Taking the office out in to the WAY TOO OPEN

I decided I might as well continue the work theme with another observation I have made lately.

First there were pagers and people would have themselves beeped just so they would seem important

Then there were cell phones and people would talk on them even if there was no one on the other end just so they felt important

Then there were those tiny hands free ear pieces that started to blur the line between crazy people and someone talking on the phone.

And now there is Bluetooth. And it seems to be primarily men that feel a need to hold meetings all by themselves in VERY public places. Apparently no longer having a chord between your phone and ear piece is some sort of liberating experience. So much so that they feel the urge to pace around, hand motions all over the place. And using a vocal volume somewhere between screaming and rock concert screaming. I know they do it for show. I know they think it makes them big and important. They sure as heck let everyone know what color they bleed. And damned if I don’t feel the strongest urge to walk over, grab that damn ear piece off their head and grind it underneath my beautiful sexy blue Nine West heals.


***Addendum to yesterday's discussion about bleeding the company colors:
I was reminded during a conversation today with Nettie that there is a third sub-category for those people that bleed company colors. And that would be the people that don't think they bleed company colors but in reality do so.

Bleeding other colors

I’ve noticed there are two types of employees, those that bleed company colors and those that don’t. Each of these fall into two sub categories. If you bleed company colors you either do it at the cost of any life outside of work, or you bleed the company colors on the outside of your body. Bleeding on the outside is also known as the pathetic brown noser.
For those that don’t bleed company colors the two sub types are those that are just bitter and hate their job and those that have their priorities elsewhere.

We all work with people that fall into each category. And in terms of relating to one’s co-workers I find I relate best with those in my sub-category. I find some of the other’s either annoying or infuriating.

I was invited to a lunch and learn that focused around balancing home and work. When I declined the offer I actually got some pretty snotty responses.

I decided that they are simply jealous of those of us that still bleed good old blood.

Now, just because I have chosen to not devote my soul to the company store it doesn’t mean that I am not happy in the workplace. I still love what I do and do my job to the best of my abilities. I have just decided that it doesn’t need to be my life. And I find that I don’t’ always respect or admire those that do give up everything else.

Life is too short to worry so much about work. Yes, it gives us the money to live our lives. But what kind of life is it if we give everything we have to work?

I know there are some careers that people choose because it is what they want to do with their lives. Their careers are their lives. But those are the doctors, the scientists, the artists that leave a legacy behind.

But come on, if you sell furniture for a living, or you work for a company that makes cars. Is what you do REALLY that important? SO important that you forget your family, your children, your dog?

Please don’t misunderstand me, I sell chemicals for a living. No one died because a box of soap didn’t reach its destination. SO I am not belittling ANY career choices. I’m pretty much just rambling senselessly.

We have had a few people die at work here over the past couple of years and I find it interesting that the person is remembered for what they sold, the accounts they brought to the company etc. But no where in the often full page layout does it mention what kind of person they were. How many kids they had, the wife or husband left behind. The hobbies, the pets.

And I find that a little sad.

I don’t want my tombstone to read: “She sold a lot of soap.”

I prefer “She lived life to the fullest.” “She danced” “Loving mother of 4 dogs and 4 cats.” “Cherished wife” “The world will be a darker place”

Something, anything, that showed that I LIVED.

Photos, Photos, and more....

I wanted to post some yard pictures and a tiny kitchen project to show you what I did over the weekend. But below the pictures is the last dog post - about Lily. Just in case you didn't see it yet. There is one post for each dog. Lily, Caleb, Sophie, and Max.

This is the rock garden, with a new pot of Daisies (I painted the pot) and then of course a few more flamingos in honor of Dad coming to visit soon

Gerber Daisies that I planted in containers that are at the front of our sidewalk
Gerber Daisy with dew drops in the center

This is a view of what has become our day lily garden. We bought to beautiful hanging plant arrangements over the weekend.

This is a plant growing in the rock garden. It has two different colors of daisy, pink and purple.

I also made a "fairy garden"

Bunnies live in fairy gardens
As do fairies


Close-up of a clematis
The clematis vine that is on our copper arbor
Daisies in my yard
Dew Drop on a hosta

And over the weekend I got ambitious and decided to add a little Daisy flair to the kitchen

The hubster liked it so much that he wants to get more rolls of the border so that when we actually remodel the kitchen we will have it to use again.

And Last but not Least: Lily

I first noticed Lily on Petfinder during the winter of 2005. She was listed as a very frightened dog that must go into a home with only a female or at least a home with a female. Because I had to travel for work and would be gone for more than two weeks we decided to wait to adopt her. If she was still there when I got home we would go meet her. But we didn't think it was fair for her to come live with us only to have me leave soon after. Especially if she was terrified of men. So off I went to California. While on business I took some extra time off to be with my family. And I told everyone about Lily. My Aunt was in love with her. She thought she was just the cutest thing.


When I got back home I found out she had been adopted. I was sad but that just meant it wasn't meant to be. I told my Aunt that she was gone and my Aunt said that maybe she will be like Sophie and get returned. Of course browsing Petfinder is one of my favorite things so I would look every once in a while and part of me would wish to see her posted again. And every time I talked to my Aunt she would ask me if "That cute little girl puppy" ever showed up for adoption.


Well, one afternoon while looking at Petfinder there she was. As it turned out she escaped from her new mom the second day she had her. And disapeared into the woods of rural Wisconsin. They managed to spot her several weeks later, she was living in the wild with a pack of feral cats. So they convinced a farming family to try to live trap her. And they did. They said it took a big piece of roast to fianally catch her. Her new mom didn't want her back so Lily went back into the system. Only in the course of rahabilitating her she had bonded with another dog and became a pair adoption in the hopes that maybe with the two of them so close they woudn't run away without the other one. Well, we were willing to adopt one more dog but not two. So I just watched their posting and hoped that someone would adopt them. I told my Aunt about it but she agreed that two more dogs were a lot to take on. But they stayed available for adoption. Month after month. And then we saw a dog we really liked, another Sheltie mix like Sophie so we went to meet her. And she was a wonderful dog. And anyone would be happy to have her in their home. But I couldn't help feeling like the "right" dog was still out there and I knew who that was. So I called about Lily and Caleb. And talking to the foster mom, she told me that no one had called about them. And they were actually going to pull their profile for a while. So we went to meet them and the rest is history.


I even took Lily out to California with me to meet my Aunt. Who was thrilled to get to meet her. Just like me, my aunt had fallen in love with her. And she was so happy to have her at the house. And Lily was a little angel the whole time.
Lily is feisty, playful, and high spirited. One of the things that makes us laugh at her is that she snores. And her favorite places in the world to sleep are under the ottoman, and in the cat house. She has been a handful, as has Caleb, but we don't regret the decision.


Everyone wants to leave their mark on this world. Most do it by providing the world with the next generation. Some contribute great advances in Science. Some in literature, music, or art. Me, my mark is that I helped to make animals happy. And give them a safe and loving home. And that for me is very fulfilling. I don't think I will die wishing I had done more. Contributed more. Because I can proudly say that we adopted 8 animals (and I'm sure more to come over the years) that lived a happy life they may not have had if it wasn't' for us.

Princess Sophie

Now that you met the boys, let me tell you about our girls.

"Leah" was rescued from a puppy mill when she was about a year and a half. She was kept in a box and had no human contact. She had been adopted to a family but returned 6 months later because she woudn't "warm up" to the family. So the shelter wanted to adopt her into a home that already had a well adjusted dog hoping that maybe another dog would help her to learn what being a puppy really meant.

When we went to meet her she had a leash attached to her because it was the only way to get her out from under furniture where she hid all day. While Max played with "Leah's" foster dad the hubster and I sat with her. She sat between us shaking violently. I looked up at the hubster and I could tell that she was going to come home with us. We talked to her foster parents and officially adopted her. They would keep her till the end of the week. And then the hubster and I planned to take a day off each after the weekend so she would have someone in the house for the first four days in her new home.

When we went to get her that Friday evening the foster mom told us it was a good thing we were picking her up. Her husband was in love with "Leah". And had she stayed one more day she's not sure he could have let her go.

So we took her home and "Leah" became Sophie.

The hubster and I were prepared for a long term rehabilitation of this freightened little dog. But to our surprise she quickly became a little spit fire. Brave, social, and happy.

She went from 17 to 24 pounds, her baby fine coat filled in and became full and fluffy. Her hair even crimped in placed when it got wet. She got so much fur the hubster and I no longer worried about her during winter. We thought for sure she would need a coat and boots in order to go out in the Minnesota winter. But a little love and a little nutrition went a long way for her.

Sophie and Socrates fell in love and have been inseparable ever since.

I think the hubster and I have fallen a little in love with her ourselves.

On Max

Max and I found each other back in 1997. He is 11 years old now. But looks exactly the same as the day he came home with me. I was going through a very hard time in my life and had just moved into a house with a very good friend. I had talked about getting a dog, a Corgi to be exact, but my friends all tried to convince me to get a pound puppy. They also made me promise not to go alone to the pound since they knew I would end up bringing the entire pound home with me. But one afternoon on my way into work I thought I'd stop in at the local shelter. And as I walked down the isle looking in each cage I just didn't see the right dog. All of them were barking non-stop. Except one little guy who was happily playing with a tug toy. All the other dogs in his kennel were jumping all over the place and barking at me, but not Max. He didn't even turn to look at me. I checked his tag and they said he was a Corgi mix. And that was it, he had to be mine.

I asked an employee about him and all she said was that he was mean. And would probably be destroyed. He still had to have all his temperament tests. And even if he passed those (which she doubted) then he would have to be fixed so the soonest I could have him would be the following Tuesday.

I told her that he was mine and I was going to adopt him.

"We'll see" was all she said to me.

The very next day the shelter called me and told me I had 24 hours to come pick him up or they would take him off reserve. I asked them why the sudden change from a wait of more than a week "IF and only IF you didn't destroy him."

"Oh," she said to me "He's a very sweet dog, passed his tests with flying colors and he's already fixed. So do you want him???"

Of course I had just gotten to work and was working during shelter hours for the next two days. But my staff simply handed me my purse and told me to go get my dog. So I told her I would be right over. I stopped at Walmart on my way and picked up a leash and collar for him (I had planned to do my dog supply shopping over the weekend) and then went and got my buddy. I brought him into work for everyone to see.

And we have been inseparable ever since. He moved to Minnesota with me riding in the car we had hitched to the moving van. And he took to the snow like, well, like the bred for cold weather dog that he is. He LOVES snow.

A few years ago while walking around the park a woman stopped me and informed me that Max was a very rare breed called a Swedish Vallhund. It was a very odd encounter and I just went about our walk. When I got home I told the hubster about it and he looked it up on line. And then I hear "Uh, honey, you need to come look at this."

Well, I'll be damned but that is what Max is. He isn't a corgi mix, he's a rare breed. And ironically probably the ancestor of the corgi. A viking dog that rode the ships with the great warriors. A dog noble enough for Valhalla.

And that is what my little man is. He is noble.

But he did fool me, he barks A LOT! Too much some days.

He is a herding dog. And he sure herds his brothers and sisters. He is also excellent at agility. We even took agility for fun last year and he was a natural.

He is also a dog that attracts strangers. A dog that every man seems to adore. A dog that had an entire club of big burly tattoo covered Harley guys rolling around in the grass in play with him. Honest, I wish I had pictures. It was a slightly unnerving gathering of some tough looking guys. But dang if they didn't get all mushy and cutsie over Max.

And when we take him to the Renaissance Festival we get a line of people waiting to pet him. I'm not kidding, an actual line forms of people waiting to pet our dog.

So there you have it, my Max, my friend, my little bubba.

Color me scarlet -

I'm embarrassed but I was told I HAD to share.
Watch the video.

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S92333.shtml?cat=1

If nothing else, you get to see my pretty garden :-)