Doug's 50th Birthday Party

Welcome my blogger friends to a huge surprise for me.  My sister not only got the pictures from Doug's 50th birthday developed in the same year as his birthday but in the same decade!  I am in shock and of course I had to share them with you!  We had the party at my Mom's home.  This is Doug and my sister's husband.

Does this cake qualify for Cake Wrecks?  It is creepy to me.  Those are supposed to be

balloons.

We set it up buffet style with chairs and trays throughout.

Here is Doug getting ready to gobble up.  Lots of food fun and friends.  Thought I would share some candid shots from the evening.

And this is my wonderful family, sister, step daughter, grandson, hubby and beautiful Mom

My computer is still slow as can be.  I sure am missing visiting everyone's blogs and can't wait to get this corrected.  I still love your comments. 

Picnic with the Pooches

Welcome friends, after a tough past few weeks I woke up this morning and decided to take my two dogs to my favorite park.  Josh and Ning knew that something was up because I was making them a special lunch and packing their bags.  I learned a couple of years ago to always pack a bag when taking my dogs just like I would if I was taking a child for an outing.  Everyone has their own bag, I keep all copies of their papers in the their bag.  I am constantly stumbling on 'doggie' outings and as long as they have their paperwork they can join in.  Plus documentation of their vet, meds etc.  I keep treats, their water bottle, poopie bags, wipes and antibacterial gel in their bags as well.  Isn't the park beautiful?

I love this park.  As I parked the truck after all my planning, I noticed something odd.  Josh had eaten her leash.  Yes she ate her leash.  So I backed out, went to pet smart and bought her one of those retractable ones.  I know the trainer won't like it but I thought this will be fun. 

So back to the park we go.   I am loving the retractable leash.  Of course Josh headed straight for the water and and Ning, while small, is one brave baby.  He dives in head first.  They play about 5 minutes, loose interest and we walk a little more.  All of a sudden Josh pulls the leash out of my hand!  For those of you who have never used a retractable leash, let me share this with you.  IT RETRACTS!  One thing that has always worked in my favor, is if she pulls out of my hand I have about 6 feet of leash to catch up with her. It had to look so funny, me chasing Josh with that leash bobbing back and forth! It would snag on something and I would be within an inch and all of a sudden it would unsnag, retract and off Josh would go.  After about 45 minutes some joggers caught Josh for me, trust me she is sleeping now. She even gave them a run for their money. LOL

We might make a weekly trip there, it was so beautiful and fun.  I will pack towels to dry everyone off next time.  Oh and Ning's advice is to NOT wear your blue and yellow polka dot Easter bow tie to the park.  It will get dirty and yukky and Mom will throw it away.

Hopefully I will have a computer to read everyone's blog soon.  I have missed visiting everyone so much.  Thank you for stopping in on our little piece of the world.  Now I am off to find someone to clean all that mud out of  Doug's truck.  I love hearing from all of you.

The Pink Dress

Welcome my friends to my first post in a while. My friends in blogland have been so incredible and full of love for me these past weeks.  I have had this post in my heart for several weeks and made certain before Doug left I had the picture to share with you.  Well my computer crashed and died so I don't have the photo to share.  I know your imaginations will take you along this journey with me.

It was the fall of 1974.  I was walking in a shopping center (our little town still doesn't have a mall).  I spotted it immediately.  In today's world it would be called a 'pagent' dress size 2T.  I had just come from the doctor and he told me I was pregnant.  I already knew.  Back then the way you knew ahead of time if it was a boy or girl was tying a string around your wedding ring and let it swing over your belly.  I didn't need anything that scientific, I already knew I was having a girl and I already knew her name.  Jenee', I had known for years. 

I saw the dress and it was $99.00.  That was a million dollars in 1974 for a dress.  I put it on lay away that day, they took it right out of the store window.  I paid it off in March, 1975.

April 15th 1975 I was busy doing last minute tax returns.  My water broke, I kept saying please let me finish this return and she did.  She waited until the morning of the 16th to arrive. Perfect little body, 10 fingers and 10 little toes.  A head full of hair and a big little baby at 8 pounds and 12 ounces.  I knew nothing about taking care of a baby.  I was so scared, afraid to hold her.....I thought she might break.  It was a difficult delivery and I was in the hospital almost a month after she was born.  They let her stay with me that whole month.  No HMO's back then.  She never broke, even with all my mistakes.  She put up with all my whims, dreams, husbands, traveling......you name it.

The afternoon of November 29, 1995.  I  opened the door and my sister was about to ring the bell.  She doubled over in my arms.  She was crying , I could barely understand her words. ' Jenee' was shot'.  That is all I could understand.  I remember thinking, oh no my baby has been shot in the leg.  Where I got that, I have no idea.  All I could think of was getting to the hospital.  She kept saying no, no she is gone.  And she was gone.  I kept her cell phone on for years so I could hear her voice on her voicemail.  But she was gone, but never forgotten.  Her pink dress remains a constant reminder of her love, joy, passion, laughter. 

Happy Birthday my darling daughter.  Your momma loves and misses you more each day.  Thank you my friends for sharing my baby girl's birthday.

It's a Slow Journey

Never in a million zillion years would I have ever dreamed of the outpouring of love, concern, compassion, emails, letters, cards and telephone calls.  I am sorry I have not answered everyone, but I promise I will .  Every word means so very much to me.  In addition to losing my precious Keelie; Josh suffers from litter mate syndrome and has started jumping our six foot fence, swimming in the lake and then looking for Keelie.  She has gone to a friend's house to stay for a while so we don't have another tragedy.  I miss her terribly.  On a petty note my computer died.  I am working on the computer that I gave to my niece 8 years ago to play solitare on!  I can't read blogs, and it is so slow I type a work, do a load of laundry and the word should appear. LOL.  Now you ask, who is the fellow in the picture.  
I was called by friends and they said we NEED you to foster a dog (wink wink) We are desperate.  First let me tell you that Keelie would sneeze if she wanted extra attention or was about to be bad.  Her favorite treat was cheese.

OK, back to my story.  This is a severely abused puppy mill dog between 2 -3 years old, no name.  I went to visit him and he was just blank, nothing no bond.  I cried and left and said I can't do it.  As I was pulling out of the parking lot I turned around and went back in.  He only weighs 8 pounds.  My vet said he is the most severely underweight pug he has ever seen.  So I go back in to visit him and still nothing, just a blank stare from him.  I left again.  I got about a mile away and yes , I turned around yet again.  I held him, tried walking him, nothing.  I was putting him back in his cage and guess what?  He sneezed! I know that sounds so silly but he was mine.  And no DeeDee I did not take the picture.  I saw a teenager on a cell phone in PetSmart and after she hung up I said could you take a picture of this dog and email it to me so I can share it with my friends? 

We named him Ning, Chinese for calm.  He does not like to be loved or cuddled.  The vet says we have a long road ahead of us but I know my Keelie sent him to me.  That sneeze proved it. 

My friends I thank you so much.  I treasure you so and as Ning and I ( and Josh soon) get stronger and heal together we will share funny stories, recipes, and adventures!  I miss reading your blogs so much and hopefully can get a computer that allows me to read the blogs so very soon.
Hugs , love and thank you to you all!