Tag: photos

Springage

There are days that just seem like little slices of paradise, and today is one of those. The weather is springlike, and I’ve opened all the windows to let fresh air flow through. Tim is at Green Acres taking care of some things. Because Minute just got spayed and needs to take it easy, he left Rex at The Compound. Even if this makes Margot slightly disgruntled, any day with Rex and my girls is a good time to me. Maybe I’ll get to see Sparky and Minute tonight, too, when Lynne joins us for Survivor night. Dinner is ready and waiting.

A friend got some excellent news this afternoon, and I celebrate that. Although another friend shared some sad news yesterday, after talking to Jim, I’m more hopeful on her behalf than I was. I’m also still happy after the visit with Sugar, Rhonda, and Lindsey last night. I wish every dog in the world could find a good home.

I’m still floating from the e-mail that WHEN YOU DON’T SEE ME satisfied our editor. That’s the kind of news that makes the two projects I’m working on right now a little less daunting. (Yep, Jandy, your namesake is coming along just fine…)

And randomly? From the inside out, Trebor Healey is the SEXIEST man alive–to heck with People Magazine. =)

For Lisa, Mark, Todd, and everyone else who’s tired of snow and cold, here are photos from in and around The Compound that I took while I was doing dog poop patrol today (which Lisa was apparently doing at the same time several states away).

click here if you’re not tired of the whole damn photo thing

Visiting Miss Sugar

Tonight I couldn’t stand it anymore. I made a pleading phone call to RubinSmo Manor and begged to see the latest addition to our family of friends. Tim and Tom, too, were willing to leave The Compound, so off we went when permission was granted.

SUCH SWEETNESS! (And joy…and joyness…)

Here’s a face that says, “I don’t know if I like what you’re doing and I don’t know why you’re here, so I’ll just keep a close eye on you and see how things go.” She was also wary of Tom, but of course, she was mesmerized by Tim, Dog Whisperer. And she already adores Lindsey and Rhonda.
see face here

With my secrets, with my life, with my hair

It’s possible that I should have waited a few hours before I took a self-portrait for Photo Friday.

Tim colors my hair. Mostly my roots. Because when you’ve been 35 a few times, honestly, you do occasionally get a gray hair or two. My natural hair color is brunette with red highlights. Both Tim and our fabulous hairdresser Larry tend to take me lighter with red and blond highlights. This is what experts say women are supposed to do when they get, well, thirty-five and beyond. Go lighter. But Tim knows that I’ve been kind of wishing to go darker.

He didn’t tell me he was going to make my wish come true. Friday, after he colored my roots, he pulled the color through to the ends of my hair. That’s not unusual. Sometimes he does that to perk up my natural haircolor. So it wasn’t until later, when I was out of the shower and drying, that I began to grin from ear to ear at the DARKNESS.
hair

Keep it up, mockers

You ever just sit back, put up your feet, and enjoy watching people mock your fear of scary movies? Or maybe theirs is an act of compassion. By taking my fear to a humorous extreme, they will rob it of its energy to frighten me… Yeah, that’s it. They’re all GIVERS! Selfless, considerate, thoughtful…

I do have the best friends in the world, which will be the subject of future posts. Like the one wherein I talk about How I Got to Know My Writing Partners Online and maybe also How the Compound Works (though I’m not sure I understand that question, Steve). Or I may first discuss My Theory of Evolution or Some Random Childhood Memory for Todd.

Meanwhile, speaking of friends…

YESTERDAY’s coffee cup, in this photo that I never had the opportunity to post, is one I don’t think I’ve featured before. It was a gift from Sweet Li’l Amy Sue (who some of you may remember is the former Rex-Tender) sometime back in the early to mid-nineties. The cup was designed by and proceeds from sales were contributed to DIFFA, which is the acronym for The Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. It has long been the coffee cup I reach for most often.

In the photo, you can also see the little V-card that Tom made for me and put in front of my computer monitor for me to find when I awoke. Because in this house, if you want me to see anything? The best place for it is near the computer.

Denece treated me to lunch yesterday. We met at the Galleria. There are many, many places to park at the Galleria. There are several four- or five-story garages and also several underground garages. They are located in the vicinity of different anchor stores. I usually park near Nordstrom, but yesterday I tried a different garage. With my usual ability to step out of my car and go in the exact opposite direction of the one I should take, I ended up in the bowels of the Westin Galleria. If you should ever be a guest of this hotel (as Keelie’s grandmother was in A COVENTRY CHRISTMAS), rest assured: No one gets past the security guard of what is probably the employee entrance.

Once I found my way to Denece, we had a wonderful six-hour visit at the restaurant. (We go between the lunch and dinner rush and we’re always generous with the waitstaff, who let us take a table for the entire afternoon.) Denece always gives me so many things to think about, including insights into the complexities of human relationships as well as the wonderful world of animals (I daresay no layperson knows more about every dog breed than Denece). Plus I got to tell her one of my dirty little secrets. (HA HA HA!) We also made a little trip to Borders, where I ran into the manager, J., and got to thank him personally and hug him for his attention to A COVENTRY CHRISTMAS. He said he just ordered more copies of all the TJB books because he’s building up the stock of the GLBT section. He’s the best.

I have to mop the floors now and ponder my next post, which I may title Gone With The Exorcist, my being a SAP* and all.

*Southern American Princess

Monday Miscellany

First, hey, Steve in Florida, hope you had a memorable fiftieth birthday yesterday. Happy belated! (Also, happy belated to Becky in Mississippi and to Miss Squishi, who may or may not be reading here and could kick EVERYONE’S butts at TJB trivia.) I celebrated all these February birthdays by going to my friend Trish’s play “You Go Girl,” then later taking my mother some early Valentine’s Day goodies and treating her to dinner, but mostly working on my tax stuff. There’s nothing more exciting than doing a bunch of financial paperwork on Sunday night!

For those who asked… When I post a photo for Photo Fridays, traffic to my LiveJournal picks up considerably from all over the world because I put the link on the Photo Friday web site. I just try to keep those posts as simple as possible. No moods, no music, no comments. But thanks for saying you like the photo! Rex watched with great interest from his second story window as I messed around with the camera at midnight. He was like Rapunzel. Only without the hair. Plus he’s a he. And no one was holding him prisoner. But other than that…

Have a great Monday, everybody! Maybe I’ll come back later after I get the tax stuff to my tax preparer. If I do come back, what would you like for me to talk about? Give me a topic. I’m game.

Cool Stuff About Wednesday

For the third day in a row, I’ve been at the gym and in the pool by 5:30 a.m. (I love getting to and leaving the gym before daylight.) I really like Clarence, who teaches the water aerobics class. He’s a swimmer and a runner and he’s in great shape. I’d get a photo for you, but we’re not allowed to take photos inside the gym. He’s been there all the years I’ve been a member, and he leaves the gym every day and goes to his full-time job. WHERE do people get that kind of energy?

A few days ago, in the pool, I met Trish, who owns a 1926-bungalow in Montrose (but on the opposite side of Westheimer from our 1928-bungalow). Today I met Jerry, who owns a 1920-bungalow in the Heights. We bungalow people like to stick together and badmouth the McMansions and STUPID FREAKING CONDOS that are hurting the character of our neighborhoods and driving up our taxes.

Today, there was an aerobics move that Jerry just could not do. In a flash of inspiration, I gave him something to visualize and suddenly he could do it. It’s nice to be part of the whole spirit of people at the gym in the morning. Everyone is a little quiet but helpful and pleasant. These are morning people, but they aren’t perky. No one should be perky before dawn.

I came home ravenous, ate a good breakfast, did some stuff, then headed for the Galleria. I HATE SHOPPING. But I had things to do, like getting a present to send to one of our nieces. Done. Then there was some other cool stuff.
you knew there’d be photos, right?