Dogs are so wonderful, except for:
1. Ticks and fleas
2. Peeing in the house
3. Getting into garbage
4. Shedding
5. Pooping in the house
6. Barking at everything and nothing
7. Bad breath
8. Flatulence
9. Rolling in anything that smells disgusting
10. Destroying property, mostly underwear
Other than that, dogs are wonderful.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sarah Palin is back - a poem
Sarah Palin is back
She never really left us.
Supporters can't get enough,
for some it's politics
For others it's lust.
Sarah Palin is back,
again in vogue.
Cynicism brought her to life,
drafted as a GOP version of Hillary.
Great strategy, until she went rogue.
Sarah Palin is back
stumping for McCain.
Tea Party loves her,
GOP still needs her,
She is basking in new fame.
Sarah Palin is back,
that's a long ass 15 minutes of fame.
She never really left us.
Supporters can't get enough,
for some it's politics
For others it's lust.
Sarah Palin is back,
again in vogue.
Cynicism brought her to life,
drafted as a GOP version of Hillary.
Great strategy, until she went rogue.
Sarah Palin is back
stumping for McCain.
Tea Party loves her,
GOP still needs her,
She is basking in new fame.
Sarah Palin is back,
that's a long ass 15 minutes of fame.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Addison this morning
Addison is happiest when someone is talking to her, making faces at her, playing with her, feeding her, carrying her... you get the picture. She likes to be INVOLVED in the action. Just 18 months before she can join her first soccer team!
Sleep, eat, sleep, bark, sleep
I have a new word for lazy: Beagle. It will go something like this:
I feel like a beagle.
Not now, I'm too beagle.
It's OK. You deserve to be a little beagle after all the work you did yesterday.
Beagle also might be used as a substitute for couch potato.
Did you see so-and-so, he never moved the entire time we were there ... he's soooo beagle.
I'm sorry dear, I just want to sit here in front of the TV like a beagle.
Maybe it's a little unfair to the beagle. It could be our two beagles are made to appear even MORE lazy because they live with a border collie.
I have a new word for manic: border collie.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sabbatical
I want to take a sabbatical. First I had to look the word up. I need all the ammo out there to convince my agency.
The word originally referred to resting the land after 7 years, as in not planting crops that year. So now that meaning has evolved into taking a leave of absence from a job, and again after 7 years according to Webster's. How long have I been on staff? Oh yeah, 7 years! In December it will be 8 years. Not always full time. Still, 7 years. To me that's relevant.
When would I need to take it? I think this summer. Starting the first of June, returning in September after Labor Day. Three full months. That's not so long really. I wouldn't want to impose on colleagues though. The thought of them having to pick up my slack. Not cool. I could run it past them before I run it past my boss.
I wonder what Paul thinks?
The word originally referred to resting the land after 7 years, as in not planting crops that year. So now that meaning has evolved into taking a leave of absence from a job, and again after 7 years according to Webster's. How long have I been on staff? Oh yeah, 7 years! In December it will be 8 years. Not always full time. Still, 7 years. To me that's relevant.
When would I need to take it? I think this summer. Starting the first of June, returning in September after Labor Day. Three full months. That's not so long really. I wouldn't want to impose on colleagues though. The thought of them having to pick up my slack. Not cool. I could run it past them before I run it past my boss.
I wonder what Paul thinks?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
My tummy hurts... wahhh
You know the trail mix with M&Ms in it? I just ate all the M&Ms outta a really big Costco-size bag. I wish I hadn't because now my tummy hurts.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Vacation pictures
Top to bottom: the top two photos are of the road immediately outside Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas. This is what it looked like as Paul and I headed home. It was beautiful, but also blizzard like. Little did we know, we would end up driving in blowing snow for most of the trip home March 20th, the first day of spring. The turkey picture is of a wild turkey that had come into our camp area. There were 5 of them, one male (in photo) and 4 female. Very cool.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas
A few weeks ago Paul and I started talking about where and when we would take Manny (our pop up trailer, Manny for TrailManor) for the inaugural trip of the new year. We decided, I'm not sure how, on Palo Duro Canyon in the Panhandle of Texas, about a 6 hour drive from home. It happens to be, we discovered in our research, the second largest canyon in the U.S. In fact, we had never heard of the place until it was included in an article in the most recent issue of Texas Monthly. So I call state park reservations and secure 2 nights inside the park, March 19 & 20 (first day of Spring).
As the date approached, the weather forecast started looking bad. Cold front. Maybe even snow. A couple of days before launch, we discussed changing locations, looking at state parks south of us. We decided to stay the course. It turned out to be the right decision.
The state park campsites at Palo Duro Canyon are the nicest we've stayed at in any state park. The advantage of Palo Duro compared to the Grand Canyon is access to the canyon. The park itself is at the bottom of the canyon really. A steep and winding drive down (and up). Once there, it is divided into various campsites, day sites, picnic areas, a store and restaurant, amphitheater, information center, and horse rental site. The real entertainment inside the park is the more than a dozen hiking/biking/running trails.
We arrived about 3 p.m. and waited another 40 minutes in a vehicle line to get inside the park. Once inside we found our site, opened up the Manny, and set out to discover Palo Duro and even get in a brief hike before sunset. What we saw was tons of families and young adults enjoying a perfect day. Shorts and short sleeves. Lots of bikes on the trails. Lots of dogs (Oh, yeah, and we brought Mika with us for the first time. She was a superstar). Little kids, big kids. Gorgeous views. We felt very lucky to be there. This wonderland full of activity we didn't even know existed a short few weeks ago.
Back to the Manny after a 2 mile hike, we made tuna sandwiches and talked about where we would hike the next day. Paul of course had set up the TV, which worked! We got only a couple of channels, but one had the basketball tournament. It also had the local news, including the impending cold front which now was certainly packed with snow. It was expected to hit about noon the next day and drop most of the snow overnight. Temps were to drop about 40 degrees. Wind gusts up to 50 mph also were predicted. We discussed all options, but put off a decision. Too tired to think straight. It had been a long day.
Early the next morning, Paul made pancakes and turkey sausage. Yum. We already could feel the drop in temperature from the day before. We knew it was going to continue to drop. No short sleeves and shorts today. We decided we would hike the Lighthouse Trail, named for the stone formation found at the trails end. It is classified a moderate hike with an extremely difficult 1/4 mile at the end. 6 miles round trip. We put off making a decision about staying or leaving until AFTER the hike.
The hike, we agreed, was the best part of the trip. Better than the pancakes. That's saying a lot. It was mostly easy, we started at around 8:30 a.m. We weren't the first on the trial, but just about. The hike had enough up and down variations to make it challenging, but still easy enough for a mostly out of shape fatty (me). Felt like we had accomplished something afterward. It took us 3 hours. A lot of that time was taking pictures. Mika was our leader, stopping occasionally to wait for me to catch up. Love that dog.
So we get back and see that many of our neighbors were either gone or packing up to leave. What should we do? It just seemed too soon to leave this wonderland that we just discovered. We decided to stay. It was kind of eery. By the end of the day, only 5 campsites were filled, including ours. That's out of 30 plus sites in our camp. We have no idea how many other crazies were sitting out the storm in other campsites throughout the park. Two of the 5 remaining sites at our camp only had tents! That takes guts. We learned that you can have heat inside a tent too. Even wood burning. Imagine that.
By early evening, the wind really picked up. A couple of times, we weren't so sure about our decision, especially when the bigger gusts caused the trailer to move slightly. Then Paul says, "I hope we have enough propane to keep the heat going overnight."
What? It's dipping into the 20s, wind chill single digits and we could lose our heat? Huh? Oh well. Thank goodness we were tired enough to fall asleep. During the night, we could hear precipitation hitting the trailer, winds gusting, etc. I don't mind saying it was a little scary. At about 5 a.m. ish, after waking and realizing I was shivering, I say, "Paul?" Quietly in case he's sleeping.
"Yeah?" He's not sleeping.
"I think we lost our heat."
"Me too."
So Paul gets up, puts on his shoes, opens the door to a winter wonderland, everything white, steps into the bitter cold and wind and switches on the extra propane tank. Heat returns. My hero.
We drink coffee, eat the last of the pancakes and sausage while we ponder our fate. Manny had withstood the storm, so had we. By noon, a parks woman came by to say the road out had been plowed and is passable. A little icy and still gusty. They were letting people out, but no one could come in. That was our green light to go.
We arrived home around 9 p.m. Tired? Yes. But already planning our next camping adventure.
As the date approached, the weather forecast started looking bad. Cold front. Maybe even snow. A couple of days before launch, we discussed changing locations, looking at state parks south of us. We decided to stay the course. It turned out to be the right decision.
The state park campsites at Palo Duro Canyon are the nicest we've stayed at in any state park. The advantage of Palo Duro compared to the Grand Canyon is access to the canyon. The park itself is at the bottom of the canyon really. A steep and winding drive down (and up). Once there, it is divided into various campsites, day sites, picnic areas, a store and restaurant, amphitheater, information center, and horse rental site. The real entertainment inside the park is the more than a dozen hiking/biking/running trails.
We arrived about 3 p.m. and waited another 40 minutes in a vehicle line to get inside the park. Once inside we found our site, opened up the Manny, and set out to discover Palo Duro and even get in a brief hike before sunset. What we saw was tons of families and young adults enjoying a perfect day. Shorts and short sleeves. Lots of bikes on the trails. Lots of dogs (Oh, yeah, and we brought Mika with us for the first time. She was a superstar). Little kids, big kids. Gorgeous views. We felt very lucky to be there. This wonderland full of activity we didn't even know existed a short few weeks ago.
Back to the Manny after a 2 mile hike, we made tuna sandwiches and talked about where we would hike the next day. Paul of course had set up the TV, which worked! We got only a couple of channels, but one had the basketball tournament. It also had the local news, including the impending cold front which now was certainly packed with snow. It was expected to hit about noon the next day and drop most of the snow overnight. Temps were to drop about 40 degrees. Wind gusts up to 50 mph also were predicted. We discussed all options, but put off a decision. Too tired to think straight. It had been a long day.
Early the next morning, Paul made pancakes and turkey sausage. Yum. We already could feel the drop in temperature from the day before. We knew it was going to continue to drop. No short sleeves and shorts today. We decided we would hike the Lighthouse Trail, named for the stone formation found at the trails end. It is classified a moderate hike with an extremely difficult 1/4 mile at the end. 6 miles round trip. We put off making a decision about staying or leaving until AFTER the hike.
The hike, we agreed, was the best part of the trip. Better than the pancakes. That's saying a lot. It was mostly easy, we started at around 8:30 a.m. We weren't the first on the trial, but just about. The hike had enough up and down variations to make it challenging, but still easy enough for a mostly out of shape fatty (me). Felt like we had accomplished something afterward. It took us 3 hours. A lot of that time was taking pictures. Mika was our leader, stopping occasionally to wait for me to catch up. Love that dog.
So we get back and see that many of our neighbors were either gone or packing up to leave. What should we do? It just seemed too soon to leave this wonderland that we just discovered. We decided to stay. It was kind of eery. By the end of the day, only 5 campsites were filled, including ours. That's out of 30 plus sites in our camp. We have no idea how many other crazies were sitting out the storm in other campsites throughout the park. Two of the 5 remaining sites at our camp only had tents! That takes guts. We learned that you can have heat inside a tent too. Even wood burning. Imagine that.
By early evening, the wind really picked up. A couple of times, we weren't so sure about our decision, especially when the bigger gusts caused the trailer to move slightly. Then Paul says, "I hope we have enough propane to keep the heat going overnight."
What? It's dipping into the 20s, wind chill single digits and we could lose our heat? Huh? Oh well. Thank goodness we were tired enough to fall asleep. During the night, we could hear precipitation hitting the trailer, winds gusting, etc. I don't mind saying it was a little scary. At about 5 a.m. ish, after waking and realizing I was shivering, I say, "Paul?" Quietly in case he's sleeping.
"Yeah?" He's not sleeping.
"I think we lost our heat."
"Me too."
So Paul gets up, puts on his shoes, opens the door to a winter wonderland, everything white, steps into the bitter cold and wind and switches on the extra propane tank. Heat returns. My hero.
We drink coffee, eat the last of the pancakes and sausage while we ponder our fate. Manny had withstood the storm, so had we. By noon, a parks woman came by to say the road out had been plowed and is passable. A little icy and still gusty. They were letting people out, but no one could come in. That was our green light to go.
We arrived home around 9 p.m. Tired? Yes. But already planning our next camping adventure.
Hell must have frozen over
As I write this Sunday evening, March 21st, Congress is about to pass health care legislation.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Spring Break 2010 Fort Worth Zoo Trip
Me, Andrea, Addison and Pam got lucky. Rain. It kept the masses away for the most part. By the time we were leaving, it was getting way too crowded. But for the most part, we got to see everything we wanted, except the monkeys stayed inside. Apparently they don't like rain.
Addison and Pam's first trip to the zoo. Addison definitely did not get it. While we were entertained by a swimming otter, Addie was mesmerized by the ceiling fan. Lots of fun. Pam definitely did get it. She had so many questions. Mostly I provided the answer: "I don't know."
Memorable day.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday morning after time change
Time change. I couldn't get up at 6:30 this morning because it was really 5:30. That's the rotten thing about time change. The good thing is everything today I can blame on the time change. Late for work: time change. Yawning: Time change. Forgetting to do something: Time change. Not returning phone calls: Time change. ... You get the idea. I'm not sure how long you can use it as an excuse. I think almost the entire week. But next Monday. I'm on my own.
Gotta go. I'm late for work. Time change.
Gotta go. I'm late for work. Time change.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Toy story
Just finished listening to Donald Trump on Joe Scarborough's morning show on MSNBC. He said something that clicked with me. Talking about how China makes stuff we should/could be making ourselves. Then he said, "We can make our own toys." Bingo. That's my new cause. Easier than environment or domestic violence for sure.
So. When I win the lottery, I will put my money in a manufacturing plant. It will make uni sex toys. I will have to come up with a clever name that does not include the word sex. Move over Mattel. (They have a big distribution center in Fort Worth somewhere. Their toys come from China.)
This would be the company roster:
Board of directors: Me, all family members
CEO: Me, because it was my idea.
VP Research and Development: Jack. He would be the person to oversee toy inventions, how they work, and predict future trends, etc.
VP Marketing: Michael (have you seen his audition video? Someone post that please). Jenny too. These two so bring out the best in each other, which would benefit the company.
VP Legal: John, of course. Find the loopholes and hide the ... no, we won't be that kind of company. John would make sure we stay ethical and give back to the community.
VP Human Resources: Andrea. Dealing with soccer parents has given her the experience to handle any kind of personnel development. Any.
VP Product Testing: All the grandchildren and Paulie. Isn't that a beautiful thought?
Until I win the lottery, I will continue to dream of the day little boys everywhere can ask for an Easy Bake Oven (made in USA) without fear, and little girls get to play with something besides dolls.
So. When I win the lottery, I will put my money in a manufacturing plant. It will make uni sex toys. I will have to come up with a clever name that does not include the word sex. Move over Mattel. (They have a big distribution center in Fort Worth somewhere. Their toys come from China.)
This would be the company roster:
Board of directors: Me, all family members
CEO: Me, because it was my idea.
VP Research and Development: Jack. He would be the person to oversee toy inventions, how they work, and predict future trends, etc.
VP Marketing: Michael (have you seen his audition video? Someone post that please). Jenny too. These two so bring out the best in each other, which would benefit the company.
VP Legal: John, of course. Find the loopholes and hide the ... no, we won't be that kind of company. John would make sure we stay ethical and give back to the community.
VP Human Resources: Andrea. Dealing with soccer parents has given her the experience to handle any kind of personnel development. Any.
VP Product Testing: All the grandchildren and Paulie. Isn't that a beautiful thought?
Until I win the lottery, I will continue to dream of the day little boys everywhere can ask for an Easy Bake Oven (made in USA) without fear, and little girls get to play with something besides dolls.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Do you believe in miracles?
Do you believe in miracles? That's the line made famous when the U.S. hockey team beat the Russians in 1980. It was repeated when U.S. hockey team beat Canada a couple of weeks ago during the Olympic Games. I used it today and it wasn't about hockey.
Paul is reading a book. A fiction book. His first since ... well, ever maybe. For sure since we've been married. He says he's enjoying it. Right now he's in South Carolina; earlier this week he was in Mexico. He ASKED me for something to read because he knew he'd have all this down time at airports and on planes. I chose Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. His books are set in south Florida, one of Paulie's favorite places on earth. He's read EIGHT chapters already. I am so proud of him. Truly.
I do believe in miracles!!
Paul is reading a book. A fiction book. His first since ... well, ever maybe. For sure since we've been married. He says he's enjoying it. Right now he's in South Carolina; earlier this week he was in Mexico. He ASKED me for something to read because he knew he'd have all this down time at airports and on planes. I chose Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. His books are set in south Florida, one of Paulie's favorite places on earth. He's read EIGHT chapters already. I am so proud of him. Truly.
I do believe in miracles!!
The R word
I got news this week that a former newspaper colleague is retiring. What?? I used to play racquetball with his wife. Seems like a few years ago, not 25 years. I haven't kept in touch and was briefly taken back by the news. I was going to write today about how retirement is now the R word, but then I looked up my old friend on Facebook. His picture shows a healthy, good looking, gray haired, active person. Smiling. He's in full scuba gear and no doubt his wife is somewhere nearby, also in full gear. Boomers. They/we make retirement look good.
Congratulations Lloyd Cunningham!! Paul and I are right behind you.. 8 years and counting.
BTW: did you know there is a website called rword? It doen't refer to retirement, or Republican. You can look it up if you want. That makes me think: do all the letters of the alphabet have their own website? I didn't check. Not enough time, gotta get ready for work.
Congratulations Lloyd Cunningham!! Paul and I are right behind you.. 8 years and counting.
BTW: did you know there is a website called rword? It doen't refer to retirement, or Republican. You can look it up if you want. That makes me think: do all the letters of the alphabet have their own website? I didn't check. Not enough time, gotta get ready for work.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Difference of opinion/perception
Question: How is it that two people can look at the same picture and see something entirely different?
Answer: I wish I knew.
I guess when two people have come to look at the same picture, it makes a difference what pictures they've already looked at. That can change perception.
I guess it also can change perception if one person saw the picture last year and the other person viewed it 10 years ago and so on. Even though the picture is the same, perception evolves.
I guess it also can make a difference if one person has studied the artist and the specific piece of work and the other person hasn't.
I guess it also can affect perception if one person respects the artist and the other doesn't.
Ok. So there are some explanations why one person can see something the other person doesn't see. Now the questions become: Is this OK? What if the differences generate bad feelings on both sides? What if one person is especially attached to the picture, but the other person can take it or leave it?
Why can't we all just get along?
Answer: I wish I knew.
I guess when two people have come to look at the same picture, it makes a difference what pictures they've already looked at. That can change perception.
I guess it also can change perception if one person saw the picture last year and the other person viewed it 10 years ago and so on. Even though the picture is the same, perception evolves.
I guess it also can make a difference if one person has studied the artist and the specific piece of work and the other person hasn't.
I guess it also can affect perception if one person respects the artist and the other doesn't.
Ok. So there are some explanations why one person can see something the other person doesn't see. Now the questions become: Is this OK? What if the differences generate bad feelings on both sides? What if one person is especially attached to the picture, but the other person can take it or leave it?
Why can't we all just get along?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
What is tapioca?
What is tapioca? That's the question we had at lunch the other day at the Thai restaurant (see previous post). Our lunch came with a sweet soupy tapioca dessert. That led to the question, what is this tapioca? None of us knew for certain.
Here's the definition:
a food substance prepared from cassava (a root) in granular, flake, pellet or flour form. Often used as a thickening agent.
Ok. I guess it is in pellet form that I know tapioca best. Pudding and drinks. In pudding it's palatable for me, in drinks (boba or bubble tea) it's not. Because I respect others who do like the boba form, I will not describe what it looks and feels like to me.
That's it. Tapioca. It's kind of a cool word.
Here's the definition:
a food substance prepared from cassava (a root) in granular, flake, pellet or flour form. Often used as a thickening agent.
Ok. I guess it is in pellet form that I know tapioca best. Pudding and drinks. In pudding it's palatable for me, in drinks (boba or bubble tea) it's not. Because I respect others who do like the boba form, I will not describe what it looks and feels like to me.
That's it. Tapioca. It's kind of a cool word.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
I love Thai food
I had Thai food for the first time yesterday. LOVED it. I had stupidly avoided it because of the curry thing. I don't really care for a lot of curry. What I learned yesterday is that curry done well, and mixed with other lovely and tasty spices is good. Really good. I didn't find my courage yesterday as much as I am part of a small group from my agency reviewing restaurants in our Fort Worth neighborhood. I had to go along. It's part of our mission. We have to be brave enough to walk through some scary doors. Not all restaurants are created equal, especially the little ones attached to a store or gas station. But we are committed. Last week it was a tiny Mexican restaurant, this week Thai. I think yesterday I may have permanently stained my white shirt. As my John pointed out: It was worth it.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Addie's first pony
Addison got a pony this weekend!! It stays at grandma and grandpa's house. Her little feet touch the floor and she easily pushes herself up and down. The more she jumps up and down, the more the horsie talks. Sometimes you can hear it galloping too. So cool. So cute.
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