HoundBlog

Last night, Ken and I took Yvonne, Eddie and Randy to our local Mexican restaurant for dinner. We had a great dinner, then went home and got caught up (well, maybe not totally) on each other’s lives. Ken went to bed around 10:00 and I stayed up a bit later, but finally had to call it a night. They’re leaving this morning to head down to Louisianna where they will be attending the wedding of one of Yvonne’s friends and visiting with her family. They’ll come back up here next week on their way to Virginia Beach, so we’ll have a second visit with them.  I would love to talk to Eddie about his experiences in Iraq, but there just wasn’t time these last two days. We did talk a bit about what he’s going to be doing going forward. I asked him if he was going to learn  any foreign languages and he said no, but that he was seriously considering learning Chinese as he would receive more pay if he had one of the “hot” languages — Chinese, Korean, Farsi or Arabic — I asked him if he had any plans to go to the language school out in California and he said no, but he knew quite a bit about the school, so I think he’s probably checked it out.

All this talk of languages made me think of Kitty’s son, Matthew who has taken quite a few languages in college — last I heard he was taking Swahili and Chinese. He has quite an affinity for language and picks them up pretty quickly. He graduates this year and will be entering the Army.

Our new server is supposed to be here today (snow willing in the North). It was supposed to be here yesterday, but got held up in Chicago. Guess it will be a really long day today as the push is to get it up and running and the database transferred and the program update installed and tested. I hope we can get it all done tonight, but I’m prepared to come tomorrow after the show is over to finish up.

Well, I need to get back to work.

Y’all take care!
Love,

Margaret

Happy Valentines Day! Ken had a little stuffed dog dressed in a bee costume sitting on my chair this morning. I had to cry as not only was it so sweet of him to do, it’s message of “bee mine” brought back memories of Mom Bee and how she and Granddaddy loved each other so. It feels good to be following in that tradition of love and companionship.

Eddie and Yvonne arrived last night. Eddie got here around 9:00 pm and Yvonne got in sometime after 11 pm. We could only spend a few minutes with Eddie as we had gone in to Anderson to pick up a dog from the vet’s and it was after 10 when we got back. We were both really tired and had to get up at 4:00 am. I’m afraid we’re terrible hosts, but it can’t be helped. We’ll see more of them tonight. Ken said he was getting off at 3:40 pm today and I’ll get off at 4, so we’ll be home by 5.

They had a challenging trip trying to transport 3 cats and 2 dogs and 1 2 year old. Talk about a zoo 😛

Ken’s surgery is scheduled for 1pm Monday. They say they didn’t find anything on the MRI and offered to try to remove it again in the office, but Ken declined. He’s been in such pain after the last attempt, I know he want’s to be totally out of it when they try again. I’ll let you know how it goes Monday and you keep him in your prayers.

The Greenville semi-annual dog show is this weekend. This is the first time in years that we haven’t a dog entered in it. I will be there all 3 days as I am obedience trial chairman for the Greenville club, so will be organizing stewards and judges for the obedience trial on Friday. Saturday, I’m the co-ordinator of the all-breed health clinic that the Chihuahua Club is putting on. We have over 100 dogs pre-entered in this clinic and more are asking for appointments every day. It’s going to be very successful as our past ones have been, but it’s a long day although very busy. Sunday will be an easy day. I just have a meeting to attend and since I’m the club Secretary, I guess I had best not miss it :). One of my puppy buyers is going to come Sunday with the dog she bought from me so I can see him again. At any rate, I shouldn’t be there more than a few hours on Sunday. I’ll probably go home and collapse, though. Ken is working all weekend.

Well, you’re all caught up now.

Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Margaret

Hi everyone!

Ken and I went to Charleston Saturday to see the “What D’Ya Know” show that’s on NPR radio on Saturdays at 11:00 am. We didn’t get to play the quiz, but had a good time being part of the audience.

Today, two of our dogs were photographed for an article going in the Greenville News on the “diversity of the species”. They photographed my little Chihuahua with an Irish Wolfhound to show the differences in size and my hairless Chinese Crested (yes, Ma — one of the uglies) with a Shih Tzu that was in full coat to show the differences in coat types. It’s supposed to be in Friday’s paper, so will have to  make sure to buy a copy so I can enjoy their 15 minutes of fame.

Eddie called and they are delayed getting here by a day. They still have some cleaning to do at the house. He says they’ve already had several people look at it, so hopes it sells quickly.  They had to rent a trailer to put all the “stuff” in that they didn’t trust the movers to take :O. At any rate, we’ll see them tomorrow and that will be very nice!

Have spent the day today immersed in Great Plains security. Logistics wants a popup to go away. Well, I can’t make it go away, but I was able to prevent someone from acting on it. Now we’ll have to see if these changes are what they REALLY wanted or if they were just blowing smoke.

Got to run!

Hugs,

Margaret 

There was a time when being thrifty
Was a virtue; now it’s a crime
Where once I thought was really nifty
My kids say don’t squeeze a dime.
Now my cost-cutting is “penny pinching”,
My bargain shopping “so uncool!”
I guess at my age that’s not important
But I hoped to teach my kids that rule

Of a penny saved is a penny earned
And money doesn’t grow on trees
It’s just so easy to get burned
With taxes, tolls and fees

Put aside a nest egg for needy times.
Life’s not all milk and honey.
You’ve never lived through lean times,
But rest assured, they’re coming.

è¿é

Hello everyone. I hope you are all well.

Ken had an MRI yesterday. He won’t find out the results for a couple of days, but the surgeon decided he wanted to see just what he was dealing with in Ken’s belly. I will keep you all updated. He’s supposed to have whatever it is removed next week sometime. The initial diagnosis was that it’s a lipoma which is a benign fatty tumor, but I’m thinking the surgeon doesn’t really KNOW what it is and has decided he needs to c-h-a (cover his a$$). I’m really concerned over  the amount of pain he seems  to be in from this thing. That just doesn’t sound *benign* to me.

Talked to Eddie the other day. The movers are coming today to begin packing them up. They will leave Monday for our house, spend a couple of days with us, then go on down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and a friend’s wedding. Am looking forward to seeing them and Randy.

No answer from Gina on sizes, etc for the kids. Ken and I are prepared to shop this weekend, though, if we get the necessary information. We want to be “good” grandparents.

Got the news today that we are set to go ahead with an upgrade to our SQL server to SQL 2005. I’m kind of excited! We have a deadline of 4/23 to have it installed, upgraded and running. Fortunately, it isn’t only me that will be working on the project, but we will use an outside contractor to help do a lot of the work. They have already done 20 or so of these, so I have a lot of confidence in their ability. We have already talked about how we will do it and I have begun working on cleaning the data that we’re going to have to move over to the new server.

What about this crazy weather??? The weather report yesterday said our high was supposed to be 55, but when I got in the car last night, it said it was 70 and felt it! Not that I’m complaining as I LIKE 70 degree temps, but I had left all the dogs in as I thought it was supposed to be cold. I put them out this morning and I know it was 34, but it feels pretty warm right now, so I suspect they’re enjoying the spring-like weather as much as I am.

Charlotte called me last night. I swear — that poor woman LIVES a soap opera! Now her daughter’s ex-husband has committed suicide! Did the deed with a double-barrelled shotgun. I can only imagine how awful that was. Charlotte and Deni were having to clean it up!!! YUCK! I told Ken that if he ever decided to do away with himself he had to find a method that was NOT messy! He looked at me rather strangely and informed me that doing away with himself was not going to happen as he liked breathing too much. I breathed a sigh of relief.

How about that nephew of mine, Colin?? The awards just keep pouring in for his Crystal! I’m so proud of him!

Well, I reckon I’ve rattled on enough for one day. I need to get back to the grindstone.

Take care!

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy hump day! Yesterday I worked from home and what a busy day it was! It started at 5:00 am with logging in to work and getting some reports started, then I ran Teddy to the vet at 8:30 to drop him off to have some teeth pulled (he retained some baby teeth, so those had to come out), then back home to work to finish up some reports and begin others.  I left the house at 4:00 to go pick Teddy up and take Bruno to the vet for his skin problem.

We’re going to try a dip on him to see if we can get him to stop itching so much. Poor guy is just miserable.

I’ve been having an interesting e-mail conversation with Gina (Chris’ wife) who has been telling me what terrible grandparents Ken and I are because we don’t constantly send her stuff for the kids. She just doesn’t get it that it’s hard to be a good grandparent if the kids don’t tell you what is going on or what the grandkids need. She told me today they need clothes. Did she tell me sizes? no. Did she tell me what kind of clothes (shorts, jeans, coats, shoes??) no. I’ve asked for sizes, colors and if they have any favorite cartoon characters they like. Oh — and I made sure to ask for her current address so we can be sure to send them to the right place.

Maybe my memory is at fault, but I don’t remember needing my mother or father (or Ken’s mother) to provide clothes, food and shelter for my kids nor did I expect them to. I didn’t think they were terrible grandparents, either. Guess this generation just has different expectations.

Well, guess I need to do something productive today.

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend! It’s been fairly cold the last few days, and windy which makes the cold feel even worse. Everything in my house is so full of static electricity that we are all uncomfortable touching anything — even each other! I could bathe in static guard and not get rid of it all.

We had a mini-superbowl party last night. Charlotte came up and we had wings, smoked sausages in barbecue sauce, veggies and dip, deviled eggs and a fruit tray to snack on. I deliberately stayed away from chips and sweets so we were relatively healthy. Of course, Ken drank beer and Charlotte and I drank wine, but no one had too many. Charlotte was rooting for the Bears while Ken and I were pulling for the Colts. I think we’re all thankful that it wasn’t a total blow-out.

Ken went to bed at half-time, so he didn’t know the outcome until he got up this morning. He felt kind of bad as he teased Charlotte when she first got here that we were going to watch a movie called “See Chicago get their a$$ beat” :P, but not too bad.

Well, I need to get back to work.

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy Groundhog day! We’ll probably have 6 more weeks of winter whether the hog sees his shadow or not, since that’s just the way of things.

Our winter storm yesterday was not too exciting. There was some ice build up on the ground, but none in the trees or power lines, so it was a bit hazardous driving, but we kept our power. Ken drive the 4-wheel drive truck in to work and was grateful to have it as the closer he got to Greenville, the slipperier it got. I worked from home so didn’t have to brave the roads. By afternoon, most of the ice was melted. I should have taken pictures of what we had with the colorful cardinals that pecked around in it for food, but didn’t turn the camera on.

I have a project to complete this weekend so I’ll be working at least Saturday and depending on how long it takes, perhaps Sunday, too. Ken’s working all weekend, so we won’t be in conflict with each others’ schedule although he said they were only planning to work from 6 until 12 Sunday instead of the normal 6-2. They shut the plant down at noon yesterday because so many people didn’t make it in to work (it was icier in the northern counties), so we’ll see if that schedule stays true.

I hope your experience with the winter storm was as uneventful as ours was.

Well, I’ve got to get back to work.

Love to all,

Margaret

Well, here we are with a month of the new year behind us already. 😮 Time seems to be going by at a faster and faster rate the older I get. It sure taxes my memory to have it go by so fast!

Ken goes to the doctor today about a lump on his side. He’s complained about it for some time now, but the family doctor kept telling him it was a lipoma and nothing to worry about. I don’t know how he could have know definitively without doing some kind of biopsy, but there you go. At any rate, the pain has gotten to the point that Ken couldn’t ignore it anymore and so he’s been referred to a surgeon. Ya’ll keep him in your prayers that it’s nothing.

I worked from home yesterday and in between working got a ton of laundry done, but still have 3 loads to do. I don’t understand how 2 people can dirty so much stuff! There’s just something not right about having 8 loads of laundry for a weeks worth of wear. Of course one load alone was dog toys 😛 and one of the loads left to do is dog bedding, but that’s only two loads out of all that either were washed or need to be washed.

Eddie, Yvonne and Randy will be here the 12th or 13th for a few days. They are in the process of moving to Virginia Beach, VA so Eddie can begin his schooling with Navy Intelligence (is that an oxymoron ❓ ). I’m looking forward to seeing them. When they leave, they’ll be going to Louisianna to visit with her family. I hope they can stay through the weekend so they can go to the dog show with us, but we’ll see.

Well, guess I need to get back on the job.

Love to all,

Margaret

ps — update on Ken — the doc tried to remove the tumor, but it was too deep, so he will go in 2 weeks to outpatient to have it removed. Ken said he was going to be REALLY sore once the local wore off..:cry:

M

Charleston shows went well. Teddy and Tigger both won their classes on Saturday while the girls each went 2nd in theirs. Sunday saw Teddy, Tigger and Nell winning their classes and Nell going reserve winners bitch.

We went to see Bebe’s second gymnastics competition where she finished 2nd overall on the beam for her age group. I’ve uploaded pictures of some of her routines (could not see them all and we missed two of them due to getting there late) in an album here on the website. You can find it HERE.

Ken scared me to death yesterday. He fell down the steps of the camper, bruising his right elbow and upper arm pretty badly. Of course he would not go to the hospital for X-Rays, but did take some Aleve for the pain. He *said* this morning that he was OK, but was moving stiffly and I could tell he still hurt.  I wasn’t there when it happened, but he said he made so much noise falling down the steps that people 3 campers over came to see what happened. I’m glad he didn’t hit his head although that might have knocked some sense into him (NOT).

Came into work today to over 200 emails, so am working through those. Guess I should get back to them. Hope you enjoy Bebe’s pictures (and those of the girls she competed with).

Love to all,

Margaret