Laurie, Fudge, and Vern's Blog (342)

Our Vern is part skunk.  Sometimes, when his tail goes up, we all run.  My husband said the other day we should have named him Pigpen and from the way he smelled that might have been an insult to Pigpen.

He was groomed last Friday and looked gorgeous when I picked him up and smelled even better.  The first thing he did when he walked in the house was run to his bed and…

Last Sunday started off like any ordinary Sunday.  My husband watched his favorite morning show, CBS Sunday Morning, and I tried to refrain from talking and breathing too loudly for fear he would miss one word of the show.  At one point, he was holding Fudge and cuddling with her and when she jumped down to greet me, Vern immediately took her place in his lap on his recliner chair.…

A couple of things lately have had me contemplating my own mortality.  It isn’t something I think about a lot, but I do want to make sure that Fudge and Vern are taken care of if something should happen to me. The good news for Fudge and Vern is that my husband and both of our daughters love our dogs as much as I do and would never willingly give them up.  Now, if I could just convince myself the dogs will continue to enjoy the same level of care that I provide for them, I could rest…

I was thinking the other day about the many dogs that need new homes and wondering what it would be like if Fudge and Vern or someone I loved rehomed me.  I am so set in my ways and I prefer my own home to all others.  Sure, we take vacations from time to time, but usually I long for home after just a few days.  I love being surrounded by my things, eating off of my favorite Polish Pottery dishes, and ending every night in my own bed with my favorite pillow.  Even though I write a lot about…

I get accused all the time of worrying more about my dogs than I do the human beings in our household.  I am not saying the accusations are wrong in some cases, but since I speak for my dogs and I love to speak, sometimes I feel I have no choice.  The impatient gene runs in my family and I have passed this gene down to one of my daughters.  In fact, my husband has mentioned on more than one occasion that there should be a support group for men who marry into this family.  I even mentioned it…

Last week I decided to join a gym.  I have been procrastinating about it for a very long time and just decided it was time.  A couple of things recently made it clear to me that now was the time, and I would like to point out I had already joined by the time my bikini body had taken a beating in Jane’s new blog.   When my daughter was home we went out on the pontoon boat and she wanted to take my picture on the paddle board.  While I was standing on the board, I told her to hold on until I…

I remember the first day of Fourth Grade like it was yesterday.  The teacher walked into the classroom and said, “Can anyone tell me who was buried in Grant’s Tomb?”  WHAT?  I sat there in a panic, praying and thinking, “Please don’t call on me!  Please don’t call on me.”  I mean, how was I supposed to know who was buried in Grant’s Tomb on the first day of school.  Did we have a summer assignment that I didn’t know about?  Finally, I calmed myself down and figured if I had the misfortune to…

Vern came home last night exhausted.  For the past couple of months he has been taking an intermediate dog training class and last night was our last class.  It isn’t easy being the only dog in class who rolls at every opportunity and follows right behind you, as you are walking away from him, during the sit/stay.  I love Vern and he makes me smile every day, but I think I can say without hurting his feelings, that he is not a deep thinker.  Vern is an “in the moment” kind of dog.  When my…

Most of you know that I don’t like to be a name dropper, but after I wrote a blog about Words with Friends, I started playing the game with some people right here on DoodleKisses.   Sometimes, I have eight to ten games going at a time with family and friends and my love life has taken a hit as I sit in bed every night playing this game.   No man likes to hear, “not now, honey, this WWF game gave me a h-e-a-d-a-c-h-e, “ night after night.  The other night, he spelled back, “I…

It is strange sometimes what you think about when you are walking your dogs.  Despite being on high alert for groundhog holes, moving varmints, and in the case of Vern, men in lawn chairs, a lot goes through my mind when I am out with my dogs.  I have been a little melancholy lately thinking about my daughter living so far away in Oregon.  I hate it and with each passing day it seems as if there is no hope they will ever move closer to home.  They moved there for her job, but my son-in-law…

The Neil Diamond concert was on July 1 in Cleveland, OH.  My mom was going to get there come hell or high water.  Every member of her family knew she was going and even her heart Doctor had asked her to take pictures and bring them with her at the next appointment.  Four days before she was due to leave, she went to Bridge Club and I am beginning to have my suspicions about what goes on there, and came home and propped her legs up, only to see that they were swollen to double the size. …

This past week Andy Griffith died and I loved Andy Griffith.  Of course, I didn’t know him personally, but he has been in my home for years.  I was introduced to him as Sheriff Andy Taylor and I thought Mayberry, North Carolina, seemed like just about the best place in the world to grow up.  Sometimes, when they are running the Andy Griffith marathon on TV, I kid my husband about watching episode after episode, but I find myself listening for that whistle that starts the show and checking…

As many of you know and have been kind enough to ask about, I have poison ivy and it has not been fun.  In the past, I had no respect for the power of this plant because I have never had poison ivy before.  As a kid, I played out all day and I am sure I came in contact with this plant many times and I guess because nothing came of it, I developed a cavalier attitude and even scoffed at anyone who tried to warn me of the dangers.  Sometimes, when we would hike, my husband would point to…

This past week, my husband was away on business.  Last time, he left me all alone with our daughter, the power went out for the entire weekend and I swore he wasn’t going to get away from me again.  Unfortunately, his work does not seem to think being married to a hapless woman is reason enough to skip a conference.  He also didn’t seem to care when I said, “if you leave me, I might not be here when you get back,” because all he said was that was like telling him if he ate a steak dinner…

They say you always marry someone just like your dad and I don’t know if that is true for everyone, but I can certainly see the similarities between my father and my husband, and I can say with great certainty that my daughter found someone who we all say reminds us of my husband.  My dad was a history teacher and high school basketball coach turned sporting goods salesman.  He had a great sense of humor and loved reading, museums, dry martinis, peanut M & M’s, crossword puzzles, and his…

My friend, Rose, was on vacation part of last week and we made plans for us to go out on the Pontoon boat on Friday.  Rose is one of the hardest working people I know, is always doing something, takes wonderful care of her family, is what my mom would call a whirling dervish, and my friend who giggles about everything. It was just supposed to be the two of us going during the day!  I have never been completely in charge of the boat and I’m used to having my husband there to step off the boat…

I watch the adoptable dogs scrolling by on the front page almost every day.  From time to time, I dream about getting a third dog and I’m always on the look out for the perfect dog for our family.  Recently, when I asked family members to “guess what we got?” after we got our pontoon boat, every single one guessed first, “another dog.” Usually, we don’t meet the requirements.  We don’t have young kids and we do have a physical fence, but almost always the ad says, “would do great in a home…

On Saturday, my husband, daughter, Fudge and Vern, and I set out for a day of adventure on our Pontoon boat.  We had no idea what was in store for us.  I never embellish on my blogs, so I want to be perfectly clear that in this story the high seas was really just a lake near our home, but Rescue on the Lake just doesn’t have the same pizzazz as Rescue on the High Seas. …

Apparently, my dogs are spoiled.  My sister-in-law was here from Tennessee last weekend and said it quite frequently.  It started when we went out to dinner the first night she was here.  Our ritual when we leave the house is to put out peanut butter for Fudge and Vern, turn on a fan, and leave the TV on for them.  My daughter usually gets the peanut butter for the dogs and has a tendency to give them more than the recommended serving size.  Of course, on this day she served up her usual…

My husband and I look bad this week, almost like we have been in a catfight.  We are sore and cranky and putting all the blame on one Chocolate Labradoodle named Fudge. 

It started on Saturday morning.  I got up with the dogs and went out and plopped down on the sofa.  When my daughter woke up, the dogs got very excited and started wrestling.  Vern jumped up on the…