what to do if you're caught with a dog in your car on a hot day

so i brought my crazy dog to school today. no, there were no children there today. i thought lizzie would have fun running around at school, since the only architectural complexity involves a long hallway.

i discovered that hyperactive dogs get bored easily. for a while i had my classroom door open while she ran around freely. but i left to take a bathroom break and she was in the front office, and one of the administrative assistants was wiping up a piddle. (fortunately she's a dog owner, so she understood). so i got a little nervous and kept her shut in my room as i straightened things up. lizzie only likes chewing on rawhide if there is another dog present to make envious. and when there is no other dog present to play with or otherwise annoy, she stands by me looking up at me, begging for some kind of attention. so i decided to take her outside on the playground in case she had more piddling to do.

at around 13:00 i decided i'd had enough. i informed the front office that i was taking her home and that i would be back in a couple of hours.

but then i remembered i had to go pick up my new Rx sunglasses. so in stead of going home i made a "slight" detour to pass by the mall. aware that it was a hot day and that i had a live hyperactive animal in my car with me, i stalked the parking lot looking for a spot with a shadow.

of course there were none, so i considered taking the dog inside the mall. but i think it would be hard to convince anyone that she was my "seeing eye" dog. (but now that i think of it, i could have made up a story of how i was recently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and MY DOCTOR TOLD ME TO KEEP THIS DOG WITH ME AT ALL TIMES because i can't take medications and she keeps my mood regulated.)

finally i pulled into a spot, resigned to roll the windows down halfway, leave the sunroof open, and leave lizzie in the car as i ran to the mall and then back out as quickly as possible, a volvo wagon full of young'uns pulled into the spot right next to me. a boy in aviator sunglasses startes talking to his friends about "oh what a CUTE DOG!" and then jokingly he asks me, "hey, can i pet your dog?"

actually, would you mind watching her as i run into the mall to pick up my glasses? i'll be really quick, i promise! to which the boy and his friends readily agreed.

"hey we've got a dog! now people will talk to us!"

i was a little worried leaving her in the hands of strangers, but they didn't come to the mall to kidnap a hyperactive dog, so where were they gonna go?

anyway i popped back out in a flash, with the above large sunglasses on my face. she was still there with the kids.

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now that i've got time in the morning, i've been turning the satellite to CSPAN. i think i am falling in love (politically, of course) with durbs. he really seems like he cares! he only looks at his notes when he needs to quote a statistic! the guy he was debating today made some points that seemed semi-valid to the casual observer (me); he illustrated how (they think) farm families are affected by the estate tax, but i didn't quite get how "minority small-business owners" have any harder of a time with estate tax than do these farm families (ie, why make the distinction?) maybe he just decided to throw in "minority" for good measure.

release

if only i knew how to post video clips... i gave lizzie (little super-hyper white dog) a bath and now she glows. when i let her back into my room she was running from the floor to my bed, jumping over my bed, going under, and going around again, for like five minutes. it was hilarious! anyway, it's good to be able to enjoy these small pleasures. i am definitely a dog person. i hate cats. well, not hate. if there were a food you could give cats so that their piss didn't smell so horribly rotten and permanent, then maybe i could TOLERATE a cat. i have no idea how my sister allows three cats to stay in her room. it's just gross.

lizzie is sitting down next to me staring intently at one of my fried tortillas (i was hungry and overcome by the urge to experiment, don't blame me!) just in case it flys away. she is so clean SHE GLOWS! i want a bull terrier. or another jack russel.

something i realized earlier this week - writing is such a release. i can't really go too long without writing something. today i joined my students in a writing activity - a sequel to jumanji. it was fun but i didn't get to finish. oh well.

oh and i found out my dosha: i have a vata body and a pitta mind. in case you were wondering!

ok going to watch my netflix movie that's been sitting in my room for the past few weeks...

fanTAStic FRIday/quotes of the week

aaaaahhhhh this is the freaking mid-winter BLUES!

not really. i am fine but the monster has come out of its hiding spot in my skull and is now at the surface and it feels like it is sticking a knife in the part just above my temple.

AND I CAN'T FIND THE EXCEDRIN! IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS!

i have vidocin, but it makes me sleepy.

being sleepy isn't so bad;

maybe a nap and a patch?

what will make it go away? i have SOOOOO much work to do this morning. i mean, tomorrow morning. see the monster is even trying to hijack my thoughts.

i love my bed.

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quotes of the week

miss e: [allows the four dogs to run in the house as she returns from work. it is a freezing freezing cold day]
miss e's dad: WHY DO YOU ALWAYS LET THE DOGS INSIDE? THEY WANT TO BE OUTSIDE, THEY WERE MADE TO BE OUTSIDE!
miss e: [visibly annoyed] no they're not. HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF SELECTIVE EVOLUTION? look at the bulldog. on its own it wouldn't survive. BESIDES, I'M NOT ALWAYS THE ONE WHO LETS THEM IN! you cannot argue that they are designed to be outside when it's this cold BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT!

(sh*t i had another one but it is currently unavailable b/c i forgot)

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ok so for real this is going to be a marathon post because stuff keeps coming to my mind.

i'm feeling quite uncluttered lately. i feel like at the beginning of the week i freed myself from a ridiculous entanglement.

i have mentioned JPB numerous times. you know, the machista robot. but at the beginning of this week i think was the first real, mature conversation i have ever had with him.

i kept pressing him for information about his girlfriend. i don't want to talk about her with you. why not? i just don't feel like it. then of course i explained to him that i'm not a masochist, i just want to know what kind of person he is. then, getting to the point, i ask him are you not talking about her because you're afraid of ruining lo que podriamos llegar a tener? (not really sure how to put that in the right words in english).

basically this question comes from the ideas i have about giving the "right" answer in order to acheive desireable results. am i jaded? the thought goes as follows: if i talk to her about my girlfriend i don't think there's any chance of blah blah blah so i'll just be evasive about it.

so i continued my interrogation. "but doesn't it just tear you in two? telling me what you tell me [ie, i miss you, you should have stayed with me, etc.] while estando de novio? i would be in a crisis, trying to be two people!"

he started trying to change the subject, ya paso, hablemos de otra cOOOOooosa (that's me imitating the argentine accent). and me, "pero no te rindas! contame!"

but the rest of the conversation just kind of fizzled into silence.

i can't stand the willful disacknowledgement of the elephant in the room.