Lady Luck
Although I usually feel as if I'm jinxed, this past weekend I was lucky all around:
1. It was warm and sunny at the beach (a rarity in Oregon, especially in May)! This made for a wonderful day for the Cause 4 Paws fundraising event. And, hubby, friend, and I were able to take a late-night walk on the beach without freezing our butts off.
2. I won an auction for a pet stroller! I've been wanting one for my special terrier boy, Sandy, for a long time. He's 13 years old and has some medical issues. He loves going places and almost always accompanies me when I have a booth at outdoor venues. I have a pet sling that I carry him in during the street fairs. However, my shoulders, back, and arms get mighty sore after carrying around my 21-pound baby. So now not only do I have a super-nice stroller for him, but the money I spent on it all goes to the animals at the shelter in Lincoln county.
3. Hubby and I made an awesome new friend! We shared a beach house with another crafter. Since I had previously only met her online, who knew what we were in for? Luckily, Gloria turned out to be a really cool person. Gloria, Aron, and I hit it off and became good friends almost immediately. We quickly realized we have a lot in common: a love for dogs and reggae music. We all had a lot of fun hanging out together. The only bad part is that she lives about 4 hours from us, so we won't be able to get together very often.

Heat Wave
Hubby, Sandy, and I will be braving the sudden heat wave to man our booth at the Alberta Hop today. This is our 3rd year doing it. We'll be sharing our booth with Bread and Badger, who makes super-cool etched glass accessories. If you're in the Portland metro area, come on by. It's always a ton of fun!

Mommy Dearest
Yesterday was my mom's birthday. In honor of that, here's my favorite photo of her. I'm not sure how old she was when it was taken. I think she looks like a movie star!

If You Were A Little Girl In The 70's (or early 80's)...
-You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.
-You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.
-You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)
-You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.
-You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie," not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill".
-You owned a "Slip-n-Slide", on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.
-You begged Santa/Hannukah Harry for the electronic game, Simon.
-You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle).
-You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; and you despised Nellie Olson!
-PONG! was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of!
-You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin & Huckleberry Pie. -You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.
-You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.
-YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!
-It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!
-You did lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick G-d's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.
-You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!
-You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.
-You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books. (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)
-You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics. (?? its not??)
-You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.
-You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.
-You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first "real" perfume you ever owned.
-You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off.

Speechless
I know I haven't written in quite a well, but I guess I haven't had much to say. Yes, I know that's hard to believe for those of you who know me well! I did have my first craft booth of the year about a week ago. Unfortunately, not many people showed up to the event. I feel lucky to have at least made my booth fee plus a little. I did have a good time catching up with some crafty friends I hadn't seen since the holidays. Now I'm trying to get ready for 3 craft show weekends in a row; May is gonna be a busy month!

I can't resist sharing this cute pic of what I found after dinner at my parents' house the other night: hubby and Herby snoozing together on the couch!

Happy Birthday, Sandman!
Yesterday was Sandy's 13th birthday. I don't know his actual date of birth. But the day I chose him as my foster dog was April 1, 1996 and they estimated him to be about one year old then. Yes, I said foster dog. But, after I'd had him for two months, I decided there was no way that I could part with him and he became my forever dog.

He's my special boy b/c we've been through a lot together: a long bad relationship, 2 cross-country moves, college and graduate school, seizures and urine-leaking (him, not me!). He was the ring bearer in my wedding almost 3 years ago. Of all my fur-kids, he is my shadow. He's always with me at home and during the summer when I have craft booths, he's my assistant (in addition to my hubby). He's excellent at drawing in customers and loves feeling special b/c his two dog brothers don't get to come!

Happy Birthday, Roo Roo!
Not only is it St Patrick's day today, but it's also Roo's 13th birthday! He's the only one of my 7 children whose exact birthday I know. I know his b/c he was born on my living room floor! I can't believe it's been 13 years since he was born. I'm feeling old today! We've been through a lot together, including 2 cross-country moves.
When I was in college, I lived in an apartment complex in California where there were tons of homeless (unspayed and unneutered) cats. After adopting one (Magritte), I decided to take in another: a very sweet manx tuxedo cat I named Sylvester. When I took Sylvester to the vet to be "fixed," I had to rename the cat Sylvia!!! And, she was already pregnant. So, I ended up keeping Sylvia and one of her sons, Roo. My beloved girl, Sylvia, passed away from kidney failure 7 years ago. But, I'm so fortunate to still have her special boy, Roo.