Jeff and Lanie, then and now.

This is too funny...

James plays with the big boys

Here is James playing with Riley and Scout, the two Standard Poodles who live at the farm. And what a beautiful evening I think this was, last Tuesday.

The Empire Strikes Barack

lol...

We watched Eli this weekend!

Look at this cute little video of Eli. Notice how his little face turns into a sweet little frown after Jeff (gently! kindly!) swats his hand from touching the hot light bulb... This baby is one cute pup! He was over at our house for a few hours on Saturday and his feelings would play out on his face like weather, it was very sweet. You could see him remembering his mom or realizing he wasn't at home or whatever, and his face would start to crumble and he'd get very sad for a couple seconds, then it would pass and he would be fine. SO. CUTE.

James and Jeff play together

and also this one:

Papa shows off his early birthday gift

LOL!

Make Yourself a Home

This morning I was outside with James and saw a couple of little birds hopping around in the bushes in front of the house. One of them was carrying a tuft of soft white dog hair, and he was so thrilled, you could tell. Then he would spy another tuft over there, and a extra nice bit right here, and there! and there! It was like he was at homegoods and they had everything in his color plus it was on clearance, and he had a giftcard!

More Birthday Videos

The sweetest picture, like, ever.

Happy Birthday, YOU!

Obama! 08! Be a Part of Something Great!

These two girls know who's the man...

Some pics from this weekend

Phil and Nora are in town this weekend, and last night we went to the farm. It was a gorgeous evening, here are some pics...

Maggie is teaching herself to whistle. Tomorrow I'll post a video of her latest efforts. 

This picture best illustrates her filthy face...

The farm

Phil and Nora coming out of the barn...

Here is a really cute picture of Jeff, Maggie, Henry and Nora...

I love this one, too.
Here we have Maggie and James out on the deck, from this morning...

James

James, Wednesday

(I gave him his first haircut - not my finest work. But look at that face!)

This one has a great ear, too.

Look at that - a perfect triangle!

Jame's ears are large, but they aren't the standy-uppy kind like Kermit. Good effort, tho.

Wii Play Only One Game.

Hi y'all -

That picture below is my nephew Chris, who, along with my nephew Brandon and my sister Dian, were out here visiting from Seattle for a few days. We did a lot of actual sightseeing this trip, beings how Chris and Brandon hadn't been out here yet. We went to Boston and Cambridge, they took a day trip to Portsmouth, up to Concord and right outside our back door, too!

What a couple of wonderful young men we are talking about here, it was really terrific to have them. And Dian, too! She baked us cookies two days in a row, plus a pineapple upside down cake! And dinner! Thanks, Di! Keep up the good work!

I am the master Wii Play Shoot-Out Champion. Undefeated.




Over the weekend, my glasses broke. So Dian and I spent all day Monday at the mall getting new eyeglasses for me. And then Jeff went back to work on Tuesday to hear tales of coworkers spending $8 for eyeglasses they ordered over the internets. And of eyeglasses broken in the same spot as where mine broke, being successfully superglued back together, for pennies on the dollar. Pennies on the dollar! More like 1/12th of a penny on the dollar, given my grandtotal from Lenscrafters.

Curse you, Lenscrafters! We hate you so much!!!

Chris

Updated to the Puppy Update

The dust has finally settled on the new puppy's name, and it is.... drum roll please... wait for it, wait for it!!!!



James.

As in, "Hey, James..."

James is settling in just fine, and our adventure over to Pennsylvania went very smoothly. Henry and I didn't get home until nearly 10pm, but there was no whining or complaining by anybody (man nor beast) about the long car ride. We plopped James in between us in the front seat and he pretty much slept there non stop for the entire ride. No going #1 or even #2 the several times we stopped to let him try. He almost went into a state of suspended animation for the whole ride, not a peep or a drop out of him. When we finally got home, he ate and drank (see my earlier blog post) and then passed out.

What a cutie this guy is. Very calm and mellow so far. But inquisitive too. You can tell that the world is big and he is smart and it's just a matter of time until he soaks up enough know-how to really cause trouble. he watches and sniffs and enjoys chasing the kids as they run through the house. It's going to be interesting, because when the kids were old enough to play with dogs, rudy and kermit were too old to play with kids. now the mix is right. kids and puppies and play, well, they go together like bread and butter!

Food and Drink

FOOD


DRINK

Prince Jimmy Carter Sparkle Pony!

So this is the sweet little babyface Henry and I are traveling to pick up tomorrow morning!!!! We are flying to Philadelphia and renting a car. Then we're driving an hour and a half west of the city to Denver, PA where our newest member of the family will be waiting!

Jimmy Carter is about 12 weeks old, Bichon Frise, and one lucky pup!

After we pick him up, we are driving back to New Hampshire, dropping the rental car at the airport and finally heading home. It will be a long day, but quite an adventure, I'm sure.

And a couple pictures from Kermit's sweet start

Here are some pictures

of Kermit's burial...

Life, and how it goes on.

I haven't written all week. No real reason. It's lonely here without Kerm, and we were lucky to have his company for as long as we did. You know I loved that dog, I know you loved that dog. What more is there to say? :-( I can tell you that the pace of life slowed on Monday long enough to give him a peaceful and respectful exit -- He had more people at his funeral than a lot of people, I'm sure. And he gets to be down at the farm, near Rudy and other well loved dogs of our friends and neighbors. Henry handed him down to Jeff, who placed him in the hole, and we all said something nice about what a great dog he was.

Monday night I felt sort of giddy almost. Relieved to have it over with and to find that even though a dear dog has died, the world continues to spin. But still lonely. It was odd to have one less person(ality) to care for in the house. No one to let out, no one to carry downstairs, etc. So we went out to eat.

We went to Chilis, and I tell you, that place was conspiring against me. You know those oddball cigarette disposal unit thingies they have outside public places? Like where one can deposit their smoke before going in, and it falls down a tube and down into the bottom of the thing. One of these:



Anyways. I noticed that it was still smoking as we walked by, and I blanched. At work, we have to walk past one of these to get in the building and sometime someone won't put out their smoke before dropping it in and it'll smoke and cook up this completely repulsive smell. SO. NASTY.

They seated us near the kitchen, which was normally okay. But every once in awhile I'd get this super strong whiff of that ashtray stink. It turned out that we were in the path of the giant swirl of air that would blow in from the entrance to the restaraunt whenever the outside doors opened. So it would billow towards us every time someone came in the place. I bitched and bitched to my table mates about it and theorized on where the smell could be coming from. (I hadn't made the connection yet -- was thinking more about how maybe it was some sort of dishwasher on his break, propped up on a milk crate, making plans for the night on his cell phone, etc.)

So, as I was waiting for my burger to be re-cooked (I ordered well done, received medium rare), the dishwasher came rushing through the restaraunt carrying the still smoking ashtray! Through the restaraunt! so nasty. So, so nasty. I couldn't believe it. And I didn't even go into the fact my burger was raw and our server was dead behind the eyes.

Recent Wildlife

Here is an owl that was hanging out for a few days over Jeff's birthday weekend. He would hang out on a fence post over at the white farmhouse across the road. Our neighbor thinks he/she was watching for mice.




And here are some deer that I spotted in the backyard a couple days ago. Long winter makes for daring wildlife...

Maggie over the weekend

Kermit, today

Here is a picture of sweet Kermit I just took a minute ago. See the yellowish tint to his ear as the sun shines through it? That's the anemia. Poor guy! I'm home today and the goal will be to have a nice ceremony for him at the farm late this afternoon. I'm waiting to hear back from his terrific vet, Dr. Kalb. But I'm hoping to get a (final) appointment for him later today, and Matt has assured me he'll be able to dig the hole with his tractor any time I say so. So. :-(

UPDATE: Jeff and I will be taking Kermit in at 2:30pm

Things about Kermit

Have you heard the news that Kermit mostlikely has liver cancer? I know. I can hardly believe it myself. He's at the vet right now, getting squared away for x-rays to see how extensive things are.

Here are some notes I typed up for Jeff to bring to the vet this morning:

It appears he threw up last night, at least twice. once was the contents of his stomach, another was mostly yellow bile. also, yesterday evening, he was outside pooping and was startled mid-poop by a black shadowy animal (fox? cat?) and took off barking at him a little bit. after that, he took the longest time trying to pinch off his poop. kept trying to pinch and pinch and sort of waddling around.
so I picked him up and took a look and he had a large gumball sized poop mid sphincter! it was like a ball of poop stuck on the inside. I ended up working it out for him (nevermind how) and then clipping away the hair around the outside area that wasn't helping matters.

Poor guy! I mention it because in hindsight, it seemed as if he didn't have the power to push it out and finish the job! maybe I didn't wait long enough, but it was cold and he was obviously exhausted!

I'll keep you posted. We are talking about a highly prized individual, and I know you care about him, too.

More Birthday Fun

Jeff's Birthday Party

I think this is the video where Jeff has just blown out his candles. OMG the party was so fun! How many different ways to say it?! What a great time we had last night! I highly recommend ordering chinese food and sushi for a party, holy cow. It was so easy! And we had sweet rum cocktails with pineapple and cherry fruit garnish, with little cocktail umbrellas - FUN! We danced and sang and laughed and ate and drank and everything! VERY GOOD TIMES. Thank you for coming, those dear readers of mine who were there for Jeff's birthday. So crazy that he's 40. A very special shout out to Lanie and Cassidy and Nora who made a whirlwind trip down for the party and then back to Maine the next morning. It is always so great to see you and to know and share the history we all have together. I love it. And thanks again Cassidy, for watching all the kids so we adults could amble down to the farm to dance in the nightclub - Can I get a whoop whoop?! (woop woop)...

"Mom, when is your voice coming back?"

Maggie was asking that all weekend. I caught a bug at work and ended up losing my voice this weekend (and continuing today). Henry had a Destination Imagination Competition this weekend in Swanzey, and so she and I drove out there Saturday morning. (Jeff and Henry had left much earlier that day to make it in time for registration.) There was a driving rainstorm on our way home, and she was her normal chatty self. I couldn't seem to get it through her head that I was not able to project my voice over the sound of the rain on the roof and the whoosh of the driving, etc. Ugh. Wore me out!

Henry made me so proud on Saturday. What a great kid he is, made me so proud to watch him pitching in and going for it the whole 7 minutes they did their piece in front of the judges. everybody had stage fright and was sort of thrilled and panicked all at the same time. (which is what is so wonderful about competitions for kids, I think.) this girl reading her part too fast, that girl forgetting her lines, props falling over, etc. henry was just this great friendly force up there amongst it all, whispering lines to whoever needed them, using a strong voice to deliver his own lines (with a very convincing confidence I might add) and clod hopping around in his boots and ill fitting clothes, rushing through all the scenes and clutching at the props, etc. and the big puffy hair he's sporting these days. TOO MUCH.

I have pictures I will try to post later today...

I went to work this morning, but now I'm home. I don't feel so lousy, but my voice is still wrecked and my cough is very tickly and terrible sounding. We've had to add a couple more cubes to the tiny little bat cave we work in, and it already feels like we're packed in like sardines in there. Nobody wants their neighbor hacking and snorting next to them. YUCKO. I'll remove myself from the equation today and lay on my couch with my skin and bones for dog Kermit and read my book, thank you.

Hey hey hey we have a birthday coming up on Saturday! Lordy Lordy, guess who's turning 40?!!! I'll give you a hint:

More Videos!

Here's Maggie on the way to Arizona

This is also very precious

Maggie being seranaded in Arizona

I think this is such a treasure to have.

Some treats from Arizona!

PEACE QUOTE

What you do for yourself-any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself-will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others, you're doing for yourself.
- Pema Chodron

Any way you slice it/ anyway, you slice it.

Cut my finger this weekend, while quilting. :-( It doesn't hurt at all, but I have a ridiculous white bandage on my left pointer finger, which makes it hard to type a little bit, but not too much.

On Friday night I went out to dinner with Matt and Christine, and that was really, really fun. And after we went over to the farm to visit with Nicole and baby Eli. And then after that, we came home and played DDR on the Wii and then after that, we went to sleep!

Big snowstorm on Saturday that brought several inches. Christine and I had been working feverishly together on a quilt for Nora all morning, having a great time. Then Christine noticed a mistake in production, and I sliced my fingertip about 90 seconds after that, and that was the end of that party.

We went to the local emergency medical center and they put some kind of medical superglue over the cut and sent me on my way. It doesn't even hurt. But I went home and took to the bed and the three toothed skinny dog and the big brother internet feeds anyway.

And then on SUNDAY... I did mostly the same thing. :-) Just kidding, sort of. I finished the cutting job I'd had to abandon, I repaired the mistake in the dozen squares that needed it, and I moved forward on the overall quilt. And I went for groceries. Oh! And Matt and Nicole had me over for dinner! But beyond that, I was pretty much laying around.

Am looking very much forward to my fmaily returning! I wish I had more than a sliced finger to show for all the free time I've enjoyed in their absence. But what can you do.