1. I made chicken-n-dumplings for dinner last night. It was yummy.
2. I know it was yummy because my teenage son had the leftovers for breakfast this morning - at 6:00 am. This is his new "thing"...one day last week he ate leftover chicken pot pie for breakfast, another morning he had leftover spaghetti. When I question this (because, you know, yuck??) he explains to me that it's "just too good NOT to eat."
3. We had a lot of rain last week, which might explain this big ol' pile of mushrooms I found growing beside the pool...
4. The rain also ushered in a cold front. It's been chilly in the mornings! Which explains why I have been taking pictures of the sunrises from inside the house!
5. Our lemon tree is dripping with fruit...
and the lemons are almost ready to be picked...
and then we will be inundated with Meyer Lemons, and I will be once again making lemon vinaigrette, lemon cookies, lemon muffins, lemon bread, lemon cake, and so forth and so on.
6. We have another house guest - the length of her stay has yet to be determined. This is Sophie.
She is my mother's dog. She is a Labradoodle.
Her actual name is Gypsy Rose, but we don't think she looks like a Gypsy.
She is very sweet and docile, and she has sad eyes, and we have unanimously decided that she looks more like a Sophie.
So we're calling her Sophie.
Sorry, Mom.
We're not stealing her from my mother. Mom has several other dogs, and one of them is expecting puppies, and hence, she is a bit overwhelmed with dogs at the present time. So Sophie has come for a visit.
7. Sophie slept with me last night. She likes to cuddle. She kept cuddling with me and wriggling up to me, and then she would lay her head on my pillow and gaze at me with those sad, soulful eyes. I tried to glare at her and tell her to go away because I had to wake up at "O-Dark-Thirty" to take the boy to school this morning, but she was relentless and so I was forced (FORCED) to pet her and tell her what a sweet girl she was. Then Jack (the cat) decided to come snuggle and he lay down on my leg and wouldn't move. So, I was held hostage in my own bed by a humongous dog and a humongous cat.
I didn't get much sleep.
Tonight I plan to share the animals with the kids.
8. Mr. Wonderful is adamantly opposed to getting another dog. The kids really, really, really want another dog. I am Switzerland.
Mr. Wonderful growls and bellows about how the kids aren't cleaning up the dog poop as it is, and how that's just all we need is another dog to get all stinky and poop all over the yard. Then the kids promise to clean up after her, and swear that they will do EVERYTHING and Daddy won't have to do ANYTHING if he will PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let us keep her.
I am Switzerland.
9. In the meantime, The Princess and I took Lucy and Sophie for a walk this morning...
Lucy got all bouncy and excited, and led the way and Sophie was a perfect lady and walked nicely on the leash.
She only has one teeny-tiny little bad habit when walking. She likes to lean up against you (me) while you are walking. I almost tripped over her several times. I think tomorrow I'll let The Princess walk Sophie.
Aren't I a good mom?
I love to share like that.
10. However this little visit turns out, I want to make it clear that I am completely Switzerland/neutral. It doesn't matter how many times Sophie turns those big brown puppy dog eyes on me. I will not cave. I am absolutely neutral. This is between the kids and Mr. Wonderful. There is NO way I am getting involved. Switzerland. That's me. MmmHmmm. Yup.
