Didja ever have one of those days that you're just bummed out to the max?  I guess that's a dumb question.....seems everybody has em once in a while.  Well, that was yesterday for me.  It started out so so and went down from there.  I don't have any idea why, but I was a combination of bummed out, halfway angry, shi__y attitude, depressed, tired and I had a headache by the time I went to bed.  Now how's that for a "bad day stew".  Anyway, I was glad when it was over and I woke up this morning with a whole new attitude, thank goodness. 

I'm getting ready for yet another trip, so I may be out of touch til tomorrow evening unless I can get internet access at the hotel.  My co-worker who is also my best friend is going too, so that beats driving all those miles by myself.  She also is the one that looks after the dogs and puppies if we both have to be gone or go on a vacation.  She's a gem for sure.  It's hard to find people these days as reliable as she is.  She's my right arm at work and I actually hired her away from the place I used to work where she was also my right arm.  She lost her grandmother last week, so I'm hoping she can get her mind off it for a while on the this trip. 

We graduated the pups out of their birthing box last night since one of them kept getting out.  They are now in a 4'x4' pen and have room to move around and develop their motor skills.  Sally always has very active pups, so they are scootin around that pen like little pros.  We'll expand the pen in a couple of weeks to give them more room to run around and play.  The next step is to teach them the doggy door so that when they are big enough, they can go out into the puppy yard at will and get even more exercise.  The hardest stage for us is between three and five weeks of age.  They're too young to go ouside, but we start feeding them soft food at three weeks, so it's a twice a day ritual for a while....feeding and changing newspaper.  It gets REALLY messy otherwise.  Once they learn the doggy door, they go outside to use the bathroom and are also starting to eat the crunchy food.  So we don't have so much mess to clean up at that point and I can go out and play with them and watch them.  They are so cute when they start running in and out and getting a little more independant.  Then between five and six weeks is usually my busiest time, getting their shots and health check, plus getting them groomed.  And it's also the time that I'm so in love with them that I'm dreading giving them up....sniff.  BUT....I know we can't keep them or else we would have to build another kennel and more yards and we have all we can handle with the dogs we have.  On the other hand, it's always a relief after that last hard week of work, plus the work of getting them delivered, when we can sit back and relax for a while before the next litter comes.  We will have about a month of no puppies after these are sold and before Prissy has hers.  The next one to come in heat will be LaQuinta and I'm going to breed her this time with Peanut.  Buster won't be happy about that, but he'll get over it, lol.  We've decided that if Prissy has a white male this time that we will probably keep him for breeding with LaQuinta and Sally.  Poor Junior just gets left out all the time.  He's just too big for breeding, but he's still my baby at 24 pounds, lol.

We have rain forecast again for this weekend and the prospect is looking pretty good.  The rain we got last weekend actually caused one problem.  We had a storm shelter installed last spring and the guy filled dirt in around where they placed it in the ground.  But when it rained, that dirt settled and we have a big hole in front of the shelter that we'll have to fill in now.  Oh well, we'll live with it if we can get more rain. 

I need to get my shower and pack the suitcase for the trip.  I want to get the kitchen floor mopped before I leave too, so I'll shut up and get to it.  Catch you guys later!    pup

Peanut

 

I have so many irons in the fire, I can't keep track of em all!  Just when are my clones going to arrive anyway?  I need one to go to a neighboring town and rent a new building for our satellite location to move to.  Another one to go to this infernal training on Friday, which I'll have to leave for on Thursday since I live in the sticks and EVERYTHING is at least 200 miles away.  Where's that clone that's gonna write these grants for me and the one that will produce progress reports for funding sources?  Oh yes, and one more to hire a new person for yet another satellite location who might as well take over coordinating the training for 14 more.  Then I need two more to attend all these friggin meetings!

There, I feel better, lol.  As long as they are on their way, I'm fine.  I'll take care of the house, the dogs, the pups and of course, pick up my paycheck for Ice to put in the bank, lol.  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  And bears don't sh__ in the woods, do they? 

We actually got 1.7 inches of rain over the weekend.  You'd think it was gold falling out of the sky the way we're all carrying on about it.  And of course we're greedy gusses and want more.  Truth is, we need a lot more.  Our local lake, which is a big tourist area is 25 feet below normal.  There are islands that never existed before and to launch a boat requires backing up, dumping it off the trailer and shoving it over the edge, lol.  Well, that last statement is a little over the top, but you get the idea.  We have more rain in the forecast this weekend, but it's a long way off, so things may change before then.  I sure hope not. 

Buster and Prissy have finally cooled down their "courtship", so I think it may be safe to mix them with the rest of the dogs again.  Poor Junior hasn't been able to come in and lounge on his couch for a couple of weeks now.  It's time to give him a good bath, bring him in and just spoil him for a while.  He's such a sweet baby boy.  He has those big brown eyes that make you just melt.  He gets em from his Mama, LaQuinta.  She's a real sweetie too.  Aw heck, I'll just get to the truth of the matter and get it over with.  Each and every dog we have is literally sugar coated and the best dogs that ever lived.  So Pup, shut up your bragging and get on to another subject.  Okay, okay.

New Flash!  I just got this email that explains everything:

I got this in an email today and wanted to share it:

Red Skelton was a movie star and comedian on television back in the 1950's.

He created a number of characters and his show was watched by millions.

He did this on his show one evening, back when shows were live.

Do you think he could see the future??

He was definitely ahead of his time

Click the link below:

The Pledge of Allegiance

I’d been single for four years, dating here and there but nothing serious.  I’d met some really nice guys and dated a few, and was very fond of them, but the “click” just didn’t happen.  Maybe I wasn’t open, maybe they weren’t, but nevertheless, I was pretty much ready to live out my life alone, preferring that to another bad marriage.  I’d bought my own home and furnished it, surviving just fine on my salary.  I got lonely at times, but I was very careful not to let that influence whether or not I dated someone.  I spent a lot of time on the computer chatting with this one and that one and had found a few really good “chat buddies”. 

 

That’s what Ice was…..a chat buddy.  We had run into each other somewhere on the net and had talked a few times.  He was 250 miles away and neither of us was into long distance relationships.  So once in a while, he would pop up on the screen and we would compare notes of the dating scene or the lack of, talk about this and that, then not talk again for a couple of weeks or even a month. 

 

We talked about our kids, our jobs, our exes, our histories in general, but what I remember most about the conversations was the laughter.  I loved that matter-of-fact sense of humor that he has and I would laugh til my stomach hurt.  And what was great about it was that we weren’t trying to date each other…..we were just friends.  So neither of us was trying to make an impression, just chatting about life in general.

 

My favorite conversation was one that I was describing another “chat buddy” that was trying to date me and decided to start calling me.  I talked to him on the phone several times and had dodged his frequent announcement that he was just gonna get in the car and come to my house.  I was very careful not to reveal where I lived, so he couldn’t have found me anyway.  Besides, I had been noticing he was one of “those” guys that blamed everything in his life on his ex wife (red flag).  He was retired from the post office and talked a lot about how much “stuff” he had…blah…blah….anyway I was getting pretty tired of the guy when he called one night and was drunk as a skunk, which was a big no no in my book, since I had just left a 20 year marriage with an alcoholic and drug addict.  He swore he wasn’t drinking, but I was no fool.  So after a few minutes, he started talking slower and slower and before I knew it, he dropped the phone.  I heard him pick the phone up, but he never said anything.  I waited some more…..nothing.  Then after a minute or two, I heard snoring……yes snoring!  The jerk had passed out cold.  That was the last of him, but it was what I was telling Ice about and he started telling me a story about “meeting” somebody from the internet that was absolutely hilarious!  It had to do with a lady finally wearing him down about meeting in person and he agreed to meet her halfway on the interstate for a cup of coffee.  She had sent a picture of herself that looked about 40 and not bad looking, so he finally relented and agreed.  So he arrived at the meeting place and waited for an hour before she finally showed up.  She had to be at least 60, looked nothing like her picture, had on dirty sweats and fuzzy house shoes!  Then she opened her mouth and had a tooth missing in the front!  Said she swallowed it on the way to meet him, lol.  He said, “Lady, this just won’t do”, got in his car and left.  ROFL!!!  Anyway, just a sample of what we talked about and what I laughed endlessly about.  So that was the way of it….we chatted occasionally and had a lot of fun, but that was it.  And I truly never expected to meet him in person.  I had been in one long distance relationship that was taking a toll on me, so I wasn’t interested in another one and he was very up front about how he felt about it.  He wasn’t interested in it either. 

 

After a few months we talked on the phone a few times and I liked him even more.  He was even funnier over the phone and I loved his voice.  He was just a regular guy that wasn’t putting on any airs.  I liked that since I’m pretty much that way myself.  Here I am, take it or leave it, is my philosophy.  No sense trying to be something I’m not, so I’m always just me.  I could tell he was that way too and he wasn’t using every breath trying to impress me, which would have been a big turn-off for me anyway.  I’d been single long enough to have heard all the lines and b.s., so he was a breath of fresh air.

 

Then came the time that he called and said he was going to Tennessee and thought about dropping by.  I thought about it a while, but couldn’t honestly see anything wrong with it, so I said sure.  So I invited him for dinner and I figured that would be it.  Dinner and he would be on his way.  And I figured at the most it would be a nice evening.

 

So the day came and I bought a roast, brought it home and threw it in the oven.  It was dusk when he arrived, me giving him directions on his cell phone so he wouldn’t get lost.  Then he pulled into the drive, got out of his car and walked up on my porch about the time I opened the door.  I got my first good look at him then and as I said before, a tingling went through my body like an electrical charge.  He was wearing jeans, a green shirt and cowboy boots.  And mentally, I was thinking “Damn!  This guy is gorgeous!”  I let him in the door and was almost weak at the knees by that time.  But he toured my house and said lots of nice things, and all the while, I was kinda leaning toward him, like my body was just drawn to him and I just kept staring at this handsome specimen of a man that was walking around my house being the perfect gentleman.  I had heard all the stories about love at first sight, being swept off your feet and all, but never truly believed it.  But that’s exactly what happened to me. 

 

Needless to say, he ended up staying for more than dinner, then came back permanently not long after that.  But not til after I literally tried to run him off, not because there was anything wrong with him, but because there wasn’t anything wrong with him.  I told my best friend that he was either the best thing that ever happened to me or the best con man in the world.  I had to learn how to deal with the real thing, since I’d never had it before.  But it scared the hell out of me at first.  Thankfully, I came to my senses and just went with it.  I’ve never regretted it and I’m so thankful that I found my “other half”.  He came along when I least expected it.  We married two months later and that was five years ago.  Now I have what I never dreamed I’d have…..a partner for life.  And after five years, he still spoils me rotten, still writes me poems, still sends me roses, loves me just like I am, and still makes me laugh.    

So that's my side of the story.

Yes, I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself over a puddle in the front yard!! lol  But hey, IT'S FINALLY RAINING!!  And what's more, it's been raining all night.  Woooooo Hooooo!!!!  Course, that only leaves us at about 24 inches below normal rather than 25, but heck, who's counting, lol.  We'll take what we can get and hopefully this is the beginning of the end to this awful drought.  I'd love to be able to complain about the dogs tracking in mud if it means that we don't have to worry every time we leave the house if a grass fire will break out, the dust will settle and I might get some allergy relief.

I think I might feel halfway human again today.  I was so tired from my trip that I stayed tired all day yesterday.  I took a two hour nap in the afternoon and was still exhausted.  Went to bed fairly early and slept like a log all night, so I think I just might be rested now.  It's awful to get old, lol.  I need to find that suitcase full of money that Ice wrote about, call the office and just say, "Hey, I ain't comin back!"  lol  I got a good evaluation at the board meeting the other day, so I guess I'm stuck with this job til we retire, doggone it.  The fact of the matter is that I don't really want ANY job anymore.  I'm so ready to spend my days puttering around the house with my Ice man, taking care of dogs and doing some travelling.  Life is just too BUSY!!  I'm at that age that I don't have the energy anymore to be so busy, but can't quite step off the "working world conveyor belt" yet, ya know?  Four more years......just four more years.  lol

But I shouldn't be complaining.  At least I finally share my life with someone that has the same goals in life that I do.  If we had met thirty years ago, we would already be retired comfortably.  We both have always been "future planners" and pretty frugal financially, but we both wasted a lot of time with spouses that didn't share those views.  And we all know it takes two to tango, right? lol  But second guessing ourselves doesn't work, since we both have children that we wouldn't take anything for and don't regret that part of it.  You live and learn and I think we came together at the right time.  I got a great package five years ago....a budgeting genious that also happens to be incredibly handsome and sexy, among other things.  lol

Colo wants to know the story of how we met and Ice has mentioned writing about that, but if he doesn't, I will.  Maybe we should have both sides of the story.  That should be interesting.

Well, that's about all the news this morning here on Schnauzer Lane.  I'm going for another cup of coffee.  I hope everybody has a great Sunday here on the Stream!

pup