A TIME OF FIRSTS!!!

Firstly, let me apologize for my vent yesterday.  I love my dogs, and I don't want them to die.  I shall sweep up dog hair to my dying day and I will happily wipe up Molly pee.  I think I had a tiny meltdown yesterday which is no excuse.  Those poor critters have no choice but to have me as their mom and I need to act accordingly.

I had something happen to me yesterday that has never ever happened before. Never.  We lost our car.  We lost it in the Costco parking lot.  

I was certain that we had parked it in this one particular row near the front door.  And it just simply was not there.  I couldn't believe it!

We then started to walk around the immediate vicinity…no car.  We then spread out further.  Still no car.  Finally I simply started to walk up and down each row.  It was pretty much dark so I kept pushing the lock button on my key.   Nothing.

Finally I came to the conclusion the car was stolen.  At that point I came across a Costco buggy collector and he told me he had a lady the other day that hunted for her car for 3 hours.  THREE HOURS!!!  So I got back to it.

Finally, in a most unlikely spot, facing the opposite way to what I had thought, I found it.  I got in and then drove around looking for Spod.  Apparently this happens to him all the time he says and he actually has nightmares about not finding his vehicle.

What a discombobulating feeling that experience was.  Upon reflection I realized that we had been in an intense conversation when we got out and walked to the store.  And where I thought it was, was actually where we had parked it the last time we were there.  Lesson learned…pay attention!

Well we are off again..to North Van.  Aryn and City Wide Mortgage are feeding the homeless downtown eastside on Saturday.  I am going to tag along, help as much as possible and take pictures.  I am really looking forward to it!  I shall post some pics here.

Wow!!!  Another first just happened.  There was a ring at the door.  I thought it was yet another parcel arriving.  But no…It was a lovely neighbour by the name of Anna.   She would be about my age and she was accompanied by two gorgeous little girls…her grandchildren.  In her hand she had a welcome to the neighbourhood card!  So that is two neighbours that have come and welcomed us!!  I have moved a million times and never have I ever had the wonderful experience of welcoming neighbours.  I am completely impressed.

Now I am off to the basement to continue laundrying.  Yet another suitcase to pack.  Soon…soon we will have nowhere to go..just stay home and arrange our life.  Our next trip will be to Hong Kong/Japan/Shanghai February 17th.  Then Maui!!!!  Can't wait.  TTYL  ps..random shots today:

OH MAN!!  I WANNA BE THERE SO BAD

AND HERE…MAYBE THIS WASN'T SUCH A GOOD IDEA

I THINK THAT LOOKS LIKE ME ROCKING IN A ROCKING CHAIR ON TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE

OUR LAST GROUP SHOT WITH OUR MOM

SPENCES BRIDGE…SO PRETTY  …I THROW THIS PIC IN NOW AND THEN..HOPING APRIL WILL PAINT IT!!

I AM DONE WITH DOGS (THIS IS A VENT…BIG TIME) BEYOND SHOVEL LIST

WARNING:   THIS IS A SUPER WHINY NEGATIVE POST

People do not believe me when I tell them "I DON'T LIKE DOGS, NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL."  Oh, I like them lots if they belong to someone else or I see them on the street etc…but after these two we own are dead…that is it.  Absolutely no more.

Yesterday and the day before (and every day before that) we have swept up so freaking much dog hair from Parker its ridiculous.  There is no way we would be able to use a vacuum cleaner…it would wreck it.  Its absolutely everywhere…in the chairs, under every possible piece of furniture, in my shoes, on our coats, in our food, choking up the electric baseboard heaters, all over the bathmat….EVERYWHERE.  I am done.  

And they have fleas.  No matter how many trips to the vet, how much money we spend on spray, how many times they are bathed…we still have fleas.  And when Parker scratches, which is all the time, his elbow thumps on the floor, loud.  It wakes us up all night long.

And now Molly, sweet cute little Molly….is pissing on the floor…no matter how many times we put her out.  I just got up and just stepped in a huge puddle and of course where is she?  She squeezed through the dog gate at the top of the stairs and was hiding downstairs where she isn't allowed to go.

  I AM DONE!!  I have put up with dogs since 1981 for the good of the family but this is it.  I have never liked dogs.  When you don't really love something everything they do is more intolerable than if you really did love them.  I think I love them and then BAM!! they do something doglike and I go to mach ten hate.  I am sure there are people out there that are going to go to mach ten hate on me for saying this.  Dog lovers….I totally understand how you feel…I just don't feel the same way and haven't for 32 years.  Its time to quit.

Now April just called.  Her friend who is staying at our house over there is in the hospital with Hepatitus (not the contagious one) deadly ill.  There is no way he will be able to move before closing date.  And there is quite a bit of his stuff there.  I don't know what to do.  Those kids have to be out of that house in two weeks…the new owner is walking in.

  And Monte's medication is not working, he is in a bad way but their hospital is full and he can't see his doctor til January.  But he is heading rapidly for another psychic break..the worst thing that can happen for him.  He needs to get a full time gp that would be familiar with his situation and help him in between the six month psychiatrist visits.  But this being stupid Canada…that aint gonna happen.  I spent half the night on the phone with him, keeping his feet on the ground.  There is no way can any of us handle another disappearing act which happened last time.  I am not sure how this one is going to be solved.

And we can't get the District of North Van over to the property to inspect the drainage on the property.  The f….ing next door neighbour, whom we hate with a passion (everyone in the neighbourhood does) complained and now the district has attached a citation on the tax file about it.  It has to be inspected and, to the tune of about 2ooo dollars…fixed if necessary.  And they won't respond to our requests.  This has to be done by Dec. 14th.  Reports, after they have done it, take weeks.

I just want to go to Maui.

Sorry for the negative post.  TTYL

AND ON IT GOES

This morning I stumbled out to MY bathroom, made a coffee and into purple room here to check emails and watch the last of the morning news.  Spod was already at the dining room table on his lappy and drinking his coffee.

Where I sit in here I can just about see him out there, just around the edge of the door jamb at the table.  We were calling back and forth…"how are you this morning?, did you sleep well?, It's nice to be home isn't it?"  Well, as the convo went on we both noticed something..we were NOT hearing each other properly.  What???

Finally, Spod says 'I have to go put my ears in'  and it dawned on me I didn't have my teeth in.  So between him being deaf and me not being able to put any hard consonants in my words, we simply could not communicate.  Getting old sucks sometimes.

You know how now and again, with someone, you have a conversation about winning the lottery?  Its a conversation you should have with your spouse before you actually win.  And its amazing what you find out about a person, and yourself for that matter, in these conversations.

I don't need millions.  I am happy with my car, my travelling, my house etc…(I might go buy a kenmore mixer though).  But there is one thing I would do within one hour of winning.  I would hire a personal chef.  And I would tell that chef to do all the thinking for me.  I want to eat X amount of calories and lose X amount of pounds by next year…go do it.  And I would never have to shop for it, cook for it, plan for it…just eat it when that chef handed it to me.  And that is the only reason I buy the odd lottery ticket.  Now I have to go out to that kitchen and make an appropriate breakfast in the right amount and the right thing (shovel list).

Now its the next morning.  Last night really late my phone rang. It was Monte.  He seems to be having symptoms again so he was letting me know he was off to the hospital.  Poor guy..the symptoms are pretty scary.  But I don't feel quite so panicky for him and I think its because he knows what to do when this happens AND now if there is a real crisis we can get there in two hours and not have to wait for a ferry in the morning.  I just heard from him..he is still at the hospital waiting to see the right doctor.  

Now its time to get moving.  My list isn't getting any smaller with me just sitting here.  TTYL

THIS IS BOUNCE

OUR FRONT YARD

SHE JUST LAY DOWN AND RELAXED

TURKEY DINNER FINALLY

What an odd and funny weekend.  We got away yesterday by about ten o'clock.  It was a little later than I liked but Spod was having a bit of a sleep in.  I figured that if we got there about noon to 2 sometime, the turkey dinner would be well on its way to completion.  No.  It wasn't. Haha..so funny.

We got in to Monte's  and got all our hellos over with and sat down to have a coffee.  I spied the turkey, still in its wrapper sitting in water in the neighbour's roasting tin.  Okay…then I spied the bread loaves in the bags they came in…not even remotely stuffingish.  The neighbour Pat arrived, they and Pat's wife Angie were going to be making the dinner.  So Pat and Monte start cooking up bacon bits, then mushrooms for the stuffing.  Next came the onions to be chopped and butter to be melted.  By the time they got through all that it was two o'clock.  I asked how big the turkey was and I was told it was over fifteen pounds.  So I did some math…it would need at least 6 hours to cook and one hour to rest…that put dinner at around nine oclockish.  What were they thinking?  I suggested we have the dinner the next afternoon…do all the prep now and cook and eat tomorrow.  And thats what we did.

Well, the turkey HAD to be stuffed and in the oven by 8:30 in the morning.  I got up at 8 and Monte had said to wake him up…yeah right.  They maybe really wanted to cook me the dinner but…..so I got the dressing out, tweaked it with a little more seasoning and another half pound of butter and rammed that bird full to the gills and had it in the oven by 8:30.  About nine Spod and I took off for the hills and went hunting for pics and birch sticks…successful on both  counts.  We got back to the house around 12:30 fully expecting to see busy people making dinner.  Nope.  Just Monte, still sound asleep on the couch.  I tried and tried to get him up and doin' but to no avail.

So I peeled yams, cut up quarts of potatoes, finished the turkey, transferred that sucker to another pan and got the gravy makings together and cooked carrots and on and on and on.  Don't get me wrong…I LOVE doing it, I love doing that more than sitting around not being allowed to do anything at all.  But, they WERE going to be making ME dinner.  Sigh!  In the end the dinner was totally delicious, and we had such a good time visiting around the table.  Monte took three containers with a complete turkey dinner over to the native kid that lives next door (at Spod's suggestion and it was much appreciated).  We all pitched in and got the dishes done and Spod and I hit the road at 5 o'clock heading home.

And now its time to make my LIST.  I am not getting the right things done.  Things like checking out changing my cell phone number, packing up and sending back all the telus tv boxes, paying the guy for the baseboards, making arrangements for our furniture in Port to be moved down, taking the dogs to a new vet for their shots, sending the wood stove reports to BCAA, and on and on and on….errands on steroids (shovel list).  But it always feels so good to cross that crap off a list.  Really I just want to curl up in a ball and howl "Why Me???"  But two things stop me…one…its the ultimate 'victim' howl (and we hate being a victim) and the size of my stomach, ah yes, that.  My curl up days are long long gone.

Now I am off to bed.  Amazing Race and the Good Wife have been watched, sunday nite ritual over and I am tired…in a good way!  TTYL

MONTE'S DOG KEENAI CLIMBED UP ON THE PORCH COUCH AND STARED IN THE WINDOW WHILST WE ATE

PICTURE HANGING 101

I think I mentioned the other day that picture hanging is pretty high on my shovel list.  And especially when you are hanging four…two above and two below.  They have to be all even and straight and whilst I am NOT an OCD candidate, I can't stand it when pictures are not exactly correct.  So….I have been putting hanging my seasonal ladies off.  Plus Spod and I don't necessarily work all that well together.

I have noticed that there are certain things he just can't do anymore.  Mostly because of his balance.  He tips over so easily and we live in fear of that.  Once down, without help, he stays down.  I can just see it now, down goes Spod, roll him around for half an hour and then calling the fire department.  But…we don't realize he can't do something until its almost too late.

We lined up the pictures, four of them, all pretty large.  We got the tools necessary…level (shovel list…I am into eyeballing), picture hangers, hammer, measuring tape etc…  When we are all ready we get the first picture started.

Oh man….first we argue about the order of the pictures…fall, winter, spring then summer.  When we got that sorted out it was time to mark the spot on the wall.  I can't even explain it.  Dropped hooks, invisible pen marks on the wall, miscalculated measurements…finally Spod went to the garage and got a two step footstool.  He tries to step up and tries and tries and finally says he just can't, afraid he is going to fall over.  So I hop onto it and start moving the nail around until its in the right spot.  All the time we are snapping and honking at each other.  He finally goes away and I finished the job myself.  Thats just the first set of pics…we have a whole house to go yet.

Holy Crap!!!  I just got a phone call from Monte.  I thought today was Thursday.  We are going to Port Alberni on Saturday.  So I have been busy making plans to wash my hair tomorrow etc…pack a suitcase for the night, get dogs ready.  And Monte just informed me its Friday!! I am so NOT ready.  Gotta go!…TTYL

AN UPDATED BATCH OF PICS OF MY PURPLE ROOM…MY BLOG SPOT

THAT IS MOM…THAT IS MOM IN MY SWEAR JAR

SEE HOW NICE AND STRAIGHT AND EVEN THE PICS ARE?

THAT IS A TAPESTRY HANGING OVER THE PIANO…ITS KING ARTHUR,,,WE BOUGHT IT IN GLASTONBURY WHERE SUPPOSEDLY KING ARTHUR IS BURIED..I STEPPED ON HIS GRAVE BY ACCIDENT

SPOD IS DEFINITELY IN THE DOGHOUSE

And I hope he reads this.  He is so freaking punitive.  He was like this with his kids too, its a wonder any of them still talk to him.

Molly peed on the floor under the table.  It seems as she gets older she drinks more and can't hold it. We know this and try to get her outside often.  What Molly needs to do is learn to get our attention more when she needs to go.  As such, when I saw it I gave her hell, normal hell, wiped it up, gave Parker a little snack and not her...and it was over.

Spod was out in the garage and when I went out there I made the giant mistake of telling him and told him what I had done.  At least a half hour later he comes in the house and I hear him yelling at her and giving her shit all over again.  I yelled at him to cut it out as I had already dealt with it and its been too long.

Another half hour later he came into purple room and asked if she was in here.  No.  Apparently she had run out the door to outside when he yelled and yelled at her...and now she was gone.  And no amount of SNACK or CAR RIDE was bringing her back.

Needless to say, I can't print the diatribe I layed on Spod.  Seriously.  He has done this sort of thing since the day I met him..you'd think he'd know by now to just leave the disciplining, dogs or kids, to me.  His discipline is senseless and scary.  They learn NOTHING the way he does it.  That poor little dog.  So I told Spod he would have to go find her...up and down the road, spca if necessary, posters etc.  She is so at risk of being stolen or scooped by eagles or coyotes.  He got in his car to go look for her.

Meanwhile I went out back and called and called and suddenly I saw a little movement halfway down the back property and there she was..hiding under a pile of brush.  Poor little Molly.  I went down and got her and cuddled her and soothed her.  I brought her in and gave her hugs and snacks.  Spod eventually came back, I think a little relieved she had been found.  I can hear him out there talking to her like nothing happened.

That poor dog...she just goes through hell with us. Last night she slept with us.  Now, she has learned pretty much to sleep on Spod's side of the bed.  I'm a thrashing bed banger and she takes her life in her paws sleeping near me.

So sometime in the middle of the night I suddenly, violently jerked awake, arms flailing.  Unbeknownst to me, Molly had crept up my side, between me and the edge of the bed, which probably was what awoke me so suddenly.  Well, when I jerked so quickly I nailed her, hard, and she went flying across the room towards the bathroom door.  She smacked the wall and landed in a basket of stuff sitting over there.  She immediately hopped out and kind of spun in circles.  I reached down and over and called her and just as she was coming over to me I lost my balance and fell over the side of the bed onto my hands...my butt and legs still on the bed.  So do I keep on going..onto the floor or do I try to push and struggle to get back up onto the bed.  Well I didn't want to fall but do you think I could get myself up onto the bed?  No, I could not!  Finally I had to let myself fall off the bed in a semi controlled way and I landed right smack on...you guessed it...Molly.  Man!!  That poor dog!  She let out a yelp but I scooped her up and she was okay.

I think we are just bad dog owners even though we love her up to the sky!  TTYL

AWKWARD AND SAD

Poor Andrew.  He still hasn't found a place and he has to move in ten days.  April will be moving over at the beginning of Dec. and there is no way does he want to lay eyes on her.  Such a conundrum!  I'm not liking being caught in the middle here.  I feel so bad for both of them.

On a happier note…all of my kids will be home for Christmas!  I am so happy we have the room for everyone now.    Its going to be soooo much fun.  Kevin is going to bring some of his board games and I am going to make sure the grand kids have LOTS of fun things to do.  Plus…K & T are great trail hikers and we just happen to live within ten minutes of Thetis Lake Park trails.  The dogs will love that!

I have most of my Xmas shopping done.  I pretty much did it all online…Amazon.ca and shop.ca don't charge shipping and they ship really really fast.  Plus you find things you would never see in a store.  I have a special 'mailbox' in my email to keep track of all the orders. 

 Today we are going shopping for one thing or another (a toaster that actually toasts, not just dries the bread out/light bulbs/eggs) and I think I will buy the wrapping paper and tape etc and wrap these gifts as they come in.  Way less work later.

I think that I am going to commit to getting one obnoxious chore done each day.  And today it will be picture hanging.  (shovel list)  I hate hanging pictures.  I am only going to hang the pics that I know for certain where they are actually going to go and stay there.  The front room is an awkward room so I just have no clue what is going to go where.  Fortunately when we decided that we wouldn't really be doing anything too serious in there until Parker is gone, it took a little pressure off.  

Yesterday Spod and I went out and started to work on the garage.  He put together a couple of the metal shelves on wheels that we have.  The garage is so flipping full of boxes, it makes it hard to maneuver.  But…there were at least ten big, medium and small boxes with 'purple room' written on them.  And…my purple room closet is full of boxes already.  Soooooo much useless stuff.  Well I guess not totally useless, there is a scanner in there somewhere.  But I think I am not going to open the boxes for one year…then decide what I am going to do.  Maybe just chuck em.

Sorry for the lame post today.  Maybe I will go pick on Spod then report about it tomorrow.  Hahaha…Poor Spod.  He just slowly goes around and gets soooo much stuff done…its amazing.  I think I will take some pics and post them tomorrow.   TTYL

HOME AGAIN AT LEAST FOR NOW

Ahhhhhhh…..home home home!  And it actually feels like home.  And it was so nice to be greeted by Andrew.  He seemed peaceful and happy, which is exactly what I would always wish for him.  I will be making roast dinner tonite and I will talk to him about the note I had to leave him and his moving.  But last night we just relaxed and caught up on everything.

But going back to where I left off….we all met in the Chilliwack hotel for breakfast and spent a great couple of hours visiting.  It was so cool for us cousins who grew up together to be together again. We have so much history with each other.  After a wonderful breakfast we headed off to North Vancouver.  Bill immediately started to fill the truck….with plants.  Not the tools, or the box or two of stuff left over, or the garden bench we must take….but scruffy, straggly dirty plants.  Finally, later in the afternoon we headed to the hotel.  Later we met the family at Andreas for dinner and had a great time with them.

The next day I made a stop at the fat lady store and caught up with all our news with the girls there.  I love it there!  Then off to lunch with Spod and Clair, one of his buddies he lunches with.  We have known Clair for many many years and I haven't seen him for a long long time.  So lunch was an awesome catch up time!  He showed me pics of a motor home he is selling…man! what I would give to own that baby!!!  I could live in something like that thing!  How easy life would become.  I would divide my time between my children and park it in their driveways or on the street in front of their places and visit!  (Just kidding kids in case you read this)

We then dropped stuff off at our accountants downtown and headed out to Ladner to Bill's sister's place.  They have bought a beautiful dogwood tree for us to plant in memory of mom.  And they didn't even know that the dogwood is mom's all time favourite tree.  In fact over the years we would seek out things with a dogwood flower on it to buy her for gifts.  So we will sprinkle a little of her ashes under it as we plant it. (but Spod will have to spoon out those ashes for me)

They invited us to stay for dinner, ordered Chinese food (our fave) and had a great visit and catch up on the family news.  Its been a long time since we have had time to just sit and visit with them.  They live very near  Tsawassen where our ferry leaves.  Most enjoyable time and we caught the 7 ferry and got home by 9:30.

And now I am sitting in my brand new super comfortable rocking chair in purple room.  Its an overstuffed, soft and cushy chair..the type you can actually sleep in.  I love it.  There is a foot thingy you can put up and when I do that this lap top sits perfectly on my lap.  So I am sitting here, lappy on my lap, blogging,  half watching that bitch Judy on tv.  What more could one want?

And…..I have my mother sitting here beside me on a special table I have set up.  And….I talk to her and best of all….she can't talk back.  Its pretty awesome.  I am telling her all those things I couldn't tell her before..but I have to admit that I can sort of hear her in my mind..answering me back!  hee hee!

Well I feel a lot of work calling out to me.  I had best get off my duff and go get to it.  I think that there is a trip to costco on the books for today!  TTYL

HUGS HUGS HUGS AND MORE HUGS

I don't think I have hugged or been hugged so many times in my life.  Hugging used to be on my shovel list, but I am getting to kind of like it.  Its a sort of surrender and if you are in the right frame of mind, you can get kind of soothed and recharged at the same time.

This funeral was sad.  My cousin was only 59 and the most kind, nurturing amazing man.  As such he is going to be terribly missed.  People like him are often the 'glue' that keep people together and on the right track.  Now, without him, its going to be very hard for some people as they move forward with their lives.

Another cousin of mine, Clayton, came up from California.  I grew up with him up north.  I haven't seen Clay for many many years.  He is nine days older than me, which was always a bone of contention for me.  One day when we were five years old, we had a fight.  I ended up picking up a rock off the road and in a fit of unthinking fury I fired it at him.  It hit square in the middle of his forehead and split it open.  Holy crap!  There was blood everywhere and my aunt and uncle had to take him to the hospital to get stitched up.

After the funeral he took me aside, put his arm around me and said that he had some unfinished business with me.  Out of his pocket he pulled a rock and handed it over to me!  It was so funny and now I shall treasure that rock and put it in a special place at home!  There were so many moments like that at the after funeral gathering.  Its so good to have such a history with the family. And I LOVE funeral food.  When else do you get those awesome little sandwiches, and home made tarts and brownies and cookies.  Mmmmmm.....

Now I am sitting in bed and its morning.  Stan and Kathy are in this hotel and we are meeting them, and Clayton and Heather downstairs at nine for breakfast.  Last night we all went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.  Its like we don't want it to end.  After, its back to North Van and do a FINAL clean up of stuff at the house.  That never seems to end either.  I am so done with that place.  Fortunately for us the new owner is a truly wonderful guy and he wants just about anything we decide to leave.  I hope the asshole neighbour is about.  I have some choice words for the bastard (pardon my french)  He is such an awful person I don't even want him on my shovel list.  But...the one little talent I have is finding a person's achilles heel..and I know where his is.  I shall stomp on it the moment I can.

Now I shall dress and head downstairs.  I shall do some more blogging tonight or in the morning.  TTYL

OFF AGAIN

On the road again.  It never stops it seems.  A friend of Monte's in Port Alberni has a turkey.  She has been trying to get us all together for turkey dinner.  The first arrangement was interrupted by Mom and her funeral.  The second arrangement has been interrupted by Mark's funeral.  Now she says she is too afraid to make another arrangement....I don't blame her.  

I think we are all ready to go.  Andrew, bless him, will be taking care of the dogs.  I had a call from April this morning finalizing the plans to actually for sure move over here.  So I had to leave a long message warning Andrew, to give some extra time to find a place, and not to wait to talk to him next week.  The sooner he knows the better.  This will be hard for him and I feel so bad about it all.  I hate leaving important stuff in 'notes' (shovel list) but its too long to text and I can't phone him.  I just hope he understands, he definitely is NOT a happy camper these days.

I have been super nagging Spod.  I am determined to get organized in this house, put things away immediately, and keep the outside clean.  I think I have my work cut out for myself and I think there are going to be some altercations.  Spod is a dropsy, he just drops stuff where ever he is when he is done with it and there it stays....forever.  Thats where naggy me comes in.  I am going to have to get clever about it and come up with other ways for his compliance.

While I am whining.....I have told him at least a million times to LEAVE MY GARBAGE ALONE.  I have two garbage cans that are not in his way that are MINE.  Just because stuff is in there does not mean its garbage.  I put bills and mail in there that I think I am done with but not sure.  Its a half step to actually being garbage.  If he throws it out important stuff goes out too. 

 One of my garbage containers I filled with medications, expensive japanese purse knife  etc...all out of my bedside table.  It was in MY bathroom waiting for me to sort and put away.   When I got back from the week end, I noticed it was missing from my bathroom.  I panicked!   He took it!!!!  Apparently as he started to throw stuff out he realized it wasn't garbage...but he pocketed MY knife and didn't put the garbage can back in my bathroom.  WTH??!!  LEAVE MY STUFF ALONE MISTER!!!!!

So I came up with a plan...and I told him this.  I am going to bury something really important to him in all my garbages..so if he empties my trash, he will be throwing out something really important to him...like his bottle of balsamic vinegar, or his wasabi peas, or his slippers, or five of his 100 pairs of glasses, or a roll of paper towel (that one will kill him) or one of his thousands of sticky rollers he has ALL OVER the place.

Well we are off.  I shall  post as we go.  TTYL

HE USED MY BATHROOM!!!!

Spod is NOT allowed to set foot in my bathroom.  He has his own.  The fact that I could instantly tell he had been using it says it all.  WTH?!  He can't freaking walk the six feet down the hall to his own?  I know he will be reading this but sometimes I kind of wonder about you Spod.

  He is great at going out and getting jobs done...like pruning, garbage, gardening etc...but ask him to walk three extra feet to a bathroom, or take a piece of paper down to his office, or park a little further in the parking lot?  Not a chance.  So we end up with two filthy bathrooms, papers that get lost and parking spots that by the time he has backed up and gone forward 300 times, I have already been in the store, found and purchased stuff and got back out.

I am glad April is moving over.  She probably would have been better off on her own...but she really didn't plan or ask for this whole move thing to happen.  Simply put, she had a good job and a two year plan..that got royally interrupted.  Now, after this little setback, she will have to start up again.  And I have to admit that it feels a little isolated over here.  Having her here will be good, for us anyway!  And we will set it up downstairs so she can paint...she makes money at that!

Our dogs have fleas...which means I have fleas.  This house was infested when we moved in and its been a battle.  Apparently Victoria, because it doesn't get really cold, has a flea problem.  These are definitely going to be our last dogs.  I think I have put my time in over the years putting up with dogs and now its time to NOT have them any more.  I say this as I scratch and itch.  The itchiness is insane.  (shovel list big time)  I think I am going to put flea collars on my ankles and wrists...should work a little.

One more batch of pics.  You must be getting tired of them so this will be the last.....

RANDOM PIGS ON THE PROPERTY

LEG WRESTLING TO SETTLE A TIE ...WINNER GETS THE GIFT BAG

WELL..WE CAN SEE WHO LOST THIS ONE!

LAUGHING TIL WE PEED OURSELVES

WE WERE PINNING THE "JUNK ON THE HUNK"  I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO KEEP THESE PICTURES G RATED!

SHE HAD NO CLUE HER DAUGHTER HAD STEPPED IN!

"STOP RIGHT THERE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!"

"YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT"

GO GILLIAN!!!!!

OUR DJ...SUCH A GOOD ONE TOO CONSIDERING WHAT WE HAD TO WORK WITH.....TINY TINY SPEAKERS AND NO VOLUME!  ALL THAT ACTION AND YOU COULD HARDLY HEAR THE MUSIC...PRETTY GOOD I'D SAY!!

SINGING DRINKING AND DANCIN'

UNTIL YOU START LAUGHING SO HARD YOU CAN'T DANCE ANYMORE

ARNIE AND KATHY PERFORMING THE 'RAIN IN AFRICA'  (I THINK!)

TAKING A BREAK

I THINK THIS IS THE FUNNIEST PIC OF THEM ALL!!!

MY LITTLE FIRST NATIONS PRINCESS

PROBABLY A VERY UN POLITICALLY CORRECT DANCE

MY LITTLE KITTY...SOUND ASLEEP