brenda, bless you for taking her into your home and having such generosity of spirit. I know you want doggie kisses and snuggles and it hurts to not get them right away. But all great things in life are earned, and one day you WILL be cuddlebugs together.

Oh yes, Brenda, this. Bringing in an adult dog is very different, but the rewards will be huge. Darby is a lucky girl. Congrats on the progress she has made!

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It prompts me to ask, is it wrong for me to want sleeves on a dress? It seems such a rare thing these days.

That's one reason I liked that one. Sleeveless is always a negative for me.

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Sleeveless is always a negative for me.

I sympathize. I am in the middle of an internal debate with the Body Image Monsters about if I feel confident enough to wear a sleeveless blouse tomorrow.

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That is huge progress, brenda. You're doing so great. Consider that it was months where we literally left the front door open for Seabiscuit when we first got him. He wouldn't come near, then only put his nose in, then a paw and a quick turnaround, then would come in, but never without an exit available. He didn't play, was terrified of the car (we think he got thrown out), and never looked at us.

These days he spends his nights in our bed, making sure his body is touching both of us. He runs and plays like the horse he's named after, with or without us. He travels all over the country with us and gets excited as soon as he sees his travel bag picked up. And his favorite pastime is extensive cuddling, complete with long soulful gazes into our eyes.

It took a lot a lot of patience and love and care, which you are clearly giving as a wonderful gift to Darby. She is making such big progress; I'm so proud of her and of you. Keep at it.

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Go team sleeveless! That I can no longer wear to work. I will seriously look out for longer denim skirts. The female manager in my group was no good for guidance when it came to "appropriate lengths". She said I was dressing better than her already--she's sleeveless a lot.

So if people stumble across a source of knee or longer length denim skirts, gimme a holler. I'll hit up Old Navy and The Gap and other obvious denim holes (uh, blank now).

But first I must collapse. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

But I had to throw away the muffin. I did buy it Tuesday morning. It doesn't love me anymore. I'll get a new one to stare at tomorrow. Perhaps an extra fouffey drink will sneak in some calories.

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Need help:

how do you cook beets? I mean, other than roasting (which I will end up doing, even though the beets are now peeled) or boiling.

I think I'm going to make Grace all red food tomorrow -- beets, cranberry juice, strawberries and strawberry kefir (I'll also through some rice in so not ALL red). Then if she pukes it up I'll regret it. But it will be a nice break from the brown.

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My default demin skirt of a more than appropriate length is Old Navy.

Although heat waves are dictating maxi dresses of lightest weight cloth these days. It'd be way shorter skirts but I apparently cannot bare leg and cleavage in the same outfit and boobs is cooler. Temperaturely speaking.

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Roast, boil, bake or steam for beets. What a festive meal that Grace will have.

I fed a baby more raspberries today than I would have if I'd been responsible for potential puke. But, man, she nommed them. And growled for more.

I have to agree. Raspberries are amazing.

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Cassie, are you teaching babies to growl again ?

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She's a natural!

I swear it was organic growling.

Brought on by organic raspberries. And noms.

If I were interfering, I'd teach them to vroom. This just ...happened.

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