okay, okay - missing in action again!

Well, here I am again after another lengthy hiatus from blogdom! Since my last post in JANUARY, not a whole heck of a lot has changed, other than the weather.

At the end of February I discovered Facebook, at the prompting of my daughter. Much to my surprise, the old people seem to be taking over Facebook! I was under the impression that it was just for the young folks, but my daughter assured me there were old people on it, too (-:

My 30 year high school reunion is this summer, so I've rediscovered many, many old friends and we also have a Facebook site dedicated to our reunion. I've been to several planning meetings and have also had a few pre-reunion reunions with girlfriends. It's funny to me that when you first see how your friends have changed you're taking note of all the changes. After hanging out for a weekend of fun and trips down memory lane they all look just like they did in high school.

We've had an absolutely fabulous spring this year, and it was just last week that I finally had to turn on the AC for the first time of the season. The grass is all green (and the weeds, still battling the weeds), the birds are singing all the time and building nests. They're going through the bird seed at a pretty steady clip.

The lillies I planted last year are coming up, and the amaryllis has already bloomed and is just gorgeous. I would love to be surrounded by flowers, 24-7, so I'm planting new things every year and seeing how they fare through the winter.



I can see out my window (door) that the moon is full...maybe I should go howl at it for good measure. I wonder what sort of craziness is going on in the world tonight because of that full moon....

I will make another attempt at getting back to my blogging...no promises...but I will try harder!

Love and hugs to all the moms out there for Mother's Day tomorrow!

And the new year rang in with only four...

A more quiet level of doggie-dom here at the zoo. Marley and Grace went home with Stephanie yesterday. Steph had her tonsils out on Monday the 22nd (after she got back from Jamaica) and has been recovering here at home. Jordan headed to Boston to spend Christmas with his mom, so the house has been full of doggies.

Scooby had to return to his pack at Dobie rescue - had a little incident here that convinced Judy (Dobie Rescue creator) he'd need to stay with her pack of 'incorrigibles'. He snapped at Steph and planted a not so nice nip on Jordan's leg. I was very surprised since he was such a big baby with me and never offered up the least little bit of aggression. Such is the life of rescue dobies - unknown, mostly unfortunate upbringings lead to unpredictable behavior.

So Scooby went back to Judy's place and we now have Jo-Jo staying with us. Her mother was a red doberman who was rescued just a short time before delivering some puppies of unknown paternal lineage - born on March 18, 2008. She was oh, so shy and timid when she first arrived, spending the first night camped at the front door (no doubt in hopes of Judy returning to fetch her). Judy said she's the only one of the litter with such a timid personality. Well that's changed since she arrived. She and Marley became fast friends and picked up where Scooby left off for the wrestling matches and furniture moving.



Since Marley went home Myrtle has decided that Jo-Jo is an acceptable playmate, they have become buddies and spend quite a bit of time playing and chasing each other around the backyard (weather has been wonderful - mid 70's during the day). Cody gets in on the action sometimes, but his deep growl (just play) still seems to intimidate Jo-Jo a bit so things come to a halt when he contributes to play time.

After Steph packed up and left for the apartment, I had a house clean, laundry day and attempted to replace the elements in my water heater (only enough hot water to fill half a tub!). Still working on the element replacment - lower one must have had a leak because it was very corroded and doesn't want to come out. I doused it with WD-40 several times before bed last night, so I'll be heading out to finish that up shortly. I spent New Year's Eve watching movies and relaxing with the critters, and was sound asleep when the clock struck midnight and 2009 was upon us.

Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope 2009 is a wonderful year for all!

New Foster Kid

The house has been overly full of the canine crew this week. Stephanie and Jordan went to Jamaica for a week after finals so I got their dogs, Grace and Marley - that made five. On Wednesday we got another addition, a foster doberman in need of some TLC. He's from a rescue organization, Doberman Pinscher Rescue at North Florida, and since I'm on vacation for the next two weeks I figured I could spend some quality time getting him in acceptable social condition for his 'forever' home. His name is Dillion on the link, but Judy (creator of the rescue org) dubbed him Scooby and it fits him to a T - a big goofy boy. His medical records are all under Dillon, so that's his official rescue name - came from the Atlanta area.

I'm adding their link to my list of 'places to go...' so anyone can visit. There are links to pet retailers who contribute to the organization as well. Lots of homeless dobie's in the world to care for. Scooby has to undergo heartworm treatment. Judy thinks he must have just been tied out to a tree somewhere - he still has some bleached out blonde hair on his otherwise beautiful auburn coat. His ears also sport a few small rips and tears - either from fighting or maybe other puppies chewing on them, and his lower right canine tooth is broken off just above the gumline. He's a handful and will definitely need to go to a home where mom or dad is an Alpha (and no cats - he thinks they'd be good snacks). Calyx, Felix and Bailey are wondering what the heck is going on that they can't be in the house right now. They'll survive in the interim.


Here he is with Marley - a rare moment of stillness - they're usually wrestling, running around the house and moving furniture along the way...

Can't get enough of that face...

What a poser! I just can't resist it!

I'm in bed, test driving some new flannel sheets. I am obsessed with soft fabrics, always have been - sheets, pillow cases, bath towels, kitchen towels... I used to take my own sheets and pillows with me when I went to visit friends or relatives when staying overnight (really! I did!). I've transferred it to both of my kids as well. When they were younger they were known to say things like "Mom, I can't sleep on those sheets - they're too scratchy" when visiting homes that did not cater to 'linen sensualists'. We also had a black hooded rat named Flannel (fla nel' - she was French) who loved the little flannel sleeping bags I made for her. Yes, rats make wonderful pets!

Anyway, these new sheets are heavenly. I have a couple other sets, but these are the best I've ever felt. The color couldn't be more perfectly named - they look exactly like real chamois and are just as soft. They also look like they were custom colored for my quilt.... To truly appreciate them you must have freshly shorn legs (the gals anyway). Might want to give 'em a whirl!

Sammy's new trick

Sammy is the latest kitty in the zoo. Stephanie adopted him as a tiny kitten (stray) and Bailey had to move home because she was very mean to him. Turns out there is Kitty Karma in the world - since she moved home Calyx has taken to stalking her and picking fights with her when they are in close proximity (karma, karma, karma). Bailey loves living at home where she can go outside. She spends hours sitting on the fence observing the squirrels. She was housebound at Steph's apartment because it is on a very busy college campus street.

Anyway, Sammy is yet another black and white kitty who has joined our family zoo. He does well in the apartment setting, having absolutely no inclination to venture outside. He has a new trick - well not really a trick so much as a really useful new habit - he's using the toilet now. Really! He follows Stephanie around from room to room and just decided that he was going to use the potty after she did one morning.

She sent me a text message while I was at work one morning; "MOM! Sammy just peed in the toilet right after I did!". She'd just gotten up, visited the bathroom (for obvious reasons), washed her hands, brushed her teeth, heard a tinkling in the toilet and turned around to see Sammy doing his thing. She praised him heartily and he's using it all the time now. You know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - well YEAH! He seems to be very proud of himself, and likes to watch the flushing as well.

Here he is...






























How's that for a kitty accomplishment? Steph said she thought about teaching him how to flush, but then thought he might enjoy that so much her water bill would more than she could handle (-:

MIA...am back!

Well heavens, hard to believe I've been a blog slacker since APRIL! I returned to work at my old office at the end of May, and have been wrapped up in getting back into the work routine - and Hurricane Gustav. I returned to work as an underwriter, but knew I'd get 'drafted' into claims if we had a storm hit and Gustav and Ike spoiled my nice quiet life in underwriting.

Summer FLEW by and Gustav smacked into Louisiana on September 1st, so I've been a claims examiner since then. This should be my last week with claims, next week is a full week of vacation and TURKEY! Yummmmmmmmm.

Veteran's Day was a trip to the beach (St. George Island) for Stephanie and me; my dad's 75th birthday...folks were at the beach for the week and we ventured down to help celebrate the b-day. It was very windy, but fairly warm. We went into Apalachicola and had lunch at The Owl Cafe. Yummy food and great company with my mom & dad (am very lucky to still have two awesome parents to hang with!).

After lunch my mom and I headed for Riverlily for some quick shopping while my dad and Stephanie walked along the water looking for good photo opportunities. Stephanie is a great photographer - has that artsy eye. I'll have to get her to send me some of her pictures so I can use them to fill up blog space!

I did manage to click a couple of decent shots as the sun was going down and the moon was coming up (2 days before the full moon).








Moon over Palm Tree











Mystery People on Beach















That was my best day since starting the claims madness - Louisiana people are nuts, by the way. I will be very glad to get back to my agents...(mostly semi-sane folks). Here's a shot of the pile of adding machine tape under my desk....















Doesn't look quite as impressive as it does in person - nearly a whole roll. My co-workers keep asking me why I don't throw it away. I just tell them that I'm saving it - packing material - for when they have to box me up and send me to the State mental hospital!

Not much else going on - oh, did have a kitchen countertop debacle - will report on that later, with photos of course. Other than that it's just been work, work, work. My relaxation is spending evenings with my critters and some TV or a movie.






Bailey in her favorite position.

Myrtle, up close and personal (gotta work on the 'green eye')

Off to visit The Sand Man now. I promise not to be MIA for seven months again!

Spring Colors and The Battle of The Bugs

I've brightened up the master bedroom a bit with a colorful quilt...neat bargain find from Overstock - already looks vintage and well loved. Now we're colorful inside and out.

Myrtle likes it...

Today was another beautiful day. The weather was cloudy in the morning, but sunny and warm (79) in the afternoon. I sat in the driveway in an attempt to get close enough to Shade (one of the feral kitties I trapped as a kitten years ago...) to apply some Advantage between her shoulder blades. I have no hope of getting that close to her brother, Oscar, anymore; he's reverted back to his feral ways and I only catch an occasional glimpse of him at night when he comes into the garage to eat.

As I was biding my time, I watched some ants excavating dirt from a crack in the driveway - gotta wonder what they're building under there. I believe they were Florida carpenter ants, but I'm not an ant expert so they could be another variety.

I enjoyed watching them, noticing that they appear to have similar tendencies to human workers in their approach to their jobs. They were all the same size (~1/4"). Some carried a relatively large glob of dirt, while others appeared to carry only a single grain.

The ones with the large globs carried them 6-7" away from the crack and moved very quickly along the way to and from the crack. They were the 'happy worker ants', which appear to be thinking happy ant thoughts like "Whoo hoo! Gotta get this glob of dirt WAY far away from the crack and hurry back to get another glob! Whoo hoo! I love my job!"

Then there were the 'slacker ants'. They're the ones carrying no more than one grain of dirt at a time, and they don't even bother to come all the way out of the crack - they just poke their heads out of the top and dump their little load right there at the opening. They move much more slowly than the 'happy worker ants' and appear to be thinking things like "Good god, how much longer do I have to haul this stupid dirt out of this crack, I hate this job." Such is ant life.

Shade's curiosity got the better of her and she came over to see what I was watching, since it wasn't her anymore. I got in a quick petting session and then snuck the Advantage on her while she was watching Tigger lounging in the grass. All the critters, except for Oscar, got their first dose of flea poison (I've tried all the 'natural' stuff and it DOESN'T WORK) for the season. Let the bugs begin...