Barking up the right tree

Good news! Spring is in the air. And we are starting to see some ice-free sidewalks, at least in the city centre. I am still in boots, as our house is on the top of a small hill, perhaps the most ICY hill in all of Oslo, so I still need to wear SAFE shoes. Boring - yes, but now I have a glimpse of hope. Soon I will be able to dig into my shoe-wardrobe and wear PROPER shoes again. And, in time, maybe even SANDALS. At least after Easter?

There is nothing better than walking home in the sun after a fun day at work and then opening the mailbox downstairs to experience the most surreal of all. The receipt of A REAL POSTCARD. For YOU.

The mail we get mostly includes:

• Bills (almost too obvious)
• The monthly magazine from the Book Club(s), telling you which totally uninteresting book you should be careful and cancel within a far gone deadline.
• The book(s) you forgot to cancel from the Book Club(s) last month.

Receiving a postcard is a very welcome change from the above. Sometimes the postcards are from friends or family telling us about how awesome their previous trip to "xxxxxx" was. (Please feel free to fill in some "übercool" destination of your own choice). Most often, however, it is a very nice postcard from my mother (Dad of course says "Hi!" as well). This time she found the greatest card, just look!

This could have been our wedding photo, looks just like me and my "luuuvly" husband! People that know me well, are quite aware of the fact that I have always had this thing for cows. Cows just seem so kind and innocent. There are no mean cows. I do have a strong preference towards the black and white spotted ones, though. So, needless to say, this card really made my day. It is now waiting on the kitchen counter for Mr. Incredible to come home from work.

Inspired by this card I finally got the courage to sit down and write a card myself. Our upstairs neighbors have recently bought a dog. A dog that does not appreciate being left alone in their bedroom for hours. Something it expresses by barking. Continuously. Being not only a cattle person, but very much a dog person as well, this breaks my heart when I hear it. So I got this card for them (the creative one-dimensional sound effects have been added by yours truly). Sound wise, it does not bother me that the dog barks, I just turn on our tumble-dryer to drown out the noise. But the dog sounds pretty bothered.

I hope they leave the poor thing at home with the radio on or something from now on. Or - if necessary - with a dog-grade valium or three.