World's Cutest

Something strange is going on with my blog.  A few weeks ago, I mentioned the high number of hits in an hour followed by two hours of just a few, then another giant spike. Then yesterday, our total number of readers was super low.   Linda decided to look a little deeper and noticed an advertising site as one of the top traffic sources.  Since there are no ads on my blog, why would people be directed to this blog by ads?  If I mention a name brand, lets say "Pet Smart" does that automatically go into some big trolling file online  If I have two photos on the first page when you google "World's Cutest Chorkies" does that mean I really am one of the world's cutest? Chimi is in the fourth line down if you google "World's Biggest Chihuahua" so maybe it is true.  Honestly, if Linda is going to have a blog, she should at least take a class to learn about how it works. 

By the way, neither Chim or I come up when searching "World's Cutest Dog."  That title seems to be taken by this pooch.

He is so cute there is even a whole book written about him!

Fairy Tale Beauties

Tierney and Katie (AKA Red Rose and Snow White) look so beautiful in their furry hats.  

 Linda had (has) this Little Golden Book of Snow White and Red Rose.  She remembers being so scared by the bear and wee elf-man.  Just for giggles, she looked it up to see how much it might be worth. Only about $59.75 more than the cover price! 

While she was researching, she found this wonderful handmade puppet makers blog.

The Little Mermaid

The lady uses Fairy Tales as her inspiration and makes the most adorable scenes. They are available on her Etsy site.  This is her description of the mermaid piece:

"Her shimmery tail reflects blue light especially during hours of low light, such as twilight. The fishy scales throw such breathtaking blue lights! Her fishy tail is good for chaotic flopping around when pursued. Which is quite effective in mezmerizing or befuddling the pursuer."

Lazy Linda

Linda is feeling pretty guilty right now.  Part of dog ownership is making sure your dogs get plenty of exercise.  Cesar recommends an hour a day for most dogs.  If he met Chimi, he would surely double that amount of time.  Guess how much we walked today?  Zero minutes.  It wasn't from bad weather or injury, it wasn't even because Linda was too busy.  She only taught three classes and has been awake so far for 15 hours.  (She did have church tonight though, so that is a valid excuse for that time.)  The post yesterday was about lazy people not walking their dogs and today... Linda is one of those lazy people.  When time slipped away from her this afternoon (it was too cold and dark early this morning), she planned to walk us after church at 9:30 p.m..  On Wednesday, she tries not to stay too long after service since 1) she hasn't eaten since Noon and she is starving  2) walking after 10 p.m. alone sometimes gets her spooked.  It's dark and there isn't streetlights.  So... Poor Chim only had backyard time to run and play.  As you can tell from the video, he gets pretty excited about the whole "Do You Want Me To Get My Shoes On?" routine. 

Right now he is sitting on the couch next to us crying and whimpering.  Linda is feeling worse and worse, she might just get her SHOES on and take us after all. 

UPDATE:  When she previewed this post and played back the video to be sure it was working, Chim heard the "Shoes On" and started going crazy.  She had to take us since he wouldn't have calmed down on his own.  We only did 25 minutes.  Linda bundled us both up in our heaviest coats and she wore the Bean, but her legs got really cold in her jeans.  She has to buy a pair of those super-warm winter running tights or cozy fleece insulated sweat pants.

Hand Me Downs

Too bad Linda isn't a master at Photoshop.  Penny was sleeping during the fondue party, so she's missing from the photos.  We need someone to Photoshop a picture of Penny on Uncle Josh's shoulders.

Aunt Joelle took an adorable picture of Penny at church the other day.  She's wearing a vintage hat that is over 50 years old and has been in Sarah's family for a long time.

Linda remembered she had a sweater stored in her cedar hope chest from when she was Penny's age.  It matches the hat perfectly, both in color and texture!  Even though it was worn over and over, it still looks new. Linda's mom stored it in tissue paper and put put it away when Linda outgrew it.  If Mae was still alive today, she would love to see her Great Granddaughter wearing the sweater.

Downward Dog

Six mornings, four afternoons and two evenings every week Linda goes to the gym to teach classes.  Years ago she stopped all gym workouts that don't involve actually teaching.  She used to add elliptical, weights and other classes along with her regular schedule.  Now the only other exercise she gets is walking with us. She would love to take yoga, Body Flow or Tai Chi but there are only so many hours in a day (and how much her body can do.)  She sometimes wishes that Chim and I could do some cross training.  Walking is great for us, but imagine if we could swim, do yoga or Pilates?

 

 A new dog gym called Rocky's Retreat has opened in Florida.  The gym offers doggie treadmills, Pilates equipment and even a swimming pool for aqua aerobics! After a hard workout, the dogs can get a massage, do a yoga class (I would rock at the Downward Dog) or even have an aromatherapy session (which Chimi needs since aromatherapy helps with emotional issues.)  Prices are not cheap.  One 1/2 hour swim session is $40.  A 12-week program is $100's of dollars.  (In contrast, we have a fully equipped gym in our town that has $0 initiation fee and costs $9.98 per month.)  The Dog gym has a blog if your interested in some information on their programs.

Disclaimer:  Linda thinks that walking is absolutely the best exercise for dogs.. and their owners. How many overweight people have overweight dogs from lack of exercise.  The downside of a doggie gym is that the owner could sit there reading a book drinking a Starbucks Latte while their dog is in class instead of burning a couple 100 calories during a fast walk.  This would be a great option for older dogs who can't walk very well anymore and would benefit from swimming.

Flurries?

This was on our deck a few years ago mid snow storm

I wonder if we'll get some snow this afternoon?  Our area is only supposed to see flurries, but it's a good reminder for Linda to be prepared.  The first real snow of the year is panic time for her.  For one, her ice scraper in the car isn't where it's supposed to be.  Next, her snow shovel is stored behind a bunch of boxes and junk in the garage and finally she never has any ice melt that is OK for dogs paws.  Today she is going to make sure that both the shovel and scraper are where they belong and will research the best pet friendly ice melt.  Our deck stairs can get so slippery in the winter that I have to be carried down them to visit the backyard.  (Remember, the steps are taller than I am.  It's hard enough going up and down the deck steps when they are dry.) She is so thankful that the Tom's installed the giant flood light in the backyard. Imagine Linda trying to carry me down icy steps during a blizzard in the pitch dark? 

The snow totally covered our car!

This was a really bad snowstorm.  Linda was home alone for at least 3 days straight and couldn't drive anywhere, but she has such fond memories of the time.  She loves being home and still got plenty of exercise with all the shoveling she did. 

Graduating

Chim might be graduating from being closed up in the bathroom to having the run of the house while Linda works!  She has tested him twice so far since Sunday.  Both times he did great.  Sunday it was only 2 hours but today was almost 4 hours without any incidents.  In the past, he has chewed things....lots of things when he was left alone.  Chim is a wee bit nervous and doesn't like it when Linda leaves.  As long as he's on his bed in his room, there won't be any issues.  When he was younger he chewed shoes, carpet, floor molding, furniture, plants and even a box of crayons (which made for very colorful pooper-scooping.)  Linda started confining him whenever she had to leave the house.  Now that he's a grown up dog, she thought it might be time to see how he would do with supervision.  There will be no oopsies or do-overs.  If he does one "bad dog" things, he has to go back in his bed unless she is home.   Proof of his chewing:

Past beds he has destroyed

Toys he has ruined

Balls he has eaten

Woobies he has unstuffed

Cowgirl Penny

Could she be cutest baby ever born and

.....With the strongest Daddy?

Chef Linda

Our house smelled heavenly today.  Linda spent all afternoon making Chim and I our food.  She boiled lots of chicken and rice to make freezer bags full of goodness.  It's going to cost less than .60 cents a day for both dogs to eat for weeks and weeks.  All that chicken was under $6. and the 20 pound bag of rice was 1/2 price.  The rice should be enough for more than a few months. She will mix in veggies now and then if she has some on hand (but we both spit out the peas.)  Since she was cooking, she also made a few freezer meals for herself.

Don't be fooled.  Those meatballs are actually soyballs.  It's been over 30 years since shes eaten beef (or chicken) so she can't say if they taste real or not.  Linda likes them, so that's what counts.  

 

She is kind of on a cooking/baking roll.  Saturday she was invited to a friends house with another person.  She wanted to bring something, so she baked M & M chocolate chip cookies.  They were pretty fantastic (said the guys who devoured them.) 

Thursday she made pumpkin bread.  

I wonder what she'll make tomorrow?

Whoop... Whoop

We live in a really quite neighborhood.  During daylight hours, you might hear a few kids playing outside, but there are a lot of older couples and singles who shut off their lights at 9 p.m.  (Linda fits right in!)  Years ago, a Redskin football player lived a few houses down.  He put a giant pool in his backyard and would have parties.. lots of parties.  Cars would be parked bumper to bumper along the street.  Loud music would keep Linda up at night.  When he moved, all was quite again on our road.  Last night was the exception.  In the house next door, there is an old Asian couple who have 2 grown sons in their 20's that live somewhere else.  The couple is so quite that the loudest thing they do is mow the lawn.  They must have been out of town for Thanksgiving.  One of the sons thought it would be a good idea to hold a party (maybe he didn't want to clean his place) at his old stomping grounds.  He must have invited every single Facebook friend and all the people in his iPhone's contact list.  We knew something was up by all the car door slamming that started around 9 p.m. (Chim and I have to at least bark 10 seconds to tell Linda someone is parking near our house.) After about an hour of that, the music started.  LOUD music.  It sounded like that a popular dance video played over, and over and over.  Finally Linda fell asleep, but it wasn't until the wee hours when it quieted down.  I guess she could have gone over and politely asked them to turn down the music, or just started dancing around the house and got a little workout in. 

Praying Before Meals

 I didn't want to cooperate today and wouldn't do my chicken dance.   Linda usually makes me wait in my kitchen bed until I'm allowed to come out and eat, so I was confused why she was asking me to do something I'm usually reprimanded for. She does make us pray before a cookie or supper.  I'm much more spiritual than Chim.  He really has to fight the desire to eat before he's finished praying.  In fact, he is so quick to eat that he always gobbles mine too!

The second time Linda made sure he wasn't right next to me.

It was 60 degrees on Thursday and today it feels like the middle of winter.  It was so cold during our walk that when we got home, Linda's toes felt frozen.  I wore my regular ski parka, Chim wore his heavy suede/Sherpa lined winter coat and Linda wore her -45 below Bean parka.  At times the wind was almost knocking me off my paws.  We only did 30 minutes before Linda decided that was enough exercise and called it quits.  In a few hours she is going over to go hang out with some friends from church.. but first she needs to thaw-out in a warm bath. 

Dancing With the Dogs

I do this dance too, except mine has more hops and it's accompanied by a singing-barking melody. Linda is going to try to recreate the video this afternoon starring Choopie instead of Sloopy.  All she has to do is put the chicken on the counter and I'll start dancing my legs off.  You also should be able to hear Chimi the Chihuahua do his primal wolf howl in the background since he can't dance a beat. When he gets excited, it sounds like the house is under siege from wild wolves. 

I also do the dance at Jerry's house when I want a walk

Act Your Age

Chim is happy as long as he can sleep on the Big Bed.

Some random sleepiness bug has hit Linda.  She is tired almost all the time.  A few days it was because she only got 3 hrs and 5 hrs sleep (2 nights in a row) but that was earlier this week. The hike Thursday and Combat she taught made her sore, but in a good way.  It seems like she is sleeping OK now and shouldn't be going to bed at 9:00 p.m. having a hard time waking up at 6:30 a.m.  If it wasn't for Chim insisting she let us outside, she would have slept later and just rushed to work. (Linda likes to get out of bed 2-3 hours before she has to leave the house to teach.)  Last night when she got home at 6:20, she ate some random leftovers for dinner and sat down to rest. She was dozing on the couch until she went to bed a few hours later.  Maybe teaching two hours of Body Pump and then running, jumping, kicking and punching with 6 young boys in TKD class might have had something to do with her lack of energy.  Today is a long day (8:45-1:30) at the gym.  Between 1:30 Saturday and 8:30 Monday morning, she is not going to do any exercise or heavy chores.  Her body might catch up and things will be back to normal. Or maybe this is just what happens when your body gets old and tells you to slow down and act your age.  "No Way!" says Linda, she wants to keep her teaching jobs.  There will be a time where she has to slow down and find a desk job, until then she'll keep moving.

I like a bed in the sunshine

Family Time

Earlier today, Linda was feeling all proud of herself that she did so much exercise (2 hours of hiking and one Body Combat class) and ate her normal breakfast shake and a small lunch.  She didn't even need to wear yoga pants to feel comfy.  Well, now she is sitting on the couch in her robe because her jeans felt uncomfortably tight.  Her family started a new Thanksgiving tradition this evening.

There was lots of delicious fruit: mangoes, banana, pinapple, strawberries, and apples.  Pretty healthy, right?  There was also a plate of cookies and cake...

You're thinking "Wow, it's only Angle food cake and a few cookies.. that's still OK."  One thing is missing..

A giant fondue pot of rich melted chocolate with heavy cream!

There wasn't much leftover either.  Linda really isn't worried.  She ate less calories today than she normally does on a heavy exercise day.  Besides, as Tierney said.."Fondues are great because you get to play with your food without getting in trouble!" 

Penny slept during the actually fondu-ing, but she was awake for a cuddle and playtime. 

"This is such a good book!"

Thanksgiving Trails

The weather feels more like Easter than Thanksgiving! It was an amazing day..60 degrees, for our first ever Riverbend/Great Falls hike.  Chimi cried and quivered in the car the entire drive.  He thought he was going to the vet or something equally horrible.  At first, Linda was kind of bummed when there were 4 or 5 cars all turning into the visitor center at the entrance to Riverbend. She loves the solitude of hiking in the forest and doesn't want a bunch of noise/people around her.  Then she remembered that there is another tiny parking lot by a closed nature center about a mile up the road. Sure enough, we were the only people in the lot.  It bought back such wonderful memories of Snickers that she got a tear in her eye.  When Snicks was spry, they did so many hikes through those woods.  She wanted to stay off the main path that runs along the Potomac and was hoping she remembered the deer trails and small paths that wound up and down the mountain.  It took a bit, but we found the old fire road and the right path.  When she reached this sign, she knew we were going the correct way.

It looked the same, yet different to her. There were many so trees down from past storms. At times she had to carry Chim over giant tree trunks blocking the path. Plus the leaves were undisturbed, so the trails were mostly covered.  The first mile or so was tough, but when she came to the meadow the trail was clearly marked and very easy going for about 1/2 mile.  (For the record, I wouldn't walk 10 feet, so she carried me the entire day!) Chim was having the time of his life.  He was so excited to keep moving that he didn't pee once.

  As you can tell from the little paint marking, we started on the orange trail.  We crossed over a small road and that is when Linda got confused.  She took what looked like a path, but she couldn't be sure since it was covered in fallen limbs. With the downed trees, she couldn't find any color chips designating where she was.  They must not have repainted the chips.  At this point,  she was lost.  She remembered the orange trail turned into the yellow trail and then the red trail intersected somewhere... but it had been a long time (since Snickers died.)  Plus, so many of the trails they would take are not color coded.  That is when she realized that she actually didn't know the way to Great Falls through the woods!  Snickers always took the right paths and turns, she never had to think about it.  We ended up coming out on main road near the red trail.  For the first time in 60 minutes, we saw a person and asked directions.  They advised her to keep on the road and take a turn into the main visitor center, but nooooo....Linda wanted to stay in the woods and away from visitors. She found another heading on the orange trail and finally came across this map posted on a board.  By then she wasn't lost anymore, but she took a photo of it just in case. 

As she was climbing back up the steep part of the trail heading back to the car, she tripped on a root hidden by leaves and fell.  She was able to use her arms to catch herself so I wasn't crushed flat. She sat there a few minutes to rest and give us more water.  At no time was she scared (she did update Taylor by text what color trail we were on) and her knees/back/hips had zero pain.  The main concerns were not being still on the trails at dusk and also having the gate into the parking lot getting locked at 5 p.m.

It all worked out great and she can't wait to go back.  The next time she is going to download and print off the map before she leaves.  Who knows?  Maybe Chim will turn into the navigator and eventually lead the way just like Snickers did.

Happy Thanksgiving

The panicked look on my face is from a deer about 10 feet in front of us.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Linda feels so blessed and realizes every single day that all she has is from God.  Last night at church they held the annual "I'm Thankful For.." service.  She teared up a couple of times, and one testimony made her cry.  I'm sure everyone in the room could have each used the entire service and filled it with things they are thankful for.  Turkey and stuffing.. pies and casseroles have never been important to Linda on Thanksgiving.  (She gets a lot of grief for that, but please don't think she isn't thankful!)  Being with her family is important though, and she is really looking forward to seeing them later today after they eat their feast.

 We are so excited for our first annual Thanksgiving hike today (hopefully!)  in the National forest.  It's about a 20 minute drive away.  Linda has to teach in the morning, but after class we are going to explore new trails Chim and I never been on before.  I'm going to be riding for some of it in the "carry-me" pouch (its a front pack made just for little dogs) but Chim will be walking the entire way.  She's also going to bring a water bottle to make sure we stay hydrated. The Thanksgiving hike tradition was started when Snickers was a puppy, and continued every year until he got to old to walk up the stairs.   Thinking back, it wasn't very smart or safe, but Linda would let Snicks off the leash.  They were the only ones around and he would round up the deer and bring them back to Linda.  She's lucky they didn't trample her. The second she would call him, he'd stop his herding and come back to her side. There was a time that he possibly saved her from two hiker guys who seemed to be stalking us.  They circled around and then waited by a big rock for her to reach them.  Snickers wasn't taking any chances that they just wanted to "chat" with Linda.  He went into "not one step closer or I'll eat you"  mode and chased the men off.  He was a 75 pound Doberman/Shep mix with a deep rumbling bark.  Snicks wasn't a threatening dog unless a man came into the house he didn't know, he saw an army uniform (she never figured out why that scared him.  He was a rescue dog, so maybe he had a bad experience in the past with someone in a uniform) or in tense situations like on the trail.  I hope we don't get in a situation where we ever have to save her.  Chim would lick the bad guy and I would run and hide.  To our credit, we do bark when our doorbell rings or someone is in our yard.

After our trail walk (if it eventually warms up!  Right now it's frosty and freezing) Linda is going to bake to get ready for the Fondue Party this evening.  

Have You Heard the Skunk Joke?

You don't want to, it stinks!

 Can you guess what visited our house last night?  Linda is so thankful that neither Chim or I got sprayed.  We had probably been home from our walk 1/2 hour when the overpowering, awful smell of skunk assaulted our house- both inside and out!  It was making Chim cough, me wheeze and Linda's nose and throat felt irritated.  Of course she googled "how to get rid of skunk odor" right away.  One of the most common was to bake coffee grinds and cinnamon for a few minutes, then open the oven door.  Nope, didn't make a dent. Next was placing bowls of vinegar around the house.  It just smelled like Italian deli skunk. This morning, the stink was lingering in the house, but outside was OK.  Linda has still been careful with letting us stay in the backyard alone.  After only 3 hours of sleep (insomnia combined with tossing and turning from the stink) Linda spent 2 hours cleaning the upstairs.  She hasn't touched the other bedrooms or downstairs though because she needs a break to eat and rest.

Did you know the voice of lil' Thumper and Winnie the Pooh was the same guy?

Wiki says that a skunk can spray up to 10 ft and could temporarily blind you if it hit your face.  Maybe the skunk wasn't even near our house since the spray can be detected up to a mile away. Dang, that's some powerful stuff! They usually only spray when they feel they are in danger (or of if they are hit by a car) and they just carry enough for 5 or 6 shots!  It takes up to 10 days to build up a new supply. If I was a skunk, I would only use it if a bear or big dog was trying to eat me, not to annoy the whole neighborhood.   Linda's cousin Russ had a pet skunk in the 80's. It walked around on a leash and used a litter box.  I don't think you are allowed to remover their scent glands anymore, so it probably wouldn't be the best pet choice.

Toofs and Goofs

"Don't look at me"

No matter how much she tries, Linda will never understand Chimi.  He is such a great dog, really he is.  He's obedient; has a huge vocabulary of words he understands; doesn't have accidents in the house; no chewing or destroying things anymore; eats whatever food is put in front of him; never once barked to come out when put in his room; he's a great walker with tons of energy; he is a super cuddle pooch; Chim is very gentle with all babies and toddlers.. I could go on and on. EXCEPT for his phobias.  He is afraid of the weirdest things.  During our walk tonight the leash wrapped around his backside and got caught under his tail.  At first Linda thought he stepped on a piece of glass or sharp piece of metal because he freaked out crying.  She quick bent down to rescue him and saw what the issue was.  Talk about a drama queen (or king.)  You never know what will set him off.  Could be a plastic bag, crunchy leaf or a kids bike.  She still loves him even though he is goofy.

Penny has smurf-blue eyes

Speaking of goofy, a weird thing happened to Linda today when she stopped to get a snack before TKD.  She ordered a yogurt at a fast food restaurant.  The cashier took her money and turned around to get the food.  The girl wandered for about 20 seconds with it in her hand, then tossed the yogurt in the trash.  She came back up to the register and said 3-14.  Linda first thought she was telling her a Bible verse... but the cashier was looking at the time on the register and said "3:14, Would you like to order?"  All very bizarre.  A supervisor saw it all and helped finish the order.  Maybe the cashiers coffee break wasn't spent having coffee.

Penelope is teething and had a fussy morning.  Later in the day, Sarah sent Linda this photo.  Looks like her two little top teeth broke though and she was feeling much better.

"I got more toofs!"

20 Cats and 2 Chimichangas

Linda saw this van in a parking lot.  She had to stop and take a picture of the stickers on the back. It's so funny!  She loves that there is one lady and 20 cats.  Really only 19, because the third one from the left had an "X" marked on it with masking tape.  Poor kitty must have reached it's 10th life.  I guess whoever owns the van must really looooovveeeee cats. 

20 Cats

Linda did 90 minutes of cleaning per her plan, but she still has laundry to fold and put away, so she will make her 2 hour goal of working.  She even hung some shades in the living room all by herself.  For Linda, that is a big deal because she does not do great with tools (or measuring, hanging or handyman type stuff.) It makes the LR look much more inviting and cozy.   She did the hardwood floors (again), but forgot to put my three beds back down.  I was walking around crying and she could not figure out what my problem was.  Finally, she saw me looking at the bed on the chair and realized I had no place to nap. The house now looks and smells so pretty. The candles burning are vanilla and cinnamon scented and it's making Linda want a dessert.   Everyone knows Linda hates the smell of chicken, even though she has to make it for us.  We are totally out of chicken and Linda does not want to stink up the house boiling some.   Instead, she is going to buy one of those ready cooked chickens.  If Wegmans was just a wee-bit closer, she would go.  An entire cooked chicken was $4.99 the last time she went shopping there.  It could have been a sale, because that is cheaper than a raw one at Giant.  Giant also sells them cooked, but they are much more expensive.  Either way, it's still cheaper than the canned food we were eating and so much healthier. 

(We googled "wegmans rotisserie chicken" looking for a photo to use and came upon this.  Look, it's two Chimi's!  Why would they be tagged rotisserie chicken?..... I hope it's not what I think....!!)

Two Chims

Missing Penny

"Ewww, Nana... you are not going to make me eat those green beans, are you?"

Linda is missing Penelope so much.  It's been 2 days since she has seen her.  Thursday was their regular play date, but she didn't come to Family Night on Friday.  There was a basketball away game, so most everyone went to that, including Taylor and Sarah.  Linda sat in the nursery for 1/2 hour waiting for a baby to watch, but there wasn't any takers.  One almost stayed, but she had a cranky day and wanted to be with her Mama.  Chim spent the day at PW's since Linda was gone more than she was home.  Don't feel bad for me being here by myself.  I can go 8 hours without needing to go outside and I sleep the entire time on any of my three comfy beds.  Chim does terrible alone that long since he needs constant affirmation that he is loved and a good dog. 

His eyes are chocolate brown but they always show blue in photos

I love this photo of him.  It is one of the few where he doesn't look like a beast-Chihuahua, just a normal size for his breed.  If he stood up, he would look like a Mini-Pin or a small Doberman since his legs are giraffe legs. 

After church, there is a list of outside and inside chores that need to be done. Outside hasn't been raked once yet this fall, there are a bazillion pine needles in the driveway, dead flowers need to be clipped, weeds pulled, backyard Doody-Called, deck cleaned off, lawn mowed and then there is the inside too.  Remember the fiasco where she used that powder cleaner that mixes with water?  Two weeks later she is STILL trying to get the residue off where she sprayed it. If anyone has any de-soaping hints (think powdered laundry detergent sticking to everything and when you wipe it, it smears and recrystallizes) she would welcome them (chalupa@live.com)  She is NOT going to pick up her ND Lion book until at least 2 hours of work is done. 

Good Chim!

Linda was so tired last night that she fell sleep while Chim was still in bed with us.  She hardly ever has been able to sleep through the night, and never with him in the bed.  She was reading until 10:30 and decided to just turn out the light and let him cuddle a few minutes before it was time for his own bed.  At 6:30 a.m., he was in the exact same spot tucked behind her knees.  It seems impossible she never moved all night, so he must have shifted with her.  If dogs really smiled, he was grinning ear to ear when she woke him up.  If he's going to be that good, Linda will let him sleep with us more often.  I'm sure the 2 hours of walking helped make him that tired though.

Classes were really fun today, she loves her TKD kids.  One of the Black Belts was only 6 when he started training with her and now hes over 6 feet tall and in high school.  Matt was the same age and now he is 25 running his own class and Ethan is in college.  That is a lot of years of teaching TKD to some amazing kids.  Hopefully some of the color belts will take her place when she can't teach anymore so the tradition will continue.

Mr. Matt and Mr. Ethan, both 2nd Degree Black Belts

Jerry walked us for over an hour earlier, so all Linda has to do is shower and a few chores before she can rest (=read!) 

RIP Twinkies

A little piece of Linda's childhood is no more.  Hostess, the company that makes Wonder Bread and Ding Dongs will be closing its doors for good. When Linda was little, her Mom used to make a monthly trip to the Hostess outlet and bring home bags of bread and goodies.  Linda was always allowed to pick one thing and eat it on the way home in the car.  Sadly, over 18,000 people will lose their jobs.  The company bigwigs say a nationwide worker strike prohibited the Twinkies and bread from getting to the stores and the business was already hurting financially.  Hostess declared two bankruptcy's in the last years.  Linda checked their website but a blank page read "this service is no longer available" or something like that.   There used to be all sorts of rumors that Twinkies were great for stocking up in case food got scarce because the spongy cakes had a 75 year shelf life and they would last longer than the cellophane paper they are wrapped in.  Linda looked it up, the true life of a Twinkie is 25 days.  Actually, Twinkies don't have a life span anymore, but if you have some stocked up.. I bet they will be a collectors item someday!

P.S.  Linda read Twinkies were going for $60 a box on eBay.  She also heard on the radio a beer company might actually buy the brand to continue the Twinkies tradition. 

Beans, Beans.. Good For Your Heart

"Nana, can I have candy instead?"

Noah is a Big Boy, 2 years old now!

Penny wasn't that enthusiastic about eating her green beans/applesauce combo for lunch today.  She was a good girl and didn't fuss, but she also didn't open her mouth wide like she does for just applesauce.  One good thing about beans though, they are full of fiber (as Linda found out when she changed her!)  The picture of Penelope so reminded her of Noah, it made her miss him.   Linda spent most of playtime reading her fun books and working on Penny's crawling skills. So far, she's happy to stay in one place. Her Daddy didn't walk until he was a year old, so Penny might just skip crawling and go right to walking. 

After Linda got home she did chores and showered.  At 4:00 p.m., she went to teach TKD, Body Pump and finally  had her massage.  All the muscles were so tense and knotty, Linda will have to take some kind of pain reliever tonight.  It didn't hurt that much during the massage, it felt amazing.  On the way home her back started to tighten up and now it feels like she tripled her weight in Body Pump. 

Poor Chim, he wants a walk in the worst way but it's just not happening tonight. She is going to take a hot bath and go to bed.  Linda promises to take us before she leaves for work (since we are up early anyway!)   

Finally! We Got to Sleep Late

This morning, Linda did go back to bed instead of staying up.  She put us outside and then since it was still pitch dark, she let Chim come into the big bed too.  All of us fell back asleep until 6:55.  Her day is busy from 8:30 a.m until 8:00 p.m. She's actually so thankful that most of her days are not like this.  Even though she teaches 6 days a week, there are little pockets of time during the day where she can walk us, rest, eat, read or do chores.  Some people leave for work at 6:00 a.m. and, have a horrible traffic commute both ways,  then don't get home again until 6:00 p.m.  All of her gyms are between 5-15 minutes away, and the traffic isn't bad at all.  She loves teaching classes and hopes her body will stay strong for years and years to come. 

Why are they pointing sharp weapons at her head?

Before bed last night, Linda realized we hadn't had a walk yet.  She got bundled up with her -45 below Parka, hooded sweatshirt, scarf, gloves and thick hiking socks.  I refused to come to the stairs to get my coat on, so she left me home.  That's the rule.  If you don't wait patiently for your coat or leash, or she has to chase you down, you don't get to go.  About 10 seconds after she left I started going crazy barking for her to come back.  Chim is afraid of the dark when I'm not with him.  (Surprised?)  He runs out ahead on the main road, but as soon as Linda tried to get him to go down a dark court or side street, he did his pancake routine and wouldn't budge.

Thursday is Penelope day.  Linda is so excited to go over and see her.  Every week there is a new milestone for her to show Nana.  Last week she said  Ba-Ba-Ba, Da-Da-Da and Ma-Ma-Ma.  Today she better be saying Na-Na-Na! 

That's quite a hat Miss. Penelope

Can't We Just Sleep In?

It was another early morning for us, hours before we even had to get up.  This time Linda decided to give the hardwood floors a good cleaning after her normal AM routine.  She also folded and put away all the piled laundry.  She was kind enough not to run the vacuum though since it riles us both up.  It was cold this AM, below 30 degrees.  Chim wanted to stay outside when she left for class, but she made him go back in his room. Linda's not sure he would keep his coat or sweater on if she left him on the deck.  He might try to chew it off.

I hope that fur isn't real....

She totally forgot to buy chicken for us, and we only have enough left for a small snack.  That means that she'll have to buy it sometime between her afternoon classes and church this evening.  Or she could just buy some regular dog food and and triple the cost of our meal.  (We can't eat the cheapo canned food because it gives both of us nasty tummy issues.)  I told Linda it's like having kids.  You don't get a fast food meal for them because your too lazy, tired or forgot to buy them real food. 

"I want ketchup with those fries!!!"

 Chim is sitting next to Linda whimpering and swaying back and forth because he's so tired.  He is just like a toddler... fighting his afternoon nap with all his might.  His eyes are shutting, but he won't put his head down. 

Look how weird.  In the first photo his tags are blue, and in the second photo they are silver and red.  She doesn't remember buying him new ones.  Linda was smart enough to notice our home address showing on the tag so she used her awesome Photoshop skills and blurred it.