Rants and Raves

Have you ever visited the "Rants and Raves" section of your local Craigslist site?  If not, it's probably for the best.  If you want to know where every racist, homophobe, and misogynist from your town congregates, you'll find them right there, spewing their misspelled venom. Anyway, I titled this blog entry thusly because I am anticipating some randomness here.

1. First, an update on my girth. I have completed two full weeks on the new program at Weight Watchers.  I weighed in on Saturday.  I lost 1.5 pounds in the second week. I know this is considered good progress, but I'd hoped for a little more.  I mean, I was focused (like a laser, people!) the whole week and did not stray from the program. Such is the way with weight loss, I guess.
2. I witnessed a near-brawl at Subway on Friday.  I popped in over my lunch hour.  I was sitting at a booth, eating my veggie patty on wheat and thumbing through a magazine, when I noticed a woman berating the Subway staff.  She said something like, "I said, put it in the microwave to make it soft and then put it on my sandwich."  I could only hear parts of it but I could pick up enough to know that she was rude and that her demands were clearly over the top.  When I go through the line at Subway, I make it my goal to be as unobtrusive as possible.  I apologize just for asking for spinach instead of lettuce. Not this lady, though.  She went on and on and finally the dude behind her in line lost it.  He called her out on her rudeness. "Something something white trash!" she yelled at him.  "I'm not white, who you calling white?"  (he was indeed not Caucasian). "You're a piece of shit!" she called over her shoulder as she made her exit.  I was just glad I did not have my daughter with me. I will never look at Subway with the same eyes again.
3. P and I had a date Saturday night. We went out to dinner at a Japanese cook-it-at-your-table steakhouse place.  They have a very nice vegetarian dish so of course I always get that.  There was a football game on so the place was all but deserted.  Each table seats eight, but it was just us and one vaguely creepy guy. After that, we went bowling. Please note: I won the first game. This has never happened as far as I can recall, which is why I'm requiring you to make note of it.  I am very inconsistent bowler, which might explain why I've never been invited to join a league.  I'll throw a strike and immediately follow it up with a gutter ball.  When P and I were dating, he helpfully advised me that when my arm comes down with the ball, it (my forearm) sometimes hits my hip just before I release the ball.  You know, because my hips are so wide.  Yes, he seriously told me that and yes, I still married him. Anyway, it was a good date night - we're fortunate to have such a wonderful babysitter (the teens from my church are so mature - they rock).
4. I took my foster dog, Ace, to his new home today.  I only had him for a couple weeks - his foster dad is in the USMC Reserve and was doing the two-weeks-a-year thing. Less than an hour after I got home (four-hour drive round trip), my former foster dog, Kaiser, was returned.  I don't even know how to articulate my feelings about this. I'm not angry - just disappointed, I guess.  For whatever reason, Kaiser is fine in my house but tends to test people when he gets into someone else's home (peeing on the floor and so forth). He is also the type of dog who fares best in an environment with firm rules and a schedule. I'm bossy and I like schedules, so it works.  You might be thinking, "Well, why don't you just adopt him?"  Well, I can't.  There is a two-dog limit in our city.  Also, I don't feel that he was meant to be my dog. I just can't figure out why others can't give him what he needs.  For example, I told the people who adopted him that Kaiser is not the type of dog who can handle having couch privileges.  He needs to be kept off the couch (otherwise, he gets confused about the pack order in the home).  The very first photo they sent me showed Kaiser sitting on their couch. I am not saying that I'm some sort of doggie expert, but I've been fostering for 11 years, have a shelf full of dog-related books, and have spent many a weekend in canine behavior seminars.  I've done enough training to have put obedience and agility titles on a dog. It could be that sometimes, just sometimes, I know what the flip I am talking about. 
5. I went to a moms' night out with a friend from the rescue on Friday.  She brought me a gift that made my whole week.  It's a necklace that features a disk (copper or brass, I think?) with my daughter's name engraved in it.  It is accompanied by two small charms - a white heart and an emerald-colored stone, which represents my daughter's May birthstone.  I'd show you a picture of it, but it does bear my kid's name and of course you, dear reader, could be a homicidal nutjob. But thanks for reading my blog - you know I heart you! 
6. My right ankle is swollen and I don't know why.  It only hurts when I poke it.  I have resolved not to poke it.