Books

My book group is meeting next week to set up a schedule for the year. We are all supposed to bring names of books that we want to read. I have a list on a sticky that I jotted down when something sounded interesting. But I don't really know anything about them.

So, if any of my dear blog buddies has a book that should not be missed, tell me. Please. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind. (I should at least be interested in the book that I am suggesting after all.) I am not a big fan of the classics, mostly because I don't like flowery language, I want it to get to the point already. I am not a big fan of sci-fi/fantasy, I like them to at least have the illusion of plausibility. Otherwise, I'm open.

Help me. If you love a book. Tell me what it is and why it is sooooo fabulous. Thanks!

Velcro's Name & Other Velcro Facts

Velcro came with a name. It was Rowdy Roger. It just didn't fit. We got him from a lovely older couple who had retired. They had decided that they wanted to go live on a boat and didn't think that Rowdy would like it. He has rarely been rowdy in his entire life. He has moments when he does the Corgi Zoom, but he is pretty mellow as far as dogs go. So that is how we came to get him at 7 months old. Housebroken, toy trained (he wasn't allowed to play with fuzzy toys because of their grandkids stuffed animals) and completely lovable.

By the time I came home from work the next day my brother, Toad, and Ducky had named him Velcro. I was a bit miffed that the naming discussion happened before I got home, but the name worked. Whenever you would get up to do something, he stuck to you. He moved from room to room with you. As the years have passed, he does that less and less. But his hair sticks with you no matter where you go. Beware wearing black pants and sitting on the floor.

As for those ears, we call them his satellite dishes. If there is a cat or dog outside, he knows it and announces it. Burglars at 2 am, not so much. The fall after sweetP was born, I was up at 2am getting medicine for a migraine. I noticed flash lights on the French doors. The doors that led out to the deck. The deck up off the ground. That had a gate to keep it enclosed. Someone was on our deck. Two someones.

So I run back to our bedroom and "Ducky, Ducky!!! There is someone on the deck!" Velcro is sleeping. Ducky gets up and runs to the door. Do not do this. Keep your doors locked and call 911. He opens the door and yells at them. He grabs the big flashlight and runs after them in his barefeet. Do not do this. Just call 911. Velcro continues to sleep.

Turns out a guy ran from a traffic stop up the road and it was the sheriffs department on the deck looking for him. And they momentarily thought they had their man when Ducky ran out their. I repeat, just call 911. Unless you want six guns trained on you ready to shoot.

Velcro finally woke up when Ducky came back in. And then he just grumbled that his sleep was disturbed before going back to sleep. Now if they had knocked or rung the bell, the whole neighborhood would have known about it. He has a very ferocious bark if the burglar is polite enough to knock or ring the bell. But if you are a cat, look out.

Fun Monday!

Today's Fun Monday is hosted by Lisa's Chaos. And our assignment is...Let’s meet your pets. I think most of us have at least one pet and I would like to see your fluffy or scaly pal. If you don’t have a camera you can tell us about him/her/them. If you don’t have a pet tell us about a pet you had or a pet you want. If for some weird reason you hate all animals we want to know why gosh-dang-it.

I have had pets as long as I can remember.


My first real pet was Woofie aka Captain. But I called him Woofie. He was a Shetland Sheep Dog. I got him in second grade. My parents were getting a divorce. My mom thought I could use a dog (rather than a dad apparently). In the end the divorce didn't go through, but I still got to keep the dog. He slept with me. He would play fetch for hours, with a tennis ball, a pine cone or a stick, it didn't matter. We lived on a farm and he would get burrs and all other kinds of stuff stuck in his fur. He had to be brushed a lot. He was much friendlier than most shelties and much smaller. I loved him. He got killed by a Great Dane when he was ten. He was wooing his girlfriend next door. The Great Dane had the same idea. And Woofie had small dog syndrome. He was the best dog a girl could have had.


Then I went to college and had to wait years before I could have another pet. We got Velcro when he was 7 months old. He is a Welsh Pembroke Corgi. He is very hairy (he fills multiple trash cans at the groomer) and big for his breed. He is the family dog, but really he is mine. He just turned eleven. I gave his whole story on his birthday. He is spoiled rotten. He even has his own stocking. We promised him that he would be the only furry animal we would get. After being demoted twice by children, it is the least we can do.

Eventually, I would like to get a Welsh Terrier. But I hope that is many years in the future. We would like to keep Velcro around for while longer.

A New Year's Resolution After All

I have decided today to make one New Year's Resolution. This is going to be the year that I FINISH. I am going to finish all those projects that I have already started. I will finish the boys favorites books for 2007. I will finish the family yearbook for 2006 and 2007. I will finish sweetE's quilt. I will finish the stairs. I will finish the guest room. I will finish organizing my room. I will finish all the other little projects that I have started.

I will try to work every day towards finishing something. Even if I only spend 5 minutes, I will be 5 minutes closer to finishing something. And if at the end of the year, I have only finished one thing, then my year will be a success. My to do list will be one thing shorter. I hope that I finish a few more than that.

Today, I finished paying bills that should have already been paid. Now they are. I also finished fixing sweetE's jammies where the seam came undone. I'm on a roll.

To Finishing things!

Update!
I finished grading all the papers that have been sitting in a heap all break. I am now officially caught up on grading. I hope to grade anything I collect the day I collect it. And then only have late papers to do over the weekend.

The Many Virtues of Alice

Alice joined the family almost two years ago for my birthday. And I have loved her ever since. There was the great naming debate. Ducky wanted to name her Rosie (Jetsons), I wanted Alice (Brady Bunch) and there was also the consideration of Robbie (robot). Since it was my birthday present, I won. Alice the first took a header down the stairs. Her cliff detectors let her down. I now put a virtual wall at the top of the stairs to prevent any further mishaps. Alice the second, ate some bad lint or something and had to be sent back to her homeland (factory). And now we have Alice the third. And she has been doing splendidly for about a year and a half. iRobot's customer service is superb.

We thought at first that she would replace our Hoover. But if you live in anything bigger than an apartment, she really is a supplementary vacuum. The whole having to recharge herself takes a while and if you really want to get the whole house clean, that is a problem. She can get to places that regular vacuums can't without major redocration. She drives under beds, couches and tables. She is also willing to commit to much lengthier cleaning adventures than I am. And I am always amazed at what she picks up. At first we tested her by running her every day in one room. And it took about three weeks before she stopped filling her bin. Yuck! And we did vacuum in there with the upright before we got her, fairly regularly. She makes the carpet fluffier over time.

The best thing about Alice. Velcro is not afraid of her. He is deathly afraid of vacuums. When he was a puppy, he was kind of scared of the vacuum. Then my brother, Toad, decided that he should vacuum him to get out his loose fur. And scared poor puppy Velcro nearly to death. He has not been the same since. It has been ten years. Velcro will scurry out of the room as far as he can get when I get the vacuum out. But Alice, she can be running in the same room and he will just continue his nap without batting an eye. She will run into him and he is only mildly disgruntled. He just gets up and moves.

If I were to go back in time and buy Alice again (and I would) I would upgrade to the scheduler model. Then every day at noon she would start herself and clean and then dock herself again when she was done. She and Dyson get along great. I am off to go start her for her daily run. I forgot earlier.

The Battle has Begun

Since September Ducky has had a cough. A shake the house, wake the neighbors kind of cough. And he can do it in his sleep without waking up. I wake up. And then can't go to sleep again.

So just before Christmas, he went to the allergist. And found out that he has a rather severe allergy to dust mites. Ewww. Not something I care to think about. And while I don't claim to have the cleanest house, it is not bad either. So we have started a war against the dust mite. There are no plans for eradication, annihilation or elimination. We know that that would be hopeless. Instead we are opting for a noticeable reduction in their numbers. We have washed bedding and curtains, wiped down blinds and chairs, dusted moldings and furniture.


But the thing that is going to win the war? Alice, the Roomba vacuum. She is fabulous. She goes under the bed and the dresser. She gets in the nooks and crannies. She covers the whole floor about seven times. And I am always amazed at what she picks up. We are running her daily in our bedroom. And it is working.

We are attacking other parts of the house too. I have also vacuumed the chairs and couches downstairs. But you spend so much time in bed, that the bedroom is the front line in the war. And Alice is the general.

The Quest for Dog Food

Velcro is a sensitive dog. His feeling get hurt easily. His skin gets irritated easily. His tummy gets upset easily. He is just a sensitive dog.

We have been giving him the same kind and brand of dog food since we got him. A few years ago we switched to the senior formula. He was getting a bit chubby and much less energetic. And in many regards it has been great. He has lost weight. He has a waist again. He bounces and runs again. He comes upstairs again. All pluses. But now he gets hot spots.

Every time he starts to get better and his body gets used to the food, they change the formula a little bit. And we start over. Plus he gets what we refer to as poopy butt. Do you know how unpleasant it is to step on a turdlet in bare feet? When he is upset or his food changes we have to check his pants before we can let him in the house.

So I decided that I would find him a new food. One with fewer ingredients and less stuff that isn't important. What dog needs food coloring anyway? They are more interested in smell and taste, not color. I don't care what color it is. I just want a food that makes Velcro happy, his tummy happy and his skin happy.

So I went to the pet store. And I read the labels on over 20 different kinds of dog food for senior or weight control. There was not a bag on those shelves that had fewer than 30 ingredients. Most of those ingredients I couldn't pronounce. It would just be easier if they listed the ingredients in two parts. One part would read what the main food items were. The other would list the additives and what they really were. Like, crushed oyster shells for calcium. I was in there for an hour. When I make my own food I try to limit the ingredients to five, definitely no more than ten. After reading all those labels and knowing I needed to come home with something. A hungry Velcro is a tripping hazard. He clings underfoot until you feed him. And he is the perfect tripping height. I ended up with one that says it is for sensitive skin and sensitive stomachs.

He loves it. He is more of a tripping hazard than usual. He is spinning in his excitement to eat. So far it seems to be agreeing with his tummy. It will take awhile before we can tell if it is helping his skin. He looks guilty when I catch him licking or chewing his hot spots. Poor guy, I just don't want him to be itchy.

Next stop on the dog food quest will be the natural pet store. But we still have half a bag and we'll see what happens in the mean time. Any suggestions on dog food that is easy on sensitive doggies will be gladly accepted.