This weekend I took 3 handicapped adults down to Orlando for a bowling tournement. There was 20 bowlers from our league, but many, many more from all over the state.

My company loaned me a van to drive down there in, an older Toyota Sienna. It seemed to drive ok until I hit about 70mph, then it started to shake. Also the brake light, ABS light and check engine light stayed on the whole time. When I called my boss, she said “We knew that. We just had it in the shop and they can’t figure out what the problem is”. It would have been helpful (and a lot less stressful) to have known that ahead of time.

I followed my friends, Ray & Doris, who were taking their son and 2 others guys to the tournement. When we got to Lake City, Ray said one of my tires was low, so he put air in it and we drove on, finally arriving in Orlando about 6. We got checked in, showered and in bed by 9 because we had to be up at 5 the next morning. Sign in starts at 7 at the bowling alley, and we all needed food first. I think we ate more than we slept the whole time we were there!

Bowling was ok….nobody did very well on Saturday, maybe because it was a new bowling alley (to them). Most of them did better on Sunday. The highlight was a pool and pizza party on Saturday night and I think everyone had a good time.

One of the girls I took acted out the whole weekend, and another was one that repeats stuff a lot. She was upset with some of the things the first one had done and kept talking about it over and over. And  that wasn’t Frances, it was another girl I took because her mom couldn’t take her. Plus she complained constantly about every ache and pain she had. Lots of stress. This is my excuse for not thinking about that tire again.

We got up Sunday, packed and checked out before going to the bowling alley. As soon as it was over, we left, hoping to get home about 6. Right! We weren’t thinking about rest stops and food stops. But it looked like we would get home about 7.

We were within about 2 hours from home, almost to 231 when that tire decided to blow. The girls in the back heard it and said it was really loud. I didn’t hear that, but heard the rumble and felt the slowing down. It happened just a few yards from a rest stop entrance, where I was able to immediately turn off the interstate and get out of traffic. We had walkie talkies and I was able to tell Ray & Doris what happened as I was turning off. He actually pulled off and backed up to get back to us. This rest area was one with a very long road until you get to the actual rest area, so I ended up having to stop in that road because the tire was smoking so badly, but Ray got that sucker off and the spare (a real tire, not a donut!) on in record time.

I don’t know how anyone could not think that God was there the whole time. Ray & Doris being there to help, the turn off being right there, nobody hitting us as we were part of the way in the road while changing that tire…. and as badly as they told me the tire was smoking before I finally gave up on making it to the actual rest area and stopping, it’s a miracle it didn’t catch on fire. It was the right rear tire, which I couldn’t see at all from my mirrors.

I’m so grateful He was looking out for us. And very grateful, also, to my friends for being there to help with the tire and with keeping me sane!

Bear and Harpo (our older dog) get along great, probably because Bear is a girl and Harpo and boy. He doesn’t have the same feelings towards Shadow. I wonder if Shadow doesn’t just have this male instinct thing going on that tells him Harpo is an older male and must be conquered. It’s very lucky for Shadow that he is so fast and Harpo so slow, or I fear Harpo would have taken a few bites out of this little pest already!

I took this video this morning as Shadow was once again letting his hormones override his brain. Bear is the one that just kind of sits and watches the 2 of them being silly.

Warning….lots of loud barking and strange camera noises! 

When we got our dachshund 15 years ago, I think I named him Harpo. It seems like Greg agreed, but I don’t remember. Then Holley and I named our cats and Greg really didn’t care for their names.

Because of that, I remember that I told him the next couple of pets we got would be his to name. Of course, at the time I never imagined that there would be 2 more dogs. Anyway, he named Bear and then I tried to talk him into Obie for the newest one, because his choice, Shadow, seemed too cliche and common. But it’s obvious he really doesn’t like the name I picked, and I did tell him he could name them (and he’s too nice to insist I keep my end of that agreement), so I’m going to defer to his wishes and re-name Obie. He is now, officially, Shadow.

The truth of the matter is that about 1/2 the time I just refer to them both as “you little poop machines” so I doubt they’ll care.

Bear is now 3 months old and just getting cuter every day. But she was really missing her sister. We had to really bribe her to get her to eat and she slept more than anything. So, meet Shadow:

He is about a week younger than Bear, but weighs at least a pound more. He’s about as shy and submissive as she is outgoing and aggressive. I don’t know if something happened at his birth home, but he tends to lay his ears back a lot, which actually makes him look more like a seal than a dog! We’re making sure he gets lots of love and reassurances to try to help him feel more secure.

They hit it off pretty much right away. Bear started eating again and loves bossing around her new friend. Sometimes they sleep together, and they play so well together. I could just sit outside watching them play all day. It’s difficult getting pictures of them because they are rarely still unless they are tired, so I waited until just before bedtime to get these. I can’t wait for you to meet them, Holley! 

Sadly, we lost one of our new baby Poms last week. What we know for a fact is that they ate some of our cat’s food during the night while outside with Greg, and then a couple of hours later they started throwing up. What else they may have gotten into, we don’t know. They were outside and it was dark. There is also the fact that they had their first professional grooming the day before, and could have picked up something there.

Anyway, the vet we were using at that time felt it would be ok to wait on seeing them until the afternoon, even though I told them that the puppies had been throwing up and having diarrea for several hours. A few hours after that, Sandy started having a seizure and we rushed them both to the vet. Sandy didn’t make it. Bear was on IVs for the rest of the day and then sent home. I took her to another vet on Saturday because she threw up again and he said he didn’t know what it was, but put her on antibiotics. She is still throwing up every now and then, but other than that, is a very active and happy 10 week old.

Right now, as with most puppies, she plays hard for a little while and then sleeps. She’s sleeping more than playing and it’s difficult to know if that’s normal or because she’s been sick. One of her favorite places to sleep is on my computer!

She misses her sister and tries to get the cat or our older dog, Harpo to play with her, but they just aren’t interested. She follows Harpo all over the place. It’s really cute and he’s very patient with her most of the time but isn’t real happy when she tries to chew on his tail or eat his food. She likes laying next to him sometimes, too.

We may get another puppy after we are sure that she is fully recovered from whatever is wrong, but for now we’re just loving her as much as we can.

This ad was in our local paper this morning. I just thought it was funny…..

Seeking home for cat where beauty valued more than behavior. Zoe-Gorgeous long-haired calico former stray; healthy, spayed, shots and Frontline current, feline leukemia negative; may have been indoor cat in previous life, as knows how to use littler box; sleeps in garage at night for safety; terrified of thunder. Those are the good parts. The other parts; personality ranges from affectionate to aloof to occasionally surly; life-altering experience to crate for transport – body armor helpful; dislikes other cats and probably dogs; doesn’t hunt; not much car sense, so prefer quiet neighborhood with little traffic. If you can appreciate her positives and embrace her flaws, dial ******* for more information. No obligation for call. I promise not to trace your phone number and drop her off in your yard.

I had to take our cat to the vet the other day. Rocky only weighs 15 pounds now (he lost 4 since his visit last year), but he’s still too big for any kind of carrier that I could easily handle. So he rides loose in the car, expressing his displeasure the whole way there (luckily the vet is less than 5 minutes away) and then sits in my lap until time for his exam and shots. He’s very good for the vet, doesn’t even react to the shots. And when it’s time to pay, he sits quietly on the desk while I sign my name to the credit slip.

But getting him back into the car is another story. He is determined not to get back into that thing and fights me all the way. Body armour would have been nice this time! He actually got away from me and I had to dig him out from under the car. Happily we got home quickly and he high-tailed it out of that car so fast you wouldn’t have seen anything but a blur if you’d been standing there! He hid out for a few hours and then, in usual cat fashion, acted like nothing had ever happened when he came asking me to pet him later.

I love cats. I wish the lady with the cute ad lots of luck!

This is Little Bear

This is Candy

In spite of the close-up pictures, these guys are really small. They weigh about 2 1/2 pounds each and are registered Pomeranians. The lady holding them is Karen, the breeder. Of course once we saw the pictures we just had to have both of them. They were born Feb. 7.

They play hard and then sleep hard. It’s been 15 years since we’ve had puppies, so I had forgotten all the work involved. These 2 came crate trained and sleep through the night. They also are doing really well on the housebreaking, so that’s not a problem. But if it’s not supposed to go in their mouths, that’s exactly what they go for. Electrical cords, pennies, my feet…..it’s a job keeping up with them. But what a joy!

I took them both to the nursing home this morning to introduce them to my 86 year old aunt. She loved them. We were visiting on the sun porch and there were about a dozen residents out there. Most of them held at least one of the puppies and the looks on their faces were just priceless. We will be visiting again, for sure. Hopefully I can eventually get them trained as therapy dogs to take to nursing homes and hospitals. Something this cute just has to be shared!  : )

30 years ago today, I gave birth to a precious little baby girl. We named her Holley Lynn, after my high school best friend. She was a great baby (once she got over the colic), a sweet little girl, a typical teenager (including a sort of goth period) and is now a thoughtful and caring young woman.

I could not have asked for a better child. Thank you, God, for giving me the pleasure of raising her and for not letting me completely screw her up before you took over!

Enjoy some photos from her life!

She’s about 2 months old here Isn’t she a cute baby? Helping Granny – 21 months old Day care….about 3 years old Easter…maybe 7 or 8 years old With me & her Granny (about 12 years old) 1st prom Posing in granny’s kitchen Hasn’t she grown up to be a beautiful woman?

Go to Pogo to play 100s of Fun Games!

Who decided that “liberal” was going to be a bad thing? I started wondering about that after hearing presidential candidates slinging that word at each other as if it were the worst insult they could use. So I looked the word up on Dictionary.com and here are some of the definitions:

1. favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.  So progress is bad?

2. noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform. Again, progress…as in, not going backward, but forward. And that’s bad?

3. free from predjudice or bigotry; tolerant. Hmmm, that sounds good to me.

4. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc. Okay, that could be scary.

5. given freely or abundantly; generous.

Those are just some of the definitions. I understand that the way it is used in politics these days seems to mean that someone is just way too radical for most people’s tastes. But who decided that would be the newest meaning when the dictionary seems to give such nice definitions for the word? Just wondering…