New trend

So apparently my new thing is this: on weekends I take an obscene amount of pictures, then I get really into editing them and posting to flickr/the blog. You don't mind, do you? Today I took over 200 of absolutely nothing special. Just Henry and the Lake...I know you are shocked at my subject choice, right? It didn't even seem like a lot of images to me until Nate saw the number and said, "Holy crap! You took some pictures today, huh?"

Very astute observation by my number one fan.

Henry always comes up with new and interesting poses for me, like a good supermodel should do. For instance, his nose can be long and angled like this:


His rump can be THIS cute:


His paws are simply adorable and that little black pad where his dew claw used to be is my favorite:


Then there are his crazy-long eyelashes. If the groomer didn't trim them they would probably scrape the ground by now. He's blessed with the Cocker eyes, for sure:


If you look closely you will see the photographer in his eye. Kind of creepy and kind of cool, right?


Sometimes I'll pull his ears down like this just to make him more smooshy...as if that's possible:


Don't even get me started on his perfect little nose:


The paws I love to smell...as a puppy they were pink with black spots and now they've matured into nearly all black. Quite possibly my favorite part of his little furry self, save for his nose:



And then there is the Lake. It's cold, it's big, and it's pretty sweet. My husband is seriously considering partaking in the Polar Bear Plunge next weekend, you guys. Imagine jumping into this giant ice cube as you view these pictures....insanity, I know. But you better believe I'll come along for the photographic opportunities:


These ducks are obviously bad asses...or else they are completely lost. Weren't you guys supposed to fly south for the winter? Because we have at least another month of this filth.


I really like lines like this:


This is very Milwaukee to me:


Color! I spotted some color other than gray and white! This red bush is my friend because it promises Spring is around the corner. In my mind it does, at least:


Be still, my heart. Summer and the subsequent Fest will be here soon enough. Beer will flow, sweat will drip, and fabulous concerts will play. It will be heaven and light years away from this horrid winter crap:


I guess winter sunsets are decent:


Who knew snow could melt when it's only 20 degrees outside?


Yes, and with that I'm off. But I just thought you should know I'm on this weekend photography kick. Cold weather, schmold weather. My camera can hang with me...I hope.

hair did

Our household got their hair did today. Collectively yet separately. We are kooky like that.

Nate 'does' his own hair with an electric razor almost every week. He is certainly the most low key of the whole group and also the cheapest [we like that about him].

Henry lasted almost 6 weeks without being groomed. He was reaching the 'utterly shaggy' phase and could barely see out of his eyes. I think he gets embarrassed of himself if we let him go more than his standard 4 weeks. So high maintenance, that one.

I lasted almost 12 weeks without a haircut and couldn't take the insanity any longer. Nothing like having a short haircut grow long resulting in a stringy mullet of sorts. It was time, my friends....and I suppose that makes me low maintenance compared to my dog since I go twice as long without a haircut. I wonder what that says about me and also about our little family....when the dog gets beautified more often than his humans?

The sad part is this: both Henry and I spent the same amount of money on our haircuts. An upscale human salon and a regular old doggy salon are the same price nowadays? Who knew?

Let's move onto the visual evidence, shall we?

Before [shaggy the fabulous]:


After [neat, tidy, and quite proud of himself]:



The unkempt duo last night:


And revitalized today after our respective appointments:



Note the mullet-like qualities in the first one. Note Henry's annoyed look in the second.


Before: creepy, sad, and frazzled. After: tilting our heads with glee.


I have no idea why my hair looks darker now that it's cut. I haven't colored my hair at all in almost a year so it's a mystery to me...but maybe it has something to do with a professional style? As in, their fancy flat irons maybe make it shinier and therefore darker? I dunno.

And the final test for this human's haircut: the ponytail. Before it was a real pony, one that held all of my hair. After it is still a pony, but a sprig...and now I have that dreaded patch of hair underneath that will not fit up in the ponytail. Ah well, you win some and you lose some.

I guess this means I will use a blow dryer for all of 2-3 days, just because I'll like the new haircut. After that I can guarantee it will be wash-and-go and I'll embrace my natural curl in order to avoid the extra 5 minutes spent with a blow dry. Low maintenance, people. That's me.


Also....what could this shiny new doggy want now?


Oh, just the best chocolate chip cookies in the entire world. Thanks to Darci for this fabulous recipe. And everything tastes better from my new KA mixer.


So that's that: new hair + new cookies = a happy little family.

I'm off to sniff Henry's magnetizing fur now.....whatever they use at the groomer makes me want to bury my face in his armpit for a solid two days. Is that weird?

Can't. Stop. Posting

So if you are visiting since the first time in a few days, I apologize for the ridiculous amount of posting I've done this weekend. It's so unlike me to post five times in just a few mere hours. Usually this type of thing takes me weeks!

But the next two posts were made so I can link to them up above, on my link bar. It is now full and that makes me happy....blank space on that bar was making me cuckoo.

The blog list:
My no means is this comprehensive or the end-all of my blog world. Please do not be offended if you aren't on the list--it probably just means my eyes began to bulge out of my skull while staring at the computer screen for entirely too long typing that list. You see, I had to refer back and forth to my Google Reader and type in those babies by hand. It sucked and I apologize if I missed you. Feel free to leave me a comment and if I gain the courage to look at that list again, I will add you. I must say that I restrict myself from adding more blogs to my GR account because it's incredibly overwhelming to have 100+ posts to read each evening after work...but I love clicking on your blogs after you leave me a comment. So no hard feelings, okay? Good. I'm glad that is settled. I couldn't stand any cyber hurt feelings.


The FAQs:
I made this post by thinking of the most common questions I get via comments. If you are dying to know something that I failed to mention please leave me a comment or email me. My addy is tucked away in my profile somewhere, I believe.


And with that I am all posted out for now. It's hard work being this post-y.