Looking Forward To The Day

I rather fell down on the job today--I forgot to post a picture for Rick.  So I will try to redeem myself by posting these pictures so they are waiting for him when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

Here is Katie at the missile silo.  She has on her 4th of July dress that we just received.  I ordered it from a shop on Etsy and it is homemade pillowcase dress and it is darn cute. 

Quenching her thirst after her walk.

Here's a close up of the thirst quencher.

 Front sidewalk trellis

The above trellis is what Rick bought me for Mother's Day.  (You will have to click on the picture to enlarge it.  It hard to see in the posted small picture.)  In the side planters, I planted a grape vine and petunias in each.  The grape vine on the left is green grapes and the vine on the right is red grapes.  We won't have grapes this year and I am not even sure if we will the next, but I look forward to the day when I can go outside and grab a handful of grapes.  As for the trellis, I saw it at Sam's Club and really liked it.  We have been looking for a trellis with a gate for some time now.  (The gate is open in this picture.)  After this one was built and erected, Rick decided we needed a few more.  So, we will put one at the entrance of the Fairy Garden and one at the entrance to the path to the yet-to-be-build gazebo.  I think he bought a third and that would be the back up.  As for the Fairy Garden, it adjoins the south side of the front yard.  It is basically a clearing in a circle of trees that we are s-l-o-w-l-y turning into a sitting/thinking/meditating/chill outing garden.  Rick has been mowing it, but I am still working on the landscaping plans.  I  am looking forward to the day when I can go outside, pick some grapes and then sit a spell in the garden.

For those wondering, unfortunately we could not keep the two stray dogs that showed up at our house.  In a week's time they damaged so many items by chewing them to bits.  The mouthful that they took out of the new golf cart's seat was maddening, but when they began eating my solar sidewalk lights, it was too much.  To top it off they also started digging holes.  Anyway, we tried.

On that note, good night.

Rick left for Philadelphia today.  Kate and I have a ritual for when Rick leaves.  We go outside to kiss and hug him good bye and then Katie runs up the driveway trying to catch her daddy.  It is a rather pathetic sight as you can see from the pictures below.

Here's Katie running up the driveway and after the van as Rick leaves for the airport.

Rick stops at the gate to wave and Katie waves back.

Katie on her trek back home looking rather blue.  She didn't catch Daddy.

"I miss Daddy.  I want him to come back."

And this is what we do every time Rick leaves for the airport.

With Age

One of the advantages of getting older is that through experience you have learned what works for you.  Case in point is that today I had my eye appointment and I was able to pick out the frames that I wanted in five minutes.  Through experience I knew what frame shape I needed, what color I wanted and the add-ons that I needed.  When I first started wearing glasses many moons ago it took forever to choose a frame.  What I am trying to say is that after all of these years, I know myself better and I am well acquainted with my quirks.  Having a clearer picture of who I am--my strengths, my weaknesses, my likes, my dislikes--really makes life easier for indecisiveness is no longer a problem.  I have grounded opinions on most subjects and because of that I am more self-aware and centered.  Funny the thoughts and realizations that you have when going to the eye doctor's.

As for today's damage list, Peter Piper chewed up one of the solar sidewalk lights while Katie and I were in Abilene.  I was pretty mad and I vocalized while Katie was within ear shot that I could just kill those dogs.  Of course that made Katie cry.  Another reason to be angry is that our particular style of solar lights is no longer made so I will have to steal one of the lights around the gazing globe and move it to the sidewalk.  Earlier in the day I found my box of Miracle-Gro plant food in the front yard.  I believe Peter is the one that went into our swimming pool storage bench and stole it because the other day I saw him use his nose to flip up the lid on the bench.  Rick had just mentioned the other night that Peter Piper might chew the sidewalk lights and he was right.  He also was sure they would chew the seats on the new golf cart and he was right.  I should have asked him when I spoke with him this evening if he had any more psyhic visions of what they were going to destroy next.

As for motherhood, today was a tough day.  Katie acted up at the mall so she did not get to play in the childrens play area.  All the way from J.C. Penny's to Sears, I had to listen to her cry and beg--as did every shopper that we passed--for me to change my mind.  (For those non-Abilenians, that is from one end of the mall to the other.)  At one point she wrapped both of her arms around my legs to stop me from walking.  I just pulled away from her and I am sure I looked like one insensitive mom.  Oh well, with age also comes the ability to not give a darn what other people think of you.

Well, it's late and I'm tired.  Can't wait to see what bits and pieces that I find on the front lawn tomorrow--sarcasm, sarcasm.  Ciao.

Katie's Flower

This evening while I was watering my flowers Katie was able to play with her flower.  As you can tell from the pictures, she really enjoyed herself.

At one point Katie took a potty break and went into the house.  I was cleaning the bug light on the other side of the house when I heard her crying hysterically.  She had come back out of the house and I feared that Peter or Piper jumped on her, so I took off running.  The tragedy was that Peter had stolen Katie's shoe and was chewing on it.  Fortunately he didn't damage it at all.  However, one of them did take a small chunk out of my golf cart seat.  Needless to say, Rick is very angry.  (Wait, that doesn't accurately describe his reaction when I told him this evening via Skype.)  I think I just ruined his evening, tomorrow and week with that bit of information.  Like he says, 'No good deed goes unpunished."  You cannot leave anything outside and turn your back for one second with those two dogs.  I think both of them are chewers.  It is at night that they go sniffing around to find something to chew so I wake to bits and pieces in the front yard.  Rick and I will decide what to do with them this weekend. My mother-in-law saw the pictures of Peter Piper on this blog and she thinks that Peter has great dane in him with which I agree.  It would also explain why he acts like a puppy because he is one, just a huge puppy.

Tomorrow I have an eye appointment.  I got my last pair of new glasses seven years ago...oops.  Time sure has a way of flying.  I also will be getting contacts.  When I first moved to Texas, I had a lot of issues with my contacts.  I think it was just too dry here.  I hope to get a different brand/type of contacts so I can remedy that problem.

That's it for now.  Ciao.

Rick's Tuesday Picture

A new place to eat lunch.......

.......a purple toter.

Overnight Damage List:  one gardening glove and one plastic watering can.  They got Rick's snake that he was using to clear pipes for the missile site and dragged it into the front yard, and I didn't pick up their foods bowl quick enough after breakfast--I let a whole whopping ten minutes pass--and one of them chewed on his or hers.  My mantra has become, "They are not like Eric and Max."  However, for the sake of honesty no dog could measure up to either Eric or Max.

My house is a mess.  No excuses or rationalizations will follow.  It is plainly and simply a mess.

Rick's Monday Pictures

This morning didn't start off so well.  When I went outside to feed Peter Piper, I discovered Katie's flower sprinkler ripped to shreds, as well as the cardboard to which it was attached.  I bought it on clearance last year, so we hadn't used it yet, but apparently one of the dogs decided it was a chew toy.  I am pretty sure it was Piper.  She is definitely the smarter of the two.  (We have taken to calling Peter "Clop Hopper" since he is clumsy and continually knocks over the water  bowl.)  I was pretty upset, but it wasn't so much that Peter Piper destroyed the $2 toy, but that Peter Piper are not Eric and Max.  It still is too soon to have dogs around here.  They make me miss Eric as if he just was put down yesterday.  Anyhoodles, I call Rick who is at a client site in Plymouth Meeting and undoubtedly was in the middle of some complicated IDMS thing.  Upon reflection, I realize it was pretty selfish for me to call Rick because there is nothing he can do about it.  I guess I just needed to vent, but that too pretty selfish of me.  I got another flower sprinkler for Katie, but no great deal for summer toys this time of year.  It was $15.

To further mangle up the morning, when Katie and I went to the car all of the doors were locked with the keys inside.  Thankfully an extra key was in the house.  As we drove up the driveway, Peter Piper galloped behind us.  I had to stop, open the gate, drive through the gate, and then close the gate.  By that time, Peter Piper caught up with us and scooted underneath the fence and tried to follow us up the street.  I was half expecting them not to be here when we returned, but they were.  Not sure how I feel about that.

Katie and I went to May Farm this morning with my MOPS group.  I arrived early so I could collect money for Miss May--it was $3 per child.  Katie opted to attach herself to another MOPS mom and left me at the make shift money collection table.  It was stinking hot today, but Katie really enjoyed herself.  She and a MOPS friend managed to go on the hayride/trailer ride twice.  The first time, I was also on the trailer and Katie informed me--and all of the mommies within ear shot--that she didn't want me there and she asked that I get off of the trailer.  I am used to her wanting nothing to do with me when she gets around her friends..  For lunch we all had a picnic underneath the trees.  Katie ate a peanut butter sandwich which was a first.  After lunch, Miss May got Cloud, a 30-year old American Standard horse so the kids could take rides.  We had a little girl drama while Katie and two other girls were waiting in line.  The two other girls were holding hands and going to ride Cloud together.  Katie tried to hold one of their hands and hang out with them.  They didn't want anything to do with her and pretty much told her so.  One of the girls is one that Katie considers her best MOPS friend, so she was crushed.  She came to me twice in tears.  I just had to explain that sometimes her friends may want to be with other friends.  I was really tempted to remind her what she said to me on the trailer, but that would have been a bitter Betty thing to do.  Also, it was the first time that I ever saw Katie cry because her feelings were hurt and frankly, it made me want to cry.  But I just hugged her with the knowledge that it was the first time of many that her feelings will get hurt.  On a disappointing note, why are girls that way?  It is like they are born with the bitchiness gene.

I meant to take a lot of pictures at the farm, but because I was collecting money at the beginning, I missed getting photos of Katie feeding the animals, holding a bunny, a bunny rolling off of her lap and Katie holding a baby chick.  However, I did get oodles of her riding Cloud as evidenced below.

Before her ride, she looks happy despite the earlier tears.

 And we're off!

Miss May the owner of the farm led Cloud while all of the kids took their turn riding him.  She is an remarkable lady.

Both Katie and Miss May are enjoying themselves.

We headed home after the horseback riding and while driving home Katie informed me that next time she wanted to ride a pig.

The next picture is one that I promised Rick that I would post.  I know that most parents think that their child is brilliant or talented and I am no different.  But seriously, Katie is a very good artist.  She is 3 3/4 years old and can draw good pictures of people.  Most kids her age usually can't get the eyes in the right place, but Katie has it all down.

Katie told me that the girls' names, but I can only remember a few.  The one in the top row, middle is Creta.  We hear about Creta a lot.  She is a figment of Katie's imagination. The girl in the bottom row on the left is Lena, another "friend" of Katie's that has been around for about two months.  Yesterday, Katie told me that Lena has a boyfriend and they are going to get married.  After Katie drew this picture, she informed me that Lena is pregnant in this picture.  A shotgun wedding coming out of a 3 3/4 years old's mind!  However, to my relief Katie informed me that she is going to fly jets before she gets married.

Peter Piper just scratched the front door.  Six o'clock is their dinner time and it's a little past six.  I guess they were just trying to gently remind me to feed them.  Funny...they have been here three days and already know what time is dinner time.  Off I go to do doggy duty.  A little later I will water the flowers and do poop patrol--a chore I did not miss, but one that must be done.  Ciao!

The 80's Are Alive and Well.....according to Rick

While Rick was in Phoenix, he decided to upgrade his rental car and play the part of man going through a mid-life crisis.  He rented this....

At one point he got a good laugh. He was driving down the road with the 80's music blaring when he caught a glimpse of his face and his receding hairline in the rear view mirror. He sure looked the part of man trying to relive his youth.  He also commented that that was probably the last time he would ever drive a vette and he looked so sad when he said that.  I was tempted to reply to his woeful statement with, "Then you shouldn't  have sold yours." but I didn't.  I didn't want to rub it in.  However, we do have a 1982--he really loves the 80's--black Trans Am sitting in the Quonset hut that he had brought brand new.  I have dreams of driving that car when I hit my mid-life crisis.

As a side note, we paid for the upgrade, not his company.  I don't think his company would take to kindly to footing the bill for his day of reliving his youth.