NO TAKE BACKS

I watched my Nanababies last night.  I had finally finished slippers, promised to the twins.  Joey, little miss attitude, said "your finalllllllly done!".  For you see I had already given Gabs her pair, and got distracted, ran out of yarn, but finally kept the promise I had made.

Since I did not have a pair for Gabs I let her chose which one of the three hats I had made that she would like.  Well after pictures were taken, Gabs and Joe decided they liked each others hats better, so they agreed to exchange.

I have said often and will again how proud I am of my daughter, what a great, wife, mother and person she has became!  But my pride swelled again, when my 4 year old Nanababy Joey looked solemnly at her 3 year old sister Gabs, and said

"You have to promise, when we exchange these hats, that we each keep ours, No take backs, " and just as solemnly Gabs nodded her head promising her sister "No take backs."

Perhaps some day their "real" father can learn when you make a promise though there may sometimes be apologies to make for promises we are unable to keep.  Children learn by what we teach, not just through our words, but through our actions and promises unkept.  Perhaps through their Mother and the Man they call Dadda, they will  someday teach him the importance of a promise kept.

CROCHETING

I haven't posted any pictures of what I have been crocheting lately.  My mind has just overflowed with creative thoughts and ideas lately.  All the caps I crocheted were inspired by caps at the following link.

http://bevscountrycottage.com/

I would like to say you could go there for the patterns, but I cannot seem to crochet by pattern.  I just take the general idea and size and sorta go off in my own direction. 

That said, the inspiration was from patterns she has, that are adorable!

I have been working a lot lately on Preemie caps, reversible for added warmth.  My newest twin Nanababies will possibly be preemies, so I wanted to get some caps done for them.  I have also worked on some I want to donate to N.I.C.U. when my Nanababies make their first appearance.

This cap did not turn out as I envisioned, but I love it. 

This is one of the first reversible caps that I did.

This is for one of my "old" twin Nanababies (can't believe they will be 5 next year).  I added a rubber band to the top for flexibility and so my daughter could pull their hair up through it in a pony tail.  Will have to get two more done before I can see how it works.  I would not dare to bring just one, so will have to get the other two done.  They are very easy to make, and very quick.  I can do one uninterrupted in a couple of hours.

PITY PARTY

I guess today is just going to be one of those days, for a pity party.  To bad I don't have any cake, I guess I should say "It's a pity".

What's a party though without inviting friends, so all are welcome who visit me here just join right in?????????????

Oh well, that was short lived, got it out of my system, ready to move on, what a pity it was so short!

I amuse me!

CHAMELEON CAUGHT IN A KALEIDOSCOPE

It is cold and windy outside today, so I thought I would work on this post this morning.  I have hopes that the sun will come out soon to warm me outside.  I seem (to me anyway) to be reluctant to write this not sure why that would be, I guess if I write it maybe I will discover the reason...

I have a confession to make, many of you will look at me differently after I make it, but that's okay.  I DON'T LIKE OPRAH!  I am sorry to all the huge fans of hers out there but I find her annoying.  I have only watched her show a few times and find that she appears to be of the mind set that if you don't believe as she does you are wrong.

People who only live in black and white annoy me, there are so many beautiful colors and shades in the world why limit yourself.  I am not saying you should not have things, ideas, principles that you stand firmly on or that you should embrace everyone elses beliefs.  Just that we live in a world full of such unique people and should not just write someone off because they are different than us without at least first considering that even though you will never agree with them that does not always mean they are wrong.

That said, I decided one day to give the Oprah Show another shot, maybe I had just caught her on bad days.  The day I picked she was talking on of all things "Change" she had Suze Orman (or whatever her name is) Dr. Oz, some hair style guy and Dr. Phil on her show that day.

Well Suze whatever started talking about finances, I have read her book, we live in different worlds.  She had a few good ideas, I took mental notes sure I would remember, then trying to remember what I was going to remember.

The hairstyler dude was just way out there, not sure what world he lives in but in mine I usually brush my hair, sometimes if I am going somewhere I might put some mascarra on, usually not.  But I still filed some of those thoughts away in what I might as well call my garbage can because as soon as I put it in my brain it is forgotten.

Dr. Oz had some good suggestions on nutrition, vitamins and what fruits and veggies will cause you to live an extra 2 years.  So I filed them into the trash can.

Then came Dr. Phil, I am embarrassed to say this is where I lost it, he had the nerve to tell me I needed to change something about myself everyday!!!

I have got to tell you that I jumped up out of my chair screaming and yelling at the sheer nerve of this man!  I told him that I had to quit reading those magazines in the grocery market because every month they would have great ideas about pills, fruits, veggies ways to improve your health and life.  I would buy some of these, put them in my special dissappearing place and never see them again.

The next month would be a repeat.  For those of you who don't know me and I am positive many of you have the same place in your own homes, I have a place where I always put things that I am positive I will remember that I put them there, but when I go back they are gone!  So, this is my dissappearing place.

But back to my rant, I finally screamed at him that I was already like a CHAMELEON CAUGHT IN A KALEIDOSCOPE ever changing colors with the turn of lifes wheel.  I could not possibly add a change to my life every day and be expected to remember from day to day what I had changed the day before. 

For those silly people who say take notes, on paper, yeah, it has it's own dissappearing place. 

Well when I calmed down and reflected on his words it came to me, that if I did not listen to him, that would make me unique, because everyone else pays attention to what he say's.  So I know he can be a contradictory fellow, so chances are 50/50 that by next year just being the person I already am will be back in style, and for once I will be

 LEADER OF THE PACK, THIS CHAMELEON CAUGHT IN A KALEIDOSCOPE!

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DAY

I am having lunch with my daughter and Nanababies today!  I can't wait, we are going to my most unfavorite place Mc'd blah, but that is OK, we will still have fun.

We don't get the chance to do this often so I will have to come back and let you know how it went.  They are growing so fast and have such unique personalities, yes even the twins.  I am so looking forward to next year when there will be 5 beautiful little girls (and my beautiful daughter of course) but Nanababies are special, you get to visit, spoil, and send home...

I don't say it often enough but I am so proud of the woman my daughter has become.  She is such an amazing Mother, I could never handle that many children, that well.  She is a good wife and a good Mother to her step-son though he does not realize or appreciate it (teenager) someday he will look back in amazement!

Had a great time!  Got costumes

2 Pumpkins and a witch.

GLOOMY DAY?

The sky is dark with rain clouds.  Some would say, and rightly so, that it is a gloomy day.  I just don't feel gloomy, there is a strong wind blowing everything around, my curtains kept blowing in my face as I was trying to finish a slipper I am making for my Nanababy, my proud pup wanted to show me how wet she was by jumping in my lap.  But still I feel joy filled.

I finished the slipper (I will never make another like that) my dog had a great time and is now napping, playing with the neighbors little puppy.  I have finally decided that if they are going to be inconsiderate enough to let the pup run around in my yard to do her business then I will just make the most of it and let her come play with my girl.

Like I said they had a great time playing in the water, oh, and the next time he let her out-he put her on a chain to do her business....

You don't have to be unpleasant, sometimes being kind works a lot better.

BURNING BRIDGES

I awoke this morning with this on my heart.  I have burnt my bridges and moved on.  To often we burn our bridges and like most fire bugs keep returning to the scene of the crime.

I don't know who you are or what your need is, but this message IS for you! 
MOVE ON!

Burning Bridges is an expression synonymous to the "Point of no return", typically used when a relationship becomes irreparable.

YOUR BRIDGES
HAVE ALL
BEEN BURNT

IT'S TIME
TO MOVE
ON

DON'T STOP
TO LOOK
BACK

EMBRACE THE
NEW DAY
MOVE ON

WHO KNOWS
WHAT JOY
AWAITS

JUST
AROUND THE
NEXT BEND

YOUR BRIDGES
HAVE ALL
BEEN BURNT

IT'S TIME
TO
LIVE
ON

George Jones
"Burning Bridges"

Found some letters that you wrote me this mornin'
And they told of a love we once knew
Now they're gone, I burned them to ashes
Don't want nothin' to remind me of you.

Burning bridges behind me
It's to late to turn back now
Burning bridges behind me
All I want is to forget you somehow.

Sold the house we once planned together
I said goodbye to the friends we once knew
Then I moved to a faraway city
Trying hard to forget about you.

Burning bridges behind me
It's to late to turn back now
Burning bridges behind me

All I want is to forget you somehow.

All I want is to forget you somehow...

STAINS

Stain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. Stains are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Stains are used intentionally in a variety of fields, including in research (biochemical staining), technology (metal staining), and art (wood staining, stained glass.)

 Formation

There can be intentional stains (such as wood stains or paint)[1], indicative stains (like food coloring or adding a substance to make bacteria visible under a microscope)[2], natural stains (such as rust on iron or a patina on bronze)[3], and accidental stains (like spilling ketchup or wine [4] on your shirt.) While the types of stains are very different in application, they all form in the same basic ways:

The primary method of stain formation is surface stains, where the staining substance is spilled out onto the surface or material and is trapped in the fibers, pores, indentations or other capillary structure of that surface.[1] The material that is trapped coats the underlying material, and the stain reflects back light according to its own color. Applying paint, spilled food, and wood stains are of this nature.[5]

A secondary method of stain involves a chemical or molecular reaction between the material and the staining material. Many types of natural stains fall into this category. Finally, there can also be molecular attraction between the material and the staining material, involving being held in a covalent bond and showing the color of the bound substance.[6]

Different types of material can be stained by different substances, and stain resistance is an important characteristic in modern textile engineering.

In many cases, stains can be affected by heat , and may become reactive enough to bond with the underlying material. Extreme heat, such as from ironing or dry cleaning, can cause a chemical reaction on an otherwise removable stain, turning it into a chemical compound that is impossible to remove.

One of my favorite poets, Merritt Malloy, once wrote "Arguments stain me".  I have always found this to be such a simple but profound truth.  People also stain us and sometimes it is a lot like the definitions given above.

You have intentional stains where someone has decided you have to believe or feel the way they do and when you refuse they try to stain you through what ever method has been used on them, for we are a product of the people and ideas that have touched our lives.  Which is why we have to be so careful of stains, aware of them and how they can slowly creep into our lives to poison us with, their truths.

Surface stains are the product of intentional stains.  When we hold onto others issues and problems, instead of turning them over to God the evidence will eventually show in our lives, on our faces and in our actions.  Though it often involves letting go of people you love, sometimes it is a choice we have to make so we do not carry their stains and become like them.

Chemical or reactive stains occur when through the heat of our anger and hurt we hold onto others words or deeds.  We seal these stains into our hearts allowing them a place they have no right to and we should cast them out before we are permanently scarred by these stains.

RULES vs EXCEPTIONS

People tend to make rules for others and exceptions for themselves.

As a parent and an older hopefully wiser (than when I was young) person

I am unsure of where I stand on this and find that fascinating!

I love puzzles espeially mind puzzles.

I have often made rules as a parent, that I had no intention of keeping as a person.

Eat your vegatables, I dislike vegatables

Try one bite you might like it. I would not put that in my mouth for all the tea in China (are we allowed to say that anymore, I have not got the hang of pc yet)

So yeah, sometimes we can make rules for others and not follow them ourselves.

Sadly, I can see myself on the exceptions side more than the rules side.

But, I have always disliked rules for myself and therein lies the problem.

For society to function we must have rules, but must they be written in stone?

No you have to have exceptions, you cannot have true fairness in this world of people with different personalities, levels of intellegence, knowledge and all the other variables that sometimes cause us to make exceptions. I would not want to live in a world without exceptions. It would be a much crueller place.

I think the rub comes when it is others making rules for us as adults, rules that they should have to follow also. But still I find myself cheering for the exceptions, I am just a hopeless cause.

I keep trying to find a reason to follow rules without exceptions (I am sure there is at least one out there) but I am coming up blank.

Ok let me try a different approach:

I believe that the speed limits are set based on information that has shown that a certain speed is safe on that stretch of road. Oh, for crying out loud would you exceptions just shut up and let me have one rule!

Okay, I surrender, what it boils down to for me, which is all I can make rules for at this phase of my life (tried with the dog, she has issue with rules also) is that I have decided that no one is going to steal my joy through my allowing their, thoughts, actions or rules to rule the direction of my life.

I am in charge of me! It is my choice to follow rules or not, my consequences for the choices I make, just as it is others choices. Of course, others choices affect me and my life, a drunk driver could forever change my life. But it is still my choice how I deal with it and where I go from there.

Which brings me to the 3 choices I have chosen to live by.

Do I choose to:

• Live with it
• Try to change it
• leave it

Whichever choice I make, is mine, and I take responsibility for the consequences.

Lifes a trip!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I am now trying to learn how to "Grab the button" LOL I must be to old to learn new things....please..................

Well!!! That did not work, quit laughing.. I don't seem to understand what the heck the button is and how to grab it eeeeeeeeek!

Back to the drawing board. Well the drawing board moved or I put it in that special place you put things, you know the one you are sure you will remember and never see again.

There was a question of the week on the "button place" above I found interesting but mostly amusing. It was How well do you know yourself, you were suppose to take several different steps and then come back and do something else, who knows?

But what caught my eye was what you were suppose to do was list 10 surprising things about you. Now with my memory issues I am always surprising myself so I thought this should be easy to do, but with my (self diagnosed ADD) I got distracted by something else. To top all that off I am unsure of who is suppose to be surprised me or you? So I am going with me!

Number One on my list has to be that every now and then I can remember my name. Now you may find that strange if you don't have a child or grandchild or son-in-law, but if you have any of these you will say "I understand that".

I will give you a recent example: I went to my Nanababies first soccer game and as our children are want to do my daughter failed to introduce me to the coach. Now this is where I ran into problems, Sam is the assistant coach, so am I Sam's Mom, my Nanababies are on his team so am I their grandmother. I was just grateful Chris and Nate had not made it there yet! So I finally settled on "Hi I am Sam's Mom" then I had to stop and search again for that name you know, the one people call me who are not related.

I thought that I finally got to be me again when my daughter reached a certain age but find instead of less names I now have more. To make matters worse my daughter, poor delusioned one, now wants me to always refer to myself as Nana in front of the children, so they don't start calling her Sam or is it start calling me Mom (who can remember all these rules). Urrrrg!

Number Two: Very appropriate numbering for this! I was in the grocery store the other day looking for something when this sweet elderly man mentioned out of the blue to me that he was looking for something, which brings me to number two, Chatty Cathy! I just don't get out enough because when he shared what he always forgets at the store my wild tongue just took off without my brain and I found myself explaining to him my issues with remembering to buy toilet paper and yes Sam if you ever read this "I did go there" telling him that it was not until I ran out sitting on the toilet that I remembered I forgot toilet paper "AGAIN".

Perhaps, not so strangely as I continued to shop behind him he started the skipping isles dance, you know what I mean, and glancing furtively behind him. I guess he was afraid I might share more...........

Number Three: How accidentally creative I am. Example: I once (I think Sam still has it for those who do not believe me) sewed a skating outfit, I took drama in school, not home EC. I sewed BOTH arms on upside down and the skirt on sideways, you would not believe the number of people who asked me where I got the outfit/pattern from. I was confused until someone who could really sew and did not just buy their outfits explained to me where I had gone wrong. It was a hoot!

I started crocheting a winter cap for myself the other day and became intrigued by different ideas that were popping into my head and am now about half way through a truly gorgeous hooded shaw. I can't read patterns, because you have to be able to pay attention and I get bored and decide to try something different and then loose the pattern, my place in the pattern or usually I have gone on to a completely different thing than what I started to make.

Number Four: How someone as good with computers as I am can get so confused on the social networking sites. It is either the rules or the ADD problem but they just stump me, I have to crawl my way through to figure them out. I once posted a picture on someone else's site, no clue how that happened.

Number Five: That people with actual brains that work will sometimes ask me for advice. Which of course always ends up back at number two. You would think they knew better.

Number(s) Six and Seven: Since they are related I will lump them together. 6-That I have such a semi-normal daughter and 7-well behaved dog. Seriously I don't have a clue how my daughter survived me and my poor dog. I was talking with someone one day and forgot that I was holding my dogs leash in my hand, thankfully she did not do what is standard for a Husky and take off, but instead just patiently sat there until I realized there was something I forgot. My poor daughter used to have to remind me it was time to feed her and I was always grateful that babies are born knowing how to cry when they needed something.

Number Eight: That I have never burned my house down. You would think that would take some doing, but you might be surprised at the number of times I have suddenly screamed into the phone "I forgot I had food cooking" and made a mad dash for the kitchen. I would not dare use candles and make sure I have battery operated lanterns for emergencies. If I could only find that special place I put everything......

Number Nine: That I managed to hold the same job for 20 years and could remember permits I issued and to who the first year. This coming from someone who has to look to see what color or if I am wearing underwear. Who can't remember what they had for dinner or if they had dinner.

Number Ten: Don't any of you try to pretend you have not had this issue! I am surprised I have never lost a cell phone and how many times I have been talking to someone on the cell phone and gone into panic mode because I could not figure out where my cell phone was (yes the one I forgot I was talking on.)

Sadly, I could probably go on for days (see #2) but I just saw a butterfly (see 2nd paragraph #3) it gave me an idea. Bye!

THE MOUSE AND I

I was sitting in my outside area today, happily crocheting away, when I had that feeling you get when someone or something is watching you. Thinking my dog Prissy had come up for some Mommy time I glanced down and there was a huge gray mouse (OK it was tiny) sitting on the arm of my chair watching me crochet. It looked rather surprised when I screamed and I guess when I jumped out of my chair it decided that anything that could scare something as big as me, it did not want any part of, so it scurried away.

I finally convinced Prissy that she should come to my rescue by telling her the mouse was after her water (she does not like for anything/one to mess with HER things). She sniffed my chair then tried to put her 60 pounds in my lap for protection, she is a Husky after all.

For those who are not familiar with Huskies, if you are looking for a dog that will scare people who judge by appearances a Husky might work, if you are looking for a dog that will love someone to death while they are robbing your house a Husky is the dog for you. They only look like mean dogs, they are the biggest babies in the canine kingdom.

I finally convinced her that her water was in imminent danger of the mouse drinking it so she searched all under my chair but failed to scare the mouse out of there. I think I need a cat!

Always Dream In Vivid Color: Preschool Madness#links

Always Dream In Vivid Color: Preschool Madness#links

WHAT A WEEK!

It has really been a great week for me, I have been busy with my crocheting. I learned a new stitch (new to me that is) the Afghan stitch. I am in love with this stitch and can't wait to buy some Afghan needles. It works great with the slippers I am making for my granddaughters.

It's funny there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to do, somehow I thought that when I wasn't working I would have more time.

I guess it's like when you buy a giant purse thinking you will never use that much space and then after a few weeks find you need a bigger purse. I threw away all my large purses and refuse to ever buy another for that reason. But unlike my purse issue the clutter in my life is things I enjoy and throwing any away would be hard. So, I guess that I will just be grateful that my life is so full and enjoy all the wonderful blessings God places in my life.

GIGGLE NIGHT

I am just having a giggle night! I have not had one in a while, so I guess I'm making up for all the ones that were missed.
*
My daughter (Sam) called me to set up the time we are leaving for our shopping trip tomorrow. After I was finally able to quit giggling over my former vision.
*
Then I had another one of how my poor son-in-laws face most likely looked when she told him that if she had two more girls with this set of twins, she wanted to try once more for a son. That mental image sent me into another spasm of giggles. Sam was not amused!
*
Then my daughter happily informed me that Wal Mart was having a Dora the Explorer birthday party with cupcakes tomorrow. So far I'm okay, so I told her I could shop for my youngest granddaughters (she turns 3 Sunday)birthday present. My daughter pouted over the phone about me leaving her alone, I did try to reassure her that they usually have these in an area where she can sit down. Which was okay until she read the flier, which sent me off again to giggle land. Some brilliant strategist at Wal Mart, who could not possibly have or know any small children, decided to have the party with cupcakes, IN THE TOY DEPARTMENT! I've got to take pictures this is going to be hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AMUSE ME

I hope no one was watching me as I sat laughing so hard I cried in my Prissy's play area tonight.

*

I started out well, anticipating my day tomorrow with my daughter, and 3 beautiful granddaughters.

*

We are having a girls day out, to buy some school clothes and have lunch out.

*

Which led me to wondering if my daughter would be okay, she is getting large/without gaining weight this is her at 18 weeks.

*

All the sudden I got this mental image of what grocery shopping is going to look like next year. In my image Sam is pushing a shopping cart filled with kids, one set of twins hanging upside down over the edge of the cart, Gabby and the new twins jumping up and down, having a great time.

*

Just behind this rolling day care, is poor Chris looking, stressed and bewildered pushing a cart for their purchases.I guess you had to be there, I was laughing so hard I was crying. I can't wait to share that picture with you. I'm sure I'll get to take it next year.

2 am

I don't have much patience for people who live in the past. Who live in regrets for lost loves and better times. So I find it strange that I am dreaming of a man long gone.

It's not even that I have regrets, I don't, it's just sweet memories. Maybe my dreams are telling me it's time to move on, but I am comfortable with my life. I actually love the freedom I have, not having to consider others when I make a decision. Not having to account for how I spend my time or money.

I'm not lonely, my life is full of joy. Who knows why suddenly someone who is gone suddenly makes an appearance in our nightly dreams. Maybe someday I will understand but, for now I will just enjoy the sweet memories....

August 10, 2010

I have spent the last three days babysitting and have to run watch them again so my daughter can have another ultra sound. Twins are sometimes hard to carry and it's nice my daughter has a doctor who worries as much as I do.

Hopefully, they will change their minds and it will be at least 1 boy, not the 2 girls already determined. I already have a set of identical 4 (going on 30) girls and a soon to be 3 (who follows her big sissy's example) all beautiful girls. I have been blessed with a soon to be 15 year old grandson who if you could have a soul twin he would be close.

But, he draws the line at letting me dress him up in cute boy clothes and I will not buy what he finds attractive "yuck". He has beautiful black hair and would look so good in pastels, but he won't have any of that. Black only! Nothing against black with my blond hair it is the color of choice for me, but his complexion and hair just scream to be set free with all the lovely colors out there. So you can see why I need another grandson!

Gotta run jump in the pool before my next babysitting gig, catch ya later.

Trying to figure this "Linking" out

I read this interesting and informative post today and wanted to see if I could figure out the correct way to do this whole "linking" thing. It does not appear I have done it the same as others so, back to the drawing board.

My apologies to Theresa in Mèrida if I have inadvertently done something I should not have, please let me know, so I can correct my error.

This just boggles my brain, but it was such a good post for someone like me that I wanted to share it and give proper credit. I don't believe I have crossed any lines but if so it was not deliberate. I would not want any of my words or works stolen and would respect others rights as well.

But sometimes we are inspired by something someone else has said and I often find that my own posts are based on thoughts and feelings generated by statements of others. But I don't believe that is what is referred to here, if it were there could only ever be one writer for what do we write about but the things that have touched our lives or inspired our imagination.


¿What do I do all day?: Where's Roy Rodgers when we need him?

August 3, 2010

I was reminded today of something that when I was working was something that each day I worked I had to make a deliberate effort to remember. It is important enough to me to post here and come back to often as a reminder.

I belong to a group of wolf dog owners, I did not get a wd on purpose, I fell in love with my puppy at first sight and after having her all day her former Mommy came to say goodbye and at that time said oh her grandfather is a full blooded timber wolf. I started researching this and have pretty much convinced myself that for whatever reason this woman was trying to make my baby seem better or different, because I have not seen one thing in my dog that would lead me to believe she is anything other than dog. But you can learn a lot from these groups and I love reading about their animals, the different sanctuaries for these magnificent animals and the great people fighting for their rights to own them.

Well yesterday, my baby jumped from a standing position next to my hammock to standing on my hammock. We were both shocked by this, I thought I was seeing things, she thought "Cool" and proceeded to practice this new skill. To say this was unnerving would be an understatement. I researched the Internet hoping to find that this was a normal dog thing that I had somehow missed with all the dogs I have owned. Sadly, the only reference I could find was that female wolfs can jump from a stand up to 9' in the air. I was not reassured.

So, at the risk of sounding stupid I went to this group of people who live and breathe wolf and asked if anyone could help me. Which leads me to what I need to remember, some of the answers I got, you could tell the person sighed when answering me because to them there was nothing odd about this, they see it often. But one lovely woman wrote that her dog had done this but she did not ask the group for fear of not being believed.

I had to remind myself in my former job, everyday, that because I knew permitting inside out, that after 20 years I could do it singing, dancing , standing on my head, well you get the picture, I knew permitting. But every time a homeowner walked through my office door I made an effort "deliberately" to remember that to them this is new, that they had strengths in areas that to me would be totally confusing. I still cannot understand how radios work, to me they are just magical creations. Please no one try to explain to me for the millionth time I just will never get it, and I am OK with that.

But sometimes we should all stop and remember that what is easy for us, our life experiences, may be very different from others and learn patience.

August 1, 2010

Wow! It's hard to believe the year is going by so fast. I just typed the month and was shocked though I have lived through the past 7 months without giving thought to how time has flown by this year.

It has been a great year! Today was a little strange, well strange may be to mild of a word. Emergency vehicles went past on the street behind mine and one of my neighbors came over and was telling me that police were at a house about 4 down from hers. We were talking about jobs and her and the boys maybe coming over later to cool off in my lovely vinyl pool. When suddenly a shot was fired. Well she got her children into her house quickly and I called the police to let them know that where ever their officer was down the road a shot had just been fired from that direction (we think it struck a building next to where we were standing) the dispatcher told me everything was under control and I was like no honey it ain't your officers were there when someone fired a shot.

She just could not see a problem with this. I later learned that someones pit bull (who of course had never attacked anyone before) broke her chain and attacked a neighbor in his yard. Having dealt myself with what goes for law enforcement around here I am sure the injured neighbor had ample reason for going and getting his own gun and trying to shoot the dog himself. A neighborhood full of children is not the place to do it, it's also not the place for a pit bull.

Pits were not bred as pets, they were never intended to live in areas where they would be in a position to attack people. They were bred for hunting, they were bred to be aggressive. It's like owning a python and being surprised when it tries to eat you, it is what it is!

My dog is loved and spoiled rotten, she has been trained since she was small that biting and aggressive behaviour is not allowed. Her breed "Husky" was bred to get along with humans esp small children. They were also bred to take care of their own food needs in the summer months. I am very careful that my dog never gets loose from me and though my daughter would trust her with my grandchildren, I would not. She is what she is, a dog!

I would never own a dog like a pit, they are far to dangerous of an animal. I also would not own a python or a lion for the same reasons. It is nice to believe that you will always be in control of every situation but sadly a lot of people die surprised that their dog who was raised with only love is now got it's jaws locked to their throat.

But enough of my soapbox you will never convince people who refuse to understand or even learn about their dog and it's genetic history.

Luckily the man was not badly injured, sadly a dog that was being a dog, will be destroyed because it's owners made bad choices.

JULY 31,2010

We are having a lovely and greatly needed rainy day today. My poor baby is wanting to go out, but even though she thinks the rain looks fun from the inside of the house once we get out there she looks for a dry spot.

Prissy is just like my granddaughters, as soon as I open my computer or answer my phone, though she has been ignoring me for hours, suddenly she needs my undivided attention. I've actually dated men like that though:( That was a first she just tried to steal my mouse!

I think that I will try working on some of the blogs that have come to me in the last week or so and get them posted. It's been one of those weeks where I don't feel like I accomplished anything but looking back I got a lot done.

The fence guys came out and I now have a 20' x 23' area that I can secure for when I have to leave my baby alone. She is a digger and so are the neighborhood dogs. I probably have the only fenced in area in the neighborhood where dogs try to dig in! My baby is spoiled, being mostly husky, she requires extra mental stimulation to keep from getting bored. Ideally with a husky you would have 2 dogs. But I have to consider my age and that dogs can live up to 15 years and I just can't make a commitment that in 15 years I will be able to handle 2 large dogs safely. I'm looking for a compatible playmate if anyone in the Belton area reads this and has a fixed male dog (huskies do better with opposite sex dogs). No aggressive dogs like pits or chows. I've got a new neighbor that has what looks like a Golden, I'm going to have to check them out.

Well I better start working on some of my other stuff, have a good day.

Karen

JULY 28,2010"Why I Think My Dog Is Sweet"

I was out cleaning my pool this morning and the neighbors dog (who should know me by now) was barking away at me. I noticed that my Prissy didn't even bother to get up and look. Which got me to thinking about what a sweet heart she is and there should really be a post on the sweet things our dogs do for us. So if there is anyone out there who actually reads my posts, I am going to start it off and will post any appropriate comments to this post to create a Why I Think My Dog Is Sweet post.

I think my dog is sweet because when another dog barks at me, she is confused, she looks all around to see what the dog is barking at, and finally just looks at the dog like. "What's wrong with you fool?"

July 26, 2010 IT RAINED!!!

Though I'm sure the farmers are more excited about the rain than me, that would be about the only ones. My house is finally in the"70's". My baby is sure enjoying it, she loves when it cools down and we go out to her play area. I have a 23'x70'x6'high fenced area we live in during the day to escape the heat inside and on days like today Prissy will run in circles just for the sheer joy of running.

Have I mentioned my dog is spoiled? Eventually I will fence in all of my back yard for her to run in, but it's a bit costly so I will have to do it a little at a time.

Sadly, there are many dog owners in my area who allow their dogs to roam freely. I have been in my fenced area and counted 6 dogs wandering around my back yard. So I put in this area to protect my baby and allow her room to run. But there have been days when I thought I would need to call the police to get back into my house safely. That will be my next fencing project.

Goodnight to all, I'm taking advantage of this wonderful cool night!

Karen

JULY 25,2010

I woke up this morning to the smell of bacon frying. I have to sleep with my windows open since I only have fans, at least I don't have to worry about a high power bill! But, back to the bacon, no some magical person did not appear in my home to cook me breakfast, though that would have been fun.

I can only assume that this delicious smell was coming from my neighbors home. Now I really am not a bacon eater, more into sausage. But that smell was making my mouth water and though in this heat it is usually much later before I get hungry, but my mouth was watering and my stomach growling. Which is kind of cruel because there was no way I was going to heat up my finally cool house with the stove.

So as I was laying there with all these thoughts running through my head, without my first cup of coffee I might add, it occurred to me that they should "try to bottle that smell and sell it as perfume.

No, really couldn't you see the add on t.v., this beautiful woman dabbing perfume behind her ears and at the base of her throat, some football game blaring, in walks this redneck (can to cause I'm one) who says "You know I can't resist Karen's Bacon Gets the Man perfume"

Like I said, no coffee yet. But it did get me up and moving and I had a nice day chuckling to myself from time to time.

Surviving the heat

My poor dog Prissy can't make up her mind if she wants to be in the house or outside today. It's hot either place, but it looks like we might get a little rain!

I am a native Floridian so maybe it's just an adjustment to a new kind of heat here. I know this past winter 60 felt like a heat wave here and in Florida I would have been wearing a coat. Oh well! I'm sure I will adjust, just spending a lot of time in my vinyl blow up pool. Hey! Laugh if you must but it feels pretty good to me. I just wish I could get my baby to play in the pool I got for her, I have to sneak around just to wet her down.

Well, back to the pool for me, catcha later!

Karen

FLYPAPER BLOG

DAY 1:) Everyone keeps telling me I need to put up fly paper in my little outside area, the flies are such pest. So, I am going to give it a try though it seems a bit inhumane. A silly little breeze came up and the fly paper got caught in my hair, hope the sticky stuff washes out, wish me luck!
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DAY 2:) Checked the paper this morning, no flies, maybe later. My hair got caught again. I had trouble getting the sticky stuff out and reread the directions, they weren't alot of help. I'll try a stronger shampoo.
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DAY 3:0 Checked the paper again, no flies, tried catching one and putting it on the paper, but those little buggers can put up quite a fight. Hair got caught again, still have not found anything that gets sticky stuff out of my hair. When I was able to pull my hair off the pillow case found a dead fly. Apparently you have to put the damn stuff in your hair to catch any flies.
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DAY 4: NO FLIES, DAMN STUFF (YOU GUESSED IT) GOT CAUGHT IN MY HAIR AS I WAS RIPPING IT DOWN, PILLOW CASE PROBABLY COVERED IN FLIES, HARD TO TELL CAN'T GET IT UNSTUCK FROM MY HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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DAY FIVE::(::( GOING TO HAVE A PARTY, IT'S A SURPRISE, I INVITED MY FRIENDS OVER THE ONES WHO TOLD ME WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE DAMN FLIES! SETTING OUT PARTY HATS, WITH FLY PAPER INSIDE!!! GOTTA RUN NOW AND HIDE, DON'T WANT THEM TO SEE ME AND RUIN THE SURPRISE!!
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Going Bald Blog!
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DAY 1: Shaved off my hair today!

TRASH DAY

I GOT A LITTLE CONFUSED

ABOUT WHEN TO PUT MY

GARBAGE OUT SO I

CALLED YOU.

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YOU REALLY COULD NOT

EXPLAIN

THE HOLDAY SCHEDULE

AND WHEN TO PUT OUT

MY TRASH CAN

FILLED WITH MY TRASH REMAINS

*

BUT YOU GAVE THEM

A SHOUT

AND TOLD ME

GO AHEAD SOMEONE

WOULD

BE OUT

*

YOUR WORDS I DID NOT DOUBT!

*

SO THERE IT'S SITS

BAKING IN THE SUN

BREEDING FLIES AND DISEASE

*

HERE I SIT

UNDER MY SHADE

TREE

WAITING,

LAUGHING WITH GLEE

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FOR IT'S BEEN A WEEK

YOU SEE

AND IT

WILL BE EMPTIED

TODAY

JUST NOT BY

*

ME!

July 23,2010

My thoughts have finally slowed down a bit so I thought it would be a good time to blog about my day to day life.

Like many here in America I lost my job (of 19 years) due to the economy. I decided to use what resources I had to move from Sumter County, Florida to Belton, SC to be closer to my daughter and 3 granddaughters and to get to know my son-in-law and my brand new soon to be 15 year old grandson

I have been here for a year though I do go back to FL frequently. It has been great, this year I have had. I worked as my daughter grew up and really felt I missed out on a lot and now I have gotten to enjoy so much with my grandchildren.

My brand new grandson is great, we are kindred spirits. He has the same passion for reading as I do and I was actually inspired to start blogging because of his love for writing. I have always written just never publicly and I was never satisfied and would toss it out.

I think that I have finally reached a stage (not age) in my life where I just don't care if anyone else likes what I write. I don't write for others, just myself. My stalker (doesn't everyone have one?) thinks every word I write is about her (Hi! yes I know you found me again it's not that hard)

But, I have decided I am just going to ignore the her and hope she gets bored.

Now where was I? I can be a bit scatterbrained. I live with my dog (we never call her that where she can hear) Prissy, she is beautiful, she has one husky blue eye the other is brown. She is basically a mutt with a little pedigree. Her mother was husky/father was lab.

She was a little annoyed with me because it took me so long to get a picture I liked.

But, I am bored with me already so I think I will move on to other things.

I forgot to mention, I am going to be a Nana again in December to a 2nd set of twins!

Bye,

Karen