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| Week One: |
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| Not having gone on any adventures last
month, Jim and I started out our October fun early with a trip to
the Akron Zoo, on the second day of the month. Although much smaller
than the Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo, we really liked this little zoo,
which was kind of like a Discovery Place mixed with a zoo and a
little bit of botanical gardens thrown in for good measure. All the
animals are kept in very natural looking habitats, and the walkways
through the zoo are decorated in an Amazon/Mayan Temple motif. |
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Click this picture to see all the pictures from our Zoo trip.
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The Akron Zoo is one of 211 accredited world conservation zoos,
which participate in breeding programs to save endangered species. |
Just a quickie little health update:
Less than a week ago when I visited the doctor, everything was fine.
Unfortunately a couple days after that visit, I had a couple of sick
days, and then that infection acted up in my finger again. I've
actually been waiting on this to happen, so that I could get to
StatCare and get a culture to make my doctor happy with a diagnosis
of this condition (I'm sure that it's a herpes problem since I've
been dealing with this for years; but I can't find any of that old
medical paperwork and the doctor won't just take my word for it.
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I really tired to let the infection build up enough to get a culture
of the fluid in the blisters; but it just hurt so much, and my hand
began to swell up so badly, that I couldn't wait to get to the
clinic before I had to pop the blisters myself. My hand is doing
at least 75% better today.
Now I'll have to wait for it to flair up again, and really try to
get to StatCare soon enough to get a culture before it gets so
painful next time. |
Just barely into the first week of the month, and I
got a surprise in the mail today. The postman left an unexpected
box, sent from my mom. She hadn't mentioned that she was sending me
anything, so I was quite curious as I opened up the package. Inside
was this collection of masks! What a lovely and nice gift! Now I'm
going to have to spend some time in my foyer. I need to clean the
masks that are hanging in there, along with washing down the walls
while they are bare. Then I'll hang up these masks with the rest of
my collection.
Thanks Mom for this lovely gift! |
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Week Two: |
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The big project this week was cleaning
up the foyer so I could hang up all my new masks. I started by
taking down all the masks that were hanging on the walls and giving
each of them a "bath". |
Omigosh! I have piles and piles of
masks lying all around my kitchen. At least they are all clean
though; but now there's dust flying all about the house. I'll be
scrubbing walls and vacuuming up all that dust and dirt in the foyer
next. MMM, love that smell of Pine Sol.
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Look how the sun, dust and dirt (from
the past school construction) and 12 years worth of age have stained
the wall. Only the areas under the masks have stayed white over the
years and through previous cleanings. |
| After cleaning the masks and the walls,
the next step was simply re-hanging all the new and old masks. Did I
say simple? Pushing in all those pins gave me blisters on my thumb!
Plus it took nearly as long to decide on the placement of the masks
as it did to clean up the whole room. However, I do have to admit
that it was a nice walk down memory lane on a nice sunny afternoon.
As I selected each mask, and while I decided to where to hang it, I
remembered who had painted some of the masks, and my friends and
family that had given me many of the masks. |
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| I have so many masks that
they are hanging all around the house and not just on that one wall.
There are several masks in my bathroom, a few in the living room and
a few in my computer room. If you notice in the last picture, there
are even masks in the kitchen. Of course, I can't forget to show you
the rest of the "main" collection. Opposite this wall of masks, is
another wall that is filling up with the rest of the collection. |
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Thanks again for helping
me build this beautiful collection.
(And keep
in mind that there is still plenty of room left on my walls for
more,
and Christmas isn't too far away.
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| As I was out taking pictures of my
yard, the back door blew shut. Zeus didn't know what to make of me
being outside and him being inside. (That's my reflection in the
glass
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As I clean up the foyer, Zeus looks on.
MouseOver CloseUp |
The morning glories have taken on a
slightly yellow color but still seem to be growing,
and are still putting out the purple flowers every day. (that's my
shadow
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Week Three: |
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Most of the spiders in my yard have
left with the cooler nights moving in. However, there are still a
few brave arachnids around here. A few are hanging out underneath
the kitchen window awning, while this one is up in the corner of the
porch taking advantage of the sunshine that hits the porch during
the day.
MouseOver this picture for a CloseUp |
| Although the cosmos are
getting thinner out back (the cold nights are really affecting
them), they're still putting out some really large and beautiful
blooms. I've been cutting flowers daily and keeping a vase full on
my desk for a few weeks now so that I can enjoy the flowers while I
still have them. I'm sure it won't be much longer before cold rainy
weather blows in and it'll be time to clean out this flower bed. |
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| I finally had to go to StatCare! Oh,
but not for me. My infected finger had gotten a little worse, but it is
finally healing up. Boy did that hurt pretty bad off and on!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get to StatCare next time and get this
diagnosed and something to make it heal up a little bit faster. |
I had to go to StatCare to take Jim
though.
My poor honey had been running a low-grade fever for a couple days.
Having tried to get ready to go to work one morning, Jim just didn't
feel well enough at all
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and instead came over to my house and woke me up. Of course, I got
some good reading time in (James Patterson's Lincoln Rhyme detective novel,
Cold Moon. I had already finished up a book called
Dark Inheritance, a sci-fi book about bonobo chimps being
genetically enhanced.) while waiting for the doctor to take a look at Jim.
Afterwards I took Jim home, and he got to use my daytime sick bed
(otherwise known as my couch) instead of me for a change. While Jim
napped, "Doctor mIkIE " ran out and got popsicles (the perfect cure
for fevers along with Tylenol), the prescriptions filled, and the
perfect food for when anyone is sick - soup! It took another couple
of days for the antibiotics to kick in; but finally Jim is getting
back to his old self. |
I had the dogs out with me as I was
taking the pictures of the fading cosmos, and I got some pictures of
them. We've been fighting a few fleas and everyone is about ready
for a small haircut and trim before Winter sets in.
MouseOver to see what Joxer
thinks about getting a haircut.
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| The kidz enjoying a rare
sunny afternoon in October |
| Brrr! Fall has definitely swooped in
on us now. We've been lucky to get up to 60 degrees during days, and
most of the days have been very rainy. Being Ohio, not only does the
temp fall along with the rain in the Fall; but the wind blows the
whole mess in on us. Needless to say, my plants and flowers are all
starting to die out. The whipping wind really whipped up on
the cosmos out back. Nearly half of the plants are dead now, and
quite a bunch of them have been blown over. They're looking pretty
raggedy now; but I'm going to have to wait until we get another
sunny day before I have go out there and pull them up and close up
this flower bed. |
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| The mint and the morning glories
aren't faring much better. The mint went to seed nearly a month ago
so it's been pretty decimated for a while. But as you can tell from
the pictures earlier this month, the morning glories have really
taken a hit. Within just two days, they went from reaching clear up
into the birdhouse, to just a shriveling batch of yellowing leaves.
When I clean up the cosmos, I'll be ripping out all these dying
vines too. |
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| Once again, Tara showed
off her psycho, I mean psychic, abilities.
As I was working on this
update, Tara sent me NEW pictures of Ella. Hmm, just in time to make
the update.
But I can't blame Tara, just look at how cute Ells is now! If she
was my baby, I'd be filling up all these pages with her pictures.
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Ok, if the pictures of the
pretty flowers didn't do it,
and the pictures of the cute doggies didn't do it,
then surely these pictures of an adorable baby
will bring a smile to your face.
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Week Four: |
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| It looks like it's about
time to really call my flowering season to an end up here in Ohio.
The recent cold, wind and rain have really done a job on the cosmos
at my house and at Jim's. Where they used to look so pretty, they
now look pretty crappy, scraggly and wind-blown. |
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| After a few more mornings
of frost, Jim's cosmos were doing even worse, so it was time to pull
them up. |
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| Of course, all this icky
weather has gotten to my cosmos too. I went out one afternoon,
between sprinkles, and pulled up all the dead plants. The following
afternoon, Jim helped with my yard work, and uprooted the rest of
the dying plants. As soon as we get a dry day again, I'll have to go
out and clear out the last of the morning glory vines from the other
flower bed. |
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| My new rose bush did pretty well this
year. Although it didn't produce any blooms, it grew up quite well.
Hopefully, it's roots have taken well, and next year, I'll have tons
of pink rose blooms on the school-side of my front porch. |
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The only thing left looking any good in
my yard right now is the pampas grass. At this time of year, it's
always quite huge and produces nice looking seed fronds at the top.
It should remain like this through the Fall, and as Winter moves in,
it'll finally die out and turn to straw. |
| Jim and I stopped by Tara's house for a
visit the other day. It's been a while since we were over and even
though I've seen plenty of pictures of Ella, I could really tell how
much she's grown once I was holding her. And what a little flirt
she's already becoming. Not only did she show off the newest thing
she's learned (waving hi and bye) but she's got the smile, coo, and
hiding her face trick down pat too. Tara looks a lot happier being a
full-time mom now, rather than working at Expert Auto. While there,
we also got to see Austin (who's really growing up too) when he got
home from school. |
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I have some disturbing news.
Yesterday (10/26), while up at Jim's house, Aries snuck off the
patio and ran off!
I noticed within about 5 minutes that Aries was missing and began to
look around. A neighbor of Jim's told me that she had noticed Aries
heading up the street just a few moments before. She didn't know
whose dog it was, or she said that she would have come and told me. |
Not only did Jim and I walk the neighborhood for hours searching,
but we rode in the car around and around the nearby streets. (I'm
still a bit chilled from hanging out the car window into the cold
air, calling out Aries' name.)
I've got my front screen door propped open tonight just in case.
(Hey! I watched ALL the Lassie films when I was a kid. Stranger
things have happened, and dogs have traveled hundreds of miles to
get home. Jim's house isn't even 4 miles away!) Jim's porch door and
garage door have been left ajar too, in the hopes that Aries will
return in the night.
This situation is really tearing me up.
You know Aries has his
problems. I'm sure he's got to be extra scared tonight. I can't
imagine that he was "friendly" enough that someone could have gotten
him in their house so quickly, so he'll be out in the cold and the
rain. (It's like having an autistic child wander off and go missing.)
Checking on the doggies website (Tales of the Pack), I see that, as
DO mentioned to me tonight in her role as "consoling mom", that
Aries' grandmother EightBall ran away once. I spent several
afternoons driving around the neighborhood looking for her back
then. As
mysteriously as she vanished, two weeks later, she returned to DO's
and then moved into my house. I'm going to go to bed, and hope that
Aries returns a lot faster than that!
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I got up the next morning
and began to compose a "lost dog" flyer, along with making phone
calls to the Humane Society and the county dog warden, to cover all
the bases, in case someone found him. My first call to the Humane
Society brought me great hope. They
had a call about a cocker that sounded like Aries, so they gave me
the contact number.
Anxious, but still scared to hope much, I called and described my
Aries to the lady who was holding a cocker her friend had picked up
the evening before. My heart took a giant leap of joy, as my
description of Aries seemed to match this rescued dog, and we made
plans to meet at Jim's house just before noon. A quick call to DO,
and we made plans to get over to Jim's and hopefully bring home my
boy.
It was the longest wait, but both the kind ladies (the one who found
him, and the one that cared for him overnight) arrived on time - and
with Aries!!
One of the ladies had found Aries, not in the direction
we had been looking; but nearly 3 miles away in N. Canton.
He had
been sitting out in the street in the middle of a busy intersection
(55th and Cleveland Ave).
An older couple had been trying to get him out of the road but
without any luck. They tell me that Aries was scratching at the car,
like he wanted to get in but was too scared to actually do it. This
lady, though, had several dogs of her own and had a lead in her car.
She was able to get him and put him in her vehicle. Her friend, with
a dog crate, was better situated to keep him overnight, and she fed
him and cared for him during the night.
Part of me feels bad for not getting more personal information on
these two wonderful women so that I could send them thank you cards;
but I had Aries in my arms again and wasn't about to let him loose
again.
I'm so very grateful for the kindness of these ladies and the
care they took of my Aries. I was smart enough to think ahead and
did take a few pictures on my camera to show them of Aries along
with his siblings, plus the web address of this site so that could
read up about all my kids. (So if you're reading this entry ladies,
me, my friends and my kidz want to send you a big
THANK YOU!
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The Annual Hallo-weenie Roast
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Once again, Cliff and DO had their
yearly Halloween hotdog roast party. Several of us came in costumes
and everyone had a great time. Using an old Dell box, the
ComputerTutor has turned into a computer.
MouseOver for a CloseUp |
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Even Spiderman drove in for the big
bash! |
Spidey catches an evil "Cereal Killer" (John)... |
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... while a neighbor (DO), in her
housecoat
and curlers, gets a picture |
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Kayle went trick-or-treating as a "Prom
Queen". Melissa looks to be recovered from the party at her house
last night. |
| Spidey and friends |
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Luckily, the winds that blew in the
cold yesterday also blew out the rain before leaving. Although it
was quite a chilly night, it was nice and toasty around the fire
cooking up the hotdogs and s'mores. |
Playing a game of darts in the
basement, Sean threw two of his darts at the same spot, and got one
to stick into the other. Bet he'll never do that again!
MouseOver to see this amazing dart throw up close |
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Looks like Spidey has gained some
weight while at DO's party tonight. He (Richard) must have eaten too
many hotdogs and s'mores.  |
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