Sunday, May 31, 2009

Another Pupdate - The Rest Of The Dogs

Felt bad leaving them out so here they are...

Tank (with Jacob in front and Delilah behind)

Delilah - doesn't she look like she is smiling?

Radar and Darci

Vada who is Randy's little princess

Ty and Radar, Tank, Shasta, Jacob and Rocket, and Delilah by the chair

Darci Jean

Radar and his harem - what can I say, he's all boy {eyes rolling}

Samson snoozing in the sun

Last but not least Zacchaeus - not a current picture because he is still visiting "the fat farm" aka Lindsey's place

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Finally, The Book Review

I did read the whole book yesterday but didn't have time to get back and update the blog... so here I am today. I couldn't put it down! I laughed and, if it hadn't been so funny, probably would have cried. Although my history isn't as rocky as Stephanie's, I had my share of bad luck and boy do I feel for Stephanie! But you won't find a better sense of humor anywhere. If you can, get hold of this book. If you are local, holler and I will loan you mine ;)

Friday, May 29, 2009

Meeting Mr. Wrong

OK so this is a book review. Well, it was going to be. That will now come in a later blog post. For now... I just got this book yesterday, first of all I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover! I will {try to jack a picture of it from the author's blog to post here}, I've seen it before but tiny pictures, to see the actual book I can honestly say that this picture would make me buy the book if I saw it in the bookstore...it's perfect!
{Got it!}


So I just opened it today with my breakfast and I barely got through the Acknowledgements! I had to put it down and immediately log on to blogger.com and tell you what I felt... I've already laughed out loud and I've already cried - from a less-than-2-page acknowledgement!!!! If any of you have met Stephanie Snowe (That Chick Over There) whose blog is JasonForTheLoveOfGod, then I probably don't have to tell you how good she is. For those of you who haven't - WHAT IS KEEPING YOU???????

Now if you will excuse me, I HAVE A BOOK TO GO READ!!!!!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

A Pupdate On The Boys

Just some cute shots I got this morning of "the boys"...
Ty who is now 4 months old

Sherman, 15 months

Sherman again and Radar (who is dad of the pups), who is now 13 months

Rocket, almost 11 months

Jacob, my granddog, about 9 months - you might remember that he is cousin to Sherman and Rocket

From left to right, Ty, Rocket, Jacob, and Sherman

Shasta had to get her big head in the way but look how tiny Darci's puppy is next to her! And there's Jacob again...

Ty and Justin (yes I know, do NOT name the puppy or he's not leaving... but I have to call him SOMETHING and "Boots" is just not working for me any more...) Still no buyer in sight so if you are local and know of anyone looking for a really cute, really small chihuahua pup send them my way - QUICK!!! He's already stolen my heart :)

Guess I will have to take the camera out again and try to get "the girls" and the older dogs... Seems odd to post dog pictures and not have Tank, Samson and Delilah (who look so cute since they just got groomed), a better shot of Shasta, and of course Darci and Vada. Can't get Zacchaeus right now as he is visiting "the fat farm" aka Lindsey's house... he put on a lot of weight after we got him fixed last year and she got Grace and Ahgee slimmed down real nice over there so if it works for Zacchaeus too, I told her that Shasta would be next lol.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Grandhorses Return...

Well OK just for a week or so :) but they are back! With one extra...
Thorn - Lindsey's Arab gelding

Destiny - Hilary's palomino appaloosa mare

Austin - Lindsey's mini stallion

And the extra... Bijou! A gal contacted me to take him into the rescue about a month ago. She lived out by Lindsey, and Austin was lonely. So he belongs to the rescue but is fostered at Lindsey's.

We have a trip to San Diego planned, leaving June 3, have to have Coggins and Health Certificate which I already got for Luna and Katie... but Lindsey has had a devil of a time getting a vet in the east valley. So she just called my vet and brought them over here! Figured we'd limit the trailer trips so brought all four horses at once, as the two minis are going to stay here while we are gone, that way her new roommate isn't overwhelmed as she will only have to feed the dogs. They finally got back about 1:30 this morning (so they say, I of course was SOUND ASLEEP and didn't hear a thing) and apparently Austin's girls gave him such a welcome that he got all excited. Sorry buddy, it's too hot for babies now so you get locked up separately...

But still, SLEEPOVER lol...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

An Odd Sight...

So OK maybe I am weird but this really struck me... driving to work this morning, I caught up to a semi truck hauling a load on a flatbed. From farther back I couldn't tell what the load was, but once I caught up, I saw that it was FIRE HYDRANTS. Four stacks of four rows with 6 in each row, near as I could tell... NINETY-SIX fire hydrants, about half red and half yellow. Could be even more... he was just pulling away from a light when I passed him so it's possible the rows were doubled (layed front to back).

Anyway it just struck me as odd... I've never thought about where fire hydrants COME FROM lol.

Monday, May 25, 2009

A Date With A Dead Snake

Remember Thursday and Mary's rattler? Today we went to Mikey's... she had one too and said she would do them both if I wanted her to... she started with hers.


Mercy, who just turned 5 yesterday, is fascinated and wants to help. Mom promises that the next snake, Mercy will get to do all by herself... but these two are ours!

Note Thelma hovering... she was just one of several waiting for us to drop something that smelled... ummmm... I guess good to a dog!!! But oh boy not to us!!!

Here are all the materials you need... hammer and nails, alcohol and glycerine, basting brush and sharp scissors...

Tacking it down...

Then it was MY TURN. Yup I got brave and decided to try my own. First you carefully slit the skin all the way up the middle of the belly to the rattle.




Then you very carefully peel the skin off:




Can I just say EEEEWWWWWWWWW here?

Then you tack it to the board, starting with the rattle and working toward the head - um, neck - the head is chopped off!




Wow lots and lots of little nails required...

Then you "baste" it good with rubbing alcohol and let it dry.


And woo hoo we did it!

Mikey will do the glycerine on both over the next few days, then they should be done.

On the way out I stopped to say hi to Sugarfoot. As you can see she was as FAR from me as she could get... just watching!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Memorial Day

Got this from a guy I know...

Memorial Day is their day isn't it? It is supposed to be the day a grateful nation pauses to quietly thank the more than one million men and women who have died in military service to their country since the Revolutionary War.

Or is it the day the beach resorts kick into high gear for the summer season the day the strand is covered by fish-belly white people basting themselves in coconut oil the day the off-season rates end and the weekend you can't get in a seaside seafood restaurant with anything less than a one hour wait. Or is it one of the biggest shopping center sales days of the year a day when hunting for a parking space is the prime sport for the holiday stay-at-homers?

Or is it the weekend when more people will kill themselves on the highways than any other weekend and Highway Patrol troopers work overtime picking up the pieces? I think the men and women who died for us would understand what we do with their day. I hope they would because if they wouldn't if they would have insisted that it be a somber respectful day of remembrance then we have blown it and dishonored their sacrifice.

I knew some of those who died and the guys I knew would have understood. They liked a sunny beach and a cold beer and a hot babe in a black bikini too. They would have enjoyed packing the kids the inflatable rafts the cooler sand the suntan lotion in the car and heading for the lake. They would have enjoyed staying at home and cutting the grass and getting together with some friends and cooking some steaks on the grill too. But they didn't get the chance. They blew up in the Marine Barracks in Beirut and died in the oily waters of the Persian Gulf. They caught theirs at the
airstrip in Grenada in the little war everyone laughed at. They bought the farm in the La Drang Valley and on Heartbreak Ridge Phu Tai and at Hue. They froze at the Chosin Reservoir and were shot at the Pusan Perimeter. They drowned in the surf at Omaha Beach or fell in the fetid jungles of Guadalcanal. They were at the Soame and at San Juan Hill and at Gettysburg and at Cerro Gordo and at Valley Forge.

They couldn't be here with us this weekend but I think they would understand that we don't spend the day in tears and heart-wrenching memorials. They wouldn't want that.

Grief is not why they died. They died so we could go fishing. They died so another father could hold his laughing little girl over the waves. They died so another father could toss a baseball to his son in their backyard while the charcoal is getting white. They died so another buddy could drink a beer on his day off. They died so a family could get in the station wagon and go shopping and maybe get some ice cream on the way home. They won't mind that we have chosen their day to have our first big outdoor party of the year.

But they wouldn't mind either if we took just a second and thought about them. Some will think of them formally of course. Wreaths will be laid in small sparsely attended ceremonies in military cemeteries and at monuments at state capitols and in small town's squares. Flags will fly over the graves patriotic words will be spoken and a few people there will probably feel a little anger that no more people showed up. They'll think no one else remembers.

But we do remember.

We remember Smitty and Chico and Davey and the guys who died. We remember the deal we made: If we buy it we said drink a beer for me. I'll do it for you guys. I'll drink that beer for you today and I'll sit on that beach for you and I'll check out the girls for you and just briefly I'll think of you. I won't let your memory spoil the trip but you'll be on that sunny beach with me today.

I will not mourn your deaths this Memorial Day my friends. Rather I'll celebrate the life you gave me.

This Bud's for you brother!

-Author Unknown-



and all I can say is... AMEN!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Today Lindsey is 20. The other day she said to me... did I realize that meant she would no longer be a teenager? And yesterday after graduation she wondered if it made me feel "old" to have all my kids out of school...

Hhmmm. Sometimes yes I do feel old but it's not because of that. It's because I've worked my @$$ off in the yard or stayed up way too late for my regular early mornings and I'm just worn out...

But really? I like my life. I had my kids young enough that I am still ready, willing and able to get out and do stuff. One thing I am NOT is a couch potato... a computer potato maybe lol...

Well anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LINDSEY!

Friday, May 22, 2009

WOOT! I Am Done!

OK so I know, all three girls will always be my girls...

And I will always be their mom...

And Iwill always love them...

And I will always worry about them...

And I will always be there for them...

But today was a really great day for me, my youngest (who turned 18 in February) graduated high school!

So my "job" of being mom is done and now i can just be mom without it being a JOB...

Somewhere down there is my daughter

Apparently using the jumbotron to get a close-up was NOT a good idea but that IS her, i swear!

Me, Hilary and Lindsey (who turns 20 tomorrow)... given the choice of having Andria at graduation or on the SD camping trip, Hilary said there was no contest, the trip would be much more important... just couldn't swing the plane ticket twice in two weeks...

Made Randy get in the picture too since he had to help me get her through school lol

And of course I had to get a shot in the cap

Can you say "redneck"? ;)

Me: "Hilary go stand by the yellow flowers in your yellow dress"
Hil {whining}: "no Mom, why do I have to do that?"
Me: "just go do it!! I want pictures and I am your mom!"