Empty Nester Countdown

What does one do?....

2012-01-29T15:37:00.000-06:00

....no more work I have to do this weekend.... got the house to myself..... got my morning exercise in...took my shower..did as much house cleaning as I want to do.....so what do I do with 'free time' ...what else but watch the Twilight movies...blog...and relax. I am watching New Moon at this point...Think I'll be able to get all 3 in before hub gets home.

Hoping my oldest is having a wonderful birthday...she is 24 today...where did the years go?...they keep slipping by..faster and faster as I get older it seems... I still have a hard time writing 2012 on things.

I am going to try to save this year, and take the advice I've read about putting some away for savings first, actually I am to treat it like a bill and put the same amount into a savings account each month. This way, I'll at least be saving something. If all works out well, will be able to pay downs some debts and save money too.

We have a new member to the family now. Even though we said we'd not get another dog, with Shelby having to be put to sleep nearly 2 years ago, and Obi having bone cancer in October, there was just an emptiness around here. Probably the fact that my oldest moved back east and my youngest has not been able to come home very often this school year hasn't helped either.....but yes we got another dog. Meet Lady Bug. We adopted her from Austin Sheltie Rescue (the rescue group I am involved in). We found out she was previously named Molly and we already have a Molly, although the rescue group renamed her Dolly, we didn't care for that name (and she's only been called that a few weeks). I wanted to name her Lady after the first sheltie I ever owned, and my hubby started calling her a bugger because she was bugging everyone to play as soon as she got here. So her name is Lady Bug. She is very sweet and loving and a ball full of energy. She'd play 24/7 if she had things her way. The house is getting dirty faster, but we don't care. We love having our new addition!!

Ever procrastinate?....

2012-01-08T22:36:00.000-06:00

I am doing it right now. I am holding off heading to bed because that way Monday won't be here so soon. I will have to give in at some point soon, but for now I'll blog a few minutes first...

I am feeling a little more of the Empty Nester blues these days as my youngest could only be home for a few days during the holidays, not because she had to go back to school but because she had to go back to campus to work. I sort of knew this might happen when she got a job near college as employers don't care if a college student is done finals and has nearly a month off...they want their employees. I am grateful that she even got a few days off at Christmas!

It also doesn't help that my oldest is now living back east so I did not get to see her at all this Christmas. So as much as I try to procrastinate....the inevitable is going to happen....I will have an empty nest, permanently sooner than I would like.

I guess then I'll have to start a new blog..not sure what the title will be...."The Pre-Golden Years".. or perhaps "5o something is the new 30 something...right?"...or maybe something really original like "What I want to do with the second half of my life"...

New Years Again...

2012-01-02T20:36:00.000-06:00

Well it is New Year's again...a time when everyone feels like they have a clean slate, a new year to do so much...to earn more money...have more free time...hey even win the lottery.

It is a time full of hopes and dreams...and possibilities. Just to help out a bit more I even had black eyed peas with dinner tonight...hubby didn't eat them as he doesn't like them, so guess I'll just be the only lucky one!

Since we had a long weekend, we rented some movies. One of the ones we saw was 'The Help' as I heard it was really good, and one that required a box of tissues. I cried for this lady and that lady and this family...it was a very touching movie. Having been born in the late 50's, I was unaware of how things were in the south in the 60s. I thought the days of having maids such as those portrayed in the movie happened long before I was born.

Funny how things were different at least by the 70's where I lived. Although there were only a handful of African American students at my school, we had am African American female class president one year and we were friends. I'm not saying that to sound surprising, it is just that I have always thought of blacks as equals where I grew up and was somewhat shocked by the movie. I guess where one has grown up has something to do with it. Anyway good movie!

Back to work tomorrow...at least it will be a short work week. I'm sure I'll be thinking it is Monday all day...

Does this ever happen to you?

2011-12-20T23:24:00.000-06:00

Today my hubby came up to me and gave me a quick kiss....
then looked at me sort of funny..
Then he said "It isn't really cold enough yet for a beard".

And THEN I noticed that he had shaved his beard off!
LOL. He doesn't get mad that I don't notice and he really
does look quite different with one (like 10 years older)... :)
but I just didn't notice.

Too funny!

I am so excited! Still working right now but finishing up hopefully by midnight then I'm done working until after Christmas!

Looking forward....

2011-12-18T21:27:00.000-06:00

to this week...

That is something I rarely say on a Sunday but for the first time in 6 years I am taking 3 days off before Christmas. I have been working a ton the last several months and there have been some very long work days/nights....so it is a much needed time off.

So the fact that I only have to work tomorrow and Tuesday and then that's it until after Christmas has me thrilled! Hoping my youngest can get off work all the days I took off, but she does have at least a long weekend off so whatever time she has will be nice having her home.

My other daughter is back east and just moved there in August so she won't be making the trip back here but hopefully she'll have a great Christmas and much more of a chance having a white Christmas than me.

I did manage to get done 60 of the Angel Christmas cards considering I didn't have a lot of time I'm happy with that! Makes me feel good doing this little nice project each year sending people some Christmas cheer with a card!

Rain..rain DON'T go away....

2011-12-04T14:43:00.000-06:00

We probably have had more rain in the last few days than we have had all year.. not always a steady downpour but it is a much welcomed change from the extensive drought we've been experiencing! It is cold outside too, in the 40's which is not that common for central Texas but I'll take it, since it has brought the rain! :)

Today I am doing laundry, a regular weekend chore as usual but also doing some Christmas cards that we send to family and friends. We managed to get a very good picture this year of our dogs as well. Not bad considering we took it ourselves! Of course it is easier taking a picture of 4 as opposed to when we had 6, but I'd be fine with that! I miss Obi and Shelby.

Didn't do any decorating yet and will most likely not do a lot. With no little ones in the house, I don't get the desire to decorate much. I still look forward to Christmas and actually for the first time in years am taking off of work a few days before so that I can enjoy some relaxing times and cookie baking with my youngest (the oldest is back east). It will be hard not seeing the oldest this year at Christmas but perhaps next year. Well back to it, I've only done 4 cards so far..

Here's something I do every year...

2011-12-04T14:12:00.000-06:00

I will not have as much time to participate in this project this year....so I wanted to share the link in the hopes that others may be willing to help. It is really a nice thing..and simple.. sending Christmas cards to those who are ill or perhaps alone this year...

Chillin...

2011-11-27T16:50:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday too..and I'm just chillin and watching Lifetime movies...they are playing Christmas themed ones...'tis the season.

Based on the news lately some people are placing far too much emphasis on being in the front of the line on Black Friday at 3:00am for the store sales...that is nuts ! Pepper spraying people to get to the front?...I think all the stores should just open regular time on Black Friday and not a minute earlier. There really is no need to open in the middle of the night or earlier! I suppose this practice will never end as retailers count on the early birds shopping 'til they drop.

It is hard not to get caught up in all the hoopla over Black Friday, but I don't let myself, it just can set me up for spending more money than I'd like to or can afford to. The hardest urge for me to resist is the cyber sales since I am on the computer a lot, but I delete most of the emails before I open them to avoid temptation.

Thanksgiving was nice although I missed my oldest as she is back east, but my other daughter came home for the night. She had to work Black Friday so she left Thanksgiving early evening. We had Turkey and all the trimmings and as tradition would have it, I ate too much! :)

We did make one of our traditional apple crumb pies and it turned out perfect! I still have one sliver that I'm going to finish tonight. YUM..

Figures..

2011-11-19T19:41:00.001-06:00

It figures...that now the latest medical news is that sitting for prolonged periods of time can significantly increase risk of colon cancer... top that with more bad news...women who have more than 3 drink in a week having an increased risk of breast cancer....might as well sit here in my Lay-z-Boy and have a tall drink, or two or three...

It is not that I drink every day or even every other day but what happened to one glass of Merlot a day was good for you. I guess it still may help the heart but give your breast cancer? Ever notice how these sort of stats are changing all the time? And do they actually have evidence that these things do cause more cancer? Have they discovered more people with colon cancer because they sat several hours a day?

If this is the case I might as well not bother with the colonoscopy..no I haven't had one yet and past 'due' if one is suppose to have one at age 50....not sure what doctor made up that rule either..once you turn 50, time to get a colonoscopy. Since I sit upwards of 15 or more hours a day working, I feel like I must already have colon cancer or am doomed to get it.

Ever since I heard that news I have been trying to get up and walk around a little bit every few hours, but sometimes i just forget. It is so hard to do or NOT do everything to avoid getting cancer. I think I'll keep eating healthy, exercising and doing the best I can to avoid cancer...until the next new breaking medical news comes out...can't wait!

Daylight savings?...

2011-11-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

As I was headed back into the office to work last night, I asked my hub to make sure to wake me up early enough today so that I could exercise before meeting my sister for breakfast. I reminded him that the clocks needed to be turned back. He said he would..

When I got to bed after midnight I saw that he had advanced the clocks in our bedroom an hour instead of turning them back. I didn't have the heart to wake him up and just brought a clock with the right time into the room and placed it on my night stand.

The next morning he got up early as he usually does, I found out later it was approx 6:00AM going by his clock next to the bed. He came up at what he thought was 7:00AM to wake me and I told him he set the clocks forward an hour and not back so now he was two hours early! He didn't like it when he realized he had gotten up at 4:00AM! He said he'd wake me up then when it was time. An hour later he came up again and said it was 7:00AM. No, now it was the same time it was yesterday. Instead of being mad, I thought it was funny! Then I dozed off again for another 45 minutes or so. We joked about it for a while, though I know he was mad at himself for getting up so early! :-)

So much for sleeping an extra hour! I think, next year I'm going to change all the clocks myself!

Been over a month.. I know..

2011-09-11T11:48:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've blogged. Just when I thought I couldn't work any harder, I've been working day and night, sometimes forcing myself to stop after midnight as my brain refused to think any more!   This includes weekends too...even Labor Day!

I worked yesterday too but got it all done so that I could have today off..finally!

Spent some time this morning cleaning as the house really needed it! If I'm working all the time, that means no time for even cleaning. I'm lucky to get 7 hours of sleep some nights!

So .. since it is 911, I reflect back to what I was doing back then. I had just finished my Diane's Mortgage Tips newsletter and sent it off to my subscribers and then saw what was going on at the twin towers. I was working from home underwriting back then too and was starting to work on my files. We had sent Stac off to school with cupcakes for her birthday as yes, 9/11 is her birthday and she was celebrating her 10th birthday that day. Today she is 20, wow! My girls are now officially in their 20s!

At first I thought it was just a horrible plane accident, but then quickly realized it was escalating into so much more. My brother who worked in NYC had missing the plane crash by about 15 minutes if I recall as he walked from the train at the World Trade Center as he did every day on his way to work. I was so glad to know he was NOT in that or he surely would have been one of those who lost their lives there..

Back to the present...we have had a lot of wildfires in Central Texas over the last few weeks and last weekend we got two bins ready in case we would have to vacate. Luckily none have hit our area so we haven't had to evacuate the area. At least I feel a little better that we are more prepared than we were. We even have 5 leashes at the ready in the garage so that we would be able to get all the furkids out quickly if the need arose. It is incredibly dry here in Texas and it has been months if not over a year since we've had a good soaking rain.  And with all the fires recently the water having to be used to try to control them, has me worried that we will run out of water. We conserve water and limit its use as best we can. Our front yard is partially dead but it is expected as I do not believe in wasting a ton of water on keeping the yard perfectly green. Water needs to be treasured!

Well we are going to watch a few movies today......so I will end this with a promise to come back before another month go by to blog again.

Oh..almost forgot..due to the hot, dry summer, I had to give up the garden as it was just dying. I do have 2 pepper plants that are still doing okay, but the rest has died. I plan to start all over again later this month when we stop having 100 degree days and hope for a late fall harvest. We'll see.

Nice weekend....

2011-08-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

Got back from spending the night with my girls. Stac and I went up to visit my oldest before she moves back east. It was great having time with both the girls. With the way time is flying, it is going to become less frequent that we can get together like this and when I thought about that this morning while we were eating breakfast, it made me a little sad. But anyway, we saw the last Harry Potter movie which we all liked and I for one was glad it was finally concluding. I think too much time passed between the movies though because I had a hard time remembering the last movie and where it left off. The ones I am really looking forward to are the last Twilight movies which is the last book they are splitting up into 2 movies.

It was too hot (106 degrees) to be outdoors much yesterday afternoon but we got to eat in some nice air conditioned restaurants, went to the movies, and got some play time in with her fur kid and her friend's dog who really had us laughing. Her dog tripped on a ball and fell over and we enjoyed watching them both want the same ball at the same time.

I will try hard not to be too sad that D is moving so far away. She will have what sounds like a great job and will not have to struggle so much financially as she has been. She still amazes me as she just randomly stood at the edge of her couch and brought her leg up to a 180 degree angle, like it was nothing. So flexible and graceful!

Tomorrow my youngest is headed back to college and at least she will be back home fairly often to visit and still has a few years before she graduates... I hope the next few years go really super slowly..

Empty nest feeling .....again..

2011-07-17T18:44:00.000-05:00

My oldest dropped some news on me that I guess should not have been a surprise, but nonetheless saddened me a bit. Even though she has technically been out of the house ever since she was still in college, she still was less than 4 hours drive away and somehow that made me feel like she still hadn't totally left the nest...just that the nest had a long bottom to it.. sort of like a rubber band.

Anyway she has decided grad school is too costly for whatever value it could give her which I don't blame her for, but she has decided to move back East and work there. So..she won't be somewhat close to me anymore and that is what makes me sad. She is all grown up though and has a mind of her own so, all I can do is hope that she is happy and does well there. Her dad at least still lives back East so he will be lending a hand and at least I know she won't be there totally by herself. I plan to go visit her with the youngest before she leaves next month.

This weekend I didn't have to work and it was such a nice break from working all the time I felt like I was on vacation. I even didn't mind cleaning all 2 1/2 bathrooms, and scooping poop in the back yard. It was just so nice giving my brain and eyes a break from the computer.

We watched some movies this weekend too, some were good, others were not. These were all rentals. Planning on seeing the last Harry Potter movie when we go visit the oldest. I am really looking forward to it!

See??

2011-07-04T19:59:00.000-05:00

I said I'd write before another long period and I am!

Happy what's left of 4th of July! I actually got done working all weekend before Craig Ferguson was over. No, I'm just kidding....or ammm I?... ;-)

It is very nice having a few hours off for the 4th of July. Here is a picture of some our my very own lettuce from my balcony garden that we used for salad with our spaghetti tonight. Yum!

Of course the balcony garden was planted before I got really busy! I'm hoping the cucumbers, zuchini and pole beans survive the heat. We've been having several days of 100 degree weather and that is not great for vegetable gardens.

I checked out the filter in the A/C unit and after only 3 weeks it was really full with dog hair and such. Ick! Hubby went and got a new filter for me. Hard to believe it barely lasts 3 weeks! Well with 5 furkids and needing to run the air every day nowadays it is no surprise.

Not going to try to catch the fireworks tonight, it will be really crowded for sure because there aren't many towns that are having them with the drought we are in. We're watching Eagle Eye right now and I haven't seen it before but it really is action packed at least so far. Going to get back to it and enjoy the rest of my evening.

Well I was hoping...

2011-07-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

to have posted this yesterday so that it wouldn't look like quite so long since I've blogged.

But just to let you know I am fine, just working alot. How much ? Well in the work I'm in it is feast or famine and I have been working 16 hrs days, (trying to) sleep 7 hours and just goofing off the other hour per day.

Luckily I still manage to keep in my exercise and then there is the power walk in the evening with my youngest (and oldest when she is visiting), so despite all the work I have probably never been in better shape since pre-baby! And yes I am working this weekend all weekend as well, but hey sometimes we do what we have to do...I keep playing the lottery but until my luck has turned..I am a slave to my work.

I'll definitely stop back sooner than a month later! But just wanted to blog a keep in touch.. entry...
Hope everyone has a great 4th of July !

Is it summer yet?...

2011-06-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

No?...Well it sure feels like it. I think this is going to be a hot summer this year. We've already had a few days hit 100 or more and it isn't even officially 'summer' yet. Not complaining though, I much prefer heat to cold so bring it on! :)

I have been so busy as of late with work that I haven't had time to write here. When I say busy, I mean working some nights until Craig Ferguson is on. I was lucky today and got done at a decent time...time enough to go for a long walk with my youngest who got off work earlier than normal (had an earlier day) too so that worked out nice. We caught the first half of So You Think You Can Dance, also. Love that show! Probably because both my girls are dancers, especially my oldest who loves it so much she is getting a Masters in it.

Between work and trying to help with my mom, I don't have much me time. I've been at least doing some singing while I work to keep my voice in half way decent shape at least...never know....maybe someday. My mom has had health issues and her back is hurting her again. I may be taking her to get an x-ray sometime tomorrow, not sure. Her bones are very brittle and she is getting really frail. I think the zest for life has left her poor body and it is sad to see her not really enjoy anything as of late. I am proud that my dad still gets out and plays bridge and makes lamps as he is even slightly older than she. He tries to help her with whatever she needs, but sometimes I think she just needs a new body, and with that no one can help.

Some days I sure wish I'd win the lottery. Then I could do so many thing I'd like to do, enjoy life more and have the option of working be just that...an option. At least I am playing once in a while now so there is always that chance! :)

Happy Memorial Day..

2011-05-30T22:06:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Memorial Day and took time out to thank our troops both present and past for all that they do!..

Will blog soon.. worked all weekend...

~ Phew! ~

2011-05-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Was just sweating out a tornado watch. Luckily the storm passed through just to the north of us and I am very good at storm tracking right to our street since I have spotted exactly where we live on the Interactive weather map. We did hear non-stop thunder though for about a half hour earlier. Then I was getting a little worried and stopped working and shut down my main computer.

Now all alerts for this area are over and frankly I don't think we even got much but a spattering of rain.

Let's see ..I know it has been way too long since I blogged. For a while my work was slow and so I was taking a lot of walks and now it is getting busy, so I haven't had as much time to blog.

I DID find out something wonderful yesterday!! I had been holding off on getting my mammogram which was due last October (well that was my one year since prior one). I wanted to avoid going to the doctor, having that extra expense just to get a script for the mammogram. But last month I realized I was 6 months overdue. Okay fast forward....went to the doctor last week and got my mammogram finally yesterday morning. Here's the great news which I wish I had known YEARS ago.

I asked the place that did the mammogram if I absolutely HAD to go to a doctor first and get a script for a mammogram or could I just get one. I was thrilled to find out as long as I'm over 40...yes the guy telling me the criteria was being kind... and not on medicare/medicaid and the doctor that I choose to send reports to does not require me to have an appointment first, I CAN they called it 'self-diagnose' to have my own mammograms. He checked on his 'list' my doctor's name and said I'm good to go. So next year when it is time I will just make my appointment and skip the worthless visit (and bill). Wish I had known that before and I would not have waited so long. Fingers crossed as always that there will be no results from this mammogram.

I have to say that I am very pleased since I went on my 'get even heathier' push. I have been walking nearly every day, eating healthy and did just start taking added Calcium/Vitamin D as I asked my doctor whether I should as I don't take any extra calcium and I don't wish for bone problems like my poor mother is experience! Without even really trying I have been shedding weight. I was not what anyone would consider overweight before but I did weigh as much as 151 in the a..m. (when I weight the least) and today I weighed 135.4 lbs! Woo hoo! I can definitely tell my waistline is smaller and my legs are thinner. Go me! :)

I am also happy to say that my youngest is home for the summer now and it is really great to have her here again. She is already back to working her summer job in retail sales. She likes it and she can earn money to save for college expenses next year, plus she can't get as bored being 'at home'.

Mothers Day

2011-05-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

Another Mother's Day has come and gone...got a phone call from each of my daughters which was very nice! This is the one day out of the year I know I can count on hearing from both of them. Yay for this day! The youngest will be home soon for the summer. This may be the last summer she is home all summer, as she is itching to do something else for the summer, but I insisted she come home this summer. Not sure what next year will hold. May be getting closer to that empty nest that this blog was titled for. Hope that this summer goes S L O W !

My oldest is getting ready to move again. She's subletting an apartment from a friend for the summer. She's got 2 more years of grad school but not sure what she is doing. She needs to support herself while attending and not sure how that's going to work out. Life is challenging to say the least.

I visited my mom (and dad) today too with my hubby and we visited for a while. My sister was there when we got there with her son, but she was on her way out the door and had already taken lunch for them. We stayed and chatted a while with the folks about politics, one of my mom's favorite topics these days. Glad she is still spirited about something!

May Day!

2011-05-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

"It's May, it's May the lusty month of May"....in case you don't know it that is from Camelot.. Anyway changed the calender today.

This is a good month! It is the month my youngest comes home from college for the summer. It is the month that I can put away my winter clothes..well I think so at least. The temmperatures today plummeted from the 80's to the 50's ! It is 6:19PM but it is only 55 degrees out in central Texas. Weird! Luckily other than sporadic wildfires, we have escaped any of the horrific weather that has hit so many of the states. But we are in a drought situation so that is not good.

My hub came back from being back East on Thursday. He looked really beat! It took him a few days to feel a little better. One good thing about him going back East besides being there for his friend is that he has decided to QUIT SMOKING! Woo hoo! I don't know if it was that he realized it is not doing his body any good and the fact that he just came back from a funeral for a 46 year old woman or what, but whatever the reason I am thrilled. I have only ever known him to be a smoker. He has only had 3 cigarettes per day the last 2 days (this will make day #3). I am so proud of him and am his biggest cheerleader! He has also decided to try to eat healthier and walk with me once in a while. He did walk with me last evening too. Not only will it be so much better for his lungs and health it will save us at least $1500/yr by him not buying those cancer sticks!

~ Happy Easter ~

2011-04-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

While many are going to church today, celebrating the rise of Christ, or having Easter Egg hunts, or gathering with family, I wanted to take some time to blog about life, or rather death and how suddenly it can change everything.

My husband got a call from his best friend back east on Thursday. It was a shocking call. This man's wife who was only 46, never drank, smoke, well you know the rest...was found dead at work. She was working a graveyard shift at the nursing home and was found still clutching the curtain in the room she was in, and had already been gone for hours. They think it may have been a brain aneurysm. She left behind her loving husband who is one of those old fashioned typical males that likes to hunt deer, fix things that need fixing, and provide for his family. She also left behind two children, a 10 year old daughter and a 15 year old boy. It is going to be hard on all of them for I can't fathom how long.

When I hear about this sort of thing, especially when it is someone I know...it really jolts me. We all walk around hearing "Live each day as if it is your last". I think about those words and how hard they are to live by. I think a better mantra should go something like.. Even though you need to go to work every day, take care of your house, and do everything else you have on your daily plate, don't get your plate to a point of overflowing. What your day does entail, do it with purpose, happiness and confidence and tell your loved ones you love them every day. And if your spirit is not like this on a daily basis, but rather full of deadlines, stress, headaches, sleeplessness or sleepiness...then you need to slow down..so you can feel good about yourself at the end of the day. It is easy to think there is plenty of time to relax, be with family and enjoy your life, but one never knows. It is all about balance.

We never know when it is our "time". I do believe in heaven and I also believe in the possibility of returning back for another life on Earth. I only hear/read positive things about the afterlife from those who claim to have been on the other side and have come back. For me, it should be only a great thing (assuming I end up in the better place). It is so much harder for those left behind.

Sorry to be so morbid on a day that is suppose to be happy and full of celebration, but this has been on my mind that this is what blogs are for right?

To end on a lighter note, my youngest is home for the holiday and it has been great as usual having her here. Next time she comes home it will be for the summer again. Yippee! Happy Easter to my oldest who couldn't make it here. To everyone, tell those close to you that you love them!

..from Shadow's view...

2011-04-17T11:20:00.000-05:00

I know I posted about helping to walk dogs last weekend at the local animal shelter, but I thought I'd do my best to convey what it may have been like for Shadow, the cute Chihuahua/mini dobie mix puppy that was one of the dogs I played with.

A visit from a nice lady….

I was sitting in the kennel with my two brothers waiting for somebody, anybody to come around to play with me. I saw this lady who took one of my friends two kennels down out to play in the play yard. When she came back I tried my best to get her attention. I jumped up and down and even used one of my brothers as a step stool to get her attention first. After all, there were three of us in this space and if I wanted to get that lady’s attention, I had to stand out!

Here she comes, she is close by. She’s looking down at all of us. She looks happy. On no, now she is walking away from me to another kennel.

Sadly, the lady took a big black dog and went away with it. Why would she want to walk a stupid big black dog that wasn’t even jumping up and down for attention? Well hopefully she will come back. I have hope. It may be my lucky day.

It seemed like forever, but the lady finally came back. She spotted me and my brothers and smiled again. Then she went away. No wait, I see her at the back door of this thing. She’s talking to another lady. She is shaking her head. Maybe because there are three of us, she doesn’t want to bother with me. She was gone again. Now she is back in the front of the kennel. I’m gonna get there first! Zoom…Plop. I’m in front now and so is she but my brothers are not. Lucky me! Oh the back door has a wall there now. Weird, I guess my brothers are stuck back there. Good! “Lady, pick me, pick me!”, I thought.

Then she opened the door and was in the kennel with me. I jumped up and licked her hand and she put this heavy metal thing around my neck, but I didn’t care. I was getting attention. She opened the door and I was free!! I hopped up and down and was too excited to go for a ‘walk’. She was pulling gently on that long thing that was attached to the metal thing around my neck. I didn’t care where we went. All I knew was that I was out of that cage!

She took me into a place and closed a metal gate which was sort of like the door to that kennel I’ve been living in, but since she is in there with me, it is okay. Then she took that heavy metal thing off my neck and starting jumping and hopping herself. I joined in with her and then spotted a big thing in the yard. It was almost as big as me with many legs and so I picked it up and shook it. This made the lady laugh. There was a big long thing that looked like I could walk up one side and down the other, but it was way too high for me and scared me. But inside it was nice and cool, so I would run around in the sun then hide inside it. Then I heard the lady calling so I ran out again. We were playing for a while like this. Then the lady started talking to someone that I’ve seen around, helping me and my brothers sometimes. I was getting tired and hot, so the nice lady picked me up and I snuggled against her shoulder and closed my eyes... Ahhhh…

After a little while, the lady put that heavy metal thing over my head again, opened that gate, and we were walking again. ”Oh no…not THAT way”, I barked. She was taking me back to my brothers. Not that I hate my brothers, but I really don’t want to go back into that place with the hard floors. It is so boring there and makes me sad. She opened the front gate and my brothers were not there. They must still be stuck in the back. She took off that heavy metal thing and I jumped up, kissing her hand, pleading with her to take me with her. She turned and walked away, closing that kennel door. Click.

Then she left. Oh no, there she is! She was around back and now my brothers are back here with me. I ran up toward her, while my brothers shied away. No please, please take me home!! She smiled and me, blew me a kiss and said something. I don’t know what it was but it was a very soothing voice. Then she was gone.

(the things I said was.. "Hope you find a loving home real soon!"

Long day...

2011-04-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

Got up early today (before 7 is early for me on a Saturday)...to go do my volunteer work at the Local Animal Shelter's annual garage sale. It was a long day, didn't get home until after 2:00 and there was a lot of work taking down tables, etc., but it was fun. I got to meet some other very nice people (other volunteers) and was glad to help out for a good cause. Too bad there was still a lot of stuff left at the end and there was no where to put it, so it all was trashed. I salvaged some things I just could not see throwing out, well we all did as best we could :-). But...anyway, it was a good day, with a fair amount of people considering the other things going on like the Red Poppy Festival which is this weekend too.

Some of the treasures I took home were some Corelle dinner plates (7) and dessert plates (7) which were in perfect shape. I really only have a few Corelle dishes and like to use them over the heavy dinner plates and was really happy to find these. They have a cute pattern on them too (little hearts). I also got a nice long wood planter that I cleaned up and am using on the balcony for planting more vegetables. I got some large artificial flowers (orange/red) that I used to replace the flowers in the pots on either side of the front door as they were quite faded. I got a nice patchwork pillow for decoration in front of the fireplace, another smaller pillow with the saying Dogs are just kids with fur. That pillow is going on the glider up on the balcony. I also got a cute small corner 3 shelved thing to hang on the wall that is pink and I thought my oldest would like that. Also got a paper shredder that works great, a few CDs for artists I don't know but they were brand new with plastic still on, so I thought I'd give them a listen. I also got 4 place mats that were the rag type. I want to see how it looks if I hand sew them next to each other, to see if it makes an okay rag rug for the balcony. I got a few other things I can't recall right now. But overall I was really pleased...and I didn't think I'd bring anything home.

After dinner I took one of the dogs for a walk, not real long as I was already pretty tired from working at the garage sale. Time to just chill out and relax....not sure I'll be awake for too much Saturday Night Live ;-)

Productive weekend.... :-)

2011-04-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

I had a little bit of work to do this weekend, and got that done yesterday morning. It was a beautiful weekend and yesterday after finishing work, I did some laundry and mopped the front balcony and cleaned the furniture there too. It looks so much nicer now. I saw that I have cucumbers and zucchini coming up, in fact the zucchini is already like 8 inches tall. Woo hoo!! Hopefully will have a better harvest this year than last when it got so hot for so long, most of it burned up and dried/died. The paint on the deck is peeling in some places, so added to my long wish list...getting the decks stripped/repainted next year (if I put it on next year .. there is a slightly better chance of it happening). :-)

Still keeping up with my walking every day, I took a walk after dinner with our high energy sheltie, Molly. I decided to walk around the neighborhood behind us a little and surprise our other dogs by coming up the back yard fence (which is a way I never go). So we ventured out on our walk, first I walked up the street like I normally do, but then when we got to our street I kept going straight and walked around to the cul-de-sac development behind us. When I got past 2 houses there was a dog that came running out and barking and startled me and Molly. I was worried it was going to attack her, but it did stop and then I thought there must be an invisible fence. But I hesitated, until a lady came out and told me not to worry, that they had an invisible fence. I thanked her and we started walking. No sooner did I get past her house, on the other side of the street a dog came barreling out barking toward us. I saw the lady was still outside the first house and yelled up to her "Do you know if this one has an invisible fence too?" She said yes, and sure enough it did not go beyond its property line. But my nerves were a bit rattled by the time I got to the path that led to the back of our house, and Molly had not stopped barking furiously since we saw the first dog.

So I got an idea, when I got to my house, I surprised the rest of our dogs and at first they thought Molly was strange dog, until they realized it was us. I was laughing so hard at that. I got the idea to hand Molly to my hubby over the fence so that I wouldn't be taking her back by the barking dogs again. So I did. Then I went back the way I came and sure enough the 2nd dog was waiting there at the edge of its property...it looked at me...as if to say "Where's your dog?". And the owner who was on his cell phone in his driveway gave me a look too. I started laughing to myself. Wonder if they thought I dumped my dog in the woods. LOL

I was pretty tired by Saturday Night Live time and only caught the first 15 minutes or so..before falling asleep.

Today was exercise day and I did that as usual and then decided to go volunteer at the local animal shelter by walking some of the dogs, since I haven't been there in a while. The first dog I started to walk was full of energy, and it was pretty clear when I got him out of his kennel that he was going to possibly pull me down to the ground, so after a few steps, I decided to play with him instead in the play area. He did really great at fetching a tennis ball for a while. Then I took him back and walked a dog that was a really short Lab (Lab mixed with Basset Hound I think). He was fine to walk and I had no problem with him. There were several small dogs there, which there usually aren't. There was one kennel with 3 puppies in it that were mini doberman pincher/chihuahua mixes. I got another gal to help me trap 2 of them so I could get one out to walk. I knew I wouldn't be able to take all 3 at once. This little girl was really cute, jumping up and down, playing with the leash, and interested in playing more than walking. So we went into the play yard and she had a great time. She would chase the toys then go hide in an agility ramp, then bop out again. I started chatting with one of the employees there and picked her up and she snuggled her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes..She was so cute! But we are not getting any more dogs, so I didn't let myself grow too attached. Then she went back in her kennel and I walked a dachshund (hot dog I like to call them), last. I think it was a bit hot thought for that one because he wasn't too interested in walking very far. I spent over 2 hours there.

Rest of the day was relaxing, coupon clipping and writing up the menu/grocery list for the next two weeks. Nice to feel like I got some things accomplished!!

Surprise!..

2011-04-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was getting ready to go take a long walk and when I was grabbing my pedometer I leave in the garage, I saw something move on the shelf. Here is our most recent visitor. I didn't see it today so I'm not sure where it is now, but probably somewhere in the garage. I zoomed in, so no it is not THAT big. Maybe 4-5 inches long from head to tail.