SURPRISE

They did it again.

The guys were "stuck" in Atlanta Sunday, waiting for a load to West Palm Beach and then home for their 4 day break.  Jim's girlfriend and I were planning to side-track them at a rest area just past our highway exit so we could at least SEE them for a minute...

In mid-plan, Rod phoned.  We were chatting away while Kyle and I were chillaxing on the couch watching a little TV and playing on our laptops.  (We are SO social...)  When the doorbell rang.  I intensely dislike surprise visitors.  I don't like planned visits very much either.  (See above comment)  Of course, once we get chatting, I love visiting with people and we always have a good time.  But I'm not a "dive right on in" kind of person. 

And everybody KNOWS Sunday is the day of rest, right?  Which includes NOT taking your dirty lunch dishes back to the kitchen.  And NOT picking up your shoes.  And NOT putting away all your stuff from the day before in Miami.  And quite possibly wearing yoga pants and a big ol' horse t-shirt... etc etc etc etc etc  So a surprise visit on a Sunday catches us at our WORST (which is probably why it annoys me so much... LOL) 

Don't get me wrong...  we aren't that popular.  (see above comment)  It's not like people are dropping by unannounced (or even announced) all the time.  Yes, our various neighbors do drop by now and again, and we had someone ring the doorbell just the previous Sunday.  But two weeks in a row?????  What on earth????? 

So... I was grumbling to Rod on the phone as I went to the door.  Now, we have a solid front door so no peeking.  You just have to be brave and open the door.  (For all the safety-minded folks out there - my house is fenced like Ft. Knox and I also have 3 VERY protective dogs - if they know you and like you, no problem - they didn't try to eat the Sister Missionaries or our Home Teachers - but a random person who braves opening the gate is likely to lose a hand!  Yes, Bison Bites!) 

So anyway...  I opened the door and there they were!  Grinning big ol' grins! 

They still had to deliver in West Palm Beach, but not until Monday morning.  So they parked their big truck at a local storage facility and had Jim's best friend bring them to the house.  (Which explains why we didn't HEAR them... hard to hide the sound of a semi pulling into the property!)

Luckily I had just pulled THESE from the oven!  (And they were a HUGE hit...  Make them.  Make them TODAY!)

http://picky-palate.com/2011/06/23/gooey-white-chocolate-fluffernutter-cake-bars/

We kept the poor girlfriend in the dark until she got off work at 11:00.  Best friend jumped in again - he picked her up and when she got in the car, asked her if she knew yet when Jim was going to get into town.  She said she didn't know.  Jim then pulled off the blanket he was hiding under in the back seat and said "What if I was here NOW?"  Luckily she didn't have a heart attack and die on the spot.  But he IS sporting a few well-deserved bruises today. 

KNOTS

Thirty years ago today, my darling husband and I tied the knot.



We were six.



But, when I got thinking about it, it was more of a "slip" knot.  You know, the kind you can untie pretty easily.  A sort of temporary knot.  A "til death do you part" sort of knot.  A good knot, but not a perfect knot.

We recently also celebrated the day, 7 years ago, that we tied "THE" knot.  A bowline if you will.  The one you use to secure something valuable and then are pretty sure it will NEVER come untied.  A sort of permanent knot.  A "time and all eternity" sort of knot.  A perfect knot.



Not the actual day - but a good day never-the-less.



I'm so blessed to be tied to my eternal companion.  I love him more deeply than ever and as time goes on I can't imagine loving him more.  

30 years ago I would have said it was impossible to love him more than I did.  But now I do!

Happy Anniversary my Darling!!!!!  You are my PERFECT KNOT.

St. Joseph's Trail

After Kyle got home from work and I got home from Miami, we headed back down to Kyle's new favorite place.  A mountain bike trail next to the big canal.  We park at St. Joseph's Catholic School and walk/ride over.

Check it out!

And I leave you with my first attempt at a video!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!

We started the day with a gift session - gave Kyle a digital camera and memory card.  He was excited - now he'll be able to take pictures and short videos of all he's doing out there in Arizona!


Then after a quick run to WalMart to get a case for his camera, we headed to the zoo for our annual birthday zoo trip.  It was pretty warm outside, but there was a light overcast and a good breeze so it was comfortable.  


We took some good pictures with our cameras - Kyle had fun trying different shots.  His camera really pops color - it seems to LOVE the color green... Good thing, since that is also HIS favorite color... 


He likes to TAKE pictures, but doesn't like to be IN pictures, so this is the only one he let me take and it was only because of the background.  Please notice the crocodile swimming behind him (on the left side of the picture).  

 This IS the crocodile that was swimming up behind him.

And this is the alligator that was swimming towards us like we were LUNCH.  

There are a couple of little statues popping up throughout the zoo, but this has always been my favorite.  It's right near the spider monkeys - everybody's favorites.

And this is our favorite little spider monkey.  A real ham.

Here's something new they are working on.  No idea what it is going to end up being, but Kyle and I were both itching to climb up there and give it a try.  It looks like a sky-walk that snakes through the woods above the various cages full of monkeys, bobcats, marmosets and all the other animals over there.  It looked like so much fun!!!  

If you look closely, it's a wooden platform around a tree and then "hanging bridge" walk-ways between the trees.  There is a free hanging ladder to get up there.  The pictures are a little hard to see - click on them for a bigger view...


After a fun afternoon at the zoo we stopped by Harbor Freight and he bought himself a couple sets of solar panels kits so he'll be able to run a small cooler (like the one the guys use on their truck), his laptop, charge his cell phone and even run some lights.  It was an Excellent sale, so he was pretty pleased.


Home to let the dogs and horses out into the yard - something was up with CJ - he was galloping and bucking and kicking all over the yard - getting the other all riled up too - but eventually they all settled down to the serious business of eating grass.  (What little there is - we haven't had a drop of rain in months and it's pretty dry and brown here.  We haven't even mowed the grass since Rod was home nearly 3 weeks ago!)


Headed inside to watch the new True Grit while we waited for it to cool off a little so we could swim in the pool.  It was a good movie.


Just as it was ending, Kyle went outside to check on everybody and minutes later I heard a dog SCREAMING and rushed out to see what was up.  Kyle said Buddy was near the garage - between the two trucks, Bison and Duke both came running out of the garage.  Kyle was in the doorway and was able to catch Duke, but Bison sneaked by.  He came flying around the end of the truck, barking and surprised Buddy.  Who let FLY.  Kicked him squarely in the head.


Poor Bison ran screaming back into the garage and straight into Duke's crate.  Refusing to come out.  


I climbed in with him (as much as I could) with my doctor gloves on and gave him a good checkup.


He looks TERRIBLE.  But I was able to get a good look.  My biggest fears - that either his skull was broken or his eye was burst, were both not true.  His skull is intact and in fact he registers no pain with I push with firm pressure.  I was able to get his eye open and check the eye ball.  There is no redness and certainly no bleeding.  He got a good cut right above the eye and right below the eye on the bony parts just above and below the socket, but the eye itself is fine.  The bleeding stopped after a few minutes and he was doing ok, letting me touch and even take pictures.  Then the camera reset itself and the flash turned back on.  So I took one last picture using the flash and since he is TERRIFIED of lightning, it was too much for the poor boy.  He curled up as far under the pool table as he could get, keeping his good eye on the door to the outside.  


As soon as I closed the garage door, he decided it was safe to run over and get in his crate.  He ate a good dinner and drank a bowl of water.  We check him regularly - took pictures at 7:41 right after it happened and again an hour later at 8:41.  He has some swelling but isn't acting like he is in pain.  


We will continue to monitor.


Meanwhile - since Kyle does NOT like cake - I "made" him a cake out on the patio.  LOL  He thought it was pretty neat and took a picture to put on his facebook page.  Now he is busy making himself his own blog - check him out... 
www.kbuffstuff.blogspot.com

Finally we are watching the movie Company Man and I am making him some BUFFALO steak I bought from a local farm.  Hope I don't ruin it!  ($13.99 a pound!!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!  I LOVE YOU!  (And glad your dog seems to be ok.....)




****** WARNING - don't look if you are feeling squeamish *******