Hokey Pokey and Things

The big news from the weekend is that Georgia learned to do the Hokey Pokey! (I know our lives are SO exciting, it's unbearable.) She's very cute, she sits and puts her right paw in and then her left paw in, and when it's time to "do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around" she does a funny little wiggle dance and spins around. That's all she knows right now, but I think Dave is trying to figure out what else he can teach her that will work in the Hokey Pokey. It's quite funny.

She also got to visit with Morgan and Zander (my little cousins) again on Saturday. She loves them because they usually have food stuffs. While Zander was in the high chair having his dinner, she kept her nose on the tray trying to figure out what he was eating. He loved it because he could pet her without being licked in the face. She seems amazed by him. He was crawling on the floor and she was following right behind him, poking him in the butt. It was really funny. She will get to meet some more little cousins this week, two boys who are 4 and 2 (I think). My cousin is coming to visit from Tampa, and the little ones are his boys. I hope they like dogs, because she loves kids.

There are house guests at our next door neighbor’s house, and one of them is a Boxer. He and Georgia have been socializing through the fence, and the new game is to run the fence line until they both drop from heat exhaustion. It kept her busy this weekend. The cats do not appreciate the Boxer, whose name is Tupac (as in Shakur, the dead rapper). He came to visit the kitties while they were playing in the carport, and they did not like him at all. Apparently he chased them. Later I heard him bark while the cats were outside, so I went out to check on them. My fearless, witch kitten was perched precariously on his fence – puffed up and hissing – while he barked from below. I made her get down. It’s one thing if he comes to their house and bothers them, but she can’t be teasing him from the fence. That’s just rude (and possible dangerous, though I’m told he wont’ hurt them). Anyway, Tupac loves Georgia, but doesn’t like me and Dave. He barks his fool head off whenever we come near the fence.

Okay, people news…. We FINALLY closed on our house Friday morning. Thank goodness!! I was starting to doubt that it was going to happen. We helped Brody and Brandy move out of their house Saturday, and that was about it for the weekend. We watched Glory Road Saturday night, and it was a great movie. It’s Disney’s version of the first black, college basketball team to win the national championship. Good movie. I think that’s about all for now. Later.

Oh, I almost forgot to vent about our HUGE power bill from the Gardendale house that we haven't live in since March!! We got the bill for last month and it was $140!!! I know that's not too bad for summer time - but that's the biggest summer time power bill we've ever had from that house and WE WEREN'T EVEN LIVING THERE!!! Apparently someone left the air on like 65 degrees while showing the house and it ran forever. Can I tell you how mad that makes me?? How rude and inconsiderate!!!

Okay, now I'm done. :)

I've Been a Real Slacker

Actually, I've been crazybusy with work and home, so I haven't updated this thing in almost a month. Here goes....

We've sold our house and we close at the end of this week. Yay!!! We went to Gardendale last Saturday to get the rest of our stuff out, and of course it rained. Whatever. It hasn't rained in so long that we didn't even consider the possibility, so it rained on the way up there in the truck (with the window that doesn't roll up) and on the way back when the truck was full of stuff. Whatever. Anyway, we took Georgia with us. That was the first time she's been back to the Gardendale house since we moved. She ran all over the place, all through the house, basement and yard, smelling everything. She had not seen the new carpet either, so she checked that out, too. It was cute, and really good to see her running across that great big yard one last time. I have to say it was a little sad, knowing that was the last time I would see the place while it was still mine. It's a great house and a great yard. Sigh.... Well, it'll also be great money in the bank, so I'll get over it. But, I'll always love it. I got MARRIED there and we started our life there. It's a great place.

In other news:
I got bit on the butt by a Brown Recluse spider. Yes, you read that correctly. :) It was living in the dress I put on for church Sunday morning. When I bent down to pick up my shoes, I trapped it in my dress and it bit me. Soooo, I killed it and saved it in a plastic bag for confirmation that it was in fact a Brown Recluse. It was. By the time I got to the doctor after church, I was already running a fever. She prescribed some antibiotics, and I feel better now. The bite appears to be fine; it hasn't swelled up or anything weird like they are supposed to do. Hopefully it won't since I got the antibiotics so quickly. That's that.

Vacation Bible School started last night, and it wore me out! I was supposed to be helping a crew leader keep up with her crew, but it seems that I may have become the crew leader myself. We have 5 kids in our crew, 2 boys and 3 girls. The boys are WILD! In the ten or so years since my brothers were thier ages, I had forgotten how wild boys can be. Why can't little boys sit next to each other without touching? HMM??? Anyway, it really was a lot of fun, and that's good because I'll be there every night this week. :) Viva VBS!

Dave and Rob took Oscar to the Shelby County Humane Society because he got too big and played too rough to keep him with Georgia. At approximately 8 months, he already outweighed her, and she had stopped wanting to play in her yard. The way I see it, the yard was hers first so I had to let him go. He's listed for adoption a www.shelbyhumane.org. I think he'll find a home because he's a sweet beast and he's healthy; I just couldn't risk him hurting Georgia. It was very sad. :(

The tomato harvest is coming along nicely. We've had a ton of tomatoes and I've been able to pick some ripe ones nearly every day. They taste great, too!

OH! Dave particpated in his first trial, sat second chair with another lawyer, and they won! They actually won really big, so he started liking his job last week. :) He really likes being in the courtroom, so he had a great couple of days at work. He has another trial coming up next week, and we're hoping he'll be even more involved.

I think that's all for now. Later..

Crazy Things That Happen

Early Monday morning, around 2 a.m., I could hear dogs barking outside. At first it didn't really register, but then Georgia started barking and running around the bed to poke at me. I decided to go out and check on the cats, because I had left Squirt and Jewel out for the night and the barking dogs were in our front yard or driveway. When I turned on the light, the dog ran off and I called Squirt and Jewel inside. It didn't take much convincing, because they were ready to come in. I didn't know if the dogs had been barking at them, but they both seemed to be fine - aside from being scared. I was amazed at Georgia for being persistent enough to wake me up and make sure I went to check on her kitties.

This evening, I got some very sad news that Cody Cat, the neighbor kitty, didn't make it that night. Apparently the dogs got him. I don't know if it happened before I went out, or if that's what they were doing when I went out because I never saw him. It's entirely possible that he put himself between Jewel and a dog, because they were buds and I've seen him rescue her from a cat fight once before. It makes me very sad, and scared for my kitties. They will not be able to be indoor/outdoor cats for a while, because I just can't take the chance of losing them like that. I don't see a point in purposely exposing them to what has now become a real threat. Those dogs have been terrorizing the neighborhood for a while (I feel like it's the same dogs that killed Smokey), and they will be back at our house. Because there are more cats there that aren't dead yet, they will come back. It makes me sick. They aren't going to understand why they can't go out to play.

On a brighter note, we have a contract on our house now. If everything goes well, we should close on the 21st of July!! This is great news and an answered prayer. I am seeing many prayers answered lately. Prayer is a POWERFUL thing. Don't underestimate it.

Anyway, I'm in Des Moines for the week, and I have to get back to work now. Later.

We Need Rain!!

I'm tired of all the dirt in my house! I have this theory that if it wasn't so dusty, there wouldn't be nearly as much dirt tracked inside after pool time. Maybe I'm wrong, but right now the yard is a big dust pit - mix it with a wet dog and you get dirt in the house. I could get rid of the pool, but I have a feeling that two dogs would find that unacceptable. Or I could try to convince some more grass to grow in the bald spots, but that would require RAIN. I can handle a few muddy paw prints, but right now she comes in covered in dirt because it sticks to her wet fur. Whatever, we've settled on putting down pine chips in the worst area and Georgia now has a sponge bath every night when she comes inside. She actually seems to really like that part, so I guess we are okay there. Oh, and she's MUCH dirtier than Oscar. It's as if her number one goal every day is to get as dirty as possible. And now that we have two dogs and the backyard is non-stop doggy fun, she's always dirty. :)

Oscar is doing great; his sore is almost healed and I hope to put a collar on him by the end of the week. I really want to get him out on the leash so he can have a change of scenery, and of course so he can learn to walk nicely. Plus, leashing him will make training two dogs at once MUCH easier. Training a puppy with an attention span of a gnat can be quite frustrating - add in a big brown dog to distract him at every second, and you want to pull your hair out. Somehow, though, he's learned quite a lot. He's very good at SIT, and sits now to be petted without being told. I'm so proud of him. :) He's breaking my heart though because he wants to come in the house with Georgia so bad; he tries to follow her inside every time now. :( I'll admit that I've already fallen for him; and I'd keep him if he could be an indoor/outdoor dog with Georgia. I may end up keeping him anyway if we can't find him a home, so I guess I need to harden my heart.

I've rambled long enough. Later.

It's Official

Oscar is officially up for adoption with the Friends of Cats and Dogs Foundation. To see his ad, click the following link, type 1625 into the ad number field, and click Submit. http://www.fcdf.org/fcdfflyer.php3

We found out from the vet that he is healthy except for his neck wound. He is not neutered yet, but we already have an appointment to take care of that. He got his first round of puppy shots and rabies vaccination and some antibiotics for his neck. His neck is looking great, too. I can't believe how fast it's healing!

Also, the aggression issues seem to have subsided. Georgia stuck her head in his food bowl during breakfast this morning, and he gave no reaction. No growling or anything. Yay!! I'm so proud of him. He has also learned to sit, and the stinky smell is gone! We've had lots of small victories over the past few days. He's doing great, he and Georgia play so well together, and he's a real sweetheart. I'm excited about finding him a good home, because I think he's going to be a great dog. If you know anyone who is looking for a large dog, please direct them to his ad, or to me. If we can find a home for this one, we'll have a vacancy for the next dog Rob brings home from the logging road. ;)

Meet Oscar

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This is Oscar, so named because Rob found him in a trash pile. Of course he brought him to me, because he knew I couldn't turn him away. We are pretty sure he's a lab/shepherd mix. He's about 6 months old, the best I can tell, and has been mistreated. He apparently had been wearing some sort of chain or wire around his neck and broke out of it. The underside of his neck is a nasty, raw, open sore; the rest of his neck has scabs on it. He seems fairly healthy, other than that. He's going to the vet today for a thorough checkup and treatment for his neck. He's also a little skittish around men, which makes me think he was probably abused.

I think I'm still in shock at having another dog at my house. He was only going to stay Saturday night until my brother could take him to the humane society Sunday, but Dave couldn't handle the thought of that. So, he made a deal: Oscar can stay outside in our backyard as long as Rob pays half of everything. That's what we are working on right now. I'm still going to try to find him a home where he can be an inside/outside/only dog, though. We just don't have the space for him and another large kennel in our house right now. He gets along pretty well with Georgia, though he's a little territorial over food and space. We are already working to correct that, but it's difficult since he can't wear a collar right now. To top it off, Georgia is such a submissive dog, she's a little intimidated by him when they aren't playing because he jumped on her when she sniffed the spot he's been using as a bed on our portch. We are working with her too, so she won't be scared to walk across the porch to come inside. Other than that, they play very well together.

He's smart, and has basically learned not to jump up (with a few reminders) and he learned how to retrieve yesterday. He's so sweet and starved for love and attention. I will do the best I can to provide that, and hopefully I can find him a good home. Wish us luck.

I Thought I Should Check In

Life moves so fast! We stay busy and the days just fly by. Gypsy was spayed on Monday, and this morning she finally made an appearance. She's been hiding under the guest room bed for three days. Not that I blame her, but I was glad to see her out and about this morning. She was also working on removing those stitches herself. It looks like she's got one of them partially untied already. The incision looks good though, so I am not going to worry about it. Crazy cat. As tiny as she was before, now her sides are caved in and she looks like she's starving. I'm sure she'll fill out in no time, but it's a little freaky when they look so skinny.

What else? Dave's job is going better. He's learning a lot and each day he seems to have a better day. I'm so thankful for that because it was kinda rough in the beginning. It's really hard to go from knowing nearly everything you need to know, to knowing virtually nothing. He catches on quick though, so he's doing well.

My job has picked up some. I got another project, so I'll be travelling to Des Moines again at the end of this month. I'll be there for a full week this time. I'm really looking forward to seeing Des Moines in the summer. I thought it was a nice city even when it was 9 degrees outside during the day (I'm so Southern), so I can't wait to see it with leaves and flowers. The drawback: my Monday morning flight leaves at 6:50 IN THE FREAKING MORNING!! Rest assured I'll be sleeping on that one. :)

Georgia destroyed Dave's glasses last night. :) I think it's quite funny because 1: they were the old ones he uses as spare and 2: he's left them on the end table at eye level for three days. I knew it was going to happen, and I couldn't help but be amused. I know I should have moved them for him, but I'm not his mom. :) He thought it was amusing too, so don't worry. He knew he shouldn't have left them there.

I harvested the first red tomato the other day. It's a little one, but it was ready for picking. We've got a ton of tomatoes on the plants, but they aren't ready to pick yet. Most of them are going to be decent-sized, too, I think.

The church hunt is going well. We feel like we might know where God wants us, but will continue to visit and pray for a while longer. Our house has not sold yet; in fact, we've not had an offer. I think we are going to lower the asking price a little. Dave is ready to get it sold, and so am I really, just so we don't have to worry about it anymore. Hopefully it will happen soon, like by the end of the summer since I have to start re-paying my student loans next month. (Yikes!!)

I think that's enough for now. I'm starting to ramble. :)

Lots of Things to Share

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In random order... Dave was the Salutatorian of his class, so he had to give a speech at graduation. The picture isn't great because the lighting in there was BAAAAD - at least for my little camera. :) We wrote the speech on the way home from Auburn Saturday night. I say we, because he spoke and I wrote notes in the dark. :) It was a great speech, and he did a great job with the delivery.

I have no pictures of him accepting his diploma because it happened too quickly. Sorry.











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This is Dave and his friend Ric, after the ceremony.












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This picture was taken before the wedding Saturday evening. I insisted on it because we had not had our picture made together since our wedding. Plus, I love the dress and he looks so handsome all dressed up. He didn't like the tie very much, but it was coordinated to match my dress. ;)







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The is the back of his gown with the fun hood attached. Purple is the color for law degrees, yellow and black are the school's colors, and the tam and style of robe denote a doctoral degree. That's right, he's a doctor now. :)

















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This is the picture I made him pose for with the plaque he received from the banquet Friday night.

To recap, we went to the annual awards banquet at The Club Friday evening. He found out then that he was the Salutatorian and received a plaque for that honor. He also found out he would have to give a speech at graduation on Sunday. Despite the time crunch, he was excited about it. Thank goodness, I would have been a wreck. :)

Saturday, we took Georgia swimming at the park because we all needed some exercise. We left Saturday afternoon for Auburn to attend a wedding. Dave's college roomate got married, and they had a great ceremony and party afterward. I wish we had been able to stay the night, but we had a speech to write and a graduation to attend. On the way home, he wrote his speech.

Sunday morning, we went to graduation, and everyone loved the speech. Then we had lunch afterward with the families, and dinner at Daddy's Sunday evening. Then we crashed. I'm still tired. Mondays suck. :)

I Forgot the Camera

That's right, I forgot it. I reminded myself a dozen times last night and this morning to put the camera in my bag, I just never made it to the camera to put it in my bag with that thought in my head. :) Sorry, no pictures of the banquet tonight. Hopefully I will remember it for the rest of the things we have to do this weekend. Oh well, if Dave gets any awards tonight, I'll make him pose with them later for pictures. He will LOVE it. :)

He got his cap and gown yesterday for graduation. I truly believe that the final test in receiving your doctorate degree is figuring out how to wear the little cape thingie that comes with the gown. It looks really neat, but we don't know how to work it. :) I think that's why the graduates have to be at graduation 3 hours early - so they can dress them all. :) I will definitely post pictures of him in that, because he's going to look so cool - if you've ever been to a college graduation, you know what kind I'm talking about. His ensemble will be similar to what the professors on the stage wear, though the colors are different to indicate his law degree. I might have to get my PhD one day so I can wear a fun cap and gown.

Things that Make You Say "GRRRR!"

Brought to you by the letter "G". :)

This morning, I had an epiphany. I often wonder, while wasting away in traffic, what makes morning rush hour so much slower than evening rush hour (excluding those afternoons when wrecks make the interstate an obstacle course)? As I was racing along at 10 miles an hour, I observed the woman behind me shaking a bottle that looked suspiciously like liquid foundation. I knew she was not about to put her face on while driving up the interstate with her kid in the car! But she did, only I didn't get to watch the whole process because as we started to move from a dead stop to 15 miles an hour, I left her in my dust. Apparently, it's difficult to maintain a steady speed and apply foundation at the same time. One has more success when one comes to a complete stop first. :) I only wish that the people BEHIND her could see what she was doing. My epiphany? Women putting on makeup seriously hold up traffic. If you don't have time to do that before you leave your house, GET UP EARLIER!!!! Men, don't get too excited, because I don't know how many times I've seen men driving and READING, or SHAVING - seriously, can you see past that opened newspaper in your windsheild!?!? So, if you are one of those drivers that acts "idiot" during rush hour traffic, please, stay away from me.

Another thing..

Why would you make a tube of lip gloss with an applicator that does not reach the bottom? Hmm? I can see that there is plenty of lip gloss in there, but I CAN'T REACH IT!!

I had some more saved up, but I'm starting to sound grumpy. :) Seriously, we've been so blessed. Please continue to pray for our friend, and for Dave in his new job. Hopefully I will have some fun pictures to post after this weekend. We have a banquet, a wedding, and graduation this weekend,then, the swearing-in Wednesday in front of the Alabama Supreme Court. I should have some good pictures - provided I don't forget the camera, like I did my keys when I locked myself out of the house yesterday. GRRRR. :)

Warning: Sad Stuff Follows

I had back-to-back bad phone calls today. The first one was to tell me that Grandpa died this morning. :( That wasn't a surprise; he's been sick for a long time and they called hospice in about three weeks ago. His heart was bad, among other things. It's sad, but at least he isn't suffering anymore.

The second call was from my husband to tell me that the wife of a friend of his died. This was very sudden and unexpected. She was about thirty, and they had been married a little over a year and she had a 5-year old daughter. Plus, they just brought their 8 week old twins home from the hospital two weeks ago. He just passed the bar with my husband. They aren't sure how she died, but think it was an anuerysm. Please pray for this family...they are really going to need it.

I know this is depressing, but bad always comes with good, so why should I only blog the good stuff? So, we have two visitations and funerals this weekend. Death is a little easier to stomach when the person dying has lived a long life - especially when they spent the end of it suffering, but it just seems so wrong when a young mother dies suddenly and leaves a very young family behind. I don't even know what to think; I cannot fathom losing Dave.

A Busy Weekend

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Saturday, Dave and I visited some friends of ours at their property in Childersburg. Our friend was clearing some land he just bought, so we were hanging out and watching him rip things out of the ground with a front-end loader. That was pretty cool. Dave actually got to drive the front-end loader, and I have to admit I was just a little jealous. :) Our friends have three little girls, who came equipped with rubber rain boots and dune buggy. I wished I had some rain boots to play in the mud, but I played in it anyway. We had a blast riding the dune buggy. The girls made all sorts of mud sculptures, and of course, the littlest one refused to keep her shoes on. Mud just feels too good on your bare toes, you know? :)

We also went shopping for lawyer clothes, much to Dave's dismay. Lawyer clothes are pretty freakin' expensive, but you have to dress the part. He got 2 new suit coats, 4 pairs of suit pants, 3 pairs of khakis, a sport coat, 3 dress shirts, 4 ties, socks, and Monday he went back for black dress shoes. I think that will be enough to get us started. :) Saturday night we crashed.

Sunday we went to Sunday School and church and the grocery store (yuck! I hate grocery shopping.). Then we did a little math tutoring while Georgia played with her dog friend, Lucy. Lucy is a 7-month-old Golden Retriever, and she is going to be HUGE when she's full grown. You can see in the pictures that she's already as big as Georgia, though I don't think she weighs as much yet. Georgia played at Lucy's house while we were gone all day Saturday, then Lucy came to our house while we helped Joshua with his math homework. As you can imagine, Georgia was one tired brown dog Sunday night. She was so tired that she passed out in the floor and didn't even get up to follow us around. A tired dog is a good dog. :)

The kitties also played outside all day Sunday and Sunday night, so they slept all day long Monday. When I got home from work Monday afternoon, they were still sleeping - I think they must not sleep at all when they stay outside. Jewel has become quite the outside cat; I have to make her come inside when I leave for work, and this morning she was pestering Dave to let her out. Silly, persistent beast.

Proof of My Swimming Dog

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Georgia and I walked to the park last night for some exercise and a swim. I finally remembered to take a tennis ball with me, and that was just the thing to keep her focused on swimming instead of the people walking by. Apparently, sticks are a dime a dozen, but tennis balls are one of a kind (in the creek, anyway). We had a little incident on the first dive in when she forgot to close her mouth and nearly drowned herself, but she came out and puked up creek water and bits of rawhide (which she ate three days ago - this is a testament to the fact that rawhide is not easily digested). I guess that week off between swimming trips got her a little out of practice, or it could have been the tennis ball that made her too excited to close her mouth. Who knows? After that, she did great, though she seemed to forget that balls roll and kept dropping it and letting it roll back into the water. Silly beast.

If you have pets and enjoy gardening, there is a product you need to avoid called Cocoa Mulch. It contains the same toxic chemical that is in chocolate, theobromine - only in a much larger quantity. You can find this stuff at places like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. and the packaging makes NO mention that it can be harmful to your animals. While not all dogs will eat it, it only takes 9 oz. of the stuff to kill a 5o lb. dog. Don't risk it! Read more about it here: http://web.archive.org/web/20031013173740/http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=12729 .

That's all for my public service announcement. :)

More People News

Not only do we have a lawyer now, we have a lawyer with a job! Dave was hired by a small Birmingham firm called Gorham and Associates; this is the link to the webpage: http://www.gorhamandassociates.com/CM/Custom/Home.asp. This opportunity will allow him to get some on-the-job training with a regular paycheck and health insurance (two of our biggest concerns about opening his own office right away). He will basically be assisting the owner, Bobby Gorham, for the first year - doing paperwork and sitting second chair in trials - in exchange for all the knowledge he can soak up in that year (plus salary and insurance). After a year, he will be able to maintain his own case load. I'm really excited for him because this is a great chance to practice law with someone to guide him as he learns. I know he is much more comfortable with this situation than he would be starting his own firm right now. He knows the law, now he just has to learn how to practice law. :) His first day at his new job will be May 15th. Please continue praying for him as he embarks on this newest adventure.

In other news:
We have a baby tomato on one of our plants! I was going to take a picture of it, but I waited until it was too dark last night. The plants don't look like they've grown much taller, but there's already a tomato out there and most of them have blooms on them. So far, the poor things have not been pilfered by a Brown Dog, but then, they don't have large, red tomatoes on them yet, either. (If you are wondering, yes, she LOVES tomatoes and has been known to steal one off a plant before.) On the subject of tomatoes, we tried some frozen, battered green tomatoes from Wal-Mart the other day, and they were really good! Of course, fresh ones are always better, but these were better than I expected a frozen green tomato to taste. Frying them was an adventure since we never fry anything, but they turned out really well. And, like everything else, the more burnt the crust is, the better. :) Seriously, we always like the crusty burned parts of things, and the best tomatoes we ate were nearly black (the crust, not the tomato). Yum. So, if you need some fried green tomatoes and don't have any green tomatoes yet (well, I have a tiny baby one, but we aren't going to fry it), try these frozen ones. They come in a white and clear bag and they are some kind of generic looking brand that looks a lot like Southeastern Meats frozen vegetables. That's probably enough rambling for now.....

Everybody Say "WOO HOO!!"

We have a lawyer! I just checked the Alabama State Bar Directory, and he's listed. :) See for yourself: http://www.alabar.org/directory/dirDisplay.cfm?URLId=8h6s7[4ZO9750\RR&-:GTan .

Thank you to everyone who prayed us through this. I know he felt those prayers, and we couldn't have made it without them.

He'll be sworn in on May 24 before the Alabama Supreme Court. I'm so excited and proud of him. :)

A Few More Pictures

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Notice the large brown dog to the left? She knows those kitties aren't supposed to be outside. Notice the evil glowing cat eyes? Jewel does NOT care what Georgia thinks. :)
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These are our tomato plants. They are just babies right now, but a couple of them already have blooms. Let's hope I don't kill them. :)
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Don't they look like they are having a serious conversation?
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I think this one was up to no good chasing a bug. She loves being under the porch where the ground is cool. Her pretty white bunny (belly) fur came out orange.

What's wrong with these pictures?

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If you guessed, "The cats are outside," you would be correct. We decided to let them out to play last weekend and they all had a great time. I've decided, based on the number of cats that roam the neighborhood unharmed, that mine can play outside occasionally while I'm home. Jewel would be an outside cat all the time if I let her. She stayed out until I made her come in at dark. Squirt and Gypsy went in and out all day, but didn't go far from the house. I think they don't want to deal with the dog. Consequently, Georgia is having a hard time letting go of the "No Kitties Outside" rule, and has been chasing and poking at them whenever they come out. Jewel does not give a rip, but Squirt and Gypsy are a little more timid.

Jewel got herself in a pickle when she hopped the fence, then decided she couldn't get back over in a different spot that had pokey things on top. Dave had to drive around the block to retrieve her from the backyard behind ours. I know she would have found her way back just fine, but we were ready to leave for church and I wasn't leaving her out. (I know I'm a worry-wort, so save it.)

In other news, Daddy and Dave planted the tomatoes Saturday. Dave tried to brutally murder a frog with the rake (okay, not really, he just raked at it accidentally), but Daddy grabbed it up and handed it to me. I don't know if I've ever held a frog before, and I was a little surprised to find him in my hands so suddenly. :) He was actually not at all slimey, like I thought he would be. He was cool and smooth, and I liked him, but I let him go on the other side of the fence. Staying in our yard would mean certain death for a froggie, especially since the kitties are coming outside some. That's all I've got for now.

The Great Escape

Actually, there have been two escapes recently. Well, actually, there have been four, but only two this week. Both were pretty funny.

Remember when I was bragging about Georgia staying in her fence? I spoke too soon. Last Saturday, the next door cat (Cody is his name, I think) was sitting nicely in his backyard. Georgia was very excited about this; Cody was not at all excited. Georgia acted like she wanted to scoot under the fence in a pre-established weak spot (she didn't dig the hole), so I took the rebar out of the gate and stuck it in that spot in the fence, to make the fence more stable. I thought this would be fine because the gate was still latched. We should have been secure, right? Wrong. Cody decided he couldn't take the pressure any longer and took off running. Georgia, in hot pursuit, used her head to ram right through the gate! It certainly caught me off guard. She didn't go far, just chased Cody around his house, then inspected the neighbor's backyard. Apparently, the rebar must remain in the gate at all times if it is supposed to hold the brown dog. That was the first escape of the week.

Last night, my opportunist cats decided that during a thunderstorm is a good time to venture into the yard. I was not involved in this adventure (as I have been in all of the escapes thus far) because I was reading peacefully on the couch. Dave had been out on the porch and come in to get a shower. When he came out of the shower he said, "Who left the door open?" Um, not me, I haven't moved. Apparently, he didn't shut it all the way when he came in and the wind blew it open. So, we searched the house for the cats, and they were no where to be found, of course. I stood on the back porch, in the pouring rain (okay, the porch is covered, but that's beside the point) calling Jewel. I knew that if only one was out there, it would be her. Georgia assisted me in rounding up the kitties, and soon they came in one-by-one. Gypsy, being the street smart cat that she is, had snuggled down on one of the chairs around the table. She was the first to come in, and she was nice and dry. Georgia convinced Squirt and Jewel to come out from under the porch. I don't often see Squirt's furry, black butt move as fast as it did through the rain to the back door last night. Apparently, he doesn't like rain. :) Jewel was the last one in, and in no hurry at all. I wasn't surprised. They all got cookies for coming when I called them, and settled in to bathe all that outside thunderstorm off of themselve. Crazy cats.

In people news: I am happy to report that we are spending lots of time playing in the yard and at the park. I'm loving not having a project to work on, though I think Dave is getting bored already. He'll find something to get into soon, I'm sure. My work has been crazybusy, as has become the norm. That's fine, it makes the days go fast and I'm loving it. On that note, is 4 in the afternoon the official witching hour? It seems like things get even crazier in that last hour when I'm trying to leave on time.

We are waiting and hoping for our house to sell soon, and waiting and hoping for good bar exam results. We spent Easter at our church in Gardendale, and that was kind of sad, but we plan to start looking for a new church this week. That's all I really know for now.

Our House

Here's the link to the listing of our house in Gardendale. http://www.eraoxford.com/selected-residential-listing.asp?page=2&Min=1&Max=150999&Beds=3&Baths=2&acres=999&Proptype=SFR&Area=110&id=295366

If you know anyone who is looking for a house in Gardendale, please let them know!

We have a Swimmer!

Labrador Retrievers were bred to retrieve fishing nets from the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic. This explains their thick, water repellent, double-coat, webbed feet, and otter like tail - all things that are used for swimming. Given this information, one would think that a Lab would naturally know how to swim and love it. One would be wrong. :)

Apparently, we have spoiled Georgia with her kiddie pool. She LOVES the water and loves to play in her pool, but she expects the ground to be under her feet at all times. The few times we've tried to get her to swim in a big pool, she completely freaked out. She can swim when she falls in, she just didn't know it, and certainly didn't think it was fun. :) Well, now that we are in Montevallo with a good park to play in, we decided to make her learn to swim in the creek. My theory was that if she could wade into deeper water gradually, she would realize that it's okay when the water gets deep and wouldn't panic. Dave took her to the park while I was gone to Charlotte and let her stomp around a bit in the water. He said she was really funny going deeper and deeper, but stomping her feet the whole time to make sure the ground was still there. Once I got home, I bought her a 50 foot leash so she would be able to move around in the water and we could still control her. We took her back to the park Saturday, walked her a lap to get her hot and thirsty, then took her to the little beach entrance to the creek. At first she just splashed around until Dave found a stick. He started throwing the stick for her, and she did just was she was supposed to do, found it and brought it back! She could swim! The more he threw the stick, the more she wanted to swim and retrieve it. I know we looked like lunatics cheering and clapping for her when she actually swam out and back to get that stick, but we were so proud! Our water dog is actually a water dog now. :) We took her back Sunday, but she was still very tired and there were too many kids and dogs around for her to focus for long periods of time. She swam, but we lost a few sticks because she kept getting distracted. :) I'm such a bad dog mom, I just realized that I didn't even think about taking the camera to get pictures of her swimming. Maybe next time.