It's Me or The Dog

Victoria Stillwell is coming to America and they are asking for applications on Animal Planet. Hmmm - I want to, but have you ever seen the show? She's pretty blunt about how it's usually the humans who are screwing up, not the dogs. Noah is so smart that I'm guessing I'm the one who is enabling him to be agressive by my actions or lack thereof. I'm sure they'll have tons and tons of applications but I think I'm going to send one in too, just for tickles, and see what happens. You never know . . . .

Renewal

I don't talk too much on this blog about religious or spiritual stuff because - well, I'm not really sure why, but I guess I just don't. Is it because those who may actually stumble upon it might think that I'm "weird" or a "religious nut" or a "freak" or something? Hmmm, I never really thought about it all too deeply but in this society of political correctness, I guess I've just conditioned myself to keep it nice and light. Another Hmmm, because life is for sure not always nice and light. As a matter of fact, those things that often prompt me to actually put things in words are the very things which I edit out of much of my posts. Very strange indeed -it's like even on cyberspace I want to present a better me - me without all the bitching and moaning (which I do believe I try to keep to a minimum). But I have truly digressed so far away from what I actually wanted to post this evening.

This is going to be a post about a spiritual moment I had tonight - religious if you will, although I believe religion is getting a bad name right now, especially congregated religion. I'm not entirely sure that some of the bad press concerning this isn't without warrant. People have, throughout the centuries, performed many heinous acts in the name of religion. But again I'm wandering so far away from the subject of my post.

In all the time I've been dating Mark (which is quite a long time - several years in fact) we've always walked the beach and he's been exceptional at finding "lucky stones". I know I will probably botch what exactly a lucky stone is, but I'm afraid to clarify with him at this point because it will once again prove that I'm not always paying complete attention to his stories. My explanation (again, probably very flawed) is that lucky stones are cheek bones from fish - I want to say walleye or perch - that wash upon the shore. They have a signature "L" groove in them, which I'm guessing stands for "lucky". So, on with my story. For the past 7 years or so, each time we go walking, or I even go walking by myself on the beach, I have never, never never found one. Not even close - never ever. Mark seems to find one at least every few trips to the beach. Now mind you, he's had an eye for these "lucky stones" since he was very small and I have only relatively recently been hunting them myself. Oh - I explain way too much - but anyway - tonight I walked down to the beach with the dog - all by myself, and I was talking to God and said, I'd really, really like to find a lucky stone tonight (now I've said this to Mark and to others and to myself before but it never has happened in all this time). I swear to God (no pun intended) that five seconds after I said that, I found the biggest lucky stone I've ever seen - right there on the beach, and right next to the picnic table I was going to sit down on. It was SO obvious - God said "You asked, and I was listening" -it was the neatest thing I've experienced in a long long time. I absolutely knew that this was no coincidence. It was an affirmation that God is here, that he's listening in the present, that it's just as easy to believe in all the good possibilities as it is to be bogged down by all the sins of the world. Maybe I just need to spend more time talking and listening and seeing what God has to show me and spend less time on pitying "poor me" for some of the things that life deals. Life isn't fair - we are to go through this life being the best that we can be and our true reward will be when we meet God face to face in heaven. The best thing we can be in this life is a good example of God's love and that will help us through the rough spots and help us to appreciate the good spots - and there are many many good spots - spots such as tonight where a small white "stone" with a grooved "L" helped me again to renew my faith in the One above . . . .

Ups and Downs

The last day of vacation. It had its bumps - we ended up going to two funerals - one for a dear friend and former boss and one for a dear friend's Mom. They were both somewhat expected yet they came too fast, and the finality of it always weighs so heavy on your heart even as you know they are in a far better place.

There were also some very nice high points in this workless week. I've always been a night person and being able to stay up late and sleep in each morning made this vacation worthwhile even if we hadn't done anything else. I guess some people might think we didn't do much of anything else this week, but we truly enjoyed the peace and quiet and calm of not "having" to do anything. We went shopping. Mark cooked excellent food and I even made some seafood pasta salad - thanks for the recipe Miss Shelly - it ROCKED! We also got the waverunners out and are hoping to run them in the evenings after work and on weekends for the rest of the summer when we don't have drill.

Today we are meeting the folks at Cleats (the old Nate's Restaurant here in Port Clinton). If they aren't too busy that's where we'll be having an early dinner this evening. It'll be great to see them because it's been a few weeks.

Time to go walk the dog - he's got a "gentle leader" which he hates, but it's supposed to keep him from jumping and lunging at poor suspecting folks. He's managed to get it off from around his muzzle a few times now, but I think he's getting more used to it. He's definitely used to the treats I've been giving him as I encourage him that yes this is a good thing - don't think either of us are convinced of that - hehe.

Red White and Blue

Happy belated 4th of July - what a weekend! This really is one of my favorite holidays, although I love any holiday where work is not included. Plus, it's vacation week - woo woo. We're staying home I think, maybe a day trip or two, but it's so nice not to be at work . . . .

Sunday Morning Scents

Is there any better smell than that of cooking bacon? That is what I wake up to on the weekends. Mark loves to make breakfast and it's a treat that we never have time for during the week. I almost love the smell of bacon more than the taste, although a few nice chewy pieces always go excellently with my scrambled eggs. Mark prefers his bacon a little more crunchy so he makes some of each - yum!

Another work week has made it into the history books and for some reason this one went really slow. I think it's because it was the last full week before my vacation. We have the 4th off and we're taking the 7th through the 11th off, so it's four more days 'til I can put the uniform in the closet for a while and be a total slouch if I want to.

Last weekend we went to Novelty, Ohio for a beautiful wedding of two people we are in the service with. Andrea Salway and Jason Benson are now Andrea and Jason Benson. I got some great ideas for when we finally take the plunge. The service was in a gazebo - gorgeous, and it was romantic and meaningful while at the same time not taking more than 15 minutes. Mark and I both liked that idea a lot! The reception was also a blast, and Mark actually asked me to dance twice, and he's not usually really big on that type of stuff. We just really had the best time!

They say it might rain today, but it sure looks nice out now, so I think we'll take advantage of it while we can. Maybe Mark will take me for another ride in his little red corvette - I've always been a Ford girl, but I must admit, that's one Chevy I've definitely fallen in love with!

Happy Dad's Day

Looks like it's going to be a perfect day to celebrate with Dad. Happy Father's Day to all Dads out there! Didn't have a clue what to get mine, although he always says, "don't get me anything - just spending time with you is all I want". Mom says the same thing, but I always like to get them a little something anyway - they've done so much for me my whole life. Mark came up with a good idea though - he had purchased several pounds of fresh lake Erie yellow perch so our freezer is packed full. So, I'm taking Dad a twelve-pack of Miller Lite and some freshly frozen lake Erie perch - I think it'll beat the goofy ties I used to get him as a kid . . . .

Credit Card Woes

I try to be a nice person. Really I do. But I'm so mad right now that I can't even type right. I totally unloaded on some poor unsuspecting Bank of America Customer service guy but I've had it up to here! I knew about a month ago that I was charged twice for my "dog in my suitcase" payment when I took Noah to Charlotte. I tried to remedy it then, but each time I talked to the customer service people there, I kept getting cut off - after there was no 1-800 number I could find nor someone actually in customer service. Tonight when I finally received my BOA statement, they had the number for the Charlotte NC Summerfield Suites I stayed at. Anyone who knows me (I would hope) knows that I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but "they" caught me after a particularly bad day and a few glasses of wine on an empty stomach. Supposedly now, after 1 hour with two different customer service reps from both BOA and Summerfield Suites, I "should" be credited - Miss Kruse. We'll see! I hate to go Medieval on people's butts - normally it pains me more than them - but I've been a loyal customer to BOA, oh wait, MBNA, for 15 years. I guess I should feel totally assured after losing basically an hour of my life that I will NEVER get back, that all is well. I've been assured that before - and it pains me tremendously to think that all will one day become online - that's why I don't like online bill paying, even online room reservation, because this all stems from never having talked to someone who I can actually say, "and what is your name, and how can I reach you?". UGH! I swear to God, and I'm trying not to swear so much these days, if there is still an extra charge beyond the already outrageous price I paid for a less than "comfortable" room, you will hear my screams from miles away as they take me to the loony bin . . . . Thanks for listening - I strangely feel somehow better now :-)