NO MORE FOUNTAIN SALES!

I know now for certain that I will not be going to any more craft shows or trade shows to sell fountains. It is just getting too hard physically for me to do it. But I am feeling satisfied that I am going out on a good note. This past weekend I went to an Itex trade show and sold about 11 or 12 fountains - I lost count we were so busy. Bryan and Ben went to help and I could not have done it without them. Thanks guys. I have finished paying for my power chair (which was the reason for going) and after the trip I may really be needing the power chair sooner than later. :)

I also networked into someone who may be able to help me sell the rest of the fountain inventory. She is a lady from Franklin who sells collectibles in an EBay store. I am working towards taking the remaining fountains to her to be sold in her store, as well as several nice pieces of amethyst and rose quartz. The percentage she takes is well worth it.

So, now I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. All I have to do is clear out all the fountains stacked in my den, decorate for Christmas and do all the shopping. Easy.....

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all who may read this.

Family Vacation

I'm just back from a wonderful week in Florida with my family. We were in Panama City Beach. The view was fabulous and the beach was so clean and beautiful.



Although the whole family couldn't be there, most of us were together for part of the time. The grandchildren loved the sand and the ocean. They had a great time.


We were all a little burned out, so we spent most of the time just relaxing together. With a few little problems, the condo was great. I think it was a good way to spend the last of Rick's trade account. It would have only been better if the hot water heater had not died toward the end of our stay and the sofa bed had been usable. (OK, I am trying to be positive. Hot water and a decent bed are big negatives when they are missing, but everyone tried to be a good sport about it.) The view from the 25th floor was unbelievable. What luck to be on the top floor.

Below is Andrew relaxing. He can't relax without his computer.


This shot was at sunset from the balcony of our condo.


The weather was perfect! The only rain we saw was as we were going back to the condo on the last night we were there. It was warm enough to be in the water all week. It turned cool the morning we left to come home.

Here are a few shots of the family playing in the water and on the beach.





I'll close with one of my favorite pictures from the week.

What can be better than a happy grandchild?

Healthy---- Who Me?

Snowball and I both went for yearly physicals this week. The doctors say both of us a doing well. Snowball is up to 7 1/2 pounds which I am hoping is as big as he is going to get. He is a spoiled puppy and I have been trying to teach him he can't always have his way. Yeah, we will see how that goes. :) But he is a good little companion and lets me know if anything is going on outside. Unfortunately I have so many neighbors that there is a lot going on outside, and he can't tell the difference between a neighbor having a visitor and us having a visitor. He also tries to answer any bark in a two block radius. I guess that is just normal for a dog.

As for my physical, the doctor called this morning and said all my lab tests came back and the levels were good. No worries on cholesterol or diabetes or any of the other stuff they test for. He would like for me to do a few preventive things I have been putting off and also do a few things to lower my blood pressure. It isn't too bad but is creeping up a little over borderline. He said I may be able to bring it down with a few lifestyle changes and avoid being diagnosed with hypertension, so I will try to do that.

I hope I will lose some weight as a side benefit of trying to get healthier. Wouldn't that be great! It is only about 30 years past me needing to do it, but living alone now should make it easier.

I Love New York

To quote a t-shirt, I love New York. Shannon and I went there last weekend to see a Broadway show, sightsee and shop. I don't know which we enjoyed the most, but it was all fun. We saw "Wicked" and loved it. We rode open top buses all over town, taking lots of pictures like tourists. We stopped several places to shop. The best bargain was the Dolce and Gabbana bags we bought for $20 in Chinatown. (Okay, they were knock-offs, i.e. fakes, but they really look good. Real Dolce's can go for $2000.) (See picture above)

We ate hot dogs and pretzels from a street vendor and had terrific pizza at John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village.

We got to go to the top of the Empire State Building. They took one look at me walking with a cane and let us bypass all the lines. We still had to go through security, but they took us to the head of the line, and did the same with the lines for the elevators. I was really impressed with how handicap-friendly they all were. We got great pictures from the observation deck. (See the movie on Shannon's blog)

Poor little Snowball had his first experience with being boarded while I was gone. He seems to have survived it just fine, so maybe I can leave him again if I need to. It was a little tough on him this time because he had an ear infection and an eye infection while I was gone. It is a good thing I boarded him with his vet. They started him on medicine and he is all well now.

I am so glad we were able to make this trip. I love musicals and have always wanted to see one in New York. Wicked was just great! We wanted to see a second show, but couldn't get tickets. Instead we took more bus tours and got to see a lot of the city. We were very impressed with how clean and crime free the city appeared and how tourist-friendly. I think Nashville needs to take some lessons.

Graduation

In spite of being suspected of being less than brilliant, Snowball graduated from beginner obedience class. That is Laura his instructor in the picture above. She is very patient.

He is so eager to please that he just does what he thinks you want him to do. He doesn't wait for a command. This gets a little frustrating when we want him to learn something new. He thinks any command is going to be "sit" or "down". I am still working with him and in the five minutes of his attention span we get to do a little training.

In fact, I enrolled him in a tricks class to try to keep him learning. He isn't a fast learner, but he is getting a little of it. The funniest thing is that now that he isn't with the 2 big German shepherds, he is jealous of the instructor's attention to the other dogs in the class. He's a funny little dog.

Puppy Obedience Classes

We started 8 weeks of obedience classes about a month ago. Obedience is not a concept that comes easily to Snowball. He is a free spirit at heart, but we have made a little progress.

He is a little more comfortable now around the other dogs in the class. When we walked into the first class there were three little dogs and two full grown German Shepherds - with big voices. It was a little unnerving even to me. Imagine what it felt like to a little Maltese! Then the next week the other two little dogs had to drop out of class. So, we have continued - one little white ball of fur and two BIG loud shepherds. Sometimes it seems to all be too much for Snowball and he just lies down and becomes a rug, but most of the time he tries to do what is asked.

Last week we were supposed to be working on "stay - with distractions". He didn't want to stay at all, so today he has to go to a class by himself. I think of it as remedial stay class. :) We will see how he does. A couple of weeks ago he seemed to really have it. He would even stay when out of sight, but lately he isn't doing it well at all, even at home. I need to practice more with him. Getting ready for taxes has taken a toll on my time, but that is done now.

I don't care if he is a perfectly trained dog. But I need him to be trained well enough not to be a danger to anyone or a constant annoyance. He does bark too much, which is irritating even to me. His favorite is to bark at the dogs on TV. It drives me crazy.

All in all, he is a sweet little dog and a good companion.

Happy Birthday to Me

Okay, when you get to my age, birthdays are usually best not mentioned or remembered. But, thanks to my children and friends, mine is usually duly celebrated. So, thanks to all for the love and the gifts.

Due to having so many family birthdays in one month (plus 2 days) we celebrate February in groups. (Feb. birthdays: Andrew, 12th, Heather, 21st, me, 28th, and Kara, March 2) Last Saturday we had a girl's day out for this year's b-day event. After a yummy lunch we spent several hours with daughters, granddaughter and daughter-in-law helping me look at new furniture options for my living room. We had a great time even though I may not even buy anything new. I would love to change to a different sofa, but everything is just so big in the stores right now. I have a tiny living room crisscrossed with two traffic patterns to get to the rest of the house. The usable area is about 8 x 10. It is really limited as to what will fit.

Andrew's birthday was celebrated separately a couple of weeks ago with cake and a game night. That was fun, too. We are a fiercely competitive bunch and love to play games.

I still have one "party" to look forward to. On my actual birthday I'm having lunch with my two best friends. It is something we do for each of our birthdays. They are spaced out nicely through the year, so by also including Christmas we have a quarterly lunch out together. We exchange silly cards and giggle through a nice lunch. At our ages, it is about the most excitement we can handle. :)

White Dogs Can't Jump

Snowball tried to jump up on the sofa today, but sadly he didn't quite make it. We have wondered why he doesn't know he can either jump on or off furniture. I can even put him in a chair and he will stay there until I take him down. (We suspect he just isn't very smart.) But today another explanation came to mind...white dogs can't jump. :)

The thing that is even funnier is that he doesn't know he can climb stairs. He has never climbed down the two steps into the den even though there is no barrier there to prevent it. I have always carried him down the stairs because it is a lot easier for me if he doesn't go down there unattended. This leads to his other false assumption...that carpet is like grass. The den is carpeted, so if I want it to be saved from becoming a doggy bathroom, he needs to stay off. I am hoping to get him set up for obedience classes soon. Then maybe some of the house breaking issues with carpet can get handled. For now he is fine with the hardwood and his little pad. The good thing is that he never goes potty on furniture.

Isn't being a pet owner fun?????