Don't call me whitie.....

2009-05-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

I am tired of being called a liberal as though this is equal to being a steaming pile of poo. I do not consider myself to be a liberal. I do not consider myself to be a conservative. In fact, the last time I checked I was an American and entitled to my opinions and you to yours. I think that living in a country with all of our diversity and adversity is what makes us great. I have completely lost sight of what it means to be a liberal. I am simply an American who believes that women have the right to choose. I believe that no matter who you love you should have the same rights as everyone else. I believe that I have a right to choose my own faith or lack of it. I believe if I work hard to make a living and support my family, I should have some say in who I "help" with that money. I believe that drug testing should be mandatory for ALL welfare recipients. I believe in the good that our military is capable of doing at home and globally. I believe the environment is important and we should protect it. I do not believe in killing spiders, snakes, ants or other creatures that the human race finds annoying. I believe in the food chain. I believe in evolution. I believe in the goodness of mankind. I believe in love. Does this make me a liberal or do you just need a label for something that you do not agree with?

Don't tie up my barking Chihuahua

2009-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

12:30 pm on a Saturday morning:

It is the middle of winter holiday break and my husband and I have not made it out of bed just yet. Mind you we are not still sleeping, however our children who are downstairs watching cartoons are not privy to this information. Earl, the pitbull who is outside, is barking like the vicious attack dog that he is. He barks for about 5 minutes. Earl does not usually bark. Something must be up...

We are "interrupted" by knocking on our front door. My first thought is that the neighbors dog has gotten into the yard and making Earl nuts. My oldest daughter bounds up the stairs to tell us that our neighbor Jared is at the door complaining about the dog barking and that he is keeping the new baby (who will be 2 this year) awake. My daughter has told him that we are still sleeping.

We have been friendly with our neighbors Jared and Sara since they moved in a few years ago, however, the tone of our relationship changed noticably since the primaries when their yard dawned a Mike Huckaby sign and ours Obama.

So, now it is the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday, Jared is standing in our doorway, and the evil Obama supporters are still sleeping.

Steve gets dressed and goes downstairs. Jared asks if there is anything we can do to make our dog stop barking. He says "Everyone has a right to a dog" and then suggests that we should get an anti-barking collar for Earl. Since Earl has only been barking for about five minutes, Steve asks if he is barking when we are not home and if the barking is constant. The answer to this is no. Steve tells Jared that we will not be getting any special collars for our dog, but that we will do what we can. Jared leaves. We go out back to find Earl barking like mad at a rogue Wal-Mart bag that has gotten stuck in the tree by his kennel. Problem solved. WTF?

Steve and I go back and forth about what we should do. We can not move Earl's kennel to the other side of the house because it gets the most shade where it currently is positioned on the side of the house and he is only in the kennel when we are not home. The problem is that Steve has become a wreck every time Earl barks. I think Jared can stuff it because I work from home 2 days a week and am home by 2 the other days and I know that Earl is not a problem barker. He is just a dog and dogs bark. I am not over there telling them to shut their baby up.

Tuesday...recycle day... a few weeks later

It is about 2 p.m. and I have just gotten home from the office. The recycle buckets are still at the curb. It is windy and I noticed that Jared and Sara's recyclables are starting to blow all over their yard. Since we are in the center of a cul-de-sac our yard seems to collect any garbage that gets free on trash days. So I go over and start picking up the trash and returning it to their recycle bucket. This when I notice that it appears that they are recycling ALL of the garbage. A bucket flowing over with literally every scrap of garbage that they have accumilated over the week. I thought I over did it with the recycling, but there were saucy lasagna pans from dinner, used paper towels and napkins and a large box full of styrofoam peanuts that blows open while I am standing there and covers their lawn with a nice layer of non-recyclable snow.

I go inside. Earl is out back going nuts. The dreaded Wal-Mart bag has once again found its way to our tree. My dog is barking at their garbage that has blown into our yard. The bag blows free. Earl attacks. I pick up the rest of the trash that has found its way to our yard.

I am looking forward to the next time I see them and can recommend to them that they get some sort of wind resistant gadget for their garbage. I am starting to become bitter towards my neighbors.

A few hours later, I am leaving to take the girls to gymnastics and there is a tiny tiny Chihuahua puppy trying to get at a pizza box in my recycle bucket. I assume that the dog belongs to my neighbors on the other side since they seem to have a revolving door of animals. I approach the dog and as he starts to freak and run next door, I notice that he has broken free from some sort of cable. The little guy weighs about 3 pounds and was tied up in the back yard. I take the dog next door. I am hoping that no one is there. My plan is to take the dog to gymnastics with me and announce Free Puppy Tuesday. The door opens and the old man that we think has moved in with our neighbors thanks me and points to the dogs broken cable as if to say... "ahhh that is how he got out"

I am saddened by this.

Today I peak through the fence. There is Sr. Chihuahua. Tightly secured.

What is wrong with people.......

Don't call me whitie.....

Don't tie up my barking Chihuahua