Seriously??

We just read a news article about the "new" kind of shoplifter.  It's not the guy who puts a family size pack of pork chops inside his pants or the girl who slips a lipstick in her purse at Rite Aide.  No, these new shoplifters are people who might never normally steal.  ONE THIRD of Americans have admitted to fudging, lying, "forgetting to scan things" (All called stealing.  If you really did forget to scan something and then remembered at home, you go back and pay for it.) at the grocery stores self checkout lines.  They slip small things through right into the bag, enter a lower price skew number of a fruit or veggie instead of the expensive one and lie about what bakery items are in the bag.  

It only gets worse.  Of the 66% left who don't steal, 25% of them don't do it for fear of getting caught.  This is just so sad.  Linda LOVES the self checkout lines.  It's fun to do it!  She likes to bag things certain ways and she's glad that only her hands are touching all the items.  Plus, you don't get the cashiers germs from all the money she's handling.   If CRIMINALS keep stealing, the self checkout lines will go away.  Where is the honesty and integrity people? I guess those people won't mind then that while they are inside Giant Food stealing, someone else is going through their cars helping themselves to their GPS, cell phones and iPods. 

Missing Birds

Linda loves when it's only Noon and she already has gotten tons of stuff done!  It helps having a great night sleep (hoo-RAY!) and waking up fresh and energetic at 6:00 a.m.  So far, she's had quite time, did the morning 3 pet ritual, had coffee and a protein shake, taught Body Combat; and taught Body Pump.  Next up, she heard Modell's was having an awesome shoe sale.  She found a pair of size 15 Nike's for Taylor at 75% off! 

Size 15's...Let's hope Penny does not follow in these footsteps!

When she got home, she decided to quickly change her shoes and mow the yard.  Not a fun job, but she turned it into another workout by sprinting as fast as she could while she pushed the mower.  There is a hill in the front yard, so it's an extra workout.  Sure, it's probably not safe or smart... but otherwise mowing is so boring.  She found this in the backyard under the deck.

There was a robin's nest full of babies in the support beams right under the deck.  They made Linda happy when she was sitting on the deck because she could hear their baby tweets and chirps.  She is just hoping they flew away and the Mom destroyed the nest.  Otherwise, they are all inside Chimmie's belly. 

I'm Not Fat, I Have Broad Shoulders

It's that time of year again for my annual Vet visit.  There is nothing wrong with me, but I still hate going.  I'll need my booster shots and full exam.  The Dr. will probably comment on my weight (still 5.75 pounds) telling me that I need to lose a pound so there isn't too much stress on my knees. It will cost Linda around $250.  Yikes, sorry I'm so expensive Linda.  The average cost for dog ownership in 2010 was $1,425 a year.  That is without all the extras like professional dog walking ($25 a visit)!  I love my volunteer walkers and wouldn't want a stranger anyway.  If you really wanted to splurge on us Linda, there is a private Dog Country Club two towns over.  It has a swimming pond, an agility course, lighted play fields, and 2 separate small dog areas.  The membership dues would be $275 per year and a $95 application fee.  The Club also holds BBQ's, bonfires and if your looking for love: meetups!  If that doesn't work, www.MatchPuppy.com is a social site where dogs can surf the net to find their perfect pal.

Then there is Chip Cat, who never steps a paw outside.   In 14 years she has been to the vet exactly one time, to get her "girl surgery."  Her cost of living is considerable cheaper than ours!

First Bath

Yay!  Linda was able to go eat with Sarah, Taylor and Penny today!  She is changing so much.  She slept for the first 10 minutes of lunch, then woke up hungry.  Sarah had a bottle made, so Linda was able to feed her.  Penny guzzled down 4 oz in 5 minutes!  What a good little eater she is.

 You can tell from her happy face how much she loved the bath that Sarah gave her this weekend. 

"Hey, How come Noah gets bubbles??"

Look how tan Penny looks compared to Noah-Boo.  She looks like she just came back from a week vacation! Ha-Ha!!

Photo Shoot

No editing on this one.

I'm pretty much the best dog poser ever.  I'll stay in whatever position Linda puts me in until she is done shooting pictures.  She has a new app on her iPhone that is a like a mini-photoshop.  You can take a photo, then do all sorts of real-deal editing.   She is hoping that by using the app she'll be able to rotate pictures before she saves them to the computer.  No more sideways photos, hopefully.

Special effect filter and border

 It has all the same stuff as Instagram, but so much more.

Added some light and a border

Enough with the borders already Linda!!

Play With Me.Me.Me.Me.ME...

Chim was straight-up wild last night.  He was a raving lunatic when Linda let him out of his den at 10 p.m.   It was raining pretty steadily, so he would not chase the ball in the backyard to alleviate some of the pent-up TNT.  Instead, he was bolting around the house chasing me... and even Dangerous Chip Cat!  He was swatted a few times, but that did not deter him one bit.  Usually a jab from Chip sends him crying to Linda's lap.  We've never seen him so jacked-up before.  It was like he was ready to explode.  Linda had to stay awake with him and play tug of war with flat coyote & toss his ball in the den because there is no way she could have put him back in his bed.  There were back-to-back episodes of The Dog Whisperer on and Linda practiced channeling her inner Cesar to get him to calm down while she watched.  No dice.  She tried the hold him on his back until he went limp and submissive.  She was afraid his eyes were going to pop out of his head; they were bugging out so far!  Eventually, he calmed down a tad and she didn't feel so bad putting him away for the night.  This morning, he is chilling out and taking a nap while Linda types.  Totally different dog. 

For those of you who care (probably zero people) Linda slept great last night!  Absolutely no pattern to her stupid insomnia. 

Why Do They Say "Sleep Like a Baby?"

Jerry took us on a long trail walk today.  It was chilly, but that is usually good for me because I don't get coughing fits or seizures from being over heated.  Linda is home now from teaching and running her TKD White belt testing.  The group did great, but they won't find out if they passed until next Saturday.

Practicing sidekicks!

  She had to take a nap earlier because.... Yep, the insomnia was back last night.  She was hoping, praying and believing it was over for good.  She tossed and turned until the clock until it said 4:15 a.m.  That's the last time she remembers until the alarm went off at 6:59 a.m.  Only 2 hours and 45 minutes of sleep.  Drats and Double Drats.  She should go over Sarah's and keep Penny company so Mommy can sleep through the night.   Penny only takes little cat naps. 

  Tonight she is going to see The Hunger Games.  It's such a good movie.  I don't think she'll fall asleep since there is so much action, but the previews always make her drowsy. 

Magical Times

Tierney is at the airport right now waiting to board her plane to DISNEY!  She is going with a few friends for a mini-vacation.  Linda is sad she can't go with her.  Taking pictures at Disney has been, and always will be the highlight of the trip.  Everyone in the family was always game to do crazy stunts and poses without a hint of embarrassment.  

Well, Everyone besides Taylor.  At the age he was in these photos, acting crazy wasn't cool.  He is super cool with that hair though!!  I hope she continues the tradition and takes some great shots. 

Hercules Chimmie

We came across this sketch the other day on a blog.  The guy draws all sorts of weird things, you should check it out.  I swear he must have been using Chim as his model.  That looks exactly his Chi head and muscle body. Chim is a full-blooded Chihuahua...but he weighs 15 pounds and has zero percent body fat.  Everyone thinks he's a Mini-Pincher because he's such a beast. 

Miss Penny

Sweet, Sweet Penny.  Linda got to hold her for an hour tonight in the gym!  Lil' Penny was wide awake the whole time too! At only 3 weeks old, she is already growing out of her new baby outfits. 

She is so adorable

Linda can't get enough of her!!

More H2O

It's been two days in a row without the overwhelming exhaustion Linda had been feeling earlier this week.  Whatever was plaguing her seems to be gone for good.  She's back to her old peppy self.  Someone told her that eating meat is the trick to energy, but for her, it's not eating too many simple processed carbs.  She had also been drinking way more caffeine-free Diet Coke than plain water.  That just can't be good for you. It's time to turn over a new leaf and get back to healthy eating and guzzling the H2O.  She is going to look for one of these 64 oz water bottle and just keep filling it up every time she passes a water fountain. 

In about 45 minutes she'll be leaving for Friday Family Fun Night.  The main event is volleyball. Hopefully she won't be taking any chances by trying to play.  If she gets hurt, it means she can't work...which means we don't eat.  I hope she does the smart thing and watches from the bleachers because I LOVE my chicken and tillipa. 

Chimmie would rock at Volleyball.  He can jump super high!

This Chair Rocks!

We have been thinking about getting some inexpensive furniture for our deck.  Right now, we have a few scattered chairs which are fine for when Linda reads or just relaxes.  Before our old table and chairs were disposed of, she ate outside every chance she got.  Now, it's too hard to balance a plate and drink without a table.  She has found some pretty cheap sets at the local stores, but you get what you pay for.  Something flimsy will just rust, fall apart and need to be replaced next year.  While she was looking online, she discovered this rocking chair created by an architect named Paul Kweton. It has a little space for dogs to sit and be rocked to sleep!  It's such an amazing design and everyone with a pet should get one.  Mr. Kweton is looking for help getting his design mass marketed, so if you have some money you want to invest, you should contact him. I think it's a great idea!

We want this chair

Stronger!

Yes! Linda's tiredness slump seems to be gone!  She had excess energy today teaching both her Body Combat and Body Pump classes.  There was even enough energy left for her to make dinner.  Tonight she made vegetarian pot stickers and egg rolls with a Thai basil sweet dipping sauce.  Dessert: fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.  Who knows?  Maybe she'll even take us for one of our 11 p.m. walks like we used to before she got tired.

Sideways Noah

Noah is his usually bubbly fun toddler self.  Everything with Noah is an exciting adventure.  Playing with Mom & baby giraffes, setting up the chairs for lunch, eating, playing with toys, watching Pound Puppies while he drinks his bottle.  Today he discovered Linda's slippers.  He only wanted to wear one and would not take it off.  He kept shuffling around the house babbling about something.  Penelope had a rough night, so she was too tired to come over with Sarah.  Instead, Linda buckled him into the car seat and went up to the Sweet Frog on the corner for a treat.  The ladies who own it LOVE him.  Linda was hoping they would love him enough to give him one of the big stuffed frogs, but instead they just cooed and made faces at him.

After a few bites of yogurt, they took a spin around the party store.  He was loving looking at the hats, costumes and decorations.   Linda was going to get him a balloon, but instead he wanted a Dora the Explorer sippy-cup.  All the way home he kept yelling "Ma-Ma!" and waving the cup around.  As soon as they got home, Linda gave him some water and he used the straw like a big boy!  Now he is sound asleep from all the excitement.

OK, this is making Linda mad.  Her new iPhone 4 won't let you rotate your photos. Even though she is taking them in the portrait scene, they flip over to their side.   It's a big pain, but she figured out a way using the program "paint" that allows you to do it.  It's worked for months, and now it is showing that the photo rotated, but it is not staying upright when we try to post it to the blog.  iPhone 4S is pretty sucky with pictures.  Boo Apple!!!

Pig is Pig

Earlier this month, the "Gross, I can't believe it!" rants were going around on the internet about Pizza Huts newest creation.  It was a normal pizza with hot dogs nestled inside the crusts.  Linda was puzzled why so many meat-eaters found this disgusting.  After all, they all eat pig parts on top of their pizza, right?  Sausage and pepperoni come from pigs, just like hot dogs.  Why was it so revolting?  Pig is Pig.  Now, Pizza Hut has a new pie called The Crown Crust. Instead of the normal crust, little cheeseburgers surround the pizza. 

I'm sure the same beef-pig-chicken eating people who complained about the hot dog pizza will get on their soap boxes and say how unhealthy and wrong this idea is.  Hum.. if you eat a pizza at lunch and then a hot dog or burger at dinner, what is the difference if it's in the same meal.  Linda eats tofu and veggies in the same dinner; beans and rice; cheese and black bean burgers.  Would someone please explain why meat eaters think this is so horrible.  thankyouverymuch. 

Choopie's Maid Service?

We read some very exciting blogs.  Of course Tierney's fashion blog is LOL funny.  Linda has totally changed the way she dresses after what she has learned reading it.  Every once in a while, she'll do a fashion don't and Tierney has to remind her not to wear Mom jeans or to go to lunch in something other than her workout clothes that she just wore doing 3 hours of sweaty cardio classes.  But mostly, Linda is getting more "you look great Mom" than "um... Mom, how much work would it be to just throw a dry top on and redo your ponytail?"  Then of course the food/eating blogs are also very interesting.  She's never made anything from Meg's recipes, but she loves reading the stories behind them.  Then, there is Donna's blog.  Linda would never eat what they eat, but reading about eating fried frogs legs has a "ick" factor that makes her laugh.  Besides those 3, there are the exercise blogs that make her laugh, encourage her and realize that other people get tired working out too.  So then we come to Choopie's Life.  My blog isn't nearly as exciting as theirs.  This is the highlight of our day so far:

Our Swiffer pad after doing the hardwood floors!  Linda is soooo weird that this makes her excited.  She also loves vacuuming and then emptying out the canister and looking how much dust, dirt and furballs get sucked up.  When she starts with a spanking-clean Swiffer pad, there is a little bit of excited anticipation on how much dirt will come up.  Maybe we should start a cleaning business since she loves the before/after feeling that comes with cleaning a house.  (I'm sure her phone is going to be ringing the second Tierney reads this post!) 

Dog Tired

The sun is shining, we got to exercise a bit with Paul Walker while Linda was working and now she is cooking up some fresh chicken for our dinner.  How sweet is our life?  Sure we wish Linda was a stay-at-home Dog Mom and never left us, but we understand she has to teach to buy us food and a keep a roof over our head. Chimmie eats as much as a dog 3x his size.  He's always being a dork and getting into trouble.

"Oww... my head is stuck!"

 The last three days she has been so tired that it's been a struggle to get through her classes.  We are going to bed early and she is actually sleeping better than ever.  For some reason, her energy level is flat-lining during the day.  She did add one more Combat class to her weekly schedule, but that can't be it.  Her diet isn't that great right now, so maybe she needs to go back to more protein and less carbs/sweets.  She almost caved after her 9:30 & 10:30 classes and bought a 5-Hour Energy Shot on the way to teach her 12:00 class.  Instead, she ate a good lunch at 1:30 and took an hour nap before she left for the afternoon round of classes. There is an hour break before she leaves again for church. I hope she can stay awake during the service.  She is going to do some stretches and eat some food in hopes that she can get some more energy.

Downward Dog

So Tired......But So Happy

It's a good thing Jerry was able to come over and walk us tonight while Linda was teaching.  She came home at 8:00 p.m. after teaching 4 hard hours of classes.  She was so tired that picking up the blanket to put on her lap while she sat on the couch was actually a challenge.   How could a blanket be so heavy??  She'll have to go to bed soon to get ready for her heavy teaching day tomorrow.  Monday-Wednesday are her hard days, Thursday-Saturday are her easier days (she thinks teaching 3 classes a day is easy!)  No whining though.  Linda is so glad she has a job that involves fitness and does not have to sit at a desk all day.  The aches and pains are worth it, not only personally... but being able to watch the members in her class lower their cholesterol, drop weight and go off blood pressure meds through the classes she teaches. 

I love my JOB!

Guard Dogs

Chim and I are besides ourselves barking and running around the house.  There are workmen right in front of our house digging up the blacktop.  They are using sledgehammers to break up the road and trying to stick long poles into the earth.  Plus, besides making lots of noise, they are making a pothole right at the end of our driveway where Linda backs her car up.  She says they better fix it when they are finished. 

By the time she uploaded the photo, they were already done and gone.  It doesn't look like they patched the hole, she is going to go look now and see.  I'll be right back.  OK... all's fine.  It wasn't the road they were sledgehammering, it was these little manhole covers that they were trying to get off.  They've painted them bright blue for some reason and put numbers on them.  Whew, that was enough excitement to last me all day.  Now I need to rest from expending all that energy alerting Linda to possible danger.   

If Money Grew on Trees

Say YES to this jacket

Love the orange but not the $500 price tag

Very nautical, nice bag for $450

Linda had so much fun with Tierney tonight and her personal Nordstroms shopper.  The woman pulled a slew of clothes, including matching shoes and jewelry.  Linda tried on most every outfit too.  Her favorite piece was this leather jacket, but it was $300 so you already know it did not come home with her. If she bought all the stuff she liked, it would have been thousands of dollars.  She did buy the black skirt, a tank top and a tee shirt.  Tierney got a few outfits and a pair of shoes.  After they ate dinner at Mimi's.  Yay for Mommy-Daughter time. 

Tier liked the coat too! 

One of these pictures is NOT Wild Boar

Back when we had the old laptop, Linda used to read tons of blogs.  Everything from wedding photography, cooking, running, fashion, make-up and Les Mills inspired blogs.  When our laptop crashed and burned, we lost all our bookmarks.  Instead of trying to find all the blogs again, Linda decided she was spending way too much time reading them anyway, so she cut back to just a handful.  Of course she still reads Ruby Woo because it's Tierney's blog and it makes her laugh out loud.  She reads a 3 exercise/running blogs and two food blogs The Red Spoon and YummaYumma.  Meg from the Red Spoon is an amazing cook and full-time Mommy to adorable little Henry.

  Donna and her husband King Fish (she can't remember his exact code name) go to crazy restaurants and eat unusual things like animal testicles and cows tongue.  The latest post had them experimenting with grasshopper tacos and the stomachs of pigs.   Linda just loves reading about how brave they are and actually how much they enjoy eating the unusual dishes.  In the end times if food is ever scarce, Donna and King Fish will be extra healthy because they will be eating grubs, worms, crows and gophers while Linda starves because there isn't any tofu handy.  That's one of the peril of being veganease (as her Pastor calls it.) 

Nursing Babes and Pups

This was after her bath.  She loves baths so much it puts her to sleep.

Penny was awake for almost the entire church service last night.  She only fell asleep for the last 10 minutes.  Linda held her for a bit, but Penny was happy just cooing in the crib and looking all around.  She's already a good girl and can entertain herself.   Sarah said she is a great eater too. She'll nurse for 20 minutes non-stop.  That must be how she gained 13 ounces in one week!

 Speaking of sleep, it was another amazing night of sleep for everyone at our house!  It's 4 days in a row now, maybe a good-sleeping record.  Just because Chim and I are creatures of habit, we still are taking a nap immediately after Linda wakes us up, makes us go outside and feeds Chim his breakfast.  I am so sleepy that I climb in my kitchen bed and sleep for at least 3 more hours.  My first meal is usually lunch.  Chim is busy nursing on flat coyote making his little whimper sounds.  He even does little pressing motions with his paws just like he would do to his Mommy to help the milk flow.  Honestly, Chim was only 1 pound smaller than his adult parents when Linda adopted him.   He was plenty big enough so I don't know why he has this obsession to nurse every AM!?!  This video is from last night.  He does not suck at night, it's more of a chewing motion. What a strange pup he is. 

Sharing

Noah giving Penny one of my dog cookies

Sharing his beloved giraffes.

"I will protect you lil' Penny"

Linda posted these photos the other day, but it was from her phone.  These are much better.  Sarah was able to get Noah putting the dog biscuit right up to Penny's little face.  You can also see how much he wanted to share his giraffes with her. 

Linda is super excited to be working in the nursery again this evening.  Last week Penny slept the whole time.  She's looking forward to her being a little more awake tonight.