Adventures in Doggie-Sitting

I'm spending this weekend with Charlie and Sammy. They're sweet boys. Big, beautiful golden colored cockers. Last night, after an evening of doggie treats and ear rubs, they both slept snuggled up next to me on the bed. This morning I made them a good breakfast, let them outside for a brisk, morning frolic and a nice, big poop in the grass. At the moment the two of them are lying here at my feet, licking their weiners. Don't wanna brag about my doggie-sitting abilities, but if that doesn't describe a day in the life of a blissfully happy boy, I just don't know what does.

Calling all
CAMPER GIRLS!



CAMP DEBBIE
2008

Saturday, October 4
Watch your mail/email for more info
See you 'round the camp fire!!

(In her continuing efforts to provide her Camper Girls with a stimulating, enriching, fun-filled experience under the stars your Director has gone to great length to assure that this year there will be : NO arrests. No chain saws. And as per usual, plenty of toilet paper in the trees. I'd also like to take this moment to apologize for leading you all astray by telling you that it is warmer if you sleep naked in your sleeping bag. I swear I heard that from a boy scout, however, recent perusals of Arctic survival manuals indicate this to be the pinnacle of MISinformation and, in fact, it is warmer to sleep....just like your mother told you........in layers. It has been suggested to the Director that perhaps the original boy scout that gave her the advice, had less-than-honorable motives at the time of the suggestion. Aghast at the incomprehensible thought this may well be true, Director Debbie sincerely apologies for that cccccold night)

Green Thumbs and Gratitude

Friday morning there was a nice little Ziploc bag full of garden-picked green beans waiting for me at my desk when I got to the office. Can you see how neat and tidy they are, all lined up in the bag? Phyllis picked them from her garden. She's equally as fastidious about her work in our office. If a folder can't be found in it's proper spot in the cabinet, trust me, it's not because Phyllis misfiled it. Her gardens are as neat and tidy as her work in our office. And her co-workers are her grateful beneficiaries.


Look at those beans! It's like she has them trained like little garden soldiers, toe to toe in their rows, no single bean standing out as longer than the other. That's some kinda green thumb to make that happen. But the real magic is in the eating.


A little bit of maple-smoked bacon, a sprinkle of salt, a bit of butter and a nice bottle of wine....


Ohhhh baby. Nummers.
Thank you, Phyllis!!!!!!

Waited all my life to be a Grandma..........

It just gets better and better.

Becca, you're not alone......

Misery loves company (and perhaps a shared vodka bottle) so I want Becca in Alaska to know that I feel her pain. You can read her recent tale of technology woe on her blog Turtletraxtoo.....click on the link over there >>> on the right side of my blog page.

I spent last weekend house doggie sitting for some friends. Keep in mind now, I'm old enough that I remember how annoying it was to stand in front of the black and white console tv set adjusting the vertical hold only to have the picture refuse to quit rolling. For years we turned on the family TV with a pair of needle nose pliers because the plastic on/off switch was stripped.

The first night I stayed at my friends place I just sat in the living room and stared at the entertainment center full of technology I barely recognized, let alone understood how to operate. There was a big ol' tv above the fireplace. DVD player. This box thingie that I think holds one of those IPod thingies, with cords coming out of it and some speaker-like thingies. Speakers. A baby monitor walkie-talkie kind of dealies. A picture frame that has these digital pictures that change all the time. And a teensy little screen thing....have not a clue what it is....it's got a tiny antenna and all sorts of buttons.

There were three remote controls on the fireplace mantle. And this:


I can read, so I know it's a DirecTV box. But I have no clue what it does.

I arrived with a nice little stack of rented DVD's to while away the weekend keeping the pups company, only to find that I could not......after two full hours of button-pushing get them to play.
I punched buttons and lights would flash, then lights would go out. Channels would come on, channels would disappear. No movies. Not even network tv stations.

I admit it. I am technology challenged. I ended up spending the weekend watching a channel that offered non-stop infomercials about odd machines that make gross looking juices out of anything you choose to throw into the hopper with it's big, swirling blades.

It is for times like this that I carry a purse-size bottle of Bailey's with me at all times.

Cool Rocks

My son David brought me this little round rock from Colorado.


Looked like a little stone golf ball, just that size.
A nice little geode, first one we've ever found intact.
They're hollow and we couldn't wait to see what was hiding in side.

A quick tap of a hammer.....




Cool, huh?

Hello Mongolia!!

This is called a Cluster Map.
Specifically of course, it's a map of Europe and Asia and Africa.

You'll find the tiny, active version of this map at the very bottom of this page. It keeps track, by way of fancy red dots of varying sizes, who stops by this blog to take a read.

Looky, looky up there in the upper right hand corner.
How well do you know your geography???
That is a VERY special red dot up there.

This is indeed, an exciting day in the life of Director Debbie. I have my FIRST reader from MONGOLIA!!!!!!!!! Am I serious? You betcharoo I'm serious. Mongolia is at the top of my wish list of places I want to visit. I am a CRAZY PERSON over info on Mongolia. I've been nuts over everything Mongolian for years and years. I Google Mongolia and look for Mongolia web sites. I don't care if I ever get to the Bahamas, don't care if I ever see the Wailing Wall, don't care if I ever get to see the fabulous lights over Rio at night. But I am going to be sorely disappointed if I don't get to Mongolia before I die. Sorely.

Well duh........yes of course I love Mongolian Beef. I strongly suspect Mongolian Beef is not, in fact, Mongolian. One of these days I will come home from my first visit there and I will tell you for sure.

HELLO MONGOLIA!!!!!!!!
Oh how I have been waiting for you.

A B C

Six years ago I bought a new book bag and headed off to school. To celebrate the occasion, my daughter (who was a senior in college at the time) and friend Judy both gave me big, new boxes of crayons. What a shock when I opened the lids and found all sorts of new colors tucked inside. Shocking Pink! Outrageous Orange! The rows looked like a tightly folded congregation of old Grateful Dead t-shirts. My goodness how the exciting world of "The First Day of School" had changed!

My little granddaughter came to my graduation in 2007 and helped me celebrate. It was a real joy to have her there with me to celebrate that day. She's in preschool this year, next fall she'll start Kindergarten and in May of 2010 on the grand occasion of her completion of her very first year of school --- Grandma will have earned her masters degree.



It's decided.
The papers are signed.
I'm going back to school.
Classes start in two weeks.

Silent.
Graceful.




I could stand in front of this tank at the zoo and watch the jellyfish for hours.





Magic.

Does this commercial make you CRAZY???????

I love television commercials.

I like to study them as marketing tools. They are a fascinating aspect of business. Mostly I love when I find a commercial that illustrates some real creative genius. The annual Super Bowl commercials often are great examples. Unfortunately, many commercials are annoyingly absent of even the tiniest hint of creativity. Some of them miss the mark and drive me nuts.

Case in point.

Seriously.
I am soooo embarrassed for the people in this commercial. Have you seen it? I have nothing against A) grey hair B) great classic rock music from wayyy back when or C) having fun. It's just the whole creepy, contrived feeling of this commercial that bugs me. At the end of the spot the beautiful man with the perfect grey hair says, "Never trust anyone over 90".
Ohhh whatever, man.

You can see the commercial here: www.touchofgray.com

Wow, sure looks like a good time to me.
As my friend Bob would say, "Bring on the cake!"