farting hippo puppet

Got this early birthday surprise in the mail from my college roommate. Sheer randomness + surprise package + old friend = complete awesomeness.

random ear pop

Didn't even know my ear needed to pop.

couch potato

After a late night last night, I dragged myself and my dog to class, where he did much better than last week, then we came home and napped on the couch for more than two hours.

you've got mail

On the way home from seeing The Postal Service with a friend from work. Their songs are just as good now as they were when they came out ten years ago.

high five

Henry gave a high five on command to someone other than me today! Also, I ordered a bunch of fun stuff for him to take advantage of a Petsmart sale, including a collar and leash with his info embroidered on  them that I'm disproportionately excited about.

negativity

Finally sent in all of my negatives for scanning (including two mystery rolls of film from ten years ago that I finally got developed, the pictures from which ended up being less exciting than the anticipation). Can't wait to have all of my college and law school pictures online.

little things

Boyfriend pinged me yesterday to tell me he had a little present for me. Yay, I love little presents! It was a skin for my phone, which makes it less slippery and decreases its tendency to hurl itself off of flat surfaces.

mule

A friend who recently moved to Zurich just got in town for work, and brought me five bars of chocolate.

spend to save

Things I spent money on or received in the mail in the last week or so (all of which was on sale or special offer: first class tickets to Tokyo (for our trip to Palau), human DNA test kits, doggie DNA test kits, pillowcases, and a Chromebook for my nephew's 10th birthday present.

missed you

We've gone without TiVo for about nine months now, because Comcast switched to all digital, and it wasn't working with my old analog TiVo. Today, with many forced reboots and stalled updates, I got it to work with one tuner, which is better than none, and still allows me to stubbornly refuse pay for Comcast DVR service or to buy a whole new TiVo.

benefits of belts

I haven't worn a belt since high school, but this week I discovered that wearing a belt means I can wear my comfortable fat jeans without worrying about having them fall off.

good dog

Henry is making great progress on walking nicely, with some help from cheese and a special harness, he is learning how to shake and high five, and he patiently let me file his nails and scrape tartar off his teeth tonight. We start training classes next week, and I have high hopes.

about time

Finally got a new watch battery today, in the course of running a ton of errands.

good guy

This is the kind of guy Boyfriend is: I was craving Thai food today, so he told me to phone in an order. I asked him what he wanted, and he said he didn't want any, he was just going to pick up my order for me.

kismet

On a quick walk before going to the allergist, Henry and I ran into a nice neighbor we had met once before, who was very sad that her dogs had passed away, but was considering getting a new one in the fall. Turns out she got one over the weekend, from the same shelter as Henry, and she's really happy.

We ran into Pepper on our evening walk, so instead of his usual tame walk, Henry got another wild backyard romp.

deja dive

We're dying to go on a long trip without email, and we're dying to go on a dive trip. Looks like we're combining the two to go back to Palau in December, with a brief so in Tokyo?

pepper

Henry and his new friend Pepper (pictured) had a play date tonight, running and wrestling for over an hour. Happy dogs make happy humans.

In other Henry news, house training is making more forward steps than backward ones, we're working on his fear of cars, he loves people and dogs, and he gets me out to meet neighbors, enjoy the magnolias and jasmine, and get some exercise.

one day more

Can't wait for the long weekend, even though we just got back from vacation two weeks ago! I'm going to catch up on sleep and reading, both of which have suffered due to work and dog.

dog days

It has been really hot lately, but in order to work on house training my dog and burn through some of his puppy energy, I've been taking him out for multiple walks a day. Upside: losing weight, watching him see lots of things for the first time, and having him collapse in my lap in full puppy exhaustion afterwards.