I Love Being Told I’m Not A Nice Person

I had been toying with several topics as my next possible blog post but wasn’t fired up enough about any. Then today something happened, an idea presented itself and BOOM, there it was. On the one hand, it was such an unpleasant experience, I don’t know if I want to dwell on it or even ever look back on it. On the other hand, I have no one else to discuss it with so will put it all on here.

My inabilities to deal with situations get me into all kinds of trouble. I was taught a lot in life but obviously not everything. As much as I try to be prepared for any scenario that arises, there is always something I just don’t know the correct way to deal with. I do the best I can but wen in default, I do nothing.

 

3 times this week, I’ve given directions to drivers in cars while I’m walking my 3 dogs. I don’t mind and it usually makes me feel good to help if I’m familiar with their destination. This would lead you to believe I’m a nice person but you would be wrong. Sometimes walking the dogs is a joy and sometimes it’s a chore. There are a lot of extenuating factors that people can’t see from the outside when looking at me. Like how much stress I’m under from things I’m dealing with at home. If I’m in a hurry and don’t have time for anything extra. How much pain I’m in from my legs. About a block later, I come across a 3 year old girl waiting for me. I said “Oh no! You’re not going to follow me again, are you?” and she said “yes”. I just cringed and then she started in, “Can I pet your dogs?” I want to say it was about a week ago I ran into this same girl. At that time, she started asking me the same thing and I didn’t want to say “No” because with this kid, it wouldn’t stop there. It would be “Why not?” So I didn’t answer her and just kept walking. I just didn’t want to get into a long explanation that I was unsure if a 3 year old could understand. So instead of letting me pass by, the child had kept asking it over and over, “Can I pet your dogs?” She was shouting it and following me around the block. I didn’t know how to handle it that day nor today. The only way I know how to handle it tomorrow is to take a different route and never walk by their house again.

 

My dogs are wonderful dogs and they are good around other dogs and great around kids. They’ve never bitten anyone and are well socialized. Amber can be shy but she’ll eventually go up to a child but she doesn’t want to be petted by strangers. Ivy and Elvis fall all over anyone who’ll give them attention. They love to be petted and give lots of kisses. It’s no reflection on them that I didn’t want them near this girl. Even though the dogs have been better lately about pulling and I’ve pretty much got it mastered walking them with 2 leashes in my left hand and one in my right, it is still a lot to deal with. I don’t like bringing them up to other dogs when I’m alone either. I don’t mind when hubby is along. There are just so many things that can happen. We’ve been rushed by aggressive dogs without a leash, etc. I try to be courteous and move onto the grass and let walkers have the sidewalk if they’re passing us. I also do the same when encountering other dogs.The main reason I don’t want to let the dogs near a child when I’m alone is because I don’t have a witness. Last week when the child followed me, she was alone. No parent around. All I need is for the kid to SAY she got bit, even if she didn’t and Lord knows what would happen next. I don’t want to put myself in the situation of losing one of my dogs (who are my only kids) because someone lied. Yes, I sound fearful and paranoid but things aren’t the way they used to be. People don’t just blow off things that happen, they get their lawyer on speed dial and sue you. Ok, so I’ve blown the whole thing up in my mind but I’ve heard of things like this happening.

 

Today when the girl kept saying it, her father came out of the house and we ended up having a “fight”. Not a fistfight but words were exchanged. I was trying to go my merry way when he yells out at the kid, “Stay away from her. Stay away from her. She’s not a nice lady!” OMG. The guy was trying to shame me for not giving in to his kid! He started walking out to the sidewalk where I was and the kid was. He could’ve just called the kid in the house but instead walked out by me to stand his ground. I wouldn’t care if he told the kid that out of my earshot but to shout it across the lawn to make sure I knew what he thought of me. It’s not even that I care what he thinks of me, I just don’t need any additional reasons to feel bad about myself. I told him I didn’t want to have to go into a long explanation about why I wasn’t letting her pet the dogs. I told him they’re good dogs but in this day and age, I didn’t want to get sued. It probably made me come off as a crazy person. He told me I should’ve just told her no but I know it wouldn’t have been the end of it with this kid. This kid already has more self esteem than I ever have. Unless someone is in a business and it’s their job to answer me, I may not like to be ignored but it happens. I don’t keep following the person and say it over and over. The guy and I both tried defending ourselves and he doesn’t understand me anymore than I understand him. I was on the sidewalk, not bothering anybody and yet I need to hear how NOT NICE I AM. I was so upset I was almost in tears. The kid was unfazed. I don’t have kids and don’t always know how to act around them. If this father was this way to me over ignoring his kid, what on earth will he do when his kid is called names? Beaten up? Sworn at? Called fat and ugly? In the rough neighborhood I grew up in, I would’ve been overjoyed to be ignored. If the kid had just said “Hi” to me, I would’ve said hi back. That would’ve been the end of it. Instead, the kid never said anything but “Can I pet your dogs?” in a way that was demanding. If the father hadn’t appeared at the door, things would have played out like last week. Instead, he felt like his child should not be denied anything. That I should drop everything and let his kid have her way. I don’t know which one of the 3 of us is the monster.

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File This Under Bullshit

Every week there’s something that throws us off our game. As some would say, “God has a sense of humor.” I need to write a post on religion and God since I’ve got kind of a weird take on the whole thing. In the mean time, I’ll just say I like to believe that God has better things to do than mess with our lives and sit back and laugh.

 2 months ago we went through the ordeal of switching our insurance–the whole she-bang of house, 2 cars and RV. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to change things because I just KNOW I’m going to have problems. Like if I move a chair to a different location, the leg will fall off. Better to leave it where it is. Better to pay more for insurance than risk being toyed with by a nationally known company. Basically, this is living in fear and accepting that what you know is less scary than what you don’t know. So we’d had the same insurance for years (I detailed this all in my post 2 months ago “One part snow, 99 parts chaos”) and it was hubby’s idea to switch. We managed to choose AAA and feel “fairly good” about the decision and the savings. We were hoping not to even think about it again for many years (with the exception of paying when the premium comes due).

 

Since I obviously don’t know how to make a long story short, last Monday (April 22nd) we got a notice (actually 2) from AAA in the mail. Hubby brought it in when he got home from work. So we didn’t even get to greet each other and he handed me the mail. I saw the first notice, opened it and then yelped, “they’re raising the insurance on the 2 cars and RV by $35!” All it said for a reason was “Rating Factor Adjustment”. You could see the wheels turning in both our minds, we haven’t had any accidents or tickets and the vehicles are getting older. We were both worked up about that and he immediately got on the phone with AAA but the underwriters were gone for the day already. Meanwhile, I opened the 2nd notice and about fainted! AAA was cancelling our house insurance as of May 24th! How on earth could this be?! Reading further, all it said was because of a dog. When we first signed up, they told us someone would drive by to look at the house. They wouldn’t need to come in, just look around outside. I was looking for them steady for the 2 weeks after we signed up and no sign. We both forgot about it until we got this notice. Hubby talked to one of the guys on the phone and he said the car rates going up had nothing to do with the house insurance being cancelled but he couldn’t give us a reason WHY they had gone up. As for WHY we had gotten cancelled, the records showed the underwriter had come to the house and “heard” an aggressive dog. He didn’t SEE one. Ok, we have 3 dogs, 2 weigh 21 lbs., the other weighs 23 lbs. None of them are aggressive. One barks but only at first, one can’t bark and one is deaf. None are the breeds that are on the banned list like pitbulls. They are all good dogs that are fine around people and most other dogs. We’ve had dogs for the entire time we’ve lived here and in 17+ years, none have ever bitten anyone. A few weeks ago, we had the Directv guy in our house for 2 hours and the dogs were fine! Today, the meter reader for the gas co. came inside and I took him into the basement and the dogs were inside and loose and just fine. So we can’t figure out where the AAA guy got the idea that any of our dogs were aggressive. The oddest thing is he never knocked on the door or called either our home phone or cell phone. He could have met the dogs and seen for himself if he was worried. To think that a company just cancels a policy without even a phone call letting you know what the problem was and seeing if it could be rectified. How unprofessional.

 

On top of all this, hubby and I were worried that we would have to appeal this which involves a lot of paperwork and who knows what else. If we let it stand, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get house insurance elsewhere after you tell them you got cancelled! Plus the rates would be astronomical. Hubby was told to email the company and tell them that none of the dogs had ever bitten anyone or had any special training to attack people. He did it and in the meantime, we got another notice saying that we were going to be cancelled and get X amount of money back. Finally on Friday, the guy from AAA hubby was working with called to say it was taken care of and we won’t be dropped. Now of course we’re wondering if after May 24 a refund check will show up in the mail and we’ll have to deal with this over again. I feel like we can never relax and breathe easy and think that things are taken care of because time after time, we find out nothing is ever over!

 

Today we got a notice saying our car and RV insurance rate is going back down…Oy vey. Now we’re wondering if we want to stay long term with a company like this or if we’re going to have to switch again in Sept. In either case, I don’t want to think about it anymore. The worst thing about this whole ordeal was how we ended up fighting because hubby got so mad and stressed out. I was stressed out too but he lashes out at me which takes awhile for me to get over. You’d think after almost 28 years together we’d have figured out how to get along under the worst of circumstances. For the most part, we get along great. It’s when problems arise that it puts wear and tear on our relationship. We no longer fight when the basement floods so there’s that.

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One Part Snow, 99 Parts Chaos

I thought I’d finally achieved a schedule for blogging. Posting once a week seemed almost manageable. Then life intervened as it tends to do and I’m back to doing it whenever I can squeeze in a spare moment. Last Wed. it was too cold to walk the dogs. I usually feel guilty if I don’t do it. This time I was almost giddy with the anticipation of having an extra half hour of free time! Turning over in my mind all the things I wanted to do and I’d have to choose whether to blog or do something else. Instead the decision was made for me when the phone rang at 9:45 am.

 

It was my postal friend Doreen. My coworkers from the time when I worked at the Post Office are like family. I liken it to the comaraderie of soldiers in battle. The fact that we all survived what goes on there (untold to this point) gives us an unbroken bond that time and mileage can’t break. Doreen lives in Milwaukee so I hardly ever see her but we try to keep in touch. We have always been able to talk for hours but the last few times we chatted, I had to limit it to only an hour. Last week Doreen called unexpectedly to say she’d just gotten back from a week in Tucson, AZ and had taken the day off to recover. My extra free half hour evaporated into thin air along with more so that we were on the phone until just after noon. It was good to catch up but I always feel like something else has to suffer when I do it. We talked about many things and then she told me about making her own laundry detergent. It sounds so interesting with ingredients like Borax, Zote soap, baking soda, Oxy Clean, Purex crystals and Arm & Hammer washing powder. Yesterday I received a small envelope containing a sample of it in the mail from her. I just finished all our laundry last week but I am anxious to try it. Between her and a few others on Twitter, it sounds like it’s the best thing since sliced bread! I just can’t figure out why there’s such a trend now to going back to the olden days when everyone made their own stuff. Of course it’s cheaper but lack of time is where convenience and laziness comes into play.

 

What else has been going on? Last weekend, after a week of getting quotes and comparing, we finally switched our car, RV and homeowners insurance. We’d had Progressive for our RV insurance since June 1998 when we first started RVing. We’re on our 3rd (used) RV and have always stayed with them. We used to have a $1000 deductible (later switched to $500) which sucks since we had to put in a couple of claims. One was back when 3 punk teenagers broke into both skylights in the RV, shimmied in and vandalized, stole and partied inside. This was inside the “secure” place we used to store it at. They also broke into 29 others the same night. It happened like 2 days before we were going to leave on a trip and had to cancel and have the motorhome in for repair for 2 months! It was a nightmare going to court. One of the kids didn’t even show up, the others the judge didn’t even let or any of the victims speak. He just gave them a slap on the wrist. One used the excuse of being bipolar so he wasn’t responsible. We actually heard the lawyer tell the kid NOT to get a job or he’d have to make restitution to us. Another time we had a claim when the wind blew the sides off the RV. It’s as freaky as it sounds. Anyway, Progressive was very good about it so we decided to keep them. 2 years ago, our car insurance, Constitutional Casualty, went belly up! We got a notice from the state saying we could get part of our premium back if we showed proof of payment. Well, we’d recently switched banks and the only proof I had was the entry written in the checkbook which didn’t count. So we got screwed there. We blamed our no good insurance agent who’d recommended the company. We decided to go with Progressive for our 2 cars also. We had them rewrite the policy for the RV (minus the agent) so we would get a multi-vehicle discount. Well, every time they send us propaganda or reminder notices, it would say “you’ve been a customer for 1 year”. All the years with them previously didn’t count. ANNOYING. Both the car and RV insurance EACH went up $30 a year. We’ve had no accidents, tickets and the cars are getting older and I’m over 50 now. None of it made sense! We called Progressive to get a new quote or see if they could lower the premium before we started looking elsewhere. First when we asked WHY it went up, they said they look at EVERYONE in our neighborhood’s claims and go by that. RIDICULOUS.

 

When we mentioned about having RV insurance with them since 1998, they don’t see it in their records. It shows since 2004, according to them. So much anger just fueled us to get as many quotes as we could. Now with our homeowners’ insurance, we’ve been with State Farm since we moved here in 1995. We’ve never filed a claim and yet we pay $900 annually. It is outrageous, we’ve just been too lazy to look into a different company. We got quotes bundling the 3 vehicles and the house. Liberty Mutual looked promising. Me to hubby: ”I thought they were kind of a sketchy company for old people.” Hubby: “We ARE old people.” Me: <blink>. To make a long story short, we went with AAA. With Progressive, we had been paying $410 twice a year for my ’93 Pontiac Bonneville & hubby’s ’04 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The RV was $600 a year. Now we’re paying $435.13 for 6 months for all 3. The house insurance is down to $574. This is all for identical coverage. Hopefully, we’ll feel the savings and they’ll be a fair company to deal with.

 

We hate insurance. It’s a necessity but it seems like we are always paying and never get to use it. I guess everyone feels this way. Dealing with the insurance agents was awful. For trying to get your business, some of them are downright rude! They won’t let you get a word in edgewise. At least that’s over with.

 

Sunday night I finally broke down and ordered a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) light from Amazon. I’ve been thinking of it for years and finally my Twitter friend Liza told me which one to get. I will take pictures and post all about it when it arrives. Every year the lack of sunshine really messes with my mood. I’ve been SO TIRED lately, that all I can say is how tired I am all the time. February is the worst for me and since Feb. is almost over, I thought I might just wait until the fall. Then I realized how much I’m suffering and to just give it a try. I get so down that I don’t even go on Twitter, I don’t take any pictures for Instagram, etc. I just withdraw and I know it has something to do with how dark and gloomy this time of year is. I’ve really got my hopes up that this does the trick!

 

Snow day for dogs

Last Wed. hubby stopped to get milk on his way home from work and Dominick’s was out of milk. They let him have 2 half gallons (the last 2 in the store!) for the price of a gallon. Every time a snowstorm is predicted, people buy up everything like they might never get fed again. Anyway, while he was there, he got me some spring flowers. Beautiful tulips in a pot that I can replant if I want in the fall. They hadn’t opened yet when he gave them to me but they’ve been opening more every single day. Today with a blizzard outside, they are fully open! I love having fresh flowers in the house. It always makes me think of Nikki Newman on The Young and The Restless who always has huge arrangements of fresh flowers in her home. Yes, I want to live my life like the GOOD parts of a soap opera!

 

Spring tulips in the middle of winter

I’d been planning to make a pork roast in the crockpot for over a week. Doreen told me about what she put on hers: a can of mushroom soup, a packet of onion soup mix and a can of Pepsi. I’m always game for anything so I did it yesterday. We didn’t have any regular Pepsi only the XFactor Pepsi which we bought because it was $1.29 for a 12 pack. Later on we found out it is Dragonfruit flavor. I don’t even know what that is but hubby tried it and loved it. He’s been using it to make Milk & Pepsi for him and my mom. He’s been a fan since he was a kid and saw them drink it on Laverne & Shirley. I’ve tasted his and it’s ok but I can’t get past the fact that it’s soda and milk. Although I like rootbeer floats and that’s not that much of a stretch… Anyway, I put that on the pork and it turned out great. I had a HUGE roast that I’d gotten for half price because it was reduced for quick sale at Sam’s Club. I only buy those if they look perfect, not a hint of “oldness” to them. I froze it right away and it was just as good as if I’d paid an enormous amount. The roast was SO BIG it was all I could fit in my crockpot. I had bought a slew of vegetables to go with it so had to go in the basement and unpack my other crockpot. I keep it in the box and only use it in situations like this. Both have ceramic inserts, the one I had the meat in has a metal holder, the veggie one is plastic. Both are the same size but the veggie one has a divider in the middle. So I filled the other crockpot with veggies and added a can of chicken broth so it wouldn’t burn. I added several small onions, 2 parsnips, 3 turnips, 1 rutabaga, 3 tiny Linda squash, 2 decent sized yellow squash, etc. Then I made my mashed potatoes. I don’t brag unless I know for a fact but these are the best mashed potatoes in the whole world and these are! I peel and quarter about 7-8 potatoes (at least 2 meals worth), boil and when done, drain and put on low heat to dry out. Add 1 8 oz. package cream cheese cut into 8 cubes, 3 heaping teaspoons minced garlic (I use the jarred garlic in liquid), a splash of milk and a hand potato masher. NO BUTTER or SOUR CREAM is needed. Mash and stir with a spoon to get mixed well. Add quite a bit of salt and some pepper. They are to die for. They need NO gravy. This is comfort food at its best. Each potato ends up with about 1 oz. of cream cheese. I let the port roast go about 8 hours because I don’t like it sliced, I like it shredded. I take it out and tent it in aluminum foil for 20 min. or so, then shred. Sometimes I add it back into the liquid when I cook it with veggies but usually just leave it on the platter. Then I put a portion of shredded pork on a plate, ladle the veggies and broth over it and place the mashed potatoes along side. We’ll probably get 4-5 meals out of it and still have meat left to use for tacos, burritos or barbeque pork sandwiches.

 

Amber with basketball

It’s been snowing since 11 am and it’s a blizzard out there. Hubby tells me I call every time it snows a blizzard. Only if I don’t want to go out in it! Today at 4:30 pm, instead of finishing this, I decided to go outside in the backyard with the dogs. I took pictures while they played in the snow. They just have the best time and it’s contagious! It did wonders for my mood. Amber had fun playing with the basketball in the snow while Ivy & Elvis roughhoused. They are the definition of “horseplay”. They knocked over the sunroom lamp and broke the shade today but I can’t be mad at them. They are DOGS. We need to follow their example and live life in the moment and enjoy whatever comes our way.

 

Ivy & Elvis roughhousing

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Small dog at large

Last week hubby was working later hours so we were able to take Elvis in to the vet together. It was for a routine vaccination but we finally got official confirmation that our baby boy is officially deaf. Not hard of hearing but stone deaf. We’ve had him for 13 months and for a large part of that we’ve had suspicions that he couldn’t hear. We didn’t want to believe it but now we know for sure. We’re not devastated or sad at this knowledge. He has adapted so well, he’s as good or better than any hearing dog we’ve ever had. His disposition is sweet as pie all the time. He is happy 100% of the time which isn’t the case for the average dog. He’s always joyful and gets along with every single person and dog he’s ever met. It makes me wonder if he has that personality because of being deaf or in spite of it. Back in March, we took him to the St. Patrick’s Parade in Erin, WI. We marveled at how he handled the crowds, other animals and noise so well. Now we know. Most dogs would’ve been overwhelmed by the crowding conditions and noise level. He did great!

 

Elvis has always wanted to be right next to me, he insists on sitting or laying next to me at all times. I just thought he was an especially loving little guy. Instead I figured out he does that so he knows when I move or leave. Even when I’m cooking in the kitchen, he likes to lay on my feet. When he barks, which isn’t often, his bark is so shrill, it’s almost ear piercing. He doesn’t realize how he sounds since he can’t hear himself. We’ve clapped behind his head, snapped our fingers, meowed, whistled and no reaction. He is very alert but only visually. If a light goes on upstairs, he looks up and may even go upstairs to see who’s up there. The other dogs pay no attention when lights are turned on. He is very hard to teach. I’ve tried getting him to shake hands which was always easy for all the other dogs to learn. I’ve tried several times a day with treats, without, etc. & he doesn’t catch on. We use hand signals with him and he will sit or lay but I think it’s more from mimicking the other dogs. I look back on how frustrated I was earlier this year with him. He knocks a lot of things over and has no idea since he can’t hear that something fell. I had so much trouble getting his attention and keeping his attention when taking pictures or trying to teach him tricks. Even now if he’s in the backyard, with his back to me, I can’t always get him back in the house. I call the other 2 and they come right away. If he sees them come in, he follows. If he’s looking at something on the ground or the neighbor’s dog is by the fence, he won’t come in. I have tried waving toys from on the deck, pounding on the window and deck railing and nothing. Now I have to walk out there and wave until he sees me, then he’ll come in.

 

Elvis follows the lead of the other dogs constantly. When they jump up, he jumps up. When they run to the door, he runs to the door. He gets along great with his 2 sisters and I bet they have no idea he can’t hear. I’m sure it doesn’t matter to them. Elvis wouldn’t make a very good watchdog since you have to touch him to wake him up. Sometimes when he’s sleeping hard, if you move and bump him slightly, he jumps up almost frantic. He looks side to side trying to figure out what’s happening. Amber (our Shiba Inu) is our watchdog so we’ve got that covered.

 

I think back on how he was a rescue dog and how lucky we are to have gotten him. If he had ended up with another family, they might not have kept him once they figured out he was deaf. He’s ours and we’ll keep him until his last breath or ours, whichever comes first. “Who rescued who?” is a decal I saw on a car while walking the dogs. It is so appropriate. We saved Elvis but he saved us too. The vet thinks he is part Dalmatian in addition to being a Jack Russell Terrier. Deafness seems to be most common in Dalmatians due to inbreeding. My mom is almost completely deaf. Since childhood she’s had profound hearing loss but was able to cope. Even working as a telephone operator which is an incredible feat. She didn’t start wearing hearing aids until she was about 71. They help her somewhat but she still misses a lot. She has relied on lip reading her whole life but as she’s gotten older she’s gradually losing that ability. It’s funny how life works out. Due to mom’s situation, we are more receptive to having a hearing impaired dog than someone else might be. All we can do is treat him like part of the family and love him unconditionally. 

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Up, Up and Away…NOT.

I left out so much from vacation and even now am going to quickly cover some of the things that happened. The first weekend we were in Mississippi (Nov.9-11), they had the First Annual Tunica Balloon Bash. It was hyped to the nines and we didn’t really know what to expect. Supposedly they were having 10 hot air balloons at 4 different locations (casinos) for a total of 40. They were having “balloon glows” on Friday & Sat. evenings for 2 hours. This is where they turn on the propane torches to light up the balloons while they are on the ground. It looks really cool! We were staying at Sam’s Town RV Park, across the street from Hollywood where they were hosting some of the balloons. Hubby and I walked the dogs over there and we both got some really good pictures and I put some of them on Instagram. They were supposed to be offering tethered rides on one of the balloons but it was too windy. This would turn out to be the case for the ENTIRE WEEKEND. It was basically a bust. Not only were there only about 4-5 balloons at each location, they seemed to be doing it half-heartedly. They didn’t even stay the whole 2 hours. The crowd seemed almost half-hearted about it too. There was a fairly long line for rides and when they announced it was too windy, people just dispersed and lost all interest. I wasn’t particularly excited about the whole thing ahead of time but being that close to them in person piqued my interest. I figured it was no big deal but after seeing how hard it was to control the balloons in the wind, it looked quite scary to me! I would be afraid to go up in one unless it was completely calm. Even then, I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity again unless I seek it out. We drove over to the other casinos to see what they had going on for the balloon glow and it was even less! Either that or they’d packed up early.

 

There was supposed to be a balloon race on both Sat. & Sun. mornings and hubby and I actually got up at 7 am and went out to the location of the start of the race (Tunica National Golf Course). We took the dogs with us in the car over there and everybody was just standing around outside. Finally around 8 am, we asked one of the guys (Dan) who was heading to his truck and he said it was cancelled due to the wind. We didn’t bother going on Sun. morning but heard it was the same situation again. How disappointed the balloonists must’ve been! They had to bring their baskets and gear, only to not even use it. Sidenote: I would never be able to fold up one of those balloons after inflation. I can’t even get something back in the original box once I’ve taken it out. This Dan we met was one of the most friendly people we’ve encountered in the south. His father is a hot air balloon pilot and he’d come along. He does barge maintenance and repair. He’s the first one I met in that line of work. Anyway, he knew what a Basenji was (which is what our dog Ivy is) so that got the conversation going. Then we got to talking about other things in the area, etc. He gave us a business card and told us to call him that night about the balloon glow and that’s when we found out that it was too windy again. All in all, it was a creative idea and I can see the casinos and tourism put a lot of money into it. I would’ve liked to get one of the t-shirts but didn’t see them for sale anywhere! I’ll be curious to see if they try it again next year or nix it entirely. If it wasn’t for the wind, the temperatures were a perfect 72 degrees. If it’d been scheduled for the following weekend, it would’ve been in the mid-40′s!

 

This wasn’t the biggest disappointment while we were there. Saturday Nov. 10th there was a Chili Cookoff at Sam’s Town Casino sanctioned by whoever sanctions those things. It was supposed to be from 8 am until 5 pm. Every Sat. Hollywood has a breakfast buffet (the best around) for 77 cents (comp dollars). We were debating whether to skip it and go early for the cookoff. Who eats chili at 8 am?? Unless you’re working nights, that I can totally see. Instead we decided to go to the buffet early and then head over at 4 pm and still get an hour in at the cookoff. We got there and they were packing up!! It was $2 for all the samples you wanted. They woudn’t even take our money, and told us to go around and see if anyone had any left. We got 2 samples, one without beans (which to me is like gravy) and the other was stone cold. Blech! Hubby had been dreaming of this for weeks. That is one of my pet peeves that things are written/advertised everywhere that it goes until 5 pm and they don’t even stick to it. Maybe it’s our fault for coming at the tail end. This wasn’t 4:45 pm, it was exactly 4 pm. Also we noted how unfriendly a lot of these types of group activities are. The ones entering the contest don’t try to be friendly to patrons, they would rather be downright rude and carry on conversations with their competition. I’ve seen this at anything we go to where we are “outsiders”. Like a dog club activity. We aren’t members but the woman we got Ivy from has invited us to a few things. We went twice and you get there and if you don’t go up to talk to people, no one will approach you and welcome you. For goodness sake! I am not that way. I like to make others feel welcome and can’t stand to see anyone on the sidelines. In the past when we went to some parties for Greg’s work, if someone was a table alone while everyone else was playing darts or some game, I’d be the first to go up to them and chat. I’m sure the alcohol had something to do with it but it’s still in my nature.

 

Other notable things that happened on vacation? I was cleaning the wax out of the tube of one of Mom’s hearing aids with a toothpick and it broke off. Gah! I tried pushing it through with another toothpick and it broke off on top of the other one. No budging it. I panicked at first, then sat down and tried everything until I fixed it. I took the tube out of the aid and manipulated it with a fingernail until I worked it out. Crisis averted.

 

Before vacation my watch band broke. My other watch had a dead battery. So I was wearing Greg’s huge watch (he has 3). I didn’t even care how it looked but while I had the time on vacation, we went to the outlet mall and I got a new battery for the one and a band for the other. There’s a collectibles shop there that has an owner that looks like Santa. He’s always helpful and nice as can be. So put that experience in the plus column

 

The zipper on my silver grey Gloria Vanderbilt (my fave pants brand ever) pants broke. I’ve only worn them a handful of times. I was “saving” them for vacation. I don’t think they can be fixed. It wouldn’t be worth it to spend $10 to get them fixed when I think I paid $20 for them on sale.

 

We got a dehydrator at the same outlet mall. We love the Kitchen Collection store there and always find something cool there. We’d been talking about dehydrating fruit, veggies and meat since getting a ton of beef jerky when we were in Michigan a few months ago. The one we got is a Presto which is made in my hometown of Eau Claire, WI. How ironic. This weekend I’ll get over to the library for a book of recipes so we can try it out. I especially want to do pineapple, bananas and papayas.

 

I’d add pictures to this post if it wouldn’t take me like 2 hours to do it. I just don’t have the time to spare right now. Thanks for hanging with me when I’ve been so scarce on here. BTW, I do realize I said “supposed to be” about a million times in this. “The best laid plans of mice and men” and all that jazz. What kind of plans do mice make, exactly? Bring on the cheese.

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A Day In The Life

A day in my life starts the night before. I’m one of those people who worry about everything so I try to make my life easier whenever I can. Which means doing things ahead of time whenever possible so I won’t feel rushed or forget. It also means thinking of every possible scenario and having a backup plan for everything if the original plan doesn’t work out. Of course, being human, I can’t think of everything and things happen daily that I’m unprepared for.

 

I make my husband’s 2 sandwiches the night before and put them in the fridge. I lay out his fruit (2 apples, orange, banana) and his snack mix (I make it every 2 wks or so and put it in little baggies–pretzels, m&ms, peanuts, almonds, raisins) on the kitchen counter. I make sure there are filled water bottles for him to take in the fridge. Then I place 3 cereal bowls on the counter (for hubby, Mom & me) with our vitamins and meds in them. Only once was I so sleepy that I forget to take them and put cereal and milk on top of them. Talk about nasty taste! I lay out a banana and her coffee cup for my mom, along with spoons. Sometimes I lay out a medicinal patch which I have to put on Mom every 4th day. I keep track of it on the calendar in the kitchen by putting a NP (new patch) on the day she’s supposed to get it.

 

In the morning, I have a routine I pretty much stick to like Rainman. I get up, get dressed while Elvis plays with some toys on the bed. I take him downstairs and let Ivy and Amber out of their beds. Amber’s bed is stacked on top of Ivy’s so I open her door, kneel down on one knee and have Amber jump out on my other knee and I give her a big hug and kiss. Then I open up Ivy’s bed and she runs out and they all go to the door. I let all the dogs out while I turn the heat up and open all the blinds/curtains. Let the dogs back in and drink water, then take care of my bathroom duties. Then I wake my mother up (sometimes I have to do this up to 3 times before she gets up). I feed the dogs before I feed myself. I have the 2 types of food in different containers that are air tight and I refill them as needed. I mix up more water with Benefiber and drink it during or after my Raisin Bran.

 

I make a pot of coffee for my mom and a glass container full of tea for hubby which he drinks on ice. I make 2 trays of ice cubes a minimum of once per day, sometimes 3 times a day. Hubby likes to chew ice and he shares it with the dogs as well.

 

I wash my glasses, then wash my mom’s glasses. Then I use Smooth Away (glorified sandpaper) on my chin hair. While eating my cereal and inbetween other stuff, I’m checking my iphone for the weather, my email, Twitter and Instagram. I’m not always able to read much of it or tweet but do what I can. Meanwhile, Elvis has stolen something that is forbidden and is chewing it up. I proceed to chase him which only serves to make him run away and my temper flares up. He is just delighted to see this big human dodging and weaving as I try to grab either him or the item in question. He also spends the day stealing things off one of the tables or knocking things over as he and his sisters play tag.

 

By this time I am figuring out what I’m making for dinner. Yes, I try to figure it out by mid-morning. I love cooking but it takes up a big section of my day. Whether I put something in the crockpot, oven or stove, it takes me about 2 hrs to make whatever I plan to serve. I like to have a homecooked meal ready when hubby gets home from work at 7 pm.

 

I take the dogs for a half hour walk every day, usually around 10 am. I have 2 routes I go (in opposite directions) that are a half hour each so I don’t have to time myself, I know when we get back home, it’s been a half hour. I do this year round unless the temperature is below 16 degrees, then I skip it. The dogs have a fenced in backyard to run in so they get plenty of exercise besides tearing around the house. The walk just gets rid of their excess energy at the beginning of the day and settles them down some so I can do other things. I also used to really enjoy walking in our neighborhood, meeting other dogs and their owners and talking to people. Since we got Elvis, it is really hard to manage the 3 leashs without getting tangled. I’m not loving it like I was but I’m hoping that changes as he gets older.

 

When I get back, I unload and load the dishwasher or take care of other chores like picking up mountains of dog toys, vacuuming the whole house, etc. Occasionally if I get some free time to myself, I will sit at the dining room table and sign a couple slams. As soon as I sit down, Amber brings me a ball or toy and wants to play. I usually drop everything and humor her since she loves playing fetch so much. Sometimes I go online and comment on a few blogs or I may even write a blog post of my own. I need to go through my email but it is so daunting that I try to get through it only when I can stand it, a few pieces at a time, about once a week. Any type of computer activity takes place with my laptop on the arm of the recliner and Elvis in my lap.

 

Then there are things I take care of but not daily: I’ll pay bills either online or via paper check, update the checkbook, go in the basement and read the water meter to send in with payment, call in mine or my hubby’s prescriptions to the automated refill at Jewel, order my mom’s prescriptions through Caremark (mail order), take mom to the ENT doctor to get the wax removed from her ears, take mom to the audiologist to get her hearing aid checked, replace battery in wireless mouse or remote control, order dogs’ heartworm medication from 1800PetMeds, etc.

 

Then there are the interruptions that happen as a matter of course in life: Mom needing a new hearing aid battery (I carry them in my purse), car battery being dead, car tires being low, gas being low, running out of milk or bread, any number of things breaking down around the house, etc. Our lawn mower broke down in early Nov. and hubby had to rent one for $22 to do the grass for the last time that year. We still have to take ours in to be fixed/tuned up. Our vacuum quit working even after all new belts and filters were put on. So we replaced it with a Dyson–so far, so good. Our snowblower quit working in mid-Jan. so hubby took it in to be fixed. That cost $185-it does work but so far no snow. Our 15 yr. old living room tv died so we went hi-tech with a Sony HD tv. We also need a new roof, new furniture, the list goes on.

 

By this time it is lunchtime (1 pm) and I feed the dogs first. Then I make Mom and I a sandwich or a salad. We watch The Bold & The Beautiful and The Young & The Restless while we eat lunch. The dogs pester us while we eat. Amber is well behaved and lays down next to me and waits for me to give her the crusts off my bread. Ivy stands over grandma and anything that falls she snatches up immediately. Elvis takes turns going from one of us to the other.

 

After lunch we get the mail which I then sort and put the junkmail into a box to be shredded. The rest of it I file away in a drawer until time to deal with. I may bake a dessert or start some laundry.  I may make some address labels or birthday cards on the computer which leads me to realize we are out of ink and I order more. Then I will deal with customers from our online collectible business. Someone will want to buy something which has me making a trip to either the basement, the shed or the garage to make sure we still have it. After our basement flooding so many times, things have been moved and ruined so we always need to make sure it’s here. Then I need to weigh the item and quote shipping. When they pay, I type up an invoice on the computer and hubby and I wrap it either at night when he gets home or on the weekend.

 

By this time I am getting the dinner ready to serve. At which point the giant serving spoon I use crumbles as I try to spoon up the casserole. We eat at 7 pm and watch tv afterwards. I put the leftovers away and repeat the whole cycle again. There are dozens of other things I contend with that I don’t mention but you get the idea. Nothing too exciting but it keeps me busy never the less. Now let’s hear about a day in the life of every one of you!

 

 

 

 

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Why does anyone need 3 dogs?

As everything else in my life, adding a new family member happened in a whirlwind. My husband & I had talked in the past about possibly getting a 3rd dog. The city we live in allows only 3 dogs max so the discussion ends at 3. We didn’t know if we could handle 3 so just tabled the idea. Since our beloved Jack Russell Terrier Bridget died in May 2008, we’ve missed having a Jack. Occasionally hubby would look online at JRT puppies but hadn’t seen any that called to him. Then Oct. 28th he was looking under the website Petfinder and saw the face that would melt 1,000 hearts. He showed it to me and I thought it was adorable, as did my mom who lives with us. Temporarily named Rascal, he was (then) an 8 week old male from a Kill Shelter in Georgia. Just to think of that poor, sweet puppy being killed hurts me through and through. Rascal was saved by Catahoula Rescue of South Elgin, IL and had been placed with a foster mom who had 7 other dogs. She had him since Oct. 14th and was fostering 2 other similar aged puppies from the same shelter. We had never heard of the Catahoula breed of dog and found it odd they were rescuing outside their breed.

 

My husband emailed the rescue to see if Rascal was still available. He was and they sent back an application that needed to be filled out before any further discussion went on about even seeing the puppy. We’ve always avoided any type of application process when adopting our other dogs because it just seems like too much trouble! This application was 5 pages long asking for references and every question under the sun pertaining to current dogs. From what dog food we give them, to if we crate them at all, the size of our yard and if we have a fence, etc. My husband filled it out and sent it back that night. We knew they had to call our vet to see if we keep up with vaccinations and how we are as pet owners. They don’t seem to take anyone’s word for anything. It sounds like a lot of people lie about things…

 

Then we found out we would need a home visit! That just about did it for me. My first reaction was to say no way. If I wanted to go through all that, I’d adopt a human child! I don’t like feeling like I’m being treated like a criminal. I also am very funny about having people come in the house. Don’t get me wrong, I like entertaining at times under the right circumstances. I haven’t been able to have the house the way I want since we started running a home business and the basement keeps flooding. It makes things not as organized as I’d like. If I know we’re not having people over, I don’t stress about it. I vacuum and clean every week but don’t dust as often as I should or knock myself out. If it’s between dusting or playing with the dogs, you’ll find me playing with the dogs.

 

I don’t judge others on how they keep house. If someone opens their home to me, I am just grateful they invited me in and enjoy their company. I know others are not this way and so I worry about being judged for a less than perfect house. My husband doesn’t worry about such things but I say it’s because it only reflects on me, not him. Anyway, it was a really big deal to me to have this home visit and be scrutinized. At first I told him no, I couldn’t/wouldn’t do it. Then I thought about it and decided I couldn’t deny him his dream of having a Jack Russell. So then we had to figure out when the home visit would take place. We couldn’t do it Monday Oct. 31st because we were having trick or treaters from 3-8 pm. So then we decided on Wed. That would basically give me 1 day to clean and get ready. I’m happy to say I got the living room almost to my standards and just basic stuff in the other rooms. If I’d had a couple weeks, I could’ve done more.

 

Tracie (the foster mom) came on Wed. at 11am and brought all 3 puppies for us to see. First she came in alone and got to meet our dogs. Amber barked a little but then settled down and was fine. Ivy loves everybody so took to her right away. Then she brought Rascal in and we fell in love with him. He is just the sweetest, most loving pup. He ran up to both dogs right away and they all started playing. Then we took them outside, into the backyard. Rascal ran around like crazy and had a great time. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to catch him. Tracie saw we’d be fine with him. She mentioned that she had one couple return a dog because it was too affectionate! That it wanted to be up on the couch with them and they had just gotten a new couch so returned the dog. I can’t even fathom it!! I had told Tracie on the phone before I met her, “You can either have nice things or you can have dogs. I choose dogs”. That pretty much sums me up in a nutshell.

 

We found out we couldn’t get Rascal that day. Tracie was taking him to the vet for shots and he was getting microchipped. The adoption fee was $350 but that covers some of his vaccinations, the microchipping and his neutering. We  have to take him to their designated vet in Jan. to have the procedure done. So we set up a time to meet her in Elgin the next day. We store our RV in Elgin so figured we’d go early and clean and vacuum it before picking up the new puppy. Hubby had us leaving on vacation 5 days after adopting the puppy! Within 2 hours of picking up the pup, we had taken him to our vet to be checked out. It turns out he had Coccidia (an intestinal parasite) which is common in puppies. We had to give him 10 days of antibiotics and then get a stool sample checked to make sure it was cleared up. We were down in Mississippi on vacation then but found a vet in Hernando, MS to visit. Puppy was fine and I just about fell over when they didn’t charge us!! Talk about southern hospitality! Our vet charges a minimum of $50 for the same thing and we’ve been going there for over a decade. To have strangers do such a nice thing really lightened my spirit.

 

I’m sure people wonder why anyone needs 3 dogs. 2 is plenty. Most people couldn’t handle 2. Why does anyone need 3 (or more) children? I guess the answer is they don’t. They just want them. It’s kind of crazy that a city limits the number of dogs you can have but not the number of kids. If properly cared for, dogs are a true family member, like real children. I’ve seen some moms complain that they hate when people compare pets to children. They just don’t get it. If you don’t have kids, they ARE your children.

 

The temporary name Rascal was cute but we wanted to name the pup ourselves. We all agreed on Elvis and now he’s finally answering to the name. He also follows me everywhere and wants to nap on top of me when he’s not roughhousing with his sisters. This is our first shelter pet and I didn’t know they could be so wonderful. Elvis has made himself at home in our home and in our hearts. He is our forever dog, as all of them are. The irony is that the day we adopted him was Bridget’s birthday (Nov. 3). I’ve got to believe she was happy about our new addition. Now our family is complete.

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