My Life.Feeding 3 dogs & 11 fish

The phone rang the other morning at around 6 AM my time. When I opened my eyes and looked at caller ID I noticed that it was a call from my sister. Over the years of living on the west coast I know that those off hour calls are either an ooops..I forgot it was three hours earlier in CA or not good news.

This call was not good news, but not terrible news. My sister was calling to tell me that our father had slipped and fallen and was in the hospital. It has been a few days since that call and I am happy to say that he is doing better and will be home soon!

I would have been happier if the early morning call was from Ira. He is even farther away in Germany. The time difference is nine hours so if he calls me early in the morning it is late afternoon in CA. We have had to perfect the art of timing calls so that we do not wake each other up. But with the long hours that he works while he is in Germany, any time of the day or night is a great time to connect.

I have also realized that email is a wonderful way to communicate. He has an i-phone and is in touch via email anytime of the day or night. I work hard at not emailing in the middle of his night because I know that the sound of the "bing" will wake him up. But, we have a chance to communicate and that is a good thing.

Ira has been out of town since last Saturday and it is just me and the dogs. I don't know who misses him more, me or Marty? Marty has been a regular butt head each and every night. Someone explained that he is acting like the "alpha male" in absence of the "alpha male".

Bed time means that Marty jumps into bed and antagonizes all three of us girls. He attempts to bite my feet while barking humping Taiko. Ping finally steps in to rescue me and she humps Marty. Bedtime has become a "three ring circus".

Today is Wednesday and Ira is landing in San Francisco at noon on Friday...I am not counting the hours or anything. He has been traveling back and forth to Europe for two years but...it is hard on both of us. Luckily he doesn't go to often, only two or three times a year.

When Ira is out of town I go shopping, but not in the normal sense of the world. I have found some wonderful discount stores that allow me to shop and shop, and touch and feel the items and think about whether or not I need it. It is great concentration to pick out the perfect frame, journal or new place mats for my table.

This week I went to the Home Goods and Tuesday Morning stores for my "shopping fix". At Home Goods I found this stain remover and it was so good I went back again to buy some more. I had stained a top that I loved and paid a lot of money for and could not get that stain out of that top until I tried this stuff. Eureka...I now can wear the top again.

I have to sign off as I am going to dinner with a friend and then to a MAC Users group with her. And then I will go home to another night calming down my alpha male dog who misses his dad, almost as much as I do!!  Hugs Eileen!!

I think that it is easier for me when I am busier and I am busy with Summer School and preparing for the fall volunteer placement.