First off, thank you. I’m finally feeling almost not sick at all and my depression is fading. I never know from day to day how it will go but today is good and I’m so relieved and also so thankful for all of your support and funny cat videos and words that kept me safer. Thank you!
I was supposed to go visit family last weekend but I was too sick so instead I’m going this weekend, which means that I’m sharing my Easter pictures early. Because they are magic:
Victor, on the other hand, disagreed with the magic and said something about how we agreed not to spend money on frivolous things and I was like, “Yeah. ‘frivolous’ things like shoes that glow in the dark, or organic fruit. I’m not sure what’s so frivolous about this” and Victor was like:
…but that’s his normal sort of look and then Dorothy Barker gave him this look…
…and he laughed in spite of himself. AND IT WAS AN EASTER MIRACLE.
PS. If you’re following me on twitter you know that Dottie has been a bit out-of-sorts but her blood work came back and she’s fine and probably just has allergies so we’re treating her for that. Yay!
That’s the happiest damn dog face I’ve ever seen!
She asked, “Do these ears make my butt look big?”
Victor said no.
Dorothy Barker made that face by way of reply
M’awwwww. Easter pup.
Glad you are feeling better and Dottie is okayish. And I hope your weekend is enjoyable and restful so that you keep feeling better.
Dog costumes are not frivolous. They are right up there with potato chips as one of the things that make life worth living.
What an amazing post! I can’t get my dog to wear anything. Seriously disturbing that he walks around naked when there is a holiday to celebrate.
Yay!!! Plus Victor couldn’t ignore the power of puppybunnie!!
I just had to put one of my dogs to sleep, and that pic made me smile, so it IS a miracle. 🙂
Dorothy Barker is one saintly dog:). She deserves some kind of salmon easter treat for that, no? 🙂
Thank you for sharing pictures of your dog bunny! Glad to hear you are finally on the mend. Have a very blessed Easter!
She says HA! Look at this hot stuff! May happiness find you and the bad stuff not find you! Goddess
So glad that you are feeling better. 🙂 Yay. And anyone looking at that face would have to laugh! I’m glad Dottie is doing better too. Allergy season has hit everyone very hard this year I think. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t been able to follow as much on twitter as I don’t have data on my phone anymore. I hope you have a very magical Easter.
So great to hear you are doing better.
I wish you lots of unfuckwithable days.
And yes this is a word. I think…
Good dog Dorothy! Jenny, I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better!
I really needed all those pictures and videos as well! I shared a picture to you on facebook cause i dont know how to put pics or videos on a blog so while i was trying seeing everyone elses made me smile and laugh it was great! So thank you! Xoxox
I frequently get the exact same look from my husband!
Shadow says that if she has to suffer the indignity of Clothes Every Day, Miss Dorthy can wear some stinking Easter costume. 😆 (Tiny black dog, walked at night. She wears brightly colored shirts/dresses.)
Yay for feeling better! YAY for pups that are feeling better, because when the fuzzybutts are sick it makes us feel that much worse. Hoppy Easter!
Sounds like two Easter miracles to me – great news about Dorothy Barker! Enjoy the hell out of the reprieve your brain has been blessed with, and have a great time with your family! You deserve it.
Bunny ears for the dog are NEVER frivolous. 😉 Glad Ms. Barker is doing better and it’s nothing too serious.
My pup has allergies too. It’s such a pain! But mine won’t wear ears like that to save his life so you win. And perhaps her lethargy was sympathy pains?
@icebearninja – i’m so very sorry for your loss.
Yeah, I totally get you. We’re not making frivolous purchases, either, which is why I felt justified in buying two 40 gallon cages for my new snakes. Because snakes are important, but buying organic is just throwing good money away.
Glad you’re feeling better, friend.
Poor Victor. He completely lacks a sense of judgement. Can’t imagine what might have become of him and his dreary life if you hadn’t saved him. Keep up the good fight against over-common sense and the dark demons who battle to suck us down.
Yesterday I kept getting an error message that TheBloggress wasn’t loading. Gee, when you said you were feeling down, it must have reached far into the internet! Glad you (and the entire cyber-universe) are better today!!!!
SO glad you are better all around, and that Dorothy Barker (whose name I really love) is OK. And, no, dog costumes are not frivolous. Besides, you can tell Victor that it is research and development for your writing, at which you are highly successful, so there.
One man’s frivolous is another man’s necessity. <3
Yaaayyyy! I’m so happy that you are feeling much better!
Dorothy Barker makes a magical Easter bunny. Victor should know that bunny costumes for
her are not frivolous. It is necessary!
{{HUGS}} for Easter!
I love that Dot lets you dress her up. My hounds are only 60% okay with this… 80% if it’s a peep holiday, and there are peeps nearby. When the peeps run out, the ears come OFF!
Little by little Victor is learning what’s important in life. He’s so lucky to have you as a teacher! Happy Easter!
A Wabbit/dog! perfect. So glad you are BETTER………Woof
Glad you are on the mend! Enjoy the weekend! <3
Love this! Glad you are feeling better.
It’s that moment when you know your dog has got your back, even if it leads to further humiliation for her.
I like how in the first pic your left arm looks like a girl spread eagle. You dirty, you naughty. I like you.
Hooray! happy easter. Pets are the best remedy for pretty much everything.
Yes! I think if I put rabbit ears on my dog she’d eat them.
Allergies are hitting everybody hard around here. D: My poor kiddo has been sick in bed all day because he says his throat is on fire and he feels like crap because of his allergies.
I love this! It is an Easter 🐣 Miracle cause it made me smile too, and I never smile at Easter- long story. So keep doing what you do Jenny and rejoice in the wonderfullness (it’s a word cause I wrote it) that is you. Know that you are loved and appreciated and my life would be less bright without you in it. (So thanks to Wil Wheaton for introducing me to you.) I’ve been struggling, but I’m absolutely fighting and you’re helping in your way. Thank you. ❤️💋
Cuteness. Pure cuteness. And very similar to something I posted on my FB page this morning. There’s just something about dogs cross-dressing as bunnies that makes me think we should have Easter EVERY weekend. But then maybe chocolate would get old. Perhaps. I doubt it.
Happy Early Easter! You know that Dorothy Barker might be upset about the bunny outfit, right? I mean, a dog dressed as an Easter Rabbit? Just seems wrong. Will she be delivering Easter Eggs on Sunday?
I do agree that spending money on creating magic and sparkles is never a waste. (Within a reasonable budget, etc, etc.)
I’m glad both you and Dorothy Barker are feeling better!
What? No costume for Ferris? Is that why he’s photobombing?
Glad you’re feeling better. The shot with Hailey cuddling Dottie is priceless!
Glad that you’re feeling better. Cute picture!
Happy Easter!
Love it!! So glad to see so many smiles!!!
Things that make you happy when you are sad are NOT frivolous! And besides – who could not love Dorothy Barker the Easter Hound?!!!
Is it just me, or does Victor look like John Cusack? Or is that John Cusack sitting in for Victor?
I think I need one of those bunny outfits in human size… that is awesome 😀 though I’m thinking more of a onesie type of thing.
Great to hear you are getting better, laughter brought on by pets and family is good at bringing the sunshine into the grey of illness.
You could always threaten to put the bunny ears on Victor, instead. Dorothy totally rocks any costume you stuff her into; what a gorgeous dog! So glad you’re feeling better, just in time for Easter chocolate.
Glad you’re feeling better!! Hope you have a great weekend.
So pleased you are starting to feel a bit better. I am reading your second book. You make me laugh. Have you seen Ruby Wax’s Black Dog Tribe website?
I think Dorothy Parker in ears would make anyone smile. It’s great Jenny you’re feeling much better.
That is mind blowing adorable!
This is random but I just learned this and …OMG. Did you know that Minks are vampires? Well they are so….probably why they were made into coats , to ward off other blood sucking minks by making it look like there was no room even at the counter. Thought maybe you should know.
Happy Easter and Keep Feeling Better and Better. I left a nice review on Amazon for you! Happy Easter-I wish good health, many blessings and happiness for you!!
Last night I was up far too late with a glue gun making a banner for my son’s robotics team, and then I dreamt of a woman who made amazing hats, with puppets on top that people could pick up and use. So I woke up wanting to make a hat with finger-like bumps sticking off the top that could be filled with finger puppets, whichever ones felt right that day. It could be a visual manifestation of the voices in our heads, whether actual voices or the ones we have developed ourselves over the years, that tell us things like, “Zebras are cool!”, or, “Don’t wear a hat covered in puppets, you’ll look like an idiot.”
Happiness is not frivolous unless it’s that $800 dollar bear on your link. Plus it’s a work expense. Besides I called out of work to cuddle my cat and I don’t feel bad at all.
Happiness is not frivolous besides it’s a work expensive. Besides I called out of work to cuddle my cat all day and I don’t feel bad at all. Take happiness when you find it.
I put reindeer antlers on my great dane once….she hated me for it. I wish she had been more of a good sport like Dorothy!
I’m so glad you are feeling better! I hope it continues to improve. Dottie is the cutest little girl, and a saint for letting you dress her!
Did that look mean Dorothy wanted Victor to remove the rabbit ears or was she telling him they are absolutely divine? Either way, win!
SO GLAD you’re feeling better, and that Dorothy the Easter Doggy is ok (except for allergies, ack-ptuie!). Be careful of whatever brown eggs that dog-bunny brings this weekend tho… ;P
<3
Is that Victor, because if it is, he is hot! But if that isn’t him, forget I said that.
Yay!!! You and Dorothy Barker are both doing better!!
Dorothy Barker is even cuter as a bunny. I take photos of my girls with ears too. Today I’m going to try putting them on my kitten too.
Pets are the best therapy ever!
Best.ever.
Sending lots of love,
L.
I love the reply from whoever it was who said happiness isn’t frivolous. 🙂
I’m so glad you’re feeling better. This year has been determined to punch me in the gut every month–to date I’ve lost an elderly cat, my mother, my dog (who tolerated but didn’t care for bunny ears) since the beginning of the year, and now I have another elderly cat who has decided to play the ‘food roulette’ game to see what I will offer him to eat next. He’s almost 19; I know it’s just a matter of time. So yeah, I’ve been struggling.
Which is why when I passed a toy bin out shopping and saw the most gorgeous dinosaur ever, I had to buy it. Because she was beautiful (the detailing for a kid’s toy is truly amazing) and she made me smile. She’s a herrasaurus, so of course I named her Hera because she is the Queen of the Dinosaur Gods. Or something like that. 🙂
This post made me smile too. The John Cusack gif was BRILLIANT.
Awww! How cute is that face? <3
Love that you’re feeling better.
http://www.horseshoesandwine.com
So glad you are feeling better, and bunny ears for dogs (or cats) are not frivolous at all! That is necessary for quality of life! That is the best happy dog face ever. Glad Dottie is okay, too.
Aw, thanks for Dorothy Barker…she always makes me smile…
Dorothy Barker got Victor to laugh in spite of himself! Where’s the frivolity in that? Um… wait a minit… pretty sure that might be the definition of frivolity… so, um… HOW IS FRIVOLOUS A BAD THING, VICTOR?
She really is a good dog, and I’m so glad you’re nearly back to 100%!
Glad you’re feeling less stabby. Putting animals in people accessories tends to help reduce worldsuck in general.
Seasonal crap isn’t frivolous when your depression makes you forget what season is actually is. Or so I tell myself. While standing in front of Target’s not-hella-expensive bin crap, trying to make myself feel like a person instead of a crudely animated corpse.
I tried putting a costume on Izzie (my black cat) and she turned into a succubus. And it’s really a shame that I can’t paste her picture here because she honestly looks like something that hell spat out. The Viking, on the other hand, turned into Usain Bolt when I approached with bunny ears in hand. There was some shouting that may have been Danish curses but it was hard to tell because he was running down the alley. Nothing freaks a Viking out more than Bunny Ears. Trust me.
Hello! I just found you.
Me? You? Kindred Spirits. (‘cept you have books, and I blog about bathrooms)
I’ll be following you…
not in a sicko, paranoid way. Just in a “Hey. Person who gets the Head Shit. Rock on.”
happy to hear Dorothy Barker tests are good. it pains me more when my pets are sick than when I am. So extra treats and extra whiskey for all!
Thank you for always lifting my spirits with your humor. It has helped me most recently after I had to put my 17-year-old cat, Romeow, to sleep. It broke my heart.
My husband made the SAME FACE yesterday. And all I wanted to do was climb up on the roof, take apart the chimney, and rescue a woodpecker.
Now if Dottie was only a Beagle you could say “It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown” However you can’t deny your Easter miracle. Dottie looks extra cute.
Have a great time.
You inspired me to start blogging and now almost 2,000 sad people have found hope in this piece. So coming full circle, I share it with you. You are touching the lives of people who are touching others’ lives. We love you and thank you for being brave so that we could be brave, too.
“When I Wished to be a Sparrow (Reflections on Depression and Faith)”
I stood in the field alone, looking out to the western foothills. The sun was starting its descent from day to night, but it wasn’t quite sunset.
Not quite.
It was the magical time just before. The window through which everything is more vibrant in color, more alive, rimmed with gold. My favorite time of the day.
“This is when they should bury me,” I thought.
This is when they should lower my body into the ground, when the sun turns the world golden before its arc into night.
When the leaves on the trees flash a bright spring green. And the cottonwood floating in the air looks electric. When the long grass glows warm, its tips a blur of undulating white.
When everything is just a little too bright, just a little too beautiful, just a little too intense.
Just like me.
I was out in that field looking for God, not for salvation but for some sign that things would be okay after I died. For me and for the people who would miss me so, so much.
Depression is like being dead in a world that is cruelly alive. Cold and hollowed out like a corpse, you try to connect with the living, try to feel the warmth of their hope, but you can’t.
My only tether to this life was my love. For my mom, my brother, my friends. For the dreams of what my life was supposed to be. For my children who had yet to be born.
But the pain was becoming greater than my love, and so I was preparing to die. I didn’t know how exactly. That was for later, after I’d made peace with myself and with God in this field.
After I knew I’d done my very best to live. Because I wanted them to say at my funeral,
“She did her very best to live.”
I noticed sparrows darting back and forth across the field. As the sun began to set, they emerged.
Dozens and dozens of them flew about, only a few inches above the glowing grass, catching bugs in the last light of the day. A few of the braver ones flew close enough that I could hear their chirping and the swish of their wings.
They were exuberant and joyful. And I contemplated why they were not afraid. Their minds could not comprehend that the setting sun would rise again the next day, but they flew like it would.
They had faith that it would.
I wished to have that kind of faith.
I wished to be a sparrow.
Happy Easter Every-Bunny!
THANK YOU – I needed that. I can relate to the rotten time you’ve been having and I hope you’re on the upswing. Thanks for the raccoons and Dorothy Barker and (gasp) John Cusack. And for your books and blog and everything you do.
I’m glad both you AND the dog are healthier. And happier thanks to dog costumes. I wish I could get one like that in a size extra large for Titus so he can chase the rabbits in our garden dressed like a bunny and really fuck with their heads.
I know I already talked about your Easter Miracle but I wanted it to continue today. I’m glad that some of those happy fun videos, blogs and pictures are helping you feel a little better. However, you can never have enough funny videos for a spare down time or even a spare good time because it’s always good to laugh I’m sharing another one.
https://youtu.be/A4N7G29GWQI
May your light get brighter and never stop shining. You’ve always said,”You are important. You are special.” and now “You Are Here”. I’ll keep my light, however, dim shining for as long as I can and you’ll do the same and we’ll try to be beacons when we can and see the beacons when we can’t.
she is indeed a jewel.
I am glad you are feeling better and Happy Easter. I love those bunny ears. I recently found my depression creeping back even though l am on medication. I was crying every day and l couldn’t get out of bed. An increase of one pill and l am back to feeling better. Its such a slippery slope which you are not always aware of.
Bwahahahaha! I could watch that gif of total bafflement for hours…especially imagining Victor doing it!
Hey Jenny, You know what makes me smile when the whole world comes a-butt- kicking at my front door? Or at my imagined front door, which is my dream life? You know, Involuntary ass kicking? I pull out your books. I reread, rinse and repeat….. and it always washes out the crap from my evil dream. That and a bourbon laced glass of chocolate milk.
And yes, dressing up my dogs. My Taquito has a bumble bee outfit that he really rocks.
Thanks for being you, Hugs. Cassandra
I’m glad you’re feeling better! I just recently started following your blog after picking up a copy of Furiously Happy while browsing the bookstore. The insanely happy raccoon on the cover really caught my eye and screamed at me “This is something you need in your life”. And I really did need it, thank you for letting us readers into your life and the laughs!
I think the Spring weather brings all of us out of the “FUNK” of depression. I am happy to hear you are feeling better. I couldn’t even bring myself to buy your new book, it’s on my list of things to catch up on…right up there in my top 5.
My dog just had an bad episode of coughing and they also decided it was allergies. He is 20 pounds and is taking 1/2 Zyrtec each day and that has done the trick. Good luck to you with Dorothy Barker’s allergies. I am glad you are feeling better. I took your coloring book to the beach this weekend and it was wonderful. And BTW – dog Easter outfits are not frivolous at all. Love you.
You’re so lucky to have a dog who lets you dress her up! My German shepherd mix won’t even wear reindeer ears at Xmas.
Would it be rude to ask what breed she is? I’m guessing Papillon from the picture, but she does also resemble a long-haired Chihuahua.
My late father (d. 10/12/2014) hinted that if he ever got a dog, it would be a Papillon.
He was in the last stages of Parkinson’s disease and confined to a wheelchair at the time. A little lapdog would have been great company for him.
Wish I’d taken the hint and gotten him a puppy. Mom didn’t want a dog but I could have taken it off her hands after Dad passed. My GSD gets along fine with small dogs.
Father’s Day gets harder and harder to face every year.
Wish I’d spent more quality time with Dad when I had the chance.
I miss my dog Maddie that I use to dress up. She was half german shepard and collie. I would dress her up in my scrubs and we would go dancing. lol.
Something that cute should always be in the budget. 😉
Physical exercise is commonly major depressive disorder
recommended by doctors as a solid method of alleviating depression symptoms; however it may not be as effective in cases of major depressive episodes.
My doggie has been sick and we have spent at least a down payments worth on a car to have her taken care of. Would do it again.