not really a 'watch person' but...

for these, i might change my mind.

warning: may melt your heart.

the luckiest

i'm on the verge of another cold and i wholeheartedly blame the air conditioning in my office. it's cold outside and yet the vent above me still spews out frigid arctic blasts. air so cold, that i am reduced to wearing gloves, scarves, hats and my jacket while i'm sitting at my desk. i drink mug after mug of hot steaming tea in an attempt to thaw out my internal organs. you would even think with all the griping and whining and stomping of feet about how cold it is, that i'd warm up a bit, but no.

do you know how hard it is to be taken seriously in corporate america while you are wearing mittens?!

i had enough the other day - balanced on my desk and one roll of duct tape later, the vent was sealed.

anyway. now i'm on verge-of-misery. throat a little scratchy, dull headache, skin that doesn't want to be touched because everything feels a little bit irritating.

i took a nap while lovely families around me whirled around making food, and arranged airport pick ups, and organized activities.

and then i woke to dev holding a little brown bag of 'treats'.

a kiwi. a tangerine complete with branch. and a pomegranet.

everything i would need was at arms length. the boy i adore and my favorite vitamin c loaded fruits.

i.am.the.luckiest.for.sure.

mix tapes live on

make yours here.

and if you make one especially for me i'll post it on my blog.

but not if you include christmas songs.

or any bryan adams.

consider yourself warned.

i have a fringe [because bangs is not a pretty word]

in an attempt to get my mind off the sad state of my little henry, i watched back-to-back episodes of scrubs with my lovely boy, went shopping and got a haircut. the stylist massaged my head for about 10 minutes with aveda products and i nearly decided to forgo the hair cut and just pay her to keep massaging.

the latest on henry is that he is paralyzed from the middle down. he can't stand, so he pulls himself along the floor. he can't control his bowel movements. my heart broke all over again when frederick told me he can't wag his tail.

surgery and an mri will cost $6500. that's ludicrous. and there is no guarantee it will fix the problem. a lot of money to spend on a 'maybe'. the other option is to just see if he heals by himself...since they haven't really figured out the problem. i know frederick is stressed about the whole situation. and i feel helpless and just sad. right to my core.

heartache.

leanna called today to tell me my dog, henry, had been in an accident. supposedly he was running after a mouse and hit his head really hard. hard enough that when frederick found him, he couldn't move. he can't stand...has no control over his back legs.

i have always loved dogs but henry is a special case. for many months he was the only light i knew and i can't express how much joy it bought my heart to come home to him wagging his tail so hard, his entire body would shake from side to side. we'd go walking together for an hour every.single.day, no matter what the weather, and no matter what my mood was as we set out, i always returned home feeling so much better. he is incredibly smart, and instantaneously lovable.

and now i have this lump that can't be dislodged.

i want this child to hang out with me all day and just keep telling me nonsensical stories in french.

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

things i am grateful for. a short, inexhaustible, list.

1.finding treasures at random garage sales on a sunday.
2.together-ness.
3.talent and faith coming together to produce incredible results.
4.mozzarella.basil.tomatoes.balsalmic vinegar.all.mixed.together.with.field.greens.mmm.
5.sunglasses.
6.spontaneous songs left on my voice mail.
7.brunch.
8.the beatles.
9.new music entering my life: the weepies
10.not wanting to be anywhere else but by your side. wherever that may be.

food for the soul

Devon Gundry - "Armed" from Justin Baldoni on Vimeo.

surrealism.

so i'm sitting on my bed with dev. it's a nice quiet night in. we made dinner together and it was a taste sensation. so here we are happy, cozy, full to the brim. my mum calls. we have a chat. marabeth shows us her new outfits. dev ignores the fashion show. i make tea. our macs are propped on our laps as we finish up some work so we can relax and watch a movie together.

and then it happens. dev gets a video ichat request. it pops open and there is rainn wilson.

in my bedroom.

this is where i should have stood up and left the room and found a quiet spot to do a jig and let out some of my excitement and stayed far, far away.

but oh no. i decide it's time for me to be mature. and act appropriately. celebrities are NORMAL people too. have you not read US Weekly lately? they do laundry, and read books and sometimes, god forbid, leave their houses without make up.

so i'm here. i'm cool. i can handle this.

dev turns the camera and introduces me. i smile. say hi. rainn says he's heard a lot about me. i say the same thing back. the whole time in my head i'm thinking 'BE WITTY'. but i had nothing.

so rainn wants dev to hear this parody of a song he's working on. and i'm thoroughly amused by the entire situation and pretty much everything rainn says is the.funniest.thing.i've.ever.heard.

then suddenly dev leaves the room to get his guitar.

um. so it's me. with my mac on my lap. and rainn right there. next to me. and we are not talking. but he can see me. and i can see him. it's a little awkward.

but awkward doesn't even begin to describe the next sixty seconds of my life.

rainn sees my mac and says 'oh you're a mac person' - you know, making idle chitchat to break the silence.

and i take this moment to shine.

i respond 'yep. i'm a mac' and then -this is not an exaggeration- i start to do 'the robot', while repeating 'i'm a mac', 'i'm a mac'.

you see, i was making fun of the 'i'm a PC' commercial on TV. but there were two problems:

1. the commercial doesn't have someone doing a weird robot dance saying 'i'm a PC'
2. rainn has never seen the commercial.

so the whole thing fell flat.

and there was no recovery.

luckily dev walked back in and took control of the situation. while my insides curled up into a little ball of mortification.

and this, ladies and gentlemen is how i spent a monday night.

the end.

yeehaw.

name game

got an email today...had to smile at how my name was spelled. then i saw the name of the sender. amazing.

happy birthday ritajeane.

it's another beautiful crisp autumn day.

i'm sitting on the gundry's deck with my macbook, screendoor open, blue sky overhead, a family i love inside the house making family noises. cold play is filling the airwaves. dev is taking apart a bed. or taking over the universe. not really sure which. the dogs (sasha and munch) are prancing around looking for trouble. i'm still full from a breakfast of pancakes & berries, bacon & eggs. suffice to say today was a not-a-vegetarian day.

it's all really quite lovely.

AND it's jen's birthday.

happy birthday love - see you in five sleeps!

(photo taken on jen's birthday one year ago)