On Fire!

We went to the snow today. We go to a place that is in the middle of no where and pull off the road. We set up a sledding run, built a fire and had a yummy lunch.

At one point we were all sitting around the fire and Drew and Marty said, "eeewwww something smelly just burned in the fire." I was sitting right next to them and didn't smell anything. But I looked in their direction and saw the source of the smell.....Daisy Mae was sitting next to me and there was an ember on her shoulder. The smell was burning labrador fur! She had no idea that she was ON FIRE! I rubbed it and put snow on it and she was good to go.

All the gifts at one time

Here is Gracie wearing her new xmas jammies, xmas socks and xmas roller blades!

A very doggy xmas

The dogs made out like bandits this xmas. Ahi and I got matching clothes - mine a hat and hers a sweater. Daisy got this great rain coat!

Fernando

Last year our xmas tree was named Frasier. This year, we named it Fernando. Fernando is Frasier's brother.

We had slight problem - we couldn't find our xmas oranaments at the cabin. So we went to the second hand store in town and bought all the ornaments shown on the tree for $5! Such a deal and it looked great!

B-day

Here is a pic of us eating a yummy enchilada bday dinner and a pic of Drew's bday bike!

Word of the Week

COMPENDIUM

com-pen-di-um  
Spelled Pronunciation [kuhm-pen-dee-uhm]
noun, plural -di-ums, -di-a  

1. a brief treatment or account of a subject, esp. an extensive subject; concise treatise: a compendium of medicine.
2. a summary, epitome, or abridgment.
3. a full list or inventory: a compendium of their complaints

I had never heard this word before today. Someone metioned a report in a meeting and called it a compendium. Of course, I had to go and look it up! It is true what they say - you learn something everyday!

Accessibility

This is a great video that highlights the work being done to help folks with accessibility issue access the Internet. I have worked with both these guys and they are two amazing advocates for people with special needs. It is worth a watch to broaden your knowledge of special needs.


http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=yahoo+web+accessibility&n=21&ei=utf-8&js=1&fr=yfp-t-701&tnr=21&vid=0001835925915

Quote of the Week

"Me and my posse, "Salt and Peppa", are going out tracking in the morning."


That is what Jim told me last nite. What he meant was, he was taking the white dog (Daisy) and the black dog (Ahi) and going out for a walk on the levee to look for coyotes.

What he should have said was, "I am taking dumb and dumber out for a walk in the morning and I hope the little one doesn't get eaten by a coyote."

New Gear

We apparently don't have enough gear....so we had to go out and buy some more. This is a new snowboard rack for my truck. It fits onto the bike rack we already had. It will be nice not to have to put the boards in the truck with us.

Drew's bday is tomorrow

Stay tuned for pics of his super cool 14th bday present!!!!

What a place to work....

At work today when I was walking back from getting a tea, there were two guys playing darts in one of their offices. Apparently the group foosball, pool table and air hockey games were not enough!

Jim in Drag

I recently signed Jim up for life insurance thru work. He just got the paperwork in the mail that had all the details on it.

Imagine his surprise when I made a mistake and listed him as a female! A 6 foot 5 inch, 215 pound female.....wheeeewww....UGLY!

He had to call the company and tell them that even though it said female, he had NOT received a sex change operation and he was, in fact, male.

Giggle!

Love to eat!

My baby boy is turning 14 next week. He is 6 feet tall, weighs more than me and has a fuzzy upper lip! I can't believe it - time goes so fast.

We are having a family dinner in celebration of his birthday and when I asked him what he wanted, he told me he wanted "veggie black bean burritos". They are these black bean burritos that we make with fake meat. It made me realize that I am so lucky these kids of mine will eat anything:

* They cheer when we have roasted cauliflower
* They think everyone eats tofu at least once a week
* They beg for Indian food and Japanese food
* They are always up for any random animal Jim kills
* They love any type of seafood
* The roasted brussel sprouts are eaten before dinner even starts
* They get mad if there are no vegetables to add to their top ramen

They both come from a long line of foodies, from both sides of the family, and it shows! Lucky for them, they both have hollow legs!

Quarters

For Gracie's soccer team, we collect quarters for each goal they score thru the season. Everyone watching the game puts a quarter in our party fund jar (see pic). The great thing is everyone get so into it that we often get a dollar for each goal. At the end of the season we count it all up and use if for our pizza party. This year, we made $155 dollars!

A new kind of pet

On the way to Gracie's soccer game this morning, we saw a woman pushing another woman in a wheel chair, while walking their donkey! Honestly, a donkey in Palo Alto, walking down the street. That was the strangest thing I have seen in a long time!

Coyote Morning

We ran into a bunch of coyotes while out walking this morning. The first time, I was walking up a hill to get onto the levee. The dogs were off leash. I looked up and saw a coyote looking at us from the levee. The dogs saw it at the same time and went after it. Daisy Mae came back immediately on calling her. Dog of Little Brain (Ahi) took longer to return. Luckily, she returned.

I waited for a friend and then we continued on the levee. After about 300 yards, we saw two more coyotes on the hill looking at us. They were probably 150 feet away from us. We put the dogs on leash and went the other way! We continued our walk in the safety of the neighborhood!

Here are some interesting facts about coyotes:

One of the keys to the coyote's success is its diet. A true scavenger, the coyote will eat just about anything. Identified as a killer of sheep, poultry and deer, the coyote will also eat snakes and foxes, doughnuts and sandwiches, rodents and rabbits, fruits and vegetables, birds, frogs, grass and grasshoppers, pet cats and cat food, pet dogs and dog food, carrion, and just plain garbage.

Coyotes are active mainly during the nighttime, but they can be moving at any time during the day. Most sightings of coyotes occur during the hours close to sunrise and sunset.

Adult coyotes weigh between 20 and 45 pounds. Females are generally smaller than males and western coyotes are generally smaller than eastern coyotes.

Coyotes look like small collie dogs. They have erect pointed ears, slender muzzle, and a bushy tail. Most coyotes are brownish gray in color with a light gray to cream-colored belly. However, a coyote's color varies and may be somewhat darker or lighter depending upon the geographic region and the time of year. Most coyotes have dark or black hairs over their back and tail.

A high reproductive rate and rapid growth of offspring aid in the coyote's success. Coyotes breed in February and March and pups are born about 60 days later. An average coyote litter contains four or five pups. Pups are born in dens. In urban environments, dens can be in storm drains, under storage sheds, in holes dug in vacant lots, parks, or golf courses, or any other dark, dry place.

Pups are cared for by both parents and can eat meat and move about well by the time they are a month old. Because food requirements increase dramatically during pup rearing, this is a period when conflicts between humans and urban coyotes are common. By 6 months of age, pups have permanent teeth and are nearly fully grown. About this time, mother coyotes train their offspring to search for food so it is not unusual to observe a family group traveling through parks and golf courses. If food is deliberately or inadvertently provided by people, the youngsters quickly learn not to fear humans and will develop a dependency on easy food sources.

After this training period, usually in October and November, most young disperse and find their own breeding territory, but one or two pups may stay with the parents and become part of the family group. Although coyotes tend to travel and hunt singly or in pairs, they may form groups as population densities increase or where food is abundant such as in urbanized areas.

In areas where they are hunted or trapped, coyotes are extremely wary of human beings. However, in urban areas where they are less likely to be harmed and more likely to associate people with an easy and dependable source for food, they can become very bold. They will come up to the door of a house if food is regularly present. Coyotes have learned that small dogs and cats are easy prey. Newspapers across the country have carried stories of coyotes harassing leashed dogs on walks with their owners in and near parks and golf courses within city limits.

Hockey Gear

Gracie's getting new hockey gear for xmas. Here I am modeling the new stuff! Notice the jammies I am wearing underneath!

Quote of the Week

The quote of the week is from a friend I used to work with. She was telling me about how she had to have a bunch of major dental work done....she said....

"the dentist recommended that I get implants (teeth NOT tits)!"

I was howling with laughter!

Crashes, foul mouths and bongs!

Earlier this week, I was commiserating with a coworker about the drama of raising teenagers. And boy was I not ready for his response....

He is a southern guy, who is very well dressed, educated and prim and proper. He has a 17 year old son. He reported that his son has been in 5 car accidents since he got his license a year ago and has been kicked out of school for telling the principal to "f off"! But the best was when he told me that his son made and posted a youtube video where he demonstrated how to smoke pot out of a bong! Apparently he was smart enough not so show his face on the video....but my friends living room was clear in the background!

Made me feel much better about my troubles with trying to get Drew caught up with school work after being sick this semester!

A little scare

Over Thanksgiving, I found a tumor on Daisy Mae's side. It is near her ribs, close to her belly and is about 2 cm. Normally I don't worry about such things because dogs get tumors. But this felt a little different then the fatty tumors our other dogs have had. So I took her into the vet yesterday. The diagnosis is fatty tumor! So we just have to keep an eye on it. The reason it feels different is that it is attached to her body cavity instead of free floating between her skin and her fat. Other than that, she looks great.

The chiweenie....that's another story. She is fat! She weighs 15 pounds and I think she should be about 12. We have to stop giving her snacks! And she tried to bite the vet in the chin. Embarassing!

O-

Gave blood today. That means I got to eat snacks and have a "hearty meal" afterwards! That's the best reason for giving blood!