Busy Day! July's Over & I've Been Reading

So I guess I'd better get my book list posted. Here goes:

1) Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvick. I was very disappointed in this, I've read other things by this author that were good but this one and another of her book I've read recently have me convinced that I probably won't read anything else of hers.

2) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. About the 1996 expedition to Mt. Everest which resulted in several deaths.

3) Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner. Ok, once I learned to ignore the very bad language. Which sometimes is enough to make me stop reading, but this was a short book so I finished it. I think she's a good actress, but I'm not that impressed with her as a person.

4) Chili Con Carpses by J. B. Stanley. Part of a series, I probably should start with # 1 but I'm not really sure if I want to or not. It was ok.

5) October Song by Beverly Lewis. Part of her Amish stories, it was pretty good. It was additional stories about people in her earlier books, including book # 18 on my list.

6) Crafts to Celebrate the Seasons. Mary Engelbriet. A few things I might make!

7) Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. Her books never fail. She is usually on my reading list and I own several of her books. Like I think I mentioned last month, she is about my favorite author.

8) Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. About a young man who marched to his own drummer and decided he could go to Alaska for a while. He was going to live off of the land. His ignorance cost him his life.

9) No! I Don't Want to Join a Bookclub! by Virginia Ironside. I read a book by Barbara Bush, she said that she reads 100 pages of a book before she gives up just in case it gets better. She obviously never read this one! I didn't quite make it that far, I think I got to page 15. So I don't know if this really counts or not, but I did try.

10) Christmas in Harmony by Phillip Gulley. This was part 4 or 5 of a series, and it was so cute I decided to read the rest of the series.

11) Home to Harmony by Phillip Gulley.
12) Just Shy of Harmony by Phillip Gulley.

13) Life Goes On by Phillip Gulley. He's a Quaker pastor and he writes what he knows, the main character is also a Quaker pastor and the series is funny and cute. I'm going to see if there are any I've missed.

14) Collector's Encyclopedia of Milk Glass by Betty & Bill Newbound. I read a lot of this type of book, and I really enjoyed this one. I learned a few things I didn't know from this book.

15) Almost Friends by Phillips Gulley. I actually think that this might be the last one so far in the series.

16) Dirt Under Her nails, an American Farmer and her Changing Land by Marilee Foster. Not too boring, but not one I'd recommend.

17) Warman's Lalique by Mark F. Moran. Laliqe was a french glass artist, his company is still in business and is still turning out absolutely magnificent glass.

18) The Redemption of Sarah Caine by Beverly Lewis.

19) The Firm by John Grisham. I've always heard that Grisham is such a wonderful author, but I was not very impressed. Quite frankly, he writes in a very amatuerish style and there is not much substance. Extremely predictable.

20) The Darwin Awards # 4 Intelligent Design by Wendy Northcutt. This series is very funny. The gene pool is self-cleaning!

I had a little more time to read this month, with Otter being in Texas for 10 days. I usually average between 15 and 20 anyway. After driving class, Otter wanted to go to a book launch party at the library so while she was involved in that I checked out almost more books than I could carry. So I'm set for a couple of days. Plus I bought two more books by Maeve Binchy at a thrift store this afternoon and I still have several that I've bought recently to read or re-read.

Ok, that's it!

Some Stuff From Today

Maggie Moo! She was watching me take my pictures, and when she found a place to park I took her picture. Frasier was out in the yard, or I would have got him, too. Now that the camera is put away, he's come back inside and he's right beside me. Sleeping on the floor. And Maggie is right next to him, also snoozing.

Sorry it's sideways! This is my Fenton basket that I got at Goodwill when Froggy was here. I think I paid $3.00 for this one. Let's just say I got a very good deal on it. It's also signed by the artist on the bottom.

This is also a find from when Froggy was here. I had been looking for a picnic basket to store my yarn and crochet stuff in. I didn't want to spend a lot, I wanted to stay around $5.00. I saw a few at the flea market but they were either too big or more than I wanted to pay. After the flea market, picking up Otter from church and junktique store, we went to a craft/flea that had just opened in the recent past but I'd never had time to go. I found my basket for $3.50, and it's just perfect. I might look for a couple more, they stack nicely and work great to store things in. Like my fabric & sewing supplies.

Bill brought this home today. It's my rain barrel. Again, sorry the picture is sideways! There is probably a way to rotate it, but I haven't found it yet. He got it today and it will be hooked up to the downspout soon. Bill's going to build a frame of some type to raise it up enough so that he can fix up a spigot near the bottom so it will be easier to get rain water out of it and I won't have to resort to a bucket. He said that the place he got it from also sold them with holes cut in the side, apparently a lot of people make dog houses from them.

This is the other thing I found in the yard today. Froggy, this one is just for you! It was hopping around in the vicinity of the dog's water dish, and it's probably the same one I had to take out of the garage the other day. I don't know if it got in the garage when I had the side door open the other day, or if it managed to get in the dog door flap. It's a nice sized frog, about the size of my palm. I saw him hopping around when I was taking the picture of the rain barrel.

Otter had her first day of driving lessons. She had classroom lessons today and will have them again tomorrow. She said she learned a lot, but she is tired. They had a few breaks and she also had a homework sheet, which she finished already.

I guess I'd better get this posted, Bill's hungry! It's going to be dinner out of a can tonight, I'm not in a cooking mood for once. Oh well, he won't complain - he likes canned stew! Be right back.

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(Later) Ok, we had dinner and now Bill is happy again! It was Dinty Moore canned stew, easy meal and very good. I'm still having problems with salad, every time I eat salad now I have an upset stomach. It's really frustrating! I've tried different ingredients, dressing, etc., and it doesn't matter - I just can't eat it lately! But the stew, while probably more fat than I normally eat, didn't bother me.

Otter is about to have a conniption fit! We just found a trailer for the new Harry Potter movie online. She's just finished (rapidly) texting her best friend about it - they are both rabid, there is no other word for it. This movie will be much darker than the early ones. They have been getting gradually darker, which follows the books and the story line. It still is one we'll see, and as Otter frequently reminds me - it's one that will get the full treatment. Popcorn, cokes, candy and tickets bought days in advance. Probably will see it at the IMAX, if it's there.

While I'm on the subject of movies, I see that The Day The Earth Stood Still is being remade. I'm really not sure if I like that idea or not. The original movie is so good. It would be very hard to top. But very easy to goof it up big-time. Which might be what they did, based on the trailer I saw. I'm reserving judgement for the moment. But I'm not getting my hopes up too high. After all, War of the Worlds original was and is a tremendous movie. Until Tom Cruise got ahold of it!

Can you tell I'm a sci-fi fan? And that I'm obsessed with the 50's era sci-fi? I like most of it, but that era is my favorite. Well, there is that little show from the 1960's, but you can't guess which one I mean! (No, not Lost In Space). :)

Hippos & Birdies!

It's Froggy's birthday today. She's older than I am, but she'll still never be as OLD as Toadly!

I just realized as I was typing that my family has a lot of animal nicknames. Like bordering on an obsessive amount! I'm Cricket (yeah, I know it's a bug and not an animal!), or Ottermom, my sister is Froggy, our brother is Toadly, his grandkids call him Duck (and he's also known as the Monkey's Aunt - long story), my daughter is Otter, or insane kitten, or Monkey. It's our mother's fault. Not fault as in a bad thing, but I think she's probably responsible. She loved animals and she passed that on to us. Which I think is a good thing, by the way!

Speaking of Otter, she and I just got back from walking the dogs. She rode her bike, I got dog detail. She probably got more excercise than I did, since she had to keep circling back to me because walking is slower than biking. She has driving class starting tomorrow, but she will probably always enjoy riding her bike. I certainly enjoy mine.

A few simplifying thoughts: When I run out of paper table napkins, which might be a while considering that I just stocked up - I'm going to switch to using cloth napkins. Less waste, less trees cut down. No, I'm not turning into a tree hugger! But I am trying to make some wise choices. Same thing about plastic, we're going to be using less plastic to store things in and more glass. I'm not going to completely stop buying baggies, for example. But I'm going to reduce the amount we use. I have a boatload of tupperware-type storage containers, which will last for a long time and they usually just sit in the cabinet. It's so much easier to just grab a ziploc instead. We've been working to reduce the amount of trash we produce, and we've also been recycling what we can for several months. I have a few other things I'm thinking about.

Otter's eBay stuff is starting to get bids. Very good sign, bids this early. She's hopeful that she'll have a good final price like she did the last time she had mold-a-rama animals. She put them on eBay and they went very high.

It's still warm, but not as hot as the last couple of days. It's in the 90's and will be for a couple of days, but the weekend is supposed to be back over 100. Just in time for the major shop-a-thon!

More Misceallenous Ramblings!

It's Monday, it's hot. I'm not feeling particularly creative at the moment, so no really good titles!

Anyway. I wanted to comment on a comment left on my last entry. My friend Jan mentioned one of her rooms looking like their had been a doggie massacre, because her dogs were all just sort of parked on the floor not moving because they were comfy. When I got home today, Maggienator was splayed out on the floor in the living room not moving and Frasier was on the opposite side of the living room with all 4 feet up in the air! I think he was hoping for a belly rub, but it was funny. Lazy dogs. Spoiled rotten, they've been inside in the air conditioning all day since Otter was home. They act like they just don't have any energy at all. I don't really think that they could be any more spoiled than they already are.

Froggy, Otter wants to let Uncle Froggy know that the moldarama animals are now posted on eBay. We'll see what happens with them.

We haven't heard anything else from our tenant, so I guess that the sheriff believed that the previous tenant does not live there any longer. When he moved out, we found some things that he left there which led us to believe that he might have been indulging in some "creative organic gardening." That might have had something to do with the authorities being interested in him or it might just be a coincidence.

Ok, the pool is calling me!

Have A Seat!

A few weeks back, the driver's seat in my car broke. I got in the car to go somewhere and I was suddenly sitting in the floorboard. Or at least it felt like that. Bill looked at the seat and he said that part of the frame on the bottom had broken. So I called around to salvage lots, but nobody has any seats for a 2002 Chevy Impala. Apparently, not too many Impalas are sent to salvage. Not surprised at that, they are really good cars. So I called the Chevy place, and they said that it would be one of three parts and that there was no way they could tell me which one over the phone. So Bill had to take the seat out, take it apart then put it back in the car without the broken piece. Which made it even more uncomfortable to drive! I took the broken piece to Chevy and the parts department eventually figured out what part I needed to order. The part came in Friday. Bill spent several hours today fixing the seat. The piece that broke is part of an assembly, we couldn't buy just the piece that broke - we had to buy the entire bottom frame of the seat. Not the foam padding & fabric, just the frame that it sits on. Which means that Bill basically had to take the entire seat apart and reassemble it on the new frame, then he discovered that he didn't have the right tool to put the seat back in. So that meant a trip to the auto parts store. Where the clerk was kind of an idiot! But anyway, he got the tool and the seat is back in the car now. I drove it around the block to make sure it is installed right and it seems to be. But I noticed that I'm sitting a lot higher in the car than I have for a while, so I think that maybe the piece that broke off was only part of what was actually broken and that I'd been slowly sinking. At any rate, it's safe again.

Which is good, because Otter is about to start driving classes and once she gets the actual driving part behind her and gets her license, my car will be the one she'll get to drive. Eventually!

We went to church today, our pastor is back. He was actually back last Sunday, but we didn't go. However, he is back and looks great. He says he feels pretty good, considering that he had pretty extensive surgery. We could tell that he was pretty tired by the time the service was over. But his prognosis is great, all the indications so far sound like the doctor's got all the cancer! His surgery was on his right side, he always gestures with his hands and today was no exception. I noticed that he was not shaking hands with people as they left, he was grabbing hands with his left hand.

It's very warm today, I probably should just say HOT and get it over with! It's above 100, the heat index (how it actually feels) was supposed to be somewhere around 110. Bill moved my car to the front yard under a tree when he was working on it, now he's doing something to his van and he's got it under a tree on the other side of the driveway so he gets at least a little shade.

We've had the sprinkler going in the back yard most of the day, the shady spots are getting watered and later on when it's cooled off the sunny areas will get watered. I've also got my sun tea jar sitting out on the deck, it is merrily making tea. Decaf!

The dogs have hardly been outside today. They are spending most of their time snoozing, generally in front of an a/c vent or under a fan. Their outside water dish is currently home to several frogs, there are generally a bunch of them hopping around but we don't usually see a lot of them actually in the water dish at the same time. Smart froggies! I was concerned that we might have a dog eat a frog, which is really gross because of the chemical reaction between the frog and the dog but so far we haven't had any. I watched Frasier the other day when he was getting a drink out of their outside dish, there was a big bullfrog in it at the time and I noticed that the frog went to one side of the dish and Frasier went to the other side. I'm kind of thinking that maybe Frasier has already had that particular learning experience and doesn't wish to repeat it. I hope so, anyway!

I refilled my hummingbird feeders this morning. We didn't see any hummingbirds for a very long time, but now we have a couple of them again. I only have two feeders out, if we get a bunch more birds then I'll put more feeders up. But right now, we just have a couple of birds.

I'm going to go make sure Bill has plenty of water while he's working on his car now. The last thing we need is for him to get heat stroke!

Some Friday Stuff

Not much, just stuff!

Froggy, you mentioned Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. I just ordered a subscription to Texas Highways, which generally makes me really homesick but I like the magazine anyway. I might get Parks & Wildlife later on.

The rain cachement system doesn't look hard at all. We already have the rain gutters. We still might get it accomplished this year.

Interesting phone call this evening. From our tenant. It seems that the sheriff's department has left more than one note on their door that they had come by, looking for someone. Today they left another note, this time it had the name of the person that they want to talk to. They are looking for our previous tenant, the one who moved out a year ago. He moved back to NY, but then a few months back I got a call from someone wanting to verify rental history - it seems he moved back to Tulsa. We are wondering if he's been a bad boy, since the sheriff's department is trying to find him! I told the tenant that if the sheriff's department doesn't believe her to give them my phone number and I'll verify that he no longer lives there. We might not ever hear any more about it, though.

Otter and I had a nice swim this evening. The pool was almost warm, it was the perfect temperature and we really enjoyed it. We'll probably be in it longer tomorrow, since it's supposed to be 101 degrees. The last time we had the pool up and it was that hot, the water was actually too warm to swim in and we bought ice blocks to put in it. Which was kind of fun, reminded me of Dad and the watermelons. But the pool was in full sun then, it gets just the right amount of shade now.

Those are my thoughts for today!

More of My Rambling Thoughts

Several things on my mind today. I guess I'll start with the phone call I got from Froggy while ago. The one where she stole my line: "We're Fine! If you hear anything on the news about our weather, we're ok." That line. The one I usually use when we've had twisty stuff in the area. The line that she used today because THEY had twisty stuff in the area. The hurricane, Dolly, went in pretty far south but it was such a big storm that SA and points north have gotten a lot of rain out of it. And not just rain, SA had a couple of those aforementioned twisty things with a few possible touch-downs. I remember a few of those hurricane related experiences myself! Froggy had quite a busy afternoon, and she'll probably never want to see again what she saw today looking out her back door! Can't really say I blame her, either. Been there, done that! Don't want to do it again.

Otter's flight yesterday was perfect timing, considering how bad their weather got yesterday afternoon and evening.

Otter had her day at home today. She slept in, she called me about 9:30 to tell me she was up. Not that she was awake, just that she was up. She didn't have a lot of chores for today, I wasn't that mean. However, tomorrow is another day! :) At the moment, she is in the pool.

It's been pretty warm here, which is normal for this time of year. We should get the 100 + stuff this weekend but it will only last for a few days, unlike South Texas so I don't really complain too much about it. We'll spend a lot of time in the pool anyway.

I'm still thinking about simplifying. I've actually done a lot of that over the last few months. Along with slowing down, we're also cleaning out and getting rid of a lot of stuff. We have so much junk that we don't need/want/use! So we've been de-cluttering, which I absolutely love to do and Bill & Otter absolutely hate to do. At any given moment, there is usually at least one and frequently more boxes and/or bags of stuff near the front door that will be taken to Goodwill to donate.

I also want to get a rain barrel. Bill thinks that it's a good idea, so I don't think I'm going to get any resistance from him. We might actually get two, with the amount of rain we get here. That might be next spring's project. I would prefer to just go buy one, but we haven't seen any locally. I don't really want to order one and pay shipping, I'm thinking that Atwood's Farm & Ranch Store (one of Froggy's favorite stores here) might carry them but they would be a springtime item. We don't want to use a trash can because it wouldn't have strong enough sides to handle the freezes we get. Something along the lines of a 55-gallon barrel would work.

Our sales tax holiday starts a week from tomorrow. It's Friday through Sunday, August 1 through 3. Otter doesn't really need a lot of clothes to start school on, but there are a few things she does need and we're going to look then. Quite a few places are taking advantage of the no sales tax and having additional sales. I am also in the market for a couple more skirts, so I'll look then as well. Otter is going to need a new coat, but I haven't seen any in the stores yet.

Otter had a visual lesson today about driving. After I got home, I picked her up and we ran a couple of errands. In one parking lot, I saw someone in an SUV pulling out of a parking spot so I decided to wait and get that spot. But then I saw him back out and back right into a small car that was also backing out at the same time, the little car had a pretty smushed bumper after that. I also think that the SUV driver was about to run, because he started to pull forward and then I could see him looking around at all the people that had witnessed the accident. I went to the next aisle over and parked, but it was a good learning experience for Otter and she now understands just why it's so important to look when you are backing out!

Ok, I've rambled enough for now.

The Otter Has Landed!

And not a moment too soon. She did enjoy her trip, and we're glad that she had the opportunity to spend time with family as well as enjoy some independence. But we're also glad that she's home.

So's the beagle. The Magginator looked exactly like the picture I posted a few days ago, and she pretty much hasn't let Otter out of her sight. The dog is just now, after about an hour of staring at Otter, content to be in another room instead of at Otter's side. Although she keeps making trips back to see that Otter is still here. Frasier was glad to see Otter, just not quite as insanely glad as the beagle.

Otter was starved when she got in, she went to the airport in SA shortly after breakfast and just had airline peanuts & a bag of fritos. So I took her through Arby's drive-through. After we got home and after she ate, she unloaded her suitcase right into the laundry hamper. I think I'll probably have two loads out of her stuff, the first is in now. Nana bought her a few things to wear, and her suitcase was about 5 lbs. heavier coming back from SA than it was when she left. She bought a few books and some other stuff while she was there.

Otter has already told me that she wants to sleep in tomorrow morning. Guess 10 days of nearly constant shopping will wear a girl out!

Tuesday Blogging About General Stuff

Ok, I know I need a better title! Suggestions welcome - but they need to be family safe, please. In other words, no R rated ones! Or worse.

It's right around 100 degrees here, and the humidity is fairly bad. I'm sitting inside with the a/c blowing, and that way I can still breathe. Because if I go outside, my lungs won't work. The dogs don't even want to run around the yard, they seem to prefer parking in front of the a/c vents. Maybe they are smarter than we are?

I talked to Otter a few minutes ago. She went shopping with Nana today, I understand that she has new clothing now but she wouldn't tell me what she got. She says she wants me to be surprised. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not! She's had a good trip, although I think she might be ready to come home. She will probably disagree with me, though. I'm sure that Maggie is more than ready for her Mom to come back.

Frasier nearly became doggie house shoes last night. He was snoozing by the bed, I was watching tv and didn't even know he was there. Until I got up! Then he went flying to the living room, and I had to go find him. He did not want to come up to me for a while. He would wag his tail at me, but he didn't want to come to me. I guess he was afraid he would get stepped on again. I think he eventually came back to the bedroom last night, but I don't think he got back in the same spot.

Looks like Texas is about to get a hurricane. Dolly strengthened to hurricane status this afternoon. I remember those days from when I was a kid, the forecasters technology was a lot less than it is now. I remember going to Pt. A after one storm came through, Dad had to help rebuild and we had to help clean up the Wreck's lodge. Of course, these days the forecasters (supposedly) know more about storms and can (well, maybe) predict with better accuracy (or so they claim) about where and when a storm will come ashore. I just hope that Dolly holds off long enough for a certain red-headed Otter's flight to get out ok and that there is enough rain and the right speed for no flooding and for SA's water shortage to be solved. The main threat for SA and parts inland like that is rain. Which they do need, but they need it slow enough to give the ground time to absorb so it doesn't cause flooding.

Froggy, I haven't gotten back to working on the tree yet. I have another project I'm trying to get finished up so I can give it to my secret sister at Sunday School this Sunday. It won't take too long, then I'll get the tree finished up and sealed.

I had to order the part that my car seat needed to have replaced. $152.00 Ouch! I didn't really want to have to spend the money, but it's a safety issue so I did. It will be in sometime early next week, then Bill will fix the seat so it will be good to go.

And just so a certain brother of mine doesn't feel left out: WE WILL BE IN SA AT CHRISTMAS. There, now he can't say he hasn't been told! Well, he might still say that. But he has been emailed and reminded here. So, no excuses Toadly!

Hot & Sticky Monday! Also, I'm On My Soapbox!

It's really not that hot, it's been around 98 today which is warm but not as bad as it sounds for any non-Texans reading this! It's just that it's humid, which is the problem. It's just humid enough that my lungs don't like it. So I'm forced to have the a/c on high in the car, which then makes me cold but that's the only way I can breathe! So I just put up with it. I really prefer drier heat. But I live in a humid area. Sigh.

I've been doing some research on nutrition. When I had my physical in January 2007, my triglicerides were "a little high" according to the doctor's office. I was very casually told to watch my carb intake, but mostly they wanted me to start watching fat and cholesterol. So I did that, then made a drastic reduction in fat and cholesterol after the gall bladder surgery. I never really worried all that much about carbs, since a higher carb/low fat diet is recommended for people without a gall bladder. However, I've been reading up on it lately and I'm kind of ticked off at the girl in the doctor's office. She wouldn't really give me any info on why I should watch the carbs or even a suggestion of what would be a good level. I have lost quite a bit of weight, 50 pounds that I know of but actually more than that since I didn't weigh until well after I'd started losing. But I have been stuck for too long now for it to be a plateau, so I started doing some reading.

And I found out just why carbs are so bad, it has to do with the way our bodies process sugar which is basically what they convert to. That's the very simplified version, anyway. Among other things, I discovered that the way carbs convert leads to a specific reaction THAT CAN CAUSE PANCREATITIS WHICH IS FREQUENTLY FATAL!

So I'm going to start watching carbs. I have already taken some steps, and will continue to work on it. I am not going to cut them out, I'm not going to follow the Atkins diet because I think it is a bunch of bunk in a lot of ways. But I am going to start making a few more adjustments. The Atkins diet actually does work at first, although it's not a permanent change. It works because the carb conversion process doesn't really happen much when you restrict carbs. Which makes sense, although that is not really how the Atkins program is put out. (The Atkins program does have a lot more fat intake, which has it own set of problems and not anything I could do or would even want to.)

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the sugar version of trans-fat. It's not really a natural substance, and the human body can't really process it well. It's also a possible factor in pancreatitis, because of the carb connection. And it's in nearly everything that is sweetened, read a few labels and you will be very surprised.

This sounded surprising at first, but non-fat salad dressings are actually not as good as low-fat versions. It's because they are generally all sweetened with HFCS. So I'm switching my salad dressings to low-fat or oil & vinegar made with olive oil. And I'm going to start checking other non-fat product labels, for example we use non-fat mayo. I am willing to bet that when I read the label, it will say HFCS as one of the first ingredients. I won't get rid of what we have now, since I don't really eat that much of it but when I run out I will get a low-fat version.

Ingredients are listed in order of quantity, starting with the largest amount and working down. I've been reading labels for fat and trans-fat amounts for quite a while now, I'm going to start reading a little closer.

I don't think that the same person still works at the doctor's office, the doctor was in her own practice but she has joined a group practice and I don't think that all of her employees went with her. Otherwise, my Inner Texan would probably get to come out and play. Which might be fun for me...

Ok, off of that particular soapbox. But there will be another one soon! There always is.

I finished registering Otter for driving lessons today. I had already set her up with a phone call, but I had to go sign the paperwork today and pay for the class. She's officially registered now, she has two days of classroom on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. The actual driving will be scheduled sometime after that. Time to be determined later on, we won't wait too long after that but it might be after school starts.

Well, I guess I'd better go make dinner for Bill before he wastes away to nothing! :)

Summer Sunday

If we didn't already know it, it is summer. It's hot today. Not as hot as S. Texas, but it's pretty warm. It's just humid enough that I don't breathe well when I'm outside for long periods of time. But I have been braving the heat and working in my workshop out in the garage. I have been repairing paint damage on some of Otter's concrete animals and working on a few other projects I have going out there. The benefit to the heat is that paint does dry quickly. Froggy, I put another coat on the bottom of the tree but it will need at least another and then there are a few spots that need to be touched up. But the tree is nearly through.

I did have to go to Wallyworld today. We have a small fan we've been using in the bedroom at night. It quit yesterday. We have another fan on a pedestal that doesn't work the best, but it does work. So we used it last night. It was like a hurricane in there! So I went and bought a new fan today. I was going to get another pedestal, but I wound up with a box fan instead. While I was out, I cleared the P.O. Box and returned the movie we rented yesterday. But other than that, we've been home all day long.

I did manage to swim after all Friday evening and Bill has been able to get in a couple of times. The spot on his leg is healing nicely, and he hit it with peroxide after swimming. But the pool doesn't seem to have bothered it.

I have talked to Otter a couple of times today. As I type this, she is at the zoo with Aunt Froggy and her kids. Otter's instructions for today included getting her aunt into the frog & reptile exhibits, no matter what she had to do to get her there!

We watched the movie 10,000 BC yesterday. Not one I would recommend. It was not overly gory, there was violence but it kind of went with the story and wasn't explicit. It just wasn't a very good story. I think it could have been, if it had had better writers. Otter, you didn't miss anything spectacular! Next weekend is my turn to pick, I'm leaning towards something funny. But that may change, between now and Saturday.

I took Frasier outside yesterday and brushed him to within an inch of his life. He was still shedding, even after multiple brushings and I decided that I'd had enough of the vacuum getting clogged after one or two uses. So I attacked the dog with the brush and now he looks so sleek. He looks really good, but he's not quite as soft to the touch anymore! At least I can pet him without a cloud of fur flying. You should have seen the back yard after we got finished, it looked like I'd been invaded by Tribbles!

Sign of the Apocolypse: Bill just told me that he's going to re-do his project (again). This time, HE'S GOING TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Be afraid, be very afraid. :)

Maggie is a Bulldozer!

I'm trying to type a blog entry, Maggie keeps getting up underneath my chair. And moving. Each time she moves, my chair rolls further. Pretty soon, I'll be out the window and the dog will be in my place!

Just heard from Otter. She went shopping with Aunt Froggy today and on Sunday, Aunt Froggy is taking her to the zoo. She said that it's hot, but she's in S. Texas so that's about normal. It's warm here, too. But not quite as hot as it is there. She sounded tired, but she's been shopping all day with her aunt so I'm sure that she's not the only one who is exhausted.

It's been a long week. I'm glad that it's Friday evening. But I really wish that it was next Wednesday about 3:30! That's when Otter's plane gets in.

I made another change to my bathroom decorating plan. I decided against varnishing the switch plates. Two that I had already had a light finish on them, I decided to get another one and an outlet cover that matched them, so I don't have to mess with varnish. I put them in the bathroom today, and they actually look better than they would have if I'd varnished them. The varnish would have been too dark, they match the towel holders that are in there and it looks good. It's only taken me 4 years, but I am finally through with the bathroom! Which means that I need to find another redecorating project!

The bath set and decorative switch plate covers that came out of the bathroom are on eBay now. Hopefully, sombody will buy them. If not, I'll donate them.

Things that I've done this week: went to WalMart more than once (groceries and a couple of things we needed), made a donation run to Goodwill which means that I had to shop there as well (I found a book), I've read quite a bit, shopped at Hobby Lobby for more yarn, went with Bill to get the tires rotated on his van, went to the post office a couple of times, played with the dogs, treated Frasier's ears. I have not managed to get in the pool once this week, every time I try something comes up. We relisted a lot of stuff for our friend and that has taken a lot of time.

Now, I'm going to go vacuum. And then after that I'll probably have to go find Frasier and apologize to him for running the vacuum! He hates it.

When I'm finished vacuuming, I just might make it to the pool. Or maybe not, I might just park myself on the couch and read. I'm going to do some crochet work tomorrow, if I think about it. I also need to finish Froggy's small ceramic tree which might get done tomorrow.

TGIF!

Thursday is Close to Friday

And I'm so ready for it to be Friday. But it's not yet, however it nearly is so I am happy about that.

This picture is from one of the cute animal sites, it's pretty much what Otter will be greeted with by a certain insane beagle I know.

The dog in the picture looks somewhat beagleish, too! Frasier will be glad to see her, but he's usually Mr. Cool when someone comes home after an absence. He pretends to be so aloof, but he's such a marshmallow.

I talked to Otter this morning. She called me last night, on the cell phone which was already turned off. So I called her back this morning and got her voice mail, so I left her a message. Then I called her grandmother's number and talked to her for a while, Otter was in the shower at the time so she had Otter call me back. Otter is enjoying her trip, she's been shopping and to the half-price book store quite a bit. She's going to see her Aunt Froggy tomorrow, no word yet from Toadly if he'll be seeing her or not. But he'd better, if he knows what's good for him!

I went to the library after work today, I always tease Otter about not getting a) more books than she can carry or b) her weight in books. However, I don't really have room to talk! Because I went with option a) today, more books than I could carry.

I'm making a change in the bathroom decor. I'm just going to hit the switchplates with varnish and be done with it. It will be quicker and easier, and also there is the benefit of not needing to be changed the next time I redecorate! Because there will be a next time. There always is. With Bill, it's injuries. But my "always will be a next time" is generally redecorating the bathroom. My first job was in a bath botique, but I already had the bathroom redcorating bug before that. It just refined it. Not that I'm complaining!

Froggy, I just realized that we never did make it to Keystone! We talked about it, but I think we tabled the discussion to decide on later. I guess we forget, because it's way past later. Well, at least you have an excuse to come see me again (well, one that doesn't involve Braum's or shopping).

Wednesday and a Bill Update

First things first! Read this story, it's heartwarming.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25700149&GT1=43001

Ok, on to the Bill Update now. Bill went to the doctor (unwillingly I might add) today, for his bladder infection follow up. He's fine, the bad germs are all gone. He wasn't happy to be there, but I pretty much just told him to quit griping and deal with it! In other words, I treat him like a grumpy two-year-old when we are at any of his (frequent) medical visits. At least this one wasn't involving stitches or X-rays, like they normally do. The doctor suggested he get a full physical, but that might take me a while to get him to agree. Actually, I don't he'll ever agree to that one.

But I told him that if he was a good boy, he could have chocolate. Of course, I had to have some of it to. I earned it by putting up with him! :)

The beagle was crazed this morning. Both dogs were very playful, which is normal. But the beagle was really nutso. I played with them both for quite a while, then Maggie dragged Frasier's blanket to the middle of the living room and looked proud of herself. Then she kept grabbing at my robe hem, I think she was trying to drag me around too. She's silly. Meanwhile, Frasier is watching all of this and as soon as he thinks she's busy, he tries to take the toys outside. But I was ready for him, so the toys stayed inside. But it's just a matter of time, he'll get them all outside eventually. Then we'll go find them all and bring them back in again. No idea why he does that!

Tired Tuesday

But the bathroom re-do is finished! Or at least I got new towels and a bathmat today. I haven't put up new switchplate covers, but I do have plain wooden ones to paint. It's just been kind of on the hot side in the garage, where my workshop is. Usually when it's hot out there, I can open the front and side doors and it cools down nicely. But there hasn't been much of a breeze lately, and since the mold count is starting to make my asthma think about showing up I decided to wait on spending much time in the garage. Of course, I could just bring in the paints & stuff! But that would be logical. Which doesn't seem to be my strong suit this week.

Anyway, back to the bathroom decor! I found a solid tan bathmat, which is slightly darker than the carpet and looks nice. It also looks like it was made better than the last one, and it's a little smaller. The previous one just barely fit in the tiled area between the shower and the carpet. The towels are a dark cream color with tan accents at the bottom. I'm thinking that I'm going to paint the switchplate covers in something close to the tan on the towels. IF I have paint in that color. Of course, if I don't have the right color paint then I get to go to Michael's! I got the towels and bathmat at Target this afternoon. But I can probably force myself to go to Michael's. :)

It was a very busy day at work today. It's going to be that way for a few days, which is normal for this time period. From about the 10th to the 15th, give or take a few days, is the busiest time. Then it goes back to being super slow. But even when it's the busiest, it's not usually extremely busy. There is just some extra stuff going on right now that I have to deal with, nothing major. Just extra. Could be worse, at least I have a job that has good part-time hours and really better than average pay for part-time.

I met Bill for lunch today. We were so bad. We had Mexican food. Big surprise, right?! It was good. It was very good in fact. And very bad for me. So for dinner I had a little low-fat pimento cheese on fat-free crackers. And water. If I get hungry for a snack tonight, it's going to be a fat-free rice cake and possibly with fat-free butter substitute on it. It's hard to be on a low-fat diet sometimes!

I've noticed that since I don't have a gall bladder anymore, there are things that I simply can not eat that never bothered me before. I'm not talking about foods with a high fat count. I'm talking about broccoli. And mushrooms. Stuff like that, which shouldn't be a problem at all! But I simply can not digest them now and it's not fun. So I guess I have to give them up. I think that I also am going to have to avoid things with cabbage. I don't eat much of it, but I do like it occasionally. It's not that the things are prepared with a sauce or fat in any way. I can't even eat steamed broccoli! Really frustrating. But I guess I have to deal with it. Now, if I ever get where I can't eat chocolate it is going to be a VERY BAD THING!

Heard from Otter this afternoon. She's having a good time, she has seen some of her cousins and has been swimming. And shopping. She sounded tired but I think she's enjoying her vacation. I told her to call us again in a few days, and that I'll see her next week.

Her return flight is direct. Which means that the plane stops in Dallas, but she doesn't get off for a plane change. She'll stay on the same plane, then it will continue on to Tulsa. I wonder if there really is any such thing as a real direct flight anymore? You know, the kind that doesn't stop in the middle. Besides overseas flights, that is. I think a little truth-in-advertising might be called for by the airlines. Just one of the things that's crossed my mind in the last couple of days!

No more turtle sightings in the back yard. Bill mowed it yesterday, he watched for her but never saw her. Or any of her friends, for that matter. I haven't seen any more tree frogs since Saturday evening but I have heard them. Also we've heard locusts. Just a few, it's just the beginning of their season. Because of all the rain we had, the lightning bug season was longer. Which we enjoyed. Maggie probably did as well - she could see the bugs she wanted to eat!

Otter, Maggie really misses you! She's very clingy, much more than normal. She does not want to let me out of her sight. And not just because she's hoping I'll drop food her way, either. Last night I glanced into Otter's room as I was heading to bed, and there was Maggie at the foot of Otter's bed. She had scrunched up her sleeping blanket until she was holding it between her front paws like she was hugging it. She looked so sad! This morning I noticed that she'd been sleeping on Otter's pillow. I think the dog misses her kid! She's going to be overjoyed next week when Otter comes home.

Froggy, has your hubby finished with his car project? Mine is still working on his. Actually, he is working on the Next Generation. The first one worked but not as well as he hoped, so he did what Engineers do: he changed all the specs and built another, totally different from the original plans. At the moment, he is next door as the neighbor is also building one of those critters. The neighbor is a good mechanic, but he doesn't have any experience with electronics and Bill has been helping him with that part of the process. They remind me of a couple of little boys, they seem to be having a good time with their toys. No explosions yet. Heavy on the "yet." I did tell Bill today that he's already had his one allowed ER visit this month and that since he's going to the doctor tomorrow to follow up on that, he's not allowed to hurt himself again this soon. He said I was a spoilsport.

On that note, I'm going to go raid my chocolate stash. It's in the freezer. But it won't be there long!

Busy Monday!

Froggy told me to stay busy. I think she must have also called my bosses and told them to keep me busy! I hardly had time to breathe today, it was one thing after another and they were all things that could have been dealt with without a big fuss. But when you are a 90 year old man, I guess everything is a big, major deal. Just being alive at that age can be a big, major deal! So I don't complain too much.

Looks like there is another house being built in the area behind us, formerly known as the front cow pasture. This one is not directly behind us, but it is more behind us than the first two are. The privacy was nice, but I guess it was just a matter of time. Sigh.

Otter, Magginator wants you to come home! She's been like a shadow ever since I came home without Otter yesterday. When I was heading for bed last night, I glanced into Otter's room and the beagle was up in the middle of the bed. Maggie had the blanket that she normally sleeps on, she had it between her front paws and it looked like she was hugging it. She looked so sad! And she's hardly let me out of her sight this afternoon.

Bill was able to get into the pool yesterday. He hasn't been in it yet this summer, because of the spot on his leg where the skin cancer was removed. It's still not totally healed, but it's close. So he decided to chance the pool and it doesn't seem to have bothered the spot. We had a nice swim, and Maggie sat on the deck and stared at the pool the entire time we were in it!

We had another turtle in the yard on Saturday. Otter and I were about to get in the pool when Frasier suddenly got very interested in an area by the back fence, so we figured that it was either a turtle, frog or possibly snake. It was a small, female box turtle. She was not a timid turtle! She wasn't aggressive, but she wasn't afraid either. We decided to leave her in the yard. One of these days, Frasier is probably going to get the lesson about turtles and he'll learn exactly what that long neck is good for! I think that is the 3rd one we've found this year, but it might be the 4th. Still lots of frogs also, but I haven't seen any snakes this year.

We also had a stowaway tree frog. I brought my cactus plants in Saturday evening since it was about to rain. And there was a tiny, grey tree frog on one of the pots. It jumped onto another plant after I brought the cactus inside, and we caught it in Otter's bug jar so we could take it back outside. Otter has always liked insect life - she is her mother's daughter, after all - and when she was little she bought an insect collection kit. She always let the bugs go after she caught them, and she still has the jar. It comes in very handy when we have spiders we need to relocate so Maggie won't eat them. It also works for tree frogs!

Froggy, before I forget: When I told Otter that your new dog's name is Lucky, she reminded me of the joke about a dog being named Lucky usually being the one that is constantly getting hurt. Just thought you should know. Although naming it Bill would probably be a really bad omen! :)

Keeping Busy Sunday

Froggy told me to keep busy so I won't miss Otter so much so I used that as a title. I have been busy, I cleaned house some, did laundry and we had a few things to do.

We got up early this morning, and then I took Otter to the airport. We got there about 6:30, and checked in without any line. Before I could even ask if I could go to the gate the check-in clerk asked me if I wanted to, so I had no problem getting a pass. We got through security fast, another benefit of being so early. We had time to look at all the gift shops and I had to have coffee. We got Otter's boarding passes online yesterday, so she mostly just had to be at the gate in time. The plane left right on time, I waited until I saw the plane take off and it was out of sight before I left. There was another mother who was putting her son on the plane. The boy was eager, he was excited. But mom was in tears after he boarded the plane!

When I got home, Bill informed me that the pool had overflowed due to yesterday's rain. We got quite a bit of rain in the early evening and through the night. When Otter and I were in the pool yesterday, it was already pretty full due to rain over the last few days. The pool is a soft-side, and when it gets too full it will overflow. But the way it's designed, when the water level gets down a certain amount the side that is down will pop back up. So he had the hose in it when I got home, then we went to Lowe's (his 2nd trip of the day, my first) and when we got home we discovered that it had overflowed again! But this time it was due to the hose being left in too long and it got too full. But it didn't lose much water this time. We might get in it in an hour or so, after the water has had time to warm up.

We did have to make another trip to Lowe's, Bill's 3rd and my 2nd. We also went to the dollar store and he even consented to go to Wallyworld with me! Which turned out to be a good thing because I needed to get dog food, and I can't get the huge bags by myself. So since he was with me, we got a 40-lb. bag. Which should keep the dogs happy!

When we got home, Otter called when she got to San Antonio, she had called her grandmother already and was on her way to get her suitcase. Then she called me again after she met her grandmother, they were on the way to eat lunch somewhere. I hope she remembers to call us occasionally! She said that she had a good flight, it was full and that she had no problems with her layover/plane change in Dallas. Although her father did, he was a basket case until we heard from her! He wants me to be at the gate when she gets home, but I'm going to meet her at the luggage pick-up.

Her return flight is direct, there may be a stop but she won't have to change planes. But I don't think her grandmother is going to escort her to the gate. She'll be fine, she knows what to do. She's flown by herself before, this was just the first time she's been completely unescorted through a plane change.

I guess we gotta let her grow up sometime! Altough I think that Bill might disagree.

(Otter, if you read this on your vacation - Pirate is still safe. Although your father spent an awful long time looking at Hannah Montana room decor in Wallyworld this morning!)

Friday Before Otter's Trip to Texas

She packed her suitcase this morning, so I think she's eager to go on her vacation. We bought her a couple of snacks for the plane trip, she has her carry-on tote bag stuffed with books and the shorts she wants to wear Sunday on the plane are in the washer as I type. Tomorrow, I'm going to make sure she has some type of physical activity so that she maybe has a chance of getting to sleep tomorrow night. We have to get up early on Sunday and I'll take her to the airport, where I would like to be allowed to go to the gate with her but probably won't be. And then I'll come home and console my husband who is really having a problem with her being gone for so long. I feel sorry for the poor beagle, she's just now gotten used to her Mom being back from camp and now she's going to be gone again! Poor dog has been going between Otter's bed, Frasier's blanket and under our bed.

It was a busy day at work, and I'm glad that the day and work week are now over. It was just one of those days that seemed to stretch out and be filled with a bunch of irritating things. I'm very glad that it's Friday. I'll be glad when it's sunset and I can shut down until tomorrow evening.

Froggy, next week sometime I'll go get a new bathmat and towels. I'm wondering how long it's going to take Bill to figure out that the bathroom has been redecorated! And that he actually started the process.

And on that note, I think I'll go start dinner. And then I'll have a glass of wine and read for a while. I'll post my July book list at the end of the month, but there isn't anything really spectacular on it at the moment. I have about 3 books in various stages of being read, and a few more waiting. Otter and I also went to the library at lunch today, I have plenty to read next week to keep me occupied!

Another One for Wednesday - NEWS!

Since I have other news, I thought that I'd just do another post.

Here's the news: Toadly is getting even older. As of next March, he'll be much older. There will be a birthday. But it won't be his! His next aging moment will be courtesy of his daughter and son-in-law.

In other words, I'd better get busy on another sock monkey. Everybody knows what that means, right? :) Fortunately, Bill got me a bunch of monkey socks not too long ago and I think I have one I started a while back but never finished. Not sure about that, that one is possibly the one I sent her the last time she needed one. Otter gets to help make this one, she said the other day that she wanted to make one and now we have an excuse! (Which we are happy about, by the way).

Bill just informed me that one of our eBay lots today went to Poland. We sent two to Canada today, along with one to South Korea (a first) and there have been a couple to Russia recently. England also, and I think we might have one for the Ukraine. The stuff we're selling right now is the old-style radio tubes, vacuum tubes actually, that were our friend Larry's. He had a radio shop many years ago and the tubes have been stored. They are selling like hotcakes, and quite a few are to other countries. I guess that a lot of people in other parts of the world still have older equipment and since the tubes are not made anymore, eBay is a good place to get them. Oh, one just got purchased by someone in Thailand.

A few thoughts on Iran's weapons testing this week: Israel had better get on the ball and take care of it, otherwise they will have to deal with it and probably very soon. I know that whatever Israel does, there may be consequences. But if they don't act, the consequences will be much worse. And we (the US) had better support them! Israel is in a great deal of danger right now. I think we'd better start praying for them.

A Comment About A Comment

This is Froggy's comment from yesterday's post:

"Bill is right. When you start talking about a new bathmat, you are planning to redecorate. Just because you kept the same theme, does not mean you are not redecorating. You are protesting to much. YOU ARE REDECORATING YOUR BATHROOM."

And this is my comment about her comment. SHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I don't want Bill to figure it out! This morning, he told me to go buy new towels AND A NEW BATHMAT. So let's all just shut our mouths now, please! :)

Maybe another post later, I have to get busy with eBay stuff now.