Dog Slobber Day

Today, I got Daisy Dog to the vet.

This is quite an accomplishment for me, the non-dog lover.

Sixty seven dollars later, she has her tags for the year, and … wait, what’s that?  I still have to give her heart worm treatment for two days in a syringe by mouth?

And I paid for this…

Hmmm…

—

Some pesky store returns to deal with this week.

—

The kids have much going on, trips, days outside.  I feel the need to stay close to de telefono.

Working on a layout today, hoping to get a couple under my belt this week before they are home for the summer and my “pool duties” start.

My laundry room is a mess with long sleeve clothes still needing to be rotated out.  Shoot, we’re half-way to winter now…I’m thinking leave it and I’ll be halfway there! Spring has taken so long to arrive this year!

–

Tonight, I’m tired.  I need some rest.  It’s been a good day, but there is much left to do, and I need to get dog slobbers off me.

Moments

When I saw this scene today, I thought to myself, “I’m so glad God knows how to ‘crop’ a photo.”

To this…

Or this…ignoring all the mess, seeing the beauty. Do we?

Daisy got into my tomatoes today. Instead of getting onto her too much, I let her explore it, and I took some photos.

Do you ever do that with your kids?

She didn’t know the difference. She thought it a tasty red ball.

and she was just enjoying living

And I miss the moments.

The Moments

The Moments of Together.

Just Being. Traveling.

Enjoying Fruit I Didn’t Plant

Even the Bad days when I learn that bottled water has probably given my daughter too numerous dental problems to count (Give your kids added ACT fluoride if they don’t drink a lot of tap water. How’d I miss that?)

Moments of appreciating the every day. Order. Care. Tending. (Proverbs 31)

~~~~

Your turn:  I want to hear a voice besides my own today…

Share with me recent moments you’d like to remember forever, hopefully ones today, moments where you were “present”–not stuck in the past, not worried about the future, but learning, enjoying a moment God gave you, appreciating breathing a little deeper.   Blog it, comment, or email me here: magnanimityblog@gmail.com

My Dog Loves Golf–The Golfers Aren’t Too Crazy About My Dog

Apparently, golfers are impressed by my dog, but not her extraordinary fetching skills on the course. 

I left the gate open by accident this morning and she found her some mighty fine entertainment locally.

I got a very polite call asking if I could please come and fetch her.

I Need to Get Decluttered Today

1. Great update on Kim.  Check that out.
2. The Hub (my man), has begun testing, remember him!  Eight hours of testing today straight.  Ugh.
3. My dog needs a walk…it’s rained for five days…I did not walk her yesterday, but have the other days.  Pray for Daisy . 
4. My exciting to-do list today:  spots on the carpet, laundry room, desk clutter, read Job.

Going from Esther to Job was a bit of a stretch–like watching Cinderella followed by The Terminator. 

Good night with the kids last night…we all slept great.  Red snuggled and didn’t kick…that’s a huge praise.  Mickey Ds for breakfast.  “Yeah!!! ‘Mommy Day!’  Fun stuff all day!”

I had put stuff for dough in the bread machine before I had to go to the school to make copies, cut out my die cuts for Halloween parties, and wait on Boy Wonder’s first Academic Team practice to be over.  He made the quick recall team for Monday’s meet and is very excited about that.  He was also the only child in his class to make straight A’s, I found out yesterday.  As such, I have forgiven him for putting his sister in a body lock at school so that his younger brother could kick her in the shin at school the other day. 

I backed the dough instead of kneading it…wrong setting before I ran out the door.  In any case, we started over and, I highly recommend a bread machine for kneading dough for your pizza, nothing compares.  It’s like the dough on a cinnamon roll, all light and elastic, but not sweet.  Two pieces totally fill you up.  I’m having a hard time getting the crust to be crispy, though.  I guess that’s why they use a black iron pan at the pizza places.  I’ll have to check out some alternatives…I really don’t want to store on of those suckers in my pan cabinet. 

Well, on to my not-so-exciting list. 

My main goal is to feel decluttered by the end of this school day!  Ready.  Set.  GO!

The Copier Threw Up On Me; The Dog Needs Meds; I Need a Smoothie

Today, we are giving Daisy Dog 4 doses of antibiotics a day, for 10 days.  Yesterday, hubby told me to stuff the pill in the pizza dough crust.  I did that.  She spit the pill out of the crust, being the wise dog that she is.  I put it back into her mouth, into her shark-like teeth,  being the “scared of dogs” person that I am, and held her collar high so that she could not spit it out.  It worked.  I forgot the pill this morning, being the busy, and running behind, pool girl, dog walker, breakfast fixer person that I am.

So, I just got home from fighting with the school copier for four hours, and make a week’s worth of copies.   Some netting-like ink covered material started oozing out of one side.  I’ll probably get fired.  I moved my 5000 piles to another room that was 5000 degrees, on another floor, spilled Pepsi down my pants, AND I got a blister on my foot from running up and down stairs.  BUT, ..in the end, got to eat lunch with my daughter. 

Fortunately, she gave me 5000 and 1 hugs! I’m ahead!  I win!

I gave the dog her pill. 

The pool looks good.

So, I have one hour left before the house is filled with children and we need to go visit Grandmas, who had a colonoscopy yesterday (apparently the kids haven’t called enough this week, or so I’m told). 

So, I can…

 A.  Do laundry–I’m out of socks

B.  Clean the kitchen–two meals still waiting for me.

C.  Start supper–aaagh…that involves finishing B, but going to visit Grandma is going to leave me short on time tonight.

OR

D.  Go enjoy pool for one hour in this unbearbable heat and have a quiet time.

What SHALL I do?

Crazy Morning and…Well, More Craziness

First, let me just say that THE DOG PARTY IS NOT HERE!  The local she dog (not fixed) is in heat.  I told my Mom I need to send her a memo that my dog is not gay.  My dog also doesn’t need to “watch” according to yesterday’s plan for Heat Dog.  It’s all just rather weird for a girl not used to dogs.  But, truly, I can handle all of that.  They are animals.

But, I got up with the dog at 1:30 AM and at 3:30AM because my husband felt the need to tell me she was barking.  I did not know she was barking.  I was sleeping.  Until he woke me to say, “It’s not like her to bark like that for so long!”  I’m glad her told me.  I went back to sleep.

He woke me again to let me know he was taking the phone and going to the guest room. 

I got up, went outside.  Told the dog to stop barking, and saw another dog (same Heat Dog) run off.  Daisy stopped barking.

He came back to bed within 30 minutes.  I found out today that the clock ticked too loudly in that room.  I just thought he missed me.

At 3:30, repeat of the same.  He woke me to say, “Good grief!”  I pulled her up to the lockable deck and she slept quickly all night.  I went to walk her at 5:40AM, and Heat Dog was still there, sniffing around her stuff.  Now…enough is enough.  There is no food left out and she’s REALLY annoying me.  I may have to pay a friendly visit to the neighbors.  I’m just guessing it’s not going to go well.  They have a dog, they let her run loose.  I have kids.  So…what does that say right there?

In any case, I didn’t sleep. 

Went to walk my lovely, never in trouble dog, and she rolls over to expose to me her belly, which has a knot protrouding.  Looks like either a hernia or infection.  I go get the man of the house to help me look and we determine the same.  In any case, I need to get her to the vet.  They ask if I can be there in 20 minutes.  Yup, I can.

 Last week, I bought a cord for fourteen bucks and it was the wrong lenth…way too short for anything…and I was supposed to take it back (that was the day I got my speeding ticket.  I have blamed it on the dog cord for some reason).  So, I used the short cord, put down all the lovely leather seats I didn’t want her to scratch (why didn’t I think of that before?), and laid down a blanket (a peice of plastic underneath, or a waterproof pad is probably a good addition to my system).  At first, I hooked both ends into her collar, but it was a tight fit on the ring, and she got twisted around 5 times and had to untwist her to get her out.  Not fun to try to get a dog to walk 5 circles in a hot van, let me just say.  She thinks I’m a nut.  Which, well, I am, but anyway.

So, on the trip home, I hooked her like this, leaving a little more slack, but she still can’t reach the leather seats.  I’m hoping she won’t scratch anything else.  It keeps her pretty stabalized and in the center.

So, antibiotics 4 times a day for 10 ten days.  Apparently, she is allergic to the suture.

I got home to some major Skittles candy and a rest only to get a call that my step-Dad is going to Iraq for a year most likely–all this out of the blue.  Add to that a divorce in the immediate family in the last week.  I’m nearly meltdown with the family thing.  

My poor kids.  People coming and going everywhere. 

I don’t know who is going to tell them all this stuff.  So crazy.  I’ll probably wait on some of it.  Just too much at once. 

Okay, so I think I’m going to go cry for a while and then… I’ll be…probably ready to cry again.  Never mind that, I have a headache from sleep deprivation and allergies, not a good idea to cry.  I’ll have to take a raincheck on that one.

But, hey, God is good, all the time, right?  All the time. 

Be good, God.  Be good.  I know you are.  You are God.

For some reason this blog has been a featured wordpress blog the last 3-4 days.  And gee, who wouldn’t want to read about all this?  Astounding.  If you are hear from a wordpress link, welcome to the craziness.  Jump on board.

PS:  I did have to clean up dog poopie, but it was in the vet’s office.  She was scared.  She always waits to go in the grass.  It must have smelled pretty bad, the vet came in, looked for the trash can, sat it out of the room, and left pretty quickly.  Then someone came and opened the door saying we needed some ventilation.  Gee, I didn’t even smell it.  True love, eh?

I heard air spray, too.  Those ribs were a real “kicker”, eh Daisy? 

~Maggie

Wednesday

Today I’ve been looking at some break maker recipes to try to see what my options are and know what I need to have on hand to make fresh bread for dinner.  People have been surprised when I tell them that you don’t even need a bowl or a spoon.  You dump all the ingredients into the mixer basket, push a button; it literally mixes, kneads, rises, rests, rises for the second time, then cooks the bread to perfection.  You don’t move it!  It’s quite an amazing little invention.  I’ve enjoyed just the technology that goes into something like that…and much more so for 5 bucks (thrift stores are the best fun going).  My model is only 2-3 years old.  I’m thrilled to have it for fun.  Gee, you’d spend that much on a movie.  And, I can eat the results.  People, that’s luxury.  

I tried a new chocolate chip bread recipe tonight and it was much better.  First, I realized I accidentally picked up the wrong flour.  (I picked up self rising when I reached to get bread flour.)  Let’s just say that you don’t want to use self-rising AND yeast, the bread gets heavy and stiff…as it did last night.  I think the yeast over activates and almost cancels itself out.  “A little yeast works through the whole dough”?  Well, a lot of yeast just knocks itself out!  Perhaps there is a spiritual principle of moderation/balance in there I need to hear!  LOL.

Actually, there were no  “chocolate chips”–they dissolve in the warm dough.  I may try chunks for chocolate remnants.  I’d like that to go with coffee in the winter.  For now, we drizzled with Hershey’s chocolate and had a tall glass of milk with it for after school treat.  (Update:  Also, GREAT with butter substitute.  Daughter asked me if she had to use her “extra” money for chores to pay for it today!  Must be a favorite already!)

I still want a good recipe for supper time.  I’ve heard that oatmeal is a family favorite, but I wonder how heavy it is.  Probably very moist.

Daisy was much stronger tonight.  Limping at first in her retreivals, but then getting stronger as her muscles toned up a bit.  She was running for shorter fetches.  I tried not to throw them too long.  She was getting her appetite back, but she is favouring the doggie bisquits and pizza over dog food.  She is getting to where she just won’t touch dog food at all…the kids left over cereal seems a fav.  She keeps sniffing around the back door where we bring her treats.  The kids like putting it high to make her stand up for it.  She knocked the screen out of the screen door doing that!

I moved the wrought iron swing from the front porch back to my bedroom porch; we sit there in the evening and let her chase a ball around our feet.  It’s fun to use  a side of the yard and house we never enjoyed before.  She’s brought new life to the place.  She likes to dig holes in the yard if we don’t give her mid-day play, I’ve found…but, it’s too darn hot to play right now.  Another heat wave tomorrow, and then a chance of rain.  Several big fires in the area and water rations.

I volunteered to make copies at the school for one of the teachers who I’ve noticed working too late too often.  She trained me today.  I start tomorrow.  I have a new job.  Another one without pay, albeit, but the best kind–lots of joy and no strings.  By grace.  There is nothing more fun than being able to help for the joy of it. 

I thought I’d volunteer for things I like to do before I “got volunteered” for a lot of things I don’t particularly get a lot of joy out of.  I hope that is “serving according to the grace given you” as the Bible verse says…that’s how to live in a state of rest, or one way.   They asked me yesterday to be on an Instructional Committee, but I’m not very sure what that entails as of yet.  Sounds like a fun way to get to know people, and who knows, make a difference or two.

Today was a moody day.  I felt very out of sorts without my kids here.   That comes and goes every day still.  I was so busy last year I hardly knew they were gone.  Now, I can here the sound of my own thoughts so loudly.  It’s disconcerting, a bit.  I did meet several goals yesterday,  maintained today, but didn’t get any extra things done.  I’m trying to get my scrapbooking stuff off my table, or do it daily.  It’s fun to work when hubby is studying in the same room.  Reminds me of college days.  

The season?  Changing…new.  Different.  Roles different.  Time different.  Setting different.  Hobbies changing.  Priorities and schedule different.  A good thing.  An odd feeling.  I look forward to what God has for me. 

Stressful, but at the same time, joyful, relaxed, right.  At the same time?  The schedule has to run on time or nothing seems to work well.  A good, new season.  Forcing me into a level of motherhood I’ve not experienced yet with toddlers where you just keep them alive and it’s a good day.  Now…it’s “making the paths for their feet level” (another psalm I’ve remembered a lot lately for inspiration). 

What is your new season?

~Maggie 

Great Find

I found a used bread maker today for five bucks I thought I’d try for the fun of it.  The first recipe I found online just now when I looked for a manual online was for Chocolate Bread. 

God is smiling on me today.

Right now, on to quick Manwiches, and sitting on the deck to tend to Daisy Dog. 

Daisy is Home

Okay, so we had to lift Daisy into the truck.  She was not her feisty self.  Bless her heart…and every other part, or missing part, such as the case may be.  She had quite the pedicure.  Actually, still some splintering left on there…I was a bit surprised.  I expected red toe polish and all.

Everything has been shaved from the spot for the shots to everything underneath.  Yikes.  They should warn you.  The kids were freaked out by that.

She didn’t vomit on the way home, Praise God.  I had my trusty plastic Kroger bag just in case.  I got her hip on the back seat, and she was too weak to get the other leg to cooperate.  She stood on one hind leg the whole way home.  She is too weak to lap water out of her bucket yet, but kept licking her lips, so I let her lap it out of my hands.  I’ve come a long way, eh?  Two weeks and I’m letting a dog lap water out of my hands.  He jaw is sagging and her eyelids are sagging.  She is still pretty drugged.

We are on the road to recovery…she’ll have no fleas or ticks either, hopefully.  Now I have to figure out how to give her two more worm treatments in the next two days.  I’m thinking hubby needs to get into this action.

Well, we made it.  We really did.  I have a slight headache, but we did make it!!!  Thanks for all the funny emails today.  Oh, and I did NOT get my ice cream.  My kids had eaten it all last night.  I did buy some at the store, but I’m waiting for the right time. 

Daisy is Good.

I’m sure you all are sitting on the edge of your seat here, but … 

Daisy is sittin up and did well.  She didn’t even have heartworms.  That sounds good.

So, the plan is me, granddad, three kids, and a dog in the cab of the truck to get her home.  CJ says to prepare for vomit.  I’m really hoping we don’t have to go there.  I’m not even sure how one might prepare for the scenario.  “Daisy, here is a vomit bag for your barfing convenience should you feel the urge…”?

We’ll see how that goes.

Heel!

tODAY dAISY AND i…

worked on the “heel” command.  I’ve heard the term used, but didn’t know what it meant. 

It means something delightful.  It means that you can train a dog, hypothetically, to walk at your heel, nose to your toe, keeping in step with you…i.e. not pulling you at 500 miles an hour.  

Ahhhh. I like the sound of that!

So, she responded pretty well.  How?  I knew you’d ask.  Well, you leash her while walking, stop each time she runs ahead, say, “Whoa, doggie.”, moving her back to her place.  Then, you walk again repeating the process, praising her when she stays with you, stopping when she runs ahead.  

This dog is going to grow way too large to continue to “pull me”!  I’m liking the “heel” command!  Especially in 103 degree weather!

Yes, we are considering in ground fencing, but my husband doesn’t have time to deal with it right now, and I need the exercise very badly…AND motivation is great because I want to be able to handle the dog and not have her handle us. 

We also are working on “stay”…she does that pretty well!  How!  Well, how kind of you to ask…you hold out one stiff hand like a stop sign while saying, “STAY” in a strong tone, all the while holding their gaze until they know you want something.  

Already today, I can get her chain and leash on and off without fighting her as MY reward!  YEAH!  Today, shortly after her training session, I had leashed her by the pool while we swam so she could get to know the kids and they, her. 

 Low and behold, I moved everything she could get into but the grill, but it was back out of the way…I though!  Nope…she got behind it and around it.  She could have pulled that thing over!  We say it from swimming the pool and I said, “Quiet kids.  Daisy.  Stay. Whoa. Stay!” moving very carefully myself so as to not spook her.  I climbed out the side closest to her so she wouldn’t move.  She stayed very still waiting on me until I could rescue her and the gas grill!  Oh!  Thank you, Lord!

I also picked up doggie poopie for the first time today.  (I’m not sure if that should follow, Thank you, Lord).  Don’t tell my kids I used their sand shovel.  (Also not sure if that should follow, Thank you, Lord).  They asked how I picked it up.  I said, “Well, with a plastic bag inside out…I just grabbed it and held it in the bag.” 

Truth be told, the book said to do that, but I used their toy shovel.  I got the poopie, okay?

In other news, we did our first school homework tonight.  True to form, BoyWonder suddenly remembered homework he didn’t have written done on his assignment tablet at bedtime.  ARGGGGGgggg.   We did three kids homework after 8:00 baths.  Not my goal, but it was so hot again today that we took a family swim before dark.

BoyWonder’s teacher has big dogs…two labs.  She told him today that she can’t get them to fetch at all.  Wow!  That would be so sad!  I’m so glad Daisy has something she loves to do!  Tennis balls as a reward is much better than food.

Quotable Oddity I’ll Throw In:  I sat down this afternoon to watch Rachel Raye with my daughter.  Red said to me , “Wow!  Mom!  I’ve never seen you watch TV before!  I don’t think I’ve never seen you do that before!”  Music to my ears…thank you, Lord.

It’s true…I’d rather be doing just about anything else.  When I was a teen, I prayed to be delivered from my evening TV time-waster.  Somewhere over the next few years I was convinced I enjoyed watching people live rather than living my own life.  And…once I decided to live, I never really wanted to watch TV much.   Oh, I know, there are good reasons to watch also, but just was a personal battle for me that I needed to overcome.   One I don’t want to have to fight again.  At the time, I was saying that I didn’t have time to pray or read my Bible, yet I had hours at a time to watch TV?   I SAID I was doing homework, but you know how that is.

ANYWAY, well, laundry, bath, and cleanup are still left–this chick is getting in bed by 10 these days!  5:30 comes mighty early!  Soon, dark mornings and cold weather will be here.  I sure won’t want to get out at 5:30 then!  Great change of pace. 

Blessings! 

~Maggie 

Frisbee with the Lab…Not an Easy Feat

This morning I made a bit of progress working on Frisbee skills with Daisy, the Choco Lab.  At 5:40AM, when she’s hungry, she’ll put anything in her mouth.  And I was glad, she hasn’t touched it so far.  I rubbed dog food on the rim.  Oh, she touched it after that!

Let’s just say:  it’s going to be a long process.  There are now a few holes in the Frisbee.  I gave her a few treats now and then…perhaps a few more treats are in order next time.  And a few more frisbees. 

She won’t catch it yet.  She will only “retrieve” it, but won’t “return” it, and thus, she starts “biting” it if I don’t go “get” it.    We’re going to try again soon.  

As a note of interest, they don’t recommend “jumping” for the Frisbee until 14 months, when all their growth plates are settled, to avoid injuring the legs.  And, also of note:  to let them “jump off your back”, it requires protective wardrobe, like a diver’s suit, to keep even a sharp clawed animal from hurting you unintentionally.  Like I was going to let a 50 pound dog jump of ME…but, it’s a cool thought.  Maybe BoyWonder will get her to do some tricks like that if I can get her to retrieve the Frisbee.

Whoa. Labs blog? Get. Out.

I was just researching a bit to see if it’s okay for dogs to drink pool water, and generally, what I’d be getting myself into if I bent and let the dog swim with the kids for a bit.  For one, I think the inflatable slide would, like…probably no longer inflate, and after seeing her tackle the dog bone yesterday, I’m invisioning foam noodles remnants all over tarnation.  So, it would require some close supervision, limited time, and everything put away, I’m thinking. 

But…guess what I found?  LABS BLOG!  I mean, like…you know, they have their own blogs.  I’ve run across two today.  The second’s owner is named Joan.  She was trying to clip his nails.  Apparently that needs to be done once a month to keep them from having foot problems.  Hmmm.  I’ll have to think on that. 

Check it out!  Bosco Dog Blog

I wonder if MY new dog blogs?  Whew knew?  The possiblities are obviously endless.

WELL… 

I had goals of organization.  I did organize.  My desk is very workable.

Currently, there are still dishes in the sink…there is just nothing to make that go away, is there?

Laundry:  clean or dirty?  Who would know?

That’s my goal for today.  I usually “reset” the room the day and night before school.  Burns off my adrenaline and anxiety I suppose.  I’ll be up until 2 AM because, let’s be honest, who wants to clean all day the last day of summer break.  As I’ve said before, if you do laundry in the middle of the night, it doesn’t waste a whole day.  It just makes sense.  Yes, I’ll be tired tomorrow, but that’s okay, that will help me with the emotions of sending Red to school for a whole day this year. 

Kids are excited, and stressed.  I told them this AM that I would appreciate it if they could turn their stressed fussing and fighting into sweetness so I’d miss them tomorrow instead of being glad they were gone.  Unbelievably, it seemed to work immediately.  They got it!  They are hugging me now to no end.

Exercise:  Daisy Dog is helping me get faithful to exercise again.  I love her for that.  I even got my hands around her face today when I was cooling her off.  She didn’t bite me or anything.   Because I won’t take the tennis ball out of her mouth yet, she runs it 15 feet from me for punishment.  It’s a pain.  So, I’ve got to learn the mouth thing.   I have to play fetch with her for a while or there is no way I can leash her.  

Joy:  Daisy is  also helping me remember the joy of play.  I’d forgotten.  My brain is too busy all the time with words and puzzles and math and keeping everyone in line.  She’s been a refreshing I needed.

Shopping:  I found a cool scrapbook “superstore” in Franklin, Tennessee called “Cropper’s Coral”  (www.cropperscorral.com).  They were really nice, so if you are in the area, go scope them out, or you can order online.  They had some good sales going on.  They carry a lot of different things, not just scrapbook stuff.

Call Me:  Call or stop by if you are in the same day-before-school insanity and we’ll laugh it off together.  I am going to be on top of my Mommy game before the day is over.  It will probably take all day for me to work myself up to it, but we’ll get there.

Invite:  Tomorrow morning, 8:30.  I’m inviting local moms to my house…we can talk, walk, swap stories, drink something cold, and just be “not alone without the kids” for a few minutes.  It seems to help.  (The dog is chained away from the house.)  I am hoping Red adjusts well.  I’ll leave a phone out on the porch to call here in case I get held up, but otherwise,  wait out back on the porch and stare in the windows at my not quite clean house.  I don’t mind.  Call for my cell number if you’d like it.

Maggie

Learning to Be a Dog Owner

Well, God is good.  The dog didn’t bark all night.  However, hubbie’s work called twice at 12:30 and 2:30, and Red came and flailed all over the bed at 4:30, second night in a row.  Let’s just say that Mommy and Daddy are getting a bit snippy….everyone had BETTER stay in their own beds tonight. 

You know those really cool dog leashes with the handle?  I love those things!  

Here’s a couple doggies tips:

A.  Children’s feet get easily tangled in leashes. 

B.  If helicopters suddenly tend to land in your yard…well, that can startle a young pup…

C.  If the children least the handy dandy leash on the dog for “just a second!”, an eight month old pup will chew straight through that baby. 

Hubby suggested that I might be able to disassemble it and somehow put it back together.  I cut and sewed with a denim needle and thread on the button setting on my sewing maching.  After re-assembling it three times, I finally figured out how to get it to automatically retract again.  Hubby then says, “oh, yeah…just just like a lawn mower assembly”.  Liek that info helps me.  Anyway, where was he 15 minutes and three fits ago?

So…then, I decided to run her in the dark anyway because she was yippy.  I got her leashed, we ran, I was happy. 

So, then I’m out of breath from my whole two laps, panting, praising Daisy, and I CANNOT get her back on the leash in the dark. I even BROKE A NAIL TO THE QUICK!  That’s dedication right there, my friends. 

In other dog related news:  did you know that an eight month old dog can pull a six year old child in a wagon who is holding her leash?  I wouldn’t recommend it, per se…I’m just sayin’.   If he’s in the wagon, and holding the leash…well, it’s all fun and games after that!  Quite a suprise for Red.  He squealed, “Whoa!  Stop, Daisy!  Stop!”–everyone is laughing, whole family in pursuit. 

I bought our first Doggie bone yesterday.  Let’s just say that as much as the dog loves fetch, she loves her doggie bones more.  And she doesn’t like to be bothered while she is chomping…it takes a lot of concentration to do it, right, I suppose.  She loves to be petted and played with, but…not while she’s eating.  I totally get it.

Tomorrow is our last day of school summer break.  The novelty has me inquisitive; I’m not too mournful this year.  But, it doesn’t take much for me to get worried or high strung myself wondering about my kids. 

Perhaps I need to chase a tennis ball… or twenty.  But, that’s what scrapbooking is about for me…let it work it’s magic.

Maggie