The Adjustment Period

Any time you get a new dog, whether it’s a puppy or an older, “used” dog (Hubby’s term for rescue dogs), there’s an adjustment period as everyone gets to know each other.

I’ve never gotten a puppy from a breeder. It would be cool to have a puppy because they are so darn cute. But puppies are essentially a blank slate. You don’t really know what their temperament will be, how big they’ll get, if they’ll be loners or like other dogs, etc.

When you get a “used” dog that’s an adult, if you get them from a rescue organization where the dog spends a period of time with a foster family, there’s a lot you know about a dog before you commit. And that can be important, especially when you already have two dogs in your family.

We had a very specific reason for adding a third dog. Belle, our 2.5 year-old Brittany needed a playmate. Meg, our 10.5 year-old, just couldn’t keep Belle entertained. Not that Belle was being bad, she is the best dog in the world, but we could tell she was bored.

So, after thinking about it and searching long and hard, we decided to adopt K, a 3.5 year-old female Brittany, to add to our pack.

The biggest concern when putting adult female dogs together is whether there will be bad dominance issues. The way dogs work, there is always a pecking order as to who is the top dog, who is number two, etc. It’s a natural thing. Some dogs are better off in one-dog homes because they are very dominant and, if placed with a similarly dominant female, very serious fights might ensue.

K has been with us for two days now. Meg has no issues with K as long as K doesn’t invade her personal space bubble. But that’s not a problem because, as we had hoped, K is more interested in Belle. The two of them have been wrestling and playing and tussling, but not in a bad way. Once there were some growls and snarls, but that’s because Belle was tired and K didn’t get the “back off and give me a break” message.

Still, we are watching them closely.

The biggest adjustment for me is going to be K’s morning thing. She’s even more of a morning girl than Belle. We have quite a routine where Meg and Belle usually stay in bed, even when Hubby gets up and leaves, until about 7:15 AM.

So, this morning, when K tried to get me up at the ungodly early hour of 5:11, I told her to go back to bed. I was thinking, I’ll teach her that we don’t get up that early. She tried again. Again I said, “No, K. Go back to bed.”

A short time later I heard running water. Not water, pee.

Yep, K taught me a lesson this morning. When she insists on getting up, she has a good reason.

I sure hope she adjusts to our morning routine soon.

All in all, things are going very well. Most of the day yesterday was spent clearing the yard of the gazillion leaves that had fallen. So I don’t have any pictures to share. But I did take some this morning of K and Belle playing, which I’ll post later. The two of them seemed quite happy, chasing each other around the yard, sliding to a stop in the piles of leaves, wrestling for a bit then chasing each other some more.

As they figure each other out, I am pretty sure K and Belle are going to be very good company for each other. And Meg seems quite happy to watch the two of them cavorting around like crazy dogs, while she gets to go about her business. As long as Mama and Dad give Meg plenty of love and keep the younguns from getting on her old nerves, all will be just fine.


Our Special K Made It Home Today

We were finally able to get K today. It’s not like she was in dire straits or anything waiting for us. She was living with a wonderful foster family who loved her a whole bunch. But we were anxious to bring her home.

I made Hubby drive home so I could document the journey. This was taken not long after we left her foster home. She’s looking a bit worried.

She still looks a little worried here, but she did relax gradually. She is a very good car passenger.

K has really long legs. So when she sits, she sits very straight. This is not the most flattering position. I’ll have to teach her how to sit like a proper little lady so all her stuff isn’t hanging out.

She really seems to like Hubby. Which is good, ’cause he likes her right back.

After the usual doggie greetings, the chase was on. Belle and K are both very fast.

I have a feeling I’m going to end up with a lot of blurry pictures.

It really is great to see them running together. K is exactly what Belle needed.

They even found a pile of leaves to wrestle in, which was quite comical to watch.

I know this isn’t a fabulous shot, but it’s the best I could do with the three of them today. Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow.

Welcome home, K!

A Little Humor Won’t Hurt

Hypnotism at the Senior Center
(submitted via e-mail by my brother, Tom Reichard)

It was entertainment night at the Senior Center.

Claude the hypnotist exclaimed: “I’m here to put you all into a trance. I intend to hypnotize each and every member of the audience.”

The excitement was almost electric as Claude withdrew a beautiful antique pocket watch from his coat. The polished metal gleamed in the light.

Claude the hypnotist said: “I want you each to keep your eyes on this antique watch. It’s a very special watch. It’s been in my family for six generations.”

He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting, “‘Watch the watch, watch the watch, watch the watch.”

The crowd became mesmerized as the watch swayed back and forth, light shimmering off its polished surface. Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed the swaying watch, until, suddenly, it slipped from the hypnotist’s fingers and fell to the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces.

“SHIT!” said the hypnotist.

It took three days to clean up the Senior Center…

My Very Expressive, All-Boy Grandson
(plus ToadMama having a wee bit of fun with Photoshop)

Dear Reader:

You won’t fully appreciate the small details that totally make this picture unless you click on the image and check out the larger size. So, please. Humor me. Put down that darn Crackberry/iPhone, whatever and look at the full-size view.

Fondly,
ToadMama

Did you look at the larger version? Well, did you?
Why not?
(The faces this boy makes crack me up!)

K Finally Expelled Her Tapeworm
(submitted by Jenn Myers, K’s awesome foster Mom)

She really did. The above photo is a reenactment, staged by K’s foster Mom who just may have a sense of humor weirder than me. Maybe. If not, she’s pretty darn close!

Where Mom Jeans Really Come From
(submitted by Shannon, my oldest, globetrotting daughter)

Shannon found this Mom-cotton store in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. That’s gotta be what they use to make Mom jeans, right? Mystery solved! Thanks, Shan.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…
(found by little ole me while shopping for dog bones)

Amazon.com definitely has its pluses and its minuses, but I still shop there often because they have lots of stuff and you can usually find pretty good prices. For the life of me, I don’t know why local brick-and-mortar retailers either don’t sell compressed rawhide rolls or do sell them for exhorbitant prices. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

I found the rawhide rolls on Amazon at a good price. And I got a little giggle out of the deal. Check out the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” recommendation.

You’d think more than one person would have to buy this item for it to qualify as a recommendation, right? Could it just be a weird coincidence that multiple customers bought professional noise canceling earmuffs with the bones?

I confess, I didn’t so much giggle as just scratch my head and wonder what’s up with that?

Wacky Web Sites You Might Enjoy
(most of these were found by Hubby)

Is your partner one of those not-so-handy men? If yes, you should be able to relate to this one. If no, go look anyway, just for some giggles.

Do you always feel like somebody is watching you? Apparently, lots of other people do, too. They see Faces in Some of the Weirdest Places. You may never look at things around you in quite the same way.

Need a cartoon for your Blog? There are some cool–FREE–ones to use at www.BZToons.com. Like this one, which made me think of K’s foster Mom…


Here’s one that describes yesterday’s weather…


Speaking of crappy… you have reached the end of today’s post.

That’s a weak closing, I know. Sorry. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.

It Finally Happened…

What? What finally happened? A moment of peace that I can use to do a real Blog update.

Yes, I’ve had Blog posts recently, but they were pretty much filler-type stuff. At least that’s what it feels like. Ever since October 30, when I went to the Bombay Hook NWR, it’s been go, go and more go. Or so it seems to me.

But I shouldn’t waste the time whining, right? I should just do the dang Blog post already!

One of the reasons last week felt so hectic is that I was working on a pretty large proposal (for my employer). I’d hoped to join Hubby mid-week at the WV place, but this was a pretty demanding project that required extreme focus. Since I don’t have an office in WV, I was afraid Hubby and the girls would be too much of a distraction for me. So I stayed put at the MD abode until Friday night.

When the girls and I arrived at the WV place, I was quite surprised and delighted to discover that Amy had brought the kids up to visit for the weekend.

The kids were in bed when I arrived, but they were all happy to see me bright and early on Saturday morning (they got up at 5:30 AM, much to their Mom’s chagrin). Amy tried to keep them quiet and in bed. After taking the dogs, including Klondike (our granddog) for a quick walk, I went and stole Joey from Amy. Then I told the older kids they could get up, but had to be quiet so Mommy could sleep.

Brianna and I spent quite a bit of time doing word search puzzles, and playing squares and tic-tac-toe on her little activity pad.

Notice the dog on my lap? No? Well, take note.

There’s something that’s very cool about three little kids being happy to see you. Not just like, “Oh, look. It’s G.” They were all excited, like, “Hi, G!”

It’s neat. When you have kids of your own, you get that when they are little. Then they grow up to become teenagers and mostly you feel like you are just being a pain in the ass. Of course, you probably are, but they are teenagers, after all. Teens bring the evil, or at least all sorts of exasperation, out in a person.

So it’s cool to have little ones smile when they say your name.

They were each even trying hard to get some lap-time. As you can see, I had a pretty full lap already. They just got as close as they possibly could to watch the YouTube videos I was screening on my notebook computer.

Perhaps the most entertaining one for me was You Spin Me ‘Round (by Dead or Alive), which the kids know from The Wedding Singer movie. Seeing Gaige emulate the dude’s 80s dance moves was priceless. I can still see his little face looking all puzzled when he asked, “Is that a boy or a girl, G?” I would have gotten up for the camera, but I was sort of pinned down. And that would have ruined the moment. Know what I’m sayin’?

You did notice Belle still on my lap, right?

Joey eventually got tired of the videos, but somehow Brianna and Gaige managed to get on my lap, with Belle, to continue the video screening. Even Belle couldn’t resist YouTube; we were watching some of my favorite Brittany (the dog breed, not Spears) videos at that point.

It wasn’t the videos keeping Belle on my lap, by the way. It was Klondike. It takes Belle a while to warm up to new dogs. Especially big ones. And Klondike is B-I-G. How big?

Really big. Much bigger than my little Tinkerbelle.

After lunch, a trip to the store for me and a nap for the kids, we got to go outside. Mike did fun stuff like air up Amy’s tire.

The kids and I spent a good bit of time gathering kindling, and logs and prepping the campfire, which we planned to ignite after dark.

We did a good job with the prep work, as you can see. And once it burned down, we got to roast marshmallows!

Joey was a giant, sticky mess. Note the glob hanging off his face.

Brianna had reason to look unhappy here. Meg had just stolen one of her marshmallows!

Gaige wasn’t quite as messy as Joey. And he’s old enough to wash his own face.

Hubby, being the good Pop that he is, took Joey up to the house to get him cleaned up.

On the way, he stopped so that Meg could help get some of the excess marshmallow off of Joey’s hand. Hubby was watching Meg so closely, he didn’t notice Belle sneak in to help clean the excess off of Joey’s face!

After Joey left the fire, Amy got to play with his fire stick.

The next day was gorgeous, so I got to take pictures of everyone outside.




These are just a few of the many pictures I took. To see the rest, you’ll have to go to my Picasa site.

Surprise Visit

Hubby had off work last week, so he left for the WV place the day after Halloween. I had hoped to join him midweek, but was pretty busy at work. Now, we do have Internet access and I can work from there. But I knew with Hubby and the girls there, I’d be a bit distracted. And with a big proposal due today, I couldn’t afford that. So I went up Friday night.

I arrived a bit after 9:00 PM to a happy surprise…

Amy and the grandkids had conspired with Hubby to surprise me with a visit. Which in itself was cool, because I don’t get surprised very often.

We’ve tried for a long time to get Amy to bring the kids for a visit, but they are very busy with sports and stuff pretty much year-round. So I was delighted to have them there. They brought Klondike, our granddog, too, which made things extra interesting, in a good way. (TJ, Amy’s Hubby, is away on a brief Army-duty trip.)

I’ll tell you more about the visit later. Of course, I have lots more pictures to share.

Sunday morning, I was supposed to leave to go get K, our new dog. But Saturday night, her foster Mom noticed something not-quite-right with her poo. Sunday morning, she confirmed what she’d feared… K has worms.

To keep Meg and Belle from also getting worms, we decided it would be best to wait until after they clear up before moving K in. We are really, really anxious for her to join the family, but want to be smart. Foster Mom Jenn hopes to get her to the vet today for a treatment. Hopefully they’ll be able to tell her when K can safely move in.

It was a very happy (and busy!) but disappointing weekend. We really did have a fun visit. I promise to fill you in as soon as I can. But that dang proposal is still due today. So I need to get to work.

Mornings At My House

I am not a morning person. Either is Meg. She and I are a lot alike in that regard.

Belle on the other hand, as I have mentioned previously, is a morning girl. And that makes her a perfect Alarm Belle.

I finally decided to take my camera to bed with me (don’t worry, Hubby is away) to document how Belle wakes me up in the mornings. Now, this picture makes her look like her legs are enormous. But it’s just a perspective thing.

I am not holding her in place. I am petting her. If I don’t, she beats on the bed as if she were playing bongos. Which is totally cute, but can be very annoying to a non-morning girl.

Meg is never ready to jump out of bed all happy either. Can you see that she’s got her feet covering her eyes? And can you see Belle getting disgusted because I STILL haven’t gotten out of bed?

Now can you see Meg covering her eyes? She’s such a goof.

That’s K’s bed in the background, by the way. Just a couple more days and it’ll be filled. I’m interested to see where she fits in the whole morning routine.

On a completely unrelated note…

I had to share one of my favorite Fibro Duck pictures (the seagulls totally wanted to eat Spotty Dotty). Some people have asked me why the Fibromyalgia Association UK chose a duck to bring attention to Fibromyalgia. Although I’ve been doing my part to take fun pictures of Spotty Dotty for a while now, I couldn’t answer that question. But now, I can. Here’s what they say on the Fibromyalgia Association UK’s Web site…

… people with fibromyalgia are like ducks out of water. Before developing fibromyalgia they were hard working, fiercely independent people. After fibromyalgia their pain and fatigue prevents them from performing many of the tasks they took pride in. They have to rely on others everyday and stress about the things all around them that have to go undone. They are forced to live a life that is alien to them – like a duck out of water. The duck can survive on land but its movement isn’t quick and fluent the way it is in water. So the challenge is to draw attention to fibromyalgia by using the duck in places a duck wouldn’t usually go.

Wanna see all of my Fibro Duck pictures on Flickr? I’m not the only person going this, you know. You can see more Fibro Duck pictures, too, taken by other people around the world.

Here’s another of my Spotty Dotty shots that I find particularly interesting, if I do say so myself.


I like the next one, too, ’cause it shows my “runner” shirt (like I am really a runner) and my 5k ID number.

Okay, I’ll stop. I’m thinking no one is probably having as much fun looking at these images as I’m having creating them. Besides, I need to get to work. Well, FFFF