Joe Wears the “Cone of Shame”

Poor guy…..  And how many of you think of the movie “Up” now when you see a dog with this collar?

Joe went in to get a tumor removed from his backside and we’ll know in a few days if it’s cancer or not.  Unfortunately Golden Retrievers are a breed with a high instance of cancer, so I’m pretty worried.

He’s taking the Cone of Shame well though and just plows through the house like it’s not even there.  I’m rather happy right now that I haven’t gotten around to painting the walls in the hallway as he just drags the cone along the wall.  

And since I’m talking about dogs anyway, let me show you a picture of Joe (the Golden) and Xena (the lab) taken while we were babysitting the granddog.  They really are cute as can be.  :)

Friday’s Fave Five

Isn’t it funny how much you can look forward to Friday – even when you’ve had a short week?  I had Monday off work and I still was happy to see Friday roll around.

1. Is it wrong to have your hair listed as one of your week’s favorites?  I finally went last night to get a cut and root elimination and just feel so much better.  Vanity isn’t usually something I have much of, but I guarantee last night I felt pretty! And I look about 20 pounds thinner and 20 years younger too!

2. Focused Knitting – I told about my goal of knitting 11 hats yesterday and I have to admit that it is bringing me much pleasure. Between having a goal and doing something that always meant a lot to my mom, this project is just perfect.

3. Cleaning and Organizing – I’ve been following along with some ladies on a forum about organizing a craft room.  The goal is to work on it and finish in six months (they are going through EVERYTHING in the room) and since my own personal goal was to get my office/craft room done this year it was a perfect fit.  One of the problems I have with researching things like this online is that I drive my family over the edge while I excitedly tell them about the exciting information I find online.  Having some online ladies to share with that have similar goals is a really good fit.

4. An Extra Dog – The kids, including little Miss B, are on a cruise this week and we are taking care of their lab.  She is totally a nut and makes us laugh so much.  I don’t think I’d like being a two dog family, but she sure is fun while she’s here.  This dog does everything FAST, including getting a drink of water!

5. Blessings in General – I’m certain that Haiti has been on the minds of everybody.  Even while doing everyday things like filling the dog’s water dish they pop in my mind.  The people in Haiti are desperate for water and all I have to do is turn a faucet and can have all I desire.  We really are blessed – and please remember Haiti in your prayers.

I’m linking to Susanne at Living To Tell The Story where you can read many more posts about the week.

Hat #1 for Red Andrews Dinner

When my kids were little my best friend and I went to garage sales every single Saturday morning.  Between us we had five kids, so when we would go there would always be a couple of them with us and it might change week to week as to who would go.

It was during this time that my mom starting knitting hats for the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner in Oklahoma City.  If I remember right she would donate 30-40 hats every single year. 

This ties into the garage sales because she always had me keep an eye out for yarn.  Lots of times at a garage sale you’d find somebody selling a grocery sack of yarn for about a dollar, which meant lots of warm heads for a low price.  Mom would even use the partial skeins to put stripes in the hat, so really nothing went to waste.

So this year Mom and I were emailing one day and I said I was thinking about making hats for this dinner.  She replied that it funny because she had been thinking about knitting the hats again.  We now have  a plan for hats and I figure I can give my stack to mom at Thanksgiving so she can take them to the drop off point.

I’m not a fast or every day knitter, so my commitment was less than hers.  I’ve decided to do a hat each month and any time I think that’s not enough I’m reminded that eleven people will have warmer heads this way.

Hat #1 was finished yesterday.  I used the Classic World War II Watch Cap Pattern, derived from Beanie #212 pattern.  I’m here to tell you that it’s very satisfying to knit a hat with a history like this behind it.

I used Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn in Ivory Tweed.  Very happy with how this turned out and Keith liked the large cuff on the hat – he said it would be good when it’s cold to roll it down over your ears more. 

Tomato Herb Pasta

For dinner last night I made roast chicken and tomato herb pasta as the side. This was the single most fantastic side dish I’ve ever done! Keith loved it, the house smelled fantastic and it tasted like something we would order at a restaurant.

I do want to point out that there is a LOT of butter in this and that I will try half the amount next time as we had a pool of butter on our plates.  Perhaps that’s why it was so good???  ;)

TOMATO HERB PASTA
adapted from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker

1 T dried onion
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t basil
1/2 t salt
1 stick butter (I’ll try 1/2 a stick next time)
4 T water
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups uncooked egg noodles

Boil noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat. Add herbs, salt, water and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Mix in drained pasta and serve.

 

I’ll be linking to:

 Tasty Tuesday at the Balancing Beauty and Bedlam blog
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Brooklyn Says "You Too Big!"

Keith and I took Brooklyn to the RV Show again this year. Last year she was fascinated with the bathrooms in the rv’s and this year it was the closets. Sometimes you really do wonder what they must be thinking!

And here’s what she told me when I asked if I could come in the closet with her:

Scripture Challenge – Hope

Last year the LPM Blog challenged us to do scripture memory – 2 verses a month.  Since I dropped the ball after a few months I thought earlier this week about how I had “failed.”  But the more I thought about the less it seemed like a failure to me.  Even now those sweet verses that I did memorize come back to me and comfort me, so how in the world can this be a failure?  :)

I had been toying with doing some scripture memory when I read that sweet Valerie had decided to continue with the LPM challenge on her blog.  This thrilled me as I love to share that sort of thing with others. 

And then, while looking at some scrapbooking blogs I came upon Patter’s Scripture Challenge and knew it was a done deal.  I love the idea of her challenge – she gives a word every other week and we find a verse to scrapbook.  For me, I’ll take it a step further and that will be my memory verse for Valerie’s challenge.

I am thrilled with this whole plan because at the end of the year I should have scriptures memorized to cover all sorts of subjects. Better yet will be a book with those verses.

Our first word was HOPE and I chose the following for my verse:

“While we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13 NIV

I’ve decided to do my scrapbook pages digitally so that I can work on that.  The paper I found has sort of a sunburst in the middle, which made me think of that glorious appearing!

I’ll need to look up the paper and embellishment so that I can properly credit them – that part is still new to me and I’ve not quite got it organized. :)

Have a great Saturday today!