A Favor Gone South

I really like our neighbors.

They are wonderful people.

Over the years, we have kept an eye on each other's house,

picked up papers,

brought in the trash cans.

That kind of thing.

So, when she told me they were going out of town and

asked if I could come over at noon the next day

to let the dogs out,

I was most happy to comply.

Their dog, Tux, is a friendly

little black Schnoodle.

The other two dogs, a black Lab/German Shepherd mix and a Rottweiler mix,

belong to their son and we have seen them over the years, too.

So, with key in hand, I went confidently over to let the dogs out.

After unlocking the back door, I headed straight
for the master bedroom to free Tux.

In the meantime, the other two BIG DOGS swooshed out the door and Tux followed.

Almost in unison, all three dogs were quite relieved

to relieve themselves.

Whew!

Then, as they turned to go sniff and inspect other areas of the yard,

they all noticed THE STRANGER through the glass door inside THEIR house!

Protective instincts were aroused in the black dog and he

lunged at the door with teeth bared!

Yes, this is how he looked!!!

Terrified, I began to push the door closed while they all

barked and jumped on the door!

Yeeeowza!!  - my hand is seriously jammed and fingernails

broken to the quick.

What to do?

Yes, I prayed.
(And no, I did not take this pic!)

After they got tired of barking at me through the door,

they went about their business of sniffing around and exploring in the yard.

I remembered the treats in my pocket that
Dear Heart had insisted I take with me

and nervously worked out my plan in my mind.

Tux came to the door wagging his tail and I let him in.

He's the friendly one.

Now ...

Get ready, get set,

Cracked the door open, called the dogs
"Come here you sweet doggies."
(I don't know their names
and I can't whistle)

They come running.

I open the door,

throw the treats behind me,
the dogs zeroed in on those goodies,

and I RUN out that door.

Thank You God, I left the key in the door.

Can you hear me singing a thankful song?

Thank You Lord for saving me!!!

 



Records

When I am with our grandkids,

Brady

Noah

Kate

Jack

I think how wonderful it would be to have a record of all

that they do, or say,

their expressions,

reactions.

But it just isn't possible for me to do that.

Doncha' love it that that isn't a problem for God with us?

 

O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
Psalm 139:1-6 NLT

The very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Matthew 10:30



Thanksgiving 2012

We took a road trip up to Tulsa to be with my family for Thanksgiving.

There is so much to be thankful for on a daily basis,

but it is especially nice to gather together on this special day

and give thanks to God

for His blessings and the abundance of all we enjoy every day.

 

The weather was beautiful for traveling - a bright, sunshiny day.

The Oklahoma hills still had trees wearing some fall color,

but I was saddened to see many areas of dead trees

and how low the rivers are due to the drought.

(I thought of all the love songs that have been sung

promising to love "until all the rivers run dry."

Really, not trying to be funny, that was my thought as we crossed over almost dry river beds.

The truth about the drought is that it is very serious.

CBS News reported that "When the Arkansas River bends south at Tulsa,

it stops running and starts limping.

From the air, you can plainly see the sandbars that have emerged.

The river is down 97 percent.")

(cbs news story)

 

What a great time we had together.

My brother read from Psalm 128.

 

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
    who walk in obedience to him.
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
   blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
Yes, this will be the blessing
    for the man who fears the Lord.^"

 

This was an emotional reading for him, I know, as

both his sons are serving in the military and were

not able to be with us this Thanksgiving.

 

Susan outdid herself with a huge rib roast and all

the delicious side dishes of red cabbage and apples,

sweet potatoes, a lovely green bean dish,

an avocado and black bean salad,

tomatoes and mozzarella,

rolls, bread pudding, and a chocolate chip zucchini cake.

(Can you give me a "high-fiber"? ;-D)

(I had seconds on everything!!)

 

Over the week-end, we were all happy to relax and

visit, catching up and cheering on

our favorite football team.

We watched the movie, Act of Valor,

and on Friday went to see the new movie, Lincoln.

Both were great!

 

 

My brother Phil and his wife, Suz
The camera caught their dog Howie a little off guard.
His eyes aren't usually quite so bright!! ;-)
 

 

My dear sister Roberta with her husband, Don, and one of their
 lovely daughters, Robyn

 

My other niece, Jacque, was not able to be with us
(being one of those wonderful people who are
there for you if you decide to dine out for Thanksgiving).

 

Jay and I AFTER the meal.
Wish I had thought to take a pic of the beautiful table
and the spread that Susan had prepared.

Trudy was tired after the road trip
and playing with Howie

It was 24 degrees Saturday morning.
Too cold for me, but Howie and Trudy were treated to a
brisk walk in the neighborhood before we left for home.

Saying good-bye





A special treat was that my sister and her daughter Robyn

came to stay with us on Saturday night.

So we sort of left Tulsa behind and yet,

brought part of it home with us.

 

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

Girl's Day Out

 

A perfect day.

 

 

Dear friends are always the perfect ingredient in any good times.

I told about this very special friendship earlier

here

 

The Dallas Arboretum is beautiful any time of the year

 

Pumpkins everywhere in the Fall

 

Azaleas

This is not a real plant!
It is part of the Chihuly Exhibit.

 

 

This is in front of White Rock Lake in Dallas

 

 

Uhhh, what's left of the perfect picnic lunch that Cindy brought!
Thank you, Cindy, for the chicken salad, veggie munchies,
chips, and other goodies you brought.
(As always, me and my shadow directly in front of the feed bag.)

 

 

 

A very fine day, indeed.

 

 

Monday Dirge

Today promised lots of possibilities.

First available day on the calendar in several weeks for me

to consider taking on the task of the dreaded shopping.
I am just not a shopper!

And no way would I be excited about Black Friday.

 

Usually, making the purchase of just one Christmas gift

helps to produce some momentum

so I can avoid the "last minute rush."

 

 

So, I had another cup of coffee,

made my list,

and headed out the door.
 

First stop:

Ulta Beauty Store for a specific item that will remain my secret.

No luck with that.

But I did find a bottle of great nail polish and a very nice eyeliner.

 

They are ringing it up at the desk,
and I swipe my card.

"Sorry, insufficient funds."

the nice clerk informed me.

 

WHAT? My credit card isn't working???? (I'm thinking)

"Let's try again," in my polite voice and
re-swiped the card even faster.

 

Again, I heard her say,

"Sorry, insufficient funds."

 

Okay, I'm keeping calm.

"Will you please try to key in the number?" (still polite voice)

 

Of course.

"Sorry, the card says insufficient funds."

(Is it the embarrassment stemming from these situations that cause me to feel the clerk
thinks I'm some kind of deadbeat trying to pull something?)

 

I paid for the items and headed for the car to call the credit card company

and get this error straightened out.

 

Aaauuuugggghhh!

The dreaded words.
Your credit card has been compromised and

a hold has been placed on it.

Then, after a long, drawn out conversation

(which I won't bore you with),

bottom line is, we had to cancel this card and issue a new one.

 

Since Dear Heart is our Accounting Department here at home and

takes care of all the details,

I knew he would be a little upset have a cow

over this and ...

yes, he almost did.

But he's okay now.

 

I raced home to help remedy the situation and we both

spent the next few hours in a flurry of activity looking for phone numbers,

web addresses, statements, and then making phone calls.

 

Ta-da!!!

All those companies who receive payment from us

via credit card have now been notified

and we are changing our modus operandi.

Dear Heart says we took a bad situation and made it better.

We only use one credit card,
so the shopping trip for today (and I guess this week)
has now been ended.
(Thanks to some unknown person taking
a phishing trip on my credit card).

These phishermen have fished in our pond at
least three times over the past 25 years
that I can remember.

Is this a good record or a bad record??