Monday, January 17, 2011

A DOGGIE TREASURE

During the day, when I am home with D & D, I will occasionally give them special nuggets of nutrients. I generally encourage them to earn the nuggets by doing special "tricks" for me. They grab their treat after their unique performance and are off and running.

Scott did yard work with them the other day and those two really enjoyed the adventure. They sniff, dig, mark territory, run, jump, bark, chase, pull up roots, roll in disgusting trash and wear themselves ragged. I was observing these behaviors when Dakota jumped up in the flower pot (just dirt at this time of year) and started digging. She was moving fast and furious. Something had caught her attention and she was going to find it.

Suddenly she leaped onto the ground with what appeared to be some sort of stick. She came towards the window, Diesel in tow, to present her treasure to me. I didn't like the look of that thing . . . it was definately not a stick. It was stringy, a bit gummy, grey in color and I am sure it did not smell pleasant.

I gave a holler to Scott so that he could take a look and perhaps steal it from her. He walked up and wouldn't even touch it. It smelled like nothing he could identify nor did he want to try. He grabbed a shovel, nabbed it from the duo and went straight to the trash.

As far as we could tell it looked to be string cheese that had been buried for several weeks. Perfect for little dogs who like to hide treasures and discover them later.

Another day in Roderick world.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

IT'S A 50'S THING: #17

For whatever reason I have engaged in the dreaded "curlers" of my youth. My hair is getting long and I have resorted to the vintage ritual.

I dampen my hair, roll them in and wrap a silk scarf around my head. I complete chores around the house for about an hour followed by the blow dryer to assure my hair is dry and then I remove the curlers. No brush or comb. I just run my fingers through the curls and I'm ready for my day.

Except for the Treehouse tonight. I returned home from my busy day and was getting ready for bed when a little yellow curler leaped from my head.

Yeah . . . thanks for telling me I still had a curler in my hair.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

IT'S A 50'S THING: #16

We rarely visit McDonald's any more so when Hope was babysitting the other night, Caleb, her charge was delighted to make a trip to the golden arches.

I turned into the back of the restaurant and Hope said "Mom". I continued driving in and Hope ducked down in the seat. I suddenly realized I had driven in the exit of the drive thru. The employees were giving us stunned looks as I continued driving completely out and into the parking lot. I made a U-turn, drove up to the microphone, ordered and drove up to the window with a smile. I am sure those kids working in that McDonald's will have a story to tell for weeks to come.

Hey, I just turned 53 . . . I'm allowed this kind of behavior.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

EMERGENCY!

Blog to Kelsey . . . boys and all their baggage is not an emergency! It is certainly not a way to start a phone call home.

She calls me the other night and said "Mom, this is an emergency"! When I regained consciousness she continued with the current boy drama.

Whew. Dodged another bullet.

IT"S A 50'S THING: #15

Hope grabs the keys and runs to car to go to Elevation, our church's senior high youth program. Scott is right behind her and the house is immediately quiet. I love that.

And then it happens. The horn on the Highlander blares. I sigh. How did they set it off this time? The beeping continues. What is wrong with them? They are disburbing the whole neighborhood and it isn't dogs barking. Hit the button, hit the button, HIT THE BUTTON.

Scott returns after dropping her off and says "We need a new remote battery".

Hmm. Ya think?

NANA'S COOKIE SHEET

Grandpa and Nana came up for a visit and went to Classic Praise at FCCHB. After church, they came home with the girls and made lunch for the family using our kitchen and all of our cooking utensils and gadgets. Lunch was grand and we bid them good by with very satisfied tummies.

We spent Christmas Day in Carlsbad. The family gift this year was a new TV to be place above our fireplace. Each separate family member recieves a small personal gift. My gift was accompanied with the following quote: "Your cookie sheets were dirty, so here's some new ones."

Sigh. I thought they were stained, seasoned and full of cookie love long past.

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF D&D

We save aluminium cans. Always have, always will. There's not big money in it however, it does aid in the support my Starbucks habit. We collect them in a plastic trasha bag that sets on the floor beside the island in the kitchen. When the bag is full it is transported to the Highlander for delivery to the nearest recycle bin.

A short time ago, I was blogging, and generally both Diesel and Dakota sit at my feet when I am on the computer. Our desk top sits directly across from the island in the kitchen.

Several cans in the bag started slowly settling and making a subtle but distinct clinky noise. D&D freaked out. They started barking and howling and began to surround the bag as if they were luring prey and moving in for the kill. The difference is they never make it to the kill. The cans keep settling and making the "noise" which in turn freaks them out all over again. You can understand the vicious cycle that was established. Movement stops, dogs move in, movement begins, dogs move out. I watched these silly dogs for about a minute.

Mercifully, the cans stopped moving and D&D ceased the game.

I now have a massive headache from all the noise and all the belly laughing.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

SCOTT,OROVILLE & HIS MOM & DAD

Last week Scott took a road trip with his mom and dad. They all piled in the car and drove to Oroville, CA to attend a funeral for an unexpected death on the Roderick side of the family. Scott did all the driving as his dad maintained a conversation and his mom dozed in the back seat.

He returned unscathed except for one annoying habit that came home with him. He kept yelling at us. We were all baffled until it finally occurred to us that he had spent several days with people in their eighties. All of them wore hearing aids and all of them kept turning them off so all of them were talking with very loud voices.

Don't fret. We've reintroduced Scott to quieter speaking tones.