Pinky and the Brain

I am reasonably sure that Sarah and Tuna have plans to take over the world.  I learned last night that Tuna has the means to purchase small middle eastern countries to gift to friends' mothers and their friends. 

The small country in question is Uzbekistan.  We learned last year in school that Tuna had actually renamed it to Uztunastan.

My friend, T., is now the owner of Uzbekistan (or Uztunastan which is much more fun to say) thanks to Tuna's generosity.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure how this plan is going to work.  I would recommend keeping an eye out on Canada and South America.  One never knows which country's name will fascinate Sarah and Tuna next to the point that Tuna makes it his own.

Okay, this one is just for fun

We love Sandra Boynton songs. 

I wish I knew if I could embed things here, but it doesn't seem to be working.  So, just follow the link.

I Need a Nap

How many puppies??

The answer to that question, in case you've missed the saga on Facebook, is 8. 

Random thoughts on church

I've been thinking about church for a long time. 

The early church didn't meet in buildings with fancy pews or pianos or sound systems.  They met in houses.  Their tithes were given to meet the needs of their own.  Their offerings went to help other churches who were in trouble.  They gave to those who ministered to them.

They didn't have to pay for electricity and hymnals and water and heating and cooling and paper towels and groundskeepers.  The money they had went to meet needs.

Have we got this wrong?  Have you looked at your church's budget lately?  How much money is required for building maintenance?  How much money is taken for insurance?  How much is NOT used the way the early church used it?

It's not that I'm against church buildings.  I think I'm against the pretense that seems to be part of the church building.  How much money are we being asked to give to ourselves (i.e., our own Sunday-go-to-meeting comforts)?  We want our nice comfortable buildings.  We'll give thousands of dollars to that.  But what about when our neighbor finds himself laid off? Can we afford a bag of groceries for his family?  

Maybe it's time we simplified our churches so that we can be more free to spend the money on the needs of those around us.

I don't know.  Like I said, just random thoughts.

At the end of vacation

I suppose that at some point I will have to put up pictures of the work that's gone on over the last two weeks.  For now, just imagine cleaning your garage and building a whelping area for a Labrador retriever who is close to giving to birth to who knows how many puppies.  We have a nice large area squared off and ready for her.  It should be comfortable enough and warm with plenty of room for puppies to grow and begin to wander.

For the record, one of these pups is extremely active.  We have named it Wild Bill Hickok.  Going along with the wild West theme, we have names like Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill ready for the rest of the crew.

This should be interesting.

Vacation doings

Rod is on week 2 of a 2 week vacation. So far, he has put the trim back in the hallway and entry way.  He decided it would be easier to go with painted trim than wood finished trim, so white it is.  I really like it.  We ripped the carpet and padding out of the dining room and he put in a floating floor (that Sammy can't get much traction on.)  White trim again.  Looks great.  He put in a new light fixture as well, so that hanging down thingy that was always such a pain is gone.

Today, he's taking the pool down.  To shreds.  There were some punctures in it that he couldn't find, so we will be buying a new pool next year.

The floor work made doing school a bit of a chore.  (I couldn't reach my teacher keys.)  Friday, the kids and I did Bible, read a chapter on Alexander the Great, and headed off to Cedar Hills Crossing.  At Cedar Hills Crossing, one can find this delightful place to get lost in called Powell's Books.  So many books there to tickle one's fancy; so little power to choose which ONE to buy. 

After we haunted Powells, we had lunch and headed off to Petco.  Petco is fun, but with a dog it's more fun. We decided that Sammy needs a hot pink collar.  Cocoa brown and hot pink....yes, there's the combination. 

 

This is a fine How-Do-You-Do

Well, it looks to us as if we adopted a pregnant pooch.   It isn't at all what we bargained for.  Nope.  However, it is probably better that she is having them with us instead of her former home.  

Of course, pregnancy may explain some of her issues.  Maybe after the pups are weaned and re-homed (anyone want a part chocolate lab puppy? We are thinking they will be ready just in time for...wait for it...Christmas!) she will become more like a normal lab.  She shows promise once in a while, after all.

I'm not sorry we adopted her.  We enjoy her enough.  I am frustrated that I will have puppies to deal with.  I guess my children will have a semester of animal husbandry added into their school work.