Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

When I visited my sister a couple weeks ago, she showed me a new strapless bathing suit she'd gotten and told me about her plans to get some sun before the wedding to get a base tan for their honeymoon.

Until she said something, I hadn't considered such things as strap lines and whether or not I'd look silly at my sister's wedding with white strap marks showing above the strapless dress. But then I looked in the mirror and realized I was starting to get some sun from my daily dog walks.

So lately, I've been wearing tops with spaghetti straps, preferably in different positions from day to day, for a more even tan before the wedding.

I've also been trying to get some natural highlights, which is one reason I take my shower late in the day (sweat helps produce highlights).

In addition, I've been wearing different sandals lately so that I don't get more of a Teva tan than I already have. My feet already have white bands where the heavy straps go. I know such small things probably don't matter, but I'd like to look as nice as possible for the big day.

My dog, Una, has been getting her summer coat, which means she's shedding. I've been trying to help the process along by brushing her on a daily basis. Of course, she always wants to lie on her left side, so she's probably a bit uneven. But if you try to roll her over, she thrashes around and panics.

I bought a second dog dish to place in the bathroom so she can have water upstairs while I'm working. She's a very silly little dog. She'll go downstairs without me but won't eat or drink unless I'm around. Apparently, just being in the same house isn't good enough. I must be at least in an adjacent room.

We just ran into one of Una's dog friends, a poodle mix named Benji who always has a terribly dirty face. His owner assures me it's because he's so difficult to bathe. He's an elderly dog, and some days his joints ache so that he can barely walk. But Una doesn't seem to notice. She gives him a sniff, he sniffs her back, and then she launches into play position, which is an invitation to frolic. Of course, he never takes her up on it, leaving her endlessly confused.

Of course, confusing Una is never difficult.

Like, for example, having workers in the house. There will be a roofer coming sometime this week to fix a leak on the porch. Obviously, it will be good to have this done, but I always hate having workmen around. I can't run errands while I wait for them to arrive. And while they're there, I have to keep Una from harassing them by standing next to them and barking.

I've been picking up a lot of extra work lately, in part because it's summer and people are on vacation. It's great for the paycheck but limits the amount of time I have for projects such as organizing my office and getting things put away in the house. I do try to make some time every day to get some things accomplished.

Yesterday, for example, I did several loads of laundry, cleaning the clothes my mom had given me at her last visit. She's been cleaning out her closets because she's been losing weight on Weight Watchers, too. I can sell the clothes at the local consignment store. Most of them seemed clean but like they'd been stored in a drawer for awhile, so I decided to freshen them up before trying to sell them.

I pulled out about two grocery store bags full of clothes I'll donate to the Salvation Army, because minor flaws or stains will prevent me from selling them. And there were also several T-shirts that had apparently been used as paint shirts and would only be good now for rags.

I've been using the containers I got from IKEA to start organizing some of my stuff. I finished the two boxes of cassettes, and then I filled two black vinyl containers with photographs.

Now that I have a nice air conditioned office to go back to, even on stuffier days I enjoy my dog walks. It can be a nice relaxing break, while I work on my tan and my highlights and she works on shedding.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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