A VERY CLOSE CALL!

I drove home tonight, lost in my own little world listening to music as my terriers snoozed in their kennel in the back of my van and Blue sat quietly watching the scenery. I drove along my usual route, down the road through the East Village, down River Drive, over the bridge and mindless through my town. I turned up the street, up the hill past the Funeral Home, the Senior Continuing Care Center and past several homes. Then past the College dormitories and approached the Hilltop Area. First I go past the bar, the Hair place and the Antique Shop when suddenly I saw a girl running. She looked to be about 12 or 13 years old and just about ten feet ahead of her was a little dog... running away.

from:

http://www.out-and-about-with-your-dog.com/long-hair-chihuahua-diego.html

I saw her stop for a moment as the dog stopped to look back at her and then they were both running again.

Past the Barber Shop, the Collectibles Store and all the while I am driving parallel to them. My mind racing. What should I do! Suddenly the little one puts a foot off of the curb as if to run across the street. I slam on the brakes. Oh MY GOD! If I hit this dog I won't be able to stand it and to do it in front of this girl! I can think of nothing worse and then I realize the dog has reached the Vintage Store and in about 10 more feet he will be to the intersection where the traffic is busy with people coming home from work. He'll never make it across!

He's so tiny

 I reach the stop light, it's red.

I'm FRANTIC. I am NOT good in emergencies. Should I shift the van into PARK and jump out and see if I can stop him from running into the traffic?! Should I pull the van into the right lane so that no one pulls up next to me and squishes the little guy! Should I.............
Suddenly There's a ROAR! A Deep LOUD BARK!
Blue has seen the dog through the window.
The little one freezes on the spot and looks up at the sky.

I lean forward to watch.
He turns and runs quickly to the girl and she scoops him up. I can't tell if she's laughing or crying.
She turns with him wrapped in her arms and runs back from the direction that she came.
I look at Blue.

He looks at me.
The light turns green.

I'm DAYDREAMING about SPRING

And I'm still thinking about getting a dog for Blue.

I know that I've talked about before but.....Yes!  I am crazy but life is short. I tried to do it before and that's how I got Jimmy. I went to the shelter looking for a playmate for Blue and came away with my Jimmy Chew.
Blue could have cared less about Jimmy. In fact I think he found him rather annoying.
Then Jimmy tried to play with the little ones but terriers play so ROUGH........

 
Enter Ralphie.
OK, full disclosure about Ralph. When I pulled up to his previous owners house, he was sitting on the back of the tailgate with the woman and he was barking and growling up a storm at me. She had to wrestle her arm around him and hold his muzzle closed with her other hand. His name was Dexter at the time. I immediately thought of that HBO show about the KILLER...But I didn't turn around and leave. Instead I looked back at my car and there was Jimmy standing with his front feet on the dashboard.
He was entranced! Is this MY new friend?
I went to the car and brought Jimmy up to Dexter/Ralphie and BAM!
Immediately they were best friends. So I handed to woman a twenty and she handed me his adoption papers from the kill-shelter she had gotten him from, his carrier and him. I put Jimmy in the car and Ralph jumped in too.
As I backed out of the drive I know I had a silly stupid grin on my face and the woman was LAUGHING as I drove away. Yes, I did have thoughts of Dexter/Ralphie turning on me in the car and attacking me as we drove home but....and now as I type this he has his little head resting against me.
So it worked out just fine! OK, yes there were times where he tried to be Alpha dog but he's finally realized he's #3 in the dominance of this home. Of course, I am Alpha. and then there would be Blue and right behind him is Ralphie. He's tried to challenge Blue before but finally Blue body slammed him to the floor with his mouth. Ralphie was wet with Blue spit and very shaken but now he gets out of his way rather than challenge him. The same thing happened with Jimmy when he first came home and Blue put him in his place the same way but Jimmy squealed and peed himself. So now when Blue walks up to the loveseat and Jimmy is on it, he doesn't even make eye contact with Blue. He just gets up with his head hung low and gets off the sofa so that Blue can lay down. Because of all this, whenever Blue wants to jump and pounce at them in the yard to play...they run like Hell. Sometimes Ralphie will still run a big circle and come back up behind Blue to nip at his back leg and then it's game on for a moment until Ralphie gets too freaked out.

So....should I get a dog for Blue? I remember when I had my Golden and she was maybe 7 years old, I brought home a second dog and I swear that she acted like a puppy again! Jumping and playing....
Of course things are much different now. I have my little "herd" of tiny dogs. I would have to get a little puppy so that it would grow up with the little ones and understand how to treat them. I'd need something with a low prey instinct. Nothing that has been bred to go after small animals. And if I did get another large dog, I would wait until I cleared the bottom of my ravine-like backyard and bring in more dirt to level it  out more and then extend the privacy fence all the way to the bottom. But I need to do that anyway.

http://www.thegardenerseden.com/

(The neighbor lady said last summer that it looks like a JUNGLE and she wants to put a gazebo on the bottom of her yard but is afraid what might be in my "jungle/ravine).
 
I've spent part of the day researching backyards with privacy fences:

and backyards with trees to block out the neighbors hot-tub and laundry line:

and different ways to terrace it:

If I DID get a playmate, I'm thinking of 3 different breeds.
#1 White German Shepherd (lots of white hair ! Yikes!)
This -

would become this-

Or #2 Giant Schnauzer (Non-shedding but lots of grooming)
This-

http://www.dailypuppy.com/

into this-

Or #3 Golden Retriever (maybe, I'm still heartbroken over my golden Maddie)

http://www.dailypuppy.com/

Or #4 Some big footed puppy at the shelter.

http://www.dailypuppy.com/

so, you can see....I've wasted the day...doing laundry, mopping the kitchen floor. Doing some sketches in my SKETCHBOOK. Getting mad at myself for always putting things off to the last minute. Reading some blogs. Sketching some more. Throwing away my sketch book and now writing out a post after looking up dogs. Yeah, I have to wait. I have to get things done around here and the backyard redone and finished but I was just thinking....

Guess I'll go clean the bathroom now, throw in another load of laundry and read another chapter from my library book on "writing".

I AM SO P#*#ed OFF!!!!!

I have been reading this book....well, actually I've been "listening" to it in my car. I have told EVERYONE that it has to be one of the best books that I have ever read (listened to)!
Every morning I run out to my car in great anticipation. What will happen next!? I was very carefully not to read any reviews. I didn't want anything spoiled for me. Because of this I would be driving along and suddenly almost scream out to the DVD player - "NO! I can't believe it!" I'd be shaking my head in disbelief. The story had sucked me so far in that I almost felt like it was an actual part of my life. I would be nodding my head in agreement at different parts (the books evolved around a family AND around dogs). There were times that I would pull up to work and have to collect myself for a moment before going in because I would be in tears.
I found myself going out for lunch more, just so that I could listen to the book. I told all my co-workers at work about it. One of my friends who is pregnant is looking for a book to listen to when she is at the hospital going into labor. I told her, "This is the book! It will certainly distract you!"
The narrators voice was perfect and I think that the sound of it even lulled my terriers into a sleepy silence in the car. I found myself worrying that I might get in a car accident because I was so entranced.
At Christmas time I told my nieces about it because they too, adore books.
So I was nearing the end. I knew there would be sadness but I found myself sobbing as I drove home one night. This was getting ridiculous! I brought the book discs inside and sat on the sofa and listened. I spent the evening, sitting up, laying down, pacing and sitting down again. How would this spin down and END!?
Then the last disc.
I was SO ANGRY!
I've deleted it off of my profile as one of my favorites! If it's made into a movie, I WILL NOT go see it!!!!!
I text my sister. "REMEMBER THAT BOOK?"
and she text me back "Finish it?"
and I back to her "Yes! & I'm so PISSED!!!" (Pardon me, but that's what I sent to her)
and she sent back to me "Why? Did Simba's dad die?"
My sister has a dry sense of humor and she knows that I  avoid any kind of kids movie that have anything to do with animals. She remembers me running from the room when Simba's dad died, so.....
I text her back - "Yes! And also Simba and
Simba's dog and
Scar and
the old man and
the old man's son was blinded!"
So, I'm NOT telling the title and including a SPOILER ALERT.
I'm just ranting but....
If you really want to know what book it was, just email me.
I just needed to RANT and from now on I'm reading all the reviews and MAYBE the last few pages of any book. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

ART

Step One

I'm taking the first step down the path that I am hoping will lead me to what I seek.
I realize that I will encounter many forks along the way and hopefully I will travel down the right road but if I don't I can always turn around and back-track and venture in the other direction. Wherever this journey takes me I will remember that it is a learning experience.
"Life is a journey not a destination". - Ralph Waldo Emerson
So the first step is re-thinking and re-working my other blog -
http://bigwhitedogblue.blogspot.com/
but if you have a moment, stop over!

Cleaning the House

I've got my Living Room cleaned -

from: http://www.atlantahomesmag.com/

and my Kitchen is tidied up!-

from: http://www.atlantahomesmag.com/
OK, I snagged these photos off of http://greigedesign.blogspot.com/
I just LOVE that blog! So pretty! I love to dream.....
Hey, I didn't have "Not Fibbing" on my Goals list! LOL!
I LOVE these rooms!
Now I must get off the computer and work on my house!

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

Well....I'm NOT perfect. Far from it. But this New Years I'm not looking at it as RESOLUTIONS but more as GOALS.

I mean,  if I just ramble off my usual list of things they will probably be forgotten by the end of the week. I just went back to my New Years post of last year to see what I had written. Ahhhh, well I don't think ANY of them materialized. So this year I need to be more pro-active. I need to write them down.

So, I started writing EVERYTHING down and now I'm overwhelmed! How on Earth can I accomplish all that I want to do in such little time?

"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize
how close they were to success when they gave up."
-Thomas Edison

 

"Results! Why, man I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work."
-Thomas Edison

OK, so I have to accept the fact that's it's OK to try something and have it not work out. It doesn't mean that it nor I, am a failure. (My booth) I need to sit down and make a plan and become more focused. What is it that I really want?
So as scary as it is to put in down in black and white....
Here are some goals in a very broad sense. I realize that each one needs to be broken down into smaller manageable segments. I need to become very organized so that I can achieve these goals.
So....
#1 Be organized
#2 Simplify
#3 Be Healthy
#4 Be Active
#5 Be Happy
#6 Be Focused
#7 Complete a task before another
#8 Be Frugal
#9 Pamper Myself
#10 Train my Dogs
#11 Create
#12 Write a book.

12 Goals...but actually each will be broken down into sub-goals.
I won't do that here but an example: #1 Be organized. I have my "stuff" every place. I need to organize even the basic things such as "tools". Do you think that I can find the screwdriver when I need it? Why do I sometimes resort to using a kitchen knife when I know that I have many different sizes of screwdrivers...in drawers, in boxes in the basement, in my "art" room. I need to organize like my Dad always did. He could tell you when a tool was missing from his work area (of course he had lines drawn on his pegboard like the chalk lines of dead bodies at crime scenes) but yes, I need to be organized and #2 Simplify. After I find all those duplicate tools, I need to only keep what I truly need and donate the rest.
Skip ahead to #7 Complete a task before another. I need to finish remodeling one room before starting another. Example: I have several in half-finished state. #9 Pamper myself. I think nothing of buying something cute or fun for my dogs. But I don't buy myself some earrings that I love at a Craft Show because I don't REALLY need them. I skip haircuts but make sure my dogs are groomed. I just have to make an effort to spoil myself sometimes. #3 plus #9= Join Weight Watchers. I really need to get this extra weight off.  #10 Train my Dogs. I mean have them do what I say. Sit, Come, Stay. The only one that really listens to me is Blue and he can't even hear. Another sub-goal off of #10 would be Agility classes...at least for Ralphie

and where he goes, so does Jimmy
#6 Be focused. That includes learning all I can about what I love. #6 plus #11= possible a new direction, a new career, but something that involves animals. #12 Write a book, The scariest. But the one I want to achieve most. My knowledge of the English language and grammar has clouded in my brain, but I can study and learn it again. When I was young I was accepted into college but met with strong disapproval and no support from my family, so I went to Community College and majored in English and minored in Art and dropped out a short time later. It's hard to be confident and brave when you are young. When people laugh when you want to be a writer. But I want to try. I just want to write a book.
So there ya go. Just a few plans of mine.
OOPS! I forgot #13 Step out of my Comfort Zone
My sister gave me that quote in a little frame for Christmas -

She said to hang it where I can see it.
She also said that my comfort zone is the size of a Tic Tac.