Cat + Leash = Bwahahahahaha

Aug 092011
 

The wedding of the century is just over 2 weeks away, and I have only recently begun the dreaded task of looking into what we will do with Calie while we are gone for 2 days.  Because of her elder and special diet status, we can’t just leave her at home with Thor.  So I had to look at options.

Option #1:  Bring in someone to feed her a few times a day.  The best option there was, but it didn’t pan out the way I would have liked, and it would have required alot of pre-planning to get her accustomed to a stranger feeding her on a schedule that wasn’t hers.

Result:  nixed.

Option #2:  Board her at a kenneling facility.  My least favorite option, simply because she has never had the pleasure of this kind of accommodation.  But I did my due diligence and contacted one of the few places available in our area, and settled on the vet that we use for her.  Well, you remember how that turned out.

Result:  nixed.

Option #3:  Take her with us.  I’m not keen on this idea, but the vet did say that she would probably be able to handle the drive better than the other 2 options that we had.  Rick even did some research on the interwebs and found articles about traveling with a cat.  So I did some hotel research, and found one that accepts pets and is close to the wedding and reception.

Result:  going for it.

Besides, she has been begging to go outside ever since that last car ride.  Which has also lead to a fantastic idea from Rick:  buying her a harness and leash so he can safely take her for a walk outside.

When I heard this, I about doubled over in laughter. This cat doesn’t even wear a collar, because she was Houdini in a previous lifetime!

I could just imagine Calie saying “You plan on doing what?”

But, being the loving wife that I am, I decided to look into this contraption.  Do you have any idea what the market is for cat harnesses?  Oh. My. Gawd.

Here we have the Reflective Harness and Leash, for the sophisticated feline.  “What a striking statement she will make when out and about for her nightly stroll.”

The glitter on this little number just screams “I really AM queen of the castle.”

This vest ensemble makes a stylish statement, for a more “Out on the town” effect.

Personally, I think that this will be a more appropriate response from Calie to a leash and harness.

That is only if Rick is able to get the confounded thing on her without being sliced and diced.

This could be very interesting… and slightly hilarious.

Either way, you can guarantee there will be pictures.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Jul 152011
 

Today I got to pick up my Grandson Brayden.  I haven’t seen him in a year, and boy, what a difference a year makes!  He’s grown a foot taller and even more handsome!  And, a lot smarter.

The drive home from where I picked him up was mostly uneventful, except for the cloud-to-ground lightning strikes that scared the bejesus out of me and I had to suppress the gasps because, you know, I didn’t want my Grandson to think that I was a complete wus.

Also, the conversations seemed to take on a more, um, how would you say it… “sophisticated” air.  We grabbed some grub on the go, and after Brayden had chowed down on his Happy Meal, the question that arose from him concerned how a part of the toy inside was able to move up and down.  Well, I certainly didn’t know how, but he had a theory.  “Well, Grandma, it’s possible that kinetic energy is involved.”  And he goes on to explain how this type of energy works, and even supplies a visual example.

WHAT?? This kid is 9!!  Where the hell did he find out about kinetic energy?!?  What kind of cartoons is he watching, anyway?

Then he pulls out his Nintendo DSi player, and I ask him what game he is playing.  Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, he tells me.  For some reason, I’m not liking this answer.  But, I keep my opinion to myself and let him play the game.  Pretty soon I’m hearing things that really make me hate this game.

Brayden:  Dang, now I need a new paint job, but it will cost me $200.

Me:  So, how do you get the money in the game to pay for it?

Brayden:  Probably by doing work for the drug dealers.

Me:  Brayden, who bought this game for you?

I will not say his answer, but I will tell you that it was bought by adults that should know better.

I let him play his game and hear all about guns, running over people and being chased by the cops.  I hold myself back from ripping this machine from his hands.  I control the voice in my head that is telling me that what he is playing is not appropriate. Well, duh!!

We finally make our next stop to buy some supplies for the weekend and I decide it is my duty as a Grandma to buy him a game that is a little more age-appropriate… for me.  But it is my little secret and let him pick out what he wants and all my fears wash away when he selects a Lego version of Indiana Jones.  I may have sighed quite heavily.  Or thanked a higher power.  Or done a fist pump.

Either way, we were both happy and he plops the game in the device when we get in the car and continue onward.

As we get closer to home, he decides that he wants to go straight home rather than stop at Grandpa’s shop, because we have milk in the car and he doesn’t want it to go bad.  Plus, he wants to play with his train set.

This boy is growing up, but he still has some kid left in him.

It’s Fair Time!

Jul 132011
 

It’s the opening day of the fair in my home town.  The 154th Annual Dodge County Fair, to be exact.   I would have forgotten completely about it, but thanks to my cousin  appearing in my “in” box, memories started flooding back to me.

I loved our local fair growing up.  The rides, the food, the cheap prizes from the games.  And who could forget the stock car races?

If you’ve never heard of or been to a stock car race, you haven’t truly lived.  Loud cars racing around the track on a Sunday evening, the dirt flying everywhere, the unfortunate “fender benders” that would occur on the straightaways, the occasional car flipping over from trying to take the turn too fast.

And when I turned the ripe old age of 13, I got the opportunity to work the concession stands at the races.  This was like hitting the big-time in my area, because only the popular girls got these kinds of jobs and they had the chance to meet all the cute guys.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t popular and I didn’t meet any cute guys.  But I had fun.

OK, back to the topic at hand:  the fair (in case you got side-tracked with your own trip down memory lane or even segued to your favorite NASCAR moments from the mention of stock car races).

The email wasn’t a “save-the-date” for the fair, but a reminder of how much her Dad, Levern Larson, contributed to the fair each year (as did her Mom, Wava).  It reads:

At 154 years, the Dodge County Fair in Kasson is the oldest county fair in Minnesota. Our dad attended the fair for 85 consecutive years, from 1925 when he was six years old through last summer’s fair at the age of 91.

Dad served on the Dodge County Fair Board for 45 years.  When he retired from the board a few years ago, they named him an “Honorary Board Member” so they could continue to get his input in the running of the fair and so they could include Dad and Mom in their social activities.

Last year, the fair board created a Hall of Fame to honor those people who had been so instrumental in making the fair such a huge success for so many years, and Dad was named as their first inductee.

The Dodge County Fair Board has chosen to honor our dad and mom by dedicating this year’s fair to their memory.

I am sure they are smiling down from heaven.

I was so touched by this email and happy that she wanted to share this with her cousins, that I just had to write about it.  And since I didn’t have any pictures that were suitable for this post, I again turned to Google in hopes of providing something.  And lo and behold, I came across a photo that had made it into one of the local papers from down that way.

In that June 21, 2009, edition, the caption reads:  “Levern Larson, of Kasson, attended the Dodge County Fair for the 84th consecutive year.” What a handsome man!  Just looking at this photo with Levern standing next to the tractor, seeing the smile that he has on his face, I get the feeling that he had just got done regaling the reporter with some story about the “old” days and what that machine could do.

I’m glad that the community is honoring him and his wife with such an honor this year.  It is much deserved.

But I’m sure that he’d shake his head and say, “Well, if you really want to, but it’s not necessary.”

Yeah, he was that kind of guy.

Who Needs Captain Phil

Jul 052011
 

The maiden voyage of the SS Rooney occurred July 4th with Captain Rick at the helm.

Rick bought this sailboat about 8 years ago.  While he had initially done some work on it, he had never taken it out in the water.

The poor thing laid out in back of the garage and gathered grime while critters stored acorns in the hull.

We’ll never get those out.

So Rick had decided that Monday would be the day to see if it was seaworthy.

Or lakeworthy, as our case is up in the Northwoods.

But first, we had to figure out how to rig the mast.  And believe me when I tell you that there is no copy of an owner’s manual anyway on the interwebs.  ANYWHERE.  I know, I looked.  And looked.  And when I was done, I looked some more.  Finally, I came upon a sight that had pictures of this type of boat and delved back to the ones in the 1980’s where I estimated this boat originated from.  (I only got that time period from the gazillion non-manual websites that I came upon that even mentioned this type of boat.)

We’re good with visuals, so we pieced a few of them together and got the general concept and crossed our fingers that it would work.

So off to the beach with a boat landing we went.  Of course there were tons of people there to witness this event, being a holiday and all.  And you can bet that plenty of them knew Rick.  This was going to be interesting.

And not, I did not participate on the first excursion.  I figured that having one person figure out the general workings of this boat was better than 2 of us fumbling around, cursing, and generally paving the way for divorce court was not my idea of fun.  Plus, if he tipped it, I didn’t want to be involved with the water part.

The lake was a little down, so he had to tow it out to deeper water in order to attach the rudder and keel.  It probably didn’t hurt to get past all the swimmers too.

Alley oop!

And away we go!  It was the perfect conditions for learning about how to run this thing.  The wind wasn’t very strong, but he didn’t need a lot to get that thing cruising.

And then it happened.  The wind caught the sail and he didn’t get the craft leveled out in time and ended up in the drink.  I guess the boat wanted to show him who was boss.

But when you fall off a horse, you have to get right back in the saddle.

Before I knew it, he was sailing that thing as if he had been doing it for years.

There was still a scare…

…or two, but he kept her upright.  I may or may not have had to suppress a gasp a time or two.

After about 40 minutes, he decided to come ashore, and even had some kids giving him help.

He was happy with his adventure, and I’m sure that we’ll be taking many more trips to the lake so he can master his art of sailing.

This little guy even came buy to congratulate Rick on a job well done.

Or maybe he was just looking for his stash of acorns.

Like a Duck to Water

Jun 302011
 

When the weather is nice and you have young ones visiting, what a better way to let them just be kids than taking them to the local lake?

I love how the boys just get right to it and walk through the water, while the girls are very careful to “test” the water first before deciding if it is to their liking.

Actually, this is pretty much the way that boys and girls act throughout their lives.

Or maybe it’s just something to do with water.

More research is necessary.

Who needs a swimsuit in order to get up close and personal with the lake and all it has to offer.

Now that’s the way to do it!  Splash! Splash! Splash!

Just not at Grandma.

Thank you.

Even the big kids had fun!

But there was no way Nichole was going to end up in the water without Corey coming with her.

The girl has an iron grip.

Do you know how hard it is to get 5 youngins to stand still when there is so much water to play in?

Just about as easy as getting these ducks to pose for a family photo.

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