new beginnings

   This is a new year, and I may or may not be more consistent in the writing of this blog.  It gets thin or non-existent when life gets very busy, so I did very little once the holidays started. I hope yours went well - ours were busy, filled with family, saddened by the violence in Newtown, CT which is the town next door to where I grew up and where my family lives.  We said good-bye to some friends who died of natural causes, and got the great news that a younger cousin is engaged.
   We are starting the year with a few more rules in the house regarding electronics - the hand-held type especially.  I get very tired of looking at the top of my daughter's head as she  glues her eyes to her phone/iPod, or starts texting in the middle of a conversation she is verbally having with me.  My husband saw this article and edited it for our daughter.  I liked it a lot!
   Hoping you are enjoying a wonderful New Year's day - we are having a snowy, reading, relaxing kind of day before starting into the bustle of the 2013 obligations on our time.

Leaves before Sandy and blanket after

   The predictions were dire.  Clear everything out of the yard that could fly.  We obeyed the warnings, put by several gallons of drinking water, filled the tub for flushing, had canned foods, extra ice to keep the freezer/fridge cold when the power left us, and extra candles.  Now I am sending coats, blankets and hats and mittens to the  many who suffered all the things that were predicted for us that never happened.   We were lucky.  Our area got no more wind than an average summer storm, and very little rain.   Before the storm, we spent the weekend cleaning up - here is the result from the front yard alone:

With Four maples in the front yard alone, we get a few leaves!

Losing Mommy in the leaf pile

With Daddy.
below, watch Dad's entrance (but don't throw up, Mom is no cinematographer!)

  We are so grateful that we were spared, and that we are able to help friends and strangers who were hit so hard by the storm.  If you can spare any warm coats, boots, or money, please consider contacting your local red Cross to see how you can help.
Thanks.

I will miss the animals

   With the exception of the first Halloween after he was born, I have always made the Halloween  costumes for my youngest son.  He never wants to be a cowboy or a football player, he wants to be an animal.  One year he was a crocodile,

once a beaver, another time he was a dinosaur, and last year, a peregrine falcon.

This Halloween he wanted me to make him a cheetah.   Let me tell you there are very few cheetah patterned furs or fleeces (it is a different marking from leopards, and if you don't believe me, my youngest will let you know!) I found cheetah patterned sheets, and thought if I were desperate I could cut them up for fabric, but honestly folks, cheetahs should be furry or at least fleecy.  I finally found something that would work form an on-line vendor.  Four days ago, they emailed me that they were out.   UGH! 

    We discussed the sheet option, but then he looked at me and said, "It's okay Mom, I can just go as a ninja."  Part of me rejoiced - he has a ton of black clothes, even a black balaclava, so this would be simple (and his other costumes were never simple). However, part of me mourns.  He is seven now.  How many more years do I have to be able to make him special costumes?  

    So I repeat, I will miss the animals, and the little boy now that he is becoming a Big Boy.

gyms for contemplation

   I'm a fairly loud person.  When I laugh it is obvious.  I am always singing or humming.  When I go to the gym,   I look at people when I go in, smile if I know them (they do smile back) and I talk.  This is the weird thing.  Maybe I am not focussed enough.  Maybe I should be working harder.  When I am working with the trainer, he and I chat about proper form, using enough weight, etc., but also about the football game last night (I fell asleep on the couch before Peyton and the Broncos did the total reversal on the Chargers), who should be in the World Series,  what he and his roommates are wearing for Halloween, etc. Apparently when I go to the gym, I am an anomaly.
   Everyone else is quiet.  They do not even breathe loudly, while I am huffing and wheezing like an old steam engine.  It is not that folks are not friendly - chat happens in the locker room - but they are quiet while lifting or squatting or rowing.
   When I am not in the weight room, but downstairs on the treadmill, I still do not wear a music playing device.  I use that time for ordering my thoughts, planning my week, and noticing the lovely brickwork on the house  next door to the YMCA.   Perhaps I am just meant to go to the gym with a friend and not alone?  This is something to contemplate when I am next on the treadmill.  In the meantime, I will keep grunting as I work the legs, huffing and puffing as I do mountain climbers and pull ups, and laughing and collapsing loudly when I do hamstring work with the ball.  I guess as long as I am there - loud or not - it is a good thing.

Oddity

   While shopping for the dress for my daughter's Homecoming Dance, we saw this display in one of the store front windows.  Next to it was a similar photo, but the lamp was not in front of the  poster.  I went in to notify a clerk that the lamp was dangerously close to the paper advertisement, and he just looked and replied, 'No, it's supposed to be that way."
    I hope the model still gets paid the full amount for his work, even with his face obscured.  I also hope they have fire insurance.

Settling in

     It has been two weeks since we added the last puppy to the pack, and things have sort of settled into a rhythm.  At any given time, the two puppies can be found alternately chewing on each other as they wrestle, or sleeping in some sort of dog pile.  

Favorite spot - under the computer on or near someone's feet
Libby in back, Annie up front

   Annie is very mellow - a down right laid back puppy. Libby is still jumpy, crazy and determined to dig up and replant every bulb in the back yard gardens.   Our old girl, Tasha, is a bit more tolerant now, but still barks the little ones into submission every now and then.    

    Took Annie to the vet and he places her age at nearly 5 months, judging from her teeth - older than we thought.  She is healthy, just shy.  

   Typical welcome when I come in:  Tasha looks up, or comes over and snuffs my hand. Libby jumps all over me, wanting to be picked up and petted.  Annie comes up, rubs against my leg and waits to be petted, or licks my leg.  It is an odd bunch, but so far, so good. 

Meet Annie

   I know there are many who will think we are crazy.  They may be right.  Today we adopted another puppy from the rescue where we got Libby.  So we are now a three dog family.  Two of them puppies. Libby really needed a playmate, and Tasha (our 12 year old dog) really needed a break from Libby trying to get her to play by climbing on her, nipping her, etc...
   Annie is larger - possible black lab with shepherd.

Annie

 Her paws are not dainty.  She is solid, and pretty unflappable so far.  She has only been here a few hours, and she has had to put up with Libby chewing on her ears at any opportunity.  She is very mellow, so far.  She has a nice soft mouth, and we are hoping she will be a water dog.
    All three of our dogs are snugglers, wanting to be on or near someone.

    It has been a busy day for both puppies as we took Libby with us this morning to get Annie.  Both did well in the car -  a good thing,  since we travel often.  After several hours of wrestling, then relaxing and then doing it again, they have finally conked out.

Libby on her back, Annie on her stomach.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.