Friday, August 29, 2008

Wanna Smurf?

I got a new Smurf watch, so cool! I am not sure "Wanna Smurf?" means to me what it is supposed to!

Homebodies

I was going to write that Richard and I had been homebodies lately, but really we usually are! Richard goes through phases where he likes more human contact, then less for a while. I do my best to provide what he needs. Lately he has wanted to stay home a lot, which is fine with me! Home is usually where I would rather be.




The other night he picked up one of my crossword puzzles and started to fill it out. He stopped when he hit a few that he didn't know. He said he was trying to do the clues all in order. I showed him some of my half-finished ones. I never do the clues in order. The next night he was looking at a Sudoku puzzle that I had laid out to work on later.
He really had never showed any interest in those type of puzzles before. I thought maybe word and number puzzles just wouldn't be his thing. I am kind of a puzzle-geek (well, really an all-around-geek!), but I know plenty of people who never enjoy that kind of thing. It would be fine with me if he never liked them. But now I think he just wasn't ready yet. Hmm, another thing that I am glad that he didn't have forced on him too early through school. This may be a passing interest, or he may become a puzzle-geek too. Either is fine with me.




The dogs have been doing so well. Richard and I have been helping them learn that the house doesn't need to be marked, and that neighbors don't like it when they bark at night, and that the cats don't like to have their butts sniffed while they are eating. They are really learning quickly. Shylo just loves having friends to play with.
The cats are tolerating them, and Ren, who used to be called Devil-Cat for her dog attacks, is actually liking them! It is amazing what the simple removal of a uterus will do. If anyone reading this doubts the benefits of spaying and neutering early, please reconsider! With uterus intact, Ren would attack any dog she saw (and I mean *violently* attack!), as well as any humans in the vicinity. Now, sans-uterus, she is the sweetest thing, she actually sleeps within a foot of the three dogs. It is incredible.











Sydney is adorable, a typical black lab puppy. She has a ton of energy. We found out that she came from Tularosa, the owners got rid of the whole litter of pups way too young. Syd was adopted, but the new family returned her to the Humane Society because she was getting on the counters to get food. Well, she was a puppy! And missing her mommy! And probably hungry! Anyway, she hasn't done that at all at our house. In fact she is really well mannered.



And then there is poor Uno, who was neutered at almost 2 years old, and doesn't understand why it isn't ok to mark his new home. He is a sweet dog, he just had those hormone producing testicles for way too long. Now he just has an empty scrotum (ever seen a dog that was neutered as an adult? pretty funny...) and that empty eye-socket. Maybe we should have named him Lucky, like that old joke.








Shorty, one of the cats that lives at mom's house, is watching Richard mow the lawn through mom's front window. I just thought this picture was cute.






Richard came to my rescue the other night. I have been kind of distraught because I could not find my Across the Universe DVD. At first I was annoyed, but its absence was really starting to upset me. I love it, and I was set to buy a new one. Richard remembered the broken DVD player, he thought it might be in there. Next thing I knew he had gotten it out and was taking it apart. There was my DVD! Yay!!
I was so thankful, and he continued to explore the insides of the DVD player. A happy ending!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Uno

Uno always has his head cocked to the side so he can see better from his one eye. He is so cute!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Shuttle Camp

Getting ready to launch.

Shuttle Camp

Richard "graduating" from Shuttle Camp.

New family members!

We got 2 new dogs. Uno is the little brown one that is missing an eye, Sydney is the black one, and then there is Shylo, the multicolored one. We have had her for a while. They are all getting along great, they have been playing lots with Shylo, and they all seem really happy. They even get along with the cats! This picture was taken by Lauren at the vets office. It is a really good one.

Shrooms!

It has been so wet, there are shrooms growing from the gate!

More yard stuff

Just some yard pics.

Yard stuff

Tarantulas

Pretty large tarantula, he was outside the hospital where I work. They are pretty common around here. After taking his picture I moved him into a big plant so he wouldn't get mushed.

Tarantula getting irritated

Tarantula rearing up, warning me to get away. :-)