It is JUST plumbing.....

That is what i need to keep telling myself. MAJOR plumbing emergency this weekend, a pipe in the basement essentially exploded, water EVERYWHERE....it scared the crap out of me. Two things i don't like....proplematic pipes, and freaky electrical wiring.
My plumber is great, he is the son of my realtor, whom i loves. He came out first thing this morning, and showed me the CORRECT way to turn off my well pump. The way i shut off the water yesterday could have been REALLY bad if the pump had turned on. Basically, i COULD have had the entire contents of my well IN my basement, and then i would have been frakked.
So, the real work starts Wednesday. An old cistern wall will be coming down, and old copper piping will be switched out with the new and improved good stuff.
Whatever....i get lost in the details...just fix it. I tried explaining it all the the husband earlier, and just got more confused and frustrated, and had to call the plumber back to talk me down from the ledge that I was in grave danger of plummeting off of. All i need to know is which switch to flip to make "water go bye-bye". Nothing but the basics here ma'am.

Anyways, my new mantra is "it is JUST plumbing"....because really...my cousin had it FAR worse than me this summer. She lives in Cedar Falls, IA. Her house was completely flooded, and there WERE no damn pipes to turn off. All they could do was sit there, and watch their house and everything in it be ruined. Luckily, she and her boyfriend had plenty of time to get themselves and their pets out safely. Puts it into perspective for me, really.

Pointer Park

These are pics of two very happy dogs. I take them hiking out on the trails at Pointer Park, and they LOVE it! There are hundreds of miles of trails, and when the weather is nice, Henry can swim in the lake. Fred loves to run through the fields and chase the barn swallows.

Come October, we will have to don orange vests, and i will have to wear an orange hat, as part of the park is desingated hunting grounds. There are parts of the park that are protected though.

Anyways, there are a million trails, and surprises throughout. If you look behind the dogs in the field shot, you see an old hunting cabin. This is one of my favorite places.

And another ones down.....

Another one bites the dust. Chipmunks, that is. I was eating lunch yesterday, watching Dallas, of course...and i saw something bobbing in the pool. I ran out, and it was a chipmunk. I thought i could get him out in time...but no. He was gone. Stupid pool. Tough little fella...probably held on for a few laps.
Sheesh...everyone wants to be Michael Phelps......

You know what G? You are RIGHT....

.....about the corn, that is. She does NOT know that for sure!! What is she? Some kind of corn expert? No, i do not think so. I am not giving up on my corn stalk.

So....guess what came ambling into my yard today? A Kee-hoe-tay!! Otherwise known as a coyote. yes, the dogs went beserkoid. He just trotted across the yard like he owned the place, and then heard Fred yip (Fred does a wicked little female coyote impression...smooth one, Fred) and stopped dead in his tracks, and just stared at the house. And now that he has heard a mating call come from the house, i am sure he will be back, to lure his little coyote-yipping-princess out to his den. This ought to be fun. Oh well....maybe he will work on the bunny population a little.

No corn for me....

So, my friend Sheila came over yesterday, and declared that yes, that is indeed corn in my garden. Then she threw the hammer down and said "but you won't actually get any corn from it because there is no other corn around to cross-polinate." Whatever. i am not giving up.

My friend Maggie updated her blog yesterday (yay) and was talking about the Olympics, and that reminds me, i have not mentioned them yet. Or have i? Whatever....i talk about/think about tv so much, it may have been lost in the shuffle. Anywhoot....i LOVE the Olympics. I love love love the athletes, and watch them as much as i can. Does not matter the sport, i love it all. I have to say though, that i am really loving Men's swimming, and Michael Phelps. Did you see the thing on the evening news last night, when they talked about what he eats in a day? Over 8,000 calories. When he ran down the list of his breakfast foods, i think i felt my cholestrol level go up a few points. Three fried egg sandwiches, among other things. Ugh. I am betting Dara Torres does not eat like that.

I love that i am very mature

I am back in school, getting a post-bacc degree in Natural Resources, at Oregon State. I was online shopping at their bookstore today, and took a look over at the fan shop. Now, as UW grads, i have been STRICTLY verbotten by the husband to ever EVER buy any Beaver gear...but, i gotta tell you, it is TEMPTING. They have this t-shirt, and it says "Beavers" across the front, and it really REALLY makes me giggle. How can i NOT buy one of those? I think even my darling husband would not mind if i wore that one! Heck, he might even wear one himself. He better wear it, cuz i'm gettin him one!

Mystery plant, and other things.....

I think that i might have self-planted corn growing in my yard, in the rocks that surround the big maple tree. I know, i sound like a complete idiot...and i was going to pull this "weed", but it looked kind of like corn, and now it REALLY looks like corn. I am really HOPING it IS corn, because i want to eat it.
And speaking of gardening....have you read about the illegal-alien-reefer-growers in our National Parks? The latest one is in the Sequoias in California, and then today i read about some that are growing their crops in the midst of the grapevines in Washington state. You know, if they would just legalize it already, this would not be an issue!! Sheesh, at least legalize it for medicinal purposes already. Oh, i get so annoyed.

Are we all watching the Olympics? So exciting...we loves it. "We" being the dogs and I. It gives us a nice break from Dallas, The O.C., and The Gilmore Girls. I know the husband is reading this, and he is REALLY glad that he is not being forced to sit and muscle through these damn shows. But, i do think he would enjoy Dallas.

My neck is getting nice and healed up. I injured myself last friday. playing golf. yes, i am a total loser. Bear in mind though, this is the same loser who has been known to throw out her back knitting. yeah, i have a few spinal issues. This is what happens when you do not get your childhood scoliosis properly corrected. You get slighly off-centered shoulders, hips, and golf and knitting injuries. Anywhoot...been dosing myself on all the Army-prescribed Ibuprofen in the house, Tylenol PM, and a heating pad. It has been a REALLY fun week, and my dogs are not at all INSANE with boredom.

Last night a Chipmunk "mysteriously" died on the back deck. Seconds before death, Fred and Henry were standing together over him. Now, i am not going to say that they did the little fella in...but, i sure did not see any other critters around. I was a little upset....i like the chippermonkeys. I am pretty confident that Henry did NOT do it...he loves all animals, save for the archnemesis of all archnemesises, the SQUIRREL. Henry is pretty perfect...except for when he eats wild animal shit in the lower field.