SharivilleLife stories from Shari

Let me tell you a story bout a pup named Ted.  Precious little rascal who has captured my heart.  He never ceases to surprise me with what he’s going to do next.  Most important he is a smart little puppy.  Not just my word for it but also Angie’s, and she recognizes brilliance in this breed.  He knew his name in two days. In two more days he was sitting for treats on command and now he is fast learning  to sit when we stop walking.  He certainly knows the word “NO”, and is fast to respond to it ….usually, that is if it suits him. His breed is known to be a bit hard headed or stubborn and it does show up on occasion.  He has been ours now for 12 days and the first 8 days he was getting up to pee pee at least one time per night. He started out immediately sleeping with us on the bed, it’s a really high bed, so he wasn’t to interested in the big leap. Immediate smarts.  The next 2 nights he let us sleep all through the night.  Now last night was something special , he was panting , so I took him in for a drink of water and then out the front door to do his thing.  After he finished he decided he did not want to follow me back inside as usual and started off down the driveway toward the street.  So here I was outside in my nitie, bare footed,  the drive was frozen and slippery and the lawn still had a covering of snow on it.  Talk about panic, there I was slipping and sliding down the driveway after that little screwball, only I probably wasn’t referring to him as that. Thank goodness he got spooked and stopped and I caught up with him.  Hopefully he will resume sleeping through the night. But I did learn my lesson, next time we need a 2 AM out it will be on the leash. Teddy has become Casey’s shadow and it’s fun to watch him learn from the big dogs.  Casey doesn’t always appreciate the roll as big brother dog, but he knows how to get away from him at times.  Joey will have nothing to do with him and Ruby is very patient most of the time, unless Teddy wants to sniff her ears, then she draws the line and puts him in his place and he is respectful to her, she’s the grandma dog.  Sasha is beginning to warm up to him very gradually. The 4 cats are getting used to him and give him a wide birth.  The one animal in the house that’s totally still unsure of Teddy remains Turbo the Turtle, he still cranes his neck to look down at Teddy from his aquairum and gives him the big blink.  Meanwhile Teddy is chasing Casey around the house and yard and beginning to play with less trials and tribulations.  Casey is beginning to share his toys now and Teddy is glad, he’s getting snapped at less. At first all the toys were Casey’s even Teddy’s,  he was not used to sharing.  Teddy is also learning that he has to be crated up while we are gone, and he still complains bitterly over that.  When you think about it there are so very many things little puppies need to learn.  Teddy is progressing right along tho, he’s a keeper.  On New Years Day he will be  nine weeks old, he’s growing fast and with all the ups and downs I promised Teddy that we would appreciate all of them with him,  good and bad, because he would only be a puppy learning the world , for so short a time. We are with him all the way.  When he’s a grown dog we will look back and laugh about all this.  I will shed a tear too because you’re only a puppy once.

I was going to write this yesterday, but got sidetracked with the beautiful snow fall we were having, it started right after noon.  Falling in huge soft fluffy flakes that just kept me mezzmorized.  It is something I rarely get to see.  later in the afternoon Jerry actually braved the snow and we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Rose’s Cafe and Tortilla Factory.  They have the best taco plates with off course rice and beans and a great complimentary condiment bar.  There’s two kinds of taco sauce, red and green, I can’t make up my mind which I like best.  there’s jalapeno peppers, chopped salsa, cilantro leaves, chopped onions, am I making you hungry yet? Add these to the already wonderfully spiced beef or chicken taco’s and you really have something delicious.  We get nachos and cheese dip for an added touch.  They also give us 4 homemade tortilla’s which are wonderful with honey dripped on for dessert.  I always get sweet ice tea, which here in Texas out sells regular ice tea. It’s a southern thing. Tommy and Angie usually get margarita’s.  Yesterday the other two generations were hard at work at the shop and couldn’t join us.  They had to come home and eat chicken rice soup that I had whipped up with leftovers from Christmas.  I have really enjoyed cooking for the whole bunch.  Most of them enjoy down home cooking the old fashioned way , and that’s how I cook.  I cook comfort food. There’s lots of restaurants around when anyone feels like fancy food. We drove back home to Angie’s through the falling snow and just enjoyed the whole scene.  Everything was covered in white, with soft flakes still falling.  It was a beautiful winter wonderland. I was hoping for more, but alas it changed to rain and soon washed it all away.  It was lovely while it lasted.  Tonight  Tommy is taking all 4 of us to see the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations in Arlington area before they take them down.  I will report on those in another blog.

We are so lucky to get to be part of a 3 generation life style. Here we seem to do a lot of 3 generation fun things.  Today we were invited over to see Felecia’s new apartment.  It is gorgeous. They will be moving in this weekend.  They have a lake front, complete with ducks, and you know me , I will be out there feeding ducks bread first chance I get. Tyler is looking forward to getting one of those toy motorized boats for the lake.  It is such a Felecia apartment.  A really cute little kitchen with every large appliance, and best of all it’s brand new, just opened, and they are the first occupants in it. For Christmas they got lots of stuff for their apartment.  Felecia has some great decorating ideas to make it a nice cozy home.  Tyler has his own garage, and there is lots of storage space in this place.  Lots of cupboards and granite counters and glass back splashes.  They have a huge walk in closet and a good sized bedroom, a nice big deep bathtub to play in.  After we all checked out the new digs, Felecia took us all to “Jimmy John’s” gourmet sandwich shop for lunch, great sandwiches.  Then we departed company.  

Since Tommy was still home sick, poor baby, Angie took Jerry and I on a sight seeing tour of the local ghetto.  Two places were in the process of building a single family dwelling , both were castles, with the copper covered turrets and all , one was far greater than the other because it had an actual moat being built around it.  I mean what’s a castle without a moat. They have fabulous homes around the DFW area. The recession doesn’t seem to have hurt this area at all.  There’s a lot of money people around here for sure.  The evening was spent watching “Wanted”, with Angela Jolie,  and eating seasoned popcorn.  What a life, think I”m enjoying it.

We started our morning out at the big and wonderful VA hospital.  It’s big and it’s wonderful because of what it has to offer the very deserving veterans of this area.  They have everything there for the vets.  We made a field trip day of it, as Angie had an appt. there. So, all four of us went along with future plans for the rest of the day.  As we left the VA, it had just started to snow, Tommy took us on a tour of downtown Dallas. 

There among the skyscrapers the snow was falling in big lacy flakes and the really high skyscraper buildings were surrounded in snow clouds.  It was so beautiful everywhere.  We drove thru the Turtle Creek area where all the mansions and lovely landscaping is, and trust me, it’s even more beautiful with a couple inches of snow covering everything.  Then Tommy took us all to lunch at” Bone Daddy’s,”  that’s the place that rivals” Hooter’s ” for pretty, scantily dressed little waitresses.  They are really cute girls, and Jerry likes it better than “ Hooters.”  He thinks the girls are better looking. They certainly have a bit less on.  From there we headed out to finish the last little bit of Christmas shopping and food we needed for tomorrow.  By now it was snowing fairly hard.  We stopped at Wal Mart and Tommy found a wallet lying in the snow.  It was a very expensive Louie Viton wallet with $200 cash and lots of credit cards in it.  He tried to find a phone number and ended up calling the number on one of the credit cards.  They in turn called the owner of the wallet, who in turn called Tommy.  It was a great Christmas present for that man.  Imagine losing your wallet on Christmas eve, full of money and credit cards and having someone actually look you up to return it.  I told Tommy that he just got a really big feather in his wings for that special deed.  I tell Jerry that for every good deed done you get a feather in your wings, so when you get to heaven and get your angel wings they will be big and fluffy. I know that what Tommy did just made his Christmas for him because that’s the kind of person he is.  We even drove through a blizzard to give that man back his wallet, because by the time we found him and decided on a mutual meeting place it was almost a blizzard.

We then headed for home and along the way stopped at the firehouse to watch the firemen building a snowman, take pictures and then to Southlake Town center to take pictures of the plaza and tree and Santa’s village all covered in snow.  Tommy just drove us around in the snow while we all took pictures.  By the time we were ready to give up it was almost a white out and the windshield wipers were frozen.  It was 22 degrees with a wind chill of 10.  It was wonderful. The first time in my life that I ever got to drive around in a blizzard, cars were sliding everywhere.  Tommy is a good and safe driver so I never felt apprehensive, just delighted to be there, a once in a lifetime experience.  Both Jerry and I loved it.  Tomorrow we will wake up to a real white Christmas.

Angie holding Teddy

I think that anyone who has not given their heart to an animal has an empty spot in their soul.  We have bit off another big bite.  After being without a dog for awhile now, my heart has been aching for the love I have to give to a dog and the love I know I will get from him.  His name is Texas Teddy Greenfield, and he is so precious.  He’s a Red Heeler, that means he’s an Australian Cow Dog.  He will probably be about 50 # when full grown, he has a docked tail and is gorgeous.  We got  him on Sat. Dec. 19th, 2009, and named him partially after a lost loved one who never had a chance to enjoy his life.  This baby is only 7 weeks old.  He was born Oct 30th, 2009, a Halloweeneve little boy.  He came from a litter of 7, and we picked him because of his color and his birth parents said he was the mellow fellow of the two they were adopting out.  The other puppy was a bit more hyper and he was a Blue Heeler.  I was really taken by his beautiful color and he was definitely more cuddly.  We brought him home to a house full of Angie’s dogs and cats so he is getting a good education from the get go. Ruby, Angie’s Blue Heeler who is going on 15, seems to accept him quite well and will be a good mentor to him.  She is a wonderful dog and very protective of her family.  She will be the best influence on him.. Sasha, Felecia’s dog thinks he’s cute, but stays a distance from him.  Joey the Yorkie is much annoyed with his puppy antics and puts him in his place regularly.  Casey, now there’s another story, he has been the baby in the family, all of about 65 # of him, he is rather reluctant to give up that station in the dog hierarchy.  He’s interested in Teddy, and wants to play, but can’t figure out why he is so small.  He is also in a quandaryabout the toys and who’s toys belong to who.  It’s all going to be a learning experience.  This morning while getting the 4 cats,  plates of tuna with fish oil sprinkled on top, here was Teddy smaller than any of the cats right in the middle of all of them trying to figure out what all the excitement was all about.  The cats are tolerant because they are all quite used to new members being brought into this household of all rescued animals.  They all have a story and it’s all with a happy ending. Espresso the older black cat, she’s about 16 too,  is a bit upset as she has been the center of Jerry’s attention since we have been here, and she does not want to share. She keeps giving Jerry dirty looks as she skirts around the situation.  It has , however, been awhile since a new member has arrived.  About the time they are all comfortable we will uproot Teddy and head back to California.  I held Teddy up to the aquarium so he could see Turbo, and Turbo did not appreciate looking at Teddy.  He stuck his neck out full length, started puffing, and that I had never seen, and repeatedly opened his mouth wide open and took his front feet and kept swiping across his mouth.  Needless to say Turbo was the most upset, he is used to the other animals here and immediately recognized a new face.  I mean he even puts up with Lucky the cat sitting atop his aquarium and doesn’t get that upset.  It was a sight to see, I was so sorry that I had disturbed him as he is definitely one of my favorite animals here in this multi house hold of precious little animals.

Teddy loves his toys

We have yet to take Teddy over to the trailer to meet his new immediate family, Sophie, Ziggy and Scubby Do. I will wait a few days until he gets used to all the excitement around here before I subject him to them. All my cats have been around a dog in their previous lives before we got them, but it’s been a couple of yrs for Sophie and Ziggy.  Scooby not so long and I think he will be the most accepting of a new family member.  This little guy seems to be very flexible, but by his breed he will be the main influence as he grows up and becomes comfortable in his expected role as protector of his pack, us included. Right now he is just our baby and so lovable and cuddly and so interested in all the new things he is learning about and trying to accept.  He sleeps in bed with us at night and I get up a couple of times at night to take him outside to pee pee. Kind of like having a real human baby to tend in the middle of the night. He’s doing a great job.  Yesterday we took him to Petsmart to pick up some food and toys and a coller and leash.  Angie put the on and the leash and he walked on that leash fairly well.  Occas he would balk, but pick right back up.  He is also learning to sit for a treat and we have only had him 3 days. Angie is really good with him, she has Casey trained quite well. Tommy, bless his heart, having just had all the carpets throughly cleaned on Thur. felt is would be just fine to bring this baby home.  He said, Oh well, the carpets need replaced anyway. They do not, but Tommy is special, he could see what it meant to me. And so the saga of the Christmas doggy angel Teddy goes on and I’m sure will figure prominately in our lives in the future.

Yesterday we left early enough in the day to miss the AM traffic rush, headed for two doctors appts. for Jerry.  First with the new cardiologist, who will now be our Texas cardiologist, as he himself proclaimed. He is young and very handsome with a very positive personalty, made us comfortable immediately.  He pronounced Jerry in great condition and the new valve sounded perfect.  We were there almost 2 hours.  They are very efficient in this area.  Everything is automated and done by helpers before the doc gets in to see you.   I guess with the population around here so great they have learned how to cut to the chase.  We were off to lunch with only an hour to spare between docs and having to go all the way across Dallas to get there. That’s the main drawback here is the traffic.  The next doc was The Main Man.  Dr. Michael Mack, the open heart, thoracic surgeon.  He also gave Jerry a clean bill of heath, and we sadly said our farewells.  I will never forget that great man of healing, his down to earth attitude and the fact that he gave Jerry back to us in good health.  I would climb the highest mountain to proclaim this mans genius. Thank you Dr. Mack for being there and being who you are.  By then it was 5:30 in the evening and here that signifies the mad rush to the suburbs from a long day at work in the city. Thousands hit the freeways for the next 2 hours.  We drove thru the outskirts of Dallas, not downtown, and I realize why there is no smog here.  Dallas , Fort Worth area is home to many many of our countries corporate headquarters.  That means white collar jobs and not factory and industry work.  That’s one reason there is so  much money here and they are not feeling the recession like other parts of the country.  Their building are so tall and so attractive  I could just ride around looking at and identifying them.  We passed Mary Kay’s corporate,and I thought of you Mary Hubbard, not that you are not on my mind a lot anyway. I know we are in all your family’s prayers.  Much appreciated and returned to you all.

Anyway, I got distracted from the tail lights.  So leaving the city so late subjected us to a never ending , never ending row after row of red tail lights in front of us and wall to wall traffic of all sorts. We wanted to stop off for a Star Bucks caffeine hit, but could not get off the freeway to do so.  It’s brutal around here.  The upside however is, everything a person could possibly need or want is right here in the DFW Metroplex. And during the right time of day its all at our disposal.  I will definitely, most definitely, plan my excursions into the city on off traffic times.  Two hours of red tail lights in front of me is marked into my brain and not something in my dreams.

Tonight we did a fun annual Christmas tradition,  one that goes on in many many homes across the world.  This year, for Jerry and I, it was esp wonderful and fun.  We as a family decorated the Christmas tree. It was Angie and Tommy, Felecia and Tyler and Jerry and I.  We are not always here for this event as California is a ways from Texas.  This year is special because we are all together and healthy.  It was touch and go for awhile in Nov. just before Thanksgiving .  We were all wondering what the near future would bring with Jerry having to have open heart surgery to replace a malfunctioning aortic heart valve.  Thankfully all the prayers were answered and he is fine now.  All tuned up with much anticipation for the yrs to come. 

We had the Christmas carols jacked up and wine for those wanting to partake , all the animals were underfoot trying to get in on the action, all except Turbo the turtle, who I assure you watched from his perch in his aquarium.  Believe it or not Turbo is very interested in current events. If for some reason the TV is blocked from his view he kicks around in his aquarium until WE realize he can’t see the TV.  Two of the cats, the younger two spend most of the holidays under the Christmas tree.  Lucky and Liberty are the culprits that keep us busy rehanging the ornaments. Espresso and Mocha, the two seniors like the tree but mainly just brief visits.  although Espresso keeps flossing her teeth on the branches, she thinks the tree is real I guess. The dogs on the other hand were constantly under foot and snooping into all the tree ornament boxes.  The  tree turned out to be beautiful considering all six of us coming at it from different directions, in fact it’s one of the best trees we have done.  I think this year more of each of us is going into making this a special Christmas, less commercialism and more family friendly. We have so much to be grateful for and are all looking forward to 2010 with much anticipation for it will bring some major changes for us all, I’m sure.  Wonderful family filled events included.

After reading Tongue in Cheek, Cory’s blog, it brought back memories for me also of a fallen Christmas tree and since it was awhile back I want to get it down here for Angie’s benefit for funny memories in the years to come of  HER mother.  Perfect as I was , occas I did have a faux paw now and them.

This happened several years ago, while my mother was still with me.  I was found to be the position to host the ladies church group of about 20-25 women,  my mom was so good at volunteering, bless her heart, but not so  good with her ability to follow through, her health was really beginning to fail.  So, living next door, we figured it would work out just as good if I hosted the party. I now wonder who WE was.  Anyway it was a potluck, I was providing the entree, a ham, and rolls and drinks. 

I was soooooooo busy the day of the party, as at that time I was still working too, and housework has never been my favorite sport.  I was trying to tidy up , cook, set up for the party and GOOD GRIEF, decorate the Christmas tree.  We had purchased a huge 6 ft beauty, set it up against the only bare wall which was narrow,  and I began to decorate, and decorate etc etc. All the lovely trimmings and yes, some antique ornaments. I even put tinsel on that tree it was a delightful vision to behold. I was never so proud of a tree. I was anticipating all sorts of compliments about it’s reverence.   I was across the room behind the bar dusting away and thinking of what a wonderful party we were going to have, when all of a sudden I looked up only to see that tree start to teeter and , Oh for goodness sake take a dive, flat on the floor.  I tried to reach it before it bit the dust, but didn’t make it.  So there on the floor was the biggest mess you ever saw.  I am not kidding, every single ornament fell off that huge tree, and some of my old time beauties lay crunched beneath the branches. I had tinsil everywhere and the cats thought they were treated with the best Christmas present as they dashed and pranced through the tinsil and scattered ornaments everywhere.in one fell swoop that tree was demolished, it was demolished.  I looked at the clock it was nearing 3 and the party was to start at 5, can you guess what went through my mind.  So with great haste I pulled the tree up right a with all the energy I had left redecorated that huge tree.  WA La,  it was done in record time.  About 10 min later much to my dismay that tree took another dive.  Well Jerry got home about then, I was hysterical, he jumped in and helped mainly by tying the tree to the wall with bungee cord and nails and we threw on the decorations. 

The party was a success and no one knew of the disaster going on all afternoon.  The ham even turned out and we all had an very wonderful Christmas party.  That was the last time I volunteered for anything for a long time.  One of my most unforgettable  times.

Tommy in recovery

We all went through the worst 3 days of pain, Tommy esp, but let me tell you when you see someone you love in such pain it hurts you too.  About 3 days ago Tommy discovered he had the beginning of a toothache, which quickly became “The Mother Of All Toothaches.”  He ended up wreathing on the floor in pain.  He had to wait overnight to see the regular dentist, who would not even attempt to fix the problem, it was beyond her.  Going to the oral surgeon for another consult, finding out it was a terribly infected wisdom tooth that had broken in half, nerve exposed.  Starting antibiotics, upping the pain meds and waiting yet another 24 hours to get the oral surgery done.  Then finally, finally all 4 worthless wisdom teeth out.  Trust me wisdom teeth do not bring you any wisdom , only misery.

Now Angie, or Felecia will never have to suffer the agony of wisdom teeth, nor did I.  It is a matter if heredity, on our side of the family wisdom teeth do not exist, however, much wisdom does.  Tommy came home looking like the original mummy, swollen jaws and ice packs, sick to his stomach on pain pills and trying to figure out how to swallow gigantic antibiotics, as we crushed the pain pills.  Trying to get some tomato soup down because of the nausea, what an ordeal, one he will never again have to endure, thank God.  We are all grateful for that.  Now he’s on the mend and eating poached eggs and macaroni and cheese.

I just happened to be here at Angie and Tommy’s when my birthday rolled around.  If you believe, it just happened to happen, well don’t be naive.  I always, like a little kid, know good things happen to me when I’m here for my birthday. And true to form I was not disappointed. Angie and Tommy have taken us on many wonderful  dining experiences and this was an excellent choice. They  took us accompanied by my granddaughter Felecia and Tyler to the most amazing restaurant called Texas de Brazil. I must tell you about this fabulous fine dining experience, because unless you have been there it will amaze you, and if you have been there you are already tuned in to true pleasurable dining.  This is one of those places where prices are not included on the menu, where each table has their very own server, plus busboy and mat’ter de that circulates around to be sure all guests are happy and satisfied. And best of all the Gauchos.

We were all 6 seated upstairs, via elevator.  The salad bar in one of the main components here, was downstairs.  So it was necessary to take the elevator back down to partake in this fantastic array of delights.  There was every kind of specialty item available to man.  The salad bar is unlike any I have ever seen.  They have a seasonal gourmet  array of 50 to 60 items.  They had Lobster Bisque as the soup of the day.  At the salad bar was smoked salmon, heart of palm, many delightful imported cheeses. prosciutto, grilled portobello mushrooms, shrimp ceviche, imported Italian salamis, sauteed mushrooms, spicy surimisushi,  much much more, plus many side dishes life garlic mashed potatoes , sweet fried bananas, Brazilian cheese bread, house speciality meat sauces and much more. There were dishes of cooked plantains on the table, theory being to cleanse the palate between the different meat courses to really appreciate the different flavors.  Great idea.

 Let me tell you about the Gauchos.  The specialty of this Brazilian restaurant are slow roasted and perfectly seasoned cuts of  beef, pork, lamb, chicken and brazilian sausage,  bacon wrapped filet mignon, lamb chops, pork chops all cooked over open flames.  Gauchos or cowboys from southern Brazil prepared meals over open campfires, thus the theme for this great place.  The gauchos journey through the restraunt  with with the grilled meats  on sword-like skewers taken directly off the grill, stopping at each table to carve slices for diners.  This allows guests to experience a wide variety of offerings. I think most of us tried at least 5 different kinds of meats.  You definately want to go to this place hungry. We managed to drink 3 bottles of wine with dinner, Angie is very good at selecting a good wine.  She’s a California girl who likes to choose California wines.

Since it was my  birthday dinner we all had to have dessert and what a fab display that was.  I had Brazilian flan,  Angie and Felecia had Banana Foster pie, Jerry and Tyler had Chocolate Mousse cake and tommy had Brazilian cheesecake. Of course with wonderful coffee.  That finished off my birthday evening in down town Fort Worth. 

The next morning Tyler and Felecia took us to Joe’s for a great brunch, we had all the good home cooked items.  biscuits and gravy and ommlets , Bacon and eggs, chicken fried steak, wonderful breakfast.  And best of all a happy birthday song from my favorite  waitress, wearing the birthday hat.  It’s the only place I would let that happen.  It was actually a fun experience, and a great way to end my 67th birthday. I will be back!!!!

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