Scrantonicity.

Just a quick note.... Sara and I just finished booking everything for our REM 30th bday road trip (I'll go into more detail later) like, this morning. Today, the new SPIN came... Who's on the cover?

It's just like 8th grade! :) Sara, another in a long line of recent signs that our trip was meant to be. Can't wait!!

Smoosh.

Typically, me and the kids spend the day as such: me in the middle of the couch on my laptop, Heidi to my left or right, against or on me (literally -- her favorite spot is across my lap, making me type over her), and George sleeping on the floor. He's a floor guy. Not a snuggler. Well, once yesterday and just now today.... George jumped up and snuggled up against me and fell asleep on the couch. So now I'm sitting here, laptop in, well, lap, Heidi snuggled to my left, George snuggled to my right. Aww.

This weekend will likely be a little crazy. I leave for Vegas on Monday, so I've got all my crap to get together -- I'll be there seven days, so lots of clothes to try on and figure out and pack. Monday through Thursday is work (yuck), but Thursday night through Sunday is fun. An early congrats to Melissa and Shawn, whose wedding we'll be attending Saturday night. Lots of love to the pre-newlyweds!

Another big event coming up.... My dear dear Jessica is TURNING THIRTY ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!! So lots of love to her, and Jess, I wish I could be with you. Miss you and love you oodles and oodles.


*I see you peekin at me, birthday girl!

And Georgie makes four.

More on the newest Church...

As foster parents, we fully intended to, well, foster George. We've been through this a few times now, and we know the drill. While always hard to let go in the end, that's what you've signed up for, and fosters are so needed that you just want to remain available for the next dog in need. Because there will always be dogs in need.

That being said, when Brad came to me on Saturday night and said, "We need to keep George," it didn't take a whole lot of convincing. After everything he's been through, now that he's settled and safe and happy, how can we uproot him again? And how can we bear to let someone else raise him? We can't. So my friends, George is here to stay.

Dudes! Are you serious?

OOOOK, fine, he can stay.

George and I took a field trip to the humane society this afternoon to figure stuff out. Although nearly certain as fosters we get "first dibs" (we do), I was still terrified I'd get there and they'd say "Oh, we forgot to tell you? So and so is taking him." And with us being gone next week for Vegas, I was worried they'd say, well, he's yours now, you get him fixed and you find someone to watch him next week. Luckily, none of that happened. Everyone was so excited to see him, and everyone was geniunely happy that we want to adopt him. A million thanks to shelter manager Jeri, who is more than happy to still let George stay with her next week and will make sure he gets fixed while we're gone. I feel so much better now. That's not to say I won't be calling her every day to see how he's doing. :)

If you haven't already met him, come by soon and give him some lovin and welcome him to his new, forever home. Rest easy, Georgie. You're safe now. XOXO

PS. As I promised volunteer coordinator Kelly (and swore on the Bible, Koran, and Torah)... we will still remain on the foster list. It may be awhile before we can handle another puppy, but hopefully we can still help out with other dogs in need!

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Yep. This means what you think it means...... :)

Come on, you know you wanna do it!

Last night I was able to attend the second humane society foster meeting (I had to miss the first in November), and it was actually pretty interesting... minus the forever-long talk about cats and cat medicine and cat food and cat poo! ha ha! But it was pretty eye-opening. I just assumed there was this huge pool of foster families, but there really just isn't. Obviously, some people weren't able to attend the meeting. But for all of the animals that need that time away from the shelter, there weren't more than 20 people at the meeting. And nearly all of them were cat fosters -- only four or five of us were dog fosters. So if you, or anyone you know, is interested in fostering, go for it! There's no obligation to take any particular animal, at any time, they just ask that you commit to six months of availability. There's a mailing list, and when an animal needs fostering, you get a (mass mailing) note -- but again, there is never any pressure to take a particular animal. You don't have to be at home all day like me, and you don't even have to live in Washtenaw County. With kitten season coming up, too, sounds like they still need more and more cat fosters. They said they received something like 600 kittens last year. So there's my plea. Just give it some thought. :) And while it's hard to care for an animal and ultimately have to give it up... the animals REALLY need it. So it's worth it.

I also registered to do Walk & Wag with Heidi this year. Lisa and Macy are going to walk, too. :) If you're interested in joining us, again, you don't have to live in Washtenaw County. Heck, you don't even have to physically walk. All they ask is that you raise at least $35 to participate. Sounds like it will be a fun time!!

Splish splash.

I wish I had photos to share of the big event, but as a first-time puppy bather, I didn't think it would be the smartest idea (kinda like when I took my camera out to a sandbar in the ocean). Anyway, as you have likely surmised, George finally got a bath! Poor stinky little guy. I think he was pretty freaked out by the whole thing, but once I started pouring the warm water over him, he calmed down. And after the first few initial jump-out attempts, he mostly just stood there (albeit crammed in the corner of the tub) and let me wash him up. We waited two weeks to do this because we didn't want to scare him, and luckily he doesn't seem too scarred by the whole thing. He's still the same crazy little pup.

Another milestone: We went out for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, and when we came back in, George was barking his head off (sidenote: we're having a little bit of a separation anxiety problem). We go over to his cage (soaked in pee) and there is blood everywhere! Total panic... what the heck? OMG are you ok? Trying to find something on him, look in his mouth, see what's up... Nothing! We can't find anything. We start pulling his blankets out to put in the wash, and what do we see? A tooth!! Our little Georgie lost his first baby tooth. Aww.

PS Heidi and George are still best buds.

Top ten.

Just a mini update before I head out to meet Lisa Z for some yummy martinis!! :)

1. No accidents ALL day.

2. This morning, Georgie walked from inside, down the block, around the cul de sac, and back.

3. With my lunch in his sights, Georgie jumped UP on the couch!

4. The leash is the magic trick: we've had the pooch tethered to us since yesterday morning (when he isn't relaxing in his crate). He can still roam around and play with Heidi, or lay down or chew his bone, but he can't get out of our site and into his "marking territory."

5. Our boy is curvy! His belly is filling out, and no longer can you feel the bones in his skull.

6. He loves his grandpas! He got to love on Bob and Larry.

7. Heidi and George are in love. It is SO cute to watch them play. George lays on his back or vice versa and they roll around and nuzzle each others bellies and nip at each others feet and smooch.

8. He's almost strong enough for a bath! We're used to the stinky by now, but he'll smell even better after the lavender soap hits him.

9. He's sleeping better and better every night. Tonight we're thinking we won't set the 2:30 am alarm -- we'll just wait and see when he wakes us up (and we discovered he can and will bark when he needs to go out).

10. He's the cutest little Georgie Pooch ever!

Georgie Wan Kenobi.

As you can see, Georgie and Heidi are getting closer and closer. It's so cute to watch -- they keep following each other around everywhere, laying on the floor together, snuggling on the couch, and... even... playing!!! While George clearly can't play like Heidi can (and is dying to), they nuzzle and scoot around and give each other little smacks in the face. Heidi still is being very patient with him and doesn't push -- who'da thunk she could be so mature?

George has gone from a full day of sitting on the couch (his first day here) to nonstop action (today). He still doesn't move very fast, but he's up and down up and down all day, checking stuff out, sniffing around. He can even hop off the couch and his legs will support his landing. It's amazing. Seriously.

We have encountered one problem, but luckily it's just a normal puppy problem. Georgie thinks he needs to pee and/or mark every five minutes. And I mean that literally. In spurts, for the past two days, he's peed at least 45,403 times. We'll take him out, he'll pee twice, poop, we'll bring him back in, set him down, and he'll go pee in the kitchen. Oh, and he doesn't like to pee on tile. I started to worry that he might have an infection, but when he finally calms down for the night around 9 or 10, he'll sleep for two hours at a time, and then again for four hours at night in his cage. I looked it up online and realized he's probably marking. Our little masculine pooch! I called the hs this morning and spoke with the shelter manager, and she agreed that's likely what he's doing. She suggested we have him spend some relaxing, cozy time in his puppy crate, that it might help with the transition. So in between playtimes with Heidi, mini-walks outside, and lots of snacks, he's taking two or three naps in his crate, and you know what? I think it's helped! We haven't had a single accident since. Fingers crossed! But again, still a sigh of relief to deal with normal "he's just a puppy!" problems. I'll take it!

Gimmie love.

Just a quick note to tell you that this morning Georgie sat next to me and rolled over. He gave me the belly!!!! Aww. I felt all smooshy. And thought you should know. He's kicking ass. And tackling stairs!

More soon!

Georgie porgie.

My heart is broken yet overflowing. How can people hurt innocent little animals? How can they leave puppies in a pit, in the middle of Detroit, in an abandoned building? How can they do such a thing and then walk away? And ever feel good about themselves again? I guess I'll just never understand. And I'm glad. Because even though my heart is broken for poor little George, my heart is filled with love for the amazing strides he's made in just a few days, and the trust he's already put in us.

I picked George up (yes, we named him George. And despite my mom's protestations, I think it's a good, strong name. And far better than the horrible "Cinder," "Blaze," and "Arson" the humane society suggested) from the shelter yesterday morning. While prepared, I never could have really been prepared. He's four or five months old, so he's as tall as he should be, but there's nothing to fill in the middle. He's skin and bones -- it's so hard to pick him up because he feels so fragile... You can feel every bone in his body. He was cowering underneath a desk when I got there and had no intentions of moving. When we got him in my car, he peed (probably in pure terror!). I brought him home, set him up in the chair, tucked him in with a warm blanket, grabbed a handful of food, and we were instand friends. He spent the afternoon in his chair, mainly because his legs just don't have any strength. But you could see in his eyes.... he wasn't going to give up! He got braver and braver as the day progressed, peeking his head around the chair, and even getting down for a few laps around the rug with Heidi. Brad got home, and I'd saved George's evening treat for him to feed him to make friends with. I can't tell you how sweet it is to see this terrified, weak little pooch give it his all and walk around the room. By bedtime, his tail even came out from between his legs and gave a little wag.

Today he's just been better and better every hour. He's been awake most of the day, has hopped off the couch all by himself to steal some of Heidi's carrots, and he even walked all the way down to the backyard on his own! Oh, and he totally killed two bones and could probably eat a whole bag of food on his own. That makes me so happy to see. After everything he's been through, our little guy can still enjoy the small pleasures in life. And when he snuggled up to my arm this afternoon? Melt.

Now it's evening two, and Brad and I are comfortably flanked by our sleeping pooches. Brad has observed that Georgie loves to be outside -- even though he can only handle a few minutes of scooting around, he's eager to explore and his tail wags wags away. Did I mention he loves to eat?

While Heidi is clearly unsettled by this new pooch in the house getting waited on hand and foot, she is being a good big sister. She hasn't overwhelmed George, has only barked a few times, and as soon as he's on the ground, she's at his side, his little bodyguard foster sister. She doesn't even try to eat his stinky puppy food!

Two Days: A Pictorial

Darn cats!

Is it wrong that I'm bitter? I didn't need a water bowl from PetSmart... but I sure wanted to win! And how many millions of times is Heidi cuter than these silly cats? Sheesh!

Boo to Not Winning

PS. Our lives will be changing dramatically tomorrow morning. I'm picking up a four-month-old collie mix from the humane society to foster for a few weeks. He was rescued from a fire in an abandoned building, so he's clearly in need of lots and lots of love (and lots of snacks!). Make sure you stop by to give him smooches soon. :)

Take off your sexy snowsuit, put back on your moon boots...

It's Sunday again, so here are a few scatterbrained and quick thoughts from the week as I cook up some pasta (I did three miles on the treadmill today... need to carbo-refill!). Then it's back to AFV!

Thursday Brad and I spent the evening with Brendan and Bridget. Always a blast -- such a pair of cuties. You may be interested to know, actually, that Brad is now Uncle Dan. Check it out.

Saturday, Birgit and I went to see Sia at the Magic Stick. Prior to the main event, we were treated to Har Mar Superstar. I'm not quite sure how to describe what ensued other than to say... he looked like Ron Jeremy, he sang like Justin Timberlake, he danced like Richard Simmons, and... it... was... awesome. (not my clip, but worth a peek)

You can bet your ass I bought his CD right then and there. While not quite as "energetic," Sia was pretty awesome herself and might just make a fan out of me yet! And hey, they all came out in glow-stick masks. And that's pretty cool.

Jason and I watched Inside today (A l'interieur). Brutal. Brutal. Seriously. Flippin French! Not for the squeamish.

PS. This weekend's scrapbook layouts. I've been on a roll! :)

1970s Daddy-o

Snowshowin' Elliotts