Week Full of Family

Helloooooo dear friends out in Blogland! I'm home and almost settled in before I soon must pack my bags and take off again. Where do I even begin to update you on what's been going on this past week? (You may need to grab yourself a large glass of lemonade ... or your favorite beverage ~ preferably caffeinated).

Since my last "real" post, we have had our fill of family fun, starting on Saturday, July 25th with a family get-together at our place. My sis from NC, her hubby and youngest daughter made the trek up and so hubby and I opened up our little abode for whoever of our family could make it to come visit with C, D & J. Here's a pic of who was able to attend ... and 18 were absent from this photo op!

Monday (July 27) was the big Bachelorette finale so I told my sister I couldn't leave for the cottage (Dad's place on the lake) until after the finale! I won't go into huge detail as you can find what happened at nauseum online but I will say that even though she didn't pick "my guy", Reid, it sure was romantic to see him come back and try and win her heart in the 11th hour. I believe she was truly torn about what to do because I think her feelings for him ran deeper than she even realized. She may be engaged to Ed, but I honestly don't think she'll soon forget the magical connection she had with Reid. I personally think she should have chosen no-one that night and taken her time to sift through her feelings because she was obviously conflicted and confused when he too got down to propose. Her little fingers were wriggling away to grab him and the ring but she talked herself out of making too rash a decision in that moment. (I think she should have gone for it!! Sometimes love doesn't make sense and you just have to jump!) Anyhoo... they may ask Reid to be the next Bachelor and if that's the case... the obsession will continue for at least one more season, sad to say!

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post though...

Tuesday morning, C, J & I packed up her SUV (along with Buddy the dog) and head up to Dad's.

Dad and "G"

My brother and his family were also up at the lake so we had lots of fun visiting and hanging out with them. Although I had to spend some of my time working on my writing assignment, we also got in some time playing games like Dominoes, Dutch Blitz and Rummikub.

During the day we were either out in K's boat:

K in his boat

... heading to the Marina for candy...

J, S & Buddy

tubing...

S, L & N on the giant tube

spotting...

Me spotting the tubers from the front of the boat

kneeboarding...

N taking a ride behind the boat

or just going for a ride...

K, J, C and Buddy (with the tubers in the distance)

Fortunately the rainy weather left a day or so after we arrived so we could get out there and enjoy our surroundings, whether in kayaks...

C & I kayaked around a couple islands

peddleboat...

J & C peddleboating in the afternoon sun

or hiking down the lane to the nearby Falls...

Hanging out by the Falls

N playing in the Falls

Evenings around the cottage were fun. One night K took us for a boat ride at sunset...

and two of our three nights we sat by the campfire... being eaten alive by mosquitoes!

Campfire Girls

Campfire Boys... and J

L brought the goodies for us to make S'mores so we of course worked at roasting the perfect marshmallows...

J & I roasting the perfect 'mallow

Mine on the left looks like a chef's hat

On one night, after our campfire and rowsing game of Dutch Blitz in the cottage, C, J, S & I head outside to lay on the dock looking up at the stars. There is nothing like looking at the galaxy of God's handiwork from this place... there were SO many stars that almost every piece of sky was covered with twinkling lights. You could even see the milky way streaking across the night sky. We saw a few shooting stars which always amaze me. In the city we barely see any stars so this is even more brilliant for me.


There's always time at the cottage for a bit of fun and silliness...

My new lips... thanks to Babybel cheese!

And family bonding is of upmost importance...

Dad bonding with his furry grandson, Buddy

K with his furry little girl, Jazz

Sitting with J and Buddy on the dock

But all good things must come to an end and Friday evening C, J, Buddy & I repacked the SUV and head back to my place, but not before a Sibling/Nibling photo op...

Thanks for the fun time guys!

Saturday, C and D (who flew back to Canada after working all week) were off to a wedding so J & I hung out watching Pushing Daisies DVDs (which we'd watched during the week at the cottage). Sunday, they packed up their SUV one last time and head to my sister's for a BBQ with other family members (some of who couldn't make it to our party the weekend prior) and they head home Monday morning from D's sister's home. It was a great visit and in just a few weeks they'll be hosting us down in NC!

Happy Birthday Sweet Hubby!

Life has been a blur since my last post. Little Miss "H" and I had errands to do Tuesday morning as we went to order balloons for Uncle "D"'s birthday today (July 2), get a card and his gift. Pepper's Mom (my sister) came to get him on Tuesday afternoon after she got stranded in Vancouver overnight. Hubby picked her up at the Toronto airport while I enjoyed cuddle time with my furry nephew before he had to leave. It was pouring rain Tuesday afternoon and poor Pep got drenched when my sister took him out to pee before hopping in the car for the 40 minute drive home (which in rush hour was probably double the time).

Wednesday was Canada Day (Canada's 142nd birthday) and we had a pretty lazy day around the Nest. BFF, Little Miss "H", hubby and I all hung out by the pool for awhile and then BFF, Hubby and Little Miss "H" went to the park after lunch while I took a deep breath and did some dinner prep. It was nice having a "day off" from babysitting even though Little Miss "H" had a few meltdowns with her Mommy. Gotta love a 2 yr old huh?

Today is my Sweet Hubby's birthday! For 6 weeks I'm married to an "older man" again!

This morning, Little Miss "H" and I went to pick up the balloons we ordered Tuesday and then head to the grocery store to pick up the cake... a chocolate fudge cake!

For dinner we had honey garlic spareribs done in the crock pot. My BFF told me how to make these and they were fall off the bone delicious, and I'm not a rib fan!

I also made a delicious salad of red/green leaf lettuce, strawberries, mandarin oranges and beer nuts (with Newman's own Oil and Vinegar salad dressing). I'll take a pic next time I make it. Next it was time for the cake, so I lit the candles and BFF, Little Miss "H" and I sang Happy Birthday to hubby.

As hubby prepared to blow out his candles, he asked Little Miss "H" to help.

Hubby and Little Miss "H" blowing out the candles

Hubby opened his gifts with the help of a little "topless" female (and not me or the BFF)

And there you have it... Hubby enjoyed his birthday, Little Miss "H" enjoyed helping me wrap Uncle D's gifts and helping him unwrap them and our celebration has come to an end! Thanks for sharing in Sweet Hubby's day with us!

Pet Peeve

Just a quick little Pepper tale or two today.

Here's a question for you dog people... why is it that some people (not all mind you) with large dogs find it necessary to bring their big dog up to the little dog (aka Pepper) while on a walk (or in my backyard). Usually the dog towers over poor little Pepper and either barks or lunges at him, scaring the poop right out of him (not literally but may as well).

I've already told you about my neighbor's crazy dog lunging at poor Pepper on Monday. Well yesterday we went for a long walk in the park by our home. As we entered the park, a lady with a Keeshond,

has her dog on the far side of the path while the dog does its business. Let me just interject here that my only contact with this breed of dog in the past was when my sister and her family, not once but twice tried to have this type of dog as their family pet. Again, not meaning to offend those who may have this breed, but my sister's dogs were nuts! They were the most unruly, undisciplined and out of control puppies I had ever seen in my life. I HATED their dogs with a passion so needless to say, walking into the park to find a Keeshond didn't sit well with me from the start. Back to my story...

As we head along the path the lady all of a sudden starts to move her Keeshond over towards us on the path. The dog had this look like Pepper was an appetizer to lunch and I quickly tightened my grip. I quickly informing the lady that I'm puppy sitting and "my" dog isn't used to being around other dogs and then I drag Pepper away from this dog. A little farther down the path I turn around only to find the lady following us along the trail which caused me to wonder, Did she just come over to us to "make friends" and if so, don't people wait until you show signs of wanting to make friends? I am so new to this world of doggieville and I don't quite understand the sub-culture at this point, obviously! Fortunately, we made it home from our walk without Pepper being eaten by a big dog!

The rest of the day was uneventful for Pepper as his human "sister, my niece, "S" came to visit and we went out to dinner and a movie, leaving Pepper safely in his gated room in my kitchen. In the evening, "S" and I met up with my sister, Pepper's Mom, on Skype where we caught up on the happenings up in the Yukon. We put Pepper on my lap and started pointing to the computer screen and my sister starting talking to her puppy which TOTALLY confused the little guy. He dashed off barking towards the front door, completely unaware where his mommy's voice was coming from. It was really funny! He quickly bored of that but we were entertained chatting for almost an hour via computer on Skype.

So I've survived my first week of doggydom and have enjoyed it much more than I ever imagined. Still not ready to run out to the nearest breeder or shelter to pick up my own furry friend, but I'm not as terrified of the thought. We are not certain how a dog would fit into our lifestyle right now, but we at least know that we have what it takes to give a furry friend the love and care they would need! And for now, I'll just savor the last 4 days I have with the furry nephew!

Beginning to Question My Puppy-Sitting Skills

As much as I'd like to believe I am a good babysitter/puppysitter, I am beginning to wonder if this is true. Remember on the weekend, when Pepper had only been with us less than 24 hours and already he had eaten half a Q-tip. Well, just wait... it gets better (or not).


At 3am Monday morning, Pepper hops off the bed and heads to the door. Apparently, his before bed pee didn't tie him over and there I was, wandering my neighborhood at 3am, taking Pepper out to go potty. All I could think of is "Please don't bark! PLEASE, don't bark! My neighbors will hate me!"

I took Pepper out into the back yard again first thing after getting up for the day for his morning pee. I had forgotten to hook up his leash! Now remember, I don't have a fenced in back yard! When I realize my mistake, I head over to Pep on the grass, hook him up and then look down the common area lawn. HOLY SMOKES... there is my neighbor's overly exuberant, 1 yr old Border Collie, staring down at Pepper. Next thing I know the two dogs are barking up a storm at one another. Tugging. Pulling. I was a little worried that "string" holding Pepper to his retractable leash would hold.

THEN... my neighbor decides to bring her jumping, leaping dog to my backyard where Pepper is going crazy, barking and trying to escape the lunging beast in front of him. Eventually, my dear neighbor gets a clue that neither Pepper or I am enjoying her visit and she takes her dog home, then returns to meet Pepper. Pepper immediately starts barking again when she comes back to the yard. Poor little guy. He eventually settled down but then once back in the house, about 10 minutes later, threw up in the kitchen this "orange juice" looking barf. Was that the tiny piece of chicken hubby gave him Sunday? Note to self... no more people food!

Then, Monday afternoon, after hubby got home from work, we put Pepper in his crate and head to the swimming pool for a while. When we got back I hopped in the shower while hubby came down to heat our leftover dinner in the microwave. As I entered our bedroom after my shower, there was Pepper on our bed... and an empty Kit-Kat chocolate bar wrapper.

"Honey," I called down to the kitchen. "Did you leave a Kit-Kat wrapper on the bed?"

"Uh... No. I did have half a Kit-Kat bar, but the other half was tucked into the cubby on the far side of my desk".

"Ah. Well, I think Pepper enjoyed the rest of your bar!"

There was Pepper on hubby's side of the bed, licking his chops. So, this newby to the world of dogs, runs to the laptop... again... and googles "My dog at a Kit-Kat bar" and surprisingly, there were answers to my query. Fortunately, the replies stated, the bar is mostly wafer and it's milk chocolate which is less toxic to dogs than semi-sweet or dark chocolate. I couldn't believe it. What else can we do to this poor puppy? I don't think we're ready for a dog! I feel too irresponsible -lol

So all Monday evening I was on standby... watching, waiting, wondering what if any symptoms Pepper would show from his sneaky treat. Fortunately he had no ill effects! Phew. The funny part is though, now we keep our bedroom door shut because every time after his theft, he returned to the scene of the crime, crawling over hubby's computer and desk to get to the empty cubby, in the hopes that Uncle "D" has put more goodies in there for him to steal. Silly puppy!

The next day I was scoping out the poop to make sure Pepper was okay and phew... all is well! lol

Now that Pepper knows a) where hubby keeps his stash of goodies and b) where the other dogs in the neighborhood live, he's becoming more "comfortable" here at Auntie Sue's and he'll sit and growl at me when he wants to go out... not that he needs to pee because we had just been out the front to pee. No, he growls at me to take him out back so he can bark at the big dog down 3 doors! He knows when that dog is out there! Oh my... Am I really ready for a dog? lol

Tuesday's Tails from the Weekend

Okay, I realize that I "misspelled" tails... but that was intentional as I plan to update you on the saga of Pepper's visit to Auntie Sue's house and our visit with Little Miss "H", our "god-daughter".

I survived our crazy Saturday babysitting my BFF's 2 yr old and having a puppy in the house. It actually was rather fun and hubby and I felt like a real "family" (not that we aren't real as a family of 2) as we took both Little Miss "H" and Pepper for a walk to the park. Here's a little photo diary of our weekend:

Before Mommy left, Little Miss "H" w/ Uncle "D"
reading her new Dora book

Afterwards, we took Pepper and Little Miss "H" for a walk to the park, between rain showers

Little Miss "H" taking the reins (sort of)

Little Miss "H"

Getting Little Miss "H" to bed Saturday night was much easier than we'd anticipated. Uncle "D" and I snuggled into the guest bed with her to read

that is... until I got a phone call from one of my niece's who shared with us that she and her hubby are expecting... TRIPLETS!!!

My BFF came back around midnight and stayed overnight with Little Miss "H". After breakfast on Sunday, we all head over to the park for a little fun in the sun.

Pepper taking a break from running through the clover

At the park, Little Miss "H" had fun

Sliding...

Driving...

and Riding

Then she and her Mommy head over for a swing

while Pepper hung out in the sand nearby.

After the swingset, Little Miss "H" just felt like hanging around

before we took a group shot (minus our photographer, aka hubby)

We head home for a snack

Check out Little Miss "H" shoving a fist full
of dried fruit in her mouth - lol

and a swim

before they head off to a party at my BFF's parents

Little Miss "H" and her folks will be back to live with us for a week in a week's time as they prepare to close the deal on their present home and before they get possession of their new home. Auntie Sue gets to babysit that week so be ready for more stories (and pictures).

I'll update you later on more stories of our time with Pepper too!

Adventures with the Pepper Pot

I survived my first full day of puppy sitting Pepper!! He truly is an adorable little dog and Darylynn you are right... I think I will be falling in love with having him here and won't want to give him back to my sister at the end. That's how I felt after puppy-sitting in Raleigh in April for another sister's dog, Buddy. I still miss the Budster!

So, as I left you yesterday I thought I'd die I was so tired from like 4 hours sleep. Well, my little canine companion complied (how's that for some alliteration) and we slept for another 90 minutes! We took about 3 walks around the block yesterday and it wasn't until our final walk at the end of the day that I got some poop out of the little pooch! (Warm poop in a bag isn't as gross as I anticipated - thank goodness for little dogs with their little poops!)

A couple of cute things happened yesterday to share (and I apologize in advance for this little ball of fluff taking over my blog for the next 10 days... you can see I live a VERY exciting life in the summer and have nothing else to really say - hee hee)

First, we live in a condo townhouse complex meaning, we own in the inside of our home but the outside is taken care of by the condo corp. This also means that our backyards are not enclosed so there is a "common area" running through the backyard so we can't fence ourselves (or a pet) in. This also means that when Pepper needs to go out potty, I have to leash him and take him out myself as opposed to at his home where my sister lets him out the door alone to do his business. Well yesterday, we went out back a few times and each time I would close the sliding door behind me as we went outside. Sometimes it was the screen door, other times the glass door. Poor Pepper isn't used to the whole glass door thing and one time as we head back inside he didn't realize the glass door was there and WHOMP... smacked his little noggin on the door. I felt so bad for him but he just shook it off like the trooper he is!

Then, later in the afternoon we let him upstairs in our bedroom as hubby finished his much needed nap (going to work at 4:30am took it out of him yesterday). I had pulled up all the garbages in the bathrooms after finding out that dogs LOVE to rifle through garbage (cats can be so much easier!) so I didn't think much of Pepper being in our ensuite. Hubby says to me a few minutes later, "What is Pepper eating?" "I dunno" I replied and went to investigate, only to find 1/2 a Q-tip. Oops! I couldn't open his mouth to get the remainder of what he was chewing on (I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to animals' mouths, particularly when they are eating something!). I hoped he'd be okay and later went to google it and found that this is a quite frequent delicacy of many a dog out there. Luckily it was a paper Q-tip and not one of those made with plastic.

And now for a little Pepper entertainment:

Pepper loves his yellow duck and if you ask him to find the duck he'll know where it is and go find him. Unfortunately, the other thing Pepper loves to do to his yellow duck is ... well... inappropriate for male dogs to do to anything, particularly neutered males... if you get my drift! Yesterday when I found him humping the poor duck I took it away from him for awhile. The little smartie pants knew exactly where I'd put the duck (on the table) and was trying to figure out how to "rescue" his friend. Then, when he couldn't reach him and "mean Auntie Sue" wasn't giving him back, Pepper would lie on the floor and pout. What a little personality this cutie has! Eventually (about 20 minutes later) I gave Pepper the duck back and so far I haven't seen him hump him again!

Last night we left Pepper for the first time at our home, encaged in the kitchen in his gate. He barked like crazy as we were getting ready to go but was beyond excited (and no barking) when we got home. We'd gone to the movies to see Sandra Bullock's new movie, The Proposal. You know how often times you go see a movie that looked hilarious in the trailers only to find that you'd already seen all the funny parts? Not the case with this movie. Sandra and Ryan Reynolds played off one another so well and the script was well written (at least I thought so) and it was non-stop laughs... with a little sentimental tear tugging to go with it. The actor who plays the character, Oscar, from The Office was in the movie too and was hysterical! He's obviously learned from watching Steve Carrell at work on comedy timing! If you want a really fun night of laughs this is the movie to see right now!

Pepper slept with me again last night in the guest room and he even slept in until after 9am. Right now he's flaked out beside me on the sofa. Think I'm wearing him out with all the play and walks? Tonight he is going to try sleeping in our bed with hubby and me! Hubby just may warm up to the idea of a dog yet ;-)

This afternoon my BFF and her daughter (our god-daughter) are coming. We're babysitting Little Miss "H" tonight while "P" goes to her step-mom's 50th bday "girl's night out". Should be a busy evening between "H" and Pepper! If I'm sane I'll update again tomorrow!

It's Gonna Be A Long 10 Days!

I do believe that it's gonna be a long 10 days with this little guy:

Meet Pepper, one of my furry "niblings" (siblings' kids). Pepper's mommy, my 4th oldest sibling, aka "C", has gone to the Yukon territory to see our oldest sibling who works on contract there.

Pepper is a Bichon-Frise/Havanese mix and he's about 3, maybe 4 years old. He is a cutie but full of spunk! Having never owned a dog (only had the family Collies growing up) or having children, I feel completely out of my element but how hard can it be, really? Well... if this morning is any indication it is truly going to be a LOOOOOONG 10 days!

The day began at 4am when "C" got up to get ready for her 6:30 flight. If she was up that meant Pepper was up too as they were in the same room. I offered to take him out while she got ready and so there I was, wandering the grass in front (and back) of my house, hoping the little "Pepper poo" as we call him, will do some business. He had the old "snip and rip" (aka neutering) done when he was itty bitty so even though he's male he doesn't lift his leg to pee. Good on one hand because when he goes for a walk he doesn't need to mark every post and pillar along the path, but bad on the other hand because I can't tell when he pees.

After "C" and hubby leave for the airport I go up and hop into the guestroom bed where Pepper spent the night hoping that I can get some more sleep. Uh. Ya. Let's talk about that. Lil' Pep settled in for a short while... a very short while and then was sniffing around the door.

"Do you need to go out?" I ask the little ball of fur. Oh how I wish he could talk!

I grab my sweater and flipflops and wander back out in my neighborhood in my pj's. Again, can't tell if he did anything or not. After about 10 minutes I came back in and tried to go back to bed again. Maybe 20 minutes later Pepper was back at the door. Sheesh! By now it's maybe 5:45 a.m.

This time I think to myself, Perhaps we need a longer walk. So I threw on some sweats, my running shoes and hooked him all up to his harness, poo-bags in hand and away we went around the block. Hallelujah, Pepper pooped! Maybe now I can get some rest but when we got back in the door he was wired and ready to go... tossing his stuffed pillow to and fro, running about. Sigh. Did I mention yet... It's gonna be a LOOOOONG 10 days!

So now that I'm "up", it's 7am and Pepper is sleeping on the end of the sofa beside me. Silly dog!