A Royal Welcome

Royal is the newest member of the Strecker household! It was the name that was given to him by the staff at the shelter where we adopted him. We think it is pretty cool, since we live in KC, home of the KC Royals. He is a Setter/Terrier mix weighing in at 22 pounds and as near as we can tell, between 3-5 years of age. He looks pretty confidant, considering this is a picture taken on our trip home from the Gardner Animal Hospital the day he was adopted. He loved the car ride home and has since been on several.

Royal seems to be the perfect dog. He was housetrained when we adopted him. He doesn't jump up on the furniture, he sleeps through the night, doesn't bark excessively and he LOVES to walk!
He is very friendly and lovable, (he can't get enough petting), and almost always comes when we call him.

We took things pretty easy with Royal the first few days. He was never off his leash unless he was in the house because we wanted him to bond with us and get used to his new surroundings. The fence in our backyard is only about four feet high, and an athletic dog like Royal could easily jump over if so inclined. As a matter of fact, the first day we had Royal home, it took him about 10 minutes to find the only loose board in the fence. He crawled through and bounded into the neighbors yard and up on their deck. He didn't respond real well to our calls, but we finally got him to come to the fence so Adrienne could pick him up and carry him back into the house.
With that in mind, we chose to proceed carefully with the leash on at all times when outofdoors.

On Friday, I was working on grandma's table in the basement early in the morning. I had put another coat of boiled linseed oil on the top that has to dry for 24 hours. Later that afternoon, Glen was demo-ing the kitchen floor using a circular saw to cut away the two layers of flooring in preparation for hardwood. I was watching an episode of The Dog Whisperer with Royal, when my eyes started burning from the smell of what I thought was the sawed flooring in the kitchen. When the smell didn't seem to dissipate, I walked all through the house trying to discover an alternate source for the odor, still burning my eyes, badly. I must have walked through the house 3 or 4 times before I decided to turn off the air conditioner and pull the odor through the house using the whole house fan in the attic. When that didn't help, I decided Glen had started a fire in the subfloor and it must be burning underneath from the basement side. So I did another search in the basement, in the area under the kitchen. Finding nothing suspicious I said to myself, "It smells like chemicals!" That's when it clicked, so I walked over to the other side of the basement, looking carefully around all the chemicals we had been using to restore the table and that's when I noticed smoke coming from the cardboard box I had piled all my oily rags in! (I know, never store oily rags in a confined space!) The can even says "may spontaneously combust" if soaked rags stored improperly!
Long story short, Royal escaped out the door while Glen and I were disposing of the smoldering rags. He took off like a house 'afire! Wow, can he run. Had he been in a race, I would have been able to enjoy his amazing speed. As it was, all I could do was hold my breath as he sped down the block to busy Brougham Street, or worse yet, the Fe. Luckily for us, it turned out Royal can't resist a long sniff here and there. Glen had sped down the block in his truck to catch up to him. But instead of hopping in the truck, he took off across Brougham, then stopped dead at a mailbox for a nice, long sniff. That's when Glen was able to walk over and pick him up.

So you see, every dog has his day, and Royal's was Friday. Because not only did he escape once, but just a few minutes later, Glen accidently left the door open again, and naturally, Royal was on his way out the garage. Glen let out a roaring, "Get back in there!" and that's exactly what he did! Whew! I couldn't have taken another escape.

Our perfect dog doesn't do so well with freedom. Other than that, he is still the perfect dog. Stay tuned for more Royal stories. I have a feeling there will be plenty!

Family this Fall

I have not shared any of my photos of family who have visited this fall. We had such a good time when Travis, Natalie and Alice were here on Halloween night.

I guess Glen took the pictures, because he isn't in any of them! We had dinner at the airport with them before they hopped on their flight back home. Natalie's grandpa had passed away, and we reaped the benefit of their travels back to Kansas to attend the services.

Alice is growing so fast and I have only seen her three times in her whole life. She really likes her momma and daddy, but she warmed up to us after an hour or so. She was just taking her first confidant baby steps after an unfortunate accident on a wood floor that held-up her progress a little.

Devin was home for Thanksgiving, and although we missed Dylan, Brandon and Amy, we were happy as clams to have him here for a whole week. His blog about our trip to Weston is much better than mine, so read it instead! http://raughtic.blogspot.com/ Adrienne took all the photos of our happy Thanksgiving event, so you will have to beg her to blog and share the pics. As always, it is never easy to say "goodbye" to one of our L. A. sons, and because we had such a wonderful time, it is difficult to hold back the tears when they head thru security and wave one last time from the other side of the gate window.

Last weekend, I threw myself a birthday party even though my birthday isn't until Dec. 12. I invited three good friends and their daughters, making 8 of us in all. But that is another blog...just as soon as my daughter sends the pictures to me so I can include them for you all to see.

Summer's End

August 1st is back to school for me. It seems like the wierdest time to end my summer, because it gets so hot here in August and summer is just getting into full gear. The sun is baking as I walk out of our climate controlled building and slide into hot leather seats. My car's air conditioner isn't working the greatest and it doesn't even begin to cool the interior by the time I reach home about 15 minutes later. Driving home is usually a time for me to unwind and think about my family. Glen and I slip into our post-vacation routine easily, so once I am home, I don't realize it is so disagreeable outside until I step out to water the thirsty plants and get attacked by a swarm of biting mosquitos! Still, I am not ready to let go of summer.

Summer is a time for reading grown-up books rather than "kid" books. I have read many wonderful books over my summer vacation. But the dearest to my heart is an old story by Betty Smith called, "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn." Francie is the main character and the story is a fictionalized account of her childhood growing up with a strong mother and an alcoholic father. Smith does a wonderful job pacing her story and building wonderful characters to fall in love with. If you haven't read it, I suggest you put it on your list.

Other big news in our family at summer's end is that Adrienne started her new job today! I can't wait to hear all about it and I am sure she is going to do well.

Welcome to the world of paychecks and TGIF!

Just because...

At lot of life happens within the family unit and it is not always easy to keep up. So before Glen and I leave on a wonderful seven day vacation with long time friends, I would like to tell you each that I do think of you and ponder just what it is that you are doing at the moment or how you are feeling about your job, your significant other, your passions and life in general. Cell phones are great, but they won't replace a face to face. And even then, its difficult to get a few moments for heart to heart talks, one of the disadvantages to living several hundred miles apart.

So whatever pressing issue there may be, remember that your family supports you, we will be here to cheer you on, cry with you or laugh with you or just listen when you need to talk. We are never too busy to hear about what is happening in your life or help you out in whatever way we can.

We feel that you are each brilliant and resourceful and that you can take very good care of yourself, we have seen what a wonderful job you have done thus far. You work, play or study hard, fulfill your dreams and manage to take care of one another as well.

A great day for me is when I lie in bed at the end of the day and smile, remembering that I have spoken to each of you before the day's end! Love you, Mom

The Diet Dance

I started another new diet today...I won't tell you what it is until I see if it works. But let's just say it is rather unconventional but in an odd sort of way it makes sense to me. And I didn't have to buy hardly anything to get started! Have I piqued your interest yet?

Diets can be tricky. Sometimes they require adding items to your shopping list that are expensive, oversized (like my HUGE container of Metamucil), or just plain wierd. After a few months all that extra stuff goes into the trash or gets stuffed to the back of my pantry until I throw them out a few years later. Diets get trickier when you have to shell out money to join a gym, because everyone knows working-out is essential to a good diet. Then there are the chemicals you need to take as you diet; garlic pills, fish oil pills, flax seed oil, coconut oil. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Another thing about diets is that they always begin with a New York Times bestseller! So one can't simply begin dieting, there is much reading, research and preparing to do in the initial stages. Next comes the grocery scouring...you know...slowing walking through the grocery store, eyes peeled for foods that look yummy, delicious, or chocolatey but also pass the "read the label" test. Once the groceries are all unloaded at home, you are starving because you have only been allowed to gaze on all your favorite fat filled friends when you realize you have nothing to eat because you have to prepare and cook it first!

Sometimes people might end up watching reality TV programs based on weight loss and dieting. That's when you know you have hit a "dieting low." Also, it may seem like a logical step to begin looking for support from fellow dieters on-line, I have heard there are millions of blogs on the subject :) Luckily, I haven't been that desperate, yet. (Or have I?)

There are many charming and not so charming names for diets, too. South Beach, Beverly Hills Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Atkins Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, even some that have been around for years like the Scarsdale Diet or the infamous Cabbage Soup Diet, ugh!
And then there is the instant weight loss program, don't even get me started on liposuction and lipodissolve. That is Cheat Dieting for the wealthy!

But this diet is different. Based on scientific principles of digestion, it is so simple and so cheap that one can simply shop for food in a normal sort of way so long as one attends to the matters of digestion while one eats. No...I'm not going to be bulimic or use laxatives...but this is just as simple.

Ah, but I have already said too much, and as I really have no clue whether it works or not, I will remain optimistic. But if it does work, and I drop all this unsightly weight around my middle, I shall be the first to pass along the diet.

For now, it shall be known only as: Rhonda's Mystery Diet. Talk to you in ten pounds!

The worst place I ever lived...

We lived in Wilson, Oklahoma the year I was a fourth grader. So many things I had come to love and count on were no longer available. My father had moved our family to Wilson from Los Angeles and we all experienced our own variety of culture shock. But for me, that year was particularly difficult. I missed the excitement, opportunity, and culture of Los Angeles. There was always somewhere to go, something to do, or people to be with. Instead, I found myself immersed in a culture so backward and simple I felt I would die of boredom.

While in Wilson, we lived in two different houses, the first so run-down that one could literally peer through a huge gap in the wall, past the floor to the ground below. The second house was nestled on a few acres right in the bend of a creek amidst a pecan grove. The person who rented it to our family made us promise to take care of the grounds, harvest the pecans, and "not go into the room that was locked."

Many atrocities occured while we lived in that little white house by the creek. A fire in the living room started when someone carelessly draped a window curtain over the open-flamed heater, popular at the time. My sister and I valiently put the fire out before it spread but much damage was done in a matter of a few minutes. We were given stern warnings by the grown-ups, including the fire department for our efforts, but I can still remember our decision to fight the fire instead of running outside like everyone else in the house did.

My brother found that if he removed the pins from the hinges, the door to the "locked" room could be lifted out of it's opening, thus allowing us entrance. It was probably the beginning of my love for antiques, because I can still remember all the cool, old furniture stacked in the room that we weren't allowed to use. And I obsessed about having that room as my very own bedroom, instead of all four of us crammed into the freezing, drafty lean-to we used for sleeping. My father wouldn't allow us to breach the promise we had made with the homeowner, so that was the only time I can remember being inside the locked room, however, I continued my dream of having the room as my own until we moved from that place.

As for the pecans, I can remember it was not our families' priority to harvest them nor to take care of the grounds. We did plant a garden of sorts, but I remember that we all lost interest and the weeds finally took over before we actually reaped many vegetable rewards. However, my sister and I found that the pecans were like "cash" just laying there on the ground and we often picked up a wagon load and hauled them off to the produce store to have them weighted and converted to quick cash. My share of the money always went for something I had been dying to have, like a baton so I could be a "twirler."

Dad moved on to Natoma, Kansas a few months before the rest of us. He had been out of work and found employment in Plainville and would come for us when he had saved enough money for rent, etc. That period was one of chaos and adventure for the four of us. We roamed the town doing pretty much as we pleased. Mom wasn't in to baking, so we were always starving and out of desperation, my sister and I would whip up something from the "commodity" stash, involving the main ingredients; dried eggs, flour, sugar or peanut butter. We never used a recipe, we didn't need one, if it was hot and sweet, we would eat it!

Life didn't seem a lot more exciting in Natoma, but eventually I came to appreciate a few things about life in a small, quiet, mid-western town. I attended junior high through high school there but never really gained a sense of "community" although I consider it an important part of my roots. And because of that one year in Oklahoma, I can look back and smugly declare Wilson "the worst place I ever lived!"

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore..."

If you haven't done so yet, then run, don't walk to your nearest theater to view Michael Moore's "Sicko." In all fairness, I must warn you that you will be extremely pissed-off at the end, so plan ahead to do something completely fun or go out and get drunk! We didn't take the advice and ended up in a total "slump" afterward.
Realizing that this is Moore's viewpoint, and taking into account the slant and bias that he added for his desired effect, we are still plenty concerned with the direction of health care in the United States. Anyone who chooses to ignore this issues is simply a fool . The big question is what will we do about it? It is time to unite and conquer! Remember the slogan from the movie Network? "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" That is exactly what Americans with or without health care need to do.
We have plenty of expertise right here in our own family...teachers, entertainers, lawyers, health care providers, accountants...we should be able to come up with a plan.
Get involved, start here...http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/sicko
Or maybe we should all move to France or Cuba...Canada is too cold!