Meet Wiley Blu

I mentioned that we had gotten a Weimaraner; his name is Wiley Blu. He was born December 10, 2008, so he is still kind of a puppy... in his actions, not his size!

Wiley Blu, as his name implies, is not the more well-known light brown type; he is a Blue Weimaraner. As such, he is a gorgeous color, even if not accepted by the AKC. He is a beautiful blue-gray color, sometimes looking almost a dark bluish-brown, depends on the light, and he has beautiful yellow-gold eyes.

We do not get pets for their "breeding" or "bloodlines" anyway... we got Wiley because Joycie saw an advertisement for him, knew I had a long-time interest in Weimaraners, knew we did not want a little puppy (and Wiley was just past his 1st birthday when we got him) and so we went to see him. And that was that. He's a beautiful, big dog with a big, beautiful heart.

I had trouble at first in fully accepting him, comparing poor Wiley constantly to our Reilly. Any dog compared to Reilly will come up short. Forever.

But Wiley won us all over in short time. He was raised by a young couple who had a 2-year-old daughter and a baby on the way. They were living in a smaller home, which they had purchased, fixed up and hoped to flip, but then the economy went to H.I.A.H.B., so... stuck in a small home with a toddler and a newborn on the horizon, I can see how Wiley was Just Too Much. He is a huge dog. Where he lived, they allowed him access to all the furniture. This caused some initial problems at his new home, since furniture was off-limits in Kevin's book. But Wiley, unlike Reilly who was long-haired, has short hair and seems to never shed. And just try keeping a dog off the sofa and chairs and beds when he feels fully justified in being as comfortable as he wants on them!

We're still trying to train him into country life, since he was used to city life with a fenced yard. We're also still trying to Wiley-proof the house. He can reach just about anything on the kitchen countertops, and we've lost many a full loaf of bread to his reach. He is also the most awful beggar for food... he loves people food, so if you're eating, he's right there.

So... meet Wiley Blu... who loves to ride in cars...



He likes to ride in Joycie's Impala with his head out the open moonroof, where his big ears can flap in the wind and his jowls fill with air... quite a sight!



Wiley didn't seem to have much trouble adjusting to a new home. He was curious, and he was very playful. He loves wrestling with Sammy, Mike, and sometimes Kevin.









The stairs confused him at first, I think they were the first stairs he encountered. It took him a while to get the hang of them, with his long legs trying to handle each step. Now he bounds up and down them like he's flying. He also enjoys sitting on the steps, about mid-way up so he has a view of the house and the outside through many windows...









What is really funny about this long, lanky dog is how he can curl himself up into a ball when he sleeps... he is so cute...





And it's a good thing he's cute and won us over... coz here's what he did to the back of part of our sectional in the livingroom when playing tag with Blossom, the cat, proving her hiding under the furniture does not present Wiley with any true obstacle....



But how can you stay mad for long at this sweetheart...

Why we have fun where I work

Overheard just now at work, where we hear EVERYTHING in our hive of little cubicles:

"Make no mistake, chocolate covered bacon is your friend."

Your. Friend.

!!!

Miscellany

Ever notice how when you buy a vehicle, you suddenly notice there are a LOT of them on the roads? Well, I'm having a similar experience with my recently dented LeSabre... suddenly I am noticing a bunch of dented cars on the road and in parking lots. Seriously, a lot of them... like every 3rd or 4th car has a dent.

I followed a car this morning with a personalized license plate that read:
     PGIRL 2
She clearly has not been around any children lately. Or maybe she's a urologist, from a family of urologists.

I have declared this week the Week of the Daffodil. They are EVERYWHERE now. I love this time of year. Those & along with the forsythias make for some very serious yellow. And the shadblow are bloomin' too.

Sam, done now with basketball, is spending every day after school in "football conditioning". They are not practices, because those are not allowed; it is conditioning. Yesterday the coach hooked up 3 harnesses to the front of his big, extended cab, black pickup truck. The guys had to pull the truck forward down a gravel drive that runs behind the high school, then push it back, with the coach inside steering and occasionally pressing the brake pedal. Crazy stuff. Sam liked it. Something different. Though he did say the dead cat smell at the end of the drive was not very pleasant.

And speaking of dead cats, I haven't mentioned yet, but we do have a new dog, Wiley Blu the Weimaraner (I will do a post all about him)... we got him about a month after Reilly died. I was not ready, but the family was. Wiley Blu is a blue (or gray) Weimaraner, not the light brown kind, and he has gorgeous golden yellow eyes. He is huge and boisterous, very smart, but not at all like Reilly. Reilly would never have destroyed a piece of furniture, for example. Also, our cat, Blossom, used to tease Reilly and Reilly was oddly afraid of her... not so much Wiley, who could possibly consider a little thing like Blossom an appetizer. The 2 of them have grown more tolerant of each other, even to the point of playing... Blossom likes to run by Wiley and have him chase her down. She likes to dart under said furniture where big Wiley cannot fit. I'm thinking she won't be doing that much anymore now, as Wiley has evidently proved that furniture is no obstacle. (No, Blossom is not dead, I only had a moment last night when I wish she and Wiley both were! Just a wee moment...) *sigh*

I am now a quarter of a century old. Had the big birthday last Friday, and took the day off from work. It was a perfect day. Sammy waited until I went to bed Thursday evening, and then he made me a batch of snickerdoodles. From scratch. Mmmmmmm... He put them in a bowl so I could take them to the pottery studio and share them with my friends there, so we had milk and cookies at the studio! And while at the studio, a lovely young lady came and delivered to me a dozen gorgeous red roses in a beautiful glass vase from Kevin, Joyce, Sam, Mike and Wiley. Then Joyce and Mike made dinner, my choice (Mike's Magic Grilled Burgers and Joycie's Vegetable Pizza... Mmmmmmm...). Presents were so excellent and it was a beautiful, beautiful day. Also, I got my first piece of mail from the AARP. Sweeeeet!

And, my best friend, Sandy, gave me a surprise visit on April 3rd. I was at the library when she surprised me. It was a WONDERFUL surprise, and I loved spending the day with her. Joyce and Mike made Mexican dinner for us, and that was also awesome. I shall post pictures soon. I hope Sandy will surprise me again sometime, and I hope then, as recently, I survive the heart stroke. (Did I mention I'm OLD?)

Did you know that insurance companies are now using some kind of rating or score for people, similar to one's credit score (and in fact, one's credit score is a component of the insurance score)? Forget Geico, you can probably save a bundle just by asking about it. From what I hear, one must initiate that conversation; very few agents are clamoring to save you car insurance bucks. Or maybe they are, and I live under a rock. Anyway, our outstanding agent, Alicia, reviewed our insurance, and we saved a bundle! Until Sam starts driving in November...

We are already car shopping for Sam. We haven't decided if he will drive my LeSabre and I get a new* vehicle, or if we will purchase a vehicle for him and I will continue to drive my much-cherished LeSabre. The whole process would be so much more enjoyable if we were rich. So as it is, it is not enjoyable at all.

*New to me, I never purchase new cars. Cha-freakin'-ching.

Sam has been interested in a Cobalt, but because so many teen drivers are and have them, they have a severely terrible insurance rating. It would cost a small fortune to insure a Cobalt even for me to drive it. When Sandy was here, her rental car was a pretty little navy Cobalt, and I got to ride in it. Which decided for me, even before I learned of the over-priced insurance cost, on no Cobalt for Sam. They are too little and uncomfortable; I felt every little bump in the road.

I have heard some excellent jokes from a friend at the pottery studio lately. Attention: corn ahead.

     What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?
     (The person will respond R, or if they don't, um, duh....!)
     Punchline, delivered in a very pirate-y voice: Ya might think so,
     lassie (or laddie), but it's the C.

     I want to die in my sleep like my gramma did.
     [pause]
     Not screaming and yelling like the
     passengers in the car she was driving.

     The male mushroom said the to the female mushroom:
     Hey, baby, wanna party?
     Female mushroom says: No way!
     Male mushroom says: Hey, why not?! I'm a fun guy!!!
     [get it?... fungi... this one doesn't work so well writing it out]

I am listening to an audio book that is set in London. One of the characters, a man, was riding a bike and was nearly run down by a van. He cycled up to the van, whose driver had the window down and yelled out, "Manners, wanker!" Ah, those feisty Brits.

By the way, do you know why waving your middle finger, aka giving the bird, is a negative response? A woman at the pottery studio explained that in medieval times during battles, the conquering army would, upon capturing the archers, cut off their two middle fingers so they could archer no more, and thus, the army would taunt the other army by waving their middle fingers at them. Wiki does not seem to agree.

And that story was the result of a group question: If you had to lose (aka have cut off) one of your 10 digits (fingers and thumbs), which one would you choose? I chose my left little finger, but the point was that one's pointer finger is less useful than other fingers for things such as balance, utilizing implements and the like. I am disbelieving, but hope never to be proven wrong, or right.

I followed a pair of ducks down our road the other day, a male and female Mallard pair who were moseying down the ditch. They were so pretty. And since our ditch looks more like a creek, it was also pretty. Everything's turning green, so pretty, pretty, pretty!

And... Reilly

After I decided that I wanted to be more consistent in creating posts on my blog, I've not hardly blogged at all. A lot of things have happened in the past 3 months... awful things and wonderful things.

A good friend's father died quite unexpectedly. His name was Ron and he was grampa to one of Sammy's good friends, Zack. Through the years, Sam became close to Ron because Ron was always around, at all the sporting events, picking Sam up with Zack before or after practice, taking them somewhere fun, like Taco Bell. Ron was a good, sweet man, and I wish deeply that he was still here with all of us.

My brother-in-law, Bob's, father died also. His name was Roy, and Roy was another good, sweet man. Roy had been ill for quite some time, and since he was suffering so much at the end, his passing was a blessing. Or so the common opinion would go, and it makes sense. But I still wish Roy were here, too.

An aunt, Aunt Marguerite, who has been through so much lately, the past couple of years, had to have a double mastectomy. So far, she's doing pretty ok.

My Momma, who has been not feeling quite right for a couple of years, finally had heart surgery, a triple bypass. She needed it, and we could have lost her at any time. It makes me feel ill and dizzy just thinking about how close it was. And, in my Mom's usual style, she is doing so well. My Mom is the strongest and most wonderful woman I know & have ever known.

Joyce made the Dean’s List this past semester at CMU, the start of her Junior year. And she’s figured out that she may be able to graduate early, after the first semester of her Senior year. Joyce has worked so hard at her classes, taking extra during summertime. We are so proud of her. Unfortunately, the full-time job horizon looks bleak, and I worry she may have to settle for a job that sucks, until she can get one in her chosen field.

Sammy is a Freshman in high school this year, the first year our high school switched to trimesters. Sam’s getting all A’s, and working hard to do so. He’s enjoying the trimester schedule. But, like so many Michigan school districts… heck, school districts everywhere, the money isn’t there, so budget cuts are deep. Back to semesters next year, with less class options, and less teachers, less staff, less everything.

And, my best friend, Sandy, came up from Texas and surprised the heck outta me! She had a short visit, and I got to spend Saturday with her. It was awesome. Joycie & Mike made a super excellent Mexican dinner for us all. It was so good to see Sandy.

And also, back in December, our dog, Reilly, started acting oddly. No energy, and eventually no tail-wagging hardly at all. He was ill, and we thought it had to do with the surgery he had in October, and with the pain pills we kept trying to get right for him. Then on January 9th, Reilly became very ill. The symptoms he was having, with the problems he had following surgery, were disguised... Reilly died on April 13th from Addison's Disease. I don't have the words to express how much I miss him daily. I know that sounds crazy, given all the events I've described above... he was just a dog. Right?. Not to me, not to us. Reilly was part of our family. I loved him so much. And he loved us. I will miss Reilly forever.

Reilly
April 10, 2003 - January 13, 2010