My Rebel Petunia and The Firestarter

I have resurrection petunias. At the end of last summer, I did not clean out all of the planters. Good thing because lo and behold the petunias in those planters came back. I had no idea that petunias were perennials. Now yesterday I found a lonesome red petunia growing in the lawn on the north side of the house. How did seeds get over there? Here's a picture of my rebel petunia.

Katie did not know what matches were. We were talking about the fire prevention/fire safety poster she needed to complete for school. I had suggested "Don't play with matches or lighters". Katie asked me what matches were. So I got a book of matches from the bar and lit one for her. When the flame appeared she was in awe. She asked me to light another one and another one and another one. Each time she got all excited when the sizzling flame appeared. Apparently she didn't realize that the glowing orange on the end of the stick was a flame because she asked me if she could touch it. Now she thinks that lighting a match is a magic trick and that they are sooooo cool. Because of this new fascination I now have to hide all the matchbooks. Otherwise we would have a firestarter on our hands. Here is her completed poster.

She did a great job. However, I did have to write the phrases on another piece of paper so she could put them on the poster and I helped her color the grass. It was getting way past her bedtime and the grass was the last thing to do.

This morning Katie and I overslept. I didn't set my alarm and Katie turned off her alarm. It was 40 minutes before school started. Katie was stressed and exclaimed, "Now I am going to miss recess!" But she did not miss recess or any other class because I got her to the school at 7:45 am. That is the quickest she has ever gotten ready to go anywhere. Perhaps I should always deliberately not set my alarm and it would save me the struggle of trying to deal with a sleepy Katie in the morning.

That's it for my excitement. Ciao!

After you enter Abilene's zoo there is a short concrete wall and next to it is a large rock with a etched giraffe. Everyone gets their picture taken there, well. . .everyone except for Katie. We have been to the zoo several times but I have always resisted posing Katie at the over-used photo op, but Katie wanted me to take a picture. I believe that Katie likened the wall to a stage because as people enter they tend to look at the person on the wall. And Katie L.O.V.E.S. being on stageOh, Katie was in her glory. However, without further explanation here is Katie with the etched giraffe.

 In the photo below Katie was being a very scary lion.

 So there you have it, the run-of-the-mill picture from our afternoon at Abilene's zoo.

Boston "Long Time"

"It's been such a long time. I think I should be goin'. Time doesn't wait for me, it keeps on rolling." And isn't that the truth. It appears that each time I turn around another week has gone by and I have not posted.

Of course we have been busy. Rick started traveling to Illinois' Dept. of Criminal Justice. Rick thought the contract was 160 hours; however, he discovered that it is for 800+ hours. Springfield will be his second home for the rest of the year.

Hobo, the Great Pyrennes, is still calling our place home. The other night I heard him barking and he was right outside the guest bathroom. I turned on the porch light and spooked Hobo, but I didn't see anything dangerous. He was probably barking at some type of wild life, such as an armadillo. This morning he woke me up at 4 am with his barking. This time he was down at the shop. I do feel more secure with Hobo here and with his early warning system. Now Cody, he doesn't understand the concept of barking at intruders. Yesterday I was outside with Cody and Hobo. The farmers behind us were plowing the field and it was really loud. Hobo started barking and Cody, wanting to be like Hobo, barked too which made me laugh. Max, one of the White German Shepherds that we owned, would do the same thing. If Eric barked, the other WGS, Max would too; however, Max never barked on his initiative. Yeah, Cody is a Max, but goofier.

Cody on his way to Hobo who is sitting on top of the missile silo.

Katie was on spring break last week. We did a couple of fun things including the zoo. I had packed a lunch and we picnicked by the giraffes like we did last year. We also got to hear the male lion roar and let me tell you it was loud and very eerie. I cannot image being on the African savannah and hearing that. However, I do know that I would pee my pants.

 I always take pictures of the flamingos because they are so vibrant. Did you know that flamingos get their color from the food they eat, such as shrimp? Also, flamingos stand on one leg to keep their circulation working properly.

 The view from our picnic spot.

 Running to see the roaring lion.

Last year I had planted petunias in some of the planters and lo and behold they came back this year. Yesterday I bought a few more petunias to fill in the holes. It's a tad early to be planting flowers, but the spring spirit over took me when I was in Wal-Mart.

Our new living room TV has internet connections to Amazon and Netflix, just to name a few. I use Amazon quite a bit to watch movies because I am an Amazon Prime member, so a lot of the movies are free. We also had a trial membership to Netflix and it turned out to be horrible. We did not watch one movie via Netflix. The service kept on informing us that our internet connection was down, which it wasn't, and kept on rebuffering. Not sure why because the other services on the TV had no problems. I was surprised to find out that the selection of streaming movies was miniscule. So word to the wise, at this time Netflix is not worth money if you want to stream movies.

Many of you know that I am a Desperate Housewives fan. This past Sunday they had the funeral for Mike, one of the main characters. I cried! This is the last season for Desperate Housewives and I will miss it dearly. It is the only TV show that I watch. Another word to the wise, do not call me Sunday evening between 8 pm and 9pm CDT. I won't answer. Well, at least for the next few weeks. Speaking of last episodes, I typically don't like them. They always seem to entail the characters literally moving on. Often the last episode leaves a bad taste and negates the entire series. Here's crossing my fingers that they don't totally dismantle the residents on Wisteria Lane. I want to think that they still live on after the show ends.

Katie only lost one cube this past week. She was told to stop coloring and she did not. We actually met with Katie's teacher (our request, not the teacher's) two weeks ago to discuss Katie's cube losing abilities. Katie is not the best in the class, nor the worst when it comes to obedience, but she was continually losing cubes for talking when she was supposed to be silent and horsing around in the bathroom. Our new strategy is that if she loses a cube, we take away one of her cherished possessions. If she doesn't lose a cube, she gets back one of those possessions. (We recently got a garbage bag and took and bagged all of the items on her bedroom floor. This was after she was told repeatedly to clean up her room.) So far, the strategy is working. Fingers crossed.

That's about it. Nothing earth shaking, but busy all the same. I have to get ready for a baby shower. Ciao!

The White Soul Mate

Hobo, the homeless Great Pyrennes, is still with us, so I guess he is no longer homeless. He continues to be very cautious of people; however, he has found his soul mate in Cody. Those two romp and play every chance they get. Matter of fact, I drive Katie up the driveway to catch the school bus and without fail when I come back, Hobo is sitting on the missile silo staring at the house. Either opening the front door or the sound of my car starting signals to him that Cody will be out shortly. It is heartwarming to see the two of them together because they romp around like two puppies. Which reminds me, I think Hobo is about Cody's age because I think Hobo is still growing. When Hobo first got here he seemed a lot shorter. Rick is not too crazy about letting Cody run loose with Hobo because of wild hogs, cougars, rattlesnakes but when I see those two dogs together I know that their play time is the bright spot in Hobo's day. Also, dogs are pack animals and crave the company of people or other dogs. (Dogs that don't have a fair amount of interaction with other dogs or people tend to get depressed.) Since Hobo still needs 75' of personal space between him and people, Cody is his pack.

I finally managed to get a few pictures of Hobo with my telephoto lens so I can show you what a beautiful dog Hobo is.

 Cody is trying to get Hobo's stick. Cody did eventually get it, but Hobo got it right back. I have not seen them growl or bear teeth at each other.

  Going for a walk, side by side.

Hobo wondering why Cody is running towards me. Something about the look on Hobo's face makes me feel like I am breaking his heart when I call for Cody to come inside.

Hobo heading back down to the shop/Quonset Hut after a morning of play with Cody.