Funny-faced Dogs

Help! We need a new bed!

One down, eleven to go

Okay, who stole January? I mean, it was right here the last time I looked. This time going faster the older one gets thing really sucks. Since my last post, I have been trying to take serious my impending job search. I hate looking for a job! That being said, I am plugging away at work writing grants as if there is a tomorrow, while the curtains seem to descend slowly over the little nonprofit where I work. And who knows how much time we have? A week? Two more months? Kind of like life, I suppose.

The stress of job loss and house hunting, combined with reading to two classrooms of virus vectors (2nd and 3rd graders) has resulted in a nasty sore throat for me. Fortunately it has been a brief ailment and I am already on the mend. At least the termite tenting hoopla is over.

The photo above is from our termite tent-enforced getaway to 29 Palms. The sunset, while beautiful, was one of very few high points. Lola, my amazing wonder pooch, got herself in a bad situation that resulted in an scary injury and the 29 Palms Inn had so many issues that I could never recommend them to anyone I like. So consider yourself forewarned-- Do NOT stay at the 29 Palms Inn! (This has been a public service announcement, we now return you to your regularly scheduled web crawl)

Optimism is for Idiots

So much for my new year sunny outlook thing. After the termite tenting festivities, which by the way went pretty well considering my aversion to toxic chemicals, I came back from the desert to have my annual job review. The review was stellar and so was/is my proposed raise. But the same day I had my review, my boss and friend also resigned. And it looks as if our little nonprofit may finally go belly up. I may still get the raise, at least it will look good on paper. What a strange phrase, look good on paper. As usual, I digress. Anyway, I am in job hunting mode, or at least next week I will be, so if anyone has any writing job leads in San Diego, especially telecommuting and grant writing leads,I'd be much obliged.

The New Year, So Far

Four days in and so far so good. My first day back to work was spent alone, the boss was out with some eye funk of some variety and my other co-worker was en route from Japan. It was a perfect start to the new work year. The biggest obstacle I'm currently facing is writing my own review-- a task I should be tackling instead of making this post. And when I say biggest obstacle I of course mean only in the realm of my day job. Next week we are uprooted from the tiny abode as the Termite Death March (Match?) plays on for a few days. We, me and the boy, and our trusty pooch, Lola, will head out to 29 Palms Inn near Joshua Tree for a little desert respite. I think margaritas and star-gazing sound like a very good thing, indeed. If anyone lives out that way or knows of something fun and interesting to do, leave me a comment-- I'd appreciate it!

British Woman Weds Dolphin

Apparently disillusioned with the dating scene, Sharon Tendler married her long-time paramour, Cindy. Cindy is a male dolphin who lives in Israel. Tendler promotes bands and imports clothes. They will have an open marriage. Cindy will have lots of dolphin sex with his female playmates. The jury is out as to whether Ms. Tendler will be having sex with any species. Is this the threat to the "sacred" institution that the religious right(sic) is so worried about? I sure hope so. Maybe I'll marry a Bonobo, seems they have lots of sex, and good sex, at that!

Christmas This Year

was actually quite enjoyable. My mom, Todd, my brother, sister-in-law, and my cuter-than-bunnies niece, Kirra, had a very low-key and not overly consumptive day-- both on the food and gift front. We ate and shared a few presents and I, the biggest humbug of the lot, got the most amazing gift from my sister-in-law: a scrapbook of my life thus far. She has been working on it since the summer and it has pics of me and my grandma, my brother, me performing wedding ceremonies, all my hair styles (yes, the eighties were well represented), and my first trip to Europe. She scanned postcards, a poem I wrote for my mom, photos, etc. I cried. A lot. There were photos I don't remember and parts of my life I'd forgotten. Pretty amazing. And to think I thought she didn't care for/like me. Of course I had to consent to wearing the silly hat in the photo above-- ply me with red wine and I might do just about anything... Oh, that was another page, photos of me in various states with a glass of something in my hand. Pretty funny stuff.

Nels Cline, oooh!

The new Wilco with Nels Cline. Yum, Jeff Tweedy and Nels-- a jackpot if you ask me. And just so you know, a friend of mine thinks that the thing that will save me from destitution is my lack of resignation. Cripes, I am screwed! Full disclosure-- This post was written in a red wine haze.