Off to Michigan

The truck is packed and we're almost ready to leave for a week in Michigan.

Dave Update

Dave should be arriving home tomorrow afternoon!

Sit, Stay, Heal

I know any dog with a cone on it's head looks pretty sad. But a basset hound with that woebegone face and big liquid eyes, it's just pathetic. Poor old Rufus. I can hardly look at him.

It's stupid really, he got a fly bite on his nose over Memorial weekend. It bled a bit, and scabbed over. Not a big deal. But since then, every time it scabs over and starts to heal, it must itch because he scratches it open again. So now that little fly bite is turning into a big scar on his nose. I finally decided to resort to the cone. Too bad I couldn't talk him into a band-aid.

Turn it Around

I was driving home today in a sour mood with a couple of things on my mind that I was planning to blog about. But I don't want to focus on them now. I was going to write about being hurt and frustrated.

I want to turn it around.

Instead, I want to tell you about meeting Rebecca P, who came into Too today to promote the movie "Scrapped". She was very fun and I enjoyed meeting her. You know how there are just some people that you meet, and there is something about them, something in their energy, and you know they're a good soul? She was like that.

I want to tell you about my mom, and not about the teeny little annoyances that get under my skin just like any mother and daughter. I want to tell you that even though she is amazing and loving and strong, she isn't feeling very strong right now, and she needs a lot of prayer.

I love you, Mom.

Still waiting

Dave was supposed to start his trip home today, but the planes are grounded due to sandstorms. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday he will be able to leave. I think he's disappointed, to me it's not as much of a big deal. He'll get here when he can.

Not in the mood....

i just haven't been in the blogging mood this week. Today it's gloomy and overcast, and I'm really looking forward to a good hard summer storm. The sky looks tense and waiting. I feel tense too; all the emotional turbulence is right on the horizon.

A Good Day

Today I had a "work picnic" at my house. It actually wasn't so much of a picnic, since it was 100 degrees outside. We pretty much stayed inside except to put some food on the grill. Twelve people came, which was an ok turnout considering the weather and that I live a million miles south of civilization. Afterward, I watched "Walk the Line" and then did the post-party clean up. I'm going to read for a while and then go to bed early tonight. This week I work Sunday, and Wednesday through Saturday at Too; and Monday through Friday at Aetna. But then- THEN-- I have two marvelous weeks of vacation WITH MY HUSBAND. It's pretty great.

Truckin'

I've been working on putting the pictures I get from Dave (and Tom, and the internet, etc) into a book. Here are the pages that I did this afternoon. These are some of the military vehicles. The one on the right is the one Dave rode in, and the guys are the ones that drove the truck, navigated, and manned the guns.
As I was working on the page, the word "truckin" popped into my head, immediately to be followed by the Greatful Dead song of the same name.

What a long, strange trip it still is.

8 Days!

The Twin Cities 3-Day

In six weeks, my mom, my roommate Karlene and I will be walking in the Twin Cities 3-Day, benefitting the Susan G. Komen foundation and breast cancer research. I haven't really mentioned that on the old blog yet. My mom and I walked last year, and walking 60 miles in 3 days was very challenging, but also rewarding. The people we met were incredible. I train when I can, but finding the time to walk 10-15 miles both Saturday and Sunday is also a challenge. Still, even if we only walk 2 miles to the first pit stop, keel over, and then have to be bussed to the finish, we will have raised $2200 each for breast cancer research.
My Fundraising Page

Mmm Fish!

Karlene came home from her parents' lake land with 4 big sunfish. She had borrowed my fishing pole and apparently she had good luck! So we looked at these fish, and thought, hmm, neither of us really know exactly what to do, but we'll give it a shot. First, we learned that it's better to scale fish outside than in the kitchen. A phone call to my mom confirmed that. But we got that lesson cleaned up and I cleaned the last two outside. We fried two of them in flour and butter and they were fabulous! The other two are going into the freezer. Karlene said I can save them until Dave comes home, if he would like to eat them.

Two weeks!

Countin' down the days

I've got plenty of things to look forward to in the next weeks coming up. Next Saturday, I'm having some of the people I work with over for a picnic, and I'm looking forward to that. Then, about a week or so after that, Dave will be coming home, and we'll have two weeks to spend time together, visit friends and do a little traveling. And sometime during that time, we're anticipating the arrival of a new niece.

I've experienced one small hiccup in my love affair with weeding. The weeds are fighting back. I worked outside for about an hour, and within minutes of coming in, I had an allergic rash all over my arms and legs. From broadleaf, for heavens sake. Time to take a bath and a benadryl.

Poor old Man!

Last night I went out for dinner with Tom and his kids, Kat & Tommy. At the restaurant, the waitress looked at Kat and I and said "Oh, you two look so much alike, you're related, aren't you?.. Are you sisters, or mother and daughter?" I told her we were sisters. When she walked away, we all had a good laugh. Then we turned to Tom and said, "so, Dad..."

Picture from Dave

Dave sent me a couple of pictures, and I liked this picture of a bomb-sniffing dog that works at a checkpoint in Iraq. He's an honorary Staff Sergeant in the Navy.

I'd rather be... weeding?

Ok, back to work. But I'd rather be out in my yard, yanking weeds out of the landscape rock. It's like a jungle, because I decided to ignore them up until now. Karlene and I sprayed and weeded the front, but the side and back were pretty bad. This weekend, I decided to attack them with temerity. And I rather enjoy it. My Aunt Sandy said she likes weeding to take out her frustrations. She's pretty smart. It feels pretty good to yank them out.

My other project this weekend has been to make a sample book of all of my die cut alphabets. Now with the addition of Quickutz to my repertoire, I thought it would be helpful. I'm so impressed with my Ellison Big Shot. If I was doing this project one letter at a time, I never would have done it. But now that I can do 6 dies and two colors at once, BAM, that's pretty cool. (I did find I get better results using a shim when I use multiple dies)

I'm loving weeding, Minda's a biking fool... What a world, what a world.

On the Eve of a Holiday

July fourth just isn't the same when you have to work the day before and the day after. I've been thinking recently about the family camp I used to go to at Camp Shamineau when I was a kid. The summers were so long then.
Today after work (at the real job) I ran a couple errands, and then I made curtains for the front door sidelights, and mounted a flag bracket on the house. The curtains turned out very well, the flag I have to get used to. After that, I gave both of my dogs baths, and watched a movie.

I have no idea what is in store for tomorrow. I should clean the garage or the storage room, I suppose. Something productive. I'm greatful for the day to get things done, but at the same time, it's pretty lonely. Holidays - any holidays - are hard.

The Self-Sufficient Studette

I like it when I accomplish something outside of my comfort zone, even if it seems like a minor task.
Task: Dispose of Dead Lawnmower
Hurdle 1. Call garbage company and ask if they take dead lawnmowers.
They do! For a $15 charge, they will pick it up on trash day. Well, that was easy, I wonder why I put that off for so long.
Hurdle 2. Drain gas & oil.
Camping, gardening, bugs; dog messes, baby spew, no problem. I can handle it. Engines? Ick. I don't want to touch oily, greasy, dirty, stinky engines. But I did it. I flipped 'er over and got her draining into a pan.
Hurdle 3. My hands smell like gasoline.
I've washed them three times with strong kitchen soap. HELP!