Birthday Lunch

Rick and I just got back from a delicious meal at Miller's Grocery and Counry Cafe in Christiana, TN where he treated me to a rare meal out for my birthday (ok, my birthday is really tomorrow). Rick has always hated eating out. I usually have to drag him kicking and screaming to a restaurant, but I think I finally found a place he really likes. Good food, casual dress, inexpensive - the right combination. For those of you that have never been, what a great place to go. Miller's Grocery is actually housed in an old county grocery store (yup - called Miller's Grocery) and serves down home, stick to your ribs, country cooking. One of those meat and three kind of cafes. For Sunday they have a wonderful lunch buffet that includes, fall off the bone BBQ, fried chicken, fried catfish, Mac and Cheese (not from the box), squash casserole, broccoli casserole, fried okra, mashed taters, 7-8 different salads and many many other delicious items. And, oh, the dessert bar - Real Banana Pudding, pies, cakes, cobblers - all made from scratch! Needless to say - we are both heading for our favorite chairs for a nap!
Heidi and Janet - I think a road trip from the Murfreesboro Dog Show maybe in order.
Oh, and for those who enjoy country music - they have a band on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Here is a video of Miller's Grocery for you'll to enjoy...see ya'll

THE PERFECT PUPPY FOR THE PERFECT HOME!

LYBERTY'S THE BUCK STOPS HERE

We received this picture of the last puppy placed from the Presidential litter. This is one contented puppy! I think Truman has found his perfect home!

What a nightmare this litter was. Star whelped a litter of 8 beautiful puppies on 2-18-08 - President's day. The whelp was textbook easy, but that did not last long. Unbeknownst to us, Star had contracted an e-coli infection in her uterus a day or two before she gave birth. The next morning, we started losing puppies. We fought hard to keep the pups alive with the help of my good friend (and Brittany breeder) Geri. Off we went to the Vet at 6:30 am. What a great Vet I have. He is always just a phone call away! We spent the entire day in intensive care only to lose 4 puppies. Star was also very ill and we nearly lost her. Her milk went bad, so....we needed a surrogate. I made a frantic post to the Nashville Kennel Club and within 4 hours was driving to meet a pointer breeder, whose husband just happened to be a vet as well. So the remaning pups were raised on pointer milk. What a site - 4 tiny Cardigan Welsh Corgi pups, suckling the enormous ninnies of a pointer.

The pointer milk did them good! They came home at 4 weeks and we weaned them to solid food. Star, the ever vigilant mommy, took right over cleaning them and snuggling them just like they never left.

No show pups developed and we found wonderful, loving pet homes for all.

Whoever said having puppies was easy and profitable!!!!!!

See Y'all.....

Spiderman Lives!

Yes, Spiderman is alive and well and lives in the probation and parole office! A few months ago one of my co-workers (ok - it's Vickie) came into my office singing the theme song to the original Spiderman cartoon. It was a particularly stressful day for me and it caused me to crack up. Yes, Old Spidey took residence in my office that day. We now look for a reason to break into the theme song while making the hand motions of throwing a web. We infected another co-worker (yeah - it's Joyce) and she joined in the fun. We have even started collecting Spiderman memorabilia. What a a sight we must be - two 50 somethings and one 30 year old dancing around the office singing:

Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can.
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies.
Look out! Here comes the Spiderman.

Is he strong? Listen bud—
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead.
Hey there! There goes the Spiderman.

In the chill of the night,
At the scene of the crime,
Like a streak of light,
He arrives just in time!

Spiderman, Spiderman,
Friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
Wealth and fame, he's ignored—
Action is his reward.
To him,
Life is a great big bang-up—
Wherever there's a hang-up,
You'll find the Spiderman!

Needless to say - the rest of the staff is sure we are crazy - but we don't care! It's fun to act crazy from time to time and age has no limit on this! So if you see me and I'm smiling to myself - yup - I'm thinking of Old Spidey!!! Hmmmm.....maybe our next litter should have a Spiderman theme..... Maybe...Lyberty's Peter Parker....hmmmm.....has a nice ring to it...... see ya'll

e-bay

I have discovered e-bay! I started cleaning out all the clothes I have kept in my closet until I lose weight and can wear them again - yeah right - some of these outfits are years old. Anyway - I put several outfits on e-bay and by golly they sold like hot cakes. So... I just added more. Hmmm could this be a new way to fund dog shows?!?! Now if I could only figure out what is the proper shipping and handling fees.

I did it!

I did it! I figured out how to add my buddies Blogs!!!!! Guess my old brain comes out of the fog once in awhile!

Work stuff

Work - everyone has to do it. I have a stressful job and it seems like the stress is building day by day. Not because I work with convicted felons, but because I am a government employee. It has became apparent to me of late, that a warm body is all that is required to fill a position anymore. There are no pats on the back and thanks for a job well done. Just stats, and numbers and BUDGET ISSUES!

I am a probation/parole officer in an area that covers 4 rural counties. I specialize in writing presentence investigations for the courts. That means when a felon is convicted in a trial or enters a plea of guilty and requests alternative sentencing (ie - probation), I do an extensive back ground check that includes criminal history, social history, victim interviews, etc. I am also taxed with writing similar reports for the felons going to prison. Yes, that means I interview rapist, murders, drug dealers, thieves, child molesters and so forth. Mostly I work with Stupid People. Yes, there are really dumb criminals. From time to time, I will try to anonymously retell some of the funniest stories I run across. Have to be careful though, and not reveal names, dates or places - don't want to violate any one's rights.

Sooo... what is my answer to job stress ----- dogs.....puppy breath....dog shows...dog people!!!!!!!

I got into showing dogs in my 40's. A little late in life, but well worth it. I have made some awesome friends and absolutely love my dogs.

There is hope - in 6 more years I can retire (actual date:1-1-2014) . I will only be 58 - so will need to find something else to do to supplement my income - hmmmm maybe run a doggie day care.........

New to blogging

Hmmmmm......My first blog - where to start. Perhaps at the beginning of this process. My good friend Janet, has been after me to start blogging for sometime. I have enjoyed reading her blog along with the blogs of other dog show buddies, Heidi and Jeri.
This weekend, Heidi and I went to Atlanta for a dog show. While lounging (or should I say - recuperating) in our hotel room after a long day of showing, Heidi whipped out her laptop and set up a blog for me. So, here I am - a 50 ish female, probation and parole officer writing about my life. Now I need to figure out how to post pictures and navigate around this site.

Jill Relaxes After a Long Day of Showing