Dog Days of Summer

I have bittersweet news about our beloved husky, Toby. He has started jumping fences, a notorious and pesky husky habit, this summer and roaming unsupervised. He is a beautiful, AKC registered, un-fixed Siberian Husky who is so friendly, sweet and a big baby with the softest white fur and gorgeous blue eyes. A prime target for dog catchers, kidnappers, abusers and breeders. We tried keeping him inside. Mistake. The result was a bedroom door stripped of paint and and an oriental rug with a hole all the way through.

AW & I made a very difficult decision that we talked about for weeks and went back and forth about a thousand times. We decided it would be best for Toby to live somewhere with more space and another dog. As of Monday, Toby has a new home with great people who have another husky. I have cried and cried and miss my baby bear so very much but I just keep reminding myself that he is happier and healthier now that he can run "free". I just hope he knows  that I love him dearly and always will. Here are some pictures of us playing on our last afternoon together:

Not having a dog is pretty much not an option for us. We love dogs. All dogs. We both grew up with dogs and can't get enough of them. I always like to say that when we have a house one day I want to have 4 babies & 4 dogs! Think about all of the chaotic fun we would have!
Anywho, our first night without Toby was pretty much awful and the next morning was even worse. It was too quiet and there wasn't a friend to greet us when we woke up. While AW ironed his pants there was no fur-ball to talk to. When I stumbled to the kitchen there was no fur-baby licking my hands. It was sad.


So, Tuesday morning I was at the Greater Birmingham Humane Society waiting for the doors to open at 10a.m. After much talking and meeting lots of great people and 3 hours later I was headed home with our newest fur-family member, Artie! Artie is a terrier mix that was abandoned at the shelter. They had to chase him down because he was so scared and once they finally caught him they knew nothing about him, not even his name. He is 13lbs. of ferocious fun and just the sweetest, most cuddly thing ever!
I am definitely a "big dog" girl. The bigger they are the more I love them. I just can't help it. I am just drawn to those big babies but because we live in a small place with no yard a big dog is not an option. I never thought I would own a small dog much less love one but Artie has stolen our hearts immediately. Artie was named "Rob" by the shelter.  It is short for Robin from Batman & Robin because he has a black "mask" around his eyes. He has light skin with spots all over it and scruffy, wirey, white hair that is thin enough to let those lovable spots show through. One of his ears is solid black and the other one is white with black spots and his tail never stops wagging. He is so happy and you absolutely cannot help but be happy when you are around him.
We decided on the name Artie because he definitely looks as though he has some Scottish Terrier in him. My mom googled "scottish names" and we had a plethora of options. McArthur was one of the plethora so we shortened it to Artie and that has been his name since 6p.m. Tuesday!


My baby brother and I took Artie to PetSmart yesterday and decked him out. He has a new kennel, new leash, new toys and treats and some delightful shampoo and conditioner (Tuscan Meadow scented). After so much shopping it was bath time. Becaue Artie is "fun-sized" he fit nicely in the kitchen sink and did really well although we was not loving it, that's for sure! And he did not smell like a Tuscan Meadow afterwards either. He basically just smelled like a wet dog. But he looks and feels a lot better!
AW & I decided to curl up on the couch for our nightly routine of Andy Griffith and ice cream and Artie decided to join us. He just curled up so sweetly on my chest and drifted off to sleep. We went to bed after watching Barney Fife quit the police business to become a vacuum salesman.
*SPOILER ALERT*  (No worries, he comes to his senses and rejoins Andy at the end). We let Artie sleep in the bed with us and he found himself a nice spot at the foot of the bed where we all three slept soundly and cozily. When I woke up around 7:15, AW was so happy and reporting "he is so pleasant".
While I miss my baby bear, Toby, so incredibly much I am so happy to have found Artie and I think he is just as happy too! As I type he is curled up on my feet taking a mid-morning nap.
I received a text about Toby's first night at his new home. He went for a run with his new momma and then slept at the foot of her bed all night and has been doing great!


Enjoy the pictures of my new baby, Artie:

Dear Diary

As my mom was cleaning her house last week, she came across my old diary. My dad got me this diary from FAO Schwartz in New York City when I was in the second grade (1995). I wrote in it for 5 years. I have been re-reading it and enjoying it immensely. I decided to share some of the entries here on my blog. I hope you enjoy them although I know that you probably won't enjoy them as much as I have ;) Also, I will spell everything exactly as I spelled it in my diary and for privacy I will change some names. I will * the names I change. 
I would also like to add that in the front cover I wrote a warning for anyone who dared to pick the lock and peer inside my diary. It says:

"PRIVATE! If you look you'll be sorry!

This means you! Too!"

In the middle of this warning I drew an illustration of just how sorry you would be with a picture of a head stating "before" and a picture of a neck stating "AFTER! no head!" And just in case you still didn't get it I drew another head/headless illustration. You should truly feel privileged to be reading this information as I could take your head off. 

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

April 15, 1995

One day my cousin Katie had a boyfriend his name was Dana. That was pretty weird for a boy. then today she told us that she dumped him. Because she didn't like him.

April 16, 1995

Anna my little sister has this boy in her class-room. His name is Stephen. He like's her but she dosn't like him. One day Stephen's friend said go up and kiss her he said "no".

April 26, 1995

*Taylor Edmunds some times kisses all the girls. Us girls do not like that at all. I mean a boy kissin girls that don't even like him for a boyfriend. grose! But we like him for a friend. He is nice.

May 27, 1995

My mom when she was little she and her sisters always had a crush on Joey. But he is not my: uncle or Dad. I think it was her cousins big brother. She said she wished he was there boyfriend.

June 27, 1995

My cousin Phillip has a girlfriend. Her name is (Kristy) with a "C" (Cristy).

...so apparantly as a child I was obsessed with everyone's love life!

And The Winner Is...

The winner of the $35 CSN Gift Certificate is....AMANDA !!! Congratulations! And thank you to everyone who participated! This was a lot of fun!

An Awkward Tan

Recently I was put in the most awkward situation of my life (I will share the story sometime soon). As I was reflecting on this situation I was reminded of what was my most awkward situation until now. This is the story I will share with you today. Also, as this is a very awkward situation I will not reveal the name of the other party involved although some of you already know ;) ...


It was 2007 and a warm spring afternoon in Montevallo around 3 or 4 p.m. A sorority sister of mine and I decided to go tanning in Alabaster before caf-o-clock (5:00). We wanted to be back a little before 5 so that we would be sure to walk from the Alpha Gam hall with the group, so all of that to say, we were in a hurry! We arrived and I got to go in immediately but she had to wait. I was going in for 20-30 minutes and she was only going for about 15 minutes. We figured since I was going in first we would get done around the same time and hustle back to Mo-town for that ever-delicious caf food so lovingly prepared by Ms. Donna =) 
 I enjoyed my tanning session complete with a nice cool fan and some fun tunes on the radio. I got dressed and walked out to find the waiting room empty. I just knew for sure my friend would have been out there probably waiting on me but she wasn't. No big deal. I picked up whatever magazine was lying around to flip through because surely she would be out any minute. Probably ten minutes went by and she was still not done. "Wow, she must've really had a long wait before she got a bed," I thought. I decided to go ask the girl at the desk how much time she had left. "She's done. Her time ended about 5 minutes ago." hmmm...she sure was taking a long time to get dressed but whatever we still had some time to spare. I continued to wait...and wait...and wait. Well now I began to get worried. "Has she left me?? Did she forget that I was with her? Surely not!" I thought as I walked out to the huge parking lot to look for her car. I didn't see it and really began to get nervous. Oh, there it is, ok she had definitely not left me. Maybe she had walked next door to the grocery store to grab something thinking I was still in there. I decided to call her phone. No answer. I went back into the tanning salon and asked the desk girl if she had come out. She hadn't seen her. Which room was she in? She told me and I wandered over to find the door still locked. I knocked. No reply. I called her cell again. No reply. Now I was really getting worried and hungry as caf-o-clock was drawing closer.
Now it must be noted that this sorority sister is notorious for falling asleep. As I knew this fact I just knew she had fallen asleep. I went to the desk girl again and asked her if she could please unlock the door because I just knew this sister was asleep and as she slept like a brick there was no way she was going to wake up from me calling her phone or knocking on the door. "I'm sorry but we aren't allowed to unlock the doors." What?! How am I supposed to get out of here and back to Mo-town?? So, I was left only to knock and say her name a bout a billion times. As the tanning salon staff could see I was unsuccessful as I had told them I would be. One staffer comes to me stating that she has a gift. "I have a really loud voice and can yell really loud. What's her name?" I told her sister's name (and for the sake of privacy we will use the name Sally). 
"SALLY!!!" "SALLY!!!!" "SALLY!!!!!"....no success, no surprise. "I'm telling y'all she is asleep and when she's asleep she won't wake up unless you physically move her"....still won't unlock the door. grrrrr....
Desk Girl has now joined Loud Voice Girl and I. "What is her middle name?" askes Loud Voice Girl? "Kate", I reply. 
"SALLY KATE!!!" "SALLY KATE!!!" "SALLY KATE!!!"...still no reply, still not surprised.
LVG, "Ok, what is her full name?" I tell her, "Sally Kate Porter".
Now LVG really gets into her "gift" and proceeds to swing her arms back and forth three times before going into a lunge stance with both of her arms straight out behind her full-on yelling, "SALLY KATE PORTER!!!!" several times. Truly, she did have a loud voice. Whether that is a gift or not is debatable however her voice could wake the dead but not Sally while she was sleeping because you see when Sally sleeps it is a deeper sleep than even the dead sleep. (I wonder if I could have used the word "sleep" in that sentence any more?) Anyways, I finally convinced LVG & DG to unlock the door or else they were going to have to find me a sleeping bag and feed me dinner and breakfast because unless I went in there to get Sally I was staying for a while.
As I went in, embarrassed at the ruckus that had been caused, I could not help but laugh. I closed the door behind me in this tiny room with the tanning bed closed and the radio softly playing and the fan blowing a cool breeze. In the corner chair was a pile of clothes and underwear. I knew under this sun casket laid a naked sleeping girl and all I could do was laugh. After I composed myself I opened the lid to see Sally with nothing on but tanning goggles making it look as though she had alien eyes. I laughed again and managed to say her name causing her to wake up in a rather confused and embarrassed state. Wouldn't you be embarrassed if you woke up in a strange place butt-naked with someone standing over you?
Needless to say it was quite an experience and I am pretty sure we were late going to the caf but that didn't matter as this was a hilarious story that we knew every sister would appreciate!

$35 GIVEAWAY!!! --EXTENDED

Great news! I am doing a $35 gift certificate giveaway! Now, I know some giveaways are tricky and not all that they seem to be but this one really is great or I wouldn't do it! Everyone and anyone would love this gift certificate! First what I need you to do is think really hard about something that you've been wanting lately but maybe just don't want to spend money on. I know for me there are like a million things(baking sheets, tennis shoes, casual dishes, etc...) I can think of but when you need items like new truck tires, have student loan payments, etc...fun, little items get pushed to the wayside. So, anyways, think about that item for a moment. Maybe it's something practical or maybe something fun. Perhaps it is something just for you, for your spouse or child or maybe a gift for someone else...Keep thinking, friends...

Now, I will attempt to guess what you have thought of! I know! A new purse! duh! I mean what lady wouldn't want that? Oh, you're a male, my bad. I've got it! A new grill! No? Oh! You're making some home improvements? Let me think...track lighting or maybe a new faucet? I know, I'm good!

Anywho, my point is you can find any of the items I've listed on CSN 's websites. It's pretty much awesome!

Now you are asking me to stop playing silly guessing games and give you the lowdown on how to enter to win this fabulous prize! Here's the deal:

--To be inintially entered comment on this post letting me know what you would love to win from one of the CSN sites!

--To receive a second entry you must "follow" my blog by clicking the "follow" button under the "followers" section. Really easy. If you are already following me then great! Once you are following then just leave a second comment letting me know what you would love to win from one of the CSN sites!

--To receive a third entry you can visit CSN's blog and leave a comment on THIS POST telling me what their most recent post title is! (If you are new to the blogging world THIS post's title is "$35 GIVEAWAY!!!)

--To receive two additional entries you can blog about this post linking my blog to the term "giveaway"! Or you can FB or Twitter about this giveaway linking my blog to the post! Be sure to let me know if you do this so I can see your post!

This giveaway will be closed Thursday, May 20th at 11:59 p.m. (You have one week!) and is only open to U.S. and Canada residents!


--THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO NEXT SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010!!!!!

Good Luck & thank you so much for participating!


--L

*There may be shipping charges or in the case of Canadian readers, international fees, for certain products.*

*This gift certificate was provided at no cost to me by CSN Stores. This post is my personal opinion!*