October 30, 2012

  • Darn Xanga...

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    I couldn't blog yesterday due to Xanga being *down*.  I tried, hour after hour, to get on it but it kept saying it couldn't be located.  After trying several things to ensure that it wasn't *ME*, I realized that it was down for whatever reason.  Xanga does get hacked from time-to-time.  Unfortunately.  It figures it would happen on a day I was actually busy. 

    The Beast and I took off for Huntsville early so we could stop at the dog park there to let Baron run around for a while.  He always gets so excited and can smell it when we get close.  Too bad for him but there were no other dogs there for him to play with when we stopped.  We then hit the doctor's office where I stayed outside with him on his extending leash but, when he started shivering, I got back into the car with him to wait for the Beast.  The wind was just brutal here (from the effects of Hurricane Sandy) and he's a wimp when it's cold out.  I sat and read my Nook for a while until the Beast came out.  The doctor says he's doing well but he's got to come back next Monday at 1:30pm.

    We headed towards home and decided to stop and do a *necessary things* shopping at Publix.  They are undergoing a remodeling so that made it *fun* (NOT) to try and find things.  They are adding a pharmacy to this store now so things are a bit more compact and yet it seems like it's more a maze than I would have thought possible.  We needed things like coffee, creamer, crackers, some fresh veggies, fruit, jello, lunch meats, fresh bread, canned dog food (just this one type they carry), milk....you get the idea.  The Beast, of course, loves their bakery and picked up some fresh donuts, a lemon iced sponge cake, some bagels and we even found some Kaiser rolls.

    Chewlee will be happy because we DID get some good deli salami for her and I even remembered to get her some dill pickle spears and we needed more salsa and chips.  When she shows up today, I can almost hear her yell, *Picnic!*.

    I missed my doctor's appointment today due to oversleeping.  I would have slept later than I did except my niece, Tara, showed up with a DVD of Johnnycake's sister's 6th birthday party.  She found it in a bunch of stuff she was going through that they had given her a while back.  With everything that's gone on with her and her family, she's just finally getting a chance to sort through much of it.  She figured they might want that back or, perhaps, his sister might want to save it for when SHE has children of her own.  IF they still have DVD players. 

    We headed home after completing our shopping and stopped at Pet Depot to pick up some of the good dog food and some doggie treats for Baron.  Chewlee will be tickled to know we have more of those here.  She likes to make him sit and then throw one in the air and watch him jump up and catch it.  That tickles her so much that she laughs hard and gets the hiccups.  That's been a trait of hers since she was a baby.  When she laughs one of those laughs from deep within, she ALWAYS gets hiccups.  That's one way you know for sure she is really tickled about something.  Luckily, they don't last long.

    Walking through the Depot was interesting because they had a lot of *etcetera* animals like a lizard in a warmed tank, a couple guinea pigs and even a chinchilla that looked like it was going to be adopted.  It's been a while since I've been in there and I like to see the new *toys* they have for various animals.  The groomer came out of her area to greet and skritch Baron and he was in heaven.  Baron, in comparison to some of the other dogs in the store, is really well-behaved.  Not that he didn't initially give a tug or two, wanting to play, but he settles down right away like he knows he won't be allowed in again if he doesn't behave.  Some of the other dogs.....are not well-trained and shouldn't be out in public.  One dog was chowing down on an open bin of dog treats while his owner just stood there.  Guess some owners need better training, too.

    When we got home, the Beast brought in the bags of groceries while I put everything away.  We had bought a sub and we were both starving.  I'm not usually a sub person but this was GOOD (or I was REALLY hungry ).

    The rest of the day was kind of anti-climatic.  It was mostly watching some of the news about Hurricane Sandy and the damage it was doing up in New York and New Jersey.  I was really worried about those trains but the mayor and companies related to potential risk areas closed them down early enough.  Lots of damage for a hurricane the Beast said was a *dud*.  What does HE know?  Of course, we went through Hurricane Charley while we lived in Florida and that just about wiped out our town (Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area).  Our main drag was decimated, except for my favorite watering hole, of course...GRIN!

    Gotta run for now...well, limp.  I want to finish up my laundry before Chewlee gets here and I need to straighten up this room, too.  Love you all and I sure hope none of you were involved in all that mess from the hurricane.  I'm sending up prayers that the recovery is swift.  Swifter than it was for our town when it was hit, at least.