Animal magnetism...

Rags was my first dog - a border terrier.

I was always that kid whose mother was screaming, "Leave that dog alone - he'll bite you."  And I always ignored her, having to pet the dog, hug the dog, kiss the dog - you get the picture.  I've never been bitten.  It must be some sort of animal magnetism because dogs (and cats, for that matter) like me.  All the pets we ever had eventually became my pets - they just sort of gravitated toward me.

Our poodle, Buttons, when he was young.  So were we!

When Rags met his fate in an untimely run-in with a steam roller (and no, he didn't pop back up like in the cartoons), one of my dad's co-workers gave us Buttons the miniature poodle.  He was a great dog - not prissy at all - and he lived to be seventeen.  When my parents left me at college my freshman year, Buttons was so mad he laid in the back seat of the car and ate my mom's sweater.

They gave me the remains of the sweater for Christmas that year.

After Buttons went to his reward, I was dogless for over ten years - and then Tim gave me Aggie for Christmas in 1998.  Aggie is probably the best gift I ever received!

Is she a ham, or what?

When Aggie was about two, Tim decided that she needed a playmate - like all those cats weren't enough - and rescued Monty from a pet store.  My boy was ten when I had to let him go - I still miss him every day.

Monty took great joy in his very existence.

And, I'll admit it, I can't say no to a cute face.  Tim made the mistake of taking me to the mall the day after Thanksgiving in 2005 and I fell in love with Willie.  He's a wheaten cairn - and so much like Aggie!  When I moved from our house to a condo, I could only have two pets - so I had to find a new home for Willie.  He went to live with a retired couple who had recently lost their Gordon setter - and they adore him.  Willie lives in the lap of luxury and even summers at a lake house in Vermont.  Talk about a dog's life!

William Wallace - the Braveheart cairn.

So there you have it - a brief tribute to all of the wonderful dogs in my life.  I've been truly blessed with their love and companionship over the years.

ME Monday...

Two of my prized Mary Engelbreit ceramic photo frames which have survived years of life with cats with no mishaps!

Another ME frame - and I found this funny photo of my boy Monty this weekend to put in it.  This picture really captured his exuberant terrier self.

I tried to get a good photograph of my ME pendant watch, but my camera or the light (or my brain) was not cooperating.  I rediscovered it this weekend when I was finishing up the closet.  Amazingly, I had a new compatible battery in my desk drawer.  I used to wear this alot back when I really cared what time it was.

Be sure to check out the other ME treasures at Cherry Chick!

It stinks to be a grown-up...

Monty came to the office with me this morning and we spent a little while putzing around.  Well, I did - he just laid down on his leash.  After while Richard came to pick us up and he drove us to the vet.  I had forgotten to specify that we wanted to see our regular vet, but I was thankful that he was there.  He's a wonderful person and he adores dogs and cats and he's always been very kind to us and all of our pets.  Monty had lost three pounds since July, so I know it was time.  Doctor even said that Monty seemed less than his usual happy self and agreed that the time had come to send Monty to the Rainbow Bridge.  My sweet boy went quickly and peacefully and Richard says he'll be back as a Welsh corgi in two to three weeks, tops.  If he does, well, I hope he ends up with the Queen.  I am thankful that we had nine lovely years with such a precious, loving little dog.

Monty...

I've made an appointment with the vet tomorrow for Monty.  He's not been himself the last few days and I know it's time to let him go.  I don't want him to suffer one minute - so I'm going to be a grown-up about this.  I made a pork roast on Sunday especially for my boy; he and his grumpy sister loved it.  They had leftovers last night and there's some left for tonight, so Monty will be happy.  Please say a prayer for the peaceful passing of my sweet, sweet boy.  Me, too.

Wishful thinking...

but it actually did snow here - twenty years ago!  We woke up to ice on the power lines and a dusting of snow on the cars and the grass.  It didn't last long - and it was nothing like the snow in New York when I was a kid or the vast amounts of snow in Michigan when I was in college - but it was snow nonetheless.

So much for my Christmas video fest featuring Tom Selleck (sensing a theme here?) - I watched both of my Jesse Stone movies last night - Night Passage and Thin Ice - so I am digging through the box of DVDs I had put aside for Tim looking for something to occupy me and the dogs tomorrow.  We are having either BLTs or knockwurst with sauerkraut for dinner tomorrow - Monty's favorite things.  We might have one for lunch and one for dinner - we'll see.  I'm trying to make his last days with me good ones, you see.  Please pray for my sweet boy - he's been looking sad and hiding under my desk off and on, so I'm starting to get worried about him - I know that dreaded time is coming.  But we're both okay with it - it's not like I'm never going to see him again.  God loves dogs - or else there wouldn't be so many!

Merry Christmas, everybody!  Have a wonderful holiday!

I wish it were beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

My sweet babies...

What would I ever do without them? When I got home last night they were so glad to see me; I sat down in the big chair and they jumped on top of me, licking like crazy! Of course, they were probably thinking: we saw you bring the WalMart bag in - what did you get for us? There's nothing like a big dose of dog love right when you walk in the door.

As you can see, Monty is not adverse to dressing up for Halloween. They both have sporty little trick or treat collars, but they have been known to wear additional costumes - yikes! Aggie had her Halloween collar first - her dad got it for her at PetsMart one year. I was trying to be thrifty and clip coupons, so I had given Tim a $5 coupon for Science Diet cat food - hoping he'd remember to use it. When he came back out of the store, I reminded him about the coupon and he said, yes, he'd used it. Then he handed me and Aggie a little bag - in which there was a little orange trick or treat collar. So much for my $5 savings - he's spent it on Aggie - lucky dog! She liked the collar (and the attention) - you know how they get when you whip them into a frenzy over not much at all.

When we lived in our old house, the dogs absolutely loved Halloween. Well, Aggie and Monty did anyway - Willie liked to hang back from the door with his blue Kong and just watch. I would put a baby gate in the front door and when the neighborhood kids came up and knocked (our door opened out), Tim or I would answer and Aggie and Monty would rush the door and stand up at the gate to greet the kids - a real novelty for them - the dogs, I mean. Not to be left out, Eddie the cat would sit on the windowsill by the door, too.

So last night I asked them what they wanted to go as for Halloween this year - Aggie thinks she'll just go as Toto again and Monty wants to be a pirate. I'll be sure to take pictures!

See what happens when I take a day off?

Aggie, the techno-cairn wannabe, stands up to the desk and tip taps away on the keys and posts her own blog entry! I actually have an old photo of her (somewhere!) standing up at my desk in our old house - but I think she was just fascinated with the screen saver. Silly dog! The scratching has subsided to some degree, but I am contemplating allergy shots. I need to take Monty to the vet anyway; it would appear that his tumor has returned, in approximately the same spot. I am hoping that the doctor can do another surgery - but I haven't finished paying for the last one yet! My main worry is that the tumor has returned so quickly following the first surgery - I don't know if the vet will even think another surgery is an option. I keep praying about it, but I don't feel an answer forthcoming. Or maybe just not the answer I want. Please keep a positive thought for my little dog. Hey - amazingly I found the old picture of the incredible typing cairn!

Two Lessons for Tuesday...

I learned the hard way: don't put Thai rice noodles down your garbage disposal. It might seem like the clog is gone, but it has surreptitiously glommed on to whatever grease and junk is lurking down the line and gangs up on you. And secondly, don't run your dishwasher thinking that everything is all right. It's not and there will be water all over your kitchen floor. And dogs with wet feet trying to notify you of the problem. I spent most of the day waiting for the maintenance man to come and fix the big mess and then trying to control two over-eager canines who were desperately trying to assist him. I tried to tell them that if the nice man had needed help, he would have brought his own trained dog - but they weren't having any of that. All's well that ends well - he even fixed the leak under the sink for me while he was there.

Okay, I'll admit that the dogs' delirium was mainly my fault. I had been whipping them both into a frenzy all day by telling Aggie it was her birthday, happy birthday, who's the birthday girl, we're having treats, yadda yadda, yadda... Monty heard treats and that was his signal to run from room to room, jumping on the chairs, chasing his sister and making a general nuisance of himself. Anyhow, Aggie is eleven now and she still thinks she is all that - and a box of MilkBones. For dinner we had chicken hotdogs (Aggie loves chicken and Monty loves hot dogs, hence the compromise) and birthday cake. The lady at Publix couldn't believe I was giving the dogs people cake, but hey, it's only twice a year and I will use any excuse to have a piece of Publix Bakery birthday cake. They both ate until they lay groaning on the living room floor - we watched My Cousin Vinny - and the dogs were zonked out by ten o'clock. I foolishly thought that because they were both full as ticks that they would sleep through Pizza Guy's 2:30 am dog walk, but alas, I was wrong. They heard the dog's collar jingle and Aggie aroo-ed for a solid five minutes. Then they both went back to sleep. I've been awake ever since - and I've had way too much caffeine!

Noir weekend...

What a long, long weekend! I worked for awhile on Saturday, puttering around the office catching up on stuff, putting my Cricut software on the extra computer so I can leave the machine hooked up to that one, instead of having it in my every day work area, playing with the cat - important stuff like that. I decided to stay home on Sunday and Monday for "big hug" days with the dogs. We made cookies and had our usual summer holiday fare of hot dogs - which Aggie and Monty love - and I read five crime noir novels. When I'd had enough double-crossing murder and larceny, I watched a movie in somewhat the same genre: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Very weird, to say the least. I'm not a big Jude Law fan, but Gwyneth Paltrow does pretty well in those 1940's girl reporter roles. The film also had Giovanni Ribisi as the boy wonder techno-nerd - years ahead of his time - and Angelina Jolie as the commander of a flying aircraft carrier. Her character was quirky - complete with a leather get-up and an eye patch, which made those lips look even freakier. For a pretty woman, she has some disturbing looking lips. Actually, those blowfish lips are the stuff nightmares are made of. Freaky. I'm just saying.

I love to cross stitch!

I only wish I had something at home to work on! I woke up yesterday morning with the worst sinus headache - it's probably the weather and the heat - but I was dizzy and sick to my stomach and there was no way I wanted to drive. Aggie & Monty were happy to have Mom at home - but one person can only sleep so much without making a bad headache worse - so I did laundry, putzed around the apartment and then I realized what I really felt like doing was cross-stitching - but alas, the small projects I kept out of storage were at the office! I am working on finishing a cute picture for Tim with a bunch of cats and dogs in it that says, "There's always room for one more!" If that isn't Tim to a T! I also have the dreaded rainbow trout on my floor frame - but it's literally been years since I put a stitch on that thing. I switched two colors when I was working on the pinkish part of the trout's body and I have since misplaced the chart and the floss (it was a kit - hence the color confusion) and well, there it is in the frame, taunting me. I have been going to search eBay for the same kit - but I guess my heart just isn't in it. I should - the fishing flies around the perimeter of the picture are done and I am halfway finished with the fish. And it would make a nice addition to Tim's man-cave walls with his trout chart and other fishing related prints. I stitched the picture with the beehive for our anniversary several years ago. Tim was enamored of it as much as a man can be, I guess - but I get to enjoy it on the wall above my desk in the office. I also ran across this cute raspberry picture I did - there are three other small patterns that do with it: grapes, blueberries and a butterfly. It was one of those free charts from DMC that comes with new floss colors - and it also has a large picture with a basket flowers, but I've never been that motivated. I have a kit for the Mary Engelbreit print above with my motto on it: Bloom Where You're Planted. Maybe I'll work on that when I finish the pet picture for Tim. I just put my project in my bag so I don't forget to take it home with me!

Three things today...

I've been working on sorting out my craft supply mess today. As you can see, it is steadily encroaching on my workspace - and has been since we moved from the house to the condo. All of my sewing stuff - sewing machine, serger, fabric, patterns - went into the storage unit, but I brought all of the rubber stamps and card-making supplies to the office to join my Cricut, which I have been unable to get to for the past couple of months! I've made a lot of progress - although it's hard to tell from this picture!

So as a reward for finally putting my nose to the grindstone, I ordered pizza for lunch from A Taste of Philly - a great little restaurant three doors up from the office. Cari makes wonderful pizza and Ariela and I finally availed ourselves of the vegetable pie during tax season - practically orgasmic! Okay - I don't get out much, but it was good. I have since moved on to the italian pizza with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and olives. Excellent! And, if I have pizza for lunch, then I am still full at dinner time - much to Aggie & Monty's chagrin.

And finally, and most importantly, an update on Monty. When I got home last night both dogs were happy to see me (as usual) and I was pleased to find that Monty was still wearing his e-collar and his incision looked good. His pain med-induced buzz had worn off and he was a little frisky, once again barking at anyone who walked by the window, so I slipped his pills into a treat and he was calm again in no time. I actually prefer the frisky Monty to the calm one, but I don't want him to get too rambunctious just yet. Aggie seems to be laying low, too - almost like she senses that Monty needs to take it easy for a few days.

So much for my resolve to blog daily...

I wanted to give an update on Monty. I took him to the vet on Thursday and the news wasn't good. The doctor said that the lump was most likely a fibrosarcoma and recommended that we remove it right away. Since he had nothing on his schedule for Friday, we decided to go ahead with the surgery then. I left Monty with them since he would have to have no food or water after midnight anyway. When I got home, Aggie was extremely puzzled as to where her Bubba was and kept looking for him most of the evening. Needless to say, I was upset too and cried myself into a miserable headache by Friday morning. So, I stayed with Aggie and we moped together until the vet called to tell me that Monty had done just fine with the surgery and could go home on Saturday. I went and picked him up on Saturday morning and armed with antibiotics and pain pills, I was instructed to keep him as calm as possible. Fortunately, the pain pills are a big help in that regard and he spent most of the afternoon sleeping on my lap. Aggie was pretty good about not riling her brother up on Sunday, so I gave Monty his medication this morning and decided that it was okay to leave them alone for awhile today while I came to the office. The incision is pretty big, but the lump is gone - thank goodness and Dr. Walstad! They have sent the tissue out for analysis and if it is malignant, we will just have to be vigilant and hope it doesn't reoccur. Monty doesn't seem to be any worse for wear - but I feel sorry for him with that ridiculous collar around his head. He can eat and drink with it on, so that's all I'm worried about - and he can't reach his incision. It doesn't look bad and he goes back to have the stitches out in a week. Please remember my little guy in your prayers!

Before and after...

Tomorrow should be fun - Monty has an appointment at the vet and I am going to attempt to get out of the house with just one dog. Aggie loves to ride in the car so much that when she sees Monty getting hooked up to the leash, she is there! Anyhow, if I have my way, she is not going along. I have a hard enough time handling the two of them, two tangled leashes and my cane when it is time to go outside and make potty! Here is Monty with his goat-boy look; he and his barker-in-crime are in their favorite spot by the window.

A couple of weeks ago, I had Monty groomed to his normally sporty look - I found this wonderful groomer who comes in her fully-equipped van to your house and comes to the door for the dog! Solved my one-dog-at-a-time problem! Anyhow, she found a lump on his side and suggested that I have the vet look at it. I am really hoping it's nothing serious - but I'm a worrier. Here is Monty the love sponge at his handsome, sporty best...