Dec 2006
Christmas Party

Each year we look forward to gathering friends,

new, old and seldom seen.

Christmas time is just the perfect time to celebrate.

Each year we add more lights (and next year larger wiring!)

We are the Griswalds when it comes to the lights!

Fortunately, we have the acreage to pull it off.

The effect is magical, rather than pink-flamingo gaudy

.. although I have to admit, we had one of those huge,

inflatable snow globes in our front yard this year...

(can you just hear Foxworthy?)

Mom & Jim in their Party Hats

Dad, Mom, Me & Uncle Stevie

Me, Dana & Tasha

The Girls in their party duds

Halloween!
Another excuse to dress up the girls.

Amazed that SugarPlum agreed to play along!

Tanqueray was actually supposed to be the Angel (huge!) and

Taquila was going to be a little devil (out of stock!).

Alas a mad dash through four stores on the night before

halloween (I'm in training for Christmas!) and ... Ta-Da!

Equally appropriate...

The Fishbowl

We had a great weekend at the races. What a track!!! It's appropriately nick-named "The Fishbowl" and the track motto is "Racing the way it outta be!" We couldn't agree more.

We had to walk 36 rows down to get to our seats in the first row, on the start-finish line. Handicap wasn't the view, as anticipated, but the fact that by the time you were ready to make a pit-stop yourself, you had to walk up 36 rows. Doesn't sound like much, but let me tell you, by row twenty-something - you're feeling the burn! Unfortunately, the track doesn't sport beer guys/gals ... and I hadn't thought to pack a soft-side cooler. Needless to say, I got my work out. Also on the "next time" list: clear sunglasses to concur the heat and tire shavings put off as 43 cars whiz past at 100+ mph, less than 20 feet in front of you.

Had to pass on the track tour (whah-whah-whah-whahhh). Was hot as hades and there was an 1-1/2 hr wait! Thank you sponsor for the courtesy tent! While ours didn't sport a/c (the irony!), the shade, beverages and food were much appreciated.

We can't wait to go back someday!

We're going to the races in Bristol, TN!

Airfare, transportation, hotel, race tickets, pit-passes and VIP tents. The whole enchilada and it's free to boot. Awesome!

Mom's going to stay at the house with the girls for the weekend. It would be way too much work controlling them around Lily (mom's way-cool bunny) all weekend. During their last/second visit to Mom's, they played greyhound with her! That's going to be a difficult barrier to break (the were bred as ratters). Lily's going to have to break out a can of bad-bunny while they're still young. Sugar's gained the respect of the brood and now that she's been feeling really well (allergy under control... fingers crossed), she's actually played with each of them several times in the last week.

Anyhow, I've warned Mom that she'll have her hands full. That constant motion of Kahlua's that I/we missed? It's baaaaaaack x2 Good thing they've got adorable on their side ;) I just hope they're not cry babies the whole weekend. But Mom's up for it. She asked me to "blog" about them to her so she'd have personality insights. Great idea (and what I should be working on now)!

They've fallen asleep again. Time to wake them up, take a walk, grab my sub and work on Mom's blog a bit more, then it's off to bed... with a prayer that I've worn them out sufficiently for them to sleep through the night :)

Gotta remember to tell Mom to bring her earplugs!

Trouble and then some.

They're so much like the little girl with the curl, "And when she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad, she was horrid!" Of course they're not horrid, but they are most definately little hellions, lol.

Mawee's post on "A Dog Named Pooh" cracked us up (see Not Really in my links). In response, I'll digress, just briefly, to potty-talk. In the days of Kahlua, Cream & Buttercup, clean up could be a daunting task. Nowadays, not so daunting. A small amount of tp and a bleach wipe can address any situation. On the "Circus Elephant" front, my vote goes to R&R, with their two Great Danes; can we say "front-end loader?"

On raising two min pins ... we're amazed at the difference between small breed puppies to large. At 8 weeks old they were already agile, alert and extremely inquisitive. They seem to pick-up on things rather quickly (whether or not they choose to comply is another story.)

During the excitement of feeding, they began dancing around on their hind legs. I rewarded them with treats... Dance = Treats ... now they do it any time you have a treat. Tangaray wins for style and grace, pirouetting beautifully. Taquila's a mexican jumping bean. Arrribaa! Arrrribaa!

And they call it, Puppy looove....

Curiousity & The Cat

Well, Sugar's resolve to freeze us all out

is gradually giving way

to her God given curiousity.

At first, we were afraid she was going to

be too hard on them. Then, we worried she was going

to become a skittish recluse.

But she finally started hanging out in the same

room and they finally succeeded in pushing the limits enough

to have faced the smack down.

She might be declawed, but her 11 lbs to their 3.75 lbs

suffices in letting them know who's boss.

Today, they had a momentary interaction

that almost reached play!

Taquila is all spunk and vinegar,

wrapped in princess.

Tangaray is usually more docile,

definitly the more obediant of the two,

though she has her moments of stubborness.

They're already becoming popular at work.

Even the gruffest of guys can't resist a puppy,

let alone two.

TEQUILA & TANGARAY

They're home!

As it turns out, we were able to pick them up. In follow up to my Patience posting, I immediately recalled a story Mom likes to joke about. As a little girl, I could remember entire lyrics to songs (sometime's to my Mom's dismay - another post). In telling a 3-4 yr old me that we couldn't stop at the candy store on the way to the laundry mat, she used lyrics to make her point ... "Well, you can't always get what you want" [Stones]. My reply, "but you can try sometimes and you just might find!". In this instance, as with many others, I did try and I did find :)

Taquila (right, facing) reminds me a lot of Kahlua (Princess!). She's the more adventurous of the the two. She's the dominant of the two, but also the first to cry to be picked up (manipulative!). Tangaray is much more mellow, a bit more shy but more stubborn. She cracked the ice with Sugar first... smooth, respectful approach, as oppossed to Tequila's rushing, bouncing, yapping approach.

Sugar has been disgruntled, but is finally starting to come around. She's actually sleeping across my legs as I type! Huge progress. I was worried she might be a little too harsh with them. Then I was worried she wasn't going to put them in their place. The last day or so, the girls have gotten more brazen with her and she's run away (which of course triggers "Chase!"). So, tonight was our breakthrough. They were being obnoxious and she smacked one of them across the face (she's declawed). That's our Sugar.

They're well on their way to being socialized. The night we picked them up we stopped at Ray's sisters. Then had happy hour at our house Fri. Two of my best buds brought presents, like a puppy shower! :) They got toys and little matching dresses, one set pink with jewels and one black with Rock Star in rinestones, which they've worn several times now. It's hysterical. Sun we went to Mom's, where they got to meet her bunny, Lily. Their first impression seemed to be, "hmmm, she has a fuzzy thing too ... but it's nicer". Surprisingly, Lily didn't seemed concerned with their presence at all, which resulted in their not paying too much attention to her. Of course, that was three days ago. We'll see how the next visit goes. And every weekday, they've gone to work.

They've been pretty good during the night, but a few times (last night, for instance), they awoke at 2am. There's no ignoring them. So, to help enforce the house breaking ... and ensure a happy husband, lol, it's out for a walk and then snuggle until they're sleepy so that they go happily back into their crate until morning. Last night we never made it back to our prospective beds. I slept on the couch wearing jeans, sweater and a puppy necklace. Why didn't I think of this Sat night, instead of sleeping on the bedroom floor!

They're awesome and I'm emersed in puppy love! I'm so glad we got two!

More later ... sleep now.

Patience is a Virtue

Patience is a virtue,

possess it if you can,

seldom in a woman,

rarer in a man.

Or, in my case, not!
I think I was absent the day they issued patience.

Thought my "big-day" was to be today.

Alas, it was not
(details pending; I'm working on it!) .

Then again, it was was a great day.
I had nearly a dozen calls (starting w/ Ree),
on whether or not we'd picked up puppy breath (x2). :)
As it stands, Sat 6pm for puppy time.

:::Sigh::::

saying memorized from just a little girl ...
from Nana, the "other voice" in my head
(just one of many sayings; just one of many voices).

TWINS !!!

It's confirmed! We're getting two girls!

I'm so "encited"!

Tomorrow marks 17 days

(I never count the day you're on)

R is a sport, as always.

Sugar has no clue!

Weekend refresher course...

We trailered our boat down to Key West a few weeks ago.

I love KW. Reminds me so much of P-Town. Got in Fri evening in time to meet up with our friends for dinner at Duffy's. If you ever make it down there, we highly recommend at least one meal at Duffy's!

Early Sat. morn we left our luxurious suites at the El Rancho! (which we affectionately dubbed El Raunch-o! ) and headed out to Boca Grande and Marquessa Keys. Gorgeous day!!! We didn't clean up on fish, but Ray landed (barely) a nice Dolphin. I say barely because we thought it was a goner for a minute when it fell off the hook as Ray was bringing it up into the boat! Collective holding of breath ... then, in true "incredible fish-story" fashion, it bounced off the side rail, onto the deck and flipped itself into the baitwell!

Strangely enough, his second catch, a barracuda, also fell of the hook but, collective sigh of relief!, didn't make it into the boat. For me, the highlight of the day was having gone 25 miles offshore without feeling any indication of sea sickness any of the times we stopped to fish, which is just short of miraculous. I’m crediting it to the ginger root pills and all natural seasick remedy I got from the health food store. Zero side effects, worked like a charm!

Another highlight was meeting “Dad”. What a character! Some people just have this incredible spark. Pops regaled us with the tale of a recent altercation he’d had with this with this huge guy. “You’re going to have to grow up before you can kick my ass!” Pops challenges. Not surprisingly, this winds up in fisticuffs, reportedly with the old dog teaching the young one a thing or two. Pops acts out how he adopted the stature of a crippled, defenseless old man (quite convincingly, I might add) when the cops arrive to sort things out.

But the cops aren’t buying it and the story progresses to Pops dropping his drawers and mooning the cops. “And how did they take that?” I ask through laughter. “I go to court on Tuesday” replies Dad. He reaches out to Ray, “I like this guy! Take our picture!” which we're happy to do. (I love the Energy sign above them! )

A great refresher course in enjoying the simpler things in life. Beautiful weather, great company, happy boating and meeting "Dad".

Expecting

I'm BUSTIN' AT THE SEAMS! And I'm not referring to my shirt, LOL!

There's a new baby-girl on our horizon... She's a miniature pincher!!! Only about 3 weeks old, so we've got another 5 weeks to go (feels like Christmas!). This pic is one out of the litter of 5, so I don't know if this is "her", but I sure hope it is! We'll get to meet her this week. We're getting her from one of our guys' mom.

This past year was really rough on us. Our three dog-kids passed away. Having three old dogs, I once dubbed the would-be period of loss as the Trail of Tears. It started last July and concluded this April.

Of the three, Kahlua, our dobie girl, left the biggest hole because she was always in constant motion, whereas Cream & Buttercup had an appreciation for the finer things in life ... like sleeping. Kahlua never lost her puppy enthusiasm and her humorous approach rarely failed to engauge someone into getting off their keester and into doing something (with her or just to escape her, lol), including Cream and Buttercup, if only for the nightly food parade.

Anyway, I thought it would be a really long time before I'd be ready for a puppy. Maybe we'd enjoy the freedom of a one-cat household. But it's quiet. Really quiet. You never get over loosing someone you love, you just learn to deal with it. So, I'm not over Kahlua, Buttercup or Cream.

But I realized that I am ready for puppy love. puppy breath. :::sigh::: even puppy pee ("that I could sop up with my sock like it was nuthin'", lol).

Ooh-boy, Sugar-Plum is in for a treat.