Tribute to Grace

Many of you know we've had two dogs, a 10 year old chocolate mutt named Haus and a three year old Brittany Spaniel named Grace. Haus has been an outside dog, who is quite over protective, but very affectionate toward our family. Grace was our inside dog who had way too much energy, most of which was expended chasing shadows that came from the light in the microwave or refrigerator, catching flies or chasing chipmunks that ran by the sliding glass door. It became obvious to us that Grace needed much more attention and time that we were able to devote to her. She is suppose to be a bird hunting dog, but we don't have many birds around here and we have two kids that take a higher priority that her. We've talked for quite sometime about finding a new home for her where she can hunt and get all of the exercise she needs. (The only way we could begin to wear her down was to let her run full speed behind us on the ATV.) So that day finally arrived when her new owner came to pick her up. His name is Larry; he lives in Michigan and is a retired school teacher. He's had Brittany Spaniel's for almost 50 years. Grace now has a new brother and sister. She will also get to chase a herd of cows every day, and I hear Larry has a few cats. I wonder how long the cats will live with Grace around? She also leaves on Friday to go on a week long hunting trip to South Dakota. She'll be an outside dog at her new home, but got to stay in the house for her first night. The new owner's wife commented that Grace must have wrestled often with our boys, because she was getting a little rowdy. So, here's hoping that Grace likes her new home. I kind of miss the little fur ball!

Buck pic

Most of you probably know that all of my boys are big hunters. I just had to share a picture of a buck my husband shot yesterday with his bow.

Take you back to 1992...

I was doing some "spring cleaning" in our loft area today. I found a box of old video (VHS) tapes. You know they are old when I say "video tapes." Some had episodes of Beverly Hills 90210, or an old favorite of mine Tour of Duty. I also found tapes including a video of my Senior class trip to Washington D.C. and a trip I took to Florida with my parents and Julie to see my grandparents. Wow, talk about taking you back in time! I got a good laugh out of some of the clothes people were wearing. My own two boys commented on how weird the kids, especially the boys, were acting. Oh, to be a teenager again... not! It was fun to go back and watch though. I have a hard time believing that was 15 years ago.

Just for kicks, I dug out a few photos from the Florida trip. Julie and I got to stay on my grandparents sailboat for the week. We also took a boat to see the Davis Cup, a tennis tournament in which Pete Sampras and Andre Agassai played. Apparently, as teenager girls, Andre Agassai was quite a heart throb. We got to go sailing in the Gulf of Mexico and I bought my Senior Prom dress while in Florida. How fun it is to have pictures and videos to bring back the good memories from times gone by.

P.S. Julie, I still haven't brought myself to watch the video we took of ourselves in the boat one night. Remember that?

Misc. blurbs...

• I was watching the Today show the other day before going to work. The topic was "secrets." Apparently some guy has written a book about America's secrets. They also have a website, http://www.postsecret.com/, with secrets that people have shared. It's rather humorous. So what do you think is the #1 secret Americans keep? Would you believe, peeing in the shower!? I would have never guessed that one!

• While watching our local news this morning, they had on Hunter Smith. If you're not an Indianapolis Colts fan, you might not know that Hunter Smith is the kicker for the Colts. Anyway, he was on with a new CD he produced called Connersvine. It's a contemporary Christian CD. I thought that was pretty cool. Two thumbs for positive role models for our kids! (http://www.myspace.com/connersvine)

• I had to share this e-mail I got from my sister-in-law today. She writes, "This morning, I was waiting in the Starbuck's drive-thru to get my morning drink. Usually, I'd just order a tall or grande, but since we were up most of the night with Owen, I needed something more powerful. So, I order a venti drink, along with a bagel since I was running late this morning. It's a long line, but by the time I get up to the window, the barista tells me that the person in the car in front of me just paid for my whole order. I have absolutely no idea who it was...I don't think I work with her and honestly, I wasn't even paying attention to the car in front of me. Anyway, it absolutely made my day and made me think that such a simple act could make someone else's day too. So, next time I'm in a drive thru, I'm going to do the same. Just a neat way to make someones day." How cool! That's true, the simplest acts of kindness can mean so much! You may never know how a simple word, action, card, prayer can have an impact on someone else.

Indiana weather...

Gotta love Indiana weather! It was a record high on Monday with a temperature of 91 degrees. Two days later, the high is 57 degrees. Go figure? If the cooler temperatures stay, the leaves of Brown County will be mighty colorful soon. I found a cool website (http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/leafcam/) with a leaf cam from here in Brown County. Trees are still pretty green right now. We'll see what they look like in another week.

On an odd sort of note, my 13 year old came home yesterday and announced that he had been selected as the emergency bus driver! WHAT? Apparently, the bus drivers had to choose a student on their bus to drive the bus in case of an emergency, like the driver passing out. The bus driver gave him a 3 minute crash course on how to drive the bus! That's a riot! Needless to say, Jordan is only on the bus for the last 5 minutes in the morning, and is one of the first off in the afternoon. Hopefully he will never have to utilize his new found skill!