Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Dog Days







I understand that the phrase "Dog days" usually refers to the hottest, stickiest, time of the summer months, usually the end of July through the start of September. However, around my house, dog days are any day when it's either too wet, cold, or unbearably hot to go outside. For the past week, while the temps have been nice, the skies have been dark, and the rain has just been a steady, constant drip. This is a very sad thing for my dogs. Not only does everyone who comes into the house smell like wet human, (yuck!) but they can't do their favorite thing - go for a walk and molest the newly blooming shrubbery at the park.
Instead, we're stuck inside. Not a big thing for you and I, and for most people who have only one dog, it's usually not the end of the world; But when you have SIX dogs, it's a borderline emergency. Normally, since their mom isn't a morning person, they're pretty patient until noon or so. That's usually when they start watching me closely for any subtle indication that a walk might be about to happen. I had no idea that I was so predictable, but I've come to realise that they're always watching me very closely. Even when they're in, what appears to be, a sound sleep, If I unzip my purse, (which is where I keep my sunglasses) their heads will pop up, their ears will perk forward, and their tails will start to tentatively wag. So on rainy day, I have to monitor my movements, because once they get the idea of a walk in their heads, they'll spend the remainder iof the day whinging and trying to herd me towards the garage. (where we keep the collars, leashes, and doggie back packs.)

So what do I do on days like this? It becomes a Dog Day, because if left unchecked, they WILL find some way to release all their pent up energy - ususally, at the expense of my home and personal belongings.
Rainy days are good for working on tricks and obedience. Since we have a new puppy, I've had to spend extra time doing this lately. MY dogs understand that when it's treat time, they can gather round, at a respectful distance, and when everyone is quietly sitting and their eyes are on me, they will ALL be given a treat. Those are the same rules that I used as a preschool teacher for story time, and they seem to work. Puppy hasn't quite figured that out yet. When puppy sees the treats come out he does the "terrier dance." He starts bouncing around on his hind legs, jumping on the bigger dogs and trying to snatch out of my hand before tit reaches the mouths of the other dogs. I won't tolerate a dog that isn't gentle when he takes something from my hand, and more than once, the puppy's behavior has created a few disciplinary growls from the bigger dogs. Not cool. So we work on that, and if puppy gets it figured out, we work on catching treats that have been tossed in the air, in their mouths -without fighting. They are all pretty good at it - exept for the little dogs. They tend to get pissed off that their size keeps them from getting as many treats as the big dogs. But that's life - if Princess didn't weigh three times her normal size, she could out jump any of them.

Some times, we play hide and seek with the bedroom monkey. The bedroom monkey is a stuffed monkey with REALLY long arms and legs, that when squeezed, makes a monkey sound that drives them INSANE. Who ever finds him gets a treat.

Some times, we go out in the garage and toss the tennis ball for a while.

And if it's been raining for several days, (like today) and they've been especially good, then I track down all of the empty plastic peanut butter jars, and coat the inside of them with a layer of peanut butter. They can spend hours laying about the house licking them until they are clean as a whistle.

However, it gets really stormy, with lots of sound effects, Pete gets too anxious up to do much of anything at all. That's when I go upstairs, cover my kingsized bed with the old comforter, and we all cuddle up together and nap. Since Pete used to be a stray dog, he's terrified of thunder, so I have to turn on my desk top water fountain that plays night time cricket sounds, and I let him curl up on top of me.

Okay, Jake wants to get on the computer. But before I go, Jake wants to know if anyone can answer a question that's always confuzzled him. Ready? Are vegetarians allowed to eat animal crackers?

Sunday, April 26, 2009

It's MEME time! Everyone gather round !

Well, things have been a little dull in my little corner of the blogO'sphere. Nobody is posting much, and I am tired of bitching. (for a while) So I think I will entertain myself by stealing a meme from Kate's blog. (I told you that I would, didn't I?)
So, Here goes . . .

Can you cook?
Can I cook? Well, apparently so, because people keep showing up at my door to be fed. Or . . . it could be that I am just surrounded by ravenous teenagers?

What was your dream growing up?
Well . . . Other than being married to a rock star, I used to dream of becoming a fashion designer. I still love art, however, I have totally and completely fallen out of love with fashion. I wear what I want, when I want, and I think most people in the fashion industry are arrogant buttheads.

What talent do you wish you had?
Um, like Kate, I'd love to be able to sing, but for me, it's only because I am totally tone deaf. What I would really like, is to have enough artistic talent to make a good living with it. (Fame really does not interest me at all.)

Favourite place?
I love to go walking and hiking in the woods with my dogs. I always feel very at peace in nature. However, I really despise snakes, so anywhere that I'm not likely to run into one would be ideal.

Favourite vegetable?
Vegetable? I'm not really sure that I have a "favorite" . . . I feel a deep admiration for the tried and true potato - partly because I am of Irish decent, but mostly for it's versatility. When I cook, I tend to toss a lot of onions and green peppers into my creations. ( Did you know that there is more vitamin C in a green pepper than an orange? - TRUE!) I've always felt a certain attraction to pumpkins, but you know, fresh corn is quite nice too . . . . . What a SILLY question!!!

Last book you read?
I tend to be a binge reader. I will go months without a book, then I will spend twice as many months lost in a reading frenzy. Since life has been kind of chaotic lately, I'm currently having a dry spell, but I think the last book that I read was Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer.

Zodiac sign?
Um, I don't have one. I believe in a lot of fanciful, spiritual, superstitious, mumbo-jumbo, but astrology isn't one of them.

Tattoos/piercings?
I have both my ears pierced, but because my mother didn't want me to be a cheap tramp, I waited until after I had my first out of wedlock child.
I have nothing against tattoos - as a concept. In fact I really admire the artistry that goes into it. My biggest issue with tatts is, in my particular case, I just don't have any part of my body that I feel would benefit from having additional attention drawn to it - But that's just me . . . . So, no. Sorry, no tattoos for this little rebel.

Worst habit?
Oh Gawd! I do SO MANY gross, disgusting, and outrageous things, but I try my best not to make them a habit . . . I guess it would have to be that, in my mind, I am always quick to see the negative aspects in a new situation. Thanks to my impulsive and rebellious multiple personality disorder, I tend to totally disregard my own negativity and eventually, manage to screw up almost every new situation by making irresponsible choices.

Do we know each other outside blogging?
Who exactly is "we?" Is that like the voices in my head, or are "we " talking about a specific person? Isn't blogging how you come to know a person? IF in fact, you really ARE a person?

Favourite sport?
When it comes to sports, I don't play favorites. As a general rule, they all bore me equally.

Negative or positive attitude?
Depends on what day of the month it is, what time of day it might be, who I am with, what kind of issues I might be dealing with, what direction the wind is blowing, whether the moon is rising in Scorpio, or in the sign of Libra, who's asking, and why the hell you need to know!
Here's the thing. I am a woman, and I reserve the right to have any kind of attitude I want, at any given moment. ummkay ?!

What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator?
Okay, well, first of all, I think we need to clarify if it is ME that is stuck in the elevator, or is the elevator stopped between floors?
If it is ME that is too fat to actually exit the elevator; I suppose I would cry, and wait until the fire department showed up with The Jaws of Life to extricate me from such an embarrassing predicament.
If the elevator is stuck between floors, I would follow the ancient instructions on the elevator panel, proforming what ever ritualistic dances and spells are required, then I would stand around bitching about all the time I am wasting. I would hope that I'm not alone, so that I could have someone else to pass the time with. I just pray that it doesn't turn out to be Kate, because she is pretty good at getting me to go along with anything.

Worst thing that's ever happened to you?
The worst things that happen to me, are the things that I don't learn anything from. (you know, stuff like High school.)

One weird fact about you?
Just one? hmmm, I am nocturnal.

Any pets?
Don't be a smart ass.

(yeah, I have six dogs. Every one knows that.)

Do you know how to do the macarena?
I know how to do mascara, and I know how to do Macaroni, I can even tolerate an occasional macadamia, but I WILL NOT do the macarena.
I will not do it in a box,
I will not do it with a fox,
I will not do it here, nor there,
I will not do it anywhere.

What time is it?
Time for YOU to get a watch ! (AR-AR !)
If you really want to know what time it is, just look at the bottom, right hand corner of your computer screen - it's always there . . . .

Clowns, cute or scary?
You know, I've spent many long and sleepless nights, pondering this very question. I have finally concluded that clowns are in fact, drunks in drag. They are neither cute nor scary, they're just sad. People who laugh at them are heartless and cruel - I don't care if they ARE only three years old!!!

If you could change one thing about you, what would it be?
First of all, I resent the fact that this question implies that I CAN'T change anything about me!
That I might not be quite up to the task of self improvement? Is that what you're saying? Huh?
I just don't FEEL LIKE IT right now, that's all . . .
I can change anything about me that I want.
ANY time that I want to do it too. . .
So there!

Would you be my partner in crime or my conscience?
For a worthy cause, yes. I could devote myself to such a noble task. As long as it doesn't involve anything really gross.

Eye colour?
I have lovely, soulful brown eyes. Van Morrison wrote a song about them. True story, honest.

Been arrested?
Yeah, but unfortunately, there isn't a good story to go along with it. I forgot to pay a speeding ticket and they showed up one Saturday morning to drag me down to the police station to make bail, so they could make the maximum, legally allowable, dollar amount off of my stupid mistake. They didn't even put me in a cell. If they had, then I might have gotten a tattoo like Kate, you never know . . .

Favourite fictional character?
Some of my best friends are fictional characters, it's not fair to make me choose.

If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Just $10,000.00? Sheesh, that wouldn't even pay off what I owe my mother.

If you could have one super power, what would it be?
I'd like to be able to see the future. That would be helpful.

Favourite hangout?
I am 46 years old. I am not allowed to just "hang out", for pity sake.

Do you believe in ghosts?
Absolutely. Dead people need support and encouragement too !!!

Favourite thing to do in your spare time?
I'll let you know just as soon as I get some. (spare time - that's funny . . .)

Do you swear a lot?
I try to avoid using the really bad words. Unless I feel it's absolutely necessary. You know, like a curse word crisis?

Biggest pet peeve?
I told you, I don't have any peeves, I have six dogs !
But I really hate people who are intentionally stupid.

In one word, describe yourself.
Confused.


Saturday, April 25, 2009

Another rainy weekend

I'm not a happy camper. So be warned, I'm going to bitch here for a bit.

Being Saturday, I thought it might be safe to catch up on some sleep - what a fool I am ! The kids both had over night guests last night (as usual) and I woke this morning to a silent, rather apocalyptic looking house. It was noon and eventually, I found a note from Heather ( my more "responsible" child - Haha, that's a joke.) buried under all the debris on the kitchen table. It explained that she and her friends had gone to the park; if I needed her, I could call Hailey's cell #. Also, that she had no idea where Jake, Quentin, and Chrissy had disappeared to, but if I needed him, to try calling Q's cell #. At the bottom of the note, she had drawn a large circle and placed my cell phone inside of it. To the left, she drew an arrow and she scribbled, "needs 2 b charged." As I walked back upstairs to plug my cell phone into the charger by my bedside, I thought to myself, "Cool. disappear on me, leaving my house a shambles, and leave me a dead cell phone. Nice of you to leave me a lot of useless phone numbers though . . ." When I got to my bed side, I discovered that my cell phone charger was missing as well ! Okay, now this is starting to smell like a plot ! I had no doubt that my charger was probably in one of their bedrooms, but there was no way that I was going into enemy territory and risk dealing with all those land mines with out my morning Diet coke. Who cares anyway, I don't really want to talk to either of them!

I went back down stairs to take my meds and wake up a bit. As I popped the top of my last can of Diet Coke to wash down my pills, I took a closer look around the kitchen. I had stayed up late last night to bake a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, and I had cleaned the kitchen before I went to bed. You couldn't tell it now. Since it was late, I hadn't taken out the trash before I went to bed, and yet, my children had decided to to pile trash on top of the closed lid all morning, rather than actually take it out themselves. As a result, after the kids left, and while I slept, my six dogs had concluded that an angel, or possibly some sort of canine Santa Claus, had left them gifts of illicit snacks and playthings. As I grabbed a fresh trash bag and began to follow their trail of destruction, I eventually found all six of them, exhausted, and sleeping like innocent babes in my bed. URGH ! No point in getting pissed off, this all just part of the never ending insanity that I call my life.

Speaking of craziness, Remember Khris? The teen that lives on the other side of our duplex, who was Jake's best buddy for such a long time? Well, over the past couple of years, they have sort of drifted apart, mostly because Khris turned 16 and started getting involved in "other" things. As hard as it is to believe, Khris is now 17 years old, and even though I still think he's basically a good kid, I've had to tell Jake more than once that he just can't hang with him anymore. Even his parents have had to get tough on him, I'm not really sure what the situation is with him and his folks anymore. All I know is that he has started smoking pot, (which I confronted him about, and he vehemently denies to me) and his current girlfriend is pregnant. Anyway, there was a time when I used to consider him one of "my kids", a regular here at my house, but all that has changed. For a while, He went to live with his biological father in Arizona, but that didn't work out, and now he's back and living where ever he can find place to crash. Occasionally, I will run into him at the skate park while I am walking the dogs, and we will chat, but mostly, I just feel sorry for him and all his teenage confusion and struggles.

This past week, he has come knocking at my door three times - all in the middle of the night. I think it was Sunday, I was up late and I had a knock at the door at 3AM. It was Khris, looking for a lighter for one of his friends who smokes. I gave it to him him, but thought it was just a little odd.
Thursday night, or early Friday morning, my dogs heard a car pull up in front of the house at 3:30AM. I went to the window to discover that it was Khris, his girlfriend, and a couple of his buddies coming home. They apparently found the front door to his parents house locked, and had no where else to go until they woke up, so they spent the early morning hours hanging out in the shared drive of our duplex, and driving my dogs insane with "stranger danger" barking. I finally had to go out and ask them to hang out somewhere else so that my dogs didn't wake everyone in the house, and the whole neighborhood as well.
Last night, I was about to shut things down and go to bed, when Khris came knocking again. Apparently, my dogs are getting used to him showing up in the middle of the night, so they didn't even bark when they saw it was their old friend. He wanted to know if he, his girlfriend, and a couple of their friends could crash here for the night because his parents had locked them out again. He said,
"I know you think I'm some sort of a pot head, but I'm really not. We just need a place to sleep tonight."
I said, "Of course not Khris, I think it's perfectly normal for teenagers to be knocking at my door looking for a place to crash at 4AM."
He looked down at his feet and said, "Yeah, I know, I just thought that Jake might have an empty bed in his room . . ."
"I'm sorry honey, but Jake has Quentin sleeping over tonight, and Heather has two girl friends staying. I already have a houseful . . ."
"A couch ? the bed down stairs?"
I sighed, "Khris, aside from my husband and myself, I have five kids tonight, and six dogs, and a rabbit. I'm pretty sure that I am already in violation of fire codes for occupancy already. You really need to work something out with your parents, or change your lifestyle, or something. The whole, grown up, world is full of annoying rules and expectations for acceptable behavior - coming home at 4AM with a bunch of your friends, and expecting to find room at the Inn, is NOT part of that program."
He said okay and left, but I felt really bad. I know that his girlfriend is pregnant, and I DO trust him, and I know what it's like to be a confused, screwed up teenager; but I didn't think that supporting his bad choices was a loving thing to do for him.

Okay, Heather has come home with her friends, and I now have a kitchen full of silly, rowdy, of kids. I need to go supervise.

Love to all,
Susan

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Blah , blah, blah - Spring time dreams

It's an absolutely beautiful day, the sun is shining, and it's probably one of the first days this spring that would actually be considered warm. (high of 78 degrees/25.55 C.) The sort of day that inspires dreams. (in spite of the fact that I have tons of housework and drudgery to be done.) While my pups are dreaming of the perfect walk, (which they will get this evening after diner) I've been dreaming on a grander scale. Dreams of the future and what I want from my life.

Of course, right now, I'd love for my husband to find the ultimate job. The kind of job that would allow us to move into a new house. When we moved into this house it was right after our "dream house" had caught fire. Our current house (duplex) is owned by the company that Roy was working for at the time. We were desperate for a place to live and this place, although it needed serious work, was large enough and available immediately. After moving in, we found that we were happy with the space and location, and I was absolutely sick of moving, so, we stayed. However, the work that needed to be done turned out to be major stuff. The stuff that you wouldn't want to be done while you were occupying the unit. The upstairs shower had tile that had obvious water damage behind it, and leaked into the downstairs shower. The kitchen linoleum was damaged and needed to be replaced, as well as ALL the carpets. While the walls were in fair shape, it was obvious that it had not received a fresh coat of paint, since the previous tenant's wallpaper borders were in almost every room. Over the years, we have removed the wall paper borders, and done our best to maintain and keep up with repairs, however, those BIG issues like the bathroom tile and kitchen floor & carpets were bound to only get worse with time. After almost four years, it's now reached the point where I am ready to move on to another place, rather than deal with months of having workmen underfoot, and the frustration of all the upheaval and chaos. (I have lived in places while major remodel work was being done - NO thank you, it's not fun!)

While summer isn't the cheapest time to be looking for a new home, it is, for obvious reasons, the most logical. So I've been, tentatively, shopping around. (Of course, all of this is dependant on Roy's future employment situation.) Because of the kids school and our dogs, I'm somewhat restricted; but I have recently discovered that a house nearby, one that we used to rent, has had some remodeling done and is now for sale. The more I drive by it and think of the possibilities, the more it becomes my current (sort of realistic) dream. It's just a matter of waiting to see what happens with Roy, and finances - and if it was meant to be . . .

Another thing I've been fantasizing about is where I want to go with my artwork. Thinking along those lines, about a year ago, I found a new favorite artist via the Internet. I absolutely LOVE her work, it's the kind of stuff that I dream of doing, and she is amazing ! Her name is Jasmine Becket-Griffith, and since I found her site (http://www.strangeling.com/) her career has absolutely soared. She has to be the busiest and most prolific artist around ! Over the past year, her work has been translated into; posters, figurines, dolls, books, tatoos, stickers, clothing, calendars, checkbook graphics, you name it ! Check out her site, (just be careful, there is so much stuff, you could get sucked in for a while.) She is what I want to be when I grow up.
"Raised by wolves" by Jasmine Becket-Griffith.

Well, I have jacked around long enough on this silly computer, I need to get back to work and the real world, maybe get some things done - who knows?





Love ya,
Susan

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Today is April 20th. Can that possibly be right? What the hell happened to March and the first part of April ?! Where have I been? Did I miss the whole thing? Well, according to my trusty blog post tally system ( or whatever they call that do-hickey on the side of the page that counts entries per month) I have made a whopping 4 entries since the begining of April. Hmmmm.

Yeah, okay, it's been a rough past few weeks. Aside from my life being in a total state of disruption, and turmoil, and occassional panic, I've been unusually sullen and depressed as well. And just lately, say the past week or so, my body has taken on the physical characteristics of my mental state. I have felt physically sluggish, to the point of not even having the energy to walk my dogs on days when the weather is flawless. I've felt aches and pains all over; my kidneys are sore, my legs feel wobbly, my spine feels stiff and fragile, my chest is tight, I have cramps, some days I can't sleep a wink, and some days, I can't seem to get out of bed. Needless to say, as a result, nothing inside my head seems to be working properly. To put it mildly, I am a freakin' mess. Like my friend Kate, I actually considered making an appointment with my doctor today.

As I laid in bed this afternoon, my demented little mind began to turn this idea over and over, examining all my possible options.
I asked myself, "Self, if you found yourself in the doctor's office, or local emergency room right now, how would you describe your symptoms? (Without sounding like a bitchy old whore, of course.) Would I really be able to rattle off the above list of physical complaints - without breaking down and ending up in the psych ward?"
I think the answer would be . . . Probably not. Well, that answer narrowed down my options considerably. I have to fix myself.
So once again, I ask myself, "Self, What kind of treatment would La Loba, or Baba Yaga prescribe for this situation?" ( Just in case you think I really have lost my mind, La Loba and Baba Yaga are names for the wise old hag that lives deep down in the psyche of every woman - from the book, Women Who Run with the Wolves.) Anyway, I thought hard, and looked deep inside myself, and the only answer I could come up with, was one that made me smile a bit. I could almost hear her ancient, croaky old voice inside my head saying,
"Girl, you need to give yourself an enema, get this shit out of your system, and move on !"

And you know what? I think she's right. The past several weeks, I feel like I've been just barely hanging on, afraid to move, think, or even breathe, for fear that my whole world will completely collapse - and that still might happen. But if I don't take care of me, it won't matter anyway - will it? What's the point in surviving the storm, if you end up as a basket case in the mental ward? That doesn't seem like much of a victory, certainly not a fairy tale happily ever after ending. ( Good Lord, I'm already talking to myself and hearing voices of fictional characters in my head.) It's time to do something.

But the truth is, women, and especially moms, are wired to take care of other people - not ourselves. I'm not even sure what it MEANS to take care of my own needs. I'm not even sure what they ARE. I know that I've been failing physically. I haven't been giving a lot of thought to what I put into my body; I've just been relying on my medications to take up the slack. That plan won't work for very long. In fact, that's probably why I am feeling so crappy. But, get ready, here comes my number one excuse, I'm just concerned about taking on a "health and fitness" program with so much of my life in a state of chaos. Then again, maybe I need something else to focus my attention on, other than the things that are going wrong in my life. I really can't do anything about most of those things any way. So, I guess I have to start doing something positive somewhere. That was one of my goals - before things started to fall apart . . . I guess I let myself get distracted - I'm good at that.

So . . . tomorrow, I am going to make a list of things that I CAN do, right now, and start doing them. Maybe, if I can just start, maybe even see some results, I can start thinking about other things that I need to do to take care of me. Wish me luck.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Hanging in there.

Well, so far, I'm still here. We have finally gotten some state assistance so some of the daily concerns like food aren't such a huge struggle. Roy is working part-time, temp jobs to get us through until people start calling back on jobs.

Thankfully, Roy has the skills to do jobs that people are looking to have done. Right now, he is re-wiring a restaurant for a gentleman who is on a time schedule and can't wait for a regular electrical company to work him into their schedule. If you have ever had rehab work done, you know how they work. They take on several jobs and split their days between clients so it takes forever to get anything done. If they say it will take a week, it takes two or three.

The car is up and running, however, we still need to get a couple of new tires mounted. In the mean time, the biggest frustration is just having just the one car. Roy is taking whatever jobs he can get (with little or no notice) and that makes it hard for me to schedule all the little things around here and get the kids to appointments, etc.

Looking for work is a full time job, and these little side jobs require a lot of running around and they are just barely getting us by on a day to day basis, they are not going to pay the bills. It takes a lot of organization to do both, and organization is NOT Roy's strong point. So I'm just praying that things fall into place soon - the stress is just too much to go on like this much longer.

Well, I have to get up early tomorrow. I have to be in court at 8:30AM to explain to the judge why I haven't paid off my $320.00 ticket yet. What fun.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Show and Tell.



I was loading some recent photos onto my computer and I just thought I'd share a few . . . . How is this for Cute? This is the new puppy, Spunky. This is supposed to be Quentin's dog that we are "puppy sitting" for him. He is supposed to take him home when his mother gets them their own place. (she promised: "three weeks, max") Except it's been almost four weeks, and now, his mother is saying that she wants to move to Arkansas this summer. (another four weeks away) Some how, I think that we are going to get stuck with another dog - just what I need !!
These are my babies, my boys. (left to right) Phoenix, Pete, and Midnight, all curled up and napping after their morning walks.

And the ladies, Princess and Angel.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Green Meme for Mel.

Yup, I'm still here - for now. Of course that's apt to change at any moment. I just haven't been blogging, or even commenting. I feel a lot like Ey-ore from Pooh corner. I just haven't had much to say, that's worth saying. However, my friend Mel has a meme that seems safe enough for me to do, so here goes . . .

1. What is your current obsession?
Right now, my current obsession is survival. Feeding my family on a daily basis, keeping a roof over our heads, and the utilities on. (at least the important ones) There just isn't room inside my head for anything else right now.
2. What’s a good coffee place?
Don't really know, I don't drink coffee. I suppose I'd have to go with any place that serves diet coke.
3. Who was the last person that you hugged?
Probably my husband, or one of my kids, or it could have been one of my dogs . . . It's hard to say, I tend to get them all mixed up. Wait, I just remembered, it was Hailey, one of Heather's friends that she brings home from school with her almost every day.
4. Do you nap a lot?
I have been lately, but I don't enjoy it.
5. Tonight, what’s for dinner?
Um . . . tonight we have a choice of either left overs, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because that's all there is.
6. What was the last thing that you bought?
Since I haven't seen money in so long, that's a tough one. I have to really think back. I honestly can't remember. I suppose a good guess would be . . . a diet coke?
7. What is your favorite weather?
I'm sort of a nature freak, so I like all kinds of weather, so long as it doesn't interfere with my plans. It's been a long time since I have seen a good lightening show.
8. Tell us something about one blogger who you think will play this week?
Cat might try this - she is a wonderfully honest person with a real talent for writting.
9. If you were given a free house that was full furnished, where in the world would you like it to be? I'd like it to be some where woodsy, without alot of neighbors, and lots of space for my dogs and kids to run and play.
10. Name three things that you could not live without?
Lately, I am discovering that there are a lot of things a person can live without. I guess it would have to be a "non- thing", like my family, my health, and my faith.
11. What would you like in your hands right now?
A winning lottery ticket.
12. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?
I guess it would be my habit of taking in strays. I can't afford it, I'm not set up for it, and it usually makes my life extreamely complicated, but I just can't seem to turn anyone away.
13. What would you change or eliminate about yourself?
I'd like to have wisdom, and the ability to follow it through.
14. As a child, what type of career did you want?
When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a vet. When I got older, I discovered my love for art and I wanted to be an artist of some kind. For a long time, I wanted to attend Parson's School of Design and become a fashion designer.
15. What are you missing right now?
Right now? My husband. He left to go do some work for one of Nick's friends about 4 hours ago and he still isn't home. This is NOT good news.
16. What are you currently reading?
Lately, the only thing that I've had time to read is my Al-anon literature, but I'd really like to get back to my "Women who run with the Wolves" book. Or even better, totally lose my self in a fantasy novel.
17. What do you fear the most?
I suppose I fear abandonment the most of all. What would I do without the people I love?
18. What’s the best movie that you’ve seen recently? The last movie that I saw was Twilight, I loved the book, but I think the movie could have been better. What comes to mind as far as good movies is . . . I recently bought a copy of "The Green Mile" to watch again - That was good. I also blew the dust off my VHS player and watched my copy of "Interview with the Vampire." That's a good one too. My favorite movie is "Stealing Heaven."
19. What's your favorite book from the past year?
The Twilight series.

Well, my hubby just got home. All is well. I need to go rustle up some grub for him.

Love ya,
Susan


Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Ready for something New

I know, I haven't posted for quite a while. Things around here have been . . . . Hectic, I guess. Last Thursday, Roy was let go from his job. They had been struggling to keep him busy for the past three weeks. So . . . . after scrapping by for almost a month, we're on our own, with zero income. Roy is doing some checking into getting unemployment, He's faxing, emailing, and sending out resumes all over town. But of course, everything takes forever to actually happen. Until then, we are just sort of holding our breath. I'm even looking into finding some kind of work. It's been 20 years since I have done optical, and my most recent experience is in pre-school teaching. Unfortunately, most schools are looking at cutting back on staff with the summer months just around the corner. As I think I mentioned earlier, I have placed a listing for my painted pumpkins and garden rocks on Craig's list. So far, I've only had one inquiry.

My car was down for almost a week, Roy was able to get parts and install them, just Monday. He would have done it sooner, except we had a freak snow storm over the weekend.

I am SO ready for normal springtime weather, anything to lift our spirits. I think we are all struggling with feeling trapped physically and financially - I need some fresh air and warm sunshine. I've been anxious to get out and do something with the back yard which is always a mud pit in the spring time. Having all my plants inside is starting to make me feel claustrophobic, and my back yard is in desperately in need of something green and alive.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but Jasmin has adopted one of the puppies that Roy brought home. He's a cute little guy, she has photos of him on her blog. So now we just have the one puppy that belongs to Jake's friend, Quentin. He is supposed to take him home when his mom gets them moved into their new place - in a couple of weeks. I don't know how well, that's going to work, since the puppy has pretty much made himself a part of our pack. At first, I didn't think that my dogs would accept him, but I slowly began to discover that they were just laying the ground rules for him and teaching him how things worked around here. For the first week, there was a lot of growling and corrections from my dogs, but they never hurt him, they were just teaching him to be respectful. I woke up Monday morning to discover that they had decided that the puppy understood, and they could all play together. Since then, it's been like a regular doggie comedy show, three times a day, with puppy nap time in between. I am concerned that when Quentin takes the pup to his house, he will miss his our pack. Oh well, not my problem. For now, I'm just glad that everyone is getting along. I was afraid that the stress of worrying about something happening to the pup would make me totally insane. O'course, it may be too late for that. LOL.

Well, I need to go get the dinner dishes loaded in the dishwasher. Hope that everyone is having a good week.
Love ya,
Susan