Ever notice no one has freckles anymore? I guess at some point they have become considered a flaw. There are relatively inexpensive procedures to get rid of them now. Kinda sad. I miss them. I always thought they were so cute. I never had them. Someone who did told me they are cute when they are someone else’s but not when they are your own. I get that. Maybe the same deal with really curly hair. Curly hair is a pain in the ass.
When Troy, our 100 pound golden retriever was young, we would bring him new toys and then watch while he ripped them to threads and found the “squeaky mechanism” which a dog could choke on. My husband Steve would then gently take it from him.
Now, when we give Troy a toy, he rips it to shreds, finds the squeaky mechanism and gently lays it in front of his daddy’s feet. He thinks it’s what Steve wants.
Two weeks ago Steve put shredded cedar bark on a plant bed in the back yard where the dogs spend a lot of time. The dogs were thrilled and immediately took to chewing on pieces of it. Troy got horrible diarrhea and I began monitoring their time in the backyard to keep them away from it.
Tonight when Steve and I got back from dinner there was a small pile of cedar bark in the living room. I’m a positive reinforcement kinda gal so I rarely reprimand my dogs. Today, however, I took the pile, showed it to them and said “No! No you guys, this is not okay!!” They both cowered. A few minutes went by and I got busy taking off my make-up. When I came out, Haley, our little girl golden was hiding in a closet but Troy brought a stash of cedar bark they must have had hidden somewhere in the house and laid it at my feet.
(We never told him he wasn’t a lap dog…..)
“It’s a lot easier being older,” my husband said the other day.
“Why?” I asked him.
“It’s easier making decisions. I put more value on my time and what I spent it on so that expedites my decision-making. I don’t spend time with people I don’t want to spend time with or do things I don’t want to do.
I had to laugh. Indeed, he and I are not the most social people. He said that humans are hard wired to be in tribes and groups and that we somehow missed that wiring. We have an inner circle of people we like spending time with, even in Dallas now, but we generally have no interest in meeting new people. Steve works long hours and we also love to spend time alone together.
Shortly before Christmas we were standing on our driveway at our new house in a gated community and a neighbor whom we had not met walked by and said, “Oh, hi! Are you the new neighbors?”
“Yes we are,” I said.
“Oh great! Then we’ll see you at the annual Christmas party up the street!” she exclaimed.
“Well,” I hesitated, “I’m not going to say we are anti-social….”
I heard Steve chuckle behind me. He loves that I’m the more vocal of the two of us and handle these types of things.
“…..but we just aren’t the type of people who like to meet new people,” I finished.
Her demeanor changed slightly and then she blurted “Oh, I totally get that! There is hardly enough time to see the people we already know!”
“Exactly!” I said, “Nice talking to you and have a great evening!”
After that exchange, I didn’t want to say nice to meet you.
Look at this Polar Bear Sculpture. It is gigantic and it is completely made out of LEGO’S!! The entire Lego Animal Sculpture exhibit is coming to the Dallas zoo this month. So exciting. If you are in Dallas, check it out. If not, it is a traveling exhibit so check periodically with your city’s zoo!
The Accidental Texan 