Painters Pox?

Any of you who have talked to me lately know that I spend most of my time painting lately. I have been breathing paint fumes. I have had errant paint splatters fall into my eyes. I have even had some land in my mouth or on my teeth. Usually clean up does the trick. But this morning I awoke with these mysterious markings on my skin. What do you think it is? Painters Pox? Probably. I hope it isn't contagious.

High Heat Alerts

We have real heat here! Yes for almost 2 straight weeks we have had high heat alerts - which mean it is above 110. That is hot. But just so you know - the City of Phoenix Pools closed for the season yesterday. So just when it is getting hot - don't count on finding a pool opened to give you any relief. I guess that's not their job. Oh well, I guess I better get to know which one of my neighbors have a pool and become real good friends with them. Maybe they'll invite us over to swim.

I better go now - my sweat is dripping onto the keyboard.

Hummingbird Wars

Another post to my blog. What a week! I have been a busy beaver getting my assignments prepared and completed. First Doug and I had to talk in church today. So getting my talk researched, prepared, and edited took quite a bit of time. Second I was told last week in Primary that I had sharing time this week. Sheesh! I haven't even had my calling long enough to see another class presentation in this ward. So I don't know what they like, what they have or haven't done, etc. But after giving it a lot of thought this week I came up with a good concept about how to talk about pioneers in Primary. So I got that one done too.

The talks went pretty good. I'm not that good - but it is always good to be done. I thought Sharing Time went really well if I do say so myself.

We had a visitor who came to church with us today - Mom. Yes, she drove all the way over here to support us and hear us give our talks. It was good having her here even though she basically had to fend for herself - couldn't sit by her or come to the other meetings with her. But it is always good to visit with her.

I also fed the missionaries on Wednesday. We had the best breakfast spread ever! We had scrambled eggs with cheese, english muffins, pancakes, syrup, strawberries and whipping cream for the pancakes if they wanted, hash browns, a bowl of mixed fruit, orange juice, bacon, and sausage. It was so good. They were smiling from ear to ear by the time they left. It was a hit. Thanks mom, for the idea.

I also spent a fair amount of time trying to do some more painting. I have two rooms ready to roll - the ceilings and walls are primed and ready for the final paint. Hopefully I'll have some more time this week to put into that task.

There was an event that served as an escape from all of the above activities. Hummingbird Wars. I got two small hummingbird feeders that stick in the ground and put them just outside my kitchen window. The window is nice but the view of the block wall is a little less than exciting. So the addition of these colorful feeders is great. It took a few days before we saw any hummingbirds. But soon enough they found the feeders and have returned for regular feedings. There seems to be some hummingbird gangs because a couple of birds are in competition with one another. They want exclusive feeding rights at my feeders and will stand for no other bird to enjoy the same. So one bird might be mindlessly feeding when out of nowhere another hummingbird comes charging toward him. The feeding bird makes a quick move to avoid collision. Then the other one darts toward the feeder but before it can get even the tiniest of tastes, the original bird flies in and buillies him over. They dart in and out, over the fence and back, above the feeder and below the feeder - all in their hummingbird turf wars.

As I was watching one of these exchanges - I decided it was much like I imagine a Quiddich game might play out. You know Quiddich from the Harry Potter books? Yes, that game. Everyone in search of the same thing. Darting up and down, in and out, death spirals, charges right at a person then the last second move to get out of the way. That's what the birds were doing. It was pretty funny. All this wasted energy and if they would cooperate both of them could get a drink at the same time - there are two feeders. I guess they weren't taught by their mom's to share. But either way, the spectacle brought a smile to my lips and gave me a needed break. I was enjoying the Hummingbird Wars.

Wicked - It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

Wicked Was Wonderful! Hey great allitteration on my part. Yes, Saturday night we went to the Gammage Theater and saw the Musical "Wicked". I thought I would like it. I had heard some of the music and really liked that. I also thought I knew a little about the storyline. But most of my impressions about that were pretty much wrong. It is a sort of pre-quel to the Wizard of Oz. I won't say more - but it was really good. And we all know that "no one mourns the wicked", but by the end of the performance - I sort of did. I give it two thumbs up!

As a side note our programs had a small insert in notifying us that Elfaba's mother would be played by the understudy. In the program it had an article called: "Understanding the Understudy." It explained that while using an understudy "might mean we get to witness one of the most exciting things about live theatre: something going wrong." For us the understudy did fine during her maybe 2 minute appearance. But the main star had a boo boo. The "Popular" song was just finishing and Glinda was all wound up and excited and waving her wand in the air. Suddenly it flew from her hand and past the bedroom set-up on stage and landed back in the darkness somewhere. Then we hear Glinda saying "It's OK. It's OK. It's OK." Over and over again until she busted out laughing. Then Elfaba with not an ounce of joy in her character couldn't hold it in any longer and she burst out laughing too. After an uncomfortable pause in the action, Glinda stomped over and got her magic wand and then they took a deep breath, got back into character, and proceeded with the performance. It was quite funny to see that happen.

P.S. We weren't cheap, cheap, cheap on this folks. We had great seats (our tickets were in the 3 figures range because our friends who snagged the tickets like the good seats). We were in row 8, I think. It was a wonderful view to a wonderful performance.

Yes, we can!

A quick post to let you know that the Diamondbacks can win. To take a line from our President, "Yes, we can!" We went to the ballgame against the Padres on Tuesday night. We managed to win 4-3. Dad, my Mom, Margaret Baker, and myself went to the game. APS was generous enough to give Doug 4 great tickets. We were down along the 1st base line just a few rows up in the lower section. We almost got a foul ball - it hit into the section just above us and then bounced down to our section but in front of us. We got some good glimpses of the Bobcat. We also so Lora Lancaster on the huge screen twice. The camera zoomed in on them and came to rest on their baby girl. Then later during the "Kiss Cam" blitz they showed Lora and her husband and they gave each other a kiss for us all to see. We had a pizza, a burrito, and last but not least a chocolate vanilla swirl of frozen yogurt. A great time was had by all.

Wildlife Rescue Queen

Once again I am busy saving the wildlife from certain demise. The story:

I was outside washing out the paint brush and roller. I heard something and looked up to see a quail on top of our fence by the side gate. I thought to myself, "That's weird. Usually quail just stay on the ground and run - only flying if necessary." But maybe this bird heard the water running and was really thirsty? Whatever. So I kept watching the bird. It seemed annoyed by something. Then it flitted down into the back yard. Then I saw the problem. One teeny tiny baby quail was in the back yard. It had probably run into the yard under the gate and the mom was trying to get it back in the front. The baby quickly joined it's mother and they slowly walked toward the gate but then the mom couldn't/wouldn't go under and then just flew up and over the fence. On the other side it encouraged it's baby by making mother quail sounds. The baby wasn't going under that gate though. So I lept into action. I decided that I could help encourage the little bird to join mommy on the outside of the yard. My approach did get the baby going. It ran and ran and ran. It tried to get by me and into the expanse of our back yard. But I was quick and kept one step ahead of this "waskawy" quail. Soon the bird darted under the gate. I came out to make sure things were OK with these two fine feathered specimens. But by the time I got around to the front neither of them was anywhere to be found. So I will take that as a success and one more gold star on my "kindness to animals" chart. And I'm thinking that I could start a business called - Carrie Selin: Wildlife Rescue Queen. How does that sound?

Hair's to you Shayla

Shayla has been here for a little over a week now. Things are going well. She certainly has an uncanny internal clock. She knows her schedule to the minutest details. When she thinks it is time for a meal or snack or whatever, she comes over to me and makes eye contact. She just stares at me. Sometimes that means she needs to go out and "do her business". But usually she is waiting for some food item. Once in a while she is a little early. If that is the case I just say with kindness in my voice, "It's too early Shayla", or, "It's not time yet, in a little while". Amazingly she responds by going back to her lazing around and waits until it is time.

One case in point was very interesting. At 6:30 in the evening she gets an evening snack: one large milk bone and then 20 softened pellets with yogurt on top. I wasn't paying attention so I just put the softened pellets and yogurt into her bowl and plopped the yogurt on top and put it down for her. She happily gobbled it down. She finished as I was putting away the yogurt and cleaning up. She approached me and got in front of me and did the eye to eye stare. I talked to her and asked if she enjoyed her snack and was just going on about my business. But she didn't break eye contact. She was desperate to get the forgotten milk bone. So as she persisted in looking at me and staying in front of me my mind began to churn and I remembered the omitted milk bone. Wow! When I put that down she was so relieved! She would have had a major meltdown if I hadn't remembered it.

Now pay attention kids - that means Scott, Evan, Lindsey, and Isaac (I'll send this to him separately). Do you feel deprived because we never had a dog when you were growing up? Do you think you need counseling because of the lost opportunities to romp in a grassy field with "Bowser" running happily beside you? Is it hard to make friends and lasting relationships because of this glaring gap in your childhood? Well look close at the picture below - and then give me a break about the dog-less childhood you had. This is just a few days collection of fur on the tiles. The carpet is loaded with her fur. If only it was longer then I could card it and spin it and weave a blanket with it.

Prague to Paris = Vacation Time

It's been a while since my last blog entry. No one seems to mind though. Nobody asking me to please put up a new post. No frantic calls wondering if I am alive and well. So I don't know if anyone really cares about my blog. But alas I will put up a new post even if it is just for me to read.

We have a visitor. She loves to see us. This is her first stay at our new house. She has spent 3 previous vacations here with us. I don't have to pay for her meals - she brings her own. She doesn't leave a ring around the bathtub or anything like that. But I am finding her blonde hair - EVERYWHERE! She really sheds! Yes, you guessed it. Shayla has come to stay with us again. Her "parents" are on a river cruise in Europe and will be gone for 2 weeks. I guess for Shayla Prague to Paris = Vacation Time.

She has settled in nicely. Actually we borrowed a gate to put on the stairs so she doesn't leave a generous supply of unwanted fur down there. I mean it takes weeks just to get the carpets vacuumed up after she goes home. Then jsut when you think you have all the fur cleaned up there are stragglers that hang on as long as they can. She comes with a detailed schedule and menu. The instructions start at 5:30 am. Shayla usually wakes me up at about 5 am. She has her sleeping pad in our room and she saunters over at 5 and puts her chin on the bed bumping it just enough for me to feel it and then she just stares at me. Seeing a big dog at eye level just staring at me isn't conducive to getting any more sleep.

We start out with breakfast and then a "frisky" walk. She takes care of business. Like I said her "business" done on the walks is usually a one or two bagger job. But I go prepared for a triple bagger just in case. Then we come home for a delicious bowl of measured and flavored water. Later on there are snacks, more flavored water, lunch, flavored water again, snack, dinner, dog bone and snack, then a flat chewy thing to clean her teeth, then one more walk and it is bedtime. Oh, let's not forget her allergy and hormone pills hidden in yogurt on top of her meals too. She is very well trained and really a nice dog. She never barks at or chases anything. She doesn't make any noise except for a little whistle noise that she will do if she needs to go outside and you aren't paying attention to her. She also snores sometimes which Doug can't ignore and so he occasionally loses some sleep. She also gets frisky a couple of times a day and wants us to play with her toys with her and chase her around.

Anyway Shayla is taking up a lot of our time these days. Hopefully she is enjoying her vacation with us. I think that she is getting the short end of the vacation stick. Prague to Paris sounds much more enjoyable - but then maybe they've tried taking her and she gets sea sick? But either way for Shayla: Prague to Paris = Vacation Time.