Wordless Wednesday

what a great day for smokin weed

and leaves too, of course! Well, probably mostly leaves but definitely some weeds.

I found out today we have the poisonous weed/bush "Pokeweed" thriving all over our yard. Pretty but unwanted.

just random stuff

I have made it a point to carry the camera with every time we go out now because of some photo opportunities missed early on. While downloading everything off the camera I was reminded of some I wanted to share...

The first is of a couple I watched from my car in the Lowe's parking lot. I guess it would have been more neighborly of me to point out their error (in just stacking all that wood without tying it down to anything and just leaving the gate open) but I figured they wouldn't get very far without learning on their own.

We have a large family and because of that when we were looking at houses we didn't consider anything less than 4 bedrooms. We didn't find too many houses that were affordable because of this. But who knew this was an option?!

This next one I wasn't sure how to post but I'll try to be sensitive.

We all had crushes on superstars when we were younger. For me and most of my friends it was Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital (none other than Rick Springfield). I believe 9 out of 10 of my "boy" friends had it bad for Farrah (that oh so famous poster). Princess Leia was a close second. As an adult those crushes pass...usually.

For Stan, Morgan Fairchild has stood the test of time. I gotta be honest, I tried to find some pictures of her looking her age (almost 60) but was unable to. I did find out that the reason for that is because she has implants and admits to keeping phone numbers of the best plastic surgeons for when she needs "help". She also stated that she undergoes a lot of laser & botox treatments. I felt a little better for knowing those things. Stan won't admit he still has his crush but I know better and that means every time we drive past this sign I get to remind him of that!

Oh, and the next time your VCR (if you still have one of those) is making a rrrrrrruring sound, check to see if maybe Batgirl is the problem. I was not previously given that advice so it took me a day to look inside!

sad news to share

We got our dog, Lily, from a shelter last August. After several visits to the shelter we had plans to go forward with getting a pitbull. We were told we could not even take her for a walk until our application was approved. So we filled out the form. The woman in charge told us background checks are done by a friend and they sometimes take 2-3 weeks to get back. Well, we really liked Iris so we figured it was worth the wait. After several visits, Iris started to recognize us and when she would see us coming to her cage she would get really excited. Our daughter had just turned one and Iris was so gentle - even when she would stick her hand in her mouth! Iris was the exact opposite of what people believe of these dogs. Weeks went by and no news on the application. I started to wonder if the shelter ever approved anyone's request for a pitbull. There were a ton of them there.

We decided to look around at other dogs there. We had liked a few but a couple were pitbulls and some were older than I wanted to consider. The woman (who was clearly not going to approve a pitbull adoption) suggested we consider a German Shepherd mix who was brought in by a family with kids. We were very attached to Iris and it was not easy to consider but that changed after we took her out for a walk. She was very mild mannered and was easy to walk. She wasn't rough with the kids. Weighing in at about 60 lbs she was the perfect size dog for us.

Lily came home with us that afternoon.

She has been a terrific dog. She was easy to train. She is gentle with the kids no matter how rough they play. You can take the food out of her mouth while she is eating. Things she didn't already know she picked up very easily. She is a very loving dog.

In the last week she has quit eating which has caused her to suffer extreme weight loss and she has very labored breathing. The vet said it could be caused by an infection or it could be cancer. Today we found out she has lymphoma. All of her lymph nodes are swollen, very badly. It has been aggressive and grown rapidly. Our options are to send her to U of I for chemo & radiation and after spending upwards of $7000. it is still very possible within one year's time she would die anyway or we can put her to sleep or we can bring her home and wait for her to die a natural death. Well, we cannot afford chemo for her. It's not that we have it and are choosing not to spend it, we don't have that kind of money. Bringing her home and having her slowly dying isn't very humane to me. She is not getting enough air in and she can't eat. It would be extremely selfish to have her continue this way until her body quits.

I brought her back home today so everyone could say their good-byes. I have an appointment to bring her back to the vet tonight at 7. It is not going to be an easy drive there or back. We will miss her terribly.

2008 spring fashions

I had picked up mail from the PO box and got into line to send a package. While waiting in line I figured I would go through my mail since 80% of it is junk and there is NO reason to bring junk into our house at this time! In walks crazy. She stands next to me in line but I think nothing of it. I went to grammar school with a girl who hated to stand behind someone so I figure this woman has a similar mental issue. So when the postal worker states she can help who is next, crazy walks up there. Well, my tolerance for ignorance is gone, if I ever had any to begin, so I too walk up. I put my day planner on the counter and my package in front of that. I (maybe not so) politely say "Excuse me lady, I am next in line". With an angry, flustered, crazy voice she tells me that I was checking my mail and I had no business doing that so she is next. The postal worker rightfully feared I would turn on her if she took care of crazy first so she put my package on the scale. This enraged crazy but as she is not a rational person her response to this is:

"You're not even wearing socks! Real classy Lady!"

As usual, the post office was busy so now everyone does two things

1 - Looks at my sock less feet. Yep, no socks - but I was wearing shoes! My favorite pair of black Mary Janes as a matter of fact.

2 - Waits for what would be escalating to a cat fight if I were still 20. I am not though so although I wanted very badly to knock crazy down to the ground in the hopes that it would make it so she doesn't think she can get away with atrocious behavior (at least for the rest of the day) I instead laughed at her and concurred that she is of course superior to me.

Maybe one day someone will present me with clothes. Maybe, just maybe, I will be so lucky as to have Harry Potter present me with a sock!

HD CEO given $8.28 million in 2007

For shits & grins I like to look at HD, Lowe's, Menard's or any home improvement ads. I like to dream about the things we won't be purchasing for a very long time, if ever. I love the outdoor stuff that goes on sale in the spring - gardening tools, patio furniture, fire pits, even tool sheds catch my eye. Well we happened to be at HD last week. We usually stay away from this store because they very rarely have what we need and even less frequently have employees that are helpful. Buuuuut, we did break down one day because it was 40 miles closer than Menards. (They didn't have what we needed.) Funny thing though, this was their outdoor display.

Now I understand that at the end of the season these barns may look a little weathered having been in the rain and under the hot sun, but at the beginning of the season this is just ridiculous!

I was curious to see if HD's profits have dropped so considerably that they are cutting back but this article on Frank Blake states otherwise!

what a perfect day

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. By 7 AM it was climbing past 60° and when we enjoyed our dinner outside at 8 PM it was still very comfortable out. We weren't the only ones who welcomed the sunny 75° day...

I was slightly concerned with the one at the back of this photo

We almost drove right over this guy

We couldn't get him to come out of his shell

Turkey vultures were EVERYWHERE
and to give you a better idea of the size of a turkey vulture



A stray cat, who would think