Bye Sweet Barty Boy

I can hardly believe that Bart is gone. I guess since he hasn't lived with us for the past year or so, it feels like he is just in Memphis waiting for us to visit. I got the call yesterday afternoon from Mom that she didn't think he was going to make it and sure enough, today he had to be put to sleep.

We got Bart when he was 5 weeks old and he was my baby. He was a tiny (when we got him) red minature doberman that thought he was a full size doberman. I couldn't sit down without him right there curled up resting his head on my leg. If there was a blanket he had to be under it. He didn't seem to mind when he was replaced by a real baby when he was 7 years old. Even though he always hated kids, he knew Colton was ours and he loved him and Colton loved Bart. Bart loved to run and I always felt terrible that we never had a fenced yard for him to run in. When he got loose, he would run for hours and bark and chase anyone he saw. I have run through fields of soybeans, neighborhoods, parking lots, and streets to catch him. He had the police called on him more than once and the police would try to help me capture him. You couldn't catch Bart though until he was finished, it was a game to him, you would think you had him and he would dart off again. Only when he was good and ready did he allow you to catch him. I spent several nights awake waiting for him to come home. And waking up to him barking at a neighbor who was up well before dawn. I would sit on the front porch while he was there in the yard, not quite ready to come in. I'm glad he got to at least spend the last year running in a fenced yard.

Bart was a special dog and a special friend that I will forever miss.



THE CATCH of the DAY

Tonight was the preview sale for a children's consignment sale. If you consign you get to go before it opens to the public. Heath took the kids to the park to fish this afternoon so I could go to the sale. As I was walking out the door he called and told me that Colton had hooked Ava in the neck. We had to take her to the ER to get it removed. Ava being her jolly little self didn't seem to notice there was a fishing lure in her neck and smiled and talked to everyone just like she normally would. They just tied string around it and pulled it out. Thankfully it was the RN that did it because he was the only one that seemed to know how to do it. Everyone else just looked at it like, "Who is going to hurt this sweet little girl trying to get this thing out". She cried just a little, they put a bandaid (pink of course) on it, and we left. I did get a video of her saying she was a glub glub when we asked what kind of fish she is. If I can figure out how to post it I will. I did make it to the sale, thank goodness. After the day I had, I needed some shopping therapy.

I've Been Hacked

My hotmail email address was hacked. They got my password and changed my security question. They have been emailing people that I am stuck in Nigeria and need money sent. Please don't respond to any such emails. I don't have access to my address book so I don't know anyone's email addresses.

OK, OK, I'm Here

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. What can I say, my life is pretty boring.

OK, my life since October, besides things I do all the time. Cleaning house, meetings, service, etc. Here goes... I pioneered in Nov. It was a great time to with the special campaign. A little difficult with two little ones. But I had great help as aways from my friends. I actually made my time and even got to go Black Friday shopping with Tina. We went to Memphis for a family dinner. Which was fabulously Southern. Everything you could possibly eat and much more. Delicious as always and great to all be together.

Hum, December, I don't remember anything special about that month except for turning 34 and a very busy day with a cooking with kids class at the school and then a Mudpuppies class at the conservation dept. followed by lunch at Panera and Bolt, I think it was even a meeting night.

This month we went on a road trip to Ohio. Just Heath & I. Mom & Dad came up and watched the kids. Heath had to go for business. We left Wed morning and were back by 7 Friday night. It snowed the entire way there. I went to Ikea in Cincinnati. LOVE. THAT. STORE. Stayed at a fabulous hotel that had an indoor pool with a waterfall. The water was very warm too.

I found out that I may no longer be in business next month with a new law that has passed which makes it illegal to sell any item geared toward children under 13 without it going through extensive and VERY expensive testing for lead. It's ribbon people! Come on. It's not even Chinese ribbon. They have been tweaking the law though so hopefully it will be adjusted for small businesses like me and the million other bow makers out there. Under the new law it was going to be illegal to sell any item (even clothing and shoes) that was made before Feb 10, 2009, even at a garage sale or consignment shop. They have adjusted that now. The economy is falling apart and now they weren't going to let people buy used clothing. And with all of the testing that will have to be done, clothing prices for kids are going to go way up for sure. It's crazy. I've spent hours getting Material Safety Data Sheets for every item I have to prove that what I make doesn't contain lead. In Nov. that won't be enough. I would have to send each bow that I make (I never make 2 the same) and they would test every component of the finished bow. Each component they test is hundreds of dollars. So to have one bow tested it would probably be around $500. I would sell this bow for $7. Needless to say, I'll be out of business soon if it stays the same.

We are leaving in a few days for a cruise. It's just a short one. 4 days. We're meeting friends in New Orleans and hopping on a boat. Hopefully it will be hot in Cozumel and New Orleans for that matter. I'm getting really tired of these Arctic Clippers. It was warmer in Alaska than it was here last week. Colton is very concerned about sharks. He keeps asking Heath if he is sure that he wants to swim in the ocean. He is determined that it is unsafe for any of us to get in.

I have seen a few movies. Bedtime Stories, Madagascar 2 (twice), & Australia. Australia was definitely the best of the three. Hello Hugh. The scenery was gorgeous. Australia I mean. Not Hugh, well, Hugh too. OK, I'll shut up now.
Bedtime Stories was OK, different than his other movies. I like that he uses the same people in his movies, it's always fun looking for them as different characters. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. We went to an evening movie though and Ava was restless, that was probably part of it. Plus I had to take Colton to the bathroom during the gumball scene. We're going to have to stick to Matinees for now.
I really liked Madagascar 2. I normally wouldn't have seen it twice. My mother-in-law had my niece for the day and wanted my kids to go to see it with them too, but understandably couldn't handle 2 two year olds and a 4 year old by herself. Who could? So we saw it again. It is funnier than the first one I think.

Well, that's my life the past 3 months in a nutshell. I hope that this post has satisfied the Blog Nazis for a while.