One Happy Dog Speaks

Ok, so it is not really alive but it is back and working. It was dead yesterday. We had multiple power outages… so much so that my ups couldn’t handle it and brought down my pc. Which then decided I did not have a genuine copy of windows that then decided to just show a mouse and nothing else. Sigh. I fixed it… I think. Almost afraid after all the work yesterday and this morning to reboot my machine. Later…

I have posted similar items in the past but it is always worth repeating… in the hopes that someone who has the money and the influence can help make this happen:

*Congressional Reform Act of 2013*

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.

2. Congress (past, present and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. The Congress, along with the President, Vice President, and other White House personnel should all rely on the salary WE, the people, pay them for their vacations, hair cuts, etc..(Like the people they serve and represent.)

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.

The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

My oldest will be going to the middle school band. She likes the drummers to play before school starts so she knows where they should be placed. Beginner, intermediate or advanced. I asked why would a kid who has been playing drums for 2 years end up in beginner band… and her response was that they couldn’t read music. She would put them on bells (looks like xylophones to me) for the year and make sure they could read music as well as drum music. Oh. Hmmmm… my son is so so at bells and so so at reading music. Such is life. Then I asked if they had a classic drum set there… and she asked why. I said my son had been taking lessons and playing the drum set for over a year. You could hear the glee in her voice when she responded. She said if can’t read bell music but can read and play drum set music, she would put him intermediate or advanced. I’m happy. I believe most of the kids will be going to intermediate and that is where I think he would like to be… with his friends. It all happens next week. Wish me luck.

Well… the dog is finally getting under control. His behavior is much better. We bought the dvd and tools for ‘The Perfect Dog’. It was recommended by the breeder. I mentioned it before and was worried about their training collar. No problem. It is working like a charm. He has stopped going after every bunny, dog, bike and person that would come by on our walks. Using their recommendation for stopping jumping on people issues, he seems to have stopped that as well. I haven’t had a lot of people around the last day or so to see if it is sticking. Overall, less than a week and I have a fairly well behaved dog. Better than he was by far. Consistency and practice will get us the rest of the way. I can’t wait to work on the down from a distance. He is such a stubborn dog… we’ll see.

Wow. My husband went to work and I am home with the kids. I have been doing laundry, helping with homework, running them to Martial Arts, working with the dog, helping the kids work with the dog, doing bills and more. I see why people start doing drugs or alcohol. I ‘do’ tea and chocolate. Those are my downfalls… when I’m stressed, I can eat them without being hungry. Sadly they don’t have drug rehab treatment centers for chocoholics… Actually what I need is a center for learning better self-control when stressed. I have been trying to change the way I eat and have done… ok. But some weeks are much harder than others. Particularly when I’m tired. Ahhh… we all have something. Life is still good… I have a roof, an education, a job and a wonderful family (well most of the time). Yep, life is still good.

Some weeks I look forward to the weekend where I can get some sleep. No boys waking up from school stress, friend stress… and some weekends I’m wrong. My son was up for over an 1 1/2 hours last night. I could scream. Though I could see me having this sense of humor today:

Yaa, I am ready to drop on the floor and fall asleep… but at my age, I wouldn’t be able to get back up when I woke up. Never realized how much arthritis could bring you down and keep you there… GRIN. Yaa, I’m careful if I get on the floor for any length of time.

Every so often we walk the dog at night and go down a particular road that has lighting down the driveway. It makes me crazy. Why? Because one of the lights blink. And it varies. No rhyme or reason. Ugh. I think my neighbor needs to go get some fx luminaire landscape path lights that last longer and won’t randomly blink. I certainly would appreciate it. Then again, it might not bother the neighbor… I remember as I kid I loved some christmas lights that blinked randomly. I look back now and wonder why I loved it so much. Just how life changes as we evolve… the question is which way are we evolving?

If stress wasn’t enough… I went over the handlebars of my youngest’s bike last night. I was biking with the dog and needed to slow down. The problem was that it went from slowing down to a complete stop… and the stop happened with the FRONT breaks not the back. In fact, I noticed this morning that his water bottle holder had gotten bent back towards the bike:

Yep, that black u-shaped object is suppose to be upright. oh well… My arm, neck and head are hurting this morning. My arm and head more than the neck. I think a good massage would fix the neck and head. Might have to call my neighbor and schedule one for next week. Seriously too old for this kind of stuff.

I have been going through bouts of the blues because I have been stressed about losing my job. They want someone full time and I am not ready for that yet. My boys are still in elementary school. Understand, I work because I can and I need the mental stimulation. Still, when I went through my divorce 15 years ago, I was doing Tai Chi and yoga and it cut down on my stress greatly. I am wondering if I should go get a yoga blanket… I saw this site http://www.yogaaccessories.com yoga blanket had some. Get one and then start going outside and learn to stretch and meditate again. Between the para-menopausal and the stress… I need something.

After talking to the breeder, I decided to break down and buy the training DVD they suggested. It has certainly helped stop him pulling on his leash on a walk. Sooooo, I decided to go to the next level, and teach him down. Some background may be necessary… he knows the commands: down, sit, stay and come. He is not good at them but he knows them… I put on the leash and collar. Got him set up in the living room to work with him and he grabbed the leash. Sigh. Just for fun, I told him down. He went straight down. Never hesitated. Gave him lots of praise and pets and then tried it again. Got him to drop the leash… as soon as I walked him a foot… I turned around to give the command and … yep… he had the leash again. Sigh. ‘Down’, I said… and he went. Again, no hesitation. ARGHHHHHHHHHh. Three times in a row. I had a harder time getting him to drop the leash!!!! But on walks, he loves to have a stick in his mouth. Or a water bottle. Or a leaf. He is going to make me CRAZY! Looks like we can go to phase two now… trying to get him to go into a down position while the kids are running around and being obnoxious. If I can just get him to let go of that blasted leash!