| May 6, 2003
Quiz time! If you were having a group of people (friends, neighbors, etc.) to your home in a few weeks, how would you prepare for the event? Would you:
- Clean the house to sparkling perfection and prepare a fantastic menu.
- Get some games for entertainment, maybe teach the dog a new trick or two.
- Shop for festive party supplies and something cute to wear.
Lovely options, all of them. These are the things that most people would choose to do, given a limited amount of preparation time and a desire to make a good impression.
We here at Cheezwerks HQ believe that the above options are for wimps - where's the sense of adventure in buying color-coordinated plastic servingware?! Wouldn't it be more fun as well as more impressive to, for example, rip open a couple of walls? Perhaps tear out the carpet? How about demolish the deck?
If you're thinking that nobody would be nuts enough to launch a major home improvement project right before a party, then clearly you have never been to one of our parties. We usually try to "improve" the house in some way before each major event. Sometimes this works out well, sometimes it is a disaster.
Falling into the "disaster" category was the deck replacement project in 2000. We ending up hosting our friends' pre-wedding barbecue in our townhouse's tiny yard amidst boards and rubble that had either been part of the old deck or were going to be used to build the new deck. Not exactly a picturesque setting, but we kept churning out fruity blender drinks and our guests probably didn't remember most of the evening, let alone the condition of the yard.
Fast forward a couple of years to a new house and even greater potential for home improvement catastrophes. Last fall we invited some people (okay, several dozen people) to see the new digs about a month after we moved in. That set off a flurry of activity...well, as much "flurrying" as a person can do when she's 7 months pregnant. Half an hour before party time, we had a toilet in the garage but not in the powder room, there was a ladder and a gaping hole in the wall in the foyer, and several outlets throughout the house were still without coverplates. HOWEVER, there was no trace of the pink foil wallpaper that had been in the entryway, the previously mint-green powder room had become a glorious yellow-orange color called "Hot Moon", and the guest bedroom was stylin' and ready for overnight visitors. (In case you're wondering, yes, I painted while pregnant. There is absolutely no proof that Sophie's forked tongue is related to that.)
So we're having a bunch of people to our house tomorrow evening and again in a few weekends, and we're trying to be more relaxed about it and avoid the frenzied home improvement activity. Translation: the French doors will probably still only be partially installed when folks arrive. That's okay; if you've been to our house before, you know that it's always a work in progress. Emphasis on progress.
April 25, 2003
 This week has been all about small dogs. Toby was falling behind on his responsibilities, so we had to bring in a temporary to assist. Meet Daisy, a fawn-colored pug.
Part canine and part sausage, pugs are generally happy (despite the perpetually sad eyes) and very people-friendly. They are most definitely "indoor" dogs---would YOU be comfortable outside in hot weather if you had to breathe through a nose like that?
 Daisy and Toby get along well together, which is great considering that Daisy is staying 10 days while her people (Baltimore friends of ours) are out of town. Please note, the picture to the right looks like the dogs were about to get "frisky"---Toby was actually trying to get Daisy to wrestle. Nothing romantic about that.
Daisy has two settings: spaz and lump. When she's in spaz mode, there is a lot of snorting involved. There is also snorting during lump mode, but it's a fine mist of pug nostril juice compared to the froth and hurricane-force wet sneezes that accompany spazzy activity. (Daisy particularly enjoys snorting on Sean, who practically gags every time.) Toby aspires to achieve the magnificence of Daisy-style spazzing, although their "lumping" abilities are fairly equal.
  When visiting us, Daisy enjoys perching on the backs of the sofas. Climbs right up there like she's been doing it all her life. Recently she has preferred my new red sofas, which is more of a no-no than the white [slipcovered] sofas. (Daisy's folks intentionally acquired "pug-colored" furniture; now I know why. Pugs are what you'd call "profuse shedders".) From atop her pillowed throne, she observes the yard and makes her "buff!" barking noise whenever there's a situation requiring our immediate attention, such as birds at the feeder, leaves falling from trees, etc.
My favorite pug feature is the ears: Daisy's ears feel like little velvet triangles. They're so cute, can't resist rubbing them!
April 8, 2003
I have a confession to make: I wasn't completely truthful in my responses to those of you who asked if I was looking forward to returning to work. Yes, I like my career, but I miss the baby. I've been back on the job for a week and a half now, and it's still hard to leave Sophie in the mornings, even though Sean has been taking great care of her. She's too young to consciously miss me during the day, but her tiny face lights up with a big smile when I get home and pick her up. *flutter*
A few funny things have happened in the few days I've been back at Good Ol' Company X.- Last week, some lady on the elevator insisted that I look "just like" Sarah Jessica Parker. Hmph. (I suppose I should consider this an improvement over the last actress I was compared to---Tori Spelling. Yikes.)
- Today a woman with whom I crossed paths at least on a semi-weekly basis during my heavily pregnant months exclaimed, "I didn't know you had a baby!" My response was, "Did you NOT see me walking around here last year?!" Apparently she meant that she was unaware that I had actually delivered the baby. Yeeeeah, that tends to happen when a person is pregnant---the kid has to come out sometime.
- Also today, I almost treated everyone to a potentially mortifying incident. A nursing pad had worked itself free and unbeknownst to me was floating around inside my [untucked] sweater. I had just made it back to my cube when I was alerted to its presence by the odd sensation of something dangling inside the hem. If it had actually dropped out in front of folks, there just wouldn't have been a delicate way to explain the situation. I figure that the sheer embarrassment I was spared in this event used up my entire weekly allotment of good fortune.
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[For those of you who are eagerly awaiting more information about the mysterious Ruby, be patient. I'm waiting for a good moment to take her picture to post with her info, and the right opportunity really hasn't presented itself just yet. I will narrow down the possibilities a bit: she is not a new pet, and she is most certainly not another baby on the way!]
April 5, 2003
I have a new "friend"; her name is Ruby. Rooo-bee. Oh, the places we've been and the places we will go! More details coming soon.
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