All She's Got
Monday, April 2, 2012 at 11:39PM Mrs. G. 
Free Sky by Pink Sherbert Photography
Mrs. G. is lying in bed, slowly coming to after short nap she hoped would stir up a dormant anecdote or simple story during REM sleep to offer up to you. No such luck, though on occasion this sometimes works, particularly if prior to sleep she says to herself at least 75 times, anecdote or simple story reveal yourself, anecdote or simple story reveal yourself, anecdote or.... No joke, she sometimes does this. She blames the Harry Potter books. Now she expects magic.
So she's left with nothing more to share than a few negligible thoughts from her day, which was a good one.
~Mrs. G's dog Chewie is needy. Not dead broke, down and out needy but rather that bashful, rabbity first boyfriend who never wants to leave your side needy. If Mrs. G. moves, Chewie moves. If she walks around the house and comes to a sudden stop, he runs into the back of her calves. He ghosts her. She could understand this neeeeeeeeed if she wasn't home most days writing with him at her feet or on her lap. Right now, she is in her study/guest/escape from Mr. G's snoring room. The door is shut and she can hear Chewie outside the door, his toenails tip tip tapping as he paces back and forth across the wood floors. Every once in a while, he stops and sighs and begins the tip tip tapping pacing routine all over again. Tomorrow she's going to have to sit down and gently break it to him that she needs some space, that perhaps they need some time apart and he needs to see other people...like Mr. G. or Mrs. G's son.
~The Salome and Replete pink daffodil bulbs Mrs. G. planted last fall are in bloom. They are sweet and simple, more peachy than blush.
~Mrs. G. leaves in thirteen days for Boston. She and her mom are heading east to see Miss G. in her new environs. For obvious reasons, anxiety and excitement abound. Mainly excitement. This is Mrs. G's year of travel.
~A friend told Mrs. G. this weekend she was a flibbertygibbet. She had never heard this word before and she likes it. You're flighty and all over the place, said her friend. Are you saying I lack substance? asked Mrs. G. Her friend replied, No. It's just your substance is fluid and quirky and goes every which a way.
~It was sunny and 64 degrees in Seattle today, tree buds are busting and the air smelled like cranked lawn mowers. It was nothing but blue skies and bare feet.
~This afternoon, Mrs. G. received three hang-up calls over the course of an hour. After the second hang-up she wondered if Johnny Depp was trapped in an Olsen twin's house and signaling his love for help. By the third hang-up she was sure of it. She could have hit the redial to confirm her suspicions but she didn't. She just emptied the dishwasher and went about the rest of her day, lighter.
It's 12:48 and Mrs. G. is going to try and go back to sleep. Night derfs.
This and That
Reader Comments (26)
" How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Maria? A flibbertygibbet! A will-o-the-wisp! A clown!"** Anything that aligns you on the side of the free spirits and free thinkers has to be a good thing.
** The Sound Of Music http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/thesoundofmusic/maria.htm
Am so familiar with the tip tapping of dog toenails and the heavy sighs. My little dog thinks I'm her mom. She's laying on my legs right now. And as soon as I get up, she will follow me into the kitchen so she can look expectantly at me until I dish out breakfast for her.
Have a good day, Mrs. G. xo
So, compadre-of-the-wee-hours-blogger-club, I'm kind of amazed that you didn't recognize "Flibbertygibbet" from the Sound of Music. Could it be that you haven't seen Sound of Music?! Or worse, maybe you're one of those like my husband who (gasp) doesn't care for the most popular musical of all time??!! OK, accusations and allegations aside, I kind of agree with your friend. You seem to me (knowing you only through your Head Derfwad persona) to be that talkative, whimsical, friendly kind of person... Sort of like Maria! Or Meg Ryan in any movie she's ever been in. I think your friend's observation of you is high praise, and you should be very proud. OK, going to try to find a bit of sleep before the animals decide it's time to have breakfast!
I read the title of the post, and thought you were going to confess that all these years you have been a closet Trekker.
I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!
...or at least that Leonard Nimoy was being considered as a possible secret alien boyfriend. Vulcans...*sigh*
I may need sleep too, and umm...possibly a life.
Is your dog a Lab? We have owned three, and all of them have been needy, shadowy types. We had a friend who only had basset hounds and beagles, who (apparently) are far more self-assured. She fostered a 1/2 lab 1/2 beagle and it drove her insane by following her everywhere. She referred to him as the 'velcro dog.'
When our present dog is sitting outside a shut door, his technique is to lie down outside the door and whine - not loudly, but rather, just at the very top of the range of human hearing, which means you're constantly irritated by something you're not quite sure you're hearing. It is sneaky yet effective.
Loving your blog and can't believe I've not stumbled across you before!
My dog is the same, except I need him as much he needs me. It will be interesting how we re-adjust to doggie daycare when I return to work after 6 months of sick leave.
I had to go through word verification when I posted earlier Mrs G. Is it something I said???
Just be glad Chewie doesn't weigh 95lbs! Jimmie the giant thinks he's a lap dog. When I'm lying on the couch he will put his 20lb head on my chest and look at me longingly. I can barely breath. When I clean house he follows me every step of the way. If only I could figure out how to attach a dust rag to his tail he would be useful.
Reading about Chewie made me miss my girl so much! She was a Jack Russell/border terrier mix, and she slept in my lap, started herding me to the bedroom when it was time for bed (according to her) and followed me everywhere. *sigh* We had to put her down on Palm Sunday, four years ago.
"flibbertygibbet" is one of my favorite words. I love your friend's take on how it applies to you. Make me want to aspire to some flibbertygibbet-ness for myself. ~ My pet is needy too, but he's a cat, so at least I don't have the "tip tip tapping" to deal with. On the other hand, it's sort of unnerving when he jumps on the vanity and watches me when I brush and floss my teeth.
Flibbertygibbet! I love it and must tuck away for use in many sentences to come! For many years, my favorite word has been "Boondoggle" (more for the sound of it), but I may have just found a replacement.
These puppies' behavior all sound uncannily similar to my 18 month old daughters ;) Except, instead of just following around the house and sighs, I am currently getting "MAMA, MAMA, MAMA!"
My girls sometimes stick their noses by the crack under the door and whimper. Good times.
My dog Roxy Boxer is up my wazoo all day and all night. She knows when I'm cooking she's not supposed to be in the kitchen (I'm afraid one or both of us will get hurt) so she lays on the floor outside the door looking sad. It's so pitiful. I'm also all too familiar with the nails on the wood floor. I call it tap dancing.
I like the sound of that word and your daffodils.
What Linda said.
And if you need to stop here sortof on your way to Boaton, we can screen Sound of Music for you and I'll sing all the songs so you then know all the words. You're welcome.
How do you solve a problem like the Bad Mom?
I have a needy cat. Homer follows me around, begging for food. He waits outside my door meowing sadly in the morning. And when I get up from a chair, he steals it!
How funny, the other day Kizz asked what old-timey phrase should be brought back and I said flibbertigibbet. But you are not the kind of flibbertigibbet I was thinking of. (Wow, spellcheck knows that word!)
Even when you think you've got nothing... your writing is sublime and I love hearing all your musings. I, too, have a needy dog but that's her breed... the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is known as a velcro dog...sounds like Chewy falls under that subset too.
I have not seen the "Sound of Music"...confession: not a Julie Andrews fan, she looks exactly like my first stepmother, Lori. (http://derfwadmanor.com/derfwadmanorsquarespacecom/2010/6/4/lori.html)
That was the biggest thing I had to get used to about having a dog - also a CKC Spaniel and a constant shadow underfoot. I never had a dog till I was in my 30s and for the first several weeks I'd wake up and think "Oh, there's a dog there. What does he want?"
Totally co-signing trash's post.
Now I know how to spell flibbertygibbet! I knew the word but only from hearing it.
Thank you! And have a lovely trip to visit your daughter.
I kiss you chastely on both cheeks, O marvelous flibby-gibby.
Since I am a fan of "The Sound of Music", I see your flibbertygibbetedness as a good thing.
My SIL's Great Dane is a mommy's boy, too. Unfortunately, he also think's he is a lap dog. Be glad Chewie is so cuddly and small!
In the meantime, you might hide bacon in your son's bed to distract Chewie when you need a night of undisturbed sleep.
My puppers (who is not named Ezra) is also super clingy. I self-diagnosed him with separation anxiety disorder when I first got him. He's gotten a bit better, but I have tripped over him many a time. He also doesn't like it when he's in a room full of people and he's not the center of attention. It doesn't happen all that often (he is WAY spoiled and almost always the center of attention), but he starts pulling out all his tricks when he senses that attention waning. It's pretty funny.
Don't you remember the Sound of Music?
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
my grandfather called me a flibbertygibbet more than once and.....it's good....way better than what the opposite might be!
i'm so sorry that my boys and i did not get to meet Chewie....as they both love dogs, i'm sure it would have been a relationship made to last forever (they got to meet George and Gracie instead....they wanted to stay with them!!).
sweets blogging thoughts, my friend....i'm picturing you floating around your house in blue lovliness, drinking a gin and tonic and having wonderful thoughts (in a dry house!!!)
*mwah* to you.
Best description of needy first boyfriends. Forever. Not dead broke, down and out needy but rather that bashful, rabbity first boyfriend who never wants to leave your side needy. This needs to be the first line of a novel.