Aslan?

 I am about to be all sorts of blasphemous. Please be aware that I'm not being serious and it's all in good fun. Well, fun for me.

You know what happens in the summertime?

It gets hot. 

I bet you didn't know that, did you? For people, we just put on our skimpiest (yet hopefully tasteful) clothes to battle the heat. For dogs, well, dogs shed. For dogs who already shed copiously during other parts of the year, they shed more for the summer.

Enter Giselle. 

I thought about posting a picture of the dog hair that accumulated under my dresser in the week between vacuumings but I decided to leave that out for the greater good. It was A LOT. Use your imagination.  To prevent me from having to vacuum every five minutes of the day and to prevent Giselle from suffering from a heat stroke, Matt and I decided to give her a haircut. With an electric shaver. Scissors ain't got a chance against G's locks.

We created a beauty parlor outside with a comfy table in the shade. After manhandling Giselle on to the table, we went to work. Matt shaved while I brushed out the loose hairs and held the dog down. About an hour later, more than one tear, and a trash can six inches deep in dog hair, we called it quits.

Seeing G laying on the table while being sheared was very reminiscent of a scene from a popular movie and even more popular book series:

Yep, that's Aslan. De-strengthened and de-haired.

I did not take a picture of Giselle on the table. I felt like she had suffered enough.

I did, however, take a picture of her laying on the floor later that day:

She's just a few shackles away from looking very much like Aslan. I hoping that her hair doesn't grow back overnight and she doesn't break anything in retribution.

She looks older now (I think because of the lighter hair of her undercoat) and much thinner. I hope she's cooler.  I think this picture, taken a few hours after her haircut, shows that she's still very much disapproving of our methods:

Now, if you'll excuse me, Giselle has a white witch squirrel to slay.

My last Monday

Today is THE last Monday that I will be working in my office at my current job. Starting June 1st, I'll be a stay-at-home wife.  Ha, just kidding. But, seriously I will be working from home until I can find a new job in the ol' BR.  I'm a little bit excited about it. I'm going to miss going to work everyday, seeing my co-workers but I am incredibly fortunate to have a boss who will let me stay on (remotely) until I get my feet on the ground. Thanks, Mark!  We don't have all the details worked out yet, but this time two weeks from now, I'll be billing time from my couch. I. cannot. wait.

Fear

Want to hear (read) something ridiculous? I have a hearing tomorrow and I'm scared to death. I'm a civil litigator who is not great at public speaking. (I hope no future employers are reading this...) I know that my problem is just that I haven't practiced speaking in public much. My argument is solid. I can be persuasive. I'm just terrified. The attorney opposite me is rude and mean. The venue is unfamiliar to me. I've only argued one other hearing before and it was just me and the judge. It is very likely that I am going to vomit before I get there. The good thing is that I'll likely go first so it'll be over quickly. That bad thing is that I'll likely go first so I won't get to see what the judge prefers. If you happen to talk to me in the next 24 hours, there will likely be a quiver in my voice and a tremble in my hands. It's just my body getting ready for tomorrow. I need to get that quiver out. I'm pretty sure that piranhas can smell fear.

Gracious I'm scared.