Gotcha Day.

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day for "Sweet Baby Chew". I have a friend with an adopted daughter and they celebrate the day they adopted her with Gotcha Day. I like that. I can't believe it's been a year and we've gone from this...




to this...


to this...


to this...


to this...


to this...


And finally to this...

Strange.

While buying Craig's Christmas gifts from his Amazon.com wish list, I came upon this. Notice the bottom right corner where it tells me what other customers bought when purchasing the items I purchased. Also strange is the "Your viewing history" because I have not viewed any of the products listed. I actually checked that I didn't log into the wrong account somehow!!

Update: apparently Craig had logged into this account and searched for gourmet foods such as Kobe beef. Unknown to us, there is a porn star with the name Kobe and the boob links are a result of this. At least, that's his story... :) (Just kidding, of course! He is much more likely to be searching for food than "fun".)

My dogs have some stiff competition!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS. THIS. DOG. IS. CUTE!!!!! My boys better be carefull or their cousin may take over this blog!!

Painfully adorable!

This is Lil' John. My sister and her boyfriend adopted him last weekend. He is 6 pounds - their cat is 20 pounds.

Is it worth it?

This...





...makes the lack of sleep and leg cramps every night worth it. How can you make two dogs who are SO ADORABLE move?

Rockin' Around The Christmas Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Of course!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, non blinking.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Um, no.

5. When do you put your decorations up? IF we put them up - we've had a puppy twice in the last 4 years over the holidays; puppies eat decorations - we put them up between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert): Mashed potatoes! (also my sister's green bean casserole, she makes her own mushroom soup for it!)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Staying at my grandparents house.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? One. However, I always open and rewrap my gifts because I can't stand the suspense.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights. Silver and white ribbons with snowflakes. Silver and blue ball ornaments and most other ornaments are clear.

10. Snow! Love it or Dread it? We have a 1 year old Husky, I've been longing for snow for 6 months! Now, ask me again in 2 or 3 months.

11. Can you ice skate? Absolutely. I grew up in Wisconsin. I played hockey with my dad pretty much as soon as I could walk!

12. Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? I once had a Barbie who tanned when you brought her out in the sun. Unfortunately, my neighbor threw her up on the roof of the garage and by the time she was rescued she never recovered from the "burn".

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy giving gifts.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Cherry pie. I know, I know, but I don't care for pumpkin or pecan pies much (I can only tolerate a sliver - and I mean sliver of each).

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We've made a holiday tradition of having Chinese food (Joy Fong to be specific) for dinner on Christmas Eve.

16. What tops your tree? A big clear/silver snowflake that lights up. Remember Craig, we retired the Santa last year.

17. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night. (My favorite version is sung by Billy Gilman, but I like most renditions.)

18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum: Yummy!

Happy Birthday Mr. Chew

Chewie is a year old this month. To celebrate, we tried allowing him the freedom of sleeping outside his crate last night. He behaved like the good dog we know is hiding in him. However, imagine sleeping on a queen sized bed with two (not skinny) adults, a dog pushing 80#, and a dog pushing 70#. Needless to say, I am sore and tired this morning. But the cuteness was worth it.

When will the ground freeze?!?!

It snowed this morning. Then the snow turned to slush and the slush turned to rain. It hasn't gotten cold enough for the ground to freeze solid yet. This is the result.

Customer Service?

Anyone who has ever worked in retail service of any kind knows the phrase "the customer is always right". If you have read my 101 things about me, you will see that I have worked many different types of jobs. I try to be kind and understanding with employees at places when I need issues resolved. Most of the time, the problem isn't the persons fault and they don't need to be treated poorly because someone else didn't do what they were supposed to do. I also understand that larger companies have "steps" they have to follow to resolve issues. I'm ok with that too. That said, here is some correspondence I have been having with one of the major shipping companies which we use at my work. (I've left off any details; company info, names, tracking numbers).

The issue: Essentially, I had a customer who didn't get a shipment of live crickets we shipped a week ago. I tracked it and found it had scanned as being picked up, but never left the local hub to make its way to the destination. I promptly reshipped the shipment using a different carrier and sent the following email to the customer service for the MIA package so I could get a credit for the shipping we paid.

The 1st email: This was picked up on 10/24/06 at 3:44pm, however it has not been scanned since then. This was a live product which is dead by now so please credit our account for the shipping. If you have any questions, please contact our account rep: john.doe@CrappyShippingCompany.com

The response from "customer service":
Thank you for contacting CSC.
I apologize for your inconvenience. Unfortunately, this shipment has no positive disposition. Currently, an all station trace is being conducted. I strongly advise you to start the process of a loss claim and I can initiate it for you. Please provide the value of this shipment.
Thank you for using CSC.

A few things I'd like to point out:
1) What does "no positive disposition" mean? Can't she just say, we've lost your package.
2) I believe that I stated the shipment was dead, so why waste your manpower searching for a box of dead crickets. You'll smell it in a few days anyway, believe me!
3) By emailing your stupid customer service, I ALREADY was initiating a claim on the package. Duh, that is what the email was!

Finally, my email to our account rep:
Hi John (doe),
I am not trying to be a pain. That said... Am I not being clear in my requests to customer service? It seems like they read the first sentence (if that) and then ignore the entire rest of the request. Should I be requesting these in a different manner? I am becoming irritated with having to bicker with the customer service department.

I flat out said that the product was dead and all I needed was a credit for the shipping. I don't care if the package is ever found; I had to reship it already. I understand that we take a risk shipping a live product and I never request a credit on the actual product that is doa - only the shipping on a package that never arrived (or was not delivered within the published transit times).

Anyway, will you please have a credit issued to our account for the shipping on this MIA package? Thanks! Happy Halloween!

John Doe promptly replied, apologized and sent the issue(s, this was the 2nd one in 2 weeks) to a higher up service department. Sadly, I don't even care about getting the money back for the shipping. I am just being petty because we have at least a dozen of these service failures a week with this company. If I have to waste my time dealing with mad customers, tracking, and reshipping then THEY are going to have to waste time doing the same thing! Last week my coworker called John Doe and had him send our ENTIRE bill for a week back to the billing department to be reworked because they dimmed (used box dimensions rather than actual weight) all of our ground shipments, thus charging us several pounds extra on each shipment. I've heard other horror stories about this company from other farms. How do these places stay in business? It's just sad.

INTERVENTION!!

We need to have an intervention for Mr. Booker. Mr. B seems to have become a bit bulimic since a visit to the vets office early this summer where she informed him he was becoming a bit chunky.

A little history... Booker was a stray who was picked up on the streets and brought to the pound. He was rescued by the local ASPCA and then adopted by us when he was around 6-7 months old. He started out as a purge eater - he would eat every kernel of food in the bowl all at once and then promptly vomit it all up. The vet said it was probably from having lived on the street and not having regular meals waiting for him. She suggested we feed him in small amounts many times a day. We called it first breakfast, second breakfast, third breakfast, first dinner, etc... (That's how Hobbits eat isn't it?).

Eventually Mr. B became a grazer and ate a few bites here and there without the regular vomiting. We thought that adding the puppy might bring back the binge and purge eating, but it hasn't - until this recent trip to the vet.

Booker has become a huge fat pig of a dog. We have to pull him off the food dishes so the puppy can get a few bites before Book vacuums up all the food (and then throws it up). When he hears the tinkle of food hitting the aluminum dish, he'll comes out of a dead sleep and lumber over to fill up. When the puppy decides to eat, Booker will sneak over (yes, sneak! We warn him not to if he starts to get up an we see it, so he sneaks.) and shoulder the puppy out of his way so he can eat it all.

The moral of the story? If you are a vet, don't tell the dogs they are getting a bit chunky. It gives them a complex.

Happy Halloween!

This is the first year we've lived in a neighborhood which is suitable for trick-or-treaters. Well, to be honest, we lived here last year but we were in New Mexico over the holiday.

This year in anticipation of the event, we bought 3 bags of candy and a decorative black bowl. Today we put the 2 bags of candy in the bowl and placed it outside on a tray table at the end of our walk. And no, I didn't accidentally type "3" and then "2". We are pigs, we bought the candy too soon, we wiped out almost a full bag.

We put it out as a free-for-all because we have two dogs between 60 and 75 pounds each who launch themselves at the door whenever someone knocks. We wanted to be generous, but we didn't want to scare the kids with the devil beast.

It's 6:30 and has been dark for about 30 minutes. We've had plenty of t-o-t action; however, they keep knocking on the door! At 6:10 we moved the candy up right in front of the door. Still we have knockers. Do we put a note on the door that says, "We have 2 huge dogs that will launch themselves at you if we open the door. Take a few pieces and have a nice night."

Instead, I retreated to the bedroom with my computer and both dogs (who, for the record, have been stuck in the room since this morning and don't really appreciate being kept from the back yard where they can bark and bark and bark at all the passers-by).

Is the concept of "take some and we trust you not to be greedy" too foreign in this day and age?

Things that shouldn't be cute.

When the puppy turns on then touch lamp with his nose.

When the puppy throws his water dish at you because it is empty.

When the puppy steals a strip of bubble wrap and runs around the room with delight. Pop, pop, pop, pop...

When the puppy picks up one piece of food and throws it around and plays as if it's a tennis ball.

When the puppy comes in from outside covered in mud from wallowing in the hole he dug outside.

When the puppy steals something and rolls on his back and bats at it like a baby panda - completely full of delight that he has stolen it and "gotten away with it".

Some Things Never Change

Fall or Winter?

Oct12_003
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

You decide. Regardless, it is a nice view on the way home from work.

First Snow

Oct12_002
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Need I say more?

Yeay, Best Buy service plan!

Last weekend we had an incident in which my (newish) mp3 player ended up getting run through the washer and dryer. It was nobody's fault, just an accident. Today Craig went over to Best Buy and was able to get a new one because we had purchased the 2 year service plan. We will usually only buy the "s.p." on stuff that is over $200 (which this was) and printers. Anything else generally isn't worth it. Glad we did on these!

AND THE WINNER IS...

prius
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Craig just got THE call. We are getting our new car in 2-3 weeks. The color will be white. WOO HOO!

Public Restroom Etiquette 101

In no particular order I will review the public restroom etiquette for the many women who seem to have forgotten the rules.

1.) If you choose not to actually sit on the seat, clean the pee drips off the seat when you are finished.

2.) Stall choice. If there is a row of 10 stalls and only one is occupied, never choose the stall next to the occupied stall. You have 7 other choices, why do you need to be right next to the occupied stall?

3.) Don't have a conversation with your friend outside of the stall or on the phone. Potty should be private, try to keep it that way.

4.) Never strike up a conversation with the person in the stall next to yours (see #2). They don't want to chat while going potty.

5.) Always check for toilet paper prior to doing your business. You neighbor (again, see #2) does not want to give you some under the stall.

6.) If you must bring your little boy into the bathroom with you, keep him reigned in. Do not let him peek in the cracks or under the stall. Once again, potty should be private.

7.) Flush! Courtesy flushes, when necessary.

This is on an exhaustive list, I will certainly think of other things to add in the future as they irritate me.

EXTRAVAGANZA!!

I am SUPER excited. Craig's birthday is coming up shortly (I won't divulge the date upon his request) and I have an AWESOME surprise gift for him.

This is a big deal to me because I NEVER keep a secret. I usually come up with an idea for something cool and end up spilling the beans before I even buy the thing.

I won't reveal what the surprise is, but I can tell you that it will "unfold in layers" over the weekend.

Muuuaaaaahhhhaahhhaaa!! (That's my "I have a secret" laugh).

Where have all the leaves gone?

This could be a post waxing poetic on the start of fall, but, alas (ye maties), it is not.

I've been trying (in vain?) to eat healthier meals. For lunch the last two days I have been having a salad at McD's. I admit, I don't ever expect much food-wise from any fast food chain. This is no different, but come on! Where do all the lettuce leaves go? The certainly don't go into their Premium salads! The ruffage in these salads consists of a VERY few green leaves of lettuce and the rest is the white core of the iceberg head. I ask again, where do all the green leafy leaves go?

They put into the salads the stuff that I throw away when making my own at home. So as I pick through my "salad" looking for any edible leaves of lettuce to eat with my 3 cherry tomatoes and shave (for lack of a better term) of carrot, I lament the fact that I am too lazy to go home and make myself a decent salad. Granted, I only have a 1/2 hour and to go home and prepare food while dealing with two needy dogs usually takes 40 minutes at the least.

BTW: Happy "international talk like a pirate day".

Sigh.

Last night was a long night. I had two 20 oz Coke Zeros during the day at work so, of course, I couldn't fall asleep. I stayed up until 1:00 am and watched the Jay Leno Show for the first time in 5 years since moving to the Eastern time zone. What happened to his hair!?

This morning I got up at 7:30 when Craig left for work because the dogs were up. I immediately sent them outside to play. It's cool and moist - maybe they'll stay out all day?

About 30 minutes ago, however, I heard the sudden rush of water! Huh? I got up and walked towards the sound which was leading me out to the back yard. I open the back door and discover The Chew dancing in the spray of the spigot - which he turned on. Sigh.

In come the dogs. They rush thru the kitchen and roar into the living room and commence to "bear fight". They are standing on hind legs, swatting at each other with their front legs, mouths open, teeth cracking together, grunting. Sigh.

Out go the dogs. I am again sitting on my recliner resting my eyes. I now hear a tap, tap, tap on a window. Wha?! I open my eyes to find The Chew head in the bathroom window! This might not be a big deal, if the window were not over 5 feet up from the ground. He is STANDING on the air conditioner stretching over to the window so he can look in. I frantically look for the camera which we keep pretty handy. I miss my chance. He is gone from the window. I go into the kitchen to peek out the window to see where he has gone.

P9150271
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

This is what I found. Note the wet pavement. Note the bricks thrown from the "garden". Not the A/C which he stands on. Sigh.

A side note. The Black Eyed Peas are "performing" on the Today Show right now. While their music is catchy on the radio, they are a horror show to watch live. Cringe, now Fergi is "performing".

Must go. His Highness The Chew is rioting on the back door. In the come. (only to be sent right back out when they riot in the house). Sigh.

Farewell Mr. Molly

IMG_12032
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

My sister's cat passed away yesterday. He succumbed to the kidney disease that has plagued him for many months.

"To those that don’t know him well, I can say that he was charming and handsome, slightly eccentric, but always a good friend. He will be deeply missed."

R.I.P. Mr. Molly.

A 60 pound cat!?

DSC02799
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Today I opened the shades on the window so I could see when the UPS guy pulled up to the house (and be able to send the boys out the back so I could answer the door). The dogs love looking out the window - especially The Chew.

First day of school

06092006 003
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

This week marks the first day of school for many students, myself included. I decided to take class at the Kalamazoo Intitute of Art in Kiln Fused Glass. Upon arrival at the KIA, my mom met me in the parking lot with this cute little school bus cupcake.

Oh, the horror!

I like the internet. I especially love google. Google is my homepage at work and at home. I probably search for stuff at least 10 times a day. I've often wished I had access to the tangled web of information back when I was in high school. That is, until I google'd my maiden name a while ago. That is the moment I was thankful that the internet (as it is) did not exist back when I was in high school.

Upon searching, (who doesn't search their own name and everyone they know?) the sites that came up were - shall we say - seedy. Dirty. Often requiring an age verification prior to entry into the site. Specifically, Sir Mix-a-lot has a song about my last name, if he were in the Netherlands. Yes, in Dutch, my maiden name is a swear. Nice.

As bad as high school was...it could have been much, much worse for me if we had google as we know it today. Phew. Dodged that bullet, or at least a plethora of teasing.

May I help you?

This post could be about how cute the Chew is 1) sleeping on his water dish and 2) in front of his vent, but it's not.

It's about the BEST SPILL-PROOF WATER DISH EVER! This thing does not spill. Chewie kicks them, tosses them, and flips them upside down and all he has produced from the full bowl is a couple of tiny drips. Worth every penny of the steep $20 each.

Tree hugging.

I am sure anyone who drives a vehicle can agree, filling up your gas tank has become somewhat of a painful experience. Gas prices in our area have been averaging around $3.00 a gallon this summer. The recent high (that I can remember)has been $3.19 and the recent low has been $2.89. This, along with our interest in doing our part for a better environment and our love of gadgets, has prompted us to research getting a hybrid vehicle.

We've been talking about it for over a year, but we only just bought a new car about 2 years ago. Our 2003 Saturn Ion gets 20 mph city and 30 mpg highway and we've been happy with it. We noticed that the car is finally worth more than what we owe on it and picked up our discussion again about getting a hybrid. Our two front runners were the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. While we would like a larger vehicle for the dogs ( soon to be 75+ lbs each), we decided that we really don't need a small SUV until we have kids. Additionally, the Escape gets similar gas milage to our Ion and we are looking for an improvement for a while. So, we decide upon a Prius which gets between 50 and 60 miles per gallon depending on driving conditions.

So, the other night we got online and get pre-approved financing from Toyota and yesterday we went and test drove a used 2005 Prius - the only Prius available withing at least a 50 mile radius. The cars selling price is actually about $1000 more than buying a brand new 2006/2007 model (which was odd, since it really didn't have any bells and whistles other than what comes standard on the 2006). Needless to say, we opted for the cheaper, brand new model.

Unfortunately, the demand is so high for these cars now that the wait is 6 weeks to 4 months for delivery. The dealer said isting several color choices might speed up the process so we chose four, in order by favorite: Barcelona Red Metallic, Seaside Pearl, Magnetic Gray, and Super White. Hopefully that will speed up delivery time. Visit toyota.com/prius
for an interactive look at all the bells and whistles that come standard. (We opted for a pretty simple model, only adding the saftey features such as airbags and vehicle stability).

My Personality Profile, pretty close.

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

You won't like me when I'm angry.

This is what happens when you take one dog for a ride in the car and leave the other one at home. (Your reasoning may have been sound - the puppy will get to go later when he goes to the vet, so Booker deserves a ride also; however, the puppy did not see it that way.)

Note the bent crate on the bottom and the right side.



Note the deep wounds on the door.


Note the luck that he didn't get electrocuted.


The bright side:
He didn't shred a 2'x2' section of carpet (as Booker did upon escape one time).
We are no longer renting so he didn't cost us our $700 deposit.
Replacement doors are less than $50.00 and I know how to hang them.
The puppy still had the E-collar on, so the damage was less than it could have been.

He's baaaack.

The Chew came home from the vet's office today at lunch. He is furious that we have to (try to) keep him calm.

All was well with the surgery. He has staples in several spots on his belly (they had to do explorative surgery to find his missing testicle) and staples on both rear ankles from the removal of his 3 dew claws.

We are now in the strugle to keep him from blowing out his stitches in the next 7 days. Good luck to us, since his ankle has already oozed today.

Oh, by the way, the cone is virtually useless. He still manages to get to his belly and feet. Sigh. 

The prisoner wishes to say a word... ... ... FREEEEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

Yesterday morning I dropped the puppy off at the vets office for some surgeries. He is getting neutered, having his 3 rear dew claws removed, and being microchipped.

I do miss him and find myself bolting upright in my recliner thinking, "where's the puppy, what is he stealing, destroying, eating, etc" and realizing that the calm I am experiencing is what it was like before we adopted him. Mr. Booker looks for him a bit, but is also content to sleep on the recliner or couch without being pounced on. Mr. B also got to chew on one of his bones for as long as he wanted without having The Chew boldly walk up and snatch it right out of his mouth.

Mr. Booker is reverting back to the "devil dog" a little now that the "most devious devil dog" is not around for a few days, but who can blame him. He feels the same way I do...

FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!

Pool of Shame NO LONGER.

I came home from work today sweating and looking forward to floating in my yellow Pool of Shame for a few hours. I released the hounds and went over to the pool to skim the top and HOLY COW! The PoS is almost clear! It had been better since the partial drain and refill, but we've just been swimming in it yellow because my theory was, "it is cleaner than swimming in a fish excrement filled lake".

Perhaps it is the boiling that helped. The temperature outside has been above 90 for the last 3 or 4 days. The pool temp last night was 87 degrees. Today the water is 90 degrees on the nose.

Well, I am off to float in my almost clear pool. Just pool, the shame is gone.

They are NOT spoiled...

Ok, that is a HUGE lie. We tend to raise the most spoiled dogs on the planet. Newt (our beloved, departed dalmation) had his own room with his own bed.

These two beasts think they have their own recliners. These two pictures were taken at the same time - meaning we had to sit at the computer desk or on the couch. Brats.

We had a routine vet trip this weekend for both dogs. The Chew is up to 54 lbs. Mr. Booker is up 4 lbs from last July, weighing in at 74 lbs. No wonder we go thru 50 lbs of dog food a month! Mr. B had shots and nose spray (the new, better way to vaccinate for Rabies) and The Chew was scheduled for his neutering/spaying. You see, he has one testicle which is still MIA so they need to go in surgically and track that baby down. So I say he is having both done. :) He is also having his 3 - yup 3 - rear dew claws removed. The worse thing about this whole surgery (for us at least) will be the no food or drink from 8 pm the night before. He will be furious!

Anywho, just updating the Mommy blog.

The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

For most of my life I have been anti-Apple computers. (crApple & Macintrash are what my dad and I referred to them as). With the explosion of the iPod popularity, Craig and I fell prey to the media and each bought an iPod Mini a year and a half ago. We were tickled pink with our new toys for about a year (coincidently until the warranty expired)...

For about the last 9 months, Craig's iPod has had trouble staying on. Finally, his crapped out completely a couple of months ago. I used my iPod a fraction of the amount that he used his, but a month after his died, mine refused to turn on. We tried all their ridiculous trouble shooting, resetting whatnot that the Apple site recommends. Our replacement warranty had expired about a month before. (Conspiracy theorists: planned? I am starting to wonder).

Since our warranty was already up and neither of us were willing to pay close to $100 (each) to send them to Apple for repairs - you can buy a new non-Apple mp3 player for as much. Instead we found a battery replacement site and ordered 2 replacement kits for $9.99 each, thinking probably our batteries had died - a very common flaw of the iPod. Our kits arrived and I excitedly hacked into my pod and replaced the battery. I waited for several hours for the battery to charge. And with great hopes, I tried to reset the pod. NOTHING! I tried again. And again. And again. And every time I walked past it sitting dead on the desk. I opened it up again to make sure I had all the connectors connected. I noticed a little burned section of the motherboard. Nice.

We opened up Craig's pod to see if he had the same problem. Nope, his looked fine, probably just needed a new battery. We replaced the battery and... Still a dead pod. So after having these things for less than 2 years, they both died beyond repair. My sister has gone thru 2 or 3 iPods within the last 4 years. I now vow never to purchase another Apple product as long as I live. I am so disgusted, I can't even put it into words.

That said, we saved up and went a-hunting for new mp3 players. Our criteria:
Not an iPod of any kind.
No moving parts, i.e. a flash drive rather than a conventional hard drive.
Close to the same "size" as our iPods; 4 GB of storage.

Off to Best Buy we head. We ask the very helpful guy (really, I know, unheard of) in the department what his thoughts were on what we could get with our criteria. He explained several options which looked good. We browse for a bit longer. Home we go without purchasing so Craig can look up reviews on Cnet.com. I nap for several hours while he reads reviews. Back to Best Buy we go.

To make this long post end soon, I choose an iriver clix and Craig choose a Sandisk Sansa as our new music to go players. Read the reviews on Cnet, they both rate 8.0 out of 10 or above. The only drawback is that they are 2 GB only rather than the 4 GB we had; however, I never filled my whole 4 GB up anyway.

Here is a picture of mine. It measures 2.7" by 1.8" (more than 1/2 as big as my crApple iPod), weighs 2.5 ounces, plays flash games, displays pictures, plays small videos, has an optional cradle to use for line-in recording (great for digitizing our tapes and childhood vinyl), has a voice recorder, and FM tuner (!), and much more.

I am pleased, so very pleased. Now I can mow the lawn again - couldn't do it without my music, then it was just a chore.

Woo hoo!

Commence to drain.

I've decided to drain the pool of shame and try to start over with the water. After 5 shock treatments and 1 mineral removal treatment we still have orange/yellow water. Not brown any longer, but still nothing I want to swim in. Supposedly - according to the bottles of crap we've been putting into the water - if you add the mineral removal stuff before the shock treatment you won't have the discoloration. We'll see.

Now we run into the "what do you do with 4,000 gallons of water" issue. If you just let loose the filter and drain holes, all 4K drains into the neighbor's yard. Not acceptable.

So I once again McGuyver'd a solution. I looked around in the garage for something to direct the water and found 3 pieces of gutter up in the rafters. Not quite long enough. I also locate the hose and extensions from the shop vac. Oh, yeay, there is Craig's didgeridoo, that's about the right diameter. Yes, I said didgeridoo. (In reality it is a piece of pvc pipe with one end melted and twisted. He made it at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts open house this spring.)

So. I taped the end of the didgeridoo to one of the filter hoses (the filter holes are about 4x the diameter of the actual pool drain, thus releasing more water and emptying the pool of shame faster), the didgeridoo to the shop vac hose, set the shop vac hose on the gutter (slightly elevated to promote the downward flow) and let loose the water.

The water now flows down our driveway and onto the road. I am still going to wait until dark to open the flow and empty the whole pool. I don't want the neighbors wondering where all that chlorine smelling water is coming from...

Another day, another shock treatment

Perhaps it is how the sun is hitting the brown water today, but after a third shock treatment, a bottle of iron "remover", and several days of heavy filtering the pool looks a little less brown.

It is supposed to be 85 degrees and sunny this coming Saturday. What are the chances we'll be able to swim? Yeah, slim to none is what my guess is also. 

More pool drama...

So.

We went to the store yesterday and picked up some stuff that is supposed to cling to the iron in the water and make the stuff drop to the floor of the pool. I added it immediately upon arrival home and "stirred my cauldron" (Thanks, Craig). Now the waiting game again. Filter has to run for at least 8 hours. My Fourth marred by a lack of swimming in my pool, I grumpily sat at the computer all evening playing Runescape.

This morning we had a sick puppy (up every two hours vomiting, then diarrhea) so I didn't even remember to look at the pool. We came home at 11:15 to eat lunch and check on the puppy (still diarrhea, no more vomiting - taking puppy to the vet now at 2:45) and I still forgot to look to see if the iron had dropped out or decreased.

Came home at 2:00 to get the puppy (he is feeling a bit better, no more diarrhea now) and still forgot to look at the pool. The vet suspects the puppy has a virus and we just have to ride it out. He is much better now, demanding food (which is being limited to about 2 tbsp per half hour) and wanting to play.

NOW, I went out to check on the pool. Still brown. Sigh. I added a little more shock treatment and stirred the cauldron. I changed the filter - which was FILTHY with sediment. I skimmed the bugs out of the brown water. I am leaving the filter on overnight again, I'll change it again before I go to bed and when I get up in the morning.

I am starting to think we will have to drain the 4000+ gallons and refill the pool. I don't want to spend another $100 on water that I may or may not be able to swim in. Sigh. "Easy setup", "swim in a day". Hmmph.

On a side note...Happy Birthday, Bama Mammy!!

Not quite right...

So, we recently got a 16' x 42" pool for our summer enjoyment. I've been whining about getting one since April and we've been saving up for it. (On sale last week at Home Depot! Woo Hoo!)

We head out to (the) Home Depot after work and pick up our pool. We squeeze it into the back seat of our car (Saturn Ion) and head for home. Excitement rising in anticipation, we get home around 7 pm and start right in on the "easy" assembly.

Thursday, Step 1: Open the box (don't use a knife!) and pull out all the parts. Spread the ground cover out and heave the pool over. Open up the pool and find the tiny valve to blow up the top ring.

Step 2: Blow up the top ring. We find the electric air pump in the garage - well, parts of it. Missing the attachment to blow up the air ring at the top of the pool. We attempt to use a hand volleyball pump, yeah right. Then we attempt to "MacGyver" the hand pump to the electric pump, still no noticeable inflation. Sigh. I call my friend down the street to see if we can borrow theirs. Not home. At 8:30, we head back to Home Depot to get a slightly more powerful air pump (that has all the needed attachments). Back home at 9:00. Technically, we should charge the new pump (it is a rechargeable battery backup/air compressor - also handy during power outages), but I decide to sit outside until 9:30 until the factory charge runs out.

Friday, Step 2 continued: I get up and start inflating the pool ring again around 8:30 am. In the mean time, the pool area isn't fenced off yet and the puppy runs to the middle of the vinyl pool, grabs a mouth-full and begins to worry the pool. I scream in horror and rush to get him off the pool. After quite a chase, I corral the dogs and put them inside. I look for damage and don’t notice any.

Friday, Step 3, 9:30 am: After the ring is inflated, set up the filter. I get out the instructions. Blah, blah, blah, o-ring, petroleum jelly. WHAT! Nowhere on the box did it say you needed Vaseline! I look in vain for some, knowing that we don’t have any. I email Craig and request that he pick some up on his way home for lunch. I go inside and wait.
Friday, Step 3, 11:45 am: Armed with petroleum jelly, I head back out to set up the pump. Reasonably easy task.

Friday, Step 4, 1:00 pm: Begin to fill the pool. Hmm, all the water seems to be heading to one end of the pool. I rush into the garage to drag out our shop-vac and our wagon, which are filled with sand – another story. I push back part of the pool and dump the sand and try – in vain – to level the ground. Sigh. I turn off the water and look around the yard. The spot chosen was decided upon because it could be easily fenced to keep the dogs out and was also surrounded by some trees and the house (yet still sunny) to give some semblance of privacy. Anywhere else in the yard would be exposed to the street and neighbors – in which case I would not be caught dead in a bathing suit… I look around again… where can we put it? My gaze stops on the driveway. That is flat; it’s even paved and smooth. Is it wide enough? I go look for the measuring tape. The pool would fit.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 2:00: I go back to the pool and see if I can move it to the driveway. I cannot even make it budge. I go back inside and wait for 5:30 to roll around so Craig can help me lift it.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 6:00 pm: After much discussion of pro’s and con’s of location, we drain the little bit of water I had put into the pool and heave-ho it over to the driveway. We lay it all out again and !SHOCK! I notice tears in the bottom of the pool. Out comes the patch kit while I grumble my fury at the puppy and vow never to let him near my pool again.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 7:30 pm: Holes (many, many tiny tooth holes) patched, I begin filling the pool again. At 9:30 we have about 1/5 full. I retire for the night.

Saturday, Step 4 continued, 8:30 am: Turn on the hose and continue filling. 11:00, turn off hose, go see Superman. 4:30, return home and turn on the hose. 8:30 pm, pool is filled! In the mean time, Craig has put the ladder together. We bring the ladder over to the pool, change into our suits and take a VERY CHILLY pseudo dip – neither of us can go fully in.

Sunday: Raining all day. Applied pH down (our water is off the chart).

Monday 1:00 pm: Applied “Shock treatment” as directed.

Monday 2:30 pm: I glance out of the window in anticipation of seeing a clear pool, ready for swimming. What I see is pictured. It appears that the shock treatment caused the iron in our water to come out of solution. Supposedly, all we have to do is wait for a while with the filter off and all the suspended brown will drop to the bottom to be vacuumed up. I guess that is ok, since rain and cooler weather is predicted for the next 5 days.

Such drama just for a little summer fun in the sun. I grew up swiming in my granparents pool (they put it in the year I was born) so I know it will be worth it. 

Funnybone Tickler

Overheard at work, "Grandma, what is your cell phone number?"

This struck me funny because I cannot imagine asking my grandparents for their digits.

This is Space command to Zoom

All systems are go for your message to Melissa!

Hey, Melissa!
It's your birthday!
I'm in charge of the stars
And I'm here to say,
'cause Melissa,
You're the BIG STAR today!

My name is Zoom
And I live on the moon
But I came down to earth
Just to sing you this tune
Hey, Melissa,
It's your birthday today!

A present for you
I wanted to find
An outerspace creature
A one of a kind!
A wild whop or a kukelchoo,
An apple drop or a buzzardstew
Or maybe a 3-eyed tickleshay
For your birthday

Did you ask:
"uh, what's a kukelchoo?"
Well, up on the moon it's nothing new
But that won't do for you,
On your birthday!

I searched behind the clouds and stars
I even zoomed my bike to Mars
And met my friend the saucer man
And he said:
"Hey Zoom I got the bestest plan!
What your friend needs is something new,
So how about a song, just from YOU?"

And so tonight when you're in bed
I'll be singing to you as I zoom overhead
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
To you!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!
See you next year!

We shall call him...Mini Kitty.

Actually, we've been calling him Frank. He is staying with for a couple of days until Chicago Sis takes him back home this weekend. He was found covered in dew on a morning walk in a field. The vet says he is about 4 weeks old. His head is smaller than a lime. 

The Countdown.

Only 2 and 1/2 days until Captain Zoom.

Happy Birthday Beauty Shop Queen!

Just wanted to shout out to one of the 3 people who read this blog. :)

Enjoy your day off tomorrow!

New Favorite

Graphic description to follow. Read at your own risk.

I cut, no slice, my index fingers at least twice whenever I sit down for more than 15 minutes to make mini picture frames. I don't do it on purpose, it just happens. The miter cutter I have has an unprotected razor blade that comes down and chops the wood. I have to hold the wood in place and then move it and the scrap away to chop the next one. It is that move that causes me problems. I have to leave (I guess I don't have to, but it is now a habit) the chop arm in the up (exposed blade) position to slip the piece out of the way and insert the next one. As I move my hand away and out from under the blade, that is when it gets me. Usually in the exact same spot; a slice from my nail to my first knuckle. Not normally terribly deep, but enough to produce a nice flap of skin and plenty of blood.

WHAT, you may ask, does this have to do with a new favorite. Well, seeing as I use a minimum of 2 "bandages" several times a week, I have tried many brands. I opened a new package tonight and found my new favorite bandage. I have always preferred the Nexcare (3M) brand over the other leading and store brand bandages. Tonight proves no different. I tried the Nexcare Comfort Ultra Fabric Latex Free. What an awesome bandage! It is slightly stretchy and very flexible. It conforms perfectly to the wound and doesn't have those irritating corners/edges that catch and make it difficult to type. I type with all fingers as Mavis Beacon taught and have a rough time when I have inferior bandages on my fingertips.

Anywho. Try them next time you are at the store to pick up bandages. You won't be disappointed. That was all, now I have to go back to the frames. I almost look forward to my second slice of the night so I can use my new favorite bandages again!

Back in the saddle and other random snippets.

CK and I started watching what we eat again. We gave it up for about 2 years because we are lazy. It is time again.

I spent over an hour mowing (most of) our lawn today. If you are familiar with Weight Watcher's Points, that is 7 exercise points earned.

On the subject of mowing, we bought a push mower (with the gasoline and the self-propelling) a month or so ago. Much, much, much better than using the push mower (without the gasoline and the self-propelling). Sorry O-zone, I will try not to mow on "O-zone Alert" days (not hard to promise that, since those days are usually 110 degrees with 99% humidity).

5 days until a message from Zoom.

TTFN as Lisa from high school used to say...

What makes me physically ill?

When my extra hard drive, which stores all our digital photos, music, and much more that I neglect to back up, craps out.

Thank goodness for PC Inspector File Recovery. Even better, it is Freeware. When our SmartMedia card died during our trip to Niagara Falls a few years ago, I bought a recovery program - I won't even say how much - and only recovered part of what was on the disk.

I am spending today salvaging first our photos, second our music, and third any other files on the drive. This weekend I will spend burning CD's of pictures and backing up our music onto a second drive.

Sigh. One would think I would have learned a lesson the last time we had a hard drive die. Sadly, no.

Houdini?

Picture this. You are exhausted and skip Without A Trace and opt for an early retirement for the day. You take the dogs out for the final potty of the night and get everyone tucked away into their respective crates and beds. Three hours later you are awakened by the incessant whining/barking/begging/grumbling of the 6 month old puppy who has decided he needs to potty again. You nudge Husband. "Wha?" Nudge again, "Take the dogs out." "Ok." You fall back into a silent ear plug enforced sleep. He rolls out of bed and dresses. The three of them trudge to the back door and he releases the beasts into the dark abyss of the back yard. Five minutes later after 3 potties, they return and again are tucked into their crates and beds.

A few minutes later the ear piercing whine of the puppy (which words cannot describe) pierces thru your 32 dB earplugs. Nudge, "Did you take the dogs out!?" "Wha?" "DID YOU TAKE THE DOGS OUT?!" "Yeah" "Take him again, he still needs to go." "Sigh, ok." You again fall back into sleep as Husband rolls out of bed and takes puppy back outside on the leash this time for a potty. They return again and settle back in.

A few minutes later you are AGAIN awakened by the whine! "WHAT is his problem! I am exhausted and need my rest!", you yell. "Take him to the crate in the dining room!", you growl at husband. He sighs, gets up, and brings puppy to the dining room crate on the other side of the house. At least you won't be able to hear him as he whines for the rest of the night. Husband returns and you all settle into a nice rest.

Thirty minutes later, big dog starts barking! "Book, shut up! Go to bed." you shout. "Bark! Bark! BARK!" as he runs around the bed and touches the empty puppy crate. "Bark! Bark! Bark!" back to the empty puppy crate. Nudge, nudge. "Do you hear that barking?!" "Yes." "What are you going to do about it!?" "Sigh." Husband gets up and takes big dog out to potty - again. As he rounds the corner to the kitchen, he finds puppy standing at the gate waiting for him. He enters the kitchen and turns into the dining room to find the big dog crate (heavy, metal design with 2 locks on each door) in the middle of the room (4 feet from its normal resting place), locked. Puppy trots behind him with delight. White hair inside the crate prove he was inside at one time this night, however, he no longer is - and it is still standing and locked.

Puppy is Houdini, Big Dog is a tattle, Husband is exhausted, irritated, and perplexed. All three return to the room and tuck back into crates and beds. Puppy continues to whine. You rise, grumble something about needing to sleep because you have to clean the whole house for guests in the morning and storm off to the spare bedroom on the other side of the house. Husband can sleep thru the whining and does so. You sleep in the silence of the spare bedroom. All is well, except now you need to go get tiny padlocks for all the connecting areas of the crate to prevent future escapes.

Since when is stalking romantic?

We watched the newish movie The Phantom of the Opera the other night. I have had the 2-disk cd from the musical for years and years (over 15, I was in high school when I got it). I have sang (sung?) along with the songs - loudly at times - and enjoyed the music very much. I have to admit, I had never actually seen the stage (or other movie) versions of the soundtrack and I apparently lost a bit of the plot by neglecting this aspect of it.

I never really thought of the whole thing necessarily as romantic, but I do know many people who do. The whole time we were watching the movie I was 1) being nagged by CK to not quote line-by-line the entire film (Please, that is the pot calling the kettle black), 2) being told to knock it off when I pointed out the parts in the film that were slightly different from the stage soundtrack, and 3) APPALLED by the fact that the Phantom was a raging lunatic and yet Christine kept going back to him as if he were Casanova. Come on! Was she stupid? Is this some form of Stockholm Syndrome?

Even if she thought for a while that this might have even been her father (in the flesh or reincarnated, whichever), the fact that when he KIDNAPPED her and she saw that he 1) lived in the sewers, 2) had a wax figure of her in a wedding outfit; should have clued her in to the fact that he was a hair off balance.

After the kidnapping, a normal person probably would have gotten the heck out of that theater/town and found a new place to live/work. No, no. She stays and seems surprised when he stalks her further and hangs someone during a performance. Time to run now? I think not. Let's stick around and see just how much worse it can get.

To top it all off, the woman who took in first the lunatic boy who killed someone when he was not even a teen yet and then took in Christine when she was 7 and orphaned, knew all along that this nutso pedophile was stalking Christine since she was 7. And did nothing about it. I guess it was all worth it since he was teaching her how to sing while he STALKED her.

Anyway, I will end my rant here. I could continue into Act 2, but it isn't worth the effort. We all know how it ends. Stalker kidnaps her again, fiancé follows, stalker ties up fiancé and starts to kill him (all while they are all three singing...), chick must choose, she chooses stalker so fiancé can live a miserable life knowing that she is being raped and abused by some lunatic while he cannot do anything about it (better than death? I'm not sure.), lunatic grows a small conscience for a few moments and lets girl and fiancé go, girl still feels attachment towards stalker, girl finally leaves with fiancé, stalker disappears into his lair in the sewers, lynch mob comes for stalker - but does not find him, all is well.

The one thing added in the movie was that it appeared Christine and Raul got married (?) and had a lifetime together. When Raul went to put the creepy lot 665 monkey at her grave, he saw a rose with a ring and a black ribbon lying on the grave. So the stalker was STILL STALKING HER AFTER HER DEATH! And this obsession is apparently romantic. Hmmm. Ok, if you say so.

(I'll still listen to the soundtrack and sing along, but I am going to pretend to still be in my ignorant bliss of not really listening to the words of the songs.)

Am I environmentally friendly?

Or just cheap? Last night I mowed our lawn - well, at least about 1/6th of it. We just bought a house and have an actual yard to take care of all of a sudden. We only have a push mower because that is all we needed for our 12x12 (144 square foot) patch of grass at our old house. Now we have about 2500 square feet of yard to mow!

Boo hoo, you think. They have a push mower and are whining because they want a riding mower. The catch is, we have a PUSH mower. With the blade. And no gas. And no electrical moving parts. Just the spinning blades.

While mowing (which was actually quite relaxing and not that hard to do) I thought to myself, "Self, you really could be helping the environment by not using a gas powered mower. And, Self, you are probably saving a TON of money because you don't need to buy gas. Self, you can mow even on Ozone Alert days!"

So, are we cheap/poor or eco-friendly? I have decided on eco-friendly. Maybe I'll shed a few pounds and get a little tan. :) If I had $2500 would I buy a push mower? Maybe, maybe not. I might rather have a wide screen plasma tv...

Happy Spring!

101 Things You Probably Don't Care If You Know.

1. I have blond hair.
2. I have blue eyes.
3. My favorite song is “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkle. I listen to it on repeat, sometimes for hours. It is repeating right now.
4. I have worked at a cricket farm.
5. I have worked at Six Flags.
6. I have worked at Subway.
7. I have worked at a summer camp as a camp counselor and art director.
8. I have worked in a library.
9. I have worked at a bookstore.
10. I have worked as a carhop at Sonic.
11. I have worked at a credit union.
12. I have worked at a hospital.
13. I have worked in a mall.
14. I have worked at a deli.
15. I have worked in a toy store.
16. I have worked as a barista (it wasn’t called that then).
17. Numbers 13-16 were all the same store.
18. I have worked as a paperboy. (Papergirl, actually.)
19. I have worked at home for a medical transcription company.
20. I have had a job since I was 14.
21. I have always worked at a job until I moved to another town or state.
22. I have been to college in three different states – and still don’t have a diploma.
23. My major in college was Geology.
24. I was born in Wisconsin.
25. I learned to swim before I could walk.
26. I had a hamster with no front legs once. (Tragic accident with the fan in the heater). He lived for several years sans limbs.
27. I raised guinea pigs as a child.
28. I still know (and recite) my phone number and address of the house I lived in when I was 8. [244-0304 & 3801 Dawes].
29. I was stage manager for Hello, Dolly in high school.
30. I ran spotlights for A Chorus Line and Big River.
31. I ran the counter weights (curtains) for A Pajama Game.
32. I was stage manager for Into The Woods.
33. I was stage manager for the Miss Kenosha pageant (twice) while in high school.
34. I draw. (Quite well from what I am told).
35. I also paint, but don’t like it as much.
36. I have lived in 4 different states.
37. I went to a Catholic high school.
38. Religion class was the only class I have every gotten a D in.
39. I own my own business.
40. I make miniature picture frames.
41. I had rats as pets as a teenager.
42. I used to love Guns-n-Roses.
43. I have designed and maintain three websites. Here, here, and here.
44. I did the entire photo editing work on all three sites.
45. I know how to belly dance.
46. I lived 30 minutes from Mexico for 4 years and never crossed the border.
47. I left the US for the first time last year – to Canada.
48. My favorite ice cream is Haagen Dazs Rocky Road.
49. I have lived on a closed military base. We (me and CK) lived in the officer’s quarters. (They were converted into townhouses).
50. I have lived in a trailer park (twice).
51. I didn’t realize that I grew up as “white trash” until I was 29. I was shocked.
52. I have one sister.
53. My sister didn’t realize she grew up as “white trash” until she was 26. She was just as shocked.
54. I have been married since 1998.
55. We got married in May, in New Mexico.
56. It was 105 degrees on the day of our wedding. The wedding was outside.
57. I made my wedding dress.
58. I made my sister’s bridesmaid dress.
59. I baked and decorated my own wedding cake.
60. I made all the flower arrangements for my own wedding.
61. I will pay my unborn children to elope when they decide to get married.
62. I made my own prom dress.
63. My dad is a nuclear physicist.
64. My mother is pretty nuts. (Really, I am not just being mean.)
65. I grew up with my mother (thus the “white trash”).
66. My first car was a Pacer. It was maroon. I don’t know what year it was.
67. I also have owned an AMC Concord. It was brown.
68. I had another car, which was a Mercury Topaz. It was reddish. I named it Chuck (bought it a Charles Motors).
69.I frequently listen to music from the 80’s and 90’s.
70. I was born with a dislocated hip and a full head of hair.
71. I have had stitches on my chin, under my left eye, and on my right pinkey.
72. I have a large scar on my right hand from when I put my hand thru a window (on accident, I was only 7).
73. I have a scar on my left palm in the shape of a V from playing with a pair of sewing sheers.
74. I have a scar on the top of my left hand from a hot glue gun that was left on (in high school while I was cleaning up after stage crew). I had to let the hot glue cool before I could pull it off my skin.
75. I have gravel in my knee from a rollerblading accident (needless to say, I also have scars on both knees from that).
76. I have a scar on my right index finger from a dog bite.
77. I know that you can get a golf cart over 12 mph if you are going downhill.
78. I also know that that is dangerous.
79. I broke my back (chip fracture) from falling off of a golf cart.
80. I have moderate psoriasis.
81. I am allergic to fleabites and bee stings.
82. I hate swimming with fish.
83. I hate swimming in lakes because I can’t see what is lurking below me (i.e. fish).
84. I have a black german shepherd mix named Booker.
85. I have a white and blond husky mix named Chewie.
86. I have a silver and white cockatiel named Cecil. It is a she.
87. I have a South African Leopard Tortoise. His name is Echo (spelled out on his shell in his markings) but we call him Mr. T.
88. I once had a dog that was allergic to pork.
89. He also had a bad heart.
90. And stones in his bladder.
91. And one brown eye, one blue eye.
92. He was a Dalmatian and we loved him very much even though he cost us about $2000 a year.
93. I used to play the violin.
94. I can’t read music; I had to memorize all the songs.
95. I was still first chair in 8th grade.
96. I have been a clown in parades. (Once again, back to the crazy mother).
97. I have eaten dog food. Fortunately, I was too young to remember.
98. I have eaten quail eggs and sea cucumber. I thought they were mushrooms and noodles, respectively. Unfortunately, I remember these.
99. I really like playing The Sims (2) and Runescape.
100. I have a giant paper mosquito hanging in my office.
101. This list only took me about an hour.

Booker and Chewie playing with the grunting hedgehog.

Chewie, about 8 weeks old.

Ahhh, nap time.

This is probably going to turn into a "mommy blog", so if you don't care, don't read. :)

Nap time. One cannot appreciate this phrase until one has a puppy (or a baby, from what I have heard). I only work 3 days a week outside of the house so on the other 4, I am the puppy entertainment. Two of those days, it is just me and Booker because CK gets to escape to work. On these days, Booker and I look forward to 11:30 because that is when the puppy is starting to slow down. As soon as he closes his eyes for a few seconds, I wisk him into his sleeping crate in our bedroom, turn off the light, shut the door, and lower the tv to about 6 so he can sleep until about 2:00.

This not only gives the puppy some rest, it gives Booker some Mom-time and me time to pick up the house, do dishes, take a shower, and not clean up pee.

I have decided that having a puppy is far more work than having a baby (once again, from what I have heard). Having a baby is going to be no sweat! Babies are immobile for many months and potty into handy receptacles! They also don't have razor teeth which they use to play with your hand/toe/shoe/pants/cheek/chin/nose...

Ahh, nap time. The clock is ticking, I have less than an hour left, so I better get something done.

A New Baby

Yesterday we added a member to our family.

30% Chance

Sigh. There is a 30% chance of snow showers predicted for several days this coming week. Is it that time already? Sigh.

Please! MAKE IT STOP!

So, as stated in several posts, I work at an insect farm. Crickets to be more exact. I work in the office so I normally don't have much contact with the actual bugs. Occasionally, we'll get one or two that sneaks in and starts making noise, but it is quickly tracked down and thrown out the back door. Until recently. This past week the noise has been nearly intolerable. I HATE the sound of crickets. The incessant chirping is like nails on a chalk board to me.

Somehow, we have hundreds in the office. Apparently all adults because they are calling to each other from one corner to another. They hang out on warm spots, like the power supplies for our computers, printers, etc. Out of desperation, I just spent 25 minutes with a dust buster trying to vacuum the ones I could reach. Then I sprayed Lysol in their hiding spots. I normally try to avoid stepping on them at all costs (the snap they make as your shoe crushes them is quite disturbing), but today I have been stomping on them whenever they dare to brave the open carpet.

It is a bit quieter now. Only a handful are chirping. Hopefully, they won't work up to the dull roar they were sustaining a half hour ago.

2:00 Update: So, the Lysol and vacuuming created only a temporary repreve. They are back to chirping at nearly full volume and I am stomping on any that come out of hiding. Glad I only work 3 days a week!! We need weather stripping flaps on the doors to the office to keep them from having free access in - I have suggested this to the office manager this afternoon... We'll see...

Blogger! Hear my plea!

Spell Checker that checks automatically before posting! I write my posts, publish them, re-read them, get an email from CK telling me of the misspellings, and have to go edit and republish them because I forget to spell check.

Spelling has never been my forte (phortae, fortay, fourtay). Sigh.

The Move

We finally moved into our new house yesterday. I think I am too tired to be excited. Give me a few days. We (CK and I) are big procrastinators so we were up until 2:00 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning doing last minute packing - until we ran out of boxes. We got most of the heavy/large/important things packed for the movers to move. We still have to go pack some of the kitchen dishes and small appliances, a couple lamps, and the tortoise's 4 foot abode (he is now residing in a very cramped 5 gallon aquarium), but that will wait until tomorrow.

Tonight, we are going to pick the dog up from the pup resort, order some take-out (we are now in delivery areas!!), find a recliner, and watch TV until we fall asleep in the chairs and the dog wakes us up by throwing his water or food dish at us for a refill.

"Is that Ron Jeremy?"

Continuing on our trip to the dreaded Kenosha, WI. Our main reason for the trip was to visit my grandmother who is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and lives at a nursing home and to also visit my great uncle who is temporarily at a nursing home for rehab from cancer treatments. The pretext for the trip is not a happy one, but our visit did brighten the days of both. That said; let's move on to the rest of the trip.

Our other required stop during this trip is Villa de Carlos. This is a family owned pizza place down by the shores of Lake Michigan. LB and I grew up eating their pizza and have found it difficult to find any that we like as much (LB lives in Chicago - so that is saying a lot).

The dining ambiance and decor is a bit hard to describe. They strive to keep the decorations seasonal, for example, we had a fall theme going during this visit. Additionally, they have the "ol' standby" decorations. The massive amounts of twinkle lights everywhere, the faux birds hanging from the ceiling, the occasional baby deer curled up in a pseudo forest in the corner, and so on.

It is almost always busy. Our wait this evening was estimated to be 45 minutes - and it was already after 8 P.M. After only 25 minutes, we were seated in a horseshoe booth under a canopy of faux forsythia (fauxsythia?) and tree branches. The table is covered in butcher paper and they provide crayons for your dining entertainment. We don't need to look at the menu because LB and I ALWAYS get the same thing. We start with a combo-basket of fried cheese, mushrooms, cheese, zucchini, and did I say cheese? And our pizza is always a hand-tossed pizza with mushrooms, zucchini, and tomato slices. YUM!

As we dined on our fried cheese we observed the crowd in the restaurant. We saw the mullet, the big 80's hair, the blue eye liner, more metal band t-shirts, the lingerie ladies now wear as a shirt (or skirt), the waitress in a tennis skirt, I could continue. It really is like stepping back in time. Anyway, about the time we got our pizza CK looked up and said, "Is that Ron Jeremy?" LB and I turned and gawked. Standing below the array of twinkle lights was a man wearing a tuxedo t-shirt who looked very much like the infamous Ron Jeremy. For those of you wondering, "Who is this man she refers to?” he is a "star" of not-so-nice films. We know him from VH1's show The Surreal Life. Needlesstosay, it was not. Although we were compelled to grab the camera phone and snap a picture so we could blog about it! The pic also shows a little bit of the decor. Enjoy. :)

Returning home.

This weekend we are going to Kenosha, Wisconsin. I always have mixed emotions about returning to the town where I lived from 6th grade until I graduated high school and moved away for college and never moved back.

Anyone who has visited or lived and left Kenosha knows that it sometimes can seem like you have stepped back in time. Located halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago, one would think the city would be progressing with current times; then they try to find a radio station that plays music dating past 1990. Any given day, you can drive around town and see black metal t-shirts, mullets, and long "80's hair band" hair. I find it creepy.

On the other hand, the city has done many things to improve the area and make it quite nice. The downtown area has gone from hobo-lane (as it was when I was young) to a very quaint, nice area. The lake and marina area has been improved and is unrecognizable to what I am used to.

That said, I look forward to Carl's Pizza and The Spot fried mushrooms and cheese (ahh, Wisconsin fried cheese). We are going to the Keno drive-in theater tonight (this could be fun or just too weird - we'll see).

You are probably wondering why we are going in the first place (the pizza is my favorite, but that isn't the main reason). We are going to see my grandma who is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. She doesn't really know who we are, but we visit because it makes her happy to have visitors.

So, we (me and my sister) return to the dreaded Kenosha.

Labor Day Grilling

A few years back, my mother moved in with us for 6 months. This is a long story which I won't get into here, but let it just be said that it was not a pleasant situation. My mother is a compulsive hoarder. After she had moved out (and I use this term loosely, since most of her junk still resided in my pole barn) my sister and I spent a weekend sorting (i.e. throwing most everything out) her 2,500 lbs (literally, the movers weighed it) of junk that was still being stored in the barn. Upon our sorting, we came across this bag [shown below].

Now that I am moving and we spent another weekend sorting through the rest of her stuff and weeding out our own, I ran across the bag again and thought it needed to be shared.

Have a hot dog on me for Labor Day.