Category Archives: Editorial

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Sing, Sing a Song…

Posted on July 15, 2016 | Leave a comment

I’ve always been partial to music. Dad was/is a violinist and taught music and had me learn violin and piano, then Santa got me a guitar for Christmas at age 12. I started an all-girl band, three guitar players, and we actually played in a talent contest for our school. They were tone-deaf. Luckily our family moved to another school district shortly thereafter, though we did come in second! It doesn’t say much for first place. Hey, I was 12.

I often awaken with a song in my head. Often it’s just voice, sometimes guitar or piano showing me how to play it. No dreams speak violin.

There are a few songs that annoy me and stay in my head for weeks. My husband knows this so sings one from time to time. From “Annie,” The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow” is one.

Once, I took the Disney ride through a small world. It is a small world after all, my brain told me for weeks. Even seeing the titles gets my mind going, so I haven’t searched for more. Often I awaken singing (in my mind) Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash or Dave Mason. Those are good days…

There are three threats in my home. First is that my husband will allow Zoe the dog to eat something icky from the park and vomit on our bed. Second is that my husband wants to tease me so starts singing one of these songs.

Third is me. Husband is deathly allergic to fish and came home with a rash that started to cover his body. I gave him OTC medication and called his mother, a nurse. We got him over it without going to the ER. He had gone to a Russian buffet with his work cohorts and either ate a piece of fish or ate meat that was fried in oil in which fish had floundered (pun intended).

Whenever he is too methodical I say “I’m hungry. How about a Russian buffet?

That’s what happens after fifteen years together. We just know each other, Luke, I am your father. Yes, we see the marathons together on cable as someone never returned our DVD’s. I had never seen a Star Wars movie until 15 years ago. He saw it as a boy and knows every difference from the original to the revised version.

We bring good things and tease each other from time to time. Much to do now before businesses open, and my love will be home late tonight. Cheers! Dee

 

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Routine

Posted on July 9, 2016 | Leave a comment

Zoe is a herding dog, an Australian Shepherd mix probably with a Border Collie and/or Golden Retriever. I got to see her pack when she was five weeks old and they looked like Aussies. She thrives on routines. First permit me to say that she is an indoor dog who loves frozen raw food and dried food for travel, that she is lifted up to our bed to sleep at night and goes out 4-6 times per day. She is now 88 in people years.

We’ve also our routines, my husband and I, that have changed. Zoe and I were out at 5:30 this fine Saturday morning and husband is sleeping and snoring before nine. I’m wondering what to make for breakfast.

He’s gone during the week so we make do and I eat fruit and yogurt and perhaps some fish (he’s deathly allergic) and Zoe’s routine is similar but she knows Daddy’s gone so goes to extra lengths to protect me. When we’re both at home she just lies where we can’t get away and no-one can get into the front door without her knowing about it and making some noise.

I used to make bacon and eggs and toast with jam, and tea and OJ for breakfast for my husband, not me. Not anymore. My routine took about ten minutes, including the tea. He used to bring me flowers.

Now I use one vase (asters and accents/fillers last week) and clean it and buy him flowers every week. Friday, half price Friday, but at another spot I found him some wonderful tulips, cut them down and arranged them. For much of our lives together he’s bought me flowers. Now, as he arrives home late Friday night I get them for him. The routine has changed and everyone who rings me up sales-wise compliments me not just on my choices, but the fact that I buy flowers for my husband. I’m guessing most women don’t do that.

So, there is routine and breaking routine. I like both. Our Zoe loves routine. My husband gets to change it at will, sleeping ’til noon and when I’ve a full normal breakfast for him arranged will ask for oatmeal with milk and fruit. I roll with the punches. Over the past year this non-cook has asked to learn how to make pancakes and fresh pasta. He must be looking for a new wife!

Yesterday I ran into a neighbor with a gorgeous dog we’ve taken care of for a few weeks. Our dogs get along great together (another change in routine). There’s a four month-old pup of that wonderful breed available that makes me salivate but Zoe is the only dog in my life for now except when L moves in for a week or two. They’re two peas in a pod.

She’s sending me a link to the pup. I can’t do this. It’s against routine. Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education, Pet

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What Did You Do…

Posted on July 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

this summer? Inevitably the teacher mispronounces your name and you must correct her/him and ask to use your nickname and mine is Dee.

This is the first page you’ll have to write. I love that my neighbors grand-kids can write about all the things they’ve seen with their grandparents, fireworks and water parks and much more. They also got to see their canine friend, our Zoe, and start to learn Backgammon and Braille. Their Grands’ neighbor’s dog is blind and the kids love dogs. They haven’t met yet but we’re not jealous. They’ve loved Zoe for years. I’ve my reasons for this.

I did a lot of research into the Braille. Kiddos came over this morning and were immersed in both, multi-tasking. Later, they tasked me to go down to the garage to witness the state of my license plate, which they are putting down on a list of states they’ve seen in the past week.

This is the killer of cheat sheets for that first day “What Did You Do Last Summer” paper. Zoe and I are pleased to participate in their July 4 vacation. Cheers, Dee and Z

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Kiddos

Posted on July 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

I thought they were gone, was sad and was about to pack up their presents for Grandma and Grandpa to take next time they visit.

Neighbors told me they’d been calling out our dog Zoe’s name while we were out. I got a pretty American Flag hair bow for Miss A, and a backgammon game that is wallet-sized and magnetic to keep them entertained on the long journey home.

Counseled on Braille, their grandparents (the kids are 10 and 8) live next to a blind dog, an old friend of ours. The kids both multi-tasked between Backgammon and Braille. Pretty impressive, plus they petted Zoe every so often. Zoe was not happy at not being the center of attention so I had to take her for an extra walk after they went out for an excursion with their grandparents.

It’s great to see such smart kids. I know that Zoe will be lost in their memories soon which is why I made a gift and got a tiny game so they would remember us all. Teenagers. We just have a dog who’s probably 88 in “people years.” Her teens were spent growing her own hips from cartilage. The only thing we never taught her was not to jump up, because she couldn’t for years.

Yep, after the fireworks my husband took her out on the 16′ leash which I never use as it has no control. She got a chicken bone and crunched it. He made her spit it out but overnight she vomited on our bed and twice in the hall. Everyone was out there on blankets with food so what does a well-fed dog do? Look for scraps. Hey, I’m just the Dog Mom and love the kiddos, Dee

p.s. They came back to call on us later because they’re compiling a list of states they’ve seen on license plates in the past week. I was gone when they perused the garage but took them downstairs to get a new one, mine. They’re not taking photos or numbers, only states, a great Grands game!

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Kindness

Posted on July 7, 2016 | 1 comment

I had a bad day, yesterday. Zoe did as well. I am re-thinking our boarding choices. One company charges $200 per day for limited service so why go on one vacation in 14 years? We don’t spend that much in a day.

Zoe had her nails trimmed (I held her) and spent 1.5 hours at the desk with other dogs and they wouldn’t let me pick her up. I said no. I’ll pay for four hours and you only had her 1/3 of that time. They said for me to come back later. No-one ever told me about pickup time or forms or whatever. My eye appointment was bogus, they wanted me to sit there for hours.

I got my dog and thanked the groomer who trimmed her nails. Yes, she got a healthy tip. The owner was not nice in person so I’m questioning where to keep Zoe while we’re off in the wild blue yonder. My asking for her premature release was a trigger for the new owner who might hold it against Zoe. That’s a problem for me.

The eye place.They said they didn’t know if they had a lens made and it would take hours. I left the glasses and called an optician we’ve met (with my husband for his contacts, not with the dog) and he said they’re done and all I have to do is come back tomorrow.

In the end, retired, I talk to people, mentors are still around. I meet them every day. I try to learn something every day, whether it’s from a neighbor, butcher, doctor, scholar. Some, very few, stick in my mind. Art, Fr. John. People, Fr. Cap and Led. Helen and Pam and Chris.

I got a job in politics and thought I was in policy. I wrote laws. Good ones. I did not have a mentor there nor at my next job as a pseudo- lobbyist. I quit and went to cooking school with my life savings.

What is my job? I make lemonade from lemons. I help people and animals, and take care of my husband and dog. I made a Braille game to help grandkids know about and meet their grandparents’ new neighbors, who have a blind dog. Also got them a magnetic Backgammon game to play in the back seat of the car (yes, the pieces stick) going home.

I only got to see them for a moment. Zoe did as they arrived but Z needed to go out. The gifts are still here, to go with Grandma and Grandpa when they visit.

Yesterday a lovely Indian woman went down on her knees and petted Zoe. That has never happened. Zoe had her nails cut and spent 1.5 hours with errant dogs at the desk and was desperate to see me and go home. This interaction at home was what my Jewish friends would call a mitzvah. It was a happy moment for us both and I already sent them a thank-you note for her kindness.

With all the terror I wish to see the kindness in people and life. Dee

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Posted in Editorial, teaching, telling the truth

A Lot

Posted on July 5, 2016 | Leave a comment

First, I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend. We did, quietly and went to a lovely dinner with former and current neighbors last evening. I got to make my usual trifle for dessert. We were home before the fireworks started, to take care of our old dog Zoe and assure she was not afraid of the noise.

Our friends F and M often make a great deal about dinner and appetizers. Last night F did a lot of work to make a true American feast. We had BBQ baby back ribs, potato salad and grilled corn on the cob. He never lets me work but allowed me to shuck the corn. Now that they’re a few blocks away we only see them a couple of times a year and it’s always a treat.

We’re going off on a trip to celebrate my father’s 85th birthday. Tomorrow we’ll trim Zoe’s nails (with an expert groomer, not me but I’ll be there to assist and keep her calm). Then she’ll try a couple of hours in open daycare with the older dogs and we’ll see how she does. A couple more of these half-days and I think she’ll be ready for an overnight. Yes, we’re leaving her there for a week. There are many phases to planning the trip, Zoe must be taken care of by the best people we can find.

As to vision, Zoe has an appointment for nails (no polish, thank you) and fun, and I’ve one to get a new lens for my new, expensive glasses I use every excuse not to wear. I’ve only had them for a month. They’re top of the line and there is a sweet spot on the right eye where I can actually see.

The problem is that I was born with a congenital defect. Certain vertebrae did not fully form, a fact I found out 30 years later. When I hit the “sweet spot” on the glasses they cause me spine issues. I’m more worried about my spine than I am a pair of glasses. It’s my first pair of gradiated bifocals and is taking time to learn to “follow my nose” as Zoe does, and use them. It is frustrating.

There’s another matter. Should we prop up my computer and television so I can hit that sweet spot on which I recently had surgery for a growth and was just diagnosed with a tiny cataract. I think the proof is in the pudding. Why keep glasses in the case all the time and use cheap readers for computer, cooking or television? I say make these work and have my old ones work as well if the new prescription is a winner. Old ones will be single vision, not bifocal.

I’ve many visions as to life and world and would love to see them through my eyes as well as my brain and heart. Cheers! Dee

 

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Posted in animals, dogs, Editorial, food, Recipe Ideas

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Replacement & Renewal

Posted on July 5, 2016 | Leave a comment

There is no way I can replace my husband or renew him with another. He is it. Once I’m gone you should be smart, dear. And perhaps be a good cook. You can be buddies that go to the local brew pub together for a burger. First date.

As to dogs, I’m also with Zoe until the end. She’s healthy at 12.5 years. Hopefully both of us will be with her in her final moments.

Some people replace, I make sure our dog is renewed so we stay in each others’ lives. We may renew, but can never replace our Zoe. She came from a shelter with bad hips we had to work on (excised, FHNO) as a bad case but we saw her through it over the years and stopped helping when she stole a pound of steak off our counter! No, not cured but 80% , top scores for total hip removals when she had to grow her own. Yes, hips. From cartilage. No titanium hips for 25 lb. dogs then.

Zoe has the best personality in the thousands of animals I’ve met. She’s kind of a mascot here and gets along with everyone. I don’t know if I could pick up from another shelter a dog that is anyone like her. Yes,  all of mine, all four over nearly 3o years have been rescues.

It is about renewal, not replacement. Our Zoe is fine. I would never try to replace her and want Jake to know that Max is here now, for you, for us. Thanks for your friendship. I miss you, Jake, you let Max meet Aunt Dee and as it is your family, Max knows me and Zoe and I watered your tree in the park to let you know we care and miss you.

Sometimes I wish that the people who treated me badly over life were punished. I choose the positive of wisdom, family, friends, colleagues, lots of neighbors, and to treat them wisely. A positive attitude is always a plus. I have one, as our “Greek for Life” dog herds me/stands by me 24/7 and takes care of everyone here. Here’s to a “peach.”  Dee

 

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Posted in dogs, Editorial, Recipe Ideas, Zoe

Ladders

Posted on July 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

or getting a leg up on the competition. As an infant one cannot walk, but as soon as s/he can there’s a ladder.

I probably did not know the concept until my teens, but learned the reality soon thereafter. Think of our supposed “melting pot” of cultures. Each one that got in to our nation kicked down another culture to make their way in the world.

As a kid people talked about Wops and Micks and Polacks. They were friends and neighbors. I didn’t understand the terms of the diatribe because I didn’t know it was one, didn’t get the words and that I had to take a stand. I did, at age eight, in favor of a boy who was gay. I didn’t know it, nor about sex or gay. I just knew he was seen as “different.”

Did I climb the ladder and push anyone, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation off that ladder? NO. Job inequality? Yes, equal rights and pay. Do I fight for the rights of my family? Yes.

The question is if I keep a person from a different condition, let’s say someone with one parent who doesn’t have money for an education, and kick her off the ladder, NO, I would never do that. Not for being a citizen, voter, retired worker, perhaps I should call this blog Melting Pot Mom, but I still need to be Napping Dog Press! I have met so many wonderful people over the years, from everywhere. It’s been a lifetime of adventures.

My husband is still sleeping off a tough work week and long commute home. We have three days together, a treat for me and Zoe the dog.

One of the reasons husband and I have been together so long is that we do not believe in the ladder of age, color, anything. We believe in bootstraps. Education, jobs, belief in one’s abilities. We’ve never kicked down, we lift up. A happy July 4th to you, your family and friends. Dee

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Posted in Editorial, loving life, teaching

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Teach Your Children

Posted on July 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

well, that was the song my tone deaf band sang at age 12, at a concert. Whenever I rose up to do harmony they came up with me. That was my only concert, even though in a huge school we did place second.

It’s after nine a.m. and the dog doesn’t know where to go so I’m thinking of taking her out, again. She loves sleeping on the bed but wants me now as well and I’ve been up for hours. My husband works on the other coast and is looking forward to a long weekend with us. Shhhh, sleep, dear.

I’d like to think the songs of Bob Dylan, CSNY, PPM, Joan Baez and others have made a different life for parents and children. I was too scared of Dylan at age 12 and I’ve only about 12 chords, never enough for Joan Baez even though I sing her music all the time. Dave Mason, I took up guitar again at age fifty and cannot play Joan Baez, I’m a beginner. One of the best musical virtual friends (now deceased) I have is Johnny Cash. I made fun of country/western music as a kid at age 12, just to be cool. A fool, I was.

Johnny Cash is one heck of a teacher even after he’s gone. When I was in private lessons I’d download free lyrics then unpack my mind and new guitar and make up chords to go with it. No primers, no music, or chords. I’d just hear in my mind, and do it.

It was time to quit private lessons as my teacher was rude to me, treating me like a kid, and when we sang a song together and he followed me to harmony he became angry, denigrating me by saying I had perfect pitch. It was American Pie and I did a riff at the end that he liked, practiced all week. He was impressed then did a turnaround.

I told him I never thought of it but Dad and all my music teachers said so. I think he had such talent on instruments that he taught his kids well, I had perfect pitch but nothing like his playing ability so as Dave Mason would say, we agreed to disagree. Dee

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Posted in Editorial, editorial pets, Family

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Dreams

Posted on July 2, 2016 | 1 comment

I got up at four this morning. My husband actually got home by ten p.m. which is a miracle. At six in the morning the dog wanted to go out, walk, be fed and go back to bed.

She is a fan of sleeping atop our bed with anyone who is in it, my husband sleeping off a long week or flight, or me with flu and chicken broth. No, she only gets broth in her dish, after I’m done.

Of late I’ve been dreaming of family and good health. My husband spent 18 hours getting home last weekend to spend 24 hours with me and the dog, most of it snoring. This July 4 weekend we’ve a dinner, a couple of other things to do but it’s mostly down-time and he has three days!

I think he wants spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Too early to go to the store, but I can check out the pasta shelf in the pantry. How many tea towels and dog towels has he ruined with that sauce?

We’ve moved a few times and I know to use the pantry before we move it. If there are half-full or full spaghetti wrappers for which I use moving tape to seal, I will use them. It’s not as if we’re looking to move, it makes room on the shelves so I might make, when we get a new grill, Asian-inspired kebabs over marinated Udon noodles with perhaps marinated chicken, peppers, pineapple and onions. Radishes on the side? Perhaps cucumbers as well. We’ll see.

I’m set to make an English trifle for dinner on the 4th. Interesting that I learned on my own, not from Mom who switched from turkey Christmas to Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding with mincemeat tarts et al.

There’s the rub. I usually use pound cake, make whipped cream and top layers with various berries. Also lemon zest and juice. I was thinking of making a healthy one with angel food cake, low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt and berries. Yeah, I thought so too. Door #1 it is! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Family