Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Weekend comic
The comic Stella and I made about their weekend.
Arrival, shopping, birthday party pickup, cupcake decorating, Despicable Me, cooking dinner, eating dinner, Despicable Me 2, lunch, board games and playing with harlow!
Oh and playing "spy games" too.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Snowy...Still!
I plan to start trying to remember to post my FB updates on here from The Daily Harlow. It's a page I ahve on FB so those who want to see stuff about her can do so, and aren't overrun on my regular news feed.
I got our energy out of the dog park this morning. Snowy and cold, but it's just how she likes it!
I got our energy out of the dog park this morning. Snowy and cold, but it's just how she likes it!
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| The awesome and very tasty cake we (Dad, Jodi and I) for our birthdays recently. |
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| I've turned into one of those people who shares the pillow with her dog on the couch. Yikes. |
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| Always holding this particular ball out of the side of her mouth! |
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| Back from the dog park |
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| wet from the snow at the park |
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
Oliver
I was coming out of the pet store tonight with a billion pound bag of dog food for Harlow when it struck me that Oliver's death date came and went unnoticed by me this year. March 9th. Last Monday. Not that this is a date that need noting, really, but I never had a birthday for Oliver. I never knew when it was, so while his death date is sad, it's a moment to reflect on him.
Missing it made me feel bad. And burst into tears thinking about him. As I put the bag of food in my trunk, a weird montage of memories of him came to me like in a movie. Him running across my lawn with his ears flopping up and down dramatically in Florida, driving him home from the foster family when I first met him - him resting his chin on my hand on the stick shift, him scrambling to his food dish when someone knocked at the door (always afraid they would take his kibble!), holding him as he left.
Why does that feel like such a privilege? To hold your friend and say goodbye as they fall asleep and then leave? I don't know, but it does.
Oliver was my heart. He was my little shadow. In a way, his cantankerous nature almost made him my dog equivalent. I felt an immediate bond with him that I wasn't aware of at the time until I adopted Harlow and found bonding to be tougher. Warming to Harlow has been slow. She was a challenging puppy. High energy, smart, clumsy, large. But I love her more and more every day, and I feel like she is becoming more of a kindred spirit to me as time passes and she matures.
I'm sad thinking about Oliver right in this moment, but the the missing isn't as painful as it once was. I think about how nice it would have been to see my two dogs together, but oh the jealousy!
And Harlow? Boy, would she have annoyed him!
Missing it made me feel bad. And burst into tears thinking about him. As I put the bag of food in my trunk, a weird montage of memories of him came to me like in a movie. Him running across my lawn with his ears flopping up and down dramatically in Florida, driving him home from the foster family when I first met him - him resting his chin on my hand on the stick shift, him scrambling to his food dish when someone knocked at the door (always afraid they would take his kibble!), holding him as he left.
Why does that feel like such a privilege? To hold your friend and say goodbye as they fall asleep and then leave? I don't know, but it does.
Oliver was my heart. He was my little shadow. In a way, his cantankerous nature almost made him my dog equivalent. I felt an immediate bond with him that I wasn't aware of at the time until I adopted Harlow and found bonding to be tougher. Warming to Harlow has been slow. She was a challenging puppy. High energy, smart, clumsy, large. But I love her more and more every day, and I feel like she is becoming more of a kindred spirit to me as time passes and she matures.
I'm sad thinking about Oliver right in this moment, but the the missing isn't as painful as it once was. I think about how nice it would have been to see my two dogs together, but oh the jealousy!
And Harlow? Boy, would she have annoyed him!
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| the smirk! |
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| One of my favorites form a furcut day |
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| such heavy ears |
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Houseguests
While I love my friends and will travel the world to see them, it's true that for the most part, I am usually the one who travels because mostly, my friends have kids and it's harder for them to get around.
This weekend, Meg came to visit with two of her four kids, Miles, 4, and Stella, 7 for a weekend with me and Miss Harlow. Initially, they were going to come on Valentine's Day weekend, but Miles got sick and evidently from her recent FB update, their February vacation was taken over by the bug;
"Some people went south for February Break, but we--get this--directed, produce and starred in our very own production of "The Barfcapades" and had a water feature INSIDE the house! Vacation Fun-----NAILED IT!!!!!"
The three of them arrived healthy and happy on Saturday morning. We took Stella to a friend's house for a birthday party and Miles, Meg and I continued on to grab some lunch, get in some clothes shopping and food shopping before heading back to pick Stella up from her party.
Back at my place, the kids, especially Miles, smothered Harlow with love (how exciting to have ball thrower and treat dispenser on the ready!).
With Meg's kids around there is no shortage of entertainment. Vivian and Sylvia, age 2, weren't with us, but Meg conveyed a story of how at gymnastics recently, Sylvia climbed up onto some mats (where there were cracks in between the mats), threw her arms out to either side and announced at the top of her lungs with sing-song delivery "I'm not afraid of the crackssssssss!"
At the same gym class, Miles ran off the mats to Meg, kissed her on her hand and told her "You can put THAT on your forehead!" before skipping back to gym class.
Miles is most definitely his own person. Meg has informed me that when he has trouble focusing, they've found the solution is singing requests to him. "He lives in a musical" Meg told me. And I witnessed it many times, like this one below, when Meg was encouraging Miles to get his coat on so we could get out of the car and do the food shopping...
The Miles Musical from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
Back at my place, the kids decorated some cupcakes before watching Despicable Me while I cooked dinner and Meg and I got to talk.
Stella's Cupcake Design MO from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
The evening was nice with a good meal and interesting conversation. Like when Miles exclaimed "I'm four and a half but I feel like I'm only four!" And everyone agreed that Stella was seven going on seventeen.
After dinner we were playing with some art supplies that Mom got the kids when Miles went to play with Harlow. Things got too rough when Miles laid on the floor and Harlow slowly sort of tried to grab the scuff of his neck. Poor Miles! He was scared of course but very brave. Fortunately, Harlow's reaction was a good one; she let go the minute Miles skreeched and then began licking his face as soon as she could get to him (we separated them immediately, of course). Miles had only a small scratch (thank you!) and it was only a few moments before Miles told Harlow through his tears "I forgive you Harwo. I wuv you Harwo!" And asking if Harlow could sleep with him that night, which was very sweet.
When I was a kid, Dad gave me a nature listening device, which I used as cool "spy gear". It was a gun-looking thing with a disk on the end which collected sound and brought it to your ears via headphones. Stella and I played with that for a little while. I made a code for her where I would read numbers to her (from a distance and only in whisper, of course) and she would use the chart I gave her to match the numbers I gave her with the letters they went with. Fun!
The next morning we enjoyed Meg's homemade soda bread for breakfast, watched Despicable Me 2, and went to the dog park with Harlow. It was a snowy mess basically, and the chaos made Stella a bit uncomfortable. I can't say I blame her. They three of them walked to the top of the hill to distance themselves from the dogs, and Miles took a seat. In dog poop.
Lunch back and my place and Stella completed a comic we were making together about the days' adventures.
And Miles vied for Harlow's affections. Sometimes successful, sometimes not...
Calling Harlow from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
It was a really great time and I loved being with Meg in a way that was a bit more long term than grabbing a meal. Now that they live in the Berkshires it's harder to see each other, but more of an adventure when we do too!
As they were leaving, Miles wrapped his arms around Harlow's neck and kissed her on the top of her head and told her "When you miss me, you can take that and put it on your nose and you'll remember!"
Now get out of my house, kid, before you make me cry.
This weekend, Meg came to visit with two of her four kids, Miles, 4, and Stella, 7 for a weekend with me and Miss Harlow. Initially, they were going to come on Valentine's Day weekend, but Miles got sick and evidently from her recent FB update, their February vacation was taken over by the bug;
"Some people went south for February Break, but we--get this--directed, produce and starred in our very own production of "The Barfcapades" and had a water feature INSIDE the house! Vacation Fun-----NAILED IT!!!!!"
The three of them arrived healthy and happy on Saturday morning. We took Stella to a friend's house for a birthday party and Miles, Meg and I continued on to grab some lunch, get in some clothes shopping and food shopping before heading back to pick Stella up from her party.
Back at my place, the kids, especially Miles, smothered Harlow with love (how exciting to have ball thrower and treat dispenser on the ready!).
With Meg's kids around there is no shortage of entertainment. Vivian and Sylvia, age 2, weren't with us, but Meg conveyed a story of how at gymnastics recently, Sylvia climbed up onto some mats (where there were cracks in between the mats), threw her arms out to either side and announced at the top of her lungs with sing-song delivery "I'm not afraid of the crackssssssss!"
At the same gym class, Miles ran off the mats to Meg, kissed her on her hand and told her "You can put THAT on your forehead!" before skipping back to gym class.
Miles is most definitely his own person. Meg has informed me that when he has trouble focusing, they've found the solution is singing requests to him. "He lives in a musical" Meg told me. And I witnessed it many times, like this one below, when Meg was encouraging Miles to get his coat on so we could get out of the car and do the food shopping...
The Miles Musical from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
Back at my place, the kids decorated some cupcakes before watching Despicable Me while I cooked dinner and Meg and I got to talk.
Stella's Cupcake Design MO from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
The evening was nice with a good meal and interesting conversation. Like when Miles exclaimed "I'm four and a half but I feel like I'm only four!" And everyone agreed that Stella was seven going on seventeen.
After dinner we were playing with some art supplies that Mom got the kids when Miles went to play with Harlow. Things got too rough when Miles laid on the floor and Harlow slowly sort of tried to grab the scuff of his neck. Poor Miles! He was scared of course but very brave. Fortunately, Harlow's reaction was a good one; she let go the minute Miles skreeched and then began licking his face as soon as she could get to him (we separated them immediately, of course). Miles had only a small scratch (thank you!) and it was only a few moments before Miles told Harlow through his tears "I forgive you Harwo. I wuv you Harwo!" And asking if Harlow could sleep with him that night, which was very sweet.
When I was a kid, Dad gave me a nature listening device, which I used as cool "spy gear". It was a gun-looking thing with a disk on the end which collected sound and brought it to your ears via headphones. Stella and I played with that for a little while. I made a code for her where I would read numbers to her (from a distance and only in whisper, of course) and she would use the chart I gave her to match the numbers I gave her with the letters they went with. Fun!
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| Stella the spy! |
The next morning we enjoyed Meg's homemade soda bread for breakfast, watched Despicable Me 2, and went to the dog park with Harlow. It was a snowy mess basically, and the chaos made Stella a bit uncomfortable. I can't say I blame her. They three of them walked to the top of the hill to distance themselves from the dogs, and Miles took a seat. In dog poop.
Lunch back and my place and Stella completed a comic we were making together about the days' adventures.
And Miles vied for Harlow's affections. Sometimes successful, sometimes not...
Calling Harlow from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
It was a really great time and I loved being with Meg in a way that was a bit more long term than grabbing a meal. Now that they live in the Berkshires it's harder to see each other, but more of an adventure when we do too!
As they were leaving, Miles wrapped his arms around Harlow's neck and kissed her on the top of her head and told her "When you miss me, you can take that and put it on your nose and you'll remember!"
Now get out of my house, kid, before you make me cry.
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| At B-Good Burgers. They were yummy! |
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| Sharing a shake, old school |
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| buds |
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| Meg would tell me that leaving them behind with me is not an option. Mom! Geez, so protective! |
Friday, March 13, 2015
I Feel Good
I feel content these days.
I have a house I love, a dog who keeps me company. My blood sugars are terrible lately but that happens. I've been getting into yoga which I'm really enjoying. I've been using an app on my phone that helps me find yoga studios in town, shows what types of classes they teach and when happen.
It's a tricky thing to be new at because a class for "all levels" at one studio might be fine but at another might be too hard for me. Some studios do heated yoga which I really can't do. Not simply because it's uncomfortable but because I get light-headed very easily (more on that in a bit) and it freaks me out.
For the past month I've had some gross phlegmy thing going on and I went to a doctor yesterday about it. She gave me a Rx for nasal spray and hopefully that will help. The other issue is fluid in my ear which means my ear buzzes half the time. Or maybe that's just Harlow breathing in my ear. No, I think it's the fluid.
I asked her about the fact that I often get light-headed during yoga "I even feel queasy sometimes". She looked at my chart "It's your low blood pressure. Your pressure today was 70/54."
Even I know that's low for me. So, I need to up my salt intake, I guess, or at least eat something salty before yoga now. Last night I went to a yoga class in Somerville and it was great. I like yoga because it's challenging, but it's all about "listening to your body" which sounds cheesy as hell but really is just a great excuse to sit out a move of two if you're too tired. "I'm listening to my body and it told me not to do the upward facing python twist so I'm just gonna lay down now"
At the end of last night's class we did a guided meditation. Sitting with legs crossed and hands facing up resting on your knees. I couldn't do it. No way. My back was sore sitting that way for so long, I get fidgety. So, I just laid down. I'm pretty sure that's cheating when it comes to the meditation part, but I don't want to get to the end of yoga and be all happy about my hard work but leave with a sore back.
It's been a rough week at work. I'm finding that at BU there is more sitting around than I'm happy with and it's frustrating. I could be taking on private clients, going to the gym, doing something way more constructive at home (working my way through the shows piling up on my DRV for example). I'm sitting at my desk acting busy, or waiting to go to a meeting, or waiting to go to a shoot. I don't go wander campus because we're all caught up with photos and don't need any for while, plus the students are on break this week so trying to find something to shoot is tantamount to torture. Although it is nice to have a job where I can walk around.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining and I am, but I can complain occasionally and still be really grateful. Because that's exactly how I am. Grateful.
One might say here "Why not just go take pictures?" because they will never be used anywhere and that's just annoying. Plus, I seem to be shooting nothing but crap lately; no interesting composition, no interesting colors, nice moments. Nothing. I have goose eggs. Zero.
I posted about this on FB today...
You know you're having a bad week when you start having nightmares that no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to make a good picture. I dreamt this morning that I was driving through insane traffic conditions (think Mumbai) to get to a school to photograph a cheer leading practice. By the time I got there, they were done with practice. A few of them said they were going back to their house to practice and I could come along. So I did. They got ready to practice at their home and suddenly got distracted by the pet penguin and it's baby wandering through the house! I went to pet the penguin and when I looked up, lights were dimming, candles were being lit and a Seder was starting. "Sorry, you can't take any pictures!" they told me. So I left. As I got to my car I realized I had no shoes on. And no pictures either. (sad trombone).That's the other thing. Really really long, elaborate, complicated, graphic dreams which result in me waking drained. So that's fun.
I am proud of the newsletter I just sent out for CSP though. It took a ton of time to get right but the end result is great, I think. http://createsend.com/t/i-DBEBA359F9A3BFA9
This weekend Meg is coming with Stella and Miles and I am completely excited about seeing them and spending the weekend with them. Gonna be great.
I'll end this with Harlow and the challenges of the tennis ball and ice combo.
Sure are slippery! from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
I have a house I love, a dog who keeps me company. My blood sugars are terrible lately but that happens. I've been getting into yoga which I'm really enjoying. I've been using an app on my phone that helps me find yoga studios in town, shows what types of classes they teach and when happen.
It's a tricky thing to be new at because a class for "all levels" at one studio might be fine but at another might be too hard for me. Some studios do heated yoga which I really can't do. Not simply because it's uncomfortable but because I get light-headed very easily (more on that in a bit) and it freaks me out.
For the past month I've had some gross phlegmy thing going on and I went to a doctor yesterday about it. She gave me a Rx for nasal spray and hopefully that will help. The other issue is fluid in my ear which means my ear buzzes half the time. Or maybe that's just Harlow breathing in my ear. No, I think it's the fluid.
I asked her about the fact that I often get light-headed during yoga "I even feel queasy sometimes". She looked at my chart "It's your low blood pressure. Your pressure today was 70/54."
Even I know that's low for me. So, I need to up my salt intake, I guess, or at least eat something salty before yoga now. Last night I went to a yoga class in Somerville and it was great. I like yoga because it's challenging, but it's all about "listening to your body" which sounds cheesy as hell but really is just a great excuse to sit out a move of two if you're too tired. "I'm listening to my body and it told me not to do the upward facing python twist so I'm just gonna lay down now"
At the end of last night's class we did a guided meditation. Sitting with legs crossed and hands facing up resting on your knees. I couldn't do it. No way. My back was sore sitting that way for so long, I get fidgety. So, I just laid down. I'm pretty sure that's cheating when it comes to the meditation part, but I don't want to get to the end of yoga and be all happy about my hard work but leave with a sore back.
It's been a rough week at work. I'm finding that at BU there is more sitting around than I'm happy with and it's frustrating. I could be taking on private clients, going to the gym, doing something way more constructive at home (working my way through the shows piling up on my DRV for example). I'm sitting at my desk acting busy, or waiting to go to a meeting, or waiting to go to a shoot. I don't go wander campus because we're all caught up with photos and don't need any for while, plus the students are on break this week so trying to find something to shoot is tantamount to torture. Although it is nice to have a job where I can walk around.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining and I am, but I can complain occasionally and still be really grateful. Because that's exactly how I am. Grateful.
One might say here "Why not just go take pictures?" because they will never be used anywhere and that's just annoying. Plus, I seem to be shooting nothing but crap lately; no interesting composition, no interesting colors, nice moments. Nothing. I have goose eggs. Zero.
I posted about this on FB today...
You know you're having a bad week when you start having nightmares that no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to make a good picture. I dreamt this morning that I was driving through insane traffic conditions (think Mumbai) to get to a school to photograph a cheer leading practice. By the time I got there, they were done with practice. A few of them said they were going back to their house to practice and I could come along. So I did. They got ready to practice at their home and suddenly got distracted by the pet penguin and it's baby wandering through the house! I went to pet the penguin and when I looked up, lights were dimming, candles were being lit and a Seder was starting. "Sorry, you can't take any pictures!" they told me. So I left. As I got to my car I realized I had no shoes on. And no pictures either. (sad trombone).That's the other thing. Really really long, elaborate, complicated, graphic dreams which result in me waking drained. So that's fun.
I am proud of the newsletter I just sent out for CSP though. It took a ton of time to get right but the end result is great, I think. http://createsend.com/t/i-DBEBA359F9A3BFA9
This weekend Meg is coming with Stella and Miles and I am completely excited about seeing them and spending the weekend with them. Gonna be great.
I'll end this with Harlow and the challenges of the tennis ball and ice combo.
Sure are slippery! from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Harlow Update
Harlow is changing. Ever so slightly. Bit by bit. She's growing up. She is still mischievous, but she is maturing too. Yesterday I left her loose in the first floor (no crating) while I went off to yoga. I returned to find no damage or destruction. Progress! A week ago I'd given this a try and failed to notice that I left Amanda's DVD which she'd loaned to me, on a chair. I returned to a destroyed movie, aptly name Despicable Me.
Amanda got a new movie with a carefully written pup apology.
Her vocabulary is interesting though (Harlow's, not Amanda's). Now when I ask her "Where's your ball?" or say "Get the stick!" she listens to me, then consciously turns and looks for the item I've just mentioned. That item specifically. It's pretty impressive. A few weeks ago we were in my room and she'd brought in purple cow. As we left the room, I noticed she'd left purple cow behind. I said "Go get purple cow!" and she went straight back to her bed where she'd left it and picked it up.
She has "leave it" and "take it" down solid. I often sue both when giving her a treat. The idea being that she learn she can't take something until she's given the OK. This is especially useful around kids who might be walking around with food. She learns she can't take it from them unless she's given the "take it" command.
She does seem to go in phases of weird traits though. Months ago, she was really into hiding her head under the curtains at bedtime. She doesn't do that anymore. Now, she talks. A lot. She barks when she thinks she hears something outside, and does her talky barky thing regularly. Where she sort of grumbles at me. For not getting out of bed. For not greeting her in the morning once I'm out of bed with the right amount of peppiness.
She has now figured out the couch. She can get up onto it with ease now, which she didn't used to. I think because I had rained her to stay off the couch. Now, I put a red blanket down and she knows she can join me. I love when she hops up and plops half her body across me, as if the couch is lacking space.
Here, she talks to me about her bone (or really, tries to get me to throw it).
Chatting it up about a soup bone from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
Amanda got a new movie with a carefully written pup apology.
Her vocabulary is interesting though (Harlow's, not Amanda's). Now when I ask her "Where's your ball?" or say "Get the stick!" she listens to me, then consciously turns and looks for the item I've just mentioned. That item specifically. It's pretty impressive. A few weeks ago we were in my room and she'd brought in purple cow. As we left the room, I noticed she'd left purple cow behind. I said "Go get purple cow!" and she went straight back to her bed where she'd left it and picked it up.
She has "leave it" and "take it" down solid. I often sue both when giving her a treat. The idea being that she learn she can't take something until she's given the OK. This is especially useful around kids who might be walking around with food. She learns she can't take it from them unless she's given the "take it" command.
She does seem to go in phases of weird traits though. Months ago, she was really into hiding her head under the curtains at bedtime. She doesn't do that anymore. Now, she talks. A lot. She barks when she thinks she hears something outside, and does her talky barky thing regularly. Where she sort of grumbles at me. For not getting out of bed. For not greeting her in the morning once I'm out of bed with the right amount of peppiness.
She has now figured out the couch. She can get up onto it with ease now, which she didn't used to. I think because I had rained her to stay off the couch. Now, I put a red blanket down and she knows she can join me. I love when she hops up and plops half her body across me, as if the couch is lacking space.
Here, she talks to me about her bone (or really, tries to get me to throw it).
Chatting it up about a soup bone from C.M. Scott on Vimeo.
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