A Real Blog Post?

1. If you haven't seen her on Facebook, this is Smootch:

We are dog sitting for friends from church who are away on vacation. She's a nearly 8 year old bulldog with a bad hip so she spends most of the day and night sleeping. Seriously. 10 minutes of play every 12 hours. Very sweet tempered. Easiest dog sitting gig ever.

Miranda and I bought her a squeaky toy on Tuesday and she had so much fun with it she hardly moved all day Wednesday.

It's been fun having a dog around again, temporarily. We would like to be dog owners again, someday. We need that perfect dog for Alex that the rest of us like as well. But first we need to fix the fences. It's on the list.

2. Alex's anxiety seems to be at the same level as always. We spent the last year chasing new doctors and changed all the meds and seem to be exactly in the same place as before. He is going to keep the same teacher as last year, which is good because we love her, but any mainstreaming opportunities will depend upon his behavior. One more week of summer school and then we're off until September 4th. Lots of trips to the pool and a few to the beach in the plans.

3. For some reason, I've spent the last week watching Law & Order reruns, which are available on 3 different cable channels. I have seen most of the 20 years of episodes and actually remember many of them.

My honey and I finally finished the second season of Elementary and we were both disappointed with the way Mycroft was used. I don't think we've given up on the series because we like the actors but I want to send the writers to the Joss Whedon school of planning a season-long story arc. I know, I know, Dollhouse had problems, but I still hold up the second season of Buffy as perfection in story arcing and some of my favorite television quotes ever.

From Lie to Me, SO2E07
Giles: You mean life?
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy: Lie to me.
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Buffy: Liar.


From Innocence, S02E14:
Cordelia: (hops onto a crate to sit) So, does looking at guns really make girls wanna have sex? That's scary. Xander: Yeah, I guess.
Cordelia: Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?
Xander: I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.

Speaking of television writing, Alex dipped back into the world of Phineas & Ferb, which I really enjoy, and one of his favorite episodes is "The Best Lazy Day Ever" which has an excellent quote from Candace:

Well, if they really are doing nothing, I guess I've got some time to go about my personal business. Let's see, what do I usually do? I know! I'll call Stacy and tell her how I'm busting Phineas and Ferb for... Yeah. Can't do that 'cause they're not doing anything. Wait a minute! I know! [runs off and comes back with a camera] I'll put this camera in just the right spot so when Phineas and Ferb are... Ugh! [setting up a rope trap] And then when Phineas and Ferb will bite off... Doh! [putting on lipstick] Well, if there's one thing I know, I'm gonna look so good when I bust them for... Auugh! Face it. You can't do anything unless you're trying to bust them for doing something! And if they're doing nothing, then... who is Candace??

Somehow, as charming as Phineas and Ferb are, I love Candace. In her life, hardly anything ever goes according to plan.

4. Tomorrow, we have a babysitter so Marshall and I are going to see Guardians of the Galaxy and then go to dinner, just the two of us. The grandparents are in California, just on their way back from Catalina Island to the mainland and won't be back until mid-week.

5. My summer flowers haven't had a lot of attention from me, but I did have some success. The sun flowers bloomed,

the butterfly bushes recovered from a late freeze

the marigolds from last summer came back, which isn't supposed to happen

the cannas aren't as plentiful as last year, but they're still here

and I bought a bunch of mums to plant, one of these days.

6. Somehow, this got left off of the list last week:

7. My mother has had some adventures in publishing. Long time readers will remember that she published her book, Bathsheba's Lament, several years ago. Well, then the publishing company went out of business and she nearly lost her copyright. Ugh.

Now there is a new edition with a new title (Bathsheba's Journey) and cover and it just became available for purchase, both in paperback and Kindle formats. Find it here.

And here's Jen.