Do as I say, not as I do.

Last week on Monday I had an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  If, say, I had a worst enemy.  In the aftermath of this experience, I want to offer you all - whoever you are, wherever you are - a piece of advice.  Listen closely.  If you ever find yourself in the laundromat and you check the pile of books people leave in the corner to share and you find a Danielle Steel book called "44 Charles Street" and it doesn't look that terrible, please - for the love of all that is good in this world - RUN THE OTHER WAY!!!  The back of this book boldly claims that "Everybody reads Danielle Steel."  I am here today to save as many souls as I can from becoming part of "everybody."  The book was the biggest bunch of crap I have ever read.  Seriously.  Crap.  In fact, it was CRAP!  I don't know how her editor lets her get away with such pathetic writing; she could have told the same story in 100 fewer pages.  Repetition, repetition, repetition.  Awful, awful, awful.  Take this advice:  make your mark on the world by being the people who do NOT read Danielle Steel.  It's too late for me, but hopefully it's not too late for you.

Now.  On to other things.  The nice couple who purchased "I Love You Like Peanut Butter and Jelly" while I was in Vermont last month asked for a similar piece, in gold tones.  It took me three tries, but I finally got it.  The first I will keep, even though it is mildly disastrous.  It is called "Love:  Sometimes it Gets Messy." 

See?  Messy.  The second one I threw away.  It was that bad.  And here is the third.  I think it is called "I Love You Like Strawberry Jam."

Of all the goals I set for myself for the month of September, finishing 10 new paintings is the only one I will hit for sure.  If I count the water dragon, which I am, the pear and the wee little flowers, these two XOXO pieces are four and five.  Here is number six:

And here is the start of number seven.

I did finish that one, but I guess I forgot to take another picture.  Number eight is named "Chunk."

Yep, he's a big boy.  Here's another view of number eight, with the results of my exuberance from number nine.

Sigh.  Billy and Mary - if you read this, please note I have already started cleaning the paint off the wall.  Oops.  This is where all that paint was supposed to go:

And there we are so far.  I ran out of varnish and this piece needs a second coat.  Luckily the new supply arrived today.

Poodle and I had a splendid day yesterday.  It was one of those perfect fall days.  We went for a three mile run in the morning (gasp!), then played ball.  In the afternoon I accomplished a task down at the house that I've wanted to do for years.  When the house was built there was a bunch of extra steel siding leftover and it has been in a pile in the shrubbery getting all icky.  I moved all the siding (16 trips) to underneath the deck, and got rid of seven billion square feet of heavy vapor barrier stuff that was under the pile.  Filled up three contractor-size garbage bags.  It was a sweaty and gross task but I'm glad it's finally done.  Then we went back home and walked for two miles.  Poodle helped me vacuum out the jeep before we played ball again.

It was a busy day, and tonight we are going to pack some boxes.  Fun times!

YES!!!

We just officially accepted the offer on our house.  AWESOME!  To celebrate, here is a wee small thing:

happy dance happy dance happy dance happy dance happy dance

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I haven't had time to go through all the pictures I took when Kathy and her family were visiting, but here are a few:

Roxie got confused when there was no room for her on the couch, but Evan's butt made a comfy pillow.

We were at Loon Lake while Evan was fishing, and Abby was taking pictures of the sunset.  And some other local wildlife she found...

POODLE!

I went on the second trip to Glacier National Park, which included a horseback ride at Many Glacier.  This is at Lake McDonald.

Here is the famous Wild Goose Island, in St. Mary Lake.

More fishing, this time in the Swan River right by my house.  This is where we go when Roxie and I walk to the river.

Walking back home before our third and final trip to Burger Town.  They packed a lot of activity into a week!

Now, guess what I did the other night?  Here's a little hint:

Yep, I started painting again.  That's the beginning of three new pieces, plus a pear.  I can't wait until I have room to put wet paintings.  Room that doesn't involve my kitchen counter.  I have since finished that pear - it's the third in my Midnight in the Garden of Fruits and Veg series.

I also varnished another water dragon.  He was painted a while back but has been stuck in the questionable pile.  He is still in the questionable pile, but I like him better now that he is all shiny.

And last but not least for today, guess what?!?!?!?  We got an offer on our house yesterday!  Woo hoo!  We countered the offer today, and hope to have a done deal by tomorrow.  The closing date will still be a couple of months out; the waiting will be hard but having a signed Buy/Sell will be awesome.  Keep your fingers crossed - this has been a long time coming.