Friday, April 2, 2010

i never got to tell you about daisy's birthday!
it was quite a busy day for me and i had lots of e-bay to send off at the post office.
  running around for hours and getting life stuff accomplished was very nice...but, i am a little kooky about birthdays, in general.  i just like to  make a birthday special...and festive...apparently, that's really for me.

and that's how daisy's little outing came to be.  we went to town..daisy and fitzy seemed thrilled to be out for a ride in the car....i imagined it was because of the birthday fun...but friends have gently reminded me that daisy and fitzy just thought they were going to the beach!  well, that's not what their imaginary thought balloons told me!
daisy, on her 8th birthday still is the sweetest, most gentle, intuitive dog in my world!  she loves us all and is here with us through thick and thin.  she's been to montessori, grammar schools, middle school, high school and  she attended fairfield university!  she was THE most popular girl on the quad!  she's well rounded....she has played t-ball, softball, soccer, lacrosse and certainly her best sport of all.....swimming and plain old catch! 
this is fitzy....i'd know that snoot anywhere!  fitzy is a dog with the need to repeatedly remind me that her need for love is great, very, very great!
i think of it as "love in your face!"
and i've decided, if it's love she needs so desperately, it's love she shall have.  she's so sweet and gentle and soft as a bunny....it's the gentle that's a challenge when there's a crumb in the vicinity...within 3 miles.  this is a dog who has a nose for trouble...or, i should say, barbeques.

i really do love fitz!  she makes me laugh.  she can be needy, i think it's separation anxiety....she lived with 4 kids under 6, in a crate a lot, for almost a year, then she lived with a day care provider who had a billion kids at her home everyday.  i just don't think she ever got enough golden love.  she has her marley moments and we love her anyway!  she needs love she craves.  as i always say, daisy came to the nursing home with me to visit my mom.....she stopped for lots of the elderly people and loved having them pet her and talk to her......fitzgerald, fitzy, so delighted to feel the love, she jumped right up on my mom...in bed.....it was shortly after we arrived back home, that the nursing home gave us a call to let us know that next time, it might be a good idea to leave the dogs home! daisy always came with me to "gramma's house".....fitzy went once and got us kicked out!

we went to town. daisy and fitz waited for me in the car while i carried my e-bay mail like a tacky circus act into the post office...before i could gather up the boxes and envelopes, there was a fan club at the car windows.  they always meet the nicest folks.

as we walked through town, daisy and fitz started a sit in at one of the restaurants....they could smell the garlic.  i humored them but continued on!

of course, fitzy held out the longest.  i told them if they had brought their own charge card, i might have considered it...after all, it was time for birthday fun!
we stopped in the back of the stores and walked near the pond so daisy and fitz could get some water....i think after smelling the garlic, they were thirsty...that's what their thought balloons said.
daisy is not used to having a leash, but she understands...that's the rules...in town!
"daised and confused"
as biff likes to call them.  as you can see, daisy is looking towards the water....so ready for a swim!  fitzy, however, is still standing attention toward the aroma!  she reminds me of the dogs in "the lady and the tramp"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxDdz-Anls

the wafting smell has their attention....like the dog in the old cartoons...when he got a treat, the cartoon dog was so happy,he floated up in the air!
after some water and some play, we were off for a birthday treat!
they had no idea what i had in mind!
the surprise was the little pet store...with oven baked treats...like the bakery for dogs!

they had some water at the little "water bar".....
after slurping up a few gallons, they were sniffing up a storm...and ready for a bite to eat.
fitzy's nose was leading the way!
daisy was checking to see if she had any friends coming along...she's used to rather large gatherings for her birthday.
daisy is ready too!
fitzy makes way for daisy...the lights are on, but nobody's home....at the store, not fitzy!
heaven!
talking over their favorites...
daisy taking a whifffff of the possibilities...
we thought it would be fun to have a little fun with the birthday photo...right in front of the pet store.
and the sled dogs are off!  fitzy isn't as good on the leash...daisy is very good...but, she's always busy watching fitz!
we stood outside the movie theatre and tried to figure out if there might be a movie appropriate for all of us...there was a cat on line ahead of daisy and fitz.
they seem o.k. letting the kitty go ahead of them...they have excellent manners and do take good care of our cats, jinx and happy.
fitzy looking like she's seen some take-out....daisy being coy...
i think the kitty wanted to borrow some money ....some just have that attitude of entitlement!
if that kitty wants pop corn too, there's no way we're sharing!
just hangin'

does this look like a doggy that will share??
hold the popcorn.
o.k. now that's really something
for the birthday treat!
daisy and fitz had some fun...town, a treat, the movies...age appropriate....showing,
"marley and me"  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cedG470nTD8
"beethoven"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eHgKg36xsY,
or "cats and dogs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zjFUgDI

daisy had a great birthday


When T.J. got home from school today, he looked up the hill and noticed me standing at the front door to welcome him home from school.  It's not often that I get away with that!  It seems that he was not in the least bit embarrassed to have me waiting there, although he did have something to say about me standing at the door.  He quipped, "Mom, I'm not embarrassed by you.  This time, I'm embarrassed FOR you!"  I actually think he was relieved to know that I hadn't been out in the real world all day.
No matter how cool we think we are, our teens just can't seem to recognize it!!  It's hysterical to me, not to them.
Do I really look like I'm concerned that my kids don't know I'm cool?  A legend in my own mind....ssshhhhhhhhhh.

Oh my, it was my pebbles pony tail i had forgotten to take out.  Funny how that happens when you don't get a shower for quite some time!  Oh yeah, I'm looking HOT today!  Not only am I thankful that I don't have to wear pantyhose everyday to work, since my only position is volunteer stuff, mom stuff, Me stuff and E-bay stuff.  Who could be happier than me not having to worry at a time like this?

Oh sure, we have wonderful friends who have welcomed us into their showers!  Don't take that the wrong way!  I just figured we'd have it figured out by now.  Looks like the health department may escort me to a shower if only to get the pebbles ponytail ripped out of my head.

 T.J. settled in after school, I got a text message from Grace to let me know it was time to pick her up after her lacrosse practice.  How Pavlovian of me!  The bell rings and i salivate.  Not always.  It depends on the tone of the text.  For awhile there, Grace had some demanding tones in her texts that were beginning to feel like ransom notes. That changed after I texted back and forth with her 4 and 5 times suggesting that she say please.....and thank you ......and would you? could you?, not just get me!  It took awhile but she got the "message".

As it turns out, Grace had plans to go see a movie with her good friend, Kailee. They both loved The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks and it has just been released.                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDatVBiHUgM
Sometimes, 15 year olds love a real tearjerker. Kailee and Grace love the very scary movies and the tearjerkers.  It's fun to have a friend who shares that combo! We went to buy the tickets yesterday so there would be no room for error.  That's my first child, getting things done right!

After so much rain, today was Grace's first practice of the year.  All of the others had been rained out. Before leaving the house, the Pebbles pony tail was whipped into a sort of bun head.  Just the look I've been looking for!  I picked Grace up with 2 friends on the team and we went to get some refreshments in town. Fun for all of us!  Except one catch....I realized it might be best if I stayed in the car. At 15, they may have been relieved.

Clothing was a bit scarce considering that most of my laundry had been in the basement, sorted, in baskets on the floor, when the tides came in.  Our family is not lacking in the clothing department.  Of all of my Becky Home Ecky issues, laundry is usually not my problem.  That routine is very well orchestrated in this house. Biff and I have this down.
Although  I do my best to keep it all moving through the cycle well, Biff is tuned in and will move like wildfire when he hears a beep on his Timex Ironman watch!http://www.timex.com/Sport-Ironman-Products-Products/b/2223481011
Talk about Pavlovian.

So, here I am Thursday night, wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt and a fleece....very similar to my ensemble yesterday.  It's not that I hope to be the belle of the ball, but my take on relaxed fridays seems to be all week long this week.  It's all o.k.  Breathe.....breathe....breathe.  could I join some sort of crunchy cult to help me get through this? Maybe a 12 step hygiene group?  Speaking from first hand experience, it's not likely since no one would rent a hall out for the group to hold meetings.

Are you as tired of this as I am?  Sorry to bore you with the details.  It's just like how ya need to share the whole dentist appointment with someone....why is that?  People love to share the freak details of their life?

My mom used to go into great detail about certain things....the dentist, the phone call to the phone company waiting on hold and being transferred to 4 people for a 37 cent credit and my favorite.....the line at the bank.  She even knew that it made me crazy but she couldn't contain herself, she knew that she would find relief even if it was a risk......usually she plowed through the story in excruciating detail even though my eyes rolled, my head nodded and my whole body sighed a full body sigh!  It was worth it to her no matter what response she got!  Same here.  Eyes rolling, heads nodding and full body sighs don't seem to affect me on my blog....I just keep going on and on and on and on and on.  By the way, my mom knew these stories tortured me but she also knew i would grin and bare it....my kids have not learned the subtle version of grinning and baring!   YET.
this is not our house with this river crashing over the little waterfall but that's how i felt just thinking about our basement this week!