Keeping a Sense of Humor

      In my day-to-day activities, I am forced to keep my sense of humor up close and personal. Yesterday one of my students said, "Mrs. R---I love your toes." I replied, "I'm assuming you're talking about the turquoise nail polish, and that you're not talking about my old-lady toes."

     On the first day of school, I spoke of having my students' backs. I'd look out for them, and if they saw me with one brown shoe and one black shoe on (it happened once last year, and it was not "tacky" or "mismatched" day at our school), if they saw me with my hair looking all wild, they'd say something. One of my super-helpful girls is--on a regular basis--whispering to me that a hunk of hair has escaped, that some of my hair is standing up (at attention)... so much, that I have to say, "I know. My hair is always wild."

     With our puppy Radar, I have to keep my sense of humor gripped tightly... otherwise, I might throttle him. Or, I might dampen my underwear as I laugh too heartily. He has a toy that resembles an octopus--it has a Kong (an odd-shaped hard rubber ball-like thing) at its core, and five or so long furry "legs." The rubber core is large enough that when he wrestles with it, it hits him in the head. (Thank goodness he has a hard head!) Radar is fascinated by the tree dogs (the squirrels) and tries to climb up the tree after them. A couple of days ago, he saw (for the first time) his reflection in a mirror. It was hilarious.

Doesn't he look angelic? Looks can definitely be deceiving...

      Recently, I submitted something to New Haven Review. I suspect that what I sent will not be their cup of tea. However, I did laugh a few times as I read their submission guidelines...and that doesn't happen often. Most of the time, guidelines are businesslike...dull...dry. When I sent an initial email, I noted that I chuckled over their guidelines, and along the way, I tossed in a bit of my snarkiness. Apparently, it's sometimes a good idea to lead with your humorous foot, because they asked me to send my story.


      I did. And even though in all probability they won't accept it, an editor sparked my interest and--if only for a microsecond--I sparked theirs.

      And if you've missed my comments on your blog in the last couple of days, I've been swamped at school. Last night I got eight more students (we're going down from three 3rd grade classrooms to two) and tonight is Open House. I'll have to catch up tomorrow... as I'm nibbling on chocolate or hydrating myself in some manner.

Second Chances

       Two days ago, Queenie found a home. Another dog rescue friend and I drove close to an hour to do the home visit and--if it was love at first sight--leave Queenie with her new family.

         Normally, Love a Golden does a home visit and THEN arrangements are made to transfer the dog to their new home, once the family has been approved. However, Queenie is a special case. She's a former puppy mill dog. She's traumatized by riding in the car. She takes a while to get acclimated. And since this family has had puppy mill girls before, we figured if they fell for her, making ANOTHER trip with her (and thus making her even more nervous) was not necessary.


     The family did fall in love with Queenie--who is now Lady--and it's obvious that she will soon be Lady of the House. Her new mom and dad have a Serta dog bed for her. (Their daughter--a vet--joked that when Sleep Number dog beds come out, her parents will buy one of those.) They have a better-than-perfect backyard. We're hoping they have enough patience.

This was Queenie. Now, she's Lady.

      And Queenie is not a typical gorgeous golden. She's shorter than most golden retrievers. She has a different (but definitely cute) face. Her front legs are terribly bowed--she resembles an old, out-of-shape wrestler. And don't forget the baggage--she has loads of baggage.

      If a couple of people are believing in Queenie enough to give her a second chance, perhaps I need to believe in my WIP enough to get back to it--I mean really get back to it.

      I've been in a rut lately. Working on shorter pieces. Vegging out. Even reorganizing my nightmare-of-an-office/spare bedroom. Doing anything except working on my NaNoGoneWrongo. Will I get back to it?

      Only time will tell...

      And hey!  If you want to find out how diamonds are Sioux's best friends, go here. You can also get a message about new postings from me (or even get my post via email? I'm not sure how it works) by clicking on a little box-thingy that Cathy C. Hall insisted I install. (Cathy, it took 13 hours and 9 minutes, but I did it! Really, it took less than 13 seconds. I feel bad I didn't do it sooner.)