Oh, the Randomness of Me

It's Tuesday and you know what that means! We're gonna have a special guest! (Oops, wrong show.) (But can you name it?)

It's time for Barb to be purposefully random! (And you know what? THAT would be a great name for a band. Or a blog.)

(As a complete aside to the normal randomness, my girls are very into calling things "random." And lately, they've been announcing, "I'm so random." If you announce that you are being random, don't you think that implies premeditation? But what do I know--I'm just the mom.)

Bullwinkle, from the comments, is trying to win a trip to Antarctica. It's easy to vote for her --all you have to do is go here and register (free). If you then leave a comment on her blog telling her you voted, she will enter you into a hand-knitted sock raffle. She's in the midst of a remodel and her dog is having some health problems--she needs a good trip. Increase your Karma AND possibly the warmth of your feet come winter. (Also, Bullwinkle has two really funny cats and they are all over her blog.)

Austin the puppy is now bigger than our older dog, Scout. I LOVE him. Even though he is gradually destroying my hardwood floors and frequently knocks over furniture and I'm pretty sure we should register his tail as a lethal weapon, he is the SWEETEST dog. His temperament is really perfect. Plus, he's funny and you know what a sucker I am for funny. He barks in his sleep. He wanders into ever picture I take. He has to have a toy in his mouth at all times but what he'd really prefer is to have THREE toys at once. When left to his own devices, he will throw the ball for himself and chase it. (I am not kidding. The next time he does it, I'll try to get it on video if I can because it just makes me giggle out loud.) I know about half of my friends thinks I'm crazy because we have all these pets. (The other half thinks I'm crazy for other reasons.) But you know what? In my vision of what a happy childhood/life looks like, there are just a lot of animals. I love a big, sloppy, happy dog. Warms my heart.

Today my yard service restored my faith in the tradespeople of New York. Last week, I paid the company to take down four dead trees in my front yard. I wanted the trees cut up for firewood and taken into my back yard. I paid them before they'd cut up all the wood but I was just kind of out of Confrontation for the week. I figured I would ask my husband to call and complain have them finish it during the fall clean up in a month or so. But lo and behold, today there's a guy here loading wood into a wheelbarrow and toting it into my back yard. I'm so grateful that someone is actually doing what he said he would do that I actually called the company and gushed all over their answering machine. And I slipped the worker a little cash --because y'all, it's hard to put a price on good honest tradespeople.

Have I mentioned my red bell peppers? Behold: Really, it makes me wish more than ever that I was Carol Marine.

Coop was traveling all last week. When he got home, this is how Edward rejoiced:
(As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. If you click on the last picture, you'll see Jane's bandaged leg. She collided with Ana while on the neighbor's trampoline and sprained some part of her leg. She's really enjoying all of the attention and she's been so sweet about it (yesterday, she thanked me in front of the Principal for taking her to the doctor) that I want to EAT her. Just gobble her right up.)

Comments

MadMad said…
Oh, there is too much good stuff here to remember all the stuff I wanted to say! You need to go slow with us old people! I'll try, though: my dog also throws his own ball, and will even hike it through his legs sometimes. Sorry to hear about Jane - hope she's OK soon!
kim said…
Hah! I feel the same as Rachel. I know there were a lot of comments I wanted to make when I bookmarked this, but, oh, so tired and old now... I hear that 'random' thing too. Usually I get, "Well, THAT was random!" UGH!
ToyLady said…
Now that song is stuck in my head. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ1r81dJ2bg

There have been times I've made some comment or other, and my son will just say "wow, Mom, that's really random." (Usually accompanied by the Rolling of the Eyes.) I actually think he's starting to worry about me . . . It's good to keep them wondering, isn't it?

And at what point do we stop calling them "puppies"? I took mine to a nearby ice cream stand and ordered a baby cone for "the baby." I got some funny looks. . . a 120-pound baby!
otter said…
Nothing adds spice to life like having animals to love and spoil rotten!
I am only going to bring this up cuz y'all is new up here... if that flea/tick collar on the pup is his only protection from ticks, you might want to upgrade to Advantix or something else from the vet. The ticks up here are full of Lyme disease and dogs can get really sick from it. Collars don't seem to be very effective in preventing them from getting it.
Please keep posting doggie pictures, it's so nice to see people who love their dogs as much as I love mine.
Katie said…
Poor Jane! Best wishes and a speedy recovery!

Barb! Dude! Here is my totally random comment: I am knitting a sock! SQUEAL! And I like my new dog too:)
Unknown said…
Now YOU post an update! I worry you are stuck under a heap of dumb luck
Tenna Draper said…
Well it has been nearly a week since you last wrote--I'm shocked! You must be enjoying your dog! Actually, my border collie Mandy tosses her ball, nabs it, runs to the other end of the room and repeat over and over until she's out of breath. She does the same with her Kong, which makes a horrible racket at 6am--and also with my white sport sox--IF I forget and leave one on the floor, which of course is her domain. I can't get her behavior on video because she's so camera shy, but there you go. I just found out that she tells me she needs to go outside by going to the wrong door--which is sliding glass--I've only had her for a little over a year, and we're both still in the adjustment phase. Maybe she thinks I'm stupid?
Unknown said…
hmm, no updates in a week, unusual for you... are you OK?