Happy Birthday Nick!

(and yes, I've added "return to Japan" to my "to do" list...)

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday-- April 15th-- was tax day. Many, many dollars were sent to the "big boys" to support our social, political, economic, legal and military systems managed by power hungry white men and human resource managers.Crazy lady has stopped mailing letters to the IRS, telling them where to send her thousands of dollars. She's getting old. She wants to avoid having them freeze her bank accounts-- again-- because they didn't appreciate her letters. Go figure.Plus, April 15th was crazy lady's birthday. How did she celebrate? Did she spend the day with me? With friends? With apple-tinis and lychee martinis? Nope. She spent the day at the Boston Public Library with the Princess and her mom:She later spent the day giving a lecture on the trials & tribulations of POD business models in our current climate. Yes, spending time with her family, libraries, and teaching are some of her favorite things. Silly woman. At least, the architecture is amazing at the library: Happy birthday, crazy lady!

Work? Hah! It's my birthday!

Work? Why bother?
I'm much more interesting than computers and books.
One year ago, you adopted me. Don't you remember? I was shy, scared and skinny. The early pictures of my time in Taiwan were not beauty shots:
Of course, I always had a fine sense of style, regardless of the circumstances:
Still, I was sad and scared:
I had a wire band around my neck, and I was frightened of anyone who approached me:
My first days in the U.S. were exhausting. Check out the first couple of days with my new foster mom:



You read my story, and you thought I would be a good addition to your life. You had recently lost Abby, your companion of 13 years.
You knew you could never replace that crazy mutt, but the advertisement said I was a "talker." You remembered the conversations you would have with Abby during bouts of writer's block and cravings for ice cream, and you thought I would fit into your life. The shyness never bothered you. You used to work with abused kids, and you were used to having little people shy away and hide from you. You figured I would respond like the children, and you could give me safe boundaries to come out of my shell. You were right, and wrong. It would take the kids weeks and months to trust you. It only took me 3 days. Hah! I had you fooled, huh? I wasn't really shy, just cautious.
I had heartworms, and hated the shots and months of recovery. I waited for the days I could run with the dogs and Bambi:
You have 10 seconds to get off your bee-hind and take me outside. So what if it's cold? It's my birthday, and my friends wait for no one! Time to play and attack the snow drifts. I'm all bundled in my new, pink birthday hoodie. Get moving, woman!
It's my first year in my home and country. We can't waste a second of fun!