Home Is Where Your Heart Is

Now that I have been in my new house for nearly 5 months, I thought it would be nice if I got everyone updated with what has been taking all my time and energy. The first major undertaking was to paint my den and kitchen. It is very open and I am not quite used to that concept. Originally, the walls were sky blue, all the windows had the old metal blinds, and then if that wasn't enough to make me gag, the windows and doors were covered by some gosh awful drapes...yes, even the doors. I wish I could show you a picture of such ugliness, but my computer whiz, son, deleted ALL my photos while building me a "newer, better, faster" computer.

As you can see, things changed immediately. The den/dining room walls are now the color of molasses and the kitchen walls are a muted burgundy. Looks like something you would see in Southern Living magazine. Well, I guess the new furniture adds to the soft and inviting country charm.

Feeling better about the main rooms in my house, I decided to move outside. I have done a whole lot of mowing, pruning, spreading grass seed, and creating walks, etc. I guess the major accomplishment outside so far is the addition of a privacy/chain link fence in one corner of my yard for my dogs. I'll save that story for another blog.

I finally got the puppy that replaced Hummer in early June. Yes, his name is Hemi. He is about 3 months old in this picture. He is really beautiful and making himself quite at home. Lexus loves him, but Alley thinks they are both idiots. She really loves it when they leave a few morsels of food for her though.

As you can see, Alley thinks she is Queen of the family. She hops up into the swing every morning because she thinks she is out of reach. Not! Lexus and Hemi do their best to annoy her until she gets down and waddles to her hiding place behind the hydrangea bush. They do not understand why this short white dog rarely wants to play. All they see her do is eat and sleep and steal their food.

Here is a picture of Hemi that I took today. He is now 4 1/2 months old and is growing into a very handsome young man. His personality is totally opposite of Hummer's. Hemi is very non-aggressive which is the main difference. Hummer was extremely protective of me and showed his jealous side if I gave any attention to Lexus or Alley. Hemi is not at all like that. Though he does like to chase butterflies and grasshoppers as much as Hummer did.

In Memory of HUMMER

I have always had such a love for dogs and I have had my fair share. I have loved them all, but none as much as I loved HUMMER! As you may recall in a previous post the ordeal I went through just to finally get Hummer to me from Colorado. Right after Christmas, on December 28, to be exact, was my first glimpse of the dog that I fell immediately head-over-hills in love with. His beauty and intelligence was overwhelming. He was so breath-taking to look at.
I went through another ordeal as some of you know in early March when I was trying to get things closed on the sell of one house and the purchase of my new house. A long story short, the circumstances allowed me to move into my new house before the actual closing, for what I thought would only be for a matter of one or two days. Then other things happened ... and happened... and happened...and it turned out that I did not close for 10 or more days. You can imagine the stress and emotions of all parties involved in the closing of several houses...You know ... the closing of my original house had to take place before the closing on my new house. The closing on my new house had to take place before the people moving out could close on their new house and it goes on and on and on. Anyway, I thought I would be closed and enjoying my new house before my week of Spring Break, but as it turned out the entire week of Spring Break I was stressed to the max.

I left my dogs, Alley, Hummer, and Lexus at my old house for most of that time because it provided them at least a large fenced in back yard and they were accustomed to that. Jonathan and I went to the Tractor Supply store and I purchased two 10x10x6 kennels and we put them up at the new house in preparation for making the move with the dogs. Finally, on Thursday of my Spring Break I decided to go ahead and move the dogs because I would be closing on the house on Friday. And that is what happened. It was a glorious couple of days as the dogs investigated their new home.

The next day, Hummer helped me mow the yard, staying close to me until the job was done. Then I played fetch with him for a while and I was amazed at how quickly and expertly he accomplished every new task I introduced to him. Then I just watched him as he romped through the pasture. I thought to myself how beautiful he was as he chased a butterfly here or tried to catch a grasshopper there. But what truly amazed me was the way he moved across the pasture...in a circular or side to side motion...as if he was trained to track something. But he was not trained...he was only 6 months old for Heaven's sake.

Friday evening I put Hummer and Lexus in the large kennel that Jonathan and I created by putting the two kennels together. We had had a wonderful day and I was pooped. The next morning I slept in later than usual and did not go out to check on the dogs until around 8:00. When I approached the kennel Lexus was excited to see me, but Hummer was still sleeping...
I thought... It only took me a split second to realize that Hummer was dead. I think I flipped out!!! My beautiful dog that I adored was dead... It was Saturday...my veterinarian office was closed...and I was having a melt down. It took me about an hour to locate my veterinarian, who very graciously met me at the clinic. He did an autopsy on Hummer and found him to be in superb health, but his stomach was twisted. Not an unusual occurance in large breeds, but why Hummer? I was devastated. I still have not gotten over all of that, but there is a happy ending to this very sad story.

It took me until the middle of the next week, but I finally got myself together enough to call and tell the people from whom I purchased Hummer. They were not home, so I left them what I could get out ... of the story. I decided that my message may be incomprehensible, so I followed up with an email of the story and that I would like to purchase another puppy in a few months. Within 15 minutes I received an email response. They were so very sorry about Hummer and would be more than happy to assist me when I felt I was ready to get another puppy. I thought that was very nice indeed. A couple of hours later I received a second email from them saying that when they said assist me, they wanted to make it clear to me that they wanted to replace Hummer at no charge to me... I just sat there and cried. These people don't even know me, yet they want to help me in such an ENORMOUSLY GENEROUS way.

They have kept in contact with me and have offered me one of their new male import puppies. They will post pictures and they will let me pick the one that I fall in love with. How GREAT is that!!! So after such a stressful ordeal with moving and losing Hummer...Good things do happen to ME, too!

GOD IS GREAT!!!

HOME, SWEET HOME

It looks like everything is on go and I will close on my new house this Friday. Of course, that is still unofficial. I have not actually received word from the title company, but if not Friday, then probably the first of next week.

Why move? Well, there are several reasons. Mostly to down-size a bit. My house right now is a tad over 3,000 sq. ft; and thats a lotta house for just me. I am also trying to save myself a little bit of yard work. I am actually only reducing the amount of acreage from 3 to 2.5 acres, but the main thing is that this new yard does not have bunches of flower beds to weed, brick walkways to weed eat around, or a brick patio that has to be constantly sprayed to keep the weeds from growing between the bricks. Another thing that appeals to me is that my new house is quite a bit younger, which means fewer problems to fix. Things are just always breaking and in need of repair here. Hopefully I will have better luck with a younger home.

But the most appealing reason to move to this particular house is that it is only about 2 miles from where Jonathan and Erin have purchased some land. They plan to build their first house sometime this year. The sad thing though, is that Windy is about 50 miles away, which doesn't seem quite fair. I am determined to begin a new tradition with Blake, Carter, and Dawson this summer. I think it is about time they have their own special time with GranGran, don't you?

More photos to come after I get settled in...

Hummer and Lexus?

Things have really been busy around my neck of the woods since the last time I sat down long enough to add a new post. First of all, my two new puppies, Hummer and Lexus, have destroyed a few items in my house and yard in the past 2 months. I had to roll up and drag my living room rug out of the house a few weeks ago. On the nights when the temperature was well below freezing, my two little lovelies decided to pull on as many carpet loops as they could get their teeth on. The first couple of times, I just got my scissors and cut off the long unravelled pieces and hoped for the best. When the long pulled carpet fibers had been cut from the rug, mostly what was left was the rubber backing. It looked like a rug with mange, and I knew it was time for it to go.

So, Hummer now sleeps with me. I thought that would solve the problem...you know...remove the MALE from the scene of the crime. Surprisingly, the destruction continued. One morning I found one of my LEATHER recliners on the opposite side of the room from where I so thoughtfully placed it a couple of years ago. Until this particular morning, it had never moved itself during the night. I knew Hummer was not to blame, so that narrowed it down to either Alley or Lexus. Since Alley had never rearranged the furniture for me before, that left LEXUS. I can't even begin to describe the condition of that recliner when I took a closer look.

Most of you do not know this, but I have sold my house and am in the midst of packing to move. I am telling you this so you will understand why every single thing in the living room has been packed for about a week. Well, the only thing left was my phone which was safely on the third shelve of my entertainment center. NOT....One morning last week I walked into the living room bright and early to find the phone had been ripped from the wall and all cords had been chewed into a zillion pieces. ( That was my answering maching by the way.) Again, Alley had never used the phone before, so ...LEXUS again.... For the last few nights the temperature has been warm enough to put their little butts outside....Hummer didn't really understand why he had to sleep outside with the DOGS, but being the gentleman that he is, he agreed without much resistance.

Hummer and Lexus are imported from Germany and they are very beautiful. I have really enjoyed them. Hummer enjoys fetching balls, sticks, and anything else that is throwable. Lexus could care less. She thinks she is supposed to chew on household items and clack her teeth together, which is what she does when she thinks she is going to get something to eat.

I hope you enjoy the photos of my dogs. My next post will be dedicated to showing off my new house...assuming that all continues to go well. I hope to be moved and settled in sometime during the first week of March. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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...