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I have been getting a little worried about Stanley (the spider in the kitchen).
Stanley

He’s been disappearing for days at a time, and then showing back up on the kitchen window. I don’t know where he goes – wherever naughty, disobedient spiders go, I guess. I did catch him on the cupboard once, but I cut him a break.

Then the awful Texas summer finally broke, and I was able to actually open my kitchen window and get some fresh air!!! Yea!! I guess Stanley was hankering for some of the same, because he scooched by the loosely fitting window screen, and has been hanging out by the temperature gage (on the outside of the window) ever since. I mean, he’s been out there for a good 3 weeks!!! (Just so you know - I never ONCE said “hankering” the whole 39 years that I lived in Minnesota).

He’s there every time I look. Now the weather is starting to get pretty chilly at night, and I’m a little concerned. Some of the temps are dipping into the 40’s and soon will come the 30’s. Each morning I wonder if Stanley will be gone – I have no idea what temps spiders can withstand – and each morning he is near the gage, waiting to greet me. (Don’t worry – I’m not so delusional that I REALLY think he’s there to greet me). But he is there, nonetheless.

This is probably the longest relationship I’ve ever had with a “wild” critter. It’s kind of interesting. He caught a fly one day, without a web being involved – but I will spare you the details. (I actually had a picture of him with the fly in his death grip, but decided to take it down for the squeamish. That’s you Paula!! Probably one or two others as well). The truth is, I’ve kind of grown accustomed to having him around. Don’t ask me why.

So we will continue to leave the window open a crack, in case it gets too brutal out there, and he needs to come back in.

And in the words of Tom Bodett “We’ll leave the light on for you”.

Be safe, my friend!

Four Paws Technorati Tags: , Stanley the spider

Anyone who knows me well at all, knows that I am a lousy housekeeper. It’s not a fact that I’m proud of, believe me. I wish I was better. It’s something I’ve struggled with for years. My sister in law keeps an immaculate house – with 3 kids and a husband, and a dog, and company constantly in and out of the house. It’s just part of who she is. It’s NOT part of who I am. I didn’t get the “good housekeeping gene”. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that she doesn’t work hard at it. She does! But I could work day and night and never have my house half as clean or organized as hers.

As I look around my house – really look, I see scarcely a surface that isn’t piled with crap. It’s one of my biggest vices. Paperwork, and dog stuff - that’s a good share of it. Half the time I really don’t even notice the junk that is piling up. Don’t worry – it’s not one of those houses that has rotting food in every corner, and 4 dumpsters worth of trash – nothing quite that dramatic. But the place could certainly use a good overhaul. I blame my undiagnosed ADD for my inability to tackle the job. It seems overwhelming at this point.

So Wednesday, after a grueling night at the E.R. clinic – I decided to unwind by watching Oprah from earlier that day. She just happened to be doing a show on the “Clean Up Your Messy House” Tour – moving across America helping others, just like me – get it together. Peter Walsh is the head dude, helping people clean up and clean out. I felt a little encouraged as I watched him pop in on unsuspecting Americans whose houses looked remarkably like mine – some even a bit worse.

As Peter explained, you do things in small increments. Ten minutes a day – that’s all – and commit to 6 months. Well, of course I had to do the math. That’s about 30 hours of work. And of course, I should see a significant difference by then. So I started a few days ago, and imagine that I should be able to see a pretty big difference within a month. I can’t wait!!!

As his Grandmother said, “What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Although I don’t condone the eating of elephants, I get the picture. And I think for me that is the key – don’t look at a whole room, it’s too overwhelming. Just look at one little corner, or one little table, and spend 10 minutes on it. It seems DOABLE that way! I’m Excited!!!!!

Normally – you KNOW – I would have taken tons of pictures to share with you, but I’m a little embarrassed by the mess I’ve made – so I’ll only share one for now. It’s a table in my office / den. It sits behind the computer table, and as you can see, it’s pretty much unusable. (The fluffy stuff under the table is for the “two terriers” to land on between parties).

Maybe when I’m done with the project I’ll share more pics, but for now, I just want to challenge anyone else who feels the way I do: that the job is just too big to tackle. They just started this “Clean Up Your Messy House” project, so jump on board. It’s not too late. Peter will send monthly e-mails with tips to make the process easier. It’s painless – I promise!!

Four Paws Technorati Tags: ADD, Clean up your Messy House Tour, dog, good housekeeping gene, paperwork, Peter Walsh

I am SO happy that the brutal Texas summer seems to be (finally) over. I’m a Minnesota girl, and fall has always been my favorite time of year. I tease people down here that Texas only has two seasons: summer and winter (if you can really call it that. I dare say that no self respecting Minnesotan would ever call what they have down here “winter”). At any rate, there’s not much spring or fall.

But the temps have finally broken, and it’s been hovering in the 80”s and now even the 70’s for the high. Hell – that’s practically winter right there - for Texas that is. I noticed today that there are even a few trees turning the traditional fall colors. Not many, mind you, but a few. Just enough to make me feel like fall might really happen. So I had to get a couple of pics.

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It’s good dog-walking weather and sitting out on the patio with a glass of wine weather. You have to take advantage of it, because summer is SO stinking long here!!!

I had a couple of the dogs at the park the other day, working on tricks and heeling, and actually said out loud (me, not them) that the weather was absolutely perfect!!!! The dogs totally agreed.

Even though I miss fall in Minnesota terribly, I sometimes will secretly admit (to myself) that I don’t really miss the winters – although they seem to be getting milder lately. I talked to my sister in law today who lives 90 miles from the Canadian border, and she said that the temps were dipping into the 30’s and even the 20’s. Yeah, my 70 degrees sounds pretty good about now, as I sit here in my shorts and T-shirt. I guess I’ll stay awhile. At least for the fall.

Four Paws Technorati Tags: dog walking, fall, heeling, Minnesota, Texas, tricks

Today, November 11th is the holiday when we remember and honor our military veterans who have given so much for our country, and for the freedoms that we too often take for granted.

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We honor the present, and the past, the living and the dead.

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We honor those who serve SO far from home, and all the comforts that we enjoy. Many of them just kids.

We can never repay our fighting men and women for the price they pay for us. But please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and spend a few minutes giving thanks for what they do and have done for us.

Four Paws Technorati Tags: freedom, veterans, veterans day

A few weeks ago I watched a piece on 60 Minutes about an organization called RAM (Remote Area Medical). I was genuinely moved by this EXTRAORDINARY group of people, founded by Stan Brock.

Stan started RAM in 1992 to go into third world countries to set up emergency medical clinics where the needs were the greatest. They have done over 500 expeditions.

Now, RAM is “throwing America a life-line”. In fact, 60% of their work is now done in the US.

There are 47,000,000 people in the United States who have no health insurance, and millions more who are under-insured. RAM sets up weekend outreach programs to help those that cannot afford medical treatment. During one of the expeditions held in Knoxville TN, some 276 doctors, optometrists, and dentists from 11 different states set up their stations in an exhibit hall, and worked the entire weekend for free. All equipment is donated, everyone is a volunteer, and all care is at no charge.

The people who came as patients that weekend (mostly the working poor; most with families) started lining up in the middle of the night, to make sure they would be among those that got seen. They were given numbers to make sure they stayed in order. They slept in their cars, in the cold, and waited.

About 6 a.m. Stan Brock started calling for the first of the numbers to be let in.

That weekend in Knoxville, the docs saw 920 patients, and other than the general medicine that took place, they made 500 pairs of eyeglasses, performed 90 mammograms, extracted 1066 bad teeth, and did 567 fillings.

Stan’s lament? They had to turn away about 400 people when the weekend came to a close.

How does RAM do it? They rely on the generosity of the American people. Plus, they really know how to stretch a buck. Last year RAM’s operating costs were a mere $250,000 and they treated 17,000 patients. Brock (the founder and leader) is devoted – TOTALLY devoted to RAM. He has no family, draws no salary, and has no home. He is currently living in an abandoned school, leased to RAM by the City of Knoxville for $1.00 a year.

PLEASE GUYS!!! This is such a wonderful organization, that if you have a few minutes to spare, please to go this website and watch the 60 Minutes piece on them. I promise it will make you feel good for at least a little while. And maybe the next time you have a couple of bucks to donate to a really worthy cause, you might think of them. I know I will.

Thanks!!!

www.ramusa.org/learn/media.html

Four Paws Technorati Tags: medical clinics, Remote Area Medical, Stan Brock, under-insured

As some of you may know, I am a fan of TV, and am constantly perusing new and different shows. TV sort of goes in streaks. Reality shows have been hot and heavy for quite some time. That being said, I’m afraid that shows like The Grizzly Man Diaries may be starting a new trend. God, I hope not.

I just got done watching Living with the Wolfman, and crap - where do I begin? There is a fine line indeed, between sanity and insanity. I thought Timothy Treadway was enough of a nut job, living with the Grizzly’s in Alaska, seeing himself sometimes as the father figure. But Shaun Ellis (alias Wolfman) wants not just to LIVE among the wolves, but to BE a wolf. To be ACCEPTED as a wolf. And now he’s brought his girlfriend into the picture as well.

I realized about half way through the (hour long) show, that I had a permanent grimace plastered on my face, and was constantly shaking my head “no”. What was wrong with the days when people had a healthy respect for creatures of the wild? To study them, and learn from them, yes. But now a days it seems, that’s not enough. You have to BE a wolf.

Ellis, who lives part time with the wolves, alleges to “protect” and “help” them. I just can’t figure out how he is helping them, and what he is protecting them from.

He lived for a period of months in their lair – 24/7 to study them. I only wish I could have gotten a pic of him greeting them with his mouth in a “yum-yum-yum” position, playing tongue tag with them – I swear to God!!! Yeah – made me want to lose lunch.

His girlfriend, Helen Jetts, is obviously smitten with the “wolfman” and is determined to fit into the pack too. Her goal is to become a wolf pup “nanny”. Ellis tells her that she must “learn to think and behave like a wolf”. That she needs to convince the adults (wolves) that she is “wolf enough” to join their pack.

Ellis puts her on a strict diet primarily of meat. He claims that if she eats enough meat, the wolves will respect her “wolf-smell”. The more organ meats she eats, the higher her ranking in the pack. Now Ellis has already told us that a wolf’s sense of smell is 100,000 times better than ours. So, do you really think that the wolf is going to think that she is another wolf because she is eating meat? Come-on!!!!!

I won’t even go into the fact that Ellis pretty much tricks Jetts into going into the pen when she isn’t prepared for it. She tells him that her heart is pounding! Not really an ideal way to meet a wolf who’s sizing you up. You KNOW that they can smell fear a mile away – especially with THEIR sense of smell!!!! He’s just damned lucky that she didn’t end up as wolf chow – no thanks to him. He would have had a hard time explaining that one!

One of the wolves (Cheyenne) becomes pregnant, and Ellis wants Jetts to act as the “wolf nanny” to the cubs. She must prove herself worthy to Cheyenne first, by pretending to regurgitate meat for her to eat. Jetts exclaimed afterwards “I was communicating with her on a level of WOLF TO WOLF”. Come-on people!!! They know you’re not a wolf!!!!!!

The last straw for me was at the end of the show, when Cheyenne’s 4 pups are a month old, and Jetts attempts to win them over by once again regurgitating (this time raw) meat for the pups to eat. But she must wait until they nibble and bite at her mouth before she releases the food. At the end of it all, her lips and face are bloody from the feeding, but all she could say was “It’s a great feeling to be accepted by a pack of wolves”. It was fantastic!!!!!!

OK – whatever you say. I sincerely hope you don’t go the way of Timothy Treadwell. But I think you’re both nuts!!! Really, really, nuts!!!!

P.S. I do really love wolves – from afar! They are beautiful and wonderful creatures, to be respected – from afar!

I don’t think I’ll be able to continue watching this show.
BLEGH!!!

Four Paws Technorati Tags: , Helen Jetts, Living with the Wolfman, Shaun Ellis, wolf

Halloween is Big R’s favorite Holiday – hands down. He loves to do something different every year (well, almost every year) and surprise the kids in the neighborhood. He tries to put up whatever it is, on the hallowed day, and by the next morning there is no evidence that anything was ever there. He gets a kick out of that. One year he did a zoo scene, complete with a gorilla (Big R) in a cage.

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I think it was 90 degrees that year. I’m glad it was him in that suit and not me!!!

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The year that Lord of the Rings came out, Big R made himself into “treebeard” from the Fangorn Forest. It was pretty creative, I must say, but he kept falling off his tall shoes!

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He finally had to finish off the night in a seated position – not as impressive, but much safer.

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One of my all time favorites was the year he did the dinosaur zoo. They were magnificent.

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There was an electric fence around them for everyone’s safety.

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Unfortunately, one poor fellow didn’t heed the warning and got munched by a crock.

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The wolfman made an appearance a couple of years ago. He was caged behind some wrought-iron fencing adorned with gorilla heads, just to let everyone know he was Serious!!!

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Big R was pretty daunting in that outfit. . .

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. . . but not daunting enough to scare the mighty Micah.

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I think last year was his best ever!!!! He built a movable dragon head with a mouth that opened and eyes that lit up. It was WAY cool!

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He blew smoke out of his nose and scared many a little kid.

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Here, Jacob gets a reassuring pat from his big sister Julia.

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Who knows what evil will be lurking outside our door when Halloween comes THIS year? I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see!!

Four Paws Technorati Tags: dinosaur, Fangorn Forest, gorilla, Halloween, treebeard

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I think most people have a list, somewhere in the back of their mind, of things they would like to do, or accomplish, or just try for fun while they’re here on earth. I haven’t made a formal list, but there are some of mine:

When I was younger I REALLY wanted to try skydiving. Now that I’m more “seasoned”, I’m not sure I could do it.

I’d still love to watch the whales migrating (is that the right word?), but I wouldn’t be able to bring the dogs.

Sing backup for Tina Turner.

STOP LAUGHING - it could happen!

I’d like to try some whitewater kayaking in a little short yak. Nothing crazy like the hard core nuts . . .

. . . just a little current to make it a bit more interesting.

I’ve always wanted to learn to play the base guitar. (I had an acoustic 6 string when I was in my teens). A really hard driving base and a great drummer MAKES the whole band.

Parasailing would be a blast.

I’ve also wanted to learn how to shoot a handgun, which brings me to my current post.

I have some friends that all have their own guns and shoot on a semi-regular basis. They have plenty of guns to go around, so one day big R (the husband) and I tagged along with them to the shooting range. It was kind of exciting watching the people shooting ahead of us. Some of the guns had quite a kick to them, and some not so much. The noise level was incredible, and we weren’t even in the range yet. No wonder you need ear gear.

But when it was actually my turn, I found it strangely intimidating and just . . . icky. I can’t tell you what kind of guns I shot – I think there were 3 different ones. I remember being told that if I pulled the trigger once and nothing happened, NOT to pull it again or the gun could blow up in my face. Gee, and I found that intimidating? Hmmmm. Even reloading the gun made me feel creepy and kind of shaky inside. I don’t know what caused it, but I guess it doesn’t matter. I was very surprised though, because I thought I would really like it. Ah – no.

I’m glad I went, and tried it like a big girl, but that’s one that I can cross off my list. Don’t care if I ever try it again – and I probably won’t.

I guess I’ll just have to focus on Tina.

STOP LAUGHING!!!! I MEAN IT!!!

Four Paws Technorati Tags: , Kayaking, shoot a gun, skydiving, Tina Turner, whales

Common sense tells you, that you never discuss religion or politics. At least if you want to stay out of trouble. But honestly, in today’s world, politics are everywhere!!! And there’s a lot going on – politically. So I have to make just the briefest comment on the Presidential race.

Without getting into which candidate I favor (and I have reservations about BOTH candidates), I have to tell you how disappointed I was in the presidential debates.

I was really hoping that each one would just talk about what they wanted to accomplish, and what they each stood for, once and for all. But instead I heard the newest version of “he said, she said”.

Candidate #1 would say, “I will do this, not like my opponent who did A, B, and C, and didn’t do D, E, and F”. And then candidate #2 would come back with, “No that’s absolutely not true. I did G, H, I and my opponent did J, K. and L”. They went back and forth, ad nauseam.

They did it over, and over again. By the end of the debate I didn’t know any more than I did before they started. And frankly, I’m just getting sick of the whole thing.

Debate number two was pretty much the same, with the additional irritation of them not being able to stick to their allotted time for answering questions. Having to be constantly reminded by the moderator to pay attention to their cue lights just doesn’t give me much confidence in their ability. I mean really. How hard is it to see the light change from green, to yellow, to red? Are these guys really presidential material? Kind of makes you wonder, eh?

Oh, I know - you think I’m being too hard on them, and maybe I am. I think I’m just on Presidential Race Overload, and I’m ready for it to be done. Lets put this thing to bed, already!! Come on November 4th.

OK – rant over.

Four Paws Technorati Tags: debate, politics, presidential race, religion