The Defiant One

Okay, so apparently I needed some drama. Katie, Cody and I went up to the gate in the golf cart to open the gate and get the garbage container. Fedex had dropped a large box off. Katie wanted to sit on the floor of the golf cart with Cody on the way back to the house. I put the box next to me on the seat and Katie was facing out the side of the cart. Katie was wiggling around trying to entice Cody. I had Cody by the collar so he won't bite at Katie's hood. Next thing I see is Katie falling out of the golf cart. I slammed on the brakes so fast. All I could think of is I don't want to run over my daughter. Of course Katie is screaming bloody murder. Thank God Katie fell away from the golf cart. Thank God I was driving extremely slow because I had the trash container hooked on the back. Thank God Katie is fine and just skinned her knee. After I got her calmed down she claimed Cody pushed her out of the golf cart. I informed her she fell out of the golf cart from goofing around in it.

This little incident is the epitome of life with Katie. You can tell Katie not to do something, so that she doesn't get hurt, hundreds of time like we have done about holding on and not goofing around in the golf cart. However, Katie is smarter than Mommy and Daddy and we are just ruining her fun. She defies us and it is only when she gets hurt does she heed our warning. She is one of those kids that needs to experience the pain to deter her from her antics . . . for awhile. Yes, the memory of the pain will only last about one maybe two months before she'll start her brazen behavior in the golf cart.  Life with a defiant child. It makes you pull your hair out.

Rick's Wednesday Pictures

It is only 9:00 am, so there is really nothing of interest about which for me to post. However, that is a good thing. The last thing I need right now is drama before 9 am.

As for my black eye, my cheek bone bruise hurts worse today. I can't smile without a dull ache. Oh well, this too shall pass.

Yesterday Katie had taekwondo and ballet. I put her leotard on her after TKD. We had a little time to spare so she played with some TKD friends.

Even with the little play time, we were early for ballet so we sat in the car. (If I take Katie into the ballet lobby, she quickly gets bored and starts pirouetting and dancing in the lobby is a no-no.) I took a few pictures of Katie in the car. The one I have posted below is one of those pictures that I don't recognize Katie. She looks so very different in the picture. She needs her bangs trimmed again even though I just did them last week. Either I cut them long or her hair is on a growth spurt like she is.

Speaking of growth spurts, about two months ago we were putting Katie to bed when she complained about her legs from her knee down as hurting. She was rocking back and forth and in a prone position. I was at a loss for what it was. Rick immediately identified it as growing pains. Rick suffered through them as a child and adolescent and I have never experienced them. (Perhaps that explains why I am short.) I thought growing pains were a myth, but looking online I found interesting information about them. For example they tend to appear around the age of four and then disappear. They come back at about the age of 13.  Rick knew exactly what to do to bring relief which was to massage Katie's lower legs.

We ordered a walk through doggie gate. It is a metal gate with a 20" swing door for us to pass through. I am so looking forward to the gate because right now I have to go over the wood board. Also Cody will be able to see through the new gate and that should help control his barking when he is quarantined to the kitchen.  The gate was supposed to arrive yesterday via UPS which I paid extra for one day shipping, but according to UPS' tracking page there was bad weather in Dallas so it threw everything off schedule. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully it will come today.

So until something happens around here, ciao.

What A Blue Day

Today has not been that great of a day. Rick left this morning for D.C. and he has not been feeling well for weeks. He seems to be getting worse and that weighs heavily on my mind. He asked me to promise him if something happened while he was on the road that I would get him back here. Oh the tears. Rick's main goal in life, his passion and his self-proclaimed purpose is to take care of Katie and I. I felt so sad that he went on the road regardless of how he felt. It made me feel guilty and indulgent.

I had a MOPS' Steering Team meeting this morning and it quieted my worries for a bit. Then the paper was sent around the table on which we wrote prayer request.  I knew what mine was going to be an then I was like, "Oh crap. I'm going to cry." Sure enough. I almost made it through the whole meeting without giving away my true mood, but it did help to share with the other Steering Team members and the Mentors.

Katie didn't do taekwondo today. We had to come home to let the puppy outside and with the price of gas, I didn't want to drive back into Abilene. (It's roughly 35 miles one way.) Speaking of gas, how do you like those prices?! I have to put premium in my car and that grade is $1.00 more than it was a few weeks ago. Ugh!!

When we got home, we took the puppy outside to play, pee and poop. Katie wanted to play frisbee with Cody and I was standing a few feet to her right when she set the frisbee on a powerful flight, but it didn't go too far because my cheekbone stopped it. There is no fat or cushioning in that area of the face. It 's just skin and bone, so a welt immediately emerged. I realized it was an accident, but I have repeatedly told Katie not to throw the frisbee in the general direction of the house or when I am around her. Katie has a strong throw but poor, poor aim. My smack down occurred when she attempted to glide the frisbee straight out in front of her but released it at the wrong time so that it went 90 degrees to the right.

Rick complains that I rarely put a picture of myself on the blog when he is traveling. Well, here you go Hon, black eye and all. This is the first really bad bruise that I have ever had on my face. Poor Rick thinks people will assume that I am an abused woman.

On the positive note, Cody did not poop or pee in the house. Lupe and he have met a couple of times and my relaxed, loving cat showed him who is boss; who is the alpha pet in this house. Lupe taunts Cody by jumping up onto surfaces that are out of Cody's reach and then staring down on Cody. I did not know this, but in the doggie world, when one dog is physically higher than another dog, the first dog is literally and figuratively being the top dog. Its a position of alpha authority. I guess it must be the same in the cat world. Apparently it also is a "nah nah nah nah nah, you can't get me" manuever.

Yesterday Rick, Katie and I worked outside. I raked about 1/14 of the front yard and Rick collected and burned--yes, yes, yes I know about the burn ban--mesquite that our neighbor and friend Don pulled up for us. When you take mesquite down, you end up with thorns everywhere and the golf cart's tires are thorn magnets. Katie's job was to pick up the little twigs and sticks. For each wheel barrow she filled, she earned $2. The wheel barrow is a kiddie wheel barrow, so it wasn't an over whelming job, but she only filled her wheel barrow once. Tonight we Skyped Rick and he pulled the $2 out of his pocket.  He forgot to give it to Katie and then proceeded to ask Katie if he could borrow her $2. At first she said he could only have $1, but her good-heartedness won out and she said he could have both. Rick was teasing her . . .I think.

Speaking of allowance, since Katie is old enough to do substantial chores I told her that she needs to use her money to buy toys and candy. I want her to learn responsible money management well before credit card companies start stalking her.

Cody is learning his name, but I suspect he has selective hearing. When he is on the trail of some doggie-delicious scent he'll ignore me and go off into the tall grass. Other times he will come when I call. It is going to be tough to train him to stay on the driveway or in the front yard. But it can be done. Rick trained Eric and Max that way, but then again they were extremely intelligent . . .all three of them. I had asked Rick for pointers on how to train Cody to not go outside of the gate. Eric and Max didn't step one toenail past the gate regardless if it was open or close. If you went for a ride up the street, those two goobers would be in the exact same place when you got back. When Rick was in Lansing, he would take the dogs for a walk to the neighborhood convenience store at night without leashes. He would command them to sit and stay outside of the store by the door, which they did. It was funny to see them looking through the window and following every move Rick made, but it was funnier to see patrons walk up to the store and do a quick turn on their heel when they saw those two White German Shepherd bouncers. Anyway, do you want to know how Rick trained the Boys not to go outside of the gate? Here is what he told me:  "I took them to the gate, drew a line on the ground and told them not to cross it." Really?! Seriously?! It's not going to be so easy with Cody. To give you a clue on his intellect, we have on occasion called him Duh. Enough said.

Well, gotta go. I have been very tired for the last two days and when I have a blue day (blue emotionally and physically) I like to climb into my bed and mindlessly watch TV or read a book. In other words, I like to escape reality. So here I go to stick my head in the sand.

Clear Pictures of Cody

Woohoo! I got my camera back from Canon today and it's acting like a new camera. Of course I had to test it out and Cody was the target. Here are two pictures of the puppy in fine detail unlike the previous Leapfrog pictures.

In the Leapfrog pictures he looks dark. The first picture on this post is what color Cody actually is. Doesn't his blue collar look pretty? He also has a blue leash, blue Frisbee and blue ball.

Rick's Tuesday Picture

Rick is out of town--there's a shocker--so once again I am posting pictures for Rick. Canon received my camera yesterday, so I should have it back in seven working days. Until then, we must make do with Katie's Leapfrog Explorer's camera.

Yesterday Rick fashioned a piece of wood to close off the kitchen from the rest of the house. Until he is 100% potty trained, he--Cody not Rick--will call the kitchen his home. However, since his quarantine in the kitchen, he has had no accidents. I expected to find a puddle on the floor this morning, but we made it through the night puddle-free. That made me happy because it means he can control his bladder, which is more than half the battle. Now I need to get him on a potty break schedule. Max and Eric were on a strict schedule, until I came along and broke them! Seriously, I could set a watch to Eric and Max's potty schedule. I hope to get there with Cody. It is a long road to train this dog to the level Eric and Max were trained. I am confident that Cody can have the same stellar manners that the Boys had, but they were trained by Rick and I hope I have half of his talent.

Well, I must go and load the dishwasher and hang the new curtains in the bedroom. Don't worry Rick, I am not  making new holes in the wall. I am using the old ones. Ciao.

Houdini And The Giddy Girl

Today Katie had her six month dentist appointment. She did great, but they were not able to do x-rays because Katie didn't like the plastic thing in her mouth. The dental hygienist said we could try again at her next cleaning, which is scheduled for October. It was strange making that appointment. I had to take a 4:20 pm appointment because Katie will be in school. Oh, time flies by too quickly.

Cody is a little Houdini and escaped from his sleeping accommodations twice. Once last night and once today when we were at the dentist. Both times he did not do any damage. Other than that he does the usual puppy things. The first time he walked into the master bedroom he was fascinated by the ceiling fan. It must have been his first. He also watched TV a bit.

Lupe and Cody have not met yet. Lupe has watched him from the shadows or from a elevated perch, but Cody seems oblivious. I am going not going to facillitate a meeting. In my experience it is better for Lupe to meet other animals when he wants to do so. I moved Lupe's food into the office so Cody won't eat it. Believe me you do not want a dog eating cat food unless you like exploding poop.

Here's a picture of Cody sleeping. He has taken over Lupe's new cat bed, which is not a big deal since Lupe refused to set paw in it. Look at those big Clydesdale feet.

Again, sorry for the poor quality from Katie's Leapfrog Explorer's camera.

Below is Rick's Thursday Picture. Home, sweet home. I took this last week from our front yard facing west.

Other news of interest is that I got a new monitor for my laptop. We also ordered arms for my and Rick's monitors (he has two monitors) and handles for the arms so that you can easily move the monitor out of the way.  I also finally found a comforter set for our bedroom. When I started my quest six months ago, I was leaning toward a purple comforter from JcP, but something was holding me back. When I saw the comforter pictured below, I knew that it was the one. When will I learn that if I don't immediately connect with an item, it is not the one for me. Anyhoodles, the comforter is chenille and in black and gold with a touch of burgundy, Rick's favorite color combination.   The picture below is from the website since I have not stuffed the shams or put on the bed skirt yet.

Reviewing this past week, I must say it has been one with a lot of big purchases. I get excited like a little kid when I get packages in the mail. (Rick can vouch for that.) The items don't have to be big, important items to get me going, so this past week I have been down right giddy.

Little Guy and Yellow-Shirted Girl

Today, we purchased a puppy; however, the surprising part is it is not a White German Shepherd. He is a AKC registered Yellow Labrador. Here's how it happened.

Katie accidentally spilled a bit of her drink on Buddy, Rick's black Stetson cowboy hat. Rick took it into 5D Custom Hats & Leather on Butternut in Abilene. The owner of the shop has a brown female Lab that had seven puppies seven weeks ago. Kate and I were in Abilene also, so we met up with Rick at the shop to check out the puppies. After visiting the puppies two more times this week at the Cowboy Store (Katie's name for the place), we purchased a male yellow Lab. Here is the little stinker doing the typical Superman puppy pose.

Sorry for the poor quality in the photo. This morning I sent my Canon out for repair and I had to use Kate's Leapfrog Explorer to take pictures. Little guy is actually a bit lighter than in the picture. His daddy is a Red Fox lab, so Little Guy's coat could redden up.

As for a name, I think we are going to go for Cody. Dillon, George and Sparkles were also considerations. Bet you can't guess who wanted Sparkles.

Like most puppies, this little guy is adorable. He hasn't had an accident in the house and goes to the bathroom whenever I take him out. Rick said the breeder had started potty training them. Little guy has HUGE feet and was the biggest one of the litter. He is a "people person" and likes nothing better than resting his head on your lap. When he gets frustrated, such as when I put a collar on him, he whiney barks. On the way home, he barked for a fair amount of time, but it wasn't that bad because every once and while his bark sounded like a human laughing. He also snorts in his sleep and got the hiccups.

Katie is loving the puppy because he will run with and generally follow her around. Little guy is a great addition to our family. "Why the change in breeds?" you ask. Well, Labs are smaller than WGS, shed less and are great with little kids. Not to say that WGS are not. Eric was great with Katie, but it can be a crap shoot with Shepherds and kids. I wrestled with getting a Lab versus a White German Shepherd. WGS are very regal and absolutely beautiful dogs. But as I told Rick, just because we got a puppy today, doesn't mean I can't have two dogs of different breeds. (You know how Rick's likes matching things.)

I have quick story that I want to share. Last night Katie and I were in McDonald's in Abilene. Two mothers and five kids came into the play room. Katie is very outgoing and has no reservations about walking up to children who are complete strangers and asking them if they want to play with her. Back to last night. I heard Katie crying in the jungle gym/slide thing. After she came down the slide I asked what was wrong. Apparently at least one of the older girls that was one of the five kids previously mentioned told Katie that she was going to punch Katie in the face hard and punch her in the nose hard. The girl also referred to her as "the stupid girl" and told Katie that I was stupid. I approached the moms and when I asked who was the mother of the girl wearing a yellow shirt, the two moms said none of theirs had on a yellow shirt. They called their kids down and here comes one of the daughters in a yellow shirt. Huh? Did they not understand me? Well, probably not because English was not their first language. One of the mothers said, "Wait what did she (Katie) do first?" as if it was impossible for her child to be a bully. I questioned the yellow-shirted girl and she said what she did to Katie because Katie was picking on them. When I asked her to explain how Katie was picking on them, she said Katie kept on saying, "Hey, follow me. Do you want to play with me?" and Katie kept on following them trying to join their group. Katie can be persistent, I know, but the threats from the yellow girl were over the top. I threw my hands up in the air and walked away from the mothers and kids. I was so very, very angry. Katie wanted the girl to apologize and I should have requested one, but my grand exit was so I didn't let the rage I felt on the inside come bursting out of my mouth at full strength.

Katie and I had a long conversation about how some people are mean or bad people. Now Katie never wants to go to that McDonald's again. That was the first time Katie had been threatened with physical violence. There's one milestone that I could have done without. The incident just reaffirmed what I believe, girls/females can be so very mean. (I can feel the heat from some readers, but I stand firm.) Some of the crap that has come out of Katie's "friends'" mouths has been snotty, exclusionary and cutting. ("Go away. I am done playing with you." "It's a private club and we don't want you.") There is one girl who is in Katie's taekwondo class that epitomizes the word "bitch". I never thought I would use that word to describe a six year old child, but if the shoe fits. . . That girl regularly rolls her eyes at what Katie says and she raises her voice in disgust when Katie asks her a question as if Katie is an idiot or wasting her precious time and breath. It's pretty crystal clear that she doesn't like Katie, but Katie lets it roll off of her back. Last night there was no rolling, but a stabbing in Katie's heart. Am I strong enough to face the inevitable dramas during the school years? Perhaps my word to the wise for Katie is make friends with boys. They are not little bitches.

No Mac 'n Cheese For Us

Kraft Easy Mac 'n Cheese does not like us. Last week I was making microwave mac 'n cheese and getting the rest of the dinner ready when an  odd odor started filling the kitchen. I was looking around trying to figure out where it was coming from when I saw smoke coming out of the microwave. I opened the door and it was not on fire, but it and it's bowl were a black lump in the middle of the microwave. My best guess is that I did not put enough water in the noodles. Skip forward to this weekend. Katie wanted one of those single serving bowls of mac and cheese. As usual, I told her what buttons to press on the microwave. Katie knows her numbers and she has been entering cooking times on the microwave for a while now, so I didn't double check the numbers that she entered. So there we were, Katie and I in her room, when Rick came into the house and said, "Something's burning." I was making bread in my new bread maker and blamed it on that. "No," he said, "I mean something is really burning." Sure enough smoke was coming out of the microwave, again and the mac 'n cheese was on fire, again. Rick hustled Katie outside and got the fire out. The fumes from the burning bowl were horrendous and the microwave was black, black, black on the inside. The best I can figure is that instead of 3:30, Katie pushed 33.30 for the cooking time. Katie had started to cry because of the flames inside of the microwave; however, she became even more upset when she realized that the black lump cooling on the sidewalk was her lunch.

Because of the two events, I have decided that we are not going to ever eat mac and cheese again. I know what you are saying, I could do the old fashioned stove top kind. However, based on these two incidents, I am sure it would burst into flames on the stove top too.

The Things Katie Thinks

Conversation #1

Tonight Katie and I were driving back from Abilene--well I was driving, she was riding--and she asked me if I wanted her to sing. I said sure and then she asked me what song. I wanted to hear the all popular "Momma Song."

Katie:  Darn it! I forgot to download it.
Me: Download it? From where?
Katie: From my swing set.
Me: Download it to what?
Katie: My head! (At this point she is getting snippy because of my stupidity.)
Me: You download from your swing set?!
Katie: Yes, my swing set is magical.

Conversation #2
Katie was singing a song about Jesus and I heard her sing "he killed Jesus." I interrupted.

Me: Katie, who killed Jesus?
Katie: One of the guards.
Me: One of the guards? What was his name?
Katie: His name is John Heck.
Me: Really. I didn't know that.

Oh the things she thinks.

March 4 Update

The weather has been gorgeous. For the most part, I like spring in Texas. However, the part that I don't like is the part where the rattlesnakes come out and tornadoes come down.

Katie is still trucking along at Taekwondo. The form for her orange belt is more difficult that any previous form. She is also learning once step sparing with which she is struggling. In Beginning Dragons, they had cute names for the one steps ( mosquito, boom). In Advanced Dragons, gone are the names and they are referred to by numbers. A lot more is expected of the kids in Adv. Dragons and I think Katie might be a bit too young for it. On a happy note, a few of her friends from Beg. Dragons moved up to her class this week. One little boy, whom I think is younger than Katie, ran out of the gym in tears today. This is a kid that smiles all of the time, so my heart broke for him when I saw him run into his mom's arms. I am sure he is overwhelmed and not liking the stricter treatment from the instructors and the higher expectations. In Beg. Dragons, there is more flexibility, so it is difficult to transition from a happy environment to a intense environment. I think Adv. Dragons is where the weak kids get weeded out. There is a girl who moved up to Katie's class and I don't know how she made it through Beg. Dragons. She is less than enthusiastic and has a crappy attitude. To top it off, she is always messing around before class when they are supposed to be sitting. Who do you think follows her lead? That's right, my Katie. Today I had a conversation with Katie about not copying what that girl does. She heeded my word, for once.

I am still waiting on news of puppies. The breeder does not know if the female White German Shepherd is pregnant. Here I am excited about puppies that might not exist. This may end up being a long wait.

Yesterday I cleaned the inside of my car and both Katie and I got stung by wasps. My sting was on the leg and Katie's was on top of her ear. The wasp that got me must have had a lot of venom because it hurt, hurt, hurt. Worse than any other wasp sting I have had. Katie recovered relatively quickly, so I assume she swooshed the wasp away before he got his stinger all of the way in. Both of us got stung by wasps that were sitting. Katie leaned her head back on the car seat and that is where her wasp was. Unbeknownst to me, my wasp was walking around on my leg looking for the prime spot to deposit his venom. Oooo, ooo (Mr. Carter, Mr, Carter) another reason that I don't like spring.

This evening after Taekwondo Katie and I went to Michael's (a craft store for those not in the know.)  I bought the supplies to make stepping stone grave markers for Eric's and Max's graves. I have a lot of planning to do and will design the mosaic long before I mix up the cement. Yeah, you see how quickly I got on the ball to get those done. Max died five years ago and Eric, three years ago. Now that I have to create a design, they might not ever get to the dogs' graves. So if my tombstone seems a little odd, you'll know from where they came from. Or maybe I'll surprise myself and get them done in a year or two..

I have a lot of items on my to-do list. There is no end in sight. Sometimes life seems like a list of errands and chores. When do we get to stop and smell the roses? I have noticed that as I get older, it gets more difficult for me to finish a project. I am not sure it is age thing or if too much is on my plate. I really don't like this new quirk of mine. It makes me feel non-productive, scattered and unaccomplished.

That's it for a quick update. As you can see, I am busy with the mundane. Talk at you later.

Bling and Missiles

Yesterday, I received my consolation prize from Chunky Bling. It sparkles like all get out; therefore, I adore it. (I am like a cat. Anything sparkly catches my eye.) The ring is elastic and includes Swarovski crystals and pearls. See the picture below which does not do the ring justice (isn't that what they always say?) and shows why I will never be a hand model.

Katie and I are almost done with our third flower pot. Below is a picture of the two completed pots, as well as Katie. Katie's creation is the one on the right and her Popsicle is on the extreme left, in case you were wondering what the orange missile was.