Shhh! Don't tell...

...I'm sneaking onto the computer while Mom and Dad are out. I haven't gotten to blog in a while, and thought I'd update everyone. Dad's been working really hard in school, and always talks about things that don't make any sense to me. Mom's got some possible changes at work that she's really excited about (but I'm not allowed to talk about them)! Keep your paws crossed! But they're not what's really important here. I AM!



Back in May, we moved to a new house. I love it! I have a yard to play in, and I don't have to walk up and down all those steps anymore when I have to go to the bathroom! I have some new favorite spots - the yard is my favorite, but when I'm not outside playing, I like to lay in front of the picture window and look outside at the rest of the world. My folks finally let me stop sleeping in my crate at night, too.



At first, they were letting me sleep in the bed with them! It was wonderful, and I liked to sleep in between them and stretch out as far as I could! I'm not really sure why, but they stopped letting me up on the bed after a while. I have a new bed I get to sleep in that's all my own, and I'm even getting used to it. When Mom gets up in the morning, though, I still sneak up onto my parents' bed and cuddle with Dad while Mom's in the shower :) Mom doesn't even seem to mind too much when she catches me!

I've got lots of new toys, but more than anything, I like to run around in the backyard. Sometimes, I stop to watch the birds in our neighbor's birdbath, but they always fly away when I try to talk to them.



I really don't like to come inside when Mom and Dad say it's time. Sometimes, I'll come just close enough to look like I'm paying attention to them, but then I'll run away right when they think they've won! It's really funny (but Mom and Dad don't think so).

I also get to go to the dog park now, which is a lot of fun, but sometimes I get a little nervous. I love other doggies, but when there's a lot of them at once, it gets kind of scary! I just want to play, but they all want to sniff my butt, which is GROSS! I'm learning that it's OK, though.

I'm up to 42 pounds now, which is more that my parents thought I'd ever be. But I'm still skinny - a lot of lean muscle!

Other than that, Mom and Dad keep saying that they want to take me back to school. They say I've forgotten my manners, but they don't understand that I'm just trying to meet and play with everyone I can! I guess maybe I'm being a little rebellious sometimes...but not always! School wouldn't be so bad, though. I liked it a lot the last time I went, and now that my leg's all better, it might be fun to go back. I'll have to think about it a little bit :)

I'm a good protection dog, now, too. Somebody tried to take me from my Mom a few weeks ago, and I said NO! He said I was mean, but I was just trying to protect Mom from a scary stranger. I was scared, too, and wouldn't go anywhere near him, but I made my back fur ridge up and I barked really loud at him to make him go away, and he did! I snuggled with Mom the rest of the night so she'd know everything was OK.

I know I'm forgetting to tell some fun stuff, but I can do this again sometime if I need to. I've got a couple more cute pictures to share if you want to see them!

Here you can tell that my back left leg is always a little straighter than the right one, but I can run and play a lot, and I almost never limp anymore! (It's cuz I'm big and strong!)


Cooling off in the shade after a long run :)








Woof!

I'd been missing out :)

Our tube TV kicked the bucket. It's been pretty much dead for months now, and today, we decided to send it to its grave. Not that the Cards are doing much for me this season, but watching a game on TV and having the score reversed at the top (as in, the top 4 inches of the screen were being projected upside-down) finally did me in. I'm sure we could have taken it to get fixed, but with the new HD changes coming into effect in February 2009, we're better off getting a TV we expect to last more than this one. Seriously, we only had this one for 3 years. And it crapped out.

Goodbye, 27" Philips POS. Hello, Samsung flat screen :)



Of course, Mr. P has wanted to do this for a long time now. And, being the "typical" wife, I held out. Hardcore. There are so many other things we should be doing. But I gave in today (maybe because I found a sale I couldn't resist) and there's no turning back.

It's amazing what a clear picture will do when all you can remember in recent memory is horrendous lines at the top of the screen! Movie night with the Mr. will be a new experience, I'm sure...I can't wait!

First, though, is what I'm sure will be another memorable GNO this evening at Teresa's. And Mr. P will be participating in poker night with some of the other hubbies, so I can't wait to hear all about that :)

Keep an eye out for a post by the Bear a little later on. She's been dying to get back on the computer for some time now...

20 Questions

Using only one word answers:

Your hair? frustrating
Your mother? strong
Your father? rocks
Your favorite thing? hubby
Your dream last night? forgotten
Your dream/goal? happiness
Your favorite drink? water
The room you’re in? cozy
Your ex? laugh
Your hobby?
Your fear? failure
Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
Where were you last night? bed
What you’re not? perky
Muffins? pumpkin
One of your wish list items? clothing
Time? drags
Where you grew up? stl
The last thing you did? read
Favorite weather? fall
What are you wearing? pj's
Your favorite book? dog-eared
Your TV? broken
Your pet? bailey
Your computer? works
Your mood? sleepy
Missing someone? always
Your car? old
Something you’re not wearing? clothes
Favorite store? banana
Love someone? forever
Your favorite color/shade? green
Last thing you ate? fajitas
Your life? challenging
Your friends? supportive
What are you thinking right now? blank
What are you doing at this moment? typing
Your summer? amazing
Your relationship status? perfect
What do you do when you can’t sleep? read
When is the last time you laughed? earlier
Last time you cried? thursday

Thoughts Needed

Mr. P found out this evening that a couple weeks ago, his father had a(nother) heart attack. The details are all pretty fuzzy, but it's times like this that I know it's damn near impossible to be so far away from family (they're in Texas). Please keep Dad P and the rest of the P family in your thoughts and prayers.

Behind the Dream

Mr. P has been working hard on accounting (bean-counting, perhaps?). I wanted to go for a walk the other night, but couldn't because it was raining. I guess he just mixed the two and that's what he came up with?

Saturday, we headed over to the Jeff-Vander-Lou area to work on Habitat for Humanity's current build project. My office is helping sponsor one of the homes, so a group of us spent the day helping out. A bunch of folks laid the laminate floor, and I was working on painting baseboards and trim. The boards were in a pile in the basement, so while it was a little cooler down there, the pounding right above my head was a little annoying. Long day, lots of hard work, but pretty rewarding.

Sunday, Mr. P and I had brunch with Schmoogie, then drove her to a couple flooded areas for one of her photo assignments. It was bizarre to see roads and buildings we know almost completely submerged. I can't wait to see what she was able to capture, and I know she got some awesome shots.

So, time for another long week! Good thing Monday's already over - wasn't sure if I'd make it :)

Dreams are Funny Things...

I know, I know. It's been way too long since I last posted. It probably will be again, because life is crazy like that, but I had a awful doggy-mom/funny story to share...

We've been working really hard at teaching Bailey Bear to sleep on the floor or in her bed...but NOT in mom and dad's bed. She's gotten really good at it, and our sleep has improved immensely :) Not that we don't love puppy cuddle-time - we do! - but she likes to sleep in the VERY MIDDLE of the bed...HORIZONTALLY...like the cross-stroke of a capital H. Not so good for the REM sleep.

Anyway, around 5:00 AM today, she jumped up on our bed. It woke me up out of a deep sleep and I made her get OFF (I was very grumbly about it, too). All of a sudden, there was a huge flash of light and thunder almost immediately following. Bailey, standing in the middle of the room, tucked her tail between her legs and ran around the bed to Mr. P's side and CRAWLED UNDER THE BED!

(Guilty doggy-mom conscience enters HERE.)

So I get out of bed, walk around to Mr. P's side, get down on the floor in the dark, and try to coax Bailey out. This wakes Mr. P up, who rolls over to see me laying next to his side of the bed. He got up, helped get Bailey out, and up on the bed she went :) (Such pushovers, I know.)

Fast forward to about 6:00 AM, and we're both sleeping again. I hear a mumble, and ask, "Huh???" because I really couldn't believe what I had heard. So Mr. P repeated himself:

"If you put your bean-counting suit on, we can go for a walk."

Seriously? I nearly fell out of bed laughing. I know I've said some funny things in my sleep, but WHAT?! I'm hoping that this evening, he'll have remembered what he was dreaming about, becasue I certainly have no idea what it meant :)

Mr. P reminds me on occasion of my sleep-walking AND -talking episode that had something to do with red plastic cups. Apparently it was VERY important. Now, I'm excited that I can fire back :)

Enjoy the weekend!