Out of the Office

Not in the mood to post today. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow with back to school stuff. Is the summer really over already????

I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate all your support lately and will respond accordingly tomorrow. In the mean time Grandma has popped in and looked at the blog and has a thing or two to say about Chandler :)))))

"It would hold 8 kids and 4 hound dogs and the piggy we stole from the shed"

I am having one of those days so this post will ramble - there is a reason for Doug's pictures - and hopefully my thoughts will come full circle and make sense.

Music is very important to me, I can associate almost every memory with a song. Sometimes it what song happened to be playing when an event happened, sometimes it's a song that reminds me of a certain time. Doug - gotta luv him - doesn't pay any attention to lyrics but that's what gets my attention.

I have been having "ish-yooz" (as the bunnies would say) with sleeping. My mind has been racing a million miles an hour for obvious reasons (see yesterday's post) as well as some undisclosed ones. I have found that listening to music when I go to sleep helps. The other night it was John Denver. His music reminds me of my childhood - my parents used to listen to him, and I find his lyrics very visual. It is very calming and happy.

When we moved from Wisconsin my "theme song" was Drive by Incubus. It helped me keep motivated. As far as yesterday's post, I am still in the OMG is this real stage, and trying to convince Doug that I can handle it - have I mentioned I don't do well with change? *big grin*.

I know I am about to get a little sappy, but when I got in the car today to go pick up Doug's prescription "Still the One" was on the radio. I have always thought this would be a perfect song to play at our 50th Anniversary and it just makes me smile every time I hear it because it IS Doug and Me. And it seemed appropriate with what is going on.

STILL THE ONE (Orleans)

We've been together since way back when

Sometimes I never want to see you again

But I want you to know, after all these years

You're still the one I want whisperin' in my ear

You're still the one I want to talk to in bed

Still the one that turns my head

We're still having fun, and you're still the one

I looked at your face every day But I never saw it 'til I went away

When winter came, I just wanted to go Deep in the desert,

I longed for the snow

You're still the one that makes me laugh

Still the one that's my better half

We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one that makes me strong

Still the one I want to take along

We're still having fun, and you're still the one
Changing, our love is going gold

Even though we grow old, it grows new

You're still the one that I love to touch

Still the one and I can't get enough

We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one who can scratch my itch

Still the one and I wouldn't switch

We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You are still the one that makes me shout

Still the one that I dream about We're still having fun, and you're still the one...

O Canada?

Trying really hard to wrap my mind around this one. Doug has always wanted his own business and *we* have a wonderful opportunity to do so. But it most likely involves moving to Toronto. And we're not talking in a year or two - we are talking like Jan-March!!! So I need some help here - lots of cons because "I yam wut I yam" but in the long run I know this will be good for us - Honeybunch (that's Doug to you all) this is not a post about why I don't want to go, this is a post to help me prepare to go.

Pros -

Kids like snow

I could use some of the 6 years of French I took

Gov't pays for your healthcare (not sure if that good but I hear it is)

Moving to another country sounds "exotic"

Niagra falls is close - barrels are handy :)))

Cons:

Moving sucks

I hate moving

Selling a house sucks - keeping it spotless to show to potential buyers sucks

I am tired of fixing things the way I want them and then having to leave them

I don't want to make Morgan change schools

The last time we moved we had 4 animals and lost two

I hate extended winters

I am scared!

Tomato Sandwiches

Being a good southern girl, I love vegetables. Now don't mistake liking vegetables with being healthy after what the south does to them - fried squash, fried okra, fried tomatoes, any kind of peas or beans have to be cooked with bacon or ham and the fattier the better - my Grandmother used to save the grease in a jar and reuse it - yeah, really healthy. But I do love tomato sandwiches. Just plain white bread, mayo, really ripe tomatoes (homegrown being the best), and lots of pepper and some salt.

I didn't grow any veggies this year, but the grocery for once had decent looking vine-ripened tomatoes the other day and I picked some up. I fixed my tasty sandwich and was looking forward to it when Doug (a Wisconsinite with no clue about southern foods) says "Wow! That looks good, but I bet it would be better with bacon and lettuce". Well then it wouldn't BE a tomato sandwich anymore would it??? I would be a BLT. But he failed to understand this. This is the sort of logic I have lived with for years :))

Spam, Spam, and More Spam!!!!

Ya gotta love Eric Idle, he is by far my favorite Monty Python member. But the Spam he speaks of in this skit is not the Spam I am grumbling about in today's post.

The Spam we shall speak of today is the solicitations that come via snail mail, e-mail, telephone (thank goodness for caller id), and.....Fax!!!!! While all of them bug the living stew out of me, none bothers me as much as the Fax. As previously stated, a substantial part of my business is via fax. So when my fax rings, I assume it is business related. I get somewhere between 3 and 5 of these stupid faxes a day. Nevermind my trecking up the stairs to my office to see what it is when the fax rings, what bugs me the most is the fact that all the other forms of Spam may be irritating and take a little of my time to get rid of, but the Fax Spam actually costs me money. It's my ink, my paper. Do people really respond to these solicitations? I get so many about "Dream Vacations at Employee Prices" and "Undisclosed Special Mortgage Rates" that it boggles the mind.

They always have numbers to call if you don't want to receive the faxes anymore, but it has been my experience that this only confirms a valid fax number to the sender. Grrrrrrrr.

I understand the need to market your business but I find it incredibly rude to use other people's resources for your purpose. I can delete email, not answer phone calls, trash junk mail, but these faxes are insane and they come at all hours of the day. Thank goodness Jack loves to shred paper, he at least enjoys "his faxes".

Species Challenged

This cartoon has hung on my credenza in my office for years. How appropriate to answer Laura's question. Yes! Peyton is that way with all the rabbits. It's just that Toodles is confined most of the day so he is able to nap with her without her running away. He really does love the rabbits, it's uncanny. He will try to lay where they lay, and being the "snobs" they are they get up and move. Poor guy. They like him, and will come up to him and let him lick them, but they won't snuggle and it's painfully obvious that that's what he wants.

Toodles seems to genuinely want to play with him. When he is barking and playing with his "baby" she will binky about in her cage "Lemme play toooooo!" - makes me second guess the whole dog attack thing, she's not the least bit afraid of them.

So poor Peyton, who tries desperately to be a cat, dog, rabbit (cadogbit?) has a wonderful friend in Toodles. I do wish she could stay, but I cannot work it out in my head how I can manage 11 animals, or where she would go if we did keep her - she can't live in the living room forever :(

Temporary One

Isn't she cute? This is Toodles. She is a bunny that we are fostering while she recovers from a broken leg. Toodles was the victim of a dog attack and her owners would not provide care for her, and were going to eat her *gasp* if she didn't get better. The vet was able to convince the owners to surrender her and Amy from Cats & Rabbits & More posted about her on Petbunny. Since it was basically in my own backyard I couldn't not help. She spent a week at the vets without pain meds waiting for the "family" to decide to turn her over.

She has been here 6 weeks now, and has delighted us with her wonderful personality. She is such a sweet rabbit and just melts when you pet her. She has been getting more play time lately since her leg has healed and she can do some amazing binkies! She loves to be out and about and has extremely good litter habits. Peyton has adopted her :) I don't know what he will do when she finds her forever home! It will be hard for me to let her go too, I hope it will be someone that will keep in touch with us. I wish I could keep her, but I have to realize my limit.

Bunnies are so special, and how anyone could deny any animal care is something that I cannot comprehend at all. So if anyone knows of a special family looking for an exceptional rabbit, let me know! Toodles deserves a family that will love her forever and shower her with affection each and every day.

Safety First

No pictures today, I am a tad disgruntled. Some jerk has been lurking on my webshots page and left an innappropriate message a week ago, which I deleted, then they revisited today 2 times with a new id and left harmless remarks but I am getting a weird feel. You can mess with me but not my kid.

Soooooooo, I am leaving it for now so webshots can see and will be moving all of my family pics to a locked album. Sad that life has to come to this but I cannot stand the thought of some creep looking at Morgan.

The point of this post is to suggest that you all are very careful of what you post on the internet and the information that you give when signing up for things. What you think is possible isn't half of what is *really* possible.

Funny Names

"A stranger's a friend you just don't know"

Thanks Big Audio Dynamite :) Somehow this seems fitting with the blog! I am out of ideas today, so I thought I would do a bit about how we all got our names.

Doug - Douglass Randolphe - His mom was on some serious pain meds when he was born and spelled both his names wrong - you have no idea how many "official" documents we have that have his name with 1 s and no e LOL.

Michelle - Well, my Dad refused to accept the fact that I might be a girl so there was no female name picked out, I was supposed to be Michael, but when I popped out missing parts I was named Michelle.

Chandler - We were fans of the show Friends, what can I say?

Morgan - We bought all the baby name books and had many discussions, but one day on the way to work (still remember sitting at the stoplight) Morgan Haley jumped into my head.

Peyton - Had Morgan been a boy this would have been her name and I wasn't going to waste all that thought so when we got him he got the name!

Chopper - He was almost Basil. But his ears are helicoptered so Chopper seemed to fit.

Tinkerbell - Doug named her. Long story I am not ready to get into.

Tater Tot - Again, Doug named him. He's so small I wanted to name him something contrary (kinda like I want a Flemmie someday to name Tiny) but Tater Tot stuck - DH didn't appreciate it after the neuter when I was calling him Tater Tot-less!

Mopsy - came with the name, but it's cute.

Jack - ditto

Paul - came as Pheobe and as I said, I am not creative :)

Tigger - Morgan named him because of his colors.

Steve - I wanted to name him something exotic like Calypso but again, Doug named him. Steve really seems to fit because it's a "people" name and Steve definitely thinks he's a people.

Memories

I have been enjoying doing this blog. Partly because I have been going through old photos to look for things as I am writing. It's funny to see how we have changed over the years. I have come across photos long forgotten, as well as ones that I remember clearly taking - though I don't know who those young kids are in some of them :) Gawd, Doug and I look 12 in some of those pictures and was Morgan really ever that small???? Seems like yesterday and then again seems like an entirely different lifetime.

This picture was taken at Sandbridge when my father re-married and has always been one of my favorites. I had it blown up to an 8x10 and made a frame out of the shells we collected that day and it hangs on the wall in our den. I wish my scanner did a better job, or that I was better at (or even knew how to use) photo editing software - blogger is giving me fits with enabling the "click on the picture to make it bigger" feature so that's why I added the link. Something about this picture has always made me smile though, it was such a wonderful day and Morgan and her Daddy look so cute.

Gluttonous Maximus

Chandler is all about food. He is supposed to weigh between 30 and 35 lbs. He is 32 now and has been for some years, but in his younger days he tipped the scale at a whopping 56lbs. This isn't the picture I was looking for but it will do - you can see how small his head looks compared to his body. He was a snausage and a half.

Over the years he has learned that little children are easy marks, little walking buffets, and it's like......taking candy from a baby :) His first experience with children was when I was in the hospital having Morgan. My boss at the time had 3 young boys and he and his wife were considering getting a dog. So they asked if they could watch Chandler and sort of have a "test drive" before making the leap. Holly was outside with the boys and had just given the youngest a PB&J when she heard Connor crying. She turned around to see that Chandler had knocked him down, was standing on his back, eating the PB&J sandwich still clutched in Connor's little hand. Naughty dog.

To fully appreciate the second PB&J story, I must explain that Chandler is very sassy to me. He talks back all the time and sounds absolutely vicious but wouldn't hurt a fly. He has a time out chair for when he's bad, and he will go to it when told but he grumbles and growls and snarles the whole way, kind of like a child stamping their feet when being sent to their room.

We were rushed one evening because Morgan had swim lessons and I was waiting for my last child to be picked up from daycare. I quickly fixed Morgan a PB&J for dinner while we waited. Beth arrived to pick Brandon up and while I was talking to her out of the corner of my eye I saw Chandler grab Morgan's sandwich. I excused myself for a moment and crawled under the table, pried open Chandler's mouth, stuck my hand all the way in to retrieve the sandwich. All the while he's making a horrible ruckus, just sounding like a rabid wolf - foaming and everything. I won, threw the PB&J in the trash and apologized to Beth, who was standing there wide eyed in disbelief. "I can't believe you just did that and he didn't bite you" to which I replied "He may be sassy but he's not dumb" LOL.

He has always been like this with food, I don't know why. He would eat himself into a coma if you let him. He's awful about begging and will make the most of every opportunity. It' not like he's ever missed a meal in his life so why he behaves this way is beyond me. Peyton is the complete opposite, takes his time eating, and will sometimes leave food in the bowl. He begs too, but not the way Chan does.

"If I Only Had A Brain...."

I used to be organized. I used to make lists. Lately life has gotten away from me and I feel completely scatter-brained. It seems that the less one has to do, the less one actually does. When I was working full time, I would think "Gee, there are so many projects I would like to do" or "my house would be cleaner if I didn't work". Not true. Not true at all. I call it being overwhelmed at being underwhelmed. LOL. Take today for instance, should be cleaning and doing laundry, but Morgan and I watched a movie instead and now here I sit at the computer :)

I do still work, I have my own business, but it takes little of my time really. Problem is that it's chaotic and random. I am at the mercy of the fax machine. I find myself running to check it every time it rings, or cringing because I thought I was done for the day. In reality I need to just set aside the SAME time everyday to do my work and just let the fax go if it's not during that period.

It seems silly to make a list for only five or so things, but there is that permanence of putting it on paper that makes you *have* to do those things. And the sense of accomplishment as you cross them off. So, I have decided to force myself to begin making a to-do list everyday, even if I don't get it all done, at least it's there - glaring at me - and I can't ignore it.

I wish I was the kind of person who doesn't fret over such things, but I do. I hate change, I can't stand it when things aren't in order, and yet I find myself letting the small things pile up until I don't even know where to begin.

Soooooooo, I am off to make my list ;) Looking around my office here, I think it should be first, but laundry and the dust bunnies are calling too LOL.

So That's Our Family....

Not too awfully exciting but now you know who we are and just a little about each one of us. I can't conclude this portion of my blog without mentioning 2 dear family members we have lost - our Princess and first bunny ever, Miss Bunns and our Big Beautiful Bunny Girl Hazel. Another day when I am in the mood I will post about them. But they were both significant parts of our lives and are deeply missed each and every day.

Now the hard part comes, what to blog about next? Hmmmm. I could talk about trying to give up caffeine, but I don't have the energy right now :)) or about the deer we saw in our yard during the rainstorm on Tuesday, or the cool lizard with the blue tail that lives on my deck somewhere, or Chandler's PB&J stories, or my dismay at the list of supplies I must purchase for my child to go back to school.....

I shall come up with something, but not tonight.

Steve the Bird

I have always wanted a bird. Over the years I have bought several books on them, my favorite being "The Parrot Who Owned Me". I finally decided that it was time and set off to get one in March of 2005. I love the big birds, but having no experience felt I would be taking on more than I could handle, so I decided a nice little parakeet would be a good choice. There is a store here that specializes in birds, and I had been there several times just to look, they are very knowledgeable and their birds are very well cared for. When I got there I wandered around looking at them all, and then stood to watch the parakeets and pick one out. Behind me was a cage with Fischer's Lovebirds in it. I couldn't help but be drawn to them, they were so inquisitive, and I loved their colors - esp their eyes. I began playing with them, they would follow in a gaggle from one side of the cage to the other as I moved around it. I was sold.

Steve is very cool. Lovebirds are parrots, and very intelligent. I worked with clicker training with Steve and he caught on right away, though I don't do it as much as I should. He will bring a ball to me and drop it in my hand, and I have taught him to "wolf whistle" :) He also mimics the alarm system (joy) and will call out "tweet tweet" loudly when he is looking for us.

Doug and Steve got off to a rocky start - I taught Steve to give kisses in one afternoon, and when DH came home I showed him. Of course Doug wanted a birdie kiss so when he asked for one Steve latched onto Doug's lip and wouldn't let go. The amount of restraint it took for Doug not to swat Steve across the room should not go unmentioned or unappreciated. But now Steve is his buddy. He will allow Doug to pet him all over - as soon as Doug opens his cage he spreads his wings to get his "birdie massage". Steve enjoys hanging out with me but if he can see Doug it's all over.

I am really glad that I didn't get a big bird as learning how to handle Steve has been very enlightening. You can read about things and how to handle birds, but there is no comparison to actually having to do it. I have learned a lot about bird behavior and body language, and made some mistakes along the way that with a larger bird surely would have caused a lot of stress for me and the bird (not to mention injuries LOL - even the little ones bite HARD).

Tigger the Pigger

This is our little guinea pig Tigger. He lives in Morgan's room and is really cute. He wheeks and whistles in the mornings for his breakfast and giggles when you scritch his butt. He's not much for coming out of his cage on his own. It seems to freak him out and he spends the whole time trying to get back IN his cage. But he loves to be petted and so we cart him around in a towel and love on him when we are watching TV and such.

Pigs are slobs. He has no idea what a potty box is for. None. But he is a good little hay eater, never wastes a strand. It is very cute to watch him *popcorn* in his cage too. He loves Doug, says he gives the best pig scritches in the whole house :)

He is also very good with Morgan and I am glad for that. We are working on teaching her to be more responsible for Tigger - cage cleaning, feeding, realizing that he needs daily interaction. She writes about him all the time in her schoolwork, it's pretty cute.

While I don't like the idea of getting animals from pet stores, sometimes the animal picks you. We were not in the market for another pet, just happened to stop by for supplies in March of 2004, and there he was. Popping all over the cage while his buddies just sat there. We went home, and I told Doug I was going back for the pig :)

Tigger seems quite happy with his little lot in life, perhaps he doesn't have all the privileges of some pigs we know, but he doesn't appear to want them when they have been offered. He's a good pig, and we all love him very much.

Pheobe?!?!?!?!?!

Sweet Sweet Paulie. His story is the same as Jack's with a twist. He came home with me that Saturday because he was bonded to Jack. The woman that was surrendering them had to move back home with her parents and they were being kept outside. She had Jack neutered but not Pheobe. When I got home with the two, Doug picked Pheobe up and said "This isn't a girl bunny". I immediately concurred and called Eileen. We had a good laugh about two "supposedly" rabbit saavy people never even thinking to look. We just took the lady's word for it that Pheobe was indeed female. So, in my not so creative way, I re-named him Paul.

It's funny that Jack was the reason they were adopted, but Paulie is my buddy. Just such a sweetheart. He runs to greet my every morning, and just loves to be petted. He kind of reminds me of Peyton da Basset Hound sometimes, he seems a little slow but has nothing but love to offer.

Paulie was my first experience with a teenage unneutered male. Ugh. My vet was on maternity leave and we had to wait three loooooooooong months. It was gross, smelly, nasty, awful. Well worth the money to have him fixed, I wish people would understand that.

He and Jack became unbonded that first year, it was the first time I ever heard a rabbit scream. And I hope I never do again. I have been able to get them back together, they spend their nights apart, but are together all day until we go to bed and that seems to work for them.

Paul had a freak accident in January (fell off of his critter castle) and fractured his spine. He had *very* little use of his back legs. He was put on lockdown in a tiny cage for 6 weeks, steroids, and pain meds. I am happy to say that he has made a full recovery :) and loving life being back with Jack. However, since his injury he has some issues with leaving pooties everywhere at night. Not sure why it's only at night, maybe because Jack is in the condo and he's not. I dunno. But it drives me mad because he used to have such good habits. Oh well, I am just glad he's better.

Blackjack!

Introducing Jack. Or Jackson as I usually call him. My friend Eileen is our local HRS rep and does rabbit education/adoption days at Petsmart the first Saturday of every month. I usually try to get up there to visit with her. She rarely has aoptables with her, just pictures, and just brings one of her own bunnies for "demo". But on one fateful Saturday in Sept of 2003 she had 2 bunnies for adoption with her. I petted them and chatted and then went on about my business. I returned home, and couldn't stop thinking about them, the black bunny in particular. So I returned and walked in and said "Okay, what are their names?" Eileen laughed, told me, and knew I was hooked. I went through the store and got all the needed supplies and then, while in the checkout line had a panic attack. What the heck was I thinking? I needed 2 more rabbits like I needed a hole in the head. So I put all the stuff back and went home. Doug was at the house by this time, I was bawling, and he said "Just go get the dang rabbits". So I returned to Petsmart one more time and took home Jack and Pheobe (see Paul's story tomorrow LOL).

Jack is a handsome black Mini-Rex. His fur is so soft it is unbelievable. If you have never petted a rex, you are truly missing out. It's like the softest velvet you can imagine. But he is *very* energetic. He doesn't like for you to approach him, but he will lick my toes and nuzzle my feet while I sit at the computer. Funniest thing about him is that he snores - something awful. When I first brought him home he nearly gave me a heart attack because I walked into the office where he lives and he was in the middle of the floor, flat on his back (kid you not all 4 legs straight up in the air), and I was sure he had keeled over from a heart attack or something. Anyway, he's a great rabbit, loves his phone books, and when you say his name he acts like it tickles his ears.

There have been times I felt like I made a bad decision bringing Jack and Pheobe home, but they bring me so much joy. It is a bit of extra work, but I know they love me and they make sitting at the computer so much more fun :))

My Mopsy Girl

This is Mopsy's adoption photo from Petfinder where I found her. We got her from Bunny Magic in Maryland. She was born in a shelter and that's all we know about her. Carole from Bunny Magic was kind enough to meet us in Frederickburg for Tater to pick out a bunwife. Mopsy is the one I wanted, but I was willing to let him choose. He met with several lady bunnies but in the end he chose Mopsy - such a good little boy :)

If Tater is Doug's fault, then Mopsy is by default because everyone knows you can't have a lonely bunny ;). Tater would sit and watch Chopper and Hazel, and we felt so bad for him. Even though we tried to spend a lot of time with him, it just wasn't the same, esp. considering his personality. So I looked and looked for a wife for him and when I saw Mopsy's picture I just fell in love with her. We brought her home Thanksgiving weekend 2002.

She's such a pretty girl but very sassy. She will wag her tail just like a dog, and hop/skip away when you talk to her. You can almost see her whole body giggle. A far cry from when we first brought her home and she bolted and whimpered in the corner when she first met the dogs. Now she comes right up to them. She even scared the crap out of Chandler once - he was nosing around the door of her condo while she was out and she ran under his legs, growled, and took off. Poor dog never knew what happened and whacked his head on the door of the condo trying to back up LOL.

As I mentioned, she a Tater are immense slobs. I have never figured out if it's because they share a room with Chopper and Tink or if it's just their nature. But they are so cute and love each other very much. Though Mopsy is a bit of a bossy wife and will nip Tater in the butt when she catches him making googley eyes at Tink! They do everything together, I call them the Dynamic Duo.

Teeny Tiny Tater Tot

So if you're playing along and keeping count this brings us to bunny number three. We already had Chopper and Hazel (ATB) and Tater Tot is all Doug's fault. He had an appointment at a house where the folks had a Netherland Dwarf. Doug came home talking about how cute the little bunny was and we should get one. Anyone that knows me knows that I don't need much more than that to be off and running "in search of".

We brought Tater home in April of 2002. We tried for several months to bond him with Chopper and Hazel, but he and Chopper would not get along. Though Tater loved Hazel and they were something to see, a little less than 2 pound bunny loving on a 12 pound bunny. So we would just let Tater out to visit with Hazel now and again and quit trying to make him and Chopper friends.

Tater has the cutest markings, but my favorite is his "mohawk". He's rather feisty, and really not a people bunny like the bigger bunnies, but he makes up for it in cuteness. When he does sit with you, he likes to act like a parrot and be on your shoulder as you can see in the first picture. He is also very suspicious and the only treat he will accept is a nanna. When I walk into the bunny room at night and call out "Who wants a nanna" he comes flying :) then grabs his little slice and takes off. Tater is a total slob, as is his bunwife Mopsy, and their condo is a never ending battle for me, so for that reason he is seldom let loose anywhere other than the bunny room because you have to watch him like a hawk. Besides, you would be amazed at the places a little bunny can get into - I lost him once inside the couch. He and Mopsy had chewed the underneath and were "just chillin" while I was freaking out looking for them! LOL.

Tinka Da Stinka

The title of this picuture is "Big Paw". This is Tinkerbell just a few days after we brought her home last August. She was 2 months old. She's a French Lop and her Auntie Laura posted about her on her blog here . She is an extremely lovey bunny but on her terms. She does not like to be held really, she is the complete definition of "the explosive rabbit". But that is because she is young and we hope she will settle down with age. Big bunnies tend to mellow out, right now she is just like a very big puppy full of energy. She has her mind set already about how life should be, a true Diva. I swear there are days she looks at me like "Man, you still live here???" but the next minute she's chasing me down to lick my feet and get some pets.

She's a gorgeous rabbit, our first bunny was all black so we are a little partial :) And to see a young French Lop binky and do the bunny 500 is just amazing. Sounds like the walls are falling down sometimes. And she has brought some youth back to Chopper. His former wife never really played, but Tink engages him in tag all the time. But ohhhh man is she a digger. I have placed 12x12 marble tiles in certain preferred spots and she tosses them aside like they were paper. She is a naughty bunny as you can see to your right. Into everything, onto everything, under everything. But she is sooo much fun and I adore her. She loves her Chopper and she makes us laugh every day. Queen of the Lop Flop, Princess of the House, Tinka Da Stinka we LOVE you.

Little Chief

Say hello to Chopper. He is my little snuggle bear. One of those bunnies that enjoys giving kisses as much as getting them. You could pet him all day and he would just soak it up. He's also a bit of a class clown. He likes to show off his maneuvers and does silly barrel rolls and delights in your laughter at his antics. He doesn't "get jiggy with it" as much as he used to, but when he's in the mood he can put on quite a show.

He's a 5 year old mini lop. I got him when we first moved to VA. I had dropped Morgan off at school (we were living with my Mom at the time while house-hunting) and went for a drive. I pulled into a shopping center and saw a store called "Noah's Ark". Sounded interesting enough so I went in. There, on the floor in an aquarium wedged between a cage of kittens and a tank with a snake was baby Chopper. I couldn't believe it. He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand. When I asked about the bunny they didn't even know how much to sell him to me for, nor did they even have anything to put him in (store sold no bunny supplies so you know he was supposed to be breakfast for a snake). They finally wrangled a box from the back, settled on $15 and home I went. I already had one bunny, and was very worried about what Doug (and my mother) would say, but Chopper charmed his way into everyone's hearts.

He's a darling bunny boy and has always been just a healthy happy fellow. He has helped me mourn the loss of 2 lady bunnies now, and we are very close. He's a most well behaved bunny, unlike some others I have - but we won't talk about that now. Chops loves his toys and tunnels (you can see him here throwing his bunny keys) and most of all being groomed by his hoomins and his lovely bride Tinkerbell. I was very lucky to wander into that *ahem* store in Sept of 2001, but I have never been back.

Peyton, Peyton, Peyton.

This is Peyton as a pup, playing in the leaves. We got him sometime in September of 1997. He is a Bagel. Half Basset Hound, half Beagle. He is such a good boy, and has always adored Chandler and Morgan. When I had the daycare, he would let the kids do anything they wanted to him. Once I couldn't find him, and it turned out that Morgan had locked him in a closet. When I opened the door, there he sat, patiently waiting for someone to find him. I told him if he was too dumb to whine or run away I couldn't help him :)

He has the biggest heart and is the favorite of anyone that visits. As a matter of fact he wears his heart on his side as you can see in this picture. He's just the coolest dog and loves the bunnies so very much. He dotes on them constantly and they love him back. We call him "Nana" sometimes because he worries about everyone and everybun.


Here is a more recent photo. He seems to always have that gloom and doom look about him. But that's just the way he is. Basset Hounds are notorious for being submissive. But that makes them all the more endearing. At first glance, he seems to need to make mental notes just to breathe, but he is quite bright, just very literal about the rules. He is a kind of go with the flow kind of guy. But he has a stuffed octopus that is his "baby" and he carries it everywhere. And whenever he doesn't know what to do about a situation he runs to get it. It is my yearly task to find a new one for Christmas every year. Last year I was smart and bought 2 LOL.

Bugger Blogger

For some reason I have been unable to upload pictures to blogger today. It was Peyton's day to have an entry on my blog and I won't do it without pictures of Da Basset Hownd. Much like Eeyore (Nobody loves me anyway), he feels it's the universe once again jilting him.

I will try again later. If not, stayed tuned, Peyton WILL get his post!

My Shmoopy Dog

This is Chandler...when he was a baby. In Doug's quest to find his niche in life, one stop was as a door to door vaccuum salesman. One woman had a litter of beagles and Doug came home and asked me if I wanted a puppy. Duh. My brother happened to be visiting us in WI at the time and went with DH to pick out a puppy. I can still remember that puppy smell when Doug brought him into my office for the first time :)

Chandler is my baby, so much so that at times DH is jealous of him. He was Best Beagle in our wedding, and just the most wonderful dog - but don't call him that, he's unaware that he's not a person. Like Morgan, I could post and post and post stories about him. He's just .... my baby.

As you can see, he is getting older and his colors have changed. He's 11 1/2 now, and still my baby. I think he's such a handsome fellow. Old age is taking it's toll, he used to sleep with me, now he gets too hot and cranky, so he sleeps on a bed beside my side of the bed. But he snuggles with me first before he goes to bed at night, and in the morning he jumps back up to "get under the binkie" and snuggle. He has battled Leptosporosis and won, and has many lumps, bumps, warts, skin tags, etc (he would be one ugly looking dog if you shaved him down hahaha) but I am blessed that they are all benign and he is in general a pretty healthy pup.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice


That's what little girls are made of. This is a pic of Morgan when she was 3 months old. She was born 9/16/96. I could blog so much about her that blogger would shut down so I thought I would just post an excerpt from something I wrote in her baby book.

"Your first day you ate at 4:30 a.m. and slept until 9:30 a.m., ate again and slept until 3:30 p.m. When the nurse came in she said we should be waking you up about every 3 - 4 hours to be fed. So you ate again. Then a little after 4 p.m. your Grandma (Blalock) arrived to see her first grandbaby. She agreed that you were the prettiest and most peaceful baby she had ever seen. So you stayed awake for quite a while to show off for her and she and your father took a bunch of pictures of you. Then they left for a bit and Dr. Olinger came in to see you. Just as he was saying what a nice disposition you had, you threw your first fit. I got you settled, Dad and Grandma came back and you slept most of the evening except for when you were hungry"

Obviously Morgan has grown into a beautiful young lady. This is her school picture from this year. As all children are, she can be difficult, but I love her dearly and am so very proud of her. She has the biggest heart and is so very bright. A gentleman I worked for when I was pregnant told me that having a child would be the biggest ego trip I would ever have. I didn't understand then, but I do now :)

A Bit About My DH



This photo surfaced a few years ago. It was taken during our first Christmas together. When Morgan first saw it she wanted to know who that lady was with me. Ha Ha! Yes, Doug had Rock Star Hair :)

I met Doug in a bar - and it's a very funny story for another time perhaps. But after the first meeting, I decided he was okay and we fell in love *insert sappy music and awww's*. We were in VA and he moved back to WI just 2 short months after we met. I spent the summer continuing to work and save money, then moved out to live with him in August. Talk about whirlwind. Thank goodness he wasn't a serial killer!

This is a recent photo taken of us on our trip to Cabo this past February. We had spent the day deep sea fishing, where I won $50 for being the first to puke on the boat. Lovely. And I have a dazzling sunburn to show for it! We had so much fun on that trip.

We have been together over 12 years now. We have watched many of our friends (and family) marry, divorce, and some re-marry. We both feel that we are very lucky to have found one another (which makes the "how we met" story even more funny. He is truly my best friend in the whole wide world and I would do anything for him, except laundry LOL.