Today was the semi-annual Greyhound picnic at Al Lopez Park in Tampa, FL. It was sponsored by Greyhound Rescues and Adoptions of Tampa Bay, FL Inc. It was a gorgeous fall day and perfect weather for a picnic (my apologies to those in the north reading my blog!). I love raffles (or is that I love to gamble?) and my tickets paid off. We left with four buckets of dog treats and a Godiva gift basket. I'm a lucky girl, I tell ya. After woofing down some lunch, there was a costume contest and Princess Leah won. Abby entered the contest for longest tail but at 21 inches she was shy two inches from becoming the winner. Abby's foster mom, Norma, was there and each time you go you recognize more and more people. Norma took care of Abby while Curt was in Iraq and she takes care of Abby when we go on vacation or away for the weekend. What I didn't realize was that she always give half of the money she earns for taking care of Abby to an organization that helps rescue the dogs - the hard core cases. What a wonderful woman. The dogs didn't have much to say since they truly are among the quietest in the animal kingdom but they do make for greyt pictures!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
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Thursday, November 8, 2007
Sweet 16!
On Saturday, November 10, Curt and I will celebrate 16 years of marriage. It is always a time of reflection. Where have we been, where are we now, where are we going? It occurred to me that I could only remember the way we celebrated our first anniversary but fortunately I keep a diary. I decided to go back and take a look at all of those special days. Diaries are great. I've kept one for over 20 years. Now, for some excerpts...
11/10/00
A couple of things you may or may not know about Brandt.
1. As company commander he was supposed to be our senior because he was a
captain and we were his
lieutenants
as luck would have it all 3 lieutenants were older than him
one had been to ranger school before him
but what bothered him the most was that my car was older and had more
miles on it than his
so instead of being a father figure to us he was more like a more
knowledgeable warrior brother
2.Brandt says about 5 maybe 6 words a month - you better listen when he
opens his mouth - because it is usually intelligent and highly relevant to
whatever situation you happen to be in
3. H e doesn't freak out when things are going real bad - even when a
battalion commander is having a sense of humor failure with him because
brandt refuses to do the West Point Teapot dance...
4. (refer back to number2) imagine our surprise when we (the lieutenants)
were in the middle of an operations order and Brandt all of a sudden out of
nowhere comments "the neighborlady made me cookies - they were good"
This was big news, no one had ever heard him say so much in one sentence
let alone divulge details of his personal life- by way of comparison, for
him this was the equivalent of writing a novel the length of "War and
Peace" .
5. ANy ways he never did give up any of the cookies or the lady behind them
- our secret theory was that he was afraid that if she met any of us she
would abandon him because we are all really good looking (especially fred
from Mississippi) we concluded that anything that he would guard so closely
must be a rare treasure indeed. Eventually his command time was up and he
was replaced by a commander of epic proportions so I never did hear the end
of the cookie lady mystery but am glad that it had a happy ending .
I remain
your humble servant
Lt Joyce
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Xtra, Xtra, Read All About Me!
It's Scorpio season (Oct 24 - Nov 22). The dates may differ slightly depending on your reference. My reference is Linda Goodman's "Sun Signs." This book is pretty cool because the author divides each astrological sign into six parts. For example, there is How to Recognize Scorpio, The Scorpio Man, The Scorpio Woman, The Scorpio Child, The Scorpio Boss, and The Scorpio Employee. Goodman also wrote another book called "Love Signs" in which she pairs all possibilities of signs for their compatibility. I'm not saying I believe in all of this but I've selected some excerpts from The Scorpio Woman that I felt were worth sharing.
The female Scorpio has a deep, mysterious beauty. she's magnetic, proud and totally confident. But she has one regret. She was not born a man.
I can almost feel the heat from here when Pluto women hear about that revelation. There's not a Scorpio female alive who doesn't think she's all woman, and you may wonder what I'm talking about yourself, if you're in love with one. This girl certainly has enough glamour, and she's enormously seductive. But I didn't say she looked like a boy, nor did I intend to imply she doesn't do a bang-up job of being a female. It's just that, unconsciously, she would prefer to be a man. Less restriction--more opportunity. It's the one secret she even hides from herself, and seeing it exposed won't sit well with her.
Once the Scorpio girl has figured out the diffference between blue booties and pink booties, she'll resign herself to wearing the pink ones, because she's fabulous at making the best out of a situation. But pink is not her natural color. The true shade of her nature is dark maroon, or deep wine-red, not a female color at all. However, to give her proper tribute, she's able to make you think it is. I know one who's great at pretending to be a fragile, fluffy kitten. She purrs so contentedly, most men guess she's an ultra-feminine Piscean. They topple into her trap and wake up later, sadder but wiser. She is no kitten.
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The Scorpio girl walks toward you slowly, seductively, and silently delivers her private message. It's puzzling, but these women can look seductive in jeans, jodhpurs, or basketball shoes.
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I wouldn't advise you to insult a Scorpio. It's just not healthy. If you don't know what I mean, ask someone who has. He may have some stories to tell that will curl your hair.
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Having once acheived closeness with a female Scorpio, you can be positive you're a unique and unusual man. You can also be sure that her love for you is unmatched by any you'll ever experience--and you can take that in several ways. You'll be the most important interest in her life. If she's a typical Pluto girl, she'll boost you loyally, and try to please you with passionate intensity. If you're too hard to please, she'll show her frustration with passionate attempts to conquer your disinterest.
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She's never just slightly interested. It's impossible for her to be detached or casual. She seldom likes or dislikes a play, a book, religion, furniture or people. She either bitterly resents or she intensely worships. If one of these two passions can't be aroused, then she totally ignores, with ice around the edges. Yet, through it all, she'll remain essentially untouched by emotional storms, judging at least from her placid exterior, which always drapes itself around her after each minor and major nuclear explosion.
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It's true that the Scorpio girl sometimes wanders into dangerous waters in her efforts to penetrate life, and since there's not the slightest trace of fear in her, her search may indeed take her into some weird byways. But the typical Scorpio will emerge from any discovery still strong and pure. If she allows the journey to soil her inner spirit, Pluto will punish her with anguished remorse and guilt; yet she can still call on her great strength of character to rise again, like the phoenix, from the ashes of her experiments. In Kalil Gibran's writings, the Prophet replies, in answer to a question about Evil, "Of the Good in you I can speak, but not of the Evil. For what is Evil but Good--tortured by its own hunger and thirst? When Good is hungry, it seeks food, even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters." A perfect description of Scorpio.
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A Scorpio woman will be incredibly loyal to those she finds strong and deserving, but the weak ones will never be honored by her glance. Her dignity in human relationships can make her seem aloof and snobbish. In a way, she definitely is, because she practices a personal caste system, and it's more clearly marked than than of her Leo and Capricorn sisters. All Scorpios are highly selective in friendships. They'll keep the worthy companions through an entire lifetime, and freeze the shallow, the common, or the unworthy. There's an immense store of perseverence and determination buried in the the nature of a Scorpio woman, and any time she chooses, she can call on these to help her master the excesses which may tempt her, from drink and drugs to self-destructive, ruthless revenge and dangerous depression. Sooner or later, she'll probably investigate some form of the occult, and ancient mysteries and unseen worlds will eventually have her respect, though Scorpios can range all the way from religious fervor to total atheism during a lifetime.
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As much as she needs security of home roots, she'll move if it's necessary to your career, and without any visible flinching at the uprooting. She makes an excellent wife for an army or navy man and a real jewel for a politician. There's no one she can't see through, no deception that escapes her. A Scorpio woman can tell you exactly who can be trusted and which ones you have to watch. The Pisces wife has the same ability, but she may be too soft to criticize, too ready to make excuses for the failings of others. Not so the Scorpio female. In fact, she may frequently have to check her sharp tongue and tone down her brutul analysis.
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Her natural interest in the opposite sex, even if it remains platonic, may give you as much reason to be jealous of her as she is of you. She'll probably fascinate every male in sight on occasion, and you may have to sit by while they're mesmerized. It seldom leads to anything serious, but it can cause some explosive disagreeements. In the heat of the battle, it pays to remember that her compulsion to even the score usually makes her the winner in any kind of skirmish. She gets the last word. If you tell her a lie, she may tell two. If you stubbornly refuse to kiss her good-bye in the morning after a tiff, she may refuse to kiss you goodnight for a month. The Scorpio sense of justice is as strong as the sense of revenge. Most people forget this. She'll remember every kindness and give you back double for that, too. It works both ways.
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A Scorpio woman will sometimes nearly drown you in her passion for living, yet in a real storm, her cool, calm reason and steely strength will be a life raft. Though she works her magic in strange and secret ways, her haunting eyes will always gaze at you with basic honesty, even while she remains just beyond the reach of human understanding. She's a little dangerous, perhaps, but undeniably exciting.
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