Prickly things

I only reduced this one in size a bit, so you could see close up the sharp points and the cobwebs. This one was shot at the lake on the 19th. I did get a spider, but he didn't stay exposed for very long.

Life is prickly around here. Juggling much. Friday should be a really fun day. Or, Friday night should be. My daughter is having all four wisdom teeth removed and the pups get neutered. Fun City. Anybody want to come over and help to keep me sane? Hah.

I watched Valkyrie. With all the German names, it was hard to keep track of who was who. Of course we know who Tom plays. The other names were hard to keep straight. And with the uniforms all the men tend to blend together. I was relieved to see that they did not go after his family.

Tomorrow is October already. Wow. I plan to go to the festival on Sunday. There is a car show on that day. It is the busiest day, but we had to arrange for sisters to make it. Weather looks a bit iffy. I've been there before when it rains. It is a mess and we were miserable.

evil imp

Big breath. I will not choke Chong, I will not choke Chong, I will NOT choke Chong!

Oh, I hate this day! I have not had a day like today in years and I hope I never do again.

C'est la vie!

Really! Must you?

Slade gives me the weary-look.

The cons to having the boxer back.

I have to walk him and walk him and walk him.

The positive spin - I need to walk more. 'Nuff said.

The increased vet bills.

The positive spin - hopefully they will be fewer as he settles in.

More mess in the house.

The positive spin - actually he is much cleaner than the pups. They are the messy ones.

Separation Anxiety.

The positive spin - at least he has the pups and Sable to help with this anxiety. It is better than him being completely alone.

My daughter said that when she talked to the couple that kept him for 11 days, they told her that he ripped up a cage when the attempted to cage him. That may be how he got the wounds. Heck, Sable tore up cages too. But she has big thick fur on her.

The leg tremors during the night only happened the first night. He is much more settled and I am going to be keeping him for as long as I can stand it. He needs security. He needs stability. That is what I am going to give him. I do know one thing for sure. He is a fussy-butt when doing his business. I believe he counts steps. He has to take so many steps before he will go. I swear he is counting. I was using plastic bags when we went for walks. Now, I am trying paper towels and lunch bags. I am trying to be greener. I can fit five or six brown lunch bags into one plastic bag.

My sister says "He needs a name!"

They called him Brutus. We call him Slade. I said "How about Blade?" Nobody liked it.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board. How about Pickles? Hee hee.

Oh, rats. He is whining again. He looks up at me and whines. "What do you want?" He wants to go outside. He always wants to go outside.

We have let him run loose in the yard a couple of times. He pretty much sticks close by. Can he ever run! Pure muscle. I'll try to get a movie of him. But, I am very cautious about letting him run loose. I can't trust him completely, yet.

He is REALLY whining now. Gotta go.

The reunion is bittersweet

My baby has been brought back to me, but .... he is wounded

They tried with him. It was the separation anxiety. They tried to put him in their garage and he cut himself up. I didn't see the complete damage until just a few minutes ago.

I came home from work when they dropped him off. I tucked him into the house and I went back to work. I came home, and walked him. He ate a full bowl of food and then snuggled on the couch. I got my glasses and the Neosporin and turned my brightest living room lamp on. He was calm and snoozing away.

I gently applied some here and there. Each look I became more horrified. I blocked out his privates in the photo. The sore you don't see is on the inside of the other leg. I lifted the top leg and applied some ointment on it. He jumped. I jumped. I wanted to cry. I made him as comfortable as I could and he rested his head on my arm.

We sat like that for a long time.

The puppies were ecstatic. They were a little harsh around the hind legs where the wounds were, though. He didn't seem to mind a bit. Even Sable seemed happy to see her friend. With him back in the house, the pups will probably leave her alone.

They had him inoculated for rabies and a years' worth of heart worm and flea medicine. They renamed him Brutus. I don't know. I tried to call him Brutus, but it didn't feel right. I slipped back to Slade.

The Fisherman

Do you suppose he knew he was being photographed?

I watched a couple of interesting movies. One was titled "A Little Romance". It was recommended on my Netflix list. I loved Laurence Olivier in it. The story line was a little too young for me. It was made in 1979, and the hair on that Diane Lane! Wow!

"The Assassination of Richard Nixon" with Sean Penn.

"Georgia O'Keeffe".

"Little Fish".

And, "Chinese Box".

I still won't say much

Yeah, I miss him. I think of him less and less, though. When I do think of him I get a bit teary-eyed so I don't want to talk too much about him. It was his eyes mostly I think. He wouldn't look at me directly just sort of glance sideways at me. He had the most soft, liquid eyes. I probably didn't do him any favors by getting so attached to him before sending him away to strangers.

So! Monday morning I get up for work. I walk to the back door (6 a.m.) to let the pups outside and I hear the dryer running in the basement. What!?!? My daughter wasn't up that early washing clothes. What!?!? I rush downstairs and open the door to the dryer. Still there is heat. The timer did not move. My towels are very dry. They are now the right size for doll house towels, but they are dry. What?!?! I cringe. 10 hours. 10 hours! No wonder my electric bill has been so high lately. Good grief!

This week-end I am replacing the batteries in my smoke detectors. Just in case. It is about the time for that anyway. 10 hours! I know, I know. I am very lucky the damn thing didn't catch on fire. Oh, the horror! The horror!

Stopped at the lake

Taken yesterday at the lake

I shoot straight into the sun. I love pictures where the sun distorts the images. I switched this one over to B&W because first there was a huge blue spot in the water from the sun or the camera and second because there wasn't much color after the sun washed it all out anyway.

I stopped here late in the afternoon after my genealogy class. I did stop to get some of my favorite pizza. I bought a tray because my brother and I have this deal. When either of us travel down "home" and we get our favorite childhood pizza we get some for the other one and call them. I called and he might be able to pick it up tonight. I'll freeze it if he doesn't get by. If I don't, sure as shootin' - I'll eat it.

I already am in a carbohydrate induced coma.

Not sure where the phrase "sure as shootin'" originated, but it could be a part of the phrase "sure as shootin' in a barrel full of fish?"

On the way home I got stopped at a DUI checkpoint. The officer laughed and wanted to know if I was trying to bribe him with that pizza. A tray is 28 square pieces and this pizza shop had put it all into one gigantic flat box. It was sitting on the front seat next to me. I told him that my family would not let me into the house without it! He asked me if I had been drinking (not because of my conduct, because he has to). I told him just Pepsi. He laughed and said "Oh, the hard stuff." Yeah.

But 25 years ago, dude? It would have been a whole other ballgame, I am sorry to say.

Just freaky

This scares the bejesus out of me

Most of you know by now that I am using my daughter's camera to take pictures. The pups are growing so fast, I don't want to miss the photo opportunities. I didn't want to delete anything on the memory card of my daughter's until I saved it all off to my hard drive. I stumbled across the above photo taken underwater in a swimming pool sometime over the summer.

It is one of my daughter's friends. It freaks me out.

I am off to a Genealogy class today. I hope I learn something useful. I want to do more with the web site and adding information about our family history. I have been reading about the ACLU and it's involvement in saving the authenticity of the 4th amendment. There is plenty to think about.

Looks like we are set for a beautiful day here in T-Valley, Ohio. I'll probably spend most of mine on the road and inside a library. Ah well. If I time it right, I can get my favorite childhood pizza and bring it home. Yum!

We do it while she is busy reading email see.....

They are plotting against me, now. This morning while reading my emails, Cheech came over and was being all coy and shy and lovable. I bend down and I say "Oh such a sweet puppy!" Usually I only get one sentence out before the other pup (they are always jealous of one another) comes bounding over to steal the attention. But, Chong did not show. I enjoyed the moment with Cheech. And then it hit me. The cat food! Aha! I ran to the kitchen. Chong was already scampering away. I picked up the cat dish laughing. You little devils! Plotting against me already!

On second thought, it was probably the fact that Cheech knew Chong was doing something wrong and he comes over to me to show me "See? I am the good puppy!" Yeah. That's probably more like what happened. He didn't want the wrath of Mom on him again.

Right this second Cheech is pulling Chong around the living room floor by his ear. By his ear! Probably telling him "You are going to get us into trouble again!"

I attended a "Constitution Day" speech last evening. This one had a speaker from the ACLU speaking about technology and the 4th amendment. I am going to be reading more on FISA and illegal search and seizure. DNA is a big controversy right now. The speaker asked us if we thought it was necessary for them to collect our DNA for any little arrest or reason. They must have suspicion. It isn't like fingerprints, you know. DNA can have some powerful pieces of information connected to it.

Speedracer

Cheech and Sable chase Chong around the yard.

I am trying to get used to my daughter's camera. It is an Olympus Stylus 720 SW. Having a heck of a time keeping my finger out of the shots. The battery is lame. Lame! It conks out after twenty minutes or so of shooting.

My schedule is beginning to ease up. I am slowly coming out of the "summer of a hundred doctors' appointments". What a ride. I should finish the foot one up today. A follow up. The insert and the new shoes have been helping. I am experiencing times with little or no pain in my heel. I feel like I am wearing cement blocks on my feet. I have to wear shoes that lace up and tie. Yuck. I am a "slip-on a pair of loafers" type gal. Or slip into some low-heeled pumps. I am having a hard time wearing sneakers to work with casual dress clothes. I am glad I don't have to really dress up. I still have to crawl around on the floor from time to time to connect technical equipment and wires, so I wear casual and comfortable.

For meetings I like to dress a little better, though. Sigh.

Our county fair begins on Monday. Not sure if I will go this year. I skipped it last year, I might skip it this year.

Daughter can't stand her classes at school. Groan. I try to listen. The griping is constant. She gripes about her boyfriend, she gripes about her classes and her teachers and she gripes about traffic and other drivers. Double groan. I am her sounding board, I guess.

Meanwhile, family is beginning to plan week-ends in October. Fall festival is on the 4th! Break's over!

Chong sits for the camera

Aren't they just growing up? I had them both to the vet last evening for their third round of booster shots and their rabies shots. This rascal is coming in at 12 1/2 pounds. His brother is 12 and 1/4. You should see them run. Chong is the fastest with Cheech chasing him and even Sable getting in on the action.

Good-bye big boy

Things just are not going right for me. The family that first wanted him came over Sunday. Well, the grandparents did. They wanted Slade. They paid me for the vet bills. I handed him over with the leash and his worming medicine and his ear medicine.

I am just sick about it. I've had a headache all day and even Sable snapped at the little pups.

I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Are you trying to tell me something?

From one of the fairs at a neighboring county

I think the turkey is trying to convey a message here. And I am not certain I want to know what that message is. When I lived with my brother back in the late 80's/early 90's he had this device he used when he went turkey hunting. It looked like a four inch by four inch black chalkboard called a turkey caller slate. You scratched a wooden device over it and it made a female turkey noise. I got pretty good at imitating it and at fairs I make that noise. Folks around us think I am nuts and my family usually leave when I do this. Sometimes it gets the turkeys all honking and making noises. That is the noise I made to get the reaction out of the turkey in the photo above.

I was reminded yesterday of why I don't clean very often. I used the mold & mildew spray on my downstairs shower. The smell of bleach was so overwhelming I became sick to my stomach and wrestled with a stupid headache the rest of the day. Even walks outside didn't help me. It ruins my day. I can still smell it this morning and I have to return downstairs to finish washing clothes. Ugh.

I am always running fans in my house and the weather is nice enough to have all the doors and windows open. The smell lingers in my memory or somehow. It is nauseating.

One of the two pups have diarrhea. He starts going on the pet bathroom pad, but more times than not he finishes with it off the mat. Fun stuff. Another smell that is making me sick. Then I clean the rug and spray pet deodorizer. Another smell! It is turning into a real Funday Sunday. It will be a minor miracle if I don't end up having to swallow a migraine pill before this is all over with.

For some unknown reason one of the pups have started to urinate in the kitchen. I have solid tile in there. The first time I wasn't paying attention and I had my knock-off "Croc" shoes on and I slid halfway across the floor. I thought I was ice skating. Which I have never done before. I also thought my feet were going to go out from under me. I am very careful now (especially since most of the time I am in my bare feet) and check the floor out before I walk on it. I also put a puppy pad in there, but they will urinate and then turn the pad over onto itself trying to cover it up or something. Then it is just as slippery.

I'm probably going slowly insane here. What a nut job. They are all sleeping peacefully now. The two pups at my feet so that when I get up to get a fresh cup of coffee I have to make sure I don't step on them. The boxer over in my chair. Sable at her usual post by the back door. Cats on the back of the couch. The two that will come upstairs, that is. I did see Moose for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. I caught a glimpse of her when I went downstairs to switch the clothes over. She looked fine. I feed them (Moose, Mr. Tibbs and Teton) and give them water. It disappears so I know they are getting to it. Casper and Jasper stay upstairs and give the boxer an "in your face" stance. They don't scare off so easily. He ignores them, now.

I watched "Push" last night. It was okay. I have some trouble following the movies a lot. I have to run closed-caption all the time now. I miss so much if I don't. I can't turn the volume up really loud because of the action scenes. They come in so loud with a boom it is an instant headache. I keep the volume to a normal level and run close caption. I am a fast reader so I can pretty much read and see the scene before it moves on. I like the main character. He played in "Cellular" and I liked that movie, too. And, Dakota Fanning. What a resume on that girl.

Pink clover

From September 2007. Going back into my photo archives again because, well... you know. I lost my camera's battery charger. Is anyone keeping count? A half dozen times? Very unorganized. I used to be very organized. What happened? Oh, yeah. Life happened. I added people, animals and stuff to my life and it is all getting away from me. I am just holding on tight these days and enjoying the ride.

Speaking of animals. My zoo is messy. It bothers me at times but anymore I just roll with it. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I am stressing a bit about the veterinarian bills and the dog food. I am a firm believer in purchasing the dog food where the first ingredient is NOT corn. A filler. Waste. And my cats get the food that keeps hairballs to a minimum. It does work. I have not seen a hairball in weeks. But that could also mean the pups are cleaning them up. I know, gross.

A meme from Tabor. Pick up the book closest to you. Turn to page 161 and copy the fifth sentence. Here it is:


"But Julie is too sincere and thoughtful to mean it in anything other than an appreciative way."

The book is "Adventures with Ari" by Kathryn Miles. A book about a dog. Imagine that!

It is Saturday. Shhhh. I don't want anybody to hear this. I have nothing planned this week-end. Nothing! I have two days to myself! I am giddy. I can read all day. Watch movies. Well, after I do some cleaning. I have to do a little work or I will feel guilty as hell. But, not too much. I'm not going to go all Mr. Clean on you. I am more the Erma Bombeck type. Humor and a messy house. Which reminds me of a joke I read years ago. The first is a letter from Martha Stewart to Erma Bombeck. The second is from Erma back to Martha. I love it.

Hi Erma,

This perfectly delightful note is being sent on paper I made myself to tell you what I have been up to. Since it snowed last night, I got up early and made a sled with old barn wood and a glue gun. I hand painted it in gold leaf, got out my loom and made a blanket in peaches and mauves.

Then, to make the sled complete, I made a white horse to pull it from DNA that I had just sitting around in my craft room. By then, it was time to start making the place mats and napkins for my 20 breakfast guests. I'm serving the old standard Stewart twelve-course breakfast, but I'll let you in on a little secret: I didn't have time to make the tables and chairs this morning, so I used the ones I had on hand.

Before I moved the table into the dining room I decided to add just a touch of the holidays. So I repainted the room in pinks and stenciled gold stars on the ceiling.

While the homemade bread was rising, I took antique candle molds and made the dishes (exactly the same shade of pink) to use for breakfast. These were made from Hungarian clay, which you can get at almost any Hungarian craft store.

Well, I must run. I need to finish the hand-sewn buttonholes on the dress I'm wearing for breakfast. I'll get out the sled and drive this note to the post office as soon as the glue dries on the envelope I'll be making.

Hope my breakfast guests don't stay too long. I have 40,000 cranberries to string with bay leaves before my speaking engagement at noon. It's a good thing.

Love, Martha

P.S. When I made the ribbon for this typewriter, I used 1/8-inch gold gauze. I soaked the gauze in a mixture of white grapes and blackberries which I grew, picked, and crushed last week just for fun.

---

Dear Martha:

I'm writing this on the back of an old shopping list. Pay no attention to the coffee and jelly stains.

I'm 20 minutes late getting my daughter off for school, packing a lunch with one hand-on the phone with the dog pound, seems old Ruff needs bailing out again.

Burnt my arm on the curling iron when I was trying to make those cute curly fries, how DO they do that?

Still can't find the scissors to cut out some snowflakes, tried using an old disposable razor . . . trashed the tablecloth.

Tried that cranberry thing; frozen cranberries mushed up after I defrosted them in the microwave. Oh, and don't use Fruity Pebbles as a substitute in that Rice Krispies snowball recipe unless you like food that resembles puke!

Smoke alarm is going off, talk to ya later.

Love, Erma

Here, in color

Same photo, but in color

It is September 11th. I am thinking. I am thinking of what it would be like to go to work in my normal way on a normal day and in an hour or so have it all come to a screeching halt. A cowardly (and I repeat, cowardly) attack from an enemy that we let into our world.

I am thinking of loved ones left behind. My brother is a fireman and an EMT. He would have jumped right into it. He would have run up those stairs (perhaps with fear) but with a determination to save lives. To help those in need.

Where have we progressed since then? Have we progressed? Or are we just sitting ducks until the next sinister attack from out of the blue?

There will always be hate and greed. I'm not so keen on fighting in the name of religion. I don't know if we will ever understand one another.

I do know this. We cannot live in fear. They win if we live in fear. I will walk tall today. I am an American. There is much blood soaked into this country's soil. It is strong enough to hold all of us up and above the ugliness that the world rains down upon us.

I seriously doubt that they are finished. Besides. If it isn't one group it will be another.

Two barns

Still have not found my battery charger for my camera, so I am digging back into my archives. I made this photo a b&w and smudged the edges. Still have the boxer. He went to the vet tonight for a check-up. He does not have heart worm. He is now supplied with medicine for every month (just like we do with the others). He will return for shots when the pocketbook has time to recoup. Puppies are set for their 3rd round of boosters and rabies shots next week. Then it will be back to Slade for his round of shots. This vet guessed him at 1 year old. He is only 63 pounds. I could have sworn he was 90. He is one strong canine.

Not to forget Sable, she has a cough. The vet was kind enough to prescribe medicine for her without seeing her. The pharmacy she sent me to (Giant Eagle) will give us her antibiotic free. How cool is that?

Life is on Tilt

Taken from a road trip September 2007

My life is still on tilt shift. Still have the boxer. Not one call for him. I am thinking that family number 2 was just notified today about him being available. We shall see what the week brings.

I am now battling a sore throat, aches and pains and fatigue. I am headed for bed.

Welcome September

Jeff County Fair August 2009

Leaving August and moving into September. Labor Day week-end is just about over. I still have Slade. Ho, ho, ho. I have contacted possible family number 2 to come and get him. I've given up on family number one with the eight year old boy. I have heard nothing from them. My telephone with the answering machine is broken. I do have caller i.d. on the other phone. No calls.

I grilled chicken, hamburgers and hotdogs today. Potato salad and baked beans. Finished up with lemon pudding cake and vanilla ice cream. The cake was store bought. I am very tired.

We watched "Race to Witch Mountain." I feel this movie was much better than Dwayne's "The Game Plan" but nothing close to "The Rundown."

Yep, I'm gonna miss him

The Boxer poses for my camera

I just gave up on calling him Slade. It never did roll off the tongue. If the family that are interested come to get him this week-end the boy wants to call him Tank. I just decided to go with "The Boxer" like the Simon & Garfunkel song. Like "The Boxer" he leaves his family and finds himself in the company of strangers, runnin' scared.

I called them yesterday afternoon and told them they could come to get him any evening after five, or Saturday morning, or wait until Sunday/Monday. Personally, if I want a dog, I'd have been right there that evening at 5:15 to pick him up. No call. What if they changed their mind? Could they do that to their 8-year-old boy? I don't know.

They will probably come get him this week-end. Get him settled in over the long holiday week-end. If not, I have another family interested. I couldn't sleep last night. He has been sleeping by my bed and he keeps jumping up into my bed. I don't discourage this. If it were long term, he'd be sleeping out in the living room with Sable. He has chased most of the cats down to the basement and they are not showing their faces.

And, I do this every time. When I need to get pictures, I can't find my battery charger. Both batteries are dead and I can fire off one or two pics before I have to shut the camera down. I figure I have hours left with him and I want to get as many memories of him as I can. Early this morning (since I couldn't sleep) I looked at him in the moonlight. He seemed so lost and needy.

I wished all good things for him. I hope his new family takes him to the vet and ensures that he his healthy and well taken care of. It sure is hard to let go.

Foot warmers

Chong chewing

I have two of the most adorable foot warmers wrapped around my feet as I sit at my computer. They do not need electricity or batteries to warm my feet. They are manufacturing their own heat. Sleeping. Ahhh.

No more incidents from poor Chong. At least I know what to do, now. It is funny with the boxer. He is sleeping on the couch. Every once in a while he will snort. Our big (alpha) cat, Casper just sits in amazement and watches him. I am not entirely sure what he is thinking.

I did catch him rub up against the boxer yesterday in the kitchen. Mmm Hmm. Yeah, Casper. I saw you!

I had advertised the boxer on 'Craig's list'. I received a very nice e-mail from a person who loves boxers. They warned me of the "puppy flippers". They had recently lost a boxer to cancer and have a new one that is four months old and if I couldn't find the real owners and could not keep him for myself that they would take him. They also told me of the health issues that plague this breed.

Friday evening I will call the interested family and give them the opportunity to come and get him. I will stipulate that if for any reason they don't want him or can't keep him that they are to return him to me. No questions asked.

Oh, all right. Here he is.

I can't stay angry with him for very long.

It even has a name.

I am so traumatized tonight I cannot bring myself to muster up the energy to find a picture to post. Work was so-so. Nothing there. I did have that wonderful check-up after lunch today that women get where they smash your breasts between plates of cold steel. Yep. It could have started then, I suppose.

I come home and again, not much to harp about.

The new boxer was playing with the puppies. The puppies are getting a bit bigger and want to uh...want to err... show the boxer who is the alpha dog, I guess is the best way to describe it. Well, Chong does since he matures a week or two quicker than Cheech. Chong has been going to town since we got the boxer and he is leaving poor Cheech's head alone. Cheech is relieved, I suppose.

The boxer barely gives Chong a second glance while he humps away. He probably adds to the horseplay with flipping him around from time to time.

I scooted Chong off of the poor boxer's leg for the umpteenth time and Chong kept crying. I thought he got stuck between the chair and the fan and he yelped. He kept twisting around trying to lick himself.

I looked closer. "What is the matter with you?" I asked him. He twisted again and yelped. I got a closer look. Oh, good grief. He was uh... it was err... well, it was out there and it wasn't going back in.

I have to admit, I really didn't know what to do for him. Should I blow on it? Oh good grief, Peruby! But really? What do you do? I picked him up and took him to the bathroom and shut the door for some privacy. The other dogs were not helping us.

I ran warm water in the bathroom sink and sat him down in it trying to get him to relax. He seemed to really like this feeling and did not squirm. We sat there until the water got cold. It didn't help. I wrapped him in two big fluffy towels and turned to Google. It even has a name.

Some of the sites said to rub Vaseline on his extrusion. I called my vet. She was gone but the receptionist was there. She asked the other lady and she said to rub Vaseline on it.

Back to the bathroom. I got my old jar of Vaseline out and picked up a good glob. Was thing going to hurt? I looked at Chong. "Sorry" I said. I dabbed some here, some there. Nothing. Oh, how about the base? I applied some to the base. It was all red and looked like it was bleeding. Zip. In it went like a flash. Wow! It works! I was so relieved. Maybe not as much as Chong, but I was relieved. I called the vet back (it took all of 45 seconds) and thanked them and told them it worked.

I wrapped him back up in the warm towels and held him while I sat on the couch. He slipped off into dreamland all warm and snug. After about 15 minutes he wanted his brother, they snuggled, I covered them and they went back to sleep.

Oh, you think that was it? Ha, ha!

My daughter came home. I reminded her it was the last day of August and to get the $2 off per gallon of gasoline from our grocery store points, we needed to go today. She drove her car, I drove mine. Her boyfriend mows our grass and he said we should take both our gas cans and fill them. I thought that was a good idea, so I grabbed our good plastic container and an older one that I had not used in ages. It didn't have a lid, but a long spout.

We filled my daughter's car up. The attendant told me I couldn't fill two cars up. Only one. I didn't mind. I said "Sorry. I didn't know." She was very nice about it. "Can I fill my gas cans up?" She said sure. I filled them. I put them in the back hatch of my car and drove off. The first turn I heard a thump. I immediately pulled over and opened the hatch. Gas was pouring out of that old gas container all over the back of my trunk. I could smell it everywhere. I picked it up and cursed under my breath. Great! Just Great!

I got home and my garage door would not open. I began banging it on my steering wheel, enraged by the gas fumes consuming me. The little insides of the opener slipped out and I didn't notice the garage door open. I put the opener back together and pushed the button. The door began closing. Ack! I screamed. I pushed and pushed, but the stupid door would not open back up. The gasoline fumes were really starting to get to me now! I became livid.

I shut off the car. Got my keys to open the side door to the garage so I could open the door for my car with the opener attached to the wall. It opened. I pulled my car in and opened my door. It crashed against something metal and I didn't care what it was. I began slamming my car door against the metal again and again and again. I was full of rage. I hate this smell!

Finally, I stopped. I picked up the metal (old bars from one of my daughter's old boyfriend's trampolines) and almost flung it against my car. My senses were beginning to get the better of me and I tossed them off to the side. I grabbed those gas cans and sat them off to the side.

I reached in and tried to pull the carpet away from the back of the hatch but it was all connected. I ran inside and knocked poor Sable over (she is always laying in front of the door). She almost fell down the basement steps. I grabbed a bucket of warm soapy water and some rags. And then I saw it.

Folks, the honeymoon is over.

There between the kitchen and the dining room were shreds of my carpet. Bare wood peeked up from the corner door frame. The rage boiled back up again. "Who did this?!" I screamed. Dogs ran every which way to get away from me. I stomped my foot. "Who did this?!" The smell from the gasoline was making me act like I was on some kind of bad drug trip.

I grabbed the bucket of sudsy water and flew outside to try and wash out the gasoline smell from my car. The fumes were overwhelming. I washed the carpet. I pulled out the chintzy piece of plywood that separates the carpet from the spare donut tire. I washed and I washed, but that gasoline smell consumed me.

I was in such a rage. I threw the rags, I threw the bucket. Soap was everywhere. I left the hatch open so that the car could air out. I turned out all the lights, closed all the garage doors and calmly now, walked back into the house. I had to calm down.

The dogs were excited. They were hungry. The needed to go outside. Somehow I kept it all together. I took them outside. The new boxer did nothing. I brought them all back in. I fed them. I watered them. I cleaned up the shredded carpet. I did not cry. I am not a crier.

I took the boxer out for a second time by himself. I walked him around the block. Twice. I needed the cool evening air to clear my head. My foot was killing me. I was glad it was dark so the neighbors could not see me limping. He still did nothing. We went back inside. I cleaned up the puppy pee pads and put new ones down. I sprayed Febreeze.

My head is swimming. I am drinking cool ice water. I cannot get rid of the gasoline smell to save my life. I put my clothes into the dirty clothes basket and took it down to the basement. I washed my hands and arms about seven times. It remains with me. All the dogs are sleeping. The cats are hiding. There are two cats that I have not seen since the day after we brought the boxer in.

I think I now know why he was abandoned. The separation anxiety can be a killer. I went through it with Sable. I'll get medicine if those nice folks don't want to take him. He will grow out of it I suppose.

Well, my head is still swimming and I think I will call it a day before the headache has a chance to hit me.

Me and My Big Mouth

Here is Cheech about five days after we got the puppies.

They are so much bigger now. Taller. Leaner. And, much faster.

The boxer? I opened my big mouth at a store on Saturday and by evening I had a small family looking at the dog. The lady said she has been thinking of getting her 8 year old son a dog. I said "He has to be strong." The boy looked like a football player. He was very smitten with the dog.

The Mother and Grandmother came also. They agreed he was a beautiful dog.

I said I wanted to wait another week just in case the owners were on vacation or something. Still nothing. No phone calls.

I guess by labor day I'll give him away to this family if they still want him. There are a few annoying things he is showing us, but the pros still outnumber the cons. But, they are MY pros and cons. Not the boxer's pros and cons.

I have to do what is right for the boxer. He needs more attention and exercise than we are prepared to give to him.

The boys even have Sable wrestling with them. The house is rocking with the horseplay.

I will be very sad to part with this boxer, but I have to be realistic. Maybe.

Roller boy

My hair is always limp and tangles easily. I used to wear a long perm, but have not had the money or the inclination to keep that old fashioned style. It is outdated. But, I loved it. It suited me and my stringy hair. To keep my bangs feathered back, I use one roller when the humidity is high or when I am in a hurry or travelling. This is one of the rollers that I use.

This little boy belongs to the girlfriend of my nephew. He was quite shy at first but warmed up to the rest of us over the evening that we camped out at the fair. It didn't take him long. We played ball with him. He has quite an arm. That is my cosmetic mirror that he is holding. After I put the roller in his hair he gave me a dubious look and then looked over at his mother. A plea for help?

I didn't leave it there long. My daughter is constantly saying she hates kids. That is because she has not been around them. If she were around them all the time she would REALLY hate kids. Actually she doesn't know what to do for them or with them. This boy always takes a shine to her when she is around. His mother has jet black hair and my daughter is blond, so I don't know why he is attracted to her. He will not let her be. By Sunday she was holding him most of the time. Her arm hurt for two days after the fair. I laughed. I got pictures of the girl who "hates kids" holding him.

We've named the boxer. Slade. It doesn't roll off my tongue easily, though. When I yell quickly at him - heaven only knows what comes out of my mouth. Sl-l-loane! S-s-suh-lade! Until my brain registers and I get the name right.

A very nice veterinarian (not mine) offered to scan him for a microchip. I called all the vet offices in the neighborhood. I have called our county dog pound, our humane shelter (new this year), the sheriff's office, the police station, two radio stations and four vet's offices. She scanned. No microchip. I thanked her for trying. Everybody wants to hear the story. They can't believe that somebody would abandon this beauty of a dog. The vet guessed his age at 1 year or 2. That is what I guessed.

He and the pups are sleeping quietly at my feet right now. They rough house a bit and then crash. The pups yelp when Slade gets too rough, but they come right back for more, so unless I see them cowering and trying to hide from him, I pretty much let them work it out amongst themselves. He gets rough and pounces at them sometimes stepping on them with his giant paws.

We needed new harnesses for the pups (they outgrew the little ones we got them last month) and figured we would get one for Slade also. The choker chain chaffed his neck and made it bleed so I needed another way to contain him while walking him.

My daughter and I went to college orientation yesterday. Coming home, I was not even thinking. I opened the back door and yelled "Outside!" without putting a leash on Slade. He came bounding out. My daughter yelled , he took one look back at me and off he ran. I was crushed. I was kicking myself and in shock. I grabbed the little leash we had been using and scooted in the direction he ran. I was mortified. All I could think of was "What is going to happen to him now?" I felt that I had failed miserably. I had let him down. Finally he ran around a house and I crouched down and pleaded with him to come to me. He acted all shy and coy and he threw his front paws out and kept ducking his head in a playful manner like "Aw, shucks!" All I could think of was "Hey! Don't be so shy, we slept together for Chrissakes!" He came to me, I got the leash on and I doubt that I will let that happen again.

Anyway, now I have the harness and a sturdy leash. The pups have their new harnesses for when we walk them. Poor Sable. I think I saw her pack her bags and head north to my sister's house. I called her and said to expect her. LOL! Not really. I do have to find some time and give her some extra special lovin' this week-end. She is being very, very good.

Well, it's time for a fresh cup of java. I dread it because when I move, they move. Then they are awake and back at it. Sigh. But I will tell you this. Our house is full of laughter. Some boisterous yelling, but laughter none the less. We are having a ball with all these critters. I'll cry with the vet bills, but until then - let's just romp and knock things over. Run and hide and then peek out and romp some more.

Another challenge

As if my life isn't hard enough right now, I took in a stray. Temporarily, I say! Temporarily. Right? Right!

I left work yesterday. It is very difficult pulling out onto the major highway near my office. I turn left onto a two lane street and the cars are nonstop. As I waited and mumbled under my breath for a break in traffic (preferably both lanes at the same time) I was very angry because to my right all traffic seemed to be stopped.

What is the problem?! Then I saw him. A beautiful reddish boxer leaping out of the highway into a yard and running behind a house. I used to live over there. I thought "People! Do you know that your dog is running loose?!"

The traffic continued. I figured I was already going to be late. I had company coming to see the pups, but I couldn't help but worry about the boxer.

Since I used to live around the area where he ran, I decided to drive the alley ways. There he was just nosing around a bag of garbage. I thought maybe that is where he lived. Nobody was around. I stopped my car and the sweetest dog I have ever encountered ran up to me, dropped on the ground and started rolling around on his back in a playful manner.

I crouched down to cautiously pet him and rub his tummy. "Where do you belong?" I asked him in a soothing voice. He was so happy to see me. I got up and looked around. Nobody. I opened my car door and he jumped right up into the back seat. I drove around asking everyone who happened to be standing outside if they knew where he lived. Nothing.

I went behind the alley ways at work. Nothing. I had no choice but to take him home. He had no collar. He was panting as if he had run a great distance.

My daughter said "He is ugly!" when she first saw him. I didn't think so. My sister came with her grandson. We were very careful. Of course the grandson paid no attention to the pups or Sable (the coffee table) and wanted only the new dog. I was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.

There were no incidents. The boxer could not have been friendlier. He does have a shrill bark to him and he developed a rash on his neck where Sable's choker chain rubbed it, but he is very sweet. And very slobbery. We have another leash for him that does not irritate. I am afraid to take him out without a leash, but he runs right back inside the house with the rest of my clan.

I was going to post at all our local radio stations and stores but my daughter told me to wait and let someone report him or just post "Found Boxer." She said let them tell the details of what he looks like because someone will say he is theirs and then turn around and sell him and the real owner will never get him back.

Huh. I thought. How does she know this stuff? She watched a dog show where handlers warned of this happening. Slimy, filthy dirt bags who would do this.

He has been very well taken care of. He is clean. He is well-fed (not over fed). He had his tail docked (my daughter said recently). He is house broken and very mannerly. He does not bark in the house. He was playing with the pups until he became irritated with them and tried to get away from them. He wants to play with the cats but he is very cautious of them. I was so glad he didn't chase them or torment them. He and Sable could care less about one another. He is probably the most mild mannered pet I have seen in a long time.

He didn't seem to know what toys were or rawhide chews. Once he figured out the rawhide chew he was in heaven. He walked on a leash very well. He did pull me a little while trying to investigate our yard. He did not devour his food. He is very noisy when he drinks water, we laugh.

Oh, and sleeping arrangements? Of course I was worried about him. My daughter took the pups into her room with her. I couldn't leave him out with the cats. Sable was no help. I put a rug on the floor of my bedroom. Did he stay there? Nope. He is a big bed hog and he snores.

I will be sorry to see him go. Maybe.

Dressage

No, I know that (dressage) isn't the correct term for this class of horse show, I was referring to the gentleman at the lead. He was quite the looker, most of the others were dressed in Western flash, you know rhinestones and neon silk shirts. If I remember correctly, this duo (trio?) pulled a second place in this event.

The fair (and it's greasy food) is a distant memory. I am catching up on my sleep (one night I think I slept nine hours - almost a record for me). My feet are still hurting. As soon as I get paid this Friday I am off to buy new shoes for work, play and walking. They have to tie on the top is what the doctor says. Wear a shoe that does not let the foot separate from the shoe bottom when you walk (flip flops are horrible!). I despise flip flops. In a couple of weeks I will take my new shoes and have the doctor slip the insert into them and cut it to fit my shoe I will wear the most. I guess that would be my work shoe.

After that is taken care of I have a few more medical procedures. I am hoping that the main one does not require a hospital stay. It is just minor and will hopefully make my life easier. I keep telling folks by Halloween I should be feeling much better. Maybe I'll even be able to do more yard work by then. I hated letting that go this summer. When I have the pups outside, I'll pull weeds and trim some around my Hosta. My moon flowers are doing so well in front of the patio, I am going to keep the big set of them there and let them take over as much as they want. The smell in the air at night is heavenly. It covers up what the pups are doing. Ha Ha!

The pups had their second set of boosters yesterday. They are 8 and 8.5 lbs, now. (When we first took them in mid-July they were 2.25 and 2.50 lbs). They are getting taller, leaner and can run like little rockets. We may have over-watered them.

Work is going well. Schools are starting back up and techs are anxious to get their networks started out on the right foot. The filter is a big part of that and I am busy making up "how to" documentation. I really enjoy doing that. Step by step instructions with pictures.

I talked to an old friend this evening. I've not seen her since the spring. She has 14 cats, only 2 inside. She thinks some dog is getting the baby kittens. I could not let that happen. For starters I'd be getting a slew of them fixed. The ones I couldn't get fixed, I'd be taking to a shelter. But, she was raised different out in the country.

Her grandson started 4th grade today and she had to tell me all about it. Her older granddaughter is out west and is in dire straits. Seems she is pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. He happens to be married and is staying with his wife. She (my friend's granddaughter) was staying with his sisters, but they kicked her out. Now she is staying with one of her boyfriend's buddies. Yikes. My friend is so angry and upset with her. She won't listen to reason.

On the movie front, we watched "Identity" last week. It was a thriller. Remember "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie? Or it's other name "Ten Little Indians"? It kind of reminds you of that story. It has John Cusak so it was great in my book.

Fair weather

This little girl is pretty in pink

I went to my home town county fair yesterday and my daughter, myself, 3 sisters, one nephew, one niece and two toddlers stayed over night in one small camper. Today was the "beautiful baby" contest. I am not big on this type of exploitation, but I was happy to take some pictures. My grand niece pulled first place in her birth year, and pulled 3rd place in costume. She played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. The girl above is my grand niece's first cousin on the "other" side. Other being "not my family side". Their grandfather on the other side is the fair board president. Yikes.

There is high tension and rivalry in this family already.

I really love that white blond hair.

And the weather was anything but fair. It rained buckets. Fortunately the event was held inside a pavilion where we were all covered.

I am severely sleep-deprived. Not only from the cramped quarters but from laughing so hard because we realized that my sisters and I have not all stayed in the same close quarters in over 40 years. We joked that we were all much smaller back then. My head is pounding.

Lame

Has it really been since Monday that I posted? I have no idea what I have been doing, I have not been all that busy. (Not in the evenings, anyway). The migraine monkey started yesterday afternoon. Well, I didn't realize it was that until I woke up and the headache was STILL there. With the storms coming through, I thought maybe it was just a sinus headache. It kept waking me up through the night with it's sharp pain inside the eyeballs. I chose to ignore it. I should have known. The headache was not responding to OTC medicine.

This morning I thought I was going to be sick. I stumbled around getting the pups outside, feeding the cats. Coffee was the last thought on my list. That is another sign. Not wanting coffee first thing in the morning. I grabbed an Imitrex and quickly swallowed it. I tried to drink a dose of alka-seltzer. I lay back down making the room as dark as possible. It was 5:30 so that wasn't too difficult. The pups settled down beside me and we drifted off for an hour.

I woke up and realized I was not going to make it into work today. I felt like a limp washrag. I am just now able to get some coffee in me. I know that I need to eat something, but it has to be toast. I cannot stomach anything else. I am trying to cut way back on bread, but that is what I crave. It is my comfort food. Growing up it is what I had for breakfast every morning. Hot buttered toast dipped in coffee. I think my Dad gave me coffee with cream and sugar when I was nine or so. I didn't drink it - maybe just that once. I did dip toast in it, though. For years.

I have a busy week-end so I figure I will stay home the remainder of the day and just rest. Rest. Rest. Mmmm. Sounds good.

Coming along

I like how this photo looks like Sable is watching over the pups.

Just a week or so ago I swear she tried to lead them astray and lose them. I caught her and stopped them all. She is even playing with them now. They have stopped irritating her so much (not completely) but they are getting better and she is getting more tolerant.

I am still coping with a lot this summer, but the puppies are a welcome distraction. (I could only think of extraction there for a minute!). They are going through that thieving stage where they will run up (or into your room) and grab something, anything and run away with it. Then the chase is on. They love it. A sock that didn't make it into the clothes basket. A napkin that falls on the floor. It is all fair game to them. If I don't get the napkin it gets shredded into a million little pieces. The sock also gets grabbed quickly, I am not sure what damage they can do to it.

They have a dozen little toys and though they do play with them from time to time, they get tired of them and look for something new to chew. Shoes are a big favorite. I keep mine in the kitchen which is still off limits to the pups. That is where we feed the cats and Sable and these little rat scavengers will eat every last crumb found in the cat's dishes or Sable's. Not their food mind you, they grab at it and then leave it sit. But forbidden fruit, eh?

I am trying to get a little organized in paperwork this week-end. It is much too warm to work outside. The interesting thing about being a pack rat is I can tell you what my electric bill was years ago. I keep my old check registers. It fascinates me to read over them, but it is also a huge time waster.

I have not finished Q&A yet, and I picked up some books on watercolor painting and digital art. I have not carved out much time to read this week-end. Oh, and the Cloris Leachman biography. I love to read biographies. As do most bloggers.

My daughter is getting excited about going to the University here in town. She wants all new clothes and a new haircut. All those years (between 6 and 15) when she did not care about clothes are long gone. It is Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie, and Lucky's now. I kept telling myself way back then 'remember how cheap this shopping is, because soon enough it will be the other way around' and that is exactly what has happened. Oh, well. She could have wanted the expensive brands all along, so I figure I lucked out.

She tried so hard to find a job. There are times (as any parent knows) when I have to bite my tongue. When she applies for jobs, she kind of reaches for the stars. I have to be careful about what I say because I get the backlash "See?! You want me to find a job, but you knock down every idea I have!!!" Ouch. So, I let her call and ask questions. She calls. She finds out that to be this or that you have to have certain qualifications. It is hard to sit and listen to this, but it is an important (growing) stage in a young adult life.

Recently she tried for work as a maid. Now, this in itself is very comical. I have nagged her to no end to help me clean up around the house. We all know where that gets us with most teens. I had to smile to myself. In a motel? My first instinct was "Do you know how gross that could be?!" But, I bit my tongue. So, let her find out. It didn't pan out. Not yet, anyway. It is a job I would never want to have. She still is adamant about not working around food, but she may be bending a little there.

So, we are marching through August. The dog days of summer. I am still limping (it gets really old), but it takes time to get appointments to get the insert made. I figure maybe by the end of September or at least October I may be feeling much better. That would be okay with me because October has always been one of my favorite months (if not my very favorite). I do like September, though. I love the changing of the leaves. I like a little cooler weather. I have to find my camera battery and take more pictures!

A long August

My niece in San Diego last month

I had the family reunion on the 2nd of this month. Since then this month has not been much fun for me. I have had five doctor appointments, with two more to go this month. I have had two car appointments (my car and my daughter's car), I have had jury duty twice, two college scheduling sessions, and have one dentist appointment and one veterinarian appointment yet this month.

In July, I had four doctor appointments, and two veterinarian appointments.

In September (so far) I am looking at five doctor appointments (one a mammogram, yay!) and a dentist appointment for my daughter.

But, today was the worst. I had a cystoscopy. If you ever had one of these, you would remember it. It is much more painful for men, I suppose. Still, it hurt like the dickens. I am still having pity pains.

I am not seriously ill. Not in any way. One is a procedure I am finally dealing with, the other is my foot and the others are routine. Everything is just falling in this 60 day time span.

Sprinkle in a migraine about once a month and I am very chummy with pain these days. My foot is currently soaking in Epsom salts. The water has long gone cold. Chong tried to drink out of it, I stopped him. Silly pup.

And, they threw in a tetanus shot for good measure! It is swelled up and as sore as a bad bruise. Scientology and their belief of keeping doctors and medicines out of their life might be looking pretty good to me right now. (Just kidding!)

A Personal Choice

I am a member of Neflix. One of the features of this service is that they recommend movies for you based on the movies you have watched and rated. You go through the list periodically at your leisure and rate the movies from the following five choices: "Loved it, Liked it a lot, Liked it, Didn't like it, to Hated it". Then, they give you a list of movies they think you will like.

One that was recommended for me was: Whose Life Is It Anyway? with Richard Dreyfuss. It had me in tears in certain parts of the movie. I read up on it and it was said that Mr. Dreyfuss did not remember any part of making the movie because of his drug addiction. Nothing? A big plus was Christine Lahti. She is one of my favorite actresses.

The movie is about an artist who became a quadriplegic from a vehicle accident and faced with a life of nothing he wants to be released from the hospital to die.

I also borrowed the book Q & A from the library. This is the book that Slumdog Millionaire is based on. Between the movie and the book I am running pups out into the wet grass to do their business. It was a long hot afternoon at work sitting in a wiring closet on the 3rd floor of a school with the air conditioner broke. Sweat rolling down my face and neck. I was miserable.

I came home to air conditioning and sat in front of a fan until my brain cooled down enough to be able to comprehend my reading or the movie. It was close to turning into mush in that sweltering closet. I'm talking so sticky that my finger could not move the cursor with the touch pad. I was like "Are you kidding me?"

Needless to say I did only the bare minimum that needed to be done to get this school up and working again. The tech person had many more questions and I could have shown him another 5 neat tricks to help him troubleshoot his network, but I wanted out of there as soon as I could get away. I hate working like that. Especially when I am not used to it.

At my doctor appointment's this morning the doctor told the nurse to add another test to the blood work that was taken this morning. The test? To see if I was menopausal. Yeah. It was a great day!

Playground puddles

The kids at the reunion didn't care if there were puddles of rain at the bottom of the sliding board. They were here to party!

Getting back to normal

Pups at about 11 weeks

Yep. We are thinking rat terrier. This picture shows one that looks just like our little buggers. Still can't comprehend how somebody can drop off 4 pups that look this cute, this sweet and leave them out in the elements with slim chance of survival. What would it have taken to drop them off at a humane society or a shelter? Since I have never dropped off (only picked up) maybe they beat the owners or something. I don't know. I need to shelve these torturous wondering thoughts before I let them ruin my day.

They are doing very well in the potty-training department. My daughter has really worked hard with this. We let a neighbor clip their toenails yesterday and Cheech bled on one. My daughter was very upset (as Cheech is her baby, Chong tends to favor me). Afterwards my daughter said we are getting our own clippers and she is going to clip from now on. It all worked out though, because Chong threw up on the neighbor. She was swinging him on her porch swing. Really though, the neighbor lady felt horrible about Cheech's toenail. She has a small poodle of her own. She loves little dogs.

Cheech and Chong met about 10 new people this week. Today I am headed back to my sister's house for dinner. Some of our luggage was left in her car after the reunion trip and I need to retrieve it. She wants me to bring the pups again so her grandson can see them. The pups will get more socializing done this way. I read online that it is important to get them exposed to at least 100 people while they are little so that they have a healthy social demeanor in their adult life. It isn't very hard to do, as everybody wants to see baby puppies.

Still exhausted and recovering from the reunion. Jury duty is a thing of the past. The lady in the clerk's office said that if I get called again within the next 5 years, just to tell them I served in July 2009 and I won't have to serve until the 5 years is up. Unless, of course, I want to. Don't see that happening, but you never know.

We watched Slumdog Millionaire last night. This movie was hard for me to watch. For starters I get confused as to which boy was which when they were young and growing up. Is that Jamal or his older brother? And, why did the older brother turn so mean and rotten? There is a book (Q & A). I'll try to get the time to read it. I get frustrated by the violence. I know and understand that it is a fact of life, but some of the choices the characters make irritate me to no end. I sigh and tell myself that I do not walk in their shoes.

Even more confusing was the closed-captioning in English to let us know what they were saying in Hindu. It was super tiny and I had a hard time reading it so I was lost a little bit. I followed the story line the best that I could. Why was their Mother killed? Maybe the book will have more detail. The other book Six Suspects does not sound too bad, either.

We missed the Italian festival and a car show in town this week-end. I thought about it, but both my daughter and I are running low on energy. I had a sore throat and an ear ache yesterday (still could be the air conditioner), lower back pain and general malaise. One good thing, my heel didn't hurt as much as the previous weeks. I see the insert office (for my foot) on the 20th, everything takes time. My August is still full of Dr. appointments. I can see a little clearing though beginning in September.

edit: reading the excerpts from this author's books, I can see I am really going to enjoy them. I like his writing style very much.

Let's cut the air conditioner

I dreamt that it snowed. In August! I remember getting my camera and telling my daughter, "Never in my 49 years have I seen snow in August! I wish my Mom were here so I could call her and see if she has seen snow in August!"

Yep. Time to cut back on the air conditioning.

My crew

My crew filling up water balloons at the reunion. My daughter is on the left. My niece (who lived with us for 5 years and my nephew - both I consider mine at heart). This was when the weather was still cloudy and the rain had not moved completely out of the area. It became very humid and warm and the water balloons were put to great use.

I am still extremely tired and still in some foot pain. The orthopedic surgeon has decided it IS plantar fasciitis and I will have a custom-made insert made that will cover the entire foot and I will have one for the right side for balance. The plantar fasciitis has created a spur to form on the bottom of my heel.

No sympathy for this devil

Thornton-gets-40-years

Success!

I circled my head in red. We had 125 show up for our first annual reunion. Not all are pictured because some just would not co-operate. The day started out pouring down the rain in torrents. It ended up humid and muggy and hot!

We ran behind in time. We skipped the adult games altogether. Folks were more interested in the auction and the 50/50 drawing.

I discovered that I was pretty good at auctioning items. I have a big mouth and can be very friendly after working the crowd for a couple of hours. We did a silent auction, but the few last items I actually auctioned off. Much more money can be made this way because I can really milk it.

On a more serious note, I had a very disturbing close call at jury duty today.

The case was dismissed. The defendant chose to take 40 years in prison w/out parole. The stories listed here do not tell of his dastardly deeds, but as the judge was telling us the story he almost began to cry. The girls were 7 and 8 years of age. They were sisters and they were raped. He didn't go into detail. He said to just be thankful that we didn't have to sit through this trial and I am. So very, very thankful.

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A bitten dorsal fin

This is another shot from my nephew's collection. I am not posting my own because I am on a new computer. Well, new to the household. I am setting up a spare PC to use in case mine fails. It was purchased in 2003 and Dell will not issue a warranty for it anymore. Yes, I purchase the extended warranty on my computers. Yes, I work on computers. I know what can happen and I know that I don't want that much down time when the hardware fails.

So, on this new computer I have Internet access, but no personal pictures. But, check out the dorsal fins on that shark. I asked my nephew about it and he said he hadn't noticed. Since he posted 92 photos from Sea World, he was probably just clicking and uploading. He said he would look at the photo and get back to me.

At the reunion motel we will have plenty of devices with Internet access. Most of the younger crew's cell phones are equipped with all the bells and whistles. Service may be tricky in the hills, though. My daughter is taking her new laptop. She gets bored easily at these gatherings. Still, it is great because I am the type of person who has to know "right now!" and she looks stuff up for me in a flash.

When somebody is talking about a movie and they say "Who was that guy who played so-and-so?" I run and look it up. The other day my sister sent me an e-mail asking me "What was the name of that movie where the skinny girl dies in the end?" What?! I laughed and replied exactly that: "What?!" I mean, can she give me a little more information? I guess we were talking about a certain movie one day, but I'll be darned if I can think of what she means. This morning I woke up and thought "Passengers" with Jane Hathaway. Maybe that is the one she is thinking of. If you have not seen it yet, I don't want to spoil it - but she does NOT die at the "end" of the movie.

I'll be seeing her today and riding in the car with her to WV so I can find out if that is the one she is thinking of. Speaking of movies, I watched "The Life of David Gale" from my Netflix choices. Not my favorite movie, but it was a mystery.

I have to go and roll my cheese balls into the chopped walnuts, now. About everything else is done and ready to roll. Ah, I need to put my name on my lawn chairs. We were laughing because we told folks not to put just "insert our last name here" on their stuff because ALL of us just about have the same last name! LOL!

Update on the pooches: they are growing like a weed. Their legs are double the length as when we first brought them home. No more pot bellies, especially Chong. He is getting lean and lank. I have to remember to take my camera outside to take a small video of him running. Cheech still does the little hop and run (he is a bit bow legged) but Chong runs full tilt. His ears are flat back against his head and he is off and running like a rocket. We are pretty sure they are rat terriers, now. Check out the picture at this site of the 5-week old pup. Ours look(ed) exactly like that shortly after we obtained them. Adorable.