So, I have been mulling over what "part 2" would be for quite some time. Ollie will be one on July 29th, crazy right? It

feels like yesterday that I was posting on here with tears in my eyes about a different puppy who I had to pass by, and then with some help found Ollie. People kept saying (on here and in face-to-face life) that there must be a reason why I did not get that first…

I had a conference to attend in San Diego in June and since my DH's son is in NAVY and stationed in San Diego, we've decided to make this a family vacation. So instead of me flying to the conference by myself, we drove from Denver to San Diego with Monty. This was Monty's first long trip and I have to admit, I was not sure what to expect. To my great relief, he did just great. In fact, I believe he was born to travel. He slept most of the time while the car was moving.…

Lee and I are active members of Ebenezer Baptist Church. We attend regularly, and to the boys, the word “church” seems to have its own meaning like the commands “sit” or “stay.” They act as if they comprehend this to be one of a few places totally off limits to them – once a week.

Our Sunday morning routine is unlike any other day of the week, so perhaps that’s what helps them differentiate from a weekday.…

Well, it finally happened, we moved. It actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I haven't been very diligent  in photographing the new place. I decided to just update all of you with the pictures I do have. 

So, we put down our deposit and packed our stuff, and prepared to move. For those of you who don't know, we've been living at the in-laws while we save money for school. It was supposed to be about 3 months, it ended up being 8. While being there was a bit tough at…

Poor Murphy has had a rough week. He started with a flaming red ear last Tuesday morning and then the head shaking, scratching and black gonky ears. Ofcourse we can't forget the smell. So I treated with Zymox with hydrocortisone for a few days to see what I could do at home, which helped about 50%, and as that was getting better, I noticed him licking his paw. This went on for a day or so when I decided its becoming a problem, so I assessed it and found a big tight mat. Ok, cut the mat, that…

It's been awhile since I've been able to run out the door, leash in hand, chasing down a loose, stray, or escaped dog.  Before kids, I was out there quite frequently, running after dogs walking themselves. But this morning the little gray, scruffy, terrier-ish dog who passed by our house, loose again was begging me to get back into the swing of my volunteer animal control gear ;-)

This was the third time we'd seen it pass and I was determined to find out where it came from. …

We have now been on RMB for nearly 6 months and Paddy is doing extremely well.  Last year at this time, he had had one long, continuous ear infection -- we'd get it treated and cleared up, then as soon as we finished the treatments, we'd be back at the vet's with another one.  This year, since January, he has had only one ear infection, and that was in, I think, March.  Yes, he still itches pretty regularly, but he has no hot spots, very little discoloration on his feet and around his mouth,…

A FATHER’S DAY DISCUSSION…

LEO: “So Harley, as far as dad’s go, I think…

I had responded to a post about the loss of news anchor Sue Simmon's.  She had actually did a report about me and my daughter and my unconventional Facebook punishment (she portrayed it wonderfully unlike a LOT of news outlets.  Because of those comments I had a bunch of DKer's message me about our experience with being subject to national news attention...  here is what I posted in the discussion but so everyone that asked see's it I am going to put it out there.

It was back in April…

I was gently nudged by one of my DK friends to write some more musings and today as I watched Riley slosh around in a  muddy stream in the beautiful surroundings of Castletown House it proved the ideal time to let my thoughts drift to memories of childhood.  Castletown (link below)  boasts a large stately house where classical concerts are held on Sundays and hundreds of terrific acres of land which are totally unspoiled. It is the perfect place in which a dog can amble and play while…

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…

Ok  - So most nights Takoda sleeps in our bed. There is the occassional night where he does not come to the bed to be picked up and goes under and we don't hear from him till the earrly moring when he wakes me up - about 6:30 AM to be brought into bed to snuggle for the remainding time till we get up.But then there is the ever so chaotic nights that he does sleep in our bed and he turns into a wiggleworm. When the wiggleworm kicks in he seems to move about into a different position every 5…

Wednesday’s can be sort of a difficult day for some of us. Since Wednesday is in the middle of the work week, many people often see it as a “hump” that they must get over in order to get closer to the end of the week, renaming Wednesday as “hump day!”

If Harley and Leo had any inkling about the days of the week, I would bet they’d select Wednesday as their “favorite” day, totally unaware of its “other name”…

If we have a slow start in the…

So....After 2 passed away dogs and a very cool dog sighting of an Australian Labradoodle on the Misson Beach Boardwalk over 2.5 years ago we decided to investigate getting one. This led a discussion with a breeder in Utah and "Voila" 5 days later the littly boy called Blackie by the breeder became ours and was shipped in a crate with his Brother "Blue". Out of the cage they curiously walked and into our lives...we are very happy with our choice. Our dog has come to be named  Takoda - a…

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 just had the privilege of hosting 7 seven-week-old pups for a week and then getting them all to their new families. The first 7 weeks they were with the momma dog's owner in her home and she did a fabulous job of socializing them. She lives in a neighborhood with many families and there was a parade of young kids that would come by and play with the pups every day. When I got them, they never nipped!…

PACIFIER!! UGH!  

It's been quite a week here in our crazy house.  For those of you who don't know, I have a 6 week old son, Patrick, and 2 doodles.  (I have noticed, however, that I post far more crazy stories about Seamus than I do about Stella....he's a monster lol).  

But anyway....On Thursday I rushed my son to his pediatrician because I thought he had a fever....he totally didn't and I felt like an idiot when their thermometer read 98.3...mine read 99.7.  On Friday, I…

It's official! We poured over an abundance of wonderful applications and finally narrowed it down to one perfect, forever family for Carter.

The best part of it is that the family is local, so Doris & I got to surprise them on Friday night with the news and most importantly, Carter!

We slapped a blue bow on the little guy, gathered some Carter look-alike cupcakes, and showed up on Ken & Beth's doorstep. They couldn't have been more excited to find out the news, and…

Yesterday morning, Penny told us it was time for her to go.  Her mast cell cancer, which she had fought valiantly for more than a year, just plain wore her out.

We spent the day saying our final thank you's and goodbyes.  In the afternoon, a very special hospice vet came to the house, and Penny went to sleep in her favorite spot, surrounded by more love than the room could hold.  She went peacefully and you could see the relief on her face that she was no longer in…