Tag Archives: dogs

The Great Chicken Caper

Posted on June 26, 2012 | 4 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Welcome to Mystery Investigations – Going to the Dogs, a new reality show that chronicles the investigations performed by our intrepid adventurer who refuses to stop until she has reached the truth. Today’s episode features “The Mystery of the Missing Chicken.”

I brought home a serving of chicken and rice as takeout one evening, and unfortunately Mark did not like the chicken. I went ahead and fixed him a can of soup, so while I was doing so, I placed the chicken plate on the kitchen counter and then forgot about it – until I brought the soup bowl back in the kitchen, where I found the following plate awaiting me:

The Plate With (or Without) the Missing Chicken!

While I am not a trained investigator, it was difficult to miss the fact that the leg and breast quarter that formerly resided on the plate was now missing. Even worse, it was completely missing – there were no left over bones lying on the kitchen floor, no grease anywhere, no chicken skin or spare pieces of chicken. Not a single speck.

Since Kayla wasn’t home that night, we only had three potential suspects.

1) Our oldest dog, Tyra, an Australian Shepherd mix who is 10 years old.

Tyra

2) Our middle dog, Mandy a/k/a Bad Dog, who is somewhere around 5, but I never can remember exactly how old she is.

Mandy, Our Husky-Basset Hound Mix

3) Our youngest dog, Darwin a/k/a No-No, who will be 3 on December 15.

Darwin

Using the time-honored method of means, motive and opportunity, Tyra was quickly eliminated. Not only is she completely blind, but even on her hind paws she would never be tall enough to reach the top of the counter.

That left me with only two suspects remaining, Darwin and Mandy. Both of them had the means – Darwin is tall, and Mandy is long. Both of them had a sufficient motive – cooked chicken apparently is a far cry better than Kibbles and Bits! Finally, both of them had opportunity, since they both were out of sight for at least some period of time while I was sitting with Mark while he ate his soup. So instead I had to turn to the less reliable and normally inadmissible realm of character evidence.

Character Evidence, Exhibit A: Mandy Leaving the Counter in our Old House

In court, evidence regarding a person’s character in the past is not admissible to prove guilt for the crime the person is currently accused of. There are exceptions to that rule, and I judicially decreed another exception for dogs who steal chicken off of the counter.

Reviewing the character evidence available to me, it was clear that the culprit was not Darwin, but Mandy.

First, Bad Dog did not earn her name unjustly. She likes to chew, will do so unabashedly and will pluck things off of a table or a counter in a heartbeat, as this video shows:

Second, before Mandy was found and put in the Montgomery Humane Society Shelter for Kayla and I to find her, she survived scavenging in the dumpster at McDonald’s, and probably other places as well. She has still not forgotten how to scavenge, and isn’t afraid to practice her survival skills at a moment’ s notice.

Third, Mandy was the only dog who looked like this when an inquiry was made about the chicken:

Mandy post-chicken

Even without the post-chicken bone digestive problems the next day, I think I had an air tight case against her, don’t you?

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

4 Comments

Posted in dogs, Food, working mom

Tagged chicken, dogs, humor, pets, photographs, video

Unpacking

Posted on June 20, 2012 | 2 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Going on even a mini-vacation is fun; bringing everything back to normal after the mini-vacation – not so much.

Destin harbor’s dunes

Last week, we went down to Destin for the last half of the week, as we do most Junes around Father’s Day. I have a professional meeting that is usually held that weekend, and this year was no exception.

Our trip lasted three days plus traveling time. Packing and getting the dogs to the kennel and all the other things that are involved in traveling took about four hours, along with a five-hour driving time. Getting everything back to normal after the trip took….Well, let’s just say we’re not there yet.

I don’t know why, but it appears to be a rule of nature (or more properly, a rule of my nature) that if the suitcase is not unpacked the day I arrive home the moment it is brought in from the car, a significant period of time elapses before it gets unpacked. Three days after we have returned from the trip, it is still sitting in the middle of the floor, daring me to do something about it. Apparently, my subconscious idea to use it as an auxiliary bureau drawer indefinitely will not work out – it currently is taking up enough room in our bedroom that I am going to have to break down and put some shoes back in my closet when I take them off at night or we won’t be able to walk around the bedroom. (See, The Longest Walk.)

That won’t do at all, now, will it?

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

2 Comments

Posted in On the Home Front, working mom

Tagged closet, Destin, dogs, kennel, packing, shoes, unpacking

Just Sayin’

Posted on June 1, 2012 | 10 comments

Good morning everyone!

Here are some observations:

1) You can know the location of every light switch in the house and what light or socket it goes to and you will still manage to turn on the garbage disposal instead of the kitchen light at least twice a week.

2) It takes a child about 10 minutes to get up, dressed and ready to go somewhere. Multiply that number by at least 6 if you plan to get anywhere on time.

3) All dogs love to sleep. The signal for them to get up is when you lie down.

4) Adults will irritably tell a child that has been asked to do a chore and who is stalling that the chore is just not that hard and to get on with it. If that is true, then why aren’t the adults doing it themselves?

5) There’s nothing like moving to a new place. Thank goodness!

6) The amount of stuff you collect is directly proportional by a factor of twelve to the number of years you live in a house. (Think about it – it will make sense in a minute.)

7) The crinkling of a chip bag is a miracle cure for all dog ailments. It works well for minor illnesses in children, also.

8) Exactly why does it take five tries for the parental command to proceed past the child’s ears to his or brain and nervous system?

9) You never understand the concept of making a joyful noise until you turn a 10 year old loose on a keyboard when she doesn’t think anyone is paying attention.

10) I have five different sync cables around me, and a universal 3 in 1 cable I bought yesterday. Not one of them fits the camera I need to download pictures from.

11) While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, God does great work!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nancy

10 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., Reflection, working mom

Tagged daughter, dogs, family, garbage disposal, humor, parenting, random thoughts

Attaching the Unattached

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 4 comments

Good morning Everyone!

When I load pictures into my blog, I usually just load them straight from the “New Post” page on WordPress, but yesterday morning I decided to check the tab on My Dashboard marked as “Media” (for the uninitiated, I assume that is short for “Media Library”), when I came across a forlorn group of miscellaneous pictures grouped together under the label “unattached.”

Unwilling to allow them to languish forever in this lonely place, I have chosen a few of them to share with you today, accomplishing two purposes – something to write about today, and the creation of a “happily ever after” relationship for the pictures-formerly-known-as-unattached by providing them with an attachment here.

My first picture came from a couple of days before Halloween, when I took pictures of Kayla in the Rapunzel dress my mother made for her this year. Here, she is working on (pretend) needlework.

My next choice was this picture from Christmas 2007, when Mandy (aka Bad Dog) was investigating what Kayla was up to Christmas morning.

This picture caught Kayla waiting for the Southern Star (one of the dolphin cruise boats in Destin, an experience I highly recommend).

This sunset over the Gulf of Mexico was too spectacular to leave languishing in the realm of the unattached:

Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico

So was this picture of the bridge across the Destin Pass.

Bridge over the Destin Pass

I loved this picture of Mandy (Bad Dog) looking up from her ~~fortress~~ spot from which to view the world at our old house.

I also liked this picture of Darwin (aka No-No) coming into the kitchen begging for food. He’s good with the sad face look, isn’t he?

So there you have them – seven pictures who have happily been relegated from the forlorn category of “Unattached” to the “Attached”!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

4 Comments

Posted in dogs, Travel, working mom

Tagged blogging, daughter, dog, dogs, family, humor, photographs, WordPress

Reunion!

Posted on May 9, 2012 | 11 comments

Good morning Everyone!

I really can’t help it; last night while we were getting ready for bed and now, at an ungodly hour of the morning when even the birds are only just stretching themselves awake, I know they’re here. I’m sure they don’t mean to intrude upon my consciousness,innocently sitting over there at the dining room table, but I keep thinking about them. The whole family welcomed them; even the dogs know that they’re here. After all, it’s been a while.

I’ve known them and loved them ever since I was a child, but now that I am older, I don’t get to visit with them nearly as often as I’d like, making our reunion even more special.

There’s really nothing like them. Content in their insular world, they have remained essentially unchanged and constant my entire life. Sweet, consistent, a little square around the edges, sugar-coated but still cool, sanity in an insane world, I just can’t help thinking about them. We were able to visit a little bit last night, but the rest of our visit will have to wait until later.

After all, I think I’d get sick if I ate 32 strawberry frosted Pop-Tarts at one sitting…

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

11 Comments

Posted in Just stuff..., working mom

Tagged dogs, family, food, humor, reunion, working mom

Words, Urns and Shotgun Shells

Posted on May 4, 2012 | 10 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Mandy, Our Husky-Basset Hound Mix

I begin this morning with a plea for help – someone (probably from Britain, since they use the word “mum” for “mom”) has been searching my blog the last few days for information on husky-basset hound crosses. Please, please, please whoever you are, put me out of my misery and tell me why you want to know! I’ve already been fortunate enough to “talk” to another dog owner who has a husky-basset hound cross, Neda, who owns Sawyer and would love to add to that number!

Frosted Flakes Box

I went grocery shopping Sunday night, and had only two things on my list – napkins and Frosted Flakes. True to character, i.e., The Perils of Absent-Mindedness, I came out of Winn-Dixie with two different types of roast, four instant packages of rice, a large number of apples, three types of ice cream, Italian bread, spaghetti, Ragu sauce, apple sauce and canned green beans along with various other items – but had bought neither napkins nor Frosted Flakes. I didn’t have the heart to go back for them either, so I guess we will live without napkins or Frosted Flakes this week.

The results of Monday’s poll are in, and by a score of 3 to 1, you have declared that it is, in fact, evil to put peanut butter on your daughter’s flip-flops if they are left out under the sofa to encourage the dogs to destroy them. There were also two “other” votes, but unfortunately the poll did not save the word with “other.” If those of you who voted “other” have time, please leave a comment letting me know what your “other” word was. However, alas, based on the vote, Kayla’s flip-flops are safe. And it was such a fun idea to fantasize about!

Words

Yesterday, I learned that it is not only my daughter that can make funny mistakes when it comes to words. My art teacher is going to have her gallbladder out, and while I was at my lesson, she and I were joking about what she would do while she was “incapacitated.” A high school age student, also in the room, looked up in horror and asked, “Isn’t that when they sever your head?” I swallowed a laugh (I’m getting very good at it), and said, straight-faced, “No, that’s decapitated.”

In the “that can’t be true but unfortunately it is” range of stories, I came across the oddest advertisement on the internet yesterday. A company called lifegems.com advertised that it would create a “certified diamond” in the lab from the “ashes/carbon” of “your loved one.” Cremation is, in fact, used more and more often, but really, folks, somehow the idea of wearing Aunt Bessie’s remains in a diamond eternity ring is NOT appealing to me.

Of course, this company is not the only free enterprise seeking to find a good use for cremated remains. I heard on the radio a couple of months ago about a little company here in Alabama that two men have started where they will, if you so desire, take cremated remains and use them in shotgun shells. This being the South, the radio news team found Billy Bob from Nowhere, Alabama to interview about the idea, and Billy Bob proclaimed that he could rest easier knowing that he would be used after death to bring down a five point buck! Only in Alabama.

And on that macabre note, I wish each of you a good weekend!

Nancy

10 Comments

Posted in dogs, Just stuff..., working mom

Tagged absent minded, dogs, grocery shopping, humor, shotgun shells, urn, words

Flip Flops – The Anti-Shoe

Posted on April 30, 2012 | 5 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Is it evil to put peanut butter on your 10-year old’s flip-flops if she leaves them under the couch in hopes that the dogs will come along and tear the flip-flops into shreds?

I didn’t do it, but I sure thought about it last night when I saw that Kayla had chunked her flip-flops off and slid them under the sofa rather than returning them to her room.

I hate flip-flops with a purple passion. FN. They really serve little purpose, except on the sand at the beach – in regular wear, they provide no protection or support for the feet, and they certain don’t aid the wearer in any appreciable manner. They are uncomfortable to wear, prone to fall off at the most inconvenient times and do not even keep your feet clean.

I especially hate flip-flops on my daughter, because they keep her from walking fast enough to keep up with us, and when she runs in them, I have visions of her blowing them out in a spectacular fall down the driveway that winds up in a trip to the emergency room. And the sound! The shuffle-plop of the flip-flops as she walks beside me starts to send the same kind of shivers up my spine as fingernails on a blackboard after no more than five minutes.

She, of course, loves them.

We used to try to ban flip-flops entirely, but that strategy, due to the various interventions of sundry grandmothers who shall remain nameless (until my grandmother died a year and a half ago, Kayla had four grandmothers!), didn’t work out, so we achieved a compromise – Kayla gets one pair of flip-flops to wear for a summer. If that pair gets destroyed somehow, then she has to do without, buy her own replacement pair, or wait until a grandmother takes pity on her once again.

So I ask again, is it evil to put peanut butter on your daughter’s flip-flops in order to entice the dogs to destroy them when the flip-flops have been left out under the sofa?

Have a good day everyone!

Nancy

FN. If you love/live-in flip-flops year round or just during the summer months, go for it; you don’t live in my house, so don’t have to follow my rules! 🙂

5 Comments

Posted in Child's Play, working mom

Tagged daughter, dogs, Flip flops, humor, parenting, shoes

Our New Home

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 12 comments

Hi Everyone!

As I told you in an earlier post, Catching Up, we have been in the process of moving from our old house to a house in the town where I work. I’m not ready to take pictures of the inside yet as it stands now, since we’re still working on it, but I thought I’d share the following pictures I took of the house when we were looking at it, deciding whether we would rent it or not.

I am not sure how far the reach of HGTV is, but for those of you who are familiar with Househunters and Househunters International and the various other types of Househunter shows, there really aren’t too many original ways to show someone a house. I used to wonder why people on the show couldn’t say something more original than “Oh, look, here’s the kitchen” when they walked in the kitchen. I know now it’s because our brains are hard-wired somehow to do it – when you walk in a kitchen on a house tour, the words just pop out of your mouth. That being said, let’s start our tour…

Our New House, a view of the front yard and front of the house.

I was extremely fortunate to get to look at the house when some of the spring flowers were still blooming. Here is a view just of the front yard from the side of house.

Front Yard

The dogwoods were still in bloom. One of the best things about the front yard is the number of trees that are in it. The trees in the front yard include several very tall pines, as well as the dogwoods and then a mix of hardwoods off to the left side.

Here is the first room in the house, at least for company. The door standing open is the front door of the house. We are using it as a living room/den.

The wooden floored portion of the house gives way in the dining room to linoleum. This is a view of the dining room from the kitchen. In this picture, the living room would be just to the left of the dining room.

Kitchen View 1

Here is one view of the kitchen. While it is small, it has a lot of cupboard space for its size, as well as a full complement of kitchen appliances.

A second view of the kitchen, closer in

In this second view of the kitchen, you can see the door leading out to the garage over on the right.

One really nice feature of the house is the sun room. To reach it, you go straight through the living room and dining room from the front door, then walk down one step. The door to the right leads out to the back yard, while the door on the left leads into the laundry room.

Huge Laundry room!

One unusual feature of the house is this huge laundry room. I have never seen one so big before! I have wondered why the people who added the laundry room to this house made it so big, but have no answers to that question.

Hallway

Let’s go back to the living room, and turn down the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms. There are three bedrooms, and two bathrooms, plus a coat and linen closet.

Master Bathroom

I never got a good picture of the whole hallway bathroom, but here is a picture of the ~~incredibly tiny~~ ~~miniscule~~ ~~no room to turn around in~~ adorably cute postage stamp sized master bathroom, so-called because it is off of the largest bedroom.

Master Bedroom

Here is a picture of the second biggest bedroom, which is Kayla’s.

Second Bedroom

The third bedroom is much the same, only smaller, so I will save the picture space and journey onward to the back and side yards. Here is a picture of the back yard, which is very large.

Back yard

This picture above was taking from the sunroom door looking toward our back neighbors. The back yard is huge! Even better, since this picture was taken, it also has had a wooden privacy fence installed in it, so the dogs are where they can go outside and play, even Tyra.

The Side of the House

The picture above finishes the tour. It shows the side of the house without the garage.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our tour. Thank you for traveling with WMA (“Working Mom Adventures) tours, and please, as you exit the vehicle, secure all your stray belongings and grasp small children firmly by the hand!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

12 Comments

Posted in On the Home Front, working mom

Tagged dogs, family, HGTV, home photographs, House, Househunters

Privacy, or the Lack Thereof!

Posted on April 25, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Kayla, this Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains

By a show of hands, how many of you out there who have children love them?

Hands voting, from Print Shop Professional 2.0

That’s what I thought; me too.

Darwin and Mandy in the kitchen

Again by a show of hands, how many of you who have dogs love them too?

Show of hands

Almost as many, but I can tell there are just a few of you that put up with the dog(s) in consideration of your significant other, or your children. That’s cool; at least you understand the bond between dog and owner.

Could you leave this face outside?

For those of you who have dogs, how many of you have indoor dogs? (An indoor dog is defined as a dog that spends a substantial part of his or her time inside the house with the family.)

Again, not as many; whether to keep a dog indoors on a regular basis versus outdoors is somewhat of a controversial topic among dog owners. We have always kept our dogs indoors; that allows them to be more part of the family, but other people feel it is kinder to the dog to keep it outside where it has more room. In addition, some dogs, like farm dogs and other working dogs, might even prefer to be left outdoors.

Okay, now for those of you who have children and/or indoor dogs, how many of you miss the days when you could take a shower or spend time in your bathroom with ultimate privacy and no interruptions?

Hands voting, from Print Shop Professional 2.0

Me too.

Yesterday, I was taking my morning shower in the “master” bathroom. In our new house, the “master” bathroom is so-called simply because it is connected to the master bedroom. (In the United States, the master bedroom is the biggest bedroom in a house.) It is a postage stamp sized room with a shower, and with the door shut, the shower running and the fan on , you simply cannot hear anything else going on in the rest of the house.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

So, to return to my tale, yesterday I was taking my shower, enjoying the warm steamy water and the relative quiet, when after a while I became aware of a rhythmic banging coming from somewhere else in the house. Since it was only myself and Kayla and the dogs in the house, and the dogs not possessing hands with which to bang that hard, it didn’t take much deduction to realize that Kayla was trying to get my attention for some reason. Not being in a condition to traipse out of the shower at that precise moment, I had to scream, at the top of my lungs, that I was in the shower and couldn’t hear anything so I needed her to come into the bedroom and crack the bathroom door to tell me what she needed. (Tres elegante, no?).

Elegance

She started to open the door, and as soon as she did, I said, rather sharply, “What Kayla?” Rather than speaking she started to close the door. I took a deep breath to calm myself and in a more even tone told her I wanted to know what she needed. The door then swung fully open so that I could respond to the great emergency.