Tim made with that adoring expression unique to dogs just melted my heart.

I don’t know if River will stay with us. He may be in poor health. His other family may eventually see our “found dog” signs and call. Someone else may adopt him away from us. But I know that for whatever time River gets to stay with Tim, he’s the luckiest dog in the world.

Warning to Whippersnappers

Weird shit happens as you age. I’m not talking about the way things sag, wrinkle, and gray. Everyone knows that. I’m talking about brand loyalty.

I grew up a Crest kid. Oh, sure, I’d indulge myself in an occasional fling with an Aim or a Colgate. I was briefly tempted by Pearl Drops. (Mmmmm, it’s a great feeling!) Thanks to Farrah, there was even that summer interlude with Ultra-Brite. But I always came back to Crest.

Then there was Secret. You know, it was made FOR ME. A woman.

But as I entered my pre-menopausal years, things changed. Secret wasn’t so secret. I abandoned it for Which, oddly, smells good instead of like tennis shoes. And Crest seemed to lose its flavor. But so far, I just can’t give it up. Probably my last grin will be a Crest grin.

Rupert Everett, Eye Feast

One of Tim’s birthday DVDs, recommended to me by Dean James, was a movie called Unconditional Love. It’s a big old sprawling movie that’s silly, funny, sad, and has the daughter-in-law from hell–or is she? Kathy Bates, Dan Akroyd, Jonathan Pryce, a few cameos, and the delicious and talented Rupert Everett (pre-plastic surgery). Anyone else seen this movie?

Cry!

Does anyone remember that Godley & Creme song from the 80s, “Cry”? I can’t get it out of my head today. It may have something to do with recent moments—epiphanies, really—in which I’ve realized how VERY fortunate my writing partners and I have been in the past. Because right now, Tim and I are getting a taste of some dues-paying.

Dues-paying does NOT taste like barbecue Fritos™.

However, I suspect that in the long run, we’ll be better off for having done it.

My Rant for the Day

We all do things now and then that we wouldn’t share with our parents. Getting drunk with our friends in high school. Blowing off classes in college. Getting involved with a person who’s absolutely wrong for us. Losing our religion. Getting fired from a job because we deserve it. Leaving the kids with a sitter so we can do something totally self-indulgent.
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