Pop! Goes The Coon Hound

Yesterday, I ran into a grocery store to purchase a few items for dinner. I had Captain Chaos and Major Havoc with me. Normally, I place them in a two-seater “race car” shopping cart in order to keep them corralled while I shop. Yesterday, I allowed them to walk along with me. They ran off to the crane machine to “ooh” and “ahh” over the toys inside while I paid for our purchase. When I was finished I called to them, “Hey Mutt and Jeff, come with me.”

The Captain turned towards me and proudly announced, “I’m Jeff!”



I was surprised to read that children’s author Judy Blume is not only a supporter of Planned Parenthood, but is allowing the organization to use her name to solicit donations. She is encouraging people to say “thank you” to their moms for everything that moms do by making a donation in their mom’s name to Planned Parenthood as a Mother’s Day gift.

You read that correctly.

She thinks that the best way to say thanks to the woman who gave her life is to make a financial donation to an organization whose sole purpose appears to be killing the unborn. That logic makes my head hurt. Needless to say, there will never again be a Judy Blume book in this household. Any books that are here will be in a recycling bin tomorrow. Hopefully some company can turn the books into something useful, like toilet paper.

I am unapologetically pro-life. Readers who are pro-choice really shouldn’t waste their time or mine trying to debate the issue. They’ll get no traction. There is nothing they can say that will ever justify the intentional killing of the unborn.



I need to give a big shout of thanks to the Boss for her efforts at turning this blog site into something with a little more eye appeal. I’ve always focused on content without much regard to design. That’s why I was so thrilled when Eric Novak revamped the old blog last fall. His work was excellent. I’ve been itching for the Boss to help turn around the design of the new place, but I didn’t want to pester. Pesky little things like a job, a husband, some children and all of their extra-curricular activities have made it a little difficult for her to find the time for web design. Today she surprised and delighted me with a change that incorporated the source of much of the material for Boarding in Bedlam - the three boarders who challenge our sanity. Don’t let those smiles fool you. They’re not as innocent as they look.

Just consider the boy in the middle, Major Havoc. Just today he took his sister’s spring loaded play tunnel, squished it down to its smallest size, and called for the coon hound. As soon as the pup came up to the Major he let go of the tunnel, giggling manically as it shot up to its full six foot length. The dog scurried away, shocked and barking. As soon as he regained his composure, the Major grabbed the tunnel, squished it back down, and called for the dog again. It only took three rounds of pop-goes-the-coon-hound before the beast caught on and headed for the yard. Do they make doggie pace makers?