A tired puppy is a good puppy

I took Stella for a long walk this afternoon. By the time we got back, her tongue was longer than her tail. Except it wasn't curling over her back :) She had a looooong nap afterwards.

I invited my Mom over for dinner tonight, so after I put it in the oven, I took Stella for another walk. I was hoping she'd sleep while we ate dinner. We walked several blocks and I had every intention of going to the end of our street and back up before we hung up the leash. However, Stella had other plans. Once she spotted our house, that was it. She laid down on the grass and refused to budge. Interesting, seeing as how our condo is identical to all the others for 2 blocks down and two blocks over. I guess my little girl knows where she lives. Is that kind of like learning your address when you're a little kid?

BTW, she did sleep during dinner and is still conked out :)
Maybe I should take her out walking again before bed so she'll sleep through the night without having to get up for a potty break. My luck, she'd just be too tired to get up and would pee my bed.

Grandma???

"Daddy's not home, so can you bring Stella to our house cuz we wanna play wiff her?" said Jameson in his best whiney, 5 year old voice.

I did and they did :)

Good Girl!

I hung bells on my door Monday morning. All day yesterday, every time I took Stella out to potty, I used her paws to ring the bells before we went outside. Today, she rang the bells four different times when she needed to go outside :)
Too bad kids aren't this easy to train!

Hard at Work

Mike worked while Shirley and I took a coffee break ;)

Weekend

Stella spent the weekend with Allison, Karter and the boys. I spent the weekend with Mike and Shirley at their cabin at Indian Hills. We both had a great time! :) I picked Stella up just in time to join the Lesmanns and their company for dinner. Allison cooked spaghetti, cheesy garlic toast and had a huge salad. Very tasty!! The kid can cook when she wants to!

My contribution was a quick stop at the DQ on the way out there for Buster Bars and Red, White and Blue Star Kisses. When we left, 4 little boys had blue faces. Stella enjoyed giving Gage a goodbye kiss :)

Dear Jim,

Even with all the odds stacked against you, you still won the bet. It's not fair. I'll always love you and miss you.

Stella & Gage

Gage takes a quick time out for a little thumb sucking but Stella gets a run for her money when he stops to visit. She's such a good girl, she doesn't snap or growl at him when he picks her up... even when he's got her around the neck. YAY, Stella!! I'm so pleased that she's ok with being manhandled, errrr... boyhandled :)

Bring it

Stella loves to play fetch. Only we call it "bring it." I close the door to my bedroom and sit under the dining room window, wind up and throw her ball all the way to the door. She runs her little heart out and gets the ball and brings it back to me. Then she has a nice, long nap. We're now working on "drop it" :)

Two years ago today...

my world stood still :(
Life sucks!

And the EYES have it!!

Never mind the runny nose, who could resist a pair of eyes like this?

Holy Haircut, Batman!!!

It's just hair and it'll grow back but remind me next time Stella goes to the groomer to ask for a 1 and NOT a 2!

Gage still loves her though :)

Treat Whore!!

So, Stella had her appointment with the vet on Thursday. Dr. Thunshelle always gives her treats to distract her while he's giving her shots. He remarked that she was very "treat driven." I told him it was indeed a treat because I don't give her many. He then suggested that I give her lots of treats. Any time she does what I want, I should treat her. Going potty, sitting, etc. He said that's what he'd do.
OK, then.
Before Thursday, we were doing quite well on the potty training, except that she didn't bark to go out to pee. Just to poop. I took her out on a regular basis and she was learning to pee on command however. But I still wanted her to bark to go out so I wouldn't have to watch her so close anymore.
So, I decided to take his advice and started treating her every time she pees or poops outside.
Great, she's now barking to go out to pee.... EVERY. FIVE. MINUTES!!!! And I can't ignore her bark at the door cuz you just know, the time I do, she'll have to go really bad and have an accident.
Interestingly enough, she always pees when I take her out or maybe she's just posturing?? Heck if I know and I WILL NOT run my hand under her to see if she's wet.
I've now resorted to giving her a 1/4 of a tiny training treat. By the way, she loves the peanut butter flavored ones best :) Tomorrow we're cutting back on the treats and using just verbal praise as before.
The good part is that she is barking to go out to pee.
Dr. Thunshelle, I love ya man and think you're a great vet, but you've created a MONSTER!!!

Sit, Stella

We've been working on sit today and I'm proud to say my little girl is a quick study. Of course, 5 billion treats didn't hurt :)

Strawberry, here I come!!

Why is it that if you're dressed and ready to go somewhere, you invariably spill food on your clothes?? Of course if I'd just had grubby clothes on, nothing would've spilled. Ahhh, must be another of ole Murphy's laws, huh?

At any rate, my cooler's packed, I filled up with gas, Stella's spending the night with her sister and as soon as my shirt is dry, I'm heading out! :)
I love me some girlfriend time!!

Hmmm...

So, I had a date yesterday. A very nice guy, easy to talk to, likes to have fun and not bad looking. I could only find one thing I didn't like too much so far... he's shorter than I am :( Didn't seem to bother him but I haven't decided where I stand on the deal.

A big plus was that Allison, Karter and the boys stopped over while he was here. Jameson crawled up on his lap and laid his head on his shoulder. Now had Gage done it, I wouldn't have thought much about it BUT Jameson is just not that comfortable with people when he first meets them. Like I said, Hmmmm....

Happy Birthday David James!!!

One year ago today I got to hold you for the first time. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year. Grandpa Aiken would've been so proud of you! Hope you have a wonderful day, little sweetie!!

Potty Training Breakthrough?

Stella seems to know what I want when I take her outside. It's been many days since we've had an accident. However, I believe I'm the one that's trained. I take her out regularly and she does her business but up until today, she hasn't asked to go outside.
This morning, she actually went to the door and barked. I immediately took her out and she peed. TWICE!!
I sure hope this continues!!

But seriously, she's only been here for 3 weeks and we've had less than 10 accidents in the house. I think she's doing pretty damned good. And she's learning to fetch a ball. She's bringing it back to me about 80% of the time :)

And the biggie is that she definitely knows who she belongs to :) She follows me everywhere :)

PSA to Men in Cars

When you drive by a woman in a bathrobe @ 4AM who is out pottying her dog, DO NOT drive slowly, roll down your window and try to engage her in conversation! You'll scare the shit out of her!
End of message.

Strawberry

It's that time of the year again! Yep, you guessed it, STRAWBERRY!!!! As many Homemakers that can make it show up for three days of good food, good drinks, and good friends! No men or kids allowed! We usually solve MOST of the world's problems :)

The planning meeting is at Patty's tonight and the phone calls will start flying the closer we get. This year we're going against tradition and will go down on a Sunday. Normally we do Wednesday through Friday but because Jennifer's son is getting married August 10, we had to adjust the time. August 12-14 it is :)

I've never missed a Strawberry, and have even brought TPN on two different occasions. Because of Stella G, however, this year I will be going for the days only and driving back each night. I have no one to leave her with, she's too little to be kenneled, and the cabin owners do not like dogs. I will bring her with me but won't let her in the cabin and will clean up after her so they won't even know she was there. Actually, I would clean up after her anyway but out of courtesy, I just can't allow her in the cabin. Which means, I won't be going in either. Sure hope the weather is nice :)

Joining In

A- Available or married? Available
B- Best gift to give? Time
C- Cake or Pie? Cake, butter, yellow cake
D- Drink of Choice? Golden Margaritas
E- Essential Item? Money
F- Favorite Color? Red to wear, otherwise, purple
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Neither
H- Hometown? Minot, ND
I- Indulgence? Alaskan King Crab
J- January or February? January, it's my birthday month
K- Kids & names? Allison 34, Sarah 31
L- Life is incomplete without? Love
M- Marriage Date? April 28, 1972
N- Number of Siblings? 4
O- Oranges or apples? Oranges
P- Phobias/Fears? The dark
Q-Favorite Quote? "If you're going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance."
R- Reason to Smile? 4 grandsons
S- Season? Fall
T- The last thing you returned? A ham :)
U- Unknown fact about me: I can't go to bed with dishes in the sink
W- Worst habit? Smoking, but I'm working on it and can say I ALMOST have it beat
Y- Your favorite food? Alaskan King Crab
Z- Zodiac? Aquarius

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