Reading Rainbow: The Corrections

So, one of the things I want to use this bloggy-poo for is keeping track of the stuff I read.  I’ve kept an Amazon list for a while and it helps me remember old favorites that I want to come back to sometime.  Also I love getting recommendations and reviews from others, so I feel like this is my little way of giving back, right?!

Let’s kick things off with a doozie! I just finished The Corrections by Jonathan Frazen yesterday.  Wow, dudes! It was a wild, wild ride which is exactly what I said about Freedom, actually his more recent novel which I read first and adored.  Pick this sucker up when you feel like really immersing yourself in a story for a week or two.  You’ll wait forever to get it from the library, it’s massive, and it is a royal pain to haul around in your purse for all that time, but it’s definitely worth it.  (I guess this is a good time to voice my opposition to those demon e-readers… save the printed page!!)

Via Amazon

Anyway, this novel is the story of a really REALLY dysfunctional family and its matriarch’s efforts to bring everyone together for one final Christmas before her husband’s Parkinson’s deteriorates.  You probably are saying “aww” here, but the guy is a truly despicable character.  Bad, bad, very bad egg. 

Well I won’t drone on with plot details.  It is GREAT and engrossing family study, which speaks to the neurotic and endearing qualities in all of ours.  And as an oldest sibling, I found myself nodding in agreement with my fictional counterpart in the book.  Somebody out there understands our plight!!!  

To help quantify things, I’ve developed this… WOMBAT RATING SYSTEM! Yea that’s right.  You love it.  The Corrections is officially bestowed with 4/5 woms:

Chooch Gets Schooled

As announced, tonight was Chooch’s very first day of doggie obedience class!!! He did awesome, of course (obviously due to the fact that he is the greatest, best dog whose paws ever pitter-pattered across God’s green earth, duh).  Well and also because we are responsible parents and did successfully teach him at least ONE good manner- sit for the win! So tonight he mostly demonstrated that over and over, enjoying an impressive quantity of questionably earned treats.

Here we are en route!

Getting acquainted…

Here comes the teach!! Shape up, young man!!

Regrettably we did have one tiny accident (Petsmart class can disorient even the saintliest of pups):

Curious Chooch…

Al…most…. ehhhn!

Look at this scholarship!!!

So, definitely claiming victory for our first adventure in training : ) Now I am off to take this pooped beagle out for one more potty break!

Weekend Update

Braced for the end of the world, we instead we were greeted by a gorgeous weekend in the lovely Virginia suburbs.  See for yourself:

Neighborhood announcement

How do you interpret this message? Invasive plant removal in the ravine AND ALSO bagels? As in, two mutually exclusive events? Or, are they actually trying to pass off BAGELS as a fair exchange for two hours of field labor? Well as tempting as “the ravine” was, a certain someone’s birthday fell upon us on Saturday! (Coinciding of course with the forecasted apocolypse- probably appropriate)

Birthday highlights:

• I gifted Jeff the finest athletic shorts Marshall’s had to offer, which he will be promptly returning (urgh… wife fail)
• I lovingly prepared a super yummy Sunday brunch, this time with only one dangerous kitchen moment (smoking bacon grease due to my having left a burner on long after we sat down to eat)
• We went to the Fireworks Pizza place in Courthouse? Which is SO AWESOME, seriously GO. I had a tomato soup experience which was life… changing.  Which, I know, who knew crappy old soup even had that capability! Try it and tell me that DELECTABLE DOLLOP of local Virginia goat cheese doesn’t make you a believer!!!
• Aaand I kicked off my favorite four months of the year, where Jeff is a full four years older than me, and also started the countdown to the old man’s thirtieth next year! Omigosh!

That’s it for today- tomorrow Chooch starts his first day of obedience class! What could possibly go wrong!

What… The…

Seriously- I’ve grown accustomed to bizarre-o ads on Weather.com-  for what I always thought was a legit company, they really do have some questionable material on that right side over there.  No joke, take a look next time.  But this… this? Zombie Carrie Underwood? WTF!

Furthermore, did you actually read that crap? Seven Hundred Twenty Nine Thousand is the cutoff at which you can seek mortgage assistance from the government!? If your home is valued at that level and you are struggling to pay for it, shouldn’t your first line of defense be… UMM… moving to a less expensive residence before you resort to public assistance!? Guess not! Love you, HUD! Where would we be without you!

Also, note the 3644 unread items in my gmail inbox (up to 3670 as of press time!).  I am seriously getting close to paying a Craigslist rando $20 to unsubscribe me from the 14 berjillion useless mailing lists I am on- the dark, dark downside to the convenience of online shopping.  Every morning, I roll over and check my blackberry and the spam greets me.  Rise and shine, PS Print! Hello there, J Crew! Top of the morning, Joe Banks! I have an open rate of 0% spanning years at this point, but go ahead and keep me on that list guys! Your luck will turn one day!

Hello, World!

First off- Hi! This is my first return to blogging since shutting down my beloved, albeit disastrously indiscreet, college blog.  Swag the Dog, 2003-2007, Rest in Xanga.

But I’m back, baby! Except not really, because this hyped up debut is only leading up to a pretty weak first post.  Friends, I humbly offer you this lovely little nugget of awesomeness from an otherwise regular Tuesday at work:

Tee… hee… hee… hee…

Aaaand that’s it for now.  Stick around!