More Damage!!

I'm sitting in my computer room with the door shut. Stella is in here with me sitting by the door. I glanced up and lo and behold, there are deep scratches in the bottom of the door. It's obvious that Stella scratched at the door to get out while being shut in here. It didn't happen any time while I was in here so that only leaves the dog sitter! I am sooooooo disgusted!!! Yes, she doesn't like being shut in here but I just tell her no and she backs off. Just when I thought I was pretty much over it all! What the Hell else am I going to find that she was allowed to destroy??
And the very amazing part is that the dog sitter said in her note that while she understood why I was upset about the key and remote, she thought she did a good job of taking care of Stella!
Holy shit, if allowing her to do whatever she wants is taking good care of her, I guess I didn't need a sitter at all, I could've left her alone.

Happy Birthday Jim!

I can't believe this is the third birthday without you. I hate these days :(
I love you and miss you :(

The lost is found!

YAY! The dog sitter found the key and remote to my car! :) I'm happy about that but that isn't what bothered me the most about the whole deal. Accidents do happen. And, she's young and is a good kid, she just made a lot of bad choices :(

I'm still pissed about all the bad habits Stella acquired while I was gone. She's doing her business outside again but she still insists on bolting for the basement every time I turn my back. I'm thinking about tethering her again, poor thing. GRRRrrrrr!

To top everything else off, because of something Nancy did, Marilyn isn't coming for the banquet, in which case, I will not be attending either, I think I'm getting the flu AND tomorrow is Jim's birthday :(
Can I just go to bed and wake up next summer??

Got a note in my door

From the dog sitter. I guess Stella chewed some of her things. Sorry, she's a puppy. And no, she does not chew my things... BECAUSE I WATCH HER like you should've!

Weiners

On Sunday, the boys were here, running down the hall between my dining room and bedroom. Jameson said they were getting their exercise :) They got hot and sweaty so they took off their socks. Next thing I knew, they took off their shirts. Next, were their pants. I decided it wasn't worth an argument and said, "that's ok, just keep your underwear on, I do not want to see any penises."
Gage looked at me very seriously and asked, "Don't you like weiners?"
Well now........................ ;)

UGH!

So, I find out that several times when my Mom and Allison stopped over while I was gone, Stella was shut into the laundry room with a food and water dish and a towel, presumably to pee on. Firstly, if she's just going to be in there 4-5 hours like I said, she doesn't need food or water. What that tells me is that you were planning to be gone longer than 4-5 hours. Secondly, DO NOT teach my puppy to pee on a towel after I spent the summer house breaking her! It makes me sick that I have to start all over again and break some bad habits she learned in the 12 days I was gone. She's been bolting for the basement every chance she gets and has peed on the floor a couple of times since I've been back.
I had a housebroken puppy damnit! I spent 24/7 with her for many, many weeks to get her that way. What did you do to her... or better yet, what DIDN'T you do??
To think I actually paid you to do this! Geesh! I think my 6 year old grandson would have done a much better job!

You kind of shot yourself in the foot with this because if it had worked out, I was planning to ask you to do it whenever I went away. Not only do I do trips about three times a year, I also do weekends away every once in awhile. Plus, I have a close friend who was anxiously waiting to hear if you were any good, because she too is in need of a dog sitter quite often. Easy money but of course there's no way I'd ever get you again or recommend you!

$119.62!!

That's what it's going to cost me to replace the key and the remote transmitter for my car.
Oh, and does anyone find it ironic that I left a gas gift card for the pet sitter yet she ran between 1/2 and 3/4 of a 20 gallon tank of gas out of my car?
Talk about a slap in the face!

Did She Pay Any Attention To My Dog??

When I got home Friday night, the dog sitter had left a note that Stella had had an accident on my comforter (a new $350 comforter, I might add) and she didn't know how to wash it. Welllll... it's dry clean only. And on examination, I found that it had been peed on more than once. The spots were on the bottom along the hem and Stella doesn't lift her leg, so it had to have been laying on the floor.
Tonight, looking around, I found quite a few pee stains behind the rocking chair in my bedroom. I suspect that's where the comforter was thrown. I told her to keep the bedroom door shut at night so I think Stella probably had to go potty during the night and the sitter didn't hear her so she pottied in the corner. Grrrr!!
Did she pay any attention at all to Stella or did she just party when she was here?
She also allowed Stella to chew up one of the corners of the comforter while she wasn't watching.
This whole thing is really getting expensive. Dry cleaning, carpet shampooing, replacing a key and factory installed remote starter besides gift cards and $300 I paid her. Man, was I taken advantage of or what?!!

Disgusted

Stella is a very smart dog and has been housebroken for a long time. We have not had an accident in the house for months now. That is until I went on a cruise and had a dog sitter.
I am so disappointed :(
I also suspect Stella spent a lot of time alone, shut in the laundry room :( She doesn't mind being in there, that's where I put her when I have to leave. However, I asked the sitter not to leave her in there for longer than 4 hours. I don't. Stella can easily hold it for that long and does all the time. I found dried pee in there and she hasn't peed in there since August.
Stella is a very smart dog however, and seems to get that now that Mom's home, it's back to the rules.
Still.
I feel taken advantage of. I paid the girl quite well and she had the run of my house. Plus, I bought $150 worth of gift cards for restaurants and a gas card for her to make it even easier.
The sad part is that it is a friend's daughter. I sure hope my friend doesn't ask me how it went.
And my car keys and remote starter are still lost at her friend's house... or so she says. Who knows what happened to them?
I just feel so bad for Stella. Poor thing :( I feel like I really let her down :(

What NOT to do While Dog Sitting:

• When the owner says do not allow the dog to go downstairs, she means it!
• If you ignore the dog and she goes downstairs, at least clean up the seven piles of poop so the owner doesn't know she got down there at least seven times.
• Ditto the three puddles of pee.
• Do not take the owners car and lose the keys and remote starter.
• Or run all the gas out of the owners car while racking up the miles on it.
• Do not empty the fifth of Kahlua even though it was only half full.
• Do not empty the half gallon of vodka, even though it was only half full.
• Do not open the bottle of Black Velvet and drink a third of it.
• Clean the house so that it looks like it did when you got there. It was spotless when she left and a sty when she got home.
• Do not help yourself to the owners facial wash and shave cream and leave them in the hall bathroom.
• Do not leave cigarette butts on the floor in the garage.
• If your car leaks oil, do not park it in the garage.
• Do not store your pajamas behind the washing machine... trust me, the owner will find them.
• Do not stash the lint from the dryer between the washer and dryer.
• Most of all, pay attention to the dog like you assured the owner you would. She did not pay you so that she could come home and re-train her dog!

HEY!

My mature eyes are really liking this new font size!

Home!!

I'm back from my cruise and my washer and dryer are going full blast. Princess does have a coin operated laundry on all decks which is nice so I really don't have too much to do.
Long day yesterday. Up and off the ship by 8:00AM. Went on a tour of Ft. Lauderdale and then left there at 4:15PM. Arrived in Memphis with just 20 minutes to spare to catch the next flight to Minneapolis. There, we had to wait on the plane for about 40 minutes for de-icing so we were late getting into Minot.
12:45AM is NOT a good time to get home but bless Karter, he was waiting for me :)
It's so nice to spend time with Carol :)
Stella was excited to see me this morning :)

One Tough Customer

I took Jameson to RCC today to buy his birthday present. He got a pair of cowboy boots, a cowboy shirt, a pair of black Wranglers and a cowboy belt. Thank goodness he already has a hat. He was quite pleased with himself and has everything laid out waiting to be worn to school on Monday. I wonder how old he'll be when he asks for a horse.

Happy Hour

Jane, Deb, Patty, Maria, Shirley, and Jennifer all showed up last night for happy hour. Marilyn even checked in via phone :)
I steamed a couple pounds of Alaskan King crab, had bruschetta and some chips and dip for snacking on. Deb brought some walleye and chocolates, Jane brought corn dip and chips and Patty brought some homemade cookies. We feasted, drank and solved the world's problems for another week :)
It's a tough job but thankfully, the Homemakers are up to the task ;)

Fire Dog

The boys were over last night and they played Firefighters. Gage was driving the fire truck on one end of the couch and Jameson was riding on the back of the fire truck, holding on to the fire dog, aka Stella. The fire dog wasn't as impressed with their imaginations as their grandma was :)

Lunch with Grandma

I picked up Chinese food for Grandma and I to have for lunch today. She speared a carrot and said, "They even make carrots look appetizing."
All I can say is that it sure beat the nursing home food we get in the cafeteria. Plus, it gave her something to talk about. Her sister and niece walked in just as I was getting ready to go. As I left I could hear her talking about the lunch she had :)
Of course, she'll forget she had it by tomorrow :)
I love you, Grandma!

Praise the Lord

Jameson's response to Gage trying to get out of going to Sunday School this week:
"But Gagey, you have to learn about the Lord."

Wii Play

I bought a Wii for the Slotters for Christmas and Alex couldn't get enough. He'll play anyone at any time. Stella couldn't let Sarah out of her sight so she hung on during a heated challenge.

Post and Pre Vacation Stuff

Today I get to start all of the crap a person does when they return from being gone.

• Pick up Mail
• Deal with said mail
• Get hair done
• Laundry
• Go to the bank
• Pick up bagels for the freezer
• Pick up some groceries

Then I can start getting things arranged for leaving again. I'm leaving for a Southern Caribbean cruise a week from today.

• Find passport
• Get cash
• Talk to dog sitter
• Put a hold on mail and newspaper
• Wash summer clothes
• Pack

Can't wait to soak up some sun :)

Play Time

A Handsome Little Guy With An Attitude

David James at 17 months :)

Smoke Free!

I haven't had a cigarette since the day before I left for MA.
That's 22 days!
YAY ME!

Gee, but it's great to be back home :)

Home is where I wanna be!!! :)

Stella did remarkably well flying. Wonder if she gets frequent flier miles? She and Nugget hit it off famously and I'm sure they're going to miss each other. I have a ton of pictures and will post them in the next few days but for now, I'm home and unpacked... and tired.

Bless Allison's soul, she not only picked me up from the airport, she'd bought some groceries for me too so I wouldn't have to dash out tonight and get some. What a sweetheart! She even got chocolate iced donuts :) Love you, Honey!

I miss my MA boys but can't wait to see my ND boys! Oh, how I wish they all lived in the same state!