Tired. Blessed.

The Teenager's funeral was this afternoon.  The church was pretty full, he knew just about everybody and it's a tribute to him and an indication of the immense respect people had for him.  He was one of the happiest people I've ever known and he wanted everyone else to be happy.  He enjoyed his life and always tried to find the fun in things and the good in people.  There is going to be a huge hole in the lives of a lot of people, mine included.

Otter obviously went with us, and so did J.  J never met the Teenager, but he wanted to support Otter and also to show respect to someone who was so important to her - and we really appreciated his obvious concern and care for Otter.

The office will be closed tomorrow as well.  The Teenager would probably be unhappy with us for that - there wasn't much that could keep him out of the office.  :)

Since I have an unplanned day off tomorrow, I'm taking the Magginator in to get her rear parts squished and her pedicure.  But mostly, I'm just going to take it easy and do stuff around the house.  I may get some crochet time in and I am partially through with cleaning pins on a pachinko machine for Willy.  But I desperately need some down time and I'm going to get it tomorrow.

Tonight is going to be spent sitting on the couch with a beagle at my feet and the tv remote in my hand.  Possibly a drink as well.  But that's about the extent of my activities for the evening.

But I do think we gave the Teenager a good send-off.  He was special and he deserves every bit of respect possible.  I truly feel Blessed to have had him in my life for the last 21+ years.

Stress Tuesday

Yesterday was awful.  I went in to work early and Younger Boss was ahead of me.  It was so hard, we both just kind of hugged & cried for a while - and we don't normally hug, but this time we did.  He was pretty well overwhelmed, there is so much to do normally when you lose a parent but when the parent was the owner of the business it seems like the stuff to be done was quadrupled.  I ran a couple of errands for Younger Boss in the afternoon.  On Sunday, after he called me and let me know, I went into the office and worked on the obituary.  Younger Boss and his sister had put a lot of things down on paper, but I "professionalized" it and added a few things that they'd forgotten - it's hard to remember everything in that situation but I think that between the three of us it's pretty good.  We hit the highlights anyway.

He left after a couple of hours, to go meet with the Pastor about the service for the Teenager, a couple of meetings with banks, the cpa, etc., and he also spent a couple of hours with his mom.  She's doing pretty well, considering the circumstances.  I talked to her for a while and she was trying to be strong.  She's so precious to all of us.  But she's 97 herself and has had some rough health issues.

Today was better.  Most of the day has been spent in dealing with various banks, the Teenager set everything up a few years back so that the business would continue to run but the banks need specific paperwork, which is understandable.  That's been the bulk of today.

The obituary was supposed to run today, but it got to the paper too late so it will run in tomorrow's edition.  The phone has still been ringing non-stop with condolence calls.  The Teenager pretty much knew everyone, and he would be so flattered to realize the high regard he was held in.  Everyone needs someone like him in their life.  He was special.  He was one in a million, that's for sure.

The funeral is Thursday afternoon.  Otter is getting off work a little early, I'm off obviously and Bill is taking the day off.  It's going to be a very emotional service and I anticipate a large crowd.  The Teenager deserves every accolade he can get and he's getting a lot of them.

98 Years and 9 Months

The Teenager left us this morning at 8:05.  He was 98 years and 9 months young.  He was a spectacular person and I will miss him forever.

Warm. Saturday. Drowsy.

It's Summer, and it feels like it.  It's not particularly hot, it's just that it is hot enough to notice but the humidity makes it worse.  Humidity is a big asthma trigger for me, so I'm spending a lot of time indoors.  Which I don't like!  I need my outside time.

I got a little bit of outside time this morning.  I walked Maggie Moo, she was very happy about that - she sniffed every single thing she could and I don't think either of us got much exercise because it was a "stop and sniff" walk with a great deal of stopping.  But she was happy about it.

I followed yard sale signs today.  I was going to the post office to drop some stuff off to mail and I saw a sign not too far from my neighborhood.  So, I followed it.  Nothing I was interested in, but I decided to just follow signs for a while.  I only drove around for about an hour but I saw several sales.  I stopped at a few and drove by a few more.  Didn't buy a thing, except for when I stopped to get a coke (which was a real coke and not a Texas Coke a/k/a any flavor/variety/brand I wanted at the time) but I still enjoyed getting out.

As of about 4:00 this afternoon, the Teenager is still with us.  Younger Boss says that it's very hard to see him linger like that.  I know how he feels, it was that way with Dad.  It is very tough.  But he is as comfortable as possible and his family is with him.  I guess that all we can do is pray.

Stressful Friday

As of now, 6:30 p.m. the Teenager is still with us.  He was able to be moved to the hospice/nursing home section of their community and his wife and family have been able to spend the day with him.  Younger Boss said that the Teenager seemed to relax a lot once his wife started talking to him and holding his hand.  He is on morphine and is not showing any signs of the discomfort and possible pain he had yesterday, but he is not medicated enough to be unconscious however he has not awakened and probably won't.  But he is more comfortable and seems to understand on some level that he is home and surrounded by his family.  How long he has left in this life is up to God, but now that he's at home where he wanted to be it is possible that he might be able to let himself go.

I vacumed the entire office, neatened the Teenager's office and his desk and cleaned out a lot of old medications such as peroxide that was so old it didn't have an expiration date and so forth.  I've also spent a lot of the day getting checks done and other things that need signatures situated so that Younger Boss doesn't have to worry about things at the office next week.  I spent a while working on a list of things that Younger Boss is going to need to do once his dad is gone, things like calling the insurance company, medicaid, social security - all the miniscule things that have to be dealt with in this situation.

I'm very tired, I have been all week.  But as tired as I am, I'm sure that it doesn't even begin to compare to what the Teenager's family is dealing with.  I remember how hard it was after Mom and then later on after Dad died.  I didn't think I'd ever get to sleep again.  They are dealing with so much, and I would like to request prayers for them as well as for easing the Teenager's transition from this life.

But life goes on around my house, and we discovered this when we were in the back yard after we both got home from work:

I think we know what has Maggie's attention under the shed.

That's a raccoon track.

They are not an animal we want her to tangle with.  She's up to date on her shots, but they can be very mean animals and we don't want her hurt.  We don't want a raccoon to be hurt, either, but Maggie Moo is our first consideration.  We thought we maybe had a possum, but I'm thinking that the raccoon that left these tracks is what she's been chasing under the shed.

I'm going to have a drink and vegetate on the couch for a while.  It's been very stressful and will be for a while yet.  The Younger Boss will update me over the weekend on his father's status.  As Froggy said, the Teenager is very like our Dad.  In a lot of ways, and Otter considers him to be one of her grandfathers.  It's going to be rough, even though we do see it as a release for him and have absolutely zero doubt as to where he's going next.

Prayer Request

It's been a tough few days.  And it's going to be tough for the next several.

You probably have seen me refer to the Teenager on here.  He's my 98-year old boss and he is wonderful.  Everyone should have someone like him in their life.  I'm blessed that he's been a part of mine for the last 21+ years, and that also includes his delightful wife.  He's one of Otter's favorite people.

One day last week, he was hospitalized with what the doctor described as extremely low sodium levels and possibly potassium as well.  He was getting better and getting stronger.  A couple of days ago, he didn't really wake up in the morning and the doctor was concerned about a stroke.  The plan was to give him an MRI but they would have had to anesthetize him which is the last thing anyone wants to do when the patient is 98 years old.  So, a ct scan was performed instead.  The probably diagnosis is that he did have a stroke, but it was probably while he was asleep and he probably never knew it.  His son talked to him and thought he was trying to wake up, but he never really did.  Since then, he's been getting worse.  We pretty much all expected to hear what the doctor said today.

This morning, the doctor said that he's dying.  It is just a matter of days, and probably not very many days at that.  The plan was to transfer him back to the retirement community he lives in, to their nursing home division so that his wife can spend as much time with him as possible.  Her son has taken her to the hospital several times, but she's pretty frail too.  But the hospice nurse is concerned that he might not survive the transfer process.  He isn't in pain, but he did seem to be having some discomfort when he was moved for the ct scan so the nurse wants to give him a little morphine and then possibly he may be transferred tomorrow.  Younger Boss (the son) has been spending a lot of time at the hospital and I suggested he take his mom to the hospital this afternoon, in case the Teenager isn't able to be transferred and also because they time is very short.

Please pray for his family, his wife and that he has a peaceful transition from this earthly life.

Idiocy

Castro, YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

This is the wrong thing to do


KEEP IT

Day 9

Last day of my 9 day weekend.  Back to work tomorrow.

Bill and the mechanic neighbor looked at the car seat and determined that the part that broke is not the seat itself, but it is the frame that holds the seat in place.  Bill made a few calls on Friday but apparently a lot of places were also closed on Friday.  So he's going to check on it tomorrow.  Chevy was open but it was somewhere close to $700.00 just for the part (no labor!) from them and we are NOT doing that unless we absolutely have to.  Bill did consider getting a replacement from a salvage yard, but since it is a fairly important structural piece he's decided against that option.  I'll ride with him in the morning, he has to be in at 7:00 but leaves the house earlier to beat the traffic.  I'll get myself to work in the El Camino and then I'll pick him up after work.  Hopefully, we can go pick up the part right then and get home in time for him to install it.  The seat should just come out and go right back in.  We are probably getting rain mid week, starting Tuesday, so Bill's kind of in a hurry.  Me too!

Otter came over Friday morning.  She got her laundry done and then we went shopping.  We hit a few yard sales, drove past a few more and went to a few stores.  We got lunch at Long John Silver's to bring home and share with William.  Then we went to the booth store and another similar store.  We had a good time but didn't really buy much.  We did get to Big Lots, which is probably the only place I really bought anything at and that was mostly household stuff.  I bought her a little gasoline to replace what we used.  She and Roomie are still discussing their options but I think that they are leaning towards a 2-bedroom unit.

We had a fairly quiet 4th.  We went to Taco Bell for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby to get some sinew-type thread/string to repair Bill's houseshoes with.  While there, I did cruise the yarn aisles.  The summer colors are out and are everywhere, but the fall colors are beginning to be stocked.  I saw a few I really liked but I didn't buy any.  Yet!  Bill actually had the "unsmartness" to tell me that I have too much yarn - which is when I asked him to tell me again exactly how many pachinko machines he has!?  I also reminded just how much room his machines take up vs the corner of the craft/guest/YARN room that holds my stash.  He stammered out that he meant I had a lot of $$ invested in yarn and then I reminded him how much a skein of yarn is vs the $30 - $several hundred he's spent on machines.  At that point, he saw the light and shut up. :)  Which is good, because I was going to take no prisoners on that one!

Speaking of yarn, I finished the mink scarf yesterday.  I had it about where I wanted it when I realized that I'd made a mistake several rows back and had to frog out several inches.  It wasn't a mistake I could leave in and ignore, it changed the stitch per row count and the shape.  Mink yarn is harder to frog than regular yarn, I'm thinking it might felt very easily.  I used less than one ball of yarn so I still have plenty left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, it is fairly expensive ($33. per skein 2 years ago) but I'm sure I'll find something.  (No, Bill.  It's still cheaper than your machine stash!)  I started a new scarf for Otter, we got the yarn for it a while back but I hadn't gotten a chance to work on it it yet.  I started it and did a few rows because I wanted to see if she likes the pattern I made the mink scarf it - which she does.  I will get back to it soon, I just wanted to get it started so I could show it to her.  She had two sets ordered from different yarns.  I had one scarf made already and made the matching hat this morning but I have to wait for her to come over again so I can check the size before I call tie it off and call it done.  But I'm going to get back on her poncho soon so her 2nd scarf/hat combination may wait a while - but they go fast.

I have some sort-of TEXAS flag printed wall border, the kind that a teacher would have used years ago over the blackboard.  I got it at a thrift store for about a buck many years ago and it's just been stuck in the closet.  I took two pieces of it, it's long, and taped them together.  Then I took one of my many yard sticks and marked it off in 1" increments with smaller marks at the half inch marks.  No, I would not have done that if it was actually the TEXAS flag!  It's now hanging on the wall, attached with pushpins at the top and bottom.  Now, when I'm making a scarf or one of many other projects that need to be measured I don't have to drag out the measuring tape or yard sticks, and then fight to get it flattened out on the floor.

We had homemade cheeseburgers for our July 4th meal.  We were going to grill steaks but it as supposed to rain so we decided against that.  Of course, it didn't rain.  There were quite a few neighbors that had fireworks, including some of the really big ones, so we stood outside and watched the show for a while last night.  There were several lightning bugs, I always wonder if they get confused on July 4th?  The mosquitos eventually showed up, so we came inside but it was fun.  Otter took her sparklers left from last year when she came over on Friday.

I have a prayer request:  The Teenager was hospitalized Friday for low potassium and general weakness.  He's a tough old bird, but the key word is old - he is 98, after all.

Remember What I Said?

The part about the Amish being on the right track as far as electricity goes?  Well, I agree with them about something else now:  no cars!  No cars equals no car trouble.  When I got in my car to leave the grocery store, the driver's seat had apparently turned into a rocking chair while I was in the store.  I just about wound up in the back seat.  I had a couple of things I'd picked up for Otter and her apartment was just down the street so I went on to give her the stuff I had for her.  Then I drove back roads to get home and drove very carefully - it would not be the time to have an accident!  Not that there ever is, but the issue with the seat is that it might not have kept me inside the car in the event of an accident.  Bill looked at it when he got home, and so did our mechanic neighbor.  They were hoping it could be welded but they both agree that it can't.  The neighbor said he's never seen one break in just that spot before.  Bill's going to check with salvage yards tomorrow and see if he can find a replacement seat.  Hopefully, pretty quick.  Obviously, Otter and I are not going shopping tomorrow.

But that's ok, we'd already decided to stay in town and just hit a few thrifts along with the steakhouse.  She's coming over in the morning to do her laundry and we might or might not go to a couple of close by thrifts.  If we don't get to, it's not a big deal and we'll reschedule our shopping trip.  If I need to go anywhere tomorrow, she'll either be my transportation or let me borrow her car.  I got most of my errands done already, I only had one stop that I still needed to make and it was just BigLots for toilet paper.  Depending on what Bill finds, I may have to go with him to a salvage yard to get a replacement seat.  Hopefully, he can find one and it won't be too much trouble to get it out and then in to my car.  I don't even care what color it is!  I just want it to be intact and safe.

Otter and Roomie have been discussing their options.  Renewing their lease in a few months, getting separate apartments or seeing about a 2-bedroom unit.  Hopefully in their current complex.  I think they are leaning towards getting a 2-bedroom.  I don't think either of them can really afford their own apartment at this point, but they really do want more room/space/privacy - especially Roomie, since her room is the living room and she doesn't even have a door to close.  I think they are going to see about a 2-bedroom unit, which would probably be their best option.  They will have to pay more in rent but it will be less for each of them than if they went with separate apartments.  Otter thinks that there might be one available in their current building, she's going to check with the manager.  It would be good if it was on their current floor (easier on the parental moving crew!) but I don't think anybody would miss having to go up to the 3rd floor either!  One of the people Otter works with also lives in the same complex, she said that she was able to move to a larger apartment within just a couple of months of moving in so Otter and Roomie probably won't have to wait until the end of September if they decide on a 2-bedroom, and if there is one available.

Maggie Moo is currently sprawled across, in and out, her bed.  Snoring.  Loudly!

Middle of Vacation at Home Week

I don't like the word "staycation" so I don't use it.  I'm just having a vacation at home this week.  Mostly by myself, Bill had had to work.  He is off today, but that's because he wasn't feeling too good this morning and he's been pretty much doing nothing today - kind of like me! :)  Except that I'm goofing off by choice and he's just not 100%.

Anyway, I'm glad that he was home today (although I wish he hadn't been feeling icky.)  Because the electric company showed up unannounced this afternoon.  They figured out that last Friday's problem was caused by a line in my yard (they're buried where we live) and that it might need to be replaced.  They brought their backhoe and got right to work digging a fairly deep hole.  Pretty close to one of the maple trees and they did have to break through roots to get to the line.  The line did have some issues, it was probably nibbled on by voles and they'd eaten into the insulation which exposed the actual line to the dirt.  They had to turn our power off for about 10 minutes while they replaced the line.  They did that, put all the dirt back in the hole and took the cable that they'd laid all over my yard last week.  I think that we are finally done with the problems.  Although I won't be surprised if there are other problems with the lines, considering how many underground rodents we have to deal with!

Yesterday, I went to a fabric shop to get something for Froggy.  I also went to 2 antique-ish stores I had been meaning to get to but just never quite did.  They are both booth-type stores and are in a neighboring town.  I wasn't impressed with either of them, but it was still fun.  I also went to the library and to our old booth store looking for something specific and then Bill came home early because he wasn't feeling too good.  I went to the post office, also.  Big exciting day!  Actually, except for the part about Bill not feeling too good, it was an enjoyable day.

Today I went to another fabric store for Froggy, but I will be going back there for something else she needed but I'm not sure when because I think Otter wants to go with me.  I had a couple of other stops, I went to Atwood's because they had coffee on sale and then I went to Wallyworld for misc. grocery items.  But I've spent more time at home today than I spent out, I did some crochet and had time to just sit and read.

I'm enjoying the stay at home vacation.  Yesterday, after Bill left for work, I went back to bed for about an hour.  Actually, I curled up on the futon and snoozed, and Maggie Moo went underneath it for her nap.  It was pretty comfortable, although the beagle snores!  Maggie Moo has enjoyed being able to stay in the house and not get put out into the garage, but she's slept just as much inside as she probably does in the garage!  She has access to the outside when she goes to the garage, but she doesn't seem to like being outside nearly as much as Frasier did.  Her water dish always goes out with her and she has two padded places in the garage which she snoozes on.  And she gets to visit her treat can...

I'm not sure about tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll probably just hang around the house and read, craft, crochet and possibly take a nap.  I might also make a loaf of bread, the one I made on Monday is just about gone.  On Friday, Bill will be off and he'll be at home working on pachinko machines but Otter and I have a shopping day scheduled.  Destinations depend on the weather, we could get rain.  Until then, it's just hot and humid!  But it might affect fireworks displays Friday and Saturday evening.  Bill wanted to grill steaks on Saturday, but they might be broiled in the oven instead of grilled.

Maggie Moo went out to the back yard with me this morning.  And she went straight to the shed.  She did not want to listen to me when I told her no, so she came back inside.  She was funny when we took our early-morning walk today - there was a lady who was walking 3 dogs (and carrying a 4th) one and at least one of those dogs is not friendly to other dogs - which Maggie apparently knew, because it started barking at her at pretty much the same time she was angry barking at it, with a beagle baroo thrown in for good measure!  We haven't walked the last few evenings, the humidity has been too bad for me to be able to breathe.  But I don't think she particularly has wanted to, I don't know if the heat is why or if she's just lazy!  Probably both.

There is a mockingbird that is building a nest inside the trellis on the back deck.  I saw it several times but I haven't seen it since we were outside with the electric company.  It's possible that mama bird decided that there was too much traffic and went elsewhere, but I'm not sure yet.  I did finally get my hummingbird feeders refilled this week, after they were empty for a while.  At least one hummer was on one of the feeders this afternoon.  We also have had two very large squirrels playing chase across the top of the fence.  Not sure if it was a boy chasing a girl, if they were just playing or if one was annoyed with the other one.  But I've seen more squirrels since we lost Frasier, I think they know he's gone and maybe they feel safer now.

Since I was home and had time, I made a pecan pie this morning.  I found a frozen pie shell in the deep freeze when I moved everything from it to the kitchen freezer.  I figured that was a sign that I needed to make pie!  We're having mini pizza for dinner tonight, I think pecan pie will go very well!

Only Took 2+ Months

But my back yard is back to normal.  Well, almost - there is still the cable that was installed last Friday which needs to be buried.  But the damage left by the original crew was repaired today.

They were here on time.  They did what they said they would do.  They did a good job and got finished earlier than they thought the would.  They don't actually work for the electric provider, they are a contracted company.  Which may be why they did such a good job!  :)

The dirt was shoveled in by hand, then they smoothed it with rakes.  The filled in all the holes.

 They laid grass strips down.

They planted three new crepe myrtles.

When the left, they took the plywood and shovel that was left by the first crew and they made sure I was able to get the gate shut and locked.

I watered the crepe myrtles, but I had to stop in the middle because Maggie Moo disappeared.  I could not find her anywhere, but I knew she had been in the yard with me and that I didn't let her out of the house until after the gates were locked.  She just vanished.  There is one spot where I thought she could have gotten out of the yard.  I looked everywhere, called her repeatedly and looked everywhere - in the house, the garage, her yard, and I attempted to look under the shed.  After a while, I finally decided that she must have found her way out of the yard.  I started walking and I went pretty much all around the neighborhood - in the sun, without my hat.  I talked to two neighbors and they hadn't seen her.

By this time I was really worried.  I figured that she must be under the shed and the fact that I never heard her when I was yelling for her had me seriously worried.  I went back to the back yard and called her repeatedly, and I looked under the shed again.  Then I started to hear her and  realized that some of the noises I heard earlier was probably her and not just all the screeching birds that were suddenly in the trees by the shed.  I called her again, and I could see movement underneath the shed.  She was trying to get out, but she was pretty well trapped.  I was trying to figure out how to get her out without having the shed shift and crush her, when she finally was able to basically dig her way out.  She was under there for about an hour.  She was very dirty and she was also very scared.  Otter was on her way over to go through boxes when the dog vanished, she got there just after I'd gotten Maggie back in.  Maggie spent most of her afternoon sleeping, a much deeper sleep than her normal napping sleep.

I eventually got back to water the crepes and the new grass.  I took Maggie out with me, and she made a beeline to the shed.  She did not want to listen to me when I told her no, so I put her back in the house.  We thought that we might have had a possum visiting us lately, we've seen some signs of something and Maggie has been tracking something when she goes out there.  I think it may have been under the shed at some point, it may well still be there but I don't know for sure.  They are not aggressive animals, but they will defend themselves if they have to and they can do serious damage to a dog.  Maggie's not going to be allowed out there for a while, I have some plastic edging that we used on the tulip bed and I'm going to put it around the shed similar to the way skirting is done for a mobile home.  Maggie is a full-blood beagle and she's got the instincts of one.

Otter and I had a really nice afternoon, we went to lunch at a local place and then she went through 3 boxes.  She condensed them down to 2 boxes, there's quite a bit that is in the donate pile and some things are now in my craft room.  She's still got three more boxes labeled Craft Stuff and there are two boxes in the closet of the craft room that she needs to look through but they aren't really craft stuff.

One of the things we found in the craft boxes was her Sunglasses.  The ones we never found after she moved, the same ones she thought were gone for good when she was packing.  Apparently, she packed them after all - in a box with craft stuff!

Bill's way of counting pachinko balls:

He made this tray, it's marked in measured places and he can tell without having to count each individual ball.

He ordered 5,000 and they came today.  I'm not sure how much they weighed, but it was a lot.  A LOT.

Except for when Otter came and got me and we went to lunch, I've been home all day.  Except for Maggie's little adventure in the middle of the day, I enjoyed it.  I made a loaf of bread in the bread machine and a pot of pinto beans.  I did manage to get a little crochet done, but not until around 6:00 p.m.

I Don't Have to go to Work Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't tell, I am really glad that my vacation has arrived.  Took long enough!  I wish that Bill was able to take the week off like we originally planned, but he can't take any time off at the moment unfortunately.  He is off Friday for the holiday, but that's also the day that Otter has off this week and we had already planned a shopping ramble.  I don't think he really cares, he wants to spend the day working on pachinko machines.  However, there is a chance of icky weather on Friday so we might stay in the Tulsa-ish area and not go as far as we have planned.  We'll still shop, thrift and possibly yard sale shop.  Froggy, we're also going to the steakhouse for lunch.

It's been a fairly busy, productive weekend.  Yesterday, Bill mowed the front yard and I got the limblets that had started up again on the trees in front.  Today he got the back yard.  We went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and Cici's Pizza for dinner.  We went to Ace Hardware today, I also went to Joann's Fabrics and Walmart this morning.  I got a lot of crafting and crochet done, Bill has been working on pachinko machines for a few hours.  He moved the freezer out to the driveway so it could be defrosted, then he moved it back in place.  It's plugged in again although there's nothing in it - we gave it to our (nice) next door neighbor and he'll get it sometime this week.  If he and Bill are able to move it to his house without laying it down then it can be plugged in again right away and he can start using it.  There was a big, blue dragonfly that kept zipping into the freezer and then zipping back out.  I think it was after the water from the thawing frost.  Maggie Moo got several walks, and she got to see her best canine friend this morning - Luna the wolf.

Maggie and Luna seem to be smitten with each other.  As soon as Maggie saw her down the street this morning she just about pulled my arm out of it's socket in her haste to go see her friend!  Maggie is not normally like that, she's fairly easy-going and walks well.  But as soon as she sees Luna, she's going to do everything in her power to get to her.  Luna is the same way about Maggie, although Luna is still very skittish about just about every other dog.  I got a picture of Luna with my cell phone this morning, I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when we walk in case we see her.  She's absolutely gorgeous.  Her owner said that she's not sure how Luna will do with fireworks, but her two others (one is part wolf) don't like them so she's already going to be staying home Friday and Saturday evenings.  Maggie Moo is totally unconcerned about them, Frasier never cared about them either.  Maggie is a very low-maintenance dog, Frasier was about as high-maintenance as it got.  I do miss him and I always will, he was one of those extra-special dogs.  But I have to admit that Maggie Moo is a much easier dog.  She is also smitten with her new bed.  When she's in the living room, she often is curled up in it or laying across it.  She sometimes sleeps next to it, but she usually has at least one and usually two paws/legs stretched out over it.  At the moment, she's napping and has her head on it like a pillow.

The electrical contractor is supposed to come out tomorrow to repair the damage to my yard from 2 months ago.  I would love for them to be able to bury the line that was put in place on Friday but the marking crew would need to come out first.  I'm very tempted to stand out on my deck with my leather whip at the ready, just in case they might need a little encouragement to do their job and do it correctly!  (Not seriously!  Just kidding.  Sort of.  Maybe.)

Froggy, I finally got around to getting a hair dryer.  My blow dryer went to Otter's apartment.  KN#3 was amazed that I didn't have one when y'all were here a couple of weeks back.  I also bought a full-size ironing board.  I've been using a table top size for years and it worked fine, I didn't have a lot of room at the old house so I used the small one and it was fine.  Then we moved here and even though the house is bigger and I have an actual laundry room, I didn't really have a place for a full-sized one.  So, I used the tabletop one on top of the dryer.  Also, I was hanging Bill's work shirts and jeans in the laundry room behind the door and then Otter's work clothing when she worked at the party store - Party City, in case anybody is interested in it (I didn't mention the actual name at the time for safety reasons.)  When she changed jobs, the uniform is one of their t-shirts and jeans so her clothing didn't really need to be ironed.  I just never changed my system, for some reason.  I took the iron holder/clothes hanger off the back of the laundry room door when we put Maggie Moo's pillow/bed in there and I decided to just go ahead and get a bigger ironing board.  It's now in my closet, it's collapsed and leaning up against the back of the closet.  Bill's work clothes are now going to be put in the front of his part of the closet.  I might eventually move it to the front/craft/guest/YARN room.

I might be done with my mink yarn scarf soon.  It's about 2 rows to an inch, and it is measuring about 56 or 57 inches.  My standard scarf size is about 60" in length.  I'll know "when I get there" if it's done or not, but it might be.  I'm going to get back on Otter's slant stitch poncho as soon as the mink scarf is done.  Then my UFO's will be done, with the exception of my scrap yarn lap blanket because I'm out of scrap end pieces for the moment and that's what I'm making it with, and Bill's quilt because I still need a little more fabric but I'm looking for things that fit his personality and interests.  I do have projects lined up, however!  Two scarf/hat sets for Otter and one for Froggy.  I also have a couple of non-crochet related craft projects. I'm finished with the tray I was working on and am nearly finished with the shadow box I'm making with Mom and AJ's stuff.  Next up is a mouse pad that I'm going to cover with the crochet pattern fabric that is on the bottom of the tray, and I may start on the Christmas ornament wreath soon.  I have a few small craft projects I'll probably work on soon, but they aren't anything major and can wait until "whenever" if they need to.

Gridlines

After today, I'm really beginning to think that the Amish might have it right when it comes to electricity!

Otter came over to do her laundry today.  She called me to let me know that not all the lights in the house were coming on, and the ones that were coming on were not very bright.  I told her to call Bill, he thought maybe it was a fuse or breaker.  He told her that she should be able to do her laundry.  She got the washer started, then when she went back to check on it she discovered that the washer controls showed it was finished.  But the washer was full of water and it didn't look like it had done anything at all beyond filling up.  That's when she called me again, and I came home (I took an early lunch.)  We checked a few things and then I restarted the washer.  No water came in, but it did start to agitate a bit - not much.  I talked to Bill and he told me to check the breaker box.  Everything looked good, he had me flip one a see if anything happened - nothing.  Otter and I lined her laundry basket with a trash bag and then we took all her damp and soapy clothing out of the washer.  We got as much water out as we could, then we put it in the bag-lined basket and I followed her up to the closest laundromat.  I gave her enough quarters to get her laundry done, we didn't need any more detergent for it.  I left to go back to work, she said it washed ok and she also used the dryers.

Bill took off a couple of hours early.  He thought it might be a specific fuse, so he went to get a replacement.  He came home and put it in, and discovered that it wasn't any better.  Being an Engineer who works around electricity at times, he got out his tools including the multi-meter and he started checking things.  He discovered that only have the electric current that should have been coming into the house was actually coming in.  I called the electric company and *RHTW started the conversation with them.  I think I scared the girl who answered - which actually doesn't bother me - and she agreed it was an emergency and told me that she'd get a crew sent out. I told her I wanted her name and her word on it.  I also told her that if we had any choice other than their services we would have already switched.  It was just about time for me to leave work by then, so I headed out and got my 2 errands done - mailbox to drop mail in on the way home and Subway to get dinner to bring home in case we were unable to cook anything.  But the electric company did what they said (for once!) and they got a crew out here.  They were just finishing up.

It seems that one half of the new lines they buried 2 months ago (the ones that have absolutely nothing to do with my house other than being attached to the box in my yard) failed.  There is now a very large, long cable now stretching from the back yard of the neighbor to the west (the one we don't like), running up the fence line in my yard, beside the fence line of the dog yard, through the gate of the dog yard, across the dog yard and up to the box outside my wall.  And they say they'll be out to bury it in 2 weeks.  The foreman did call me after they left, he thought maybe he'd been rude to me but I didn't think so.  However, I did tell him that I appreciated him calling me back.  He was appalled at how bad the back yard looks and that it's been over 2 months now, incidentally.

Bill ran the washer through a full cycle and it seems to be working.  The house was getting a little warm since the a/c wasn't able to get enough power to work but it's working now and is cooling.  Maggie is still asleep, where she's been for the last few hours.  But then the words "energy crisis" are almost perfect to describe her.

I really, really, REALLY need the next week off.  I'm pretty sure that if I see a certain phone number (Younger Boss) on my caller id - I'm going to let it go to voice mail!

*RHTW.  She gets responses.

Just a Few More Hours.....

Then it's Friday!

Today was what I refer to as Crazy Day, the day shortly before my vacation when the Boys realize that I'm about to be gone for a week.  It followed the usual pattern, and Younger Boss followed his usual script.  Tomorrow will be busy in the morning, but then Younger Boss will be leaving early and the Teenager won't be in at all.

Maggie Moo got to go have a shopping adventure with me this afternoon.  We bought her a pillow to sleep on, shortly after we lost Frasier.  Before that, she slept on their blankets or on the loveseat (when we're not in the living room to tell her to get down) because Frasier tore up anything that even remotely resembled a bed or pillow.  He had a mind of his own and we never could figure out why he did most of the things he did.  A lot of it was the coyote instincts, but I don't think that was why he hated dog beds!  We weren't sure if Mags would sleep in one or tear it up since she'd possibly follow in Big Brother's footsteps so we got a pillow.  She took a few days to decide that it was ok, then it became her bed.  When we were in the living room, anyway!  She's taken to sleeping in the hallway, close to the baby gate that keeps her out of our room.  Last night, we put her pillow in the laundry room which is right outside of our room.  She started to snuggle up on it, but then she bonked her behind on the door and that was it for sleeping in the laundry room!  She moved back to the hallway.  We left the pillow in there, I think she did move to it later on though.  Bill suggested I go get her an actual bed.  We went to a local semi-chain store, where we got her shots when they had a clinic.  They had a few, but I was not about to spend over $30 on a dog bed - even if it was heated!  But then we remembered that Otter's tool store has dog beds.  I texted her this morning while she was on shift, she told me the size but I wasn't sure if it was big enough of not.  But after we left the first store, and Maggie Moo visited their grassy area, we went to Otter's store.  She wasn't working this evening, but Maggie knew where she was when we went up to the door.  I found their dog beds and put one down on the floor - Maggie immediately got in it.  It came home with us, after the cashier melted into a puddle while petting the beagle, and I put it where the blankets have been.  Maggie immediately got in it and went to sleep.  She gets up and changes position every so often, she started out with her bottom in the bed and her head out but now she's reversed course and her head is in the bed but her behind is hanging over the edge.  It's plaid, sort of felt-fleecy feeling and 100% washable.  It has a removable pillow.  It is normally around $19.00 but it was on sale and then they also let me use my 20% off coupon so I got it for under $8.00.  Maggie's pleased.  I might move it to the laundry room tonight.

The electric company did send out a representative from the electrical contractor.  He got here just before I did and he was waiting on me.  I showed him the trench that is still in my yard, I gave him the crepe myrtle labels with the information about them, and he decided how much dirt and grass he'll need to bring.  He was amazed at how deep the trench is, considering that it should not have sunk at all - not that the previous contractor (different company) had ever really finished filling it in.  He will be here Monday morning and it should take him around 3 hours.  I think that there are only 3 crepe myrtles after all, two have managed to come up again but he said he's probably going to bring me 5.  After he left, when Maggie Moo and I were coming out the door to get in the car there was another truck pulling up in front - he had been told that all we needed was a little grass put down and he was here for that.  He said that the electric company does things like this all the time, not take correct information from customers and then send out multiple contractors with incorrect information.  It's really frustrating, we've been dealing with this for over 2 months now.  It had better be fixed on Monday.

At least tomorrow is Friday.  And I have a 9-day weekend!  That is a GOOD THING.

3 Down. 2 To Go.

Workdays, until this week is over.

The last week before vacation is always so loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.  This week is no exception.  Tomorrow (Thursday) will be Crazy Day.  Also known as the"Day Boys Realize that the Office Manager is About to Be Gone For a Week."  It won't be particularly crazy, at least as far as work that needs to be done because, let's face it here:  I'm obsessively organized pretty much 24/7/365 and don't have all that much to do of so-called normal stuff.  But Younger Boss is going to bring the Teenager into the office for a couple of hours and I'm sure that they will both try to find fires for me to put out!

I went to the grocery store this afternoon.  I read labels, along with getting groceries.  After Otter moved out last October, I switched us to whole-wheat pasta.  Not whole-wheat spaghetti, we tried it once and it was pretty disgusting.  The pasta was better but we never really liked it all that much.  So, I read pasta labels today.  The whole-wheat pasta is actually made with MORE fat than the regular stuff.  The only other difference is that the regular stuff has more carbs.  Not that many more, either.  I bought regular pasta tonight, once the remaining whole-wheat we have on hand is gone we will go back to the regular stuff.

Maggie learned a new trick today!  Well, actually it's not a trick.  But it is something new that she learned.  We've had her for something like 8 or 9 years (I don't want to go look it up) and for just about every weekday of that time she's been put out in the garage every morning - with access to the back yard, a visit to the treat can and the water dish always goes out, too.  Every morning, she's had to be told to go out.  Always.  After all these years, she finally realized that she has to go outside when I leave for work - she took herself out to the garage at the normal time, and sat beside her treat can to wait for me to bring the water out and open the can.  Guess she's a bit of a slow learner, huh?!  We'll see if she remembers tomorrow morning.  :)  She's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she's a good girl and a lot of fun.  And very cute!  Except for when she ralphed in the kitchen floor last night and I had to clean up after her.

The electric company is supposed to have someone out here tomorrow afternoon to look at the work that they never finished up.  They can't seem to understand why we are upset at the condition they left our back yard in.  I'm thinking that I'm going to skip the preliminaries and just let RHTW* be who greets them.  Should be fun!  Well, maybe not for them.  :)

**RHTW:  She's already riled and that's a really B.A.D. thing!

Sleepy Monday Evening

Somebody has way too much time on their hands!  (That's a beagle under all that crochet.)

Monday is over.  Not a moment too soon.

I have 4 more workdays left, then I get a 9-day weekend!  It's a stay at home vacation this time, which sounds really good right about now.  Bill isn't able to take any time off at the moment, so it's just me and the beagle.  I've got plans to sleep in at least one day, although I'll probably get up and make sure Billyboy gets breakfast, his lunch packed and out the door on time.

I also have crochet plans.  Otter is going to let me know what her scheduled days off are, we probably have shopping plans and also lunch at our favorite steakhouse - Froggy, the place we took you to.

I'm fighting allergies and possibly the beginning of a sinus infection but it's too soon to tell yet.  Bill mowed the overgrown back yard yesterday and I tackled the limblets at the base of two of the 4 maple trees.  Bill got the other two trees but they were less overgrown that the two I did.  Maggie was quite happy to stay out in the backyard with us the entire time.  She spent a lot of time wandering around and twice as much time sitting on her behind watching us work!

Not much else going on at the moment, but I haven't blogged in nearly a week and Froggy would be getting on me about that soon.  :)

I Need to Take a Deep Breath

The last several days have been a whirlwind.  A fun one, but still a whirlwind.

As I previously mentioned, Froggy and her daughter (KN#3) arrived last Thursday from TEXAS.  We shopped.  We shopped a lot.  A LOT.  But, I don't think we shopped as much this time as we have on previous visits.  But, it was still a lot of shopping.  We had a lot of fun, we visited a bunch and we also went to Woolaroc which was really fun.  This time, the buffalo was actually working - the buffalo is a mechanical contraption that eats trash.  It's a metal buffalo that is covered with an authentic buffalo skin and it has a hole where the mouth would be.  If you hold your trash (small amounts) underneath the mouth, it is pulled up into the mouth.  (The buffalo's rear is against a wall, behind the wall is where the trash winds up so it's at least somewhat anatomically correct!)

Yesterday, we went to another local landmark:

Also known as the Praying Hands.  Unofficially, it's also called the founder of the university's monument to himself.  This is on the ORU campus and really is something to see.  It is supposed to look like a pair of praying hands, but up close it looks like a pair of grabbing hands.

This morning, Froggy and KN#3 left.  They flew in to Oklahoma City and rented a car.  They saw a couple of things in the OKC area and then drove to us.  They had reservations for a 3:30 flight back to Houston, but as of tonight they are still in the OKC area.  The Houston airport closed to all incoming flights due to Tropical Storm Bill.  They got a hotel for the night and will hopefully be able to fly out tomorrow - but TS Bill will be here tonight/tomorrow and there is a good chance that all flights out of OKC may be cancelled, so they may be staying another night too!  Froggy, you probably should have flown into OKC and then out from Tulsa.  That way, you could have come back to our house for the night.  Maggie Moo misses you.  By the way, Bill is very happy that there is a storm named after him although I think he'd prefer that it be an actual hurricane.  :)

At least I have a short week, 4 days.  Last week was a 4-day week as well, I took of Friday of last week and then yesterday (Monday) for their visit.  I work 5 days next week, then I'm off the next week and will be having a home vacation.

Which may well be spent dealing with the idiotic electric company.  My yard is still a big mess.  I filed an official complaint with them a few weeks ago and they still have not finished my yard.  They said that someone would contact me about coming out to look at the damage and THEN, after that, they would schedule the repairs to my yard.  One day last week, after I'd left for work, I got a call from the foreman of the crew who was wanting to come to my house and replace the grass - they hadn't even sent anyone out to look yet.  And it's more than just the grass.  I told him that I was expecting someone to come out and look at my yard first, and he said for me to call him after the representative made it out.  Then Friday afternoon there was a note on my door from another grass replacement crew informing me that they had attempted to get in my yard and were unable since the gate was locked - and that they would try again on Monday.  I called the number on the note and told them the story.  Today, I called the complaint department phone number (a local number) and was transferred to OHIO.  Needless to say, he was unable to help me.  He was nice, but there was nothing he could do - although I did tell him on record that if I had any choice at all in the matter, I would no longer use their services.  He gave me a different phone number to call and I eventually got to talk to a local person - and she told me that according to their records the complaint was finished and they'd done all the work already.  Not hardly!  She made a couple of calls and I now have an appointment with an inspector,he'll be out at my house on a specific day next week to look at the damage because they keep thinking it's just a small spot and I also have to call her tomorrow with the information on the crepe myrtles that were destroyed (both the number and variety.)  Frustrating in the extreme!

But I did mean the part about not using their service any longer if we had a choice.  One night last week, the power went out about 11:00 p.m.  It was the entire neighborhood.  I called the service number, the recording is supposed to be for the local area but I heard all about the power outages in the New Orleans area and then I held for 20 minutes.  I disconnected and re-dialed - only to get a message about a storm causing an outage in Appalachia!  And I held for nearly 40 minutes - then I remembered the battery operated radio.  At midnight, the news break talked about a power outage in my area due to a car hitting a pole.  I disconnected the phone at that point and went to bed - just in time for the power to come back on.

What ever happened to customer service?  Because it sure doesn't exist at the local electric company!

ZZZZZ Yawn ZZZZZ

Ottermom's tired!

I've been running all over creation since Thursday afternoon, when Froggy & her daughter (KN#3) arrived.  So far, we have shopped at:  3 fabric stores, 1 thrift store, 3 antique malls, l very large flea market, 1 museum gift shop, 1 grocery store and a couple of convenience stores.  We also went to a museum, attempted to find family graves at a small cemetery about an hour away (no luck), have eaten at 3 or 4 different places, went to one park (fed about a billion squirrels!), one used book store, have taken a bunch of beagle walks and have gone to 3 or 4 small towns surrounding Tulsa.  They'll be here through Tuesday, so we have one more day of shopping and we've got 2 fabric stores planned plus Braums.

Otter and J have been to all the places with us, but Otter has to work tomorrow so she won't be able to go with us. But I understand that they both have tired feet, like the rest of us!

Think it's going to be an early-to-bed kind of night!

Yet?

Is it Friday, yet?

WHY NOT?

Day after tomorrow, Froggy!

It's only Tuesday and I feel like I've worked a month non-stop already.

Maggie Moo made a new friend yesterday on our 2nd walk of the day.  We take two walks if the weather cooperates, one in the morning before work and then one in the afternoon or evening.  It was 8:00 yesterday evening before we actually got out the door, it was hot and humid so we waited a little later than normal but I'm thinking that we're going to keep our 2nd walk later in the day through the summer.  Anyway, Maggie Moo is a pretty quiet dog.  She "talks" but she doesn't bark very often and also doesn't "baroo" too many times.  (Beagles have a particular call which sounds like Baroo.)  When she does "baroo", it is in a very deep voice and also very L.O.U.D.  We were heading up the street and I noticed a lady walking a fairly large dog.  Maggie Moo noticed them too, and she started barking.  Seriously barking.  With a few "baroos" thrown in for good measure.  I attempted to make her hush, which was hard - and it normally is pretty easy.  She just about yanked my left arm out of the socket in her haste to go see this other dog, she was not being aggressive and I could tell she was in Friend Mode.  The other dog was very skittish, but the owner made it come towards us - I could tell she was working on training it.  When the got closer, I realized that it was not a dog.  At all.  It was a wolf.  A very young one.  4 months old in fact, and her name is Luna.  She is absolutely gorgeous.  They tend to be skittish in new situations and it can take them a while to warm up to new people and animals.  She was actually a little scared of Maggie, her owner and I both worked them through meeting and Maggie was fine once she got to touch noses.  Luna was still a little unsure, but she eventually came up to me and (very quickly!) touched my hand with her nose - and then retreated behind her owner.  I think that the owners name is either Laura or Laurel, she's working on establishing her dominance over Luna and is also working on socializing her.  They have two other dogs, one is a lab and I've seen him jumping over 6 feet - straight up!  The other day is an older female and is actually about 3/4 wolf.  The older female is the dominant dog in their pack and now they are teaching Luna that they are dominant.  I've had to do that with "regular" dogs before and sometimes it's hard.  Luna eventually came up to me again and Laurel held her still for a while and then had me pet her.  Talk about soft!  Very fluffy and very sweet natured.  She will make a very good member of their family, she needs a lot of work but she'll get there.  I hope we see her again.  We probably will.

We walked the furkids together for a while, Luna has learned to move over and sit down when a car comes - Maggie Moo is still working on our prompt for cars.  "Car, With Me" means that a car is coming and we need to move to the curb, and that Maggie is to be very close to me.  "With Me" means that she needs to slow down/speed up/quit goofing around and come stand by me.  She's getting it but it's taking a while.  Beagles are stubborn and not always smart!  (She did learn very fast what my water bottle means and she has figured out her own way to ask me to get water into her cup - she stands up, puts her feet on my knee and makes a specific vocalization.)  By the time we got to the end of the street, Luna was a lot more relaxed and I think she'll be fine.  Maggie Moo was totally chilled out, she was happy to have another dog to walk with us.

For the most part, wolves are illegal to own but their are some specific types that are allowed.  But you don't just go to the pet store and buy one, the process includes a permit and it used to be restricted to Native Americans but I'm not sure if it still is or not.  Possibly, specific breeds are.  I think I'd love one, but it's not something I'll ever consider seriously.  I don't think that more of them should be domesticated, they are wild and should stay that way.  But the ones that have already been domesticated and have had several generations of domesticity are a different story, they are canines and bond with their den mates which includes their people.  They aren't really able to be returned to the wild.  They are very intelligent animals, we have already had a good taste of a dog with a lot of wild ancestors - Frasier was a lot of coyote and a little dog thrown in, after all.  Wolves, wolf/dogs and coyote/dogs tend to bond very strongly with their people.  Knowing what we now know about them, I'm kind of surprised that Frasier took to us so fast and that he bonded with us (me, mostly) so completely.  He had a lot of behaviors that I never really worried about (they weren't bad), and probably didn't blog about them either, that really made his non-dog-ness very obvious.

This is long enough, so I'm going to his the "publish" button on this now.

Not In A Hurry

For Monday.

I guess I can't stop Monday from coming, no matter how much I whine about it.

Oh well.  I'm off next Friday and the Monday after that, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much since I have two 4-day weeks with a 4-day weekend in the middle!

At least I don't have Otter's work schedule.  She goes in to work tomorrow at 2:00 a.m.!  Her store had a parking lot sale this weekend and they have to change all the price tags back from sale to regular prices.

Maggie Moo has had a good weekend.  Yesterday, I tossed her in the car (OK, I opened the door and she jumped in) and we went to Otter's apartment.  She hadn't been there before so it was a new experience for her.  She has had experience with stairs, she knew what to do to get up them although it took her a little while to understand the landings between the floors - there were all these doors and I wouldn't let her go up to any of them!  Eventually, we got to the 3rd floor and she got to go into a door.  Which made her very happy, especially when that door opened at Otter and Roomie were there.  She got lots of attention, petting and ear scratches.  We visited for a while, then we left and she managed to get down the stairs although it took her a little longer. I took her to Petsmart after that, we needed to get her a new name tag with the updated phone numbers on it.  She was happy to get there, there were lots of people and other animals to see.  She had that little beagle smile on her face the whole way home!

She had to get a tag with updated phone numbers because we got rid of our landling (home) phone last week.  When we bought our home, we took over the existing phone number that Bill's dad had when it was his house.  But the phone lines were not the best, every time it rained the connection would get worse and we had the company come out more than once to check it.  One time, it got to the point that the phone was basically useless.  They ran new lines, replaced a bunch of stuff and it got better but never good again.  We checked, the problem was external and not in the house so it was their lines.  We discussed getting rid of it a couple of years back and going to strictly cell phones but after one particular ice storm when the cell towers all went down due to battery issues,we decided to keep the landline for a while - this was before the time it got so bad.  But we realized that we hardly ever used it and most people that needed to contact us called us on one of our cell phones anyway.  So, last week we cancelled the landline.  Maggie's tag had the home phone and my cell phone on it, but the home phone was the first number.  She now is sporting a dog-bone shaped, pink tag with her name and both our cell phones on it.

I bought a miniblind for the front/craft/guest/YARN room last week.  Bill installed it today.  There is a lot more light in that room now, and I can open or close it easier than the curtains.  Plus, it gives us a little more privacy than the one remaining curtain did.  Otter had 2 curtains in there, one inside the window seal and one set on a curtain rod.  Both were navy blue, she wanted privacy since it was her bedroom after all, and less light at night.  But I need a little more light in there when I'm crafting, which I've been doing a lot of lately, or crocheting, which I do a lot of anyway.

Not that I ever manage to decrease the amount of yarn I have.  It seems to grow on it's own!  I don't help it at all.   :)

It's Summer Alright

(Froggy, this is just for you.)

And the skeeters are out!

The recent wet weather just keeps giving ad giving.

Apparently, mosquito dunks are becoming the hot, gotta have item in parts of TEXAS and Oklahoma.

Can't say I'm surprised!

Call Batman! The Joker Has Escaped!

Joker (Otter) and Harley Quinn (J) were sighted in the Dallas area last weekend.

J's mask was originally a little different, but parts of it were apparently thrown out when it was in pieces waiting for paint to dry.  Otter's suit came from a thrift store, I think it was $10.00.  Her shoes were from a shoe store, the props were made from either things they had already or dollar store toys.  Otter bought her wig online, it was a little tight on her but she can probably fix that.  She made the vest, J found the purple tie and they both sewed his costume.  He's pretty tall and has big feet, he couldn't find any shoes in his size in the black and red combination so he finally took some he had and painted them.  There may be some fine-tuning on the costumes, but they looked great.  They will go to TNT, the anime con in Tulsa in the summer, in these costumes.  Otter said that there were a few other female jokers,but no other male Harley Quinns.  As such, they got stopped for pictures often.  They tend to go with less common, unusual costumes or combinations and they get a lot of attention.  Even in an arena where everybody is in costume, they get a lot more attention than most attendees.  They had a lot of fun, obviously.  The first picture has a third person, I think it's one of the people they went with.  Possibly J's mom.

Maggie Moo got her shots today, it was time for the rabies shot and DPT/whatever it's called!  We didn't go to the vet this time.  I called them to ask what she was due for and they reminded me that if I brought her in there I would have to pay for an exam, so they suggested I take her to one of the local agriculture/farm/pet stores that has shot clinics since she's been in there recently twice and had exams.  So, we went to the store in our little town since they have theirs on Wednesday afternoons.  Maggie was happy, she wasn't sure at first about the car ride but once she figured out that we didn't turn where we normally did for the V.E.T., she gave me a big puppy grin and curled up in the seat with her tail wagging on full!  At one point, she stood up and put her paws on the dashboard to see out (we were stopped at a light) and she was quite happy to get out of the car.  She got to visit grass she hasn't visited before and she also got to meet two other beagles that were at the shot clinic.  She was quite happy to wait in line until it was our turn.  Then we went into the exam room and she figured it out!  Cue droopy beagle.  She buried her face in my stomach and was very happy when I lifted her off of the exam table after her shots.  Then she was happy to leave, we visited more grass she hadn't been to before and she got in the car willingly.  She's a little quiet tonight, which is usual after shots.  But she's fine otherwise.

She is not eating herself into a food coma, I filled up the food reservoir with the remaining food in the bin and it was just almost enough to fill it up.  She ate however much she wanted this morning, but she didn't keep eating.  Every so often, if I'm in the kitchen she'll go in there and see what I'm up to.  She sometimes grabs a piece or two of kibble, but mostly she just looks at it - I think she's checking to see if it's still there!  We'll watch her anyway, if she does act like she's going to eat eat eat just because she can then we'll start putting it up on the counter after she's eaten breakfast.  At the moment, she's snoring.

I bought mini blinds to put in the front room today.  The front room is also known as the guest/craft/YARN room.  When it was Ottter's room, she had a darker curtain inside the window sill and then a navy blue curtain on the curtain rod.  It's always gotten a lot of light.  She didn't want a lot of light in her window when she was trying to sleep.  After she moved, I wanted a little more light since it's where I do most of my crafting, so I donated the curtain from the inside of the window sill.  We still have the outer curtain in there, but I think it's a little too sheer to use in the room guests will sleep in.  So, I got a mini blind and Bill will put it up in the next few days.  The navy blue curtain will get put in the donate bag.  Eventually, I will have enough doilies for my curtain project - I got another 3 or 4 last weekend.

Froggy, want to help me piece it together and see where it stands?

Not Enough Chocolate!!!

It's been one of those days all over the place.  There is not enough chocolate in the world today.  Work stuff mostly, nothing serious or to worry about.  Just a lot of it!!!!!

Otter is back from her vacation today.  The one I didn't mention!  She brought her car over to our house last Tuesday and I ran her (and a trunkload of luggage) over to J's house a few towns away.  From Tuesday until Friday, she and J spent most of their time working on their Joker/Harley Quinn costumes.  On Friday morning along with J's mom, some of her friends and some of theirs, they all set out for Dallas.  They arrived at their hotel to discover that parts of it were flooded out so they weren't able to stay there.  The hotel management had arranged rooms for everyone who had reserved rooms, at a hotel down the street and paid for their first night as well as paying for food for them.  That was not necessary, the hotel couldn't help the floods but it was a nice thing for them to do.  They went to Dallas Fan Expo, which is a comic related convention (con is the short word) and the had a blast.  Otter hasn't sent me the pictures yet but she did show them to me - the female Joker/male Harley Quinn costumes were a huge success.  Although Otter did say that her short green wig was too tight.  They spent Sunday doing the tourist thing around Dallas and Denton, (she has now discovered IKEA!) then they got back to J's house last night.  I went out there after work to pick her up - and her trunkload of luggage!  Which was more than she had to start with, because she is her mother's daughter and she shops!  She was pretty tired, but she wanted to go to Wallyworld with me.  Among other things, I bought her some donut holes so she'll have breakfast tomorrow (she goes in to work at 5:00 a.m.), rolls and dinner for tonight.  She was tired, but she really enjoyed herself.  J had a good time as well, they were all tired but it was happy tired.  The cosplay costumes need a bit of tweeking before the wear them to the con in Tulsa in July.

I went to Wallyworld for one of these:

We realized that Maggie is not the food vacuum we thought she was.  Now that she doesn't have to eat all the food in her bowl so Frasier doesn't get it, she's eating until she gets full and then leaving food.  She eventually wanders back and finishes it, but sometimes she still leaves some behind.  Her bowl used to be emptied, and we think that her big brother might have had a lot to do with it.  We've been leaving a little food in her bowl at times and she's not acting like she wants to eat until she pops.  We're going to try one of these and see if it works.  I expect her to be a piggie at first, but I think she'll adjust.  The one I bought has a 10-pound reservoir, it comes in three sizes and Wally had the large or the small but not the medium.  I was looking for the medium, but I didn't want to wait for them to get it in stock again and the small was just too little.  I put it down next to her food bowl and put a small handful of food in it.  She ate it, but she didn't wolf it down.  We had just come back from our walk and she usually gets a treat or two after walking anyway.  We have always used a fairly large rubbermaid-type bin to hold their dry food, but it's become very obvious that it will take her forever to go through the 20-pound bags of dry food we used to use.  Also, I've changed the brand of food.  We tried a few different brands and Pedigree was the one that worked best for Frasier.  It was fine for her, but his nutritional needs were a little stricter than a garden-variety beagle but Pedigree was good for her, too.  Also, Pedigree was the one that made him the least stinky!  I switched Maggie Moo to one of the IAMS brand dry foods, I mixed it in with the remaining Pedigree and switched it slowly.  She wasn't sure of it at first, but she likes it now.  I don't have to buy the big bags anymore, and once the bin is empty (which might be very soon as I'm going to pour as much kibble out of it and into the 10-pound feeder in the morning), the bin is going bye-bye at least as far as dog food storage.  It may become another recycle bin, unless Bill can come up with a use for it.

I'm also thinking about getting rid of the deep freeze.  I don't use it nearly as much as I used to, now that Otter's moved out I don't go through nearly as much bread for one thing.  I do still have stuff in it, but it's probably less than a quarter full.  Some of the contents now include a couple of cans of coffee but since they aren't open they will stay fresh.  I keep opened cans in the freezer.  There are two packages of chicken breast and a few packages of ground turkey meat.  I think I have two dozen tamales, which we probably need to eat soon!  And 6 ice trays.  I can easily get all of that in the kitchen freezer, although maybe not the ice trays.  Bill wants the small amount of room the deep freeze takes up, if I do decide to get rid of it.  I'll probably put it on craigslist, since it still works fine.  We just don't really need it now.

My feet are tired and are telling me I need to stay on the couch, so that's what I'm going to do with my evening!