I'm sorry Kippie!

Our cute little bundle of fur is not, at this point in time, a cute little bundle of fur. Kippie has naughty owners who didn't brush her often enough. The result was some matting here and there. The only remedy was for the groomer to cut her hair very short all over. She is ugly now! Yep. We love her, but ugly she is. And besides homely, she is cold. She shivers quite often. We put a dog sweater on her sometimes during the day, and when out for a walk, she has her very own puffy jacket. Now she looks like a bruiser. We just aren't coordinating things quite right with this little girl. We gave her a boy's name and clothed her with a coat that makes her look like a hoodlum from West Side Story. Some day our old Kip will be back. I'M SORRY KIP!!!!!

A Lucille Ball Moment

Okay. This is how it all went down.

Jeff came home early on the train to find a flat tire. Tire wheel was rusted on to whatever it sits on. Jeff calls wife: "Will you please pick me up at Duke and Lee's (a nearby service station), drop me at my doctor's appointment, and then go back to Duke and Lee's?" Sure honey! Out the door with Kip and no lipstick. In fact, I look pretty rough. Drop off husband at Doctor's and I MUST, MUST stop home for lipstick. I don't want to scare Duke, or Lee for that matter. Back at home, with lipstick on plus a bit of make up, I put on my glasses. Rather, I try to. SNAP! The left arm broke. Oh great. My glasses are flimsy wiry things that will not sit properly on anyone's nose without both limbs in place. Get out the scotch tape. Leave dog and drive to Duke and Lee's with glasses (and scotch tape) sitting at an angle. Mmmm. I'm feeling a bit dizzy. Get to station. He needs to know where van is parked. Okay. Back into car to drive over to train depot to find van and write down plate number for Duke (or is it Lee?). Drive back to station, glasses floating around my face. Ugh, I feel sick. Leave info. Try to drive to optician. Get half-way there and notice the low-gas light is on. I'm almost on empty. Still holding glasses to my face. Turn around to go back to station for gas. Duke doesn't sell gas anymore, just does service. Pull out to go elsewhere. I'm going to throw up. Find gas station, me sitting on cement ledge as car fills up, holding my stomach. Jeff calls, he's done already. Okay, I'll come get you. Drive like a drunken sailor to doctor's office, still holding my glasses in place. Groan. I feel horrible. Pull into parking lot and somehow hit my glasses with left arm. Glasses fly across the car into never never land. Cautiously creep through parking lot half blind, trying not to kill anyone. There's Jeff outside waiting for me. At least I think it's Jeff. Not sure on that one. It is. I pull up, drag myself out of the car, hand him the keys and say with a green face, "here, you drive!"

Somehow we got everything taken care of and me to the optician where they had the exact temporary arm I needed for my glasses. And I never did throw up. The moral of the story? Beats me. I just wanted you to share in it.

Gran Torino

Jeff and I went to the 4:05 showing of Gran Torino yesterday. I had heard, although there is alot of cussing, the story itself is very good. Clint Eastwood produced, directed and stars in it so you can guess the rating: R. The R was most likely for language and some moments when a girl was being harassed by a gang - they were making crude gestures. But - no nudity, no sex. Just the language. The language is there because it's how the characters really talk, it's part of who the person is - it's not gratuitous cussing. Now on to the movie.

So as not to give too much away I'll say this about it: it is a heart-warming story of an old, racist, beer-drinking, recent widower whose neighborhood is being overrun by Hmong's and blacks. Coming out of WWII, he has no respect at all for any Asian, and is not reluctant to share his prejudices. The movie takes you through events where he ends up protecting the very people he can't stand, the Hmongs. What is so refreshing to me is they show a Christian (Catholic Priest) as a noble, strong, good person (not a wimp or liberal), and they show immigrants as real people with some of them being good and some being evil (just like it is with Caucasians). My few comments cannot communicate how good it really is. All I can say is, go - and take Kleenex.

Football!

I watched a football game tonight. Any of you who know me know I am not in to football, never have been. But tonight, even though Jeff is out of town and I had no reason to sit down and watch the Superbowl, I did just that. And am I glad I did. It was a fantastic game, wasn't it? I admit I was routing for Arizona so was sad at the final outcome. They both played a tough game and made it very exciting for even a rookie watcher like me. Congrats to the Pittsburg Steelers.