The Dynamic Duo, house cleaning, and found treasure

Yesterday while going through all our earthly possessions in the process of packing K ran across some old photos, one of which was taken at her parent's house on Christmas Day 2006.  It shows both of my dogs together, the dearly departed Tara Belle (the Westie) and Emma Belle (the Mini Schnauzer):

Luke....you've got some large shoes....er....paws to fill, my boy.

She also found my old name patch from my Confederate Air Force days, and a campaign button from my unsuccessful run for General Staff (Board of Directors):

As it turns out I lost by 3 votes, from an organization which at the time had around 8,000 (?) members.  The guy I lost to was a retired USAF Colonel, his last assignment that of being responsible for maintaining the Air Force's Special Air Mission (SAM) fleet of aircraft.  You might be more familiar with it (them) as Air Force One.  Oh well....

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Every time we wash clothes we struggle to find enough clothes hangers for everything as they come out of the dryer.  They can't just disappear into thin air, so where do they go? (Hanging out with those socks that disappear one at a time?)  K and I have both been cleaning out our closets, ridding ourselves of clothes we say we're gonna wear again some day but of course never do.   I took a huge carload of stuff to Goodwill, which means I freed up a few extra hangers:

Now we have 78 to spare.  :)

I've had good luck the past few weeks selling stuff on Craig's List.  I made a bundle selling four framed, signed & numbered aviation art prints, and yesterday K's old stationary bike.  Good riddance!  Now I really need to sell my big 'ol oak desk and file cabinet.  They're way too heavy to move.  I also need to sell the monster pre-lit artificial Christmas tree K just had to have a few years ago.  It's in the storage room downstairs in a box that I do not want to store in our new, more compact place. I'm trying to make room in there for a bicycle.  (K, if you read this, I'm buying a bicycle.)  It looks like we're paring down nicely and should be able to fit in our new 100+ sq ft smaller place with ease.

All in all it was a productive weekend.  How was yours?

S

HAPPY TWENTY-DOZEN!

Happy New Year, everyone!  It's that time again....time to wring out the old, wring in the new, and just move on with our lives in general.  I for one was happy to turn out the lights on 2011.  It really wasn't a bad year, but just one I'd rather not replay.


I had a small but comfortable home to live in, more than enough food to eat, reliable transportation, and a job.  It saddens me to think of all the people who didn't have one or more of those luxuries.  The only thing that really matters, of course, is that I had my wife and my health.  Both K and I and our extended families were blessed with good health all year, especially my daughter Erica who's expecting my first granddaughter in April.  She and baby "Gladys" (kidding....I hope!) are doing great.  K's dad fell and broke his hip in February, but his recovery was so speedy his doctors are still shaking their heads in amazement.  That episode barely moved the needle on the "ill-health meter".


My real heartbreak in 2011 was losing my dog, my best friend Emma Belle, just two weeks ago.  I miss her more than you'll ever know, but I do have some wonderful memories of all the good times we had during the 6+ years she was in my life.  (When I got K I also got Emma, a pretty sweet twofer, don't you think?)


Looking at things in a macro sense, the world in 2011 was like watching a train wreck in slow motion.  Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami's, not to mention all the man-made catastrophes around the globe, just made me shake my head.  And I'll be darned if I can see a leader anywhere, now or even on the horizon, who can put things back together.  I'm just gonna keep my head down and try to slink through 2012 unnoticed.  As long as He's looking over me, and He is, I'll be fine.


On a positive note, every new year brings hope for a better tomorrow, so maybe this will be the year where everything good just falls into place.  After recently feeling myself falling back into some old habits, I'm pledging to myself to try and live according to Teddy Roosevelt's old adage, "Do what you can, where you are, with what you have."  Lot to be said for simple living.  


So how was your 2011?  Two thumbs up, two thumbs down, or just a "pass"?


S

Cabin Fever

What kind of phobia is it when you can't stay inside for too long at a time?  It's sort of like "cabin fever", but it sets in after about 3 or 4 hours.  Whatever it is, I have it.  Today K and I both have time off, and we're looking for ways to use it up.  First we're going to Wolfe/Ritz Camera and pick up some prints of Emma Belle that we're going to frame.  Then we're going by the vet's office to pick up Emma's ashes.  To some this might seem icky, but I find it very appropriate.  It is, after all, what I wish for myself some day.   She'll be put in a special place alongside Tara Belle, who died almost 5 years ago.


Then lunch at Fuzzy's Tacos.  They have the best tempura shrimp tacos, and of course some queso and guac, too.  An outing just isn't right to me without a visit to a bookstore, so we'll hit one of those, too, while we're out.  Finally, REI Co-op has been pushing all my impulse buttons today, so we'll drop in for a quick look-see.  Maybe they'll be giving away kayaks today to the first 10 people who come in on bended knees and grovel.  Or maybe I could get K to wear her "Erin Brockovich" shirt.  Yeah, we'd probably have better luck with that than with me groveling.  Haha!


That ought to burn at least half the day.  Any suggestions for the other half?  (Besides that.  I've already tried.)


S

I liked the old way better

It never really dawned on me until now how much my holiday plans revolved around my dearly departed dog, Emma Belle.  Every major holiday....that would be the Big Three: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas....K and I drove the 75 miles to spend the day with her parents.  We timed things so that we could make the round-trip drive and visit and still be back home within 6, maybe 7 hours.   I just didn't want to make Emma "hold it" longer than that.  Now we no longer have that time constraint.  It feels weird.


This evening my family will assemble at my daughter Erica's home to have our Christmas.  With married daughters come dual families (in-laws) for them to spend time with, so I just get in line and take my turn.  I'm not real picky.


For that matter, and I write about this every year, I'm not a "Christmas" person.  I'm just not.  It's just weeks and weeks of going to places I don't want to go to, seeing people I don't want to see, doing things I don't want to do....but of course I do it anyway because it's "Christmas".  With my family we agreed years ago to just have gifts for the kids, but not the adults.  We're all relatively affluent and can just go out and buy what we want/need, so please, spare me another shirt.  As for K and I, she's getting a new Kindle Fire and I'm inheriting her almost-new old-style Kindle.  Fine with me.  (It's OK, it's not a secret.)


Shame we can't just all sit down and think about why we celebrate Christmas and forget about all the hoopla that its become.  And personally, I'll think about how blessed I am and about my late Emma Belle and how much fun she made my life for all those years. 


Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Birthday Jesus.  And a special Merry Christmas to you, too, Miss Belle.


S

Those were the days, my friend, I wish they'd never end....

She and I were inseparable.   First thing in the morning as I would swing my legs out of bed I had to be careful not to step on her as she would be right there waiting for me. I could quietly walk from the den to the study, and even in a sound sleep she knew I had moved.  Within half a minute, tops, she would round the corner and take up her new position a few feet away from my desk chair.  Even while in the bathroom I knew she was right outside the door.  I knew because I would see her little telltale paw literally slid under the door.  


We had our assigned territory.  I would sit in my big leather chair and put my feet on the right side of the large ottoman, and she would plop herself down on the left side.  Peaceful coexistence.  At dinnertime she would position herself between K and I, confident that at least one of us would drop a morsel of food.  (I could be a very clumsy eater sometimes. *wink*)


She and I could communicate telepathically.  She would turn her head towards me and give me "the look" #1 or #2...."I'm hungry" or "I gotta go out, please."  Sometimes I could be a little too absorbed in something and she would have to lightly put her paw on my foot to get my attention, her way of saying "my turn".  Or my favorite:  I would put my hand under her chin (I guess dogs have "chins", right?) and scratch her on top of her head, and in about 3 seconds she would go limp and just let me hold her head up while she basked in the affection.


She could be mischievous.  If I would come in after an outing, and then go back out again before she felt she had gotten her due attention, she would go in the bathroom and overturn the waste basket in protest.  But before I could return she'd think about it and know it would make me unhappy, and she'd regret doing it.  Except without thumbs, she couldn't undo her evil deed.  I would come back home and she would be sitting at the door, her head bowed, her ears pinned back.  I'd give her a terse "Emma!  What did you do?", and she would jump on me meekly seeking forgiveness.  Being the benevolent King that I am, of course I'd give her a full pardon after a few wet licks.


I never realized how well sound-insulated our home is.  It is deafeningly quiet here all of a sudden.


S

RIP Emma Belle

My life was much richer because you were in it.  Thanks for being my best friend.

Emma update....

The vet examined her and said all vitals looked good, but obviously her digestive system was still unsettled.  She prescribed several more meds to ease her queasy stomach and diarrhea and to coat her stomach and make it less sensitive.  The bland diet continues, probably forever.  I just now (4:30pm) gave her more food, the first in nearly two days.  We'll see how she handles it.  *Fingers crossed*  All things considered, she's doing better than I expected.


S

Emma's sick....I'm afraid

My dog Emma Belle is not well.  A few weeks ago she was diagnoised with pancreatitis and has been on a special prescription diet ever since.  (I found out in my research that miniature schnauzers and westies are prone to the condition.)  Most days she seems OK, will eat her food, go to the bathroom, etc.  Every now and then her system would rebel, and it wasn't pretty.  Now is one of those times.  She hasn't been able to keep food down for almost two days and has had diarrhea and thrown up twice.  This morning at 4am she scratched at the door, her signal to go out immediately. 


 I have an appointment with the vet this morning at 10.  I have no idea what to expect.  I thought Emma was about 12 or 13 years old, but K says she's more likely around 15.  I know what her ultimate fate will be, but I would prefer it to be later....much later.  Regardless of what I want, I will not let her suffer.  I owe her that much.  She gives so much and asks so little in return.  Please say a prayer for my little pooch's recovery.

S

Clipped wings this weekend

Looks like whatever fun I'm gonna have this weekend will have to come in 4 hour spurts.  That's because I have to be home to feed Emma Belle a special stomach-calming diet every 4 hours.  The vet says she has pancreatitis and prescribed meds and gave us a 6-pack of special canned food.  Well, not gave....it costs me $337 all together. The stuff might calm Emma's stomach, but it nearly turns mine.  It looks like bad bean dip.   But of course I'll do whatever I have to to get my "best friend" well again.


Thank a veteran if you happen to see one today.  And as it's Veterans Day, fly your flag, too.  Really we should thank our veterans every day. Whenever I see someone wearing a military cap, for example (such as "Vietnam Veteran", "WWII Veteran", etc), I'll thank them and shake their hand.  It makes 'em smile, which makes me smile, too.


This is one of those work days I dread.  I have some dirty work that needs to be done (a house under construction needs to be cleaned out and swept, and it's a VERY BIG house) and there isn't anyone to delegate the job to.  We don't have a handy man on the payroll so the job falls on me.  I'll come back covered head-to-toe in dust and head straight to the shower.  But the good news is, after that, I'm free for the rest of the day.  'Course, if my dust mask doesn't work, I'll be sneezing for the rest of the day.  


OK, I've stalled long enough.  Here goes......


S

She has powers over me!

Somebody tell me it's OK to feed yogurt to dogs.  And mean it.  Every morning I come into my study first thing and check my email and the news and eat my little cup of yogurt.  I swear Emma Belle has a sixth sense about when I'm finishing up my yogurt because I'll look down and there she'll sit, waiting to lick off whatever remains on my spoon:

I figure if it's good for me it should be good for her, too.  Right?  But then I remembered there are some things dogs can't have, like chocolate and grapes, and Brussels sprouts.  (No wait....I can't have Brussels sprouts)  Kind of late now, but I'm hoping yogurt isn't on the no-no list because it's the highlight of her morning and I hate disappointing her. I admit it, she has me wrapped around her little....er...well, you know.

S

Magical salad

Trying to eat better in order to begin enjoying a more active outdoor lifestyle (whenever it cools some), last night we went to Jason's Deli for dinner.  We both had the salad bar.  We sometimes have a small salad with dinner, but rarely do we have a salad as dinner.  We're carnivores and darn proud of it!

Since then strange things have been happening.  First, I took Emma Belle out for her last dootie call of the day and found it to be cool.  Again...I said COOL.  It's a relative term, I know, but compared to the 107 of late afternoon, 80 felt cool.  Strange.

Then I woke up at 3 am with an idea of how to build a balance board (improves balance and coordination) using inexpensive building materials instead of  paying $50 for a store-bought one.  But how big?  I got up and went to the internet and did several minutes of highly intense academic research and decided what I really wanted was a "wobble board".

 At 3 am.  Very strange. 

Finally at 6 am this morning, as I was throwing on some old clothes to take the dog out for her first dootie call of the new day, I heard it....thunder.  Then I heard....could it be?....rain!  Radar showed one tiny little shower right over my side of my town, right over me.  Beyond strange.  

I'm thinking it was the salad.  What else could it be?  It must have had some mighty powerful juju.  I promise I'll never make fun of salad again.

S

Oasis found!

Like the parched man wandering in the desert looking for even a small puddle of water, I've been hallucinating over water for weeks....no, months now.  It's been 105-110 degrees every day with nary a cloud in sight.  Parched, I tell 'ya.

Two days ago rain drifted south out of Oklahoma and made it titillatingly close to Dallas.  We didn't get any, but it made the lead story on the local news, ahead of news of the world economic implosion and a possible cure for cancer.  (Hey, we have priorities!)

This morning I finally dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 to take the dog for her dootie call and was greeted by....wait for it....RAIN!  WooHoo!!  Emma Belle wouldn't even step off the porch, but just looked at the rain, then at me, her eyes asking, "What am I supposed to do with that?"

I had a suspicion this might happen as last night it was cool enough for us to actually walk around our neighborhood and see the "beautiful people" (read: ladies) milling around waiting for tables at restaurants, and listen to a killer blues band playing under the porte-cochere.  


Which reminds me:  We saw couples where the lady was dressed to the nines....absolutely magazine-cover gorgeous....and the guy looked like he just crawled out from under the car after changing the oil.   What's with that?

Have a good day everyone.  :)

S