The Avoidance Walk- another lesson from my dog

Our dog, Abbie, has acquired a new behavior lately. When she sees another dog approaching on our walk, she crouches down as low as she can go and just waits for the dog/owner to get close enough, and then... she pounces on them, pulling with the force of a Mack truck ( my shoulders can attest to the fact. I no longer need to lift weights on my left side...) Needless to say, this is extremely disconcerting to both the canine prey and also the owners that look at me like I have grown two heads. How can one dog be so out of control? ( I'm sure it is hilarious watching me flail as I am pulling back with two hands with all my strength , as Abbie is at a full force throttle towards her intended victim.) If I thought that she would just greet the dog friendly like , sniffing privates and exchanging tail wags, I would let her go. Unfortunately, she has become crotchety in her ripe ole age of 56 (how I can soon relate..) and I never know if her greeting will be one of niceness or of growls and attack mode. Ugh.

So I have entered into a new phase of my walking her, and it is called avoid any dog at any time. I have been known to cut through the woods, traipse across muddy fields, or take the looonnng way around the park if I see a dog approaching. Makes for some interesting walks....

Made me think of the times that I have gone out of my way in life to avoid something unpleasant- the detours I have taken to avoid a possible conflict. How often to we allow ourselves to veer off our direct path, to avoid some obstacle that may or may not harm us?
What if I just crouched down and waited for the imagined disaster to happen? I may be surprised that it never comes to friution. And if it does, I am in a position to look around and see my best course of action.

What are you avoiding? How far do you go out of your way to avoid conflict?

The State of Forgetfulness

I know now why as you get older, you get frustrated because you can't find anything anymore and your kids start to think you are crazy (-er than they already think). I think I have discovered the problem. As you begin to do the big D ( downsize), you start getting rid of things. And the next week you don't remember getting rid of what you got rid of , so you spend endless minutes, hours searching for the item that you gave to Goodwill a week ago. I have started keeping a detailed list ( color, brand, size) of items I donate, not only to cash in on the tax break, but as a reference sheet when I KNOW I saw that shirt somewhere in my closet and am unable to find it. That way, after I have searched unproductively for awhile, I can check my list to see if it is worth continuing to look for, or if it indeed made it to the brown bag in the hallway that collects items to give away. What are your coping tricks? Can you remember any to share? Wait, let me get my sticky note to write it down before I forget!

Attempt at posting pictures

Michael and Deanna's landscaping on their new house. Looks great , doesn't it? OK my attempts are over as every new pic goes on top of the old. I need my live in tech who moved out and is relocating in Oklahoma. Miss you, Arika!

Here is a pic of the journals the girls and I are making for our upcoming craft show in the fall. ( Like I don't have enough to do!) But it is very fun, relaxing, and gives us quality time together. ( I can hear them now saying, Oh, Mother!) These are actually our older ones that sold.

OK, can't figure out how to not have the pics next to each other...any help out there?

Great sunset fam pic on the dock at Ernie Cooper's Cabin which we rented for a week in Michigan. Ernie is the owner's dog.

Last lazy days of summer....

I remember the days of paper maps and garage sale-ing. I had all the places circled, numbered, and my map highlighted in the most efficient route. Gone are those days. I have taken garage sale-ing to a new level. For the first time today, I used my GPS( a 6 am day after Thanksgiving special with a $20 gift card thrown in) to find my way to the garage sales of choice. Very effective. If I could figure out how to program more than one at a time, it might be even better! So I whipped around town listening to the slightly British accented voice telling me " in 300 yahhhds, tarn riiaahhht." (Who records these voices, anyway?)

I was able to find a few "smokin deals" ( as my sister says!). Brand new, in the box, waiting to be put together 12 compartment filing/storage container for our desk. Or maybe my scrapbooking paraphanelia. I also found a former bead store owner selling her wares, so I got my daughter some square beads which she loves. As the customer before me was an antique dealer, shelling out literally hundreds of dollars, my purchase of one little tube of beads got me the sarcastic remark of "Big purchase, huh?" (Note to garage salees- be nice to your petty purchasers. Those few dollars also add up at the end of the day.)

Anyway, I have a few days left to try to organize my life before school starts. I always wonder where the time flies to. If I could only program my GPS to the beginning of summer.....