Incoming!

Got a call from the foster placement lady for FBRN this evening. We have an incoming foster, 3 year old brindle girl with epilepsy. DH is not wanting us to take a foster in because he's going to boot camp (new job, training is almost 2 hours away so he's going to stay there. 5 1/2 looong weeks) but she'll be a quick foster, no real medical problems (the epilepsy is stabilized but when you make changes in life they usually get a few fits so we'll be expecting it) and she's potty trained. We'll hopefully only keep her for the 2 weeks of evaluation and then put her up on the available page. My own dogs should be so easy. Wish us luck, when you add a new family member into this zoo you just never know what will happen!

100%

My dd's first spelling test was today, she did perfect. Not that we were expecting anything less but kids can be funny and unpredictable like that. Any way she was tested by her mommy and daddy for 3 days so after that kind of torture how could she not do well? I also know for a fact there were others in her class that did not do so well. She said one of the other kids (a trouble maker) got 9%. How does a kid get 9% on a test that had 10 words? He must have been able to put his name almost on the line? I know he can't spell his name, I've seen him try and write it before. Yeah yeah, kindergarten isn't a competition but I am just sooo glad that I have one of the kids that is willing to learn....

I'm sure there are people

that are going to tell me where I can stick this whine post but it's my blog so there. It's February and there are parts of this country with snow (I don't really like snow, it's pretty and all but people can't drive worth a dick in sunny weather much less in snow). Anyway we've had a really really mild winter. It was 94 degrees on Monday. It's going to be 30 degrees tonight. Umm hellooo? I've been trying to get my bare root roses planted here and now tonight I've had to bring some plants in (5 gallon buckets of water with prickley canes in them are dang heavy) and cover the ones I've newly planted. It was 94 degrees out 2 days ago!!! Mother nature is having one of those menopausal weeks again isn't she? Hubby has to dig them holes faster dangit.

The only flower in the garden

I actually took a picture!

Spelling Words

So spelling tests start this week for my little girl. She has a field trip this Friday so their tests will be done early (Thursday) so I went over the words with her last night and this evening the dh gave her the test. She got every one right, we are so proud of her! So far the class has only been given sight word tests, words they had to recognize on sight (not sound out but just know), not necessarily know how to spell though so this is all new. It's been so long since I was in elementary school I'm sure we did it the same way, I just don't remember. The words are up, to, it, my, for, big, will, at, can, and. We also had student run conferences this past week where we went in with her and she had a booklet and she went through all the stuff she's learned so far, all by herself. She went through a bunch of sight words and some other stuff and then read us a book. She was concentrating so hard we had to remind her not to stress out several times. Typical only child syndrome, all kinds of stress on her shoulders only. There were parents, I'm sure, that didn't like the set up but I think it worked really well for where the dd is at in her learning. Other kids in her class probably didn't do as well, there are at least 3 that are not emotionally mature enough to even remotely get through the process. I'm sure the teacher modified the program for those kids but still, I'm very happy that our girl was exactly where she's supposed to be. We don't want brilliant or stupid, we want totally normal average. If she wants to be exceptional at something someday so be it but for now we're thrilled with middle of the road.

Another 2 down!

And in the ground they go, 2 Christopher Marlowes. I still haven't figured out where most of the others are going to go though. We managed to avoid all lines so far at least. We were right next to and almost hit a sprinkler line and the electricals for it running along side it. If I ever run lines in my yard myself I'm putting 2x4s above them. Anyway my most important decision will be where I'm putting Evelyn, she needs a very good spot. We've got lots of space but I want her to not be randomly spaced (most Austins are put in groups of 3's in a triangular shape) but she's supposed to be a stingy bloomer so it's going to be a pain. Once I have them all in ground I'll be taking some pics for everyone. I have 1 flower in my garden right now (Kramer's Supreme Japonica Camellia) and I managed to plant it and take a picture. Wasn't easy either, there was a frantic bee loving on it. His legs were so heavily laden with pollen he looked like he had huge bright yellow chaps on. I had to wait until he fully loaded up because he wasn't liking me around his flower. I'll bet there are slim pickins out there right now and he'll be coming back all day long.

2 down, 6 more to go

This is going to be a little whining post. Just a little on though since it should be my dh having it but he posts so rarely I'm just going to do it for him. I have a new thing for roses. New because I've never had my own yard to plant in until we moved here. My mil has an incredible garden, the entire front yard being terraces of roses. Hybrid teas (not my fav but my dh's fave) that grow well in So Cal. My favs are English roses, David Austins mostly. They don't do well in So Cal but are going strong here for me in south central Texas. I just love that the petal counts are like 70 per bloom, they look like full tissue boxes. Anyway I buy them bare root usually and I pot them up to be planted when the weather isn't a bazillion degrees. Well I had 5 from last summer that still needed to be planted and then I got a bare root Evelyn from my mil then 2 more bare root Austins at Costco (so cheap!) so that adds 3 more holes that needed to be dug. So 6 holes total I need. Anywhere else this might not be the big ordeal that it is here but we live in hill country, 2" of dirt and all the rest is solid rock. Oh and if that isn't hard enough there's all of the neighbors cable and phone lines running through our yard and the sprinkler system. We've hit them all, it's terrible. I've had the lines marked by the companies but they weren't accurately marked at all. Sooo now we dig the top 6" slowly with a hand trowel until we know that there are no lines then we go at it with a pick ax. It takes a good long while to dig one hole and the dh lasts for about 2 holes and then we hang it up for the day. I'd dig the hole myself but it'd take me over an hour for one hole, no lie, I've tried.
So the dh was sweet today and dug me 2 holes this afternoon and we planted the Chiantis (the pic is not of my Chianti's, they are someone else's on the Garden Web. Count is now at 2 down, 6 more to go. I want a few trees too, the ones I love and we bought last year did not survive. The weeping redbud was frozen by the easter freeze and the weeping pink cherry bled out. Something chunked it's trunk and all the sap drained out of it. I'd love to get a replacement for both of them but dang the size holes you have to dig are insane for what you have to go through here.

Look mommy I fit!

When we first got our frenchie Corbin (all 25lbs of him) we got him his own little bed that the big dogs couldn't fit in so that he wouldn't have to have a power struggle over where he could relax. We have enough beds number wise but, like children, the dogs always want what the other dog has. So when we brought it home all the dogs had to try it out.
Jaynie, all 65lbs of his butt squeezed into the little bed:
Roxy, 55lbs getting comfy in the bed:


She just had to make sure there was no pea hidden deep in the pillows...
And Corbie, fitting perfectly in his little round abused bed, he looks satisfied with it:

Went shopping today

No, that pic is not of me or my dog, just an example off of a website so you guys know what in the world I am rambling about. DH wanted a new back pack (he had been stealing mine and it's safety yellow) so we went to the outlet mall in San Marcos, they have an Oakley outlet store there and he loves Oakley stuff. We picked up a few things at the KB toy outlet store while there, including a present for a boy whose birthday party the dd was invited to tomorrow. While there I got one of those collapsible tubes for kids to play in. For the dog. You know, the big wacko dog. Agility training is something I've always meant to do with him since he thrives on training. You don't have to have all of the agility toys but I love the tunnel one. I'll work my way up to the jumps (expensive!) and the weaving poles but tonight I taught him how to tunnel, he did great. The dd was absolutely delighted, she thought I was the best dog trainer in the whole world. It was terribly amusing but I'm hoping she'll pick up on what I'm doing and how I'm doing it so that she can help get these fuzzy infidels into some semblance of order. It's a family thing you know, everyone has to follow the same rules if you expect the dogs to follow them. When I was in the hospital and my mil stayed at the house the dogs got table scraps and were horrid table beggars by the time I got home. I don't begrudge the mil though, she hates dogs and was very tolerant of their bratty royal fuzzinesses during her stay. Trust me, she was well needed in that time of brain bustage. I will hopefully be working with Jaynie in the coming weeks to get him back into work mode, he really needs the mental and emotional direction. My bad for not giving it to him until now. Bad doggie mom.

The big dog is wired wrong

That's why he's a card carrying member of the Prozac nation. We've done the whole trainer thing and learned a lot from her but ultimately Jaynie is just brain jacked. He snaps sometimes and he really doesn't want to but it happens, he's austitic like that. So when we moved here my mother gave us an old dog crate they had that is the largest size you can get, like great dane sized. We have been putting both Jayne and Roxy in it when we leave (Corby gets his own little crate). We've noticed lately that Jayne has been getting bitchy with her in the crate, after a little over a year he's decided that it's just too close for him. So we went this evening to get Roxy her own crate. Word to the wise, if you have an Acadamy (sporting goods store) they have crates there cheaper than they have at pet stores. They are mostly for hunting dogs but hey, boxers are hunting dog sized so for $60 she has her own little private space. A girl's gotta have her own room right?
**Update** So the new crate for Roxy looks just like the old crate Jaynie came to us with originally when we adopted him (we left it in SD b/c it was too beat up to survive the trip). Now when we try to get them kenneled up he runs into it and he and Roxy get jammed up in the door way of it. Roxy is now just being redirected into the big huge crate as Jaynie is happily cramming himself in the large one. Freak of nature that he is. Good thing Roxy could care less which box she's locked into. Figures, the only stray we adopted is the most emotionally stable of the 3.

25 Copics!!!

I have the coolest friends. Today I got a goodie box from a girlfriend of mine back in San Diego. She even included a bunch of fun fun stuff for my kid who now has a clear red light up purse to carry all of her valentines in. She included 25 Copics that she had stashed in a drawer and had never used. How uber nifty cool is that? I have awesome friends!
Kim you need to email me, there was a book for you in this nifty package too!

I did not just see that!

It's what happens in Texas when the dh wears his kilt out in public. People will look at him and then look away quickly. He wore it relatively often in San Diego but every one was pretty casual about it, starting up conversations with him about it even. Out here, not so much. He wore it last night to his gaming escapade (Dungeons and Dragons, remember those old games? We still play them) since they are into such little oddities the dh had to show his off. It is a cool kilt. So I asked him if he made his usual stop at Walgreens for snacks while wearing said kilt. He said yes so I had to ask what kind of reaction he got. His response was 'gaze aversion' . I guess Texans believe that if you don't look maybe it doesn't exist. Or maybe it's just Californication denial. Oh Texas is going to fight this kicking and screaming. Too bad it's not going to do them any good.

Time Well Spent

I finally got it in the mail! I love this set and can't wait to ink it up. I'm feeling lazy tonight though and I'd have to clean the scrap room first plus the kid is being ultra Drama Queen annoying so I doubt I'd be able to get anything done up there any way. How's that for justification of lazyness?

Personality test

So I've interviewed at Grubb & Ellis which is a nation wide, publicly traded, comercial brokerage company. I like them, they are a good fit for me and they have health insurance. It's still commission based, you just owe them for the health insurance until your commissions come in. Not ideal but it still gets me further away from my mother which is high up on my list of must do's. Anyway they have a personality test that you have to take and I took it this morning, it's very amusing. There were religious questions on it which I found surprising. They now know I'm not all that religious...

Pictures, finally!

I know, I know, it's been forever. You would think that I never stamp or color anymore but I do. Just not all that often. These are of DogWalkaBella using my Copics. Love the stamp, love the pens. I've been playing with the shadowing using the gray pen (WG3). I really like it a lot. And the scalloped nesties, again, another new love.

Mutton Bustin', and other things I've learned about in school..

I have to renew my real estate license next month so I need to get my continuing ed taken care of. Quickly. So I had to do a 3 day course 12 hours each day this past Fri Sat and Sun. I, as usual, end up on what I call the 'short bus' table. Me and 3 men, all in their mid to late 20's. Buncha punk ass little shits but we survived. The teacher was a 70 yr old hard ass that rode the boys like the bad children that they were but they survived. Well one didn't come back for the last day so he was failed out but the other 2 made it. We totally blew off the class (it was sooo useless) and I was the one who did all the math problems and when the teacher came around to check the boys work they would quickly copy my work, the turds. I personally don't care, I knew enough to pass the test. I dunno if they did but that's not my problem. They may have been young but I'm not their mommy.
As for the mutton bustin' it was one of the many wild conversations we had (another one being the criticisms of local strip clubs). Apparently it's Rodeo time right now. We went last year but lets face it, we're not really 4h-ers and it's not nearly as fun as the Del Mar Fair (they changed the name of it but I don't care). So one of the guys was telling us about the mutton bustin contest which is little kids riding bucking bronco style on sheep. How flippin cute is that? We'll probably never be 4H-ers but I'd still love it if I could get my kid to have a little of the ranch experience. You never know...