with basset hounds it is always easy to determine when something disgusting has died and begun to rot in your yard. if the bassets are joyously rolling in it then it is probably a smell that you do not want to be near or have on them when they come back into the house.
sorry for not posting much recently. life has been a little busy around the terrell household with pam’s back surgery. it’s all good because i get to see the boys respond to helping out and we’ve had some wonderful friends/threads helping out (thanks guys). the report on pam at the moment is that she continues to be on the mend. she has a long road ahead of her in recovery. the nerve pain is gone but she can’t do much because of the surgery’s wound. she can lift the weight of a quart of milk and that is it. no bending, no reaching, etc. this means there is not much she can do other than lay on her side, use the bathroom, walk down stairs to sit up for 20 minutes or so, and then head back to bed. she has come up with some creative methods for teaching the first couple of weeks of her summer course at uwsp. anyhow if you have a second and think of sending her an email or starting an e-conversation with her i’m sure she would appreciate it.
SIDE NOTE – you know how ever family has some crazy uncle, aunt, dad, etc. that everyone says “don’t worry about him. that’s just crazy uncle eddy. he’s just that way”? you love that person, would do anything for her, but you don’t take much of what she says very seriously because the family understands that she doesn’t usually turn her brain on before she speaks. you get a good chuckle out of the absurdity of your uncle’s statements but you also explain to those around that he doesn’t speak for the family and he isn’t really a threat. know what i mean?
i sometimes wish there was a way of saying this to those not following CHRIST concerning some of our CHRISTian brothers and sisters. something like “don’t worry about him, that’s just cousin bob – we think he was dropped on his head when he was a kid.” something to acknowledge that we love a brother or sister as family while agreeing that what she is saying is nuts.
let me specify here that i’m not talking about the actually dangerous people. i’m not talking about the uncle that you wouldn’t leave your kids with. for example – fred phelps (i find it hard to believe that he is a family member – but that is up to GOD to decide) or pat robertson. a family is supposed to protect people from that type of evil. no i’m talking about family members that would be classified as “mostly harmless.”
btw, i’m “looking in the mirror” while i type this because most of the time i am probably the one this would need to be said about. “don’t worry about cousin robert. he just talks that way. we just nod, pass him some more bbq, and leave him in a corner while we do the real work of love”
