Ok it wasn’t an official visit from Santa Paws, not yet anyway, that will come with the stockings, but Tank and Buckeye have already racked up this Christmas.  Their furcousins Roary and Stella got them some super cute toys, Uncle Dustin and Becky got them some wonderfully ugly Christmas sweaters (it actually says Ulgy Christmas Sweater on the tags) and Grandma Brenda got them these precious personalized bowls.

Checking them outChowing down

Everything tastes better when your name is on the bowl.

My boys are food hogs so we feed them in their crates to avoid a brawl.  The bowls are too cute to keep put away all the time so they’ve officially become water bowls so everyone can admire them.  Dave asked if they were sharing their bowls nicely and actually I think they enjoy having 2 to drink from rather than trying to fit 2 heads into one.   I missed my sweet furkids over Thanksgiving and they are glad to be home too especially with all their new toys…at least 2 of their gifts they won’t be fighting over!  

More Thanksgiving coming soon!

Can be ruined by 8 muddy paws….

Dave is playing golf this morning as per his Saturday morning ritual.  I had such wonderful plans.  I was going to the mall for some necessities, going to hit some balls (because I have to play with a customer in 11 days and I don’t know what I’m doing…but more on that later), maybe get a pedicure, eat some lunch then working on Mt Washmore until he comes home and whisks me off to watch other people play golf at the St Jude’s Classic.  It really sounded like a wonderful day to me.  Thankfully all of the above items (excluding Mt Washmore) didn’t really HAVE to be done today, they were wants.

We had some terrible storms come through last night but the sun has been shining beautifully today so I had every intention of letting the dogs play in the back yard until I got out of the shower.  We have one part of our yard where grass refuses to grow so it gets a bit muddy.  I didn’t check it because the sun was shining and most days the pups stay away from the mud.  Unfortunately they can’t handle being good outside when the neighbor dogs are out.  As soon as they hear each other or get a glimpse of each other through the fence the barking starts.  Honestly the barking doesn’t bother me so much…it’s what the barking means…MUD.  Tank thinks it’s necessary to get as close to the ground as possible when the dachshunds are out because they can almost touch noses under the fence.

I swiftly grabbed Tank up out of the muck and as I feared he was covered, toes to chin in mud.  Buckeye didn’t look bad so I let him follow behind intending for him to be the good dog that he is when we get to the door.  Unfortunately today “stay” ment nothing to Buckeye.  But my kick (nothing dramatic or hard, but my hands were full of his filthy brother) to the behind and the words “outside” meant something.  Thankfully he can’t handle being out of our sight so he whined at the back door away from the mud while I threw Tank into the shower and went back to get Buckeye.  Here’s where I made my first major mistake…

I picked up my 27lb boson terrier and carried him to the bathroom and without closing the door behind me I opened the door to the shower and set him down.  Apparently Tank was posed for escape because he bolted.  I’m still trying to figure out how he got around me.  I slammed the shower door behind me and ran after him through the house praying he stayed off the good rugs and furniture.  I bribed him with a treat and yelled “COME!”  Well Buckeye knows the sound of the treat jar and he knows the word come…a shower door was not going to deter him.  They both rounded the corner full speed mud flying from their little bodies all over my walls and floors jumped straight into their crates and looked up at me expectantly.  They did not get their goodies! I was furious!! 

I spent the next hour cleaning my walls and floors (not near finished btw) and plotted my next move.  Now an unsuspecting person may have taken the dogs out back with a garden hose.  But the reality is that my 7lb yorkie not only quite slippery when wet but extremely fast and his  27lb brother is pure muscle and will get away if he wants to.   A bath in the yard by myself?  Nope I needed a contained area.  I thought I had it all figured out.

I carried Tank to the shower, turned the water on and laid their towels out on the floor. 

With him safely contained I closed the bathroom door and went to get Buckeye.

I checked to make sure I had everything, picked him up and put him in the shower.

Then I realized their soap was under the kitchen sink instead of the bathroom.  I looked at the both in the eye and firmly said “STAY” and prayed Buckeye forgot in that hour time that he could open the shower door.

I closed both doors, ran quickly to the kitchen grabbed the shampoo and held my breath and opened the bathroom door.

Have you seen Daddy Day Care?  Do you know the part where Eddie Murphy opens the bathroom door and the horror music plays as he sees what the little boy has done to the bathroom?  I had the full reenactment except with Dogs…well and mine was mud instead of #2.  Buckeye had opened the shower door again (can you buy locks for those things?) and my master bathroom was covered in mud…keep in mind the shower was running so it was all nice and wet.  At least I had closed the bathroom door or I think I would have just asked Dave if it was time to move again.

They did not get out again.  They smell yummy and clean like Johnson & Johnson’s, are dry and sleeping like little angels.  These little monsters are lucky I love them so much.

Today my roomie from school came over for a visit.  It’s crazy how we ended up in the same city huh?

Ariane just got engaged!  I should have got a pict of the beautiful rock, you can see a glimpse of it but it’s really beautiful.  She brought along her puppy Marco for a play date.

He’s super sweet.  My little monsters on the other hand were extra ornery. They were pretty poor hosts and ganged up on poor Marco.  Tank was bossy (vocal) and Buckeye…well let’s just say he wanted to emphasize that we were in his yard….ahhh the joy of how dogs determine pecking order.

When Dave left this morning he told Buckeye that this was his house and to remember that he’s the top dog.  Apparently Buckeye listened a little too well.

When I wasn’t making him lay down or Ariane wasn’t holding Marco, Buckeye spent the majority of the time in the house where he wouldn’t be such a bully. He was really just trying to play and was so sad to be inside…Buckeye just gets a little over excited and it was a little much for Marco.

See that face?  He feels bad.

Tank was better with his brother inside.  He spent much of the evening coaxing Marco into the yard…

so he would have an excuse to run like the wind.

All in all it was a fun evening and I was happy to have some time with my friend.

I hope you have a beautiful weeekend!

When I’m actually in town I have the wonderful privilege of working from home.  I’m amazed at how much I get done in my little home office upstairs.  I was honestly a little worried at how I would do, you know would I stay in my PJs all day, sleep in, clean house?  Or would I actually get work done.  So I “go to work” in the morning, dressed, and head upstairs to work.  This all happens by 7ish AM in my attempt to stick with my fellow workers who are on EST.  I’m not as successful at the 7AM thing when I have to actually go to the plant.  But the joy of working from home is that I can keep my furbabies with me. 

They work very hard too as you can see. 

Their favorite thing to do is sleep in the sunshine and look out the window to spy on the neighbors.  But mostly lay in the sun.

Buckeye army crawls along every 15 minutes or so to make sure he stays in the warm sun.

But then they catch me taking pictures of them instead of working

And if you see what Tank does to his brother for even looking at his toy I’d better not cross him and start working again.  Thankfully Buckeye’s cheeks are saggier than mine but I’m guessing he could still get a grip.

OK OK….back to work.

We had a great time with my parents, sister and grandparents over Thanksgiving.  It was the only time all of us were going to be together before Christmas and mom had just figured out how the timer worked on her new camera.  So she pulled us all in for a family photo.

Just a few months before I talked my brother-in-law into taking pictures of Dave & I with the puppies for Christmas.  One of them is on our home page and I made a fun Christmas card with another one.  Clilck on any of the pictures to see more in Picasa.

Merry Christmas!