Turned out to be a great day.

Dodger does not have OCD.

The vet was very excited because this means he will probably grow out of the lesions that are there now. It will be a challenge for us because he must be "quiet" until he's fully grown (walking and light running only) and his career as an agility dog is no longer a possibility (no, we weren't going to do that). But if we can keep him from re-injuring himself he should develop normally and have a long comfortable life.


AND I FINISHED THE CABINET INSTALLATION! Wooooohooooo!

I bought the cabinets by driving to the IKEA in a town very close to where my son and daughter-in-law live. In fact, like all young marrieds, they have bought a couple of pieces of furniture there. She went with me and showed me the ropes after directing me there using the easiest route. We were able to load most of it up in my car (which I wanted because I want this project completely finished by the time I leave for Utah). Four doors, however, were from a design line that this particular warehouse did not carry, so I had to order those. They said five working days, which I interpreted to mean the end of this week.

Anyway, I was able to install everything I had by noon today. I LOVE these cupboards and am now a huge IKEA fan. I can't believe how ingenious these designs are. Easy to assemble (once you've made your mistakes on one) and hang. I mean, c'mon. If an obese, out-of-shape 58-year old can do these pretty much all by herself... (DS2 helped me hang the corner onto the rail because its awkward shape prevented me from seeing the holes by which you hang it.)

Then, as I headed outside to put the cardboard packing material in the recycling, there was a package waiting for me on the porch. It was...


MY OTHER DOORS! So, I was able to completely finish the cabinets and am ready to begin phase two of the room project. We pick the dog up at 2:00 tomorrow, which gives me tomorrow morning to move the furniture around to work on the other half of the room.

So satisfying. It would be nice if this were a sign of a turn-around in our luck.

Deep breath.

Coming up for air.

Dodger is back in for round two.

To recap, DH and I came home separately from meetings late last month to find the puppy in his dog run, in his shelter with two hind legs not working. He spent the first night in the emergency clinic where they suspected spinal damage. That emergency clinic is only open at night and we had to check him out and take him to our regular vet the next morning. She watched him all day and couldn't figure out what the problem was, so referred him to a special clinic back up the street from the first clinic. After two days with them two of their more observant vets concluded that it couldn't be spinal damage because "he knows where his feet are." They speculated that he had some kind of injury to his legs and ordered up x-rays. Turns out he had two broken hind legs (which - we can only conjecture here - might have happened if he tried to climb out of the chain link dog run. We'll never know since we weren't home when it happened.) He had surgery to replace the growth plates in his left tibia (with implanted pins to hold things together). The break in the right leg was not so bad and the vet felt that the confinement that would be necessary for the left to heal would be enough for the right as well.


It's now 2.5 weeks later. This now 5.5-month-old-puppy has been confined to a crate at all times unless allowed out to toilet. He's healed well and as the legs have healed and the pain has receded, he has become more and more bored with life and more and more difficult to deal with. I have a nice tee-shirt tan from sitting out in the front yard (the only place we don't worry about him slipping and re-injuring himself) a half hour at a time.

Yesterday we took him back to the clinic for follow-up surgery. As the vet checked follow-up x-rays late last week he concluded that the dog ALSO probably has a genetic condition called OCD. While his compulsive eating of dirt and rocks definitely falls into that category, in this case OCD refers to some issues with the bone/cartilage interface in his legs. They will be doing surgery this morning to remove the implants and will check through arthoscopy to see if OCD is an issue and to correct the lesions if it is. The vet said this could be caused by his injury and I'm hoping it is because if it is genetic he's in for all kinds of problems that I can't afford to take care of.

In happier news, I have been proceeding (in short spurts of time) with the renovation of my son's old room into my "nest." I'm nearly finished with the hardest part. I bought six cabinets from IKEA and they are almost finished.


As soon as the guys are up and about I'm going to connect them together (which will finish the squaring up, although they look much more aligned that they appear in this odd-angle photo). Then I can attach three doors. I have the glass-paned doors, but the other four had to be shipped from another warehouse and won't be in until later this week or early next week.

I love the paint.

It's been a difficult process, in part because my time is limited. I'm still on the criminal grand jury for another three weeks. They changed us from all day Monday and Friday to afternoons (1:30-5:00 ish) Monday and Wednesday and all day Friday. Pretty much shoots the whole week vacation-wise, doesn't it? Factor in the puppy care and I've ended up working in short spurts of time. In addition, there was no way to move everything out of the room, so now everything is pushed into one side of the room while I work on this side. As soon as the cupboards are done I will move everything over here and work on the other side. But, it's going remarkably well (I'm using my Granddaddy's tape measure so maybe he's giving me spiritual support. If so, I thank him.) I'm hopeful to have it done and have everything in place in time for me to leave for a trip to Utah.

I haven't been back to Utah since last August. We've been trying to coordinate a trip, but someone is going to have to be here with the dog. He may still be crated a lot of the time, but someone has to let him out to toilet and to feed him and talk to him. Right now we're talking about a complicated but - I think - doable process where I drive to Utah, leaving DH here. DS will be visiting his girlfriend in Indiana Aug 12-16, so I was thinking I would fly home, leaving my car in the SLC airport lot. DH would then fly to SLC on the same day, using my car to drive himself to the condo for his stay. He has suggested he wait until DS is home, then fly to SLC and staying with me for a few days. He would then take me to the airport, I would fly home and pick up his car in the flyaway lot and come home in time to start work. Should work.

We talked about taking the dog up with us, which we will eventually do. But frankly, listening to the beast whine in the crate in the car for 800 miles and then spending two weeks doing for him what I do here just doesn't sound like a vacation.

Why Blog?

What's the point?

I've always been pretty honest about why I do this. I do this for me.

First, I'm a historian. An actual got-the-degree historian. Sometimes I even do research, although with so much of my time wrapped up in teaching, I don't have the time for research that I'd like. Thing is, I've never been one for keeping a record of my own history. I've started a few diaries over the years but after the first day or two they disappear only to be thrown away when unearthed in some cleaning frenzy.

Blogging is the only way I've ever consistently recorded what's going on in my life, so it is my journal.

Second, I've always talked to myself to sort out the jumble in my head. I once verbalized a stream-of-consciousness thought process to my sister and her comment back to me was, "Does your mind always work like that? It must be exhausting." I'd never thought about it until then, but my thinking process is very circular. I never really find the straight path to anything; always create the most winding, complicated pathway. Blogging helps me straighten things out in my head so that I can see more clearly.

Finally, blogging is therapy. "Write it down," is a common suggestion to people who are struggling with the vicissitudes of life and I've found it helps me settle when things are tough.

I've grown fond of those of you who have been my visitors over the last three years. I enjoy reading your blogs. I love to see what you're working on but mostly I appreciate the company, the opportunity to get to know you and your families and to visit your homes. You are always welcome here.

But my blog remains - as it has always been - for me.

One of the bloggers I read posted something recently that I took comfort in. I've always enjoyed the loving, comfortable relationship she seems to have with her husband. In this entry she wrote of something that was troubling her about their relationship, and a number of us commented with "you're not alone" kinds of statements. It's nice to know that we have sisters out there who share our sometimes frustrations. But apparently she also had statements about how she should not share the negative stuff, that blogs were just for good stuff.

What?

I guess nobody sent me that set of restrictions, either.

Keeping Quiet

Trying not to wake up the dog.

Dodger seems to be recovering nicely. So nicely, in fact, that he is getting bossy and rambunctious. "Take me out! Take me out!" sounds like a loud, piercing bark if anyone wants to know. Sadly (for all of us) he is in confinement for at least another week. I'm guessing another two weeks after that, although I'm hoping we can put him in an exercise pen after next week's x-rays.

My room renovation is coming along. In my younger days I would have been ripping along from sun up to sun down and it would be moving a lot faster. It's really tempting to do that now, but I pay. Yesterday I did a little (lot?) too much heavy lifting and moving and by bedtime was really feeling it. Anyway...

I've taken one wall from this

to this

and the adjoining wall from this


to this


I have another couple of hours of clearing the floor. Obviously, I need to take a couple of things off the wall and remove the chair rail. But then, I can really start peeling this wallpaper off. Can you see I couldn't wait to get started?

On the wall behind the door I have a lot of repairing to do before I can paint, but it's these two walls that are critical right now because this is where I want to hang the cabinets and I want the wall work and painting done before I hang the cabinets ('cause I don't want to paint around them any more than necessary.

In other news, I'm still on the criminal grand jury for another month. They've changed us from Monday/Friday all day to Friday all day, Monday and Wednesday 1:30 to 5:00ish or until there's a judge willing to "find" our indictments as "true bills." Sometimes this takes a while and there have been some days where I'm not getting to the parking lot until 6:00.

No time or energy for stitching with everything that has been going on. I did pick up a frame for the fairy picture.

I'm going to try one more time to get that face right (she's supposed to have a good stubborn pout). However it turns out this time, though, it's going into the frame I bought (assuming, of course, that it fits).

I'm sorry.

Perspective

So, it's been a pretty frustrating year and this bit with Dodger is probably the worst so far. And I'm feeling sorry for myself when I check in and my blog friend Debbi from dubiquilts has left a comment to send good wishes and ask how things are doing. Debbi's blog is listed in my bloglist if you want to go read her story. It's not my story to tell, but I will share that dubiquilts was one of the first blogs I started to follow. I loved the work she was doing with her own hand-dyed fabric, and I checked in often to see what she was up to. Then she disappeared for weeks. Her readers were very worried, and - it turned out - rightly so. Debbi had serious problems with her heart - close to death kinds of problems. Again, it's her story and she has been generous with the deets (she wants us ALL to be forewarned to check those heart attack warning signs and DON'T IGNORE THEM!). I just wanted to thank her here for her concern. By stopping in, Debbi, you have reminded me to keep the puppy's problems in perspective.

His surgery went well. The left leg issues went just as the vet had predicted, but he was not comfortable with the way Dodger was still gimpy with his right leg as well as not standing on the left. The vet "ran him through" a CT scan before surgery just in case he was missing something that he should be taking care of while Dodger was under. Sure enough, the CT scan showed a tiny fracture in the growth plate of the RIGHT tibia, too. It was so small that the vet wasn't really worried about it and opted to leave it to heal on its own. But it explained why Dodger wasn't keen on standing on either leg.

The vet said said he's never seen this happen in BOTH legs at the same time and agreed that it led credence to my theory that when he jumped into the pond (probably at a full-throttle race around our small yard) he hit the metal ex-pen cover I'd put over the top (to keep the puppy out of the pond) and it caught him just right to do mega damage. He warned us that we still may be facing some serious issues with the dog. They had to put three pins through the growth plate to re-attach it. The best news scenario (and it may happen because this is a young puppy) is that the growth plate will continue to grow normally. There are other scenarios, however. The plate may not re-attach (it was, after all, three days before they figured out what was wrong and another day before surgery). If that happens, the tibia will not grow correctly and the leg will be deformed (means future surgery to lengthen the bone). Or the growth plate will function on the side that did not dislodge but the part that did will not and, again, there will be deformity. Or the growth plate will function normally but the pins will create problems and will have to be removed.

Right now we're taking it one stage at a time. The good news is that my husband was able to walk him out to the car (using a sling to help him balance, but on all four feet). He slept and slept the afternoon away and seems to have slept well last night (son slept in the same room so will check with him later). He has to wear The Cone of Shame (because he wants to be licking that incision site, which seems to be superglued together). He has painkillers and sedatives. He must be strictly confined to his crate, only allowed out to toilet, for weeks. We use the sling every time we take him out for at least two weeks. In two weeks he goes back to the clinic for more x-rays, which will determine the next steps.

Considering the first diagnosis was spinal injury, which the next two vets were still sticking with until they started considering torn ligaments, this isn't too bad. We have hope of having a happy, functional dog back in the reasonably near future who will be part of our family for a long time.

There when you need one.

In other news, I have to share something that happened yesterday when I was off trying to find buffalo chews for the puppy. A guy in a truck whipped a left turn in front of me (not even at an intersection, just turning onto a side street from a frontage road). I had to step on my breaks to avoid running into him and was thinking, "Where's a cop when you need one?" when he slides in front of me again. Turned out he wasn't make a LEFT turn in front of me, he was making a U-TURN in front of me. Only my lightening quick reflexes (snigger) prevented me from running into him. Before I could even finish the "Where's a cop...?" thought, one of our CHP motocycle cops was between the offending vehicle and me. CHP officer had him pulled over so fast I didn't even have to slow down as I drove past.

HIGH FIVE!

What Next?

Monday - Grand Jury duty
Tuesday - close down classroom (take Dodger but he doesn't like the experience so bring him home at noon).
Wednesday - finish closing down classroom. Let summer begin!

Thursday AM - take Dodger for walk. Start redecorating project in my room.

Thursday PM - 4:30 I have a few minutes before I have to get ready for the Board of Trustees meeting. What shall I do? I will use the carpet shampooer to clean this area of carpet where someone was sleeping when Dodger had to go out and use the toilet facilities. As I start the machine, he comes over to investigate. As I start moving the machine, Dodger gets excited and runs outside. It takes less than 60 seconds to complete the small section of cleaning and turn off the machine.

I hear a sound outside and go out to see what the puppy has gotten into. He is standing chest deep in the pond. I go back into the house to grab a leash, towels and shampoo. As I get back to him he is climbing out of the pond. I grab his collar and snap on the leash, turn on the hose and take them all to the wash tub where he gets the gunk shampooed off. Then I put him into the dog run. I get myself cleaned up for the meeting, then take a bowl of water out to Dodger. As I open the run door to put the water in, he runs out. He comes back when I call him. I grab his collar again and put him back in the run. I leave for my meeting.

Thursday, 8:30 PM. Home from my meeting. Husband greets me with, "There's something wrong with Dodger." It appears his hind legs are paralyzed.

Thursday night spent at the Pet Emergency Clinic. Vet suspects spinal damage, although his tail still wags and he can raise himself to pee. Dodger is settled into clinic for the night, we return home.

Friday morning, 7:00 AM. Pick Dodger up from emergency clinic, take him to personal vet. She observes him for several hours, also suggests possible spinal trauma and refers him to a large emergency clinic in Ventura.

Friday afternoon. Dodger is admitted into the Taj Mahal of vet clinics (kaching!) Beautiful facility, wonderful people. Preliminary discussion with Dr. Robles (looks like she's about 16 - how are they getting younger when I'm getting older? Oh, yeah.) She is also leaning toward the spine trauma theory, maybe some disc injury. Dodger stays, we leave.

Saturday AM. Dr. Deppe calls. He has been observing Dodger all night and disagrees with spinal injury theory. Thinks perhaps Dodger has suffered some ligament damage. Recommends ortho vet specialists, who do not come in on weekends. Dodger will stay the weekend so they can continue to watch him.

Saturday PM. Dr. Deppe calls again, more convinced this is not a paralysis, but that Dodger does not want to stand because he is in pain.

Sunday, AM. I go to Simi for Father's Day breakfast. When I get back, three of us go to visit Dodger. Son gets in cage with much happier dog. We leave feeling hopeful.

Monday, AM. I have jury duty just a couple of miles from clinic. Call and get permission to visit at lunch. Change into puppy cuddling clothes and head to clinic, only to learn that there is too much commotion in the wards so I cannot visit, and although he has finally had an ortho specialist take x-rays, there has been no evaluation as yet so they still don't know what's going on.

Monday, PM. DH texts my phone that the evaluation reveals Dodger has a partially dislodged tibial growth plate and a fractured fibula. After jury duty I return to the clinic to sign the $$$ papers authorizing the surgery. They let me visit him and I crawl into his cage with him. He has just had his pain medication. His leg is splinted and wrapped. He has double cones to keep him from chewing on all the tubes and tape. I get him to settle down next to me. I can't see his face but can pet him and talk to him and get him calmed down. He snuggles close and sleeps until the noise of the other dogs and the humans wakes him. Surgery tomorrow.

Today was my 58th birthday. It gets the trophy for the worst ever.

I hope.

Summer.

I should be happy dancing.

But I'm just too tired.

Some random updates.

I took my mom to Disneyland. She had a great time. We went on Soarin', then over to DL for lunch at Carnation Cafe. The Refreshment Corner piano had "Michael" listed as the player so we had our hopes up that we would get to see Michael Pollock, our favorite Disneyland piano player. But it was the first of several cruel jokes of the day. We did see him walk by one time but never knew where he was playing. Instead we listened to Eric who has no charm and poor technique. Then we checked the program to see when the Billies were playing. Turns out that after decades of five shows daily, the park has them alternating with a comedy show and the Billies weren't playing at all that day. Later we got on the train (no small feat for Mom) and rode around the park once, then halfway to get off at Toontown so she could watch another favorite, the Princess Fantasy Faire Coronation and storytelling. Closed up. Castmember said that was only for the "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion. Finally we settled on Main Street (again, hoping Ragtime Michael just might make an appearance but instead enduring Eric) in time for the parade. After three years of the Parade of Dreams, this cheap knock-off on the Block Party Bash from DCA (without the great floats) was another disappointment. Still, Mom is perfectly happy enjoying the flowers, music and people-watching, so she was happy with her day.

This is the view from my window. Cecile Brunner survived her late straightening and pruning and is rewarding me with a full flush of blooms. The miniature roses are blooming, as are the hydrangeas (which are in pots under my window.

Unfortunately, I can't see any of that from where I sit at my computer. This is what I see from here:


Same old same old.

I moved into this room when my oldest moved out for good (we think). At first it was just to be my office/sewing room. Then I got tired of listening to my husband complain about my snoring (he snores, too) and decided to sleep in here. It was, after all, to be a very temporary arrangement since we were planning to move to Utah - uh - last year. The economy has halted all plans for that move and I can't stand this cell any longer.

I need to create a "nest" instead.

So that's the summer project. I've been analyzing and evaluating and planning for weeks and I think I'm ready to get started. I'll be in town through July 31 (last day of criminal grand jury duty) and am hopeful that I will be able to finish it before I leave.


So, some "before" pictures.



This whole table - out. All it is is a drop spot. It fills so much with "stuff" that I can never work here. Today's plan is to sort and store - temporarily - the stuff that's on here. And under here. The printer has a space - temporarily. This is where my bed will go.


This cupboard is full of stuff I never use. (The bottom section is full of doll greenware. I was partially finished with several dolls when the teacher closed up shop. I love porcelain dollmaking and am hoping to find someone to fire for me - I've done it for years and don't need lessons, just a kiln. ) Because I never use it I parked a couple of scrap-n-store cubes in front of it. Plan is to put the greenware into permanent storage in our rented storage unit until I find someone with a kiln. I'll move the bottom cube of the storage unit elsewhere, then use the bottom part of the cabinet for sewing and stitchery project storage (which is part of what's being sorted today.) The upper part of the cabinet has a doll and several decorative boxes that I plan to use in the final nest. I'm going to put the top scrapbook storage cube (it can be divided into sections) in that closet, then put the Iris plastic project boxes with projects in there. I'm thinking my BOM quilt projects maybe?

Part of the challenge is deciding what will stay and what will go. Claire Bennet will stay, but I think I will hang her behind the door since she doesn't really "go" with the planned decor. The Marjolein Bastin stuff stays, although my current plan is to buy some Ikea cabinets with glass doors as a display case for this collection. Tinkerbell stays, but I think the fairy pieces may make their way into the fairy garden where they belong. The wallpaper goes.


Walt goes (sorry Walt) and the DL mugs will be put into use. The DL 50 Thomas Kinkade print will stay. Somewhere.

The fairy display stays (isn't that cute?) but the rest of the stuff on this wall will go. This is the wall - in fact, this whole wall, corner and five feet onto the other wall) is where I am adding new storage - wall cabinets and scrapbook storage - and desk area. Haven't quite decided on the desk arrangement yet. I might have to make something, but the rest has pretty well come together in my mind. I have a little extra $$$ coming my way this summer from my union stipend, grand jury payments ($25 a day plus mileage - oooohhhhh) and BTSA mentoring stipends. If I'm careful, I should be able to make it work.

Work being the operative word. I'd better get to it.

Ikea?

Does anyone have any experience with Ikea kitchen cabinets they could share with me. They're just what I want for look and price, but I don't want something that's going to fall apart on me.

Quick Check-In

I really do appreciate those who pop in to see if I'm up to anything.


"May Madness" is crazier than ever this year. I was telling someone this week that I feel like that guy on the Ed Sullivan Show who would race around like crazy trying to keep plates spinning on the tops of poles. He would start with one plate and keep adding them, but there was clearly a maximum number that he could keep spinning. Eventually they would start to fall.

I exceeded my max this May. May is always nuts. In a normal year May Madness is manageable, but this year I've got too many plates spinning.

School is nuts. Kids and teachers are losing it. But this year, our principal is retiring and we are trying to get some things in place before the new principal comes in. Our current principal is a very nice man - probably the nicest I've ever met - but not a good principal. For example, apparently several weeks ago our PTA told him that they were donating $2000 to each grade level. He never told us and now, in a budget crisis year when we haven't been able to order anything except paper for our classrooms, we're going to lose the money.

Also, because of Grand Jury duty, I also have had to rearrange my lessons and create two days of substitute lesson plans every week. One of our better subs committed to taking the job for the rest of the year, and I know I can give her things like learning games or plays or whatever. But occasionally she has something she needs to take care of on a Friday or Monday and I get a different sub who does not handle flexibility so well. When that happens I have to re-plan and re-write what I've already done so that I give her something she can handle.

May as union president usually means elections and our teacher retirement dinner. This year we layer on emergency meetings with the district because of continued budget cuts. It's getting really ugly in California and, with the defeat of the emergency initiatives (a process that must stop, but don't get me started) I expect SoCA to start feeling like Blade Runner pretty quickly. I expect our school year to get shorter (which means teachers get even less pay, thank you very much) and - more importantly to parents - children's free babysitting will be cut off and the kids will be out on the street getting into what they get into. All up and down the state policemen are being laid off, and the justice system is getting ready to release non-violent offenders from the prisons to cut costs.

You get what you pay for.

If I had known I was going to get on the grand jury I might not have bought the puppy, but he's in our hearts now. He's 16 weeks old and - in doggie years - in his Terrible Twos (which will last another two years). As if living with a four-legged toddler wasn't challenge enough, he has developed some food intolerance issues so we can only feed him cooked rice and boiled chicken. I spend more money and time shopping and cooking for the dog than I do for myself! He's definitely worth it, though, and we're hopeful when his digestive system matures that he will straighten out. DS2 started an obedience class with him Thursday and he did very well. This trainer uses the clicker method so we're all functions with clickers and treats in our pockets. Whenever we catch him being good we click and treat. If he does something wrong (like this morning boosting himself up to the kitchen table to check and see if there were any snacks there), he gets a 15-second time-out in the laundry area of the garage. Interesting. When I'm doing laundry and he follows me out he's nosing into everything. When he's put out on time-out and fifteen seconds later I open the door, he's sitting there staring at the door waiting to be let back in.

Yesterday I spent the day with my mom and sister. We were supposed to be scrapbooking, but in the chaos of my life I couldn't face digging everything out and loading the car so instead I cut out all the pieces for the Bunny Hill basket BOM (I had traced them during breaks at jury duty) and made some decisions on fabrics. Mom's quilt group (that she's been part of for 30 years now) is doing a block exchange. Her block is Crab-Apple Hill's Linda teacup from their Tea Party series. I had finished what I'd brought to work on so helped her baste her traced blocks onto backing muslin. Then, as we were finishing up, it dawned on here that she might have put the designs on the wrong fabric (put the design on the backing?) so she's going to have to check with one of the others. She hates to trace and I enjoy it so if she's got them wrong (and can wait until school's out) I'll go over and re-trace them for her.

This is our Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember with gratitude those who have fought and died to preserve the values of our founding fathers. I won't say to preserve American values because I'm not real sure what they are right now. I sure hope nobody's beloved child is dying to preserve our apparent greed and selfishness. I posted here last year a clip of Morgan Freeman introducing a reading of the Declaration of Independence. I think he says so beautifully what we are supposed to be fighting for. We should strive always to reach the ideals of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, inalienable rights for all human beings. NOT incredible wealth for some while others suffer from want.

Holidays are always appreciated. I am doubly appreciating this one for not only do I NOT have jury duty on Monday, I also did not have to write a sub plan for that day. I am hoping to pot up some miniature roses I ordered online a couple of weeks ago (three? four?). I'm worried about these roses. I have had some of these varieties in the past and excitedly ordered replacements when I discovered they were exclusively carried by Nor'East. When they arrived and bloomed, however, they were not the pinks and salmons I had ordered but were all whites. I wrote to complain and the company assured me that if I would let them go through another bloom cycle, the would probably bloom color as promised but if not, they would replace them. Now I go to their site and they are closing their retail online ordering and if people have problems per their warranty they will replace with, apparently, whatever they have in stock. Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that I am going to be stuck with white roses, whatever happens?

Well, I hear people up and moving around. DH is supposed to be taking DS2 and a friend up into the mountains for an overnight camping trip to try out their new gear. I need some puppy training advice before they leave so I'd better go close this up and catch them.

Things that Make Me Happy

I've started a couple of posts in the last couple of weeks, but my whining makes me depressed so I'm not going to post them.

So tiresome.

Instead, I'll post a few things that have made me happy recently, in no particular order.

I took myself off to the last showing of the new Star Trek movie Wednesday night and I loved it!


I remember gathering with the family for our weekly Star Trek tv series viewings when I was in high school and this movie hit just the right combination of nostalgia and entertainment for me. I got such a kick out of watching these youngsters show me just exactly what those original crewmen (and women) were like when they were just starting out.





The only thing that "missed" for me was McCoy's accent - where is that Georgia accent? Such a small thing, though, and Chekov more than made up for it. I got such a kick out of the little references to the old series ("Fencing.")

I enjoyed it so much that I took DS2 to an imax showing of it on Thursday night and enjoyed it even more. The digital experience was well worth the extra $6 on the ticket. I went to the 10:00 pm showing both nights (because I hate putting out any amount of money to listen to middle school kids talking in the back of the theater - something I hear 180 days every year - or to little kids whine for food, drink, bathroom or boredom). Interestingly, that two hour escape seems to have been more recuperative than straight sleep. Both mornings after I awoke more refreshed after 5.5 hours sleep than I usually am after seven or eight hours.


The Dodger dog is such a sweetheart. He is loving and smart, although he is into his "terrible twos" in doggie years and keeping us on our toes. He's so sneaky it's funny. He knows there are things he is not allowed to chew on, so he carries one of his toys over to the thing he wants to chew and pretends that he is chewing on his toy when he is really chewing on the piece that is not allowed. This picture was taken when he had met bubbles for the first time. [I just heard, "Off! Off!" coming from the family room. Apparently another first - he just got up onto the coffee table. Sigh.]


I've been managing to spend some time in the garden, if not every day, certainly every other day. This is the sweet pea bed. I planted seed this spring, but it didn't germinate. I've had good luck growing them as long as I order fresh seed (not the stuff in the nurseries), soak it for 24 hours, score it, plant it deep in well-composted soil and plant in OCTOBER, not March. None of my nursery-purchased seed came up, but yesterday I found these lovely seedlings at a local nursery so for $4.18 I got a jumpstart.


This is my "Cecile Brunner" climbing rose. I bought it three years ago and for a year it lived in a pot. I finally managed to get it in the ground and it was adapting pretty well when the winds blew down the fence behind it. After a few months we had a fence company out to replace the fence and they pulled her over and tied her down out of the way, breaking the stake in the process. I was too busy to repair the damage until this past spring break. I made a new support, but to get her back up straight I had to strip her leaves (she's well armed) It was exciting to see her leafing out again this week.

Last year I planted a hydrangea in the corner behind this urn fountain. I didn't really expect it to survive since that corner gets full sun most of the afternoon. This year when I checked back there I noticed lots of weeds and bare sticks where the hydrangea had been. I spent a few weeks deciding what to try next and decided on a snowball bush. Today I got back there and pulled weeds to plant the bush and - lo and behold - the hydrangea had leafed out and even had a small flower on it. I ended up moving the hydrangea over where it will get more water, then planting the snowball behind the fountain as planned.

Jury duty.

Yeah, I know. Go figure.

When I found out I had been assigned duty on the County Criminal Grand Jury I went into shock. And, indeed, it has been a tremendous challenge to juggle my Monday and Friday jury schedule with my teaching duties. But I've pulled it together. And I have to say, this has been a fantastic experience.

As a teacher of the Constitution, I'm learning a lot that will improve my teaching of the Bill of Rights. As Grand Jurors, we are treated with much more respect than I receive as teacher (from students, their parents and even my superiors). Our activities are scheduled by the District Attorney's office and many of the witnesses we hear are law enforcement officers. I am happy to say that I am developing renewed respect for our justice system in our county (and am convinced that our country would be better off if the Law and Order series - in all its forms - were banned).

I will be on this jury until July 31 and regret missing one of my Utah trips, but in the long run I think I will look back on this experience with pride. I definitely feel that I am contributing to my country in a way that I never have before.

The promise of summer.

I can smell it, it's so close.

I've already warned my family that, with my jury service over July 31, I will be in the car and on my way to Utah August 1. Don't know if anyone will be with me or if I will have to bring Dodger with me or what, but I am out of here and in Eden (really! That's the name of the town) for almost three weeks. Quiet. Reading. Quiet. Cross stitch. Quiet. Embroidery. Quiet. Friends. Quiet. Shopping.

And quiet. I crave it, and it doesn't exist here.

I will be working on this piece, which I reserve for my Utah visits because I get too distracted here at home and make too many mistakes.

I've actually finished more than is shown here. The floss work is finished on the blue and orange fairies, and the petticoat is finished on the green one. I think I should have all the floss work done on this piece by the time I leave Utah. Then I will block it and mount it on a Q-snap frame for the metallics and beadwork. My goal is to have it finished in time to take it to Utah in June of next year. I will leave it for framing with the Shepherd's Bush framer, then pick it up when I return in August.

I'm also planning to work on the Bunny Hill applique BOM. I've traced all the pattern pieces onto freezer paper and am going to try a technique for needle turning where you put the piece on the RIGHT side of the fabric and needle turn following the edge. I was delighted to find that I have enough of this fabric

to do this BOM. I think I will use the stripe (actually, it's not that dark) as the background. I will supplement with other lines but if I keep the baskets themselves in this line I think it will be stunning.

Finally, and most importantly, my kids seem to be OK, and that makes me happy. DS1 is benefiting from being in a charter school as he seems to have escaped the layoffs in the LAUSD (knock on wood). DS2 is going back to school starting with a summer school biology class. It's good to see him so excited.

Things are not good for California teachers (I'm expecting to lose at least ten days' pay next year) but if my kids can hang in there, I can hang in there, too. 27 teachers lost their jobs in my district last week. If our six initiatives don't pass next week, we will probably lose 30 more. I feel lucky to have a job, even if we have to tighten our belts for a while.

Happy Mother's Day!

Life's an Adventure....

Can't tell the whole story but here's what I can.

Monday was the first day back to school after spring break. I was feeling pretty good about where we were headed because we've moved into my favorite lessons to teach. I told my students where we were headed for the rest of the year. This week we would do immigration and then the growth of cities. Next week women's suffrage (which I don't really have together - having never taught a whole week unit about it - but I have done some preliminary work on it and was confident I would have it pulled together during my five preps by the end of the week). The following week is STAR testing, and my unit on the Plains Indian Wars. When we've completed that we'll do cowboys, Buffalo Soldiers and the Populist movement (a one-day lecture using the Wizard of Oz that we all enjoy). After that is two weeks of Ragtime - a research project I've put together about the Progressive Era - ending with the movie Newsies in the last full week for eighth graders. (The last week of school for them is absorbed with graduation activities).

Tuesday I had jury duty. I've already posted why I thought I would be safe sitting in the jury assembly room all day and what actually happened. In short, my name was - quite literally - pulled from a box of qualified citizens to serve a 99-day assignment on the county's criminal grand jury. This service is to be from 9-5 every Monday and Friday until July 31. And if they need us any other days, they'll try to give us five days notice. They explained that we would hear a wide variety of cases. Sometimes one case might take several days. Other days we might hear several cases in one day. Part of the adventure.

By the way, a number of friends have asked if I've been taking my stitching to work on during jury duty. First of all, no handwork needles of any kind are allowed in the justice part of the government center. Secondly, this process requires absolute attention - it's exhausting - at all times. They've warned us that there might be times when a witness doesn't show up on time or something where we'll just be sitting and waiting, but so far everything has moved very efficiently. I have school papers to grade in my bag just in case.

So, on Wednesday I'm back at school, breaking the news to my Principal and his Administrative Assistant (who is going to have to deal with this thing). I told my students that what I told them Monday is pretty well out the window and that I will have to rearrange things to see how the year will actually end up looking. I gave them a seatwork assignment so that I could plan the rest of the school year. I had to then put together three days of lessons because our first day of jury service was Thursday, the next day. Fortunately, by noon the Admin was able to tell me which sub had committed to the job (a terrific one for this job and my class). I had everything slapped together for the three days in time to conduct a meeting with the Union Exec Council that went until five, then I tied the loose ends together as best I could (I felt badly because I usually leave complete, detailed, organized plans but all I could do was leave bullet details for this one).

By Thursday morning I'd developed some concerns about what I'd left so I left the house at my usual time (7:30 am) and dropped by school. I wrote a quick note to the sub and went into the office to drop the note in the sub folder. The principal caught me and wanted to chat about an email he and I had received that morning (I hadn't opened my email because - hello? - I wasn't supposed to even be there). This mother's son is one of my least attentive, least productive and most disruptive students. I still haven't read her email but, according to the principal, she wants me to let her son pass my class by reading one chapter of some book every week. The principal thought I might want to send the kid out of class with his book every day, under the circumstances. I was astonished. I told the principal that I had no idea what she was talking about, that I had to leave right now to make it to court in time so was not going to go back and read her email but that, no, this kid is not going to be excused from the regular work of the class to go read one chapter a week from some book so that he can graduate with his friends.

At that I left (7:55 am) for my jury duty adventure.

Normally when you think of the relative distance between Camarillo and Ventura, we say it's about twenty minutes. I had no idea if there would be traffic at 8:00 in the morning but it seemed possible. As it turned out, traffic moved very smoothly. It turned out that 7:55 was a just right time, though. It took about 20 minutes to get to the offramp, about 10 more to get from the freeway to the courthouse and another couple of minutes to park. From where I parked it was about a five-minute walk to the building and through security and to a restroom.

I'm happy to say I've mastered security check. I pulled out and dusted my wonderful Binh bag to use for this duty. I made sure I put nothing in it that might set off the machine (one of my co-jurors had a fork taken away from her yesterday). I moved my ID, cash and cards out of my humongous wallet-checkbook and into my little Disneyland wallet and now move it from the Binh bag back to my purse as needed. I added a small set of papers to grade. I keep my watch in the bag (and make sure my keys have made it there, too) until I'm past security. Made it through without a hitch. (On Tuesday, the guard had to ask to see my shoes every time because my Sketchers have cute little zippers that set off the machine; now I just wear my ugly sneakers with no metal on them). Yesterday I thought there was some problem because the X-ray tech guard turned the bag around as it came out of the machine, but it turned out he liked the bag and wanted to look at the label.

After the stop at the restroom, I headed for the courtroom and made it with about ten minutes to spare. This is a comfortable time for me. It means that if I leave at 7:55 I have about ten minutes wiggle room in case something happens. I was relaxed when they opened the door and brought us in.

I'm not allowed to say anything - ANYthing - about what happens inside that courtroom. I will say that it is a fascinating experience and I am very impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved. We had a 1.5 hour lunch period. I will bring my lunch most days, If there's one advantage to this experience it is that it should help me stay on my diet. The breaks are only long enough to rush though a potty stop and there's no snacking in court. I may be able to chomp a few peanuts or some raisins on the break but other than that there is no time for snacking.

After Thursday's session I headed directly for a school board workshop meeting that started at 5:30. After an hour-and-a-half in a metal folding chair (my butt's too big for those so this is torture), during which one of the trustees blamed our current financial woes on the union (me) - again - I stopped at Jack-in-the-Box for comfort food for dinner and then finally got home.

Friday was a similar schedule. I did leave during the lunch break and headed down the street to the Green Thumb nursery to look - again - for heliotrope to put in the Fairy Garden. Again, there wasn't any in the perennial section so I tried the shade section and there were some nice gallon cans there (it grows in full sun for me so I was surprised to find it there.) I also bought two spectacular heuchera (with kind of pinkish leaves) and one more common one with the salmon pink flowers I want in the Fairy Garden.

Friday we were dismissed by 4:15, which thrilled me because I still needed to stop at Costco for a prescription refill that I had not been able to pick up the day before (don't want to do jury duty without my high blood pressure medication). Never again on a Friday afternoon. It took an hour to get the Rx filled, and although I love Costco, it's a hard place to kill an hour. I picked up shrimp (DH's request) and turkey wraps for dinner and headed home.

Things were mellow at home. DS2 had played and played with the puppy and he was pretty well zonked. Normally when I get home he's in a frenzy to say hello, then wants to play for a half hour before he'll settle down on my feet for a nap. Friday he came over and said hello - calmly. I got a sandwich and kicked my feet up on the recliner. I put a movie in the laptop (the guys were watching the Dodger game) and was going to unwind by watching a dvd. I barely finished my little sandwich before I fell asleep in front of the movie. I guess I was pretty funny as I would wake up and watch for about thirty seconds, then crash again. That's just how exhausted I was.

Yesterday (Saturday) was crop day. I was still to tired to face the idea of loading all my scrapbooking stuff up into my car, so I just grabbed a piece of stitchery I've been working on and headed over to my folks' for the day. Had a nice day of catching up with my folks and sister, then Mom took me out to her favorite restaurant for dinner where I enjoyed their fantastic tri-tip salad. Got home about nine and settled in front of the computer to catch up. Slept well (the puppy is sleeping pretty much through the night now) and was up early this morning. Already got in a load of laundry and after I finish this post will head out to plant the flowers in the Fairy Garden. Later I will need to tie up the loose ends for tomorrow and finish plans for the Women's suffrage unit for next week.