Remind Me Again, Why Do We Have Dogs?

I worked at the Temple today and had to come home early because the tetnus shot from last Saturday is still a big swollen lump in my arm and makes my head ache. It is getting better but not nearly fast enough.

I decided to leave the dogs outside wearing bark collars, so that the neighbors stay sane, and it makes me feel proactive. I would leave them in so that burglars will be scared spitless when Duke charges where-ever they are breaking in, BUT Duke likes to sleep on the couch. I knew this because I have found dog hair on the couch, the living room couch. So, the gee-tar lives on that couch, and if the stars are in alignment, Duke stays off. Now I have learned that Dukey likes the family room couch too. Stinkin' dog! He tries very hard to be good while you are at home, but I think he knows that when the car starts, his window of opportunity is open - and he takes advantage of that.

Now leaving home with the dogs in is like preparing for D-Day. Gee-tar on one couch, magazines laying on the other couch, block the doorway from kitchen to dining room, open closet and stairway door and block so that dogs can't push open and come through. After all that work, coming home to one dog locked in, and one dog in the laundry room growling at you (because you must be a burglar), and then he smiles and is proud to show you how he can jump the 3' block in the kitchen doorway. Oh Joy - another reason I e-hat dogs.

Good Times, Noodle Salad

Valerie's family came over last night for dinner and to play the Wii. It was so fun for me to have to think up something to cook, and actually do it. Watching the boys get into the sports was great too. The friendly competition and their athleticism was a joy to watch. Such Fun! When it came time to do the dishes I was all over it. The dishwasher was loaded and I was cleaning knives in the sink when OUCH! jagged knife slice of about 1/2 across the side of my index finger. I've done this before, everyone has, you rinse it, and wrap it in a paper towel, apply pressure, and keep it elevated. All First Aid knowledge. But it wouldn't quit bleeding. So after about 45 minutes I called GH and got an appointment to see an after hours doc. It wasn't bad, didn't have to get weighed, so that's always a plus, got the finger glued back together (Ryan was right), and then the doc came back into the room and said "You need a Tetnus shot". No, I had one not too long ago - Yeah, 11 years ago! My how time flies when you're trying to not remember the one shot that hurts like heck. So I got the shot, and my finger in a splint for 48 hours so I won't bump it and reopen the wound. High Adventure. Just for fun, try typing without using the index finger on your right hand - oh yeah, the mouse is fun too.

Got That?

I decided to play with the pictures on the blog and then I wanted to change the whole title and then I couldn't think of anything so now you can't read the title or description and that's tough. It's the middle of the night again, and I'm tired but can't sleep. Kevin flew into Iraq Friday night, which is what it is here now, but is tomorrow morning there. Got that? So he's been there about 12 hours which is a guess because who knows what the time difference is from Kuwait, so when he calls we'll find out what is what. Got that?

I just heard a noise from somewhere in the house and I'm not generally the curious type, or the investigative type; that person is in Iraq. But I will have to investigate - thank goodness for big guns and a hubby that made me learn to use them. Hopefully if I have to shoot something it is a person and not a mouse. Hopefully no person is here except me. If it was a person, I think the dogs would bark, but maybe the bad guy brought treats, which makes him a good guy in the dog's eyes. Soooo, maybe I'll go say my prayers and go to bed. What are the chances of sleep tonight? Slim to none. Got that?

11 Hours makes a lot of difference

Couldn't sleep last night. I was in a foul mood, put the dogs out early without treats, and got on the computer for a couple of hours. I finally thought I'd be tired enough for sleep, but no. So I watched a little Letterman, Billy Crystal was hilarious, then thought I'd sleep, but no. So after taking half a pill, I read for awhile and then went to sleep, ONLY to be awakened 1/2 hour later by the phone and hubby calling from halfway around the world. He said, "I just finished lunch, what are you doing?" SLEEPING!!! Or I was until I had to answer the phone. Anyway, no herd of mean, wild camels in his day just the Army, which sometimes has the same temperment as the camels. So I wish he'd look at his watch and realize we're not in the same time zone, or maybe the important thing is that he calls, and he's ok, and he loves me. And I love him.

Meals on Wheels

This morning was garbage pickup, and per one of the last blogs, I had three - yes THREE- bags of poop-soup for the lucky garbage man. I pulled the "meals-on-wheels" cart into the garage so I didn't have to carry (ICK) the bags sooooo far. No mishaps, if there had been I'd be in a motel tonight, or Kevin would have had to come back from the mideast to firebomb the garage. So, it's all gone in the lucky truck to the lucky where-ever-icky things-go place. And this is another reason I e-hat dogs.

So this brings up a story: When it was Holly's turn to bring "meals on wheels" up from the road she decided to be smart and tie the handle of the can to Rocky's leash and let him do the work for her. Of course when Rocky heard the rolling noise behind him, he probably figured it was the devil after him, so he ran faster and so did the devil, and so he ran faster. . . right into the garage, but of course the can didn't make that small weave to the left, and it took out the tail light of the car instead. Poor dog, Rhodesian Ridgebacks can run really fast, but if the devil is tied to your neck, there's just no getting away. There is probably an eternal lesson here, like 'don't tie yourself to the devil'. Yeah, that's a good one, it covers a lot of ground. ;)

Tooooo Much Poooooooooooooo

It's been raining for a day or so and a lot of our snow is melting - I'm melllllting- so when I looked outside this morning, OH MY GOODNESS!!! the back yard seems to have been in a dirt clod throwing contest. HUM Must be the dog poodles showing up. Yes, well, I just came in from filling two black yard waste bags with offerings, well offerings and snow/ice, because it is impossible with a shovel or pooper-scooper to scooper just the pooper. I almost wish the snow was still there, or not really because that would mean the snow and ice was still on the roof. But anyway, the scooping is as done as it's going to be for awhile, I feel the need to change clothes and clorox my boots, so I'll talk later - I've got to go do laundry.

One more thought - This gives me renewed respect for Kevin Jr who was willing to go under the trampoline with a garden trowel and Wal-Mart bag, on his belly, for NOT ENOUGH PAY. At least it was all frozen then, but still . . . Love ya Jr.

I was going to post a picture, but this happened instead. Sorry

The snowplow song

"In the middle of the night, they come plowing down my street
Through the snow that's so wide, through the snow that's so deeeeep,
We all wake in the mornin', we all stare out in fear
How will I ever get out, how'll I get out of here?
In the middle of the night - I go plowin' in the, in the middle of the, I go plowin' in the, in the middle of the, I go plowin', in the, in the middle of the night.

So what are you doing today? Come on over, there's plenty of snow for everyone!

It's official

We knew it was coming, we knew it would be after the first of the year, so here it comes . . . Dad is leaving Tuesday the 6th . Two weeks in Kuwait then to his new home in war-torn Iraq. I'm not sure how I feel about it anymore; I know we are taking a calculated risk, so was his work for the last 30 years, but this is seeming SO extreme. We knew that too, but now that it's here I can understand how crying wives at the airport feel. I don't like this feeling. Someone from the company summed it up well: He called the LEP's "Patriots", willing to give up home and happiness to support the troops in the field who are trying to protect our freedoms, and by association, the LEP's are supporting our freedom too. That makes me feel better. All I can say is amen to the sentiment, and also that he better come home safely, or those dang Iraqis' will be so, so sorry. . . They think they're tough but they haven't delt with a menopausal woman from the USA.

On a lighter side, Christmas was great. All our kids here and grandkids galore, what a blast! So many bodies soooo little room in this house. That should make me happy, getting a new, bigger living space house eventually. Of course by then all the kids will be bigger, not want to go to grammas, but I will hold the presents hostage unless they show up. HA

Thanks to all the kids who made the trip over snowy passes, and over snowy roads to see grandpa before he left. I know the little kids don't understand, they say the word Iraq and have no real idea where it is or what grandpa will be doing, just that he will be gone a long time. We here at home will all soldier on, keeping the faith and praying for safety for grandpa and ourselves. Please God, keep him safe.

Wild times

So I kept telling Kevin on the phone that we had freezing weather, so cold I was actually forced to get out my big cosack coat, and then it started to snow. It snowed and snowed and the first night I went out back to shovel the dogs a landing from the dog door and decided to measure the snow on the trampoline - NINE INCHES. The next morning when it was still snowing I decided to measure again and there were 20 inches on the trampoline. By the end of the day when it finally quit snowing, there were 24 inches of snow on the trampoline. Thank goodness for snow blowers. I cleaned the driveway several times, got back some upper body strength from muscling the snow blower around and then the neighbors decided we needed to clean the street because who knew when the plows would come around. So, after three hours we had a clear lane on Virginia road. Mega -woman muscles! Since I had the big snow blower, I got to do the hard stuff and the others cleaned behind me. I don't know if Kevin believed me when I told him how much snow we had in 28 hours, but he believed it when he came home a couple of days later and found "white world" all around. The snow has kept coming, and when he flew back out today, we had another 3 inches for me to shovel. The official record for Dec 08 is 61.5 inches - that beats all previous records going back to 1890 something. WOW and now January starts and it's still winter and the hubby is gone to Iraq and I'll be doing the snowblowing some more - Hawaii sounds good.

Dad - found!

"Well, just when I thought that there probably wasn't a Dad, that all that tug-of-war had been a good dream, in the door walks . . DAD! I really couldn't believe it, I thought maybe it was the rubber from the garden - gloves causing halucinations, so I didn't get too excited. But then, Dad found the tug toy and now I'm a believer. Just so you know, no one else on the planet plays toys with me as well as Dad. They try, and they're good, but Dad is the winner. So I had a good ten days of fun and fury, and then today Mom and Dad left and only Mom came back. Dad had whispered to me to take care of Mom, but I didn't think it meant he wasn't coming back. He said maybe in the summer . . . That's an eternity to a dog"