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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.