Gotcha Day

My Golden Beginnings Group has a number of funny traditions.  Regular meet & greets every other weekend, the annual dog show, our annual picnic, several dog centric events (Rice Festival, Barktoberfest, Party on the Plaza, etc.  One of the things that some people celebrate is Gotcha Day.  The day that a person or family adopts someone (person or pet).  Yea, I know it may sound silly, and most dogs don't get the concept of time (except when it is time for a walk or dinner). This is more of a celebration of when someone new joins the family or tribe.  Since we have no idea on when our dogs were born, we tend to remember or celebrate the day they came on board.  Grayson was around Easter in 2009 and Claire was today in 2010.  It was a mere 6 years today that Grayson picked up an accomplice.  At first, we decided to foster another dog to see how Grayson would handle the additional dog and split attention.  We felt it might wear him down and make things less "boring".  At the outset, we had not intention of taking on a second dog.  Claire, however, had other plans.  An incredibly sweet disposition, she showed up with a smile on her face and that constant tongue that seemed to never tire.  After a few days, we were hopelessly hooked and we determined to give her a furever home.      

First truck ride home.

 Partners in crime

Mischief and mayhem 

Always ready for those invaders 

Her favorite pose 

 As I said...

 A good nap buddy

 A regular chick magnet

 Able to nap anywhere

 Anytime

 Always following Grayson's lead

 Never short of attention

 A real ham

Grayson's better half

I'll admit I am having a hard time not having her under foot anymore.  She left a big hole in our lives that's going to be hard to fill.  Whenever I walk Grayson, I still carry her collar and leash with me.  I know it is silly, but it seems like the right thing to do to me. Grayson is a bit out of sorts and trying find his new normal.  On one hand, I think he is feeling guilty that Claire is no long around.  I know he misses her, if not for just keeping him in line.  This past week he seems a bit more clingy, looking for attention when before he had to share it with Claire.  We've tried to give him more attention, love, extra walks, and I think he is enjoying being the top dog again, albeit he is a bit sad/guilty about the whole situation.  It's going to take some time for this scar to heal.  

Closing things out

The last few weeks have been quite full/melancholy.  I am not sure if it good or bad with being busy, but it has kept us from dwelling on her passing.  I am most saddened for my wife.  She has been holding up well, but this has been a very long and sad journey for her over the past few years.  First her dad fell ill several years ago and passed away 2 years ago after a long battle with Alzheimer's.  Earlier this year, we lost her mom due to the same illness.  Finally her sister passed recently.  She has a lot on her plate of late and I am trying to take some of the burden off of her shoulders.  We are in a kind of void right now - sort of grief/guilty phase.  Sad to have lost her sister at this age, but glad she is no longer suffering.  Will take a while for things to right themselves again.  

In the interim, we've been working on multiple fronts to take care of things for Julie.  Arranging a memorial service, working with the funeral home, drafting up an obituary, posting updated on Facebook.  Momma and I argued about the FB posting but I felt we needed to do it so that her friends would know and could post their comments.  A few were surprised with the news since Julie did not really want her condition and prognosis shared with many.  While I am not a big FB fan, a few friends were starting to mention about missing her and I felt it was our responsibility to post something in her honor.  The obituary took a bit of editing before we posted it but it finally hit the paper before Labor Day.  I wanted to write more about her career and love of cats but when we got the price for the simple obit, we were a wee bit floored.  The cost of a simple obit was running almost $6.00 per word, hyphen, comma and period.  And that's per day.  I read some of the obits in today's paper that are running 4-5 columns and cannot help but think that run somebody close to $3,000.  I told my wife that, when I go, all she needed to put in the paper is "Agg Died".  I am not sure how Julie would feel about paying this much money for a short synopsis of her life but I felt that we owed it to her.  And her friends really appreciated it.  

We did arrange for a memorial service right after Labor Day.  She did not want people to interrupt their plans/vacations and since Julie wasn't very religious, we chose a Methodist church next to the Medical Center where a number of her friends/coworkers could attend.  Very nice service, reception, a much larger turnout than we had expected.  I had spent the week prior combing through pictures at her house and what I had taken over the years to craft a slide show of her over the years.  I even stole a few pictures from friends that had posted to Facebook in her memory.  I got the idea from a previous memorial service and people really seemed to enjoy it.  A few shots from the slide show:
       

We are spending time over at her house going through the records, sorting things out, making calls, feeding the cats (anybody want one?), emptying litter boxes.  Julie had a love for animals in her life and she was passionate about her cats.  My wife came from a cat family but I have slowly brought her over to the dark side and the world of dogs.  Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against cats, but I am just not really a cat person anymore.  I am not sure how well my two furbabies would take to a feline guest.  While I feel fairly sure that Claire, old softy she is, wouldn't have too many issues with a cat (heck, she loves anybody), Grayson kinda has a personality that doesn't mix well with felines.  He's had a few close calls with neighborhood cats but I have kept him on a tight leash whenever one is around.  In my opinion, if he ever did try to go MMA with the local calico yard cat, my money's on the cat.  I'll regale you with my cat history later.  

On many of the walks I had with Julie, one of her concerns was with her cats.  What would happen to them, who would take care of them.  We had a solution in one of her friends volunteered to take all of them, but that friend died unexpectedly last year from brain cancer.  I told Julie that, because of the dogs, I could not commit to taking the cats, but I did promise her that we would do everything humanly possible to find them good homes.  They were not going to be neglected or turned over the the shelter and we would work the back channels to find homes for all of them.  Initially, she wanted to turn them over to the Animal Life-Care Center up at A&M that takes care of pets when their owners pass away.   Sort of a pet sanctuary.  Beautiful state of the art facility with the best care.  The problem is that they were very, very pricey.  A quick estimate of how much it would run for her cats came out to be more than the cost of her house.  So, in the meanwhile, the cats have the run of the house while we work on finding homes/servants for them.  

I wound up giving her Camry to my son.  I have been taking care of it for a while so I know it is in good shape and a good replacement for our old '93 he currently drives in Austin.  Ice cold A/C, new battery & tires, a working radio, and only 77k miles.   The car even came with Lojack but I don't think Julie ever activated it.  The only problem is that we cannot find the title so I am going to have to work through the state to have a new one printed and then have it transferred over to him.  Actually, I will have it transferred to me and then I will transfer it to him.  Turns out that in Texas, you can transfer a title to a family member (aka bother in law) for only $45 and save on paying the taxes on the sale.  Unfortunately, junior being her nephew does not fall in that category, so we will have to juggle the title a bit to make it work. 

Progress is slow, but we are moving forward.  

Getting back to normal

Finally have internet service for more than two days in a row.  Well, sort of.  Logged on this morning and halfway through my e-mails, it dropped the signal (several cuss words ensued).  After 15-20 minutes, it came back on only to drop it again 30 minutes later (whole new round of cussing).  Called into my friends at Comcast to chew some internet ass.  Sorry, but my patience has been worn down to a nub at this point.  I even told the woman that I was expecting a discount for this month's bill since I have been without the net for most of a week.  Foolishly, she tried to defend the outage by indicating that it was due to equipment on my end (the splitter was bad), but I gently informed her that this was the same freaking hardware that THEY installed 10 years ago and, if it was having problems with the all digital conversion, then perhaps they shouldn't have made the conversion.  Not really a conversation I wanted to have at 0500 in the morning.

Despite that, I am on line and able to do stuff again.  

Trying to catch up with all my blog friends, newsletters, e-mails.  

To answer everyone's question from a few days ago, yes this is a Hummel.  Actually, that should have been easy since the MI Hummel name is stamped on the side (I didn't see it when I posted it).  This one is one of a "few" we collected while stationed over in Germany and it is called "Ride into Christmas".   

For those who are not into these figurines, these are ceramic figurines that were made in Germany.  Some of the earlier versions are considered collectibles and very valuable.  Our collection is more middle of the road.  When we were stationed over in Germany in the 80s, we would spend the weekends exploring the local towns and countrysides.  Back then, we were regular DINKS (dual income, no kids).  With all that disposable income and free time and, since we were so far from home and family, we engaged in various activities.  Hiking, volksmarches, cooking, wine tasting, traveling, photography, etc.  Whenever we were out traveling, we would collect souvenirs of our journeys.  My wife would pick up the occasional Hummel or LLadro figurines and, over the years, we amassed a small army. 

Of course, I never had any interest in collecting figurines.  I acquired more functional memorabilia.   

My division 

 BTW - these aren't mugs, they are called Steins.   

My division 

The last one is probably my favorite and the most interesting.  It is a genuine German Hunter's stein that has an interesting twist to it.  Can anyone spot what might be wrong with this stein?

And, of course, being genuine German, the story is that there are two versions of the mug - one for the bachelor and one for the married hunter.  Each one has a translucent figure stamped at the bottom of the mug that can be seen if held up to the light as the stein is drained.  Of course, I wound up getting the bachelor's version.   

John 15:13

In the middle of all the car sales, parades, BBQ & beer, cookouts, I like to pause and remember the reason we enjoy this day off.   

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country. 


It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. 


During the first national celebration, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there. This event was inspired by local observances of the day that had taken place in several towns throughout America in the three years since the Civil War. By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities had begun to observe Memorial Day, and after World War I, it became a occasion for honoring those who had died in all America’s wars.  


Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery each year with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Traditionally, the President or Vice President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.  


In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday of May.

John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Nice Beads

Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fasching.  All one big drunk fest.  Free flowing liquor, drunken debauchery, lots of partying, some amount of nudity, plenty of wild and crazy antics.

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday.  Last day to party like it's 1999. 

I've been to Mardi Gras a couple of times back in my college days many, many, many years ago.  Well before digital cameras and the internet.  It is a spectacular site to behold.  The parades are really awesome, with lots of floats and partiers and beads.  I was a freshman on the drill team when we did a parade/competition in New Orleans/Mardi Gras in 1976.  Imagine a whole crew of 19 year old freshman students descending upon the Bourbon Street.  We thought we were bad ass.  It was one wild, drunken orgy.  Nothing like wandering the narrow streets of the French Quarter with about 100,000 other drunks while holding onto to your souvenir Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane glass.  The Hurricane is a trademark drink of Pat O’Brien that is one part dark rum, one part light rum, passion fruit syrup, and lime juice - a sweet flavored elixir with a high alcohol content.  Two or more of those drinks and will definitely push you into the party animal category.  After our competition and parade, we hit the streets on Friday night.  I dimly recall hitting several different bars, a few of which turned out to have very “interesting” entertainment.  We all learned/saw something new down in the French Quarter.  Many guys got quite “lubricated” on Bourbon Street (not I, of course).  Towards the end of the evening, my old roommate Mark was pretty plowed and we had to drag/carry him back to the troop ship.   In his stupor, he fell into me which caused me to drop one of my Hurricane Glasses I had “earned” from Pat O’Brien’s.  At that point, I was not a happy camper and was going to leave his drunk butt in the gutter, but I was convinced to assist him in back to the ship.  He was definitely dragging in the morning. 

Nowadays, with all the parties & parades, it is even more of a madhouse.  The parades are a wild sight to observe.  The parade floats are highly decorated by the various krewes and they throw off beads at the crowds as they pass by.  The fancier floats belong to the older, more established krewes and, of course, those beads are more valuable.  Of course, the trick to getting beads is you have to “earn” them.  They will throw you beads (usually there is a fight for the beads) but the really nice beads are reserved for special people who show their “enthusiasm”.  With the advent of cell phone cameras and instant uploads to the internet, I am sure there are lots of pictures of the festivities and partygoers enjoying themselves.  Remember, what happens at Mardi Gras, usually winds up in the net somewhere.    

Of course, my parents are over in Louisiana this week for their annual Mardi Gras rally (been doing that for many years).  They are not up to all the nighttime hoopla and revelry, but do attend several of the daytime parades.  They always come home with several bags of beads each year from the various parades.  I've wondered about mom who always manages to bring home some really nice/large beads...

My minute of fame

Stand back, people.  One at a time.  No need to crowd in, everybody'll get an autograph.


It's pouring down here.  Been raining since late yesterday and there have been waves of thunderstorms rolling through the area (dogs are hiding in the closet). Lots of local flooding.  Funny how just a few months ago I was commenting on how bad our drought has been.  Lots of trees lost, cracked sidewalks, rivers dried up, lakes were turning into dust bowls.  At one point, we were ~27 inches behind for the year.  A lot of "doom & gloom" projections on how this was the start of a 10 year droughts.  Somewhere after Christmas, the skies opened up and it has been raining off and on throughout January and February.  We may have missed out on a cold winter (it ain't over yet) but we are definitely making up ground on the rainfall.  The local park where I let the dogs run has a 3 acre pond adjacent to it.  Towards the latter part of the year, it had pretty much turned into a swamp where there was grass growing in the middle of it.  Several old concrete culverts were left in the middle of the pond when it was dredged out many years ago and you normally don't see them when the water is up.  During the drought, all the culverts were exposed (8 or so) with several sitting on dry land.  After the latest round of storms, the pond is almost overflowing. 

Drought?  What drought?

Many lifetimes ago, back when I was in college and still had hair, I took a road trip to Colorado.  I joined the Texas A&M Ski club (yes, we had a ski club in the middle of Texas) for a week long trip to Winter Park, Colorado in early January '79.  We left campus early Saturday morning with the intent of driving straight through to Winter Park to arrive some time on Sunday.  Forecast was for cold/icy weather but we had hoped to skirt that and make it to Colorado.  Somewhere north of Waco, the roads started to ice over and driving got dicey.  Lots of wrecks, spin outs.  First time in my life I had ever seen anyone put chains on a bus.  We limped into Fort Worth late as a stop over and were told that they were not letting us leave until the storm had passed.  There was talk about cancelling the trip (not well received).  So, basically, you have a bus load of college students stuck in the downtown bus terminal on Saturday night looking for trouble.  Interesting to note what life's like downtown on Saturday night during an ice storm.  The bus company put us up in one of the downtown hotels and we ate dinner at the local greasy spoon.  You run into lots of interesting characters on the streets downtown at night.  Eventually, the storm passed, the roads were cleared and we were able to get back on the road by Sunday afternoon to hit the slopes.  While waiting word on what to do, we roamed the bus station looking for things to do.  Of course, this was in the dark days before smart phones, laptops, iPads, WIFi, nintendos, gameboys, PDAs.  We played a lot of card games, dominoes, read books, talked.  I had my own deck of cards and I had a few lame card tricks (aspiring magician) I would show, if I had an audience.  At one point during the whole adventure, we ran across a photographer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  He was taking lots of "life pictures" of the ice storm and how it was affecting everyone (wrecks, frozen ponds, icicles) and he took a bunch of pictures of the group.  Didn't really pay him much attention as we were too busy trying to look cool.  Much to my surprise, in the morning when we went down to the greasy spoon for breakfast, my face was plastered on the Sunday edition of the Telegram.  I became the de facto celebrity for the group.  I even got an award for "Most Photogenic".  Of course, my "girlfriend/future bride" at the time (sitting to the right) was initially identified as just "a friend" (she wasn't happy with that description).    

Card shark

Always wanted to see my face on the front page 

I thought it was kinda cool until I talked with my parents.  You see, we didn't call to let them know were stuck in downtown Fort Worth (we had gotten in late in the evening).  Since we got back on the road Sunday, I figured it was a only a minor delay and no need to worry the parental units.  What I forgot to account for was that most of my relatives lived Fort Worth/Arlington area and take the Star-Telegram.  Needless to say, mom got a lot of calls on Sunday morning.    

Tempus fugit

As the old saying goes:  Time flies

We are all on a clock.  Time to get up, time to go to work, time to go home, time to fix dinner, time to walk the dogs, time spend with the family, time to go to sleep, time to repeat.  Seems like a never ending cycle.  

This one's a visit to the past.  I always find my life story is much better looking in the rear view mirror.  Back in the 80's, we were young and full of energy.  We lived in Germany and traveled all over the country when I wasn't on duty.  Every weekend, we made it a point to get away from the post and explore the countryside.  Of course, on a 2nd  Lieutenant's pay, we didn't always travel in high style, so we drove a lot and explored the local towns/villages "on the economy" as we called it.  We had a great time and I wouldn't trade it for any nights in a first class villa on the Mediterranean (OK, maybe a few nights in a nice place on the Med).  One of the places we visited was Triberg, Germany.  You know, in the Schwartzwald (Black Forest)?  Home of some the tallest waterfall in Germany, the forest trails, the old Black Forest Museum, and, oh, yeah, the world's largest Cuckoo Clock.  There are lots of shops that sell hand crafted items, but their big claim to fame is clocks.    Back before there was the Internet and you had to look up things in the library, we got wind that this was a really excellent place to visit and explore for a family or young couple. Since we were only 1.5 hours north in Stuttgart, we spent a weekend down there exploring the ares.   According to the "Let's Go Europe" website:  Triberg is the most visited destination in the Black Forest and for good reason.  The town plays host to a line of souvenir, cuckoo clock, and craft stores several hundred meters long.  Cafes, bakeries, and restaurants all display signs offering "authentic" Black Forest cake to visitors.  Make sure you taste this exquisite chocolate cake while you are there--you won't be disappointed!  

We did Triberg on our own dime.  Lots of things to see/do.  Of course, if your are going to do Triberg, you absolutely must visit one of the tourist shops like Haus der 1000 Uhren (House of 1000 Clocks).  There are a plethora of shops in Triberg that sell clocks and we visited a number of them.  After multiple trips to Triberg with family, we came away from there with a Cuckoo Clock, an Anniversary Clock and a full blown Grandfather Clock.  The Grandfather clock was a planned purchase - it breaks down into three sections that would fit into our POS Dodge Omni so that we could carry it back to our apartment and reassemble.  This clock has made the trip from our apartment in Germany to our house in Dallas and finally landed here in Houston.  The Cuckoo Clock has long since been retired, the Anniversary Clock is spinning away atop our piano and the Grandfather clock is still chiming away in our foyer.  One of my minor chores every weekend is to wind the grandfather clock.  It' a wee bit reassuring to hear it go off every 1/4 hour.

FYI - if you get one, go for an 8 day clock.  The one day clock is a PITA to wind every day.

Not bad shape for a 25+ year old clock.  

11-11-11

Veterans Day

 

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and

Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

To me, it is more that just a day for mattress sales and no mail delivery.  To the men and women who have served or are serving past and present, I salute you.  Thank you for your sacrifice and service to keep the the banner of freedom flying.   

Take a moment to stop and reflect on the sacrifices made by our vets who have served and those who continue to stand in harms way today.