We've been having some dry weather since Christmas, and that's unusual. This is the time of year somebody in the sky turns on the sprinkler system and forgets to turn it off. Rain mixed with snow is forecast for most of the week. This morning I thought about what happens when we have this kind of forecast. Immediately Bob says "I've got to get gas for the car". Why? Knowing him, the tank is at least half full. Besides that, where are we going? These are the kind of days people like us need to stay inside. While he was out getting gas he was going to go by the grocery store and pick up some things we might need, and lay in a supply of chili from Wendy's. At 7:30 am it was still dark outside. Now it is very gray and overcast. This adds to the angst. I don't expect to get much snow but I do expect it to rain most of this week, the rest of the month, as well as February, March, April, May, and part of June. It's this kind of weather that makes me long to feed the birds. I can't imagine a bird starving here but I want to feed them for my enjoyment on winter days. I've never been able to come up with a solution. There just isn't a good place to put up a feeder here, but yesterday I came up with something I hope will work. I never tire of the moss that grows here. You can see the edge of the patio that was a lot greener before I swept it. Off the patio is some pretty little moss. Makes me smile. I put out a flag to let the birds know I was open for business.
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Lisa it is so exciting to meet you. I'm on a mission to find good in the Republican Party and I think I've found a winner. I can only wish the Republican Party had more of your kind. I can't say that I've been watching you which probably means you've been doing the work of the Senate rather than chasing TV cameras. How refreshing. I also have to admit I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about Alaska since your former governor, Sarah Palin, showed up in the political mix. I couldn't take too much of her. Between Sarah and former Senator Ted Stevens I'd had about all the Alaskans I could stomach. Your story in Alaskan politics is quite unique. It seems you were appointed to the Senate in 2002 by your father, then governor Frank Murkowski. In the chaos and havoc of the 2010 mid-term elections it looked like you might lose your seat. Republican right wingers were on the loose and causing all the trouble they could find. When you were defeated in the primary by tea party endorsed Joe Miller it looked like good Republicans had lost another seat to the right wing of their party.
Never underestimate a woman. Right wing Republicans haven't had a lot of experience with such women so they dusted their hands and considered the job done. Wrong. You out foxed them by running as a write-in candidate and won the election! Yours was the first write-in win since Strom Thurmond ran and won as a write-in candidate in 1954. Big congratulations to you. How does it feel being the only currently serving Republican Senator from any of the west coast states? Moderate Republicans are more scarce than hen's teeth these days. Obviously you were a perfect candidate to be challenged in the primaries by a tea party endorsed candidate. You showed them a thing or two. I am excited you are in the Senate. You are a good Republican. I wish you well for whatever time you represent the state of Alaska. Alaskans should be proud of sending you to Washington.
I Have a New Hobby
Was on vacation last week, hanging out with the kids in the mountains, learning new things and just relaxing. While out there, I discovered something that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was introduced to Archery. I had always wanted to give it a try and once I did, I am now hooked. I got my very own compound bow with a case and all the paraphernalia. After 2 days of practicing at the outdoor range last week, I discovered shoulder muscles I didn’t know I had. After practice number 5 this week at an indoor range here in my city, those muscles are super sore now. Left bicep is sore from holding bow, right shoulder is sore from drawing the bow. Going to have to exercise my right bicep and left shoulder with weights to balance things out. Dis is me during my very first time with my new bow (yes it is little) but I have short arms. Had to get a guard for my left forearm as once you hit it with the bow strings, you will want to do everything in your power to avoid doing it again, it smarts big time. I’ve since learned to hold it right to avoid doing that in the first place. I have a bunch more "stuff" on the bow now so it is heavier (as of yesterday) and this weekend I configured some targets at our place so we now have our own outdoor range. I’ve got to start all over again with setting up my bow but I can see lots of practice in my future. I like it!
Is it Really the Dog?
Sometimes I really wonder is the dog a bad dog or is the person a bad dog owner or was it just a bad match? As with any rescue organization or shelter you get returns. Sometimes people change their minds on the idea of having a dog. Sometimes life gets in the way and there is nothing that can be done but to re home the dog... loss of job, illness, child not expected... etc. I do feel sometimes people give up too quickly though. I mean have you truly tried to make it work or do you think it will eliminate some of your stress if the dog was just gone so bye bye doggie? Sometimes I think rescue "hurts" themselves in the fact that we take our dogs back no matter what... well at least I do and most reputable rescues / shelters do. People always have an out. Granted you don't get your money back but still it is no risk to the adopter... if I have a bad day or an issue with the dog I am too lazy to work on fixing I can just call the rescue and eliminate the problem. But there are way too many people out there who will just dump a dog on the side of the road like trash or take it to the kill shelter or God only knows do whatever with the dog.
By rescues and shelters agreeing to take the dog back is truly the best thing for the dog but at the same time it is making people lazy. Lazy because they don't have to work it out. They don't have to figure out how to find the dog a new home. They just dump back on the rescue. I sometimes wonder if it were harder to return a dog if they would make it work? I guess in a way I have answered this questions a few times with adopters... In my adoption contract it states if you want to return a dog you have to give me 5 days notice and I can only take the dog when I have room so you may have to wait a few days. A number of times I have received the call of "I need to return the dog" after I talk to the people and find out exactly what has been going on and it is totally correctable I say to them well I can't take the dog back until X day and in the mean time you have to do the following. Then when I call them to say Ok X day has arrived , they say "Oh well what you told us is working and the dog is much better and we ware keeping him/her. Can't stand to let him/her go". Oh really! So, honestly you just had a bad day and were stressed out and thought giving up the dog would eliminate that stress. Ok got ya!
I am America
Greetings. I am you. I am America. I live in a ditched truck-trailer parked next to my parents’ mobile home in a rural area. I am unemployed and receiving no benefits, without health insurance or savings, recently divorced of spouse and house, carless, chronically/clinically depressed and on medication, and generally wishing I had two ends to make meet. I have a funny feeling there’s a lot of us. This is an economically depressed area with little in the way of jobs, where empty storefronts and abandoned buildings pepper a landscape of cheaply built prefab housing, bunker-like taverns, and hollow-eyed men with their hoody-hoods pulled up, clutching plastic bags full of tallboys. The only business that seems to thrive in this area is antique shops, perhaps because there’s a growth industry here of estate sales hocking the sad belongings of retirees who’ve committed suicide. I’m remembering what it feels like to be set upon, whether it’s a delusion or not. I hate this disease. Anyway, one of the great things about being anonymous is not having to have people up in your business. Even though having people up in your business is what you actually secretly long for. What am I trying to say? I’m trying to say that sometimes I want to say “it’s not fucking worth it and I wish I had never been born” and not have a bunch of people, like, hovering and shit. Or to hover if they like but to keep fucking quiet about it. Which is what I dearly love about those of you who used to read this blog back when I actually wrote in it on a regular basis, rather than seeing it as one of a long list of things in my life I couldn’t sustain. So the short version is, I’m back. Hooray.
Irish Girls About Town
Author, various female Irish authors (Maeve Binchy, Cathy Kelly, Marian Keyes). From Goodreads, New York Times bestselling authors Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes top an impressive roster of the Emerald Isle's most popular women writers and prove that when it comes to spinning a good yarn, the Irish are the best in the business. Showcasing dazzling wit and remarkable insight in short stories that run the gamut from provocative to poignant, these Irish women will tug at your heartstrings and have you crying with laughter in no time. In Maeve Binchy's "Carissima," a longtime ex-pat and free spirit returns to Ireland from Sicily and shakes things up for her family, who finds her life utterly scandalous. In "Soulmates," by Marian Keyes, one woman's relationship is so bleedin' perfect in every way that it's driving her friends up the wall. In Cathy Kelly's "Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Gods," two women on a madcap, Stateside road trip have completely opposite reactions to a pair of insanely good-looking men.
In these stories, and throughout this fabulous collection, Ireland's finest women authors celebrate the joys and perils of love, the adventure and constancy of female friendships, and their own irresistible brand of Irish charm. This anthology of sorts is written by female Irish authors. It is a perfect read while getting sun-kissed on the beach or for a lazy afternoon nap. So far, I found most of the stories simple, cute and a little entertaining. Well, there are some stories I liked quite a bit like De-Stress, The Twenty-Eighth Day, Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Gods, Carissima, and Girls' Weekend. The rest were either so-so or the main characters were hard to root for. However, I think I just don't really enjoy short stories as much as I do a novel with 250 pages or more. You don't have enough time to really connect with the characters and place yourself in their situations. I found myself yearning for more and then boom! I'd tell myself, "What? That's it?" and then I'm left with a feeling that the stories weren't really okay at all. So far, I'd rate this book, two bookmarks for entertainment purposes.
Tuesday Teaser
Welcome to the first Tuesday of April. Another day for our Teaser Tuesdays. This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate you: grab your current read, open to a random page, share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. Be careful not to include spoilers. Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! For this week, actually I'm reading an anthology book. It's a collection of short stories authored by some of famous Irish novelists - Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes & Cathy Kelly, et al. The book is called "Irish Girls About Town". Here's a teaser from one of the short stories: There was a note on the door. Waited until half past. Understand that you mightn't have wanted to see me. If you were mine, I wouldn't want to let you our of my sight.
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