furry squirrels to cheer you up

While I was at the stop sign this morning on my way to work, waiting to turn onto highway 23, I saw two furry squirrels playing in someone's front yard. Then, one started chasing the other round and round the base of a tree. And there they were, running around the tree. About ten times. What a funny sight.

guilty of books

Today, I spent about twenty minutes browsing books I have no intention of buying. (Not yet anyway.) The adventure ended when I realized I had over one-hundred and fifty dollars worth of books in my shopping cart. At my current reading speed (two books per month), there is a good chance that, if I buy all sixteen books, I will read all of them before the end of the year. But our study is over-flowing with books already, and if I keep buying books at this rate, we will run out of room to store them. I don't even want to think about how we are going to fit the sleeper sofa into our small study. We may end up sleeping in the yard by the end of the summer.
O, small house. Small, yet beautiful. Small, yet perfect.

the story of the organic lamb

Once upon a time a boy and a girl met, fell in love, and got married. Their friend, a sheep farmer, didn’t have a wedding present to give them. He asked the happy couple if, as his wedding present to them, they would accept a lamb. In a mild state of shock, the couple said “yes”. Five months later, the couple’s freezer was stocked with forty pounds of freshly butchered, one hundred percent pasture-fed lamb meat. They made marinated roast lamb, grilled lamb, lamb kebabs, lamb-burgers, lamb ribs, and many other delicious lamb-recipes, and they lived happily ever after.

work-speak

“solve” – noun
the answer to the question that keeps us all up at night.
E.g. “We looked at it and figured out a good solve.”

“to partner with” – verb / infinitive
work closely with an associate to deliver a project
E.g. "Please partner with Jason to get colors fixed."

“creative” – noun
a photo or film asset to be used in advertising the product.
E.g. “Have you seen the new tee-shirt Creative yet?"

“to tool out” – verb / infinitive
create a solution based on little to no information, little to no direction from management, and expect said solution to be perfect.
E.g. “Can you tool out the documents by 3 p.m.?”

to be saturday

to wake up to each other knowing that the day will be free and fun
to buy shirts and change into them in the mall parking lot
to leisurely browse books and run my fingers along their spines
to hold hands and stroll
to eat at taco-Hell and not give a hoot
to play with kittens and puppies and bunny rabbits
to decide which chew toys to buy
to kiss and not care who is looking
to go to the movies for the first time in eight months
to eat sushi with a bit too much wasabi
to overhear and secretly giggle at yuppie women complain about life, love and whether or not to have kids
to share chocolate, laughs, and sunsets

sometimes there are bad days

At my workplace, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone who is singing praises about J Crew. Or Polo.
At my workplace, there are people who are very self-directed and don’t give a crap about what is best for the business.
At my workplace, there are times when you are expected to read someone else’s mind.
At my workplace, there are people who show no respect for their co-workers.
At my workplace, a shamefully low percentage of the employees actually know anything about the customer.

just lost

Why am I thinking about my husband right now?
I can imagine him now. Coming towards me from behind, he slides his fingers up my arms as he wraps me in his embrace. I feel his breath on the back of my neck. I shiver a little. My first impulse is to whip around and kiss him. No. I can’t do that. I don’t want him to think I’m desperate. But we’ve been married for two years. Is it okay for me to let him know that I want to kiss him now? Is it okay for me to want to kiss him all the time? Is it okay for me to want to hold him in my arms and watch sunsets from cliffs every night?
We spent all day lazing around the house. I remember just laying with him on the couch this afternoon, losing all concentration, losing the will to get up and get on with the day. I touched his hair. I told him how I loved his hair.
The truth is he occupies my thoughts most of the time. Not just on Saturdays, when I when I know I’ll have him all to myself, most of the time. I find myself thinking about him at times when I’m in boring meetings at work, numbly moving through space and time.
Today, I thought I would be more excited about spending some time reading my book. But - as funny and engrossing as Pollan's writing is – I couldn’t get past two pages without thinking back to our afternoon on the couch. I wonder if we’ll be this cute (nauseating to some) fifty years from now. I wonder if I will still want to kiss him all the time and play with his hair. Will he still think I’m his “exotic”, sexy girl? Never mind that. I love him. I told him so in a two line email a few minutes ago (although I’m convinced that he sometimes thinks I’m crazy for doing precisely such things).
So, if this is what it’s like to be constantly distracted, then I can’t think of a more pleasant subject than my husband, by which to be distracted.