girl at large

Ruby's New Cousin

Quite possibly the cutest pictures I have ever seen! Welcome home Zepper! My brother Thomas has a dog, I couldn't be happier for him. Tom's lucky, he can bring him to work and his apartment building is very dog-friendly--he had no excuse not to have one. I don't know all of Zepper's story, he was rescued, but I'll post more when I learn more. All I know is, I'm thrilled for my brother (he's going to have so much fun, and learn so much!) and can't wait to kiss that freckled tummy.

Oh, The Irony. (It is Irony, right?)

Falling in love with a tv series where everyone, everywhere, smokes. Every scene. And I've just quit. It's cruel. And yet so good. Mad Men.

102nd Thing To Do Whilst Not Smoking

I had given Mom a small set of drawers to use during her stay. Today, as I fidget for more to do, I tackled emptying them out so they can be moved to storage. Here's what I had to triage; some items destined for the trash, others to Goodwill, and if I can locate her particular Greek isle, to send back to her aboard Daste: -package of Hammond's Old Fashioned Peppermint Sticks -6 magazines and catalogs -half pack of Extra Winterfresh gum -bottle of MucinexDM -Mission Impossible II DVD -piece of Japanese printed silk fabric -one black sock -two bras -one pair undies -half pack of Kleenex -temporary wrap-on sunglass thingies from the eye doctor's visit -a pair of gloves -one brown sock -one black sock that does not match the other black sock -one airline travel pack (sleep mask, toothbrush, toothpaste, socks) -Tea Tree Oil spot stick -tweezers -Portland walking map -wood-handled back brush -3 euros, twenty US cents Did I mention this is a small set of drawers? (very small--only 12" wide, 14" deep, 26" high) Oh, mom.

101 Things To Do Whilst Not Smoking, cont'd

18) Clean out closet. 19) Clean out other closet. 20) Make trip to Goodwill. 21) Empty out ten years of old files. Reciepts, instruction booklets for appliances long gone, maps, clippings, etc. Shred. Shred. Shred. 22) Make week's supply of Crumble. 23) Wash, iron and rehang shower curtain and liner. 24) Bleach grout. 25) Bathe dog. 26) Clean all picture frames and glass. 27) Hang mirrors long forgotten in back of closet. 28) Clean computer keyboard (Q-tips!).

101 Things To Do Whilst Not Smoking

1) Vacuum the mattress. 2) Clean the plastic tracks of the sliding windows (Q-tips!). 3) Bleach the refrigerator. 4) Alphabetize the bookshelf. 5) Re-organize the bookshelf by topic instead. 6) Re-organize the bookshelf by color and size, within topics. 7) Wash, iron and re-hang all the curtains. 8) Snip each pulled thread from the bathtowels. 9) Undo twenty rows of a scarf-in-progress. 10) Examine pores. 11) Make elaborate four course meals. 12) Calculate the price differences for tv, internet and phone services from the phone company vs. cable company. Call both, get best offers. Calculate savings vs. benefits, over a year. Change phone service, add DVR and internet to Cable plan. 13) Hand wash, dry, fold and put winter sweaters into sweater bags, complete with cedar chip, for the season. 14) Switch to all padded hangers. 15) Clean baseboards. 16) Magic Eraser the fireplace surround. 17) Update tetanus shot.