The Daily Cuteness

I should post a pic a week of random cute Corgi poses. Jeff caught this one when he got home today.

First Seedling Transplant!

Standing in the kitchen after planting.

Jeff calls this the angry face... not sure what I was doing, but I wasn't angry!

Artsy pic

Planting

Well, I finally remembered how to add multiple pictures. That would have been handy when I was posting the wedding pics, rather than subjecting you all to 20 blog entries of 5 pics each.

The garden is taking off. Jeff was behind the camera last night when we were documenting our first transplant, so there are a lot of Tavia pics.

I was amazed how fast everything grew. My cucumbers grew out of their Dixie cups in just 5 days. Seriously. Plus everything we planted grew, with the exception of the Rosemary seeds, which did a big fat nothing. So we're transplanting everything from cups to pots now, and the next step will be to put them in the ground when Jeff's parents get back from Utah after the 4th of July. We were going to put them in our yard, but we grew way too much, and the weather has been exceptionally hot so we haven't felt like tilling up a spot for a garden. Howard and Diane have a lovely garden spot, but nothing growing in it right now. What a perfect combination- our plants and their garden patch! In August we will start some more seedlings, and in the fall hopefully we will be able to split up our "crop" between our garden and theirs. Everyone should have fresh veggies!

Dog Updates

I'm feeling the need for a blog.

The other day I posted on Facebook that I was trying to find out how Bunny can become a therapy dog. I looked into this back in Washington, and just never found anything that clicked. People never got back to me with information, etc. Well, I was looking at Carolyn's website the other night to check out the adorable puppies, started wandering to pedigrees, etc... and noticed that one of the old crew is registered with Therapy Dogs Inc. I'd never heard of them before, so I looked it up. I sent out an email to the organization last night, and they got back to me today with the number for the local person who does testing (she literally lives down the road from us). She also got back to me today, and apparently there is a very active therapy dog group right here in Katy! She's going to meet with us, probably next week if both our schedules permit, and test Miss Bunny. Yay! All they ask is that the dog be at least 1 year of age (check! Hopefully they don't mind senior citizens), reasonably calm (double check), and at ease being handled by strangers (triple check... she lovees it when people dote on her). I think we should be good!

Cosmo needs a hobby. Cosmo is DEPRESSEED. He willingly crates himself most of the day, and gives us sad eyes. We're not quite sure what to do with him. Lily used to be his playmate, but she now prefers Lucky. That is really what did poor Mister Mo in. I don't think the weather is helping him much, either (it's not helping any of us), because it is nearly impossible to get outside. We think he is a bit high strung to be a therapy dog, herding is expensive, and Quinn is convinced that the moose can't do agility. Any ideas? We'll come up with something for him, it's just fun to hear what ideas people have.

Other than that, our plants are growing like craziness. I love it! I'll post pics another time, because my phone is acting up.

Sun Bathing

I could really get into trying new things.

Jeff doesn't like it when I wash the dogs in our bath tubs, so he asked me to wash them outside with the hose. I've been horrified by this up until now, but today the temperature was up to 98 degrees, and humid, so playing in the water sounded like it could be fun for all of us. Plus I had some really stanky dogs.

Lucky, to my surprise, was the best! He's never had a bath in his life, and he absolutely loooooooved it! He kissed me the whole time I was bathing him. Lily was the worst, until she realized I had a hold of her, then she just gave in. Everyone seemed to enjoy it once they really got soaked, I think their biggest hesitation was being leashed to the patio post so they couldn't run. Once they got over that, they were all pretty good. I like to give lots of love during bath time, with plenty of kisses and lies (telling them how wonderful they are), so they tend to warm up pretty quickly! We finished with a round of combing, and peanut butter dog cookies from the farmer's market.

Jeff gave me a time to be ready so we could go pick up a dryer, and I had no idea how I was going to shower in time! It felt so good to be outside and I was already drenched, so I just grabbed the soap from the kitchen sink and took a shower outside, also! I was already in my bikini (anticipating the worst from the dogs) so heck, why not?

Now we're all clean, and Jeff and I are off to get a dryer because ours has gasped its last cold breath.

Day 6 Garden

Jeff's beans. Go back and compare pics from yesterday's blog. Amazing! I am a super geek, but I totally dig watching this stuff grow.

More beans

Zucchini. Again, compare to yesterdays pics. Then... drumroll... if you look behind the zucchini you will see my little cherry tomatoes starting to sprout. Yes!

Getting Lucky

Jeff asked when I was going to do a blog post on Lucky. I looked right at him and said "Ne-ver." Quinn said I should do one, and I giggled (my muahahahaha wicked giggle), then he said it had to be nice because Lucky is a nice dog. Nice to people, at least.

So, here is my honest blog about Lucky.

My very favorite thing about Lucky is that his name supplies me with a day full of puns (see blog title).

My second favorite thing about Lucky is that he wags his butt. Not his tail... his entire butt.

I also like that Lucky is a fast learner and knows how to go to "kennel up." He also knows "go to the side yard." These skills come in handy because he must be completely separated from Bud or they try to kill each other. Literally. And Lucky refuses to let go once he has his teeth in. Oh, but this is supposed to be a nice blog.

I like that Lucky makes me laugh when he steals pie off the counter and I get to watch Jeff's reaction.

I like that Lucky sticks his entire nose into the dog bowl and goes swimming for a drink, then opens his mouth when he emerges and leaks all over the floor. I also enjoy imitating this now and then on hot days.

I like that Lucky loves me so much that as I am climbing ove the dog gate to leave the room, he nips at my inner thigh fat.

I like that Lucky loves me so much that he bites and licks my toes for attention.

I like that Lucky forgives me (too soon, I think) for whooping his butt when he does bad things.

I like that Lucky is friends with Lily and wears her out and has made her a nicer dog.

I like that Lucky smells worse than all of my dogs combined ever could, even if the got trapped in a landfill for a week.

The Boy I Covet

As Quinn reminds me of frequently, Cosmo is HIS dog. Cosmo really IS his dog, too. Those boys love each other, and they have a bond that just won't quit. Cosmo still just melts my heart, and as Quinn does more growing up and teenage stuff, I find that I get the privilege of spending a bit more time with Mr. Mo.

Cosmo is our surfer dog. I call him our surfer dog because he is really pretty, but kind of ditsy. OK, Cosmo can be really ditsy.

He is the sweetest, most sensitive dog in the world, though. My favorite recent memory of Cosmo is when Lucy and Lily got into a fight. Lily got cut up pretty badly, and for the next few days, Cosmo laid with her constantly and licked her wounds. When I had to put Lucy to sleep, Cosmo laid next to me on the floor while I cried into his fur. This is my favorite thing about Cosmo. He is kind and caring, and very perceptive. I have even seen this dog mourn. When he was a very little puppy he was best friends with my mom's Rottweiler, Bailey. When Bailey died, Cosmo would not stop mourning. My mom actually went out and got another adult male Rottweiler so Cosmo would have a companion. Now Cosmo and Bunny are companions. They lay butt to butt, cheek to cheek, curled up, wrapped around each other, you name it. I took them both to the vet before I came to Texas (they needed heart worm tests so they could go on heart worm meds) and when the tech tried to separate them to bring Cosmo back to me (his test was done) he refused to leave Bunny and they had to let him sit there while they did hers. The tech started crying because she realized how much older Bunny is and how attached Cosmo was to her!

Cos is also quite the helper. He has to be in the middle of everything. If we're planting seeds, he has his head in the dirt back. If we're watching a movie, he is a foot warmer. If I go out to water the plants, he is right there with me.

Cosmo is the kind of dog who can steal Jeff's turkey jerky straight out of his backpack. He is so cute about it that instead of being mad, the next time Jeff goes out of town to the turkey jerky store, he buys a bag for himself and a little one for Cosmo.

Cosmo struts when he gets special food. Literally. Struts.

Cosmo like ice cubes.

Cosmo is so cool that he has flowers, and a cocktail named after him!

As the years go by, I just keep digging Cosmo more and more!

The Bunny

Mandy left a comment on one of my blog posts that reminded me I've been meaning to do a post about hilarious Grandma Bunny.

If the first part sound like a gripe fest, skip to the bottom. I love my Bunny so much, but she has acquired some interesting habits in old age!

Just a few of my, er, favorite things:

Bunny wakes me up every morning at 7am on the dot with her hoarse, incessant barking. She refuses to shut up, even when I yell at her from bed. When I finally stagger into the front room to let her out of her crate, she bolts to the water bowl. Obviously, she gets thirsty in the night.

The obvious solution would be to give her access to water in her crate. Queue hoarse barking at 3am because she has to go to the bathroom baaaaaaaaaaad.

The other obvious solution is to leave her out of her crate because she is a sweet angel. Queue crapping on the floor (probably around 3am, but hey, at least she doesn't have to strain her voice to get the dumb humans to wake up).

Lately I've been thinking that our little old lady is deaf and blind, because when I call her or want her to do anything, she looks around the room vacantly as though she has no idea what is going on. This is especially true when she is told to get out of the kitchen, come in the house, go out of the house, or go to her kennel (our 4 main repetitive tasks during the day). She is also suuuuuuuuuuper slooooooooow.

Well, just the other day while filling dog bowls, I dropped the smallest little piece of kibble on the floor. It must have made a sound, because on a flash, the fastest brown striped dog I've ever seen (who would have to have amazingly accute hearing, I might add) darted around the corner towards me with lightening speed, and pounced on the irresistible morsel. Once it was devoured, she hopped away on 3 legs and folded back up in the corner to fall asleep. Quinn now says that our deaf, blind, crippled Corgi can hear a piece of kibble drop all the way in Taiwan. Could she be playing us for fools with the decrepid old lady act? Nah!

We do love our little Marcy/Bunny, though. We love her beacuse she does rotten, funny things like playing old when she doesn't want to do something. We love her because she is sweet natured. I love her because of her increible will to live. I've rushed that dog to the vet twice since I've had her, barely alive (once when she got spayed and the vet overdosed her on morphine and once after a horrible mauling from a bigger dog). Both times I remember driving really fast saying "hold on Bunny, stick with me" and she always did. I love her beacuse she falls asleep with her pudgy belly in the air while she gets her nails done. I love her because she has always hopped (hence the nickname Bunny) like a jolly girl. I love her because she was my apartment dog when I went to Tacoma- she loved to belly flop on the air mattress and rough house in the mornings, and she loved to go to the office and make everyone smile. She totally kept me going on incredibly lonely nights when I would come home from the office and cry because Tacoma is the suckiest place on the planet to live. I love her because she is the happiest dog I have ever known, and always makes me happy, too.

Bunny is awesomeness.

The Little Seedlings That Could

One of Jeff's amazingly fast growing bean seeds popping up its little head for more sun

A whole tray full of growing zucchini plants! I see lots of butter and garlic zucchini in our future

Apparently we're quite the gardeners! I credit Jeff with knowing how to do this project, and me with being a diligent waterer twice a day. Jeff's beans are troopers! We replanted them in Dixie cups last night because they were popping up out of their egg carton... and this afternoon when I went to water them, there were 6 of them popping up out of their Dixie cups! Way to grow, guys! During my afternoon watering, I also noticed 6 of his zucchini plants starting to sprout. Amazing! I love watching things grow, especially from seeds like this. The competitive (and hungry) side of me is wondering when my highly anticipated tomatoes and peas are going to show their little sprouts, and I shoved them a little further into the sunlight to give them a boost. I'll be swallowing sadness if only Jeff's crops grow.

So is this really the fun in life? It seems pretty simple... but it really is a good time!

PS: Just for fun, I picked up a package of Cosmo flower seeds at Home Depot last night. Just a little tribute to my favorite dog, which I plan to plant in the corner bed underneath the trees. Shhhhh... nobody tell the little goof I said he is my favorite. His head will get big.

Professional Wedding Pics

http://www.customminds.com/weddings/tavia/

Fabulous 4

I've lost 4 pounds in the last couple weeks! It's not a lot, but losing any weight has been really hard for me the past couple years. The scale seems to creep up and up and up, and I really don't have that will power that I used to have when I was younger. Life is harder, and way less exciting, and lately I feel like my life is all about cleaning up a perpetually messy house. It really does get me down! That is totally normal, right?

Anyway, when I can't even shake the blues, launching an all out attack on my poundage seems impossible. Of course my poundage makes me more blue, so it really is a vicious cycle. With all the leftover wedding cheesecake gone from the fridge now, I've been focusing on just eating smaller portions (no exercise yet) of foods I actually like and am happy that it has paid off a little. I know I really have to exercise if I'm going to see great results, but sometimes it is hard just to stay out of bed during the day... so for now I will do what I can!

Yes, Apparently We ARE Domestic

Planting seedlings in Dixie cups on our dining room table

Jeff spritzing the freshly planted seeds

Our little seedlings sitting on the front porch trying to grow

More of our little seedlings, next to my favorite frog and Jeff's chili pepper plants, which are producing rapidly

We spent Sunday evening planting little seeds for the garden that we want to start growing in our back yard. We have cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, peas, green beans, and rosemary. I also got some sunflower seeds that I think I'll plant directly into the ground and see how they do. I'm normally pretty bad at keeping things alive, but Jeff is pretty good at it. For $10 worth of seeds we decided that if we eat for the entire summer that's a pretty good deal, but if they all die we will give them a proper funeral while not crying too much over our investment. At the very least, it was a lot of fun! It reminded me of when I was a kid and my mom and I planted little seeds for a school project. We ended up getting some nice plants from it! I am absolutely DYING for the tomatoes and peas to grow. There's nothing better than fresh from the garden tomatoes and peas in my book.

Wedding Pics from Des, last set

I loooooooooved our awesome table settings. We also had chunky square white plates.

Post ceremony

Post ceremony

Ceremony Pics, from Desirea

Wedding Pics from Des 5

Quinn in the audience

Me with Desirea. Thank you for taking such great pics, Des!

Me during the ceremony

Jeff during the ceremony

Pics Courtesy of Des 4

I am so glad someone caught a pic of Andrea's kids dancing. I think Garett is busting a move!

Holland and Haven waiting to walk out.

Cheska's hair

My hair

My hair again. We got a lot of hair pics!

Wedding Pics from Desirea 3

My hairdo

Holland and Haven waiting to walk down the aisle. Holland was as nervous as I was!

Dancing with my good friend (and Des' great husband), Jon.

Dancing with Jeff. He never dances! I was so happy :)

Pics Courtesy of Desirea 2

Cheska and my fabulous hair! We got stuck at the nail salon, and we were late to the hair salon, so they bumped us! We ran over to JC Penny's and the ladies at the salon there took pity on us and slipped us in. I love the way our hair turned out.

Cheska, so beautiful!

During the ceremony

Wedding Pics Courtesty of Desirea's Camera!