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It's Been a Glorious Summer!

The dogs swam and loved it, and the whole experience was made so much better by the addition of steps into the pool rather than a ladder. We played volleyball almost every day and near the end the dogs thought they would like to play too.
We worked all summer trying to get some grass back in the yard and have been somewhat successful despite a dying lawnmower. A couple times I had summer evening fires in the new fire pit but I always ended up sweating and jumping back in the pool.
Mom and Dad came to swim and eat a couple times - on Father's day it was just like old times :)
We enjoyed several evening/night/1 am swims and games of volleyball in the dark - hilarious! - and we figured out our pool is just too small and our bodies are too big for Marco Polo :)
Near the end I started selling on ebay to get rid of some of this accumulation and have had some success but with the frequency of visiting ebay, I have also bought (some really sexy boots).
We celebrated our anniversary with an awful meal that luckily we didn't have to pay for and it ended with me being sick. So we celebrated again the next night at home and it was truly an awesome evening with a fixed steak, a night swim and chocolate!
We picked peaches and made ice cream and pies. Then made more ice cream with cosmic brownies!
We visited the Festival of the Little Hills and bought dip and ate it for dinner - LOL!
School has now started back and the pool is down to 71 degrees already. I'm facing that it is over and time to move on but it has undoubtedly been one of the best summers ever.

I really have finished it

I did finish my book. But now I have begun the rewriting phase and am ready to tackle it again. Believe it or not, I am excited about it. The biggest part that scares me is the whole publishing end of it. Not actually getting published, as I imagine that would be amazing. But the "how to get published" part of all of it. And ISBN number. Well who the hell knew?? There goes a whole days work of teaching. An agent?? Oh now come on.
Actually, the writing and rewriting and editing is SO the easy part. That's the part I know how to do. I know how to write. What I don't know how to do is this whole business of publishing. What a nightmarish mess!

Oh, and as of the last week, the new title is "Eternal Fault."

One Adventure after Another

wow
Spring Break has been a fun adventure so far.
Monday - went hiking to a place I had never been - St. Stanislaus. Went up a huge hill and slid down (on accident) due to the mud. And I guess calling it a hill is an understatement. It was a mountain. The view from up top was absolutely gorgeous despite my numbed and filthy mud-caked hands and almost new and now filthy white down coat.
Later on down the trail we found an old homestead - just the foundation was left and parts of the rock walls that had tumbled down. It was an odd oval shape???? What's up with that? It is at the end of the public land, announced by a big sign in the middle of the woods nowhere. So we turn around to head back to the main trail and surprise - a big quiet pit bull was about 50 ft. in front of us. My Snow White effect kicked in and I started to just talk to him. Ronny told me not to move but I didn't feel scared at all (reminds me of the time when the Jona's dog was coming in for the attack and out of reflex I yelled in my deep voice "go lay down" and she backed off :) So, really not wanting to make Ronny mad (cause I wasn't worried at all about the dog), I stood still. Off in the far off distance I heard a yell, which must have been the owner? and the dog turned and ran off. Made for a quite interesting day, and even though there weren't any bears or giant mudslides, our little occurences along the trail were just enough to give a hint of dangerous fun :)

Tuesday - Bought the nieces and nephews Easter candy - and yes I do think it is a bit early but it has to mailed so that's okay I think. Then we took the puppies to a dog park for the first time. We were a bit leery of Raleigh and how he would act, only because he acts like he is going to tear Rio apart in the backyard and I didn't think this behavior would be acceptable :} So we get there and in goes Rio, no problem and Raleigh and I are on the outside and he is whining like crazy. He drug me in, scraping my hand along the gatepost in his hurry, so I looked like I had gotten all chewed up before I even entered. I had blood and welps all over my hand. Geez. So we get in and he is still on the leash and isn't being very good so we just took him off. He LOVED it! He was the littlest dog there, and at one point there were about 20 dogs inside running loose. He ran and ran and ran, chasing and being chased. And then poor Rio, the 95 pound scaredy cat. He wouldn't leave our sides. And he was much more interested in the humans and children ::::)))) (yeah, I can lick a face at just my height!!!!) A dog would come over very friendly and he would run around and hide behind hubby's legs!

So tomorrow? What adventure awaits? I know it's St. Patricks Day and I will be eating corned beef and cabbage :) I wish they made green wine :)

Where Have I Been

Well, hello all. Long time no write. But I'm still around. I haven't felt the need to write on my blogs lately (lately being the last 3 months) and I am not sure why. Seasons change and my mood changes with them. Activities change (such as returning to work) and priorities change.

But thank the heavens, there is one thing that never changes. That would be that we all have angels around us. Let me tell you why this is my thought process today.

A friend (and in just a minute, she will know who she is) recently had a pretty bad car accident. The minute I saw the email about it, I called her to let her know I was glad she was okay. She related the accident scenario to me and one part stuck out.

After she had done two 360's with the wheels on the road, the car hit the median, flipped up and fell over on the passenger side. She didn't land in oncoming traffic. She didn't fall off the bridge into the highway traffic below. She was able to climb out of the car with a smidge of help from someone who stopped.

Another person had stopped as well. She had been on her way to pay a bill and now her car was totalled. The second person stayed with her while emergency crews arrived. And gave her $100 for her to pay her bill and then disappeared. I think that person was probably an angel in disguise.

Despite her bruises and aches, she is okay. I'm happy and thankful she has an angel watching out for her.

So Much to Talk about

Where do I begin? The road trip we took (the puppies first long car trip) to New Madrid to see the Earthquake Museum? And we drive 2.5 hours and it is closed? Talk about feeling like the Griswolds!

Then there was the big trip planned the following day to the mall with my mom, to a mall we hadn't been to in awhile. Out of the entire mall, MAYBE 10% had open stores.

I could talk about the day the internet went out at home. Seems that Laclede Gas was in the neighborhood digging and the 1-800-digrite people had come out and marked the existing underground utilities. They just had the DSL line 4 foot off.

There's also my new facebook addiction to a game called Sorority Life. Yes, I am probably a bit old for that but I do so enjoy the clothes, cars, and shopping :)

We also squeezed in a trip to the vet for the final puppy shots for both of them. It seems the little one (who is now almost the big one) STILL isn't 4 months and hasn't lost a single tooth. And the vet mentions, "he could be part Great Dane."

I had my niece stay the night. She was great but stayed up till midnight. Then, because I have been wearing glasses lately (and obviously don't sleep in them), we got up at what I THOUGHT was 9:45. It was really only 5:45. Did I mention she is not quite 4?

Finally, on the first day of school I'm getting ready, taking a shower. Forgot to close the bathroom door. Rio the puppy ended up in the shower before I even knew what was happening, and of course he is SOAKED and soapy. That's what happens when you sleep/stand in the shower.

But tomorrow is Saturday. We are staying home, I am sleeping late and not showering, I'll make the puppies stay awake all night so they don't grow and I will enjoy my fixed internet cable :) and play Sorority Life!

More on the Puppies

Yes, it's been awhile.

I don't have much suitable for publishing on the internet to talk about. Unless you want to hear about . . .

puppies who fight over a dead bird in the yard and have to have their mouths washed out with soap (which they actually like) because they stink so bad from the dead bird.

a puppy who decides it ISN'T time to sleep and proceeds to chew a 1" hole in the carpet.

a puppy (same one) who pukes on the carpet, which wouldn't normally be a problem to clean up but the food is red, the carpet is off white, and the stain is rather large.

puppies who poop is filled with gravel, rocks, bark and wood because they ate everything they found in the yard after the storm.

puppies who are cooped up all day inside because of the muddy mess in the yard made by a horrendous storm.

But they sure are fun when they are sleeping :)

Addition - this page has been edited to include the following additional content:

Yes, puppies can and do and will swim in ornamental fish ponds, regardless of how many times you tell them no. They just seem to accidentally fall in on purpose.

The up side to this is that if you have any dead fish, they will bring them out for you to play fetch with.