Day 29: I love you, man

January 31 2011 . . . Best of buddies, these two are tight friends. Micron and Karsen say that, why yes, there is room for both us in here.

Day 28: Sycamore

January 30 2011 . . . Sunday evening late afternoon. The sun is going all nova behind the sycamore in the backyard.

And snow.

Day 27: Christine's second cousin

January 29 2011 . . . Recall Stephen King's book, Christine?  About the 50's car that had a mind of its own (as any middle-aged woman should.)

This is a mini pedal car from the Husband's collection. It kinda looks like it could be a country cousin to Christine. I'm thinking his name is Clyde and he's from Dry Ridge, Kentucky. And right now, he could be in that creepy junkyard just waiting for you.

I like how the flash brought out the dust spots, too. Makes it look more authentic, maybe.  I find dusting these little cars a little labor intensive and not very rewarding.  And so, I pretty much ignore them.

Day 26: You know where to find me

Jan 28 2011 . . . It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milkbone underwear - Norm Peterson (Cheers)

It's Friday evening and the end to a rather icky week. If anyone's looking for me, you may want to wait until tomorrow.

Day 25: Roll Dog has a birthday

Jan 27 2011 . . . Yep, it's a dog made from a dinner roll and pipe cleaners. It's proudly displayed on the bookshelf above my desk. Looks like something a kid would make at church camp, but no, I made the thing. It even won first place in a contest at work. The was at the December holiday party.

In 2009.

The rules were sketchy then and I've totally forgotten the intent of this thing. But as I get overly excited about anything that I win, I've kept Roll Dog. It'd be a guess that he's pretty hard and crusty now, but really, I'm a little afraid to touch it. It may crumble to just a powdery memory. 

We're near the end though, Roll Dog and me. I'm pretty sure he won't make it to the move to the new office in April. 

But it's ok. I still have my plaque from winning the Chili Cookoff. In 2008.

Day 24: G force

Jan 26 2011 . . .Snowy play session in the backyard. This fella's not allowed to stick his head out the car window, so what's a guy to do for fun? How 'bout run at full speed until you feel the wind whip your hair and your lips are pulled back by the g force of it all.

If it were warmer out, he'd have a moth or something stuck in his teeth.

Day 23: Dudley nose

Jan 25 2011 . . .Did you know that the color of a dog's nose is a matter of genetics? That yellow labs could have either black pigmenation or brown that affects the color of what could be referred to a dog lips?

I could go on and on explaining about dog color genetics, but it would be obvious that I'm just making stuff up. Other than that first paragraph, I really have no idea.

Micron's nose started as a plump little black button. A wet, squishy adorable thing. As he's matured, it's now a Dudley nose that has turned a bit liver in color. Many of the yellow CCI dogs go dudley. 

For these guys, it's a sign of intelligence and a strong work ethic.

And adorable, too.

Day 22: It's good to have goals

Jan 24 2011 . . . I always say, it's good to have goals in life.  Although when I say that, it's usually sarcasm in response to something stupid that I've done. Like making it to a level 23 druid in Diablo or something like that.

But not this goal. Literacy is a big deal for me. To be well read, I believe, is the basic groundwork for a successful and happy life. It can also put big words into your vocabulary so you can talk real good to people. So I can say words like pretentious and superfluous, you know. My big goal each year is to read a minimum of thirty books. Any size, any genre, but I want it to total a score plus ten.

Why choose thirty? Because not only is it a stretch, it also can be done. I somehow seem to manage it year after year.

Here's book number one for 2011.  My favorite author, Michael Chabon. This one was pretty darn good and I may read through it a second time. But if I do, does it count as one or two books? A personal moral dilemma to struggle with.

A note about the photo; I did photoshop to create a glow with the while lettering cuz I think it looks cool.

Day 21: Getting a leg up on the ice

Jan 23 2011 . . . Yet another cold winter's day. The sun is warming the dinner bell enough to create icicles, but then the wind catches the dripping water.  Here's a shot of nature being weird by making an ice scupture leg.

Day 20: Spotted dog

Jan 22 2011 . . . The vet techs at the clinic refer to Jager as the Skinny Head Syndrome.  We all feel pretty comfortable making fun of him because he has been enjoying good health over the past few years.

When we adopted this freaky little dog, we knew he had been diagnosed with dermatomyositis. Feel free to pronounce that any way you want.  I've said it at least three different ways to various vets and have yet to be corrected. Dermatomyositis is just not very common in dogs, it seems. Especially those that have survived it past puppyhood. 

The atrophied muscle about Jager's head, as well as the scarring on his muzzle, is his hallmark. Just part of the equation that makes him such a unique little fellow.

But Jager has perhaps outgrown this condition. Or is in remission.  It's just a guess, so we watch his health closely.

So the strange little growth on his shoulder had me feeling a little uneasy. Toss the little guy in the car and off to the clinic.

Turns out it's a papilloma. A doggie wart, if you will.  A diagnosis that would have had us somewhat freaked out on any other dog, brought instead just a sigh of relief. Is that all? Well, ok then. Let's go home and get your dinner, you little funny looking thing.

Day 19: Got mooned

Jan 21 2011 . . . The temperature took a deep dive this morning and everything is frozen over. The fresh snow is crunchy; the car is a cryofreezer. While I'm waiting for the defrosters to do their thing on the Toyota, I take some shots of the backyard.  It's early morning, just at daybreak. I'm facing west for this shot, the sunrise about to appear at my back.

It's difficult to get a low light photo like this without a tripod. Camera shake is an issue and the moon is a light source itself and will show only as a glowing orb; no details. So I geek around with white balance and shutter speeds. I end up liking this one best of the subtle two-tone blue cast that the camera saw. Specs on this shot: ISO 640, shutter speed 1/64 sec, f/5.6.  

Day 18: These boots were made for walking

Jan 20 2011 . . . It's January in southwestern Ohio and that means only one thing.

That we never know what the weather is going to be from day to day. 

It just finished raining a couple of days ago. And now we have a forecast of snowfall that is estimated between three inches and oh my god you better hit the grocery and stockpile provisions. Thanks a lot, local news stations, for inciting panic in the masses. You do your job well.

These are my Ohio weather boots. Good for mud, snow and dog piles that I can't see in the dark.  I bought these for my Anchorage adventure a few winters ago and these boots are still ready for anything. Whatever the weather guys have to sling out.

Day 17: Angel in the morning

Jan 19 2011 . . . Last fall I was jazzed to find out that one of my photos won a local competition. I gotta keep the bragging to a minimum, though.  It was a small contest held by a local business.  Which was, you know, a cemetery.

But it's a historical cemetery, full of famous people. Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is the resting place of  the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, themselves.  And Erma Bombeck.  The guy who invented the cash register.  John Patterson, founder of NCR, is there.  Who, by the way, did not invent the cash register. Patterson bought the rights to it for about $150 bucks and made his fortune from it.

My photo of the McMillan angel brought in a first place award in the Forever Elegant category.  I grabbed this shot below on a foggy winter morning.

I realize I'm in a minority of folk who link foggy mornings with photo opps, but really, the filtered light is amazing.

Day 16: Somebody needs to pony up here

Jan 18 2011 - Will somebody eat the last one? Please? I'm on a it's-not-a-diet-it's-a-lifestyle thing and this little nugget of chocolately goodness is singing to me the Siren's song to Odysseus.

Day 15: The end to TV dinners

Jan 17 2011 . . . We did a major kitchen remodel last summer.  Took things down to the bare studs and built it all back.  When I say we, what I really mean is the contractor.  I just stood around with a diet Coke and watched.

I'd say the whole endeavor was a challenge.  This is an older home and was built by very small people who didn't cook. The kitchen is ridiculously teeny. You've heard the term triangle when referring to kitchen design? The working space between sink, stove and fridge? Well, when I say stay out of my triangle, it really is the kinder version of get the hell out my kitchen so I can move in here.

We conquered most of the design monsters right away, except for two. I still haven't found any window treatments worthy of putting nails into that virgin drywall. And we needed a new table and chairs that would fit in the redesigned breakfast nook.

Checking off one from the list.  We found a slate pub table and comfy bar stool chairs.  Stylish and matches the kitchen colors. It's a win.

Now off to find curtains for those odd sized 60 year old windows.  They neighbors already know too much about us and this isn't helping.

Day 14: Pencils are overrated

Jan 16 2011 . . . I've read somewhere that exercising your mind with puzzles, word games and such may hold off Alzheimer's. I think I read that somewhere and didn't just make it up. I don't remember, really.

Here's the Sunday crossword out of the local paper. Not too difficult and sometimes has a fun play on words for the theme. You may have noted a pen laying there all ready to do its thing. That's right, I always do the crossword in pen.

We've been cautioned over time to avoid the use of absolutes in speech. Few things in life are truly "never" or "always."  But I can say with confidence that I always do the crossword in pen, because I never can find a sharpened pencil in this flippin' house.

Day 13: Just make yourself a dang quesadilla

Jan 15 2011 . . . How do you know you've crossed that threshold of not-so-young-anymore?  It's eight o'clock on Saturday night and instead of looking forward to going out, you're scavenging through the cupboards for any type of food like substance that you could throw in the skillet.

Which brings us to quesadilla night. The Mexican version of a grilled cheese sammich. Good enough for me and the guy I go out with.  And heck yeah, I photoshopped this shot. Turns out a picture of a quesadilla is about as benign as eating one. So some lomo camera effects to super saturate the colors, with a bit of a vignette about the edges. It's kinda like adding jalapenos to spice things up.

Which was not my intention for this photo of the day. I was saving my shot for our new kitchen table and chairs that finally came in. The Husband was putting the things together, when we discovered that the furniture store gave us the wrong chairs. Some obligatory cursing and a phone call later, we have resolution to the chair problem, but it's too late to go the warehouse now to get the replacements.

You can see a bit of the table in this shot, though. It's a slate top bistro style thing. We'll get a better shot later with the new chairs.  Whenever that happens.

Day 12: Some say three's a crowd

Jan 14 2011 . . . If you talk with veteran puppy raisers for Canine Companions for Independence, you find that many of them have at least three dogs in their homes. Usually a pup in training, then their own keepers. They say after three dogs, it doesn't really matter how many you have. Four or five or more - it's all the same.

I've tried to explain this philosophy to the Husband, but he's not buying it.

The company I work for is very generous in their pet policy, allowing our dogs in the office. We have strict rules to follow, to be sure. But if you have a dog with good manners, they're welcome to be with you during the work day.  Even more wonderful for me, the company is supportive of my efforts in puppy raising for CCI. Here in this shot are three visitors to my humble cube. Micron has had enough of this good behavior nonsense and is waiting for me to finish my lean cuisine so we can go play in the snow.

(On another note, being cognizant of the blogosphere and how things can get around, I do want to say to those who might be wondering that I do indeed have a photo permit from HR for photographing and sharing images of the CCI pups.  No company secrets exposed here. Just dogs.)

Day 11: I can quit the stuff any time I want

Jan 13 2011 . . . I get a level of satisfaction whenever I come across health related articles that tout the benefits of coffee in your diet. It allows me to feel vindicated with this life long java habit. Being a farm girl, I started on the bean at a relatively young age. So, could I quit the stuff now at my post-thirty stage of life?  Well, of course I could, people. But it would involve biblical proportion wailing and gnashing of teeth.

By those who would have to live with me during detox.

Day 10: Saved by the bell

Jan 12 2011 . . .Day two of the big snow. We hear on the news that 49 of the states have snow.  I'm thinking, sure Hawaii would be snow free, but I'm wrong. It's Florida that has no white stuff.  Apparently there's snow on some mountain in Hawaii.  Huh. 

This is our vintage dinner bell. It serves no purpose other than to rust. When we bought the house, there was a huge bell on the post outside the back door.  But when we moved in, the family had taken the bell and left the post. So we had a choice. Somehow get that stupid post out of its concrete base or find another bell.

Thanks to swap meets where you can find rusty items of all kinds, we discovered a replacement. And here it is fifteen years later on the morning of Jan 12.  I did photoshop this a little, a diffuse glow and such. But in the end, it's still a rusty bell on a pole.

Day 9: An exercise in self control

Jan 11 2011 . . . In another lifetime we had a German shepherd that tended to run a little on the nervous side. His first Ohio winter, I was letting him out the back door to do his duty when he saw snow covering the ground for the first time. Hackles up, he starting barking at the yard as if he were saying, just what the hell is this sh**!

Not so with CCI puppies. Ask any puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence. These fuzzies love the snow. Micron loses his mind, but in a good way. Not in a German shepherd way.

Here's a shot of him all regal looking. A serious, over the shoulder pose. As if he's thinking deep thoughts about the world economy or something. But really, I just got lucky and snapped the shutter before I lost him to the snowscape. He was a good boy for this wintry photo session. Afterwards, we took off the training cape and gave the release command.  He was a happy, thoughtless dog for the next little while.

Day 8: The reason my dogs hate me

Jan 10 2011 . . . I thought I had things kinda under control with the keeper dog. Generally obedient, doesn't bite the pizza guy and things like that. Then we started raising puppies for Canine Companions for Independence and we saw a need to change a couple of things.

Think about it for just a sec. A service dog has an important job to do and can't be distracted from the task at hand. If a person with a service dog chooses to have a relaxing meal at their favorite diner, well the dog certainly can't be hoovering the carpet all the way to the table, right?

So the most basic of dog brain concepts (if it's on the floor, it's mine), is out.  Here are the boys, Jager on left and Micron on right, ignoring a tasty treat under their noses. No lines of drool between snout and floor. That's not for them and they both know it. Actually, I'll take those biscuits away and set them aside.  They will get a reward, but not the Iams biscuits on the floor.

I had another shot sometime back that I shared on a social network. In this one, the dogs were ignoring treats that were resting on their paws. One of my friends so kindly captioned it "why dogs bite their owners." 

Day 7: Here fishy fishy

Jan 9 2011 . . . I didn't think it possible. That I'd be too old to change.  Not that I'm old, you know.  But I'm not in my twenties anymore.  Or thirties.  Ah, but yes, still in my forties. 

But is it possible to make a major lifestyle adjustment at this not-so-old stage of life?

Why yes, it is possible. And there's less of me warming this chair to prove it.  Through the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holiday seasons, I stayed the course. We nearly gave up all red meat and turned our palates to fish and chicken. Keeping it slow and steady, there is a definite improvement in how I feel.

This is a shot of one of my favorite dinners. Oven roasted steelhead trout with a Cajun rub, that we slice and put over salad greens with a low fat vinaigrette dressing. The bread is just there for show. I've forgone most breads, except for the high fiber, whole grain stuff.  Which is another lifestyle change. I found out that high fiber diets and late afternoon meetings in the office are not really compatible. 

If you don't know what I mean, you obviously don't have enough fiber in your diet.

Day 6: Jagermeister barks back

Jan 8 2011 . . . This is our keeper dog, the family pet.  We adopted Jager from a local pet rescue group a few years ago when he was two years old.  He came with a frisbee, a squeak toy, some nervous tics and his unusual name.

Jager?, people ask, like Jagermeister? Or Jager Bomb?  Right, just like that. Only he doesn't drink.

This fella is a good time, regardless of his temperance. He already had some basic commands down and was quick to pick up whatever else we wanted to teach him, including several hand commands.  He is my dog of choice when working on the Dog Care merit badge with the Boy Scouts.

Speaking of hand commands, to impress his friends the kid will give the dog some bogus command, in German or whatever, while covertly using a hand signal. It looks like the dog is bilingual. Pretty funny, really.

Here's the same Day 6 shot, but altered into a Blue Dog portrait. Just for fun.

I once put together a collage of Jager and his doppelganger, Salacious Crumb from the Star Wars movie. The kid tells me not to make fun of the dog, he doesn't deserve it.  I know he's right. I probably shouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did.

Remember?

So, how was life this past year? What all did you do?  Sure, work is the first thing that comes to mind, then eat, sleep, play with the dogs and check Facebook. But let's think about this for a minute. There's much more that makes the stuff of life.

There's the big life events; birthday parties, new family members, weddings, vacations.  And that's a good start. If we dig a little deeper into the memories, we might remember about how wonderful that chili smelled on the day of the big snow. Or how the spotted dog lost his two front teeth during a dental cleaning at the vet's office. Teaching first aid to a Boy Scout patrol and dropping the new kid off the emergency stretcher. Finding out that much talked about novel was really as good as they said. And finally opening that bottle of Adam's County wine that was saved for a special occasion.

I've created this photo journal to capture those little daily things that define life at its essence.

This is my Project 365.

I'll grab a snapshot every day for the next year. And good, bad or blurry - I'll post it. Now, I'm not going to post to the blog every day. That's just crazy talk, you know. I'll do catch-up days and share a bunch of snapshots at once, I think.

Like today.  We've got Day 1, which was actually Jan 3 cuz that's how I roll. And we'll finish up this post with Day 5.

Day 1

Jan 3 2011 . . .We were invited by the Riverside Chamber of Commerce to talk to folk about Canine Companions for Independence.  I snapped a shot of Micron as he was psyching up for his presentation. Our venue was Expressly Espresso, who were wonderful hosts.  In the background is our PowerPoint presentation on CCI Puppy Raising on the big screen. Good group; they were easy to talk to and Micron was able to add to his fan base.

And that gas fireplace was working very nicely on this winter evening. A grande latte and warm corner in the cafe. Very cozy.

Day 2

Jan 4 2011 . . .In this we have an example of symbolism. I'm returning to work after the Christmas holidays. I had saved vacation days for the end of the year, so I finagled a break of December 23 through January 3. It's a time of refreshing nothing specialness. I can blow off an entire day and the sun still comes up the next morning. Nothing disastrous happens just because I'm not wall to wall with the usual stress-filled schedule. It's just lovely.

This is a shot of my work bag. Laptop and day planner inside, car keys hooked on top. If you squint your eyes, it almost looks like it's making a sad face. But I gotta admit, I do like my job. And even more, I like being gainfully employed so I can maintain this fancy lifestyle of mine. By fancy, I mean sending the kid to college. I really don't mind going back to work, I just wish the day could start a little later in the morning, is all.

Another bit of detail; some yellow dog hairs stuck to the side of the bag. There's dog hair on everything here. Inside the register, seen in the right hand corner, is enough fur to craft a large gerbil. We try to vacuum it out on a regular basis before it has a chance to become self-aware.

And in the background are rolls of Christmas wrapping paper. Haven't put away the holiday stuff yet. But I will. sigh

Day 3

Jan 5 2011 . . .The kid wants to know why there's a drawing of a pig on that bottle of wine we brought back from Adam's County.  Well son, it's a play on words I would guess.  The winery name their spiced wine Scrapple, apparently taken from Sweet Cranberry Apple.  Which, to our good fortune, is really nothing like that culinary delicacy of scrapple. 

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about scrapple:

Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name pon haus is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then panfried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste.

Huh. Kind of sounds like the Mennonite cousin to the hot dog, don't ya think?  Anyway, the wine from Adam's County is a sweetly spiced white. I had saved this bottle from our last Gettysburg trip and had it chilled for our annual New Year's Day dinner of pork & sauerkraut.

As you would expect, the wine is more than a little sweet. You couldn't finish a bottle in one sitting without some level of regret later.  So here it is still on my counter on Day 3 of my Project 365. After counting on my fingers, I can tell you this was taken on January 5.

Day 4

Jan 6 2011 . . .Well, that was close. I've retired for the evening and just put the bookmark in that Chabon novel. As I turn out the light, I realize that I didn't take a photo today. Ugh. Ok, I'm up and with the beloved Canon now in hand walking through the house. What the hell am I going to take a photo of at this time of night?

Ah, the poinsettia. Why not?  It's after Christmas and the thing is still alive and that's enough milestone for me. To my mother's disappointment, I'm not very good with plants. The cleaning staff at work take my desk plants away from me. It's true. They give me regular updates on their progress like it's an open adoption or something.  Did you see your something-something plant on the windowsill?  It's blooming! 

This beautiful white poinsettia was a gift from Derek's girlfriend. She brought it home from her sister's holiday wedding all dolled up with glitter on the leaves. Now this plant never hurt nobody in its life and doesn't deserve its dark fate. Not sure how long I can keep this hapless thing alive, but probably should take it into work next week and leave it on my desk so it has a fighting chance.


Day 5

Jan 7 2011 . . .On a trip to Kroger, we just need to grab two things. Intending it to be a quick trip, we take the service dog in training for a walk through.  We've had Micron at the grocery a handful of times and he's always an attention getter. Some folk want to stop and talk, some ask if their kids could pet him. I consider this just another way of raising awareness of Canine Companions for Independence. It's good socialization for the pup as well.

This trip we're asked if this is a service dog in training. Yes, we say, we're puppy raisers for CCI.  She tells us about a family member whose life was changed profoundly by a service dog. She has seen first hand what these dogs can do. This is the kind of conversation that can just make your day.

Do we take donations? Well no, we don't but you can go online at http://www.cci.org/ to donate directly to the organization. She pulls a bill out of her purse and hands it to us. Please take this donation, she says, I want to help.  We've encountered generous people over and over since our involvement with CCI. I'm still impressed every time it happens.

Canine Companions for Independence operates on donations alone. No government grants or funding. Every donated dollar, good or service is put towards the noble goal of providing service dogs to people with disabilities. At no cost to the recipient. How cool is that?  Pretty cool, I think.