I'm just really hungry right now and need distraction

drink tons of water

1. It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is akin to our vision at dusk.

2. Dogs DO have better low-light vision than humans because of a special light-reflecting layer behind their retinas

3. A German Shepherd guide dog led her blind companion the entire 2100 mile Appalachian Trail

4. If never spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their puppies could produce over 66,000 dogs in 6 years!

5. Dogs’ only sweat glands are between their paw pads

6. Like human babies, Chihuahuas are born with a soft spot in their skull which closes with age

7. The breed Lundehune has 6 toes and can close its ears

8. Teddy Roosevelt’s dog, Pete, ripped a French ambassador’s pants off at the White House

9. President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles named Him and Her

10. Franklin Roosevelt spent $15,000 for a destroyer to pick up his Scottie in the Aleutian Islands

We have feral cats. Lots of them. I feed them every morning. This year, we started gathering them up, taking them to the Humane Society, where they spay/neuter the adult cats then give them back to us. They spay/neuter the kittens then adopt them out. We have been amazed, upon bringing them back home, how much nicer these cats are to each other since they've been spayed/neutered. They used to fight, fight, fight, but now, for the majority, they lie down together and sleep, and they are nice to one another.

So far, we've had about 12 cats and about 6 kittens taken care of. We have two more kittens (we think) and two more cats to do.

Let's see. What else can I write, to keep your mind off . . . well, you know.

I was born in Eureka, CA. It is a little city situated on the Pacific Coast, in the redwood forest. When I was very young there, my father was a lumber jack, felling redwood trees. Back then, we did not understand the importance of conservation, yet they were careful about which trees to cut down; regardless, they cut too many.

I loved the Redwood Forest. We would occasionally go camping there, and Father would leave our camp early in the morning, after he'd had coffee and breakfast. I would wake up to find that father had left half a cup of coffee in his mug for me. I would pour it up the rest of the way with milk, add two teaspoons of sugar, and that was very special for me.

After a little while, I would hear, from a long distance, my father shout out in his wonderful deep voice, "Timber!" The forest would hush. I would hear breaking limbs, breaking limbs, then WHUMP! The tree would fall.

On most of these trips, Father would leave with my older brothers. They would come back hours later. I didn't know what they were doing while away -- mother would not tell me. But one day, after they had come back and we'd had lunch, they accidentally let me wander away from the camp, alone. Out in the trees, I came across what I was not supposed to see: a beautiful deer with huge brown eyes, lying dead beside a tree. Then, I knew what Father and my brothers had done. Looking into the deer's eyes, I felt an encompassing sadness and guilt. Guilt, because I knew the deer would be dinner for the next weeks.

I've never hunted.

My daughter, when she was little, used to sit in front of the mirror on her dresser and practice her sad looks while she cried. I caught her at it several times. Hee-hee-hee!

Interesting factoids about George Washington

1. Education (or Lack Thereof)
George Washington started school when he was 6 years old. He left school at 15 to become a surveyor because his mother couldn't afford to send him to college.

2. Family Life
At 26, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow who already had two children, Jacky and Patsy. Washington never had any children of his own.

3. Reaching Great Heights
At 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 200 pounds, he was one of our biggest presidents.

4. Favorite Foods
Some of his favorite dishes were cream of peanut soup, mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, and string beans with mushrooms.

5. Canine Crush
He bred hound dogs that he treated like members of the family. He gave some of them unusual names: Tartar, Truelove, and Sweet Lips.

6. What Ailed Him
Toothaches bothered him for years. When he was 57, he had all his teeth pulled. From then on, he wore ivory false teeth set in a silver plate.

7. Future Home Base
Although he helped plan the nation's new capital city that was named for him, he never lived there. New York City and, later, Philadelphia were the nation's capitals while he was president.

Well, that's enough for me.

My friend made yogurt all the time. Her 6 y.o son wanted yogurt. She had about 1/4 cup left, plus enough to start the next batch, so she gave him the 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. Her 10 y.o. daughter started whining about her brother getting yogurt and insisting that her mom give her what was left. My friend had already had it up to her eyebrows that day with her daughter, so she threw the yogurt at her (not the container, she held on to that). Now, my friend is usually a really great mother and in fact the daughter in question is now 40 and a confident successful woman...but my friend just lost it that day. The daughter was so shocked she started crying and then started laughing hysterically and then the mother started laughing and the two of them cleaned up the mess together and had a good talk and cry and laugh with each other. Crazy!

KetoneKaren wrote: »

My friend made yogurt all the time. Her 6 y.o son wanted yogurt. She had about 1/4 cup left, plus enough to start the next batch, so she gave him the 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. Her 10 y.o. daughter started whining about her brother getting yogurt and insisting that her mom give her what was left. My friend had already had it up to her eyebrows that day with her daughter, so she threw the yogurt at her (not the container, she held on to that). Now, my friend is usually a really great mother and in fact the daughter in question is now 40 and a confident successful woman...but my friend just lost it that day. The daughter was so shocked she started crying and then started laughing hysterically and then the mother started laughing and the two of them cleaned up the mess together and had a good talk and cry and laugh with each other. Crazy!

This reminded me. I didn't believe in spanking my children, so much of my way of disciplining included humor. One day, we were at the local ice cream parlor, and my daughter put an ice cube between her thumb and finger, shooting it at me. I told her not to do that. She did it again. So I threw the water in my glass at her. I had always taught the children to be good patrons in restaurants, etc., so she was shocked. We laughed, but she never did that again.

Hey! Where's the OP, @MissSusieQ ???