spring, sprang, sprung and a ramble

It's here, and never soon enough. Warm enough to sit in my rocker on the back porch for more than a minute and I couldn't be happier. Really. The Eastern Screech Owls are back, despite a squirrels best effort to oust them. It is with glee that I tell you that the missus is in the nest box making noise and laying eggs. Naturally Mr. Spock is busy standing guard and giving me the stink eye.



I mean...serious stink eye.



Not to worry though, my friend Renate has gifted me a special gnome that stands guard under the owl tree. His name is Boudreaux and he's come straight from the bayou to keep watch over the owls and my happy place.



Things are starting to green up and flower.



And we have the special treat of what is shaping up to be a bumper crop of dewberries thanks to our birds...I think. They weren't there before and I can only imagine that the birds were enjoying them somewhere else and deposited the seeds here when they were finished with them.


When we were kids my Dad used to take us to a field in our neighborhood to pick dewberries. That was always a treat and a memory that I love. That makes having them in my yard even more special.

Last but not at all least, Mavis Pearl wants you all to know that she's ok. Almost fully recovered from the meningitis, and nursing her collapsing trachea like a champ. She's a spunky young dog again and for that I'm very grateful.



Welcome back to my happy place.

not so free food

(gratuitous doglet picture somewhat unrelated to this post)

I dragged the sleepy doglet to Sonic last night for a free float. Like they advertised. I wanted to stick to my plan for losing a little weight this summer and asked for a Diet Coke float. They said no, the special was root beer only. So out of my mouth flies "then give me a chocolate hot fudge caramel pecan mini bundt cake". I didn't want to sound wishy washy so I didn't retract the order. And so I wouldn't appear wasteful, I ate the whole thing. Stupid Sonic people.

8 Things

Ok, Joanne tagged me. And because I LOVE Joanne:) I will tell you 8 things x 3. I'm not a tagger, so no victim list. And I just didn't have the energy to list the 8 things I wish I could do. So, here you go:

8 things I’m looking forward to:

1. Growing old with my husband
2. Spending this Christmas in Germany with my best-est friend and God Children
3. Retirement – looking WAY down the road when we’ll be vagabonds in an RV
4. Living in the country again someday
5. Getting organized
6. Getting out of debt
7. Having grandchildren
8. World Peace (ha!) or at least community peace, or clan peace (hey we have to start somewhere)


8 things I did yesterday:

1. Stayed out of the drama at the office
2. Had a milk and honey pedicure
3. Watched the nesting Screech Owls in our back yard
4. Laundry
5. 30 minute telephone survey for fifty bucks
6. Was a good listener
7. Played with the dog
8. Took some pictures


8 shows I like to watch:

1. Lost
2. The Office
3. 30 Rock
4. The Dog Whisperer
5. It’s Me or the Dog
6. Fox and Friends Morning News Show
7. College Football (Geaux Tigers!!)
8. Chowder

The full moon and a dozen other things that have been on my mind...

The moon was a beautiful full one tonight. And as I read here, the closest to us it has been all year. Had it not been so cold, we would have done some moon and star gazing from the back yard tonight after the nice little dinner date we had. This is the time of year that I miss spending time out in the back yard. If I had a pile of money, I would build a gas fire pit like the one we sat around in San Diego. Nice, that would be real nice. I miss Bernie Mac. I digress.

Speaking of cold, did you hear about the snow in New Orleans this week? Crazy. Have you ever said "when hell freezes over"? You should be careful saying that from now on. I'm not saying the NOLA is hell, I'm just saying that if there is lake effect snow and the lake is Pontchartrain, then hell could be next. I have family in NOLA. They hollered about the snow on Facebook. It sounded like fun.

Speaking of Facebook, I've gone now and done something foolish..got a Facebook page. I barely keep up with this blog, Twitter, and my 2 email addresses. My plan is to manage it all from the iPhone. I will go blind trying to read the tiny screen for extended periods of time, but I'll look cool.

Speaking of the iPhone, I love my iPhone. I have an addiction to the App Store on iTunes. I have 4 pages of Apps on my phone, and 5 of them are weather apps. 4 Twitter Apps, 3 for restaurants and points of interest. I have Ebay, Amazon, and of course the voice activated Google - for when I'm driving down the road and need to Google. I love Google. I've got a novel by E.M. Forster that I'm reading in drive thru lanes. I only have 2 games, but they are my favorites - Ms. Pacman and Crash Bandicoot. There is the virtual Zippo lighter, just in case I'm at a concert and feel so inclined. Ooh, and Shazam. I've never used it but I might need it some day, at a concert. And then there are the Apps I use to listen to radio stations, and Pandora. I love Pandora. I have a Mazzy Star station on Pandora and that's just the best. I also have a KC and the Sunshine Band station, a Family Force 5 station, and a Mozart station. My neighbors at the office hate me. Chris says that Pandora and Satellite Radio are going to kill his career. Why can't they all just get along?

I have achieved electronic clutter. And I'm OK with that.

There were a few other things on my mind, but Mavis has chewed off one of my toes and is starting on a second. Jealous dog. It's probably for the best, the rest was going to be a rant. Nobody likes a rant.

Yeah, what they said.

A couple of people that I read daily summed it up nicely for me. Jade says trust in God here, and Anne says stop whining here.

Yeah, what they said. Now if you'll excuse me I have some things to get involved in.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I'm sitting in the backyard, enjoying a cafe au lait made in the french press with some authentic Cafe Du Monde coffee. Oh so sweet. My intention was to come out and write about whats been going on with Mavis. I'll get to that in a minute. Here are some recent Mavis pics. I know you have missed her so.





I haven't been very motivated to write lately since nothing extraordinarily good has happened. This is the "In my backyard good things happen" blog after all. There have been extraordinarily BAD things going on, but I just don't feel like writing about those things, don't ask. So I haven't. But today, as I got settled to sit and write about Mavis and her health, since so many of you have asked, a good thing happened in my backyard. So it preempts my not so good news story about Mavis. Just by a paragraph though, so again, I'll get to her in a minute.

The Good
Like I said, I'm getting settled on the porch, coffee in hand. The squirrels are running rampant and Mavis is having a ball chasing them. It's funny because she isn't much bigger than they are. I think I see one crouching in the pine tree (I'm not wearing my glasses) so I go closer to check it out. I don't want her to get into a boxing match with a squirrel. Then I get goosebumps. There sits my Eastern Screech Owl. In the pine tree, on the lowest branch, in the middle of the day. We stare at each other and he appears to snooze off and on. Chris comes out to look and the owl just blinks. That was an hour ago and he still sits in the same spot cleaning himself, snoozing, and I'm guessing hunting too. I'm irritated at this moment that I haven't bought that upgraded camera that I've been dreaming of. I have a pretty nice one, a Sony Cybershot, but what I really want is one that can super zoom and take rapid shots. Here's the best shot I could get.



I think we should name him, since he's decided to keep us company. Let me know what you think, I'd like for you to help me pick a name.

The Bad
Ok, now on to the rest of my story. Now don't get me wrong, it hasn't been all bad lately, I've just felt all doom and gloom and stuff. Mavis has had trouble breathing for a year now. She snores LOUD all the time. When she gets really excited she snorts and kind of gasps. I've asked our regular vet before if it's all ok. Dogs like her are prone to "collapsing trachea", and I've always worried that was the case. Our vet has always said that it's probably just allergies. I've known and trusted this vet for a long time. She used to take care of Beaux Kittie and Pee Wee before they went to kitty heaven. Fast forward to Friday. Mavis was going in to have her teeth cleaned, and 2 baby teeth that never came out pulled. The regular vet is out on leave, so we had a sub, Dr. Long. By the way, I REALLY like Dr. Long, and he has little ones like Mavis too. I was going to have routine blood work done since she'd already be under. You know kidney, liver, blood sugar. Just to be sure everything was working right. I mentioned to him that she had trouble breathing a lot, and he said he would take a good look while she was under for the cleaning. A couple of hours later he called and asked if he could do some X Rays. Said he didn't see anything in her mouth or throat that would cause labored breathing and just wanted to check her trachea. Of course, it turns out she has a collapsing trachea in the worst spot, down in her chest right next to the chest wall. This means that she wouldn't be a candidate for the surgery they do now to correct this - a metal or plastic stint much like a tube that is permanently implanted. I'm not sure I would want that for her anyway. How could that be comfortable? I cried a little, sucked it up and went to pick her up. Did I say how much I like Dr. Long. He's older, rough and worn hands, and reminds me of a favorite grandfather. He also reminded me of a vet we had when I was in high school that would come out to our place and treat the horses. Dr. Long assured me that she would be able to deal with this on her own. She knows her limits and will calm herself most of the time. Eventually she may sometimes faint when she over exerts, or gets too excited. I now have the doggie CPR instructions posted where I can find them. *deep sigh* Worst case the collapse gets so bad it will be fatal. Not all dogs but some die from this, and usually when they are older. I was counting on getting a good 18 years with Mavis like Joan Rivers did with Spike. I'm trying not to be a pessimist, but I tend to err on the dramatic side. I'm currently resisting the urge to buy an oxygen tank and tiny mask just in case she keels over.

And the Ugly
Ok, now a complaint about the ugly. Dear Mr. Neighbor, could you please remove the ugly satellite dish from my nice view. Every time I sit in my favorite chair out here now this is what I see.



I've already emailed the city. There has to be an ordinance regarding the placement of these hideous things.


It's been at least 2 hours now since I spotted the owl. He's still there, hasn't moved. The Blue Jays have been totally harassing him. They have a nest nearby. I wonder if this little owl has been hanging out in my backyard every afternoon? I need to spend more time out here. I miss it.

Upgrade Me

I have made some changes in the last month that you could call upgrades. I'm thinking my brain is going to explode from trying to remember all the things that come with these upgrades. I got a new car, really just an upgrade of the same car I had, but with all the extras I didn't have before. All those different places for switches, gadgets and new features I've never had. Satellite radio..I have like 20 favorite channels. I don't have 20 buttons. I've got a cheat sheet but then that's not too safe when you're cruising down the freeway. Then I decided that I would get an iPhone. I LOVE my iPhone, but oh man are there are so many things to see and do. I lay in bed at night just looking at all the different things there are to do when I should be sleeping. I downloaded an app for virtual fortune cookies that deliver the "fortune" to you..to be shared here later. In the office I put the iPhone on the credenza behind my desk and I can feel it staring at me, asking me to stop what I'm doing and use it to do something incredibly worthwhile. There will probably be a need for a lockbox to put it in just so I can stay focused on my job. I'm sure this is just the honeymoon, I'll get over it...or I'll say "how did I ever live without my iPhone".
I've never been the one to have the cool new gadget. I decided that it was time for me to treat myself. It feels really good.

In totally unrelated news, I have inadvertently turned my husband into a Fox News junkie:) I leave it on for Mavis every day when I go to work. I think she likes the regular reporters and anchors, you know familiar voices and faces to keep her company. Chris comes home every day and it's on and he can't stop watching. I think it's kind of funny. From Star Trek and the History Channel to Fox News. I'd say he's well rounded.

Oh, and Mavis is speaking to me again. All I had to do was cook for her and give her treats for breakfast (the equivalent of giving your kids Chocolate Cake for breakfast). We're old pals again. She still hates it when I read or use my computer. She was throwing a huge fit, but is now curled up beside me. Proof that Chocolate Cake for breakfast is a very good idea.

One more thing - I talked to April for the longest time today. She is doing so very well and is really stretching herself. I am proud of her. She has also changed her major to Social Entrepreneurship. I really think it fits her.

I think that about covers it. Me and the doglet are going to bed.

Excuse number 47, plus I'm just weird about death.

Warning, this post is full of run on sentences, poor punctuation, and a disclaimer about my psychological condition. Also, I am very tired.

....another reason I've been focused on other things besides writing, we buried a loved one on Monday. I wasn't going to write about it, but now that it has opened a very large can of emotional worms (that still sits open in the middle of the living room floor) I feel compelled. Unbelievable behavior by someone on the day of the funeral (this is me not writing about that either) has been a recurring topic which has led to Chris and me discussing our wishes for what will happen to us and how that day will go. Chris has entertained the thought that he wants to be cremated, I want to be buried in my favorite comfy clothes and a soft quilt. I KNOW that I'll be gone. I have serious beliefs about what will happen when I die, and in my brain I know that I won't give a rip about the box or the outfit or the blanket. I'm just WEIRD that way. I have a vivid imagination, and it is the biggest tool I have in the box when I go to deal with stress. I can sit on a patio and pretend that I'm on vacation when escape is impossible. I have imagined at funerals that the one I'm saying goodbye to is really just having a nice long sleep until we all see each other again in heaven. (here is where I'm going to give you the disclaimer..I am in therapy, I know I need it, please don't tell me that I do. We're working on it) Ok, so I don't deal with death very well. As Chris and I have discussed this over the last couple of days I've let him know that my vivid imagination plan at his funeral (if he goes first, we're placing bets) will be shot to hell if he is cremated. What, what on earth tell me, will work for the image of him being all burned up in a furnace? It's hard to sleep when you are jumping around in the fire and are reduced to a pile of ashes. I can't begin to imagine a pile of ashes waiting for me to get there so it can wake up from a long sleep. So, Chris has promised not to be cremated, but only if he can be buried in his Capt Kirk outfit. We deserve each other. (in therapy together by the way, we're working on it). AND he is has this thing about being buried under dirt. He wants to be put in a drawer, above ground. I guess we should be shopping for side by side spots at a mausoleum somewhere...unless therapy is extremely successful, and then we might shop for matching urns (that would be REALLY good counseling, I'll tell you what). I will draw the line on outfits though. He hasn't asked yet, but I can hear it coming. I won't be wearing a Lt. Uhura outfit. Sorry honey.