FINAL STROKE

Today is my day off from work and finally I have found the "final Stroke". I have been painting the walls of our house for several weeks. I painted our bedroom, hallway, and living room. This includes nine doors (both sides), door jams and yards of base boards. I of course had plenty of assistance from Ben. He can be such a big help. There were times when he had more paint on him than I did. I was calling him "Carmel Dog" for a while because his coat was starting to match the walls. Luckily, the paint wipes off really easy from his fur. I love a new coat of paint. It feels so clean and shiny. I don't love the clean up. But all of that is now done and me and Ben are going to go to some serious zoning in front of the TV. And we won't forget the snacks either. Come on Ben, lets go.

PERFECT DAY

This weekend the weather was sooo perfect. The sun was out and the sky was blue. It was a good day to take Ben back to the coast. He gets to socialize alot and run off leash on the beach not to mention have lunch at McDonalds or as we call it McDogalls. Here are some photos of our day.

Just Hi!

Haven't been here for a little while and wanted to say HI. Ben is doing great. He had an appointment for a rabies shot and nail clipping today but I had to cancel because my truck is in the shop. I rescheduled Ben's appt and worked on my taxes, shampooed my carpets and caught up on some reading. I have to hitch rides to and from work until I get our Pick up back. We think it is the rear end. Saturday we hopped in it to go to town and it wouldn't move. One of the rear wheels was frozen. We had Toyota tow it to their shop Monday and as of 4:00pm today they had not even looked at it. COME ON!! I am stranded here without my truck. Kim took me to work in his semi truck all weekend. That was pretty cool, but now that he is away at work I am finding it very tough to have no car.Thank goodness for friends. Good Friends. Two of my co workers live around the corner from me so I rode home form work with them yesterday. Tomorrow Suzanne will pick me up and bring me home. Too bad I am not within walking distance. I would walk. But it is about 10 miles one way.
One good thing is that it is still under warranty. I hope anyway. So hope everyone is doing good out there. Be safe.

EASY STREET

AHHHH!!!!! THE COMFORTS OF HOME. I wanted to catch up on the rapidly growing Ben in his adopted chair. I asked him to "Hop Up" in his chair so I could take an on going photo, and as soon as his big butt hit the chair he decided to nap. So here is Ben ( extremely relaxed) at One Year and six months old. He is so fabulous. We have a small situation. He hates to have his nails clipped so I am trying to convince him how much fun it is and so far I have talked him in to letting me clip five nails. I figure if I can clip one a day in about two weeks I should have them all clipped. Right? Four nails x Four paws = sixteen days - five already done + a couple days that he will absolutely NOT let me touch his toes........... well, you do the math. But sooner or later we should have them all clipped. For now sleeping beauty must get his rest. Soon we should be able to start taking walks again. My foot is almost back to normal after breaking it in July and twisting my ankle a few weeks ago on the ice, we are both ready to get out there and cruise the neighbor hood. FUN FUN FUN.

THINGS I WANT TO LEARN FROM MY DOG

1.Never pass up the opportunity to go for a ride.

2. Allow the experience of the fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

3.When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

4. When it's in your best interest, always practice obedience.

5. Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

6. Take naps and always stretch before rising.

7. Run, romp, and play daily.

8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.

9. Be loyal.

10. Never pretend to be something you're not.

11. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

12. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle gently.

13. Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

14. Thrive on attenetion and let people touch you.

15. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

16. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

17. When you are happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

18. No matter how often you are criticized, never buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.

>--joy nordquist ( chicken soup for the soul-Lovin'our dogs)

2010 MY WAY

New Year. New goals. New outlook.

I have a small confession to make. This year I would like to change a few things in my world. I want to make a difference. I have to be better at living. Loving my life. I don't want to waste a second. I have decided to enjoy every thing. Even the bad times. Not that I am expecting bad times, but hey, bad happens. So, when it does I really want to have a new attitude.

HOPE:

I am hoping that 2010 will be a happy year, healthy year, successful year, and a new favorite year.

LOVE

I love my Husband, Family and Friends. And of course my Dog, Ben. And I need to make sure they all know it.



FUN:

There needs to be oodles and oodles of fun in my life this year.



SMILING:

I will smile more. Smiles are simple to give and can change the recipient's attitude instantly. They are free to give away and always guarantee a return.



GR ATTITUDE:

I have many many things to be grateful for. And for each thing in my life, I am. I want 2010 to be the year I never take anything, not one thing for granted.



MONEY:

.......................... I got nothin'.



FAITH:

Renew my faith and trust in everything that is good. Give to those that need help. Lend a hand whenever I can. Be a friend to someone who really needs it and treat everyone with respect. Live strongly and faithfully by the golden rule.

TO EVERYONE:
Happy New Year. Please enjoy your life's moments, be happy and be safe. :)

IT'S ALL ABOUT BEN

This Morning it is way way way too COLD to go for a walk. So Me and Ben decided to stay in and play with his favorite new toy. The Hedgehog. He honks it constantly and loudly. He will shove it in your face until you struggle it away from him and toss it so he can chase it, bring it back to you, and shove it in your face, again and again and again. Of course while he is wildly honking it. So after a satisfying play time Ben decided it was time to warm up by the fire. This is one of his best places to sit. That way he will be right in front of the TV and you will be looking at him, which he demands that you do most of the time.

We recently got Ben his own doggy door. Kim was some what hesitant about getting him one because he did not want to cut a hole in the side of our house. We have only one exit out the back of our house and it is our sliding glass door. Ben really needed a way to get out on his own and a doggy door seemed like the only solution, so we hunted around and found one that you actually install beside your patio door. it has been working out really well and Ben loves it. We Love it too because now Ben stays in the house when we are gone and he can let himself out or in any time. Happy Dog, Happy people.

BLACK ICE, BRRRRRRR!!

This week has been very cold. We have had temps as low as 7 degrees. While the cold is bad enough, Yesterday we had freezing rain. It started around 2:00pm and covered my world with ice. Living in Oregon you get used to the rain and cold and a little snow from time to time, but what are you supposed to do with ice!. This Morning everything is frozen. I have been battling frozen pipes all week. Each day I have come home to a frozen washer, faucet, and sink that is in the garage. I thaw them by using a hair dryer and try keeping them thawed with lots of cover.

We are getting warmer temps by this afternoon and lots of Rain. Boy do I love Rain. Well, not so much , but given the chose between rain and teeny weeny temperatures, I will take the Rain. I work from 2:30-11:30pm today and I am a little nervous about driving. I hope the weather man is right about it being warmer this afternoon. Our driveway and road are a solid sheet of ice right now so I am glad I don't work early. I wish me and Ben could ice skate. We would be out there for sure.

WINTER TIME

BRRRR!!!! It is very cold and windy here this Morning. Me and Ben are trying to stay warm. We need to go outside and clean up the yard. After last nights winds it looks like we have a carpet of pine needles and leaves. Hopefully it will warm up and give us a little sunshine. Kim is on his way to sunny Phoenix AZ with a load. It will probably be around 80 there. They were predicting 95mph winds at the coast, we must be getin some of that. Oh well, time to bundle up and enjoy the great outdoors. :(

MY BLOG BLUES ????

I have been trying for days to fix my blog. I have now set up two new blogs that I will probably delete. I tried to import my old blog to my new blog but it popped up "finished" as soon as I clicked on "import. So tonight I tried again to import and the same thing happened. Only this time when I checked my old blog all my icons were on my home page. So now I don't know if I actually imported my old blog to my new blog or my old blog is fixed or what? No matter. Lifr is good again. So Happy writing to me!!!. See ya all soon.

MY BROTHER THE IRONMAN

My Brother

Randy, Just competed in the 140 mile Ford Iron man Triathlon that was held in Hawaii on Saturday. There were 1800 athletes from all the world and he was one of them. He has been training very hard for many months and all of his hard work has definitely paid off.

Randy has always loved running. In high school he was a star athlete in Cross Country. He was never a strong swimmer and has taught him self with help from his good friends in Hawaii. Randy is also an ace photographer and writer. He works for the daily newspaper in Hawaii . Most of his photos could win prizes. His stories could be published.

He has a great family. Five children and a life long best friend, his wife, Karen.

I am so proud of the strength he has found to pursue a life long dream and compete in a world wide famous Ironman. I am also really happy we have social medias like blogs , face book and my space to communicate with each other. Until they arrived on the scene we would occasionally speak on the phone. My life get so busy , I am ashamed to say I am out of touch with my family. But with the help of the Internet, I now get to be updated almost daily with my brother Randy's family in Hawaii, my sister Marilyn's family in Florida , my sister Denise's at the Oregon coast. Now if My youngest Brother Tim would get up to speed, we would almost be able to have Christmas together again, kind of a Virtual Christmas.

Here's to many many many more triathlons and the spirit and dedication it takes to get there.

Way to go Randy!!!

OUCH

Last Thursday I had an MRI done on my left ankle. I stepped on an empty pallet on July 17th and hurt both ankles. I have been hobbling around since then waiting for my left ankle to finally heal.

A couple weeks ago I decided I have had enough limping and went back to the doctors. This time I went to my own doctor instead of emergency room. He re xrayed and thought he may have found a fractured bone. So he had the radiologist look at the film and he actually disagreed with my doctor. So in an effort to prove the other guy wrong, my doctor ordered up an MRI. He gave me a walking cast, or boot, and it has helped my foot so much, I may ask for the matching pair when this is all over and wear them when I dress up. :)

Today I went back to my doctor (the fourth trip) and He was telling me what the MRI had revealed. Apparently I am the proud owner of one fractured bone (nearly healed), one broken bone (in alignment with it self but hasn't yet touched where it is separated) and, his words, a bunch of bad stuff happening in there. He says the bones may heal correctly with the boot, It is probably too late to cast it at this point. However, the ligaments and tendons are going to be my biggest problem. They may also heal, but again they may require surgery. Only time will tell. I will wear my cute boot for three more weeks and see what happens then.

Just a foot note to the Emergency room doctors who first looked at my ankle nearly three months ago.
THANKS ALOT! GOOD JOB!! MAY WE NEVER EVER MEET AGAIN.

GOLD CUP WEEKEND FUN

We went to Chico California a couple weekends ago. We have been going the the Gold Cup Races for along time . Probably around 12 years, maybe longer. We usually take Kims truck and make it a working week end, but not this year. We drove our pick up and we were able to drive places we can't when we take his truck. These photos are taken in San Francisco. The Day was alot of fun and the weather was great. The Sprint car Races were really good too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Today is my 52nd Birthday. WOW. I am soooo old. I really do not feel any different than I did Yesterday or actually last year.
We celebrated this weekend by going to the State Fair. It was fun. We ate a lot of food that was bad for us and walked hundreds of miles. We have been to this fair so many times, like many Oregonians, we know exactly where every single attraction is and where all our favorite food booths are. And, we hit them all. The weather was perfect and being that it was only the second day of the fair, it was'nt to crowded.

Today when I got home from work, Me and Ben watered the yard, or should I say, I held the hose while Ben ran thru it and bit the water. We were both drenced by the time I shut the water off. Then we made chicken fajitas and ate ice cream. YUM! I watched two recoreded episodes of Big Brother and did a little work on the computer.

That was how I spent the first day of my 52nd year. I am hoping for more days and hope they too include water works with Ben, chicken fajitas and ice cream. And of course long lazy days with Kim at the fair or any place we can be together.

Looking back, I know I have been lucky and blessed.
I love my little world. My Husband, Family and Friends. And My Pets. Even my Jobs are good.
Thanks for all the Birthday Wishes. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy and I love them all.

Gotta go work on the rest of my 52nd year. Need to make plans to have this be the best one yet.

PAPER OR PLASTIC??

Paper or Plastic? :)

paper

Would you like paper or Plastic today?:)

plastic

What would you like today, Paper or Plastic?:)

you decide

Which one you going choose today, Paper or Plastic?:)

I'm bag sexual(heeheehee):(

Oh good, you have your own bag !!

Plastic or Paper , Paper or Plastic . Plastic Plastic Plastic, Paper Paper Paper,

Yikes, I am going mad. I have to ask that question a hundred plus times a day when I work as a cashier at RAY'S. And you get all kinds of answers. Some people get mad if you don't' ask, some get mad if you do. One lady called headquarters on me because I did not give her credit for using her own bag. That's a whole nickle, you know. Whoops, my bad.

Most people who bring their own bags buy organic stuff. I am not kidding. They are very concerned about their environment and do not want to use paper or plastic. But they do put most of their organic produce in PLASTIC bags. And almost everything else they buy comes in cardboard boxes or paper bags of some type.. Eggs, milk, butter, cereal, candy bars, chips , detergent, dog food, well, you get the picture.

SO, America, Take a chill pill would you. We all care about our earth. Use your own bag when you remember it and for Heavens sake PLEASE wash it once in a while, would ya. Nothing like having to bag your groceries in a smelly, greasy, dog haired, bag.

Come on, that should be a violation of environmental proportions. Recycle, Reuse, Refuse to use paper or plastic, but please stop being so snooty about it. Thank you and have a nice day!! Now go out their and hug a tree or a dog or something :)

MY LEFT FOOT

On Friday I had to be taken to the emergency for x-rays on my left foot. I did such a stupid thing. I am tossing a box of freight upon a pallet and when I step back, I stepped into the slat of an empty wood pallet. Then I started to stumble and tried to correct it by stepping with my right foot, yet into another slat.

Next thing I do is fall on my tush. Both feet are still stuck in the pallet and I have lost both shoes. It takes me about 30 seconds before I can be sure my ankles are not broken. When I realize they are not, I get up, dust my self off, put my shoes back on and try to walk off the burning cracky feeling my ankles have. Luckily there is no one else there to have wittnessed such a graceful move. It was about 6:00 AM.

When the door bell rings a few minutes later , I kinda hobble up front to let the person in and by the time I get there I can no longer put any pressure on My Left Foot. OUCH. The Janiter sees me hopping around and gets the wheel chair and I go back to my office to wait for some one else to come in so I can go get My Left Foot looked at.

When I do get to the emergency room, they take pictures and decide there are no breaks and most likely just twisted, pulled, bruised, and strained. HUH? I could have guessed that. Except for the X-Ray tech, I think the DR and Nurse I saw might be paid too much. Today is Wednesday and I am still limping. My ankle is swollen and purpleish.

Or yeah I hurt my Left thumb again, the same one I keep hurting. DORK DORK DORK.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!!

BEN AT 9 MONTHS OLD.

THIS IS OUR GORGEOUS COLLIE, BEN. HE JUST TURNED ONE YEAR OLD. I WANTED TO SHARE THESE TWO PHOTOS. ONE IS HIS FIRST NIGHT EVER WITH US AND THE OTHER WAS TAKEN ON HIS BIRTHDAY. I SHOWED SIMILAR PHOTOS WHEN HE TURNED SIX MONTHS OLD TOO. BUT HE IS BIGGER NOW. HE IS A GOOD DOG. WE STILL NEED SOME TRAINING, BUT BEN IS A SMART DOGGY.HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN.

BEN AT I YEAR.

BEN AT 9 WEEKS OLD ,CUTIE PIE!!!!

WILL WORK FOR FOOD

This is Ben. He loves to help. I was pulling weeds and when I turned around to pick up the rake Ben was already doing my job for me. He actually had a small pile of pine cones gathered, not sure if he really meant to but he did a great job.

This is Ben helping with the cleaning and filling of his pool. He ,loves the

water. He will chase it , run thru it, bite it, sit in it, jump in it, as long as he is getting wet, he is one happy puppy.

Then we moved onto cleaning up the summer furniture. He was a big help here too!!. As you can see , he thinks he can do a better job than me so he gets right in there and does all work.

I believe I missed a spot here. But thankfully Ben was ready to make sure everthing was perfect.

Finally, all the work was done and Ben could get a little rest

Or could he.....................

I think he found something else to pick up. Now where did He put that Rake.?

SMORES (revisited)

SMORES, SMORES, SMORES, WHO WANTS SMORES?

I loved smores when I was a kid. Who didn't huh? I can remember the very first time I ever created one and ate it. The chocolate was melting all over and the marshmallow oozing everywhere. The grham crackers slightly chewy. It was the most delicious thing ever. EVER. I was sitting around the camp fire looking up at the stars when I noticed that some of my gooey treat had dripped in my long hair. Oh well, no matter. Still delicious.

So not to long ago I decided to try making Smores in the microwave. The marshmallow puffed, the chocolate melted and everything looked ready. It was perfect. But somehow my memory failed me. They didn't taste delicious anymore. It didn't melt in my mouth and taste like heaven.
Instead, I burnt my tongue and the whole thing was like eating sugar, only messy.

My walk down memory lane was a little disappointing . I realized what went wrong.
I was not 12 years old, my friends were not here , I had no camp fire or stars to look at.

Now I know that some memories are best left in your mind. In that secret little place where your imagination colors them, polishes them, and makes them a warm wonderful thought that you remember from time to time and when you do they put a smile on your face.

I still love Smores, or at least the thought of Smores.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE


There is a Bridge connecting Heaven and Earth. It is called the Rainbow Bridge because of its many colors. Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge is a land of meadows, hills, and valleys with lush green grass. When a beloved pet leaves us, it goes to this place. There is always food and water and warm spring days. Those old and frail animals are young again. Those who have been maimed are made whole again. They play all day with each other.





But there is only one thing missing. They are not with their special person who loved them on Earth . So, each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly stops playing and looks into the distance. The nose twitches, the ears prick, the eyes are intent, the body eager and quivering. Suddenly it runs from the group , flying over the green grass, its legs carrying it faster and faster.





You have come, and your special friend leaps to greet you. Happy kisses rain upon your face and hands. You look once again into the trusting eyes, hands caressing the beloved head, stroking the silken ears so long gone from your life, but not from your heart.





Then you cross the Rainbow bridge together, never to be separated again.


It has been one year since Jake died. I wanted to remember him with a special story given to me by a friend.

OUR PATIO

This is our patio. It was a project that we did this afternoon. A friend of mine, Lori, showed me pictures of her patio and I was very impressed with what she had done. I paint our patio every summer and I have always wanted to do something different. I would love to put in stone tile, but it would cost a lot. The way this is painted kinda looks like tile.

Kim taped off the squares for me and I painted. It took us a few hours and I think it looks pretty good. I also posted a couple pics of the before and during process.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Weekend. I hope everyone has had a good one. I had Saturday and Sunday off from both of my Jobs and Monday off from one of them. I am getting ready for work now. It is only a three hour shift so it should go quick. Kim and I went to the races last night and a movie yesterday afternoon. The movie was kinda slow. It was a Jennifer Aniston movie called Management.The Races were also kinda slow and not that good. But, we had fun. The weather is great, Sunny Sunny Sunny. We always wish we had just one more day when we have the weekend off, and now that we do have one more day, guess what?, I want one more day still. Oh well, We had a good weekend and lots of good food, mostly popcorn I think. Hope everyone also had a fun and safe weekend.

DEADLIEST CATCH

Captain Phil from the TV series "THE DEADLIEST CATCH" came to Rays Food Place last week. He was a surprisingly nice guy. He has his own brand of coffee " Phil Harris " and we sold tons of it. He signed autographs for everyone and on anything that you had. He also had coffee mugs and pictures. I think after anyone met him, if you weren't already a fan of crabbing you are now. Vickey , A friend of mine from Kmart took photos of him and his son, who was also signing autographs. She had brought her grand daughters in to meet Captain Phil. They had fun. And so did the 2000 other people who came in to meet him, by the way, they all came thru my register too. I did tell a lot of them "hope you have a Crabby day". Most got it , some I'm not so sure. Any way it was kinda fun to have a celebrity of sorts in our little town.

BIG BRO BEN

HAPPY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
MOM!! BELLA REALLY KNOWS
HOW TO CELEBRATE MOTHERS
DAY!!! THIS IS BEN'S MOM WITH
ALL TEN OF HIS NEW BROTHERS
AND SISTERS. AREN'T THEY
CUTE. BEN AND BELLA LOOK SO
MUCH ALIKE, THEIR FACE IS THE
SAME FACE. IT'S AMAZING. I
HOPE THEY ALL FIND
WONDERFUL HOMES

OREGON-- YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!!!!

For those people who love Oregon,
today is a really good day. It is pouring down rain outside. The temp is around 54 degrees and you can hear the thunder in the distant. It is not terribly cold or hot, just kinda cool , luke warm. You can either sit by the fire or enjoy the rain outside ,on your covered patio of course,. Makes no difference.


Spring time in Oregon is something everyone should get to see at least once in their lifetime. Beautiful colors and greenery are everywhere and you can go from 80 degrees one day to 45 degrees the next. Splashing in mud puddles is definetly allowed. Shorts and coats can be seen in the same group of people , they may be drinking coffee or licking ice cream cones, and all Oregonians seem to really love it.

I complain about the weather sometimes , but I have never complained about the beauty that surrounds and makes up the Willamette Valley. Mountains, Oceans, blue skies and green trees. Plenty of wildlife and flowers and hiking, skiing (both snow and water) camping, swimming, biking, horse back riding, all with in a stones throw.

AHHH , SPRING TIME IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST..
YOU REALLY GOTTA LOVE IT !