Just a thought

I think I might need to create a new video game called "To Travis' House We Go"... It is driving game and along the way there are pitfalls...

If your energy gets too low from speeding, you fall asleep at the wheel - which loses game points.

And of course, there would have to be obstacles to avoid. Hitting them, of course, would cause point loss. A good example - a deer darting across the road. Total the car - end of game. Glancing blow (as pictured) - small loss of points.

A winning game would require a trip back and forth to Travis' house and still have a drivable vehicle.

Stay tuned for more ideas as I am sure there will be more revelations...

Love you Meesie...

Why?

There are two things that I try and try again to cook - and fail every time.
Fudge - which just about kills me since I love it.
And frozen pizza for Chris.
I have been married for 10 years. Frozen, unique pizzas are one of Chris' favorite foods.
I have five kids for gosh sakes - and we have eaten a lot of frozen pizzas over the years - without issue.
Why can't I remember to take the stupid cardboard out from the bottom when I cook one of Chris' pizzas?
I make beautiful breads and pies, can entertain major crowds of people with appetizers and crowd-like meals, candy, cookies, cakes - but not frozen pizza?
Poor Chris...
It's a wonder he lets me even try anymore...

Chris was gone again...

Long story...
We live in a fairly quiet neighborhood. Lots of kids - lots of dogs.
Alyx and I stayed home on Monday. Neither of us were feeling well. We watched Animal Planet all day. There were a couple of shows that I enjoyed. One was called "Its Me or the Dog" - very interesting dog training type of show. The other was a heart breaker but I don't remember the name. It is a show that follows the Animal Control people in Texas. One episode was the team saving over a 100 dogs that have been left to die after a puppy mill closed. Horrible - absolutely horrible.

So now - you know my frame of mind on Tuesday...
I went outside to spray dandelions in the back yard (I don't like whole lawn fertilizer too much - try to minimize that as much as possible). I thought I found a rabbit. Nope, it's a dead dog.

Crap. I squeal and run upstairs to Mellisa. She looks out the window - mom, it's a rabbit. Looks again - mom, that's a dog!

I have no idea what to do - so I call Chris. As usual, he is gone. I make him leave Alyx at gymnastics to come home and help me freak out I guess...

I want to call the police - Chris says - no, you don't call the police for this. I look it up on the Internet. People's dogs kill a lot of other dogs. Lots of lawsuits, etc. Crap. I am sobbing now. I don't want anyone to take my dogs away!

I called the Animal Control people. They were very nice and managed to understand me through my tears. They showed up about an hour later. I guess they got a call earlier in the day about two dogs roaming the neighborhood and they only caught the one. No tags - no collar. They take away the dog and will notify the neighbor that they found the second one - as soon as they claim the first one and pay the fine. They did tell us to watch our dogs for rabies as they doubt that these dogs had had any shots.

Those poor dogs are notorious in the neighborhood because they crawl under their fence and get out all of the time. We have even found one of them in our back yard before - which is quite a challenge as they have to squeeze thru the wood slats in the fence.

I am still angry. These poor animals had bad owners that just didn't care about their well being. And I can't blame my dogs - they are animals - and were reacting with those instincts.
The whole thing is just sad.

The oven

For Easter breakfast, I decided to not make our traditional, yummy egg casserole and try something new. I love Paula Deen and found a recipe for her French Toast casserole. What a disaster. It cooked an extra twenty minutes and was still a mushy mess. The kids will never forgive me for that attempt at change...

The casserole did make one giant mess all over the inside of the oven. Brown sugar and eggs - lovely.

We have only been using the grill outside since Easter but last night, Chris made the girls corn dogs. And I guess it smelled really badly.

I had a girlfriend over to chit chat and in the midst of her visit, Chris gets a wild hair to start the self-clean oven. Normally, this is not a big deal - a little smelly - but not too bad. I usually start it over night so we don't have to smell it.

Anyhow, Bobbi and I noticed that the kitchen was getting foggy - then down right smoky. Then smoke starts pouring out of the burner vent. What in the world? We had had some cocktails - so we are just giggling like crazy and yell for Chris and run outside so we can breathe. Of course, the over is locked due to the temp - probably a good thing that the door wouldn't open - but he did manage to get it shut off. After twenty minutes of us sitting outside - the door comes open. Aha! That's where my dinner was! I thought the dog ate it! I have never seen a chicken breast look like a small hockey puck. Chris just threw the little pan away and went to bed.

I thought it was the funniest thing.... Guess you had to be there...

Oh - and I come to work - in clean clothes mind you - and I smell like I have been at an all-night bonfire - hahahahaha!

Rabbits

I haven't written in quite awhile...

Several thoughts about rabbits.

The girls have the cutest game series for their Wii - starring Rabbids. They are alien rabbits - and I am sure there is a bit of the rabies reference in the naming as they are crazy. The worse that they do is steal peoples' clothing. It is cute. Definitely not the furry, lovable animal however.

Rabbits make Alyx break out and swell up like a balloon. We discovered this last year when the neighbor down the street was raising a couple for her 4H project. This was not a good thing.

Rabbits are annoying little pests that eat my strawberries. I had to use a very extravagant cover to protect my berries last year.

And then, last night.
Tanner found the nest. Tanner proceeded to drag one out of the nest. Alyx investigates and starts screaming - Mom - it's a rat nest!!! I go outside. Nope, I couldn't get that lucky. Infant bunnies. Fantastic. Riley - always logical - points out that the legs and arms are in different directions and there is a lot of blood and this bunny is going to die. Alyx begins crying - no, not crying - absolute hysterical sobbing. Riley is poking it with a stick. Tanner is growling wanting to finish the job. And yes, Chris is sitting at the White Sox game drinking a beer. Just great. Riley tries to throw it over the fence with a napkin. Tanner eats it. It's a fun evening at the Nichols household once again.

What idiot mama bunny builds a nest inside a fence of a home with three dogs??? And why in the world do I have one dog that always manages to find bunnies and drag them into the house while they are squealing for help? Why is Chris always gone when these things happen? Why is Alyx always the one crying and sobbing? And why is Riley so sedate over murder?

I just hope Tanner eats the rest of the bunnies while we are at work and school today...