A Beautiful Ugly

This evening as I sit here waiting - patiently (not!) - to back up my iTunes before shutting down my laptop, making certain to remove the battery and keeping the power cord before wrapping it up and sending it off to HP to be worked on - I have decided to blog.

I won't be blogging for at least 10 (ugly) days until my laptop finds its way back home. So I suppose this is the perfect time.

But what to blog about?

Today had clear blue skies (yes - blue). It's been windy the last few days and all the smog has blown out to sea. It was an unusually warm 86 degrees on this 11th day of January. Crazy...

This evening you can actually see small planets with your naked eye, along with brilliant stars. A rare thing in Mission Viejo. It has cooled down to a very comfortable 66 degrees. And tonight when the moon came up over the horizon it was a beautiful and breathtaking site.

It's quiet in the house. I can hear my laptop burning iTune songs to a DVD (the second DVD, actually so there must be an end in sight). I hear the refrigerator motor humming in the kitchen.

Bella is on the couch and Pru is sitting by the open door on a blanket on the floor. Which, by the way, has been traveling around the front room over the last few days. Yes - I said the blanket is traveling. I fold it up neatly and place it by the fireplace and then it ends up on the opposite side of the front room, unfolded with a dog lying on it. Go figure.

This weekend was a weekend of organizing (for both Jim and I). Jim preparing for tax time. And me tackling our bedroom. And can I tell you it is such a wonderful feeling to accomplish what a few days ago seemed like an unattainable goal.

I had a very ugly pile of items accumulating in the bedroom. We just don't have the space. That pile is almost completely gone (yay)! Just a little more organizing of the yarn I have. What a beautiful feeling.

We met with an electrician yesterday to get an estimate on some canned lighting we will have added to our front room. We will be meeting mid-week with a company to have them give us an estimate on a wall organizer for our master bedroom. I can't wait!!!

What else? I know -

I thought of this while taking the trash out this evening before heading off to dinner.

Jim goes to Utah each spring with his brother and dad. He likes to bring something back for me (which is very sweet) and last year he brought home a pair of slipper-like shoes. When he gave them to me I thought "Oh dear, I sure hope he doesn't want me to wear those ugly shoes." Yes - that's exactly what I thought.

Well, time went by and the slipper-like shoes sat in my closet. Jim told me that I could sell them on eBay if I wanted to and I said "Nah".

One day (not too long ago) I took the ugly shoes out of my closet and started to wear them. In the beginning I would wear them just downstairs when I took the dogs out to do their business. Then one day I found myself wearing these ugly shoes to the grocery store. And I thought, "I wonder what other's must think of my ugly shoes"?

Well the more I wore them they started to grow on me (not literally). But they are actually comfortable. And as I wore them, more and more, I thought - my husband picked these out just for me and I should be proud to wear these shoes.

Well, tonight I put them on again, this time to dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. And as I looked down at my shoes, this time I thought "My shoes are a beautiful ugly". And I smiled.


Thanks husband for my shoes and for thinking of me and picking something out so special that I will never give up my beautiful ugly shoes. I love you!

And to those that read my blog; I'll be back when my laptop is back. Until then, keep on keepin' on.

ONE SICK PUPPY...or two

3D
(not 3 dimensional)


What does it stand for?

Well, look at the photo and see if you can figure it out.

Could this be a new found art? Like "Sidewalk" art? (many hope not!)


Alright - Give up?

How about... 3D for Dog, Diarrhea, Disaster

That's RIGHT folks. We have a very sick dog.

And not to be outdone - our (3P) Precious, Perfect, Puggle decided to take care of business inside her crate. I'm guessing she thought she could be "under the radar" in the "NO fly zone" with the major Distraction (another D word) going on in the "outside" crate world. NOT!!!(Bad dog - Bella!)

Prudence is our very sick dog. She had quite a bit of blood in her stool and also vomited up blood early (1 a.m.) Saturday morning. We took the two dogs in for some follow-up visits. However, Pru was our big concern. She had blood tests taken and the results are in. One of the tests came back with undesirable results. Her pancreatitis is back with a vengeance. Normal levels in the blood are between 200 and 1100. Our sweet Pru is at 4600 level. Not good! And to top it off, she has a very sick stomach (refer to pictures). The positive (cuz' there usually is one, right?!?) she's on meds to hopefully help with the issues and she's eating (which is a good sign). In the meantime, she'll be housed back in her luxury crate to avoid 2 of the 3D's. Well, at least one of the 3D's will possibly be confined to her crate (hopefully).

As for Bella - her liver enzymes are back to normal level (remember she was sick a few weeks back). However, we really need to break her of eating rabbit poop because she now has two parasites (one being hook worm). And in her typical puggle way, she didn't want to be left out and she's now on meds, too.


Anyone want a dog or two? just kidding...

But it sure makes you think about being a dog owner. Especially a dog owner with no back yard.

All kidding aside, we love them and want the to feel better again.


Please keep Prudence in your prayers for a quick recovery, because they helped Bella.

And to give credit where credit is due (NOT Doo!); my hubby got out his chisle (literally) and scraped the dried doggie art off the floor. Poor guy. Definitely not a warm greeting to come home to after a difficult day at work.

ROCKIN' DOGGIE

A new website to check out.

I'm always happy to support and spread the word about those I know & love.

If you're a fan of Bob Siemon Designs Christian jewelry; you'll love this spinoff company created by the same folks.

FUR BABIES UNITE

Well, I think I've finally scrambled and collected as many furry critter pictures over this past week that I possibly could.

Now granted, I had to go and take some of these pictures myself (either with my own camera or by pirating from a blog); but I was bound and determined to get as many on my blog, as humanly possible.

And to show that I'm not playing favorites, I'm listing them in owner's alphabetical order - Ha! I mean, one friend who will not be named sent so many pictures of her fur baby, I had one heck of a time figuring out which ones to put up (helloooo -this is not a tribute to Molly - hee hee).

So without further ado, I present the many fur babies of my friends.

This is a co-worker's, daughter's 3 lb chihuahua "SQUIRT". What's with the name? Well, I've been told that when they brought him home, he basically peed on everyone. And seriously, how much pee can a 3 lb puppy make - I'm guessing pretty much "a squirt".

Meet "GINO"- a 4 yr old Yorkie (fighting weight 6 lbs). OH! He's a lover, not a fighter. And his owner tells me that he enjoys singing along to his birthday cupcake (see pic). Now doesn't that make your heart skip a beat?

This is "SADIE". She's a rescue dog (a mix). She's such a little love. We were invited last December to share in her birthday celebration. That just cracked me up. A dog with a birthday cake & hat. What a hoot! The other dog looking on is her new house mate (a dobie who's name will not be mentioned. Why? Because this is about Sadie).

I know. This is NOT a fur baby. I was hoping to share my friend's two dogs who live here in California. But I didn't have a chance to get the picture. This little guy's picture was taken in Hawaii where the owner of the missing picture of two said dogs lives (did that even make any sense?).

Ladies & Gents - can I get an Awww. This is "MOLLY" (3 yrs ago) as a puppy. Don't let those precious little beagle eyes fool you - there's a mischief dog inside.

Molly in bed (told ya she was mischievous).
Molly as a BEEgle (ha!)
Molly appropriately dressed. Nuf said.

This is "KAYDEE". She's my Godsister's dog. Wonder if that makes her my Dogsister (lol). Any who, she apparently is quite talented in retrieving cards (not newspapers) to her owner (go figure).

This big fella is "DEACON" (and YES, that's his tongue and that's how he sleeps). He's one of the watch dogs of the Pretty in Pink baby.

And this is Deacon's mother, "SHELBY". She apparently likes to hang out by the BBQ, just like her owner.

Sugar & Spice (and everything nice). "SUGAR" is a Ridgeback who recently relocated from South Africa with her owners. She's such a love. Welcome Sugar!

And this is "SPICE" - her mate. He's a mix and a rescue. His tail never seems to stop wagging (even when I snapped this shot last week). He's pretty darn cute, too.

Welcome to my blog - "KELLY". Kelly waiting to get dry after her bath. Apparently she will sit this way until they take the towel off. A 6 yr old Shi-tzue/mix~she is a national traveler. She has been from coast to coast with her owners.

In memory of "DUB-YA" who passed last June 2007. He was a fun playmate for Prudence when they were younger. We miss you Dub-Ya.

And this is "SALLY" & Sammy (Dub-Ya's family). Sally keeps an eye out after Sammy. Oh sure, they are closed eyes in this pic, but she's on it!

Last, but certainly not least, I present to you "EMBER- the Ball". I know we're mostly dog people here, but my husband loves cats. And though I'm deathly allergic, I do too. The funny thing - my friend has two cats. Not sure why she didn't include a picture of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? (Is there something you're not telling me R?)

Now you might be wondering why our fur babies are not a part of this post?

Well, that's an easy question. They pretty much get the rest of the blog (don't they); so to be perfectly good furry hosts (they opted out of this Fur Baby blog).

Thanks again for those who participated. And for those who have no idea they participated.

This was a lot of fun for me and I hope it was for you, too.

Bella Update




WE (Jim & I) appreciate all the e-mails of concern and your prayers. It's frustrating when there are so many answered "unanswered" questions (you'll maybe understand after reading this blog).


After some more blood tests (last Tuesday) it appears Bella's liver is fine?? But the doctor has her on liver protecting meds. Yes - I know...it confuses me, too. Why put her on meds for her liver if all appears fine?


In two weeks we repeat the blood work for Bella. And at that point we'll maybe have more confusion? Until then I'm not going to worry about it.


Bella still doesn't have much of an appetite (so unlike her - as a matter of fact she didn't eat her breakfast today). Many friends have mentioned the heat and maybe that's why she isn't hungry?

We did take Bella and Pru on a walk this morning (6:30 a.m. to avoid the heat) and they both seemed to do fine.

So, we now wait and see...

Our Sick Puppy



Saturday we were out on an early morning walk with the girls (down to Starbucks); when on our return home Bella (our puggle) had an episode.

It was unusual. She stopped, dropped the curl from her tail, laid down and battled keeping her eyes open. Jim carried her limp body the rest of the way (home). Put her in the car and took her to the vets at 8 a.m.

They ran a blood panel and told us we would have results today.

Well, the results are in and Bella's Liver Enzymes are through the roof. We don't yet know the cause. We have to drop our little puppy dog off at the vet tomorrow morning (after fasting tonight) so they can run a liver test. From there they will decide if it can be cured with pills to protect her liver, or she may have to have further testing (ultrasound on her tummy or even the possibility of exploratory surgery.

Please say a little prayer for our fur baby. It's sad because she cannot tell us how she feels. And it's tough because we don't have any answers yet.

I'll keep you posted on our blog.

Last Weekend - Just the Girls

Last weekend I took the girls on several walks (as Jim was out of town).

I took a few pictures of them to post. And last weekend (like this weekend) was full of beautiful sun-shiny days.

After our morning walk on Saturday, the girls lazed around.

In my opinion, there's nothing funnier looking than a close-up shot of a Boxer's face.

Of course, a puggle comes in second.


And as the day drew to a close, some sun bathing occured.

Don't forget to be responsible and cover your face to prevent wrinkles. Who new puggles were so conscientious of such things.

Another nap to end the day.

Aw - life is beautiful in dog world.

BELLA THE DESTROYER

Chuck a Duck (aka CAD)". There's also "Heave a Beaver" and "Hurl a Squirrel".

Something I learned today - our sweet little one year old Bella is a DESTROYER.

I gave the girls the "CAD" this morning and within the half hour our sweet little Bella had eaten (yes - eaten) the darn thing. I'm guessing that's a beagle trait?

Okay, she actually didn't devour it. I had to cut away the rope that she started to eat. From the video you can see how much fun they had playing with it for that half hour.



Bella & Pru would tug. Then Bella would run down the hall into the office and come back into the hallway when I would call her. She did this several times. I finally closed the office door so Pru would have a chance.

In the second video you can see Bella trying to find ways to avoid Prudence after I closed the office door.

Poor Pru. She never had a chance. All she wanted to do was tug and Bella wouldn't share.

Spoiled Bella!


Here's a picture of the mutilated CAD.

Gone to the Dogs

Here's some current pics of the girls posing for pictures. Okay, I wouldn't say posing exactly. More like, forced to lay on a really comfortable couch (next to each other) while I snap some pictures (hoping that Prudence stays awake and Bella simply stays).

"No, I don't want to look at the camera"!

"Okay, I'll look, only if Bella stops touching me".

"Remember when it was all about me"?

"This kid is driving me nuts. I hope this is the last one, cuz' I'm pooped"?

Pru tends to be the whiner (grumpy ol' girl) of the two. I know they like each other, because they play great together. And many times are caught sleeping next to one another (though I believe that is instigated by the lil' one). But there are times when I look at Pru and think "Nothing like having a one year old puppy running circles around you all day, eh' ol' girl"? She simply looks exhausted.

They are both great dogs, and we love them to pieces. Hope you enjoyed the pics.

(yes...I know...I still have much blogging to do - our summer and all - it'll happen - hopefully very soon).

FINDING TIME

I have a friend that has time to create the neatest things on her blog.

Well believe it or not, I actually found the time, spent it creating this montage of pics and videos that were taken on Father's Day, 2007 at Huntington Dog Beach.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I had creating it. It's my first, with more to follow.

Just click on the picture below to view the montage.

Huntington Dog Beach June 2007

Thanks Crissie for this fun idea. I love it!

"Dog Day Morning" or "A Day at the Beach"

Father's Day 2007

So what do you do when your own father is out of town and your childless? Well, the next best thing...take your furry children to Huntington Dog Beach and BOY was it fun!




Click on the link that follows and check out the video on YouTube of our girls romping -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYrkhaUHzxE

That's right. Bella and Pru were introduced to Dog Beach about two weeks ago when my cousins Shane & Brandie invited us along. They take their furry kids (Bulldogs) Deeken and Shelby down most Sunday's and thought we should do the same.
Well...we agreed to meet them and now we're Hooked.

Last time I left my camera in the car (go figure). So this time I made certain to bring it along.



And, if you click on the link above and view the video, there is another video of the girls meeting up with some other Bulldogs. I think Bella was a bit confused and wondered if these were her cousins, too.



It made for a fun start of the day. And it was the "Ending" to a wonderfully relaxing weekend.

BIG DOG IN A LITTLE CRATE

(sung to the Chris Farley tune - Fat Guy in a little coat)

I haven't a clue why Prudence climbed into Bella’s crate?

Maybe it's because she was crate trained as a puppy? Maybe she wanted to be the baby again? Or maybe she had a senior moment?

It was pretty funny that she barely fit and then curled up in a little ball and laid down. Ha!

That’s my girl.

Click on the link below if you don't recall the tune:
Fat Guy In A Little Coat

FASHION ICON

It's been too long (or so I've been told) since I posted any pictures of our puppy, Bella.

So I'm posting several - beginning with the most recent (after Bella's surgery).

Who needs to carry a bone in your mouth when you have a cone to rest it in? As you can see from this picture, not only does she have a bone in her cone (Hey! that rhymes), she's taken Prudence bone as back-up.


You can tell her cone was more of a chew toy than the bone, but Jim found a way to salvage it for a few extra days.


In the next pictures, Bella models her "J-Lo" jacket. It appropriately says "Spoiled" on her behind.

Finally (yes, I said finally), Bella models two of her favorite tops; a pink "T" and a pink cable knit.


















She hasn't had any new shirts and cannot fit in to any of the old ones, but we sure did enjoy dressing her up when she was little.

The Best of Friends

Well, I don't want to sound too confident but the last 10 days have been interesting and the girls seem to be coming along very well. This evening's picture is evident of their new bond.

So now we continue to potty train Bella and Pru enjoys the extra walks. She also gets to chase this little 6 pound bouncing baby girl around the condo. Oh what fun...

More to follow. Right now I'm going to get in my jammies and crawl into bed. These early mornings with the puppy are catching up to me.

Hugs to you all.