Breaking News!!

TUMS works! Next time anyone of you has a puppy with a stomach ache, have 'em pop a TUMS. Within a couple hours Max was back on his feet and he is currently jogging around the house. He missed his exercise program yesterday, so he is getting a few extra laps in. Just wanted to report!

The Saddest Thing in the World

You are wondering what the saddest thing is, aren't you? Well, I'll tell you that it is having a sick puppy! Well, maybe if I had a child, I would say a sick child, but this is my blog and I don't have any children. So, just so everyone knows, my adorable little (okay 50lb) puppy is having a hard day. I think he ate something he shouldn't have. Probably one of the apples that has fallen in the yard. They aren't ready yet and some have worms. I gave him a TUMS and he seems to have a little more life. Maybe puppies shouldn't eat people medicine, but seriously could a little bit of TUMS do any harm. I really hope the answer to that is no. Maybe I should do some internet research. You know all truth is found on the internet these days and can be found within 5 seconds.
I came down this morning and he had gotten sick in his kennel during the night. He looked so sad and disappointed in himself. He knows that we don't like it when he makes a mess, but I just wanted to hug him instead. Of course he was kind of nasty, so there was no hugging. I took him outside and sprayed him down with the hose. Even though I felt bad about it, that was kind of fun.
So, I am saying little puppy prayers that he gets better. Who is the Saint of sick animals? Not that I pray to the Saints or anything, but... well, nevermind. :)

All Shiny and New

John and I went down to Chicago this weekend for a fun little get away weekend. On one of our many turns down the wrong street, we pulled up to an interseccion next to this new shiny black VW something or other. The kid was probably in his early 20's. His windows were down and the sunfroof open, enjoying the hot mugginess that was Chicago weather. We rolled down our window to catch the tune that was blaring from his radio. None other than 'Like a Virgin.' I am pretty sure that he was too young to have heard that song the first time around and if this was his little shout out to the 80's revisited, he really picked the wrong song. Not that I have anything against Madge, but that song doesn't scream I'm a hot young thing with a fancy new car. He needs a new theme song!

Did I need a Farm?

I think somewhere deep inside of me, I am a farmer's daughter. Wait a minute. My great grandparents were farmers, so maybe that accounts for my garden. I set out this year to plant and harvest and live off the land. I have previously not had any luck planting things. I almost immediately kill everything. You see, I have to love it. And by love it, I mean water it ALL the time. Apparently that is a bad idea. So this year, my mom came to visit me in May and since John and I bought a house ready for a garden, I insisted on getting going. My mom and I decided to plant squash, tomatoes, red peppers (which turned out to be green peppers), cucumbers, corn and strawberries. So, we could only find the squash plants in 6 packs. I bought one zuchinni pack and one yellow squash pack. Two tomato plants, two pepper plants and LOTS of strawberries. Can you ever have too many strawberries? We'll see next year when they actually grow berries. Oh, and some cucumber plants.
When we planted those big mounds far apart in the garden (per the instructions on the seed packets) I thought I had really given the squash too much room and that it was going to end up looking empty. I shouldn't have worried. Even after killing off about 3/4 of the squash plants by running the hose over their delicate stems, a few survived. Well, by now, the plants are about 4 ft tall and that wide across. It is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. The zuchinnis were the first to come in and I've steamed and baked and fried and made bread and about prepared to blanch and freeze! If you don't pick the squash within a couple days, they begin to explode. I am preparing break the world record for largest zuchinni. I have about 6 that I think could challenge any record. I know you are supposed to cut them off so they don't sap energy from future squash production, but I think that would provide me with more zuchinni. I'm pretty sure if I don't see another one before next summer, I will be a happy camper. I have tried to bring them to the neighbors, but apparently everyone thought to plant zuchinni. I think next year we should coordinate. I plant zuchinni for the whole neighborhood. Someone else plant tomatoes and someone else peppers. A community garden! :) Happiness is. Then you could force your vegetables on others without feeling guilty.
Well, now the yellow squash and cucumbers are in abundance. I picked about 5 of each yesterday and it rained last night and this morning I picked 5 more squash and 3 more cucumbers!!! HELLO!! Next week the tomatoes and the peppers will be ready and I'm already getting overwhelmed. Anyone for some veggies? Come and get 'em.

I usually don't peek

Tonight John was having the young men from church over for an evening of pizza, treats and video games. I spent the day cleaning up and buying the goodies to prepare for their fun. So, on John's way home from work, he called to see if I wanted him to bring home dinner. Yep. That is always the right answer. So he picked up some sub sandwiches and some chips and sodas. Now I should let you know that feeding the dog from the table is a major no-no in our house. At least from my point of view. Now John has a hard time denying the pup when he comes begging. Having said that, it was my turn to pray over the meal and for some reason, as I was being grateful for the meal, something told me to open my eyes. What did I see? John, with his eyes closed, head bowed and arms crossed, feeding the dog a bit of his sandwich! What a miracle that I caught that moment. So, I continued to pray and said 'we are grateful for this food and that John could feed some to Max, so he feels loved and part of our family.' Now, I usually don't peek during prayers, especially when I am saying them. But there was certainly divine intervention at our dinner table tonight. Maybe John will think twice about sneaking Max food during the prayer. I think he thought he would be protected from the rule during a prayer. Not so!

Giving it a Whirl

Last week John came home and told me that because I am a teacher and/or because he was a student some time ago, we could buy software at a wonderfully reduced price. Well, knowing me, you can imagine the joy that filled my heart. While I love teaching, I was really waiting for the perks to catch up to me. Here they come. Actually, I was kind of interested when he said he was buying a website creation software. In some of my dillusional moments when I thought I knew what I was doing, I attempted to learn how to code a website. Hmmm...that last for an afternoon. After about 3 hours all I had was my welcome phrase in a pretty bland font. So, last night John and I sat down to get me some technology. He starts out by opening this box with some text that I don't understand. After about 15 minutes of him explaining things matter of factly, I just stopped him and told him that somehow those letter were making me extremely anxious and I wasn't having fun. I don't normally have a problem with letters, but he was explaining them and clicking and saying things like 'we'll select bianary for this.' Um, hello? Isn't there a click and drag method for making a webpage? I'd like that one, please. So, in making my webpage, which I'm very excited about even though I know no one will really read it, I decided it was time to create a blog. Here we go.