Monthly Archives: February 2010
Even dogs get cabin fever
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Neither Patty nor Gavin enjoy trudging through the deep snow outside. Therefore, they’ve begun to romp inside more than usual with DH and me taking the brunt of their zest. They run around like maniacs and use us as bumpers when they make turns. Either that or they leap onto our laps leaving black and blue paw prints behind.
Gavin had quieted down and had stretched out alongside me in my chair. He likes an afternoon nap. Patty was still looking for mischief. First, she poked his paw with her nose as she walked by. Then she walked past again and nosed his chest. The third time by she poked him in the nose a couple of times. I must say Gavin tried mightily to ignore her.
She, who is not to be ignored, wanted to play. She went and stood by DH’s chair and studied Gavin for a few minutes. Gavin was trying to doze. He even faked it by closing his eyes tight. However, I could feel his body tense as he sensed her scrutiny.
Patty walked past us and went into the kitchen. A few seconds later, she bounded back into the living room and pounced on both of us. Gavin shot out of the chair, bully runs and hucklebutts ensued. I can’t wait until they can burn off some energy outside.
Posted in Dog related, My blog, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
Where did my brain go?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My brain went on a vacation. However, it did leave several voice mails for me.
Message 1: “Um, hello? Geez, I hate voicemail. Anyway, this is your brain. I’m going on vacation. I hear that Hawaii doesn’t have snow.”
Message 2: “It’s me again. You know. Your brain? I just wanted to let you know I forgot to put coffee on the grocery list, you might want to do that.”
Message 3: “Just arrived in Honolulu. It’s a balmy 71. I hear it’s supposed to hit 81 this afternoon. Enjoy the snow. Neener neener neener.”
I threw my cell phone against the wall. If my brain wants to be nasty about it, I won’t listen to my voicemail.
I received a strange E-mail. “This is your brain in Hawaii. It’s sunny and warm. Did the next snow storm hit yet?”
There were pictures too. My brain sitting on the beach sipping on a Mai Tai. (It had better make sure it showers off all that sand. There’s nothing worse than sand in the crevices.) My brain at a luau doing the hula. (Don’t ask it isn’t pretty.) Then there’s the picture of my brain at the pineapple farm. (Great, I’m allergic to pineapple so now I’ll be itchy.)
I hate my brain.
Posted in Misc, My blog, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, funny, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Happy Valentine’s Day
Posted by doggonedmysteries
For many years, Dear Hubby brought me flowers, a cute stuffed toy, and chocolate candy for Valentine’s Day. I always made him his favorite dinner. Romantic isn’t it?
Multiple Sclerosis sucks. It is no longer easy for DH to shop. My PajamaGram was going to be my gift from him this year. It was supposed to arrive on the 10th. However, it still hasn’t arrived ‘due to adverse weather conditions.’ . According to the tracking, it is still in the last place it stopped before delivery here, waiting for weather conditions to improve. Does UPS deliver on Sundays?
Monday the forecast is calling for MORE snow.
Hawaii anyone? I hear that is the only state that didn’t get snow this year….
Posted in Holidays, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Psst, Phil. Dere’s a contract out on youse
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The phone rang. I answered it. A strange, gravelly voice on the other end of the line threw chills down my spine.
“Youse wanted a contract?”
“What?” I pulled the phone from my ear for a second and peered at it as if I could see whom it was that asked me such an odd question.
“I heard youse wanted to put out a contract on some guy called Phil. I’m your guy.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about. I don’t know anyone called Phil. Wait. Is this a joke? Did Jackie put you up to this?”
“C’mon lady. I don’t know any Jackie an’ I ain’t joking wid youse. Ricky Da Nose tol’ me today you wanted somebody to off dis Punksadohicky Phil guy,” he growled.
“Do you mean Punxsutawney Phil?”
“Yeah, dat guy.”
“It’s too late.”
“What, did someone beat me to da contract?”
“No. It’s simply too late. He already saw his shadow.”
“Whaddaya mean by dat? He croak?”
“Yeah. He croaked.”
“Damn, I coulda used da money.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Well, if youse needs ta have anybody else offed, you call me. I’ll do it fer cheap.”
“I’ll do that.”
Posted in Misc, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, funny, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Snow, snow, snow, and more snow
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It is prettier when you don’t have to shovel it. Snow has been the topic uppermost on people’s minds around here. There’s too much of it. The entire neighborhood has managed to dig out but the city hasn’t plowed the street. Geez, they didn’t even run through with a salt truck yet.
AJ from AJ Wildflower arrived today and cleared off our walk and driveway. She and her helper did a great job, and they even salted everything down when they finished. Good thing too since there was some melting of snow going on and the driveway is now dry and ice free.
They blew all the snow from the driveway into the yard. It’s so deep at that end now, that it makes me wonder if we’ll ever see the grass again. It’s going to take a huge upward jump in temperature to put a dent in it. But noooo, the forecast for here is showing wind chills dropping us down to 5 degrees by the time the sun comes up.
I’m ready to go groundhog hunting. Dang thing just had to see his shadow didn’t he?
Posted in Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
The blizzard of February 2010
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Even though the storm hammered us here, south of us had it worse. I’m so glad I don’t live too near to Philly.
I dug a very short path out into the yard for the pups. I had to clear the snow. they couldn’t get off the back porch. Patty is the more energetic of the two and she went a bit past the end of their path, however, when it came time to squat, she didn’t like the snow hitting her butt. She retreated to the shoveled area.
Some of the neighbors have already dug their cars out but with the street unplowed, they’ve no place to go. Early this afternoon when the storm was at its height my next door neighbor was trying to shovel her car out so they could go to the store.
“Are you nuckin’ futs? You aren’t supposed to be on the roads unless it’s an emergency.” I said.
“I need some groceries.”
“Whatever you need, if I have it it’s yours. Please don’t try to drive in this crap.”
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Yuck, no more white stuff please
Posted by doggonedmysteries
What can I say? When this winter is finally over, I won’t want to see anything white for many months. Maybe I’ll dye Gavin green for March.
Never mind, knowing the people in this area I think I’d get tired of hearing, “Hey lady you’ve got a green dog.”
“Ya think?”
How about neon pink? He has to go for his shots and our vet has a great sense of humor. Can you see me walking a neon pink Gavin into his office?
“Hi A. Do you think that Gavin’s allergies might be getting worse?”
He’d take one look at neon pink Gavin and fall on the floor laughing.
Would Patty get jealous and want her white parts tinted too?
If I had some food coloring in the house, I’d go air brush the darned snow. A yard full of rainbow colors would certainly look more cheerful.
On second thought, knowing my dogs, all that color would track inside the house and what a lovely mess I’d have to clean up. I guess I’ll live with the plain old white snow.
I wrote this in the wee hours of the morning as usual. It’s now late in the afternoon and we are in blizzard conditions. From the looks of things outside, we may be inside for a month!
Go ahead Lee, if you are reading this, LAUGH your A$$ off.
I can’t find my van or DH’s pick up in the driveway, and I’m going to have to dig a path in the yard for the dogs.
Posted in Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
The house of cleaning horrors
Posted by doggonedmysteries
This old house seems to breed dust. I could vacuum, mop, and dust every day and I don’t think it would make much of a difference. I kid you not. I dust off the coffee table, and I swear, ten minutes later, you can write your name in it again. Vacuum the rug and a split second later you can see the dog hair rise out of the pile like Neptune from the sea.
Dust bunnies procreate faster than real ones. Then they mushroom from teensy baby dust bunnies to killer rogues in no time. I have to beat them into submission. I saw the dogs running from one the other day.
The ceiling fans grow a coat of fur more rapidly than a shaved poodle. It’s downright scary. I’m also constantly cleaning cobwebs from the ceiling and corners and yet they stay one jump ahead of me.
Muddy paw prints on the kitchen floor are nothing compared to the tracked in salt at the front door. Cleaning up that mess takes more elbow grease than what would fill a deep fry vat at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Posted in Misc, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Update on the snow removal and ServiceMagic
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I was quite surprised, since today was Sunday, that we received a call from one of the places that ServiceMagic had given us. The woman even drove past my MIL’s house and gave us an estimate for the work there. Then she came by our house to do an estimate for our sidewalk.
Both estimates were very reasonable. We hired her. Now we don’t have to worry about traveling across town to clear off the mother in law’s walks every time it snows. This company will do it. Our snow angel can take a well deserved rest too. What a load off our minds.
I know I’ll go to ServiceMagic again in the future for other things we might need to have done. They prescreen all the pros they send to you. They list people who do everything from remodeling homes to house cleaning.
I will have to tell my neighbor’s son about ServiceMagic, maybe he can list his business with them.
Posted in Misc, MS related, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Healthcare, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Snow, Writer, Writing
The problem with snow is snow removal
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Yes, we did get snow, quite a bit, though not as much as Philly and south. Our snow angel shoveled our walk again color me happy since shoveling the walk completely exhausts me for the rest of the day.
I do wish DH’s mother had a snow angel. DH had his stomach in knots all day thinking about how we can get her walks cleared. He can’t do it and feels guilty that he can’t. She, of course, adds to that guilt on purpose. There’s no way I can get over there to do it either. The snow plow managed to block our driveway and my project for tomorrow is to clear the wall of ice he left for us. That’s going to take all afternoon and it’s going to kill me. Sore muscles here I come.
I got a little creative tonight while doing some research on snow removal in our area. I found ServiceMagic.com. I plugged in my MIL’s address, named my project—residential snow removal, and they matched me with two places that do it in our area. Both of them will give a free estimate too. How cool is that? I’ll let you know it goes.
Posted in MS related, My blog, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
I sent myself a PajamaGram
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It began with an idea for a character in one of the books I’m working on—her pajamas. She’s supposed to have a pair of PJs with bulldogs on them. My character secretly collects all things with bulldogs. (Not unlike the way that I collect bull terriers.) She owns a bulldog. Yes, this book has a bulldog and not a bull terrier. It’s not from the Doggoned series and one of these days, I’ll reveal more about this book, but not yet.
Anyway, back to the research…I went surfing for a pair of bulldog PJs. What I found I wasn’t happy with so I kept hunting through sites that sold PJs. I hadn’t intended to buy anything. Truly dear readers, I did not intend to buy anything. I was looking for my character’s PJs. I wanted to be able to describe them in detail.
Then I hit the PajamaGram site. I told you I collect bull terrier stuff, right? Over the years, a friend has presented me with New Yorker magazine covers that have that white dog, the one that sorta kinda looks like a BT, on it. (I need to get those framed one of these days.) Well there they were, New Yorker dog PJs. I squealed with delight. DH got curious and came to see what I had me so tickled.
I pointed to the screen where I’d enlarged the fabric pattern. By this time, I was wiping drool off my chin.
He laughed when he saw the dog he knows so well from our collection.
“I have to have them,” I said.
“Yes, you do.”
I looked at the price and started to waffle. “I do need some new Jammies. The PW conference is coming up…my old ones are looking ratty. But—“
“Buy them. They’re cute.”
The cheapskate in me reared its ugly head. “They cost way more than I’d normally pay for any.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, just order them.”
“They can be your Valentine’s gift to me.”
DH rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Buy them.”
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My books, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, gifts, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Hot flashes are a handy thing to have…sometimes
Posted by doggonedmysteries
DH keeps the thermostat set at a not so green temperature because he gets cold so easily. This old house of ours does have some drafts that at times that will drive you under an afghan or have you calling the dogs to sit with you.
Hot flashes or what I like to call ‘my inner child who plays with matches’ do come in handy at times. Of course, she doesn’t play with matches on command, which would make her an even handier thing to have. There has been a time or two where I’ve wished for a hot flash this winter.
Last night I wished for one. For some reason I couldn’t get warm. I was so chilly that I called Gavin up onto the chair with me and covered us up with a throw. Gavin loves snuggling under covers so he didn’t mind.
Then there have been times where I’ve suffered from too much inner heat. Like when I’m trying to sleep, on a very hot summer day, or while I’m standing in line at a store. Those are times where having a hot flash is most uncomfortable.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
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