49

So on Tuesday my dad turned "49". I felt bad because I missed his birthday due to traveling for work. When we were kids we'd ask Dad what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas and he would always answer with: "Good grades" so we'd buy him socks.

This year I'll get him some socks and maybe a nice shirt to go with them.

Happy 49th Dad! ;)

Some Clouds. Cold. Low 1F.

Honestly who chooses to live like this? Tonight its going to 1 degree outside. That dog better pee faster than she has ever peed before on tonight's walk!

Poor Brett had to do a boarding very early this morning. He has got to be miserable.

I am hoping for a nice warm night inside the house. I hear its just going to get worse this weekend. Last night my mother in law called Brett. It was 80 degrees in Southern Cali. gggrrrrrr!

sleeping habits

Brett and I have a queen bed... and a 50 lb bulldog. Normal people have the dog sleep on a bed of their own on the floor. She has one of those. Never touched. Other dogs might sleep at the end of the bed protecting their parents. Our dog sleeps between us in the bed. When Brett leaves in the morning she doesn't go to his side of the bed. Instead she comes up and lays on my head. She likes to put her head either on my neck or directly on top of my head. I move so she isn't breathing into my face and her heavy head and wet jowls aren't on my face. Her body then wraps itself around my head while taking up 90% of my pillow. She then pushes her paws into my head, neck and shoulders to make more room for her body on my pillow. I eventually wake up to find that I am no longer sleeping on the pillow. I pull her body off of my pillow. She then sleeps between the two pillows on the bed, snoring into my pillow. Her little legs are stretched out and as I try to get comfortable i end up sleeping on top of dog legs.

This is how my day starts. Everyday between 6am and 7:30am. Breathing my dogs breath and sleeping on her little legs.

The dog is always the most comfortable person in the room. As I write this I am sitting/laying on the couch with my legs bent to the side. The dog is laying down with her body on the other side of my bent legs. The way to picture this is the dog is taking up 90% of the couch and I am trying to fit on the couch while attempting to be comfortable. Oh and did I mention Brett is also on the couch. He has to sit diagonal with his legs on the table. The dog has taken over the couch and she is snoring. Loudly. Anytime one of us moves she wakes up and gives us dirty looks. Afterwards within 10 seconds the snoring resumes, her eyes might still be open but she is again snoring. If she hasn't found her own spot on the couch she just sleeps on top of us. Here is a classic night from my view.





nice huh? Thank god she's only 50 pounds. I'd have a lot more problems if she was 75 pounds huh?

Snowy Lawn Chairs

There is a phenomenon that happens in the winter when it snows. People in the city "save" their parking spots that they shoveled out using Spacesavers as the Mayor calls them. Spacesavers are typically lawn chairs, broken fans, garbage cans, and cones. It makes the beautiful snow look like a ghetto of broken chairs.

From the Mayor's office on the City of Boston website:
"Any spacesavers® left in on-street parking spaces that have been shoveled out must be removed 48 hours after a snow emergency has ended."

Keywords here are: 48 HOURS and SNOW EMERGENCY



Knowing that this is an actual rule I am OK with people doing this... most of the time. I personally do NOT put anything outside in a spot I shoveled and thankfully in Charlestown there are many other people that share my frustration with this "rule". Last winter we had 3 days of intense snow. so much snow that work was cancelled - that never happens! Anyways - I spent hours outside shoveling myself out of my spot knowing full well that if I went anywhere I would be hard pressed to find a new one. That's just the risk you have to take and after being stuck inside for several days. In this case we were willing to risk it. When I returned my spot was not taken but it was actually saved.... by someone else. Someone had the audacity to steal the parking spot that I had spent hours shoveling. That is NOT acceptable. I removed the lawn chair and attached a lovely note to it. Hopefully I taught that person a lesson, though i doubt it.



The thing that drives me so nuts about this "rule" is that it ONLY applies to snow emergency days. People think that any snow - even 1 inch - gives them the OK to save their parking space. I get so angry walking down the street looking at lawn chairs saved in spots that have no snow anywhere near them.



I have thought many times about photocopying lots of notices and making them look official to warn my lovely neighbors. The only problem is I might get caught putting them up. I know this is just a part of life and thankfully Charlestown is not the worst of them all. Southie is pretty brutal for their "spacesavers" in the winter.

Ahhh the charms of living in the city.