Wordless Wednesday

I don't know who to credit this photo to - I think it is amazing!

Battle of the "Grand-dogs"

This is my all-time favorite "Grand-dog," Otis, a Siberian Huskey. I have a better photo I'll post at a later date - he has his summer coat here and isn't in his full glory!

Otis talked a lot. He verbalized at you when you'd speak to him, you know - the wow-row, roar, roar, row, row - kind of dog-speak. (Okay, I flunked dog-speak, but you get the point.) He loved to run, especially when the kids would leave the front door open. After all, he was a sled dog! I was there a couple of times when he bolted so I got in my car, located him and tried to lure him into the car. Hah! He'd let me get within a couple of inches and bam! Off he'd go! Nothing is more frustrating than to track a dog who doesn't want to be caught! He'd finally give in (it was a game, after all) and one of us would lead him back home.

He was basically our son-in-law, Doug's dog. Those of you who have been with me for awhile, know that Doug passed away a couple of years ago. If you're new here, check out some of my very first posts...Suffice it to say, it was an unexpected and very painful death for all of us. Otis knew something was wrong. Dogs intuit things like that. They feel pain and sorrow just as we do, and they mourn the loss of a faithful master.

Two months after Doug's death, I received a phone call at work from my daughter. She was bereft and could hardly speak through sobs. I caught the words, "I'm at the vets," and something about "Otis has to be put down." I told her to hang on - I'd be right there. I quickly filled in my boss and took off.

Sure enough, Otis was in congestive heart failure. I couldn't believe it! The doctor informed her that he was in terrific pain and had to be euthanized. My heart sunk as I took one look at her face, at eyes that had been through so much pain and knew this was going to be tough. We took a moment to caress that sweet dog and tell him how very much we loved him and then the needle did it's job. We spent a few minutes with him - both of us were sobbing into his fur. I had missed so much work already I had to get back to the office but we stood by my car, clinging to one another, wondering why, of all times, did this have to happen! The boys had just lost their dad and now we had to tell them their dog was gone. You know, there are times in this life when I just want to quit. Enough with the pain...make it stop, especially when it's happening to your child! But you have to keep going and so you do what needs to be done.

I didn't intend for this post to become so morbid and sad. I guess I hadn't quite worked this out of my system. I may never...but I do know that I will always love dogs. I will always have a dog in my life and treasure each sloppy kiss and lick, regardless of the pain when the time comes to love them off into endless sleep.

I Couldn't Help Myself...

I'm sorry but this was too funny to pass up. For all of you Seinfeld fans, here's one for the Soup Nazi!

Manic Monday - Red

Having grown up in the middle of the "Cold War," tripping over the supply of bottled water and canned goods on our back porch that were kept on hand just in case we were attacked by the Russians, the slogan "Better Dead Than Red" comes to my mind. The message here is that one would be better off dead than alive under Russian rule.

I still can't hear an air raid siren without quaking a bit. We lived in constant fear that the dreaded "Rooskies" would be bombarding the beaches and sky. One of the best movies of that time was "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming!" Alan Arkin stars and you will be delighted at the humor to be found in this very serious subject!

Memorial Day is Not Just a Sale at Sears...

Memorial Day is a day dedicated to the memory of those serving in all branches of our armed forces who have given their lives preserving our liberties and freedom. It goes without saying that without the sacrifice of these true heroes, we might not have the freedom to express our opinions, worship where we wish, or even have the opportunity to become a part of the political process.

I love my country dearly and I treasure the memory of the men and women of our armed forces. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

It Lives...

I'M BA-CK!!! This photo depicts my mood over the last several days! AT&T could not establish service into our house because we had the "old" AT&T lines, not the "new" AT&T! Both of them stink, big time! It took over a week for us to finally get a telephone...I love big utilities (NOT!).

Yes, we're in, finally, surrounded by stacks of boxes. It reminds me of the house in New York where those two eccentric brothers lived. They had stacks of boxes and piles of newspapers and junk piled everywhere. Finally, one of them was trapped underneath an avalanche of stuff and the other brother couldn't get out. Indeed, a nightmare! Someone stop me if I ever threaten to do this again, please!

I am now in the process of preparing more boxes for the Salvation Army because if I can't store it, it's gone. No room at the inn, so to speak. Books and art stuff seem to be my downfall. Must seek therapy...oh, wait - that won't work! I'm already getting therapy. Start drinking more...no, can't do that. I don't drink. O-k-a-y then. Stop reading and collecting art stuff. There we go! Solution at hand!!! (Hah!)

I'm going to be spending the next few days touring and catching up. Please bear with me!
Love to all!

Final Stages

This is the last couple of days before we actually head off to the new digs. Lots of last minute preparations, packing, surprises, headaches. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post at all in the next few days and I won't have connectivity until Monday (hopefully!). I'm really sorry I haven't been able to keep up with you all individually - I'm anxious to get back into my routine!

Moving can be an all-emcompassing monster, devouring all in it's path.

Wordless Wednesday

A Moment of Grace...

During all the hectic moments of the weekend, I went out to grab the hose for a quick watering and spotted this beautiful fellow. Even in the midst of chaos comes a bit of grace!

Manic Monday - Green

I'm not a believer of "Little Green Men," but I decided to go for fun for this Monday's post since I figured all of the rest would be for beautiful photos of green places or green as it relates to global warming. I think my garage sale also had something to do with it...maybe they do exist?

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

AAlthough this is not a photo of my mother, it is of a woman in 1947, the year I was born, so it reprresents her well. I miss her everyday.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU!

The Yard Sale Free-for-all!

My newspaper ad read, "Friday - 8:00 am." HA! My hubman heard people outside talking at 6:30! My daughter got here at 7:00 and had to work her way through the crowd to get to the front door. There were at least 20 of them!

We unloaded the tables from the back of her truck and started setting them up. These are the heavy long tables from church, not card tables. My daughter is very small but she's ripped from working out. I'm very middle aged and NOT ripped. These men stood there and watched us cart one table after the other, five in all, without offering to help - but all the time asking, "How much longer???" Oh, I had a few answers for them, all right! My hubman opens the garage door so we can start bringing out things and, "Gangway!" These bunch of nitwits charges right smack dab into our garage and starts tearing open boxes! I've never in my life seen anything to equal it!!!

My hubman hollered for them to back out of the garage, that they are not going to be rummaging through our belongings but to wait until we have things setup. They didn't like that at all and started grumbling. I felt like crowd control at a middle aged garage sale fiasco! Hubman had to leave for work (poor planning on our part) leaving only the two of us left to manage this wild bunch. While we frantically pulled stuff out they were still managing to sneak back in so I finally hit the garage door button to get their attention and hollered out, "Look, this is our stuff and it's NOT for sale! The garage sale items are over here. Please stay over here and out of our things!

One man had a pile of things he'd collected and while he kept looking, a woman started sneaking things out of his pile when he caught her. They stood and screamed curses at one another! Such drama - no one had anticipated this! One jackass, with an armload of stuff asked me how much I'd take for my daughter. I actually got in his face and told him either pay up or leave. Sheesh!

By this time, my grandsons showed up (better them than the police...) and helped us out. Even though it was a school day, mom called them and had them earn extra credit battling yard sale divas. We found out that most of these people actually knew each other and are vendors here in town. I just wish I knew where...Nasty people. I'd hate to support them!

The good news is that Saturday the weather was much cooler and the people were much nicer!(Sgt. Dub - I wore your tee-shirt & got to share your story with lots of folks, so now you've got to run for office!); we did sell a lot of things and made enough money for it to be worth it. The Salvation Army is coming to pick-up the rejects (most of my unfinished wood "projects" and some furniture).

After resting Sunday, and letting the spine realign, this next week will be spent actually packing up the inside. Unfortunately, our move-in date has been set back to Sunday. Again, I thank you for you good wishes, prayers and the knowledge that at one time or another, we've all been there, done that - some more than others~THANK YOU!!!

Wordless Wednesday...