Just me and the terriers

  There are three generations of Boston Terrier living with us.  And this week it has been just them and me during the days.  There is Xena, the matriarch.  Matilda, her daughter, who puts you in mind of a frightened baby seal.  And there is Blackie, the grandchild, whom Bug so named because of her totally black front legs and paws. 

Xena, Warrior Princess.  Pete named her after the TV show.  And it fits.  There is nothing she won't heard or sic or put up.  She'll go at a hog.  She defends Pete's truck from the chickens.  Her one weakness is thunder.  It makes a puppy out of her again, needing a lap and love.  Xena at one time could ride Emmy the horse and accompanied Pete along on a few rides via saddle bag.  Xena should have been dead three years ago.  From congestive heart failure.  But her desire to live and enjoy life has mystified and amazed her vet.  She saved a liter of grandchildren when Matilda didn't know what to do.  She went in and cleaned each one and chewed the cord as Matilda gave birth.  Then, as she was just beginning to wean her own liter, she lay down and gave them their first meal.  By then, Matilda was starting to come around and Xena faded into the background and let her take over.  I swear Xena understands English.  You can talk to her in sentences, with a normal tone and she'll react and respond appropriately.

Matilda went to live with another couple after her birth.  But she got in trouble with the neighbors.  Seems she was running with the wrong crowd.  So "Matilda finally come back home".  (Those of you who know Swamp Gold should enjoy that bit of humor.) She was a "dead head".  Or so it seemed.  That's what they call the ones that don't exhibit the usual Boston exuberance.  Good for nothing more than a cuddle.  She was very hard to potty train.  Once when Pete was trying to carry her out after a mess she made, she wriggled and squirmed in his arms on the top step and half fell, half jumped out of his arms and landed directly on her head.  She lay on a towel on the couch for a week.  Doing nothing for herself.  Graduallyshe begin to try to move.  I did a little homespun physical therapy with her several times each day.  Now she runs and plays and even gets into trouble with neighbors again! 

Blackie is fiercely protective of our home.  The first to bark.  The one who might actually bite a stranger.  She stays with her granny when they are both outside and becomes more and more like her every day.  Pete calls her "Bear dog."  She's Bugs and she knows it.  She'll sit and wait at the gate when I go to pick the kids up from the bus.  She's over a year old now, but still likes to chew up anything she can find.  Can't trust her in the house alone.  Can't trust her mom, Matilda, outside alone.

I spend a good deal of my day filling food bowls, water bowls, petting, spraying, opening doors for this brood.  Yesterday we had an afternoon of thunder and they were all underfoot every step of my way.

There is a neat site called Little Beasties about some Boston Terriers.  Bergamot looks a lot like Matilda.  And Emrys looks more like Xena.  Take a good long look at Bergamot.  Then play the Can You Find Bergamot game.  I got to tell you, I won!!!!!   On the first try.  But then I've seen a lot of Little Beasties in my time. 

Spriing Break is Over

Spring break is almost over!  Tomorrow the kids go back to school!  Does my joy make me a bad mother?  Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed a lot of the time here with them, but now I want my days for myself.  Without "Mama will you?"  "Mama I need.." "Mama I want."  To go to a store by myself.  Bug went and spent Friday with her Aunt Edna....my sister.  I want to go spend a day with my sister!  On behalf of myself and all other "bad" moms, I share this little joke from my Arcamax email.

 

 

Grocery shopping

A man noticed a woman in the grocery store with a 3-year-old girl in her cart. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for cookies and her mother told her no. The little girl immediately began to have a conniption, and the mother said quietly, "Now Missy, we just have half of the aisles left to go through - don't be upset. It won't be long."

In the candy aisle, the little girl began to shout for treats. When mom said she couldn't have any, she began to kick her mother and scream. The mother said softly, "There, there, Missy, don't cry - only two more aisles to go and then we'll be checking out."

When they got to the checkout stand, the little brat immediately began to reach for the gum and freaked out when her mom said she couldn't have any. The mother patiently said, "Missy, we'll be through this checkout stand in five minutes and then you can go home and have a bottle and a nice snooze."

The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. "I couldn't help noticing how patient you were with little Missy," he said.

The mother sighed and replied, "Oh, no, my little girl's name is Francine - I'm Missy."

Drum Roll Please,.........

And now for the results of my little quiz!  Seems the overwhelming opinion was that the link to ChristianAnswers.Net was new.  But that answer is incorrect.  Notice I asked what "one" thing changed "today".    Getting the idea?!

 

On Sunday, March 12, 2006

                                                                                             

Pete and I celebrated our wedding anniversary.  The one thing that changed was the number of years I've been married.  From 21 to 22. 

Thanks for being good sports!  I had tried to use Ds beautiful graphic above to give ya'll a hint.....but I'm new to a lot of this and it wouldn't display correctly.  Hope I got it right today.

See more @ DsDesigns.

Something Has Changed

                                                                                           One thing has changed in my sidebar under "All About Me" today.  Can

you guess what that is?

Ya'll keep a guessing!  I'll post the answer in a day or two.  ;o)   -  Barbara

 

 

 

 

 

Home Again, Home Again...

....jiggitty-jog.  Went to market to buy a hog.

Well, that's what Daddy always said every time we ever turned into the driveway.

I'm home again from working!  My last day was Friday.  But so far about all I have done is to tend to a sick little Bug.  She has bronchitis.  :(  

Since Pete's back to building custom cabinets.  Wonder if I could get him to set me up with one of these?

                                           

I want to get back to writing in the vein of my description at the top of my journal.  Hopefully posting two to three times a week.  And to that end, let me share with you how Bubba proved he is my son yesterday.

He has auto shop every day of the week.  On Maroon days he leaves shop out the back door and goes to history class.  On white days he leaves the shop and goes straight to the cafeteria for lunch.

Yesterday, he was walking along talking to a fellow about systems as they were leaving the shop.  They walked into the cafeteria together.  Bubba looked for his buddies, but saw only one.  Asked if anyone had seen Jeff since that morning, but no one had.  So he got in line and got his food.  Set down and started to eat.  Noticed a particularly pretty girl at another table.  Got to thinking how he didn't remember seeing her in his lunch before.  Then the light bulb in his head went off and a hundred little things suddenly added up....this was his day to be in history!  He was supposed to be in class!  He went to the office and confessed his error.  While confession may be good for the soul, it still gets you two days of afterschool for truancy!

Yep, that's my boy!! I'm the lady that has cleared her desk off, grabbed her purse and headed for the company parking lot.  Only after seeing no other people there and all the other cars still present did I realize I had looked at my watch wrong and was an hour early.

I'm the lady that is driving along organizing all my errands in my head that I need to run while I'm in town, only to suddenly look around and realize I have driven all the way through our little town.

I'm the woman that has placed my hubbies clean, folded underwear lovingly in the freezer compartment of the Kenmore.

I'm the lady that walks into rooms to wonder "why did I get up and come in here?"

The list goes on and on.  That's why Pete's pet name for me is "Goofy".  That's why my kids call lapses in memory a "Mama moment." 

It runs in the family.  On Mama's side.

  Barbara

 

In the Hand of God

    So, Here I am.........finally.  Hoping to bring you news, a chuckle and a little inspiration today.  I am almost finished with my full-time, part-time job.  Told them I was dragging up and coming to the house.  Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed working.  I like the company, the people, the things I have done there....even the drive to and from.  (It gave me time to be by myself, listen to my Motown or Gospel.)  But I realize that they needed me more than I could be available and still take care of things for the home and family.  I'm looking forward to getting my home organized after the chaos it has been in ever since Rita blew through. 

And I realized that it is important to spend this little time before Bubba steps into manhood with him.  To be there to soak up every precious memory of Bugs fleeting childhood.  And that my contrary old man actually needs and wants me!  Even if it is only to share a cup of coffee and a little small talk in the evenings. 

It's nice to know that my employers aren't holding it against me.  They are actually leaving the door open for me to go back from time to time for a specific need or short term project.  So, that's nice!

Hubby is back to building custom cabinetry, after a detour through the oilfield, illness and unemployment.  Bubba has his first bona fide job at a local feedstore after school.  Bug....is up to mischief and also next weeks Star Student at school!?  Go figure.  (Her mischief was an un escorted trip through the woods & down the pipeline and a mural she did in crayon on the back of her bedroom door!  No cartoons this week.  No going out, except for chores.) 

My mail today, had a couple of things that seemed to tie together in my mind.  The first is a little joke and the second a devotion from Godswork Ministry.  I hope that together they lighten your day and brighten your way.

First, the humor:

 

A man was praying to God.

 

He said, "God!?"

God responded, "Yes?"

And the guy said, "Can I ask a question?"

 

"Go right ahead," God said.

 

"God, what is a million years to you?"

 

God said, "a million years to me is only a second."

 

"Hmmm," the man wondered. Then he asked, "God, what is a million dollars worth to you?"

God said, "a million dollars to me is as a penny."

 

So the man said, "God. Can I have a penny?"

 

And God cheerfully said, "Sure!!.....just a second."

 

 

And now the devotion:

 

 

IN THE HAND OF GOD

There is a beautiful story about a child playing with a vase his mother
had left on the table for a few moments. When the mother turned at the
sound of her son crying she saw that his hand was in the vase and was
apparently stuck. She tried to help him and pulled and pulled until the
child cried out in pain. But the hand was stuck fast. How would they get
it out? The father suggested breaking the vase but it was quite valuable
and the child's hand might be cut in the process. Yet he knew that if all
else failed there would be no other alternative.

 

So he said to the boy, "Now, let's make one more try. Open your hand and
stretch your fingers out straight, like I'm doing, and then pull!" "But
Dad," said the boy, "if I do that I'll lose my penny!"

 

The boy had had a coin in his hand all the time and was holding it
securely in his tight little fist. And he wasn't prepared to open his hand
and lose the penny. But once he opened his hand it came out of the vase easily.

What are you holding onto so tightly as to hinder your walk with Jesus?

 

That vase can be likened to the entrance to the Kingdom of God. It is
narrowyet quite easy to pass in, but first you must “open” your hand to
God and allow earthly things to fall. If we keep our fists closed and hold
fast to what we have and keep it for ourselves, we will be unable to take
hold of the “Hand of God”!

We arrived with nothing and will depart the same way.

 

Jesus told the parable of the rich man found in Luke 12:16-21 who wanted
to build bigger barns to store his grain and goods. But God said to him,
'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who
will get what you have prepared for yourself?' We need to be on guard, or
the things we own will begin to own us. It is our own clenched fist that
makes us a prisoner.

 

Open your hand to the hand of God and you will see great things take place.

Author Unknown

Would Your Pastor Look For You?!

Shipwrecked       The second man was propped up against a palm tree and acting so calmly it drove the first man crazy. "Don't you understand?!? We're going to die!!"  

The second man replied, "You don't understand, I make $100,000 a week."  

The first man looked at him quite dumbfounded and asked, "What difference does that make?!? We're on an island with no food and no water! We're going to DIE!!!"

The second man answered, "You just don't get it. I make $100,000 a week and I tithe ten percent on that $100,000 a week..............My pastor will find me!"