Paybacks for the Missing Christmas Bonus?

I have been waiting on these books from Amazon and I'm so excited that they're finally here.  I can't wait to get them out of the mailbox and into the house.  Problem is, the mail carrier used a flippin' SLEDGE HAMMER to BEAT the package into my mailbox.  If you look closely, you'll see it.  The top corners of the package are wedged behind the lip of my mailbox.  This thing was wedged in there so tight, I couldn't pull it out.  And believe me, I tried.  I tugged and tugged and cussed and tugged some more. Then I turned around looking for the cameras - this HAD to be a joke!  In order to get the package out of the mailbox, I had to use a knife to cut the box apart, remove the contents of the box and then smash the package small enough to remove it.  Now the post wobbles back and forth.  I'm not sure if that is from the mail carrier wedging it into the box with a hammer or from me tugging on it like a crazy person.  Either way, I'm gonna have to shore it up somehow.  Thanks a lot.

Musical Plants...Oh Yeah, and a Possum

Today I started my annual "Musical Plants" routine. You know, moving plants from one location in the yard to another where they might get more/less sun, more/less water, more/less room. You get the idea. Happens. Every. Year. One day, I'll actually pick the right place the first time. So, I'm in the middle of removing the Sweet Potato Vine from the top of the Magnolia tree (it got a little crazy this year) and I kept hearing a commotion coming from the woods in the back yard. I assumed it was the guys in the pasture working on the fence (they had been out walking the fence line earlier in the day) but couldn't figure out why they would bring their yappy dog with them. Finally, I decided to investigate. Well, that "yappy dog" was Pete. He was after something that had crawled into a piece of pipe and judging by his squealing and panting, he had been after that darn thing for a while. He was so tired, exasperated, frustrated and pissed that he was stumbling around, yapping, and attacking the pipe. I'm guessing by the way he was acting, that whatever it was, had actually bit him and got him fired up. No matter what, I could not convince him to leave it alone and come inside to rest. So, I pulled the pipe out of the woods (which wasn't easy especially since Pete was tugging on the other end) and into the backyard. And then it fell out. Pete - 1 / Possum - 0.


Let's see how far I get with the Musical Plants tomorrow.

You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down...Or Confined.

We've had a stray tomcat cattin' around our house the last few weeks and spraying this and that and even sprayed inside our garage! He was able to get into the garage because I usually leave the door ajar so Hipparchia can get into the garage/shop to take care of any mice that might think it's a great place to live. Well, after the cat spray I decided to keep the door shut. Problem is, the garage is connected to the shop which also has second floor storage. So if I go into the garage for something and one of the pups, like maybe Pete, goes in behind me and then into the shop where I can't see him, I won't know he's in there when I leave the garage and shut the door behind me. Which is what happened here. Pete was accidently locked in the garage for about an hour and a half and freaked - he never has taken well to being confined. If he'd been out there much longer, I do believe he would have made it out the other side. At least he had the decency to rip up the old door to the shop and not the new door to Michael's new garage. How's your teeth feel, Pete?

Awwwwww...How cute!

Celeste, cutest little mermaid ever.



Pete in his safety vest sitting with his new buddy, Little Jackson aka "Little Devil"




Another shot of the Little Devil and Pete.

Today I Flew Away.

Four Seagulls were sitting on a wall. One decided to fly away - how many were left?

My hubby told me this "joke" last night as I was going through the list of things that I need to do... The list that gets larger every day as I do nothing. I tend to have two operating modes: "Do Nothing" and "Spend EVERY Waking Minute Doing Something Productive". Right now I'm in my "Do Nothing" mode. I like to have a deadline to work towards. Superficial deadlines just don't work with me - I've tried.

Turns out there are still four seagulls on the wall. Why? Well because of the same reason my list keeps getting longer: One *decided* to fly away...he didn't actually do it. So, today I flew away. I still spent most of the day piddling around but at least I was able to say I did something on my list. So, there. Now who's gonna take all this crap to the landfill?

The Wedding Dress

Angie is married! It was beautiful...the ceremony...the reception...everything. We stayed the entire weekend in Maggie Valley and it rained just about the entire time --except for the wedding (which was outside) and the reception! Here are more photos:


Cutting the cake. Check out the view behind them - it was a beautiful setting.

And, of course, Pete had to be in on all the attention. This is his wedding outfit. He was also wearing a sign on his back that read "Best Man In Training.

Time for a Wedding

Yesterday, we shopped for (and purchased) a wedding dress for my sister. There are those that take over a year to plan a wedding but as Michael likes to say "If you only have two weeks, it only takes two weeks". I think he allowed me about 5 weeks...maybe it was 6...either way it wasn't much time. But it was more than two. It is a beautiful dress (although I can't show pics of it here until after the wedding). Let's just say that it must have been difficult for Angie to decide on a dress when not all of us that were there "helping" her decide could agree on the "dress for her". In the end, she made an excellent choice and I can't wait to see her strutting down the isle in it (I'll try not to cry...no promises).