Yuck

Winnie and pj chewed more holes in this little white cabinet I have so I went out to the porch and got a box to get some cardboard to tape on the cabinet. The cabinet is one of those put it together yourself kind with a cardboard backing. Well there was something in the box. I poured it out and a little mouse plopped out. It appeared to be one of those plastic toy mice that the cat would play with. BUT, it had teeth, feet, and a round wirelike striped tail??? I don't remember any toy mouse having feet. Or tails like that. So, I threw this mouse outside into a black square planter that frames the big sink hole next to the porch. There was no way I was going to pick it up to see if it was a toy. I scooped it up onto the cardboard and carried it outside that way. Toy or not, it's gone now.

Vet Check

I took PJ and Winnie to the vet today for another round of vaccinations. The vet checked their poo and found some microscopic worm evidence so he gave them a half a pill each and he's going to check them again in three weeks. The vet said the worm issue wasn't bad considering all the weight they've gained. Their next visit to the vet should be the last one for vaccinations. Weigh in: PJ gained from 1.6 pounds to 2.3 pounds and Winnie gained from 2.4 pounds to 3.4 pounds.

I set up the exercise pen next to the doggie gate that blocks one entrance into their nursery. This gives them about twice the play room. But, I have to be in the exercise pen with them to make sure they use their puppy pads. That's not going too well. They are only so-so on remembering to go back through the gate to use the puppy pads.

And they get to see Steffi more when they are in the pen. I expect them to someday learn how to climb up the pen and try to escape. It wouldn't take much for them to do it.

Other vacation news and notes: I've been working on the golf themed romance novel I wrote last year. Buying the flash drive last week inspired me to work on it. And the U. S. Open golf tournament.

Boo, Hiss

I have to do Jury Duty during July thru October. 4 months of not knowing where I'll be from one week to the next. Sure they will pay me every day I serve and sure my employer will also pay me, but my work is going to pile up sky high. It isn't like someone is there to do my job when I'm gone. The only ray of sunshine that could come from this is if I can miss the statewide conference that I have to go to for work. I would have to spend a couple nights away from home for that and if jury duty gets me out of that, then at least there's one positive. With my luck however, I'll have to do both. Yuck.

More pleasant topics:
Took the puppies to mom and dad's today. They played and played. As it's Fathers Day, I got dad a present. It's one that both he and mom can use - a wireless mouse. Dad tried to tell me that it wouldn't work on their computer, that's because he thought you were supposed to plug mouses in to the headphones jack. Apparently he tried to plug mom's other mouse into that jack and somehow forced something in there and believes he's broken that jack for good. That is such a man thing - rather than thinking it might plug in somewhere else, he tries to make it fit.

Pulled 6 ticks off Fritz yesterday, three today so far. Brushed him and cut some of his hair. I didn't do any laundry today since I'm only working two days this week. I can catch up on the laundry then.

This Week

What's been going on this week? The puppies are pretty much the same. I found a tick on PJ and she hasn't ever been outside to get one. I figure Fritz brought it in the house. He's had tons of ticks this year. I pulled 5 off of him just in one day this week.

My computer crashed the other day. I got the message "disk boot failure. insert system disk and press enter." I was thinking I would have to take it to a repair shop and I would probably lose all my stuff, but before I did any of that, I just unplugged all the cords from the CPU and let it sit there for about 45 minutes. When I plugged everything back in, the computer worked. So, I didn't have to take it anywhere and I didn't have to insert any system disk and press enter.

This morning I bought a 2 GB flash drive at walmart and I've copied my most important files to the flash drive: my pictures, my novel writing, my firefox profile that contains all of my internet bookmarks. I'd really be up a creek without my bookmarks.

I only work two days next week. Wednesday is WV Day, we get that day off and then I'm taking Thursday and Friday off. Friday, the puppies have to go to the vet for another round of vaccinations. Hopefully, they will be weighed again and I'll get to see how much they've grown. And Wednesday, I think I will try turning the puppies loose in the house. I had them in the exercise pen this morning with a puppy pad, and PJ peed on the carpet. I think she's a little slower than Winnie. I will have my work cut out for me when I turn them loose, keeping an eye on them and herding them to their puppy pads.

Pen

I ordered a dog pen for the puppies and it came yesterday. It was already assembled, all I had to do was set it up and I did that in the living room. Last night I had the puppies and Steffi in there and Steffi did pretty well considering. Today I had the puppies in the pen and Fritz was in the house. He barked and growled a lot. I might put him in the pen with the puppies in a day or two. Give him a few more opportunities to get used to them being in the pen before I do though.

And I got the harnesses for the puppies. They fit Winnie, but they don't fit PJ around the belly. She's still too small. I might have to put more velcro on them to cinch them up tighter for her.

Speaking of pens, I'm penned in, so to speak, here at the house. Dad bought more furniture he doesn't need at an estate sale and brought it up here. I don't know what's going on in his head, but he's bought tons of stuff over the last couple of months. There's more furniture in this house now than there was when he and mom lived here.

In Defense of Paula Abdul

PJ got under my feet and I kinda shoved her into a roll. So, it's entirely possible for Abdul to have tripped over her chihuahua.

B-Day and other stuff

Mom claims she doesn't already have the present I got for her birthday. It is a 2 cd pack of gospel music. The cake was good. I had two pieces with chocolate low fat ice cream. The puppies had fun playing at mom and dad's. But when it was nap time, Winnie cried. I think she wanted her bed at her house. I don't think she wanted to sleep at her grandma's house. But she ended up napping some there. I've never had a dog to get homesick before. But then, Phoebe was the only other dog I've ever taken anywhere. All our other dogs have always stayed home unless they were at the vet.

So, I ate too much again today. But I did work out too on the treadmill. I plan to go back to the diet tomorrow too. And to work out. Tomorrow will be a long day. Before work, I have to go to walmart. After work I have to go to the post office to pick up a package and then to Around the Farm to get more no chew spray. At least I won't have to water the garden tomorrow. I did that tonight. It's not even my garden. It's dad's.

Bath Day

Since I decided I was going to clean my bathtub today, I thought I would bath Fritz and Steffi in there first. They needed baths. I got a lot of loose hair off of Steffi and Fritz smells better. Yesterday I cut fritz's hair. I thought he might be a little cooler with a trim. So, I cut his hair around his neck and his belly and his hind legs. He doesn't look bad, but I'm sure a professional groomer would cringe. Oh well, Fritz doesn't care what he looks like.

Winnie and PJ are still chewing up puppy pads. I use the no chew spray, but sometimes they just ignore it. And I'm running out of no chew spray. The farm supply store in town sells an off brand and I got some a few days ago. I'm going to have to go back.

I ordered a wire pen for Winnie and PJ last night. It's a 10 panel, 2ft wide, 2ft high pen. And I can add another pen to it later if I want it bigger.

Tomorrow is Mom's birthday. And it's Sunday which means it's my usual day to go visit her and dad. Winnie, PJ and I will be going tomorrow and bringing a present and a card with us. The only thing is, I think the present I got for Mom is also something I bought for them for Christmas. I'm putting the sales receipt in the bag with the present in case Mom wants to return it.

Back to the Vet

Winnie and PJ went back to the vet today for their second round of vaccinations. PJ was weighed and she went from 1.4 pounds to 1.6 pounds. Winnie went from 1.9 pounds to 2.4 pounds. I don't think PJ's going to get to 6 pounds like the seller said she would. They did fine with the shots and so far they have no worms. They got to meet a husky type dog at the vet's office. Their tales just wagged and wagged. And they got to meet three kids who were there with the husky type dog. Their next trip to the vet is on the 22nd. I might take that day off. We get June 20th off for West Virginia Day. That's a Wednesday. So, I might take Thursday and Friday that week off too. I don't know why all holidays can't be on a Monday or Friday every year. Or better yet, if the holiday is on any day other than Monday or Friday, then the employer gets penalized by giving all employees an extra day off. I like that plan.