Positively Tuesday-Loveable Pup, Friends, and Food

      Pup had an all day vet appointment yesterday between tests, shots, and his sedated shave due to his high anxiety. DD2 came in calling for him, as she had forgotten he was gone. Several times I found myself talking to him... and he was not there. I don't think it means we'll get another dog to replace him when sometime in the hopefully way distant future he leaves us, but it sure is a sign I need to love the little fellow up and appreciate him for the years we have with him. Too many friends in real and on-line life have lost pets and my heart hurts for them. I know our time will come, he's 10 already, but I'm hoping he's one of those long lived little guys. With that, I'll start our my week of simple pleasures, joys, and things that make me smile. 

1. All went well with pup and you can see his fancy new haircut. He definitely looks like a sheared lamb. He'll be slow moving for a few days and I will pamper him fully.
2. We had a lovely long weekend at the cabin, even getting most of Friday night to ourselves. Our friends joined us on Saturday and we had  a good time on the water with our boat. Yes, the boat has been a bit of pain, but if we can get a couple days like that a summer, and more once DH retires, I will consider it a good purchase. I'll add, it gets phenomenal gas mileage. We have not put gas in again after putting on the lake with a full tank and should easily make it through the rest of summer.  He'll want to start with fresh gas next year. 
3. A simple pleasure was that DH's friends wife is very into  DNA and genealogy stuff and had a long conversation with my mother-in-law who also likes to discuss these, and often tells the same stories over and over. It was nice to let them talk, and MIL's stories were new and interesting to our friend. I got the side stuff prepared while DH was grilling, not feeling like I had to  entertain every minute. My MIL later commented how much she enjoyed meeting her, as she had never met his second wife, though of course knew DH's friend since they were both 15. 
4. We splurged on the food items we made this weekend at the lake-steaks, a beautiful parmesan crusted chicken and wait for it-name brand potato chips. With all the splurging, it makes my frugal brain happy to calculate that I still spent probably  half what it would have been to take our friends out. We even had a meal of leftovers and there is plenty of wine and beer left for the next few weekends. 
5. While I'm on a food  pleasure kick, at the liquor store, I found little already mixed bottles of Chi Chi's margaritas. We didn't drink them this weekend, but I think I'll save for the weekend and pull out my fun margarita glasses. I love margaritas but I hate mixing them up as I never get the ratio quite right. 
6. Since we really didn't do any traveling for vacations, I am saying forget the Visa, and enjoying eating out if we feel like it, or splurging on little somethings last week and this. I'll make September a challenge month and call it good! 
7. There was a semi-emergency at work, but I didn't have to be overly sucked into solving it. It is nice to have good and reliable people to work with.
8. DD2 is done with her summer job now. She of course has plans most of this last week before school. She's also been crashing at her sisters some nights, including Sunday, but she came home yesterday and we had lunch together.
9. DD1 led her non-profit board meeting last night and it was a good and on point meeting. The other board members had some great ideas (with offers to help her carry the load) for her to add some social media presence and build awareness of the  mission. With the latest Covid Delta variant slowing things down again, programming needs to be delayed, but she's still making progress. One guy already had followed through and sent her some examples of his idea within an hour of the meeting ending. 
10. While I still have ripping down the deck and getting a new  patio poured is in our list, it was still a nice break having coffee outside yesterday and this morning. I need to give myself permission to start every morning, not just days off mornings, getting grounded to the day with fresh air and morning sunshine. 

     That is my week of  joys, smiles, and simple pleasures. I have this week to get things done, though yesterday admittedly was less productive than I wanted. Today is starting out better. Supper tonight will be my favorite chicken and rice, with broccoli and cheese hot dish (casserole to you fancy folks) and that will be one more simple pleasure to enjoy. Here's to you having a positively Tuesday. 

Thrift and Thievery

Have you seen this criminal?

 Long post ahead. I'm still feeling the effect in my back of an hour and half of prep on Saturday and five and half hours on my feet yesterday for the annual Palm Sunday breakfast at church. We served approximate 175 people, selling 155 tickets (the youth will just grab their breakfast in a break) much better than last year, when spring break fell the same week and so many families were traveling, but I was hoping for 200. This year, we had over $100 in additional expenses as we didn't get the donation of dairy and eggs and pancake batter. Still, we covered costs once we hit 112 tickets plus sold and additional 40 meal tickets at $3.00.  

The final net is yet unknown as the free will donation envelopes get counted by church officials. Regardless, we fed each person for approximate $1.86, and sent two bags of leftovers home with a church member that helps provide for a couple families experiencing food insecurities. I had more help than needed as the sign up lines for help were ignored, and people wrote their name after slots were filled. Some families used one line for two or three youth. While having the extra hands was helpful at cleanup, I hope they won't be disappointed that a small amount will go in their fundraising account. All proceeds, after costs, are divided by the number of hours total, each worker works, and it goes in their mission trip and camp account. I had to laugh overhearing a conversation between a son and his mom, trying to get her son to pick up the pace during cleanup. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can leave." She said. His response, but if we take longer, that's more money earned."  She looked at me, and said, "I guess I have a lesson to teach." Really, though, these are great kids, a new crop each year as high schoolers give up their slots for younger kids.

Wow, so much on that topic, but it aligns with the Thrift part of my headline as does this. I had to do some careful timing to pick up cold items on Saturday to get them dropped off at church during a limited window when someone could unlock the kitchen for me. I had time to pop into the Salvation Army store, as I'm looking for extra queen size sheets for home and for the cabin. No luck Saturday, but did take a browse at dress pants, skirts and longer shorts. I hit the jackpot and found a perfect pair of dark gray dress pants, a black with white specks skirt, two pairs of brand new Gloria Vanderbilt cargo shorts, and a perfect condition pair of white shorts. All this for $21.97. However, when I got to the register, it turn out blue and orange tags, which all but the white shorts had, were 50% off, so my total was $12.47. I lauded my success with DD2 and DH. Neither were as excited as I was.

Yesterday, I was going through the bag to get things washed and ready for the week, and I couldn't find the skirt. It wasn't in the bag. I wondered if perhaps it had fallen out with all my car moving to make way for the groceries. Nope, not in there. I was questioning my sanity a bit when I could not find in any of the places I might have set the bag down. I gave up, and assumed it never made it's way into the bag at the store. Oh well, but I was disappointed as it was Cold Water Creek, a  good brand. I went to bring DD2 something in her room and looked down at a pile of stuff she had on her floor. Low and behold, my skirt was laying there. I exclaimed when I saw it, and pup came running. I was just about to pick it up when he moved quickly, laid down and put his paws on it. That little shyster had stolen it from the bag, either Saturday night, or earlier Sunday, and ran off with it to DD's room. What appealed to him, I have no idea. Perhaps he was just mad that I had left the house yesterday and was trying to send a message. He is a peculiar dog. A ransom of a dog treat later, and I had recovered the skirt. That was my tale of thrift and thievery. 

The stolen bargain at $2.00.

Peppery Pup

Pup is a thief. Not only does he steal shoes left at the door, dragging them with him under the kitchen or dining room table, he is known for rooting inside an unzipped purse or back pack. For a little dog, he has the nose of a blood hound and can sniff out tasty treats. DD2 and friends ran over to the Walmart next to the high school to get a snack after working on homework and before Show Choir practice. She bought a bag of the Jack Links Pepper Jerky. She loves jerky, while I think that is a funny thing for a 15 year old tiny girl to choose as a snack.  Of course she didn’t just buy a stick, but the larger packet, so had over half left, shoved in her back pack.  She was in her room doing homework and I was settling in bed  when I heard a strange rustling sound, followed by “Dang it Dog!” Sure enough, he had  scoped out her back pack, found the jerky, and ran into my room to hide it from her.  He was under my bed trying to get the jerky out of the package. I tried unsuccessfully to get it away.  

DH had an unexpected business meeting over two hours away at the end of the day and walked in about 10:30. We did the trick where we pretend someone is at the door. As much as he is a thief, the pup never wants to be left out of greeting a guest or visitor. While DH kept him occupied, I crawled under the bed to find the package.  By then, he had gotten it open and had eaten what was left in the package. During the night, he got me up twice to take him out to the bathroom and refill his water dish. Yes, I imagine he was quite thirsty after eating a man size portion or two of pepper beef jerky. DD2 was quite mad along with being tired from her homework.  

All was forgiven this morning as he gave her his morning dose of love. Oh the breath though! Dog breath is bad enough, but spicy pepper jerky breath on a dog, even worse. It is a good thing DH is home today as I imagine he will be drinking several bowls of water, and will need an extra work or two as he won’t  poop in our yard-only on walks. The good thing of the story, I found two missing shoes under my bed.  Apparently under the tables aren’t the only place he drags shoes.

Expanding Families Take Some Getting Used To

Pup is having a hard time. While he loves people, he really likes his routines and  to command where his 14 pounds plants itself when he wants to lounge about. One way he has always shown his disapproval with someone or some situation is to take something of theirs, and guard it. He has been taking and guarding a lot of M's things the last two weeks. Last night, after hours after school of getting things back, the girls shut him out of the room they were doing homework in. H laid outside the door like a lost puppy. DD#2 had soccer practice so while she was getting ready to go, Pup found his way into her room and did the ultimate guard scenario-he jumped up and whizzed on M's bed. While most beaded up and I think we got it off before getting to the mattress, to be safe, I did a lot of scrubbing. We let it dry a couple hours then flipped the mattress.

This morning, despite that he lays on our floor to sleep at night, I found several shoes he must have been guarding earlier in his dog bed. At least one was M's, and of course mine because I was the one that disciplined him. With new babies, we always brought the hospital blankets for our dogs and introduced the to new family members slowly. Maybe we should have done that for pup.