Puppy Love

I got a new puppy! He's so precious. His name is Oscar, and we got him at a flea-market on Saturday. He's a shih-chi (shih'tzu/chiuaua). He weighs 5 lbs, and he's 10 wks old. He probably won't get much bigger.

We went to trade-day in Collinsville, AL Saturday with the gang. There were puppies everywhere, and I'd stop and pet them. Then I spotted him, and just fell in love. When I picked him up, he just lay his head on my chest and cuddled. We wandered off and talked about it. Joe said I could have him if I really wanted him. Well, I really wanted him, so we went back and got him.

I carried him around the entire flea market, and he just went along. Then he rode the hour back home in the car with everyone, and slept the entire way. He had fleas and he was dirty, so as soon as I got him home, I gave him a bath with flea shampoo, and put a flea collar on him. He hates his flea collar. As soon as we figure out a better way, that's coming off.

When the old man had him, he slept with the man's granddaughter at night and then stayed outside during the day. We have a fenced in yard, so we're going to try letting him stay outside during the day too. He sleeps in his crate in the laundry room at night. Then he hangs out with us inside when we're home. He follows me around and cries when he can't see me. He loves to be held and he's really calm. So precious.

This morning he was in the bathroom with me, but was crying because I was in the shower and he couldn't see me. I opened the door a little, so he could see that I was there, and he jumped in with me. It made my day.

Moving Days

We moved July 11. It's just about 4 miles away from our other house, but it's in Rock Spring. We have almost everything unpacked and put away. Joe has lots of work on his out building. I have some more stuff to do in the attic, and I have to really work on my craft room. That's the biggest project I have left. I'm going to have a room where I keep all my craft stuff: sewing supplies, wrapping paper, party supplies, etc. It's just a separate attic space, but it seems like a good spot to store all my junk. Plus I'm going to have a table out there so I can wrap presents and work on things like that. I'm excited about it.

The house is really nice. It's about 12 years old; 2700 sq ft; 7.63 acres; 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, dining room, kitchen w/ breakfast nook, living room, mudroom/laundry room. It's on a great road. It has a fenced in backyard. Most of the land is old growth woods, with trails. It sits off the road a good way, and has a concrete driveway. 2 car garage. It also has an unfinished space above the garage. Joe has plans to turn that into a "man cave" (basically a bonus room area).

I haven't been back to the old house since we moved. I'm going "cold-turkey". I'm afraid if I go back, I'll think of it as home, and be sad. I have to try not to think about it. I love that house, and didn't really want to leave it. I also love the new house, and really wanted to move into it, so the latter won out over the former. I just concentrate on all the good things about the new house, and all the fun I'm having getting everything settled. I do miss my next door neighbor, Shona, and the cat that lived across the street, Socks.

Almost Time for the Cruise

This Friday we're leaving for the cruise. I'm really excited. I'm not packed yet, but I'm working on it. Joe and I are really looking forward to just hanging out and doing nothing. Oh. We also discovered that there's ice cream on the ship 24 hr/day. This really excites Joe. I'm looking forward to the sushi bar. I also just want to sit by the water and work on my tan. I'm looking forward to seeing all kinds of new places too. The first stop is Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. It's an island that the cruise line has. Then a day at sea, then St. Thomas, USVI. Then San Juan, Puerto Rico. Then Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos. Then a day at sea, and back to Miami.

I've never been on a cruise before, so I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. We got sea sick patches from the doctor, just in case we need them.

Only 3 more days to go! Woohoo!

Dollywood

Joe and I went to Dollywood last week. We went for his birthday, plus they were having the Festival of Nations, which I wanted to see.

We left work early Thursday and got there around 3:00. When you buy your ticket after 3:00, you get the next date included. There were tons of old people there, so we were able to hit up all the rollercoasters. There were no lines! As soon as you could get off and back on, you could ride. Which brings us to the fact that we're no longer 12 yrs old. That junk will make you sick! We had a great time until we both got car sick and headaches. We also watched a few shows Thursday. We saw the one about the birds of prey, one from Ecuador, and Jennifer Rowland band. She's from Nova Scotia. She plays the violin, sings, and step dances. The park closed at 7:00, so we left then and went and grabbed something to eat then crashed at the hotel. We got up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel, then made our way to the park. Oh! We rode the trolley to/from Dollywood. We parked at Patriot Park and caught the shuttle. Drops you right off at the door. We thought it worked out really well. It's 50 cents per person, per ride. So, it's a dollar every time we got on. We took it back and forth twice, so it cost us $4. It costs $8 per day to park at Dollywood. Friday, we decided to see shows, I mapped out our schedule Thursday night. We saw 4 shows Friday morning/afternoon, then we rode rides for the rest of the day. Then we ate dinner and drove home. We got home around 10:30. It was a fun trip.

Saturday we put out our garden. We planted corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini. We're going to put out okra and some more corn a little later on. I'm excited about it. I hope that works out.

Cruisin' Together

Vacation plans for this year have been finalized...finally.

We are going on a cruise with our group of friends that I call "The Gang" (Richie and Gina Hardinger and Joe and Wendy Matteson). We're going to drive to Miami then get on Carnival Liberty and go to Half Moon Cay (cruiseline's island), St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. I'm getting excited about it.

Today is my husband's birthday. He's 29. We're going to Dollywood this Friday to celebrate. I haven't been to Dollywood since it was Silver Dollar City, in the 80's. I'm guessing it's probably changed some. I'm excited about that. We're also going out to eat tonight, with the gang, to the new Japanese restaurant in Fort Oglethorpe. Then Mom's fixing a birthday dinner for him Saturday.

Spring Fever

I love Spring! It's one of my most favorite times of year. I love the flowers. I love the warmer weather. I love the promise of warm weather to come. I love how the trees bloom. I love the different shades of new leaves on trees.

Last weekend I went to Reflection Riding - to their native plant sale. I got a few plants. I'm making a little wildflower walk in the wooded area behind my house. I had trillium growing there naturally, but then I planted some more. Last weekend I added foamflower, celandine poppy, and fire pinks. In years past I added bluebells, columbine, wild geranium, and dwarf irises. I've now decided that I want stones to make a little trail through the flowers. That way I can walk out there when it's muddy, and I can be sure not to step on any flowers.

I was in such a flower mood after that, I cleaned out a couple of flowerbeds around the house. I have my cutting bed cleared and ready for seeds. I already have a couple of types of peonies that are coming up int at bed. I have a hydrangea there too, but I don't think it made it. I cut it off at the ground, hoping it might recover, but my hopes aren't high.

Beside the house, I already have lots of irises, day lilies, and cannas. None of which are blooming yet, but they're up.

Now I have to do something with the beds in front of my house. First I have to at least pull the weeds. I don't think I'll do annuals this year. I think I'll just plant some bulbs.

Oatmeal

I used to absolutely detest oatmeal. Even when I was a baby, and I'd eat anything you put in front of me, I wouldn't eat oatmeal. About a year ago, I decided that oatmeal was something that I should like. Logically, it was something that should be right up my alley, but I had this mental block telling me I didn't like it. So...I decided to remedy the situation. I bought some flavored oatmeal, and started eating it in the mornings. At first, I could only make it about half way through, and I couldn't do it every day. Now, I eat it every morning, and I love it. Most of the time, I eat the fruit flavored ones. Here lately I've branched out a little. Yesterday I ate a cinnamon roll flavored one. It was really good. This past weekend, I decided that I was doing so well that I should try out the regular flavor again. Oh my nasties! No wonder I had it in my head I didn't like the stuff. I added so much splenda and cinnamon to try to make it tolerable. I finally put in a bunch of butter and was able to choke it down. I think that sort of defeats the purpose of eating oatmeal though. I think I'll just stick to my fruit flavors and my new maple/cinnamon/brown sugar variety pack for a while.