***The Dog ***

This was taken of my little puff not too long ago...and she has been such a wonder since then. Actually she has been something of a little brat..while I've been recup-ing (that isn't spelled right but you get the idea...) from my mini-stroke, we've had some thunder storms, and since this little animal has an absolute terrible fear of thunder, naturally she made a big mess of things and escaped thru our wooden fence no more than ..0394 seconds after there was one boom of thunder one afternoon 2 weekends ago. I went out in the backyard to bring her into the house, and after looking looking and LOOKING The Husband and Youngest and I made the discovery that The Dog had torn a huge hole in one part of the wooden fence, and disapeared into parts unknown...

Needless to say, I was an absolute WRECK for the time that she was missing. It's amazing how an animal can become so very intwined in ones life. And this Dog has become so much a part of our family, that it was absolutely wrenching when she disapeared. 4 days of wondering where she was...driving over to the Animal Management Center to see if she'd been turned in..filling out endless paperwork to make sure she was listed as missing/lost and she needed to BE HOME WITH HER MOMMY!!! On the 5th day the management center called to say she'd been turned in...she only got as far as a block away, but the people I guess thot she would be better off somewhere else. Well..she is LAZY, so I suppose that if they tried to get her to chase a stick or ball or toy, they realized she just DOES NOT RUN AFTER THINGS..she does, however, take quite an interest in watching a ball roll past her, an especially enjoys watching toys fly thru the air across a room. But chase after them?? Ahhuuummmm.....Les' just say that it's a good things Dogs cant talk -- I know she'd say, "You want me to do WHAT?? RUN AFTER THAT??!!"

So -- we're all safe and sound in our little house. I'm feeling somewhat better and am now somewhat nervous, as I finally have a Dr. appt. this afternoon. It's been some years since I've gone to a Dr., mainly because at over $160 for a visit, this lil' trucker wife just does not have THAT kind of money. And in case anybody thinks that truck drivers are the cause of prices going up and up pleeezzee think again. We've had weeks with no pay...weeks where we've mae $120 and no insurance to cover anything...so NO -- that is a realy piece of poooheeyy...

Anyway ~~ There is just too much heat in the studio now for this little girl to attempt any kind of painting or cutting of paper or gluing of any kind. I'm tired a LOT more than I thot I'd be, so creating has been put on the back burner for now. The Youngest also got a new job working out on one of the larger farms in the area, so Yours Truly is driving him out to go to work every morning...The Husband has been pretty good about picking him up in the afternoon, but the drive for me has been this side of Hell -- Rush Hour in this area is always bad, and the road to the farm is mostly a two-lane thin road, and now that a lot of the farms are being torn up and made into Yuppie Mini-Mansions, the owners of said Mini-Mansions feels it's their right to race down the road at 10 miles an hour over the speed limit...making it quite dicey for me in The Very Fine Automobile to make it a safe journey. I'm a wreck by the time I get back in the City and sit at the dining room table an get over my shaking...My question is ~~ If these people with more money than they know what to do with...If they drive those stuiped $60,000 vehicles 10 miles an hour over the speed limit...wouldn't it make sense to drive that expensive of a vehicle a little slower and safer?? On Average, to repair a small fender-bender in one of those is OVER $10,000!!! -- Maybe becoming a auto-repair-guy is the way to go....

So --- I'm off to get some lunch...do some reading and get some laundry finished before I get to the Dr. office....My oh My -- and the Heat just keeps on melting things...as of 11:00 a.m. the temp. was reading 94 Degrees....yee gads...

Lady of The Tulips - who is wondering where her new shiney glitter pens have gone and expecially wonders if they've dried up in the studio in this spiffy heat....