And yet... another dog story... and what's this, someone has challenged me?

It was the morning of Ryan's annual birthday party. Lucky guy, his birthday is in June so hosting a party is a lot more fun because we can all hang outside. The theme of his party this particular year was a beach theme. We dumped sand over the cement patio and set up two kiddie pools in the green belt. 

The party went off with only a couple of hitches. The first one was the drama with the dogs in the morning, the second one, someone clogged the toilet. I say – how embarrassing is that??? Of course it was a girl and apparently a rather uneducated one about plumbing. She just kept flushing, even though it wasn't flushing. She ran out of the house in a panic - "TRACEE!!!" I quickly calmed her down and tried to fix her blunder with no one else knowing, but she had flooded our bathroom and I needed someone to help me fix it. So, naturally, I went to go grab Ryan. "NO, you can't, this is so embarrassing!" She pleaded. "Listen, it's not embarrassing now, it will be after I get Ryan – you WILL never hear the end of this from him. But.. YOU CLOGGED our toilet and now it's FLOODING… You're ego will need to be set aside for a few minutes." Ryan came and fixed it, helped me clean it up and then went and announced to all our party guests that "so and so" clogged our toilet. 

But… back to the original story. Ryan and I were making Watermelon Salsa, it sounds strange, but it's SO good. Ryan was cutting up the watermelon and I the jalapeños. He goes into the living room to grab something and screams. A really, really bad word. I run around the corner and there it was, wide open – the front door. "Ryan, THE DOGS!!!" We bolt out the front door pret-near jamming ourselves in the door frame trying to both get out at the same time. He throws down his knife in the front yard and looks at me all stern, "YOU – that way, I'll go this way." And off to the races we went, screaming all the dogs names as loud as possible. "ANAHEIM, LOUIS, SNOSNO, LILLI" It felt like an hour before I saw two of them… THEY HAD CROSSED A HIGHWAY and were just sniffing around like no bodies business. Side note: I was bare foot, in Ryan's boxer shorts and a sports bra. I ran across that highway so fast, I was going to hug them and then strangle them. Then he looks up, Anaheim, and I see terror in his eyes. I know what he's thinking, Crap, Mom's mad, he quickly looks at Lilli and they bolt. Jumped between a fence and a bush, a space much too small for me to squeeze through. Thank GOD there was a kind lady that ran out to me with two leashes and helped me catch them. The WHOLE walk back to the house I was ranting, "You two – well I ought to. I can't believe you just did that to me. WOULD IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO YOU??? Say, get hit by a car, stolen. Don't, don't speak to me!" Yep, I looked crazy – there I was, a girl, barefoot, in men's underwear, wearing only  a sports bra, walking two dogs and ranting. 

Anaheim, Lilli and I get back to the house and Ryan has captured the two little ones. I look at him and say, "I don't even want to hear about where THEY went."

Wait a second! My face, it was on fire… burning, I could barely see straight. Did I get sunburned in those 20 minutes, was I that stressed out??? I run to the bathroom, wash my face with cold water and look up into the mirror. I was red and blotchy. Holy SNIKEY's, jalapeño juice… I had forgotten I was cutting up jalapeños and in the chase I touched my face. 

I run down to Ryan, "What am I suppose to do now?" Ryan was quickly stricken by an overwhelming sense to laugh – and could not speak.

"See if I EVER make you watermelon salsa again, YOU'RE Fired!" 

Like I said, only a couple of hitches.

One of my blog readers sent me a challenge:

I encourage you to take a picture of your nails and post it every day. I'd love to cheer you on and get a visual image of how you are doing. You'd have to go public with the results which requires a BIG commitment. Are you willing? 

Game on Vicki… Day 6; when I get the chance, I'll have Ryan take pictures of both hands.

Look - they even have a little white on the end.

Comments

[Kathy]

looking great! can fancy manicures be far behind?? :)

[Shannon McDowall]

I quit chewing my nails years ago...except when I get anxious. I "pick" at them and the next thing you know...gone! It doesn't happen often anymore. I usually have to cut mine now. I don't like them being much longer than my finger. I do remember the first time I actually broke a nail...it was awesome! I have never done that before. Good luck to you. Once they get a little longer and you have to cut or it breaks or, God forbid, you chew it off it will feel sooo weird, but only for a day to two.
Ps: love your quilts! I'm cheering you on!

[Tracee Doran]

Kathy - manicure on the 17th! Yeah!

Shannon, I can't wait to break a nail, it sounds so exciting!