Meg Thinks I'll Do This

It's another meme, and Meg thinks I'll do it. So I will.

Two names you go by: Mom and Frankie.

Two things you are wearing right now: A cream-colored sweatshirt with a pastel blue snowflake and pajama pants.

Two of your favorite things to do: Be with Bob and Thomas and surf the net. Or ride trains. Or go on vacation. Do I have to choose two?

Two things you want very badly: To be debt-free and happiness, health and success for Thomas.

Two favorite pets you have had/have: This is impossible to answer. I love all my dogs and cats, past and present. There's no way I can choose. I will list two least-favorite pets: The hamsters that we had and the hermit crabs that we had. ICK to both. What a mother won't do for her child, though.

Two people you think will fill this out: No one! Someone, surprise me!

Two things you ate today: Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich (leftovers, yum!) and a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.

Two people you last talked to today: Ginny and Bob -- does Bob count? Actually if we're being technical, it would be Thomas and Bob.

Two things you’re doing tomorrow: Cleaning the house, going to Kmart for laundry detergent.

Two longest car rides: Denver to Indiana with my dad, my sister, her two kids and Thomas. It was fun, but long. Second longest drive was across Kansas. Kansas is very flat. Beautiful, but flat. (I would move there in a heartbeat, it was a long drive with just me and Thomas, though.)

Two favorite holidays: Christmas. Hmm. Does Spring Break count as a holiday? Birthdays? Hmmm...I'd say 4th of July, I guess. Christmas is my holiday.

Two favorite beverages: Diet Pepsi and Chocolate Milk

Frugal Friday

Cheap Prescription Glasses

Sometime eons ago, last April to be exact, my eye glasses broke. Bob and I went to the eye doctor, got new prescriptions, and paid over $500 for new glasses. I bought glasses and prescription sunglasses. The sunglasses I got dirt cheap, that is for a brick and mortar store, as the frames were only $19.99 on sale. I think I ended up paying around $85 for the sunglasses.

I hated my regular glasses with a passion. I returned them. Even though my glasses were broken, I was very proud that I marched back into Shopko and got my money back. I kept the sunglasses.

Sam, at A Desk Full of Clutter, had commented about Zenni Optical when I blogged about my glasses and the search for a cheaper pair. He had read about someone who was happy with their glasses from them.

I went to Zenni Optical, looked around, was shocked that they had frames starting at $8 a pair, and quickly made a selection. The frames I chose were $29.90. Well, that is the total for the glasses I chose, I'm not quite sure if my wonky prescription bumped the price up or not.

The customer service was fantastic. Within a day of my order, Zenni emailed me asking for verification of the prescription. My left eye is really bad but my right eye is really good. They questioned that I put the prescription in correctly before they made the glasses. I scanned the prescription and emailed it to them.

Within less than a week, my new glasses arrived. I LOVED THEM. I love them to this day! This is one of my all-time favorite pair of glasses -- ever. They fit fantastic. They're much more stylish than I would have normally bought.

They arrived with a nice case and cleaning cloth, too.

I will never buy glasses in a brick and mortar store again. My total bill, with shipping from Zenni, was $34.85.

The only down side I can see to this is that you don't get them custom fit to your head. I really don't see that as a down side for me at all, though. These glasses fit great.

I highly recommend Zenni Optical! I will always buy from them. It is nice to know that I'll be able to pick up a pair of glasses, and much-needed prescription sunglasses from them for under $100.

That was my best money-saving adventure of last year.

A Funny -- Poor Bob

This morning as I was getting ready to shove Bob out the door off to work -- no, say goodbye as Bob was leaving for work, he decided instead to take the day off. He has three vacation days that he has to burn in a hurry, so he figured why not. This was at 7 am.

Bob parked himself in front of the computer as Thomas and I fed the puppies and took them outside. We then started school. It's hard to do school with Bob underfoot -- not because he's here, it just ruins our routine. So we plugged away.

About 10:30 we took our first break, took the puppies outside, and I came down to catch up on emails and blogs and all that fun and good computer stuff. A half hour later, I startled because so much time had flown by. Up the stairs I went. Thomas sat down at the table and started math while I decided to make another pot of coffee.

I was looking out my kitchen window and the overcast, cold and dreary day. I then looked at Bob's van, which was parked in the driveway. I blinked a few times. I actually put my glasses on. Lo and behold, there was exhaust coming out of it! It was 11 am and that van was RUNNING.

I called down to Bob, who was diligently working on defragging and deleting unwanted files from his computer and asked him if he forgot something. Nope. I started laughing. I just couldn't help it. I said, "Honey, did you start your car this morning?"

Oh shiitake mushrooms. Only he didn't say the mushroom part. Or the "ake" part, either. He flew out the door faster than I could say boo.

So there in our driveway, from 7 am to 11 am, sat our van, with the engine running, warming up. We're trying to figure out how many gallons of gas he blew. It was just so funny that I didn't care about the lost gas, though. I don't think I've laughed so hard in many, many moons.

Poor Bob. I'm laughing at him, not with him. However, he was a good sport and laughed about it, too.

And I'm proud to say that even though Bob was underfoot, as soon as Thomas finishes his five-paragraph essay on his favorite foods (or poop, whichever he chooses to write about today) we will be done with school for the day. We made it through.

4H

The 4H Dog program lady called tonight. I put a call into her over a month ago, she'd been busy and apologized.

So, we're set to start this. We have to join the next county over's 4H.

I know NOTHING about 4H. I do know Thomas will have to train once a week. That's great. He will also have to join a club? What else will he have to do?

Bottom line: HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST ME?????

I'm hyperfocused on money this year, and want to work this into the budget! Aside from gas being $3 a gallon, and this town is 20 miles from here, how much money?

Thomas is excited about it. He wants to do it. He's ready to volunteer at our local animal shelter again, which we'll do after Tesla has his second round of shots.

Help, someone explain this 4H thing to me, please!

Everybody's Doing It

I've seen this all over the blog world. I've always claimed I'm not a liberal or conservative -- I guess this proves it.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Cuties

Frugal Friday

How to save money on food.

1) Pick up a nasty virus that makes you sick.
2) Make sure the virus stays with you an entire week.

I have saved a lot of money on food this week! I have consumed:

Ramen Noodles
chicken noodle soup
Kraft Mac and Cheese -- only when I was so hungry I felt I'd eat the house and figured it was pretty bland -- it worked
soda crackers
toast
three 2-liter bottles of Sierra Mist.

Sierra Mist at our store is 99 cents a bottle, while Sprite and 7-Up are $1.39.

Yup, that's all I've consumed this week.

When I ventured out to the grocery store to pick up more soup, and found the Ramen Noodles on sale and got those too, I asked the store clerk what was going around. She said a nasty virus was going around that was coming out both ends, and that it was lasting a week or more. OR MORE??? Oh shiitake mushrooms.

It's Friday, this bug hit me last Sunday, and I'm still very queasy, not up to par by any means. Of course being a mom, I have to function. Surprisingly, school got done every day this week. Well, not really this morning. This morning after we did all the puppy chores, I collapsed into my bed. I slept until 11:30, clocking about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. That felt so good. Thomas was snuggled up reading a Harry Potter book, taking care of the puppies when need be.

Bob is on his way home today. It was an awful time for him to be out of town. I have been dreaming of Saturday, when Bob will get up and do the puppy chores with Thomas and I can S L E E P in.

Now in case anyone was worried about Thomas getting decent food, I will say again how proud I am of him. He cooked for himself every night. Chicken wings twice (the $5 a bag kind from Wal-mart that aren't precooked, not the $10 a bag that most stores sell), Tuna Helper which he loves, eggs, and I forget what else. He also made a couple batches of muffins, which he loves to do. I'm so glad we've been teaching him his way around a kitchen.

This afternoon we're going to work on math, science and geography and call it a day. We'll then watch the clock waiting for Bob's arrival home.

Sorry, this wasn't really a Frugal Friday post. I just didn't have it in me today to post about snowball payments on debt. I'll do that next week. That takes too much energy on a good day.

The last few days...

Warning: This post is gross and long and sick.



Sunday was the day to pick up our new puppy. We loaded everything up in the car, Apollo, all the dog stuff, and headed out for the airport a couple hours away. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm for Minnesota. About a 30 miles outside of Rochester, our destination, the fog hit. It was very thick.

I called Bob, who at the time was in South Carolina on work, and asked him to check flight status for me. Sure enough, Tesla's flight had been cancelled. So we arrived at the airport, stood in line with many angry passengers, waiting our turn to find out what the status of our puppy was. They were going to try to put him on the next flight.

We went outside, played with Apollo for awhile. It was nearing the time for the next flight to depart, so we decided to go in and check. This time there were no angry passengers, but a very chatty and helpful man at the counter. He was checking for me, and I did hear that the flight had been delayed. He said many other things, but I didn't hear a word. As I stood there, something in my gut started churning and gurgling and I felt as if I were going to double over at any second and pass out right then and there. Or worse.

I said thank you, parked Thomas in a chair right next to the rest rooms, and, um, how do I say this without being gross? Had the runs. Felt a little better, decided to go out and play with Apollo in the parking lot. That lasted, um, an entire two minutes before I was running back into the airport.

At this point I knew. It was 4 in the afternoon, and I would not be driving home that day. I was too weak to go back to the counter, so I called the 1-800 number to check Tesla's status. The plane had not yet taken off. We did. I called Bob, told him to get on the Internet and find us a motel room pronto that would accept dogs. We hopped in the car and headed toward town. The Rochester airport is about 10 miles south of the town. He called back immediately and said there is a Super 8. They are known for being pet-friendly. And cheap. Drove right to it, checked in, and decided to unload what little we had brought for our day trip. I forgot the potty box!

The breeder trains her puppies to use a potty box. It's basically paper training in a box. Shredded newspaper in a Rubbermaid container that they can climb into. How on earth could I have forgotten the potty box? This meant that I would have to *go to a store* when I did not feel like going to a store. So we spent about a half hour in the motel room and then headed out. Found a Shopko, ran in. I told Thomas to find a potty box while I looked for Imodium. I was so weak that I handed the clerk the Imodium and sat at the bench right next to the check-out lane. Thomas found a potty box, forgot the lid but I didn't care, and we paid. I only had like $15 cash with me so I had to go in and use the plastic.

Ran through Wendy's so Thomas could eat. The smell made me sick. I got a Sprite. Or Sierra Mist. Or whatever it was. It tasted so good. Made it to the airport. Two minutes later, the plane landed. The lady at the ticket counter brought our beautiful Tesla to us. He is gorgeous, snuggly, fluffy and smart -- everything a puppy should be. We cut the plastic ties off the crate inside the airport, and I carried 20-pounds of puppy and crate to the car.

At this point I was doubling over in pain yet again. Thomas took over. He got the collar on Tesla, took him potty, and introduced Apollo and Tesla. My head was spinning. I didn't snap a single photo. It was dark anyway, but I couldn't even try. My only thought was to stop at a Mini-Mart on the way to the motel, grab a 2-liter bottle of Sprite, a snack for Thomas, and a big, thick newspaper so we could make strips for the potty box.

So that's what we did. Hopped in the car. Took every ounce of energy for me to drive. Got to the Mini-Mart, Thomas stayed in the car with the pups and I ran in the store. The clerk was very nice or very bored and when I walked in, she asked what I needed. I told her and she set out getting it. Butterfinger for Thomas, newspaper and 2-liter of Sprite. At this time the smell of the hot dogs cooking hit me like a ton of bricks. I screamed, "Where's your bathroom," she pointed, and I ran.

How do I say this without being gross? I puked my guts out. And what's worse? I peed my pants every time I puked. I *hate* being old, or having had a baby, or whatever it was that made me not able to control my bladder while I was heaving. I cleaned up, and approached the counter, thankful that my coat was very long and hopefully covered myself. She gave me a look. I said, "Oh my God, I'm NOT drunk, I'm sick." I was afraid she'd call me in as a drunk driver!

Got my stuff, was actually feeling a tad better, opened the trunk and took out a towel that I had remembered to pack, sat on that and drove a few blocks to the motel. Carried in two crates full of dogs.

I had to run around that motel room wearing two towels on my lower half in front of my son and wash my clothes out with shampoo. Thomas suggested that from now on, we carry a change of clothes in the car. Brilliant idea, Thomas. When I felt able, I would use the in-room blow dryer drying my clothes.

I was sick all night long. Poor Thomas was scared to death.

I did not feel comfortable sending a 12-year-old child outside to potty puppies by himself at a motel at night. So, the puppies used the potty box. Thankfully they used it. And speaking of puppies, that is a complete blur to me. I only snapped three photos.

I am so completely proud of my son. He stepped up to the plate, took control, and took excellent care of his pups. He fed them, watered them, and played with them. He snuggled them, crated them, and met their needs. He put them to bed in their crates at a decent time. He snuggled in and watched the Discovery Channel, asking me every 15 minutes if I was all right. I don't know what I would have done without him.

It was very scary for me. If something would have happened, what would we have done? We didn't know anyone there. Bob was in South Carolina. I was so sick I couldn't even drive to get myself clean clothes. I was up every hour during the night.

It was also probably one of the most embarrassing times of my life. Peeing my pants? Oh my gosh.

The next morning Thomas went and got breakfast, came back to the room and ate. He fed his puppies, and took them outside to potty and walk. It took me from 8 in the morning, when I started to pack up, until 11:30 before I was able to get out of the room. Bob wasn't too keen on us staying another day in the motel. Plus, I would have had to get clothes, more dog food, and food for Thomas.

I made it home fine. In fact, driving in the car felt good because I made Thomas use the in-case-of-emergency blanket we keep in the car to cover himself with, and I cracked my window. The cool air felt so good.

We arrived home, unloaded everything, introduced the puppies, called the breeder to let her know we made it home, called Bob to let him know, cleaned out the crate -- it was full of newspaper for the flight, cleaned out the potty box, fed the puppies, etc. I was then able to shower, put on my nightgown, fill kongs full of cream cheese, crate the puppies and sleep for an hour.

When I woke up, I finally felt good enough to actually sit on the floor and play with the puppies. The new puppy is a snuggler. Of course he bonded himself to Thomas because Thomas took such good care of him, even though he is my dog. I then put him in the ex-pen and played with Apollo. Thomas was still doing the majority of the work, taking the puppies potty, etc. Thomas cooked himself dinner, I had Sprite and soda crackers, and we were about to call it a day.

Thomas took the puppies potty, one at a time. Tesla was crated, and when he brought Apollo in, he hollered for me to come quick. Apollo had stepped in poop outside and tracked it all over my kitchen and hallway.

Oh my gosh. I had to scrub crap off floors when I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed. So, I picked up Apollo, cleaned his paws off with a million paper towels, and then decided to run a bath for him. I put two inches of water in the tub, put him in it -- thank goodness he likes the tub -- and had Thomas sit and play with him. Tesla was crated, so I went to work on the floors. I cleaned up the tracks with paper towels, then mopped the floors -- twice.

Talk about a crappy ending to a crappy two days!

We went to bed, Tesla, bless his heart, slept through the night. We have an excellent breeder who crate trains the puppies early, so he was used to being in a crate overnight. He is 10 weeks old, too, so he's better able to hold his bladder than a younger pup. He woke me at 6:30 the next morning.

Still feeling weak, I got up, got dressed, and took care of the puppies. I was going to let Thomas sleep a little, but he woke and helped. Amazingly, we had all our puppy chores done early and were able to start school at 8.

The house was clean, the bills paid, school was going well, so I was able to start training the new puppy. Then the old puppy. I've been on the go ever since.

I'm exhausted. Thomas has already done his math, science, geography and art this morning. He's reading now, the puppies are in their ex-pens, and here I sit trying to catch my breath on the Internet. It feels nice to not be on the go.

And there you have it. My crappy few days in gory detail. Maybe today I'll actually take some more photos of the puppies! Although, we keep them separated 90% of the time so they bond to us not each other, so they'll probably be individual photos.

I think I shall take a nap this afternoon.

Frugal Friday

Another Frugal Friday is here. I have lots of things I want to write about, but today's thoughts out loud are focused on health.

It's cheaper to be healthy than unhealthy. It makes one feel better, too.

Currently I'm on two medications, one for high triglycerides and one to help me sleep. $50 a month, and that's with insurance. (And yes, I know that's cheap compared to what some people are on.) It's highly likely that if I were to lose weight and exercise daily, I could get off that triglyceride medication. Perhaps the sleeping pills, too.

I always feel icky. I have aches, pains, headaches. My back hurts, my feet hurt, my legs hurt. I get out of breath, I have no energy and I just feel blah.

I used to be a member of Weight Watchers. I love the program. I know it inside and out. I've decided to not spend the money and join again, saving me about $14 a week. Instead, I'll do it on my own. I'll be accountable to myself.

That is the single-most important thing for me to focus on at this time: my health. It wills save me money in many ways.

Exercise is another important ingredient. I'm not going to join a gym -- too expensive, plus I don't like gyms. I was a member of Curves for a long time a few years ago. I liked it okay, and I was able to maintain my weight loss with exercise alone, but it was $30 a month, Thomas was in school then and so I was able to get there at convenient-to-me times (when it wasn't crowded) and I had the money to do it. Now I prefer to save the money, I don't want to go when it's crowded, and I choose to stay at home.

Right now I just need to get moving. I have a puppy, he needs to walk. Free exercise. When it's icy out, we go to one of the city parks because they keep the sidewalks there ice free. So no excuses. I also have a million exercise videos. I love Richard Simmons. I have many others to choose from, too. (Garage sale finds!)

Food: Well, eating healthier will cost a little more starting out. I'll need to stock up, watch sales for chicken, turkey and healthier protein choices and pantry items. I'll have to watch sales very carefully. I'll also be making more trips to the store to stock up on fresh foods.

Careful menu planning will help. I took all of my favorite WW recipes and organized them on one sheet into categories such as Mexican, Italian, beef, chicken, crock pot, etc. That helps a lot when I'm planning. I then plan one month's worth of dinner menus at a time. That way we're able to get variety in what we eat, and we have a little leeway if we're in the mood for something -- I can move things around.

I have looked into The Grocery Game but I don't know that it would work for us. I rarely use coupons because I don't use a lot products that offer coupons. I might revisit this and try their $1 trial, but I have my doubts. I think watching sales ads on my own will work better.

My favorite source of Weight Watchers recipes can be found here. Homemade snacks for Thomas and Bob are in order, which means me being in the kitchen more, but it's cheaper and healthier than buying prepackaged stuff.

Good health is more cost-effective than bad health. If I can take the steps to be healthier, I will save money because I'll have more energy to do more.

hmmm...not your average frugal post, is it?

Just think of all the books I can buy if I get off those medications...$50 a month!

Some cheese with that whine?

It's 1:08 am. I woke so hot that I thought I would burst into flames. We went to bed early tonight because this mom's sick. Fever, aches, pains, sore throat, and full of whine.

Our back to school has fizzled. Wednesday Thomas did math and then complained of not feeling well. I felt his forehead and he was burning up. He spent the rest of the day on the couch, and was feeling much better by evening.

Thursday was my turn. Only I'm not feeling any better. Thomas did math with me by his side, then he did science on his own. He then read. He's started one of the Harry Potter books. Amazingly, he hasn't read any of them yet. His comment to me was cute: "Mom, reading the book is like *being* there. I love it. It's much better than the movie." Gee, I've been trying to get him to read all those HP books since forever. Although the movies are great, the books are better.

My house is a pit. I have bills stacked to pay. I do have groceries, though. I hate it when my house is a pit and I have bills to pay. Huge weight on my shoulders. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a little more zip and will be able to get some of those tasks done.

Tesla, our second puppy, will be coming this weekend. Finally. He had a virus and ran a slight fever so she couldn't vaccinate him, plus she put him on antibiotics. He was fine and back to normal a couple days later, but she had to wait a few days before vaccinating. Then she had to wait a few days more before shipping. It all worked out for the best as we were supposed to get him December 27. That's the day we lost Jerry, so we really needed that time to mourn. Now we'll be in happy moods for Tesla's arrival.

We'll be very busy this weekend! And it's supposed to be warm, near 40 -- shorts weather! -- an added bonus.

So I think I'll try to go to bed again. My Motrin has kicked in and I'm feeling a tad bit better. Wishing I had Harry Potter's wand so I could wave it to clean up the house!

Happy New Year

From our home to yours, we wish you the best for 2008!

And may it be happy -- as Thomas is with his new puppy.

Africa Studies

Two links useful for studying the Africa countries and capitals:

Name the African Countries -- the country name is give, you click on its geographical location.

Learn the capitals of African countries, after you've memorized the countries, that is.

Nations of the World

Here's a cute video that sings the videos of the world. It's dated and there are errors in it, according to today's geography, but fun nonetheless.

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Topic: Books

Audrey at A Small Corner of Nowhere didn't just talk about Frugal Friday, she jumped right in.

And she hit a subject near and dear to my heart (and almost every homeschooler's heart, books!)

Hop on over and read her post.

Her post got me to thinking about some things. I don't use the library as much as I could/should. I think 2008 we'll strive to improve that.

I don't use the library that often because when we study something and I look for books, half are checked out, and it's usually the good half that are gone. Well, our library does have a system that you can place holds on books. So being organized would be the key to avoiding that problem. Organization is also the key for requesting ILLs so that they arrive when we want them.

I love to buy books, but as Audrey points out, we are disappointed with so many. My latest book purchase from Amazon cost $80ish. We got several books, but the one that Thomas really loved was the Eyewitness Africa book. That is one that he has read from cover to cover more than once. Facing the Lion was his second favorite. So only two of the books I bought satisfied Thomas. The rest, although not waste, was waste. lol

Another issue I have with buying books is that I have only one child. I don't have a bunch of kiddos to pass the books on to. That really does make a huge difference. If I had a house full of kids, I could see purchasing more as I'd get more bang for the buck.

I buy a lot of books at garage sales. We only have one thrift store in town, and the past couple of years their book selections have been dismal. I like to look for used books online, but with shipping, that adds up. Our Rotary Club has an annual book sale in the fall. Our library also has two book sales a year, and books are cheap. Other than that, we'd have to travel to a nearby city to find decent, used books. My small town does not have a book store!

Audrey also discussed the use of credit cards. I want to quit using credit cards this year. Impossible, for a homeschooling mom in a small town that has to order a lot online. My idea was to start a separate checking account of my own. Proceeds of anything I sell will go into the account. I'll budget so much per month to go into the account as well. I will get a check card/credit card to use with it so that I can buy online. The only difference is that I can't spend money that's not in the account. That will force me to choose very carefully what I actually buy. That will also make things easier for tax time, because in Minnesota, we get to claim our educational expenses on our state income taxes.

The Homer Simpson Rule

Awhile ago, our family was gathered in front of the television watching The Simpsons. We like it, we think it's funny. It doesn't take much to amuse us.

The particular episode we were watching had a kitchen trash can that everyone walked by, carefully added their trash, then walked away. It grew taller and taller and taller. Finally Homer put something on it and the whole pile went crashing.

That's when Bart and Lisa did their irritating laughs and reminded Homer of the rule: He who knocks the pile over has to take out the trash.

Well, I think we've been watching too many cartoons. The past few days I've been walking by our recycling pile, carefully adding to it, and so has Bob and Thomas. Surely, it has got to come down tomorrow. I wonder who will knock it over.

Frugal Friday

I've been toying with the idea of having a Frugral Friday post every week. I need it.

It seems that I've worked us up into a little bit of debt with which I'm not comfortable with. It will take awhile to get it paid off. That's a New Year's resolution or just a plain common-sense goal.

Time to visit my bookshelf and dust off my dated Tightwad Gazette books. I won't, repeat, won't be making popcicles out of the grape jelly jar reminants. I don't remember if that was in her book or if she mentioned it while on Oprah years ago, but ewww.

It's tough being a single-income family these days. It's even tougher when the mom of that family likes to buy books. And other stuff. And has an "I'm deserving" mentality.

I've put lots of thought into this for awhile: how to save money. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head. I don't know if many would save or not. I have to balance with my energy expenditure -- is it worth it. I need to start scouring the web for up-to-date skinflint sites. I need inspiration.

Next Friday I'll start with real posts on how I'm going to save money, reduce debt and feel a little better. For now, smoke will be coming from my ears as I think this through.

Goodbye, Jerry Lee

Rest in Peace
2001-2007

Reflections

Coal for Jerry Lee!!!

We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner. Bob bought wonderful steaks, and I baked some potatoes and warmed some brown-n-serve rolls. A nice green salad complimented the meal.

The table was set with my finest. Great-grandma's wine glasses, grandmother's salt and pepper shakers, mom's candle holders. A beautiful silver table cloth that I got especially for Christmas, and bright red plates.

It was perfect. For us. Not for a magazine. Bob was outside grilling, and I had just put the bun basket on the table. I turned to do something, turned back around and we were missing three dinner rolls.

Was it Jerry Lee or Apollo? Apollo is growing by leaps and bounds, but there was no way he could have reached the rolls. Jerry was the culprit. I didn't get mad, I actually chuckled. I threw some more rolls in the oven quickly.

When Bob came in, he was not happy. He doesn't want a dog grazing from our table. I told him to cut him some slack, he's dying after all, and we'll laugh about it some day.

We sat down, Bob gave a beautiful prayer, and we indulged in our Christmas Eve feast.

While we ate, Jerry kept pacing to the counter and back to the table. Bob informed me that he had purchased a pack of steaks, so there were four, not three. He grilled the fourth and figured we could have a steak sandwich for lunch tomorrow.

We finished our meal, Bob and I went outside for a minute, (after-dinner smoke) then came back in to put food up and clean up. On the counter, clear against the wall, was the plate where the steak had been. Some how, some way, Jerry Lee had got to that steak and had himself a nice Christmas Eve dinner.

It's mind boggling to both of us how he was able to get it. Our dog, the very dog that we've been struggling with "the" decision all week, who has labored breathing, gets out of breath easily, and is not doing so hot, was able to get to the back of the kitchen counter and steal a steak.

We will laugh about it some day. I sure hope he enjoyed it.

I think he needs a lump of coal instead of the nice, juicy bone we got for him for Christmas. Silly boy.

Okay, secretly, I'm overjoyed that he did such a naughty thing. His days are numbered, we've had "the" discussion a few times, and when we do, he seems to rebound and recover fast -- as if he knows. It has been a wonderful gift that we have been given so much extra time with him. He was only supposed to live until October 15, according to both vets. His being here was a wonderful Christmas gift.

I just hope Apollo did not see him in the act. We don't want puppy learning naughty things!

We really have been struggling with our decision. I just ordered him new medications, and I have been ordering a month's worth at a time. This time I ordered 15 days' worth. We pick up the second puppy, Tesla, on the 27th. Two puppies might just do him in. Then again, I have caught him bouncing around in the snow with Apollo. We have only seen him in pain one time, and that was when we had the first talk. I was going to call the vet the next morning, a Saturday. The next morning, he was fine. That Sunday, he was running up and down the stairs.

This is so hard. However, I am so thankful that we have Apollo and soon Tesla. Their arrival into our home takes the focus off the sadness. They've brought us joy when we really needed it. Apollo has definitely given Jerry a run for his money. If I dare say it, I think Apollo has given Jerry further will to live. Jerry is a jealous boy, and he wants me all to himself. So he gets right up, stands in front of me to protect me from the cute little puppy. He has barked at the puppy with the puppy was mouthing too hard on his humans. He has growled a few times when he didn't want to be disturbed yet the puppy wanted to crawl all over his head. He has given up all hope that the puppy will actually leave.

I love my Jerry Lee. I hope he enjoyed his steak. We will laugh and laugh about this for years to come, when we're remembering him fondly. I won't give him coal, but I do think all will be forgiven tomorrow and he'll get his juicy bone.

Jerry's being here for Christmas is truly the best Christmas gift this family has received this year.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

While I am a Christian, I do have a great sense of humor. I didn't hear any cursing in this video, which is why I'm posting it. I find it funny because I can never remember the words to songs -- ever. I always invent my own. So this was very in line with who I am.

May Santa be good to you all.