This week my husband and I are dog sitting for my daughter (Brenna).  We have two dogs of our own, a Shih Tsu (Bella) and a mixed Chow (Rascal).  Brenna and her boyfriend (Corey) have a Maltese/Yorkie mix (Marley) and a Maltese (Cujo).  Marley and Cujo had four puppies, one of which Brenna and Corey decided to keep.  Elementary math; now they have three.  The puppy is named Pixie.  My granddaughter (Emily) from my other daughter (Erin) has one of the puppies she named Miley.   During the summer my granddaughter stays with me while her mother is at work.  My husband and I are helping with the house breaking of Miley. 

We have six dogs this week at our house along with three large birds and a rabbit.  Miley and Pixie are only nine weeks old so they are still in the process of house breaking.   It’s all in the timing.  Every couple hours we take them outside and most of the time they will go potty.  I found over the years of having dogs, they eventually associate the outdoors with going potty as long as you are consistant with the training process.  Of course you need to pick a word they associate with going to the bathroom  Ours has always been “potty”.  And don’t forget to give them a lot of praise when they go potty outside.  Dogs love to please their owners. 

That was a quick lesson in potty training.  Having six dogs in the house you try to have some kind of order, especially feeding time.  I get the adult dogs’ food ready first because they will eat the puppies’ food before the puppies have a chance to get to it.  Also, the puppies will go after the adult food so I have Emily hold the puppies until I serve them their food.   The adult dogs get served the same thing so that way they all stay at their own bowl of food.  It seems to work out okay doing it this way.  It also helps me  make sure the puppies are eating puppy food and not the adult dog food.  I remove all of the bowls after they are done, because the puppies like to eat any remaining adult food.  Sometimes they get to it before I get the bowls picked up.  Emily loves feeding time.  She likes helps mix the dog food.  I use a little bit of wet with the dry food.  Now, this brings us to bedtime and the sleeping arrangements.  Brenna and Corey crate their dogs because they work outside the home.  Cujo, Marley and Pixie are used to sleeping in their cage.  My husband and I do not work outside of our home so we do not use a cage.  Rascal sleeps on the floor by our bed.  He is the mixed chow and he is 14 years old which makes it hard for him to get up on the bed, anyway.  Bella, my Shih Tsu, sleeps in bed with us.  We are fine with that.  Since we have been helping with taking care of Miley, she also sleeps in our bed.  She does sleep through the night and can hold going to the bathroom all night.  If you don’t want your puppy sleeping with you,  you’ll need to purchase a dog bed and a cage.  You will probably have to put it in another room so you can get some sleep.  Most puppies are used to snuggling with their mother and siblings at night.  They will cry and whine for that lost security.  If you don’t put the cage in another room, you will not get any sleep until the puppy wears his or herself out.  You might not, anyway.  If you hear their sad cry, you will be tempted to put the puppy in bed with you.  Sometimes putting dog safe stuffed animals in the cage might help. 

My husband decided to sleep on the couch with Miley and Pixie.  Cujo, their mother, slept on the smaller couch and Bella and Marley slept in bed with me.  Rascal slept in his usual spot by the bed.  Everything went well.  All the dogs are very well behaved during the day.  Cujo and Marley are familiar with our home so they are content.  The puppies enjoy playing with each other and sometimes the other dogs will join in on the fun. Bella will play with the other dogs, but when I am working in my office, she will be right there with me on her blanket. It looks likes we are going to make it through the week of dog sitting.

I was searching the job boards the other day and came across one for SEO article writers.  They wanted good quality articles and writers that were able to meet deadlines.  That was fine with me because I always want to put out quality articles and I always make sure I meet the deadlines.  It’s a common request, nothing unusual.  They wanted to pay a whopping 50 cents per article.  I had to read that part twice to make sure I was reading it right.  I was appalled.  It was an insult to me as a writer.  There is usually research involved with most articles you write.  After that, you have to organize and put the article together.  I know there are some fast article writers out there and can put an article together, including research within an hour or less.  It takes me longer than an hour to put an article together, especially if it is a topic I am not very knowledgable about.  If you can put an article together in less than an hour, more than likely, you are an experienced writer.  My point is this; whether you are writing 1 or 4 articles in an hours time, with that pathetic pay of 50 cents per article means you are only making 50 cents to two dollars per hour.  The way I look at it, they are telling me that my time and skills are only worth 50 cents an hour.  That’s insulting.  Their thinking was they could provide steady work.  It still does not justify the low pay.  Value yourself as a writer and don’t take jobs like this.  I did look at the message board to see the rants about the low pay.  There were quite few.  On the other hand, there were people from other countries that were accepting the low pay.  Unfortunately, as long as writers except these low paying jobs they will keep posting them.    Even if you are a new writer, your time and skills are worth more than 50 cents an article.  Always value yourself as a writer.

With the Internet, there a lot more writing opportunities for writers.  It definitely opened some doors for me.  Unfortunately, with all the opportunities out there, there seems to be plenty of writing scams, as well.  I am a trusting person and usually give people the benefit of the doubt.  With all the job boards out there it is hard to determine the legitimate writing jobs from the ones that are not. 

A little over a month ago I answered an ad for an SEO article writer.   The ad itself was written very professionally so I didn’t have any reason not to believe it was legitimate. He also offered more money than the other job offers. The person responded back to me within 24 hours and told me he had chosen three people and I was one of the three.  All he needed was a sample article on “Aging Creams” and how long it would take me to finish 100 articles of 400 to 500 words.  I finished the sample article turned it in the next day.  Well, I waited and waited and waited and waited.  It finally hit me this guy might use my article and get compensated for my work.  Like I said before, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, so I emailed him asking to let me know if he is still considering me for one of his writers.   I also went back to the job board to see if there were any comments written about this person.  I came across one that was waiting as I was for a response.  Before too long there were quite a few people waiting for this person’s response.  I think it turned out to be seven writers that got the same email stating they were one of the three.  I learned in first grade this didn’t add up right.  Once the fourth person came forward, I immediately posted my  article on another website.  I didn’t want him making money off my article!  I was dissapointed at first and pissed off.   There is always someone that tries to ruin a good thing.  We did let everybody know not to except any job offers from this person.

This is why we got scammed.  The signs were there, but we chose to ignore them because we are very trusting people.  The ad itself was written professionally enough to not have any doubts of it’s legitimacy.  That is how we got took and looked over the one sign that should have sent a red flag straight up;  when he asked us to write a sample article for a specific subject.  Also, they will try to entice as many writers as possible with a higher pay per article rate.  Most legitimate employers seeking freelance writers will ask for a sample of writing you have already done or a link to where your articles  have been published.  If they want you to write a sample article, they will offer to pay for it or they should be able to determine the quality of your writing through your previously published work.  If they can’t , look elsewhere for a legitimate writing job.   

Another thing you can do is check to see if they have posted a prior job at that job board.  Some of these sites have a rating system and will rate the poster.  The membership job boards usually have a screening process the poster has to go through which makes it less likely to get scammed.

In today’s world of science and technology, nothing seems to surprise or shock me.  After all, we can clone animals and I am sure we can clone people.  What really amazed me today, was the making of the smallest bowl of Ramen Noodle Soup.  You are probably thinking “so what”.  Well, it’s so small you need a microscrope to see it.  Yep, you read that right.  It is a microscopic bowl of soup.  Japanese scientists got together with some college students and developed the only bowl of soup you cannot see with the naked eye.  It is actually in a microscopic bowl!  I’m astonished.  They did this for fun.  I guess when intellegent minds (such as scientists) get together for fun and entertainment; they come up with extraordinary things.  Of course the project is not over, they will need a microscopic spoon.  I’m sure if they can make the bowl they can make the spoon.  And yes, the microscopic person to eat the soup.

With the gas prices being close to $4.00 a gallon (some states already there) I have trouble keeping my tank half full or even a quarter full.  Actually, I consider it half empty or closer to three quarters empty;  I guess making me a gas tank pessimist.   Normally, I try to see the good in everything but when I put $20 in my tank it only registers a quarter of a tank.  That $20 used to give me a half tank.  That quarter of a tank seems to disappear fast.  I drive down the street and all of sudden I have an eighth of tank.  I drive a jeep so it’s not a gas hog.  It just seems that last quarter goes faster than the first quarter when you fill up your tank.  Recently, I was laid off my job, so it’s been a long time since I filled up my tank.  I can’t afford to.  Sometimes I will apply the breaks a little harder and that brings my gas back up to a quarter.  It’s a psychological thing; it helps when you’re broke. 

 

It doesn’t matter what you write, just write!  You can write a blog, article, in a journal, or a chapter of your book.  Write now, edit later.  I have not been writing enough, myself.  I have been spending too much time reading about writing. That’s why I needed to write this blog because I didn’t get the writing done I wanted to today.  Everything on the Internet I find about writing I spend a lot of time reading it.  There is nothing wrong with getting more information on what you love to do, but to be successful with your writing you have to write.  If you spend all your time reading about it and never get around to writing; that makes you a reader not a writer.  It falls into the discipline category.  Just make a specific time you read about writing or the ezines you subscribe to on writing.  Maybe an hour in the morning or hour before you go to bed.  This way you will have time to do some writing.   You can find yourself reading for hours and then your too tired to write.  There is a lot of great information out there on writing and great websites, too.  They do help motivate but you got  to know when to quit reading and start writing.  Just write something everyday.  Remember, practice makes perfect and it will help you get those higher paying writing jobs.

David Cook won the “American Idol” title by a landslide.  Personally, I thought he was the better of the two.  When it gets down to the last two, either one are worthy of the title.  You definitely have to have singing talent to get to that point.  Tuesdays show did throw me off and thought for sure David Archuleta was going to win it.  Though,  David Cook was Simon’s pick all along, Archuleta had changed Simon’s mind with Tuesday’s performance.  America did make the right choice.  We won’t have to worry about David Archuleta’s future, I am sure his career will take off.   

This morning, The Associated Press reported a 15 year old girl, from Dearborn, Michigan, sold 17,328 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  We all know the popularity of these mouth watering, sweet craving satisfyers in this nation of carbohydrate lovers.  Well, unless of course you lived in a cave all your life and never exposed to these national treasures.  With that  said, I am still amazed at the amount of Girl Scout cookies this young lady sold.  Apparently, she sets up her Girl Scout cookies on  the same corner everyday and they must come in droves.  If you build it, (the Girl Scout cookie pyramid) they will come.  This corner must be the most popular area in the nation for the Girl Scout Cookie lovers.

According to a spokesperson for the national New York  branch for the Girl Scouts of America, they don’t keep records of the most boxes sold, nationally.  I think they need to, now.  Though her troop only keeps a percentage of the proceeds, this particular Girl Scout did earn her troop enough money to be able to afford a trip  to Europe this winter.  You have to commend her for dedication.  This might trigger a new category in the Guinness Book of World Records.  You suppose?

The last time I wrote about my son-in-law, Carey starting the liver transplant evaluation process to see if he would be a candidate to get on the transplant list.  We were about half way through the process when Carey took a turn for the worst and lost his couragious battle.  He died on April 23rd. 

It was hard for me to come back to this site and continue writing but I needed to finish this blog so I could move forward.  My daughter, Erin, took such good care of him during his sickness.  She wanted to be with him everyday but had to go to work so he would get great care by having insurance.  They experienced about a month without insurance after she got laid off her job in January.  The care was very minimal and basically awful.  His sister and brothers were able to cover his Cobra premium to get back the care he had and make it possible for him to go to Mayo Clinic.  The payments were high but Erin did start a new job and her new benefits would start in May.  This way Carey would continue receiving the best care and she now was the only one supporting the family.  I had gotten laid off from my job just about the time Erin started her new job so I was able to take my granddaughter, Emily, to school and take care of Carey during the day.  I took him to most of his evaluation appointments with his brothers helping when they could.  They both worked.  I would just stay at their house during the week and come home on weekends.  I would usually come back on Sunday evening.  On Sunday, April 20th., Erin called me in the morning and told me Carey needed to go to the hospital, that he was in a lot of pain and this was a new pain.  He did have a lot of pain during his illness with the ascites and joint pain.  He suffered daily.  When I arrived, the ambulance had already taken him to the hospital near his house.  He had spent a lot of time at this hospital, so they knew him, well.  They always rendered excellent care.  The plan was to get him transferred to the Mayo hospital so they could continue the transplant evaluation process.  They wanted to run tests to make sure that nothing got punctured when he had his last pericentesis (draining fluid from his abdomen).  Once he was stable they would coordinate with the Mayo doctors to have him transferred.  I was with him on the 21st. and he seemed okay.  I guess as well as can be expected.  I picked up my granddaughter from school and came back to the hospital so she could spend a little time with her daddy.  My daughter was there and everything seemed fine when Emily and I left.  Erin stayed and when she came home later that evening she kept telling me she was really worried about this hospital stay.  She said he was different.  Something was going on with Carey.  They had given pain meds which they have done many times before but his eyes would roll back in his head and then he would start talking and then they would roll back again.  She knows his exact reaction to his pain meds and this seemed different.  He was on lactolose to keep the  ammonia levels down in his brain.  If he didn’t take the lactolose, he would get very confused and would have trouble speaking.  This was just another side effect of liver disease.  Erin still felt something was not right.  Well, later that night the hospital called and Carey’s heart rate jumped to 200 and they had to move him to CCU.  She went to the hospital and was told they were not sure why his heart rate jumped so high.  I came in the next day and they had him sedated so he wouldn’t pull off his leads and IV’s.  We knew at this point things were not good.  We came home to Erin’s to get some rest, and not even an hour past when the hospital called to let Erin know they decided to put him on life support.  They said it was better to do it now then wait until it is an emergency.  When we were there earlier we all noticed his breathing was starting to become labored.  The hospital’s goal was to still transport Carey to Mayo.  When we came back it was hard seeing him on the life support and an induced coma.  His youngest daughter, Emily did not see him after he was on life support.  She was with him earlier that day and whispered in his ear she loved him.  Emily, just being 8 years old, had already come to terms with the possibility of his death.  We were there when the ambulance came to transport Carey to Mayo.  His doctor told Erin  if there is any chance of survival the best place to be was at Mayo.  At 1:30 am on Wednesday the 23rd. Erin received a call from Mayo stating his kidneys were shutting down.  The doctor talked to her for a long time on the phone.  She had planned to get there early in the morning spend the whole day there knowing it was going to be his last day.  She had whispered in his ear before he was put on life support that it was okay  no matter what choice he made.  She basically told him it was okay to let go.  His body was tired and battered.  Just as she was getting ready to leave on the 23rd., Mayo called and told her she needed to be there, now!  I grabbed Emily out of bed and through some clothes on her and Erin called Carey’s son, brothers and sisters.  We got there at 7:20 and he passed 7:06.  There was a curtain between us and Carey’s lifeless body.  Erin went in first and I came in.  I noticed his eyelids were not completely closed so I reached over an closed them.  His body still warm.  You would look at his chest and you could almost imagine it moving up and down.  We all stayed there for several hours.  His oldest son took really hard.  They were very close.  The funeral was hard on everybody. 

Liver disease is a terrible death.  Carey did suffer daily but his will to live kept him going. He has two grown children, Justin who is married with a one year old son, and a two month old daughter, and his daughter Jessica who lives in another state but was still close to her father and of course his youngest, Emily.  He loved his children very much and was a great father and was a wonderful husband.  Carey had a lot of great friends who helped out during his illness.  We now have to go down the healing road one day at a time.  He will be sadly missed by his family and friends. 

 

 

I have a pool in my backyard where turtles live.  It’s a pond, now.  If you don’t add chemicals and don’t turn the pump on, your pool will become a pond.  When we moved in this house about a year ago, the pool was already a pond, turtles and all.  I started turtle watching from my kitchen window.  You had to watch them from a distance because when you came outside they would go to the bottom of the pool.  They were quite timid at first and since you couldn’t see the bottom of the pool it was easy for them to hide from us.  They would come and stay on top of the water and after watching them for awhile my husband and I were able to determine there were five turtles.  We started spending more time out near the pool so they would get used to use.  The largest one probably had a shell size of about 9 by 11 inches.  There were two little ones that were always together and they were approximately 2 by 2 inches (shell size).  There was a medium sized one about 6 by 6 inches.  And one snapping turtle at about 8 by 9 inches with a large head.  The snapping turtle was really timid.  I have always liked turtles.  I think they are so cute.  When I was growing up, I had one of those little ones you got at the pet shop with the plastic container with ramp and a plastic palm tree.  They have the cutest little heads and teeny tiny eyes.  The two little turtles reminded me of my turtles.  It was real important to gain their trust.  Eventually, one of the little ones started staying up on the surface of the water while we were out side near the pool.  All the other ones disappeared under the water.  Turtles are like grease lightning in water, they are unbelievably fast swimmers.  We would talk to the one that stayed at the surface and he would check us out from the center of the pool.  After a few days, he started to say up a little longer.  Because of his bravery, I named him Braveheart.  Then one day the other little one decided to join Braveheart and stay on the surface while we were by the pool.  I named that one Lulu.  No reason for that name just came in my head.  Braveheart and Lulu looked very much alike so I think they are siblings.  Don’t know their sex, either. I can tell the two apart, though.  Braveheart has an almost perfect round shell and Lulu’s shell is bent on the left edge a little.   The two other turtles and the snapper were still too scared to stay on the surface while we were there.  I was curious as to what their diet was because it sure didn’t seem like the pool and it’s contents offered much.   I assumed they were eating little bugs that got into the water and I watched Braveheart and Lulu eating algae off the sides of the pool near the surface.  I decided it was time to supplement their diet with a little bit of dog food.  I crushed some dry dog food and slowly through it in the water towards Brave heart.  I wanted to be careful not to startle him.  At first he wasn’t sure but eventually ate some of it.  To my surprise, Lulu really took to having food served to her.  They eventually started to get closer to the edge of the pool (and closer to us) to eat the dog food.  Before you knew it, they would swim towards when they seen us come to the pool in anticipation of food.  The two larger ones started staying on the surface longer, though at a distance, while we fed Braveheart and Lulu.  We did name the largest one Birtha and the other one Clem.  Birtha and Clem seem to hang together like Braveheart and Lula do.  I decided to buy turtle food and my husband nailed some logs together so they were able to get out of the water and bask in the sun on the logs.  As time went on they all would come to the surface to eat.  Birtha and Clem still kept their distance but eventually succumbed to their fear of us and realized we didn’t pose a threat.  Birtha would on occasion get as close as Braveheart and Lulu.  When Braveheart and Lulu would see us come outside, they would swim as fast as they could towards us.  It was great.  There was one more turtle and it took the longest to win his trust.  The snapping turtle was very scary looking.  You could get a glimpse of him on the pool steps.  Though, the water was about 10 inches over the top step and murky, you could still see him.  His head is huge compared to the other turtles, which he cannot completely retract into his shell.  His head, shell and long tail have spikes on them.  He is very prehistoric looking, a true dinosaur of today.  We named him Spike.

To be continued…