Category Archives: the boys

His Mis-Spent Youth is Costing Me

I seriously think the little bugger has eaten enough wires when he was a puppy (killed at least two lamps that I can recall) that his new no-bark collar just isn’t strong enough.

*sigh*

He’s not barking as much or as loud, or as crazy, but dammit, he’s still barking.  And barking for stretches.  And the thing works, I tested it to be sure.  Plus, you can tell when it’s hit the max charge in his succession of barks because he’ll stop and take some breaths.

Crazy dog.  Who knew that all that wire chewing would make him immune to the collar.  Come on, look how tiny he was.  He could barely even reach the futon standing on his back legs.

Mind you, to get a bigger charge, I have to get a much more expensive collar and it’s not like I can return this one.

The things we do for peace in this house…

Not Sure I’ll Make It

Well, I finally made the appointment with the allergist.  Turns out I need to be antihistamine and medicine-free for a week.  Mind you, two days straight of not taking my pills and my entire body starts to itch and my eyes start to water.  We’re talking, I scratch myself raw in my sleep (I still have the scars to prove it).  I’m already psychosomatically itching away and I’ve taken my meds today so there’s no excuse.  This should be interesting, very interesting indeed.

One thing my doc told me though is that if I am allergic to the cat that I can probably start on some desensitization sort of therapy.  I will say, the acupuncture is working quite well.  The lump in the back of my throat is pretty much gone until about Wednesday (from a Friday appointment).  I’m sure she can also help with the itching when I visit tomorrow. So between the two, I’ll be spiffy in no time.

But tell me, how could you not want to love and snuggle with this little guy.  Itching be damned, I’ll still be cuddling with him.

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I’m So Over Poo

I have spent a good part of this week cleaning up doggie diarrhea each morning.  Off the carpet.  Not counting the times we came home at night and I had to clean up poo yet again.  Off the carpet.  I’m so over it.  My Folex is doing a shitty job (pardon the expression) of getting it all up.  So now lucky us, our living room smells like crap…seriously.  Needless to say, I do believe I’ll be renting a steam cleaner this week (watch it get in the 100’s).

Last night was the first night we came home (from the last minute decision to attend a kick ass Brad Paisley show with filled to the brim with hottie little, OC drunks all around) that was poop free.  This morning was the first morning that I woke up to no poo!  Rejoice!  Mind you, the cat must’ve felt badly that I didn’t have anything to clean up and kindly left me a big ‘ol, messy hairball to clean up after.  At least the Folex worked on that.

Tonight, we’re off to the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Bowl.  Herbie’s performing and we have box seats.  It should be a fun night.  He’s got some great musical guests lined up.  Luckily he’s the second to last act to perform so it won’t be crazy hot when we get there.  Of course that also means we’ll be around more, all day long, well seasoned and sunned drunks *sigh*

Two straight nights of drunks and I just might be swearing off alcohol.  At least they shouldn’t be falling down and rolling down the grassy knoll known as “lawn seats” tonight (seriously, we moved as far away from the dancing drunks as we could last night or I’d probably be typing this up from the hospital after getting my toes surgically re-attached).

Hope all you dads have a great Father’s Day today!

Busy Little Sinus-y Bee

So this Saturday, I have the LWL LIVE event here in LA. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to be motivated and inspired by all the great and successful women. I can’t wait to shop and visit with all the cool vendors. And while I might be a tad bit nervous, I also can’t wait for my time as an “expert” (or as they’re known in the LWL group…MILLIE).

After running some errands – super, killer brows for me and new shirt & tie for the wedding for the hubs – I basically came home and crashed. I was tossing and turning all last night, so I didn’t get all too much sleep. Needless to say, once I woke up, I felt worse than when I laid down. My eyes hurt, my head was congested and I couldn’t stop sneezing. Two Tylenols and a Sudafed and I’m doing MUCH better thanks.

Finally able to focus on some work.  I made my flier to stand on my table to identify me amongst all the other experts.  I made my giveaway sign to go on my bag so that I can have some follow up with the folks I meet and collect emails for my upcoming newsletters (I’m giving away one of my one-on-one coaching and blogging packages).  Tomorrow I just need to head out to Staples to print them up on a color copier (ours is set to black & white only and well, not exactly super compatible with Leopard so I don’t want to mess with anything – need to look into that and see if they’ve upgraded yet).

Which basically just leaves figuring out what to wear (so glad I’m not alone in this Carrie) and packing up all my stuff.  I’m riding in with a friend of mine (KLEAN Bath & Body) and since she’ll be selling, I’ll be getting up at the crazy ass, crack of dawn.  Seriously, I’ll be meeting her at 6:45ish!!! Dude, that’s mere hours after I go to bed!!!  I’ll work on that.  Should be a long day, but a fun day!

On that note, I have 20 or so minutes to cook dinner and settle down for Lost.  Notice the hubs is not yet home…grrr!  Oh and did I mention that the little guy has puppy dog pink eye?  Poor thing, no wonder he’s been miserable these past couple of days and always wanting us to run his face, ears and well, head.  Pink eye burns like a MoFo.  He has to get drops for the next week.  But he already looks (and is acting) so much better just since the drops the doc put in.

Okay, I’m off.  Happy Lost night!  Oh yeah, did you notice my new blog design?  I got bored and well, just grabbed a new one.  Eventually, I’m going to learn how to at least make some cool headers.  Someday.  You know, when I find the time….

Today is the Day

Later today the little guy goes for his doggy sleepaway camp interview. I’m so nervous. I was asked over dinner last night if I was one of those dog moms. You know, the way over the top kind of moms? I might have been slightly offended, but then I realized that no, I’m honestly not one of those moms.

I think I’m just nervous because well, I want this to work. This place seems cool and is much more fun and accommodating compared to our regular boarder. At his regular place, he just has an outdoor run and doesn’t really get to socialize with any other dogs and I doubt the owner goes outside to visit all that much. But, he loves it there. He goes crazy as soon as we turn the corner and is so happy and jumpy when the owner opens the door. But his regular place is really, really strict about pick up and drop off times (between 8:00 and 9:00 AM only!). And well, those of you that know me, know that that’s way too early for us, but we do it.

This new place is open 9:00 to 9:00. It’s free reign with crazy pups everywhere. It’s staffed 24-hours so there’s always a human looking over things. It’s half indoors and half outdoors – with misters when it gets hot and heat when it gets cold (this is huge since his old place is just outdoors with nothing and well we typically have over 100 degree summers and our winter nights can get down in the 30’s). They also have webcams where you can check out your little one to see what’s going on – 24 hours. And if you were one of those moms (or quite possibly in this case, dads), you can call and they’ll get your little one and bring him to the phone. How fun is that?!?!

So yeah, we’re really hoping he does well at his interview. I think this would be a much more enjoyable experience for him. Especially when we’re gone to Ireland in November. I just hope and pray he doesn’t snap at anyone while he’s there. Feel free to send some good vibes our way around 2:00PM Pacific time.

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Okay, enough of that. The past couple of days I’ve been on a bit of a cleaning kick. First my closet and a couple of drawers. Then the back room/office (we’ve since been drinking us some wine!) And yesterday it was the bathroom. I finally cleaned the glass doors in the shower. Man, what a huge difference that makes! I also finally managed to vacuum. I’d been putting it off because I kept telling myself that I was going to get a cleaning lady (I still am, at some point). But I just couldn’t take it any more. I won’t freak you out by telling you just how full the Dyson canister was with cat hair – just remember it’s shedding season. But really, things look quite lovely! I think today I might even go on stain patrol in the living room.

Today’s focus will be on stopping my eyes from this damn allergy-induced tearing; shaking what seems to be a migraine before it evolves; writing up some blog posts for my site (though I can’t seem to think of any particular topics right now – any suggestions?); writing a professional review for a friend that’s up for an entreprenurial award; sending out some author interview questions; and doing some more basic cleaning here in the office. Here’s hoping that it all goes as planned.

Those Dog Days

While I could be addressing our early, unseasonable heat wave (we’ve been in the 90’s the past couple of days) I’m really just talking about the pupster. I’ve got to take him out today to get his shots updated and pick up some flea meds for the pupster and the kitkat.

You see, the little guy has his interview tomorrow with the folks at his soon-to-be doggy sleepaway camp. We’ve decided to reach out and try a new place for our upcoming Memorial Day weekend to Sonoma trip. But before you can leave your dog in a free-range facility, he needs to go through an extensive interview process. I’m actually quite nervous.

While he has a great knowledge of many commands, well, we’ve all gotten lazy here and haven’t really enforced the whole single command thing. So while he knows exactly what “sit” means, he’ll just look at you like you’re crazy instead of just sitting his butt down. Though more often, if you have a treat in hand, he skips “sit” and goes right to “beg”. Then of course, there’s “down” – man, as a pup in class he was the example of how to break your dog and teach him who is in charge (he peed he got so scared). So to this day, if you say “down”, he’ll talk back. Eventually, he’ll get down, but not after some complaining and it will be totally half-assed. Funny thing, if he’s in bed or on the couch, he will totally do “down” the first time you ask, and even understands “head down”. But on the floor, he hates it.

So do you think they’ll be impressed that his best command is “no squeak”? I mean, he loves those squeaky toys and they drive me crazy. So he knows when we say “no squeak” that he drops it and grabs a silent toy instead. It’s actually pretty cute to see. But I’m guessing it’s not an official command so it probably won’t win him any points, huh?

Oh well, I guess I’ll just continue to work with him. I have until 2:00PM tomorrow to get him to listen on the first command. It could happen. I mean, if he wasn’t so damn contrary – let’s home they welcome contrary at their facility.

Imagine this little face being the model for contrary pups back in his school days…

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The Squirrels Must Die!

No really.

I was going to do a sweet post about Earth Day and all the ways we can be more green and all the ways I’ve embraced being green. But um, yeah…the squirrels messed that all up.

So I’ve mentioned the varmints living in the wall, the ceiling and the floors a time or two (too lazy to link back, sorry). Well, I called our landlord the other day, but I don’t think she believes me. She figures the squirrels are on the roof and well, end of story.

Thing is, it’s so NOT the end of the story. They’ve managed to find a way to go in and out of the roof (yes, I believe I found it, it’s even hinged and easily, accessibly right off of the cable for their convenience believe it or not). The thing is, our war with the squirrels goes on even longer than this rooftop dancing and scratching they’ve taken to.

You see, they taunt my dog. No, seriously. They get on the brick wall, face either the screen door or any of the three windows and well, taunt him by making their annoying little clicking noises all while shaking their bushy tails at him. And yes, as expected, he goes ballistic! But wait…there’s more.

On the front of the house, the lower part, just below the windows is brick. For purely aesthetic reasons I’m sure, there is a brick-wide ledge just below the windows. So what do you think happens? We (the cat, the dog and myself) will be innocently sitting on the couch watching TV, surfing the net, talking on the phone, reading, what have you, and POP! up comes a squirrel head looking in the front window. Repeat this about five times until someone notices him and all hell breaks loose.

Mind you, he only picks the window where the cat’s tower is at, not the one where we have a chair blocking most of the window. No, these guys know what they’re doing. They’re focused little buggers! At the rate they’re going, I’m going to be less inclined to stop my car while they cross the street from here on out.

Long story short, aside from the annoying rooftop scampering parties, ceiling scratchings, and intentional instigating, the boys are in non-stop stress mode now. The cat can’t move about the house without the dog trying to attack him. Neither seems to be able to rest during the day since they’re both on guard. And me, well, I’m ready to kill anything with four legs! By 8:00PM they’re both passed out exhausted on the couch barely functioning. Its sad really.

Something must be done! Any suggestion for this poor, work-at-home gal being driven crazy by furry animals? I’m tempted to blast them with the hose, but to do that puts me awfully close to them (right along the cinder blocked wall they love to use to achieve total dog taunting mode). Hell, I’ll start with any good suggestions for just getting the landlords to believe me since by the time they get home the squirrels have left for the day.

Really, We’re all at wit’s end here.

It Was 15 Minutes Max!

I went to the grocery store to pick up a jar of spaghetti sauce and some salad fixin’s for dinner.  I come home and my dog decided to help himself to his new bag of kibble.  Needless to say he won’t be getting any dinner tonight.  And well, I guess we know he likes it.  Crazy dog.

Holy Close Call Batman!!

I just now got back from dropping my clothes at the laundromat.  While they were going through the wash cycle, I ran errands – the dry cleaner, the grocery store, etc.  I pulled up to the curb, gathered my bags and clothes and realized that the front door was open!  Not wide open, but let’s just open wide enough with plenty of room for a kitkat and a pupster to escape and search for their mama!

I call out to the pupster and there he is, snuggled in on the pile of coats that we sometimes use as a chair.  I ask him where the kitkat man is (and yes, I do talk to my boys!) and there he was on his tower just looking out the window like he was waiting for me to return.  Talk about lucky!

Mind you, I’m sure they both went outside and did a little exploring.  I was gone for nearly an hour.  But I’m so thankful to know that they’re right at home as if they’re the bestest, most well behaved boys in the world.  They must’ve been speaking with Santa recently! 😉

I’d Like a Passport Please

Getting the hubby to take a moment out of his three weeks “vacation” to actually get a damn passport is like pulling teeth.  Thing is, we need to get one sooner rather than later.  We’re still considering a cruise in February (though he’s rethinking this since there’s some work changes in the new year and he doesn’t yet know how that will play out – I’ll give him this as a legit reason), we’re constantly invited down to Mexico to spend the weekend at Herbie’s vacation home, we’ve been invited to Japan more times than I can recall to tag along with Herbie’s current tour and more recently, we’ve casually been invited to attend Montreux Jazz Fest in Switzerland with Herbie.  And then there’s visiting my friend, Jo in Madrid where she teaches.

For all of these things…yeah, we’ll need a passport.  Mind you, his last day of vacation is Friday.  We need photos, we need birth certificates (I have them, I just need to pull them out), we need to fill out the application and we need to get to the post office before 2:00 today.  Um yeah, I don’t think he’ll be going today considering he’s a major moppet and needs a serious haircut and shave as well.  At least in my defense, I can go any day since I basically work from home.  He kinda can, since he can go into work at whatever time he wishes.  But still.  I’d just like to get the damn passport already.  Please.

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My head feels thousands better!  It usually does by the time I take the second Imitrex.  Only the second Imitrex puts me over the edge and makes me crash in a big way.  Sadly, the need for the Vicodin is fairly new.  My head never used to hurt like it seems to hurt lately.  It seems to feel like my head is in two or more vices just squeezing with all it’s might and it seriously brings me to tears – and I’m not one to succumb to pain-induced tears much (oddly).   I would never have even thought of the Vicodin if my doc hadn’t prescribed it when I called in begging for the Imitrex saying that my head was killing me (in that case for over two days).  I’ve learned though, that it makes a huge difference.  Mind you, I should have gone to the chiro today and that would have made a difference as well.  I’m also considering trying acupuncture for migraines since I know first hand how well it works for lockjaw.  Anyone try this?

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And thanks SO much to all the ladies that have found me today and left such informative and helpful comments regarding Ladies Who Launch.  I will definitely be following up with you guys.  I’m really, really interested in learning all I can about LWL now.

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Busy day today.  The pupster is getting groomed (talk about being a moppet).  I have some more pre-Thanksgiving prep to do – I’ve made the gingerbread for the trifle and will make the pudding today so it’s all set to assemble tomorrow, I made brownies last night before the migraine got too crazy (hey, I think I was in so much pain yesterday that I may have even spelled it incorrectly – yikes!), all I’ll have left to do tomorrow is make the cornbread casserole – woohoo!

I’m also meeting a friend out in Pasadena in a bit for some baby shower gift shopping, lunch and catching up.   Between Bunco and book club we see each other twice a month, but we have November off from both and she wasn’t able to make the last book club,  so I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen her.   Should be a fun lunch.  Hopefully she’ll bring the little one along too.

And now, I’m off to dig up those birth certificates – wish me luck!