Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Puppy love

I've been watching a few documentaries on dogs on Netflix lately. The one I caught tonight while waiting from Jessi to get back from a basketball game in Waukesha was really good. It seems that dogs have figured out how to communicate with us and more intelligently than any other animal including chimps. It is fascinating to learn about how very smart dogs are and how genetically they have changed to become better companions for us.

Today was a really long day. I took Balt into work for a short amount of time which was really fun. I had too much to do to keep him there for too long and the hour he was there seemed to over-excite him. I wanted to share some puppy love for Geof's birthday; maybe help lessen some of his stress and perhaps even lengthen his life. Of anyone I have ever know, Geof is the most animal friendly, animal loving, animal tuned in person. I wish I had captured a picture of Geof digging his face into Balt's fur as Balt gleefully enjoying the attention.

After getting Jessi on her way to her game, I ran Monika home and then went to a yoga class. Jessi had a hard time getting her stuff together for the game, forgetting her "Tuesday Report" (an accountability card that allows her to play), Jim was upset because she had called him to get it for her but he had taken too long and the bus left without it which meant she could not play in the game tonight. It all got me so uptight. I have learned to let go of the stress, unwind & sweat it out in yoga. I was able to come home completely wrung out and ready to enjoy life again. I had a bowl of cereal, showered and went to the hockey game to sell tickets. I got home, watched the NOVA documentary and then picked up a very exhausted (she ended up playing a bit in the second half) and hungry basketball player at school after 10pm. After a McD's drive thru, I got a call from Erika who wanted a ride. I didn't get home until nearly 11pm and now I'm feeling like tomorrow will be here too quick.

Stowaway (1936)

Last night we watched Home Alone 2, tonight I wanted a classic. When Netflix was unable to stream It's a Wonderful Life it led me to Shirley Temple's Stowaway. I would have rather watched The Blue Bird but that also is not available for instant viewing. The Stowaway is not quite a Christmas movie, but ends with a Christmas song, "That's what I want for Christmas." It's about an orphan girl (Shirley Temple) in China who meets an American bachelor (Robert Young) and is accidentally put on board his cruise ship.This is the kind of movie I stayed up watching during vacation when I was a teen. In Los Angeles there were two independent tv stations (KTLA & KTTV) that would air old movies. Back when there were no movies to rent or stream, I would study the weekly TV guide looking for classic movies. Anything with Shirley Temple was a must see. I believe Fox Movie Channel is having a holiday Shirley Temple movie marathon this week and they are airing The Blue Bird on Christmas! That's one of the very few times when I wish we had a tv with cable. Oh well, I'll just have to wait for the DVD to come in my mailbox in a couple of day... that is unless someone bumps it off the top spot in the queue. I hate when that happens!

Mr. Monk and the Sunday Afternoon

You can stream all Monk episodes on Netflix now. So our Sunday afternoons and/or evenings are spent watching Monk. It's the one day a week we have time and it is one of the few shows that everyone in our family loves to watch together, especially Jim. The truth is that there are a lot of similarities between Monk and Jim and I think we all really appreciate that about the show. Luckily, while Jim is pretty savvy, he's not quite as neurotic on Monk.

This morning I woke up to find Monika already downstairs working on homework. She started Winter soccer training today-- every Sunday morning at 9am. She said she was glad it would get her going every Sunday. After getting her to soccer, I ran off to yoga. My Sunday mornings are quite wonderful in part because of my morning yoga time. I envision retirement to feel like everyday being a Sunday. I can't wait but I still have at least 10 years of work (more like 20).

Facebook friends are asking people to change their profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood until Monday as a campaign for children's rights and in order to end violence against children. I'm not sure how it can help end violence, but it's fun to look around at everyone's favorite childhood cartoon characters. I actually wasn't crazy for cartoons as a kid. I liked live action shows like Isis and Shazam. I have very fond memories of watching Saturday morning shows with my little brother. He was totally into the Justice League and of course I absolutely loved Wonder Woman but what I really liked was the prime time version of The New Adventures of Wonder Woman on Friday nights with Lynda Carter best, back in 1975.

An extra hour for Chuck.

When the girls mentioned to Jim they were getting into Chuck, he thought they meant Chucky from the 1988 movie Child's Play. Until my recent exposure to Chuck, the tv show, I thought of Chuck as either beef or always in the plural as shoes-- I love Chucks. Now, I'm in love with Chuck... Bartowski, not Norris. Because of our lack of television, we usually get into shows a couple of years behind and then spend several weeks to a couple of months catching up. Right now we are going through the Chuck series, which premiered in 2007 and loving every episode. We are on season 2, while the rest of America is currently enjoying season 4. I don't get to watch them all, but I get to see little bits of lots of them. I try not to get too sucked in, but it's hard. This morning the girls got up wanted breakfast and Chuck. I watched  an episode and a half then left for yoga. The rest of the day was quite restful, with time for a little bit of cleaning, some shopping, an indoor soccer game and more Chuck.
 

John Adams (2008)

After all the clean up yesterday, I spent my evening watching disc 1 of the HBO series on John Adams.  Tonight I watched disc 2.  I was surprised by how much the man did for our country-- he is so overlooked between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  I very much like Paul Giamatti, but Laura Linney as Abigail Adams does an amazing job showing the intelligence of a wife behind the scenes.  During the declaration of independence, I teared up.  I do love this country.

My thoughts of independence are feeling quite personal... I am feeling strangely British.