Stockings, Bones and Squeakies

In continuing with my usual blogging catch up, for today's Dogs on Thursday I thought it would be appropriate to tell you about our 4 Doggy Christmas... thru pictures, of course! You will please excuse the dog hair covered rug... and understand fully that even if I vacuumed 10 times a day, it would still look like that...

Each dog gets a stocking stuffed with toys & treats...

Here's the Queen, Lola, who snagged the paw shaped one. You might notice she's trying to get in to it from the wrong end... sshhh, she'll figure it out eventually (the girl once ran smack dab into the closed back hatch of my SUV... the brightest, she might not be, but she is the most loving!).

Each of the kids also got a nice big rawhide bone all wrapped up. Lola loves to unwrap presents... any presents, hers, yours, mine... anything... she doesn't care what's inside, she just loves to tear off the paper. The other kids are still learning how to unwrap, but they're getting better.

Lola going to town...

Tut asking you to quit watching him...

Zeus was getting the hang of it, then probably thought he wasn't supposed to make a mess, and gave his best "It wasn't me" look!

Sophie had to think about it for a few minutes... but eventually figured it out!

We have a "1st Christmas" bone ornament for each dog and even though it was technically her 2nd Christmas, Sophie got her very own 1st (I figure since she was only a few weeks old and living on the streets as wild puppy last year, it really didn't count...).

Don't you just love the little bling-bling pink collar on it??!!

There were lots of new toys to play with...

There were lots of great kodak moment pictures to be taken... I caught Zeus napping with his new little hippo friend..

Are you overloaded on doggy cuteness yet??!! Of course, now that I finally downloaded a bazillion photos off the camera, I have several really cute new doggy shots... but I won't force you to see them all today... I'll save some for later. You'll just never know when I'll hit you with some mega cuteness like this...

For anyone who says that you can never have 2 female dogs get along so well in the same household, check out my 2 baby girls snuggling! Aren't they super duper cute??? Enjoy the rest of your doggy day!

Oh the weather outside is...

frightful 52 degrees??!! On January 9th! Welcome to New England, where if you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes. We've also gone from nice bright sunshine to hurricane rain & winds (today's phrase of the day at work ~ We're not in Kansas anymore...) and back today... again, just wait 15 minutes. Apparently we're supposed to stay with unseasonably mild temps thru the weekend (high 40's)... nice! Although I think we need it to be a bit cooler to kill off all these germs and sickies. I'm still sniffly & congested, with an added sore throat at night, which I'm chalking up to a lovely side effect from all the congestion and allergy stuff I take all day. I did just discover those ugly football player nose bandaids lovely little strips for your nose though. Now, I didn't buy the Breath Right brand, instead I went with cheap generic and I have to say, after my first use last night... wonderful! I truly had doubts that these things actually worked, but I'm a believer now!!! Oh and yes, I got the clear ones. They still make you look like a total dork though... I considered wearing one to work today, but thought better of it.

I finally got time to download some photos from the camera and guess what? I have knitting content!!! I spent my sicky weekend knitting away at a hat, figuring that just maybe if I listened to my Mom and wore one that I might not get sick again. I just think hats make me look like a dork... almost as much as the nose strips... and I can't stand frizzy hat head. I keep trying to convince myself that its just because I don't have the right hat, so I cast on for the Amanda hat (while reminding myself that I really should finish my Amanda Headband before spring... for those of you on Ravelry, you'll see it hibernating in my projects). I had to decide which color of yummy Malabrigo to use and decided on Pagoda....

I am absolutely thrilled with how this hat is coming out! Its a very sweet looking pattern, yet still sophisticated, and I absolute love how the colorway is working up, not to mention how soft the Malabrigo is! If I weren't zoning out from all the cold meds, I would've finished it already, but I do have a tiny bit more to go. Gina is actually having a "Do The Amanda" KAL this month, so if I've inspired you to cast on your own Amanda, make sure you hop over and tell her I sent you and get in on the contest!

I also worked a few more rows on my Kerchief Scarf from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book. I actually cast this on last month with good intentions thoughts of it becoming a Christmas gift, however other gift knitting took priority and this one got tucked aside. Its a very easy knit... if anything, mindless repetition.

I'm using Sugar 'n Cream twists and am thinking its going to take about 1 1/2 skeins, but I'll let you know for sure once its complete. I can definitely see myself knitting more of these in the future - definitely a great, quick gift!

As for finished objects, here are the Fetching mitts I did for my oldest niece Michele for Christmas. I used a navy Debbie Bliss merino aran yarn, which knit up to a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for, however since Michele is quite petite, it was actually perfect. She wasn't home when we delivered Christmas gifts, but has said in email that she likes them and they fit good. Now, I'd love it if she surprised her Aunty with a photo of herself wearing them, but she is an 18 old socialite with quite a busy life you know... maybe my Mom is reading and she can hunt down her Granddaughter for the photo...

Now for the usual reminder to self ... please remember to start Christmas knitting much, much, much earlier this year.......

As for that State of NH and the crazies who invaded us this week... they've moved on now, but only after calling us another 100 times yesterday! At least a few left messages this time, however when you're calling to remind us that it is Primary day, I just want to smack you. You think I didn't remember it was voting day? What, all your volunteers freakishly standing on the sides of the highway waving at passing cars didn't remind me? Your 100,000,001 signs plastered all over? Oh and wait, your faces all over the friggin tv? Gee, thanks for reminding me... I just might have forgotten all about it! duh Not only did we get the reminder calls, but a couple of youngins from the Hilary camp actulaly came to our door to ask if we voted yet!!! Now you're pushing the psycho line. Go away!!!! Ugh. So anyway, yes, I did vote and it was my first time ever bothering to vote in primaries. I had truly thought about checking off one of those names I never heard of before... just to see if the tv counts would accurately show that Joe-Schmo got one vote... but I didn't. I was a good little voter. And no, the person I voted for did not win. And no, I am not happy that they kept cutting in to prime time tv with the results as they were counted (ohmyfreakinggod, 11% of the votes are in... hold the presses! oh now wait, 14% are in...)... and then the friggin speeches. Ugh you idiots made me miss a whole hour of The Biggest Loser last night... jerks.

As mentioned, I finally got around to downloading weeks worth of photos off the camera and even though its 52 degrees out today, I'll leave you these some snow photos (click on their names for some more new photos) ... and maybe we'll catch up with doggy Christmas photos tomorrow for DOT!

Super Lola!

Sleuthy Zeus!

Defiant Teutul!

Curious Sophie!

Eager to Please?

I took the Potter Craft Fiber Quiz today and came up as Angora:

Angora – Soft and warm “Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Eager to please and highly sensitive? I think someone confused me with Teutul. I think I'm usually much more fitting to the Camel description... How about you?

STOP calling me!

For those of you so lucky to not live in New Hampshire during this manic time of year with all these wack jobs crazy politicians out and about, I wanted to share with you a few details from my weekend, which I spent at home... sick (yeah, its the ahh-choo! time of year in New England). Not only were all of their faces plastered all over my TV all weekend, but my phone rang... and rang... and rang. It friggin rang nearly non-stop! I had thought we were well protected by that lovely invention called the National Do Not Call List, but nope... these dirty, greasy politicians use the First Amendment to get around that too (I just learned that this morning). Jerks. Do I constantly call and harass you all day? If you don't pick up the first five times, can I just hang up on your answering machine and call again? I should mention how out of the bazillion calls we've gotten, only a small handful have actually left one of their "vote for me" messages. At least leave the damn message and move on to harassing someone else ... but no, they hang up and call again... and again... and again!? Ugh. I had a short term friend who did that over the summer... we're no longer friends.

I'm ready to vote for whoever does not call me at this point...

Anyway, if you clicked on that previously link above you already know about this new grassroots movement called StopPoliticalCalls.org. You can sign up one phone number thru them for free, which I just did. Will it do any good? Probably not at this point... and probably not for all those jerks screaming about their First Amendment rights to hassle me in the privacy of my own home, nonstop, while I'm trying to eat a peaceful dinner, get some much needed rest (did I mention I'm sick?), spend quality time giving belly rubs and scratchies to my furbabies, or hell, keep count on my stitches as I knit away!

My scream for the day... you're taking over my state and causing traffic jams from hell, could you at least stop friggin calling me already?!?!?! ?

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming... Happy Monday!

Sophie the Fuzzball

For today's Dogs on Thursday, I thought I'd share with you some of Sophie's baby photos. Jan, the awesome lady who rescued her off the streets in Missouri, sent them to me.

Wasn't she just the cutest little fuzzball?

A couple from when Jan first brought her in at approx. 4 months old.

This is Jan's favorite pic...

Sophie (by the way, she was formerly known as "Scuffie") and her sister Sadie, who was adopted out in Missouri (yes, this liter obviously had a couple of different Dads...)...

A couple from the end of May, almost 6 months old.

Our shy baby girl in September, just about 1 month before her journey North...

Christmas in Connecticut Day, December 25, 2007... Sophie was the lucky child who got to come along (side note, we tend to only take 1 child, sometimes 2, at a time to family gatherings to avoid getting asked not to come back next year... )

Thank you so much to Jan for rescuing our baby girl! Jan runs the rescue Precious Pets, be sure to check them out. This was Sophie's original Petfinder page before she came over to Pet Matchmaker and essentially, to our home, first as a foster.

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. I think I'll stop complaining about the wretched white crapola snow, as today it is biterly cold! Temps are in the single digits, along with brutal winds and a low of 4 below zero tonight... actually too cold to snow!! I'd rather have some pretty snow showers (not the ones that bring a foot of snow) over the brutal temps. For those of you outside of New England, I grew up understanding this concept... it actually being too cold to snow. Well, when I googled it just now to provide an answer before someone asked, I learned this.

Defeat the Winter Doldrums

Ok, so yes, it did look like a Winter Wonderland that I was driving thru to get to work this morning, with all of the pretty snow on the tree branches... but still, a let up on the white stuff would be appreciated. We're running out of places to push it too. And in case you were wondering, yes, it was snowing again this morning...

So, much to my delight I noticed the new dishcloth swap is getting ready to start up... appropriately titled Defeat the Winter Doldrums! Click on over... sign ups begin January 11th!

As previously mentioned, my little Southern Belle is adjusting quite nicely to the wretched white crapola snow... although this morning she seemed much more content to curl up and sleep on Zeus' enormous size bed, than to want to get up and go out.

Overdue Thank Yous

This is a long overdue post! I apologize for taking so long to get this post up, but between the holiday, the unstopping wretched snow and my laziness having to download the photos, the time just kept slipping away. Then today, as I was about to sit and type this post, we friggin lost power for 2 long, long hours! Ugh. Yes folks, its snowing here... again. We got about 6" of new white crap yesterday and its been snowing all day today. Of course, the snowblower broke again yesterday... luckily we were bailed out by a friend with a plow. Matt's been at it all day - trekking out to buy parts, hammering broken parts out, cursing at the evil machine and now that we have lights again, he's back to putting it back together before he can go and clean the driveway for what seems like the 50th friggin time this month. Anyway, on to my great thanks...

First up, my wonderful Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap package. My spoiler really kept me guessing with her emails and hints and even though we've been reading each other's blogs for awhile now, she was able to keep the surprise until the end! I had no idea it was Alana until my box arrived! And boy did she ever spoil me... lookie here, all of these wonderful things came spilling out of my box...

There was yarn - 2 skeins of Classic Elite Paintbox (which I hear is great for those little felted bowls!) and a skein of Sugar 'n Cream. There were yummies - Chippers, which are chocolate covered potato chips from a local shop and oh so yummy, a chocolate lollipop, delicious chocolate bar, Biscotti, M&Ms and some new Hershey Kisses flavors that I had not seen before (oh my... you must try the candy cane ones if you haven't already... yum-o!). There were fun things - a "my blood type is coffee" post it pad that I adore (so true!), a cute winter magnet, a yummy smelling winter snowflake candle and a wonderful Starbucks mug that I love. There was coffee - not 1, but 2 delicious kinds from another local spot... Christmas Blend and Fireside Spice. Both are absolutely delicious and we've been enjoying them heavily in our house!

Check out the Chippers...

The coolest thing Alana sent (besides the super yummy coffee to feed my caffeine addiction), was the most perfect DPN holder that I had been longing for! Look at what she made for me (she even sent the extra button and left over fabric... so thoughtful, and now to decide what to do with it... perhaps line a basket to match). All of the pockets gradually increase in width as you go from left to right... did I say how perfect this is?

My kids think the coolest thing she sent was this...

Insider were homemade cookies for my furbabies, from Alana's furbabies... they loved them, as you can clearly see here.

Don't you just love my gentle giant? He waits so patiently and usually gets his cookies last in line...

Thank you Alana... everything was absolutely wonderful! The kids thank you too - they love the cookies! You did a great job keeping me in suspense and not letting on to who you were too... I love when we get to spoil friends in the swaps! So much fun!

The other swappy goodness I received was my Dogs on Thursday Ornament Swap package from the lovely, multi-talented, The Queen... Gaylen. My kids were gathered around quite closely, sniffing all over the box even before I could get to opening it. They definitely knew it was for them...

When I did open it, all I could think was

oh my gosh... how Auntie Gaylen spoiled you!

Seriously, this box was jammed packed to the brim with some of the most special and precious items I've ever received! There was a personalized bone shaped stocking and ornament for each dog... and keep in mind that this box was sent and received before I announced (or we were even sure) Sophie was officially joining our family (I think it was an extra "sign"... and well, if I ever regret becoming a 4 doggy household, I'll always have Gaylen to blame... ha ha ha!).

There were also a set of the cutest coasters ever, a pair of handknit mitten ornaments (which hang off the sconce in my little knitting corner), an adorable doggy mug (a nice, big mug!) with coffee & biscotti and a cute little doggy ornament.

As if that weren't enough,

there were doggy toys galore!

Thank you Gaylen... you sure know how to spoil! The little stockings (which I'm going to use year round for multiple holidays) and ornaments are so very special to me. I feel like my box fell short in comparision, but hope the furbabies did love my homemade treats ... you are just so amazing (and to have done all of this on bed rest... you are The Queen!)! The kids absolutely love their toys... the blue bone is one their favorites... and bobos are very popular in our house!

The "monkey ball" is adorable and so perfect for my new little monkey!

Thank you both... I promise to have more bloggy catch up soon! In the meantime, I did amend Jasper's post with some photos. He was truly a one-in-a-million dog... Thank you to everyone who's left great messages for JJ and Eddie.

Happy New Year... here's to a much brighter 2008!