HoundBlog

Gosh! Another month is down the tubes! This year has just flown by! And what a ride it’s taken us on.

Eddie got good news the other day. He’s staying in the DC area (well, that’s relative good news – he’s NOT going to Afghanistan or Iraq).

Ken actually had a full weekend off and we had nothing planned to do. Of course that’s not how it ended up, but we tried. He might have this weekend off as well. Of course it’s no secret that car sales are down and even BMW has been affected. We just have to look at the silver lining and appreciate the rest he’s getting while they are slow.

He’s worked 6 and 7 day weeks and 10-12 hour days for the past 3 years, so he’s sure entitled to a rest!

That’s all the news from South Carolina!

Love to all,

Margaret

Today was a VERY good day!

I managed (with help) to fix the Reporting Services website that I totally screwed up Sunday — that will teach me to try to do something as intricate as install Sharepoint Services when I’m so totally distracted by something as serious as Butterfly missing.

But, as they say, all’s well that ends well.

I also fixed Ken’s computer tonight.

He had all of a sudden not been able to view videos on YouTube. Since I have several there and since two or three of those are his favorites, this was a major big deal for him! It kept saying he needed the latest Flash player which he and I both attempted to download and install several times to no avail.

Tonight, I was doing his SP3 installation for Windows XP and when that finished I decided to try it one more time. I don’t know if it was an update gone bad or what, but SP3 seems to have fixed it and now he can see flash videos on his computer again.

That should make him pretty happy when he gets up in the morning and sees that he can access them again.

Ought to make me look like a heroine in his eyes for a day at any rate…

Hmmmmmm…….maybe I’ll finally get that Chinese dinner I’ve been wanting for over a month now…..??

Ya think?

Love to all,

Margaret

Image by eyespi20 via Flickr

Good morning everyone! I sure hope you had a great weekend (and to judge by Becky’s email, they certainly did!). Our weather, once we got past Friday was fairly nice. Cool, crisp nights followed by warm, sunny days. It should have been perfect.

It was anything but.

When I got home from work Friday, I discovered that Butterfly was missing and the fence next to the gate in the back yard was almost completely down. I’m just surprised that more dogs weren’t missing than Butterfly and truly surprised that out of all the Whippets that could have been gone that it was her that was missing!

So, Ken and I spent the next two days scouring the area, he tramping through the woods and me driving up and down gravel roads calling and calling. We put up signs everywhere with her photo on them. No phone calls came — which was not a good sign at all.

In the past, whenever a dog has gone missing, we usually get a phone call within hours of putting up a sign, but not this time. Not one single phone call. No sightings by us. We had no idea which direction she left in and no idea where she might have gone.

This morning, I kept hearing dogs barking in the area. I hoped and prayed it was because there was a white whippet running loose, but still didn’t come across her despite driving around some more and calling and calling and calling.

Then, I came home and got ready for work. Ken left for work and I was paying some bills that needed to be paid before leaving for work myself and then there were lights in the driveway and my dogs barking. I got up from the desk to see why Ken had to return and there he was, with Butterfly in his arms…..oh my! How the tears of joy flowed from us both! He was late for work, but that didn’t matter. Butterfly was home!

She’s a bit scratched up and seems to have come into season, but I don’t think it’s time for her to be bred just yet, so maybe she’s not PG. If she is, well, we’ll deal with that as it may need to be dealt with. She was hungry and ate and when I left for work was sound asleep in the softest bed in the house.

So, here I am — stuck at work, exhausted from 3 nights of virtually no sleep, but life must go on for us as we’re the providers for our little four-legged family. A four-legged family whose lost sheep has come back to the fold…

Thank you, Lord.

Love to all,

Margaret

Tags: Dog, Whippet

Good morning everyone! I hope your week is going well.

My class is going fine and I’m learning lots of new things. Hope to get something up for the company as soon as I can. I think they will be very pleased with it.

I have a match to judge on Saturday, but that shouldn’t take long as I’m only judging a couple of classes.

Delilah is better but still not her usual self. I hope she gets back to normal soon.

That’s about all there is to tell you.

Love to all,

Margaret

Image by eyespi20 via Flickr

Hi everyone. Looks like a beautiful day is on tap for us although the temps are supposed to get up to mid 80’s. Still, not terribly bad.

I talked the vet into letting me  bring Delilah home last night. I stayed in the exam room with her for nearly an hour and she would not eat. I told him I didn’t think she WOULD eat if I left her either and assured him that I was capable of handling things if her condition worsened. As soon as I got her home and offered her something to eat, she gobbled it up, so I was right (again). Now I just have to keep her quiet for a few days while her stitches heal. She’s in an ex-pen in the dining room right now, and for some reason Tigger is barking at her. Guess he can’t understand why she can’t come out and play. If he won’t quit, I may have to move her to the back room so she can get some peace.

I did a dumb thing this morning. I love cappuccino, but don’t have an esspresso machine. Thought I would just make some really strong coffee and add some dark hot chocolate mix to it to “fake it”. Well, I tried putting the hot chocolate mix in with the grounds but the coffee maker didn’t exactly like that, so stopped up on me. 🙁 Everything is in the sink soaking now and I’ll run some white vinegar through it to get all the gunk cleaned out. I did get coffee out of it, but it wasn’t very good.

I finally sent off Nikki’s registration papers Saturday. After much hem-hawing around, we ended up naming her Ableaim Nikki’s Not Naughty (Much) . It so totally fits her! 😆

Well, work is once again beckoning.

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy Monday the 13th! Hope you aren’t superstitious!

Well, our weekend was a mixed one.

I had a SQL seminar thing to go to, so Ken puttered around the house doing various things. He cleaned some stuff off the back porch (although it doesn’t LOOK much cleaner) and took some things to the thrift store.

Yesterday, while feeding the dogs, I noticed Delilah had some bloody discharge, so instead of going to Greenwood for my long-awaited Chinese dinner, we went to Anderson and the Vet’s office. Turns out she has pyometria (an infection in her uterus) and had to undergo an emergency spay. She was scheduled to be spayed this year anyway, so other than the expense (about double for emergency vs. normal, schedule), the spaying is no big deal. Of course we feel bad that she got sick, but sometimes that’s just life. I was hoping (faintly) that one of my lottery tickets would be a winner and would help pay for the surgery, but no go there.

I’ll pick her up this afternoon and she’ll be coddled for a few days while she recovers.

Gas was down to $2.96 per gallon. That’s the sum total of my good news.

This week will see me in class Wednesday through Friday for more on Sharepoint. This is a more in-depth class than the first one was and I’m planning on deploying and building my Sharepoint database the following weekend while the database is slow. I’m looking forward to the class as Sharepoint is a hot item right now and adds panache to my resume. Not that I’m looking for a job, but you never know….

Well, guess I should get back to work. Don’t want to tempt any job fairies.

Love to all,
Margaret

All week this week I’ve been typing the date a day off. That’s how I’ve felt I guess — a day behind.

I made quiche for supper last night and it was so good, I thought you might be interested in the recipe. It was also pretty easy to make.

Base Ingredients:

Pie shell (it took 2 for these measurements and make sure they are DEEP DISH)
2 cups half-and-half (use low fat for a heart healthy recipe)
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
5 eggs

Beat the eggs, add the parmesan, salt and pepper and hold on to your hat.

Optional stuff — the really cool thing about quiche is that you can put all kinds of stuff in it and it’s always yummy. Last nights’ had:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed ham
1 can chopped spinach drained well

put all this solid stuff in your pie shells arranged evenly over the bottom, then pour your egg mixture on top.
Bake in a 375º oven until brown on top and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

I’ve seen recipes that include artichoke hearts, hot sauce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms and they all sound wonderful. Vary the cheese with your other ingredients — cheddar is not the only cheese in the universe! I can see cauliflower with bleu cheese, chicken with salsa and monterey jack cheese — well, you get the picture I’m sure!

It’s light on the tongue but very filling. We had the quiche and a green salad for dinner and Ken took some of the leftovers for lunch today. Oh and it smelled wonderful cooking!

Ok, now that I’ve made you hungry…..gotta run

Love to all,

Margaret

Hi ya’ll. It’s raining like crazy here and I should be in bed taking advantage of great sleeping weather, but here I sit wide awake and wondering why.

Last week was one of those frustrating weeks where nothing went as planned. I made it through though and this week is going much better so far.

I have a seminar to go to Saturday on SQL server stuff. Don’t know what we’ll be doing Sunday, but I’m sure we’ll find something to keep us out of trouble. It’s a cinch we can’t afford to do much. With the stock market like it is our 401K’s are looking pretty shriveled, so we’re watching our spending like many others are.

No dog shows until next month when we’re planning on going to Greensboro and then either Savannah over Thanksgiving or the following weekend to Winston Salem. Ken still doesn’t know what the plant’s schedule will be over Christmas as there have been many changes and tons of rumors flying around. Sales are down for BMW, so there’s no telling what they’ll do. They are laying off most of their temporary workers, but Ken’s job is secure. It’s going to be a hard candy Christmas for a lot of folks.

I’m hoping to hear from Chrystalyn this week. I think she was supposed to get her first report card and I want to find out how she did with the changes and new school. I’m a bit worried that she still hasn’t made any friends.

Well, I really need to get into bed and get some sleep. Y’all take care.

Love to all,

Margaret

Good morning! TGIF to everyone! I hope your week has been MUCH better than mine which has been rather frustrating. Dealing with people who have no common sense is the absolute pits. Oh well, it’s Friday and the weekend is ahead of me, so I will resolve to put all that behind me now.

Last weekends’ dog shows didn’t turn out too well. Tigger was Best of Opposite sex both days, but he had to get Best of Winners in order to get any points. Butterfly got into something during the week before the show and had a big yellow stain on her show side that 8 baths would not get rid of. She was Reserve both days.

We have one show this weekend — Saturday only, so maybe we’ll do better. We’re planning to go to Greensboro and Savannah next month and those will be our last shows of the year.

Ken’s working Saturday, so I’ll be taking Tigger and Butterfly with me to Augusta. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Gotta run — have a great weekend everyone! Stay safe and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.

Love to all,

Margaret