IS IT SPRING?

Well, for the last 2 weeks I have bragged and bragged on Facebook about how simply devine the weather was here in Portland....blue skies, warm, in the 70's.....well of course now that Rachel and Lana, (with family) are about to fly here, my temp reading on the computer says 52 fricken degrees. It rained some today, was quite windy, although the sun is really trying to "peep out". I think it will be a stretch to say the weather is nice here. Now they say the weather may improve....like mid 60's, sun every now and again.....but I have proven to be wrong about how woefully nice it will be. I should have known just to keep my big mouth shut. The same goes for the TrailBlazers...who LOST again last night.....I have been bragging about them all year. Now that they are finally in the play-offs, they look like a game of pick up ball in Jim and Rachel's driveway...and certainly Jeff and the boys could have beat them last Saturday....It is maddening. To wait for so long to have my hopes dashed ina matter of a week....
I am so happy to report that Rachel will be here in about 17 hours. The next 17 hours will be ALOT easier for me that they will be for her....driving to Chicago at 2:00am with Jim proudly wearing his "I will do anything for anyone, just ask" SMILE....all that waiting in the airport, hoping to get clearance into the skies heading west.....hopefully dozing for the 4 hour and 38 minute flight, and waking on the runaway for the final 6 minutes of the flight. As they land, if they look close, they will see 1120 Mariner's Loop....the one with weeds and a front yard in much need of a "fix"...I think I may even drive the Mercedes to pick her up....tehn off to a local resturant with Lana and her family.
Sometime later in the day we will arrive back at the Loop with Sheba eagerly awaiting the upcoming visit of her Aunt Rachel. She has been laying by the door for the past day....I keep signing to her, that it will be "in a little bit". She understands the sign of 2 fingers, but still fears she will miss out of the arival. She takes no chances.
About that time, Rachel will figure out that I am not much into cleaning. You would think one person could do a few things around the house, but these injuries of mine make it hard. My mission for tonight is to find the coffee maker....there is one here from when Jean visited some years back, but since Robert and I have never tasted coffee, she may have to refresh herself with....uuuummmm, some diet coke, a bottle of beer, or a glass of wine. I know she has probably had worse situations in her life, but I really will get to searching for that pot in the next 17 hours as Sheba waits patiently by the front door.
So on Monday we are off to the beach....7 of us and Sheba.....we will be in both condo's.....I think they have coffee at Grocery Outlet and I know there is a coffee maker at the condo, so Rachel might luck out on day 2....The condo's will be cleaned unlike the house on the Loop....so she hits pay dirt when she sees the condo.
We will come back on Thursday...and for the next week, ( give or take) we will search up the finest sights and stores in Portland. The Japanese Rose Gardens, The Chinese gardens downtown, we might go see ZooZoo a production by the Imago Theater, go to a baseball game, shop all the best areas on NW 23rd, Cascade Station and downtown, go to Saturday Market for art and Saturday food market for all things wonderful home grown in Oregon, go to the mountain, (Mt Hood) and to the gorge....(Hood River)...all of these fine things within 45 minutes of the house.
I have 2 hearing aids that work, a recovered knee and I am ready for the fun......
Bring it on.
I leave you with a picture in the back yard of a fruit tree I brought home in the rumble seat of the Mercedes 18 months ago. At that time the tree was about 18 inches tall, Robert was not real pleased about the transfer of said tree....so I vacuumed out the car to appease him while he dug a hole and planted the wee thing. Just look at it now. He would be proud. I can't wait for him to see it in person...sometime very soon I hope.
Can't wait for you to get here Rach.

4 years ago Mom went to Heaven

It has been a long time since I have done a blog, so I figured today was the day since it is 4 years ago that Mom went to heaven. I still miss her so much and so wish she had been with us these last 4 years to see her Great-grandchildren, take trips with us, go to breakfast with us....it was not to be, and that is God's way....
It is amazing to me that Dad has hung in there so great these past 4 years. I am glad he is still in his own home, still able to watch sports and spend time with the family. In a way we have gotten to know him so much better in the last 4 years....that sense of humor and his fantastic memory amaze me.
Life in Oregon these past 6 weeks have been pretty much a bummer. It could be summarized as...no hearing...no hot water...no hearing...no hot water....No hearing AND no hot water....
Well I have finally gotten ONE hearing aid that works and I have figured out how to restart the hot water heater. All of you with men in the house better be thanking the Lord daily that they do these type of things without even a glance or thought. They just automatically take care of those things....
Looking forward to the TrailBlazers getting in to the playoffs and hoping MSU beats the tar out of NC....
I have been so sore lately, I guess I have to up the injection of metotrexate....then my liver functions go all crazy so it is sort of a no-win.
CONGRATS to Jean, 23# lighter and the Brenda, 27# lighter. I think I may have to try this med-fast myself....I am sure all these extra pounds make my condition worse.
I am really looking forward to Rachel's visit the end of the month. We are going to the condo and visiting numerous Portland sites that the rest of you were never able to see. I have made arrangements for Bubba to go to respite care while she is here. Sheba of course will be with us.
Bubba is a great guy, but he is 12, has no teeth and I do not think he has great depth perception. It is hard for him to so stairs....the beach as you all know has it share of stairs.
He are a couple pictures of Bubba. Since he has no teeth, he tends to sleep with his tounge hanging out. Quite cute actually.
Are any of you following mycharmingkids.blogspot.com. The story of MckMama and her 6 mo baby in intensive care? There is a facebook prayer site for she and family.
Speaking of facebook....it is way too addicting.
Speaking of blogs....Dan's are top flight. I loved the top 10 family traditions....

Poor Sheba/Bye to the Coop

Poor Sheba had her dental on Thursday. That calls for a total knockout with anathesia. When the Doctor had her under she also operated on her eyelid. This is a result of when Scarlett bit her last summer. She had a flap of skin that needed to be removed.
Greyhounds are known for having horrible teeth due to all the crap they feed them at the track, usually they need thier teeth clean every 6 months. My hero Sheba has such great teeth, in part because I brush them 2x daily. Teeth problems can really lead to other organic and medical problems to all you dog lovers out there so make sure thier teeth are in good shape. Anyhow, this is the FIRST time I have had her teeth cleaned in the 4 years I have had ber, so I guess the brushing pays off. Since it costs 300.00 for a dental I am glad I am not having to do it every 6 months!!!!
They gave her a shot of morphine and rimadyl when she was knocked out. In the recovery room she started gettting very anxious for her Mom to pick her up....she wanted to go home, so they gave her a tranq...When I got there at 5:30 she walked to the car and then her feet and body went slack. SHe could not get in or out of the car...I needed to get a neighbor to carry her in on a blanket.
Cooper went over to greet her immediately in normal fashion, falling and sitting on her....
Anyway, she became 1/2 normal about 11pm and came upstairs to sleep on her bed next to me about 3am..
I called the vet yesterday to find out why she was so HIGH and that's when they told me about the tranq....they neglected to tell me that on Thursday. I was worried about her.
On a brighter note, Cooper was adopted this morning. He went to his first home visit and they wanted him, so now it is back to just my girl and I. I am glad as Coop was a handful. Too much puppy in him and he was always pushing Sheba around, which she tolerated by did not enjoy.
Here are a few pictures of Thursday night when she got home from the Doctor.
Notice the green vet wrap matches her snooze on the collar of her coat and the fact she had to lean her head against the wall to keep it up.....

Pretty Dogs

25 random things about me

Taking the cue from my Niece Brenda and my sister Jean...here goes
1. I was smarter than my 2nd grade teacher, she did not know her vowels.
2. I love Fricanno's pizza
3. I once won 5,000 in Las Vegas....I wish I had that money now
4. I used to fish every day with Dan Shinabarger at Oxbow lake in Saugatuck
5. I hate rice and mashed potatoes, in addition to banana's
6. I liked my place at the dinner table growing up, right between Mom and Dad
7. My friends Robin and Cindy and I used to be called the R and C kids because we drank rum and coke...I would puke if I even smell rum now.
8. I used to sew alot....I once made my brother Bill a suit
9. Floyd Mayweather, the boxer used to run my groceries home from Clarks grocery store when I lived in Grand Rapids, he would run backwards training for his next fight.
10. I love working cross word puzzles
11. My first day working at the Sheriff's Office I got locked in the jail
12. I adopted Sheba 4 years ago today
13. When Mom worked at the library I started dinner every night for her...I guess Jean was watching Andy Griffith
14. I remember like yesterday the day Jean drove down Mom and Dad's driveway, she was about 8 feet down the hill
15. I don't ever go to the movie theater, I can't sit still that long
16. I LOVE all my nieces and nephews, along with my grand-nieces
17. I love the game show network
18. I remember skinning my knee the day we found out Uncle Jerry and Aunt Rose had survived the burning on the ship they were on in 1960 by telegram and no one cared about my knee.
19. I cannot water ski or do a cartwheel like everyone else can.
20. I never studied much in college.
21. I think about my Mom every day, I miss her so
22. I like the saying: "Hey girl....."
23. I think the Trailblazers have a chance of getting into the playoffs this year.
24 My room-mate in college died in a car crash when I was a sophmore. It was really sad.
25. I love my Robert

Super, duper Cooper

Well, Cooper is making himself a part of the family. He was full of anathesia the night he came home with me, haing had a dental done along with his personal surgery.
From the very first day and night he has come to get me when he needs to go outside. That is pretty good for a dog that has never been in a house before. He was still running races last November in Arizonia. Then he returned to the farm in Oregon where he was not treated very well. GPA got 35 dogs from that farm, all of them were sick, had viral and other problems I will not get into here. Suffice to say it took 6 weeks to get them ready to come into foster homes.
He is about 63 pounds and has that striped tail which I have never seen before.
I still keep him muzzled at night since the first morning I came down stairs to what looked like a tornado went through it. He chewed on everything he could find...pillows, blankets, dolls, wooden objects, garbage, etc. Since then he has been pretty darn good. Sheba has given up her bed, but today I caught Cooper trying to lay on Sheba's bed with her. I could not believe Sheba allowed it. She will give up her bed but she is very possessive of the bed she is on and wants her "space". SO I am including that picture in this post along with a picture of her pretty striped tail. His bottom end was recently shaved due to the surgery that he had last week, but it is starting to grow back.
He is only 3 years old so he still has a lot of "puppy" in him but he does understand NO and he knows his name which is pretty good since they have a different name when they race.
I got some new things listed on ETSy but other than that I have not done much. I am pretty sore and achy and now I feel like I am coming down with a cold. I wanted to get these pictures of Coop and Sheba on the blog, so that is all for now

We saw a lot of PERFECT sunsets

We saw many,many perfect sunsets at the beach where we spent about 2 weeks when Robert was here. Sadly, that has come to an end, Robert is back in DC and it started SNOWING here today. Can you get that?
I really have done very little of anything since Robert left. It is always an adjustment and I don't feel all that hot the last few days, almost like I am coming down with that pnueomia again. I sure that is NOT what it is. Not much energy and I have lots of things to catch up on, none of which sound like much fun.
I have to get some new stuff loaded on the ETSY shop, and I also joined a place, also on line called "artfire.com". It is like ETSY, but much smaller. It is however cheaper to post items on that site, however I do not know how much traffic it gets. Jean also joined Artfire...
Did I tell you about the Benz having a dead battery when Robert got here? He had asked me to "charge it" the night before he came, that did not work, so he did it again when he got here. All of a sudden, no instrument panel lights, no oddometer or speedometer, etc.....We dropped it off at the shop on the way to the beach. Suffice to say, after a $2,850.00, ( not a typo) we were told that a Mercedes can never be "jumped". You have to take out the battery, chrage it and put it back in.....The part alone, ( Instrument cluster was over 1,500 )
The Battery was dead becuase I never drive that car. Suffice to say I am going to drive that car at least one time a week to keep the darn thing charged.
It sounds like Jen is coming to Holland tomorrow for Dinner at Bill's and Grandpa is invited. I am certain it will be the highlight of his week. It is so great the girls invited him.
Glad to hear that Katie had a great surprise Birthday party hosted by Dave and Rachel.
Rachel N: You should be leaving for Florida soon....I remember the airline ticket fiasco.....I have used the gismo used to weigh luggage more times than you can imagine in the last few weeks. It really comes in handy.
Happy belated Birthday to Brenda and Katie.
GPA is having a Valentine Gala which includes a greyhound "Fashion Show" where the dogs will be stylin coats that will be auctioned off to the audience. Sheba is a model and she has been practicing prancing around the house with her head lifted in the air. I will be sure to get pictures. It is on the 24th of Feb.
GPA took in 35 news dogs due to a track closing, all of whom need foster homes, so I will be getting "Cooper" this Thursday. He is a little guy and only 3 years of age. Sheba kind of misses not having a foster here to boss around and she is really missing her Daddy, just like her Mommy. She has her senior bloodwork panel done on Thursday, and Cooper is having his neuter done the same day, so Thursday might be a little crazy around here, with a dog recouping from surgery and Sheba suffering from all her shots. Cooper has never been in a home before, so that always takes a couple of weeks for them to adjust.
I am going to see if this blog posts......lets get those blogs updated gals!!!!
XOXO
Carol and Sheba

TEST

Since my very lengthy blog post would not publish the other day, I gave up and sent an email. This one is going to be short until I find out the sucker works......
We miss our Robert
Carol and Sheba

Pictures

How about my pictures of Obama from the TV????

I am BACK!!!

Well, I guess 6 weeks is way toooo long not to have been blogging. When I was in Michigan over the holidays I knew that you all knew what I was doing....pretty good excuse huh?
Well since I have been back, you all know that I was stranded in the house for 7 days until Robert flew in last Sunday. He took a taxi to the house and proceeded to get up Monday morning and make 3 copies of every house, condo, car we own. He spent 100.00 making new keys. He found a place locally that would make a Benz key without us having to order them from Germany. That involves sending the VIN number to Germany along with proof of insurance to get a key which takes about a month and costs 270.00 per key, so he was pretty happy when he only had to pay 30.00 per key. I hid a house key in the garage....etc.
Then he spent all day changing the thermostat on the Blazer.
On Tuesday morning our friends Shwn and Rochelle came from DC. They were able to watch the inogoration of Barack Obama on person TV's in the plane. I was so glad to wtach it together at home with Robert. It was so special to us. They arrived at 11:00 am and they brought us 4 copies of the Washington Post, the Washington Times and the Baltimore Sun, all collectable items. They also got us wach a cap that said Jan 21, Barack Obama, PRESIDENT of the USA.
We watche d the rest of the festifivites all day on TV and then left for the beach on Wed am. We got back late last night and they leaft on a 6am flight back today. We had a GRAND time.
They found out that no sales tax in Oregon is a pretty neat thing, as is the outlet mall by the condos, especially this time of year. We got things for 90 % off.
Suffice to say they came with 2 bags and left with 5......
Rachel, that gismo you got me for CHristmas that weighs your luggage really came in handy. Each of thier bags ended up weighing 49.6 oz.....They figured paying for the extra bags was most worth it for all they bought and the deals they got.
We out out to dinner for Seafood, layed around and had a fabulous time. No rain and it was about 60 at the beach.
They both fell in love with Sheba and I was so pleased that someone came all the way from DC to see us here. hint...hint....
Robert is taking a nap and I should really clean the house but I thought I better get some type of blog out there. As per normal, everyone else is doing a great job on thier blogs.
I have to take care of my ETSy orders tomorrow and run errands....

FASHION NO NO

Things are crazier here today than yesterday. ALL the flights are cancelled out of Portland, all the roads closed. It is a pitiful situation. Sheba refused to go out last night and finally could not hold it any longer, I let her out a 1am and she went down in the snow over 2 feet. We have had about a foot of snow but the drifts have made it seems like much more. Arrow has her purple coat, so hence she has created a fashion no-no. Purple boots with a blue coat/snooze. I thought of Macey when I put her boots on. She is ready for the elements the next time nature calls. I hear it is pitiful today in Holland too. I called Jean to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and she said church was cancelled, etc.....You will have a lot of snow for sledding tomorrow night. I will keep you posted how things fare out here in the Pacific NW, where it is NEVER supposed to get below 32....

SNOW, SNOW , SNOW

Even we have snow now in Portland, more than a "dusting" that shut the city down all week, now we do have a storm that is almost a never in Portland, the last big one was 5 years ago and I was snowed in for 5 days with NO DIET COKE. Rest assured that will never happen again, but things are a bit dicey out there. The airport is still open but you have to have chains on in order to drive or they will ticket you. Of course I have NO chains, so I will not be going anywhere soon.
Sheba seemed to like the snow the first time out, but she came barreling around the corner and did a body plant that resulted in a YELP, so the 2nd time she went out, Mom made sure she had her coat and boats on. No problem the 2nd time around. I am sending a few pictures in her green coat, minus the boots, I will get one of her with hat, coat and boots but she shies from the camera when she is all decked out.
I was so sad to get the word on Arrow today, that he has cancer, ( lympathic) and probably will not live long. I kinds wish he was back with me, I miss him, he is really a love bug. Have fun sledding on Monday, I may update before then, until then...I leave you with the Queen....

Macey's masterpeice framed

I am sure you all remember that GREAT picture that Macey made for me for my birthday. I am proud to say it is framed and hanging in my bedroom so it is the last thing I see at night when I go to bed. I love you Macey

New hat for Sheba

Here are a few pictures of Sheba in her new hat/PJ's...and one of poor Arrow in his coat trying to stay warm,,,