I Kicked A Chair

Which is rather an odd title for a post...but not quite as odd as if I had titled it "I Kicked The Bucket"...now that would be an odd title.

Now what was I doing?

Oh yes...I kicked a chair. Accidentally, of course. I was reaching into the fridge to retrieve my water bottle while simultaneously executing a grand battement to the rear. I like to multitask, OK? Anyway, I just forgot the chair was there behind me, that's all. Not very comfortable, but no damage done -- to the chair or to the foot. Now, if it had been a grand battement to the front...that might have tipped the chair over, not to mention hurting my *pointed* toes. :)

Have you noticed this is a random post? Yeah I know, I'm way overdue for one. Used to be I did one like every few weeks...now I'm doing good to do one every few months. *Sigh* Life has gotten more complicated...which of course is the natural turn of events, but still......

I kicked the dishwasher door once too... I was pirouetting around the kitchen, and the door was lying open at about ankle height... Yep. Didn't know ballet was so dangerous, did you?

Speaking of which, I'm not taking ballet again this next semester. :( I will really, really miss it. But I can't afford it. Taking it as a class is not very expensive, except that the time is right during the time that I'm at work...y'all know that I work for an elementary-age daycare, right? So yeah, it's been costing me quite a bit to be at the class twice a week. When you only work 2 1/2 hours a day, working only three days is a whole lot less moolah in your check than working five days. And I can't afford to go to a studio to take lessons, so I'm stuck. Guess I'll just have to keep chasse-arabesque-ing around the house, and repeating my cabrioles at the kitchen counter. Ballet has helped me a lot in becoming more graceful and balanced.

On the other hand, I will be taking voice class again, which should be fun. I do like to sing, especially when I'm warmed up and can correctly hit the notes!!! 'Course, if you believe the old cowboy saying, everyone can sing - just not everyone can carry a tune! ;)

Change of topic: Went to the dentist today.

Now, if you happen to like going to the dentist, would you please leave me a comment? You deserve an award or something. Personally, I strongly dislike going to the dentist. It's nothing personal, really. In fact, my current dentist is a very nice gentleman...actually, the entire dentist office is very nice, from the receptionist to the techs to the hygienist to the dentist himself. They're all very friendly, smiley, and chatty. Like, very chatty.

The main hygienist is a sweet, tough little lady from New Jersey who has more stories to tell than you can shake a stick at, and can usually manage to keep up a running story the entire time she's in your mouth -- I think it's intended to take your mind away from what's going on. It's either that or watch the television two feet away from your head. And I'm sorry, but there's rarely anything worth watching on tv...but that's a whole 'nother rant. :)

The dentist is a very nice gentleman. Likes to banter and make you smile. However, he has a habit of asking questions while his fingers are in my mouth. Which I usually end up answering with a 'uh-huh' or 'uh-uh', because what else can you do with someone's fingers in your mouth, short of biting them?

I actually had gone to the dentist last week...bleh. He said I needed to come back today...double bleh. You wanna know why? He said I had 3 cavities...triple bleh, literally!!

I don't know about you, but I don't like needles. Like, I really don't like needles...REALLY don't like. Especially in my mouth. I mean, some parts of your body seem like they should be exempt from needles, you know what I mean? And mouths seem to me to fall into that category.

However, given the choice between the needle and the drill...bring on the needle!

I should say needles...

All three of those cavities were in the same area, oddly enough. The lower right jaw. Maybe I don't brush as well there or something?????

So first he puts in there a roll of cotton soaked with some sort of slightly-numbing goop. And then comes the first needle. And it pinches. Like, really pinches. Half my brain is saying, Just relax. Relax. It'll be better if you relax. While the other half is screaming, There's a NEEDLE in my MOUTH!! GET IT OUT!!!! My whole body tenses, my head pushes down hard on the chair's headrest, and every muscle strains -- some trying to leave the chair, others trying to keep from leaving the chair.

And then he pulls out that needle after like 10 minutes... OK it was probably more like 10 seconds or less, but it sure felt like a long, long time!! He swabs the area, tells me that there will be zero pain -- his exact words, zero pain -- with the next one, that I won't even feel it.

He lied.

I felt it. Granted, I didn't feel it very much -- just a little pain, a little discomfort. But I felt it.

This time he pulled it out and really did walk away for 10 minutes to give it time to kick in. By the time he came back I felt like that needle had been pumping air into my cheek and tongue, because they both felt like balloons. Again -- uncomfortable, but definitely preferable over the drill, all by itself!!

Meanwhile, as two sets of fingers (the dentist's and the tech's) are in my mouth, and all sorts of other tools as well, I'm trying my best to relax. It didn't work. So instead I focused on the tv.

They were playing some show called 'World's Strictest Parents'. It seemed to be this suburban family, mom, dad, and a couple young kids, that takes in rebellious teens and whips them into shape.

Now, I don't know about you, but I grew up in a Christian home, home educated, and usually hung out with other people who were also Christian and home educated. So pretty much all the families I saw were the same as mine: the children were obedient, respectful, and even cheerful with their parents. I sort of figured that was the norm. Then recently I started working for that elementary-aged daycare, and I realized pretty quick that what I was used to seeing is actually the exception! The majority of families don't seem to be very firm about obeying the first time, or being respectful to adults and to your parents, or obeying with a good attitude, or any of the other things that I was used to.

I was watching this show, World's Strictest Parents, and thinking, "Wow, are they supposed to be strict? They look normal to me!" I have never been taught to think that insisting on first time obedience, with a good attitude, and respecting your parents and other people...is strict. It's a foreign idea to me. Frankly, I thought these parents were doing really well, and the kids seemed to be shaping up pretty good, really responding to this kind of parenting. The parents never got mad, never got frustrated, but always showed that every action had consequences. When the teens did well, they were praised, and maybe even allowed to go out for a little while. But when they complained, were disrespectful, used bad words, refused to do the chores assigned to them, etc....there were always punishments. Usually pushups, but sometimes they also had to dig large holes in the ground. Again, when these were completed, they were always praised, and any good behavior was always reinforced with praise.

Interestingly enough, after having looked this show up, the family of the show is actually Mormon. Not too surprising, but I wish they were Christian.

Anyway....

I promise it will not be as long again before I write another random post...or even a meaningful post. When I have little time, I have a hard enough time managing the weekly Sunday Stills and now Simply Snickers. Did you happen to notice that both names have two words, and both words start with 'S'? I'm not ADD at all, now am I?!! :)

Wishing you all a blessed New Year!!

Sunday Stills -- Odds and Ends

Today's Sunday Stills challenge is Odds and Ends, so I took a look around through my camera lens and this is what I found.

Here on my computer desk, a broken bracelet that I have yet to fix, sitting on top of a stack of books, notebooks, and textbooks.
On the fireplace hearth in the living room, a pile of cat toys, dog toys, markers, and books.

In my bathroom, the sink and counter, containing the cat's water dish, my jewelry box and earring hanger, hand lotion, mouthwash, a spray bottle for wetting my hair, soap in a soap dish, and a comb.

My bedroom desk, the higher shelf contains all my collections :). But the desk part of it holds a whole bunch of old magazines, and clutter, and the cat's food dish...and, at the moment, the Skeeter-cat!! :)

That's all for now, check the other Sunday Stills contributors for other photos!! :) Have a blessed Lord's Day!

An Award and a Meme

Brooke tagged me for an award! Isn't that sweet?!!


Rules:
1. Thank the person who gave the award.
2. Copy the award.
3. Post it on your blog.
4. Tell seven things about yourself that your readers don't know.
5. Link seven new bloggers as recipients.
6. Notify the winners with comments on their blogs.
7. Keep being awesome!

Thank you Brooke!!

These are really random.... :)
Seven things:
1. I like roses and daffodils and sunflowers best...but I like all flowers, except green flowers. Green flowers don't really seem like flowers at all.
2. Of the four seasons, I like winter the best...but that may be just because I've never lived anywhere where it gets REALLY cold in the winter. If I lived somewhere colder I'd probably like spring or fall best.
3. I enjoy Christmas the most of all holidays...and yet Easter is to me the most wonderful of all. I enjoy Christmas because of giving gifts, the chilly weather, the warm and jolly feelings everyone has...but Easter is the most glorious, because then we celebrate our Savior's resurrection, and the amazing, astounding gift of salvation.
4. I love beading jewelry...but otherwise I'm not a particularly crafty person. I don't really care for sewing, needlework, or quilting, and most other crafts don't hold my interest for very long.
5. I don't think our family could survive without bread. We eat a lot of bread, in various shapes and types: tortillas, store-bought whole-wheat bread, homemade whole-wheat bread, homemade sourdough bread, rolls, flatbread (or pita bread), crackers, etc. etc. etc.
6. I love old movies!! The majority of movies that I have watched in my lifetime were made before the 1980s or '70s...more like the '40s and '50s! I particularly love old westerns, but old musicals -- and other old movies too -- are great.
7. I am a very type-A person... A perfectionist, an overachiever, a worryer/stresser, on organizationalist... I am trying to be better at this, and the Lord is helping me get better at lot of that stuff, but that is what is natural to me.

I'm now supposed to tag 7 people... hmm... just 7? No, I think I'll tag

1. Danielle at A Country Rose
2. Kryssy at Pretty As A Blue Rose
3. Becky at Texan Gal
4. Grace at Grace's Blog
5. My aunt Moira at Quilted Snail
6. LeAnna at Thoughts and Whatnots
7. Jennifer at Ranch Girl Diaries
8. Sara at Lovin' Every Minute
9. Ranch Wife at Musings Of A Ranch Wife
10. Kate at The Days Of My Life
11. The Cowgirls at Trails Of Tennessee

With the award done, Kryssy also tagged me for a meme:

Six Names you go By:
Rebekah
Bekah
Reba
B
Nick/Nicko
Aunt B (by my niece and nephews)

Three things you are wearing today:
White turtleneck shirt (with mashed potatoes and avocado smeared in strategic places, thanks to nephew M!!)
Black corduroy pants
Pink fuzzy slippers (gotta love fuzzy slippers)

Three things you want very badly Right now:
To go to bed
To be with any of my very dear friends
To know for sure God's will for the next few years of my life

Three things you did Last Night/Yesterday:
Exchanged Christmas presents with my family
Made and discussed blessing ornaments (a family tradition -- we make ornaments to represent specific blessings of the past year)
Delivered plates of Christmas goodies to neighbors

Two things you ate today:
Turkey!!
Turtle pie (yes we ate more than just turkey and turtle pie, but those were definitely the most significant!!)

Two People you last Talked to on the Phone:
today I talked to my bro.-in-law D, and my friend K

Two Things you are going to do Today/Tomorrow:
Tonight: go to bed!
Tomorrow morning: sleep in!

Your Three Favorite Beverages:
Water
Apple Cider
Hot chocolate

Now Tag 5 People
ummm...yeah... I don't have the energy to do that all over again... I just tag the people I tagged for the award above...and anybody else who wants to do it!! :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!


...remind me next year not to stay up till 11:00pm both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...not the best of habits :)

Prayer Request

UPDATE 12/25/09: B passed away this afternoon. Although the family and friends are grieving, we all agree: what better way to celebrate Christmas, the remembrance of when Jesus came to the earth to save us, than to go to heaven to begin eternity with Him? And while this will bring a shadow, a sadness, on every Christmas from now on...still it is joyous for B, as now he is in the arms of his Savior. I appreciate your prayers as we deal with this, it is hard but we are very happy for him. Please pray for his wife, daughter, stepsons, mother, and the rest of his family and friends. I can't even imagine the pain his wife and daughter are experiencing right now. But at least it was quick, it wasn't a long-drawn out, slow painful death. There is much to be thankful for. But it still hurts.

Folks, I know y'all are in the middle of Christmas goings-on, but I ask that you stop and take a moment to pray for some friends of ours. A very dear couple that used to attend our church, they moved and have been going to a different church for a while now, but they are still dear to us... We just got the call that the gentleman, B, is in the hospital, the doctors have no real idea of what's going on except that two days ago he got a horrible headache. They tried emergency surgery to see if they could remove whatever's going on but whatever it is has moved into the brain stem. He is on respirator life support tonight and they plan to take him off of it tomorrow. The family of both husband and wife have gathered, so they will be there tomorrow when they will take him off the respirator.

Now the doctors do not know what this is or what is going on. We know, however, that this is no surprise to our Lord. In fact, He could heal B right now if He chose to do so. However, He could choose not to heal him. Oh, pray for strength that we do not question His choice, and that if He chooses to call B home, that even in grief we glorify Him. If it be His will, obviously we request a healing...if this is not His will, we painfully say, not our will, but Yours be done. I'm so thankful that we know B accepted Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior a couple years ago, and that if he does die tomorrow we know he will go straight to the arms of the Lord.

I know it's a lot to ask while you're in the middle of all your Christmas festivities (not to mention some depressing news), but if you would stop for a moment and remember us in prayer...for where two or more are gathered, He is in the midst of them.

Thank you, and I wish you all a blessed Christmas!

Simply Snickers - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

The night was dark and a cold wind blew
As the worshippers gathered from near and far
The church filled slowly, pew by pew
And the parking lot filled up car by car

Each person here, the young and old
Held candles, lit by a single flame
The church was dark and the lights shone bold
As they gathered to honor the heavenly Babe

‘Twas many years ago He came
In a world so dark He shone a light
God Almighty, born a Babe
Became a man, so He might die

His death and resurrection bought
Salvation for each person here
He was born for this, oh happy thought
Man need no longer live in fear

These were the thoughts of every one
Of the people in the church that night
As they contemplated what God had done
And each little candle shone so bright

They sang the carols, and praised their God
For the bountiful blessings of the year past
Then silently, in reverent thought,
They prayed for strength for future tasks

Bells filled the dark and quiet night
They each one left and went their way
And in their hearts they held the light
Of the Baby born on Christmas day

poetry prompt from Simply Snickers

Christmas Scrambler

What could be more fun than solving a Christmas word scrambler? (well, making one up, of course!! which is why I made one up and am now posting it...ehem...) Have fun, folks! I'll post the answers right after Christmas so y'all can see how you did -- I will also allow the comments at that point, but not until then (or else you'll give away the answers to everyone else!!). They're in no particular order, so solve away! Merry almost-Christmas!


1. msharcsti

2. tasr

3. lgane

4. rete

5. wfonkales

6. stenreps

7. gnemra

8. ymra

9. rmyre

10. mheltbhee

11. apcefelri

12. hpsedsrhe

13. twaehr

14. yabb

15. dhloyia

Mark Lowry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all! and may God bless your new year!

Mark Lowry is a Christian comedian (with ADHD!!), but he is actually a very deeply spiritual man. Those who traveled with him in the Gaither Vocal Band for many years have said that down under all the jokes and goofiness, he has a relationship with the Lord that is very deep and alive. These three clips (back to back) were taken from his Mark Lowry On Broadway show, and while they aren't necessarily meant for Christmas, I think they are extremely applicable. He wrote Mary Did You Know (Buddy Greene wrote the music), and sings it in the third clip.

By the way, just a side note, I do not agree with him in that he thinks Jesus did not know who He was while a baby. Personally, I think Jesus, being fully God and fully man, knew right from the beginning. But that's not really a big deal at all, and I think he's right on with the rest of his doctrine in this video.

Home Depot/Dealing With an Atheist


Mary and Jesus


Mary Did You Know

Sunday Stills and Simply Snickers

Well, I know I'm posting pretty late in the day, but what can I say? I've been busy. Classes over for now, but still busy as can be. This morning we had to leave early for church because we were doing some songs and a dramatic reading this morning...and then this afternoon I was out running errands.......well actually, if you can keep a secret.....I was doing Christmas shopping -- shhh, don't tell anyone!! Anyway, this is the first chance I've had to post these.

First of all, y'all know about Sunday Stills. Here are my photos for this week's theme, Christmas decorations. I didn't have time to take photos of all our decorations and all...well, to be truthful and honest...we don't have all our decorations up yet. Between finals, and being sick, and all, we just haven't had time yet. Yes, I know -- four days till Christmas. Oh well. Not this year. We do have a tree, though (got that last Friday), and I figured I'd just post photos of the tree decoration saga. Because, of course, it was photographically documented. As is pretty much everything I do. But you know that already!! ;)

First step -- soaking. Yes, that is a bathtub. Do you like my equine shower curtain? Remind me sometime to post photos of my horsey-decorated bathroom. :)


After soaking overnight, it was ready to be put up and decorated. However, when we went to put it in the stand, we discovered *gasp* it was too big!! So I got out the trusty hatchet and whittled it down some. I've never yet chopped down a Christmas tree, but I have whittled one! (no, I did not take this photo, my mom took it for me -- ditto with the one two photos down)


Here we have it upright, and all the lights properly strung. Children, this was done by professionals. Do not try this at home without the help of a qualified professional (i.e., mom or dad!!).

And then we must organize the ornaments. Just because one is an only child does not mean that one does not have Firstborn Child Syndrome -- in fact, one may even have an overdose of it.

Ornaments organized and evenly distributed. Ain't it purty? (Oh and by the way, this entire time I'm talking on the phone -- isn't speakerphone wonderful? -- to my lovely sister Kryssy...yes I know I said I was an only child, we're not actually sisters, just very very close friends and cousins).

Kind of an interesting tree topper, if I do say so myself. Creative, at least! Some people have stars, some have angels...ours changes every year, this year I tied a silk pointsettia on!

I'd like to highlight a few specific ornaments for your enjoyment. :)

First of all, the felt and glitter star. Oh yes. I made this in Sunday School when I was three years old. Amazing what a mom can hang on to, isn't it?!!

Some of my younger readers...ehem...may recognize this as an easy craft, called Cat's Eyes (or God's Eyes). Fun little ornaments, easy to make. I don't know if you can find instructions somewhere on the internet, because this is not something I can really describe. You have to see it done to understand. It's easy once you catch the hang of it, though.

When I was very little, my mom got a bunch of papier-mache ornaments and let me paint them. Over time, however, we lost some, and eventually about four years ago I got in a painting mood and repainted them. Here's one of my favorites, the mitten.

This snowman is another one of them...and the mouse on the bicycle was a gift from a relative years ago.

It's kind of hard to see -- can you see the plastic gold ball? I call it the kitty ball, because this is the one ornament that not only can our cat play with, but we actually encourage her to play with it. Our previous kitty used to play with it some, but Skeeter-cat doesn't really care for the tree, doesn't want to come near it, and refuses to play with or around it. Cats. No accounting for taste.

This ornament is very special, it's always one of the first ornaments hung. Mom and Dad got this on their first Christmas after being married.

Finally, this is a very unusual and creative ornament. It was given to me by a kid at work. Very inguenuitive, I think! She colored a pinecone, put a thumbtack in the top, tied a rubber band around the thumbtack, and slid a paperclip onto the rubber band, and gave it to me! Isn't that sweet?

Alrighty, Sunday Stills taken care of, I'd like to introduce you to a new weekly challenge that I'm just starting to participate in. I probably won't do it on Sundays usually, because I already have Sunday Stills for that. This is a weekly poetry challenge, Simply Snickers. This past week's poetry words were: fair, fine, frost. This is what I came up with:

Winter Dawn

How fair the dawn, how fine the frost
Tender twigs encased in ice
Sunrays, gently beaming, toss’d
Fields of virgin snow entice

The frozen wind, the winter chill
The barren trees their vigil keep
Sun’s slow rise o’er distant hill
While woodland creatures gently sleep

That's all for now, folks! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Ballet Final Recital - Fall 2009

Woohoo - I actually got it up within a week of the recital! :)

OK, so here's the whole group, at the very end:

Did you find me?

So here it is -- The Seasons

Sunday Stills -- Technology, and a speech

What with it being finals and all that, I totally forgot about Sunday Stills...whoops. Anyway, the theme today is 'Technology'. Having just finished a major presentation in my accounting class on a company called Akamai Technologies Inc., that of course is what first came to mind. :)

So no I don't have any stunning photos at the moment, but I can tell you to go look up http://www.akamai.com/ They are an absolutely AWESOME company, they help the entire internet run better but particularly specialize in helping their customers' websites run better. Below is the essay version of my part of our presentation.

Have you ever booked a flight online, downloaded music, videos, or software from the internet, checked the daily headlines on the web, or done online banking? If so, then you’ve probably used some part of the services offered by Akamai Technologies without knowing it. Akamai Technologies, Inc., is a business offering internet technology to companies worldwide. Akamai’s website states that "Akamai routinely delivers between 10-20% of all web traffic." 10-20% might not sound like a lot, but it is a large amount when you think of the traffic across the globe. Akamai’s website has a page that shows a visualization of all internet traffic right at this moment. The earth’s continents are shown in green, and internet activity, around the world, is shown in orange and red – and a lot of that traffic is right here in California. 20%, or 1/5, of all of the activity worldwide is going through one company – Akamai.

Akamai has five main categories of services, called ‘solutions’. First is Application Performance, which is broken down into three subcategories: Web Application Accelerator, IP Application Accelerator, and Site Analyzer. Web Application Accelerator and IP Application Accelerator are very similar – one helps specific programs run better on the internet, one helps the entire internet to run better. This will be explained in greater depth in the technology portion of the essay. Site Analyzer monitors websites and applications to help your company understand better what works for your customers and what doesn’t.

The next section is Advertising Decisions, which is broken into the subcategories ADS descriptive segments and ADS predictive segments. ADS descriptive segments, when utilized for a company that markets specific products, monitors for that company what consumers have bought; ADS predictive segments monitor what consumers show an interest in and therefore might buy. Both these services help the company decide which products to market and how best to advertise them.

The third solutions category is Professional Services, divided into two levels: Enterprise Services and Standard Services. Enterprise Services is a package including their high-end consulting service and implementation of their technological advances in getting your company successfully on the internet. Standard Services is simply a more streamlined version of the Enterprise Services: not quite as deluxe but still very helpful.

The fourth section is Digital Asset Solutions, with four subcategories: Akamai HD Network, Akamai Media Delivery, Electronic Software Delivery, and Stream Analyzer. The HD Network delivers video at HDTV quality, partnering with Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe. If you have an iPhone and play videos on it, you’ve used Akamai. The Media Delivery is for businesses that market digital media, such as streaming music or videos; by using Akamai, these businesses can handle more traffic, and provide better quality media, than they would’ve ever been able to using their own servers. The Electronic Software Delivery deals with making software downloads quick and easy, no matter the size or type of file. Stream Analyzer monitors trends in media streaming, so that companies can see what is currently popular and therefore how best to capitalize on these trends.

The final category is Dynamic Site Solutions, which is in two levels: Dynamic Site Accelerator, and Dynamic Site Accelerator Enterprise. Dynamic Site Accelerator, or DSA, typically makes the company’s website perform better – and five times faster! – without needing to buy extra, costly equipment. DSA Enterprise, is simply the deluxe version – all of Akamai’s technological advances put into one package.

Now that you know what exactly Akamai offers, let’s talk about who uses Akamai. Akamai’s website has a long, long list of customers who have discovered how much better their web services can run when using Akamai. Half of the Fortune 100 currently uses Akamai. Another team in our class is presenting Amazon.com, which is a customer of Akamai. Some other big names you might recognize: the NBA which uses Akamai to manage, control, and distribute over 200 million video streams, across the globe, through the nba.com website; Verizon, which utilizes Akamai to stream news, etc., to consumers’ phones without a great deal of extra cost; Weatherbug, which trusts Akamai to deliver their data quickly and reliably, even in the middle of a hurricane; Fox Interactive, which uses Akamai to provide speedy, flawless news and sports streaming, especially during major events; and Myspace, which uses Akamai to handle their volume of traffic while keeping their website performing quickly.

Well there ya go, folks -- no great photographs, but a speech that took me four weeks to prepare. I hope y'all enjoyed that! But if you want to actually see some photographs, mosey over to http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/ and see what everybody else came up with! :)

Ballet Midterm - Fall 09

Whoops...forgot to post this. It's been a busy semester. Wednesday is our final recital, so I'm a little late in posting this... :)

Anyway, I'm the one in solid black, cap-sleeve leotard, skirt, leggings, and tan shoes, blond hair in a double bun. I start in the front center and move to the far right.

Enjoy!

Oh and by the way, my beloved videographer missed the first few seconds of our dance. We started in a forward right-foot lunge, arms up over the head (the same position is repeated a few times in the dance), then stood up and brought our arms down to our sides. That's when the video starts. :)

Sunday Stills -- Pets

Today's Sunday Stills is the one-year anniversary! So he decided to make today's challenge the same as the very first one that started it all -- Pets.

As y'all know, I have two pets (not counting the various transient spiders): my Casey-baby and my sweet Skeeter-cat. Let's start with Casey.

Casey-girl is definitely a retriever mix, with what we don't know for sure. Personally, I really think she's half golden retriever, half Catahoula. But without doing one of those DNA tests, we'll never know for sure. However, she has a lot of retriever traits and a lot of hound traits, whatever retriever and hound mix she is. I think she is Catahoula because she has most of the Catahoula traits -- possessiveness, color (red with merled body), one two-colored eye (you can't see it in this photo), the coarse, heavy, feathered coat, paws each having a little bit of white, and a white-tipped tail. Anyway, she's my beautiful baby -- I luvs that face!!


Isn't she gorgeous??! This is the first photo I ever took of her, right after we got her from the pound. The vet said she was probably between one and two years old.

We'd had her not quite a year when I took this photo. I can look at this and see how young she looks compared to how she looks now. Her face and muzzle are a lot lighter now than they were then.

I love making her pose for treats. :)

This is her 'please don't make me get off the bed' look!!

About three years ago she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. She had lost a lot of hair, and she had become extremely sluggish and apathetic -- especially for such a big dog, and one with as much energy as she's always had. She got to where we had to actually lift her into the car to go anywhere -- the same dog that now leaps into the car, overjoyed to be going for a ride! Anyway, once we knew what the problem was, we could treat it. She now has a pill she has to take morning and evening. The easiest way to give it to her is in peanut butter.

She has a very accurate internal clock when it comes to peanut butter time, morning and evening, and she does not let us forget. She greatly enjoys her peanut butter.

I love photographing her from different angles and in different lighting. This angle exaggerates the shape of her face and accentuates the large hound-dog ears.

Here's another interesting angle, lighting and exposure very different, that gives a different look to her face.

But angles aside, she is my beautiful girl, my sweet Casey-baby. I love this dog.

All right, moving right along. Here are two older photos, taken with an SLR and scanned into a digital form. This was Charlie (his full name was Charles Lazarus). He passed away two years ago last January. Isn't he handsome?

I have always loved this photo of Charlie. It was one of those "oh look, point-and-click" moments, and this is what turned out. Doesn't it look like he's smiling and talking? I nearly expect him to say, "Well, I suppose you're all wondering why I called this meeting together..." :)

After his death we knew we wanted another kitty, but we wanted a kitten, a girl kitten. All the shelters had them, but they were asking quite a bit for kittens at the time. We ended up waiting a couple months. Finally, however, one of my friends emailed me that a friend of hers had kittens, a few months old. We arranged things, and brought home our three-month-old baby -- Skeeter. I look at this photo now, taken the first day, right after we brought her home, and she looks sooooooo small compared to how big she is now!!

She was so inquisitive -- she explored everything, the entire house, and never stopped moving for a few seconds put together! It was very hard trying to take pictures of her that first day, I couldn't get her to hold still long enough! She was curious about everything...

A sweet, tiny ball of fluff...

But not too sure about Casey!

Anything and everything was new and interesting and exciting!

Except for baths, that is. She just couldn't seem to keep her white paws white -- but who could when walking through dry ashes in a fireplace?? -- and I had to wash them off every so often during those first several months. She didn't like it.

And every now and then she would get this look on her face, a totally crazed look, like she was out of her little kitty mind. She still gets those looks, and still looks just as mentally deprived!!

She had boundless energy, and played with toys like there was no tomorrow.

'Course, she didn't like it when I dressed her up, either -- although I did it (and do it) sometimes just to annoy her. ;)

She's grown older, larger, and wiser, but she's still curious about everything, and has to be in the middle of whatever's going on.

You gotta love the glowing eyes. I hate that about animal eyes -- it's so hard to use a flash!!

She still doesn't like to pose for photos, and generally manages to turn into an odd shape whenever she sees the camera pointed in her direction.

But she is our kitty, and a beautiful kitty, and despite all her brattiness (Skeeter is a very good name for her -- she 'skeeters' around all over the place!), she is indeed well loved.

I suppose I really ought to to limit the photos to a dozen or so -- but why should I, when I have such wonderfully adorable pets to photograph??!! :)