Bella in a Pillowcase

I don't know about most bulldogs, but Bella, my beastly bully likes to burrow. Mud is fun, blankets work too! Well last night she opted for the pile of pillows I was using on the bed. [I didn't get to stay there long, Dani was fussy and so I ended up on the floor next to her swing for the rest of the night where I was up every hour to an hour and a half. You would have thought a dog might join me, but I see where the loyalty lies now...the comfy bed]. As we're all very tired these days, I understand how these things happen, but it's amusing none the less and note worthy...Bella burrowed her head into the pillows, but somehow managed to burrow her head right into the pillow case. Yep, my bully had a pillow stuck on her head. I laughed hysterically, partially because it was so funny, but mostly because of sleep deprivation!

It's okay Bella, mom loves you like crazy still and am glad you can make me laugh so hard!

Speaking of lack of sleep and my baby girl Bella, she managed to work her way into Becky's attention when she came to help me out today. With complete lack of sleep and a bad case of depression Chris needed to call in reinforcements for me when I took a video of Dani crying and then talked to him on the phone crying. Reinforcements came in the amazing package of Becky carrying in Subway for lunch with surprise cookies and an Icee! I love Icee's. Anyway, she basically had to babysit for me while I turned to mush on the couch hoarding my food. While sitting in the recliner with Dani, Bella decided to climb up and make herself known! So, be warned fair friends, for those of you that visit, you basically have to babysit me, Dani, and the bulldog. Riley is pretty content sitting back and laughing at us though!

Death. It's A Dirty Job

It's Wednesday. This is encouraging. Closer to Friday! I've started the morning out with a good mood despite the poor quality of sleep I got last night. I didn't take any Tylenol PM, which could have been my problem. I also lost my snuggling pillow some where in the middle of the night. Lastly, I ended up with the White Beast, a.k.a. my princess Bella. She was snuggled up to me under the blankets. She's a bed hog though, so I had no bed and no blankets.

I think I mostly can't sleep because I want to read; after days upon days of not being able to concentrate, my mind keeps dwelling on needing to read more. I am reading a book called Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The whole gist of the book is about a boy and girl. The synopsis:

It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.
But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .

The next book awaiting me to read it is A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I've mentioned this book and author before. This book is about a guy who gets a dirty job. The synopsis:

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy, the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant. And Charlie's been lucky. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy, and who is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at his wife's bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .

People start dropping dead around him. It seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, some body's gotta do it.

Bestselling author Christopher Moore now shines his comic light on the undiscovered country we all eventually explore -- death and dying -- and the results are hilarious, heartwarming, and a hell of a lot of fun.

I have had a book recommended to me that I will soon check out (The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by Roddy Doyle). I will have assumed Mike C. to know of this author and to provide me with a just opinion. Then lastly there is a book that I want to check out only because the website for it is amazing looking (No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July). I know nothing of the author. I still of course have a list of books I am "reading" such as The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. I've been reading this for a long time. I get distracted, and then get back to it. There is also Shortage of Engineers which describes my life as an engineer very well! I looked on my book shelf last night looking for another book and saw some others I had still wanted to read, or at least reread. So anyway, yes, I have reading on my mind. It's a pleasurable escape from the real world!

Now onto some other thing I like, charts and graphs. A funny and witty little thing I found in the HOK Life blog! It's the GraphJam! Seriously, I find it amusing, I assume if you are reading this blog, you have a similar sense of humor and will also find it amusing! So here you are, Graph Jam (the site might be a bit wacky acting, taking ages to finally load and such, but have some patience).

Word of the day-
9 to 9: A way to say you hustle. Most people work from 9 to 5, but you put in more. You have the 9 to 9 hustle.

Happy Birthday Fella

How could I forget!? Today is:

Stubby's birthday!

Happy Birthday fella, sorry to make you!

........
Now onto the other things I wanted to talk about but got interrupted by work!

Dream

I can barely recall what my dream was about last night, except for one clip. My dogs had red irritated skin with bites all over them; I had decided we had bed begs.

........
My Sleeping Arrangements

Last night I tried to lay down in bed. I had Riley's butt resting on me, and Bella literally sitting on my shoulder. I told them to move, they would fidget and come right back. I wanted to have room, I wanted to sleep alone! I took my two pillows (one for sleeping and the other for snuggling) and went to the couch. Bella seemed to think that I was leaving her so she followed and climbed up on the couch. She couldn't curl up at my feet, she instead had to trudge her way along between me and the back of the couch where she proceeded to snore for the rest of the night! Therefore I did not sleep well. Riley was at my feet not allowing me to pull the afghan up over my shoulders. So there I was freezing, awake, and not alone on the couch. I think I'm supposed to be appreciative of this!

........
25 Things

I was inspired today to write 25 things after reading Kelly's blog. Kelly wrote about 25 food things; I happen to think food is gross so I will write 25 of my favorite non-sappy lyrics to occupy my time, as this will take all day. I'm sticking to only songs on my Zune, so covers will be listed by the person on my Zune. (Give me some credit, I'm at work with headphones on, it's just what popped into my head)


1. "I don't believe in cool, I went to summer school" Creeper Lagoon, Chance of a Lifetime

2. "I'm wearing fur pajamas" Talking Heads, Wild Wild Life

3. "You're gonna make me spill my beer if you don't learn how to steer" Wilco, Passenger Side

4. "I won't tell a soul except the people in the night club where I sing" Old 97's, Designs On You

5. "You're so cool you could have put out Vietnam" Shane Macgowan, Haunted

6. "They were guzzling marshmallows and then jumping off the Empire State" Robyn Hitchcock, Balloon man

7. "The KKK took my baby away" Ramones, The KKK Took My Baby Away

8. "Everybody can do the ska, it's a new dance you can't resist" I have no idea

9. "Blame it on being a girl" Old 97's, No Baby I

10. "From the embryonic whale to the monkey with no tail" They Might Be Giants, Mammal

11. "All the times when we were close, I'll remember these things the most" The Clash, Train in Vain

12. "Just because you're better than me doesn't mean I'm lazy" Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards, To Have And To Have Not

13. "I said I like your 2tone clothes, she said I like your broken nose" Bad Manners, Skinhead Love Affiar

14. "I got embarrased and I decked the sale's clerk, stole the wig and ran like hell" Kevin Devine, Haircut

15. " I promise these last years of loving you will be the best years of them all" Mike Ness, If You Leave Before Me (okay a sappy one got in!)

16. "If you were a TV show baby you would've been cancelled" Screeching Weasel, Crying in My Beer

17. "Looks like somebody forgot about us, standing on the corner, waiting for the bus" Violent Femmes, Waiting for the Bus

18. "Mrs. Ewe and Mr. Ram, where did you get that lovely lamb?" The Specials, Stupid Marriage (I like sheep)

19. "Got a light? smoke it up, Zig Zag, Roll it up" Tim Armstrong, Take This City

20. "If I fall back down, you're gonna be my friend" Rancid, Fall Back Down

21. "The way that you sleep is the image I'll keep, always on the edge of my mind" Old 97's, Bird in a Cage

22. "Casino Queen, my lord you're mean" Wilco, Casino Queen

23. "I gotta check for nothing, all made out to someone" Old 97's, The One

24. "It is time for to realize, and try and be your little size" Madness, Taller Than You Are

25. "I walk into the bar and I put in twenty buck because I know people's taste in music sucks" Bouncing Souls, Bullying the Jukebox

More Things That Get Me By

A continuation of a list of small things that make me happy . . .

breezes
dreamy memories
feeling needed
feeling wanted
randomly buying a gift for someone
randomly receiving a gift from someone
my blankets
my pillows
a mirror's reflections being more beautiful than expected
pale skin
wanting to keep talking to someone
cool breezy weather
crazy socks
New York
serenades
something such as a word, smell, or sight that reminds one of another person, as though life were a memory book
The sun being so bright that it turns my hair into gold
clavicles
pink and green
the sounds that shoes make
closing tired eyes that have awaited sleep
old suitcases
maps
dreams that I never want to wake from
watching some one you adore
having a shoulder to cry on
music
when the bus drivers wave to one another when passing
great hugs
telling the truth all the time
knowing that you are important to someone
seeing some one's face for the first time after having seen then for many years
taking a break from everyone
naps
holding doors open for people
having the door held open for me
finding a journal from years ago, re-reading it, and finding how much or how little has changed
getting to talk to someone you really enjoy talking to
not growing up
going to the graveyard, being completely alone, and being able to cry for whatever reason pleases you
someone dedicating a song to you
my Grinders (shoes)
knowing people that are such great people they deserve everything wonderful the world has to offer
"mate"




[Editor's Note: Content on this list was taken from Steph's original list started prior to 2000].