Time Out

I haven't been this exhausted in a long time! These little darlings of mine are wearing me out. They still are great pups when they are independent of their sister but together....look out!

Nicki has already gained a reputation as the trouble maker and Bell is the sweet one. But that's because nobody sees them in action as much as I do. Bell is very capable of starting just as much trouble as Nicki does. And Bell has a determination to get to my indoor plants so she can eat dirt; remove the little planter statues and bring them to show to Nicki; tear off leaves and vines and drag them around from room to room; or just to chew on the stems of whatever helpless plant happens to be the one she can reach. I had a few moments of wondering if I should get rid of all my plants....and I decided against it. I don't want to start "accommodating" bad behavior. I'm more the type to stick it out and drive myself crazy trying to correct the behavior instead. (yeah, I know....glutton for punishment)

Nicki does start the rough housing more than Bell does....I have to admit that. Nicki just seems to have that certain spunk to her character that makes her want to do everything I don't want her to do. Often now I hear a yelp out of someone when they are "playing" and that's the time I will step in and both of them gets a "time out". I tried putting just Nicki in her pen but poor Bell will sit by the pen (like a loyal friend) and wait for Nicki to be sprung from her prison. If I put Bell in the pen Nicki will bounce up and down and bark at her (like she's taunting her) the whole while. The solution was easy...they BOTH go in their pens. Then Mom gets a break and they have time to calm down.

Above here is a picture of Satan's little Angel's in time out. The first one is Bell and the second one is Nicki. (or is it the other way around?) I TOLD you they were hard to tell apart. Ahhhhh peace and quiet and Mom gets to have a cup of tea.

The Girls Are Here

This past Tuesday Nicki arrived. I thought it was going to be just her but it wasn't long before I started feeling bad about leaving her sister behind at the shelter. They looked almost identical at the shelter except Bell has a streak of white on her chest. Nicki has a very small amount of white on her chest too but it's virtually invisible most of the time.
So the following Saturday I was back at the shelter to pick up Bell. Nicki went crazy with joy when Bell joined her in the car. She was all wiggles and kisses to Bell's face. Bell, on the other hand looked like she wanted to throw up. She drooled all the way home and barely ate anything that night. She really seemed stressed out...poor thing.

Nicki had already been with me for 4 days so she was right at home....full of confidence. Bell on the other hand was confused and a little afraid. She was objecting to the collar around her neck and the leash was even worse. She still resists walking on the leash and has to be steadily encouraged. Stairs seem to be a personal enemy of hers because she often refuses to go up or down them. I still haven't figured out that one. She must have encountered stairs somewhere along the way before I came into the picture. She will go up or down stairs if Nicki is with her (trying to show confidence around her sister?) but when alone with me she's pulling backwards or playing statue most of the time.

Nicki had been for walks with KC a few times already and the reports were that she was erratic on a leash and easily distracted. (sounds like a puppy to me). When I finally got a chance to take her myself I was very impressed. She walked very nice on a leash...even had some moments where she wasn't pulling at all. She surprised the heck out of me by catching on to "sit" and "stand" almost without any effort from me. Her concentration seemed spot on...I didn't need to struggle to keep her attention. However, she does have a strange quirk...she keeps looking behind her like she's expecting someone to show up. And this behavior was there from the start...before Bell arrived. I'm not sure who she thinks is behind her; maybe she's looking for the dog warden! Another little oddity with Nicki is her fear of fire hydrants and statues. Whenever she encounters a fire hydrant or any kind of statue she barks her head off! She's obviously afraid of them so I talk soothingly to her and pet her..let her sniff it and then she'll suddenly spring back from it like it jumped at her. Maybe she looks over her should while walking because she thinks fire hydrants are following her!

Bell is very much the opposite of Nicki in many ways. When alone with me she is sweet and totally docile, a little intimidated by the whole world. Her first day was really rough on her. The collar felt weird, people kept yanking her around on a leash, she was taken in a car a few times, she was taken to a soccer game, expected to go up and down stairs and that sister of hers kept licking her face! I suppose it was no wonder she barely ate any food too because Nicki kept offering to finish it for her.

These sisters may look alike but that's where the similarities stop. And because Bell's white streak is low on her chest it's very hard to tell them apart when they are together. Earlier today I noticed Bell looked like she needed to go out to pee; I took the gate down and both dogs went to the kitchen door but it was Nicki I ended up taking outside! When I came back in Justin was laughing because I took the wrong dog out. (turned out they both had to go out). One of the next things I'm going to buy is a really bright colored collar for Bell. That should help quite a bit.

Nicki has a spunky personality and usually takes charge. But Bell comes alive when playing with her sister. We were jokingly calling them Satan's little Angels. More than once I've had to pen them to prevent total destruction of the house and injury to both of them. Nicki often resorts to racing back and forth through the rooms and Bell pounces as she goes tearing by her. My legs are bruised by having half grown puppies slamming into them so many times. And raising your voice has no effect at all. Once they are all wound up neither one can hear anything but a squeaky toy!

Today was bath day. I was completely duped into believing that Nicki would be a breeze to wash and Bell would be the one I'd have to coax along. Well, both of them stood by the tub (not at the same time...I'm not THAT stupid) looking at the water swirling into the tub but Nicki went ballistic when I put her in. She wasn't having any of that! Not so little one...I'm still bigger than you. Bell on the other hand had to be carried up the stairs but was a statue in the tub. She is easily cowed and had no idea why this was happening to her but in the end it was a much better experience for me than Nicki had been. What a drama queen! Both of them smell much better now but I'm sure that won't last long. They love rolling in the grass! After the bath it was time to trim their nails. Bell's were really long and she laid down and let me do it...Justin was helping in case their was a problem. True to form, Nicki didn't agree that her nails were too long. She kept randomly tugging her foot away (Allie used to do that too) which really sets the stage for too close a clip but she wouldn't listen. After I was finished I spent a little time making sure each dog got used to me touching their feet. (I've already been spending time taking food and things out of their mouths). I do as much of my own vet care/grooming as possible with my animals so this is just one more thing they have to learn to put up with. And because there are two of them I have to ensure that neither gets away with anything...for long. :)

The rest of my day was taken up with doing laundry (for them as well as my own); making dog biscuits (it's been a long time since I've done that!); teaching Bell to sit and stand; teaching them both to walk on a leash and come to me when I call and making chicken and rice to add to their food. I'm slightly distressed that they are both currently on Puppy Chow but it can't be helped. It's what they are used to and a transition to human food will take some time. But it will happen. The chicken and rice is the first step in that road. I will not have a dog on dog food for life! Dog food is garbage....the lowest form of garbage. (You'd be horrified if you knew some of the things that go into dog food. But that's a topic for another post.)

So today the girls learned a few new things...things that will have to be learned again tomorrow...and the next day and the next I'm sure. They are not at the same level and not the same temperament so the training is a huge challenge for me. Plus it's been a very long time since I've had to train really young dogs. I've learned some things today too. I've learned that Nicki needs structure and a firm voice but Bell needs gentle coaching and lots of sweet talk. I've learned that they can't be trained together unless you are trying to teach them to ignore you and jump all over each other. I've learned that just because they eat and drink at the same time doesn't mean that they need to go out at the same time. (Nicki has more control and Bell has no idea why it's not cool to just pee in the living room). They've taught me that I don't know how to teach them to ASK to go out but frequent trips outside will suffice until I get that info from my training books. They've reminded me that a routine works great for young ones of any species but it's not fool proof. And most of all they've taught me that my back is not going to stop hurting any time soon. Especially if I have to keep picking Bell up to go up stairs!

Kaylee's First Soccer Game

Today we went to Kaylee's first soccer game! I was having fond memories of Justin and Sara's years in soccer during the ride to the field. (I was a dedicated soccer mom for ten years!) Kaylee's game was being played on the Shaker Road fields. It had been years since I'd been there and boy have they improved that place. The last time I was there for one of Justin's games there wasn't even a port-a-potty. It was really nothing more than an open field. I was surprised to find that they have a nice concession stand and indoor bathrooms now!

And if memory serves me correctly I thought Justin's first games (he was 6 at the time like Kaylee is now) were played with two full teams. It was little more than a free for all for the kids and a laugh fest for the parents. Kaylee's game was played 3 on 3 which surprised me but it does work better for the kids. Let's face it, at this age they really don't know what they are doing beyond kicking the ball. And all parents want to see their little darling out there playing the game. So back in Justin's day some parent would always be grumbling that their kid didn't get enough playing time. With the game today every kid got to play and it was great. They played on what I assume is half the normal field and they had multiple games going on at the same time. It's really a great set up because nobody spends time on the bench.

Kaylee started out her game plan a little on the slow side. Maybe she was getting the lay of the land. There were two boys on her team along with her. Both the boys were named Joseph but one was very little and one was quite a bit bigger than the other kids. Of course the bigger boy was a tad more motivated and got the ball most of the time. We eventually nicknamed him GI Joe because he was go go go all the way! The other Joe we nicknamed Jo Jo...or at least I did. I didn't like the idea of labeling him "little joe". That would automatically force us to call the other one "Big Joe". And he doesn't need anything to help him stick out. He's already quite a burly little boy.

After the first part of the game Kaylee really came alive. She actually made 3 goals on her own and helped make a couple more. At one point we all started to laugh because she actually gained enough confidence to jump up and down waving her arms and yelling out pass to me, pass to me!
Every time she made a goal her "cheering squad" went wild with cheers and waves. Luckily she's young enough to really appreciate our enthusiasm because we couldn't contain it. Several times she looked at me and laughed or waved to me. Once she yelled out "Gramma"! with a big grin on her face. (I was doing a modified version of 'raise the roof' and then the 'cabbage patch' dance..while seated of course.) She was loving the attention and it really improved her game.

After such a wonderful first game we all went out for celebratory ice cream at Collins Creamery. She was VERY happy about that! I got a regular size red raspberry with chocolate chip cone but it was too much ice cream for me. Kaylee was very obliging and took some of that excess ice cream off my hands. Then we all talked about the game while Kaylee looked for a 4 leaf clover. It was a much hotter day than I had expected it to be but perfect for her game. We all had a great time watching and I think this little girl better get used to the idea of having her own cheering section!

Labor Day Party 2009

The Labor Day party was at Kathy and Lou's house. Lots of people showed up and everyone had a good time. But then we always have a good time at their house don't we?

I'm told that a little while after I left Lou took out his guitar and everyone joined him in a sing a long. And now I wish I had stayed just a wee bit longer.........

Pig Roast 2009

This little movie is from my first pig roast ever! It took place during Labor Day weekend. I've never wanted to attend a pig roast and in fact I originally said yes to this one, then changed my mind, then got a badgering phone call from the party and decided to go after all. I'm not crazy...it's just that I don't want to see a dead pig. I can't understand how people can eat that with it looking at them! And I didn't eat any of the poor pig. I know most people have no problem with it but once I saw it, it just confirmed my original feelings. So although this was a fun time with all the people, I seriously doubt I'll attend another pig roast.
The party was also partly to celebrate Corkey and Justin's up coming birthdays. This is one reason why I was wanted at the party. Another reason I felt I had to go is because I've never been to one. A rediscovered goal of mine is to do things I've never done before....look for new experiences. Although this was a small thing, it still fit the category. Now at least I can say I've been to a pig roast.

Ramdom shots

Two of these pictures are fairly easy to comprehend.....then there's the three pictures of Justin. Sometimes there is just no explaining him! :)

Remembering the Departed

September 3, 2009 was the 3rd anniversary of Philip's death. It is also the first day in what I call Hell Week...which comes around every year and never gets any easier. Hell Week is a week of anniversary deaths and terrible occurrences in my life and the lives of some of my closest friends and family. Every year I take one day out of that week to remember and honor those I've lost and those who have changed my life forever.

Philip starts the week with his death in Iraq. The next day is the anniversary of Helen Johnson's death (Phil's grandmother). The day after that is the anniversary of my fathers paralyzing stroke (occurred the day after Helen died). And it's followed the next day by my Aunt Dotty's sudden death (1 yr anniversary this year).

The original events didn't follow in that order but each one has fallen in place all in the same week. Hence the name Hell Week.

I don't know why things like this happen...coincidence...fate...karma? I have no answer for that. But I do take the time each year to bring flowers to the graves of people who meant something important to me. Mr. and Mrs. Bickford are in that group too but neither died during Hell Week. They started out being the parents of a boyfriend and ended up being very dear friends and a God Mother to my daughter, Sara.

Each of these people have been a corner stone of friendship and family to me. The loss of each of them created a hole in the security of my life and let in a painful reality that I had previously never known. They shaped my world while they were here... each bringing something unique and wonderful to my life. I will always miss them and I'm grateful to have had them in my life while I did.

Blueberry Virgin

(more pics will be added when I get them)

Friday was all planned out. It was supposed to be a day in Vermont. That didn't happen so I made a rapid adjustment to my plans (used to be completely out of character for me...not so anymore!) and came up with Plan B.

I called my friend Carol and asked her if she'd like to go pick blueberries with me. She happily agreed and within a short period of time we were on our way. I was sorry not to make it to Vermont but Vermont will always be there for another day...the blueberries are seasonal. I've been berry picking a few times already this season. The first time I took Kaylee which turned out to be less than perfect. She'd been berry picking with me a few times last year so I figured a brief reminder to look for the biggest and darkest berries would be enough. My first clue should have been that I kept hearing a little voice buried in the bushes saying "that one was spicy gramma!". I laughed and told her it was tart but she never stopped calling them spicy. It wasn't until we were ready to leave that I realized she was eating more than she was picking and the ones she was picking were a whole lot of spicy ones!

On the way to the berry patch with Carol she informed me that she had never picked blueberries before. (flashbacks of Kaylee's berry picking skills started filtering in) I laughed and told her that makes her a Blueberry Virgin!
It was a hot day...hotter than I thought it would be. It wasn't long before we were both complaining about how much we were sweating. (Another flashback of my days working tobacco when I was 14 yrs old.). We both stuck to it..picking our hearts out; wishing a breeze would come our way; stuffing berries in our mouths "just to make sure they were good ones"; laughing and joking between the rows; and most importantly of all avoiding the bees! We were warned there may be some bees. That's when I found out Carol was afraid of bees. And boy were there a lot of bees in some places! Carol spent most of the time yelling at them to leave her alone or trying to convince them to go somewhere else. She had me wondering who the hell she was talking to down at the other end of the row. Eventually she progressed to letting out little screams when they came too close to her. (I started laughing with a mouth full of berries at that point)

Once we had enough (filled our 3lb containers) we headed back out to pay for them. On the way we passed through some of the apples that were still ripening. I took a picture of an apple with a large hole in it that some bug is probably using as a condo. And there was two large apples on what looked to be not much more than a branch of an apple tree...certainly far from a full tree. I wondered how they could get huge apples to grow on such a small amount of tree. Somebody certainly knows what they are doing at this place.

Check out was easy and quick thankfully because not only were we both uncomfortably hot and sweaty (apparently ladies do more than just glisten), but I caught Carol eating the biggest berries out of my bucket! And she kept doing it while saying "but yours are better than mine...you got some really bigs ones here." ..as if that justified the theft!

After taking time to clean up we decided to head to Jimmy's for a late lunch. I was starving by this time. I hadn't eaten as many berries as Carol. We ordered our food and Carol got hers first. I had to wait for mine and it really wasn't the way I had ordered it but I was too hungry to complain. I would have eaten sawdust by this point.
We decided to stay awhile after eating. Some people were filtering in and it gave us some time to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Some guys were playing pool and I commented "nice shot" when one of them sunk the eight ball perfectly. Well a little while later that same guy came up and told Carol that he liked her barrette. But the music was a little too loud so neither one of us heard him right. Carol had him repeat it three times before she heard him correctly. She smiled and thanked him and he went back to his game. Then she looked at me and said "I thought he said he liked my breasts!" We roared with laughter at that one. No wonder she had such a look on her face!

Some time later that same guy must have gotten his courage up because he came up to me, introduced himself, asked my name, told me I was gorgeous and kissed my hand! Wow! The evening is looking up...that was quite an unexpected ego boost! He went back to finish his game of pool but eventually we did talk for a little while. He was intelligent; charming and seemed quite sincere. We had a nice chat and before I left with Carol a little while later, he gave me a note. His note said he was pleasantly surprised to meet such a beautiful woman and he'd love to hear from me again...with his name and number. Well this evening certainly took a different turn from what I had expected. And to think I only stopped for a late lunch and to see some old friends!

First Grade Can Be Tough

This past week Kaylee started first grade. These are pictures from her first day. I think she looks tired but she said she had a good day. She chattered on for some time about what she learned already. She really enjoys school. And I'm glad she does. She's a smart little thing and just has such a sweet nature about her. Such a gentle and loving little girl! She's the love of my life.

From the moment she learned to crawl I knew this child had something of me in her. She would always make a bee line for any animal that was within sight. I spent many days encouraging her to crawl while making sure she didn't squeeze the cat to death or irritate the dog too much. And I remember being amazed that she wanted to kiss animals right from the start. The only problem was she wasn't very discriminating about where she kissed them. That was another thing I had to keep an eye on and eventually I taught her to kiss them on the head. (she was always aiming for the other end! ha ha)

She has never had any fear of any animal...and this trait in her was so strong that it scared me sometimes. She would automatically head for any animal no matter how large it was, with arms outstretched and eyes lit up. Luckily my dog Allie seemed to understand she was a baby and never resisted her kisses or embraces. Although I did notice that both Allie and Lily (the cat) started to "magically disappear" or would suddenly demonstrate "speed walking" when Kaylee first started to walk. It never phased Kaylee a bit. She was perfectly willing to follow them all day even if she never actually caught up with them.

Even horses..and I mean large horses..never frightened Kaylee in the least. She would automatically hold her arms out to be picked up to pet them, feed them and eventually to ride them. Never showed a lick of fear while being up on the back of a horse.
Trips to farms or petting zoos were sometimes a little nerve racking with Kaylee. Chickens; ducks; goats; even pigs were all her automatic friends and had to be touched and loved by this little girl.

It is my wish that Kaylee will keep her love of animals and become a veterinarian one day. I never had the opportunity to go to school for it myself, so I volunteer at an animal shelter to scratch that itch...the urge to do something to better the lives of animals...to bring a little gentle caring into the lives of animals that don't have it. So when I look at Kaylee and see how she is with animals, I hope she never loses that caring touch and never loses that urge to kiss them on the head. And I can proudly say she gets that from me!

Up On Deck....

The struggle to make my deck beautiful continues. I hope I never have a reason to look at any kind of sander again in my life. (for the moment lets just ignore the fact that the fence has dibs as the next project). It's starting to come together now and I've even gotten some compliments on the portions that are done. But surprisingly that just makes me more impatient to finish it. With that in mind I hope you will forgive me for resorting to a chemical paint stripping compound. I know, I know...surely All Natural Elaine has not caved! Well, hell yes I have!

Calm down...I'm being responsible about it. As you can see by the pictures above this stuff is really strong. It only takes minutes for the paint to bubble like that. Amazing stuff..and wicked dangerous to use. And I found out the hard way. The directions said to wear gloves so I wore gloves. What I failed to notice was it said to wear thick gloves which means that the gloves I had on hand were the wrong ones. I have the kind of gloves a doctor would use. (insert your own joke here)

So the first time I used this stuff I had my gloves on and a tiny amount got on the side of one gloved finger. It took all of about 5 seconds to start burning like acid was eating through my skin!
I started yelling ouch ouch ouch ouch and moving at lightening speed for the kitchen door. Once inside I was panicking in my efforts to get the glove off so it took another 5 seconds to do that. I was sure the skin under that glove was going to be gone or come off with the glove. That's how bad it hurt! I chucked both gloves in the garbage, raced to the sink, grabbed for the dish soap and turned the water on all in record speed. Then I remembered the directions had said to use cool water and I found out quickly that hot water makes the pain even more intense.
In the end I was happy to find that my skin was still intact and there wasn't even a red spot on my finger.

Needless to say I didn't touch that stuff again until I had bought a thick sturdy pair of bright orange gloves. The fluorescent gloves worked just fine and I had the added pleasure of knowing that I was "styling" while working on my deck!

And the moral to the story kids is: You should never touch a tough stripper without sturdy orange gloves!

(you should have seen that one coming..)

Cool Blog

These pictures are from a really cool blog I found by accident. I have no idea what language it's written in. If you look at the top picture closely you can see some words but I've no idea what they say. I just thought the pictures were really nice! I left a note on the blog asking the person to email me and telling her (?) that I really liked her pictures and wanted to know where they come from. So far, no answer from that direction. I'm including the link to that blog if any of you are interested in taking a look.

http://aloeviki.blogspot.com/2009/08/jasonnak-latomasa-volt.html?showComment=1251528425661#c1636316999654363681

All I know about the blog is that it's called "Aloe Viki". Even the name is cool!

So...anyone out there care to guess what language that is? I sure would like to know.