Mabel and Auntie Aly

I forgot to post my fave pic of Miss Mabel on her trip!

My college room-mate, Alyson, has a magical way with animals. Mabel had not seen Aly in a few years since Aly stayed with us for several weeks for her International High School Reunion. (She was a diplomat's kid and grew up in foreign and exciting places!)

Miss Mabel is just "buttah" around her Auntie Aly... she melts!  I just love the expression on her face as she soaks up the love!

Mabel's Adventures Down South

Mabel got to take a plane trip for the first time in seven years over the holiday. I've posted these to Facebook throughout the trip but thought I should share them here thanks to my lack of any blog fodder. Hope you enjoy.

I adore the look on the Lou's face when she realized this strange car was suddenly up in the air. She turned to me and her face simply said, "Mom, that's just WRONG!"  She did whine a bit over the ocean and then settled down for a long nap. When she woke up, she started barking at the wing! We rode for quite a bit with the shades down.

My brother - in - law picked us up. I snapped a pic of Mabel with her special way of sitting- booty on the seat; paws on the floor.  I just love this as I've never had a dog sit like this. When we flew home there was no one in the middle seat on the plane and Mabel sat like this for a few hours!

The first day at Granny's was a warm and toasty 74! Mabel was jet lagged and in heaven! Lots of ham and a good sunbake! Who could ask for anything more?!?

I took lots of shots of Mabel and her cousin Bailey.

After a few days, Mabel got protective of Granny's yard. She's on squirrel patrol here.

Every night, Mabel would tuck her Granny in bed. She did this extra early on Christmas Eve... I think she knew Santa was close!

Miss Lou had a really good trip and she certainly kept my nerves much calmer being with me.

We're Just Waiting on A Ride...

...to the creek.  Hey Bart, if you can reach the pedals, I think I can steer...

Daylights Saving Wha?

Ever since the time change, Miss Lou has been more than a little confused! She starts really nagging me for a creek trip around 2... still the middle of the workday. She acts all hurtified as if I forgot to take her and she won't get there at all. There is much drama and heavy sighing, pouting and big droopy sad eyes that I have to look at! 

Afterward, the begging for dinner begins! It's dark. You need to feed me. FEED ME NOW!  But it's 5 p.m.- still time to get some work done. And she was eating dinner at 8:30 just months ago! It makes matters all the worse if I reach in the fridge for a snackie to take to the shop with me. You're eating. Don't I get to eat too???

I try to hold off until at least 6...otherwise I pay the price at 4 a.m. That's when her hungry tummy starts to growl...loud enough to wake me!

So last night, I decided to stay in the house as we had a rather chilly fog move in and I had a scratchy throat. I thought it would be better to work on some new listings and a few computer projects in the warm house instead of the cold, damp shop. I fed her about 6 ish and for once, remembered her toothbrush so she wouldn't have to come begging for it. I went into the office and worked until about 7:45. I went down the hall... no girl. I checked the guest bedroom - she loves to nap in there while I'm on the computer - no Mabel!

I finally switched on the bedroom light and what did I find?

Mabel Lou had put herself to bed! From the look on her face, I know she had been sleeping soundly for some time!

I'm not much on holidays. Too much work to decorate and cook. No money for gifts. But... the one day I do celebrate with a big old happy dance every year is the winter solstice. That's the day the days officially start getting longer! Of course, this year is the year the Mayan calendar ends on 12/21 and some say the world as we know it will end. I don't know much about that, but come 12/21, if you see a woman with curly hair dancing a jig along the Tujunga river banks, now you'll know why.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

About a month ago, I was feeling so lucky, I thought about going to Vegas! Not seriously, because I hate the noise and gambling... but it sure did feel good around here.

First, I entered a photo contest called Who Do You Support sponsored by Archipelago Botanicals on Facebook. I entered this photo of my sister:

This photo is magic to me for so many reasons. It was taken at Laguna Beach the day she finished radiation back in 2003. Knowing my sister as I do, I can see the relief in her body. I just love her rolled up jeans, her perpetual sweater over her arm and the flip flops as sunshades in her hand. And I can feel the hope coming off of her.  As luck would have it, we wandered into Laguna Drug - THE most amazing drug store (gift store would be more accurate) on the planet! There we purchased some lip balms and lotions made by Archipelago and I've been a fan of their products ever since. 

Much to my surprise, I won the contest. The prize was two gift baskets of products. One for the photographer and one for the subject of the photo. When I saw the breast cancer survivor with her baby daughter in the 2nd place photo, I requested my basket go to them. My sister LOVED her basket and I was pleasantly surprised when the nice folks at Archipelago sent me a lovely prize box anyway! And it was full of my favorite lip balm!

And then the week kept getting better! I won a bead by one of my favorite artists. Judith Billig makes stunningly elegant glass beads and jewelry. She had made a necklace she was having a hard time naming using her float beads. She called out to her friends to suggest names. I made several suggestions including Mumbai Magic. Unbeknownst to me (I was terribly busy with classes that week!), Mumbai Magic won the poll on her fan page! And I won one of her float beads!

Mumbai Magic by Judith Billig Designs

And finally, that chicken dinner! The bestie and I were headed to the community center where we both teach. Since she was staying extra late after her class to clean up after MY class, I bought her dinner at our local Panera. We both ordered the black bean soup... I written about my passion for that soup here before! When they went to fill our order, they discovered they had sold the last black bean soups they had! My bestie, the I-love-all-soups girl, happily substituted. But I was flummoxed... I tend to get locked in on what I want to eat and no substitutions really make me happy.  I finally ordered the much more pricey chicken sandwich. To my surprise, Panera wouldn't take my money for the upgrade! They simply apologized for disappointing me and told me they hoped I would come back for soup another day.... as IF they could keep me from that black bean soup!

It was a nice, fun winning streak while it lasted!