Tempting...

You have no idea how much I wanted to dress Jaco up for Halloween. I have never dressed up for Halloween* so I was extremely tempted to live vicariously through my dog.

I just realized how pathetic that last sentence sounded.

Jaco would have made a great Yoda...that is Yoda right? Update:After I posted this I realized how...uh...inappropriate the nether regions of this costume look...Maybe they should have modeled it on a short hair dog? Tell me I am not the only one that sees that.

But you know who HAS dressed up for Halloween???

OOoo you can save me any time Clark!
Umm...I think I preferred Clark...

So what are the odd Matt doesn't kill me for posting those?

We leave for the big weekend camping trip in two hours...so I will be MIA for the weekend...if I am not back on Monday send a search party.

No, really, please send a search party.
*I think one time in six grade I was allowed to dress as a Hippie for school.

Photo of the Day

Until yesterday I completely forgot that when you cut an apple across it makes a star.

I will forever be grateful for the simple of beauty of nature.

Have you noticed recently how beautiful is the world that we live in?

Don't worry Wilson, I'll do all the paddling...and the camping

As out camping trip looms ever closer, it occurs to me that I have never camped in anything but sweltering heat. I have no idea how to dress! Matt has informed me that, no, I may not bring along my pajamas and slippers.

What? No Pajamas? No Slippers? WHO LIVES LIKE THAT?! I immediately began to picture myself as a primitive islander, much like Tom Hanks in Castaway, but with a shirt, and much better hair.
I would have to leave some trace of my presence on the trees, so I packed my Sharpie. Hah, bet you didn't think of THAT Tom! Speaking of Castaway, did anyone else cry when Wilson floated off into the wild blue yonder?
Heart wrenching.


In the midst of my daydreams of myself as TROPICAL Castaway, the boys told me something that burst my bubble and made my blood run cold, a fact so horrifying, so terrifying, that I am not even sure I should post it to this site...

"It might snow, Bekah."

WHAT? Snow? No! You can't camp in snow, it's not possible! Only Eskimos can do that, right?!I don't know HOW to build and igloo!

I went out on my own(like the brave pioneer camper that I am) to check the weather...
Those fibbers. Also, that is not as bad as I expected, I just hope Matt realized that my blue icicle feet are GOING to be stuck in between his legs as he tried to sleep as payback.

Frazzled

That is what I am. Who knows what will happen next here on this whacked out site, I certainly don't.

There just might be big changes(not necessarily on purpose) in a few days, there may not. Who knows. Just bear with me.

Also, if you cannot see my blog, please shoot me an email letting me know. I know four people can't, and I would like to figure out why. I'm working on it, I promise! I really really am! I switched the domain name, I don't necessarily think that will fix it, but it is still the same old country mouse blog, it is just easier to type now "www.countrymousetales.com" see! Easy as pie.

I know there are some still problems, but I don't know all of the problems, so if you are seeing something that you think is amiss, please let me know! Thanks kids! (Why on earth do I keep calling you kids?)

email me at bekahcmouse@gmail.com if you notice something you think I should know about, OR if you are one of the poor people in google reader who can't actually see anything on the blog.

Little John and THE Boat

I hopped over to The Cubicle's Backporch a few days ago and saw that someone had googled "how to build boat in cubicle" which eventually brought them to her site. For the record, as far as I know she has not yet written a tutorial on how to build a boat in your cubicle...much less WHY to build a boat in your cubicle. I'm am going to go out on a limb and say that person is feeling the need to get away.

But anyway, I was immediately reminded of Little John. My brother in law Brandon was previously a tattoo artist, and a pretty darn good one at that. See...

One Saturday he came to the apartment my sister and I shared at the time, to pick her up, and asked me if I wanted to tag along to a tattoo parlor where his friend Little John had asked him to do one of his tattoos. Being ultra-cool and having a happening life of my own I said "nah, I don't need you fool!"


OR NOT, I had nothing to do, so along I went.

My first impression of Little John was that he was actually Big John. Big hairy John. He said hello, then he said "you have any Cherokee in you?"

Being blue-eyed with curly light brown hair, I should have known better, but I didn't. 'Nope" I replied.

"Want some?"

Ew. I don't think I even knew what to do, I can't remember. I blocked it out. I remember Brandon and Emily laughing. Meanies.

Little John proceeded to tell me a story about a boat that he had built, a beautiful sailboat.

I asked him if he takes it out on the water very often.

"No" he explained, 'I built it in my basement, then I realized I couldn't get it out, so I had to take it apart."
Huh, no kiddin', it didn't fit up the stairs and out the door? Crazy! I totally would have done the same thing! Or...you know...not.

Wouldn't you just have loved to be a fly on the wall when he realized that the boat was stuck in the basement? Ah...I can only imagine the colorful language!

Photo of the Day

I had people bobbing for apples at the fall festival on Sunday.

My brother was getting that apple if it was the last thing he did!

Answers to LIFE

Yes folks, LIFE. We are tackling the big stuff here on Country Mouse...okay, well, we are tackling the teeny tiny stuff you say? All right, fine! But while I try to find a better blog template, or figure out how to make this one work for me, here are some answers to your questions.


1. What ever happened with the lava lamp?

Oh Lord. If you aren't familiar with the lava lamp, you can catch up here, here, and here. Wouldn't you know Matt saw this and said...yeah anyway! Where is that thing?! The lava lamp remains in an undisclosed location until I figure out just what to do with it. I didn't get rid of it, it is still here, it is just...uh...hidden. So...any suggestions?

2. Clothes on dogs? yes or no - and why.

Haha well, I guess this means yes. See, I think they are adorable. Useless, needless, and frivolous, but adorable. Jaco really doesn't have clothes, just his jersey for game days. I am not a nut (right?) and I don't dress him in sweaters to be outside, or pajamas to sleep. He doesn't have a Halloween costume or anything. Just that single solitary jersey. I bought it in a fit of PMS and nesting all wrapped up in one dangerous day at the mall.

3. You work with immigration questions. How did you get into this line of work? What do you like about it?

I kind of fell into it, honestly I don't like much about it. It is hard to hear people crying because their dad is being deported, whether he deserved it or not. I appreciate that I have a job, but I don't necessarily love the field.

4. What is your dream job - and why?

Hmm...honestly? I would love to be a freelance writer. To write whatever I want, but of course I would be changing the world while I am at it. I really do love to help people, I like to travel, and I enjoy writing. It comes to me much more easily than speaking, even if I do overuse commas and ellipsis (...).

5. Food that you hate - what and why?

Food that I hate....SHRIMP. I can't tolerate it. I wrote all about this deep seated aversion here. Ick. Did you know that lobsters and shrimp are basically insects? Gah. The only thing I like about shrimp is how Bubba says 'srimpin' in Forrest Gump.

6. If you could have invite three people to dinner (dead or alive) - who would they be - and why? (You don't need to invite family... )

My pop-pop. I would just really like to have another meal with him, to have him call me Scruff one more time, and to hold my hand while he prays.

Dorretta Brown. She is just an awesome woman that I haven't seen in four years. She and her husband started this ministry, which enabled me to work in the Dominican Republic.

Gosh, this is kinda hard. Um...can the third be random? No? Uhh....how 'bout one of my future kids? Is that allowed? It might be nice to see how they turn out...just may impact birth control. I kid...I guess...

7. How old is Jaco? And why did you get a dog?

Jaco will be one in about a month. I got a dog because I have always known that as soon as I possibly could, I would get my own dog. I love dogs, they are happy and sweet, and don't care if I don't wear make-up as long as I keep throwing the darn stick. I had been sharing an apartment with my older sister and her dog, Snow White, the white Jack Russell I sometimes have pictures of, and I knew that it would be insane to put two dogs in an apartment. Well, Emily and her now-husband Brandon bought a house, and Snow White went to live there. So a few months later I surprised Matthew with a little hound dog of unknown breeding that I got for free from an area farm. Jaco sort of chose me, actually. I knew Matt really wanted a male dog, and I just wanted a dog, so the first little guy that came up to me and wasn't yapping, I kept. Then drove two hours with an eight week old puppy in my lap to surprise my now-husband with his little guy.

8. Do you make money off those ads?

Okay, that one was asked today, but it still gets an answer on here. As small as this blog is, probably not. But what I like about the Blogher network, is that at the bottom of the ad, there are links to other bloggers. It is kind of like a free plug for people I don't know, whose blogs I might now otherwise find. And somewhere out there, ads are (in theory) linking here as well. Also, I have mine set up to run non-profit ads and public service ads sometimes. Which if you see and click on and potentially donate money towards or something, please know none of that is going to me! Gosh, that would just be awful.

So there you have it kids...everything you never wanted to know, then a little bit more! Now -- how about a question for you. Let's see...

Do you have pets? If so, what kind and what is/are it's/their names?

Bear with me....

So I set out to find a cool new template....because I really want a trifold template, since I have a lot of stuff I would like to put in a side bar, but NOW EVERYTHING IS ALL JACKED UP! And I may just need some Jack to get through this, Jack Daniels that is.

Gosh this is frustrating! I am simple, I don't want anything fancy, and apparently that is just not OKAY with templates. I don't want vines, I don't want neon colors, I just want my simple template, but with three columns.

All I'm asking of you is please please please just bear with this poor little Country Mouse as she messes up her blog, I am sure I will have to call Matt soon and confess that I broke my blog.

Send help! PLEASE! Ack!

UPDATE: Please blogger, can we pretend the last three hours didn't happen? I just told Matt...here is how it went down...

me: I think I broke my blog.

matt: What?

me: My blog...I broke it.

matt: How does that even happen?

me: I tried to edit the HMTL. What is HTML by the way, I meant to ask you that first, but I forgot.

matt: Important.

me: I see.

So people...I am still working on it. What you are seeing now is most likely what will stay. Oh, I will be changing colors, etc. But, it is the closest I can find. I tried to just go back to the old template...but that is no longer the same either, it now has blue words all over the top. So...do you hate it? I know, the banner -- HUGE. But it is covering puppies. I don't want a puppy blog, so I can't change the size.

Photo of the Day

Ashley and I hosted a fall picnic for our church on Sunday. It was a good time, that I am sure I will tell you more about this week, but first, check out the adorableness that was our centerpieces!

That is cute right? Oh and side note -- if you put candy corn in a carved out pumpkins that you spent about an hour on the night before without a liner, by the time you take it home the candy corn SOMEHOW turns into candy soup. I'm talking a liquid here people!

Dead or Alive

(You are all humming Bon Jovi now aren't you? You're welcome!)

Gosh I love scam emails...you may remember when I received this one, in which I was renamed "Martini Jerry".

Imagine my surprise when I opened this little gem today...

Dear Beneficary,
You have a long overdue payment of $18,500,000.00 in my bank.A foreigner is about claiming this funds on your behalf stating that you are dead so pls confirm to my official email address; mrdapodaniels@hotmail.com if you are DEAD OR ALIVE . Thanks and awaiting your response.Yours Sincerly MR DAPO OLA-DANIELS

I mean really, there is just no way I wasn't responding to that one. How could I resist??

Dear Mr. Dapo,
I regret to inform you that I am, in fact, deceased. I was out for a long walk when out of NOWHERE I was attacked by a badger. Yes, a Badger! In Pennsylvania! Trust me, no one was more shocked than I! But that's not what did me in, no sir. I survived the vicious attack, losing ONLY two fingers and an earlobe in the process, only to find out that the badger had given me rabies. Yes, Rabies! But thats not what did me in either. No, no, no. After going through countless rounds of shots in the belly I was deemed cured of rabies! Praise the Lord! After hearing that narvelous news I decided to treat myself to some sushi yes, sushi! And that, dear sir, is what did me in.

Yours (even in death),
Scruffy


It's just fun, you know? Oh, I signed it Scruffy because that is my nickname (it's the hair) and it is part of the email address to which Dear Mr. Dapo sent that email.

There is a bug going around...

Or mabe it's not a bug...its a meme. Same difference. Haha I kid, I kid, anyway...I have been tagged about six times now so it is high time I got back to that! I'm sorry, I know I am supposed to link to everyone who tagged me, but it has been going around for a while now and I don't want to scroll through all my comments, then a bunch of blogs to find it...I'm lazy like that. So thanks to everyone who tagged me, and here goes...

1. I am not overly neat, yet I arrange my closet by color, you know...ROYGBIV and all that jazz.

2. This isn't really a quirk, but I need coffee like a fiend in the morning, or else!

3. I had straight hair until I was 16, then it suddenly became very curly and has been ever since.

4. I love candy corn, it is by far my favorite candy. It has rubbed off on my dog as well, he prefers a candy corn to a dog treat when he has been a good boy.

5. I once ate a worm...on purpose.

6. I don't really like wearing make-up, and on most days I don't.

Okay, so there were a few of my not-so embarrassing quirks, I won't even post the bad ones! I think that most of you already knew those things though...so here is my question to you...


...is there anything about me that you want to know more about?

*That picture is obviously irrelevant to this post, it makes me laugh, and I want you all to laugh at least once today, so I stuck it in here!

Photo of the Day

Check out the shaved belly patch! And uh..that's not all the shaved...

The Brave Little Toaster

I loved that movie, didn't you?! Just a great movie!

But anyway...back to the point of the post...I wanted to say thank you to all of you who were sending prayers and sweet thoughts to Jaco and me today. It would have been easy for you to write me off as an over-emotional girl and say 'psh it's just dog!' but you didn't and (corny as this sounds) that means a lot to me.

THANKS!
My brother Everett went with me to go pick up, Jaco is doing well, he is a little dazed, but overall he is great. He came in the house and immediately wanted food.
Look Ma, no ball! Sorry, that was inappropriate( but what else is new?)
And yeah...he knows how to work it already.

Smokey

When I was around 12 years old my dad and step-mom surprised the five of us with a kitten! An adorable gray kitten with a white nose and white paws. He was cuddly and loving and cute and...well...everything a kitten should be.

The time came to get him declawed and he was dropped off at the vet. Later that day the vet called, and informed us that they had inadvertantly given Smokey the anesthesia does of a much larger cat. Our kitten would not be waking up. Oops. (We bawled for what felt like weeks, probably was about 30 minutes, but still...we missed Smokey)

Why do I tell you this morbid story? Because at 8 o'clock this morning I dropped off my dear sweet puppy to be neutered. I accidently called it 'castrated' but Matt was quick to correct me lest I accidently ask for the incorrect procedure. I'm still unclear on the difference, anyone? Anyone? No? Okay then...moving on.

I can't help but think of Smokey right now, and Lord knows nothing can be simple with Jaco. Keep in mind, he only has one ball, they have to go inside and find the other one.
Love you little buddy!! See you at 3:30!
Who wants to bet that Jaco figures out how to milk this for all it is worth?

Also, you should probably head over to my sister's page and see the card her dog, Snow White, made for Jaco. I squealed quite a bit when I saw it.

Photo of the Day

This dog has my father wrapped around her tiny fluffy paw. Oh, does she ever.

Meeting Matthew

When I posted the photo of the day yesterday, I asked you if you could tell why it is special to me. Here is why...are you ready?...you sure??

That is the first picture I have of Matthew. AWWWWW.
And here is the second.

Matt and I met in July of 2004. I was living and working in the Dominican Republic when he came down for about two weeks to work on a chapel with us. I was his boss on a construction project (I love reminding him of that)
Since relationships between team leaders and group members were strictly forbidden, I surreptitiously snuck photos of him during group events.
*Hey, sidenote, what is that on the picture on top of Matt? Why do those show up in pictures?

I was sneaky about it, no one knew, I'm good like that! Apparently I am not THAT good, since after he left my boss asked me what was up with me and the "tall kid"? Oops. And 'technically' nothing was up, since it took me a good three years to hook him after that.

What can I say, I'm just irresistible like that...
Ahem, stop laughing, yes I am!

Photo of the Day

This is Jaco's little girlfriend, Lady. She has about 5 times MORE energy than he does, so it's nice to have him spend the day with her and watch him flop into his bed exhausted the minute he gets home.

Somebody's in Trouble

Why?
Can a dog really hate the Mets that much?
The best part of these pictures is that his rawhide is RIGHT THERE! Seriously Mutt!

Can you guess why the photo of the day today is important? Hop on down there and give me your best answer! Let's see how well you know me (you stalkers.) I kid. I kid. I love you, come back! I will tell you tomorrow.

Photo of the Day

Aside from being really poor quality, this picture is special to me...can you guess why?

hint-I am not in it.

Oops, I totally forgot the Photo of the Day

Matt is 6'2", so that is QUITE a leap for a little pup! I love how is looks like he is actually hanging from the Frisbee.

That is a Mystery

I have trouble sleeping, I just feel like I need to preface this post with that little fact.

The other night, I found myself bleary-eyed in front of the television at 2:00 AM, watching "The Pick-Up Artist"

Have you seen this? Here is this fellow, Mystery, who promises to take eight losers and turn them into well, a pick-up artist. Oh, look! He even wrote a book!

I just, I cannot imagine. Who goes home with these men? HOW does this work? ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME? They are relying on the alcohol right?

First of all -- his name is Mystery, strike one.

Second -- the dude is wearing GOGGLES on his head. Strike two.

Third -- his wingman, MATADOR is wearing red leather pants. Strike three.

Fourth -- He has a soul-patch. Ew.Also, he is wearing what looks to be roadkill on his head AND his jacket.

He is promising to make them so good at picking up women that one day, oh happy day, they will teach it to their sons. In theory, Mystery can pick up any woman ALIVE. Ha, I would LOVE to see that. Honestly, if he approached me at a bar, I'd think he was a gay pirate of some sort.I have never really understood the concept of picking someone up at bar, but thats a personal preference I guess. I tend to be that girl at the bar that guys just know isn't interested (especially now that there is a big ol' glittery ring on my finger, but even before that as well). I just, I don't know, I never felt that I had to be accomodating to the learing drunk fellow trying spark a conversation whilst staring down my shirt, you know? Crazy huh?

There was one endearing Brit that got a smile out of me when he told me he needed help counting our "crazy American money". Oh dear, go ahead and insult my national currency while establishing that you are unable to count.

One guy called me "his little chicken," I'm still not sure how I feel about that, was he making fun of my legs? Or my hair? What is the worst pick-up line that has been used on you? Or..what is the best? Have any of them worked?! Do tell!!

Culture

Matt and I went to the bookstore again last weekend. As we were checking out, I was checking out the new release signs.

Me: Oooh Honey, did you see that Andrea Bocelli is releasing his new album in November?

Matt: Oh. Did you see that Wall-E is coming out in November?

Sales Clerk: Culture is dead, isn't it?


I mean, really, I probably should have known better. Opera isn't really his thing, whereas robots? Robots are totally his thing.

*I love him, cultured or not -- and truth be told, the boy is about 5 times more cultured than me, it just worked out hilariously in this case.

Photo of the Day

It starting to really annoy me that when I upload my pictures to blogger it is flipping them, "orienting" them if you will. I liked this a lot better horizontally. I may have to write an angry letter...because that is just they way I am. Full of ANGER! Or...you know...not.

Where are the Fashion Police When You Need Them?

You how some girls just naturally have style?

This is my youngest sister, and this girl? She has style. (The one in the middle, in case you couldn't tell.)
She can wear pretty much anything, and make it look good. Despite the fast that they are heading to her senior homecoming she still managed to not look homecoming-ish.
I mean, how many people can pull off leopard print without looking a tad hooker-ish? I am 100% certain that this Country Mouse couldn't pull that off.
And yet, she looks adorable. Classy, young, everything I failed to pull off in high school.
Why didn't anyone stop me? WHY? Why couldn't someone have said "Hey Bekah, I think neon green is not your color"? Or maybe "Bekah, what's happening with your hair?" Or even "Why, oh why, is your midriff exposed?"

Oh and my date? A 5 foot 5 inch Puerto Rican named Jorge. I looked like an amazon next to him, a glowing petri dish of an amazon.

Please tell me you had bad homecoming style too? please? hello? anyone?

The Language of Love

Matt: I love you.

Me: I love you more!

Matt: Oh yeah?

Me: Yeah, I love you more than ALL of my shoes!

Matt: Yeah? Well, I love you more than all of the miles on my truck.

Translation anyone?

Photo of the Day

Can a pig be a housepet?

It's the Little Things...

I'll be the first to admit that I am EXTREMELY easily amused. It's true.

Hello, my name is Rebekah, and I have the attention span of a goldfish.

Last weekend while Matt was painting, I was assigned the unfortunately boring job of "holding the ladder."

I mean sure, the scenery was nice, can't complain there. But how long can one actually just take pictures of her husbands tush until EVEN THAT gets boring.
But then? Then I saw this.
The ladder was pigeon-toed! Please tell me you find that amusing? I giggled to no end. Matt thought I had been off sniffing paint while no one was watching. (Which, unintentionally, may have happened come to think of it).

I then completely stopped holding the ladder and did this instead for a good ten minutes.
Safety be damned! I have a ladder to mimic!