IS IT SUMMER, YET?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

It's the next installment of "A Few Of My Faves..."

For one thing, I can't stand the fruity waters. They just taste like sugar. I also can't do Gatorade or Propel, because of the sugar content. I know it sounds crazy, but this stuff just tastes better than any other water. PLUS, it has electrolytes! I'm campaigning for Smartwater to deliver 75 gallons at a time to my house. For some reason, they are not responding........

Sabra hummus~~~So incredible yummy! (Specifically, with pine nuts) I get it at Costco, in the BIG tub. It goes great with carrots, peppers, and pita chips!!

Pascual Torso cabernet( Argentina). I have sampled many wines in my day. I have experienced wine tasting in Napa Valley (twice) and Estes Park, CO. This is the best cabernet I've ever had. The best part? It's only $9.99. The bad part? I can only get it at World Market, so it requires organization when planning a special meal.
Oh yeah...................sleeping bags for my feet!!!!!! (Many of you know the slipper debacle of '06)
More on warmth..This stuff I get from Mom. It is fabulous! It softens my hands during the winter, and yes, I DO believe it actually warms my skin. It does not possess a fruity/flower smell, so it's purely a functional treatment.
All tea is good tea. However, after purchasing boxes and boxes of teas that were good, I've found my favorite that's great.

Harmony Stables

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/rd/50651/color/index.jsp?testname=colorogt&resultid=C

Kim posted her color, so I just had to post mine!! I'm really not sure if green is my color. I DO know I have been wearing more green lately. Does that make any difference?

Very fun. I love these little surverys/quizzes.............keep 'em coming!!

A while back, I posted about my effort to use "reuseable" bags for grocery/store shopping. Well, most of the time, I forget. I know. It's bad. I completely forget I have these bags in the back of the van. So, today, I vowed to myself that I would remember to take them with me.............I did! Yay! I took a big bag into Target, and the check-out lady was very intrigued, and asked me many questions. I was feeling very proud of myself. I then take two more big bags and bought another smaller bag in the grocery store.
Am I really the first person to bring in my own bags to this particular grocery store? No. I'm sure not. In fact, I saw someone else with a reusable bag walking in as I was walking out. However, the check-out personnel acted like they had no idea what to do with these bags. One guy only filled it half-way. The cashier yelled for another gal to bring it back and fill it some more. Oh yeah, and take the grapes out. They all yelled/communicated with each other the entire time I was there regarding my bags. This was a huge inconvenience, I guess. I ignored them and concentrated on the kids and tried not to feel embarrassed. After all, this is a good thing. I am helping the environment, right? So when I finally grab the cart and start to head out, I still have about 6 plastic bags in my reuseables. WHAT?! Ok, you have to wrap the meat. I get it. They wrapped one package of meat into three different plastic bags!!! #$&*^@ idiots!!!!!!!! I am trying NOT to use plastic bags, so they put one package of meat into one bag.............x3?? WTF?! I'm sorry, but it's really not that hard. I helped guide them before things got all testy. I told them that I didn't care that the bread was on top of the apples. So, I guess from now on, I'll have to take in my used plastic bags so that I don't end up with 25 more. Is it really so hard? I made the effort to actually remember the bags, and end up with more plastic bags. I realize it's still about half of what I would have if I had NO reuseables, but still..........................ugh.

Some winter fun!!

This was a great opportunity to skate on the ice. It was really frozen and not much snow on it, to trip us up. (cuz, ya know that's the ONLY reason we would fall...............:)

From the moment this dog came in to our home, he has been hell on 4 legs. I am officially fostering this dog, so I cannot just go get rid of him. Not that I would, anyway, because he would have been put down already if he was at a pound. That reason, alone, is why I just couldn't take him to the pound. However, let's just run down what this dog has done, shall we?

1.Peeing and barfing in the house (the very LEAST of our problems with him, but worth mentioning)

2. When left out in the house while I was gone for only 15-20 minutes, he got in to the pantry and tore open the flour bag. Flour everywhere!!! On a different occasion, he tore open the potato bag and took bites out of three or four potatoes.

3. RickyBobby has swiped food off the counter/table on half a dozen occasions. No scruples, this one.

4. Because I couldn't leave him out in the house even for 15 minutes without getting in to trouble, I began putting him in the kennel we have. It is a wire kennel, that we had used for Boo with no issues. He would escape from it all the time. He would bend the gate, actually eat/bend/chew the wires OFF the kennel and get out a tiny little hole only fit for a guinea pig.

WE'VE ESTABLISHED HE IS A HOUDINI, SO ERIC REINFORCED THE KENNEL WITH OSB BOARD

5. This dog actually moved the kennel across the room (concrete floor, since we are renovating the basement) to an area where we had furniture that was being refinished due to scratches left on them from the last dog from hell we had here. RickyBobby chewed the furniture into firewood. Completely ruined. He also ate the drywall we just had done. That wasn't even the end of it. He also chewed the cord from Eric's table saw into three pieces.



Now, he obviously has severe separation issues. I had tried leaving him in the kennel in small increments...10-20 minutes at a time, to get him used to it. Nope~didn't work. I would leave a tv or music on while he was in the kennel. We got a muzzle for him, which worked for about 3 or 4 days, then he got it off and chewed it up. He's had bones and Kongs in the kennel with him to keep him busy. Doesn't seem to care. I tried two different kinds of anti-anxiety remedies. These were "natural" and I had been told they work VERY WELL and with any dog. Nope. Not with this guy. Didn't affect him at all. I was at my wit's end. I tried calling the humane society to let them know I couldn't do it anymore. The new director and I played phone tag for awhile. In the meantime, Eric asked our neighbor if we could use her big kennel. It's about 10x10 and he put it in the garage. I had thought that it was a good thing the director and I didn't connect, cuz the new big kennel worked for quite a while. Plus, the humane society was in peril, due to a situation where a foster family got fed up and told them they had 24 hours to come get the 6 dogs and horse they had at their house. The last thing I wanted to do was to call her to tell her I had, yet another dog that needed placement. So, the big kennel seemed to work. I would put all three dogs in it when I had to leave and they did just fine. I even told the director this when she called to say someone was interested in RickyBobby. We decided he was not a good candidate for them cuz they work all day and have no other animals. RickyBobby would destroy their new house. The very same day, I had the dogs in the kennel because we were cleaning the house, and it was impossible to do so with all three big bodies laying around. When I went out to get them, RickyBobby had made another hole in the big chain-link fencing

around the kennel. He has also chewed the cord from the space heater I had out there to warm the mutts, since it was so cold outside. So, in addition to the furniture, table saw, drywall, muzzle, electric collar, and various other chewed and/or ruined items, we now have a junk space heater. That was it. I called the humane society. Three women came out to assess the damage. They agreed I have done quite a lot to help this dog. With some prescription medication and the promise to help me train him, I will be giving it one more last try. I have to say that I am skeptical regarding the abilities I have to actually get him "kennel happy". I really feel for this dog. He was obviously left for very long periods of time in a small space before he was dumped or ran away. He was probably also beaten. My love for animals has been the driving force behind this big venture. However, I can only take so much. The amount of stress this situation has caused is affecting my family. I spent a good thirty minutes last night crying while waiting for the humane society to arrive. But, I will give it my all. At least I will be able to say that I did all I could, if I end up having to give him up. Other than the separation issues, he is really good. He's a normal dog with the swiping of food and chewing of toys. Ugh.

Furniture $250, Table saw $500, Wire kennel $75, Electric collar $100, Muzzle $20, Space heater $40, Anti-anxiety meds $30.....................Getting rid of the dog from hell.........priceless.

So, after a long hard ride (a whole 25 min), Minnie just had to roll in the dirt in order to ..........get the human stank off her? Anyway, she rolled and rolled while Eric snapped picures.