Friday's here and not a minute too soon!

Today is one of those days that I'd rather be anywhere but here. I keep waiting for 5 pm to show up on the clock but it's slow in getting here. I've been a busy bee today and I'm ready to get the weekend going without having to worry about work. I brought homework with me two weekends in a row so I'm making sure this weekend is all about everything but work. :-D

E and I are heading to Biloxi, Mississippi in the morning to catch the annual dog show. We're big ol' dog geeks and we love just watching the breed competitions and hanging out with dog show folks. Of course, we each fall in love with one or two or six different breeds and leave there swearing that our next dog will be a __________ (fill in the blank). Last year I was screaming for a Bedlington Terrier

and a Chinese Crested (hairless variety)

and E was clammering for a Miniature Schnauzer

and a Russian Black Terrier.


I can't wait to see what we fall in love with this year. :-D Of course, my absolute favorites are always the Bichons Frise.

That's because I love my boys, even though they'll never have that kind of show cut. LOL

I'll make sure and report back as to who we fell in love with this time. It's always an interesting day.

I think E's going to take me on a date tonight. We'll probably see Wedding Crashers and go out for dinner.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Not Friday But Almost

I have been finding myself wanting to blog about political stuff a lot lately because there's a lot of political stuff going on out there that burns my butt. A while ago I felt myself just itching to get on here and blast CAFTA and tell you all about how horrible I think it's going to be for our country.

But then I went over to read ABB's blog and her daily post was so positive that it truly inspired me. It also made me realize that there's been plenty of negativity swirling around in my head lately and I'm tired of that. I also figured out why. I have the radio on in my office all day, every day because I hate silence. In the mornings when I get in, I turn on the local Top 40 station and listen to the Kidd Kraddick In The Morning Show. (I just love those guys - especially Kellie Rasberry, who's attitude reminds me of me so very often [vbg] ) After they sign off at 10 a.m., I've been switching to the local Air America channel to listen to some good progressive commentary. I now realize I have officially overloaded. Listening to those guys for 2/3 of my day manages to keep me pretty pissed off about the state of our nation in general.

So just now, I changed the channel. I am listening to some good dance music on Diva 103.3 and chair-dancing. I've got one hour left before I head home and I'm already feeling much better. When I get home I'm jumping in the pool, unless it's storming again. I'm going to enjoy hanging out with my dogs and husband and eat some leftover Chinese takeout for dinner. No more politics for today. I'm going to take it in much smaller doses. My blood pressure will appreciate that, for sure.

Y'all have a great evening. :-D

Interesting (Aggravating) tidbits of the day

1. Remember last week when the NRA pulled their 2007 convention out of Columbus, Ohio, because the city council had the "audacity" to pass a law banning certain assault weapons? Looks like our brilliant governor has now invited them to hold the 2007 conference here.

"As a hunter and gun owner representing a state filled with avid hunters and gun enthusiasts, I can assure you that the National Rifle Association will receive a very warm welcome from the citizens of Louisiana," Blanco wrote.

Give me a freakin' break. I might just have to take up some signage and be amongst the protestors myself if that happens. Don't get me wrong - I am NOT anti-2nd Amendment. I do, however, believe that everyday folks don't need to have access to assault weapons and I think it's time the NRA wakes up and realizes that.

2. When did Sonic stop selling Frito Chili Pies???



I don't often eat fast food any more but when I get a hankering for Sonic, I usually want a Frito Chili Pie. Now I will have to make my own at home. It's an abomination, I tell you, and I think my friend DixiePeach is going to agree. Hmph!

Bad blogging and random stuff

I've been a bad blogger. It's been a week since I posted anything here. To be honest with y'all, I haven't had very much to say and it was a hectic week last week. I promise I'll try to be a better blogger from now on.

Now for the random stuff to get you caught up with my life (like you really care LOL):

1. My nephew Ty has been in the hospital for the better part of the past two weeks and we still don't know when he's getting out. He's got a bacterial infection and his poor little immune deficient body is having a hard time fighting it. (He's 7 and fighting ALL - leukemia) He's a tough little man, though. He's actually liking the fact that he can "get what I want, pretty much anytime I want". Yep, he's learned how to work the system. [vbg]

2. E's work schedule got changed. Now he's going to be working four days a week but each day will be 12 - 14 hours. I'm thrilled about the overtime pay but sad that I won't get to see much of him in the evenings for a while.

3. We finally got E's truck repaired from the wreck he had just over a year ago. Why? Because his inspection sticker is expired and he couldn't get another one as long as he had taillight damage.

4. I finished El's scarf and I think it came out great. It's wide enough that she can use it as a wrap or she can fold or scrunch it up and wear it as a scarf. It's red blended chenille. I swear I'll post a pic soon.

5. I'm beginning the Wavy scarf from knitty.com in a charcoal grey wool for E.



It will look very manly in the grey wool.

6. I was a terrible friend on Saturday. I had scheduled a 2 pm CDT phone date with my friend DixiePeach and I forgot to call her. Now I feel terrible. :-( Dix, I'm so very sorry. Can we reschedule? How about this Sunday? I'm really lonesome.

7. E and I went out with K & M and Y & Er Saturday night. We had dinner at Zea in Lafayette on Saturday night. We finished the evening at Y & Er's visiting and imbibing in the Funky Llama wine we'd brought and the Don Pedro brandy that K & M brought. K and I don't really drink so we watched as the other four enjoyed themselves, maybe a little too much. E had a miserable ride home and a rather aching head for most of the day yesterday. That's what he gets for mixing his liquor. [vbg]

8. Yesterday I watched the entire Michael Palin - Himalaya series on the Travel Channel from start to finish. It was a great series.

9. Last night Ty and El's 5 year-old Border Collie Jazzy died. She'd had a stroke of some sorts at the beginning of the summer and she had another one yesterday. El's little heart is broken. :-(

10. Keith is back in Orlando for the Shuttle launch tomorrow. He's being interviewed by an Austin, TX radio station at 7 am in the morning. He's nervous but he'll do fine. :-)

Now you're all caught up. I'm too tired to get into the Karl Rove debachle here tonight. Suffice it to say that I'm very proud of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu . She's one of 26 Senators that have signed a request for immediate hearings on Rove-gate. Go, Mary!

Finally!!

I try not to get too political on this blog, although I've slipped a couple of times. But I'm now thinking that this is my blog and therefore my place to speak my mind and politics is on my mind quite often. Now that doesn't mean I'm going to turn this into a political blog but it does mean that I'm not going to hold back when I have something political to say. [vbg]

What has me giddy with glee today is that Baton Rouge, state capitol of a RED state now has a progressive talk radio station, which carries Air America Radio! I've tried to listen online before but it's tough when there are other sounds going on my machine and it all just drives me nuts. But now I can set my handy dandy radio to 1380 AM and I can hear the Al Franken Show and Ed Schultz.

Can you tell that I'm in heaven? This station is actually owned by Clear Channel so I guess I have to quit calling them evil. [vbg] I'm not sure why we're not able to hear the Majority Report hosted by Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder. Maybe it's because they sign off at 7 pm. I'm going to be making some phone calls very soon, I can see that coming.

I gotta tell y'all that being able to listen to other progressives during the day while I am the only progressive in a sea of conservatives is so very refreshing. I've had a big ol' grin all day long.

An interview

My friend, Dixie Peach has posted interview questions for me.

Here's how it works:

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions -- each person's will be different.
3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Here are the questions I got from Dixie and my answers:

1. We know your dislike for footware. What place would you never consider even for a moment to go barefoot?

A hot bed of coals. [vbg] Seriously, I guess I'd have to say church or a funeral home, although I've been known to slip my shoes off in the pew during lengthy sermons.

2. Did you ever have the standard Catholic girl fantasy of becoming a nun?

Oh God, no! I was raised the niece of two nuns and the great niece of two other nuns. That was enough to shatter any thought of ever becomming a nun that I might have had. [grin]

3. Corky's or The Rendezvous?

Corky's, baby! I love my ribs wet and the Rendezvous only serves them dry.

4. Would you rather do forever all your shopping online only but always find exactly what you want or would you rather do all your shopping in regular stores only forever but only find what you want 50% of the time?

If I always find what I want, then I'd have to go with the online shopping. Although I love a good mall, finding exactly what I want all the time would be heaven.

5. Have you ever called your huband by another man's name? By accident, of course...

I am proud to say no. Of course, knowing me, I'd probably be more prone to calling him by one of the dogs' names.

I am so proud!

My brother is currently in east central Florida covering the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. He's been covering the launch for his paper because the redesigned external tank was built at the Michoud plant in New Orleans.

He's having a blast out there - even got to experience some of hurricane Dennis on Saturday and Sunday. He's been to briefings and tomorrow will watch the launch from the Lockheed-Martin roof viewing area on the Air Force base near Kennedy Space Center.

You can check out his latest article here. There will be more to come tomorrow.

The launch is at 1:51 pm EDT tomorrow. This launch is historical as it is the first since the Columbia disaster several years ago. You can bet that I'll be watching. :-)

Knitting again...

I am finally loving knitting again.

Right now I am trying to finish El's new scarf. It's a variagated red chenille that she picked out herself and will be soft and snuggly.

I was down at Hobby Lobby the other day to pick up another skein of chenille for El's scarf and found they had gotten a load of really cool yarn. It feels like it's part mohair and I got four balls in the strawberry color. There's a lacy shawl that I'm looking to make with it since I'm getting adventurous. :-D

I also think my nephew Ty would enjoy the Alien Scarf from Stitch N' Bitch.

On Saturday, I visited Garden District Needlework in New Orleans and was like a kid in a candy shop! They advertise that they are the largest yarn store in the southeast and I was impressed. I was such a good girl and didn't actually buy anything on Saturday. I plan to go back on the weekend in August when they have their big summer sale and buy what I need at a discount. They've got some gorgeous, sparkly stuff there that I'm dying for. They made a beautiful shawl out of it in a light pink color and I'm looking for a similar pattern to use. I think I've found one in my knitting mag that I just picked up. The only thing is that it calls for five balls and they're $12.00 each. Ouch! Maybe if I pull the 40% discount at checkout, I'll run and grab that stuff, too. [vbg]

So I hope to finish El's scarf this week and begin on the lacy shawl with the soft stuff from Hobby Lobby. I'll post pics when I can.

London

I am so very sorry. I watched the news unfold in shock and tears this morning. This is not the first time your city and country has suffered at the hands of bombers. You are such a resilient people. Know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that those bastards who did this are caught and punished very soon.

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt

Yesterday was quite an enjoyable 4th of July. Our friends M and D from New Orleans came in for the day. Instead of firing up the pit at home, we headed off to VooDoo BBQ to indulge in pork and brisket already cooked by someone else. :-) After lunch we headed home and hit the pool.

It was a perfect afternoon; the water was just the right temperature, the sun was nice and bright, and the temperature wasn't as hot as it could have been. The guys gave up on the pool after an hour or so but M and I stayed in until we were pretty wrinkled up. We finally headed in to find the guys trying to hook up the TV, DVD, DVR, and VCR into the stereo. Oy! But the result is that we finally have the stereo hooked up and the TV and other appliances run off the stereo sound. Yippee!

Just before M and D left, Sophie was in a ball playing mood so I kicked the ball for her. As she ran and did her usual slide to grab it, I noticed she'd hurt her rear left leg. I scooped her up and tried to get her to put some weight on it but to no avail. After M and D left, I slowly worked the leg into a straight position and felt the little pop. I took her to the vet first thing this morning and had my suspicions confirmed - she luxated her patella or, in layman's terms, she blew out her knee. Poor little pup is going to need surgery. Ironically, she is going to need the same surgery I had 21 years ago on my knee that had a luxating patella. Doc says it's not something she has to have today but it needs to be done in the next couple of months. The hardest part of all of this will be keeping her relatively still before surgery and very still post-op. She can't play ball for a very long time and it's killing us. Doc says we'll have to keep her crated for 2 to 4 months post-op. I don't know what we're going to do as she is a very active girl and won't take kindly to not being able to sleep with us and pal around with Sneauball and Nate.

Since Bichons are prone to luxating patellas and Sneauball has this little hop that he incorporates in his run every now and then, I fully expected to be dealing with this with him eventually. But I never saw it coming with our rough and tumble girl. She's taking it rather well. There are times that she can put pressure on the knee and times she can't but she seems to know that she has to stay pretty quiet. She hasn't brought me any balls to throw tonight. That makes me sad. :-(

We expect to see some of Tropical Storm Cindy later tonight or early tomorrow morning as she makes landfall near New Orleans. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is going to catch the brunt of it, however. The one to watch is ol' Dennis brewing down in the Carribean. Dennis is the name of a great uncle of mine and my mom's family has a history of sharing names with some of the worst storms on record. My mother's name is Audrey, my grandfather was Camille, my middle name is Elena...We always hold our breath when we see a familiar name. :-)

Here's hoping Cindy doesn't blow your way tonight. ;-)

Hey America - Birthday Greetings from...

Sophie



Sneauball and Nate

Happy Birthday, America!

Tomorrow our country celebrates its 229th birthday. As we all take a day off and enjoy barbeque, fireworks, pools, friends, and family, I'll be thinking about what a great country I live in.

You see, I may not always agree with how this country is run and I may sometimes feel saddened about how we are misrepresented to the rest of the world but I love this place because here I am free to be me. And because of that, I will continue to fight, with every ounce of my being, to see to it that those freedoms continue to be ours.

Also on this day I want to send love and prayers to those serving in the name of our country. I respect each and every soldier both here and abroad. I don't agree with the war in Iraq - I never have - but my beef is with this administration, not those who were sent there to do their job. I pray for each one who has been injured as well as those who will never come back. My heart is broken each time I read of another soldier's death. My prayer for each of you is for peace. My prayer for your families is also for peace and comfort. My prayer for this administration is that they soon realize they have the blood of many innocents on their hands and cease this nonsense.

Happy Birthday, America. These past 229 years have had their fare share of troubles. But I believe the founders of this country had excellent ideas of democracy and left us a solid foundation to build upon.

Happy Birthday, America - a great nation filled with great people.