Dementia and Show Tunes (and Dogs!), Oh My!

The other day, there was a report stating researchers found that singing show tunes helped improve brain function in patients with Alzheimer's/dementia. The researchers held sing-along sessions with hits from The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music, and found that those who sang along showed "marked improvement" compared to those who just listened.

The hubs and I really worry about our brains - especially mine, which often doesn't work right. This was fantastic news to me, because I know every word to every song from Oklahoma! (and most of them for TSoM and TWoO and, as a bonus, South Pacific). We not only had the albums when I was a kid, but I played Aunt Eller in the school musical. (I shoulda rounded up a pic, but that would be Throw-back Thur, and today's Less-Wordy Wed.)

To prove to myself I still had it, I typed out the lyrics to Ado Annie's "I Can't Say No" from Oklahoma. (Hit that link if you've never heard it. It's not exactly a beautiful tune, but it's fun.) 

So, here are my typed lyrics... accompanied by repurposed dog photos.

Monday Mischief: Custom Bedding! And a Storage Problem Solved!

The hubs and I have been on the search for a good night's sleep (defined as not waking up in pain. Is that too much to ask?) for, like, years now. A while back we realized we wanted different things, so went to two twins in our king frame. Because of our search, we have a couple of spare twin bed toppers around the house, and since we had (yet another) new bed coming, I needed to do some rearranging. 

I asked the hubs to toss one of the toppers in the spare room until I could rearrange some stuff stored under that bed and store the topper under there too. That night we went to bed and Rita trotted off to the spare room where she sometimes sleeps up on the guest bed. We heard what sounded either like distant fireworks (my guess, since we live within hearing distance of SeaWorld's fireworks and it was a 3-day weekend for MLK Jr. Day) OR Rita rearranging the blanket we keep on top of the guest bed for when she sleeps in there (the hub's guess, since Rita likes a cozy nest). We were both wrong.

The next morning I found this:

Someone had a good time.

Wordless Wed.: The Dog's a Fan of the Bone Broth Craze!

Did you know there's a bone broth craze going on? (If something makes The Today Show it's probably officially a craze!) I've been making bone broth for the hubs (so it will hopefully help with his joint and bone issues). He drinks a hot mug of it every night, and the dog's a fan!

Here she is watching, waiting, and hoping while I prep the bones for the cooking.

Lost & Found Mischief

Each novel I write has its own notebook. It holds various things: a rough outline, timeline, character notes, lists of names, maybe some first-draft scenes when I don't feel like working on my desktop PC, any newspaper articles or photos or other bits of inspiration, etc.

Well, this weekend I realized I'd lost my notebook for Book #4. Aggggh! I figured it was in the house, so looked everywhere. I've been known to absentmindedly set things down in weird places when I'm straightening up and have my hands too full, so I really looked everywhere! (Yes, I looked in the freezer.)

Lots to Celebrate! (Including Book News!)

There's a lotta stuff to celebrate today on PoochSmooches, so I hope you'll let me be a teensy bit wordy! (Don't you always??) :)

First of all, Jan. 21 is Rita's Gotcha Day! Three years ago we brought this crazy little pup home.

Momma's Girl? Daddy's Boy? Does Your Pet Have a Preference?

This is a daddy's girl:

Our beagle Bailey was a major daddy's girl. She would sit in his lap and hug and kiss him for ages. And he would just let her. They were quite the pair. (I literally gave up once after counting 1000 kisses.)

Wordless Wednesday: Left Out in the Cold

Recently when my sis was dog-sitting Rita, she took Reg and Rita over to a neighbor's house so they could race around in their park-like backyard. (Yes, the livin' is easy - and warm - in the winter time in San Diego, but our backyards are tiny.) 

They played: