Clancy and Sparty and Simon

 

 

 

 


Well, someone(s) certainly enjoyed the snow.....me....not so much.

Happy birthday Kathleen!

 
A sister of my heart....one of the nicest things I got from my husband was this sister. She has been a fabulous SIL...Happy Birthday! My sister has a cat for you if you are interested!

Fatticus the cat

 
Fatticus is my older sister's cat. There is a history here with this cat as apparently it hates everyone and everyone hates it.I am not sure why but the following is a letter....written in jest for those that don't have a sense of humor.....by my older sister.
"Fatticus is a wonderful cat. You will never need an alarm clock again (I sure hope your get up time is 3am) -- a serious energy saver. Loves to be petted as long as you don't hit the sweet spot on his stomach and he will bite the hell out of you. Loves Schnauzers -really all little dogs are his love....(hehehehe.) Eats like a dog. (a big ass dog) Has a unique way of letting you know he's hungry-- OH-- I guess that's his non-stop high pitched meow. You only need to empty the cat litter once a day if you have dogs (they tend to carry the "refuse" around the house as a "gift"). He has a pedigree believe it or not but is just not appreciated by the men in the family. He is looking forward to being moved to a much drier climate
So how's this for making someone want Fatticus??? Not everyone has the opportunity you have to have a perfectly good used cat that is more or less house trained, comes with litter box, bed, brush, shampoo (oh yeah you should try giving him a bath it's worth a mastercard moment), pillow, toys, one bag of food, litter and 100 dollars to buy the rest of his monthly food. With work and discipline you might even get him trained to go outside to the restroom however, cleaning that off the rock in the backyard will be dicey. Now for the best part, don't ever leave the bathroom door open while you are using the facilities because he expects to be picked up while you are sitting there.

I feel this will be the breaking point for you and your loved ones. How could
you not want a fabulous 23 pound loving "gentle" cat like this? There aren't many opportunities to find a real Maine Coon. Don't let this fall from your grasp. It's an exciting time in your life and I'm sure this addition to your family will make the transition mucheasier.
PICTURE ENCLOSED

Always thinking of you all!!!!"

--
Your loving mother, sister, daughter, sisterinlaw, wife, friend, co worker etc....

I

Where oh where has my little dog gone?

 
Sparty was very very interested in the 50 lb empty bag of dog food......

A sad story

I was at the vet today for Clancy. While we were there, there was a gentleman sitting on the bench waiting with his little Yorkshire terrier who is 9. There were tears on his face and the dog was curled up in his jacket. I assumed they were there for something awful, like putting the dog to sleep. Well, if you know me, you know I can't stand not knowing and so I asked. Turns out, the gentleman has had to move into an apartment that will not allow dogs (I was afraid to ask why what with the tough economic times people are suffering) and he was turning his 9 year old dog over to a rescue and he was waiting for them to come and get him. Truly, if I did not already have 4 dogs, I would've taken her home with me. I was so sad for both of them.
Sigh.....what a way to end a day.

A traveling man

AN Airport photo.....waiting for the plane home from Las Vegas......

Parenting...not for the faint of heart

If you are squeamish, you might not want to look at the pictures I am going to post.
Shannon is traveling with a friend and they decided to stop in Chiang Mai, Thailand and do a Thai massage class for a few weeks. Shannon called the other evening and we had a conversation that went something like this.....

Shannon.."all is good now....but I had a hole in my leg. I can tell you now because it is all better. I have been to the hospital and been on 2 courses of antibiotics and the hole in my leg is only a scab now."
Me..."WHAT!!!?"

Shannon: "Really, mom, that is why I didn't call sooner...I didn't want you to worry. It really is all better now. I will send you a newer picture than these."

Me..."WHAT?!!!"

Shannon..."Really I am fine...don't worry. I have moved out the hovel I was staying in so I am in a clean place now and it is finally almost healed."

Me..."what-were-you-on, how-long-were-you-on-it,how-did-this-happen, when-do-you-see-the doctor again, why-didn't-you-call sooner.what do you mean you moved OUT OF A HOVEL!!!!?"

Shannon.."this is why I didn't tell you sooner. You are such a worrier...really, all is good. I will send you a newer picture next week when I can upload photos again.
Love you and talk to you soon.
OH and by the way...I am going to India in 2 weeks. Why don't you come over for spring break?"

I ask you...you look at the photos and tell me if I overreacted.......

Twins

 
Meet Taylor and Caitlyn.....my goddaughter's twins, born on Dec. 31. My goddaughter is also a twin. They are very very tiny but very healthy....I thought it was cute how they sleep with their heads off to the side.....probably how they were in the womb....

Trophies

 
I am a coach for Scholastic Bowl(Academic Team) at the school where I work. I have done this for 7 years. This year, the Varsity is what I like to call "my dream team"...it is the first team I tried out as Freshman and picked and turned out....I may not ever qualify to play the game....... but I DO know how to pick the people that can. True, I am the Frosh/Soph coach but they start with me and then move up to Varsity when they are Juniors. Yesterday was my birthday and we had games all day.  

My kids(Varsity and Frosh/Soph) got me a birthday cake with our emblem on it(the photo aboe is the back of my shirt)....and me without my camera. It only occurred to me later that I could've used my cell phone camera....duh.The good news is that Varsity and Frosh/Soph are currently in First place in our league (consisting of 10 schools) and Frosh/Soph went undefeated yesterday......a very satisfying day....even if I did turn the speed limit (55 for those of you that are thinking some OTHER speed limit!!)

Smart Car

 
You can see a different shot of this car here. I love the license plate on this......

The Taj M'hal

 
Shannon and my MIL at the Taj Mahl .......(they are in the lower left.)

Clancy and Sparty

 
Just trying to give you an idea about how small Sparty is or how big Clancy is....the gray box on the side of Clancy's neck is his electric collar....we have an electric fence and all the dogs have a collar....it works amazingly well....it is also called an invisible fence since the cable is underground. Works on a signal...the dogs hear a beep if they get too close to the fence and then, if they ignore the beep and keep going...they get a small electric "zap"...they are all excellent about not testing their boundaries. The "zap" is not hurtful...it is like a static electricity charge.

Presidents

This was sent to me and I think in honor of today, as Barack Obama becomes our 44th president, that it is very appropriate.

VERY INTERESTING HOW THIS IS DONE.... A SEAMLESS TRANSITION
FROM ONE PIC TO ANOTHER...... Turn up the volume. Forty four presidents, backed by Ravel's Bolero.

http://www.flixxy.com/presidents-morphing.htm

Something to ponder .

When good people have a falling out, only one of them may be at fault at first; but if the strife continues long, usually both become guilty.
-- Thomas Fuller

Happy Birthday Mom!

 
If your are 75 today that means I will be 55 in 2 weeks....yikes! that used to seem old but now....not so much! Hope you have a great day! I really had no other picture of you......go figure....

A few dog shots

 
I haven't posted my dogs for awhile...the little one is Sparty and the tall one is Simon.

 

Clancy and Simon.....
 

Sparty, Simon and Clancy.....

 

Simon, Sparty and Clancy on the "dog" couch....

 

Tessie, the 14 year old chocolate lab tolerating Sparty...

 

A Barbie Doll house

19 years ago....literally, my husband built this Barbie doll house for our daughter...
Doll houses were very popular then but they were little Victorian houses with tiny itty bitty pieces. My husband decided that since she loved Barbie's, a Barbie house would be a good thing. I can not tell you how many hours were spent in front of this playing with Barbie and all her "stuff". It has been residing with my neighbor across the street and her girls have now also outgrown it. Most all of the furniture Santa brought our daughter has survived all of these years and many hours of play. It now has a new home with my 3 nieces. I put it in the back of my suburban -a very difficult thing....the dimensions on this are 52" height, 50" width, and 28" deep.
I can only assume there will be many more hours of play and enjoyment for them!

 

 

 

Off to Singapore

 
This is what the daughter looked like as she was leaving for Singapore. She is traveling with my 88 year old Motherinlaw. They spent Christmas with one of my husband's brothers and the oldest son flew down from Beijing to celebrate Christmas as well......

Happy New Year and Welcome Babies!

What better way to welcome a new year but with the birth of not one but TWO Babies! My goddaughter(who herself is a TWIN!) delivered 2 healthy twin girls New Year's Eve....Congratulations to the new family!