Lessons Learned #2: DO THE RIGHT THING

Notice that I did not say
FOLLOW THE RULES.
It's not always the same thing.

I believe in doing what seems like
the right thing to do.
Not because I'll get a reward.
Not because if I DON'T do the right thing,
I'll get in trouble.
I'm talking about doing the right thing,
JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING.

If you're familiar with
Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development,
then you know I could just as easily have titled this post
STRIVE FOR LEVEL SIX.
But you might have thought I was
talking about video games.
(If you're interested in reading about Kolberg,
CLICK HERE to read Kohlberg's Heinz Dilemma.)

So anyway, DO THE RIGHT THING.You'll like yourself more.

Lessons Learned #1: TRUST NO ONE

Our son Trevor sent me this text the other day:
Lessons Learned #16-
Don't give Zoey dipping sauce
if you want her to finish her lunch.

That got me thinking about lessons
I've learned in my lifetime.
So here you go with Lesson #1.
Without a doubt.

Well, maybe not NO ONE.
I'm selective.
I keep a REAL SMALL circle of people I trust.

More like DeNiro
than Mulder.
A recent debacle in my life
has reinforced this principle.
I let my guard down
and have suffered for it.
I forgot that lots of people
will smile in your face
while stabbing you in the back.

But now I remember.

TRUST NO ONE.

It's not cynicism.
It's self-preservation.

WOO HOOOO Last Day Before Break

And I'm SO excited to see Zoey
and our families!!
On meds for the creepin' crud I caught.
Finished wrapping presents.Alllllmost ready for the holidays.
How about you??

MEEP

So we used to have this adorable teddy bear hamster named Albie (short for Albert). He was the sweetest, silent-est little thing who really seemed to love people. The only time Albie made any noise at all was after we cleaned his cage. Hamsters are hoarders and along with his used bedding, he always had a little stash of goodies that we wound up throwing out. When we put him back into his fresh, clean cage, Albie would run all around looking for his stash and going, "MEEP!!"

We are in the process of tiling our downstairs floors, which includes my studio area (aka the dining room). All the floors are finished, except the studio. In preparation for tiling that area, we moved all my sewing and embroidery stuff into the living room. We unloaded a heavy oak storage unit so that we could move it and the contents are now in a bunch of cardboard boxes. Everything is functional, but I'm spending a lot of time wandering around, trying to figure out where things are. Albie, now I know how you felt! MEEP!!

How Cute is THIS?!

Check out our little Zoey!!
Please remember that
she only turned one year old in August.
Even from the time she was a tiny infant,
she has had her own vibrant personality.LOL, she was NOT HAPPY!!
(She had been dancing around
and fell. The assembled adults
all laughed at her.)
This pose makes me think that
the "hands on the hips" thing
must be genetic in humans.
She is WAY too young to have learned it!!

I'm so excited that
we get to see her over Christmas.

Meet HARVEY!!!! Or Why I Never Want to Go to Prison

Here's Harvey. If you've been reading this blog, you know we adopted him from a prison in Virginia, Lunenburg, to be exact. Let me just say...OMG, I DO NOT want to go to prison. EVER. Razor wire.Loud clanging constantly. Guards with guns walking around. Guards with guns in towers. Reinforced, razor-wire enclosed gated areas with the gates on timers...I guess if you manage to get through the first gate, they have time to shoot you before the second one clangs open??????????? And did I mention that there's a lot of razor wire????

Anyway, the handlers (inmates who train the dogs) could NOT have been more professional!!! They were extremely knowledgeable, and just really, really...professional. We felt like we had a session with two professional dog trainers.

So anyway, I'm scared straight.
And Harvey is adjusting SO well.

He has definitely been abused at some point and can be EXTREMELY fearful. Loud noises scare him (the clanging in prison had him flinching constantly. Sudden movements scare him. Wiping his muddy paws scares him. Foster scares him.And there are just so many things he's never done. We could not get him to jump into the truck to go home...think about it, he has probably never ridden in a vehicle except in a cage. He had never seen steps until the handlers (who knew we have a two-story house), started working with him on a set of 3 steps.But now ol' Harv is running up and down our steps, wrestling with Deegan and beginning to understand that petting does not equal hitting.We are so happy to give Harvey the chance at a normal life. Well, as normal as a dog's life can be when he is ruled by Foster-the-Dog-Killer...

Thanks for sharing our joy!

Time Flies...

And you don't even have to be having fun!! I'm sorry I was gone so long. I actually was not gone-gone, but just didn't have anything too interesting to say. I didn't let that stop me today, LOL!

Stay tuned this weekend for news about our NEW ARRIVAL, aka HARVEY!!

As for me...I'm off to teach kindergarten all day and when I get home, start on my EIGHT TOOTH FAIRY PILLOWS AND FOUR WATER BOTTLE KOOZIES that people have ordered. OH, and I forgot about the fact that I'm supposed to be monogramming something for a friend at work.

Have I finished Christmas shopping?? NO. It's starting to really scare me, too. I'm starting to feel like I need to get a prescription. Or try that self-hypnosis that I used to do...(really, I did and it was wonderful and relaxing and I don't think I looked like that guy in the pic, but then, how would I know)...

More soon, I promise!

Sometimes You Gotta Do Something Crazy

Have you ever had a time in your life when you knew you were about to do something that does not make sense, but yet it seemed 100% like the right thing to do??

Harvey is like that, because we already have some pets. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that we have a dog named Deegan and some cats. Strictly indoor cats. Five, to be exact. Two were feral kittens we captured and one is still unapproachable.

The cats and Deegan get along fine. Well, except for Foster. Deegan is terrified of Foster.

With good reason.
You may remember this post, written by Deegan.
Foster is not his favorite thing.

The cats are not good playmates for Deegan. After all, they're CATS and they do not like Deegan licking them and trying to chew on their ears. They find him coarse and repulsive.

Deegan is almost three and he needs a friend to wrestle with.

Enter Harvey.

Harvey is 4 years old and has NEVER lived in a home. He had lived in a shelter for his entire life until he was rescued by a great organization called Fetch a Cure.

You can click the link above to read what they do, but basically, they rescue dogs that are considered unadoptable (like 4 year old dogs who have never lived in a home) and they use inmates at Virginia's correctional facilities to train them. It's great for the inmates and it's life-changing for the dogs. It's like
Cell Dogs on Animal Planet, if you ever saw that program. It's a second chance for everyone involved.

So, we are going to be Harvey's new people! I told Deegan about it, but he did not seem to understand. I told Foster about it and he is NOT HAPPY. I guess he'd better adjust. Harvey comes to stay at our house next week.

We'll be picking him up at the prison, which is 3 hours away. We'll be meeting the "handlers" (inmates). I'm not allowed to wear blue jeans or revealing clothing. (Dang, I guess I can't wear my bustier gown, which would have been perfect!))

I'M SO EXCITED, DID I SAY THAT?!
Dog fans - stay tuned to hear more about Harvey!

When ANIMALS Attack!!

So I have this weird thing about rain.
I love to go out on the porch when it's raining.
I find the sound of the rain sooo relaxing.
Normally, that is.

Last night during a torrential downpour,
I went out on the porch.
My mistake was taking Deegan along.
Normally, Deeg listens pretty well.
But not last night.
He went shooting off the porch
to the other side of our driveway.
I couldn't see him because of our vehicles
but I immediately heard this
horrible, frenzied snarling.

I could not IMAGINE what on earth
he was doing. I went flying off the
porch, screaming his name, running
toward our truck. I still couldn't see
either him or his combatant.
I got within about 3 feet of our truck
and suddenly THIS CAME SNARLING OUT AT ME!!!!!!!For a split second,
I thought he was a big, gray cat.
I started to bend toward him
in the dark and the rain
before I realized what I was looking at.
I think he felt trapped, with Deegan
on the far side of the vehicle and
me bending toward him on this side.
That raccoon was definitely
in fight or flight mode
and he had chosen FIGHT.

He looked WAY madder than that.
Like this mad.
Fight or flight didn't work so well for me.
I was so petrified that
I stood rooted to the spot,
screaming as loud as I could.
Incredibly, the raccoon must have
decided I was not a threat.
He lit off across the yard,
toward a drainage ditch,
with Deegan right behind him.

My feet finally unfroze and I went tearing
after them, again screaning for Deegan.
The raccoon zipped into a drainage pipe
and Deegan FINALLY stopped and looked at me.

I was still screaming at the top of my lungs.
Deegan was cowering, because I think by then
I must have looked like this.

I think that's the scaredest
I've ever been.
I shook for about an hour.
Miraculously, Deegan appeared
to be unharmed.
He was not bitten.
There was no blood.

You have to kind of wonder
what our neighbors think.
Thank goodness for noise of the rain,
because the way I was screaming,
I wouldn't have been surprised to see this.

What I'm Working On...

What's been keeping me busy? Orders for:
A Tooth Fairy Pillow and letter from The Fairy

Two Owl Cardholder Keychains

Seven monogrammed wine sleeves
(NOT this fabric and with an
oval, 3-letter monogram,
but you get the idea)How about you? What's keeping you busy?

35 Years

Yesterday was our anniversary.
35 years.

I was just thinking that, sadly, many young couples will not make it that long. Not because they don't love each other. But for some reason, they seem to think it should be easy. Like automatic. And if there are issues to work through, it's easier to walk away, rather than come to compromises.

Was it always easy?
No.
Were there times I wanted to
run him through with a knife?
Did we have any issues along the way?
Yes.

Is it all worth the work?
YES.

Holy Cow

You know how I feel about having my picture taken, so that's why I blurred my (nonphotogenic) face. The Facebook title of this picture (written by Rach, Avery's mommy) was

Avery is well over half the height
of his Nannie - sorry, Nannie.

LOL. He just turned TEN MONTHS OLD. AND NO, I HAVE NOT SHRUNK, if that's what you were thinking. AND NO, I'M NOT STANDING IN A HOLE.