thoughts that come in threes...

I have three things that I have been thinking about this morning:

1. My sausage finger. I don't know what happened, but my middle finger on my right hand is so swollen right now I can't even bend it. This happened a few Christmases ago with all of the fingers on my left hand. They were so swollen and disgusting. We never did find out why. I tried lots of different things - not sleeping with my fists all balled up (I do this quite frequently), drinking more water, not eating as much salt. Eventually, after a month and a half, the swelling went down. But I was worried for a while that my left hand was going to be freakish looking forever. So, yeah, my middle finger is all sausaged up. Sucks. Hurts too.

2. What is going on with the weather!? It has been torrentially downpouring since I first woke up this morning at 7. I say first woke up, because I woke up three more times after that finally rolling out of bed at around 11. Oops. It was a late night last night. It hasn't stopped POURING all morning and I checked the forecast only to find a repeat of this for the next week! There are flood warnings. I'm really glad I live at the top of a hill right now. That way my house won't flood, right?

3. Stupid computer. I bought a new laptop from Dell back in June, and the past few weeks it has been giving me hell. Programs stop working randomly, wierd messages pop up, it freezes. I swear I didn't do anything to it! or did i?? I was just about to press the button to rebuild it completely, and restore it to the condition it was when I first got it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I had this bad feeling that I would end up damaging it even more. So, I'm going to wait until I get paid and then take it into the computer guys at Best Buy.

Now you know how dreadfully exciting my morning has been, the whole two hours of it that I have been legitimatley awake that is. I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I like all of this free time. I could get so much done, but I only have motivation to do it in small spurts. I only have about a week left of this downtime, then life picks up again. Next Thursday I am flying to denver for Arianne's wedding, then to Utah and Idaho. I am excited to visit with some old friends in Utah and meet Mike's family. It will be way fun. I'll also get a chance to visit with some of my family in Idaho. My grandpa Cheney's health has been declining rapidly, so I hope to get a chance to see him. Then when I get back, my Mom and sisters are flying into Boston for a week to do a Prince Edward Island roadtrip. We grew up on Anne of Greene Gables and can't wait to walk around Anne's old stomping grounds. It should be an eventful month!

Stealing ideas

*Update: My mom chose to go with "Ernie" rather than "Thrasher". It's a shame, I might still call him Thrasher.

So Mike did this on his blog, and thought it looked like fun. Some of you who read my blog have been part of my life through it's many different phases - awkward middle and high school years, college, adult life - you name it. I know I have many fond memories of each of you. Here's how this goes:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Thrasher

So, here's a funny story. My mom is allergic to animals. We had pets growing up, but they were always outdoor pets. My mom just couldn't handle them - she'd get all red eyed and runny nosed. We did have a dog, Genny, but due to her epilepsy and old age, we had to put her down about 4 years ago. I was pretty sure that Genny was the last dog they would ever own and that when Sasha (the cat we've had for the past 13 years) goes, my parents would be pet free. So, I find out this morning that my mom is getting a dog! A cross between a Shitzu and a Poodle. Now just think about this for a moment...

So I call her and say, "So mom, I hear you're getting a Shit-poo!" To which she responds, rather loudly, "Yup, I'm getting a Shit-poo, gonna pick him up tonight." Then all of the sudden there is this rustle as the phone is quickly grabbed from her hand and my sister, Nellie, informs me that not only did my mom just say "Shit-poo" really loudly, but that they were in the middle of Target and now she was getting some funny looks. Oops! Ahh, I love my mom. Also turns out, the correct way to pronounce this breed of dog is "Shih-poo". Not as fun to say.

Apparently, my aunt Nancy has a dog similar to this and when my mom was visiting, she didn't have any allergic reactions to the dog. So, she decided, why not? This little pup that she's picking up tonight will only grow to be about six pounds and will be an indoor dog. This is uncharted territory for us Cheneys, like I said, we've never had indoor pets before.

Here is a picture of the furry little fella that will soon be joining the Cheney clan:

Nellie and I like the name "Thrasher". What do you think? He looks innocent, but I think this little guy is going to give my mom a run for her money . . .

TLC

No these initals to not stand for my name, although they are close. TLC - Tender Love and Care. I felt like my car needed it earlier this week. I took it to a car wash, beat the floor mats with a wooden paddle (very cool feature at a very cool car wash by my house), vacummed (I have a wierd fascination with vacumming, I could do it all day I think), and got the outside and inside all polished and gussied up. I swear it was purring in satisfaction when I drove away. Later I was thinking about how I needed a little TLC too. So I called up my friend Lisa, who also happens to be my "stylist" and set up an appointment. I walked out of her house with blonder, shorter, much happier hair. Today I went and got a pedicure with Esther and Kirsti. I realized that we all have something in common - ticklish feet. I had to grip the seat handles of the pedicure chair and focus with all my might to not rip my feet out of the woman's hand. It's by far my most ticklish spot. Some people (I won't name names) find it quite entertaining to torture me by attacking/tickling my feet. It was pretty funny as I we all tried different ways to hold still. Kirsti laughed out loud - a couple of times. Esther kept jerking her feet away. Kind of felt like the three stooges a bit. Top the day off with a free 7.11 oz. slurpee and the TLC was complete. Wish I had pictures of the experience, maybe Kirsti will post those on her blog.

A confession:

Last fourth of July, I got to hang out with a certain guy that I may or may not have had a crush on at the time . . . .

This fourth of July I got to watch the fireworks with the same guy . . . .
He's a good one. I kinda like him :)

Happy 4th of July!!

Instead of watching the fireworks over the Charles River this year, a couple of us went to Marblehead instead. Marblehead is a fun little community north of the city with a harbor that is illuminated with flares right before they set of the fireworks. The fireworks are set off from a barge in the middle of the harbor, and although they weren't as specatular as the Boston Fireworks, it was pretty incredible to watch them from the rocks overlooking the harbor. We were also fairly close to the barge itself which was pretty neat. I love the Fourth of July. I love the sparklers, the red white and blue, the patriotic music, the excitement in the air, the cheers that could be heard from all across the harbor as each of the explosions went off. I just love it.

This is the point we watched the fireworks from.

Sunset over the harbor.