My Saturday Night with Big Joe

Yes, I think I have found love. Big Joe. He's on the Polka Show on the RFD channel. Yes it's Saturday night and Yes, I'm bored.
So Rick is sitting here flipping through the channels, he's bored too. He found Big Joe, and paused. Then flipped. "No!" I said "Turn it back!"
Do you know how long it's been since I've polka'd? I think I was 12. Before I found out it wasn't cool. Maybe Rick and I have polkaed once. Polka is big where he is from. They all polka there.
So here I sit, watching Big Joe and the old people in Minnesota polkaing? Am I even spelling that right? Old people in Minnesota aren't as good as polkaers as they once were.
They have a special TV offer from the "Polka Nuts" from Colorado. Two DVDs for $50! I wanted to order them. Rick said No with that look he gives me when he thinks I have absolutely lost my mind.
So then I'm sitting here listening and watching and surfing my blogs when I come across Kip's Blog and she has up this Lollapolooza head and it's dancing. The dancing is matching the music on the TV, the polka music, and I am dying laughing. So I show Rick. He's laughing. Then he gets serious and has second thoughts about my weeklong trip this week. HMMMMMM!
All this and no tequila. What a Saturday night!

:J

More Me

Just got back from a scrumptitous (sp) dinner with hubby. We hit our favorite local cheap seafood place, The Shrimp Basket. So yummy! I don't know why but we drove clear across town to go there. They have opened one closer to our house, but old habits are hard to break. We just went.
Worked out for me just fine tho, as it is next door to JoAnn's. I ran in there for a few sheets of patriotic paper for a project I'm working on. I thought I found some Jolee's embellies marked way down, but when I got home I saw that I paid $2.50 for them. I don't need them that bad, so I'm taking those back!
I have got to clean this house this weekend. It's picked up, but it needs cleaning! I think I just have toooo much stuff. I am way to attached to stuff. I'm sure I don't qualify as a pack rat, but a pack mouse, I may be. I'm ready to downsize. I started a bit in the scraproom today, cleaning out things that I don't use or have another machine that does the same thing. I'm going to give them to my son's fiancee, as she is a scrapper. They will be here from Louisiana next week, but I will be in St. Pete. Darn it! They hardly ever come home, and now I have to be gone!
No big plans for the weekend. I'm trying to win MontgomeryGentry tickets for Tuesday night. Not that I'm a huge fan, but it would be fun to go. They are giving them away every hour on the radio station. Cross your fingers!
Well I'm off!
Oh one last thing, CONGRATULATIONS TO WEST FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL for their 3RD CONSECUTIVE A in the School grade calculations. We got our grades today and another A! WFHS has only been in existence for 6 years. Not too shabby!
I think someone said we had the highest HS writing scores in the state! WOOHOO!
With that I'm done,
Happy day!

:J

Thoughts on the First Weekend of Summer!

Where do I start? Linda and her Hilltop Crew added another fantastic weekend to my memory! WOW! I just love them and wish we were soooo much closer in distance.

Linda never ceases to amaze me. She cooked us fabulous meals all weekend without a stove and sunday we got pancakes & sausage from her Tim Holtz kitchen! Just when I think she can't do anymore fantastic give aways, she piles the table. When I think I have seen all the best classes, Elle, Di and Jules come up with a few more! Michele & Dee are always the best customer service and friends a girl could have. And the table mates! OHHHH those BAD girls! I love them all!

It was so much fun having my sister, Susie with us. That would be "Jayne's Sister, Susie". All my life everyone has known me as Jayne, Susie's little sister. After this weekend she is now Susie, "Jayne's sister. Thanks Michele for the help on that!
But to me from this crop forward, Susie will be known to me as "frogbreath" LOL! She can explain that one!

One of my biggest thrills was having Michele's mom, Alice, tell me she reads my blog everyday! WOW! Really? I have such a boring life! Alice is a sweetie and I was glad to finally meet her. Michele is such a sweet person, now I know why!

It was such a great weekend all around. So much fun with such phenomenal women. They all continue to inspire me to be a better woman, each of them in their own way. I am so lucky to have such great people as friends!

I came home to more flowers blooming. Sorry no pictures as of yet, but maybe tomorrow. My pink hydrangea was blooming, as was the red hibiscus. The oleander is blooming for the first time in years. It's a beautiful red. Finally, my pink amarylis is also showing it's beautiful color.

I walked into work Tuesday morning to no air conditioning. Talk about hot! Even the fans didn't help. Thankfully, I was able to go to one of the other buildings to prepare for the retirement celebration and that building had air! Over the weekend a squirrel got caught in some wiring and burned out the chiller for our building. Poor Squirrel! But all is fixed now and the retirement celebration went off without a hitch. Our principal was surprised, and it was nice to see so many of his old friends show up to wish him well. I will sure miss him, and wish him many happy, safe roads to travel and hours of giggles as "Grandpy" becomes his main job.

So that should catch you up with little ole me. I need to get busy cleaning, unpacking and putting away all the "stuff" I brought home with me. Tons of cool scrap stuff, new stamps (I hit the sale bin at HL, got 6 new stamps!) and of course, more storage to put it in.

I'll try to be a better blogger this next week. That is until they send me to St. Pete for that conference that I really didn't want to go to, but they twisted my arm! The things I do for my job, seriously!
Have a wonderful summer day!

:J

Ah! The First Day of Summer!

The first day of summer! Who can believe how fast this year is flying by? The first day of summer signals fun, adventure and vacation. Which is exactly how I am going to celebrate it!

This morning I'm beginning an adventure with my sister. It's not our first, we've had many. But today we are packing up her camper and heading south. Our trip will include a few stops for bathroom breaks, and convienently the best bathrooms are located in scrapbooking stores! I'm so glad they keep such clean restrooms! LOL!

Our destination is Dover FL to meet up with the Hilltop girls at the birthday crop. It's my sister's first time meeting these wonderful ladies, and I hope she has as much fun as I do with them! Such a great group of women!

So I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm driving and pulling the trailer. THAT should be fun. I just worry about parking it etc. and driving slow enough! I'm used to flying down the road.

Well it's time to get moving. I hope you find something special to do to celebrate your first day of summer today. Eat ice cream, drink lemonade, run through a sprinkler, pick flowers, have a picnic, go swimming, fishing or biking. Walk the beach, walk a trail or just walk your neighborhood and say hi to everyone! Celebrate your first day of summer!

:J

Humping Through the Week

I have stayed busy all week. Humping right along through work and here at home. I'll be gone all weekend, DS2 and FDIL will be here for the weekend for a friend's wedding. So I've been packing, cleaning and everything in between!
Tonite I leave for my sister's, and then tomorrow we head out to go to the Hilltop Birthday Crop. I'm all packed for that. I take kits to work on as there is so much going on that my ADD kicks in and my creativity kicks out! But it shall be fun no less. DH was so funny last night when I was packing. He said, "This is really more of a social thing right? Ya'll don't do much scrappin', one scraps and the others just socialize and say "Aw, that's purty!"" He's too funny. Of course we scrap dear. We are busy little scrappers the whole time!
And about that land I have for sale......
DH has assured me that the house will be clean when the kids get here Friday. As he says, "It will be so clean that Kevin will think you cleaned" Gee, if only it could be that way when I get home.
Last night I baked the Pioneer Woman's Texas Sheet Cake to take to today's Potluck Luncheon at work. I could hardly sleep in anticipation of eating it today! Yummy!
Well, speaking of that nasty four letter word, I must get going. The sooner I go, the sooner I can go, the sooner the party begins! I'll try to blog this weekend. We'll see!
Stay safe til I return.
:J

Another Wonderful Summer Weekend

 

Nothing says summer like an evening of balloons! This weekend was the Balloon Fest in Foley Alabama. Rick and I spent Saturday evening watching balloons take off and land. It was so relaxing watching these giants glide silently in to land.
These ballons are powered by propane. It was neat to watch them inflate the huge canopies. Each canopy costs 10 thousand dollars! Wow! The Baskets really are made of wicker too! We thought this one was going to hit the trees!

 

The balloon were from all over the south with most of them coming from Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Now they didn't fly in from there, they took off and landed all in Alabama. But wouldn't it be cool to just get in your balloon and float a few states away! I wonder how far you could go in a half day?
Even tho the name of this one was Sunrise it sure looked pretty in the sunset!

 

We just stood and ate our fresh Kettle Popcorn and watched the balloons come in and out. Sooooo relaxing!

 

Sunday we had breakfast with friends, grocery shopped and then Rick mowed the lawn. Such is life when your boys are grown and living all over! Afterwards we imitated whales wallering in the pool for about an hour. Sooooo nice. I laid on my raft and watched a dragonfly perched high in a tree as he watched us! LOL!
Patrick came home in time for dinner and we grilled T-bones. I made mushrooms & onions for toppers, boiled some shrimp & corn for sides, and we were in heaven!
So my short week begins! 3 days of work and then I'm off to the "boonies" to camp and scrap!
Enjoy the day!

:J

Happy Father's Day Pa!

 

First of all I need to say no one will ever replace my Dad. No One. I miss him every day, every hour, Every minute. He is the mold for Dads that was broken the minute God was finished him. There will never be another like him. I love you Dad!

That said, now we'll talk about the man who runs a close second, my Pa, Wally. Wally is really my father in law, but in the past 15 years he has become my Pa. My husband says he was a tough dad. He didn't take any crap from anyone, from his kids, to city councilmen, to cops, or even the Priest at their local parish. Now he says his dad is just an old man trying to be nice and get into heaven.

I can't vouch for the time past the last 22 years I have known him. If he was as gruff as my hubby says, then I think he's wrong. Pa is a hard working, God loving, family first man. His love for his wife and family are undeniably one of his greatest characteristics. I know that part of the reason my husband dotes so much on me is because of the love Pa showed Ma all these 55+ years. Her and I both know we are Queens of the house, no matter how much we deny it!

Pa will give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. At 75 years old he delivers Meals on Wheels to the "old people". We call him the "Grand Poobah" as he is so involved with his church and the KCs that he has been honored many times by both. But he doesn't do all of this work for the accolades. He does it to be involved, to make the world a better place.

He loves all of his grandchildren from the littlest great grand to all the older grands. He has the patience of a saint, but when you've made him reach the end of that patience, he lets you know with his trademark "Enough Now!" I have learned to be a better parent from him.

Pa and I share a special banter. He loves to tease me, and I love to tease him back. Sometimes neither of us is sure the other isn't serious. But it's all in good fun and very much love! He always tells me, "If I didn't love you, I wouldn't tease you!" I love to rag him about the Packers, the Brewers and everything else in between. He teases me about still being a Bears fan after all these years I've been a Packer fan. But, I tell him right back "The only reason I became a Packer's fan, is to keep peace and harmony in the family and to stay in the will!"

I know he knows how much I love him and appreciate him. We talk on the phone at least once a week. I wish we were closer in mileage. I know we are close in heart.

So Happy Father's Day Pa!

Ahhhh! It's Friday!

Which means it's the weekend! The AP let me leave at 2:15 as it was only her and I left in the building other than the custodians. I had finshed my list of things to do, and cleaned my desk! "Go Home" she said. So I did!
I met Patrick pulling out of the neighborhood as I was pulling in, and signaled him to come back home. Today is Patrick's 20th Birthday! MY BABY is 20! His day didn't start so good, at 5:30ish a police officer knocked on the door to return his wallet to him. Apparently he had left it in the car and the car unlocked. They got all his tip money for the week, he wouldn't tell me how much, and his driver's license and military ID also a few gift cards he had in his wallet. The Military ID has his and hubby's ss# on it. So that has sent panic into our world. It's such a violating feeling. And a crappy way to begin your 20th birthday.
So when he came home I gave him a pair of new Reef Sandals and $50. I thought he was going to cry. Instead he told me what the metal piece in the bottom of my Reef Sandals is for, it's a bottle opener! I did not know that! I thought it was some kind of cool support for my arches. Dang, not only does my baby turning 20 make me feel old, but thinking that is cool support for my arches and not a bottle opener makes me feel real old and as my brother would say, "losing my cool". I just know my Reefs are comfy. Now I can open all the Coronas I want! He told me some pairs even have flasks in the heel. What will they think of next?
So Happiest of Birthdays to you my son, world-wise that you are!
:J

10 Things I Will Never

From Kip's Blog, another challenge. There are not too many things I won't do, so finding 10 may be hard!

1. I will never bungee jump.

2. I will never eat oatmeal.

3. I will never jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

4. I will never finish this list. Just can't think of anything else. What do you think I will never do?

:Jayne

Is It Thursday Already??

Wow! I do love these short work weeks! I can't believe that one week from today I am heading down to the Birthday Crop at Hilltop! I am a excited and also a bit nervous, as I'm taking my sister down to meet the girls! And I never know how either of them will behave! LOL!
It's been busy at work and lazy at home. I got my plane tickets etc for the Data Conference in St. Pete in July. I'm going down a few days early to hang with the girls before I have to learn all about Data. For the Hilltop girls reading this, I'll be there July 5th! WOOHOO!
Last night I watched "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" on HBO. Very good film! It is sad what our Government did to the Indians. That's fact, not a slanted film version. We took their lifestyle and heritage away from them, stripped them clean to adapt to our ways. Starved them to do it. Sad. If you get a chance to watch it, do. I remember reading the book in High School and liking it then.
No plans for tonite. Our welding teacher is bringing in more corn today! I'm getting half a bushel, so I know what we will eat for dinner! I could eat my weight in sweet corn!
Well that's my life!
Have a good day!
:J

My Weekend is Over! :(

Like all good things, my long luxurious weekend has come to an end. Tomorrow is back to work, back to putting out all those little fires that pop up when I'm gone (and when I'm there). But on the bright side, only 4 days to another weekend!
I spent the day finishing up odds and ends, laundry mostly. I even did Rick's laundry. For the record, we mostly do our own laundry. His is too nasty dirty to do with mine, he is afraid to wash some of my clothes, so we just do our own mostly. We're wierd, I know, but it works for us. I still need to iron the kitchen curtains and hang them back up. I guess I can still get that done.
Patrick was here for a few hours while I was home. So I baked a ham, cooked black-eyed peas and corn for dinner. I could have eaten my weight in the corn and peas! But I didn't. So that was good. Enough left to take some for lunch tomorrow. Yum! He stays so busy on the weekend with two jobs. I miss having him around so much. He said when school starts back he is getting an apartment with 3 other guys. I'm glad he has good friends, but I still worry!
I finished up a LO from the cruise pictures. I just noticed tho that the title looks crooked, so I guess I will have to fix that too. But here it is. It looks like we did everything on the cruise but scrapbook. But we did scrapbook, some.
When I got home Rick was surprised we even did scrapbook! Too funny!

 

Well let me go iron those curtains and clean the scraproom. It's amazing the work I can get done when there is nothing to watch on TV! Have a good week!

Your Weekend is Over, Not Mine!

Okay, I'm not trying to rub it in. But I am going to enjoy it! Just one more day. How many weekends have you had where you wished for one more day off? I know I have wanted many. I just wanted to stay home ONE more day. Well tomorrow is my day!
I worked last Monday which was supposed to be my first day off. But it was registration for summer school, so I went in like the dedicated person I am. After all, I put the schedules in the computer, so I have to be there! Since we work a 4 day, 10 hour day week, I got to take Friday off. Then tomorrow, Monday is my regular day off. Most everyone wanted Fridays off and the only way we could do the 4/10s is if someone wanted to work Friday. So let's think about this. Friday is normal go home early day, so if I take Monday off and work Friday, with hardly anyone there, I can get more done and get out early! Sign me up!
I got alot accomplished this weekend. Lots of much needed house cleaning. Of course I would need a month off and a gallon jar full of speed to get my house totally clean, like I would like to have it clean. But living with two guys, a long haired cat and a dog, my house will never stay clean. I love my dog, but I cuss his black hair everytime I clean! So in between goofing off a bit, I got most everything done, including the ceiling fans, windowsills and blinds. I cleaned the pantry a bit, throwing away microwave popcorn that was 2 years over date! I got ride of about 3 dozen magazines. Mostly Southern Living, I keep those for the recipes. So I tore out all the recipes I thought I might use and pitched the magazines. I'm sure my husband wishes I would get rid of some scrappin' magazines. Don't hold your breath dear!
After pitching, I scrubbed. My favorite thing to clean my floors with is this.
 
I discovered it my first trip to Key West. Alba was just finishing mopping her floors when we arrived. Her house smelled so good and fresh, I had to ask what she used. It was Mistolin, Gardenia scent. I usually don't like Gardenia scent, but now it's all I use on my floors! I guess when I go to South Florida in a few weeks I will have to look for some more. Usually I want to know here the scrap stores are, but this trip I need to know where to get Mistolin. This is my last bottle!
Yesterday while on a cleaning break, DH and I watched "A Night at the Museum" I really enjoyed it! Wouldn't it be awesome if that really did happen? I won't say what happened in case you have not seen the movie. If you haven't, you need too, it's good! Later I'm going to watch "Because I Said So" Rick didn't want to watch it, it's a chick flick.
And also in my spare time, I finished the mini book I made for FIL for Father's day. Since he doesn't read my blog, I can show you. Here's the cover,
 
and here is the rest of it! I sure hope he likes it! Not everyone in the family is in it. That kind of bothered me, but I don't have recent pictures of everyone because they haven't been able to come to the reunions. So maybe I'll have to do a second edition.
I think now I'm off to my movie, and to fold some clothes. Mostly towels, so that will be easy

TGIF!

And it's my four day weekend! WOOOHOOO!
I'm off this am to the LSS to see what they have new, and what's in the clearance room. Maybe a stop by Big Lots, Hobby Lobby and a few stores in between to see what inspires me.
I was showered with fresh veggies yesterday at work. Lori brought me fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from her garden by the bay. Dale, our welding teacher, came 35 miles into town to bring me fresh sweet corn and black eyed peas from his farm. YUMMY! We had the corn last night for dinner! OMG GOOD! I could eat my weight in sweet corn. I think tonite I'll just make a huge salad, cook up the blackeyed peas, and some sweet corn and call it supper!
Well, I'm off to start my weekend! More later!

:J

Well Just a Few Things

My day was fairly uneventful really. I managed to keep my cool when I really wanted to strangle on old lady who came in my office with attitude first thing this morning. So maybe that was kinda eventful. Meanwhile, my friend who was standing beside me while all this was going on, yes my calm, cool, see the good in everyone, and save them all friend, was holding back even harder to not put her fist in the lady's face. Talk about a switching of personalities, we would have never thought I was the calm one and she the upset one. But it is done, and it is what is.
I want to welcome MARY to the blogging world. She is so hilarious, I love her perspective. She is a cropping buddy from the Hilltop Gang.
Another perspective I just love is THIS
Every month Mama writes a letter to her growing daughter. I love the way she writes, her view is not typical motherhood view. But I love that every month she shares her thoughts to her daughter, and us. I wish I had thought to do that with the boys. Oh well, maybe someday if there are ever grandchildren....
That's all I have today. Hopefully I will be back tomorrow, unless the big guy downtown calls me in to ask why I was the calm one and Becky was the upset one.

Tuesday Tithering

Not much going on in my household the past few days. We got some very much needed rain on Monday. Monday was also the first day of summer school so that kept me busy with registration. It went smoothly despite the retirement of my reliable guidance counselor.
I had prepared dinner on Sunday for Monday night. We came home warmed it in the microwave, and it was gone! I'll leave you the recipe, one of our electrician instructors gave it to me. He's an official coonass cajun, so I knew it would be good. oooooooeeeeeee!

Crawfish Casserole (I substituted shrimp)

3/4 stick of margarine
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel with chillies
1 (5 ounce) package saffron yellow rice
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pound Crawfish tails (louisiana brand are best) but I substituted shrimp
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
Tony Chachere's to taste

Cook rice to directions. Set aside. Saute onion & pepper in margarine, add tomatos and simmer 10 minutes. Add crawfish or shrimp and simmer 10 minutes. Take off heat and add soup, stir, add rice, stir, and add Tony Chachere's to taste. Put in a casserole dish, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
OOOOOOOEEEEE!

I hope you enjoy this. Have a wonderful day!
:J

Happy 95th Dad!

Owen began life in a small farmhouse in rural Illinois. The third child born to Roy & Lula Moore. The Moore's were farmers, Roy was also a carpenter, a jack of all trades as most farm men were in the early 1900's. Dad was born before cars, indoor plumbing, telephone, tv and most other things I take for granted. He was educated through the 8th grade in a small one room school house where he had perfect attendance and Honor Roll grades.

 

Despite these humble beginnings, he was the smartest man I've ever known. He could conquer any project he started. He did with patience and precision, measure twice, cut once. He purchased his first car, a brand new Model A, with cash he had saved working at his Uncle's dairy. I still have his first "chauffer's license", which is where I got this picture. It lists his height at 6'1" and his weight at 165. He was long and lanky and his ability to run fast earned him the nickname "Spider" in school, as he was all legs when he ran. His athletic ability earned him recognition on the baseball field also. He was asked to join farm teams run by the Major leagues, but WWII came and he answered his call to duty. He joined the Navy and was sent to New Guinea for his stint in the war.

 

He was a father of 5, two sons and three daughters, grandfather to 18 and great grandfather to more than that. He was the type of father every child wishes for. He was 49 when I was born. His older age brought patience, kindness and love to my life. He taught us about animals, plants, trees and life. We always had a garden. He always had time for our questions and most of all, he played with us.
We could always talk him into pitching a ballgame for us, fishing with us, eating ice cream with us and he read books to us most every night before we went to bed. There were alot of nights he was away from us, working shift work at the nearby Army Depot, but we were always in his heart.

 

Today he would have been 95 years old. I've lost track of exactly how many years he's been gone. I'd say 15 if you made me guess, but it's not something I really like to think about. He did get to meet all of his grandchildren, some of his great grands and he was loved by them all. At his funeral, I didn't realize how many people's lives he touched by his selfless acts he performed without recognition. He was very active in his community but not like the guys you would see in the paper, on committees and doing fundraisers. He was quiet in his way of doing things whenever help was needed. Always a jokester, he loved to tease.
He expected Honesty, Hardwork and Fairness for everyone. The worse thing you could do to him is lie. He said if we told the truth he would always stand beside us, but if we lied, we would have to take our punishment alone.
Happy Birthday Dad, the world is better place because of you.

Pictures:
Top; Ned, age 2 and Owen age 4, 1915
Middle; Owen age 15 from his first "driver's license"
Bottom; Owen with 4 of his grandsons, clockwise from top, Danny, Kevin, Patrick and Kyle 1989

Shopped til I Dropped!

This morning my friend Chris and I ventured out on a semi annual shopping spree. While we had no particular plan, we knew a few stores we wanted to hit, with a few things in mind.

I was looking for some "professional" clothes with a tropical, relaxed look. We headed to Coldwater Creek as I had spied a few things in their latest catalog that I loved. Armed with a 40% off coupon I was in the mood to shop.

You can't begin shopping without a full stomach, so our first stop was Rousso's at Eastern Shore Plaza. Chris had the grouper po boy, I had the shrimp po boy. Not exactally breakfast, but it nourished us! Rousso's is an awesome seafood place, the food was delish! While we dined on the patio, we watched about 30 kids under the age of 6 play in the fountains in the plaza square. Oh to be six again, they were having such fun!

Coldwater Creek was our next stop, but I was disappointed they didn't have the outfit I wanted to particularly see. I tried on a few things, but nothing screamed buy me like it did in the catalog. The salelady was the nicest and told us about the CC outlet about 10 miles south of where we were. Best part? My 40% coupon was good there too! So off we were to Tanger Outlets in Foley. They didn't have my outfit either, but I did order it online from the store. Doing that saved me $50+! Shipping is free if you order from the store!

Of course we had to explore a few other stores and I scored a pair of Clark sandals in coral, Skeechers sandals to go with anything and a pair of Reef sandals to match my swimsuit. I also found bra and a pair of blue jean capri's at Lee outlet. My other jean capris are just too big! I found Patrick a pair of black Reef flip flops that I'm putting back for his birthday in a few weeks. Disney was having a great sale and I got 3 beach towels for the pool for $20! Nemo, Power Rangers and Pirates of Caribbean! My biggest score was in one of the gourmet food stores. I found Fireworks brand Savanna Gold popcorn. It's grown in my hometown!!! I can't wait to pop some! I'll try to take pictures of everything later!

Exhausted from shopping we called Rick to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner. It was after 5 p.m.! Time had flown! We met him at our favorite rib dive for dinner. It was yummy and I was so stuffed I was miserable! I sure hope those new capris still fit! LOL! btw, down from a size 22 to an 18!

Well, I'm worn out. More later!

My Very Own Weatherman

Actually he is so much more than that. He is my protector, my jokester, my companion. He is usually first to greet me when I come home from work in the afternoon. He needs me as much as I need him. He also has a gift for knowing bad weather.
Tuesday morning when DH got up to go to work, Dakota, like usual, jumped up in our bed. Instead of laying near the foot as he always does, he snuggled right up next to me. As next to me as he could get without being on top of me. Later after I got up and was ready to go to work, he refused to go outside like usual. The sky was darker, as if we were going to get some much needed rain that day. But it didn't rain.
Wednesday morning, the tv weatherman began talking about a tropical front down in the gulf. I did get Dakota to go outside that day, but when I came home he was by myside. Not lay at my feet like he always does by my side, I mean glued to my leg by my side. It had rained most of the day, but it was a gentle rain with no lightning or thunder. He had spent most of the day inside with Patrick. So his sticktomeness was troubling.
Thursday I tricked him into going out by grabbing a ball and heading out the door myself. I threw it a few times and then told him "enough, I have to get to work."
Again, when I got home he would not leave me alone. He was at my side everywhere. I was doing laundry and he stayed with me every step of the way.
So here it is Friday and TS Barry is in the Gulf. Where is Dakota? On my foot as I type this.
He senses weather. I think he knows as soon as a storm begins developing in the gulf. He evacuates with me every hurricane. He has his own storm mode. He is my weatherman,