A seriously cute video of dogs in slow motion, jumping for treats. Ridiculously adorable.

I found it on Boing Boing.

So normally I’m not a fan of sporting events, but the Olympics are another matter altogether… I love the Olympics. I will watch them non-stop, every sport, every game and enjoy every minute of it.

We just finished watching the US/Canada gold medal hockey game and now I am bummed. Good job Canada, but damn if I wasn’t completely sad looking at the faces of the US team. Dejection is the only word to describe it. Miller the goalkeeper was so good and yet the puck slipped in—and oh, his posture, so crushed.

Incidentally the announcers are all talking about how this will hopefully make hockey more popular nationwide, and I hate to burst their bubble, but I doubt it. It was awesome, certainly, but it was for a gold medal… in the Olympics. This shit only comes along every four years!

Was definitely an awesome couple of weeks. :)

“This is a stop-motion animated video that imagines baking cookies using Photoshop. It was made by Vimeo user Stafania, a recent graduate of the European Institute of Design in Milan.” – from Neatorama

Yesterday was the Chop’s 35th birthday—and now he claims to feel old. As in, downward slope to 40, no longer in his early 30s, OLD. I, of course, find that hilarious—partially because I haven’t hit 30 yet and partially because he looks like he hasn’t hit 30 yet. Damn good genes, I say.

I made poached eggs and grits, got him coffee from Starbucks and we watched movies all day until we went out to dinner—then we came home, watched another movie and ate cake. We’re crazy party people, I know. It’s sad, lol.

Five Guys is truly the best burger place that ever was or will be. I am not even close to kidding. If there is one near you, go, eat there and then thank me.

I don’t eat red meat. Not “mostly,” never. I never eat red meat. I just don’t have a taste for it and honestly it doesn’t occur to me most of the time to eat it.

However, when a Five Guys opened near our old house, when went to give it a try—the Chop is a burger lover—and I became a FG burger convert. I won’t eat them anywhere else, but FG makes them amazing somehow. The fries are super tasty, too. :D

Chop went there for lunch with a co-worker, and then I asked him to bring me some home after work… he’s pretty sure they think he’s crazy, lol.

This weekend a very cute cat came to visit. :) And she shouldn’t move back to the UK because a) she makes super yummy cupcakes and b) she’s just too much fun to lose to those stodgy Brits! lol

And oh man, Lost started last night and holy crap I’m still reeling from that one. Two hours and I’m far more confused than I was at the end of last year. And I was pretty confused last year, too.

This is the first time since I moved to this coast that I’ve had a boss that I actually respect and admire, and it’s a different experience for me.

My boss gets in before most everyone and is undoubtedly the last to leave. She works weekends, she works from home and she’s run this company for over two decades. She doesn’t ask her staff to do anything she wouldn’t do herself and damn if she isn’t smarter than all of us, with a Master’s and a PhD and did I mention she graduated with those concurrently? At 24? Yeah. She got into business young, then got married, got fired for being pregnant (ha, she showed them) and started running her dad’s company. Now she’s raised four kids, three of whom work for her, and she’s running one of the most successful businesses in the area with a staff of 150 and contracts easily totaling over 15 million a year.

Every day she allows herself four cigarettes… six if it’s a particularly draining day. And you can always tell what kind of a day it is by which cigarettes are missing—she places them strategically on shelves and power boxes on the way out the door. If they’re all gone by 2PM, it’s a bad day; if there’s one still on the apple shelf, it’s a good day.

I find it endearing.

Yeah, no duh. But this clip of a dog (in a newsroom in Arcata, CA, right before their recent earthquake) taking off right before the earth start moving is pretty cool.

I love how he noses the ground. I image his internal dialogue was along the lines of… just chillin’ in the office, dum de dum, hmm, *sniff* *sniff* oh shit, that’s no good *runs away very fast*.

I’d love to know where he ended up. Some secret doggie lair? Standing tiptoe in a doorframe?

This morning NPR did a profile of Ryan Seacrest, and it proved my longstanding belief that the guy works like a dog. He’s up at 4AM six days a week. He hosts three radio shows. He does the red carpet at every major awards show. He hosts American Idol. Oh, and he produces all of those as well. And two shows for the E! Network.

Granted I don’t listen to his radio shows, I don’t watch the award shows and god knows Keeping Up with the Kardashians might make me kill someone, but you have got to be impressed with the guy for knowing what he wants and going after it 110%.

The argument on NPR was that he’s taking over for Dick Clark and eventually for Larry King… he’s going to have his hands in all the pies. In investment terms, the guy knows how to diversify!

2009 has been equal parts awesome and awful. I can’t remember any other, aside from perhaps 2006 (sick, but met the Chop) and 2003 (my Nana died/my sister got divorced, but moved to the East Coast), where there was such an equal amount of good and bad.

January
We elected a new president, and although it hasn’t been all roses, I’m still glad he’s it.
We started planning the wedding and getting pressure for our “no gift” policy. Sigh. And I lit our oven on fire.

February
We picked our wedding spot, caterers and photographer—and they all turned out to be absolutely perfect.
A dear friend lost her husband.

March
We went on vacation in Ireland, which was amazing. Even though I have a little bitterness about not moving there, lol.
My dryer crapped out, three of our favorite restaurants closed and, oh yeah, that 15% pay cut. Damn the recession.

April
We went and saw David Sedaris, the world was introduced to Susan Boyle and the Chop and I decided to start house hunting.
I had to go to Vegas for our conference; we put an offer on a house that turned out to be the lemon of the century (hello $30k in fixes)… and so we pulled out.

May
Went to a very entertaining wedding of a good friend—and on the same day, found the house we would buy.
We house-hunted every weekend.

June
Bought our house, switched states and marked four years of blogging.
Moved out of my favorite place and left my home of four years.

July
Quit one job and got another. Kept the other job as a client for more money and less pain—win, win.
The dog decided to inaugurate the house by using the basement as her personal toilet—very. bad.

August
Oh god, the wedding planning. And the DMV. And the lack of air conditioning. August was rough.

September
Convinced my parents I should be able to wear red at my wedding. Built the wedding website.
Wedding planning. Hell. Went dress shopping. Double hell. Worked like a dog.

October
Went to TX, where my awesome godmother made my VERY RED dress!
Worked like a dog. Went to ME with my mom and sister—where we fought constantly. Tried to convince Chop that we should elope already goddamnit.

November
Went back to WA for a bridal shower, where my awesome cousin surprised me, which was lovely. My family came for Thanksgiving, which was also surprisingly lovely.
Counted down to the wedding, with all the insanity and annoyances that came with it. Worked like a dog.

December
Got MARRIED—now I get to wear an additional shiny, shiny ring. Went to MN for Christmas and had so much fun. Am planning to spend New Year’s happily ensconced at home, with my husband.
Went through so much insanity during the week of the wedding—and the wedding. Dealt with every possible crisis that could come up. Am still exhausted from the entire year.

Very happily got married, which made the entire year worth it.
Isn’t my husband the cutest?