We Found a Park

Today Norm and I had to go to Wal-Mart and run a few other errands. We decided to go to Madison and ate at a little restaurant right on the square (too bad it was sprinkling, otherwise we would've sat outside).

Then we went for ice cream - just about the only shop left in existence that accepts cash or checks only. We had the exact amount of dollars for one scoop each.

Then we went on a stroll to admire the quaint streets and nooks of this town and came across this park. It was so cute! No trees, because it's new. But there was a fountain:

with benches all around and chess tables with more benches.

There was also a Gazebo with tables for picnicking:


So we walked around


then sat around and ate our ice cream!


What a fun unexpected evening!

Pellet Ate the List (Almost 100% Certain)

You know when you have a list that just sits on the counter/console table/kitchen table/wherever? It's those lists that sit there for days with a pen next to it and as days go by you think of something and put it on the list because it's an item that's not purchased on a weekly basis such as eggs, milk, ham - that way when you go to the store you have a productive trip worth the gas.

We had one of those lists... the Wal-Mart list. It was on a blue sticky note on the kitchen counter with a red pen next to it. It was a good long list. I saw the list this morning.

A few hours ago we were watching TV in the den and the dogs were about the house. We went to fix dinner and I had to put "brown sugar" on the list... the list is gone. gone. gone. gone.

Norm hasn't moved it. I haven't moved it. Cali can't reach the counter. So by default Pellet has eaten the list.

Pretty Blooms

Now that Spring is 100% here (on it's way out the door actually) we are getting to enjoy our beautiful blooms! Here are some pictures for your virtual enjoyment...


Hanging basket in the backyard


Pots on the porch (these have survived Cali - actually Cali has done very well this year, she's only attacked one pot - so far)


These are the hydrangeas by the garage - I'm so excited that the one in the back is finally blooming! it has blue and purple flowers...


Remember this post little over a month ago? Check out how much the basil has grown:



These are the lantanas along the side of the house (they are deer proof - so hopefully they will continue to grow and get lots and lots of bright orange flowers!)

The Eighth Grade

Last night my Facebook status read: "tonight he's graduating from middle school, wasn't it just like last week that he started kindergarten? time flies..."

I know that graduating from middle school does not rank up there with college or high school, but it's still a milestone. In 3 months Juan Ma will be a freshman in high school and in 4 years we'll be back, sporting our Fighting Irish green and gold just like I did over 10 years ago.
This was my high school graduation day - May 20, 1999.

It's amazing to sit back for a moment and think about this little baby that was born almost 14 years ago. I remember June 13, 1996 as if it were yesterday:

Waiting for the doctor to come out and say Juan Ma is here! [please excuse the outfits]

I'm so proud of him for being the boy that he is and eagerly yet bitterly looking forward to the man that he'll soon become.

Just for the record I do have to tell that Juan Ma showed up to graduation with no jacket and no tie. All the boys were wearing a jacket and/or a tie. He was upset because he chose not to do so. When his name was called we were all in shock to see him walk up wearing a jacket. Smart child - he borrowed a neighbor's to cover up during the important part.

The Whole Basket

This morning we are having our coffee and hear Cali making weird noises by her cage. We go over to investigate and there are a bunch of little white papers. Some are crinkly (they make noise).

We look over by the back door and there are more crinkly papers. Some are clear.

Fern: What do you think this is?
Norm: Looks like the clear part of an envelope.

We glance over to Pellet's cage and there is a tiny piece of evidence. Norm grabs it: This looks like a receipt.

Immediately I put all the clues together and rush over to the den (where we have a basket where we put paper trash just as junk mail, receipts, etc). I look in it - EMPTY. Completely empty (might I add that the basket was about half full last night).

Needless to say I take a closer look at the carpet in the den and in fact there are more crinkly papers and more white papers...

I've never had to worry about this basket because they've never gotten into it in the past... Moral of the story: never say never.

Daylight is Wonderful

In the last week or so, we have taken up walking after dinner. We've started with baby steps (1 mile in 30 minutes) for everyone's sake (both human's sake and dog's sake).

I think winters probably wouldn't be as bad as they are (for me at least) if the days weren't as short as they are (sun setting at 4:30pm... that's absurd). I feel like the daylight from these longer Spring and Summer days provide the boost needed to be productive and active.


Here we're going up one of the many hills on our walk. Well at the moment Pellet is resting...


Here we're taking a mini break at the half mile mark before heading back to the house - by the way the house that belongs to this drive way is vacant and for sale, we're not just hanging out at someone's drive way... that would be weird.

Tonight's Dilemma

Once again, Pellet has eaten our food right off the counter.

We had 2 fillets of red snapper that we were going to cook tonight (well, that Norm was going to cook for us tonight). We left the kitchen unsupervised for a split second, when I came around the corner, I heard that very distinct noise that identifies Pellet is eating something he shouldn't be.

The fish is gone. $9 worth of fish is gone. We will now eat chicken. How fun is that?

So now the dilemma of the evening is whether or not Pellet needs to be fed "dinner". I said yes. Norm said no. Part of me wants to go with no because I could be eating snapper however I will be eating chicken. But I think the real reason we should stick with no is because he just ate 2 fillets of fish (raw fish) if we put anything else in his belly he might get sick and throw up. But then I feel so bad for my little pup who could potentially go until tomorrow morning with no food in his belly.

I wish I had some snapper.

Some Things Aren't Supposed to be Healthy

I just saw a commercial on TV for Nutella. If you don't know what Nutella is you need to quit reading this post, go to the grocery store and get some Nutella (usually found by the peanut butter and jellies).

The commercial is about a mom talking about how Nutella is so healthy and she uses it to get her kids to eat healthy. "I spread it on multi grain toast and a lot of other healthy things" "it contains great ingredients such as hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of chocolate"

Nutella is as far from healthy as Pluto is from the Sun. Some things are simply delicious and not good for you - i.e. Nutella.

I am so dumbfounded by the commercial that I have looked up the nutritional information for Nutella. A serving, 2 tablespoons contains:
- 200 calories (100 from fat)
- 22 g Carbs
- 21 g Sugar
- 11 g Fat (3.5 g Saturated Fat)

I do want to make it very clear that Nutella is absolutely delicious and I highly recommend it. But let's be real and not try to make something that's not healthy appear to be healthy. In my opinion the ad should simply say: Buy Nutella - it's awesome.

Home Phone

When Norm and I first moved out here (almost 7 years ago), we got a home phone. Right after we got it installed we started getting calls from lawyers and collection agencies for this one particular person (whose name I am not going to disclose - just know that we have no idea who this person is, never have heard of her, total stranger. Let's call her Default Lady).

Some calls were automated, others were live people. I clearly remember one particular call when the caller asked for Default Lady and I patiently explained that this is no longer her number and how we've been receiving multiple calls a day for months and every chance I get I let the caller know they need to do further research because she's no longer at this number. The lawyer then proceeds to accuse me of hiding Default Lady. For obvious reasons, that conversation quickly spiraled into a not so pretty dialogue that involved me saying things like "come search my house if you would like" (I was over the multiple calls a day, I would do anything to have them quit calling).

Finally the calls stopped. We moved on with life and every now and then thought about Default Lady - had she paid her bills and straightened up? had she had things repossessed? what did she do to get herself in this situation?

A couple of weeks ago, we started getting calls for Default Lady again! Every day I have come home to a message on my answering machine.

"This message is for Default Lady, if you are not this person, please hang up. If you are this person, please call blah blah blah"

This lovely Saturday morning I'm drinking my coffee and harvesting my farm (FarmVille) and the phone rings at 9:40am and it's for Default Lady. I called the number right away. The first option? "If you are receiving this message in error and would like to remove your number, press 1". That wasn't enough, so I pressed "0" and spoke with Dominic and he removed my number completely (hopefully). He said that their system triggered these calls on April 13... I think it might have something to do with taxes.

I was polite and proper with Dominic... now if I had been sleeping when that call had come in at 9:40am this lovely Saturday morning... I do not know what would have happened.