My Doggy Weekend

Saturday morning a little after 10, I received a text message from a friend. She wanted to meet at the doggy park. She had her dog, Bailey, and was dogsitting a friend's dog during the day and didn't want the 2 of them destroying her house. She wanted Lola to tire them out.

Well, DSD was in the shower and we were scheduled to go buy groceries, so I told her I would meet her after we were finished. She took Bailey and Max to the park for a bit; DSD and I went shopping. When we were finished, I texted her and told her that Lola and I could meet her there at 1:30.

They arrived just before us and Lola was so happy to make new friends. One of her best features is her absolute love of everyone and everything. But Bailey and Max were already a little tired, so they weren't giving her the exercise she needed. They were all just rolling in the dirt.

Then an 8 month old Great Dane showed up. I wish I had pictures. This dog had to be over 100 pounds and just ran around the enclosure like he had not had the freedom to run in years. And there was my Lola, right behind him the entire time. She couldn't keep up with him, of course, his legs were longer than her entire body. But she tried. I wish I had words to explain the picture they made together.

Then a 5 month old Boxer puppy arrived about the time the Great Dane left. And they played and ran and played. We were out there for about an hour and a half. The temperature started dropping, though, and, while Lola was fine, I started getting cold.

My friend and her fiance' dropped off Max and then brought Bailey over to the house. They were out of town for the holidays and had left his motorcycle parked at our house to ensure its safety.

Lola and Bailey played for another hour or so. Everyone left and Lola passed out. She got up to eat and she went outside to the bathroom, otherwise she didn't MOVE. She even put herself in her crate for bed by 11. :-) The baby was wore out!

On Sunday I ran out to the bookstore, because I had nothing in my house to read. (My husband snorts when I say this aloud.) I picked up several drama, thriller, probably a little sex in them novels and was just wandering around the store when I spotted "Marley and Me." I grabbed it and quickly left, before I grabbed anything else (I am dangerous in a bookstore).

I started reading it after lunch and finished at at 2AM Monday morning! I laughed, I cried, I kept making DSD listen to different parts of the book, because Marley and Lola could have been separated at birth. What an amazing book, especially for a dog lover, but, truthfully, for anyone who has ever been part of a family. This book isn't just about Marley, but about the family that grows up around him. I would recommend it to anyone, although my son won't read it; he's still mad at me for "Where the Red Fern Grows." It's been almost 8 years since he read it.

It was a great doggy weekend. It's been a great week overall (stupid stuff at work not worth mentioning). And I am ready for this weekend to start.

Here are some more recent pictures of Lola. Hasn't she gotten big?

My fuzzy little baby.

Isn't she the cutest thing ever?

That was taken after we finally broke down and took her to the groomers. BabyBoy was annoyed! Can you see how her solid black legs are turning silver?

She doesn't even look like the same dog. :-)

It's only been a couple of weeks, but she's starting to look shaggy again. I like her better that way, so we aren't going to do the grooming much.

I would post more pictures, but she's worse than a kid. When I pull out the camera she sits up pretty and I can't get any pictures except for the ones of her just sitting there.

Have a great weekend.

Book Review: Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials"

Before I write on this book, I need to explain a few things about myself.


#1, The fastest way to get me to do something is to tell me not to. I am contrary that way. Unless I can see how it will cause pain to me or anyone else, I am most likely not going to take your advice. So when I recieved an Email (at work, no less) telling me to help protect the children by NOT taking them to see "The Golden Compass," of course, I was intrigued. I had never heard of the books until that Email and am not even sure I had seen any movie trailers. Then I found the entire trilogy for a measly $12.97, well, really, what choice did I have but to buy it and read it?


#2, I am an avid reader. I do not go anywhere without a book in my hands. I have been that way as far back as I can remember. Sometimes I think that is a commentary on my inability to be alone with my thoughts, because I am never alone if I have another world to sink into, but that is an entirely different post. Having said that, please understand, that I LIKE pulp fiction. Mindless and entertaining is what I look for in most of the books I read no matter which genre they can be filed under. While I do read biographies, autobiographies, histories and true crime, I have to be in a certain mood to do so. I read to be entertained, not depressed, and I learned a long time ago to stay away from any book with a big O in the corner.


#3, I don't get the "underlying" meaning in most literature. I read the words and assume (a lot of times wrongly) that the author was trying to say exactly what he/she said. In a recent American Lit class, I spoke very little during class discussion. I sat quietly and listened to the thoughts and feelings of others and then decided if I agreed with them or not, and managed to get an A that way. But, while actually reading the short story or novella, all I got was the words/the story/ the overlaying meaning (if that makes sense at all). Maybe that makes me a moron, but that is the way I was built.


Having said all of that, let me first state that any child who reads "His Dark Materials" is a very impressive child indeed. This was not an easy read. I spent the entire first book "The Golden Compass" fairly lost and confused. It wasn't until the first couple of chapters of "The Subtle Knife" that it all came together for me. I experienced that lovely hook of a great and interesting book, that "Ah-ha!" and fell completely into the world inhabited by Will. Of course, Will's world was my world and not confusing at all and when he wandered into another world, well, that was interesting, powerful and wonderful.


According to Snopes, Philip Pullman is an atheist, but his official website does not say that. And I did not get any sense of atheism out of this trilogy. The entire set concerns the Authority (God, YahWah, a Higher Being, etc) and I don't know how a true atheist could have written this compelling story of what is going on in Heaven and on Earth. Or, at least, I don't know why an atheist would want to .


The books were wordy (is that a word?) and I don't know how to explain what I mean by that. It seems to me that a good editor would have cut the couple hundred pages of extraneous B.S. that bored me and did not seem to bring anything to the story. The stories themselves, however, were so full of love and compassion and hope that I do not even have the words to express how awesome that was. By the end I truly cared for each of the characters and hoped for the best out of life for them. And I don't want to give away any of the story to anyone reading it, but I do have to say that no one kills God. No one, no two, no group. If you haven't heard that, then I apologize for bringing it up, but DSD's X has told the little man that she will not take him to see the movie because God is killed in it. (This is the woman who takes him to see almost every movie available, including movies rated R, and has for years. He is only just 13 now!). I read the whole 3rd book waiting for this HUGE apocolyptic battle.. and it just didn't happen.


The books are very spiritual (did I say that already) and VERY anti-religion. Let me ensure you understand, NOT anti-God, but anti-religion. Against the Baptists, the Methodists, the Catholics, every other Protestant church and Judaism. That may offend some, but since I believe most religions are pure BS, it didn't bother me a bit.



To sum it up, I enjoyed the books and am glad I read them, although it wasn't the easiest trilogy I have ever read. I would certainly encourage any parent considering allowing their child to read them to read them first to ensure that they don't conflict with the way you are raising your child. I also request that those who HAVE NOT read the book, keep your damned mouth shut, you don't know what you are talking about. But that is wishful thinking I know.

Heartwrenching

I ALWAYS have a book going. No matter where I am, I carry a book. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday & I took a book, but there is always at least a short wait. Mostly, I read fiction. It is a good way to get away from the real world, and live someone else's life for a bit. While sometimes that means being chased by huge, scary monsters in a Stephen King novel, or the mafia in a Sandra Brown, it can also mean traveling the Titanic with Danielle Steel or leading a life of luxury. Even if the novel starts out with the hero or heroine poor, usually the point is to follow them through their lives until they work there way out of poverty and into the lap of luxury.

Now that does not mean that I never read anything educational or enlightning, just that I prefer to read to relax.

My bff, P, came down for the wedding brought me a book that her mother had given her. (Her mother being the most socially conscious person that I think I have ever met.) P was determined to finish the book while she was here because she wanted to leave it with me. I didn't take it on my honeymoon, because she said it was depressing, but I started it on Sunday.

It is horrifying. I know there are poor people. I know people live in terror due to gangs, violence, AIDS, etc. This book has allowed me to see into the Bronx and Harlem. The book is breaking my heart every single minute. I am certain that is what the author intended.

The book is "Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation" by Jonathan Kozol.

In the fourth chapter Mr. Kozol is speaking of a child who died in a fire and gets him confused with another child who died in a fire and finally says

"In order to keep these different children clear in my own mind, I finally had
to make a map of the South Bronx and put it on the wall over my desk, placing a
marker on each block in which a child died, using one symbol for death by fire,
one for death by accident, and one for death by gunshot."

How do we live with ourselves? How do we function? What can we do to make it better for the poor? Especially the children?

The End of a Long and Harrowing Journey

Well I did say to watch this spot for my review of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

My son (who works at a local movie theater) went to Wal-Mart last night after he got off work at 11:30. I mean, really, who would go to Wal-Mart when the BooksAMillion in town has had enormous parties for the the last 3 Potter releases? And, this is the Redneck Riviera.. do people here read?

Apparently a lot do. My son was given a Hufflepuff armband and told he would probably pick up his book about 4am. He came home and went to bed. Smart kid.

So I got up about 9 this morning and jumped in the shower. This would amaze anyone who knows me. I usually sleep until about 11 on Saturdays and shower after I have spent time in the pool.. maybe mid afternoon.

I was at Target before 10 and the entire transaction took less than 5 minutes, it took longer to pick up breakfast for the family. I finished 2 chapters while sitting in the drive through line.

What can I say about this book without giving away the ending, the list of dead, the list of those who lived? I can say I cried once in the first 100 pages and again throughout most of the last 100. I can say that it was a fitting ending for "the Boy who Lived". I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and spending time in the magical world that J.K. Rowling created and Harry, Ron and Hermione inhabited.

I cannot say that this book was well written or that it was great literature. I cannot say that it was not.

I read quickly. I have an insatiable curiosity to find out the ending, whodunit, what happened, who lived. I do not (the first time I read a book) pay attention to a lot of details. I just have to find out how it ends. I now know how the Harry Potter saga ends. I have passed the book off to my son who is reading it as I type. I will start the entire journey over from the beginning and will, most likely, take the journey again and again, once a year or so, as I do with Stephen King's "The Stand". If I were an author, I would ask for nothing more. And as a reader, I can give no higher praise.