A Sleepy Sunday

The Rusty is too tired for writing a blog post today. We just got back from a walk and are now watching the Vikings play Detroit, at least until it is time to leave for knitting group. Things have been good around here. Rusty has adjusted well to sharing his Mama, and has had no (knock on wood) temper tantrums when there's been another person here. Mostly because he's discovered the joy of having two people dote on him.

I've been spending a lot of time on my Yahoo!360 page, making up a new language and answering questions on Yahoo!Answers and making new friends. It takes up a lot of time, but I don't regret doing it. I've met some pretty great people there. And it keeps me occupied. I haven't taken any new pictures of Rusty lately, and I have no pictures of the new boy (though he isn't really "new" anymore) or his pets, so you'll have to wait for those. However, it could be awhile, because he is about as good in front of the camera as I am. Which is to say, he hates having his picture taken (like I do). Enh, I don't have problem with that. And you all would rather see a picture of Briscoe-dog anyway. :)

That's it for now, luvs. Hope you all have a good week, and happy holidays (if I don't post before then).

Ciao~

Rusty and the Puppy

Hey-Lo everybody. It's Rusty checking in again. Mama is lazy and won't ever write any posts to the blog, so she says I should. Silly Mama. I'm so tired I don't think I can handle writing a new post that would be entertaining.

Why am I tired? Well, it's all Mama's fault too. She met this new boy on that stupid Internet dating thing. He is very nice and all, and when he came over, I tried to establish that I'm the boss dog but he yelled at me and made me stop! I guess I can be fine with that. The bad thing is that he and Mama took me over to his house so that I didn't have to sit in my kennel for a long time. He has a dog too! I thought that was gonna be fun, but his dog is CRAZY! Briscoe would not leave me alone to explore or sleep or NOTHING! But then I got up on the couch and then Briscoe left me alone. That was good, but I wanted to explore and sniff stuff.

Oh, and there's a cat at that house too. I could smell it and I heard it and I SAW it! That was too much for me to handle. I wanted to go see it up close and be friends, but it ran away from me. Why did it do that? That isn't any fun. Silly kitty.

So, anyway. That's why I'm tired. But I like the new boy. He has the same name as Uncle Matthew, except we call him Matt and not Matthew. It's a little confusing, but they smell different, so I guess I won't get too confused. Besides, Uncle Matthew comes over but only to visit his truck and he doesn't even come inside to say hi to me. What a meany-head.

All right, very tired now. Gotta take a nap.

Love,
Rusty

How was your Halloween?

Okay, so it's kinda blurry, but...

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S RUSTY! Teehee...

I wore the wings to work, and then I got home and put them on Rusty for a photo opportunity. He didn't particularly enjoy it, but he looked pretty cute. Like a puppy-dragon. Love that.

I didn't have many trick-or-treaters. I'm thinking that next year I'll buy candy but I won't pass it out. It isn't worth waiting for hours to have 4 kids who aren't even wearing costumes come by and expect candy. Nope. I'll eat the candy myself or take it to work.

Hope everyone else had a better time.

Big sigh

Rusty here, dudes. I've totally recovered from my surgery. I have fur on my belly and you can't see my scar anymore. And the last time I went to the vet to check on my pee, I didn't have a bladder infection. But that doesn't always mean anything, as we've learned.

Mama plays tennis ball with me, but she takes the ball away from me! Then she throws it across the room so I have to capture it again! And this morning, she was poking the whorls of fur on my butt that I use as a defense mechanism. They make my butt look like a face with eyes so that people think I have heads on both ends. Like in Dr. Doolittle with the Push-Me-Pullyu.

I'll tell you the secret of how to tell if it's my face or not...

If the end where you are is really stinky, that's my butt.

So now you know the secret. I'm not worried because Mama will protect me from you. Haha.

Oh, I'm sleepy now. I need to take a nap. I will talk to you later.

Love,
Rusty ♥

Hill-Air-Eee-Us

So, last night at church choir practice, my friend Karen and I were sitting in the front row. Usually we sit in the second row (better for goofing off, y'know), but the soprano section had to consolidate, so we moved foward. Someone made the comment about how close we were to Jennifer (our director), so Karen and I decided to see how close we could get. Surreptitiously, we moved our chairs forward just a little bit at a time throughout the whole rehearsal, so by the end we were practically right under Jennifer's stand.

The best part? Jennifer didn't notice until rehearsal was over! Hill-Air-Eee-Us.

Anyway. Last night was the season finale of Project Runway (cry) and Jeffrey won. I know some people were disappointed with that outcome, but I was actually not shocked and kind of happy. I think Jeffrey showed the most innovation in his collection. Laura is too one-dimensional for the fashion world. Uli will be hugely successful designing ready-to-wear stuff, because any woman could wear her garments (oh wow, I'm such a P-Run nerd). Michael needs some more experience designing, and his inexperience showed in his collection, but his sense of style is fabulous and I don't see that he'll have any problem finding a niche.

Anyway, since you all care so much about my opinion on P-Run, now you'll all click on the link to the right and go see the collections at the P-Run website so you can formulate your own opinion. :)

And that's all I can talk about for today. Maybe there'll be more to talk about tomorrow or this weekend.

Ciao~

Cooking for one person

Cooking for one blows big, fat, hairy horse chunks. Yes, I said big, fat AND hairy. I ate better when I was in college than I do now when I'm making more money. What is wrong with this picture?

However, on the up side, I get leftovers from my parents quite a bit. That's better than what I would be eating otherwise. Better than what I was eating in college too. Anyway, enough about food (or I'll have Rusty hanging over my shoulder and drooling on the keyboard).

Can't decide what kind of candy to get the little hellions that come to my door on Halloween. I have got to get something good because I don't want any tricks, as funny as I think it might be to see someone try to TP my house. I don't have any trees, so the only place to hang the paper would be the house. Would it be gross if I collected the paper and saved it? It would save me a lot of money.

So, that's it for tonight. Hope everyone has been having a good week. My bus broke down this morning, if that gives you any sense of how my week has been so far.

Ciao~

Ooooo.... Spooky....

My house is a tennis ball graveyard. I'm not going to say who is responsible, but I'll give you a hint. He has four paws, lots of fur and big brown eyes. Tennis anyone?

Let me tell you something else. My dad and I went to the farm a while ago for the harvest festival and I found a pumpkin that was having an identity crisis. It thought it was popcorn. I picked it so it would feel better. Now I have a pumpkin. Yay for pumpkins. I thought maybe I would carve it as follows:

1. Take pumpkin out to driveway.
2. Smash pumpkin with baseball bat.
3. Draw chalk outline around smashed pumpkin.
4. Put up police caution tape.
5. Put up sign labeling display as "Halloween: Life on the Streets"

However, if I did that, I would not have any pumpkin for making pumpkin soup. I shall have to see.

Nothing else to say.

Have a good week!

Ciao~

Bad Mouse

Mama is makin' fun of me this morning. She was eating her breakfast and I saw a big scary monster! It ran under the refrigerator. So I was all excited and bouncing around and trying to make it come out so I could catch it.

Mama came and asked what I was fussing about and peeked behind the fridge.

"Oh, a mouse!" she said. Then she put out mouse traps and blocked underneath the front of the fridge. Now we're waiting for the monster to fall for the mouse traps. I don't think it will. I have to keep checking on it. And I can smell the peanut butter Mama used in the mouse traps.

But now she's making fun of me, calling me "Vicious Killer" and "Killer". See if I try and save her from the scary monster next time.

Bye.
Rusty.

Yuck

All right. 'Fess up. Who decided that it could rain today? Hmmmmmm? Mama said it wasn't her, so if it was you, you better tell me. Rain sucks. I hate getting wet. Excuse me for a minute so I can lick my paws some more...

That's better. Mama's doing laundry today, so she said I could write a post. I don't really know what to write about except the rain. Wait, I gotta lick myself some more...

Why did Mama ask about me licking my naughty bits? And someone called me creepy for talking about Mama's online dating. I think it's far creepier to talk about naughty bits. Besides, I don't use toilet paper. I gotta clean it off somehow. Who's creepy now? Hang on a sec, gotta itch...

It was cold and rainy today. Who said that was okay? It wasn't Mama and it wasn't Grandpa. Oh, I bet it was Superlative Steve. I bet he got mad about not having to go into work today so he decided he would make it cold and rainy...

What, Mama?

He can't? Really?

Well then, who?

Really?

Oh.

Mama says that no person can decide the weather, not even the cute weather guy on the channel 11 news. They just guess. Whatever. I'm going back to sleep. Next time Mama can post for herself.

Love,
Rusty

Random stuff

If I put Rusty in an automobile that can fly, would that make him a Flying Car Pet?

If I enjoy watching movies that scare the poop out of me, does that make me a masochist?

Why is it that when Rusty licks his naughty bits, he does it as noisily as possible?

Who decided that lawns should be made up of grass, and who decided that we should have to mow it? Are there lawn police who go around making sure that lawns are kept at the proper height? Should I worry if I decide not to mow my lawn?

Why do the people in scary movies always open the door (or some equivalent of that)? Haven't they watched any scary movies? Would you open the door?

Why are they called doughnut holes? Why not doughnut balls? The suggestiveness quotient is the same for both, and doughnut balls is a more accurate description.

I want to go shark fishing. Can you make that happen?

Do you have any random stuff you wanna talk about? Go for it.

Ciao~

Caution! Beware!

Here is my warning to you all: If you have a jar of the Pickles That Nobody Likes in your refrigerator and it's been there for more than a couple weeks, take caution when eating them. I just ate some and I have no idea how long they've been curing and they made my eyes water.

Yeah, that's how good they are. I think I might go eat some more once my eyes stop watering. I wish I knew how long they've been in my fridge. Because before that, who knows how long they were in my parents' fridge. Yeah, they're good. Just a minute...

Woohoo. You want some? Well, too bad. You won't like 'em because they're the Pickles That Nobody Likes. That's why my brother and I get to eat 'em all. I don't know if you could handle them.

Anyway. Enough about pickles. It's Friday. TGIF! And tomorrow is Saturday. Don't have any plans. Isn't that nice? And it's supposed to storm tomorrow. I like storms. Except my lawn needs mowing. Guess it will have to wait yet again. Anybody want to come do that for me?

Hope you all had a good Friday and that tomorrow's even better.

Ciao, loves~

Tragedy

It is a dark day for me. Kayne was kicked off Project Runway tonight. I didn't think he'd get to the final three, but it's still hard for me to deal with the loss.

Anyway, on to happier things. Here's another picture from this weekend. I have the color versions of these pictures, but I prefer the black and white. It makes me look at the subject and the light instead of the color. It changes the way you look at things.

Rusty's sleeping and telling me that I should be going to bed. As are my eyes, since my vision is starting to blur, even with my glasses on.

Didja see that yesterday my post was picked as a blog of the day? Didja? You should go see.

Have a good day tomorrow, y'all!

~Ciao

I want a dark room

I miss being able to develop my own pictures in a dark room. I loved doing that. I liked watching the images appear on the paper and messing around with the process, burning and cropping and all that stuff. I wish I had a dark room. At least I have PSP so I can change my pictures to greyscale, which puts them in black and white. I like black and white better than color a lot more, because it makes you focus more on the light and the subject and not the colors. That's what photography is. It isn't just snapshots with point and shit... er... shoot cameras. I always hate people who find out that I like photography, and then hand me their little point and shoot cameras expecting me to take a fabulous picture. It's all about the frickin' hardware people! You can't get fabulous pictures with a little piece of crap camera! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Before I got my new SLR, I was doing a lot of finessing with my little point and shoot digital to get pictures that looked the way I wanted. I had to do a lot of cropping and crap in PSP. Sigh. It was work. Now I'm happy with my digital SLR. Can hardly put the thing down.

Anyway. I had my little rant and now I feel better. Have a lovely, lovely day tomorrow.

~Ciao

Haha, Creepy

Yep, Rusty and I are creepy. That describes us perfectly. We don't want to be referred to as "cutesy" because Rusty is a big boy dog, and ain't no way he's cute. And I was called cute too much by an ex-boyfriend to ever consider it a compliment. Besides, I'm a grown woman and cute is reserved for small children and puppies. So, creepy we shall be. I do have a pet snake.

It's FRIDAY. Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. Is everyone else happy that it's Friday?

Anyway. That's about all I gotta say. Have a good day.

~Ciao

Something to hold you over the weekend

I need to think about putting a password on this computer so Rusty can't break in and write posts here without me knowing. Not that anything he said was wrong. True, I would like some human companionship (outside of work).

I did make a friend (the person I went to the state fair with), and that's good. It keeps my mother from trying to set me up.

Yeah, so she and her yoga instructor did set me up with a guy that works where Mom takes yoga. We exchanged emails, but... Nada. That was all right. I sometimes wonder if me being a little zany can be off-putting, but then I remember that if someone doesn't like me for who I am, then they don't really like me. So there.

Rusty says that he would have written the post, but he's too busy licking his naughty bits.

In other news, it once again looks like a redneck Nascar fan lives at my house because my brother's truck is parked in my driveway. Maybe that will keep people from knocking on my door at 2am (which actually happened, so I called the non-emergency police number).

In other other news, I was looking through my collection of writings, and I think I might have enough short stories to put into a collection... Which makes me start thinking about polishing and publishing. Finally.

I will see you all later. Rusty will see you all later.

Have a good Labor day weekend!

~Ciao

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquistion

Hello. Rusty here. I'm very excited today, because Mama told me that we're going to the cabin this weekend and I'm going to get to run around in the woods and get ticks all over me and pee on everything in the woods and sniff everything in the woods and maybe I'll find something dead to roll in and carry around and I'll get to ride in the canoe with Mama and Grandpa and try and eat the fish they catch and oh, my goodness I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew. That was a lot. My real reason for posting tonight (Mama doesn't know I broke into her computer while her back was turned) was that Mama decided to do that stupid online dating thing. I'm frowning about it.

My Mama needs a nice boy, not a stupid boy, but she won't let me check any of the boys out before she meets them. I have standards they have to meet! They can't make my Mama upset or hurt her feelings or anything, because then her face gets all melty and wet. When her face gets all melty and wet, then she wipes it on me because when she's upset she likes to snuggle me. Now, I don't mind snuggling, but the whole melty-wet thing kinda bugs me.

The nice thing is that Mama doesn't need a boy, because she has me. But I guess she kinda wants a person to hang out with occasionally, which is okay with me. As long as she's not cheating on me with other dogs. How would she feel if I cheated on her with other Mamas? I bet she wouldn't like it. But I wouldn't be able to cheat on her with other Mamas, because they wouldn't smell like my Mama and I love my Mama, so I wouldn't cheat.

Okay. I'm sleepy now, and Mama is coming back to her computer, so I have to go. But now you know how I feel. Just don't tell my Mama.

Love,
Rusty

Why I Like Saturdays by Rusty

I like Saturdays because Mama is home all day long and she lets me play with things like this fun chew toy. And we go for walks and play in the backyard and take naps and fun stuff like that.

Except yesterday. Yesterday, Mama left me alone in my kennel because she went to some dumb state fair thing. I want to know why I can't go to the state fair too!

She came home and she smelled different. She smelled like Grandma and Grandpa and OTHER DOG. That is inappropriate. How would she feel if I cheated on her with other people? Huh? How can she go places and be with other dogs? That's cheating on me and it makes me mad. Just for that, I'm never going to get off the couch. Ever.

What?

Tennis ball?

Oooooo!!!! Yes, yes, yes! I want the tennis ball! Gimmee!!

I gotta go.

Love,
Rusty

Don't touch my stuff

Right now, I am sitting on my couch in my pajamas (sort of) with Monty Python's Flying Circus running in the background. I am eating a root beer float in preparation for the joy of going to the state fair on Saturday (note that I didn't capitalize the words "state" or "fair", that would be the musical).

It is raining outside, and I am hoping that it will stop by the time Rusty needs to go potty. But the good news is that there is clear sky to the west.

At least I'm not going to be sleeping in a tent tonight. When I was camping in July, my brother and I were in the tent. After a couple of wicked rainstorms, we informed our parents (we didn't ask, because it wasn't optional) that we were getting rid of the tent. The tent rode on the back of Matthew's truck straight to the dumpster. That was a lovely day.

Rusty wants to show you his new trick, but he hasn't perfected it yet. So we'll keep it a secret until it's perfect.

Have a lovely evening!

Ciao~

Good thing I mowed the lawn yesterday

Yeah, it rained today. So I feel pretty smart for having mowed yesterday. I can be pretty lazy about mowing sometimes, especially when it's warm outside. But when I'd actually be willing to go outside and mow... The lawn doesn't need it! I gotta figure out a way for Rusty to mow the lawn.

I tried to post a picture, but Blogger wouldn't let me. Gosh darn it! Well then, I'm just going to go have some cookies and cream frozen yogurt and watch Law and Order:Criminal Intent.

I just wanted everyone to know how smart I am for mowing the lawn yesterday BEFORE it rained.

Rusty is all tuckered out from playing tennis ball this afternoon. And tomorrow is Monday. Yay. Back to work. Don't I sound excited?

Ciao~

Camera sale today

My mom and I are going to a tent sale at a big camera retailer this afternoon. I don't have money to buy another camera right now (still paying for Rusty's tests and surgery, y'know), but Mom is going on a canoeing trip in Utah this fall. She has a camera, but not digital. My dad has a digital camera, but Mom isn't sure if she wants to borrow it.

Mowed my lawn this morning. It needed it. I need to be better about mowing than I am. Except before I went on vacation, it was really dry and I didn't absolutely have to mow it. But now we've had some rain.

I created a new profile on the internet dating site, because my friend/co-worker Amy came over on Tuesday to have me take a picture of her for her profile and we were looking at guys and having a good time, except I could only look at like 3 profiles before it asked me to create one of my own. Sigh. I don't care if no one talks to me. It's all about being able to read the profiles. Entertainment, people!

S.S. kept thinking his comments weren't posting. They do eventually post, but I have Comment Moderation activated. I have to approve your comment before it appears. Don't worry though, I approve pretty much all the comments. :)

Have a good weekend!

A fish I caught and a sweater I made

So, I went away for a week and camped/fished/played/etc with my family. I got home a week ago today. And for the past week, I have no excuse for why I haven't posted anything. Make something up for yourself, people! You know how it is when you get back from vacation.

It was a lovely week. Matthew and I fished every day as much as we could. By the end of the week we'd caught so many decent sized fish that I caught a 12-inch largemouth bass and kind of shrugged about it. That is not right! And that is why I am staying home this weekend instead of going to the cabin with my parents. Oh, yes. And I need to mow my lawn.

This morning, I pulled weeds and filled up my garbage can. Those darn weeds just keep getting ahead of me. I need to get an extension cord for the weed whip my dad gave me. Aren't parents great?

Rusty's glad to have me home again. He liked hanging out with his auntie Kristi (my brother's fiancee) and her new dog Foo-Foo (uh... Don't ask), but it isn't the same as Mama.

That's all she wrote for now. Of course, there's always other stuff that I don't write about, but sometimes it's stuff I can't write about. Not yet, at least.

Ciao~

I love running!

Hey-yo! It's Rusty again. See the picture of Mama with the fishy she caught on Wednesday night? She and Uncle Matthew went fishing without me. :( I don't have stitches anymore! I can ride in Boaty McBoat-Boat now, because it doesn't matter if my tummy gets wet! Not fair.

I surprised Uncle Matthew by running really fast on Thursday night. Mama told me to show her where I wanted to go, so I ran to the back door to tell her that I needed to potty. And when I'm outside, I run around. I love running. It's so much better than walking. Walking sucks. And now Mama won't be able to keep up with me.

Okay. I'm sleepy now. Time to take my mid-morning nap.

Byee!

FYI

http://360.yahoo.com/abbylou_j

Hey, yo, I made a knitting blog. I'll start posting the knitting pictures and stuff there, if you wanna go look.

:)

No more stitches!

Here is a picture of Rusty's belly with the stitches in. They shaved my baby!

But that was last night. Now, his stitches are all gone! Hurray!

And Matthew, Kristi and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest last night and it was awesome. So I'm feeling pretty good.

Oh yes, and one last thing: Chad, thanks for your note, but no thanks. I've moved on with my life and I'm happy with it right now.

Ciao~

Taa-daaaaaaaaaaa!

Look! I finished the sweater I was making! Yay! Isn't it nice? I wish it were cool enough to wear it. But it isn't. I wore it around the house for awhile when the air conditioner was making me cold. But I can't wear it outside, so no one has seen it. Until now. Ha. Now I'm making another sweater that's striped with the big box of yarn that I got from www.knitpicks.com. Yeah. I love yarn.

Rusty is doing well. He has a nice scar on his belly with 23 stitches, but he doesn't chew or lick them, so they're healing really well. Next week we can take them out. Yay!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Ciao~

!!!!!!!!!!!

Rusty doesn't have a mass in his tummy anymore! They took out a splenic mass this morning (that's a mass connected to the spleen, which is part of the immune system) at the U of M Vet Hospital and everything looked "normal" for an older dog. I asked if "normal" meant "non-cancerous" and the reply was...





YES!
So there. The end. Have a wonderful evening!

Ciao~

T minues 24 hours and counting

Zoo pictures today! Hope everyone had a good Saturday.

T minus 2 days and counting

Good morning, everyone! My mom and I are going to the zoo today, so I'll have some pictures for later (or tomorrow).

In other news, I got a box of yarn on Thursday. 30 skeins of different colors. It's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty! :)

In other other news, Rusty is scheduled for surgery on Monday to remove his abdominal mass. The ultrasound didn't really give us any idea of what it's attached to, and the biopsy didn't even tell us if it is cancerous or not. So they're going to take the dang thing out and then do some exploratory stuff and we'll find out more.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone for this week.

Ciao~

I don't know what to talk about

Okay. Scout is the black dog, Maybell is the other one. Norwegian fjord horses (and a draft horse - that's the dark brown one) and a pretty butterfly. I got nothin'. Have a nice evening!

Ciao~

Good and Bad

Yeah, baby! I went fishing on Thursday night with my brother, which was just what I needed, because we also found out Thursday that Rusty has an abdominal mass that is either on his spleen or a kidney or something in that general vicinity. So now we have to do an ultrasound to look at the structure and see what it's actually connected to. Oh, yes, and he has another bladder infection (probably, since the urinalysis hasn't come back yet). What a lovely day.

When I told my mom about the abdominal mass, she said I'd have to decide how deep in debt I was willing to go for Rusty. And how if he were my child, of course I would. Well, HE IS MY CHILD. Got it? As long as he isn't suffering, I will pursue options that would keep him alive. So there. :p

Rusty doesn't want anyone to worry about his abdominal mass because we don't even know what the source is, or if it's cancer or not. He says he feels fine, and he wants to go to the cabin so he can ride in Boaty McBoat-Boat some more and drink the lake and look at the fish.

Ciao~

Yay! Saturday!

Yay! It's Saturday! Yay! Rusty and I are sitting at home watching cartoons. Since I mowed the lawn on Thursday, I won't need to mow it today.

Today is planting day at the CSA farm my parents are members of. So I'm going to go with them and play at the farm. Rusty will sleep in his kennel until I get home. I might take some pictures. Then I might post them. But I don't know. We'll see how I feel. Of course, I'll have my camera with me. The only thing up for debate is whether I post the pictures or not.

Look at my new pet spider that I found in the bathroom. Isn't he cute? But after I took his picture, he ran away and I lost him. It's just like Boris the spider that I had for a friend at work, but then he ran away into the ceiling. So now I have a spider plant named Boris. And that's how it is.

So email me and tell me what I should write about! Gosh darn it. Rusty doesn't give me any good ideas on a regular basis. Sometimes he does, but not always.

Anyway, have a good Saturday.

Ciao~

Riding in Boaty McBoat-Boat

Hey, yo peeps! Rusty here. Mama just mowed our lawn because it got really long since we were at the cabin last weekend for Memorial Day. It was hot. Yuck. But I rode in the canoe with Mama and Grandpa while they went fishing. I got excited because Mama caught some stinky fish that she called northerns. They smelled real stinky. I would have liked to sniff them more, but Mama wouldn't let me. Then, when Uncle Matthew got there, I got to ride in Boaty McBoat-Boat. There's a place right in the front by Mama for me. I took naps, and made Mama shade me from the sun. I also made Mama and Uncle Matthew tip the boat a little so I could get a drink from the lake. They caught lots of stinky fish called northerns, and lots of bass. Mama sticks her thumb in the mouth of a bass, but not the northerns. Mama says that's because northerns have lots of teeth. But it was hot. Yuck. I don't like it hot.

Last week I had to go to the vet's office for a test. I had to spend all day there. It stunk. Then Grandpa picked me up and I went to his house. Then Mama came to Gramma and Grandpa's house and I got to meet Sophie, who lives next door to Gramma and Grandpa. It was fun, except for the part being at the vet. But the test came back normal. So now I have to go back and have another test next week. Oh well.

That's all I gotta say for tonight. I'm sleepy. Good night.

Hello, dear people

Well, here we are again on a Saturday morning having already done quite a lot. I helped unload the truck at the plant sale at my parents' church. Then I bought some marigolds and a hanging plant. Then we went inside to the rummage sale and I bought a grow light. Then we came back to my house and set up the grow light. Then we went to the gas station and I got gas for the lawn mower. Then back home, and I pulled weeds in my garden and planted the marigolds. After that, I rearranged my house plants, moving some of them under the grow light (as you can see in the picture). And then for a few pictures, and now blogging! And it isn't even 11:00 yet!

Hope you all are having a good day too!

Ciao~

Keeping my promise

Okay, so the picture on the bottom is Matthew's 37.5 inch muskie from Friday night, and the picture on the top is my puny bass from this afternoon. However, these are our respective first fish of the season. And so our boat has been christened well. I even named it. Boaty McBoat-Boat. Feel free to steal the name if you want. But be careful. Boaty bit me last night as we were pulling him out of the water. I think the name makes him a bit mischievous.

Have a good week!

Ciao~

Why I love fishing

So my parents bought a boat this week. My brother brokered the deal and registered it, and now said boat is living in my garage. We haven't really decided on a name yet. But we have certainly christened it. Matthew and I took it out last night for the first time and because we didn't bring the net or a camera, he caught a 37-inch (yes, that's thirty-seven inches) muskie. On a little suburban lake!

That's what happens when you don't have a net or camera. So we called our parents and they brought a net and camera. It was a sweet fish.

Stay tuned for a picture!

Ciao~

Remembering Tulip

Ah, how briefly I had your red beauty. Now I will have to wait until next year to see your lovely face. Perhaps if I planted more tulip bulbs, I would get more blooms, and they would last longer. You would not be lonely then, there would be someone to talk to.

But now my columbine is blooming. There are other flowers to fill the void you left when your fiery head has fallen.

Ciao~

Watching Movies on SciFi Channel

Hope y'all are having a lovely Saturday. It's nice outside, and my lawn mower started, so I mowed my lawn. Rusty had his distemper and Lyme's disease vaccines, and his toenails clipped. Everything is peachy! I thought I'd post a couple more pictures from my vacation. I love my new camera.

Ciao~

Back from vacation

I'm not going to apologize for disappearing for a long time. I went away to have a vacation (which I needed, by the way), and now I am back and I am happy. So there.

I played with my new camera and knitted, and had a generally good time. That's how a vacation should be, right?

Rusty is happy to have his mama home, but he had a good time with my friends who stayed here for the week. He likes having company. So everybody's happy.

And that's what I have to say today. More later.

Ciao~

A nice holiday from work

I get to have a day off work today since it's Good Friday. However, someone decided that I needed to get up at 6:30, so instead of getting to sleep in, I was up pretty close to my usual time. Darn. And then, to top it off, after he went outside to go potty, he came back inside and went back to sleep! How nice is that?

Seriously though, I love Rusty and I'd rather get up at 6:30 so that he can go outside and pee than have him pee on the carpet. It also helped that I was awake too, so I wasn't going out of my way to get up.

I had cereal. I know I had cereal. But I don't have cereal anymore. Where did my cereal go? There must be a cereal demon living in my cupboard that has stolen my cereal to do his evil little rituals. Stupid cereal demons. I know I had cereal.

All righty then. Rusty's napping again, so I think I might join him after I find something to stop my stomach from rumbling.

Have a lovely day!

Ciao~

Just a picture today

Just pictures today. :)

New toys

Look how innocent he is. Like he could never have done anything as naughty as pee on the carpet. Pssh. We all know better.

I don't know if I told you all that I got a new toy for my birthday. I had to buy it myself, but that's okay. I'm allowed to give myself birthday presents. I got myself an 8 megapixel SLR digital camera. It's very beautiful and fun. I have to do some work figuring out how to print pictures so they look okay, but that's okay. I've been having fun taking close up shots that I couldn't before.
Rusty wasn't sure about this new thing that Mama was holding at first, so he stuck his nose in the lens, which prevented me from taking any pictures. But now he's okay with it, and doesn't mind when I'm taking his picture when he's doing cute things, like scratch his face.

My daddy is tuning my piano right now, not because it really needs it (it just wasn't perfect), but because my mom is having her book club at their house, so I got him out of the house while it is inundated with women. Poor Daddy.

Rusty is squinting at you because you haven't emailed me recently to tell me how you are doing. Maybe if you do that, he'll open his eyes. Maybe. He is an old dog, you know, and needs lots of sleep.

There. You've gotten three pictures in one post. You better be happy. If you aren't, I don't really care. So there. Nah-nah. Have a lovely night.

Ciao~

Rusty talks more

Hey, yo, everyone! Mama doesn't feel like posting today, so she made me do it instead. That's cool. Last night, Mama gave me my dinner really late. That wasn't cool. But she went out with friends from college, so I guess it was okay. I was really glad when she got home. And it was really okay, because we went for a walk yesterday morning. And today my grandma came over with Mama, and we all went for a walk.

I like walks. Except if we go too far. I get tired if we go to far. Then I drag along behind hoping that Mama might carry me, but she never does. And then I get home and I'm so tired I can't even make it to my water dish to get something to drink. I have to lie down in the middle of the living room first so I can regain my energy.

It's been really nice weather. I like that. Mama opens the front door so I can look out. So I look out and watch the cars and people going by. I want it to be summer so we can go to the cabin and I can ride in the canoe again while Mama and Grandpa go fishing. And I can play in the woods and get ticks all on me and go wading to try and catch fish and stuff like that. I like the cabin.

Whew. That's a lot of writing. I'm tired now. I'm going to have to take a nap. I will talk to you all again later. Bye!

In memorium

Flowers

Hugs

Laughter

Blow-painting

And the ever-present pipe

"Catch, Ernie!"

For Jack

In Memoriam

Tired

Here are some tired ramblings, because I didn't get enough sleep last night.

How does non-stick Teflon stick to the pan?

If you give me a penny for my thoughts, and I give you my two cents, what happens to the other penny?

If swimming is so good for you, why are whales so fat?

And that's all that my poor, sleep-deprived brain can handle. But I felt like I should post, because it has been awhile. Good night all.

Ciao~

New shoes

I know, this isn't a picture of my new shoes. It's Bubo the boa constrictor. But I did get new shoes yesterday. I needed new tennis shoes because my old ones were falling apart. And I also got a pair of sandals that are nicer than my old ones so I won't feel bad wearing them to work. It's my one concession to contemporary "fashion" because they're in the Roman gladiator style. They look awesome and are comfortable.

Anyhow. I promised Leslie I'd post this weekend. I don't really have much to talk about today. I have to go into the office to go over how to do some things for a little while. Then my mom and I are going to the Goodwill to find some decorations for a party we're planning. Sounds like an enchanting day, doesn't it?

I hope everyone had a safe St. Patrick's Day! Ciao~

Syas Ybba

IT'S SNOWING AGAIN THIS MORNING! My commute to work is going to stink. It was really bad on Monday because people had gotten used to not having snow. Hopefully today won't be as bad since people should be used to the snow now. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Snow stinks.

I have to go decide which shoes I'm going to wear today.

Ciao~

It are late at night

Wow. I got home, oh, about five minutes ago and I'm already in my pjs and in bed. Rusty has been outside to pee and we're settled in. I wanted to do a quick post before I turn in for the night.

A group of us from the office went to TPT (yay public television!) and answered phones for the pledge drive. It was a lot of fun. Not that there were many people calling in for us to take money from, but it was fun nonetheless. I even got a prize in a drawing! I got the Red Green "Duct Tape Forever!" VHS. Yay for Red Green. If you don't know who Red Green is, you obviously aren't watching the right channel.

I thought it was pretty stupid that people would call in and either rant at the volunteer about stuff, or pretend like they would actually pledge, but then just hang up. DON'T BE IDIOTS, PEOPLE. If you aren't actually interested in pledging money, then DON'T CALL. It's rude. Where's Hannibal Lecter when you need him any way?

I didn't really fully watch the shows that were airing, but that's okay. I had fun, and that's what counts. So there, nah-nah.

Now I'm going to get some sleep.

Ciao~

I have food!

Good news today=short post.

No bacteria in Rusty's urine! And I went to the grocery store so I actually have food in my house that isn't dog food!

And I bought the Neopets cereal.

But there's no bacteria in Rusty's pee! That's the best news I've had in a long time.

Ciao~

I hate baths

Rusty here. I'm mad at Mama right now. She gave me a bath. I worked really hard to smell the way I do! Now I smell all pretty and nice. I need to go outside and roll in something really stinky to get my smell balance right again. But Mama won't let me out of the house! She says it's too cold for me to go outside with wet fur. And there's snow too. I'm just going to lie on the couch and lick myself to get rid of the shampoo smell until Mama decides that I can go outside again. Baths suck.

But it's March!

It's a good thing I finished these mittens, because I woke up this morning to find SNOW on the ground. And it's still coming down! I want to cry. Snow is bad. But maybe I'll be able to get into my garage if it gets colder... I'll have to get dressed and try it. Because yesterday my brother and I couldn't get in, and he needed stuff out of his truck. He thinks the lock might have frozen up due to the cold weather. I can see how it would happen, if frost accumulated on the metal and then thawed, and then re-froze. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Rusty likes snow, though, so that will be good. And it wasn't snowing when we had to go BACK to the vet yesterday (third weekend in a row!) to get a new sample of urine. Apparently, the lab screwed up the last sample. Grrrrrr... At least I wasn't charged for yesterday's visit, and it didn't take long.

And yesterday, my brother showed me the remodeling he's doing for his fiancee's parents at their house after their minor chimney fire in December. I asked if it was all necessary, and it wasn't. He complained about having the homeowners help, because they saw the insulation and decided they needed new stuff. It was perfectly fine, just a little dirty! It's insulation! Whatever makes people happy, I guess.

Rusty's sleeping right now, like always, but he sends everyone mild affection.

Ciao~

I love my jungle

Yes, Leslie, I do have a jungle. My dad gave me a plant stand for Christmas because the table he gave me when I moved wasn't big enough anymore. I'll bring one of Boris's siblings to work tomorrow (Tuesday) for you to give to Kevin. I hope your back is better.

In other news, I have finished Part 1 of my spaceship story. Yippee! I finally figured out how to get where I was going, and now I can move on to Part 2 (which I just decided to write yesterday). So I can print Part 1 for S.S. to read, because I promised. I FEEL SO GOOD ABOUT MYSELF RIGHT NOW! It's been, like, forever since I finished a fiction piece that I was working on. Now that I don't have a boring boy stealing away all my creative juices, I can actually put the stories that are rampaging through my head onto paper (or the computer). Any boy that's going to be in my life has to not suck out my creative energy. So there.

Speaking of boys/men/males... Last Wednesday, S.C. and I went to lunch with three people from the web design firm. We had Vietnamese, which I'd never had before. It was good. And one of the web design people was a good-looking guy about my age. But I behaved properly, and didn't stare at him. There's also a guy that rides my afternoon bus that's attractive to me... Except I'm a chicken. Buck-buck-buck-buck... :>= <-- That's a chicken, in case you couldn't figure it out.

That's it. At least for today. Ciao~

Finally!

So it only took like A YEAR for this stupid pepper plant to finally put out blossoms. I was going to repot it, but now I'm afraid that moving it will hurt my precious flowers (my preciousssssssssss...). But I probably will repot it anyway and use some string to tie it up for support, because when the flowers become peppers they will be heavy.

I also started germinating some jack pine seeds to make my own bonsai. First I soak them for 24 hours. Then I put them in a damp paper towel, in a plastic bag, in the fridge for seven days. If I remember after seven days to take them out of the fridge and put them in the dirt. I'll have to leave myself a note on the fridge, and check off the days. Otherwise I might forget. I like my plants. Especially poor George the peace lily who got sunburned and is now trying to recouperate from that experience. He actually looks pretty good, now that he's not getting a whole lot of direct sun and lots of nice, Miracle-Gro laced water. My African violets like the Miracle-Gro laced water too. I have some little ones that I split a few weeks ago that are starting to perk up. Yay for Miracle-Gro!

Today is another lovely LAUNDRY DAY, so I'm sitting around in my pajamas being low-key. Maybe later I'll feel like playing my piano, except it needs tuning and that makes me crazy. So maybe I won't feel like playing.

Rusty and I went to the vet again yesterday to check on his UTI, and he still isn't concentrating his urine as well as Dr. Elaine would like, so she's going to send it off to the lab to run more cultures. Argh. And Rusty needs a bath (but don't tell him that), except it's still too cold for him to go outside with wet fur. I don't want him getting any respiratory diseases, to go along with the UTI.

Anybody want a small African violet? When I pass on some of them, I can split up the one I have that's totally exploding out of its pot. Oh, and I can pass around spider plants too. My big spider plant is just sending out spiders left and right. Just let me know! *grin*

Have a good Sunday! Ciao~

Strange things going on in my poor head

So, I've had the same migraine all week. Since Monday. Yup. The generic-brand acetominaphen I've been taking (that WAS working) didn't work today. Which, as you can guess, made me feel real good. Yes sirree, I love my stupid migraines. Excuse me while I go bash my head into the wall...

Which just makes my head hurt more. Hey, having a migraine doesn't exactly enhance the brainpower. But...

After a week of migraine, I'm feeling a little STRANGE. Because that's how I get sometimes. Like when I was taking the good prescription drugs for my migraines. I would take it and go to bed because if I tried to stay awake, well...

However, now it is time for Most Haunted. Because secretly, I think Derek looks like a squirrel in the night vision camera, even though he did leave to make his own show (which premieres right after Most Haunted). And I like watching him look like a squirrel in the night vision camera.

Hope everyone else had a good week, because mine sucked!

Ciao~

Nobody ever sends me any email

Poor, poor sad me. No one ever leaves any comments or sends me any email. Which is why I changed the settings so that you don't need a Blogger account to leave a comment. SO YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms. Along with S.S., who will be eating worms because we didn't need him to come into work today. And the worms that we don't eat will be fed to the dock weenies at the cabin. Yay, fishing!

Only one problem with eating worms. I'm a vegetarian. Hmmm...

Nice warm sweaters

What a nice warm sweater! Here's Rusty playing outside and yelling at me in his new sweater. Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Iknow it's early, but we have to go to the vet today. Rusty needs to have his urine checked, his thyroid levels checked, and get his rabies shot. He's gonna get poked a lot today. But he'll be fine. He'll just be grumpy until he gets a cookie or rawhide chew toy or drink of water or car ride or snuggling or... Yeah. He doesn't stay grumpy for very long.

It's fricking freezing outside, Mr. Bigglesworth. It's February!!! We're supposed to stop having these below zero days, or at least only have one, not three or four in a row. I hate cold. So does Rusty. We want it to be warmer, but Rusty still wants snow because he likes to eat it.

Tomorrow we're having lunch at my parents' house with my brother and his fiancee. Rusty loves his Uncle Matthew! *grin* Rusty loves his Grandpa too. And Grandma. He's shyer with strangers, but if they like him, then he likes them.

That's it for today. I promised a picture of Rusty in his sweater, and now you have it. So I'm going to go play more NEOPETS! Woohoo. Have a lovely weekend!

Ciao~

Wait for it...

Oooo! Look! Another post! With another picture! I must have gone insane.

So, did you go to NEOPETS.COM yet? Look for me and my pets (username abbylou_j). Totally, go play games and have pets and feed them and stuff like that.

I was bored yesterday while I was having a LAUNDRY DAY, so I went through my pictures on my desktop computer (the internet is on my laptop - dude, I'm a geek). And I found a few that I needed to resize (with Paint Shop Pro), so I did and put them onto the laptop so I could put them up here! Sweet.

Actually, maybe I'm just posting because I feel bad for being a slacker (Slacker!) and not posting very often. Not that anybody reads it or anything... *grin*

So, I'm still deciding whether or not I should go back to trying the whole online dating thing. I could use "Must Love Dogs" as my intro line. Errr, that's gotten pretty cliche since that movie came out. And "Insert witty comment here" is so boring, I've seen it a few times. Honestly, the first person who uses it is unique, but the thirtieth person who uses it is no longer funny. And, it doesn't say anything about you. Sigh. I think I'll be holding off on the online thing for awhile longer.

All right, I'm out. Maybe there'll be some interesting stuff to write about this week. Ciao, dudes!