Happy Holidays

From our House to Yours! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Hanukkah! Or just Please Enjoy Your Time Off!

Rats and Brats and the End of Summer

On June 1, we were a happy, healthy family of 3. DSD, Lola and I had our routine down whether it included taking the baby girl for a walk or cooking dinner. Then my son moved back home. I have missed him and am glad he is there, but it changed things up a bit. Then DSD's ex moved to California leaving LittleMan with us until the middle of August. LittleMan AND Henry, a 5 year old, anti-social West Highland Terrier.


So our family of 3 became a family of 6 and I am not dealing well with it. I love LittleMan, but that does not mean that I LIKE him. He is incredibly socially awkward. He may actually be slightly mentally challenged he is just that awkward. DSD and I had a discussion yesterday afternoon, about Henry, with LittleMan standing between us and when DSD asked him a question LittleMan looked around like he was coming out of a trance. This was in the kitchen, so he wasn't watching TV.


On top of that, Henry is not well behaved at all. He is house broken, but he has NO doggy manners. He does not sit, he does not stay, he does not come, he.does.not.listen. And Lola thinks he is her brand new chew toy. She wants to squeak him. She will cease and desist once you get her attention, but she really is still a puppy. An 80 pound puppy. I spend a lot of time hearing, "Lola stop. Lola quit. Lola leave him alone." And it pisses me off.

And the ex 'forgot' to check whether Henry could fly out with LittleMan. And she 'forgot' to find out what paperwork would be required to let him on the plane. And, so far, she has 'forgotten' to make Henry reservations.

So DSD decided it would be swell for us to go visit his parents before the LittleMan leaves the state. They are six hours away. Frankly, it makes me want to kick something to think of my lost weekend. I actually love my in-laws, but they EXHAUST me. Did I mention that I was completely mentally exhausted already? And I am supposed to start back to school in 13 days?

Maybe I will run away instead.

Happy Birthday Lola!

Ok, she is the dog. But she has brought so much joy to my life! She is so happy, so loving and it so great to go home to her after a long day at work.

We're not having a doggy party. And she is not getting a doggy cake (why would I feed my dog cream cheese?). But I do have a nice present for her and a can of dog food, which we save for special occassions.

I hope her birthday is wonderful and she has many, many, many more of them.

Spring with Lola

It has been difficult to keep Lola out of the pool all winter. SHE loves it; I don't like being sprayed with icy water when it is 55 degrees outside.

Today, though, it was beautiful outside, so when Lola stepped onto the top step of the pool, I let her jump right in (I had this planned already.) She swam for a bit (while I rid the yard of dog poop) and then she ran around the pool for a bit, then I threw the tennis ball for her for a bit. I tried to change it up, first throwing into the pool and then throwing it across the yard and have come to the conclusion that she doesn't like to put the dirty balls in her mouth. Crazy dog.

After a while, I was getting bored with the tennis ball thing and then I had the ingenious idea to get one of the 'noodles' out of the shed. It's pretty big, but so is she! Would she play with it?

I guess she would!

While I was in there I found one of those big balls that can be found in a big wire container in many stores. This one had been purchased in the summer of 2001 right after I bought the house. I have no memories of the last time it was actually played with and it was about 1/3 of the way flat. So, it became Lola's also.

We both had a great time and she was pretty amazing. At one point, both the noodle and the ball were in the pool and she had them both in her mouth bringing them back to the steps. I didn't manage pictures of that, but I did manage pictures. Which was great, since she managed to 'kill' the ball before the afternoon was over.

We had a great time and she had a great nap afterwards!

I hope your weekend is just as fun and as wet as you want it to be!

Plus Number 300!

Pretty cool to post my 300th post just minutes after I post my Happy Blogiversary post.

I have plenty to say, but no time really to say it.

So I thought I would make this post special by adding a gratuitous canine photo!

That's my Lola. We should have named her M.J. for Michael Jordan, since she runs and plays with that tongue hanging out just like His Airness did during the great years. What a cutie she is!

I hope your weekend is wonderful, even if it is an hour short!

My Doggy Weekend

Saturday morning a little after 10, I received a text message from a friend. She wanted to meet at the doggy park. She had her dog, Bailey, and was dogsitting a friend's dog during the day and didn't want the 2 of them destroying her house. She wanted Lola to tire them out.

Well, DSD was in the shower and we were scheduled to go buy groceries, so I told her I would meet her after we were finished. She took Bailey and Max to the park for a bit; DSD and I went shopping. When we were finished, I texted her and told her that Lola and I could meet her there at 1:30.

They arrived just before us and Lola was so happy to make new friends. One of her best features is her absolute love of everyone and everything. But Bailey and Max were already a little tired, so they weren't giving her the exercise she needed. They were all just rolling in the dirt.

Then an 8 month old Great Dane showed up. I wish I had pictures. This dog had to be over 100 pounds and just ran around the enclosure like he had not had the freedom to run in years. And there was my Lola, right behind him the entire time. She couldn't keep up with him, of course, his legs were longer than her entire body. But she tried. I wish I had words to explain the picture they made together.

Then a 5 month old Boxer puppy arrived about the time the Great Dane left. And they played and ran and played. We were out there for about an hour and a half. The temperature started dropping, though, and, while Lola was fine, I started getting cold.

My friend and her fiance' dropped off Max and then brought Bailey over to the house. They were out of town for the holidays and had left his motorcycle parked at our house to ensure its safety.

Lola and Bailey played for another hour or so. Everyone left and Lola passed out. She got up to eat and she went outside to the bathroom, otherwise she didn't MOVE. She even put herself in her crate for bed by 11. :-) The baby was wore out!

On Sunday I ran out to the bookstore, because I had nothing in my house to read. (My husband snorts when I say this aloud.) I picked up several drama, thriller, probably a little sex in them novels and was just wandering around the store when I spotted "Marley and Me." I grabbed it and quickly left, before I grabbed anything else (I am dangerous in a bookstore).

I started reading it after lunch and finished at at 2AM Monday morning! I laughed, I cried, I kept making DSD listen to different parts of the book, because Marley and Lola could have been separated at birth. What an amazing book, especially for a dog lover, but, truthfully, for anyone who has ever been part of a family. This book isn't just about Marley, but about the family that grows up around him. I would recommend it to anyone, although my son won't read it; he's still mad at me for "Where the Red Fern Grows." It's been almost 8 years since he read it.

It was a great doggy weekend. It's been a great week overall (stupid stuff at work not worth mentioning). And I am ready for this weekend to start.

Here are some more recent pictures of Lola. Hasn't she gotten big?

My fuzzy little baby.

Isn't she the cutest thing ever?

That was taken after we finally broke down and took her to the groomers. BabyBoy was annoyed! Can you see how her solid black legs are turning silver?

She doesn't even look like the same dog. :-)

It's only been a couple of weeks, but she's starting to look shaggy again. I like her better that way, so we aren't going to do the grooming much.

I would post more pictures, but she's worse than a kid. When I pull out the camera she sits up pretty and I can't get any pictures except for the ones of her just sitting there.

Have a great weekend.

And the Fun Never Stops!

Despite everything I did to ensure that I stayed well, even though those around me were toppling like a house of cards set upon a charge of dynamite, I woke up Saturday morning with a scratchy throat. I don't think I have it as bad as many others, and I am feeling better already, but I still have an ugly sounding cough.

So I decided to pamper myself on Tuesday and Wednesday by sleeping in and going to work late. I worked late on Monday, so the 6 1/2 hours I worked on Tuesday was not going suck too many of my vacation hours (I have quite a few on the books), and I figured I was worth it to kick this cold out of my life.

At 7:45 Wednesday morning I am awakened by DSD rushing into the bedroom.

"I am so sorry to wake you, I really hate to do this, I am so sorry, but really, wake up. Lola pooped (yes, we say poop at our house), I cleaned her up, I cleaned up her crate, I fed her, but then she (insert your favorite gagging noise here) threw up all over the carpet. I am so sorry to wake you up like this."

Now you have to understand that DSD is not, normally, a baby about bodily functions, or anything else for that matter. He did an expert job of doctoring my poor, beleaguered bottom and he was a Navy hard hat diver for 22 years (the ones who pull dead bodies out of the water), but the poor man CAN NOT handle vomit. He is what I call a "sympathetic puker," kind of like Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias, "I have a firm rule that no one shall cry alone in my presence," DSD has a firm rule that no one shall puke alone in his presence. You know that commercial with the baby (it may be e*trade) on the computer talking about trading stocks? At the end of one the baby spits up a little, DSD is almost sick every time.

So I didn't fuss at him. I got out of bed to find Lola in her crate and an enormous pile of dog food in the middle of the floor.. on the carpet, of course. I got the pile into the trash and was attempting to get the spot out of the carpet when the poor baby threw up in her crate. So, I moved her to the back porch (screened, nothing for her to get into) and starting cleaning up her crate. Unfortunately I was very worried about dehydration at this point and gave her a large bowl of water. Not the best idea in the world when the poor puppy's belly is empty.

So she threw up again and again and again. Luckily, mostly on the concrete, but by this time, I was VERY worried. I called work to let them know I may not be in (oh, boy is that going to be an interesting post) and then called the vet. It was 8:28 by then; the vet opens at 8:30. I jumped in the shower, DSD called the vet when they opened and loaded Lola's crate into the back of the trunk and loaded Lola into the crate and off we went.

Did you know that sago palms are POISONOUS for dogs?

Well, I didn't. But the sago palm is gone from the back yard. Thank goodness we never got around to planting it in the yard and it was still in its pot. Laziness wins one!

We are not sure if that was the culprit or not. She was given drugs (shots and pills). More rice. Ice cubes instead of water. (She loves loves loves ice cubes, so this was a special treat for her, because she likes to eat them on the carpet leaving little puddles of water everywhere.) This morning she had a little dog food mixed with the rice and actual water. When I talked to DSD about lunchtime he said they had played fetch for about 5 minutes before she needed a nap.

She seems to be on the mend, but cross your fingers that we don't have another emergency with her anytime soon. She is still a baby (7 1/2 months old) and her poor body can't take too much of this.

I sat on the floor last night to pet her, turned toward her and found myself looking straight into her eyes! She's huge. And my "should reach about 45 pounds" puppy is topping the scale at just under 61.

Lola is better...

As a mom, I've known about the B.R.A.T. diet for year. No, that isn't the diet you feed your brat, it is the diet you feed your lovely, well-behaved child when they have diarrhea. Bananas, Rice, Apple Sauce, Toast. Dry toast.

Well, everything dear ol' Google gave me said 'rice' for dogs, there was no mention of the other 3. And I was afraid to try apple sauce or bananas, since we are a strict 'dog food only' household. But the rice seems to have worked. She hasn't had an accident since Wednesday morning. We aren't sure that she has gone at all. She likes to go around to the other side of the house when she does her business, where there are no lights after dark. But this morning she ate normally, and pooped close to normally. How crazy is my life when I spend my days blogging about dog poop? You should see the lovely notes I leave DSD in the morning before work. In the past the notes were sweet and silly and loving, this morning's note read,
"Good morning,
Lola DID poop this morning. It started out healthy, but was a little runny near the end so keep a close eye on her.
See you this afternoon.
I LOVE YOU!"

Nice, huh?

Unfortunately, DSD and BabyBoy have the cold that is going around. So does my boss and several other people at work. I'm taking my Vitamin C, washing my hands thoroughly and using my hand sanitizer, hopefully that will be enough.

Sick Baby!

Yesterday morning, after my shower, I walked down the hallway and smelled.. crap. While I was hoping that Lola was just a bit gassy, I knew in my heart that the smell was too overwhelming to just be gas.

Now I am a believer in crate training and Lola loves her "bed." She goes into it happily whenever we tell her to and hasn't fussed about it in forever. Very seldom do dogs soil inside their crate, so I knew this was something that she could not help. I let her outside, cleaned up her and her crate, fed her, gave her some water and put her back in the crate. DSD gave her a full on bath later in the afternoon (there are some benefits to his being out of work!). By the time I went to bed last night, she was going every 15 minutes or so and had diarrhea.

This morning, her bed was dirty again (although she hadn't stepped in it or rolled in as she had yesterday morning) and she pooped again (very watery) three times. I didn't feed her much, but apparently I shouldn't have fed her at all. I am not rushing her to the vet, because she isn't acting sick. She's still very hyper, very loving and very playful. She does not seem to be in any pain, she isn't lathargic; she just has diarrhea. From something she ate that she should not have, I am certain. I had to take my cell phone out of her mouth on Monday afternoon.

So DSD is going to start her on a rice only diet and give her plenty of water and we will watch her very carefully over the next couple of days. I am very lucky that I have my vet's personal cell phone number. We chose him because we were already very good friends with his girlfriend; the fact that he is a Florida graduate and huge football fan was just a bonus.

So think sweet thoughts about my baby girl that she gets over this quickly. And enjoy these photos that I have been going to post anyway!

From this summer. She won't get anywhere near the pool now. That water is cold. My baby girl isn't stupid!

From October. She has gotten so big! She is such a great addition to the family. If I could just get her to stop JUMPING on my guests.

Little Bits of This and That

* I am thoroughly enjoying the Olympics. I didn't expect to. I figured I would be bored, but I spent hours Saturday morning trying to understand this sport called Handball and I have been glued to the TV most evenings.

* My followup at the doctor's last week gave me a clean bill of health. No more problems. Now, I just get to wait patiently for the next 2 weeks until my ablation. But I have plenty of leftover drugs, so I am not really worried about having any pain.

* The situation with Georgia and Russia confuses me. I know my understanding of foreign affairs is slim. I don't take the time I probably should to understand. But, didn't Georgia attack last week? And isn't Russia fighting them to stop the attack? Then why is our government (Dubya) fussing at Georgia? How is this different from what we did in 1990 with Kuwait and Iraq? How is this our business? If Central America attacked Mexico, wouldn't we help? And tell anyone who blasted us for it to butt out?

* Why was Dubya able to take the weekend off to hang out in China with the Olympic athletes? Didn't he have anything better to do? Aren't we at war? Isn't our economoy in the toilet? And, yet, ol' dipshit has time to hang out with the beach volleyball team?

* And, isn't it tacky to go to China for the Olympics, blast them on Human rights issues (like we have any room to talk) and then STAY? Probably taking advantage of the poor people who now have to feed you and clean your room. I made DSD turn the channel every time that asshole was on my TV.

* I love my job, but, frankly, I am sick and tired of the territorial BS that comes from working with women.
Ok, that's not fair. While I do find it easier to work with men (not so catty), one of the women I work with is not very bright, not very organized and guards her work with some sort of weird secrecy like I may take over her job also. I have plenty to do, thanks, I don't need hers also.

* Lola has been wonderful. I just wish I had some idea how to make her sleep past 6 on weekend mornings!

Meet Lola!

Look at that face. She is so sweet and loving. Super curious and (so far) very smart. She understands No and is learning Treat. She gets in her bed easily, I just toss a toy in and she follows. It only took her three trips outside to figure out how to get in the pool.

Not the best picture, because it is way too dark, but isn't she a cutie?

DSD is not as unhappy as he looks. He just doesn't like having his picture taken. Everytime my back is turned, he crawls onto the floor to play with her.

I will try to get some of her in the pool, but the weather is supposed to stink today and tomorrow.

Feeling Good And Did I Mention that My Husband Rocks?

Yesterday the lady who normally answers the phones for the entire place was out sick and it is in our contract that somebody from our company will cover if she is out. I get here early, so I went to the desk at the correct time until someone else showed up to relieve me. While there I got my hands on the local paper. It is mostly crap, but there was a big article on my Gators, so I read it.

I then perused the Classifieds, because, well, I want a puppy. Our pal, Chance, died on Jan 2, 2005. We have grieved for him. But now it is time for a new family member. I have felt this way since last summer, but DSD was not ready to commit. Plus, we were in the middle of wedding planning, honeymoon planning, etc, so the timing didn't feel right. I hinted this would be a wonderful Christmas gift, then a wonderful birthday gift, but no dice.

So I was reading the Pets for Sale section. I have considered numerous breeds, but had not settled on one. The family was against what I call 'purse dogs,' maltese, yorkie, poodle, and they call 'rats.' But I did not want another 85 pounder either. (Chance was a mutt, but he looked like a Bull Mastiff. We were really lucky he was only 80-85 pounds.) So I spotted an add for a Labradoodle, 12 weeks old. I don't know a lot about this hybrid, but I called anyway and got all the information.

She is actually 13 weeks old as of Monday. The Mom's owner was planning to keep her, but now she (the owner) has gotten a promotion and will be moving and she can't take both dogs with her. She (the puppy) is already crate trained, leash trained and will sit upon command. She was the runt and the vet estimated the largest of the litter will be about 50 lbs, so she should be smaller, but still big enough to wrestle with. I almost fainted, she sounded so perfect.

I called DSD who was shopping for televisions for work (not a bad job if you can get it) with the boss, who happens to be his best friend. DSD told Jack (with an eye roll, I am certain) that I wanted a labradoo-something or other. Jack said, "Those are fantastic dogs!" DSD was a little annoyed.

So I rushed home after work, cleaned up the house that was neglected over the weekend, fixed some weird cheesy pasta thing for dinner that he had been wanting to try (third pasta meal in a row, because DSD LOVES pasta) and had a drink waiting for him when he walked in the door. (The first 2 pasta meals were to thank him for taking such good care of me, this one was blatant ass kissing). And then I (and BabyBoy) threw the sad eyes at him. And brought up pictures of adorable labradoodle puppies and talked about how smart they are and how funny they are and how they either don't shed or they shed much much less than other dogs.

And he caved like a house of cards.

Of course, BabyBoy and I got the "this is not my dog and you have to take care of it" speech. Which was justified, because I babysat a friend's 2 dogs for a month last summer and DSD got stuck doing most of the work.

So I am picking her up this afternoon, after a trip to the store to pick up all those wonderful things that a new puppy needs!

Her name is Lola.

And my behind is feeling almost normal. I go for a follow up tomorrow.