The Stealthy Hound

The marks on the carpet were faint, but suspicious. When you own a beagle, or part beagle, as we do, your o-shit-o-meter goes haywire when you see marks on carpet after you've been out, especially when someone else has been watching your hound. Christmas eve services were lovely. Quite beautiful. Got home after midnight... Blondie … Continue reading The Stealthy Hound →

The Dog, the Rector and the Ant Hill Honey Dance

From the time Abby the puggle was a puppy, the house next to my parents was vacant – so growing up, when my mom took her for short walks (and to check on the property), they would walk around the house – across the driveway, around the far side of the house (there are large … Continue reading The Dog, the Rector and the Ant Hill Honey Dance →

Getting Your Kids to Pull the Plug…On a Budget?

I love my son, dearly and beyond measure, but at times he makes me seriously bonko. Strangely, he seems to feel the same about me. He’s now 22, and it doesn’t seem to be changing. I suppose we’re gonna have to settle in and deal with it. He drove me to the airport this morning. … Continue reading Getting Your Kids to Pull the Plug…On a Budget? →

Multi-Generational Travel…

My mom is not one to complain, but when she couldn’t make her earphones work for the seatback entertainment system on the American Airlines ride home from Miami - LA, I tried to plug them in for her. “You know, deah,” she said mildly, “I DO know how to plug in a set of headphones.” … Continue reading Multi-Generational Travel… →

Picture This…

Imagine having professional photographers take as many pictures of you as you want, provided you can handle any potentially impatient people waiting their turn for the same treatment. On the first day of the cruise, Mummy bought the unlimited photo package, so every photo containing herself OR Blondie (her roommate and granddaughter) are hers to … Continue reading Picture This… →

Turtles, Stingrays and Rusty Busses

Tossed our sorry asses outta bed at six...me, beloved and Blondie (the daughter), off to cuddle some stingrays (again... for those who don’t remember my prior adventures with a half-blind bitey stingray and would like to know, it’s in the menu for this blog). Stuffed ourselves into still-mildly damp swimming cozzies. Choked down breakfast and … Continue reading Turtles, Stingrays and Rusty Busses →

From the Bloody Depths of Mudbug Soup…

We had dinner this evening at the upscale (read: $29 bonus charge) restaurant... actually, they call it a cafe... and for an extra 58 smackers on toppa our cruise fare, a cafe? Still, it was an incentive for booking, so we didn't actually pay for it. The Bayou Cafe. For all who know me, and … Continue reading From the Bloody Depths of Mudbug Soup… →

The Ottoman at Pride

Anchorage Pride...Drag queens! Trannies! Ecstatic baby dykes! The whole complement was in attendance, which was great. And 48, count them forty eight entrants in the parade. Holy moly. There were a lot of businesses who desperately want to let the LGBTQ community know they love us. (They know where the disposable income lies, and it’s … Continue reading The Ottoman at Pride →

I Couldn’t Find Nemo Either…

The lagoon was quite pretty from the exterior. It was what lurked below that was... well... So we reserved a “GLASS BOTTOMED KAYAK” in a lagoon in Princess Cays, The Bahamas. How can that not be awesome, right? The description on the website for this excursion reads: “From this unique perspective you can see the … Continue reading I Couldn’t Find Nemo Either… →

Heading out to Family Madness

So our journey out to the greater Miami/Ft Lauderdale area itself was relatively uneventful. The months leading up to it, however, were unmitigated torture. We started out with seven. Me, Beloved, our two (Blondie, 27 and The Boy, 22), my mother, 81, and my sister’s two (my niece 26, and nephew 23). My sister couldn’t … Continue reading Heading out to Family Madness →