What made you smile today?

No, some were "aaaa", "aa", "aaa", and "aaaaa".

Patio, They were? uhoh!

The theme was Treasure Hunt and I meant the Sunday puzzle which is the only one I get.

THE SUNDAY PUZZLE????

[not worthy prostrations]

Hey, Soze. Lot better than those who think the line in the hymn is "Let Angels prostate fall."

Gal, that NYT's puzzle was hard. It just comes out in the Sunday edition of The Daytona News Journal. I'll wager even Sozelet has trouble.

My God. The NYT puzzle -- and not one of the beginning-of-the-week easy ones, and the big one to boot.

Now, the San Jose Mercury puzzle, that's more my speed. Not too demanding. Can be completed throughout the day even as inebriation and prolonged sun exposure begin to blot out bits of memory. Yep, that's my kind of crossword.

The Sunday NY Times puzzle is funny. There are times (not many) when it almost seems easy, other times I get nowhere with it. The ones that really bug me are those that create new rules, such as two letters in a box, or a number instead of a letter. Only you, the solver, has to figure that out. Hardly seems sporting...

Oh yeah, what made me smile. Didn't want to walk up the hill (Yesler, patiodog) in this heat with my lunch in a bag. I thought maybe, just maybe, a No. 27 bus would stop when I reached 3rd and Cherry. And one did! Amazing...

Smiling. My vacation started an hour ago. Ok, I'm still at work, but I nailed a lawyer who thought I was already gone - and then called. HaHa - I'm still here and you have to talk to ME! HAHAHAHAHAHA - caught ya!

and the negotiations continue - you want how much? i'm offering this much. oh yeah, yer insulted.

It's time to go home. OK, just for the day :sad: but it is time ->

BUH-BYE

Didja eat yer bag lunch by the big Japanese lantern?

Nah. Too warm for al fresco dining, patiodog. I waited until I got into the air-conditioned confines of the Kobe Park bldg.

(BTW: Lunch was a mixed turkey sandwich from Bakeman's. Do you know the place?)

Only by reputation. I've only really been around that neighborhood at night.

Aren't you the adventurous one!

Am I? Mmmmmm. Maybe just dumb. But I don't work in that theater any more, at any rate.

Today's smile brought some tears, but it WAS a smile. I didn't want to wake up this morning because I was dreaming about my dad who passed away 18 years, 10 days ago.

Ah, Terry, I often think about my dad...my goodness, honey. Would your dad sanction your tears? Probably not. I was with my Dad when he died...He told me to quit grinning like a possum..that made me smile.

Awwwwwwwwwwww Terry, how sweet! Did you try to go back to sleep to pick up the dream where you left off? Isn't it lovely to dream of our loved ones who have passed on?

Supposedly the dreams have meanings if the person who passed away speaks to you, it's a warning. If they are tearful, there is something you are doing in your life that they are worried about. If you kiss the dead, you will have a long life. Speaking to a dead relative, you will receive news from a living {isn't that a lightbulb?} relative. And so on.

Letty, sorry I can't e'mail you, I'm afraid you'll receive 10 copies, he he!

I walked by a dog park with some friends (but no Bootsie) and watched 3 little terriers chase eachother around. 2 were older - one black, one white. And the third was a little, young black and tan thing. They were so funny tumbling, chasing, attacking, nipping and yiping. Then a BIG doberman came in. Such a sweet doggie, he didn't even mind when the little white terrier stole his tennis ball.

I dunno if anyone knows of the late author Carolyn Knapp - she wrote a book about people and dogs (Pack of Two) (name and title may be wrong). She wrote of this particular park a couple times.

littlek,

I was curious so I looked it up. It sounds like a great book.
I put it on my list of 'Books to Read'.

I hope I get to it one of these days.

Here's the description for anyone who may be interested:



"Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs"
Knapp, Caroline

Carolyn Knapp's follow-up to her enormously successful memoir Drinking: A Love Story, "Pack of Two," was a national bestseller and lauded by critics from coast to coast. Written with the keen emotional intelligence that made Drinking so much more than a story about alcohol, "Pack of Two" offers more than a story of a woman and her dog. It is a penetrating look into what lies behind our deepest attachments.

At the age of 35, Caroline Knapp found herself at a vulnerable crossroads. On a whim she drove to the nearest animal shelter and picked out a puppy. What she didn't realize at the time was that she had just taken on a significant other -- a relationship that would become far more deep and complex than she ever could have imagined, and one that would act as a testing ground for the many emotional issues she had yet to resolve.

'In "Pack of Two," Knapp speaks to the more than 52 million Americans who share their lives with dogs. Exploring the shift in the role of canines from purely functional creatures to companions, she shows how our new relationships with dogs -- deep, wordless bond based on trust and true understanding -- become templates for what we most desire ourselves.'

I kept hitting snooze and falling right back into the dream....I did it until I had to choose between getting up or being late for work.

We were in the kitchen in the house where I grew up packing mementos into boxes as if we were moving or storing them away. (All of these were items that were thrown out when I moved out of my mother's house.)At one point, as the alarm went off again, he said, "It's time to get up, but we'll always have these memories." Then he hugged me and kissed me on the forehead.

Aw, Terry.

That book looks great.