National Mutt Day!

I was not aware that today was National Mutt Day, until I saw it on another blog.  I've featured my girl before, but it's been a few years.  And well, I LOVE her!!


Casey is a 15 1/2 year old Lab mix.  Her momma was a lab, and her daddy was a travelin' man.  She was born in a barn in eastern NC, and most of her litter mates died of liver disease fairly early on.

Doing what she does best (and most of the time!)

Here she is begging for attention (and showing her cataracts...)

Here are just a few other random pics as well:

And there's the little things that you know you'll miss when they're gone.  One of the funniest things I'll miss is her opening the bathroom door.  I'm convinced she thinks there is an escape hatch in there, and if we shut the door, we'll be gone.  If you don't shut the door (and latch it), she'll nudge it open, and just pop her head in.  She won't come in, she'll just check to make sure you're still there.  She's been doing this for about 4 years, and it still makes me smile.  Of course, we do know to shut it all the way if we really need privacy.  Even then, you can here her nose nudging it, and can almost see the wonder on her face as to why it won't open.

I am soo, sooo, sooooo fortunate that I've had her as long as I have.  And that at 15+, she's still holding her own.  I'm thankful for every day I get with her....

Happy National Mutt Day!

AMW

We got FLOCKED!

This is what I saw today when I pulled up at home.  I wasn't sure what was going on...  It wasn't anyone's birthday, or anniversary, or retirement, or flag day, or national penguin day...

It is, though, National Trail Mix Day, so maybe that was it.

I parked, and went out to check it out....

Casey decided to help me figure out what was going on...

Nope, not in celebration of National Trail mix day...

Some friends of ours are on a softball team, and are raising funds to get to Las Vegas for a tournament.  Someone "flocks" you, and then you can donate to "flock" someone else, or you can make a donation just for them to remove the flock.  Great idea!


And certainly put a smile on my face when I got home this afternoon.


Off to camp for the holiday weekend, so I'll be MIA for the next few....


AMW

April Fool's Day

What a fun day. I've always liked this day, and I guess it's because I'm such a smart-ass that it just seems like a fitting day.

Today is un-officially my Casey-Dog's birthday. We knew she was born in early April, but the exact date was unknown. So why not make it April 1st???? I could find no good reason not to... This morning before heading to work, she got extra treats! She didn't know why, but she was happy.

As a kid, I remember playing the common April Fool's jokes. "Hey, your shoes untied" followed by "April Fools!"

I even remember one year, I replaced my parent's sugar bowl with salt. So when they had their morning cup of tea, they put salt in it instead. I also remember them not seeing the humor in it. DOH!

But the most memorable April Fool's Joke I remember was one done by local disc jockeys.

Set the scene: Mt. Trashmore!

What is Mt. Trashmore?? Once a landfill, it was converted into a city park in the 70's by compacting the trash and covering it with clean soil, and planting grass. It's a large hill that is 60 feet high and 800 feet long. The park now boasts two mountains, two lakes, and a multitude of trails. If one were to dig beneath the surface they would find that the whole hill is covered in a thick layer of rubber to keep water from running through the trash. In addition, three of the flag poles in the park secretly act as vents for methane gas released by the rotting trash beneath the scenic park.

It was April 1992. On FM-99, the morning guys were Tommy Griffith and the late Henry "The Bull" Del Toro. A roudy duo to say the least.

But on that April Fool's Day, they claimed that Mt. Trashmore had a build up of methane gas and was about to explode.

Local residents flooded 911 with calls. People evacuated their homes. And near panic ensued. The duo tried to give clues by giving phony highways as evacuation routes, but too many folks thought it was real.

The radio station was fined by the FCC and the DJ's were suspended for two weeks without pay.

I know I shouldn't think it funny, but I really did think it was hilarious!

The Museum of Hoaxes even has it listed (along with another incident) as #9 in the "Top 10 Worst April Fool's Day Hoaxes Ever". Is it wrong that I think that's AWESOME???

How do you spend April Fool's? Do you have any that are particularly memorable? What is your favorite April Fool's joke???

AMW

2010 SnowPocolypse

Earlier here I reminisced about a snow storm that happened when I was young. Now, through pictures, I'll tell you all about the big storm of 2010. A much different scene for me. I really enjoyed this storm, and had a lot of fun...

This was about 10:30 in the morning on Saturday. It was still snowing, but this was the earliest measurement. About 5 inches and steadily falling.

This was the back patio, around the same time-frame. See those two bowls on the table?

These two bowls? They are the collection bins for SNOW CREAM!

I remember having snow cream growing up. My grandmother would make it. But I had never tried it... It was REALLY yummy!!

We also picked that day to try to make sushi for the first time. It was really easy with the SUSHEZI! And good. This was avacodo, cream cheese and crab.

Of course, we HAD to go out and play. Casey just watched for bit. She's seen snow before, but not nearly this much...

I almost lost her in it at one point. It was up to her underbelly. Good thing she's so dark!

And I finally got her to sit still enough to take a good picture. She wasn't happy about sitting in it though. What a trooper!

Now some shots from around the yard...

The two suns and crab didn't seem too bothered by it all.

By Sunday morning, the icicles were growing bigger and bigger.

Guess we won't be grilling on these this weekend.

Sunday, we also decided to take a drive by the water. It's only a couple of blocks and I wanted to get some pictures. Of course.

This was one of the first things I saw. Beautiful, huh?

We also saw this guy. Wasn't 100% sure what I was seeing at first, but you'll see below and hopefully you'll be as amused as I was...

Yep. Cross-country skiing in SE VA by the bay.

And a great sport he was. I opened the window, held out the camera, and he just grinned.

And I almost missed this guy, cause I was facing the water. See him? On a snowboard?

That's him again being pulled behind that pick-up truck!

LOVE IT!

Lots of folks were out walking dogs. These two where just enjoying the day and each other!

I loved how the sun was shining so bright, and the snow was overlooking the water.

It was the most snow our area had seen in a long, long time. Nearly shut the entire metro area down. Took a long time to clear it all up, and kids were out of school until Wednesday or Thursday for a storm that happened on Saturday.

But it will be a storm that people will remember for years to come.

I know I will! How about you? What did you do that was memorable?

AMW

My dog pooped her pants!

WHAT? How can that be, you ask? Ok - here's the back story...

This summer - Casey had some skin issues, and was chewing herself raw. You can read about it HERE, but to sum up: the one thing that kept her from chewing was a doggie diaper.

So you can see where this is going......

She's had another round of chewing herself raw, it getting infected, and being on all kinds of medicines. She stayed at the vets on Monday, D worked from home Tuesday and was home with her, and on Wednesday I putted the doggy diaper on her. No problem.

Now mind you - this isn't because she's in heat, or incontinent. It's just a deterrent so she doesn't chew on her wound.

And she didn't.

But Thursday, I got home, and she RAN.OUT.OF.THE.HOUSE. I had to run after her to try to get the diaper off of her. And when I did - yep! Full of poop!

My poor girl had pooped her pants!

Somehow, there was none on her. She was clean as could be.

I felt absolutely awful for her, for having to deal with that all day (or however long it had been), but it was so funny, I couldn't help but laugh!!

Gives a whole new meaning to the nickname "stinkbutt"!

AMW

Completely Random Update

Well, I sure have been delinquent in my blogging, haven't I?  Have I lost all of my readers?  All 2 of you?  LOL!!  Kidding!  I hope there's at least 3...

This is likely to be a complete hodge-podge random update.  

It's been an extremely busy summer!  A friend is staying at our house for a bit, so there is the dynamics of a third person.  Kind of strange, as there have only been two of us in the house for 3 years.  We're adjusting.  I'm not sure if I've ever lived with someone that shows signs of ADD and OCD.  It certainly makes for an interesting combination.

Since it's summertime - there have been lots of "gatherings"!   Several have been birthdays with pool parties that have been fun beyond words.  There have been impromptu "porch" nights, dinner at friends houses, and a near-weekly breakfast at Paul's Restaurant.  (I promise a FULL post with pictures about Paul's in the not-to-distant future.)

Our ADD/OCD houseguest has an over abundance of energy, and has a list of projects she's working on at our house.  She just re-roofed one of our sheds, edged the front brick walk with a shovel, cleaned and re-organized the back patio, and has dug up an overgrown flower garden, complete with pulling out bushes with her truck.  Did I mention she's only been with us for 3 weeks???  For her next trick - she'll do cartwheels while simultaneously cooking a gourmet meal for 100 of our closest friends in between re-grouting all three bathrooms!  She moves too fast for pictures, so there will be no photographic evidence.  

Work has been a bit on the stressful side.  Without dwelling on it too much, I'll just say that even though I own my own business, I still have to do what others tell me to do.  The owners of the building that pay my contract have had some requests lately that are affecting business.  And since business is already slow due to the economy, well, let's just say that it's nearing the painful stage.  I'll get through it.

My Casey-Dog (who is 13, by the way!) has started having a little more issues.  Her hips are bothering her more, and she's taking to chewing herself raw in spots.  And this is a dog that doesn't take kindly to your trying to help her.  If you try to clean a sore spot, she's likely to turn around an nip!  I've never bathed her...  I've always taken her to a groomer.  And clean her ears?  No thank you!  They can muzzle her at the vet, or they can risk the nibble that she'll give them.  So imagine when we take her to the vet, and the vet says to clean the area twice a day, and apply this cream.  Oh, and don't let her lick it.   Hmmm....  This poses yet another problem!  We all know that most dogs dislike the plastic collars, but my dog FREAKS.OUT.  Yeah, having her die of a heart attack from the stress of a plastic collar kinda defeats the purpose.  So I've tried just about everything!  What works?  When we're home, we keep her on a leash, so we can monitor her every move.  When we go to work, I put a doggy diaper on her that covers her raw hip, with a piece of gauze under it for a little more protection.  That was after trying a t-shirts (put on her backwards), and soft collar, and self-adhesive gauze.  All of those were not pretty either.  She's not thrilled with the doggy diaper, but she tolerates it.  We go back for a follow-up visit today.

Overall, the summer has been fantastic!  There are still more parties to attend before the summer is over.  We got invited to THREE for this Saturday, alone.  We can only make it to one, which is a bummer, but there are more lined up!

And then......  BOWLING starts up!  I know you can hardly wait for the weekly bowling updates, can you?????

What summer fun have you been up to?  Leave a comment here for me!

AMW

Thousand Word Thursday

I thought the concept of the "Thousand Word Thursday" was cool.  So, I'm gonna try to do it here.  You can click on the box for more info.

Here's my first:

This is my Casey doing what she loves the best!  Laying on the front porch, watching the world go by.

AMW

(PS - If I timed this right, this is my 100th post!)

Hodge Podge

I've been under the weather for almost a week now.  It's frustrating, cause I really don't like to be still.   And I know that in order to get better, I have to rest.  So, I didn't leave the couch for Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.  I just knew that would knock it out.  Nope.  Had a planned day off tomorrow, but ended up taking half a day off from work yesterday, took the day off today, and figure I'll be sitting here on the couch again tomorrow too.  Frustrating.  I had planned on bowling last night, but this crud stopped me from going, because I didn't really want to spread my germs around, and because I didn't have the energy to throw a ball.  More frustrating.  

I've been spending an awful lot of time online since I've been sick, as well as watching a disgusting amount of tv.  My online time is split up between a few sites, and I've gotten hooked on a couple of live streaming videos.  What are they?  Well, there is the hummingbird babies in California.  A couple in CA had a hummingbird build a nest on a tiki light they have on their porch.  The set up a webcam, and the following is almost cult-ish.  It can be found HERE.   Another one is the doodles in New Jersey.  Two litters, one a litter of golden doodles, and one litter of labradoodles.  I'm so drooling over these puppies, it's not funny.  Don't tell my Casey, though.  She's been so good while I've been sick and hasn't left my side.  Almost literally.  But I digress.  The link to the doodles can be found HERE.   And the last one I'm hooked on is the local eagle cam.  These eagles have been in the area for a long time, and the local botanical garden has done an awesome job of following them.  They can be found HERE.  For some reason, I can't get the eagle cam up this morning.  Perhaps it's down for maintenance.  

I watched the movie Office Space.  I'm not usually a fan of what I call *slapstick comedy*, but this movie was funny!  I now get all the jokes when they talk about it at work...

I also watched Madagascar 2.  I think this movie was funnier than the first one.  The jokes are hilarious, and most of them are geared towards adults more than kids.  The kids will enjoy the animation, and be able to follow it very well.  But the adults will LOVE this movie and all of the adult humor.  And of course, the penguins are a stand-out in the film!

I've caught up on all of the DVR and all of the reality shows that I've got even a passing interest in.  Hmmm....  I think that will be a post all it's own, cause that would take up about half of this post.

An ankle update - went back to the doc on Tuesday.  We chatted about it for a bit, and the conclusion pretty much was, suck it up and deal with it.  It has improved, but that darned piece of bone still irritates me.  Not all the time.  It has it's moments.  I'll go back if it gets worse, or becomes unbearable.  

Yep, a Hodge Podge of stuff.  Sitting on the couch sucks.  Feeling bad sucks.  Not being able to enjoy a day off sucks.  I really hope I start feeling better soon!

AMW

Casey Dog and pets

I've been wanting to do a post on pets for a while, so decided it was time.  We do have a fish tank, a 55 gallon fresh water.  And have *kinda* named some of them.  There is "Little Sucker", and "Apha Tiger", and "Sharkie", and "Red Tail", and "Mean Shark".  There are some other fish in there as well as the one we adopted, Bubba.  Bubba is a sucker fish that is probably at least 10 times bigger than any of the other fish in the tank.  But he adapted just fine, and thinks he's in a palace compared to the 10 gallon tank he came to us from.

Then, of course, there is my Casey Dog.  Casey, really, but she answers to a lot of different things, depending on the mood.  She's a Lab mix that is 12 1/2 years old.  I got her when she was just several weeks old.  I was living in NC, and an instructor at the local community college lived on a farm.  A pregnant Lab momma wandered onto the farm, and gave birth to 9 puppies in the barn.  She adopted them out, and later found out that about half of them died within a few months of a liver disease.  Casey was one of the lucky ones.  I remember her sleeping in a laundry basket for the first few months.  I sure wish I could find those pics...  She was adorable.

She has certainly been with me through thick and thin...  And until I can find some of the old pictures of her, I'll post some from the last year or so...

Doing what she does best (and most of the time!)

Here she is begging for attention (and showing her cataracts...)

Here are just a few other random pics as well:

And to finish off, here is a small video of one of her favorite things to do in the yard.  Roll and scratch her back!

PS - this is my first attempt at uploading a video.  Wish me luck!

AMW