Today is THE day!!!!

I'm outta here! Henceforth you will find me posting at www.crazyweiler.com. Head on over. Today's my official grand opening. We're giving away hot dogs and balloons and there's a huge inflatable gorilla on the roof.

Adjust your bookmarks now! (I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to say those words.)

This place will still be up as an off-site storage for my archives; I can't figure out how to move them to the new place.

Don't forget to turn off the lights on your way out...

Cathy

I wish I had a fast-forward button for today. I've got to get the people at TiVO working on that. If they can pause live TV...they should be able to do something about horsesh*t days like this one.

So what's wrong? Glad you asked.

It actually started last night at my soccer game. The ref was horrible. Really bad. Even my teammate Kevin, who is the most mild-mannered guy you could meet on the field, had a few words for this halfwit. And it was cold. And there were still lots of mosquitoes.

Today, the VP brings home paperwork from the insurance agent which shows our company's health insurance premiums are going up 35%. Yep. That would pretty much wipe out some important things...like profits and a couple of jobs. We may have some layoffs for the first time in a long, long time over this one. The agent is going to shop around, but it's never going to come back as good news.

And, The Governor REFUSES to take a nap.

And, the roofers are pounding away overhead. This may be contributing to the fact that The Governor REFUSES to take a nap. It is also causing The Crazyweiler to be a nervous, drooling wreck. He's pacing and drooling and panting and drooling and following me around like my shadow...if my shadow could drool, that is. I've slipped in a couple of puddles in the kitchen.

The roofers (a bunch of 15 year olds from the looks of them) are also leaving a wide trail of tar paper, shingles, nails and other debris all over the yard and driveway. The VP and I are having a contest to see who gets a flat tire first. Or who has to take a dog to the vet to get the nail removed from a paw. Or one of the boys to the ER for the same reason.

And finally, I saw the obituary in our local paper for my favorite nursing home resident. (See yesterday's post) Seeing it made me feel sad all over again.

Well, I've got a headache and I'm sad. I think I'll go find myair nailer and start firing back at the roofers. Someone has to defend the place from further destruction. Hey...I'm feeling better already.

I have dealt with sickness and injury. I have dealt with gaping head wounds. I have dealt with a child (and his bed, carpet, and wall) covered with vomit at 3 in the morning. I have changed diapers that would make a coroner gag. But yesterday, I had to deal with something that nearly made me toss my cookies.

The Crazyweiler likes to eat grass. And because we don't mow every inch of pasture out here...sometimes he eats long grass. Sometimes that loooong grass doesn't quite make it out the back end with the entire deposit, if you know what I mean. So The Crazyweiler was walking around with a "tail" yesterday and it was driving him nuts. I tried to give him some time to let it work its own way out, but it wasn't happening. I had to remove it for him.

I still have the willies thinking about it.

Today was nursing home day. It started out on a horrible note. I found out one of my favorite residents passed away. The funeral is today. The staff made a large board of pictures and memories to display at the service. One of the largest photos is Hoocher snuggling with Mr. P. in his recliner. Sigh. Nicest man to grace that place.

The day didn't get much better. In the Alzheimer's unit, a newer guest has decided that Hoocher is a filthy varmint and started yelling that dogs were not allowed in here and he was going to report us. There are a couple of people throughout the nursing home who don't like dogs, and I make a point of staying as far from them as possible. Not so easy in this unit; they only have one central area to socialize. I ignored him and talked to other residents, but he got so bad that a staff member had to tell him to pipe down. They try really hard NOT to do that. Finally, he was yelling so much about "reporting" us that the staff member said, "You do that." She turned around and walked away. He was a bit stunned. I wanted to see what his next move would be, but I left instead. I decided I better not aggravate the situation any further.

I wanted to, though.

Well, the new site is pretty much up and working. I'd really like to get a Site Meter installed before everyone starts visiting, but hey...if you want to see my rough efforts...head on over. You can see an honest to goodness Crazyweiler. I think I'm going to save my grand opening for Thursday...when Arguing with Signposts will make me famous. (You'll just have to wait and see.)

This one is for Aunt Karen in Alaska, because I hear you just looooooooooooooove Sen. Kennedy!

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical is one of my favorite sites. I don't mention him often in everyday posting, but I visit his site frequently as he always finds great pictures and quotes. And the pictures where he adds his own editorial touch are the best of all.

Are you have a great Monday yet? I am. We're having our roof replaced, and one young man on the crew showed up at 7:30 a.m. and I'm standing at the kitchen windows still in my pajamas and my hair sticking out all over the place. He drove away

But what's REALLY making my morning spectacular...is I'M MOVING OFF BLOG*SPOT!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!

There are two people who have my unconditional gratitude for helping me make this change: Bryan at Arguing with Signposts...for encouraging emails and for leading me to Dean Esmay at Dean's World. Dean is the altruistic wonder who offered to help anyone on Blog*Spot move to an independent site with Moveable Type. Thank you both very much!

The new site is up and working, but it looks a little stark right now so I'm not directing anyone there yet. I just figured out where to install my links, so I'm working on that at the moment. I've figured out how to post on the new site, but I don't know how to put up pictures. My first photo...once I figure out how to get it on there, will be an actual picture of a Crazyweiler. I might even put it on my header...but I have even less of an idea on how to do that. I've been reading the on-line MT manual. All I can say is they need to publish a second version...something like MT for Dummies. I have no other programming experience except for a tiny bit of HTML on Blogger here. It's not quite enough to do a decent job on the new site. What I would really love is to find someone local who could sit down with me and help me learn MT. The prospect of finding someone in Wright County familiar with MT is less promising than finding someone out here well versed in Eqyptian hieroglyphics.

Oh well...I'll get there.

Time to go. The Governor is protesting his incarceration in the crib.

A very, very Happy Birthday to my newphew, J! Hope you have an awesome day!

Much love,
Your favorite Aunt,
Cathy

(That was a deliberate attempt to provoke your other aunts into proving that they are your favorite. Usually means bigger, better gifts. I'm always looking out for ya, kid!)

I went to The Dixie Chicks concert in St. Paul last night. Here are my thoughts:

Of all the concerts I’ve attended, these gals did the best job of sounding just like their CDs. When they started I was going to accuse them of lip-synching. They sounded that true to their CDs.

Joan Osborne (opening act) was terrific. I didn’t think I’d like her. I did.

The two sisters, Emily Robison and Martie Maquire, were the most gracious, pleasant, and beautiful women I’ve seen on a stage. And talented too.

Natalie Maines is a lot thinner than she used to be. I think the spoofs of the Entertainment Weekly cover were unwarranted. Quite funny, but unfair.

I think they may need to find a new name for their band. While Maquire and Robison are still “chicks,”…Natalie looked more like a rooster with a very odd, punk-like hair-do and awkward head-bobbing which I think was supposed to demonstrate some sort of…rhythm. Time for some dance lessons.

And while I’m picking on Natalie, I need to add that the shirt she was wearing must have come from the Just for Her section of the Wife-Beater T’s, Inc. catalog.

I was hoping we would be spared an explanation or a revival of Natalie’s famous gaffe. Not so lucky. Last night we were told that it only brought clarity to the meaning of all the words in their song, “Truth No. 2.” And we got to watch a video of some old black and white protest marches and book burnings, followed by some latter day equivalents. The point being, I guess, that we can’t handle the truth from Natalie. (Note: in the video we were shown several shots of a pro-choice rally; I didn’t see any footage of the Right to Life crowd. Apparently, that viewpoint is not a “truth” according to the Chicks.)

Overall…it was a great show. What made it especially fun for me was talking to the family sitting right in front of us. They all had similar shirts with a common theme: We support our troops and President Bush. So I had to ask. (The two women right in front of me sported “We put a boot up their ass...” on the front and “cause it’s the American way” on the back) Turns out they have a family member over in Iraq. He is Cpl. Sean Drew. Sean’s mom had his name and an American Flag on the back of her shirt. (All the shirts were custom-made.) I asked one of the women (Sean’s sister) how she felt about Natalie’s comments. She indicated she was disappointed, but was going to try and enjoy the show. And they did. They danced and they sang, and they sat quietly during “Truth No. 2.” They were so dignified about their opposition and didn’t let it overshadow their enjoyment of the rest of the evening. If it’s possible to be proud of complete strangers…I was proud of them.

Sean’s sister also mentioned that Sean had called home a couple of times and had been a bit concerned about the reaction of people back in the States. Were people back home disrespectful of the troops?

Well, Sean, in case you get a chance to read this (your sister has my web address)…THANK YOU! Thank you for serving your country and thank you for putting your life at risk for all of us. If you ever do encounter an ignorant loud-mouth who has the nerve to say anything disrespectful, please remember that for every moron like that, there are dozens of us who think the troops are HEROS! And when you get back home and make it out to Winsted, you email me (address in upper left corner) and my family and I will meet you at the Blue Note Ballroom and buy you a beer!

I think I had several other witty things to say about the concert, but they have been lost, along with my hearing.

Have a great weekend.

Light posting today...just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you.

I've had a couple of busy days. Last night was my final council meeting for the Early Childhood Center at school. We held a potluck at a local park to honor the departing members. The director stood up on a picnic table and asked us all to sing "Johnny Appleseed" to show our thankfulness. I kid you not. She looked right at me and said, "I know this song is sung in the first grade classes, so it should be okay for us to sing it." The inference being that it starts with "Oh the Lord is good to me..." and I might object because I'm one of those city transplants and probably a spy for the ACLU. If she only knew. I actually did object to singing it - because we were all adults and not 7 year olds and I think it's a corny song.

After the meeting I had a late soccer game. This is another co-ed team and I hadn't seen some of these teammates in a while, so that was fun. What was NOT fun was playing a group of guys (and their three token women) who were trying desperately to make the Russian national team. Guys! Comrades! It's recreational!

And the mosquitos could have been dreamed up by Alfred Hitchcock.

I'm at my sister's house right now. We're heading out to the Dixie Chicks concert tonight. I told my teammates last night that I was going to wear my "I'm proud of George W. Bush!" t-shirt and my Coleman for Senate baseball hat. That should stir the pot a bit. It is quite possible that I may be the only conservative in the Excel Center. Our local paper noted that the Chicks are here in Minnesota for two concerts while holding only one in Dallas. Go figure.

I'll post briefly about the concert tomorrow. And remind me to tell you about how The Crazyweiler HATES roofing shingles.