The Highs and Lows of Tree Trimming!

After two long weekends of harvesting broken tree limbs, I am wondering how Tom and I were able to come  out of this experience without any broken limbs, gouged eyes or loss of life. We tempted fate and seemed to have come out on top minus a few scraps, bruises and sore muscles. But it wasn't without its highs and lows.

Let's hit the low spots first. If we do that, we have no where to go but up. 

For two long nights, as Storm Atlas blanketed our poor, once-beautiful, crimson-leafed trees, we worked relentlessly with homemade, vertically-challenged poles to knock the thick, wet snow off the limbs. As we poked, prodded, slapped and shook the limbs that we could reach, we were rewarded with faces full of moisture reigning down on us. It was like Mother Nature mocking us with a "take that you morons!" While others slept, we were up, moving from tree to tree, whacking the branches as hard as we could.  All around us we could hear....crack then boom as limbs around us broke. We felt smug, knowing that our work would save our trees! But as the night progressed, we were kept awake with the sound of dreaded "thuds" as limbs dropped on our roof. Despite our best efforts, we still got hit hard.

Fast forward to clean-up day. We had a boatload of broken limbs both in our yard, hanging from the trees, propped up on the roof and dangling over our fences. We are one of the few in Casper who don't own a pickup truck or a trailer and so all we could do is just stack the broken limbs on the driveway.  Some limbs were stuck so high we just said, later gator. Tom got up on the roof amidst the snow and risked his neck freeing the limbs that graced our roof. I had forgotten to eat that day and after a particularly heavy load I started to go dark and Tom had to maneuver me in the house and force food down me. Apparently my blood sugar dropped or something and I almost did a face plant in the snow (which wouldn't have hurt because the snow was so deep) but would have been entirely embarrassing.

Friday was the easy stuff and Sunday was the REALLY TOUGH clean up as we had to load and haul the limbs from our house to a disposal area. After waiting 45 minutes in line to dump off our first load at the designated limb graveyard, we got smart and decided to wait until  the evening to continue unloading. As dusk crept upon us, we still had one HUGE limb that we maneuvered into the flatbed of the truck and stuck out about another ten feet. Time to saw! Tom pulled out his little saw and a couple of hours later we finally got the log cut in half. Where the heck is our chain saw....oh yes, in Idaho. I kept thinking, surely we  have a better saw and I went into the garage and found my old, really mean, big tooth saw. Oh well! 

The following weekend, I talked Tom into helping me clean up the park in front of us. Poor guy, if I hadn't been holding the ladder and praying that the limb he was standing on wouldn't break, I would have taken a pic of this spectacle. He was standing on this pretty small tree limb, hanging on for dear life to the tree trunk with one hand and sawing a limb, high above his  head (with my manly saw), with the other hand. Finally,  I grabbed the limb from the ground and between his sawing and my maneuvering, that big ole limb came crashing down narrowly missing our vehicle. Whew! What a workout! I think we wound up taking five huge loads of limbs to the ever growing debris field! 

So the high point? Despite being dead tired and totally sick of broken limbs, we were able to look beyond ourselves and reach to help others, including playing secret limb sawer to a very helpful neighbor who was out of town. While we were not able to totally clean the park in front of us, we made it easy for someone with a truck or trailer to come in and remove the limbs. 

Volunteerism has always, and will continue, to be a part of my life. Despite the fact that we were all alone, I'm hoping that we set an example for others in our neighborhood to look beyond their yards and pitch in to help others. That's about as good a "high" as it gets. 

Treat others as you want to be treated!

They Lie on HGTV

Have you ever watched someone paint on HGTV? They are in designer clothes and look just as good when they finish as when they started. I seriously can't figure it out except that they must have a double that steps in just as soon as the camera is off and quickly paints the room for them. I'm sitting here recuperating from painting our patio in what seemed like 150 degree heat and I'm covered in paint from head to toe. I can't be that messy, can I? My husband would say yes. I've been known to step down off a ladder and step directly into a pan of paint. Or the best one, as I'm painting the ceiling and a big glob of paint lands right in my eye! That was weird. I couldn't even find my way off the ladder to get to the bathroom to stick my head under the faucet. Luckily I had three things going for me that night. I was wearing contacts which protected my eye, I was using water-based latex and finally....Tom was there to guide me off the ladder and into the bathroom. Can you imagine what I'd look like today if I were using enamel???? Hello, this is my wife Pam. What? Her eyes? She doesn't like to talk about....

I wish I could be less messy. It's not for trying.  I've even hired a professional and watched them and I just can't figure it out. I do just what they do and I look like a kaleidoscope of color after I'm done. I don't even think they have a speck of paint on them when they leave. So I've come to the conclusion that HGTV lies and I'm the normal one.

The Tale of a Red Toe!

Some days it's best to stay in bed. Today was one of those days. Those who know me understand that I become fully awake around 8 p.m. at night which leads to late nights and wrecked mornings.  So my goal?  I decided to try to break my late night, late morning routine by getting up early. My reasoning...I'll be so tired by 11 p.m. that I'll go to sleep early and wake up early! Early to me (especially after going to bed at 1:30 a.m.) is 8:30 a.m. So at 8:30 a.m. the alarm goes off and I get up. Success! I am alive and awake. It's going to be a great day!!!!

I immediately sit down at the computer and start working...in my pajamas. Ah the luxury of working from home! The next thing you know I'm juggling work (the paying kind), with planning a major event at our house, struggling to figure out how to get the house clean for that major event and do some manual labor at the house. Suddenly I'm walking around the house (still in my PJs!) taking pics of the house to message them to a window cleaner so I can get a quote on cleaning the windows. I'm sure everyone driving by on S 2000 W Street did a double take of the red head in her floral pajamas at 11:00 a.m. in the morning.

Whoa! What time is it? 11 a.m.??????  I have an appointment in Jackson at 2 p.m., a conference call at 1 p.m. and it's going to take me an hour to travel over the mountain pass and find a quiet place where I can call in. I need to be on the road at the latest 12 noon. Time to get cracking!!!

I run the bath water and realize I haven't fed the dogs. Run to the garage, fill up the dog bowls with food and water and run back to the bath. I forgot to turn on the cold water and the bath is HOT, HOT, HOT! Dang it. More water, less heat. My stress is mounting.

I glance down and look at my feet. I recently had a pedicure and the sweet Asian man painted a horrible blue and silver design on my big toes which I tried to cover up with more red nail polish. It looks bad and I'm about to go to my ortho doctor for a knee check. He's going to see my toes! Quick, get the nail polish remover out and redo the big toes. Oh heck! Red nail polish bleeds all over my big toe! Jump in the bath. I have 30 minutes to go.

Jump out of the bath, change clothes, put on a new top. I look down and gasp.  The top is gaping open and I'm looking a bit cheeky with so much exposed. Quick! Find a safety pin! But where? Rummaged around and found a HUGE safety pin then spent about 10 minutes trying to discretely pin my top closed. Man! That looks bad but better than over exposure.  Check the mirror! Wrong bra now! Straps are showing. Disrobe, change bras, get dressed again.

Check the clock...no time to spare....I gotta go. Slip on my sandals! Look down, nine painted toes, one glaringly unpainted toe. I'll paint it right before I get in the car. I'm starving. Grab a meal bar and a diet coke and take off dodging dogs who desperately want to go with me, no matter where I go. I'll be back I call out! I promise!

I'm driving up the mountain pass and look down! I still haven't painted that toe nail. I check the rear view mirror and notice the BIGGEST miller fluttering in the back window. Oh oh! That moth is going to wind up fluttering around my head which is not going to be pretty. I pull over, open the back door and free the MONSTROUS moth. Wait! I'm stopped. I'll paint my toe nail. I pull out red polish and a big glob drops on my big unpainted toe! CRAPPOLA!  I use my finger nail to remove it and now not ONLY do I have a messy red toe but I have red nail polish all over my finger! WHAT TO DO. WHAT TO DO. WHAT TO DO? I'll stop and grab some nail polish and take care of it before my appointment.

I make it over to Jackson and forget to turn into Albertson's grocery. Oh! There's the natural foods grocery. I can get nail remover there. I have 5 extra minutes. Holy cow? They only carry natural organic nail polish and it's $11????? SERIOUSLY??? I'm stuck so I buy THE most expensive nail polish remover ever. Sigh! That will teach me to be vain. I get in the car, scrub my toe and my fingers and get most of the red off....I'm halfway presentable now but $11 poorer.

I drive down the main drag in Jackson dodging the tourists and pull into the doctor's parking lot. SUCCESS! My toe is painted, my finger is clean, I have my conference notes, I EVEN have the call-in conference number, I'm alive and no tourists have died in the process.

Oh, and the worst thing? After all that..I didn't took my sandals off during my doctor's appointment and the doc never even saw my toes. THAT WILL TEACH ME!

I'm Not Going Back To Indiana

So, WHY does someone live in Indiana? It's flat, humid and there's really nothing to look at besides the greenery. I've been in the state for a week now and I keep wondering why people live here. My main complaint? The drivers are out of control. I was almost hit three times in just as many days by wanna be race drivers. Then, the scenery is boring....there are no oceans, no mountains, just lots of semi-trucks. The race track is nice but I'm wondering, if the IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) wasn't here, do you think Indianapolis would survive? I'll leave that answer to more intelligent folks.

Our trip to the Indianapolis 500 was great though. We had good seats, some fun folks behind us and good weather...not too hot or too cold. The race was phenomenal except for the very end when an anti-climatic last two laps ruined what would have been probably a photo-finish. For two years in a row now, Franchitti has been the cause of angst within the race and this year, his wreck at Lap 198 caused Kanaan to win by default under the yellow flag. Boo! The rule should be changed that if anything happens in the last five laps that they have to rerun them under the green flag. Reset! Tilt! For those non-racing fans, like me, when you are under the yellow flag, you have to stay in your position and follow the pace car as you cruise around the track in the order that you are.

I have to say that while everyone was cheering Kanaan's victory, I was going....wait! There are two laps more to go! I had not clue you could win under a yellow flag, when everyone was required to retain their positions. Boo! Boo! Boo! Change the rule!

In a race where there was a record number of leaders, a record average MPH and an excitement level that would have blown the roof off (if there WAS a roof), the ending was as heavy as the clouds that were encroaching upon the track. Granted, had those clouds released their moisture on us, we would have been sitting there for even longer than the 3 hours it took to run the race, but then at least a fight to the finish would have made the day worth it.

Here's my tips if you want to attend the race in the future.

• Go early to Indianapolis. There are pre-race activities all week long. Partake in them!
• The IMS is near the airport and so it makes sense to grab a hotel by the airport. 
• Don't rent a car unless you want to do sight-seeing around the town. There are shuttles that take you from the airport to the racetrack on race day. Take them! The website is Free Enterprise Shuttles. 
• Don't bother with buying a Premium Shuttle Ticket which gives you faster access to the buses ($40 versus $25 per person) because the lines went fast after the race was over and standing in line is good after sitting for three hours.
• Take a cooler every time you go to the race track. The food and drinks are expensive and there's no need to pay inflated prices.
• Go to the Friday practice session. You can sit almost anywhere and get really close to the track when on other days you are restricted as to where you can walk and stand. 
• We sat in the SE vista (Turn 2) and the main action (this time) was at Turn 1 and Turn 3. There were wrecks between Turn 1 and Turn 3 so you can see the action but I think with the jockeying going on at Turn 1, I would have rather sat there. 
• If you're a fan of ceremony, buy your tickets early and sit in front of the pits. That's where you can see all the pre-race festivities but otherwise, I think it's slightly boring. Mainly you just witness pit changes and after a while, it's pretty boring. Believe me, they do the same thing, time after time.
• Get up early and go the race track. The lines were long and the fun is visiting with people in the stands. Most are fanatics.
• Take your camera. The people watching is crazy. But be prepared for drunk people. Man, the liquor flows out there and people definitely like their beer, Jack Daniels and Fuzzy Vodka.
• Take good walking shoes - the race track and its features are big and plentiful.
• Go to the museum. It's filled with all the old vintage cars and even a non-car enthusiast will enjoy seeing what used to race around the track.
• Go the Parade downtown and buy bleacher tickets at the very beginning where the TV station is. That's where every float, band, etc. performs. There are tons of celebrities who participate in the parade.

Well, that's about it! Signing off from the Indianapolis airport. Glad to be going home to the mountains!

It's Hard to Be Funny When Your Nose is Running

So one of the main reasons I wanted to start a blog is because I love to write and even more importantly, I love to turn a good tale. But with allergy season in full bloom in Wyoming, it's been hard to muster up the energy to do anything but grab tissues and dab the nose between sneezes. Little did I know when I moved to Wyoming almost 16 years ago that I would be allergic to the whole state. Seriously! When I finally drug myself out of the River of Denial and went to the allergist, the inflammation from the pin pricks on my back was akin to a bad case of poison ivy (which by the way I'm also allergic to.) There are at least 30 weeds that don't like me in this state in addition to sage and mountain cedar. Have you ever been anywhere in Wyoming where you don't see sage? Basically anything that grows in Wyoming is NOT my friend.

I used to think my nose belonged to a marathon runner. It would always run and run when I went outdoors. It took a trip to Boston to alert me that I could go outdoors without having my nose run. Imagine my surprise when I got back to the hotel and didn't have to blow once. It was a miracle day for me!

Nowadays I am getting to know the nurses at the Allergy Clinic rather well with twice a week visits where I get poked not once, but twice at every visit. My arms are starting to look like a battlefield and seriously I'm wondering if I go swimming if I'll sink from all the holes in my arms. For a girl who has never liked shots, I'm finding that these painful pricks are my only hopes of living in this state without having an eternally red nose.

I'm also thinking about investing in Kleenex. I have a stockpile of the soft stuff in my closet, car and purse. My favorite? I can personally recommend the ones with aloe!

Most importantly I'm looking forward to the day when I can walk outside and not need a tissue. When I can go hiking and not have to fill my backpack with Claritin. Or not scare away the wildlife with my sneezing. Will that day ever happen? It better because I'm not doing the shots because I like them. And I'm never moving back to Texas. My nose is happy there but I'll take sneezing over sweating any day!

Adios El Paso

Oh my! I haven't had THIS much fun in so long. There's nothing like reconnecting with friends after, what? 30 years to get the laughter going, the facial cheeks hurting and the beer a flowing. We had a FABULOUS time in El Paso, thanks to my hosts, Terry and Screwy Lewie Wright and fellow travelers and friends, Jeanne (Nelson) Ireland and Arlys Reyes. Is it scary that I can't remember Arlys' maiden name? As four women in their 50s will tell you....that's just normal. Oh yes, Lopez!

Here's a recap of the fun.
    Terry picked me up at the El Paso airport (BTW - beautifully done in the region's cultural colors and styles) and we immediately went to the bar to have a beer and wait for Jeanne's plane to arrive. After two beers and the customary chips and salsa, Jeanne joined us at the table for more gabbing. Who cares if her luggage was circling the carousel!!! Now, all we had to do was find Arlys, who mind you, was already in El Paso and was SUPPOSED to meet my plane. Turns out Arlys was locked inside a friend's house and they were trying to figure out a way to break OUT of the house! She eventually made it to the airport but missed the beer, chips and conversation!

    We all four climbed into Terry's car and went to lunch at Carlos and Mickey's. Terry and I were already over-served (Arlys was driving) but that didn't stop us from having the Texas margaritas (three shots of tequila). We sat there catching up til the Happy Hour crowd started pouring in. The nice thing is, that we were NOT rushed, asked to leave or even made to feel guilty about taking up a table for the whole afternoon. I LOVE EL PASO!

    Having never been to the city, Arlys gave us a tour of the city. We found it hysterical that Arlys, who lives in San Antonio now, still knew more about the town than Terry does. Being right on the edge of New Mexico and Mexico makes the city so interesting. There's even a mountain peak that has a cross on it where the two states and the two countries meet.

    We drove up to the top of a scenic overlook and they showed me where the Rio Grande was supposed to be. I say "supposed" to because the water is MIA...all that was there was the river bed! Can you say DROUGHT? My first and last impression is that El Paso is BROWN! The mountains are brown, the yards are brown, event the cactus are brown! I think I did see a bit of green but it was few and far between.

 Arlys then insisted that we visit Bowie's Bakery. Now if you have ever tasted Mexican pastry, well, it's not what we Americans have a hankering for. It's typically dry, bland and tasteless.  Sorry but it is! Arlys swore we just hadn't tried GOOD Mexican baked goods yet. Well, she was right! Man, everything we tasted was awesome. We ate just a little too much but it was fun trying all the really good  treats. A fun fact to know and keep to yourself...President George W. Bush had Bowie's delectables flown in to Washing DC for his inauguration!

   













   We finally made it to Terry's home and she gave us a tour of her very cool and colorful Adobe style home with a very sweet back patio. Now, for those of you who don't know Terry, she is an art teacher and a pretty incredible mosaic artist. Her work is on buildings all through El Paso! We even stopped and posed in front of one piece of her work at a children's center. One of the reasons for having this reunion in El Paso was so that Terry could teach us how to do mosaics.

      After the tour, we drank some more beer and wine and headed to a little pizzeria for dinner. Lest you think we are all pigs, I want you all to know that all we ate was salad. We were full, full, full but poor Lewis hadn't been with us during the day and was hungry so we needed to feed him.

      Saturday morning we woke up early and went to work on the mosaics. It was so much fun and I have to say that each of us did a pretty good job despite the fact that we were all novices. Learning to nip the bisque tiles was an art but we managed to conquer our fear of the nippers and possible eye damage and throw down some pretty nice artwork.

     We then cleaned up and headed out to do a little shopping in Old Messilla, New Mexico. I'm pretty darn sure I don't have the spelling right but does it really matter? What TRULY matters is that it was cool! Adobe houses, BEAUTIFUL JEWELRY (sorry Tom but I did overspend!) and some wonderful Mexican artwork captivated us until sundown. Then we headed over to a really cool restaurant called the Double Eagle that was an old historic home with "to-die-for" old chandeliers, tin ceilings, stained glass, etc. After more beer and margaritas, we talked and talked through an entire dinner service and AGAIN, no one rushed us. I love the mañana attitude. Even after a couple of hours, we still had to ask for our bill! (BTW - thank you Arlys.)

    Sunday, we woke up and Terry and I went for hike (boy did I need it after the amount of chips, guacamole, beer, margaritas and Mexican food and pastries consumed).  Then we came back and finished up the mosaics. She taught us how to grout and I have to say, our mosaics became even more beautiful.

Lewis made us a phenomenal lunch of fajitas and then it was time to go home. Too soon, too fast and a sad farewell with promises to not wait another 30 years til the next get together.

   What I'm struck by is how many years can pass between real friends and how you don't even skip a beat when you're back together. Terry's art students asked her "how do you know you'll still like them?" That's a question that only a teenager, who hasn't lived, can ask. Despite the different paths our lives have taken, there is a bond that is unbreakable by the mere passing of time.

    Jeanne is a witty and intelligent mother of two girls and one set of twins -- one of which is autistic. She has and continues to only see the bright side of life. She shared a great philosophy passed on to her by a developmental specialist who first diagnosed her daughter's autism...."she's not going to die of it" which puts it all into perspective when it comes to our kids. Terry is a wonderfully talented, creative and funny woman who has raised three great sons and taught them a rare gift...self confidence. She is a mosaic artist, creates beautiful rugs (THAT's our next art lesson), and has the uncanny ability to put a wild range of colors together and make it work. She is a great teacher and is just someone you want to hang with. Arlys is a wonderful, kind and generous mother and speech pathologist who works with children and can coax them out of their shells.  She has a wonderful life in San Antonio and a beautiful family grown from her incredible spirit. Soft, sweet and kind, she is the woman we all want to be!
 
  These women are incredible and I can't believe it took me 30 years to make a trip to come see them! Despite the passage of time, it's like we were still dorm friends getting together in one of our rooms and having an incredible time. That my dear teenage student is WHAT true friends are all about. I can't wait for you to discover that for yourself!

My First Backpacking Trip

Living in Wyoming, I am now an ardent backpacker. But there was a time, way back when I was in college, that I didn't have a clue. I had fallen romantically in love with the mountains as a youngster, listening to John Denver and dreaming of the day when I would live in Colorado. If there was an opportunity to go to the mountains, no matter how obscure a trip, I would be first in line. I remember as a kid signing up for a Baptist summer camp just to get away from the flatlands of Texas (and I was Catholic). Yes, I have felt guilty many times about being "saved" by the Baptists and even confessed it during a reconciliation with my priest. I'm pretty sure he was laughing as I spit it out over tears.

I even chose my college based on its proximity to the mountains. I had a choice between two Texas journalism schools - UT or Texas Tech. I checked the map (I was living in Germany at the time) and saw how close Lubbock was to the mountains of New Mexico so I put my application in.

When I arrived on campus, imagine my shock to find a totally flat, barren, windswept prairie. My brother picked me up at the airport in Dallas and reluctantly drove me to the edge of hell. As quickly as he could, he unloaded my stuff and abandoned me at my dorm. From Munich to Lubbock. The alps to the brown cottonfields. I was in hell and it was at my choosing!

I studied hard my first year and at summer break my mom asked what I did for fun. Huh? Wasn't I supposed to just study? She told me to get a life so I went back to school in August and found the Outing Club. Back then, outing meant outdoors...

I signed up for my first backpacking trip. Without a clue, I took the list of recommended items and started pulling together my stuff. I was living on $50 a month and didn't have funds to invest in equipment. I had a backpack from my Eurorail trips and old slumber party sleeping bag so I was set.  What else? Water bottle? Humm... I emptied an old shampoo bottle and filled it with water. I had hiking boots too. A few extra things and I was set.

I went to the meeting place and everyone was great. I got in someone's car, not sure if it was Guy Hobbs or someone else but all I remember thinking (and I swear we said it first) that it was good to see Lubbock in our rearview mirror.

We camped at the trail head that night. Everyone put their bags out on the ground, I followed suit. Mind you, it was October in the mountains. About 3 a.m. in the morning, I woke up and my sleeping bag was completely wet (it was a cotton sleeping bag) and I was shivering beyond belief. I started pulling clothes out and putting them on. Suddenly I heard some girls talking and then a car door slam. I jumped up and raced over to their car and asked if I could climb in. They said yes. That's when I met Kim and Carla. We laughed at how wimpy we were and slept peacefully until dawn.

The next morning we awoke and found we were in a pasture full of cows! As I went to survey my equipment, my sleeping bag was not only wet, it was soaking wet with dew. I was trying to figure out what to do next when this wonderful guy, Mike Morlock, said "Hey, I have an extra sleeping bag if anyone needs it." I'm pretty sure he assessed my situation and figured out I was in trouble. I meekly went up and asked if I could borrow it and we became fast friends from that point onwards.

As we hiked up the trail, I quickly learned how out of shape I was. I was having a blast though. The aspens were yellow, the sun was shining and I was IN HEAVEN. I think I was even singing "Rocky Mountain High" to myself. At my first water break, I pulled open my water bottle and quickly got a mouthful of soapy water. Blah! I gagged and spit. Now what? Carla and Kim had already decided to adopt me so they shared their water. I wasn't about to carry that soapy water any further so I tossed it behind a bush (YES, I KNOW). When we got to another rest spot, Guy Hobbs got up to speak. First lesson folks. You pack out what you pack in. WHOSE SHAMPOO BOTTLE IS THIS?

I was as red as my hair when I got up to claim it. Not only was I embarrassed at dumping it but that I had even brought it.  Everyone laughed and I shrunk back to my resting spot.

Mike took pity on me and made sure, from that point on, that I learned the ropes. I eventually made it to camp and had the time of my life, eating fresh fish and meeting a great group of people. I survived the rest of the trip, and made it back to Lubbock much wiser and a whole lot happier.  I also went out and got a canteen and a new sleeping bag. That may have been my first trip, but it wasn't going to be my last!

Boston Tragedy

After working until around
7:45 p.m. tonight, I stopped to get some dinner before heading home. Flipping on the radio, I heard a mention about the "Boston Tragedy." I grabbed my smart phone and went to the CNN website where I learned about the bombings at the Boston Marathon. As I crept through the slow line at the eatery, I read through the articles on the web. I was shocked. While it was not on the scale of 9/11, the feeling is still the same. That pit in your stomach when you realize that we were struck again on our soil. A senseless  act of cowardice and hatred. My prayers are with the victims, the families of those stricken and for those who were witnesses or first responders. Thank you to all who braved the unknown and went to the aid of others.

May God bless us all.

Photos courtesy of The Atlantic.

My Life on Diet Coke

So I have to fess up, my Diet Coke break didn't last very long. I tried very hard to give up the bubbly but you know what? I like it too much. It's not like I smoke, drink (I don't consider one or two a month a drinker) or do drugs. I am a self-confessed Diet Coke lover and well, it's what I need in the morning to jump start the brain, give me a personality and engage with the world.

My world without diet coke? Imagine a turtle crawling across the floor. Slowwwwww....dull....boring.

My life on diet coke? Well if you've ever driven down a Wyoming road late at night and you see those crazed bunnies racing alongside your car, you get the jest!

My hubby has learned that life does not begin at our house without Diet Coke in the morning. I'm not sure what I ever did to strike fear in his heart but he gets nervous when there's no Diet Coke in the house in the morning. I truly don't think I growl...

The truth is that I have cut down on the amount I drink. I've never really kept track (call it denial) of my intake but at one time some friends threatened to just hook me up to one of those distributor trucks. These days I can get through a whole week on a 12 pack. And I don't keep it at work anymore. I have a water cooler in my office and when I need some bubbly, I pull out a LaCroix water.

Am I making progress? I think so but if I pop a top in the morning, know that I'm doing it for your sake just as much for mine.

There Goes the Rug

I KNEW IT! Take their regular chew toys (bolster beds) away and they go after something else. The good news is that the rug survived. The bag news is that the rubber mat that I glued to the bottom of the rug so that I wouldn't take a header or a but-er in the kitchen didn't. Yep, I came home to this...

Both were extremely ashamed (thus the bowed heads) and I tossed them out before cleaning up the mess. It took me six swiffer pads to get most of the dirt off the floor.

A normal person would just leave the dogs outside but it's been snowing all week and as mad as I am at them, I just can't bear leaving them out in the cold. They DO have a dog house (an extra large igloo style house) but do they have ENOUGH sense to use it? Nope!

Personally I think they missed me when I went to San Diego and they're acting out but Tom says not to flatter myself. We'll see. We've been home with them over the weekend and hopefully they're just waiting for us to go to work on Monday!

Guilty as Charged!

Many of you know that I convinced my hubby that we should get a couple of collies and eventually breed them. I was raised with collies and have never found another dog that is so loyal, loving and smart WITH the exception of my nearly perfect dog, Reilly, who was a border collie. He truly was close to being THE perfect dog. Sure, he had some eccentricities like chasing the vacuum cleaner, going bonkers over drills and hammers and trying to bite hair dryers. Oh! And the best one was refusing to be in the house when we cooked lamb. (After all he was born to protect them and here we are, his masters, eating them!) But he truly was a perfect dog. But I digress.

The "breeding and raising cute collies" thought went quickly out the window as soon as Skye went through her first cycle. I pin the badge of "Courage and Patience" on anyone who can suffer through a two-week breeding cycle. No cute puppies are worth that! Both of them were quickly taken care of and never shall we trample down THAT road again.

Skye is a small and beautiful, sable, female collie - very, very smart! Kallum is a large and beautiful tri-color collie -- very, very dumb. Not sure how we managed both end of the spectrums, but that's who we have!

After many months of chewing up two coffee tables, losing many pairs of shoes and countless pieces of clothing, and the destruction of our the entire irrigation system in the backyard, we thought we were past the their chewing years. Yeah, not so much.

For the last two nights, we have come home to the total desecration of one of their dog beds that they LOVE. Of course, we don't have a clue which one is doing it so they both get a tongue lashing and the worst possible thing -- banishment to the backyard while we're home. Oh! the sad faces, the whines and the occasional pawing of the patio door as they whimper to come inside with us.

And for two nights in a row, I have spent at least four hours mending the rips and putting the stuffing back in the bolster bed pondering which one was responsible. Last night, I finished and as soon as I set it on the floor, Skye came over, sniffed it, got inside it, circled and plopped down, happy as can be. I hadn't put the pad back in the bottom of it yet and the sound of her plopping down inside it, on the hard floor, was pathetic.

She finally got up and just as quickly, Kallum came in and did the same thing. How sweet was that? They LOVE those beds.

As my heart was melting at their sweetness and as I turned away to do something else, I heard the most awful sound....especially when you've just finished with another two hours of mending. A RIP! There was Kallum, with his head lying on the bolster, his small eyes looking up at me adoringly and his teeth sunk into the fabric of the bed that I just repaired. GUILTY I cried out, glad to know who was finally responsible but SERIOUSLY, right in front of me?

The beds made it through the night, but this morning -- well, I heaved them over the railing into a partitioned room to which they don't have access. Ha! I said, as I left -- sleep on the floor today buckaroo! See how you like that! But as I walked away, I swear I heard them thinking...  Ha! We'll just eat the carpet instead! I am soooo afraid to go home tonight!!!

Learning to Blog

How hard can it be? Purge my brain and write. Right? My goal is to make this an informative blog where you can gain new knowledge, learn from my mistakes or successes, garner some sage advice and along the way, have a laugh or two! Lord knows every day in my life is enough to make anyone else count their blessings. Life lessons to look foward to:  learning how to be a stepmother to three great kids, understanding what it takes to be the best grandmother, having my own business, raising two energetic collies and all the time trying to be a great wife....well, something's gotta give and most of the time it's me!

So hang on, send me your thoughts and let's have some fun!