Saturday night with the dogs!

Okay, enough of this bone.  What kind of trouble can I stir up next?

Why did Sherry have to bring this little troublemaker home?  If she isn't biting my tail or my legs, she goes after my ears.

Amazing discovery!

Hey, did you know that fall has arrived?

I was out and about this morning and I couldn't help notice the changing leaves and the cooler temperatures.

Now don't laugh.  The last week, my days have been filled with chasing after an 8 week old puppy that is a bundle of energy and into everything.  My conversations have not been more advanced than, "Go potty, Morgan!" or "Good potty, Morgan, GOOD GIRL!"

I've actually slept "almost" through the night the last two nights and have not had a messy cage to clean out in the middle of the night or a puppy to bathe at 3:00 am in the morning.

Life is good.

The Black Tornado!

Here are some random shots of the Black Tornado!  She was startled when she knocked over my tote bag, but thrilled at all the "toys" she found inside.

 In this one, she had successfully dragged my purse out of the tote bag.

The picture of innocence!

J-Mac does it again

So if I say, "J-Mac qualifies for the Boston Marathon," some of you may say, "that's nice."

Well, J-Mac isn't just any runner.  Six years ago, Jason McElwain, was a high school student here in the Rochester area.  He is autistic, so the idea of him playing basketball for a top ranked high school seemed highly unlikely.  He settled for being the team manager.

Then one night, with his team up by a wide margin near the end of the game, his coach asked the other team's coach if he minded if he put J-Mac in the game.  What happened next is beyond any realm of possibility.  In less than 5 minutes, Jason scored 20 points, most of those three-pointers.

The home video of this event went viral.  I remember first hearing about it, thinking, "yeah, right!"  What happened when the buzzer went off would bring tears to even the most hardened soul.  Students stormed the court and Jason was lifted above the crowd.  Former President George Bush came to town right after that and J-Mac was introduced to him as he walked off Air Force One.  "You can call me George W," President Bush told him.

Jason now works as a baker in a local grocery store chain.  Last week I heard he was running in the Rochester Marathon this weekend and he had been training diligently for it.  Well, folks, Jason not only competed in the Rochester Marathon, he came in 15th place in his category and has qualified to run in the Boston Marathon.

Don't be surprised if you hear more about this remarkable young man in the future.  God bless you, J-Mac!

The newest Morgan picture!

Time to settle down.  Her latest trick is dragging my purse with a long shoulder strap across the floor and biting Molly's tail.  She likes the tennis ball but Molly keeps taking it away from her!

You can click on all the pictures in my blog to view them in a larger size.

Morgan is home!

My friend, Nancy, rode over with me to bring Morgan home this afternoon.  If you look at the post below this one, Morgan is the one in the second picture down!

Prior to Morgan, I have owned three Labs and every one of them cried all the way home.  Not Morgan!  She quickly curled up in Nancy's lap and fell asleep.  She slept most of the hour and a half ride home.  At one point, I said to Nancy, "There must be something wrong with that dog.  She is too quiet!"

Molly wanted to play with her, but of course, given the big difference in their size, that will have to wait.  One misstep from Molly and Morgan would be crushed.  So for now, Molly licks her and Morgan seems to like that.

I will post pictures tonight or tomorrow.

One last visit. . .

and then Morgan comes home!

This breeder will let you visit the puppies as often as you like after they are three weeks old.  I have visited most weekends but I wasn't able to go last weekend.  I was amazed at the change in the pups from two weeks ago.  They are bigger and more alert and "bouncy"!  They discovered a hole at the base of a tree where a squirrel buries acorns.  They competed with each other to stick their noses in the hole!

This "may" be Morgan!  There are two females and I get second choice.  As I said in an earlier post, both females are almost identical in appearance, alertness, playfulness and their love of attention.

After a very active play session, all six of them decided it was time for some rest!  At this age, just days under 7 weeks old, they play hard for 15 to 20 minutes and then stop for a nap.

How could anyone not just love Labrador Retrievers???

One week to go. . .

and the fear and excitement grows!

A week from today I bring home my new Labrador Retriever puppy, Morgan.

It's been 11 years since I had a new puppy in the house.  Am I up for the challenge of a puppy that will cry all night the first two or three nights?  And can I get her outside soon enough before she "goes" in my house?  And what will Molly think?  Molly, my 11 year old Lab, is accustomed to having me all to herself and being the Queen around here.

No, I am not having buyer's remorse.  I truly want this puppy and I spent months finding the right breeder.  But I also realize a new puppy in the house will turn my life upside down for a week or so.

Then I look at Molly and I'm quickly reminded of the rewards of having a Lab in the house that has been loved and raised well.  Morgan will be my fourth Lab dating back to 1985.  I can't imagine my life without a Lab.

Labs are extremely intelligent and perceptive.  They know when you've had a bad day.  That is when they lay their chin on your knee and look at you with those big dark eyes that say, "It's okay, I'm here.  Everything is going to be fine.  Now can we please go for a walk?"

I want to take Morgan to agility training when she is old enough.  None of my other Labs have done that and I think it would be fun for both me and her.

So stay tuned for more stories and lots of pictures of Morgan coming soon!

My favorite homemade soup

This afternoon I made a big pot of my kale and sweet potato soup.  LOVE that stuff!!!

There really is no recipe and you can make it a lot of different ways.  But here is how I made it today.

I started by cooking a whole chicken.  When that was done, I let it cool enough to handle.  Next I poured two big cans of Swanson's Chicken Broth plus a half can of water into a big pot.  I chopped up a half bunch of fresh kale and one big sweet potato.  I let that cook for awhile and then added the chopped cooked chicken, a large chopped onion, and a large can of tomatoes with the juice.  Towards the end of the simmering time, I added a can of garbanzo beans.

You add salt and pepper to your preference.

First off, the smell coming from the stove fills the house with a wonderful aroma.  Then that first bowl is soooo good!

But the best part of all, I have six single servings that I put in my freezer in the basement, two single servings for my lunches this week, and another, maybe two servings to eat this weekend into next week.

I don't know what I'd do without my upright freezer in the basement.  I buy meat once a month from "my" farmer who drives to Rochester on the last Friday of the month.  Sometimes I can go two weeks or more without cooking dinner, just by pulling out a single serving of "something" in the freezer.  Most of the time I label things with what it is and the date.  Sometimes I don't.  That's when I have a "mystery dinner"!!!

Twitter de dee

A year or so back, I signed on with a Twitter account.  I couldn't get excited about it so I let it fall by the wayside.

Enter my cousin, Rita, a Twitter addict.  She insisted I revive my account.  I didn't even remember my login name or password, but I managed to figure it out.

"Okay, are you happy?"  I e-mailed her.  "I'm back on Twitter."

I tried to revive the account and get more people/places/things to follow.  I had minimal luck.  I got frustrated.  So I sent her my login information and told her to get me connected with the ones she knew I'd be interested in, mainly Southeastern Conference college football.  She did.

That was this past weekend.  I went on a few times and noticed I wasn't getting many incoming tweets given the amount of those I was following.  Another thing that really irritated me.  I got a new follower that was a, well, let's just say it was an obscene thing and let it go at that.  I was ready to scrap this whole Twitter thing.

Tonight I e-mailed Rita and said, "I am not getting any incoming tweets.  What am I doing wrong?"

She couldn't answer that.  So I poked around some more on the site and thought, "What will happen if I click on "home"?  Whoa!  There are all the tweets!!!

Puppies! Which one is Morgan?

I went to visit the litter of puppies today that Morgan belongs to.  Morgan is either the one above, or this one

I get second pick.  The couple who gets first pick were there too.  She asked me if I had a favorite between "purple" or "lavender".  [Each puppy has a different colored ribbon around its neck]  I really don't.  At this point, I can't tell any difference in the two and their personalities haven't really emerged.

Isn't this picture just adorable?  This is the way Carol, the breeder, brought them from the house to the back yard.

This was the puppies' first time in the pool.  They didn't know what to think!

I just think the Labrador Retriever is the most wonderful dog in the world.