I'm back.  Blogger changed something this past week and I couldn't figure out how to post on my blog.  My friend, Lorraine, had to tell me what to do.  

Today, I enrolled Blossom in obedience school.  There are so many really cool classes for dogs to take now but she has to start out in Obedience 1.  I am looking forward to signing her up for agility classes next.  There is also a really neat class called Scent Discrimination where they teach you how to train your dog to find certain objects.  I thought it would be a great idea to teach Blossom how to find my cell phone, or the remote, until my friend Liz mentioned that I'd have to train her not to eat the items when she found them.  

Blossom has had 2 really good days of not eating us out of house and home.  We came home Thursday to this:

Apparently, Blossom thought that the chicken on the cover of my Cooking Light magazine was real.  She demolished that magazine along with Scott's shoe and a clothes hanger.  

Blossom also doesn't think much of  the Fall line at J Jill because she tore up the catalog while I was in the shower Friday morning. 

I asked Blossom to please let me sleep late on Saturday morning and she obliged.  Unfortunately, she kept herself busy with a pair of dress shoes that she must have stolen out of my closet. 

 

Thankfully the shoes were old and I had been debating on whether or not to throw them out.  

You would think that Blossom spends her whole day chewing and tearing stuff up but it only takes her a few minutes to shred pretty much anything!  Now that we are realizing where she goes to get these items, we are learning how to keep things put away.  I read that dogs love to chew things with "their people's" scent on it.  It is suggested that when you buy them a chew toy, you should put it in your clothes hamper for a few days until it smells like you.  

I'm so proud of my incredibly smart husband.  He spent part of Sunday afternoon burying brick pavers by our garage door so that Blossom (and everyone else) doesn't get muddy when she steps outside.  

Enough about Blossom.  Greta is the good one. 

She's sitting behind me in that same spot right now. 

World Autism Awareness Day

It's World Autism Awareness Day!  Today I wore blue in support of my niece, Laura, and everyone else touched by Autism.  Here's a recent picture:

Check out these lovely ladies wearing blue!  Here are some of my coworkers showing their support for Autism awareness all the way from the great state of Vermont!

 

LtoR:  Lorraine, Liz, Kristi, Kim & Deb.  (We are missing you Christina!) 

Thank you girls!  That means so much.  Much love from North Carolina! 

Wounded Wednesday

My friend Lorraine asked me what I was going to post for Wordless Wednesday and when I told her about my day she said I should call it "Wounded Wednesday" so, here it is.

My day started out with a trip to the dentist for 2 fillings.  Three weeks ago, I left my 6 month cleaning appointment baffled at how I could have 2 cavities.  That night I fell asleep on the couch and was so sleepy when I woke up that I went straight to bed.  I then realized what I had done and got right back up and brushed my teeth.  I have a feeling I've been doing that more than I care to admit.  I learned my lesson; I haven't gone to bed without brushing my teeth ever since! 

Going to the dentist is hard enough for a "normal" person but for someone who has struggled with panic disorder for most of her life, being trapped in "the chair" is no walk in the park.  I survived though.  I didn't enjoy the taste of the numbing cream or the sound and smell of the drill but, it is over and I vow to be the best teeth brusher in the whole world!

This is my brother's dog Sophie.

She's the reason that I have poison ivy all over my body.  Sophie is the world's most hyper dog but she's also the world's most fun dog so I have to pet her.  Every summer she gives me poison ivy.  Her invisible fencing spans about 2-3 acres and part of that is wooded so there's really no way to fight it.  Oh well, I guess she is worth it.  Ask me again at the end of the summer.

Scott told me that this is poison oak.  Does anyone know if he is right?  

They are "leaves of three". 

And finally, I have some sad news to report.  I was excited to tell you that some of momma bird's eggs had hatched.  She was so proud of her babies because she yelled at me last night when I tried to take a picture.  I had decided that I wasn't going to bother them anymore.  Tonight, when I walked out my front door, I was heartbroken to see that something had gotten to her nest.  It was laying across my front porch with eggs strewn all about.  The babies were missing.  I was so sad that I sat down and started to tear up. Next year I will not plant anything until after baby season is over; if there is a baby season.

Well, the good news is that Greta can now sit on the front porch again.