Yet Another Stupid Adventure By Julia E

I've got to say when I saw Weston Farm Rd I knew this was a Bad Idea. It actually put Mayfield Rd to shame, especially right after I went straight down hill over rocks and ruts and came around the corner. I almost called the office to tell them I had enjoyed my time working there and not to be sad. There's no picture of what happened next because when you're panicking that's not the first thing you think about. The ruts were deeper than my tires, lined on both sides with rocks, tree branches,etc. I couldn't back up - it was too steep and too close to the edge of the drop off, oh, and did I mention no one knew where I was? Crips - I didn't know where I was! So I had to turn my car around, getting out constantly to make sure my front tires weren't too close to the edge. Once I turned around I had to climb BACK UP the stinking road while trying to not slide off or go in a rut. See it is true - some people never learn and I happen to be one of them. When I called in to the office the first thing Susan said when I told where I'd been was "Oh dear God!" and she said it was the worst road I could've gotten on. Anyhoo, my Mom and cousin Amy are coming down to visit me tomorrow - I'm trying to train the cats to stay off the beds but no dice the cats said so they might have to share. We had a virus visit our computer last night, the Norton Antivirus sent me a little box that announced I had a virus and they couldn't do much about it. The virus was Trojan Abwiz.F, a delightful creature that immediately started trying to send out emails. The Norton and my server refused to send them so while I was trying to deal with containing the trojan  I did it through a sea of scanning and denied messages. The only funny thing was the Norton then popped up a window that assured me " all installed programs were running correctly" - good thing as I hate an incorrectly installed virus. I did manage to get it into quarentine and have run a couple of scans and it is gone. David and I are no longer storing our password though - Jackson said someone had been trying to log on as him with his password last week. David and Jackson were out mowing the lawn again - that's the third time and it's not even May!

Grey Skies Are Going To Clear Up

We got rain, rain rain with enough sunshine inbetween to make the grass grow. All of WV instantly turned green and overgrew, including our yard. It's not even May and we had to cut it for the second time yesterday. Jackson used the riding mower and I did around the trees, etc. David said he's going to let the pastures grow for now. Since he laid waste to them last year it's grass growing in there and not weeds and nettles. David finished up the hall yesterday and will be trimming out the dining room this week. We put a deposit on the pool liner Saturday, it will be a couple of weeks and we were told NOT to drain the pool so it's a bit unattractive at the  moment. I was going to plant around it but I think I'll hold off until it's done since everything will get mashed up when they put the pool in. We did not pick the one I liked best, both David and Jackson picked the same one so we will have a Second Rate Picture along the top and I will just have to Suffer In Silence like I usually do. : )   David is working on Pearl pointing, his friend Cecil gave him a pheasant wing so it gives them both something to do - she's growing unbelievably, isn't she?

Finally done!

I FINALLY finished that stinkin' sweater, I thought I would never get done! It came out smaller than I had intended - sort of. The yarn is, as I mentioned before, elastic so even though I would put the size at a women's small to extra small, it actually can stretch out a great deal. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I never do. I just knit to knit - I'm already scouting for my next project. So if anyone has any idea as to who should get it or if they want it, let me know! It's chilly and rainy today and is supposed to stay that way through the week I think. David is busy painting the hallway today and later when we take Jackson to Becky's we're stopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond - we want to buy curtains for the dining room french doors. Pearl is feeling much better today, her eyes look better too. Dr. Kenney gave us ointment for them but I don't know how we're supposed to do that - David said Pearl is a true vizsla and it took THREE people to get the ointment in her eyes at the vet's yesterday. He said it was pretty funny afterward, 3 adults against 1 puppy that weighs 20 lbs - and she was winning! She's also supposed to be getting ointment in her ears for a few more days - I've tried sneaking up on her but she's a fairly light sleeper. David got half the yard cut but with the rain it's already growing back and we have to stop and put a deposit on the pool liner today so the guy can order it. We are going with blue, that's the only choice besides grey I think and when it comes down to it, there's not too much that would look good anyhow besides blue.

Poor Pearl

Pearl had some more shots yesterday and did well until bedtime. She threw up around 11pm a few times. David let her out to pee and then she insisted on sleeping with Jackson. When we got up this morning she was much worse for wear - lethargic, thin, wouldn't eat and her eyes had a thick yellow discharge. To add to the mix was:David lost a filling and had a dentist appt with a new dentist this morning, the pool guy was coming to give an estimate at 8 am, I had to leave early and Jackson of course had school. No rest for the wicked today. So Jackson and I were out the door at 7 am, David called and made an appt with the vet for 11:30, saw the pool guy,went to the dentist, took Pearl to the vet and made it home ten minutes after I did. The end result was: we cannot do the pool any cheaper and will just have to bite the bullet this year, David likes the new dentist and got his tooth fixed and Pearl just had a reaction to the shots and the discharge is irritation, possibly from all the yard work David's been doing. In other news, we got Pearl's papers back from AKC, her official AKC name is......Pearl The Squirrel, wouldn't it be hilarious if she won Westminister and we had to use that name? She got her little tag(it's like being in the Buck Rodgers Fan Club I suppose) and wears it along with her microchip tag. Next week at work should be interesting, everyone is leaving for points unknown and just me and another part time nurse are in the office to hold down the fort. Good thing I'm made of Sterner Stuff.

Spring Is Here Because I Smell Ramps!!

David made it home Tuesday afternoon without any problems - he was very glad to be back here in his own house. Sometimes the best part of leaving is coming back,isn't it? This sort of lost it's dewy-eyed glow when David perused the lawn in it's jungle - like state. Since he's been gone it's gotten much warmer, sunnier and has rained about every 3rd day and the grass has been growing like crazy and the weeds,well they're growing like weeds I suppose. He's gotten about 1/2 of it done, inbetween all the other catching up. And it turns out the Surprise Tax bill is ours. The previous owners, you know the Reverend of Trash and Non Payments and his lovely wife apparently recieved the tax bill last year and instead of sending it along, just forgot.  I wonder if this is like when they forgot to take thier trash with them and we got Surprise Extra Stuff. Hmm. We have two weeks to pay it before we end up in the paper with all the other delinquent tax payers. This will be just in time for this year's tax bill. Whoopee. Anyhoo, since David is mowing the whole yard reeks of ramps. They grow wild all over, I haven't quite figured out how to pull them out of the clay without breaking them off the stem, they're like scallions I think but smellier. I tried pulling them out after a good rain but no dice. They sell them on the roadside so there's got to be some way of getting them out, but I have yet to find it. So I'm destined to Stop and Smell The Ramps as opposed to ever getting to eat them and no I will NOT buy them - why should I when I have a whole yard full of them? David bought a set of windchimes at Sam's club, they're huge and were only $10. He's walking around the house trying to think of where to hang them and he might get brained with them as they're going BONGBONGBONG as he traipses in and out of the computer room.

So, how were your holidays?

Ours was pretty good. David spent Easter with his family at his mom's house, his sister left back for Florida in the morning, but his other sister, his brother and his brother's girlfriend were at his mom's, plus assorted relatives. Jackson and I spent our holiday with a friend of mine and her family, we had Easter at the Holiday Inn buffet in Fairmont. It was really nice and Susan's dad paid for us which was really sweet. Jackson enjoyed himself a great deal and was yakking away to Susan's brother. David is back to NJ today and then will be back here Tuesday afternoon, I'll be so glad to see him. After he gets back we have to get started on the pool and the back of the house, not to mention the lawn - can you see how it's already overgrown and it's not even the May yet. We've had nice weather with rain every other day so it's growing like crazy. Due to these two things the pool went straight from Light Yucky Green to Intense Murky Brown - there could be  body in there and we would never know it. David has to restart on the back of the house. The whole thing is a cascade effect - we can't fix the fence until we fix the pool, we can't really clean up the wood piles until the back is somewhat completed (David likes to wait until he has a full load before he goes to the dump), etc....Pearl has been doing her part by Defluffing the dandilions, she attacks all the ones that have gone to seed thereby making sure we will have an adequate supply come summer. She is such a little helper, isn't she?

I Love This Picture!

Jackson gave me that picture when he came home, he would probably kill me if he knew I sneaky scanned it, too bad - they look cute don't they? Becky's coming over today and we're going out to dinner tonight. We had a horrid thunderstorm last night followed by a Stupid Barking Dog that had a Stupid Yelling Owner. The dog barked from 10 until midnight with some moron that came out every 20 minutes and screamed at the dog. You would think after an hour or so it would occur to the person that shrieking wasn't working but apparently some people take much longer to figure that out. One of the problems with living in a rural area is everything echos and sounds carry very well - so if the dog in the lower neighborhood is barking it's head off it sounds like it's right in the room with you. It was too stuffy to close the window and then Pearl got all upset and I had to take her out for the first time in almost two weeks during the night. Charger is feeling much,much better and I've reduced his medication today and we'll see how he does. I've got to buy more birdseed today - they are eating like crazy, we refill it every other day now. David moved the birdfeeder to the tree out front, we can still see it but the cats cannot use it as a snack dispenser. The effect of this however, is the birds are now flocking to it, I looked out the other day and saw six of them at once piled on it!

All In A Day's Work

Yesterday was driving day, here and there, back and forth. I don't know what I would do without my GPS - aside from being able to find just about anything the other two things are: it finds any shortcuts and is a rolling map of the road as I drive along. That way I can see any sharp turns, curves, cross roads, etc before I hit them - given the fact the roads here go up and down making it impossible to see ahead at times, that makes it so much easier. When I was driving yesterday there was an 18 wheeler that could've used a GPS, I wish I could've gotten a better picture of it but there were cars behind me and of course, no where to pull over so I did the best I could. The whole thing was flipped over on it's side and there were a ton of people getting ready to haul it out, the driver had been removed so they were having a grand time of it. Jackson arrived home yesterday afternoon, he had a great time and the Roberts told me they had been glad to have him along. Jackson helped Bob do repairs at his mother's house for the weekend and then was just nice and polite for the rest of the trip. They went to an aquarium, Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum and Dollywood was having an international festival so Jackson got to see Chinese acrobats in Pidgeon Forge, Tennesee. Never saw that one coming, did you? I think he's glad to be home and will be allowed to hook up his games for the weekend since it is vacation. Charger is feeling a bit better I think, I'm keeping him drugged for a couple more days at least, I NEVER want to hear him make that awful noise again. Pearl seems to sense he doesn't feel good and has held it down to a low roar as best she can. She's a pest with the rawhides, she seems to feel they should be a group thing and either insists you hold it while she chews or she likes to chew them with Charger - fortunately Charger just likes being able to have them so he doesn't care one way or the other.

The Song Remains The Same

Well, things got worse yesterday before they got better. Charger was better when I left for work -he ate and was even running around a bit. When I got home at noon he seemed to be ok - I made an appt at the vet's for 6 pm when they could squeeze me in and even though he seemed to be ok was not cancelling it. I've discovered in the past if you do that whatever you made the appt for will return with a vengence - around 3 am. He and Pearl went into the kitchen to eat and I'm sure she must've jumped on him. He was screaming, if it's possible for a dog to do that and came flailing out of the kitchen, he couldn't stop. The only thing I could do was sit and hold him until whatever it was subsided. I told Pearl to stop which wasn't necessary - she wouldn't go near him with a ten foot pole after that. He didn't do too much moving around until we got to the vet - everyone that walked by kept telling me how well behaved he was and in reality he was too scared to move. He has a pinched nerve in his neck. I was glad it wasn't worse than that, but he's on a muscle relaxant and painkiller and I was told to keep Pearl from playing with him. That is not a problem because if you are a dog and on muscle relaxant and painkillers, the Cossacks could come in and dance on your head and you wouldn't care in the least.

Sick As A Dog

Charger was fine until sometime after dinner last night - nothing specific, just got very quiet and didn't want to be bothered. Pearl tried to get him to play but gave up.We went to bed around 11 and I almost fell out around 1 am - Charger let loose with one of the loudest and most mournful howl I've ever heard. Pearl became hysterical right away and then of course, sigh, everyone had to go out. I'm hoping it's an ear infection, with Charger it's hard to pinpoint what's the matter. He's a bit better this morning, chased the stick a little bit and stole Pearl's food twice but after brief periods of activity he sinks right back down again. This is not good - especially with Copper having passed away just recently. David by the way did NOT take Copper's ashes back to LI with him. After all that strum and bother about how he didn't want Copper's remains so far away from home, yada yada yada now we are keeping him around. We are NEVER creamating and bringing home ashes again, all I envision is this row of little wooden boxes lining the entertainment center...... anyhow, I'm calling the vet and making an appt later - today is my half day and I think Charger will be alright until this afternoon. Jackson called last night and is having a great time in Tennesee. They went to the Ripley's Believe it or not museum and then to an aqurium, they're doing Dollywood today. I think he's enjoying this trip more than he thought he would. David and Ray are working steady on the kitchen inbetween restaurant visits and will be heading out to LI this coming weekend - I think they're both excited about that. And I'm back to work today. pooh.

Hanging out with the homeboys

There's not as much to do as you would think. I've cleaned the house - there's a bit more to do, but I don't feel like doing much I'm afraid. I did watch "Sixteen Candles" all the way through without the peanut gallery making comments about some people having seen many, many times. I can't help it - it ALWAYS comes out right in the end, what more can you ask? I heard from both boys, Adam is "waxing poetic" about the navy again, he goes between career and tired of it all. Jackson is in Tennesee today, they were in the very very corner of Va visiting Becky's grandma and now they're going to party like there's no tomorrow in Pidgeon Forge. I'm doing a bit better with Pearl, she seems to have calmed down on the Poo Scale, we only had one accident today. I went looking for advice last night in the Dog chat room - did you know there's such a thing? There is! And they are all as strange as you think they are. I had one - Tucha I think her name was - who announced I should IMMEDIATELY crate Pearl. I pointed out that Pearl had never been crated, where was I going to get a crate at 9 pm and I didn't think stuffing her in a box when she was already upset was the way to go. I then was called "dense". I pointed out to Tucha she was the rudest person I'd ever heard and perhaps someone should stuff HER in a crate. This had the same effect as pitching a banana in with a bunch of rabid monkeys. I do have to admit though I do find it somewhat amusing to stir the pot - I mean what kind of adults spend all of thier free time hanging around a DOG CHAT ROOM?? And I peeked today - the same people that were there last night are there all the time, perhaps they should start hanging out in the "get a life' room. Anyhoo, I am not welcome to Chat About My Pet anymore, I did find someone(in a different room as the rest of the room was frantically defending the Tucha person)who suggested I put the food up sooner and walk her later and that seemed to help. I have tomorrow off and then it's back to the salt mines. For half a day. Poor me.

Sunday Driving

I've wanted to go explore Cooper's Rock for the past few months. It's a park that was named for a fugitive cooper who was hiding from the law. He continued his trade of barrel making from the forest for many years and sold them to people living nearby. Here's the Official Website --> http://www.coopersrockstateforest.com/index.html I planned to take Pearl today after a full night of rest. Pearl however, prevented the "full" part by barking and making me think there was a serial killer in the house for part of the night. I finally fell asleep about midnight and Pearl decided to spend the next 4 hours that I was sleeping having a Poo-Spree so that when she woke me up at 4 am - and who knows why since she no longer needed to go out - I could be greeted by poo in every room. The only other explanation would be the Serial Killer got scared, pooped all over and ran. I have to admit I am not the cheeriest person in the morning, most of the time I'm fairly grumpy. Being presented with a boatload of poop effectively pushed me WAY over to the dark side. So we got to the park around 8:30 am since I like to do my initial exploring without anyone around, the park is beautiful and we walked for about 45 minutes before heading home. As it gets warmer we'll stay longer  - not to mention I would prefer the REAL bathroom to the "pit toilet" which is just a professional outhouse( it would've been wise of me to skip the 4rth cup of coffee before leaving for the park...). I especially love the fact of the open window, I mean there's no one around to see you anyhow but it is a bit daunting. Jackson called from Va yesterday, they had a tornado watch but got thunderstorms. They're heading off to Tenn on Monday. David and Ray are having fun in NJ and are starting the kitchen this morning in between meals out at all the local restaurants.

The Sound Of Silence

Well, everyone left this morning with the usual running back for one more thing and so forth. David got his usual jitters as he got ready to get on the road at 6, but when I called him at 9:30 am he was fine and more than halfway there. Jackson had to be to Becky's by 7 am and started off fine, but then started dawdling and and winding down so he needed to be goaded along.. He started to run back once but there wasn't enough time - I don't think he forgot anything - I think it was just that feeling you get before you leave that you didn't turn something off or there's one more thing you must've overlooked. . He and Becky had to go in this morning to be counted and to finish getting signed up for thier schedules for thier junior and senior year. Jackson has decided to go into M- tech - he wants to be a welder so that's where he'll be for the next couple of years. He'll take that along with all of his other requirements and that way he can either go to college or work for awhile and then go. I got home by 7:30 am and after taking the dogs out, started my work day, today was Pennsylvania day and I just ran from one to the other. It was my half day, but after all the racing around this morning, I was pooped by noon.  Pearl has been needy since I got home, she doesn't seem to understand why I'm home and THEY are not. We've been out about a jillion times and I've gotten zilch done, if I'm not paying attention to her she's crying or trying to get my attention again. Can you see how big she is now? She doesn't look like a puppy at all, she looks like a small version of an adult vizsla. She and Charger are getting along better, although he still thinks she's a pest, he plays with her willingly and seems to enjoy having company to wander outside with. Good thing - she just barely fits on our laps anymore so she needs to sit with someone!

Look Out Below

I tried to get a good picture of the "falling rock zone" to give an idea of how big the rocks are - it's hard to tell  but the rock is about the same size as my car. As you can see it slants downward in a threatening way - now explain to me what good that sign is. The only thing I can think of is if the rock does fall, some representative from the D.O.T. comes along, sticks his head in what's left of your car window, says " I told you so" and leaves. Other than that you're on your own. In other news David is much better, he finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with bronchitis and put on a week of antibiotics. We got to sleep through the whole night last night, even Miss Pee-body stayed asleep. I finished the Viking Hat which I gave to a co-worker for his 3 year old son. Bet you didn't even know I was working on a viking hat! I'm experiencing "sweater avoidance" as that blue sweater will never be done at the rate I'm going - especially with all the hats I've been making. The viking hat was turned out to be not so fun - I made it with real wool so I could try my hand at felting. According to the book it was easy - you get a little bowl of water as hot as you can stand it, mush the project around and voila! Felted! Hmm. Needless to say I was feeling a bit taken for a ride-ish last night after agitating the stinkin' thing for half an hour and it swelled to the size of a small poodle skirt. After shrieking for the fates to take me and being a bit dramatic, I amped up the water a bit by BOILING IT, used a wooden spoon to agitate until the steam stopped rolling across the top, then threw the whole mess in the washing machine for awhile using more hot water and an old mesh bag I found. After an hour OR SO the frigging thing finally resembled the hat in the book. Voila my ass. This morning it looked great and I sewed it together even though it was still wet - and probably will be for the next week. There will be no more felting for me!

Can I have some Tar with that?

Fox Hill Rd was an in-betweeny sort of a road, not as bad as Mayfield Rd ( the road against which all roads are measured) but it had it's moments. If you want to see it - you get off of I-79 and go down Kirby-Garard's Fort Rd, turn off at Shriver Hill and BOOM. There you are, the wind in your hair and the rocks in your head. This week has been a driving week, I've put over two hundred miles and it's not even Wednesday!! I'm a bit tired today, David's feeling better but is still having coughing fits around 1 am. This in turn wakes up The Puppy That Needs To Sleep A Bit More Because Everyone Is Getting Tired Of Playing With Her and then she had to go pee which she does about six jillion times a day ANYHOW and then maybe have something to eat and then she spent a bit more time trying out everyone's pillows and patience. Sigh, I went back to sleep just in time for the alarm to go off. David and Jackson are getting ready for thier big trips, we need to count underpants and so forth. Jackson will be gone for 6 days and David for more, I did get my vacation days which I'm pretty excited about. From Friday afternoon to Wednesday I am a layabout!!

Growing Fast

Pearl weighed in at 9 pounds when we got her and now, about 3 weeks later weighs 15. Her legs are hilarious - if it was deerhunting season she'd have to stay in the house. She was working on very bad behavior yesterday, she seems to go back and forth between Good Pearl and Bad Pearl. Yesterday David finished steam cleaning the carpets. Two things happened. It rained a lot thereby kicking up a huge amount of mud and Pearl seemed unable to resist acres of clean carpeting and spent a great deal of time Sneaky-Pooping about the house. She managed to drive everyone completely nuts because her other new thing is asking to go out a million times a day and then the one time you wait 5 minutes to take her out- oops, there it is. Sigh. I know this too will pass, but I just wish it would pass a little faster. Jackson is getting all excited about Tennessee AND has been very cruel in gloating around his mother. He did confirm that he WILL be spending time in DollyWood and I'm so jealous I could spit. He told me he would pick up some souveniers and if he saw Dolly he would say hi - Grrrr. I think I'm the only person in the world that hasn't been to Dollywood. David called his mom to let her know he'd be home for Easter - he was going to surprise her but I told him that might not be a good idea. Not because of the cardiac problems but she might go over someone's house and not be there, then he would be the one being surprised. Ray I think is very excited about seeing David and spending a couple of weeks with him. I'm excited about having some time alone - on the other hand yesterday David and Jackson were out late. The pets weren't happy so they ALL joined me on the couch and all I could think was I have way too many animals.