It's almost Christmas....

five days until Christmas; it's Hanukkah; and 6 days until Kwanzaa.

I've been walking dog1, dog2, and dog3 in the evenings and checking out the holiday light decorations on Capitol Hill. It's interesting how many ways one can find to decorate.

There are the minimalists who will throw one strand of lights over a fence or a tree and leave it at that.

The electric freaks who don't leave one inch uncovered, a zillion colors, blinkers at different rates and usually a lit up santa or reindeer.

Those who take the time to decorate every branch of a tree. I like these best because I finally realized why we our taught to draw Christmas trees as little hanging triangles off an upright stick.

Common is the strings of pine wrapped around iron fences and wreaths adorning the doors with big red bows and a couple of lights intertwined.

There is a house on Constitution that reminds me of the animated MasterCard house commercial.

But my favorite house this year is located on 9th street. A bush outside is done in small red lights. The house and front porch are lined in small white lights. And through the front door window, you can see a Christmas tree lit up with small blue lights, a two directional staircase decorated with strands of pine and small white lights. The colors, though as I write this realize they are of the patriotic nature, are pure delight.

Happy Hanukkah....belated and only SEVEN

days until Christmas; it's Hanukkah; and 8 days until Kwanzaa.

So, we've been a bit busy with that thing called life. So busy, we forgot to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah.

But we've been Christmas tagged by Pappy's fella, so Ellie decided to take the plunge and give her favorite three things she wants from Santa, and what she wants none of in her stocking:

1. A life long supply of smelly new lime green tennis balls
2. more tennis balls
3. a smaller sister

and she would like NOTHING better than to have NOTHING to do with

1. having her medicine forced down her throat every morning
2. having her medicine forced down her throat every evening
3. her monstrous sister

we're suppose to tag five more...but at the moment we're not sure we have five people to tag....we're gonna think about this one

sixteen..

days until Christmas; 6 days until Hanukkah; and 17 days until Kwanzaa.

And it's Ellie's birthday, and she'll cry if she wants to, cry if she wants to...

but she really has nothing to cry about, she is only three years. We spent the entire day together, along with dog1 and dog3. She had a long run in the cemetery followed by a scrumptious meal of kibbles topped off with a pork chop. Next she opened her gifts where she immediately sat on her new bed and destroyed the baa baa noise in her squeaky sheepy, though left it looking like new prompting me to consider exchanging it for a new one. A nap, another meal, another stroll and it's been a fine bday for all of us.

seventeen...

days until Christmas; 7 days until Hanukkah; and 18 days until Kwanzaa.

And I've been tagged by Disgrunted Owl. The idea is to post 6 weird things about yourself and then tag 6 more people by leaving a "You've been tagged" comment at their blog. You post your six weirdest things about yourself, and then you leave the names of the six people you tag at the bottom of that post. I think it is six people. Could be less, could be more.

Now this is my second tag, Sveedish tagged me earlier, but time has been short and I didn't get to the first tag (oops).

Six weird things about My Self:

1. I like the smell of a sweaty dirty dog.
2. After my 16 year old terrier died, I kept his smelly blanket and collar in my car where every once in a while I would get a whiff of his scent and remember him fondly (see #1)
3. I eat my bowl of cereal in the morning with orange juice instead of milk. One morning I went to reach for the milk and found an empty container. I was starving as I am every morning, and decided that a little oj over my shredded wheat would liven it up. I actually liked it and continued to use the oj.
4. Unlike Sveedish (see her #2), I just choose two socks in the morning from a drawer filled with unmatched socks. If they match, it's a good day. If they don't...well, it is still a good day. Socks are of my least concern.
5. I love fish...I mean like fish in fish tanks. I have four tanks, but no fish. Yeah, that is WEIRD. Problem is my fish like to eat each other. I mean I've tried a variety of fish. African Cichlids, South AFrican Cichlids, goldfish, mollys, angel fish, cat fish to keep the tank clean, even a fricken 35 dollar fish to keep away the algae...you name it, I've probably tried a tank of it. My first tank was filled with a couple mollys and angel fish. The fish started disappearing and I couldn't figure out where they were going. Where was that black hole? Finally I saw a carcass (that 35 dollar thingy) on the bottom of the tank being nibbled at by the other fish. I know dogs, but obviously fish are not by forte.
6. My dog can open bottles. Okay, so this isn't really about me...but it is really amazing and kind of weird that the Maggot can unscrew a bottle top. I came home to find olive oil all over my wood floors and the bottle gone. It took me two weeks to find the open bottle under the couch along with the top. At first I though she had swallowed the bottle (she's big, but I couldn't image she was that big), but when she didn't have any symptoms of eating glass and/or a bottle I let it go. At the pet hotel the other evening, she was being watched by one of the guys in the kitchen and when I came to pick her up they were like "your dog is soooo smart." I'm thinking, the Maggot...smart? Their evidence was in the food containers. No matter where the food was being stored or what type of container, she could open it. Hmm, I wonder if Dave still has his spot "stupid dog tricks?" Or was that over on NBC.

So I'm tagging:

Pappy, Tin Tin, Buster, Dory and Liza...

twenty-three...

days until Christmas; 13 days until Hanukkah; and 24 days until Kwanzaa.

We took Andy's pal, Auntie Jo, to the airport this morning. We will all be sorry to see her go. But Andy, I think, will miss her the most. While Ellie and Maggie still can't have the run of the house when I'm not there, Andy can roam as he pleases. This creates a separation between the big dogs and the AndDog. Sometimes I worry that he gets lonely being by himself all day long. While Ellie and Maggie can snuggle (though Maggie hasn't proven to be a snuggler with another dog) they can at least stand on the edge of the bed together and bark at anything that might be of interest.


As it gets colder, Madison will sometimes stay inside during the day. I am reassured that Andy then has company and even a snuggling companion. But my real concern is directed towards the bond that Andy and Ellie have had since Ellie was a five week old puppy. It has been disrupted since the Maggot arrived. It is frustrated, or perhaps a little sad, to see that the ease with which Andy and Ellie bonded together has not been reenacted with Maggie. Maggie is a force to be reckoned with, and though she loves to play with her brother and sister --- sleeping close to them is not an option. My hope is that Ellie will soon be able to roam free in the house without destroying anything of value, allowing Andy and her to spend their days together.

Ahh, the holiday season...

is upon us.

24 days until Christmas; 14 days until Hanukkah; and 25 days until Kwanzaa

Being that I have a lot of friends with dogs, and that I train at PetSmart, and that I get this nifty little 30% off (associate deal) --- well all my buddies with dogs get big old dog gifts. I like to think of it as dogmas, dognukkah and dogzaa. Though I'm sure Hallmark will come up with a dog holiday for marketing purpose alone (that is, if there isn't one already).

Now I'm not a big shopper. Okay, I hate to shop unless we're talking tools (read table saws, power tools, gadgets...you know, cool stuff) or electronics (cameras, computers, gadgets...you know, cool stuff). Other than that, I'd rather be doing almost anything else. So of course, I delay that whole Christmas thingy until the good stuff is either gone or only size 0 or 26 exist. Not a good thing.

But with dogs, well I just relish shopping for 3dogs, with 3dogs or for 3dogs' buddies. I look at all the stuffed animals, the different bones, the smart toys, the ropes, the holiday leashes, and anything else that might entertain them and entertain me. And the best thing i like about giving something to a dog is that most likely whatever you get, they will like...or at least sniff. People wear their emotions on their sleeves --- ahh, another one of those. One Christmas I gave each person a gift certificate to be donated to their favorite charity. Man, that went over like a white mini poodle in mud. The fake smiles came out, the thank yous thrown my way. But I could tell their disappointment. They really wanted "something" for themselves.

I was watching Oprah this past Monday. Now I don't usually watch Oprah since I'm at work when she broadcasts (and I haven't seen the need to buy a TiVo yet). Apparently, every Christmas season she has a Favorite show where she gives everybody in the audience one of each of her favorite things. I've never seen the show. But Monday was a follow up to her Favorites show. This year instead of giving everyone "stuff," she gave each person a $1000 Bank of America debit card and a Sony cam (have to get in those NAME plugs). The game rules were that each person had to spend that $1000 on somebody else. Her audience didn't disappoint her. They had one week. Two woman in the South turned $2000.00 into $200,000 for Sister's House (a place for battered woman and children). One woman turned $1000 into $74,000 for a local family whose father was dying of a brain tumor (yes, I was weeping big time over this). And the stories continued.

And I wondered, what would it be like if everybody thought about someone else, or another family, or a dog shelter, or PLUG IN YOUR OWN whom were really in need. And as a family, gave their Christmas to a truly needy soul.