113 Degrees in the Car!

Linda loved watching Penny in the nursery tonight at church.  She was a good girl, but very-very hungry!  Sarah said she would not need to eat, but she guzzled her whole bottle and would have drank more if there was any left.  Daddy Taylor really loves his little Penny.  She'll be three months old on July 7th. 

As you can tell by the car temperature, it got really hot today.  When Linda drove to work at 4:00, it registered 113 degrees!  That's desert hot.  We've had to stay inside most of he day with just little pee breaks in the backyard.  Linda is so thankful that PW is taking Chim for the day tomorrow.  Her workshop is all day, so he would have been trapped in the bathroom for 10 hours or more.  

"Brrr.... I remember this winter!"

Hype?

I hope that Penny does not have Taylor's allergies to dogs.  He gets itchy and his eyes water when he touches me.  I'm counting the days until I can start playing with Penny.  Sarah is not a dog person, but I hope she lets Penny have some puppy-fun! 

My first time meeting Noah

 There are supposed to be some dogs that are "hypoallergenic" but the latest research from The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology states its just a lot of marketing hoop-la.  The report claims that the popular Labaradoodle and Spanish Water dog actual measures more allergic protein than dogs without the label.  Plus, the air in the homes with those dogs have no less allergens in the air than regular dogs.  The founder of a specialty company that sells dogs labeled "hypoallergenic" at a price of $16,000 each actually admits that there is no published data nor any controlled test on if the dogs they sell cause allergic attacks or not.  Wow!  I guess it really is mind over itching.  If you believe your Labaradoodle won't make you sneeze and itch, it won't!

Read more at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48017583/ns/health-allergies_and_asthma/#.T-98tPUR7FA

Dog Days of Summer

Does this haircut make my ears look big?

There is a heat advisory for the next three days.  We are not supposed to go outside from 11-3 for any length of time today. I need to get my haircut like this again.  It was totally shaved off, but super cool for these summer days. The 100+ temps also mean that Chimi is going to be cooped up in his den while Linda is gone.  She really feels bad for doing that, but he just is not trustworthy to be left to roam the house.  (I'm not one to brag, but I've NEVER chewed anything, even when I was cutting my big girl teeth.)  He can destroy an entire dog bed in under 30 minutes.  One day while Linda was in the shower he pulled a custom made pillow of the couch and started to chew on it.  As long as she is not gone or behind a closed door, he is very well behaved.  I guess it's severe separation anxiety.  Linda has a conference to go to all day Saturday and Sunday.  She is going to be relying on friends and family to stop in and check-up on us.  Any volunteers?

Puppy Chim.  This bed is no more. 

Gansta' Squirrel

And you thought Linda was kidding when she said she eats bread and water for dinner when she is too tired from teaching to cook. Tonight, she found some cheese in the fridge and melted it on the bread. Oh, it was delicious!  When it gets a little cooler, she is going to take us for a walk (hopefully) before bed. 

Yay for the Beach!

Sarah sent picture this photo she took of Penelope and Linda on the beach.  You can't tell by Penney's face, but she was having a great time.  The second the camera or phone comes out, Penny stops smiling.  Today while Linda was watching her, she smiled and was really excited.  Linda thought she could get some great happy Penny photos, but alas... she made her grumpy face the second she started shooting.

"You looking at me??"

Taylor took this photo of a gansta' squirrel while he was golfing in MB.  He looks pretty mean.  I would not want to mess with his nuts, that's for sure!

I love this quote from Shakespeare.  Once Penny gets a little older, Tierney is going to dress her in the most adorable outfits and she'll be fierce.

Sleepy Penny

Linda got to spend the morning with Penny today while Sarah had a dentist appointment.  As always, Penny was a very good girl and they had a great time together.  She was starving and ate two bottles in just the short time Sarah was gone.  Sarah said that Penny has been sleeping and eating a lot lately.  Must be going through a growing spurt!

This photo wasn't today, but it's such a cute picture of her just waking up from her nap that Linda wanted to post it.  She's just three months old and already so strong!  I bet she'll be like Tierney and walk when she is 9 months old. Penny's already like Taylor with her sweaty feet and hands.  Awww, it just makes Taylor love her all the more. 

Thursday Mish-Mash

Linda always worries when she buys a new bag of dog kibble.  There have been so many problems in the past with tainted or bad dog food.  Here is a list of the new brands recalled (mostly in the Eastern US... where we live)

- Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix

- Canidae Dog

- Natural Balance

- Diamond Pet Food Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul

- Diamond Pet Food Country Value

- 4Health

- Diamond Professional

- Diamond Premium Edge

- Diamond Naturals

- Diamond Taste of the Wild

- Kirkland Signature Super Premium

- Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain

- Apex Chicken and Rice Dog

Next up, a lady might lose everything she has because her two little Chihuahuas (who only weigh 5 pounds together!) barked and scared an old chicken to death.  Yep, you read that right.  The dogs were barking at a neighbors chicken and the bird died from a heart attack.  If the women is convicted, she could be sent to county jail for one year and be fined $1,000.

"I hope I never scare a chicken to death."

This next one hits a little too close to home.  I don't think either one of us has to worry about scaring any chickens to death, but this might actually happen.  A Michigan women had her dog stolen from the back yard.  The thief left a note saying that she was abusing the dog by leaving it roaming in the backyard alone.  The note said "dogs are pack animals and her Husky dog was lonely."

Why IN THE WORLD would anyone do this?

Remember the post last month about the farm animals in my town that were slashed and stabbed?  Well, the perpetrator was caught.  It ended up being a 17 year old teenager who lives right in my town! I'm so glad they caught him and hope he gets the punishment he deserves.

He Survived

"It was so horrible...."

A whole day with no posts!  It's been a very busy day for Linda... and a very stressful day for Chimi.  Remember his broken dewclaw?  Well, Chim chewed it mostly off during the night.  It was red and a little bloody this morning.  The Vet said he had to go in for a shot! some bandages and  antibiotic cream.  Plus, they had to cut it off or possibly remove the entire claw.  Oh no, poor Chim!  Linda had 3 classes to teach, so PW took him to the Vet.  Turns out that he didn't need any of the treatments they suggested.  He did have to get trimmed and all his other nails cut.  Even with a muzzle on, he screamed...cried...growled and pitched a fit while they worked on him. He also got weighed and a regular checkup.   It's so not fair!! He also lost .8 pounds.  I've been trying for years to lose just 1.5 pounds and he goes and loses almost a pound without even trying in just a few months.

Claw Troubles

There has been some Chimi drama tonight.  Somehow, Linda has no clue how, he totally broke his dewclaw and it is bent backward.

 He is in a lot of pain and we are clueless what to do.  Even if Linda had clippers, she doesn't know if she should try to cut it herself.  Chim is just cuddling her and looking at her with "please help me eyes".  It's making her cry because she feels so helpless.  First thing in the morning she will call the vet to see if he can go in and get it chopped off.  She did a little research and it will grow back.  The article said it will bleed a lot and need to be bandaged.  Unfortunately, Linda has 9:30, 10:30, 12:00 and 4:30 classes, so she's going to have to call in reinforcements for help.  My poor Chimi boy.  (Linda prayed that the pain would lessen and that you would get a good nights sleep.  She prayed for me over a year ago and I've never had another seizure!)

He's BACK!

Chimi is totally back to his normal neurotic self.  He's not afraid of Linda's book, the deck steps, walking on the sidewalk or loud noises.  Today, a bird kept flying into the side of our house by the window and instead of being frightened, he thought it was a huge game.  If he could have jumped through the window to catch it, he would have. Now he's playing with his ball outside.

Yay for Jerry!  Even though he only had a few hours of sleep, he still came over after work to walk us.  The weather is just beautiful, perfect for a walk around the neighborhood.  Double Yay! for Linda too.  She did three back-to-back classes totally pain free and with a surplus of energy to boot.  She came home feeling perky and ready to make some dinner. Usually Tuesdays are no-dinner or just bread and water because the thought of cooking is overwhelming.  Maybe the 7 days of rest on vacation really did do her body good.  Hopefully after she eats she'll still be energetic enough to go to the grocery store to get coffee since she's been totally out for 2 days now.  It's not a big deal because she didn't have coffee once on vacation so really does not miss it much now. 

Breezy and Cool

 

I bet you can't cover your nose with your tongue!

We woke up to chilly weather!  Linda had to put a sweatshirt on to let us outside early this morning.  Even now at 1:30, it's breezy and cool.  The weather is supposed to turn nasty by Friday and a heat advisory will probably be in effect.  Linda said that means we won't be walking on the trail.  Besides the weather being chill, it's been a chill morning and early afternoon for us at home.  Linda only had one class this morning and does not teach again until 4:30. She's been doing bills, paperwork and catching up on reading her favorite blogs.  This should be our usual Jerry visit night, but he had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to get to work and he'll most likely be too tired to visit.  That's OK by me, I'll miss him but I got a full 7 days of Jerry time last week. 

Linda came home from the bank earlier all excited because a Subway is opening in the shopping center that is walking distance from our house.  Now she can get a veggie burger sub and Sweet Frog for dessert all without having to drive around town. 

Monday in the Real World

Linda making new friends

(Sorry, there are a lot of vacation pictures!)

Things are pretty much settling in to our normal routine around here.  Chim is acting more like himself and I'm catching up on my sleep from all my adventures staying with Jerry.  Because Chimi (The new spelling of Chimmie so Linda does not have to type an extra 'm and 'e) is still clinging to her side, she let him fall asleep in The Big Bed last night.  On those special times, he always wakes up and tells her he wants to go in his own bed, but last night she had to make him go.  His body is too hot to sleep with all night... a regular furnace! I wish I was blessed with that kind of metabolism.  He eats and eats but stays at about 1% body fat. 

This is the grumpy Penny face

Today Linda has 2 classes back-to-back and 1 TKD testing.  She's a wee-bit worried because the most exercise she has done in the past week is walking around on vacation.  The testing part is easy since all she has to do is sit at the judging table and look scary, serious and commanding. (While giggling inside at the 5-year old kids trying to front kick while their belts are falling off.) 

Going back to her roots (Sarah grew up on a dairy farm)

Ferris Wheels and Wet Toes

This is without filters.  Tierney had some amazing Ferris Wheel shots using Instagram filters.

Penny's first time getting her toes wet in the ocean!

"I loved my first vacation!" 

Myrtle Beach

Linda spent the last hour rotating all her vacation pictures taken with the iPhone.  For some reason, when she loads them onto the laptop, they come out sideways.  When you try to rotate, it says there is a problem with the properties of this photo and it can't be edited.  She found out how to do it, but it takes opening them in Paint (an editing tool) and then doing each one separately.  What a pain Apple!  Lots of people who don't have Mac computers have to go though the same painful process.  Anyway, here are a few of the gang hanging out.

The real Muscle Beach

Ride 'em Cowgirl

Seth wanted to learn to surf, but the waves were only 4" tall

Josh, Yogi and Tier

Christina Bean (Sarah's sister) looking adorable

There's a stingray growing out of Taylor's head!

Jon and Carley (Sarah's brother and sister-in-law) looking beautiful

My Summer Vacation

Linda is so thankful that I spent the week at Jerry's TH and not at a kennel somewhere or with strangers.  I had three separate health issues and had to go to the vet twice!  It was supposed to be a relaxing week of pampering too.  Jerry took off from work to take care of me and I'm on the mend.  Without getting to graphic since this is a family blog, I had problems with my "down-there" regions.  Jerry sent a photo to Linda's phone so she could see the inflamation, but it's not something I want floating around the web, so you have to take my word for it.  Whew! It looked terrible and hurt like crazy.  I got some cream that took the swelling down and made it stop hurting.  Plus, I am taking some antibiotics.  My knees have also been killing me, making it hard to walk.  The vet said I need surgery soon to repair both my back knees.  On a scale of 1-10, I'm a 9 with 10 being the worst ever.  Linda is canceling my teeth cleaning appointment for Tuesday.  She's not sure if the infection is gone and does not want to chance any surgery at this time.  Plus, I've been through enough trauma during Vet visits the last week.

"Shopping at the outlets is tiring!"

Jerry took me everywhere during the first part of the week.  I went to breakfast, lunch and dinner with him.  He took me to friends houses and the outlet mall.  I had play-dates with two different dog and even had a game of tag with a big orange Tom Cat.  Jerry gave me yummy food and took me for 4 walks a day.  He let me sleep in the Big Bed every night and fed me special Choopie bite-sized cookies. 

Chim's Vacation

Chim loves Paul.  He loves going to his TH for the day or overnight visits.  When Paul comes on Sundays for their walk, he is over the moon happy.  No one is sure why he develops all these new and weird phobias when he is over there.  A stranger 10 TH's down could be in front of their own house and Chim refuses to walk anywhere near them, yet the next time they go out he is fine.  Sounds from the dryer freak him out where he won't go in the family room. He's afraid of paperback books.  One day kids playing scares him, the next day it does not.  This morning he refused to walk down the deck stairs. Unbelievably, he did not eat the WEGMAN'S chicken that Jerry had leftover!!  That's just craziness.  Paul said he had fun playing with two puppies and was super happy that Paul let him sleep in his Big Bed all night.  I'm sure by tomorrow he'll be back to his "normal" weirdness and not have all these extra issues.

UPDATE:  oops... I typed this early this morning and forgot to post it.  Chim is back to normalish- doing the stairs and not being afraid of his shadow.

We're HOME!

It's been a wild and crazy week for us all.  Linda is back from her Myrtle Beach vacation and Chim and I are home from our week at Jerry's and Paul's.  It is going to take a long time to recap all the fun (and a few days of not so much fun in my case.)   There are 100's of pictures Linda has to go through, but here are just a few. 

A pack of Twizzlers as tall as Penelope!

Check out those baby-blues

Linda did take more pictures then of just Penelope, but all the ones from the iPhone won't rotate on her laptop.  She has to go through a bunch of steps to turn them, and right now her brain is not working from driving home 8 hours on just 5 hours sleep last night.

Chimmie is acting super-weird.  He is afraid of everything.  He's afraid of his bed, the laptop, the blanket, the Big Bed, Linda's suitcases... I hope he gets back to normal in a few days.  All he wants to do is sit on her lap plastered up against her chest and face.  He would not even walk down the hall into the kitchen to get a cookie!  I'm totally fine.  I have no problem adjusting from one house to the other.  I've done all my regular routines in the hours we've been home today.  Linda said it feels and looks like I've lost some weight!  Jerry fed me the good chicken and took me for 4 walks a day.  OK Linda,from now on we need more exercise and the Wegman's rotisserie chicken for dinners.

So sweet!

All Our Bags are Packed and We Are Ready To Go...

It's been quite a day for Linda.  If she ever needed a vacation, its right now.  Usually, Linda's life is so easy and laid back.  There is never any stress, drama or bumps in the road.  When a few days in a row of S-D-B happening, its really shows you what you have built your foundation on.  In the end, all those minor annoyances really don't mean anything.  Linda said trials are a good thing because without them, you never grow.

I'm so excited to be going to Jerry's house.  Chim will be having the time of his life at Paul's.  Jerry is also going to be watching Chip, so that will make her very happy. There are three people that Chip allows to hold her, and Jerry is one of them.  If Jerry didn't have a cranky cat named Ink, he would bring Chip to his house.

Linda is deciding if she should bring her laptop on vacation.  If she does, she'll be doing updates all week on her vacation.  Mine will have to wait until she gets home.

When Linda is feeling stressed, she just has to look at Penny.  Penny trusts her Nana to hold her and keep her safe.  She fell asleep in her arms today, happy and content.  Linda has to remember she has a Heavenly Father that will hold her just as secure!

Not Again!!

I might have to get Chim this shirt

What started out as a great day turned into a pretty stressful night for Linda.  She forgot the stinky problem in the backyard and let Chim out after work.  If you read the blog earlier, you know that he rolled in something horrible and had to have a bath.  Guess the first thing he did?  Give up?? He rolled in the same stinky smell!! She was hopping mad at him.  At least giving him a bath is easy and he seems to actually like it.  She is not looking forward to dealing with whatever is out there.  That's a mans job. 

Next, she seems to have lost Tierney's iPad that she borrowed.  When we got the house redone, she had to pack up everything so the carpet and hardwood could be laid.  She remembers thinking "I'm not going to pack this iPad because I'll forget which box it is in.  I also need to hide it so the workmen boys don't steal it.  Um... I'll hide it _____________.  That's all she remembers.  For the last two hours she has been looking in draws, cabinets, closets, boxes.....there is not one inch of space she has not searched.  In the process, she cut her finger digging in a box, smashed her forehead against a chair back and then hit the top of her head on the corner of a dresser. 

Linda said it grew legs and walked away.

Since Linda lost it, she is going to refund Tier what she spent on it.  She could buy her another one just like it, but it is the first generation iPad and I'm sure Tier would rather have the new fancy one.  She'll find it the same day Tier buys her new one. 

Bath Day

Penny was so adorable while she was waking up from her nap this morning.  

She was stretching and yawing while making the cutest wake-up sounds.  Little Penny... we love you so much!! As always, she was super good for Linda while Sarah had an appointment. Sleeping, eating, playing and smiling.

In other exciting news, when Linda got home from spending the morning with Penny & Sarah, she let Chim in the house.  Since it was so cool, she had left him out in the yard.  The second she bent down to pet him, she shoved his smelly-self right back outside.  He smelled horrible, like he was rolling in dead animal or something.  She couldn't leave him out there forever, so she put her big girl pants on and gave him a bath.  Yep, a bath.  Those of you who know Chim and his scardey-cat ways are probably thinking she is crazy for attempting to give him a bath by herself.  He screams and shakes with fear when she takes his collar on and off; when a plastic bag blows across the sidewalk, when you go near him with a brush, when a kid rides by on a bicycle on the other side of the street, the sound of stroller wheels, and the list goes on and on.  Linda picked him up, put him in the bathtub and turned the water on... just waiting for the meltdown to happen.  Nothing.  Zippo.  He just stood there while the tub filled up.  No shaking, crying, whining or trying to get out.  She soaped him up and used the shower head to rinse him off.  (He acted exactly like Snickers. When it was time for his bath, Linda would tell Snicks to go get in the tub and wait for her.)  When it was time to come out, she wrapped him in a towel and put him on the deck to dry off.  She made sure she shut the gate because she still needs to go and walk-the-grid to see if there is a dead animal.  There are no photos because she didn't have any hands free.  At least he didn't have to get a bandanna and matching bows in his ears like I do after a bath.

Please Read

Cat Naps

After Linda's crazy night of 15 minute cat-naps every hour instead of sleeping 8 hours in a row, she so needed a nap.  Now she is super-charged and refreshed to go.  When she can't get up the steps to make it to the aerobic room and has to take the elevator, that's pretty tired.  In the first 5 minutes of class today she was out of it and her body would not cooperate.  She said it felt like she was trying to run in a dream, when everything goes in slow motion.  Eventually, her body responded and she was able to do the whole 2 hours.  Everyone thanked her and said it was a fun class, so I guess she did OK.  She is really glad she slept from 1-3 or she would not have been able to concentrate at church tonight.  Sometimes she feels like this Kitty.  She wants to eat, but she is just tooooooo tired!!!

We Love Chim

 Chim is always sweet and loving (when he is not racing around the house at the speed of light) but he is the most adorable when he first wakes up.  Chim can't get enough of Linda after being separated overnight.  Besides the kisses and body slams to get as close as possible to her, he does these adorable poses to make her pet him. Plus, he is super smart in the morning.  When he is looking for his Woobie, Linda says "Chim.. Woobie is in your bed!" and his ears perk up.  He runs to get it and comes back to start his morning nursing ritual.  There isn't much left of Flat Coyote. It's getting down to a little piece of rag now.   Linda has to go buy him a new one after vacation.

Energizer Chim

Jerry got stuck in a customer meeting this afternoon so he could not come and walk us.  He couldn't come on Saturday either, so it's been a long time since I've seen him.  Linda said not to fret because in just a few days, I'll be getting lots of my Jerry time! 

"Yes... that's how much he loves me!!"

The real problem was that Chimmie has been cooped up in the bathroom from 3:30 until just a few minutes ago.  You know what that means, right?  He's beside himself with endless energy!  Linda is not up to walking us tonight because she overdid it in her classes and her knees are swollen.  She is going to ice them and hope they are better in the morning for her Wednesday classes. 

Play with me, play with me... please!!!