Christmas party!

Just had another nice xmas party at my mom's house last night. All in all I think everyone had a good time. Being a tight year for everyone financially, we didnt do the gift exchange, but of course my mom went a bought something for everyone so we could play the gift drawing we usually do. She has a big heart and loves to see the smiles on peoples faces as we open gifts, so it is worth it to her to invest in this.

On a personal note, I was asked to do the dinner prayer, which for me is a bit of a quandary. I no longer consider myself Christian, although I'm not exactly an athiest either. I reverted back to the standard Christian prayer, but in retrospect, I think next time I will do more of a generic prayer of thankfulness without mentioning any names. I do believe in an order or force in the universe that keeps things in line. Believing in a God that can be manipulated into doing what you want or giving you blessings seems kinda silly to me though, no different than Harry Potter or Santa Clause. If there is a God of the universe, he is not interested in our personal problems or lives. Oh - and who needs a devil when there are such evil people in this world. My final conclusion is that we need to love and care for one another, and treat this planet with respect if we want our race to survive. If not, we will be cast off like the dinosaurs in favor of some other form of life. Anyhow, enough of that for now...

Been a while since I've blogged here - been busy working in Morton - about and hour drive from here. I had an interesting experience tonight. I was in the back room thinking of my grandfather, when I suddenely had the feeling I needed to open a drawer on his old work table. I opened it and looked far to the back, where I found an old newspaper obituary section from April 1967. I didn't recognize any of the names, and am not sure why this was important to him, but would like to find out.....

New Puppy!

Been busy in the last few days - running ragged with a new puppy! Her name is Bella and she is a Weimaraner mix. She is a pretty little silver puppy with quite a tale in her short life. She was found running down the road by a friend, her paws were torn, and she just wanted to find a home. After a bit of moving around, she ended up here with our gang! Quite a refreshing energetic bit of life added to the household. I'll be adding more pics in the coming weeks as she grows...

Heatwave!!!

Yep - that picture is right - 115 degrees in the shade outside today!
This is the third day in a row that the temperatures here are over 100 degrees! Here in western Washington this is not normal. In fact, I don't remember it ever being this hot! Needless to say, we've been hibernating inside with air conditioning. Keeping the dogs out of it is another challenge. Little Mouse the dachshund mix loves the heat, but doesnt realize how dangerous it can be to her. We let her go out for about 15 minutes at a time, before making come back in. Veggies are loving it, though. Just harvested some zucchini, and the tomatoes are getting close to being ready. Cant wait for a home-grown tomato and onion sandwich!

Movie Review: Passengers

Today we stayed inside(away from the heat - 99 degrees!) and watched Passengers. This movie was similar to the sixth sense, but without any of the scary or gory scenes. Its one of those movies you have to watch to the end to feel the impact of it. Most of the movie is a romance/ mystery about a plane crash and the survivors. At the end, you will really understand it better, and I dont want to give anything away - so I'll just say that its a movie worth renting and a good way to spend a couple of hours in an air conditioned room on a sweltering day. I give it a score of 9 out of 10.

Movie Review: Coraline

Last night we rented Coraline, an animated and 3d movie. I'd give it a 8 out of 10 rating. It was very entertaining - its a serious and dark story about a little girl for finds an alternate reality in a secret door. I hadn't seen a 3d movie since the 80's, and I've gotta say, they've come a long way. For the best effect, you have to be in a very dark room. After a few minutes, your eyes adjust, and it really has a cool effect. My favorite character in the movie was the cat, who was always slinking around and could talk in the alternate reality. It was quite an enjoyable movie all in all.

Movie Review: The Unborn

Just watched a newly released dvd titled: "The Unborn". On a scale of 1 to 10 we rate it a 5. Supposedly a horror flick, but nothing really scary about it. If youve seen the previews for it, then you have seen all the scary images (dog with upside down head,etc). The main problem with the film is that it keeps building suspense about every 15 minutes, then shows one scary image, then immediately jumps to a boring scene. This completely kills the mood it is trying to set. Also, the storyline about Jewish mysticism is somewhat interesting, but never goes into enough depth to really keep you going. If you've already seen all the good horror flicks out there and have nothing else to do, you might want to watch it. Otherwise rent something else.

Legos!

After thinking of the old commercials yesterday, coincidentally Gizmodo's blog has a retro theme going right now - and tonight they had posted the exact lego spaceship I got in 1979! Had to post some pics of it. I was so-excited to get it back then, in fact I think I still have it in the back room somewhere. Legos were great fun and inspired creativity. Of course there were some frustrations like the "popper-penguins"(legos that dont want to stay connected), or when you just cant find that last piece to complete your project. Also my friend and me would build lego forts, and throw lego bombs at each other until one person destroyed the others fort (you werent allowed to repair during battle). It created quite a mess in the room, which would have to be swept under the bed before my mom saw it. ;-). Anyhow, I'm off to build the ship again if I can find it!

Just thinking about some funny commercials from my childhood today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1K4X_LOxY

Cant seem to find the original perfection commercial with the jingle "push the plunger down, set the timer, put the pieces in - dont be late! thats perfection" If anyone who reads this finds it, please let me know.

Of course, when thinking of the 80's, I cant leave out my commodore days! I spent coutless hours playing games and writing programs on my c64. I'll never forget the day I got it - my grandpa got it for me for Christmas. Boy was I excited! I plugged it in to the tv, and up came the blue screen of joy! I spent the night typing in short programs that were in the manual, which unfortunately I had no way to save, having not yet got the tape drive. Above is a picture of a setup I have now, that is similar to what I had in the 80's, with the game Ultima III: Exodus playing. I won this game after months of playing it back then.

Mouse n Ellie

Its been a while since I've entered anything here - thought I would talk a little about the young blood in this house - Mouse and Ellie. These two are full of energy and life and, of course, trouble! Ellie is the sweetest Chihuahua n Jack Russel mix. This means that she is not only the sweetest, but also the meanest. You don't want to get on her bad side! Also, she is a constant trouble with the others - starting fights and dominating them, that is, except for the object of her adoration - Mouse.

Mouse is a little dachshund (sausage dog). She is full of fun! Loves to play and run and has no problems with any other dogs. The exact opposite of Ellie, which may be why they are such good friends. They are inseparable most of the time, and they are both kennel trained, which makes nightime a snap!

Mollies Urn

Mollies Urn arrived today. We ordered it online from a company out of Bellingham, WA. The quality is very nice, and the engraving is professional. She has been placed in a prominent spot in the living room.

Some have asked me what the title picture is of. This is a photo of the Saddle Mountains in Eastern Washington. It is a popular rockhounding destination and one that we took Mollie and the other dogs up to. Its a nice and peaceful area with lots of room for the dogs to run. You can be up there all day and never see another person - just bring lots of water! If you get there at just the right time in the spring, the desert wildflowers will be blooming. You dont want to be there in the Summer time as it is regularly in the 100's! Oh and if there is any sign of a thunderstorm, dont go! We were caught up there in the middle of a thunderstorm one time, and I wasnt sure we would be coming home that day! We all jumped into one of the digging holes when the first strike hit a couple of yards away (I could feel the heat on the back of my neck!). After a terrifying few minutes of lightning strikes, it started pouring rain, then hail! I was expecting a tornado next, and there were in fact some funnel clouds forming! After getting drenched, we decided to make a run for it to the truck. Mollie led the way, and hid under the truck, while we ushered the others into the back. A few minutes later it was over and the sun came out again! Needless to say, that was the end of the trip for us that day.

Just missing Mollie today. Thought I would post a picture of her with two of her friends - the black dog is stubby, also passed away, and the white dog is Scout - she was close with Mollie during the latter part of her life. Stubby was not exactly her friend, but they were always together on adventures together. I'm sure they are now on some new adventures with Nicky(pictured below). We took those three with us everywhere we went - camping, hiking, rockhounding, and countless walks. Hard to believe that none of them are here with us now, but their spirit lives on in the younger bunch we have, especially Mollie was a big influence on the new ones.

Note that the picture is a little out of proportion, in that Scout is the biggest dog, and Mollie and Stubby were the same size. Must be the angle of the camera or something.

Mollie R.I.P.

Today Mollie let us know that it was time. We took her to Pacific Ave Veterinary - which used to be Crate Veterinary and was where we first adopted her. She had been an abandoned dog, but came into our family and fit like a glove from day one. Now she is once again reunited with her best friends - Nicky and Stubby, running freely again and happily in the endless field awaiting her...

We were able to help stop her from suffering the last hours. If you have never had to put a dog to sleep, it is the best thing you can do for them when the time comes. It took about 2 seconds and she was gone, peacefully and comfortably.

Mollie we will miss you. You will always be a part of our lives and close in our thoughts.

Sorry its been a while since I've posted - temporarily was busy with work (mandatory 10 hr days, 6 days a week!). Tiring but cant pass up any work at this point. Anyhow, the job is over now - so I've got some time again. Mollie update: she is still kicking and actually doing quite well! Just giving her the pain meds and tlc is helping a lot.

The picture I'm posting today is the most famous mollie picture we have - she was the original rockhound along with our now deceased Nicky. She is sitting on a pile of carbonized wood from the Carbon River in Orting, WA. She went on countless walks and hikes with us throughout the years - always blazing the trail ahead of us.

Mollies trip

Today Mollie made her last trip to see family. My mom had a little party at her house, and everyone came by to give Mollie one last pet. She still is doing fairly well, considering, but she wont be making any more trips. Her lip has been bleeding more often now, but her spirits are still good. She will let us know when she's had enough of the battle.

Picture is of Mollie and Nicky, who passed away a few years ago. They were bestest good friends!

Just adding another picture of Mollie. She had a good day today - energy up, pain meds helping. Next Sunday she will make one last trip to see family. Over the years, she has made people feel good - friendly to all, hopping on laps, and playing fetch with her toys. She has had lots of adventures - from hikes to rockhounding, always at our side. I'll share some of the stories in the next few weeks.

Mollie, our beagle mix has cancer. We found out yesterday, it is a quick acting cancer, and its located in her mouth. We were told that if the cancer has not spread to the rest of her organs, her jaw could be removed and might buy her a year of life. Rather than putting her through that, we have opted to give her pain medication, and make her life as comfortable as possible until she lets us know its time...