Summertime, and the living is easy

Hey! It's summer. I'm a summer baby and love being outside. So after work is over, I'm gone baby, out there puttering in the yard. But here are some other things that I've been working on:

1. Word searches. JP cuts out all the crosswords in the Province. On the other half of the paper is the Word Search. He can do the crossword in 5-10 minutes and flips the paper over to me... I waste time on the word search. It's justified because I do learn new words and occasionally even look up the word to learn the meaning. Right?

2. Knitting. I'm working on a sweater for my mom. She bought all the supplies years ago, and then decided she really wasn't a knitter. I offered to finish it for her. It's in Sugar and Cream cotton, which I really like to work with. The front is done, I've just finished the bottom rib of the back. One sleeve will be white, one will be black.

3. Miscellaneous projects such as these little crochet circles from the first issue of Adorn. Say, what happened to Adorn? They were supposed to have their second issue out on August 6th, but it looks like they didn't make it. Too bad it was an incredible magazine. Did you get a copy? Update me on their story if you know.

4. Sunday is my night to water. Oh you want to see a woman curse? Follow me around the yard. We don't have a hose spigot in the front yard so I must hook up two hoses from the back to around the side of the house and then run back and forth to set the sprinkler position. I won't even continue with the details because it just gets me all fired up (grrr, grr)

5. And the big number five (I feel like this is a David Letterman sketch). Is my dog Jazz. Meet the little darling. Jazz is nine years old. She was given to me at 8months old. I wasn't given much of a choice. She was a rescue. She was allegedly very badly neglected and abused. Besides a lack of confidence the first few years, she's been a pretty good dog. But a year after I moved way out here (had to throw that in), I found out she was afraid of firecrackers. Well, with noise phobia, it apparently gets worse as she gets older. I live in a town with a drag racing track - so next the neightbour's dragster engine freaked her. Now it's the wood pecker and the neighbours nail gun (he's building a fence) and some motorcycles and oh yeah - the Air Show has some big rumbly planes in the sky.

We went to the vet on Friday for their annual shots (there's another dog - but I'll tell his long story another day). The vet said I've done more than any other pet owner she knows and if I chose to euthanize Jazz then she wouldn't be opposed to it. Man! That's a tough decision. Yes, I've tried Tellington TTTouch, accupuncture, naturopathic remedies plus Clomacalm, Pheromone diffuser, Diazapam, Clonazapam, Valium and even Paxil. Well, now we're on Prozac. It's $1/day. Hmmm. Jazz's charm is wearing thin.... I've tried to send her to someone who maybe doesn't live in such a noisy town. I've posted ads at the vet and on web forums, but nothing. Would you like a doggie?

There, now you know. That's what I spend my time doing in the summer.