He Makes Me Laugh

I think now would be a good time to articulate some of the many reasons that I love Jeff, and why I believe our relationships works. I guess these paragraphs will serve as a reminder to me to appreciate my husband everyday (not just on Valentine’s Day, or when he does something extra special for me).

There isn’t only one most important thing that makes us gel, but I do think one of the most satisfying aspects of our relationship is how he makes me laugh. Jeff is funny. He finds humor in everyday things, can lighten the mood when it needs lightening, comes up with quirky puns, and can make fun of himself and me without being the least bit threatening.

The old adage, opposites attract, is most definitely true in our case. Intellectually, we are on two completely different planes. I’m the bookworm…I comprehend things on a theoretical basis, easily understand math and science, and am annoyed by things like poor grammar. All of this sounds just great, but for many practical purposes, I’m quite useless. Jeff, on the other hand, picks up where I am lacking. He understands mechanics and physics on a much more pragmatic level, can start from absolutely nothing and figure out how to build, fix, or plan a complete project from start to finish. Most of the projects he’s worked out lately have started as ideas in my head…lucky for me, I have someone who can translate “idea” into reality. I would be most definitely lost in translation without him. I don’t know why I couldn’t have inherited some of my Mom’s skills…

Sometimes, however, being such polar opposites is rather annoying. For instance, the only television he’ll watch is on the Discovery or History Channels. He also loves The Simpson’s, which does have some smart humor, but most of it just isn’t funny to me. Anyway, I just read while he’s watching TV, and he plays his guitar while I’m watching my shows. This brings me to another reason I love Jeff. He’s so talented! How many girls are lucky enough to be able to swoon over their lead-guitarist husbands?

I once came across a poster that listed some of the things you can do to have a “happy” life. Number one on the list was “Marry the Right Person.” Although I don’t believe that someone else can determine my happiness, I do believe that someone else can make it a little easier to be happy. Jeff makes it easy for me to be happy. I really hope I do the same for him.

Atypical Pannus

My poor little beagle boy’s eye disease has reared its ugly head – AGAIN. This time it’s manifesting in his left eye. He’s got what looks like a little clot of blood right on his pupil, but if you look more closely, you can see that it actually starts in the outside corner and stretches all the way to the center. He also has a corneal abrasion (stemming from the Pannus) that we need to treat with antibiotics, and until that clears up, we can’t actually treat the Pannus.

So, I give him an antibiotic drop in his left eye, a steroid drop in his right eye (to keep the Pannus at bay in his uninfected eye), and also feed him an oral antibiotic. The only thing Chance likes about this whole regime is that his oral medicine gets stuffed in a little hunk of hot dog. I understand this, because I also love hot dogs.

Luckily, Chance doesn’t seem to be all that bothered by his eye problems. It isn’t painful for him, but it does affect his vision. I guess that I am somewhat comforted by the fact that dogs do not rely on their vision nearly as much as we do. I’m pretty sure that his acute hound dog sense of smell makes up for any deficiencies in his eyesight.

Not to digress, but this does remind of A Wrinkle in Time. This fantasy children’s classic (written way before Harry Potter) describes a whole world of beings that don’t understand what it means to “see.” They only understand what “is.” I think Chance understands what “is,” which is a cozy world, where food, love and companionship are plentiful. So, I guess I won’t worry too much about his Pannus.

If you’re interested in reading more about Pannus, please check out the following link…

http://www.animaleyecare.net/diseases/pannus.htm

If you’re interested in donating to the Chancer Boy Veterinary Fund, just send me a check.

One Big Blogging World

I’ve been searching the web for interesting bloggers, and have come across a ton of sites that I can see myself going back to on a regular basis. There are so many interesting people out there! The world has become so small – with access to millions of people’s thoughts, ideas, politics, interests – all at the tip of our fingertips. I just love technology. On the other hand, my computer is a pain in the rear-end. I am specifically looking into a Mac as my next computer. With all of the upkeep that my pc is requiring me to do, I do not have nearly enough time to blog about stuff. Even if all that “stuff” isn’t important, it sure is fun. And, of course, I love reading your comments! Special thanks to my most loyal commenter – THE Booger.

Sick Like Portland

Well, I guess most people won't understand my title. There are two people out there, however, who are intimately (whether they want to be or not) familiar with being sick in Portland. Yuck. Anyway, Sunday morning I woke up quite ill, and I won't go into the gory details, but my night was spent on the toilet with a bucket in my lap. I'm still not completely over it, so I stayed home from work today. Still not sure whether it was food poisoning (I ate some cake batter with raw eggs on Saturday) or the stomach flu, but since Jeff hasn't been sick, I'm betting on the eggs.

Was this post TMI??

CEMSDEMS, Bureaucrats, and a Two-Day Trip

Let me start with the acronym mentioned in my title. CEMSDEMS....what the heck? That's what I say, but I actually do know what a "CEMS" is....only because I work in the regulated realm of air polluters in the United States . A "CEMS" is a certified emissions monitoring system. After spending two days at a CEMS workshop, I still don't know for what the "DEMS" stands, even though the bureaucrats used the term several times. They also used "EDR," which I think means electronic data report, and several other acronyms which I can't seem to remember right now. Anyway, my point is that authority figures should not assume that the regulated members of industry are familiar with their goofy terms.

Now, one of our government employees happened to mention that they could not provide us with donuts and refreshments at the free workshop because of budgetary issues. I'm certainly not complaining that there were no donuts, but I was a bit shocked at the estimate that the DEP came up with when determining refreshment costs. I'm pretty sure that they planned to do 6 separate workshops, that is, one for each regulated region in PA. The more populated regions would certainly have bigger crowds, but I would say that the average number of attendees per session would be 75. So 75 people x 6 sessions = 450 hungry people. The sessions were each scheduled for 2 days, so for mathematical purposes, we'll call that 900 people. This is definitely a high-end estimate.

So, your average donut costs about $0.60, and coffee when made by the pot is less than $0.50/cup. So, we're looking at $1.10 per person. 900 x $1.10 = $990 for all six two-day sessions. Maybe a little expensive, and probably cost-prohibitive for our government.

HOWEVER, let me know reveal the DEP's estimate for refreshments...

$10,000

No wonder our government is so inept at managing money. If I worked for the government and was with a group of regular, everyday citizens, I certainly would have kept that little number to myself.

Enough venting....

The best parts of my trip to Meadville included the dinner at an Italian restaurant (crab-stuffed Sole, garlic mashed taters, salad and yummy bread), and the very relaxing night at the hotel (no husband, no dogs). Back to work tomorrow.

I Once Had a Dream…

…that Peyton Manning was my boyfriend. So I have to say that I am very happy the Colts won the Super Bowl. I’m not even sure what sparked the dream, or why it sticks in my mind as such a memorable dream, but it does. And, I do like Manning, because he is, in my humble opinion, the best all-around quarterback ever. [I am in no way saying that I have the expertise to determine the greatest quarterback ever. In fact, I have a rather limited knowledge of the history of football.] To sweeten up the Colts victory, Jeff won $250 in his pool. GO COLTS!

Free Write

Just some of the crazy thoughts running through my head today....

I hate painting. The only enjoyable thing about painting is the moment when you get to the pour the paint out of the can and into the tray. And, of course, the last brush stroke, because that means your finished. Back to the pouring...paint has the most interesting texture, viscosity, I can't think of the right word, but you get my drift. So, I finished texturing the dry wall last night and painted and primed three walls of the living room today. I have some finishing work to do on the ceiling tomorrow, but that shouldn't take too long.

This month's book is A Wrinkle In Time. Jen's pick. She read it when she was eight, but the rest of it are reading it for the first time. So far, I love it, and I love Charles Wallace. I just want to pick him up and give him a bear hug. Is "bear hug" a real term, or is it more of a colloquialism? I don't know. I'll have to ask somebody.

Jeff smells like he ate prime rib today. He did eat prime rib today. So did I, but I certainly don't smell like he does. YUK.

This is obviously not my most intelligent post, but after all, I am free-writing. Free as bird, with a bird dog under my feet. She's whining because I'm drinking a Kahlua and Cream. It must smell pretty good to her sensitive doggie nose.

Back to the painting. I painted one wall a color called Woodgate, which is really just a lighter shade of olive. My new sofa and love seat are olive. The material is a new microfiber that is supposed to be virtually indestructible, which is a necessity with a Beagle in your house. Sofa, love seat and recliner should be here in a few weeks. Hopefully, the carpet gets installed first. I hate waiting for them. I hate waiting for anything.

Boy, this is messier than I thought it would be. I thought a free write would be much more telling. (Telling in what respect?? I have no idea.)

Finally February

Hopefully, I’ll have something more exciting to post about in February. In the mean time, I found this quote by Mark Twain,

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

Now that the Book Club has plowed through several classics, I am convinced that Twain was right. I wonder what he would think now that most of his books are considered classics? Interestingly enough, I don’t consider his books to be a chore, and I usually enjoy anything he’s written.