Tired!

Or, in my native language (TEXAN), Teeeiiiirred!

It's been a long day.  My days normally start between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m., but today started at 4:45.  When I was awakened by a beagle, with her face & feet on the side of the bed.  She was whining.  This is not normal behavour for her and she is blocked from getting back to our bedroom anyway.  So, I got up and checked - expecting that I had a sick dog or something, but what apparently happened is that the dog block fell over and Maggie wasn't sure what to do!  It sometimes falls, it gets bumped by feet when we go over it and it gets a little loose.  I think that one dog or the other probably leaned on it, and it fell.  Since it was nearly time for the alarm, I just stayed up.

Frasier had his adventure at the vet today.  He's a sad puppy.  Mostly, he's a sad puppy because he has to wear a Cone of Shame!  I'll post pictures on Sunday.  We took Maggie with us when we took him, it was not possible to get one dog in the leash and out the door without the other one so they both went.  Maggie was happy to get there, which is odd, and happy to go in the door.  Frasier was fine, he wasn't sure what was going on when they took him from me.  We waited until he was out of sight, then we left and Maggie was still happy.  We took her back home, then I dropped Otter off at college and went to work.  I got Otter at lunch and brought her home, then she texted me a picture later of a moping beagle.  Apparently, Maggie Moo missed her brother today.

When I picked Frasier up, he was in his cone already and had been wearing it since shortly after the procedure because he started trying to lick/chew at the spot almost immediately.  Which didn't surprise me one bit.  They gave him a pain shot and I have pain pills for him to take the next few days.  He goes back on the 10th of September for stitch removal.  It was a pretty big place, it was the size of a golf ball without exaggeration.  So, he's got a pretty long incision and shaved area.  He ran into a few walls and door frames, but he's calmed down now.  We have been letting him out through the door instead of the dog door, he can't quite get through it with the cone on.  He's been out to relieve himself and then he had a problem trying to get water so I took the cone off and stood in the kitchen with him while he drank and drank and drank...  Then the cone went back on and he is dealing better than I thought.  But we'll see how he does over the weekend, I think he's going to take some serious watching and I'm thinking that they might get a walk tomorrow.  That way, he can be without the cone for a while.  That depends on if he acts like he's in any pain.  He has flopped down in the floor a couple of times, I think he actually napped once.  Then, he's back up and giving me the sad puppy face!

I did manage to get a little Fenton thinning done.  Otter and I dusted the Fenton and the living room in general.  I decided to donate both Fenton shoes and a "bucket" piece.  I'm not sure if I'm going to get rid of any more of it or not, probably not at this point.

Otter and I are also talking about attending the State Fair this year.  We went two years ago and it wasn't very good, then we skipped last year.  But we might go this year.  To be determined later, it's at the end of September and early October.  If we do go, it will probably be on the last day which is a Sunday.  That's actually a better day to go, the rides are usually discounted and the vendors usually have a lot of discounts.  We'll decide a little closer.  Bill doesn't usually go, the walking is too much for him and his feet since he's usually on them all week long at work.  Also, he doesn't care for the crowds.  He doesn't care if we go and he knows he's always invited, but he usually doesn't go.

We got more rain than I thought we would, from Tropical Storm Isaac.  It was supposed to start raining last night, but it was dry this morning and the radar looked like maybe it was going to miss us.  But it started raining just as we were taking the dogs this morning and it continued for most of the morning.  Then the sun came out and it got warm & humid, then we had extremely dark clouds and a little shower.  I don't think we'll get any more rain from Isaac.

TGIF!

Twists and Turns and Thoughts

Got in the car to go back to work yesterday after lunch, and what was on the radio?  Crazy Train!  I changed the station immediately and managed to NOT hear that song in my head for the rest of the day.

I keep thinking that it's Thursday, but it's still only Wednesday.  Part of my confusion is the fact that Bill's taking some of his earned time off tomorrow and Friday.  Also, I got most of my Friday errands done today so that Frasier Friday won't be quite to packed with stuff to do.

We talked about a quilt last night.  I think we are going to make one, but it's going to be a family effort.  Bill's made 4, I've made one and there are still bits & pieces left from those.  Quilts are not particularly hard to make, just time consuming mostly.  Otter will probably help as well, whenever and how ever much she wants to.  Not sure if we're going to use a particular pattern or color scheme, though.

Froggy, I'm going to get your hat & scarf in the mail to you soon but I'm waiting a while.  I have a few hot pad ideas that I'm thinking about, but it kind of depends on my arms.  The tendonitis is a little worse lately, but that's because I've been helping Bill with the pachinko machines.  It's not bad, it's just enough that I'm aware of it.  This time, I'm not going to ignore it and attempt to push through the pain because that's what caused it to get so bad in the first place.

I've also been thinking that I'm going to "thin the herd" of Fenton.  I'm not going to get rid of it, but there are a couple of pieces that I don't particularly care for (shoes mostly) and I'm probably going to donate them.  I'd rather have a few pieces that I really want and I'm out of room for it anyway.  So, I'm going to think about getting rid of a little bit of it, but not that much actually.  Just a few pieces.

Girls Lunch with Otter tomorrow!  Then I think she is going to the library for a few hours.  She wants to go to a hamburger place that we like.  It's still fast food, but I usually get a chicken sandwich there and not a burger.

Those are my thoughts today.

Beans & Cornbread

& puppies too!

Otter had to sneak up on him, but we finally got a picture of Frasier!  He was probably about to have a nap, she was standing in the hallway just where she could see into the living room and he was actually still for this.

This is what he did next!  It's what he usually does when he sees the camera, don't know why.

But he came right back when I said the word "hug" and he was happy about it.  He usually turns his head so that his head is behind mine, and he leans into me when he gets a hug.  He really seems to like to be hugged.

Can't forget about Maggie Moo!  She was right there when she saw that Frasier was getting attention, but she needed her own affection.  She has allergies, which causes her eyes to water and that's what you see on her face.  She gets regular face washings, which she does NOT like one bit!

The title refers to tonight's dinner.  I made a huge pot of pinto beans on Sunday.  We've been eating them since then and there are several containers in the freezer for Willieboy's lunches.  Tonight, I made rice and we also had a smoked sausage link in the fridge that we'd had for a while.  We don't eat a lot of stuff like sausage.  I cut the sausage up, stirred it into the beans and stuck it in the microwave.  When the rice was ready, I poured it into the beans/sausage and we had it with chopped onion, a little cheese and in Bill's case cut up jalepenos on top.  He also added picante sauce.  We still had some cornbread left, so we had that with it.  It was actually pretty good, not exactly red beans and rice but it was still pretty good.  And very filling.

I voted this morning.  I forgot to look to see what number I was, but there were three people leaving just as I got there and it was just a couple of minutes after the polls opened so I'm thinking I was probably around number 4.  There were two phone calls today, as opposed to what seemed like hundreds in the last several days.  Not that it's ever been any secret, but my candidates are all (and always) pro-life:

Psalm 139 (NIV and permission granted by the Author)*

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

*Author does not mean earthly publisher, either.  Just in case anybody was wondering.

Monday Stuff

It's nice today.  Sunny and warm, a little humid but not nearly as bad as I expected it to be.  Although we could still use some more rain, we're still under the normal amount for this area by this time of year.  I think we have a chance or two this week, which can also be affected by the tropical storm and where it goes inland at.  Seems odd to think about a hurricane/tropical storm hitting this far inland, but they keep going until they run out of steam and we've had rain from them before.  The worst one was probably Katrina, but that was such a big storm that I don't think it would have mattered where it went inland at!

Froggy, I'm sure you remember the trips to Pt. Aransas and the clubhouse, especially the trips after storms and having to help clean up!

I found something out the other day.  The Christian elementary school that Otter went to closed, effective the end of July.  At one point, it had up to grade 12 but there were not enough high school students for that so they went back to K4 to Grade 8.  It was that way for several years, but then a couple of years after Otter left (we switched her at 6th grade), they dropped the Middle School grades off and it was just an elementary school.  The economy didn't help, private school can be expensive and it's one of the first things cut when families have financial difficulties.  It wasn't the most expensive school in the area, but there were times when it was a struggle for us.  But we felt like Otter's education was worth it, and we did what we had to do.  But I can certainly see that not everyone can afford it.  We wanted a school where the basics were taught the right way - phonics for reading, for example.  And it was very important to us that she get a Christian education.  It was a fairly small school, I think the most she ever had in one class was 18 or so but most of the classes were much smaller.

I'm a little nervous about Friday and Frasier's procedure.  The vet said that he doesn't think it's cancer, but I can't help but be worried.  The spot looks like a tumor.  So, we're thinking good thoughts about the dogster.

I'm toying with the idea of making another quilt.  I tried to talk Otter into making one, but she wasn't interested.  I have a few crochet projects, such as the afghan, but I need another creative outlet when my tendonitis is flaring up.  Which is is lately.  It's still just in the thinking about it phase, and it may not ever get out of that phase.

I just tried to send my desk into orbit!  With the same foot/toes that I attempted to launch the couch with several years back.  I didn't break anything this time, but it still wasn't pleasant!

Ouch.

Also, I have the song "Crazy Train" stuck in my head.  I've been hearing it ever since I described last week as a Crazy Train Week!  This is a real problem.  The song's by Ozzy.  Ozzy is persona non grata to Texans.  Has been ever since the whole peeing on the Alamo thing!  Anybody got any suggestions to get it out of my head?

Wet Sunday

At least it was wet this morning.  Now, it's mostly just humid because of the fact that it was wet earlier.  It actually rained most of yesterday, then we had a period of sunny skies and then it was back to clouds again.  With thunder.  It started raining again sometime last night, I heard thunder about midnight but it wasn't bad.  It kept raining until early afternoon.  Then it got sunny & warm, which made it unbearably humid.  But the rain was needed, no doubt about that.

The morning glories are very happy.  They are exploding along the back fence and on the trellis, and there are a few blooms.  We'll see how they do, if we get regular rain between now and winter they might be ok.  The rain barrel is full now, so I can at least water them with rain water for a while if we don't get any more rain to speak of.  The indoor plants seem to really be happy, they were doing ok with tap water but they put on more growth when they get rain water.

I've been busy most of today.  I had a couple of errands and Otter wanted to get out of the house so she rode along with me.  I've been doing laundry, the never-ending chore.  I made a huge pot of pinto beans and we had that tonight with cornbread I made.  I'm also conscripted labor for Pachinko Restorations, so I've been cleaning backgrounds.  Otter and I had a boatload of dishes, mostly from yesterday.  We vacuumed.  And a few other things in there as well!  Bill changed out the a/c filters in the house, it's been about 3 weeks since the last time they needed changing and they were really filthy.  Usually, it's about a month between changings.

We've been having phone problems today.  That sometimes happens when we get a lot of rain.  I think it's working now, but we couldn't call in or out earlier.  That's one of the reasons we all have cell phones, so we weren't totally cut off.

Froggy, I finished your scarf yesterday.  It just needed the tails buried and the fringe put on.  I also put a couple of rows on my scarf-turned-lap-blanket-destash project and two+ rows on my shawl.  I didn't exactly destash, but I did consolidate and now my yarn is back in the two plastic drawer units instead of 2 1/2!  I've done a little destashing and that gave me just enough room to move the yarn from the two drawers in the 5-drawer unit by my desk back into the ones in the closet.  But they are very full drawers!  Yarn is squishable, at least.  I went through one of my pattern books yesterday, I have a few ideas but I'm not sure if I'll have time this week or not to actually work on anything.

We have a local election this Tuesday.  I'll be so glad when it's over.  I'm getting really tired of the several times daily automated calls about it, the live person calls, the number of flyers left on my doorstep and the number of people who actually come to the door to talk to me.  I know who I'm voting for, I know where to vote at and I know what time the polls open/close so they don't have to keep calling to remind me.  Hurry Tuesday!

I hope that this week is calmer than last week.  Froggy, you really don't want crazy trains!  The engineers are psychotic!  (And I don't mean Billyboy and Uncle Crazy.  Although Billyboy is probably there already).

We Made it to Friday!

And not a moment too soon.  Actually, it should have already been here.  It's been that kind of a week.

Just because I thought it was funny!  (And I'm generally on the side of the misunderstood wolf.)

Otter got her textbooks today.  She actually started back on Tuesday, but we wanted to be sure that her schedule didn't change (we thought it might) so she didn't get her books until today.  $330 for books for two classes!  One of the classes required a set of two books and she got new for that one because the used books don't come with something that is required for that class.  I can't remember what it is, but the class is a technology class and deals with computer.  (It's been a long, hard week and I can't even remember my own name too well right now so I'm not even going to try to remember the name of the class!)

The parts for Bill's car repair came yesterday.  He was going to wait until Sunday to work on it, but we have a good chance of a rainy weekend (fingers crossed!) and also he was afraid that the wooden blocks might shift which would allow the window to fall and possibly shatter into a million billion pieces.  So he got right on it as soon as he got home.  It wasn't too hard, just a little tedious.

We decided to get pizza for our Friday Night Dinner.  We usually have something fun or different, as a way to start Sabbath.  Cici's had a special, three single-topping pizzas for $15.00.  I didn't even look at the coupon beyond the price, I thought it was for 3 small or possibly medium pizzas.  I should have looked, because it was for 3 large pizzas!  We're probably going to be eating pizza for the next few meals.  But it was cheap, no doubt about that!

We've decided to put the flu shots off for a few weeks.  We originally planned on getting them next Friday, but that's going to be a somewhat busy afternoon since I'll have to pick BigDog up from the vet and get him situated.  We also think that we should probably wait a few weeks for a couple of reasons:  It's probably going to be Peak Ragweed Allergy time for us and any "illness" (even allergy related) can cause a reaction to the flu shot.  Also, we got them early last year and Otter got the flu at the end of the season.  It was supposed to last longer than that and she might have gotten it anyway, but we're going to wait a little while.  Not long, just a few weeks.

I've been fighting allergies all day and so has Otter.  She texted me this afternoon that she was "pretty allergied up" and I knew exactly what she meant.  At least she can take something for hers, none of it works for me.

Glad this roller coaster week is over.  I'm going to head to the refrigerator very shortly, and then I'm going to open my bottle of wine.  The wineglass is already in the freezer, so it will be nice & chilled.  Also, I put a couple of maraschino cherries in the glass and they are freezing along with it.  Sometimes I put fruit in my wine, grapes work great and so do strawberries.  The cherries will probably work well, but they might be a tad bit on the sweet side.

Then, I think I'm going to bed early!  And I hope that I wake up to a rainy day tomorrow.

Up and Down and Round and Round

This is how my week has gone:

Roller Coaster or Crazy Train, either would work!  But I didn't find any pictures I liked that would represent Crazy Train.  So, Roller Coaster it is!

Is it Friday yet?

Delays

Well, it looks like Ragweed Season is officialy here.  It was delayed, due to the drought and the heat.  We were hoping that it wouldn't show up at all this year, but we got rain last weekend and since it only takes a teaspoonful to start it growing...

I yanked up a couple of baby ragweed plants in the back yard yesterday, and my hand immediately started itching. Even after hot water and lots of soap, it tingled for a while.  My respiratory allergies are on full alert today, and I'm afraid that they're just getting started.  I'm hoping that the late start might mean a shorter season.

But, being a TEXAN, we made chili for dinner!  Bill made the chili this time, so I'm not sure how much chili powder he used but it was a lot.  Possibly more than I usually use, but I'm not complaining.  I can at least breathe for a while.  Good stuff!

Otter's off with her girlfriends, they went shopping.  I think they went to the mall, I know that they were going to eat dinner somewhere.  I had lunch with her today, we went to ChickFilA, but I have no idea what she had for dinner.  Knowing her, it might have been ChickFilA again!

Bill ordered the part to fix the car door, it should be here in the next day or so.  I think that we'll be spending Sunday afternoon in the driveway.  I don't think it's supposed to take very long.  At least, I don't think it's going to take all day.  Most of the time is probably going to be spent taking the door apart and putting it back together.  I don't think he's going to need to use any of his power tools, either.

I'm sure he'll be so happy about that!  (Not).

Things That Happened Around My House

Well, Bill did survive the b(oring)oard meeting!  But when he went out to get in his car to come home, he discovered tht the driver's side window was nowhere to be seen.  There was no broken glass, so he didn't think he'd been broken into and nothing seemed to be missing from the car.  The window apparently popped out of it's frame and slid right down into the door itself.  It was still light when he got home, but it was getting dark.  He took the door apart, basically, and there was the glass right where he thought.  The plan was to slide it back up and pop it in place, but it didn't want to slide very far before getting stuck.  He thinks the motor that controls the window up/down went bad.  He was eventually able to get the window glass out and up, but then he had to cut a couple of blocks of wood to insert inside the door to hold it in place.  Then he put the door back together, locked the car and called it a night.  He talked to our neighbor who is a mechanic this afternoon, and he told Bill what parts he needs to order and gave him a couple of recommendations on where to order it from.  The part is on the way and should be here in a couple of days.  Bill's probably going to spend Sunday afternoon working on it, until then he just can't roll the window down.

Froggy, Otter is still going to stick with the English degree in all probability.  She is still thinking about her future plans.  But, at least for this semester, she's attending college.  None of her decisions have been rash, she's put a lot of thought and prayer into all of them.  But these are decisions she'll have to make for herself, our role is to guide her and help her as needed.

I will be so glad when next week rolls around and Friday gets here, I really want to get Frasier's spot taken care of.  I think it might have bled slightly again, not a lot and probably because he scraped it but it still needs to come off.

Actually, I'll be glad when it's this Friday too!

Monday. All Day Long!

It's been a "day", as they say.

I didn't quite get finished with yesterday's post, I had an interruption.  No, Bill didn't hurt himself!  Although that is a logical thing to expect.  He did get the gutters cleaned out, which involved him climbing up on a ladder.  But the disruption was the "Teenager", as I refer to my older boss.  He lost his wallet, sometime on Friday is the last time he remembered seeing it.  But he didn't call me until yesterday, Sunday, and he thought he should probably cancel his credit card but he couldn't find the file I keep for him.  So, I went in to the office and helped him get it taken care of.  I didn't mind going in, he needed the help and I'm glad I could help him.  The wallet turned up today, it was at his home and was in a spot that had been checked more than once.  We've decided that he has Gremlins! :)

Back to Bill and the rain gutters.  We got rain Saturday, quite a bit of it and it lasted most of the day.  It was wonderful!  But we discovered that the rain gutters were clogged up in a couple of places.  All the leaves the trees have been shedding, due to the heat and dryness.  Most of the leaves apparently wound up in our rain gutters.  Bill got them cleaned out, and if we ever get rain again we'll be ready.

And because change seems to be the only thing around here that is constant, Otter changed her mind.  She was going to sit out this semester of college and work, she had some concerns about her grades and thought that maybe a break would be a good thing.  But she went out to the college and spent a lot of time with her counsellor, or whatever they are called at the college level, and she's decided not to sit out this semester after all.  She's changed the classes she is taking, she's not taking the original schedule.  She'll be going each day, her classes are just in the morning this time.  She might see about a part-time job, she had put in several applications already and had an interview with one place but hasn't heard back.  But that was when she was thinking she could work closer to full-time hours.  She's holding off on putting in anymore applications, at least for a short while.  She might see about working part-time this semester, but that's to be determined at a later date.

I did mention in yesterday's post that we bought a new vacuum.  While I was gone on my office errand, Bill ran it in the rest of the house.  I had only run it in the living room, with plans to get the rest of the house done in the evening.  Bill ran it for me, and he said he had to dump the cannister several times.  Less dog fur in the back of the house, but still enough "dirt" that we think the old one (the used one that was free) never really worked right at all.  As the Dyson commercial says, it lost suction!  Incidentally, the one we bought is a Bissell and it's probably about mid-range in terms of features and price.  Bill did want a Dyson originally, but I didn't - I think that they are overpriced and also after I looked at them, they seemed to be made of cheap, rather flimsy plastic.  Our carpet cleaner that we got a few years back is a Bissell.

Also, Bill had an errand.  I saw a pachinko on Craigslist, so we went to check it out.  The seller wanted to trade for antiques, Indian stuff or would consider cash.  He was originally saying something like $100 or maybe more, but then he said he'd consider $75.  Bill said it's probably only worth about $40, but they guy said he'd have to think about it.  One thing that the seller did was to tell Bill (after a couple of conversations) that he had someone else who "really seemed to want it" and Bill was pretty sure the guy was bluffing.  So, Bill told him that he should just go ahead and let that other person look at it and then call us if the guy didn't buy it.  He said the seller sounded surprised when Bill said that, and when Bill got off the phone he remarked to me that he thought he'd just called a bluff.  Which was apparently true, because the seller called back about 3 minutes later and suddenly was able to show it to Bill.  We went to look at it, and it's what Bill expected - a $40 machine.  The seller said he'd have to think about it, because he might want to get it restored instead.  Bill gave him a price quote for restoration.  We kind of got the feeling that he was going to talk to his wife about it, and we won't be surprised to get a call that he'll take $40.00 for it.

OK, I think Sunday's post is finished now!

Monday stuff:  Bill's working a b(oring)oard meeting tonight.  I took him dinner, he got Subway tonight.  Then I stopped at Whataburger and got Otter's dinner.  I'm not quite hungry yet, so I didn't get anything for myself.  I will probably get into the soup in the freezer in a while or maybe make a small salad.

I had planned on getting our flu shots at Walgreen's this year, like we've done the past couple of years.  But the health department and VNA, which sponser all of the shot clinics no matter where they are, are also going to have them at Wallyworld.  It will be about $11 or $12 cheaper for the Otter and myself, if we go there.  Wallyworld is already attempting to conquer the world, I guess that they are probably there now!  We'll see if they have to have a Redhead Lesson as well.  We'll still be getting them on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, which is the same day as Frasier's big adventure at the vet.  But I need the weekend and Monday off, since I am pretty much gauranteed to have some type of a reaction.  It's still do-able, I'll either get the Otter and the dog on my lunch hour that day or maybe get Otter at lunch and bring her home then get the dog after work and then we'll go back to the nearest Wallyworld which is just a few miles from the house.  Then we'll spend the next couple of days attempting to keep Fraiser from chewing on himself!  And possibly taking regular doses of Motrin, at least in my case.

Foggy Sunday

We got rain yesterday!  Lots of it, or at least it lasted for a few hours although I'm not sure of the measurement.  But it was enough to make it very foggy this morning.  I'm not going to complain about a little fog.  We needed the rain too badly to gripe about fog.  We still could use more rain, but yesterday's rain was slow and steady.

We have a new vaccuum, much to Frasier's disgust.  Frasier thinks that we could just do without one so that he wouldn't have to deal with it.  But since he's the reason the last one conked out, we are not listening to him.  Actually, the last one didn't die entirely due to BigDog and his long fur.  But I'm sure that it didn't help.  We had one that we'd had forever, which we pretty much used until it just quit from old age.  About the same time, a couple of years ago, somebody left one behind in rental property that my younger boss owned.  It was a good one, but he had no use for it so he gave it to me.  It had not had really regular maintenance and had probably never been cleaned properly, but it worked and I needed one at the time.  We ran this one until it finally quit, which was a couple of weeks ago.  Bill took it apart and cleaned it, but it just wasn't picking anything up.  So I borrowed the one we use at work but we really needed to just go buy one.  That's been the discussion the past several days, which brand & style.  We finally got busy this morning and did the research then went to Wallyworld and found one that we liked.  I used it as soon as we got it home and that's when I realized that the one we replaced had probably never really worked well and we should have most likely just bought a new one when we got it.  Major dog hair!  And a whole lot of dirt that has probably been in the carpet for a while.  Frasier doesn't seem to like the new one any more than he liked the old one, but at least he just went and stood in the kitchen instead of running outside!

Movie Review:  The Lorax.  It was better than we expected, but it certainly had an Agenda.  Which we expected.  It was cute, predictable and funny but we would have been disappointed if we'd seen in at the theater.

Froggy, your scarf is finished.  To a point.  The crochet part is done, I just have to get the fringe on it.  That won't take too long, I just have to find the time to actually do it.

I really wish that the vet wasn't taking this coming week for his vacation.  It's getting difficult to keep Frasier from licking the spot on his leg.  He's sneaky.  I also think he's realized that if he does it and I see him, he'll get attention from me.  So, when he wants his ears or chin scratched, he'll get right where I see him and then he'll look at me before he commenced to licking/chewing.  Staring at me all the while!  He knows he'll get my attention and that I'll give him some affection to keep his mind off of his leg.  Dog's smart, that's for sure.  Maggie Moo?  Well, she's not the sharpest crayon in the box but she is sweet and good-natured.  And stinky, she's probably going to get a bath this afternoon.

I'm Never Going to Have an Empty Nest

Because once Otter moves out, I'll still have the one I refer to as my other child!  The one who is actually 6 months older than I am in years, but is actually about 10 years old in his own head.

I just heard Otter screeching at the Other Kid.  Apparently, he wants to change the beagle's name to "Bait" and take her (the dog, not Otter!) shark fishing.

If Otter were a pony, she would be Pinkie Pie!  And I'd probably be Rainbow Dash, seeing how she's just a tad bit on the Control Freak side!  Bill's on his own with this one, Otter's on to his antics now!  :)

(But Derpy is still my favorite!)

Golf Balls (TMI & Grossness Warning!)

This is a golf ball:

This is not:  (Here's the TMI & Grossness)

That's what's growing on Frasier's leg.  As gross as it looks in the picture, it's worse in person and it looks eveen worse from the side.  It's close to golf-ball size.  The vet has been watching it, I've posted about it some but we've been watching it for a while.  We've tried a few different things, and he's been making regular trips to the vet to get it looked at.  The vet has finally decided that it's not going to a) shrink, b) stop growing.  Mostly because Frasier simply will NOT leave it alone.  Frasier goes to the vet to get it removed on August 31st, the vet thinks he can do it with a local and not a full-blown anesthesia.  Two reasons for that:  It's expensive (and Bill won't approve the cost - which is pretty hefty) and b) Frasier is an older dog and the vet wasn't really comfortable with putting him under if he could avoid it.  Of course, they might have to duct tape the dog to the wall to keep him still!  (Otter took the picture and there was no way she could get a clear shot of the spot without "everything else" as she put it, so my hand is hovering over Frasier's unmentionables in the hope of at least letting the dog have the illusion of dignity!).

The discoloration on the fur around the spot is from Frasier's constant attention.  The spot is block & red mottled skin on the top and last Saturday, it started bleeding a little bit.  Just a bit, and I think it was mainly because Frasier was slithering around on the floor since he was juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust out of reach of getting an ear scratch - it's so much easier to slither than to actually get up and walk a few inches!  It hasn't bled since then.  The vet is fairly certain that it is what is called a lick granuloma and not cancerous.  I think he's probably right about that, but if it does turn out to be something bad then we'll have a decision to make that I don't even want to think about.  It's also something that Frasier was doing before we got him, and could well be the cause of the earlier spots on his legs which we thought was cancerous before.

Maggie's surgery on the place on her head a year or so back was a little more detailed, even as big as Frasier's spot is.  Maggie's was under the skin and deep.  Also, she's a smaller & younger dog and it was easier to anesthetise her.  But Friaser, well the family motto is Go Big or Go Home and he's just staying true to that.  Of course, he's already home so I guess he has to Go Big?!

Is It Saturday Yet?

No, it's only Tuesday.

Sigh.

It's been a long week and it's only the 2nd work day!  Well, at least it isn't beastly hot anymore.

We thought we might get some rain, it was thundering slightly and the clouds were building up.  But the small amount of rain that they produced skirted north of us.  We have a better chance tomorrow afternoon/evening.  Hope so, we sure need it.

Otter's starting her job search.  She's filled out a few applications online, since more and more places are going to the online system.

Froggy, I still am not going to tell you what colors your hat & scarf set will be, but the hat is done and I started the scarf tonight.  The scarf will probably be wide, about 7 rows but that size in the style I'm making seem to work the best.  No more hints, beyond the fact that it is one of the colors you mentioned and another one entirely.

Hope that's sufficiently mysterious.

Also, I made a change on my soup recipe that's posted on the cooking blog.  The Beef Vegetable Soup.  It's the third edit.

Sunday Cookies

Specifically, the chocolate chip kind!

Otter and I went to the dollar store.  They are the only place we can find a certain fudge graham cookie.  There is a package out in the deep freeze, where they are (hopefully) safe from Bill!  He'll find a few in his lunch box this week.  But he's not getting any of them until then.  However, we did buy a package of chocolate chip cookies and they are in the cookie jar.  But since Bill's already located them...

Otter got back from her vacation on Friday.  I picked her up at the airport and we got the requested Whataburger for dinner.  She had a really good trip, she got to see most of her relatives and had a lot of fun.  But then who wouldn't enjoy a week of Nana spoiling?  She went to Natural Bridge Caverns which we'd taken her to before, but it's always fun.  There was a newer section of the cave open that we haven't been to, but since they had to walk up the equivalent of 18 flights of stairs I don't see myself going there any time soon!

The dogs were so happy to see Otter when I brought her home.  Maggie especially, the beagle was overjoyed and hardly let Otter out of her sight all evening.  Yesterday, Maggie was where ever Otter happened to be nearly all day.

A while back, I had a prayer request about a decision that was being made.  The decision was Otter's.  For various reasons, she's decided to sit out at least one semester of college and look for a job.  She's been thinking about this for a while, and we think it's the right decision.  It was not a quick decision, nor was it one that she took lightly.  But we agree with her reasons and support her decision 100%.

It's been nicer the last couple of days, we still were over 100 but not much over 100.  Yesterday was in the 90's.  It was 62 in the morning yesterday, we actually got cold sitting out on the deck!  Today is warm but not overly hot, although it's a little humid.  The forecast for next week is great - there are 80's in our future!

While Otter and I were out, we also went to the library.  She needed to restock, since all her library books were turned in prior to her trip to TEXAS.  I had a few books to turn in and found a few more.

Froggy, I made your hat yesterday!  I used one of the three colors you gave me when I asked what color you wanted, and another color entirely.  I'm also going to make you a scarf, and it will match the hat.  Beyond that, I'm not telling you anything.  You'll just have to wait.  Do you want me to mail it to you, or were you planning on picking it up when y'all come see us in the fall?

Thursday Stuff and some TNT thrown in as well

For some reason, I'm title challenged lately.

Otter will be home tomorrow!  I'll leave work a little early, then go to the airport and get her.  We usually try to have something special or different for Friday night supper and sometimes we'll pick something up and bring it home.  I was thinking about buffalo burgers, but nobody has buffalo in stock at the moment.  So, I asked Otter what she wanted way before she even left, in case I couldn't find it.  She wanted Whataburger.  so, after I collect her and her luggage, we'll stop by Whataburger on the way home and get dinner.

I managed to get some crochet time in this morning, I've been working on my shawl again and I've put a few rows on it this week.  I got two rows on it this morning, usually I only have time for one row but I got all my chores done early and had about 30 minutes before I had to leave for work.  So, out came the crochet!  It's still got a long way to go, but it's coming along fairly quickly.

TNT:

We're thinking that Office Depot is now going to be a place we no longer shop at.  They are supporting an organization that we don't approve of or agree with, the born this way foundation.  (No respect = no capital letters).  Which was founded by the degenerate "singer" we can't stand and think is immoral.  The group is exactly what it sounds like, and DEGENERATE is the most appropriate word for it.  The so-called singer is usually referred to as "gagged" around the house.  Yes, I know we'll have to pay more for some things - but that's not really the issue.

This world is in trouble with a capital T.

Wednesday. Just Wednesday.

Not even a Whine Wednesday, just Wednesday!  Well, there might be a little whining!  But not much.

It's warm today, it was supposed to be right about 100 or 101.  But it is actually somewhere around 105 this afternoon.  However, tomorrow is supposed to be our last over 100 day.  At least for a week!  We're supposed to be in the low- to mid-90's for at least a week, with some good rain chances as well.  We really do need the rain, so I'm hoping that it is going to actually rain and not just a tease!

I went to the grocery store this afternoon.  I got in and out of wallyworld in 40 minutes, so I'm not complaining!  Much. :)  I have noticed that certain things are increasing in price, which kind of goes with what I've heard recently.  Orange juice, for one thing.  Other things have increased as well, but I really noticed it with the oj today.  Bread is probably a little higher.  But it's going to be even higher in the near future due to the poor wheat crop which is the result of no rain and higher tan normal temperatures.  I don't know about pricing on things like cokes, we don't buy much soda.  Eggs have also increased - but we pretty much only eat them on Saturday mornings, so a dozen usually lasts us a long time.

I have a sore shoulder.  My left one.  Last night, I was putting something in the refrigerator and when I straightened up, I collided with the handle of the freezer door.  I have a nice bruise on the back of my left shoulder and it's tender.  It was sore last night, I usually sleep on my left side but not last night!  I took a couple of motrin then and will probably take another one or two tonight.  It's better, it's just that it's still a little sore.

However, it does not keep me from crocheting!  I got a little yarn work in this morning and it didn't seem to bother my shoulder at all.

I refilled one of my two hummingbird feeders this morning, the one that is owned by the male bird.  The other feeder probably could use a refill, it's still got feed in it but it's been hanging up for several days and we've had pretty hot weather.  It might be fermented by now - maybe that's why the little female keeps coming back to it? :)

I also discovered another evilmonsterdeniziensofhell nest in the process of being built.  (Yellow jackets, in case you are wondering).  It's in the tree that I was trimming when I was stung a couple of months back, but it's only been there a couple of days.  I found it last night, when I was refilling the bucket I was using to water a couple of baby trees.  Bill's going to take care of them, but probaby not tonight.

Otter comes home the day after tomorrow!

Grass Fires & Stinky Dogs

The dog part first:  They both smell, but in different ways!  Maggie Moo needed her usual treatment that we refer to as squishing - also known as getting the glands cleaned out again.  In other words, her butt got squashed.  She smelled strange afterwards, the vet uses something that I think is supposed to smell floral but it doesn't quite suceess.  Now, she's just gassy but I think that's a side effect from the procedure.  Frasier isn't gassy, but he does have "dog breath" and he likes to share it with me whenever he can.

Frasier was due for his rabies shot, and the vet also checked the spot on his leg.  He wants to take it off.  He thinks he can do it without a full-blown anesthesia, but it still won't be cheap.  So, we're going to have to think about it.  It's not bothering the dog, but if it ruptures it could be a vector for infection.  But he's certain that it is not cancer or anything like that, for which I'm very thankful.

There was a family that was bringing a dog in when I was waiting for Frasier and Maggie's turn and it was hard to watch them, because I'm pretty sure that the dog was not going to be leaving.  There were two little girls and they were so heartbroken, it just about broke my heart to see them.  They were young, maybe in the range of 6 to 8 years old.  The vet and his staff were so good with them, but it was still just so sad.  I had to give Frasier a few extra hugs when we got into the exam room - Frasier is a huggy dog, at least with me.

Bill's working a b(oring)oard meeting tonight.  So, the dogs and I are playing on the computer for a while.  Well, I am.  They are mostly snoozing.  I closed up all the doors and removed the baby gate so that they can come back to the office with me.  Maggie is asleep under the chair, but Frasier hasn't quite made it back here yet.  I wanted to keep an eye on Maggie, she wasn't acting like she was feeling good this morning and it was probably just the glands needed to be cleaned out but I need to watch her for a while.  She's got her feet propped on/under the wheels on my chair so I can't move.  She might have wanted me to be immobilized - that way, she's always in belly rub range!

There have been some serious grass fires in Oklahoma over the last few days.  It's so horribly dry and the small amount of rain we got Saturday was no where near the areas that were burning.  West & Northwest of Tulsa were hit really bad.  Many, many people have lost their homes.  It's about as bad as it gets, so please pray for them.  In some cases, the only reason people were able to get out of their homes was because the volunteer firefighters were literally knocking on doors just minutes ahead of the flames because the fires were moving so fast.

Otter's still enjoying her vacation.  I talked to her last night and for a few minutes this morning.  I'm still jealous!  But I'm glad she was able to go.

If you leave me a comment and don't see it, don't panic!  Blogger hasn't told me about the last few, I've found them waiting to be approved when I signed in to post.  I'm going to check the settings again, but the last time I checked the settings it was supposed to email me when a comment has been left and I didn't change that.  But it isn't telling me.

Froggy, you were going to give me the info on the sewing machine.  Style, price, etc.  I'm interested in it.

Humid! Sunday

It rained yesterday.  Just barely enough to even see, and just for a few minutes.  But it was enough to increase the humidity to the impossible-to-breathe-level.

Today is "only" supposed to be in the high 90's.  The next week is alternating between high 90's and just over 100.  I'm not going to tempt fate by discussing anything about the heat wave being over or the chances of that.  So, just fill in the blanks yourself!  :)

We supported Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday.  And so did a whole lot of other people.  Lines out the door at most stores, and that lasted all day long.  It was wonderful.  There were cars lining up on the street, just trying to get into the parking lot.  We had to park a little ways away and then walk, but even with the heat (and it was H.O.T.), we did not mind.  There were quite a few younger people in the store, which was a good thing to see.  We only saw two or three protesters.  Customers were buying food and drinks, and taking it out to them.  I don't think that a protester would be even half-way so considerate of anyone that they were opposed to.  The lack of news coverage was not surprising - there were some news reports, but not that many.  For me, it's not about gay vs. straight. It's about the fact that a private company with private ownership being targeted because the owner has his own opinion.  An opinion that does NOT say people aren't welcome or that he thinks they should be mistreated. Just that he does not agree with their lifestyle, which is his right.

I took Otter to the airport bright and early on Friday morning.  We were out of the house about 5:45 in fact, so it was not really "bright" but it was definitely early!  I stayed at the airport until she got through security, which wasn't too bad at that time of morning.  She'll be home next Friday afternoon.

After I dropped her off, it was too early to head to work.  Not enough time to head back home, but way too early for work.  So, I went to Wallyworld and got the few things I wanted to get during the Sales-Tax Free Weekend.  I was in Wallyworld about 6:45.  Bill needed jeans and socks and that only took me a few minutes.  So, I walked around Wallyworld for a while to kill time, and I still got to work pretty early.  I think I saved less than $4.00 in sales tax!  Big spender, I know. :)

1st Unspoken Prayer Request:  someone I know is having a really bad time at their job, with some really unpleasant things going on.  Prayers for clarity please.

2nd Unspoken Prayer Request:  someone else that I know has a big decision to make that will affect their future and it's a hard one.  Prayers for wisdom please.

We played hookey from Church today.  We hardly ever skip, but Bill had some concerns about our air conditioner and he wanted to clean the outside unit before it got beastly hot.  It's not beastly hot today after all, but it is beastly humid.  Anyway, the a/c unit is cleaner and working fine, but with a long-haired dog like Fraiser it will need to be cleaned more often that we have been cleaning it.  It was working, but it's been running just about 24/7 for the last several days because of our horribly hot weather and Bill wanted to make sure it was clean.  We do not want to have to deal with it going out, it's only a few years old and we bought a good unit but preventive maintenance is always a good idea.

Also, since Otter is on vacation (not fair!) I got to be the lucky person who cleaned up the dog's yard.  They leave many little presents that have to be cleaned up and removed.  Otter usually does this as soon as we get home from Church on Sunday mornings.  She always says that it's not fun, and I have to agree with her.  It's not fun!  But it's necessary.

I took some stuff to Goodwill earlier.  I did look around whle I was there, but I didn't find anything.  It was still fun.  Among the things I donated was the sewing machine I bought 5 or 6-ish years ago.  I never used it very much, but there were problems with it almost immediately.  It started breaking the thread almost every time I used it, there were issues with the thread from the bobbin coming out at varying speeds and that caused a lot of issues, it developed a horrible squeak and lube never helped it.  So, it's been sitting in the closet for a few years and I was thinking that I'd eventually get it serviced.  But then Froggy said something which made sense, about machines produced in the last few years not being well-made and then I did a little research and discovered that Singer has apparently decided to sacrified quality for quick bucks.  I've also seen a couple of listings on Craigslit for the same machine I had, with the same problems.  We have another machine, Nana gave it to me a few years back and it is a good machine.  It's fairly fancy, and I did use it but I wanted a simple one for times when I just wanted to sew something easy so that was why I bought the 2nd one.  We still have the one from Nana and we'll continue to use it when we need to.  I don't sew a whole lot, but Otter does sometimes.

I have made de-stashing progess!  If you were to look at my yarn stash, you probably couldn't really tell.  But I can.  I've used two or three small balls of yarn up.  It's not a lot of progress, but it is progress.

All for now, I'm about to go make chocolate ice cream!