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

As many of you know, my mom is going to see Neil Diamond in July.  Because there is going to be a great deal of walking and my mom refuses to use a walker, she had started exercising at the beginning of January.  She always says she doesn’t want to use a walker due to her pride, but we have, on more than one occasion, tried to remind her what they say about “pride goeth before the fall.”  The funny thing is she will not use a walker, but insists on having a shopping cart when we go into any…

I walk my dogs every morning.  Lately, my neighbor has been walking with me and has taken to calling Fudge her part time dog. She loves both my dogs, but usually walks Fudge and I walk Vern.  All I have to say to Fudge and Vern is, “let me call Rhonda,” and the dogs race happily to the door.  We drive to the nearby State Park and until the campers show back up in April, we have the entire park almost to ourselves.  Because they also allow hunting in the park, we stay off the paths in…

Recently, I did a blog about my mom attending a Neil Diamond concert in Cleveland, which has landed me in hot water with my mother.   

http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/transport-needed-to-get-85-year-old-woman-across-two-states-for-a

As I do with all my mom blogs, I sent her a copy and went about my business.  Today, I spoke with her on the phone…

My title might be misleading because it looks like I bought Fudge and Vern a Valentine’s Day gift.  I adore my dogs, but I don’t consider them my sweethearts, so getting them an expensive Food Dehydrator for a romantic holiday seems like something that could get me booked on the Maury Povich show.  I would hate to be the first one in my family that winds up on a talk show discussing with Maury what I think are The Ten Most Romantic Gifts You Can Give Your Dog, because someone…

Recently, CBS telecast the Kennedy Center Honors of 2011.  Among the honorees was my mom’s favorite performer, Neil Diamond.  This has caused an upheaval in my mom’s life and by default, anyone she has given birth to and that includes me.  Shortly, after the show aired, she got it in her head that as her last hurrah she was going to go see this man perform one last time.  Over the years, my mom has been to many concerts. She has seen Elvis, The Lettermen…

I live in Pennsylvania, which happens to be a state that has some bad laws when it comes to animals.  I have a neighbor that chains his dogs up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You can do that in Pennsylvania as long as you provide food and shelter.  How do I know this?  Because I have called to report my neighbor a couple of times and nothing is ever done. The last time I called was because he chained up a very small dog that shouldn’t be living out in the elements. No dog should. This week,…

I am sorry to tell the people going on the Doodle Cruise that I just bought a bathing suit and plan on wearing it at the pool. I am giving fair warning in case some of you might want to see if you can still get a refund.  When I went in search of my new suit, my only criteria was that it fits and covers as much of my body as possible. I was hoping Lands End acted on my suggestion given in the past years and started a line of stylish wet suits, but no…

First of all, before I go any farther, I want to say I love Vern.  What we don’t love is Vern’s waking and sleeping patterns.  When I first brought Fudge home, we crated her at night.  In the beginning, I made up her crate like I would have liked it, if I were sleeping in a crate.  She had blankets, cushions and a snuggle puppy inside that crate with her from day one.  All that was missing was a few magazines, the TV remote, and a computer. What I hadn’t banked on was the fact that a…

My dogs and I walk every day up at our nearby park.  I love to walk in the cold weather, because I don’t have to worry about snakes.  I hate snakes and since I am always frantically looking for them, I usually am the one to see them on our walks.  I also know when I am walking with my husband and he turns suddenly and says, “let’s go a different way,” that translates to “snake up ahead and husband does not want to have ear drums blown out by screaming wife.”  How I raised two kids who are…

This week has been a tough week on DoodleKisses.  I am at a loss for words and that almost never happens.  Peaceful sleeping has eluded me and I know I am not alone.  I would like to say I can’t eat, but that is not how I deal with stress either.  For me, it started with the DRC “Home 4 the Holidays” slideshow.  I watched the show from beginning to end and was so touched by all the stories, but I couldn’t shake the image of Moses.  His story broke my heart. He had been beaten or kicked by…

Last week, I was in the process of putting all of our Holiday stuff away and Tuesday, I worked most of the day de-constructing Christmas. In between that tedious task, the dogs and I went for two long walks in frigid temperatures and I even cooked dinner. All in all, a productive day and I was looking forward to kicking back and relaxing after dinner and checking out the happenings on DoodleKisses. Back into our bedroom I went, along with Fudge and Vern, both tired out from their walks and…

On January 10, 2012, our Vern turns two.  He has grown into a big dog, all ninety pounds of him, and we cannot imagine our life without him.  Every morning, the first living thing to greet me is Vern.  He swings by our bed and stands staring at us until we open our eyes.  He stands there wagging his tail, with a smile on his face, even though some mornings we ask him to stop by later after we have slept a little longer.  No matter how nicely we ask, he continues to stand there wagging his…

Well, Christmas is over in our house for another year and this year, I made a big mistake.  The girls and I chipped in together and got my husband an iPad 2 or as my mother said, “some new fangled thing that she will never understand.” 

From the moment he opened that gift, I have come to understand what it must feel like to be one of the first three wives on the show…

Now that the dust has settled and the calendars have been ordered and placed on our walls or given as gifts to some lucky recipients, I think it is finally safe to talk about what went on in our household during this process.  Last year, I submitted one picture only of Fudge and after I read the rules this year, I am pretty sure it was not even in the right format. This year, I took it far more seriously and asked my daughter to help me.  I have worked…

My daughter and son-in-law are home for the Holidays from Oregon.  Fudge has not seen my son-in-law since last Christmas and she has not stopped mooning over him since he arrived.  I don’t think I have ever seen her so gaga over anyone.  The first night he was here, she slept outside their closed door all night. I thought she was a genius and remembered their dog, Bonzai, who could not come this year, but now I think she was trying to get into that room to get to her new boyfriend. Fudge…

Fudge turns three on Christmas Day and I can’t believe how quickly the time flew by since we got our first Doodle!!  We can’t imagine our life without our sweet Fudge in it and we are so lucky she found our way to our home.  All it took was one picture on the Internet and I knew that chocolate girl was headed our way. 

My youngest daughter and I drove 600 miles…

Yesterday, I picked my mom up from the airport and she is back to spend the holidays with us.  Last week, I came down with some kind of head cold and I am still battling this bug this week.  My daughter and son-in-law arrive on Friday and I do not have time to be sick.  I have been talking to a couple of my female friends and it seems I am not alone when I say I think Santa is really a tired, overworked at the Holidays, superwoman.  I may be oversimplifying, but I think it is the women of…

The other night,  I went Christmas shopping. All I needed was a couple of gift cards and most of my shopping would be done. The last store on my list was BJ’s for a phone card for my mom. If you are thinking how much fun it would be to get a gift from me, I am just getting my mom what she wants every single year.  All she ever wants is postage stamps, phone cards, gift cards, or cold hard cash. If you make the mistake of trying to pick out something fun and different, she gives you the…

Saturday, my husband and I got up early and we were out the door and off to West Virginia to see family. The dogs did not get their morning walk.  We left Fudge and Vern in the care of our youngest daughter.  I have written before that I have my dogs on a pretty good schedule and rain or shine we walk our dogs at least two times a day.  I am like the postman and get the job done.

We got home right when it was getting dark outside, but nonetheless, we went to the park and gave…

Years ago, when our girls were very young, my husband started the tradition of buying them one special book for Christmas.  He has always been an avid reader and cannot go more than one day without a book. I love to read too, but our book choices are very different. When our girls were in elementary school, part of their curriculum was to read or be read to every night. The parents were supposed to sign a worksheet that the reading was done. I am not trying to start a big debate,…