Here's A Reason to say "Awwwww!"

Little Joey was almost asleep when I went in for the nightly bedcheck. His little girl was fast asleep and he was settled in ready for the Sandman hisownself. He has such a sweet little face and those ears.....well, they just give him so much expression. So far things have gone very well for him here. It is a good think that he is secure in his doghood because he has a pink crate cover, a big luau print pillow bed with a pink blankie. I am going to shop for fabric to make him a real crate cover to use at shows with bumper pads and pillow cover to match. ( The kid is not the only one who is besotted!)

It's Monday!

Here's a little something for your Monday viewing pleasure. Last Thursday my ninja tested for his red/black belt. Of course, he is ALWAYS on the far side of the room, meaning that my photos and videos are never that great, not that they would be if he was the only one. I am definately not a photographic artist. He has come so far and does try so hard!

New Sheriff if Town

There's a new sheriff in town and he is riding in a kiddie buggy at the Petco!
His name is

Joey and he was a gift to my child from a long time client/aquaintence, now friend, who has been raising and showing toy dogs for MANY years. He is a finished show champion, so he will be a nice little teacher to help the girl start her dog show career. Up until now, most show dogs would pretty much retire once they became champions, but AKC recently instituted the "Grand Champion" title as incentive for people to keep showing their champions.

So far, he has just melted into the household like he was always here. Of course, being the only male in a house full of girlie dogs has made that easier. The ladies here pretty much ignored him from the start, and because they are all spayed, they weren't of much interest to him. He is far more into his little mistress and is basking in all the attention that she is heaping on him.

Their first show together will be in July.......we can hardly wait! Grand Championship here they come!

First Time for Everything

I bought one of these yesterday.... and it is all Ree Drummond's fault! She posted a recipe for home-made tortillas on her website, and I have the feeling that I could well do it! Anyway, I have never owned any lard and I am not sure what in the world I would do with it other than make these tortillas. ( I did not buy 25 lbs either - just a small tub).

I'll post some pictures of the process and the outcome. It surely should be interesting because she said there is a certain learning curve to it!

First Dog Show

My baby girl entered her first dog show this weekend, using a borrowed dog and wearing a hand me down outfit. It was a little bit of a trial on the Saturday set, but by Sunday am, we had it all sorted out. She really seemed to have a good time, even if "Dash" was a little bit apprehensive about the whole affair. We don't have a show-worthy dog of our own right now, so for the summer we will likely just beg and borrow for the local shows that we can get to, then maybe next year we MIGHT talk about a little something she can call her own. How could any judge not give it up for that smile?

Day at the Bay

We spent the morning at the Bay Park in Fairhope. The kids played , fed the birds and fished. My girl was the fishing champion, landing three - two little croakers and a bitsy saltwater catfish.
Here she is holding one right before she tossed him back in.

The boy would rather just cast around. Waiting for something to happen is not his forte.

Feeding the birds was a whole lot of fun, for about 45 seconds. It is amazing though how they can catch a froot loop while hovering over your head.

The bay park was pretty much empty when we arrived. No people, no boats, no nuthin. They do charge an $8.00 gate fee per car, but so worth it. It is free to fish off the piers, but you do have to have a marine fishing license, which you can get online.

There are oil booms out.......but so far the only evidence we have seen of the oil is in the decreased number of people around. Traffic has been easy, and waits at restaurants have been short. The children have been having a great time, and have maybe learned just a little along the way!

Gulf Coast Adventures

Today we delivered all the supplies collected in North MS to the Biloxi Wildlife Care and Rehab in Ocean Springs.

Ms. Alison was prepared and had strong male volunteers to unload the stuff.

As a special ( and unexpected ) treat, she showed us a few of the animals in the rehab program. This is a gopher tortoise who was attacked by a German shepherd and had both front legs injured. The white stuff is silvadene cream which helps with healing.

A very special guest at the center is this little sea turtle. It is a rare species, a Kemp's
Ridley Sea Turtle. It was found beached with a fish hook injury. The marks on the top of her neck are from barnacles. She is recovering her strength in a pool until she can be released safely.

The sea turtle smelled distinctly of fish, which made my little ninja back off...

What a face!

Here's another little gopher tortoise. We interrupted his dinner.

Lastly, we took a look at a baby alligator. He was small, but fiesty!

I am so hoping that the kids take away a little bit of why we came here this weekend. It really wasn't about playing in the sand and eating seafood. Maybe they will remember that we did a little something to make a difference in the outcome of even just a few of these animals.

Rock Around the Clock

It was good, y'all. For a bunch of little 6 and 7 year olds, these ladies did a great job!

Regular classes and competitions are over for the summer, but dance camp starts in a couple of weeks!

Military Mix

I finally got to look at the picture CD that I got from the last dance competition, and I think there are a lot of GREAT pictures on it! I know, y'all are sick of kid dance pictures, but I just had to show you a few . This number was called "Military Mix" and they won quite a few trophies and ribbons for it this year. I don't know how this many 5-6 year olds can do anything together, but these girls could!

This Friday

Hello friends!

Thanks for hanging in with me on this little blog. I know I have been remiss and have not kept it up for a while, but a lot has been going on! We have had dance competitions and recitals, activities at work, and now we are taking a trip to the Gulf Coast to deliver a LOAD of supplies to the Biloxi Wildlife Care Center so that they can rehab the oiled birds that they are sure to be getting in the near future.

While the wildlife involvement at this point hasn't been as bad as it was with the Exxon spill, there still will be lots of birds, mammals and other sea life affected.

Our plan is to leave Friday am and drive down to the Biloxi Center and drop off all that we have collected. Our friends, family, clients, and collegues have been so wonderful in providing the things needed on the Center's " wish list." Thanks to them, many of the oiled animals will survive!

While I can't do much, I can do this , and hopefully this one thing will make a difference to someone.

My New BFF

I think I have found my new best friend. Her name is Kindle and she carries my books around for me.

My family got the hint ( finally) and got me this little beauty for Mother's day. Little did they know that now they will have to fend for themselves for a lot of dinners because now all I want to do is come home from work and read. ( I know....you though I came home every day and played on the internet anyway, so what difference would it make?)

The beauty of this thing is that it can hold 1000 books. That is 100 books a year for 10 years. I don't think even I will read that much! Down side, you have to buy the books. Granted, there are a lot of free ones offered, and the list changes daily. For the most part, Kindle books are discounted off the price of the "real" books. It is light and easy to handle, fits in a purse and the screen looks JUST LIKE a page in a book. There is no glare in the sunshine like there is when you take your laptop outside.

I have yet to get something like a cookbook to see how that works....not sure about the "searchability" on those. Any of you know?

Thank you family for giving me something I can really use and enjoy ...now go do something while I read!

Yay!

Finally! Starbuck's has come up with a solution for those of us who had the heartbreaking loss of their local Starbuck's drive through. I , for one, don't make Starbuck's coffee at home because I rarely finish the whole pot and I just can't abide with pouring out a half pot of MONEY!

Anyway, this tastes pretty great for instant. It certainly would be better if I could add a buncha sugar and cream and chocolate or vanilla , but I can't so I make do with a little splenda and some half and half. Go get some and let me know what you think!

Tragic weekend

After two days of horrific storms, the front is starting to move out of our area. This photo was taken ( I am not sure by whom) in Millington, TN. A levy was breached near the Navy base there and some 3000 people were evacuated. A personal friend of mine lost her home in the flood and a couple of her pet birds in the effort to get out.
At our house, nothing was damaged. We are just a little sleep deprived from staying awake watching the radar and running outside to check the clouds.

We will be keeping all affected by these storms in our thoughts and prayers.

New Favorite Eat-at Place

I spent a little time in downtown Memphis this week ( actually, it was a lot of time) at the American Heartworm Symposium and was fortunate enough to hook up with a couple of collegues I had not seen in a while. Instead of the usual educational luncheon stuff, we decided to go out and find something different. Just down the block, was the fabulous Flying Fish.

I love quirky, and this place is so that. The Billy Bass adoption center cracked me up! There were fish dressed like Santa, Elvis, and Drag queens. ( any of these can be seen in Memphis on any given day) If you bring them YOUR unwanted Billy Bass, they give you a free basket of catfish.

They even made a "flying fish" out of this big guy. If you look closely, you can even see the huge nail they used to attach the wing. Now if I did this, it would be junk, but here, it is cool.

The place has counter service, meaning that you stand in line, order, then go sit and wait for the stuff to get ready. It reminded me a little of Acme Oyster Company in NOLA, except that they give a beeper instead of yelling your name when your order is ready. I can imagine that the place is packed at night, so if you are gonna go visit, and early ( or late) lunch might be the ticket!

Since I was with people who don't know how strange I can be, I didn't take pictures of everyone's food, but I can tell you that it was really really good. I had grilled grouper with grilled veggies and some beans/rice stuff. The other gals had fried shrimp and fish and it looked pretty good as well. As you know by now, I am a fried fish snob, so I usually go for blackened or grilled when anywhere that is an unknown. The grouper was seasoned lightly and cooked just so that it still held together, but was flakey and light.

I can't wait to go back!!

Easter Beauties.

As If We Weren't Already Gone to the Dogs......

A sweet friend of mine called the other day and said that she had gotten a new puppy and was going on a sudden trip out of town for a few days. Before old and forgetful Aunt Lisa checked her schedule, she said, " Well, just leave that baby with me. Puff can come too. " ( Puff is the gorgeous vision of loveliness below. She was one of my little "pickups" from many years ago. She was just a pup then, and ended up with my sweet friend. )
So, as soon as I hang up the phone, I remembered that my OTHER sweet friend ( who spends half her life in Jamaica and the other half at the airport) was headed out to Beloved this week and we were to be keeping the yorkies TOO! Ok...quick math. 4 chihuahuas + 1 dachshund + 1 aussie + 2 poodles + 2 yorkies = CHAOS!!!!!!!!

As it turns out, the "campers " are all getting along fine. Above, Mika ( yorkie) checks out Puff and Tink.

Bindi Su couldn't care less about the dogs here and what they are doing. As long as she can bark along the fence and eat all she wants, she is good.

Princess, the wonder wiener, was less enthused, but agreed to be civil as long as no one interferes with her bedtime. She would like to be in bed 23 3/4 hours of the day. That other 15 minutes she has to devote to potty breaks and eating. Of course, we could get it down to 5 minutes if I would hand feed her in the bed. ( Don't laugh, I used to do it for my maltese)

Lulu, Alli, and Mya have been taking turns with the children going down the slide. Honestly, they like it.

Action shots are hard with my point and shoot, but this is Tink running up for her turn on the slide.

There she is......she is about 2 1/2 lbs and 14 weeks old. I might forget to give her back. We haven't had a poodle in over a year now and sometimes I miss that fuzzy hair.

Puff is showing her age a bit, but otherwise she is plowing right along with the rest of them.

My boy was trying to show me his school papers, but the puppies wouldn't let him.

This weekend is going to be an adventure for sure. I just know the kids are going to be sitting around the dinner table some day talking about all the times when we had 10 dogs for the weekend, or a deer fawn in the garage, or a turtle in a bucket or a rabbit in a swimming pool. At least I hope they do! :)

I Won't Lie...I Miss It.

It has been about three weeks since I have had a "coke" and I gotta say, it has been rough. I don't care what people say, it is not true that after a couple of weeks the craving goes away because it doesn't. I guess for the "regular" person it might, but for those of us who use it as a substitute for other things, like snacks, it is a bit more important. I have been swilling down the water and Crystal Light, but it is SO not my beloved Diet Coke. I am not sure what health benefits I am reaping by giving it up, but I can tell you I am probably saving 30.00 a week or so, if you count in the stuff I ahve to get the kids whenever we would stop for a coke.

Surely there is some benefit to losing the soda.....if you know of any, let me know.

NEXSTAR - 2010

Today was the THIRD dance competition, and man was it a doozy!

First off, we had to wear the false eyelashes. It was a fight to get them on, then the real battle began, keeping them on all day!

Sassy girl!

Two pretty little divas!

Just chillin' between dances.

After a quick lunch of Chinese, we had to have a shoe change by the car.

All smiles and ready for awards!

For the awards, ALL the girls pile onto the stage and wait for the announcements. I'm not sure what this pouting was all about.

Our little tappers got a platinum and a high gold award in the judicated section and then got both FIRST and SECOND place in the 8 and under large group competition. They did two numbers, so that is how they got both the first and second place. I am so very proud of my girl and her little classmates. They definately work really hard for everything they have earned!