I survived my first earthquake. It sounds much less dramatic if I go ahead and admit that I slept right through it. I did have a dream that I was reading a news alert in my Google reader about a 4.5 earthquake that hit Chicago. So, I guess my subconscious noticed it.

I want to write something lovely and insightful for this here blog, but all I’ve been doing lately is tending to the dog stuff. All I have to talk about are my dogs. All I have pictures of are my dogs. That’s it. My friend Jill calls and asks what’s up and I’ve talked about the dogs for ten minutes before I realize that can’t be interesting for her.

So. As to not bore you with more updates on the dogs, I’ll share this story from NPR about Skeleton racer Zach Lund.

This poor guy got suspended for taking a hair growth drug that was banned and then subsequently taken off he banned drug list because it never should have been on it in the first place. I know one event I’ll be following at the Winter Olympics.

The name of the game this weekend was anxiety!

Poor Murphy had to have a “mass” removed so we dropped him off at the vet Sunday morning. They removed the mass and we picked him up Sunday night, I am so happy to report that all went well, and the worst part of it for him seems to be… the cone of shame. He’s got some pretty good pain killers, so I don’t think he hurts, but he keeps bumping into things and getting stuck. He normally waits until we’re asleep and jumps up on the bed to sleep with us, last night I waited up until he tried to sneak in, and gave him a hand. I couldn’t bear denying him that comfort- even if he did leak gross dog pus on our duvet… laundry!

Look at how big this thing is!

So, one anxious day, one removed mass, a dental deep cleaning and a whole lot of greenbacks later, murph is home… but he’s mad at me for leaving him there alone. Strangely, he doesn’t seem to be mad at Josh. I guess I’m just the fall guy.

The one funny thing about Murph being gone for a day, was the way the other pets reacted to his absence. Normally they don’t interact that much, but Kitty yelled at us and looked and looked around the house for him (she always does this when he’s gone), and Tiber whined and moped. Apparently Murph is the guy keeping it together on the furry front. Who knew?

(Speaking of Ty, how cute is this picture of his nose sticking out of his kennel?)

I did a little take-your-mind-off-it baking this weekend; click through to see my Challah bread.

I haven’t updated my wish list since November. I’m making some serious progress these days.

7. Tap Class at the South Shore Cultural Center

They cancelled the tap classes, but I decided to step even farther outside my comfort zone and take a painting class instead. You can check out my progress on my Dwell page, and see last night’s first attempt at oil painting here.

34.Learn a Jewish Tradition

This year, better knowing what to expect I threw myself into Hanukah celebrations. I made latkes and sufganiyot and learned the blessing that Josh sings over the candles before lighting the menorah so he wouldn’t have to sing alone. To his credit Josh learned some of my favorite Christmas traditions and surprised me too.

35. Meet a blogger

In December Josh and I headed up to the north side to meet Amy while she was in town and in November (I think) we met Miss Ris and her dude in Hyde Park for dinner. Both outings were really fun, and made me wonder why we don’t leave the house more often. Strike that, I know why we don’t leave the house more often, his name it Tiberius, and he’s a mischievous puppy.

48. South Shore branch CPL

This has become my go-to library. It’s close, parking sucks but there’s usually one spot available, and there are normally only a few books on reserve, so it takes only a minute to get in, find my books and get out.

50. Avalon branch CPL

The Avalon branch is close too, but not as close, not as convenient. But they do always have museum passes in stock, now if we could just make time to take advantage of those free passes…

It’s about time for another frivolous post.

A few things that are keeping me sane and entertained; this month presented alphabetically!

Altoids- we’re talking addiction level consumption here. I am an Altoid freak these days, the magic formula is to alternate cinnamon and peppermint.

Admission to the Art Institute is free this month! Modern wing here I come!

I have been burning through books from the Chicago Public Library lately. I love the Library’s website, very interactive and extremely user friendly; and I don’t have to dig through the stacks for what I want, just log on, order your book and they email you when it’s time to pick it up.

Josh calls it the DS trance- I’ll be into a game, and when I look up an hour has passed, Josh walked the dogs and got ready for bed without my even noticing. He’s also taken to mocking me in a high pitched voice “Just five more minutes, I’m fighting the boss!”

Wow. This stuff rocks my world. I usually only shampoo my hair twice a week, but blast some of this dry shampoo on the roots when it starts to get oily, and it looks like I just blew my hair out.

Hello, sanity saver! Murph is a working dog, and he’s happiest when he has something to do. Enter the Kong. Stuff it with a biscuit and some sugar free natural peanut butter- and Murph’s entertained for hours.

Notice that when talking about the Kong I said Murph is entertained for hours. Tiber has no interest. In PEANUT BUTTER! What kind of a dog isn’t interested in peanut butter? Well, when he needs something to do we can bust out these frozen bones, the dogs LOVE them. They stink to high heaven, but they get the dogs to sit down and focus on something other than mischief for a while.

Josh hates it. It’s too dark for my skin tone. But still I persist. I adore the matte red lip pencil from NARS. It stays put and doesn’t leave lip prints, and I love to wear it with my wayfarers and some big earrings.

I’m at about the half way mark with my art class, and so far my favorite thing we’ve worked with is this Willow charcoal. I can already tell I’m going to enjoy painting, but the charcoal is something I can break out at home and practice with.

I suppose I’m rather sensitive. I get sick a lot. I get incredibly sore sleeping in any position slightly different than normal. My allergies are a year round burden. I’m prone to migraines and heartburn like you wouldn’t believe.

But my feelings rarely get hurt. I can count the number of people on one hand who can actually hurt my feelings. With respect to the overwhelming majority of the population I have a very ambivalent attitude. I’m occasionally curious, but really I don’t care what other people think of me. I try to be good. I try to make the right choices (alas, it wasn’t always so…) I try to be kind. But I’m also very flexible. I try to keep in mind that what works for someone else might not work for me. I am fully aware that what I know to be right others might think wrong. I don’t always care to keep my voice down, I won’t always stifle a laugh, and I can’t be trusted not to speak up if I disagree. I just don’t care what strangers think of me, my threshold for embarrassment is extremely high.

But like I said, that all only applies to the majority, there’s still the minority to contend with.

For the most part, that minority is my mother. I think it’s very interesting how our relationship has evolved over the last ten years. Actually I find the whole idea of adult child- parent relationships wildly interesting.

Just this weekend I settled into my chair in the living room in my sweats, coffee in one hand, puzzle in the other and I had one of those overwhelming “I have become my mother” moments. If my mother wasn’t a woman who I admire, respect, and adore I might have a problem with that, but let me tell you, there are worse things than becoming a woman like her.

At the same time, nobody is perfect. My mother; a triathlete with multiple degrees is the most capable woman I have ever met. She has never done anything with anything less than absolute zeal. She is 100% committed to everything she has ever tried. But sensitivity, this is not her department. If I’m as tough as nails, she is as tough as high strength low alloy steel. She cares even less for the opinion of strangers than I do.

My mother is the only person who can hurt my feelings. And she’s the only person I know who’s never tried to do so. It’s such a strange paradox. As is the fact that I’ve never once held this against her, because were she able to refrain from saying whatever it is that stings, she’d do so in a heartbeat. She just… has a hard time recognizing things that might be hurtful- because the same things wouldn’t hurt her feelings. I don’t want this to sound like some sort of assault on her character. My mother is the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and she’s certainly one of my favorite people anywhere. I wouldn’t change a single thing about her.

I think the most interesting thing about the parent- adult child relationship is the enormous opportunity that every generation has to do it just a little bit better than the one before it. I get the benefit of my mother’s strength, but also the benefit of her weakness. If I pay attention, I have a chance to decide what kind of woman I want to be. I am doing my best to be strong, independent in both mind and action, informed, educated, and also sensitive and nurturing. Some of these things come more easily to me than others.

In an unmentioned and seemingly unrelated way this topic all stemmed from what I’ve been working on in art class. To see this week’s masterpiece click here. (This week it’s in color)