Tag Archives: dogs

This Is My Life

I have missed my regular blogging over the past couple of weeks. This August has been and continues to be busy! Please bear with me as my posts are hit and miss this month. The plan is to get back in my groove after Labor Day!

I’m doing (academic) diagnostic evaluations for many in my local home school group. I am trying to get all that done before school starts! I enjoy testing kids to see what they know. Just to toot our own horn a little bit, these students are rocking the tests. Those of you that know me, know that even though I was (and continue to be part time) a public school teacher….I am in love with home schooling. It has been a great experience. I enjoy the flexibility that comes with home schooling.

My son leaves for college in two weeks. There is so much to get done in that two week period. I have lists on top of my lists of things to get done before his big move. The other night my son invited me to go out with him to the movies. We had opportunity to talk, and laugh together. The times spent with him are bitter sweet, because I am acutely aware of how things are changing for us. He is no longer my little boy, but my young man. I am extremely proud of all that he has accomplished in his young life and know he will go on to great things. In the meantime I need to make sure that he has detergent and dryer sheets, extra long sheets for his dorm bed, and warm clothes since he is heading north! Sigh…..I will miss him.

On Saturday we adopted a new dog from the local shelter. Rocky is a year and a half old….and still very puppy like. The shelter said he is a Boxer/Collie mix. I am beginning to think they were wrong. I think he is a Boxer/Lab mix. Our two other dogs, Ace (senior) and Lonnie (middle aged) don’t know what to think of this young, teen, dog. He is a whirlwind. He gallops around like a horse and if one happens to be standing in his “zone” as he goes flying by he/she might be knocked over, much like getting a strike at the bowling alley! This morning while feeding our other animals, Rocky wanted to show his love for me. He jumped up and put both paws on me. (We are working on NOT doing that.) Paws that were muddy and damp from the morning dew. Paws that left two large, muddy paw prints smack dab on my……..chest. I have on a light colored tee shirt. I don’t feel like changing, because it will only happen again until we train him to not do this. So, I’m going to Wal-mart with paw prints on my chest.

This is my life.

I hope all my readers are having a peaceful and happy morning. I think of you often, scattered all across the continents. I wonder what it is that you are doing while living your lives. We are all so different, and yet so much the same.

 

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Another Day In The Life….

Day Five of the lower back pain. Ugh. I probably should go to the chiropractor but, I don’t have the time. I also don’t feel like spending money for that right now. So, I will suffer in silence, or in my case, intermittent whining. This whole thing has been a reminder to me, how in life, if one small thing is out of order, it can affect everything else. I am hoping that I will just wake up one morning (soon!) and I will be healed…and not have to walk like I am 95 years old for the first couple hours of each day!

 

 

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This morning has been great (other than the back pain). It is sunny outside, with buttery sun puddling on the kitchen and living room floors. We are having another  “cold front”….so the temps are only in the 70’s with low humidity. There is also a slight breeze, which I find very enjoyable. My heat miser friends are not happy. According to them, “July is in the middle of the summer! Summer is supposed to be hot!” I secretly, in my own mind, am thinking, “Suck it up, Buttercup!” I love weather like this and I would do the happy dance, if I could, without causing further pain in my back.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I spent some time rearranging things in a corner of the living room. I have a beautiful, hand crafted, oak shelf. I had various knick knacks on it and thought to myself, “I can do better than that”. So…….I decided to bring out about half of my Boyd’s Bear collection to fill up that shelf in the corner. I have a… eh…hem…..rather large bear collection, that has been growing over many years. I like to look at them, so for now some of them are at home in the corner of the living room. My daughter said I am going to grow to be an old lady with lots of teddy bears. I informed her that these are not just any teddy bears….and there are a lot worse things to collect than bears. I obviously will not be willing my sweet, cuddly collection to her! Hmmpppffff!

 

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Anyone that knows me, knows that I am an avid animal lover. My son’s dog, Lonnie, is a terrier mix. When we got him from the Humane Society three and a half years ago, I didn’t know much about terriers. All I knew was that he had the biggest brown eyes and he was looking straight at me when we took the tour to see what animal we wanted to take to our “fur-ever” home. Little did I know that “fur-ever” really meant FUR forever.  I love this dog. I mean really love this dog. He is awesome. Of course, I found out after the fact that terriers are renowned shedders. Lonnie is white with a black mask. Let me just say that I do a lot of sweeping and vacuuming at my house. White fur is abundant. I don’t mind though….he is worth it. Maybe I will knit him a sweater out of his own fur for a Christmas present. Not really. I was just kidding, people. Sheesh.

 

 

 

 

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I need to sweep and vacuum off the deck carpets today, probably wipe down the tables too. I invited a friend over for a birthday dinner tomorrow evening. We are fairly new friends (this past year), but I feel like I’ve known her a lot longer. We are close in age, and that is always nice because then the other person gets references from childhood or young adulthood that others might not get. She is also very cool when it comes to music and photography. So, in my mind, I categorize her as my cool, artsy, friend. Does anyone else do that besides me? You know, like she is my funny, awesome, always has me laughing friend. Or maybe she is my fellow bookworm, always has good quotes and facts, kind of a friend. Or this is my crazy, “I’m gonna go postal”, never a dull moment friend. Lord only knows what title I get from my friends. They probably just consider me a little weird, but lovable. I can live with that.

 

 

 

 

Well, it is off to get things done today. I know this wasn’t one of my “normal” blogs, but today I just wrote what I was feeling. I never know where that may lead!

At Home Photo Shoot

 

We got Lonnie, in January, from the local Humane Society. Lonnie is actually my son’s dog…but, I love him.

The other day my daughter and I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot, with Lonnie being our model.

Even though he is way too short to be a runway model, and…um… has excessive body hair…he is still adorable.

 

What a cutie patootie.

Opps. He turned his head just as I shot the picture.

This is what I like to call my “artistic” close up.

The dog has no manners. (The tongue came out because he was being bribed with a liver treat.)

Would you please stay still for 2 seconds!!??

 

I will never be a professional photographer, especially of animals. Sigh.

Oh,well. Lonnie doesn’t mind.

Unless there is a liver treat involved.

 

A Chapter Out Of My Life

A John Deere lawn mower in a Finnish garden.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s Saturday.

I took Lonnie dog for a walk,

He and Ace, the outside dog, got into it. Fur flying. Over nothing. Both males. Go figure.

I was having none of it. They both got that I was mad at them. Bad boys. Go sulk.

They are fine. Like 2 year olds.

My husband is mowing the yard on the one non rainy day we’ve had in forever.

I was outside picking debris out of the yard. Amazing what what can find after having winds in excess of 60mph this past week. Just sayin’.

The outside cat, Salem, wanted me to pet her. I did. She is not declawed.

She got her claws caught on my clothing. She panicked. I panicked…because she had her claws on me.

She hissed. I yelled, “stop it”. She didn’t.

Ouch.

We finally got disentangled. Two girls screaming in the front yard. But only one of us with claws. Not fair.

She went and laid down on the porch. Away from me.

I was thinking I should go inside, when my husband went zipping by on the lawnmower.

He is The Grass Geru. Lord of the Lawn. Mower Master. Okay….I digress.

Anyway, the tire of the lawnmower caught a rock and it shot up and hit our outdoor flood light. Well, it pretty much exploded.

Where I was standing.

Glass flew everywhere.

For the love of pete! At least it hit the light and not me.

I again resumed picking up debris. This time it was glass.

All the exploding excitement got the dogs to barking. Again.

That’s it.

I went inside. It’s dangerous out there!

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Time For A Doctor Visit

Whiteman CAC, Vet Clinic host 2010 Bark in the...

Image by DVIDSHUB via Flickr

Three outdoor cats. One indoor cat. Two dogs…and a horse. We have some really sweet pets. Really sweet pets that needed to get their shots. I called the vet. She came out on Friday. She had her mobile office all packed up in the back of her pickup. Cool. I liked her a lot. She was good with the animals.

First, was Jazz. Jazz is a horse who I have to say was not all that thrilled with getting blood taken, a couple of shots and a vaccine up her nose. (who would be?) Horses are a lot like young children. A horse will fuss and carry on, but the “parent” has to say, “Look this is for your own good.” (you might not believe me right now, but you need this! Stop it already, I’ll give you an apple if you are a good girl. We are not above bribery.) All in all Jazz was a pretty good girl. Dr. Dyer showed me how to give Jazz the more common shots that she will need. I would have never guessed in a million years that this would be me. I’m now reading a lot about horses and giving my family information that even they didn’t know.

Junior, our mutt, is a senior citizen. He is 13. Poor guy. He has a yeast infection and his joints are hurting. He’s getting arthritis. The vet told us that he can take glucousimine and chondrotine (did I spell that correctly?) just like a human. So we got some for him at Walmart. It is orange flavored. He thought it was a snack so he ate it up. It won’t cure him, but it will help with the symptoms. It’s hard being an old dog.

On the other hand, Ace, the collie is in the prime of life. He is a poo head. Silly dog, who has a penchant for collecting all the food bowls. Not the food mind you, but the bowls. I think he has a bowl fetish. Whatever. He sat through his shots like a pro. As long as one pets him, he is your new best friend.

I found out for absolute sure the gender of all our cats. This has been bothering me for some time now. The three outdoor cats are all strays.  We are the proud owners of two girls and a baby boy. I pretty much figured this out, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. The two girls “act” like girls. Pet me. Love me. I am a queen. The kitten is a boy and he is mischievous and does not understand self preservation. He will dart under the horse, jump on people and hang there, and attack the dog’s tail. No common sense. Definitely a boy.

Joe, the indoor cat, is old too. He was trapped in the bathroom until we needed him for his doctors visit. Joe is a big scaredy cat….but, I have to say that he was good and took his shots like a man…er….cat.

Being a pet owner is a lot of work. Animals depend on the owner for everything. A place to sleep. Food to eat. Kindness.

That is why it always bothers me to watch pet rescue shows. I cannot understand how some people treat their animals so horribly. Animalsare like children,who depend on their parents to survive. Pet ownership is a huge responsibility…..but, it is also fun. Each animal has their own personality. Each is unique.

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