Monday, December 29, 2008

Heart

My best friend in this world, my Grandmother said something to me when my daughter was just a tiny little baby. I just gave her one of those smiles and thought, no not my kids, but as I've grown older and I hope somewhat wiser, I find her words ringing in my ears. and I quote "When your children are little they step on your toes but when they are grown they tromp on your heart". She was so right. I hate living so far from my children and this year has probably been the worst year since moving away, yet. Neither got to come home for Thanksgiving, so it was pretty lonely that day. We drove to my daughter's for Christmas and will be leaving tomorrow. As we go, I find myself wondering when we will get to see each other again. I can't go a whole year anymore. We will only get to spend a couple of hours with my son and it has been over a year since seeing him, longer for my husband, so with that said, my goal for the upcoming year is to pay off all of my debt, sell my house and move south. I may not make it in one year but I will make it. I'm making a big sign to post at my computer, where I do most of my shopping, don't buy it unless it is absolutely needed, get rid of non essentials and lighten the load. I will have to do a little remodeling to get my house in saleable condition, like painting and so on but it will be done. Me being close to my family is more important than anything else in this world!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

16 More Days

Then we head south. I'm so ready. It's so coldddd!!!!!! here where I live. I hate cold weather. Sure wish it could snow at 60 degrees.

We are making different items at the Den. Here is a candy bar wrapper I did. There is also a template for microwave popcorn wrappers which I will be using for gifts for the girls I work with. who doesn't like popcorn!

Come join us at the Den.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

My New Lapton



Santa Claus came to my house early this year. My Honey bought me a new HP Laptop. Here's a picture of it. I really like it. It's a Vista 64 bit machine which is causing a few problems, especially being able to connect to my desktop at work through the Cisco VPN client that I use. Cisco doesn't support 64 bit, so if anyone out there knows of any thing I can use, please let me know.

I have been making Christmas pages for use as cards this year. Here is one I did. Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Dusty is better and Sadie is a little stinker

Dusty is doing so much better! He hasn't had a sick tummy in over 3 weeks! I'm so relieved!

On another note. I was doing some filing Sunday afternoon and also tossing paper in the trash. I was wadding stuff up into a ball and happened to notice after the 3rd or 4th toss that my trash can wasn't filling up (it is very small). Dusty and Sadie were stealing the wads of paper and shredding them! There was paper from one end of the house to the other! I really didn't mind because they seemed to be having such a good time, plus I needed to run the vacuum later anyway. Well, Punkin decided to have one of her puppy moments and joined in with the shredding. After a few minutes she and Sadie decided to go after the same piece of paper and that turned in to one big "FIGHT"! Sadie has a problem with Cocker Rage Syndrome and it seems that competition triggers her. She went after Punkin but instead of Punkin backing down and screaming for help she went back at Sadie. Then Dusty came into the room to break up the fight. He cracks me up! He will get right in the middle and just stand there growling until the girls settle down. Well, in the meantime, I got involved. I have found if I remove Sadie from the situation things calm down much quicker and no one gets hurt. So, I grabbed her by the nap of the neck and lifted her up, scolding her all the way. She immediately calmed down but Punkin was still wound up which is totally out of character for her. Anyway, sometime later I realized I had been biten! Not bad, just a small puncture wound and I'm not sure which one did it. I was so involved in breaking up the fight I didn't even notice! This is the first fight they have had in quite some time but when there is one it's always Sadie as the instigator. She's such a little stinker but we adore her!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Dusty has been sick

I noticed last Friday that he seemed to be hesitant to eat. I didn't think too much of it at the time but by the time Monday rolled around he was one sick little guy.
I took him to the vet Monday afternoon and 2 x-rays, blood tests, urine analysis and health check the Dr determined that he was dehydrated, with low blood sugar. He also noticed that Dusty's looked like he had an imflamed pancrease. This can be deadly and I'm so glad we caught this when we did. He also had that blasted anal gland infection, ear infection (very rare for him), tummy infection and gingivitus. Seems the gingivitus is probably causing most of the problems. So, he now has his teeth brushed twice a day and his gums look much better. Instead of blood red they are going to a nice pink. He seems to be much better already and he should. The Dr. gave him 3 injections (one was an antiobiotic, one was pepcid for his tummy and the last was a steroid for the inflammation around his pancreas), he also received sub-cutaneous hydration. We won't know for sure until he goes back for a check up on Oct 11th which will be another huge vet bill. He's worth every dime for the joy he gives. He's such a great little guy. He's also on two different antiobiotics.

I spent most of Monday night up with him. He had to potty around 1AM and I just stayed up with him and of course, the other two. He takes his meds so well. No forcing, just toss them and he gobbles them up.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sunday, Sept 14th, 2008

This past Sunday, started out like every other Sunday. I talked on the phone with my son for awhile, then went to take care of some things for my mother. While we were at her house her electric went off. This was about 1PM, it wasn't too long after that we decided to head for home which is about 15 miles away. As we walked out the door, there were dark clouds swirling around the sky and it was quite breezy. We hadn't gone two miles when all of a sudden it felt like the car had been pushed backwards about 10 feet and branches and other debris started sailing past the car. Ike had made his presence known!
I was so smug about the fact that I didn't live on the TX Gulf Coast anymore and here I am going through the remnants of a monster storm that was able to reek havoc as far as the Midwest! We had decided to take the back roads to get home instead of the expressway. BIG MISTAKE! We had to literally drive through and around tunnels of trees! Phil laughed when I asked if there was a treeless way home. He did manage to find a road with a little less trees about two miles from the house. When we arrived back at the house it didn't take too long to realize we didn't have any power, which meant we also didn't have any running water. Since we live out in the country we depend on a well and a pump. Fortunately, we had bottles of water that we keep on hand for just such situations. Well, anyway, we went the rest of the evening with no power. I had my cell phone which I laughingly had to take to the car to charge, cause I only had one bar of power on it and it was our only means of communication. So, while charging the phone in the dark in my little blue Nissan on Sunday evening, I listened to the radio and was shocked to learn that it could be days if not over a week before power would be restored. Our utility company alone had over 225 thousand customers without power. Kinda made me feel small in the whole scheme of things. We went to bed early that evening thinking that surely we would be back in business by Monday. Boy, were we wrong!
We got up at our usual time on Monday morning thanks to the alarm on my cell phone and of course, Dusty, who was letting us know it was time for breakfast. That boy is always hungry! We ate a breakfast bar and sat and cuddled the puppies for an hour, then my cell phone rang. I was told that Phil and I didn't need to report for work. The plant and front offices were closed due to no power. I smiled and was thankful we had another day off making for a three day weekend! At daybreak, we assessed the damage around us. We didn't even lose a shingle (thankfully, it a brand new roof)! Our neighbors lost trees but fortunately, no homes were damaged there was just a lot of debris to pick up. So, Phil started on that and I started to check and see how much food needed to be taken out of the freezer. We lost about $800 worth of groceries, which I don't think is at all bad, considering. I grilled fish and frozen french fries for lunch, along with a salad from the garden (what was left of it). I cleaned out my office of things I want to get rid of by either donating or selling. All in all it was a very productive day. We again, went to bed around 8:30 because it was dark and still no power. I had a book that I was reading by itty-bitty book lite and finally had dozed off around 9:45. At 9:58 I heard a click and thought we must have a mouse then all of a sudden the air conditioner started running! WE HAD POWER! I was so excited about having electricity again it took me hours to go back to sleep.
Many of my co-workers are still withouth power (Wednesday). I do know for certain, I will not go through this again, as soon as we can find one, there will be a generator living at our house just waiting for lights out again! I at least want running WATER!
I am thankful, we lost nothing but a little food and power was restored for us. It was just a minor inconvenience. I just feel so sorry for the loss of life and homes along the gulf region. My heart goes out to those people.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

My Children

No, not my four legged ones, my actual offspring! I was talking with my son the other day and he was giving me a hard time about just a passing mention on my blog about him or his sister. So, to make sure the whole internet world knows that I did, in fact, give birth to two children.

My first child, Shannon was a special gift from God. Her name means one like an angel and if a name ever suited anyone, her name suits her perfectly. She is the sweetest dispositioned person I have ever met. There is nothing phony about her, she lives like she believes with an abiding faith in God that is inspiring. She and her wonderful hubby, live 13 hours south of Phil and me. I would love it if they or we could move closer to one another. It's hard to cram lost time into short visits we have with one another.

My second child, my number one son (well, my only son) is the light of my life. His name is Brandon and his name means a beacon of light and yes, he too, is one of my special gifts from God. He lives 9 hours south of Phil and me and our visits together are way too far and few between. He is a graduate of Central Bible College and when I have theological questions, I usually turn to him to get me started on the path to answers. He and I became very close after his sister got married in 88. Phil was working lot's of evenings at the college and Brandon and I would go do silly stuff together in the evenings. He was always so much fun to be around. When we moved back to Ohio from AR in 1995, he came with us. We weren't back too long before his childhood wish finally came true for him. He always wanted a Doberman and he finally talked me into letting him get one. Many of you will know her by name, Teri McKay. I was so scared of her when she first came to live with us but she seemed to know that and it was like she took extra pains to make sure I loved her, which I did. We kept Teri while Bran finished college then she went to live with him. Brandon works for a major computer company, so when I have computer issues, I usually get his help.

So, now the world knows that my universe doesn't just revolve around my three dogs and hubby.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Another Day At the Park


This is Dusty (white and tan) and Sadie (black) at the dog park. I received my Elements Techniques magazine on Friday and it had a lesson on doing a Triptych layout. I probably didn't use quite the right photo for this technique but you can still see the effect. I also had to improvise a little with the instructions, like making copies of the rectangle shapes. It's an interesting technique.

The fur babies had another day of grooming yesterday. It's a never ending task, actually. I bathed them outside in between thunderstorms, then later in the morning set the grooming table up, finished drying them and touched up their coats. Sadie, as usual, needed a full groom. Her coat grows so fast! Punkin and Dusty just needed a touch up. Punkin just hates being groomed. She can be so uncooperative and stubborn! It's funny in a way but also quite aggravating, especially when all you want to do is get finished. I'm looking forward to seeing my and Phil's salary increases in the next few weeks, this money is going to be used to send the babies to the groomer once every six weeks!

I'm doing laundry right now and Sadie is soooo funny. As I hang the warm clothes on hangers, she walks back and forth slowly, letting the warm material stroke her back. She does that with all sorts of soft things but especially likes the clothes just out of the dryer. When she sees me head for the dryer she comes running and just waits. Every once in awhile I give her a warm towel to snuggle with and yes, I do wash it again.

If you're watching your calorie intake, come on over to the Den for some heart-healthy, lite and fit recipes. While you're there, if you aren't already a member, sign up, it's free. And if you post 5 of your own recipes, you will get all the others that are posted in the month of Sept. There is also going to be a posting bonus. It's a win-win deal!

Friday, August 29, 2008


August 29th, I can hardly believe the month is almost over. Where does time go!?
I took the day off from work today, to have an extra long weekend. I needed a break from the routine, I was starting to get snappy with everyone, even the bosses.

My fur babies are enjoying the time with me. They are curled at my feet. I love being at home with them. Oops, Sadie thought she heard a chipmunk at the front door, I have it open so they can look outside and watch the world go by. Chipmunks just drive Sadie nuts, mice too. Who needs a cat with her around!

I've had two calls from work, just silly stuff. I don't mind, at least I know I'm needed. Yesterday was a very trying day. I was working on updating our security system on our exchange server. I started at 6AM and didn't quit until way after 5PM. Never did get all the licenses to load correctly. Oh well, I have 30 days to rectify that little problem. After I get payroll done on Tuesday I see a long afternoon on the phone with Computer Assocs. I hope they can speak clearly (LOL)

I've included a new page that I just put together of Dusty. Robyn, over at the Den, is having a challenge for the month of August. We were allowed to scraplift layouts of other members. I chose one that she did of her pretty little grand daughter. The title was called Precious and she certainly is. This was such an easy challenge, I don't know why I didn't do it before now, except maybe that Robyn's new kit wasn't available until yesterday. It's called Cottage Garden and everything in the kit reminds me of just that. I know this is a little prissy for a male pup but he looks so good with these colors!

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Dog Park

Well, we took the trio to the park yesterday! I was so proud of each of them. They behaved like perfect little ladies and gentleman.

The day began as a normal Sunday. We had breakfast, went through our morning routines then decided since it was such a pretty day we would take the gang for a ride. They love to go bye-bye!

Punkin sits in the back seat right behind me, Dusty sits behind Phil and occasionally pretends to be a console ornament and little Sadie sits on my lap (at least most of the time).

When we arrived at the park, Punkin, my 8 1/2 year old began whining with excitement. We had never been here before but the place was loaded with other four legged babies, so I guess she was sensing their excitement. We were a bit apprehensive about how the little ones would react while socializing with other doggies since this was their first big outing.

We made it acrossed the parking lot into the double gated walkway and realeased each of them in turn from their leashes. Punkin was the first to be released and when I looked up from unhooking the other two, she was long gone up the path. She acted like a little puppy. When she reached the top of the hill I called to her, she stopped, turned around and came bounding back to me. She acted like she had been to this place a million times. She wandered around with so much confidence and pride! Dusty and Sadie were a little more reserved. They stuck close by Phil and I as we walked up the path. They did play with a very frisky pit bull and a couple of black labs! I took lots of pictures and as soon as I get the time I'll post them here.

I was just so proud of the way they each behaved. I guess all that obedience training is paying off.

We gave them each a big drink of water and Dusty went and played in the agility ring for a bit while the girls and I rested. Then it was back home for them and an afternoon of puppy naps and dreams while Phil and I ran errands. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable afternoon!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sadie


This is going to be almost all about Sadie.

See her story below for how she came to live with us. Now let me tell you how she fills our lives with joy and love.

First of all, her coat is silky soft! I love petting her. She has a bit of a grumpy disposition but as time goes by, we are loving that out of her. She cracks me up when I leave or enter a room. She has to announce it to the neighborhood! This naturally sets off the other two.

She would rather be cuddled than anything, including eating. While the other two are wolfing down their breakfast or supper, she is usually begging for cuddles, which we happily are willing to oblidge! She is smaller than the other two, weighing in at 20 lbs. 2 of those pounds need to go away because of her very small frame. She is about an inch shorter in height than Punkin and about 4 inches shorter in body length.

We were watching her last night as she tried to get her blankets situated in the community dog bed. She would dig, then push with her nose, then dig some more to get them each just right. It took her about 20 minutes to finally lay down.

When the TV goes off for the evening, she trots to her crate and waits on her animal cookie in the doorway of it, then she climbs in with her 10 or so stuffed toys, pushes them around for awhile and curls up to sleep.

She is a great little mouser. We had one get in back two winters ago and she went nuts looking for that thing. She will check the traps each day to make sure there isn't one. She also likes to chase the resident chipmunks.

She does have one very bad habit we are trying to break, if you don't give her what she thinks is her quota of attention she will piddle on the floor. If anyone has a solution for that, please let me know.

Sadie loves to have her tummy rubbed, behind scratched, and tail and ears stroked. The whole time you do these things for her she starts this low growl which I think is her way of saying "OH! This feels so good". She never snaps when this is happening, so I think she is just verbalising her pleasure.

Well, that's a little about my Sadie Lady-Bug.

Friday, July 18, 2008



Well, we are learning new techniques at the Den. This week, it's magazine covers. This has been so much fun. Once again, the gals at the Den have put forth a challenge and you should just see all the cool magazine covers everyone has come up with and there's sure to be more to come!

Tomorrow is bath time for the babies! Then on to clipping. I think I'll take pictures of the progress this time around and maybe post them here. I'm usually exhausted when I'm through with all three. I just don't know how groomers do this day in and day out. ALL THAT HAIR!!!!!
Stayed tuned for updates.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Den



I frequent a place called Digital Design Den. We are all avid digital scrapbookers. We have professional designers, photographers and teachers that are a vital part of the group. I have learned so much since joining and have even helped design a few elements for collaborative kits.

The Den recently celebrated their 1st Birthday. During that time frame there were so many freebies to be had that I actually had trouble keeping up.

We all pitch in and help each other with different projects. Andrea and I work on the Recipe layouts (although we did take the month of July off). Michelle handles the templates that are in the weekly newsletter. There are so many fantastic people on this site. They've encouraged us to write tutorial. I wrote one on how to make a bow. The tutorial we are working on now is how to make a cube...

I did the two images above for my homework which wasn't like homework at all. I would have been a high marks person in school if homework had been this much fun!

Of course, one of my images just had to have one of my dogs in it!

If you are looking for a site full of fun, fantastic kits, the nicest people from all over the world and just plain ole good times, come on over to visit or better yet, sign up. You have nothing to lose and much to gain. Come to www.digitaldesignden.com......

Monday, July 7, 2008

Heartbeats at my feet

Literally. All three are laying either at my feet or nearby. Now the girls are barking at Dusty. Ok, that's under control! Poor little guy can't walk across the floor to suit them sometimes.

They have been upset the last few days. We've had construction crews at the house making repairs from the storms we have had. The roofers will be here next week and the drywall/painters will be here the following. It is just upsetting their little doggie routine to the max! They are such little creatures of habit. We rarely get company at home so naturally they bark when a bird lands in the yard let alone people. If they see a car go down the road too slowly, they bark about that and last night a passenger jet was flying way too low over our house, (not something that usually happens) and they had a fit about that. I wonder if they think planes are just big loud birds with their tails on fire? Just a thought. Anyway, they watched that plane until it dissappeared. It was funny.

Hmmmm, Sadie just disappeard, she must have gone upstairs with Phil. She is a big daddy's girl!

There are times I would love to know what they are thinking but then again, maybe I wouldn't really want to know.

They do give me something to look forward to everyday. When it's time to leave work for home I have but 3 warm little bodies on my mind. And they repay my affection with loyalty as they sleep at my feet! What a life!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Bath Time

Well, today was bath day for the fur babies. My hubby ran a hot water line to the outside (where I would love to build a mud room by the way) and I have this handy bathtub that is on legs along with this washing gizmo that dispenses soap in a jet of water. It takes about an hour to bathe all three and they seem to like the massage they get. Now if they would only behave when it is time to brush them out. Cocker spaniels take a lot of work which is why mine usually have short cuts. Right now, Punkin and Sadie's coats are almost too long. Dusty was shave down two weeks ago. I do all the grooming myself since my regular mobile groomer retired. I wasn't able to find anybody to suit me. Some groomers cut the skirts too high others didn't thin out their coats which is a must or you get lot's of matting. So, I just do it myself, then if they don't look right, I have nobody to blame but me.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

An Expensive Busy Day

Today was such a busy day! Phil and I both had to go into work. We left the house at 6:00AM and worked until 8:30AM, came home, picked up all three dogs for a trip to the vet for their semi-annual checkup, got home at 12:45PM, grabbed a snack and went back to work until 3:00PM. Fed the dogs at 4:15PM, left the house again to take back some shoes that fell apart after Phil only wore them less than a week, went to the local pet store to pick up puppy treats and Sadie's special dog food. I'm exhausted and really don't feel like I've accomplished anything today except my wallet being emptier than it usually is. The vet bill was almost $500!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness we have pet insurance, so a portion of that will come back to us. Punkin had to have her rabies vacine, all three had those pesky bottom glands emptied and poor little Dusty had a fever and one of his glands was infected, so he is on $90 antibiotics! They all got 6 months worth of heartworm and flea prevention. These babies get better medical care than Phil and I do but they are so worth it!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Crazy Girls

I don't know what has gotten into my girls lately, but when I get up from sitting anywhere they think they have to announce it to the world. I've tried everything to break them of it, squirt of water, turning my back on them, telling them "no!", nothing seems to work. I don't know if they are just telling me to sit back down so they can cuddle at my feet or what! It's funny most of the time but there are times, like when I have a headache, I could do without all the noise. Sadie has this squeaky little bark that just cuts right through your brain and Punkin, well she has a big girl bark so the two of them together can be a bit trying. I do get tickled at Dusty when all of this is going on, he will come running if he isn't right there with me to see what the ruckus is about then the look he get's on his face is priceless. It's like, Jeesh! Girls! Do they have to make so much noise! He's not as vocal as the girls but when he does speak up, you know you've been barked at.

Back to the girls, they are very jealous of each other. They know that as far as a pack goes, that Phil and I are the leaders but Sadie tries to put the bluff on Punkin. I do believe most of the barking contests between them is to see who can get the most attention. If I pick up Sadie to cuddle, Punkin will start barking, if I start to cuddle with Punkin, Sadie tries to break it up. Punkin also doesn't like me to cuddle with Dusty.

It's hard living up to the pack's expectations!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Well, here I go! This blog spot is going to be about (mostly) my adorable fur babies. I will have other tidbits of information from time to time, like my favorite websites (digitaldesignden), current issues and so forth, but on to the reason I'm starting this.

On a snowy March Saturday in 2000 my mother wanted to drive 45 miles to look at Cocker Spaniel puppies. When we arrived at this place I had no idea how in a two week period my life would change. I helped mom pick out an adorable little black and tan girlie. She was all wiggles and kisses and it was love at first sight. Mom took her home and proceeded to spoil her rotten and every evening after work I would go by her apartment and spoil her even more. Her name is Punkin (hence the name Punkinsmom). Well, after two weeks had gone by my mother called me at work and told me that every time I left to go home, Punkin would sit at the door and howl for me, so she decided Punkin should come home to live with Phil (my hubby) and I. That was over 8 years ago and since then we have increased the size of our little puppy family.

Dusty came to live with us in 2005 after, once again, mom purchased him from a breeder that was 60 miles away. He is a gorgeous white and tan parti color who is still nothing but wiggles. My hubby adores him. He had to be taken from his mother when he was just 4 weeks old, mom had him for a little over a week then he came home with us because mom couldn't handle his roudiness. He's a rough and tough little guy. So since he was 5 weeks old he has been with us.
One stormy evening he was sitting on my lap and a clap of thunder startled him. He jumped straight up in the air and landed on Punkin. He injured her back and broke her knee. I was brokenhearted because I was afraid my little beauty was going to have to be put down but $5000 and over 12 months of recuperation and you would never know she ever had any injuries.

So, mom is to blame so far for two of our babies but you will learn that we also blame her for our third.

We were taking my mother house hunting. She was looking for a new property to buy and as we turned onto a busy 5 lane road we saw all sorts of brake lights and backed up traffic! All of a sudden, this little black streak came running down the center lane. My husband and I took one look at each other, he pulled over jumped out of the SUV and literally crawled on his hands and knees in the middle of all that traffic to catch this little girl. She was in such deplorable condition you couldn't tell what she was other than a dog. We took her to our home and kept her separated from the other two for 24 hours. The next day I gave her a bath, actually about 3 baths to get rid of the filth and fleas she was carrying. I trimmed her hair and brushed her till she was shiny and got rid of all the mats in her coat that was keeping her from moving freely. We advertised to try to find her owners. We would have been very reluctant to return her to them if they appeared due to her poor condition, but we felt we had to try. After a week we took her to our vet and discovered she was a miniature Cocker Spaniel, approximately six months old, pregnant and suffered from malnutrition, we also found the breeder through DNA testing. She was named Sadie and she has been with us since 9/10/2005, she's also known as Sadie-bug. If we had not been house hunting we would never have found this sweet little girl. She is black with white on her chest and her feet look like she stepped in white paint.

So, my mother is to blame for this love affair with Cocker Spaniels but in all fairness, we have always had Cocker Spaniels, Candy, Honey and Lady preceded Punkin (SweetPea), Dusty(Doodle and Georgie) and Sadie (Sadie-bug) since our marriage in 1969. As a child I remember having several Cocker Spaniels and my husband's family used to breed them.

The only other dogs I've ever lived with was Teri McKay (my son's doberman) and a Pekinese named Crumby given to us by my sister in law. We couldn't keep Crumby at the time due to where we lived so my grandparents took her and gave her a good home. She was a great little dog for them.

So, now you know where the name Punkinsmom comes from and how we came to share our home with 3 adorable fur babies.