Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday

No Needles for the Needle Nose....At Least Not Today....

Nick and I set off this morning for our appointment with Dr. Tracey Sasher at Loving Touch Animal Center. As I mentioned yesterday, I went expecting acupuncture as a pain management tool. After taking a look at Nick, she thinks we may be able to rehab him so that he can maybe even lure course again. I’d totally given up on the idea and had only hoped to be able to manage his pain without regular use of non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. I can’t stand to let him be in chronic pain if there’s anything I can do to avoid it though. She did adjust his back. The adjustment, as well as all the excitement and new experiences left him pretty tired though and he’s spent the afternoon sacked out on his bed. She also suggested some herbal supplements in addition to the fish oil, and glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin combo he’s already taking and also told me where to get a carpal brace for him to wear at times. She felt that though acupuncture wouldn't hurt him, my doggie healthcare dollars could better be spent elsewhere. You've gotta appreciate advice like that!

We’re going back next week for a rehab evaluation. She’ll measure the range of motion in his leg joints, and a will formulate a rehab plan that will likely include, swimming, exercises at home, and some message techniques. They have a tank with a tread mill where he can walk in the water, and eventually swim. The hope is to improve his muscle strength so that he compensates for the damage he did to his carpal joint. I feel like I got a Christmas gift early. I expect there’ll be a lot of work in this for both of us, but I’m really excited about getting started. I really wish I’d found Dr. Sasher sooner. Though she won’t replace my regular vet, I hope that she’ll be a great complementary resource.

Thought You Were Rid of Us, Didn't You???

You know, it's kind of funny, but the less you have to say, the less you can think of to say. I've been pretty silent on the blog front for months - about six of them, so I find myself having a difficult time deciding what to talk about today. Lots has happened since my last post on May 19th. The problem is that most of it is old news. We had all the usual summer excitement. The pups, Wheeler, and I managed a couple of camping trips. On one excursion, Wheeler's cousins came along, and Rob joined us for the other.

We also, snuck in a very relaxing beach trip, so no complaints on that front.

The only unrecorded activity that still haunts us is our last coursing foray. Nick, Rosie and I went coursing over Memorial day weekend. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time until Nick came in lame. He hyper-extended his carpal joint and is thus retired permanently from the lure coursing field. I am, of course, racked with guilt about the whole thing. That particular course lay out started at the top of a hill and made a hard right turn at the bottom. I considered pulling him that morning, and now really wish I had. He was in good shape though, and really wanted to chase the plastic bunny, so I let him run. I guess I’ve been lucky up until now having run my dogs for three years with no lasting injuries. Nick must have taken that turn too tightly, at least that’s what I think happened. He finished the course and didn’t appear lame until he stopped at the finish line, so I’ll never be sure exactly when and how he was injured. In hindsight though, I don’t think he ran the second half of the course with his usual gusto.

Here's poor Nick all bandaged up at the field thanks to my friend Iva - we're very lucky to have a vet who lure courses with us.

After lots of x-rays, and a couple of trips to the veterinary orthopedic specialist, he recommended that we hold off on surgery at least for now. His leg may worsen over time though, and we may eventually end up going that route. The vet recommended that we leash walk him for several months in hopes that his muscles would strengthen and compensate for the damaged joint. We did that, and didn’t let him run free until about three weeks ago. He’s now walking and running without a limp, though I can see that he has some discomfort at times. We tried him on a few days of a metacam, and with that on board, he showed no pain at all. I’m not really willing to start a four year old hound on NSAIs for the rest of his life though,and I want him to be pain free, so we’re headed off tomorrow for acupuncture to see if that helps. The acupuncture vet we’re going to see also does doggie physical therapy, so I hope she’ll recommend some exercises we can do to help his leg strengthen. With luck, it will help. After my experience with Sugar and her chronic neck pain though, I’d rather do surgery sooner rather than later if it will buy Nick a pain free life.

Return From Blogcation

If anyone is still out there looking at my blog, you know that I’ve taken a little deserved, but much appreciated computer/blogging break. I’ve mostly read the blogs I follow and have sometimes commented, but for the most part, I’ve stayed computer free for a little over a month. This little sabbatical started as pure laziness, but was extended by phone line problems that have had me offline for more than a week.

For what it’s worth, I still don’t have a dial tone on my home phone. I have to say that I haven’t missed the phone at all…but that’s easy to say since my cell phone has gobs of available minutes. I’m now questioning whether or not I actually even need a land line. In fact, maybe the phone company should consider the effect of just such epiphanies on their primary line of business.

I first reported my phone out Saturday before last (over a week ago), they promised that it would be repaired a week and a half later - today at midnight. As of right now - about 6:30 PM - still no dial tone. That’s a week and a half with no dial tone folks. No there has not been a storm in the area or any other reason for widespread outages. There’s only an automated line to call. I did try to hold for a customer service person once, but after 50 minutes gave up. Didn’t want to waste any more of those precious cell minutes holding for the phone company since the rep likely was going to tell me to buck up a and tough it out…they’ll fix my line when they’re good and ready. I’ve gotta ask myself, if I can get along for over a week with no phone, do I need one at all?

Anyway, haven’t missed the phone, but I do find that I miss the internet. No map quest, no quick orders from Amazon, no online bill pay, and no reading up on the exploits of my fellow bloggers. I do have limited ability to surf on my cell phone, but it’s very slow and a PIA. My DSL connection does go up and down (mostly down), so I’m writing this off line with the hope that it will post at some point in the near future. It’s kind of been my week for utility problems. My cable also decided to go on vacation last week. The cable company managed to show up a couple of days later though and run a new line from the street to my house. I called, talked to a real person, and scheduled a time to meet the technician when I could be at home. Works like a charm now….

The point of this post was not to gripe about local utility service (though I managed a pretty good rant), but to comment on the extra time I’ve had on my hands while computer free. It’s amazing…I had time to tackle a couple of closets that have needed cleaning out for quite some time, and even had time left over to read a book.

The pups and kitties are great. Nick is sacked out on the couch next to me “supervising” as I write this post. Rosie is stationed on the couch looking out the window toward the street. She’s perfectly positioned to alert me of any intruders…or people walking down the street… whichever happens first. I’ve attached a pic of the grancy greybeard tree that’s directly in Rosie’s sites at the moment. It’s beautiful this time of year with its big fluffy blooms and will always remind me of my father-in-law who died three years ago. He gave us this tree soon after we moved into the house and he, Rob, and Wheeler planted it. OK Wheeler was still in preschool and didn’t really help…he managed to get in the way though. Anyway, I always think of him in the springtime when it blooms.

Be Funky.......

Both Hope and Greyz and Nuttin But Hound Dogs have posted cute pictures of their pups tweaked at BeFunky.com. I, of course, couldn't resist playing around with some picutres of my own crew to see what would happen. Be warned,....it's fun and is therefore is a huge time waster.

Lure Crashing........or the Attack of the Killer Ex-Pen

Nick, Rosie, and I attended the Southeastern Greyhound Club’s field trial last Saturday. Saturday was an ASFA trial followed by a NLCC trial on Sunday. We didn’t make it on Sunday due to, among other things, the events that transpired on Saturday.

It was a gorgeous day. One of those days that couldn’t have been more perfect if it was made to order – chilly in the morning but warming up to shirtsleeve weather. The field was perfect, not to hard and not too soft. We were running on a new field that hugs the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The location could not have been more picturesque. How could we fail to have a perfect day? Unfortunately, my hounds forgot to read up on trial deportment before we left home. Nick had a nice though not stellar first run, but enjoyed chilling out in the sun in the ex-pen while Rosie had her turn. Rosie ran very well, but stopped to tinkle midway thru her course. Umm…the judges frown on that sort of a break.

Then the real trouble started. After Rosie had cooled down, I decided to let her join Nicky in the ex-pen. When I opened the door, Nick thought that it must be his turn to course again, and tried to push his way out past Rosie. In the process, he managed to knock the whole contraption down. Problem was, he was inside it at the time. While I was trying to free Nick before he was hurt, Rosie got loose. Final outcome – both of my hounds loose at the same time. Very embarrassing!!! Nick also managed to hurt his shoulder – that can happen when you struggle inside a collapsed ex-pen – and had to be pulled from the afternoon course.

We’ve had a serious talk about the day’s events. Rosie promises to take care of her business before she goes out on the field, Nick swears he’ll refrain from charging the ex-en gate, and I’ll be more careful with my gate management techniques in the future. The good news is that, although Nick’s shoulder is still sore, it’s improving and he’ll be fit as a fiddle in another couple of days.

"Mom, my shoulder hurts!!"

"Why the heck are we home on such a beautiful day? See, I have my leg muscles all stretched out and everything."

P.S. I know better management on my part would have prevented all the mishaps of the day. I should have made sure Rosie went before she ran and I should have had everyone leashed before the ex-pen gate was opened. My fault - not theirs.

Nick and Rosie's Spring Break Adventure....Take 2

I’m going to try this post again as I had a couple of folks say they couldn’t see the pictures when I posted earlier. I have no idea why as I could see them on my end. I decided it was easier to take the previous post down and start over rather than fight with the cantankerous Mr. Blogger. The pics were the point of the post so….

I had to share a few pictures of Nick and Rosie’s spring break trip. No, they didn’t go with us to Disney World, but they did have a blast with Kate Crawford at her Manyhounds Inn. She runs a sight hound only kennel in the Atlanta area with lots woods for running around in and exploring and many hound buddies to explore with. I think my pups are sorry to see me coming when I pick them up from “camp.”

Nick enjoyed his own private trip to Disney arranged by Kate’s travel service.

After filling in for Mickey, he put in some time at the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride.

Rosie says she went swimming with the dolphins at Sea World.

I want to know if Kate will act as travel agent for the humans when we plan our next trip.

Thanks Kate!!

P.S. Please let me know if my pics don’t come thru this time so I can have a serious talk with Mr. Blogger.

Our Visit to the House of the Mouse and Other Spring Break Stories....

We recently returned from a spring break trip to Orlando and also tacked on a couple of days visiting Rob’s Aunt at Atlantic Beach outside of Jacksonville. You might ask why a family of three with an almost 15 year old son would voluntarily subject themselves to Disney World. After all, the Magic Kingdom is heavily attended by members of the stroller brigade. There are lots of things to do though that appeal to teens as well as to their parents and well had a great time.

The last time we hit Disney City, Wheeler was seven or eight. We still had tickets with three days of park entry paid for, so we figured that without having to buy any tickets, a Disney trip was a reasonable option. I have to say, I enjoyed the whole experience much more than last time as we had no small children to worry about losing. We also spent a day at Universal Studios where we rode lots of roller coasters. Now coasters are something that I guess you either love or hate, but all three of us love ‘em. We were flipped, spun, and rolled until we couldn’t take it anymore. It was a blast. Also, at almost 15, Wheeler actually has an attention span, so we could take in some of the shows and exhibits the aforementioned stroller brigade misses. What could be cooler to a teen boy than learning about gruesome make up techniques. Trust me, our visit to Universal was well worth the time and I wish we’d had more that one day there.

One scary note though, there were virtually no lines at any of the theme parks. Good for us, very bad sign for the economy. Spring break should be one of their busiest times. We didn’t wait longer than 20-30 minutes for anything, and that was in the middle of the day. We could often walk straight onto headline rides. Very scary!!

We also managed a stop for lunch in St Augustine and a quick tour of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

We had beautiful weather in Orlando, sunny, low eighties, but weren’t so lucky at the beach. Jacksonville is a little too far north for early March beach fun, but it was nice just to relax for a few days.

I do love the beach in the fog though.

All in all, we had a great time. If you're still with me, thanks for letting me bore you with my vacation pics and stories.

Memed from A to Z

Several week ago, Alex at Hope and Greyz posted a meme, and tagged all who read it to play along. If you’re interested, consider yourself tagged!! The object is to describe yourself using each letter of the alphabet.

So here is mine:

A- I live in Atlanta

B- I like Blogging

C- I need to Clean out all my Closets

D- Dogs

E- I want to visit Europe -again

F- I love wildFlowers

G- Well duh - Greyhound

H- Honesty

I- Ingenuity

J- Jewelry (not necessarily real - I like the costume stuff too

K- Kanga - My favorite Pooh character

L- Leather - love the smell

M- Music

N- Nashville - went to school there

O- Ocean - I love to visit the beach

P- Pharaoh Hound - gotta love em!!

Q- Question

R- Reason -Wheeler is always asking me the reason why he can't.....

S- Save - I'm always looking for ways to save money

T- Time - never enough - also I love to Travel

U- Umbrella - I never carry one - Maybe I'm too optimistic :-)

V- Violets - Love them!!

W- West - I love visiting the American West

X- xercise - OK I'm stretching - but I need more of it

Y- Yard - I need to landscape

Z- Zan - That's me

They Stole My What.....???????

Somebody stole my recycling tote. I don’t get it. It’s a plastic bin used to carry old papers, aluminum cans, and other stuff that can be reused to the street. You can buy one for less than $10. No one that doesn’t care about the environment bothers to recycle. Seems kind of ironic doesn’t it? A thief went to the trouble to steal my recycling tote so they can be environmentally conscious. Huh??

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights........

I’ve been sidetracked by life lately and haven’t paid enough – OK any – attention to my blog. Alex at Hope and Greyz posted a meme the other day that I have every intention of spreading; I just haven’t gotten to it. I’ve also had several good blogging opportunities present themselves and I’ve let them pass me by. For example, how could I miss writing about snow in Georgia. I mean, it never does that here. I even got a couple of decent shots of the pups enjoying the frosty air.

"What the Heck is that???"

"It's kind of fun out here!!"

The aftermath!!

There are several reasons for my failure. First of all. I’ve been Facebooked. I joined Facebook not too long ago as I felt like I should keep up with Wheeler’s cyber life to be sure he’s safe and not divulging sensitive info. Turns out he’s no idiot in that department and has done, at least so far, an excellent job. He doesn’t have anyone on his friends list that he doesn’t know in real life, and he hasn’t revealed any info that shouldn’t be out there for all to see. I, however, have found that Mr. Facebook can suck up way more time than this blog. I have managed to find a few old friends that I feared I’d permanently misplaced – and that’s a good thing. But I’ve also found that it is a phenomenal time waster – it will take every minute that you allow it. I herby pledge to be more careful in the future as I enjoy this blog too much to let it fall by the wayside. It lets me free form rant at will. What could be better???

Secondly, I had my eyes checked the other day and got a new prescription. I also got new contacts that are supposed to be great. Correct my astigmatism and let more air through. Much more comfortable - yeah rah hooray!! NOT!! The pair I’m wearing was great for about four days. Problem is now they get all dried out by noon and I can’t see thru them. I feel like I’m looking though a sheet of plastic or something. Gotta go back to the eye doctor. Can’t write if you can’t see. I know, I know, pull out the glasses you say. Well I would if they weren’t really, really old. The script is so old I’m not sure I’d be any better off, and the frames are refugees from a decade or more ago. Everyone would laugh at me, trust me they would.

Thirdly, I’ve just been lazy. Bad, bad, bad……..

I’ll do better….I promise!!

Living Vicariously Thru My Kid and My Dog........

We had a very busy weekend; so busy in fact that I’m just getting around to blogging about it. I was exhausted and needed recovery time. I actually have a two brags to record here, so if you don’t feel like reading the ravings of an unabashed proud mom feel free to skip this post.

First and foremost, Wheeler is going to wrestle in the Georgia High School Association State Tournament this weekend. In order to qualify, he had to finish in the top four in his weight class at our Area Tournament. After spending most of the day last Friday and all day Saturday in Social Circle, GA he qualified. Needless to say he’s really excited, and I’m very proud of him. Here’s a picture of him wrestling.

I can’t guarantee that this pic is from the match that qualified him, but I think it is. They all look the same when they’re rolling around on a mat – ya know.

The Area Tournament felt like it lasted forever. There were about 14 teams there and only two mats – made for a very slow pace. I thought my rump was going to take root on the bleachers. But in the end it was all worth it. Here’s a shot of Wheels relaxing in the stands after his win. He’d more or less recovered from his match by the time I snapped this one.

We’ll spend this Friday and Saturday at the Gwinnett Arena. All good thoughts for a safe and successful completion are appreciated.

I spent the day on Sunday lure coursing with Rosie and Nick. Rosie was one of two Pharaoh Hounds running that day, and the only one running in open, so she could only get four points for the day regardless of how well, or poorly, she ran – assuming of course that she ran the course and didn’t just stop. The good news here however is not how she ran Sunday, though she ran well, but that those four points were enough to earn her Field Champion status. Yeah Rosie!!

We couldn’t have had a better day for coursing. The temps topped out in the high 50’s and it was clear and sunny. The ground was not too dry and provided near perfect footing. My friend Sandy brought yummy BBQ for lunch. The company and the vittles were both excellent, though we missed several of our regular coursing buddies. Sandy also brought Rosie a celebratory bottle of Champagne to commemorate her achievement. Sandy and I drank it at lunch and didn’t even share with poor Rosie. Before you picture two drunk women careening around the field, let me point out that the bottle we shared was small (about ¼ the size of a regular bottle.) Here’s Rosie posing with her spoils.

And another of her passed out on the couch. See how she gathers the sofa pillows and uses them for extra padding. She certainly is no dummy :-)!

When I think about it, wrestling and lure coursing have a lot in common. In both sports lots of time is spent sitting around waiting for your child, or dog as the case may be, to have their turn. Then, although I always wish for success, I mostly pray that they finish their match unhurt.

A Funny Thing Happened in the Lunch Line..

Remember back when you were in high school and went to the cafeteria every day for lunch? I don’t know about you, but I always was scared of the lunch ladies. Back in those days you got what you got – no choices – and you’d better not complain. Some days we had hamburgers with stripes painted on to make the patty appear to have been grilled. On others, fried frozen fish sticks were the hot menu item – usually swimming in tartar sauce – yum!

Rob came home from work several weeks ago all excited. Said he’d been in a commercial that day at lunch. I think my response was along the lines of “That’s nice honey.” I then proceeded to forget all about it. Well yesterday this YouTube creation appeared in my inbox.

I think I was right to be scared of the lunch ladies!! At least he got a free sandwich out of it.

It's All About The Chase.....

Nick, Rosie, and I spent the weekend before last lure coursing. The three of us really enjoy it for lots of reasons. First and foremost, I really like watching my pups run flat out as fast as they can and, well, I think they like doing the running. I love this picture taken by Uma Rapiti Photography of Nick. He appeared to be looking at the camera as he came in on the bag at the end of the course. I always like Lee’s pictures, but this one is a personality shot that I’ll always treasure.

We had a wonderful weekend. The trial was sponsored by the Southeastern Greyhound Club. Saturday, was an ASFA event. My hounds had a good day. Nick won open, defeating 3 other hounds. Rosie also took open, but it was a hollow victory as she was the only open Pharaoh running that day. Sunday, was the inaugural National Lure Coursing Club trial. The format of the trial was new. The hounds ran in braces and rather than tallying scores from two runs, winners were determined thru a modified double elimination format. I liked some things about this new format and didn’t like others, but all in all, it’s about the chase. The pups don’t know or care how or if they’re being scored. Also, instead of wearing blankets, the pups (at least the short haired breeds) wore wide red or white collars - much easier to deal with from a handler's perspective.

I’ve attached a slide show that I made comprised mostly of pictures from this trial as well as from the Winter Challenge at GANG Park in Calhoun, GA. That ASFA trial was a five day event that culminated on New Year’s Eve, and really tested the hounds’ endurance. We only made it to three of the 5 days. My hounds might have been able to handle five consecutive days of coursing, I couldn’t though.

My Father's Eyes.....

Weekend before last, I was at the Southeastern Greyhound Club’s lure coursing field trial where we had a really good time both on the field and visiting with old friends. This post isn’t about that event though (I’ll cover that later after my pictures come), but about a comment made by my friend Toni about Nick’s eyes. She asked me if Dutch Bahama was in his pedigree. Now I’m not a big studier of hound pedigrees, so I had no idea. She pointed out that his eyes looked like he came from that line. She went home and looked it up, and sure enough, Dutch Bahama was Nick’s great great grandpa. Cool!!

Now that got me thinking about why exactly we chose to adopt Nick. After Speedy and Sugar died last summer, we resolved to be a one dog family for awhile. I was considering getting a puppy that I could show as well as lure course. Though I knew in the back of my mind that I would eventually get another grey, I thought the hurt was too fresh and I wasn’t ready. In fact, I didn’t think I would be ready anytime soon. Then I saw Nick’s picture on SEGA’s adoptable page. Here's a copy.

He was a small male (small equals less likely to get hurt coursing) with beautiful eyes that reminded me of Sugar's. Now Nick and Sugar look nothing alike. She was a pretty white female with one brindle ear. He’s a red male – but those eyes.

See what I mean!!

I had to meet him. Well of course once I met him, I had to bring him home. The small black “Speedy kiss” on the top of his head sealed the deal. Funny thing is, I looked back as Sugar's pedigree this weekend. Guess what, Dutch Bahama was her grandpa. What do you know about that?

Now being related to Dutch Bahama is not so unusual. According to Greyhound Data, he sired 2557 pups, but of course not all of them were bred. He was a pretty famous guy though and was inducted into the Greyhound Hall of Fame in 1990.

Turns out that Nick and Speedy are also related through Downing, another famous racer found in both of their pedigrees. He won the World Classic in 1977.

Speedy - also a handsome fellow

I’ve been missing both Speedy and Sugar lately; I guess I always will. Maybe they got together at the Rainbow Bridge and sent Nicky to me. I find that thought a little comforting.

More Meme Madness....

There’s no question that I love meme’s!! First of all, they give me something to write about when I’m stumped – or when I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to think hard enough to come up with a reasonably clever topic. Also, I like reading them when they’re posted by my blog buddies because they help me get to know you a little better. I stole this one from Miscellanea (thanks Kathy). It was particularly hard for me though – really made me use my noodle. You try coming up with the right answers when they have to start with Z. People with names like Ann have it easy.

Ann and Andy are archeologists and wear apricot aprons while allowing apple martinis to be abandoned in the abbey.

The object is to answer each question, The catch is the answer must start with the same letter as your name. So here goes:

1. What is your name? Zan
2. A four-letter word: zany
3. A boy's name: Zeus
4. A girl's name: Zena
5. An occupation: zeppelin pilot or zookeeper
6. A color: zebra striped (OK I’m stretching it – you think of a z color)
7. Something you wear: zinnias - you know –flowers in your hair
8. A food: zucchini
9. Something found in the bathroom: zinc oxide
10. A place: Zululand
11. A reason for being late: zipped past your street
12. Something you shout: Zounds!
13. A movie title: “Z”
14. Something you drink: Zinfandel
15. A musical group: ZZ Top
16. An animal: zebra (OK I cheated and used zebra twice - you think of another animal that starts with a z)
17. A street name: Zephyr Way
18. A type of car: Zimmer
19. The title of a song: Zipity Do Dah
20. A verb: zoom

If you read this, and feel like continuing to spread this particular meme virus, have at it!

Memory Maelstorm.....

I was tagged by the Greytblackdog to post the 6^th picture in my 6^th picture folder and explain it. Since I was already tagged with that meme a while back, I won’t repeat myself, but the tag did get me started looking back at old pictures. Not too long ago, Wheeler’s English teacher gave them what I thought was a kind of interesting homework assignment. They had to find an old picture of themselves and write about what they were thinking and feeling when the photo was taken. Since the pictures that they had to choose from were very old, I don’t think any of them could really remember what they were feeling. In fact, Wheeler said it was more like writing about a complete stranger.

I decided that this exercise might make an interesting blog post, or at least might be fun for me. Of course, I’ve never been one to follow rules – and besides, since I’m almost always the one who pulls out the camera, there are very, very few photos with me actually in the pictures. I decided to make my own rules, pick one of my favorites, and write about what I was feeling when I took it.

During the summer of 2007, we took our first ever long vacation – a two and a half week road trip up the Pacific coast. We started in San Francisco and ended up in Seattle. To add to the excitement, in addition to Wheeler, two of my nieces, Amanda and Alexandra, came along.

This picture was taken while sailing on a catamaran in San Francisco Bay our first day there. We’d gotten up at the crack of dawn and taken an 8AM flight and were sailing by that afternoon. What could be better? We were all excited about our trip – on the first day it felt like we had all the time in the world. Everyone was tired, but very pumped. I guess if I had to write a caption for the photo, it might be “Anticipation!”

I really tried to choose only one pic from that trip (see I can’t even follow my own rules,) but I couldn’t resist including this shot of the kids acting like total tourists and hanging off a cable car. Goofy and touristy – absolutely – but we were just having so much fun!! The picture was taken the day after the silliness on the sailboat. That trip shaped up to be more fun that we ever expected and I wish we could go on just such an odyssey every year!

I had so much fun taking a trip down memory lane, I think I’ll pull out old pics and subject you to them from time to time.

Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens, These Are A Few of My Favorite Things.....Memed Again...

Alex at Hope and Greyz posted this meme on her blog and tagged anyone interested to respond and pass the meme along. I love this sort of thing; it sort of lets me get to know myself better while I’m learning about my fellow bloggers. So here goes:

1) LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATRE? Sadly, I can’t remember. We watch tons of movies on DVD though. We’ve been on an old (or old to Wheeler) war movie jag lately and watched Platoon last Friday. We try to watch a movie as a family once a week when we can and try to appeal to teen boy tastes. He complains about having to hang out with us, but usually ends up enjoying the flick if I’ve picked well. Platoon had just enough explosive stuff to keep him interested.

2) WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? At the moment Marley and Me is accompanying me to wrestling matches to fill in the copious waiting time between matches. I’m also reading Harvesting the Heart, and a travel guide for Washington, DC.

3) FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Monopoly or Risk

4) FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Hmmm, I guess ”Whole Dog Journal.” Does that count?

5) FAVORITE SMELLS? Freshly cut grass, the air after a spring rain, popcorn, campfires, puppy breath

6) FAVORITE SOUNDS? Waves crashing on the beach, gulls calling, rain falling on a tin roof

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? That punch in the gut feeling you get when you see you child hurt

8 ) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU FIRST WAKE UP? Is it morning already? Can I hit snooze at least once and still get Wheeler to school on time?

9) FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE? Willy’s

10) FUTURE CHILD’S NAME? Too late for more now!!

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D....give more to charity.

12) DO YOU DRIVE FAST? Probably

13) DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No, but one of my dogs sleeps on the foot of the bed. Does that count?

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY? Cool- I love watching thunderstorms over the ocean.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? A ‘66 Chevrolet Impala in a stunning aqua color

16) FAVORITE DRINK? Dirty Martini, Woodford Reserve (bourbon) straight up, hot chocolate

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT - IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD...be way more organized

18 ) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? Yes

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? Ummm, I do color my hair and I guess I do dye it the color I want.

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN? My list is very boring and quite short. Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN(only if college counts)

21) FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Gymnastics, diving, and baseball if I’m at the game

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Greyhound lover, great mom, and sculptor extraordinaire!!

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED? Dog and cat hair – and the pump for my air bed (which I love)

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN? Sure, why not. Who else could I be?

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? Night owl – definitely!!

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP? Neither – omelet please

27) FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX? My big leather chair with ottoman in my family room

28 ) FAVORITE PIE? Are there any I don’t like?

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Mint chocolate chip

If you’re still with me and want to participate, consider yourself tagged. If you get a chance, leave me a comment telling me that you got the tag and responded. I don’t want to miss your answers!!

This post is About Nothing.......

I’ve been very quiet lately. It’s amazing how much time blogging takes up…and that’s without ever actually posting anything. I am working on a real post, but I keep getting sidetracked playing with my blog. I know it sounds crazy, but I wanted more words and less blank space on the page. I also wanted a signature. Once I added to the wish list a snazzy banner (still haven’t figured out how to achieve that goal to my satisfaction) I managed to burn up a whole lot of time accomplishing a whole lot of nothing. Actually I’ve had fun playing around with the html code, but I still have a lot to learn. I guess it’s the modern version of tinkering around under the hood of a car except you get to keep your hands clean.

Meanwhile, I’ll bore you with a couple of kitty Christmas pictures, just because I think they’re cute. Zach is the orange tabby and Harry is the flame point siamesish kitty.

See, I warned you that this post is about nothing....

I'm an Airhead and a Spendthrift......

I feel like a complete idiot. Why you ask am I making such a broad self depreciating statement? Well stick around a minute and I’ll tell you, but first I need to fill you in on a little background.

Last night Wheeler came home from wrestling practice and headed upstairs for his usual long teenager shower. Those of you with teen know what I mean. When he finished we ate dinner and then I washed the dishes. OK nothing unusual yet. I found that no matter how long I let the water run, it never warmed up. At the time, I thought Wheels had used all the hot water and chalked dishes washed in cold water up to living in the house with a teen aged boy.

Fast forward to bed time. As I ran the water to warm it up so I could wash my face, I discovered, yep you guessed it, still no hot water. A trip to the basement revealed the pilot light was out. OK, no biggy, I can light a pilot light. I’ve done so before, although not on this particular appliance. In fact, in my younger days I lived in a apartment with only a gas space heater and a stick to control the temperature. If I’d waited for the maintenance guy to light the pilot light in the fall, I’d have frozen to death. But I digress; back to the story at hand. It was late, I was tired, and apparently uncoordinated. After some cussing, I decided that something was in fact really wrong with my 4 year old hot water heater as the stupid thing wouldn’t light and stay lit.

Fast forward to this morning. Yep, you guessed right again, I just paid a plumber $175 to light my hot water heater's pilot light. I still don’t know why it went out. The plumber was a nice guy and tried to make me feel less like a dumb ass. Why it wouldn’t light for me I'll never know and I could kick myself for not trying again after a good night sleep. So now can you see why I feel like a complete idiot?!?