Ingrate

I was perusing through the multitudes of pictures that we have, searching for something that I thought I had, but ultimately did not...and came across this picture of Oscar.

One would think that a cat who had gambled so many lives in just one single game of chicken would be a tad... just a tad...more grateful.


But, alas, he is does not feel one tee-tiny bit of thanks for our snatching him from the brink of death. He stalks around here demanding food, yowling and scratching to be let out, tormenting Vivi and terrorizing My Boy when the mood strikes him.

Then, in the wee hours of the night he slinks into our bed and snuggles, cuddles and purrs.

And I forgive him all over again.

Honey, do you smell something?

If you ask me, I think My Boy is pretty much one of the cutest dogs ever - hands down. Sorry, but it's pretty hard to deny when you look at that face with the black bandit mask and his expressive face and eyes. You just have to admit that he is pretty darn adorable.

Adorable or not though, sometimes My Boy simply does not smell, shall we say, like a rose. That little dog can pack a powerful stench, especially right before his bimonthly trip to the doggie spa. Nelson does quite a bit of "off-roading" in our empty lot, plus other plain old dog busyness, he also suffers from skin allergies and CONSTANTLY scratches. All of these factors together greatly contribute to his general stinkiness.

It had only been a week since his last trip to the doggie spa, so last night when he came running into the bedroom and jumped up on my legs and I caught a whiff of something VERY unpleasant, it caught me a bit off guard. The longer Nelson was in the bedroom, the STRONGER the unpleasantness became and it very shortly became apparent that this ODOR was not simply a matter hygiene.

Nelson had been the victim of a drive-by SKUNKING.

Great, it was 8:00 at night, he HAD to have a bath and we HAD to figure out a way to cut the scent of eau de pole cat. I knew from a friend that our vet recommended Massengil Disposable Douche [Don't ask, I've Googled it and it's all over the web.] as the best remedy to remove skunk from a dog Since I didn't feel all warm and fuzzy about going to Walmarts and buying a cartful of douches and failed at persuading Danny to do it either. We jumped to Plan B.

I filled our bathtub with water and added a gallon of white vinegar and socked Mr. Nelson in to soak. After a good bit of soaking, we drained the tub and then lathered Nelson up with the Paul Mitchell shampoo (oh yeah, he's stylish like that) Janny got him for Christmas.

[As a side-note, you'd think someone that's being going to the groomer EVERY TWO weeks since they were a little bitty puppy would have a clue that they were not going to drown, melt nor go down the drain and would refrain from crying like a baby. Just sayin']

We drug Nelson out, dried him off and he smelled...better.

I think we got off lucky this time. The skunk who was traveling through our neighborhood just gave Nelson a shot across the bow, let's hope he learned his lesson and leaves those black & white kitties alone from now on.

Another year

Yesterday Rea became a teenager - thirteen years years have slipped through our fingers and I honestly don't know where it went. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, welcoming our new daughter into this world. A new baby that looked so much like her sister at the time, but was completely unique and marched to her own drum.

Happy belated Birthday my sweet, quirky, exasperating, kind, messy, thoughtful, beautiful, wonderful, one-of-a-kind, true to herself girl!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I’ve had a bad, bad morning – nearly three hours wasted trying to pay for something online using PayPal. I learned the hard way that my debit card is attached to an old but blocked account because my Dearly Beloved is a gun-runner and now banned from eBay for life for selling goodies that go with firearms.

In the middle of talking to Paypal IN INDIA, I also discovered that I was no longer able to log into my email account. It didn’t like anything I did – at all. And let’s add insult to injury that the Personal Secret that it kept refusing to accept was “Your Favorite Pet”. That’s right: Shelley. So I also cried this morning because as I‘ve tried to enter her name over and over trying to reactivate my Hotmail account.

Now, in the midst of all this brouhaha, Danny and I have had a disagreement over all these ins and outs and after several terse phone calls – are no longer speaking. It might have a little bit to do with the fact that he revealed that HE changed my email password at some point and I had to apologize to the Hotmail representative I’d had on the line for twenty minutes. Just sayin’

And, this three day migraine is starting to get just a tad old.

But, as I was thinking about my crappy day, I was also thinking about the people in Haiti – about how menial my problems were, that I had so many things to be grateful for. Simple things, like a bed, clean water and something for dinner tonight. And even my Dearly Beloved.


Text “disaster” to 90999 to donate $10.00 to Compassion International.

Text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10.00 to the Red Cross.

Aisle 13

Rea and I had to run by Walmarts on our way home from school Monday afternoon. Oh, the joy - fate and poor planning resulted in two trips to America's retail mecca in just as many days. I'd managed to hole up in the house from Thursday 'til Sunday and now...I was there again.

As I pulled into a parking spot, Rea spotted a very unusual couple walking toward the store. Now, I'm not sure how many of you follow peopleofwalmart, BUT, interpeeps, these folks were straight off the pages of that blog. Rea and I nearly broke our necks trying to get out of the Tahoe to catch up with them so we could take their picture.

We lost them after they got into the store, but a bit of good detective work on Rea's part soon located them in the granola section. From there they moved on and picked up a six pack of beer and after that they wandered aimlessly about the store.

Unfortunately, after much stalking, giggling and almost getting caught we were unable to get a good photo of the couple and will not be making our own personal submission to peopleofwalmart.

I've included Rea's photo for your viewing pleasure, sadly, you cannot see that the "gentleman" is sporting a plastic leprechan hat and a black t-shirt with a snazzy slogan that can't I recall.

I really loved the lady's ensemble with it's matching yellow cropped sweatpants & headband. She also had sunglasses that she never removed, black hightop sneakers and her hair was in "hinky knot" as my Mom would say.

Wonders never cease...

Billboard

I could kick myself. Missed this gem on the way home from the beach last week...

From http://jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com/

Christmas Bounty

My parents put out a big garden every summer. Janny would actually prefer that it be much smaller, but for some reason my Dad just can't seem to contain himself. A couple of rows of corn magically transforms into, I don't know, ten? A few tomatoes to eat on, usually ends up into well over fifty plants and then, next thing you know, they're hiding vegetables in every vehicle that comes on the place.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it. Because, I'm nothing if not a country girl and my favorite meals involve vegetables straight from the garden. They generously keep my small side-by-side freezer full of pole beans and corn to get me through the cold winter months.

But this Christmas, my brothers and I got a special Christmas gift. Janny and Ronald canned extra tomatoes, tomato juice, pasta sauce, sweet pickles, my favorite plum jelly, squash relish, ripe tomato catsup and pickled banana peppers for each of our families!

My Dad even made the cute wood carry boxes so I could transport all of my goodies home.

I have strict instructions to return all of the jars so they may be reused. Mom even suggested that I return them in the boxes. I promise to return the jars, but I'm not making any promises about those cute boxes!

Snow Day - NOT

Last night Rea watched television with bated breath as school after school around us closed in anticipation of the Great Blizzard of 2010. She even slept with her pajamas inside-out, flushed ice cubes and put spoons under all of our pillows!

However, our school never came across the TV screen. We didn't get the early morning phone recording. It was not meant to be, as usual, the poor children of our fair city were "cheated" out of a snow day. I don't know how he does it, but I think the School Superintendent must be a steely-eyed poker player - cause he plays some pretty mean odds. Once again he gambled and this morning we woke up with nary a flake of snow on the ground and while every district within 75 miles of us is closed.

I'm wondering now though if his gamble is going to come back and bite him this afternoon - it's been snowing pretty good for a while now - not a lot, but some of the roads are beginning to cover and I suspect that it may get slick and slushy by the time school is out.

Suppose the odds man thought the whole day through? At 3:15, a horde of inexperienced high school drivers are going to hit the snow-slick, slushy roads and head home.

That, my friends, is a scary thought...

Home.

My Boy is back home after a long fifteen days away. He's quite fat and sassy though - he settled in and made himself quite at home with his Grandparents and I think there were a few long faces - furry and otherwise - when I pulled out of the driveway with him.

Nelson and I skedaddled on out of Kentucky this morning early, I wanted that 200 mile drive behind me just in case those predictions of snow they had been talking about for two days came true.

Today the drive took me three hours, but we've had the unique pleasure of driving it in bad conditions and it stretching to nearly seven - I didn't relish the thought of that again. Especially alone with only a Shih Tzu as my heating blanket!

But, my caution and the kids dreams of snow may be for naught. The Winter Storm Watch and has now be downgraded to an Advisory - seems we may just have to endure more of this bitter cold with nothing to show for it.

Ready.

I am so ready so see this furry little face and hold his wriggly little body.

I don't think he's missed us as much as we've missed him.

After all, he's been hanging with his Grandparents, an eight year old girl who LOVES to play and another Shih Tzu.

And been dining on hot dogs and steak...what's a dog got to complain about?

Have you seen my mojo?

Hey Friends,

Hope this blog post finds each of you well, warm and settling back into some semblance of a routine. I don’t know about you – but I kind of miss the ebb and flow of my daily life. We’d been gone for ten days and I was ready to sleep in my own house and snuggle with my kitties. Nelson is still in Kentucky with his grandparents and his Uncle Gary, we miss him terribly, but from all reports, he’s living it up and making out quite well.

We left from Kentucky after Christmas, passed GO and drove straight to the beach and spent a week with friends in a wonderful beach house where we rang in the New Year with a shrimp boil. The weather was nice for a couple of days – cool, but good enough to walk on the beach and sit outside and read.

Several deranged souls participated in the “Wildcat Wash” on New Year’s Day. They claimed it was necessary to “Wash away the old, welcome the new”. I was a party pooper. I just couldn’t go there; it didn’t seem prudent to even stick my pinky toe in that water when I spend a vast majority of my time walking around looking like the Unabomber – indoors.

I’m searching for my blogging mojo; it seems to have been crowded out by something else. I plan on posting something each day for the rest January as I try to find it – I’m not sure where this ride will take us, but we shall see.