Tired

I have decided blogging is a difficult thing to remember. I have been so exhausted with family, work, dogs, local happenings and Special Olympics Bocce that I have had no time to do this.

I have 2 days left of Special Olympics and the Bocce season will be over, unless of course someone wins at the state tournament and goes on to Nationals! That would be exciting and phenomenal! We have a very new team this year, our area has never offered Bocce as one of the S. O. sports. During the summer season we have only had golf.

Our team did very well at the Area meet last month and I truly hope they do just as well at state.

The morning will begin at 4:45a, I will shower...pack my lunch and snacks, then off to town to pick up my athlete at 5:45a. On to the bowling alley where we board the charter bus and off the Blaine, Minnesota. Blaine is about 2 hours away from home. There we will meet up with approximately 1,000 athletes putting on their game faces.

I am very excited to be involved in the Special Olympics this year. Wish us well!

Chantix

My friend explained that if I said I was on Chantix...I might increase my readership! Did it work? Really I am not on Chantix...I quit a long time ago, then started smoking yet again...Sorry Tasina, I just didn't have the heart to tell you I started up again. Stress! That is my excuse.

Hey maybe I will finally tell my Dr. that I am smoking so he can prescribe Chantix. I think he might kick me out of the office because I have been lying to him...and I have asthma.

Smart I am not when it comes to addiction.

This picture is of my beagle...Scout, and Boo the Basset Hound. These two were best friends while Scout was with us. Scout was a mean ol' dog and was unfortunately put to sleep because of his aggression. Boo is a sweet loveable basset mix that has completely won over my heart. She now has a couple of other companions. Godzilla the cat, Chase the Cocker Spaniel and Mike the Dachshund. Boo and Godzilla clash like thunder and lightning. They regularly antagonize each other. I can't imagine my life without this crazy lot!

I really believe that one day when I am 50 or 60 I will have turned into that crazy "cat" lady every town has, only I will be the "crazy dog lady" on the edge of town. Dogs enter my life and I can't send them away. Most dogs I have owned have been rescues or second hand pups. Chase came into our lives after Scout was put down. His owner was unable to keep him after learning she would be moving and the condos would not allow animals. Mikey was owned by our neighbors who decided that 2 puppies at once was too much. Potty training a doxie is very difficult! Boo was chosen out of a litter of 7. She was the most active and friendly.
On to my CAT GODZILLA. He was rescued from a "gang" of kids who were enjoying torturing him in the middle of winter. I really don't care for cats...after all I am a dog person. When I saw those kids throwing bottles, snowballs and anything else they could find, I decide to rescue him. I tried to find his owners, who apparently did not want to be found. He really does deserve his name! He is mean, nasty, ornery, moody, annoying, expensive, self-absorbed, temperamental SHIT!!!
For all that he annoys me...I do like it when HE wants to be cuddly.
I realize that at this point my best friend is the only one reading this, to her I say, I am sorry I cannot come up with more interesting topics. So far this blog sounds more like memory lane or a poorly written memoir. Thanks for reading!

Fond memories

As I have said, I am owned by dogs. I wake up when they have to go out, feed them before myself, make sure they have enough water...take them to the vet regularly...in return I have the satisfaction of having a warm blooded animal snuggling up to me.

In the course of my life I have owned several dogs. Growing up, Rusty the Golden Retreiver was our family dog for 14 or so years. He was my first. My favorite memory of Rusty was running along side our pick-up on our way to grandma's house. We would stop a mile and half away from Gram's and he would jump out and run like the wind on the edge of the gravel road until he reached her yard. He would then run over to her well and drink from the horse watering trough until he swelled like a water balloon. He loved to lay under the enormous cottonwood tree that stood near the windmill.

By the time I came along, my grandmother's farmland was rented out to a local farmer, so the barn, silo, and grain storage units were rarely used. The rats really enjoyed the safety of the unused buildings and scraps that remained after the last grain was sent out. On the farm Rusty's favorite pastime was tormenting the local rats. He would flush them out of their hiding places, relentless run after them until he caught them. Rusty would grab them gently between his teeth and whip his head back while opening his mouth. The result was a flying rat that would flip and twirl in the air only to land and be whipped back into the air seconds later. Rusty would torment them for hours until they died or got away. He was an equal opportunity tormentor. The mice suffered the same treatment.

I miss having my old dog Rusty. He was laid to rest under that cottonwood that gave him shade while he was alive.

You will learn more about my other "family" in future installments.

Garage Sale Part II

I AM DEPRESSED!!! I have spent 6 hours purging my life's possessions, half of which I am glad to get rid of and the other feeling as if I am selling my memories. On one hand, I know that the memory does not live in an object...on the other I mourn for the memories lost by not having that knick-knack present in my life.

I have decided to celebrate the "life" of my knick-knack's. I will remember them as long as I can, and then let them go to live on in another's world.

Isn't it interesting that so many people go to garage sales. Why? I think that most go thinking "I'm sure I will get one helluva good deal" and the others just to accumulate more clutter.

I have come to an easy resolution to this mess we have created for ourselves. I may decide (when my son leaves home for good) to buy a large fishhouse, move a few items in and live out the rest of my days mortgage and clutter free. On second thought...I may need to have a garage built nearby just so my husband has a place to go. If we were to not have a garage (male sanctuary) he may not be my husband for long.

Continue to wish me luck on my purging efforts.

Garage Sales

My husband and I decided to have a garage sale to eliminate 50% of the clutter in our home and storage unit. I have never been a big fan of garage sales, the whole premise is somewhat irritating. I have agreed to said sale and now need to go through, what seems like a mountain of crap that I forgot I even owned! Maybe this is why garage sales are needed.



Keep me in your thoughts as I dig...and dig...and dig through boxes that have not seen the light of day in several years! YUCK!



I must ask myself, why did I ever bother to keep these possessions this long? Hopefully, in what I consider to be boxes of garbage, someone else will find treasure.



The sale is scheduled for this Thursday through Sunday. The smell of "old crap" will probably linger on my skin for the next week.

I am fearless....maybe!

After my best friend started her blog over a year ago, I finally decided to begin mine.

Phobia that I suffered from was driving over bridges, ESPECIALLY driving on one that crossed some sort of water. After I met my husband I had to face my fear of bridges. His mother lives in the Twin Cities and in order to arrive at her house, we had to cross over the Mississippi. Over the course of 2 years I progressed from keeping my eyes closed while crossing to being able to drive myself! This was a phenomenal feat in my opinion. (For some reason I still get nervous when I have to drive under a train bridge!)

After the 35w tragedy, I asked my husband (who was somewhat relentless in his jokes about my phobia) if my fear was grounded. He laughed for a moment and said, "Possibly." I really don't think that a setback in my progress is eminent, however, I do think I will pause when I do cross my next 100 bridges!

Living in Minnesota my entire life, I still felt removed from the collapse of 35w. My family and friends were not involved in this life changing event. It did hit close to home when I received a company wide email stating one of our A.P. staff, who offices out of the Twin Cities, was in her car with her family on the bridge when it buckled. Her family is alright, she needed to undergo surgery and I haven't heard the latest news on her recovery. My thoughts go out to her and her family.

I am very thankful that this tragedy will result in the careful examination of many of our nation's bridges.