Sis and I and Rocket went to the d.p. again yesterday. Why, WHY do people bring their aggressive lame-oid dogs to the d.p.? If your dog needs socialization skills, take it to a trainer first, THEN come to the d.p. when it’s over whatever issues it has OR put it on the necessary meds. You know, the ones that DON’T make it want to run full speed at other dogs which can hurt them. There was a Boston terrier there that did this. I was standing next to Rocket and another lady who had a 4 month old Boston terrier. Another lady with a full grown Boston T. came in. Her dog, big and heavier than our two, kept running at Rock and the puppy. Its owner just stood there looking (sorry but it’s true) dazed and confused. Finally I addressed the dog which made the owner wake up and leash her dog. I’ve seen this before, both with Rock and other people’s dogs. The owner of the offending dog just stands there watching their dog act aggressively, sometimes attacking, another dog without even calling off their dog. I’ve seen some dog owners laugh at this. This is not cool people. If your dog is aggressive, take it out of the d.p. and do not get an attitude if the owner of the dog your dog is trying to eat uses whatever means necessary to get your dog to stop its behavior if you’re not going to do anything about it. Okay, now that I’m done venting, let’s look at some cute picks. Btw the lady who owned the Boston was very nice about me telling her dog to stop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sis, on the right, and I sitting at a picnic table at the dog park. Can you imagine trying to have a picnic with 10-15 little dogs all begging for scraps?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here she comes! (cue theme song from Bonanza!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon, everything will be in bloom. I can hardly wait, although, the starkness of the trees against the blue winter sky is quite lovely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mercy me, but I do. Instead of salt shakers, here are some salt wells. Little tiny silver sponos were used to scoop out the salt and sprinkle it onto your food.
Dear (name of boss or company here)
Thank you for the kind gift of (name of what they gave you here). It is sure to (how you plan to use it). We will think of you when we (use it, spend it, etc.)
Sincerely,
Your Name Here
Now, since you are hand writing this on a thank you card, and not using your office stationary, the message need not be long winded, but short and too the point.
I hope this helps.
Ah, the ear splitting, mind numbing shrieks of children hyped up on sugar and the anticipation of Santa’s impending visit. People pushing and jostling one another, stealing parking spaces and waiving at each other with only one finger. Yes, it’s that time of year when everyone’s emotional margins shrink to the size of a mortgage broker’s Christmas bonus (as in zero, nada, zilch), and we all wish people would be nicer to us than we are being to them. During the hurried pace of the holidays little things like saying, ‘excuse me’ to walk past someone in a crowded area, or ‘please and thank you’ or, my personal favorite, ‘no, you go first’ can be overlooked. We’ve all done it or had it done to us.
Children, are never too young to learn to say, ‘please and thank you’ even if it comes out in garble, I don’t know of anyone who would turn one down. A smile is free and for employees, it is mandatory to give one to each and every customer you come face to face with while doing business. For we adults, well, we could always use a brush up so here is a list of do’s and don’ts to make the season brighter.
1. Send a thank you note. Again, send a thank you note.
2. Respond to your invitations whether or not they say; R.S.V.P. Again worth repeating-respond to your R.S.V.P.!
3. Say, ‘yes, please’ or ‘no, thank you’.
4. Be appreciative. You don’t have to be invited back next year.
5. Reciprocate.
6. Be punctual.
7. Be flexible. You may have to sit in an odd place or be asked to move.
8. Be gracious.
9. Smile until it hurts, then smile some more.
10. Talk. You weren’t invited to be a bump on a log. This applies to children. They can respond when someone says, ‘hi’ to them when mom and dad are around.
11. Bring a gift.
12. Hold open a door for someone else.
1.Don’t arrive empty handed.
2.Don’t criticize; a gift, the food, the decor, other people, your host/hostess.
3.Do NOT bully the wait staff.
4.Don’t get drunk.
5.Don’t reveal the amount of your Christmas bonus if you were fortunate enough to receive one and don’t announce to the world if you weren’t.
6.Don’t be the center of attention.
7.Don’t be a motor mouth.
8.Don’t guard the buffet table.
9.Don’t hit on the opposite sex.
10.Don’t dress trashy. Don’t be fashionably late. It’s not fashionable and the hostess really doesn’t like it.
11.Don’t arrive early. If the invitation says 7:00p.m. do NOT arrive at 6:45. You don’t know what could have gone wrong that day and your hostess/host may be finishing up and you would only interrupt her as she would feel obligated to entertain you causing her to get behind and possibly still be setting up when everyone politely showed up on time.
12. Do not forget to send a thank you note.
Bonus round. Unless specifically invited, ie. please join us for a FAMILY FRIENDLY party at our house on… for some reason, there is a current trend for parents to drag their children to every adult gathering they attend. Please, do NOT do this with out calling your hostess first to see if the party is age appropriate. If children are invited, this does not constitute a free for all and parents should take this opportunity to sit their children down and explain that some behavior that is acceptable at home is not acceptable in public. We do not: interrupt adults when they are talking unless it involves blood or fire or imminent bodily harm and/or death. We do not spit out food we don’t like onto our plates and proceed to complain loudly about it’s taste. We do not put our feet on their furniture. We do not yell or scream. We do not chase their pets, eat our boogers or pick fights with our siblings. We DO say: please and thank you, yes, ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir, please pass the _____, may I have another_____.
If you are entertaining and you have small children and/or pets, hiring a baby sitter for your children and those of your guests would be a thoughtful gesture, and of course if we attend a party where the hostess has graciously done this for us we ALWAYS offer to chip in and/or tip the babysitter.
Pets should be locked up in a spare room or bathroom with a note on the door to please not let them out. Yes, they are your fur babies, but some people may not like animals and may not be used to them doing THAT to their leg or begging from the table.
If etiquette continues to be a mystery and one which you would like to decipher, I really, REALLY, encourage you to sign up your child for cotillion. I had the very distinct pleasure of interviewing the man who created the John D. Williams cotillion program, of course, Mr. John D. Williams himself, that started here in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Hotel and is now nation wide so, if you live somewhere else and are interested in this wonderful program, please inquire with them about classes in your area.Mr. Williams was such a pleasure to interview. I don’t mind telling you I developed a wee bit of a crush on him, and he was in his early 90’s when we spoke. He passed away shortly there after but he left quite an impression on me and that was after only one meeting and he was competing with a view of Pike’s Peak from the Garden of the Gods Country Club patio while gorgeous thunder clouds were rolling in for an afternoon storm. Whew!
This was also my second meeting of a talented lady by the name of Connie Armit who at the time headed, and may still, the cotillion program. Her late husband had said that although he played and loved sports, especially hockey, he never had an opportunity to use his hockey skills in his adult life but he used what he learned in cotillion EVERYDAY. Ok, parents of kids in sports, let that sink in a bit. Your child has a 100% certainty of interacting with people on a daily basis and the impression he makes on people will have a huge impact on how successful he’ll be, not only in business, but in life. The chances of him making it onto a major sports team is low. My point? If you have the money to do cotillion AND sports, go for it, but if you have to make a choice, go for cotillion. People with good manners go farther in life and have more doors opened for them, no pun intended,than those who don’t.
Ah, the R.S.V.P. That little acronym dreamed up by a desperate socialite obviously tired of sending out invitations to boorish people who couldn’t take the time to write or call with a response to their gracious hostess to let her know if they would be attending her party, wedding, bridal or baby shower or graduation. How rude!
Here’s how it works, my friends:invitation arrives in mail, if you are single and won’t be accompanied (assuming you’ve been given a plus one, if you haven’t been given a plus one, do NOT invite other people along to someone else’s party, you’re not a rock star, you don’t need an entourage) walk to your calendar, day planner, or electronic scheduling device and check to see if you are available, sit yourself down that instant and compose your reply. Yes, I would love to attend, no, I will not be able to make it. Seal the envelope, and walk it back out to your mail box post haste! If you are married and need to check with your spouse, do so as soon as possible then send your reply. We do NOT ever, EVER! wait until the last minute just in case something better comes along and if by chance you said you would attend and something better does come along, you are obligated to attend the first one you have committed to, you may NOT cancel on your hostess for something better. That is rude, childish behavior and it needs to end now.
If you’ve never been a host or hostess, try it sometime. You just may end up with more compassion for your hostess, if you have a heart, and hold true to your commitments. Besides, flaking out on your hostess gives you a reputation of, well, being a flake!
Don’t get too close, I’m sick, or at least, I THINK I’m sick. Last night during home group, sorry dear friends!, the lymph nodes behind my right ear started swelling. To my knowledge, I’ve never had one swell there before. I have on the back of my neck by the base of my skull, but not behind my ear. It hurts, and it spread to a little further back on my neck (although a quick exam shows that is going down). So, I quaffing chicken noodle soup, water and green tea rose sencha today. Keep me in prayers for healing. Now onward!
I have posted November’s Tearoom Menu for a Tea Brunch. I will post the recipe for the acorn stuffing here in a bit. If you make any of my recipes, or use my menu suggestions, please email me a picture of you, or your table decked out in scrumptious food bits and I’ll post your picture on my Flicker account. I’d love to get to know my readers better. Heck, send me photos of yourselves and I’ll post that on my Flicker account.
So, as you know, last night was home group night. Since none of us have kids to take trick or treating, or the desire to site at home and answer the door bell fifty times handing out candy, we decided to go on with the group, also because we just love each other so darn much! 
HINT: most churches have a harvest festival where they hand out free candy and set up game booths carnival style for kids so they don’t have to ring strangers door bells for candy. You might want to check this out for next year.
Anyway, our street is DARK, very, very DARK. we don’t have street lamps so the only illumination is from porch lights. Ours was off which, I would think should send a clear message we are not participating in candy handing out. Sadly, there were some parents who didn’t get the clue. They didn’t just ring the bell or knock once, they practically beat down the door! Ring, Ring, bang, bang! Get the hint, people. I finally went to the bathroom window (which over looks our porch, very convenient) to tell them the reason the porch light is out is because we’re not doing Halloween. This only happened 2x but it does make you kind of stop and think and wonder about the parents of these kids. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t drag my kid of a darkened porch or a bite size candy bar. No sirree!
How group was good even with the distractions. I made stuffed green peppers and cherry almond scones for dessert and a black tea to warm us all up.
I hope you are inviting people over and opening your hearts and homes to friends and neighbors who will, I hope will become friends. I wonder, how many people impacted by the fires interacted with their neighbors prior to standing in the street weeping at the sight of their burned out shells that used to be a home? Don’t wait for a tragedy to strike before meeting your neighbors. Get to know the persons around you. You may need them one day or better yet, they may need you.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery we’re told. I have spent my entire life trying to ‘fly under the radar’, to be invisible. That’s REALLY hard to do when you’re a six foot tall woman. Yeah, no kidding. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that I’m not as invisible as I’d thought/hoped. How do I know? God is sending people to tell me to my face just how visible I really am. This can actually be kind of good for someone who has, in the past, exhibited a lack of ability when it comes to telly people the truth in love. Oh, I can be truthful alright, ‘I think that if Paul told some of the disciples that they shouldn’t eat meat lest a new Christian stumble and fall then maybe she ought not to be wearing THAT to church showing off what her momma gave her!’ That is an example of how NOT to tell the truth. No love, y’all. So what to do instead if the younger women are watching and learning? Have that hair and make up done in a contemporary, fashionable way and dress nice but age appropriate.
Show love to my husband even when things maybe tense between us because the tense part will pass so two things: 1. The faster I forgive and come at him with love and kindness the faster the ‘tense’ goes away, and 2. Anything I said during the ‘tense’ part that wasn’t nice I now have to apologize for and who wants to apologize more than they have too? Do you REALLY want to stand there and say a laundry list of apologies for everything that came out of your mouth in anger? I don’t.
So during those ‘tense’ moments, try to get out with as minimal damage to you and your husband as possible so that when you’re sitting in church, you can genuinely look at him with love in your eyes.
Greet strangers. Wear a smile. That’s how we act like light and salt, people.
Tea for me and tea for you,
a new dress a fancy hair do.
All for afternoon tea.
We’ll drove to town,
with the top down,
in a robin’s egg blue Thunderbird.
All for afternoon tea.
We’ll sip and nibble,
being very careful not to dribble,
our lovely afternoon tea,
for it’s as plain as the nose on your face,
don’t be a disgrace,
we never call it high tea.
Copyright 2007