Sanity is a Distant Memory

Last April we lost our dog, Austin, of 13 years. He was a very sweet and lovable companion and friend. We had gotten Belle, our Bernese Mountain Dog, about three weeks before we lost Austin. We had hoped that she would provide some companionship to Austin, but it was not meant to be.

In the last couple months we have traveled and left Belle at Camp Bow Wow and she has loved it. She plays and plays and collapses when she comes home. She also pouts. If you have ever seen a Berner pout, it's almost as bad a watching DD pout!!

I had my mind set on getting Belle a friend. My friend had a litter of German Shepards. They were bred from dogs from Germany so didn't have the traits or look of the American bred German Shepards, which I prefer. DH was set against getting another animal. So we missed the litter and they went to other, well deserving homes.

When we got our new carpet (picts to follow) Belle attended Camp Bow Wow and played non-stop for 3 days. Bob then decided that I might be right in stating that Belle needed a buddy. So we went on our search for a puppy. We looked at the paper and found several that we thought would be a good fit.

Meet Gretta, our Great Dane puppy.......

She is currently 7 weeks old and weighs 15 pounds.

She is very cute and loves her daddy.

These are her parents. Harley, her mom, is on the right and Hogan, her daddy, is on the left. I think the little fuzzball is Gretta.

They are very sweet and seem to be great dogs. We are very excited to add her to our family. DD thinks that Gretta is HER baby and doesn't want anyone else to be around her. DS is overjoyed that he has another playmate. Belle is not sure what to think. She's too small to really play, but she seems like a dog. Mom is happy that she got her way, again.....

So, in addition to the lion that is a tiger and the sloth that is a bear, we now have a horse that is a dog. (See previous blog for explanation!)

Did I mention that we just got new carpet?!?!?!?

Sloth vs. Bear

Lindsey went on an outing to spend the morning with Martha and was "packing" for her visit. (Keep in mind, she was there 3 hours - what can a six year old pack?) Anyway, she told me she wanted to take her "little lion" and her "cloth".

There are two problems with this request:
1.) Her "little lion" is a tiger. I knew this so it didn't cause too much stress, as she was putting it in her bag.
2.) What on earth was this "cloth" she was talking about?!?!? The following conversation ensued.

DD: I need to take my "cloth".
Me: What cloth?
DD: My "cloth".
Me: Just repeating yourself is not helping. What are you talking about.
DD: (As indignantly as possible) You know! The one with the three toes.
Me: Still not sure what you are talking about.
DD: I'll go get it and show you.
Me: Okay........(I have to wait approximately 30 seconds, apparently, it was in the next room - couldn't she have brought it with her to begin with?)
DD: See it only has three toes.
Me: It's a bear.
DD: No, it's a "cloth".
Me: No, it's a bear and you mean sloth.
DD: That's what I said a sloth.
Me: No, you said cloth not sl-oth.
DD: Whatever!!!
Me: It's still a bear.
DD: A sloth IS a type of bear!!!

At this point, I gave up because apparently we have "little lion" that is a tiger and a "sloth" that is a bear!

Now, having never actually seen a picture of a sloth, I'm a little creeped out with this one! It was the least creepy one of the lot. The only sloth I have been associated with (maybe associated isn't the right word) is the one from Ice Age (his name escapes me!). I'm not sure I would ever actually want to see one up close and personal.

For those of you who are dying to know, sloths are NOT related to bears, they are in the same Order as the Anteater. Thank you Wikipedia!!

Also, apparently lions and sloths don't get along, because I had to watch them for a couple minutes while DD went upstairs, because "they get in trouble when they are left alone". Who knew!?!?

Daughters of the American Revolution

I think most of you know that I am in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). DAR is defined by Wikipedia as: a lineage-based membership organization of women dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, and patriotism. DAR chapters are involved in raising funds for local scholarships and educational awards, preserving historical properties and artifacts and promoting patriotism within their communities.

I have been in DAR 19 years and it is a great experience. Most of my experience has been being a Page. It's similar to a Page in Congress. We dress in white, so the ladies can find us easily, and we run errands, carry flags, and the like. We basically run our backsides off. But have fun doing it.

This weekend I was at our State Conference Saturday and Sunday. Here are some horrible pictures my mother took. Now I know why I hate white!

Yeah, that's me on the left.

No, no, that's me on the left here. I'm sorry, that was one of the CAR (Children of the American Revolution) girls. If only!!

Me and Mom



Some members from our chapter.

This is what I have been doing instead of putting our house back together after our new carpet. The procrastination is running rampant in our house, but it's coming together slowly.

The Joys of New Carpet

We had a brilliant idea of getting carpet during track-off. Little did we know!

We looked and looked and had various problems with installers and the like. We then went with the company that put the carpet in our basement. They are very easy to deal with and we had a great guy help us.

As we were determining what we were going to carpet, my husband had the brilliant idea of doing the entire house. Now, any of you that have seen my house knows how much stuff (and I use the term loosely) we have. Imagine, eleven years in the same house, two cats, two dogs, and two kids later we have accumulated lots and lots of stuff. I cringed every time he said something like, "Since we're doing it, we may as well do the whole thing.". So I relented.

We also decided to get the house painted. We were in dire need and needed some color in our lives.

So with three weeks and much purging we have the house painted and are getting new carpet on Thursday. Of course, I don't have before pictures, but will post new ones when everything is put back in place.

These are the reasons I have been absent from the blogging scene.

Laugh Lines!!

I am not one to read the newspaper as it just depresses me. I do, on occasion, pick up the "Tidbits" paper of various cities in the area. I found an article from the March issue that stuck my funny bone.

These are excerpts from students' exams....

• The future of "I give" is "I take".
• The parts of speech are lungs and air.
• The inhabitants of Moscow are called Mosquitoes.
• A census taker is a man who goes from house to house increasing the population.
• Water is composed of two gins. Oxygin and hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin and Hydrogin is gin and water.
• (Define H2O and CO3.) H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold water.
• The general direction of the Alps is straight up.
• Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris.
• The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 opossums.
• The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top and you sit on th bottom.
• One of the main causes of dust is janitors.
• One by-product of raising cattle is calves.
• To prevent head colds, use an agonizer to spray into the nose until it drips into the throat.
• The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard, and vinegar.
• Geometry teaches us to bisex angles.
• The climate is hottest next to the Creator.
• Oliver Cromwell had a large red nose, but under it were deeply religious feelings.
• The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.
• Syntax is all the money collected at the church from sinners.
• The blood circulates through the body by flowing down one leg and up the other.
• In spring, the salmon swim upstream to spoon.
• Iron was discovered because someone smelt it.
• A person should take a bath once in the summer, not so often in the winter.
• The process of turning steam back into water again is called conversation.
• A magnet is something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
• The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects.
• Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes, and caterpillars.
• The dodo is a bird that is almost decent by now.

Wordless Wednesday - Whistler

Make a photobook - it's easy!

How many Aimee Thomas's?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 127 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?