a little bit about nothing...

Good Morning and Happy Monday



to all of you out there in the world of Blogger-Land. It has been a really long weekend and I hate to admit it but I'm glad it is finally a new week. Visiting our household for a little over a week now is Salla from Finland- she came to the United States 5 years ago to stay with my partner Kris as an exchange student for a year. She liked it so much, she has come back to visit and when she graduates University over there in the land of cold, she may come here to teach one day. We've had lots of fun with her even though she is a shopping fool! Apparently, there are many favorite American delicacies like Ho-Ho's and such that she took a liking to and cannot get them over there in her native Finland without paying an arm and a leg! Her box (going to be a giant U-Haul one) will cost a small fortune to check at the aireport, I'm sure. And I won't even say anything about her 45 lb. backpack she'll have to check and the boxes of Bisquick, cake mixes and 12-pack of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese in her suitcase! That's not counting the various clothing items that the young folks are into these days- a little bit gothic-styled but she'll the first to have these trendy fashions before anyone else does over there in Finland. We took her to Austin on Friday knowing full well she'd love it because Austin is the best city in Texas. The University of Texas, the music scene, laid-back people and beautiful scenery are hard to beat. If the cost of living wasn't so expensive there and we could make a decent living, I think we'd live there too. Salla dressed up as pirate since they don't celebrate Halloween in Finland and we took her to the Halloween celebration on 6th St. We actually stayed for two hours before us oldie's started getting too claustrophobic from the thousands of ghoulies that started to fill downtown Austin. Alas, my poor little boy Bentley didn't get to go this trip because his Mama had too much to do last week and left him here in Houston with Miss Phyllis the doggie-sitter and his brothers and sisters. He'll get to go next trip in early December when the Mama gets out of school. One of the reasons he didn't get to go is because we helped man the TART booth at the LSACT Versatility Day on Sunday in Hutto, Texas and I didn't get him groomed nor did I have time to start acclimating him to being crated. Next year he gets to go and maybe the wild child Roux if she quits acting like a heathen! I really believe she is teaching him bad habits and he is gleefully enjoying himself. What next? Check out the pic of the Airedale in devil costume in my pics- He is supposed to be Hell in a Handbasket, good one, huh?! We can sympathize! Anyway, we were able to go see my newest nephew- Ethan Micah- 3 weeks old and his big sister Aerin- almost two, and my sister and her partner. We stayed at our dear friends Kimmie and Lorri's aka Partner's house. Partner was a really good sport and helped us at the TART booth all day Sunday while Kimmie and Salla went shopping. Two birds of a feather- if we'd thought about it sooner we could have let them shop for a week together but then Salla would have had 2 or 3 U-Haul boxes to back to Finland. Never mind that thought! On the other paw- Kris and I bought some really fun stuff at the TART booth to add to the office walls here at home. I had to have a Dogopoly game featuring an Airedale on the box lid and Kris being the doll that she is, encouraged me to put it in my pile of purchases. WOoHOo! The event was lots of fun even though we had a much smaller turnout than years past but we'll be there again in the years to come. It's time for me to go get Salla up and get a few things done before she leaves tomorrow like make sure the 4-legged's aren't making mischief, study, go to class, study, and get Salla to the U-Haul store and the dreaded Wally-World! I'm pretty sure that Bentley and Co. will have some new adventures to post before long that will have me tearing my haire out!
So...
Ya'll have a great week!