The Toy Test

Susie Q. received several toys and treats on Christmas. Here are two of her favorites:

A pink and leopard print snuggle sack from my Mama........

The ugliest bug toy I have ever laid eyes on from Peter & Patricia. She loves it!

Sue & Simon's Christmas Outfits

I decided to dress up both the cat & dog for Christmas. They were both thrilled.

Bah-Humbug!
Simon can't believe this has happened to him.

Sue comfort's Simon in his moment of humiliation.

When Sue's in Dad's lap, all is right with the world once again!

Last Days

It's coming up to the last day and half on this job. It has been a very strange 7 week experience. My work ethic has definitely been challenged. For one, my office is vacant. It has the space for 5 co-workers and a large office for my boss. However, I'm the only one ever there. I rarely see my boss and I have no co-workers. I have been at the new office for about a month and am surprised at just how lonely I get.

I miss my having co-workers scrambling around me, asking me questions, debating about different aspects of Association management, making fun of varies pompous Board members, even the annoying "talker" that used to come around. I come up with several daily excuses to bother the Allstate lady next door. Do you have any mail for us? I know she doesn't....No, she replies. I linger in the doorway hoping for a tiny bit of conversation, Anything! Throw me a bone lady.

I can also come up with daily excuses to leave the office or come in later in the day. Currently having no heat in the office is a great excuse! No Internet was the excuse for about 3 weeks. Gotta catch up on the work e-mail at home. Darn. I really want to sit in that vacant cold office.. but with no Internet, I am FORCED to work at home. ;)

I'm looking forward to the job I will start next Tuesday so I can once again hold my head up in society. Not a loafer, e-mailing clients at home in my bathrobe with grape nuts stuck in my teeth. Happy days...can't wait to be accountable again.

The Stupid Factor

I have spent this morning trying to figure out what is wrong with our office thermostat. I called the management company, my boss and PG&E. Turns out... there is nothing wrong with the heater except the bill was not paid. Therefore, PG&E shut off our gas and there is no source of heat in the office. The shirt on the right sums up exactly the way I feel today.

Private Party!

I didn't realize there was a party going on in my house until I walked into the living room the other day and saw that Susie Q. had found some left over garland from a co-worker's baby shower...Surprise!! Here are Sue's comment's:

What?! I'm just sitting here....I don't know where this garland came from.

Whew...partying can be exhausting.....Okay, Now I'm feeling a little ashamed of myself....
Feeling passed...you can clean up Mom!

Bah Humbug!!

Although he won't freely admit it, my boyfriend is a Scrooge if there ever was one! I happen to LOVE Christmas. I LOVE buying gifts. I LOVE decorating the house and Christmas tree. I LOVE walking around saying, Merry Christmas!! As much as I enjoy Christmas and all that it means, my boyfriend feels the opposite. He hates the crowds of people, the hours of shopping and family gatherings.

Knowing all of this I offered to exclude him from my last minute-I-can't-find-it-on-line Christmas shopping at....drum roll...The Mall. I don't know what came over him but he offered to come with me last Wednesday. I asked again, are you sure Erik? There will be traffic and crowds, kids in strollers and happy faces wherever you go. Are you sure you can endure this? Yes, yes. I WANT to come with you. Great, I think. It'll be a miracle if we are still speaking to each other by the end of the night.

Our trip starts off great. We listen to Christmas songs on the radio on our way to the mall. We find a parking spot that is less than a mile away from the main entrance. The crowd isn't as bad as we had imagined. We go to the Bath & Body Works for my sister-in-law and I point out the things I would like (What row, what scent, what color those scents are, etc.). Things are going well. Until...we get to Mervyn's. I state that I need an hour. We debate on how much time this will take me. Back and forth we go like an auction. 20 minutes. Fine! I scurry around and grab presents. My resentment begins to build. I meet him, on time, at the calendars section.

Next, I need to go to Barnes & Noble for some gift cards and Toys R Us for my nieces. But first, I would like to get some food. My boyfriend is glad, as he is hungry too and we can finally stop shopping for a moment. I point out that there are many cuisine options at the Food Court upstairs. My boyfriend looks as though I have just suggested he eat rat poison. After a bitter exhange we leave the mall with empty bellies. I get in the car humming Christmas tunes with a look on my face that clearly states, "YOU have ruined my shopping trip and I wish you would not have come." In an eager attempt to set things right, Erik starts suggesting dinner options. Unfortunately, I've decided to be diffacult (I'm good at that) and state that I will simply eat something from the Chevron (jerky?) so that we can finish our shopping and go home!

Thankfully, we did finish our shopping and found a nice place to eat and kissed goodnight, still Friends. Amazing.

Sugar & Spice

This is our Boston Terrier: Susie Q. She also goes by the following nicknames: Hell Dog, Stinkles, The Hound, Beast, Snap Turtle, Little Sue, Cute-Lil'-Cute, The Q-Ster and this month, unfortunately, Horn Dog. Yes, Horn Dog. Erik and I are both very unfamiliar with female dog heats. When Sue originally picked us to be owned by her, we were in awe of how cute & sweet she was. We were also "awe" struck by her phenomenal price tag! But since she was a purebred and came with AKC papers we thought we'd breed her and sell her pups when she got older. However, now that she is our "baby" and we have extensively researched the risks of breeding her, we are not so inclined.

This is Susie's 2nd heat. I figured heats were like human "periods." It would last a week and then we'd get on with our lives. Not true. A female bitch’s heat lasts 3-6 weeks, depending upon the dog. The first heat, six months ago, consisted of a small amount of blood drops in the kitchen. Somewhat inconvenient but manageable. The second heat (the one we are, hopefully, at the tail end of) consists of blood, odd behavior and seemingly non-stop "humping" of our legs and a stuffed tiger that shall remain anonymous. This uncharacteristic behavior of our baby girl is disturbing to say the least. We are impatiently waiting to get our darling girl fixed so that we can fall asleep without fear of being molested. I doubt we will ever be able to erase the image of her…well, you get the picture.