Ever since I got home, I've been working upstairs in our home office on a variety of tasks. Of course, I did spend the obligatory "Mommy, you're home!" time with Kirby and the kitties...that's a given. I'm not allowed to do anything until I've handed out some ear rubs.
I always feel guilty if I haven't gone downstairs after a few hours...because I know there are quite a few fur persons down there who would love constant attention. Tonight, however, I was so focused that I didn't stop working for quite a long time.
I did eventually go downstairs to get a diet soda. When I went downstairs, I found a big 80 pound pile of fur on the couch. It opened an eye and I swear I heard Dr. Frankenstein chanting "It's ALIIIIVE!!!" LOL All I did was smile and the tail started wagging.
I gave many many big hugs and muzzle kisses at that point. I refilled my glass, I checked on the kitties, etc. I had to come back upstairs, though, and get some more things done. Well, that's what I thought was going to happen.
I went back to my computer and, before I knew it, thump thump thump. Here comes Kirby up the stairs. :-) She was walking around up here, as she does sometimes, smelling everything like she's never smelled it before. All of a sudden, SLURP! My elbow is instantly covered in drool.
I wiped it off, patted Kirby's head, at turned back to my computer.
SLURP!!!
Wet elbow again. The lesson here is...there is no denying this little girl when she wants more than a casual pat on the head. I turned my whole chair around and gave her a big hug and she just sort of...let her whole body slide down on my foot and then she gave up the belly. Message sent, message received. :-) I spent a good 15 minutes rubbing the square footage of her huge belly, scratching her head, rubbing her ears, shaking her paw, and giving her more hugs.
Of course, she started a trend...and I ended up being required to rub a few cat bellies and hold a 17 pound crabby 'ol tabby too...but that's okay. For a while there I forgot who I really work for and I had to be humbled. :-) At least now everyone is happy...and my elbow is finally dry.
Showing posts with label puppy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label puppy. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Procrastination is deadly to kidney beans
I am not sure which level of civic authority I would surrender myself to for such a crime, but my prolonged procrastination has claimed the life of an innocent bag of kidney beans. Oh...the humanity. Given that there's no listing in the phone book for the N.A.P.L. (National Association for the Protection of Legumes), I'll just post my confession here and let internet justice reign supreme.
Let me just go back a bit so my situation is completely understood before judgment is passed. I was home alone one night. Well...home alone with a very large, drooling dog...and a loaded .22....and....a loaded .44...and....well, just don't surprise me in the dark, okay?
One night about two months ago, some weirdo shows up on my front porch and asks me if he can "come in and use the phone". Well, suffice to say that I was not born yesterday and I do know better than to open the door for strangers. My Momma raised me right!
He ended up getting persistent...and quite creepy. I called 9-1-1 on this idiot...and then I proceeded to go get my .44 and went back to the kitchen to finish making chili. God bless Texas!
One of the things that bothered me days later, however, was that I caught him looking at me through the long narrow window next to our front door. There is a sheer white curtain that hangs in that window and I guess I never realized that anyone could just see right through it. Too bad he wasn't peeking in when Kevin was walking around the house in his favorite outfit: socks. Needless to say, I high-tailed my butt on down to Target that weekend and bought a new curtain panel for the window.
Stores never have anything in stock for oddly sized windows like that, so I just bought one that I knew was wide enough and figured I'd make some adjustments to it. I have a sewing machine and an iron...I was a Girl Scout. I can figure this out.
Well, it turns out that I conveniently forgot about the fact that I have a pretty busy life. And also that I procrastinate even the act of procrastination. When it comes to putting off mundane household tasks, I am the shizz, baby.
I hung the panel right away and it looks great with our decor. Awesome! Fabulous!! Inspired!!! I should have a job on HGTV. However...the curtain kept billowing out and away from the glass because it was too long for the window and had no pocket for the bottom rod to go through. This is the part that I'd been planning to fix. It was getting late on a Sunday and I had neither the patience nor the energy to make any adjustments to it. So I started hunting for something to use as a temporary fix to the problem.
I found my salvation in a one pound bag of dry kidney beans that's been sitting in my pantry for about a year and a half. (Ever since I decided that a big jar of assorted dry beans would look very "country cute" on top of our kitchen cabinets...and it does!) HGTV, is that you calling?
I tucked the end of the panel up onto the little window sill at the base and slapped that bag of kidney beans right on top of it. Ta da!!! Problem solved. Kev, spark up the DVR and let's catch up on the 12 episodes of "HOUSE" we've been too unorganized to watch!
For two months, I have conveniently had other things to do than to stop for a half hour and fix that damn curtain. But that bag of kidney beans has been doing a fabulous job on that little window sill. It has protected me and kept me safe from creepy people on my porch, neighbors walking their dogs, and the bunny that comes out of the greenbelt that eats our grass every morning. (I know he's watching me.) That bag of beans has been a damn good friend.
Now we're caught up. Except for the last couple of days it has been raining like crazy here in Texas. The dog park is closed "until further notice". It's not a dog park right now...it's more like a mud farm. Yesterday I mentioned that Petsmart is Kirby's third place in the whole world. Well, the dog park is her second favorite place.
Kirby is quite possibly the most lovable dog I've ever known. She's incredibly sweet. However, Miss Kirby does not take kindly to the idea of being ignored...or left alone for long periods of time. She knows our family routine. So tonight when I stayed late at work to finish a project and Kevin was not home, she got bored.
Things have been super busy at work lately, so I was really looking forward to getting home. I was so happy when I pulled into my driveway. Imagine my surprise, then, when I opened my front door and found a kidney bean murder scene.
That little bag of beans was no match for my 80 pound puppy. Let me just explain that when Kirby gets excited and starts playing with force, she shakes her head back and forth with the fury of a wolf killing its prey. There were kidney beans EVERYWHERE. Everywhere I looked...little kidney bean corpses. And right in the middle...a very ripped up, drool covered plastic bag. Oh, Kirby...
There were beans strewn all across the floor...on the chair...all across the sofa...in the built in bookcase...in the freak'in FIREPLACE!!! Everywhere. Beans everywhere. And there's Kirby in the middle of it all, wagging her tail enthusiastically in that demented helicopter pattern that makes Kevin and me laugh so hard. She looked as surprised as I did.
As I picked up the ten thousand dead beans and put them in their final resting place in my trash can, I used the appropriate scolding "mommy voice" as I explained to her how naughty it was to be throwing beans around the house. I doubt she heard me, however, since she was already stretched out on our couch...snoring. Loudly. All was right in her world. Mommy was home.
And as I finish this latest blog entry, I'm not certain of any real purpose (other than my confession) that I have in telling this story other than my noble effort to caution any of you from making the same mistake as me. This could have happened to anyone, right? Right. So...the next time you think about using a one pound bag of beans to keep a curtain in place so creepy burglar types can't molest you with their eyes, ask yourself this one question: do I have an 80 pound, drooling bean killer nearby?
Save yourself the guilt. Save the beans.
Let me just go back a bit so my situation is completely understood before judgment is passed. I was home alone one night. Well...home alone with a very large, drooling dog...and a loaded .22....and....a loaded .44...and....well, just don't surprise me in the dark, okay?
One night about two months ago, some weirdo shows up on my front porch and asks me if he can "come in and use the phone". Well, suffice to say that I was not born yesterday and I do know better than to open the door for strangers. My Momma raised me right!
He ended up getting persistent...and quite creepy. I called 9-1-1 on this idiot...and then I proceeded to go get my .44 and went back to the kitchen to finish making chili. God bless Texas!
One of the things that bothered me days later, however, was that I caught him looking at me through the long narrow window next to our front door. There is a sheer white curtain that hangs in that window and I guess I never realized that anyone could just see right through it. Too bad he wasn't peeking in when Kevin was walking around the house in his favorite outfit: socks. Needless to say, I high-tailed my butt on down to Target that weekend and bought a new curtain panel for the window.
Stores never have anything in stock for oddly sized windows like that, so I just bought one that I knew was wide enough and figured I'd make some adjustments to it. I have a sewing machine and an iron...I was a Girl Scout. I can figure this out.
Well, it turns out that I conveniently forgot about the fact that I have a pretty busy life. And also that I procrastinate even the act of procrastination. When it comes to putting off mundane household tasks, I am the shizz, baby.
I hung the panel right away and it looks great with our decor. Awesome! Fabulous!! Inspired!!! I should have a job on HGTV. However...the curtain kept billowing out and away from the glass because it was too long for the window and had no pocket for the bottom rod to go through. This is the part that I'd been planning to fix. It was getting late on a Sunday and I had neither the patience nor the energy to make any adjustments to it. So I started hunting for something to use as a temporary fix to the problem.
I found my salvation in a one pound bag of dry kidney beans that's been sitting in my pantry for about a year and a half. (Ever since I decided that a big jar of assorted dry beans would look very "country cute" on top of our kitchen cabinets...and it does!) HGTV, is that you calling?
I tucked the end of the panel up onto the little window sill at the base and slapped that bag of kidney beans right on top of it. Ta da!!! Problem solved. Kev, spark up the DVR and let's catch up on the 12 episodes of "HOUSE" we've been too unorganized to watch!
For two months, I have conveniently had other things to do than to stop for a half hour and fix that damn curtain. But that bag of kidney beans has been doing a fabulous job on that little window sill. It has protected me and kept me safe from creepy people on my porch, neighbors walking their dogs, and the bunny that comes out of the greenbelt that eats our grass every morning. (I know he's watching me.) That bag of beans has been a damn good friend.
Now we're caught up. Except for the last couple of days it has been raining like crazy here in Texas. The dog park is closed "until further notice". It's not a dog park right now...it's more like a mud farm. Yesterday I mentioned that Petsmart is Kirby's third place in the whole world. Well, the dog park is her second favorite place.
Kirby is quite possibly the most lovable dog I've ever known. She's incredibly sweet. However, Miss Kirby does not take kindly to the idea of being ignored...or left alone for long periods of time. She knows our family routine. So tonight when I stayed late at work to finish a project and Kevin was not home, she got bored.
Things have been super busy at work lately, so I was really looking forward to getting home. I was so happy when I pulled into my driveway. Imagine my surprise, then, when I opened my front door and found a kidney bean murder scene.
That little bag of beans was no match for my 80 pound puppy. Let me just explain that when Kirby gets excited and starts playing with force, she shakes her head back and forth with the fury of a wolf killing its prey. There were kidney beans EVERYWHERE. Everywhere I looked...little kidney bean corpses. And right in the middle...a very ripped up, drool covered plastic bag. Oh, Kirby...
There were beans strewn all across the floor...on the chair...all across the sofa...in the built in bookcase...in the freak'in FIREPLACE!!! Everywhere. Beans everywhere. And there's Kirby in the middle of it all, wagging her tail enthusiastically in that demented helicopter pattern that makes Kevin and me laugh so hard. She looked as surprised as I did.
As I picked up the ten thousand dead beans and put them in their final resting place in my trash can, I used the appropriate scolding "mommy voice" as I explained to her how naughty it was to be throwing beans around the house. I doubt she heard me, however, since she was already stretched out on our couch...snoring. Loudly. All was right in her world. Mommy was home.
And as I finish this latest blog entry, I'm not certain of any real purpose (other than my confession) that I have in telling this story other than my noble effort to caution any of you from making the same mistake as me. This could have happened to anyone, right? Right. So...the next time you think about using a one pound bag of beans to keep a curtain in place so creepy burglar types can't molest you with their eyes, ask yourself this one question: do I have an 80 pound, drooling bean killer nearby?
Save yourself the guilt. Save the beans.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Rain, rain, go away...for Kirby's sake!
I'm sure in the years to come, this phase will lessen considerably - but Kirby is ready to bounce through the walls this weekend...and I can't say I blame her. We've had quite a nice bit of rain lately here in north Texas. That's a wonderful thing, actually. We really needed it. But for someone like Miss Kirby, who pretty much lays around on the couch all day and looks forward to her daily trips to the dog park...well, it's disastrous.
Imagine, if you will, an 80 pound freight train of pent up puppy energy. Can you? :-) Come on over and stay with us for a while. LOL. Kirby is so eager to get out and "blow the stink off", as my mother would say, that it just broke my heart this morning when I grabbed my keys and saw that eager, expectant look on her face. She was certain that I was going to pick up her leash when I put my jacket on. She knew this was it...this was the moment she was going to get to go for a ride in the car. Instead, I closed the door behind me as I stepped out onto the porch and tried to ignore that huge furry face that watched me from the window. Oh, how I wished I could have taken her with me.
This weekend, Kevin and I are pretty much at the mercy of this rather large, energetic cow who has stolen our hearts. Since the dog park has been nothing but a rainy, mud pool of goo for the last several days, we're tripling up on the fetch time, the tug o' war time, and of course...belly rub time. It takes a lot to rub that belly. It's bigger than my first car.
She doesn't know it right now, as she walks around our office with a giant stuffed cow in her mouth, but she's going to the dog park tomorrow. The rain has stopped and even if the park is a little muddy tomorrow...that's why we have a shower. :) How do you wash an 80 pound cow/puppy? Put her in the shower with Daddy while Mommy holds the door closed. LOL.
Even if we have completely misjudged the dog park situation and she ends up being covered head to toes in mud, I can't wait another day to see that happy, dopey smile on her face as she runs free with all her doggy friends. Head held high, eyes bright & shiny, tongue hanging out sideways...it's something to see. If she's not chasing or being chased, she's wrestling, drinking ten gallons of water, or getting belly rubs from one of the other doggy parents.
When the Texas summer comes again, I'm not looking forward to having to limit her trips to the dog park. No doubt, air conditioned doggy day care at Petsmart will happen a lot more frequently. Saint Bernards don't handle the heat well at all. But for now, the air is crisp and sweet...spring is almost here...and Kirby has time to romp in the woods at the dog park again.
Imagine, if you will, an 80 pound freight train of pent up puppy energy. Can you? :-) Come on over and stay with us for a while. LOL. Kirby is so eager to get out and "blow the stink off", as my mother would say, that it just broke my heart this morning when I grabbed my keys and saw that eager, expectant look on her face. She was certain that I was going to pick up her leash when I put my jacket on. She knew this was it...this was the moment she was going to get to go for a ride in the car. Instead, I closed the door behind me as I stepped out onto the porch and tried to ignore that huge furry face that watched me from the window. Oh, how I wished I could have taken her with me.
This weekend, Kevin and I are pretty much at the mercy of this rather large, energetic cow who has stolen our hearts. Since the dog park has been nothing but a rainy, mud pool of goo for the last several days, we're tripling up on the fetch time, the tug o' war time, and of course...belly rub time. It takes a lot to rub that belly. It's bigger than my first car.
She doesn't know it right now, as she walks around our office with a giant stuffed cow in her mouth, but she's going to the dog park tomorrow. The rain has stopped and even if the park is a little muddy tomorrow...that's why we have a shower. :) How do you wash an 80 pound cow/puppy? Put her in the shower with Daddy while Mommy holds the door closed. LOL.
Even if we have completely misjudged the dog park situation and she ends up being covered head to toes in mud, I can't wait another day to see that happy, dopey smile on her face as she runs free with all her doggy friends. Head held high, eyes bright & shiny, tongue hanging out sideways...it's something to see. If she's not chasing or being chased, she's wrestling, drinking ten gallons of water, or getting belly rubs from one of the other doggy parents.
When the Texas summer comes again, I'm not looking forward to having to limit her trips to the dog park. No doubt, air conditioned doggy day care at Petsmart will happen a lot more frequently. Saint Bernards don't handle the heat well at all. But for now, the air is crisp and sweet...spring is almost here...and Kirby has time to romp in the woods at the dog park again.
Friday, March 13, 2009
There's a growing cow in my house...
I got home today and was greeted at the door by a 75 pound beautiful hairy princess of a dog. Kirby the St. Bernard puppy was happy to see me.
As I puttered around the house, I kept laughing...and scolding...as she kept sticking her nose in everything. And I realized that she is now so tall that we are in a LOT of trouble. LOL
Kirby can walk up to the kitchen counter and take whatever she wants. She can get her head even FARTHER back on the bathroom countertops. If I spend too much time on the computer, she rumbles upstairs and licks my elbow until I give in and pet her. LOL. In fact, she just interupted the typing of this blog for more "mommy snuggles".
She is growing into a cow before my eyes. She is the reason we're getting a step trash can with a lid this payday. LOL. She has figured out how to work her Daddy into giving up a piece of his dinner if she bats her long eyelashes long enough. She is learning to manipulate any given situation. :-)
Even so, I just love this dog. She is so much fun and so easy to love. She just wants to please us all the time. She'll do anything for Kevin and me. And God forbid if she sees Kevin and I hugging each other...she turns into "the incredible stampeding cow". She has to get in the middle of it. She can't stand love being handed out if she's not in the middle of it. LOL
It may be time to hang a sign over the porch that reads "Welcome to the Stauber Family Farm". We already have a cow...why not? :-)
As I puttered around the house, I kept laughing...and scolding...as she kept sticking her nose in everything. And I realized that she is now so tall that we are in a LOT of trouble. LOL
Kirby can walk up to the kitchen counter and take whatever she wants. She can get her head even FARTHER back on the bathroom countertops. If I spend too much time on the computer, she rumbles upstairs and licks my elbow until I give in and pet her. LOL. In fact, she just interupted the typing of this blog for more "mommy snuggles".
She is growing into a cow before my eyes. She is the reason we're getting a step trash can with a lid this payday. LOL. She has figured out how to work her Daddy into giving up a piece of his dinner if she bats her long eyelashes long enough. She is learning to manipulate any given situation. :-)
Even so, I just love this dog. She is so much fun and so easy to love. She just wants to please us all the time. She'll do anything for Kevin and me. And God forbid if she sees Kevin and I hugging each other...she turns into "the incredible stampeding cow". She has to get in the middle of it. She can't stand love being handed out if she's not in the middle of it. LOL
It may be time to hang a sign over the porch that reads "Welcome to the Stauber Family Farm". We already have a cow...why not? :-)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
And so it begins...
Once upon a time, there was a peaceful household in the fair land of Texas.
Was being the operative word. :-)
Last summer, my husband Kevin and I had to have our dog Kokopelli put to sleep after it became clear that she was losing her battle with cancer. It was a sad time for us, but we were comforted with the knowledge that we made the right decision for her.
Our three cats helped us to move on eventually. In the Stauber family, there are always lots of furry bellies to rub...thankfully none of them belong to me or Kevin. :-)
One autumn weekend, Kevin and I were out running errands and we decided to pay a visit to the little "mom 'n pop" place where we used to buy the special diet food that Koko had to have. Kev likes to look at the fish and I follow behind and listen to him explain what an amazing fish the Oscar is. It's a standard pet store ritual for us. I knew Kevin was starting to get the itch for another dog, but I was holding him off. We needed new floors, new paint, and a million other things before we needed to welcome another mouth to feed.
Then...I saw her. Oh, dear Lord, help me...I saw her.
She was laying with her back to me and when I walked by, she turn her head and looked over her shoulder at me...upside down. It was as if she said "Are you my momma?" Big, sad, brown eyes. Long black eyelashes. Chubby little belly. Big giant toes. And Kev saw me looking. Damn it!
And that's how it started...6 months ago. I walked out of that store holding our newly adopted, 20 pound Saint Bernard puppy on my hip like a 5 year old. She was 9 weeks old. As I walked to the truck, I felt a vague sense of dread as I remembered the pet store lady telling us that the puppy's daddy weighed 175 pounds. I put her in the truck and got in beside her and thought to myself, "Uh oh..." But it was too late. She put her little head on my shoulder and let out the sweetest little sigh. And I was done. That was it. She was mine. Even more, I was hers. And there wasn't a doggy mommy in the world who was prouder than I was at that moment.
And so began...my life with a Saint.
** Please note: I do NOT recommend buying a dog from any pet store. This is the first time we've ever done it and we feel terrible that it's where we got her. But the simple fact is that we DID get her at a small pet store...and it's simply because I could not imagine my life without her as soon as she looked at me. I could not bear the idea of leaving her in that pet store.
Really, I recommend rescue dogs first...there are so many wonderful dogs in shelters that need good, loving homes. For us, though, we knew we wanted a puppy...because a puppy (especially a gentle one like Kirby) is easier for our cats to get used to. Not threatening in size, obviously a baby. And I was right...the introduction went smoothly and the cats love her. Even Sarah, who is afraid of dogs, is not threatened by Kirby and is able to co-exist peacefully.
We also had talked about getting an extra large breed dog...and we'd recently checked the DFW area shelters for big, BIG dogs but didn't find any. That's still no excuse for buying from a pet store (adoptions at Petsmart & Petco are different...those are rescued doggies...give them good homes!)
In the end, I feel like we gave her the best home...because I honestly want to smack the person who sent a Saint Bernard to Texas. It's HOT here in the summer. What if she'd gone to a family that didn't know how to take care of her? What if she'd gone to a family that just left her out in the yard all day?
Our animals are all part of our family. And while I'm not proud of our decision to buy her from a pet store, I'm not sorry I did it...because she is a wonderful, big hearted sweetheart of a dog...and I can't imagine my life without her.
I hope y'all understand.
Was being the operative word. :-)
Last summer, my husband Kevin and I had to have our dog Kokopelli put to sleep after it became clear that she was losing her battle with cancer. It was a sad time for us, but we were comforted with the knowledge that we made the right decision for her.
Our three cats helped us to move on eventually. In the Stauber family, there are always lots of furry bellies to rub...thankfully none of them belong to me or Kevin. :-)
One autumn weekend, Kevin and I were out running errands and we decided to pay a visit to the little "mom 'n pop" place where we used to buy the special diet food that Koko had to have. Kev likes to look at the fish and I follow behind and listen to him explain what an amazing fish the Oscar is. It's a standard pet store ritual for us. I knew Kevin was starting to get the itch for another dog, but I was holding him off. We needed new floors, new paint, and a million other things before we needed to welcome another mouth to feed.
Then...I saw her. Oh, dear Lord, help me...I saw her.
She was laying with her back to me and when I walked by, she turn her head and looked over her shoulder at me...upside down. It was as if she said "Are you my momma?" Big, sad, brown eyes. Long black eyelashes. Chubby little belly. Big giant toes. And Kev saw me looking. Damn it!
And that's how it started...6 months ago. I walked out of that store holding our newly adopted, 20 pound Saint Bernard puppy on my hip like a 5 year old. She was 9 weeks old. As I walked to the truck, I felt a vague sense of dread as I remembered the pet store lady telling us that the puppy's daddy weighed 175 pounds. I put her in the truck and got in beside her and thought to myself, "Uh oh..." But it was too late. She put her little head on my shoulder and let out the sweetest little sigh. And I was done. That was it. She was mine. Even more, I was hers. And there wasn't a doggy mommy in the world who was prouder than I was at that moment.
And so began...my life with a Saint.
** Please note: I do NOT recommend buying a dog from any pet store. This is the first time we've ever done it and we feel terrible that it's where we got her. But the simple fact is that we DID get her at a small pet store...and it's simply because I could not imagine my life without her as soon as she looked at me. I could not bear the idea of leaving her in that pet store.
Really, I recommend rescue dogs first...there are so many wonderful dogs in shelters that need good, loving homes. For us, though, we knew we wanted a puppy...because a puppy (especially a gentle one like Kirby) is easier for our cats to get used to. Not threatening in size, obviously a baby. And I was right...the introduction went smoothly and the cats love her. Even Sarah, who is afraid of dogs, is not threatened by Kirby and is able to co-exist peacefully.
We also had talked about getting an extra large breed dog...and we'd recently checked the DFW area shelters for big, BIG dogs but didn't find any. That's still no excuse for buying from a pet store (adoptions at Petsmart & Petco are different...those are rescued doggies...give them good homes!)
In the end, I feel like we gave her the best home...because I honestly want to smack the person who sent a Saint Bernard to Texas. It's HOT here in the summer. What if she'd gone to a family that didn't know how to take care of her? What if she'd gone to a family that just left her out in the yard all day?
Our animals are all part of our family. And while I'm not proud of our decision to buy her from a pet store, I'm not sorry I did it...because she is a wonderful, big hearted sweetheart of a dog...and I can't imagine my life without her.
I hope y'all understand.
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