My greatest wish is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
I didn’t write that quote, and I don’t know where it came from, but it is an honest statement of what I wish my life would be.
I’ve written this year about clearing my life of unwanted things. I don’t need things, but if everything was taken from me, I’d be lost without my family and dog. No, my dog is family as many people think theirs is too.
It is safe to say that I’ve always loved animals. Growing up we had cats mostly and a miniature poodle named Princess. My dad was not a big animal lover, but she got under his skin. She’d move over close to him as we drove (she always went with us on vacation) probably trying to win him over. Or maybe it was just body heat she was after.
When I married, my husband soon came home with a puppy. Six weeks into the marriage he arrived one day with a German Shepherd/Collie mix. I’d never been around big dogs. My mother was afraid of them, but it didn’t take long for us to become friends. We named him Strauss (after all he was German) and he lived with us for years.
When the kids were little, we got them a Golden Retriever puppy for Christmas one year. He was so big he could carry the box I sent to bring him home in. He didn’t want to be left in a box or a kennel, he was family and demanded to be where his family was at all times. Our kids became his kids and he didn’t like arguments with them. He always sided with them. He protected them, but when he was hurt, he always came to Mommy. Dad thought he might make him into a hunting dog, but that never happened. He was family.
Our dog, Athena, came from Craig’s List. It had been 14 years since we had a dog and my husband had run out of patience with me deciding whether or not to have another child. The human kids had been gone for a while. He took her from a soldier who was leaving for Afghanistan (at least that was the story, we wondered) and she acclimated to our house very quickly. Today when we travel, we have some great friends who babysit for her. I hate to leave my daughter in a kennel at the vet’s.
Pets are a big part of many people’s lives. They become family as they should. I believe animals have a soul and feel as much as humans do. If you have a pet, you understand that statement. If you don’t, get one, they’ll make you more human that you ever thought possible.
What kind of pet/family member do you have living with you?
My blog is late this week because we spent the weekend with family in Texas. We shopped, sampled a little wine, and visited. When family turns to friends, you know you’ve got a good relationship. My husband’s cousin and his wife looked us up after more than 30 years and it has been more fun than we could have ever imagined. 
We even got to visit with their son and grand dog. 
The second day we traveled to downtown Dallas and the Kennedy Museum at Dealey Plaza. It didn’t hurt that the cousins knew the roads in the Metro Plex and we traveled them in style. 
Thanks, Texas, for a great weekend.
The aftermath of Halloween is all around us. 
Change is inevitable. It is a good thing for some, others struggle with it.
The first in the Keystone Lake Series, Blooming Justice is soon to be released. Erin Sampson is a high school senior ready to start college – on a shoe-string. Hard working and determined, she knows she wants to have more of a career than her mother. She wants to be a lawyer like her aunt. And she thinks her hard work and determination are all she needs in life.
Cold weather is coming! Today is the day – the day that the cold air is coming in along with more moisture. Fall is here, and winter is on the way. With that in mind, I brought in a couple of plants, just in case the meteorologists are correct about a possible freeze. My geranium decided to try one last time to bloom before the cold air arrives. I’ll bring it in and see if I can keep it alive this winter. 
I don’t make any guarantees.
I was asked to speak at SWOSU-Sayre’s annual Literary Festival 
I’ve been working for some time on a pulp fiction novel based on three short stories I’d written in the past. If you’ve read my work, you know I don’t follow on particular genre. I probably should pick a genre and stick with it, but I love suspense and I love fantasy, so I write both (with a few children’s books sprinkled in for good measure).
For the last 6 days my husband and I have been the guests of Village Tours on their Autumn River Cruise 
There was entertainment daily with musicians and storytellers and you could always sit on a deck chair and watch the river go by. I was fascinated by the bald eagles, herons and the monarch butterfly migration we saw as we idly watched the world from the point of view of a major river. If you could secure a rocking chair in the shade, you could spend your retirement there. 
We spent three days on the Illinois and then the Mississippi Rivers going through locks along the way and seeing cities from an entirely different view than you would by car. Each night the bus would pick us up and take us to another lodge for the evening and we were stuffed with food along the way. 
Finally, in St Louis we visited the Arch – the Gateway to the West – and we took the elevator to the top to take pictures, then headed home to Oklahoma the next morning. Our bus driver and tour guide, David and Pam Harms, were fabulous professionals with an eye to detail. We may have been over fed, but not neglected. 
For the last few years, I’ve had some beautiful crepe myrtle bushes in my front flowerbed. They provided color and took up a lot of room and then I had flowers and groundcover around them. I made the mistake of planting daylilies years ago and they tried to take over. This year I even cleared a space for some kale and beets in the flowerbed. I love to experiment.
