THANK GOODNESS for 2010!!!! Happy New Year!

I am thrilled to see 2009 in my rear view mirror. If it could go wrong, apparently it would in 2009 and I am looking forward to a clean new slate for 2010. Sure I'd like to blame it all on fate and the "year", but I know some of it was my doing... I just can't believe the lack of luck/breaks or never ended crap that came my way in 2009.

The good news- I am relatively happy and healthy for the new year. My family is doing well, and I have hope that this year will be even better!

I broke down and got another digital camera....

This picture makes me feel like a LITTLE KID again... when every horse nose was THAT big!!

A few years ago I bought a really nice Nikon digital camera and a good zoom... and I've LOVED it. Only problem is, it is not that easy to lug around. So I have broken down and purchased a new digital camera that is no bigger then my cell phone... and super fun to use. Thought it would go well with the blogging I would like to do this summer. We'll see.

People are Fuuuuunnnnnyyyy

Moose is a Border Terrier... sure, he is big for the breed, and after a grooming disaster where they SHAVED him instead of hand stripping him... his less then idea soft coat is even softer... but he's a great dog (and I don't mind that he looks like Benji). I don't even care if people comment on what a cute mutt he is. I bought a purebred because I wanted the best chance at the personality of dog I was looking for, not as a status symbol or because I necessarily think they are better then mutts. HOWEVER, when I have people ask me what he is... I tell them- Border Terrier. What surprises me is when snooty dog people that know what a Border Terrier should look like have the Gall to tell me how he does not look like a Border Terrier. What is even MORE surprising is when they tell me they think he has something mixed in. Now, lets just say I did buy a purebred that is not a pure bred. Do you Really want to be the one to tell me that???? Aren't you pretty much telling me I'm an Idiot? I've met dogs that don't stick to the breed standard... and I have said "I've never seen one so - big, "delicate", that color" whatever.. but I'd never say-- He's not a ____ fill in the blank. Here is a picture from a dog book back in the 30's: I think this is the best example of the Border Terrier type that I have. I've never actually seen the book, but my sister found it on line (Hutchinsons Book Of The Dog - Vere Temple 1935) and some of the sketches were on line. It's fitting, because Moose was actually line bred for a dog ( I met him and he was a larger type Border Terrier), and I think he is a "throw back" to an older type (I don't know that they were larger like he is). Either way... he is a hell of a good dog.... and purebred or mutt---- I'm wouldn't trade him for the world..... now, those weirdo people I meet... I could do with less of them. HA!HA!HA!

Dog show people are crazy... but from what I have heard cat show people are crazier.

Well groomed modern Border Terrier Type:

But then... every Border Terrier gets a blown coat now and again..... not everyone looks like they are in the show ring all the time.

Whew!!!

Wow... I really went on a tangent yesterday!! I guess I did not finish the story completely either.... Good I-C and I are no longer really friends, but Z and I are still the best of friends!! I'd rather it had all not happened, but we definatley came out stronger the other side. Z did not move to Montana, but did eventually head back east and proceeded to make a nice life out there and get her PhD.

Dr. Z to you and I now!!! : )

Moving was definately the right choice for her, no matter how much we miss her out here.

As for yesterday... what a SLACKER I was. Wrote and wrote on the blog.... messed with facebook (what an Addiction there!!) and looked up random things that probably I could live without knowing. Like... I'm reading a book written by a woman who grew up in El Paso, Tx (my home town) in the 1920's-- Where the Creosote Blooms (Mary King Rodge). It is GREAT!! I think it would be a good book for anyone interested in a girls life growing up in the '20s, but it is a SUPER Great book for anyone growing up in El Paso. They mention the house and street she grew up on, and I was not familiar with it... so I went to google maps and looked it up. Yep, the house is still there. I also tried to find an old friend of mine that I have lost touch with... and other such random thoughts. I did get SOME work done (looked up some articles for a biochemistry question set that is due tomorrow....) but mostly I just messed around. On that note... I better get to work!!! : )

Road Trips

200 Thousand Miles!!! that's Right!!!

I just had to make a note of my truck turning over 200,000 miles. GOOD TRUCK!!! I bought it used (2002?) with like 88,000 and put a new transmission in it at 95,000 (that stung).. but overall... it's been a good truck, and I hope it just keeps chugging along!!

I'd been keeping a watch on the mileage for a while (hoping to take this picture), and sort of lucked out that it happened on a Saturday on my way to Fort Collins/Wellington. I decided I would stop and take a picture of the mileage and where ever it was at that point in time, and as I pulled out of Laramie I realized I might be able to drive to a spot I'd been meaning to visit for a while.... and take the picture there. I hit 200,000 about 0.7 miles from where I wanted to be. So I took the picture and then headed up the road a little ways.

I was headed to the Ames Monument. You may never have heard of it.

For WHY it's here see:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2259

Is there anything else to say?

One semester of Biochem down...... 4 to 6 years to go..... : )