Time to Simplify

First, A Harley update. She is unbelievably smart. She found a way out of the fenced in back yard. I couldn't find how she was getting out. I thought she was jumping the fence. I went to a house down the road who had several dogs tied up and found her walking around with a small dog that was untied. I got her, put her back in the yard. She walked around, ate, laid down. I went in and watched her from the kitchen window, hoping to see where or how she was getting out. She was still in the back yard when I went to sleep, but some point in the quietness of the dark, she escaped again. This went on for a few days. I would find her running the streets with this little dog. I had a brilliant plan. Capture both of them. Nobody was looking for the little dog. I needed Harley to stay home. Just put both in my back yard, besides, it kept the little one off the street as well. At first, they seemed to be content. Running and playing and acting like dogs. The next morning, both were gone. I came home from work to find my dog laying next to my wife's car. I put her in the back yard without a fight. I went in to get her some food and when I came out on the back deck, she was already standing outside the fence! I put her back in and fed her and went to watch her from the kitchen window. She casually walked up to a hole in the fence next to deck that had been covered up by brush that has died off since the cold weather hit. I quickly ran out the back door to catch her head and a front paw sneaking out this hole. I grabbed a gate and shoved it in the hole. No more escapes for Harley.

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She has a favorite place to lay in the yard next to the fence. I have a dog house that she stayed in a couple of nights but seems to like the great outdoors better. So, I bought some wood shavings and placed some in the dog house and some on the ground in her favorite spot. I took an old blanket and laid over the wood chips in her favorite spot and she has not moved. She loves the blanket and lays there all day unless I go out to feed her and bust her water up.

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I called my mom the other day. She lives in a pretty remote spot and people have a tendency to drop off stray cats and dogs at her driveway. This is the woman that would not let us have a pet growing up. My dad worked for Orkin at one time and brought home a little brown mutt from one of the houses he sprayed. We named him Simon. Against my moms wishes we were allowed to keep him. Now she has a LOT of dogs and cats. She doesn't turn any of them away. She takes them in, feeds them and takes them to the vet to be spay/neutered. I asked her if she got a discount for keeping the vet in business. I told her my situation and she said, "I will take care of it." She has made the appointment, is going to come get Harley and even take care of the cost. I can't tell you what a load this was off of me. After we got our electric bill, I was concerned about how I was going to fit Harley being spayed in the budget. Sometimes my mom does something like this and I am blown away.

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I will be preaching at Fair Haven Sunday night at 6:30pm.

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I have tried to simplify my life somewhat. Sports depresses me more than the stock market. When you are a Dallas Cowboys fan and realize they have not won a playoff game since HOF quarterback Troy Aikman was under center, you tend to get a little depressed. Only one thing to do. Stop watching. I cut my T.V. Package all the way down to "The Family Pack". Which means our favorite shows are now "The Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me or the Dog". I spend more time reading. I have been able to read a few books that have sat on my nightstand for awhile. I even placed a post-it note over Tony Romo's face in my office. It was an extra that came with my life-sized Tony Romo FatHead. It makes for a great conversation piece when people come to see me. I also quit blogging about most sport related topics. I still go to the Cowboys website once a week instead of every day, just to stay in the loop. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal to most, but to me that is huge.