DOIN’ THE TIME WARP AGAIN – Is it December already?  Sheesh!  Seems like just twenty months ago, an almost unknown young man named Barack was starting a campaign for presidency.  Oh right, it was twenty months ago.  My bad.  I still run into people on a daily basis who are bitter about Obama’s election into the White House, as if by the power of their vitriol they can reverse time and un-elect him. Or is it de-elect?  Delect?  Never mind.

It’s difficult to understand that way of thinking.  Do they believe that McCain/Palin would have been able to pull this country out of a tailspin, the one their own party got us into?  My own doubt runs high on that side of the argument, but who am I to convince others that their opinion seems a bit shortsighted?

FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON – Yes, we’ve been waiting for a snow that doesn’t just stick in little clumps on the

Ozzie the SnowMonster

winter grass, but a snow that covers it.  And by “we,” I of course refer to the dogs and myself.  You “sun bunnies” (and you know who I’m talking about) are probably thinking, What, is he CRAZY? Many of my friends are considering moves or have already done so, to climates where it just. never. snows.  I can’t imagine trying to live in such a place. My ideal dream-vacation spot?  The arctic.  Yes, it’s true.  There, or Ireland, where rain and mist are the norm.  I lived in Aspen for five years, where it snows in October, and by the June meltoff, snow is piled sometimes as high as fifteen feet in places.

You know who else loves snow?  Guess.

THE CRAVINGS – I think I might be preggers.  No, not because my belly appears that it’s in its first trimester (silly!), but because I’ve been having the strangest cravings lately.  I’m very fond of salads.  However, it’s broccoli that I can’t get enough of.  I buy it in pounds each week at the grocery store, and by the following weekend, I’ve eaten every stalk.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Steamed, raw, or added to my favorite dishes.

Yummy!

Yesterday morning I began craving something else.  A well-toasted “everything” bagel with cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, and Spike seasoning.  I don’t know where the cravings come from, but at least they’re somewhat healthy cravings, and not for an entire pumpkin pie with whipped topping, or a box of Twinkies.  Yesterday in the store, I stopped and gazed longingly at the pickle jars on the shelf, wondering how many of those I could eat before I threw up.

When I start craving said pickles or tomatoes on chocolate ice cream, I’ll go see my ob/gyn.  Promise.

YAZ UPDATE – The puppy, Yaz (I decided to drop the second ‘z’ in her name…sportier), is maturing nicely.  We’ve managed to train out some of the behaviors that she’d taken on in her puppyhood, and which were never addressed by her previous family.  One of those was jumping up on people when she was excited.  Being such a big dog, and tall, it was truly an annoyance having her looking down at me from her hind legs.  Training that out of her took about a month.  The chewing, a little longer, but we seem to have that nicely under control as well.  The last item on her training list is “chattering.”  By that I mean that when she’s overly excited, her teeth chatter together, like a person’s teeth who is freezing might.  That’s not the bad part, though.  She tends to want to “teeth” my arm at the same time.  Several times she’s lost control and actually bitten down.  I broke her of that little habit immediately, but the “chattering” continues.  It does happen less and less often, which is a good sign.  I just haven’t discovered the key that will unlock that habit yet.  Working on it.  Otherwise, she’s adapted very well to our home and to the other dogs – and vice versa with the other dogs.  Everyone gets along well, the dominating has abated, and we all lived happily ever after.

HERE COME DA JUDGE, PT. II – I mentioned in an earlier AYPWIP post that I had been chosen as a fiction judge for next years Pikes Peak Writers fiction competition, which results will be revealed in March 2009.  I finalized the manuscripts I received from the contest coordinator on Friday and sent them in.  I really enjoyed reading through the stories.  One of them was so incredibly good, I wondered why it hadn’t been snapped up by a publisher already!  Though I can’t get into details here as to what the stories were or their content, I can say that there are some pretty amazing writers out there who have yet to have their talent revealed to the world at large.

And now that those entries have been scored, I can resume focus on my own writing, which is also going quite well.  Nothing like reading great stories to motivate me to work more on my own.

PARTING SHOT – Taken by one of my gracious neighbors, who allowed me to post this.

Coal Creek - 1/2 mile from home where the dogs love to romp