Aware of Surroundings

The other day as I prepared to leave for work, I realized that my pets do know my schedule...........literally. They act nothing like when I come home from work.

As you can see in the background in this pic, they are lounging without a care in the world that I'm set out to make a living that pays for their comfortable home. The best vet care. The best dog food and treats in the market. The best fur care products on the shelf. The best master in the world.

Yep - this is their farewall demeanor. Such doom and gloom as Karen heads out the door.

At least Shady gave me a good-bye one eyed glance.

As much as I want to take a pic of how they greet me when I come home - I'm afraid to drop my camera because there are three of them all over me.

And off to work I go. This is my breakfast. Hot oatmeal sprinkled with trail mix. Yummy.

Everyday after work, I am stuck in this. Traffic. Man, I could only imagine how this will be when the military build up actually happens.

Being an election year - these waves during traffic time is absolutely annoying. Sadly, when these candidates get elected into office, we never see them again.

The misery of traffic and getting home to my fam bam and my pets is always wonderful. Oh, my blog title is about Aware of Surroundings. Well, when we are not concious of our surroundings, Shady uses it to her advantage...........ALWAYS. This is a pic of her getting into the powdered donuts. Yep - she ate the whole box.

Yesterday I wask tasked to attend the funeral of Mr. Kuo Ming Yu. I was amidst the grueling work of running a department and I had to pull away and get to the funeral. I have never attended a Chinese funeral before and I wish I had at least read up on the cultural aspect of paying respect - but I didn't. It was an experience though. As I entered the funeral home I was greeted by a receptionist; I signed the guest book and was given these gifts.

A hostess dressed in Buddhist attire greeted me and showed me to another receptionist who greeted me and then showed me to another hostess in Buddhist attire who placed the yellow ribbon on me. She escorted me down the aisle and I came upon a beautifully set table that had bowls of food, insense, flowers. I had to bow to the table which was in front of the coffin (the room was full of Chinese people............watching). The Buddhist then guided me to pinch a bowl of crushed insense, bring it to my forehead, and then sprinkle it into the black bowl. I then had to bow again at the table, turn to my right and bow to the people, turn to my left and bow to the people. Then the Buddhist left me. I had no idea on what to do next??? So I stood there for a minute, said a prayer, and then walked away.

Then it was back to work. And work I did. My receptionist team completed a course called "The WOW in Service" and I proudly presented them their certificate. What a sharp team.

Although I don't have time to photograph the stages of these little rascals, I did make the time to finish them. From the PUG IT PILE these were created from a pair of slacks. Aren't they cute?

Ending this blog today I leave you with this pic of my son who placed 2nd place in the marsmanship shooting competition against another high school. I'm so proud of him.

PUG HUGS,

Karen, The Pug Artist from Guam