Coprophagy

(Weak stomach warning)

While Dave and I don't like to talk about this publically, we have to face the fact that Mason has a problem--coprophagy is the fancy name. We refer to it privately as poop-stick eating. We've tried keeping the yard cleaned and even spraying his "little mounds" with Tabasco sauce to no avail. There are many causes, but the most likely is anxiety and obsessive complusive. We also occasionally struggle with him licking his paws until they are red and slightly infected. When Dave was in transition between Dallas and Austin, Mason licked bald spots on his paws; that' s when we got the first OCD diagnosis.

Last night, our latest in the struggle occurred. I came home from class early and was going to accompany Dave to Devin and Jimmy's to pick up some DVDs. Dave was on the phone with Jimmy while I let Mason out. Mason was taking a long time out there in the dark, so I opened the back door and whistled for him. Mason came galloping in, thrilled to be called. He trotted about ten feet inside the door toward Dave, who is still on the phone. Mason opened his mouth and dropped a poop stick on to the floor. I immediately began scoldling him. He laid down, then rolled on to his back so I could scold him some more. Dave quickly ended his phone call and joined in the admonishment of the dog.

In typical parental fashion, we were trying to maintain a straight face while we scolded him. We were so grossed out that we had to laugh so we didn't cry that doggie-poop is lying in our floor; luckily it was "crispy", but nonetheless, it's doggie poop! I cleaned it up, while Mason stayed on the floor with his ears slicked back. We left him in the house and headed to see Devin and Jimmy.

Along the drive we continued to chuckle about the situation, adding our own commentary to the situation.

Poor Mason WANTS to get caught. Why else would he carry a poop-stick into the house? I can just hear Mason in therapy.

"I want to stop this disgusting habit. I try not to eat the poop-sticks, but when they've been out in the yard and become crispy, they're just irrestible. I tell myself, "No, today I'm not going to eat one." But, then I go outside to patrol for those pesky squirrels that continue to mock me by running along the top of the fence, and I get a sniff of something. Those darn poop-sticks smell just like my dog food. That's part of the problem. "

"Miranda and Dave catch me and scold me. But that's just not enough to deter me. Sometimes they keep me inside the house to reduce the tempation, but as soon as I go back out, I'm back at it. I thought surely when I carried that poop-stick into the house they would see my plea for help and do something. They did. I had to stay inside again. Miranda escorted me outside and oversaw my bathroom breaks. I always quickly hurry back inside when she's with me."

"But the shame, it just won't go away. I want to stop. I just don't know how."

For a Smile

Another way to get a smile (other than reading Threadbared.com) is to get a picture of my nephew Hayden. Mama sent this to me tonight. It was taken either today or yesterday.
Hayden looks so big here. I hear that he prefers to sit up to laid back. He's starting to eat baby food (and some grown-up food from my brother's fingers).

I called my parents this afternoon; Matthew, Cindy, and Hayden were down there. Matthew was playing with Hayden and had him "talking" in the background. Hayden says, "Mmmm" a lot. We suspect "Mama" will be one of his first words, if not the first.

Hayden has had to adjust to his mom going back to work earlier in the month. Hayden stays with Cindy's mom during the day. Matthew picks him up if he gets caught up with his work around the farm. My mom is on back-up if Cindy's mom is busy. Yesterday Mama got to keep Hayden most of the day. Daddy says she was in "hog heaven."

Hmmm, when can I get back to see Hayden?

For a Good Laugh

Whenever I'm in need of a laugh, I visit a blog maintained by Kimberly and Mary. I know Kimberly; I've never had the pleasure of Mary's acquaintance. Nonetheless, Threadbared is always a good laugh. Kimberly and Mary make fun of patterns. I laughed out loud at this pattern for a crib accessory. I giggled all the way through their Barbie New Year post. And, I bought their book that just came out this fall.

A Hectic Week

This week has been a bit crazy, but it's almost over.

Monday night I had my first practicum meeting. We'll meet three more times at the end of February, March, and April.

Tuesday night I had my curriculum class meeting. The professor must think class is over at 8:30 (officially it's supposed to be 8:20) since he started wrapping things up at 8:30. After a 40 mile drive home with a quick stop at Barnes and Noble to pick up a gift for a co-worker who's moving to Austin in two weeks, I got home at 9:30, hit the shower then went to bed.
I was up and out the door at 6:45 since our school had TAKS field testing Wednesday and Thursday and I share responisibility for testing. We got all 599 kids to their testing rooms and the other 1800 kids to displaced classrooms. After testing we sorted the materials for the juniors who tested today. I got home about 6:15 last night. Dave had to work late, so I had a dinner of chips with salsa and sour cream, followed by a "cheesy" tortilla; for dessert I had a coffee mug of cereal and milk. Dave found me on the sofa in my pjs when he got home.

Today was day two of testing. We drove up to the school to find posters along the way saying, "Screw TAKS" and "Boycott TAKS, go home." The genius who posted them included the name of a rogue school website, which we visited and discovered that it claims to by-pass the school's internet filters. We immediately had it blocked and got a technology person working on the author of the site. We now know the identity and will decide what our next move is. We have no problem with "Boycott TAKS." Kids have a right to freedom of expression. We're bothered by "Screw TAKS" primarily because an elementary school is across the street.

Testing is finished. Tomorrow we have just to count all the answer documents and erase all the bubbles that kids darkened on their answer documents with precoded labels containing the demographic information. If only teachers would read and follow the directions. . . .

I planned to cook dinner tonight for the first time since last Thursday. All did not go as planned. Dave is working late again. The pork chops I put in the fridge to thaw this morning are still icy. So, I got out of cooking again. Tonight I had soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

I've double booked myself tomorrow morning and hope that all works out. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning at 9 am (just my yearly check up). When I made the appointment, I chose a non-teaching day. I didn't remember that I have TAKS tutorials for seven kids at 10 am each Friday. I hope I can get in and out quickly so that I get to my tutorials. I've asked someone to cover for me, but I really hate that my brain is so cluttered that I didn't remember that.

I hope there's time to rest this weekend amid my reading for graduate school. I just have to keep telling myself, "I'll graduate May 12," if I live 'til then.

Dreams

Sometimes I have the weirdest dreams. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't.

Last night in dreamland I was having anxiety because I was wearing sandals at work and was (am) in desperate need of a manicure. I was scampering through the building trying to find a female co-worker that might have a bottle of nail polish which I could use for a quick fix so that I could teach.

I remembered this dream this morning when I sat down on my vanity stool to pull on a pair of socks and saw my flaking toe nail polish. I really need to fix that so I won't be disturbing my sleep.

Friday Night with the Js

Dave and I spent an enjoyable Friday night with our friends, Devin and Jimmy, and their children. (Dave and I refer to them collectively by their last name, but to protect their identity in this sick and twisted world, I'll just call them the Js.)

Devin called last week about getting together for a belated celebration of Dave's birthday. We met at their home afterwork and piled into their suburban to head to a favorite local Tex Mex restaurant. After riding in my lap for an hour for our plane ride viewing Christmas lights last month, Landon has decided I'm alright and insisted that I sit next to him instead of his mother. Devin and Jimmy are regulars at the restaurant and were greeted by the servers and managers as we arrived. Jimmy ordered a HUGE maragarita for three of us to share, mentioning that it should be placed in front of Dave since we were celebrating his birthday. We had a great dinner and were quite surprised when the waitstaff approached Dave with an equally HUGE red sombrero and a piece of tres leches cake as they sang to him. Devin, who also blogs (and got me started), was disappointed not to have her camera on hand to capture the red hue of Dave's face, which matched the sombrero.

After dinner, we went back to their house to visit for a bit. Dave and I really feel like family with them, which was apparent last night. When I was offered something to drink by Jimmy, who was then distracted by something, I went right over and fixed my own glass of water. A few minutes later, Dave decided the dinner, cake, and brownies were getting to him, so he put his feet up on the sofa to rest. It's fantastic to have such great friends close by!

Snow Day

I awoke this morning to hear something about school closings on the radio. That's enough to perk you right up. I lay there debating in my head, do I want to go to school or not.

It would be nice to stay home and tidy up the house after my guests had left--they weren't messy, but I do need to wash towels (they did offer, but what kind of hostess would I be?). I haven't really put purchases made over the weekend away, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded. I could get a lot done if I stayed home.

But on the other hand, I have some things I really need to get done at work. Things I didn't bring home with me. Things I couldn't bring home with me. We have field testing next week on Wednesday and Thursday. I've got to get ready for that. And, if we have a day off now, then our nice four-day Easter weekend is shot.

So, I got up washed my face, fixed my hair, fed Mason, and put on some water in the tea kettle for hot chocolate. I kept the radio on in the bedroom and the TV on in the living room. No mention of a school cancellation for my district was mentioned. So, I finished getting ready and came upstairs for the camera. I almost logged onto the website to check for closing, but decided I might as well get headed to work.

This is what Dave's truck and the driveway looked like when I was leaving for work at 7 am.

So, I did. It's pretty outside with the snow dusting the ground and continuing to fall. As I drove closer to school, I heard that 450+ districts are closed today. My heart sank. I'd driven all this way (yes, about 10 whole miles), and we might not be having school. As I approached the other high school in our district, I noticed not one car in the parking lot. I pulled in and called my friends whose children attend school in the district. Reagan, who's in sixth grade, answered the phone and politely replied, "No ma'am" to my inquiry about school. She and I lamented the loss of a 4-day weekend in April before I hung up and headed home. (I did sit in the parking lot and wonder if I should drive the next two miles to work and stay for a bit to get something done, but I decided I should really probably come home.)

Trying to make the best of my ignorance, I enjoyed the snow-covered scenery on my drive home. I made a mental list of things I could do while at home today. I crept along at 25 miles per hour. It was a nice leisurely drive. Though the highway has three lanes, only one was being used. That's a good thing, since I slid just a bit coming down a hill about half a mile before I had to exit the highway. I pulled the car into low gear and steered through the slip. Had there been a car to my left I would have hit it, as I was going sideways for a bit. When I was straightened up and driving again I thought, "That was kind of fun," so maybe there is a bit of adventure-seeking in my personality.

Now I'm home. I've put in a load of laundry, gathered up some trash, and worked on the blog. I'm wondering if Dave will get home tonight. He's already quite angry about this whole business trip that he's on. (That would be an entire different post from which we'll spare you.)

I'll post some snow pictures when I'm brave enough to go outside to take some. (Where's Jennifer when I need her?)

The snow has now turned to drizzle. I ran out and took a picture a few minutes ago. I should have taken one earlier. The yard was a bit whiter around 9 this morning.

Last Day in Dallas

The cold weather continued on the girls' last day in Dallas. We were lazy in getting up since it was cold. We watched the news and weather to decide what it might be fit to do on such a cold day.

Dave had to fly to Milwaukee on business Monday; his 8 am flight got cancelled. He was rebooked on a 5pm flight from Love Field, which is further from us than DFW International.

While I dropped Dave off at Love, everyone else headed to Sam Moon. I met up with them there. We had a great time shopping for purses, wallets, necklaces, earrings, head bands, luggage, and even hair pieces! After that it was off to Ross for a bit before looking for a good steak dinner.

I guess I still have some learning to do. I could have sworn there is a Texas Land & Cattle Company in Lewisville. If there is, we didn't find it. We decided then to go to Grapevine to eat at Traildust. Jennifer had requested Traildust earlier in the trip, then amended her request to a good steak. Since we were in two cars, I lead the way to Grapevine while Jen followed in my mom's car. I went right to where Traildust was, so I thought. It seems it's now another restaurant. We drove through the parking lots of all of the restaurants in that area--no Traildust. So, we consulted again and decided to try Saltgrass, another Texas-based steak house. Off we went. Since it was a bit after 6 pm, I decided to avoid the highway and drive through town to the restaurant. That was great except that I turned one road too soon and wound up taking everyone to a north freight entrance for DFW. Finally, we got headed in the right direction and arrived at Saltgrass for dinner. Well, at least they got to see a lot of Grapevine in the dark.

With the road conditions as they were, the girls decided to leave my house at 6am instead of 3 or 4 am. (Good call. . . ) They got back to my mom's a bit after 9pm last night. It was great to have them visit! Y'all come back--when it's warm!

Cold Weather Comes to Texas

What are the odds that my family would visit Texas during an ice storm? (Well, actually, this has happened twice. Last February Bob and Judy came out the last weekend in February when we had sleet. So maybe the odds are pretty good . . . )

The weather has been a bit of a hinderance on our site seeing. With the potential for slippery roads, we haven't ventured far on Saturday or Sunday. We spent a few hours each afternoon shopping at Grapevine Mills. Funny that it took two days to get through the mall.

Who knows what Monday will bring.

Southfork

Since it's beginning, we've all been Dallas fans. Friday nights were planned around the airing of the show. I remember spending a few Friday nights at Granny's eating chips and green onion dip while watching The Dukes of Hazard followed by Dallas. After the Duke boys went off the air, we watched Dallas and then Falcon Crest.

Needless to say, we had to go to Southfork to see the where the show was filmed. When we got there, we learned that the exterior shots were filmed at the ranch, but the interior shots were filmed on a sound stage in California.




The interior of the home has been staged to pay tribute to various members of the Ewing family. Here we are in the living room at the fireplace under Jock's painting.
From left to right: Jennifer, Miranda, Sandra, Stephanie, Martha












We roamed through the house and grounds. We had lunch at Miss Ellie's Porch Deli and saw Jock's Lincoln.
















Actually, this was my second trip to Southfork. I had visited over Thanksgiving with Bob and Judy, my father-in-law and mother in-law. The weather was nicer then.