Thursday, February 28, 2013

Mama Cat

It is hard to believe about me.

I used to hate cats.

I went to a slumber party in high school and this teacher has this gigantic siamese cat who stalked me and another gal. We slept in another room. We spent a fair amount of time talking about how evil cats seemed.

Then my junior year in college, there was this pregnant black cat. Slinking around the trailer park where I lived.

I made a tuna casserole one day. It was gross. I tried to doctor the bad taste by adding peas, I don't know what all I added until I, my roommate, her boyfriend pronounced it totally unfit to eat.
I saw the starving black cat. I put the casserole out for her.


As hungry as she was. She sniffed and took a pass.

Constantly the moocher, later that night she was a pest at a neighbors hibachi.

I told my dad about the hibachi and the cat. He said, they should cut her off a piece.

Somehow that translated, I should buy the cat some food.

I was prepared to leave the last day that rent was paid. My mother came in the 63 chevrolet impala because it could hold all my stuff.

My suitcase was packed and open. The door was open. I came back into the room and mama cat had put her three kittens in it. Then she laid down and looked at me like a cat would.

When my mother saw her and the kittens, the we don’t need any more animals speech did not happen. Kittens were packed in a pasteboard box. Mama Cat road in my lap.

We gave away two of her kittens. The beautiful tabby grew into an eccentric that only liked blondes. My small sister was his true love.

Mama cat had a broken motor which purred in fits and starts but never continuously. She had one more litter of kittens before she was spayed.

 I've owned a cat since. 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

All over but the shoutin'


.click to embiggen "Everyone knew." First line provided by speakeasy #97 winner Erica Mullenix

Everyone knew, except me. Everyone thought.

I knew. I have known. I have known a long time. 

She wasn't the first.

She was a little younger and prettier than the ones who came before.

Really chatty. She would drive up in the driveway to pick him up. Her head just a bobbin'.

I gave Eric one of those dogs with a bobbing head. He looked at me like I had lost my mind. Why would he want a cheap thing like that.

I said for your car. In my mind a reminder of your tramp.

I saw it in her car as they pulled out a few days later.

He tried to hide his dalliances in the beginning. Then he got lazy or stopped caring.  We had an understanding or truce.  

Now why would a self respecting woman stay married to a man like this. At first, I thought I could change him. Later, I had years of disgust and four small children under the age of eight. 

I could have gone to work. Sure, but my children needed attention. I wanted to raise my own children not have them in daycare for most of the day. He was a good father and provider.  By the time the youngest entered school. I was no longer angry. The partnership had begun.

I also thought about my oath before God when we married. I wasn't a Catholic. I remember the foreign religious relics when I converted. I was always moved with the image of Mary and child. There was a marble statue in the church where we married.

I remember being so nervous at 20 talking to the priest. He wasn't like those in the movies who always knew the right answers. He transferred to another parish long ago. I, the nominal christian, raised my children to be good Catholics.

Eric has discussed divorce.  He wants to marry this woman. I feel like running out to the car and telling her, All that glitters is not gold you home wrecker.

I am angry. I am 48. The youngest goes to college this year. What will I do with myself?

My friend Marci says, "Every cloud has a silver lining."


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Why did I have to see that?

Buttons had to make the dog bed more comfortable.
I had three dogs in my car while I put fence posts up today. As a treat, I took them into town to gas up my car and purchase each of them a McDouble. Loretta did well waiting in the car and she held her anxiety down. One dog was my old man Frank. Muffin and Loretta don't get as much special treatment being the middle children. lol

As I motor up the road, I see a starving dog. I immediately turn around. The dog is still looking at me. I have dog food at home. I note where the dog is and go get the dog food. Turnaround is no more than 5 minutes.

I can't see the dog. I drive very slowly and I see a dog lying in the grass. I get out with the dog food. At first I think the dog is the dogs littermate. The stomach is distended. I walk about a third of a mile up the road in both directions. I come back and note the dog is who I saw.

I guess the dog died after I passed. It's eyes were pleading. With dogs in my car, I didn't dare pick it up. I was going to feed the dog. Take it to the vet. I adopt a dog and give it away about once a year.

Highway 96 is the highway of dead dogs. People dump dogs out on it all the time. They are usually hit within hours or an hour.

I love all animals. I just have a special place in my heart for domesticated animals. They love you back so much.

Since the dog was so close to death, it is just as well. I would have liked to let it pass with a kind word. Dogs love a human without judgement.

In the evolution of humans its theorized our species did not die out because of its alliance with the dog.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Speak Up Will You!

The bottle was almost empty. It was time to tell her. I would be drunk if I drank too many beers. Hey I didn't even like beer. 

You should tell your friend what they need to hear. The problem is, I can't stand to tell someone something that will hurt their feelings. I work in real estate. It is crushing to meet with people whose loan does not get approved and they are so nice. 

I got a backyard full of dogs. I go to a foreclosed home, sometimes there is a scared dog somehow still alive. As soon as I get a key, I go now. My assistant thinks we rush because all that animal waste damages the home. Well let me tell you, a home in foreclosure usually has problems.

"Marci, why isn't my house selling?"

I pretend to be interested in the musician playing the acoustic guitar. Time to "man up". I always think with a sneer. You know how you have a thought you think real hard and that actor's face takes over and says something else. Why can't it be "woman up"? 

"Janet, you may have a problem with staging."

"My house is clean. I packed clothes and knic knaks and put them in storage. We repainted the front door and put in a new mailbox. I weeded that darn flower bed next to the mailbox just before I came here."

"The house looks wonderful. Lots of curb appeal, you know from the inconvenience of having to leave we show your house several times a week."

"It's all the foreclosures isn't it. Are we asking too much money?"

"No you're good. I wish everyone was as practical in setting a selling price."

"Then what is it. The house has been on the market for six months. You know I can get another agent. You're my friend. That's why we chose you. Maybe we should have been more businesslike and chose someone with a better sale's record."

"If you think someone can get your house sold better, I will let you out of the contract now. I appreciate your business. I really do. But you do have a big staging problem."

"Let's see, you say the house has curb appeal, the price is right. Then tell me, what is this so-called problem." 

"Don't get nasty with me. Other real estate agents would ask you to do crazy repairs and change the locks to get a buyer. I don't ask you to do crazy repairs or repaint your house in colors just in case a buyer might like that."


"What's wrong with my home's decor?"

"You're soon to be former home. There is a reason why you're selling."

"Beaches and bubblegum, what is the problem? Give me a good reason my house has a staging problem. Quit pulling me along. I can't take it. I told you I can't take it."

My face feels hot. People from other tables are looking at us. "Janet, we are making a scene. Let's go."

"I'll go. I'll go. But not until you tell me. Now tell me right now." The air resonates with a loud taps from her small fisted left hand hitting the table with a large butter knife.

An older man with a balding head interjects. "Yes, tell her. It's only fair."

With an audience, it starts deep in my throat and comes out flat and monotone. "Odor"

"What did you say? I didn't understand."

"Your house stinks. You and your husband chain smoke  It's obvious the cat has urinated somewhere, dogs have their own smell. The odor has sunk into the carpets. ---    Drapes. -----     Walls. ------       You got a problem Janet. Either you and Leon stop smoking or vacate with the cat and dogs. Replace the carpets. I have never known the odor to be steam cleaned out."

"I see." She sits down with her purse held tightly in her lap. She fumbles with her cigaret pouch

The balding man looks content. 

The waitress comes by. "Would you like dessert?"

"Why not. Janet, dessert?"


speakeasy writing challenge 97

Monday, February 18, 2013

Southern Gothic Stories

I don't really like the grotesque Southern Gothic that takes popular culture by storm. Not that I don't like eclectic writers like Kurt Vonnegut and Flannery O'Conner. What I like about them is there is truth to their story telling. I didn't get Flannery O'Connor  for a long time and I studied her work until I did. Too many people I respected liked her work. It was worth the effort.

I'm not the religious sort. God believes in me more than I do in him. This is a healthy relationship in my opinion. I have met writers talking about angels on high and God's truth revelating through this world of sinners in a cataclysmic trumpet call and flashing of lights. Which makes me think, are you living a life or dreaming about whats to come.

God is more simple for me. I feel his presence like the hymn words "He walks with me, he talks with me." I never feel abandoned in my faith. Even when I have had trouble believing, he was there patient in my corner.

I don't think God is there to protect from every ill. I even think death is a part of life which I am not in a hurry to get to. On facebook, a childhood friend keeps everyone updated on the health trials of a gospel singer she is a fan of. He is in pretty bad shape.

The wife of this singer compares his illness to a great fight between Jesus and Satan. I can understand her desperation to keep the one she loves. In the bible it says all of our deaths are made by appointment. I wonder if she is prepared to care for a body with no mind.

That last part seems pretty cold. You might remember the hysteria of Terry Schiavo who was brain dead and the big fight between the husband and family to take her off life support.

I sat in a meeting of mothers and fathers of adult children with developmental disabilities and a lawyer who was discussing trusts and the best ways to leave care for their children behind when they pass. This is Georgia so it was a conservative audience. He talked about Terry Schiavo during the height of the hysteria and not one parent reacted. They all understood brain death.

My great aunt would constantly talk about what a horrible husband Terry Schiavo had. She had a brother-in-law who has a brain tumor which is probably the cause of his dementia. She is angry they will not operate. She is angry at a local hospital because her sister died about two months after having her hip broken at 84.

I am 40 years younger than my aunt. At 56, I already know I am lucky to be alive. As you get older, health issues are a reality.

This blog was to talk about magical realism but I did not get near that. However, for the non-religious, I got there. Have a good day today and enjoy the present.


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Jealousy and Sympathy

I worked for a boss who was difficult. He felt like he should be able to hire the entire faculty and all of us should just leave so he could do so. He systematically worked on different people and some did transfer. My time came about three years after he came.

One woman was attractive and was his new right hand person. I'll call her Miss Perfect. That year she could be so obnoxious putting my stupid butt in place. I thought about leaving but hey I needed the job. Wherever you go you can have problems.

sorghum field
I have to be honest, there was a parent who wanted my head on a platter the year they worked on me. They wrote letters which were never shared with me.

One time I sat until 5 PM for a conference with the vice principal over a letter. They were tired and so we would have to do that the next day. The lawyer I consulted told me until they put anything in writing, they were barking at me.

I could be stupid in many ways. I didn't fight back because I was on the losing end. I took the high road. I returned the next year because I recognized that I needed to do it for my own benefit. I shouldn't have to leave with my tail between my legs.

When It blew over, the comment was made that I had done a good job teaching.

Miss Perfect had the tables turned when a new principal came. All the humiliating talk was directed at her. Her biggest weakness was that she did not have to change with the times.

She was used to being backed up when she had conflicts with students and parents. The norm is that teachers are on their own. Part of the job is dealing with people whether they are fair or not. The customer is always right is part of teaching.

Miss Perfect has always been a good teacher.

The humiliation got so great that another teacher who had been treated badly by her in the past felt compassion for her and helped her. I had moved on to another school. I don't know if I could have done it.

I think about this when I see lists on the internet of the ugliest celebrities and plastic surgery mistakes. Somewhere, people have forgotten that we lose our looks as we age.

Actors try to keep a youthful look. They get plastic surgery to correct perceived flaws in their appearance and they may or may not age well because of work done in their twenties and thirties. Have you noticed so many have the same nose.

Frankly, we just aren't that pretty as we get older. Some gals keep that youthful figure but the face doesn't stay youthful. The thinner they are, the deeper those deep skin folds can be.

I had never been incredibly beautiful like many actors. Much like, I had never been favored like Miss Perfect. Life happens to us all.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Macon Film Festival - Day 3

I didn't get to go Friday. I was just pooped when the opportunity to scoot out came. I justified it with being able to get up early and go today.

I did get up early. But, and but ----- I had a few basic chores that needed to happen. I am far from getting my house to where it should be. I got behind when I worked. I've never gotten caught up but I am moving towards that goal. With the addition of four chihuahua mixes, I am crazy busy cleaning up after errant unhousebroken dogs. I'm getting them closer too.

In short, I got there about 2:30 pm. I went to an grouping of comedy shorts at the Douglas Theatre. Of all the theatres that have been redone in Macon, it truly is beautiful. The others are cool. But the Douglas stands out as beautiful.

I gamble with the shorts in that I am not stuck with an hour or two feature that stinks. I came in at the end of a two hour movie. I could tell by the audience reactions that I missed a great movie. I stated it looked like a good movie and the woman in the back road had to tell me how great it was. I looked at my program. It was the last showing.

My luck went a little worse. When I checked on my two dogs in the car, Louise was anxious which was not like her. I walked her and Frank. Took them to Burger Kind and got them some chicken nuggets which made her feel better. Frank is so old, he doesn't quite know whats going on. Except, he wants to walk, he can urinate and poop anywhere available, and will eat most anything offered. Louise is timid urinating anywhere which makes her car trips a problems. Why am I hauling her with me? The horse farm next door have complained about her. I'm making sure she doesn't make it over there. Plenty of drama with dogs at my house.

I made it to the foreign shorts. Two of the movies did not play. They were on a format which they could not show at MAGA. The five that we watched were excellent.

I checked on Louise. She was still anxious. I decided to call it a night and maybe. Just maybe, I can make a day of it tomorrow.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Macon Film Festival - Day 1

I went to the Macon Film Festival. Some of the films are really good. There was one based on a story by Franz Kafka. The screenwriter and filmmaker bit off more than they could chew. There was a 5 minute short film from Spain called "Curvas" and it was really funny. The actors were great comedians.

What stayed with me the most were the documentaries. At film festivals they are more raw and personal. They come close to a network documentary without the constant teasing of what is to come next and the lengthy commercials. The story unfolds like the layers of an onion.

It's the children that drew me in. The first was a Korea war orphan that was adopted shortly before he was six. He had great American parents. I shudder to say adopted because he clearly was a member of the family. Mom passed away when he was twenty. He eventually went back to college and got his degree in electrical engineering like his dad told him he should do. The psychology degree was not enough.

Today, he is a successful inventor of medical equipment. The Korea he returned to at 46 was an incredibly developed country unlike the war torn country he left. With all he had achieved and the positive way he looked at his adoption and life, the abandonment still haunted him.

Biological mom took him to a market and told him to look straight ahead. When he turned around, she was gone. He became a street child at four until an orphanage took him in. From there he came to Massachusetts via New York City to become a part of the Clement's clan.

What struck me the most was how he rationalized his mother's abandonment. My gut said, "how could someone be so hard hearted to abandon their child." I can't bear to give away one of my dogs.

When you look at him, he looks like his Caucasian American father who abandoned him first. In Asian societies just like in the United States, children born out of wedlock and of mixed race were frowned on in the 1950's. Mom had to have been desperate.

I think of the American GI who fathered him. He knew he existed.

He obviously has accepted their choices. What shone through for me was he was a survivor and a success and would have been whether he was adopted or not. Its that inner light or resiliency that some people possess. My own father survived a horrible childhood and adolescence during the American depression of the 1930s.

This is what I like about film festivals. The films are not necessarily what you think you would like to watch. However they make you walk away with something to think about.
 


Off the topic, I have had a few to mention I have so many pictures of animals. Well I don't have to get a signed model release. lol  Thanks for the kind messages though. I'll try to get a few pictures at the film festival tomorrow night. Oh, don't forget to share on  the animal story blog hop.
http://imatalkingboutmydog.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Toby's picture






I threw it on the ground and burst into tears is what I told the other kids in social studies. The more I lied, the more closely they listened. I couldn’t believe Joey wanted to come to my home to see if I really had an alligator in my swimming pool. I didn’t even have a swimming pool, much less a home.

Mom and I have been couch surfing for most of third grade and it is close to the end of fourth grade. Actually mom couch surfs and I stay here until she can take care of me. She said we would have our own place soon.  She got a job at a restaurant in Atlanta making salads. She says it’s a start. She is glad to be alive and we still got each other.

It all started when mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. To get treatment, she had to go to Grady hospital in Atlanta. That's where you go when you can't pay. We lived about a three hour drive from Grady. I stayed at the church children’s home while mama had surgery and got better. Mama said that she liked that there was more than one adult with me at one time. It was safer. A lot of these kids have got some real problems.

Mom worked as a waitress and her tips were really good. The only problem was she didn’t get paid when she didn’t work. At first, some of the customers and the other waitresses took up money for her. Mable who worked in the kitchen making salads took the money one evening. She didn’t come in the next day. Anytime she had money, she was drunk. It was gas money to go to Grady. Mama sold the sofa.

Just before mom’s surgery, Uncle Rayford helped us pack everything up and put it all in a shed behind his house.  We moved in the middle of the night. Mom didn’t pay the rent. If you’re evicted, you don’t get to keep your stuff. Mom has a good flat screen television and boom box. We kept the laptop with us.

My dog Toby was to stay at Uncle Rayford’s. Toby ran off. He was a Chihuahua mix and had a gray t-shirt. This old couple found him and brought him back. Toby ran away again.

In the arts and crafts room at the children’s home, I took a baby’s shirt I found in the rag bag and used puffy paint to paint all colors of stars and hearts in neat little rows. Mom said we would get another dog like Toby. I plan to put the shirt on the new dog and take a picture. That way I got a picture of Toby too.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Bogus Spam Email

This was in my spam box with a hotmail address. So many predators, so many vulnerable folks.

You can't stop it. I've printed the text in blue. Red is  my changes to make the letter more true.

HELLO DEAR  (Hello Dummy)

Pardon me for Contacting You Through this media. I'm trolling the internet hoping to meet someone really gullible. But please I am in Desperate Need of your assistance; Looking for a total idiot. Partial idiots are wise to my ways. My Name is JOYLEN TREYA (My name is actually Big Ass Con-artist. If you answer this email my pet name for you will be "dumbass".) the wife of Mr.JOMIE PALMARES TREYA Mayor of Rizal in Cagayan Province.I googled this name and saw excerts of this letter. It downloaded a file without my asking when I opened the blogspot. Don't be as stupid as me.. Who Was recently in the Philippine Killed by Gunmen on JUNE 12TH 2011. You really mean the 13 members of a criminal gang killed by Phillipine police on January 6, 2013. 

13 members of criminal gang killed by police in the Phillipines.

Well Threat During the late husband on my life , He gave me the total sum of U.S. $ 5,200.000 (Five million two hundred Thousand united states dollars) and asks me to put it in a metallic box . Then deposit it in a security and finance company abroad just in case anything ever Happen to him .Even though we are rich as six inches up a cow's ass, we don't have enough sense to invest our money. We put it in big bags like bags of gold in a fairy tale. Oops, this is a tale. Just not a fairy tale. I did deposit the total sum as He gave it to me under a secret arrangement as a family valuable. This Means That the security company does Not Know the content of this metallic box You think they might be suspicious. That much paper money would be pretty heavy. I know a box of books is heavy..Since the death of my late husband , the Philippine state government has blocked me and my late husband accounts Through the help of my late husband family. The Phillipines has aircraft that flies in and out of the country. To be admitted into another country they would need a passport. Also my late husband brothers succeeded in Collecting Have All Our
properties from me That is under my control and They Are Still looking for more.Therefore I am Contacting you to help me secure the sum Which I Explain to you above , for the future of my kids. Since my late husband family made it impossible for me to move out of my late husband in Philippine house How about getting a job and make your own money.
Please do tell me if I can trust you as Who Will Not sit on this money When You Claim it. I am willing to Give you 20% of the total sum in box After That You Have successfully secured it. Reasons for safety so That I can come over to meet you there in your country for you to help me invest the money in a good business Wait, you said you couldn't leave the Phillipines or your home.
i will like to hear from you so that i will Immediately know if i can trust you with all my heart and if you are capable what a sweet sentiment from a sociopath so that i Can send you my pictures and my international passport and all the documents so That You Will Better Understand and I will wait your message on my private email address /where I will ask you to put so much cash in a brown paper bag and meet me in a hotel lobby. 
Best regards

From a online predator


Saturday, February 9, 2013

Georgia Outdoor Show in Perry

Flint River
I sat at the Flint Riverkeeper booth for a few hours in case any one had questions. No one did. A few studied the watershed map.

 A fourteen year old recognized me for what I was and proceeded to bend my ear on nothing specific. I have listened to children and their long winding tales for so long.

It was a people watcher paradise. The booth to the left sold fried pies, beef jerky and muscadine grape juice. Their business was very brisk.

Lots of mom and dads with children in tow. The muscadine grape juice was in a wine bottle. At first I thought a mother was encouraging all her children to have a sip of wine. Then I noticed more kids were testing than adults and I read the bottle from where I was sitting. Then it dawned on me if it was wine, they probably needed a liquor licence.

I think there were more women there than men. That explains the amount of clothing and food products geared toward women.

In one place, one of the supporting actors of Dukes of Hazard was on hand to have his picture taken with your own camera for $10. There was a replica of a Dukes of Hazzard Car, police care and golf cart.

Several booths were dedicated to people going to Africa to hunt animals native to that continent. What surprised me were the number of hunting vacations in Indiana and Kansas. Of course there were tree stands and RVs to admire.

The best part were the people walking through.

Friday, February 8, 2013

I'm on a Flannery O'Connor kick.


"Listen" . . ."I ain't got but a dollar sixteen cent and I want me one of them ..."
"You can keep it, ". . .taking the bucket off the card table, "This ain't no cut-rate joint."

Chapter 3      WiseBlood     Flannery O'Connor

The Trifecta Writing Challenge today is to choose 33 words or less from your favorite book or author. For a reader, is there any such thing. With Flannery O'Conner, you could use something from most pages.

Flannery O'Connor wrote Southern Gothic stories which did not appeal to me at first. I read the collection of her personal letters called "The Habit of Being" which helped me understand her writing immensely. Now I read and re-read her work. The prose is incredible.

Picture attribution:  By Cmacauley (Robie with Flannery 1947.jpg) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlannery-O'Connor_1947.jpg

Jeez Louise, A dog is a lot more than a pet.

I've got a pit bull. I thought she was a black lab mix. Black labs are the sweetest dogs.

Well, I understand why people defend pits. My bully tussles with my 6 and 7 pound temperamental chihuahua mixes. I break it up out of common sense but she is so gentle with them. A gentleness their ferociousness matches. She cracks pecans for them and they greedily take them out of her mouth because they can't wait.

I agree people should not be breeding pits. They are used for the wrong reason. They are very strong dogs. They need someone who will make time to share their life with them. All dogs need this. However, pits and golden retrievers are chronic lovebugs. All dogs also need a responsible dog owner. My chihuahua mixes are so hot tempered it is difficult to control their nipping tendency.

People shouldn't be breeding any of their dogs. With so many dogs being put down, there are plenty to go around. Feed an animal well and they will look better and better. However in old age they show their warts and decline like us.

I had someone to offer me some pedigree Boxers. I've heard this many times. People breed their beautiful dog and anticipate selling the puppies. Then, they find themselves desperately trying to get a good home for them all.

People say small dogs will find a home. Maybe.

The purpose of this blogpost is to share the value of a dog.


1. Companionship.
Pets ease loneliness and give unconditional love. I have two small chihuahua mixes that sit in my mother's life chair tussling, waiting for her return when they are in the house. They know to get in the dog bed beside the chair and many little social niceties that cheer my mother.

2. They can save your life. I've had my life saved two times by dogs. 

The first time was when I was walking with my dog on a leash. They were widening the road about three feet. A car out of nowhere was coming down the road at a high rate of speed. It was dusk, I stepped into a hole and fell backward in the road. I had skinned my knee bad, twisted an ankle and in a prone position. I did not know if I could get up in time. My dog Lester a Golden Retriever mix pushed me from behind in a sitting position. The car barreling down the road, turned left into their driveway about 200 feet from where I fell. I sat stunned and frankly in a lot of pain before I got up and made the 300 feet distance back to my home.


Another time was a rattlesnake encounter. Suzie the dachshund encountered the snake as I was working in my backyard. It was quick and aggressive. We ran her to the emergency vet where we had her put down. It was a large snake.from the bite she got. When I laid her in the ground, she sounded like a bag of water sloshing. If I had encountered the snake first, that would have been it. A rattlesnake is very difficult to survive even with medical intervention.
The next morning, I encountered a King Snake stretched across the mowed grass. It was barely visible.  hope Suzie's nemesis was his next meal.

3. Protection
Many burglars and home invaders will not enter the home if a dog is present. People see themselves as swashbucklers shooting someone breaking in to harm them. The reality is that these people are good at finding people in a vulnerable situation. Think of the BTK killer in Wichita, Kansas. A dog can alert you which is what you really need. Being able to call law enforcement, waking up to call the fire department if your home is burning.

A dog is a lot of trouble depending on whether you enjoy its company. In choosing to get a home for your dog you need to determine if you can handle the responsibilities.

1. There is no such thing as a free dog. 

Plan to spend about $300 the first year in vet bills and $800 a year for food and supplies.

2. Do you live where you can have a dog. 

Getting that cute puppy and the landlord says no pets means you may be giving your dog away when it is the hardest which is when it is still a puppy but fully grown. Dumping a dog on the highway usually means the dog will be hit by a car within an hour.

3. Have pet spayed and neutered.

 I have so many chihuahua's because mama chihuahua went in heat at 6 months and the previous owners were caught unaware that they could go in heat so soon. One of her daughters went in heat at 5 1/2 months. I took all three girls to be spayed. The brother will go this month to be neutered.

4. Like your children, you can have problems with your neighbor because of them.

I'm currently fencing my lot in the country. The horse farm next door has about 30 horses and donkeys, an unbelievable quantity of flies and of course that lovely aroma of livestock. However, they want me to get rid of my bulldog. She does chase the horses. I keep her with me at all times or in a pen. She got out Sunday and chased horses. I was getting her home. The chasing lasted about two minutes. As they shared with me, they have a shotgun and plan to shoot her.
I keep up with my dog in that I try to be a good neighbor. Besides she has had her foot broken because a horse stomped it. Hopefully, I'll get the fence done this month.

5. Can you handle the number of animals you have?

I am at my personal max financially and with what I can care for. I have two large dogs and seven ankle biters and a pair of aristocratic cats. I live on twenty acres in the country.


I'm writing a tell all about my mom.

I've read that Shirley McLaine's daughter has written a tell all about her mom.

I'll read it when it shows up at the thrift shop. I'm a big Shirley McLaine fan.

I'm not surprised that she was an absent mother. You can't do all the films she did and be a stay at home mother.

I recognize that it is wretched to have a neglectful mother and difficult to live in an
English boarding school as opposed to living at home.

Its just that there is something disloyal dishing the family problems for the money.  I wouldn't be surprised that Shirley McLaine encouraged her. Shame is considered a way for more free publicity by actors.

She also doesn't know how lucky she is that mom is still working at 78 and not living in her home making demands. Complaining the toast was laid wrong on the plate for breakfast. A friend of mine has an elderly mom who gets hysterical if her toast is laid wrong.

Another acquaintance carries her mother's and aunt's meds in the trunk of her car. They only get one weeks worth at a time in a daily pill reminder. They are incredibly mad. One forgets to take medicine or takes too much and the other decides she does not need it.

One thing we all do in our fifties if we are lucky enough to live that long is face our own mortality. Taking stock of what did not go well in our life. It is easy to not know what went well. For me, I have regretted that I have worked so much and not gotten out and had more fun. I should have had more hobbies instead of working second jobs. I have also looked at the impact of my family on my life.

You can get lost in all that introspection and fail to look at what went well. Writing a book and putting it out when mom is in a hit television show is fortuitous for Sasha Parker.


Thursday, February 7, 2013

I did it my way.

I did it my way, Clara intoned.

A stony silence ensued as Clara and her husband, Ben drove down the road. The click, click of rubber meeting the road. The familiar hum of the engine was like an old friend late at night.

How was I to know.

No one could have known.

I wish I had known.

They chose their path.

I know. It's not the way I would have done it.

We won't go back.

I'm mad as heck and I ain't gonna do nothun about it again!

I'm mad as heck and I ain't gonna do nuthin about it again. So there.

Whadya do?

1.  Write sentences of words spelled phonetically.

2.  Make the entire world want to hide when they see you coming.

3. I hate lemonade. Don't tell me to make lemonade when I'm mad.

4. Laugh about, you got to be kidding. I'm too sensitive.

5. Clean house, but I'm a slob? I don't know how.

6. Take a walk.

7. Think about something else.

8. Forgive and forget. Really, is that possible?

9. Remember, there are worse things.

10. Really stop thinking about it. Life was never fair. Why is this bothering me?

11. Write it all down. I think I'll go clean the bathrooms.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

It's gonna be a dark and stormy night.

A hush fell over the room. What was once a small pink piece of art glass was broken into large, small, scattered pieces.

Jackie was on the floor wailing over the death of Widow Owens.

"Get up off the floor Jackie, you hadn't been to see Wylene in five years." ordered Kathy just before she wedged a large piece of cake into her mouth.

Jackie paused and narrowed her eyes at Kathy.

Elliot screamed with a high pitch.

It was an accident. Sarah said.

The room was quiet. Wylene Owen had been buried about an hour ago.

A swoosh of air gusts in the room as the front door opens. The back door slams violently shut from the change in air pressure. Michael Nolan walks in with a huge brown paper grocery bag. The top has been creased and neatly folded on the top two times.

Elliot had gotten the broom and dustpan and swept the glass shards up. Holding the dustbin with the colorful glass, Elliot gives the room a profound look. "Amazing, what was worth $700 or $800, beautiful Fenton Art Glass, now grist for the landfill.

Throw it away will you. shouts Jackie.

I will not. It will receive a proper burial.

Jackie tosses her long locks and rolls her eyes as she settles back in a recliner. "Why you got to be so gay?"

This time Kathy narrows her eyes and looks at Jackie.

Michael Nolan's hearty voice cut through the silence. Sitting down his large girth in the middle of the sofa, he placed the paper bag on the coffee table with a flourish as he said, "That ain't nothing. Wait till you see what I brought."

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

When it comes to reality TV shows, I...


 When it comes to reality TV shows, I...

wonder whose reality is there. It is not the people who inhabit the show. For one thing, no one has that many events in a day or two. Why else are people so addicted to television viewing or reading. Who reads a story about cooking dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up, watching television, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, putting on your nightclothes, crawling into bed. 

And for that matter, since when has anyone really cared what you had to say. This races through my mind when I listen to some of the not so profound comments made by reality show participants. Yes, I have watched Big Brother one time too many.

Of course if you get naked, turn on your webcam. I'm sure there might be someone wanting to watch you and your partner even though it's been 50 years since you turned a somersault. You might find yourself and your spouse on the front of DVD cover titled "late life freaks" at a gas station in Singapore. Your stretch marks could become famous. Talk about reality TV.

Being a native Southerner, I am familiar with the good, the bad and the ugly. I also know it is fairly similar all over the world since human nature is what it is.

This is why I know these shows are scripted. The South is unique in that good manners permeated all social classes and ethnicity. When they show the Honey Boo Boo clan having big farts for the camera, that is scripted. Mythology runs deep in the collection of "swamp gator". reality shows based in the South.

I predict Honey Boo Boo will get a chance in life that would have been more difficult to achieve. She's a smart, loud little girl. Frankly, only her mother could love that behavior non-stop. When I watch the show, I see a little pensiveness and reservation before the loud behavior. The reality of Honey Boo Boo is that June's girls may get an education and an idea that there are real jobs in the world versus collecting welfare.

Reality television says more about the people who watch it. I watched Anna Nicole in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. For a moment a fan asked her a matter of fact question and Anna Nicole for a moment left her persona and said "It's a way to make a living." Then poof, Anna Nicole, the personality was back. God rest her and her son's soul.

There is something we learn from most everything. I enjoy the Amazing Race and Survivor. I tape the Biggest Loser and fast forward to the weigh in. It's amazing how much these folks lose. But, I have a hobby. I get out and talk to people. It's a shame to lose the reality of your life to manufactured realities.


Monday, February 4, 2013

Saturday, February 2, 2013

My Sweet Little Angel

We're giving all the Chihuahua mixes we own a little nickname.

Buttons is Liz Taylor because she is just gorgeous with her black hair gleaming in the sun.

Yodie is Maggie Thatcher the Iron Lady. She is the boss of the crew.

Daisy is Phyllis Diller. Long beautiful legs. Phyllis Diller was a very pretty woman in her prime. She was very attractive in her eighties.

Anyway, they all have souls of pure gold.

Friday, February 1, 2013

How to Create a Blog Button to Share

This is my new blog button to share.

I have managed to avoid all sorts of housework in my obsession to create this little darling.

For you my friend. I will boil it down to three easy steps.

Number 1 - Create a 150 by 150 pixel button. Make sure the writing covers the entire area or it cannot be read. I uploaded to google plus and used their photo editor.

Number 2 - Create a post on your blog which will never be published. Well you can publish it. However, the purpose of the post is to upload the button using the WYSIWYG part of the post. Then switch to HTML to get the URL of the post on blogger.

For example: The HTML for my button is

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Of9CFRzSPao/UQvd2fGERSI/AAAAAAAAD50/ngrxxW9thag/s1600/DSCN0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Of9CFRzSPao/UQvd2fGERSI/AAAAAAAAD50/ngrxxW9thag/s1600/DSCN0029.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />

The URL for the button is listed twice in the code. I highlighted the first instance in orange and the second time in green. You only need to copy the URL once to insert later in the Grab Button Code.

Number 3
I used the code from the following website, Calamity Anne's Adventures.
Her site also tells how to create the button using photobucket. She does a good job explaining. She is short and to the point. However, it is not so short that information is left out.

This is the code.

<center><a href="http://YOUR WEB ADDRESS/" target="_blank" title="BLOG TITLE"><img alt="BLOG TITLE" src="http://IMAGE WEB ADDRESS"/></a> <center>
</center>
<center><textarea id="code-source" rows="3" cols="13" name="code-source"><center><a href="http://YOUR WEB ADDRESS/"><img border="0" src="http://IMAGE WEB ADDRESS"/></a></center></textarea></center>

This is the code I used for my button.
<center><a href="http://annbennett2.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="So Much To Choose From"><img alt="So Much To Choose From" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Of9CFRzSPao/UQvd2fGERSI/AAAAAAAAD50/ngrxxW9thag/s1600/DSCN0029.jpg"/></a> <center>
</center>
<center><textarea id="code-source" rows="3" cols="13" name="code-source"><center><a href="http://annbennett2.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Of9CFRzSPao/UQvd2fGERSI/AAAAAAAAD50/ngrxxW9thag/s1600/DSCN0029.jpg"/></a></center></textarea></center></center>

Mucho Gracias, Calamity Anne.  I read so many examples today and then I found you. I created the button with code but the text box was not that easily found. Thanks.

Blog Button


Posted by PicasaI'm working on a blog button. For someone who thinks they are so smart and tech smart, I'm feeling pretty dumb right now. 

Look out A to Z, I'll be back.

 A to Z theme reveal. Well this theme is pretty weak. It is Dogs I have loved, fairy tales, myths, cats birds and what grows in my yard...  ...