Cat with nerves (balls?) of steel

Remember the other day, how I said that I took Ginger for a walk down a nearby street and she got chased by a cat? Remember that? Today I decided to go down that same street again. I took the camera with me even though, I told myself, it is highly unlikely for a dog to get chased by a cat twice on the same street. Well, guess freakin' what!? It happened again.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, THIS is the cat who chases my dog:



We were just walking along, minding our own business, sniffing the fire hydrants and chasing leaves (OK, that was mostly Ginger), and this cat actually crossed the street to confront us. Please note that the barking you hear in the background is NOT coming out of Ginger. There was a neighbor's dog enjoying the show from behind a fence, and I think what he's saying is dog-speak for, "Kick his ass, Ginger!"



Leave it to me to take a dog to a catfight.

My sister, she so funny!

Online readers of the Daytona Beach News-Journal were treated to a most unusual sight Monday morning. There in the space that is normally reserved for photos of hurricane paths or alligators being removed from somebody's backyard* were 2 pictures of my little sister:



The caption underneath said: "Jenny Boyd performs a comedy routine, joking about her childhood in Alabama, at the Deltona Art Center."

Jenny has been taking a comedy class in Deltona, and a reporter visited her class and did a whole story on it. The article begins:

In some ways it's like being in a regular class.

The students all want to sit in the back, and no one wants to be first.

But in this class dysfunction is welcomed and in fact encouraged. Homework is watching late night TV. But what else can one expect from a 10-week course on stand-up comedy.

Here's the part about Jenny:

Jenny Boyd of Orlando, the first person on stage during a recent Sunday class, riffed about accents she heard growing up in Alabama. At a party, kids ran around yelling about getting someone named Obber Dwyne.

"It was Obber Dwyne this, Obber Dwyne that."

Her parents cracked up later when she talked about the party. They told her the kid's name was Albert Dwayne.

*I got this from Jenny. See, I TOLD you she's funny! You should really ask her to tell you about a dog named Westaday.

Scenes from a couch

Housebreaking has been going surprisingly (to me anyway) well. Our 4-day accident-free streak just ended with a pee in the kitchen though while I was running for my shoes.

Due to her recent potty reliability, Ginger has been spending more time hanging out in the living room. This is either the laziest or the most tolerant cat on the planet:



The weather is mighty changeable around here. This picture was taken perhaps 5 minutes later:



Here is a closeup of Ginger looking dashing on the red couch:



She kind of blends in with the hardwood floors, but I thought it was cute how she passed out on her toy this morning:



I still need to blog our summer adventures in Florida and Alabama and our recent trip to Lexington to see the horses, but I have been consumed with all things puppy lately. Soon we will get back to our regularly sceduled programming. I promise!

Getting to know you

When we brought Ginger home, Eddie fixed us with an icy glare that signified his extreme distaste for the prospect of a furry sibling. He hung out in the dining room and watched the puppy chaos in the kitchen through the baby gate.

A couple of days later, Annabelle and I tried to get Ginger to settle down between us on the couch while we watched a movie. Eddie was hanging out on the back of the couch though, and Ginger was delighted to have an opportunity to give him a quick sniff. Eddie continued to look less than thrilled, but he didn't run away--whether that's due to extreme self-confidence or laziness, I don't know.

Last night, Eddie actually entered the Puppy Realm (formerly known as the kitchen). He perched high on the counter and looked down and generally drove Ginger nuts with excitement:



Yesterday I took Ginger for a walk down the street, and she actually got stalked by a cat! One of the neighbor's cats was out in the yard, and I expected her to run away when she saw Ginger. Instead, she approached us, engaged in a little sniffing punctuated with some hissing, and then FOLLOWED US DOWN THE STREET! Poor Ginger has no idea about cats who run away from dogs, given that the lump sum of her feline exposure is with these 2 obvious mutants.

Let's eat some cake!

I can't believe it, but my baby is turning 11 today! Let's have some cake and celebrate. As you can see from this picture, taken on Annabelle's second birthday, she gets her enthusiasm for chocolate from me:



Here is Annabelle's birth announcement:



I designed it myself, so I think it's pretty cool.

Playful puppy

We have bought a variety of toys for Ginger's amusement. She has little use for the smiling stuffed carrot but will occasionally engage in a rousing game of fetch with her rope bone. The biggest hit though has been this orange rubber . . . thing. Frankly it looks to me like something that should arrive at your house in a discreet brown paper wrapper, but she sure has fun with it:

Help, I'm being held hostage

So I'm sitting here, perched like a bird on our kitchen stepstool, aimlessly surfing the web on the laptop computer I keep in the kitchen. Ginger decides that the platform underneath the stepstool would be the perfect spot for a nap:



Now I'm trapped. If I get up to do something else, she'll wake up, and it's against my religion to wake a sleeping baby of ANY species. Perhaps somebody could please at least bring me a snack?

Weekend pupdate

Fred and I took Annabelle to Chattanooga yesterday to pick up Ginger. We very cleverly took the backroads down, thus turning a 5-hour drive into a 7-hour one. Oh, well, at least we know not to do that again!

Annabelle naturally was thrilled to death to finally meet the puppy:



Mike didn't go with us due to pre-existing social obligations, but he was very excited to finally meet her when we pulled in at 10:30 last night.

Poor Eddie appears to be distinctly unimpressed by the new family member:



Can't you just see what he's thinking?!

Puppy update in a minute, but first look at this!

I finished my Germany socks on the way to go pick up Ginger yesterday:



I would have finished them ages ago, but I had the dreaded Second-Sock Syndrome.

Expecting pitter patter of little feet

Yes, we have decided to add on to our family, and no, it's not what you're thinking. Meet Ginger, our new Australian terrier puppy:



We sat the kids down tonight to deliver the happy news, but we haven't told the cat yet. Poor furry guy has no idea what's in store for him.

We will be driving down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Saturday to pick Ginger up and bring her home. So those of you who were getting tired of cat pictures can now look forward to puppy pictures!

'Bout time!

The night we left to go to Germany, I tried to convince my sister that she should come hang out with us at the airport while we waited for our flight. "It'll be fun," I lied.

Jenny, however, said she had to go home after dinner and paint her toenails "in case I get married tomorrow." Sure, Jenny, sure.

But you know what? She did go and get married! She and Jeff just took themselves right down to the courthouse and tied the knot. I meant to blog it right away, but I didn't have a picture. I'm trying to get caught up now, so here's the happy couple:



I pointed out to Jeff that he's legally one of us now, and he was just so excited:



He fits in right nice, don't you think?

Jailhouse rock

I did a little time in jail today. You don't believe me? Well, it's true.

Turns out that there is a confinement facility right here on Fort Knox AND they serve T-bone steaks and shrimp for lunch for $3.75 on Fridays. Fred found out about it yesterday when he and some of his coworkers took a tour, so of course they made plans to return today for the food. I am nothing if not a cheap date, so I went along.

I was amazed by how many of our neighbors I ran into at lunch. Apparently the jail is the hot, happening, local lunch venue. They certainly served a full house!

The NCO who runs the show there is an amazing woman. She grabbed me in a warm hug when Fred introduced us, and she went through the crowd handing out hot dinner rolls from a basket. I don't think she could have shown greater hospitality had we been guests in her very own home.

The food itself was surprisingly good. I think I've discovered the secret to portion control though--plastic flatware. A plastic knife is just not a worthy opponent for a well-done steak. (Fred says it's especially hard to eat steak with a plastic spoon and plastic knife, as he apparently had to do on more than one occasion in Iraq. Support the troops--send forks!) I had no utensil problems, however, when it came to devouring the slice of Derby pie (yes, Derby pie! in prison!!) that I shared with Fred.

After we gorged ourselves, we gathered the office together for a group photo. I thought it would be funnier if we could put Fred BEHIND the bars, but that didn't work out:

Sh! Do you hear that?

It's silence. Absolute 100% pure silence. Today is the first day of school, Fred is back at work, and I am home alone. I'm trying to remember the last time I was alone, and I honestly can't. It must have been sometime in May.

We got back from Alabama Sunday night, and the kids and I spent yesterday frantically getting ready for school. They are actually quite excited about getting back into the swing of things, which is good. Makes mornings that much easier!

I took first-day-of school photos this morning, and thought it would be fun to have a little "then" and "now" comparison. Here is Mike, setting off for the first day of high school:



And here he is on the first day of 5-year-old pre-kindergarten:



Here is Annabelle this morning, looking forward to the first day of sixth grade:



And here she is on the first day of kindergarten in Hawaii:



I have to draw your attention to Annabelle's rockin' new shoes. They are Josef Seibels, which tend to be very pricey (yet oh so incredibly comfortable) here in the States. We found them on sale in Germany for 20 euros (about $25, including tax). They are part of my ongoing campaign to save Fred millions of dollars by buying stuff on sale:



Now I just have to figure out what to do with my alone time. The possibilities seem endless! I could work on my photos or catch up on my email or clean the house (yuck, not likely) or go to lunch or take a nap. Hmmmm . . . a nap . . .