Do you have any random, weird, or obscure talents?
I have very dexterous toes. I have friends who call them “finger toes.” Others call them “weird” or “freaky.” Among other things, I use them to…
Filed under something to try
This week, October brings caramel Americanos and candy corn stickers from Utopia.
October also brings my dad’s birthday, which happened to fall the weekend before his first grandchild’s due date. To help Dad get ready (not that he needs it, he is very excited!) My sister and brother-in-law gave him a t-shirt that says “New Grandpa 2012.”
Brian and I gave him a long-sleeved t-shirt that says, “Grandpa. The Man. The Myth. The Legend.”
If you have ever tried to photograph children or pets, you know what a hard time I had getting two wiggly dogs to sit together for a photo. We taught Cobra (top) and Shadow (bottom) to sit and look at us when they want our attention. When I go to my parents’ house, the dogs trot over and sit as close to me as possible until I set things down and pet them. This is their “I’m sitting, aren’t you going to pet me? I haven’t had any attention all day!” expression that somehow gets them petted even when we know they have had lots of petting and attention.
Filed under celebrations, milestones, photos
I missed posting photos for Insta-Friday last week, so today’s post includes highlights from the past two weeks.
I am still enjoying a large box of peaches from Bountiful Baskets. I blanched the ones I could not eat right away and made them into peach pie popsicles (newly invented recipe), syrup for Italian sodas, two kinds of peach dumplings, a caramelized peach dessert, and – because I still had peaches left after my energy ran out – a couple quarts of frozen peaches. Photo not edited.
I rearranged my living room furniture and changed the decor on the top of the bookcase (aka the closest thing my apartment has to a mantel). Photos combined with Diptic, text added with Over, the “after” photo also uses Instagram’s Hudson filter.
We were playing miniature golf last weekend when the rain sprinkles began. About the time we finished the round and headed toward the clubhouse, the rain increased from sprinkling to pouring. It was a welcome – though temporary – break from the summer heat and drought so we did not mind getting a little wet. Photos combined with Diptic and filtered with Rise (Instagram).
Shadow, adopted July 2005, and Cobra, adopted July 2012, live with my parents and enjoy afternoon naps near their people. Arranged with Pic Collage, text added with Over.
It is time for InstaFriday again!
Our weekly game night included several amusing rounds of Game of Things. The board in the photo shows our answers for the prompt, “Things that are wild.” I wrote “bed head.”
My department had a snack day this week in honor of our summer intern returning to school and a supervisor transferring to another location. I made my family’s favorite chocolate chip cookies and substituted dark chocolate for the usual semi-sweet. I had a very large snickerdoodle.
Shadow got some attention from Mom.
A couple days ago, a friend texted me, “Help!!!” There was a hungry-looking, stray black cat at her back door and she wanted to feed it but was afraid of it and wanted it to go away. I warned her not to feed the cat or it would not leave. Amused, I wondered if she was afraid of all cats or just black ones… then she sent me a photo.
Yikes! Everyone I have shown agrees this looks like one scary cat!
They say people become like their pets or pets become like their people… either way, I hear there are a lot of similarities between the two. My family has Shadow, a seven-year-old puppy-at-heart who is probably a Rottweiler-Lab mix (she is a rescue so we are not exactly sure). She lives with my parents across town from me, so I get to visit her often.
She is always thrilled to see me no matter what kind of day either of us have had. She greets me by prancing in circles and wagging her huge tail. When my hands are full and I am not ready to greet her, she sits and waits (still shuffling her front paws and thumping her tail on the floor, watching my every move) until I set down my possessions and turn to pay attention to her. She rushes over, eagerly licking my hands, letting me rub her ears and then turning so I will scratch her back, her hips, her sides. She rubs her sides agains my legs like some sort of 90-pound housecat. Shadow’s affectionate greeting will go on for a good 30 minutes if I let it.
When we are watching a movie or eating dinner or playing games, Shadow likes to lie on the floor near us. If she thinks she is welcome, she will come over and lie right next to (or even on) our feet, just so she can be as close as possible.
I do not know how much Shadow and I are alike, but I think my relationship with God has some similarities to my relationship with her. On one hand, her enthusiastic, all-encompassing affection reminds me of God’s love for me.
The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior Who saves! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in silent satisfaction and in His love He will be silent and make no mention of past sins, or even recall them; He will exult over you with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17
In the context of the rest of Zephaniah, this verse comes after God has been wronged by people who refused to listen or follow Him, who wanted little to do with Him. He chooses to forgive and reconcile because He loves them (and us!).
On the other hand, Shadow’s adoring desire to simply be near those she loves is what I want in my attitude toward God.
I’m asking God for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
I’ll study at his feet.That’s the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic. - Psalm 27:4-5
