Blog Archives
Hero pilot and the “miracle on the Hudson”
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Isn’t it wonderful to hear good news for a change? I want to add my praises to the long list of others who have already done so. Three cheers for the pilot of the US Airways jet who landed the Airbus in the Hudson. This man then proceeded to go through the plane twice to make sure that all his passengers were safely out. I wasn’t surprised to hear he was a former US Air Force fighter pilot.
I salute you sir. I’m a daughter of a USAF Officer and I am proud of you and your crew.
Chesley Sullenberger, his co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and the entire crew of that jet deserve all the kudos they can get. They kept their heads and saved over one hundred passengers. As I watched the news last night the story about these people, the rescue workers, and other civilians who helped get the passengers safely to dry land had me choked up. I cannot applaud them enough. Well done people!
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Will CSI continue to be as interesting without Grissom?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
As a mystery writer and the wife of a retired Police Officer, I know that what you see is not what you get in real life from a CSI unit. Nevertheless, I enjoy the show. I’ve listened to Dear Hubby say, “there’s no way they’d get the results that fast.” At a writer’s conference I sat in (author of Police Procedures and Investigation a Guide for Writers) Lee Lofland’s ‘CS I don’t believe it’ session. He told us the same thing DH had told me. I still enjoy the show.
I’ve watched CSI from the start. It is the best of the three CSI programs. I will miss Gil Grissom’s (William Peterson) unassuming persona. I am thrilled that they didn’t end his role violently as they did Warrick’s (Gary Dourdan). It’s time they had a character leave with happy results. Gil Grissom has gone to Costa Rica to be with Sara.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to seeing what they do with their new cast member Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne). However, I do wonder if the show will ever be as good. I hope so. Fishburne has some enormous shoes to fill.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, TV Shows, Writer, Writing
A cold day in…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Wind chills are dropping the temperatures down into the single digits. Do the pups want to go out? Only if they have to. I’m sure if they had long double coats they might want to be out more but they don’t. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder so I suspect we’ll have to use a crow bar to pry them from their favorite warm places.
They didn’t volunteer to go outside once today. For a change, the bells on the back door remained silent. We have a string of sleigh bells nailed on to the door that they ring when they want to go out. On warm days, Gavin will ring the damned bells every five minutes. On warm days, I’m tempted to wring his neck and I curse the day old Sadie taught him how to ring them.
Late tonight, for their last out, I sent Patty into the backyard, she ran out a few yards, squatted, and dashed back in the door. Gavin went out, took about four steps, raised his leg on a planter to the right of the door, and sprinted inside. Both gave me looks that said, “You woke me up for this? It is friggin’ cold out there!”
Posted in Dog related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
It wasn’t an easy day for Dear Hubby
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby had a pain management appointment today. He’d had to reschedule after last week’s minor fender bender that he had on the way there. He didn’t get the usual late afternoon appointment he prefers. He had to be there at nine in the morning. Not trusting himself to get up on time, and stay awake enough to go, he asked me if I minded playing alarm clock for him. Since it meant staying up only an hour or two longer than I normally do, I said I would.
Before I woke him, I took the pups out, fed them, and made a pot of coffee. This way when he came down there was nothing he HAD to that would tire him out before it was time to leave. I also had him take my car instead of his truck when I saw his windshield had ice on it and mine was clear.
I often drive him to his appointments but he’d already planned to go alone this time. I believe he thinks I need a break from running him to all his doctors and with the cold weather, he feels well enough to drive himself. I kissed him goodbye, told him to drive carefully, and headed to bed.
When I came down later, I could tell he’d had a rough day. The pups were snoozing in their crates, DH kept dozing in his chair, and he avoided walking unless he absolutely had to. It seems that the pups decided today was pester DH day. Once he arrived home from his appointment, they didn’t give him a moment’s rest.
Posted in MS related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
“Happiness is wanting what you have.”
Posted by doggonedmysteries
A friend wrote to me that she’d quoted that to someone yesterday. It is so very true. I’m glad to say I want what I have, in fact, I’m happy with it.
Unfortunately, I see many unhappy people who aren’t happy because they don’t appreciate what they have. These are the people who always want more money, bigger homes, boobs, better cars, jobs, husbands, wives, partners, you name it they want it. They’re never happy unless they max out their credit cards to get things. If they can’t do it that way then they take, lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want.
Once they have those things, they find that it doesn’t fill the hole they feel inside and they wind up still wanting more. Why? They don’t want what they have. They want what someone else has.
“Happiness is wanting what you have.”
Are you happy?
I work with beads when I’m not writing.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
A while back, I began to make my own necklaces because I fell in love with those lovely chunky ones I kept seeing but couldn’t afford to buy. Whenever I saw an interesting necklace on TV, (Bones wears some great ones by the way) I would think of how I could make something similar.
It got so that people I knew were asking me where I bought mine. When I told them that I made my own, they began to ask if I d sell some. I hadn’t thought of that, but soon I was making and selling a few necklaces. I didn’t make any money at it but I did enjoy having something to do with my hands when I wasn’t writing.
Dear Hubby has no manual dexterity left due to his MS. However, he did help me invent a combination ID tag holder/necklace. At my last writers conference I ran out of them the first day. Now if only my books sell as well….
Recently an extraordinary friend sent me two hefty boxes full of beads of all types and sizes along with some tools I didn’t have. What a marvelous treasure they are. I know she reads this, so here’s another thank you, Elena. An additional thank you goes to another wonderful friend. She owns the shop on my blogroll, and she has permitted me to put some of my necklaces and earrings in her store.
Do I ever schedule anything? You have to be kidding.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby has secondary progressive MS so we have regularly scheduled appointments with his neurologist, pain management, physical therapy, and our family doctor. Then we have his elderly mother’s many appointments we have to schedule around his. This coming week we have three appointments.
His mother has one on Thursday because her doctor changed it. We normally have a rule about appointments; they are never scheduled on a Thursday if we can help it. Thursdays are when I have my twice a month critiquing group meeting. On the alternate Thursdays, I go grocery shopping and to the farmer’s market. Other times I shop at the pet store for the dogs and Koi, and I drop in to visit a few friends if I have time. In other words, it’s my day.
I didn’t go to my critiquing group this week even though it was scheduled. I didn’t mind not going I had a good reason to stay home. DH took a nasty tumble into the arm of the couch a few days before and managed to break a rib. (His MS causes him to fall a lot since he has very little feeling in his feet and a lack of muscle memory. Usually he manages to fall without even a little bruise because he’s learned to fall.) He was not thrilled to have me stay home and hover, he wants me to have some ‘me’ time. He knows I need it, but I know that there are periods where he needs me more.
Until early this summer, we hadn’t realized how much he depends on me. Then I fell and sprained, not one ankle, but both of them. Yes, BOTH of them and our two Bull Terriers were not involved in the incident. (Anyone who owns Bull Terriers would think they were but that’s another post.) The dogs are innocent of this mishap. However, I do think I need to speak to a contractor about fixing the uneven sidewalk in the back yard.
I was supposed to stay off my feet, oh yeah that works. Crutches are fine if you have only one ankle sprained, they don’t work for two ankles. You have to come down on one or both feet with each swing. Hobbling around with a cane worked best for me and gave DH many a laugh.
DH is a jewel among men. He did his best but he hasn’t the strength or energy to take care of the dogs, the gardens, the pond, or cook meals. We ate a lot of take-out/delivered food for a few weeks. If I ever see another bucket O’ chicken, I may sprout wings and cluck, and it was a few months until I wanted pizza or Chinese food again. The dogs took advantage because they knew I couldn’t chase them down. The weeds got ahead of me and the pond filters needed a cleaning, but I didn’t care because he tried his best and that’s all anyone could ask of the love of their life.
Posted in MS related, My blog
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Fiction, Humor, Life, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Mysteries, Mystery, Writer, Writing
How to paint the interior of a house by yourself while two dogs run amok
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The first thing you do is load your husband’s pockets up with dog treats so he can keep the lovable A.D.D. beasts busy while you work. The second thing is you cover everything but the TV and the husband’s chair with drop cloths.
You then decide what section of wall you wish to start working on, and you don’t do any painting at dog level until they are safely in bed for the night. Of course, this means that all the work you are doing while they are awake is done on a ladder—not exactly the smartest place to be.
All paint should be kept above dog level so that when it is spilled it can splash more, go higher, and spatter you, the dogs, and the husband, not to mention leaving all sorts of pretty patterns on the two pieces of furniture you didn’t cover with drop cloths.
In case you think that I have a brute of a husband, or a lazy one, let me explain—he is disabled, and can’t help do the work. Therefore, the job of dog sitter keeps both him and the dogs busy. Well, that is until the treats run out and they decide to check out what I’m doing on a ladder—see above.
Posted in Dog related, My blog
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Fiction, Humor, Life, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Mysteries, Mystery, Writer, Writing
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