Crazy Eights.... The Meme -->EDITED<---

So, I'm finally getting around to doing the meme I was tagged for by Asthma Girl, as promised. I'm certain that if you happen across any of my other memes, you'll find different answers to the same questions since I barely have the brain cells it takes to remember what I said five minutes ago, much less what my preferences were five minutes ago. You might start thinking I'm some kind of pathological liar, but the truth lies within my aging brain. It is the one telling lies, not I. It lies to me every day, so why wouldn't it lie to my Dear Readers as well? Anywoohoo, I'm diving in head first and hoping I don't wind up with further brain damage. Yes, that would be such a tragedy at this stage of the coach. Or is that gameboy? Whatever.

Crazy Eights:

Eight Things I have a passion for:

1. My family, unconditionally
2. Good Friends, unconditionally
3. Snow & Water Skiing, but not necessarily at the same time...
4. New clothes, new shoes, and new purses, albeit rather shallow. I love them!
5. My Cat, Trouble (actually passionate about all animals, give or take a few hundred species)
6. People With Kind Hearts & Souls
7. Silpada Jewelry (actually, love any good jewelry too, of which I have a nice supply)
8. Music, music, music... all kinds


Eight Things I Would Like to do Before I Die:

1. Enjoy grandchildren, if I live long enough (NO, this is not in any way a hint)
2. Travel to Europe, all over
3. Stay in Italy for a whole month
4. Stay in Spain for a whole month
5. Ski the Bugaboos in Canada
6. Sell our big home & buy a more manageable one with nothing but a garage, a pool & pool house in the back. Low maintenance all around would work nicely for me.
7. Swim every day in the nude, in my own private pool
8. Visit the Grand Canyon & do a raft trip down the river


Eight Things I Say a Lot:

1. Who left the toilet seat up? (however, there is only one person to answer that question, so it's a moot point)
2. Hey, we're not trying to cure cancer here and this isn't rocket science. Relax & have fun.
3. A mind is a terrible thing to waste... until you reach my age, at which point you have no choice.
4. Asshole... mostly directed at idiot drivers talking on cells instead of actually trying to drive.
5. Here kittty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty... Get your ass in here now or you are out for the night!
6. How was your day, babe? (or honey or darlin' or dear, etc.)
7. Oh Shit.
8. Love ya... Mean it!
9. FUCK (okay, I decided to be honest after all)

Eight Books I Have Read Listened to Recently:

1. Glass Castles
2. True Evil
3. It Ain't All About Cookin' (Paula Deen)
4. The Last Juror
5. You've Been Warned
6. Eleventh Hour
7. Hard Truth
8. Hatch Chile Pepper Recipe Book (available ONLY AT the older Austin Central Market, in person)


Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times:

1. Out of Africa
2. Last of The Mohicans
3. The Postman
4. Dances With Wolves
5. Wuthering Heights
6. Under The Tuscan Sun
7. Sense & Sensibility
8. The Day After Tomorrow
9. Saving Grace (Wait! I have more!)


Eight People I Have to Invite to do This Meme: (and actually, if I tag you & you're too busy to do it, then by all means Blow It Off! This is supposed to be fun & it won't ruffle my fur in the least. Also, if you want to participate, please feel free to wait until after Independence Day, but be sure to let me know either way!)

1. Tammy (The Color of Home)
2. Daryl (out and about in new york city)
3. Treasia (Confessions of a Mid-Life Trucker's Wife)
4. Meg (Lucchese to Louis Vuitton)
5. The Queen (Queen of the Planet Hot Flash)
6. Sistah #1 (Holy Crappers)
7. Sistah #2 (Holy Crappers)
8. Sarcastic, Funny and Brutally Honest (http://funnymommy.blogspot.com/)

Anyway, IF you decide to do this, just have fun with it!!

Camera Critters Sunday..... A New Life

For Camera Critters Sunday I thought I'd bring you a picture of a White Tail Deer Fawn who was born in the flower bed just outside our sliding glass doors at our former lake house one Summer, as well as one of her mother, who was our White Tail friend.

Someday I will tell you my many stories from the 20+ years we owned the lake house, but for now I'd like to share this particular tale of the little fawn.

One Summer the kids & I were at the lake house for the duration of the hot months since the children were still small and didn't have dozens of activities to keep them at home yet. So, we'd usually pack up like The Beverly Hillbillys into the Suburban and head to the lake we called ours, in the Texas Hill Country. Since the children were still toddlers, we didn't yet let them bring friends. It was a huge place with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and an enormous great room with the kitchen in the center of it all. One entire side of the great room was plate glass windows, as well as half of another, like an L shape. There was one set of sliding glass doors at one end and another set of glass doors at the other end. Both entries had steps (or a stoop) leading down to the patio with flower beds lining the entire patio. We only ever used one of the entrances and the other was almost as if no one even knew that it was there. It was in the bed by this stoop that the doe decided to have her fawn.

We always had dozens of deer at the lake that came right up into the yard and we always kept lots of corn on hand for the kids and guests to feed them. They were also a great garbage disposal resource for things like watermelon rind, apple cores and the like. They were also handy to have around in case of snakes, because a White Tail deer will either kill the snake or tree them. We always had a plentiful supply of rattlesnakes, so I was comforted by the presence of the deer, spending a small fortune on deer corn in order to keep them there.

For around 4 or 5 years we had a semi-pet deer who knew us and came to see us every time we were there and the kids named her Mama Deer (yes, I know... not very original). We always knew which one she was because she had a clipped ear, as if it had been bitten off in a fight. But, she would come up to any of us and eat from our hands, which was a great source of glee for the kids. She was just precious and always so gentle around the babies. My children both still remember her vividly. This was back before Lyme's Disease and huge tick infestations and we had several great horned owls that lived on the property. They worked very hard at keeping pests and varmints trimmed back.

Anyway, fire ants had at last made their way into the Hill Country several years earlier so we were constantly battling them. Many times we would find newborn fawns already dead on the property, killed by fire ants. So, when this precious baby was born in the bed on the porch, we just knew it had to be Mama Deer's. She would have been the only one who trusted us enough to fawn by the porch. Sure enough, a couple of days later, we saw her with her fawn. I always thought she must have known that close to the house was a safe place away from the ants. The fawn never took to us the way Mama Deer did and soon just became another of the small herd on the property.

Then, one year we went to the lake and Mama Deer never came and we were all so sad (alright, I bawled like a baby because it just broke my heart), yet we were thankful that we'd had her stick around for so many years. We couldn't even tell which fawn was hers by that time, so it seemed almost as if we were closing the chapter to a book. I guess we were, really. The kids were growing up and life was moving on, but Mama Deer will live forever in our hearts.

Camera Critters Sunday Meme... LuLu, the Cairn Terrier

I came across this meme yesterday @ Camera Critters and since I've been thinking about what I should write about today anyway, this comes at a very opportune moment.

We used to have a really funny Cairn Terrier named LuLu, that of course, went with us to the lake every summer. LuLu was with us for 14 wonderful years. We used to always refer to her as *The Hood Ornament* because her favorite spot in the world was at the front of the boat, with the wind blowing through her hair as we went. Occasionally our daughter would join her. They were famous friends. I did, however, always wonder what the two of them talked about.

Funny thing was that she always knew which side of the boat to stay on. You know, whether we were going into the waves or with the waves. Must have been instinct, I guess. She was a really cool dog.

LuLu also loved to swim and *eat the water* like a snapping crocodile. We always thought for sure that she'd drink so much she'd drown, but apparently she had some camel in her. When she would at last get back on the boat (with help, of course) she would have maybe 2 to 3 huge, deep, long belches. It was hysterical to hear these unbelievable belches coming from this sweet little dog. It always just cracked me up. LuLu was definitely a hoot. Except for the time she ate my brand new, never worn Sesto Meucci sandals (but she was just a puppy then and she learned her lesson, albeit the hard way).