Dogs...

Dogs are smart. And jealous, it turns out. The other day my husband was responding to the cat's meow by sitting down and petting her. She crawled up into his lap and started to purr. The dog immediately got off the couch and came over to investigate. The cat quickly scampered off and the dog decided to curl up on my husband's lap--never mind, the dog is 50 lbs. So, my husband began to love on her to let her know she's important. All was right in the world for Lilly. Soon, the kids and my husband left for school and work and I walked over to the living room. The dog was curled up on one side of the couch. I started to straighten out some towels that I had put on the couch for the dog to lie on when I discovered they were wet. I noticed a round, wet spot on the couch, too. I smelled it and, sure enough, it was pee! The dog has peed on the couch! This was her way of getting back at my husband for loving on the cat. You see, at night my husband lies on the couch and watches TV. Argghhh! (of course, I'm the one who gets to clean it up). So, when the dog is mad at me, she pees on the bed. Yeah, she's smart. Stinkin' dog.

The weather in Central Pennsylvania has been marvelous. I worked yesterday for a coworker who went to Amsterdam for a few days. I actually changed into shorts it was so nice! Freaky weather. I love hearing the birds outside my window. Ahhhhhh...

It's been an exciting week at the farm. The excavators came and dug the pond. It will probably take a year for it to fill up, but once it's full, we'll have a pond. Pete's dream is coming to a reality. Last week, we had a fence installed over half an acre to protect the vines (once they're put in). We figure it will be difficult enough to grow grapes without competing with the deer.

Now, if we could only start on building the house. That will have to wait. And I know that while I can't stand the house I'm in, there are so many more people who have much less. I am grateful for a roof over my head. But, still...

As promised, a few more pictures. Here is a woman at a temple in Taipei. She would ask a question then throw these crescent-shaped tiles and see how they land for the answer. The other picture the three of us in Democracy Square in Taipei. It was so bright and hazy we had a hard time seeing. It doesn't seem real that we were there.

Happy Friday!

Plan B

We took the kids out of school before spring break so we could make the flights. That's the thing when you go space available, you have to go before or after the big days. It's easy to predict the big days around here since the only big thing going for this town is the university. Hence, leaving a few days before spring break.

We flew to San Francisco because it looked like we would have a good chance of getting first class (called Business Elite on Delta). We did not plan on the plane being weight critical and full of cargo (produce) going to Japan. We didn't make it on the flight we intended to get on. Huge disappointment. I think they let 3 non revenue standbys get on. The next two days looked good for getting to Japan but then the flights to Taiwan were oversold. It turned out there was a holiday in Taiwan. Argghhh. So, we did a plan B. We stayed in Northern California a few days and saw Pete's friends and the beautiful coast. Seriously, if it weren't for all the people, Northern California would be to die for. But, the people are at least friendly. I was struck with how nice they were to strangers. I miss that.

We stayed two nights with a friend of Pete's from high school. You might remember him. We flew to Brazil for his wedding. They now live in Northern California and have two boys. Our son enjoyed having a kid to play with.

I got to see (and drive over) the Golden Gate Bridge. And we rode the cable cars in San Francisco. Not bad for Plan B.

We then drove down the coast through Carmel and on to Monterrey. We stayed there two nights and went to the Monterrey Aquarium. Another hit according to the kids. But the highlight for the kiddos was probably the empty beaches where we could look for all kinds of things. To hear the water and birds was just what we needed. We even found a huge, beautiful Abalone shell!

Pete needed to be back home by March 3rd, so we decided that the kids and I would try to go on to Taiwan. So, we were only going to be there for 3 days, but it would be worth it.

More to come...

Spring break teaser...