I read the book this movie was based on last year for Christmas. The author, Greg Kincaid, lives in Olathe, Kansas, just twenty or so miles south of my home via K-7. But for some reason, the movie was not re-aired last year (or I completely missed it in the avalanche of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies that start in late November and don’t stop until nearly New Year’s). This year, I caught the movie on my DVR when it aired on Saturday night. My husband and I spent a very pleasant Sunday evening with the McCrays and their on-again-off-again adoption of a dog named Christmas.
Today, and every day, I’m thankful for the companionship and unconditional love of my Rottweilers. I’ll focus my fourth ‘Thirty Days of Thankfulness‘ topic with a walk down memory lane with Baron, Roxy and Apollo.
Roxy and Apollo (Nov 2011)
These two are not our first Rottweilers, and probably won’t be our last. Only Heaven knows why all dogs adopted by the Moss Family select me as their favorite family member.
I grew up a cat person. Yes, we had a dog, once, but it’s the cats I remember. I adored them; they put up with me. Ironically, I married a dog person and spawned more dog-loving offspring. At least my daughter had some affinity for cats, but gave equal time to dogs. In fact, Rachelle rescued Roxy from our local animal shelter back in 2004 or 2005. At least we had a fenced back yard. A good friend we knew from church also loved Rottweilers and helped train dogs, so Rachelle and Roxy went to obedience school together for the first few months. Roxy learned the commands well and even learned how to track and speak on command, not always an easy command to teach a Rottweiler.
A year or so later, my husband conspired with Rachelle to rescue Apollo, using the excuse Roxy suffered from loneliness. They took Roxy to the same animal shelter she was rescued from to meet Apollo, to see if she would like him and could get along with him. Apollo followed the pattern or all previous dogs we’ve adopted and looked up to me, but he really connected with Rachelle. Perhaps he was just playing along with the established canine hierarchy previously established by Roxy. When Rachelle left to attend college in North Texas, Apollo accepted his lot in life and transferred his loyalty, temporarily Rachelle hopes, to Terry. Apollo will get his annual Rachelle fix at the end of December, which she returns for a two week visit during her between-semester holiday break.
The only photo we have of Baron (early 90s)
One of our previous Rottweilers, Baron, came from champion stock and weighed in over one hundred and twenty pounds (I don’t remember exactly, it could have been up over 130). He exhibited the typical male Rottweiler traits — grumpiness, protectiveness, aggressiveness, insatiable appetite — and still followed me around with puppy dog eyes. Because he was full blooded and registered, we never neutered him, so that probably contributed to his Alpha-dog antics; although King, an even larger, but older, Malamute, did not suffer foolishness. We lost Baron tragically to stomach torsion in the early 90s, leaving King alone again until he passed away peacefully at the great old age of fourteen.
King, Derek and Terry in the mid 80s.
We took more than ten years to adopt another Rottweiler. I blame Rachelle completely for the rescue of Roxy. I never dreamed I’d be buying (and hefting) forty and fifty pound bags of dog food again. Or annual trips to the vet to the detriment of the leather seats in my cars. Or finding dog toys that last more than five minutes (Tuffie Toys or a variant of the Tiger tested toys found at my local hardware store).
But for all my grunching, I enjoy walking either dog (rarely together, as they outweigh me and have incredible torque). Trips to the local dog park are a big hit with both Rotts, although Roxy, being older and slower, tends to flag sooner than Apollo, who can run and play all day long if given the chance. I come home each week night to wagging tails (or nubs in Roxy’s case) and greeted to a fresh round of snuffling and drooling.
Some breeds can self-regulate at meal time. In my experience, the Rottweiler is not one of those breeds. I often refer to the resident Rottweiler as a walking stomach. Therefore, I feed them both sparingly: a cup in the morning and a cup in the evening. Otherwise, Roxy would look like a beached whale in a week. Apollo, on the other hand, who is not a full-blooded Rott, often skips a meal because he’s not hungry and not driven by the need to consume anything that even looks remotely edible. When I board the dogs at the local kennel, I have to remind them to not leave any food lying around in a convenient dish, or Roxy will find it and consume it. She inhales her food. Seriously, I’m not joking, and I worry about her choking. Someday, I should post a YouTube video of Roxy at breakfast time, but it might be too short to believe. By the time I place the food in her dish, turnaround to scoop out Apollo’s portion and drop it in his dish, she’s usually done. Apollo then starts growling at Roxy to warn her away from his dish and I shoo her outside to the back yard, leaving him in peace to finish his breakfast in a leisurely five or ten minutes.
Roxy Listening to the Neighborhood (Nov 2011)
Once Apollo finishes his breakfast, he bounds up the stairs, prancing and bouncing around the great room in an effort to get my attention. I proceed to the other back door and let him out, provided Roxy doesn’t burst through the door as soon as I open it. Roxy hates being outside, especially if it’s raining or wet. Apollo loves the outdoors and gladly spends hours and hours exploring the backyard and keeping an eye on the neighbors and the frequent joggers, walkers and strollers. If he’d let me, I’d never let him back in the house, not because I don’t love him, but because I hate his non-standard issue long hair, which sheds continuously wherever he goes, wherever he lies down, even wherever he stands.
Apollo Surveying His Domain (Nov 2011)
I am thankful for all the years we’ve enjoyed with our Rottweilers. I look forward to many more happy years of fun with Roxy and Apollo.
Roxy (also affectionately known as 'Bear-Pig' and 'Ditzy')
Last year, a few days after my birthday, I scrapped my MySpace blog, mostly due to interface changes, and ventured here to WordPress with a backup blog at Blogger. My original intention was to journal my astronomical adventures here and do some inspirational topics on the backup site. While I didn’t blog daily, I did manage to craft over two hundred blog entries here (this being my 225th).
Cygnus (the Swan)
In honor of my original intention to explore the heavens, I wanted to encourage everyone (and motivate myself) to participate in this year’s Great World Wide Star Count. Don’t be shy! Anyone can participate and it doesn’t require any equipment beyond your eyes. This project is an annual survey of the night sky, held this year between October 14th and 28th (7-9 pm optimal viewing window) to record how many stars you can see in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) in the northern hemisphere (follow the link above if you reside Down Under). This helps map the spread of light pollution. I plan to get out my telescope (for the first time this fall) and view the beautiful blue/yellow double-star Albireo. I can’t tell from the survey’s website if they are affiliate with the IDA (the International Dark-Sky Association), but I’m doing my bit (via this blog) to raise awareness about the value of dark skies and their preservation and restoration.
And now, a brief retrospective of some of my favorite blog entries (indicated with asterisks) from the past year and a few popular (according to the stats) highlights:
My 15th Anniversary at Work (but wait, I had to password protect that entry to protect unnamed entities; send me an e-mail if you want to read that super secret blog post) (Aug 2011) *
Mid-August usually simmers, steeping the Midwest in heat and humidity; yet we’ve been graced with temperatures in the 80s and relatively low humidity. Daily (or nightly) thunderstorms greened up the lawn, found a leak in my new roof (or old chimney) and delayed the second major home improvement project to replace our disintegrating driveway.
My daughter and her boyfriend fled the persistent Texas drought and constant triple-digit temperatures to bask on the beaches of the Bahamas this week. They returned to the Heartland yesterday, making a brief layover at KCI in the early evening. She called us as we were driving to a friend’s 50th birthday party. No word yet if they made it back to Texas (but I’m assuming they did and were just too tired to call).
Roxy between Royna and Derek
Roxy, one of our Rottweilers, made a trip to the vet this week, ostensibly to have a stubborn tick removed from her inner left thigh (and also for some advice for her mobility as she ages … she’s over seven or eight years old now). Terry and I found the ‘tick’ Sunday evening. We tried several times to remove it, but could not find the head or legs (only the ‘body’). The vet got a chuckle when he explained that what we thought was a tick was actually a skin tab … it just looked a lot like a tick. I really should have put my reading glasses on Sunday evening and saved poor Roxy the abuse.
Looking east/northeast from Parallel and 110th near the Legends.
I only got to ride in the van one day this week. I took Monday off, rode Tuesday and then drove the van the rest of the week. I saw some fantastic sunrises and tried to snap a few photos with my cell phone (while driving). As we near the autumnal equinox, the sunrise coincides (inconveniently for eastbound drivers) with our commute from Leavenworth to Kansas City. By the time we reach Parallel or State Avenue, the sun sits just above the horizon, so a bit of cloud camouflage eases the eye strain and makes driving safer. Finally, after nearly ten days of driving a loaner van, the vanpool returned our van to us from the repair shop. I opted to swap the vans Friday morning after dropping off the other two riders at Hallmark. I got almost all the way to the Plaza before I realized I’d left my cell phone in the loaner van. The guard at the KCATA garage probably thinks I’m blonde or something.
Jupiter, to the left of the Waning Moon
I missed the Perseid meteor shower, like most of the rest of the United Stats, thanks to a full moon (and hazy clouds or even thunderstorms). My husband sat outside one night this week, but he reported the moon lit up the atmosphere so much, he could hardly see the brightest stars. In fact, he had trouble finding the constellation Cassiopeia, normally very easy to spot as it looks like a W or an M (depending on it’s current rotational position around Polaris). I did spy the waning moon one morning approaching Jupiter and snapped a photo with my cell phone since I was headed to the van and running late (so couldn’t setup the good camera on a tripod for a more professional-looking amateur photo). Saturday morning (early early early), if the clouds had been absent, would have shown Jupiter within five degrees of an even thinner moon.
Sunset Thur 18 Aug 2011
Wednesday night, WolfGuard auditioned a drummer to replace the drummer/lead singer who recently moved to New Mexico to pursue better employment opportunities. Thursday night, Terry and I ventured into North Kansas city to the other Sears store (as opposed to the one down south on Metcalf). Sears seems to be the sole remaining tenant of the dying Antioch Center shopping mall. We’re still wrangling with Sears over a refrigerator we purchased in May, so we went looking at different, hopefully better models. We also stopped at two office supply shops to look at shredders, during which a beautiful sunset occurred and once again I only had my cell phone camera with me (sigh).
We wrapped up the week spending some time celebrating the life of a good friend at his 50th birthday party. We had a great time visiting with old friends and heckling the over-the-hill dude. I’ve still got a couple of years to catch up with him.
After weeks of overcast, I couldn’t believe my eyes on the commute home yesterday. A clear blue sky with little to no haze and not a single cloud to be found. Waiting for the sun to set never seemed to take so long as it did last evening. I wasted some time with a quick grocery shopping run on my way home from the Hallmark parking lot. Terry made an awesome salad, which I ate as soon as I got home. He also planned to grill a couple of t-bones we’d purchased last month at the local farmers market in Leavenworth. Even though the charcoal fired up perfectly, the steaks disappointed. It’s been decades since either of us had such a grisly tough steak. We will NOT be purchasing any more meat from that particular local farmer.
I got caught up on Jeopardy and still had an hour to go before sunset. I fed the dogs, did some laundry and watched a rocket reality show hosted by Kari Byron on the Science channel. I ignored most of it (as I do most reality television) and Terry drifted off into his after-supper food coma. I started transferring telescope equipment from the basement to the backyard as soon as the sun set. I left the patio door open so Roxy and Apollo could come visit me if they wanted to. For the most part, they ran along the privacy fence, occasionally barking at evening strollers and/or their dogs.
Just as I attempted to do an easy alignment in the alt/az mounted mode for the ETX-90 and the Autostar, I realized I needed my cell phone for the time (because the Autostar asks for the date and time first when you turn it on). I ran back in the house and got my phone and saw my father had called while I was outside. I admit I was a bit distracted while talking (mostly listening) to him as I attempted to align the telescope. He asked me where Saturn was and I thought it was almost directly overhead. After I hung up, I realized that what I thought was Saturn was actually Arcturus (once I used the Big Dipper’s handle arc to find it among the constellations that I could barely see through the ambient Lansing light pollution). Once I confirmed via the telescope that bright fleck was indeed a star and not Saturn, I drove a ‘spike’ towards Spica and found Saturn in close proximity to another bright star in the constellation Virgo. Here’s what I saw last night facing south from my backyard (well, I saw some of this – except for the view blocked by my tall house, several very tall trees and an electric utility pole in the southwest corner of my yard).
South Horizon to Zenith on 31 May 2011 at 2215
South Horizon to Zenith on 31 May 2011 at 2215
I attempted several times to align the telescope but failed repeatedly (even the Autostar kept telling me I failed). I could not use Arcturus as one of the two alignment stars because it was so high in the sky I could not use the finder scope. I know, I know, I should have installed my new red-dot finder scope before the first clear night in weeks arrived. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. 😛
I found Saturn and rejoiced in the clear view of it’s rings, using the 26mm and 16mm eyepieces. However, because I couldn’t get the telescope aligned properly, the slewing couldn’t keep up and Saturn drifted out of the field of view rapidly. Then, Saturn drifted behind the electric utility pole and I needed to wait five or ten minutes for the Earth to rotate enough for it to pop out on the other side. My night vision had begun to settle in (since I’d been outside for thirty minutes or so) when my neighbor to the north decided to turn on very bright lights in her second story south facing bedroom, leaving the blinds open. So much light emanated from that room that I could read my star atlas without using my night vision preserving red flashlight. I could have screamed in frustration. What I should have done was grab my camera and take photographs of her through her window and post them in this blog. For crying out loud! Don’t people realize that when you leave your blinds open and turn on every light in the room, it’s like a stage to those outside?!?!? She’s lucky I exercised restraint and left the camera inside.
Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas
With my night vision ruined, Saturn still behind the utility pole and the dew rapidly drenching all the sensitive optics, I elected to teach myself a couple of constellations and their primary bright stars, hoping my neighbor would turn off her bedroom lights. Using my new Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, I found the charts for May and June evenings and studied the constellations Virgo and Leo. I also refreshed my memory of Bootes and Gemini (which I could barely see sinking into the western horizon, basically just the two dominant stars representing the twins’ heads – Pollux and Castor). Saturn was close enough to Porrima (also known as gamma Virginis) to see it through my telescope eyepiece’s field of view at the same time I watched the ringed planet.
The constellation I spent the most time studying lies just to the west of Virgo and contains several bright stars easily visible in from my light polluted back yard.
Constallation Leo
Denebola and Regulus are both visible soon after the sun sets. I studied Leo for several minutes, fixing the alignment of its stars into the pattern shown above. I returned to Virgo, since Saturn is traversing through that constellation at the moment. The configuration represented in my star atlas differs from those I have found represented on the internet this morning:
Constellation Virgo
After waiting more than fifteen minutes for my neighbor to turn off her bedroom lights, I gave up, packed up the telescope and transferred it and all it’s accessories back down into my basement. Rain and clouds are predicted for the next few days (of course) during the darkest phase of the moon. I could just cry.
Winding back to Tuesday evening, Terry and I jumped in the car as soon as I got home to return the bluetooth stereo headphones to Best Buy at the Legends. In an effort to one-up my surprise anniversary gift of a 24 inch widescreen HD monitor for Terry, he purchased a Nook Color for me. I spent the next couple of hours playing with that new gadget and finally getting the recent software update to download and install.
Backyard Astronomer's Guide
Not having enough to do, I setup the telescope near the mailbox on the driveway since the night was exceptionally clear for an early May spring evening. I was able to view Saturn and at least one of it’s moons and I saw the shadow of the rings on the surface of the planet as well as some contrast between the clouds of that gas giant. I tried a filter, but couldn’t remember the exact number I should have used from my reading of The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide (Part 1). I swung around to the north-northeast to view Mizar in Ursa Major and attempted to find the Owl Nebula (M97) and as well as M81/M82 (a couple of galaxies). However, the light pollution from the Lansing Correctional Facility and my neighbors porchlights and yard lights (and possibly some haze in the atmosphere) prevented me from find any of the deep sky objects. I packed everything back up and went off to bed.
Wednesday morning, I left early to visit my local Wal-Mart to find a protective cover or sleeve for the Nook Color. Even though two employees were in the Electronics department, stocking shelves, they managed to ignore me the entire time I searched for said product. I found a leather-looking folio-type cover which had the word ‘nook’ on the packaging and purchased it for about $30. Once out in the car, I quickly discovered that ‘nook’ does not mean ‘nook color’ as the product was too small. I had run out of time though to return it immediately and rushed to meet my vanpool and commute to work. During lunch, I took a fifteen minute walk to the Country Club Plaza Barnes & Noble to pickup the cover I had placed on hold via the B&N website. Since most of my lunch hour still remained, I walked back east and decided to try Firehouse Subs. I had just received my order when a couple of my coworkers arrived and asked to join me. We had an enjoyable visit before I headed back to the office building.
Elvenbane (unabridged audiobook)
I easily transferred the 15 CDs worth of MP3s for the audiobook Elvenbane using the microUSB cord provided and a spare 4GB microSD card I originally purchased for my unsmartphone. The Nook has a regular headphone jack (instead the proprietary one for my Samsung cell phone) which allows me to use a comfortable pair of wired stereo headphones. I enjoyed an hour’s worth of listening during the commute back to Leavenworth. That means in about a week I should be able to finish this book and write up a review for Fantasy Literature. I’m about one-quarter finished and a bit exasperated with the current characters, who are children acting like children, even if they be dragons or half-elf/half-human in origin. I usually avoid young adult fiction and/or fiction that focuses on children, pre-teens or teens because the melodrama usually makes me nauseous.
While on the phone with an IT colleague in our St. Louis office, I received a call from my daughter. I asked her if I could call her back as I’d been trying to connect with the St. Louis person for several days. I surprised myself by remembering to call my daughter back when I finished. Rachelle reported she passed her opera divisional jury easily. The jury panel once again wondered why she was a music history undergrad student and not a vocal performance one. She consoled them by affirming she planned to study vocal performance as a graduate. We also discussed the best way to send her the rest of her summer tuition, debating the merits of PayPal versus a traditional check. She opted for the latter and I mailed said check promptly Thursday morning along with several other items I had forgotten to mail throughout the week.
Wednesdays mean Wolfguard rehearsal, focused for their benefit concert this Saturday afternoon. I didn’t hang around for the first set. Instead, I ran back to Wal-Mart to return the nook cover. Ironically, after finding all of the items on Terry’s shopping list (except for the nine volt batteries!), I spent the same amount that I had just had refunded to me. I made it home in time to catch most of the second set rehearsal.
I had trouble dozing off, tossing and turning until well past one o’clock in the morning. So when the alarm went off at five o’clock I felt like I’d had a nice nap. Joy of joys, Thursday mornings are trash days in Lansing, so I dealt with the garbage and the recyclables before dragging myself to the van for the morning commute. I again listened to Elvenbane while trying to stay awake without the assistance of a caffeinated beverage.
My morning flew by as have the other two days of this work week. So much to do, so many projects to juggle and so many distractions and fires interfering with my well laid plans. Just after the bi-weekly Change Management meeting broke-up and as I was settling down to compile some information, I received a call on my cell phone from an unrecognized number. The woman on the other end was the Director of the Leavenworth Library, calling to tell me my mother had been ambulanced to Cushing Hospital a few minutes before eleven o’clock. I asked the Director what her symptoms and/or condition was and she replied that she had been dizzy and incoherent, on the verge of passing out and once the EMTs were on site, her blood pressure and blood sugar were both very high. I, of course, assumed the worst — that she was having a stroke or heart attack.
I spent the next several minutes making phone calls to determine how best to get home. Since I don’t drive to work, I can’t just jump in my car to return home when an emergency occurs. However, one of the benefits of participating in the Guaranteed Ride Home program for the last several years (first as a carpooler and for the last year as a vanpooler). Never before have I had an emergency occur where I couldn’t find an alternative way home without invoking this benefit. Today was the day. I explained my situation and they provided a limo service for me since I live over thirty miles away from work (although it’s a similar fare if you are going from the Plaza to KCI, since I live very close to KCI, just across the Missouri River on the Kansas side). One of the last call’s I made was to Cushing Hospital ER to get an updated status on my mother. I was able to talk to her (she hadn’t seen a doctor yet) and I told her I probably wouldn’t make it to Cushing until close to one o’clock in the afternoon.
The ride home was uneventful but dreary, as rain had arrived in Kansas City. However, by the time we reached Lansing, the rain let up and the clouds began to break-up and patches of blue sky became visible. In fact, when I parked the Firebird at Cushing, the sun was warming up the recent rain and promising some humidity and haze.
The ER reception desk at Cushing was unmanned, although I sign indicated I should sign in on a clipboard. I hesitated to do so since I was not a patient needing care, but rather a relative seeking to visit an ER patient. After standing around for fifteen minutes, a woman returned to the desk and asked me if I had signed in. I explained I did not need treatment but wanted to see my mother. She shocked me by stating that my mom would be released in a few minutes so I could have a seat while I waited. True to her word, my mom arrived in the waiting area about five minutes later.
The ER doctors had run an EKG and a CAT scan and found nothing of note. He encouraged her to rest for the next couple of days and eat more frequent small meals. Apparently, her appetite has been suppressed recently (in fact, she’s lost enough wait to wear clothes two sizes smaller than usual). I’m not sure if that’s a result from her previous trip to the hospital a couple of weeks ago and the prescriptions she’s been taking for that incident. I got her into the Firebird (which rides low) and took her home so I could switch cars and gather up Terry. I fed her a light lunch to make sure she got something to eat before we drove out to Easton. We stopped by the Library to drop off her doctor’s note excusing her from work for the rest of the day and tomorrow. I drove her car back to Easton while Terry and Mom rode in the Bonneville.
I am grateful nothing more serious occurred to my mother, especially since Mother’s Day is this Sunday! That was my other reason for taking her to my house – her card was sitting on the kitchen table for Terry to deliver that afternoon.
Rainbow on May 5th
Terry and I stopped at Denney’s Produce on the return trip but couldn’t find many appealing or appetizing veggies. Once home, we talked for a few minutes and then watched three days’ worth of Jeopardy episodes. Then I took Roxy for a walk and saw a vivid rainbow just before the sun set.
It doesn’t look like I’m going to get a break until Sunday. Tomorrow night might be all right, but Saturday is chock full of activities – first Spring book sale for the Kansas City Public Library at the City Market (undecided if I’ll attend), the Wolfguard benefit concert and opening night at Powell Observatory. I feel tired just thinking about the next forty-eight hours.
I motivated myself with the help of Apollo, my wonder-Rott, to take a longer walk this morning. I found my sunglasses (left them in the car two days ago), found the dog leash near my walking shoes, and asked Terry to hang on to Roxy. The minute I latched onto Apollo’s collar with the leash, Roxy set to whining, howling and other piteous moaning sounds made by pathetic spoiled canines.
The sun had barely risen when Apollo and I started swimming, er, I mean walking. Even though the temperature was mild (in the 60s), the humidity was a hefty 87 percent! My sunglasses kept fogging up while walking. Usually, Apollo and I walk north for a couple of blocks to Mary Street and then head west crossing US-73/K-7 and walking within sight of Desoto Road. Instead, we turned back south after crossing the highway and walked through the ‘Town Centre’ area. Along the way I spied some flowering trees:
Of course, being the uninformed arborist, I have no idea what types of trees or shrubs these are, so please educate me!
Once Apollo and I returned home, I checked the forecast for today (well, actually for tonight), hoping for a chance to view Saturn again. If nothing else, the Moon will be spectacular as it reaches it’s quarter crescent stage of waxing-ness.
In the meantime, while the sun is still shining, time to do some housework, clean off the DVR (Formula One weekend eats up so much space so quickly!) and catch up on some reading.
Now I’m not sure what to do today. All week long, the weatherman has been predicting doom and gloom for today, including sleet and snow. I had planned to start a fire in the fireplace and bake pies, bread and experiment with a chicken pot pie recipe I found last week.
But if the sunrise (click on photo to see the rest of the album) is any indication of what the rest of the day will be like, do I really want to be confined another weekend in my house? Perhaps the dogs would like to visit the dog park today? If nothing else, I’ll take Apollo on a longer walk this evening. Roxy and I walked before the sunrise, when it was still only 24 degrees.
I woke up to the second day of March with significantly more sleep than I got for the first day. And, a stunning sunrise evolved over the course of my commute from home to Kansas City, Missouri:
Sunrise Wed 2 Mar 2011 over Kansas City, Missouri skyline
I enjoyed my cran-raspberry white chocolate scone (baked Sunday morning) with two cups of average tea (just Lipton for easy prep) while cleaning up log files before monitoring MOSS 2007 crawl a large content source. At least I have no meetings scheduled for today.
I’m looking forward to a short walk at lunch to take advantage of Planet Sub‘s double punch day. This evening, I’ll take a long walk with Roxy during Wolfguard‘s practice.
Ah, the joys of tax preparation season and gathering all the necessary documentation for filing an itemized return, especially when some of your offspring don’t answer their cell phones and may never check or respond to their voice-mail messages.
And the things my husband says when I gather the appropriate information and return his call to relate said information:
“Would there happen to be a pen up here?” meaning the kitchen table.
“I have no idea. I was a secretary for years and have no desire to be one again. I keep mine in my purse.” my reply.
“Well, I only have two places to keep a pen on me, and neither one of them pleasant.” his reply which sparked images that may scar me for the rest of my life.
While speaking to one of my offspring’s significant others, I learned all of them (my offspring and their better halves) are involved in indoor soccer leagues. I feel so left out of the loop. I adamantly requested photos and updates at the first opportunity.
I despair of ever catching up on my group reads. I have at least two left over from February, bleeding over into March. I may drop everything so I can read the newly released (yesterday and in the mail to me right now via pre-order from Barnes & Nobel) The Wise Man’s Fear. The rest of my current reads pile can be found here.
And I’ve been asked to lead the discussion in two different groups, the first on Willis’ Doomsday Book and the second on Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. As if I needed anything else to do.
I did purchase a new battery for my pedometer, hoping the predicted snow for later this week leaves only a dusting so I and my Rotts can get back in shape. We could all benefit from a brisk walk and fresh air to invigorate our outlook on life.
My outlook dimmed after reading L.E. Modesitt’s recent blog post about the problem of proving truth. I attempted to comment, probably not very eloquently, nor diplomatically, but again, my fug lens needs cleansing.
I do have my daughter’s first concert of the spring semester to look forward to tomorrow evening. One of the choirs she’s a member of (Chamber Choir) performs a short concert at 6:30 pm, streamed live over the Internet. She’s listed in the program under the Altos as Rachelle Moss, mostly because the color of her voice lands her in that section nine times out of ten. I do miss hearing her rehearsing at home.
I’ll get little rest, peace or quite tonight (so I might as well walk the dogs) since it’s practice night for my husband’s rock band. I just wish it wasn’t dark so early, because I could take my camera with me while walking and probably snap a few interesting photos. I don’t want to start yet another book (on audio via my phone) nor do I want to re-hash all the old MP3s I’ve let languish there. Guess I’ll just talk to Roxy or Apollo until they howl me silent.
I did finish my third crochet project of the year, but haven’t had a chance to photograph Terry modeling his new scarf. He did wear it yesterday when he was out and about, but said it was so warm he had to remove it. At least he won’t be cold the next time we have a frigid blizzard in February.
Today I wish my mom a very Happy Birthday. Here’s a photo of her from 1965 helping me celebrate my first birthday:
Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie: A Dog Named Christmas (2009)
