There's a Doctor in the House
My Adult Nephew the Rocket Scientist is now Dr. Adult Nephew the Rocket Scientist. SIL#1 and family came up to see him and the entire family watched his dissertation defense on Zoom.
Naturally there was a big family get together while everyone was in town. We went to SIL#3's house for a mess of snacks, pizza, and chicken. I brought a cookie cake with yet another infamous decoration attempt (and yet another excuse to trot out my standard cake decorating fail joke that thank goodness I have the ol' CPA license to fall back on).
Dawg Report
We've had off and on winter weather and rain for a while which means that our back yard is a mud pit. A puppy goes out a lot more times a day than an adult dog and doesn't put up with having its feet wiped off. I don't think our kitchen floor is ever going to be clean again, and also clean kitchen floors are overrated.
Doggo joys of the week:
- She is still very much a cuddly lapdog in her downtime.
- She loves carrots. One day this week at lunch Hubs, Doggo, and I were all munching on baby carrots at the same time. Stepdog wanted nothing to do with vegetables, so having a Veggie Hound is new to us.
- It seems like she has a favorite branch of the family. We've been very cautious about bringing people in to meet Doggo since she gets nervous and reactive (barky/growly/generally unhappy) around strangers. However SIL#1's tribe stopped by and won her over. Granted, lots of treats were involved, but Doggo was happy to show off her trick roster (sit, down, and shake) to earn the treats.
- Her German Shepherd vocabulary is expanding.
Workouts
The usual during the week, and All Hiking All The Time on the weekend. I'm down to 10 miles/2 hikes for the hiking challenge and I'm going to wrap it up next weekend.
There were lots of stairs on this weekend's hikes:
Lots of mud. I didn't realize that doing a hiking challenge in winter was the ideal preparation for getting a puppy. Our backyard is swampy, but nothing like the trails.
And also lots of waterfalls.
Watching
The puppy. I won't have the focus to watch a TV show until after we're out of the furniture chewing phase.
Reading
Alright alright let's get to the good stuff!
The first thing that I have to tell you is that I finished Every Last One by Anna Quindlen and oh my gawd what an incredible, flawless book.
The next thing to tell you is that I reread Dover and the Unkindest Cut of All, which is the 4th book in the Dover series. This is the one that is generally regarded as the pinnacle of the series, with the funniest/naughtiest payoff. I remember the first time that I read it in junior high I didn't get what "the unkindest cut" was and had to look up a certain word in the dictionary.
In general I'm not a huge short story fan, but there are two exceptions. Every few years I reread the stories The Birds and Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier. It was getting time for my next reread, and my stash of audio books and podcasts for hiking was running low so I tried the audio book version of the stories. I will say that my rule "read fiction/listen to non-fiction" rule does hold true, but still I enjoyed catching up with these two old friends.
- I always love to debate whether the book or the movie was better, and when it comes to The Birds, I think we have a tie. The movie is Big Hollywood set in the Bay Area, and the short story is the complete opposite. It's the story of a farmer on the coast of rural England who is attacked by birds. At first no one believes him, and then everyone believes him when it happens to them. The story is set in post WWII England, but it has a very contemporary, climate change adjacent kind of feel.
- Don't Look Now is just the most wonderfully creepy story that I can think of. A married couple is on vacation in Italy while trying to recover from a tragedy. One night at dinner they see two old ladies staring at them, and the husband tells his wife "don't look now" and they spin a bunch of bizarre, funny theories about what might be going on. After one moment of well deserved laughter, things take a turn. This one also got the movie treatment, and yes the movie is good (hey I'm due for a rewatch on that as well) but the story was so much better.
And finally, there must be something in the water because divorce memoirs are having a moment. I learned about This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Began My Life from the author's Washington Post essay. At first her story seemed to be one click up from You Could Make This Place Beautiful, but then she got to talking about her background and it turns out that she came from a Duggar-like religious upbringing, so I'm thinking that might have a bit to do with her marriage experience. I'm on the fence about this one - she tells her story well, but apparently someone didn't think it was enough to fill out a book because there's a really long winded history of marriage and divorce that's very grating and I'm also picking up a "my marriage sucked so therefore all marriages suck" vibe. Hey if it's not asking too much I'd rather have her story and draw my own conclusions rather than to have the message pushed down my throat. I'll get back to you after I finish the book on next weekend's hikes.
That's all she wrote! I really will get the story of my latest trip written up one of these days...possibly even before my next trip. What are your favorite short stories? Anyone read The Birds or Don't Look Now?
I had to look up the unkindest cut of all. According to the dictionary, it makes sense but when you said you had to look up a "certain word" I thought it was sexual. Then I thought that maybe I was missing something so I used the Urban Dictionary and found a word that starts with a V; is that the one you meant?
ReplyDeleteI have not read either of the Du Maurier books you mentioned, but I have read Rebecca which was also creepy. I actually did not know that she wrote the Birds, but I have seen the movie and have been to the church in Bodega Bay where all of the magic happens. There is also a really good bakery there called Wild Flour and they make the best scones.
Whoa I never thought about "the unkindest cut of all" having any other meaning than the title of a book. You sent me to google where I learned that it's Shakespeare! I just got smarter as a result of your comment. As far as what word I had to look up, it doesn't start with v, it's not a word that gets used often, and it wasn't in my vocab as a 12 year old...aw c'mon I can't spoil one of my favorite books.
DeleteI'm taking a note to get out to Bodega Bay when I eventually get out to CA!
Your hike is so beautiful, almost as pretty as your puppy. Bodega Bay is a sleepy little town with a great kite shop. It's a beautiful way to spend an afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAlright it's official. I will be going to Bodega Bay the next time I make it out to CA!
DeleteCongrats to the Rocket Scientist! Besides kitchen floors, cake decorations are overrated too! ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlthough it would drive me nuts if Doggo came in all muddy just after I cleaned the floor. Puppies!
I've only ever read Rebecca, too. I don't remember much except that I quite liked it. I love the plots of those two short stories and I'll check out those titles - thanks for the tip!
Rebecca is awesome. I'm trying to remember du Maurier's other books. Jamaica Inn stands out in my memory.
DeleteAww. Look at Doggo. I have to admit I loathe mud. It icks me out. And we have SO much mud in our backyard.
ReplyDeleteYum - the cookie cake looks delish.
I love the stair picture...though my legs would have been screaming by the end of the climb!
I've been in so much mud this year that I am now immune to it. But yes, it's gross.
DeleteClean floors ARE overrated. When Barkley died I noticed the difference in our floors, and I would much rather have the paw prints. In our house, since we are on two acres, Rex comes in after rolling in the dry grass and so...there are always bits of grass and leaves everywhere. In the fall when things were muddy, hoo boy, we had paw prints everywhere. Meh, whatcha gonna do.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE short stories. Love them! Alice Munro is my favourite, but I also love Margaret Atwood's collections and Katherine Heiny.
Congrats to your superstar nephew!
We had the opposite situation with Stepdog. She made it her life's mission to keep our kitchen floor spotless, and a few days after she passed I found a cheerio on the kitchen floor and burst out crying. If she had been alive that cheerio would never have landed on the floor in the first place!
DeleteWhat are some good Atwood short stories? I'm interested!
Okay, I LOVE Moral Disorder, because I feel it has a strong autobiographical element. I also love Bluebeard's Egg. I didn't love Stone Mattress, but if you like a more fantasy type genre, you might want to look into it!
DeleteI watched that entire video and laughed. Hannah makes relatively few sounds, so we cherish each one. My personal favorite is her "mailperson growl" where she starts growling if a substitute mailperson delivers mail and then growls as the carrier goes next door, too. It's a quiet, but very menacing sound. (She does not growl at either of our regular mail ladies, but any substitute IS ON WARNING.) I'm also a huge fan of her woop woops when she's dreaming in her sleep.
ReplyDeleteHannah also likes veggies. She's a fan of carrots, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes, which I think are starting to become more of a high value treat than chicken. That would be awesome because sweet potatoes are cheaper and less disgusting than chicken.
It has been weathering here, too. (Today is Day #2 in a row of nonstop drizzling /raining and I am OVER IT), so during just about every walk I have to text my husband to put towels by the door so the dog can get dried off. I mean, the problem is her coat is super dense, so even if we dry off the top layer, she continues to leave dog-shaped splotches of wet where she lays down. Eh. I'd rather have a dog than a clean house, I guess!
Word...any veggie is less disgusting than chicken. And also yes to having a dog>clean house. I don't even care about wet fur, it's the muddy feet that are impossible to keep on top of.
DeleteI am not a big short story fan but I should try more short stories as there are likely gems out there that I am missing. My favorite collection of short stories is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to your nephew! What a rock star genius! I love the cookie cake. Everytime I decorate a cake I said, "I guess the great british bake off won't come calling!"
Our floors are dirty in a different way - they are mostly covered in a dust of cracker crumbs, crushed cheerios and the like. it feels like a fools errand to try to keep them clean!
Agree - clean floors are for people without small kids or pets!
DeleteOh wow! Congrats to your nephew! What a tremendous accomplishment. I love the cookie cake.
ReplyDeleteYour doggo is SO cute. And I am loving your hiking reports. So much fun.
I wasn't expecting much from the hiking in winter, but it's been such a peaceful past time. 10/10 recommend.
DeleteCongrats to your nephew! (Dr. Nephew!!) And, to Doggo for expanding her social circle. I love short stories and have my whole life. I used to read Alfred Hitchcock anthologies over and over when I was younger and a lot of sci-fi ones and Margaret Atwood's too. I have read both The Birds (and wrote about it vs. the Hitchcock adaption in grad school) and Don't Look Now - I went through a whole Du Maurier phase in my teens and 20s....
ReplyDeleteI adore Du Maurier. I've been trying to remember what other books of hers that I liked. Definitely Jamaica Inn, and I also have good memories about her first book, The Loving Spirit. I've got to check out Margaret Atwood's short stories.
DeleteGreat update. Congrats to your nephew! Also, it's wonderful that you have found such a love of hiking. My husband hikes almost every week with his father and really enjoys it.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I only did the hiking challenge because I wanted something to do this winter that was close to home and I wanted to learn more about the area where the hikes are. With each passing week I've gotten to love it more and more. I never thought that hiking would be my thing but it's definitely a thing now.
DeleteI love your hiking pictures! And, congratulations to your nephew. And I like the cookie cake decoration, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI've read the first three Dover books, so Unkindest Cut is my next one up. I don't have it yet though- I should have bought it on my birthday buying spree since they don't have them at our library. I'm also not a big short story fan, but the book I'm reading now is interesting. There are short stories incorporated into the overall story, and I'm enjoying it.
And finally- clean kitchen floors are definitely overrated! Dogs are much more important.
Nah, ya gotta pace yourself with Dover. There are only so many books and there won't be any more, so it's better to go slow.
DeleteAhhhhh the mud. I hate mud. We can let Charlie out in places (unless walking, obviously): #1: out the backdoor (best option, but requires going across our rather large deck and then down the steps and then usually....standing there, since the grill blocks my view of him if I sneak back up to the door. And, his tie out leash is located such that he can get into this one landscaping bed which is (full of mud) and also kind of under the deck sort of? And there tends to be weird things he could eat if so desired. lol.) We have a fenced in yard but no way would I just let him roam since it's decently large and has lots of mulch beds, stuff to get into. Or #2, out the front door on another tie out- which is by far the easiest, as I can just stand inside. BUT our front yard...needs work. There's a big tree and getting decent grass to grow there has been a huge challenge. So it's currently in this sort of spotty state in many sections of patchy grass/ MUD. When it rains or snow, the area closest to the door turns into a mud patch. So I'm often forced to choose the lesser of two evils: Do I go stand outside in the back, where it's less muddy, but I have to be outside and cold in my slippers and sweatshirt because I was too lazy to get a big jacket out? Or do I take the easy option and let him out the front door... and deal with Muddy Dog?? Oh the choices. 😜
ReplyDeleteOne perk of a black dog is that we can claim ignorance about how dirty she gets every time she goes outside. Right now there are no non-muddy places in our yard. Some day she will only need to go out 3-4 times a day and some of that will be incorporated into walks and we're going to be so BORED when that happens.
DeleteIf the floor weren't muddy (sigh, sorry), I'd get down on the floor to cuddle with Doggo. She is just the cutest. (Save for the mud.)
ReplyDeleteI am envious of your hikes, even the muddy ones. I would like to dig out of the endless meetings one of these days, thanks.
Hang in there Anne! The end of the semester is coming! In the meantime you have my permission to play hooky and take a hike.
DeleteThe rain is going to stop and we'll get a dry season someday, and/or the dog will grow up and need to go outside less frequently. Until then we've relaxed our cleanliness standards.
Congratulations to your nephew. That is huge!
ReplyDeleteI also love the picture of Doggo. She looks so comfortable and happy.
And I love the photos of your hike. I love hikes that have an interesting path with stairs and such! :)