Stitch

This is Stitch.

Stitch is a yellow lab, and he lives next door. Seems as the weather gets warmer, his owners put him outside in their yard, earlier and longer. Last summer, I had to ask his owner to move Stitch's dog house away from our mutual fence as he was standing with his paws on the top of the six foot fence, peeking over at my Yorkies.

The neighbors pulled Stitch's dog house up to their house, about eight feet away from the fence. So, Stitch is still able to get ontop of his dog house and peek onto our patio, though I do not believe he can jump the fence from there.

Below is what I wake up to most weekends when I'm trying to get in a few extra zzz's. Stitch, howling away!

Sunshine

The sun showed it's face yesterday and today, for the first time in I can't remember how long! Seems we have had rain, rain, rain, for weeks now. Our dams and rivers are nearly 100% full. And this weekend, it's supposed to rain again. With 150% snow pack in the mountains around this part of the state, and warm weather, the water is rising everywhere. It's supposed to get into the 70's tomorrow. So, people who live along the rivers need to be on watch for flooding later this week. My parents live near the Boise River. Their home was built along a large pond off the river. They'll be on pins and needles until the weather simmers down some.

Lily

Last spring we had our first litter of Yorkie puppies. When the puppies were about four weeks old, I started taking Peanut and Rodney with me on some of my weekend outings.

Peanut and Rodney were almost a year old then, and just as cute as could be. I knew they would attract people; people would want to stop and pet them, and ask me all about them. If they were interested, I would share with these people that I had puppies for sale at home.

"Lily" was my first puppy sale. Her new family would come by the house several times a week, for another four weeks until the puppies were eight weeks old and ready to go to their new homes.

Lily went home with her new family, a couple with four kids. I felt really good about this family, they were attentive, sincere, and seemed to be good people.

We have never heard from them again.

I need to tell you, all of my other puppy families have kept in touch, sending me photos of their puppy as it's grown throughout the year. At first, I didn't worry about the "no contact" from Lily's family. Then, my mind started to wander. I thought maybe something terrible happened, Lily got away, or worse. I sent a couple of emails during this last year, and never received any responses from Lily's family. Hmm... I hoped Lily was okay.

Last weekend, my guy and I traveled to Twins Falls, Idaho, to visit with his family. I wanted to go to Shoshone Falls and see if the falls were flowing. I brought my camera. As I was walking down the steps to the look out area, this lady started screaming, "...OMG!!...It's them!" She was getting really excited. I looked behind me on the steps, no one was in front of me except this crazy lady, and I thought she was talking to someone behind me. No one was behind me either. About then, I noticed the dog in her arms...

It's Lily! Lily is as spoiled as the rest of my puppies and just as cute! I couldn't believe it. Here we were, more than two hours from home and we run into these folks. AND, I had my camera with me!

Show Me Something: Blog Six-Pack Picks

I am so honored to have been chosen as one of Terry's Bottled Dreams Six-Pack Picks! Seems AOL's, "Editor Joe," has started something new, with the old idea of getting out there to see other blogs and journals, and passing along six of your favorite blogs and journals. Check it out here >>> Blog Six-Pack Picks!

Here's six of my favorites:

Sonya's Southern Home Sonya is ALWAYS busy! I do not know where she finds all her energy.

Ari's Reflections Living with her boys, Ari has great stories to tell. She always makes me laugh.

Becky's Where Life Takes You... I enjoy reading about Becky's life with her tot, Tyler. He's getting so big! And, what a cutie.

Kat's Walk With Me... What an inspiration of inner strength. Kat's journal was probably one of the first I read, she always make me feel welcomed.

Dona's Blue Skies...Gentle Breezes My neighbor to the north. Dona's journal is down to earth and fun to read.

Rebecca's In The Shadow Of The Iris My neighbor across town... Rebecca has such a way with words.

These are just six of my favorites and are no way my only favorite journals I read. I had a very difficult time deciding which of my many favorites to list here in this entry. You can find all of my favorites in my sidebar.

$365 Million

$365,000,000

Can you imagine? What would you do with all that money? Boy! I think after the initial shock of winning such a prize, a long list of things to do would follow.

I would have to find a modest home in a nicer area than I'm currently in, something a little more secluded with some room for stretching. I don't need a huge model home, just something simple with a view of the mountains. Hmm... Maybe a move to another state and a home with a view of the ocean? Ah... Dreams are fun.

Bills, we always have bills. No matter how much you make, you always spend what you have, and sometimes even more than you have. The more you make, the more you spend. I would pay off a home and cars. I am satisfied with the cars I have, so I wouldn't go out and buy another for myself. I might buy a car for each of the kids and my guy, if I won big money. I would definitely pay for a college education for each of the kids.

I think a couple of vacation homes sound like fun. One northwest cabin near a lake and river in the mountains, another on the western coast. I love to travel, so maybe a fancy R.V. to travel the states and see all the sights to see with my guy and all these dogs. Of course, cruises and cruise-tours will be a must.

Money cannot buy you everything though. Love cannot be bought. Love is earned, along with respect. Keeping one's dignity cannot be bought. Some say that if they knew the life changes that come with winning millions of dollars like this, they would not have played the game. I would be willing to take the risk of life changes. I know my morals are good, and they would keep the rest of me in line.

I would put away a significant amount of my winnings, in whatever funds that will make more money for me to live comfortably in my older life. I think too, I would keep my job, at least for a while. I love what I do, it's never boring or dull. I'm sure all that traveling I'm dreaming of would hinder the job and I would be eventually forced to let it go to enjoy my travels.

Another chunk of change would be given to the local church and city charity for the help they gave me when things were not so good for me. I will never forget the giving I received when I was down and out.

I'm not a PowerBall junkie, I do not buy tickets often. But, when the jackpot's this high, I buy five tickets. Someone's gotta win, and you cannot win if you don't play.

WW

I have been hanging around the same weight for weeks now! A little down, a little up, and a little back down. I hope I'm over my plateau now and on my way to my next 10 lbs. off. Since Christmas, I haven't walked in the evenings like I was. It's been so darn COLD since I've gotten back from Mexico, and the past couple of weeks I've been sick. Tonight I was down -3.4 lbs., for a total loss of 29.6 lbs.! Last week I was sick and didn't weigh in, so this loss was for two weeks. My next goal is another 10 lbs, for a total of 40 lbs off. Baby steps in the right direction.

Tickled My Heart

I cannot tell you how surprised I was to receive flowers at work today! I was in the middle of a telephone conference with four other people, one corporate and three vendors, when one of my staff members walked into my office with this tall vase full of flowers. I didn't think they were for me, they must be for my office partner, but... she kept on coming towards me! Huh?? For me? She confirmed, the flowers were for me. No way! Yep! My name was on the front of the card, she said. WOW!

I never heard another word from the telephone conference. I had to apologize for not hearing anything further and ask where we were with our topic. My conference buddies explained they could hear my blushing through the phone. My office partner confirmed it, I was literally blushing. I was really surprised. I'm not used to getting flowers and I never even thought about flowers for today, Valentine's day. My guy done good, real good!

A Beautiful Day...

Snow! It was beautiful in McCall, Idaho, today.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining bright.

This is the most snow they've had in years.

McCall is a beautiful, scenic 100 mile drive north of Boise.

Yorkie Watchdogs

As I sit here, deep in thought, creating my entry, Lucy starts to huff. She huffs, then growls and huffs some more. My computer sits in the corner of my bedroom. All five Yorkies are on my bed. Out of nowhere, Sadie blares out her bark of warning. Lucy, now barking, huffing and growing at full speed. I turn to see what all the commotion is about only to find Lucy leaning off the far edge of the bed towards the bathroom. Now, all five dogs are barking as if to protect me from danger. Then I see it, a dark glimpse of something coming from the bathroom. Because I had been startled by their barking, I thought for a moment, there's SOMEONE in my bathroom! At second glance, one of the legs of my black tights hanging over the towel rack was blowing into the bathroom doorway, being blown in circles by the current of the forced air heater vent beneath it. Boy! They really had me going for a second!

Sonya, thank you for the graphic!

January's Gone

I took this photo a week ago or so. It was one of the first days we had in what seemed like forever, where the sun broke through the clouds. I thought I'd even catch a beautiful sunset with my lens. That didn't happen. The barn above, sits on the edge the Boise Bench just south of Eagle, Idaho. The property is subdivided there, all around this barn. The barn will be somebody's backyard view before long.

People handle stress in many different ways. Some people have to put down, holler and scream at others to get their point across. Others tend to clam up and try to avoid conflict all together, no matter the cost. Neither way is healthy. People should be able to talk their differences out, come to some understanding and/or compromise, if that's what it takes, in a civil manner, especially if they care for one another. I just felt I needed to get that off my chest. LOL

Last week I interviewed several people for another two positions in our billing office. One position is brand new. I've promoted from within the company for one of the positions, and offered the other job to an outsider who interviewed real well. Just a few weeks ago, I also hired a new A/P & Payroll person. It's going to be a few weeks before the dust settles. This last week was also our month end close, which takes most everything I've got to get done in the time frames I'm allowed. Also this week, I started the implementation of a new billing system for our hospital, coordinating the vendor with our payers and our corporate Information Systems. And, I've caught a cold. Argh.

I've been stopping by to visit Gramma at the nursing home, most every night. It's not out of my way, and she doesn't get any other visitors besides my parents. She has been insisting she could make it back at her Assisted Living facility. So, she was transported there Wednesday. Yesterday, they had to transport her back to the nursing home, she just cannot handle being so independent. Gramma cried. She will not be able to go back to assisted living, she will live the rest of her days in the nursing home. A year ago, she was walking with her walker, and now she cannot get out of bed without assistance. I do not know if a year ago, we had tried harder to get her back home and had assistance see her there in her home, if that would have worked. I feel bad that her home was sold and she has ended up in the "system," being transferred from one facility to another. It makes me sick.

I feel I've done well with my weight so far this week. As soon as I'm feeling better I plan to get back into my evening walks with Lucy, my walking buddy. (Lucy is my dog, in case you didn't know.) I have been watching the Wednesday night show on NBC, The Biggest Losers. What an inspiration those people are! I weigh in at Weight Watchers after work, on my way home on Wednesdays. And then, watch this show later that same night. Talk about encouragement! I really get excited after all that and want to do real good.

I just heard from my guy. He's been driving through snow since he got to Wyoming. Now he's driving across Nebraska, heading east and it's still snowing. The weather was so bad earlier today, he had to pull over and wait out the storm. A blizzard, he said. My heart just stops when I hear he's driving in weather like this. Before he stopped today, his truck was being blown across the road by the wind. With ice beneath his wheels, he was headed for the ditch. He was able to pull out of the slide and regain control. Thank God he's okay. I pray he makes it safely to his destination in Wisconsin Tuesday morning.

Before my guy left on this run, we went out to see, "Walk The Line." If you haven't seen it yet, do. I loved it. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix, both do an excellent job. They both learned to sing and performed beautifully in this movie.

WW

Not much time to post this week but wanted to get this down... +1.6/-26.2

Yikes! I'm moving in the wrong direction! Focus, focus, focus!