That Didn’t Go As Expected…

Animal Issues, Daily Dose, Family Funk, Pets /

Since Lola had been in her crate for a couple of hours while we did round one of our errands, I suggested we take her and Skeeter with us when we went to the Navy Base/Jewel. We could stop at the big dog park and let her run around in the training pen — and get an idea of how she might do off-leash in the big park.

Hah.

She got sick all of the back seat when we were about 100 yards from the park. Undigested and barely chewed dog treats from two hours earlier. I am thinking we won’t give her that kind of treat again.

Skeeter was very excited to be at the park and did not understand why it was taking us so long to get in there and take her leash off. She was wholly unamused that we were going to try to keep her on the leash for even a second longer than necessary. So, I released her and off she went.

Lola was… overwhelmed. Barking. Hair raised. Confused by what was going on. But we made our way, 50 yards or so, to the little pen and took her in. We called Skeeter to come in, too — and she did, but she brought some sort of little bulldog type of dog with her. We could not manage to keep skeeter in and the bulldog out, so I just closed him in with us. His people didn’t mind.

Once I closed the gate, TW unleashed Lola and… off she went, for the gate and slipped through the opening between the gate and the fence post.

Oops.

We thought we might round her up and try the second small training area because there wasn’t a gap between the fence and the gate but there was a huge gap under the gate. No way that was going to keep her in and by then, she was off sniffing the people and the dogs and following Skeeter around.

So, we shrugged and started walking.

Dangerous since she hasn’t been spayed and she’s not done any work with us on recall, really.

But, it went very well. She’s a little afraid of big dogs and black dogs and she wasn’t interested in going very far from us — not even to follow Skeeter down a path or into a mud bath. And, she doesn’t really love mud baths (yet). It wasn’t til we were pretty much done that she decided to follow Skeeter into this little mudhole.

It was a good, (too short for Skeeter’s liking), trip. Even though she got sick again on the ride home.

Gah. I really hope she’s not a car-sick kind of dog and it was just nerves and treats that didn’t set well…

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Better and Worse

Daily Dose, Day to Day /

The puppies are awesome. I just watched both dogs hop right into the backseat of the car and settle right down. Huge improvement over day one. A little while ago, Lola was outside with me and when she came in — she stopped in the middle of the room and waited for me to invite her to leave the room, without me saying a word or giving her any hand signal at all. Huge. HUGE. Amazing job of “Wait”.

I, however, am not awesome.

My house is trashed.

I’ve worked a whole lot of hours this week, after doing such an amazing job of taking time off everyday (for the last few months.)

We’re hemorrhaging money, after doing a great job of budget cutting and saving money.

I’m tired. Very, very tired — which is why the house is trashed, I’m working too many hours and we’re spending too much money.

It’s a vicious cycle. Must end the cycle this weekend.

Back. ON. Track. DAMN. IT.

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What a Difference a Day Makes

1 Comment / Animal Issues, Daily Dose, Pets /

Today was almost pleasant. Well, sort of. As pleasant as a day can be when you have days like mine.

What I mean is, the puppies were awesome today. Lola wasn’t crated all day — she and Skeeter were able to take breaks on their own, sometimes in the same room! Miracle of miracles. Turns out they do have off-switches and they seem to be able to turn those off all on their own. Yippee. I was kind of worried that we were always going to have to be enforcing time outs for over-tired puppies.

Heh.

Lola jumped the baby gate today when TW and the little kids came home. First time TW has actually seen her launch herself over one of those things. She’s one hell of a jumper.

Skeeter threw a lot of tantrums over Lola playing with her toys and chewing on her bones and antlers. Just like she used to do when Koto took her toys or bones or antlers.

Lola’s visit to the vet was fine. She’s 24lbs. She has a broken tail. Her eyes are red but we don’t really know why and are just going to watch them. Her microchip isn’t functioning or was expelled, so we have to take her in to get a new one. She took her heartworm treatment like champ (which is a big deal because she really doesn’t love treats the way Skeeter loves treats. Skeeter would eat a whole box of heartworm thingies and beg for more. )

TW took both dogs in the car together for the first time and nobody died. She says they were good. That must be because I taught Lola how to WAIT (for godsake) when the door is open. hah.

That’s something else Lola is doing well — she’s doing a great job of waiting at the door before she runs through it. This is important for her to learn, we really don’t want her dashing out of the house every time a kid or TW’s mom (or TW) goes in/out.

All in all — a good day. We’ll see what happens tomorrow when someone is going to be in the car pretty much all day long (and it won’t be me.)

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Puppy Mania

Animal Issues, Family Funk /

Every now and then, over the last 10 months, we’ve said stuff like, “We should have adopted two dogs, instead of just one.” We’ve said this because Skeeter really has always needed a playmate. She loved Koto but he was old and grouchy and not interested in being her best, hyper puppy buddy.

I’ve always been pretty thankful that we didn’t adopt two dogs because OMG I could only imagine how maddening that would have been.

Now I’m really, really glad because holy hell — the puppy mania is really manic.

Having Lola here has shown us just how awesome Skeeter is and just how badly trained she is, too. Yea, it’s both of those things.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, that’s for sure.

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Damn Dog

Animal Issues, Family Funk /

Yea, I’m blaming the damn dog for me missing ANOTHER day of blogging this month. Gah.

This will probably be the last time I blame that particular dog for anything… which is weird. I’m so used to blaming him for stuff that I’m all out of sorts at not having him around to blame.

~~

Really though, I didn’t blog because my day was muddled. I’m not good with things being muddled. I like my routine. Waking up to a dead dog throws the entire day out of whack and I never managed to recover.

Which is also how we found ourselves at Chic-Fil-A last night for dinner.

Chic-Fil-A is not close to us (though the one we went to last night is closer than the one we usually go to.) Normally, it’s a big deal to take that much time away from work/home and go to Chic-Fil-A — never a spur of the moment sort of thing. Well last night, I said what the hell, the day could not get any more muddled.

~~

Here’s hoping we can get back on track with our lives. Soon.

Though I suppose that won’t happen if we find ourselves with a new dog ….

Yea. I said new dog…

Yea. We’re crazy.

Damn dog.

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The Luck of the Buttons

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Fiction /

I have no idea how I ended up with The Luck of the Buttons. It’s not on the Cybils list and we never wander into the YA area of our library any more, much less the “juvenile” section. This is also not the type of book that ends up on the “New Arrivals” shelves at our library.

It’s a mystery.

I’m guessing a blogger of some sort mentioned reading it, so I reserved it.

Thankfully, it was a super short read because it’s not a book I really loved. I didn’t hate it either. It’s just one of those books adults like children to read but children (mostly) hate reading them. And those kinds of books make it hard for me to enjoy them, because my inner 8 year old is rolling her eyes mightily.

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Four More Art Journaling Books

2013, Art, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

Someone stop me from reserving/checking out more of these books. Sheesh. It’s like a sickness, I tell you!

I just happened to see Creating Decorative Paper on the shelf at the library today and grabbed it. It wasn’t the best book I’ve read but it wasn’t bad either. If I had unlimited monies and more room to do art, I’d probably enjoy it more for the unusual (and sometimes time-consuming) papers in the book.

These next three books, I’d kind of like to own. There’s so much good stuff in them that I see something new every time I open the books — even though I’ve read them all cover to cover.

Art at the Speed of Life has to go back to the library early next week, someone else has it on hold!, so I’m going to spend some time tonight/tomorrow, making notes of ideas for things I might like to try. Thankfully Artists Journals & Sketchbooks and alphabetica don’t have to go back for awhile. I can take my time with them. That’s a good thing, since I just glanced down at them and saw something on each cover that I want to try.

Someone remind me, later, to go in search of more work by Lynne Perrella…

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Kiss Chronicles

2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

How old were you when you had your first kiss? 14? 19? 24? Older than 30?

Most of you are probably laughing at the idea of not having your first kiss until after you turned 30 but it happens. To normal (or mostly normal, hi Virginia!) people. Like Virginia.

I remember the first time I saw her on BlogHer, it took me awhile to wrap my head around the never been kissed idea. Then, when I realized she was writing a book (and donating the money from the sale to charity) I knew I had to read it.

And now that I finally have read it, I guess I understand a little better how Virginia has gone this long without a first kiss. Sort of.

Go download Kiss Chronicles (and make a donation to the American Cancer Society!) and let’s figure out how to get Virginia a first kiss… at BlogHer ’13, maybe? lol

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So Pretty

1 Comment / Daily Dose, Foodie /

I have a love/hate with the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

The biggest problem is that I don’t really understand why the average person needs a stand mixer at all, much less a Kitchenaid that weighs a gazillion pounds.

My mom did not have a stand mixer when I was a kid.
I did not have a stand mixer until I moved in with TW and discovered she had her mom’s old white Kitchenaid.

And then I cursed that thing like crazy for a good five years, at which point it tried to kill me. (Fine, that’s what I get for storing it on top of the refrigerator.)

Just a couple of years ago, we threw away that old Kitchenaid stand mixer because the thingy that holds the bowl in place was worn out and the goo being mixed kept flying all over the place. Sometimes the entire bowl flew across the room. Stupid machine.

I’m thrifty and don’t believe in stand mixers so when I bought the replacement, I picked a Mixmaster. TW didn’t seem thrilled with it but she didn’t really complain either. The Mixmaster mostly just did what it was supposed to do while I cursed the fact that we have a stand mixer at all because those things take up space that we do not have.

At least this one isn’t heavy.

And yet, we are both drawn to the Kitchenaid Stand Mixers when we go to the Navy Exchange. Or when we’re in any kitchen department. It’s the color. The color lures us in. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve fondled a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer in red. In green. In orange. In yellow. Even in pink.

So it makes sense that I fondled the watermelon Kitchenaid at BlogHer Food. I fondled it quite a bit. And then TW won it and I cursed because we have a Mixmaster, for goodness sakes. We don’t have room for a Kitchenaid! That thing will probably try to kill me just like the white one did.

Then again, this one is new. And fresh. And has all of the instructions. It has the splatter guard. And the meat grinder. And the grain grinder. And the pasta thingy. How cool is THAT?

Sure enough, when it arrived yesterday… I fondled it. I cannot walk past it without petting it.

It’s so damn pretty.

I really hope it doesn’t try to kill me like the old white one did.

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Moon Spotlight Savannah & the Georgia Coast

2013, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Travel Log /

When I started thinking about where we might move next, and started thinking maybe it would not be Gainesville, I realized I didn’t really know all that much about the coast of Georgia. I like the idea of the Georgia coast but that’s only from looking at some houses that are for sale and the prices of those houses.

I figured a guide book might be a good place to start to learn more about Savannah, Darien, Brunswick, St Mary and all points in between.

And it was. I really enjoyed the Moon Spotlight: Savannah & the Georgia Coast. I kind of want my next vacation to be a week traveling up and down the coast of Georgia.

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