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Some people don’t understand how I can allow two medium-sized dogs to have the run of my house. “Aren’t they dirty?” people ask. And “What about all the dog hair?” Sometimes, I even get, “Aren’t you grossed out by their poo?”

There’s a new dog that even THOSE folks would be happy with. It’s a Pomster. That’s a cross between a Pomeranian (dog) and a hamster.

Don’t want the dog to have the run of your house? Just buy a large-sized hamster cage. (Pomsters are slightly larger than standard hamsters, though. More like guinea pigs.)

If you get a Pomster, let me know. I’d love to come and meet it!

There have been two things stuck in my brain lately that I just can’t shake… Santa Clause and Alaska.

Santa Clause is Belle’s fault. She came with a toy that says “Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!” It also sings, “You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry. Better not pout I’m telling you why. Santa Clause is coming to town.” She squeezes it at the most inopportune times. I’ve been humming that damn song for two days.

I’m not sure why Alaska has been stuck in my brain. Maybe it’s the volcano poised for eruption. Maybe it’s the stories I keep seeing of all the people in remote parts of Alaska that are really struggling in this economy. Maybe it’s just because I liked it there. A lot.

I have a pen pal who I met through Flickr (photo sharing Web site). He just added me to a group that focuses on pictures taken on the Kenai Peninsula, one of my favorite places in Alaska. I uploaded some of my own Kenai pics earlier. They’re pretty good, if I do say so myself. So I decided to share them here, too.

I hope you like them. I’ve been sort of at a loss for things to blog about lately…

The first full weekend of February brought all kinds of excitement.

Hubby and I went to the Maryland motorcycle show on Friday (my birthday!). The show wasn’t all that exciting, but I did buy some much-needed deerskin gauntlet gloves. The real highlight of the night, though, was the post-show dinner at The Corner Stable where we ate some very tasty barbecued ribs.

Saturday, our good friends Kathy and Barry came over for dinner. They brought their dog, Max, too. We had lots of fun, as we usually do when we all get together. I made chicken marsala, which was just okay. The mint margaritas were way better. Dinner was also accompanied by a nice white wine, garlic bread and some salad. We finished the night off homemade chocolate bourbon pecan pie.

Sunday was merry, too. Three Brittany boys came to visit Meg and Belle.

I’ve mentioned here before that Meg and Belle were both adopted through American Brittany Rescue (ABR), albeit at different times. Andrea Bock, the ABR coordinator for Maryland and Virginia, lives nearby. Andrea and I actually met years ago when we both worked for a large investment management firm in downtown Baltimore. It was she who introduced me to ABR.

Andrea, who’s been anxious to meet Belle since her arrival over a month ago, stopped by for a visit today. They got to meet my girls and stretch their legs.

This is Bodie pictured above.

Here Belle is following Chester. She was a bit overwhelmed by the big boys.

This is Sam, who really seemed to enjoy cavorting around — and digging in! — the yard.

In this picture, you can see Meg checking out Chester.

Belle did eventually start warming up to the boys. Though neither of my girls ran around with the boys as much as I thought they would, they still seemed to enjoy the visit.

It was interesting seeing five, yes FIVE, dogs in our yard. If only the ground were drier, we’d have much cleaner dogs and far fewer muddy divots in the grass.

Spring is coming. The yard will dry and recover eventually. I see more play dates in our future.

To see all of the pictures from today, you can visit my Picasa page.

Today is my birthday! I turned 42. Yes, I’m getting older. No, I don’t feel old.

Once you hit adulthood, age becomes a state of mind. It’s all relative, really.

The only people who think me old, I believe, are my grand kids.

I’m just happy to be alive another day. I’ve gotten quite a few birthday cards and well-wishes already. And tonight, to celebrate, Hubby is taking me to the motorcycle show! (The motorcycle show is just a coincidence, really.)

Even if I don’t obsess about aging, I can’t help but look back over the years, ponder where I’ve been and how far I’ve come. If I died today, I’d die a happy person with no regrets. I’ve had a good life. It started out with wonderful parents. I’m lucky to still have both of them with me. They’re good people.

I have lots of friends, too. People I’ve known since childhood, friends I have made along the way, friends Hubby and I share.

I have three fabulous kids, who all managed to make it to adulthood despite having me in their lives. And they turned out to be pretty amazing people. And grand kids. Grand kids are fun!

I have a Hubby who loves me, and who I love right back. I wouldn’t trade him for anything. We suit each other well. He’s perfect for me. I know I’m not always easy to live with, and I’m glad he’s stuck it out.

Thanks to Hubby, I have a wonderful mother-in-law, too. She thinks I’m a baby (age-wise), which always makes me smile.

I can’t not mention my pets. There’s Moses and Muffin (the kitties I tolerate). Also, Meg and Belle, the dogs I adore. I miss my little C-dog, but she gave me almost five years of happiness, so I can’t complain too much.

Know who I miss most though? My Grandma. This is my first birthday without her. I’ve been thinking of her all week. Even as I got older, she always sent a card for my birthday. She almost always managed to time it perfectly, too. That’s my one regret. I wish I’d been a better granddaughter. I wish I’d spent more time with her. The times we did share were good ones, though. I have lots of happy memories of her to be thankful for.

It’s been a good life. I’m blessed and I know it. I really am happy just to have another day. Hopefully, there’ll be many more.

I wish I had some old pics of me handy to post, but I don’t. Maybe some other time. For now…

Happy Birthday to Me!

Devoted fans will remember last week’s post discussing the studs Hubby supplied me with.

Here they are in place, all ready for the TV to be hung.

And here’s our new TV. It fits perfectly. Of course, Hubby planned it that way. The only problem with the TV is that now we have four remotes.

You can see the remotes in the foreground of this pic. The intended subject of the picture wasn’t the remotes, though. It was Belle, sharing Hubby’s lap with his notebook computer. Unfortunately for Hubby, the touch pad and mouse buttons on our notebooks are sensitive to doggie chins, too, so Belle was scrolling for him as he was trying to read.

As for the amazing ice pictures… I didn’t take them. They were sent to me by a colleague, Dana O’Quin, who lives in Harrison, Arkansas, just east of Fayetteville. The Arkansas ice shots I posted earlier were from CNN. I was actually going to mention Dana earlier, ’cause I know she’s been without power, but I hadn’t talked to her. So I decided to call and check on her first.

And guess what? She sent some pictures of her own for me to share. Who needs CNN when you have cool connections like that?

Look closely. There’s a branch frozen in there.

Power lines can only take so much weight before they snap…

…and this happens.

Just look how thick that ice is!

Tree limbs were snapping all across the state. So if the ice itself didn’t bring the wires down, trees or fallen limbs did the trick.

That is a lot of ice. A whole lot of ice.

It looks as if a tornado just went through, doesn’t it?

That’s a broken utility pole. In case you can’t tell by looking yourself.

This is my favorite picture. It is Dana’s son, Marrick, sitting on a huge evergreen tree. Now, when I first saw it, I told Dana it looked creepy. I said it looks Photoshopped ’cause the last thing you’d expect to see is a full-grown boy sitting ON an evergreen.

She replied with, “Marrick isn’t creepy.” I had to clarify with “Marrick is cute, but the picture looks creepy!” So she sent me two more pics to prove it was not a doctored shot.

Marrick really is pretty cute, isn’t he?

He sort of looks like Joe Flacco, doesn’t he? They both have the same color hair anyway. Speaking of Joe Flacco (yes, that was a stretch for a segue), the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback was named rookie of the year! All of your votes counted. Thanks for stepping up to help.