Fun with PVC

A couple of weeks ago we did a fun cache with a PVC pipe.

Where's the cache?

If you look up above Louie's shoulder you can see a black cylinder weight....

Once he raised the weight, the cache container popped out of the bottom of the pipe. 

Here's what the weight looked like....

And here's the cache container.....

Fun and clever!

Flashback Friday 1-25-13

It's Friday, so that means it's Flashback Friday with my friend Martha over at Seaside Simplicity.

This weeks flashback photo is of me playing the "Hanging Marshmallow" game at my birthday party.

My mom organized the best birthday parties for us when we were kids.  My birthday is in August, so we usually got to play the party games outside.   Lots of fun games like the hanging marshmallows, walk across the yard with cotton balls on your wooden spoon, drop the wooden clothespins into the glass milk jug, pin the tail on the donkey, pop a confetti filled balloon over your head and the ever popular duck, duck, goose.  Fun times!

I don't know if you can tell, but we're all wearing little party hats, the girls always wore nice dresses and the boys wore dress shorts and shirts.  I can see part of my mom on the right side, and she's definitely wearing a nice dress as well.  Childhood birthday parties were always a huge neighborhood event and much looked forward to.

Hop over to Seaside Simplicity and join in on the fun!

Lucky in More Ways than One

Lucky......

 

Fourteen years ago a friend of ours who lived in Kentucky had a Chocolate Lab who had puppies.  Chablis wanted one of those puppies so badly.  Being the mean mother that I am, I put my foot down and denied the repeated requests.  We already had a Yorkie and I really didn’t want a big dog that sheds.

Chablis pleaded her case for one of those puppies on the entire drive home.   Louie kept giving me side long glances and I kept shaking my head “No.”  Then Chablis blurted out the one sentence that melted her father's marshmallow heart.   “If I had a new puppy I’d name it Lucky because I’d be the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.”  I was out voted and I knew it.

The next afternoon Louie and Chablis took off, with an empty promise that they were just going to “look” at some puppies – some small puppies.  Two hours later they returned with a 6 month old black Lab that had been scheduled to be destroyed the next day.  “I named her Lucky,” said Chablis proudly.  My heart sank.

Unfortunately Lucky had been confined to a small cage for the first 6 months of her life.  As a result she did all her business in the cage, which most dogs won’t do.  It took me 3 months of extensive work to break her of that nasty habit.  She was shy and skittish, and panicked any time she had to walk down our ceramic hallway.  She would lay on the carpet in my office and whine, terrified to walk on that tile floor.  It took me 4 months to get her to trust me, to come when I called her, to chase a ball, to walk around the house.  By the end of the first year she was my constant companion, following me from room to room, always laying at my feet.  When I went to the bathroom she would lie outside the doorway, if I was in the kitchen she laid in the middle of the room and at night, she always curled up in the corner of my bedroom.

 

 

We tried to train her to retrieve ducks or pheasant when we went hunting.  The first time we took her to the hunting property she spied the pond and leapt in, happily splashing around in circles.  After we shot the gun at a duck, she ran the other way and that was the last of her hunting excursions.  When we bought the lake house she scrambled down the hill, tumbled off the break wall, landed in the lake and swam out towards the mouth of our bay.  The kids and I ran down the shoreline after her, screaming, scared to death she’d swim out into the main lake.   She just paddled around after some geese and then returned, covering us with a sheet of water as she shook herself dry.

She was a good travel dog and all I had to do was open the front door, yell “Who wants to go to Kentucky?” and she would zoom past me and fly into the back of the truck.  She’d plop down and we’d never hear a peep out of her until we pulled into the lake house driveway, 425 miles away.

Fourteen years is a pretty good run for a black Lab.  She’d been having problems the past few months, especially with the arthritis in her legs.  The past month had been hard on her as she frequently lost control and peed on the floor.  We often had to grab her around the waist and haul her into a standing position and when she went out in the yard, she usually needed help climbing up the 6” from the grass to the deck.  I’d sit and stroke her silky soft ears and hate myself for my increasing thoughts of putting her down.

Last weekend was an especially bad one for her and on Monday morning I handed Louie the vet’s phone number and begged him to call and schedule a time to bring her in.  I just couldn’t stand to see her suffer any longer.  I let her out in the yard and watched her struggle to relieve herself and then hauled her back up onto the deck.  She stumbled from the back door, through the hallway with the ceramic tiles that she used to hate, got as far as the kitchen, and she collapsed in a heap.  She looked up at me with her huge, dark eyes and it was like she was saying “That’s it, I can’t do it anymore.”  I knew in my heart that God had sent me a sign that I had made the right decision with the vet.

We slid her onto a blanket and covered her with towels and spent the day saying our good byes.  When I had to leave to go to the hospital for my mom’s operation, the kids took turns sitting with her, talking to her, stroking her and holding her head in their laps.  At 6:00 pm Chablis wrapped her in a clean blanket and Tony gently carried her out to the car and she took her last ride.   

The vet was wonderful and caring and joined the 3 of us on the floor as we surrounded Lucky, kissing her and hugging her and crying over her.  She blinked her eyes a few times, but I think she was ready to go.  And then she was gone, taking our love and our hearts with her.

I’m glad Chablis named her Lucky.  She was a lucky dog because we saved her and gave her 14 good years with us.  But we were really the lucky ones because she gave us so much more than what we gave her.  I will miss her sweet disposition,  gentle spirit, soft ears and the way she loved it when I stroked her head.  Lucky was the day that she came home to live with us – in more ways than one.

 

 

No nonsense - Style Made Easy

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of No nonsense for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

When it comes to fashion, my style is laid back and easy.  I like to look "pulled together" but not too dressy.  I spend most of my time climbing in and out of trucks, so fashionable and comfortable must go hand in hand.

My new go-to item is No nonsense Cotton Leggings.   No nonsense leggings come with a gentle elastic waistband that doesn't pinch or bind.  The available colors are black, charcoal and expresso.  With sizes ranging from small to XX large, they are designed to fit all sizing needs.  I like the way they feel oh-so- soft and comfy against my legs - and I'm all about the comfort!  They are easy to care for since they're machine washable and you'll love the price - fashionable without breaking the bank!   No nonsense is availabe in retail stores as well as food and drug stores. No nonsense tights and leggings

I like to layer them with a soft sweater dress and some cute boots, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the wide range of looks you can create yourself.  If you're the type of girl who likes a little variety, then be sure to check out the No nonsense tights that come in a wide variety of colors.  You're sure to find something to add just the right pop to your outfit each day.

For updates and current information, be sure to check them out on Facebook. No nonsense on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. @benononsense

No nonsense has partnered with fasion expert Jill Martin who has stepped into the role of Brand Ambassador.  Jill is promoting the No nonsense look and style, helping women to embrace the versatile No nonsense products.  Give them a try - I think you'll like them as much as I do!

Prayers for Moms Surgery

A lot of you are familiar with my mom - she makes frequent visits here on my blog. 

She's having her first of 2 knee replacement surgeries today.  She's scrappy and a fighter and she's mentally prepared for the tough road of physical therapy ahead. 

She loves to go to geocaching events....

gets excited when she catches bluegill....

makes us yummy ham noodles....

likes to phoon.....

and of course, loves to go geocaching.....

Mom knows that all these things will be a lot easier after her surgery and she's ready.  Secretly I think she's just having the surgery because she wants to beat me to the caches.  Now mom, I don't want you climbing any trees after your surgery!

Please say a prayer for my mom's surgery and for a speedy recovery.

Kenosha Lighthouse

Last week we had to take a drive up to Kenosha, Wisconsin to look at a possible remodeling job.  And you know me, the first question I always ask is "Can we stop and grab a few geocaches?"

I always like it when our geocaching adventures are somehow tied into history, so the Kenosha Lighthouse fit the bill. 

First we walked around the lighthouse and then Louie made quick work of finding the geocache. 

I always enjoy walking around harbors and checking out the boats and docks....

The day we were up there it was extremely cold and windy.  We walked along the shoreline and found another cache hidden among the rocks.  But believe me, we didn't linger there long!

We were actually in this same area a year and a half ago when I did a blog post on the Kenosha Civil War Museum.  You may be interested in going back and checking out that post to see the difference in how we were dressed in August versus January.  I definitely prefer the temperatures in August!

Flashback Friday

Welcome to Seaside Simplicity's Flashback Friday.  Each week feel free to post an old photo on your blog and the link back to Martha's site.  It's really fun to see the old photos and hear the stories behind them.

My photos this week were taken at the same event, just in different years.  When I was in my early twenty's, I was the office manager for a gourmet gift basket company that was a division of the JM Smucker Company.  Every year there was a huge industry convention called the "National Fancy Food and Confection Show."  Each year the convention was in a different city and I'd get to go with the sales team and help work the show.

One year when the convention was in New York City, we planned a spectacular entrance.  The president of the company, the whole sales team and myself all dressed up in tuxedo's and made a grand entrance into the convention hall.  I'll tell you, when we walked into the convention center, jaws dropped and we were the talk of the show.  It was great fun and very theatrical. 

Here I am again in New York at the same annual convention, just a different year.   That year my mom and dad were on vacation driving along the east coast and decided at the last minute to swing into New York and visit me.  So they showed up at the convention center, I got them in, and they spent the day walking the trade show. 

Afterwards we went to dinner at The Old Homestead Steakhouse.  If you're ever in New York City you need to go there for a great steak.  The owner of the restaurant was friends with my boss, so we got treated like royalty.  I will seriously never forget that meal - it was that good!

Don't forget to post a Flashback Friday picture and link back to Seaside Simplicity!

Computer Issues

Aren't computer/internet issues a pain?

Where to start first?  Cable company, modem, router, extender?  Who the heck knows!  GRRRR!!!!!

Hopefully this will soon be resolved.

Breakfast in the Balmy Burbs 2013

Every January one of our area geocachers named "Greenback" hosts a fantastic breakfast event.  Usually it's called The Breakfast in the Blustery Burbs because in a normal year, it would be freezing cold and snowy here.  This year, with temperatures in the 40's, it was downright balmy instead.  No matter, it's always a good time!

This year the breakfast was at Golden Corral, which is one of my favorite buffet restaurants.  They have a really extensive menu and a chocolate fountain - what's not to like about that??

The breakfast portion of the event usually runs from around 7:30 am until 9:00 am.  It gets very crowded, because like I said, it's a very popular event here....

We load up our plates.  Poor Snoopy looks like he needs a bath....

 and then we sit and visit with old friends and make some new ones.  Mary, Tom and Carmen...

Crazy Mikey who loves to give hugs.....

My really good friends Mary and Tom...

Mary bought Snoopy for me a few years ago and we always get an Event picture with him!

The famous chocolate fountain and my buddy Bill.....

Glenn and I reached our 2000th milestone cache on the same day last spring.  Since then he's blown past me and I have a lot of running to do to catch up....

Bret is one of my favorite guys ever...

Mom chatting with Bill....

Linda and Rick.  The 3 of them make up a formidable caching team....

There is usually have a drawing and Greenback gives out some geocache themed prizes before the breakfast is over.  That's Greenback in the bright green shirt....

They always release a bunch of new caches so everyone eats and leaves to go look for some.  We took off armed with GPS units and a list of new geocaches....

 For me, it's a lot of fun to just run around and look for geocaches and meet new cachers at the cache locations.

We all introduce ourselves and look for the caches together.  It's just a nice way to meet new people.  That's my dad peering over the fence....

Me doing the GPS shuffle......

On the 3rd cache I knelt on something sharp and scraped the crap out of my knee.  It bled like crazy for about 20 minutes....

A little later we met up with Linda, Rick and Bill and we decided to hang with them for awhile....

Look at my knee and you can see the blood seeping through my jeans....

On the next cache I was plowing through some brush and took a torn branch to the face, which resulted in several thorn pricks, which then proceeded to bleed down my face....  Man, I really took a few hits for the team today!

This next cache was the most difficult of the day, but it was my favorite one as well.  It was well hidden someplace on this bridge...

Another cacher who had found it earlier in the day stopped by and handed me his flashlight, gave me the tip to "use a stick" and I soon had the elusive cache in hand.

There is something about open, running water in January that is just so wrong in Chicago.....

In all we found 12 caches for the day and had a really good time, even me, despite my bloody body parts.  We even found a street with a very appropriate name.....

So thanks again to Greenback for all his hard work that goes into hosting this fabulous annual event.  If you're a geocacher I really urge you to go attend some of the events.  You'll have a good time and meet lots of new people.