Halloween Is Time For Blessing!

. . . remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35b)

Halloween is such a great opportunity to connect with the community and with our neighbors. As a kid, I always liked going trick-or-treating because I liked candy . . . and money too. Some people gave us money! Some people also assembled little goodie bags that had more than one thing in it! I always thought it was so nice of them to be so generous. Some actually made the bags cute even.

Now thought, I enjoy passing out the candy just as much.  I really don't know my neighbors very well at all.  In fact, I know only a few and very little about them.  So I thought maybe I could make a connection with some by making some little goodie bags for our trick-or-treaters.  We generally don't get too many kids. Last year, we just handed out two bags of KitKats. So, the cats and I went to work. I just used some zip-lock bags and stuffed several different kinds of candy in them with a tract for kids telling them about Jesus love, my "business card" that lists my blogs with a printed note on the back telling them about our upcoming puppet show for children on Dec. 12 at 11:00 a.m. at Parma Heights Baptist Church. Gerard and I are both puppeteers.

Yesterday, Gerard and I both had fun running a marble rolling game, handing out candy and seeing many cute costumes at our Fall Festival. I always like to see the children have a great time and liked giving them candy. I think there were 20 games set up, a short move, free popcorn and cider, a bake sale and a hayride minus the hay.

I am excited to pass out these goodie bags tonight. What are you giving to your trick-or-treaters? In the PLAIN DEALER, one man said he was giving out money wrappers (without the money, just the wrappers).

Have a happy, fun and safe Halloween and please help us choose a new name for this blog by voting in our poll at the top left!

We announced our Stephen King Spectacular Giveaway Winners. Our pets did the picking and would like you to see them working so you don't think they just lay around all day.

 
Related Posts:  Church's Fall Festival Brings Back Memories Of Dad
My First Halloween Costume
My Dad's Halloween Tip:  How To Hand Out Candy

Join in the "Halloween Parade" over at SITS where you can link up your Halloween post and read many more.

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7 Things I Learned This Week #93 (Jobs, blogs, Giveaway, book, Browns, Internet, Bullying)

Jobs

Over at Budget Snob I learned that the highest paying job is Anesthesiologist. I am very surprised at this. Thought it would be a professional athlete!

Featured Blogger

I was a featured blogger this week over at Naivaze (Teresa Dawn's Random blog). You could be too! Go visit her blog, click to be featured and complete and email the interview form.

Spooktacular Book Blog Giveaway Hop

There is a Spooktacular book blog giveaway hop this week that we are participating in on our book blog. We are giving away three Stephen King books and including the links to other blogs that are participating in the hop. There is still time to browse through them and enter but hurry--it ends October 31.

Internet Security

Over at Mama Kat's Losin' It I read a blog post about Internet security and found that we should not use our real full names on our blog--oh well, oops. We really need to change the title of our blog and would like your help--it's boring anyway. We will keep our URL the same so it shouldn't affect any links you have to our blog. At least that is how I understand it. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. Be sure to cast you vote in our poll on our left sidebar near the top.

Browns

Browns linebacker, Bowens, was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week! He returned two interceptions for touchdowns last Sunday. Abby watched the game with me and wrote all about it at Who Let The Dogs Out?

Tidbits From Who Switched Off My Brain

Just to give you a sampling of some things I learned by reading Who Switched Off My Brain?: Laugh and play every day, exercise, take time alone for prayer, love others no matter what, forgive freely, don’t eat when angry, touch, and root of stress is fear.  Evaluate every thought, the left and right brain work together and each process every thought differently.

My review of this book is posted book blog and maybe here too--it may be my favorite read for October!

Bullying Study

I was surprised to learn from USA TODAY this week that out of 43,321 teens surveyed, 47% had been bullied, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset them at least once the past year.

Find more Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissin' Time.

The Historical Event I Would Like To Have Taken Part In (Writer’s Workshop)

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If you could witness (or take part in) any event in history, what would it be and why? This is easy for me. I would choose to be back to see the resurrected Jesus being taken back up to heaven in the clouds as recorded in Acts 1:3-11. After being crucified—the most excruciating death possible, to take the punishment for our sins, Jesus rose from the dead. He did not just sneak back to heaven quietly either. He still walked around on this Earth 40 days, letting those who believed in him see and talk with him. Imagine what a great time of fellowship they must have had! I would love to have been in that first group of believers because they got to spend time with Jesus, the Son of God in person, understanding exactly who He was! Then, after Jesus told them they would receive power to be witnesses for Him, he went bye, bye. He just floated up in the clouds and disappeared. How cool is that! Acts 1:11 says:

. . . Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

(Spoken by angels)

I’m hoping that maybe I will see Jesus return to gather up the believers in the clouds with him at his second coming. That would be better yet I think! I look forward to that day hoping I’m still living when it happens!

What about you? What historical event would you have liked to have been a part of? Can you top this?

You may want to check out the Spooktacular Book Blog Giveaway going on this week.

This post is in response to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop prompt: “If you could witness (or take part in) any event in history, what would it be? Why?” which was inspired by Texan Mama from Who Put Me In Charge Of These Kids

This is part of Saturday Sampling at Half Past Kissin' Time.

Where Do I Go To Warm Up? by Spunky Doodle

Sorry, posted early by mistake. Will post on Feb. 6.

Why I Visit Less Blogs On Rainy Days

I get up anywhere between 4 and 5 a.m. to have time to go on the computer to link up posts and visit other blogs and comment before I leave for work. This way I can get in two or two and half hours before work on a good day. That is, providing it’s not raining.

Abby, our wonderful dog, goes for two morning walks with Gerard before he leaves for work, rain or shine. Abby doesn’t seem to mind the rain at all, even when it’s pouring out she'll happily trot along as long as usual or longer if Gerard will let her. On rainy days when Abby comes back all soaked, I am the one who dries her off. It’s only fair since Gerard had to be out in the rain. I don’t want Abby up on our furniture when she’s all wet, so I get one of our big towels and start rubbing. Usually, it takes two or three towels but if it was a heavy rain, I bring out the big gun: my blow dryer.

The first time I tried this, she kept trying to get away, but now she realizes it actually feels pretty good and will cooperate with me by sitting or laying nice while I try to get her dry. It works fairly well, but I still keep her leash on so I can make sure she doesn’t run off before I finish. This is why on rainy days I visit less blogs, because it usually takes a good 20 minutes. She has nice thick fur but it takes awhile to dry. Here is a video I took while doing drying her off one morning thinking “I could blog about this” (multi-tasking is just what I do). Don't worry, it's not a 20-minute video! I just took part of the task:

So, what interrupts your computer time? Anything as fun as this?

Oh, you may want to check out the Spooktacular Book Blog Giveaway going on this week!

Visit Pet Pride with Bozoto find more posts about pets or link up yours.

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What Kind Of Happy Are You?

I am generally happy, especially on the weekends!  Especially when the Browns play so well and win like they did last Sunday against the Saints.  Attitude really is everything.  If you want to be happy, think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy according to Philippians 4:8.  Our thoughts affect us emotionally as well as physically.  So, if I'm feeling down, I take control of my thoughts and focus on God.  I sing a song of praise (in my head if people are around) and invariably, my mood changes for the better.  Also, I skip along.  You know, it's hard to be in a bad mood and skip at the same time!  I took this little quiz and it says:

I Am Engaged

You feel completely absorbed and intrigued right now. You're cheerfully busy. You're alert and completely involved with everything you do. You don't walk through life half-asleep. If you're interested and engrossed, then you feel incredibly happy. You are constantly curious and never bored. There's too much to be fascinated with!

I am most definitely happy if engrossed in something--these days it is blogging, reading, teaching Sunday School, attending a Bible study on leadership and being a puppeteer.   I do feel there is a lot to learn and like learning new things.  I can also be happy though just petting my pets or cuddling with my husband so the above description isn't quite completely true about me, but close.

Why not take the quiz to find out what kind of happy you are and share your results in the comments. 

What Kind of Happy Are You?

Related Post:  Who Let The Dogs Out?  Browns Beat Saints 30-17 by Abby  WOOF!  WOOF!

Meet Me On Monday by Karen

Here's the questions for this meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our book blog.

1. Do you sleep with a night light on?
No, sometimes I even pull the covers over my head!

2. What do you drink with dinner?
The V8 Fusion fruit/vegetable drink.

3. Do you play the lottery? If so, how often?
Neither of us ever played it even once. We have entered office pools for the March Madness brackets and football (but not this season). I enjoy watching football on Sundays much more now that I don't lose my money on it.

4. How often do you go to the grocery store?
Once a week.

5. Would you rather travel back in time 500 years or travel forward 500 years?
Ahead, because I would miss the modern conveniences and technology terribly if I went back in time!

Here's a bonus:  I'm a featured blogger this week over at Naivaze. Check it out to learn more about me.

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If You Blog, Why Not Give Entrecard A Try?

If you are not a member of Entrecard, I think you are missing out on a good thing. I have discovered many blogs through blog hops and SITS that do not have Entrecards on their blogs and I wish they did.

Entrecard is like a huge blog directory but so much more. Blogs that have an Entrecard (a blog ad with the word "DROP" on or next to it) are members of Entrecard. It is like a business card but for blogs. It is completely free with the option of paying to advertise if you wish. It is a great way to kick-start traffic to your blog as well as revisit your favorite blogs and develop friendships with other Entrecard members. When you visit a blog with an Entrecard on it, you just click on the word "DROP" and it lets the blogger know you visited their blog. You get a credit for visiting and these credits all add up which you can then use for advertising your blog on other blogs. Now and then Entrecard has promotional contests like this. The deal is for members to post pros and cons of Entrecard and they get 5,000 credits--they say everyone wins! I just couldn't pass this up so I am interrupting our regular posts with this one.

Here is what I like about Entrecard--the Pros:

The blogs are grouped by lots of different categories. You can easily find blogs related to yours or topics in which you are interested.

It provides an easy way to send messages to other members and write recommendations for their blogs if you wish, thus making it very easy to "meet" other bloggers and develop friendships.

I like to easily see who visited my blog.

Of course I like getting new traffic from this too.

Cons:

The down side is like anything, it takes time but if you want to get more traffic, anything you do takes time.

For me, since I have three blogs registered in Entrecard, my drops are divided so it takes me longer to build them up to advertise each blog.

I like Entrecard, have stuck with it for almost three years now and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an easy way to increase traffic to you blog. I hope you give it a try!

Football: Play Hard or Fight Hard?

Last week the big controversy in NFL football surrounded a couple of our Browns players who got hit so hard in the head that they both suffered concussions and were out the rest of the game. Football is about hitting hard but should not be with intent to do harm. Some players feel that with all rules and fines meant to protect them, that the game will be ruined. It won't be as tough.

Personally, I feel football is a game, albeit, a tough one. However, players are more than football players. They have a personal life which often includes family. They are human beings, not machines. To intentionally go after a player to hurt him to knock him out of the game is just wrong. I really do not know if the hits by Harrison which gave two of our players concussions were intentional. No flag was thrown but he was fined $75,000.

I think if a player hits someone hard enough to actually give them a concussion to the point they can't play, then the player doing the hitting should have to come out of the game too, whether intentional or not. Hits to the head and neck could kill someone! I think this would be a much better deterrent to this craziness as well as more fair. Fining them is not quick enough, and many make so much money that thousands of dollars is like a slap on the wrist to them.

Football is NOT a war as some players may think. It is a game. Games are played for fun. This fan, at least, does not think it fun to see players go down and not get up.

What are your thoughts on this?

5 Things I Learned This Week #92 (video, Venus, poll, CPR, Modem)

They Liked My Video!

I received an email letting me know that Freebies and Specials posted my Stearns Homestead video! It made me feel good that they used it to promote Stearns Homestead's fall festival. We went last Saturday and bought two slices of homemade pumpkin pie and a mum for our front yard.

Dog at Tennis Matches

When playing Freekibble this week I learned that the tennis player, Venus Williams, often takes her Toy Yorkshire Terrier, Pete, to matches with her (named after Pete Sampras). Now I like her even more!

Book Blog Poll Results

In my survey at Grab A Book From Our Stack, 16 out of 16 people said they would rather read the book first than see the movie first. This may be due to the fact that mostly readers, if not all, are the ones who visit that blog. How about you?

CPR

I read in the PLAIN DEALER this week that now the best CPR technique for heart attack victims is to skip the opening airway and mouth-to-mouth and just start right off with the chest compressions to get the blood circulating.

Internet Connection

Our "high speed Internet" has been a joke for some time. Gerard keeps saying we should get a new computer but this week I had enough of getting the message "Server Not Found" or "Problem Loading page" and decided to buy a new modem. It worked! Now it doesn't take forever to respond to our clicks and no more of those annoying messages! Yippee!

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The Fat Stutterer (Writer's Workshop)

I was labeled fat and I also was a stutterer.  It made me feel sad and mad!  It should come as no surprise that I was the most picked on and bullied kid in my class all through grade school and high school.  Even the teachers were cruel to me.

For example, when I was in third grade and had to read, every time I read and stuttered. The kid next to me kicked me--teacher's order and that teacher was a Nun! When I was a freshman in high school, the day we took homeroom pictures for the yearbook, the teacher made sure that he did not stand by me. Not surprisingly, I had few friends.

When I finally graduated high school, that night when my name was called, I got a huge standing ovation from my so-called classmates. i guess after years of humiliation, this was their way of making up. What I thought was "forget it."

Today I like being the "lone wolf." I worked at the same job for 39 plus years and my first task every day is dumping the garbage. Some things never change!

The "Lone wolf" and loving it!

I have lost the weight, still stutter sometimes, and can empathize with kids who are bullied.  Today, I am still super sensitive so please, don't pick on me.  

A book I could really relate to that talks about some of the same type of things that I went through is Please Stop Laughing At Me by Jodee Blanco.  I highly recommend it to get a real look at what bullying is all about.  

Related Post:  Memoirs Of A Bullied Kid over at Single Dad laughing.

What were you labeled as a child?  Were you ever bullied or were you a bully?

This post was written in response to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt:  In what way were you labeled as a child and how did it affect you?

This is a picture of me now.

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Our Favorite Part Of The Day

I think our pets favorite time of day is when Gerard and I finally watch some evening TV and just relax. It's the time of day when we are actually all together in the same room as a family.

Spunky Doodle does not like to cuddle or be held while we are awake, but does like to be close by. Here she is curled up on the rocking chair. We had moved this chair to the basement for awhile, but I knew she missed it. She likes to sleep in this particular chair for some reason so I brought it back upstairs.

Usually I get the couch but this time Gerard got it first. Abby jumped up to lay with him. She has done this on occasion with me too, but Gerard was not close enough for me to call him to get a picture. We love when our pets join us like this.

Here's Manny, just wandering around the room trying to find a warm place I think. He actually just came out with me when I got off the computer long enough to take his picture. He is my constant companion now and follows me everywhere. Lately, he's even been walking in front of my computer when I'm using it, but I think that was just because I would put his canned food up there that he hadn't finished to keep it away from Abby and Spunky. Hope you enjoy this little short video:

What is your favorite part of the day?  Who is your constant companion?

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What Distracts You While Driving?

When I read this in the Greater Cleveland Safety Council newsletter it got me thinking about what distracts me while driving:

According to a 2009 National Organizations for Youth Safety and the Allstate Foundation survey, Even though it was proven more dangerous than driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, 68% of teens admit to texting while driving. According to another 2009 study by Car and Driver Magazine, when legally drunk, add four feet to response time; when texting, add 70 feet.

Neither of us drink or text, but for me the biggest distraction while driving is just daydreaming or more accurately, being deep in thought about something. There are times my mind is just not on my driving. Sometimes I'll be thinking about what I should do or sometimes I have been so upset about something that happened that I just don't pay attention to my driving like I should. This especially becomes evident when I go the wrong way because I'm on a familiar stretch of road and the car sort of just goes on auto pilot. I'll forget to turn because my mind is preoccupied.  

What distracts you while driving? Leave a comment and be sure to vote in our survey at the top. (If anyone knows how to insert a poll within a post, please tell me or leave a link to instructions).

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What Should Be On Your Bucket List?

A person never knows how much time they have here on this Earth. People can be fine one day and boom! Gone! I am attending a funeral for a young mother (33) who had a seizure, went into a come for a little over a week and went to be with the Lord leaving behind her grieving husband and two little children. Over at the Duck & Wheel With String, I read of another couple this week to got run over and killed while going for a walk like they always did.

The number one thing is to consider where you would spend eternity if you died and receive God's Son, Jesus, as your personal Savior. This is definitely not something to put off. If you don't believe the Bible to be the word of God, just pray that God would show you and give you the faith to believe. After that, I'd say start tackling that "Bucket List" of yours and don't wait. You never know if you'll even have a tomorrow so make the most of each day God gives you!

I took this little fun quiz to see what I should do before I die and here is my result:

You Should Write a Book

You may not feel like you could write a book, but you actually have a lot to say. Just let it flow! You already live in your own little world. You may as well introduce everyone else to it. It's likely that you feel like you have a lot of baggage you'd like to unload, and writing can be cathartic. By writing a book, you would feel a huge sense of accomplishment. And you'd have a legacy to leave behind. I did it! It was cathartic and I did get a great sense of accomplishment from it.

Take the quiz:What Should Be On Your Bucket List?

If you take the quiz, share your result in the comments. What is it you need to do before you die?

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7 Things I Learned This Week #91 (coma, cats, bones, toilets, cake, contact)

Coma

I learned that a friend of ours who served with us on the puppet team at our church, Brad, is facing a very difficult time. He is only in his 30s, has a couple little children and his wife had a serious seizure last weekend and was in a coma with no sign of any brain activity.  She went to be with the Lord Wednesday morning. Visit Brad's Blog to encourage him and please pray for him and his family.

Cat Nutrition

Over at The Conscious Cat's "Cats Are Not Small Dogs--Especially When It Comes To Nutrition" I learned that we shouldn't just feed our cats dry food (which we do) because they need the moisture from canned food as well. Manny didn't care for the canned food after he had his teeth out and Spunky Doodle eats it so fast that she regurgitates it. I'm not sure what to do about this.

Citracal

I found out that my bone density is worse than it was last year in spite of taking Citracal which was recommended to me by one of my doctors. Have a vitamin D deficiency--just not enough sunshine here.

State Cats

Playing Freekibble trivia yesterday, I learned that three US States have Official State Cats: Maine, Maine Coon; Maryland, Calico; Massachusetts, Tabby.

Toilets

Over at The Jammie Girl in her post about Mutant Ninja Squirrel Suicide I learned that some roofs have toilet vents that critters can crawl down and wind up in the toilet! I hope I don't have one! So far, so good.

Free Cake

Giant Eagle didn't charge me for the strawberry pudding cake I got on Wednesday for my Bible Study. I didn't notice it though until I looked at the receipt the next day! I guess I'll take the receipt when we shop on Saturday and tell them, but don't want to get the cashier in trouble. Gerard says I should just forget it. What do you think? What would you do?

Contact Problem

Paula Kriger's bargain got the most votes but her Blogger profile is private and I don't have an email for her so can't contact her to get an address to send her my book. Hopefully she'll see this and email me at myfunnydadharry[at]sbcglobal[dot]net by Monday. If not, I will pick a random winner from those who left comments on both the bargain post and my skunk invasion post. UPDATED 10/17/10: I heard from Paula and will mail the book to her tomorrow, Monday. She said I made her day and she is a reader.

Find more Friday Fragments or link up yours.

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Which Bargain Do You Like Best? Vote Now

This is a follow-up to our What A Bargain post for Writer's Workshop. We had such a good response in the comments from others sharing their bargains, I thought it would be fun to take a vote to see which bargain is considered the best by our readers. Take a look at the post and comments and then vote only once in a comment to this post for the bargain or bargain story you like best. In an effort to show some appreciation to those leaving great comments on this post, I will send the top vote-getter an autographed copy of my book, My Funny Dad, Harry if they would want it.  That's a bargain!

Here are the bargains that were mentioned:

King Sized bedspread from Sears (Karen & Gerard)

Alarm Clock from Radio Shack(Clarissa Draper)

Framed Prints from Target (Kari)

Twin Insurance from Sears (Daisy)

"Wicked" Tickets from hotel in Jersey City (Paula Kiger)

UPDATED 10/17/10: Congratulations to Paul Kiger, the winner! She has been notified and said I made her day! I love when I can make someone's day!

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Abby's Big Day

Abby was in the mood to walk last weekend so she went to two parks on Saturday and then also a long walk in the evening in our neighborhood.  It was a beautiful day.  Then on Sunday, she walked farther than usual but I noticed she was limping after we ate lunch on Sunday.  

Yesterday after work Gerard took her to the vet to get her checked out. They told us they didn't think her leg was broken but would take an x-ray to make sure it wasn't fractured. They think she just sprained it somehow. Gerard got brave and decided to have her teeth cleaned too. We hope she doesn't need any pulled like Manny did. The good news is that she lost the fat and is now considered to be an ideal weight at 43.5 lbs. We are glad she is no longer considered obese.

These vet bills are really draining but we love our pets so much and want them to be healthy so guess it's necessary.  Hers is even more than Manny's was! It works out well actually because she'll be at the vet while we're at work tomorrow and then Gerard will pick her up after work. I am off tomorrow so will be able to be with her most of the day.

UPDATED AT 10:10 P.M. TUESDAY, OCT. 12:

Abby's visit cost us $1,000 but yes, she's worth it.  She's such a good dog and we love her so much.  She's part of our family.  The x-rays showed her shoulder and elbow are sprained but nothing is fractured or broke.  A couple weeks on pain medicine and short walks instead of long ones and she should be fine.  She did have to get a tooth pulled though so is off the dry food for 10 days.  That canned food is really expensive! 

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Meet Me On Monday by Karen

Here's the questions for this meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our other blog. Today, I put my answers here and Gerard's are over at Grab A Book From Our Stack since we each have some different answers on this one.

1. Do your pants get hung on a hangar or folded?
My dress slacks are hung on a hanger but my jeans are rolled up in my drawer. By rolling them, they don't get creased.

2. If you are stranded on an Island, what 3 things would you need to have with you (not including humans or electronic devices)?
Sleeping bag, matches, bottled water.  Am I practical or what?

3. Where is the farthest you have ever traveled to?
As a kid, I went to see Niagara Falls on the Canadian side but the farthest I've ever traveled as an adult would be to King's Island in Cincinnati, Ohio which was a 4-hour drive.

4. Do you live in a house, trailer or apartment, etc.?
We live in a brick house on a quiet street.

5. What is your most hated household chore?
Cleaning a toilet--fortunately for me, my husband does all our household chores.

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Look What We Saw During The OSU Game

During the Ohio State football game Saturday, Gerard and I both took Abby out for a walk and we saw this guy run up and down the sidewalk waving an Ohio State flag because the Buckeyes had just scored.  We thought it was funny and since I happened to have my camera with me, I took a picture.  We live in a great neighborhood with many dog and cat owners and lots of Buckeye and Browns fans!

Manny and Spunky Doodle were having a nice time sharing the sun spot together in the computer room.  Seeing them so content and relaxed inspired me to even lay down for about 15 minutes.  I did way more walking today than usual at the park and then to a couple fall festivals at nearby churches.  I wish days like this would never end but alas, it is now 10:05 p.m. and I must get to bed--tomorrow is another day!

Hope you had a good Saturday too!  What did you do?

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Critter Damage Update

Thanks for all the helpful and funny comments on our "Did You Ever Have This Yard Problem" post. We received suggestions that it might have been aliens, skunks, armadillos or wild boars that did the damage. We tend to think it was probably a skunk or two. We do see skunks in our neighborhood sometimes so it is the most likely choice.


Gerard called Loew's to see if they had anything we could put on the grass to keep away the rascals and they did.  We went to Home Depot and got Critter Ridder only to return to find this email from Kathy at the Junk Drawer:

It's interesting you mention Critter Ridder. Dave and I listened to a gardening/outdoors radio program in the car today. We heard some woman talking about a surefire method to rid herself of skunks (we think, but we never did hear what her animal problem was and the radio host never mentioned it again, nor did we get to hear what the cure was!). Anyway, whatever she had she said Critter Ridder didn't do a thing to solve her problem. Only mentioning that so you know it might not work and don't spend too much money on it until you know if it's effective.

Apparently, skunks dig for grubs and Lin from Duck and Wheel With String told us what to do about it.

GRUBS! You've got them and they eat up the roots to your grass. Many animals eat them from skunks to raccoons, so that is where the damage came from. We had raccoons do this to our yard years ago. Just plant grass seed and put down GRUB-X in March or April.  Oh--to test for grubs in any season, just grab a handful of grass and give a tug--like you are lifting a toupee off an old geezers head. If it is grubs, your lawn will lift up.

Gerard couldn’t try it yet because it’s been raining every day and the instructions say to apply it on a dry sunny day. Gerard put patch over the bare spots and we will definitely be getting the Grub-X if the Critter Ridder doesn’t work. So far, it’s been a week and there has been no additional digging. That’s good news!

Just so you know our front yard looks good, Gerard wanted me to post a picture of it.  So here's a view from our dining room window:

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9 Things I Learned This Week #90 (blogging, cancer, grubs, water, cleaning, texting)

Over 40

When visited They Say Everyone Has A Story last Friday, I found that Bloggers over 40 can link up at Never Growing Old each week to hop around to visit others who are over 40 and blogging too. Just what I need, more blogs to visit and another thing to link up to!

Breast Cancer Research

Thanks to Mama Kat I learned about Army of Women that is a group of women volunteering to join with scientists in breast cancer research studies. Their goal is to recruit one million women. Go sign up and spread the word!

We Got Grubs? What About You?

I learned how to check for grubs in our yard from Lin from Duck and Wheel in this comment she left on "Did You Ever Have This Yard Problem?": "To test for grubs in any season, just grab a handful of grass and give a tug--like you are lifting a toupee off an old geezers head. If it is grubs, your lawn will lift up."

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What Job Would You Absolutely Never Want To Do? (Writer's Workshop)

I like to watch “Undercover Boss” because it shows a variety of jobs performed by people of different companies. When I watched the one about the Waste Management company, it showed the nastiest job that I most definitely would never want to do—cleaning porto-potties. YUCK!

I can’t even stand to use park restrooms because they usually smell so bad, but porto-potties are even more disgusting. I never really thought about someone having to actually clean them until I watched that show. It showed the CEO of the company going undercover as a new employee and having to learn how to clean the porto-potties at a fairgrounds. Even though he had a machine kind of like a vacuum cleaner that he used to get the waste out, it still looked very bad. The one who was training him kept telling him he had to work faster, that they were behind schedule. I am so glad we can choose our own jobs in this country and I do not have to make my living that way!

Please check out What Makes Me Mad and What I'm Going To Do About It on My Funny Dad, Harry, another writer's workshop prompt.

This post is in response to one of Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop prompts that I suggested! I am curious to see who else chose this prompt to post about and what other terrible jobs exist. For more top posts of the week, check out Saturday Samplings.

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