38 posts tagged “rascal”

As you know, the kids and I went to Jamestown for a few days to visit before school starts.  We spent 3 nights there and Lily spent all 3 nights with friends and the boys spent 2 of the nights with friends.  Good thing Rascal went with or I would've been completely alone!  We got to see just about everyone that we wanted to see but, of course, it wasn't long enough.  We even went to church on Sunday.  I was hoping AWE would be singing so I could join them but it was their Sunday off.  Directors haven't been found to replace me with AWE or the kids' choirs which really concerns me since time is running short.  Our Pastor tends to procrastinate a bit much and I'd hate to see the programs fail.

A few photos from our trip. 

Bluebird's daughters with Jace & Lily.

Our house didn't sell from any of the 2nd showings last week.  I'm afraid we're going to have to drop the price again because we really need to unload it.

The last night was the best for me.  I had supper with Deb & Cory and then we sat on their deck and visited in the gorgeous weather.  Afterward, Kristi came over and we had a cup of Chai tea and visited before bed.

 

 

Thumbs Down:

1. My shoulders are starting to act up again because I'm not in a good position when using my laptop.  I was afraid of that.
2. Ray is driving me nuts on our new lot.  We've made 2 offers that were rejected.  Our realtor thinks there's no hurry because nobody else is looking at it and he's leaving town until the 21st so suggests we just wait.  Honestly, the sellers are not going to come crawling back to us with a counteroffer in the meantime so let's just get it over with!  (Patience is not one of my virtues).
3. Two weeks tomorrow since our house was listed and still not one showing.  I know the weather's not helping.

Thumbs Up:

1. Normally, a blizzard would be on my Thumbs Down list but not today.  It's so bad that Ray couldn't get to work so we slept in and then he made pancakes.  The interstate is closed, schools, the mall, restaurants, etc.  So, Gndsgang and family are coming over.  We're getting pizza, the kids are going to watch movies, and the adults are going to play pinochle.  The snow started yesterday with huge flakes for this area.  View from the back.

View from the front.

This photo was taken from our sliding glass door today.  Our fence is 4 ft.  Rascal can probably just walk over the top now.  Keep in mind we're supposed to get 60 mph wind gusts this afternoon.

2.  Finding more old friends on Facebook.

3.  DWTS starting up again last night.

After meeting up with Amy Sue in Billings, we headed back to my parents'.  I was tickled to get a call from my "big sister" who I haven't seen for a couple of years.  She's not really my sister.  Her family lived at the end of my block growing up.  Our parents played cards together and she was my very favorite babysitter.  She's the youngest of 4 children so calls me the "little sister she never had".  I'm usually really good about visiting her at least once a year but I've gotten lazy.  So, it was a treat when she made the contact so we all went out to visit her family.  It was nice catching up if even for a brief time.

I also met up with 2 of my best friends from growing up and we had lunch at the South 40.

Back at the house, Lily thought Rascal looked chilly and needed to wear her coat.

She also thought he would like to be read to and it put him right asleep.

Because we ended up traveling on Christmas Day, I forced asked the family to wear their Christmas clothes when we went out to supper on the 30th.

 

 

 

 

Ray somehow missed my order memo.

We returned to ND on the 31st.

Rascal didn't take a swim with the kids but got splashed a lot.

My parents' cat looked for some leftovers. The guys went out to the ranch hunting on Friday. This porcupine was the only thing they got. On Saturday, Lily joined the boys on her 1st hunting trip. Their luck was the same and they only ended up with 1 porcupine.  As you know, mom & I were more successful in getting a deer. Jace & Grandma played squeak. I didn't get near as many photos as I hoped to throughout the weekend.  Also, all the photos from the ranch were taken by Ray.

My mom and I had a nice visit with my grandpa today.  The nursing home he's staying at for now is pretty good but seems a lot like a hospital to me.  There must be some way to make those rooms more homey.  We picked up some finger steaks at our favorite restaurant there, the Airport Inn, and took them to the nursing home.  That was a nice treat for grandpa.

It's a 2 hour drive each way to visit him.  I drove but we had my mom's Yukon.  About 35 miles from Sidney right at dusk, I turned my head to say something to my mom, when a deer ran right in front of us.  I said "oh sh*#!" and stepped on the brakes but we still caught its hindend on the front passenger side.  I pulled off the road right away to inspect the damage.  Mom got out first and said we were just missing a headlight and that she couldn't see the deer.  I decided to inspect for myself and thought I could hear a hissing sound which made me concerned that the radiator had been punctured.  (See, I learned something watching Ray put together cars all those years when we were dating).  I looked under the car and there was a small drip.  It didn't look green like antifreeze but I was still worried.  I also couldn't see the deer but didn't do a lot of searching for it.

I climbed back in and mom said we should just go.  We were in a bad spot for cell service so mom wasn't having any luck reaching the boys.  She said to just keep an eye on the control panel because it would give a warning if anything was wrong.  We were 15 minutes from a small town with one gas station so I was just praying we'd get that far.  About 10 miles down the road, I thought it looked like the temperature gauge was higher than normal.  Soon after, it was definitely climbing.  Then, the following warnings started appearing on the control panel, in order, when the next town was in sight: 

1. Low Coolant Level
2. Engine Overheating
3. Engine Power Being Reduced
4. Something about a system being disabled?

We basically coasted into the gas station as we were losing power.  I couldn't get out of the car fast enough because I didn't know if there was danger of fire in that situation.  Rascal was with us so I grabbed him and got right out.  We went in the gas station and explained to the woman what had happened (figured she'd wonder why I was bringing a dog in even though I was carrying him).  She let us use her phone since we still had no service and mom reached the guys who had just gotten back to town from hunting.  She was so nice and opened up the employee lounge so we'd have chairs and a table to sit out while we waited for our rescuers to make the 20 mile drive to pick us up. 

Ray came and got us while my dad stayed at the house with the kids.  They hadn't had any luck on their hunting trip except to get another porcupine so Jace really wanted to come with and keep the deer.  He was disappointed that there wasn't one to be found. 

The car will be towed on Monday morning.  I filled out a police report and we called their insurance company.  That's the only accident I've ever had aside from having someone back into me in my high school parking lot 2 wks after getting my license.  I have to say I was proud of myself for not swerving to miss the deer.  I always thought that would be my reaction in that situation but it didn't even occur to me to do anything but hit the brakes.  Of course, the guys were giving me a hard time for not swerving because then I could've missed it.  But, we also would've ended up in oncoming traffic as it's a 2-lane road.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks. What are you thankful for today?

• A wonderful husband and children.
• My parents that we get to spend the holiday with.
• Ray's wonderful parents
• My brother
• That my grandpa was moved from the hospital to the VA nursing home yesterday.  They're expecting him to be there for around 30 days until he builds his strength back up.
• My husband's job that enables me to stay home the majority of the time and do jobs I love like music at church.
• Friends like Bluebird and Gndsgang.
• Good health
• Rascal
• A beautiful home
• My relationship with Jesus
• My children's school
• Great food that we'll be enjoying later today.
• Vacations
• The ability to sing
• Internet

It's 9:15 here (10:15 in ND).  Do you suppose I should consider getting out of my pj's and doing something?  The kids are in the pool.

Things I Dislike:

• I miss Blu.  How can I not when looking at that picture of him sleeping so peacefully under Lily's blanket?  I also miss his soft fur.  Rascal's is curly and kind of wiry.
• This cold, blustery, autumn-feeling weather!  We haven't hit 60 today!
• My shoulders are starting to give me grief again.  I went to the chiropractor last week and am getting a massage on Fri.
• Lake season ending.

Things I Like:

• My schedule getting much (maybe too much) busier this week.
• Football season.  NFL gets going with regular games this weekend (Go Steelers) and Cody is at his 1st practice tonight (Go Black)!
• Lunch with Deb
• I'm on the advisory committee for a new program at our church.  It has to be self-sustaining and we just got a 5-digit donation today!!  That more than doubled our whole budget!  PTL
• My new $20 jeans.
• Lily's new outfit that she looks so adorable in.
  

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• Listening to Lily sing "Dinah won't ya blow?  Dinah won't ya blow?  Dinah won't ya blow your hooooorn"? around the house after learning it in school.  The girl has great pitch!

 

Don't worry.  I'm not pregnant.  I am, however, counting down until lake season returns.  It's always so sad to close up the cabin for the winter when it seems we were just opening it for summer.

I didn't take a lot of photos over the weekend, but here are a few.

 

Jace's northern pike

 

 

So, Monday morning, Ray gave in and said we could take Blu home with us even though he didn't think it was a good idea.  The kids were ecstatic.  We spent all morning winterizing and cleaning the cabin.  Minutes before we were going to leave, I ran over to Dawn's cabin to use their bathroom since ours were no longer available.  Blu & Rascal had been over there for awhile playing with Dawn's pommeranian.  While I was in the bathroom, I heard what sounded like high-pitched screams but they were very faint.  When I came back outside, Cody was crying and Dawn's son was bawling with his head buried in her chest.  I asked what happened and they said Blu was tearing him up.  At first, I thought they meant Dawn's son!  I didn't see where he seemed to be injured and then they explained that Blu got mad at Dawn's dog, grabbed him by the neck, and was shaking him like dogs do to their toys.  Dawn's mom had been holding the dog's leash and finally managed to get him in her arms when Blu tried to grab him again.  That's about the time Ray came sprinting over and was ready to kick Blu in the ribs when he ran off.  The only people who missed it were Lily and me and I'm sure glad!  Dawn's parents kept saying that it wasn't Blu's fault and that Bailey had egged him on but I don't think that made anyone feel better.

After that, I didn't know what to do.  Ray checked Bailey over and he seemed uninjured.  I'm thinking all that hair saved him.  We loaded up and had Blu in the car.  Rascal looked distressed and Blu was bouncing all over the place in the car.  Obviously, I was having some serious doubts about taking Blu home now.  I was very grateful when Cody said he didn't want Blu to come with us.  That's all I needed to hear.  Lily was sobbing but it was the right decision.  Rascal seems to have a respect for Blu and doesn't antagonize him but Bailey was the 3rd little dog he'd gone after.  Those were all yappy dogs but we couldn't take the chance that Rascal would tick Blu off.  So much to my parents' dismay, we unloaded Blu and he got back in the truck with them.  I think he just needs to be a ranch dog and hopefully his neutering on the 10th will help mellow him out.  He's such a pussycat when it comes to people but he sure has issues with other dogs!  Needless to say, it was another solemn ride home.  I'd actually been praying that God would send me some kind of sign as to whether Blu was supposed to be with us or not.  I think he sent a lightening bolt. 

We're having a great time so far at the lake.  It's so nice having Blu here without worrying about his well-being.  He's a bit like a newborn.  We tried getting him to sleep in the house last night.  He paced up and down the hallway and then it got quiet so I went to peek.  He was up on the couch staring longingly out the window.  You see, his girlfriend is just a few cabins away and his appt. to get snipped isn't until Sept. 10.  I brought him into our room but he wouldn't lie down.  He ended up crawling on the bed which really wasn't a good idea since I'm still on the fence about whether I'm allergic to him or not.  He even got up in between Ray & I and Ray was petting him.  I think Ray has a soft spot for Blu because Rascal is absolutely not allowed to sleep between us.  Blu wouldn't stop licking Ray so I finally gave up and decided to put him out on the leash at 12:45 am.

We all slept really well after that.  When we awoke in the morning, there was a collar attached to a leash but no dog in the collar.  Guess he had a good night after all ;)  My mom would really like us to take him home.  Honestly, I'd really like to but this morning I thought my lungs were feeling tight but then it quit.  I went to town and bought some dog spray that is supposed to alleviate allergies from pet dander.  We did that with our old dog, Bandit, when we first got him but eventually stopped using it and I was fine.  Mom thought we could take him and if we found out I couldn't handle him, we'd have to find him a home.  I also started Claritin on Thursday so that's probably keeping my nose from running. 

Today, all Blu wants to do is sleep.  I've been trying to have him burn some energy so he'll be tired tonight but he's not interested.  It probably doesn't help that it's 98 degrees outside.

My BFF from h.s., Dawn, is back here this weekend and she brought her 11 yo son.  Cody's been having a great time with him and didn't even go fishing.  The only problem is they have a golf cart and just drive it all over the place.  At first, I reluctantly allowed Cody to ride along and drive some.  Then, I saw his friend driving in what I consider an unsafe manner.  So, we put a stop to that.  Poor Cody was forced to ride his bike while one friend drove a golf cart and the other a full-sized ATV without a helmet (don't even get me started on that).  I finally gave in and said he could ride only in the golf cart and just around our cabins.  If I saw anymore unsafe driving that would be it for the weekend.  I hate always feeling like the overprotective mother but what do you do?

The fishing was slow today but they did catch 4 nice walleyes and Jace got a 20 inch northern pike.  Jace is infatuated with pike so that made for big excitement to him.