Laurie, Fudge, and Vern's Blog (342)

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful Princess named Fudge in the land of Seven Valleys.  She had beautiful, curly brown hair and was called a Doodle.

One day she turned to her stunning, thin, and exceptionally smart mother known as Queen…

Fudge and Vern are my dogs.  Most of their care falls to me, because I am home with them the most, and I think that alone should make me their favorite person in the whole world. I just don’t think I should have to tolerate anything less.  I gave birth to two lovely daughters that love me, but they think their dad walks on water.  I can’t tell you how many times I have picked up the phone and one of them has asked to talk to their dad about a pressing…

Here in Pennsylvania it has been raining non-stop since Friday.  I don’t mean look at the lovely sprinkles kind of rain either, but torrential downpours.

Yesterday, I woke up to water in the basement and spent the next couple of hours mopping up the water, moving stuff around, and cleaning downspouts. I might have also called my husband at…

When our oldest daughter started college and moved away from home, it was so hard on my husband and me. This was our first little birdie to leave the nest and we were sad. The first day back to work after we got her situated, I was talking to a much older woman who told me that as much as I missed her now, it was going to be even harder to get used to having her back for the summers when she had been away so long.  I wasn’t sure I believed her, but she…

Our first dog, Hershey, loved people food. Our youngest daughter was eight when we got Hershey and they soon became best friends. A couple of times when she was in the bathtub, I would hear her talking to someone and open the door only to find that Hershey was in the tub with her. We explained to her repeatedly that the point of a bath was to get clean and we preferred her bath to be dog free, but every now and then Hershey would still get in that tub. Looking…

I hate to start talking about the old days, but years ago when I gave birth things were much different.  When I gave birth to my oldest daughter back in 1984, there was a big push for natural childbirth.  I gave birth in a hospital, but was attended by two midwives, and I had a very long labor.  I had no IV’s and no drugs to help.  The midwife in charge encouraged me to walk all during my labor to speed things up, but on or about the fourteenth hour, I…

All around the USA, kids are either back in school or almost ready to head back to class.  My girls have long since been out of school, but I remember those days like they were yesterday. I actually liked having my kids home for the summer, but sometimes, depending on the year, I looked forward to them returning.  I didn’t always like the homework, the schedules, and the regimented routine, but for years, it was just a way of life.

When your children are…

Yesterday was our training class with the dogs. The class had been moved to a new location and this was our first time there. Again, our class consists of German Shepherds, Belgian (Malinois) Shepherds, and Fudge and Vern.  I should take a picture so everyone can see which dogs are not like the others. The trainer breeds these dogs and many of the class participants are his former puppies, and it is obvious he is partial to this breed.  He says comments from time to time about…

Yesterday, we had an Earthquake. I was not watching TV prior to feeling the quake.  If I had been and someone could have predicted the quake ahead of time and interrupted what I was watching to tell me, I doubt that I would have heard what they said. I have become immune to these Breaking News or Weather Reports and almost immediately change the channel.…

I think my title is self-explanatory, but I am going to tell you my definition of what a person acts likes who suffers from this disorder just to make sure we have no confusion. The symptoms of Feigned or Practiced Incompetence seem to be brought on when the person afflicted with this disorder is asked to do simple tasks by a loved one.  They appear confused, befuddled, and unable to complete the task at hand even though they have been fully trained by the requestor.  They can be wily…

From time to time, I work with a dog trainer that I really like with Fudge and Vern. She rarely has group classes, so I asked her to recommend someone that did and we started the classes on Saturday. My husband’s level of enthusiasm was underwhelming at best when he found out he was going to share in the fun, since I had enrolled both Fudge and Vern.  My trainer told me the guy running the classes was a very big man. Keep in mind that my trainer is a little wisp of a woman and I probably…

Lately, I have found that I am becoming increasingly resentful of a kitchen appliance and the drink that it produces.

For years now, I have had a love/hate relationship with coffee. Mostly, I hate coffee, but love some people who drink the stuff.   In my lifetime, I have known many coffee drinkers and actually was raised by two pros. I spent my formative years watching my dad and mom sip cup after cup of coffee.  There is no beverage that I drink that I could ever imagine…

I was thinking today about the differences in my two dogs and how they remind me of my two daughters, especially in how they sleep. Fudge is my dog that likes her sleep. I really think she would be content to sleep all day and she would never get up early. She reminds me of my oldest daughter.  It used to drive me nuts when my daughter had to be up at a certain time, because she would set her alarm clock and when it went off at the designated time, proceed to hit her snooze button…

We left last Tuesday to go home to Indiana to celebrate my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob’s 50^th wedding anniversary.  My uncle is my mom’s brother, thirteen years her junior, and must have been an “oops” baby. He turned out to be a wonderful blessing for my grandmother and the son that stayed behind when the other brothers moved away. For many years now, my aunt, uncle, and mom have driven from Indiana to Pennsylvania to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our family.  Along the way,…

My title might be a little misleading. Right off the bat, I want to say I am not an expert on men, but I have been married to one for 33 years, so let’s just say I know the difference between one man’s observation skills and my dog’s observation skills. On that point, I am an expert.

Recently, while my DH was away on a business trip, I bought a large, new rug for our bedroom.  It had been a long time since we had a rug in our bedroom and our hardwood floor had been bare for…

Today, my daughter, who lives in Oregon, came home. We have not seen her since Christmas and it has been our longest separation ever. She flew into Washington D.C. for a conference and is able to stay with us for one night. Tomorrow, she leaves at the crack of dawn to go back to D.C. for more meetings. We will not see her again until Christmas. When she got here, it was as if she had never left. Vern and Fudge barreled out of the house when she first arrived so excited that…

Recently, I started a Photo Caption contest (now called Snap, Caption, and Post) and one of the prizes offered initially was a large hand holding a turtle.  After the contest started, I took that prize off the table because I thought I would offer it to Adina to lend her a helping hand since she has a lot on her plate right now.  Well, much to my surprise Adina very politely and very diplomatically said maybe it could go to the next Hopeless Doodle Addict. I wasn’t…

I recently wrote a blog about how much I hate the Tour de France from a wife’s point of view.  Writing that blog and reading the comments, however, inspired me to get back on my bike this week despite the heat. Because of the terrible heat we are experiencing here in Pennsylvania, I brought along lots of water and my IPod.  Usually, I worry about drinking a lot of water and having no bathrooms along the way, but after Lynda told me that the riders in the Tour de France do not waste…

For three weeks every year, my husband sits in front of the television watching the Tour de France. I can honestly say, with no malice intended towards the bike riders, that I hate this race.  There are very few sports that I like watching on TV, but even the Super Bowl only lasts for a few hours. This bike race goes on for three weeks and there are no funny commercials or famous singers belting out songs during half time. I don’t like Football either, but I know a little something…

I wrote recently about our annual trip to the beach to see my husband’s side of the family. My sister in law has a beach house and we all pile in and get up close and personal with family.  This year we had more people than usual and had to add some cots, along with more air mattresses, into the mix for sleeping at night. We have taken a vote and determined our family has outgrown one beach house and next year the younger generation will be renting an additional beach…