Monday, November 7, 2011

7 on 7

7 on 7 is really just a nice way of saying I have seven miscellaneous and completely unrelated thoughts to share today and it's the 7th of November ergo, 7 on 7.

1. Does anyone actually ever say ergo?

2. Sunday morning I made my way down the stairs to begin my normal routine of choosing a coffee cup, doling out the dog's meds, putting food and water in her bowl and letting her out back. Standing at my kitchen sink I glanced to the left to see if the little family of deer were on the hillside as they are most mornings when I felt something approaching from the other side of the yard.


As my grandma would say, "Land sakes alive!"

A ginormous, and by ginormous I mean HUGE!, bear strolled right under my kitchen window. It is possible I may have freaked just a wee bit. Naturally the camera was in my purse (aka the Black Hole) so by the time I'd recovered sufficiently to yell for hubs to come see, dug out the camera, focused (remember this was pre-coffee), calmed the dog so that she didn't go thru the glass door in her attempt to ge up close and personal with the bear, I only got two lousy pictures. Hubs said the animal practically sat on our furniture and I could have a whole album of pictures if I hadn't been so nuts, but honestly this freaked me out a little. I've never seen one so close to the house and I kept thinking if I'd gone out the garage door as I sometimes do I might have come face to face with him. Shudder.


They are magnificent creatures. He paid us not one iota of attention, just lumbered across the patio, around the firepit and up the hill into the woods. This little episode served as my cardio workout for the day. To quote my hubs, "You handled that well." ahem.

3. In other exciting weekend news hubs coined a new expression. He'd seen some photos of himself and he hates the way his eyebrows look in pictures. Why yes, I am writing a blog post discussing my husbands eyebrows but he's okay with that. Anyway, because they are so gray fair they are sometimes more noticeable than he would like in pictures. We were discussing this very thing on our way to dinner Saturday night and he was lamenting that he looked old. I disagreed but he said no, he was right, that he was having an 'age spurt' Ha. Kinda like the reverse of a growth spurt. Glad to know there's a name for it.

4. I bet you can't wait to be empty nesters and have conversations like this one with your spouse can you? And I ask you-


Does a man who rips dead trees from the side of a very steep hill while deer sleep nearby and a bear lurks who knows where look old?

5. Want to know another interesting topic of conversation we explored en route to dinner on Saturday night? Chapstick. We both agree that there is a narcotic in chapstick that makes it addicting. The more you use the more you feel the need to use. Your thoughts? About chapstick I mean, not about our pathetic mid life conversations.

6. Saturday afternoon we went shopping. Correction, hubs went shopping and I held the coat and commented on the fact that even when a store has a suit sale which is buy one get one free he manages to select the most expensive suit in the store so really, are we actually getting a deal?

Anyway, it was a little chilly here but I was wearing wedges with the toe open because in spite of the chill, I was warm. I chalk that up to my 'age spurt'. Plus I was not ready to put on my old boots...I'm due for some new fall boots or cute shoes to wear with jeans but I've put off shopping for something so far. Hubs told me to just go buy a new pair but raise your hand if you're the mom and you tend to put yourself at the bottom of the list when it comes to buying.

In my head is an ever growing list of things coming up in the immediate and/or the not so distant future-holidays, travel, furnace repair, huge trees being removed from the yard today, college expenses, blah blah blah. Now I know that my buying a new pair of shoes and a college tuition payment do not exactly fall into the same category but if you're a mom I think you know what I mean. Hubs said this is not Appalachia and I need shoes with toes. Period.

7. Finally, I couldn't sleep on Wednesday night and in a moment of middle of the night activity I signed up for twitter. I cannot get my photo to load to my profile and I don't really know what in the world I'm doing but I'm going to figure it out as I go along. I don't know how often I'll 'tweet' because I think we all know brevity is not my forte. You can follow me at Daleyjoy if you are into twitter...and if you are, send me your link (name?) so I can follow you too.

Happy Monday!

24 comments:

  1. I think he is smiling at you in the second picture. The bear, not Hubs! lol!

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  2. I think both you and your husband look great! When my husband buys a suit its more than I would spend a year on myself. Why are they so expensive? I am on twitter too - I will look for you. I have no idea what I am doing either.

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  3. Love your 7 on 7 had me giggling this morning....first of all holy bear batman!! I in my slumber would have let the dog out first and it would be scary!! Yes we have crazy conversations too...but I like yours!!
    Go buy some shoes.....hello you have a shopping mecca at your feet (lol) plus no sales tax so do it!!
    Have a great Monday!

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  4. Wow! Now I would be thinking about that bear lurking around--every time I was sitting around that firepit in the dark!

    Funny that you mentioned "Hubby's eyebrows"! Ed and I just had that talk, too. I have to gently remind him to get a haircut when I see his eyebrows beginning to get "that Andy Rooney look"...and he loves chapstick, too!

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  5. If your reaction to the bear sighting was anything like your reaction to the hedgehog (ahem) I can definitely understand why you only got 2 pictures!

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  6. I would die if a bear were that close to me....although...he looks like he smiling at you. Love the shots.

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  7. Is it weird of me to admit - I say ergo. I use it in my writing and I say it out loud.

    Mainly when I'm writing essays or articles for uni, or TRYING to sound like a pompous git (aka educated smart academic who KNOWS what she's talking about)

    I like the word - it rolls of the tongue so much better than "therefore".

    But then, my grandmother was a Head-mistress who insisted on us using the RIGHT words in the right way. If there was a more eloquent word, that was the one we were taught to use.

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  8. My husband commented just the other day (seriously) "Does anyone ever say ERGO any more?" because someone actually said it on some commercial!!!!!!! Your #1 made me laugh.

    And thank you for the good reading this morning - and the gasps (the deer! the BEAR!!!!!!!) - and the head-nodding ("age spurt" ... yep, can relate!). :)

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  9. So much to address here, but I'll start with the most important: the Chapstick! lol Actually I accuse Chapstick of ripping my lips. I've been known to have an addiction to Carmex. I think it's the same kind of thing.

    Love the bear photos. We had one in a tree next to the house about a year ago. Beautiful, sweet-looking creature. Cuddly looking, in fact. The dogs loved barking at it. I was a little apprehensive about letting my dogs out after that, in case Bridger decided to take it upon himself to herd the bear off our property. I wasn't sure how a bear would take to that idea.

    Only the weirdo on the news say Ergo. It will soon go the way of 'pundits,' 'germane,' and 'twice in as many days.'

    In my case, my 'age spurts' come right before my appointments to get my hair low-lighted. :-)

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  10. I do NOT want bears in my yard. Even opossums freak me out.

    I wondered what led to the twitter decision. Welcome. :)

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  11. I can't believe a bear came so close to your house - I think I would have had a heart attack!

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  12. 1. Where has the word "ergo" been all my life? I consider myself well-read, but this is new to me.
    2. Sighting that bear probably would have scared the innerds out of me, ergo the need for a change of clothes before coffee.
    3. "Age spurt"--I will have to remember that. Very clever term.
    4. Chapstick may well be a narcotic. You are so right, especially the cherry flavor.
    5. We have equally life-changing conversations around here as well. The latest would be the nuances in the term "clean" as in "you call this a clean car?" Yes, I do. I vacuumed it, thank you very much. I did not remove the lab slips for bloodwork from a month ago because I have to fast. I haven't found a convenient time to fast breakfast, yet.

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  13. I want to officially acknowledge and validate your reaction to A GINORMAS BEAR outside your window! For Pete's sake what else does one expect? Ha. But once again Shannon's comment made me smile. :)

    Love love love 'age spurt'

    Although I totally get the - travel, holiday, college expenses (ahem) and other more pressing costs... I do not however have a problem "buying the shoes." Ha.

    Get em!

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  14. That must have been extremely exciting to see a bear in your back yard. It's not the kidn of excitment I'd like to have, especially pre-coffee time. Where is it you live again? Thankfully here in the little-big city of Knoxville the largest wild life ever spotted in our neighborhood was a deer. Yes, a deer in the city limits. I didn't see it, but my son did. He has even seen a fox, too. I just don't know why these animals are coming in where it's too busy for them. Oh well...have an awesome week!

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  15. Good on you for reminding Tim he is not looking old. I think it has become a main conversation point for us. Anyway - they get more distinguished, not old.

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  16. 1. No one I know (in real life) uses the word "ergo". I wouldn't even know how to spell it if it wasn't for you. Thanks for that. :)
    2.Bear? Wow! Was he checking to see which piece of patio furniture was "just right"?
    3.I don't even want to think of "age spurting". Be quite.
    4.Empty nest conversations are awesome. I'm sure ours are completely normal. ;)
    5.I agree about chapstick. I always have some in my pocket. My right pocket. If it's not there, I have a slight panic attack.
    6.I need some shoes too. I usually resort to Zappos.com. Terrific site.
    7.Let me know when you figure out the point of Twitter. I haven't yet.

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  17. I would have to go back upstairs and change my underwear had I seen a bear outside my window. Yikes! and isn't the camera always in the wrong place when you really need it?
    I had to laugh about the chapstick convo. A friend of mine & I had that exact conversation a couple of years ago and she told me that chapstick actually has something in that dries your lips which in turn makes you feel like you need to use it more. I'm not sure how true that is, but I went to using straight vaseline or aquaphor in the tube and don't have that problem.

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  18. While the bear is a great photo op (scared or not), I definitely would not want one that close to me. We have had a deer and cows in our yard, but thankfully never a bear.

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  19. Yes to the chap stick drug! I read about that somewhere and it is true, the more you use it the more you need it.
    Loved that bear pic´s on fb and it´s cool you live in such a "wild" area!

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  20. I have only heard ergo in "Love Happens." I think the photos of the bear are pretty good.
    My husband trims his eyebrows and they are gray! I have never been a chapstick person. Yes I buy for the kids often but I do take care of myself often. I'm on twitter but you won't hear from me. I am never there. I just don't see the point!

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  21. Never used the word 'ergo'. With my screaming voice, the bear would have came through the house. Chap stick-now that I have a pharmacist in the family-the real stuff taste awful!! not one bit like the kind you buy. Ditto-moms buy for all before purchasing for them self.

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  22. I am going to steal ergo for a post as soon as I possibly can.
    You've been forewarned.

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  23. That is a BIG bear and you so are outdoing me with my deer stories!!

    There IS something in chapstick . I heard it along time ago.

    My husband's eyebrows are just fine, except for the "crazy professor" ones that appear overnight. But, I swear he has lost his eyelashes in the past several years. I want him to try Latisse, but he won't. I think he looks like he is on chemo. My plan is to keep bugging him until he finally gives in.

    Both of my hands are raised. I always put myself last. I too need some shoes.... and jeans..... and shirts...

    I have been on twitter for a while. I hardly ever tweet. I am not all that interesting. It did take me a while to figure it out. I just keep up with celebrities and pretend I am 20 something.

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