superdog?

 

thank you for bearing with me.  once i got home and established that nothing was stolen and we were all safe, i had to crash. i've had  less than 10 hours' sleep in three days and i really did not have a choice of  'sleep or not'.

i went straight to the elementary school after work.  when i arrived home at 3:40, the elder two had already invaded the house.  i stepped onto the front porch to find the screen hanging from the front window.  it was not broken, but a piece was out of place enough to show me that it had been pulled out of the frame, not fallen by accident.  i asked the kids if it had been like that when they left for school in the morning (because everything was in place when *i* left 12 hours before).  they assured me that the loose screen was new.  i stepped inside and took a quick inventory of the front room.  without listing it all (i'm not stupid) everything was in place.  power tools, appliances, etc.  checkity check check.

upon closer examination of the window, it was still just so very slightly open that i could tell it had been shut from outside.  you simply can't close it all the way from outside because your fingers can't get the leverage.  the chair that sits directly in front of the window is round.  no, really it is. it's like a mini-couch that spins in a circle like a barstool.   if you step through that window onto the chair, it will turn and go off-balance.  there was no evidence of footprints, leg marks or smudges on the back of the upholstery indicating that it was tipped off-balance at all.

i checked the shed: all bikes present and accounted for.  i checked the smaller tool shed.  everybody tucked in tight. re-checked the house: all items of pawnable expense have not moved.

now, about this dog.  this half-beagle, half-husky weighs under 30 pounds, yet has charged a full 300 pound rottweiler, honestly believing she was going to take that dog to the mat.  when she is angry she sounds rabid.  full-throated snarls rip from her wolf-like jaws and every hair (on a husky that is a lot of hair) EVERY hair stands up from crown to tip of tail.  her ears lie flat against her head and if she wasn't so darn cute, i would be scared of her when the mail carrier visits.  her growling, snarling half-husky bay has made grown men run from our front porch.  she sounds HUGE. 

no.  that window was not locked.  had anything been stolen, we would have deserved it. 

it is now.  and that dog?  she is getting a nice raw egg on her dinner tonight and maybe even a couple bites of chicken.  because i KNOW someone opened that window from the outside.  and somehow never made it in the house.

 

you have incurred the snark of kate:

 

your hair would be cute... if your wig was on straight.

men don't wear the little pantyhose footies.  no.  they don't.  stop arguing.  you are wearing pantyhose and i am wearing tactical boots with composite toes. 

if i have to physically scoot your foot onto the yellow footprint because you can't figure it out, then yes, you are that stupid.  you said it first.

if i am blocking the door, you can't come in.  bumping me with your dunlop will only anger me.

that dress is cute but you need to wear leggings.  you lose cute points if your cheeks hang lower than your hem.

when you are given multiple opportunities and reminders to close your carry-on, i feel no sympathy when you dump it on the floor.

you're welcome.  i did just swallow my cookie whole and return from my break five minutes early to search for your ID that you "forgot you put in your pocket."  that is  the first place i suggested you look.  the least you could do is thank me, bitch.

when you use please, thank you, and stop looking down your nose at me, i will tell you that you left your shoes on the floor and failed to put them in the xray.  for now you can keep looking.

this game amuses me.  let's all hold our belongings, watch the conveyor belt move and complain that the line is stopped.

WJZ News: D.C.'s Churches, Museums Hold Sept. 11 Ceremonies

 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washingtonians and visitors to the capital were marking the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks that stunned the city with commemorations Sunday at museums, churches and ballparks.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History hosted a ceremony with the Transportation Security Administration and hundreds participated in a Freedom Walk at Arlington National Cemetery to support military families. Observances were also planned for a NFL game between the Giants and the Redskins, teams from the two cities hit by the terrorist attacks.

An afternoon 9/11 Unity Walk event drew hundreds of people of all faiths to the Washington Hebrew Congregation, where Rabbi Bruce Lustig told the crowd that the Washington area has a strong interfaith bond among its many religious groups.

"The terrorists changed America on 9/11, but only we would determine how," Lustig said. "We can choose hope over fear, light over darkness."

Earlier in the day at the museum, former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta led a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. to mark the time the first plane struck one of the World Trade Center towers, and thanked those who have served in the TSA since the agency was created just 70 days after Sept. 11. The TSA has screened more than 7 billion travelers and thwarted potential attacks, officials said.

As Mineta toured an exhibit of 9/11 objects at the museum, he recalled tracking the plane that would eventually slam into the Pentagon. He said he would always be grateful for the people on Flight 93 who stopped the plane from reaching a city, possibly to strike a political target in Washington.

Elizabeth Pero-Swingle, accompanied by her 5-year-old daughter, Sydney, visited the museum in her blue TSA uniform. The 32-year-old TSA officer at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport sang the national anthem for the ceremony. Ten years ago, Pero-Swingle was studying opera at an Arizona college. After 9/11, she felt a call to serve and joined TSA in 2005.

"I was just so thrilled to be part of the government, just to serve -- period," she said.
Albert Haywood, 60, of Detroit, also at the exhibit, said he wanted to be back in Washington for the anniversary because he had been working as a security director for the American Red Cross in the city when the attacks happened.

"The people who were actually here are going to appreciate this even more," Haywood said of the exhibit. "And it's good for the people that weren't here too."

At the Newseum, visitors lined the sidewalks outside the journalism museum to see the front pages of newspapers 10 years later. The Chicago Tribune ran the headline "We remember," with a photograph of the smoldering New York site from Sept. 12, 2001. The front page from The Arizona Republic featured memories from readers summed up in six words, such as: "Angry that they changed my life," and "Began: United Police States of America."

At the Arlington National Cemetery, several hundred people participated in a Freedom Walk sponsored by Operation Homefront, which supports military families.

Lea Pfeifer, 37, of Falls Church, Va., took part in the walk with her husband, Eric, and their 2-year-old son. "I will never forget my experience that morning," Pfeifer said. "I think we carry that horror with us every day."

Vivian Dietrich of Leesburg, who helped organize the Freedom Walk, said the cemetery was the perfect place to commemorate 9/11 and recognize the service of those who gave their lives for their country.

"When you walk in here, you realize each headstone has its story," Dietrich said.
Dietrich's husband worked at the Pentagon when it was hit 10 years ago. "I sat there knowing full well that it was his office building that had been hit." Her husband survived and later served in Iraq.

Images from the cemetery, including a live performance of "Taps," were to be presented Sunday afternoon during NFL games, including the Giants-Redskins game.

Before that game, family members affected by the plane that struck the Pentagon and players from both teams were to help hold an American flag, covering the entire field, as the national anthem was sung.

Robin Berretta, wearing a Giants jersey, came from New York for the game. She said she had friends who suggested she shouldn't come.

"They thought it was going to get bombed. Everyone's very paranoid," Berretta said. "And they're not even from New York."

Berretta was unfazed.

"I even took the Metro," she said.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)   link to website