Surgery and Crime

Today my poodle pup was spayed.

She is hanging out in an exercise pen in my kitchen right now.

What a dog. Other dogs looked like trucks hit them (male and female alike) but this girl.....well.....she is a little low key but eating, drinking, going potty outside when I take her, looking interested in things happening around her.

Hope it all goes smooth in the next 7-10 days of recovery.


Here is a bit of an act of crime I heard today.

I was walking back from a task in my neighborhood and ran into two old friends. They were talking and one told me that her house was robbed while she and her family were sleeping.

The robber broke down a door and stole many things (including her purse and car keys) and then took the stuff in her car.

Get this......her large dog didn't bark and the husband she was sleeping next to is a police sargeant (whose gun was in the house).

How exasperating and violating and just plain mean spirited of the crook. Well, at least the criminal didn't hurt anyone. Phew.

Amazing.

A friend of mine lost her 14 year old son to a sudden, serious illness a month ago (the evil MRSA).

It knocked the community on its seat. So out of no where. So scary and confusing.

Today I took a walk with her and went to a coffee place to spend time with her.

She is living a parent's worse nightmare but doing so in the most amazing way. She can smile. She can chat about other things. She can weave her child's name and memories into the conversation in the most beautiful way.

We left the coffee place and walked past his middle school. Kids outside having P.E. Life going on.....without someone.

(sigh)

Indian Joe Creek Trail

Today I took a drive out to a regional park with two of my kids, my fluffy poodle and my mate.

We parked near a horse corral and watched the horses for a few minutes and then went in search of a friendly trail to hike.

A park ranger suggested the 1.41 mile Indian Joe Creek Trail. We got the general directions to go and some helpful hints of landmarks to watch for so that we could make the proper turns and stay on course.

It was a lovely trail with a bit of this and a bit of that along the way. Wild flowers, birds, rock formations and the super important stream to step over here and there. We tried to stay in the middle of the path to avoid ticks and poison oak. Hopefully we did. Hopefully the dog did too.
Her hair is too long to really look for ticks and she did pick up some seeds in her velcro like locks.

There are other, longer trails in the same park which I plan to try in the future.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

That is my favorite saying right now. I have a wild and wiggly 20 pound poodle puppy who is great at tackling, galloping and bowling over things and chewing up stuff. When she is laying down resting......I will do my best not to inspire her to get up and start something wild.

Yesterday, she chewed up two wooden unit blocks (the kind children build with). Here are some other things she has chewed up

a paperback book
a poster from a rock concert
a leather slipper
any paper towel or toilet paper left in reach
plastic cup

You would be telling the truth if you said "The dog ate my homework". She did.

At this moment, she is laying on a dog bed next to me. She blends in with it like a chameleon and it would be a great photo but if I got up to get my camera.....well.....she would get up too!

Gonna be hot

The weather is supposed to get quite hot today.

It is 12:18 as I type this and, yes, I think it will!

My travels today were mundane but busy.

I went to the bank to cash a check. A branch I had never been to before. The branch had some MAJOR security measures I had never come across before.

You go in one door and wait until it completely closes and a green light lets you open the next to go into the room. Then, the man in front of me in line pointed out that there were maybe 20 cameras facing all different directions on one wall. Yikes. The place was also sort of unkempt inside. They were not going for "The Most Beautiful Bank" award.

The teller was nice and had a really lovely name. Florita Flores. I told her I liked it and asked if it meant Little Flower Flower. She smiled and said yes.

There was also a two year old girl wearing funny sandals that squeaked whenever she took a step. Built in squeaker sandals. It would bug me listening to them all day but her mother didn't seem to be bugged by them.

I also went looking for a knee brace for my knee which is bothering me and bought one at the second place I looked for one.

Bought popsicles and soda to help get through the heatwave this evening

and

now, I must tend to some chores (vacuuming, cleaning the microwave, taking out some garbage, walking a dog).

My trip to a lake

I drove to a nearby lake to spend the very pretty day. One of my children went with me.

I sat in the shade, on a wooden bench and watched the hikers, bikers, boaters and creatures around me.

One family came in on a row boat, docked it at the boat rental and had caught two large fish and a smallish one. A catfish and something that looked like a trout but wasn't. Not sure of the small fish.The fish were still alive and trying to breathe on the hook. Their gills went in and out. The family beamed with pride.

There were geese, ducks, kingfishers, coots and a large trumpet swan in the lake all looking for fish too.

My child climbed a tree next to the bench.

I sat there a really long time.

Later, we walked around the lake path to an area where we could go down to the shore and just enjoyed the other view.

One lady in a boat had an umbrella to shade herself. It was so picturesque.

How my blog got its name.

I registered for a blog since I needed to be registered to leave comments for a blog I looked at.

I had just concocted a nice big lasagna and thought how lasagna maker fit my mood at the time. I make really nice lasagnas these days.

I also didn't want people to think that.....should I start a blog with the name lasagna maker that that is what I am all about.....cooking. No. I am about much more than that.

A traveling lasagna maker sounds more well rounded.

So there you have it.