What The Muck?

One of natures cruelest aging things to happen has to be the freakin' skin tag. What a hideous nasty looking thing that reminds me of a witch.

Guess who has found one on her delicate aging body?

How gross! I am gonna research how to remove this thing before it grows into a new limb.

I was trying to "embrace" growing old gracefully but, this I did not expect!

What the Muck?

Riley Girl

Riley Girl, also known as Riley Ann, Riley Gonzalez, Big Boned Girl, Sausage, & CHORIZO is our eight year old Bleu Tick Coonhound. She is an amazing "little" family member that we rescued from the Pound when she was 5 weeks old.

Unfortunately, she contacted Parvo. Fortunately, she had this family that was madly in love with her and forked out a thousand dollars plus to save her life. We then spoiled this big baby for the next several years.

Hounds are an interesting breed. They HOWL. When they smell something, see something, or want something. It is really loud, and funny to most. Embarrassing to us at times.

She is lazy. Her breed tends to nap alot.

She also is extremely strong. She can drag you and when she wants something she can and will do whatever it takes to get.

Riley is also a bit overweight. She should not weigh more than 75 pounds. Currently Riley is "down" to 112. (She likes to snack with Sergio!)

Last week I took her for her yearly check-up, shots, and grooming (she needed a pedicure big time!).

I have the worlds best Vet. I have been going to him since I adopted Inky back in 1974, so uhm, what, like 35 years. (OMGosh). I know this guy and after all these years can read him like a book. When I pointed out a concern about a swollen gland in her neck, I immediately got that feeling that he did not like what he was finding. She has a mass nearly the size of a tennis ball pushing on her voice box. Not a good thing. Samples were drawn and lab work waited on.

Riley will be going into surgery on October 15th to remove this Canine Thyroid Tumor that we are not sure yet if it is cancerous (it appears to be). Regardless to the cancer, it must be removed.

Obviously we are nervous about her upcoming surgery as well as what will be revealed.

It is also a costly surgery and she may require trips to Purdue for Radiation. I have a wonderful husband that loves this old dog as much as I. We will make it happen. My girls also love her dearly. She is actually Annie's dog.

So, Riley, you are our Christmas! And then some. But, it is always something. By now, I have learned, you take what you get, and make the best of it.

So chin up. Riley is happy. She has even been spotted PLAYING with the other dogs and, RUNNING (this is huge!). So, there is that chance that it is removed easily with no major hic-cups and no cancer!

However~ All my Dog Lovers out there~ Pray for our Big Boned Girl!

24 Trees part II

Okay~
I got a few request for pictures of my backyard trees. The color isn't here yet (come mid-October it should be gorgeous!) Anyway, here are some I took today. It was chilly day and the sun started peaking in later this afternoon. And if you look closely, you will see a dog or two or three!:)

Lucky Man

My Husband is a Lucky Man.
For alot of reasons, after all, he is married to me (Ha Ha! Couldn't resist!).
Good things come his way, although he may argue that. He hasn't felt that lucky lately. Lots of things~ he's getting old (51,big deal), the job (okay, I do agree, this has been a very stressful couple of years with the International UAW), family (not me & the girls, so much as his oldies & Sib's), finances (he had planned on retiring @ 50, working so much over the years, but the economy hit us too with investment hell, and college expenses rising as well). I could go on, but you get the gist. He does see the overall picture and is grateful for his Blessings.

Now, let me tell you a little story about how lucky he is to be alive today after a manly "fix-it" moment.

We bought a new washer & dryer for the new house. YEAH!! We officially moved in on September 11th. Sergio realized we needed to get an adapter for the electric dryer. The new ones have a four prong plug, and our laundry room is equipped for the older three prongs.

I suggested he hire an electrician. How silly of me! He can do it himself! After all he is a man, aren't they born with the knowledge of this stuff? Why hire a licensed Electrician that went to school for this?

Sergio, has been really busy with work, let alone moving us in. Again, lets just hire someone to do this little electric work so I can have a working dryer? So, Sergio finally finds some spare time to do this quick little fix it (he needed me to do laundry as we was going out of town in the morning). So he gets busy.

Forgot one major detail.... Cut of the power when doing electrical work. He was holding this cord, getting ready to connect it to the dryer. Wanting to make sure it was the correct fit for the wall socket with it's four prongs, Sergio plugged it into the socket, holding both ends of this cord, not grounded, and into a live socket.

ZAP!!!

Thank God he had rubber soles on his tennis shoes! It threw him to the other side of the room, killed his watch, and damn near electrocuted him. Sorry Honey, but Dumb-Ass! Even I would not have done that. Hence I would have hired an educated licensed Electrician.

Now we have blown the fuse and burned out the socket and am waiting for an electrician to come fix his "fix-it".

Lucky me goes on fun field trips to the laundromat. (Strange place with interesting people).

Lucky me, my Hubby is alright. A little fried, but alright.

Lucky him, to be alive.

24 Trees

One of the lovely amenities that I fell in love with at our new home, is the trees.

I have twenty trees in the back yard, and four in the front. The twenty in the back have me smitten. There are Seven Pines, Four Fruit Trees, and Nine Leafy Trees. They are fabulous! I love the breeze they give. I love the shade they give. I love that they house so many birds and critters.

Because we do not have a fence (yet), I have to walk the dogs a dozen or so times a day. I am getting quite good at handling three leashes at once. The dogs are starting to understand this does not mean...leash? WALK!!. It now means...leash? potty-time! We walk all over the yard. Certain areas have become favorite..uhm.. spots.. for each dog. We are very grateful that the big trees shield us from the rain when it is time to go out. One of my Big Puppies, not mentioning names, but one fellow, is becoming a bit of a frady-cat when we go outside in the dark, and the wind whistles through the trees. This certain little guy is bugging out and I am trying to get him to realize, the trees are our friend! Would be easier if the birds wouldn't creep us out swooping out when we walk under them.

Autumn is on it's way. We Hoosiers may complain about the changing Indiana weather, but we are so very proud of the colors our trees turn during the Autumn. My backyard I hope will be a lovely splash of color!

I promise to post pictures soon.

Ahh! To Breathe Again

The is something to be said about, "Home Sweet Home". I love this home. Feels like home. I am comfortable. I am happy. I am even sleeping!

The funny thing about this house is it was on the market for over a year! We had chosen not to look in this neighborhood because of the strict covenants. Also, our "list" had certain amenities that we tried to meet. This fell short of the list on paper. Finally after looking at over a hundred homes (yeah, crazy! At least I could look without another agent, since I still have a Real Estate license, I never worked with a client that made me show this many, and ALL OVER THE MAP!). Anyway, I finally told Sergio, after countless homes that were not fitting, lets just take a look. I knew the work of the investor that had bought this property, and although, working with him could be ...difficult, I knew he did beautiful work pulling a foreclosed home back to its beauty and stature.

Luckily for us, his Realtor, did not do this home justice. He failed to mention it had two masters and a perfect "In-Laws' suite. He failed to mention all the fabulous features and the beauty this home held. It is now understandable why the agent and seller were at bad terms in the closing. We got a great deal on this home.

For we feel in love at first sight.

This house is build just right for us. It is the kind of home we have always wanted, and hope to keep till we die. Plenty of room for guest, plenty of room, need one of our oldies or daughters later need a place to share.

I am feverishly laboring away. Putting my stamp on the home. Finding places for everything. Still looking for some "lost" items from the move.

We have a few issues that need to be dealt with. Nothing we can not handle. Some good blogging on this later. It has been a Hell of a couple of weeks!

For now, it's good to be home.

Because once again, "There is no place like Home!"

Much to Catch Up!

I have so much to get caught up, but do not have time yet... I am on a lunch break so I must be brief.

Bare with me and I will fill in details.

I am sooooo happy at our new home. The pets are adjusting well. The unpacking is coming along (where did all this stuff come from? And where is my such & such?)

Many random thoughts as well as some updates on my so called interesting journey.

I am happy. It is a good feeling.

I am not drama free, but, learning to take things with a grain of salt.

More to come...

MOVING!!!!!!!!!

Finally closed on the new house!
I am running around trying to get everything moved and making the utility calls. Such fun stuff! My internet is already down at the old house so I will be out of commission a bit. I am most upset about getting behind on reading up on my favorite Blogs.
Anyway...
I am so excited.
I am so tired.
I am so giddy!

I promise to get caught up soon.

It's A Wonderful Life

I have had a crappy week.
My allergies are in full force. I have a horrible cold or flu or something mean, that is causing me much grief. I am sweating and freezing at the same time. My head is like a balloon. Sergio is afraid to sleep in the same room with me (sorry Baby, you WILL catch this anyway. Too late!)
I know I will feel better soon. This will pass...
I have had some finance crisis that has had me in a frenzy. My job had me stressed too.
I have that settled now.
Our closing on the new house was suppose to take place a week ago. We finally got a Clear To Close on Thursday morning. But the jerky seller is being an ass, and although he knew we had movers planned for this perfect, extended weekend to close, decided to make us wait till Tuesday. So we have lost four days that neither of us had to work, plus the girls were planning to come home to help, just because the seller wanted to be a jerk. After the closing, Sergio has to go out of town on Tuesday so, it is going to be a slow difficult move alittle each day move now.
BUT...
I am okay with it.
As my daughter reminded me, worrying about it or getting angry, won't change things. It is, what it is. I have always said this and now it is time for me to take some of my own advice.

I had a funeral to go to earlier this week. Betty, a lovely woman that was the assistant leader in my Camp Fire Troop. She was 86. I felt so bad that I had lost touch. I had not seen her in years. Occasional run into her daughter, my childhood friend, and would catch up, but we rarely saw each other. Before the funeral I met up with three other Camp Fire Sisters and we got caught up before arriving at the funeral home. We then gathered with our friend that lost her Mom and promised each other we would keep in touch better. No more only seeing each other at times like these. We have a get together planned already. Betty, will be so proud to know she has brought us back together.
Some good from a sad situation.

I have so much to be grateful for.
God has truly Blessed my life.
Sometimes we (I) get so caught up in the things that drag me down, that I forget to look at the big picture. All the wonderful things in my life. I have such an exciting future that is only going to get better. Good things are happening. So a few things do not go according to MY plan. Am I forgetting this is all a part of HIS plan for me? I need to remember to truly give all my worries, my fears, my anxieties, and my joys to God. Then, and only then, can I enjoy what I have.
ps.. Thank you Mary for reminding me of this.
Mine is a WONDERFUL life.

Blankie to the Rescue

One evening, when Emily was a tiny baby, she was a bit fussy while I was folding clothes. I knew she was tired, but I couldn't put her down just yet. I tossed my sleep shirt on her as it was warm, soft and she always loved rubbing her face on it when I wore it and held her. She giggled and sighed. Then, she would not let it go...

My favorite Victoria Secret silky sleep shirt had become her Pink Blankie.

Blankie went everywhere with her. She loved her Blankie.

Then one day, her Baby sister Annie, was born. Pretty much the day after Annie came home, I found Emily in my jammie drawer.

ME: "Whatcha doing, Pumpkin?"

EM "Wookin for a BLANKIE!"

ME: "Well Sweetie, what's wrong with your Blankie?"

EM: "No! Not MY BLANKIE! Pooh needs Blankie!"

ME: "Oh but Sweetheart, remember we bought her that pretty Baby Blankie? That is Pooh's".

EM: "No! Pooh wants one like mine.. HERE GO! I find one! He He!"

ME: "Oh, Are you SURE Pooh wants that one?" (as I eye my new VS silky replacement sleep shirt).

EM: "YES!"

I cut the buttons off, Emily tucked Annie into Sleep shirt turned Blankie, AND SO begin the love of Annie's Blankie. Just like her Sissy, but with tiny flowers on it.

Annie took it everywhere. Annie loved her Blankie too.

My Girls kept their blankies forever. As they grew up their Blankies changed jobs. They went on less frequent daily trips but continued to be their with them to comfort at bedtime. The Blankies stowed away inside their pillow cases to sleepovers. A reach inside the pillow, gave assurance and comfort.

I am not positive where Emily's is today. I am sure she knows where it is. Maybe tucked in her dresser drawer, disguised as an old sleep shirt.

Annie's, I can tell you exactly where it is.
On her last night here, she was packed and ready to move off to College. That evening, she feared of a bug in the room. I woke her in the morning, finding her asleep with Blankie covering her face, protecting her from that awful bug! The Blankie still has her scent on it. I have it tucked under my pillow, where I can reach it, and be comforted. The soft feel, reminds me of the comfort they brought the girls and now I am being comforted.
Once again, Blankie to the rescue.

Freakin' Hillbilly Idiots

Please tell me only in Indiana are parents this stupid!

I am sure that this father loves his child. I often see my neighbor playing ball with his children in this yard. But, unfortunately, I also see this.

I am sure he means well. This child is spending time with Daddy, "helping with chores". I pray that they will go unscathed. Unlike the countless of stupid needless accidents where a child is harmed, and even killed, in mowing accidents.

Stupid Stupid Stupid!