I wish I were catching toads. That's what I thought as I drove back to grandma's after watching the opening ceremonies at home. I love the Olympics. I come close to crying so many times - it's something about sporting events, plus the world coming together for awhile. There's always that really dramatic build up speech with the music - know what I'm talking about? the part that's meant to really hit you. Which came almost two hours before the start of the ceremonies, and it drove me crazy to wait after the moving build up. Then the flags at half mast for the athlete that died. Flags at half mast get me too. I love the parade of nations and lighting the flame. If I had vacation time I'd take it now, so I can watch all the coverage. Minus ice dancing and curling. It's like mom with Halloween and Easter, as soon as one is over it's time to look to planning the next. That's me and the Olympics. I was impressed by Vancouver's show, but I still liked Beijing's the most, and I'm not sure I'll ever see a torch lighting that I think is cooler than the archer lighting it.

But back to catching toads. That's what it feels like one should be doing when it's damp outside. I wished I didn't have to worry about going to work, or bills, or the economy, or anything else. I just wanted to be catching toads, tadpoles, water skippers, making pools out of any substantial collection of water and splashing in every puddle you find. Back to gathering pine cones, racing almonds in hot chocolate, roasting marshmallows, climbing rocks, building forts, turning the furniture into forts - or crash pads. When everything was just simple and fun. I'd be cool if that was what heaven was. Racing toads and playing pretend. It's seems unfair that life gets less fun as you grow older. The focus is all wrong. When you are little you want to grow up because grown-ups make the rules and they get to do things that you can't do. It's a total lie. It's a trick to make you want to grow up, because the truth is kids get to do way more fun things than adults do, and lots of things adults just can't get away with doing. It's a trick.

So since the week or two of disastrous water problems that very effectively tested my patience and made me question the decision to move into grandma's basement (that and all the spiders), things have run fairly smoothly. Grandma and I still have very different definitions of "warm", and we differ in the opinion of whether or not wet wood is appropriate to throw in the fireplace. Let me clarify - whether or not soaking wet, dripping logs - are appropriate for keeping fires going, or starting. I've also had to be careful of her cleaning sprees, which really remind me of the way I used to clean my room. Taking everything that is in sight, and putting it anywhere out of sight. So far everything that has disappeared I've been able to relocate. Spider-wise, the house is now down 4 black widows and a very large number of other types, but more keep coming in, so despite my professional exterminator like numbers, I'm not really sure I'm gaining ground.

Fritz, my now 5-month-old dog is growing and doing well. He's gained over ten pounds since December. I don't think he's really overweight, but his fur has gotten longer and he's grown in every direction. The receptionist at the vet called him a big butterball. He's also just a happy little guy. He got neutered on Thursday and I expected him to sulk and just want to be held, but you'd never know he had anything done. He just wants to play. Turns out he feels worse when he has indigestion than when he has surgery. He's pretty good at fetch, and will lie down when you tell him, unless he's really excited. Which is a lot really. He was good with sit and lie down, but now he has decided that lie down is always the right answer. When you tell him to sit, when you tell him down, when he gets in when he's not supposed to be and you are telling him to go outside - lie down must be the right answer. When he does it when he's excited or to get out of trouble is the funniest, because that's when he just drops and thumps the ground the most. He's decided car rides are pretty cool when he's got a big enough crate, especially one that he can see out of. He smiles the whole time and looks around. He doesn't bark or anything. He doesn't like getting lifted in the car, but at the rate he's growing he'll be able to jump in on his own in not that long. He hates baths, loves company, and is always ready to play. He also talks tough, but is actually kind of a coward. Whenever I take him to the vet's office he barks at the other dogs and makes a really good show, but won't walk anywhere near a dog close to or bigger than him and he sits up so close to my leg that it's like he's trying to push me over. But he is, after all, only 5 months.