The truth about cats & dogs

Whoever said that dogs and cats cannot get along clearly never owned a golden and a calico:


Meow Meow may be just a fraction of her canine siblings' weight. But she is the oldest pet in the household by several months. Her strange habit of grooming Dakota and Lilly must be part of that maternal instinct. Or something. Motivation aside, doesn't Dakota look like he's in puppy heaven?


Talk about hairballs ...

OK, we DID plan this ...

Part nine of my "We didn't plan this feature" brings a special installment: Opposite day! Because, at the urging of my creative co-worker Denise, my newsroom team DID plan white shirt day. With me are Karen, Chris, Denise and Bonnie. (We drew lots of comments from other co-workers, who said we looked like a catering team.)

In an ironic twist, though, my co-worker L. and I did not plan this. And, to honor a previous appointment we made, we went to lunch together in Old Town as twinkies.

25 down

Tonight I swam my 25th mile. That means I'm one quarter of the way to my 100-mile goal. I had planned to treat myself to something when I hit this point. Unfortunately, when I got to the pool tonight, I realized that I didn't have my new goggles and swim cap. They're not in the lost and found there, and I can't find them at home or in my car. So I guess my treat will be another new pair of goggles and a swim cap. Sigh.

For motivation's sake, I've waited until this point to do some workout number crunching. So here it goes. My 25 miles means that I ...

• swam 900 laps (1,800 lengths).
  
• spent about 25 hours in the lap lanes.
• burned 16,575 calories (almost five pounds).
• can swim up to seven strokes between breaths.
• could have swum from my house to Derby or Andover.

Feeding time lessons

Time: 2100 hours
Location: my kitchen
Mission: feeding two hungry golden retrievers

















Last month, I heard an essay by David Buetow on NPR's "This I Believe" program (I listen to it on my iPod.) I've listened to it a half dozen times, and it makes me smile. It reminds me of puppy feeding time at our home. Listen to the entire essay or read it here. My favorite excerpt of his essay:

"I believe in my dog. I believe in the way he lives his life, and I try to emulate him. I strive to gain his level of happiness in the simplest of things. Like the way he approaches each meal with endless appreciation and even joy. While I struggle to decide what to eat from full cupboards and lament what I don’t have, he circles the floor, excitedly anticipating the very same meal, in the very same portion, at the very same time every day."

I love this guy

On my way to my monthly quilt guild meeting tonight, I passed by my favorite Wichita sculpture on Douglas and noticed that the setting sun was casting a beautiful light. So I had to stop by to try to capture the moment:


I love how the water is illuminated and looks almost as if it's glowing.










This guy is a very loyal fan. He reads the paper every day. And I've never once heard him complain.

Garden glimpses

As much as I complain about the too-warm October weather, I do owe Mother Nature a big thank you for how well our tomato and pepper plants have done recently. This was my harvest this evening, only a week since my last collection:


Depending on the weather, it looks like I'll have another couple of weeks' worth of tomatoes and peppers, just in time for fall chili! Meanwhile, my yellow mums are blooming and should open up soon. Beautiful!

Great gourds

Tonight, Brian and I accompanied the Aldersgate youth to A-Maze-In-Grace, a corn maze and more in Wichita. In the past couple of years, we've gone to the Gaeddert maze in Buhler, and I have to say that we had enjoyed that one more. (The setting is rural rather than on the edge of town, the maze is taller and there's a bridge in the middle that you can climb to look out over the maze.) It was good, though, to support another local church. It was also weird this year that we were wearing jeans and T-shirts and sweating at 8:30 p.m. In past years, we've been bundled up drinking hot chocolate to keep warm. That seems a better fit for the fall tradition. One perk of this year's choice: excellent pumpkin bread the church ladies were selling as a fundraiser. We bought a loaf to enjoy later. I love the sights, smells and flavors of fall.