Dish Washing Duty

This is the final installment in the Skittles "Three-in-a-Row" posts. Taking up where I left off yesterday...some dog comes and eats all of Skittles food (or so she thinks). Once she finishes looking at the empty bowl, she stands in front of Jasmine's crate, staring at that bowl of food. When Jasmine is done, I let her out of her crate and the Dish Washing Dog goes to work. She goes into Jasmine's crate, picks up her bowl and walks it over to the dish washing station in her crate. Dish Washing Dog goes to work cleaning every little bit of crumb and dried on goop in the bowl. That bowl nearly sparkles. What would we do without her?

P.S. We got a new dryer today. The rubber band has been retired.

Full to Empty in 90 Seconds

Poor Skittles...she is ruled by her tummy. She is always checking around for scraps accidentally dropped here and there. Around 11:30 each day, she will come and stand by me. If I don't acknowledge her presence quickly enough, she does this little growl thing. It is her version of "Ahem!" She has come to tell me it is lunch time and I need to stop whatever I am doing. She does a little happy dance as I go through the room picking up the 2 bowls. She wags her tail like a metronome. As I mix up the food, she patiently lies on the floor giving me her best imitation of one of the orphans from Oliver Twist. Finally, she hears me put down the fork and I pick up the bowls. She gets up and jumps in her crate. She gives me the look that tells me she is about to pass out from hunger. I put the bowl down and it is as though a vacuum is in her bowl. I don't know if she even chews. Ninety seconds later her bowl is empty. Jasmine is only a third of the way through her food and is locked in her room so she can finish all of her food (Skittles will nose her out of her bowl and eat the rest). Skittles comes out and looks at me like "Someone came and ate my food." It is really sad.

Pals

Skittles is pals with everyone. She has not met a person, place or thing she didn't like (except for thunder and firecrackers). Today she was lying on the floor next to Whiskers. They were just hanging around together, cat and dog, like it was no big deal. Cara reached over and put Skittles arm around Whiskers. They stayed like that for about 15 minutes (actually until Skittles heard what sounded like a food noise coming from the kitchen). It was sweet how they were comfortable enough with each other to just pass the time as friends.

Day of Beauty

Today was a "day of beauty" for some members of our family. My friend, Kat, took Cara for her day of beauty. She had her hair cut and had a make-up lesson. Cara had picked out a couple of hair styles from magazines. I was so curious to find out what cut she ended up with. She looks fantastic. Her hair is so cute. Robyn is now wanting to know when her day of beauty will be.

The other member of the family who had a day of beauty didn't have to leave the house. Jasmine gets shaved down a couple of times a year due to the heat down here. She loves being cooler and runs around like a wild woman when she is outside. Getting the new haircut is not her favorite. She gets a little scared and worries a bit. As long as she is getting her ears rubbed, she does ok. A treat or two helps out as well. Both of my girls look wonderful.

Thunderstorms

The last 3 nights we have had nighttime thunderstorms. I am ready for these to be over. I love rain...but prefer the thunderstorms to be during the daylight hours. The previous 2 nights Jasmine was all worried; pacing and whining. Cara slept in the den last night because of the thunder and lightening was worrying her and both of the girls were in there for part of the time the night before that. Our backyard is pretty much a marsh, so Skittles come in muddy and oblivious to that fact and Jasmine will hardly take a step off of the back porch to avoid the mud. According to the map on WeatherUnderground, we have gotten between 5 to 8 inches of rain. Welcome to spring in Southeast Louisiana.

Rosaleen

Isn't she cute? Robyn has been making felted animals. I asked her to make me one to give to Cara's teacher, who will be having a little girl in a couple of weeks. This bunny is perfect and is named Roseleen. I am in awe of Robyn's knitting skills. I can knit and purl, but I don't venture further than that. She decided she wanted to knit animals so she bought a pattern. When she came to a stitch she didn't know, she went to YouTube and watched a tutorial and off she went. If you go to her deviantart site you will see pictures of some of the animals she has done. Cool huh?

Spanish Moss

On Saturday when they were taking the pictures for dance review, I noticed all of this lovely Spanish moss hanging from the oak trees. I wanted to go back to take some pictures of it. It hangs so gracefully from the trees and gives the trees an old world feel. I was surprised to find out that it is from the bromeliad family and is not a moss or lichen. I learned something today.

Crazy Hats

Robyn loves crazy hats. For Christmas, she wanted this squid hat she found on Etsy. Being the horrible mother that I am, I told her Santa probably would not be bringing the squid. Thankfully for her, Nana came to the rescue and she is now a proud owner of a blue squid hat. Last month when we were at EPCOT, she found a moose hat at the Canada exhibit and it had to be hers. Again the planets were in alignment because it was on sale for $10.00. Today she and two friends worked on a chemistry scavenger hunt after school. They modeled the hats and when I asked if I could take a picture, they were all for it. I dared to take it one step further and asked if I could use the picture for the blog, and again Robyn said yes. Is this the same person who gave me such grief on Saturday when I wanted to take a picture of her feet?

A Humble Bumble

Today I saw this bumble bee busily gathering pollen. I can't remember the last time I saw a bumble bee. He was so industrious flying from flower to flower. Frequently he was so quick, he was gone before I could take the picture. Bumble Bees remind me of Winnie the Pooh. He was all about the honey and the bees. Now I have that song in my head. "I'm so rumbly in my tumbly..."

The Dryer

For about a month, the dryer has been giving me a little trouble. I have been fiddling with the knobs and that had seemed to have worked. On Thursday, my fixes were no longer working. I mentioned to Phillip that I would be calling the repairman. He said he wanted to look at it. "Mr. Fix-It", as he refers to himself, is not all that handy. He has a lot of great skills, but fixing stuff is not one of his greatest skills. He goes and looks at it, and later comes to me and announces proudly, "Mr. Fix-It has done it again!" I go and look. This is the fix. I have to say it does work for about 12-20 minutes at a time. I can only coax it to work about half of the time, so I have to frequently call "Mr. Fix-It" to come and do his magic. He said that as long as he has rubber bands and knobs, all will be well.

Ballet Shoes

Today Robyn's Advanced Ballet class took the picture for the cover of the review program. The girls all showed up wearing comfortable shoes and then changed into Pointe shoes. Robyn had her trusty Converse on. I remember when I was growing up, it always seemed that when I went dress shopping, I had tennis shoes on. I remember Mom commenting about it and how it was kind of distracting to the look of the dress. That thought came back to me today while looking at all of these ballerinas wearing tennis shoes, flip flops and other types of shoes. It was like two ends of a spectrum. I loved it.

Crawfish Hole

Lately I have noticed a lot of crawfish holes in neighbors yards. I went in the back to see if we also had some new crawly neighbors and we do. There are 14 crawfish holes out back. The back of our yard is wetter than the area close to the house (yea!). Years ago when my Dad and I were putting up our fence, that area of the yard was where the water table was the highest. When digging the holes for the fence posts, the holes in that area would fill with water before we were able to dig to the depth we needed. This is the area the crawfish have made their home. I have never seen a crawfish walking around in the yard other than at a crawfish boil, but obviously they have found a home here. It is funny to see these volcanic mounds of mud sprinkled in the back. You gotta love living in Louisiana

Bradford Pear

A couple of days ago I blogged about our daffodils and azaleas blooming. Well it is now time for the Bradford Pear trees to put on their show. I love these trees. I have a thing for trees that bloom (my favorite tree is the Redbud). Anyway, we have two Bradfords next to our driveway and it makes me smile when I go out in the morning and see them all dressed up. The entrance to our subdivision used to be lined with these trees and it was so fun to drive under that canopy of blooms. Hurricane Katrina changed that somewhat. Some of the trees were lost and others lost branches so they are not as full any more. But now, before the leaves make their appearance, I love to see them full of white flowers.

The Crab Lady

Pretty is 12 going on 80. She has always been high strung and wound a little too tight. She has been known to attack you for some motive only known to her. For some reason, she really likes me. As soon as I sit down, she is right there looking for a place to nest. She usually sleeps on me at night. I don't know what I did to earn this honor. I think she is funny and I don't take her as seriously as she takes herself. She is the smallest one in the house and maybe that makes a difference to her. When she lies on me, she frequently gets these "sweet" faces. We all crack up because we know the face does not match what goes on inside that silly head...or maybe it does for that short time she is with me.

Book of Quotes

A couple of years ago, one of my Girl Scout co-leaders gave me a book she made. It is a great little book and I love it. I couldn't decide what to use it for. Finally, I decided to use it to write down quotes I love. I love to collect quotes. I like to go through the book and read them. I wish I were as insightful as those whose quotes I have written down. I will just be insightful enough to make them important enough to go in my book of quotes.

My three favorites ones are:

1. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." Helen Keller

2. "It is choice -not chance- that determines your destiny." Jean Nidetch

3. "People may not remember what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." Author Unknown

Pretty's Fascination with Hair

Pretty has this thing for Robyn's hair. She loves to roll around on it, rub her head on it and bite at it. Sometimes Robyn will be sitting on the sofa and Pretty will come up behind her and start messing with her hair. The big show comes when Robyn washes it and lies down on the floor. Pretty comes over and falls on her head and starts working. She kicks, bites, rolls around and flips. I don't see what the big deal is. Robyn's hair is beautiful, but that is taking things a little too far.

The Big Fake Out

Cara is selling Girl Scout cookies. I bought several different kinds for the family as I usually do. I kept our cookies in a larger box on the dining room table. Since they are still in this larger box, they have remained untouched. I am amused that they have not been eaten in the week and a half they have been sitting there. If I had taken them out of the box and put them in the kitchen, those 11 boxes would be long gone.  I wonder how long I can sneak a cookie or two before one of them reads this post and finds out what is up?

Rainy Day

Today was a rainy day. Fortunately, we were able to get some things done before the rain came. I love rainy days. My dream would be to have a deep porch or screened in area where I could go and sit and read or just watch the rain. It was a good, soaking kind of rain today. We needed it badly.  

Superstitions

Today is Friday the 13th. For some, that is a bad thing. I don't really worry about 13 being unlucky. I read yesterday that this year will be an especially unlucky year because we will have 3 Friday the 13s in it (February, March and November). This only happens every 11 years. To me, it us just another Friday...one of my favorite days of the week. I also don't worry about black cats crossing my path, walking under ladders, and stepping on cracks in the pavement. Maybe it is because I am left handed and which can be considered unlucky.  I do, however, throw salt over my shoulder when I spill it. I wonder why I do that little bit of superstitious nonsense and not the others?

Friendship

This week Ms. M has been letting her dance students bring a friend to dance. Cara invited her friend, T, to both classes. I really like T. She is funny, smart, and a great friend for Cara. Tonight when I went to pick up Cara and T from class, I was informed that Cara had told T's parents we would take her out for dinner. Coincidentally, McDonald's is right across the street. They both ordered the same thing (10 piece chicken nuggets, otherwise known to them as the "Fatty Selects") and took off to find a seat while I waited in line. Of course, they chose a 2 person table, so I found a table for just me. I got a kick out of listening to their conversation. Kids can be so funny. Of course after they finished their meal, it was time for the ice cream beg (see this post). Apparently on Monday, Phillip promised them ice cream after dance on Thursday. What is it with the ice cream???  They managed to order their own ice cream and continued their conversation.  They got a huge laugh out of having them look away from the camera to protect their identities.  

I remember having similar conversations with my friends at that age.  I love how some things never change.  There will always be important information to discuss and there will always be good friends to share in the fun.

Getting Work Out of the Cat

I went to the computer room to check email and such, and I found Pretty working on the computer. Usually she is very sneaky and I don't catch her doing "work". I told her about all of the other things I could use help with around the house, such as vacuuming, doing the dishes or laundry, picking up all of the dog toys, etc. She just looked at me and gave that cat look that said "Lady, you know I am a cat, therefore, I don't do what you want me to." She then jumped off of the chair, found a corner, and went to sleep.

Sometimes I want to be a cat.

Ice Cream

This family has issues with ice cream. What is it about ice cream that makes certain members go nutty? When Phillip was growing up, they always had at least 3 flavors of ice cream at all times in the freezer. That would not fly around here. If it is in the house, then it must be eaten...and quickly. Every once in a while Phillip will go to the store with one of the girls and they come back with pints of ice cream. Usually one for each of us. The girls quickly devour theirs and circle like sharks around the remaining containers. Phillip's is usually safe as he prefers fruity ice cream and sherbet. I, on the other hand, tend to like what the girls like...anything with chocolate (although Cara doesn't like nuts). Sometimes my ice cream sits in the freezer too long and I have to listen to "When are you eating your ice cream?" or "Can I have your ice cream since you don't want it?" Often I give in and let the beggar have it. Of course that causes a secondary reaction of "You owe me ice cream since you let her have yours." Sometimes during the week there is the additional ice cream beg. One of my girls will say "I made an A on my Anatomy and Physiology test." or "I made a 100 in American History." followed by "Can we get some ice cream?" My other daughter comes at it from a different direction. "Can we get ice cream? I didn't get suspended this week." or "I didn't have an F this week. Ice Cream?" You have to laugh. It is just that pitiful.  We are slaves to ice cream.

Oh...and for the record...she has never been suspended.  I guess she needs to remind me of that.

Azaleas

When the weather starts to get a little warmer, the azaleas take over. They are blooming all over the place in so many beautiful colors. My favorite is this fuchsia pink color. The blooms are huge and usually cover the bush. This past weekend we took a drive up to Folsom and large parts of the highway were lined with blooming bushes. I was ready for some color after the grays and browns of winter. Thank you azaleas for bringing bursts of color back to our world.

Boiled Shrimp

Phillip loves to boil. We were supposed to have had some of his relatives over this weekend for crawfish.  Since I am not up for company, that was scratched. He was still in "boil" mode, so he decided to boil a small batch of shrimp for just us.  I get a kick out watching him boil.  He loves to get into the whole process of how much seasoning to use, what to put in the boil with the crawfish or shrimp, etc.  He thinks he is Boil King.  Well...he is at our house. The shrimp were great, and the potatoes and sausage he threw in with them were yummy as well.

Good job Boil King!

My Nurse

My nurse has been doing a good job of checking on me while I recuperate from pneumonia. Whenever I get up, she follows me wherever I go. Unfortunately I am very slow moving these days, and she usually bumps into the back of my legs as I walk. That cold nose on the back of my legs makes me smile. She even follows me when I go to the bathroom. She goes and gets her bowl (so she can lick whatever minuscule bits of food she left) and waits for me. I could not ask for a more attentive nurse.

Mardi Paws

The weekend after Mardi Gras usually brings the Mystic Krewe of Mardi Paws. The Mardi Paws parade is a great family outing where people can dress up their canine friends and themselves, and parade down the route throwing goodies for all. Robyn and Phillip took Jasmine and Skittles. I received the report that Jasmine was not a good girl. She slipped out of her collar (they were not using the martingale) and ran off about 400 yards. A wonderful parade watcher caught her and she was returned to her place with the rest of the family. She spent the rest of the parade barking at all of the dogs she could (she was very excited). Skittles had a wonderful time. It was like being in Skittles heaven.  She sat quietly behind the baracade and people would walk by and feed her milkbones.  Finally, Phillip started putting them in his pockets because he thought she would get sick (yes, she ate that many).  Robyn said they didn't catch too much since they were at the end of the parade route, but she did manage to catch a coveted "golden poop" thrown by this year's royalty.  She gave it to the little girl who was watching the parade next to them.  It was a great day and a lot of fun.