You gotta go

  We realized recently that we had one too many dogs.  Our new rescue dog, Maddie Lou, is doing great.  She's sweet and cuddly and when she stands on her back legs and begs at me with her front paws, I just just about die from cute overload.  Our oldest Miniature Pincher, Whit, is handsome and snappy and so smart that he runs the street in front of our house - he runs the people and the kids on bikes and he tells strangers to "go back where you came from'.  
  And then there's Jack.  He's got a weight problem.  I think he has a B.M.I. of like 87.  Unfortunately he also has a small head.  Really it's a pin head, which pared with a barrel body is not a good look on a dog or on anyone for that matter.  Jack's genetic misfortune doesn't end there.  He's nice enough but there's not a lot of thinking going on with him.  I could tell you a million stupid Jack stories, but I won't embarrass him.
  All of this is to tell you that Jack moved today to my daughter Kara's house.  She loves Jack and thinks he'll do just fine with her.


  The kids were more than a little sad and tried to make me feel bad by calling him a foster dog.  I did feel a little bad and Baltimore is only a short drive away if we need to visit. And these broken hearted little faces don't faze me......much.

Picture This

  Since switching years ago to digital photography I've never settled on a good solution to the storage and display of my pictures.  Looking through them on the computer is limiting and I didn't feel like they were safe (they really weren't).  I took so many I couldn't possibly print them all and how could I decide which ones to print and just how many albums could I store?

  Last year I decided to give a try to making a book with some pictures.  It was easy and fun and not too expensive.  The book documents our vacation at the beach last year and it's very well read around here.  I think it's a good alternative to photo albums because of it's durability.   And who doesn't love a book staring themselves?
What do you do with your pictures?

It's Not Really Begging

This is my keyboard- you might be able to see a little sticker on it that says "mom",  which would be me.  I've been writing in my blog for a long time -  a couple of years on Homeschool Blogger and now at this piece of internet real estate.  But it's lonely on my blog.  I guess most people have moved uptown to facebook and don't really visit here any more.  The average number of readers I have, according to my comments, is about, well 0 would be the actual number.  Pathetic.  I feel like that  unheard guy downtown that sits on the corner with his guitar, playing his entire repertoire of ballads and maybe you nod when you pass .  
If you happen by my blog, toss a quarter into my guitar case or a comment at the bottom.

Bet You Won't

 James is infamous for coming up with contests and today's was exceptionally amusing.


At dinner, he told Elijah that he would give him $10 if he would eat a giant red raw onion slice.


Who would turn that down?


So Elijah agreed and took his first bite.  It was bad.  (I think he threw up in his mouth a little.) Real bad, but he muscled through. VICTORY!

And the prize was worth it  - straight into his savings for an air soft gun.

Right In the Middle of Winter

A granddaughter over to visit.

67 warm, sunny, wonderful degrees outside.

I laugh in your face February!

Heads Up

Life is a work and lately I've had my head down getting it done. 
Pushing through - worrying a little - or a lot.
Tonight we visited David at his new place to drop off some of his mail.  Walked out the door thinking about him and what I still had to do.  
Worrying a little and a lot
Then I looked up into the night sky and saw this.
Seems God has everything covered and splendidly!


  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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You're Good With a Friend

 Life is sweet when you have that one friend.  You know, the one that sees things just the way you do and likes what you like.  Who knows what you mean even when you aren't sure yourself.  They think you're amazing and tell you the truth about pretty much everything.  That one friend who swears to you that everything will be okay and when you're together, you just kind of soar.  
You know you're lucky to have a friend like that.