This Day Went To The Dogs-(Or Pepper Is Gonna Be Mad)

See the previous post for the early day. Lets get down to business.

We did get our Wii work done, but that was minor news.

Cindy actually did some school work. Her courses are best handled by working daily rather than waiting for a few days.

Well, the family finally shows up. Welcome to the family...Rebel. Story on Rebel's origin are a bit sketchy. But it involved Robert, a homeless dog and LuAnn. Fill in the rest on your own. Rebel seems to be around 2 months old, solid black, some sort of lab mix, maybe. Duh. LuAnn is just going to keep him until Robert can take him...Yeah right. But Rebel seems to be a part of the family. I hope it works out for Lu. She needs something to make her smile. And she was smiling!

Sadie-Top Dog- played nicely with Rebel. They drank out of the bird bath. They played and wrestled. They are about the same size for the next week or so.

Lu and Cindy took Sadie out into the yard for some practice. Cindy has entered Sadie in the Weiner Race in the Germantown Festival next Sunday. So they were out in the yard planning their strategy, which is Cindy letting Sadie go at one end and LuAnn Screaming wildly at the other end. While they were out in the yard, Rebel got a little excited and jumped out of Ghia's non-existent lap. She took a pretty hard fall, and there seemed to be contact between Rebel's noggin and the concrete. Well, Rebel started screaming like a maniac. I swear that dog was wailing. I thought she was dying. Ghia was disturbed, Rebel wouldn't go to LuAnn it was chaos. Well, all was ok. Obviously he IS part lab, and landing on your head is not fatal for a lab. He went underneath the chair and glared at everyone and wouldn't speak. But we all needed the quiet for a few minutes to recover from the drama...

All this to say.....

Brenda showed up a little later with Logan. Logan is about twice the size of Sadie and Rebel. (This week). Well, in they came. Some people were eating, some were finished, we were all saying hello, blah, blah, blah. Brenda didn't know Rebel existed. Logan came around through the dining room into the den. Rebel was asleep on the ottoman. I had my eyes fixed on Rebel, so there is no doubt what happened next.

Logan walked up to the ottoman and looked at Rebel. Rebel started wailing and screaming like he had been beat.(Does this sound familiar?) Rebel did scare himself bad enough to fall between the ottoman and the couch, and scared himself even worse and was screaming even louder. The people that saw it were laughing. The people that didn't see it were wondering who had beat the dog this time. And Brenda was wondering where the dog CAME from.

Today was barely controlled chaos. But no one bled. Rebel was the Drama Queen for a change. The food was good. It was about 1 degree short of being too hot, but it was OK. We enjoyed watching the dogs play.

I didn't get a shot of all three cars in my driveway. Cindy was on the right, She had already gone. Dad's care was on the left. (The Lincoln with the dent on the bumper). Brenda is smart enough not to block anyone Wanting to leave, so she made herself a parking place. I was very impressed that I can actually afford a house that has a driveway big enough to park 3 cars!

I am going to attach a video of Cindy and Lu moving the swimming pool. The water hose that was hooked up to the spigot would not reach to the pool, so they moved the pool, put water in it and then carried the pool back to the center of the yard. (Did I say something about Chaos?)

I'll try tomorrow for this video. it's taking forever....

The other video is the Race practice.

For Our FurBabies

Brenda sent this and I thought it was sweet.

A Dog's (or other pet's) Purpose (from a 6-year-old).Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker 's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

Super Sadie Saturday

Sadie spent the night last night. Before she came, I sent Bennie to buy her some toys. Here's what he came back with.

A Duck and a Hot Dog.

Of Course, Sadie loved them. She has squeaked all day.

Cindy said Sadie didn't sleep well. She kept coming to Miss Aunt Granny's door. I was snoring, so I didn't hear her.

But Sadie has a treat everywhere she goes. When she goes to Ghia and Paw's, she has Dingos. When she goes to LuLu's, she has anything she wants. When she comes to Miss Aunt Granny's, it's Scooby Snacks. She thinks she deserves a Scooby snack everytime she comes in the door. So she goes in and out a lot. Her she is sneaking in the pantry to get her own Scooby Snack. If she ever grows thumbs, LOOK OUT!

That's about all I have for now. Cindy and I are both still in our PJ's and there are no photo ops until after showers. So I'll have a full report tonight or tomorrow after the rest of the family comes and devours all my food. (Paw has decided he will become a Democrat. He is enjoying freeloading.)

And by the way, Neil was invited, and he refuses to come. I asked to speak to Pepper directly, and he refused to put her on the phone. So when the Pepper Report is published this week, I tried, Pepper. Your Daddy is being mean.

Sadie the Cheerleader

There is nothing going on in my life today. But Cindy went to Target and bought Sadie a new outfit. Cindy has been dressing Doxies up as long as she has known Doxies. Kady grew to dislike her a bunch. Cindy would take Old Baby's clothes and dress Kady. Until Kady bit her. But that is ancient history. Now she is torturing Sadie.



Lets see how my picture stealing goes:

Cindy cute little captions didn't copy, but it was something like...Here's Sadie's cheer outfit. Here's Sadie in her outfit for 6 seconds. Here's Sadie ripping the outfit off. Here's Sadie hiding, in case I bought 2 outfits. Here's Sadie showing me what she thinks of my shopping.

OK-Sadie's Cute

That wasn't what this blog was going to be about, until Cindy blew up my inbox by adding the Sadies Cute to every entry. So of course, we will start with Sadie's cute.

While Brenda and I were out yesterday enjoying our lunch, Bennie went out and enjoyed his own lunch. When he got home, he was telling me about a sign he saw at a beauty salon on Hwy 64 in Lakeland. I'm not going to comment, I am just going to publish the photo, and let you enjoy the moment.

Bennie and I got up this morning, and made the decision to go out to lunch. Again, I am not going to say anything, I'm just going to let you draw your own conclusions. I'll just say, it was worth the drive.

After we left the lunch spot, we dropped by to see Sadie. Bennie is still trying to get the computers to print like he wants them to. He is now blaming Century-tel. I believe him. We told Mike and Cindy where we had been. We left their house, and before we could make it home, she was calling, and they were already at the casino. Seems that people that live in Desoto County can get to the casinos for lunch in no time FLAT.

And yes, Sadie is cute. She is also at home alone right now, while her Mommy Eats Hoecakes.

Happy Birthday Brenda

I am a terrible person. I actually treated Brenda to a pedi and lunch today, and my camera was at home! So no pics today. So sorry.

(Logan turned one years old this week, Brenda turned fifty something.She didn't get a hat)

I had to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart to get some flip-flops. I don't like shoes that have the little thingie that goes between my toes. I have bashful toes. But when you get a pedicure, they put those little paper shoes on you, and I hate those even worse. So I bought me a pair if pedicure Flip-flops, for my 3 pedicures of the year. I figure this will about finish off my toenail polishing until spring. And trying to buy flip-flops this late in the year, with this size foot proved to be a challenge. So I picked up the only pair of flip-flops that would fit my feet.

I picked Brenda up and we proceeded to the nail place. I was driving. And since the nail place is right across the street from my office,I pretty much proceeded to drive through the parking lot had head to Chick-fil-A like I do most mornings for breakfast. Oops. Just a couple of U-turns and we made it to the Chinese House of Toenails. They sat us in chairs across the room from each other, so there wasn't much talking going on. But we were entertained by a woman getting her toes and fingers both done. While getting her pedi, her cell phone rang, and she was yammering to what was obviously a daughter, telling her to get the house cleaned up, and she was going to buy her that outfit she wanted....Then somehow the conversation changed and she was talking to her husband. Yeah, baby.She was laying it on thick. Well, other people in the shop picked up on the fact that he was overseas. And according to her, he is a pilot, he's been gone for 3 years, he won't be home for 2 more years, she can't travel with him because she has a heart disease, she is staying here and saving as much money as possible (mani and pedi $60). That is why I DON'T talk in beauty shops. Cuz she was definitely the topic of conversation as soon as our pretty toes got in the car!!!!!

Then we headed to Newks, and had a great lunch. It was over too soon. I dropped Brenda back at there house, where her family was going to enjoy the afternoon at Megan's pool and cook burgers this afternoon. Not a bad birthday, I'd say.

I came home, and have done not much else this afternoon. Tried to be in a bad mood for no good reason, then decided I better blog, even without pictures.

The Pepper Report today contained veiled threats that Bennie might someday trade me and my family in for a one way trip to a monastery. Don't worry Pepper. Bennie is quite capable of saying NO if he doesn't want to do something. And computer work and even vacuum belt repair is generally acceptable. He's just glad everyone has cars that don't' require many repairs. He can't repair cars in the air conditioning.

And PULEEZE. You think he would get rid of ME????? NEVER!!!

Is it Hump Day Again?

And Guess What??? Nothing is happening. Work is work. Been kinda busy, but not as insane as the past few weeks. So I'm not grumbling. This is our big life insurance push for the year, and Nicki and I are determined to get our bonus this year. So anyone with a pulse is buying life insurance. I said so!

Bennie made the Olive Branch circle last night. He had a package to pick up at Ghia & Paw's. Bennie has discovered that he can order crap on line and have it shipped to Olive Branch and not pay taxes. So he pays the difference in gas and sends stuff there. Well, usually, Mom is in Collierville on Wednesday, so she brings the stuff to me, so not to bad. Use her gas!!!

But he had to go to Mt. Dickerson yesterday and wrestle with Cindy's computer, printer and lots of other issues. So he was in Olive Branch anyway. He got about 90% of the computer issues fixed, and they are happily computing away. Mike just can't print anything. Oh, well, Bennie will get it worked out eventually.

I don't have much going on this week. I'll have to see if I can import a picture here when I get home. Yesterday was Logan's 1st Birthday. And Brenda is a little insane anyway, so she had a party for Logan. No one was invited except her grandkids. She hasn't seen much of her grand daughters in the past few weeks, and it was a good excuse for some intense play time! I'm sure Logan had a blast. And there was cake. But I think it was doggie cake. And there were Frosty Paws, per Pepper's input. Brenda KNOWS how to throw a birthday party. Wait till Pepper finds out she wasn't invited. And Sadie. Oh, my. This blog is going to get Brenda in trouble.

In other news, Saturday is Brenda's birthday. She will officially be my age. I'm taking her to lunch and to get pedicures. We can have pretty pink toes and big bellies. I can't wait. This will be my last official pedi of the year. I really hate to have them done, and can't wait to go back to wearing real shoes. I hate sandals.

In case Sherry has her laptop and does any reading, I keep getting random beach shots on my cell phone. Seems like someone is in Destin this week. (And someone else is not.) Hope you are having fun and Hurricane Fay leaves you alone.

Man- This is a random entry. Hope you didn't waste too much time reading it. Unless something earth shaking happens, I'll check back in Saturday after I have cute toes.

Sadie looking at the computer. Yes, she's cute.

Working Lunch at Ghia and Paw's

Well, today's agenda was to go to Ghia and Paw's. Back when they first bought their condo, Paw had a DVD player, and Ghia didn't, so she took his. So he has been living in his man cave without a DVD player. Well, Karma caught up with Ghia this week, and the DVD player fried itself. So I came up with the idea to buy 2 DVD players and get them installed so they never have to come out of their bedrooms. After all, DVD players cost next to nothing these days. No reason to suffer. So we sent Bennie on a hunt to find the best and cheapest DVD players available at fine retailers, Walmart or Target. HE came through like a champ. So I came up with the idea that Ghia should fix lunch for us in repayment for Bennie getting their DVD players installed. Boy did that backfire.





First of all, after a fun filled night with Sadie, we had to take her home. Once Cindy got her new laptop home, it didn't work as well as it did here, and needed some Bennie attention. I think the actual problem is with whoever her server is, but Bennie went and checked it all out first. The laptop works, as long as she is hijacking her neighbors wireless. Her wired part needs fixing. Her cable or phone or whoever repair people are coming tomorrow. But we got the fun experience of Sadie in the car. After about 30 minutes, she settled down, but she is not a great rider in the beginning. She thinks ever car ride should be to some drive-thru that gives her a treat. But she is cute. See???



After Cindy's we headed to Ghia and Paw's. I was expecting a quick hook up and then FOOD. Well, FOOD wasn't near ready, so Bennie started his DVD hookup chore. It took a few minutes, but he got it done, no major difficulty.







Well, I got the bright idea to run the vacuum. There seemed to be some black fuzz balls on the carpet, and I was going to be the good daughter and clean up. I got the vacuum cleaner out, and started pushing the black fuzz balls around the carpet. Lu was moving some furniture so I could get at the fuzz balls. The fuzz balls were not going anywhere. So I start investigating the vacuum cleaner. First thing I found was that a handkerchief had been vacuumed up at some point in the past. I got the handkerchief out and thought that would take care of it. Fuzz balls kept on getting pushed around. So I investigate further. This means an electric screwdriver.

Yes, I know how to use an electric screwdriver. After all, I'm married to a mechanic. Power tools are mandatory. So I got the plate off the bottom of the vacuum, and yes indeed, the belt was broken, and the beater bar wasn't working. So I went an batted my eyes at Bennie, and asked him to go to Walmart when he was done. He said yes, dear.

Well, we finally ate. It was delicious. Ghia was voted gravy queen and elected to feed us regularly. But enough of that


After lunch, Bennie went to Walmart, got a belt and brought it back. LuAnn and I went back to work on the vacuum cleaner. We were finally able to get the belt on, and the vacuum worked like a charm.

In Paw's defense, Ghia had surgery sometime last decade and the doctor told her she could not run the vacuum, and she hasn't touched it since. She deemed that to be Paw's job. And he runs the vacuum regularly. But a man couldn't give a rat's azz whether it really works or not. The motor runs, the vacuum bag get a little dust in it, he empties it, and the carpet is clean.


LuAnn emptied the bag 3 times, so the carpet is much cleaner today than it was yesterday. And Ghia's carpet is a couple of pounds lighter than it was this morning. Paw, count your handkerchiefs and socks. They are not good for the vacuum.

Enough of that. I'm tired of typing the word vacuum. I mean how many double U's can a person type in one blog entry.


Here's a picture of what LuAnn feels like she must to do dogs that have long ears. We are going to get her therapy soon.

I have a video of Sadie trying to clean Cindy's face. I have reported that we have all learned not to laugh around Sadie. Cindy got lots of Sadie.

Then we went down to Lu's to check out her new Wii. We built our Mii's and played a couple of games. She whipped me at baseball, and I out bowled her. She bought the Mario Party Games, and we played for a few minutes, but I have never been able to play Mario games. Since I had the main controller, I ended that game....

So home again. It was a good day and now it's back to work tomorrow.

Christmas for Cindy

As expected, Cindy and Sadie showed up this morning about 10:00. The object of the visit was cleaning the house. But no one was really in the mood to clean. We got it done, with several major stops to goof off.

Before we got started, Cindy had to get on the Wii Fit, at least long enough to get her Mii to wake up. She's lost lots of weight since her last Fit session. Good for Cindy!!! Keep up the good work.

As reported earlier, Cindy has signed up to go back to school. So in support of this decision, Bennie and I did some early Christmas shopping on Tax Free Day. Cindy has a new laptop for her school work. And its a good thing. She was able to take the classes that she has signed up for this semester online, so a new computer should be helpful. This is what house cleaning looked like at my house today.

After opening the computer, Cindy gave Sadie a piece of Styrofoam to play with. She carried it outside and promptly chewed it to pieces. It looks like it snowed in Oakland. Then Sadie found my stuffed Cinnamon. She hooked Cinnamon's leg between hers, and chased Cinnamon in circles. Cindy tried to get it on video.

And then there was the ultimate cute/insult. One of Bennie's Christmas Eeyores was in his office, and out Sadie comes with Eeyore. I had the back door propped open and she took Eeyore straight outside, much to our astonishment. I did the most reasonable thing I could think of. I grabbed the camera. Cindy ran to her car to get her emergency Christmas Pooh and quickly swapped it for Eeyore. We got Eeyore back into the office before Bennie found out. He is anxiously waiting on the blog to be finished, to see what the big secret was.

Of course, the computer worked perfectly here. But when she got it home, it didn't work right. Of course, I didn't think it would. We had already planned a trip to Mississippi tomorrow. We will go by and see if Bennie can get everything hooked up and working right. What do people without Bennie do when they buy computers? I guess he is our own personal Geek Squad. He saves us the $100 set up fee!

After getting Cindy's laptop working, we are headed to Shady Pines. We have some electronic issues on that end of Olive Branch that need tending to, and we are making Ghia cook for us. Or Paw. We'll see who does the cooking.

In other news, as Cindy was on her way here this morning, she called. (I checked my cell phone usage this month. And yes, I do talk to LuAnn occasionally. But Cindy was about 1000 minutes. And I still have 3 days left in the month.) Anyway, she had a brilliant idea. Mike is off tonight and they would like to go out to dinner and a movie. Wouldn't it be a good idea if Sadie spent the night here? She was packed, just in case. So, Sadie is spending the night with Miss Aunt Granny. She's napping while I blog, but we've had fun so far today. I wuv this puppy dog.