Puppies in Harpers Ferry, WV

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There are some things and situations in life that are blessings, and which benefit long after the fact. Taking care of rescue "puppies" (because they are not all technically "puppies" but we treat them like they are all special puppies) at WV Buddies in Harpers Ferry, WV, is one of those opportunities that I truly appreciate.

To learn more about the available pets at WV Buddies, check out this link:
WV Buddies

Sure, it's a LOT of poop picking up. And sometimes there is vomiting or worse, or administering medicines, finding the pups that may escape or get pushed off the deck (silly Joppy!). Sometimes the ones we give love to are not alive the next time around, and that's hard. Even watching them for only a few days creates a lasting bond with each of them. I'm very grateful that our little guy gets to also help take care of them, as well. We have our own dog, Maya. She's a geriatric Akita that we've had for 10 years. That makes her 11 or 12 or 13...we're not sure. She's our beautiful girl, full of personality, but definitely her "OWN" personality, lol! She doesn't run. She doesn't play. She lays around, loves to go for walks, and just recently she can be off leash sometimes. She doesn't like any other animals, except when Dean takes her and introduces her to pregnant German Shepard mommas and walks them together. But, she's ours to the end. As such, Chris never really knew what puppies could do until he's been exposed to other dogs at the houses of friends and family. The best doses of dogs has been at Dean's rescue.

Most recently, he got to play with the frisky and fun 12-wk old puppies, Jake and Elwood. He loved playing with them, and they loved to clean the food off his face, so it worked out.



(Unfortunately, I can't put up many other pictures from this visit yet, as they are all on my camera. Since someone stole the battery and charger for my camera from the public library last week, I have to wait for the replacements to arrive next week. Sigh. Some of the pups are just SO cute!)

Here are some other pictures, all taken by Dean of WV Buddies:

The last time we were there, we took care of 19 dogs, plus our own dog, Maya, and their 2 kitties, Venus and Zander. Here are a few of the bunch we got to know better:

Unfortunately, little Titan below did not make it. We fed him baby food and held him a lot, but he was just too sick and left for Rainbow Bridge a few days after our visit. He really tried, and he was so sweet. He just wanted to be cuddled, sweet little guy.

Miss Queenie, below, is pretty amazing. First, she is the one that Dean took for a walk with our old girlie, Maya. And they BOTH were great together! I wouldn't have ever bet on that, just amazing...as in TRULY amazing!!!!
Queenie came to the rescue the week of Thanksgiving, fully pregnant. During our stay, she showed that she had lied on all areas of her resume. She actually likes kids, other dogs, loves women, likes men, and is very gentle. Whenever we had her out of her crate, she took up residency on the couch between Chris and I.
She had 8 puppies about 10 days after we left town. She started the deliveries on her favorite spot: on the living room couch! Of her puppies, 5 are thriving and 1 is being nursed by a surrogate mother. Two were not as fortunate, but despite those losses, she is a great mother. We are glad this will be her last pregnancy.

five of Queenie's puppies:


If you know of anyone looking to give a dog a forever home, please get in touch with Dean at WV Buddies. If he doesn't have a dog that would work for your family, he knows someone else who does.

Peace and Love to you all!

Missing Teeth!

Chris has lost THREE teeth in the past 8 days, with one more showing as a little loose. He lost one on Sat, then at school on Wednesday then Thursday morning. Poor Tooth Fairy, she almost overlapped with Santa's scheduled visit!

On Saturday, I was leaving in the morning to work with a high school student on her classwork when Christopher stopped me. He said, “Look, Mommy, my tooth is loose!” Mind you, he has not lost a baby tooth for over a year now. I checked it and did not think it was that loose. Mike called me less than an hour later to tell me that the Tooth Fairy was coming by that night. While on the phone, Christopher walked through and asked him who he was talking to about his tooth. Being the prankster that he is, he told Chris that he was talking TO the Tooth Fairy! Of course, you can guess what happened next! Chris asked to talk to me, and was immediately handed the phone. I’m not the radio DJ in the household, I cannot just disguise my voice at will, and certainly not enough to fool a curious and determined 7-yr old. Especially a 7-yr old who is asking more and more questions about Santa! Thanks, Mike! I did my best, and think I actually pulled it off on the phone, by not saying much, and by being very squeaky. I’m just glad no one was recording or listening in at the moment, not one of my best, I assure you. It satisfied the little guy, and he was pleased that the Tooth Fairy talked to him and was going to come by that night.

And visit she did. She almost forgot, given that Mommy and Papa were TIRED. But, the switch-a-roo was performed, replaced with a dollar bill, several quarters and at least one or two of the other coins. The idea was to have him count it up. Now that he’s in 2^nd grade, he’s able to add and count up bigger numbers, and is getting pretty good at recognizing and counting coins.

In the morning, he climbed into bed with us, not remembering about his tooth. Then, when I asked him how his mouth was feeling where his tooth used to be, he jumped up and raced out of the room. We heard him excitedly exclaim that, “The Tooth Fairy was here!” “She left me some money!” Then we didn’t see him again for a little while, as he turned on the TV and played some cartoons. When we later asked him how much he got for his tooth, he said, “Oh, it was a dollar and some coins.” “Really, well, how much? Didn’t you count it?” “No, I put it in my bank already.” So Mike asked him if he could remember how much he got, and he repeated it was the dollar and a quarter and a few dimes. “That’s probably about it.”

He’s rather diligent about putting all of his money in his piggy bank. He’s a chip off the old Par-Ran block, his grandfather in California!

So, days go past, and he comes home on Wednesday with a miniature blue treasure chest that measured less than an inch wide and tall, and less than a half inch deep. Safely inside was his 2^nd loose tooth that came out while at school. A tradition at his elementary school is to go to the nurse, get tissue to stop the bleeding, get a treasure chest, then get your name put on the Missing Tooth Hall of Fame. Now, he has his own name on a tooth sticker on the wall. I never even knew this wall existed until by chance another student was admiring his own name on it just a week earlier. Now, the tooth fairy ALMOST forgot to stop by on this night, having gone to bed too late, and being tired to start with. Good thing she woke up at around 4 AM and resolved the problem.

Again, Chris climbs into bed with us around 6 am and goes back to sleep. When he wakes up around 8 am, he remembered that his tooth had fallen out, so off he hurries back to his bedroom. He counted his money this time, telling us right away that he got $1.78! And then, clunk, clunk, it goes into his piggy bank right away! No playing around for this little guy!

Christmas break has begun, so there’s no school from Thursday until January 3^rd. Before we know it, Chris has come back into our bedroom and said, “Mommy, I had my finger in my mouth, and saw another tooth was loose. Look, it also fell out!”

Now, this child brushes his teeth at least twice a day. He’s very diligent about his responsibilities, and is somewhat of a germ-a-phobe. I know he’s not loosening his teeth on purpose, it’s just a coincidence that they all loosened at the same time, especially after a very long hiatus since the last tooth. The three teeth that came out are all in the same place on either side of his mouth, just to the right and left of his top and bottom front 4 teeth. I checked the last of the quad, only to find that it, too, is also loosening. Not as loose at the last one I checked, but I won’t be surprised if it also comes out in the next week or so.

The Tooth Fairy now has a well traveled path to our door now, and she gladly came by to leave a small gift for Chris, in exchange for his 3^rd tooth. She left in, like all the others, in a plastic baggie. She also, apparently, put a few presents under the tree that had arrived during the day through various venues. They were presents from friends to Chris. He was already getting more and more hyped up in anticipation for Christmas Eve, for when Santa would be here. When he woke up to find new things under the tree, he was beside himself and kept asking us if he could open them up. We told him he could open them on Christmas Eve, but not at that time.

His money from the Tooth Fairy…is STILL under his pillow. We asked him what he got, because he had checked and did tell us that morning that she had come by. He was so distracted by the presents, that he either forgot to go back and check his treasure, or he made a decision to let it sit there for awhile. I checked this morning, and it is still there, all rolled up, under his pillow. In his defense, we did go out all day on the 24^th and 25^th, and he was up way past his bedtimes for the past 3 days. That is something he has a hard time with, changes in his routine. So, we’ll let him leave his money there until he’s ready to go get it. What’s he going to do with it, anyway? I’m guessing…put it in his piggy bank!

Now when we were kids…we used to get a quarter, dime, nickel and some pennies for each of our teeth. And that kind of big change wore a hole in our pockets!

Sigh, each day and each adventure, he makes us shift our paradigms.
We love our little guy, Chris! Pretty special and unique, that’s for sure!

Crabbing with chicken necks

On a whim and a chance invitation, we joined my sister Becky and her family to go crabbing off a Down County pier, using chicken necks, string, and crab nets. I haven't gone crabbing in forever, it seems, and this was Christopher's first time. We caught 12 total keepers, not mentioning the fiesty and bold little ones that held on for dear life since they knew they got a free toss back into the river. Of the dozen, Chris caught 4! He was very proud of himself!

When we were all done, we cleaned up and the guys all decided that they were coming over to our house to cook the crabs and eat them, including another nephew that had joined us half way through. Now, our place is on the tiny side for now, so it was interesting how we managed to fit everyone in AND find room to put a table that was covered and ready for crabs! But, we did, and it was GOOD!

I would like to write more, such as how excited Chris was as he learned by trial and error just how hard to pull on the string so he didn't lose the crab, and more, but it's way past my bedtime! Will write more later.

In the meantime, it's bedtime for sure. We're embarking on a road trip half way across the country in the morning, to visit Grandma Nick, who just turned 90. And also, for a family reunion on Sunday. It promises to be a lot of fun, to visit with Dad's side of the family, and we are looking forward to the trip. We are almost ready to leave, with only 3 more chores that need to be done in the morning. One of which, is vanity-driven (not even gonna talk about my hair, y'all!) but a necessity at this point, so we will likely leave closer to 10 instead of the original plan of 6 am. It's all good. We're stopping half way to visit my first roommate, and awesome friend, Sherry. Unfortunately, her family won't be there on the way out, but we'll still have fun.

Oh, and we counted...it's only 45 more days until school starts back! Where did the past 3 weeks go so quickly? And for those of you shopping for supplies, the back to school specials started this week. Time to stock up on glue, crayons, etc., for a fraction of the costs for later in the year. Hmmm, 20 cents for a pack of crayons now, or $1.99 later on? I'll do the 20 cents, thank you very much!

G'nite all, and happy July!

Thinking of you, Mom

Today is the 3rd anniversary of when you left your physical body to live in the bliss of your spiritual self. Three years, I can't believe I am sitting here saying the words to myself.

Lots of things have happened in the past 3 years, and yet I find myself marking time by July 9, 2007. It's strange how we edit our lives and milestones and arrange counting of events. For example, I know that Grandma is 83 years old this month...because she turned 80 and her party was exactly one week after your funeral. It's been 3 years since I finished my bachelor's degree...because that was the last day of my last class when Theresa called me and time stood still. Three years since I knew for certain that I hate police scanners, well, because that's how your mother found out that her daughter had died. Darryl is 32 years old this year, now that was a hard one for me, back in 2007, when your baby turned 30. I think I was more emotional about it than he was. The first of many milestones that we felt you'd be missing in our lives.

For, our Mom's are supposed to always be there. We take you for granted, knowing you're always there. And then you checked out and left us all alone in this world. This sounds so melodramatic, and so be it. Lots of emotions, discoveries, epiphanies, realizations, and more have passed through me and others by the mere experience of each new day, but with more emphasis as we all get used to you "not being there".

As you well know, I am fully aware that you "ARE THERE" for us and around us. All of us. I feel you and your love and presence in many ways that I was blind to prior to your transition. What a gift for us to be able to realize how blessed we truly are each and every day. A gift that many of us continue to ignore and/or neglect.

I know that you have helped me and countless others from "the other side" and I want to tell you that I appreciate your presence. I appreciate your sense of humor. I appreciate that you helped me with the first 43 years of my life, and taught me more things than I could possibly give you due credit for. For example, I had fun canning peach jam this week with Tina...and during that and each time I put up jars in canning, it reminds me so much of the times we canned together, or when you did all the work when we were too little to help. And let me tell the world, you canned a LOT of jars each year! Each time I use the peeling knife I got from your stash, it makes me think of you. Christopher remembers you in his prayers each night. From time to time he tells me that he misses you and wishes he could go visit you. I tell him he can talk to you anytime, anywhere. He likes that.

The family has gone through changes in the past 3 years, many in ways I could never have predicted. Some changes are better, some were unexpected and difficult, and some continue to surprise me. The difference now is that I am not scared of how any of that will play out anymore. "Que sera, sera" Which also reminds me of you...the kiddie records you'd stack up and play for us when were little. That was one of my favorite songs. I was very excited to hear a newer version of it a couple of years ago, by a band called Pink Martini. Very beautiful rendition.

Two weeks ago I ran over a large frog as I drove home. It was unintentional, but darn it, when it rains, the frogs just come hopping out like crazy critters! Then, the thought occurred to me that perhaps you wanted a frog to play with, so this one chose me to run over it and send it your way. Brought a feeling of comfort and a smile to me.

I think I have changed a lot in the past 3 years also, due to many circumstances, but the most pivotal one being "your day" of July 9th. Weird things have happened, and, of course, not much of what we had planned has worked out according to plan. But, it's okay. The feelings of comfort and content in knowing that the present and future are all okay is what keeps me going. I'm sure that you play a role in helping me and anyone else who is open to your energy, to make it to the next step on a daily basis.

So, I want to thank you for this day, and for the many more to come. This may have sounded like a rambling, for I have to be honest, there is a lot more on my mind, but suffice it to say that I appreciate and love you, and am glad that you are my Mom. I'm glad we had the time we did, and I look forward to continuing our relationship.

Dear Santa...Oops, we're 6 months too early!

It's exactly 6 months until Christmas, and our little guy decided tonight to start his letter to Santa!
It took him several tries, because, well, the "rules have changed now...you're going to be in 2nd grade in 62 days". He started with "Dear Santa, I want..."

So, we let him know that it is not nice to start letters with "I want" for anything. Be polite, interesting, ask about something you want to know about, or something that interests the other person. So he tried again, and had to go back. Not without a little fussing, it seems that he had already made 7 tries so far with the latest edition he gave us. Back to the drawing board, and then next he came back with "Dear Santa, I think Mommy wants a Barby" and more about how are the reindeer and phonetic spellings for how he's putting out carrots for them. Then another letter to Santa for Papa, asking for a paint gun for him. Mind you, all of these requests are on the drawing paper from his easel, pulled out long and folded.

When it was time for bed, I had to laugh when I entered his room. You could see where he had been sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, with all the papers, pens, and discards all around him in a circle. The camera is in the car, so it'll have to wait till the morning, but that was amusing for me. Considering that he is a bonafide neat freak, it's fun to see him in an artistic mode where the neatness is forfeited for the moment.

And what does Chris want from Santa? Oh, not much, just: a Playstation 3 and games to go with it, Pokemon game for his DS system, and both a Buzz Lightyear and Woody figures from the new Toy Story 3. He recently saw the 1 and 2 versions of the movie, so he's anxious to see #3. He doesn't usually ask us for toys, and usually finds a few favorites to play with, and is easy to deal with for sharing with his cousins. In fact, in the almost 7 years he's been with us, we can count on our hands the number of times he's ever asked us for specific toys.

But now the rules have changed for Santa. We almost feel guilty in advance about "Santa" except I have to say that I will Aways Believe in Santa, so we'll help him transition when the time comes. In the meantime, he'll have to practice his letter-writing techniques, since he's insisting on starting his list exactly 6 months early. He did take his best version and post it on the wall in our living room, so we see it each time we pass by to our bedroom...now that is funny to me. Not so subtle, but funny!

Now, about the movies. Sigh. We "used" to go to the movies in Albuquerque on a regular basis. See, there's a "dollar movie" theater there where you can see new movies that have been out for about 6 months up on the big screen for a whopping $1 to $1.50 per person! The theater is clean, popcorn is regular priced but good, and it was convenient. Now, where we live not...not so much. The theater is old, sometimes clean, not open during the week during the school year, and pricey. Sorry, but not going to pay $50 for 3 of us to go to the movies a couple of times a month under these conditions. So we don't go, we are now on the cycle where movies we haven't seen are not hitting the DVDs and Netflix.

But today...we offered to Chris to take him to the movies to see Toy Story 3 in LIEU of going to see his little cousins in No. VA tomorrow. He said, "no thanks. I want to go play with my cousins." Now, that might have been mean to make him decide, but we already knew the answer, he wasn't about to miss going to see his girl, Skye! She is turning 3 this month, and is, hands down, his favorite! He's been saving a barbie doll for her from our toy box for almost 2 years now, since we forgot to take it to her the last time. On the Wii, he created an avatar for her. He made her "little" because she's just a little girl. Whenever we play baseball, well, there goes Skye! He hasn't made an avatar for anyone else, just her. Today, when we went shopping for her birthday present, he knew he wanted to get her something pink, her favorite color. He found a pink etch-a-sketch, and that was the end of searching. I tried to get him to look at other options, and he was determined that she would love the etch-a-sketch. Well, who wouldn't? And a pink one! On the way home from the store, he did suggest that we go to the movies tonight, since we didn't have time tomorrow. How considerate, to be thinking of alternatives. Maybe we'll drive to one of the malls next week and attend a matinee. In the air conditioning, because I gotta tell you, it's been HOT this month!

In the meantime, I have to go finish cutting cucumbers for refrigerator pickles for a bbq tomorrow at his cousin's house. I'm making homemade hamburger rolls for the first time for this set of relatives, so that will be fun. Mike is marinating baby back ribs, and has already made his own NC-style bbq sauce, which is Great! The folks who will be attending are a lot of fun, so we're looking forward to the day. Gonna drive up in the am and then plan to return at night.

And now, I'll try to get up early enough to take a picture of Chris' room before he cleans it up.

Happy Summer 2010
May it be awesome for you and for all of us!

Only 65 days left until school starts back up

Want to know how we know this?
It's not what you think! No, we're not trying to rush through the summer. Not trying to get our little guy back in school so he won't be with us. He's not having a bad time, or trying to get away from us.

He's a 2nd grader now! He CAN'T wait to be an official 2nd grader...which, to a "literal man" means that you have to go to a classroom and start doing 2nd grade work.

He has asked us every day since school got out last Thursday about "when do I go back to school?" We thought he was having trouble with the concept of the month, even though he does know days, weeks, and months, as in understanding how long they last. He wants to be a 2nd grader.

Oh, and today...is the First Day of Summer!
Summer Starts Today!
It's The Longest Day of the Year!

We love our Literal Man.

And now, please excuse me as I go and make a summer calendar of activities so he has other activities to look forward to, besides just going back to school again.
Please, let's enjoy as much of the next 65 days as possible, let these days be productive and educational, in a fun way.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there! I hope this finds you all enjoying your day and your weekend. Really, each and every day is a father's day, where you can celebrate the reason(s) you can this your day. Whenever I look at our little guy, I remember all the reasons why I love being a mommy (yes, even on the challenging days/moments) and I imagine that there are those moments for all you guys, as well.

Remembering those little fingers and little toes. Feedings and diaper changings at all times of the day and night. Toddling to running, and then taking the bus the first day of school. Okay, I get it, the women typically get more choked up at the changes in milestones, the events that make our little people grow up on us. But, tell the truth, I'm sure that you guys also get a little emotional at times.

Then, today, our little guy brought in his Papa's 7th Father's Day by picking up a book that he put on hold at the public library (on his own, mind you. I found out it was on hold when I got the email notice that it had arrived), and then by reading almost the entire book in one day. "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is apparently not on the shelf of his school library, perhaps because it uses the words "dumb", "stupid", "idiot" and more, that are not allowed in schools. On the way back from the Farmer's Market, he started to read his book. While we started to build scarecrows at our shared/family garden, he sat in the chair and read it for almost 2 hours. In the car on the way home after dinner with my brother and his girlfriend, he turned on the overhead light and read some more. Then, once home and changed into his pajamas, he read some more. Made it to page 151 before we told him he had to put it down and go to bed. He's had books in the past that he didn't want to stop reading, but this is his first book on his own that he just couldn't put down. Not sure how many more actual pages he has left to go, but he's about 2/3 of the way done now. What a nice gift for his Papa, the love of reading!

For his actual present to Mike, well that's a funny story. Mike bought himself a new watch about a month ago, to replace his several broken ones that have seen better days. He left it under Chris' pillow that day, with a note that basically said that Chris could decide to keep the watch for himself, or he could save it for his dad for Father's Day. He found the note and watch under his pillow when he was getting in bed in his top bunk for the night. He read the note, and without hesitation, he decided to save it for Father's Day. He slept on top of the packaged watch and note for several days before he would agree to move it to a new location, which was a bin with clothes in it. We put it on the bottom, so it would be hidden. Mike had entered the room to help Chris change his bedsheets that day, and Chris almost got caught with the present under his pillow. He told Mike he had to leave the room for a few minutes, and when Mike asked "why?" he told him "It's none of your business!" I think he panicked and couldn't think of what to say, which if funny, because he's never at a loss of words. Well, that's when we moved the present to a bin. Which brings us to tonight. He's going to bed and I remind him that tomorrow is Father's Day, so he'll need to give Papa his present in the morning, after we wrap it. He says it's still hiding, and that's when he tells me that he had moved the present awhile ago! Hmmm, I wonder where, so I ask him. He peeks over the top end of his bunk bed, and says, "down there, under the air mattress." We have a queen-sized air mattress in the corner of his room, only there because it has a leak and we need to inflate it back up this week so we can repair the leak. He apparently put the watch package under the bottom layer of the mattress. This wouldn't normally be a problem...but Mike and I both have stepped on the mattress to help make up his bed! I quickly grabbed the watch package and found it was a little banged up, but fortunately, no broken watch face or band! How lucky!

Father's Day will be fun for us, because we are going to take it easy and enjoy the entire day. Might go out, might not. Not sure. Might go fishing, maybe a softball game, not sure.

May you all enjoy your Father's Day and each and every day!

Updated: we slept in -- YAY!!!!
then, Chris brought Papa his gifts he had been hiding and making
while I was doing dishes, Christopher finished his book he had just gotten yesterday. as he says, "it has 217 pages and I read all of them in one day!" I'm amazed, and also excited that he loves to read.
called a few folks, including my Dad, to wish them a good day.
then headed out to a softball game / bbq with the brothers and sisters and some friends at a nice public park from about 2 until almost 7 pm. it was nice to play softball again, and to watch Christopher try to hit a softball for the first time ever. I even hit the ball a few times, which made me happy since it's been Years since I played on the co-ed team in Alexandria, VA.
went back home in time to catch the recorded interviews and coverage from the previous weekend's demolition derby, as showed on "Weekend Sports" on channel 50. they showed most of the guys, including our nephew, Patrick, who is a new driver. I had never seen a demo derby until last Spring. it's not "my thing" but I will say it was entertaining, especially since they guys usually don't get hurt.

and now, time for bed.
I think Mike had a good day, too!

Happy Father's Day!