The Mountains in Autumn

With a hint of WINTER! Can you believe it? It snowed!



And now, because Mountain Monday, (although it sometimes happens on Tues) has become my photo day in general, WITNESS the cuteness!!! OMG! (that is oh my gosh, btw)





I ADORE little girls in pigtails. I am a blubbery mess of jelly when it is my Pea.



And now for more mountainy goodness. With the storm that brought the snow, there was rain, and after the rain???





Rainbows and pigtails, what more could you ask for? Could it get any more sappy?
Hmm, it might! Watch this!



Have a happy, sappy day.
With Love, from Jo

I Found It!

What has Jo found? I am sure you are all asking.
My car keys? Nope, I think the ones I lost at Pygmy Child's wedding are gone forever. The ones I left in SD are already found, just not mailed.
My sanity? Nope again, that, I am sure, is gone FOREVER!
No, what I found, is my motivation to exercise.
Enough of a motivation that I have walked for 20-25 minutes, every day this week, and I just cannot find a way to weasel out of doing it. And that, my friends, if you knew me well, is something indeed!
I hate exercising. I find it incredibly boring and I have no patience to deal with it. Yay, yay, some of you, I know, listen to MP3 players, but remember, I don't really listen to music! There have only been a few times in my life that my exercise program lasted longer than, like say... oh, two days. I tried this last Jan, but at the time didn't realize my hemoglobin was in the toilet, and that is why I just collapsed after about 10 minutes.
So you are probably wondering what in the world kicked my butt hard enough to actually motivate me to do this.
Was it the health benefits? Nope. You would think it would and really it should. Considering I am at a huge risk for diabetes. Being Native American is actually one of the risk factors. Nice huh? But no, it wasn't.
Was it my increasing dislike for my physical self? Wrong again. At 45, no wait, I am 46, I have given up and just accepted myself, for good and bad. Sorry.
You know what it is? A fear of being publicly humiliated.
The class I am taking this semester? It is about the 60's, and we are taking a trip to San Francisco. (I am dying, hoping to meet L, from Homesick Home, whilst I am there!) The kids in my class are all quite young, NONE of them were even thought of in the 60's, much less even alive then. They love having me in the class. kind of like having a dinosaur in your palentology class, Wow! Cool!
Anyway, we are taking a WALKING tour of San Fran. HILLS, people, many, steep hills. I can just see myself, huffing and puffing up the hills, while all the young folk wait at the top, while their fellow, much older, rounder classmate tries not to have a heart attack. No way, I can not do that. I have until Nov 1 to get myself in good enough shape that I am not completely humiliated. So far, that is all the motivation I need.

Mountain Monday in the Autumn and Watch Out!

Autumn has arrived in the mountains. There are a few yellow leaves here and there in the valley,(where I live) but the mountainsides are turning crimson and orange.



Lucky you and me as we watch the seasons move through their course on the flanks of my mountains. (I suppose they belong to everyone, but I consider them mine, personally)

Mountain Monday seems to be quickly turning into my personal photoblog day, but you bloggity dears don't seem to mind, so WATCH OUT, there is more cuteness heading your way!
The sunglasses looked so darn cute on the dog, we thought we would have some other darling people try them out!

Miss Pea!



And The June Bug!



So cute.
And now, the cat. Not with sunglasses. The cat crawled in, so I couldn't resist some pictures.







Adds a new level of meaning to "Don't let the cat out of the bag" huh?

P.S. I haven't forgotten those last couple of questions I need to answer, especially Gawdess, I promise to get to them THIS week!

Poking My Head Out

blinking blearily into the sunlight, who, what, hmmm? I have been trapped at home the last few days with a Little Man who has a bad cold. And as always, he pretty much slurps me up with a straw when he is around. And me, being fairly round, I don't quite fit up the straw, so I just wiggle around uncomfortably at the end of the straw while he does his best to devour me, heart and soul.
He went back to school today with the help a Dayquil. And I am trying to put my life back into some semblance of order. Poor, poor Bald Man. The night before last, he went to bed pretty late, which wasn't bad, except Little Man woke him at 5:30 AM. That would be a shooting offense in my book. It wouldn't have been so bad, except last night? JJ called at 9:30 pm and informed us he needed to go to the ER, like right now! Eeek! The child was "playing" with his friends. If you are not a teenage boy, not married to anyone who was a teenage boy, or raising a teenage boy, you perhaps do not understand the level of physicalness their "play" devolves to. JJ got pushed onto a piece of VERY sharp metal and basically flayed his arm open. And cut the muscle. In more than one place. Many, many stitches later, we are just very grateful the child did not cut any nerves or arteries or tendons. If you are not squeamish, but instead intensely curious, JJ's best friend took pictures. I really did not feel comfortable posting them, but for the morbid, if you email me, ( I will never tell anyone you did!) I will email you the pictures back. Ack! Boys!
Me? I am feeling a bit wrung out and tired from the last few days. Tomorrow? Ah yes, Little Man will go to school again and I, I will go and play! Hooray!

Do you know how fast things can go from just fine to h-e- double toothpicks? Less than five minutes after I wrote the above, I get a phone call informing me that Little Man's bus was here and where was I? I was flabbergasted since I had assumed he had been picked up by his therapeutic afterschool program 45 minutes earlier. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! No, Little Man instead was awaiting my arrival at the bus stop. Thank goodness, because he is disabled, they don't drop the kid off, they wait for someone to get there. The bus driver informs me, after I tell her, that he was NOT supposed to be here, that perhaps I should tell his teacher. Oh duh! Now why didn't I think of that? Oh wait! I did think of it and I actually had talked to his teacher, TWICE this week, informing her of his schedule. Gosh darn it all to heck anyway. So in spite of a couple of phone calls, I am unsure of where the gap was. Either his teacher, or the afterschool program. We will get to the bottom of it. And the heck with trying to create any semblance in my home today. Little Man is home and all my hopes are down the drain. Mountain Dew, I will drink you and hopefully feel more like dealing with the unexpected delivery of my child.

Cuteness in the Mountains

You are forewarned! This post leans heavily on the pictures and one very cute video. Take whatever precautions you need to to protect yourself from melting into a puddle from the cute rays.
We'll do the mountains first, because they beautiful, not cute. These pics were snapped today at the university I am attending for one class this semester.





The mountains in Utah have never failed to fill me with delight and wonder.

Watch out! The next photos are dangerous....

Guess who is 12 weeks old???



Guess who is already beginning to sit and roll over on her side???



Guess whose super powers include melting the hardest of hearts with one single smile?



(The tongue action happens when she is especially amused.)
If you just now guessed my sweet June Bug, you should be ashamed. sheesh.

Let us not forget the first giver of the cuteness addiction.



The Pea was watching Dora with The Kitten Formerly Known as Justin the other day.

And no, we are NOT done with the cute yet! There is more cute!
Jack the cool dog:



I saved the video for last.



I taught Meeko the game "Which Hand" in about five minutes. You take a sunflower seed, hide it in your hand, and then she taps your hand with her claw until she guesses. Dang the bird is cute and smart!

Hope this post finds with a big smile on your face when you are done!

If It's Thursday, I Must Be Lost

Ah yes, the two step of insanity. But at least I am not alone on Planet Confused.
I needed to call and check on Little Man's appointment with Hematology. So, unsuspecting of any foul play or trickery, I pick up the phone and call the Large City Children's Hospital main line. "Hematology" I say. "Yes ma'am" the operator responds. Next I hear a young man's voice, "Oncology". I say, "they must have put me through to the wrong department, I am looking for hematology". The nice young man, says, "it is the same thing". I fire back, "not when you are a mother it isn't!" He laughs and says, "Oh sorry, I suppose not, same clinic then, okay?" Geez, the last thing anyone wants to hear when they call for an appointment for their child is the words, "oncology clinic".
So they start looking for his appointment, but they can't find it. They say, "oh on the 26th.." I say, "no, that is his pediatric visit", they say, "oh such and such" and I say, "no, this and thus". We danced prettily like that for about four minutes. The guy sounded cute. But then, they say, "hmmm, I can't find his appointment." And then the nice young man who I am imagining is very handsome and probably young enough to be one of my children, asks what the visit is for. I say, "his doctor wants Little Man checked for Von Willebrands" The young man responds with, "Oh! They like to have the lab work done for that BEFORE they see you, so you need to talk with the nurse first"
Since yesterday afternoon, the nurse and I have played phone tag. It really isn't so bad, except when you have played so much phone tag over the years chasing appointments for your kid with all the specialists, it just gets old. So finally, this afternoon, the nurse gets ahold of me, and says she will schedule the blood work. And if it is funky, they will schedule an appointment for him to the Blood Disorder doctor. I then say, "oh his pediatrican wanted him to see the doctor anyway, and go over the labs, because he has so many weird ones." The nurse says,"well, your doctor's office will need to call and make that appointment." I laugh, and say a wee bit stupidly, "but they already did that", knowing if they can't find it, it doesn't exist. She informs me THEY have to call. Nicely, but firmly.
I call Little Man's case manager and tell her they have lost his hematology appointment. She said, "but I already set up that appointment!", I say, "I know, but they lost it and it is gone, perhaps I am just going crazy". The case manager says, "well then I am too, because I clearly remember doing that." I apologize, because even though I am not the one who lost it, I am the bearer of bad news and I don't want her to be upset with me, and somehow, it feels like it is my fault.
So again, his ped's office will have to call and make another appointment. This time I need to write it down somewhere permanent. Perhaps on wall with a BIG, BLACK, Sharpie.

*Afternoon Update*
Since I am so willing to complain when Little Man is being vile, I must present for your viewing, NON vileness. I picked him up at the bus stop, just a bit ago, and he wanted to go get a new game. I am pretty indulgent about this, he gets at least one new one a month. Don't judge me too quick, there are so few things he really enjoys and playing video games is one of those things, so we try to let him have some joy in his life. He is looking so very handsome today, his hair is too long, and getting pretty wavey because of the length, and he looked oh so cute smiling at me with hope. So off we go to the game store, which is all of like one minute from the house, if that. He was soooo GOOD in the game store. So very normal, so cute, as we went through the games, and discussed which ones he had, and which ones he wanted. He finally decided on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game,(with the monsters, he informed me!). In the car on the way home, he points the picture on the front of the game, which shows one of the turtles giving a toothy grin. Little Man then informs me, turtles don't have teeth! When I mentioned these turtles do, and they eat pizza, Little Man said, turtles are like frogs and they don't have teeth and they eat flies. Where in heaven's name did that come from? So normal, so sweet, so well, dang it all, just very little boyish. I don't get enough of that. I just want you to know how very much these moments mean to me.

Mountain Monday, um, I mean Tuesday

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to have our newest grand daughter, June Bug, blessed. Basically it is a formal way of announcing the child and introducing them to the church, putting their name on the rolls of the church and a chance to get together and celebrate a new family member.



Because we were at Girlfriend's family's house, I got to snap some pics of the mountains north of us. Here ya go:





And now, to finish the question and answer portion of this blog. (finally!)

From Melissa Is it considered offensive in your culture to compliment someone's spouse?
Melissa, my family all agrees that the lady you work with is a freak. No it is not considered offensive, she is just weird.

From Eliza
So...buried? Not put up on a platform of sticks in the sun or eaten by local scavengers? Coffin? Yes? No? I am sure you could do the traditional form of burial on the Rez, although no one does anymore. Everyone is buried or cremated. They still do the tradtional drum ceremony and wakes though for the most part. The wake is fascinating. Usually a couple of days. The body in an open casket, with a star quilt. Lots of eating, laughing and crying. I love the wakes, they are the best part.
premarital sex? Yes? No? Also, circumcision? Male? Female? Either? Ever?
No particular taboos about premartial sex, although traditionally, my people believe whomever you have sex with has a part of your soul, so you should be careful. Circumcision is not traditional, and only for boys, so it is a mix who does and who doesn't. Most of the babies are born in the hospital, under IHS, Indian Health Services, so whether or not a boy ends up circed would depend on whether IHS was doing it or not.
And if I, as a non-whatchamacallit (American Indian?), upped and killed someone (theoretically--for the moment the MIL and I are friendly...ish) and your mom said I could crash at her place could the feds came and get ME? Yup, the feds COULD come get you and probably would for a capital offense. You would be more likely to get away with it, if you were white,lived on the Rez, and committed a crime like beating your Indian girlfriend or wife. They would NEVER do anything about it. Not that I am bitter about it or anything...grrr.

From Jesse Louise I have always been intrigued by the spiritual aspect and the connection with nature. I am pretty much unaffiliated as far as religion goes and I'd love to hear more about native american beliefs.
As a christian and a Lakota, I have had no problems melding these two things into one in my heart. Both teach love, humility, taking care of others, a belief in a connection with those who have gone before us. Being a Lakota has given me a knowledge that we are all connected to each other, and the earth with us, and all that is on the earth. So it makes sense to me that we all are created from the same source, whatever name you choose to use, Creator, God, Great Spirit. Since my youngest childhood I have known that the Earth is alive and the animals on the earth are our relatives. Being Catholic was not a good thing for those beliefs, but funny how the LDS think the Earth lives and that animals have souls. I was at peace with that. Here is a link about the 7 sacred rituals to the Lakota. the 7 Ceremonies.
I am currently reading Joseph Marshall's The Lakota Way. It is a really, really great book, and good instruction in living in a good Lakota way.
Email me and remind me to do a whole post about Lakota Spirituality, okay?

I am going to save the last two questions for another post. Happy Mountain Monday, (Tuesday)!

Interim Post

Ssssshhh! Don't tell Little Man I am out on the computer, he is sure to have a hissy fit about it if he finds out I am doing anything besides tending to his needs.
An explanation is needed before Mountain Monday tomorrow. It seems as though my youngest has lost his mind. Many, many, times lately. Eeek and egad. He was less than stellar on the trip to SD, but seemed to adjust after a few days. But he also had me pretty much 24/7. Therefore, going to school and his therapeutic after school program unhinged him, again. Wednesday was his first day of school. He was good in school I was told. But when his support person brought him home, he bit her, HARD, on the stomach. It was bad. Then he came into the house and lost his mind. Severely. I had to restrain him physically. It was a very long and very terrible afternoon with him.
Thursday was his appt* with his psychiatrist. He was actually pretty good at the appointment. But then. I did the unreasonable and unthinkable. I tried to get him to go home. WITH his DVD player, and his DVDs and with the set-in-stone routine of going to McDonalds afterwards. WHAT in the heck was I thinking? You would have thought I was offering to pierce his favorite body parts with red hot nails. He lost his mind over a piece of paper. Which he couldn't have, since it was his rx for his meds. When offered a similar piece of paper, he screamed, hit, and scratched me. It took 3 people, (myself, a guy who works there and a gal who works there) to get him out to the car. And at least another half and hour of wrangling before he would half-way calmly sit in his carseat buckled, so I could dare leave. I am NOT thinking about the future or what would happen if I had him by myself and that happened again. I just can't think about it. I have been traumatized from the length and intensity of the last couple of days.
We have currently canceled his after school program for the next week. I just can't do that to him. I sure wish I figure out a way to not to it to me! Change is so hard on him. Now you know why your other questions have yet to be answered. They will. Tomorrow. Amazing how one out of control kid can suck up your life. Today was good, Bald Man and I both napped whilst Little Man watched Godzilla. A nap. Glorious!
*Appointments:
Sept 7, the psychologist comes to our house. ( I have got to clean, like really, really good before she gets here, lest she be led to believe my messy housekeeping is the reason why Little Man is so out of control.
Sept 26 appt with his Pediatrician
Oct 2 His new neuro PA who is doing the oversight of his Vagal Nerve Stimulator (his pysch warned me they are going to freak over his meds. Yay! I can hardly wait to deal with that one.
Oct 8 Appt with the Orthopedist for his "extremely" flat feet
Oct 11 appt with the hemotologist to try and figure out why this kid keeps bruising off and on and to deal with his other blood dyscrasias. He will get such weird labs at times, and we don't know why.
Nov 6,Appt with his Gastro doctor

Don't ever let anyone tell you I don't get to have any fun, just look at that list above and you can see it is PARTY TIME at Casa Tangled! Whoot!

Bloggerus Interuptus

Sorry for the dead cyber space here. My blogging life has been hijacked by my real life. Little Man re started school on weds and it has been well, unpleasant is a nice way to describe my life right now. Hopefully with Bald Man home for the long week end I will find some time to get back to the important business of blogging. Love you all and hang in there, I SHALL return!!

Questions AND Answers

Answers to those who asked questions.
First: From Eliza's mom

1. Do you prefer Indian, Native American, or something else entirely?
Either is fine with me. I really think the preference depends on the region of the country you live in and what generation you belong to. Some are partial to one or the other, but I use both interchangably.
2. I think it's fair to say that people who aren't part of your culture hold a variety of stereotypes about it. What are the stereotypes that bug you the most, that you want to set people straight about (here, have a soapbox to stand on!)?
The drunken, lazy Indian stereotype gets me every time. I despise that people think that way automatically and I find it hurtful and demeaning. The other thing I really hate is westerns. I wasn't allowed to watch them as a child and now I am older, I can see why. Geez, all the white people killing the BAD Indians. My mom thoughtfully saved me from having my heart filled with that garbage. John Wayne is a swear word at our house.

From:Josi
I'm sure this is on your blog somewhere but what tribe are you from?
Clever girl, actually it isn't on my blog anywhere! And I won't say now either. I have a fear of someone googling my tribe and finding my blog on the internet. Since no one in my family knows/reads my blog, I think I prefer to keep it that way. There just aren't alot of us, and not many of us live off Rez, so I like to keep it to myself. We need to keep some of the mystery in our relationship, don't ya think?
And what aspects from your Native American culture have you continued in your life away from the rez? I participate in as many pow wows, and religious ceremonies as I can. Even though I am LDS, I still believe/participate in my native religion too. I haven't had any issues blending the two together. I fill my mind with good movies and books (approved first by my mother) about my culture and history so I can have a solid knowledge base about my people too. I also am proud to say I eat fry bread whenever I can!

From KJ and the kids I have heard and I'm sure it doesn't carry on in all tribes. Gay people are treated equally and at one time were treated on a higher platform ? This is certainly true of the Lakota. No one cares if you are gay or not. Dress as you like, have sex with either gender as long as you are not related to them, set up housekeeping, whatever. The Lakota are such a genuinely accepting culture and I love how they just don't think a thing when Little Man is being his little self.

Are you tax exempt? Not for state taxes.

Could you kill someone and go to the reservation and take safe haven? Um, well, sort of. Because the tribe is under federal law and not state law, the feds would have to come get me. BUT, because I am Indian, the tribe has juridiction over me, so the feds could ask the tribe to pick me up and they would.

To be continued tomorrow...

Mountain Monday

Home again and high speed rocks!

The view from my Utah window:



The view in South Dakota from the car window:



The view inside the car:


The trip in the car was, um... well, let me say, we survived. There was much screamage on the part of two smaller people and much unhappiness on the part of the three larger people. Bald Man did much of the driving, since not driving involved the wrangling of a child. But there were no car troubles, which, given our trip history is HUGE! No breaking down in the middle of no-where and no expensive repairs.
Jack the dog HATED the drive, I think we should have left him at home. Meeko on the other hand, LOVED it!



I have many blog posts coming and the answers to your questions. (Thanks for stepping up and asking some!)
Here are some snippets of the trip by way of pictures.

Wildlife of all sorts:


Black Tailed Prairie Dog. See his black tip on his tail?


Elk!


Brown Boy was scared a coyote was going to jump in the car when we stopped to take some pictures of the wildlife. I guess South Dakota is a far cry from the big cities of Florida. We weren't nice, we laughed at him.



Family Outings



Trips to find long gone family



Family close by too. Cousins!



Traditional ceremonies (This is a star quilt)



Pow Wows

We got home in the wee hours yesterday and honestly I was too tired to try and post anything. I am really busy today with much catching up, but of course, my first order of business was to catch up with you! I will be commenting on your blogs as I can, with high speed. I tried in South Dakota, but it just wouldn't work with dial up. So glad to be home. LOVED seeing my family, it was a great trip, and I feel grateful and blessed that we were able to do it.

Guess What?

1. We made the trip in one piece. The Pea? Grrr. Little Man? Grrr! Jack the dog? Grrr! Let me say that I was very, very glad the trip was over. I am NOT thinking about going home yet.
2. The good news? My sister has high speed internet! The Bad News? She moves far away tomorrow. So don't count on another blog post soon.
3.The babies?? Oh so very cute! We are on the tip of the next generation being formed and my heart is filled with warmth and gratitude.
4.I am having a WONDERFUL time visiting with my relatives.
5. Little Man has finally settled down and adjusted to being here and doing pretty darn good.
6.Have I got a story, with pictures, to tell you about turtles! You are going to die.
7.Keep the questions coming, while I am not posting the answers yet, I am asking my mom for the answers if I don't already know.
8. I remembered to bring my marriage certificate. Whoot!
9. Everyone is getting along very well and everyone seems happy.
10.Girlfriends fears have all come to naught and she asked Oldest Son, why don't we move here? Awwww.
11.Everyday is very busy, but things should chill out after Sunday. Today is rodeo, pow wow, fry bread, wedding reception for one of my many, many cousins.
12. It is so weird to be around so many Indians. Really.

There's No Place Like Home

In so many ways, I don't really have a place to call "home", a place where I belong fully. Having spent most of my growing up years in California, I used to consider that state home. But after living in Utah for 13 years, Cali no longer feels like home anymore. But Utah certainly isn't home either. In my heart, the place that feels the most like home now is the rez. There is a culture on the rez I can't belong to, because I don't live there. But with the bulk of my family still there, it is closest thing to belonging and the sense of home I have in my life. Enough like home that I plan to be buried there, in the family plot.
We are off tomorrow to go home. The purpose of the trip is two-fold.We have two new family members who have yet to be introduced to the the family Matriarch, my mom.
Brown Boy:



And June Bug:



The second purpose is my Bald Man's skills. Just think about this for a second. What would you do if you had a good handyman coming to your house for a week, just to do all the stuff you need/want done? Oh yeah man, my mom can't wait!!! So far, he is replacing all her windows in her house and fixing a roof. I am sure she will keep him busy from sunup to sundown. I really appreciate the good relationship between my husband and my mom. She likes him so much, if we ever got a divorce, I think she would dump me and keep him!
Things I am dreading:
*Little Man's behavior in the car and at my mom's
*The Pea in the car, that child is a terrible traveler
*Being more than 100 miles (one way!) from the nearest large box store
Things I am looking foward to:
*Having my kids all gathered with their relatives and me
*Introducing Brown Boy and Girlfriend to our culture and family
*Spending time with my sisters, aunts, cousins and my mom
Something I need to get done while I am there. My tribal ID is still in my maiden name, and I have been married for almost 27 years! I need to bring my marriage certificate in to the tribal office and have it redone. We shall see if I do it!
Blog posts will probably be sparse, as my mom has dial up! Dial up people! Don't know about that one...
And yes, we still have buffalo there.
Here is an assignment for all of ya. Leave me some questions you want answered about my culture. Feel free to ask anything, I won't take offense, I promise!

I can't wait to see my sweet Pygmy Child! And she can't wait to see her new niece!

Darkness and Light

Darkness
Six men are trapped in a Utah coal mine. They have been there since Tues, our state, the nation and especially their families are praying for a safe deliverance of these hard working men. Please keep them in your prayers.
Miners

Light
I was amused and delighted by a Filipino Prison's new exercise program. Instead of the half hearted exercise program, they have instituted a new dance program instead. Since the installation of this program, the fight rate has dropped to zero. It brings joy to my heart to know that in spite of the darkness that seems overwhelmingly pressing at times, there are good people all over the world, making a difference every day. I challenge you to find yours!

Because Some Things Need to Be Celebrated!

Caustic Cupcake

Get your own church sign here: Church Signs

Mountain Monday with a Smile!

I got up today and after Little Man left for his summer program, I went back down for a nap. Yay for naps, boo for needing one!
Sundays are sooo crazy nuts here in our house, with the kids and the grand kids. I love the chaos of my family around me, and now there are grandchildren, it is even better. Sweet Chaos I guess you could call it.
And there is the problem of what to feed all those people! You would think that the slow cooker would be more used in the winter. It is just too dang hot to heat up the kitchen with the oven, so my large, double slow cooker gets the most use in the summer. It holds six quarts, which translates to a 3.5 lb roast, 2 lbs of carrots and 5 lbs of taties. Add two cups of hot water with two envelopes of gravy mix and one onion soup mix, leave it on all day and taaa daaa, the kids come streaming in the door, saying, "ohhh something smells good!"
I have also been making bbq chicken, which involves dumping the chicken pieces in the crockpot, adding a large bottle of bbq sauce and cooking for hours too. My pot will hold two cut up 4.5 lb chickens, so there are even leftovers. Moist and yummy. I made potato salad to go with the chicken last week.
I always get lots of compliments on the potato salad. And to tell the truth, I am a potato salad purist. No celery, or relish, or olives or any other kooky additives.Potatoes, boiled eggs, mayo, mustard and a smidge of vinegar unless you use my secret ingredient. Now I am sure you are all going, ohh, what is the secret? What makes a really delicious potato salad? Well...,okay, I can't resist begging...My secret ingredient in my potato salad is Zesty Italian salad dressing, along with the usual mayo and mustard. Oh yeah, a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
We have had some rain recently and it did a nice job scrubbing the sky for some lovely pics. Tell me what you think...





And now, for those smiles I promised you.
It has been a wonder and delight to watch my June Bug wake up to the world around her.







Each smile is a treasure and she loved beyond all reason by so many. What a blessing she is and such a nice way to start off a week. Hope your Monday is blessed too.

Animal Wrestln'

I am feeling a wee bit under the weather. I am tired, very tired today. I was asleep by ten and slept til 8 and I am still tired. Bald Man informed me I am looking pale again. Shoot and I have been sooo good, I take my iron twice a day, with vitamin C for increased absorption, and a good multi. My doc is all the way in the big city and I really don't feel up to the drive today. Because of that, today's post will be mostly pictures and videos.
Animals.Right now we have a houseful! We are dog sitting for the Princess, so we have our grand-dog, Jack the terrier, Meeko the Bare Eyed Cockatoo Princess, Peter the dumbo rat, and the Kitten Formerly Known as Justin. The bird HATES the dog, but with good reason, since the dog is determined to eat her. The bird also hates the rat, and looks at Peter with a jaundiced eye when the rat is let out and goes and forages under her cage for the thrown out food. The rat is afraid of the dog, with good reason. Terriers were bred to kill rats, so yeah, the rat better be careful. The kitten is probably the best adjusted, because she plays with everyone.*


After hiding under my bed for three days with her tail permanently fluffed, when Jack first got here, the kitten decided Jack was a good playmate after all.





Another video of the Kitten Formerly Known as Justin the the Cockatoo Princess:



The cat and the rat like to wrestle too.





This picture was taken after the wrestle fest, I think the rat is saying, "come on, you're not tired yet are you? I can take you with one paw tied behind my back!"


I saved my favorite videos for last. Meeko LOVES to play with Bald Man and these videos make me giggle every time.







I wonder if Bald Man has any idea how dang cute and charming he is?

Just some fun with our pets at Chez Tangled. We do enjoy a good laugh and some good fun. Hope you find some laughter today in your life. Right now, I am going to go take a nap... yawn....

*The animals are all supervised during these play sessions and the desire to play is mutual. I don't want anyone out there to think I am allowing the pets to torture each other. The rat and bird both start the play fights with the cat and neither are actually afraid of the kitten. As it is with my kids, if one decides they are done playing, or it gets too rough, I remove them from situation.

To Doolittleville and Back Again

I returned from Doolittleville on Sat afternoon, but I have been very busy catching up on my life since my return. Little Man has been really sweet but needy. Less vile than usual, but I am sure if he could have himself grafted to my side he would. I have been spending a lot of time reading stories and watching movies to make up for leaving him. While he is gone during the day, I have been making the many doctor appointments his new pedi wants done. Many of these are because of the switch to a new insurance provider. New neuro, in Oct, hematology, first appt available also in Oct, to see if they get to the bottom of the weird cyclical bruising he does. Also the dentist, because he needs to be sedated. Geez. Meetings with various service providers and my week has already been jam packed with fun!
So, the trip. I really can't say a great deal about it, except I am glad I was able to help and that it is hard to see someone you care about struggle so much.
The best part of the trip besides Eliza's cute, cute, cute animals was Cupcake!



While it was a bit disconcerting to meet someone with frosting instead of hair, she was so sweet, I was soon able to overlook her "differentness" and just enjoy her company. Speaking of sweet, Cupcake wasn't that sticky sweet that makes your teeth ache, she was a wholesome, (she will probably be annoyed at me for saying that!) kind of sweet that just makes you want to grab another bite! (Hopefully she can have her frosting redone, I just couldn't resist a taste or two...)
She arrived, Wawa pretzels in hand, to be so disappointed that a Wawa was just around the corner from Eliza's. I was disappointed that the Wawa did not live up to my great expections built up from Cupcake's descriptions of the Wawa being just a step down from Mt. Olympus. The pretzels were quickly eaten, regardless of the close proximity of the Wawa.
We talked, and talked and talked. About our families, about life. Cupcake is a great conversationalist. She is a good listener and asks really good questions to keep the conversation rolling. We wrangled the three animals and continued to talk. She impressed me with how wise she is. Not like sad-wise, but a bright, unjaded kind of wise. So much smarter than I was at that age. She is sooo not creepy, or mean, or tough in way, shape or form. Wholesome, sweet, funny, smart, and easily melted by the cuteness around her. We laughed and I feel like I have blessed with a new friend. Good stuff, those cupcakes!
Enjoy some cute grand daughters, I sure have been!

Can you believe June Bug is six weeks old??


Here they are in the tub together, like a pot of Cute Soup!