Shhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I have a beagle asleep at my feet and a hubby asleep on the other end of the couch from where I'm sitting.  Both of them have been known to snore, although at the moment it's all quiet.

Today is a fun day. It's National Coffee Day!  One of my favorite days, for probably obvious reasons.  Guess Bill didn't participate in observing it. :)

Is it only Tuesday?

Whatever Sunday and Dog Stuff Mostly

It was a pretty nice weekend, and today was a very nice day.  Mid-80's and very pleasant.  Unfortunately, it's still ragweed season (and a few other things) so I'm still having some allergy issues.  But nothing too bad.

I have a slightly fat beagle at my feet.  She's sprawled across her bed that is in the living room, every so often she'll get up and rearrange herself.  She is getting a little bit heavier, she had lost some of the weight and was at a pretty good size for a middle sized beagle.  But she's starting to look just a little bit round, so I may change her food slightly.  We changed the brand of food after we lost Frasier, because we'd been mainly feeding a type that was aimed at dogs with joint issues.  She doesn't seem to have the arthritis that he had, but it was ok to feed her the same thing.  After he crossed the rainbow bridge, we went to a different brand.  We just used a "regular" food, but they also make a food for dogs that need a little weight loss so I'll probably switch her to it, at least for a while.  She is still getting walks regularly but she probably doesn't get as much exercise in general as she did before.  Even though Frasier was older and arthritic, he was playful and active up until the very end.  We do get Maggie playing and running, but probably not as often as she did with the Chupacabra.  

Also, the amount that comes out of the dog seems to be a lot more volume than what goes in the mouth of the dog!  We also realized that the Coyote Dog was the one with the gas issues, not the carpet shark known as Maggie Moo.  (Otter said that she bought a costume for Maggie:  a shark.  Which is very appropriate!)

Froggy, this is for you:

You are the only person I know who would go on a frog hunt, considering how terrified you are of them!  (They are more scared of you, anyway.)

Checking Back In

No particular reason that I haven't blogged in so long, it's just been busy I guess.  Work wasn't, Younger Boss was on vacation last week so it was a loooooooooooooooong boring week and the office was entirely too quiet.  Younger Boss said the same thing when I was sick a few weeks back, it's just too quiet now.  We really miss the Teenager.  We both still talk to him, I tell him good morning when I get there and also report in to him after I've gone to see his lovely bride on Wednesdays.  His presence is still felt, but it's just too quiet now.

We went to Ace Hardware this morning, Bill needed wood putty and I got a refill on humidifier filters.  After we got home, I turned around and headed to Atwood's because they had two things on sale that we use a lot of:  coffee and peanuts.  I bought two large cans of coffee and one 5-lb. bag of peanuts.  After that, I followed yard sale signs.  I looked at a few, drove past a few but didn't stop and went to one estate sale.  I spent .75 cents.  I got a strawberry pot for Otter to use next spring when she plants things, that was .50 cents.  The other .25 cents was at the estate sale, it was half-off on the last day and I found a pink doily that was marked .50 cents but it was also half-off.

Bill had some "tummy troubles" mid-week, so he missed a couple of days of work.  One morning, I think it was Thursday, I didn't have enough time to walk Maggie Moo and she was not happy!  She was unhappy with me and she let me know - she barked at me!  She almost never barked, but apparently she thought that the situation deserved a bark.  Bill said she was quiet and calm during the day, but as soon as I got home from work that afternoon she was rarin* to go walking.  This morning, she was ready for her walk way before we were, and she was absolutely wired.  Bouncy and wiggly for about 30 minutes, then she could hardly be still long enough for me to get her harness on.  When I did manage to get her dressed for her walk, she just about yanked my arm out of it's socket in her haste to get to the front door!  She was happy because Bill got to walk with us this morning, she is really turning into a Daddy's Girl and she tried to walk as close to him as she possibly could.  Dorky little thing, cute but still dorky!  I surprised Bill about bought bacon, we had it for breakfast and the dog haunted the kitchen the entire time it was being cooked - she knows what that smell means!  I gave her a tiny amount of bacon grease on her dry food, which she pretty much inhaled as soon as I got out of her way!

I crocheted 8 baby caps for an organization in Tulsa that has a baby cap drive each year.  They want knitted or crocheted caps in shades of purple, sized for small babies and newborns.  It's part of a program that tries to reduce the number of shaken-baby cases each year, they give newborns and hospitalized babies purple caps to wear home with the idea being that purple caps will remind the parents, etc., not to shake a baby.  I don't know if it works or not, but it may.  This is the 2nd year I've made caps for it.  I mailed mine off on Friday, they want them by the end of the month.  Although I didn't intend it to be a de-stash project, it did get rid of two small purple yarn balls and one lavender one.  I also got quite a bit done on Otter's slant-stitch poncho.

OK, Froggy.  I think I've hit the highlights of the week.  You can quit nagging me now!  (Froggy now texts me a particular phrase:  nagnagnag.)

One Down, Two to Go

To be ready for Winter.  Well, what the Borg Queen considers ready although the non-assimilated would probably consider it being over-prepared!

Actually, I just went to wallyworld and bought 40 pounds of birdseed plus an 8-pack box of suet cakes.  Big, exciting trip, huh?!

(The other 2 things are more filters for the humidifiers and firewood, in case you are wondering.)  :)

Remember these?:

This picture is from this past Spring.  It's the whiskey barrel planter that my mailbox post is in.  After all the blooms died and went to seed, I harvested the seeds and they are waiting in a bag in the kitchen until I find an appropriate place to plant them.  But apparently, the seed pods had already started dropping seeds - I was pretty sure they had.  I was right.  At last count, there are over 30 baby blues springing up!  I'm going to attempt to transplant some of them when they get just a little bigger.  The Teenager was very much a TEXAN and he loved them as much as the rest of Us did/do.  He was overjoyed when I told him I'd share my bluebonnet seeds with the hope that they would grow next Spring.  I kind of knew then that he would no longer be with us, just one of what we call "my feelings" and I was right.  But I still intend to have bluebonnets at the office, even if it's in his memory.  I told Younger Boss about my baby blues and he really wants them as well - so I'm going to transplant some of the current crop and see if they survive.  I have grown them in pots before, they get tall and not wide like they should but they still smell heavenly.  I'm probably going to plant seeds as well.  I'm still just astounded at the number of them that have come up.  I've had them come up at odd times of the year, but never this many!

In case I don't blog tomorrow:

Alright Already!!!

(Froggy, that title is for you.  :)  NagNagNagNag...)  (Just kidding you know.)

First things first.  Fun stuff:

(Notice that the girl minion is a REDHEAD!)

This is the little, wooden rocking chair that my parents gave Otter when she was about 1 or so.  They brought it to her and it was love at first sight, she loved that chair and wanted it to stay in the living room.  She sat in it when she watched tv, she rocked her baby dolls in it, and she was very attached to it.  When she outgrew it, it held stuffed animals.  When we moved to our current house, it went into storage in the attic.  When she moved out and her room became the Room The Yarn Stash Lives In, it needed something and that something was Otter's little rocking chair.  My stuffed, TEXAS-related animals are now sitting in it and the rubber crocodile underneath is also Otters.  Well, hers and mine actually - and his name is Crickey.  The chair and assorted animals occupy a space in the Yarn room.  The yellow yarn ball is in Baby Bevo's hands and so is a crochet hook - the long piece of yellow yarn is actually the first (and probably only) piece of crochet Otter ever made.

It's supposed to look like Baby Bevo is crocheting.

(Billyboy, this one is for you.)

This one isn't really appropriate for my work, but it does apply to someone I know who has to put up with really bad stuff at work.

This one?  Well, it obviously applies to me!

OK, now that the jokes are out of the way.  My Fenton collection increased last week.  Otter and I went to one of our favorite junk-tique places and I found something:

(That is a stock photo and not mine.)  I've been looking for a piece of Fenton in the color known as Amberina.  I found a huge compote, thumbprint pattern and in the Amberina color while we were there.  IT WAS $5.00.  And it is perfect.  The larger pieces in general are becoming more rare, it is glass after all and glass breaks.  This color is pretty hard to find and the thumbprint pattern is somewhat uncommon - not really rare, but getting there.

Fuzzbutt Beagle, also known as Maggie Moo, went to the vet yesterday.  It's been two months since her last rear gland cleaning and nail trim, she was starting to drag her rear around so we knew she was ready.  The vet said that she wasn't completely impacted this time, but that she was close.  So, we'll keep her on the two months schedule unless we need to change it to more often.  She hates to have her claws trimmed and we got tired of fighting her so every time she goes to the vet for any reason, we have them trimmed.  While we were there, she met another dog that was just leaving and she seemed to be pretty happy.  Until the vet's assistant came to get her.  Then, it was time to play Drag the Dog!  Literally.  I had to lift her up off of the floor so the assistant could get her,and she immediately plopped herself right back down.  She literally had to drag/walk her to the back so they could gets her needs taken care of.  When she was done, she just about yanked the girl's arm out of it's socket in her haste to get back to me!  She is 28 pounds, which is about a pound and a half over what she was in July but she's still within allowable range for a small to medium beagle.

However, she is still known as BowlingBallButt for a good reason!

Dog House!

I think that Bill should just move right on out to the dog house in the back yard.  I mean, it's not like Maggie ever uses it and neither did Frasier.  I saw a squirrel hanging out in it one time, getting out of the rain.  But that's it.

But Bill needs to go out there.

He gave me the cold he caught at work!  I had the bug that was going around, then I got over it and got my flu shot.  I spent Saturday feeling cruddy from the shot reaction.  Bill was coming down with the cold sometime last week, I've kind of lost track of time/dates on that.  Sunday evening, I felt the first tickles in my throat and the beginning of a soreness.  Monday, I was pretty sure it was on the way.  I went to work on Tuesday and gave Younger Boss a very strong warning about staying away from me - which worked, because he was gone all day long!  Bill went in to work yesterday but he left around lunch time because he was feeling so bad.  Bill called in today.  I went in, but I knew it was very much a moment of RIF* but I had a couple of things I had to do.  I got them done, then I came home.  I stopped to get chicken soup fixins** on the way home.

Otter texted me that she was on the way over to do laundry just as I was getting the soup on the stove, she got here just before it was ready so she had lunch with us.  She made a point of staying as far away from us as possible, because she is smart and doesn't want to risk a cold or a cold-induced asthma spell.  We had a nice visit with her and Maggie was overjoyed, especially when she got to take a walk with Otter.

I'm going to work tomorrow and will try to stay, but I don't know if Bill will even attempt to go in or not.  He is better tonight, but he's still coughing a lot.

Dog house is waiting on him!  :)

*Resistance is Futile!

**It's a Texan Thing.  If you have to ask, you might not understand!

Labor Day 2015

It's been a fairly enjoyable Labor Day, for me anyway - Bill is still coughing his lungs out but that is actually good at this point.  He was already planning on staying home and working on pachinko machines and that is what he did, so he had a good day.  He just is getting tired of the coughing.  He mowed the front yard yesterday morning and the back this morning.  He was careful not to exert himself and I kept bringing him water and making his stop for frequent rest breaks.

I felt much better yesterday although I still had a few moments of feeling tired.  I feel much better today, I think I'm pretty much over the Wave/flu shot reaction.  Saturday, I was kind of thinking it might be a long, drawn-out reaction like I sometimes have but it turned out not to be.  Just Saturday mostly, I felt cruddy most of the day but I woke up feeling fine and have felt good all day.  I saw Otter for a few minutes yesterday when I took some stuff to her, I met her at her store just before her shift started and she had a couple of minutes to talk.  She had a headache off and on but that was it, her arm wasn't even as sore as it sometimes is.

I went to two thrift stores today, I found several doilies at the first one and nothing at the 2nd one but it was still fun.  Although it was apparently "screaming, unwatched child day" at the second thrift!  I bought sheer curtain yesterday and a sheer valance that is decorated with crochet-ish edging on the bottom.  The curtain just reaches to the bottom of the window frame in the Guest/Front/Craft/YARN room and I'm going to attach the doilies to it to make my doily curtain.  I tried pinning a few doilies together and they would have worked that way, but I wanted them to be more secure.  The sheer curtains will work very well, they are a very pale off-white color and won't really show much with the doilies.  The valance may show a little, but the edging will work very well.  The valance doesn't actually match the curtains, it's a different brand and very slightly different in color but it will still work.  I hadn't planned on a valance but the large doily/tablecloth will need a little more support as well.  I think I'm going to pin the doilies on to the curtain at first, because I may move them around until I get them how I like them.  But I am probably going to get out needle and thread and sew them on once I'm happy with their placement.  I have a boatload of doilies, but I'm not sure if I have enough or not.  When I was laying them out on the floor to get a general idea, it did not look like I have enough to make it as full as I want.  But once I start placing them on the curtains, I may have more than enough.  I'll figure that out as I go along.

Pictures will be posted on the craft blog at some point.

Waving Hello

I'm riding the Wave, in case that isn't obvious from the title.  The flu shot wave, to be precise.

I was a little achy when I went to bed last night and I didn't feel too good.  I slept well and woke up about 7:00 this morning with only a slight headache so I was hopeful of a mild reaction.  But after I'd been up for a while, I started to feel cruddy so I decided to stay home and hibernate today.  I did have to get out briefly, aside from the mandatory beagle walk, I had to go pick up mail for someone who is out of town but that was just a quick trip.  I was feeling better after lunch, so I ran my errand then with the idea of possibly stopping at a specific store but I realized that I was pretty tired out from just driving to get my errand done so I came home.  I took a long nap on the couch and it helped, but I feel a little feverish and just not very good at all.  I was afraid that I might have a stronger reaction this year, based on how fast it hit me yesterday.  The speed of the wave hitting doesn't always mean a worse reaction, but I've never had it hit me within 2 minutes like this year.  I expected a worse reaction last year and I had it, but this year seems a little stronger.  Otter is doing pretty good, she said she woke up with a headache and felt a little tired but she was thinking that she'd be able to work her closing shift tonight.

I made myself a nest on the couch with several things within reach (3 of them are crochet!) but I haven't done anything beyond just take it easy and watch a little tv, aside from my errand.

Bill has been sneezing his head off and coughing a lot, but the congestion he has had is beginning to break up and it's actually good that he's coughing so much.  He's not enjoying it, but it will help to get his lungs cleared.  He's not asthmatic, but the principal is the same.  He is probably going to sleep on the couch again tonight so he can be propped up better.

I really need to get back on Otter's poncho, it won't take me that long if I can just get on it and have some time to work on it.  Fall is not that far away.  We're also going to start getting firewood soon.  I don't think we'll need it very soon, but I'd rather be prepared early than wait and wish we'd gotten it sooner.  We do still have some left from last year, but not enough to get through the winter.

OK, Froggy.  You can't get on me now!

Got It Done

Otter and I both got our shots today.  I picked her up after work, we stopped at the UPS box to clear it and then we both needed to go to the bank so we did that.  We stopped at Wallyworld, yeah I know - on a Friday afternoon and a holiday weekend Friday at that!  But we got in and out of there fairly quick.  It was a required stop, I got our post-shot ice cream at the grocery store yesterday but I told Otter I'd get hers as well.  We took her ice cream (and cranberry juice) to her apartment and then we went to Walgreen's.  When we took out our new insurance, they said that flu shots were covered but that it had to be done at a doctor's office.  But the clerk ran the insurance through to check and it turned out that it did cover the shots at pharmacies as well, so we saved $64.00.  We had to wait about 20 minutes until the technician could give us the shots.

It was about 5:30 when we got them, and I felt the first hint of the Wave hit me at 5:32.  The first thing I noticed was a sudden feeling of coldness, more like a wind hitting me than a chill and I thought it might be breeze from an a/c vent at first.  We went to Subway to pick up dinner, where we were waited on by the slooooooooooooooooooooowest sandwich maker ever and were stuck behind the ditzyest mother and daughter customers ever.  We were probably waiting in there over 30 minutes.  We discussed going to another store, but it was peak traffic time so we decided to just stay there and wait.  By the time we left there, I was really feeling tired and my (left) arm was beginning to feel a little sore.  We went into the liquor store in the same shopping center - where Otter was promptly carded - and that was at least quick.

I dropped Otter off at her apartment and then I headed home.  I didn't get home until around 7:00.  The sandwiches were good, they just took a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time for the girl to make them.  But I think she was fairly new and she was just trying to be thorough, she was nice and it was obvious she was trying to do a good job so we didn't say anything about the lack of speed.

Bill spent lat night on the couch again.  He was feeling bad last night but the congestion was beginning to loosen up.  The air was a little dry and that was causing him problems, so I set up one of the humidifiers for him.  He still needed the fan, he figured out where to put the fan so that it didn't blow away the steam from the humidifier.  I heard him sneezing and coughing a few times - in the opposite end of the house, other his fan, my fan and the humidifier.  He felt feverish last night but he didn't feel feverish this morning.  He wants to sleep on the couch again tonight with the humidifier, so I'll make him another nest.  He doesn't get a flu shot, but he does get ice cream since he has to put up with me after I have it!  He just had a bowl and he said it was good.  He feels better but he's still sick.  He's still insisting that it's allergies, but I think he has what I had last week.  It takes a few days to work it's way out.  Otter said that J might be coming down with it, too.

I'm probably going to bed early tonight, I feel really tired.  My arm is a little sore, I had to take the bandaid off already because of my allergy to the adhesive.  I did bleed a little bit, but not much at all - even for a non-red!  I think a big part of the way we react is probably due to the RedHead Curse.  I'm hoping not to have a bad reaction, but then that's what I say every year.  But I'd still rather put up with the reaction and not have to deal with the flu itself.

Sheepies! And Other Stuff, Too

I find this very interesting, and also very strange:

Baa Baa Baa

They got 80 pounds or so of wool off of this animal, enough to make 30 sweaters!  Bet he feels a lot better today.

I was thinking that Bill had the bug I had or was coming down with a sinus infection the last couple of days, but now I'm thinking he's having allergies.  He isn't allergic to much, but ragweed is one of his triggers.  Ragweed is going crazy at the moment, I'm having some issues with it but not nearly as bad as what Billyboy is dealing with.  He was home sick yesterday but he went to work today.  He already had tomorrow arranged as a vacation day and Monday is a holiday (for both of us!)  He's been sneezing his head off since he got up this morning.  He slept on the couch last night so that he could be propped up and he might do that again tonight.

Otter came over yesterday to do her laundry, and she also babysat her sick dad.  She was gone before I got home, but I will see her tomorrow.  I'm picking her up after work and we are going to get our flu shots.  I picked up ice cream for us at the grocery store just now, along with a trunkload of other groceries, and I told Otter I'll get her some tomorrow before I take her home.

Hopefully, I won't spend all weekend reacting badly to the flu shot.  If I feel halfway decent on Saturday, I might go to the flea market in Tulsa.  Bill will be home, holding down the couch is my guess due to his allergies.  Of course, I may well be holding down the couch myself, if tradition holds!

Last Day of August 2015

I'm still a little title-challenged, but it works.

I am feeling better today.  I went to work.  I got a lot done.  And about 11:00, it felt like the sky fell on me and I suddenly had zero energy.  So, back home I went.  With a stop on the way home for dog food, because that was something I had to do today - the beagle likes it when we feed her!  :)

This is what said beagle did most of the afternoon:

I washed her blankets and bedding today, I didn't really have much choice because they were beginning to smell.  After the dryer is done, she always loves to curl up on her warm blankets.  Today, she was acting antsy and digging around on her blankets.  Which means that she wants to be covered.  I obliged and she was out for hours.

These are a few other pictures from this summer.

This is one of the 18-year black cicadas that emerged this year.  One showed up on the back window. They were predicted to be heavy and very loud, and they were both.

This is my 2nd volunteer sunflower of the summer.  This is the trellis that formerly held the clematis that never did anything.  It's had one bloom already complete it's cycle and there are two or three buds yet to open.

I tried to get a close-up, but of course that means that it immediately got breezy!  Bill has been absolutely forbidden from even coming near it, he says that sunflowers are weeds and pulls them if he sees them before I do.  I may actually plant some next year - he will be well threatened beforehand, if I do! 

We had this ivy suddenly show up in the backyard.  It might be something that grew from birdseed, judging on where it suddenly started growing.  Bill mowed it several times and it kept coming back.  Finally, he dug it up and we transplanted it.  It nearly died at first, but then it came back to life and is growing very well.  When he dug it up, he didn't get all the plant because it's still growing like crazy in the yard.  I don't know what the name of it is, it's just an ivy.

It has berries or seeds on it, and one of these days I'll actually find out what it is.  It may be a weed, but it's pretty and we like it.

The next two pictures are of a visitor that showed up on the cherry tomato plants we have at work.

Isn't she gorgeous?  I haven't seen one quite this big in a very long time.  Younger Boss usually will kill spiders, unless I get to them first and I do try to.  I pointed this one out to him and told him that he is forbidden from even thinking about getting rid of her, but he surprised me and said that he knew it's a good one and that he will leave her alone.  She's been there for several days and I checked on her this morning.  She's still at it and she is still alive, she moved when I was taking pictures.  These are from today.  We always called them zig-zag spiders.  Froggy calls them zipper spiders.

She's happy there and we hope she stays around.  She can eat all the little buggies she can catch!

Sunday Grilling

It's Sunday.  Bill grilled.  So, it's an appropriate title.

Occasionally, Bill will grill several days worth of meats and that was the plan for today.  Hamburger patties, hot dogs, chicken breast and steaks.  He grilled the hot dogs first, then the patties.  The chicken breast was next, and Maggie was very pleased when we finally got to that.  She stayed out on the deck with us most of the time, she was very interested in the all the lovely smells.  But when Bill put the chicken on, she was just about glued to his side.  He broke off a small piece of one end when it was cooked through and tossed it down to her - she was overjoyed!  It took her a few attempts to actually eat it because it was hot, she was funny and kept grabbing it and tossing it around until it was cool enough - almost like a predator and prey that needs to be killed before it can be eaten.  After it cooled down enough and she finished it, she spent the next several minutes licking the deck everywhere she had tossed her bite.  Bill gave her another one and she was a little smarter this time - she waited until it had cooled enough but she stared at it the entire time.  Then, she pounced on it.

Of course, the propane ran out when he was getting ready to put the last meats on the grill - the steaks for dinner tonight!  They wound up being broiled in the oven, they were still good but it took a little longer because we had to wait for the broiler to heat up enough.  We will probably both have steak leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Then I won't have to cook much this week, since there are enough chicken breast for 2 or 3 meals in addition to the burgers and dogs.

Looks like I get to exchange the empty tank for a new on this week!  As Bill said, we still have several good grilling weekends before winter.  We don't grill every weekend, but we do grill enough that it's worth it to get a refill even this close to winter.

I am feeling better.  Still feeling a little tired, but not as bad as I was this time last weekend.  I took a short nap this afternoon and that helped.  At this point, I am still planning on getting my flu shot next Friday after work.  So is Otter, I'll go get her after work or meet her at Walgreen's and we'll get that taken care of then.  Yes, I will buy her some ice cream!  And probably dinner as well, since I'm thinking it's going to be Subway to take home.

I went to the office for a few minutes about mid-morning today.  I wanted to get the trash and recycling stuff out for pickup tomorrow and I also cleared two or three days worth of mail out of the mailbox and took it in.

I did not get any crochet done today, but I did get some done yesterday.  We also got the pachinko machines that we had at the antique mall, we are now finished with the booth.  We may get another one later, the owner of the booth mall is opening another one in a couple of months in a better spot and we told her we would let her know.  It took us three trips.  I drove, Bill did all the lifting and loading into my car, then the unloading and lifting them into the house when we got home.  We didn't use Otter's car after all.  After we got the last machine, we went to a local barbeque-ish place for lunch.  It was pretty good.  Bill had three or four glasses of iced tea - he was thirsty! - and then when we got home, he still had to take a nap (after all the heavy lifting) and he slept for about an hour or so.  He was joking that maybe the tea was decaf, but really it was because he was up late Friday night working on his website and then up early on Saturday followed by all the heavy stuff.

Bill is probably going to get a load of firewood this week.  He was going to get one last week, but then he had a slight case of the bug I've been dealing with so he put that off.  I need to check on my bird seed supply, I might need to get more and a lot of places have it on sale this time of year.  I know I need to get suet cakes for the birds, I used my last one during the last snow storm we had this past winter.

Maggie Moo has been snoozing in her bed for the last couple of hours.  She was very happy, she got a treat from the grill then I brushed her (which she loves) and I guess that tired her out, because she is O.U.T.

Tired Friday

I'll be glad when this bug is gone.  Whatever it is.  It's apparently making the rounds and it seems to be happy about it.  Ugh.

I didn't even attempt to go in today.  I thought about it, but I knew when I woke up that I was still to draggy although I am slowly getting over it.  Bill did go to work, he wasn't feeling too good the last couple of days but I don't think he had the bug after all.  He probably has been having allergy issues.

I did get out.  Maggie Moo made sure she got her walk this morning (and then I also had to go to the post office.)  Maggie Moo was determined that she get taken out to prance around the neighborhood.  I was sitting on the couch and she wiggled around until she was between my legs and the couch.  Then she flipped over until she was on her back and her back legs were against my legs.  Then she proceeded to start kicking my left leg with her back legs.  Over and over and over and over to infinity and beyond.  I know she was trying to get me to take her out because the second I stood up, she flew to the door and bounced up and down in front of the leash hook.  Brat!  She was quite happy to get out the door, she sniffed as much as she could and visited as many blades of grass as she could.  When we got home, as soon as I got her harness off she hightailed it down the hall so she could get underneath my bed for her next nap.  Brat again!

I parked on the couch for a couple of hours, then I decided to get my post office trip out of the way.  I also had to stop at the bank and I remembered I needed to get something at the grocery store so I hit wallyworld with the intention of a quick run-in/run-out but I should have realized that even at 10:30 or so in the morning, Friday is not a quick day at Wallyworld!  I only had a few things to get but it took me 45 minutes.  I was tired before I got there and I was exhausted when I got through!

I talked to Younger Boss today, he said that his wife is still fighting it herself.  She has actually had to deal with it for about 3 weeks.  I was feeling iffy starting the middle of last week but I thought it was allergies.  Now, I don't think it was although my allergies might have compounded it.

I did manage to get the dishwasher run and a load of laundry washed but it's still in the dryer and will probably stay there until at least tomorrow.  There were 5 or 6 dishes in the sink that don't go in the dishwasher, I managed to get them washed but they are not put away yet.  I was planning on doing some crochet work on Otter's poncho but I got stuck into a book instead and had a very restful afternoon.

I really want to sleep in tomorrow.  We have to get the machines out of the booth by Monday evening, the plan was originally to move them tomorrow or Sunday.  That's non-negotiable, so I guess we'll figure out a game plan for them.

A place to put them all, however - that might take some time.  I have a sinking feeling that my living room is about to become a (better be temporary!) storage place for them!

It Must Be A Slow News Day

Because the first 15 minutes of the noon news today consisted of shots of the rain hitting a driveway and a parking lot!  I'm not exaggerating.  So exciting!

Anyway.

I went to work this morning but I was still feeling iffy and very tired.  Maggie Moo still got her walk, she is like a kid and doesn't understand that Mom doesn't feel good (and also she needs to get a little exercise as well as getting some of her energy expelled!) so we took a short walk.  She did get to say hello to one of the neighborhood kids as he was waiting at the bus stop, so the fact that it was a shorter than normal walk didn't seem to occur to her.

I left about 10:00, I only went in because I had to do paychecks and also pay a few bills such as electric bills for the oil leases.  Younger Boss is not feeling too good himself and he also said that his wife has been fighting this bug for days and days.  I know several people who have had it recently or have it now.  Otter has been warned to stay FAR AWAY from us for a few days.

It is 50-cent corndog day at Sonic, so I did get out once after I got home.  Bill needed his corndogs!  He had them for lunch and he kept some back for dinner tonight.  He called in today, since he apparently felt left out and came down with the bug I have.  He was home yesterday.  He's not sure yet about tomorrow, he'll decide in the morning.  At this point, I'm not inclined to think about going in to work tomorrow but I'll see how I feel in the morning as well.

I managed to get a little crochet done on Otter's poncho.  I've been trying to work on it all week, but I just never quite got around to it because I simply wasn't feeling good.  I might work on it some more today.  It's actually a fast pattern and I'm enjoying it.

This is just because I thought it was cute:

I love Dr. Who, but let's face it:  Star Trek beats them all!

Rerun

I thought I'd make it to work today.  But then I walked the Magginator and realized shortly after we started out just how tired I was.  So I called in.  We finished the walk - she really needs a walk on a daily basis if possible, she's like a kid and doesn't care if Mom isn't feeling quite up to par, then we came back home and I have been parked on the couch for most of the day.

With company, too.  It's Bill's turn!  He was home today and might be tomorrow as well.  I'm going in tomorrow and I'll just see how I do, I'd like to make the day but I'm not going to  worry about that right now.  Younger Boss said he really didn't know of anything that I absolutely had to be there for, and not to come in until I felt like it.  But I have to do paychecks sometime between now and Monday, so I'm thinking I'm at least going to be there long enough to do the checks.  After that, we'll just see.

Since Bill was home with me today, I actually made lunch.  It's mostly just been whatever I could find in the fridge this week.  I had a package of minestrone soup mix in the pantry, I keep it on hand for times when I don't want to cook, and we had that for lunch today.  It was pretty good, not very spicy but it has a good tomato-y flavor.  Bear Creek brand, Big Lots carries a lot of their items and they generally have better prices on most of their mixes.

Today is National Dog Day.  Maggie Moo celebrated by pouncing into her bed, scooting around until she'd kicked her pillow out, then jumping out of the bed and scooting herself until she was underneath the pillow.  Then she went to sleep!

This is from a few years back, one day Maggie Moo decided she needed a nap and she got up into Otter's bed.  This is how we found her, she got into this spot/position on her own:

And because I will never forget my special boy, King Frasier!:

I really miss him, but I know we did the right thing.  He was just a very special dog and there will never be another one like him.

Bill saw a commercial earlier in the week.  Tomorrow is 50 cent corndog day at Sonic.  Guess I'm not cooking dinner tomorrow night!

Still Bugged

I went to bed before 9:00 last night and it was still hard to wake up this morning.  I felt better but not the best.  I had an appointment to get new tires and an oil change, the plan was to drop my car off and then borrow Otter's car so I could go on to work (I told her I'd give her lunch money!)  I was going to bring her car back on my lunch hour and pick my car up - the car repair place is in the same shopping center as her store.  I went to the post office before dropping the car off because I was way too early, as usual.  And that's when I realized that my throat was really sore and I was beginning to feel bad again.  So, I dropped the car off then walked across to get Otter's car.  I called in and came on home.  They said it would probably be about 2 hours, but they called me about a hour and a half later to tell me the car was ready.  I went back up there, parked Otter's car in their employees parking area and walked back across to get my car.  It was actually less than I expected for four 70,000 mile tires and an oil change.  I've been back on my couch for the most part since I got home.

There's been a beagle at my feet, snoozing, for the last few hours.  Yesterday, she alternated between one of her 2 beds, pillow in the laundry room, blankets in the living room and underneath the futon in the guest/craft/YARN/front room.  But today she's mostly been on her bed in the living room or at my feet.  What can I say, dog's lazy.  And spoiled!

I normally go see Miss Dorothy on Wednesday mornings, but I asked Younger Boss to call and let her know that I don't think I should go see her tomorrow.  I'm planning on going in, but I'm pretty sure that this is a bug and not an allergy, the last thing any of us want is to get Miss Dorothy sick.  I'll probably see her later on in the week.

Bill was planning on getting firewood this week, but it might actually be next week before he gets any.  He had something to do after work yesterday and tomorrow he's going to meet someone at the booth about a machine.  We are going to close out the booth so we have to get the machines out, which he might be planning on starting tomorrow instead of waiting until the weekend.  Or maybe not, I don't think he's made up his mind.  He has several machines needed attention, but he has had to spend several days recreating part of his websites because the web host goofed up and quite a bit of it was deleted - they apologized, but that doesn't help much.  He still had to miss several days of his sites being available.  Along with accidentally deleting things, there backup files were either deleted or corrupted - depending on which person he talked to.  Talk about frustrating!  All three sites are back up and running, but there are probably still a lot of things that need to be added back as he has time.

But since it was actually cold enough that I needed a jacket this morning, I think he'd better find time to get firewood soon!  We might just need it early.

Warm Spell

The title refers to the fact that I woke up feeling cruddy and also had a slight fever.  I didn't feel too good over the weekend and I was thinking allergy but now I think it is probably a garden-variety bug.  I'm tired this evening but feeling better and I don't have fever anymore.  It wasn't much, just a degree more or less.  It has aggravated my asthma slightly.

I've been parked on the couch for the most part today, I did take the bratdog for a short walk this morning but that was partially self-defense so she would be calmed down and let me rest!  Bill took my car today.  Maggie Moo wanted to go back outside while ago, we went out in the back yard so she could visit the grass there and the mosquitos were out in full force.  I squashed two, one on each arm, and evaded a few more.  But I think that there may have been a few that I was unaware or - but they were aware of me!

I did get a loaf of banana bread made, the bread machine has a recipe for it but it's not really my favorite.  No secret that bananas are my favorite fruit and probably one of my top favorite foods in general.  I do like banana bread, but the recipe the bread machine makes just doesn't have enough banana taste or sweet flavor for me.

I started the 2nd half of Otter's poncho.  The first half is lavender and the 2nd half is light blue.  We bought all the yarn at the same time at Hobby Lobby, two skeins of each color.  We made sure that the labels matched and the yarn looked like they matched.  I made the first half and had almost enough yarn in one skein to finish but not quite.  So, I attached the 2nd lavender skein on and did 4 or 5 row sets until it was long enough.  I finished it up at work on my lunch hour one day.  And that's when I discovered under the stronger office lights that the two lavender skeins don't match!  They looked the same in the store and the labels matched.  But the yarns are not the same color.  When Otter was over here yesterday to do her laundry, she looked at the poncho half and I held it up to her like it will fit on her when it's assembled.  The part that is different will be in the back and it will probably look ok, but I'm still very annoyed about it.

I'm taking my car in to get new tires on it tomorrow.  It's due for an oil change, so that will be done at the same time.  I'm taking it to the place in the same shopping center that Otter works in, we've used this place for a few months now and they re the place that put the tires on Otter's car a few months back.  They said that it will only take a couple of hours, so I'm going to drop my car off with them and then walk across the parking lot and borrow Otter's car so I can get to work.  I'll bring her car back at lunch and pick my car with it's new shoes up.  I told Otter that I'd buy her lunch, so I'm going to leave her some lunch money for letting me borrow her car - she agreed to that!

Maggie Moo is now curled up at my feet.  Snoring loudly!

Can't Think of Anything To Call This!

I've been fighting allergy symptoms for several days and today I don't feel the best.  So, cut me a little slack Froggy!  (You know you want to get on me because it's been a few days. :)  Do I know you or what!)

Last week had some interesting weather.  Wednesday was odd.  I don't think we even made it to 80!  It was so nice, it was a very pleasant change from the warm and icky weather we've been having.  It hasn't been "hot", but then I go by TEXAN standards so my version of warm might be someone else's version of meltingly hot.  But the point is, it was nice and I enjoyed it.  We've had a few days of rain, Yesterday was rainy for most of the morning and into early afternoon.  I had plans to go to two neighboring towns on an errand for Froggy, but I decided not to after seeing the radar and the storm prediction.  It wasn't bad in terms of tornado alley bad, but there was a lot of water and some localized street flooding.  So my plans changed.  When Otter got off work at 2:00, I picked her up and work and we went across the street to Hobby Lobby.  After we shopped, I took her back across the street and dropped her off at her car.  This morning, we were planning on visiting one of the other 2 churches we are interested in but then we woke up to a pretty loud thunderstorm and a lot of water!  The power went out for about 30 seconds, which was B.A.D. because the coffee pot was only about half way through!  It came back on quickly, so I pushed the "on" button on the coffee pot and it finished.  That was a good thing, because I desperately needed caffeine this morning.

Otter came over to do her laundry this morning, Maggie Moo didn't get a walk yesterday because of the rain or Friday because it was just rainy enough that she wouldn't go outside (she might melt, you know!), so she was raring to go this morning.  When Otter got here, Maggie Moo was overjoyed and then she was even happier when she got to go on a walk with her Otter.  (Maggie made a new friend on her walk today, a young female pittie mix puppy who is just the sweetest, goofy baby!)  I wanted to get something at Wallyworld, so Otter and I ran up there after she got her laundry going.  When we got back, we went through the fabric boxes that Otter left here.  She cleaned out a small amount and got a few things to take home with her, but most of the boxes will go back to the closet.  Which is fine with me, they are not in the way and she doesn't really have that much room at the moment.  She may get some or all of the fabric later on, but it's fine if they stay here.  She gave me one of the picnic baskets - the original one that I had and gave to her, and some of the stuff in the boxes was mine so it's now in the picnic basket.  She left the large plastic tub full of her silk flowers and another box of misc. stuff that she'll get in the next few days or we'll take to her if we happen to be heading in the direction of her apartment.  We also stopped at Subway to get lunch to bring home after we went to Wallyworld, we all got foot long sandwiches with the idea of getting two meals out of them.  Bill's having his 2nd half for dinner at the moment, I'll get to mine eventually.

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but we're closing our booth at the antique mall.  We're paid through the end of this month, next weekend we'll bring the machines home.  I told Otter that we might want to borrow her car, since these are restored machines and could be damaged if they are tossed in the back of the El Camino.  I also might need to borrow her car one day to get myself to work, since we're probably going to put new tires on my car this week.  She's agreeable, we buy her gasoline when we borrow her car!

In the news this week, former President Jimmy Carter has cancer and it's spread to his brain.  He probably doesn't have a lot of time left.  I have never made a secret of the fact that I think he is the worst President in recent history.  I'm not too impressed with some of his actions/statements after he left office,specifically his comments about Israel.  But as a human being, I do feel for him and I wish him the best with his treatment.  I also think that he is a genuine Christian and not a "show Christian."  He needs our prayers as he faces what is probably the final battle of his life.

I rearranged some of the kitchen decor.  Actually, the dining room.  I have a triangular plant stand, it's tall (5 or 6 shelves) and is designed to fit in a corner.  I moved it from where it was to the other side of the dining room, it's now beside the china cabinet and the trash can is moved to where the plant stand was.  I'm going to hang the 5 ceramic and 1 metal pie plates on the wall that was formerly covered up by the plants stand.  It makes the dining room look better, less cluttered and all I did was move two things to the opposite side of where they'd been!

Remember

This is one of my favorite Gene Roddenberry quote, on what would have been his 94th birthday (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991): 

"It speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow – it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids – human beings built them because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things”. --Gene Roddenberry

LLAP!

Still Looking (Edited)

We met with the associate pastor at the church we've been attending.  We had a few questions and she was very willing to answer them.  After the visit, we've decided that we need to keep looking.  We are going to visit one of the other United Methodist churches in the area and see what we think.  There are a few big issues and we agreed on most of them, but there was one in particular - does the specific church view the Bible as literal?  It was the first question and nearly the last one, because the answer was no.  It's a big one as far as we are concerned, there were a few other things we didn't really like so we are not going to continue visiting this particular church.  (EDIT:  I think the work"real" would be better than literal to describe the Bible.  And if the pastor doesn't think it's real, then why is he/she even in that position?)

Since it's Tuesday, it's fajita night at El Chico so we stopped for dinner on the way home.  We got there at the perfect time, they weren't crowded at all but they were getting that way fast by the time we finished our meal.

I've been wondering if I might be on the verge of a sinus infection the last day or so.  I'm at that point where it might be, but it might not be and I won't know for a day or so.  Or a few days.  It's at the point where if it is, it will continue to develop.  But if not, then I don't want to go to the doctor for antibiotics that I don't need.  But there were two yogurt coupons in the paper the other day...

Froggy, I knew you would like the TEXAS clock.  The bluebonnets are hand painted.  It was special from the moment the Teenager gave it to me, but now it means even more to us.

Cue Twilight Zone music:  Yesterday, Maggie literally herded a cricket to me.  As in she chased it but wasn't trying to eat it - however she was very obvious that her intent was to bring it to me.  Then, she turned around and walked over to where the bug jar is kept and stared at it very intently.  Then she turned around and stared at me intently, then back to the jar and then back at the bug.  At that point, I realized that she had made the connection with bugs in the house being caught in the bug jar and put out.  She was quite happy when I picked up the bug jar and caught the cricket and then she walked to the back door and waited for me.  She walked out on the deck with me and watched me dump the bug out, then she turned around and came back in.  It's a scary moment when the beagle does something smart!  :)

Tomorrow's high temperature is in the low 70's!   Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!