كيف الطقس في مدينة أكسفورد؟

apparently some bad weather is supposed to be headed our direction. however, i find it difficult to take a weather lady named brittany seriously. i wonder how much of a problem this is for older people used to names that carry authority?

i think i'd listen to a bertha, were a bertha to show up with a meteorology degree.


yesterday was my bridal shower & bachelorette party. both were lovely, & i'm sure i'll feel compelled to write about them later. but right now i'm sleepy & there's only one thing i plan to comment on before transitioning to a horizontal position with a snuggly book about war in the middle east or something.

what i'd like to comment on: my dog. naturally.

miss ruby was very well behaved in the bath today. perhaps this seems like a small thing. but i think she could sense i was sleepy & wanted a no-nonsense bath time for her, because she literally stood up with her paws on the side of the tub & let me rinse, shampoo, & repeat for... well, however long it took to bathe her. i may be obsessed with my dog, but i don't time those things.

besides the obvious pleasure of coming away with zero scratches from ruby's bath time, the episode leads me to again consider what exactly our animals know about us. i think they have us pegged better than we might imagine. i never thought of myself as a dog person -- we had a lab growing up (for 15 years) whom i loved, i've been around other dogs, etc., but i was never the fawning type & never imagined i'd willingly allow an animal to reside in my home. now i'm this sap of a dog owner other people surely find annoying: i think every single thing ruby does is adorable, & love chatting about the dog in any & every social situation. even when i am forced to sternly reprimand her for misbehaving, as puppies are wont to do, i secretly delight in the fact that she's just around, here at home to welcome me every time i walk through the door. and for better or for worse, i think she has me figured out. she must know i find her playful game of bat-the-dog-food she engages in at least once a day incredibly amusing. she probably has figured out that i think her attempt to burrow in the blankets on the couch is a little funny, even though i stop her from doing it every time. one thing's for sure: she knows exactly where her treats are, & what she needs to do to get her teeth on one.

anyway, i have a clean puppy, a tummy full of soup, a closet with a sturdy shelf to hide in if brittany's to be taken seriously, & a reading-/nap-filled evening on my agenda. and if i grow tired of the latter, i have fresh green stickers on my laptop keys with arabic letters i can practice typing on for a fun distraction.