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Moving Day

Today’s a big, exciting day at the ToadMama abode.

Not only is Meg doing very well after the scary ham bone episode, today is the day Belle moves in.

We’ve been anticipating her arrival since I met her in Jersey on December 9. She’s living with a fantastic foster family in West Creek, New Jersey. We’ll be leaving to go and pick her up shortly.

Belle is an American Brittany Rescue (ABR) dog. I discovered ABR way back in 2003 when I decided we should add a dog to our family. I did some research on the breed, linked up with ABR so I could get to know some Brittanys, and even became a foster parent myself.

Hubby wasn’t too keen on the dog idea at first. But he came around. And after C, our first little doggie girl, moved in, he became a quick convert.

We’ve missed C terribly. She was such a big part of our lives. Meg especially misses her. There’s a hole in our “pack” aching to be filled.

Meg awaits the arrival of her new girlfriend.

None of us thought this day would ever come.

I’m sure I’ll have lots to write about in the coming days and weeks as Belle moves in and gets adjusted. So be sure to check back for an update.

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I’m In Love With a Girl

This isn’t the sort of thing I’d normally blog about. But since this month is an unofficial coming out month for at least one member of the [extended] family, I figured it would be okay.

I’m not at home today. I’m in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania for a company Christmas party. On the drive north last night, I took a little detour. To a town named West Creek, a little ways up the coast from Atlantic City, New Jersey.


I met the girl in Jersey, sort of. She was born and raised there. I met her on the Web first. I saw her “available” picture and my interest was definitely piqued.


She’s young, which is unlike me (I usually fall for the older ones). But it was love at first sight. And when it’s right, it’s right. You just know.


Besides, I’m too old myself to play hard-to-get.


She’s a real bitch. But she’s gorgeous. She’s got eyes that melt you. She’s quite petite. And she has this way of snuggling up under your chin when you hug her that’s just, well, amazing. Did I mention the tiny little kisses she likes to give? I don’t usually go for that tongue stuff, but even that was precious.


In case you’re wondering what Hubby’s gonna say, don’t worry. He knows. This is something we talked about before I left. At length. It wasn’t totally unplanned.


We both knew our lives were missing something. And if I’m going to be completely honest, I have to admit he’s the one that pointed her out to me.


When he saw her picture on the Web, he said, “What about this one?” Or something like that.


He was right. The girl is an absolute peach. A real love bunny.


Because of prior commitments and the impending holidays, we can’t really hook up until January. We’re going to do more than hook up, too. She’s living somewhere temporary right now due to a recent divorce AND foreclosure. So she’s going to move in with us after the holidays.


Hubby and I are both pretty excited.

This is going to be the longest month EVER!!!


Sorry. I just had to get the love thing off my chest.

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Brittany Games

I know I’m supposed to be posting Christmas-related stuff. But I’ve worked far too many hours over the last couple of days to dig anything up. Besides, I remembered this cool video I’ve been working on.

Actually, I posted this video previously. I have edited it substantially since then, however. AND I added music. So it’s way cooler. You really should take a few minutes to watch.

First, the high resolution version for folks with high-speed connections.

There’s a low-resolution version, too, for those with slower connections or a limited amount of free time.

Let me know what you think. And be sure to share it with your friends, too!

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Someone Else’s Brittany and Cats

I posted my Meg’s Adjustment video on YouTube last night. This morning, I had to check and make sure it was working. YouTube is great at showing you links to related videos. I always get sucked in to watching more.

That’s how I discovered Merlin the British Brittany and his family.

Merlin’s cute and his Mom has a good sense of humor. I had so much fun watching his videos, I just had to share some here.

There’s this one, too, which I actually saw first. But I thought it was so funny (and so reminiscent of my own slideshow, Meg’s Dilemma), I e-mailed it to a bunch of folks, including most of my Blog fans. But it MUST have its own place here.

Here’s the last one of Merlin I’ll post today. Listen closely to what the lady is saying. It’s a fine example of that dry, British sarcasm that I find entertaining.

Too bad Merlin lives across the pond. He and my crazy Meg could be good pals, I think.

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Do Dogs Mourn?

We’re all slowly adjusting to life without C. We’re not forgetting about her (not possible), just trying to work around the hole her passing has left in our lives.

I put together a sad-but-cute video — only two minutes long — showing one aspect of how Meg has to learn to adjust. I’m not sure this is mourning behaviour per se, but it’s certainly one example of the many little, everyday things we didn’t anticipate would remind us that C is gone.

There’s a lot of text at the beginning, but reading it is necessary for you to “get” what’s going on in the video. There’s music, too, so adjust your volume before clicking the play arrow.

The first video is the high-resolution version for people with fast Internet connections…

I also posted a lower-resolution for folks with slower connections…

They are both the same video, just with different playback quality.

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May 2, 1996 – November 20, 2008

Sadly, today we had to say goodbye to our “little girl” C. She was almost 9 years old when she joined our family in 2004. She came to us through American Brittany Rescue (ABR). She’d been in pretty bad shape when they found her; she was apparently kept outdoors in a kennel and used for breeding.

Her early years weren’t pleasant. And she was such a sweet little thing. So we made up for it in her later years. With us, she got to enjoy life. She got to experience the love and care that she deserved. And she made our lives much richer in return.

Hubby and I both agree the above is our favorite picture of her (C’s on the right). Because of the way she was raised, she didn’t know how to play like other dogs do. Except for when she was out in the snow.

Hubby used to always call her “pretty girl.” As he said, “She doesn’t know what ‘pretty’ means, but she sure likes it when I say it.” That’s usually because it almost always accompanied by an ear rub.

This is another of my favorites. It was taken late in 2004. She’d only been with us for about 10 months and we’d managed to fatten her up nicely. She’s the picture of good health here. Until she got sick, she NEVER looked her age. Especially when her ears were trimmed.

I’ve always liked this picture, too. With C on the left and Meg on the right, they look like Ma and Pa Kettle to me.

I’ve written other posts about C. Like this one, where I talked about her cute, hairy brown lips. One of my favorite posts about the dogs is the one with the video showing them playing The Nose Game.

She was a bit neurotic at times. But we loved her anyway.

It was unbelievably hard taking her to the vet for the last time even though we know it was the right thing for her. As painful as it is to lose her, we’re really glad to have had her in our lives.

Yes, I have lots more pictures. A good number of funny stories, too. But writing this is torturous, so I’m going to end here for now.