Final Friday @ Bungalow 26

I managed to dislocate my finger and scrape it up pretty badly, so typing is difficult right now. Heels were the enemy, but I think I'm going to brave them again today with a cute skirt -- this weather is too amazing to pass up.

Now onto more important things. Been working on this fundraising project for Lisa Parcell's class and we're going to have our event from 6-9 p.m. Friday at Bungalow 26 to coincide with Final Friday.

Bungalow 26 — in Delano next to Hatman Jack's, Twist and Savage Threads and across the street from the Vagabond — is hosting a gallery showing for Final Friday that will feature Marce Beeler's photography.

Our group is fundraising for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Kansas chapter (phew, that's a mouthful), but mostly we are trying to raise awareness of this silent killer (the cancer, not the coalition).

We'll have an educational table, survivors to talk to and some refreshments on top of great art and music. To top it off we've got some fantastic donations to raffle off — just $1 per ticket to get you in the drawing for awesome gifts, including spa packages, free house cleanings, jewelry, Curves memberships, gift cards to local retailers, free dance classes and so much more.

Stop by for Final Friday @ Bungalow 26. We're on a trolley stop, but it will be worth it just to go out of your way. It's a great cause and you'll have a great time.

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult" - Rita Rudner

$40 peacock dog bed from PetSmart to match my decor. Big enough for one dog. None of them sleep on it.

$30 futon from Craigslist.



OK then. Lesson learned.

What have I been doing lately?

Well, I haven't been photographing much besides my pooches. Go figure. We went to KC after missing our flight to Atlanta (Brandon and I, not the pooches).

But I know you'd rather see cute puppy faces than hear about the ten bazillion times we got lost in KC (and actually ended up in Independence on the way to Westport).

Webster got his first bath at a place called All Paws Pet Center. He was not happy, but I was. You pay $10 for use of a bathtub, shampoo, conditioner, aprons, towels, dryers and more. They don't time you or charge you more for big dogs, so that's fantastic and well worth the money to me not to have to chase a dog around the yard with a hose.


Even though he wasn't happy with me, he was still an angel. I really hit the puppy jackpot with him. I could not ask for a sweeter, gentler, more laid back guy. He's always got a wagging tail and a smile on his big, droopy lips. He's so great with meeting new people that I think he needs to be therapy dog trained.

One other thing we've been doing a lot of lately is going to the park. I don't have any photos of that because I'm too busy trying to control my horse. But here's an example of how the trip goes:

Webster drools down my back windows the entire car ride there.

I get at least three comments about how big Webster is, who's taking whom for a walk, etc. We walk around the lake at High Park.

Webster sees other dogs, decides other dogs are his friends, runs toward other dogs. I have to distract him with a tennis ball, which upon seeing he forgets about the existence of anything except said tennis ball. 

We practice walking off-leash once we get far enough away from the crowds and the street. He does amazingly well at this as long as I don't scold him when calling him back, but rather make it a game. He's learning so quickly.

He then runs into the water to chase after the ducks. He doesn't know he can swim, so he walks out into it, lays down in it for a minute, then spends the rest of the trip staring into the pond and trying to figure out how to get those elusive creatures.

He chases his ball, I chase him, he chases me, he tries to chase other dogs so I chase him, we go home happy and stinky and wet. It's a very relaxing time and great bonding experience.

And of course, after all that, Webster is pooped. Rather than using the new bed I bought him, he prefers his own style. (see above)

(I can't figure out the layout on blogger — for some reason it's not letting me layout photos the way I want them — but I don't want to screw with it anymore, so sorry for the awkward layout.)

Blogger's block

I think I understand why people do themed blogs (cooking) and daily photo blogs. It's hard to come up with things to blog about on a regular basis.

Maybe one day when I'm feeling really adventurous I'll set up a dog blog. My pooches always do something cute or interesting or funny, and they're usually willing to pose for pictures.

Until then, I guess you guys will have to be bored.

Doggy drama

I woke up this morning to Koko barking like crazy. I figured she was just playing with the puppy so I put my pillow over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

After about 20 minutes of listening to her rattle on, I couldn't take it. I stuck my head out the back door to yell at her and then noticed something was off. 

One...two...three...four...wait...four dogs? We have three.

There was a random dog in our backyard, a little smaller than our smallest, scrapping with our dogs. At first I thought it was Koko, because they have similar coloring, but then I realized Koko-lookalike was fighting with Koko.

I managed to get my dogs in the garage and walked the fenceline to find where the dog had gotten in. 

No fence boards out of place. Hm.

I walked around the front yard to check the gates. Maybe someone had put him in our yard thinking he was Koko. No footprints. Gates were locked. Hm.

I was running late for class so I had to call Derby animal control. I was pretty sure it was my neighbor's dog, but because I had never actually seen their dog, and because they have two young children, I did not feel comfortable putting it in their yard, just in case. Rang the doorbell. No answer.

So I got dressed while I waited for animal control. About 10 minutes later he arrived. We walked into the backyard and...wait...where did he go?

The dog was gone. Nowhere to be found. Not hiding in the trees. Not hiding in the dog house. Not hiding around the side of the house. We whistled and called. We checked the fenceline again. And again.

This dog was freakin' Houdini. How did he get out?

I was late for class, so I headed out when I heard a bark that sounded like the one of the dog who had been in our yard.

It was. He was in the neighbor's backyard. Weird.

I got home from classes and looked more closely and I found that there were claw marks all the way up our fence. The dog had climbed a 6 foot fence! He's not that big - maybe 40 pounds, really small and agile looking, but still! A 6 foot fence?!

The neighbors confirmed it. They've been working on getting an electric  fence up, which I can say really works because we had to get one to keep our dogs from digging into that same neighbor's yard when they had a different dog. 

Imagine how confused my dogs had to have been to see this dog drop over the fence.

And imagine how much that dog had to regret his decision to jump the fence when he was faced with one 60 pound dog and two 80+ pound dogs!

New family member

OK, so I've done a poor job of blogging. I made some delish fruit tarts (gorgeous, too) for Thanksgiving and meant to post them way back then!! I never got around to it, and I lost the photos, so you'll have to trust that they were just beautiful. I have wanted to make them ever since I had one at La Galette; it was a lot of work, but well worth it.

Made cookies tonight. Less work, but still wonderful. Chocolate pecan cookies. MMmmmm.

In case you've been ignoring my tweets completely, I found a puppy a couple of weeks ago and managed to talk my parents into letting me keep him. The vet said he's probably 7-9 months old and he already weighs 87 lbs! I think he's a Labranard - Labrador Retriever/St. Bernard mix (so he's going to be freakin' huge).

Isn't he just a cutie???

I named him Webster, or Weebie Woo when I'm actually talking to him. My poor dogs must have some sort of identity crisis because of all their nicknames. But he's a sweet boy, very gentle, very laid back and very smart. He's so eager to please. I'm considering taking him to one of the places in town to have him trained as a therapy dog. That is, if I can come across some money. He's expensive to feed!

This semester should be an OK one. Only taking 12 hours. Just went back to finish my French minor. I could have graduated in December, but decided not to.

I'm tired, so I'll leave you with a photo of two of my three pooches. Notice Koko's pink nails? We bought some nail caps that are supposed to protect the wood floor. I think she'd fit in great in Barbie's pink Cadillac.

Tag, I'm it.

OK, finally I'm gonna do this whole tag thing that's been going around (especially WIchita blogs).

Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I was tagged by Jill.

1. I love all vegetables except celery. People tell me this is weird because celery doesn't have a particular taste, but I think it has a very distinct taste. I don't like soups or stuffing or anything that's been flavored with celery.

2. I've been in four car wrecks, and only one was my fault. Only one of them has been at a speed under 45. Two have totaled my car.

3. I got kicked out of the third grade spelling bee for misspelling raisin. I was devastated. R-A-I-S-O-N. Nope. My dad comforted me by telling me he would have spelled it R-A-I-S-U-N. Thanks, dad.

4. Both my middle toes are longer than my big toes. I've heard this indicates that I'm dominant in my relationships, intelligent, good in bed, etc. Both my middle toes are also crooked. I think this indicates that my shoes were too small, and the bones bent. I hate my feet because of this, and because I wear size 11. (Cue the gasps! WHATEVER! I'm tall!!!)

5. I am a dog freak. I always thought it was normal to know different dog breeds, but apparently most people aren't too familiar with them aside from the main breeds. My knowledge comes from reading dog and veterinary books when I was a child and watching dog shows with my mom. I always wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a kid, and even today I still want to train therapy dogs when I get situated in my career. I see myself with more dogs than children, and I see that as a good thing.

6. I never watched Sex and the CIty when it was big. I'm not a TV person usually. This year, I watched one re-run episode, got hooked, and started DVR-ing every episode. In one semester, I've watched the entire series (I think). Now I'm starting on House.

Many of the people I know have already been tagged, so I only have three. I tag:

Brandon
Lynette
Todd