The Rest of Saturday's Tail . . .

Ok, the story I got on why police showed up Saturday was that the neighbors called the police to report that L and I were harassing them. L stood around and waited for the officers to arrive and -- long story short-- showed them the picture of the dog in my yard and that was that.

Had I known that, I would have wanted to be present for that conversation. I had nothing to contribute, the picture said it all, I just wanted to hear that woman ranting and raving at the officer. I wanted to hear the words that went with all the gesturing and pointing I could see from the window.

I just learned that that wasn't entirely accurate. The animal control officer was the one to call the police after the couple next door approached her and the woman got up in L's face in a threatening manner. The woman next door told the cops we were harassing her but when questioned her story kept changing. The dogs were hers one minute and her brother's the next. Then she'd go on to refer to them as hers all over again. Freak.

Now that's a dead dog!

Oh more neighba drama.

This morning at 7:01, a daycare parent (we'll call her "T") arrived in my driveway with her infant and preschooler for daycare as usual. As she was getting out of the car she noticed that the pit bull next door was on the loose yet again. The animal shelter was not open yet so T called the police and made a report. The officer she spoke to was kind enough to brief her on how the law worked in cases like this so now we are a little smarter. We don't have to depend on the animal shelter for our safety, T can get a warrant against them just as well. T called and informed me that she was going to be doing the warrant thing right after work this afternoon.

But wait, there's more!

At 8:50am I started out my front door to put something in the mail and guess who was there to greet me?

Now, just for the documented record, this picture was not taken Saturday with the one currently posted and on file at the animal shelter. The difference can be noted that my husband's truck is not in this picture and the neighbor across the street's white car is also absent in this photograph.

Yep. I ran back in to get the camera and the phone. I called the animal shelter with a gruff voice and asked that they do something now!

They did. L was here before my picture could finish printing and the dog was still in my yard! When I spotted her she was already taking her own pics. Then another city truck pulled up and blocked the neighbors driveway. He got out and both went after the dog but the owner openned the door and yanked on the dog and slung it inside the house and slammed the door (I didn't see that, I heard about it later). Apparently not before the dog turned on L and she took pictures. That's good. Glad she wasn't attacked.

They hung around for 30 minutes or so. I was waiting to see if the dog would be captured. It wasn't, but it will be. It's a matter of time. I didn't think anyone was home next door because I didn't hear any cussing but while the animal control officers were here, Nick, who is adamant that he doesn't live there though we all know he does, backed the car to the end of the driveway. I saw L walking toward his car (or her truck) with a blue piece of paper in her hand but I couldn't see her after that and am not sure if it was something she handed to him or if she was just going to move her truck. I'll find out later I'm sure.

So, the dog is still around, but not for long, warrants are in the making, I have a landlord to talk to, and you know there will be more on this blog really soon so stay tuned to this bat station, same bat time, same bat place. . .

To the Great Value bread guy:

You're not going to pick up chicks in the grocery store with a loaf of store brand bread in your buggy!

Yesterday Laura and I went to Walmart to pick up a few things. In our cart we had a few scains of yarn, a hair product, Windex, and a half gallon of milk. Laura was picking out Progresso soups and I was acting bored when around the corner came this fellow with a buggy load. I mean over $200 worth filling the cart to where not another item could possibly be placed in the cart withoutcausing a landslide to the floor. There were multiple bags of Doritos, Tortinos pizzas, mac and cheese (and not the Cheesiest either), and a whole lot of trash. Crowning the heap was a single loaf of Great Value bread.

Now I'm not one to judge a person by what's in his cart, normally. I don't usually not the contents of another's cart, normally. But as this guy was passing us in the aisle he offered to trade carts with us. Is this a new pick up line? That's when I took a look as his swollen mound (the loaded buggy you sicko) and told him, "No way, we can't afford you."

He asked, "Now what's wrong with what I've got?" Which caused me to glance ever so quickly. . . nevermind. I told him his cart had nothing to offer but trash.

The next words out of his mouth were, "So, where are your husbands?"

Now, I'm not sure how we got from junk food choices to hubby's but I offered up a quick (and honest), "On the couch." and turned to push the cart but he wasn't done with us. He asked Laura what about her's to which she replied that she wasn't married yet.

He prodded more, "Yet? When's the big day?" I pushed the cart a little further and with my back to him said something like 2012 or maybe 2013. He continued on with a comment about her being too young to date. I kept pushing the buggy.

When we got around the corner Laura grinned at me and teased, "Oooooohhh, he was hitting on you!" I didn't think so. I think he was just throwing his line aimlessly hoping to drag something in. Recently divorced and horny, that was it.

It was then that I realized that I wasn't wearing my wedding rings. It's been so cold that I can't keep them on my finger and am afraid of losing them. I mentioned this to Laura. She asked me if anyone really looks at that. I thought about it. She may be right. I myself am an equal opportunity ogler.

This guy was well over six feet, medium build, not bad looking, not Keith but not bad, he could fix at least the horny part with a computer and a few minutes at Lavalife.com but he sure as hell wasn't going to win a date with that Great Value bread standing up there on the top of the accumulation declaring dude to be so tight his cheeks squeak when he walks."

Guess who was loose today. . .

There's more to this but I'm not really sure what it is yet.

I was walking out to my car at 9:10 this morning to get loose receipts out of my car, it's tax preparing time for me. Before I opened the car door this dog came from around my husband's truck startling me. I backed up and into the house to get my phone and my camera. I called the animal shelter to report it loose, I'm not letting anything over there slide.

Guilty again.

By the time the animal control officer (My friend) showed up the dog was tied back up. She came over to talk for a moment. We had previously discussed that my neighbors were likely to be on Section 8 housing assistance and she had just learned that if that is so having a dog or dogs is fraudulent. This was good news. When she left I started out the door to get my receipts from my car once again. L (we'll call her) was standing just off my driveway talking to the neighbor whom I could not see. Then she was leaning against the front of her truck waiting for something. A few minutes later two police cruiser pulled up and the neighbors went out to them without the officers having to go to the door. Curiouser and curiouser. I sort of think L wasn't the one who called the police. I can't wait to hear this one.

Now how interesting is this?

Last Tuesday after court my friend spotted a pit bull puppy running loose and it just happened to be in my neighbors yard. See blog titled "Dead Dog" Tuesday January 15th.

When the animal control officer went to check it out the neighbor lady--maybe lady isn't the right term--got all riled up swearing it wasn't her dog and threatening harassment charges on my friend and me.

Since then other daycare parents have reported hearing and seeing a puppy next door but when I went to look it was nowhere in sight. Tuesday morning I awoke at 4:00am to what sounded like a puppy crying outside my bedroom door. The only thing that kept me from investigating then was my toasty Tempurpedic bed inside and the sleeting rain outside. Today during naptime I heard the puppy crying again and ran to get my camera but the batteries were dead. I put them on the charger and forgot about it until later in the afternoon when one daycare mother, the animal control officer, was pulling out of my driveway and spotted the little white puppy that definitely did not belong to the people at 911 C. St. tied up in their back yard with their other dog. She called me and of course I immediately grabbed my friend the camera, now with freshly charged batteries, and snapped a dozen or so pictures over my fence. I couldn't actually see either dog so I just aimed all over the yard and look what I found.

Apparently I'm not as stealthy as I'd like to think I am. The woman must have seen the flash once or twice because she came out screaming and hollering the "F" word (and I'm not talking about "flip") and I think she threatened bodily harm a couple of times. At some point she came up to my fence and must have smashed her face up against it trying to see in as she offered yet more obscenities.

Busted!

Aint that sweet. Suppose the woman next door would like a pic of her doggies getting along so well together? Perhaps not.

SNOW!

It may not be much but it's about all we see and I love it!

Dead Dog?

This morning at 8:30 three my daycare parents along with the city's attorney met with my neighbors and their attorney. They were instructed to try to settle rather than seeing the judge so that is what they did.

Apparently the only dog being considered today was the one offending September 7th. I guess they forgot about the zillions of calls I've made to the animal shelter about the other dogs on the property. Sometimes they've had up to five of them and sometimes more than one was loose at a time. This one chased one of my daycare parents and her children to her car and showed it's teeth at the animal control officer. Bad dog. The owner claims the dog is now dead. The dog that was alive and barking yesterday morning is now dead. Fishy? I can't believe the attorney for the city bought this. nobody else did.

While at city hall one of the witnesses, a daycare parent, called to ask me how many dogs were on the property this morning. I told her I could just see the brown and white pit bull that animal services had complaints on just last Thursday. Seems it was out roaming around disturbing neighbors across the street but when the officer (a daycare parent also) arrived, the dog was on it own property so she could not pick it up, only ask the owner to tie it back up. I did not make that call. I didn't even see it loose. But they get to keep it now.

This dog.

The settlement basically says that that dead dog is not to return to the property in the next twelve months and they are to only have the one dog on the property for the same time period.

I sure wish I had been there to here it for myself. I would have protested when the attorney asked if this was good for everybody. HELL NO it's not good. I can't agree to a settlement based on such an obvious lie just because the attorney wants to settle all his cases before lunch. No way. I would have been happy with the dog owner stating that he has placed the dog in the care of friends or family members with a properly fenced in yard and the dog will not be returning to the property. Now that's reasonable. Instead that lazy lawyer allowed these imbeciles to insult the intelligence of the court and everybody there with this dead dog bullshit. That's just wrong. I'm a bit angry.

One of the daycare parents stopped to get a sub on her way to my house. As she pulled into the driveway there was a little white dog in the carport of the house next door. She grinned and looked at me, I knew she was thinking what I was thinking so I got her the number and I grabbed my camera and we made a report. Ten minutes after the neighbors got home from court the animal control officer was in their driveway. Apparently the woman was a bit irritated at the visit. The dog didn't belong to them (and we didn't think it did but it was loose and at that location thus our report). Apparently there was some talk of harassment charges against my friend and me. Animal services did not find the little white mutt but we have a good picture of it just to keep our butts out of jail!



Of course the report was spiteful but there was a dog loose and as a family childcare provider parents are depending on me to keep their children safe and I take that responsibility very seriously whether the City of Decatur Alabama does or not. You know this aint over!

Testy, Testy

Looks like the neighbors are getting a little edgy.

Tuesday is the court date about the dog stuff. I was outside standing on the curb across the street taking pictures of the space between our houses relative to where the dogs were kept and my daycare entrance and also my fence. The neighbor (I forget her name) came out yelling. The first that I could discern was, "Are you takin' pictures of my house?"

I answered, "Nope, I'm taking pictures of my fence."

She went on with, "I appreciate you taking pictures of my house!" I think what she meant was that she didn't appreciate my taking pictures of her house. It's the lingo I know. I'm learning a bit about the slang by watching Judge Joe Brown. For instance, I've learned that conversating (if indeed it is even a word) means talking and talking means having sex. Just thought you'd want to know. Anyway, so I went on to offer her a print. I had to repeat it several times so I guess she didn't understand that I meant a print of the picture of my fence so I gave the A-OK hand gesture and turned to go back inside. I wasn't through with my picture taking but I didn't want to upset her further. From my back I heard her yell, "Smart ass!"

Yes, I am keeping my doors locked the next couple of days or so.

It's my thinking that I can take all the pictures I want as long as I'm not standing in their yard. Yes? So now I'm posting it on the internet!

It's a Boy!

Or at least it's going to be. Sarah had an ultra sound done today.

Sarah was so funny. She called me on her way back to Clarksville after the doctor visit. She said, "Mom, there's something wrong with my little girl. She has a penis."

I was wondering if Warren was going to be confused by this little revelation because they had been calling Sarah's tummy "Sadie" for so long. She said it's ok Mom, I've already talked to Warren and told him we may have to start calling Sadie something else after today.

They so funny!

Yesterday the power went off mid-afternoon for about twenty minutes. It was a cloudy dreary day so I opened the outside door for a little light and slid the window in the door open for a little fresh air. As I did, I heard my notorious neighbors come outside, slam the door, and start to argue. No, not just argue, it appeared between the fence slats that they were shoving and/or punching each other. I thought I'd better closed the door quick so the children would not hear but then something yelled caught my attention. I eaves dropped a minute and then began hysterically laughing.

They were pounding each other over who forgot to pay the electric bill!

More Sunday in Puerto Rico

After the visit to the fort on Sunday, our group was dropped off downtown. Rick and I already had our maps marked for the Hard Rock Cafe, a long time custom of ours. We did a little, a very little, shopping after wards and had to hurry back to the bus. The downtown area was crowded but beautiful. The streets were barely wide enough for two cars. There was parking on one side and just room enough for one lane of traffic to creep past.

This was sort of a town square. I think it was called Plaza Colon.

This was the lovely little school. There was a neat little playground on the other side.

Back at the resort we stopped at the bar before the long walk to our bungalow. I ordered another Mojito, my favorite new Spanish word. You put an ounce and a half Bacardi Superior in a highball glass. Add about 8 mint leaves and crush with a pestle. Then another ounce and a half Bacardi Superior, half a lime sliced and squeezed, fill with ice and club soda. I think you are supposed to put a little sugar in it but who needs more sugar? After the second drink know one can taste sugar anyway. Drop on by the house some time, I'll fix you one.

We had dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort Sunday night. It was wonderful but not $118 worth. I don't think I've ever been over $100 worth of hungry in my life! A jazz band had set up at the bar and we attempted to relax for a little while but I started falling a sleep soon so we headed back to the room at about 9:00, packed up and went to bed.

We checked out a little after 5:00am Monday and met the buses at 5:45. Home again home again and of course trouble at Atlanta. We were sitting on the little puddle jumper that was to take us from Atlanta back to Huntsville. We were sitting there a long time without leaving the gate. Finally the pilot got on the speaker and said he ought to tell us what was taking so long. Apparently on the flight before someone had flushed a soda can down the toilet in first class. That's classy. The plane could not leave without draining the tank and it would not drain. This caused about a thirty minute delay. Finally they drained the tank but the can was still lodged. Nothing ever runs smoothly at Atlanta.

Sunday in Puerto Rico

Sunday was our big day. We got up early to take a bus tour to San Juan to see the Bacadi distillery, the Fort San Cristobal, and shop downtown.

Bright sunrise to the east . . .

Lovely rainbow to the west.

Our Bacardi tour guide standing beside the bat fountain. This tour is free by the way.

These are the tree murals in the foyer. The tell the story of Christopher Columbus discovering PR, the Spaniards bring sugar cane, and the pirates bringing rum. I think that's what it was.

The bar inside the Bacardi visitors center.

Us.

The front of the cisitors center.

The actual distillery building.

The Bat Pavillion shaped like an in-flight bat.

Views from the bus window.

The Fort San Cristobal

View from the fort

Which way out?

This way?

Or that?

More views from the fort.

Saturday in Puerto Rico

Saturday we slept a little later than I intended to. I think we got up at 8:00, went to breakfast, then back , aaaaaallllll the way back to the room to put on our swim suits and then aaaaaaallll the way back to the pool where we spent the better part of the day.

I stopped in the grass on my way to the pool to take a picture of these two lovely creatures. When I was satisfied I had taken the perfect shot I looked down at my flip flopped feet and they were covered with ants! Yikes! I flicked them all off and not one bit me. Definitely not Alabama ants!

The whole resort was this lovely.
I just can't take enough pictures of sand, ocean, and palm trees.

The water was so shallow one could walk all the way
out to where you see the breakers in this picture.

More wildlife at the pool.

Beds at the pool. Now tell me, is mostly naked bodies, free alcohol,
and beds all in the same venue a good idea? Just FYI, there were beds
in the bar too and they had sheers around them.

The lagoon pool. It was awesome. Didn't get over five foot deep but there were
shallow areas and the areas where you see the columns are Jacuzzi. The in the water
lounges were made of concrete and there for hard as rocks. We skipped them this year.

This was my favorite tree. I think it appears in about
a dozen of my pictures both close up and from afar.

My tree again.

The back side of the bungalows.

Awesome sunset!

Tiny little critters!

Really tiny critters!

They are trickier than they look after a few Mojitos. Mojito, my new favorite Spanish word.

Storm a brewin'.

Decorations for the banquet Saturday night.