The Great Outdoors that is the Greater South Side

*Disclaimer:  This post contains graphic gory disgusting details toward the end.

 I thought I would take a little time today to enlighten you all as to the fantastic woodland creatures that you can all meet if you come visit.  You know you all need an outdoor adventure, so COME ON!


Orbil



As any of you who are facebook or twitter followers know, I recently made friends with a darling Orb Weaver!  He spun new webs outside my front door every night.  He has now moved to the back door.  How do I know that he is the same one, you may ask... I just do!  He's special!  Here is a really crappy photo of him.

Jack and friend... I'm very aware that
he could probably live inside of Jack's beard.

Jack and I now have a new friend that moved in close to our house!  Want to meet him?  He doesn't have a name, and frankly, I haven't seen him except for the ONE time... but as far as I'm concerned, he's a buddy.

Releasing our new buddy in to the wild...
 that is, a bush in front of our house!

I believe I may have previously mentioned the squirrel family that we have living in our trees as well.  If not, we have several squirrels that live here.  Kaiah hates them because they tease her.  She'll chase them up the tree and they'll get to a branch, just barely above Kaiah's reach and will chatter at her.  I honestly think they are mocking her.

(I will also add that there are a variety of birds and bunnies and this guy that live here, but they aren't super news-worthy.)

Now, on to the real story.  Shortly after I discovered the Orb Weaver, I also discovered that there are two owls living in our pine tree.  I went outside with Kaiah one night and I heard this noise that I could only assume was the collaborative noise of 3 dying dogs.  Well, all of a sudden, I look up because I hear a rustling and an owl swooped out of the tree, right at my head!  As soon as it got across the street, I could hear it "who whoing" back and forth with the remaining owl in the tree.  I assumed since I heard the noise no longer that it was some weird mating noise or conversation the two were having before the dear friends parted ways.  This all happened about 2-3 weeks ago.

This is where the story really starts.  About a week ago, I started scolding Kaiah when we went outside because she wouldn't leave the eave extension alone.  Then, a few days ago I started smelling what can only be referred to as "the smell".  I told Jack that there was something that was clearly dead in the eave extension.  He told me he checked and that there was nothing there.  BOY was he WRONG.  Finally after two days of the stench increasing, I forced Jack to take the extension out and check even though he ASSURED me it was just "stagnant water".  As soon as he pulled it off he goes, "oh... there's something in there all right". 

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS?!?!?

A DEAD RACCOON!!!  A completely mushified decomposing pile of maggots, teeth and a tiny striped piece of tail!  DISGUSTING!  Jack tried to convince me it wasn't a raccoon but I know raccoon tail when I see it.   Sick.  It was seriously mush! 

What does this have to do with the owls you ask?  I have decided that the noise that I heard the night of the owls was actually that raccoon trying to free itself from my eave spout and the sound alarmed the owl and made it fly across the street!  How horrible is that?  Maybe I could have saved the probably rabid little dude, had I known!  Sad!

Okay, that is all for my nasty nature stories.  Here's a cute picture of Kaiah in her new tie-dyed bandana I got her at FarMar this weekend to replace all of the grossness!

Such a pretty girl!

Wine and and a good book?

I feel like kind of a loser sitting at home drinking a glass of red and reading a little of "The Catcher in the Rye", but you know what? I'm perfectly at peace with that. :)

Huge Dilemma! I NEED your help!!!

Alright folks.  I need your help right now.  I am in the midst of a major internal debate.  I know this is a long post, but please stick with me; I am begging for your  input. 

While I was home over my lunch hour today, I randomly decided to peruse craigslist.  I have not looked at craigslist since job searching 3 months ago and I haven't looked at it for anything other than jobs for probably a year.  Well, on a whim I  just decided to search EVERYTHING on it today.

I purposefully do not allow myself to look at the pets on craigslist ANYTIME I'm on there because I can not turn myself away from a friend who needs a home.  Guess what I did TODAY though.  I LOOKED AT THE PETS!  Here-in begins the story of Bronko.

This is Bronko.   Bronko is an English Mastiff.  Bronko is absolutely AMAZING.  Bronko had a really nice write-up about him on craigslist.  The family rescued him from a home where he was terrorized by young children.  The adoptive family has a 10 year-old and a 14 year-old at home.  Bronko does fine with these two but he gets spooked easily, so, long story short, they are looking for a more suitable home for Bronko.  Here-in lies ME!

On a whim, before even speaking to my fiance about the matter, I decided to do some follow-up on my dearest Bronko.  I asked if he does okay with other dogs (the family had said that he has a high prey drive and doesn't do well with small dogs, so I asked about larger dogs, like Kaiah.)  I also asked about the re-homing fee, because let's face it:  I'm gonna need that money to feed this sucker!  He is 170 lbs.!  That is 75 lbs. bigger than Kaiah!

Speaking of Kaiah, here she is.  Does she look like she needs a friend?  I told her about Bronko and then we went on a walk and it is literally the best behaved she has ever been on a walk before.  Do you think this means that she is saying, "Hey Ma!  Look at how good I am!  I deserve a friend!" OR do you think she is saying, "Mom!  I'm being so good!  You don't have to get another dog to show me how to behave!"  (The family also mentioned how well-behaved Bronko is and I had told Kaiah that.  She understands human-speak perfectly fine, thank you.)

Back to Bronko though.  I received a response and the first line stated that I had almost brought the woman to tears with the mere mention of my having a dog named "Kaiah" as they had a St. Bernard named "Kyah" who passed away due to cancer in February.  What are the odds of THAT?  Kyah and Bronko had been BFF's so the family thought that Bronko and Kaiah could learn to love each other like Bronko and other Kyah had loved each other.  The kicker?  The family is willing to have no re-homing fee.  They just want the perfect home for Bronko.

Speaking of kicking, I then kicked myself in the ass for even having emailed the woman about Bronko.  I hadn't even spoken to Jack about him and now I was getting the family's hopes up that we might be a fantastic fated match for Bronko.

So, I talked to Jack and, no surprise here, he was all about it.  Loves the idea of it.  So I emailed back and forth with the family a couple of times and they would like the dogs to meet each other and they would like to meet us, so we are setting this up for Sunday.  This is the picture that I got in the most recent email, with the caption "Bronko looking at Kaiah".  She then explained in the email that she showed him the picture I had sent of Kaiah and he started sniffing the screen and staring at her.  See!  He loves her already!

Okay, so here are the facts.  I need help in my decision-making.  I will make a bulleted list for you, because let's face it; I've written way too many paragraphs and I've maybe held on to half (if that) of my readers.

To Start: Things that People Might Normally Think Are an Issue, but Truly are NOT for Us

• He is 170 lbs. of dog  (Jack and I are not even phased by this.  Other than the fact that we already have one 97 lb. dog sleeping with us.  Can you imagine another 170 lb. dog?  Good thing we have a king...)
• He slobbers (So what?  So does Kaiah.  You get used to it.)

Reasons NOT to get Bronko

• Kaiah gets spooked by other dogs  (Sometimes she loves them though.  She's big on first impressions.)
• Bronko gets spooked by kids (We have nieces and nephews.  We DON'T have kids though and we don't plan to anytime soon.  The extended family isn't around Kaiah that often the way it is.)
• 2 big dogs in the bed?
• We don't have a fenced-in yard (We plan to get one eventually, but right now Kaiah is on a long tether in the yard.  The family doesn't tether Bronko as they feel he would bolt if he got spooked so he only goes out on a leash.  They also do not have a fenced-in yard.)
• Big dogs are expensive.  (We know.  We have one.  We WILL afford it, but is it the smartest?)

Reasons TO get Bronko

• Look at him!  ----------------->
• He needs a good home and I know we can provide that!
• He is reportedly well-trained!  Extra bonus!
• He is used to having free reign of the house, which is fabulous because we NEVER lock Kaiah up!
• He doesn't chew on things he isn't supposed to
• He is a lover
• He is free to the right home and you better believe we have a GREAT home!
• He is one of the most handsome men I've ever seen!
• It's fate!  Let's face it people.  This IS fate.  I never get on craigslist anymore and on a whim I did and he was posted TODAY.  They used to have another dog named "Kyah" and WE have a "Kaiah".  Anytime that Jack and I talk about getting another dog, we always say that we want an English Mastiff and here one is.  AND Bronko needs us!

I'm sure there a bunch of other reasons I should and should not get Bronko, but my mind and stomach are both going crazy about this issue.

Seriously folks.  I am BEGGING for your help on this one.  This is a huge decision.  I know what my heart says and I know what my head says and I need help right now in deciding which one is smarter.  Help?  Leave me comments on this one.  I don't care if you never comment any of my other blogs and I don't care if you don't follow me.  Comment anonymously if you have to.  Just help me out here!

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da!

Just thought I'd share my mood today.  I am aware that I am not an artist, and I am even more aware that there are no rainbows without rain.  This is just how I feel today.  Enjoy.

Sometimes it's Like I Never Left (and I Love It)

I headed back to the Maq. this weekend to celebrate my friend Kate's birthday.  This was honestly one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.  For those of you who don't already know it, Kate's birthday is a national holiday.  It's a big deal every year and if you aren't there to celebrate with the right people, you WILL be in trouble.  That being said, I am so happy I went back last weekend!  It was the most fun I've had in so long.

The main event involved getting some sun time in but as we all know very well, the sun and I do not get along.  (My back is FRIED!)  Here's a picture of all of my lady friends that helped celebrate Kate's birthday.  (Kate's in the front middle, for those of you who might notknow her.)

It's funny how I can spend so much time away from my friends but we always fall back in to "best friendship" when we are together.  I love these ladies with all of my heart.


Friday night we got to spend some time with a few of our guy friends, which was nice since it has been so long since I've seen any of them.  The same thing applies with them though... once we get together it's like we've never been apart.  It's interesting really how that works.  You know, I've always felt like our group of friends from high school were different than a lot of people's "groups".  Maybe because I'm on the inside of that group, it's easy for me to say... maybe everyone feels that about their friend groups.  Our HS friends are like the friends that most people make in college though.  Those solid life-long friendships.  I may not get to see these ladies and gents as often as I'd like to (living several hours away from most of them), but it doesn't matter because when I see them again, it's like I never left.

Here's a bit more of how we spent our Friday night.  We grew moustaches!  On our FINGERS!  Kate's sporting "The Hitler"... she didn't center it on her finger very well though so it was "The Crooked Hitler" most of the night.  Megan's sporting "The Handlebar" or, as she calls it, "The Maq-stache".  Lanham is sporting "The Charlie Chaplin" and I've got "The Fireman" going on.  I know you all are jealous.

Saturday then was pool day.  We got some good sun time in and drank a lot of bucket drinks.  It was fantastic (aside from that whole sunburn thing).   Then Saturday night we got to see some of the boys again.  The boys were hosting the 3rd Annual "Feets of Strength" challenge, so several of them were in the area.  (Yes, I'm aware of how Feets is not spelled "feats".  They were barefoot for the events.)  Anyway, we had our own tournament, a little flippy cup action, as usual.  Well, we made it a high stakes tournament and if us ladies won we got the extra "Feets of Strength" t-shirts.  Needless to say, this is how we roll:

Team One & Done.  Notice all of our cups are flipped?  That would also be my free t-shirt!  Sorry boys, but you should really know better by now than to challenge us.

I'm so glad I made it back for the weekend.  I couldn't ask for better friends.

Oh yeah!  Something else exciting happened this weekend.  But, more on that later!

Smiling Stranger

I like people who smile at strangers.

I smile at strangers.

This may surprise those of you who know my bitchy nature.  Yes, I am full aware that it exists.  Sorry, but if I make a bitchy comment toward you, it is probably true and I most likely mean it.  What does this say about me as an individual?  Maybe I am blunt.  Maybe I speak my mind.  Maybe I lack somewhat in the filtering department.  At the same time though, I feel that I am able to filter when I feel it necessary (even if others think I should filter a bit more often.)  My point through all of this rambling is that I am not bitchy to just anyone.  If I'm rude to you, there is probably a reason.  I'd like to say I'm sorry for it, but I'm really most likely not.

I like most people.  I feel I get along with most people.  This brings me back to the intention of this blog.  I like people who smile at strangers.  I like it when strangers smile or say "hello".  I try to smile and say "hello" to the people I come across as well.

The reason I bring all of this up is that society really surprises me.  This is as bittersweet as a comment could be.

I find it sad that people are sometimes so startled by someone they don't know just saying "hello".  My intention is never to startle someone, but it happens a lot and this fact makes my heart break a little for these people that must be used to being ignored.

Then of course there are those people who think "hello" is a cue for a 20 minute conversation about topics which neither party really care about.  These are usually the same people that get so overjoyed by your smile that they would leap in front of a moving car just to get closer to you.

Then there are those people.  You know who they are without mention.  They snarl at any sign of friendliness.  You could scream "HELLO!!!!" right in their ear and they would either snub you or continue walking like they never heard you in the first place.

There there is me.  If someone says "hi" to me on the street it makes my day.  I don't care who that person is, what they look like, or what they are doing.  They took the time to be friendly.  I smile and say "hello" back to them and we both go about our day. 

It's like the free version of paying it forward.  If someone smiles at you when you walk past them, aren't you that much more likely to smile at the next person you see?  Just think if everyone did this.  We would all walk around smiling.  It is a known fact that the very act of smiling instantly makes you a bit happier no matter what your circumstance.

So, smile at the next person you see, whether you know them or not.  Say "hello" to a stranger on the sidewalk.  Smile right now even if no one is around.  And show some teeth, would you?  You liked it, didn't you?

[Here's a little bugger that makes me smile.  (My nephew, Easton.)  He's smiling too, if you didn't notice.]