Thankful Thursday - Life lessons from my dogs

I believe each of the dogs in my life is going to have a life lesson for me. I think that is the reason they all find their way into my pack, and I am thankful for their lessons (or sometimes when I am frustrated with them, I say this to myself).

My beloved Loki. He was a great dog with a poor immune system. His lesson to me was joy. Find joy in everything you do and be excited to greet everyone you meet! Run free and be happy, no matter what is happening (even if you are going to the vet for yet more poking and prodding). He was a joyful trooper to the end.

My Gemini Cricket, such a challenging puppy whose life was tragically cut too short. Her lessons to me was grief and recovery and forgiveness. This is a lot for such a little girl to have brought. From her death I learned the true meaning of grief. I learned that no matter how bad things feel, you can get over it (even if it stings like heck every day, your life can go on). I also learned that accidents happen. You can't always prevent them and when they do happen you can't blame yourself. If you do blame yourself for a bit (I think that is natural), you need to forgive yourself.

Hailey's lesson to me is patience. I think anyone who reads this blog on even a semi-regular basis doesn't need any more explanation than that.

I have known these 3 for a long time, but have been giving a lot of thought to Zaphod's lesson. As of right now, I think he is here to teach us about the true meaning of inner peace. He brings this calmness to the pack that we have never had before. Everyone who meets him is drawn to this.

What lessons have your dog taught you?

Wordless Wednesday - Phod

Lee is unwell - VBP

Dear Blogville, 

I hate to report that I have been debilitated (VBP) with a bit on an infection in my nether regions. I get these from time to time. I want to obsessively lick myself clean and then try to kiss my people. They don't like that. 

In the past, these little infections have been  really short lived, so before rushing the hour one way to my vet, we try a little home remedy which involves a warm compress on my private parts. 

I rock a compress

All the attention is mine! 

The advantage to this not feeling well is that I mulct (VBP) all the attention from Phod. My Lady showers me with pets and kisses while holding a compress to my butt.  She can't play ball with him when I am getting all the love.

My Lady said if it isn't gone in a couple days, I have to go to the vet. Let's hope this compress is sufficient (VBP) to treat the infection.

Mischief Monday - I did not run away- by Lee

On Saturday evening my people had to go out and leave me for a million minutes. Before going out they fed us and while Lady was packing up, Man took us out. I have been working hard on my off leash training and my people have been letting me off leash more often. The Man made a mistake to do this when he was in a hurry to leave. While out minding my own business,  I got the scent of the wild turkeys we had seen earlier in the day and I had to follow them.

I did hear my Man and then my Lady calling, but I was too busy sniffing.

A bad picture our Lady took in the fall of the turkeys outside our window. She didn't get a picture on our adventure

My sniffing was interrupted when my Lady met me on the snowmobile path right behind our house. At first I ignored her, as I had turkeys to track. But then she did something very mean. She showed me she had a greenie in her pocket. I had to think about this for a minute but I decided I would give up my hunt for the greenie (as the saying goes, 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush). 

My Lady then did the unthinkable because she didn't have my leash with her, she carried me for a bit. This was sucky for me and hard for her cause we were down the hill and it is snowy and a steep walk up. She put me down and had the greenie in her hand and I stayed right with her to the house. I had to wait til we were safe in the house to get the greenie. She said she didn't trust me!

My Lady says I caused the mischief by not coming when called. I think she did by making me pick between turkey and greenie. What do you think?

Black and White Sunday - Loki

I was going through my pictures last week and came across this picture of our Loki who is at the rainbow bridge.  This picture was taken 5 months before he died. At this time, he was fighting his autoimmune disorder and was on a crazy drug cocktail. Besides allowing him to live, this cocktail gave him puppy soft fur. It was a nice side effect.  All those snuggles while he was dying were of a very soft pup. You can see how soft he was!

Tricks and Treats

In case you missed it, it has been very, very cold here this week. Our Lady laughed Friday morning cause it was only -22C and not -27 C and it felt warmer. Because it has been so cold, we haven't been playing outside as much. Our Lady did a great job and we went for walks 4/5 mornings. We did our 1.5 km loop in record time all 4 days. The only day we didn't go out for a walk was Wednesday, the coldest of the days. We thank our Lady for braving -40 C with the windchill to get us some exercise. One of the things we have been doing instead of playing outside, is working on our tricks. Here is a little video of what we have been up to inside. Enjoy!

A special thanks to Dachshund Nola for this great award!

Feline Friday - Brotherly Love

It is the only way to keep warm this week! 

TGIF! 

Thankful Thursday - by Phod

I am very thankful that they don't have a jersey for me!

Our Grammie sent us this and we are thankful for being rescued!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Hockey is Back!

Today is going to be the coldest day we have had in 8 years. It is currently about-30 C (-38 with the windchill) [-28 F or -36F with the windchill]. We hope all our friends who live in the areas where it is this cold keep safe and warm. Our Lady is working from home today and our Man is off so we will be having lots and lots of inside play time! 

VBP - Hop

Ok, we are going to try Jet, Savannah and Texas' new blog hop to build our vocabulary.

It was with pure devilment (vbp) that Hailey would not share her toys with Phod.

He had to resign to the fact he will not get his allotted (vbp) time with the toy!

Mischief Monday - Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?

On Friday night, after being home with us all day, our Lady did the unthinkable and went out with the Man for dinner and a trip to Costco [I know what a date]. Even though they feed us early, we got the munchies while they were out, and someone, who will remain nameless (as our friend Snoopy writes in his book Mischief Master Class - rule #5, never plead guilty) took the plastic cookie container off the counter (perhaps the people didn't push it back far enough) and ate all the cookies!  The container was full with yummy Mother Hubbard cookies!

After the cookies were consumed, no one was ill, but someone who we won't name, but her name rhymes with Bailey, was crazy hyper! She was running around and jumping and generally out of control. Perhaps even though we don't have direct evidence, she was on a cookie high!

Happy Mischief Monday!

Black and White Sunday - Nin

This is our cat Nin. We love him very much. We would like to get him a date to Mollie and Ranger's Valentine's Day Dance. We are going together and Baggy said if he is going he is going stag. He has earned that after almost 18 years. Nin is the type who would like a date.

Here are some things to know about Nin:
He is a clean cat. He doesn't like to get his paws dirty and balances on the edge of the box and doesn't bury his poop. Sometimes he pees off the side of the box.
He is a little forgetful. He will take 3 steps from his food dish and then forget he has been fed and will cry for more food. He was always forgetful but it is worse now that he is 17.5.
He loves to sing, especially in the middle of the night.
He is going bald on his ears.
He loves to snuggle.
He tolerates Hailey humping him.

He is really a nice boy, so if anyone knows someone looking for a date (although he will forget he is on the date) please let us know.

Typealyzied

Our Lady says some people have too much time on their hands to create such a thing as Tyealyzer, but she thinks they are fun.

You put in your blog domain and it does the Myers-Briggs test on your blog. Visit http://www.typealyzer.com to have this fun.

Here is what it said about our blog:

ESFJ - The Socializers

The author of http://kten-haileychronicles.blogspot.ca is of the type ESFJ.

The social, warm, enthusiastic, energetic, structured and opinionated type. They are especially attuned to the feelings of themselves and others. They tend to be very aware of the values of their peer-group and tend to see things as either right or wrong, good or bad. They tend to be traditional and value their friends and family the most. People love to be around ESFJs and they are extremely good on bringing out the best of others.

They take pleasure in other people's happiness. They give generously, but expect appreciation in return. Sensitive to the physical needs of others, they respond by offering practical care. As expert people readers, ESFJs often adapt their manners to meet the expectations of others. However, they may have difficulty recognizing the shortcomings of loved ones.

The Socializers are down-to-earth, practical people and very keen on making sure everyone is alright. This quality makes them enjoy social work places. Since they enjoy being and keeping things neat and tidy, they often also enjoy working in such environments.

Common satisfying careers: Teacher, Office Managers, Administrative Manager, Child Care, Special Education Teacher, Counselor, Dentist and HR Manager.

Notable ESFJs: Harry S. Truman, Bill Clinton, Tom Clancy, Barbara Walters, Tyra Banks, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Woody Harrelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Victoria Beckham and Mon Mothma.

When the Lady went and took the test herself she got: INTJ

Introvert(67%)  iNtuitive(38%)  iNtuitive  Thinking(25%)  Judging(78%)

• You have distinctive preference of Introversion over Extraversion (67%)
• You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%)
• You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%)
• You have strong preference of Judging over Perceiving (78%)

We think the scores are different cause we run the blog a lot, and Lee is particularly Social! It was fun to do.

Thanks to http://adventuresofadogmom.wordpress.com for sharing this! 

Feline Friday - A Who Done it - as told by Lee

When: Yesterday morning, while Lady was out of town for 36 hours. [This adds support to the claim that no good came from a Thursday].

The scene of the crime -
this would be the area I ate once -
you can see some of my scratches

The event: The Man went to take the garbage out. When he returned the door between the garage and house was locked. The Man had not unlocked the front door that morning (he took us through the garage). The Man was locked out. We can't repeat the kind of things he was saying here, they are rude!  Fortunately for the Man (and a mistake on the culprit's part), a door in the basement was open and he could get back in.

The suspects:

Hailey - The beautiful and determined to be free young dog, who has an anxiety disorder.

Phod - the gentle giant 

Baggy - the bitchy but lazy old cat

Nin - who sings and sings and sings about his life being terrible.

The verdict

No more cushion for you!

After a careful investigation conducted by me, I have determined that this had to be done by Nin. Us angel dogs would never do such a horrible thing. It is my guess that Nin jumped up and locked the door to punish the Man for not feeding him fast enough. I sentence Nin to time on the counter without his pillow.

The Lady's reaction: She could not stop laughing. She was not that supportive. [We laughed and laughed too]

Cause something crazy like this happens the once a month the Lady goes away overnight the Man is sure the Lady teaches us these things as tricks. The couple now plan to hide a key so no one is locked out again!



Editors Note: As per his comment below, the Man would like it very clear that he did not lock the door and lock himself out. It was clearly an "inside" job! 

Thankful Thursday - an award and a party - by Lee

Our Lady likes the idea of this thankful Thursday cause in general she believes "no good ever came from a Thursday"  and hates them. She says it is good to have something so positive on a day she generally dreads.

What we are thankful for:

Our Lady is thankful that after one day with the horrible collar, she took me on my harness and I didn't pull. I wasn't as good the 3rd day, but I was better  She wonders if occasional use of it will be enough to keep everyone safe. Paws crossed.

We are thankful for this award, given to us by our friend Misaki.

Here are the rules (some of which we may break):

1) Visit the blog of the person who gave it to you and thank them. We did that on Tuesday and we will do it again here. Thanks Misaki, you rock! (which is number 2).

3) Answer 5 simple questions: 

a) if you could change one thing, what would you change?

Lee: I would have food always in my dish

Phod: I would always have someone to play fetch with.

b) If you could repeat an age, what would it be?

Lee: I am 3. This last half year since we moved has been pretty good.

Phod: I agree with Lee. I like the last 6 months.

c) What is on thing that really scares you?

Lee: Thunder and loud noises and being alone

Phod: That my people will stop loving me

d) What is one dream you haven't completed, and do you think you'll be able to complete it?

Lee: To get to be off leash all the time. I don't know, I am working very hard at this.

Phod: To play ball all day. I don't know if I would get too tired.

e) If you could be someone else for one day, who would it be?

Lee: Rowlf the dog from the muppets

Phod: Baggy cause maybe then he wouldn't be so scary. 

4) here is where we are breakin' the rules, it says to nominate up to 20 blogs and notify each of them. This part always stresses us out, so we are nominating everyone who visits today! We love you all!

5) Display it. It will go on the awards page, tomorrow when our Lady gets home.

We are also very thankful to have been invited to Mollie and Ranger's Valentine's Day Dance.

We have decided to go together. I, Lee, really wanted to go stag so I could steal dates from other dogs, but Phod is too shy to go alone, so I will go with him and ditch him. I am dreading what my Lady will dress me up as!

We will also be thankful tonight when our Lady comes back from being away for 2 days and let's us read all our blogs. 

What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday - A Walk in our "Narina" before the January Thaw

Lee's Birthday Party

Lady put together this little video of my birthday party enjoy!

Editor's note: While the bad collar is a little big for my angel Hailey, it does stop her from pulling. I stayed on my feet and didn't get dragged. My back feels great too!

And in case you missed it . . . .

Mischief Monday

First our Lady saw on another blog that it is suppose to be dress up your dog day. Since she promised I wouldn't have to dress up this week cause it was my birthday (thank you all for your wishes, I'll talk about my party tomorrow). Instead she thought she would share her favourite outtake from the Christmas photo shoot:

This is when Lee ripped the pompom of Santa's hat and it shows how we feel about dress up.

I, Hailey had a lot of mischief this week. On Tuesday, we saw the horses running in the field for the first time in like a month and we got excited. We pulled our Lady over (she landed on her knees) and we dragged her that way for about 10 feet. She was not happy and was too sore to continue our walk that day.  That day, her new favourite thing arrived (it was in the mail):

Lee Valley Ices

She loves these and it makes it much harder for us to pull her over. However, her back has been a little sore from all my pulling, and she says it is hard to control me, especially with gloves and is worried about getting hurt, so even though she says it broke her heart, she got this:

We haven't tried it yet, and Lady isn't sure, but she says she is going to try it once. She doesn't have time to walk us separately most mornings and if the man comes with us, we are worse as we both want to be first. I think this is mischief on her. She says we will keep you posted on how it goes.

That was my mischief. Hope you all have a mischievous week!

Black and White Sunday - Lee is 3!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Lee,

Happy Birthday to you!

 Lady: We are not actually sure what day is Lee's birthday, but it is the day we celebrate. The papers we received when we got her had several dates between about January 8-16th. We wanted to give her a birthday (to go with a Gotcha Day) so we picked January 13th. This day was picked because one of my dearest friends and adopted Grandmother, celebrates today. Missy G, as I have called her since I was 2, has truly inspired my love of animals. She currently has 3 house cats and is very involved in helping stray cats. When we were all a little younger, she also had dogs. She seemed like the perfect person to share a birthday with!

With everything we have been through with our Hailey Bug the past 28 months, we have sort of joked that we are surprised she lived this long and that we haven't killed her yet!

Lee: Hey, that is not nice, I am a delight!

Lady: We are teasing you!

Lee: When do I get my presents? If you are singing at me, I should get something!

Lady: Later. But I can promise you this, for your birthday I am not dressing you up!

Lee: Best birthday ever!

Lady: Now that you are 3, this means you are a big girl and not a puppy, this means you need to listen.

Lee: I plan on still causing mischief, don't you worry.

Lady: I was hoping as you got older you would settle!

Lee: Not a chance, get use to it!

Lady: Oh Hailey. Happy Birthday!

Are my presents up here on the counter?

Third Annual Pet Blogger Challenge

Bonus Post: Just found out it is Pet Blogger Challenge 2013! Man I need to do a better job at keeping up with blogs. This is event is sponsored by http://www.gopetfriendly.com to help bloggers connect with new blogs.

1. How long have you been blogging and provide a link to your post from last year’s Pet Blogger Challenge so we can refresh our memories.

We have been blogging since September 2010. You can find our answers to last years pet challenge here.

2. What do you consider the most important goals you set out in last year’s post?

I didn't really set a goal, I just hoped to help Hailey to be happy, which I think we have, for the most part. 

3. Have you made progress toward those goals, or have your goals changed over the past year?

My goal these days is more to keep up with posting (which I love to do, but sometimes find it hard to write) and more importantly, and which is harder, to find time to read all the other amazing blogs out there. I find them so inspiring, and fun, and I love it, just it can be hard to carve out that time for me to read. My goal is to read them all 2-3 times a week. 

4. How often do you post?

Pretty much daily. I do of course miss days when I am on vacation etc. 

5. Has your opinion of blogging on a schedule or as the spirit moves you changed?

I tend to blog when the spirit moves me, but I have more of a schedule. I am trying to participate more in blog community events such as Mischief Monday, Wordless Wednesday, Thankful Thursday and Black and White Sunday. 

If you don’t publish on a schedule, why? How do you think your decision affects your audience? How do you know when a topic is “post-worthy?”

If I want to talk about it, it is blog worthy. I love that people read my blog and I do think of the audience, but this is my blog and I will share/not share what I want. 

6. How much time do you spend writing your blog per week? How much time visiting other blogs? Share your tips for staying on top of it all.

I probably spend on average 30 minutes a post (some take more time, some less), so that is 3 or so hours writing. If I had my way I would spend an hour a day reading other blogs. My hope is to have 5 hours a week to do this. 

7. How do you measure the success of a post and of your blog in general (comments, shares, traffic)? Do you look strictly at the numbers, or do you have a way of assessing the quality of those interactions?

When I gauge the success of an individual post, I look at the number and the quality of the comments it’s gotten. It’s pretty easy to tell if you’ve been able to excite people when you look at the comments they leave. However, when I measure how well the blog is doing over all (and I do that once a month), I rely on my traffic numbers from Google analytics.

8. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one issue you’re having with your blog, what would it be?

If it made me laugh or smile, or I think it made someone else laugh or smile it was successful!

9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2013?

Keeping up with my blog. Having some creative, fun posts. Keeping up with other blogs!

Feline Friday - Nin Edition

Let a sleeping Nin lie!

If any of the pack is neglected as of late on this blog, it is Cinder, aka Nin. 

Here are his signature moves that drive us crazy:

Nin the Yodeler:

In the middle of the night, or if he thinks we should be up, or when he is hungry and believes we will never feed him again, Nin likes to stand in the acoustic centre of the house and sing and sing and sing. Our new house has 42 foot ceiling in places so it echoes as he is singing in his loudest voice. 

Nin the Rib Tenderizer:

It seems that every time he walks on you he manages to get a paw between every rib. He will then stand there with a paw between them. It is very uncomfortable and sometimes down right painful!

Nin in Stealth Mode:

One of his favourite things to do is sit on your lap. As much as we love him, sometimes we don't want him tenderizing our ribs or sit on us and will push him off. He then creeps up in slow motion and gets on your lap. You won't even realize it until he is there. When he wants to, he can be very quiet. 

Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday - An Award

Editor's Note: It has taken us a week to accept this award and for this we are sorry. Not accepting it earlier has caused undo stress which we hope to remedy now!


Lee: I would like to begin by . . . .

Lady: This award has a lot of rules so I am going to be the one dealing with it. Everyone knows you are grateful.

Lee: I was going to say a deserving princess who everyone loves.

Lady: Maybe you should have resolved to be more modest.  Anyhow . . . .



Thank you so much to Pawsitively Pets for awarding us the Liebster Award to help people discover new blogs. This award has lots to do. I have to say 11 things about me, answer the 11 questions that Pawsitively Pets had for me, ask 11 questions to the people I am nominating, and nominate 11 blogs.  [Lee: Humans have to work for their success, I have it naturally!] [Lady: I love lists, so it will be fun].

11 Things about me (the Lady):

1. I hate everything about coffee, I can't even stand the smell. 

2. I have an extreme phobias of whales and stitches. 

3. My favourite colour is blue. [To the point I ruled out a model of car because it didn't come in blue and I just bought a video camera because it was blue].

4. I LOVE to read and write. 

5. I am a morning person.

6. I can't spell. My brain can't remember letter and number combinations or recognize words that are wrong. 

7. Patience is a virtue I am working on.

8. I have my grade 11 math but graduate level stats.

9. I spent 15 years in some form of post secondary education, and sometimes I think about getting more.

10. I met 7 of my great grandparents and remember 6.

11. Iceland is one of the places I want to visit in the world the most. 

11 Questions from Pawsitively Pets

1. Why did you start blogging?   I started blogging so the people who rescued Hailey could see where she ended up and how she was doing. I think people who rescue and foster are AMAZING and I thought it must be hard to love an animal and "give it away" and not know how he/she is. I never thought 2.5 years later I would still be blogging. 
2. What's your favorite animal?    I LOVE the big cats. It is so hard to pick from them, but if I had to it would probably be the tiger. 
3. What was your favorite toy as a kid? My cabbage patch kids Adah and Mitchell (child of the 80s), and my stuffed animals. I also loved and still love board games. 
4. Cats or Dogs? I love my cats and when I was young was 100% a cat person, but as I age, I have to say dogs. 
5. Would you rather eat a bug or sky dive? Sky dive, been there done that. My first flight at 18 was to go sky diving. Not in a huge hurray to do that again, but I would over eating a bug. 
6. If you had a magic lamp with a genie in it, what 3 things would you wish for? This is hard. Realistically if I had 3 wishes I would probably given them away (although part of me would want to be selfish and just use them for me): wish for world peace forever (people need to stop fighting over what I deem to be silly things at times), end of hunger (every child, teen and adult) should have enough to eat, all my furry friends to have loving safe homes. 
7. If you could pick any animal to be, which one would you choose? Easy, my friend Missy G's cat. That would be the life. 
8. How often do you cut your hair? Every 6 weeks (longer and my roots show too much)
9. What's the last movie you saw that made you cry? The Muppet Movie (1979) - not because of the content but because I was so excited about viewing the original movie in a private screening (bucket list item done!). Really big ugly cry that disturbed the entire theatre was Toy Story 3. We don't talk about, it is too sad! 
10. What's your favorite board game? I love board games and have like 50. Probably my favourite right now are the Settlers of Cantan.
11. How did you think of your blog title? It was meant to chronicle Hailey's life, so it seemed right. 

My 11 questions for my nominees:

1. What is your favourite part about blogging?
2. What do you wish you had more time to do?
3. Other than the job you are in, if you could do anything what would you want to do?
4. What is your biggest pet peeve?
5. When was the last time you laughed until it hurt?
6. What is your favourite holiday?
7. What sport do you enjoy the most?
8. What is the one sinful treat you can't live without?
9. Assuming all the living creatures were safe, what 3 possessions would you want to rescue from your burning house?
10. What book are you currently reading?
11. Is there a day of the week you dread and if so what day?

Now the really, really hard part because there are so many awesome blogs and I can barely keep up (and this is why this took me so darn long - can't handle the pressure -if they are not new to you blogs, maybe you will learn something new about the bloggers!)- 11 nominees:

In no particular order 

1. Loki Doberdog

2.A Coonhound's Tales

3. Adventures of a Dog Mom

4. Honey I shrunk the pig

5. The Spoiled Doxie

6. Yuki and Rocket
7.My Girlz Got Paws
8. Milo's Mad Life
9.Sparhawk Scotties
10.Furry Four Legged Foster Friends
11. CeciliaO7's blog [the cats thought we were favouring the dogs out there!]

Wordless Wednesday - Our first Bullies

Breaking a Bad Habit

Hailey was not a poop eater until our beloved Gemi taught her to be. Gemi was the worst poop eater, she would stand under other dogs to catch the fresh poop. It was horrible.

When we lived in the city, we let Lee out in the backyard by herself and she would poop and eat it. Now that we are in the country without a safe place for her to be alone, we are with her and we can try and prevent it. It is not always easy because sometimes she will move while she is going so she can start to eat her own poop. Also, frozen poop is her favourite treat and she can remember where it is (even after it has snowed) and will try and dig it up.  Fortunately, she only likes her own poop and the animal poop we find on the trails around our house. She does not like Phod poop.

We will keep trying to block her (but like I said she is sneaky). Let's hope we can break this habit!

Editors note: While my resolution to be more organized and stay on top of things has extended to work and not my blog! I will hopefully have time to catch up on writing mine and reading yours tomorrow . . . I should finish a huge work project today that will in theory give me free time!

Grief at Month 17

Wow, it has been a long time since we lost our beloved Gemini in an accident (which I witnessed). I haven't written about my grief and mild form of post traumatic stress disorder (which makes this much different then my grief over my little Loki ) for some time because it hasn't really been a problem. While I can still feel sad, it hasn't been the overwhelming, crushing sense of sadness like the first few months.

Hurray up, you are boring me!

However, I had a bit of a minor set back over the holidays. We finally got around to hanging some of the pictures in our house (I know almost 5 months and it hadn't been done). During this we came across some baby pictures of our Gemi. It made me very sad. That night I went to bed and all I did was dream about my little angel. She was sitting on this red blanket we had before someone destroyed it (by someone I mean Hailey), yawning and looking bored (Gemi style) while I was making videos of her.

Like most of my dream, this dream was so vivid and real, and it brought up my feelings of loss. I felt that big crushing sense of grief which, as I said, I hadn't felt for months. I was able to keep busy that day cleaning (and was able to prevent it from completely paralyzing me as it has in the past) and we had company for dinner and this helped.

It will be ok mom

It is a reminder to me that the break in my heart will always be there, it will never fully heal. But now I know, I can work through it and it will pass and I will then be left with the happier memories of the time I spent with my Gemi.

Black and White Sunday - 5 months of Phod

It is hard to believe that this handsome dude has been a member of our pack for 5 whole months!
To celebrate we will do the top 5 things to love about Phod:

5. He makes the funniest little groaning sounds.
4. He can play fetch for hours and hours and hours. The record is 3 hours.
3. He is very gentle and careful with the cats.
2. He hasn't met a stuffy he can't deface.

And the number one thing to love about Phod:
1. He totally knows how to use his sad eyes to manipulate me into doing whatever it is he wants!

We are so lucky we have a Phod!

Lee's superpower

Regardless of where she is in the house, regardless of what she is doing, the moment you open the dishwasher, she flies to the kitchen to help.

We say she is responding to the "dishwasher signal." Making sure that no food goes wasted and no dish is left dirty!

Does your pet have a superpower?

Feline Friday - And help Ruby Sue

Baggy has found a new place to sleep when we aren't around to put him on the counter (he can't get his old butt up there) under his heat lamps.

You woke me up, let me sleep!

He likes the front door mat beside the heater. We are proud of him because this would be very exposed to the dogs!

I am going to ask everyone who visits today to take a couple minutes and pop over Furry Four Legged Foster Friends (if you haven't done so already) and read about Ruby Sue. Mel (as always) has done a wonderful job writing about her.

Thanks!

It Snowed!

In case you missed it, we have had a lot of snow, and Lady got a fancy video camera (and by fancy she means one that is not in her phone) and she wants to learn how to do some video editing. So here is her first attempt (don't worry it is under a minute!)

Wordless Wednesday -

Resolutions for 20-13

Now our Lady says we need to have resolutions for a new year.

By Hailey:

I resolve to hunt more deer. I resolve to not allow myself to be dressed up. I resolve to only come back if and when I feel like it. I resolve to be me.

By Zaphod:

I resolve to love my people with all my heart and do to what I can to make them happy. I would like to play more fetch and swim more.

By Baggy:

I resolve to sleep on the counter more. I resolve to terrorize the dogs more. I resolve to be the centre of the earth for this pack. 

By Nin:

What a resolution is?

By the Lady:

I am going to try not to say "Hailey" in the exasperated voice as much. [I realize it is the word I say the most in my life!] I am going to try and catch her being good more often.  I am going to try and teach her some new tricks. 

I am going to find time at least every other day to brush Zaphod. He loves it so much. I am also going to work with him to overcome his car sickness.

I am going to give the cats extra snuggles because they both turn 18 this year and my time with them is getting shorter and shorter.

I am going to schedule more play time. We had so much fun romping in the snow over the holidays, we should do that more often!


May 2013 be a year of abundance and joy. Thank you all so much for reading. I look forward to following all your adventures in the coming year as well.

Happy New Year!