My trip to the Natural State

I chose to drive to Little Rock, Arkansas, rather than take a train or fly. I figured that the cost of two tanks of gas in the Corolla was less expensive than a plane ticket and car rental, less expensive than an Amtrak fare (plus the train left at 9 pm and arrived in LR at 3:30 a.m.; who wants to be left at the train station at 3:30 a.m. in a strange town). Driving myself gave me freedom and an adventure. So that's what I did.

My cousin lives with her family just outside Little Rock in a small town called Alexander. They live in the forested hills called 'Diamond Hills,' so named because of the countless crystals that litter the ground. Each time it rains, a fresh supply of small crystals become apparent. Dig a little deeper and one might find more and bigger crystals. Cool.

The crystals I found in the yard were no where as big as the one shown here, but together with my cousins, we found a few small ones after a rain and I brought them home with me. I also brought home a stack of pretty rocks that are now displayed in my yard--souvenirs of my trip to the Natural State.

We spent most of our time talking about everything: when we were young, wearing each other's clothes, old boyfriends, school, yackety-yack, morning til night. It was great.

Things to do on Monday...

I woke up in an energetic mood Monday morning and decided to whip up a batch of soap after cleaning the kitchen. I was going at this with zest and was ready to start mixing the soap, when at 10:40 AM, I remembered I had a 10:30 appointment with the podiatrist (another story). I called the office, "come on over," they said, so I zipped out the door without washing my feet--sorry, doc.

Now I'm on my way back home, see, when I come across a small dog, a toy schnauzer mix puppy, bouncing around in the middle of the street just as happy as can be. No owners in sight. Other people on the street don't recognize the pup--no tags, dirty, but just as cute as can be. Well, you know me; I'm unable to pass by a stray dog.

Long story short: I spent the day trying to find puppy's owners. I took him to the Humane Society to check for chip--no chip. I couldn't leave the dog at the pound so I took it back home, gave it a bath, treated the fleas, groomed and fed him. I began looking for the owners, putting signs up in the neighborhood, posting on the neighborhood mail-list, dog-park list, etc. Greta (my 12 y.o. GS) was not happy, neither was He. STRESS! CUTE!

Before this gets too boring, it wasn't until just after 8:00 P.M. that puppy and owners were reunited but not without a lecture from me on the care and treatment of pets, microchipping, name tags with owner information, flea treatment, grooming, etc. Surprisingly, they thanked me and drove away without calling me a "nosey #*^%#@\."

Now, I'm really tired, my foot hurts, the house is a mess, Greta is mad at me, and He is lecturing. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Things to do on Tuesday: Clean kitchen, make soap.

Happy 80th Birthday!

Last Saturday we drove to Carbondale, IL, to celebrate His mom's 80th birthday. There was a lot of food and drink and all that stuff. We swam, played horseshoes, talked and ate. Not everyone was there. Some of the grandchildren didn't make it due to work, etc., so not everyone in the family is represented in the pictures.