Two Sides to a Story

There are always two sides to every story. I fully believe that. I also believe that someone’s perception may not be what was meant but its still how they see it and you should try to see an issue from their side before you make judgments. Just because something was said doesn’t mean that it was received the way it was intended.

Several months ago the father of my daughters’ friend asked me if he could take them to see the Nutcracker in town at the end of December. He said his ex-wife (their friend's mother) and another of his daughters friends would be going along with her mother. They would take the train into the city, eat lunch, see the show, check out the local Christmas decorations and head home in time for dinner. The girls were very excited and with all the mothers going I didn’t have a problem sending them along. I don’t feel completely comfortable with the father. He seems to have very little control of his daughter (who needs control) and he doesn’t like to take no for an answer. When he wanted to take my daughters camping last summer and we didn’t feel comfortable with them going he continued to ask and give reasons why it would be okay. Apparently his daughter really wanted the girls to go along so he kept it up until finally I was forced to remind him that no thank you means no. It made me feel rude and I don’t like when someone activates my Jewish mother inflicted guilt.

So the other day Mr. H called and asked if I received his email about the show. I had not, so instead of telling me what was in it he said, “I’ll send it again.” Whatever… so as of last night I still hadn’t received the email so I called him to get the information and he said, “I’ll send it again.” Are you kidding me? Now I’m wondering what’s in the email that he doesn’t want to say. So late last night I check and its there. It’s full of information about train times, etc. The very last line is “I’m going to pay for the show and transportation but please send money with the girls for lunch.” Okay, no problem. I appreciate you taking them to the show; I certainly don’t expect you to feed them but… (don’t you love buts) when you invited them you mentioned the show, transportation and food as part of your day. I wish you would have told me ahead of time the girls would need cash. I figure you sent the email a few days ago so I would know but when I didn’t get it by late yesterday I wish you would have told me about it on the phone. Now it’s 9:30 at night, freezing outside, and I’m running a 101.5 fever and I only have about 4 dollars in cash in my pocket. So I’m forced to give them my debit card. They have used it before but I don’t feel comfortable with them getting food in a train station (there are a bunch of grab a quick meal restaurants in the main terminal), in the city with a debit card. It’s not them it’s the creepy people looking over their shoulder.

This morning The Vet and The Scientist are up early. They are very excited. Last night when I spoke to Mr. H he said he would be here around 9AM to pick up the girls then they were going to drive over to Ms. B (the ex-wife) to pick up the other people and they would all be heading to the train station. When I spoke to Ms. B she mentioned in passing that they were leaving from her house at 9AM for a 9:45 train. It’s a ½ hour drive to the train station. So when I talked to Mr. H. last night I mentioned that maybe he should pick them up at 8:50 since it was a few minutes to Ms. B’s. and there wasn’t a lot of extra time to get to the train. I got the non committal answer I expected. The girls were ready to go at 8:50 and he showed up at 9:05; are you ready for this? He invited himself in (well, it is freezing out) because now they are meeting here instead of Ms. B’s, geez thanks for the heads up on that one.
I have been sick (probably bronchitis) and running a fever. As you can imagine I was not thrilled with entertaining for even the 3 minutes it took Ms. B and the rest of the group to show up. It was so nice to meet someone new looking like crap.

The $2200.00 Cat - Part Five: The Beginning

Confining Daisy while she continued to heal once she was home was easy. We dragged out an old dog crate, so big you could put a Great Dane in it, and set her up. As we were setting it up it occurred to me that we should have put her in here in the first place. Hind sight isn't always 20/20 but in this case it probably was. Placed in the middle of the family room she was able to be around the dogs and be safe from their exuberance.

We spent a lot of time while she was in the hospital studying the circumstances around what happened. After talking to the vet who treated her, our vet and several people from the dog training community who's opinion I respect the overall consensus was that the dogs were not being aggressive but just playing with her. Obviously the end result, her injuries, were unacceptable but all agreed that if their goal was to kill her she would have been dead. They had her trapped in an 18" x 18" area and could reach her with no problem. Her most significant injury was the skin tear and that was most likely the result of them trying to pull her out. She would have major internal injuries if they were biting to hurt her. I hear many of you thinking with Mickey's injuries any typical dog would have backed right out and quit if they were only playing, and you would be 100% correct. Pit Bulls are not typical dogs, they are not the evil killers the media has made them out to be (with help from a small percentage of horrible owners), but they were bred not to quit. If their intention was to kill her she would have died from the first bite. Two pit bulls vs one cat trapped: common sense tells you that if they wanted her dead she would be dead. Okay, back to the story....

Day one consisted of us shooing the dogs away from the crate. They were right back to the first day we brought her home with with their curiosity. Daisy needed to be confined for two weeks until the stitches were out and she had fully recovered her strength. This worked out perfectly because by the end of the two weeks both dogs had grown bored with her and were ignoring her. When we let her out we used the "leave it" command if they dogs were paying too much attention to her. They still try to play with her sometimes but even though they try to be gentle we stop them because she doesn't want to play with them, no surprise there. She was afraid of them when we brought her home but no longer fears them. To this day Mickey tries to chase her sometimes and get her to play. "Leave it" is heard about once a day still, but it started out five times a day so we are going in the right direction. You will often find Daisy sitting on someones lap on the sofa and one of the dogs laying next to them with everyone relaxed. The dogs will never be allowed to be left alone with Daisy, but it's a small price for us to pay for having this sweet kitty into our lives.

The $2200.00 Cat - Part Four: Daisy and Mickey's Very Bad Day

I wasted no time getting into the family room. The Engineer was still standing over both dogs and yelling at them to get away. I was immediately hit with the smell of urine and the metallic smell of blood. The recliner on the end of the sofa was up and both dogs had their full attention under the sofa. Malka was the first to back out and ran to her crate. She is wet and sticky with blood, I can not believe this nightmare. Mickey quickly followed, his face and front legs are covered with blood. Without even looking at her I knew that Daisy was in trouble. I prepared myself for the worst. I looked under the sofa and she is trapped in an area about 18 inches by 18 inches. She was obviously hurt and in shock but awake and aware. She didn't flinch when I got her out. She was wet from blood and urine. A quick check showed she had a 3 inch skin tear in her inguinal area. There was no active bleeding but I couldn't tell if she had any internal injuries. I didn't see any other obviously serious injuries but I knew she needed to get to the vet right away. And I couldn't understand where all the blood on the dogs came from. There is no way this cat lost that much blood and was still alive. Of course our vet's office hours were just coming to an end and she is a half hour away. So I wrapped her in a towel and took her to a local animal emergency room. They immediately take her back. Further exam by the vet shows she has an abrasion on her elbow and an injured toe nail. It's obvious she will need surgery. After letting the doctor know that I am a vet tech she is comfortable with me coming back to the surgery area. They place an IV in and give her medication and fluids to treat shock. They need to stabilize her before surgery. It's going to be a long night so I head home to check on everyone and give a group of worried kids an update. I get home and The Engineer tells me the dogs are still in their crates and it looks like they are hurt too. Mickey has what appears to be deep scratches on the side of his face. Both dogs are obviously alert so I take Malka out first since she has the most blood on her. I get her into the bathtub and start to rinse her down. The water running off her is bright red. I am upset and confused because other than a fur removing scratch next to her eye she has no injuries. After she cleaned up she's back in her crate and I start cleaning up Mickey's face. I don't want to bathe him without further checking his face. After cleaning off some of the blood it's obvious that Mickey has several deep lacerations on his cheeks near his eyes. One laceration is down to the bone. Now I know where all the blood came from. There is no way cat claws did this much damage and they are too clean to be tears from bites. While I'm taking care of the dogs The Engineer has flipped over the sofa and is trying to clean up the carpet. He sees where a metal bracket under the seat has been broken off. There is blood along the edge of the bracket. Mickey must have broken the bracket trying to get to Daisy. The edges were sharp and they sliced up his face. He is going to need stitches. Did you know that when you take a pit bull to a vet clinic that is unfamiliar with you and it has injuries they treat you like a criminal and sometimes don't want to treat your dog? It's like when you bring your kid to the ER with a broken arm and everyone gets interrogated because they always think the worst. That's what it was like. When I came back with him it had been shift change for the vet techs at the clinic. The same ER doc was on but you have to get past the vet techs before you see the doctor. Immediately I felt the suspicion. Great, just what I need, this crap after everything I've been through tonight. They wouldn't even look at him until I explained that this was the other half of the dog vs. cat fight I brought in earlier. Then I used the fact that he's a pit bull to my advantage. Two can play this game. I wanted to go back with him for treatment. They wanted me to wait in the waiting room. The clinic has a rule that the owner has to wait while they do their exam. I have a problem with that. I work for a vet. I understand that the owners attitudes play a key part in how calm the animal is going to be for an exam. If the owner is stressed the dog/cat will be stressed. So I understand that for emergency treatment an anxious owner can make it harder. We'll tough, that's your job to control the animals and work with the owners to calm them. At our clinic an owner is encouraged to come in and only asked to leave if they are obviously making things worse. But I wasn't in the mood to argue. So I played the pit bull card, telling them that it will be easier for me to handle him while they do the exam. After their initial trepidation when I walked in with an injured pit bull they were easy to convince. Mickey is such an easy going guy that within five minutes of taking him back all the techs were gathering around and doting on him. Mickey was loving every minute of it despite the mark of Zorro on each cheek. The ER doc came in to take a look and said he was going to need quite a few stitches. Daisy was resting comfortably but hadn't been operated on yet. The doctor wanted to sew him up before operating on Daisy so I said I would wait until he woke up so he wouldn't have to stay overnight. He is a rescue dog and I didn't know how he would react if he woke up in a cage alone. The ER doc let me stay with him until he was knocked out. So I went to the waiting room and fell asleep in a chair while waiting. Before I knew it I had him back. It had been five hours since this whole nightmare began. The ER doc said that Daisy was next and that she was holding her own and was stable enough for the operation. I paid the bill for Mickey, that will be $500.00 please, and took him home. He had sixteen stitches in his face and was a hurtin' pup. This was only the beginning. When all was said and done Daisy spent a week in the hospital and we racked up a $2200.00 bill. Fortunately her abdominal wall was intact and she had no internal injuries. Ten stitches closed up the skin tear cleanly and the abrasions and toe injury were minor and needed no treatment. Five hours after I walked into the ER with Daisy I walked out for the last time that night with Mickey. It was a week until Daisy came home and then we had to start the introduction process all over again. First order of business was to have a way to confine the escape artist so she could heal safely. That turned out to be the easy part.....

The $2200.00 Cat - Part Three: The Dogs

Let me introduce you to Mickey and Malka. Two of my fur kids. I'm lucky to have this picture since Malka thinks the camera is Hannibal Lecter reincarnate and hides every time she sees it come out.
Malka is a 6 year old female American Pit Bull Terrier, black with white markings. Mickey is a 3 year old male American Staffordshire Terrier, buckskin. Both came from shelters and had a rough start. Both are testimony as to how wonderful these dogs are in the right home, but I digress. Back to my story.....

Daisy stayed in The Vet's room for the better part of a week without issue. She was happy just to explore the mounds of stuff in the room and watch cat TV (a fish tank). The kids spent plenty of time in there playing with her and all was well. Introductions were going fine too. The dogs had lived with cats since we brought them home so it was just a matter of reminding them that the cat was not a chase toy. Since at the ripe old age of 15, Misty didn't spend much time running around, that wasn't much of a factor with her, but this feisty kitty might just be a little to enticing. When Daisy was out the dogs were curious and Mickey couldn't stop smelling her but they were being respectful of her space (with a little reminding now and then). When we go out both dogs are crated so we started letting Daisy out to roam the house during these times. We were at a point that there were only a few times when it was necessary to confine her because when we weren't home the dogs were crated, right, yea, that's what we thought too. Then Daisy figured out how to open The Vet's door. We were excited, she's smart on top of being friendly and playful. Besides, we knew we wouldn't have to confine her much longer.

Another week goes by and we are becoming more confident. The dogs still pay more attention to her than I'd like but they aren't being aggressive just playful. Still, two 70 lb dogs playing with a 10 lb cat needs to be closely monitored. Daisy, on the other hand, didn't get the memo that running up to dogs and then running away increases def con levels. But, with continued supervision all is going along as expected.

It started like any other day (forgive the cliche). We got our schoolwork done early and the weather was gorgeous. We spent most of the day outside and came in just in time to get changed and head to karate. The dogs had been outside with us most of the day and were tired. Daisy, once again, had escaped from her room. We threw the dogs in their crates and headed out the door. Sometime after we left The Engineer came home from work and let the dogs out of their crates. He went outside to put the trash out and the dogs didn't want to go back out. Not knowing that Daisy, escape artist extraordinaire, was loose in the house, he just left them.

Not long after I came home and we went in together. I paused in the kitchen and heard a loud shout from the family room that made my heart stop. I ran to the family room and that sound, the sight and smells will stay with me always.

A Brief Intermission

We interrupt the story in progress to inform you of a change in characters. The Genius has decided that maybe that isn't how she wants to be known in cyber world and wishes to be referred to as The Scientist from this point forward. Please make a note of this for future reference.

The $2200.00 Cat - Part Two: The Cat

Off they go. They know their way around the SPCA since we've been there before. It's been several months since our elderly kitty, Misty, passed away and the kids really miss having a cat around. So it's no surprise that they're gone before I've written the date at the top of the paper. The questions seemed endless: where did I find the chicken; when did I find the chicken; do I know anything about it's history; did I ask around to see if anyone owns it; is it a rooster or a hen; why don't I keep it; how old do I think it is; what breed of chicken is it; jeepers you'd think I was giving them my first born. Hey, whatever, they are doing me a huge favor taking this chicken and finding it a home. And they thanked me for bringing food.

So paperwork done I go to retrieve the kids. Now I know that for the last month or so they have really wanted to get another cat. I also know that everywhere they go they are looking for just the right kitty. I walk into the cat room and The Vet is sitting on the floor holding a cat and The Genius and Baseball Boy are playing with another one. Uh oh, this isn't good. Two friendly playful cats at once. I know what's coming so I decide to head it off at the pass. I walk over to The Genius and try to pick up the cat they are playing with, she squirms all around and jumps down. Cool, I don't want a cat that doesn't like to be picked up, I don't care how playful it is. Strike that one. I turn my attention to The Vet, now she has a special touch when it comes to animals, cats in particular, they just relax with her so having a cat in her arms doesn't mean much when it comes to anyone else trying to hold it. So I scoop the kitty out of her arms as she informs me that her name is Emma and she is really playful. The pesky kitty is unperturbed and makes herself comfortable in my arms. She is purring before I know it, damn. I put her down and The Vet picks up a cat toy and rolls it across the floor. Emma goes right after it and begins playing. All three kids look at me hopefully and I tell them to stay here, I'm going to go get some information. I'm gone awhile and get all the stats about Emma. She's two years old, lived in a house with kids, litter trained, spayed and gets along with other cats. The only thing that is a negative is they don't know how she is around dogs. So I go back and watch the kids playing with the cats some more. The Vet is really gravitating to Emma and she's the one who really loves having a cat. I should call The Engineer and run this past him but I know in the end he isn't going to want to get it but he won't want to be the bad guy and will give in. The kids have already laid out their reasons for getting another one even though their father and I were really hoping to go kitty free. The Vet can be pretty persuasive and she hit all the right points. She was responsible for cleaning Misty's litter box and making sure she had fresh food and water and she did it, most times without being reminded. She made it clear that any new kitty would be her responsibility and that we wouldn't have to worry about it. She's a pretty responsible kid and when she says she's going to do something she usually follows through. I was ready, I had to admit I missed having a kitty around too. But The Engineer wasn't ready. He had all the usual excuses when we wanted to add a new critter to our crew. What if it didn't get along with the other animals? What if it didn't use the litter box? What about the mess? At this rate we'd never get another cat. So I decided to skip the phone call and just make the decision. Besides it was adopt a cat month and the adoption fee was only $35. I walked into the cat room and announced we were adopting Emma. A cheer went up in the room and I went back out to fill out more paperwork. Fifteen minutes later we walked out the door with Emma. I called The Engineer on the drive home and broke the news. By the time we got home Emma had become Daisy and we had a new cat.

The Vet got to work setting up a litter box, food and water in her room along with some new toys they gave us at the SPCA when we adopted her. The plan was to keep Daisy sequestered until she could be properly introduced to the dogs and the rest of the house. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans......

The $2200.00 Cat - Part One: The Chicken

Driving home late last summer, quietly oblivious to anything except the road ahead I am blown out of my peaceful state by three kids screaming. I immediately slam on my brakes and pull to the side of the road. Oh my G-d, is everyone okay, did I hit something, did something horrible just happen in front of their eyes that I didn't see? They are so upset it takes them a minute to get the story out so that I can understand them. "A chicken, a chicken, he's dirty, oh no he's going to get killed." What they hell are they blabbering about, a chicken? Finally, they calm down enough to tell me they saw a chicken on the side of the road at a busy intersection we just passed. It appears to be dirty and is walking close to the road. They must go save it or they will not be able to live with themselves, their lives ruined, they will fall into a life of crime and die at a young age from no doubt a brutal death. I am already questioning why I felt the need to pass along my love of animals to my children. It's a chicken, you guys eat them at least twice a week without blinking an eye. The Vet's favorite meal is a spicy chicken dish. Give me a break! But I know when I can't win so I turn around saying a little prayer that the chicken lives there and just got out of the coop. It was not to be, the neighbors told us that two chickens had been dumped by someone about a week ago and they don't know what happened to the other one (hawk or fox food, no doubt) but this one just keeps hanging around. It was filthy and it looked just plain tired. We chased it around until it just gave up and we caught it. We wrapped it up and put it in the van and home we go. What the heck am I going to do with this chicken, which to make matters worse appears to be a rooster. Nobody wants roosters, they're noisy and other than making little chicks there isn't much point to them. Okay, they are beautiful but that doesn't make up for all the other stuff. I'm sure they are tasty but the kids would have none of that. We have chickens and I think my kids just had dreams of putting him in our coop and living out a wonderful life among our flock.

NOT

First and foremost we don't know anything about the health of this chicken and putting him in our coop could wipe out our flock.

Second: NO ROOSTERS ALLOWED.

Third: Mom and Dad said no, period.

So I call some chicken friends but no one can take him. I call the local SPCA looking for advice and am told to bring him over. They have a list of farms that take farm animals. They are getting ready to close but we tell them we will be there first thing in the morning. So the kids give him a bath so he's nice and clean for his new farm home and make a makeshift pen in our garage for the night. Give him fresh food and water and off to sweet dreams they go knowing they have made a life better in this world. They are up bright and early to check on the chicken they named "Bruce the rooster". He is obviously well rested and his belly is full. He has escaped from his pen and is using the entire garage as his coop. They are pleased as punch at how much better he appears. Later that afternoon that changed while cleaning up the garage, but hey not everything is roses. After breakfast the kids fill a zip lock bag with chicken food and off to the SPCA we go. We bring Bruce in and he's the star of the show. Several people there looking at dogs and cats all flock around to meet him. It's not long before Bruce is whisked away for a checkup and prepared for a trip to his new home. While I'm filling out the paperwork the kids want to go visit the cats. Sure, go ahead. I'll come get you when I'm ready to leave. Silly me.

Happy Holidays

A long time ago I was wished a Merry Christmas by everyone this time of year. I hate to admit it but it bothered me. I would be in the local Hallmark store and checking out with a box of Hanukkah candles and the clerk would wish me a Merry Christmas. Hello, are you blind or just so overwhelmed with the season that you didn't notice that I purchased HANUKKAH candles. Now a days I get Happy Holidays. Well I know there is a line a mile long of offended Christians who want to be wished a Merry Christmas. Well tough luck folks now you know how I felt all those years. The funny thing is now that I get wished a Happy Holiday most of the time it doesn't bother me one bit when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas. I just take it as it's meant, which is they want me to enjoy this holiday season. So Happy Hanukkah folks, and if you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, EID, something else or nothing I hope you take it for what is meant, which is have a happy holiday season.

The Genius, Oh My

I let my spawn, oops I mean children choose their own names for the blog. I regretted it almost immediately. My oldest daughter chose The Genius. Are you kidding me???? I tried to remain calm and not just call her arrogant. I twisted it to "Don't you think that is arrogant?" Her response was, "No, I'm just smart." Okay, yes your smart but to name yourself The Genius seems a little, and here I paused looking for the right word. She jumped right in and said, "Narcissistic". Yes, that's it. Her response, "So what, it's my name and you said I could pick it." Like so many other times with her I have nothing to say.

***edited to add on December 19****

The Genius was offended by this post and denies the conversation took place. Even denying knowing the meaning of the word narcissistic.

Brag Rag?

Like most people who exchange Christmas cards some of them come with a paper inside telling the receiver all about their previous year. Sometimes it's just about how the year has gone. Ups and downs and if anything big happened. Like most people our card list includes old friends that we don’t see often so it was nice to read and get an instant update on their lives. Sometimes (and more often than not, I’ve found) it’s just a list, bragging about just how wonderful a life they have compared to the little masses. I couldn’t help myself and felt compelled to make fun of these “brag rags”. I told myself I would never stoop to this practice. If they didn’t know what was going on in my life then just sending a card to know I thought of them at least once a year was going to have to cut it. Then last year we moved in mid October and by the time I got around to sending out change of address notices to all our friends and family it was holiday card time. So I figured, what the heck I’ll just add a note to our card with our new address. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I had my very own “brag rag”. Crap, I didn’t want to be one of those people but it really wasn’t that bad and after all it did serve its purpose, notifying everyone of our new address. So I printed it out, on nice holiday paper, of course, and sent it off. Several people told me how much they enjoyed it, that was it, my ego stroked I started thinking about it in November this year and stayed up until 4 AM one night writing this years version. So I’m going to copy it here so if anyone reads it I’m hoping to get some honest feedback. So please, no sugar coating, no politically correct crap, just spit it out, what do you think?

******NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT******

We hope everyone had a happy and healthy year. Our year was a full one. Making changes to our new home, adding a new cat to our family, some health issues, (which are now resolved), and homeschooling three kids has certainly kept us busy.
The first few months of 2009 were spent settling into our new home. It didn’t take long for us to start making some of the changes we wanted. Tearing down an old shed and ripping out the back patio/deck was our first order of business. Fencing in the yard so the kids and dogs could run freely came next. Soon after, a sliding glass door to the backyard and a new basement door were installed. As soon as the weather warmed, a new front walk (the old one was a safety hazard) and new rear patio were installed. Cleaning up neglected landscaping and yard work kept the kids busy. During the summer we converted an old detached garage into a shed. We finished off the outside part of our project by installing an in ground pool and after 23 years of waiting The Engineer finally saw his wish come true. The yard is a wreck from all the outside work but some seed and sod in the spring will clean it up.
Moving to this area also opened up an opportunity for The Engineer and Rustys Mom to get back to their study of the Martial Arts. We were happy to find a Kenpo Karate studio 10 minutes from our home. It didn’t take long for the kids to get interested and all three have already earned their yellow belts.
As part of their 4H project the kids took responsibility for four one day old baby chicks. They lived in a brooder in our laundry room for several weeks until they were old enough to move to the chicken coop. All four were supposed to be hens so imagine our surprise when we heard “cock-a-doodle-doo” coming from the coop one day. It turned out that one of our hens was a rooster. Since keeping a rooster doesn’t make for happy neighbors, we found him a home on a farm. Later, we added several more hens and now we have an abundance of fresh eggs. The Genius and The Vet both won ribbons showing their “girls” at the Grange Fair in August.
The Genius and The Vet joined the local softball league and had a great time playing this spring and summer, Their team was knocked out in the first round of playoffs but they can’t wait to play again next year. Baseball Boy, not to be outdone, joined the local baseball team and lo and behold, boy can that kid hit a ball. He can be found hitting balls out in the yard no matter what the weather (and hopping the fence to retrieve them from the neighbors’ yard).
Baseball Boy is still playing piano and this year will be accompanying the choir at synagogue for the Hanukkah service. Speaking of choir, all three kids joined the synagogue youth choir and will be performing at a local store in December for a benefit.
The Vet's wish to learn to play guitar finally came true this year and she started lessons. The Vet and Baseball Boy often try to put together a duet. Let’s just say they are working on it. The Genius surprised us all by wanting to learn violin. She is doing wonderfully and all the screeching we were worried about didn’t happen.
This year’s homeschool theater production was a great success. Baseball Boy had a lead part in “Attack of the Space Villains or Dirty Socks and Metal”. The Genius and The Vet stretched their comic abilities in this year’s version of “30 Plays in 60 Minutes”. All three kids had parts in “*********** Podcast” which was filmed over the summer and is available for viewing (for free) at http://www.itunes.com/. Please forgive the little plug there. :-)
Oh, just one more brag. Mickey, our dog, passed his AKC Canine Good Citizen test with flying colors. Malka is going to be taking her test in the spring.
We are healthy and very happy with our new home. The Engineer is still working for the Department of the Navy, writing computer programs that run training simulators for our country's Naval Fleet. Rustys Mom works part time as an EMT and one night a week as a vet tech. We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this year and look forward to many more. We are truly blessed.
We wish you all a very happy holiday season and a healthy new year.

Disclaimer

Is there anybody out there? (Name that artist)

I’m going to write these posts like someone is actually going to read them. Otherwise, what is the point? I can talk to myself anytime I want without having to worry about grammar and punctuation so why bother to blog if you’re not hoping somewhere, somehow someone will read it.

The Paradox

Why is it you always feel like you have something to say, until you have a place to say it?