Tired all day

So didn't want to do my yoga today. Every muscle, particularly in my back, felt stiff and my right hip hurt. I wondered if that was from being beaten during the night by the arms and feet of a five-year-old ton of bricks who migrates toward you in his sleep. Once when I turned him over  he nearly fell out of bed, and I had to grab him. Needless to say, my sleep was intermittent and not very satisfying. I sat at my computer about 8:45 and thought, "I could so go to sleep right now." But I had way too much to do--household chores galore and email to check and some writing I wanted to at least get started on--I bet I wrote three sentences before it was time to run to the grocery store for coffee--uncharacteristically I was completely out, not enoiugh to make one more cup) and then to pick a friend up for lunch. Got a brief nap and could feel myself ready to fall into a deep sleep when it was time to pick up Jacob. Yawned my way across the street to the school.
Jacob wants to badly to help me train Sophie, so today when we practiced walking on the leash without pulling, I let him try it and he did a darn good job. Also at one point when I was holding her and she snuck behind me, he saved me from going down. I teetered and felt that old panic that blanks out logical thought like get rid of the leash. I called out to him to hold on to me, and he was right there with both hands. So proud of him. We train in the driveway in a part made secure by the gate, so I feel safe that she won't get away if either one of us loses control.
Tonight Betty and I tried out a reincarnation of an old neighborhood Mexican restaurant--food was excellent, though the interior looks as it always had. When I mentioned to Betty I didn't much like the ambiance, she said it was because there was none. Still we shared outstanding guacamole and tilapia puffy tacos. BYOB so Betty hoofed it to the liquor store for a bottle of wine. All in all, we had fun and a good meal.
Kids, friends, and dogs fill my days in such pleasant ways, but I am not forgetting my work. I've kept up with emails today, explored a bit more trying to learn to navigate the Goodreads site, and am about to write what I'm about to make my requisite thousand words for the day.

Where have all the birds gone?

All summer long I've filled the bird feeder every other day--but early last week they ate about a third of the bird seed, and it's remained at that level ever since. I don't see birds around the feeder, in the trees or bushes, and I don't hear them singing. It's kind of spooky, as though they know something about this heat wave we don't, like the zoo animals in D.C. who knew the earthquake was coming before mankind did in spite of all our sophisticated technology. And frankly, I miss them. Please send in the birds!
Sophie the pup and I have been doing battle royal over my bookcase--she wants to chew the bottom shelf on two sections--for some reason, she ignores the other two. I put duct tape down, and she industriously worked to chew it off. I sprayed that stuff that's supposed to repel dogs, and she licked it. Today, having totally lost patience with her when after lots of scolding about the chewing and a firm no about chasing the cat, she chased him anyway, I put her in her crate and took a friend's advice to spray Tabasco on the bookcase. Works like a charm. She took one sniff and hasn't been near the bookshelves again. I think I'll buy a huge bottle of the stuff. Thank you, Sally.
Speaking of mysteries, which we weren't but they're always on my mind, I went to a booksigning at the local Barnes and Noble for Laurie Moore's Couple Gunned Down--News At Ten. I'd read the first in this series, Woman Strangled--News at Ten, amd liked it. Besdes I felt it would be polite to go to a fellow mystery writer's signing since it was so close, and I was glad I did--she seemed genuinely glad to see me. It's the kind of thing that I too often put on my calendar and then just don't do, so chalk one up for me--on another hot day. Now I'm inside for the duration.
And a word on another mystery. I just read Blackbird Fly, by Lise McClendon. Since I read about it on a mystery listserv, I expected a mystery. Instead, it opens as a contemplative, introspective novel about a woman dealing with the sudden death of her husband and the way life can change so quickly. But when Merle Bennet and her teen-age son, Tristan, go to a rural French village to see her husband's family homestead, which she has inherited, intrigue and suspicion build until there is murder and violence. It's all set against the backdrop of a tranquil village that hides many secrets. In spite of that and the ostracism she faces, Merle makes friends and weaves herself into the life of the village until it is a major character in the book. Yes, it's a mystery, but much more it chronicles in a beautiful, haunting way one woman's journey toward emotional freedom, toward learning to fly like the blackbird. I give five stars to this one.
With my computer problems, I got behind on "Potluck with Judy" but I posted a guest blog today. Please go to http://potluckwithjudy.blogspot.com to see what Pat Deuson has to say about daube. I had no idea what it was--except maybe a daub of paint--until Pat wrote this blog. Her new mystery, Superior Longing, comes out mid-September. Watch for it.

Brand new web page and other stuff

Please check out my new web page at http://www.judyalter.com. It's totally redesigned and features my forthcoming mystery, Skeleton in a Dead Space. One of the things people have so far really liked about it is the pictures of Kelly's neighborhood, Kelly being the main character in the novel. My friend Polly Hooper and I drove around Fort Worth's Fairmount neighborhood one Sat. afternoon while she took pictures. She's also responsible for my new picture on this blog and the web page. Great job, Polly, and many thanks. (She does this as a hobby!) Thanks also to Oscar Brown and his company who designed and will maintain the site. I'd love to have your comments.
Many parts of Texas got blessed rain today. I haven't watched TV for the official measurements or anything but the world was wet and muddy when I got up this morning. It's been so long since rain--BP as in before puppy--that I'd forgotten about the complications of dogs and mud and how much Scoob hates rain. I didn't mind dealing with it, nor did I mind that my newspaper was quite soggy. It rained, mostly just spitting, all morning. Luckily, I'm washable, even my hair--so I don't mind getting wet. The rain lowered the temperature some, but the humidity was so high it felt like a steam bath outside.
Jordan and Jacob came for lunch, and I'm not sure if it's harder to train the puppy or the boy. He wants to give her orders all the time, even when she's not doing anything bad. Today  we worked on "If she's jumping on me, let me handle it; if she's jumping on you, then you tell her down." As it was, he was shouting "Down!" all the time. Sophie has truly been a pain today--I fear we'll never get house training done--she understands about outside, but if she has to go she doesn't think about it. She has "favorite" spots in the house. I read in the monks' book about training that you should never let a puppy see you clean up the accident--makes them think  you're their housekeeper, and Sophie tends to think it playtime to see if she can grab the paper towel. So now, if I catch her in the act, I roar, rush her outside, by which time she's always forgotten what she wanted to do, and then put her in the crate while I clean up. There goes a chunk of time! She goes from chewing on wires to destroying the bottom shelf of my bookcase to escaping from the kitchen even when I'm working in there.
I did cook today. Made stuffed mushrooms with my mom's recipe for our lunch--had four mushrooms left from something else and Jordan loves them. Simple stuffing:

Grated cheddar
dry mustard
Worcestershire
chopped scallion
mayonnaise to bind

Bake in a moderate oven so the mushrooms will cook before the cheese runs all over the place. The cheese mixture is delicious just on bread, broiled. No, I don't have measurements--it's something you do by gosh and by golly.
Also made barbecue sauce today so that first thing in the morning I can put my chuck roast and the sauce in the crockpot to cook all day. It's a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that I've used before, but this time I couldn't resist substituting dark molasses for dark brown sugar. We'll see.
And today I finally got ground lamb patties at Central Market--they make them with feta and mint, and they are delicious. One of the butchers told me to call ahead and order them, so I did when I ordered the chuck roast. I cooked half a pattie (they're 8 oz. patties) thinking I'd save half of that for lunch tomorrow--no such luck. I ate the whole thing.
Off to read a good mystery.

The Animal Kingdom

My day did not get off to a good start today. I've gotten things down to a routine--feed the cat, take the puppy out and then put her in the bathroom while I feed Scooby and let him out. This morning, as I put her in the bathroom, Sophie escaped and led me on a merry chase. Finally cornered her in my closet but there went a good ten minutes, when I was rushing to get to an 8:30 breakfast. Back on track, but the remote for the kitchen TV wouldn't work--stuck on the Food Network channel, which I love during the day but in the morning I want news. Changed the batteries, pressed the AT&T button as I've been taught--nada. Still had those terrible television ads they run in the mornings.
Made the breakfast meeting--Book Ladies, a group of ladies whose professional lives have all had to do with books (librarians, authors, booksellers,, a woman who was once my editor at TCU Press) but had to rush away to take Sophie for another set of puppy shots. This is a two-person operation: because of the danger of parvo virus, I've been told to carry her in and not set her down until she's on the vet's table. This goes on until she's had all her shots--one more month. When we get back into the car, we have to disinfect the bottoms of our shoes! So my dining friend Betty goes with me. She decided this morning I should write a book about Sophie and the balky remote, but I told her it was barely worth a blog.
Sophie got left alone a lot though--I had a long and delightful lunch with a good friend today, home for a while, then a nap, and Sophie was back in her crate while I ran a friend to get her car. Then home and out again briefly but back into the crate while I went to dinner with the neighborhood crowd. She punished me by completely destroying the jacket of a book she somehow got out of the bookcase.What I have been told about her is true--she's much smarter than I am.
On another front, I asked the vet today about Scooby's back legs going out from under him, and she prescribed aspirin twice a day. Tonight, as I was late out the door for dinner, he barked insistently, so I let him out to pee, which he did. But he kept barking. I guess he was hungry. I sure hope he doesn't get to the point that he can't sleep through the night. Colin, my oldest, had a dog like that and every time Colin got up to let him out he ate a pbj--gained a lot of weight.
Things are still not peaceful in the animal kingdom. Sophie is going from one "No!" to another, Scooby is still outside. I have to feed Sophie and bring Scooby inside so I can take her out. Will this day never end? And writing, what's that?

A long and lazy Saturday--and a puppy update

A friend posted on Facebook this morning something about it being Saturday with its endless possibilities. She opted for going shopping, and I laughed. My idea of a long, lazy Saturday is staying home reading, cooking, and napping. And that's just what I did. I'm re-reading for the second time the galleys of Skeleton in a Dead Space--amazing what you find when you think you've found everything. And I'm reading a mystery, A Crack in Everything, for review on the Story Circle Network. So I kind of alternate between the two.
A nice blessing for the day: a member of my extended family--my sister-in-law's brother-in-law, which makes it all sound distant and yet my family is all very fond of him--returned from a year's duty in Afghanistan. Seeing the picture of him and his wife ws wonderful. I am grateful that he's home safe and thankful for what he did for our country. Now if we could just get my nephew back from Iraq . . . .
It was a hard day with the puppy. I have puppy-proofed almost everything in my office, where she spends a great deal of her time, so now she's trying to chew the wood on the bottom shelf of my bookcase, which brings me out of my chair erupting in a great loud "No!" I'm less worried about the bookcase--it can be sanded and repainted--than I am about her getting splinters in her lungs. She's also decided to try to remove the duct tape that I used to keep the phone jack out of her little sharp jaws. And she's discovered the wilderness behind the garage in the back yard, so she no longer runs and plays where I can watch her, which of course worries me. In fairness, I must say she spent a good portion of the day lying contentedly at my feet--she sort of sleeps with her eyes open. When I scold her she looks the other way, then sneaks a look to see if I'm still looking at her--I am!
Potty training is going okay but not great--we've had one poop and two puddles in the house today, which overall is not a bad record for twelve weeks. If I time it just right, especially after nap and first thing in the morning, she rushes right out the door to pee. Catching when she wants to poop is more problematical--I haven't figured it out and neither has she.
Sophie knows "come" and "stay" and obeys when the mood strikes her. Her favorite game is to run wildly through the house escaping from me. If she's in a manic phase, forget it. I use a leash a lot in the house and yard, so that I can step on it and control her, and she's fairly good about the leash though she still wants to chew it. I think life will get a lot easier when I can take her out in the front yard; also when the heat isn't so bad; and when, if ever, she doesn't get distracted from her business by Scooby. Vet appt. next Tuesday and my oh my I have a long list--questions about both dogs and the cat.
A new issue of Food & Wine came today and I had fun leafing through it. High on my list: halibut in parchment and an appetizer spread of pureed hard-boiled eggs, salami, gherkins, mustard, mayo, and capers plus herbs--who needs herbs with all those flavors.
It was cooler today--only 105. I swear when I took Sophie out mid-day, it was hotter than the days it was 110. They say maybe 100 in a week, but "they" have predicted lower temperatures a week out for weeks now and it never happens.
I did cook for myself tonight--watch for that tomorrow night on Potluck with Judy.
Back to proof-reading.

A good mystery, Civil War reenactments, and the puppy wars

After several mini-crises this morning--a water leak somewhere in the house (plumber coming tomorrow), a hurried trip to the grocery, and so on, I decided to take a break today, not that I've gotten much done this week. But I spent much of the afternoon reading Julie Hyzy's newest mystery, Grace Interrupted. Grace is a young woman who has taken over as director of a historic house that is a tourist site and includes hotel accommodations. I thoroughly enjoyed the first in the series, Grace Undeer Pressure, and am enjoying this one. The plot revolves around Civil War reenactors who have rented a remote portion of the mansion grounds, and that fascinates me. Over a  year ago, I edited Monte Aker's book, The Accidental Historian, which has a lot about reenactments--from the Civil War to the Alamo. Monte tells it all with wry pokes of humor at himself (which sometimes made me laugh aloud) but I finished that project with a much better understanding of reenactors--and why they do what they do. So that knowledge is increasing my enjoyment of this mystery.
The puppy wars continue. Sophie has learned to climb out of her playpen, so today we had a contest of the wills. I vowed every time she climbed out, I'd put her back in and scold her. I can't figure a way to puppy-proof the thing, although a friend sent some suggestions, but I decided training was the best approach--she's this super-smart dog, right? Cooking dinner tonight, I must have pulled her down off the edge of that playpen a dozen times--and of course each time I had to wash my hands. They're going to dry out and become prunes. I will say she no longer whines and yips but that's because she thinks she can get out. I figure when I'm working in the kitchen and can talk to her, she should be content--she doesn't see it that way. She and I spend most of the day in my office, where she plays with her toys, tries to chew on magazines, books and wires--my friend Sally recommends Tabasco on the wires, which I think is a super idea. Sometimes Sophie wears herself out and sleeps at my feet--then I can get stuff done. We are making a little progress on housebreaking--mostly because I am now trained about when to take her out--or pretty much so. Jacob plays with her in the afternoon, which she loves. I do too!
Yep, I'm still tired.