Roofs and Woofs

This weekend, the animal shelter participated in a home expo event. We brought some kittens and an adorable bloodhound mix and settled into our appointed booth. The bloodhound got SO much attention from everyone attending the expo--the whole time we were there, the dog was surrounded. He ate ice cream and candy, rolled over for belly rubs and gave lots of wet, sloppy hound kisses. We were so happy about the crowd's reaction until the director of the expo told us that the man in the next booth had complained about us because everyone was looking at the dog and no one was checking out his roofing business. We were disgusted by the guy's reaction, because how could anyone begrudge a homeless dog getting some attention, but we were polite and walked the dog to the other end of our booth, away from the miserable roofer. I must admit I felt some perverse pleasure seeing the continued lack of activity at the roofer's booth, despite the fact that the dog had been moved. Really, how could a guy slinging shingles compete with the droopy ears and soulful eyes of a hound? Would you rather spend your time looking at this:

or this:

I know which one I would choose! Oh, and there is a happy ending to the story. The dog will be going to his brand new home next week!

The Bows Will Be Ripped Out By Morning

Poor Honey, she's so exhausted after a day of pampering at the grooming salon! She is collapsed in a heap on the couch, her eyes are droopy and she can't even keep her tongue in her mouth. At least her little red bows are still perky!

An Overactive Imagination

When we first bought our home, there was a sagging, splintered, 20 year old deck sitting on top of a row of storage closets at the back of the house. Kevin ripped out all the storage (good thing he did, it was all wet and rotten inside) and then we cut a hole in the brick wall and installed a sliding glass door so that we could have access from our bedroom to what will someday be a lovely cobbled patio. A couple of weeks ago, a construction crew ripped off the old deck and built us a sturdy, non-sagging deck. Today, the landscapers began excavating all the dirt from under the deck so that we will have enough head room for a patio. Here is what the back of the house looked like this morning before the landscapers got here:

Now the backyard is teeming with backhoes and ditch witches, and the area under the deck is a big, muddy pit. I have been hanging out in the house, out of the workers' way, trying to keep the dogs from stroking out about all the activity in their backyard. At one point, one of the landscapers rang the doorbell to tell me that they had unearthed something concerning. I immediately blurted out, "Did you find a dead body?" He seemed a little surprised at my question, and said, "Um, no, we just found 2 big intake pipes from the old septic system...we haven't pulled the caps off yet, so I guess there could be a dead body in one of them." Yikes, did I actually seem so disappointed about the lack of corpses in my backyard that he felt the need to give me a little hope that one still might be uncovered? I'm kind of paranoid now, thinking that if a corpse actually is exhumed, the landscapers are going to tell the police how I wouldn't shut up about finding a dead body, and that will make me seem most suspicious indeed!

More Progress

The walls and shower are all tiled now, we are just waiting for the new toilet, sink and glass shower doors to be delivered. I can't wait, but I have a nagging feeling that I'm going to be obnoxiously overprotective of the new bathroom. "You can admire it all you want, but if you actually have to use the facilities, please go upstairs!"

My Junior High Social Studies Book Was Wrong!

For the past 3 weeks, Kevin has been on an insane trip around the world for work. He started in China, then on to the Philippines, then to Singapore, and now he is in Brazil. He has been to all the Asian destinations numerous times, but this is his first time in Brazil, and I think I was a lot more excited about it than he was. I repeatedly asked him to take tons of pictures and to tell me all about it...we had a chance to talk about his experiences on the phone yesterday:

Kevin: I know you want me to take pictures, but what kind of pictures? The whorehouse? The dumpsters? The hotel isn't in a very nice area of town!
Me: Monkeys and parrots, obviously!
Kevin: I'm in the middle of a city of 1,000,000 people, there are no monkeys or parrots.
Me: Can't you take an afternoon off and visit the rain forest?
Kevin: Um, no, Porto Allegre isn't in the rain forest part of Brazil, it's in the plains. If I left the city, I could take pictures of beef cattle for you...seriously, people are crazy for steak here!
Me: So you haven't seen any cool animals at all?
Kevin: I saw a cat earlier today.
Me: Like a panther?
Kevin: No, like a cute little house cat...I'm in a city of 1,000,000 people, remember?
Me: So basically, you're saying that there is a wider variety of fauna sitting in our family room right now than you'll be able to see during your entire trip to Brazil?
Kevin: That is what I'm saying.

The Hottest Seat In The House

Why I spend WAYYYYYY too much time vacuuming our couch:

Progress

The floor in the bathroom is now tiled (if you can't tell from the photo, the dark squares are a really deep blue) and the tile guy is working on the walls today. He is doing such a great job and he is so nice, but I hate having people working in my house! Even though I'm paying for their labor, I feel so guilty if I'm not bustling around being productive too. The tile guy (is there an official term for this vocation? I think "mason" only refers to brick and stone layers) had time on Sunday, so he arrived bright and early (8:30 on Sunday morning!) to install the radiant heat. To me, Sunday is the day to stay in your pajamas all morning, eat pancakes and read the paper. Unfortunately, since I can't bear the thought of lounging around while someone is working in my house, instead of struggling with the New York Times crossword, I vacuumed and mopped all the floors in the house. Right now, he is toiling away while I am on the computer--he doesn't know I'm blogging, though. I'm doing lots of pen chewing and brow furrowing, so maybe I've tricked him into believing that I'm working on some monumental project, or writing the next great American novel. Gack, I can't sit around anymore, the guilt is becoming too oppressive, I should go grab a broom!

Birds!

I was driving to my mom's house in Sherrill, NY, and passed this little pond covered in ducks, geese and seagulls.
The noise of their wings when they took off was unbelievable!

When I got to my mom's house, I mentioned all the birds and she said she had actually seen them on the local news...nope, there isn't much late-breaking, hard-hitting news around these parts!

Set Your TiVo!

Tomorrow (Friday) on Oprah, Lisa Ling is going to do an expose on the horrors of puppy mills. I am very pleased that the issue will finally get such a massive audience. Animal rights advocates have been trying to educate people for years, but Oprah is so hugely popular and influential that I think this one show may have more of an impact on the puppy mill industry than all those years of lobbying and protesting. (I guess that's kind of sad commentary about our society, but whatever, I'm just grateful that she uses her incredible power for good!) Part of me really wants to watch the show, but the other part of me knows that by the end of it, I will be a sobbing, blubbering mess...I can't even sit through an entire ASPCA commercial without bursting into tears. (You know the one, all those abused animals staring at the camera to the tune of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." Damn you, VH1, for playing it at every commercial break!) Anyway, if you do watch Oprah tomorrow, let me know what you think!