Bonus Photo -- Sense of Motion

My second granddaughter got to celebrate her 7th birthday here in TX. It is actually a couple of weeks after her birthday, but this is the first time they have been here this close to any of their birthdays, so it was party time!

The party was at the other grandparents home. There had never been so many children (or for that matter, people) at any of my grandchildren's birthday parties before! There are a lot of cousins on my daughter-in-law's side of the family. The kids had a lot of fun, if the noise level was any indication.

In this photo, birthday celebration girl is attaching a balloon to her father's ear for me to photograph, just as her cousin J.R. runs in front of it all. You can't really see birthday celebration girl (the pink between the blur and the chair is her) and J.R. is the man in motion. Her dad is sitting still, not really pleased with us, but being a good sport, none the less. The balloon is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Float above it all. *If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the orange ribbon kind of hanging from my son's ear/glasses area.

Photo of the week 17 of 39 -- 9:00 AM

This is my son at 9:00 AM this morning. Of course, I could have taken this photo on any of the mornings that he's been here and gotten the same result. And as my hubby said, I probably could have taken the same photo at 10:00 AM or 11:00 AM. He rarely gets to sleep in (he's in the military and has three children) and he is on West Coast time instead of Central time like we are.

Next week's theme is "Crossroads".

More Kid Fun

I thought my grandson looked so cute in his orange t-shirt today. I told him that I wanted to take his picture and he just smiled and posed for me.






















When I had visited them around Easter, I purchased a "Wreck this Journal" by Keri Smith. I had a lot of fun wrecking it and the girls had a lot of fun watching me and giving me encouragement and ideas. They each asked for one of their own to wreck. So, today I gave them one! In this photo, you can see granddaughter number two with the paper cup she made from one of the pages. She had a little trouble making the "point" watertight, so she came up with the idea of taping it! Smart girl!












Granddaughter number one has been collecting rocks the last couple of days. I think she has the makings of a true rock hound! Who knows, maybe one day she and I will go to some of these mines that let the public look for gems and we'll see if we can find some diamonds or other such treasures!

Dinosaur fun and climbing trees

My mother, known to her great-grandchildren as Granmolly, brought my grandson a dinosaur thing today. He was delighted by the sounds and movements it made. I never got a great picture of him with it, but I think you can tell that he was happy.

My youngest granddaughter (the redhead) does not like to pose for "pretty" photos. She'll act silly for a shot all day long, but if I try to get her looking nice, she turns, runs, ducks, hides -- you get the idea. She finally posed for this one. It's a dang shame I didn't get it better in focus. Don't bother to enlarge it, it only gets more blurry if you do.

The oldest granddaughter went pretty high in the cedar tree her dad used to climb when he was her age. I should have taken one of the distance up in addition to the close up.

Brown Eyes

When I first checked this photo out after taking it, while it was still in the camera, it looked like I had captured a silly girl! Maybe I did capture a bit of her silliness, but I think I also got some of her true beauty too. Just look at those dark eyes and her shiny hair! I didn't even see the little curl until it was on the computer! I also didn't notice she had some of it in her mouth until then. Silly girl with brown eyes.

I tried to get one of her sister to add, but she kept hiding from me today. Maybe tomorrow.

Happy Days are Here Again!

The kids arrived here today, finally, safely, at long last. To say I'm tickled pink is to put it mildly. It actually hasn't been that long since I've gotten to see them myself. I was at their house for Easter this year, but no one else here has seen them for a little over two years!

The girls had just gotten hair cuts. Don't they look beautiful? My grandson looks darling in his camouflage. They're all a little shy for little while after they first get here. After all, they don't get to see us in person often.

Their other grandparents live near by, so we have to share when they come to TX. Regardless, the next week should be lots of fun!

cleaning and yard work

For the last several days, my hubby and I have been working on the yard. Mowing, burning dead fall and clearing trash that Barkley has made out of once useful items. We haven't done this, to this extent, in at least two years and believe you me, it should not be put off that long. When it is, it makes for very long, hard, hot work. Especially in the summer, which is when you do this sort of thing. There is still a lot I'd like to do out there, but we had to stop. For one thing, we had worked harder than either of us was used to, for so long that neither of us could think straight any longer. For another, we still had the inside to take care of because our son and his family are coming for a visit. I sure wish I had started all of this a month ago and worked half as hard. Oh wait a minute. I did start all of this a month ago. I just didn't keep working at it. Crap. When will I ever learn?







In the middle of all of this, our hot water heater finally died. I found this out when I was trying to take a shower that I was in extreme need of. The water was very cold and I was very hot and sweaty. Thankfully I had rested for a while and cooled down quite a bit, compared to what I had been, so I didn't pass out in the shower, but it was a very quick shower indeed. If you want to truly conserve water, shower cold! You won't stay in long at all! I know where my pertinent parts are and I washed them and got the heck out of there! I had chill bumps when I did, but I was much cleaner than when I went in.







Now I'm waiting for the plumber to come and install the new water heater. While I'm waiting, I'm trying to clean downstairs some. I'd like for us to have a place to sit and talk and even eat. What a novel idea! At the moment, that isn't possible. I am not kidding, but I will not post photos of it. Hearing about it is one thing, seeing it is something altogether different. And at the moment it's even worse than it was this morning since half of the stuff that was in the bathroom is in the kitchen. We had to clean off and take down the shelf that goes over the water heater. I just hope they make it here today.





Later: I wrote most of this earlier today. The water heater did get installed! Hurray! The bathroom is back to normal and the living room and kitchen are in better shape than they were, but no where near finished. Once you get to that totally worn out state for several days in a row, it doesn't take long to get there again each day. Who knows, I may actually get into better shape if I keep at this. The kids will be here tomorrow. Don't know how much more I'll get done before they arrive.





The top picture is of the old water heater. The bottom one is of the new one with the shelf back and everything back in.

Photo of the week 16 of 39 -- Yellow

Bartlett pears at Brookshire's grocery store. They almost look soft enough to eat. Not like the ones that grow on our tree which are hard enough to be considered a deadly weapon if thrown at someone! I'm thinking that our pears are canning pears and not eating pears. Although, some of our past dogs have loved to eat them right off the tree. I think that's how they kept their teeth so sharp and strong!

Next week's theme is "9:00 A.M".

In the Stands

Last night, my friend Kari treated me to a Texas Rangers baseball game. It was guaranteed that one of us would leave happy and the other would not. The Rangers were playing the Boston Red Sox. She is a Boston fan and I am a Rangers fan.

I used to go to about 10 games a year with my friend Marianne. She passed away last October. This was the first game I had attended since her death. Actually it was the first I had attended without her since we had first started to attend games together all those years ago. If it hadn't been for Kari, I might not have ever gotten back in the saddle, so to speak. I owe her a very big debt of gratitude. I drove myself there and met her, a first for me. I even got there before Kari and sat alone until she arrived. In the past I would have felt self-conscious, but it didn't bother me a bit. I even enjoyed everything I was watching and doing. I may be able to go to games totally alone in the future. Of course it's always more fun with a friend and I do hope someone will end up going with me, but

there's no reason to stay home if no one can. What a gift Kari gave me!

In the past games I've attended between the Rangers and the Red Sox, the Red Sox have beat the Rangers in every single game. And I do mean every single game! Not only that, but the Sox fans were more than rude. They were hostile and rude! Throwing things at Ranger fans and using fowl language, just to name a couple of things. Last night was different! The fans were every bit as vocal about their love for their Sox, but they were fun, not rude in the least.

The game was going pretty dog gone quick. There was a pitcher's duel going on. It started at 7:07 PM and I'm pretty sure it was over just after 9 PM. With the Rangers winning! And the crowd went wild! OK, I may be exaggerating just a bit. Half of the crowd was extremely happy, but there is a huge Boston fan base in Texas and they were more than a little disappointed. Final score Sox 2 Rangers 4. I didn't take a picture of the final score. I was too busy heading for my car as soon as they said "BALL GAME!". I live a good 2 hours from the ball park and the longer it takes to get my car, the longer the drive because the traffic stacks up. I made it home just after 11 last night. For me, it was a good night all the way around!

Thank you, Kari!

The photo challenge

Pam asked me recently if anyone was playing along with us in our weekly photo challenge. Well, the answer is no. Just she and I are doing the weekly thing, to the best of my knowledge. Then I realized -- to my horror -- that she credits me each and every single week and I don't know if I've ever told you that she's doing the weekly challenge also. So, if you want to see what Pam's been up too, go check out her blog -- pquinn a quiet life. I enjoy checking in on her several times a week. You might too. I think she's pretty cool.

I may have told you this part before....I don't remember. When I first started looking for a photo challenge to take on, I googled "photo challenge". One of the many websites that came up was Julie's. I liked Julie's website and the different theme's she was using. Her challenge was a daily photo, but I knew I'd never do that and I decided not to set myself up to fail. I emailed and asked if she minded if I did my own thing with her theme's on a weekly basis. She basically said 'Go for it!'. I do love to look at her blog -- 365 Photos in 2009 (or maybe not!), at least weekly to see what great shots she's taken. She also has a list of many people, on the right hand side of her blog under "365 Photo Blogs", of people who are participating with her. So if you like great photography, I highly recommend you check them out when you have time.

Photo of the week 15 of 39 -- Chores

As you can see, I have chores waiting for me. This is the only photo I've taken of the chores I need to do. If I'd taken photos of all of them, it would have filled a photo album. I couldn't take that. So, that being said, this all you get this week.

Next week's theme is Yellow.

Getting to know Katie

First thing this morning, Katie and I went to the vet in Dallas for her check up. It comes with the SPCA adoption. She is such a good travel dog! She's curious, as all dogs are when in the car. She looks out one window and then the next, but she doesn't whimper or whine about being in the car. She was also very good at the vet. They all fell in love with her. The results of her checkup were that she has an eye infection. We have medication for that and for flea and tick prevention. We're good to go. Coming home, she laid down in the seat and slept most of the way.

Once home, I had to run to the grocery store. Richard happened to be home today, so he gave the dogs a chew bone that I had gotten for each of them yesterday. Katie immediately grabbed hers and ran to "bury" it in the chair! Richard said that she was using her nose to try to cover it after putting it between the cushions and was getting frustrated that it wasn't being covered! There happened to be an old, torn sheet downstairs, so he put it on top of the bone. She was happy as a clam by that! I sure wish I had seen it. It was so funny to hear about.

When I'd read about Katie on the SPCA website, it said she was a German Shepherd/Chow mix. It wasn't until we had adopted her that we saw by the computer paper work that she is really a Border Collie mix. We've figured out that she has a lot of terrier in her. Maybe momma was a Border Collie and daddy was a terrier. That's my guess anyway. I think an angel had a hand in us getting Katie. You see my hubby is extremely fond of German Shepherd dogs. That was one reason I had noticed Katie on the website and had been able to entice him to go look at her. The day we adopted her would have been my friend Marianne's birthday. For a couple of months before Marianne's death, she and I talked about her adopting a dog. She had been bitten a year or so before and was quite leery of most dogs, but when we talked of the type she'd get (when she was feeling braver about it) she only talked about wanting a Border Collie! Now, you may not believe in interventions of this type, but I do. And no one will ever be able to convince me that Marianne did not have a hand in this adoption.

Big Happy Family

As of 3 this afternoon, "April" was still available at the SPCA of TX in Dallas. By some fluke of fate, it felt as if the door to "Avenue 2" where April's living was locked. It wasn't. Don't know why I couldn't easily open the door, but when I couldn't, we went to "Avenue 3" to see if she was by any chance on that row.



We had barely started to walk down the row of cages when Richard said something about one of the dogs there. I stopped and looked. I told him that she was the other VIP that I had mentioned to him this morning. (A "VIP" is an animal who has been at the SPCA of Texas for more than 30 days. They lower the adoption price in an effort to get the little sweetie adopted.) They had 2 female dog VIPs and we were planning to look at both of them. Well, my plan was to look at the second one only if Richard didn't fall in love with April like I had. I had actually visited her once during my volunteering and of course the picture on the website was darling.



I hadn't really counted on him falling in love with the second dog before he even saw the first one! But that is what happened. So we adopted the dog I had intended to look at second, only if Richard didn't like the first dog.



Say hello to Katie! She's a real sweetheart. Now, you may remember that Barkley was quite cowed by our Elly dog when she was alive. So, when we brought Katie in, he was scared plum to death of her! It was really pretty funny. He's a big ol' 95 pounds and she's not quite 40 pounds. She literally chased him around the house for 45 minutes trying to play with him. Her tail just a wagging the whole time, while he ran his little terrified heart out! Finally, Richard was able to get them to stop and see that everyone was nice and friendly. At that point they started to play and they played their hearts out for hours. Playing that hard for that long, makes doggies very thirsty, so Katie has drank a lot tonight. She's had a couple of accidents, but I feel certain that she'll be totally reminded of her house breaking soon.

At least I hope that was correct on her paper work. It said she was house broken in her former home, but would need to be reminded since she'd been at the shelter for so long. She's also had heartworms and been successfully treated. She's healthy and happy and very active! She's also a border collie mix. As she calms down a bit, that is if she calms down a bit, I'll get more pictures of her to share with you. She's about the same age as Barkley according to her paperwork, a couple of months older actually, but she acts like a puppy. Maybe it's the border collie in her. I've never had one before, but I've read that they are very intelligent and can be quite obstinate.

Possibilities

I've been dog shopping via the SPCA of TX website for a while now. We lost or Elly dog in April and our Barney cat back in November. I can't remember the last time we had just one pet. Well, actually I do too. It was in the early 1980's when our son was just a little fellow and we were in our first house. We've always had at least two pets since then. During many years here, we had six -- three dogs and three cats. Ahhh, those were the days of love and furry hugs and kisses!

We started thinking of getting a second dog fairly soon after Elly's death. Barkley seemed so lonely. Now, he's coming into his own and seems to be fine, but we miss having more pets around. I found out a little over a year ago that I'm allergic to cats, so as much as I want another one, I can't have it. So, dog shopping it is!

The problem is that I fall in love easily. I see those big doggie eyes and fall head over heals. Then I start working on the hubby. By the time I think I've almost got him convinced to look at a particular dog, the dog has been adopted by someone else and heartbreak sets in! Then the search continues. Well, there is one we're planning to go look at tomorrow, if the good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise. Here is a link to her picture. I hope it works out. Cross your fingers for me, OK? * Shoot, the link doesn't take you directly to her picture, but to a list of adoptable animals. She is "April" a VIP on the first page.

Revisiting my 49 List

I've done a few of things on my 49 List. One of the things is coming up today and I won't be doing it. Going to the Keith Urban concert in July is #44 on the list. Life got in the way of this one and it just isn't going to happen without Divine intervention and to be honest, I think He has better things to do than to get me to the KU concert later tonight. I'm greatly disappointed to miss it. Hopefully, I'll be at the next one. There is even a chance that my sister and her family may move back to the Houston area, if that happens, I'll have two chances to see him a year! Of course, that's judging by his schedule as it is now and how I hope he continues to schedule his schedule. If that makes sense.

Photo of the week 14 of 39 -- Adolescence

This was not a particularly easy theme for me. First of all, I don't have any young people in my neighborhood. (Not that I really live in a "neighborhood" in this rural area. I can't even see my next door neighbors house.) I'd have to go to a mall or at least Wal-mart and take pictures of strangers to get shots of anything that an adolescent might be doing today. Both locations are places I try to avoid.



That got me to thinking about my own adolescence. I could have driven to Dallas to the neighborhood I grew up in and just taken location shots, but I thought it might make me very sad to see the changes that have been made to the old places. Besides that, it's over an hour away and I wasn't able to make it over there during any other visits near by recently. That's a lot of gas, time and money for one or two photographs.



Time to get creative! I thought more about my adolescence and the kinds of things I did, how things have changed from then to now -- that sort of thing. Of course I realized there were shows on TV that I watched then, that I still watch now. One of them -- "I Love Lucy" was an "oldie" even then because it stopped filming before I was born, another was "M*A*S*H" which first came on during my adolescence. They both are favorites of mine. I watch them whenever I get a chance. My daughter-in-law recently gave me the whole collection of "I Love Lucy" on DVD, but I still watch them on TV if I get the chance. The early "M*A*S*H" episodes with McLean Stevenson as Col. Henry Blake are my favorites. My favorite Lucy episode is the one where they first get to CA and she, Fred and Ethel go to the Brown Derby for lunch. William Holden is seated next to them. Lucy is a complete nuisance watching him. When they all decide to leave, she trips a waiter who dumps pie all over Mr. Holden! Later in the show, Ricky brings him home to meet Lucy. Lucy is trying to disguise her identity from William Holden and she accidentally lights her putty nose on fire! It is hilarious! Another favorite is when Ricky and Lucy are practicing the tango for a PTA show and she hides 3 dozen eggs in her shirt. During the dance ending, the eggs are smashed! I still laugh every time!

I can't remember when TV stations went to 24 hour viewing in Dallas. I remember them going off the air each night, playing the "Star Spangled Banner" and then showing the test pattern after they signed off. Never in my wildest dreams, as an adolescent, did I ever think we'd have so many TV watching options, with so many stations on all the time and be able to go out and purchase movies and TV shows on discs to watch in our homes whenever we want to! Amazing how far things have come .

Next week's theme is "chores".

Modern Conveniences

When I was a kid, we were not allowed to turn on the air-conditioner until June 1st. It didn't matter how hot it got. Must of been dad's rule, because I'm pretty sure that it changed once my folks were divorced. We still waited until as close to June 1st as we could, but we didn't swelter any longer if it was -- oh, say 95 degrees in May!

Now, my hubby is from a different generation -- mine. He also works with computers in air-conditioned rooms all day. He's not about to come home and sweat all night after being in comfort all day. So as stupid as it sounds if he happens to get the house too hot in February with the wood burning stove, he's been known to turn on the air-conditioner then.

That being said, there hasn't been a day this year, since at least early May, that I haven't walked into our house and thanked God for air-conditioning and the person who invented it! It is hot in Texas! I have a few other modern conveniences that I am extremely grateful for. Here is my, no where near complete, list in no particular order:

1. Refrigeration
2. Clean Running Water
3. Flush Toilets
4. The Electric Light
5. Deodorant!
6. Toilet Paper

What are your favorite modern conveniences?

Maybe I just lack common sense

I have regular doctor check ups because of migraines and allergies. The doctors have been working with me to decrease the number of migraines I get and cut down my allergy symptoms. I get allergy shots and take medications for all of these things. This morning I had a check up. The doctor and I talked about the cough I've had, basically since April. I originally got it after a day surgery. It developed into bronchitis and very slowly went away. About two weeks later, I got another cough. This one was determined to be allergy related and blamed, by my doctor, on my SPCA work. Now, I can't really disagree with the man. I know from testing that I am slightly allergic to cats. And the work I do at the SPCA is primarily with cats. I lost my cat in November and wanted to work with them. I knew I shouldn't live with them, but hoped that playing with cats a few hours a week wouldn't really be a problem. Well, I was wrong. The doctor told me today that I need to quit volunteering at the SPCA. He said that there is enough cat dander in the building that I shouldn't even work up there with the dogs. I'm extremely sad about this because I've enjoyed it immensely. I feel that I've gotten as much from the animals and people that I've worked with as they've gotten from me, actually more. I have accepted it though because the things he said made sense. The one thing he said that really surprised me was that I should start to feel better about a month after I've stopped working with the cats!

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy Independence Day! I love the 4th of July. It brings back memories of family and cookouts, parades, patriotic music and fireworks shows. I love all of that. What I don't love now that I did when I was a kid is the fireworks you can buy at the road side stands and shoot off at home or in the rural areas. The scare the fool out of my dogs!

Each dog we've had since living out here in the country has been scared senseless by the loud noises of fireworks. It is not fun to spend hours each 4th of July, Christmas and New Years day trying to calm my dogs. In fact, it would be fine if it was just on those three days, but it's not, it's a week or so before and after each of those days. I get very little sleep during that time and the poor dog gets a nervous condition. When our Lady dog was alive, we had to sedate her each year at this time! It's so frustrating. I actually enjoy the years when we are in a drought and the fireworks are banned!

So, y'all have a great celebration, but do me and my poor dog a favor and make it a quiet one. Save yourself some money this year or better yet, donate what you would have spent buying fireworks to a worthy cause and then go to one of the big fireworks shows. It'll be so much prettier and safer and my dog will be calm and I can get some sleep.

Photo of the week 13 of 39 -- Nostalgia

I had a lot of ideas for the theme this week. I was leaning toward taking a photo of board games. I miss playing board games and whenever I happen to see them in the toy isles of some store, it always reminds me of my childhood. Boardgames, coloring books, Crayola Crayons, blowing bubbles, playing go fish or some other card game and even dominoes all remind me of childhood. I don't think my son has memories of these things and I'm pretty sure my grand kids won't either.

I picked the photo of watermelons for a totally different reason. I was born in January and usually got to have my favorite chocolate cake to celebrate. My sister was born on June 16th. One year, for whatever reason, my father asked her if she would like a birthday cake or watermelon! She said watermelon and a new tradition was born! She was thrilled and I was jealous. There was no way to get a watermelon in January. Dad took both us girls to a local fruit stand that happened to have refrigerated watermelons, so we could pick out one that was already cold! My dad never picked out a bad watermelon either. We were able to celebrate as soon as we got home. We put candles in it, sang "Happy Birthday" and everything, just as if it were a cake. It was the best. To this day, when June 16th hits, I start craving watermelon. To this day, I still have a hard time picking a good one out. The only time I could pick out good watermelon was when I was pregnant with my son. Of course, that could have been because I truly craved them then and it didn't matter if it was a good melon or not, I was going to eat it (after all in February of that year, I craved peaches and the only ones that could be found were three green ones -- to this day, they were the best peaches I've ever had). I would eat a 20 pound melon in 2 days by myself during that time. Watermelon is very nostalgic for me.

Next weeks theme is "adolescence".

The Wizard of Oz

I just watched The Wizard of Oz on Turner Classic Movies. It's one of my all time favorite movies! I've loved it since I was a little kid. It came on once a year and only once a year. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my little sister each year when it came on, after the Wonderful World of Disney. We must have had a black and white TV at some point because I remember being totally in awe when the color segment of the movie would start. That movie had me enthralled. I loved every single minute of it! I loved the songs and the horse of a different color! I was terrified by the flying monkeys. I worried that Dorothy's friends wouldn't be able to rescue her in time and was horrified by the wicked witch setting the scarecrow on fire! I silently cheered each year when the water melted the wicked witch. And I know I cried when Dorothy said at the end that "there's no place like home" because it still chokes me up.

After I was married and moved with my Airman husband to Biloxi while he was stationed at Keesler AFB, my dear Aunt Brenda was expecting her first child. I found a little baby quilt with a stamped cross stitch scene from the Wizard of Oz on it. I bought it and did the cross stitch for my gift to her dear little daughter, my cousin Sundey. I foisted all kinds of Oz Christmas ornaments on her too over the years. Bless her heart.

I've hoped that my granddaughters would love the Wizard of Oz as much as I do. I don't think they do. I know they asked their mom to watch the "witch" movie a couple of times, but I don't think they've really loved it. Maybe it's the availability that has ruined it for them. Maybe you have to be able to look forward to some things and not be able to see them whenever you want to that makes them so special.

I Finally DId It!

I finally got my first piece uploaded into my etsy store late last night. Between taking the photos and trying to figure out what to call the piece and then how to describe it, it took me hours. Yes, you read that right, it took me literally hours to get it listed.

As soon as I clicked on that last button to finish up and list the item, I realized I didn't say anything about the size of the piece. I know there was something else I forgot too, but I've already forgotten what it was that I forgot. I just hate it when that happens.

I know that it'll get easier for me as time goes by and I list more things. I'm looking forward to that. Until then, you can see the piece I listed last night at the right in my little etsy showcase thing. I'll have more in it as I list them.

A Visit to the Vet

Barkley was overdue for his shots and had been out of his Revolution flea treatment for way too long. So, I took him to the vet this morning. Never a fun experience for him or for me. He whimpered almost all the way there. Shedding all the while. He would barely go into the building because he saw a chow sitting calmly beside the check-in desk. I had to cajole and drag him in, then take him several paces past the perfectly sedate dog.

Once the other dog left, we went back to get Barkley's weight taken. At 2 years, he weighs 95 pounds! I was shocked! I thought he'd be at least 10 pounds less than that. Then he went back for his exam. Everything checked out. No heart worms or other parasites -- hallelujah! He got all of his vaccinations and his Revolution and we paid our bill and hit the road. Needless to say, we are both pooped and very thankful to be home.