Just a Few Happy Things

1. Gummi-vitamins are not just for kids anymore! Jesus loves me, this I know! I can tell because he made some people invent gummi-vitamins for grownups. And they taste good! Squee! I will not eat the whole bottle in one sitting...I will not eat the whole bottle in one sitting. *Ahem* Now I can feel good about not eating vegetables. Not that I felt bad about it to begin with...

2. I am almost finished with Outlander. Just 150ish pages left. It's starting to be a little intense and it's stressing me out. Not really in a bad way, but sometimes I have to put it down for a few minutes so I can relax a little. I should be reading it right now, but instead I am here entertaining my publics. You're welcome (or I'm sorry).

3. Remember the dogs that I found abandoned not too long ago? Three or four part blog post, you read until your eyes glazed over and then you clicked elsewhere? Well, here's the update.

We continued to go out for awhile and try to catch "the one that got away." Shortly after we rescued the other dogs, David and Jennifer went out to feed him and discovered that he had found FOUR MORE stray friends. Let's do the math...that brought us to a total of 9 stray dogs. I think we all kind of went into "You've got to be kidding me" mode, but we talked to the good people at All About Labs and they said they could make arrangements for the additional dogs.

We tried again to capture the original dog and his new friends. His friends weren't any problem, but unfortunately Mr. Skittish eluded us again. It was heartbreaking to have to leave him there by himself AGAIN. The look on his face as we drove off with his friends was terrible, but we just couldn't get our hands on him.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the other dogs have been hanging out together and trying to keep cool in this heat. They've all been neutered,micro-chipped, vaccinated, and heartworm tested. Out of the eight dogs we brought in, only one was heartworm positive! Since heartworm treatment can be very hard on dogs, it was necessary for him to go into a foster home situation where he can be kept indoors where it's cool and he can be kept contained so he's not over-exerting himself. David and Jennifer took him home with them and he's settling in. I went to visit him today and he's so funny. He just lies on the floor sleeping mostly and occasionally paws at someone to get them to pet him. We hope his personality will come out as he gets adjusted to his new surroundings.

As an aside, I think David and Jennifer might have gotten hooked on animal rescue. Jennifer took another dog to the ranch just last week that someone had found abandoned. AND Russ (the heartworm positive dog) has a tag on his collar that says "Foster Dog 1"...big things could be afoot for their family. :) They are going to take great care of him while he's in their home (at least two months). You can see additional pictures and updates on their blogs (linked above).

The Goldenish female that was with the original group of dogs has recently been listed for adoption. You can see how beautiful she is now that she's all cleaned up here.

Wonderous Words Wednesday (6)

It’s Wednesday again, so it’s time for Bermuda Onion’s Wonderous Words Wednesday.

Once again, all of the unfamiliar words I’ve come across this week are from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander.

Minatory(adj.): menacing; threatening

“The priest had the boy gripped by the nape of the neck, a hold made somewhat difficult to maintain by the fact that the lad was slightly taller than his minatory captor.” -- page 168

Susurrus(n.): a soft murmuring or rustling sound; whisper.

“The shut window blocked the sound both of the rain and the crowd below; the two blended in a soft, pattering susurrus of menace.” – page 170

Nonce(n.): the present, or immediate, occasion or purpose

“This personage was dressed as befitted his office in the sober elegance of dark breeches and coat and grey velvet hat (removed for the nonce and tenderly sheltered from the rain beneath the tail of his coat).” – page 172

Felon(n.): an acute and painful inflammation of the deeper tissues of a finger or toe, usually near the nail: a form of whitlow.

“He had been to the Castle only a few days before to see whether I could treat a persistent felon on his thumb.” – page 172

Plinth(n.): a slablike member beneath the base of a column or pier.

“If ye can make shift to fall off the plinth, still better.” – page 176

Sporran(n.): (in Scottish Highland costume) a large pouch for men, commonly of fur, worn, suspended from a belt, in front of the kilt.

“He flipped the badge once in the air, caught it, and dropped it neatly into his sporran.” – page 184

Tynchal(n.): A circle of sportsmen, who, by surrounding an extensive space and gradually closing in, bring a number of deer and game within a narrow compass. [Scot.]

“But the Highland Scots of clan MacKenzie were a tougher bunch than I had reckoned with, for the castle was a buzzing hive long before dawn, with rowdy voices calling up and down the corridors, and a great clanking of armory and thudding of boots as men prepared for the tynchal.” – page 192

*The dictionary entry I found spelled it ‘tinchel’*

Bicorne(n.): a two-cornered cocked hat worn esp. in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

“A small pair of gold-rimmed half-spectacles, a neat hair-ribbon and a bicorne of blue felt completed the picture.” -- page 204

Stramash(n.): an uproar; disturbance.

“Oh, there was a great stramash about it all. There were cousins and uncles and tacksmen and a great Gathering to decide the matter.” – page 206

Putative (adj.): commonly regarded as such; reputed; supposed

“If he believed I was a gentlewoman in distress, he might provide me with temporary escort toward the coast and my putative embarkation for France.” – page 226

Ablutions: Washing of the body

“Dougal was silent for several minutes, watching me intently as I conducted my haphazard ablutions.” – page 242

Punctilio (n.): strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities or amenities.

“With considerable punctilio, he then called for the garrison doctor, and had him certify officially that Jamie was fit enough to be flogged.” – page 248


All definitions are from dictionary.com.

Wonderous Words Wednesday (5)

BermudaOnion’s Wonderous Words Wednesday challenges us to keep track of unfamiliar words we come across when reading and share the definitions on our blogs.

As promised, all of my words this week have come from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This will continue for many weeks, I’m afraid! It’s a good book, but it’s LONG!

Provocateur: (noun) a person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.

“Almost an agent provocateur, wouldn’t you say, Dr. Randall?” – page 36

Epaulet: (noun) an ornamental shoulder piece worn on uniforms, chiefly by military officers.

“The buff linings of the turned-back cuffs extended a good six inches up the sleeve, and a small coil of gold braid gleamed from one epaulet.” – page 53

Recalcitrant: (adj.) resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.

“This generally had a good effect on recalcitrant orderlies and young interns, but appeared merely to amuse Captain Randall.” – page 56


Asperity: (noun) harshness or sharpness of tone, temper, or manner; severity; acrimony.

“’I can dress the wound, yes,’ I said with considerable asperity.” – page 64

Runcible: 1871, a nonsense word coined by Edward Lear; used especially in runcible spoon "spoon with three short tines like a fork," which first took the name 1926.


“I’d never tried to eat a herring with a spoon, but I saw nothing resembling a fork, and dimly recalled that runcible spoons would not be in general use for quite a few years yet.” – page 104

Thirteen Funny Police Reports (TT #36)

Every time I look at my local paper I find humor in it. Sometimes the humor comes from unfortunate misspellings and other editorial errors, but sometimes it comes from the types of police reports that are made public.

I've compiled these from several different issues of the paper, so different seasonal reports are even included! (I left out the one where a guy called the cops because someone had rearranged his reindeer at Christmas time so that they were in a rather "compromising" position.)

Some names and addresses have been changed to protect the alleged guilty parties.

1. A woman answered a knock on her door Friday morning to encounter a heavyset white female wearing a brown hat and scarf and "big dark glasses" spraying her in the face with what seemed to be hairspray and beating her with what is described in the report as "a plastic dump truck."

2. An officer responding for a second time before dawn Sunday to reports of a disturbance at a First Avenue address saw a man standing in the doorway of the residence holding an object "approximately 18-24 inches in length (that) shone brightly in my spotlight." The man, identified in the report as 50-year-old [crazy person], threw the object inside the apartment when he noticed the approaching police cruiser. "I asked [crazy person] what the large metal object was that he had tossed inside and he responded by saying 'a banana,'" the officer wrote in the report. "At that time ... [crazy’s] girlfriend approached the doorway from inside the residence and stated that [crazy] had grabbed her 'Legendary Sword,'" the report continues.

3. A 21-year-old female shopper was asked to come outside and talk with an officer about her beverage choice on March 13. She was told by police that it was indeed illegal to shop while drinking a bottle of strawberry daiquiri, cited for public intoxication, and released.

4. Residents awoke Sunday morning to find that several colorful, hard-boiled eggs placed about their yard the previous night had been stolen.

5. Police went to Regional Medical Center Monday to take a report from a 22-year-old female who said that a large group of girls beat her with a high-heeled shoe. On Tuesday one of the alleged shoe-wielding assailants, a 29-year-old woman, called police to say that this victim was out of the hospital and in a Family Dollar Store parking lot beating her 1994 Oldsmoblie Cutlass with a baseball bat.

6. While an officer was responding Saturday morning to a report of two 9-year-olds fighting and threatening each other and one woman trying to run over some of the other children involved with her car, the officer heard "a few loud thumps and then a small child screaming." An unsupervised 13-month-old had tumbled down a flight of stairs.

7. A teenager told police he was riding his bicycle down Prince Street to pick up a pizza when another teen stopped his truck in the road, got out, punched him in the left side of his face, and drove away.

8. Concerned residents were reporting that a group of young men were overturning port-a-potties and blocking the road to tell passing motorists they were conducting a "sobriety checkpoint."

9. Dispatch sent us to Prince St. for a lady stuck in a car wash," a report filed Sunday reads. The woman said she had been trapped inside her Lexus for 45 minutes before being rescued from the car wash. The car wash owner arrived and re-washed her car, the report reads.



10. A 23-year-old woman called police to report that her mother-in-law had entered her home without permission and, finding the home's odor unsatisfactory, made insulting remarks.

11. A man reported that vandals had been at work on Applegate Drive Saturday, leaving sardines in his mailbox. On Tuesday, a few blocks away on Cutter Ridge Road, a woman checking her mail found that here too vandals had struck, leaving the same pungent and tiny fish as their calling card.

12. A resident told patrolmen a suspect stopped in front of his house and shot a .22 rifle at a deer, "toward his residence and shop." The deer had been hit and was lying in a ditch. Officers agreed to put down the deer with a gunshot, and some neighbors took the dead animal home.

13. A man called police to report that his neighbor had trespassed onto his property. "Upon my arrival (the resident) advised me that his neighbor ... had trespassed onto his yard by mowing over the property line." The officer estimated that the neighbor had allowed his lawnmower to stray as much as "a couple of feet" past where the resident believed his property to end.

The website for Thursday Thirteen doesn't seem to be working anymore, so maybe nobody does it anymore. If the link has changed, let me know.

ETA - New Thursday 13 link.

Wonderous Words Wednesday (4)

It’s time again for BermudaOnion’s Wonderous Words Wednesday where we share unfamiliar words we’ve come across while reading.

This week (and probably for many weeks to come) my words are from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. I’ve barely gotten started on it and already I have a ton of words!

Ewer: a pitcher with a wide spout.

“No water in the ewer; Frank had used it, tidying himself before setting out for his meeting with Mr. Bainbridge, and I had not bothered to refill it from the lavatory tap.” – page 17

Declivity: a downward slope, as of ground.

“The village lay nestled in a small declivity at the foot of one of those soaring crags that rise so steeply from the Highland moors.” – page 28

Manse: the house and land occupied by a minister or parson.

“Even the manse, which must be at least a hundred years old, sported bright yellow trim around its sagging windowframes.” – page 28

Alacrity: cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness.

“I didn’t wait for her invitation, but leapt to my feet with alacrity.” – page 31

Adroitly: expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.

“Mrs. Graham sprang to her feet to defend the sanctity of her kitchen, and pushing the Reverend adroitly to one site, set about assembling tea things on a tray for the study.” – page 35

*All definitions are from dictionary.com

Kanye West Musing

I wonder if Kanye West is secretly a SNL character let loose to wreak havoc upon the youth of the world.

If you are a reader...or have any respect for literacy at all, you must read this story about how Kanye feels about reading.

This is my favorite quote from the article:

"Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed," West said. "I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph."

I reserve this phrase for people who really deserve it. What an IDIOT.

Dog Wrangling - Part 3

Saturday morning, Jennifer and David and I met with Lynda and Kevin of Golden Rescue and started gathering up dogs. One of the dogs is much more skittish than the others and we knew he would be a challenge. We were able to gather up the other four dogs within a few minutes, but we tried for about an hour to get the one remaining dog and never could get him. When he ran off into the woods, we decided to go ahead and take the other dogs to the ranch and come back later to find Number 5.At this point, my Kevin joined us and helped with transport.

We got out to the ranch and started giving baths. I saw the biggest ticks I’ve ever seen…one was even so big that it had busted and gotten stuck in the Golden’s hair. So gross! The dogs all tolerated their baths and shots well and got settled into their new (temporary) homes. The ranch usually keeps them for a minimum of a month before deeming them eligible for adoption. They like to treat them for any illnesses or injuries and get them socialized well before they give them “forever homes” (aren’t they smart?).

We haven’t given up on dog #5, but we still haven’t been able to “apprehend” him. Please pray that we will be able to get him to the ranch too (and that he won’t bite us in the process).

These two organizations (MAGRR and AAL)are very well organized and professionally run. If you are considering bringing a dog into your home, check with them. All of their dogs have a story and there are tons of dogs at the ranch who need a good home. You don't even have to live nearby. They transport the dogs to you.

Can you imagine how much money it takes to run an organization like this? Both organizations take donations, and All About Labs also has some more creative ways that you can help their organization while doing the things you normally do –it won’t even cost you a penny extra. Check out their Get Involved page.

Dog Wrangling - Part 2

What happened next can only be described as a miracle. We had spent a week talking to various rescue organizations and learning that even though they share the same goal, they don’t work together to get things done. They would occasionally give us the names of other contacts we could try, but none of those had panned out. I’m not just talking about one or two tries. I’m talking about dozens of tries over the span of a week.

As I mentioned before, all of our plans had fallen apart. Friday afternoon we were back at square one. When David and Jennifer called a few hours later to say they had good news, I thought they were going to rehash that we did have someone to take the Golden, and that maybe they had found someone to take her in until Wednesday.

David’s next words were, “We have a place for all five dogs.”

I don’t know how you feel about God, but sometimes God just over-achieves to the point that it knocks the breath right out of me. In a matter of a couple of hours, He had accomplished what we had spent a week chasing.

As it turned out, Lynda from Golden Rescue had called Donna from All About Labs and talked to her about housing the Golden until she could transport her on Wednesday. In the meantime, she also told Donna about the four other dogs and asked her if she had room to take them in (and foster them) until they could get homes. She found room for them! Not only that, but they have a great facility and they give them shots there (except Rabies which must be given by a vet), worm them, give them baths, etc. They also arrange for the rabies shot, heartworm test, spay/neuter, and a microchip through their vet. AND they are a no-kill facility. They will only have a dog put down if it’s just suffering too much to go on.

We had just encountered a new best-case scenario, but we still had to capture all five dogs and get them to the All About Labs Ranch.

(Stay tuned for Part 3!)

Adventures in Dog Wrangling

A little over a week ago, I went fishing at a public access point on a local lake. While I was there I noticed five dogs hanging around. They were very skinny and were covered in ticks and sores, but I went up and introduced myself to them anyway. They seemed friendly enough, and it was obvious that they had been abandoned, so I couldn’t just pretend they didn’t need help.



But where to start? They were outside of the city limits, so animal welfare couldn’t help. The county’s humane society would not return messages left with them, and it was a holiday weekend to boot. I didn’t know what to do. I updated my Facebook status to send out a call to help, never expecting anyone to take me up on it.

I was wrong! Some members of my church body (David and Jennifer) are avid dog lovers too, and they stepped up in a big way. Within a day they met me at the lake to take a look at the dogs and they felt sorry for them too.

We are new to this animal rescue business, so we all started looking up various area rescue organizations trying to find help. There are a lot of animal welfare groups out there, but unfortunately they are nearly all overrun with animals and have no space in their foster homes for one dog, much less five dogs. It was a very frustrating experience. Jennifer, David, and I were all willing to pay for the cost of vet care for the five dogs if we could only find a place that would house them, but there would be no sense in getting them vet care if we had no other option than taking them back to the lake afterwards.



We spent the past week taking turns going to check on the dogs and feeding them. We talked to one lady at a rescue group who said she would try to coordinate vet care for us at a discounted rate. At this point, we had resolved to just pay for the discounted vet care ourselves and bring the dogs into our own homes temporarily if we had to (we REALLY didn’t want to bring them home with us, though!). We tried to get the lady to schedule vet care for us on Saturday so we would all be off work and could work together to gather up the dogs and take them in. As of Friday afternoon, though, we still hadn’t heard back from the lady. I tried to call another vet that has been known to help in situations like this and they could not work any of the dogs in.

In the meantime, we did get our first piece of good news! A lady from the Memphis Area Golden Retriever Rescue group came out and did a personality assessment on the Golden and determined that she was adoptable. She told us that she could take that dog, but she wouldn’t be able to get her until this Wednesday to transport her to Memphis. This was Friday. What would we do with her until the next Wednesday?




The wheels were falling off in a big way. We were heading into another weekend and we were no closer to a solution for the four other dogs. Late Friday afternoon, we started to discuss the option of getting them to a vet ourselves and having them checked out for heartworms. We faced the possibility that some might be so sick that we would have to put them down because they would be unlikely to get adopted—an option that none of us liked, but we were trying to be realistic. We decided to have a conference call on Friday night to regroup and figure out what to do next.

During Friday night’s call, some of the first words spoken were, “We have good news!”

(Stay tuned for Part 2!)