Exactly!

From the Onion:

While Cowboys fans are hailing talented, physically dominant wide receiver Terrell Owens' debut in Dallas as the coming of a new Michael Irvin, football analysts are warning that the flamboyant, outspoken locker-room distraction may instead turn out to be another Michael Irvin. "You've got to respect the talent of a player who, much like Michael Irvin before him, can't be kept out of the end zone and changes the way the game is played at his position," said Rick Gosselin, who covered Irvin's career as an eager sports columnist and reluctant police-beat reporter for the Dallas Morning News. "But no one has any respect for a big-mouthed Michael Irvin-style player who can't keep his name out of the papers and changes the way people think of the Cowboys."

Yes, my thoughts, exactly.

NFL, Jeopardy Style

I'll take Sports Assholes for $1000, Alex

Question: Why are TO's eyes brown?

Answer: What is, because he's so full of shit?

It's something new every day with TO to marvel/laugh/scoff at.

His response to why he was late and got the $9500 fine:

"I overslept."

He overslept. Well, yes, he's right, everyone does oversleep sometimes, certainly myself included. Though, I have to say that if I was making his salary, which ratio to mine is probably something like, he makes my year's salary in under a week, hell maybe in a day or two, I can almost guarantee you that I would never oversleep again.

But, whatever.

The really comical thing is that the day after Parcells comes out and says "if he doesn't practice, he doesn't play," TO managed to get his ass out on the practice field. Imagine that! The very next day his hamstring feels all better! Go figure!

Of course his return to practice also coincided with a lowering of the local temperature, down to about 90 from the previous 105 or so.

Mr. Arrogant was apparently of the opinion that just because some consider him the best receiver in the NFL, he was going to be on the field come regular season time, regardless of his lack of practice and preseason play.

I say good for you, Bill. Good for you.

Confidential...

...to those who are finding your way here by Googling "whirlpool cabrio reviews":

Yeah, I couldn't find any either. So I took a blind leap of faith. I'll let you know after September 3rd what I think.

Of Mice and Cats

Well, ok, rats and cats and dogs.

You may recall some time ago I was dealing with...er... a rat problemo. Truly Nolen came out and fixed all rat access issues, eventually I stopped hearing things (although their traps never caught anything), and all is well with the world as far as rats not being in my house goes.

Yesterday I was walking Carlee boxer out front and I spotted a dead one in the grass in the yard.

Oh Lord is it rat season again?

I assume that a cat left it there as a proud trophy for me (or someone) to find. Where it was when the cat got it, I don't know.

STAY AWAY FROM MY HOUSE, YOU LITTLE FUCKERS!

Rats, not cats. Rats=bad, cats=good. But watch out for Carlee, you kitties. She's not so cat-friendly.

Almost, but Not Quite, Ready...

...for "I told you so."

From AOL.com (reposted without permission but not for monetary gain; btw, the links are non-functioning, I copied/pasted and was too lazy to fix them):

Frustration Builds as T.O. Nurses Hamstring
MRIs Negative, but Receiver Not Ready to Play
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP

, Texas (Aug. 23) - Terrell Owens won't be in any hurry to get off the bicycle this time.

Like he did for most practices during training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Owens rode a stationary bicycle Wednesday when the Dallas Cowboys held their first workout at home. The receiver said he reaggravated his left hamstring injury by returning to practice too soon last week.

"At this point, yeah, I will be close to 100 percent before I get back on the field," Owens said. "I'm not going to jeopardize my health just because of speculation or anything like that."

Owens characterized his injury as a "severe pull" and said he almost certainly will miss his third straight preseason game. The Cowboys play at home Saturday night against San Francisco , Owens' original team.

"It's frustrating, but it's not where I need it to be to play and perform like I need to," Owens said. "So at this point, I'm going to be smart about it."

Asked if he could play if the regular season were starting, Owens said, "I doubt it, not the way I need to play."

After missing 14 consecutive training camp practices and the preseason opener in Seattle because of the hamstring problem that has bothered him all month, Owens returned for five practices last week. He then missed the final full workout in California and didn't play Monday night against New Orleans in Shreveport, La., after the hamstring tightened up on him.

Owens had returned to practice after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones suggested that the receiver needed to learn how to practice at less than 100 percent. His first practice back came only hours after coach Bill Parcells reiterated that Owens needed to be on the field.

"I felt like I was never pressured to get back on the field. I just tried to compromise with some people, just try to be around the team and get back out there," Owens said. "It just flared up again."

Owens first felt a twinge in his hamstring Aug. 2, but an MRI taken three days later was clear. Owens said another MRI taken this week was also negative, with only a little fluid in the hamstring.

"Just because the MRI doesn't show anything, that doesn't mean that I'm not hurting," Owens said. "I got to a point where I was feeling a little bit healthier (last week), obviously to go out there and practice. I felt like I got more reps than my body was ready for, than my injury was ready for."

Owens went through individual and team drills last week, running routes at full speed and making hard cuts without any apparent problems.

While saying he would take a "majority" of the blame for doing too much, Owens said he thought he was only going to be doing "limited stuff" on the field.

"That went out the window after the first day," Owens said.

Dallas has its final preseason game five nights after playing the 49ers .

It's possible that Owens might not play in a game for Dallas until the Sept. 10 season opener at Jacksonville . He hasn't played in a game with quarterback Drew Bledsoe , and the Dallas offense is different from the West Coast scheme Owens played in for the 49ers and Philadelphia .

"He is pretty much up on what to do," Parcells said. "He has been very attentive in meetings and trying to learn. There are some adjustments for him to make. Where he is and actually doing it is hard to tell. ... I'm going to have to see something."

Owens said he's not concerned about the possibility of not playing in the preseason. He wants to make sure he is healthy for the regular season.

"I don't really have any doubts about if I'm going to perform or not," he said. "Obviously, I need to get on the field ... to try to get in a rhythm in the offense. I think that will come with time, and I don't think I'm too far off."

Except he's not getting any closer riding a stationary bike.
**********************************************
Here are the results of the story's corresponding polls:


Will the Cowboys regret signing Terrell Owens?
Yes
92%
No
8%
Total Votes: 67,109


Whose side is Jerry Jones likely to take?
Bill Parcells
77%
Terrell Owens
23%
Total Votes: 65,949


What is more likely in Terrell Owens' future?
Closed-door meeting with Bill Parcells
96%
Super Bowl title
4%
Total Votes: 51,482
***********************************************

I just love this: "Owens said he's not concerned about the possibility of not playing in the preseason. He wants to make sure he is healthy for the regular season. "

Why yes, TO, nobody likes to bother with the preseason. But it's something players and teams have to do. Well, unless of course, you're an ASS, like you.

I feel "I told you so" coming up around the bend...

Shut up, Paul. ;)

ACK

Dear Conn's:

I just have to ask - did you send me a pre-approved mail-out because you got notice from the Exxon-Mobil people, or was it pure coincidence?

At any rate, thank you. I think I am going to enjoy my new Whirlpool Cabrio washing machine that is so HUGE that 1 load is the equivalent of 3 loads in my current washer. Not to mention that the cycle only takes 20 minutes.

Of course I needed the matching dryer because my current dryer couldn't possibly dry 3 loads worth of wet clothes at once. Especially not in only 25 minutes like this one.

The 12 months no interest is awesome too. I think you and I are going to have a long and fruitful relationship, Conn's.

Soon I can do 3 loads of laundry in under an hour. Wheeeeeeeee! Yes, I am aware that it is more than slightly pathetic that THIS is the kind of thing that excites me these days.

Anyone looking for a used set, cheap? Sorry, but it doesn't do 3 loads an hour.

The More Things Stay the Same...

...the more they don't change. Unless, of course, they get worse.

Well, ok, that is not entirely true. The kid is feeling better, in fact was feeling almost completely better the day after she started taking her antibiotic for strep throat. She went back to school yesterday.

We went to visit Phillip this weekend. It was good to see him, it always is. That trip schedule is grueling though, and I am always exhausted for about a week after. I had a follow-up doctor appointment yesterday and he recommended I start taking vitamins and getting rest. Uh, ok, the vitamins are something I can and probably should add, but the rest situation is not easily changed. Anyway, I also told him that the kid had strep throat late last week and gave me a "preventative" antibiotic I guess. It's something new, it's a liquid and you mix it up and drink it and you only do it once, it is supposed to be the same as taking pills for 7 to 10 days. He even gave me a free sample of it. That will be awesome if it works, but since I'm not really sick, how will I know?

Phillip called my mom last night with the best news in awhile. They are revamping their criteria for placement in September, and with the new criteria he thinks he will be redesignated as medium. That would be awesome because he could get out of maximum, where he never belonged in the first place, and because he could potentially be moved about 2 hours closer. Of course, he could go right across the street from where he is now, to the medium in Beaumont, which would be ok, same drive as now, but ideally he'd get moved to Oklahoma and knock 2 hours each way off of our drive. The best part would be for him though, getting him out of max. There's a lot of very dangerous people in max and he truly doesn't fit in that category. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed. He was going to come up for a review in March anyway but September would be much better!

Neither of the cars is fixed yet. I have a part ordered for the main car, and the back-up car has been better direct-wired so that the fan comes on when the key is on and goes off when it's off so no digging around under the hood at least. This no A/C thing in 107 degrees is about to wipe me out though. I'm sure that is partially why I am totally dragging. I went to bed at 10:00 last night and still got up late this morning - ACK! Hopefully though both cars will be fixed by the end of the week, I'll catch up on my sleep and all will be better.

It's good to dream.

The Ever Dreadful Strep Throat

That is what the doctor said yesterday the kid has. Poor baby felt just awful last night. Dada called and she could barely croak back to him. :(

If there is anything good about strep though, it is that once you start on the antibiotics, you feel better very quickly. By this morning she felt much better and just has the remnants of a sore throat. She let it be known though that while she was feeling better, she did not want to go to school today. Not to worry, kid, your doctor's note does not release you to return until Monday.

By the time I get a car with working A/C, I expect I will have sweated off about 20 pounds. At least that's what it feels like. Thank you Chrysler for turning out such a shitty car. I've had the car for 7 months and HOW much shit has gone wrong with it in that time? Granted it was used when I bought it but it still only has about 60k on it. I suppose it HAD to pick the hottest part of the summer to pull this crap, so that I'm driving around in upwards of 107 with no A/C. I see me trading in that POS quite soon. For one of these new things with a super long bumper to bumper warranty. Yeah, that is sounding REAL good right now.

During lunch today I very nearly melted while going to a fairly nearby animal shelter to evaluate a stray boxer for my boxer group. He is such a sweetie and very scared and I hope that we are able to help him. Isn't he cute?

Poor baby was picked up as a stray 4 days ago. He isn't super skinny like my Buddy was when I took him in, but you can tell he's dropped a few pounds as of lately. Hopefully we will be able to help him.

That's all I've got. Have a great weekend.

"I'm Not Falling Down Drunk

I am vertically challenged."

I saw that on a t-shirt on this website. It's pretty cool, they have thousands of t-shirts. I have actually found a couple of Christmas gifts on there. And of course I am getting myself one:

Well I was trying to steal their picture and insert it here but it's not working so here's the link.

That's a typical example of my last 2 days. I am pretty sure I might rather be falling down drunk right about now.

Let's see, so much to bitch about, so little time...

The kid is SICK with a capital SICK. She woke up this morning and said her throat hurt and she wanted a drink. I didn't think much of it because sometimes my throat is scratchy when I wake up, and she said it felt better after I got her some water. She got ready for school and as I was brushing her hair, she said she thought she was going to throw up. ACK. She kind of spit up the water she just drank, then said she felt better.

My uncle was still working on my back-up car this morning, so we got a late start. I went ahead and took the kid to school, which is a madhouse trying to drive her there. Kindergarten you can't just drop them off at the door in the drive-thru lane, you are required to walk them inside. I managed to get parked in a non-spot and started walking her in, when suddenly she started throwing up again on the sidewalk.

I decided she probably shouldn't go to school, so we stopped by the office and I explained that I was taking her home because she had just gotten sick and did not feel well.

I left her with Memaw and came on to work. Memaw is taking her to the doctor now. She has slept all day, and now has a fever, a sore throat, and is stuffy. Poor baby isn't feeling good at all. And unfortunately, odds are there isn't anything the doctor is going to be able to do because it seems right now, everything that is going around is "viral." Hmmmmph.

I suppose I could mention that although I left work a little early yesterday to try to avoid getting stuck in traffic, it didn't work. Accident on I-30, back-up 3.5 miles. Luckily I heard the traffic report and got off the exit in the nick of time. Incredibly, I didn't get stuck for long at any lights and I made it home just as it was creeping up to hot. WHEW. I had Memaw pick the kid up from school, and once traffic died down some, I had to go get her. I decided since I had to pick a car that had potential to overheat, I was at least going to pick the one with the working A/C, so I drove the new/used car. Well, guess what?

Come on, take a stab at it.

You may recall a few months ago I had the new used car into the dealership to look at the A/C problem. I was given a $1300 or so estimate, and had to pay $80 for the diagnosis. I told them "no thanks" to their estimate, in words which were not quite so nice as that, and oddly, the A/C was working when I left there, and has worked ever since.

I wondered at the time, How can an A/C in need of $1300 worth of work have been accidentally, if temporarily, fixed while they were banging around on it doing their estimate? Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have been enjoying the A/C all this time, but now its brokenness is rearing up again. Thank you, A/C, for picking NOW, the hottest part of the summer, to re-break. I mean, it's 107 degrees out all week and as far into the future as the forecasters can see, you couldn't have picked a better time. Really.

Maybe I'll take a hammer and a screwdriver and pretend to be doing a repair estimate on it. Ya think I can fool it?

Oh but wait wait wait, I nearly neglected to mention the cherry on yesterday's shit sundae.

When I got home of course I let all of the pups out. I went to my room to get Carlee to take her out, Callie came in there with me. (yeah, I should have re-thought Carlee's name, kind of confusing, Carlee, Callie), I have not yet introduced Carlee to the others, though they see her in the crate and stuff. Carlee is very timid, and also has kennel cough which is contagious, so I have kept her separated thus far. Anyway, long story short, Callie apparently quite startled Carlee... and she peed on my bed. PEED on my BED. AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH. Never had an accident in the house since I got her, and her first has to be on my BED.

Can you say, thank God for Bissell's Little Green Machine thing?

I can.

Unhappy Hump Day

Duck. It's one of THOSE days.

On the way home from an errand last night, the car started to overheat, which it has been doing, on occasion, but this time it did so much more quickly, and also started to make a funny nose. So I bolted to my mom's and my uncle looked at it. One of the fan motors is out. It has 2 fan motors, but apparently needs both working to stay cool. So it is fine as long as you are moving, but if you get stuck in traffic or at lights you are screwed.

Sounds easy enough in theory. But if it was so easy, wouldn't everybody avoid traffic and lights, all of the time?

Anywho, my uncle followed me home and advised that I would need to drive the sucky back-up car, which still has no A/C. It's actually a good car and really only sucky because it has no A/C. It also doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that the car I drive every day has, but I can survive.

So I got to my mom's this morning, ran the kid inside, leaving the back-up car running, came back out, chatted with my uncle about the other car, and took off, only to look down and discover that the back-up car was about to overheat.

U-turn.

My uncle checks it out, and says the fan works, but whatever tells the fan when to come on is not working. Ultimately he rigged it by direct-wiring it so that it would just stay on, so that I could get to work. When I got to work, I was to open the hood and take the vice grips off the wire, and I was supposed to hook it back up before I leave today.

Unfortunately, it started to get warmer just before I got here, and when I opened the hood to turn the fan off... the vice grips were still in place, but the fan was no longer running.

I'm screwed.

Hope your day is better. Wouldn't take much.

"Kindergarten is Fun! And, I Didn't Pick and Eat Any Boogers Today! "

That is what the kid said yesterday when I picked her up after her first day of kindergarten.

What a relief that she thought it was fun and wanted to go back! And also that, so far anyway, no one would be calling her Booger Girl.

You see, the kid ended up spending what would have been the last 4 days of daycare/preschool with Memaw and Papa up at the store all day, because she didn't want to go back to school because some girls were calling her Booger Girl and Teacher wouldn't make them stop. (There was also a claim that Teacher, too, called her Booger Girl. Sometimes when we're telling stories, we start to exaggerate.) All I know is, the last few days she did not want me to leave her at all, and the last couple she looked thoroughly miserable when I walked in to pick her up.

Since there were only 4 days left, I saw no reason for her to suffer so. Plus, bonus, I saved a week's worth of daycare money as I didn't feel compelled to pay for the Monday she attended, seeing as how I paid for the almost 3 whole days they kicked her out over the lice deal.

So anyway, we had a talk about a fresh start and a new school and the importance of not picking and eating our boogers because now we know what bad can come from that and we don't want to be Booger Girl anymore. Apparently it sunk in. Maybe a little too well, if she was consumed with that thought...

Doesn't she look happy?


I am glad she was still so happy at the end of her day!

Dear Exxon Mobil:

You can take your pre-approved credit card mail offer and stick it right up your ass. Yes, I hold a mean grudge and I am still boycotting you from the Valdez oil spill. However, even if I had lifted my boycott long ago, I am pretty sure I'd be boycotting you again now, because no company should be raking in billions in profits while I'm paying more for 1 gallon of gas than it costs me to eat dinner off the $.99 menu. So please, feel free to go fuck yourselves.

If you wouldn't very much mind, though, can you send whatever favorable credit report you got on me over to Sears, or Best Buy, or Lowe's, or somewhere I would actually LIKE to receive a pre-approved credit card offer? Thanking you in advance.

And in Other Boxer News...

I promise this isn't going to be a dog blog. (Hey, I really should MAKE a dog blog, that would be fun! But then I'd have less time to write here and everyone would get mad. Well, ok, no one would even notice. That's beside the point.) But, I promised you a picture of Carlee:

Is she a cute girl or WHAT? She is just over 7 years old. Apparently she was an owner surrender to a shelter. I don't know the details as to why they said they were surrendering her, but being that she has papers (which they actually turned in to the shelter and were given to us, and which papers reveal her ridiculous registered name, Halff's Gypsy. WTF kind of name...?), she hasn't been spayed, and she still shakes like a little leaf most of the time, I'd say she was used in a puppy mill and probably given very little affection. Ever. Tragic. She is such a little love and I hope that I can bring her out of her shell so that she won't be so scared all of the time.

**********************************************************************************

This has been kind of the week from hell. Shopping from hell, I was still sick, then Tuesday evening Buddy and Randi got into a huge fight. I mean HUGE. It was awful. I had to take Randi to the 24-hour emergency vet. She was in shock and had to be stabilized, and had several puncture wounds and a lot of blood. Or so I thought it was a lot of blood. Any looks like a lot to me. They said she lost a little but it wasn't bad. But her heart was racing and her pulse was weak and she was in a lot of pain. They wanted to do $1300 worth of stuff, but I happened to know from unfortunate recent dog bite experience that they shouldn't suture dog bite wounds unless they HAVE to. So I told them to stabilize her, picked her up early and got her to her regular vet, who indeed opted not to suture the bites. I had to take Buddy to his regular vet too. Both dogs are pretty beat up, though Randi got the worst of it by far, and on pain meds and antibiotics. Total vet bills: $633. Woo-freakin-hoo. But everybody's ok now, that is the important thing.

But I really need my pick 3 numbers to come in.

I Wasn't Going to Tell This on Myself

But what the hell.

A couple of weeks ago, while the kid was in Oklahoma visiting Mama (this will become an important fact), I fell asleep on the couch while watching television. I woke up about 2:30 a.m. and decided I should get my ass to bed.

Of course with the dogs, it's never that easy. I let some out back and took some out front, maneuvered the pesky puppies so they didn't encounter the other dogs, filled water dishes so I wouldn't have to in the morning, gave Abby her medicine, etc., blah blah blah. Finally, everyone was situated and I was ready to lock up and go to bed.

Except oops, I forgot to lock the gate to the back yard.

I stepped out the back door, careful not to let anyone out, and shut the door. The boxers eagerly jumped up on the door, although they had just come in from outside. More fun to be outside when Mommy is out there too. Anyway, I took care of the gate and was ready to come back in, but when I tried the door...

Do I even need to tell you?

One of the boxers, whilst jumping up on the door, had hit the doorknob just right and turned the little dealie that locks it.

Shit. No keys in my pocket. Shit. No phone on my belt. SHIT! By then it was 2:45 a.m. Although there was no sense even trying the front door because I always lock it behind me when I come in, I tried it anyway. Nope, locked.

Normally it would have been a fairly simple matter to get back in. Normally the kid would have been sleeping in her room, and although I would really really really hate to knock on her window and wake her up to let me in because it would probably scare the living daylights out of her, I could have done that if it absolutely came down to it.

But. She was in Oklahoma, remember?

So my next (ridiculous) thought was to try to get the boxers to jump up on the door again. Except that it was a 1 in a million shot that they locked the door in the first place, nevermind the odds of getting them to do it again just right to unlock it. Not gonna happen.

Nevermind how I finally got into my house (I don't need to broadcast it on the internet lol). Just know that I did and it didn't involve waking anybody else up.

Of course if any of my neighbors happened to be awake I am sure they got a good laugh. I'd say thanks for not calling the cops, except that if someone else was doing what I did, I would hope someone would call the cops.

Oh, and Callie - I know it was you, you snot.

Cesar: 1 Foster Mommy: 0

Cesar got me good.

Cesar looks so innocent, but he's really quite a punk sometimes. A very sweet punk, though.

Yesterday I had to take him and Carlee (the newest foster - picture coming soon) to the vet. When I went to pick them up, I had my hands quite full - Cesar's leash in 1 hand and his meds in the other. A nice girl at the vet's office brought Carlee out to the car for me.

So, I open the front passenger door, let Cesar in, put his meds on the floor, lean across him, start the car and turn the air on. Cuz it's over 100 degrees outside and that's the kind of foster mommy I am. I walk around, take Carlee from the nice girl, go to open the rear driver door and... care to guess?

LOCKED.

Yes, all 4 doors were locked. Cesar stepped on the door locker and locked me out of my own car with it running.

Go ahead, laugh. I don't blame you.

Fortunately I am also the kind of foster mommy who leaves all 4 windows cracked ever so slightly when it is this hot, and I was able to force one of them down a bit more, get a coathanger in and roll the window down.

Cesar, you are going to have to do better than that, my friend. I am sure Callie will be happy to give you some advice on that. I'll expound on that tomorrow.

Christmas in August

I have discovered something that can only be likened to trying to Christmas shop the Friday after Thanksgiving.

School shopping, any time or place during Texas' "tax-free weekend."

Who knew the parking lot at the enormous Grapevine Mills Mall would be completely full and I would have to park shark for 15 minutes before finding a spot? Who knew it would be as impossible to move around once inside as it is at Christmas?

All the other people who have already been doing it every year, that's who knew.

Why didn't somebody tell me?

Actually the shopping was a lot of fun despite all of that. Memaw and Papa went too and we bought the kid all kinds of stuff. I bought me all kinds of stuff, too, which I should not have done but I needed some new Big Dog stuff. And I definitely needed that new Colts cap. (Note: My definition of "needs" may vary slightly from Webster's) I also bought the "school supply bundle" at Kroger so we're set with the actual supplies and my wasn't that easy! Looks like we are pretty much set to go after one final trip to Target this week.

What was not fun was that we lost Papa at the mall. After talking to the kid about the importance of staying right there by one of us at all times and not wandering off, it was Papa who we were looking for at the end of the day. He was riding many of our packages around on his scooter with him so we didn't have to carry all of them, and not long before the mall closed said he was going to go outside and smoke and would meet us outside the store we had entered the mall through.

Unfortunately me and Memaw and the kid didn't make it back to that store in time to go out through it, so we had to walk quite a ways around to find a "generic" mall exit. We did and walked down to where he was to meet us - no Papa.

No biggie, he'll be at the car.

Nope. Not at the car. Nowhere to be seen, in fact.

Long story short - after Memaw went back inside try to find mall security, and I talked to some people at the store he was to have to come through and learned they hadn't seen him, and we speculated all the "what ifs"... we drove around the mall, and there he was... sitting outside an exit nowhere near where he and we were supposed to be.

He said he couldn't find the right store and finally went outside where he could, figuring we would find him "eventually." His cell phone was dead and his scooter battery was very nearly so itself. Ack.

All's well that ended well.

So it was a successful shopping day, but now today I feel like crap again. I went to the doctor on Friday, where I got a lung test, a breathing treatment, an inhaler, 3 prescriptions for an antiobiotic, cortisone and cough syrup, and a diagnosis of bronchitis. I was feeling better yesterday but by last night was feeling bad again and not any better this morning.

To top it off, it's going to be pouring the whole way home from work, from the looks of things. Oh hey, though, I got a new Big Dogs umbrella yesterday, so I'm all set.

Except of course that is it in the car.

It sure is Monday.

It's Sad, I Tell Ya

It's just sad when lately a good day is when I get home after work to find I don't have to hose out a dog crate.

Unfortunately, by that account, yesterday was not a good day.

I think poor Buddy got ahold of some of the puppies' puppy chow again. That happened once last week and he got pretty sick in his crate, which he never does. I have since been very careful (or so I thought) to keep the food separated, but he may have gotten ahold of some yesterday morning. Poor baby boy. He was fine when I got home but man, talk about STINK and mess. GAG. Not nearly as bad as the first time though. I sure do love these crate bottoms that slide out for easy hosing down outside.

On the other hand, since I started giving the puppies actual puppy food instead of feeding them the same as the big dogs, they have NOT messed their crate. WOOHOO.

Just sad, I tell ya.

*************************************************
So I am registering the kid for kindergarten tomorrow. Should be fun. Yesterday I had to go to the Social Security office and apply for a copy of her card, because who knows which parent has it and where it's at. Of course first I had to obtain a certified copy of the divorce decree giving me custody because SS wouldn't take a copy @#$%&*. Fortunately, I have her birth certificate and shot records, so we should be good to go.

*************************************************
We went to visit Phillip last weekend. It was good to see him as always. The people who work there are all so NICE and helpful, unlike Pollock. It is too bad it is not better for him there too. His appeal is moving along finally and so hopefully soon he will have some time taken off, and also can put in for a transfer to a medium facility in March. Still a long time off but at least a light at the end finally.

Since I seem to have little incentive to write anything today, I leave you with this sweet and touching story:

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog, Lucky.

Lucky was a real character.

Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.

Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing. Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer.

Something told her she was going to die of this disease, she was just sure it was fatal. She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.

The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.

A thought struck her... what would happen to Lucky?

Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him.

The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks.

Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally, the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.

When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.

Lucky stood watching Mary, but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad, but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot.

But panic soon gave way to laughter, when Mary realized the problem.

She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!

While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every night.

It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free.

Lucky?

He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.