Remy v. Quila

Remy and Qulia usually get along really well so I don't feel bad about bringing her to Texas for the holidays. I think that she probably has more fun than I even do because her best buddy Quila makes sure that she's never bored. They run like maniacs outside because they're both pretty fast, but it's always the fight for toys or the wrestling matches that I seem to get on video, likely because the camera is close by.

Here they are battling over a toy that belongs to Savvy.






I tried to actually get some video of them in the yard this afternoon, but they didn't do their usual thing where Remy chases Quila around. Usually Quila is interested in playing with her red ball and Remy is interested in chasing her. Today Quila apparently didn't want to be annoyed by Remy because a bit of a scary tussle broke out between them and Quila went all Cujo on her ass... well, more like face.

There was growling and as soon as Mom and I tried to jump in to get them apart, Remy started crying as Quila continued to attack. Mama Nikki stepped up and pulled Quila off of her little baby girl, who was completely full of slobber. One of my fingers got a little bitten in the process (no blood, I'm fine). Remy has a tiny puncture wound on her cheek which bled a little.

Mom and I cleaned her up. Poor baby. Hope they figure everything out. I think Quila is a little too obsessive about her dumb red ball. I think she would die before deciding she was too tired to retrieve.

I wonder if Remy will let it go or if it will ruin their little doggie friendship. Quila cannot be trusted all the time.

My poor puppy.


End Blog.

(Update: They're still playing tug of war with stuffed animals, so I suppose all is forgiven.)

Christmas in Dogtown

Having dogs at Christmas is very much like having kids at Christmas. Sure, they don't stay up all night waiting for Santa's arrival, but they are just as impatient opening gifts in the morning as any five year old.

Of course, since I've grown up, we haven't had to start Christmas at the crack of dawn. We can relax, eat breakfast first if we wanted to, watch the Disney Christmas parade. Except, we have Savvy. Surprisingly the oldest dog, and argueably the most well behaved of the pack, was the one to start Christmas by opening one of Dad's presents before I even woke up.

She ripped off the side of the package so that he knew what it was, and since it wasn't really destructable, let all of them finish opening it for him. (Except for Remy, she knew that it was inherently wrong to shred paper and therefore refused to participate in any of their reindeer games.)

This used to be the bow on that present.

After opening a present that was not theirs, Dad gave all the dogs thier gifts right away. Even with paper and toys and ropes and squeakers, they still came back to help open the rest of the presents. Apparently it's their only joy all year long, and the most stressful day, ever, for the Remster. She did not open her own gift, but Rudy had no problem opening his own and helping her out.

Here is Savvy opening her gift. It's a pink gorilla from clearance after Valentine's Day last year. We only give them the very best.

It was a pretty quiet Christmas beyond the dog's antics, but they were so entertaining. We are definitely dog people. After the Christmas fun, we had a nice dinner and then went out and saw Marley & Me. I had gotten the book for Mom a few Christmases ago. It was pretty great, although I have to say, bring tissues to this movie if you go see it. It wasn't a surprise ending, I knew exactly what was going to happen after reading the book, but being a dog owner makes it that much worse.

Besides all that, I read a bunch and found a House marathon on TV. A TV marathon! My kryptonite!


End Blog.

PS, Here are some more dog pictures because they make me happy... and you can't stop me.

Doesn't Qulia always look like she's up to no good?

Sleeping Savvy. She was the last of my parent's dogs that I would blame anything on. She fooled me with the early present opening. I blamed Rudy and Quila for it.

Remy stole Savvy's present from Quila. This was her victory photo. At least they are sharing.

Poor Savvy. Who could ever blame that face for anything? Not me.

End Blog two.

There's the Moose Again

I love the holiday Garmin commercial where they change the words to the song Carol of the Bells, which happens to be one of my favorite Christmas songs. The best part is when they sing, "There's the moose again!" when the guy continues to drive around in circles because he's lost in a snowstorm. This year, they have a new commercial and I had a much harder time figuring out the words, but after seeing it a few times, thanks to YouTube, I've done so. The running nun and the fish who looks at the guy holding him up at the end really make me laugh. Also, I want that tiny little van.



One for a man
In a little van,
Get there with ease,
Hair in the breeze.

One for commuter
On motor scooter,
Rolls down a hill,
Bugs in her grill.

One for the sport,
Where are the shorts?
Ah, very tight,
Made for a bike.

One for a nun,
Out for a run,
Wrist keeps a log,
What she has jogged.

One for a Viking,
Out for some hiking,
Find the village,
He will pillage.

Find what you want,
Find what you wish,
There's even one,
To find a fish.

Give a, give a, give a, give a Garmin.
Find something fun for everyone.
Garmin dot com,
Garmin dot com.

As a side note, Garmins are totally great. Even if you know a better way to go, they're super fun to mess with... that is, if you consider them a second person in your car who is trying to read a map, as I do.

Recalculating.


End Blog.

Ghetto Christmas

This blog was supposed to have pictures of the house with its lights up and a picture of my fancy borrowed Christmas tree, except the batteries in my camera are dead and my computer won't read my camera's memory card. So, you'll have to settle for this picture taken with my cell phone. I know, lame.


Also lame is the string of lights making their way to the wall socket. Originally I had the tree in front of that wall socket, but I thought it would be cooler to put it in my window.

You can't see the string of lights going to the wall from the street. I'm only ghetto fabulous from the inside.

That last sentence is a total lie. When I put my lights up this year they were a little more droopy in spots than last. It looked nice, kinda this little swag thing going on. Well, I'll tell you why this is a bad idea.

It's windy in Kansas City. Therefore all of the lights across the front of my house are no longer in a cool swag pattern, they are inside my plastic gutters. This gives them a 'diffuse' look that will likely cause a 'char' look to my house once it's burned down.

I need to fix it, I know... but it's cold outside, and I'd like to figure out a way to do it without a ladder. Because the one I borrowed has already been returned. Besides, it's been below freezing for the last million eons here, so the heat from the lights it practically nonexistent and therefore utterly fireproof. Those seem like good excuses for the insurance agency to me.


End Blog.

Giants v. Cowboys Game

Me and Carolyn: Nooo!
Beth: Goooo!!

Beth: Oops. Oh, wait, who are we cheering for?

Carolyn: The team in blue.

Daniel: The blue and white guys.

Beth: They are both blue and white!

Nikki: The guys with the blue helmets, not the stars.

Beth: Boo star hats! Star hats suck!


I love Beth.


End Blog.

Why Do I Buy Nice Things?

She has a million toys in this house, but she wants to play with sticks. In fact, she would not come inside without this stick. I threw it out and she retrieved it and wouldn't come back inside. At all. It is, apparently, her new best friend.

Good to know. I cut down a couple little saplings in the backyard last weekend. Merry Christmas, Remy. Don't expect anything else.

Crazy pooch.


End Blog.

Riddle Me This

Q: How do you turn all of Kansas City's interstates into parking lots?

A: Put an inch of snow on the ground.

My evening commute that usually takes 20ish minutes took 1.5 hours tonight. Because of 1 inch of snow.

One.

I said it before, and I still stand by this fact: Kansas City drivers suck. I hate them.


End Blog.

Economic Stimulus

Here are some random pictures from the Economic Stimulus Road Trip 2008 where we drove to Warrensburg, MO to Indianapolis, IN to Middletown, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ to Middletown, NJ to Orwigsburg, PA to Auburn, PA to Chambersburg, PA to Annville, PA to Chambersburg, PA to Philadelphia, PA to Middletown, NJ to Fairborn, OH to Warrensburg, MO and all the way back to Kansas City. It was a long time in the car, but it was super fun. And the best news is that we never paid over $2.09 for gas the entire trip.

Random highlights:

This was the house I grew up in. First, in order to get into the gated neighborhood, I had to remember the number to the front gate (It was the area code that I couldn't remember because I never dialed it. Thankfully Carolyn was looking at signs for businesses that had numbers on them and we figured it out.) and then lie to them about who I was and that I was expecting myself... After I got in and saw the house and yard, I freaked! The garage doors were white! The little trees were so huge! There's a new tree in the front yard in a really weird spot!

But really, why would you change the garage doors to white? They looked nice when they were maroon like the shutters and door.

This is Brenda in Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. That's a lot of chocolate right there.


This is Carolyn hugging Hot Dog Frank, a statue at my undergrad school. I think that everyone that went there has some sort of photo taken with Hot Dog Frank. I know I have one where I'm kissing his cheek. Anyway, the funniest thing is that we had to come back later because the bookstore was closed and Janelle wanted to purchase new LVC apparel. When we came back, I had Remy with me who went for a walk and happened upon Hot Dog Frank. She totally hawked out and barked at him. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen her do, and I'm so upset that my camera was in the car for it.

Remy does not like Frank. Although, she did get close enough to him to sniff his hand, which was the cutest thing, ever. I think she was confused because he smelled like metal, not human. Adorable.


Pictures from Erin's place and our 5 year college reunion, including the elusive Sarah who is apparently allergic to photographs or something.


My FAVORITE car picture of all. Brenda's trying to sleep, Remy's yawning, and I'm trying to get the shot from the front seat. Cramped much? Remy didn't believe in personal space.


"The pilgrim companion drank from the cup of life while the hunter looked on." Don't ask me what that means, these two were completely goofy on Thanksgiving and sitting at the other end of the table, like a million people away from me. I'm sure Brenda will blog about her escapades with Cherylann.


We made friends with this guy by waving Carolyn's Kansas hat at him in the window. A Pennsylvania plate with KU on it! Marybeth will be so proud! And it's even a Prius. It's like he went there.


This cross is the biggest cross, ever. It's in Illinois. In Effingham. Which makes us giggle. Doesn't that sound like an effing curse word?


Remy's personal boundaries are awesome.

We took nearly 40 video clips as well, but it'll take me some time to get through all of them. There are tons of other pictures as well, but I just wanted to get some up of the trip now.

Stay tuned.


End Blog.

Try This at Home

I read in article in the August 30th issue of Science News that dogs are susceptible to that weird human quirk of contagious yawning. You know the one, I yawn, you yawn, you yell at me for making you yawn... that one. Well, turns out, you yawn, your dog yawns, you get to giggle like mad.

After I read the article which suggested that canines are capable of empathizing with people, I thought that Remy would totally do it. She seems really good about picking up on human cues and body language. So, when I came home today, I let her out, played with her a bit, and got the garbage ready to go out. As I was carrying the bags to the door, she was lying on the couch. I looked at her and yawned big, with the fun sighing noise... and she yawned back with her high pitched jaw jittering yawn.

It totally works. Quick, go try it on your dog!


End Blog.