Max Lost His Zoom But Found It Again

It happened this past Monday, Dave went out to get the mail and left the gate open a little. Max was in the back yard and decided to follow Dave out front. He didn't go any further than the end of the sidewalk, good puppy. Well Dave came back and when he got to Max, gave him a little tap on his butt and Max let out a yelp and ran for the back door. He's done this before, I mean letting out the yelp, so Dave thought nothing of it. That is until Max stayed skittish, hiding and shaking when either Dave or I came near him and yelping when we went to pet him on the top of his head and even when I sat down next to him on our bed without even touching him.

I was worried, Dave was worried, we both were, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. I wondered if maybe something triggered a memory from before he came to us. He was dumped up the road from our house and followed Dave and Rolli home from their walk. That was almost five years ago and he was only around 12 weeks of age.

When I posted the question on a message board I belong to, everyone pretty much said that it could be the reason, someone also added that he could be in pain somewhere. A lot of people told stories of their pets showing years later that they were afraid of something.

Max without his zoom, moping around.

Anyway, Max acted that way for two days. Finally on Wednesday he started to act a little like his old self again, not entirely but getting there, but was still a little skittish when Dave came home.

Yesterday, he finally had his zoom back. How did I know this? He roo-rooed me when I got up after giving me good morning kisses. The sure way of knowing that Max has his zoom back is when he roo-roos you and he goes zooming out the back door when you open it. Yesterday he not only went zooming out the door, but he also zoomed all the way across the yard. That's when I knew it, that's when I knew my Max was back.

My heart went out to him those two days, not knowing what the problem was, but thinking that it very well may have been a flashback and thinking how bad he must have had it before he was dumped. I was so glad when he was acting the way he always did again. Right now he's sleeping in Dave's chair, his favorite place to sleep. He's so cute when he has his zoom back.

Max with his zoom back, in Dave's chair.

And in the back yard.

For The Love of Purses

I have this purse that I love. Actually I have two of the same purse but in different colors, one in dark green and the other in brown. They are concealment purses, meaning there's a compartment to carry a pistol if you have a license to carry a concealed weapon and you desire to do so. I don't have a license to carry, but if I did, I would have a purse to do so. I love the purses because they have lots of compartments to carry other things. There lies the problem.

I was just looking for the two lottery tickets I bought this weekend and couldn't find them. Another thing about these purses are that the compartments are deep, going to the very bottom of the purse, so if you don't reach all the way to the bottom, you might miss what you were looking for. That was the case here. The tickets were all the way at the bottom of the compartment. I've had that happen with other things too, like my clip on sun glasses. Luckily I carry them in a hard case I have left over from an old pair of glasses that broke. I loved those glasses too, but let's not get off subject here.

I sometimes wonder when I walk in somewhere, like a mall or someplace and people see my purse, if they wonder if I'm carrying. The compartment for that is in plain sight, so if someone knows what kind of purse it is, I wonder if they wonder. Of course I would never do such a thing without the proper license, so they have nothing to worry about there, but they don't know that.

We women, at least some of us, like nice roomy purses and this is just that. Plus it's the right size, not too big to be bulky and the strap adjusts so that it can become a cross body bag if I need it to be. In fact, that was the reason I bought it, not for the strap, but for the roominess. Like I said, I have another one and I loved how roomy it was, so I bought another. I'm kind of sorry I didn't choose a different color, I don't like the color brown it is, but it's too late for that now. Maybe I'll look to see if I can find it in a different color.

That's all I need, another purse, but my motto is, just like shoes, you can't have too many purses. Don't you agree?

Have a great day everyone and remember, always think of one thing each day that you're thankful for.

Bye for now.

Happy First Day of Spring

Ours is a rainy and cool one, unlike the last four out of five days of winter which were record breakers with highs in the 80s.

My daffodils have bloomed and the other bulbs I planted are coming up with others that I didn't plant. Some I planted, I can't remember what they are, so I'll have to wait until they bloom. They look like tulips, but I don't remember planting any because the last ones I did plant, were eaten bulb and all by something. I'll just have to wait and see.

All of my lilac bushes are getting their leaves and the same with the azaleas we planted last fall. We found some that are hearty to 40 below, so they should be okay. Hopefully these ones will survive, unlike the ones we planted when we lived in Virginia. This year I also want to get some lily of the valley. I love those. Did you know that they also come in pink? I didn't until I saw them in a catalog we got in the mail. Cool. If I can find both, I'll plant both.

We're supposed to get rain for the next few days, so things are really going to start blooming and turning green. Pretty soon will come the first cutting of the grass.

But it's so nice to see the winter brown disappear. No wonder people get depressed in the winter, it is depressing. I hate seeing all the brown grass and leafless trees. It's so nice to see the first signs of spring popping up. It gives me hope that things will be brighter and puts me in a good mood because I  know that before long, the grass and trees will be turning green and the flowers will be blooming making it bright and cheerful once again. Oh yea, and the birds will be chirping all over the place.

Here's a little touch of spring for you all. These are some of the lilacs I planted a few years ago in bloom. I love lilacs so much that I planted eight bushes in the last few years. Have a great first day of spring.

The Dryer Died and Ticks

Started doing laundry yesterday and the washer went through the cycle, but when I went to take the cloths out, I noticed that all of the water wasn't spun out, so I put them back in and put them through another spin cycle. That's when it happened, it didn't get through the last spin cycle completely. The clothes were spun, but it stopped short of the off.

So, I put in the next load to see what would happen. It never made it through the wash cycle. Dave tried and the same thing happened with him. Even when it went through the spin cycle before, it sounded really bad. I wonder if it would still be running if I hadn't put the comforter the other day, or if it was just a matter of time. I guess we'll never know.

As soon as I get ready, I'm still eating breakfast because I slept in, we are going washer shopping. I looked around on line last night to see who had the best deal, so we don't have to spend the day driving all over town.

You know it's spring, no matter what the calender says, when you find a tick on your dog or yourself. I found one on myself yesterday, UGH!

Tick season has really come early this year. It usually doesn't start until May. Luckily I had bought some extra Frontline last fall to treat the dogs at the first sign of them. They really need baths first, so it looks like I'll be doing that this week. Thank goodness they're pretty good when it comes to getting one. That doesn't mean they like it, it just means they're good about it because they know it's going to happen whether I like they like it or not.

I need to get my butt in gear here, plus Max wants out, so I hope you all have a great Sunday.

Update on the dryer. Dave and I drove up to Des Moines today and bought a new one. We got a Whirlpool Cabrio. It's pretty nice and a lot different than what I'm used to.

Wearing of the Green

Wishing everyone who is Irish, Irish wannabes or just plain celebrating St. Patrick's Day a safe and happy one.

Remember, if you're going to drink, DON'T drive! Have a designated driver or call a cab. If you're going to drive DON'T drink! It's as simple as that.

Oh yes, I'm wearing green today even though I'm not Irish. :)

 

Boy, What a Day

The morning started out just fine, but once afternoon hit...

First the washer decided not to work as I was in the middle of washing the comforter (Cal. king size) from the bed to pack away for the season. I had washed it in our washer before without a problem. If that wasn't bad enough...

Okay, so I get the soaking wet comforter out of the washer and set it outside on the landing to drain some and David put it in the back of the van so that we could take it to the laundry mat to get the water out. We get there after dropping off redeemables and recycling and I realize that I forgot the quarters, so off to the bank we go. Luckily it wasn't far and I was able to get in and out in less than five minutes.

We go back to the laundry mat and I put the comforter in the washer, one of those big ones that cost $5.00 to run it through the whole cycle because I couldn't just run it through the spin cycle. Not a big deal because I figured that it would get a really good rinse that way. Stupid me forgot to select the cycle so I lost 50 cents. Okay, still no big deal.

We get to Walmart, okay no problem there. Off to the gas station next door to get some gas, which today was $3.79 for regular. I knew it was going to be up there. I also had a lottery ticket to cash in. At first I thought I lost it, but found it in another part of my purse. I also thought I won $8.00 (megaplier).  It turned out to be $12.00 and when I got gas, none spit out like it does sometimes. No, I didn't overfill, there's a problem with the gas tank and after spending $250.00 when it was still under warranty, they never fixed it (they said they did). I'm thinking, wow, maybe my luck has finally turned around, not quite...

I get home and start getting the groceries out of the car when the Baby Cuties (mandarin oranges) I bought decided to try to escape, in other words, they fell out of their container when the bag ripped. So I get those all put back in the container and take them in the house, dropping one on the way. I saw it when I went back out to get the rest of the groceries. But, that's not the best part.

It was...

When I came back in the house, the washer came back on by itself and was working perfectly. Before I left, it wouldn't turn on, but I guess you can say that my luck didn't run out because at least we didn't have to end up buying a new belt which was what Dave thought was wrong, or worse yet, a new machine.

I hope you had a good day.

Daylight Savings Time and Other Ramblings

Did you set your clocks ahead last night or wait until this morning? We always wait until the next morning unless David has to work, which he didn't today. I've set all but two and those two I need a stole to get to, but they'll be reset by day's end.

An update on those dogs rescued from that puppy mill in Sac County, some have already been adopted. I haven't heard about the ones that were pregnant, but I'm sure we'll hear something soon. The dogs that were adopted were so cute. All were Cocker Spaniels except I think, one. For more info, check out the Animal Rescue League of Iowa's website at www.arl-iowa.org.

This coming week is going to definitely feel like spring. Our highs are supposed to be in the upper 60s to low 70s and sunny all week. Today is the one day we're supposed to get rain, but so far all we've gotten are sprinkles.

Dave and I went up to Des Moines yesterday to get some things. He had to drop a tire off to have replaced and while in the area, we dropped into Harbor Freights. I wanted one of the small electric drills/screwdrivers for myself rather than always borrowing David's. Dave picked up a couple of things and then we headed to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and bought paint and a bunch of other stuff to go with it. They carry a brand of paint made from recycled paint. The name of the brand is Amazon. They don't have a lot of colors, but the ones they have are nice. We bought paint for the living room called Island Sand and Ivory White for the hallway. I also saw a color I would like to paint our bedroom and bath. It's a real calming blue called Ice Blue.

If you need to repaint and want to do something good for the environment at the same time, check them out, they're on line at www.amazonpaint.com. Or better yet, check out your local ReStore to see if they carry it. You might also find something else you likeor can use there. We saw a whole house full of furniture, living room, dining room and two bedrooms, plus patio furniture. I say it all the time, I love our ReStore.

Anyway, after we were done with all of our running around, we stopped at the Cold Stone Creamery at Jordan Creek and bought sinfully good milkshakes. I got the cream de mint and Dave got the strawberry cheesecake. We had done a lot of walking, hopefully enough to burn off our lunch at Perkins and the milkshakes. But it's not like we do that everyday, going to Perkins and Cold Stone Creamery that is.

I bought all the pups new collars. I ended up replacing the ones I bought for Jake and Max last month and got all four matching ones, but of different colors. The collar I originally bought for Max was really nice, but too wide for his neck. It would have been better on a greyhound or whippet, something with a long neck. There was nothing wrong with Jake's except it was kind of thin, but the collar he has now is one I originally wanted to buy for all of them and did buy for Rolli. They didn't have all the colors I was looking for at PetSmart, but I was able to find them on line. I not only found the color I wanted for Jake, but the one I wanted for Angel and a different color for Max and one to replace Rolli's old one. She wears a pink collar because she's the little diva. Now they all have nice new collars.

I also bought on line, see a pattern here, a new duvet cover for the bed. I found it at Pottery Barn's website on sale. It was only $66.00 plus tax and shipping. I went back the next day and bought the matching shams, also on sale. I can't wait until they get here.

And to end on another positive note, I found a Mega Millions lottery ticket from last month I thought I had accidentally thrown away. I checked the numbers and found that it was a winner. I won $8.00 thanks to the megaplier. It's not much, but it'll buy three more tickets with megapliers or Powerball tickets with the multiplier. I still have to check the one from last night's drawing, but who knows, maybe I got lucky twice.

And so ends another rambling. Enjoy your day. Do something nice for someone else. It'll not only put a smile on their face, but yours too.

Happy Birthday Jake

Today is Jake's 12th birthday. Happy Birthday to my dear pup.

I still remember the day we brought Jake home. We found a no-kill shelter here in central Iowa  through Petfinders and were going there to look at a dog we had seen on their site. He was a gorgeous red heeler named Jake who unfortunately didn't like cats and we had our cat Velcro. So inside we went.

Inside we saw puppies, lots of puppies. Two females, a mother and daughter were found inside an abandoned house earlier and both had been pregnant. Both litters were born at the shelter within days of each other. I can't remember which litter Jake was from, but I picked him out and they made sure he wasn't already spoken for. He wasn't, so the lady handed him to me and I carried him around against my chest and he cried the whole time we were there, poor baby. On the way home, however, he fell asleep in my lap and slept the whole way home. While still at the shelter I decided to name him after the dog we originally went to see. Here he is on the day we brought him home.

He was a tiny little furball. He was so adorable, actually I think he still is.

Big hunter, Jake, it didn't matter that he could barely see over the grass in the yard. As he got older he unfortunately picked up the habit of chasing cars. He would try even if he was on a leash, which he was whenever he went out until we finally got part of the yard fenced in. Now when it's nice out, he'll go and find a comfortable area on top of the storm cellar to lay and keep an eye on things. He also loves going for walks and sniffing at things on the side of the road, seeing what he can flush out.

After a hard day of playing.

It's hard to think of him as being 12 years old now. On the day we brought him home from that shelter he became my "Mama's boy" and still is to this day. If no one else is around, I know that I can count on Jake to be at my side or waiting for me.

So this is my birthday wish for my sweet Jake, that he always knows that he's loved, even when he's being scolded for barking too much. That he knows that he's appreciated for his role as the head protector and that I hope he never has to prove what a good one he is. Also, I hope that the rest of his days are filled with happiness whether it's just taking a snooze, taking a nice walk up or down the road or barking to his heart's content when he's outside.

Happy Birthday Jake. I love you, pup.

Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night...

Okay, they don't sing in the dead of night, at least the kind we have around here don't. At least I don't think they do. But they are the one sure sign that spring is definitely on its way, next to robins that is. Speaking of which, I saw my first one of the year of those this morning.

Anyway, back to the blackbirds. We have around here what is called the red wing blackbird. Their whole wing isn't red but they have a stripe of red and another of yellow on their wings. Their song, like the cardinal's is easily recognized by anyone who knows it. Here is a picture of one found on the Eastern Washington website.

Sometimes you hear it before you see it, as is the case with me. But as soon as you hear it, you can't help but think that spring isn't far behind. That and the fact that we put our clocks forward by one hour next weekend.

Apparently red wing blackbirds are abundant in the northern USA but I don't ever recall seeing one until we moved here to Iowa. I could be wrong though. We did live in Washington state for a year and I might have seen one there too. I don't ever recall seeing one in Pennsylvania when I lived there though, that I'm sure of.

Since theirs is the song we hear the most around here, I tend to grow tired of it by the time summer rolls around, but it also makes me feel good when I hear it for the first time in the year, especially if we happen to have snow on the ground, which we did again this year, but not much. 

I still love hearing cardinals more though. They still are after eagles, my favorite bird.

I've Found Something Else to Collect

Socks.

Yep, you read right, socks. Not just any socks though, but crazy socks with crazy designs or stripes. I buy them from Walmart as well as on the web. I bought some on eBay awhile back called True Religion that are striped and very warm without being super heavy. The stripes aren't too far out there, but that was just the beginning.

I bought socks for Valentine's Day that have Snoopy on them. One pair is black with red accents and the other are red with black accents. I also had another pair that I didn't realize I had that had different shades of pink hearts on them. I also have a pair of striped ones with teddy bears on them. Those came with other ones I bought awhile back, probably the pink heart ones. I started collecting them without even realizing it.

I bought socks for St. Patrick's Day, I know, I'm not Irish, but you have to get with the fun of the holiday. Anyway, those ones are also from Walmart and have a really funky green and orange design on them. I also have others with snowflakes on them and argyle ones. And I just ordered some really cool ones from a place on line called Fab.com. Some of their stuff is pretty expensive, like their furniture, but others, you can find at a reasonable price.

What started me on this wild adventure? Every winter I end up wearing dark clothes because my main winter wardrobe is sweats, not only sweats, but men's sweats because I find them more comfortable and they aren't prone to as much shrinkage as women's sweats are and don't have the flared legs that women's do. The petites also don't end up too short after one wash, which is saying a lot considering I'm only 5'1." But the men's come in darker colors. Even the red is dark, so to lighten them up some and to add some color, I started buying bright colored or wacky socks. Here are some examples.

From my left to right are a pair of the Snoopy ones, a really bright striped ones, rainbow ones which came in the same package as the striped ones next to them; a pair that says,"It's all about me, deal with it." in light blue came with the other two pair. Those ones are in the wash, which if you look in the background, you'll see the baskets for. Last but not least are the St. Patrick Day ones. Aren't they cool?

Below are the True Religion ones. As you can see, I'm wearing a pair of them. They're also not as wild as the others. 

The argyles aren't as colorful, so that's why I didn't take a picture of those. The same with the snowflake ones, but the red pair of those are pretty bright. Those were bought in Pittsburgh, the red ones I mean. The other are black and gray, I know, dullsville, but they're still kind of fun.

These are the ones with the teddy bears. Notice they say, "Too perfect," which describes me to a tee. :)

Above are the ones I ordered yesterday from Fab.com. Pretty cool, huh? No more dull socks for this girl. Not if I can help it anyway. I know, it's like I'm back in my second, maybe third childhood, but it makes for doing something fun for myself. Oh yea, I also collect Mickey Mouse watches. My nickname is after all, Mickey.