Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, even if I was sick the whole time (sinus infection and then stomach bug). Bonnie was well-behaved in the car for the most part. She and Logan slept most of the way down there. We got to Artie’s parents around 9:00 Friday night and sat out on the porch talking to them for a bit. Then we went to the motel and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the cigarette-free zone. LOL Saturday morning we had an interesting continental breakfast at the motel. Logan had Fruit Loops, two chocolate donuts, a dry waffle, and a piece of white bread. At least he enjoyed their sampling. Saturday Logan and Bailey stayed in the swimming pool all day and I remembered around 4:00 p.m. that he didn’t have any sunscreen on. BAD mommy!! He got quite sunburned. Saturday night we grilled out steaks and they were SO good. We were all exhausted from being out in the heat ALL day and Logan fell into a coma-like sleep when we got back to the motel. Bonnie enjoyed playing with Patti’s dogs, but she didn’t too much enjoy being outdoors all day in 90-degree weather. She went inside every time someone opened a door. Sunday it was more sun and pool time, but I lathered Logan up in sunscreen and made him keep a t-shirt on in the pool. We left around 6:00 Sunday night and got home around 9:30. There was more drama, of course – as always the case in Union. Monty (Artie’s brother) and his on-again-off-again fiancé, Melissa, were feuding and she left 19 messages on his cell phone in the space of about 8 hours. She also called Artie’s parents house I think we counted 28 times on Saturday. Finally Artie picked up and um … blessed her out and told her to have some respect for his parents and quit calling all the time. We didn’t hear from her anymore after that.
Yesterday we were tired and “lazy” and spent most of the day either on the couch or in the pool. We did get some yard sale stuff together for our big sale coming up Saturday, but not as much as we had planned. It was nice to be lazy for a change.
Poor Logan is still sunburned and his little shoulders are just blistered. He can’t stand for his clothes to touch him, so I’m worried he’ll have a hard day today at Beaver Dam.
Artie starts back at Labor Ready today after his big job drama last week. And Dad is going to let Bonnie out around lunchtime today for a potty break. Dad and I are taking turns letting her out during the day until we can get a doggie door installed. ($400 to $500 for Bonnie-sized dogs!)
I’m looking very forward to my day off on Friday. I’m going to get everything ready for the yard sale on Saturday and take Logan to see X-Men III. Should be a fun day, I hope.
I hope all of you had a fun Memorial Day weekend, as well.

Bad Doggie News

Well, I guess maybe Bonnie wasn’t the one after all. It was a fun 48 hours or so anyway. When we got home from work last night, she had pooped in the den three times and peed once. And when you have a huge dog, apparently they have huge poop, as well – like the size of a computer monitor. The house stunk SO bad it was almost impossible to stay inside. Artie cleaned it all up and finally had the house smelling normal again by about 9:00 last night, but let’s just say he wasn’t happy. I didn’t have to clean up the poop and doggy diarrhea, so I can’t really say anything. But now Bonnie is banned to the outdoors and can never come in the house again. And of course today it’s raining …
And Charlie, our Yorkie that was never housebroken right and peed in the house all the time, was supposed to be going to a new home Monday night, then Tuesday night, well, he’s still here and now he’s outside too. Artie said either we have outdoor-only dogs or no dogs at all. I think I’m going to be sick.
I think maybe it was an accident and Bonnie got sick or couldn’t help it, because it was mostly diarrhea-like and we have been feeding her steak, hot dogs, Krystal hamburgers, French fries, lots of treats. But as sure as I talk Artie into giving her another chance, she’ll do it again and I sure don’t want that to happen.
So … I think maybe it’s just not meant for me to have a dog. Even though I love dogs and I think Logan needs a pet since he’s an only child and he loves animals too. I’m just so frustrated and sad and upset and mad and disappointed and tired of it all.

More Bonnie Pictures ... isn't she adorable?

New addition to the family

This is Bonnie. She joined us this weekend after I drove 90 miles one way to get her. She is half Dalmation, half Great Dane and was rescued by the Washington County Humane Society from an abuse situation. She had been shot, beaten, starved and was on the verge of death apparently. The lady who I adopted her from has had her for about six months and couldn’t handle a dog this big inside the house, so she searched for a loving home and found me. Bonnie is housetrained, which is the #1 requirement for us. We’ve had several dogs who are SUPPOSEDLY housetrained, but once we get them home they start peeing everywhere - that's been a nightmare. But so far, Bonnie really seems to be the real deal. Of course, she is huge – she is about an 85-pound dog and very tall. But she is a gentle giant. She lays around, doesn’t like to be outside except to do her business, and she wants to be around her people all the time. She is very loving and very gentle and calm. Hopefully we have found a perfect match in Miss Bonnie. Today will be the first day she has been left indoors alone for any length of time – while we are at work – so we are hoping she will do well. Artie fed her steak and hot dogs last night, so she is already queen of the palace.

SC Trip

Here's a picture of Logan and "the nieces" (Bailey is behind Logan, she's 4; Mackenzie is in the back, she's 5). Our trip to SC this weekend was very nice. We hadn’t been since Christmas, so a visit was definitely due. We stayed at a hotel in Hendersonville, NC on Friday night after driving halfway. They had an indoor pool and indoor putt-putt, so it looked like a fun place. Unfortunately we only stayed in the pool about 10 minutes because Logan wanted to play putt-putt and video games and check the place out.
We spent the day Saturday just visiting with everyone and catching up. Artie helped his sister put up a pool for Bailey. I went to the hotel and worked a little while on job 2 just to check out the internet connection. We had a cookout Saturday night and had to move indoors because the wind was practically tornado level. It was blowing the food off the picnic table! LOL
Sunday morning I got up and worked while Artie & Logan slept in. We went over to Mumma’s and had a big yummy dinner outside. Patti makes the BEST macaroni and cheese in the entire world and I’ve tried to imitate it but just can’t get it right. Nobody got into an argument this time and it was a nice peaceful family visit. I really enjoyed it. We got home around 6:00 Sunday evening and collapsed after unpacking everything from the car. “The nieces” had such a great time playing with Logan, and of course he didn’t want to leave them either. But he was also excited about coming home to play with his friends. He fell asleep on the couch Sunday night before he even got to play with anybody.

Planning a Vacation!

Who knew that planning a vacation was its own brand of stress? I guess I haven’t taken a vacation in so long I had forgotten … or maybe it’s because Artie’s mom or my mom always planned our vacations and I’ve never had to do it before… Anyway, it’s stressful! It all started when Artie called me at work one day and said hey, I found this Universal Orlando vacation package online for only $500. Let’s check into it. From there it proceeded to us both getting time off from work (amazing for me!) and then checking further into the Universal deal. Of course, once you add a couple of things to the trip it’s more like $1,000 than $500. And then we spend some time with my parents and talk about how fun it would be to have an extra-long weekend trip to the mountains for the whole family before Dad gets any worse. And then we spend the weekend with Artie’s family and start talking about the old Davis family vacations to Myrtle Beach and how fun they were. So then our Universal trip is competing with trips to the mountains or trips to Myrtle Beach.
And then there’s the decision of whether or not to take a friend for Logan. Oh, the joys of an only child… His best friend (of the moment) is an 11-year-old who lives next door to us. Of course, the Universal trip free kid stuff is for 9 years old and under, so if we take the friend, there’s more expense. If we don’t take a friend, WE have to entertain Logan 24/7. Is that a vacation? I think not. Why pay $1,000 just to do what we do at home every day? LOL So then we think, wow, he has fun playing with “the nieces” (our 4 and 5-year-old nieces in SC) so maybe we could take them with us. They’re both so young they would be free! But we’d have to drive to SC to get them and take them home … so there’s an extra day’s travel. And a road trip with a 7, 5, and 4 year old. Is that a vacation? Whew! Sounds more like day care to me. LOL
So before it’s over with, I’m going to need a vacation from planning my vacation.

Catching Up

Okay, obviously I’m a little behind on posting. It’s been a busy few days. I had no idea everyone was faithfully reading this until people started calling or emailing saying where are you? Why aren’t you blogging? LOL I’m just thrilled everyone is reading it.
Sara is back at work now. She had a D&C procedure Friday and obviously had a difficult weekend. She is still in need of our love and prayers and compassion.
We went to SC this weekend to see Artie’s family. It was a good visit. I’ll post more about that later.
Mom & Dad are in Panama City this week with some of her relatives. I’m glad they are getting a nice vacation, but I’m worried about Dad. I’ve become accustomed to calling and checking on him every day and now I can’t talk to him and it bugs me. I hope they are having a good time.
That’s a brief synopsis of the last few days. I’ll post more specific topics later today.

My dear friend Sara is suffering today, so I just want to post to say I love her and I’m sorry for what she’s going through. Please say a prayer for you if you happen to stop by my blog today. Today was her very first obstetric appointment and she found out she has lost the baby. She is scheduled for a D&C in the morning.

Girlfriends

I’m not really the type of person who has a lot of close friends. I tend to keep people at arm’s length and not let them too close. I’m not sure why that is, but I have some theories – maybe because I got burned badly by friends in high school, maybe because I’m so busy with all my JOBS that I don’t have time to tend to friendships like I should, or maybe I’m just too selfish with my time to be a good friend to others. Anyway, I was reflecting this weekend about some of the best girlfriends I have ever had and wanted to share some of my thoughts, in no particular order. There’s Candice, my most underappreciated friend. We were together constantly during around 1998-2001. She was there when I was going through the new mommy phase and the very trying mommy of a toddler phase. She was there when I moved from a 3000 sq.-foot house into a trailer about the size of a matchbox. And she was there at all the family functions so faithfully that my family thought it odd if Candice was missing. We went to church together and did VBS together, she was my right hand. But when she had her first child and started going through the new mommy phase, I moved away, like 200 miles away, and let her down. I never appreciated what a faithful and available friend she was while I had the opportunity. I’ve not had a friend like that since. One of my favorite things about her: Her SARCASM. She should really bottle her eye-rolling technique and sell it. LOL
There’s Lula, my most entertaining friend. She could always (and still can) make me laugh at the drop of a hat. We’ve been friends for over 10 years. Wow! I can’t believe that. She is sensitive, like me, and funny and caring … and one of those fabulous friends you can always pick up with right where you left off, whether it be six minutes ago or six months ago. She was a great mediator between me & Artie when we used to have disagreements. She is mature beyond her years and I wish I had the opportunity to see her more. There’s Joanne, my wise and frank friend who is not afraid to tell it like it is, like it or lump it. She married one of my best guy friends several years ago, and I remember the first thing I thought when I saw her for the first time: “Oh my God, she is so beautiful!” And then … “Obviously there has to be something wrong with her to be so pretty, she must have SOME flaw.” Well, 9+ years later I haven’t found the flaw yet. She is beautiful inside and out, and one of the most spiritual persons I know. She inspires me with her honesty, faithfulness, and still, her beauty. I love her and am just as happy for ME as I am for David that she married into the ‘clan.’ There’s Barbara, my most outrageous friend and my biggest cheerleader. She is a relatively new friend, over the last couple of years, but she is such a joy to talk to – she makes me laugh so hard my belly hurts. We have the same wickedness in us – I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but it’s fun. She has slowly learned all of my terrible secrets and yet she seems to love me anyway. Go figure. I love her independence and her energy and her sarcasm. She encourages me and cares about me and I’m lucky to have found her. And of course, there’s dear Sara, who’s supposed to be my other boss (or my ‘girl boss,’ as Logan calls her). She has ended up being the best friend a girl could ask for. We have the luxury of being at work together every day so we can talk more often than most friends. She believes in me! What a rare thing. She sees me as I really am and yet she still wants to be my friend - ??? I don’t get it, but I’m glad. We laugh at stupid things together and get angry at the same things. We know WAY too much about each other’s business, but we also know our secrets are safe. I think God sent Sara to me to soften the blow of coming back to work for Steve. LOL
So overall, for someone who doesn’t “have a lot of close friends,” I seem to be pretty blessed with girlfriends, huh?

I’ve had my dad on my mind a lot today – probably because I had a heartbreaking dream about him last night and I can’t shake it. I talked to him on the phone earlier today and we were both laughing because he couldn’t remember my birthday (not that uncommon for dads of adult children, I know that!). He’s going to run an errand for me today and he still does a lot for me – yesterday he mowed my yard and took off my trash. Sometimes if you’re talking to him you forget there’s anything wrong with him, but then he stumbles in the conversation and it all comes crashing back to you. I think maybe I’m kind of in denial about him being ‘sick’ because he’s not like, in the hospital or wasting away before my eyes. I try to call him almost every day just to hear his voice and chat about whatever I can come up with, but those days of meaningful conversation or advice from dear old Dad are pretty much gone for good. Dad used to be the most single-minded person I’ve known – it was ALL about singing and the group. That was his #1 priority in life for as long as I can remember. I used to resent that, but now I like to think I can see a little more clearly.
Here are some random memories of Dad, some funny, some serious, that have popped into my mind today: Him making up ridiculous rhymes in the car like “Let us all together go, ‘t will make our feet and fingers grow;” introducing me on stage and telling people I was interviewing boyfriends; trying to be a used car salesman (and failing miserably – he was too honest) when Plasti-Line went on strike for 18 months back in the 70s; listening to me talk, cry, argue about boys until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. after Mom & Kristi had conked out; driving the bus full of a sleeping or rowdy band (or both) at all hours of the day and night (without ever having one wreck!); the look in his eyes when the church would bring us food baskets during the poorest of the poor days; taking Kristi to drum lessons and drooling over all the latest sound equipment; hearing him tell Logan “I love you” when he never could really say that to me & Kristi; watching him chase Logan around the house in a black shawl and mask; coloring Easter eggs every year; seeing the house where he grew up and how far he had to carry the water bucket every day; the white gloves I made him wear on my wedding day; catching me watching an adult movie I brought home when I worked at the video store; teaching me to drive my stick-shift Mazda RX7 in the driveway… there are a million more, but those are off the top of my head today. I love my dad, and I miss the part of him that is already gone – but I’m thankful for what is left of him that I will treasure for as long as he’s here.

Artie's Handiwork

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

My Husband

I have the most wonderful husband (most of the time) LOL. He has worked so hard on our new house (new to us) over the past 6 months since we bought it ... it's truly a work of art in my opinion. Anyone who knows him knows what a great decorator he is. After he finished the inside of the house, he has tackled the outside jobs that we didn't hire out and has made the yard and our backyard "oasis" so beautiful. I love to sit out on our back patio and enjoy the scenery. He's such a handyman, never afraid to tackle any new job no matter how big or small. Well, actually he WAS afraid to work on the roof. LOL I just want to brag on him because I don't do it enough. He runs the household, inside and out, while I work all the time, and I appreciate his work and admire his many talents. :) (oh yeah, and he's still VERY cute after 20 years!)

Another Weekend...

Well, we had another busy but fun family weekend. Friday night we ordered pizza and tried to get some yard sale items organized for our big upcoming sale. Saturday morning we were up early and gone to Kristi’s neighborhood for a subdivision full of yard sales. I got some great paperback books and lots of clothes for the nieces. We also got some oak 5-shelf bookcases for $2.00 each!! Yes, that’s $2.00 and not $20.00!! Unbelievable. Then we rushed home and picked up one of Logan’s friends to take them to a neighbor’s birthday party out west at Pump It Up. It was our first trip there and Logan loved it. It was a neat setup. We picked them up at 3:00 and rushed back home again for a family cookout I had planned for Mother’s Day. Mom & Dad will be gone to Panama City during Mother’s Day, and we’re going to SC that weekend, so I had Mom & Dad, Kristi, Pig & Hannah over for a cookout. Six or seven of Logan’s closest friends showed up and jumped in the pool, so it was definitely a houseful! It was fun, though and the food was good, even if I did grill it myself. LOL After everyone left, I collapsed on the couch and couldn’t feel my feet.
Logan’s BEST friend, Blaine, spent the night Saturday night and went to church with us Sunday morning. I got up and worked 3 hours before church on job 2. It was homecoming service, but we didn’t stay for lunch. We went home and ate leftover pizza and burgers. Artie and I collapsed on the couch while the kids played outside ALL day until past dark. Logan sure does enjoy the subdivision life. Our house is always brimming with kids it seems … but if it makes Logan happy, then it’s worth it, of course. Sounds kind of mundane typing all this out, but I’ve really enjoyed the past two weekends of fun family times. This weekend we’ll be going to SC for Mother’s Day, so we’ll have some fun family motel time. That’s always a blast – Logan loves motels. And I like getting away from the phone and the constant kids in the house. J

Useless Blog?

I don't think anyone is reading this blog, so I'm not going post for a while. I thought it would be fun, but it's a lot of work if no one is reading it. LOL