New Year, New (Late) Start!

Since it's been 150 years since I last posted, I believe it's about time. I'll give a recap of what's been going on since the beginning of 2010.

I have been to four viewings (as in funeral viewings, not movie viewings). One person was a husband of my friend, one was my friend, one was my neighbor (and friend), and the last was the grandson of a guy MOMD's works with. That's enough. Really.

I have sat in the waiting room during two surgeries. One for my mom (deadening the nerves in her knee so she wouldn't have pain) and one for my dad (gall bladder). That's enough.

I have been to three movies ... Did You Hear About The Morgans?, Blindside, and Avatar. I usually don't attend that many movies in a year, let alone a month. That's enough.

My last two Saturdays have been at the church for meetings. That is definitely enough!

Some new people have moved into our ward and have begun sitting in our seats (both in the chapel and in our Sunday School room). I have personally taken offense to this, so today we got to church 45 minutes before the meeting began. We got our seats. (The other people didn't show up at all - I showed them!) I know that the flow of the ward was once again in balance and harmony because we were sitting in our rightful seats.

I saved the most exciting news for last. Right before Christmas we started itching to add a new family member. We APPLIED FOR ADOPTION (I'm not kidding) to Wag 'N Train Pet Rescue in Ephraim. I had to fill out an application, give two references that were not family members (both of my references were called), as well as my vet's name and number. We also had a telephone interview. We were trying to adopt "Biscuit". Our adoption was approved on Christmas Eve and we were so excited. Since Wag 'N Train is a pet rescue, all the animals are in "foster" homes. The lady that was fostering Biscuit was out of town for the holidays. We waited through Christmas and New Year's and finally Wag 'N Train called us and told us that Biscuit's foster mom had decided to keep her. Our hearts were broken. We started looking on ksl.com and answered a few ads, but one was a scam and the other's were gone before we acted.

One Monday evening I was home alone. I looked at ksl.com just for fun and saw a new ad for puppies. They were a mix of Llasa Apso, poodle, etc. I called the familly and asked when I could go to their home to look at the puppies. The family said to come right then. I stopped at the ATM and withdrew enough money to buy a puppy (just in case). I got to this family's home and they had four adult dogs (that I saw) and seven puppies. Oh my heck! The puppies were adorable. I had been reading all the things to do (the little tests) before choosing an appropriate puppy for your family. That all flew out the window when one little girl and one little boy crawled up on me. It was as if Cupid shot me with a couple of arrows. I was in love. Who cares if I didn't have enough money for two puppies? Who cares that my family didn't know I was getting one, let alone two puppies? Who cares that I didn't have puppy food, bowls, toys, beds, blah, blah, blah? I was like a cartoon character with those little hearts floating above my head. Yes - I am a dork; but could you turn your back on these little faces?

Their names are Buddy and Sissy (remember the movie "Urban Cowboy"? - "Oh Bud", "Oh, Sissy" and say it with a drawl). When we took them to the vet for their first shots a couple of weeks ago, Buddy weighed exactly 4 lbs and Sissy weighed exactly 3 lbs. When Sissy got her shot, she cried and cried. Buddy didn't even flinch.

As they are developing their personalities we are finding that they are extremely naughty. Sissy is the trouble maker of the group. I heard her squealing the other day and thought that Buddy was playing too hard with her. When I finally saw them, they weren't even touching, she was just carrying on, trying to get him into trouble. ("Mom - he's looking at me!") Sissy is also much braver than Buddy. She was the first one to try stairs and run into the neighbor's yard. Buddy is a big lug now compared to her. She can jump on the couch, but he can't even though he's bigger. When you sit down, Buddy is content to sit BESIDE you, but Sissy has to sit ON THE HIGHEST POINT on your body (my boobs).(That last statement makes me think my boobs must grow out the top of my head ...) That's so not comfortable. They both POOP A LOT (and it stinks)! We think we are doing really good with taking them outside and then they come inside and go to the bathroom. What's up with that?

Anyway - hopepfully this year I'll do better with blogging. I'll keep you updated on the kids (and I don't mean FOS and FYS, although they are doing well also.)

What NOT to do if you crave control in your life ...

Last Saturday MOMD and I (along with another "leader" - and I use that term loosely) took four Cub Scouts to Cub Country. Holy Hannah! I did not do well. As you know I crave structure, schedules, and quiet. I want people to follow the instructions given to them. What we want and what we get are two entirely different things, aren't they? The poor Cub Country leaders were good kids and they tried so hard but no one listened! (Not even other adults that were there!!!) I was getting so frustrated that MOMD had to ask me a couple of times if I wanted to go get my book out of the car and spend some time reading. I would then realize I was just about ready to step over the edge of acceptable behavior. I would try really hard to take a deep breath and not say things under my breath about "no wonder the kids are so misbehaved, look at their leaders", "why doesn't anyone listen?" or "some people should not be allowed to reproduce".

Three of the four little cubs that we took were VERY well behaved and nice little boys. The fourth boy (the other "leader's" son) was OUT OF CONTROL. His dad was oblivious to everything. In fact, the dad left during lunch and didn't return until the end of our second class after lunch. (The reproducing comment was mostly directed to this gentleman.)

Our little boys had a great time and Cub Country would be an awesome place to visit if you were eight years old. It's not such a great place to visit if you are 51 years old and a control freak. :)

This past Friday was SO MUCH fun! MOMD, his mom, and I drove up to Round Valley, Utah (near Bear Lake). MOMD has a friend that lives there (he met him a couple of years ago through hunting with his brother). This guy (Clint) has a farm with a bunch of weird animals. All the animals know their names and come when you call them. It was amazing! It was so much fun. Clint had an alpaca, two llamas (Dali Llama and Tony Llama), a mother and daughter yak (Sherpa and Lottie), three donkeys (I can’t remember their names but they have a dark cross on their backs because it was their ancestors that carried Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem – cute, huh?), a zillion peacocks and babies, a zillions ducks (weird kinds too, like African quackless ducks) and babies, numerous miniature horses, a miniature Brahma bull (Shooter), two raccoons (Ranger and Rascal), turkeys, and fallow deer. All the animals I have mentioned eat FROM YOUR HAND(except for the ducks, turkeys, and peacocks) and I FED THEM! It was awesome! They all live in a big area together in a giant pen. We walked amongst/among? (whatever) them and petted them. I can’t even describe it. I’ll bet that’s how the Garden of Eden was. I kept saying to MOMD, "Take a picture of ME with ______ ". Here are a few pictures of the animals along with me being "Dr. Doolittle”.

I am not in this picture but you can see one of the yaks as well as a donkey.


Me and Rascal enjoying a little treat ... sorry about the hair (mine, not Rascal's).


Look at me with these sweet girls! They were both leaning into me so heavily that I could have lifted my feet off the ground and still stayed upright.

Butch: 1990 - 2009

Butch Giles, born February 18, 1990, passed away May 9, 2009 at 11:15 a.m. At the time of his death he was a shadow of his former self, but still very loved.

He will be remembered for how he loved to run through the house, bounce off the bed, run into the TV room, jump onto the couch and then start all over again for as long as we would clap for him and yell "Go, Go, Go!". We will always remember when we entered a room he would grab a sock from the floor and act like he was going to take it. We will remember how he "hid" his food in our shoes, in the corners of all the rooms of our house and how he buried his bones in our house plants. We will remember how he didn't like the white pieces of dog food and would spit them out all over the kitchen floor, eating only his favorite pieces. We will remember how he would play with his brother, Moose, rough and tumble (just like all brothers). We will also remember Butch "taking care" of us when we were sick, riding with us in the car, and sleeping with us in our beds. He loved his doggy treats, his bed (complete with a hand-made quilt) by the couch, and to look out the window. He also loved his family and we loved him back.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Moose. He is survived by his family who will miss him dearly.

A private graveside service was held in the Giles backyard.

How Time Flies ...

The last time I posted was a month ago. We have had much happening in our home since then. Here's a few updates:

1. Our sweet Butch (our four-legged child) turned 19 on February 18. We don't know if that's really the day he was born, but we've always "celebrated" his birthday on that day. Can you believe a dog could live for 19 years? Come to think of it, he's not really living in the true sense of the word. He goes to the bathroom on our deck (it's a poop deck), he sleeps all day and night, and he can only walk on three legs at one time (not always the same three). Every morning we check to see if he is still breathing. I don't know what we'll do when he decides to "walk towards the light". I tell him almost everyday that it's okay if he needs to leave us. Okay, I'm starting to cry. Let's move on.

2. MOMD had a colonoscopy! That was fun. You do stuff like that when you're 50. He was pretty cranky before his test but he did just fine. When the doctor showed me the pictures taken during the test (of his colon, not him lying exposed in all his glory on the exam table!) I was surprised to see that he wasn't full of sh*t as I had always thought. :)
Add on after the post: When I spellchecked this post, the word COLONOSCOPY came up as incorrectly spelled and suggested I replace it with KALEIDOSCOPE. Now THAT would have been fun!

3. We went to the Draper Temple open house. A fun time was had by all. I loved it!

4. I ran into the pole of our carport with the car. Good times! #%&@#

5. We have ALL been sick. We've had the crud that's going around and someone at our house has been coughing and whining since Christmas. Earlier this week, I told my family I had lost the will to live. I think I have regained the will to live so I guess I'm getting better.

6. I have had two mammograms in the last two weeks. My boobs look like beaver tails, but I'll be fine.

All in all, we're (relatively) healthy and always happy!