Watch this space...

This emptiness will be replaced by me passing on some blog bling...But the kids hijacked the computer and now I am too tired to do it tonight...

What Happened on Wednesday?

This is my new thing for Wednesdays...and I am actually doing it on Wednesdays (unlike my Favorite Photo Friday. On Saturday. theme, which is where I post a favorite photo, call it Friday, because it's a nice alliteration, but actually do it on Saturday...)

But because I am not a normal person, I will be reminiscing (telling stories on my kids and friends and family and myself), as if THEY HAPPENED ON A WEDNESDAY. As if all the funny, pathetic, sad, humorous, boring, fascinating, wild, insane, tedious things have happened to me on a Wednesday.

(This is a repost from mid-November...Some of you maybe weren't here yet, and well, I find it funny so the rest of you will just have to suffer it again...)

Today for the first time since his surgery I had to leave Abe alone for a couple hours.

At first I was thinking I could leave him in my bedroom with the door closed, but then he would want to get on the bed with Mojo, and that would be bad. He is not allowed to jump off furniture -- it could mess up his newly repaired knee.

So I decided to get the dog cage out. (I was working under a deadline, my ride was on her way). I opened the first Rubbermaid shed outside. No cage. Checked the second. Still no cage. Whipped around the corner and down the side of the house to the third shed. Cool! The cage is here, and right in front! Things are working out. I can do this...

Except bleh. Mouse poopage in the shed. Right there. Dang. And then, even worse, mouse poopage creator in the shed. A big fat healthy-looking mouse runs out. Stares at me for a second, then runs down into the back corner of the shed.

(Just telling this is making my eyes itchy and my skin feel crawly. I am going to have to shower when I finish writing this...)

But I don't have time to scream and get all girly. My ride is almost here and I still have to put the cage together. So I drag half the cage around the back of the house and through the house to the front of the house. I don't know why I didn't just go out the gate that was right there -- could have saved me from dragging the cage all that way. I guess between the mouse and the time crunch I wasn't doing alot of thinking and planning.

I go back to get the other half of the cage parts. The fat little pest runs out and under the box next to the shed. Yuck again. Mice are not cute.

As I am dragging the second half of the cage down the side of the house, halfway across the backyard, and then through the family room into the living room, I think, "mouse germs. That nasty little bastard could have used the cage for a ladder and now there are mouse germs."

So I drag the cage (man am I getting sick of this cage) out the front door and lean it against the palm trees. Two trips because this is a huge unwieldy cage in six parts.

Suddenly I think, "Hanta virus. Mice in the desert Southwest carry the Hanta virus." So great. Now not only will I have a dog with Valley Fever, I will kill the other one -- the one I just spent a pile of money on to fix his knee -- with a Hanta virus-laden cage.

So I go into the bathroom to get the Lysol. While in the bathroom, I accidentally glance in the mirror and realize I have not yet combed my hair. I reach back to do something with the back of it, and now. Wham. Hanta virus on my head. Crap.

I think, "I do not have time to take another shower. Just don't touch anything else." So I spray Lysol on the dog cage, drag it back inside, get the new cushy soft fleecy dog blanket, and set the cage up. Then I wash my hands, go in the bathroom and use hairspray on my head -- now I have the Hanta virus lacquered to my scalp. Yay.

I am brushing my teeth when my ride shows up. I stuff Abe in the cage, toss Abe and Mo each a couple of treats, and then ask my friend if there is the Hanta virus in southern Arizona. Yup.

So now I have a hysterical case of the Hanta virus. Thanks to the internet, I know this means I should be getting a headache, joint pain, stomach pain, lower back pain, coughing, nausea and vomiting, and then possibly die.

On the good side, it doesn't seem to effect dogs. So I didn't waste my money on Abe's knee.

Yeah, yeah...I know that the common house mouse doesn't carry the Hanta virus -- it looked like a plain old mouse to me, but I didn't ask to see his ID...And it is an incredibly rare disease. But having an hysterical case of it is much more interesting than "hey. I saw a mouse today."

If it's Tuesday, it must be........'Tato Head Tuesday!!!

The "T" word for this Tuesday is 'Tato Head. This was inspired by the photo of Optimash Prime in my Weekly Winners...

So, with no further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the 'Tato Head:



Dracula (unfortunately he had to borrow Darth Tater's cape!)

Bunny tail

Easter bunny

Hold on a sec, I dropped my knife...

Just back from Disneyland!

Abracapresto!

This one is just sad -- poor little Potato Head has a Halloween costume that looks like it's a size and a half too small -- see his belly hanging out over the shoes?

Boo!

Darth Tater

The studio.

My Sunflower Moment for Today

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

There is not a day that goes by that you can't find something good about the world and your fellow human.

A while ago I took one of those on-line quizzes. Turns out I am a Pollyanna Sunflower...I just bubble over with good somethings about the world and my fellow human.

So. My sunflower moment for today. Something good about the world and my fellow human. Does that mean all humans, or can I just find something good about a subset of humanity. like there do not seem to be any serial killers living in my neighborhood?

okay. Probably not the best example. Mom bloggers are fun, and remind me how glad I am to have moved on to the teenage phase of parenting. My kids, for proving that teenagers are terrific and fascinating creatures.

Politicians, for proving that optimism and fellowship and statesmanship are alive and well in the United States...whoops. Not the politicians. Okay, the televangelists...no. Pro athletes. Sure, except for steroid use, killing dogs for sport, blood doping, losing medals, betting on games...

Maybe I am the cranky sunflower...

I just took the quiz again..now (drumroll please!)

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

You have a sunny disposition and are normally one of the first to show up for the party. You don't need too much attention from the host once you get there as you are more than capable of making yourself seen and heard.

Well, this sounds more like me...

Weekly Winners

As always, thank you Lotus!

Tess and I made bread pudding with our friend Vickie. I really like this photo of the bowl full of torn up bread because the bread is out of focus, but the reflection of the bread in the side of the bowl is in focus.

It was unintentional. I have gotten lots of unintentional but interesting or decent shots because of my old camera, but -- drumroll please -- this week I got a new camera!

That's right, I replaced my decent but limited point and shoot with a much more bells and whistles SLR digital!

This is the very first photo taken with my new camera. Zachary is thrilled beyond words to be the first subject of the first photo of the new camera...

I have been taking lots of random photos trying to figure out the camera. Lots of random photos, like these:

Optimash Prime, the Mr Potato Head Transformer. And yes, I think the Hulk is laughing at him. And who could blame him, since Mr PH looks like he is wearing one of those psuedo-military jackets Michael Jackson liked in the 80's....


One last bit of Christmas

Another useless (but pretty) pile of pebbles


I know. I have a thing for palm trees.



Seriously. A thing. For palm trees. I don't even like palm trees.



Thor's science fair project



A marionette we bought in Prague.


The dogs. At full speed.


We had another terrific event this week, besides the camera! My daughter's elementary school was named the greenest grade school in America. It was announced on the Ellen Degeneres show...each kid gets an IPod Shuffle with a solar charger and a year's supply of All laundry detegent, and the school gets $50,000!



We are watching the announcement on the Ellen show.


All in all, we had a pretty exciting week!