Do You Hear What I Hear???

I have been trying to post pictures of the new paintings that Tony did for me.  As some of you may know, we have 3 fish made by a local artist hanging on our dining room wall.  Well, Tony painted and framed four fish to go with them for me.    They look really good and I wish you could see them, but I have been having trouble uploading photos to the blog, so while I am trying to figure out what I am doing wrong, I will update you on another subject.

Do you hear what I hear???  Or, maybe I should say, now I hear what you hear.  Yesterday, Tony and I went for hearing tests.  I was absolutely sure that he was going to end up wearing a hearing aid...well, he did fine, I, however, am wearing two demo hearing aids to assist with my hearing loss.  Remember when I was up in Cleveland before we sold the house, and the ear infection I got....well, that infection affected my hearing, mostly on the left side. 

I must admit, I am hearing like a champ now.  I heard rain falling last night and today, I actually heard my car turn signals clicking.  We watched a movie last night with the volume at a reasonable level and I could hear it.  That's huge!

My sister, Fritz, has been wearing hearing aids for years.  I have gotten used to seeing her in them and it would be odd to see her without them.  But for me, this is hard.  It's like announcing to the world that I am officially old and infirm....ARG.  

This will be a big help at work, but I wish someone would invent a hearing aid that would translate "southern drawls" into northern words that I could understand.   It still surprises me  when I call someones name in the hospital waiting room and they raise their hand and say, "Rat Cheer." 

At any rate, I will get used to these and hopefully significantly decrease the number of times I say, "say again????"

My Mind Is Like A Pop Up Toaster

I have known for quite a while that men and women process information in a different manner.  They are wired differently and therefore, different things are important to them--which means, they retain different pieces of information in a ranking system--from, "I have to keep this top of mind forever,"  to "whatever...I'll think about this as I need to." 

I was reminded of this exercise this evening when Tony and I went to the City Club for the monthly wine tasting.

I saw a flashing sign that indicated there were some side street closings around 3rd Street.  I called out this information to Tony in case he found himself in the vicinity of 3rd Street in the next 24 hours.  Tony responded by wondering if this had anything to do with 2nd Street.  He asked if I recalled all of the construction on 2nd Street.  I did not.

It was then I realized that  mental wiring  is different between men and women; much like a toaster and a freezer.

I see information and I process it in that moment.  "Ah, construction on 2nd street--don't go there."  After that, it's like the information pops up in my brain as if it were in a toaster and I throw it out.  I don't need it anymore...it served the purpose for the moment and after that it is gone.  Popped up and thrown away forever.    Did I know there was construction on 2nd Street?  Sure I did...at the moment I saw the signs...after that it popped up and out of my memory like a burnt piece of toast.  Gone forever to the grand scheme of things.

Tony, however, has a mind like a freezer.  He sees information,  he captures it and puts it in deep freeze until he needs it again.  He can pull out this information at any time, much like he is pulling out 4 pounds of filet mignon--he knows where it is--he knows this is what he wants and he delivers it to the applause of his audience.  Tony can put things in deep freeze and retrieve it in a heartbeat.  He can tell you where we were 10 years ago and what we were doing.  The only thing I remember is that we were doing it together.

Dr. Phil and various psychiatrists will tell you that women have a long memory--and that's true, but we have a long emotional memory.  I can't tell you where we were 10 years ago, but I can tell you that we loved each other, no matter where it was or what we were doing. 

My mind is like a pop up toaster and Tony's is a freezer.  What better combination to capture memories--short and long term?  

Puppy Love

The development is building a dog park near us.  It's a really good idea since there are so many dog owners here.  The park is divided into several areas so larger, more aggressive dogs can be separate from smaller ones.

 

The park isn't finished yet, but we took Dixie there the other day just to run around.  It was fun to see her without a leash and just running and jumping all over the place.  She is so quick and easily distracted, that we can't do that in our yard.  She will take off after a bird, a leaf or people on bikes and she is gone in a heartbeat.  With all of the construction trucks in the area, having her off leash is an accident waiting to happen. 

 

She played fetch with a pine cone and ran after both of us.  I think she actually smiled!

 

Check out our baby:

 

Running away from daddy

Check out her legs, she's ready to go after the pine cone!!

 

 

She got it!

 

In mid air!!!

Here she comes!

 

Happy New Year

 

 

Well, another year has come and gone and we  find ourselves at the beginning of the cycle again.  We will all be another year older...probably not wiser, but definitely older. 

 

I can't wait to see what 2014 brings...expanded family?  Career success?  New friends?  Travel?  Whatever it is, I hope we are all healthy and happy and enjoy the next 364 days that I'm sure will fly right by again.

 

I had to work the 3 to 11 p.m. shift at the hospital last night, but managed to get home just in time to see the ball drop.  Tony prepared appetizers and we shot the cork off of a bottle of sparkling wine in the backyard like we used to in Strongsville. 

 

It was a fun time and we did it in our new Christmas jammies.