To Be Loved By a Dog

Okay.  I read Marley and Me two years ago.  I actually own a copy of the book, but I don't know if I'm getting it back, because my ex-fiance never sent me my stuff.  Anyway.  I cried and cried and cried and cried when I read the book.  Even if you haven't read it, if you know it's about a dog's life, you know how it's going to end.  I knew how it was going to end and it was still devastating.  (Also, other than a few Bill Bryson books I really like, Marley and Me is really the only non-fiction I've read in the last few years.)  Anyway, I watched the movie tonight, finally.  We've had it sitting there for almost a year, and I never had the chance to watch it, but finally decided it would be a good idea tonight while I was folding laundry.

That would be a big fat NO.  That was a horrible idea.  I didn't stop crying from the second vet visit on; I even cuddled up on the floor with Shadow and Sunshine and cried on them after the movie ended.  (I'm the only person who is home and awake.)  My eyes are swollen and scratchy and I have a headache.  I don't know what I'm going to do when it's time for these guys, if I'm this upset over a dog I've never met.

I wish I could put into words the kind of love I feel for dogs - any dog, really, but especially Shadow and Sunshine.  By all intents and purposes, they're mine, too, and I .. I don't love them like I'd love a child, or a friend, or how I love J and S and M and Girl Child and the Toddler.  It's a completely different kind of love, and you know they think the sun shines out of everyone's butt (except maybe the Toddler's because he steps on them so much) in this house.  They love you when you've had a bad day, when you've gained weight, when you're mad at them for chewing up your favorite flip flops (Sunshine has eaten something like three pairs of my flip flops) - they don't care, they will love you anyway.  They don't care if you don't have any money or can't fold a fitted sheet to save your life or if you can only cook one thing, because you're you and they love you.

That's a kind of magic, in a way, to experience that kind of love.  I'm so glad to have loved a dog, to be given the very special opportunity that so many take for granted to be loved by a dog.

Now that I'm crying again, I think I'll go hug the furry people some more.

Laundry, Tattoos, Video Games, and Politics

So, this is kind of a boring post until after the links round up, so if you don't care about my daily life or what tattoos I want, just skip to that part.

I went crazy sorting the laundry last night and organized it by type. Girl Child and I now share a hamper for what she doesn't wash herself and all my stuff, the Toddler has his own hamper for his clothes and sheets and stuff, and J and S each have their own basket because a lot of their stuff dirty right now. I'd intended to combine it, but that was impossible. Today, I have washed all the towels in the house and all of the Toddler's clothes, and am currently working on a mixed load of sheets and other random household stuff, plus one of M's towels that S borrowed last night because we were out of towels. I'm such a slacker. I also folded a ton of laundry yesterday evening between the time J got up and the Toddler went to bed, so I also got to have loud music and lots of really loud singing. This coincided with Girl Child doing some dishes, so there was also presumably singing coming from the kitchen, so I can only imagine what the living room sounded like for J and S. Haha.

I just switched out the plastic drawer bin that has been the Toddler's toybox for the last several months for two of my totes that had all my yarn and crocheting supplies in them - now my yarn is in the drawers (the only thing that didn't fit was the pillows I still haven't made covers for) and his toys are in one bin, and he's currently in the other bin. It'll have his stuffed animals in it later, once he goes to bed.

I finally returned one of my library books today, and discovered that I can't use the self-check or place holds online anymore because of my fines. Fail. But I can still check stuff out, so long as I don't accrue fines, so I'm going to check to see if the hold on the Nora Roberts book I've been wanting to read is still intact, because I would be very upset if I lost my place in line. It'd be my own fault, though. (I just checked - I still have my position, and I'm in 17th place, so my hold should become available in a week or two, yay!)

I've been working on a list of things the Toddler is really quirky about lately. He can't stand having a door be open, for instance. If he finds a door that is open, he must close it. This is most unfortunate when it's the bathroom door when the doorknob has fallen out of it, because this makes the person using the bathroom unable to get out of it without assistance if they happen to forget to take the knob in with them.  (Me.)  He also has a compulsive need to close any drawers that he finds open, but he also needs to open my dresser and "rearrange" my clothing. This usually means that my clean clothes get put in the dirty laundry sometimes, or he'll randomly put dirty clothes in my dresser. Sometimes it kind of sucks to have my dresser in the hallway, but at least I have it at all. He also can't stand it when S's computer goes to a screensaver - he'll run over and move the mouse or hit keys until it stops. He also hates it when the laptops are partially open. He'll either try to open it (potentially flipping it off the TV tray), or he'll slam it closed. He's also taken to demanding that the baby monitor be turned off if he sees that it's on when he's not in bed, and demanding that it be turned on when he's about to go to bed.

Now, some of these behaviors can get really irritating sometimes, but mostly they're just rather hilarious, and they're interesting personality quirks that make me wonder what he'll be like when he's older. I love that kid.

Recently, I made a list of all the tattoos I want for a Facebook meme that I still haven't done - it turns out that I actually want quite a bit more tattoos than I thought I did! I designed a celestial symbol about two years ago that I want on my left arm, and I'm going to put a Jecht symbol right above it (Final Fantasy X and X-2). On my right arm, I'm going to get those Chinese symbols done that S reproduced for me, in right about that spot. On my back, at the base of my neck, I'm getting the sign of the Deathly Hallows, and below that, I'm getting the Royal Crest from the Legend of Zelda games. I'm getting an owl right above my right ankle, and S designed a viney thing for me a few months ago, but I'm not sure where I want it yet. I'm also thinking about getting a penguin to match my owl for my other leg, possibly some stars on my right foot, and maybe an ankh somewhere. Wow, tattoo-tastic!

I like making lists.

Today's been pretty decent. Girl Child left for her great-grandmother's this morning, even though the poor thing is getting her wisdom teeth in and is in a ridiculous amount of pain. I think she's pretty excited about it, though. Maybe. I got her to put her clothes away for me before she left, which makes me happy, because now I'm not going to be without a basket until she comes home. I also worked on her file for Final Fantasy X because she never activated the Celestial Mirror and was all the way to Yunalesca and was unable to defeat her. I've also gotten everyone but Kimahri in overdrive mode (I never, ever use Kimahri unless I'm being forced to), and leveled everyone up a little bit - I may run around a bit more for her later so Lulu will have Flare, because it's nice to be able to do non-elemental damage! The Toddler's been exceptionally obnoxious today, partly because his nap consisted of sleeping on me for about twenty minutes.

Honestly, I don't know if today was decent or just boring. It's mostly been laundry, video games, and temper tantrums.  However, last night I discovered I can lift Girl Child over my shoulder and carry her around like I'm a fireman.  She weighs about 130 pounds and is taller than me.  I AM SUPERMAN SUPER WOMAN!!!  Holy crap, I am strong.  I had no idea.  I still can't hold a gallon of milk in my hand very long, or do anything that requires wrist strength because I simply lack the muscles in my wrists, but my back and upper arms are very strong... apparently.  (I discovered this after Girl Child was poking me incessantly, and decided to try to pick her up and carry her across the room and put her somewhere... and I could.)

I have a few links to post, and some of them have sparked outrage for me.


Links Round-Up

Okay, this makes me angry.  Really, really FUCKING angry.  This man is more concerned with making Obama a one-term president than he is in trying to fix some of the royally fucked up problems this country is having.  Seriously, your primary goal is to get Obama out of the White House?  What about raising taxes to get us out of this mess of debt?  What about some true educational reform instead of this No Child Left Behind bullshit?  I don't want fucktards like this running my country.  He doesn't give two flying shits about the debt ceiling or the economy disintegrating before our very eyes, he just wants to get rid of a president that seems like he actually cares and wants to bring some true change so he can just keep his cush, two days a week job doing a bunch of bullshit and generally being a corrupt asshole.

Speaking of Congress being a two day a week job, Congress decided to go on a month-long vacation without doing anything about the FAA's complete lack of funding.  A political writer and blogger wrote a speech he's dying to see Obama give to Congress for their complete lack of responsibility.  I have to say, I quite agree with him, and honestly, I think the whole political system needs a complete overhaul.  Just because it worked 250-ish years ago, does not mean it works now.  I am really unhappy with politicians not caring what the people they're supposed to represent want, because I thought that that was what they were there for, not to pursue their own agenda.  I say we get rid of Congress and all those other corrupt people and just have a lot of voting days where the American public gets to vote on the issues at hand and decide for themselves how they want the country to be.  Seriously.

In other outrage-tastic news, Fox News apparently thinks giving battered women the help they will need to get out of those situations and providing easy access to proper women's healthcare is as frivolous as getting a pedicure.  Really?  Really?!  I am so angry at these people.

I feel so bad for this girl, and cannot believe the school district is standing behind this.  I hope she wins a big fat settlement and goes to an awesome college and becomes their bosses and fires the shit out of them.

I don't know who I feel more sorry for in this case, the little girl who was kidnapped and adopted fraudulently, the couple who adopted her that apparently didn't know she was kidnapped, or her birth mother, who has missed the last five years of her kid's life.  (Also, the girl's adoptive parents are from the North Kansas City area, which was a bit shocking to me, as it came completely unexpectedly.)

And, for a palate cleanser, here are some awesome storm cloud pictures from Canada.

Record-Setting Heat and Body Canvases

I did not get nearly enough sleep last night, and it showed.  I was baby-sitting the Toddler earlier because S had to pick Girl Child up from the relative's house, and the only thing that kept me from falling asleep was writing my last post on paper and sheer force of will.  I was going to go take a nap/sleep until tomorrow after the Toddler woke up from his nap, but by that point, I'd gained a second wind.

I haven't gone outside during the day in about three days or so - it's been too hot.  Today's official high was 109, which was record-shattering.  Seriously, that record is smithereens, shreds, nuked.

I'm never going outside again.  Oh my god.

Today, S and I became human canvases for each other - lots of doodling.  I also had her draw the sign of the Deathly Hallows on my back in about the spot I'm planning on getting it tattooed, and she reproduced the Chinese symbols for Serenity (the Firefly) on my right inner arm, so I can get an idea of how exactly I want them when I get those tattooed on me.  The rest is just a jumble of insanity.  Also, I can't draw an ankh to save my life.  S wrote "Trololololo" on my foot, for instance.  She has it on her arm.  There are leaves, misshapen lips, aliens, insults, derpy faces, and just all sorts of stuff.  My left arm is covered in Harry Potter scars.  S got a lot less of the "artistic" outpouring because I mostly drew on myself, but I wrote "Accio Brain!" on her leg and some stuff backwards and upside down.

At the moment, I'm watching Prisoner of Azkaban, but once I finish this post, I'm going to bed.

This is what S drew on my arm.

... And these are the original symbols.

 *squee*

No 'Poo Update

I thought it might be time to write a full update on the no 'poo experiment.

Just to recap, I washed my hair for the last time with Pantene Pro-V for fine hair last Thursday (July 28th), and conditioned with the matching conditioner. That afternoon, I had gotten so sweaty from being out of the house that I took a second shower, but I only rinsed my hair with lukewarm water. (It was too hot to use anything warmer, and I actually really like cool showers in the warmer months.) On Friday, I also showered, once again only rinsing my hair with water.

So, S, being the research maven she is, did some more research on it after we started talking about it, picking up a few more tips than what I had gleaned. Of course, I actually stumbled upon the no 'poo movement completely accidentally - I was searching Google for various food items I could try rinsing my hair with in an effort to get some control over it, and found Crunchy Betty's blog.

Anyway, thanks to our combined efforts, it was determined that the baking soda mixture should ideally be made fresh each time, but you can make a lot of the apple cider vinegar mixture all at once and just store it in whatever container you use when you put it on your hair. We use a spray bottle. The recipes we've been using are:

1 TBSP baking soda
1 cup warm water
Mix well until the baking soda is dissolved. Pour into the bottle you use to put it on your head.

And:

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1-2 cups water (I think S used 2 cups when she made it on Friday)
Mix well, pour into whatever you use to get it on your hair.

Anyway, I tried this for the first time on Saturday (July 30th). I only used about three ounces on my hair and I didn't rub it in the way you're supposed to, as you're supposed to vigorously massage with your fingers in a circular motion - this stuff also is only supposed to be rubbed into your scalp, not the rest of your hair. I'm pretty sure I didn't get it all rinsed out, and I definitely didn't use enough either, because my hair was still kind of greasy when it was dry. And I really didn't use enough apple cider vinegar, because it was still pretty dry and greasy, at the same time. It was great for the first few hours, though; it looked really nice, and it kind of gets this flippy thing at the ends that it doesn't do when I use regular shampoo. I will say, it felt absolutely awful while I was in the shower, it was horrible and felt like sticky snakes were attached to my head when I first put the baking soda stuff in it. Yuck! But it was really easy to brush - normally my hair is in knots constantly, but I had no problems getting a brush through it, even though it still constantly tangled. I think that's just the curse of fine hair, though. I actually had some changes immediately after the first wash, even though what I've been reading says you may not see anything real until a few weeks in, after you're past the greaseball stage (which I frankly may not go through at all on the level other people do - I already wasn't washing my hair daily), so that was really, really exciting. It had a lot less frizz and more body than it usually does - most of the body that my hair has when using shampoo is it trying to be a frizzy afro, or what I call the "Hermione Phenomenon" - which is when my hair starts to need its own zip code from being so bushy and frizzy. It hasn't done that to me at all since I started this, which is very exciting, because it has always done that to me once it reaches shoulder length, which it finally has done.

On Sunday, I ended up rinsing with warm water again because it felt like poop and I felt like poop, too.

Last night, I used six ounces of the baking soda (that's all that fits into the bottles, not the full eight that you make with a cup of water), and scrubbed my head much more thoroughly than before, and I noticed it didn't do the "sticky snakes" thing this time. I also used more apple cider vinegar after I very thoroughly rinsed out the baking soda. The whole bathroom made my eyes water when I was done, the smell was STRONG. After rinsing, my hair didn't smell like anything at all, though, which was nice. After this time, my hair was noticeably shinier - in fact, I've never had hair this shiny in my life. It also appears longer because it's no longer trying to be like Hermione, and at the same time, it had a lot of body and was just generally absolutely beautiful. I have never been more happy with my hair. I'm still having small problems with frizz in the curly parts by my temples, but I no longer have Einstein-like tufts sticking straight off my head (my hair is truly ridiculous with shampoo), and what frizz I have completely disappears after brushing it a lot.

Right now, my hair is soft, shiny, and I'm completely in love with it. It's starting to get a little bit greasy, so I'm not going to rinse it tomorrow and rinse it on Wednesday instead, and then wash it again on Friday, unless it's just completely unbearable. I am so thrilled with this and don't plan on ever using shampoo again, and it hasn't even been a week yet! I cannot wait to see what my hair will look like in a month!

Today Was Obnoxious

I didn't end up posting yesterday partly because I had nothing to say, but also because I ended up getting sick toward the end of the evening. At that point, I decided it would be better to just forget it and not write anything.

I'm feeling better today, no ill effects, but today was obnoxious nonetheless. Why? Because the Toddler decided the best way he could spend his time today was to be as obnoxious as possible. I love the kid, but jeez. There was banging, doorknob removal, hitting, kicking, and general destruction, part of which caused about five extra loads of laundry. Woo. (I figure S would be a bit displeased to discover that I wrote explicitly about how there came to be so much extra laundry or what exactly he did today, so I'm not explaining it. Ha.)

After all that, he also didn't bother to nap. Because obviously, that's the last thing he could ever possibly want to do. He's been driving us crazy all day, and without a break. At least he's really cute.

Today, Girl Child was supposed to go visit her great-grandmother four hours away, and some relatives that were on the way down were going to pick her up and take her. Unfortunately, the driver ended up feeling very sick and they all got stranded in the middle of nowhere at a gas station an hour into the trip, and then Girl Child started to feel sick again (she's been sick lately), so she wanted S to come pick her up, but S couldn't, so Girl Child is spending the night at the relative's house and being picked up in the morning. Poor kid, what bad luck.

Today just hasn't been good for anybody in this house, not even the dogs - when the relatives came to pick Girl Child up, Shadow went outside just fine, but Sunshine wouldn't, and tried to escape again, so I ended up carrying her away from the door, all 80 pounds of her, before I could get Girl Child to get me a leash so I could have a more reliable method of restraining the idiot. Apparently Sunshine has forgotten that the reason she's been so scared for the last 6 weeks is because she got hit by a damn car. It is very hard to restrain a dog like that, especially one that is as muscular and energetic as Sunshine.

On the subject of No 'Poo, I think I'm going to end up changing my washing schedule for whenever the hell I feel like it. Because while I think OCD, I am not OCD in my actions. So I'm washing my hair tonight instead of tomorrow because I did it wrong on Saturday.

It is really hot here right now. It's so hot that the air conditioner can't keep up. I hate summer and I hate heat waves, and I wish this would just end already, because I am so ready for fall to get here, preferably in a nice cold rain with fallen leaves. I love that part of the year, when the leaves are falling and it rains and it's only about 60 degrees, maybe even 50, and it's denim jacket weather (which reminds me, I still need to replace the one I lost a few years ago), and it's all so beautiful and nostalgic. I really, really love October, especially when it's a wet October.

Sometimes I kind of wish I'd stayed in Washington, just for the weather, but then I remember that I had no friends and was completely miserable and I'm glad I came back. I wouldn't mind moving somewhere with similar weather, though. Seattle's weather is very similar to the UK in the winter - it's usually about 40 degrees and it doesn't usually snow, just rains.

Blah, blah, blah, lots of inconsequential nonsense. I'm not doing too well, I'm really overheated at the moment, so my brain isn't working correctly.

Today I finally moved about 100 gigs of my stuff from J's computer to mine.  Woo!  I have so many pictures.  Oh my god.

Anyway, tonight I think I'll put on a movie and ... stuff?



Links Round-Up!!


Apparently dolphins like to play frisbee with jellyfish.  And wear them as hats.  There are pictures.

"She was my wife!  She's still spitting out hairballs!"

Health insurers will soon have to cover birth control and other things without a copay thanks to a new Department of Health and Human Services policy in Washington.

Vocaloids are really cool.

Despite what I said about loving Washington's weather, the fact that the state has the highest rate of parents skipping vaccinations for their children makes me too uncomfortable to want to raise children there.

There is such a high instance of domestic violence in one county in Indiana that the women's shelters there are now having to enact waiting lists.

Deadbeat dads affected by the BP oil spill won't be seeing their disaster relief payments anytime soon.