#10 - yes, we are crazy

As a little background for any new readers or some who have lost track, we have had a pretty rough history with dogs and other animals around our place.  We have owned approximately nine dogs in 19 years.  At this time, #5, Abby, a black Labrador, and #9, Hank the Tank II, a chocolate Labrador, are alive and well.  It is like 100+ degrees out today, so that could change...just kidding...well, sort of.

Anyway, my BFF, who has been on another turnaround at work (working nights this time - boo) and tends to make some irrational decisions, decided that we needed - yes, needed - a puppy.  And my goodness, it has been three long years since we've had one...cannot believe that Hank II has lived this long...so he started searching and found the one he wanted.

And because he is working every single night, I (being the only woman on the planet who could be married to this man), and our daughter (Lord, who will she marry?) went and picked up the sweet little gal this past weekend.

Which reminded me, it was three years ago yesterday that Jay brought Hank the Tank II home...again, just in time for my anniversary (today).  Last year, he bought me a couple sows and a boar at the State Fair.  I know we can eat the pork, but even I have to say I prefer a cute puppy...at least today.   Ask me in a couple months when our house is even more destroyed than it already is how I feel about that decision...

But really, how can you resist that sweet thang right there?  This was after her first bath at our house and she was not really feeling it yet.  I was very worried during the first 24 hours that she was sick and might not make be okay.  Apparently, it was just the adjustment of relocating...she surely hasn't heard about our place, right?

So, friends, please welcome Moxie, our 10-week old Bloodhound puppy.  We've had her just over 48 hours and she is still alive (as of 7:30 a.m.) and is a cutie-pie.  She is very awkward right now because nothing really fits...her ears hang low, her head is tiny and her legs are long.  She has not started in with the howling...yet.

This morning I woke up about 4:30 and thought, uh-oh, I didn't get up to let her outside!  I quickly let her out, she did her business and then I put her on my bed, with a small deer antler to gnaw on because, I assumed, she would be wide awake...and I was not.

She instantly found her comfy spot next to me, nestled into my arm pit, put her head on my arm/chest and was out just like that.  I could not believe it...and, of course, I was not in my comfy spot. Phooey.  She stayed there motionless until my alarm went off.  What a sweet little thang. (At least as of 7:30 a.m. today.)

Stay tuned for more on #10, Miss Moxie.

Our newest victim, I mean pet - Boots

A few weeks ago, Madolyn sent me the picture of the cutest little black and white kitten that a friend had. She was adorable (black and white kitties are my favorite), and on impulse, I said, Okay, you can bring her home!  Usually, those decisions are regretted within about 24 hours, but we do not regret this little acquisition AT ALL...yet, at least.

Introducing Boots Wilhoit.  I call her Boo because I'm just not a fan of her name, but it is Madolyn's kitty so there you go.  This little gal will purr on demand.  I can just look at her and she will start the roar.  She is so lovable and she has been a GODSEND when it comes to the Not-So-Sweet Josie.

Would you believe that Josie has not bit me or struck out at me since Boo arrived?  No kidding.  I cannot believe the complete change in personality for the big kitty.  I had suggested getting another cat about a year ago when I could not get Josie to calm down...and Jay was opposed.  I don't usually do this, but I didn't even get his opinion when I told Madolyn to bring this little cutie pie home.

I don't know if little kitty has wounds that I cannot see or what, but I think she has become Josie's new punching bag.  Is that terrible of me?!   I don't think they hate each other too much.  They play a lot and will also leave each other alone when they're ready to relax.

I've been a little surprised that Josie has allowed Boo to take over her 'spot' on the half wall in the kitchen.  But as you can see, they are sharing the space...or something.  I had to remove those artificial flowers and the ones in another vase because little kitty cannot resist them.  Boo knocked a peace lily off the half wall yesterday while we were at church so that has been relocated as well.  Nothing is safe for the time being.

She had become infatuated with the fair fish too...and I could see that was going to become a problem, but Lane took care of that himself. Our fish has moved on to greener pastures, I mean murkier waters...

Funny thing, this little kitty was born and raised on a farm.  The very day we brought her home she was staring out the window and pawing at the door.  We realized right away she loved it outdoors, and we let her venture outside.  Immediately she appeared with a mouse in her mouth.  It took Josie months to muster up the courage to go outdoors, and that really was the result of us throwing her outside time after time and making her stay out.  This little kitty has repeatedly brought goodies to the door, and has attacked birds that have come inside through our chimney.  She's a savage!

And she fits right in...

Plugged in

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:5-6 (NIV)

This summer, whether packing for our family vacation, church camp or even a weekend camping trip, the number one main concern of all parties involved is, Do we have all the appropriate chargers?  Everywhere we go, we have to make sure we have all the chargers and power cords.  It's like going down a checklist:  Ipod charger?  Check.  Cell phone charger (X3)?   Check.  Nook charger?  Check.  DS charger? Check.  Adapter for car?  Check.  Camera charger?  Check.

Good.  Grief.  Could we bring a few more chargers with us?

What about clothes, snacks, towels, swim/beach stuff, etc?  Those are afterthoughts.  First and foremost on everyone's minds are the stupid chargers because, God forbid, we are stranded for even 30 minutes without a charge.  Seriously.  And it's not as if we don't have back-up devices for entertainment.  Madolyn's phone does almost everything, but if it would die, she could switch to the Nook or my Ipad.  Lane has an Ipod, but if it dies, he has the DS.  Jay's phone does lots of things, so if my phone would die, I could just use his, it's better anyway.

Last year, I noticed that our cheerleaders were plugging their phones in along the wall in the gymnasium during our ball games.  Ridiculous.  Completely ridiculous.  I wasn't the actual cheer sponsor so I didn't feel like I could bark at all the girls, but I did bark at mine.  No way are you going to charge your phone at a ball game, during the game, along the wall in the gym.  No. Way.

When Madolyn is invited to go somewhere overnight, the very first thing she asks me to bring is her phone charger.  It's not a toothbrush, clean underwear, clothes or shoes...it's the precious phone charger.

It would not surprise me one bit if in the future there aren't outlets in our children's school lockers.  Not for cell phones, but someday I believe all the schools will have Think Pads or some other notebook for their students and do away with text books.  And what will all of those devices need?  Power. An outlet for a charger.  I can't remember who I was talking to about this, but we laughed and then realized it wasn't so funny.  It could really happen and probably will.

Go to an airport and take a look around.  You will see adults, as well as young people, sitting (on the floor) within two feet of an electrical outlet.  All over the place.  And they even have actual charging stations in airports now.  All over the place.  They're almost always full.

Do you think we're all a little too plugged in these days?   Watch and you will see, anxiety and panic set in if a battery dies without a charger or power within reach.  Lane has a complete meltdown if he realizes we don't have a charger and we're on a long car ride...even if he has a full battery to begin with.  You see, his mind is already whirling over the impending drain of his battery.  It is ridiculous.  He is consumed by the dread of a dead battery...instead of enjoying what time he has with it.

Everywhere we go, the most important item on the top of the list is a charger or power cord.  Borrowing an old slogan that seems to fit - "Your charger - Never leave home without it."

I'm not sure how we backtrack now.  It's such a normal way of life anymore.  And honestly, at times I'm as bad as my kids.  If I forget my cell phone at home or my battery is about dead, I feel like I've been stranded or I'll miss something...it is like a dark cloud over me until the problem is resolved.  I don't like the way it makes me feel, but I have been a willing participant in getting myself to that point.

I bet God wished we were this attached to our bibles...and this devoted to scripture...to Him...to our church...to serving and loving one another.  Thankfully, we don't have to search for an outlet or have the right power cord to be plugged in with God.  He never needs a charge.  We do.

Fairly depressed fish

The summer would not be complete without bringing home a fair fish or two or five.  This year was no different.  What child can resist the temptation of winning a fish by tossing a ping pong ball into a fish bowl?  Not mine, that is for sure.  I can't give you an accurate number of how many fish we procured this year, but post-fair-week count at our house was four.

I'm no dummy - at least not right now - and have kept fish bowl and accessories at my fingertips for the past couple of years.  So, when we saw Lane with fish baggies in tow on the second night of the fair, there were no worries.  We were ready.

As I said, we ended up with four fish, two orange and two half white/half orange.  They were all in one pretty large fish bowl with the Spongebob Pineapple House fish accessory we had on hand.  One by one, the fish count dwindled.  We now have one half white/half orange fish...who seems depressed.

Jay keeps saying of course, he's depressed.  His companions are disappearing left and right.  And when you think about it, he left the carnival circa where he lived in an aquarium full of fish - as in, probably 50+ fish. Maybe he is lonesome...

After our large, older goldfish "Sherlock" died earlier this year, Sweet Josie was left without a watering hole...she is quite delighted it has returned and resumed her habit of sipping from the fish bowl.  Maybe this fish is terrified of that sweet little kitty's evil-looking eyes peering down at him through the water.  I can only imagine what it looks like from his vantage-point.  You know how water distorts an image! Maybe he thinks this beast has eaten his roommates...

It's the weirdest fish ever, I tell you.  He stays in that pineapple and only comes out to eat.  I end up shaking the water bowl to determine if he's alive or dead because he refuses to come out.  Who knows how long this one will last.  He's certainly not tons of fun or interesting to watch.  'Tis the life of a fairly depressed fish, I suppose.

Ab Challenge Update

So if you follow my blog, you know that back in May I took the 30-day Ab Challenge to prepare myself for vacation and to make my core stronger.

I fought through it and was amazed at how I progressed, as I started out feeling very, very weak and pathetic.  I did call "Uncle" on the 110-second plank, however.  I tried so hard, but really felt like I was going to hurt myself (for real) if I kept trying to hold it a few more seconds.  I decided that a 100-second plank was going to be my final time on the plank and I was okay with it.  I never dreamed I would hold a plank 60 seconds, let alone 100.  90 was just about perfect in terms of when I really didn't think I could hold it another second.  100 pushed me just a little more.

So I was sailing along (that's how I like to remember it) with the 30-day challenge fairly well until I got to day 29.  I cannot remember why, but I believe I had to skip the day I was supposed to do day 29 and push it over to what should've been my day 30.  So when I was ready to do day 30, I didn't.  I thought I would get to it the next day, that day came and went and it was time to head to North Carolina.

Thus, I never did complete day 30 of my 30-day ab challenge.  HOW PATHETIC IS THAT?  I went through 29 days of that thing only to completely skip town on day 30.  It's like climbing all the way up Mount Everest only to give up on the final stretch and return to the bottom.  Geesh.

Just call me a LOSER.

And what is even more ridiculous..although I felt great after doing those 29 days -  my abs were tighter, it made me feel skinnier (even if I wasn't), my clothes fit better, I felt taller, and just all-around better -  have I done even one of those exercises since day 29?  NO!  Ahhhhh...

All that work for nothing!

Last night, I was lying on the floor and I decided to roll over and do a plank.  I thought 30 seconds was a good place to start.  Then I did some sit-ups, some crunches and leg-raises.  It didn't kill me and it wasn't near as bad as when I began with the exercises in May.

I AM going to continue on with these exercises.  I am going to find a happy medium and stick with it because I don't want to be remembered (at least in my mind) as that girl who didn't do day 30...

Our piano player

Last night Madolyn had her very first piano recital.  Last October, she began taking piano lessons with our local piano expert, Diane...who is celebrating her 50th year of teaching!

Diane assisting with page turning.

Before we went into the church, Madolyn gave me a quick lesson on how to video with her I-phone.  I don't have an I-phone and am technologically challenged at times, but this looked simple enough.  "Mom, it is so simple."  Yes.  Of course, it is.  It is Mad's turn and Jay nudges me to get her phone.  I grab it and we decide Jay has a clearer view, and then we try to figure out what to do...

Of course, we couldn't...and we're giggling as quietly as possible all the while our daughter is playing her piece.  We finally get it going, just missing the first page of her song.  Good grief.  It is so simple, she says.

As I sat there, I couldn't help but get that knot in my throat and those dang tears in my eyes...Grandma Great would have been so proud.

Madolyn has wanted to take piano lessons for a couple years, but we didn't have a piano.  I knew eventually I would receive Grandma Great's piano, but until then, we would just wait.  She took guitar lessons and then lost interest so I was okay with waiting a while.  We got the piano a year or so before Grandma passed away because her basement kept having water problems and we were all afraid it would damage the piano.

We bought some beginner books for the piano and some stickers to put on the keys to help in the learning process (which I'm sure is a big no-no) and Madolyn monkeyed around on it a little bit, but we didn't quite see the interest yet...so we waited some more.

Last fall about a month before Grandma got really bad she asked me, completely out of the blue, if Madolyn was taking piano lessons yet.  I said no, and she seemed disappointed.  It wasn't a week later that Madolyn asked if she could start with the piano lessons, also completely out of the blue.  We decided that maybe it was time to give it a try.

She began in October and has hardly missed a week of lessons.  She practices consistently and without us having to force her, which is huge in my mind.  When I took lessons long ago, I had to be forced to practice, or at least that is how I remember it.  I was probably in the 3rd or 4th grade and I did not commit to it at all.  I'm so bummed now that I didn't take it seriously back then.  Of course, I have big plans to some day take lessons again.

Way back when, Grandma Great could only play her piano when Grandpa was outside.  For some reason, he hated hearing the piano.  I just can't imagine that, especially from someone who was musically inclined like he was.  Maybe he just didn't like her choice of music, I don't know.  She was someone who played a pretty strong piano.  By that I mean, she struck those keys hard.  As I'm writing this, I keep wanting to use the term "pounding" on the piano and it is making me laugh...because she would always tell us kids not to pound on the piano.  In my mind, she pounded on the piano!

The piano is in the basement at our house and we have no door.  So you can't help but hear Mad when she's practicing.  But I LOVE it.  Jay doesn't mind too much...although over the past few months, this recital piece has certainly been played to death.  It will be nice when different songs are coming over the airwaves :)  Oh, and we can add Frozen's theme to that too...we've heard it plenty also!  The only time I have to tell her to knock it off is if Lane is in bed.

Of course, I'm bias, but I really am amazed at how well Madolyn has progressed with her playing and how committed she seems to it.  The recital started with some younger kids and kind of moved on to students who were a little more advanced.  A couple girls after Madolyn were very good.  And the finale was a piece played by a young lady from Casey I have had the pleasure of knowing from church camp.  It was absolutely beautiful and unbelievable all at the same time.  I took one look at the pages on her right and couldn't understand how someone could read it or follow it!  She obviously has played for a while and it was a good motivator for Mad.

For Madolyn's birthday she has requested piano books of Disney songs.  I thought that was a pretty good idea, and since she will be turning 14 in a few weeks, I better start looking.  Won't Jay love this?  :)

My untrained eye

Oh my, we're over halfway through Summer 2014 and it is chilly outside.  The high temps this week have barely reached into the 70's.  I have been wearing long-sleeves and jackets.  Crazy.  You just never know what it is in store around here.

We began the summer with a Memorial Day weekend camp-out at our local state park.  We had a great time, the weather was perfect (Christmas miracle) and the campground was packed.  It was nice to see it being utilized.  Memorial Day night, Jay was working, I was in bed and our night-owl of a daughter slipped getting out of the shower and fell hard on her left wrist.  All I know about that night is my daughter crawled in bed with me about midnight, told me she had fallen, I asked her if she was okay, she said she hurt her wrist, I went to sleep and spent the night pushing her legs onto her side of the bed.

The next morning, I saw her wrist and could not believe my eyes.  It was swollen and horrible looking, red and puffy.  I told her I hadn't realized she had really hurt it, like that bad.  She said she had called her dad (at work) and then woke her brother up twice (no help there) and crawled in bed with me.  Somewhere along the line I have scared her into never waking me up, I guess.  Why, oh why would you not come get ME if you were really hurting.  I suppose I just should've known.  Hmm.

So it's finals week at school and there is no way she can miss.  I send her with some Advil and told her I would talk to the PE teacher about PE and make her a doctor appointment for late that afternoon.  Her PE teacher made her run anyway (which I really do not understand) and she had a miserable day.  By 3:00 when I picked her up for the appointment, her wrist looked worse...if that was even possible.

We had to see a different doctor and within 20 seconds, she said, oh, we might as well send you straight to x-ray.  Twenty minutes later, she returns and said as shocked as she was, nothing was broken.  Take some Advil.  See you later.  I was speechless.  But they have the medical degree, right?

Two days later, I call the doctor's office again and ask to speak to our regular doctor.  The wrist is not better, it's the same or worse.  It looks horrific.  I had bought her a brace at Walmart and was trying to get her to wear it, but she kept complaining that it hurt too much.  Doctor says, bring her in.  She goes back, doc says, yeah, it looks bad, the x-ray was clear, here is a brace to wear.  Check back in a week if it's not better. We did discover we had been putting the brace I bought on backwards...thereby the rod was pushing her wrist down...which was causing pain.  Oops.

A week later, I insist she see us again.  They take another set of x-rays, which once again show nothing is broken.  I'm kind of at that point where this mama is going to take somebody out if someone doesn't do something about this swollen, completely purple wrist.  Apparently I got that point across because they referred us to an orthopedic doctor...and of course, that put us out another two weeks.

Four weeks after falling, the orthopedic doctor sees her wrist and comments that obviously something isn't right.  He orders x-rays (they again show nothing is broken), and an MRI just in case; regardless, he will put her in a cast so it can heal.  MRI shows fluid at the growth plate, whatever that means.  Five weeks to the day she fell, Madolyn got a hot pink cast to wear for two weeks.  It is off and she is now taking therapy for a couple weeks.

Although I am very thankful it wasn't more serious, I was very frustrated during this process.  I respect medical providers and their education and knowledge, but I was dumbfounded with the idea that an untrained eye (aka Mom) could tell at 24 hours post-fall there was something wrong with this wrist and got nowhere.  Why it took three different doctors, three sets of x-ray, an MRI and five long weeks for my daughter to get a cast is beyond me.

Next time, things will go a bit differently.  I will remind them of this fiasco and demand a cast.  Yes, I will be THAT mother.  And our accident-prone daughter has added yet another injury to her very long list...