Monday, July 30, 2007

How we know he's been listening...

I was wandering around the house just after bath time last night saying: "Where's Evan?" When I muttered this within ear shot of Mr. Man he looked up with me with a big smile and said: "He ran away with a spoon!"

That's his daddy's boy.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Where did the summer go?

I knew July would be busy. It had everything I was looking forward to: the newest Harry Potter movie, the final Harry Potter book, my birthday, Mr. Man's birthday, the 4th of July, our annual trip to Race4theCure in the Brainerd Lakes area, the closing on our old house (SOLD!).. but seriously, what happened here? How can it be nearly August? Shoot - Target has had back-to-sale displays up for weeks now. On Monday I saw the school buses learning their new school-year routes around the neighborhood. It's sad but true.. summer is more than half-over.

We have a new truck with a snow plow attachment on it. I figure it's the next logical step in our adaptation to rural life at Rancho Anderson.
We got the huntin' dog, the air rifle (for the voles and groundhogs wrecking our yard with their tunneling), now we have a classy '73 Chevy rusting gently on our cement slab parking spot.
I'll resist the urge to use it as a lawn ornament propped on cement blocks when the time comes..though wouldn't it look nice next to our faded out wooden well cover with a circle of lawn gnomes around it? NOT.

Anyhow, for now the truck is the new favorite toy for the boys at our house. Who wants to ride the John Deere lawn tractor when there's a NOISY TRUCK to go 4-wheelin' in?

Sunday, July 01, 2007

To my great surprise, we have a new dog

My dog Callie pre-dates my wonderful husband. When we married we were both package deals. I fell in love with, and pledged to help raise his beautiful daughter who pre-dated me (she was about 18 months old).
I told him I couldn't relocate to Minnesota without my puppy, Callie, just about exactly the same age as his daughter.
Callie, like my stepdaughter, is quickly approaching the age of 10 this August. She's a wonderful, mostly mellow, meek and loving dog. If anything, she's a bit neurotic and when she feels abandoned or when a stranger approaches the door while we're not home, she's liable to make a mess on the carpet out of fear. (Or, at least this is my theory.)

Hubby, after years of comments about how little he cares for dogs (especially shedding dogs, and dogs that drag mud and dirt into the house on their paws) was at his wits' end when we moved to our new house and Callie had a few accidents.

I chalked this up to her needing to adjust to the new house. Hubby, not so much.

He knows I'd never give her up - so he looked for alternatives. Would I consider letting my parents take her back to Ohio? While that might not be bad for Callie (would she even miss me if she was being doted on by my mother or stepmother? Both are wonderful dog lovers and would walk her, feed her treats and love her dearly)...I didn't think I could bear it. She's the one constant in my life for nearly a decade. She rode with me faithfully every weekend to Chicago. She moved to Minnesota with me. She hunkered down with me through two torndaos. She slept on the foot of my bed, not leaving my side each time I was stuck in bed sick. She's been my faithful, wonderful dog - I couldn't send her away.

So, to my great surprise, today hubby decided to get ANOTHER dog. His theory was that Callie would adjust better somehow with an additional dog to keep her company.
He suggested a visit to the Humane Society at brunch, and by 2pm we were the owners of a Pointer from points unknown.

The jury is still out on this - but for now, we've welcomed a new member to the family: Miley.

Welcome Miley. We plan to feed you up (poor Miley is terribly underweight. She was a stray before the Humane Society found her) and take good care of you. Please let us love on you and take you for walks, OK? Also, the cat is NOT for eating.