ll I don't have spellcheck, and I can't really edit what I've written, so here goes... Posting from my iphone again...

r. Why am I concerned about their shininess? I'm not. Oops. Guess I should be watching where Tom went. I think he has left me. I don't blame him. Ok. We

've probably spent all morning applying layer after layer of sunscren. Oh wait, maybe that was just me. I guess they have on sun tan lotion or moisturize

scenery and watching Tom take it all in. People-watching is a fun sport. Most of the women look like they've rolled around in an oil slick. Like me, they

tach mine surgically to my body. Even the buzzards are more entertaining to watch than the golfers. However, I DO love my $3.50 Diet Coke and the lovely

cell phones into the tournament as u can clearly see. I'm not even hiding it. I'm not sure why they would even try to ban phones. You might as well at

ender. Also imagine pictures of big, old trees and big, old men rolling around in golf carts...not together of course =). We weren't allowed to bring our

g a guy named Danny Lee...an Asian guy supposed to be the next Tiger Woods. Ok, just imagine a picture of him here. White shirt, white pants, tall and sl

bnoxious sound when a golfer is about to hit the ball. I guess the birds can't read the "Quiet" signs that the officials hold in the air. We are followin

fan. Actually I'm a huge fan of the super cute squirrels, blue jays, and mockingbirds I've seen so far. And it's really funny when a crow makes a huge, o

So here we are at the Colonial golf tournament. It's a very pretty day, and Tom has allowed me to sit under a big shade tree and pretend I'm a huge golf

I'm blogging from my iPhone today since my computer is having some issues. I'm always looking forward to Fridays, but especially today is going to be fun. I already got to exercise with Whitney this morning. We did a great run/walk at Green Valley park. I met a nice older lady from Ireland that was afraid of the crazy duck at the park. She was here visiting her daughter and already attacked by the aggressive duck. She thought she was the only one, but I assured her the duck was mean to everyone. It wasn't even afraid of Artimus and Gollum, but at least it didn't pursue us thanks to my vicious guard dogs (not). So now I'm at home. I'm getting ready to go to Danell's house. The sandwiches are in the oven, and I've finished getting dressed and blowdrying my hair. Now I just need to order the pizzas for game night tonight! Tom is coming over to my sister's house after he leaves work. What a fun day!

Taking the mystery out of hair dye

Sometimes I can't believe I actually paid someone else to sit me in a chair up to four hours at a time and dye my hair. I've always suspected it wasn't rocket science. I bleached my hair myself for years. It didn't look great, but it wasn't terrible. My hair was extremely short at the time, so it was a snap. A few months ago, I decided I would try to figure out this hair dye thing again. Instead of buying Clairol, Loreal or whatever home hair dye kit offered at Walmart, I went to Sally Beauty Supply. I asked a couple of questions from the super knowledgable and helpful staff. I only bought four items, and for under $25, I have enough product to dye my hair up to four times. In the comfort of my own home, I can dye my hair then while it's processing, I can keep busy with chores or just watch TV. I don't have to make an appointment, and I can dye more frequently than I would if I had to go to a salon. When the dye dries in my hair, I just take a shower, wash it out and it's done. I don't have to worry about gray hairs for another month or so. Here are the tools I use: the dye itself which is SOOO much fun to pick out. There are so many choices, like being in a candy store. It's like a gel in consistency. Then the developer which is more watery. A bottle is used both to mix the dye and developer together and then to apply it directly to the scalp. This bottle is called a color applicator=$1.89. It's reusable.The dye and developer need to be mixed really, really well, so that means a LOT of shaking. I shake the bottle for about 5 minutes then start parting my hair in various places and squeeze the product onto my head. It's just not that difficult! The gloves keep my hands from drying out while rubbing the solution down on my head. The gloves are also reusable. I just rinse and reuse the bottle and gloves. It's not a pretty sight during the process.The surprising fact is that it doesn't burn or sting like I remember in the salons. I'm guessing it's not as strong, but it works all the same. So, the bad news: I've dropped dye on the carpet. It stains. Duh. The kitchen sink is kinda "spotted." I've ruined a couple old T-shirts, but who cares. I'm saving hundreds of dollars a year, and I get to stay home....my favorite place.

Crouching Artimus Hidden Turtle

This is Trinity Park again, the Duck Pond side. We may need a new name though. We may need a "TP" or turtle park. Our canine explorers discovered a new, strange creature. Not nearly the entertainment value of a squirrel, but fascinating nonetheless.
I didn't know how Artimus and Gollum would react. Artimus takes his first peek. He's thinking "um, is this allright? am i ok? Baroo? Who are you?" He crept a little closer...More importantly, I wasn't absolutely certain the turtle would stick around long enough for the dogs to get a good look. Most of the turtles scattered right away into the water when the dogs ran up. Then their was this hefty dude. He was just minding his own business, being his cold-blooded self and sunning on the side of the pond. Of course, we couldn't leave well-enough alone. I wanted the boys to come check him out. Now I'm starting to wonder why the turtle isn't the least bit unnerved. He's not only calm and unconcerned for his safety....I'm starting to think maybe we are the ones that should be concerned for our safety! I imagine a turtle can snap one of my little dogs legs right in half. "Ok, ok, get a hold of yourself. Banish the thought, and take some funny pictures!" Artimus delivered. He squatted down in the funniest position I've ever seen, and stuck his nose right up the turtle's bottom. Gollum came along, but it takes an awful big production to make him excited about anything. His curiosity lies in creatures that run. Gollum doesn't care about creatures that fly, creatures that walk, and certainly not critters that crawl...or do a whole lot of nothing. This turtle didn't have much to offer Gollum. He took one sniff and walked away. But Artimus is another story. He actually has a little bit of wolf DNA still pumping through that little pea-brain. He was all up in that turtle's business. Finally, the turtle had enough and slid off into the pond. Artimus was a wee bit heartbroken, I think.

Braces be gone

I'm so sick of braces. My first trip to the orthodontist office was in December of 2004. I don't know anyone who was promised a 2 to 2 1/2 year treatment plan...and it's ends up being over 4 1/2 years. I'm tired of not smiling in pictures. Wow, this picture is very, very old. It was taken in the summer of 2005. Wow! Look how fat I am! And Tom still liked me?! Those are some blubbery arms. whew.I could just take a friend's advice and "embrace" the situation and smile in pictures and lend up looking like a goon. Oh the pain in those days, It was much worse. Sometimes I couldn't even chew my food, which might have been a really good thing looking at the size of those jeans. Ick!
A little face powder might have prevented the "oil slick" look here. It could have been slightly less offensive. But I was so proud of Gollum for making it through his obedience class, I just couldn't cover up the grin.

My nephew, Mark, took a picture of this goofiness.

I am indeed ready to put this to rest. Please let me eat without breaking rubberbands and getting food stuck in the strangest places. Please let me speak without spitting. Please let me choose my food options without wondering and worrying what the inevitable mess it will cause. Please let me smile and laugh without the brace face! Thank you very much.

Storage unit jam

I got the big idea to clean out our storage unit in order to make room for a spare dog crate that I've been carrying around in my car. I went down to the basement where I stood in amazement realizing that I had no plan of action. The basement is home to the storage units as well as the parking garage, the boiler room, the bicycle racks, and electrical/maintenance rooms. It's dusty, smelly, and generally just uncomfortable. Many of our belongings in the storage unit will just have to remain. We won't be throwing out our extra folding chairs, golf clubs, poker table/chairs, suitcases, and empty plastic storage bins. I wouldn't mind trashing the Christmas decorations, since I never decorate for Christmas, but it seems like a lot of work without a lot of reward. It wouldn't free up much space. I managed to part with the duffel bag, the super old green suitcase, and Tom cleaned out the extra cords from the "Zappos" box. He took the wine cooler to work and re-purposed it to hold his mustard/ketchup/soy sauce and other condiments. There was progress, but I'm skeptical we will ever be rid of the storage unit. I am convinced once again that it's worth the $50/month after all.

The "SP"=squirrel park

What a couple of really pretty days we've had lately! The threat of rain hasn't altered our plans much at all. Going to the park is a real no-brainer.

Tom and I have to spell out "squirrel" and "park" so that Artimus and Gollum don't know what we are talking about. So we've shortened squirrel park to just "SP." The dogs get smarter and smarter all the time, so the simple act of spelling out words will sometimes get them going.Other words that are spelled: b-a-t-h, g-o, w-a-l-k, o-u-t-s-i-d-e....you get the idea. If they get too excited and we decide to make other plans, the disappointment is palpable--just too much to take. I guess I'm "projecting" a little bit here, just a little.

The entrance to Trinity Park off of University is called the "squirrel park" in our home. The entrance to the park off of 7th Street is called the "duck pond." In reality, we usually visit both sides of the park anyway; it's all connected. On this particular day, we wanted to see squirrels, and we were not disappointed. I think I counted 15 before I got distracted and just gave up. Thanks to a lady we nicknamed "squirrel lady" who generally arrives before us, we are flooded with squirrels. The lady feeds the squirrels while her poor dogs are forced to "sit" and "stay." They must be in hell. Her dogs, deprived of their natural strengths and instincts, must watch their owner feed squirrels while they are tethered to a leash in shame and indignity.

On the flip side, it's a jackpot for our family! We wait until squirrel lady leaves, then we UNLEASH the hounds! Actually, they never have a leash, but we "release" them to wreak havoc on the rodent populations. It's so much fun. Sometimes the squirrels get confused and can't decide which tree to climb, so they zig-zag and switch directions mid-sprint. This creates another dimension of craziness and increases the odds that Artimus or Gollum can catch up to them. This is the only picture I actually got of a squirrel. Both dogs walked right by this guy without even noticing.Artimus got a mouthful of squirrel fur during this trip, and indeed it was very gratifying.

Way to go ferocious squirrel hunters! Hee hee ....not really, more like squirrel chasers. They wouldn't actually hurt a squirrel, because the "chase" is the FUN part.

Duck Attack

This is a very ugly duck. It has clumps of red, scaly skin on its head that looks like nasty diaper rash growths.At Green Valley park, where the magic of boot camp happens, we have this problem. This duck/goose from hell terrorizes the boot camp girls. The duck actually chases us around the park. Sounds cute? Yes. Sounds funny? Yes. But it has turned serious. This duck bites. It doesn't have teeth, so I presumed it couldn't break the skin. Boy, I was WRONG. I had to carry him away from us at one point since it was disrupting our exercise class. He didn't bite me then, so I thought he must be friendly. Nope. I think it just liked the attention, and decided to enjoy the ride. It came right back of course. I'm hoping the duck finds love in the duck world instead of looking for love in all the wrong places of the human world. I'm guessing it will mellow out once it becomes a father or mother. I'd love to know more about this animal. What kind of duck is it? How can you tell if it's male or female. We need a duck whisperer! We thought the duck was protecting her nest, but he/she is all over the place! It doesn't stay in one section of the park, and occasionally it will waddle from one end of the park to the other just to mess with us. If walking isn't fast enough, it will just fly over to us. It's probably a 10 lb duck/turkey/goose. I've started wondering how it would taste.

Here's the other duck; so far, it's not aggressive, but it will probably learn quickly from its buddy.

He isn't camera shy. I was backing up the whole time while taking these pictures. He just kept charging at me.

In this picture, it may appear to be smiling, but it isn't. It's actually trying to attack me.

I'm not sure what's going on in this picture. The white duck is either attacking or mating with the devil duck.
I couldn't tell. I thought it was pecking the other duck. I thought maybe it was "protecting" the other duck from me.
There is my blue exercise mat that he/she tries to eat. The white duck just follows him around now.

This duck doesn't play favorites. Here it is chasing a nice old man down the sidewalk.

It charges at young moms with babies in strollers.

This little girl has no idea what kind of danger she's in. Uh oh. At least she has crackers and bread. Maybe she's smarter than the rest of us. We all just need to bring a loaf of bread to boot camp. Then the duck will go into some diabetic coma and leave us alone!

Happy Couples

We are looking forward to BABIES!

While getting to know our doves as individuals, we also have a pair that keep us entertained. We call them the "happy couple." They actually do something I can only describe as "kiss." They put their beaks together and bob back and forth, back and forth, before doing the humpty dance.They epitomize the commitment and teamwork that is required for the survival of a couple. The husband stands guard as the wife pecks at the birdfeeder, and she kicks dove butt when necessary as well. They are Romeo and Juliet of the dove world. All the rest of the doves seem to be single and available. They should make an internet dating site: DoveMatch.com or DoveHarmony.com....Ok I can't come up with anything more clever than that.

While Tom was helping our neighbor secure her tree against the winds, I took the opportunity to photograph the happy couple in action.

**Warning: Mom, don't read this next sentence.** Although they have a peaceful reputation, Tom and I can clearly attest to their rowdy behavior with the wonderful exception of these two. All the other doves fight over the food, and they do not coexist very peacefully at all.

**OK MOM** all clear...

AnyWHO--It made me start thinking of other happy couples. Hmmmmm. Let's see. Tom and Artimus look like a fairly peaceful, happy couple. That's not very suprising though. However: HOLD the phone...Now, just look at this: GOLLUM and Tom look like a happy couple. Hey now, that's MY baby. See, I knew all along, he's mine.
Artimus and Gollum seem to be a happy couple sometimes too. It's a rare, sweet moment. Now here are some of our happy couple pictures.

Now for a little menage a trois.