So Here's the Question

Will NaBloPoMo work better for me than Slow Fashion October?

I guess we'll find out.  :-)

And so we begin.  Welcome to my attempts to post something every single day during the month of November.  After posting suggestions for topics last week, I decided that I was gonna give it a try.  The worst that can happen is that I don't do it, and it's not like I'm gonna get arrested or anything if that happens.  (Well, at least that's my understanding ...)

Also, I'm only participating on this blog.  I'm not so crazy as to try it with both of them!

Anyway, I had grand plans for Slow Fashion October.  I was going to finish something that was in progress, and also knit one small thing - I had planned on knitting a hat.  Well, in an unusual occurrence, I got back to a couple of my WIPs, and worked only on two of them for the month.  I didn't finish either one, but I made a lot of progress.  So although my official goals didn't get accomplished, I did make headway during the month of October.  And I did it slowly.  Does that count?  (not really)

Anyhoo, onward and upward and all that.

Happy November!  It's a busy month for us, with birthdays, holidays, and one of the best holidays in the universe - Thanksgiving!  But before we go too deeply into November, let me fill you in on something from October that I never got to post about - the Mutt Strut.

As usual, there were some Mummers to get things going:

I always tell The Tim that you can be sure that Dug is a Philadelphia doggie - he LOVES the Mummers, and doesn't want to walk away from them to start the Strut ...

Unlike last year, which was rainy and damp, this year's weather was just a perfect fall day - cool, sunny, and a little bit breezy.  Dug had two "costumes" for the day.  He started out as a kitty cat:

Which, as you can see, made him quite pleased about the whole thing.

As usual, the other costumes were much more elaborate.

My favorite was this Newfoundland, dressed as Harry Potter, complete with lightning-shaped scar:

The event is held at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which is no longer active for the U.S. Navy, but has been redeveloped to be a business/retail/restaurant park, with reuse of older buildings and some new ones added.  There is a shipbuilding company there, and usually a couple of ships in dock that are either docked there for a break, or because they are in the process of being worked on.  I always forget how absolutely huge some of them are.

And in a shocking development that was not reported on by the local media, a PIRATE (albeit a friendly one) was spotted at the Navy Yard!

Dug was also happy to be reunited with Spud, another pup who was a foster dog with the same friend at the same time he was:

You can't really tell from this picture, but Spud is wearing a costume that is a sack of potatoes!

It was really a fun day, with so many cute and creative costumes, and so many cute doggies!  The very best part is that it was also a record-setting day, both with the number of registrants, and the amount of money raised!  Dug and I were thrilled to contribute, and were lucky enough to have gone past our fundraising goal, which was one of the best things to happen this year to us.

I want to say thank you to those of you who so generously donated to our fundraising.  I will formally thank you by snail mail, but please know that your contributions were truly appreciated, and you helped set that record for amount of money raised.

So that's it for the Mutt Strut until next year.  :-)

Now let's get NaBloPoMo going!

BOO!

The Long (But Happy) Haul

On Facebook, there is a loooonnnnnngggg personal message thread with myself, my niece Amanda, and my friend Lisa, covering every possible type of topic, rant, and amusing comment possible.  I don't really remember how we got to the topic of weddings (probably commenting on some celebrity wedding or divorce), but I commented that it seems that these days, weddings are a huge, elaborate, expensive production.  People are obsessed with their weddings.  And then, they are unwilling to put the same level of commitment and work into the actual marriage.  So you have Broadway-show-type wedding days, followed by marriages that break up sometimes within the same year.  (My husband's family excels at this kind of thing.)

Why am I going on about this?  Well, because at approximately 5:45 p.m. this evening, it will be 37 years of wedded bliss/annoyance/indifference for me and The Tim.  That's a long time.  Some days longer than others, as those in any kind of relationship I'm sure will understand.

Our wedding was small.  We have spent more years than not barely making it to pay the bills.  We don't have children, and have spent so much time listening to how we should because you don't know true love until you are a parent.  We have been called self-obsessed because we are not parents.  We have been there for each other when our own parents died.  We have rejoiced and enjoyed the births and other milestone moments of our many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.  We have adored and continue to adore all the pets who have been in our families.  We have gone through a lot of cancer together (me as the patient, him as the caretaker).  We have discussed many topics both important and ridiculous well beyond their lifespans.  We have proven my mother's comment that it was a good thing we found each other, "because it saves two other people."  And we have always agreed that we would never divorce because each of us are too stubborn to admit it isn't working.

And there are at least a million other things I could add to the list.

But whatever it's been, we have done it together - physically, spiritually, or mentally.  And even if not consciously, it's been work.  More work than planning a wedding that will be remembered for all time.

Because our wedding was one day, thirty-seven years ago.  But our anniversary is today.

Life can work out pretty well overall if you just pay attention.

What To Talk About?

Apparently, there is a thing known as NaBloPoMo, which is short for November Blog Post Month, meaning you will post something every day in the month.  I need to give this some thought, especially since Slow Fashion October didn't end up working out for me (that's a whole 'nother post), and I thought that would be a cinch.  Such is life, you know?

In any event, this week for Ten on Tuesday, Carole wants us to list Ten Ideas for November Daily Blogging.  I like thinking about what I might have to say in any given post (even if that doesn't seem the case when you are actually reading), so I thought I'd give this a try.  I am going to try to mix it up with things that are usual topics, and then other random things that make their way into my brain.

1.  Alliteration Days.  You know - such as "Ten on Tuesday" or "Five on Friday."  Thinking about this, I like the idea of "Madness Mondays" (you decide what madness is), or even "Weird or Wonky Wednesdays" since let's face it, there would always be something for that.

2.  Good things.  November brings us to Thanksgiving, and even if you don't give it much conscious thought for the rest of the year, think of some good things during this month.  Things that make you happy, things you are thankful for, etc.  I have found that trying to think of good things on a bad day can help me a lot.

3.  Quotes, poems, prayers for the day.  Some days you just feel like a good quote, you know?

4.  Pickles.  Accordions.  Lamps.  I think it would be fun to write a post about whatever word pops into your head when you sit down to write.

5.  Holidays.  Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus.  How do you celebrate?  Do you celebrate?

6.  Of course, project updates, whether knitting, sewing, painting, or whatever you are in the process of doing, and how it's going.

7.  A photo/video tour.  Of your house, your office, your craft room, a park nearby.  Show people some of your favorite places/things.

8.  Cooking, baking, eating, drinking.  Everyone enjoys a recipe or hearing about a special meal or restaurant, etc.  (OK maybe not everyone.  But they don't have to read it if they don't want to.)

9.  Tips.  Have you figured out an easier way to do X?  Why not share it with everyone else?

10.  Whys.  Why do you like something?  Why do you always do something a certain way?  Why do you still blog, when others count on Facebook, Instagram, etc.?

I think if you don't force it, NaBloPoMo, could be fun.  And if you don't obsess over what to write, or show, you could actually enjoy the daily challenge of it.  The problem is overthinking.  Carole shared this post, which also has ideas and prompts, and I'm sure if you read the other Ten on Tuesday posts, you'll get even more possibilities.

As for me ... well, it could happen.  Who knows?

The 12-Hour Beach Vacation

Last week at this time, I could not wait for the end of the workday (even more than usual), because we were going to leave after I got home for a long weekend in Rehoboth Beach with my niece Amanda and her husband Pat.  This had been planned for a few months, and to say I'd been looking forward to it would be an understatement.

When we go to Rehoboth Beach, Dug comes with us, and he *loves* it.  Amanda and Pat are two of his favorites, and he loves the house where we stay, because it has screened in back and front porches, and there is a little lake with a path around it in the back.  He thinks it's just the best.

The couple of days before, he'd had diarrhea, but he gets it occasionally, and nine times out of ten it clears up on its own.  So we piled ourselves and our stuff into the car, and arrived around 10:00 p.m.  We spent the rest of the evening laughing, talking, and drinking wine, and Dug went out a few times more than usual, but still just had the same problem, nothing else.  But overnight, he woke us up after having accidents two different times.  We figured we would run to the grocery store in the morning and get some chicken and rice and start him on a bland diet, as the vet usually suggests.

But in the morning the kitchen floor was covered in blood.  He seemed his usual self - not lethargic, or sick, or anything - but we decided we had to head home so we could take him to the vet.   So we ate breakfast, visited a little longer, and then packed up again and headed home.  We left around 10:00 a.m.

A 12-hour beach vacation.

Fortunately, the vet said he was fine overall, but was suffering from colitis, and would need some antibiotics for 7 days, and the chicken-rice diet for 10 days.  By Saturday he was fine, and by Sunday his system was reacting properly.

So instead of a beach vacation, we had a long weekend at home with absolutely no plans.  It turned out to be great.  Saturday we checked out a new outlet mall not far from us, where The Tim found two pairs of shoes, and I got a sweater.  Then we came home, relaxed, and watched the Notre Dame football game.   Sunday we worked on some projects around the house, and caught up on some movies we'd recorded.  Monday we got our Halloween decorations out (not that we have that many, but still it's fun to decorate) and made our house look a little more spooky than usual.

I wish we'd been able to stay at the beach, but it all worked out for the best.  I even finished a book and got a good amount of knitting accomplished!  But most importantly of all, by the end of the weekend, this guy was back to being 100% healthy, and trying on some Halloween  costumes.

To quote some famous guy, "All's well that ends well."