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Tutelage

All is well at the ToadMama abode. I survived yesterday’s jump back into reality (the world of work). Barely. It would have been worse if I didn’t have a cool boss who took care of a large chunk of the mess on Friday as I was off enjoying my holiday.

Because yesterday was crazy-busy, I didn’t get many dog pics. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say Belle is fitting right in.

She is the cutest little girly-girl dog. As you can see in the above image, she’s tiny. She can run like the wind, though, which has been frustrating old Meg. Nevertheless, Meg is teaching her the ropes.

For whatever reason, all dogs who pass through my yard become quickly obsessed hunting for critter poo (squirrel and/or rabbit). That’s what they are doing in the picture above.

I’ll try to get some better pics today.

Happy Tuesday!

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She’s Finally Home

We made it back to Maryland with Belle safe and sound.

As you can see, she’s already a Daddy’s girl.

And she’s pooped after an emotional day. But happy to be home we think.


To see all of today’s images, CLICK HERE.

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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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Got a Screw Loose? Hubby and Skil Can Help!

Yesterday, Hubby was bored. And his Christmas money that he got from my parents was burning a hole in his pocket. And he was missing all his pals at Lowe’s. (He avoids ALL stores during the holidays.)

So he went shopping. He came home with the cutest little cordless screwdriver.

He said Mawsie and Pop (my parents) had picked just the right gift for him. A brand-new, Skil, cordless screwdriver.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “I already have a cordless screwdriver.”

I was actually thinking he has/had more than one. But I kept my mouth shut as he continued extolling the virtues of his new gadget excitedly while digging around blindly in the very large tool bag on the floor beside him.

“But look how big it is,” he said as he pulled the behemouth out and sat it on his lap.


“And heavy, too,” I said, remembering well from past encounters with a similar tool in West Virginia.

“It’s really cute,” I told him.

“Tools aren’t cute,” he said.

It is, though. And it came in this cool little round case. With a whole slew of interchangeable screw head (bits?) attachments.

What’s the coolest gift you got for Christmas this year?

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You’re Gonna Have to Move

I woke up around 6:00 this morning. Thanks to Meg, who was telling me in her doggy way, “Mom, I need to go outside NOW.”

Still no poo, but the girl is trying. We return to the vet for more x-rays this morning.

[UPDATE: Meg’s x-rays looked way better the vet expected. We still have to keep an eye on her for signs of bowel perforation, but, based on where she is today, the chances that that happened are very low. The doc was very pleased at her progress.]

Meanwhile, Hubby is really chomping at the bit to go get Belle (Meg’s new girlfriend and our new hairy toddler).

Anyway, after rising at 6:00, donning my coat and flashlight, and following Meg around in 30 degree weather, in the dark, to see if she’d managed to pass anything, I came back into the house. Once inside, I made myself a nice, big, hot cup of coffee, settled into my recliner, picked up my trusty laptop, and logged on to CNN.

I have a real love/hate relationship with CNN. Most news sites, actually. I don’t always agree with what they consider “news.” Every now and then I come across something worth reading. Even rarer, I come across something worth sharing. Today was a “gotta share this” day.

Today, I stumbled across the story of Katy Hughes and her Mom, Elizabeth. Katy is 16. She’s an aspiring artist and writer. She started a blog recently — Anywhere But Here — to talk about her and her mother’s battle with homelessness.

I can’t imagine being in their situation. But I know a lot of folks teeter perilously close. I won’t say it could never happen to me because, if things got bad enough, it could. What if Hubby and/or I lost our job? We’ve got some savings, but a lot of that is not liquid. The right, or wrong, sequence of events could put a real hurting on us, too.

Of course, I’m all about reading human interest stuff, so I checked out Katy’s blog. It was interesting to read about how a local author her Mom had befriended years ago learned of their plight and got the ball rolling to raise awareness and get them some help.

Intrigued? Check out Katy’s blog for yourself. You can read Brandilyn Collins’ blog (the author who seems to be spearheading the help/awareness effort), too.

Wanna help? Send Katy an e-mail at sophiepeaches@gmail.com. You could send something by snail mail, too, to: Elizabeth and Katy Hughes, PO Box 111525, Campbell, CA 95011. There’s apparently a PayPal account, also, but I’m not sure how that works. To learn more about that, go here.

Katy’s blog has been getting more and more hits. At the very least, you should read it. It’s surprisingly well-written for a 16-year-old.

Oh yeah, tell all your friends about Katy, too. All sorts of help is starting to trickle in for them, but I’m sure Katy would be thrilled to see her blog hits keep increasing exponentially.