McYuck!

More news surfacing today about the McRib.  I already told you that one of the 70 ingredients in the sandwich is used to manufacture plastics like shoe soles, but now news is coming forward that the chemical called "azodicarbonamide" is actually banned in Europe and Australia as a food additive.  Besides making great gym mats, the chemical has been determined to be a "respiratory sensitizer" that contributes to asthma through exposure.  Want some positive junk food reviews?  Visit the blog  hungryjerks.com.  Three fat guys visit fast food restaurants and review the food.  Unfortunately, it looks like the fat guys have lost interest in updating the blog.  Go read it and leave some comments.  Maybe they will start writing again!

Trick or Beans

We are sitting in the total dark waiting for Halloween to be over.  Linda just got home from teaching Pump at 8 p.m., but there were still little pirates, ghosts and ballerinas prowling the neighborhood.  (One is ringing our bell right now even though the front light is off and our house hasn't one light on!)  The class she subbed tonight only had 10 people, everyone must have been taking their young 'uns Trick or Treating. If Linda answered the door, we would have to give them cans of black-beans or dog cookies since we have no candy in the house. 

No Eureka! Yet

Change that tag line to ...expect expensive things

Most people would not get this wrapped around the axle about a vacuum.  Sure, they like their iPads, laptops, fancy car tires or 98" flat screen TV's.  Linda happens to appreciate a really awesome vacuum.  Back in the day, she really wanted a Dyson until she found the Airspeed Gold.  It really is 10x better than anything she has ever owned.  She saw it on sale the other day when she went to get Noah's presents.  It was $75 but she decided since hers was still newish and working great, she would not buy a back up.  Bad move.  Of course when she went back this afternoon, the store is now sold out of them.   She decided to come home and compare more prices:  Walmart-$98; Sears-$101; Amazon-$106; Kmart- $129 and finally the most expensive:  Kohls-$159.  (Remember the story about the first vacuum she bought at Kohls?  It was $30 more than the manufacture listed price.)   She has classes this afternoon and evening, but she'll head out to Walmart tomorrow.  The website says they are in stock.

Drat and Double Drat!

Linda was vacuuming with her favorite Eureka! earlier today and by accident, she sucked up the living room curtain!  The motor is so strong that before she could turn it off and pull the sheer curtain out, the whole thing started pouring out black smoke!  Drat, Double Drat and Triple Drat.  Oh well, it's only a vacuum and replaceable.  It's a good thing she did not suck up my paw or tail or else it would be the end of me for sure.  She's heading out to the store to buy another Eureka! vacuum since she really loves the brand and how well it works.  Even though it's nippy out, she had to open all the windows to get the smoke smell out of the house.  There goes our walk, maybe she'll have time after she gets back home and puts it together.  Her class is not until 4:00. 

Don't Have a Hissy Fit

I'm glad we don't have Rocky the Python living at our house anymore.  He was very nice to Linda and never bit her or even threatened her.  (There was one time when she was throwing his food into his cage and he struck out to get his supper and almost hit her hand, but he was sorry.)  I've told the story before, but in case your a new reader, Linda got rid of him when he tried to eat her kitten. Poor Pumpkin was having a hissy fit and Linda heard her crying.  She rescued the kitty in time, but she wasn't taking any more chances.  We are hoping the pet store found a good home for him.  He was only 36" long, just a baby really.  This week, Florida officials captured and killed a 16-foot-long Burmese python that had just eaten an adult deer.  When they measured, his waist was 44" around!  I don't know why they had to kill him dead though.  There are plenty of reptile zoos he could have been sent to. This isn't Rocky, but it's the same size and looks exactly like him.  If it was a Chip Cat vrs Rocky fight, Chip would have won paws down!

Please Try Not to Lick the Screen

Snickers used to love to eat at McDonald's.  Linda would ask him if he wanted to go to MickyD's, and he would do his happy dance.  They would walk up to the restaurant together and then Linda would have to give somebody the money to go inside to buy his 4 piece nugget snack.  Our MicD's has a little outside seating area down a few steps in an alcove.  They would sit there for a 1/2 hour while she slowly fed him bites of his nuggets.  Neither Chimmie or I have ever even tasted McDonald's food.  There is one new thing on the menu that does sounds yummy.  It's called a McRib. Linda knows a few people who like them. Do you think it looks tasty?  All that beefy goodness??  She was very curious how they got the rib meat off the bone, but it still looks exactly like it has the bone in the sandwich.  WARNING!  If you like the McRib, stop reading now.  Turns out it's not an actual rib at all.  There is a total of 70 different ingredients in the sandwich.  I won't bore you with the long, hard to say names, but one of them is azodicarbonamide, which is commonly used in the manufacturing of foamed plastics and the soles of shoes!  Chimmie should love them since he thinks shoes actually taste good.

Walker, Paul

Yesterday (and this morning) it was freezing.  This afternoon, beautiful sunny weather for us to enjoy deck time.  Chimmie has been lolling in the sun for for 2 1/2 hours, he won't come inside.  I've been in and out, mostly in because that is where Linda has been. She got home from church much later than usual because she went to lunch with her friend.  While she was gone our favorite Wednesday and Sunday walker, Paul  (Not Paul Walker, although Tier wishes it was the guy from Fast and Furious) walked us and then stuffed us full of cookies before he left.  (Not really, he just gave us one cookie broken into lots of little pieces so it seems like more.)  Linda has to leave soon for nursery duty, but she might take us on another walk before she goes.

Switching Places

Linda and Marie looked alike growing up.  They used to fool Aunt Olive and switch places.

Not our deck thank goodness!!

We only got a crusting of snow, nothing like Linda's cousin Marie got at her house in NJ. (Marie and Linda were best friends growing up.  Look how beautiful she still looks, and she is one year older than Linda!)   This is Marie's deck.  There is a 12" ruler poking out of the snow.  The last report from her was 18".  I wouldn't switch places with her and live that far North for a giant bag of my own dog cookies!  I'm so glad that we are not facing shoveling that mess this morning.  It's going to be bad enough deicing the car so she can drive to church.  Even though it's very cold, Paul is supposed to come over to take us for a walk while Linda is at church and then maybe having lunch with some friends.  I'll probably decided not to go, but Chim needs the exercise.  He's making us all crazy with his cooped up energy. 

Two Dog Night

My new sweater with faux fur trim....

...and my down parka with Diva embroidered on the back

Granted, we are two little dogs, but we were keeping Linda nice and warm.  We were all snuggled under a queen sized down comforter watching Disney's Prince of Persia.  When she got up to make our dinner, she noticed it was freezing in the house.  Since the inside temperature finally dipped down into the 50's, Linda finally turned on the heat. It's so cold in the house I needed my coat on to warm up.  If Sheba the Siberian Husky and good ole Snickers boy were still alive, Linda really wouldn't have to turn on the heat all winter.  Sheba was so warm that when she sat on the couch with Linda during the winter, it would get too hot!

Prince Mr. Mans

Perfect Day to Curl Up By the Fireplace...

Snow starting to stick to our deck!

Chili cooking.  How does Megan make her food photos look so amazing?

...Only we don't have a fireplace.  Instead, Linda lit all her candles in the house to make it feel like a fireplace.  Day 2 and Chimmie's new bed is missing 1/4 of the stuffing.  He worked a hole in it during his 5 hour containment today.  Linda knows he is bored and that contributes to his chewing, but what is she to do?  There are 3 dog walkers who take turns, it looks like we'll need another.  She can't really be mad at him, but it's looking like he will just get old towels and blankets as beds from now on.  BTW, Chim looks adorable in his winter sweater coat.  Linda will take his photo the next time he has to go outside.  She had to carry him down the steps again because it's snowing/raining and he is afraid of the steps when they are slippery.  No lie, it is really freezing.  Linda is thinking about maybe (only maybe...) turning the heat on.  Right now we still have a window cracked and the heat off.  It's weird, Linda hates being cold, but she also hates the feeling of heat on inside a house.  Since she grew up without heat in the upstairs of her house, she is used to layering and just wearing a lot of sweaters, heavy socks and earmuffs inside the house. To warm her tummy, she is making a huge pot of 3 bean, whole wheat couscous and chopped veggie chili.  For our lunch, she is mixing tuna into our wet food since we are all out of chicken.

Beware of Cougars

I Bet Chip Could Take Him!

Attention:  Cougar sighting reported in our area!!  Not the old women kind of cougar, but the cat kind with long nails and sharp teeth. (I supposed that might describe some women though.)  Since August, eye witnesses have reported seeing a cougar or mountain lion prowling around.  Sightings have been in DC and even in our county.  So far, authorities are taking the reports seriously, but some people think in might just be a large fox with mange.  We will be extra vigilante when we do our trail walks.  There are times that both of us refuse to take a certain trail, but Linda usually makes us go. She'll listen to us just in case.  Linda does not think her ninja skills would work on a cougar.  They are beautiful animals, aren't they?

In Case You Missed it the First Time

I'm really sorry that the weather is so nasty today.  The one Saturday that Linda is free from 1 p.m. on, we wake up to freezing rain and snow.  There won't be any walks today.  She had to get her boots, ear muffs and coat on to take Chimmie down off the deck early this morning. (Thanks to the Toms,  we have a bright light on our back deck stairs now.  It was dark and the steps were slippery.)  He would not leave the overhang on the deck to go do his business.  When she finally suited up and carried him down, he peed under the deck for almost a minute and did his other business right away.  She let me use the pee pad again because I'm much more delicate than he is and the freezing rain would make me sad.  He's already forgotten about the cold, wet feeling on his feet and fur.  I would sulk for hours.  Tier thinks that Linda favors me and spoils me.  Not true.  Chimmie is just a different kind of dog than I am.  He does not like to be carried around in a purse and hates car rides.  He is super strong and hearty, so a little snow does not really bother him once he's out in it.  If any snow does accumulate by this afternoon, I'm sure he'll do his Cheetah Chimmie figure 8's around the backyard and enjoy the flying snow as he runs. Linda will have the iPhone set to video so she can get it on record.

World's Fastest Toy Destroyer

The Headless Monkey

Just a few hours work

I really dislike when Linda has to be gone for hours and hours on end.  She left at 9:30 a.m. for classes and got home at 2:00 p.m.  Then she left at 4:00 p.m. for her last class and did not get home until 9:30 p.m.  I know she was busy working then doing childcare for Family night, but it's still a long, long time for us to be alone.  It's not so bad for me because I can roam the entire house.  In my entire 5 years of life, I've never once chewed something I wasn't supposed to or destroyed anything.  I'm even gentle with my toys.  Chimmie should have been named The Destroyer.  He can take a brand new toy and have it torn to shreds in under 5 minutes.  Until he stops chewing things, he has to stay in the tiny bathroom with his bed and water while Linda is gone.  Even when she is home she keeps an eye on him.  Tomorrow, we are alone again while she works.  Right now, there are not evening plans, so at least we'll have time with her then. 

The Orange Cow

Nope, it's not a Halloween costume, but that's what you were expecting, right?  The Orange Cow is the most yummy food truck in DC. Today, all the trucks made a wagons-west type of circle and people can enjoy all the different treats without walking all over DC. The Orange Cow sells delicious home-made ice cream.  Tier is there right now enjoying a cone.  They carry seasonal flavors like Pumpkin Spice during the fall.  I'm not sure what flavor she got, we'll have to find out.  Check back later for a complete review of the different trucks she visited. 

P.S.  Tier, why oh why are you wearing a cat mask on your forehead??   Traitor. 

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

This is the exact face Chim would make if you made him wear a Taco costume.

The second worst holiday of the year is coming up next Monday.  Number one:  The 4th of July.  I hate, hate , hate the fireworks.  I wish there would be a law that people could not set off fireworks in neighborhoods.  I can stand the 20 minutes that our town sets them off.  It's far enough away and Linda usually cuddles us to keep us calm.  But the people on our street set them off two days before and two days after the actual 4th.  The second worse:  Halloween.  It's not because Linda makes us dress up.  (Although it's very tempting for her to put Chimmie in some kind of Mexican food costume.  Did you hear that a man actually fire bombed Taco Bell because they did not put enough meat in his Chalupas?)  It's because kids ring the doorbell all evening.  I hate that almost as much as fireworks.  It does not scare us, but it riles us up so much that I get an asthma attacks from being over-excited.  This year, Linda won't even be here.  She took a sub on Halloween night at Gold's.  She'll leave the porch light off and her car will be gone, so maybe no one will come. 

Another New Bed?

No actual giraffes were harmed in the making of this bed

Welcome back to the 8-10 4:00 a.m. readers!  Not only did you come back, 75 more people have stopped by my blog this morning!  (Honestly, I only check the stats for about 30 seconds in the morning ((OK, maybe once at night too.))  You just click one button and it shows you hour by hour, this is NOT one of Linda's obsessive counting episodes...honest.)  What a cold morning to get up early.  Brrrrr!  At least I have thick, dense fur.  Poor Chimmie is a short haired Chihuahua and he shivers when it gets below 60.  Linda used to keep a sweater on him in the house during the winter, but he chews it off and it was getting expensive to keep replacing them.  Speaking of Chim chewing stuff, Linda finally trashed his destroyed round bed yesterday.  Since all the stuffing was gone, she was able to put woobie bed in the washing machine. It came out smelling fresh as a daisy.  This is his new bed.  It was only $10 at Big Lots, so she can afford to replace it every month if it gets nasty.  He had to smell every part of it to make sure it was acceptable.  Last night, he ran into bed by himself even before Linda made him.  My bed is the same one from when I was a newborn.  It's still in perfect condition.

Born Free

Actual photo Tier took at the Animal Reserve in Kenya

More details are coming out about the wild animal slaughter in Ohio.  Turns out the man who owned the reserve had been reported numerous times for animal cruelty and there had been attempts to rescue his animals in the past.  Also, Ohio is one of 8 U.S. states that don't regulate ownership of exotic animals and the only one that don't require people to be federally licenced to keep wild animals. This is the count of dead animals as a result of the man letting the animals loose before he committed suicide:  18 Bengal tigers; 17 lions; 6 black bears; 3 mountain lions; 2 grizzlies; 1 baboon; and 1 wolf.   Only 6 animals were captured alive.   The dead mans wife is trying to get ownership of the remaining animals, but it looks like she won't get them.  I'm really not mad at the police for shooting the animals, I'm mad at the law makers in Ohio for not making better laws.  Wild animals belong in the wild, not in tiny wire cages.  Tier said it was amazing in Africa walking around the animal preserve.  They were all born free and happy. 

Almost 1!

"Does this moose make my belly look fat?"

Bath times are the BEST!

"I love squeezy food!"

We are waiting for Noah to drop some of his lunch

Noah and his new farm toy

"Cow taste good!"

  Linda went shopping this morning for his new riding toy, but it is so much cheaper online, she is going to wait and order it from Amazon.  Instead, he got a new moose outfit and a Farmer Brown toy.  When you push the Farmer, it makes all sorts of tractor and animal sounds.  He loved the squeeze packet of organic sweet potato, apple and carrots that we picked up for him.  Linda had a hard time taking it away so he could eat his chicken and cheese.  Gretel said he will be ready for an early nap since he woke up at 5 a.m.  He's rubbing his eyes and putting his head down on the couch, so he's probably about to fall asleep.  Could a baby be any cuter??

Toilet Paper, Bread and Milk... STAT!

It was WAY over my head!

Watch out Safeway and Giant!  You might get a stampede of shoppers in the next two days.  Our local meteorologists are predicting a snow storm in our area this Sunday!  It would be the first snowstorm in October since 1979.   Usually, there is a bunch of panic created and then all we get is a dusting.  Or, the weather guys say 1-2" and we get 3'.  Who knows what will happen??  If it does snow, I have my new coat ready and waiting.  It's a good thing Linda's back is almost better and she'll be able to shovel our walkway or we would get trapped in our house. UPDATE:  No snow storm, just a few wet flakes.  Thank goodness.

Mush!

Chimmie=Best Sled Dog Ever

Linda is headache free and well rested this morning.  We went to bed really early, and she even fell asleep pretty quickly. There was a fire in the neighborhood around midnight, and the firetrucks woke us all up.  "That's it" she thought, "I'm up for the rest of the night."  Nope, as soon as the sirens stopped, she fell back asleep until 7:30 a.m.  Someone must have been praying for her to get rest and wake up refreshed!  The last two days were such a blur that she almost forgot what it feels like to function properly and not be Zombie-ish.  I'm so glad that she is better because if she was truly getting sick, Noah would not have been able to come over today.  Speaking of Noah, his one-year birthday is next Tuesday.  Linda is going out this morning to buy him a present.  She really wants to get him one of those push bikes for their walks, but Gretel does not really have the space at the townhouse she rents for a bunch of big toys.  Linda would tie Chimmie to the handle bars and he would pull him along like a sled dog.  I can ride along in the little bucket in the back and Linda would steer with the handle.  We'll probably end up getting him a few little toys and an outfit.  (Or maybe we will get the bike and just keep it at our house.  She lives really close to us, so she could always come over and get when she wants to take him for a ride.)

P.S.  To the eight 4:00 a.m. readers, which 4 of you slept in this morning??  

Breaking All the Rules

Can dogs even get headaches?

In all the years since I can remember, Linda has rarely missed a Wednesday night church service.  Of course she loves going and does not do it for any reason except that she truly wants to be there.  But she also has these rules she keeps because she likes structure.  Wednesday night is church night. You don't miss Wednesday night unless you are contagious or on vacation.  If she makes a rule, she has to keep it.  (I know, very black and white.. she has been accused many times before.)   One time she was sick and still wanted to go to her home group meeting.  Her deacon made her stay home just so she would have to break her rules!  Ha!!  Anyway, Linda is staying home tonight.  She has the worst headache, even to the point where she kind of had tunnel vision driving home this evening.  It was one of those times when you don't remember getting from point A to point B and even the light hurts your eyes.  The minute she eased into the tub, the doorbell started ringing and someone was knocking.   Since neither Chim nor I barked, it was probably someone she knows but she wasn't getting out and answering it in her robe anyway.  She thinks the headache is a mix of dehydration from last night and today mixed with lack of sleep.  Good night. 

No Sleep... Again

Typically, Linda sleeps a few hours a night before she wakes up and has to go through the whole process of trying to fall back asleep again.  Sometimes she falls back asleep, and sometimes not.  There are nights she'll sleep 20 minutes, wake up and feel like it's morning.  There are also nights it takes her 4 hours to fall asleep.  This has been happening since she has little. She is such a light sleeper that she wakes up if Chimmie shakes his head and his tags rattle (and he's behind a closed door) or if I change positions next to her.  Taylor and Tierney also have versions of insomnia to some degree, but not as bad.  When they were babies, she would wake up when Tier dropped her pacifier onto the carpet.  She could hear the little "thump" and know Tier would start saying "Wooooooobie" in that sing-song voice.   To this day, Linda can't figure it out.  She doesn't do any caffeine after 3 p.m. and tries to limit her nighttime sugar intake.  Tuesday nights are usually the worse since she comes home late from teaching totally wired.   The majority of the time she isn't worried or stressed, there isn't even anything particular she is thinking about.  Most people can't turn off their mind, but that is not problem for her.  She can't turn off her body.  It always feels like electrical current is running through it when she tries to relax enough to sleep.  Kind of like the feeling she got when she touched one of the live electrical wires at the Tough Mudder competition... only it's all over her body from the inside out.  Once she tried to tell the Dr. and she just looked at her puzzled and gave her a prescription for sleeping pills.  I think Dr's are used to people not sleeping due to stress, not from 10,000 tiny firecrackers going off inside their body.

One More Birthday Present

Will she ever have 40,000 songs??

Usually Linda comes home tired and grumpy on Tuesday nights.  Tonight she came home tired, but not grumpy.  While Linda was teaching, Jerry got her brand new 160g iPod Classic loaded with all her work music and videos.  He even purchased her software for her birthday that allows you to plug any iPod/iPhone into your computer and transfer the music off the device onto your computer.  This was the only way to get her 3 separate devices (2 iPods and 1 iPhone) all onto the same iTunes account and synced to her new Classic.  Now instead of hustling around with 3 different things and trying to remember which album was on which music player, it's all in a central location.  Because Linda is a wee-bit clumsy, she needs to order her new case ASAP.  Plus, he made sure he gave Chim and I a long walk so she could just go to bed.  I'm not sure what got into Chimmie.  He is doing his racing around the house like a cheetah again. 

Whopper of a Deal

Have it Your Way, Again and Again and Again

If plane tickets to Japan were not so expensive, Taylor would be planning his next two week vacation in Tokyo. For the first two weeks in November, Burger King- Japan, is running an amazing promotion.  For the price of one Whopper..about 460 yen , you can eat as many of the massive burgers as you want in 30 minutes!  Back in the day when Taylor was little, the McDonald's by our house did a breakfast buffet.  All the MickyD  breakfast goodies:  sausage, pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits were laid out so you could eat as much as you wanted!  The McDonald's joint about 3 miles from our house actually did a lunch buffet for a short time when they offered little pizzas.  Linda would take the kids after the swimming lessons for dinner once in awhile. 

The Bee Whisperer

I would look so cute in this costume.

It's funny how something can annoy you so much and when it's gone, you don't even realize it.  That is how we felt about the bees at our house.  All summer long we battled with bees building nests by our front door.  Linda only actually got stung a few times, but that is mainly because she ran the gauntlet every time she left or went into our house.  When the bees finally gave up after the last de-hiving attempt, all they did was move around to the back of the house and build their nest on our deck!  I wonder what people near St. George Utah are going to be facing after a semi rolled on the highway and dumped out 25 MILLION bees onto the road.  The trucker was carrying 460 hives when he crashed the truck.  He escaped with only bee stings and no other injuries, but the entire highway had to be closed because the bees were so enraged that workers could not get close enough to clean up.  I need to do some more research and find out if the road is back open and how them got the bees to obey.  They probably called in those crazy bee guys who whisper to the swarm and hypnotize them. 

Cowgirls Need Pedicures Too

Cowgirl Tierney

So Linda's quick coffee date turned into a 3 hour affair.  She really enjoyed herself, so I don't mind that we are not getting our second walk.  Besides, it just rained out and I hate getting my paws wet.  For a birthday prize, she got money for a manicure/pedicure.  Yeah for Linda! I'm glad she didn't bring me because everyone sitting at the outside tables was smoking and that's gross.   It's after 10 p.m. and she still has not eaten dinner.  I think the bed is going to win out this time.  Tomorrow we'll do a walk first thing, and then one more before she leaves for her afternoon classes.  Jerry usually comes on Tuesday night if he can get out of work, but it's always a game day call.  If he can make it, that will be our third walk.  (Since there wasn't any picture taking tonight at Starbucks and I'll probably never do a story about Tierney being a Cowgirl... now is a good of time as any.)  Plus, Tier and Linda are were planning to go together this week to get pedicures anyway, so the present was perfect timing!

Famous Chorkie

Noah will be my co-star.

Yeah!  I broke my record of the most page views in one hour.  Between 4-5 p.m, I had 48 page views.  Usually I'm in the high teens to twenties for each hour,  but I guess lots of Taylor's friends wanted to check out the Mudder photos and video.  Either that or it's Chimmie's racing around the house video.  Tier said that her friends at church and work have watched it over and over.  I just wish Linda would have gotten the entire video from when it started and Noah was laughing.  By the time she started the camera, they were both winding down. (See "faster than a speeding bullet.")  When you type in "famous Chorkie" in google, I'm on the 4th and 5th line.  Everyone please go search and click on my photos to move me to the top line!  Thanks!!  I'll probably be getting a movie deal anytime now.  Move over Beverley Hills Chihuahua and make room for Choopies Life!

Too Much Partying

Disregard the drunk look on my face.

One more birthday celebration tonight, then the partying is done.  Linda is going to go meet a friend for a birthday coffee date in a little while. They were going to go out for dessert, but since Linda is not eating sweets (just for right now) it will be decaf.  She still feels slightly ill from the huge lunch on Sunday and the birthday cake remix ice cream from Cold Stone last night. (Not to mention the fast food dinner on the way home from Tough Mudder.  They stopped at Wendy's and the place was out of baked potatoes.  She had to get fries since there wasn't any other vegetarian food.)   We've already done our long walk and she'll take us for another one when she gets home.  It shouldn't be too late, probably around 8:00.  Hey...since they are going to Starbucks, maybe I can tag along in my sling?? 

Outta Space

Yeah!  Our car passed inspection and got an oil change too.  It's the first time they have not tried to sell Linda a bunch of extra stuff during the oil change.  She had to wait an hour, so she walked across the street and waited at the coffee place.  Now we're supposed to be walking, but her dumb iPods wouldn't sync to her computer.  It's saying the ports don't recognize the device, only it's the exact same iPods she has always used.  After a total reboot, things started working again.  But now all the free space on her pods are totally full and there isn't room for her latest release to be loaded.  It's probably time to bite the bullet and stop using two 8G devices and her phone to store her work music and videos.  The one she needs to buy is an old school i Pod Classic that has 160G of space!  She could fit 10x more music and video on that device and only have one instead of two.  It's not fancy or anything, but it will be so much more than adequate for 1/2 the price of the newer iPod models with lots of less space.

Baby It's Cold Outside

After class this morning, Linda won't be coming right home.  She has to get the car inspected.  Her front right tire seems to have a slow leak, I hope it passes inspection and she does not have to purchase new front tires.  That would be sad.  We are starting our new and improved walking schedule today right after she gets home.  It seems like it might be the first walk with our new coats she bought us last year on sale.  It could warm up by late morning though.  I had to get up in the middle of the night to go take care of some business and it was so cold that Linda put down a pee-pee pad and let me go inside.  We are definitely not a cold-weather family.  The only person who likes to be cold is Taylor.  He ran the Tough Mudder Saturday without his shirt and that includes jumping in big pools full of ice cubes! Sarah and Linda were wearing 3 layers, and mittens to keep warm. I'm sure baby Leonidas was snug as can be under Sarah's sweatshirt.   Linda can't barely get in the 85 degree heated indoor pool to teach her water aerobics without shivering!  

No More Excuses

For the second time in her life, Linda tried this ice cream place called Cold Stone.  Sarah and Taylor took her for a birthday treat after church tonight.  (Tier went home early not feeling well.)  She chose something called birthday cake remix.  It was really good, but tomorrow starts our diets.  She is feeling yucky from all the sweets and bad foods. There has been way too much eating out celebrating since Friday.  That's fine if she is feeling like she needs to clean up her eating, but I hope I still get my daily cookie.  Every dog needs at least one treat a day, right? 

Birthday Lunch

Tier gave Linda the most beautiful flowers for her birthday today and two cards.  One from Tier and one from all the pets they ever had:  Mattie, Pumpkin, Lickie, Chip, Sheba, Snickers, Rocky, Chimmie and Choop!   Then she went to lunch with Tier, Sarah and Taylor to celebrate....and that is just part one.  Part two is tonight when they go out for ice cream after church.  Taylor said the diets will start tomorrow, so they might as well eat all they want today.  Linda said my diet has to start tomorrow too.  I'm back up to 6 pounds.  The 1/2 pound I lost over the summer has crept back on.  The vet really wants me between 5-5 1/2 pounds to help my knee issues.  Losing 1 pound to me is comparable to a grown up person losing 30 pounds.  It will really take the stress of my joints.  Because the nerve in her back had been pinched so bad, it was hard for Linda to add extra walks on top of teaching her classes.  Now that she is 90% healed and mostly out of pain, she can   do our 3 a days again.   Linda even loses weight when we do our daily hour long trail walks.  They forgot to take the family photo, so they will do that tonight and I'll post it here.  Until then, here is a place holder photo. 

Tierney and Her Mr. Man

Chimmie was an angel at Tierney's house.  Really, she said he was calm and laid-back the entire time.  He did cry for a 20 minutes when she put him in the bathroom to go to bed last night.  Tier thought he needed some Christmas lights to keep him company, so she put the lights in the bathroom so it would not be too dark.  He loved it at her house.  We don't know many details, because Linda hasn't gotten a chance to really talk to her yet.  I'll update a little later with what they did. 

10 Miles of Fun!

The Toughest Mudders

Sprayed with high power hoses, then they had to crawl under barbed wire

Leonidas's Daddy

Taylor got it on the first try

I had a very relaxing day at Jerry's.  I slept most of the time and had gourmet rotisserie chicken for lunch from Wegmans.  We did do a few walks to get some exercise, but not even close to what Taylor and his friends did today at Tough Mudder.  The course was over the top...literally!  It went up and over a ski mountain and then through a golf course.  Taylor and Jon blew away their competition.  There were hundreds of people in their heat and they finished over an hour before the rest of the pack.  People who started at 8:00 and 9:00 were just finishing and when they got to the end, and they did not start until 10:00!  Even though it was 10 miles, they finished like true warriors and did not whine at all.  The other two guys, Kevin and Tom also did amazing.  Tom finished even with a blown-out knee.  Linda got a good workout too chasing them all over the ski slopes to watch them complete the obstacles. 

Are You Prepared?

A very good morning to the 8-10 readers who consistently check in to read the blog at 4:00 a.m.   I don't know who you are or where you live, but if it's in my time zone I'm sorry you have to get up so early.  Linda woke up at 3:45 to shower and make coffee. She's tired, but not Zombie feeling like she thought she would be.  I'm going back to bed to wait for Jerry to pick me up for our entire day together.  Linda purposely (or purposefully Steve?)   isn't going to make the bed so I can snuggle back inside the covers because I adore doing that in the morning.  I wonder how Tier and Chim are doing so far?  She sent Linda a text late last night asking if Chim needed the light on while he slept, but we were already asleep.  I'm sure he ended up in bed with her because he was crying.  I hope she takes lots of photos of their day hanging out.  Taylor, Kevin, Fitch and Tom are going to get the workout of their lives today during the Mudder Challenge.  It's advertised as the toughest workout on the planet.  I have a feeling that all those miles on the treadmill in preparation won't be counting for much today, but who knows?  This kind of race is about an indomitable spirit and gritty perseverance  (all four of those men have that for sure!) more than if you can run on a flat surface.  Do you think you are prepared to run a race like this?   Lot's of pictures of the event will be posted tonight, so check back later!

Mudder Eve

Linda left Chimmie up at church with Tierney.  She was in a talent show planning meeting so Chim had to sit in her lap while she finished her brainstorming.  Since Linda has to leave the house before 5 a.m. tomorrow, she is getting ready for bed already.  Her clothes are laid out, her backpack is ready to go and she made my food for Jerry to take with him.  Even though she is just supporting the guys running the Tough Mudder, she still has to plan for a long day away from home.  Snacks, water, extra clothes if it gets too cold, and even a light blanket to sit on if she and Sarah get tired of standing.  It's going to be fierce!  Here is the course map if you want to be an armchair mudder:   

http://toughmudder.com/events/virginia/wintergreen-resort-course-map-2011/

Will She Survive?

The Bed Destroyer Strikes Again

Chimmie is spending tonight and the entire day Saturday at Tierney's!  This is going to be epic.  Tierney will get a taste of what it is like to have a toddler.  Full blown energy 24/7 with small 15 minute naps to recharge his batteries.  He'll want to eat every single bite she puts in her mouth, he'll want to jump up in her lap the moment she sits down, he'll try to snuggle in bed with her and body slam up against her to get extra close, he'll make her take him for endless walks (10 in a day if he had his way), he'll drop toys on her laptop keyboard and finally, he'll melt her heart with his cuteness.  Either she'll be bringing him back early because she can't keep up, or she'll want to keep him forever.  There is no middle ground with Chim.  Jerry will be picking me up bright and early Saturday morning.  Early for Jerry is usually 10 a.m., but Linda promised he would not make me wait that long.  I'm so excited to get to spend the entire day with him.  All's we'll do is watch TV and take a few walks, but I still adore sitting on his lap while he sketches.  Maybe if I be real sweet he'll take me to the pet store for a few new toys!  When Tier get's a look at my tattered beds (I have to use two because both of them are chewed up so badly and smell like dog) I'm sure she'll take me to Pet Smart and let me pick out a new one, probably in a smart Burberry plaid or a nice Ralph Lauren rep stripe.  

6' Tall Rooster

"I will wake you up!"

It's a good thing Linda does not rely on us for her alarm clocks.  The other day when she planned on sleeping in Chimmie got her up at 6:00 a.m.  Most mornings Chip Cat is screeching at the bedroom door by 6:45 for breakfast.  Even I stir a bit and change positions when it starts getting light outside.  Since Linda's first class isn't until 10 a.m., she did not set her alarm and figured she'd get up and moving around 7 a.m. with the animal sounds.  Nope, not a peep from any of us.  She woke up on her own at 8:30 with a massive headache from sleeping so late.  We didn't go to bed until 1:00 a.m though.  Linda lost her phone and could not find it.  Since we don't have a landline for her to call the number, she emailed all the people she knows who stay up late and asked them to keep the phone ringing.  No luck.  She even searched the entire car.  Finally, she was about to go to bed when she noticed her self-defense flashlight next to the nightstand.  Hum... maybe she could have dropped it in the front yard?  Yep, there it was in the dewy grass halfway up our hill.