New England Mamas

A Stinky Question

Sometimes I wish that dogs could talk.  Yeah, like Underdog, or shit, even Scooby.  Frank from Men in Black.  Brian.  YEAH Brian, from The Family Guy.  Although my dogs would probably drink all my booze, if that were so.

Why would I like dogs to talk?  Or at least MY dogs?  Because I have a burning question that I LONG to find the answer to.

Why the HELL do dogs like to roll around in turkey poop??????????

If you live in New England, you may be blessed with seeing those wild turkeys roaming about.  I tend to make my best turkey imitation and chase them off.  Anyway!  Mags just came in and, as usual, the smell hits me before I actually see the stank. She had it all around her neck and on her front legs. Does it feel good to roll in it? Do dogs like the smell of it? Or is it all about the rubbing that the dog will get when I attack her with a wet wipe or 50. I was NOT in the mood to bathe her, so a spot cleaning did the trick.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I googled the whole "roll in poop" thing, and I know it's just a dog thing, but DAYum! You should be lucky that I don't have a smell-o-rama blog!

Enjoy Your Wednesday!

The Beagle Wins the Day!

Congratulations to Uno, a sweet beagle, for winning the Westminster Dog Show last night! This is the first time that a beagle has EVER won the top prize, in the dog show's 132 years of existence.  Don't you want to give that boy a hug? I get all sappy and weepy every time I watch these dog shows. You should've seen me watching these shows when I was pregnant!

Woof!

Keeping My Spirit

I don't know about you, but normally the time right after Christmas and New Year's can be a little depressing.  All the decorations start coming down and what are we left with, here in Connecticut?  Cold days filled with slush & dirty snow.  Days can get grey, especially with the sun setting now at an unGodly time (as in BEFORE 5pm)!

I'm never in a rush to put away my Christmas decorations.  Having my stuff up into January keeps that Christmas spirit alive in me.  It's like I don't want to face the depressing winter days remaining until the spring arrives with it's pretty flowers and singing birds. 

Don't get me wrong.  I used to like snow.  I remember being young, staying outside for hours with my siblings and friends, making snow forts, sliding down the backyard hills on tobaggons, and when the snow was REALLY high, we'd make tunnels to slide through them.  I remember having a BLAST!  Now I encourage my kids to play outside in the snow, but alas, I don't want to stay out there too long.  Yup.  I'm getting OLD. 

Snow is pretty.  I'll take snow falling on Christmas Day.  Actually, I think I dislike ice more.  Maybe it's because I was in a few accidents involving ice.  Now that I've gotten older, I can't just hide inside during the bad weather.  Sometimes I have to drive in it, and although I am a very careful driver, I can't trust others to be the same way. You just never know out there. 

Oh my gosh, there IS one thing nice about the winter, now that I think about this even further.  I have a VERY handsome plow guy.  He came by this morning to sand our driveway, since we had a little snow and there was some ice out there.  Our driveway is steep and long (we live in the Litchfield hills) and it needs attention constantly in the winter...

Sigh.  Oh, sorry.  I was thinking about that strapping man.  He's also a fireman, did I tell you?  I stood there, at his truck, and I think I said something about sanding the driveway...and...

Ok, I changed my mind.  I don't mind living here in New England. 

BIG Sigh.

Christmas Shopping in Heaven

I am SO glad that I don't work in retail at this time of year. The stress you see on those cashier's faces is palpable! No thanks, not for me. I'll stick to my stay-at-home-mama gig.

And don't forget those shoppers. OH, what a steady stream of frantic ones, along with stressed out ones, shoppers who can't find aisle 3, and those shoppers who insist on pushing their way thru 20 people in the aisle just to get to the latest Transformer toy. Yikes.  And the parking lots.  Don't get me STARTED on drivers!  And yes, there are many nice people out there as well, don't get me wrong.  Most of the time I'm one of the nice ones.  Really!

Today my partner in crime (that would be Sweetpea, my adorable and very vocal 3 year old daughter) and I ventured into Target. You know, the place where angels sing and the heavens open up for me? Oh my GAWD I love that store. I had 4 things on my list. 4. FOUR. And how many things did I leave with? Can you say over 20 items? I HAD to stop at the dollar section (stocking stuffers!), and I remembered that I had forgotten to get Sweetpea some jammies. It is SO easy to distract a 3 year old when you are buying things for her from Santa. We were talking...and SINGing...and I was shoving all sorts of things into that cart! Sweetpea was telling everyone who would listen - "mommy, you need a new bra!" to "mommy, I want to go to the toy section" and "mommy mommy, can I have that dolly PLEASE?"  She was oblivious.  And happy.

And I think I'm done shopping.  Yes, it's true.

And there was much rejoicing.

And when I checked out, I said hi to Kimberly. You know, my cashier. She said, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" You see, I make it a habit to look at nametags, and I usually say hello to the person helping me, using their name. Call me crazy. It's really too bad that most people are so surprised to be called by their name.

And as we left the store-o-love, Sweetpea turned to the security guard at the door and said, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!"

Don't you love little kids?  When they aren't being little fartheads, of course.

Hear & Listen

I really wanted to share this heart-felt story with you all today.  A friend of mine gave me the link, and I must share it.  http://www.valenciahills.com/Logan

Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska.  Logan listens to a Christian radio station (89.3 KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX)  and called in recently, distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years.

It's been made into a video clip so those who choose to listen can find wisdom in this young boy's words.    The radio station's website gives more detail about Logan and his family (read here).   

Sometimes we need to hear a young voice to really be able to listen.  Bless his young heart, and yours.