What warms your heart?

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I did not have your average "Leave it to Beaver" upbringing. My parents did the best they could and I have no doubt that they love me very much, but Ward and June Cleaver they were not. So the other day I was thinking about my Mom and our relationship. I got to thinking about a birthday I had when I was very young, maybe 7 or 8, and I was really sick. I was home from school in bed and feeling really bad. I couldn't have a birthday party because I was too ill. I will never forget what my Mom did. She called me into the kitchen and boy was I surprised. The room was all decorated with birthday decorations, even balloons and party hats. There were pretty wrapped packages and when I looked to see who the packages were from I realized the party was thrown by all our pets. We always had lots of pets. I had gifts from all the different pets we had at the time and they all came to the party. We had a party with cake and ice cream, just my Mom, me and all the animals. Funny the little things you remember, that will bring a warm glow to your heart forever. Do you have a special memory from your childhood?

3 In the Morning and All is Well

OK, so here are the kind of adventures that go on around here at night. You get in bed and try to get comfortable on the new torture device, also known as new expensive mattress, and just about the time you start to sleep it starts. Murphy my oldest beagle, and there for the head dog dude, will decide that he wants the doggy bed that McGuire (not head dog dude) is sleeping in. Murphy will just stand next to the bed and bark at McGuire until he gets up and still groggy from being sound asleep, looks around to see what all the barking is about, at which time Murphy gets in the bed of choice. Now, I want to make it perfectly clear that there is no permanent better bed. This changes from bed possession to bed possession. So after McGuire and Murphy are settled in to the new bunk assignments, you fall back asleep again, only to be roused by the sound of a little doggy paw scratching on the bed room door. You try to ignore it for as long as you can, but finally you get up and open the door so we can proceed to the back door to go outside. Instead of a wee trip outside it appears it is time for the sentry patrol. Murphy walks to the edge of the living room, takes a good look around, and then proceeds to give me a look like, "Don't worry man, everything is good out here" and goes and gets back in his bed. That's it, that is what he wanted. Now I appreciate the home security and all, but I really need a good nights sleep. I am no spring chick anymore.

Not So Sweet Dreams

OK, so I have slept on a water bed since I was 12 years old. I know, I know, but it is just the old hippie in me and I just couldn't bend to the establishment. So the other day we decided to buy an actual grown up type mattress. After I got over the initial shock of what a grown up people mattress cost, I was so excited to get the thing home. I have been waiting and waiting, because when I tried it out in the store it was wonderful. Like a big white soft cloud. Now you have to understand that we have been remodeling our house for about a year now and our bedroom was supposed to be the last room done, but I really could not wait for this thing to get here. So my husband, Joe, finished it up first so we could have them deliver it. So the other day I come home and there it is, all pillow soft and new. I can hardly wait to go to bed and try it out. So I go to bed an hour early, because I just can't take the anticipation any longer. So the next morning I am pretty sure I hate it and by the second morning I am certain I HATE it. Now I have to tell my husband that the mattress I have been going on about for 2 weeks is a nightmare and I want it to go away. I am pretty sure at this point he would much rather just hit me in the head with a brick sometime when I am asleep and not worry about taking the mattress back.

So we are off to the mattress store……Joe is very excited…..

Griswold Outings

We have an RV, a Bounder much like the one shown here. This is our 4th RV, but our very first new one. All our previous RVs have been used. We always have big adventures in the RV, so much so that both daughters have vowed never to go with us again. I will post adventures as they occur. I would like to make a statement of fact at this point, because it will come up in the future. All stories of RV trips posted are actual fact, not a cartoon or comic strip, they actually happen to us.

The beginning of beagle adventures

I love my beagles. I never in my life would have thought those words would come out of my mouth, but there they are. Well I guess they really came out of my fingers, since I am typing, not talking, but that is another topic. My love affair with these, not so right in the head creatures, started about 5 years ago. I was working in Louisiana (I live in Houston, TX) one day and happened to see an animal shelter and just stopped in. My youngest daughter had been wanting a puppy of her own for a while. I looked at all the cute little pups in their cells and then I saw Nick. Nick was the only puppy who just sat and looked at me with a look that said "what are looking at?", no jumping or crazy excitement. When I went over to his cage he went and got his ball and promptly brought it over for me to inspect, not touch mind you, just see. I was hooked. After going through a lot of paperwork and last minute background checks, to make sure I was fit to take this little guy home, there was a fast trip to Wal Mart to buy a carrier and misc. items and we were ready to go. My first clue that this was maybe a bad idea was when we put him in the passenger seat and I reached over to give him a treat and he bit me. I just assumed it was nerves. You know what they say about assuming. Myself and a fellow employee snuck him into the hotel, with the wink from the front desk manager that we knew, and he spent the night with me in the Holiday Inn. Now as most of you beagle owner should know, keeping a beagle quiet in a hotel, or anyplace for that matter, is not an easy task. Anyway for all his bad behaviour, he wormed his way into my heart faster than any dog I think I have ever had. The looks these guys give you. When my daughter moved out, I just had to go and get my own, because I missed him so much and that is how the beagle adventures began.