Limber

7:36 a.m.

I wanted to sleep in today, but the dog decided he needed to shove his disgusting rawhide bone in my face 87,282,152 times in a row while mouth-breathing around said bone loudly. Also, Coltrane started walking back and forth across the headboard for no particular reason, and Jelly Roll started purring and kneading me in the stomach until it became painfully obvious some of his SoftPaws have fallen off. Also, the dog used the tried and true Bump Against Kara's Side of the Bed Repeatedly method, until it felt like I was in a dog-induced earthquake.

No point of staying in bed!

Of course, only a few minutes after I got up to see what they all wanted, they had all fallen asleep contentedly.

I'm living with a bunch of MORONS.

Hi!

How's the long weekend going?

Ours has been pretty nice, except for yesterday evening at 5:30 when a realtor called and asked if she could show our house that evening. It was Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend, so we thought we were in the clear. Perhaps I was on my second chocolate-tini, Justin had been drinking some beers, and we hadn't even made the bed. What followed was a mad tipsy dash to get the house presentable and then leave the premises for a walk.

A long walk. An hour long walk.

With the dog.

We kept circling around, to check out the "can we go back home?!" situation. He was obviously a slow looker. Also, Jelly Roll followed us for several blocks, trotting along behind us, his kitty fat flapping, and meowing plaintively. He soon started panting, however, and I ended up gathering him up and making a mad sweaty dash down the street and slipping him into the garage just seconds before the realtor showed up. Exciting! Clearly now the only course of action is to leash train him.

I've leash trained cats before!

Shut up!

Speaking of our horribly weird and annoying cats, the cats are eating a wet food now (phase two). It's the only food we could find that a) didn't have grains in it and b) they would consume, and of COURSE it is mostly tuna and reeks. Also, it has whole shrimp. It's pretty fancy. In the last few weeks, though, the change in them has been amazing. They're losing tons of weight, the dandruff is disappearing. Their fur is becoming super soft and silky. They're no longer greasy at times. They are pooping less and playing more. Jelly Roll's dragon breath is fast becoming a thing of the past, and Coltrane's puking has been cut by probably 80 percent. Also, Jelly Roll? Jelly Roll no longer looks pissed off all the time. He's happy and mellow. He sleeps through the night at my side peacefully. His face is relaxed. Justin noted that he "looks nice now." Everything is blissful in Jelly Roll world.

Isn't that neat? And also, sad? That we feed our cats food that makes them feel like shit? I imagine it's something like having a wheat intolerance and eating copious amounts of Wonder Bread every day. Poor kitties. I feel bad for giving them grain-filled food all this time.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get them on all raw meat. I'm thinking I might be able to mix in some liver or something now and then, but they luuuurrrrrve this food and it seems to be helping.

Enough about the cats!

More about my new shoes!

Guess who found out she can wear kids' sized shoes? I really wanted a specific kind of sandal, but could only find it in kid sizes. And then Justin said, hey, those kid shoes look like your size. Lo! I can wear a three to four in kid shoes. Or five to six and a half in adult shoes. I felt in awe, like a whole new world of shoes had been opened to me. A portal of brightly colored shoes! Granted, most kid shoes I wouldn't wear, but these sandals were just what I wanted.

Also, they are purple, and soooooo comfortable. They got me through two hour-long walks yesterday in complete comfort. (Forgive the blurriness.)



















I've lost about seventeen pounds now from the ADD med (or maybe Jelly Roll and I are cosmically linked) (I just made myself laugh out loud typing that). I'm pretty sure I'll get to twenty. We went to Cheyenne Saturday to get Justin some swim trunks (HAWAII IS SO SOON) and we found some clothes that fit me a little better. I'm also definitely a D cup now.

But the thing is? A year ago losing seventeen pounds and going up a cup size would have made me feel so awesome. I'm at such a different place now. I know I felt pretty damn awesome before I lost this weight, and I feel about the same amount of awesome. I think I've come a long way in liking my body. And Justin makes me feel pretty every day.

Let's see.

Any more news?

Oh, yes. Justin bought me a straw cowboy hat. Which I wear with my new purple sandals and baggy cargo capris and hippie skirts just the same.




















Apparently strangers smile at you and talk to you a TON MORE if you wear a cowboy hat.

I am so loving the cowboy hat.

(It's nice when you're an artist, because people expect you to do things like wear cowboy hats with purple kid sports sandals. They would be offended if I didn't! It's true. I swear.)

Oh, and apparently the dog has limber tail. Which labs (he's half) are prone to after working out really hard. And Monk? Has been playing like crazy. Also, see above for an hour long walk after days of playing/running/jumping around after squirrels. He loves spring. It's weird, his tail is just limp and hanging. Very pathetic looking, I feel bad for him. It seems the tail gets worn out (they use it for balance) and there is even a little muscle damage. It goes away with rest.

Isn't that crazy?

Limber tail?

Poor dog.

One more photo, and I'm not even sure what's going on here:



















But it seems awesome.

Love,
black sheeped