Aberrant Prose

Total surprise

Robert’s 60th SURPRISE birthday party last night totally blew him away! He had absolutely no idea. The surprise was pulled off seamlessly. No one tipped their hat or accidentally dropped a clue.

Well almost. There was only one clue but Robert missed it. He happened to be at his Mom’s house when the invitation for the party arrived for her. He picked up the mail to bring it in (which he NEVER does) and the invitation was on top. Kim saw him and grabbed the mail from him quickly telling him he couldn’t have it. He spotted the invitation and did wonder but as soon as he was home again he totally forgot about it.

When we drove into the driveway at 5:45 last night, after a day out on a wine tour as a gift from Kathy and Tim for his 60th, Robert was ready to just take it easy and watch TV. He told me, “I’m not cooking tonight; it’s my birthday. You are on your own for dinner.” He unlocked the front door, walked in and saw the dining room table out of place and asked, “Why is the table moved…” when suddenly everyone standing in the living room yelled “Surprise.” He about fell over, he backed up and opened his mouth wide in total shock. Then everyone came streaming out of the living room to give him hugs and to wish him a happy 60th. He was overwhelmed by all the familiar faces, many of them he had not seen for a while.

He had no idea everyone was here when we pulled into the driveway because the house was dark; there was not a single car in sight. The arrival of guests was very well organized; everyone had been directed to park their cars in the field. Guests were quietly gathered waiting in the living room ducking down so they wouldn’t be spotted through the windows. The only clue something was amiss was the Mazda not parked in the driveway to the field. Robert did not notice it was missing. After all he had been drinking wine all day!

Even I was blown away with how great everything looked and what an amazing job everyone had done getting everything ready while we were away. Most amazing was Kathy. She was the driving force behind Robert’s surprise party. She sent out save the date cards, sent out the invitations, requested photos and messages for a book she designed for him. She hired a caller and a band for hoedown dancing and she asked family for help with the dinner menu and getting our house ready by cleaning up and moving things out of the way for square dancing on the patio, picking up rental tables and chairs and decorating.

The theme for the party was country; tables were decorated in red checker tablecloths and old fashioned, lantern candleholder centerpieces. Colorful cowboy hats were hung on the backs of chairs. The dance area was accented with bales of hay and tiny, white sparking lights.

The square dancing was a hit. The caller did a wonderful job teaching dance numbers accommodating the wide variety of ages—from two-years-old to 88!

This party was truly one of the best family events ever! Thank you Kathy! Thank you Tim, Chris, Gary, Fely, Kim, Jean, Nicole, and everyone who made this day truly an extraordinary one!

Photos

Robert’s Memory Book (a draft version—check back later for a final version)

Our homeless kids

Six weeks ago Tim and Kathy put their house on the market. Three weeks later the house sold and three weeks after that escrow closed. They turned the keys over to the new owners on Wednesday.

Robert and I drove down last Sunday to be part of the moving-out event. We returned Wednesday night with a rental truck full of the overflow that didn’t fit into their PODS unit.

Although lots of packing and readiness for the move had already started by the time we arrived, Tuesday was THE official moving day wherein the majority of their household was moved into the PODS unit, into the rental truck or set aside to be temporarily stored at a neighbor’s house and for packing into their SUV for a road trip.

What a crazy, busy, and wild day Tuesday turned out to be!

Kathy left early with the kids first dropping Aubrey off at her care provider then taking Rylan to the doctor with her so he could see an ultrasound of his new baby sister or brother then dropping him off at preschool. As Kathy and the kids were leaving Robert and I hauled all the refrigerator and freezer items she had already packed into two coolers to a neighbor’s freezer and refrigerator.

At 9:30 Tim’s Dad, Dennis, showed up to help. He willingly helped wherever and whenever he could; like packing a lot of the smaller items, running out for drinks for everyone and buying 2x4s to secure items in the PODS unit.

Movers arrived late morning after stopping at Kathy and Tim's office to pick up furniture and other items to bring back to the house to pack into the PODS unit. They then immediately went to work transporting the washer, dryer, beds, bureaus, chairs, and large, heavy boxes into the unit.

When Tim went to move their Ficus Benjamina tree, he discovered a large rusty, brown spot on the rug where roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and into the rug. Somehow Tim found someone to come out ON Tuesday to repair it (seamlessly and perfectly) by installing a matching section of carpet Tim and Kathy happened to have on hand!

At 12:30 Tim and Kathy's real estate agent and the buyer’s agent showed up with the new homeowners for a walk through. While the new owners were at the house, a floor salesman arrived to meet with them to go over wood samples to install new flooring in the living room.

As if that wasn’t enough activity, a roofer arrived to make repairs to the roof!

Later Tim hauled the coffee table off to a neighbor's house. The night before he and a friend had hauled their sectional down the street to another neighbor's house. A second sofa set Tim and Kathy no longer wanted, was claimed by the movers.

Early afternoon, when it became obvious everything would not fit into the PODS unit and Tim about to order a second one, we came up with renting a moving truck instead, saving Tim and Kathy up to a thousand dollars. Kathy and Robert picked up the truck. Afterwards Kathy headed to the office to pick up more things to bring back to pack into the rental truck.

It worked out good to put the refrigerator into the rental truck to bring back to our house and plug in. Otherwise it would have gone into the PODS unit where it would have sat for a couple of months or more.

Tuesday night everything was essentially done. All that was left to do was to move items to the neighbor’s garage Wednesday morning, all of which will go to a furnished beach house in Orange County Tim and Kathy will rent mid-August. Once moved in, they will stay there for a couple of months before relocating to Sonoma. Since the sale of their house happened so fast, they decided it would work better to stay in Orange County a while longer to ease out of child care, preschool and client arrangements.

Robert and I turned the rental truck in this morning. We were able to easily unload everything yesterday with Gary, Kim and Fely’s help. (Thank you guys!) The next chapter in Tim and Kathy’s move will be securing the Sonoma house they put an offer on in June. Since it is a short sale it could still be several months. In the meantime they are essentially homeless.

PHOTOS

Looking back, looking forward

Forty-five days into the New Year and at last—here is my look back on 2008, a summary of what our year was like, what we did, where we went, experiences we had and all that jazz. This is also a look into what the future holds, even beyond 2009.

Considering Kathy and Tim live over 400 miles away, we were able to see a lot of them and their little ones, Rylan and Aubrey, in 2008.

After Kathy and Tim’s announcement Christmas of 2007 to tell us a little girl was on the way, Robert and I began to make plans to head to Southern California to help convert their office into a nursery for Aubrey’s arrival. We made our trip late February, early March. While Robert and Tim converted the office by building a wall, a closet and adding a door, Kathy, Rylan and I worked on perfecting butterflies and dragonflies to paint on the walls of the new nursery.

Our trip wasn’t just about the nursery. Before the remodel we rendezvoused with the Pines to spend a few days in the mountains at their cabin. Robert and Tim skied three days. I skied one day. That was enough for me.

In May Robert and I returned to Southern California to welcome Aubrey into the world. We saw and held her within hours of her arrival!

Aubrey was a much easier baby right from the start. Of course we were all more relaxed this second time around. Kathy and Tim were not nearly as weary as they were when Rylan arrived.

We stayed a week to help. We also dedicated one full day to enjoy Knott’s Berry Farm with Rylan. Another day we took him on a shopping trip for Matchbox cars then treated him (and us) to ice cream.

The next time we saw the Pines was in July. They drove up to meet us at Chris’ house which worked out to be a convenient rendezvous in that we rented an RV in the Sacramento area. We left our cars at Chris’ then drove the RV up to Oregon, camping along the way. Our destination was the Ellingson Ranch in Mapleton where the 2008 annual PEAR* Affair was hosted by the Ellingsons. The Ellingson event was in honor of 100 years the ranch has been in the family.

What a gala event that reunion turned out to be! There were five days of games and outings galore and meals served in a huge pole barn. There was Contra dancing and a day of canoeing and boating on a lake. Over 130 people attended!

The RV worked out very nicely. The Pines basically used it for their home base once we arrived at the Ranch. There were even hook-ups available! Robert and I put up a tent nearby to use as our home base. Both Sadie (the Pines’ dog) and Paris (our dog) had an absolute grand time running all over the acres of field nestled in the midst of deep, green forest. Dakota, our younger dog, missed out on all the fun. We chose to leave her in California at Chris’ house.

In October Kathy hopped on a plane with Rylan and Aubrey to fly to Napa to spend a week relaxing in the country. What a special treat for us! Kathy too, it was an opportunity for her to unwind while she enjoyed extra hands to take care of and entertain her little ones.

For Thanksgiving, Robert, Chris, and I drove south to spend a few days with the Pines. Paris and Dakota stayed in a kennel. Chris’ dog, Seven, enjoyed coming along to play with Sadie. Taking his car, Chris drove the entire way down and back—very much appreciated by Robert and I! Tim and Kathy fixed a special Thanksgiving dinner for all of us. Before heading home we helped Tim, Kathy, and Rylan put up their outdoor Christmas lights and decorations.

In December all the Pines (including Sadie) drove up to Northern California to spend a week at our house to celebrate Christmas. Nothing compares to having little ones around in the midst of Christmastime cheer.

Of course our year wasn’t just about seeing our kids and grandkids.

In March and April Robert built an agility course in our field.

In June there was a baby shower for Gary’s wife, Fely. Gary (Robert’s brother) and Fely welcomed a real cutie, Briana, into the world on August 7, 2008. Briana is Robert’s Mom’s 7th grandchild, born 18 years after her 6th grandchild!

On the Fourth of July we enjoyed Chris’ annual barbecue and fireworks show at his house.

In August we had a pool party. This is noteworthy because it had been two years since our last one.

In September I hopped on a plane to fly north to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday. There were Kewpie decorations to make, party items and food to shop for, special photos to organize for display, tea pots and cups to unpack, silver to polish, a cake to pick up—all resulting in a very delightful birthday party at the Sons of Norway hall reserved ahead of time by my Mom. My sisters, Donna and Bonnie, showed up early to bring a variety of special dishes, flowers for centerpieces and to help with setup. Bonnie’s daughter, Nissa, and her husband, Tristan, also were a big help decorating the hall for the party!

In October Chris built a shed in his yard with Robert’s help.

And that is pretty much how 2008 played out.

Looking ahead to 2009: we will be downsizing our business giving us more time to enjoy our family. I will be drawing social security. I will write more, sew more, and walk more.

Looking beyond 2009, after we have totally disbanded our business, I visualize missions overseas, illustrating children’s’ books, volunteering in schools, competing in agility and rally trials, going on cruises, writing books, running long distance foot races, and/or teaching computer graphics—and of course spending lots of time with our kids and grandkids.

*PEAR: Puckett Ellingson Annual Reunion aka Puckett Ellingson And Relations

Short takes 2

A Happy Birthday to Chris!

Chris turned 38 today. As has become tradition every year, Robert and I took him out for pizza last night to celebrate. We gave him a robot made of sparkplugs, odds and ends, nuts and bolts. He bought himself an iPhone.

Foghead

I collect KFOG’s Live From the Archives CDs. Early this morning I headed to Peet’s in Napa in the rain and the fog to buy my 11th one: Live From the Archives Fifteen. My collection might actually be worth something if I had started with CD number one. I collect these CDs because I have this idea I need them for inspiration. Not for the music. Someday I am going to design a cover to enter KFOG’s annual CD cover design contest.

Things with wings

For Halloween this year Rylan decided he wanted to be a flying dragon. Kathy decided Aubrey would make a cute butterfly. Between their darling costumes and the Halloween prints I used to make a matching dress and shirt they had a boo-tiful time.

Shutdown, fire up

I now have a new laptop. Up until yesterday Robert has been busy loading software and transferring files from Oliver, the old laptop to Tortoise, the new one. Just as he was transferring the last of my files (my latest photos) Oliver’s hard disk stopped working! Thank goodness I have uploaded almost all of my photos to KodakGallery.com. For a minimum fee of $25 a year I can store as many as I want and retrieve them (at the full 3504 pixels x 2336 pixels) anytime I want. The time to retrieve may have just arrived.

The really sad thing is that if Oliver’s hard drive really has crashed for good Robert won’t be inheriting my old laptop as was the plan. He will have to continue to bumble along on Gypsy, our seven-year-old laptop.

Short takes

GSP dunking

For the first time ever since having our two German Shorthaired Pointers, Dakota fell in the pool! I am pretty sure she must have been chasing a cat, it was dark outside, she was barking her head off, she lost track of where she was… She was in and out of the pool in an instant. One moment she was barking and the next moment, totally wet head to toe, she wanted inside for refuge. With all the water near the steps she obviously had no trouble figuring out how to quickly get out.

Bug trade off

Tim, Kathy, Rylan and Aubrey are constantly catching colds, one is getting over one, another is in the middle of one or another has just caught one (you know how it is with day care and preschool). Therefore it was really no surprise when Kathy, Rylan and Aubrey came to visit last week all three of them were sick. Robert caught one of their colds the day before they left. I came down with a cold the day after they left. If we caught two different colds will we be trading colds and be sick for the next couple of weeks? No matter. Having them here is way worth the trade off.
Laptop dance

Robert has been watching and tracking and researching Apple laptops for quite a while now. Just as he was about to buy a new one (to replace mine), we were short on cash or there was the promise of new updates around the corner. With the newest update Apple made to their laptops and the 2008 tax write off opportunity coming to an end Robert decided to make a move. He came close to buying the latest 17-inch but couldn’t really warrant the extra cost of a brand new one. In the end he ordered an older model saving us 33%. We may be giving up extra hard disk storage, a rapped up trackpad, a faster drive, and higher resolution but our laptop will still come with 4 Gigs of memory, 160 Gigs of storage, a magnetic DC connector AND best of all a built-in webcam!

Boo apparel

After playing hooky from work this week to do some sewing I shipped special Halloween edition outfits off to Rylan and Aubrey today. No, not costumes—just some cute clothes made with fabric decorated in ghosts, owls, moons, pumpkins, stars and the words Happy Halloween. I had high expectations to have them completed for Kathy to take home when she was here. My clients had other ideas. At least I did have the dress far enough along to get a picture of Aubrey in it. Since Kathy and the kids left I made Aubrey a matching hat and some pantaloons to wear under the dress (sewn to a pretty yellow knit top) and I made Rylan a shirt in the same print as Aubrey's dress plus a pair of solid blue shorts. (Thank you Jean for the blue fabric from your own personal warehouse!)

Ultimate Family Reunion

Last Wednesday we returned from Oregon having gone to one of the most far out family reunions ever. There were a total of 130 people coming from everywhere set up in RVs and tents all over the Ellingson Ranch property, some tents tucked away on the edge of the woods, others in the yards of the four homes on the ranch.

There were cows on the ranch to feed, huge greenhouses to wander through, a creek on the ranch to hunt for crawdads or to catch fish, deep woods to seek elk droppings in pursuit of items to collect for a very challenging scavenger hunt, a volleyball court, a pole barn to dine, contra dance and play poker in and warm afternoons to join in well-organized games in an immense freshly, mowed field.

The organization and planning behind this reunion was absolutely phenomenal!

Activities and events were ongoing from Friday afternoon until Monday afternoon complete with meals served buffet style in the pole barn (aka the pavilion) or at a lake where we all gathered on Monday to canoe, kayak, swim and sand board on a humongous sand dune.

And there is more. Tee shirts, bookmarks, and water bottles all embellished with the ranch reunion logo were available to anyone who wanted them. (I also made Gray PEAR buttons for people to wear).

Well-organized games on Saturday included the wearing of colorful team member bandannas in red, green, yellow, blue, purple and teal by six different teams. There was the Scavenger Hunt in the morning. In the afternoon games consisted of Walk the Plank, a Cracker and Cheese Relay, Pass Water Down the Line, a Water Balloon Toss and a Frisbee Toss. There were dozens and dozens of Frisbees, one for each person interested in playing the Frisbee toss game!

Getting to and from the reunion was also a trip:
The previous Wednesday, on July 23rd, Tim, Kathy, Rylan, Aubrey, and Sadie drove up from Orange County; and on the way picked up a 26 foot RV in south Sacramento already reserved for us to rent. They rendezvoused with us at Chris’ house. That same night, leaving Dakota to stay with Chris, the eight of us (this includes Sadie and Paris) piled into a very packed RV and headed to a campsite in Northern California arriving at one o’clock the next morning.

We left this first campsite immediately the next morning. Except for the beautiful trees and fauna it was basically a site without anything of real interest to do. The second one at Loon Lake was much too commercial for our taste so we left that one right away too. This turned out to be a good thing. We were able to arrive at the ranch early enough to score one of three RV hook ups available!

Robert and I then set up a tent essentially turning the RV over to the Pines during our stay at the ranch. Thank goodness we decided to go the RV route because as originally planned it would have been one tough challenge for Kathy and Tim and their little ones (especially with Aubrey) to be in a tent.

Renting the RV was the semblance of a home away from home (cramped as it was). It provided us room to bring food and extras we could not have done if we had driven in separate vehicles. It also allowed Tim and Robert to share the driving and it saved on potty stops for Rylan!

We took a huge number of pictures to detail and highlight our adventure. Look for them, complete with captions, in our Kodak Gallery!

Kathy turning three

Since it is Kathy’s birthday today and Rylan’s third birthday tomorrow I decided it would be fun to pull out my diary and see what I had to say about the day Kathy turned three:

July 3, 1978
Monday

Kathy was quite aware of it being her birthday today when she woke at 10:00. We had already had breakfast when she got up, which were pancakes. When she came downstairs Robert was baking her a cake, Devil’s Food.

I got her some toast and peaches. Then after she ate I tried her dress on for the hem, and then dressed her so she could go outside and play, and got the hem sewn up.

Robert did some tarring under the old shingles and got the skylight put in today.

After I got the dress finished, Chris helped me make some party hats out of construction paper then Kathy went with me to buy some plates & napkins and a birthday card for her.

The day went fast, we had lunch & then Robert shaped the cake into a monster inspired from a monster Chris drew off Captain Cosmic awhile back. While he was frosting it I baked some zucchini bread.

All of a sudden it was time to get dinner. I blew up all the balloons first & threw them up into the crepe paper net, which turned out pretty good.

Dinner was shrimp Italiano with zucchini. We barely finished before our guests began to arrive. Just as soon as Kathy said she was finished I took her into the bathroom and took out all the curlers I had put in about 1:00.

After getting her hair combed & her dress on she looked very, very pretty. Like a southern belle.

Soon the house was full of people, Jan and Pam too. Grandma Helen didn’t come; she was too worn out from having just arrived home from Disneyland.

Teshia came too. All the kids were playing outside with about half the grown ups outside too when it was time for Kathy to open presents.

She tore right into them. Robert helped her with the ceremony. He said he had a hard time keeping up with her.

She got a Barbie doll & clothes from Great Grandma & Grandpa Stoner, a Nerf ball from Donald & Arloine, a horse from Kim, a wind-up dog & doll outfit from Gary, a top & pants from Carol & Morgan (Carol had just sewn them up today & also Stephanie was wearing matching pants she had sewn up today), a Donald Duck Hoppity Hop and of course the Sit and Spin from us. She didn’t realize what it was when she opened it because it was boxed but as soon as Robert assembled it she wasted no time getting on it. Pretty soon Teshia joined her. Then Stephanie. It was a hit.

Then she put her three candles in her monster cake, everyone sang to her, which she got a kick out of, then she blew out the candles.

After everyone was about done with their ice cream & cake Chris knocked the balloons out of the net & there was a free-for-all, Kathy & Stephanie went wild, screaming & hitting the balloons as they ran around.

About 9:30 everyone began to disperse. Chris & Kathy played with her new Barbie doll until we put them to bed.

Forgot to include what Grandma Helen gave Kathy, she brought a cup & two small figures of Pluto and Donald Duck back from Disneyland for her.

After the kids were in bed we cleaned up the mess & went to bed about 11:00.

Thirty something, thirty years ago

Robert and I are always amazed how much is going on in the lives of our kids; the commitments they make and the projects they take on. Where do they get the energy? How are they so courageous? Where do they find the time?

Come to find out, time has faded our memories.

Recently I started reading a journal I kept thirty years ago because I couldn’t remember when I started Kathy in preschool. I wanted to know because of Rylan recently starting preschool himself. What an eye opener. I rarely, if ever, have read all the detail that I recorded back then. I picked up my 1978 journal dated May to October, and was surprised to discover what a busy, activity-filled six months we had that year.

Robert and I were on a bowling league. We played volleyball at a nearby church weekly. Robert took swimming lessons, Chris was in tap class and Kathy started a dance class. The kids were also enrolled in swimming lessons during the summer and I took piano classes when Solano College was in session. Kathy started preschool in September going three half days a week. Chris went to a craft class a number of times every week when he was off from school (he attended year round school back then). I was also on a daytime bowling league. In the fall Chris had extra dance rehearsals because he was selected to be in the Lodena School of Dance Christmas program. Chris and Robert joined Indian Guides, a special organization for fathers and sons.

Robert’s Mom and Dad were at our house up to four or five times a week either picking up Chris and Kathy or dropping them off or stopping by for a visit. They were wonderful about taking them when Robert and I were at our evening bowling league or giving us the opportunity to go out to dinner, to a party or just to have some alone time.

I belonged to a babysitting co-op. That meant other mothers were always dropping off their kids for me to watch.

In August we joined Carol, Morgan, and Stephanie for a houseboat adventure on the Delta.

In 1978 we rented booth space at the annual craft fair in Benicia. In readiness for selling our own handmade creations Robert built wooden trains and I made piñatas, gingerbread dolls and puppets.

During this six month period we bought a house on Benicia Road then did tons of work on it to rent it out. We also drove up to Washington to sell a house we owned in Renton. After selling it for $25,500 we started looking for a second house to buy as another rental.

This was the year Robert and I drew up plans to add a deck and entryway to our own house and had most of the major work done by fall.

From time to time Robert helped Morgan work on the new house he was building in Benicia. Robert was also putting in a lot of overtime, pretty much every weekday night, and several times, he traveled out of town for his job.

I was always making clothes for both Chris and Kathy, often staying up until midnight or 1:00 to finish them. This was the summer I made a quilt for David Lewis who arrived in January. Kathy and I went to lots of Thursday morning Holiday House meetings to help Robert’s Mom with sewing projects for her annual church bazaar.

I even sent out a quarterly family newsletter.

I made Martian costumes for a Halloween party put on by Navelex (where Robert worked). Kathy wore a cat costume I had made the year before but Chris wanted to be something new so I made a really awesome Darth Vader costume for him.

Through it all, somehow I found time to write in my journal daily (not something I was good at doing previously or subsequently) and thank goodness too because how else would I have enjoyed discovering all this detail?

It’s true I wasn’t working and I didn’t have a young, puppy-like dog to take care of (back then we had Karmen who was old and slow). Just the same I’d say we likely were just as active, fearless, and energetic as our kids are today. There is definitely something to be said about being thirty something!

Below is link to a slide show of pictures from 1978:

1978 slideshow

A little of this and a lot of that,
seven days’ worth

Sunday, November 4, 2007:
Since the local Peet's (unlike other Peet's in the area) didn't have KFOG’s "Live From the Archives, Volume 14" for sale I ordered my copy online today. I sure don't know why I keep purchasing these, why I feel so obligated. It all started when I thought I would actually design a cover and decided I needed to know what was done each year. I never open any of the CDs, just throw them in a drawer. I should at least put them on display somewhere! I have been collecting the “Live From the Archives” sets since 1996.

Monday, November 5, 2007:
Precision TV came back today. This is their second service call to fix the red and green checkerboard pattern we have been experiencing on our big screen. To deal with the problem, we have been resetting the image display by essentially pulling the plug out of the wall every night.

This time a new guy, Mitch, showed up. Of course this meant having to go through the whole trouble shooting process again. No matter the last service guy, Vince, had written copious notes.

After an hour of checking everything, the final resolution was to once again install a new digital board (exactly what Vince did, which didn’t work so he put our old one back in). First thing that happens when Mitch gets the board installed and powers the TV is the image is upside down! "What the heck! I've NEVER seen that before." he exclaims. He gets on the phone to call Samsung (for the sixth time) and is told, because he put in a new board, the image now has to be rotated through the service menu.

Okay he got that fixed but not after having to call Samsung one more time because he forgot the code to use. Once he hooks everything back up again, he is delighted to see the TV works! We had to remind him (AGAIN) that of course it is fine, you pulled the plug from the wall, didn't you?

He had to agree there was nothing more he could do. He wrote up his notes and left. We can only wait and see if the checkers come back. If they do, we will certainly be calling Precision TV once again.



Tuesday, November 6, 2007:
Robert was hoping to get more than the new HD TV installed while at his Mom’s house today. The process turned out to be harder than expected. He had to move stuff out of two closets to run the coax down to her new sunroom. The new TV looks really great in the sunroom. Jean (and Kim) will enjoy having widescreen HD. The downside is, right now, they can only get a couple of stations in widescreen format.

   

Wednesday, November 7, 2007:
Dog class day today; Dakota was still crazy and uncooperative even though I cut up turkey-flavored hot dogs to take. She is just so much work: Too much puppy.

Paris, on the other hand, is becoming a real delight to take to agility. She is so calm in comparison and she is so getting it. Me too. I am beginning to feel so much more confident, whatever is set up, we can do the courses without stops or starting over. Except for the weave poles and the teeter-totter, she is good at everything. Oh, and the table; she won't do a down without a lot of coaxing from me.

Thursday, November 8, 2007:
This morning at the park Dakota actually CAUGHT a bird. Of course being the hunter she is, she is always chasing them to no end. After seeing her tail this bird I changed my mind about Paris being the faster dog. Dakota chased this bird, inches behind its tail feathers, for a good 400 feet, so far away we didn’t actually see her catch the bird. If it hadn't been for her bouncing around like a cat playing with its prey, we wouldn't have known where she ended up. After a couple of calls to her, she actually came back WITH the bird. As soon as she reached us, she dutifully dropped the bird at our feet.

Today when we went on a road trip to TJs, I decided to try a little experiment. When Dakota sees we are getting ready to leave she always heads for her crate. She is really good about this. After she climbed in, I did NOT close and lock the door to the crate as usual. When we went out the front door, I looked back through the window to see if she got up. She didn't. When we returned from TJs, a half hour later, she was still in her crate!

Friday, November 9, 2007:
This morning Robert headed outside not too much after breakfast, but not before a little Empire playing first, to finish hauling to the field the rest of the logs and branches from the tree out front. He tells me neighbors Jay and Donna came by to see what he was up to. Donna said she and her husband, Dan, were keeping an eye on him while he was cutting the tree down this last week. I see I was not the only one worried.

   

Saturday, November 10, 2007:
It pretty much rained all day today. That was cause for Dakota to pee in our bedroom. With all the nice weather we have had this fall, the sliding glass door has seldom been closed for long periods at a time. I was right in the middle of baking cookies. Robert caught her in the act and headed her to the sliding glass door and threw her outside. I had to quickly pop my cookies into the oven and escort her into the rain, umbrella in hand, to make sure she finished the job (Robert doesn't get this part of puppy). Dakota is not very good about asking to go outside anymore. If no one notices she is at the sliding glass door she starts running around to the back hall or the bedrooms (just like Madison). It is really our fault she doesn’t ask to go out. We have been too attentive when she is at the sliding glass door; we just let her out without waiting for her to bark.

I had to make cookies this afternoon. I needed chocolate. Rainy days do that to me. I usually want chocolate or coffee. I would have had coffee except I am all out of coffee beans and of course I didn't want to go out in the rain to buy more. Thank goodness we always keep a backup supply of chocolate chips on hand!

Robert hooked up the iPod to the entertainment center today. This last week he copied all my songs back onto it. Our 18 Gig iPod is now filled to capacity. He also programmed our remote control to turn it on. I enjoyed listening to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat and other of my favorites all afternoon!

Tonight we tried to watch "Premonition," a Netflix movie. Alas the sound didn't work on our DVD player. After trying all the usual things, we had to give up. Robert is pretty sure Mitch from Precision TV forgot to hook something back up. No surprise. He was pulling cables left and right with no regard to what went where. By the way our TV is now working. The red and green checkerboard patterns are actually gone!

HOT, HOT, HOT

The 4th of July celebration at Chris’ house was hot—in more ways than one. As great as everything turned out we did have some scorching 104-degree heat to endure. We all should be thankful we weren’t at Chris’ house today! Hard to believe but the temperature climbed even higher!



The heat was the only downer though. Chris did a great job once again organizing and putting on a first-class fireworks display. To enhance part of the production, Chris wired a slew of fireworks together to remotely set them off from behind his fireworks station. This made for nicely sequenced firing without any delays. I can see next year’s show now. Chris will choreograph every single firework using this same method. He will then be able to sit back and thoroughly enjoy the show as a spectator like the rest of us!

Chris also went all out with dinner this year. Not only did he have both barbecued burgers and hot dogs, he barbecued vegetables—asparagus, tomatoes, pineapple, red and green peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and crookneck squash! He even provided radishes, carrots, and cucumbers for snacking. And somehow his guests magically provided just the right side dishes (a nice variety of salads) and desserts (apricot pie, cupcakes and sherbet served in ice cream cones).

Skee-Ball was more popular this year than last. Last year not everyone realized there were prizes to be won. This year they were on top of what to do and headed right to the game room upon arrival. Chris provided even better, cooler prizes. Everyone wanted to win a wad of tickets to claim them. Even Marjorie couldn’t resist. Geanina, the 2007 Skee-Ball champion, walked away with the most tickets.

There were sixteen of us (plus five dogs) for this year’s Fourth of July get together—a good sized group to enjoy another year of firework brilliance in Chris’ large backyard! Thank you Chris for all the fun! Your show was hot!

Photos are posted in our Kodak Gallery.