Lazy Sunday

In response to the question apparently raised by yesterday's post, no, I don't have anyone specific in mind with that reference. It resonated, though, for reasons I'm not sure I can verbalize, except to say that I've always felt like we have a path in life. That we're given the challenges we are, put in the situations we are, encounter the people we do, for reasons beyond our understanding. Our job, then, is to learn what we can from each one, take whatever data we can gather from each interaction, observe and synthesize that information into what informs us as we move through the rest of our lives.

It's not an uncommon philosophy. It's fairly fatalist, I suppose. But, it's the way I make sense of my life, you know?

Today was a relatively low-key, minimally productive kind of day. I went to the Starbucks, got some actual work done. Then I went to the gym, where I spent a little too long, I think (but, there was an SVU marathon on and the episode wasn't over, so I just kind of kept going on the treadmill.....), after which I came home for a little puppy lovin'. Little Maxine was visiting us overnight, and I got such a good double dose of snuggles, that I put my head down...you know, just for a moment...I didn't actually get any real restorative sleep, but it was good for the soul. But I finally got myself motivated enough to get up and get in the shower, with lofty goals of taking Little Maxine back to Sparrow's, then going to Ulta (I need sunscreen and hair dye), Lane Bryant (I need pants), and Target (I need stuff. Not the least of which is groceries). And I feel like there was somewhere else I was going to go, too. But then I get out of the shower and find my dog happily devouring the end of my bottle of melatonin.

I thought...hmm...

So I Googled, and it seemed to be fine. And, just to be sure, I called the vet. Who couldn't really say definitively, so they gave me two phone numbers to call. One turned out to be Carolina Poison Control, whom I talk to not infrequently and was most certainly NOT going to call and be all "so, about my dog..." The other one was the ASPCA poison control line, which seemed appropriate. And, apparently, charges $60 per consultation. Which...you know what? Fine. It was worth the peace of mind to hear that it would probably just make her sleepy.

Which...well....duh.

So, I aborted the errands mission to keep an eye on the pooch. Rene came and picked up the small one, and I got to meet the future Mr. Rene, who was very nice. And then I spent a few hours scouring over the photography books I bought a couple of weeks ago, one of which is specifically about my camera. I took some pictures on the various settings, and made some notes, and then flipped through the other one, which is "for teens, by teens." I'm thinking the teens had some help, because it was the most useful and accessible book I found when I was sitting on the floor at the Border's sifting through every book I saw that looked mildly useful in the photography section. And had the best pictures. Which is kind of the point, isn't it?

I didn't take anything super exciting (I pointed and shot at whatever was sitting next to me on the bed), but I got a couple that were kind of cool. One was of yarn.

But for the shots in which I was fiddling with the shutter speed, yarn just wouldn't cut it. Fortunately, I had a willing subject....