While We Roasted

Hiding from the sweltering heat was the order of the weekend.

So,

I made a skirt – from a pattern – a first for me

I finished Four and Twenty Blackbirds – great story – eerie and weird but still a good read

I read all of The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing – not what I expected. I knew it wasn’t a manual on dating – but I guess I was expecting a story more along the lines of Sex and the City or Bridgett Jones. What it turned out to be was a more serious and heavy story about a woman’s life and loves. Each chapter told of a different time in her life. Some chapters were devoted to meeting her brother’s latest interest. Others were about her lovers, or her family, or her own personal struggles. The last chapter is a pretty humorous story about meeting the great love of her life. Unfortunately she had just read a fictional version of “The Rules” so along for the ride of first days of romance she had the evil authors of the book sitting on her shoulders offering advice. Of course their advice caused her to almost loose the best chance she ever had at a great romance. In the end we don’t know how their story will turn out. But we hope for the best.

And lastly this morning Sophie and I went for our early morning constitutional. It was relatively pleasant. Along the way Sophie made a friend. His name is Shadow and he’s a big black lab mix. They got along just wonderfully. What I found darling was as we were walking away from one anther both dogs looked back at each other. How cute is that?

*****
I totally forgot to mention:

This morning when I got into work there was a voice message waiting for me. That is nothing unusual.

So I checked to see what the message was.

Are you ready for this:

It was someones wife telling me to keep my conversations with her husband on a professional level and to stop with the personal talk.

This bothered me on a few levels:

• I don't know the person
• She actually said my first name which means she was trying to call someone named Rebecca
• If this keeps up I don't want this mistaken identity to lead to a 12th floor shooting spree in which I am the target
• The bat cave is cool, quiet, and relatively hidden but it ain't gonna stop an angry wife with a loaded gun.
• This makes me feel a little bit dirty even though I am not guilty in the least.
• It's Monday for cry'n out loud. I don't need this.
• I had to forward the message on the HR just in case. Now I'm "trouble"

Happy Friday!

So, what does it say when you spend you evening watching Star Trek Next Generation and Miami Ink? Does that make me a cool geek?

My goal for this weekend: sleep - my little girl has spent the last couple of nights thinking that 3 am and beyond is play time. Every time I turn over or stir she leaps up and gives me a cold wet puppy snort in my ear. She's lucky I love her more than life itself. It doesn't even bother me when it is happening. Problem is though that I drag my butt the rest of the day. Speaking of which, it is Friday so that means that I gotta go get a mocha. Uuuummm mocha. Uuuummm caffeine.

I had a photo op this morning but alas no camera within fast reach. I yellow finch was playing on the yellow sunflowers in the yard. They matched exactly in color. It would have been a spectacular photo. I grabbed the telephoto and sat on the porch for a while hoping the bird would come back but that kodak moment was not meant to be. I did take some great pictures of the flowers in my back yard. Once I get them developed I promise to share.

Well kids, have a great weekend! Hug a loved one. Do something kind for a stranger, and say hello and smile at someone who looks like they are having a bad day.

Thursday stuff

Last night was girl night at the mall. We had a blast. Girlfriend J, C, S, and myself. At one point in the evening C and S were trying on clothes. They are close enough in size that they traded items back and forth, or in a couple cases flung them from dressing room to dressing room. I think it was my favorite part of the evening. Girlfriend J and I just pretty much played the part of fetching and critiquing. Oh, and zipping and tying. They both found some amazing outfits.

Shock of shocks, I did not find a pair of shoes at DSW. I know, weird huh?

Last night I started a book called Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest. So far so good. But I am only on page 49 so anything can happen. I did find the review, on the cover no less, very interesting: “Cherie Priest kicks ass!.....” Not quite what I expected on the cover of reputable literature. This isn’t one of those – cash run books by an overly famous and way overly read author. Go figure. While looking up the link to include for ya'll I noticed she has a new one coming in Oct. The new story sounds pretty good.

Random thoughts for Thursday:

God bless the inventor of the pause and serve feature on coffee pots.

What part of an executive meeting that has people sitting on their asses all day requires Gatorade and power bars?

I don’t see weeds, I see beautiful plants that other’s just don’t understand.

Waking up with a raging headache sucks. But having my baby girl in my lap, a good book in my hand, and a wonderfully hot and fresh cup of coffee on the windowsill makes it all go away.

Funny how the headache came back after I put my dog in her kennel, my book in my bag, and the coffee cup in the sink………….

I’m hungry

I am addicted to the show Miami Ink – and I can’t wait till Aug. 15th to get my next tattoo.

This is going to be a great last half of summer: tattoo, state fair, renaissance festival, road trip to see blog buddies.

People watching is fun

With jaw on the ground

Without going into the details I attended my first yippee ki yeah mother f%&$#@& meeting in corporate land. It was an experience. I can call it nothing else. An experience. That's where I will leave it. I still have to make it through day two tomorrow.

Corporate america is a very interesting monster.

On a totally unrelated note there is a new series on Sci Fi channel called Eureka. It's a pretty entertaining and bizarre show. I like it. It's an enjoyable hour.

What else.........

My friend was called for jury duty. During selection they asked if he could be impartial to a sex offender, child molester, kidnapper. My only question is what heartless, souless monster could be impartial? I'm just curious?

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is girls night out. I can't wait..........I may just skip the shopping and go straight to the drinking. Well, maybe a shoe shop or two first...............

Food orgasms and weird dreams

Heaven in Hudson:

I have sung the praises of Mama Maria’s to you all many times. An exceptional little Italian restaurant in Hudson Wisconsin. Someone told us about a different place in Hudson called the San Pedro Café. It’s a Caribbean restaurant and bar. We had a guest from Germany with us and she wanted to try it. Logic being that if we didn’t like the menu we would head up the road to Mama’s.

San Pedro Café is a tiny little place in the quaint downtown Hudson district. This place was crazy busy which is always a good sign.

We started our meal with their chicken nachos. And I must say that this was the best plate of nachos I have had in my life. Fresh chicken smoked in their wood fired oven layered with white corn chips, Wisconsin cheddar and mozzarella, pico di gallo, avocado puree and lemon-habanero aioli. I experienced a food orgasm. Let me tell you.

Though actually quite full we then had our main entrée. I had Rasta Pasta: Jerk spiced chicken sautéed with garlic and Serrano peppers – tossed with penne pasta and finished with a pepper cream and fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano . S had Chicken Chili Penne: Jerk spiced chicken simmered in a red chili cream sauce tossed with penne noodles and wood roasted vegetables. And the hubster had Island Rum Shrimp Linguine: Sautéed shrimp, sweet tomatoes and green beans tossed with fresh linguine in a coconut rum butter sauce – finished with chopped candied macadamia nuts and tropical salsa. All the dishes were superb.

The service was exceptionally attentive. And a team work environment was obvious. Overall this was one of those rare and delightful restaurant experiences.

Now on to my off the scale weird dream

I dreamt that I was a vampire. I hadn’t been one for very long, I was newly turned but apparently other vampires sensed that I would be powerful. So they set out to get rid of me. They did this by force feeding me a bunch of weird stuff, including paper towels.
Then collapsed and helpless on the ground they left me. When I came to I was feeling violently ill. I looked up and one of the vampires had remained behind. He said he felt bad that they had attacked me. I got up, went over to him and kissed him for staying behind. It was a good kiss. Then we set off to join the others. Apparently I wasn’t that mad at them. We found them at some sort of abandoned villa. I was suffering from all sorts of uncomfortable problems while my body was getting rid of all the stuff they had fed me so I was desperately trying to find a bathroom that had a working toilet. All the toilets were broken. Then I woke up………………….
Analyze that one for me. Damn it was weird.

Black Sheep - A tribute

I am the black sheep of the family. I won't deny it. I have a tattoo. I have been divorced. I don't give a damn what people think about me and I live my life the way I want to. I have lived in sin. I smoked pot. (okay, it was once, and I swear to god I didn't know you were supposed to inhale.) (no really, I may be the black sheep, but I was naive as hell) I am a mix of old world Italians, and sophisticated holier than thou New York Jews. And pretty much everything I have done in life has cause the family scandal.

So, when a young couple opened up The Black Sheep Coffee Cafe in my little town I had to at least try their coffee.

Best damn coffee I have ever had. Then I tried a scone. Oh man, I just died and went to danish heaven.

So, if you are ever in the St. Paul area, let me know and I will take you to the best little coffee shop on the planet.

I wish them every luck. They deserve to do better than all national chains combined. Great service, coffee and food to die for. Plus a very cozy and inviting little cafe.

Speaking of tattoos: I am going on Aug. 15th for my second tattoo. What do you think?

Her ears will be shorter (more elf like), the branch won't be as long, and I will have a couple falling daisies rather than leaves.

Those crazy sales people

So, Tink went to buy a camera and the sales clerks were tossing the bad ones on the floor. Which made me remember...............

I managed a china store several years back. I had one employee that was a cross between Antonio Banderas and Cheech or chong, take your pick. Anyway, the women swooned for him but he had a wicked sense of humor.

When the ladies would ask him how durable the china was he would whip a dinner plate across the room. And all be damned but they never broke. Of course during a staff meeting when he tried to teach the rest of us how to do this we broke some 20 odd plates. In fact I don't think one of us was successful in duplicating this talent.

He also spent an entire morning picking out service for 12 for a customer. It was an outlet store so we had a mixture of 1st and 2nd quality. She called in her order saying she didn't have time to pick it out and would he be so kind to do it for her. Considering the order would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 grand he agreed to have it ready. Well she came in and he had it not only picked out but wrapped and bagged. She then informed him that she thought maybe she wanted a different pattern. He put his hands on his hips and announced to her that he had spent his entire morning making sure she had the most perfect set of 12 anyone could hope for and she owed it to him to take the dishes. So she did. I fell over backward in my hiding place under the counter. (No way was I going to get involved in that train wreck) (And no way in hell would I ever get away with saying that to a customer)

In addition to him I had the greatest crew a manager could ask for.

I had a sweet Mexican mother of two that worked for me part time. She was running the register and asked to see someones drivers license when his signature didn't match the back of the credit card. The customer flew into a rage, got into her face and started screaming "F&*$'n Jew" "F&*$'n Jew!" At the top of his lungs, face beet red, and spittle flying from his mouth. The assistant manager told him to leave immediately. The guy refused and just kept screaming. So I called the police and told them to come pick up the guy. He finally - still screaming mind you- left the store. The police apprehended him half way across the parking lot (his behavior and our pointing him out made him easy to spot) He got into a confrontation with the police and hauled off in the squad car. Meanwhile I took her back to the break room to calm down. She was bawling. As I'm sitting with her she looks up to me with her tear stained face and says " Why was he yelling at me, I'm not Jewish, I'm Mexican."
I just had to hug her. And try my best not to giggle. She was so cute.

Another employee of mine was a very sweet older woman. I was getting ready to close up shop one evening and she came into the stock room, very calmly. She then said in her usual quiet voice "It's the strangest thing. There is a man with a rifle outside our door."
I asked her "Is it a police officer?"
She calmly answered with "Well, I'm not sure, he's all in black."
"Are the doors locked?"
"Yes, that's how I noticed him, I was locking up."
So, I tell her to stay in the back and I carefully go up front, just peaking around the corner of a wall and sure as shit there is a man completely in black hiding behind a pillar with a sniper rifle. So I calmly head back to the stock room, lock her and myself in the office and call the police. They tell me to stay where I am and they will call when it is safe to come out.
Not 10 minutes later they call and tell me that there will be an officer outside our front door with his badge out and we should go talk to him.
As it turns out the alarm at the jewelry store down the way had gone off. There had been a rash of jewelry store robbery/murders up and down the California highway system. So they weren't taking any chances and had called in the swat team. It was a false alarm thankfully.

My assistant was a great guy. He was funny, easy going and worked really hard. One day he came to the back where I had been doing some receiving. He said that two guys in the crystal department were getting into it over the last wine glass in a certain pattern. I thought he was kidding but he assured me that they were inches from a fist fight. So I went out there. And sure enough these two lug heads were circling each other and taunting one another to take a swing. (IN my crystal department mind you with crystal shelves none the less). So I stood in between the two boys with the glass in my hand that they wanted. I cleared my throat, they looked at me with hyped up anger in their eyes and I promptly dropped the glass smashing it into a million tiny pieces. I then informed them that they could leave their name and phone number at the register and we would call them when more glasses came in. They did leave their information, we did call them, and they did come back. Go figure.........

Lastly, one afternoon a car drove up on our curb and parked right in front of the store. Two big bruisers came in and stood guard at the door - I was at the counter dialing 9............they flipped out ID..............1..........my assistant read their badges..............."Russian embassy" he says to me...........okay, put the phone down..................Then another gentleman steps out of the car and comes inside. He would like a certain pattern. Along with the dishes he bought cream soup cups, espresso cups, and other accessories. All in all close to 5 grand. As he was paying I couldn't help but notice the glock under his jacket. They took their stuff, loaded it into the car and drove away. Weirdest damn thing that I have ever seen. Well, ok, some of the other stuff was pretty weird too.

So there you have it, just a few examples of my life as a retail manager. I'll share more some other day............

charms and empowering

Here's a wicked case of TMI for you:

I have a pair of super girl undies. I wear them any time I need to have a little extra attitude, or feel a little more empowered. This would include job interviews, certain types of meetings, or when I go to an event I know I will not be comfortable at.

I have a necklace of a nude woman that is holding the moon in her outstretched hands. She was described as a moon goddess from the seller on e-bay. It is my favorite pendant. And I wear her anytime I need the strength of the goddess behind me. Or pull from the strength of the goddess within me.

I have a fairy pendant. I wear that when I am feeling a little bit feisty.

I have a frog prince pendant, I wear that when I want to feel close to my hubster even though he is far away.

I have a bra that moves my southbound boobs back up toward my chin. It is black with pink lace and I feel sexy every time I wear it.

I also have a semi-see through blouse. I wear that when I want to feel just a little bit naughty.

Lastly, I have a pair of shoes that are neon multi-colored and way out of what used to be my comfort zone. They were my first attempt at being daring in my clothing choices. I wear those when I feel like I am falling into a rut and need to snap myself out of it.

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My own little blog con

It looks like labor day weekend may be when me and Girl J head out on a road trip. We need to meet a friend half way between here and a place on the eastern seaboard. Well according to the map that place just happens to be home to 3 blog buddies. And I am very excited. One of the bloggers is a long time friend. The other two are new friends that I have met through blogging. And I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this.

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Rantings of Newt

Rantings of Newt got a new look - and a short rant.

Cloaking devices and the Princess Puppy

My hubster and I have our very own cloaking device. It works great. But we don’t know how to turn it off. In fact, it seems to operate on its’ own whim. We used to think that it was just our Subaru that had the device installed but it is becoming more apparent that it is not the car, it is us.

No one see us. No one! I can’t tell you the number of times people have turned or pulled out right in front of us. And I am not talking 50-100 yards away, I’m talking slam on the breaks, skid out, go up on the curve in front of us. And this happens all the time. Weekly.

People walk in front of the car, or behind it if we are backing up, as if we aren’t there.

What lead us to discover that we are the ones with the cloaking device and not the car is that we also have the same things happen to us in the truck and in the Land Cruiser. And trust me that Land Cruiser is way harder to stop at the last second. There is a lot of weight on that baby and it doesn’t want to stop on a dime.

We also will be in line at a restaurant, fast food place, or store and people will just walk right past us to the counter. We have even had people behind us in line pulled out and taken to a different line to help them faster. And it always seems to be the persons right behind us. Apparently either we are cloaked at the time, or not worthy of fast courteous service.

And don’t even get me started about furniture stores. While shopping for a bedroom set (no small chunk of change) we went to about a dozen different furniture stores. It wasn’t until the last one that anyone even acknowledged we were there and asked if we needed assistance. We actually looked behind us and to the side of us to see who they were really talking to. We did inform a few of the stores that we were in that we were shopping for a bedroom set but they were obviously not interested in our money. Those were the stores that literally had sales people out on the floor actively asking people if they needed assistance. And everyone was approached multiple times except us. We jokingly even checked a few mirrors to make sure we had a reflection. The store we did buy from is actually the only store we shop at now. They consistently have offered us assistance.

The hubster and I don’t look like poor relations. Or at least I don’t think we do. We wear respectable clothes, we bathe, we fix our hair. We have all of our teeth. And we don’t walk around saying things like “Gosh, Vern, will ya look at that thing there.” “WhooWhee I bet that cost a pretty penny.”

Then of course there is the car that didn't see me either and ran into me. I was walking so it can't be just the Subaru with cloak capabilities. But obviously Sophie was close enough to me to also get cloaked.

Does anyone else have a cloaking device? How do you turn it off if you do? Just curious.

On another note.

I took Sophie in to be groomed and I had her shaved down. As soon as they are developed I will post the hair and no hair photos. She looks like a totally different dog. She’s still cute as hell though. I opted for full shave down rather than a lion cut. I think she would have looked ridiculous with the furry legs and head.

It's Friday and I have found my bliss

First, man have I been dumping the blog thoughts here lately. I doubt you guys want to read this much stuff.

Anyway. I came in to work this morning with an urgent email. From someone I have never heard of in our company. It was in invitation to some leadership meeting. And it says in bold that it is being sent to me ONLY. And that I am not to forward it on to any colleagues or team members.

First off, I am not a leader. I’m a pee-on. Secondly the only people so far that I can tell our going are the top executives on the floor. So thirdly, this has to be a mistake. Outlook is a beautiful thing (I can at least tell who has that same space blocked off on their calendars.)

My hubby says that someone just recognizes that I am “a goddess” (his words). So, awwww, how sweet is that?

He said I should just confirm back with the person that sent it to make sure it was meant for me. But part of me wants to ride this ego boost for now. It’s Friday so I plan to ride my high till Monday or so. I don’t want to end my week on a ha ha – thought you were special but you aren’t note. I'm happier with my momentary rise in career bliss.

This meeting is off site at a fancy hotel. And there is dinner after. And only people who got the email will have a badge and materials waiting for them at registration. Ooooh la la.

***Update: since posting this I took a sneak and the person with the least potential got invited so I can only assume that either A. everyone is invited. or B. this is only for slackers and loosers. And I have gone from being a goddess with potential to someone that is so lacking in potential we need a seminar to save us.

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Bliss of a personal nature:
On a side note my dad recommended a book by John Dunning called “Booked to Die.” It’s the first in a series. He calls me two or three times a day to see where I am at in the book. I love that. The miles stretch between us but we have found this special thing that keeps us so very very close. One of my earliest memories is sitting on my dad’s lap reading his novel to him. In a little girl sing song voice, slowly working her way through the big words. And we have never stopped reading together. For me, this is what life is about. This is why we are on this earth. To share something with someone else and to find joy in each other’s company.

Hero of the month award

This award goes to all the amazing folks involved in this story. If you can, watch the video, I guarantee you will go "AWWWWWWWW"

Work related question

I have never worked for a company before that had administrative assistants. I am told by various people "Oh just have so and so do that." But I feel like some evil tyrant when I hand off work. I am a pee-on at this company. Low man on the totem pole, hell, I don't think I'm even ON the pole. SO, are there any admins out there? Do you mind when asked to do stuff like fax this, mail that, file this, check for such and such? From someone so low and bug like as myself?

Reward

Yes, I am offering a reward for anyone that can find my lost blog thoughts. I must get a dozen or so blog thoughts a day. And at the time they seem easy enough to remember but come the next morning I got bupkis. Maybe you have seen them whizzing by in the wind?

I aspire to keep a notebook with me where ever I go. But alas I’m lucky if I have my keys with me, or cell phone for that matter. And I suck at the whole text message thing so that is not an option. By the time I managed to message myself the thought would be long gone……………..

And it’s not just blog thoughts I forget. Help me Jebus! I’m only 36 years old. But I have absolutely no memory what so ever. My absolute worst skill is name retention. You look at me, shake my hand, introduce yourself and before our hands separate I don’t remember your name. I heard that a good trick is to say the persons name back to them.
Tried it. Doesn’t work.

Example: I spent 5 days with the same 11 people for training. I could remember three names by the end of the week. How sad is that???????? Did I mention that I had already spent 5 days with the same 11 people the month previous???????

I know a guy who walks around with a mini recorder in his pocket. He leaves himself notes for everything. He has a better excuse though. He was in a car accident that left him in a coma for a while from severe head injuries. He’s fine now but one of the problems he has had is memory retention.

Maybe I just need to get myself a little mini recorder. One that will fit in my pocket or on a key chain. Then I can remember that we need to pick up milk on the way home. That I want to blog about, awww hell, I forgot already…………………

***I did just discover that my cell phone has a voice recorder feature. Okay, very cool. This could solve my dilemma. Only thing I have to do now is remember to use it.

Random Newt

*I forgot how much I love Keebler chocolate covered wafer cookies

*I think I killed my rhubarb plant – so much for transplanting it away from the fence and the encroaching raspberry bush

*My cat is insane – no seriously, no exaggeration – he’s certifiable

*How do you make a dog stop barking at you? When she’s so excited to see you that she barks her head off? I’m trying but nothing seems to be working.

*Curley’s barbecued pulled pork is awesome!

*Don’t leave the remains of corn on the cob in a paper bag on your porch. It WILL ensure that the cats don’t get into it but NOT the flys and ants.

*I sent a Thank you to Jay for getting me hooked on Vampire Hunter D – I’m now reading the second book in the series. And I want to thank him all over again.

*Yard work goes WAY faster when you have your Ipod with you

****Warning – the next random thought may be TMI
If you are doing a lot of bending and squatting while doing yard work and your Ipod keeps getting in the way, tucking it in between your boobs works perfectly! (as long as you are wearing a bra) (this advice won’t probably work for you boys )
Like I said, TMI

*Last night I watched the hubster sitting out back enjoying the cool night air. I fell in love with him all over again……………..

*While at the movie theater on Monday I watched two girls load up their mega bucket of popcorn with so much melted butter I started to gag. Did I mention that they sprinkled half the container of salt into the bucket as well? I almost went over to them yelling stop stop, for the sake of all that is holy, stop!

Now I want popcorn………………..

*Have you noticed that coffee shops have replaced donut shops for our local enforcement hero’s? If you are ever in need of emergency services in down town St. Paul check the Dunn Bro’s on Wabasha. I can almost guarantee some person in uniform will be there.

* Tasty and easy recipe for your barbecue: (you’ll need either really big potato’s or a pan to lay them on that can sit on the grill) Slice potato’s, dip them in olive or canola oil, sprinkle them with a parmesan cheese and bread crumb mixture and set them on the grill till nice and crispy. We actually cooked some of the batch up in a pan on the stove and they came out equally as tasty.

*Tazo makes these flavored teas that you can buy in a bottle. Sort of like Snapple. There is one flavor called Brambleberry. I am addicted.

*I have no idea what I am going to wear tomorrow. I usually plan out my week and get it ready just so I have one less thing my brain has to do so early in the morning. I’m feeling like blue would be a good color……………Maybe because I have yet to wear my new blue sandals………………

*Is it just weird that I plan my wardrobe for the week? Just curious.

*Last night it was cool enough to sleep with a blanket. Either that or I was so sunburned that I got the chills. I’m not sure which one is actually the true state of things………….

*Another Jay had a nice blog yesterday about being oneself in their blog. And that we tend to sensor what we say. And we are afraid of being boring or mundane. I don’t mind mundane. It let’s me know that other people have mundane days just like me.

Hubster quote of the day: (said while sitting with my insane cat)

“Hey Socs, we both have chubby bellies”

He then wiggles Soc’s belly, and then his own

“Oh, but you can lick yours…………………”

Lesson #1 for the day:
Make sure you know who you are sending an email to. I got a little confused today and sent
a response to someone's comment that probably had them scratching their head - or thinking I'm
crazy, or both...................

And Lastly from Chelle P.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.(Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Use what’s actually next to you.)

I had to cheat, 123 has a picture so I used 124:
from Vampire Hunter D - Raiser of Gales by Hideyuk Kikuchi
"Beautiful face and softly curved body trembling with rage, she opposed everything that was happening here."

Playing Hooky

Just like a couple of kids my hubby and I decided to play hooky from work, the world, and everything in between. And it was fun. We lounged around, played with the animals, and just didn’t worry about much at all.

We did work on the landscaping around the garage (according to the city inspector the area had to be paved and landscaped before they would sign off on the building permit completion.) So we put in timbers, added some good topsoil, transplanted a couple of hostas and then put down mulch. It looks clean and neat now.

We also went to a matinee of Pirates of the Caribbean. And that was a very fast, very fun, very funny 150 minutes. The hubster, who hates every movie he ever sees even laughed out loud and enjoyed himself. And that says a lot. I just can’t believe how fast the movie went. It is a little darker and a little more graphic than the previous movie so if you have young kids it may be a little scarier than the first one.

This was a good day. I think we need to play hooky more often……………..

A view of Newt's little world

I grabbed the digital camera from work last night so as to take a few pictures of our yard. If you want to see our yard from the beginning go here. We acutally had a lawn at one point.

Finding my happy place

I have to confess that over the past couple of weeks I have been a raging and unpleasant person. I'm not sure what chemical imbalance occurred in my tiny little brain but it wasn't pleasant and I didn't like myself very much.

My friends and even my hubster tease me that I am not enough of a biatch. So I joke that I will try harder. Well, apparently I not only excelled at it but exceeded all expectations. Cause the hubster said "Honey, I love you, I know we told you to be more biatchy, but dang, you more than succeeded." He then said I was making him look like the nice one.

Whoa now, let's not exaggerate here. But if I'm making him look nice, then I gotta get out from under that full moon.

I had promised myself that if need be I would take a vacation day from work and kick my angry little hiney around the block till my attitude improved.

But, alas, working from home yesterday so as to watch over my baby girl cured me of whatever nastiness I had caught.

I am back to me. Sweet, positive, and happy.

Thank the goddess.

Last night I came to another realization. I was so preoccupied with my own feelings over the mornings events that I didn't think about the hubster. I spent the entire day looking at Sophie and being thankful she was still in my life. She spent a lot of time laying in my lap yesterday and I wouldn't have wanted her anywhere else. She must have known that I needed some serious Sophie time.

So when I went up to bed last night the hubster was laying up there waiting for me. I asked why he was there since he usually won't come to bed for a few more hours. He said he just wanted to cuddle with his baby girls. He said that he just wanted to be with us. And he was glad that we were ok.

Wow, hit me over the head with a brick. I don't give him enough credit. He actually had to deal with the thought of loosing both of us.

Now that a new day has dawned I can honestly say that I think the biatchy funk has passed.
I can live and blog happy again.

Cheers!

How did your day start off?

Better than mine I hope. I was out with Sophie this morning on our daily walk. Up 21st avenue we went, like we always do. Only this time a very sleepy idiot chose to run the stop sign and hit us. THANKFULLY he was only coasting through the stop, and THANKFULLY when I banged my fist on his hood and screamed at him he hit the break and not the gas. THANKFULLY my baby girl did not go under the front tire though she did disappear from my view under the car. She broke out of her collar and ran away from the big bad black menace mobile. So, both of us are ok. I am working from home today just to keep an eye on her though. Nothing to get your adrenaline going at the crack of dawn like a bumper in your knees. The kid got out of the car while I was on the ground checking my dog over and hugging her for all I was worth. He said he was sorry, he was just tired and already late for work. - I was too overwhelmed to even say anything to him. Sophie was fine, I put her collar back on her and off we went to finish our walk. It wasn't for another block that the tears started to well up in my eyes. In a split second my baby was almost taken away from me.

I had set out on our walk with a little bit of apprehension as it was. We have always had a problem in our town with loose dogs. But since Sophie is so docile and non threatening I haven't worried too much. But then a good friend of mine also has a very sweet and docile Sheltie that was attacked and bitten by two pitt bulls over the weekend. The little sheltie, was sitting in his front yard minding his own business when the dogs charged him and attacked. Porty, the little sheltie, ran toward the back of the house and up onto the deck. Thankfully the dogs did not follow him. But they had managed to bite him. Timing is everything and my friends baby brother was heading out the back door to play in the pool only to find his dog sitting at the door bleeding. They got Porty to the vet where he had surgery and they believe he will be okay. He went home yesterday.

This was the 4th attack by these pit bulls. In the past several months they bit two other dogs and killed a cat. One of the pit bulls had actually been banned from the city after it killed the cat. The law doesn't regard animals attacking animals as a serious problem. It's not until a human is attacked that any actions can be taken against the animal. Apparently the owner of the dogs had taken his one pit bull to visit the other pit bull that had been banned. Well, wherever they were they got out and ran to the only place they know, there neighborhood. Thus two dangerous dogs on the loose. And they found little Porty and attacked him.

My friends family got the police involved. And kudos to the officer that handled the call. The officer convinced the owner to destroy his dogs. And she called to tell my friend's family that he was going to put them down. But then the guy changed his mind. And the officer called to inform them of this also. So, my friends mother asked to have the guy put on the phone which the officer said she couldn't do. So she said, "Well, just pass a message on to him then. Tell him that he can have his dogs put down humanely, or he can choose not to, and we will take care of it and there is no guarantee how that will happen." The officer said she would call them back after talking to him a little bit more. In the end the man did put the dogs down.

It's horrifically wrong that an attack on a human is required before any action can take place. These dogs were obviously a dangerous menace. One of the attacks had even occurred inside a fence. The pit bulls had jumped a fence and attacked the dog inside. Had there been a child back there whose to say they would have stopped at the dog. And that poor dog is now terrified of his own back yard. It's just so upsetting.

In other news:

Fireworks last night were not too bad. The neighbors actually set of sparklers and stuff - lots of pretty colors, very little noise. And everyone was done by 11. Which is very nice since folks had to go to work in the morning. Yeah, neighborhood!

As for the Twins game that I went to:
For a first time game both for myself and my German friends it was a great game. Back to back home runs, a fight between a coach and umpires that got him ejected from the game. And even a wedding proposal. Seval, one of the girls with me asked at the beginning of the game if it was true that people would propose on the jumbo tron. I told her it happens once in a while but not at every game. Well, I'll be damned if it didn't happen on the night we went. And the people sitting around us were very nice, they would explain things to the girls as they happened. Overall it was the perfect experience. And taking light rail to the stadium ROCKS!

That's about all for today boys and girls.

Go hug the ones you love.............................................

Persistence

Single-minded persistence

After every meal our kitty Cassie goes tearing up the stairs and waits patiently by the two hall doors where the other cats are fed. Once in a while Hobbes will leave a kibble or two in his bowl so when we open the door to let him out she tears in there to see if he left anything. She does the same thing when we let out Tinker. She does this every single time, three times a day despite the fact that she only scores food perhaps once every two to three weeks.

Simple-minded persistence

Why are people so entertained by fireworks? I'm not talking about the huge displays professionally done by cities, but rather those crappy little noise makers we can buy at fireworks stands (Minnesota outlaws anything that can get airborne). So, Ooooohhh they go bang! Wow! Isn't that exciting. What am I missing here folks. My neighbors set off little poppers every 3 minutes or so last night. The ones that sound like gun fire? I really would like to know what is so damn appealing? Wow, they go bang bang bang. Wow!

Scream-minded persistence

The next door neighbors child is capable of two noises: She can look at you and say "Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi" And if she isn't doing that she is SCREAMING. No, really she has two states of being. Repetitive and annoying, or lung blasting, ear bleeding screaming.

Sparrow-minded persistence:

4 days till the release of Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest. In anticipation of the new movie I watched the first Pirates movie yesterday. I can't wait..................................

Society-minded persistence:

I rant about that here.

Snack-minded persistence:

Sophie loves to chew on bones, but what she loves even more is to find bones. We put a wide brimmed shallow basket full of bones in the living room for the puppies. I mix into the basket small easy to chew bones. And Sophie loves to root around in the basket and pull them out. She'll dig one out, grab it, charge over to the couch and plop down with the bone. She'll chew on it for 15 seconds, then get up, charge back to the bowl and root around for another bone. Find one, and charge back to the couch. 4 or 5 bones later she gets off the couch and lays on the cold floor exhausted. All the bones sitting on the couch barely chewed. She'll do the same routine with bones that are laying around the house. She'll spot it, charge through the house to her couch, then get up and charge around some more to see if there are more bones laying around. Or if all else fails she'll go rooting around in her basket. The hubster and I agree that it is one of her top 10 cutest things to do. And the happy look on her face always brings me to giggles.