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Your Words on Wednesday

We’ve been scarce here and I thank you for your patience.  Like I mentioned before I have several post ideas in my head and even some started in draft but not published yet.  We’ve been busy trying to figure out how to get our Glamour Girl adopted and sharing some other great adoptable dogs as well. 

We thought we’d leave the creativity to you on this fine Wednesday.  What do you think is on Ray’s mind today?

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G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

If you follow us on Facebook, then you’ve already seen this picture of Miss Glamour.

Beautiful girl

I was fortunate enough to escort her to Prom the Petco National Adoption Weekend.  But that wasn’t all!  Asia was able to volunteer at this event as well, so I got to spend the afternoon with two Glamour girls.

Glam squad

I actually got the option to take either Glamour or Casper and opted for our gal to help get her more exposure.  Casper has had some good interest, but so far no one has shown much intererst in Miss G. so I was hoping that we could light that spark. She is definitely a little firecracker and as the minutes ticked by I fell more and more for this little gal. 

Miss Glamour

She definitely attracted a lot of attention with her sparkling personality and super soft hair and  I was happy to get to spend a significant amount of time with her to see how she reacts away from the kennels.  This little miss wanted all the squeaky toys for herself and even darted in for the steal when her companions walked away from their toys. By the end of the event the score was Glamour 6 -Squeaky toys 0. 

We also had the pleasure of Casper’s company.  This chill guy was a fan of the obligatory adoption event bully stick and won over many fans with his shiny brindle fur and laid back friendliness.

Casper

It’s been a little while since I’ve done an event like this and I’m glad I got the opportunity to do this one and especially so since it was with Asia and Glamour. 

If you know anyone in our area who is interested in this spunky little diva, please have them visit her at the Allen County SPCA.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented on Friday.  Your stories and comments really put a smile on my face and warmed my heart.

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Starbucks, ‘Vators and Gators

Sometimes I live way too far inside my own head and it can take something pretty spectacular to get me out of those depths. 

This week started out pretty awesome.  One morning before work the lady in front of me at the drive-thru at Starbucks paid for my coffee, allowing me to earn some good karma by passing along her kindess.  The next day a lady who seemed to be in a hurry, held an elevator door for me.  It’s these small tiles of kindess and humanity that once collected, form a beautiful mosaic that we can reflect on when we need a touch of beauty in our lives.

For some reason, this story brought me to tears this week.  By “some reason” I don’t mean that it shouldn’t but just that I felt so affected by an alligator.   But I did.  It just Makes. Me. So. Sad. 

Re-focus. 

The gator will soon be on it’s way to a Florida sanctuary to live out it’s life in a manner most befitting it’s needs and hopefully be able to dwell in all the sunshine it  wants.

Do feel like cheering a crazy lady up?  Tell me something good that happened to you or that you did recently.

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Asia and Ray

Last month, I received a very nice surprise in the form of two guest posts that my daughter, Asia, wrote.  I can’t decide if I’m more touched by the content or just the mere fact that she felt compelled to (figuratively) take pen to paper.  Her relationship with Ray has been varied, and I think that deep down she is really a “cat person,” but here is her second, but hopefully not last, guest installment.

What a Girl Wants
Over the years I have begged for a dog numerous times and always got the same answer.  “No,” I wouldn’t be responsible enough or have the time to give it the love and care it needed.  So imagine my excitement when my mom and dad started warming up to the idea of us getting a dog.

Mom threw around the idea of fostering elderbulls but Kevin and I weren’t  sold on being fosters.  I love all animals and although I knew we could help so many by fostering, I felt I would be heartbroken each time they left our home. 

But when mom got the call about Sparkles and Kane, and helped Sparkles deliver her puppies, she knew she wanted one of those puppies.  Now to decide which one.  I liked the silver girl with the pretty  blue eyes.  So did Mom, but she immediately had her eyes on the green-gunk-covered white and black spotted chunk and after a few visits it was decied the green pig would be our Ray-Ray. 

The Anticipation
While we waited to bring him home the excitement of our family finally getting a puppy kept building for me.  I imagined cuddling and playing with him and being the best of friends. 

The Reality
The night Mom brought him home I eagerly met them at the door and Ray wasn’t very interested in me. Of course it was a new place, but he was Mama’s Boy from the start.  Over the next week at home Ray began feeling extremely comfortable.  And he was a complete butt head!  Given I had never lived with a puppy before and I’m sure he was showing normal puppy behavior, I could not even be in the same room as him without him weaving in between my legs or trying to nibble my socks or pants.  I didn’t know how long that stage would last but it couldn’t be over quick enouth for me. 
Seeing puppy behavior first hand made me realize that I truly am a crazy cat lady and if I do have a dog it will not be a puppy. 

Small Changes
But then my mom  started to take him to puppy  classes and each day he got better .  He would still show “bad” puppy behavior some days but I began to enjoy spending time with him. He is over a year old now and it amazes me what a well behaved dog he is.  I take him outside with me a few times a day and he even plays soccer with me.   I have a nine month old daughter and though  we keep Ray’s time with her short and always  supervised, he is so gentle and loving towards her.  I know they will grow up to be best friends. 


A Bright Future
The beginning was tough with Ray but now I love him  so much and can’t imagine our home without him.  It shocks me that some people are so against Pit Bull type dogs.  Every single one I have ever met is the sweetest most gentle dog;  they are big babies and just want to be loved. 
Especially the Ray-Ray.

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Wordless Wednesday-ET

 
Since this week would have been her birthday week, we are remembering E.T. aka Prissy Pants on Wordless Wedesday.
 
 
 

She was one of Boo Kitties babies, a litter of three calico kitties.  Born in our closet, she never went outside but her proudest achievement was catching a mouse (so we don’t talk about the fact that said mouse was already in a trap.)

As I always think a home is not complete without a black cat, I believe Asia will always yearn for a calico in her life.

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Spotty

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I was living in Chicago and at the time was a much bigger basketball fan than I am now.  Of course, it was during the heyday of the Bulls, so it was pretty easy to get swept up in the excitement. 

A thought had occured to me back then that it would be fun to have a dalmation and name him Spotty Pippen.  Though I never seriously wanted a dalmation, I never completely forgot that little bon mot and then it hit me the other day:

Ray could very well have been my Spotty Pippen, but in all actuality, his little pigment spots didn’t appear until he was several months old and they still seem to be coming.

Do you have any names in resserve that you’ve always wanted to use for a pet?

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A Pounding Heart

I entered the yard through the gate and was greeted by the sight of  a large white and black dog.  He was heavily muscled, had limpid brown eyes and a tail slowly fanned the air behind him.  He was a sweet and welcomed sight, calming my pounding heart in the most perfect way.  My hands were not trembling, though they felt as if they could start at any moment, and I wrapped them around his large cheeks and bent down to give my Ray a kiss on the top of his broad forehead.

Ray-Ray
My neighbor was over and was talking about some troubles she had with bathing her dog and the knots in his coat.  She said, “I should bring him over so you can feel them.” I didn’t really respond but when I saw her a few minutes later carrying him over, I met her outside the fence.  Given that I volunteer with SPCA who has quite a variety of dogs at any given time, I’m a bit hesitant to say that this dog frightens me.  
He strikes fear in my heart.
He did have several large mats along his spine and as I reached out to feel them he snarly-snapped at me.  I don’t know the breed well, and I’m not a groomer so I conveyed that maybe he should be taken to a groomer and either shaved or worked on.  Obviously those mats can start pulling at the skin and “make him cranky.”  -To which she even snickered.

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Crinkie is Back!

Last week, our friends at Pitlandia asked if anyone had ever tried a Crinkit because that was the deal of the day at Doggyloot.  (I had stopped getting the Doggyloot emails quite a while ago because I really never ordered from  there.)  Ray used to have a Crinkit, or Crinkie as we call it and while it wasn’t indesctructable,it really did last a long time, and I had been meaning to replace it for-evs but I just hadn’t gotten around to it.  Well, when I saw that this was the opportunity for a new Crinkie,  I jumped right on it and promptly forgot about it until it arrived in the mail.

He always knows it’s for him.
 
 

 These are a durable something or other compound and it smells like vanilla, which is nice.  Luckily we had a nearly empty water bottle to stuff inside, but even without, Ray is pretty happy to have his Crinkie back.

It’s probably been since late last summer since he had a Crinkie, but I was still somewhat shocked that he played with it differently.  Big boy knows exactly where the bottle goes in and did work it out within an hour before playing with the empty Crinkit. 

All in all, I’m glad we have it back because it really is a great toy and provides Ray with some mental stimualtion, as well as physical exertion.  If you don’t have a Crinkit yet, I highly recommend one.  Ray does too.

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Visitor

If you follow us on Facebook, you know that Ray had a visitor last night.  A couple of years ago, we had a beautiful garden.  We delighted in lucious tomatoes, tender crisp sweet peas, fresh parsley, green beans, onions and jalapenos.  I wanted so badly for this visitor to take up residence in our garden that I searched high and low for a suitable abode in which he could feel at home.

photo: www.thebirdhouseny.com

Alas, Mr. Toad did not see fit to take up residence in our garden, at least not that I ever saw, however last night while mowing, I realized I had a serious little overseer.

He  was clearly not impressed by either Ray or me, and though I admit that if I ever happened to brush against him with a bare toe I would probably scream and flail around like a startled bird, and I have no garden for him to keep watch  over, I hope he’ll stay around for awhile.  I kind of like him.

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Beer Paws

It’s kind of a given that if you  have a pool, you have a party sometime during Memorial Day weekend.  Too bad for us that the weather didn’t completely cooperate,  and only children braved the chilly water.  Still, the sun was usually shining, the grill was hot and the beer was cold. 

Although we (mostly) have a no glass rule near the pool, I as one of the pool owners am the exception and the only craft beer drinker in the mix which is why I was so happy to have our handy dandy little Beer Paws. 

I’m kind of obsessed with having bottle openers readily available and also kind of obsessed with my dog, so these little babies are perfect to hang on your tagnabbit or even on your keychain.  I ordered two recently and now I have friends and family members who want one of their own!  Now just to decide if I’m going to gift them or send them the link.

What accessory did you find most handy this past weekend?