Tribute – don’t eat that

How do you capture a broken heart in a blog post?  How do you convey the tears that are still unshed and building up behind your eyes?  How do you write about a grief so raw?

On 11/2/18, Otis passed away.  For those of you that don’t know Otis, he was our beagle.  We got him when he was a few days shy of 6 weeks old.  I don’t recall why we got him so early, other than I think they were just ready to have those puppies gone.  We loved him from the second he was handed to me and nuzzled under my chin whimpering.  We had him 15 years.  782 weeks and 4 days that he was on this Earth and that much time that he wormed his way into our hearts and lives.

After he passed, several people said they felt like they knew him from my posts on social media.  He was always a source of a funny story or crazy antics.  He was a source of amusement to a lot of people.  To us he was family.  He was the glue that held us together during times we couldn’t get out of bed.  He was the laughter in our house when all we had were tears.  He was 15 years of routines.  He was the constant in our lives.  He was our everything.

I have several blog post that I have been trying to get updated and posted.  Then this happened and I stalled more than usual.  I have started to write this post a million times and haven’t been able to come up with the words.  I keep writing about his last week with us, and his last days, and his last minutes.  I just can’t get through it.  I keep writing about what he meant to us and fall short.  So I decided until I can post those things, I will write about some of his antics.

Everyone told me after he died that they knew he crossed the rainbow bridge and was playing like he never played before.  I sort of agree.  I kind of feel like heaven to our beagle and his mischief soul would be eating things he shouldn’t and not getting in trouble.  I was thinking about that the other day and made a list of the things Otis ate while here.  So my post today is a tribute to my sweet puppy and the things he ate.

This is not a complete list but the things we could remember.  This does not include things that he ate off the floor while we cooked, or dropped while we ate, or the things he ate while in my parents presence that they didn’t report.  Reading through this list makes me feel like an irresponsible pet owner. In our defense we always tried to push things to the back of the counter.  We always tried to puppy proof the motor home.  He was just so patient he would wait on that one slip up to go for the goods.  He knew better and we always had to tell him, not yours and don’t eat that.  Sometimes he would tell on himself and would come up to us and put his head down and lean into us.  Other times he would excitedly jump up and down pawing on us like come look what I did!

• Ham (Stolen off plates, platters, floors, hands).
• Ham biscuits (He stole those when my grandfather passed away.  He snuck in the kitchen after someone brought them and took two before I noticed my dad laughing because he knew what he was doing).
• Chocolate Covered Cherries (He snuck those while we were in the motor home at the Charlotte races.  They made him really hyper (like psychotic) and he threw up).
• M&Ms (Dark chocolate.  Ate those while with my parents.  He was so sick.  Several after hours calls to the vet.  A trip to Walmart at 3 AM.  He got a few other M&Ms here and there, some fun packs etc, but never an entire large bag).
• Chocolate Chip Cookies (He snuck one from my purse – left over from lunch.  He stole a few off a plate off a counter).
• Ressee Cups (He stole those out of my mom’s purse – it was her emergency chocolate).
• Hersey Kisses (He stole those after our wedding.  They were part of our favors.  He opened some of them and ate just the chocolate and on some he ate the foil.  He pooped foil for a week).
• Hersey Kiss wrappers (He would steal candy wrappers all the time.  He loved the foil from Kisses).
• Life savers (He stole these after our wedding too.  They were also part of our favors).
• Coffee beans (He opened my brother in laws Christmas gift and ate some coffee.  I also had a center piece for a table that had coffee beans.  When I would mix them around to make the aroma spread through the room and beans would fall to the ground he would gobble them up).
• Tortillas (My parents went to Sam’s and got the largest size bag of soft tortillas.  While unattended in the motor home he grabbed them opened them and ate part of them.  He flung the rest of them around the motor home).
• Spaghetti (Same trip as the tortillas – he grabbed the unopened noodles off the counter and had a fun day).
• Gravy (Also in the motor home at the race, he jumped on the counter and licked the gravy spoon and the left over gravy after breakfast).
• Bible (Bought Andy a brand new Bible (The Message) and Otis shredded that thing).
• Norman Rockwell Book (Chewed on the spin of the book.  We still have it and laugh each time we see it.  Granted Andy was so mad when it first happened).
• Rainbow flip flops (Andy’s pair.  Andy was mad).
• Boxers (He always would grab a pair of Andy’s boxers and chew on them.  Right out of the laundry hamper or the dryer he didn’t care).
• Socks (This might have been our mistake.  His first toy was a sock tied in knots.  He loved grabbing socks and chewing on them.  It was a challenge to put shoes on around him, when he was a puppy he would attack your feet trying to get the sock).
• Plant (He dug up our “love fern.”  Andy gets made when I call our plant that, but I find it hilarious.  Watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.  He pulled it up while he was locked in his crate.  He bounced his crate across the kitchen and grabbed the plant and dug it up.  Twice).
• 3 crates (He chewed on 3 crates.  To the point that we had to have metal welded on, chains applied, and locks attached).
• Towels (Too many to count. When we first started crating him we tried to put them in there so he would have something to lay on.  He shredded each and every one).
• Blankets (He destroyed several.  He dug a hole in a few while playing with Andy.  He also shredded some that we tried putting in his crate).
• Abercrombie Coat Zipper (Andy’s coat.  He destroyed the sipper.  Luckily the coat is still wearable, but just doesn’t zip).
• Suite Coat (A Christmas gift for Andy from me.  Otis ripped the pocket off the coat, making it trash.  It was a really expensive suite that was bought with pennies saved at a time we didn’t need to spend that kind of money.  I was the most mad about that one).
• Candy wrappers (He would find any and all candy wrappers.  Sneak them off the end tables by the couch, out of the trash, if there was a candy wrapper around.  He found it and would try to eat it before you noticed).
• Snotty tissues (Yes it is gross.  He loved a tissue full of snot.  Cold season was his favorite time of year.  He would sneak into the bathrooms and look for tasty treats.  He would come back wagging his tail with tissue stuck in his teeth.  Most of the time we would flush the tissues, put it in the kitchen trash which was in a cabinet, or elevate the small trashcan where he couldn’t reach it).
• Gum (He would get this out of my purse especially if I left him in the car alone.  Or he would find it in the car because Andy would leave some in his door some of the time).
• Sour Patch Kids (After the M&M incident mom was more careful with leaving chocolate in her purse.  At the race she assured me her purse was puppy safe.  After 10 minutes he could sour patch kids in her purse.  He loved them).
• Cough drops (He also loved eating cough drops when he could find them usually stolen out of a purse, a coat pocket, the bed, off the dresser).
• Bread (This is not limited to just slices of bread, but entire loafs of bread.  He would steal them off the counter and off plates while we were trying to fix sandwiches.  He would grab the loaf off the counter and hid in the kitchen eating his loot.  He preferred homemade over store bought, but he would eat it all).
• Fried Chicken (He stole dad, mom, and Candy’s left over chicken off the counter and ate it all.
• Hamburger buns (Stolen off the counter)
• Bag of brown sugar (Stolen off the island in the kitchen.  I put everything out to bake cookies and ran to answer my phone which was in the living room.  Came back and got another bag of sugar out because I didn’t see the other one and thought I hadn’t set it out.  I Heard something weird and looked on the other side of the table and his little beagle face was covered in brown sugar.  He ripped open the bag and there were clumps of it every where).
• Futon Mattress (He dug several holes in several futon mattresses.  It was part of his separation anxiety and his humans didn’t realize what we could do to help at that point in time).
• Soap (He ate an entire bar of soap after we put him on anxiety medicines for his separation anxiety.  It gave him the munchies and he ate an entire bar of soap.  He was so sick for a day.  He puked in the bed twice that night, and was miserable the next day).
• Pizza (He convinced his cousin Haley the dog to get it off the counter – he was still a young puppy and couldn’t reach it.  They shared an entire large pizza).
• Carpet (He dug up and chewed the carpet at two houses.  Kingsport Hwy house in TN and Clayford Ridge house in NC).
• Door Frames (He ate door frames at 4 houses.  Clayford Ridge, Kirkcaldy Lane, Amber Mist Lane, and Kingsport Hwy).
• Window sills (He destroyed several in the Clayford Ridge house and chewed on one at Amber Mist Ln).
• Blinds (He destroyed several sets at Clayford Ridge.  We have one set in our house now that has an Otis tooth puncture mark in it).
• Toilet paper rolls (He only did that once, maybe twice.  But he shredded an entire roll of toilet paper).
• Magazines (As a puppy he shredded and chewed on a handful of magazines).
• Fried pickles and tater tots (He stole my parents left overs off the counter).
• Finger nails/toe nails (Gross like the tissues, but he would go through the trash and get them out.  Makes me gag thinking about it).
• Hair (Technically he wouldn’t seek out the hair, but in digging through the trash could end up eating some).
• Ravioli lid (The week before he died he snuck a lid out of the trash and enjoyed licking it clean.  So thankful he didn’t cut his mouth).
• Blue Marker (He turned his white fur blue for a few days until it wore off).
• Glasses case (He got it out of my purse while he was looking for food, and it now has his teeth marks on it).
• Napkins in cars (He loved napkins in cars.  He would find them and shred them in the car).
• Treat Jar Lid (My mom got him a nice treat jar with a wooden lid.  He got the lid off Andy’s desk and chewed part of the wood off and left his bite marks all over it).
• Electric cord (For a long time he was terrified of cords so we assume he got zapped when he chewed it).
• Water bottles (Or soda bottles.  Otis would chew on the lids making them come off.  He didn’t care if there was liquid or not, he would still take the lid off and spill stuff everywhere).
• Trash (He absolutely loved going through the trash can.  It was like the best scavenger hunt ever).
• Trash (Not in a trash can.  If you left a cup on the coffee table and it had ice cream in it, or a yogurt container, of a bowl that had peanuts in it – you better believe he would get it before you cleaned up).
• Trash (One time he drug an entire trash bag into the guest bedroom and hid it so he could go through it later.  We put it by the door to take it to the dump.  Went outside to pick up trash next to the road to take when we went.  We came back inside and the bag was gone.  Otis was sitting on the couch looking guilty, but we couldn’t prove anything.  We searched the house and couldn’t find it.  We gave up, knowing he would lead us to it later.  Later that night he snuck off and we heard the rustling of a bag.  We went in the guest bedroom and on the other side of the bed partially shoved under the bed was the beagle and a giant trash bag that he was going through).

I know that I am forgetting things.  Probably hilarious things.  He was a sneaky little critter that wanted to explore the world with his nose.  His nose normally led him to something he thought he could eat.  He is missed, his antics are missed.  I have had a cold and my little trash can of tissues makes me choke up thinking about all the times I had to pick up shredded tissues.

Golden Birthday

10/15/18 Otis turned 15!  15!  I know right?!

We got Otis when he was 6 weeks old and he is now 15!

We celebrated his golden birthday (because he is 15 and the day of his birthday is the 15th) by going to work and letting him sleep at home.

That night he went for a ride and got a pup cup from Dairy Queen.  He got to wear a party hat (a real one and not a muzzle – vet calls them party hats).  He snuggled with me and we just loved on him even more.  He slept in the middle of the bed on a fuzzy blanket.  He also got a new food and water dish.  He seemed super excited about it.  We also built a fence around our backyard and I am calling that part of his gift too (even though it has been more of a gift to me and Andy).

He is showing his age.  His eye sight is going and his hearing is selective, but going too.  His little face is gray and he is a tad skinnier now than he was.  He has moments of being a puppy when he tries to chase a ball in his new fence, but sometimes he just can’t see or hear the ball.

Happy birthday to my sweet little puppy.  Ok my old man dog.  He drives me crazy sometimes, but he has been such a support through the difficult parts of life and comfort when I have been home alone.  I don’t know how many more years we get with him, but we will cherish each and every one.

me, andy, and otis

just a few random pictures of us three from 2014 (mostly I think).

andy in my new donkey hat.

this is the view I have of otis on all of our trips.

otis loves “cozy monster” (not staged).

otis loved when we opened the windows.  he stood there for an hour smelling the fall air.  when his legs got tired he jumped on the bed and laid with his head aimed at the window.

otis laying on the couch with his head near the open door.  catching the sunlight.  his old soulful eyes.

date night

otis emptied his toy box, trying to find the perfect toy.

at my grandmothers.

fluffy and wet hair

snuggled in the bed.

we bought him a dog bed so that when we board him he won’t have to just lay on a blanket.  (he gets stiff because he is old).I wanted him to get used to the bed before we took it, in hopes that he wouldn’t shred it while he was at “camp.”  at first he wouldn’t have anything to do with it, so we put it in the chair he always laid in…he started laying in it and likes it!

when you don’t have teeth to hold your tongue in your mouth…

I got out of bed and otis took my place.

otis in his sweater saying “it’s cold!”

I love these two!

catching up: 2014 shenanigans

HELLO!  since I have been away a lot has happened (ok nothing too exciting, but I live in a town with no target, so I mean go with me on this).  since my computer died, I have finally replaced it and with that came trying to get all of my photos organized.  I didn’t realize how bad it was…but it was bad.  so now I am finally ready to start posting again.  now let me warn you that the next few post might bore you to tears.  I have done several posts that are just a quick catch up but there are certain events (like Christmas and vacation) that will have their own post.  here is the first of a lot to come in the next few days.  welcome to the end of 2014!

posted in random order.

may race in charlotte: sky and hanging out

cj learning to play andy’s new harmonica (and ellen completely mortified)

we also took a day off in may 2014 and went to the knoxville zoo.  we have so much fun when we go.  we didn’t know that we were going on the school day so we were there with a billion elementary school kids.  but the exciting thing we did was feed the giraffes!  (also we got locked in the gift shop because a kid went missing – the eventually let us leave, so we assume they found him).

we were lucky to that we were able to go to the band perry concert.

we also got to see 38 special and go back stage to meet the band (we got autographs and picks).

a building was dedicated in ann’s name at the fair ground.  the expo building (her home away from home).

work photos.  I found these amazing stress guys that when squeezed their eyes popped out a little.  well it didn’t take long before they were loved a little too hard and they both popped.  we used super glue and paperclips to “fix” them.  mine has since lost its hair and is full of holes…bethany’s is semi ok.

 also last year bethany asked me to join her on a wonderful adventure, and I was stupid enough to go along with her.  we joined a crossfit beginners class.  it was torture.  I cried.  she missed the hardest night so she didn’t cry.  we dropped out.

august bristol trip.  if you get out of bed someone takes your pillow.  otis doing the “captain morgan” but his knee was sprained.

we went to the October race in charlotte. Otis has his bed but sometimes we turn around and he is on our luggage.  he also tries to get in the front seat so I see his sweet face the entire time.

. 

 there is a concrete bunny at the house.  I came home one day and noticed it had been decorated by my dad.  dad and andy were taking bets to see if I noticed it.  yes I did.

we had snow and it was cold.  for a while I was living with a wooly mountain man.

a stray kitten showed up.  I thought we would end up with it because I felt bad.  but we found it a good home.

we went to a yard sale and saw a dog come up and we both said that looks like rufas!  about that time we heard the people talking about that dog came to visit again.  I asked if it was theirs and they said no.  I asked if it lived on a specific street and they said yes.  I told them it was my cousins dog so we took him home.  bought a rug because he was muddy.  we wrapped him up bought a dvd and away we went.  he loved his ride.

went to ghs homecoming.

I woke up one morning and went to work and in the yard not far from my car was a raccoon.  he was cute but it was day light so I made noise and scared him off except he didn’t run away from me, he just kind of moved like a slug away from me.  the next day I get a text from andy with a photo of this little guy asking if we can keep it.  the same raccoon sitting outside in the middle of the day.  now I know that doesn’t automatically say that he is rabid (I did research) but he was sick. I asked andy if he called animal control and he said no why?!  so I made him call and no one came.  so I called my cousin and asked him about this raccoon.  I asked if he thought he was sick.  I described his behavior and he said yes he thought it was sick.  so we had our first encounter with a sick wild animal.

 I will admit I am a little scared of cats (depending on the cat – very scared terrified).  I am not scared of my mom’s cats but they can be a handful.  on one visit I woke up with ashes in my hair and UT taking a bath on my suitcase.

Otis helped with some sewing projects.  he seemed mostly bored but happy to have a soft place to lay.

I hope to have Christmas posts up soon as well.

yay for catching up and getting organized!

easter

this year for lent andy and i actually gave up something and stuck with it.  we gave up fried food and sodas (for andy) and fried food and anything but water for me.  i was so proud of us.  we actually did it.  it was something that carried over and we are still doing well with trying to keep those types of food off the menu. 

leading up to Easter Sunday Jamie (the preacher at the church we attend) did a sermon on forgiveness.  i will admit that i am still a little upset at his sermon that day – he stepped on my toes a little bit.  he talked about needing to forgive people in our lives.  as he talked my brain scrambled to process how i felt about forgiveness.  it made me think that Jesus forgives us and made his ultimate sacrifice on the cross to show that forgiveness otherwise he wouldn’t have died for us.  by the end of the sermon i had some new revelations on forgiveness.  1. just because you forgive someone it doesn’t mean you have to resume the relationship.  2. it doesn’t mean that you have to be in their lives and them in yours.  3. it doesn’t erase the hurt, but it helps.  4. it doesn’t make you forget the past but rather gives a new perspective on those past events.  at Easter we are reminded of God’s love and the ultimate sacrifice of forgiveness and it reminds me of my constant selfishness of having a difficult time forgiving others.  thanks jamie for stepping on my toes and opening me up to new revelations of forgiveness that i am still thinking on – months later. 

on to Easter lunch…

with the exception of last year we have spent every year eating Easter lunch with andy’s family.  we have a ton of food and a good time visiting with family.  last year we went to my grandmother’s house but since she wasn’t feeling well this year mom and i were responsible for Easter lunch.  we had fun (ok i don’t know that mom had much fun, but i thought it was fun).  we planned a menu (in like 10 minutes): deviled eggs, rolls, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, corn, and ham and peanut butter pie for dessert – simple but delicious.

so my pictures of the food look a little blah but the food was so incredibly yummy.

and our guest list (me, andy, mom, dad, grandmama, aunt hilda, and of course otis).  we ate outside since it was a beautiful day (a little cool but nice).

otis helped in the kitchen (by hoping that everyone would drop food – he was underfoot just in case).  he also enjoyed our time on the porch in the sunshine. 

we had amazing decorations for the table

at walmart we picked up a “bunny mum” and added him to our serving table.  isn’t it cute?  if you don’t think so then you are on andy’s side.  he thought it was ridiculous but i thought it was cute and fun to say – bunny mum.  we also had a candle tree from our wedding! 

we hated that we couldn’t be in charlotte for Easter, but i did enjoy cooking with mom this year. 

an aging gee

Otis is getting old.  there is no sugar-coating it but Otis is getting old.  he sleeps more now and he has less bursts of energy.  he acts grumpy most of the time.  he comes to life when my parents get here and he pays the price when they leave.  he spent on of his days chasing the robot vacuum cleaner…

and the next day he was so sore he had to sleep on a pallet in the living room.  let me say I know that he is spoiled but he sat in front of me and he whimpered and whimpered until I couldn’t stand it anymore.  he wouldn’t let us pick him up and he wouldn’t jump so I made a soft bed for him to chill on.  we know he has arthritis and so we give him a fish oil and that seems to help.

right now Otis is still feeling sick.  he has a swollen toe.  he is on antibiotics in hopes that it is just an infection.  he has 4 days left and we hope that it will help.  if not it means that we will have to talk about amputation if it is a tumor or anything like that.

we love Otis so much and it makes us both sad that he is getting older and slower but he is still so snuggly and our sweet gee.

winter wonderland…

    Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We’re happy tonight,
Walking in a winter wonderland.

take me back to Christmas when i sing winter wonderland and it makes me happy and i feel like it is a happy song and i sing it with a smile on my face…then comes January and February and march.

by january that winter wonderland spirit is gone and i am no longer wanting to walk in a winter wonderland.  i no longer want to build a snowman and call him anything.  i actually want to walk in a spring wonderland where it is in the low 70s with a slight breeze.  well my bubble has been completely shattered lately.  we have had so much snow this winter.  i.am.over.it!

let me give the snow some credit.  it is beautiful on the mountain and it makes the air clean with the crisp coolness that it brings.  i love watching it fall and between hearing the flakes fall on the ground and the water in the creek beside our house it has been very pleasing to my ears.  i will go as far to say it has been relaxing.

then reality strikes and i panic.  how am i going to get to work?  if that huge hill is covered in ice and i can’t make it to work – will i get fired?  will they judge me?  what will this do to otis’ arthritis?  will we be ok?  should i have actually gone to the grocery store and stocked up?  will we be snowed in?  what do we do if the power goes out?  what if me and andy get on each other’s nerves?  how long will this last?  what am i missing?  i don’t mind the snow as long as 1. we don’t have to go out in it or 2. the roads are clear.

this year we have been able to experience several days of below zero weather.  it was kind of cool the first time we saw the temperature in the car…and then the excitement wore off when that cold air hit you in the face and then the lungs.

Otis was over the entire thing.  he didn’t love the snow and he didn’t love the below zero weather.  he would walk halfway down the driveway and stop picking up his paws.  he would glance at us and we (read that as andy) would have to pick him up and he would have rocks frozen to his feet.  it was pitiful.

we even had pipes burst because of the co weather.  I will be honest I started this post in January and today in march we had snow.  this past weekend we had a tease of beautiful weather and I can not wait until spring!

nov. 2013

 November was a long month in many ways.

my mom and dad both have birthdays in November.  dad the 5th and mom the 18th.

(my mom was awarded nurse of the year!  ok maybe not but she should be!  she was awarded for being at the hospital for so long)

i cried my first time (maybe second time) at work (i mean really cried) because i was so angry at a mean person who wouldn’t stop yelling at me it just frustrated me to tears.  it was also a time i was reminded at how awesome it is to work with wonderful people.

one morning we got a call that my aunt ann passed away.  November 19th.  (i am going to get on a soap box for a few minutes…sorry in advance – listen to your doctors and communicate with your family).  ann was my only “real” aunt.  my mom was an only child and my dad only had the one sister.  sure i had several great aunts but she was my only real aunt.  i have so many memories of her – good and not great.  i can remember when we stayed in tn for part of the summer that sometimes we got lucky and would go to her house to eat dinner and spend the night (if my grandparents had meetings).  we would make personal pizzas from scratch and would set up our tables (ironing board with a sheet over it) and would watch movies with her.  it was something that we didn’t get to do often, but will and i enjoyed it when we got to.  i remember baking with her growing up.  i remember helping at the green house when i was little (planting and helping deliver).  i remember many conversations with her and her support.

there are some iffy memories in there too that aren’t as positive…i remember the time that i offered to help her at the green house after we moved and she snickered and laughed at me because it “wasn’t my thing” and the unending comments about city people and country people.  but in a time of mourning and death i think it is customary to try to push those out of ones mind.  looking back those things don’t change the fact that she was my aunt and i loved her and i will miss her.

the other day we were standing in the green house and it was very surreal (as death is to me) knowing that she isn’t coming back.  i looked around and part of me was mad that she didn’t take care of herself better and that she wouldn’t listen to what the doctors told her and she was so guarded with her personal life that nothing we could say would change her mind about that.  that was who she was and at her funeral that was the message that we got.  even in her stubbornness she was who she was.  in those moments of anger it made me think of her funeral and at her funeral we laughed.  we told Jamie to keep it light and real and he did.  it was the most beautiful memorial service and the perfect send off.  in the good and not great, and the anger and laughter, and expectations met and not met there was love and at the end of the day that is what i choose to cling to.

my aunt was an organ donor at the time she passed away and i was the one that talked to the screening people at the donation organization.  i am an organ donor because i like the idea and thoughts behind it.  i will be honest i never really knew what that meant.  i never really thought about what that means for the people that are left behind.  while i understand completely the need for the questions i was asked, somewhere in the middle of the million and a half questions i thought i have no idea on some of these answers.  on my soap box i would like to tell everyone and anyone who will listen – talk to your family…make sure they know your history and wishes as detailed as possible.  after i got off the phone (an hour conversation) i was exhausted.

will came for the memorial service (actually the service was delayed 10 minutes waiting on him since his plane was delayed.  we took him to the farm and it was so funny.  the ganged up on him and tried to take the treats.  i will post pics of the farm in another post.  but here are a few with the family.

it snowed.

church harvest auction with guests jed and lisa.

thanksgiving happened. it was later this year and to be honest it was bad.  it made me lose a week before Christmas and that was so bad.  we went to charlotte for thanksgiving and it was great to see family and friends.  andy was glad to see tall buildings.  we got to see cj and ellen which is always fun and an adventure.  i had another allergic reaction to thanksgiving dinner but i was prepared and had medicine on hand to stop the itching.  i think i have it narrowed down to what dish i am allergic too, but still researching that.  who knows?!  cj wanted to take pictures with my camera.  i only had a mild heart attack when she almost dropped it so from now on if she has my camera the strap has to stay around her neck (she is ok with this).  she took mostly blurry photos and picks of people’s knees but with a little help she can center people and take a good photo.

we also went black Friday shopping.  it was great to be so close to stores…

we also got our tree from the church and brought it back to tn with us.  it was really funny watching all of the cars go back towards charlotte with trees from the mountains and we left charlotte and took our tree to the mountains.  it was very scary for me.  i had a slight freak out when we left charlotte and could envision our tree rolling off the top and taking out all the cars around us.  so i kept an eye on it.

we made it home with no trouble.

the only other thing i can think of is that andy trashed ace of base (i love ace of base and am still slightly upset over that) but, that pretty much wraps up an exhausting November.

oct. 2013

in an attempt to catch things up to start the new year out right i am going to sum up month by month (i think).

oct 15th 2013:  Otis turned 10.  we had a birthday cake (which translate to wet food) and he got a new toy that he loved.

we did a lot with the church:

Greeneville homecoming game, regular youth group, youth at one of the families homes, went to the pumpkin patch (and froze).

went to the charlotte races.

andy made our first chili for the cooler weather.  i told him what to get at the store but told him to use common sense and don’t make a ton.  i got home and he made like 10 pounds of chili.  we ate it for weeks.  i am over chili for a while.

several people celebrated oct. birthdays and unfortunately we couldn’t celebrate in person with all of them…but we love them all.

well i guess that pretty much wraps up Oct.  (I will be honest – i am sure that things happened that i am forgetting about…but i think i did good for remembering that much).

random little nuggets

I keep a running list of things I want to blog about….not that I can always find that list and not that I always use it…but I have a list.

this post is about some of those little nuggets that don’t really need their own post.

1. little rock: we dodged a bullet there.  at the time it seemed like a great idea to move to Arkansas but we have been talking a lot recently about places we have been and where we thought we were headed and we both agree that we dodged a bullet by not going to little rock.  I think I can honestly say that I would have been miserable and thankfully we never loaded up the u haul and moved!
2. computer clean up.  I have a mini laptop (so it is not meant to house a ton of pictures and videos) and my storage is running low and my computer is running slow.  (a little rhyme maybe?)  anyways…I have been in the process of “organizing” my photos so that I can easily transfer them to an external hard drive and hopefully that will solve the running slow issue and I will be able to store it in a safe place in case of mother nature or stupid mean people that could potentially break in.  on night it was late and i had been working for a few hours and went to stop for the night and DELETED all of my photos…ALL of them.  i dealt with it like any normal mature adult and started sobbing.  not the cute tears welled in my eyes threatening to spill over my eye lids but the ugly crying with snot bubbling and incoherent shrilling.  andy came to my rescue and restored them.  i decided i needed to just go to bed (andy i only work a few minutes at a time so i don’t get tired and stupid).
3. while doing the computer clean up i found several attempts of some photos that i took of jasper on the windshield.  it made me laugh.  i remembered sitting in the kubota taking the pictures (there had to be about 15 of them).  all of them taken the same distance from jasper…all of them same lighting…all of them the same angle…all of them the same perspective…all of them the same view….each and every single one of them blurry.  i would take the picture look at it and sigh and try again.  it made me thing of the saying: insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. (Einstein).  proof that maybe i am a little insane….?
4. we got Otis a lobster costume for Halloween (and when i say we i mean that i pestered andy in the store for one and to prevent a scene he caved).  it was too small and andy refused to get a bigger size (i think it was premeditated)!  (so you can officially blame andy for a lack of AWESOME photos of Otis as a lobster).

so there you have it.  now you will be able to sleep tonight.