Holiday Weekend

Yesterday was Memorial Day, fka Decoration Day. Thank you to corporate America, the general public follows the traditions of barbecuing and searching for big sales at Sam's Club, instead of taking time to decorate the tombstones of fallen soldiers, remembering the sacrifice they all made for our country. Ashamedly, I am one of those citizens that shopped and failed to recognize the reason for the holiday. So, for that I am sorry.

So, with that confession said, I'll give a re cap of my 3-day weekend. Friday night Brad and I met up with some friends at Mars Hill Cafe for dinner. Thank you, Corky, for the amazing dinner and the mango tea. Saturday I don't remember the details. I really hate when that happens. I do remember that I slept in some, worked out at the gym and went to see the new Indiana Jones movie with Brad, Will met us there. Thanks Will, for saving us seats.
I really liked the film. It got rave reviews from tough Hollywood critics, but the general public is kinda "meh" about the whole thing. I thought it was great.

Sunday we went to the morning service at church, People of Mars Hill and then I did some grocery shopping. I also bought a jalapeno plant. That day Brad worked in the yard and I cleaned the house. We had our "small group" friends over for a grill-out that evening. We wanted to do one big get together to visit before Brad left for his long trip. Man, the food kept coming! I made baked beans (for the first time, my own recipe), roasted potatoes, queso dip, and a strawberry shortcake. It was a bring-your-own-meat deal, and I filled up the grill three times, I think. It was a great night. Brad was awesome, he did most of the clean up while I was still visiting with friends.

Monday we really took the day off. I meant to go for a run, but it didn't happen. We slept in, watched some Monster Quest on the History Channel, then decided to do some shopping. He needed electric guitar strings and I wanted some more herbs. So we went to Musical Walmart, I mean, Guitar Center, then to Lowe's. We bought a few hanging planters, a thyme plant, and a cucumber plant. So now, in the yard we are growing:
tomato
cucumber
jalapeno
thyme
sweet basil
rosemary

Over the weekend, we discovered we have 6 gladiolas plants! For the past 3 years we thought they were only tall decorative grass. This year they are budding in bold red flowers. I am ecstatic! We plan on laying a pallet of sod in July. Our backyard is shaping up beautifully.

I took a few pics of some things we are growing and I also got a few of the babies.
Here's Lucille looking like she wants to kill me.

Here's a pic of my sweet basil plant, and you can see Arwen in the back ground going to town on a rawhide.

Here's Batman with HIS rawhide, in his favorite "chew spot".

And last but not least, is our fearless feline, Robin.


I finished the 6th Harry Potter book last night. I wanted to re read it before the movie came out. It'll be released in November, so I'm kinda ahead of myself.
Now I will finish reading Echoes of His Presence. I should have that done by next week if I don't allow myself to get too busy and distracted. After that I'm going to dive into more C.S. Lewis. I'm not sure where to start. I began to read Mere Christianity this past fall, I may just start that one over and go from there.

Today is a weight lifting day. I'll do that after work, hopefully I'll have time to put in some good cardiovascular exercise afterward. I have already cleaned the house for small group tonight so I have no excuse.

I'm looking forward to our discussion tonight. Jack's teaching this past Sunday was really good. I need to listen to it again though.

Hummph... I'm having a hard time getting into the swing of things today.

Baby Girl

So I've talked some about my little boy, now I should talk about my baby girl. Brad and I graduated in May 2003. Two weeks or so before graduation I saw an ad in the paper for Golden Retriever Puppies. The guy wasn't asking a lot so my roommate drove me out to Wilmer to see the cute furballs. I should have known better... Who can resist a Golden Retriever Puppy?! Especially a person like myself who loves her dogs more than most normal people love their pets.


I left with the largest and palest colored female he had. She was 7 weeks old, hugely fluffy and simply adorable. I called Brad on the way back to the school to tell him that I had a surprise. He had a suspicion because I had already asked if it would be okay if he got a puppy early. We had already talked about getting one.
I'll never forget the look on his face when I got out of the car. He didn't see me. He didn't the ground for that matter, he just rushed over, scooped her up and didn't put her down for a while. She was sleeping. I left her with him then went to WalMart for food, a bed and a collar. I had to get a red one because Brad wouldn't EVER let me have a pink collar on any of his pets. "I don't want you to sissify my dog" are his exact words. "But she's pretty little lady" I reply. I still haven't won this argument. We've had her for 5 years and I still can't have her toenails painted.
Okay, so I had a name picked out for OUR dog. Annabelle. It's a nice name, but it just didn't stick. You know how names are supposed to fit the named? Be it, person, fish, cat, dog, iguana... I mean, the cat could be named Fluffy, but it may not stick, and Esmerelda may be the more appropriate name. That night of Arwen's homecoming to us was the first annual Starlight concert at UM. We had Ricky Skaggs! We go, our friends are there sitting on blankets and we bring this walking hairball with us. Everyone's playing with her, holding her and taking her picture. Our friend, Joe Langley, asks what her name is. I tell him "her name is Annabelle, but I may call her Anna for short". "No," he says, "name her Arwen". Joe had spoken the name that fit my dog. Arwen it was. Brad and I are HUGE Lord of the Rings fans so we really dug this new title.
She was a bad little girl. She ate EVERYTHING. She once digested a shoe of mine. No, she didn't just "eat it" where the dog chews and leaves the remnants on the floor. She chewed it, swallowed it, and crapped it all over our back yard. There were pieces of leather and rubber to be found for days. She's a smart girl, though. On command, she sits, lies down, stays, plays dead, fetches, speaks and high fives. Sometimes she'll hold a treat on the top of her nose, throw it in the air and catch it, but she's not consistent.
She was a pale blond as a puppy, now she's a rich amber color. Her eyes look like a deer's. She's just beautiful with her silky wavy hair. Arwen is very kind hearted too. Naturally gentle, I would trust her to guard a newborn baby. Which, she'll undoubtedly do in the future. She's a mommy at heart.
We had her bred a few years ago and she was the best doggie mom on earth! She had 10 puppies, in fact. However, 2 didn't make it. That's normal so I was already prepared. We found 8 homes for our lovely puppies. I must say that was such a hard effort, keeping them clean, keeping Arwen healthy and finding just the right homes. I don't think I'll ever do it again. I got um...attached. :)

My baby girl has a very distinct personality, which is truly golden. I can put my hand in her bowl to grab at her food and she'll gently nudge my hand out of the way. No growl, no bite, just nudge. She's so sweet.
She's lazy now. Arwen was so hyper the first year and a half, then overnight she became a couch potato. She does have a special spot on the couch, by the way.
Her night time ritual always involves Brad. Once we are in bed, she wants to jump up with us, lie on her back, wedged between us and then it's time to talk. We talk to her and rub her belly and she kinda talks back. It's so funny!
She really is like a daughter. My two dogs are very different from one another, though raised by the same people, and in the same breed group. I love retrievers, they have all the qualities I love best in a dog: appearance, intelligence, gentle nature, and loyalty.
If Arwen had to choose between us and her food, she would choose us. When Brad and I have those icky "I love you more" arguments, it's pretty much over when one of says, "I love you more than Arwen loves you". Case Closed.