Unexpected pleasures....

I don't have to work tomorrow.  That makes me happier than words can say!

What sort of work do you do?


DH said we could get a takeaway tonight!  Don't have to cook.   (He gets home late from Spanish class.)

I took my dog up to the graveyard for a run, and there was a double rainbow over the Forth Bridges in the distance... it was incredibly pretty!

I took my dog up to the graveyard for a run, and there was a double rainbow over the Forth Bridges in the distance... it was incredibly pretty!

one of these days, however, you're gonna see a ghost in there.  i warned you! 

Tomorrow is Friday and I have the weekend to myself to pack for the big move in June. I have little time, so I am taking all the free weekends I can get. Plus, I just found out I have enough time to take next Friday off so my best friend can come down to visit another time before I leave in August. That made my day 

This morning I got a couple of things in the post that told me I had to follow up on something that someone down the line had messed up. Two separate things I thought had been dealt with are now phone-call hassles for me. The accountant held onto our corporate taxes for 6 weeks and we're just now getting the form to return today...the LAST day it could have been sent before we got in serious trouble. I needed to emergency transfer some money online and the Net was acting up so badly it took four hours of anxious nail-biting before I finally got online. Then I got a phone call from the woman who has been making curtains and was just informed that there's now a two-month delay on something that was to be done in two weeks. (Honey, if you are just now reading this, everything is fine. Don't worry about a thing. Don't hurry home. I've got it all covered. )

I couldn't take any more bad news, so I stopped drawing lines on the walls for fear I'd mess that project up, and came down to check email (and try to get in the bank again) and decide what to do that didn't involve a long rope, strong eaves and a chair.

That's when I got an email..."URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED". Okay, those are the ones that you usually throw out because you know it's going to involve some unpronounceably-named prime minister who's suddenly become your best friend and you're the only person in the world his family trusts to keep his money safe for him while he goes through a little, hehe, political battle.

But I opened it. And it was true, they did urgently need me. But not who you think.  Channel Five needs me. They want me to be at The Farm on Eviction Night. Woohoo! Okay, yeah, me and 5,000 others, but hey, look for me standing someplace behind Justin and Colin in the middle of Wiltshire farmland on May 9.

I have to say, when they emailed me the tickets within 30 minutes of replying to their urgent plea, my day did a total turn-around. Well, okay, nothing else really changed, but my mood got really giggly. "Eviction Night" heh heh heh hehehe

I'll play:

I love that that the cream turns pink at the bottom of your strawberries and cream...

I love that a tulip has a visual surprise waiting for you if you stop long enough to look inside...(My favourite flower)

I love it when my Beloved says something like "Ouch! That's me arm!" (arrr, arrr, arrrg! I guess pirates came from Norwich too.)...

I love it when my corgie smiles at me... (it is TOO a smile! A corgie is too cute to
have gas...)

I love it when  the apple trees blossom and the leaves are just barely out. The dusky green against the soft pink...exquisite!

I love it when I mis- type soemething and it caemes out looking like Scottish...

I love it when the singing of the birds wakes me up in the morning...

I love it when I stretch out a new piece of yardage and place the pattern pieces on it. That first "scruuunch" of the shears.... So much potential! ( I love ripping fabric along the grainline too, very satisfing sound.)

I love it when I get into a freshly made bed and the sheets are freash and tight...(there is is again, the Scots!)

I love it when my Beloved looks at me with that beautiful shining look, like all the pain in the past is done and was worth it.

I love it when my son makes an A and is proud of it.

I Love waking up next to My Belovedd (now that's the Welsh coming out!).

And I love that I know how to read.

Abercroft:

Your list was great, but I liked the last one in particular.

When I still lived in the States, I seriously wanted (but never had the time) to volunteer for "Project Literacy, USA," teaching illiterate adults to read and write. Reading and writing have been such monumental factors in both my personal and professional life that I couldn't begin to imagine the hole it would leave in life for anyone unable to do what most of us take for granted (not to mention how difficult it would be simply to get through life). When I'm "back on my game," I'd like to volunteer for any similar program here.

I'd also like to volunteer for an animal welfare program. All these things on the "To Do in This Lifetime" list. Sigh.

Suzanne

Courtney, I know that having a dog is a much bigger responsibility than having a cat, but if no one claims that dog, and there's any way you can manage to keep him, by all means do so. If we had a house and yard, I'd take him in a heartbeat. Golden retrievers (as you no doubt know) have the sweetest dispositions...

  I love it when my Beloved says something like "Ouch! That's me arm!" (arrr, arrr, arrrg! I guess pirates came from Norwich too.)...

Awwwww.   You have a Norwich honey too?  (Me too!)  But his speech didn't hold onto dialect words like 'boootiful' and 'hooge'...though his mum speaks like that.

On the literacy thing...one time I had a client (financial counselling) -- a quite elderly man who was so poor -- his frayed, holey overalls were held together in places with safety pins.  Very timidly & with embarrassment, he confided in me that he'd never learned to read -- had tried later in life, but always felt like whoever was teaching didn't have enough patience for him, etc.  It had never occurred to me what life must be like for someone who can't read.  He had started listening to books on cassette tape & spoke of what a transforming experience it was for him to hear the stories (he liked Westerns, Zane Grey & all that) & be drawn into the action/scenes in his mind -- at first it scared him a little even, thinking he must be mad to 'get into it' (the story) like that -- to see the action & characters in his mind's eye.  It was hard for me not to cry -- I was so moved -- learning of the man's experience & thinking how I'd taken reading so much for granted in my own life.

C

PS -- This morning I received a call scheduling me for some sort of "assessment test" next Thurs with a prospective employer.  It's not a job yet BUT it's something rather than climbing the walls & waiting for a response (any response) to the CVs & applications I've sent out.

On Saturday, I noticed a dog I had not seen before walking about. Later in the day he decided to take a nap in my driveway and when I opened the door to say hello, he waltzed right in like he lived here. He was wearing a collar but with no tags. I called the local shelters, newspapers and vets, but no one had reported a missing dog. I also posted signs around my tiny mountain community. Monday I took him to one of the 2 local vets, and they scanned him for a microchip, but he has none. They did tell me he is a purebred Golden Retriever and that he is about 9 or 10. He is VERY well trained/behaved and I cannot figure out why the owners are not looking for him. I have to keep him for 14 days before I can adopt him out to another home, but at 96 hours, it is looking increasingly like he was a drop off.

Let me say that I am a cat person generally. I do like dogs, but they do not fit my busy life. This dog prob outweighs me and eats like a horse. His paws are about the same size as my hands. We do not have a fenced yard so my son has been getting up almost an hour early (4:30 AM) to walk him, I have a neighbor come and walk him midday, and I am doing the evening walks. My 2 cats are VERY put out that there is a lowly dog in their midst, and he ignores them completely. Hilarious! If someone had told me that I would actually be enjoying having a dog in the house, I might have scoffed, but I find that I really do like him. I cannot keep him long term, but it is really an "unexpected pleasure" to have him around for a short while.

Here's a pic: http://images.andale.com/f2/128/104/6651332/1114110219712_DSCF1692_1_.jpg

This post was a WONDERFUL,  unexpected pleasure to me- it's a matter very close to my heart the way people use dogs as accessories or spare parts to be dumped when they become too old, too ill or too much work. I was so happy to read this how you have taken in this dog and kept him safe and well looked after. Dogs his age are so precious, they only need a little extra work and patience and good on your son for getting up early to walk him. Thank you for having the heart and taking the trouble to look after him

Thanks for the supportive replies! The dog's owner finally called on Wednesday evening. She had been calling the shelter everyday (the SAME shelter I reported him found to!) and they told her he was not there. Frustrating bureaucracy! Her sister had seen one of my signs in town and they were very happy to have "Sonny" back. I guess there is a hole in her fence that needs to be fixed and he took himself out on a walkabout. What continues to frustrate me is that had she just taken 30 seconds to write her phone number on his collar, it could have been avoided!! In the end, we had fun 'borrowing' him those few days, and my son says someday he wants to have a big dog. He is not a morning person but gladly got out of bed to walk him. I was impressed!

I love work at home Fridays.

I love hearing my lover's voice on the phone, every single time he sounds so excited to hear me.

I love how my kitty curls up over my head at night and purrrrrrs like a little motor.

I love the smell of baking bread in the bread machine.  Even when I put it in to bake before going to bed, forgetting that the smell always wakes me up in the middle of the night.   

I love my little house, and treasure every day her until I will have to move next year.

I love how my sweet Simon kisses me in the morning, and brings me tea while I'm getting ready for the day.

I love vanilla slice, and fish and chips with mushy peas in Whitby.  Mmmmm!  Can't wait to get back there.

I love Simon.
I love Sheffield.
I love our Faith and our Church.

~Liza

Thanks for the supportive replies! The dog's owner finally called on Wednesday evening. She had been calling the shelter everyday (the SAME shelter I reported him found to!) and they told her he was not there. Frustrating bureaucracy! Her sister had seen one of my signs in town and they were very happy to have "Sonny" back. I guess there is a hole in her fence that needs to be fixed and he took himself out on a walkabout. What continues to frustrate me is that had she just taken 30 seconds to write her phone number on his collar, it could have been avoided!! In the end, we had fun 'borrowing' him those few days, and my son says someday he wants to have a big dog. He is not a morning person but gladly got out of bed to walk him. I was impressed!

Ah  Courtney, thats even better news How lucky she was, someone like you took him in and now your son will probably always have a lifelong love for Goldies! Before I lost my own precious dog, I lived in fear that she would somehow get lost/stolen/out (despite being completely neurotic about her safety) so I can imagine how the owners felt, but so agree about the phone number.

When you wake up in the morning and look out the bedroom window and think...darn it's raining AGAIN.
Get dressed to take the dog out, take a deep breath in and realise that there is the perfect spring day smell in the air.

I love vanilla slice, and fish and chips with mushy peas in Whitby. Mmmmm! Can't wait to get back there.

~Liza

I LOVE fish and chips w/ mushy peas, best thing ever! Peter Kay has a bit about peas on something Steve sent me, cracks me up every time!

My lilacs are about to bloom any moment now.  I love the anticipation of that first heady whiff of their lovely perfume.