And we're off!

Today was a big day.  Gary and I went on our first successful run together.


One thing I really want out of a dog is to have a solid running partner.  Adopting Gary came with a certain expectation that the two of us would be super running rock stars.  The other expectation was that he would be fully trained in 2 days.  Needless to say, I had NO fucking idea what I was in for when I adopted him.  It quickly became quite apparent that running with Gary would no doubt result in severe injury without some pretty firm direction.  He pulled....god...did he pull.   Anyway, basic training certainly took priority over having a running partner.  If he makes one more kids' face bleed I am FUUUUUUUCKED.   I also took this as an opportunity to totally shit the bed with my own running.

So we have been battling the demon of disobedience and assholery.   And I have been adjusting to having this new creature to take care of.  To be honest and fair, he has brought quite a bit more chaos and complications in my life.

Like this:

My back yard.  Once lush and full and a source of pride.   I have been refilling holes all summer.  The remaining green part of the lawn is now dying as he got into a box of organic speed composter and scattered it ALL over my grass.  My new reality is that I will not have a very nice backyard for a bit.  My new mantra?  Be flexible.

I have also purchased more socks and underwear these past few months than I have in 3 years.

I really could go on and on about how shitty my dog is.  Which makes me wonder why the hell I signed up for this?


And then we have days like today.

It took 6 months of non running, leash biting, me biting, people lunging, garbage eating, mud rolling horrible douchbaggery.....but we did it.   An incident free run.


You know those moments?  Mine are quite humble in nature.  I don't get very excited about what many would perceive as the "big" things,  It's the little moments when I realize that all the chaos, all the stress and all the crap is a small price to pay for the amount of joy it brings into your life.


It called for a T. Gary Success Selfie

Mmmm

Sunday morning breakfast in bed. Ontario peaches and blueberry crepes with ricotta cheese and homemade cherry preserves.

I just died.

My boy

*sigh*

Little Red Corvette

Nothing drops this girls panties quite like this song. Gah...can't deal.

In related panty dropping news I'm making JAM! (Forgive the choppy chain of thought.  I am on day four of  little sleep thanks to an all too familiar bout of insomnia.....what did people with insomnia do before google chat and debate boards?)

Anyhoo... it appears Mr. BY and I are having a bit of a jam competition. He made strawberry jam so I made three times the amount using strawberries picked by hand, in a thunderstorm by myself and my jam making minions.

 .

 

He goes and makes blueberry jam so naturally I decided to make LIME blueberry jam with mint.   Then I remembered I'm a purist AND I recalled the most amazing goat cheese with cherry preserves on a baguette I had. Serious mouthgasim.

Anyway...cherries aren't quite in season yet. That being said I think cherries are just great wherever they are from so I decided to opt for the ones from Washington state (I can only assume cherries from Washington state are THE cherry to get seeing as the broad at the store REALLY emphasized this fact). So my superior Washington state cherries (seriously, she was all "ummm these are from Washington STATE) and I made our way home.



I'm trying to figure out all of the functions of my camera while refusing to actually read the manual.  This was the least lame picture of the cherries I got.

Hours of chopping later I got this macabre mush

Tons of sugar and lemon and Voila! The prettiest red jam has to offer

But seriously folks....how hard can it be to find a blue eyed Scotsman with a huge beard who not only LOVES gardening but also loves doing it to Little Red Corvette WHILE making jam?!

I don't think I'm being unreasonably fussy.

Trying really hard over here

....not lose all faith in humanity.

Oh.my.GAH!!

thiswomanistheworst

I just want to go to bed and close my eyes and not open them until the world is Strawberry Shortcake land....and not pustule of herpes infested scum-suckery.

Regrets, I have a few. (Ok, a lot)

Gads. Why can't I just get shit out of my head. While I may have difficulty forgiving others I absoLUTEly have a great deal of difficulty forgiving myself.

I dunno. Maybe it's the summer, maybe it's the freedom or maybe it's the new bathroom but I am in a great mood and also quite reflective these days. I actually thinks its the garden. Puttering about while listening to Leonard Cohen.

Anyway, my regrets-

1). Never went to university. I likely never will. Time to get this one out of my head. It doesn't make me stupid. It doesn't make me less worthy. It just means I took a different path. I have a pretty good job and with minimal effort will be climbing the corporate rungs.

2). My divorce. Silly. It's been years but from time to time I still ponder what life would have been like had we stayed married. I also wonder, if I were to be totally honest, if I will ever love someone as deeply as I loved him. Maybe one day :0)

3). I never took dance. Stupid and easy to fix. Guess who finally signed herself up for tap!

4). I should have enjoyed the time more when the kids were wee babies. Everyone tells you the time goes quickly but until you experience it no one can prepare themselves for how quickly it all zooms by. I miss the smell of a bald baby head. Sometimes I close my eyes and try to bring myself back to those days. It isn't easy.

5). My last big breakup. Not the superficial ones but the big one. I wish I hadn't said 90% of the shit I said. While I no doubt meant it it was mean and beneath me. I should have said thank you for letting me try to love again and helping prepare for this time around. For building me a gorgeous deck, a breathtaking garden and showing me how much I can love a terrible dog and how fun it can be to eat smoked meat in bed and not worry about all the other shit that might be tumbling down around me.

6). Lack of direction. I've never had any and to this day it still escapes me.

It feels good to sit back and write it all out. When I read this I realize that I am a pretty fortunate lassie. I look forward to the days when I no longer have to remind myself of this. Just sit back and enjoy the peaceful freedom of appreciating my nice, simple, fulfilling life.

The First Step

Admitting you have a problem.

My name is Christie and I find hipsters unbearably adorable and painfully charming.

Wanna know what's amazing?

Beautifying a shitty laundry room and making it a second bathroom.

Three Sisters

My Three Sisters are absolutely amazing.

There are no words to adequately express how excited I am about my garden this year. It is green and successful and beautiful.

YAY!!

Yee Haw!

Over a week of child free bliss

The only thing that would make this more exciting would be if another season of Portlandia showed up on Netflix. A girl can dream.