rhapsodic.org is a weblog by Valette Keller

January Woronzof Sunset

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Things that made today not 100% suck

• I packed up last night's leftover fried rice into snap lock containers for lunch today and was pleasantly surprised that Steve had added two little soy fish after I had gone to bed. I love soy fish. Soy fish make things better.
• It would be awkward if you rejected this PowerPoint.
• I received a gift card to a local downtown restaurant.
• Five minutes of classical music thanks to KLEF.
• Steve had the camera and lighting all set up when I got home and five minutes after stepping in the door our 365 was done. Which means I didn't have to deal with it after 9.30 like we do most nights.
• Introduced Donovan to LCD Soundsystem and having a little chair dance party.
• Doggie belly rubs.
• Advil.
• Steve.

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Below zero at the park

The temps have dropped here and the sun is back out once again after a few days of heavy snowfall. I love when it's cold and sunny, this weather always makes me happy.

We got all bundled up today and headed to the dog park, which was cold and snowy and not very full. But the dogs loved playing in the snow and chasing each other back and forth.

I fiddled around with the camera and the lighting a while for today's 365 and the dogs didn't get to run around much while I did that. After a bit, Olive got pretty cold despite her sweater and boots and wanted picked up. Mitzi loves being outside in the winter, even if her feet did get a little cold.

Jeff Harris: 12 years of self portraits

"I see no reason to not make a self-portrait each day," the photographer says. "I'm always around and always free. It's kind of like going to the gym--it flexes your muscles and keeps you in shape."

I completely love this. He talks about how tempting it is to just take a photo on your couch every day and call it good, but instead he's been challenged to go out and find interesting things.

Very inspiring since I, too, fall into that temptation of 11:30pm must-take-a-photo-or-else mindset.

Read more about Jeff and his self-portraits or see the entire project at his website.

2012 Goal: Lunch Breaks

One of my goals for this new year involves taking actual and for real breaks during the middle of the day, around the time that most people eat lunch.

This has always been a struggle for me (see previously), to get up from my desk and go somewhere else and do something that isn't work related. Most of the time I bring my lunch to work and eat it at my desk - sometimes I don't even go to the break room to reheat it and have discovered which leftovers work fine cold (risotto, stuffed pasta shells) and which ones don't (pork sauerkraut stew, taco meat).

While I'm sitting there eating my probably cold lunch, emails arrive and my phone rings and my manager knows I'm sitting there so she asks some questions and the next thing I know it's 3:30pm and I haven't gotten up from my chair to so much as pee all day.

So I have declared that the year of our Lord 2012 will be The Year Of The Lunch Breaks For Serious, amen.

Here's how the first week of this new goal has gone:

• January 2: No work, spent most of the day in my PJs
• January 3: Went to Kaladi Brothers downtown and spent an hour doing some studio work.
• January 4: I was on my way out the door when my phone rang and I knew it was important so I spent the first half of my lunch "break" speaking with my counterpart in the Juneau office. By then it was too late to really go anywhere, but instead of calling it a wash and sitting back down at my computer I sat in one of my guest chairs and worked on paying some bills. I didn't look at email or even answer my phone the next time it rang.
• January 5: Had lunch at Humpy's with a friend April and ate too many french fries.
• January 6: I did get away from my desk, but it was for a work-related luncheon. I still think it counts because I wasn't stuck to my desk and my computer.

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Miserable Olive

On Sunday we noticed Olive had blood in her urine, so Tuesday morning I got her the first available appointment at the vet.

The vet is by far her least favorite place, but the lady we've been seeing is fantastic with her and Olive stops being a butt as soon as they go in the back.

Once they were in the back to obtain a urine sample (with the aid of ultrasound, thankfully no catheter involved), she noticed that they have a BIRD in the back. And the bird SQUAKED at her and so she barked back. And while she and the bird had some WORDS the vet was able to quickly and easily obtain a urine sample without Olive even noticing she was on her back in a sling because OMG BIRD.

As soon as they were done she promptly emptied her bowels and then laid on the floor at Steve's feet ready to go home.

The vet is a very stressful place.

All this to say that Olive has a UTI and is taking gigantic (for her) antibiotics twice a day and is pretty all around miserable.