Christmas Report

The days are flying and I can’t believe how fast Christmas came and went. We had a great holiday. The highlight was watching the dogs. Christmas really is all about the kids and our “kids” had a ball. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun on Christmas morning. I think it was a combination of the hounds being extra spunky, getting totally spoiled by their “Auntie Jean,” and a present that I bought for Karlo, which turned out to be the funniest dog toy ever.

After the dogs ripped through their gifts . . .

We opened our gifts. My showcase gift was a riot. I’m not sure if you remember the picture below from one of my “weekend in photos.” This Fall we went for a motorcycle ride and had lunch at a cool little outdoor café. They had these tire swings that looked like horses. I went nuts and had to swing on them. I didn’t want to get off. Well, Karlo tracked one down and now I have my very own rubber horse. I know you are all jealous so you can come and ride him any time!

Of all the gifts that I got Karlo, his favorite was a little toy helicopter. I guess Christmas really does bring out the kids in all of us. I knew it would be amusing watching Karlo try to figure out how to fly this thing in the house. But what I didn’t know was how funny the dogs’ reaction would be. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. At first they were very interested in this object that magically floated in the air. Bentley got up and went over to investigate. He sniffed it as it hovered, but then suddenly the helicopter started to fly underneath him. The look on his face was priceless as he sprung straight up with all four legs to get out of the path of this mystery flying object.

That was enough for Bentley. He high tailed it back over to the safety of his bed. But he wasn’t really safe there. Karlo had to torment them a bit more. This went on for 20 minutes. And both dogs had their ears up, their eyes wide open, and kept a close track on every movement the helicopter made. I can see months more entertainment coming from that little gift.

This Really Touched Me

Today was the first time that I went snooping under the tree. Karlo always accuses me of this crime, but the truth is that I NEVER snoop. I wouldn't want to ruin a surprise. I love the thrill of opening gifts and why on earth would I want to ruin that by trying to find the gifts before they are wrapped? As a matter of fact, I don't even pick them up, squish, shake or sniff them once they are under the tree. But this morning I was aimlessly standing in front of our tree. I just watched a program on TV about these lavishly decorated themed trees and my pathetic tree just paled in comparison. I was standing there dreaming about what sort of tree I would have if money was no object and I could have anything I wanted. I truly couldn't decide. I stared at our various ornaments, my favorites being a few tandem bikes and of course my dozens upon dozens of Snoopy ornaments and they all made me smile. That's when it hit me that I do like my pathetic little tree. I've seen some really gorgeous and lavish trees, but those aren't me. I would rather have a few silly ornaments that reflect me.

Then my eyes wandered down beneath the tree. I noticed quite a few presents that I didn't recognize. Where these all for me? That's when I discovered that every one of these presents had the most adorable Snoopy stickers on them. It so touched me that Karlo went out of his way to buy Snoopy stickers and adorn all my packages with them. At this point it didn't even matter what was inside the package. I am just so thrilled to see all the Snoopys. That is it. It's settled. We are keeping our childish Snoopy Christmas tree. That is what makes me happy and I don't want to grow up!

Thank you Karlo! You made me realize that I shouldn't be pressured into trying to be somebody that I'm not. I'm happy being me and I'm happy with our silly little tree.

Our Chirstmas Letter

Another year has passed so very quickly and so much has changed since my last Christmas letter. We started the New Year with much stress. We got an offer on our house in Andover in February, with a proposed closing date within 4 weeks. That might have been OK if we didn’t have a one week business trip in the middle. With the house inspections scheduled two weeks out and open house plans still in tack, we were torn between packing boxes and cleaning for the open house. March was one month that we don’t want to relive in this lifetime.

Somehow we managed to do our travelling to LA and pack the house up in two weeks. We were so crazed and rushed that I had very little emotions about the move. It wasn’t until my final walk-through, as the moving truck was waiting in the driveway, when it hit me . . . I was leaving my first home. The house that I built and poured so much of myself into. It was hard. Yes, I cried. But I knew we were moving on to bigger and better things.

The drive from Andover to my father’s house was particularly hard. Karlo drove his car with the dogs in the back and I drove my car, packed to the roof with the small amount of things that we would have with us for the next four months. I cried so hard, I could barely see the road.

We spent the next four months roughing it in Dad’s basement. Me, Karlo, and two big hairy, and sometimes smelly, dogs made a little 12x12 room in the basement our home. Not quite what I had in mind when I thought about us moving on to “bigger and better things.” But I have to say, I enjoyed spending all that time with Dad. Because of him, I was motivated to cook every night. I am proud to report that I have learned how to get by in the kitchen.

After 3 months of city life, Karlo and I were very eager to get away. Our long-awaited biking/sailing trip to Croatia finally arrived and it was bliss. Of all the places that I have visited around the world, I have to say that Croatia is among my favorites, if not THE favorite spot. It was definitely the vacation of a lifetime and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We went from roughing it in Hartford to glorious days, sailing the crystal blue waters of the Adriatic Sea and biking through the gorgeous islands. My birthday landed right in the middle of that trip and I truly cannot imagine a better way to spend my special day.

By the time we got back it just about time to move to our new home. We had waited long enough, as by now it was 9 months since we signed the sales contract and 3.5 months since we had the closing and became the new owners. The next 3 months were very busy. We worked non-stop turning our house into a home. I never really appreciated the magnitude of a move, but now I do. It’s a lot of work! It took us months to unpack and complete all the home improvement projects that I had lined up. All in all, I think we did a good job.

We did take one little break in September to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. I still can’t believe it’s already been 5 years! We took an overnight motorcycle trip up to the Berkshires and had a fantastic time.

We couldn’t be happier in our new place in the woods. We not only have a new house, but a new lifestyle. We adapted very quickly to the rural life. I very rarely complain about the longer commute to everything. We simply cannot leave our house and travel in any direction without a truly beautiful ride. So far we have experienced three seasons and each seems to be more magnificent than the previous. I look forward to many years in our new “HOME.”

From our happy home to yours, we wish you the very best for the coming year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love

Paula & Karlo

Bentley & Peanut too

Happy Bithday John

My nephew turns 16 today. I’m still trying to recover from the shock of it all. At what point do I have to stop referring to my niece and nephew as “the kids?” I can already share clothes with Nicole (actually, she has already passed me in most clothing items) and now John will be driving and picking out colleges. The reality hit me when the family was visiting last week (and I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of “the kids” blowing out their birthday candles) . . . we were talking about how my family will probably never drive out to our house for Christmas. Not only are my aunts and cousins inflicted with some sort of “driving in the snow, or dark, or East of the River” phobia, but now it appears that those genes were also passed along to my brother. I’ll get back to that story in a minute. The point here is that John pointed out that HE will drive out the next time we host Christmas. Here he was only days away from turning 16 and to hear him tell me that HE would drive still shocked me. That’s when we all came to the conclusion that by the time we host Christmas again, John will be in college. Gulp.

So back to my brother. I’ve been contemplating publicly complaining about him, and since he probably doesn’t read this and I know his wife would agree, here goes . . .

I have a bone to pick with Angelo. I’m trying to figure out why no man related to me ever listens to me. My father, my brother, my husband . . . they never listen to me. I find it strange that many other people in my life come to me for advice, expertise, etc. I think I’m fairly intelligent and very reliable, yet the men in my life dismiss most everything I tell them.

For instance, I had many stories to tell about the commute out to our new home. I specifically told my brother our experience with our GSP. The GPS does NOT discriminate between real paved roads and off-road trails. I told the story about how we set my father’s address from Eastford and the GPS took us on a trail that crunched the underbelly of our Golf. I could not have made myself any more clear that he should NOT trust the GPS, but instead follow MY directions. After all, I do live out here and probably know what I’m talking about.

But does he listen to me? No, of course not. On their first visit, I told him what the easiest way back to the highway was. Many of you reading have been out to visit, have taken this route, and have all agreed that it was a breeze to drive. Every single person that visited listened to my incredibly easy directions back to the highway and followed them. They basically consisted of ONE turn. I guess they sounded too easy for my brother and being the adventurous person he is, he trusted the GPS, which took him a good 10 miles out of his way.

And this past time my brother visited, he once again relied on the GPS, which once again took him several miles out of his way and directed him to drive on a trail. I think I’m giving up on communicating with the men in my family. I truly think my ONLY hope at a male relative with more common sense is my nephew. John, I’m counting on you to be the smartest of the bunch.

Paula's Favorite Things

Oprah gets her list, so I wanted to make a list of my own. Forget gift ideas. I’m sharing this list with you so that you can go out and get yourself something. I’ve compiled some of the things that I love so much I just need to share. Why not get yourself a gift and put it under your tree?

Here are my favorite things:

LLBean Vest

Not only is this thing the most cozy thing on earth to wear, it keeps me warm and looks good too. I don’t think I ever wore it anywhere where I didn’t get compliments on it. This is a must-have and I wish I had one in every color.

Columbia Socks

Socks have a bad rap. People like to make jokes about getting socks for gifts, as if they weren’t cool gifts to get. I personally love getting socks . It seems wearing bad socks (ones that make my feet too hot or too cold or worse . . . slouch down) can ruin my whole day. Having on super comfy socks, on the other hand, make my day. These Columbia socks just happen to be part of last year’s Christmas present and I adore them. Wish I could wear them every day.

Burts Bees Lip Balm

I think Burts Bees lip balm is a product that you either love or hate. I’m a lover. Not only is it the only balm that really works on moisturizing my lips, but it looks good on. When I’m really getting fancy and dressing up, I wear the tinted lip balm – the closest I get to real lipstick.

Keen Sandals

If I had a dollar for every pair of Keen sandals that I sold to complete strangers, I could retire. Since the day I slipped these things on my feet, I’ve been a die-hard fan. And our relationship got off to a very rocky start I may add. Karlo bought me my first pair of Keen sandals a couple of years ago. As usual my birthday gift had to come from EMS and when I opened them, I truly thought they were the ugliest things I ever laid eyes on. They looked like something Karlo should be wearing – not me. I returned them and Karlo sulked for a week. I couldn’t take his moping anymore so I went back and bought them back – this time with my own money no less. Well, that was the smartest decision ever. You have to wear them to understand. I now own 4 pair of Keen shoes. Nothing compares.

Charlie Brown Christmas CD

This will go down in history as my most treasured CD. If it wasn’t for Karlo complaining, I would listen to this year round. Every household MUST have this CD. If you don’t already own it, go out and get it NOW.

Acorn Fleece Mittens

I love cozy things. Maybe that’s why I moved to a road named “Kozey.” These are my favorite mittens. They are double fleece, which means there are actually two layers of fleece – soft, cuddly fleece. The Acorn brand are the only ones I found that are exceptionally nice.

Corelle Dishes

Another long time favorite of mine have always been Corelle dishes. They are super light, chip resistant and for the most part, unbreakable. Or maybe I should say “in most households” unbreakable. Karlo managed to break a few, but I think my father still has the same full set that my mother bought 30 years ago. Yes, I love my pretty hand-painted dishes and use them for dinner parties, but lugging them in and our of the cupboards and stressing out over them chipping is just plain no fun. To my delight I found brand new Corelle dishes called “Premium”. They are thicker than normal Corelle and they come in much prettier patterns than the normal line. Now I have form and function along with aesthetics. The perfect combination.

Lands End All-Weather Sneaker/Boots
Almost as good as the Keens, but not quite as spectacular, are my Lands End sneaker boots. They are water-proof and super comfy, but the best part is the bungee cord. No need to tie the laces. Love that! Oh and did a mention they were PINK? Yeah, I look silly, but I don’t run into many people in the woods out here. And maybe they will help me not get shot at. They are nearly as bright as the safety orange vests.

Manual Floor Sweeper (sorry no picture)

This one is a shocker to make my list, but I’m so happy with it and I can’t believe I never considered one of these in the past. Sometimes the simplest solutions are always the best. Perhaps we have over-engineered the whole process of vacuuming. We recently bought a very small and simple manual floor sweeper. No power, no cords, no batteries. You just push it and it sweeps up dog hair, dust and crumbs. What a concept. I love it.

Can't Believe I Forgot

I was very excited about our latest home improvement project and I got so wrapped up in other stories, I completely forgot to show it off. This project is my coworker Gary's fault. Most things in my life are "Gary's fault." This has become a never ending joke between Karlo and I. No matter what goes wrong, we blame Gary. And if me spending money is involved, then it's definitely GARY'S FAULT.

One day Gary had a bunch of tin ceiling tile samples in his office. I never dreamed I would want any tin ceiling tiles, but then again, Gary is a good salesman and is responsible for me buying all kinds of things I didn't need. But, back to the tiles. It never occurred to me to use ceiling tiles as a counter back splash. I was dying to add some color to our kitchen and had been searching for the perfect glass tiles for months. I hemmed and hawed trying to pick the perfect color. Of course all of my favorites were outrageously expensive so I have been holding off. Now suddenly I had a whole new option . . .

And I think I love it. It was cheaper than glass tiles and much easier to install. What do you think?

Here's the before:


And here's the after:

Because Karlo is Away

And because every time he's away I need to have a blog entry entitled, "Because Karlo is Away" . . .

I dreaded Karlo taking off for the airport yesterday afternoon. We lost the entire day. The first several hours Karlo spent outside battling the ice in an attempt to clean the driveways and decks. No sooner did he finish, it was time to take off for Bradley. Sometimes I really hate his job. Not only was I worried about him rushing to the airport on the ice roads (only to sit there for several hours waiting for the flight to eventually leave), but I was also concerned about staying home alone during the storm. What were the chances that nothing would go wrong while he was away? Slim.

All was well when I went to bed last night. I did my share of struggling with the wood stove, trying to keep the fire alive. I did fair to poor at best. Filled the house with smoke, burnt my hand, etc. But at least the fire department didn't have to make a visit. I crawled into the cold bed, that seems to stay cold forever when Karlo's not around. I even contemplated inviting the dogs upstairs.

I finally got to sleep and was woken only a few hours later out of a very deep and restful sleep. It wasn't the dogs crying or the wind outside that woke me. It was that annoying BEEPing of the stupid security system. The system that we still have yet to arm! Now what? How does it KNOW that Karlo is out of town? At first I tried to ignore it, but that was impossible. Every 10 seconds it beeps. So I dragged myself out of the now warm bed to investigate. The panel read "Trouble" or something equally alarming. Before any panic took over me, I was able to cycle through some screens to determine that the "trouble" was the loss of phone line and loss of electricity. Great!

Not sure how I managed to get the beeping to stop, but I did and crawled back into bed . . . where I laid there sleepless for the rest of the night. My mind wouldn't stop. How on earth will I get that generator going in the morning? How many days will this last? How am I going to torture the guy at work that sent Karlo away? Is the wind going to blow that huge branch that is hanging over the house into the roof? Am I shaking because I'm getting cold or because I'm scared?

The good news is that all those worries were unfounded. The power was restored just after sunrise! But because Karlo deserted me during the storm, he needs to be punished. So a little public humiliation is in order. Please click on the link below for a good laugh:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1485056855

What's Wrong with Bentley?

Yesterday we took the dogs out for a nice hike in the snow. Peanut seemed to do a little better in the snow than Bentley. She’s one tough cookie. We didn’t put boots on them and Bentley insisted on sitting in the snow to lick his paws. In order to warm his paws he had to freeze his rear end. Poor dog.

So we cut the hike short and brought them back into the nice warm house. I was keeping a close eye on Bentley and cuddling with him. I noticed that he was shaking pretty bad. This makes me so nervous. I hate it when the dogs shake for no good reason. Peanut does a lot of shaking, but it’s only when she’s scared. There was no reason for Bentley to be scared so why was he shaking? I thought he must be in pain. Maybe his paws were acting up again and really hurting him. That made me watch him even closer and give him even more tender caresses. My poor baby. What was wrong? After several minutes of this, I alerted Karlo that something was wrong with Bentley. I explained that his whole body was shaking and no matter how much I pet him and reassured him that everything was OK, he just kept right on shaking.

Karlo went over to investigate Bentley’s behavior. He grabbed a toy to see if Bentley would respond. He did and he acted as if everything was fine in front of Karlo. OK, so now he’s making a liar out of me. I went back to pet him and there he goes . . . shaking again. Then Karlo grabbed my hand and realized that my hands were like blocks of ice. Now they are always cold, but after our hike they were much colder than normal. I think we just figured out what is wrong with Bentley. Every time I touched him, he shook. I think he started shaking as I got close to him – just the thought of me touching him was frightening. Here I thought the dog was sick or hurt and he was just being tortured by my cold hands!

Having Fun On Our Day Off

Today was an officially scheduled vacation day for me. Karlo, however, called in sick. He deserved it after the 6+ hours of snow removal he did last night. He finally got his wish. He’s been itching to try out his new plow for weeks. He was in his glory last night. I was too. I was snuggled up under a blanket on the couch with both the wood stove and the propane fireplace going.

And today Karlo is still working. First he needed to finalize the perfection that is our driveway and deck. He takes great pride in his workmanship – remember the leaves and the lawn/deck? Well, the driveway is similar. Karlo, quick . . . some snow just fell off a branch. You better run out there quickly and clean the driveway!! Now he’s outside chopping wood.

We went for a exploratory ski this morning. The snow was actually too deep to really be able to cross country ski. It was more like a hike with skis strapped to our feet. A bit awkward, but still fun. The dogs came too and seemed to enjoy romping around in the snow. Something about the snow makes Peanut want to RUN. She’s so cute, but too fast to capture on film.

I did, however, capture some things on film this morning. Here’s a little video of our winter wonderland.

Happy Snow Day

I've been waiting for a good reason to show off this adorable little snowman. Isn't it the cutest? Lisa makes these adorable little fellows. She has the patience of a saint. Karlo and I recently visited Luke and Lisa and when I saw her entire snowman family, my heart sank because I never unpacked the one she gave me last year. Since I didn't put it away with all of my Christmas decorations, it was still hanging out in our family room in March (when we had to pack). Now where would I pack that little guy? I hadn't a clue. Then last week Karlo accidentally found it in the basement. He knew I was searching for it so he just brought it upstairs and sat it on the counter without saying a word. What a wonderful surprise to find him there. Made my day. So now maybe he will make your day as well.

And what better day to post him? We left work before noon today for our first, challenging, snowy commute. We decided that it's best if I drive, seeing my car makes more sense in the snow, Karlo is a terrible driver, and he knew he would never hear the end of it if he cracked up my (still) new Saab. I have to report that my car is great in the snow and I did a fine job driving on the not-even-close-to-being-plowed roads. We could just as easily have taken a sleigh from the highway to our house. But is was beautiful. We even snapped some photos - mostly as proof to my manager that we have a tough commute that justifies leaving early.

I hope everybody enjoys our first real snowfall. Or is it? Maybe we missed some snow while we were away. This is OUR first snowfall anyway.

Santa Arrived Today

And he was dressed in brown. He brought two elaborately packaged gifts to our door this afternoon. I don't think I ever put so much effort into wrapping a package, with such a pretty ribbon . . . for a human! But here I have two gorgeous packages, all decorated for Christmas, hand-delivered by the friendly UPS man, and they were sent especially for my DOGS! This is unreal. How spoiled can they be?

Peanut went from the rescue kennel to the foster home of a wonderful woman named Jean. I know she reads this blog (despite the fact that she never comments). I assume Jean has taken in many many greyhounds as fosters. Every time we speak, she tells me of her new foster. With all these dogs in her life (did I mention she owns about a dozen of her own?) she never forgets her little Peanut at the holidays. She even sends Halloween gifts. That right, HALLOWEEN gifts. Have you ever heard of such a thing? And not only does she send gifts to Peanut, but she wouldn't want Bentley feeling left out. He gets one too. I have to wonder . . . is Peanut special or does she send gifts to all of her previous fosters?


Jean, I can't thank you enough for spoiling our hounds. Your generosity is indescribable. I am just speechless at what more I can say.

If anyone is curious to see Jean's dogs . . . she breeds whippets - smaller, cuter versions of a greyhound. Check out some pictures on her website here: http://www.valleypointwhippets.com/photos.html

And Lisa, be careful . . . don't go clicking on that "Puppy" page. Could be VERY dangerous! I'm warning you!!!

Sad Realization

Yesterday I came to a very sad realization. Actually, it was Karlo that came to the conclusion and shared his theory with me. As usual, I hate it when Karlo is right, and this time I really think he is. Let me explain . . .

We were in Florida all last week and during that time I felt great every single day. I never got a headache or felt sinus pressure. I never got that nauseating feeling in my jaw that makes me think I’m going to throw up. These are the things that I suffer with quite regularly throughout my days. In fact, these symptoms got so bad in our house in Andover, that it was a very large motivator for me wanting to move. I was convinced that whatever happened to our house during that furnace malfunction, “puff back” soot episode was making me sick. I used to work from home on Mondays and that meant I was stuck in the house all day. Every single Monday I felt the exact same way – like I was going to keel over and die. Many days I just HAD to get out of the house and get some fresh air. It truly is a terrible feeling.

So moving to an “almost” new house that was untainted by soot problems seemed like a smart idea. When we moved in, we cleaned the whole place. There is no carpeting on the entire first floor and I knew that would be a big plus to my allergies. I was so looking forward to not feeling sick all the time.

Well, it didn’t work. It didn’t take me long to start having the exact same symptoms here. What is going on? Why is this happening? What am I allergic to?

We took yesterday off from work to catch up around the house. It wasn’t even noon before I started to feel sick. I decided I needed to get out of the house so a drive to the post office was in order. During that ride, Karlo and I talked about how great I felt in Florida and how sad I am to be back to feeling sick again. That was when he hit me with this theory and I can’t believe this never occurred to me before. The fact is that I’m . . . it’s hard for me to even write this . . . I’m allergic to my dogs!! My precious loveable dogs.

I went to see an allergist a few years back to get tested for my allergies. I got a prick test done on my back and the results reported that I was allergic to every single thing they tested me for. The doctor went on to tell me that my highest allergy was to dogs and cats. I was in such a state of denial that I didn’t listen to him and completely dismissed the whole test. I completely forgot about it until Karlo mentioned this new theory. That’s when my heart sank. I knew he was right.

I guess I am sentenced to many years of feeling terrible. If that’s the price I have to pay to be with my pooches, then that’s what I must do. I wish there was a magical pill out there somewhere to help me.

They look so innocent, don't they?

Just Squeakin' In

I took the day off today to catch up on my life since being gone. And it seems my life has been completely consumed by my YogaDudes business. I have been processing, packing, shipping orders and making more inventory ALL day. It's now 8:30 PM and I'm still at it. You would think that I would have noticed the date on my mail machine throughout the day, but it took until just now to realize that today is my niece Nicole's birthday!!! She is now 11 years old - not a little girl anymore. Not quite sure she was ever a "little" girl. She's growing up way too fast for me. I'm sorry I don't have a handy recent picture (that I didn't already post). I'll be seeing the kids this weekend so stay tuned for some pics after that.

Until then . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!!!!!

We're Back

I wish I could say the same about my luggage. Apparently my bag was smarter than us and opted to extend her stay in the warm climate. Not quite sure if she’s in Charlotte or Orlando, but either way, it beats the weather here. How depressing to fly home to this dreary weather after one solid week of perfect sunshine and 80 degree temps.

However, with that said, I am happy to be back - even if it’s back to cold and cloudy weather. As always, the show was long and hard. Karlo and I worked our tails off, but we also had a good time eating nice dinners together and strolling around in December without mittens on. At least this show is the most interesting of all the shows we do. This was a trade show for the professional racers of the world. And by racers, I mean any sort of vehicle that goes really fast. You name it: cars, motorcycles, quads, boats. If it has an engine and you can race it, it was at this show. This was much more interesting than the usual exhibits at a machine tool manufacturing show!

Here’s a little recap of the week in photos:

I had to go all the way to Florida to see Santa's reindeer! This was the highlight of my day. The whole team was there.

The first night was a Mexican dinner outdoors. Fun, fun.

The next night was a romantic dinner at an Asian restaurant.

We got to spend some time strolling in the sun and shopping. Oh, and meeting cool reindeer.

And this is where all the work took place. That's the huge Orlando Convention Center behind me. Well actually, that is half of the convention center!

Off to Florida

Tomorrow morning Karlo and I will take off for Orlando. Wait a minute, before you sigh . . . thinking we are taking a vacation . . . we are not. It's a business trip and we are not at all happy about it. I have about as much desire to travel right now as I do to get a cavity filled. Although I shouldn't really complain too much. Last year, this same trade show was a week and a half before Christmas. At least this year they wised up and pushed it further off.

I will try to blog a bit from the road - will do my best. In case I don't get the chance or lose track of the days, I just want to wish Tammy a very happy birthday next week!! We did a little pre-celebrating today.


Thanks for the visit Tammy. I hope you enjoyed the long ride out here.

Good luck with the dogs Nancy. Call us anytime and don't forget, Lisa is standing by too and she knows more about our dogs than I do.

I Just Don't Get It

Today was a slow day for me. I think my brain is not working on overtime like it normally is. As a result, I couldn't think of anything to blog about. But I went out for lunch and heard more yapping on the radio about the stupid controversy about Madonna and her color-dyed sheep. This just kills me. Apparently the animal rights activists are all up in arms because of the potential to harm the sheep. Madonna swears that she did it in a non-hurtful way and the animals were not harmed at all. I guess this was not good enough for the animal rights folks so they responded with the notion that Madonna is setting a bad example and other people will now start dying their sheep in hurtful ways.

Now I have a few problems with this. The first being . . . How many people do you know that actually OWN sheep? I happen to know a couple that own sheep, but what were the chances of that? These people that I know keep sheep for pets and I can not think of one good reason that they would want to go through all the trouble of figuring out how to dye them. I am assuming that MOST people that own sheep are farmers of some sort and they probably own sheep for their wool - a business for the farmer. Why on EARTH would THEY want to dye their sheep? WHO exactly is going to try to dye sheep if it's not for a publicity stunt?

My second problem with this whole thing is . . . Don't these people have anything better to do than worry about the potential of a sheep being turned a different color with food coloring? Aren't there bigger problems in this world? Give me a break.

I love animals just as much as the next person, but personally I'm much more worried that innocent, intelligent, marvelous greyhounds will get a bullet to the head when they reach the end of their racing careers. If somebody wants to dye them pink, who cares. Just don't kill them!

And my last thought on this whole topic is very simple . . . Does NOBODY on Madonna's staff know how to use Photoshop? The photo above is the actual sheep from Madonna's campaign. Here's a picture I grabbed off of Google:


And after approximately 1 minute of Photoshop work here is the same picture:


People, get with the program. It's no longer necessary to dye animals a different color in reality when there is a whole beautiful virtual world out there!

Ode to My Beloved Bentley

I love my dog! I always knew Bentley was a smart dog, but I never truly appreciated just how smart he is. I guess now that I have something to compare him to it’s very evident how brilliant my little pooch really is. I don’t mean to knock Peanut (OK, maybe I do – a little). Peanut is among the cutest little buggers in the world. And it’s a good thing she’s so cute. It makes up for her complete lack of brains. I’m pretty sure that she has the intelligence of a flea. I can blog all day about how stupid she is, but that’s not the point of this entry. This is all about Bentley — our smart dog.

Tonight Karlo called from the road. As soon as I start talking about the dogs over the phone, Bentley knows I’m talking about him. He stares intently and groans. I told him it was “Daddy” on the phone and, embarrassingly enough, even let Karlo “talk” to Bentley. He gets all excited when he hears “Daddy’s” voice on the other side of the phone. There is no doubt he completely understands what the phone is all about. Let’s not forget that Bentley howls up a storm every time the phone rings. He knows the phone is important and wants to alert us that it’s ringing.

Not only did I talk to Karlo on the phone tonight, but I also talked to my father (yes, very busy phone night for me!) This time when I hung up the phone I told Bentley “That was Grandpa.” Well, when Bentley heard that world “GRANDA” he went crazy. First he ran to the kitchen door with his ears up and crying. Then he ran to the front door, ears up and crying. There was no convincing him that Grandpa wasn’t really coming to visit us . . . he was just on the phone. Maybe Bentley thinks that only Karlo is on the other side of the magic phone. The poor dog . . . he cried non-stop for 20 minutes. I never saw a K9 miss a human as much as Bentley misses his Granpda. Sorry Karlo, but I never saw Bentley get this excited when I tell him “Daddy’s coming home.”

Dad, I have to get you and Bentley together soon. The poor little guy really misses you!

How Times Have Changed

I just went downstairs to our community work kitchen to discover that the tea fairy arrived last night. There was a brand new box of my new favorite sitting flavor on the counter. It was as if Santa showed up with a sack of toys for me. This just made my day. My co-worker laughed at me and told me that it was a “Christmas miracle.” He just doesn’t understand how much I enjoy my Candy Cane tea.

Last night I was sipping my nightly brew and I was actually thinking about my strategy of buying several boxes of this tea this season, knowing that the stores only sell it during the holidays. I will need my rations to get me through the rest of the year. As I was plotting this shopping spree, I was reflecting on how much my life has changed and how old I feel. The big exciting event that I look forward to these days is having my nightly 9 o’clock tea and my tea biscuits (yes, I eat tea biscuits!) curled up on the couch in my jammies after my shower. I used to be shooting kamikaze shots at the downtown bars and now I’m in my PJs by 8 PM. Oh well, I don’t think I would go back in time if given the chance. I’m very happy sitting at home . . . sipping my tea.

Christmas Shopping

I’m really struggling with my Christmas shopping this year. I’m uninspired and I don’t seem to have much Christmas spirit. Ba humbug. Not only am I drawing a blank as what to get everyone on my list, but I don’t even know what I want. This weekend we got some fliers in the mail and one was from a local book store. I flipped through and what do my wondering eyes do I see? A book that I didn’t know existed. It was called “Sting Lyrics.” How did this slip by without me knowing about? So I ripped out the page of the flier and strategically placed it where Karlo sits at the table. He completely dismissed it. Sigh.

I had just a couple meager little ideas for what to get Karlo and he managed to ruin everything this weekend when he so nicely suggested that I get the very things that I already had on my list. This is really getting depressing.

I’m sitting here thinking back to one of my all time favorite gifts. One year Penni got me a simple t-shirt. Well, it may have seemed like a simple t-shirt, but I thought it was the greatest shirt in the world. Nothing screamed PAULA more than this shirt . . . (unless somebody made a t-shirt that showed Sting walking a greyhound and Snoopy biking, while eating ice cream.) But back to my gift . . . This shirt was a “Life Is Good” shirt and if any of you attended Karlo and my wedding, you would know that “Life Is Good” is the motto we live by. Not only was it a Life is Good shirt, but it depicted both kayaking AND biking. And did I mention it is the coolest color in the world? The shirt was really special to me because it showed me that it was picked especially for me! When I opened it I proclaimed, “Somebody understands me.” It really was a great feeling to receive that gift.

And now that I’m thinking back to that wonderful shirt, I’m feeling terrible. I want to get gifts like that for everybody. I want them to know that I picked the gifts out especially for them. Only problem is that I can’t think of one single present for one single person. In addition to getting the things on my family’s wish list, I just want to get them one thing that I personally selected. I had fun with this task this weekend shopping for Nicole. She is easy. I know she loves clothes and I wanted to get her a little outfit that hopefully when she wears, she will think of me. But outside of Nicole, I’m severely challenged. I feel like I don’t know my brother at all. And what do I get Penni, aside from cute scrubs? I get poor Penni the same darn gifts year after year. I think I can manage something creative for John, but the bigger John (my Dad) is the biggest shopping challenge of the universe. I need a little shopping fairy to come to me at night and bless me with some insight as to what to get my family.

Thanksgiving Recap

This glorious long weekend is coming to end and it seems to have passed far too quickly. I hope that everybody reading this had a wonderful holiday. We managed to really enjoy ourselves over the past few days. I’ll try to recap the weekend with a summary and some photos.

Thanksgiving started off with Karlo working away as a lumberjack. He is truly in his glory working around the house and yard. Here are some pics of my little lumberjack:

And me with another painting project. I wonder when I'll run out of finding new walls to paint. Here's our new and improved front wall upstairs:

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at my brother’s place. Penni had to work (the life of a nurse) and my brother managed to whip up quite the feast. I’m so proud of him . . . and then there’s me, who has yet to attempt to cook a turkey. I only wish I had my camera out to capture Nicole chomping on a Flintstone sized turkey leg! On the way home, we stopped at Tina’s to see some of her home improvement project – great job, T. It was quite the little bonus visit with the girls.

I decided to join the nut cases at the stores early Friday morning. Although I was not brave enough for Buckland Hills, I did venture out to the Eastbrook mall – much quieter and tamer and more my speed. It wasn’t so bad and I did manage to scoop up some good deals (mostly for myself) and that made my day. When I returned home it was all work and no play. I did my best at trying to decorate for Christmas. I knew Lisa would not be happy with me if I didn’t put up some sort of tree. This was the first year, since our soot disaster in Andover, that we took out our old tree. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be so I decided to trim it up. In the process of this decorating day, I came to the sad realization that I don’t own any nice Christmas decorations. I’m not sure if we threw most of the items away after the soot ordeal, if we lost them during the move, or if I just never owned any! My day went from happy, happy after buying myself clothes to somewhat depressed trying to decorate the house.

On Saturday morning we went for a wonderful hike with our neighbors. We walked for 2 hours and discovered a huge network of trails bordering our property. We are so excited to do more exploring. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures that morning. I had on the biggest mittens that I own and still had frozen hands the entire time. I’m praying that no “dots” sprout next week because of it. Later that day we some friends over with their dogs. Since holidays are all about family, we had Bentley’s cousin over. Here is what a big and exciting greyhound play date looks like:

Wow, that was a lot of excitement for one day! We had to recover from it all today. Fortunately (oops, I mean unfortunately) Karlo’s chainsaw broke and that meant he spent some time with me today. We went shopping and out to lunch and then hung out for a bit before Karlo had to take off to his next work gig. I hate that goodbye at the door, especially on a weekend. Me and the dogs, with our sad eyes, waving and watching Karlo as he drove away. We will be all alone this week, freezing our tails off without “Daddy” to build us fires. I’m bummed that the weekend has to come to close with Karlo gone and the house painfully quiet, but overall, it was just great.