On the lam...

My parents are using the 9'X 9' storage shed in our backyard to store furniture and boxes belonging to my brother and sister. Extra stuff they don't need right now since they are crashing with friends (brother) and away at college (sister). Over the past few days my dad has brought over three seperate trailor loads of stuff. We don't mind loaning them the shed. We weren't using it. It sits there empty, hidden behind our gigantic garage. Actually, I feel great loaning my parents the space since they have done so much to help me out over the years.

The only flaw in this great plan was that our back gate was left open the night before last. We discovered this was the case at about 9:20 p.m. when it was pitch black outside. DH went out front to watch for my parents, who were bringing the final load of the night, and Gus came running up to him.

!!! ??? *bleep bleep bleep*

A quick check showed that our social butterfly, Gus, and our evil dog from hell, Chloe, were safely in the yard and behaving themselves. But Shelly, the granny Sheltie, had taken off. She was probably humming the "Mission Impossible" theme song under her breath as she scampered away from the Haven.

I'm FREEEEEEEE!!

That stinker. Of all the dogs to spring themselves from the joint, I suppose its best that Shelly was the one. Gus is too darn cute. Someone would keep him. And Chloe is a sweet girl, and much better than she used to be, but I worry she could get scared and nip someone. I can't see her actually BITING anyone anymore. She's been given so much love/support/training/boundaries by us the past few years since we rescued her, but why risk it? Yikes. Shelly is ... old. Beautiful, sweet, but old. Someone would have looked at her tags and called us, I'm sure.

My parents hopped in their Jeep and drove around until they found our little escapee. She was only a few streets away. I'm glad she wasn't missing over night. We'd have gotten no sleep.

Crazy dog.

Spoilers... bah!

I didn't mean to peek. Really.

But its kind of comforting to know that the basketball game on my T.V. right now is nothing to stress over. I can just enjoy it. My boys are going to bring home a gold medal.


Yay.

Ms.B

Oh happy day...

This year's growing season got off to a slow start. Slow enough that we never even planted flowers in the front beds of our garden. It went from "too cold" to "too hot" rather swiftly. *fail*

But thanks to the Walls of Water that I painstakingly put around each of my tomatoes and squash, they thrived and are now sharing their lovely bounty with me.

Fancy words there, that I just used, I know. A fresh garden tomato does that to me. They are like candy. And the best part is that DH is crazy doesn't like tomatoes so they are ALL MINE!!

The squash/zucchini plants are doing their jobs as well. Already I have had to bring extras to work and sent a large bag with DH to his as well. I fear that even with just the two plants, I'll soon be forced to spy-tech to neighbors' doorsteps, place a pile of squash there, and then run away!

Anonymous Squashings for the win!!

If you live near the Haven and enjoy tomatoes & squash, let me know! I'll gladly share the love. And since your headed this way, be sure to bring a small child with you. They can entertain the dogs while we raid the garden. Gus, the pug, likes to pick squash but he's not very good at it. (No thumbs!)

How to keep company from staying at your house.... ever.

Get a pet snake!

I have to admit that snakes used to bother me a little. Mostly because I wondered at what point they were going to try to bite me. But so far Salazar has been a gentleman. He's not as socialized as he could be (we'll work on it!) but he minds his own business and expects us to do the same.

He shows interest in us as we go about our business during the day. Sal naps most of that time but he makes sure to curl up inside of his hollow log in such a way that he can watch us through the glass.

He has one little quirk that I am still adjusting to. He doesn't like frozen mice. Granted, they are thawed when he get them, but he just isn't a fan. He will only eat what he can catch himself. I had hoped we'd not have to deal with that, especially since I used to keep mice and rats as pets. Now what was once a member of the zoo has become lunch. It boggles my mind a bit. I don't let DH show me Lunch until he or she is already in Salazar's bin and about to be snacked on. Otherwise I might grab the mouse and make a run for it.

FREEDOM!! RUN!! Don't let the four cats nab ya as you make a break for the door!!

Thank goodness he doesn't have a preference for COLORS of mice. A video I watched on youtube was narrated by the snake's owner who shared that his particular snake prefered only male, white, live mice. Not sure exactly why... or how the snake would realize a mouse was male. Well, WE all know exactly how you tell its male. It's rather obvious. But why would a snake care? What would that snake do in the wild? Oh yes, he would STARVE!


Ms.B

One Word!

Wii!

Make-over

For those of you who have been lucky enough to read my hap-hazard blogging long-term (All three of you! *pinches cheeks*), you might have noticed a slight change recently to the look of My Haven.

*points at the colorful, flashing icons on the left of the page*

DH made a bunch of those buttons for his blog and I thought they were so darn nifty that I wanted them for myself. He, being the very generous man that he is, spent half an hour the other day putting them on my page. He custom made a few of them for me and let me steal some that he had made for his blog as well. There are other links that I would like to add at some point, of course. But for now I'm supremely satisfied.

This blog makes me look like I know what I'm doing!

Thanks, Blog!

(And DH!)

Horrid Realization

Ms.Behaved knows nothing of the procedure for preparing seafood.

She learned something new last night though, as she surfed the internet for a picture that resembled the tastey little critter she had nibbled on at the buffet...

According to a site she read, 'fresh' octopus is grey. Cooked octopus is red. Mmm... Yum!

The horrifying realization that her tasty excursion yesterday involved a small grey creature hit her like a ton of bricks.

It wasn't just seafood with its face still on.
It was Rocky-Mountain-cheap-buffet-RAW!!


Forgive her, all you lovers of seafood. Please. Forgive her for her disgust and ignorance. But where she lives, seafood that is raw can NOT be that fresh. She does NOT reside near the ocean. Otherwise seafood adventures might be a whole different ball game.

*cry*

Ms.B

Nom nom nom...

She stared at the object on the end of her fork with a combination of interest and disgust. It must be somewhat good. There is a whole dish of them over at the buffet. Ewww!

Her husband rolled his eyes and tried not to give too much attention to what was on her fork. That's gross. Do NOT eat that!, he said.

She stared at the strange item a while longer and then set her fork down on her plate. It's too nasty. I can't do it!! It would feel so weird in my mouth!!

Good. Leave it alone. I'm trying to eat!, the husband said playfully.

She continued to push the 'food' around her plate as he finished his meal. Finally he could take no more. He set his napkin down on his plate with finality and indicated that he had lost his appetite.

The wife unfolded a paper napkin and laid it over the top of her plate while the husband hummed some funeral music. Suddenly she got playful and holding the napkin in one hand in front of her face, brought the item up to her mouth, hidden from her husband's view.

Although she was a little disturbed that her fork was so close to her mouth, she kept a twinkle in her eye as she pretended to eat. The husband's eyes were wide with disbelief.

You wouldn't!

Impulsively she nibbed on one of the legs. It was tough, like chewing on spongy jerky. She became more bold and used her teeth to saw off a bite and tentatively began to chew.

It was horrid. It was foul. It was rubbery. She could feel the suction cups roll around on her tongue.

The husband did not realize she had really taken a bite. He was chuckling as she set her fork back down and re-covered the plate with the napkin.

After a few minutes she could take it no more. She grabbed another napkin and emptied her mouth into it.

The husband's jaw dropped when he saw she had really been chewing on the leg.

They both sat in stunned silence.

___________________________________

DH and I tried the new Chinese Buffet near the Haven tonight. I highly recommend the fruit bar and the fried rice.

Avoid the whole baby octopus at all costs.

*shudder*

Ms.B

I missed him!

In just a couple of hours I'll be picking up the DH from the airport. He's been in the Mother Country at a reunion. It was a quiet weekend without him around. It will be so great to see him.

Yay!

Seeing him in the airport will be so thrilling that I'm liable to jump up and down and crap my hands.

Good job, Ociffer.

FINALLY!

Back and forth I go, 30-minutes each way to work. Crazy drivers are an every day occurrence and I am getting used to bobbing and weaving to avoid them in traffic. (Does the bobbing and weaving classify me as yet another crazy driver? Possibly. But that's another blog...)

Today as I approached my exit on the freeway a crazy motorcycling zipped between the cars and roared down the road. Hot on his tail, a cop. It's the first time I've seen a crazy driver actually get pulled over. I had started to think the cops were all on permanent vacation.

Just my luck, now that I cheered the cops on, I'll get a ticket on my way home from work. Heh.

I don't want to tickle this one...

O.O

And I thought the American version of this toy was horrifying.


Ms.B

Twisted

Growing up my mom taught me a lot of tongue-twisters. With practice, failure, and much laughter I eventually got the hang of most of them once I was warmed up properly. One of my favorites was the classic

She sells seashells down by the seashore.

In the most recent newsletter here at work there was a section that included this month's "Tongue Twister". Its my old favorite only elaborated!

She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure,
And if she sells seashells on the seashore
Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells.


*blink* I'm going to need more practice.


Ms.B