Surprise...its a DOG!!!

I went to Yoga class this morning with Hannia. It was really good because our favorite instructor, Diana, was doing this class even though it said Allison on the schedule. We like Diana best because she is easier to follow. NOT easier on you as far as the routine goes, but she explains it all a little better, and she also explains exactly what body part each pose is working and what it will accomplish for you once you master it. Allison, on the other hand, is extremely sweet, but she is really soft spoken, and sometimes we have trouble hearing her, and she is just not as thorough with her explanations. Also? ...during the meditation at the end, Allison remains relatively quiet to allow us to focus while Diana prepares an actual life lesson to meditate on. I like that better. She reminds us to feel gratitude, to focus on the present, and today it was about setting goals and following intentions.
But anyway, this is not what I meant to write about like at ALL.

When I got home from Yoga there was a strange dog sitting on our porch. I walked into the house to ask my husband about it, but he had no idea it was out there even though he had been out doing stuff in the yard all morning. Apparently it had just decided to visit...? Anyway, I called the animal shelter (which was of course closed) but I left a message with the lost and found department. Then I headed out and around to all the closest houses to knock on doors and see if anybody was missing a little dog. Hardly anyone was home, it being a prime shopping day right before Christmas and all. So I came home and we made a huge sign and stuck it out in the front yard so that anybody looking for this dog could see it. The dog had a collar, but no tags, and let me tell you....we do NOT want to inherit another pet. Not now.

After all this I headed out to try and finish up my own Christmas shopping. Off topic, just let me say that everywhere in town was a bleeding, screaming NIGHTMARE. Traffic sucked, parking was non-existent, and the check out lines were lllloooooonnnnng!!! Ugh! I just got home a little while ago and my husband told me he had "taken care of" the dog. Um,....ok...??? He had put the dog on a leash and walked it around hoping it would recognize home and we could figure out where she belonged. She seemed to be really comfortable with the house just around the corner from us. I had knocked on their door earlier but noone was home. Noone was home then either, but my husband spotted an open dog pen, and a hook/chain like a dog had been there. The dog was eager to go into the pen and all, so it apparently recognized the place...????? We do NOT know for sure, but hopefully its their dog. They are going to find this little surprise present of a dog in their yard even if its not....HAHA. Bruce saw fresh water and food sitting out like they were waiting on a dog, so....? We are going to keep trying to get up with these people to be sure. We wouldn't want to leave that little dog there with no care, so I feel like we need to do that. Then again, if its NOT their dog, we don't want it back...hahaha. Maybe we can just sneak food and water over there to it and not have to actually ask them if its their's or not.

Hopefully they will be home soon and this whole situation will be resolved. The only thing that I am absolutely certain of is that I do NOT want another pet in this household right now. Hubby asked me a few minutes ago what I wanted for Christmas (he plans to go out and brave the crowds this evening), and I told him that all I wanted was for that dog to NOT live here at my house. Poor thing. It seemed like a really nice little dog, but seriously, these 4 hellhounds that we already have are all that I can even begin to handle.

Holiday Memories

Every family has their own Christmas traditions. When our kids were young we would head out after dinner on Christmas Eve to drive around and check out the local Christmas decorations. Afterward we would come back home where the children would be allowed to open the 1 gift under the tree from us, to make room for the hefty haul that Santa would be leaving for them later that night. But anyway, I have this one Christmas Eve that I will NEVER forget, and I am certain that my children remember it as much as I do.....

We cut the Christmas Ham that night since I was cooking a turkey on Christmas Day. And the kids wanted me to make up some macaroni and cheese for them (sound familiar to anybody? Chelsea maybe...HAHA. I have one niece who's diet revolves around mac and cheese, and come to think of it, my kids were right about her age when this fateful night occurred.) Anyway, the kids finished up with their dinner and ran off to go bundle up for our Christmas Eve ride. I was in the middle of putting the leftovers away, and turned my back for just a split second. My dog Scotty took full advantage of my inattention and leapt up on one of the kitchen chairs and swallowed a huge helping of the mac and cheese almost whole. Luckily he did not get the ham...he might have been held in grave disfavor if he had eaten all of the Christmas ham. So, I scolded the dog, shooed him down off of the chair, and finished cleaning up the kitchen.

For some reason, as we left the house somebody (I don't recall who it was, but it was most likely my husband) decided that of course the dogs would enjoy viewing some cheery holiday decorations to put them in the Christmas spirit....haha. So we threw Scotty and Scarlet into our mini-van alongside of the children and off we went. We made it maybe half a mile....possibly less....when Scotty got sick and vomited macaroni and cheese all over the place. The children were screaming, mac and cheese was everywhere, and the dogs were barking and scared. We never really saw the local decor that year. We immediately headed home, and hubby and I spent the better part of the rest of that Christmas Eve cleaning out the van. And if I haven't grossed you out enough yet, I also recall having to scrape up the worst of the mess with a spatula.....YUCK! That spatula went into the trash after that. Noone in the family could bring themselves to eat mac and cheese for a really really REALLY long time after that. The children were traumatized, we were traumatized, and the dogs were traumatized. That might actually have been the last year that we indulged in that little tradition. But even if we did go on our decoration spotting trips after that year, I am absolutely certain that we never took the dogs with us again....Ha!

ALL CLEAR!!!

I finally got the ALL CLEAR on the mammogram saga today. I've been multiple times over the past year and a half trying to determine if this one little spot that keeps showing up is anything to worry about. There was NO change today, so the Doc feels reasonably certain that its just a spot of scar tissue, and it will probably keep showing up, but it is nothing to worry about. I can go back to a regular schedule of mammograms now. And this makes me feel very relieved. Not that I was overly worried but getting good news is nice. Plus, not having to face this whole ordeal every few months is also especially nice. The radiology tech has been very...um....thorough in getting good pictures and I always leave that place feeling sore and bruised for a day or two. She is very nice about it, and she has this nice soothing voice to try to keep you calm and comfortable (???) while she jams every square inch of skin and body tissue from your neck to your waist in between those plates. Ah its such a joy to be a woman.

Alternative Christmas Trees

I've spent the majority of my day decorating the house for Christmas. The tree is trimmed, and the halls are decked, but there is still more to do. Hopefully I will finish up all the odds and ends tomorrow. Being in holiday mode, I've done some thinking about alternatives to the traditional Christmas decor. My son and daughter-in-law are planning to decorate a "Christmas Branch" this year. Its something her family has done before in the past, and apparently its common in Costa Rica and parts of South America....? I am not entirely sure of the details, but Stephen said he might research that particular tradition and write a blog about it. I am fascinated by holiday celebrations from other parts of the world so I am looking forward to seeing the actual Christmas Branch when it is finished.

I did a little online search of unusual Christmas trees and found a few to share:


-This was is made completely out of beer bottles. How festive....I wonder if they got a hang-over while creating this tree??



_ The Ladder Tree. Its really kind of a cute idea.




-S0me sort of modern odds 'n' ends kind of tree....Not my style at all.






-The Minimalist Book Lover's Tree.....




-And MY personal favorite....A tree comprised of over 22,000 actual diamonds and crystal beads. This one was decorated in China and is estimated to be worth well over a million dollars.
Yeah, I definitely like this one best!


And as for the weird blank rectangle in the middle of this post....??? I have no idea how it got there, or how to make it go away. HAHA.

I know...

I know I ought to write a post. Blogs are meant to be updated at least a couple of times a week, if not daily. But honestly? We have been so busy that I have not had the time. Between work, and trying to get a jumpstart on the whole Christmas season (we put our tree up, and I have been decorating it in fits and starts, whenever I have a spare moment or two)...Oh, and lots of time at the gym trying to undo a little of that Thanksgiving damage, we have barely had time to breathe much less attempt to string a coherent thought together in written form.

On Monday I have yet another mammogram (oh joy) to hopefully FINALLY determine whether or not this weird little spot that keeps showing up is just some random scar tissue or something to be more concerned about. I'm not worried, beyond the dread of the somewhat unpleasant sensation of having your breasts squeezed by pair of giant metal vice grips. But...IF everything is the same as it was 6 months ago, I will get the all clear to go back to a regular mammogram schedule instead of this twice a year crap. I just want to get it over with. I keep having the temptation to just cancel the appointment, but then I check in with my friend W. who is a breast cancer survivor. And she will give me a swift kick in the pants if I dare to do anything that stupid. She forces me to take this seriously, even when I don't want to. Thanks W. And congrats on another cancer-free scan this week, too!!!

The Weekend...

It was a busy weekend, being at Dad and Barb's with the whole rest of the family. On Saturday there were 19 of us there all together. We did a whole series of family pictures with a professional photographer that afternoon. It was fun...a little overwhelming at times, but thats what the holidays were meant for. I have to say a HUGE thanks to Barb for having us. She cooked, and fed all of us all weekend long. Rumor has it that she cooked for 3 weeks in advance just to get ready for the herd to descend upon Danville. And she put up with us bringing our dog into the mix without blinking an eye (well, she might have blinked once or twice when he did a rather bad thing on the kitchen floor. I really do apologize for that). So....yeah, Barb is a saint. We have to say a big Thanks to Dad, too. He put up with us, and our loud/drunken game playing into the wee hours of the morning. He did seem to find reasons to go hide out downstairs in his office quite a bit, but he never threw us all out into the street. We are all grateful for that. Seriously.

And now Thanksgiving is over for another year. I had thought up a list of all of my favorite things that I am thankful for. I was going to write a post about that, but I never got the chance to sit down at the computer over Thanksgiving. Which is probably for the best, because it made a serious point. No matter how many things I love or enjoy, its really all about family and friends. I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend, too.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. I know I'm early, but we are leaving town on Tuesday and tomorrow is going to be hectic as hell trying to get ourselves together and ready. I doubt I will have time to blog again before then, so I wanted to send my best wishes for the holiday to everybody. Eat, drink and be merry and give all your loved ones a hug. That's what its all about anyway.