HoundBlog

Well, the “procedure” went well and I am totally clean (in more ways than one!!). The doctor’s parting words were “see you in 5 years” and he MIGHT get lucky, but then again, he might not. The procedure itself was a piece of cake, but the getting ready for it was awful. I didn’t react well to the stuff he prescribed to do the deed, so I hope he’s marked my chart accordingly.

Well, that makes me healthy for this year at least 🙂

Today’s dog show saw Payne winning her class, but not in the Winners ring, Tigger going Reserve Winners Dog and Butterfly finishing third in her class. Tomorrow is another day as they say.

Not a lot else to tell. It feels like Sunday, but I’m glad it’s only Saturday. I need another week’s vacation to get over my vacation 😛

Love to all,

Margaret

Good morning everyone! Glad you’re reading this!

Well, I am all set for my “procedure” tomorrow. I have my stuff  including the pills that the pharmacy SWORE were not in the box with the powder (but they were and it said so on the box). Something to mix it with (they recommended Gatoraid, but I’m using fruit juice as I don’t like Gatoraid) and my chicken broth for lunch and supper today.

Ken very thoughtfully loaded the tp dispensers with fresh rolls and added backups on the back of each toilet, so I will have plenty to wipe with 😛 — He is such a nut!

I’m enjoying my day with the birds and dogs. I know tomorrow when I get home, that I’ll more than likely sleep most of the rest of the day, so they won’t get much of my attention. Then Saturday it’s all back to regular scheduled programming.

The Columbia, SC show is this Saturday and Sunday and Augusta is next Saturday, so I’ll have my weekends  full. Ken is working both of them, so it will be just me and the dogs.

Thankfully the temps are dropping for the weekend although not by much. Columbia is an outdoor show and I don’t do heat very well.

Wish me luck!

Love to all,

Margaret

Posting way late today –sorry about that.

Work was pretty steady all day today and I had no time to write a blog post. I finally got my linked server report to work – I’ve been working on that one for nearly two weeks now and was just about to throw in the towel. I don’t have the log in like I want it to be –it’s using my credentials and I never like to have reports that use my credentials to run just because it’s a bad practice for one and for another if I should quit or get fired, and they remove my login, then the report won’t run any more and that would cause someone else a problem. Since I’ve been on the receiving end of that very thing, I don’t want that as my legacy. I want to write good, clean code that works whether I am there to administer it or not.

Well, at any rate, they like the report so well, now I have a list of reports to create using the linked servers (this gives them historical data that was in the old database). Kurt also wants some charts and I am horrible at charts! Guess I will have another one of those steep learning curves to ascend 😆

I’m working from home tomorrow as I have to start taking the stuff that will clean out my innards in preparation for the colonscopy that I’ll be having Friday. I am NOT looking forward to any of it, but must suck it up and go on with the show. BLEAH!

John’s birthday is 10/2, Gina’s is 10/8 and Judy’s is in there somewhere — 10/6?? Anyway, cards will be going out and Happy Birthday to all!  (Just so you know I didn’t forget you)

Did I mention that we’re getting ready to move? Yes, we’re moving the office about 10 blocks from our present location into a newer building on 10/31. I have mixed emotions about the move — am afraid it will be complicated computer-wise and yet I’m going to be glad to get out of that old rattle trap buidling we’re in now that only has one working toilet in the ladies room and half the lights don’t work at all while the other half flickers. We’re getting new furniture (which means I might actually have a comfortable chair!), but the downside is that we’ll all be in one big room in cubes. They are supposedly large cubes, but still cubes with no doors. At least there are windows. We have no windows where we’re at now and it sucks big time. Trade-offs and compromise –that’s what life is all about 🙂

Guess I should hit the sack. Sweet dreams, y’all.

Love to all,

Margaret

I am home again — actually I got home Sunday. I had a great time in Atlanta. Caught up with some people I haven’t seen in awhile, saw some gorgeous Whippets and did a LOT of walking. The Metropolitan Atlanta Whippet Club did a wonderful job of hosting the show. They provided lunch two of the four days and had a lovely reception Saturday night at the Hilton with some tasty hors d’oeuvres and wine and cocktails (no alcohol for me as I was driving).

Spent yesterday doing laundry and cleaning house. Ken is a worse housekeeper than I am :lol:, but at least he HAD done the dishes.  I also went to visit a friend of mine who had a stroke (3rd one) and who now needs an operation to remove a clot in an artery in her brain. She’s also having siezures, so is not allowed to drive anymore (well, she shouldn’t have been driving anyway). I’m working on helping her place some of her dogs as she is just overwhelmed right now with her disability.

I talked to Eddie Sunday and he is doing fine. He is still waiting for an appointment with a neurosurgeon to discuss his problem. He has an appointment for an MRI of his knee next week. He’s worried about not being able to run once they do arthroscopy on it, but if he’ll allow it sufficient time to heal and to the physical therapy that will go with the surgery, I think he’ll be fine. Probably no marathons, but certainly the running he’s been doing lately.

Well, I have a lot to catch up on at work, so I had best run.

 Love to all,

Margaret

Good morning everyone!  Hope you woke up to as beautiful a day as I did! The air has a crisp texture to it that is so welcome after the wet-blanket heat we’ve been sufferring. Still no rain in the forecast, though and we are SO dry! Lakes, rivers and streams are so far down, it’s scary. The wild birds are emptying my feeder like they do in the dead of winter — usually this time of year, they are eating all the natural harvest from the woods, but there just isn’t much to eat out there.

Deer season opened last Saturday — early for us as it’s not usually open until the first frost. Guess it’s because there are so many deer that they need thinning pretty badly.  I’m also seeing more road kill lately in the form of oppossums and raccoons.

Working from home today so that I can put the final touches on a project without the usual distractions of people chatting around my cube and Wes calling me every 5 minutes to show me something or ask for something. It’s coming along fairly well, thank goodness! Of course before I could get that going, I had to do a “quickie” for Wes, but thankfully I already had something similar so just had to make a couple of changes and voila! Instant report.

Got to run. This will be my last post this week. I’ll miss you all.

Love,

Margaret

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend!

The weather turned off cooler and felt wonderful by Sunday! Although it was a bit overcast early, it soon turned into a glorious day.

We took Bella to her new home yesterday. I think it will be a good match and that Bella will be well cared for and loved. I have to admit, though, that I’m happy to see her go. She was a difficult dog.

Eddie had me worried all weekend. Yvonne called Friday (actually, she called Thursday, but I didn’t get the message as I had my cell phone turned off), to tell me that he was hospialized with what they initially thought was a TIA (transient Ischemic attack), but which turned out to be something rather different.

He had all the classic symptoms of TIA — disorientation, inability to move a limb and affected speech, but none of the apparent causes — no high blood pressure, no blood clots anywhere — very puzzling! They did MRI’s and CAT scans which didn’t show anything they were looking for, but something they didn’t expect.

His brain is too large for his skull.

He’s been working nights and drinking  a LOT of coffee. Those two things combined to make his brain swell and put pressure on his spnal column which in turn created all those lovely stroke-like symptoms.  We’ll know later what the complete range of treatment options are, but for now it’s cut out the caffeine and get more rest.

I leave Wednesday for Atlanta and 4 days of shows. I’m looking forward to the vacation! Ken’s taking the camper down and setting it up for me and I’ll take the dogs down later Wednesday. We show around 10 a.m. Thursday morning and I’m only taking 2 dogs with me. Ken’s staying at home to hold down the fort, so it will be a true break from everything. I’ll have no computer and only my cellphone to keep in touch. I need to find some books to take with me to read.

That means no blog most of the week. Maybe I can talk Ken into blogging for me while I’m gone…

We will see.

Have a wonderful day!

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you are all well.

Ken’s procedure went well yesterday with him recieving a clean bill from the doctor. He was sent home to sleep it off and awoke around 2:30 feeling pretty good.

It will be his turn to tease me in two weeks as I have my colonoscopy two weeks from today. While I’m not looking forward to it particuarly, it’s also not something I have a great deal of apprehension about.

Ken will not be working this weekend, so we get to play husband-and-wife 😆 I have a demonstration to do tomorrow at the anniversary of the opening of the dog park in Greenville that coincides with responsible dog ownership day. I’m taking my cresteds as representatives of a breed you don’t see to often. Janet is bringing Star and there will be others there with their dogs. Thankfully, the weather has turned cooler, although it’s supposed to be in the mid-to-high 80s tomorrow, at least that’s not insufferable.

Sunday, we take Bella to her new home and then on to the bird show. This time, the bird show is having seminars and a “show” rather than just a bunch of people selling stuff (birds, bird food, bird toys, etc). I think that will be interesting!

Guess I should get back to work. Have a great day and a super weekend!

Love to all,

Margaret

Well, we made it through another anniversary of 9/11 without any major mishaps. I’m glad for our country.

We did get some rain last night. We need about 3 solid days of rain, but I don’t think we’ll get that. I’m glad, though, that we’re getting what we are as it’s far better than the nothing we had. I’m also very glad that we haven’t had to deal with any of the fires that have plagued other parts of the country. Since I have an outdoor thing on Saturday, I’m equally glad that temperatures are about 10 degrees lower than they have been and are supposed to stay that way through the weekend.

I heard from a friend of mine that the Whippet E-Zine had done an interview with the breeder of one of my dogs. This interview is packed with photographs of her mother, father and grand parents along with other dogs peripheral to her pedigree. That alone was worth seeing, but this guy has some interesting thoughts on where our breed came from and where it’s going.  If you’re interested, the interview of Daniel Lockhart of Saxon Shore Whippets is HERE. This would be the owner/breeder of Reba’s parents and Butterfly’s grandparents.

Pam sent me a joke last night about a woman who got stopped by a traffic cop for speeding, who, when asked why she was speeding told the cop she was late for work. He asked her what her profession was and she answered that she was an asshole stretcher. Incredulous, the cop asked just what exactly that was. Her reply was that she stretched assholes from less than an inch up to 6′ in diameter. He asked her what they did with them that large and her reply was “give them a radar gun, and put them under a bridge to catch speeders”. The last bit was the mastercard commercials’, Ticket $95, look on the cops face, priceless tag line. Although I’ve heard (or rather read) the joke before, it still gave me a chuckle. What made it even more funny to me is that Ken goes in for his asshole stretching tomorrow.

And, with that thought, I’ll leave you for the day. Hopefully with a smile on your face…

Love to all,

Margaret

Good morning everyone. As we begin today remembering those lost in the attacks 6 years ago, I count my blessings. I am blessed with a loving family, a devoted husband, good health, good friends and all the material things I need (roof over my  head, food on my table, a bed to sleep in). I thank the good Lord for all of these blessings and many more.

One of my nightly rituals before going to bed is to tell everyone good night and kiss most of them in the process. I don’t know why, but I was noticing smells a lot as I gave out good night kisses and, besides the one or two who definitely need a bath (mental note to issue baths to those individuals), the last of my kisses went to Sebastian. Sebastian is a dog of unknown years, but who is exhibiting signs of age now. he’s definitely grayer, definitely slowed down and is thinner. He’s a quiet guy who is very unassuming but his smell is exquisite. He smells of sunshine. Literally. I had to give him two kisses just so I could get another whiff of that smell. I slept well last night with that smell in my mind. I dreamed of sunny meadows and bright butterflies flitting from colorful blossom to colorful blossom and birds singing in the trees. I awoke rested and refreshed this morning. I guess that’s my version of aromatherapy…

I hope you all have a wonderful day today!

Love to all,

Margaret

Good morning everyone! I hope your weekend was restful. It was hot and dry for us despite initial weather forecasts of cooler weather with some rain. That was pushed out to Tuesday and we badly need both. Our yard is brown and my garden is full of weeds and grass as it has just been too hot to work in it. My hostas are non existent and the hydrangea has not bloomed at all this year.

We went to see the Bourne Ultimatum yesterday. Matt Damon has packed on the pounds since his last Bourne movie, but he still runs, fights and acts like he’s fit. The camera work in the fast action shots gave me a headache, but Ken says we were sitting too close to the screen (I think I still would have gotten a headache from it). The popcorn was also lousy — way too salty and didn’t taste freshly popped at all although we were at the first screening of the day, so it should have been fresh. We’ve only been to that particular theater once before as we usually go to Greenwood, but we needed to get some things at Sam’s Club, so went to Anderson instead. The plot was pretty good — certainly all I would expect from a Ludlum authored book and overall too believable in scope.

My rescue girl goes to her new home next weekend. I will be glad to see her go. Her rescue has not left me with the warm and fuzzy that most others have. She’s been a tough girl — tough on my old and weak dogs that is. She’s chomped 3 of them, so that now I keep them segregated whenever she’s out of her crate. She’ll be in an only dog home, so it won’t be an issue where she’s going.

Well, that’s about it for me. Y’all take care of yourselves!

Love to all,

Margaret