The Refill

"What are you trying to pull mommie? It's Christmas! Surely something weird isn't going down on CHRISTMAS. No way!"...If Simon had a speech bubble above his head those were likely the words that would have been inside that bubble. Christmas morning started at the usual time I get the fur babies up for the day. Simon and Piper are fed just minutes after waking up for the day. Cody prefers to lay in bed until time to go outside. He eats breakfast later after his long walk.

Well Christmas morning had a small problem, it was a no food problem. Simon's worst nightmare! We had food, problem was the small container was empty and the monster-size bag we pour small amounts from stays stuck away in our closet, Brad was still sleeping. I was reluctant to walk through our bedroom to get to the monster-size bag. Why is it stuck away on our side of the house you ask? That's an easy answer...so the pets don't help themselves to it. Trust me, Simon and Piper would figure out how to eat through the monster-size bag if they could. They would join forces. Team Si-Pi  vs the food bag. No doubt the food bag would suffer a massive loss. 

Why was there no food in the small container? The day before was obviously Christmas Eve, we fed the "kids" before heading out the door to my in-laws for the evening. The boys food was completely gone from the container.  I didn't want to take the time to refill the container, out the door we left. Once Christmas morning arrived, I couldn't believe I had forgotten to refill the container the night before. I quickly realize I have two choices: one convince Simon he can wait to eat after his walk, maybe Brad will be up by then so I don't have to try to get into our room without disturbing Brad. Second option is risk waking up Brad to get to monster-size food bag. I explained the situation to Simon. Upon my explanation to Simon if he had a speech bubble above his head it would have read this: "WAKE UP DADDY! I NEED FOOD! I'M FEELING FAINT ALREADY! FEED ME! FEED ME!"

Low and behold a very small Christmas miracle happened for Simon. Out of nowhere his daddy woke up early, likely because it was Christmas. Brad doesn't linger in bed when it's Christmas morning. Simon was soon fed after Brad refilled the boys food container. All was right with the world again, in Simon's opinion!

Dogs can be so expressive. The longer you have your fur baby the better you get to know their personality. When I explained to Simon that he had to wait to eat on Christmas morning, of all mornings, it was a priceless little look that spread across his face. 

 

Merry Christmas

 

Wishing everyone out there in cyber land a Merry Christmas courtesy of three little "presents" and their human parents!

 

One More Week?

I'm asking, can I please, someone, anyone, give me one more week to get ready for Christmas! Raise your hand if you need one more week too? Where did the time go? I feel so behind. I feel kind of like a darn hamster running on a wheel. Constantly running yet it doesn't seem I'm accomplishing much.

Let me break it down for you...the first weekend of December Brad had a tennis tournament. He ended up unfortunately getting injured during the tourney. That weekend nothing was accomplished as far as Christmas preparation. The second weekend in December, Brad laid on the couch all weekend to rest his knee. And this past weekend, you ask?  Well we went out to get stuff done but the bitter cold temps rolled in and we soon headed for home. We did get a few gifts but certainly didn't accomplish as much as we hoped to. As this week has steadily drifted by Brad and Simon have struggled. They've had two very different problems. Brad is under the weather. He likely got sick as he did not dress properly for the cold temps that greeted us on Saturday. He seemed to be fighting it off but then today arrived, it was clear "the creeping crud" had taken a firm hold of him. His Christmas vacation though is finally here. Today was Brad's last day of work until after New Year's. He can rest tomorrow at least. As for our little Simmie, he had another seizure and is currently working through the aftermath of his vestibular disease. Poor guy falls over all the time and is in quite the fog. I actually thought it was going to be a quick one day issue for him however, Wednesday arrived and he was struggling with more symptoms. Hopefully both Brad and Simon will be doing much better by Christmas Eve.

So big goals for me tomorrow...I have to shop, wrap, cook, bake. How early can I get up? Hopefully early! People in Phoenix that get gifts from us. Expect a little something to arrive a bit late. SORRY! I know in the family I was raised in that is certainly not acceptable. Being on time is a must always. I understand my failure will be an extra topic at Christmas. I'm doing my best to make peace with that. Wish I was a superhero but I am not!   

Quick Snap Sunday

Heater Hog!

A heater hog? Yes, when he can be! Most frequently it's Cody planted in front of the heater. Although while Cody was still eating his breakfast Simon took advantage of some one-on-one time with the space heater.  Totally loving it, eyes closed as he soaked in the warmth.

The super cold snap arrived a few hours earlier than predicted yesterday. Around noon the temp started dropping to a super cold state. Brad and I huddled together as we walked to and from different shops while out Christmas shopping.

This morning with the wind chill factored in it was 5 degrees when I walked the boys. Extremely unpleasant. Needless to say our time outside was rather brief. I walked them up and down the long hallways in our building to get their exercise in for the day, keeping their exposure to the elements limited. It had to be limited so that we all didn't turn into complete blocks of ice. After each walk today I have promptly ushered the boys back over by the space heater to warm up after being outside. Gotta thaw out my cute little nearly developed blocks of ice. :)

Later on in the late morning hours I decided to go to the store to get the ingredients to make chili for dinner. Chili and Cowboys football on a cold night...perfect right? Anyway, as I opened the door to the pathfinder, I heard and saw ice breaking away as it fell to the ground. I was parked in the complex parking garage yet we still had ice that had sealed our doors shut. Weird to see for an AZ raised kid like me. I'm not sure how long the super cold snap will last but I do know more of the same for tomorrow's forecast.  Good thing there's a roof on the Cowboys stadium because at last I checked it was 15 degrees with the wind chill factored in.

Live It Up

Cody, I have 3 words for you..."live it up".  Now I have two more words for you..."brace yourself". Remember those two phrases as today progresses, big man. As you are walked today my dear Cody-man flaunt your little face in the sunshine. Enjoy having to squint your eyes, thanks to the brightness. Relish in the unseasonably non-cold 65 degree day. Take note of the lack of wind whipping you in the face or making it so you can't keep your balance. Enjoy it! Live it up my little puggie because by midnight, the weather in big D will make a drastic shift. No not that kind of shift where we'll gain in temperatures. We won't be sweating anytime soon. The type of shift that will make you dig your paws in the floor as you refuse to budge from the comfy warmth of the building, not wanting any part of the super coldness outside. A dreaded shift to super freezing temps is coming!   

This wintery session due to hit us, may be the storm that makes Cody learn to book an air flight to Miami.  Or maybe he prefers even further away and settles on the Bahamas. Cody's happiness/moods is incredibly affected by the weather outside. We've had quite a few days in a row of gloominess. The last two days have featured gloomy skies and a continuous misting rain. As a result Cody's mood has suffered. But low and behold this morning arrives with sunshine, a non-freezing temperature, and a happy-go-lucky Cody. It was like someone found his "on" switch. He's marching to the beat of a happy drummer boy, instead of moping around like he's Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh cartoons/storybooks.

Simon is so even tempered no matter what comes his way. Steady as a rock. Not the case for Simon's older brother, everything around Cody affects Cody, including the sun, the moon, and even the Mavericks win-lose record. LOL! 

Yes, we are bracing ourselves! We've decided to get as much done today just in case we don't have ANY desire to leave the house tomorrow. The only type of leaving the house tomorrow will likely be just to walk the pugs. They will not be able to take the temps that are predicted so the walks will likely be kept short. The temps are predicted to be down in the teens by Sunday morning! A steady and drastic drop in temps is supposed to start occurring as the late afternoon and evening arrive.

Floral Fourth

Yesterday was the "floral fourth" for us. What do I mean by that phrase? We celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss. The 4th wedding anniversary is known as the flower anniversary...my term "floral fourth".

We dined at a restaurant called Gloria's which is Salvadorian cuisine. Think Tex-Mex with a Salvadorian inspiration. Really tasty Tex-Mex. Oooh, and they have a chimichanga on the menu. Trust me folks, finding chimichangas on a menu at Mexican food places here in Big D is not common. Fajitas and tacos reign supreme with Texas style Mexican food. While Arizona is more about burritos, chimis, and enchiladas...am I right, fellow zonies out there in cyber land? We sat near the bar, it was Thursday night, we had to watch a little of the NFL game too. ;) 

So needless to say thanks to being the "floral fourth" Brad was the recipient of his first ever bouquet. Yes, I felt weird buying a bouquet for my husband. But we agreed back when we married we would honor each year by giving gifts matching up with the anniversary milestone. Don't worry he got a little extra something to go with his bouquet...something very manly! LOL!

Anyway we had a great time celebrating. I can honestly say I love Brad more and more each day. That might sound cheesy, but it really is the truth. When our anniversary this year approached I couldn't help but have that realization of how much more our love expands as we progress through our marriage. A feel so blessed and lucky to be his wife! So happy he chose me to marry!!! Plus his cuteness is unbeatable! He's just soooo CUTE! :)

 I sat the flowers down on the floor to better arrange them and Piper had to check them over. Cutie!

 While the flowers were down on the floor this happened. Someone, who shall remain nameless(wink-wink), took a bite out of one the leaves. Mommie and that someone then went a few rounds as the torn portion of plant leaf was taken away from the 'eat anything' grabby little fur-baby!

Sing To Me

 

 

Time to make the toys sing. A great way to entertain a cat(or a dog), is to make the toys sing to her. I bought the dog with it's reindeer appearance specifically to freak out the cat. Bad mommie, I know. 

 

It was her first Christmas the year I bought it. She was never fully scared of it. When you introduce little kittens and puppies to cool little sing-song toys early on they don't tend to get too freaked out. Typically they learn fast to take such things in stride. Which is exactly how I've been able to dress our trio of furries in costumes each year. 

 

In the pic above, I love the safe distance she is keeping. She's taking it all in. It's like the toys are performing a concert just for her. LOL!   

December Rolls On

Who isn't extra busy in December? In our household we have an occasion each week: Cody's birthday, then our anniversary, then Christmas, followed by New Year's. December though is the month that one can get so busy that stopping to pause to fully enjoy the season can escape a person.

In other news around our parts, Brad recently got injured playing tennis. About 8 days ago he played in a tournament, playing back to back matches within a few hours. He injured his knee hurrying to chase down a tennis ball he needed to return over the net. He's been limping around, missed 2 days of work last week in an effort to rest and not move around too much. He's doing better now. Some more healing still needs to be done. Hopefully by the end of this week his knee will be near 100%.

This past Friday was quite eventful in a bit of an unexpected way. Brad called me during his work day to discuss a work situation. Basically, another company has come in and is buying quite a few properties in Brad's current company. The new company heard great things about Brad and his co-workers, therefore they were working fast on Friday to lure certain staff members to jump ship with them, so to speak. Brad had a choice to go with new company and switch to a new property they just bought or stay with his current company at his current property. After talking to his wifey(yours truly) during the afternoon on Friday, he made the decision to accept the new company's offer. Some of his co-workers are going to new property/new company as well, so he sticks with his team by moving on. Provided nothing has changed once he receives the "official" offer sheet sometime this week he will be changing jobs next month. The commute will not be ideal. However, if he likes the new job and new company, we will most likely move closer to his work as soon as our lease is up. By the time mid-January arrives and he starts we will have about 10 weeks left on our lease at our place.

So gear up fur babies...things are likely going to be changing for all of us. As I see a new residence in our not so distant future. I'm happy though the new job doesn't start until mid-January, he won't lose vacation time he already put in for the last week of this month/year. Plus he can get through Christmas and New Year's before learning a new property.   

Quick Snap Sunday

 

Saddle Up!

 

Saddle up my horse, I want to be a cowboy! Got my hat! Simply need my spurs and chaps. Those are on my Christmas list. I heard chaps will keep my legs warm. I'm all for warmth. I heard spurs are a great defense against an annoying cat-sister so I can get on board with those too. 

 

I'm questioning the sparkle appeal of this hat though? Is this really the look I need to go for? Yes, I'm the classier pug in this house, definitely a true statement. But this is a lot of sparkle. Don't you agree?

 

Daddy saw these hats at an event and just had to snag two for us boys. Why the cat isn't subjected to wearing a hat with what appears to be a bottle of glitter dumped on it, I don't know?  A question I have posed but have yet to get a response to.  If people around here don't answer my question soon I will become unbearably loud. Yes, indeed of the three of us....I'm the loudest! Just ask my AZ grandma, she often hears me going through my routine of making myself heard while she chats with my mommie on the phone.

Cody's Birthday Pics

Once again happy birthday to our Cody-man. The big number 15! Hope you had a great birthday big man!

Without further adieu, pics of his celebrations:

 

And yes even at his advanced age, he still was excited to unwrap a new toy. He was kind enough to even help his little sister unwrap her toy. He then was ready to play. As you can see he went right for the puff on the snow cap. Typical Cody! :)

Happy Birthday Cody!

Me: My oh my, Cody-man, today you are celebrating a birthday. It's a big one too! Hello 15! Another year into your teens.

Cody:  What does that mean? Special privileges? I'm all about special privileges.

Me: Oh don't I know you love to see if you can get by with being treated special. Sorry big man, no special privileges. But tonight you get cake and presents.

Cody: Well I still would like something special to happen for me daily now that I'm 15, maybe my siblings can roll out a red carpet for me when I enter the room?

Me: Nice try! I can guarantee that's not going to happen. For many reasons.

Cody: Are you sure? It seems like a great idea to me.

Me: Yes, I'm sure. Your "royal" pug feet will just have to continue walking on the regular carpet, no red carpet. You are just like everyone else.

Cody: Boy, you know how to burst my bubble. Talk about bursting my bubble who ordered up that awful weather outside on MY BIRTHDAY?

Me: I was hoping you wouldn't notice the bad weather. At least it's not snowing, focus on that factor. Remember the year it snowed on your birthday? Daddy couldn't even get to work. The whole city was on a snow day. As your loving parents we helped celebrate your birthday by pelting you with snowballs. Daddy started it.

Cody:  Oh geez, I remember. Not my favorite way to celebrate my birthday. When can I have a birthday in sunshine and 75 degrees? Okay, I'll settle for 70 degrees. The nastiness of today is like 10 degrees with the wind chill factored in.

Me: As the day has progressed it's gotten chillier but it's not quite as cold as you think it is. I have a feeling you will be a very unhappy camper by morning though, as it's supposed to get super cold overnight thanks to the wind chill. So Code-man, what is up next for you? Any big goals for your 15th year of life?

Cody: Well let's see I'm 15, doesn't that mean I can start driving soon? Clear the streets people...clear the streets! If I learn to drive then next year it will be quite the sweet 16 as I will drive myself to Florida. Picture me now, in my speedo on the beach sipping a margarita! Wait, cancel the margarita, I have to wait until 21 for that!

Me: You crack me up. Cancel all of what you just said! LOL! In all seriousness Cody, I love you so much. You were the first pug ever in my life. I remember rocking you to sleep as a tiny pup. I remember how fat your little tummy was too. And I remember how overly concerned you were never to get in trouble as a youngster. You are a joy! A bit cantankerous at times, but I can't imagine you any other way. You keep us all on our toes. You keep us guessing as to which part of your personality will shine from day to day. For the record I like the personality that is sweet and gentle the best. :) Love you dear sweet Cody-man! Happy 15th!

The Cat Did It!

See this is what happened...the cat decided she wanted to make a smoothie. What? Cats like smoothies, they like most anything milk based. And this smoothie was milk based, almond milk based that is. So she decided to make a smoothie. She got out the milk, peeled a banana, chopped some strawberries, and even figured out how to open the protein powder. She understands there's no measurable protein in almond milk so one must have protein powder too. She got all her ingredients together and into the blender. Yes, it was quite the chore for a cat. But she is a rather determined feline. She then plugged in the blender, one maybe two buttons were pushed before it really started swirling good. But you see, she is a cat and cats get distracted, she ended up getting preoccupied chasing a pug-brother. Those darn brothers! Low and behold before she knew it the blender was smoking. Oops. Another blender bites the dust this time at the paws of the cat.

Believable right? Totally 100% believable? Cats are talented, what can I say?

As I revved up our blender late this afternoon my husband loudly(so I could hear him over the blender) stated to me that I better not burn up another blender. With a coy grin I responded by saying, "If it goes up in smoke then you'll know what to get me for Christmas!" The look on his face wasn't one of amusement so to lighten the mood even more I began telling him a brief version of the story so carefully detailed at the start of this post. LOL!

In case anyone is wondering the blender survived it's trial in the kitchen this afternoon. It did not burn up today. TODAY is the key word. Me and blenders have a love-hate relationship. In nearly 4 years of marriage we are onto our 3rd blender. Blenders don't always seem to do things my way! ;) As you can see my story has clearly been formulated, if there ever is a next time for a smoking blender in our household...the cat did it!!!

Quick Snap Sunday(bonus)

Mmm, Good M&M's!

See this M&M's dude next to me? I just cleaned him out! He's got zero treats left in him. I figured out how to work this little contraption and all his goodies were mine. Man, those candies were good. They melted in my mouth not in my paw!

Do you believe me? Or am I just joking? Do I look guilty? The jury could be out for awhile on this one.

But let me simply ask, have you spent any time with my mommie? Does she seem like the type that would leave me alone with a loaded M&M's dispenser? Only in my dreams at night do I get left alone with bundles of treats!!! Sad, I know!

Quick Snap Sunday

I Fly!

Piper: Hey, how'd you get up there?

Simon:  I fly now!

Piper: You don't fly.

Simon: Believe it, I do fly. Stick with me kid, I'll teach you a lot of stuff.

Piper: Well, what more can I learn from you? You taught me how to beg, how to stare, how to eat in a hurry. Oh and you even taught me how to hide stuff. I got a stash of goods now too.

Simon: Trust me, I've only just begun showing you all I know. I got a plethora of important stuff to pass on to you. You are my prodigy. But let's not get it twisted you work for me kid! When I need you to whine and make a fuss you have to do it. Whining ruins my street credit. I can't do that without looking like a wimp. Believe me that's not a good look for me.

Piper: Well, I can whine and meow very well.

Simon: You are at least a good student. Although I must say I'm an excellent teacher. Like I said stick with me kid, I'll pass on all my good knowledge.

Piper: Whatever you say Simon. Whatever you say.

Simon: Ah yes, music to my sweet little ears!

A Piper Post

Now wouldn't this make a perfect Christmas card? Hello, hello, it is little me, Hyper Piper. I sat still long enough for this pic to be taken. And as you can see I even tolerated mommie putting that thing around my neck. I actually wore it for quite some time. Me and my bells were making too much noise so it finally got removed. Cheers to noise!

Yesterday I found myself in trouble a lot. I mean, a lot. I just couldn't seem to keep on the straight and narrow(as mommie calls it). Behaving was highly overrated for me yesterday. Not that I did anything too seriously wrong. Well, perhaps there's a difference in opinion on what exactly is viewed as "seriously wrong". Don't ask my mommie that question.

Lets see, since the tree was put up in our house I have knocked only 2 ornaments down. Is it my fault they couldn't handle a couple bats of my paw? I do have tiny paws, they should be able to take it. I have tried to climb the tree but only once that my parents know about at least. As for getting into presents? I may have attempted to get into a present. I'm not going to fully admit to it, I do have 2 older brothers, one of them is nearly as curious as I am. Hmm, which one do you think that is?

I'm looking forward to Christmas with my family. It should be fun. I know I will get something good in my stocking. Daddy held me up the other night to see my stocking hanging up high, I sniffed it over only to realize nothing was in it yet. I have to concentrate on being good mommie said so that soon something will be in my stocking.   

Hope everyone has a good Christmas season....I should go annoy one of brothers. Oh wait, I have to concentrate on being good. Bye for now everyone! Be back soon!

The Outage

What is the worst thing to say to a diehard born and raised Dallas Cowboys fan? What is the worst thing to say to a husband in general? Lucky for me I have a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan and a husband all rolled into one! So what is that HORRIBLE thing to say to such a person?  Well on a Thursday night about 90 minutes before the Cowboys game my husband had to endure his wife's lips uttering this dreaded sentence...."The cable is out!"

Imagine the horror! Are you imagining it? The kind of horror that makes a grown man cry. Brad instantly responded to my news by saying, "are you serious?"...Yes! Afraid so, I was unfortunately very serious. My first clue was when I went to use the phone to order pizza, since it was a big game we had company en route to our home to watch the big game of the night. The only NFL game of the night, might I add. Numerous men around the country look forward to Thursday night football no matter who is playing but when it's your home team, the anticipation is certainly amped up.

After fiddling with the cable for a few minutes. Yes, I thought to reboot the main cable box. Which for some reason wouldn't even go into reboot mode, it wasn't long before I resorted to calling the cable company. I had to do something, I needed a small miracle before my husband went nuts plus we have company that's going to go nuts too. There I am on the phone with the cable company and as soon as I enter in my address info my phone call was redirected to a special message. That special message informed me there's a major outage in Dallas county and technicians have been called in to fix the problem. "NOOOOO! Not tonight! Of all nights! Why is this happening?", exactly what my husband exclaimed when I broke the news to him. Perhaps a Minnesota fan cut the cable cords to the Dallas area...just kidding!

We waited for awhile, right up until game time, then we all piled in our SUV and went looking for a local restaurant/bar to watch the game at. This was no easy task, remember the county of Dallas is experiencing this cable outage. First things first, we had to find a restaurant that doesn't have same cable provider we have. Then we have to find a place that could accommodate our little group of people in a somewhat timely manner. We went to an area near our place we have termed "restaurant row". We drove up and down, quickly noticing the amount of people parking in nearby businesses and walking to restaurants because all the restaurant parking lots were completely filled. We somehow got lucky, snagging the only parking spot available at Boston's. Into Boston's we hurried. Loads of people everywhere. The staff seemed overwhelmed. Boston's was a great choice because they have TVs in the bar area plus in the main dining room. The bar was packed, people were even outside on the patio in the cold standing around the fire pits just to see the game. We quickly put our name on the list for a table in the main dining area. We stood in the entryway waiting and watching the TVs all around. We soon were seated and could finally order some food while watching the game.

The restaurants were clearly not prepared for the county to descend on them last night as they were running out of silverware, glasses, and plates. No one prepares for what occurred last night. I've never seen restaurants so BUSY! I mean BUSY! I felt sorry for the workers at the restaurants in a way.  I mean they were working their tails off. Yet, they likely made some of their biggest tips ever, because people probably recognized how hard things got for them and compensated them well.

Can you believe it? A HUGE cable outage affecting one particular provider in one entire county a mere 90 minutes before game time of a major Cowboys game. Enough to make any man, any husband, and any football loving female scream!!! It was an interesting night. A different way to watch a game. I'm not used to watching a game with a filled to capacity restaurant. Memorable night for sure! In case anyone was wondering the cable was fixed and came back on at 1:05 in the morning. Good thing we didn't wait around.

Just a little side note...one extreme problem about the technology of today, at least in the Dallas area, I do not like how everything is "plugged" into our main cable box. So if the cable goes out, so does our phone and our internet. When the cable goes we have nothing! I've never had to deal with that until I moved here. Oh well, such is life.

Tree Is Up

Our tree is up and December is here! Clearly I've been a little behind updating this blog but I'm back to blogging. It's that time of the year where there's lots of hustle and bustle.

We got our Christmas tree set up on Wednesday night. Simon and Piper were the most curious concerning the decorating. Cody watched from a distance, never having to be told to get out of the way. Simon had to make sure everything was done correctly to his pug-specifications. Which means he was so into the process a barrier was quickly constructed to prevent him from getting too close to the action.:) Piper on the other hand couldn't wait to start swinging on a strand of lights or a tree limb, she's not picky. She'll practice her swinging monkey routine wherever-whenever.:)

What are the dominate ornaments on our tree?  Lots of red Christmas balls!!! Lots of cardinals! Gotta have some of my favorite birds representing. :) Don't fret there's a good amount of sports stuff too. We have Dallas Mavericks candy canes, a couple Cowboys ornaments of course, and the Dallas Stars sleigh hangs prominently in front. Oh and lets not forget the tennis ornaments, there's a few of those too! It's definitely nice to have December arrive!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

I talked to my mom recently how it seemed this year in particular "Thanksgiving" was kind of being overlooked. The stores are always anxious for Christmastime shoppers frequenting their establishments which means year after year the acknowledgement of Thanksgiving becomes more and more brief. This year though it seemed extremely brief. Our local Target featured Halloween and Thanksgiving décor during the month of October. Nothing Thanksgiving was able to be obtained post Halloween, they moved right into Christmas. Note to self, next year I will buy my "November-ish" candy dish in October and not wait. The last 2 years we have kept our "Halloween themed" candy dish out for November too. 

Boy, things have changed. While on our way home from granny's house yesterday from the family Thanksgiving we eagerly looked at shopping center parking lots filled with cars as "Black Friday" arrived early, the norm now. We both commented how different it is nowadays than when we were kids. As a youngster I remember it being complained about by adults that retailers were too anxious to get Thanksgiving done and move into Christmastime. Well that complaint is of completely new validity nowadays! As a young one I remember watching the numerous Mervyn's commercials during the Thanksgiving Day parade that featured the annoying lady standing in the cold looking through the store window repeating the word, "OPEN". Oh man, that commercial was annoying and overplayed. But at least back then the stores didn't open until midnight, the very start of Friday. I also remember when a person was hard pressed to find a restaurant open on turkey day. Plenty of full service restaurants were open including Buca di Beppo, anyone for some Italian flare on turkey day? Only ones we saw dark were mostly fast food including pizza places, yet those closures were even spotty, some open and some not. 

I guess I'm old school, I like a quiet day with family gathered, a traditional turkey dinner, and of course FOOTBALL. Gotta have football! To me turkey day and football go together like peanut butter and jelly! And yes, even the furries in our household got a "turkey dinner". Turkey flavored bones for the pugs and a turkey munch stick for our little Pipey. For as long as I have had the boys they have received a special turkey "bone" on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, indeed they are spoiled, but it's the good kind of spoiled. ;)

As a youngster Zonie in the family I was in "Black Friday" was slightly different than most peoples.  Hmm, what happens on Black Friday every year in the land of Zonies? The duel in the desert! Better known as the Territorial Cup, Arizona State University vs. University of Arizona. I hope the mountain down in Tucson this year got painted GOLD! Isn't that a great tradition? Trying to paint the mountain each year? Well paint or protect! I'm sure there were some diehard wildcats doing their best to protect their mountain from being painted by diehard sun devils. As a kid and an adult, Black Friday meant going to the last ASU football game of the year which has always been a face-off with rival University of Arizona. Always a bitter and exciting rivalry. Afterwards we all went to Mexican food. I suppose after all that turkey from the day before Zonies need to balance things out by getting back to the number one most preferred style of food in AZ. LOL! Go Sun Devils! Both teams haven't had a good season so it should be a different style of a battle. Winning this game today means you end the season with a huge and satisfying smile on your face. Once again let me say....GO SUN DEVILS! Even here in TX I'll have my gear on even my Sparky earrings! Gotta have the earrings it completes the look. ;)

Quick Snap Sunday

Show Me The Pumpkin!

 

Cody says, "Oh yeah, this is GOOD!"         

 Piper says, "Where's my pumpkin treat?"     

 Hanging out in the kitchen with a messy face and his blanket!

 

Are you my little pumpkin Cody-man? Yes, and you are definitely a pumpkin eating little man too! It's the week of Thanksgiving which means pumpkin flavored cupcakes were penciled in to be made today. The cupcakes will be enjoyed by those at Brad's work. Perhaps I've mentioned this before, I'm not a pumpkin fan(neither is Brad). However, I like it in certain baked goods I've recently discovered. Cody is as obsessed with pumpkin as Simon is peanut butter and Piper is whipped cream.

It will be a busy week in our household. Trying to get everything done in a timely manner on a holiday week is always a challenge. I think a lot of people can relate. For the next 3 days I like to keep reminding myself the long Thanksgiving weekend is the reward for any extra work leading up to the holiday! First things first, I'm still contemplating my 2nd dessert we will be taking to granny's on Turkey day. Gotta love those BIG time decisions!

Piper vs. The Paper Towel Roll

Buy a cat a toy and she plays with it for a brief moment. Toss a cat an empty paper towel roll and she rolls around with it for quite awhile. I decided to snap some pics as Piper played with her new "toy".  She'll do her best to conquer the paper towel roll a few more times until eventually mommie decides it's served enough of an extra purpose and needs to meet the garbage can.

Victory was hers! 

Coldness Arrives!

Well we made it through October and halfway through November before mother nature decided to lash us with some serious coldness. A cold front moved into the Dallas area yesterday, causing me to go digging in the "boys closet" for their winter gear. Early this morning I dressed Cody in a long sleeve pullover sweatshirt. Those long sleeves clearly mess with his mojo! He instantly started walking around just like I picture a scarecrow would walk, if a scarecrow could walk that is. When wearing long sleeves Cody doesn't bend at all. Every move he makes is done as if he has sticks for limbs. Upon seeing him take a few steps after getting dressed, I immediately busted out laughing. Oh Cody, what would we do without your unique ways! LOL!

Brad is currently at a tennis match this morning. He is playing in a tournament, so who knows how many matches he'll end up playing this weekend? I think it takes 4 match wins to win the entire tournament over the course of today and tomorrow. Tennis tournament mornings are definitely more stressful than any other mornings. It's a huge balancing act for me. Making sure the pets are taken care of as well as things are done for Brad so he can get out the door on time. And how many times has Brad been fully ready to walk out the door then turn to me to ask if I can look up the address real quick? Um, TOO MANY times! I now consider mapping his route part of the pre-match ritual! There I was this morning plugging in the tournament site's address into his WAZE app on his phone. If anyone out there needs a good app for driving directions WAZE is a great one! Just remember to completely shut down the app after you've arrived at your destination, otherwise it will KILL your phone's battery. Brad learned that the hard way!

So what's on tap for my Saturday? Laundry and household stuff, as well as planning out my turkey day shopping list. Can you believe turkey day is so near? The month of November seemed to be going by at a normal speed for us then all of a sudden in the blink of an eye it's nearly Thanksgiving. Quite a lot has been going on in Brad's family, which is likely why turkey day has suddenly snuck up on us. It appears the coldness has arrived just in time for Thanksgiving. Perfect because, I definitely prefer a somewhat chilly Thanksgiving day.

  

Quick Snap Sunday

 

What Color Are You Wearing?

 

Above you see my father-in-law, whom committed quite the football sin today. He showed up to watch the Cowboys versus the Steelers at our place this afternoon wearing Steelers colors.  He was in all black with black and yellow shoes!  Huge no-no! Shame on him! LOL! He was mocked and ridiculed by his son and yours truly, his daughter-in-law. ;)

 

His punishment was to wear the Cowboys pom-pom on his head. He was a good sport about it. His face was hilarious when we first clued in to the colors he was wearing. Somebody needs new Cowboys gear...Christmas is coming!  

Quick Snap Sunday

Simon Weight Trains

Greetings, greetings my peeps! It's your fave blogging puggie, Simmie. See, I can get away saying that because Cody hardly ever blogs. He's too cranky for blogging! LOL!

Well folks, pause and look at that stunning dude in the pic above! Do I workout? Yes! There's the proof above! I workout all the time, mommie gets my tail out of bed early. This morning thanks to time change, it wasn't all that early. I think I slept in. It was actually light outside when we headed out for our walk. I'm more fond of the Spring time change because things happen for me early. Fall time change means I have to wait around too long for my meals. What can I say? I'm an impatient little dude when it comes to my feeding time!

Anyway, I'm not just a great little walker I lift weights too. According to mommie I gotta lift heavy. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to lift heavy but that's what she tells me. And that's what I do. I lift my tired little head and lay it on a heavy weight! Or at least what is considered a heavy weight for a pug-guy like me. For maximum benefit with weights do what I do...weight training osmosis style! Try it my peeps! I'm in great shape!

Happy Halloween....from a trio of little mummies!

 

Is The Weekend Over?

Yesterday, well the entire weekend went by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it felt different since our schedule was a little thrown off due to Brad having to make-up a tennis match on Sunday. His Sunday make-up match was from a few weeks ago when tennis got rained out. When he was first told of the make-up tennis match I think complete terror came over him as the thought of missing football was too much to fathom. Then his wife happened to quickly inform him...the Cowboys play Sunday night not during the afternoon. Whew, he could collect himself and breathe again. He missed some football for tennis yesterday but he was home by the time the Cowboys took the field. And what a game that happened to by! If you missed it then you missed out, be sad!

I spent a good portion of my Sunday doing some Halloween baking. I made scary monster cupcakes for Brad to take to work with him. My original idea wasn't scary monster cupcakes. Sometimes a back-up plan is in order after failure is achieved with the original plan. ;) Oops! Thank goodness for quick thinking and back-up plans. I made a few different colors of frosting so that I had different monsters. When my batches of cupcakes were all done they looked kind of like something you'd find on Sesame Street!

As for our typical Halloween plans tonight? Those might get a little off track since it's a Monday and there's Monday Night Football. We usually have a tradition to pick a scary movie. Mind you our version of "scary" movies isn't like most of the populations. No Chuckie, no Amityville, and definitely nothing named Carrie! So think mildly scary or unique...Hocus Pocus, Hansel and Gretel, or The Addams Family! Or virtually anything with Johnny Depp. He does weird creepy characters very well! So football or a Halloween-ish movie, what will win out in our household? One thing is for sure the meal will be Halloween themed in some manner as it always is! Remember, I'm crazy...but the good kind! Can't have a holiday without some type of theme being present! Classify me a good kind of crazy-traditionalist! :)

Quick Snap Sunday(on Monday)

Monkey Time!

 

The youngest little "monkey" of our trio of "monkeys" holding her little sock monkey! How many times can I use the word "monkey" in one post? This could be a record! LOL!

Yes, it's true...I love sock monkeys. Thanks to my grandmother! She actually made me my first sock monkey when I was a kid. It occupied a spot in my room all the way until I went off to college.

 

Quite a few months ago, in honor of my sock monkey fondness one of my cousins sent me a package containing 3 little sock monkeys for our trio. Super sweet gesture! This sock monkey pictured with Piper isn't actually hers, but she believes it is. Who am I to correct her?

A Simon Post

Hello to all! For it is I, Simon C. Vaughn. Anyone know what the C stands for? If you guessed Cute!....you are right in my opinion! However, that's not the answer. I have a real middle name. We all have middle names. I think Piper's is "Simona"...Piper Simona Vaughn...great name! She's my prodigy! Just kidding my peeps, her middle name is not Simona, but it should be!

Oh my folks I can not tell a lie...I have been down and nearly out. Geesh! I was so bad off, I didn't think I would ever have the ability to post on this here blog again. My head was foggy, I mean FOGGY.  I didn't know if I was coming or going. I didn't know if mommie was talking to me or if it was daddy. I didn't know if a door was in front of me or if it was Cody. I had numerous moments where I stood in the corner expecting it to open like a door. I walked in circles and sometimes panted as I circled about. I fell over more times than anyone can count. It was like a brutal game of Simon-tipping instead of cow-tipping. Oh and don't even get me started on these hallways that lead to our front door. I had no clue which hallway to walk down, let alone which door was our front door. Furthermore, I couldn't tell the difference between food and an electrical cord, which freaked mommie out to no end. My anxiety level was super high too. Therefore I didn't have much desire to go to bed ever. At the risk of losing some of me street credit, I'll admit I required being held quite a lot during my downtime. 

Whatever the come and go syndrome is I now have, I need it to not come back EVER. I was so messed up for days it was pitiful. I really wish any of the sentences in the paragraph above were an exaggeration on my puggie part but afraid not. All completely accurate info, no exaggerating. I was a little hot mess!

The good news is, I'm back to normal for the most part. As normal as a puggie-guy like me can be! LOL! One thing is for sure, through it all I've kept my wicked good looks!

 Daddy and me having a conversation.

Quick Snap Sunday!

The Trio!

 

I'm all about capturing the trio together in one photo. I especially feel the need to take advantage of these moments as much as possible lately. Clearly Cody and Piper need to switch beds. LOL! But there's no way she would push the issue with Cody. She is smarter than that. Cody would issue her a stern warning by reminding her he is KING and she needs to bow down to him! LOL! Trust me, I'm exaggerating, he's not that mean. But he doesn't give up ANYTHING for a sibling.

 

Looks like one of the fur babies is trying to bring a little Christmas spirit to the day as the toy in the middle is a reindeer. Dragging out that reindeer is most likely the work of Cody. Can you believe Christmas isn't all that far away? Halloween is a week from tomorrow. Exciting! I love all holidays! I honestly think I like them all so much for different reasons I'm not sure I could choose a definitive fave.

Our Dear Sweet Simmie

This past Sunday night Brad was having one of his "I don't want to go to bed" evenings. I, on the other hand, forced myself to go to bed at the conclusion of the overtime Sunday Night Football game. Houston was set on me staying up later than I wanted. :)  At about 1:00 am(technically early Monday morning), I'm awakened by one of the worst sentences to be said by my husband regarding a fur baby...."Honey, you have to get up, something's wrong with Simon." In a flash I was up to see what was going on with Simon. He was unbalanced, he was pacing, he didn't seem to fully recognize us, he also didn't seem to be able to fully recognize where a wall was. In a way he was like the Energizer bunny as he paced, refusing to stay still. If he did stop though he fell over. Both of us stood over him dumbfounded. After being up with him for quite a long time we finally settled him down and all of us went back to bed. Well Cody and Piper never got up in the first place.

The next day he was definitely dealing with some issues. Bad balance, confusion, poor eyesight and anxiety were all present. However his overall energy, appetite, and everything else was normal. On Tuesday he suffered a seizure, which scared me to no end. I freaked! I thought he was a done deal at that point. After the seizure on Tuesday evening he was still suffering from all the previous issues I stated. Since Tuesday he has shown small improvement.

As it stands right now it is thought he suffered a stroke or has canine vestibular disease, both have very similar symptoms. However, seizures can be a side effect of a stroke. What now for him? We continue to love him and care for him. We adjust to the new Simon. We help him adjust to the new Simon. He has improved slightly each day since Wednesday. If he did have a stroke then he could make a full recovery in about 4-6 weeks. Yet if it's canine vestibular disease which I believe it is...then it will come and go until his end days. It'll be something he'll deal with for a few days or a couple weeks then it will go away as suddenly as it appeared. Likely reappearing at different times, it's not life threatening. Canine vestibular disease is very common in older dogs. It's nicknamed "old dog syndrome". Based on the fact he's already made steady improvement over the past few days is why I'm thinking its vestibular disease and mere coincidence he had a seizure too. If it had been a stroke I think he would be doing worse than he is. He's still got issues going on but steady improvement each day this week.

The weirdest thing about all this, in a way I feel like I'm dealing with a puppy again. Puppies can't recognize what is edible and what isn't, that's the new Simon! He'll try to nibble anything, including a foot or a finger. Last night I was too late getting to him before he ate the white tip of the door stop. Puppies are also up and about with extreme curiosity, that's the new Simon. Can't be settled in one place for too long. 

His biggest struggles: balance, confusion, eyesight, and anxiety.  Life with two aging pugs, it's a journey! My oh my! In case anyone was wondering Cody remains his same old cranky Cody self!;)

Quick Snap Sunday

How?

In this picture I'm thinking both of them are asking one another these two questions:

 

How did we get here?

 

How much trouble are we going to be in for being on the couch?

 

This is the only time pets are allowed on the couch...when I put them there. While vacuuming yesterday each one was fast asleep in a pet bed, I simply picked each one up bed and all then placed them up on the couch to get them out of the way. Once landing on the couch Simon looked at Piper and Piper looked towards me with a puzzled glance. 

 

It's cute to watch them communicate with one another. Mostly through glances, stares, and the occasional whine. Or at least that's how the communication goes between Simon and Piper. Let's simply state Cody's version of communication is a completely different style!

Piper's Birthday Pics

Piper's birthday kind of got delayed a bit or just extended. She got sick Sunday night. She started to feel better and better as her birthday(Monday) progressed. Just as the NFL has their concussion protocol, I have a fur baby stomach related sickness protocol(long title for it but it works). After 14 years with the boys there's a definite way to deal with a pet's stomach issues....trust me!  That being stated her birthday celebration which included her tuna "cake" was pushed back to Wednesday night. She was none the wiser that she was celebrating a couple days late. Oh wait she wasn't celebrating late, she was extending the celebration. Wink-wink! My grandpa Pete was an expert in extending his bday celebrations every year!

We did give her a gift on Monday which was an epic failure. She didn't like it at all. She liked the packaging more than the gift. Since I was still hiding from the public thanks to the burn on my face, Brad was completely in charge of Piper's birthday shopping. The funniest part was him trying to convince her it was a good gift. Lets say he got tricked, he thought the "kitty vault" came with toys inside. But in reality it was just a kitty vault and no toys. The purpose is to place a few key toys in the kitty vault with catnip, that way the toys are infused with catnip. Don't get me going on the catnip part of the gift. We as pet-parents decided we were not going to introduce her to catnip. Poor Brad got two perplexed stares come Monday night, courtesy of both ladies in this household.

Skip ahead to Wednesday evening, the epic failure gift was switched out and she enjoyed her tuna "cake" complete with sliced egg as the garnish. Easiest cake I make all year! The quickest too! She got a little mouse pull toy, you pull his string and he goes lightening fast across the floor. She loves it. As for her bros they got Halloween toys, little toy pirates. Every dog needs a pirate to beat up on at some point in their life. I'm pretty sure these are the first pirates for the boys. It's so funny the type of toys I pick versus the type Brad picks. I think cute! Brad thinks tough! He wants the boys having toys that look tough and are super boyish. Same goes for their wardrobe now too. He can't have his puggie sons walking around looking like chumps. So the world will never get to see how cute Simmie can look in an argyle dog sweater. Sad isn't it? LOL!

Without further delay...on to the pics:

 This was the epic failure toy.

 Brad tried hard to convince her it was a keeper!

Piper: Nope, sorry daddy but it's all about this packaging.

 Cody watching and taking it all in. He had just gotten done roughing up the little bird when this pic was snapped.

 Tuna cake time! Yes, we are that crazy that she even gets candles!

 Let her eat cake!

 

 

To Piper, happy birthday little girl. We are so happy you are still with us and we can celebrate your birthday. You are the cat that defied the odds. All the odds were stacked against you but here you are! One of my best memories during your health crisis occurred about 10 days after you had come home from the hospital.  While returning to the vet hospital for a check-up and to have your stitches removed there were doctors and nurses surrounding you from all angles as they were astonished you were still alive. Good going hypey-Pipey! We're proud to be your parents and your brothers are super happy to have you as their cat sister. Happy 3rd Bday!