Wednesday, August 29, 2007

What Kind of Blogger are YOU?

You Are a Pundit Blogger!
Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read.Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few
What Kind of Blogger Are You?
I'm Pundit Blogger?? What the heck does THAT mean? Sounds kind of like a Bandit Blogger... maybe I should be wearing a black cowboy hat & have a red bandana tied on to hide my nose & mouth like my childhood hero "The Lone Ranger". He would be so disappointed in me though, finding out that instead of being one of the white-hat wearing "good guys" I've grown up & become a Pundit, crouching over my laptop with on the lookout for a stagecoach full of gold!
Well, I looked it up (my mom, who was an encyclopedia salesperson, had a motto: "We never guess, we look it up!" She even had buttons that said that. (Part of one of World Book's sales campaigns) So... here's what I found - turns out being a pandit isn't so bad after all. (Whew, what a relief! Now you'll be able to sleep tonight.) LOL
pun·dit Pronunciation: 'p&n-d&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Hindi pandit, from Sanskrit pandita, from pandita learned
1 : PANDIT
2 : a learned man : TEACHER
3 : a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media : CRITIC

Monday, August 27, 2007

FuzzyWhite cooks: pastry with lemon filling

Here's a recipe for something that is quick & easy to fix, & tastes fabuloso! This is the first recipe ever shared by FuzzyWhiteDogs! It's a trial run -- if we get feedback, more recipes may be posted - if not, we'll go back to whining about lost loves and chihuahuas (which, by the way, are NOT one and the same!)


On a scale of 1-5, Fuzzywhite gives it a 5 for taste (we only post things that rate a 5)


You need:


1 pkg crescent rolls (the kind that come in a roll like canned biscuits)

1 pkg. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice (the original recipe called for a teaspoon, but I like lemon.. use your own judgement in making this important decision.)

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice together. Take into the living room and eat it with a spoon.NO! NO! WAIT - just kidding!

Take the bowl back into the kitchen. Unroll the triangles of crescent roll dough so they're flat. Spread each one with the cream cheese mixture. Roll them up and bake on a cookie sheet using the oven temp & cooking time printed on the pkg. (If you already threw it away, 12 minutes at 400 ought to do it. :-)

# Note: Recipes on this blog will not make you thin, but they will make you happy!

Another weekend without Harry

Every weekend since Harry Potter came out, DH and I have planned to go see it. Planned being the key word. It's been out what... a month or so... and we still haven't gone!!!

Today we came close VERY close to going -- I was dressed & ready to go when DH admitted that he really didn't feel up to it.

I'm thinking of calling a friend & going one afternoon this week with her. Then if/when DH wants to go I'll see it a second time. I really want to see it on the big screen, & if we wait much longer it will be gone. (We don't have any of those nifty $1. theatres around here that shows almost-new movies. Wish we did!) So.. when the new wears off, you can't see it 'til it comes out on video.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

A Chihuahua for MIL - the Search Continues

Animals are so much like children! Usually when I mean it in a fun/cute/entertaining way, but this morning I'm referring to how vulnerable they are.

I've been perusing chihuahua rescue sites (for my MIL, as mentioned in a July blog) off & on for several weeks now. Some of the websites I've been reading this morning tell about each dog's background/how it came to be available for adoption. So many of them previously belonged to elderly people who are no longer able to care for them. Can you imagine how confusing it must be to suddenly be uprooted and taken to a strange place? (I guess that statement could refer to both the animal and the human involved.) My heart goes out to them.


There is a chihuahua (on the first website listed below) who is looking for a home because his owners had a new baby, moved to a larger house & didn't want to take the dog! It mentioned that the dog is sadly missing the little girl 'cause it loved playing with her... well, I'd say she is missing the dog too. How sad is that?!! What ARE those parents THINKING?? Even if they don't care about what they're doing to the dog, you'd think they'd realize they're setting the stage for enormous resentment by their daughter who no longer has her pet because of her sister or brother!

http://www.chihuahuarescueusa.org/dogs.php?sel=f has lots of wonderful-sounding chihuahuas. Whoever writes for them is doing a great job! It almost made me want one, and I'm not even a chihuahua fan! (Hence the name "fuzzywhitedogs" instead of "barkypetitedogs). If you're looking for a chihuahua, this rescue group seems to be very nice.

If you know of a chihuahua (or small short-haired chihuahua-type mix) that needs a home, please let me know! Why? Because a lot of rescue groups won't adopt to a "third party", which is what we are considered since DH & I are looking for one for his mom instead of for ourselves. This makes it more complicated/maybe impossible to get one from a rescue group.

There are lots of rescue groups listed on
http://www.petfinder.com/ , but they all seem to have the same policy on "3rd party adoptions". Seems like they'd be happy to have a good home for one of their furboos. I know they have to be careful. I could understand it if it was an instance of somebody wanting to "surprise" someone with a dog (that they may or may not want), but since she has specifically asked us to find one for her, I don't see what the problem is.

So.. I'm going back to search some more! If you're thinking of adding a pet to your family, be sure to check out the rescues first... and if you're thinking about getting RID of your pet please try to find it a good home yourself first instead of just taking it directly to the pound.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Hurray for Masseuses

AAAAAaaaaaaaaaah, the massage was quite fabulous! Afterwards I just wanted to go float around on a cloud somewhere...

I think everybody should have at least one professional massage during his/her life. Granted, there are a few people who hate being rubbed on, and they may be excused... but for the rest of us, I say "MASSAGES ALL AROUND!"

Monday, August 20, 2007

Better OUT than IN -

I love blogging!

Just typing all that junk that was bothering me made me feel SO MUCH BETTER!!

I challenge you to try it next time you're feeling crappy. Just go for it, type like a maniac, then sit back & see if you don't feel better!

Grumbles, Moans, & Groans

I'm feeling grumbly this afternoon.

1. My living room smells like wet dogs! Phew! (It has been raining all day, which is actually kind of nice because it's been forever since we had a nice, cool rainy day.)

2. My head hurts, my body is aching, and I feel whiney. I know lots of people in the world have it much worse than I do but I think on one's blog one is allowed to be grouchy & complain since anybody who doesn't want to hear it can just go on to a different webpage. It's not like we're sitting together & you have to nod politely & say "oh, poor baby".

On the good side I have an appt. for a massage Wed. afternoon. That will be great! It's been months since I've had one.

3. Last time I was supposed to have a massage I had to cancel because of a work emergency. (How the heck can you have a work emergency at a 16 hour a week job, you might ask... to which I will answer that some 16 hour a week jobs should actually be called Life Obsessions or something like that.")

Yes, this summer has kind of sucked. (My kids laugh wildly when I -very rarely- use that expression "sucked" because I used to fuss at them for saying it. But, (and yes, I know you're not supposed to begin a sentence with the word "but" but I am anyway, this is a blog for heaven's sakes, not a term paper) it has sucked.

4. All sorts of medical problems have plagued my family and friends this summer. Happily, most of them are all doing pretty much ok for the moment, but I still worry about them. A lot. So much so that I ended up spending the night in the hospital this summer because I was having all the symptoms of a heart attack. (Hmm, does that count as a Summer Vacation since it involved spending a night away from home? Naah, I don't think so...)

5. I had to cancel a trip to the beach that I'd really looked forward to for months with 9 sewing friends from an on-line forum. (Do you KNOW how long it's been since I've SEEN the ocean? Approximately a million bleeping years, that's how long!)

6. My "part time" (aka 99 hours a week) job spiraled out of control all summer with people thinking they had access to me 24/7 as it was home-based while the office was redone. DH is very annoyed that I've stayed with that job so long.

7. My only sister & her family (who I almost never get to see) didn't get to come up as planned. We were going to take the train to Chicago (that would've been SO much fun)

8. My niece didn't get to come stay a week w/o her parents for the first time ever (she has wanted to do tht for about 6 years now, and her mom & dad had finally said she could... then they turned around & signed her up for every camp known to man.

9. The grandchildren didn't get to come stay a few days with us w/o parents like they usually do (they started back to school so early that there wasn't time).

10. Since DH went back on steroids, I have gained 10 pounds. OMG this is not good! The steroids make him hungry all the time, and whenever he goes & gets a snack he brings me one too. We will soon be known as the Roly Poly Couple if this doesn't get under control quickly!

So, lots of planned fun times were cancelled & that was disappointing. DH didn't feel well most of the summer, so we didn't do any traveling or anything like we normally could've. I worry a lot about him, too. It took us over 40 years to meet each other, so it would be nice if we could both live at least 40 years together!

The only really fun times of the summer were:

1. when DD & kids came up and spent several days

2. when DH & I spent the weekend with DS & DIL.

Both of those times were GREAT fun, which leads me to wonder... WHY do DH & I live a million miles from the 2 people who make me the happiest? Life is short and I feel like I am just wasting much of mine. (...and then she began to cry... oh boo hoo, shut up!)

I'm usually an upbeat kind of person, guess today I needed to vent. I'll shut up now. (Oh, and l am already well aware of the many people who have it much worse than me and I know I'm blessed in many ways, so please don't inundate me with tales of woe from all around the world, they run through my brain like a newsreel all the time as it is.)

Thanks for listening. I'm glad I have the internet. Without it I might die. (Obsessed? Yes, thanks for noticing.).

Thursday, August 9, 2007

How the Heck do you get 16 Feet in One Bed??

You know that there are 16 feet in my bed, but did you know there could've been 20? The other 4 feet belong to Mr. Macinac (aka Mac), our black & white tuxedo cat who was named after Macinac Island where we spent our honeymoon. He has chosen to abstain from sleeping with the rest of us since the dogs joined our family.

Mac is visibly relieved each night when the 2 white fuzzy dogs, 1 totally unfuzzy husband, and I head for the bedroom. As soon as we are out of the way, he heads for his favorite spot atop a cranberry & navy afghan made years ago for me by a former student's grandmother), curls up, and clicks the remote on to watch Johnny Carson. (well, I'm not so sure about that last part, but it is what I envision happening once we're out of sight...)

Now, if you are a math person, you have probably realized by now that only 12 feet are marching down that hall towards the bedroom. How, you may ask, does that become 16?

Easy answer: we have one cat who does not leave the bedroom except to dash straight across the hall into the bathroom to take care of her personal needs, then dashes right back into the bedroom! We even had to move her food & water up onto the bathroom counter because she didn't like having to go all the way to the kitchen to get it.

I think she has agrophobia.

She is a calico cat and was creatively named "Callie" by DH's X. This gives a clue as to just how creative X is... but we won't go there. Anyway, I once named a black cat "Blackie" so it's not like I've always given amazingly creative names to all of my pets... of course I WAS just 4 at the time... heh heh.

So, there, in a nutshell, is the answer to how my blog page got its name... hope you're not too disappointed that it didn't involve more humans and fewer animals. (snicker)

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Go for the Squish!

Had my annual mammogram today. They're really not as bad as people say they are, and hey, they can save your life! So, ladies, if you haven't had one lately call TODAY & make an appointment! Men, if your wife/girlfriend/mom/sister hasn't had one lately remind her to do so!

It doesn't take long at all -- I was in & out in half an hour & that included filling out a form -- is covered by most medical insurance companies, & to me is less traumatic than going to the dentist!

Questions? Feel free to ask, I've had several so can either answer your ? or else help you find an answer!

One of my best friends from high school through early 20's died of breast cancer about 7 years ago. Another very good friend from the years when I lived in England died of it 8 years ago (hers was an aggressive type that doesn't start with a lump, but instead with a dimple.) A co-worker of mine had it 2 years ago and is doing fine now after having a mastectomy.

So.. I would like to take a moment to rejoice in Leona's good health, and to remember Susan and Margaret and the thousands of others who weren't so lucky. C'mon girls, quit putting it off, go get squished! The life you save may be your own.

Friday, August 3, 2007

The final Harry Potter book (not a spoiler)

Finished reading the final "Harry Potter" book yesterday afternoon & it was SOOOO GOOOD!! I'd managed to avoid hearing anything about how it ended by avoiding most websites, tv, etc. I even had to switch radio stations on the way to work one morning when they starting to talk about HP... just did not want to even risk hearing about it before reading it for myself.
Up 'til now, I thought the first HP book was head & shoulders above the rest. I mean, I enjoyed the other HP books but the first one was just SO much better... well, this last one ranks right up there with the first! I totally recommend it, but be sure to read the others first so you'll know what's going on. This one brings in lots of info on characters from earlier in Harry's wizarding experiences, & you'll miss out on a lot if you don't know who they are.
Now, I'd better stop before I reveal anything! Final words:
READ THE BOOK READ THE BOOK READ THE BOOK!