Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pets. Show all posts
See, I'm not the only one thinking he's smoochable. Oscars got a face not only a mother should love.
The last few days I stepped back into my scrapbook/craft/whatever room to clean it up and to finish organizing our families photos and memorabilia. Since before Christmas this room had become a catch all and it was time I saw my floor again (all my doing by the way). I'm happy to say I was able to accomplish both - what a great feeling! Here are some photos of the finished project:
The plan was to group all the photos and memorabilia into bundles that can be pulled out and scrapbooked without much effort. I was finding I was getting stuck because I would find a photo and knew I had memorabilia somewhere to go along with it but it would take me too long to find it. Once I did, hours would have gone by and it was time to quit. That's just crazy in a bad way! I've since taken notes from Stacy Julian from Big Picture Scrapbooking (theme albums) and some tips from Cathy Zielski (school year albums) and Two Peas (bundling photos) on setting up my scrapbook room and scrapbooks. I no longer am trying to scrap in order. This has been so freeing for me! If you haven't checked them out I highly recommend you do if you are stuck in your mounds of photos with no idea of what to do. Stacy Julian has a new book coming out, which I can't wait!, which should give more tips on organizing.
So what motivated me to finish this? My family room bookshelves. We recently got our family room re-painted and for the first time I concentrated on how to display objects on the bookshelves. As I was working on this I realized that I had no books to put on there which was a problem because bookshelves with only tchotchke's and whatnots doesn't work - at least not for this space and the look I was wanting to accomplish. Since this is already a busy wall, I needed to soften the look and create something pleasing to the eye (best as possible), yet have it be functional too.
Now, I could go out and buy faux books to make the shelves work (all with matching spines for unity) but I don't like doing that. I really wanted to use what we already have. I'm working hard on eliminating stuff I don't need from our lives, keeping only the things we want or need, things with meaning and purpose. That's when I decided to bring down all our scrapbooks and see what that was like. I'm in the process of converting most of them to one color and that would look nice on the shelves. Here's a picture of the semi-finished result:
I'm pretty pleased with it. I've got artwork from our boys, pictures that mean something to us, scrapbooks that will eventually have more meaningful pictures in them and they are ready to be viewed and shared instead of stashed upstairs for no one to see. And for the most part the tchotchke's all have meaning to us (sand and shells from special vacations, a shadow box my mom made of my grandparents...) Makes me happy each and everytime I walk by. Still have some tweaking to do, need to finish the bottom of the shelves. I'm going to get some baskets to fill the bottom two rows and this is where I will store our CD's, DVD's, and magazines...
I now need to focus on creating more scrapbook pages to put into those albums! Unfortunately, most of the albums have A LOT of blank pages in each one. I've finally got myself set-up to really begin to accomplish getting pages done. The scrapbooks are set-up in themes (thanks Stacy!) and I've got page protectors already in place for each page. When I have time I can now go into my scrapbook room, pick out a bundle I want to do, complete the page and then go downstairs and immediately slip it under the page protector in the album it needs to go into. I'm no longer tacking them down into the album page so it gives me the freedome to change the order around or move them to different albums if I need to later. I've also decided that I might just complete a few 8 1/2 x 11 pages instead of my standard 12x12 pages. And, I'm breaking my old rule where I'm now planning on putting these smaller pages IN my 12x12 albums. Who cares! And further, I have decided to let go of my need to create each boy there own album along with our own albums. They will eventually get their pages but when I don't know yet, and that's ok. I know for sure they will get their pages after I die. If I'm nice I might give them to them before then, when they are married or whatever. Heck, I might decide to make color copies of the pages to give to them and I'll keep the orginals! I'm not sure how I will handle that but I've taken that pressure off of me! So go me!
Before I go, I wanted to share a couple funny pictures of our animals from the past couple days:
This was Zoe sleeping on our coffee table. This is the ONLY table she is allowed on (long story that I will spare you). Look how comfy she looks - so sweet.
Here's Oscar boy. I rounded the corner and spyed him sitting here so happy and content. (He's always happy and content!). Couldn't help but grab my camera when I realized he actually had his legs crossed. LOL - too funny!
So what motivated me to finish this? My family room bookshelves. We recently got our family room re-painted and for the first time I concentrated on how to display objects on the bookshelves. As I was working on this I realized that I had no books to put on there which was a problem because bookshelves with only tchotchke's and whatnots doesn't work - at least not for this space and the look I was wanting to accomplish. Since this is already a busy wall, I needed to soften the look and create something pleasing to the eye (best as possible), yet have it be functional too.
Now, I could go out and buy faux books to make the shelves work (all with matching spines for unity) but I don't like doing that. I really wanted to use what we already have. I'm working hard on eliminating stuff I don't need from our lives, keeping only the things we want or need, things with meaning and purpose. That's when I decided to bring down all our scrapbooks and see what that was like. I'm in the process of converting most of them to one color and that would look nice on the shelves. Here's a picture of the semi-finished result:
I'm pretty pleased with it. I've got artwork from our boys, pictures that mean something to us, scrapbooks that will eventually have more meaningful pictures in them and they are ready to be viewed and shared instead of stashed upstairs for no one to see. And for the most part the tchotchke's all have meaning to us (sand and shells from special vacations, a shadow box my mom made of my grandparents...) Makes me happy each and everytime I walk by. Still have some tweaking to do, need to finish the bottom of the shelves. I'm going to get some baskets to fill the bottom two rows and this is where I will store our CD's, DVD's, and magazines...
I now need to focus on creating more scrapbook pages to put into those albums! Unfortunately, most of the albums have A LOT of blank pages in each one. I've finally got myself set-up to really begin to accomplish getting pages done. The scrapbooks are set-up in themes (thanks Stacy!) and I've got page protectors already in place for each page. When I have time I can now go into my scrapbook room, pick out a bundle I want to do, complete the page and then go downstairs and immediately slip it under the page protector in the album it needs to go into. I'm no longer tacking them down into the album page so it gives me the freedome to change the order around or move them to different albums if I need to later. I've also decided that I might just complete a few 8 1/2 x 11 pages instead of my standard 12x12 pages. And, I'm breaking my old rule where I'm now planning on putting these smaller pages IN my 12x12 albums. Who cares! And further, I have decided to let go of my need to create each boy there own album along with our own albums. They will eventually get their pages but when I don't know yet, and that's ok. I know for sure they will get their pages after I die. If I'm nice I might give them to them before then, when they are married or whatever. Heck, I might decide to make color copies of the pages to give to them and I'll keep the orginals! I'm not sure how I will handle that but I've taken that pressure off of me! So go me!
Before I go, I wanted to share a couple funny pictures of our animals from the past couple days:
This was Zoe sleeping on our coffee table. This is the ONLY table she is allowed on (long story that I will spare you). Look how comfy she looks - so sweet.
Here's Oscar boy. I rounded the corner and spyed him sitting here so happy and content. (He's always happy and content!). Couldn't help but grab my camera when I realized he actually had his legs crossed. LOL - too funny!
It's only January and I found out I have a Vitamin D deficiency, again. It appears, it's getting worse. Last time I only needed to take Vitamin D pills for maybe 5-6 weeks. This time it's 20 weeks. That's a long time! In doing some research it turns out Oscars sun therapy ritual is actually beneficial to him. I'm thinking I need to give it a try. Many years ago I used to be a sun worshipper, but after finding out I was high-risk for cancer, with a possible elevation of skin cancer risk, I've stayed out of the sun. Last year I almost caved and layed out. I regained my senses and didn't do it. But, now, I'm strongly considering making a visit to the sun gods once again, but reasonably this time. No more laying out on blacktop with a bottle of baby oil and aluminum foil!
So sad. I couldn't believe when I heard Heath Ledger had died. One of my all time favorite movies was A Knight's Tale. Kind of had a crush on Heath (please don't pay any attention to the age difference!) Seriously, very sad. I really liked him (aside from Brokeback - although the movie has grown on me as a love story).
Got report cards the other day. Very happy with my boys. They are both doing very well and turning into very nice young men. I love them so much and am so proud of them. Alex is getting ready to do some career counseling in 8th grade. 8th grade! Can't wait to see what happens.
Life is slowing down and I'm trying to keep it that way. Trying to do things that mean something to me and my family. Trying to get and remain organized. Trying to bring back the old me, with a little bit of wisdom and newness thrown in.
This is one of my new favorite photos of Oscar. (My other favorite will be shared in a few days). Chadster took this with my little ole camera. He's been showing interest in taking photos and I love it. Oscar looks so bully there doesn't he? He's so sweet!
Sun Worshiper. He seriously has his eyes closed, that wasn't a blink catching photo. He LOVES sitting in the sun at the front door everyday. He sits like a little old man and soaks up as much as he can get. In the summer, when it's hot, he'll be laying there panting so much until he absolutely can't take it anymore. I hope you stored up a bunch of sun buddy because winter is here and sun will be at a premium!
Another photo Chad took. I love that Oscar just layed there, not too interested in the camera. When I try to take a photo he always trys to eat the camera. LOL!
Sun Worshiper. He seriously has his eyes closed, that wasn't a blink catching photo. He LOVES sitting in the sun at the front door everyday. He sits like a little old man and soaks up as much as he can get. In the summer, when it's hot, he'll be laying there panting so much until he absolutely can't take it anymore. I hope you stored up a bunch of sun buddy because winter is here and sun will be at a premium!
And, speaking of Oscar, Oprah is having Tyson the Skateboarding Bulldog on today. Check it out. We are making Oscar watch too.
In the kitchen, family talking and all of a sudden Oscar's bum started gushing blood. Yes, I did say his bum. What the...? It was insane! Held a warm compress on it, called the emergency vet last night and his regular vet this morning and $161.96 later we find out he had an anal gland absess. How beautiful. He is now very tender, relieving himself a lot (in oh so many inappropriate places like the vet lobby), on pain medicine and antibotics. And, we have to go back in two weeks to make sure his bum has healed properly. We heard bulldogs are costly and lots of vet visits. I believe. As I handed the vet my debit card I said, "Well, there goes my window treatments in my scrapbook room". I think I'll just hang a picture of Oscar's bum instead. Now wouldn't that be a design statement.
Speaking of window treatments (are we tired of this subject yet?) below is a picture of treatment #1 made and hung already. Only 3 to go. Good news, I now understand how the panels get put together and I have a good portion of the pieces already made. It's now just a matter of carving out a little more time to finish. Once they are all hung up I'll work on how to get them to hang really nice. Really liking it a lot.
NOTE: It's unfortunate that I can't get a true picture of how these look in the room. Yes, they are green and orangish-red strips next to a purple wall. It doesn't sound pretty at all, BUT, in the room with the lighting the colors do not look as vibrant as they do in this photo. They all compliment each other. If I use a flash, you get what is shown here. If I don't use a flash, the photo is too dark. So I guess this means I won't be submitting the final photo to any design magazines. Bummer. (Sorry, couldn't resist).
You may notice a couple YouTube videos on the sidebar over there --------> of our English Bulldog - Oscar. He loves to skateboard (which includes chewing on it!). It's quite fun to watch and something that is getting him to be a little celebrity of our subdivision. Today we got an email today from a freelance writer wanting to interview us (along with other bully owners) about skateboarding bulldogs. He may end up in a "Skater Dog" article for a Bulldog issue of Popular Dogs Magazine which is published by the editors of Dog Fancy. Is that too funny or what?! Now he would be portrayed as an early skateboarder, not a pro like Tyson. Tyson is who Oscar looks up to. We could only hope some day that he could perform at the same level! Just wanted to share - will have to keep everyone updated. Might have our telephone interview tomorrow.
Paws Up!
EDITED (11-25-07): Oscar was dissed. Had a couple exchange emails with the author, everything was a go, just had to schedule a mutual time then never heard back. Bummer. Oscar's feelings were definately hurt. Oh well. He does have over 9000 views on YouTube though. We still love you boy. You are special to us!
It seems (just like kids) whenever you want them to preform they won't or they will test your patience while waiting. We had a bunch of people stop by this weekend and one of the requests was to see Oscar skateboard. It was as far as Oscar was concerned about 110 degrees outside and he had already been playing for awhile. This meant he was VERY hot and tired. We went through three skateboards before we finally found the one he wanted to perform on. He did awesome, all four paws up right away and across the culd-de-sac. LOL! Man, I was sweating it though. I just knew he wouldn't do it! With that said, I will post a new and better video once captured. Oscar's so awesome!
Here's a recent photo of Chad and Oscar on the last day of school. My handsome boys.
Our silly little Oscar.
Kitchen:
Love it!
Turning out how I had it in my head.
Looking good.
Deck:
Just a little deck.
Awesome!
Other:
Cat-Dog. Zoe with a dog cut. Oscar slobs all over her and matted her hair so badly she had to be shaved. I as her mom couldn't do it all, so sad. So, we compromised and did a Cat-Dog haircut. Really it's not as bad as it seems. I didn't cry when I picked her up although I was afraid I might have a tear so I took Alex with me for moral support. Picture is blurry but the best one I have with her standing up. She is always on the move these days. Hmmm, maybe it's to get away from slobby dog. ???
A new favorite picture of mine - darn that coat! Our subdivision had a garage sale this weekend and we at last minute decided to participate in it. My dh is the best garage saler around - seriously! Here JB and Oscar are watching the action - or rather waiting for more. It was the end of the day - all were tired.
Celebrity Update:
One note on Oscar. He is getting to be quite the mini-celebrity I'm finding out in our subdivision and a definate hit with the kids. One lady told me she was leaving her husband to marry Oscar - and her husband came down to see him and he confirmed she told him that too! I'm afraid pretty soon kids are going to be coming to the door not to see if Alex or Chad can play but if Oscar could come out and play. He has been skateboarding up a storm this weekend.
He has been working so hard on perfecting his skatboarding skills. We all try to take him out at minimum once a day to practice. He absolutely loves it and I find it theraputic for me as well to just watch. He is a bit sporadic in how he goes about it - a lot of it depends on his mood - and he hasn't quite figured out the concept of all four paws on the board. The way he goes about it is actually much harder on him so I'm looking forward to the day when he knows exactly what to do. However, having said that just yesterday, two times, he did actually have all four paws on the skateboard and skated across the culd-e-sac. I only saw it once but it was a hoot. I think it happened on accident and he was just tired. He was going so unbelievably slow - turtle like - but it went from one side of the culd-e-sac to the other, inching along but moving the whole time. He just stood there. Everyone who was outside (which were a lot) completely stopped what they were doing and watched. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Then he got to the other side, put a foot down and everyone went crazy. I'm talking hands in the air, belly laughs, the whole thing. LOL! Tooooooo funny!!!! I know he is on a lot of peoples cell phones as photos because I saw them taking pictures. I think today I'm going to video him and attempt to post it. Too funny!
I'm fast tracking taxes this year. It usually takes me over a week to complete the whole process. This week I'm trying to do it under a week. My list of TO DO's is very long and everything is a priority so I must finish this asap. I'm on the tailend of the sorting/compiling process - it appears it's going to take about 3 1/2 days to complete. I will then move to the home office and begin the input, praying all the way that we don't owe more then I have saved. I'm sure God gets a lot of extra attention this time of year!
I'll leave you with one last picture - it's of one of my helpers. Again this was last year but she isn't far from me again this year.
Isn't she so cute?! I just love my Zoe.
Here's a couple photos of Oscar and Alex playing together (and yes Oscar did contribute to the hole in Alex's pants!):
Good as new!
Oscar had his eye surgery this past Friday. He was supposed to have it on Tuesday but mom forgot to tell Alex he wasn't supposed to feed him the morning of the surgery so we had to postphone until Friday. The surgery went really well and he was all cheerful when we picked him up Friday afternoon. Apparently he had been playing all afternoon with the staff at Animal Docs. He said goodbye to his favorite doctor and off we went. Dr. Hammerle told us that only 5% of cherry eye comes back, and if it was going to come back it would do so within a couple of weeks. I told her then we would be back for follow-up surgery because our family (Oscar included) always falls in that low category. We got home and an hour later there it was! An hour later! I immediately called the office and I was told that it could just be the swelling and we were to monitor it over the weekend and call this morning. Friday evening - it was showing. All day Saturday it was showing until Saturday night - it went away. All day yesterday it was showing. Today, totally gone. We are supposed to monitor it until Wednesday. If it comes back he is going to have to go back in for examination and possibly more surgery. But, we are all keeping our fingers crossed that it truely was only swelling. Today his eye looks beautiful! Oddly, his left eye looks more blood shot then the right one. It was the right one that had the surgery.
Oscar update:
Oscar has to have surgery! Now, don't fret, I've been assured it will not be lengthy or a big deal. He has developed "cherry eye" which apparently is common in bulldogs and other select breeds. We are trying eye drops for over the weekend but if it doesn't work (which is likely) he will be scheduled for outpatient surgery next week sometime. He doesn't know so don't tell him.
Tonight is his first next level obedience class. Only thing I'm dreading is putting him in and out of the car. He's very heavy (44.4 lbs) and is hard to pick up. Unfortunately he can't get in himself.
eBay:
Gotta love eBay! I spent the weekend trying for a Blackberry 8700c and was shut out about 15 times - yes at least 15 times! Almost had one twice but was sniped last minute. Mind you, I was also trying to snipe but I never succeeded. Fun trying though! I came to the realization the price I was willing to pay was not the going eBay price - so I had a decision to make, up the price a bit or not get one. I decided on the first and got one. It's been shipped - I can't wait! My daytimer (that I posted about a lot initially in my blog) still has it problems. You need to carry it around and actually open it for it to work properly. I know I posted about my love for the iPhone but it's not coming out until June and the price I'm sure will be more then I want to pay. I'll hold out but will eventually get one. They are awesome!
Past weekend:
Got a lot accomplished, although not what I initially thought I would do if I had free time. I could have prepped for tax season, or worked on some additional insurance stuff but instead I played in "my room" (really need an official name for it) all weekend. Much more fun! I continued working on our NY album and got along pretty well until I needed journaling and decided to try my hand at computer journaling and that led me down another path... We had an extra computer that was running Microsoft ME on it - one I had put in "my room" a few weeks earlier. As much as we wanted it to be it was not built as a gaming computer therefore it rejected just about every computer game we threw at it. As a result it wasn't be used. Unfortunately, one of the programs I really wanted also didn't work on it - because it wanted Windows XP. Then I remembered I had a fully licensed copy downstairs that was purchased a couple years ago for a defunked laptop. Only problem, I had to reformat the harddrive to get it to work. I had done that before several times, but never own my own without the intense guidenance from a technical expert. I decided to give it a try - worse case the computer would be messed up for good. I googled reformatting instructions for guidence and completed the task. We now have a "new" computer and all my programs work on it. I'm going to use it for photo editing tasks which require lots of space. Still won't work as a gaming computer but at least it's useable now!
If I understand things correctly, those that know Patti will understand how funny this photo really is. Oscar is growing up and being more responsible (translation - he is ringing the bell more and more to go outside to go Potty). As a result, we are giving him more freedom. He is drawn to our office and one of his favorite spots is sitting (just as you see here) right next to Patti! I try to limit the amount of time he is in here with us, especially when he insists on being Patti's best bud but sometimes I just have to let him stay. How could I not - look at this face?
Patti is a real trooper! She is not a dog person, yet she is very nice to Oscar. She is watching the Dog Whisperer on TV and some of the skills she has learned has helped her bond with Oscar more and more. Maybe that's why he's such a big fan of hers. Zoe is extremely jealous of Oscars interest in Patti.
Off-topic - we got ice again! Phase 1 of 3 has come and gone. We are inside waiting for Phase 2, which I think comes later this evening or tonight. We are lucky we have power - although one of our pine trees in back is looking a bit sad:
As a result we are staying inside today and I'm making a big pot of Grandad's Stew. Also playing around on eBay and fiddling with my new Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 that I got with my new slide scanner for Christmas. Thinking of going upstairs and scrapbooking a bit. I'm starting to work on my New York pictures again.
Regarding Photoshop. I've always been a Paint Shop Pro user. I love PSP for graphics, making banners and web stuff but I don't do much of that anymore. I'm more into photos and everyone raves about Photoshop. So, today I installed the version I have and been playing around with it a bit. I'm quite impressed. Need to learn more!
Got to get back to eBay - an item I'm watching is ending soon. I've been shut-out on two other auctions - sniped at the last minute. Need to try again! Everyone have a good day (and weekend) and for those in St. Louis have fun staying in. We sure are!
This is a picture of Oscar trying to come out through the cat door. He knocked out the actual piece that goes in the hole and attempted to follow Zoe's lead. Obviously it didn't work! This is the door that leads to our basement. I put the litter box in the basement and the cat door works great for allowing unlimited access to her "area". You should have seen John's face when he came home and caught me cutting a hole in our new door. He had fair warning though. I just don't think he thought I'd actually ever do it. Yesterday was a good day. Some things that have been bothering me were resolved or addressed - turned out to be alright. Today will be a good day also - because I said so.
Last night I traveled to Costco and HomeGoods - what a fun time I had. At Costco I got two bottles of wine, gigantic bottle of Advil (not needed for the wine but for my neck), box of yummy encrusted tilapia and design software - Professional Home Design Suite Platinum Version 10 from Punch!. So excited about the software! I then traveled over to HomeGoods where I met up with Patti to check out some wonderful bulletin boards they had. I didn't end up getting one (they only had one in the size we liked) but I did end up picking up a fabulous leather (or is it pleather?) red file tote with some fun hanging files. I'm planning on using it for my design file - I keep pictures of things I like for that custom home we are going to have some day. I now just need to find the time to use the software and organize my design ideas. Maybe this weekend? How much of a dork would I look like if I took it and all my clippings to hockey tonight? One son has a game at 5:00pm and the other son has a game at 7:00pm. I have an hour to kill. ??? No need to answer - I already know what you are going to say. LOL!
Ouch!!! Note to self... being head butted in the shin by a rambunctious bulldog does not feel good - at all! I heard a *noise* in the other room and ran in there to see what Oscar was up to. He heard me coming and started running down the hall. He made a quick stop when he saw me but his body weight kept him coming directly at me and he ended up running into me as he slid down the hallway. It resulted in being head butted directly in the shin. OUCH! It's already starting to bruise! He's now in timeout - time to settle down.
CathyZ's blog is back up and it's ironic that I should visit it this evening. Cathy's blog today was about a friend and neighbor of hers that passed away from cancer (melanoma). It's a beautiful tribute to her. I decided to visit her friends blog that is still up and was touched by reading her words and thoughts as she went through the last months of her life. It saddened me because I look at her two boys and I understand exactly what they are going through at this very moment, having lost their mom. Words absolutely cannot describe what they are feeling right now.
Same evening, few moments apart, I visit FORCE's website for our annual fundraising, awareness raising chat-a-thon. Our chat room is open and active 24 hours a day for two days straight. It's a unique and fitting event for FORCE. FORCE is a website about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. It's for individuals that are interested in learning about how family history can play a part in breast and ovarian cancer and how there is a link between the two cancers. I'm a veteran of FORCE and have been on the board of directors of FORCE for many years now. Unfortunately I've had to take a break from active participation outside of my bod responsibilities for a couple years as my focus has had to be on our families business but I will be back in full FORCE soon enough. This evening at the chat-a-thon, conversations were being had about some dear FORCE friends who have passed and one who are currently ill. Just brings up a lot of feelings.
Ironic that two sites I go tonight are expressing those same feelings and thoughts. Of course it all makes me think of my mother, what I went through (which I will blog later about), family and friends. I've known way too many people who have been afflicted and affected by cancer; lymphoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, throat cancer - to name only a few. Cancer is such as horrible disease. It robs people of so much. It sucks.
Ok - enough of that. To bring me back out of my zone I hear Oscar boy SNORING away LOUDLY in the other room. LOL! I have to say he makes me smile and giggle absolutely every day. He reminds me to slow down and enjoy the little moments. The way he sits on us, the way he holds his head. The way my boys (and dh) interacts with him. My dh asked Oscar to jump in his lap the other day while he was sitting in his new chair. That just doesn't happen! I just look at him and laugh. Someday I hope to capture in a picture what I see - so far I have been unable to do it. Then I move to Zoe and think just how pretty she is. Chad made a comment about how different they are and I told him we have beauty and the beast (a cute beast but one none the less). LOL! We laughed. I've always looked at my kids this way but it's fun to see animals in a new light. I'm think I'm turning into one of those crazy dog people. LOL!
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