Happiness is Two Dogs

The saga of now caring for 2 big black dogs is a happy one.  Lucy is happier now that she has Mamba around all day/all night.  My youngest son keeps telling me how much happier he is with 2 dogs, and honestly, so am I .  Isn't it funny how the simplest of things can make you happy?  The love of your family.  Friends you love like family......and 2 black dogs.

Black Dog Black Dog What Do You See?

We have the world's best dog.  Lucy is a black lab that was kicked out of Seeing Eye Dog Training Program.  It's a long story, but when my son and daughter in law were stationed at Fort Bragg, they took part in a program where they would take care of one of the dogs who were being trained at a local minimum security prison.  The prisoner would train the dog all week, then the kids would show up on Friday afternoon to take Lucy all weekend.  Wherever they would go, Lucy would go.  Restaurants? Yes.  Movies? Yes.  Shopping? Yes.  Anywho, they had been doing this routine until one day they got a call that Lucy had been kicked out of the program for growling at one of the prison guards.  We all know that dogs are excellent judges of character; so why she got kicked out instead of the guard, I have no idea....all I know is that before I knew it, the boys and I were driving up to North Carolina to adopt Lucy.  My son and his wife already lived in a an adorable house with two big beautiful dogs; Mamba, a black American Boxer/Lab mix and a gorgeous suede brown Weimaraner (Savannah) so it wasn't feasible to adobt her into their tribe.  Once we arrived from Tampa, we met Lucy.  Then my two youngest took trained with Lucy and kept up her routine via my oldest son and daughter in law's instructions.  After that, we loaded up and headed back to the Sunshine State.  The rest is history.  She became our dog.  She attaches herself very close by at all times. She really likes to be touching your foot, your leg, something so she knows when you get up so she may follow.  She will follow you from room to room.  All day, all night, she brings a new meaning to the word "loyal".  She's truly one of the best dogs I've ever known in my entire life and she continues that distinction to this day.  My son and his family (which now includes 3 little boys under 4) are headed to California for the next year and a half, so we've volunteered to add Mamba to our Tampa tribe.  Lucy loves Mamba and Mamba tolerates Lucy.  I keep hearing this adaptation of the book my kids had when they were little "Black dog, Black dog, what do you see?  I see another black dog coming at me!"

How Low Can You Go?

Nobody believes me, but I've been sick with a sinus infection for 6 weeks.  When people ask me, "Feeling better?"  I just nod, smile and move on.  I still feel terrible, but nobody wants to hear about that (in fact, even I DON'T want to hear it).  It's exhausting.  Still not able to smell or taste anything.  Chalked up hundreds of dollars in doctor visits and medicine.  I don't like blowing money on something I can't drive, wear, sit on, admire or enjoy.  It totally stinks being this sick.  I'm a crumby patient.  Onward and upward sometime soon please?

Sinus blues

After my nearly month long battle with sinusitus, I started to feel better.  Still couldn't taste or smell anything (which turns out to be a great diet tool) why eat if you can't taste it?  For a few short days I was actually able to make it through the day without wanting to cry.....until last night.  That weird tingling feeling I get in my nose/head started late yesterday afternoon and by the middle of the night, I knew I was in for it again.  So I'm sitting here at work with a giant box of Kleenex, a lemonade, sinus medicine, acetaminophen and a bad attitude.  It's the start of a wonderful day (not really).

The Things That Matter

I caught this on one of my favorite blogs (La Dolce Vita) this morning and it definitely rings true:

In the end,
Only three things matter:
How much you loved,
How gently you lived, and
How gracefully you let go
of things not meant for you.

Amen.

The Shredder

I recently gave up eating wheat and I can tell you I feel 1000% better. During my recent 3 week bout with sinusitis (which at times felt like I was dying), I gave up Diet Coke.  Wait, what?  The Queen of Diet Coke gave up Diet Coke? Now this might not sound like much of a feat, but believe me, it's been an all day/all night beverage of choice for 30 years (well, almost 30 years because there was my TAB addiction before that), but I digress.....I'm now Diet Coke free and I don't plan on going back. All of the chemicals, the formaldehyde, the carmel coloring, may take a while to completely cycle thru my system.   I've been saying for years now that I'm pretty darn sure that aspartame poisoning will be the next tobacco litigation.

Next on my list of "being Gyneth Paltrow", just kidding, I'll never in a million years be as skinny as that bitch, I'm going to shed dairy products.  From the voluminous amount of research available, it seems to be a fact that we pump up those poor cows with ungodly amounts of growth hormones and other crap has swayed me to eventually give up my beloved sour cream, yogurt and cheese.  After that, I'm determined to shed all processed foods. 

My very intelligent daughter and daughter in law have been proponents of this lifestyle for a long time and I'm only now understanding how very important this is to our overall health.  I was raised in the frozen/canned/pre-packaged era of two working parents where easy and fast were staples of our weekday diets.  Weekends were much more of the homemade food category because there was time to bake, cook, etc.  I'm down lots of pounds so far, with a lot more shredding to come.

Say What?

On the way to work this morning I was listening to the radio news when it was announced that the state of Florida (I know, there in itself is the set-up for an unlimited number of jokes, but let's continue), the state legislature has decided for the 9th straight year not to outlaw texting and driving.  As time goes by and we all figure out that the inmates are running the asylum.  I decided to count how many people were texting and driving during my commute.  This is good.  You won't believe it. It's shocking.  Hang on, I'm getting a text.....

The Middle

I'm not a middle child, but the oldest whom people seem to come to for advice.  I've often been told, "I value your opinion," so I'm used to it.  But there's not a lot I like about being put in the middle of a situation.  All parties look to "the middle" for validation.  I have no problem whatsoever if it's an issue I feel strongly about, or if it's an emotional cause close to my heart.  My hesitation comes when two warring factions want me to be the "swing vote" and it's a no win situation.  Let them eat cake.  Carry on.