Random thoughts

**I've long since used up whatever reserve energy I had, and the lack of a good nights sleep for the past week is taking it's toll. It's all I can do to sit here and keep my eyes open! Monday night is the only night I've gotten a half-way decent nights sleep, and it wasn't all that great. The cough suppressent I've been taking doesn't seem to be helping one bit. I'll be so glad when this illness has finally passed.





**I had had such high hopes for taking one of the dogs down to Waterfront Park Monday evening for Doggy Festival thingy. But sometimes life just gets in the way. It was cold and rainy, and too, the husband's car wouldn't start that morning, so he had to borrow his sister's car so he could take his dad to the doctor, which meant running around that evening to return her car and get his jump-started. The madness!!





**The husband threw one of his little tempertantrums the other day when for the umpteenth time frozen bananas fell out of the freezer and landed on his foot. So I finally gathered up all the stray bananas in the fridge-freezer, put them in a bag, and deposited them in the deep-freezer. While at the grocery Monday night, I purchased the ingredients I needed, and last night, I spent the evening making 13 loaves of banana-nut bread. Mmmmmmm!!!! My husband can now cuss at the little loaves of frozen bread that might fall onto his foot.





**John has a "Sparky" event tonight at the Baskin Robbins ice cream store. Maybe I'll venture out and take some pix of him in costume, as it will probably be the last time for him. He's been talking quite a bit lately about finally giving up one of his beloved fire departments (the very one that left a bad taste in my mouth a few years ago)... do I dare hope?!?!?!!?

**I guess I missed Secretary's Day, excuse me, "Administrative Professionals Day" last week while I was on vacation. So imagine my surprise when the boss came in to my cubical Monday afternoon, carrying this cactus, and presented it to me.

**

Lovey-Dovey

Spring is here, which of course means that it's nesting time for the local birds. Several times over the years, a robin used to build a nest on the top of our fence, where it meets some latice work. I don't know if she finally found a better location or perhaps she died, but the past couple of years a pair of mourning doves have taken up residence in the same spot.

I find it interesting how birds of such similar size, create such different shaped nests. I hadn't realized that our "guests" had returned 'til last week when we were planting our tomatoes. The edge of our little garden starts right beneath their nest, so our planting was interrupting them. Sorry birdies! But since we finished planting, we've tried to keep our distance accept to water the plants. As there was a possibilty of a light frost over night, I went out in the dark last night, arms full of old sheets and towels, and set about covering a lot of our plants.
As I covered the 'maters, I kept one eye towards the nest, wondering if the momma bird was going to take flight as I spread the sheets out below her. She held her ground and remained on the nest. However, this morning as I went out to remove the covers, she flew off, but not before I could get her picture...



Hopefully, these eggs will hatch soon and I'll be able to take pix and journal the progress of the newly hatched.

Sisters...

A friend (who happens to be the mother of a friend) sent me this in an email this morning. I decided to post it here rather than forwarding it by email to several people.


Sisters...
A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter. "Don't forget your Sisters," she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. "They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then, do things with them. Remember that 'Sisters' means ALL the women...your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. You'll need other women. Women always do."
"What a funny piece of advice!" the young woman thought. "Haven't I just gotten married?Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worth while!"
But she listened to her Mother. She kept contact with her Sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom reallyknew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, Sisters are the mainstays of her life.
After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've learned:
THIS SAYS IT ALL: Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't do what they're supposed to do. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end. BUT.........Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life! The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still. Pass this onto all the women who help make your life meaningful. I just did. Short and very sweet: There are more than twenty angels in this world.Ten are peacefully sleeping on clouds. Nine are playing. And one is reading her email at this moment. Send this message to ten of your friends including me. If you get 5 replies, someone you love will surprise you. Happy days! Don't break this; it's working.

Quote for the day

If I could kick the arse of the person that causes me most of my troubles, I wouldn't be able to sit down for a week!


That's my way of saying that I did something really stupid this afternoon, and I've no one to blame but myself. **sigh**

August 23rd...

The date has finally been set for our big event... August 23rd, 2008. Not exactly sure of the time as yet, but we've got the shelter house at the park reserved from dawn to dusk, so we can party all day if we choose.
So mark your calenders. Everyone is invited. I know it's not feasible for everyone I know to attend, nor will it be feasible for me to mail out invitations to everyone. Some of you will be getting invites by snail-mail (mostly to people that don't have email), some will be invited by email or E-vite, and others it will be a verbal invitation.
The theme is "Luau", so if you're planning on attending, you need to invest in a Hawaiian-print shirt (if you don't already have one). Don't forget the flip-flops and sunglasses.

The reason for the event will remain a secret until that very afternoon. More details in the coming months....

The Cheesesteak Hoagie

I LOVE a good cheesesteak, with the emphasis on GOOD. Mmmmm!!!
The sandwich can be made to order with whatever toppings you prefer. Personally, I like my meat topped with grilled onions, a few grilled green peppers, cheese (preferrably either white American or pepper-cheese), and dill pickles.

Here's a brief history lesson on the hoagie, copied from Wikipedia...
The cheesesteak, known outside the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area as the Philadelphia cheesesteak, Philly Steak and Cheese, Philly cheesesteak, steak and cheese, or simply a Philly is a sandwich principally made up of thinly sliced pieces of steak and melted cheese on a long roll. A cheesesteak without cheese is locally called a steak sandwich, or a Philly Steak in other parts of the country.
The cheesesteak is a comfort food for natives of the Philadelphia region. It was invented in the city in 1930 and is considered to be a city icon.

Passing on...

I received an email yesterday from my aunt Anna that her aunt (my great-aunt) had passed away Sunday. I found her obituary on-line and copied it below. I went to the funeral home's website and read the on-line comments some had left.
I hadn't seen my great-aunt in many years, probably close to 20. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, the last time I can recall seeing her was at my uncle B's funeral, back in 1990. I remember wondering as we stood in the church if she was going to throw herself across the casket and start wailing. I wondered that because I had seen her do it before at someone else's funeral years before.
I wasn't close to this aunt, and don't have any fond memories of her. Truth be told, whenever I was around her as a child, at various family gatherings, she always frightened me. I've no objection to a brief prayer of thanks being said before a meal, but she'd always turn the occasion to pray into long sermons, tolling the virtue of the sinners present, as the hot food got cold and the cold food got hot. As I said, I've seen her moan and wail at funerals and throw herself across the casket, scaring me even more.
When I started working on the family tree a few years back, Anna on more than one occasion suggested I talk to aunt Beulah as she would be a wealth of information. I never did, because I just couldn't get past my childhood fear of this woman. It probably seems silly now, and now the opportunity is gone. She was the last of my grandfathers siblings, and now, sadly, one whole branch on the family tree has died off. I will make a point of stopping at the cemetery next time I go to Glasgow and pay my respects.

Beulah Kelsey FurlongGLASGOW – Beulah Kelsey Furlong, 92, of Glasgow, died Sunday, April 27, 2008, at Glenview Health Care Center. Mrs. Furlong was born in Barren County, the daughter of the late James Myrton and Dartha Hughes Kelsey. She was the widow of the late Woodard Furlong. She was a homemaker, foster parent and worked in the Foster Grandparent Program. She was a member of the Samson Street Church of God.She is survived by one daughter: Burdene Williams; three sons: David Brown (Pam) of Glasgow, Chester Stiles of Glasgow and Ernest Turner of Texas; eight grandchildren, Barry Eaton (Beverly), Baretta Shirley (Eutre), Jackie Cash (Greg), Joni Poynter (Choppy), Ricky Eaton, Kim Dobbs, Matthew Stiles and Tiffany Stiles. She is also survived by several great and great-great grandchildren, a nephew and several nieces. Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter Vera Eaton; three sons: Leroy Stiles, J. B. Turner, Bill Brown; and a son-in-law, Delbert Williams. Also two brothers and two sisters.Funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home with Brother Bill Kinslow officiating. Burial will be in the Happy Valley Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be after 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Alternate expressions of sympathy make take the form of donations to your favorite charity.www.hatchersaddler.com

A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.s

Acronyms.
They've become such a staple in our vernacular. What would we do without them? They save time and space. Gotta love that! Admit it... it's easier to say MADD than Mothers Against Drunk Driving. But acronyms aren't just for saving our breath. When we were kids we used them to learn.
Remember the acronyms we used when we were in elementary school to help us remember how to spell certain words?
GEOGRAPHY = George Eats Old Gray Rags And Paints Houses Yellow
ARITHMETIC = A Red Indian Thought He Might Eat Turkey In Church
ADIDAS = All Day I Dream About Sex
and then there is the one I came up with a couple of years ago for NYLON = Non-Yielding Leg Obstructing Noose

What acronyms did you use to help you learn how to spell?

Worth the wait-er?

We all have our "regular" restaurants that we dine at frequently. But do you have a "regular" waiter/waitress?
Much of the time we do. A good waiter can make all the difference when dining out, and when we encounter such a person, we try to make a habit of always asking for that person when we return to a restaurant.
Before Max & Erma's closed down, we went through a number of good waiters there, Don being our favorite.
When Frisches first opened by our house, it was Rhonda. When she left there and started working at the Tumbleweed in Plainview, we followed her there. She's long since left, and we've rarely been back to either of those restaurants.
At El Nopal, it was David. Then he went to El Terasco (sp?), and we followed. The two restaurants had the same identical menu, and El Terasco was a farther drive, but having a good waiter was worth the extra few miles to us. David has sinced moved on, and we don't go to either restaurant nearly as often as we used to... it's just not the same.
When the new Tumbleweed was built in Springhurst a few years ago, we became regulars. We've gone through several waiters there too, starting with Rosa. Then there was a young man who's name escapes me, but after he left, we settled in with Mandy. She's a rarity in this day and age in that she's continued to work at that restaurant for several years now. And except for the stretches of time when she's taken off work for maternity leave for her three sons, we always ask for her.
I like having the same person wait on me. They get to know our likes/dislikes, and almost become a part of the family. She always asks about our dogs, and we're kept abreast of her children. A good waiter takes good care of their customers, especially their regulars.
So last night, we stopped at Tumbleweed. While there were tables open and we could've been seated immediately, none were available in Mandy's section, so we opted to wait, and wait, and wait. We waited for about 45 minutes. I was starving, very tired, and still had to go to the grocery. The hostess kept offering to seat us in another section, but we held out.
Was she worth the wait? Absolutely!
And I don't mind tipping really well to a good waiter that goes out of his/her way to take care of their customers.

Fotos from the Farm

This is how I spent Tuesday afternoon of my vacation... John accompanied me to the Luci Center and took some pictures. I just love this place!!




This standardbred roan is Emray.



And this is Emray's field-mate, Max. Max is a Belgian-quarterhorse mix. A big boy to be sure, but very sweet.




Will is the smallest of his little herd, but he's also the one that's in charge. He's a retired thoroughbred, due to a breathing problem... he always sounds like some obscene phone caller that's breathing heavy.




Pete, the resident Clydesdale. He's even bigger than he looks in the picture. The ground I'm standing on is several inches higher than what he's standing on. If we're standing on the same surface, my head just reaches his shoulders.




And this is my absolute favorite sweetheart, Sampson. Sampson is a racking horse.
Some of you may recall the episode back in the fall where he nearly died from stomach tumors. Ever since then, Sampson and I have become best buddies. He is the absolute sweetest thing!!!





Bath time for Johnny. It's hard to see his white spots on his rump, but Johnny is an Appaloosa. This was my first time bathing a horse, so a learning experience for me. But I loved every minute of it!!




This adorable little pony is Teaguer. Don't let the sweet face fool you, he's a trouble-maker! He's the little stinker that bit me several weeks ago, and I still have a mark on my arm to show for it. Teaguer is a Chincoteague pony, purchased from the famed auction held every year when they round up the ponies after their annual swim across the bay.




John feeding Pongo & Danny Boy. Pongo, even though we've referred to him as a leopard appaloosa, is I believe actually a Pony of the Americas. And Danny Boy, well, I'm not sure what he is, other than a good pony that is used in a lot of the classes.




This is Ty Bug, the loud mouth at the farm. He's a Sicilian miniature donkey, nearly as wide as he is tall...




... and this little cutey is his field-mate, Judge.

The audacity!

We have a couple of signs posted in our neighborhood, done so by the homeowners association, that read: Please clean up after your pet.
In other words, if your dog craps in somebodys yard, be considerate and clean it up.
My husband & I have always abided by this rule! If one of our dogs craps even 1" across the property line into our neighbors yard, we pick it up. We don't take any of them for a walk without at least one bag stuffed in our pocket so we can pick up after them should they happen to make a pooh-pooh.
However, I feel that what my dog(s) do in my own yard is my own business. Plain and simple. I may pick it up right away, or I may leave it there for a couple of days. It's my property, my choice. My husband or I typically get out there 2 or 3 times a week and pick up the piles of pooh... generally it's just Olivia's in the side yard that the public would see, as Bootsy & Eliott always go in the back yard.
So this morning, I took Olivia out just before I left for work, and she did her business. After she was done, I turned and directed her back towards the house.
There was a guy that had pulled up next to our neighbors house and was getting ready to cut another neighbors lawn. This man does NOT live in our subdivision. He had the audacity to call out to me, "Are you going to pick that up?"
I just looked at him, sure I had misunderstood him, and cupped my hand to my ear for him to repeat himself. Again he asked, "Are you going to pick that up?"
I was still sure I had misunderstood him. There were cars whizzing by, the other dogs were barking, so I walked closer to him and hollered back at him, "what did you say?!"
Perhaps from the tone of my voice, he realized the error of his question, and he ignored me. So I repeated myself again.
He finally repeated his question again. And it took every ounce of control I had not to walk across the street and wrap his weed-eater around his neck! I furrowed my brow with my most hateful glare and yelled back at him, "it's my yard, it's my dog, I'll pick it up eventually, when I'm ready!" and with that I stomped into the house.
I then took my frustrations out on my husband, who wanted to know what I expected of him. I told him he could go over there and tell the guy to mind his own f*#king business!
I mean for Pete's sake! If he wants to get on somebody about not picking up after their pet, go after our other neighbor that always drags their dog over to anybodys yard to do her business, just as long as it isn't their own yard, and then NEVER picks up after it.

Vacation pix

I got most of the pictures from our vacation loaded to "my photo album". Just click the link and it will take you there. Then click on the album titled, "Vacation April 2008".
It wasn't much of a vacation, in that we didn't go anywhere or do much, other than work in the yard and make some repairs around the house. We went to a couple of baseball games, attended a birthday party, spent some time with "the girls", and I went to the farm several times.
I'll try to get the farm pix added to the album tomorrow.

http://imagr8daneluvr.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album05

Vacation Diary

Vacation Diary... brace yourselves and settle in, for this is a rather long blog.

Dear Diary,

Friday, April 18th: Woo-hoo!! It's 4:30pm and I'm officially on vacation! Let the good times begin!!!

This evening found us attending a Louisville Bats baseball game with our good friends, M&J. As I'm on vacation, that means my diet is on vacation too, so I indulged in some of the sin-foods served at the ballpark. All winter long I've waited for this moment, so I could have cheese-steak hoagie. **sigh** but what a letdown. A couple of white boys that didn't know their arses from a hole in the ground were running that booth and did a piss poor job. My sandwich I'd waited months for was a major disappointment. Our team lost the game, but still, it was fun to not have to worry about going to work the next day.

Saturday, 04/19: I ran a few errands this morning before going out to the Luci Center. John is headed to his brothers home in Marion Co. to spend a couple of days helping him work on his deck, so I'm all alone with my fur-babies. Ahh, peace & quiet!!

It's been warm enough the past couple of nights so I've been able to open the windows at night which makes for wonderful sleeping. I love it!! I worked on finishing up my pay-it-forward project, and gathered up some photos for a scrapbooking project.

Dad's home from the hospital now, and is considered house-bound by his insurance company, so they'll be unable to go to the ballgame with us next weekend. Will have to find someone else to go with us...

Sunday, 04/20: Attempted to do laundry, as it's my usual laundry day, but since the husband will be bringing home a bunch of dirty clothes tomorrow, there's no point. I'll just do my clothes and the linens.

Spent the afternoon scrapbooking with the girls. The time just seemed to fly by!! I couldn't believe we worked for over 3 hours, and still have more to do. But it was fun, having girl-talk, both serious and silly, giggling, sharing ideas, oohing & aahing over each others work. Groaning over our "homework assignment" that one of the girls challenged us to complete. I've got a lunch date tomorrow with my girls, can't wait!!

Monday, 04/21: "L" came by and picked me up early, then we headed to the mall. I'm not fond of malls, but we had a date to go to the Archivers scrapbooking store, and since it's located in the mall, that's where we went. We each spent a small fortune, she more so than I, then we headed to the newest Tumbleweed restaurant located on River Road. We met up with "J" & "S" for lunch, ate ourselves silly and watched the barge traffic go up/down the river. It was a fun afternoon, very bright and sunny, if not a wee bit on the cool side, 'though mostly from thebreeze that blew in off of the river.

After lunch we went our separate ways, each having our own errands to do for the afternoon.

I headed to the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park located near home to check out their rental facilities. I found exactly what I needed, and reserved a shelter house for a huge picnic we're having later in the summer. Can't wait!!! Afterwards, I went to the post office to mail the Pay It Forward project to Australia. Yikes!, I couldn't believe the postage!! Oh well, I've had fun doing it. I'll post pix of the project once Kyles let's me know she's received it. Such a beautiful, sunny day! I put the Doggles on the dogs and took them for a walk (one at a time, of course).

John arrived home this afternoon, and we had dinner with our next door neighbors that are from Bosnia. We had watched their house while they were on vacation, and to thank us they invited us for dinner. The meal was good ('though I could've done without the artichokes, but I sucked it up and ate 'em anyway), as was the conversation, lasting about 3 hours. They are a very nice family, and we're fortunate to have them as neighbors.

Tuesday, 04/22: I had an 8:15 doctors appointment with my allergist. On the drive over, I wasn't paying a darned bit of attention to where I was driving, and got up on the freeway by mistake, as if I were headed for the farm. Grrr! So I had to get off at the next exit and take the back roads over to the doctors office. I arrived about a minute late. I know a minute isn't much, but I hate being late like that!!

Fortunately, I was in and out of the dox office in no time, and arrived back home just before 9, in time to pick John up and take him to his eye-doctors appt. John has always been able to read fine-print at a hundred paces. His vision has always been great... until recently. He's noticed it changing some. It has been a few years since his last vision screening, so he was overdue. He got the full check-up, including having his eyes dilated. The doctor told him he needed reading glasses, but being the stubborn person that his is (and since he doesn't read much), he refuses to get them (for now).

After leaving there, we went to the garden center to buy some plants, tomatoes, lavender and onions. I've never grown onions or lavender before, so this is uncharted territory for me. I didn't see any cucumber plants, so I'll fore go those for now.

After lunch, John accompanied me to the Luci Center. I gave him the grand tour, we fed the horses and took pictures (forgot to bring those pix with me, will post them later this week). Then it was time to bathe some of the horses. I'd never done this before, so it was a learning experience for me, and I had fun!! Of course, as soon as we turned Johnny (the horse, not my husband) back out to pasture, he immediately went and rolled in the dirt and poop. So much for having a clean horse! Oh well, at least we got some of the winter coat removed.

We left the farm and went to Garden Ridge where we purchased some new patio furniture for the front porch. Out with the old, in with the new!

Wednesday, 04/23: I had to have Eliott at the vet's office by 8:30, as he was getting his teeth cleaned, his yearly vaccinations, and having a small lump removed from his sternum area. Nothing like a $336 vet bill to brighten your day!

The weather has been simply fabulous every day thus far this week. We couldn't have picked a better week to be off work. For as much money as we spent though, we might as well have actually gone some place. We spent the day working around the house. I cleaned my car, both inside and out very thoroughly. We planted the vegetables we'd purchased the day before. John also repaired the small gate on our fence which has been broken for about 2 years, and he repaired the steps on one side of the deck which he started to do last fall and never finished. We replaced the screen door on the back of the house, and attached a metal, mesh plate thingy across the bottom 1/3 of the door, which is to help keep the dogs from tearing up the screen. We'll see how well it works in time. John insisted it makes the door look ugly. I argued that it looks a lot better than the duct tape that was holding the previous screen into place to prevent it flapping in the breeze. I won that argument I think.

I picked Eliott up at 4pm, he came out of the back with his tail wagging, only too happy to be going home. His teeth look MUCH better now.

In between chores and appointments this week, I've spent a lot of time in my swing, enjoying the sunny days, reading a new novel. Seems like it's been ages since I've done that.

As the evening wore on, my throat started to get scratchy and sore. I fear I'm coming down with strep-throat.

Thursday, 04/24: I didn't sleep very well last night. The throat bothered me, and I kept having to get up and get a drink, lie back down, then have to get back up and go to the bathroom. It was a vicious cycle! I felt fine otherwise, and as the morning wore on, the throat scratchiness subsided, so I didn't give it much more thought. We went to purchase some more tomatoes... plants that is. We now have 7 different plants/varieties planted. I can hardly wait!! My Elliott-blueberry bush we planted last week already has some new leaves on it, so I take that as a good sign. As for the peach tree we planted, I really didn't expect it to produce any fruit for a year or two, as I figured it would need time to "adjust", but low and behold, I found several tiny little peaches on it already. I couldn't contain myself and squealed out loud like an excited child. Life is good.

John went to his dad's and they fixed dinner together, and I went back out to the Luci Center to help with the evening classes. These were students that while I had seen some of them before, I'd never actually worked with them prior to that night, so it was good to get to know some of these children, most were in the 11-14 age group. The second class I help with, the student I was assigned to held my hand as we walked through the barn and went to mount her horse. After class was over, another student I hadn't even worked with came over and gave me a hug.

The only hitch in the evening was my throat started getting scratchy again. Not really sore, but scratchy. It almost felt as if it was closing up on me and I couldn't swallow. I chalked it up to all the dust in the arena that the horses were kicking up. Still, all in all, it was a good evening.

Friday, 04/25: Another crappy night of sleep, and I now have laryngitis. But I also now know it's not strep throat, but a sinus infection. My sinus' and tear ducts hurt to the touch. This sucks!! I've been popping allergy medicines like crazy. This is the worst my allergies have acted up in years!!! I can't imagine how bad they'd be if I didn't get regular injections to prevent them!

I cooked breakfast, yet again, and we sat out on the front porch to dine. One of our neighbors that lives up the street, came driving past the house, his very pregnant wife in the passenger seat. As they went by, he rolled down the drivers window and shouted out to us, "It's go time!"

They were headed to the hospital. We waved and wished them luck.

I accompanied my g/f "J" and her daughter to the tot's swim class and played photographer. It was fun watching the babies in the pool. They're more daring than I was even as an older child. That afternoon, I went shopping for a birthday present, then out to an early dinner with my hubby. Vacation is winding down, and that makes me sad. It's been a good week weatherwise, and just spending time with the husband, my girlfriends, and getting some things accomplished.

Got the news late this afternoon that our friends/neighbors Jennifer & Joey had given birth to their firstborn, a son named Nathan. Congratulations to Jennifer & Joey!!

After dinner, I loaded my overnight bag into the car and headed for Turner's Station, KY. I was kennel sitting for our breeder who was off to a dog show in Ohio. I only had 5 of her danes in my care this time, as she took two with her, and recently had to put one of the youngsters down. It was sad, looking at the empty pen where Sadie belonged.

Saturday, 04/26: It was another sleepless night. Three nights in a row of this and I'm sooo tired. The drainage from my sinus' is worse at night, 'cause I'm lying down. I feel I'm functioning on nothing but reserve-energy. I've not slept past 7am all week of my vacation, either because of appointments/commitments or because of illness. Grrr! But that's okay, I'm a morning person anyways.

I had to be at the farm by 8am to help with classes. Classes were uneventful, which is a good thing. After class, I checked my voice mail and listened to a message the breeder had left me. Her show dog, Grant, had won breed over two specials. Don't know exactly what that means, 'cept that it's a very good thing. He earned another point, and is another step closer to "finishing".

I hurried home to shower, then took a short nap out on the swing, before getting up to attend the birthday party of the little girl that lives across the street from us. She officially turns 1 on Monday, but we celebrated today. She's the princess, and I showed up "in costume", complete with my own tiara and scepter.

After the party, we went with some other friends to yet another ball game. I again loaded up on junk food. The game was tied after 9 innings. Actually, it was still tied after 11 innings. We finally left because I was soooo very sleepy, and I still had a long drive ahead of me to go all the way back out to Turner's Station and care for the dogs. When I dropped John off at home, the game was in the 13th inning, and still tied. I couldn't listen to it anymore. Just as well, they ended up losing.

Sunday, 04/27: Yet one more restless night. Much coughing-up of phlegm (TMI!!), so for me that's usually a good sign that I'm starting to get past my illness. Through my whole illness, aside from hardly being able to talk because of the laryngitis, and being very tired from lack of sleep, I really have felt fine otherwise. Certainly I've been able to function without it getting me down, so I shouldn't complain.

When I got home, I unloaded the car, threw a load of laundry in, then curled up in the recliner with an afghan and slept for about 3 hours. The sleep did wonders for me. Didn't help my voice, but I felt somewhat refreshed. We grilled out on the now functioning grill, and dinner was dee-lish!! I dread going back to work tomorrow. :(

Vacation plans

The vacation agenda...
Tonight, we're headed to a Louisville Bats baseball game with our friends M&J. Our first game of the year, I can hardly wait. I've been craving a cheese-steak hoagie all winter, and they do have some goooood ones at the ballpark. Yum!!

I'm taking on some extra days of volunteer work at the farm, so I'll be out there 4 times over the next week. Fun, fun! The weather is supposed to be beautiful... operative word being "supposed".

As mentioned a few days ago, I finally got back to scrappin'. Not full force, but I'm back to it.
I've got a top-secret project in the works, but can't blog about it 'til it's done, and that will take several weeks.
I've got a "date" with some girlfriends this weekend to do some scrapping, I can hardly wait!!
Perhaps if there's a crappy day of weather while we're on vacation, I'll spend it scrappin'.

I've got a big lunch date with my gal-pals Monday afternoon. The four of us, and their 3 daughters, ages ranging from 2 months to 2 years old. Maybe we'll go to the park afterwards (or beforehand). Even if "we" don't, I certainly need to, as I need to gather some info for another top-secret project I've got in the works.

Will catch up with everyone in about 10 days. Hugs to all!
pita

Adult content

A friend of mine is always saying that when he and his partner have sex, they refer to it as combat sex and that the earth moves.
In light of our pre-dawn earthquake, I couldn't resist the urge to email him this morning and ask that they stop engaging in combat sex so early, as I needed my sleep.

Freaky Friday

Nothing like being rudely awakened by the shake, rattle, and roll of the bed, the windows, of the whole house for that matter.
I had only just fallen back asleep, when the shaking and rattling woke me up. At first I thought it was one of the dogs taking a scratch, as sometimes their leg will thump against the wall (their futon is directly on the other side of the wall from our bed), and this creates a loud banging noise and sometimes rattles the headboard.
But when I finally woke up a little more, I realized the windows were rattling and indeed the whole room, nay, HOUSE was shaking. An earthquake to be sure.
By now, I could here the dogs scrambling around in the other room, freaked by the commotion. All I could do was just lie there and wonder how long it would last. While it seemed to go on forever, I'd guesstimate it to have lasted about 20 seconds... but a very long 20 seconds. About halfway through, the rumbling subsided and just when I thought it was over, it started up again.
I know the proper thing to do in an earthquake is stand in doorway, but honestly, I was frozen in place on my bed. I looked at my clock when it was finally over and it read 5:38 am... apparently I'm a minute fast from the official news reports.
I grabbed the tv remote and turned to the news channel, but commercials were on. I grabbed my cell phone and called my husband. When he answered, I stated the obvious, "We had an earthquake!" He and his co-workers had felt it too.
When the news finally came back on, they confirmed it was indeed an earthquake, 5.4 on the Richter(sp?) scale.
That's not the way I really wanted to start my vacation. After-shocks are a possibility, so I'm wondering if we'll feel anything else today.
Earthquakes aren't a very common occurrence in our area, but they aren't unheard of either. I know we've had a couple of tiny ones in the past 20 years, not that I felt them. The first one I ever experienced (or recall ever feeling) was back in 1987 (+/- a year). I still lived at home w/my parents and was working 3rd shift, so I was still in bed when that one hit around 7:30 in the evening. I remember that one waking me up and I fell out of bed.
While there was little damage in our area, and none to our house, it does make me glad that we carry earthquake insurance... because you never know.

Friday photo challenge - Rough

Saturday Nostalgia

I know this is a couple of days early,
but since I won't be here this Sat. or the next, I'll post it now...
As you can see, it's 2-part, so maybe that can count as my two weeks worth...?

This is a birthday card (obviously) that my great-grandmother sent my great-grandfather when they were dating, back in the mid-1920's.

Going to L.A.

Woo-hoo! Only one more work day 'til vacation starts! John & I are going to L.A. for our first vacation this year. Please, don't confuse it with Los Angeles! I've no desire to ever go there. No, the L.A. we're going to is the "Louisville Area". Yep, staying close to home. Of course, John is going to Lebanon for a couple of days to visit his brother, so that counts as an L.A. as well.

Once I leave work on Friday afternoon, I don't expect I'll be anywhere near a computer again 'til I return to work on the 28th, so I bid my fellow bloggers a fond farewell! 'Til we meet again in cyberspace. I'll miss you all!!

Since I won't be near a computer, I'll have to bow out of next Fridays photo-challenge of "smooth", and Nostalgia Saturdays. But I'll catch ya the following week. Keep blogging my lovelies! I'll have lots to read and catch up on upon my return.

And Kyles, I'll be sending your pay-it-forward treat out in the mail next week. You may even get it before I get a chance to email you and let you know it's on the way... not really sure how long the mail takes between here and there.

Hugs to all!!

Help!

Are there any Freecell players out there?
I'm completely stumped by game #617. If I had any hair to pull out, I'd do so, it's making me that crazy!
If anybody out there has managed to successfully play this game, then any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!

In the news today...

Kroger Co. would like you to stimulate the economy by spending your tax refund and economic stimulus checks at its stores.
The grocer will offer customers an incentive to exchange their checks from the Internal Revenue Service for a Kroger gift card. A customer with a $300 check will get a gift card for $330, a $600 check can be exchanged for two $330 gift cards, and four $330 gift cards can be had for a $1,200 check.
"Grocery bills represent a significant expenditure for the average American family," David Dillon, chairman and CEO, said in a news release.
Customers can exchange their checks for gift cards in the customer service center of any of the chain's stores between May 2 and July 31, Kroger said. A Kroger "customer loyalty card" also is required.
Cincinnati-based Kroger's (NYSE: KR) Mid South Division is based in Louisville and operates 163 stores in Kentucky, Tennessee, Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois.

Okay, am I the only one here that sees what a freaking RIP-OFF this is???????
Kroger is the highest-priced chain of grocery stores in our area. Only on rare occasions do I ever go in there, and it's usually only if they are having some kind of spectacular sale (but even then, Walmart will usually match their competitors sale ads), or if I'm looking for some specialty item I've not been able to find elsewhere (such as the sun-dried tomatoes in oil). Oh I hope people don't fall for this gimmick! Their money could be put to much better use elsewhere than in Krogers pocket. And $30 in "free" groceries you get, correction: supposedly get, you could get twice that at Walmart or even Meijer.

"Picky" Eaters and other odd food habits...

Are you a picker?
Clean up your mental images! I'm not asking what you think!!
How do you eat your "mixed bag" items, such as trail mix, or mixed nuts?
Do you pick the individual things out, eating them one by one? Or do you just chug handfuls of them?
I find that most men are handful-chuggers.
Personally, I'm a picker.

Potato chips and snack crackers... Oh how I long to just devour a huge bag of either, calories and fat be damned!! But I've been good, limiting myself to those teensy-weensy little snack-size bags for the past few months (well okay, 'cept for that medium sized bag of baked bbq chips I had last week). I admit, I have an odd habit when it comes to eating chips or crackers (Chicken In A Bisket being my fave!!). I normally lick all the salt &/or flavoring off of each chip/cracker before eating it. I know, the chips aren't quite as crisp by the time I bite into them, but I started that habit as a child, and it's not one I've been able to break myself of (or really even tried to).

Another potato chip oddity. I like taking two regular flavor chips (Lays are the best), and putting a dill pickle slice in between them to make a pickle-chip sandwich.

Fried eggs... I don't fix them very often, but on the rare occasion that I do, I only eat the yoke. Every tiny bit of the white gets picked off and set aside, then either goes to the husband, the dog(s), or the trash. Yeah, yeah, I know, the yoke is what's bad for you. But let's face it, it's the only part that has any flavor to it! And the whites are just too slimey!! Blech!!

Peanut Butter & Jelly. Without a doubt, the worst food combination I can imagine! Gag me!!
I like peanut butter sandwiches.
I like jelly sandwiches.
But I can not stand the two mixed together.
I know, it's un-American not to like pb&j's, but I stand firm on this.

So what food oddities do you have?

Then and Now

It's been exactly one month since the big event, so I thought it was time to post an updated photo.

Then.... {Now mind you, we had to go home and shave even more of my hair off, in order to even it out, so it was actually shorter than what's pictured here.}

And now...

I'm thinking it's time for another haircut.

The "blonde" lovely to my left is of course, Olivia.

A hairy situation

As the weather here is simply mah-velous today, I decided to take the office-deposit up to the bank (located inside of Kroger), instead of just hitting the drive-thru of the one by my house on the way home. It got me out of the office and into the fresh air.
I stepped up to the counter and handed the teller my deposit. The old man standing a few feet away from me had just finished his banking, and I heard him say, "Lady, if you'd spent any more time in that chair, you wouldn't have any hair left a'tall!"
I just looked at him, smiled and replied, "That was the hole point! It was for charity."
He said, "Well I hope they got a whole lot of money for that." (I'm guessing he didn't like my boyish doo).
"Well, they got over $1500 from me."
I thought to myself, "now wouldn't he have felt like a total ass if I'd replied something to the effect of, 'The barber didn't do it, the cancer took it all'".
I wasn't upset mind you. But it has been interesting hearing the different comments and assumptions.

Creating...

I'm working on my Pay It Forward project. Got the supplies last night, and will start working on it today. Fortunately there's nothing going on at work, so I'll have the time. If the f.h. remains empty this week, I should have it done by this weekend. I hope it turns out as well as I anticiptate...
If I'm successful, and once it's had time to reach it's destination, then I'll post a photo on my blogsite. Until then...

In the news today...

Hooray! Finally, something I can get on board with!! I've been very anti-derby for a number of years now, and it hit an all-time high a few years ago when I registered and paid my entry fee to participate in the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon, but then wasn't allowed to participate. That's a long story in and of itself, but just suffice it to say that during the month leading up to Derby, Louisville is anything but pet-friendly, unless of course, your pet is a 3 year old thoroughbred horse.

So imagine how thrilled I was to see this headline today...


Calling all dogs, bring your owners to the Kroger's Derby Fest-a-Ville HappyTail Hour

Slideshow: Adoptable cats from Metro Animal Services
Slideshow: Adoptable pets from Metro Animal Services

Louisville, Ky. – Dogs of all shapes and sizes are invited to Waterfront Park for the second annual Metro Animal Services HappyTail Hour. This pet-friendly cocktail event is now an official part of the Kentucky Derby Festival. Dog owners may bring their four-legged friends to the Great Lawn on Monday, April 28th from 5 to 9 p.m. at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront. All animals must be on leashes.
The event’s theme is Margarita-Ville Monday, and dogs and dog lovers may enjoy the music of Jimmy Buffet by the Parrots of the Caribbean. The Flying Houndz of Louisville will perform two Frisbee demonstrations. Pet owners can play games with their animals and visit booths with pet merchandise. For those looking to add to their pet families, MAS’ 34-foot mobile adoption unit, S.P.O.T, will be on hand with adoptable animals.
“I am so happy that the Kentucky Derby Festival has recognized the need for an official pet friendly event,” said Jackie Gulbe, MAS assistant director of community relations. “Socializing your dog is a very important part of raising a well-rounded pet, and it can be a fun adventure for the owners, too.”
The original event was conceived as a result of community feedback expressing concern about a lack of events that welcome pets. Many dog owners are interested in social activities that are pet-friendly.
A fall version of HappyTail Hour is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 th at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater lawn in Waterfront Park, between Tumbleweed & Stoplight Liquors. For more information go to www.Louisvilleky.gov/animalservices, or call Metro Animal Services at 361-1318 or 574-SPOT.

We used to take Smokey and sometimes Kelsey to the Waterfront Park frequently. It's a wonderful area. However, we've only had Bootsy & Eliott down there once I think, simply because of Bootsy's bad attitude towards other animals and people. It's not worth fighting with her, and she practically tears the house apart if you take Eliott someplace without her... they're inseperable! And we've never taken Olivia, I'm not sure why, but I see this as the perfect opportunity. It's been ages since we've been down there, so I can't wait!!

Hair Reactions

It's been just over 4 weeks since my new hairstyle went into effect. It's amazing how fast it's growing in. I'm a bit bummed that it's grown so fast... I was hoping to enjoy a longer reprieve from using conditioners, gels, getting hat head, etc. But alas, the gel and conditioner has crept back onto my shelf. I don't wear the hats very often anymore, #1) because of the hat-hair, #2) because my hair is so thick, the hats fit tighter and now give me headaches. **sigh**
I keep threatening my husband that I'm going to shave it again, make this my permanent hairstyle.
I thought I'd share a few of the reactions/comments I've received over the past month...

*My co-worker came in to work today and informed me she'd had her hair cut at the salon over the weekend, and that Sue & Norma were so relieved to hear I didn't have cancer.
Who are Sue & Norma? I asked.
Well, they came into the funeral home a couple of weeks ago to do the hair for Mrs. Smith (who had passed away), and apparently you were the only one here at the time and you showed them to where Mrs. Smith was layed out. They told me they just thought you were the sweetest thing, and of course Norma is a cancer survivor, and they just felt so awful for what you must be going through. But I told them you'd shaved it for charity and they were so relieved... (nice to know I've got the sympathy of strangers, eh?)

*Our next door neighbors are from Bosnia. Except to wave at one another as we're coming and going in our cars, we rarely see/converse with them during the winter months, so they were unaware of my fund raising efforts. Now that the weather is turning warmer, we see more of each other out and about. The man walked over to my husband the other day while he was out cutting the grass. First he asked if we'd watch his house while they went out of town this week, then he hesitated and asked John in his halting English, "I don't know how to ask this, but is Kim okay? We've been concerned..."
John said it was all he could do to keep a straight face and asked, "what do you mean?"
"Well..." the man pointed to his hair. (The hair or the head, I'm not sure...)

* I stopped by a friend's house the other day to drop off a present for her 2 year old's birthday. I had just come from the farm, so I was dirty and exhausted. My friend took me into the living room and introduced me to everyone in there. I stayed in there long enough to watch her daughter unwrap her present, then we walked back out to the kitchen. As I was getting ready to leave, my friend's eyes suddenly got big and she queried, "do you think they're all in there wondering if you have cancer?"

*My husband wishes my hair would grow a little faster, so he could stop introducing me as his little brother.

Attitude

For the Pet Lovers...

* If I want to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'll put shoes on my dog!
* No outfit is complete without dog hair.
* After the dog Honey, of course you're #1
* Beware: Dog can't hold it's licker
* Dogs have owners, cats have a staff

Women rule!

* It's not P.M.S., it's Y.O.U.
* When I get tired of shopping, I sit down and try on shoes
* A lady doesn't need a man to maker her happy, but a maid is essential.
* It's not shopping, it's retail therapy.
* I understand the concept of cooking and cleaning, just not how they apply to me.
* Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!
* All stressed out and no one to choke!
* Don't give me your attitude, I already have one.
* I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas
* I take life with a grain of salt, a wedge of lime, and a shot of tequila
* I cook with wine; sometimes I even add it to the recipe
* My greatest fear is that there is no P.M.S. and this is my real personality.

Snack time

Olivia has been on a destructive tear lately, so we've had to start putting her in the crate whenever we leave, even if only going to the store.
In the past week or so, she's eaten a loaf of bagel-squares that she retrieved from on top of the micro-wave, has ripped apart some plastic bags she helped herself to that were left lying on the kitchen counter, she tore apart a small, travel-pack of Kleenex I left lying on my desk... and the piece d' resistance...

We had left her out Saturday evening while we went to dinner and made a quick stop at Sam's Club. But upon returning home, discovered that she was voicing her displeasure at the diet I had recently put her and Bootsy on. There was a bag of microwave popcorn, unpopped, still wrapped in cellophane, on the kitchen counter. She had gotten it, chewed a hole in the cellophane, through the bag, and scattered the unpopped kernels all around the house.
So since that time she's been back in the crate.
And despite my best efforts to sweep all the popcorn up, I'm still finding them scattered here and there about the house.

Snapped!

I've come to the conclusion that a husband's sole purpose in life is to drive his wife bonkers!
Sometimes I wonder if they are at all capable of doing certain things for themselves... and one of those things happens to be calling a doctors office to set up an appointment for themselves.
Are any of them capable of doing this?
Mine doesn't seem to be. If I don't make the call, it doesn't get done. GRRR!
The issues with my husband's arm is still on-going. While it's considerably better than it was two weeks ago, it's still there. In my opinion, it should be more healed by now than it is. I told him this morning he needed to go back to the doctor and let her look at it. He asked if I wanted to go too. While I would like to, I can't always get off work for these things, so he just needs to GO!
So he calls me at 2:03 this afternoon, informing me he hadn't made the appointment 'cause he knew I wouldn't get off in time to accompany him. GRR! Can't you go without me??? Bah! You'll never get in to see her today now anyway, as it's so late.
So he says he'll just go to the ICC tonight and let them look at it.
Um, hello? That's stupid! Why go to the equivilant of an emergency room, just to have them look at it? You need to go to our regular doctor.
Oh! I just wanted to beat my head against my desk. He makes me insane sometimes! And he wonders why I was laughing so hard when I was trying to explain a show to him that comes on the Oxygen channel called "Snapped!". There are different stories on this program, of women who suddenly "snap" and kill their husbands.

Yea!!!!

I just got a phone call from my dear friend/neighbor. Her little girl Mia, who will turn 1 year old later this month, took her first steps today, unassisted.
Yeaaaa for Mia!!!
She's growing up soooo fast!
She's been walking like crazy, either holding onto someone's fingers or by holding onto a piece of furniture or the wall, but this was her first time, all on her own.
The few warm days we've had of late, I've enjoyed having the front door standing open. We have a direct view into their front door across the street, and it's been fun watching Mia stand/sit at the front door... usually watching for her daddy to come home. But it's fun waving at her, trying to get her to wave back. Now that she's walking, she's going to be all over the place. Now you'll really get your exercise Jilli!!

Bloomin'

At long last, my flowers are blooming!
Unfortunately, I missed my opportunity to take a picture of my really pretty, two-tone daffodils.
It appears only 1 of my tulips bloomed this year. I did take a photo, but it was a bit on the fuzzy side, so I didn't include it.


Daffodils/jonquils

I think these are called Mountain Hyacinths. Pretty little flowers, but they don't have the devine fragrance as normal hyacinths.
I have to say I'm rather disappointed with some of my flowers this year. Not one of my regular hyacinths came up, nor do I recall seeing any of my crocus. Grrrr! Guess I'll have to plant some more for next year.

May I have your attention please?

It's very seldom that I (we) can get all three of our children to cooperate and do as we ask (ie: sit, stay, etc...) all at the same time. But when John was cutting up some meat scraps the other day, he had a very captive audience. I couldn't have gotten them to sit and stay any better if I'd tried!

Weekend in review

Brrr! What happened to our springy weather? It's turned freaking winter again! Actually, Saturday wouldn't have been too terribly bad if the darned wind had just quit blowing. But Sunday was just miserable... cold, dreary, gray over cast day with intermittent rain. Blah!
Saturday found me, where else?, at the farm. Now that winter is theoretically over, the classes start again this week, so the place will "feel" quite different. I'm ready for the change. I think it will keep the boredom of repetition from setting in (not that I've ever gotten bored out there).
While we worked at the farm, enormous planes kept going by overhead as they headed to/from the air-show that was going on in downtown Louisville as part of the Thunder over Louisville show. ho-hum. Obviously, I'm not impressed with the whole thing, and don't participate in any way. In fact, I stay as far away from downtown as I possibly can during these events. It's just insane the way some people flock to it (my sister included! ;) .
After arriving home, I fed Bootsy & Eliott some puppy-downers to help take the edge off of their anxiety that I knew they'd be experiencing later in the evening when the fireworks started. I fed them their pills at 5:30, the show was at 9:30, so I felt that 4 hours was plenty of time for the meds to take effect. Apparently not...
That evening, we picked up my f-i-l and went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, then a quick shopping trip to Sam's Club, then hurried back home to cuddle with our babies before the fireworks started which we knew they'd be afraid of. Their meds didn't seem to have any affect, and to make matters worse, a few assholes in our neighborhood set off their own fireworks, which were loud enough that even our deaf dog heard.
Sunday morning I cooked up a storm in between loads of laundry. I had pepper-steak going in one crockpot and pork chops w/stuffing baking in the oven. Long about 11am, Bootsy & Eliott's meds I'd fed them the previous evening finally started to take affect. Eliott's eyes became really droopy, and Bootsy became rather mellow. Darned meds!!
Once John arrived home from work, we headed downtown to visit my father who is back in the hospital. He was re-admitted Saturday, two months to the day from when he had his initial surgery. An infection had set in, and an abscess had formed which has two drains going non-stop. They also drained 200 cc's of fluid from his lungs. He's expected to be in there for at least a week.
Once back home, I fixed an enormous pan of mashed potatoes, which I've not done since before the first of the year and have been craving badly! But not to worry, we didn't eat the whole pan last night... there's enough to have for the next several nights along with the other stuff I fixed. Thank goodness my husband likes left-overs.

Still Paying It Forward

I'm going to keep re-posting this blog every Monday, either through the end of May, or 'til I've had 5 people sign-up, whichever comes first. So far, Kyles is my only taker...

Some of my blogger friends from down-under have inspired me and I wanted to join in the fun. I encourage everyone else out there to do the same...The rule for Pay It Forward -The first three people to join the challenge on my blog will receive a gift handmade by me. I will have 30 days to make and send your gift. You must then do a post on your blog inviting 3 people to join your Pay It Forward and receive a handmade gift from you. Sounds easy enough right. The first three people who leave a comment saying they want to join will receive something made by me. Okay people, get on board ... I will happily post the items overseas .... this is going to be fun.I'll even go one step farther (or "futher" as my aunt Anna always says), and open the invite up to the first 5 people.
posted by pita-woman at 9:57 AM on Apr 7, 2008

kyles said...
i'd love to be a part of this pita if thats ok, i am doing it too as ou know :)
7:56 AM

New

I found a new item in my grocers freezer recently, and I've fallen in love!!


So far, I've tried the chipotle chicken, and the quesadilla chicken flavors, and have yet to be disappointed. They're good in either the micro-wave or toaster oven, for a snack, or even as a meal. Can't wait to try some of the other flavors!

oldie but goodie

I know this post has made the rounds of email forwarding from person to person, but it's a great one!

Here are six reasons why you should think before you speak - The last one is great! Have you ever spoken and wished that you could Immediately take the words back...Or that you could crawl into a hole? Here are the Testimonials of a few people who did....

FIRST TESTIMONY: I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in towand asked loudly, 'How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?' I turned around and walked back out and never went back. My husband didn't say a word... He knew better.

SECOND TESTIMONY: I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using. After browsing for several minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store.He asked if he could help me. Without thinking, I looked at him and said, 'I think I like playing with men's balls'


THIRD TESTIMONY: My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold avariety of candy and nuts. As we were looking at the display case,the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help. I replied, 'No, I'm just looking at your nuts.' My sister started to laugh hysterically. The boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away. To this day, my sister has never let me forget.

FOURTH TESTIMONY :While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to releasesome pent-up energy and ran amok. I was finally able to grab hold ofher after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons.I told her that if she did not start behaving 'right now' she would be punished.To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, 'If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!' The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing. I mustered up the last of my dignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me, were screams of laughter.

FIFTH TESTIMONY: Have you ever asked your child a question too many times? My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was on him constantly. One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch, in between errands. It was very busy, with a full dining room. While enjoying my taco, I smelled something funny, so of course I checked my seven-month-old daughter, she was clean Then I realized that Danny had not asked to go potty in a while. I asked him if he needed to go, and he said 'No'. I kept thinking 'Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don't have any clothes with me.' Then I said, 'Danny, are you SURE you didn't have an accident?' 'No,' he replied. I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse. Soooo, I asked one more time, 'Danny did you have an accident? This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants, Bent over, spread his cheeks, and yelled, 'SEE MOM, IT'S JUST FARTS!!' While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing, he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down. An old couple made me feel better, thanking me for the best laugh they'd ever had!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST TESTIMONY:This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likely think before she speaks.What happens when you predict snow but don't get any? We had a female news anchor that, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the weatherman and asked: 'So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?'Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did too they were laughing so hard!

In our garden...

We had a flowering pear tree in our front yard up until a year & a half ago. It was planted when we moved into the house, and I've always hated it. Oh sure, it was pretty when it bloomed, but that was it. When it started to lose it's bloom, it looked as if it was snowing outside, much as it does now in our neighborhood because of all the other pear trees losing their blooms. But our tree, in 13 years, never grew very much and always looked puney. Some of the branches were beginning to die out, so I said, "enough!, get it out of here!". We came home from dinner one evening to find that our neighbor had done just that... cut it off and left us a stump. John, that same neighbor and his father finally managed to remove the stump last spring. We've now been debating for over a year what we wanted to plant in it's place. I hated not having a tree in the front yard, and didn't want to go another summer without one, so we went out tree-shopping last night.
We visited Lowes garden center and I moved from tree to tree, looking at them all, rejecting all pear trees right away, rejecting the dogwoods and maples. I finally narrowed my choices down to a variety of magnolia tree I'd never seen before, but was quite fragrant and the blooms were beautiful, and some fruit trees, cherry, apple and peach. I criss-crossed the garden center several times, going back and forth between them all before finally settling on a peach tree. I hope I made a good choice.
Until a couple of weeks ago, we'd also been "tree sitting" for some friends that had moved out of the neighborhood last summer. They'd temporarily moved into an apartment 'til finding their new house, and wanted to take a tree with them that had been planted when their daughter was born, so we had transplanted it to our flowerbed 'til they were ready for it. They now have it in their possession, and we had a hole to fill, so I also shopped for a shrub to replace it with.
More searching, more criss-crossing, more decisions. Nothing was really appealing to me, 'til I suddenly saw a tag on one bush that grabbed my attention... the Elliott Blueberry... well that did it for me. Granted my dog Eliott is spelled different, but it was close enough. We bought an Elliott Blueberry to plant in our flowerbed.
Here's hoping that by next summer, we'll have fresh peaches and blueberries!

I think the top picture is of a poppy-anemone, if memory serves correctly... either way, I just love it. You'll probably have to click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see, but the bottom photo has two small birds sitting on the granite-rock border... young pigeons I believe...


Another of the little birds sitting on my front porch.