Satan, get thee behind me

I want you to take a good look at the picture above.  That is the face of Satan.  Don't be fooled.  Sure, he shows up as an adorable tiny 8 pound package, but please heed my warning.  That is really Satan in a puppy suit.  Something flipped the switch and someone has become the "up at all hours making demands, getting into everything he should not be" demon.  I dream of the days when I will once again get a regular nights sleep.

Don't fall for it folks!  It is moments like this that they use to lure you into their twisted plot!

Grandparents

It was a very long day at the vet's office on Sunday.  The ride home made me realize that it does not matter if it is human or beast, grandparents get the easy stuff.  I have to put up with the temper tantrums before bedtime, the outings into the freezing weather in the middle of the night, the nightmares and the chewing.  The picture above is what his grandmother has to deal with.  He slept the entire ride home asleep in her arms.

Unconditional Love

 It is amazing to be the recipient of true unconditional love for fifteen years.  How is that possible? 

 Best friend ever.

 It is true that the unconditional love was also disbursed on stuffed bunnies and other soft furry creatures.

Bed hogging aside, I could not have asked for a better companion.  Nobody else would make sure I was out of bed at 5 a.m. (once the alarm went off you started your own version of a wake-up call) with a wagging tail eager to go for a long morning run.

That spot on the window sill shall forever be yours.

Rest in Peace.

Putting a Spin on Things

This might be the strangest post I ever publish.  Well, maybe not.  It is definitely off topic.  Do you remember when Prince performed on SNL in 2006?  He had this crazy doo-rag on his head and he actually rocked it.  He has always been able to wear whatever he wants on stage.  He is one of those people that makes you believe it looks cool ass because he has the confidence to wear it as if it is cool ass. 

He has done this his entire career.  He could wear  something considered to be completely feminine and turn it into a masculine sexual object.  Now, you are going to have to stick with me on this train of thought.  I am going to tie this all into the subject of dog diapers.  My dog is getting to be up there in dog years and I decided that he could use some.  I only put it on him when he sleeps at night.  He does not have a problem any other time, just in the overnight hours and not every night.  Anyway, I decided to get the washable kind because the disposable seems like such a crime against the environment.  So, for some reason they only come in two fabric colors.  Pink and purple.  Who thought this was a good idea?  Such indignity.  Not that I think my dog thinks this.   Just me.   I really don't understand why they have to have a color at all.  Don't get me started on the "designer" patterned diapers.  Luckily, he does not have to go out in public wearing these.  He does not object to putting one on.  In fact, when gifted with a new collar, he has been known to prance around the house for a good amount of time.  He has a little drag queen in him.  So, I have decided to put a new spin on these things.  First of all, I really think they are more "hot pants" then diapers if you choose to use these colors.  I am thinking that at bedtime, I will put on some "Dirty Mind" and "Irresistible Bitch" when it is time to get into his hot pants just to remind him that if Prince could rock these little briefs, so can he.  I want him to channel his "Artist Formerly Known As".

Uh, huh.  That's right.

Crunch?

Thanksgiving day there was a soapy bath and the placing of the holiday collar. Now there are only two full weekends left. I am behind. I mailed out my packages right after Thanksgiving and somehow I still fell behind regarding the cookies, the crafts, etc. Time to kick it into warp speed. How about you? Have a good weekend.

Prancing of the Clydesdale

This weather is causing me to have brain freeze. I scanned my post from yesterday and found such a horrible misuse of the English language. I corrected it, but where was my brain? We are experiencing some bitter cold which means that it was time for the annual prancing of the Clydesdale. When you are only able to walk a few feet before you are limping we must pull out the winter footwear so that you can "work it". It is the same thing every year. For about the first ten minutes he has to prance around like a Clydesdale because he cannot figure out how to walk with these foreign objects on his feet. Oh, he hates them, but they are necessary.

You can't see it, but he is so angry.

No Comment

Kibbles n bits

I have actually been doing other things than staring at produce. I am trying to tackle small house projects one at a time so that I feel that I have accomplished something every now and then. For example, after selling the wood dining table at the yard sale I was then able to finally assemble the Docksta table and place it in the kitchen. It has only been lying against the wall for months.
I found these acrylic half globe display containers next to the dumpster. I assumed that they were formerly used in a store display. I had no idea how I was going to use them, but I grabbed them. I thought I could use them to store my yarn stash or something in my office.

Well, I ended up using them for the most important member of the household. They are storing his treats on the kitchen wall.

I just added one of those dog butt hooks from Ikea and he was very happy.

He only ended up staring at them for a short while. I think it was the aroma along with the visual. He got over it quickly.

Happy Easter

Easter sunrise

Someone enjoying the Easter sunrise

Happy Friday!

Kittens make any day a happy day. For many, many years I helped cat-sit a sweet cat named Louise. She finally passed away at the ripe age of 20 at the end of last year. Her father adopted two kittens at the beginning of this year. They are sisters. This week is my first week taking care of them. I have forgotten how active kittens can be. They did not sit still for a second.

I know that you are looking at pictures that defy my last statement. But, trust me, these were flukes.

This is typical of what the entire shoot looked like.

Have a good weekend!

Bake-a-thon

I believe that I have finally baked my last cookie for this holiday season. Most of what I baked during the bake-a-thon last weekend is pictured below. Beginning with the chocolate and jimmy covered pretzel moving clockwise they are:

Hazelnut shortbread trees dipped in chocolate

Butter cookies with milk chocolate decoration

Double chocolate biscotti

Peanut butter cookies with chocolate candy (snickers) filling

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Pecan Sandies by the Sea

Gingersnaps

Coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate

I disbursed a lot of them for the cookie exchange, but I still over baked. I have loads of cookies left over which I will have to gift to others.

I had to share this "out take" below. The 4 legged one decided to interrupt my photo shoot. He is the nosiest dog in the world.

He was even worse last night when I made these. He had his nose right next to the cooling rack the entire time. Oh, don't give him your pity. He gets more than his share during the entire year. If you celebrate, Happy Hanukkah.

Under the tree..

Yes, this is going to be one of those posts about a dog. This is what Santa is leaving under the tree for the 4 legged one. He absolutely loves stuffed toys so I found this one for him at the thrift store. Pretty much in new condition. I will have to open it up and add a squeaker because he is partial to those as well. Me, not so much. I do not like to be awakened by the squeaking of a toy in the middle of the night, but that occurs less often these days. He just loves to lay his head on this stuffed toys and use them as his pillow. I admit that the attraction to his particular reindeer was all on me. I mean, look at those feet? Are you going to tell me that you did not laugh when you saw them?

Snowy lunchbreak

I have resorted to trying my ancient laptop to post. I have no idea what the problem is. Around lunch time we were hit with the beginning of a small winter weather event which is hitting its stride during rush hour. No complaints from the 4 legged one.

Dog Days of Summer

The final days of summer are upon us so I decided to take the boy on a long walk at lunchtime to enjoy this beautiful end of summer weather. As you can see it was a beautiful day, but since most people are at work you could get a prime spot on the beach.

I decided to take the same route that would be our normal early morning running route. It was nice because I actually had a chance to linger and take in my surroundings. It was annoying because I discovered that I can be impatient when it comes to walking. I wanted to be at my destination already. Walking takes too much time when you could just as easily run. I love looking at the footprints of all of the previous runners every morning.

It would be nice to stop and have a meal at this table and just stare out over the lake. You can see also see the Chicago skyline when you are sitting here. I usually see the sun rising over the horizon here.

There weren't too many boaters out on the lake today.

But, the water looked beautiful.

In case you were thinking of doing ANYTHING after Labor Day, you can be assured that you are not allowed to do it.

This was tacked to a random tree along the beach.
I never realized that I could do some furniture shopping for my redecorating project while I ran. I could have been multi-tasking all of this time.

It was the first long outting for him since all of his medical problems this summer so we decided to head home for lunch.

Rain, rain, go away

It rained the entire weekend.

First thing in the morning

Are you like me? Is this what you see first thing in the morning, every morning?

I open my eyes and instantly smile every morning because of this. The sad thing is that I only think about how much it means to me when a situation arises. Tomorrow, the four-legged one will have to undergo surgery. We have tried for months to get his eye injury to heal and it has not worked. He has a small growth under his eyelid that is hindering the healing process. Sounds small, but he still has to undergo anesthesia, etc.
I realized that this put me into a major stress mode. I usually am not a stress eater, but a stress shopper. I bought this at the Goodwill right after we left the vets office.

Now, I think that it can easily be surmised that I have no real need for another lamp. (Please see the previous post about editing my lamps). It is really pretty though...and big...40 inches. I am not sure whether I will use the original shade or make a new one with a nice printed fabric.


Surgery is in the morning and he can come home in the evening. I will have all day to wait. Stay tuned for more unplanned purchases....

Freedom!

(Cue the George Michael music) Yeah! After almost two months, the vet said we could take off the e-collar! This is the joyful ride home from the vet visit today. (I am sure he would have been laying down (now that his movement is unobstructed, but hi mother made a stop at the Goodwill before the vet and there is a rather large picture propped up across the back of the front seats hindering his comfort.)

Lab-cuum

Ladies and gentleman, I give you...the lab-cuum. Able to suck up anything in its path in a matter of seconds.

The poor thing has had to wear this over a month now. His eye injury occurred over 6 weeks ago. It has taken a very long time to begin to heal, bu it looks so much better now. He will be so happy when he no longer has to wear this particular fashion statement.