Not to be outdone by my sister

So my sister got a new puppy that was soooo cute. We've been actively looking for one for about 2 months now. One being a beagle puppy... AKC registered, tri-colored, non-ticked...you get the picture. I looked at Tim today and asked him what he wanted... and he told me a puppy. So, I got back online and happened to find a breeder with pups in Easton, MA. (1 1/2 hours away) We took a ride down to see her and ended up taking her home with us. I wanted to name her Sophie but I was getting so much flack from everyone... what is wrong with that name anyway? So after talking with my sister Jennifer who suggested the name Scout, we decided to go with that name. Ranger and Scout. Her personality is VERY different than Savannah... to which most would say its a good thing. She is a sweet, non-mischievious dog who is very inquisitive. She has a bounce with her walk. She has also found out that there is a pecking order and she's on the bottom. Anyway, she's 13 weeks old and as cute as a button. She has a pedigree longer than mine, and her grandfather was a champion show dog. It's nice to have a new one in the house. She has a very easy going personality which is good for Ranger. Tang was scared by her but didn't even hiss, and Scout didn't even bark at him.

Nuttin' for Christmas

So my sister Jennifer thought she'd be really funny and send me a squirrelly gift. Many of you don't know that I speak squirrel so it is nice diversion to have someone to talk to. (I learned this art in Savannah this summer) But Jen didn't realize that my other half is a squirrel killer and when he saw this present, he said, "where's my gun". If things keep going this way, I'm takin the squirrel and running. We can set up our band, "Mixed Nuts and Imaginary Friends" in Kenmore Square in Boston and play the air guitar to earn money. And Jen, thanks again for "nuttin'". :) By the way, this squirrel even sings "I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas."

Jeffs gig

Jeff has been playing drums in a band named Cogent. Since Kristin is home, we all went (including David and Stephanie) to see him play at a "Christian" club called Ground Zero. Lets just say that the owners are Christian and there is no alcohol there. Jeff has really improved on his drum playing. I watched him last night and wondered how he was able to keep up. His group plays rock and acoustic. Two of the boys in it were my students at Calvary, and the other one was in my former church (Fellowship Bible). Since they were the 4th ones to play, we had to listen to the others. OK, lets just say that although the club is clean, I'm not sure the first kid was. His one man band name was named the "Imaginary Friends Band", and he played alien type music with a mask that looked like it was a power rangers mask and covered his whole face. At one point, be brought out a stuffed penguin and a T-Rex and pretended the T-Rex ate the penguin. I told the others that he wore the mask so that he didn't get beaten up on the way out. The second guy was an acoustic guy from Portland Oregon. Although he supposedly had a girlfriend, he was hitting on all the girls around. The third group called Scarlett Fade was from CT and had 3 sisters and a brother who had an Alanis Morrissette meets Joan Jett vibe. They had alot of expensive equipment. Although I don't think their voices are good, we might see more of them. It was an eye opening interesting night!

Kristin is a mini me

My sisters will find the poetic justice in this... but Kristin is cleaning my entire house without even being asked. I find it amusing that after coming home at 3 a.m., she is cleaning at 8:30 a.m. She has already had Amanda bring down her laundry, and has even done some of mine. She has vaccuumed the house, and cleaned the kitchen. It already was clean to me, but she redid it. When I used to come home from college, I'd wake my sisters up at 2 a.m. and tell them to clean up the room. Hey, as long as she is doing the work I have no complaints. At least she is not waking up me or Amanda to clean!

Finally, I can fill my gas tank for under $80.00

I love my suburban, but when prices are over $4.00/gallon, there were choices to be made about activities that I engaged in. To my delight, gas is much lower. When it was so high, it took $125 to fill my 42 gallon tank every 10 days or so. Today, I put 32 gallons in for $60.25!!!!!!!!! Gas is now around $1.80. Today... I'm going to the scrapbook store in Nashua!

Tim's deer

This is for those of you who wanted to see pictures. On Sunday, November 2nd at 7:30 a.m., Tim got his first deer of the season. But he brought his deer to the butcher so fast that I didn't get pictures. Luckily, Phil Wilson did. The deer was a nice 8 pointer, 147 pounds, 2 1/2 year old and gave us lots of meat. Tim spoke about how majestic it looked in the woods. He has 3 more tags if he gets them in the right order. We'll have to see what the rest of the season holds.

Trick or Treat

My neice Kassidy is the perfect age to enjoy trick or treat. This year, I went to the Disney store and bought her a Cinderalla dress, the crown, and the wand that lights up. I wanted to see her in it but I had to go to Maine when Manchester (where she lives) had trick or treat on Sunday. But Derry has trick or treat on Halloween so she came with us. She was so cute everytime she said trick or treat. She'd tell the people "I like your candy". Sometimes she would just help herself. She was very polite and said thank you! We went out to a neighborhood with hundreds of houses. Trick or treat is only 1 1/2 hour. There must have been 800 people roaming around. The people had totes of candy and were very generous. After we got home and started looking at the candy, David and Stephanie came over with the boys to show us their costumes. They were so cute! The kids all decided that playing the piano was fun, so they all joined in. We got to enjoy them running around the house to get their energy out and then send them home to sleep. John especially loves to cuddle with Tim.

Funny Amanda Story

People love it when I tell them I have a funny Amanda story because it is usually good for a laugh. Amanda has no inhibitions and will say exactly what is on her mind. Many times, I laugh at her because it is something I would say if I had no inhibitions... she truly is a mini-me in so many ways. One of the ways is her love of politics and social justice. I truly have no idea how she knows things because I don't let her watch the news, but she has very definite opinions, especially on Obama and McCain. It's not something we talk about much, but she knows.
In her government class at school, her teacher is a democrat and talks about Obama alot apparently. She comes home and tells me that she tells the class and her teacher frequently that Obama is a bad man!
Today was no exception to her interest in politics. We went to Mary Ann's to eat breakfast this morning. I was settling the bill and turned around and there was Governor Lynch. Governor Lynch is a democrat and was campaigning on this last weekend before the elections with another democrat running for state senate. After I introduced myself and Amanda to the governor, she spoke out very loudly..."Hey, where is Sarah Palin?" He looked at her and told her that his staff might know where she is.... After I picked my chin up off the floor, I explained to him that Amanda has special needs and is actually gets services from one of the 10 regions that dispenses state funds to people like her. I also told her that we are thankful she is alive today. He asked a few questions about her school and about her age. After I told Amanda that we needed to let him move on to talk to others, she asked, "When can I come and spend time with you?" I did let the governor know that she was a little miffed that she could not meet the president and she was upset about the sharp shooters on the White House. And then we moved on...
I started laughing before I got out the door. I really got a kick from the look that was on his face when she asked the question. He was a very gracious man.