Misjudged and maligned

We have 4 dogs. Duck is the good dog. Holly is, well, Holly is Holly. Bonnie is a Chihuahua and those of you have owned Chihuahuas know that no other words are necessary. Then there is Goose. Goose is mostly black Lab and, knowing that, I did not expect her brain to show up for another 3 or 4 years. She is a year old and chews. Trees, railroad ties, crucifixes, shoes, shotgun shells. It doesn't matter. Goose eats it...or so I thought.

Sunday, I went to a birthday party. Goose and Bonnie opted to stay outside. Duck and Holly were inside. When I got home, I found this:

Goose, I apologize, baby. And Holly? What did you do??!!??

Fun Monday - You Want It When?

Today's hostess is Faye from Summit Musings. Her topic this week is procrastination and 3 ways that we manage to put things off.

The first way that I procrastinate is sleep. I love to sleep. I work nights so I use that as an excuse to sleep most of the rest of my life away.

The second way that I procrastinate is what I am doing right now. I play on the computer. I blog, I read blogs, I play on facebook, I send emails, I read 19 different newspapers, and I google whatever strikes my fancy. I am always amazed by how much time I can spend doing this that I should be spending doing chores.

The third way? Back in the olden days, before there were computers, there were this wonderful escape mechanism that I learned to love. I still do. You can find me at the library once a week at least and I still love the feel and the smell of an actual book. I can also escape my cluttered, dog hair covered, dusty living room and just go away. Nothing gets done but my mood does improve.

There you have it. I procrastinate because I am lazy. I evidently enjoy being lazy or maybe I just enjoy being successful at something. I am definitely a success at the art of procrastination!

Fun Monday - Fridge Blog

The hostess for today (and for all of October) is Faye. Her topic for October 11: Fridge Blogs - in most homes the refrigerator door is not only decorated, it's also the family communication center with calendars, photos, announcements, reminders, art work, etc. Share a photo of your refrigerator door. What do you have posted on it? Why?

This is the side of my fridge that faces the dining room/hallway, as is the next picture. This is schedule for the RCIA at my Church. I am scheduled to teach a class in the spring. I am evidently afraid that I will forget.

Under the schedule are my spare "Support Our Troops" ribbons. I bought a bunch one time and am still using them. If anyone needs one, drop me a note.

And here, of course, is the front. Everything on my fridge is above tail-level. We used to have things lower when the grandkids were here more and were smaller but it just didn't work well. Our dogs are VERY happy.

I am not one of those people who keep their fridge pictures organized. My fridge front is more of an archeological project. The picture of Juls on the right hand side is from before she had Moose (and he's going to be 11 this month). There are Moose and Santa pictures from three different years. Moose himself put the pic of St. Michael the Archangel on top of the one. I think he felt himself in need of protection that year. The only picture that is not family is my bestest friend Kimmy and her pups - oh, wait, she is family. Never mind.

The magnet on the left that is about God is from Rome. It was brought to Shorty by a good friend of ours who went through the RCIA process with my husband. He has since died and we think of him daily. The rest is a melange of tickets and giveaway magnets and kid's artwork.

Sorry the pictures weren't better quality. I had just worked a 12 hour shift and forget to disable the flash. Now, go visit Faye and the rest of the participants.

Me, two, again

I had a little time to do some editing, so here I am again, a little lighter and a little more in focus. I do not remember this picture but I can tell you the family stories that I do remember from this time. My parents built a house in 1941. In 1956, or thereabouts, they built this house just up the street from our Church. We lived there a short time, during which the other house was rented out and my Grandma came from Iowa to stay with us for a while. My Uncle Bud and Aunt Eileen, along with my cousin Mike, came out to pick up Grandma when her visit was through. We did not live in the new house very long because when I started kindergarten we were living in the old house again, where I lived until I got married and where my mom lived until after my dad died and she sold it. I do know that my mom was appalled at the state of her hardwood floors when we moved back! As far as the "four only children" statement I made yesterday, I am pretty sure my brother-in-law was implying that we were all equally spoiled and self-centered. He was pretty much right!

Fun Monday - Looking Back

Our hostess this week, and for the rest of the month is Faye at Summit Musings. She said,

"Your assignment for October 4 is to share a favorite family photo(s)and tell us why this particular photo means so much to you."

This is one of the few pictures that I have of my childhood. There are 4 children in my family but, as my brother-in-law always said, my parents raised 4 only children. Here is their youngest, me, at somewhere around 2 years old and just pleased as punch to be drinking coffee from a thermos.

Sorry for the poor quality but it is a photo of a photo. Now go and look at everyone else's old pics.

Where?

When I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, this was one of the "protest" songs guaranteed to drive my folks up the wall. When I was in my 30s and trying to explain why I was against the war to a Navy EOD Chief, this is the song I sang (badly). Now? I think it is a tribute to our soldiers and I hope y'all take it that way. Be we for the war or against it, here's to the heroes.

Why do YOU donate blood?

Every 56 days or thereabouts, our local blood bank, Coffee Memorial Blood Center, has a blood drive in our town . It is generally held in the community center and it is definitely a community affair. Everyone shows up - young and old, employed and unemployed, moms with their kids and occasionally a grandparent with their grandkids. CJ used to go with me and it was really cool. Being held in the community center, there is no privacy so he got to see all the nuts and bolts involved in blood donation, from the pre-donation screening to the post-donation cookies and drinks which, of course was his favorite part. I always shared.

Last Wednesday, I had a 5:00 appointment to donate. I signed in and the intake person asked what my blood type was. I told her and she asked if I would be interested in symbol (maybe cymbal, I didn't ask). I asked what it was and she said that it was a double donation of red blood cells.

I had previously donated through the apheresis process at the blood bank's main office in Amarillo whereby they harvest platelets from your blood and then return your blood back to you with a nifty little machine. This double red cell donation is very similar.

Only one needle is inserted just like a standard donation. The difference? You donate about 1/2 a pint and it goes through a centrifuge. Then the machine reverses itself and pumps saline solution into you. This happens four times until you have donated two bags instead of one. The fun part? The blood leaving your body is somewhere around 98 degrees. The saline solution entering your body is room temperature or somewhere around 65-70 degrees.

I cannot begin to tell you how bizarre this feels. The phlebotomists check on you fairly often and make sure that you are warm enough, offering blankets if needed. It doesn't take but 25 to 30 minutes longer than the regular donation process and I was through by 6:15. The thing that I didn't realize before I got my paperwork is that the double donation also means that you can only donate every 112 days instead of 56.

After you are through donating, there is an evaluation form to fill out for the blood bank. They ask what they did well and what they could do better. The question that always stumps me is "Why do you donate?"

I don't know. It's just what you do. My dad and mom always donated blood to the Carpenter's Union account at their local blood bank. When my daughter was hurt in a car accident as a baby, she needed several transfusions. The blood bank was there.

When my youngest daughter had her son, she needed blood. The blood bank was there.

I asked my friends on facebook why they gave blood and, predominantly, it was out of generosity. Almost all of us know someone who has needed blood and almost all of us know someone who will need blood. As one of my friends pointed out, blood is one of the things that even the miracles of modern medicine cannot replicate. So, even though I have turned this over in my mind for a lot of time, I still just have the same answer.

I donate because it's what you do.