Hummer and Hemi

You all know what a sucker I am for dogs. I have this love for large dogs...Alley is short, but still falls into the large dog category. I have always owned a large dog especially since I live by myself. Being outside the city limits of Longview on 3 acres, I feel more secure having an animal that will at least intimidate unwanted visitors. I recently gave Boone away ( my wolf dog that Uncle Robert gave me) because I was concerned about how he acted around Blake, Carter, and Dawson.

About 6 weeks ago, I began looking for a German Shepherd puppy. I had a difficult time finding any in this area. So, I got on the internet, as I have done numerous times, to continue my search. I happened across some German Shepherd puppies in Jefferson about 45 miles from here. So, I hopped in the car after lunch one day and headed to Jefferson. I came home that day with Hummer, even though he was not exactly what I wanted. (Yet another example of my impatience.) I continued to look for my dream puppy and found him at a kennel in Colorado. After a couple of weeks of pondering about whether or not to get him, I thought..."what the heck". I made arrangements to have him shipped to me after I got home from a school trip to Savannah, Georgia. There was some sort of confusion about the the exact date that the puppy was going to be shipped, so I did not get him on December 12th as I thought. You can imagine my disappointment. I immediately contacted the kennel in Colorado and they rescheduled the puppy's flight for Thursday, December 21. Okay...Great!!! I would at least have my new puppy before Christmas.....I thought!!!! Not!!!! There came a hellacious blizzard in Colorado the very day my puppy was to fly from the airport in Denver. All of the airports closed indefinitely due to all the snow. Again...I could not hardly stand it. But...Mother Nature hasn't ever considered my needs or wants and obviously wasn't about to start. My patience was gone, but there was nothing for me to do except wait, wait, wait. Finally, the kennel called with tentative plans to ship my puppy to me on December 27th (missed Christmas, but oh well...) Okay, swell...I will at least get my puppy before the first of the year if I'm lucky...which I have not been so far....I wonder if he will still be a puppy when he finally arrives!!! On December 26, the day before I am supposed to get my puppy, the kennel calls to give me the travel plans which must be approved by me prior to shipment. First off, let me say that most if not all airlines restrict the shipment of animals if the outside temperature is above or below a certain temperature. I had not even considered the possibility that it may be too cold for the puppy to travel. The original travel plans were for the puppy to fly from Denver to DFW to Longview. Great for me because I hate DFW and because it is a 3 hour drive from the DFW airport to my house. With that in mind you can imagine my reaction when the lady said, "Okay, the puppy will be flying on United Airlines in the morning at 10:00am, fly to Houston, change planes and fly on to DFW airport. The flight to DFW will arrive at 8:30pm. You can pick up the puppy at about 9:00pm. Is that acceptable?" The nicest thing I could think of at the moment was, "HELL, DAMN NO"! I was not about to go to an airport that I hate, pick up a dog that was supposed to fly to Longview, and drive another 3 hours home with a dog that has been cooped up in a kennel for 12 hours. Let me repeat, "HELL, DAMN NO"! She said very nicely, "We are having a hard time finding an airline that is shipping animals in the cold weather". I said to the lady in my nicest voice, "I would prefer to pick up the dog in Longview if that is possible. That narrows down the choices considerably since American Airlines is the only airline that stops in Longview. Would you please check with them to see if they are still transporting animals?" ... I went to the Longview airport last night at 9:00 and saw Hemi for the first time. He is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Now, I am trying to decide whether or not I will keep Hummer, too. I love them both...

Feelings of Christmas

It's beginning to feel more like Christmas... This year my Christmas spirit feels more like it used to when my kids were home anticipating Santa Claus. First, I celebrated Christmas with my kids and grandkids on December 17. Needless to say, I had to have all my shopping done by then, which gave me an extaordinary feeling of accomplishment and a very satisfying feeling of calmness well in advance of Christmas day. There would be no panic-stricken, last minute shopping for me. YEAH!!!

I got up Christmas morning at 5:00 and left for Whitehouse hoping to arrive at Windy's house in time to see the boys run down the hall toward the living room and the Christmas tree. I arrived at Windy's house at 7:10. Blake and Carter were already in the living room, but Windy had delayed the opening of the presents because Dawson had not yet paddled down the hall. (He had been up all night throwing up). Soon all 3 boys were around the tree opening up presents and screaming with delight at their new toys from Santa.

I left Windy's house around 9:30 and made my way to Deadwood. I enjoyed visiting with MawMaw and Papa and everyone else who came in during the day. When it approached 5:00pm, I knew it was time for me to think about heading home. I did not want to be on the road too long after dark. A few minutes after 5:00 I was on the road for home.
When I got to the intersection of 2517 and 699, I decided not to turn right on 699 which is my typical route, but instead went straight. When I got to Carthage, I turned onto the loop and headed for the 149 exit. I went a short distance and saw 2 German Shepherd dogs in the middle of the highway; neither of which made any attempt to move out of the road. I slowed down and stopped to watch them and realized that one of them must have been hit by a car. The other one was just sitting there with the hurt one and would not leave its side. I was only 3-4 miles from Aunt Renee's house so I thought I would get the hurt dog into my car and take it to her house and figure out what to do from there.

So I walked cautiously out into the middle of the road and quickly assessed the injuries. It seemed like the hurt dog was not hurt very badly, but one of her back legs had a couple of bad gashes that went to the bone. She also had blood in her mouth and my thoughts at the time were, "at least the blood is not gushing from her mouth". I thought that was a good sign. It only took a split second for me to realize that she was unable to move herself from the middle of the road, so I picked her up the best that I could and made it to the back of my car with her. She made no whimpering sounds or yelps of pain, which made me think even more that she must not be hurt very badly. The other dog followed and waited as I got the injured dog up and into the back of my car. The other dog immediately jumped in as well, which is what I wanted him to do.

I very quickly started trying to call Aunt Renee. She had left Deadwood about 30-45 minutes ahead of me, so it did not occur to me that she would not be home. She answered her phone, but she and Rowland had stopped by Larry and Jeri's house and they were still visiting with them. I decided to go to Tobi's house to see if he was home and thankfully he and Tasha were both there. This all happened within a span of 5-6 minutes. I left my car running and hurried toTobi's door and hollered that I needed help. Tasha got me a towel and we went out to my car. I noticed that the hurt dog's breathing was very shallow and I suddenly had the feeling that the dog was not going to make it.
We took her collar and tags from around her neck and ran back inside where Tobi started trying to call the number that was provided on the tags. I went back outside to check on the dog again. I opened the door to find that she had died. I ran back to tell Tobi not to worry about trying to reach a veterinarian.

Tobi took care of the dog that had died and my only option at this point was to take the other dog home with me for the night. So I headed home with the dog in the back of my car. When I got him home I realized that he was wearing a collar, but there were no tags. He was a very nice dog and adjusted to my house and this new environment very well. After a couple of hours, he decided to eat. We both made it through the night without much excitement. This afternoon Rowland called to see if I still had the dog because the owners of the dogs had just called him inquiring about them. I wondered how in the world they would know to call Rowland.

Well, remember that Aunt Renee and Uncle Rowland were at Larry and Jeri's while all of this was going on. I had talked to Aunt Renee a couple of times on the phone back and forth while we tried to figure out how to help the dogs. Earlier today, Jeri and her daughter had gone to town to shop and they saw a sign on the road saying someone was offering a reward for some lost dogs. Jeri put 2 and 2 together and thought it might be the same dogs, so she went back and got the phone number. Sure enough, they were. The owners of the dogs came to pick up their dog from my house just a little while ago. I was so excited to see them together. It was a tearful event.... I was so glad that I decided to go a different way home last night. You never know what kind of miracle is waiting to happen.

As I begin to pack up my Christmas decorations to store them away for next year, I have a happy heart and I know again what the Christmas spirit feels like!!!


This is one of my new German Shepherd puppies, Hummer. He has been with me for about 5 weeks. He and I have been PATIENTLY waiting for his new friend, Hemi, to arrive from Colorado. Hemi was supposed to be here 2 weeks ago, but the weather in Colorado prevented him from making the trip. Hemi will be here on December 27. We can't wait.

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies

Alley had an emergency c-section on Sunday, August 20. She had 6 puppies; 2 boys, 4 girls; one of the boys did not make it. I made it home with 5 little darlings and a momma dog that was not fully awake.

I was up most of the night putting the puppies in with Alley every 2-3 hours and then taking them out and putting them into their own beds safely away from momma.

I stayed home from work the next day exhausted from no sleep. I spent the day making arrangements for my veterinarian to board momma and puppies from 7:30am-4:00pm for the next two weeks so I could at least go to work.

At two weeks, one of the little girls died for some reason unknown to me, even though I knew something was wrong and did everything I could to help her.

This past week I kept the four remaining puppies at home and made a mad dash home at lunch to feed them. They are now 3 weeks old and doing very well.

I have decided to keep one of the girls, but I haven't decided which one yet. It depends on which one has the "Patti Personality"... you know....the daring, independent one, that rules the roost and puts everybody else in their place...

My Bullies

I know all of you are curious about my principal saga. Well, God is not finished with that one yet, so you will have to be PATIENT along with me.

This post is to announce that Alley will be having a new litter of puppies in about 10-12 days. If you have never seen a pregnant English bulldog, here is your chance. I took this picture today, while Alley was relaxing in the sun. Of course, she couldn't stand the heat for very long before she decided she liked it better inside where it was cool.

The last time Alley was pregnant, she had 4 puppies, but only two of them survived. She looks larger this time, so maybe she will have more. I had to give one of them to the breeder and I kept the other one until recently. Tobi and Tasha are now the proud parents of Tonka (now called Mack or Max).

I can't wait for the new puppies to be born. It is true that most English bulldogs require c-sections. It is also true that you can not leave the newborn puppies with the mother when they are not eating. The mother is awkward and can not tell if she lays on a puppy. Many puppies do not survive simply because the mother does not know she is laying on her own baby. The baby can't get out from under the mother and suffocates.

So when the puppies are born, I will spend the first week or so sleeping on the couch so that I can put the puppies in with Alley every 2-3 hours. It is not fun after the first night or two.

I will post pictures of the new puppies after they arrive.

Principal?

I am up late again tonight as I have been for weeks. Tonight is different because I have been polishing up my resume and writing what I hope will be my last letter of interest for awhile. I have been working hard for the past 5 years trying to prepare myself to be a principal. Well, I think my best opportunity has presented itself. The principal at my school has retired and I will apply for the position tomorrow.
I have been working at Pinewood Park Elementary School for the past five years. It is an extremely difficult campus even though we have only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. It is on the south side of Longview which means it is a minority school "across the tracks". It is about 50% Hispanic, 48% African American, which leaves only about 2% white. The children are very needy and come to school with many many problems and fears. I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!

We have had an abundance of discipline problems this year; more than usual. Our test scores are down and teacher morale is at an all-time low. So, why would a person want to be a principal at a school like this???? The answer is easy for me... I love a challenge! I love to fix problems, especially when it helps children! I love the teachers who work there! I tend to go for the underdog! But mostly because this is where I know I can make a difference....a HUGE difference!!! And I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!

This school...these kids...are in my heart and soul!!!

We will see....

Thank God For Dogs!!!

As you all know, I have spent many hours lately playing with all the backgrounds and templates trying to make myself happy with the appearance of my blogs. In my efforts to come up with just the right combinations of colors, textures, etc., I have settled in on only one blog for myself, "It's Elementary" and a team page "Blogaholics' Anonymous" that I have created as a common place to share cool blog stuff and stories. If you have links to "Tiller's Tales" and "GranGran's House", they are no longer functional. I think I am satisfied for awhile and can now settle in on posting more stories and working on the team page.

The real reason for this post however, is to tell you a story that I heard a couple of days ago while I was browsing in my favorite consignment shop. I had gone in to look for a new blouse, but once I got inside, I was not really interested in shopping. There was a different woman working in the store that day who was not very helpful and seemed out of sorts for some reason. I picked out a couple of blouses and two dresses and took them to the dressing room. Both of the dresses fit very well, but I was not in the mood to make a purchase after all, so I hung them back on the rack and headed for the door. When I was about half way to the door, the lady said, "I'm sorry I was not of much help to you today. I just have not been feeling very well." I told her I was sorry to hear that and she walked up behind me sat down on the sofa that I was just passing on my way out. She began to tell me her story...

A week ago she was driving their old 4wheel drive truck through the woods and happened to look down a hog's trail, as she called it. She noticed a couple of puppies a short distance away and was concerned that someone had abandoned them. She drove the truck toward them and when she got close she thought she heard one of the scream. She thought she had run over one of them so she opened the door and jumped out of the truck all in one motion, forgeting to put the truck in gear. She leaned over to check on the puppies when the truck rolled back across her foot and continued to roll across her thigh. A tree behind the truck stopped it from rolling completely over her leg and the truck came to rest right on top of her thigh.

She began to scream, but knew she was not close enough to any houses to be heard. She was in terrible pain and all she could think about were her children. She said at first she worried that she might lose her leg, but then she began to worry that she would not even survive. No one was close enough to help her. She was screaming with pain and hollering for help when she noticed two dogs coming towards her, both barking ferociously. She could tell that one of them was a pit bull and theother was arottweiller(?). Now she had more to worry about. She thought the dogs were going to attack her, but to her surprisethat was not the case. The Rottweiller positioned himself right up against her side and the pit dog got up close to her face and began to lick away her tears. Both dogs then began to go crazy barking and making as much noise as they could. About the time that she really was about to give up, she saw an old man walking through the woods, moving in her direction. She thought she was seeing things, but he ran to her and asked what was wrong. She said, "Will you please get the truck off my leg?" He jumped into the truck and rolled the truck away from her and called an ambulance.

I sat down on the couch about mid way through her story and never said a word until she was finished. I had tears in my eyes and so did she. As she was telling her story it sounded so much like when Uncle Matt got pinned underneath his car. Her voice was trembling and she was crying soft helpless tears as she finished telling her story. I was so touched by her story and I left the store crying soft helpless tears myself...

THANK GOD FOR DOGS!!!

Library Link

I want to share my Library link with you. First of all, it is one of my favorite children's links because there are so many things available for children in this one location. If you click on my Library link, it will take you to a menu page of sorts. Here you will see various categories from which to choose. Let's say you click on Favorite Children's Stories below the Literature and Languages category. Here you will find an abundance of links for children ages five and above. This is where I found my favorite link, Storyline. I have also added a cute link called Fun With Spot at http://www.funwithspot.com/ that is under another category on the menu page. Some of you will enjoy the other popular children's sites that are appropriate for young children. When you have a few minutes...make that a couple of hours... you should check it out!

Jonathan and Erin Tiller

Jonathan and Erin are settling in to married life. They both are working lots of hours and it's a good thing, right? They may never be able to save money once the babies start appearing... They are buying about 3 1/2 acres in Hallsville and want to get it paid for as soon as they can. Then they plan on building a house and starting a family...(not necessarily in that order).

Here are a few of Jonathan and Erin' s wedding photographs taken by Ben.

This is my favorite photo of Erin. Isn't she gorgeous?

This is my all time favorite of Erin's dress and bouquet. WOW!!! Ben is trying to get his photography business up and running. I have noticed that Ben has a website under construction that will be linked to Caci and Cole's blog pages. Good luck, Ben, and thanks for the gorgeous wedding photos of Jonathan and Erin!!!

The Rest of My Family

Meet Alley, my 2 1/2 year old English bulldog. She is extremely passive and enjoys her long naps. I thought when I got her that I would let her sleep with me. WRONG!!! She is so loud, I can't sleep unless she is on the other end of the house far, far away from me. She is very loving and enjoys having her belly rubbed.

Meet Tonka, Alley's son. He is 8 months old and the life of the party. He is quite the opposite of his mother; full of energy and would rather play than take a nap. He did not inherit his mother's loud breathing problem. Thank goodness! He doesn't seem to feel pain. He runs full speed into trees, fences, anything that gets in his way; hence his name, Tonka.

Meet Boone, my 8 month old wolf. No, he's not 100% wolf. He might just be my favorite BIG dog of all time. He always stays very close to me and is very cautious and watchful of his surroundings. He does not behave like a typical puppy. He has never had the "let me see how long I can pester her" syndrome. I think he must be wart-free. (HEE HEE HEE) I got him from Uncle Robert, who is hobbying around with raising wolf dogs. I think he should have another litter soon.

CHICKEN POX...Come and Get Me!!!

Since many of you have young children of your own, I thought it would be a good time to share this story with you. Some of you have probably heard it before, but believe me...you do not want to forget about it if your children have not yet had the CHICKEN POX!
Many mothers may think that if their children have not had the chicken pox by the time they start to school that it is perfectly okay to allow their children to purposely expose themselves to friends who have the chicken pox. That was my thinking when Windy was in the 1st grade and had not had the dreaded disease. I thought if she would go ahead and get them, then Jonathan would get them before he started school and we would be done with the chicken pox once and for all.

Windy' s best friend at the time lived next door and had the chicken pox. In fact, all three of the children who lived next door had the chicken pox. Now Windy was a very healthy child who never got to go to the doctor except for routine check-ups. She never missed school because she never got sick. When she found out her best friend had the chicken pox, I honestly think she was jealous. She wanted to experience for herself all the fun children must have when they get to stay home from school. All I know is that she wanted to get them really bad. She aske me if she could go play next door and she even told me her plan. "I'm gonna go over there and I'm gonna rub all over Brooke." And that is exactly what she did!
I know, you are thinking, "What kind of mother would let her child go and intentionally expose herself to the chicken pox?" ME!!! I thought..."Okay, it's about time to get this dreaded disease over with!" So, Windy went next door to play. She made sure she rubbed all over Brooke and came home about an hour later. I was sitting in the living room when she came bouncing through the front door as happy as a lark. She went directly to the couch half running and flung herself onto it in an all sprawled out laying position. With a smile from ear to ear, she raised her hands toward Heaven and said with all her might, "CHICKEN POX...COME AND GET ME!" Believe me, THEY DID!

That poor baby had the worst case of the chicken pox that I have ever seen to this day. She was sooooo sick, she felt soooo bad. I went into her room on one of her worst days and found her on her bed sobbing. I asked her what was wrong. She said, "I will NEVER ask for ANYTHING to come and get me again!!!" She probably hasn't to this very day.

Maybe that is why I've heard Windy tell her boys thousands of times, "You don't need EVERYTHING you ask for..."

The Three Wisemen...

Here are my three beautiful grandsons. On many occasions they can just as easily be referred to as the "three stooges". According to Uncle Jonathan's confused childhood knowledge of men who travel in groups of three, they will miraculously transform into the "Three Wisemen" by the time they are all grown up.

Look Mom...Windy Can't Hurt Me Now!!!!

This was probably the only time that Jonathan had control over Windy. If he had known that she was going to terrorize his life, he probably would have left her there and had a nice, calm, pleasant life as the only child.

Dumb-Struck, IS Stuck

My last story proves that a few things I attempt are insanely stupid. Not to worry....it is my masterful and creative problem solving for which I earn my medals for brilliance.

This story is about another of my genuis plans gone very dumb and very dangerous. I am telling this story for my family members who are impatient (if you are the one family member who is patient, you do not need to read any further).

Okay, so when I moved to Longview from Beckville, most of the Duckworths and several friends helped me get all by belongings from one house to the other. My furniture was set up in all the rooms and the boxes were placed in the rooms where they were to be unloaded. I couldn't have asked for more. Except I really wanted my upright freezer put in the storage room inside the garage. Well, everybody was tired and that might require doors being removed just to get it where I wanted it. I didn't want to put anyone out....they had already done so much.

I left the freezer in the garage for a few weeks, but every time I walked in or out of the house, the thought of it being tucked away in the storage room weighed heavily on my heart. So, what do you think I did? YEP!!! Moved it myself. It wasn't going to be that difficult. I still had a dolly, for crying out loud. I got the tape measure and took a few "Bob the Builder" measurements. I decided to take the door off of the storage room to give me a healthy inch on either side of the freezer when I was ready to make my way through the doorway. About that time, I noticed that I was going to have to get the freezer up and over about a 5-6 inch step to get it into the storage room. I pondered on this for a few seconds and this is what I decided to do...

Get the freezer strapped securely to the dolly, back up to the doorway and pull the freezer up and into the room (which by the way is about 6' X 6'). Sounds pretty simple, huh! That's what I thought. Well, I couldn't really foresee any problems, so I put the plan into action. I get the freezer backed up to the doorway and lined up so that neither side would hit the facing. Now, in order to make this plan work, I get myself inside the storage room, grab the handles of the dolly and gently roll the freezer back until it hits the 5-6" step. The top of the freezer is leaned back into the storage room with me, but I have to get the dolly wheels up over the step. My first attempt to pull the freezer in was just a normal pull. Enough, I thought to accomplish the task. Wrong. No matter what I did or how hard I pulled, I could not get the freezer over the step.

I was not a happy camper. By golly, I was not going to wait another day for someone to come help me. I was gonna do this now. I pumped myself up because I knew this was going to be my final attempt. If I wasn't successful this last try, I was going to give up. So I pulled with all my might, one last time, harder by far than any other time.

I pulled so hard that I lost my balance. My feet actually slipped and I fell to the ground. The freezer came with me, all in one split second, and hit me so hard across the top part of my legs that I wondered had I possibly broken them. I thought I was dead. I whimpered and whinned a few long minutes and took stock of the situation. I am on the floor, flat on my back with a freezer across my leg. The freezer is half in the room and half out of the room. No room for me to get out unless I move the freezer and assuming that my legs aren't hurt too badly. Now I'll have to admit that the words STUPID and INSANE crossed my mind. I may have even thought to myself "You are not only very DUMB, you are very STUCK!!!! Well, after recovering the best that I could, I managed to get myself out from under the freezer and roll it out of the way enough for me to escape.

A few days later bruised heavily from battle, I went back to the garage, tilted the freezer back on the dolly and walked it forward up to the storage room door until the dolly wheels hit the step. With me in the garage this time and most of the bottom of the freezer already in the storage room, all I have to do now is allow the freezer to stand back up straight and it will be where I want it. WHAT A GENIUS! NOW, HOW SIMPLE DOES IT GET!!! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT BEFORE????

Dumb-De-Dumb Struck!!

Okay, this story is about yours truly. I am only telling you this because I know that most of you, if not all of you, have no idea about how independent-stricken I am, nor do you know of my competitive streak, or the fact that I believe that if a man can do it, a woman can do it better. (I have changed my mind on that, slightly, but that's another blog)
Alright, alright, so you do know these things about me, but what you really may not know is that I think I am a wonderful problem-solver, a brilliant schemer, a genius who is not only capable of masterminding plans to save the universe and my butt, I am fearlessly motivated when I hear the words "you can't".

A few weeks after John and I separated I was home by myself in Beckville when I decided to go out to retrieve something from my car. I had gotten in such a habit of locking the door as I went out that I locked myself out of the house. Okay, but not intirely an insane moment. I had my car keys and my cell phone. I know, you're thinking well if you have your car keys then why wouldyou not have your house key. And you are right. Normally, that is exactly where my house key would be. But since this is not a normal story you will understand that I had let Jonathan borrow it because he had lost his (completely believable). He planned to spend the night with his Dad and come home the next day.

Still no problem, I had my cell phone so I simply called Jonathan to have him come unlock the house. Wrong. Jonathan put the key in the glove box of his truck and his Dad was gone in his truck. Okay, so still no problem, I had my car. It was a school night and I did not want to go spend the night at Aunt Renee's and get up at 4:oo and meet Jonathan at the house to unlock the door for me. That would be the most logical and sane solution. THIS IS WHEN THE PLAN BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN MY HEAD.

I had only lived in this house for 3-4 months and had not had any reason to go exploring in the attic. However, I did know that there were two ways into the attic from inside the house. I'm thinking that if I can get up in the attic from the carport, it would be a piece of cake to make it to one of those inside the house attic openings. No problem....

Well, the attic opening was about 15 ft from the ground. No, it did not have a pull down ladder, just a stinking cut out. No problem, I had a ladder. But the ladder only got me up so high. Even standing on the top rung of the ladder I had to fully extend my arms above my head to just reach the opening. Somewhat of a problem. You have to be pretty strong to hoist yourself up that far, let alone get yourself positioned to make it through the hole. No thoughts of abandoning this genius scheme YET. Okay...so I am thinking. Well at least the hole is close to the wall so maybe I can use the wall to help me hoist myself upwards. (I AM ALSO SMART ENOUGH TO THINK ABOUT TAKING MY CELL PHONE WITH ME) I decide to go ahead and put my cell phone up inside the attic opening so that I would not have to worry about that minor detail when I had other things of magnitude to consider. I reached through the opening an decided to place the phone fairly close just in case. When I let go of it, it fell down between two ceiling joists or something, it was gone. So now the plan becomes more challenging. No phone to call anyone. But I still had my car, so I continued on with the plan.

The sun is slipping behind the trees. No, I do not have a flashlight. It would be inside the house! Well, I try and try and try to pull myself up into the attic. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. But I can't. On my very last effort, I made it. I am now in the attic where I wanted to be, with no flashlight, and I can't see 2 inches in front of me. No problem. I know the floor plan so I still think I can. Well, the thought to continue this brilliantly stupid hair-brained scheme lasted 15 more minutes. The amount of time it took me to make it only about 3 feet in with insulation rubbing against my legs that felt like spider webs and wires running across my ankles making me think snakes lived up there. It only took me a few seconds to make my way back to the carport opening. Yeah, No problem. Wrong. Do you know how difficult and dangerous it was to now have to lower myself back through the attic opening and land on a 5"X12" top rung of a ladder that is about 7 feet below me???? It's gonna really hurt if I miss!!!

4:00 was early at the Duckworth's the next morning!!!

Milk, It Does A Body Good

You know when I was a little girl, milk that made its way into our house did not always come from a cow or any other animal for that matter. I am going to tell this story because my childhood memories that are associated with milk have left me quite opinionated about milk and the various forms that are available. The milk that makes its way into my house must pass a few simple tests.
1)Visibility Test - It must come in a clear jug; so when held up to the light nothing can be seen through the milk. The milk I got as a little girl was at least 50% water, 50% milk. Thus my adamant rejection to any milk that is not 100% WHOLE milk, like 2%, 1% , skim milk, low fat, etc. If you can see one of your siblings across the table making faces at you through your glass of milk, chances are you do not have WHOLE milk.
2)Solubility Test - If Nestles Quick, Ovaltine (which is on the same line as 2% milk), or any other additives remain floating on the surface of the milk no matter how long you stir, chances are you do not have WHOLE milk.
3)Stick to Your Throat Test - If you drink a whole glass or even just one swallow and it doesn't feel like the milk is stuck to your tonsils, chances are you do not have WHOLE milk.
4)Taste Test - If it doesn't matter how hot or cold you get it...all it tastes like is water (which by the way has no flavor that I know of), chances are you do not have WHOLE milk.
5)Dip Test - If you dip an Oreo in it and the Oreo immediately disintegrates into the bottom of the glass before you can get it to your mouth, chances are you do not have WHOLE milk.
6)Liquid Test - If you spoon your milk into your glass before adding water, you definitely have powdered milk, which many moms attempt to pass off as real milk to their unsuspecting children. There is no chance you have WHOLE milk.
So now you know why I will only buy or drink 100% WHOLE milk.

And by the way, I learned at a very early age that the color of the cardboard cartons in which milk comes signifies the kind of milk within...Would you all agree that as a child if your mom said go in the store and buy WHOLE milk you could pick up a red and white carton and know without a doubt that it was WHOLE milk? Just as you would choose the blue and white carton if she asked for low fat, and the brown and white carton if you were lucky enough to ever get to buy chocolate milk. Well, with that knowledge firmly planted in my brain from my childhood, why would I think twice about opening a red carton of milk from the school cafeteria to pour into my coffee one day last winter when there was no coffee mate to be found. I very confidently and without thought chose the red and white carton which means WHOLE milk (very important to me as you can tell), NOT ANY MORE RED AND WHITE NOW MEANS STRAWBERRY!!!

Caci Obviously Missed Gardening 101

After reading your stories, Melissa and Caci, (and laughing like crazy) I thought I would share some stories that I have tucked away in my "Dumb Struck" file. I don't know how many of you know that Caci is now teaching at my school, so I get to see her every day. My first story is dedicated to her because she has truly had her hands full this year with the students in her class and I will blame them for her "dumb struck" thinking. You be the judge.....

The first week back to school in January after the Christmas break was my first glimpse of a Caci that I did not recognize as a member of our family. Let me explain...She and her class were preparing to plant tulip bulbs in her planter box as a part of a national study on the coming of Spring. Following the planting guidelines, Caci and her students went outside to fill their planter box with soil and plant their tulip bulbs. I had purchased several sets of gardening tools so that each student would have his own small hand shovel to use for the task. Caci's class had 3 large bags of potting soil, but I had warned her that it would not be enough to fill her planter box. She would need to add some sand from a nearby sandpile and mix it with the potting soil. "No problem" was the response I think she muttered through the excited buzz coming from her students. I wanted to take some pictures of the event so I ran back to my office to retrieve my camera. I was "dumb struck" when I returned to the planting site. I could not believe my eyes. Was this really Caci, my niece?

She was directing a process that was designed to move sand from the sandpile and into her class planter box. Let me describe the scene...Her students (15-20) were scooping a shovel of sand into their teaspoon-size hand utensils, kinda walk-running about 15 yards to their planter box, dribbling sand along the way, then half-heartedly flinging what little sand might possibly have survived the trip into the air somewhere above the planter box. How much sand do you suppose actually made it into the box?

As I was standing there in disbelief, you can imagine the thoughts running through my "Templin" mind. First, I had to watch this process a few more seconds to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. And then I was thinking, "There's something wrong with this picture".... and... "I wonder if Caci actually thinks this is working..." and "I wonder if she is just "dumb-struck".... and "I'm not believing my eyes!!!"

I walk over as calmly and in control as possible and say to Caci, "Caci, there are some buckets over there that the other classes used to move some sand to their planter boxes. Would you like to use them?" HA!HA!HA!

Caci said, "I'm not very good at getting things to grow and maybe the tulips aren't going to do very well" Do ya think???? Where was Caci when it was time to pick the garden?



The tulips did bloom and were gorgeous!!!!!