Puppy Happenings

It's been a while, but I wanted to share some sad news and happy news. 

At the beginning of July, I had to put my Goldie down.  I don't talk about it because I still cry.  To be quick about it, she had been walking funny and seemed like at times she didn't know what was going on.  I took her to vet knowing what they'd tell me, but thinking I was over dramatizing the situation.  She was getting very close to 15 and for a Corgi/Shelti mix, that's pretty old.  They told me that she had arthritis and hip issues as well as what sounded like dementia.  Her spine was riddled with it, and I couldn't handle knowing that she might fall down while I wasn't there and be stuck for what could be hours.  I went home that morning without my girl.

When the girls came home, I told them when I was ready that we'd look for a puppy.  I knew what I wanted.  Either another Corgi or a little Westie.  So much for my opinion!  Last weekend, I had the brilliant idea to take them to the animal shelter "just to look".  We fell hard for a brother and sister in the puppy section.  They were 12 weeks old and adorable.  I came back home and asked my husband about it.  He's objection was still, "Why do you need two?".  I have been trying to explain to him for years that we needed two since we're gone so much and they need company during the day.  I reexplained my point and off me and the girls went.  I took Amy with me and that was probably a good thing since I bawled through most of the paperwork.  The whole thing just made me really miss my girl. 

So much for small...meet our newest additions to the family, Lab/Shepherd mix puppies...Charlie and Molly. 

Charlie is the brown one that I lovingly refer to as "my little Marmaduke" and Molly is the little black one who's looks are very deceiving.  She is the instigator of the pair and he's just pretty laid back and stubborn.  She looks and feels just like a Lab with the smooth, soft hair and Charlie takes after the Shepard with the shorter, courser hair.  He's huge...so much for small! 

So far, so good, but I did pick up a copy of Cesar Millan's puppy book this weekend and keep telling them that good puppies do not bother mommy's plants!  We're still working on that one. 





Snow Day

Yes, it snowed in San Antonio!  We've been unusually cold all week, it's been below freezing since Tuesday.  So, when it actually snowed Thursday morning, it stuck!  The girls were super excited, Daughter #1 got to see snow when she went to Ohio last January with Bob, but Daughter #2's never seen it.  Amy was worse than them, so I wasn't surprised when I looked out and saw her in the back yard, I wasn't surprised!  They collected all the snow off the trampoline and Amy "shoveled" it off the driveway to make the cutest snowman in Texas!

I kept telling Amy it was a good thing the girls had her...I was only good for taking pictures and putting the face together!  She brought over olives for the eyes, a carrot for the nose and an apple slice made a great "pouty" mouth! 

Friends from down the street came over for a friendly snowball fight.

Goldie and the boys loved the snow too.  They weren't about to let nothing go by without them being involved.

It didn't last long, but my girls loved every minute of it!

One Smart Corgi, One Trained Owner

After being introduced to a Welsh Corgi years ago, I knew that I needed to have one.  When our girls were 4 and 1, I found Corgi/Sheltie mix.

Bob, who was out of town at the time had kept promising me that we'd get a dog since we'd been in the house a few years, but he also kept putting me off.  One day at work, I was on the Animal Defense League and there she was! I went at lunch and much to my surprise, Goldie was completely shaven!  Evidently, her elderly owner had passed away and no one took care of her thick head of hair.  They assured me it'd grow back, so I brought the girls back after work to see what they thought.  They fell in love with her as quickly as I did.  Without calling Bob, I brought her home.  She hid behind the couch and we left to go buy food and other items one needs when they've never had a dog before.  I did call him then, "Honey, when you get home don't be alarmed.  there's a dog behind the couch."  I'm sure he growled, but he knew he'd also been avoiding the inevitable. 

Fast forward 10 years and she's a little older, 14 to be exact, but just as smart.  Since we got the guinea pigs a year ago, her herding skills have been sharpened.  Snowflake has an annoying habit of chewing on the cage and making a ridiculous amount of rattling noise when she wants food, attention or is just bored.  I'm guessing it bugs Goldie because once the wild ruckus begins, she'll come and get my attention (loudly sometimes) and take me into the other room to shut them up.  In the last few weeks though, she's picked up an annoying little habit herself.   At any given time, she'll decide she needs a treat.  First she'll just give me the eye and if I ignore her, which I always try first, she'll start barking at me.  Once I'm up, she'll lead me to the kitchen cabinet and stop.  I comply like a good human and give her the treats and she's content again. 


Goldie in her "summer cut" waiting for a treat



Guinea-sitting the Guinea Girls

Favorite past time, sunning herself

Photography and a Sugar Cookie Eating Corgi

Our oldest daughter has a passion for photography.  She's been snapping photos for as long as I can remember and more often than naught I'll find odd pictures on my camera that I don't remember taking.  She wanted a way to share her photos with other people and so I suggested a blog.  This evening, she set up Take a Chance...Dream.  I'm not sure what all she has on there tonight, but I'm having a "proud mama" moment and wanted to share.

Said daughter also has a thing for baking.  Usually at the most inconvenient times for me, but she's old enough now to work unsupervised, so it works out.  I think she intentionally waits until I'm half asleep in the chair on a Friday or Saturday night to ask if she can bake something...it keeps me out of the kitchen.  This weekend, she printed out a recipe for sugar cookies and went to work.  They were scrumptious, but thanks to our four legged princess we won't be having anymore.  As the story goes, the girls had the Ziploc bag sealed and on the fireplace while they were Rock Banding it this afternoon.  The little one turns around to see the dog with her snout in a now shredded Ziploc.  It took them several attempts to get the bag and remaining cookies away from her, and the normal laid back princess had them scared!  It seems that she lunged at Miss Bakes-A-Lot twice before they got the bag away from her!  Lunge might have been a bit strong, she probably just showed her teeth!  She also got a good pop on the nose before retreating to her favorite spot under our bed.

Too bad I was at work during all this, it would've made for a good laugh! 

Mandy

Family Fun

While getting ready for my mother to arrive, I got side tracked (as usual) and never got the floors done downstairs.  Good thing though, as my nine year old spilt half a Dr. Pepper on the wood floors...knew there was a reason I never got to it! This weekend was a work weekend if anything.  Friday night started off with one word...FLEAS! My princess, who is seldom goes outside has been attacked by fleas.  Within the past two weeks, she's had 2 Frontline treatments and now 2 baths...she's going in tomorrow for grooming and a good flea dip as well!  I was sitting outside talking to a neighbor friend, and she found more flea poop on her ears.  After further inspection, we realized she was covered in it.  Stopped what I was doing and tortured her with a long soak in flea soap and then sprayed the yards.  This is yet another thing that I will blame on the 15 cats that live to the right of us...seriously!  Saturday we woke up and started on the pool.  It took almost all day, between the leveling and the filling process, but I think it will be well worth the labor! Again, thankful that we have great neighbors who gave up their Saturday to sweat with us.  My mother arrived with 18 succulents that she picked up on her way here from Alabama on her bathroom stops shortly after we started filling the pool. 

I think I've created a monster! Although, I will say that I think stopping at Home Depot and Lowe's instead of boring gas stations is a brilliant idea!  The pool was filled and ready for salt before we left to my company's annual picnic.  We all woke up sore and moving a little slow today...probably more due to the pool than the sand volleyball.  After the last volleyball clinic until the girls come back home, we got to enjoy the pool for a little bit this evening.  The girls had a blast, and I know that we're going to really enjoy the water as the summer heats up! Only I might have to provide the neighbors with earplugs...both girls have only one voice level and I really think the water amplifies them!

We never got to the guinea pig cage, but that can be tackled tomorrow!

Have a great week! 

Mandy