Dreams

 Last night I had a dream that I believe was inspired by a book I'm reading - Black Widows by Cate Quinn.

 

In the book a man named Blake Nelson is part of the Latter Day Saints and believes polygamy is not only allowed, but expected.  In the book, Blake has been killed and the police believe one of his wives killed him.

 

In my dream, Blake is still very much alive.  In fact, he's trying to recruit me to be one of his wives.  He's promised me that I can be the "head wife" if I marry him.  I'm not interested in being one of many wives but the police believe he has done some bad things so they want me to play along to try to get some dirt on him they can use against him.  But they tell me to be very careful because if he realizes what I'm doing, he will kill me.

 

I also get warned that if I string him along and then reject him and people know I've rejected him, he could also kill me for that.  Real incentive type stuff to make me want to go along with their plans, right?  Uh, NO!

 

But along comes another woman who desperately wants to become one of Blake's wives and she's trying to persuade me to use my influence on him to marry her as well.  She's not interested in being the head wife or anything, just one of the many.  I try to explain I don't really have any influence over him but she keeps begging me so I tell her I'll do what I can, just to get rid of her.

Meanwhile, I get word that the other sister wives are upset that Blake has promised me the role of head wife if I agree to marry him.  They're plotting my murder in case I agree to marry him and take that role.

The police have promised to place me in a witness relocation program if I go along with them but I'm worried how safe I will be with so many people plotting my death.

As I'm thinking about all of this, another male from the Latter Day Saints approaches me.  He's intrigued that I might not want to marry Blake, who he has on a pedestal.  To him, that makes me all the more appealing.  He asks if I don't agree to marry Blake, will I consider marrying him?  I would be his first wife so that would make me the head wife, should he decide to take other wives in the future.  I'm not interested but I don't want to say that outright so I just say I'll consider it and walk away.

All this was weighing on me and I woke up.

So, the book is a bit intense and apparently carried over to my dreams, in a very weird way.  But it's interesting too.  I'd say more about it but it likely will be my book pick for our next book review club meeting, which I think is next week! 

Off to read more of the book so I have something to review!  😉

Security Measures

 A week or two ago I went to take Oreo for a walk.  We go out through the garage when we walk, this is our routine.

 

When I opened the door into the garage, the garage door was open.  This was kind of alarming to me because the last time I'd gone through it had been about eighteen hours before, meaning it was likely open overnight.  My last garage door opener would randomly open the garage door.  I'd come home from work and it would be open.  I'd get up in the morning, it would be open.  My dogs would run to the door to greet me when they heard the garage door open.  One night I was sitting in the living room and suddenly the garage door opened and the dogs perked up, looked at me, then each other and decided to run to the door - even though I was home - because apparently we were having an unexpected guest.  After that incident, I would shut off the power to the garage door opener when I was home.  (My new garage door opener has a battery back up so I don't think that would help in this situation.)

 

Then two years ago it wouldn't close and started smoking so I replaced it.  The guy who installed the new one said when the engine goes out, that's what happens - it will open randomly.  So there is a part of me that worries that's what happened recently (a few days later I went to close it and it stopped halfway through and opened up again).  The day this happened though, I can see where I would've been distracted and forgotten to close the garage door and my hope is that's all it was.

 

But here's the deal:

 

The door hinges to the door leading to the garage are on the garage side of the door.  This has actually come in handy before, when I've locked myself out of the house (more than a few times, unfortunately).  So that's always a concern when the garage door is left open.  But, because I have locked myself out so many times, I started keeping a key in my garage.  It was in plain view of the door.  If someone had decided to try to get in, the key was right there. 

But it gets even better.  The door wasn't even locked!  All anyone had to do was walk into my garage and walk right into my house.

What I'm saying here is, it's lucky I guess I'm still alive! It's not the opportunity wasn't there for someone!  Ha!

Garage Sale

The other day I was walking Oreo and saw that someone in my neighborhood was advertising for a garage sale to occur this past Saturday.  I made a mental note that I wanted to stop by and check it out and then promptly forgot about.

 

Then Saturday I was walking Oreo again and we had taken a path that took us right by that house.  As I walked by, aside from a pair of gorgeous high heel shoes, nothing jumped out at me.  I don't wear heels anymore so I didn't even slow down my walk.  

 

But someone called out to me and asked me to stop by, so I did.  They were talking fast and really trying to sell me some stuff.  

 

They got my attention when they said they had a bike.  I've been considering buying a bike to ride around the neighborhood.  I can't remember if I asked or if she just told me what they were asking but it was higher than I thought a garage sale bike should sell for.  (It's worth noting that a look online after I got home proved that I could buy a new bike for only slightly more than they were asking for a used one.)

Then she said she had a stationary bike.  Again, something I've considered buying myself.  They were only asking $10 less than the bike but wanted to be sure I knew, the part of the stationary bike that times you, clocks how far and how fast you're pedaling was broken.  Hard pass on that one!

She showed me some "cabinets" that were basically painted boxes with drawers.  Not what I was looking for.

Next, she offered me a flat screen TV.  It doesn't work but she suggested I could sell it for parts.  Seriously?  Why would I buy something from her just so I could sell it? And for parts, no less.  She pointed out what she said were laptops (by this point I was just trying to get away so I didn't really look to confirm what they were).  She said they all worked - except for the monitors.  Really?

But the thing that took the cake for me was when she offered to sell me a used dog bone for Oreo.  A used dog bone!  Not a toy.  One of those chew bones.

Wow.  Just wow!

I left without being interested in anything but the shoes I wouldn't wear and annoyed that they were doing such a hard sales pitch on items that were broken or would only be good if I could sell them for parts.  Oh, and she actually had shoes out that only had one of the shoes available.  I thought I was only seeing one shoe on a few pairs but I hadn't looked that hard but she told me some were missing the pair - if I were interested, they'd try to find its match!

But after I thought about it, the fact that they were selling things that were literally of no value to anyone on the planet (not even them) and doing so so "enthusiastically", I have to wonder if they are experiencing financial hardships.  Times are tough right now for everyone and sometimes you just have to do things you wouldn't normally otherwise do.  It made me want to go back and make some sort of donation to their cause.  

No, I didn't go back but they said things that suggested they may be holding the sale for an extended period of time so it's possible I could still buy something.  I could always get those gorgeous shoes and keep them with other pairs I have, that I also never wear.  They were that pretty.

Buying a new car

My next door neighbor moved in roughly fifteen years ago.  Over the years she's driven a few different cars.  In the past, when it's come up in conversation I've found that she's swapped cars with a family member - she's rarely in her own car, which my understanding has been what her mother drives.  They each make payments on the vehicle they own but they drive each other's car.  It's weird.  She's also driven her sister's cars at times.

 

Anyway, a month or two ago (who knows what day it is anymore?) I noticed she had been driving a new car again.  Not sure if it was another family member's car or not, I asked if she had gotten a new car.  She said she had.  (It wasn't a Bentley, I just like this picture but if I ever have the single winning lottery ticket paying out a billion or more dollars, I will own one!) 

She tells me that her engine died or something to that effect and says they wanted something like $9,000 to repair the car.  Now mind you, I don't know if her car died or if it was the car she was driving (which was her mother's) that died but she got a new car out of it.  And I have to say, with that costly of repairs looking at me, I probably would do the same thing.

But then she tells me her boyfriend also bought a new car recently.  I knew this because her boyfriend lives right down the street from us and I had noticed him driving a different car.  I didn't ask about him and I didn't ask why he got a new car but she offered the information anyway.  Are you ready for this?

His battery died and he didn't want to replace it!  I'm not even kidding!  Who buys a whole new car when their battery dies?  Seriously, I want names because that's just NUTS!

But after having some time to think about this, I realize that it really has nothing to do with his battery dying.  I think it has to do with his girlfriend getting a new car and him being too macho to drive in a vehicle older than hers.  I seriously believe that because, in my opinion, anyone who would buy a new car just because the battery died is someone who is too stupid to have a driver's license, much less drive a car.

Am I wrong? 

Robert Redford

 The other day my cable box was having an issue so I was forced to have a cable man out to my house to fix the problem.

 

He decided that my cable box needed to be replaced (turned out he was wrong) and he apparently reset my cloud recordings.  I lost over 100 shows (mostly movies) and the remaining shows and movies now have a very short shelf life, so I have been watching movies before they disappear forever (didn't start soon enough and lost some more anyway 😒).

 

Among the movies I've watched were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Candidate, both star Robert Redford.  And both were made when he was in his early to mid-thirties - young.  Thing is, he didn't look as young as he was.  

 

This is a photo from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (where they're on the cliff about to jump to get away from the posse that's after them).  He was 32 or 33 when this came out.  To me he looks much older than that.  Paul Newman was ten years older than Redford but Redford looked older than Newman.  I kept scrutinizing his face to see if I could imagine he was in his early 30s and I couldn't.  I believe it was this film he took his shirt off though and his physique fit a man in his early 30s but his face didn't.  

 

In fact, I felt like he looked like someone then that I could date now without drawing any attention to the huge age differences even though he's old enough to be my father!  And I don't feel like he's aged well either.  I feel like Paul Newman looked younger than he was up until he got sick with cancer.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like Robert Redford and think he's a talented actor.  It's just . . . I wonder, did he ever look young?

Minding My Own Business

So, I'm sitting in my living room minding my own business, reading a book a few nights ago.  The doggy door flap makes a sound and I look over.  Oreo is standing just inside the doggy door and something doesn't look right to me but I can't quite put my finger on what it is that is off.  Then, it dawns on me.  Oreo is curled up next to me with his body up against my leg, it's not him that I'm looking at at the doggy door.  I touch him next to me, just to be sure.  When I feel Oreo I have an intake of breath that startles the animal in my house, causing them to dart back out of the doggy door, while it awakens Oreo, alerting him to the fact that something is off.  The animal was a cat, a kitten even.

Oreo darted to the doggy door and I guess the cat was just outside because he wouldn't go out it but he was barking like he was in attack mode.  I went to go make sure the cat left my property and there's something about that that emboldens Oreo.  He darted out the back door past me but thankfully the cat was gone.

Here's the deal, I've lived in this house for 20 years this week.  I only lived here a few months when I got my first doggy door.  And, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time any animal that wasn't mine used the doggy door.  Well, except for Harley - that's how I met him.  But he was in the house when I got home from work one day, not entering when I'm relaxing at the end of the day.  Not to mention that he ended up being mine.  (That won't be the case with the cat.  Not because I don't like cats but because I don't think Oreo would do well with a cat in the house. Also, this cat looked healthy and well fed so I believe it has to belong to someone - possibly someone who also has a doggy door.)

The event scared the crap out of me.  But, I guess it's a good way to get your heart rate up, if that's what you want to do.  As a side note, I blocked off the doggy door for the night but Oreo still watched it like a hawk for hours after the event.  😸

Dressing up the Dog

 We've been having colder than usual weather lately (but nothing compared to what we're expecting in the next few days! Yikes!).  I had emailed some friends and told them the story of how I got all bundled up one morning to take Oreo for a walk.  He thrives in the cold.  The colder, the better.  Or at least that's how it seems.  So that particular day, he was so excited for the walk.  Couldn't wait for the walk.  Was impatient while I got ready.  

 

I make him wear a halti, which he doesn't like and fights me when I put it on.  I also have been timing our walks to log in on an app I use to count calories and my weight loss experience.  I started the timer and then went to put on his halti.  I mention this because I usually do the opposite - halti first because it takes so long.

 

Well, I got it on him and headed out for the walk.  We hadn't gotten far when he was barely keeping up and looking up at me.  He doesn't typically do this.  I asked what he wanted to do and he just looked at me.  So I continued the walk.  The second time I ask him if he wanted to go home and he literally jumped up, turned in mid-air and retreated back to the house.  

 

I take his halti off at the garage door and did so this day.  I came in and checked the timer - we had walked (including putting his halti on and taking it off) for all of three minutes and seventeen seconds!  It took me longer to get ready than the walk took!

 

Well, my friends gave me a bad time and I bought Oreo a jacket. I had to measure him to find one that would fit.  I started with "small" dogs "clothes".  His chest size was too big for the largest offering but his neck fit the extra small offering!

I finally settled on the one pictured.  I tried it on him and I think it's too big for him. He didn't want to move in it.  I kind of forced him to the other day and he came around somewhat in that we took a walk.  It was a much shorter walk, taken at a much slower pace, but we took a walk.

Once he got into it though, he decided to urinate on poles, as male dogs do.  But he couldn't figure it out so he didn't.  It was actually kind of funny to watch.

The front part wouldn't stay zipped though.  I'm not sure why.  I haven't tried it since.

But I imagine if I take him for a walk over the next few days, we'll give it another shot.  😉

It's worth noting that the day we took the three minute walk, as I took off the halti, I said to him "I get credit for this walk!"  And he must have agreed because he didn't ask for another one that day. 

Book Review Club - February 2021

 

This month I will be reviewing You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

 

 You Should Have Known is a story centered around Grace, a psychiatrist who specializes in couples counseling.  She has written a book about it, also called "You Should Have Known" targeted for women in bad relationships and pointing out all the ways they missed the clues as to why they find themselves in bad and abusive relationships.  Her book is about to be released and her publicist is booking her on shows like the Today show and The View and she's very excited about it.

Grace is married to a pediatric oncologist, Jonathan, who works at Sloan Kettering in New York.  They have a son, Henry, who goes to a prestigious private school.  Their life seems perfect.

That is until a mother of another student at the private school, who also served on a planning committee for a fundraiser, gets murdered after the fundraiser.  Jonathan left after the fundraiser to go to a conference in Cleveland or Chicago - Grace can't remember exactly where and left his phone behind so Grace is unable to reach him to talk about what is going on.

But as details about the murder come out, Grace starts learning things about Jonathan that she never suspected.  Turns out he was having an affair with the murdered mother and is a prime suspect.  Suddenly she starts wondering about the book coming out and if she's really qualified to have written it if she's so in the dark about her own husband.

There's a lot of suspense and in depth detail about the relationship, how they met and things that Grace comes to realize as things are exposed about her husband.  The ending is one that kind of leaves the "what happens next" up to the reader's imagination, in a satisfying way though.

Now, having said all that, You Should Have Known was the basis of the HBO series THE UNDOING.  I watched the series, read the book and then watched the series again.  So, here's the thing about the two "stories".  The series doesn't mention anything about Grace's book.  Also, the hospital Jonathan works at isn't Sloan Kettering.  But the biggest change is that, aside from a couple of scenes, the entire book is covered in the first two episodes of the series.  Episodes 3-6 come from the imagination of David E Kelley, who is great with this type of story.  The series also ends on a note where the viewer gets to determine what happens next, also in a satisfying way, as well.

Both are good stories and worth the time and energy to watch and read - and I would recommend both.  As a side note, Hugh Grant plays Jonathan in the HBO show and, in my opinion, it is - by far - his best work!  Very compelling.  Very unexpected.  Excellent acting.  If you have the opportunity, I recommend watching it, just to see what an amazing job he does in this role.  Anyway . . .

 

For more book reviews go to https://barriesummy.blogspot.com/index.html .

February 2021 Book Club Review

 Last night I finished a book and thought I'd review it now, since we have some time before our next meeting.  😀

 

As a surprising number of my book reviews have been lately, this is also a GMA book club recommendation.  I confess, I order these books without any idea of what they're about because I've enjoyed so many of their recommendations.  In fact, I was on my library's website this morning waiting for them to announce February's book so I could request the library order it, in hopes I'd be one of the first to have the opportunity to read it.

That all said, the book I'm reviewing here is The Push by Ashley Audrain.  I was under the impression, for some unknown reason, that it was a book about two women.  One who wanted to be a mother but wasn't and one who was a mother but didn't want to be.  That's not the case though.

Also, there was talk about the "jaw dropping" four last words of the book.  I think "shocking" and "chilling" may have also been used to describe those four final words.  And without giving anything away, I will say the adjectives used to describe the last words of the book do indeed apply.  However, if you go immediately to the end of the book and read those words first, you'll be wondering what the heck all the fuss was about.  You have to read everything up to that to put it into context and for it to have that impact on you.  It's not like it's a murder mystery and the last four words are "the butler did it".  Just saying.

But back to the "meat" of the book.  It's a book about Blythe Conner and her journey.  I think the best way to describe it is that it's a narration by Blythe about what she went through.  She's written it all down for her ex-husband telling "her side" of the story.  So it's (mostly) told in first person point of view as if she's talking to her ex ("you came home from work" "you stepped out of the shower" that sort of thing).

There's a lot of early reference to her mother, Cecilia, in a "we don't talk about her" kind of way, and that Blythe is not like her mother.  You learn, through periodic non-Blythe narrated chapters, that Cecilia wasn't a good mother.  You also learn that Etta, Cecilia's mother, was also not a good mother.  So you kind of understand why Blythe might be concerned that maybe there was something wrong with her when it comes to the mothering gene.

 

But it's not like she didn't see good examples of good mothering.  Mrs. Ellington, her next door neighbor was a good mother and helped take care of Blythe when she was growing up.  Also, her mother-in-law, Helen, was caring and nurturing towards her too.  But Blythe couldn't get past feeling maybe she was lacking in some way.

And when things start happening, of course everyone thinks it's Blythe.  They all exchange "knowing" looks. Poor Blythe, bad childhood, etc. etc.  Until they reach the breaking point and Blythe feels like she's in this all on her own.

I don't want to go into too much more detail because I think it would give too much away.  But I will say this, I came away with some thoughts on messaging from the book.  They're probably unintended takeaways but they are takeaways all the same.  

They include (but not necessarily limited to): relationships are fragile, hiding your fears and concerns from your loved ones rarely works out well, you can find family outside of people who share your DNA and, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get you.  Ha!

It was an odd little book but I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

For more book reviews go to https://barriesummy.blogspot.com/index.html or click on the icon below. 

Happy reading!

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Kitchen Crash

The other day I posted about the show Supermarket Stakeout.  That's a cooking show on Food Network.  At times, not just during a pandemic, I get sucked into watching networks, not even particular shows, just the network.  And I think that's played a bit of a part in this post (and my new obsession) about another Food Network show, Kitchen Crash.

 

It's in season one.  The host is chef Jeff Mauro.  Jeff takes three chefs into a neighborhood and gives them ten minutes to "shop" at people's houses.  If they can convince the occupants of the home to give them all their food and groceries, they have a chance at splitting $10,000 with the chef. They want spices, drinks, meats - especially meats, fruits, vegetables, leftover - just anything they have that can be used in whatever challenges may be thrown at them.  

Meanwhile a mini-kitchen is set up for each of the contestant chefs.

Like other chef competitions on the Food Network, there are three rounds.  But since there are only three chefs competing, no one goes home in round one.  BUT, one chef will win the round and they get an advantage over the other two chefs in round two.  An example of an advantage given is the winner had the choice of taking away either the other two contestants' butter, oil or salt in one competition (she took away their salt).  Someone goes home after round two. And a winner is crowned after round three and the chef and the family who sacrificed their groceries split $10,000.

Now, it's worth noting something I wondered about and that they showed in one of their episodes - all the participating families are reimbursed for their groceries, which is good because who would want to have to replace them all when your chef didn't win?

It's all in good fun and everyone seems to enjoy it and now I'm hooked and have another show to watch.  I binged the entire show (three whole episodes at the time - four now, which I've also watched) so now I have to wait for episodes to air.

But there was one particular episode that had a funny start to it, if you will.  When they told the chefs they had ten minutes to get a family to give them their groceries, one took off running with a chef's knife in hand.  At the time I wasn't looking at the screen but thought of the saying "don't run with scissors" or whatever it is and didn't give it another thought. 

That is until the family that worked with him did a confessional type interview saying they were a bit freaked out when someone came to the door holding a knife and "demanding" their groceries.  Can you imagine?  Imagine something like this. 

  Plus, I think he's wearing his mask wrong.  😂

What are you watching?

Supermarket Stakeout

Have you seen the cooking competition show on Food Network called Supermarket Stakeout?  It's host is Alex Guarnaschelli, an Iron Chef and a regular judge on Chopped.

The premise of the show is that four chefs compete using groceries bought at the grocery store.  The twist is, the chefs have to buy the groceries from people coming out of the grocery store - the competitors don't go into the store themselves to shop. 

After the chef buys the groceries they have to use the ingredients of the groceries that they bought to create a dish that matches whatever challenge they've been given.  An example of a challenge given is "handheld" meaning whatever they created had to be able to be eaten without utensils, just using their hands.

In the first round they buy all of someone's groceries without knowing what the shopper has bought.  If it turns out they don't have the ingredients to make whatever would fit their challenge, they can go back and buy more groceries - still not knowing what they're buying.

In the second round, they can paw through the shopper's baskets before buying but they can only buy from one person who hopefully have enough ingredients to make the challenged dish.

The third, and final, round allows the remaining contestants to shop from as many people as they want but they can only buy five ingredients.  The contestants start with $500 to spend on groceries and it has to last for all three rounds.

The one who makes the best final dish (of the remaining two), wins $10,000.

That's how the competition works.  I only recently started watching it but I do enjoy it.  It's only been on a few seasons and I wondered if they'd be able to continue, considering the pandemic and all.  Well, it turns out they are continuing the show.

Now, when they shop, they wear masks.  Except when they're "shopping" (from actual grocery store customers), they are maskless.  Which brings me to the whole point of this post.

I went to the grocery store shortly before the world shut down last March.  My last time in the store, I wore a mask and gloves and I was the only one with any "protective" gear on.  When the world shut down, I started having groceries delivered to my house so that I didn't have to go into the grocery store.  I was paying roughly $12 per delivery for that convenience and it was totally worth it to me.  Then I reached a point where I mainly needed cleaning supplies - which were impossible to get - and I didn't want to pay $12 for an empty grocery bag so I scheduled a curbside pick up.  It was so easy I've been doing that ever since. 

So, with the exception of the weekend after Thanksgiving, I have not stepped foot inside a grocery store in more than ten months.  Which makes me think, if I broke down and went to the grocery store to do my own shopping, there's no way in the world I would even consider selling my groceries to someone, causing me to need to go back into the store and shop some more.  At least not during a time when the risk of exposure to covid is so great.  As I said, the contestants only have $500 to spend I don't think if they pooled all their resources together to buy my groceries it would be enough to persuade me to consider selling them if it meant I had to go back into a place I've avoided for almost a year now.

Bottom line, I enjoy the show but am surprised, and a bit disappointed, that they would be filming it during a global pandemic with infection rates as high as they are.

Question is, is it just me that feels this way or would you consider selling your groceries to the competitors?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Barking Dogs

Have you ever watched a television show or a movie where the neighbor had a barking dog that sounded canned?  Like it was some sort of manufactured sound and had no basis in reality of what any dog has ever sounded like?

 

Well, I have something to tell you - that's what my neighbor's dog sounds like.  I don't know if they've recorded one of these shows or movies and strategically put a box or something in their backyard so that it will go off and bark from time to time, but, that's what I hear on a daily basis.

 

A canned barking dog sound.

 

I've met this neighbor and while we've talked about our dogs, I've never met or actually seen hers.

 

So, as I hear her "dog" barking at me, all I can ask is - is it live, or is it memorex?  😄

House Cleaning

 

The other day I saw a segment on one of the morning talk shows about a woman who cleans houses for free.  I can't remember if she lives in Finland, or Sweden or some other country because the point is, it's not the USA, where I live.

 

They showed her cleaning houses with some before, a little during and the after and it was pretty amazing.  She said the worse the place was, the better.  She just loves cleaning.

Now, while I can't remember the country she's from, all I could think is I would be willing to pay her airfare for her to come down and clean my house!

While there's some truth to my willingness to pay her to travel to the US to clean my house, I will say this.  A number of years ago I paid a service to organize two of my bedrooms.  The before and after images were incredible.  But here's the thing, I had initially told her I didn't want her throwing anything out.  I told her to put stuff she thought was trash in one area and I'd eventually go through it to determine if it was trash or not.  But she kept coming back and asking if she could please throw some things out.  I finally agreed to let her throw out magazines and "obvious" trash.

She hauled a couple of garbage bags to the garage.  When I went through them - months later (I had been sick and that's why I was paying someone to organize things for me) - she had decided that FRAMED photos were trash!  Books were discarded, even though I had specifically told her NOT to throw out any books.  She also threw out one of my paintings - my favorite at that.  Not to mention that she "kept" a lot of actual trash - filling up boxes and suitcase (yeah, great when I ended up needing them!) with trash.  So yeah, the rooms looked great but they weren't truly organized and, sadly, still aren't all these years later.  It's a project of mine but something that is hard to find time to do.  Someday . . .

In the meantime, I can dream of having someone come and take care of it for me, for free.  😀

Walking the dog

 Over the years I've had a number of dogs and walking has always been a part of that.  For the most part the dogs I have had have been larger dogs - 60 lbs and up.  I had a lab that I sadly lost almost seven years ago.  But when he was young, I took him to obedience training.  I had a harness that went over his shoulders to try to help reign him in when we walked - he was a puller!

 

The trainer told me that a halti, which fits like a bridle fits a horse - over the nose, was better.  It applied pressure to their "nose" like their mothers had and helps train them not to pull.  They still can, but they typically won't.  Max didn't, for the most part.  It made walking with him easier and more enjoyable.  It also kept him from choking when he would pull because the pressure isn't on their necks.  Max weighed as much as 125 at times during his life and I could walk him using the halti without issue.

Then came Oreo.

I met Oreo almost two years ago when the fence between mine and my neighbor's yards fell down after a storm.  He was being crated for 18-20 hours a day and he was only nine months old so I offered to watch him during the day.  (He lives here full time now.  😀)

Part of his "doggy day care" I provided (at no charge), was daily walks.  Well, Oreo is a puller!  He gets excited about the next place he can hike his leg and wants to run to it!  

So I invested in a halti for him as well.

Here's the thing, my 125 lb lab was easy to walk with the halti on him.  He rarely pulled with it on.  Oreo weighs 18 lbs and I feel like I'm running behind him so that my arm doesn't get ripped out of its socket!  I mean, the exercise is good and all but whatever happened to a leisurely walk?

Add to this, Oreo seems to LOVE cold weather.  It really seems to get his juices going.  He goes into high gear when outside when it's cold!  So I go to take him for walks now and it's like the starting gun has gone off and he's off to the races and he's determined to win!  It's crazy!

And he rarely lets me "skip" a walk - he's insistent we go every morning.  Every. Morning.  I figure that since I'm so accommodating about walking him every morning, the least he could do is accommodate me and go a bit slower, right?

Good thing I love this little guy.  💕

Book Review Club - December 2020

 

Okay, so last month I posted an old review I'd written before I joined the book club and well, I'm going to do that again.  I've read several books this month but none I felt compelled to review.  I will say though, I'm currently reading The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalain while simultaneously watching the series on HBO Max.  Like a lot of books made into movies or tv series, a lot of things are different but both are good.  If I were finished with the book, I might have reviewed it this month.  😊

 

With that said, below is the review of Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl I wrote back in July 2009.

Sophie Kinsella has a knack for creating quirky characters that you love. And TWENTIES GIRL is no different.

For me it is kind of a cross between IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and BRIDGET JONES' DIARY.

Lara Lington hears a not-so still small voice in her ear at her great aunt Sadie's funeral. The problem is, the voice is coming from great aunt Sadie's ghost! Sadie wants the funeral stopped until they can locate her favorite necklace and she won't let up on Lara until she successfully stops the funeral. With no warning and no time to come up with a better plan to stop/postpone the funeral, Lara declares that her dear old great aunt (who was 105 at the time of her death) did not die of natural causes, but was in fact murdered. When pressed for specifics, she's hard pressed to come up with details, particularly considering she never really met her great aunt Sadie but the word "murder" was enough to delay the funeral.

As if dealing with the fallout of the declaration of the supposed murder isn't enough, Lara is also dealing with a floundering business and the end of her latest relationship - not to mention her meddlesome aunt's ghost. And in typical Kinsella style, it is hysterical.

As the story unfolds, the relationship between Lara and Sadie grows. Yes, there is a romance thrown in for good measure but, for me, the heart of the story lies with Lara and Sadie.

TWENTIES GIRL is about values, family and leaving your mark on the world - whether you realize you've done so or not. It's a touching, feel good story that had me laughing hysterically (thankfully I read it at home!) and getting emotional about the characters. Not only is it my favorite Kinsella book to date, it is quite possibly my favorite book of all time.

I highly recommend it. 

 

That's what I wrote in 2009 but for more reviews click on the link below.

 

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Dreams

 I've had two weird dreams recently  One was weird and the other has caused a lot of "why would I have done that" thoughts.  The most recent dream I had was the one that had me wondering why I would do some of the things I did.  It had me returning home after an international trip.  I stopped by my step-brother's house to return his luggage.  The waking thought on this is, why would I have borrowed luggage from my step-brother when I haven't spoken to him but a handful of times in the past 30 years and almost all of our conversations were over the phone and a couple by email.  So why would I borrow his luggage (nevermind that I have my own luggage!)? 

 

Anyway, so I go to return it and pull up in a drive with a drop off box.  I'm shoving the luggage into the box and trying to get out of there before anyone sees me.  My waking thought was, I think I came straight from the airport, did I empty them?  And, if I did, where did I empty them?  But so I'm shoving the luggage into this stationary box.

 

I'm about to leave when my step-brother, his wife and their butler (as far as I know they don't actually have a butler) walk out.  My step-brother says I should come in and turns around and his wife follows him.  The butler suggests I come in for some tea.  I thank him and head down the drive.  Waking thought is, didn't I just drive up?  Why is my car now down the drive?  But in any event, I'm heading towards my car, which is now down the drive.

 

I get in my car and what had just been a nice day has turned into a dense fog, pouring rain kind of day and I'm suddenly driving on the highway, which I'd normally avoid under those type of weather conditions.

 

I decide to slow down because I can barely see the front of the car but as I press down on the brake, the car is slowly accelerating.  I realize I must be pressing the accelerator so I press what I now think is the break but I continue to accelerate.  I think the accelerator must be stuck so I try to slide my foot under the accelerator and now the car is moving so fast I fear for my life because I still can't see what I'm coming up on.  I put one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake and both just make me go faster.  I come up on a red something (I assume a car) and I pull sharply to the right on the steering wheel, barely missing the car and driving on the shoulder.  

 

Cars start honking but I can't imagine they're honking at me because I'm not seeing any cars and I'm pulling ahead of everything, but there is honking.  I have the thought that I had envisioned dying that day and freaked out that this might be what would do it.

 

It seems like there was more to the dream but that's all I remember at the moment.

 

But I looked up what a speeding out of control car dream meant.  I was offered two options:

 

1) I feel like things are out of control in my life and I can't find my way.  I don't feel that way but I can see where that might be the case, given things going on in the country right now.

 

or 

 

2) I'm unreliable.  Huh?  That doesn't even make sense to me.  

 

But there you go, either things are out of control in my life or I'm reliable.  So, which is it?

 

 

The other dream I didn't look up its meaning because I don't really care.  In it I was getting ready to pull up stakes and relocate internationally (I guess there could be that connection between the two dreams).  I had packed up my stuff and someone was going to retrieve it so it would be at the destination, waiting for me when I got there.  Something was said about needing socks.  I found one and decided it wasn't worth the effort and went to a cabin on I assume a ship. When I came out of my room, there was all my stuff and we'd set sail.  I asked my assistant (didn't know I had one) and she said she told them not to take it because I needed my sock - one sock - so everything got left on the ship and not sent ahead.  Weird but I don't see any significance.  If anyone else thinks it means anything, let me know.  :)