It's a Pet Parade!

If you're an animal lover like me, there's no way you could spot this party and not want to join! For every post that is linked up to the Katillac Shack today, $3 will be donated by Design Gives Back to animals in need.

Animals of all types are such a huge part of many of our lives and most of us couldn't imagine not surrounding ourselves with fuzzy, feathered, scaly or slimy critters.

As you know, my favorite fuzz-butt these days is our 8 month old golden retriever, Strudel. She is bad, with a capital Pain in my ASS, but I love her just the same.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I told you how Jimmy had bought her a nice bed and within hours chewed a gaping hole in it? Well, lately she's actually been using the bed for its intended purpose and not for oral entertainment.

See? Look at how beautiful and regal she looks laying there, posed just so.


This is her sexy, slumberous look. I do believe I heard her mutter, "Crumpet" while squinching her eyes and wiggling her nose. Yeah, she's got it bad for the Crump-Man.


I call this her, "Dude, get the damn camera out of my snout so I can catch some Z's!" look.




See? She now loves her bed! So much so, that when I left her to go upstairs and shower, she showed just how much she loved it.





Uh huh, the hole is bigger now, and she even got through the white nylon cover and got to the fluffy green stuff.

Yep, my puppy definitely has an oral fixation and we do try to keep her occupied with things she's allowed to chew on.

Saturday, Jimmy walked in the house with a huge bone, unlike any I've ever seen outside of a Flinstones episode. I actually asked him if he took down a dinosaur while he was out. But boy oh boy does Strudel Doo ever love it!







I'm really not sure I even want to know what kind of animal that thing came from.

And, in an effort to try and tame the wild and never-ending energy Stru has, I actually brought her to the park tonight. Drove her to the park more precisely. Sorry, but I don't do walks, especially in this damn heat.

I just don't get it. When Jimmy brings her he tells me how much running around she does and the dog comes back panting, tongue lolling a foot out of her mouth. With me? I could barely get her to move. She was having too good a time sniffing every square inch of grass and eating sticks.

See? She was sniffing and not running. What the hell?

She does look quite beautiful with both the sun and shade upon her glorious golden fur though, huh?


Okay, so we did get her to run for the stick a few times but let's face it. A 12-year-old just doesn't throw very far.




And who out there has an 8-year-old who cannot wait to go to the orthodontist??? Freak child!

No matter how much walking around I did with her I could not get her to squat and take a dump. I had to go, but she just wouldn't. Maybe I should have squatted.

I swear, this new food we've been feeding her is amazing! Less poops and better formed (meaning not mush) when she goes. It's so much easier to scoop the yard now! If you have a dog that doesn't seem to be doing well on their food, please give Taste of the Wild a try. It's grain-free and filled with all kinds of anti-oxidants and protein. Expensive, but well worth it.



I hope you enjoyed my contribution to the Pets on Parade Party!!! Now please be sure to visit the Katillac Shack and check out all the other blogs that are linked up with posts on their pets! It's sure to be a lot of fun!





Pssst! If you love me, you might love my sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

Please Read!!!

Hello friends. Jill asked me to put up a post for her tonight, in hopes of getting prayers said for her and her family. Please go here to read about what Jill is currently going through, and please say a prayer for her tonight!

Love you all,

Justine

Pssst! If you love me, you might love my sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

I Am ---->Here<----

Okay, how totally cool are these virtual maps? Yeah, I know, lots of you have already used Bing.com maps and Google Earth too, but I’m sometimes slow getting to these things. It was also a complete bitch to get the map saved so I could put text on it. Do you know what I had to go through?

First, I got my map. Then, because it won’t let you save it, I had to take a screen shot. Then I had to paste the screen shot in Paint. Then I had to save it in My Pictures. Then I had to upload it to Photobucket. Then I was able to edit it. Pain in the ass, right? But soooo cool too!

So here ya go. An aerial shot of my part of the ‘hood. I pointed out people I’ve mentioned often here on the bloggy.

I love living in a cul-de-sac and definitely feel more protected, whether that’s wishful thinking or not. The kids, especially Madison, love it too. When Madison wants to ride her bike around, she’s allowed no further than the meeting of the two cul-de-sacs, or over to Kristen’s if Kristen and I know she’s heading that way.

This one I took from Google Earth. See how huge my neighborhood is? I have no clue how many houses there are, but I can tell you that it’s big enough. From the main entrance to my driveway is 1.8 miles. I shit you not. It takes at least 3-4 minutes to exit the neighborhood through the front entrance!

This image was taken off our community’s web site. Who wants to count all the tiny little houses for me?

I realized we’ve been living in this house for a good 6 months and I’ve never shared pictures with you. Keep in mind, this isn’t our house. The house we own is in Tampa and refused to sell so it’s now being rented. Until the market picks itself up and we can sell it, we’re forced to rent.

Here’s the front of the house. We’ve got 4 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths and 2,600 square feet of living space.

A bit inside the foyer you have the staircase that first goes one way, turns, and goes the other way.

Another view, this time including the curved and unusable wall in the kitchen.

Here we are upstairs now. When I took this picture I was standing in the doorway to the master. Directly to my left is the guest room. Directly to the right is the laundry room. That first door you see is Mikayla’s room, then to the left of that the girls’ bathroom. Madison’s room is down that section of the hallway.

The landing looking over the foyer.

Now keep in mind that these pictures were taken months ago, and these particular ones I took before hanging the picture or the other sconce. A few other things have changed in here as well but just suffice it to say that I decorate horribly. Oh, and that area rug is now rolled up and in my closet because Strudel thought it was delicious.

I hate this sofa table. It’s a piece of crap and I didn’t realize the back was particle board until Jimmy put it together. I keep saying I’m going to paint it black, but I’d rather just throw it through the window.

Powder room, and don’t worry, the raffia has gone bye-bye!

Here’s the kitchen. There have been some changes in here as well but I’m too lazy to take updated pictures.

Counter that overlooks the family room and eating area. Do you see HENry there? Do you remember him from RMS? Well, Jimmy BEHEADED him, on accident I’m sure. BUT… then put his head back on and never told me, so the next time I moved HENry to clean the counter his head went rolling away.

My chef dude says, “Cook it yourself!”

Ah, there’s Gregory PECK. Still in one piece, too!

I love this cookbook stand! Can you love cookbook stands, Shelia? You bet your fat free Italian you can!

Quite a few more bottles have been added to this collection.

I took this picture the first time I sat out on my screened lanai with a cup of coffee and a good book.

My view into the woods. Look at how dead everything still was when I took this. It was a fairly cold winter. At least at night.

Oops, forgot this one. Small niche across the from the bottom of the stairs.

So now you kinda sorta know what my house is like. I haven’t taken pictures of the other rooms because they’re not totally set up or decorated at all.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!

How about a little Strudel update? I’m about to kill her!

Don’t let that woeful look fool you. She is bad. B.A.D.!!! This week alone she has eaten:

Mikayla’s pin drive

My cell phone, which still works, but the battery just keeps falling out.

A throw pillow… fluff all over the place.

A bill… so torn up I have no clue whom the bill was from.

Mikayla’s hand-woven art project basket

3 pens

1/3 of the cover of a hardcover book

countless cups

coupons

And just 5 minutes ago… the remote! I left her in the room for 5 damn minutes and when I went back in the top half of the remote was in pieces.

Anyone want a really cute but really bad golden?

Go visit Jill, yada yada yada. Love me, love her, yada yada yada.

Answers Revealed for: Tiney's What the Hell is THAT?

If you were cool enough to play, here are your answers!

1)

Soap dispenser!

2)

Screen room after it rained.

3)

The golden demon dog.

4)

Palm fronds with SPIKES that I had to pick up. Jimmy zipped through the yard with the gas hedge trimmer, made a huge mess, then left it there. Oy.

5)

The brush I am now forced to keep in the car because Madison's hair usually looks like a rat's nest in the a.m., even after she says she's brushed it well.

6)

Yep, the grill of my beautiful Mazda CX-9. Ignore the distorted reflection of moi!

So yep, these were all too damn easy for you guys. I think Lilly was the closest in her answers and also the quickest to get them to me! Now I have to find difficult things to take pictures of so I can really stump ya next time.

Go visit Jill, yada yada yada. Love me, love her, yada yada yada.