CHRISTMAS AT HOME

I am so far behind on updating this blog but I have pictures to show you why. Gerry took a few days of vacation so we could get the house all decorated. Here are a few pictures to show you our Holiday House.

Our big tree is in the front window shining brightly with lots of colored lights. We decorate on top of everything since we have such tall ceilings. We start from the top and work our way down to the floor. If you walk around the house and count all the trees, we have 12 inside ranging from 1 food to 7 1/2 feet tall.


The fireplace holds my miniature ornament tree and my dog ornament tree. Along with the Thomas Kinkade of Disneyland and a few Jim Shore Disney Christmas pieces.

The sunroom area gets another tree and the Nativity. Notice the countertop? Well, yes I am in the middle of baking cookies. I took a break from rolling out the cut outs to update my blog. 10 types of cookies made so far, with three or so to go. Depending on how much energy I have the next few days. :) Gerry is glad he has a Little Giant ladder cause he needs it for putting up some of the decorations, including the big wreath over the range hood.

The dinning room. I tried to get fancy and took two photos and merged them together so you can see the entire room.

When I get the rest of my cookies done and set up I will take a photo or two of those to make your mouth water.

Enough rest for me...I am off to roll out some cookies. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope your not feeling too stuffed today. ;)

Gerry and I finished all our Christmas decorating around the house yesterday morning. We have 9 trees in various sizes upstairs and two downstairs and one on our front porch. The outside lights are hung and on a timer and they came on last night and will come on every night till January 2nd. My question to you all....is anyone else all decorated? :)

I am off to start baking the cookies now....Start early, freeze often, take enough time you don't have to rush and enjoy the yearly traditions. Also hope you get enough company during the holidays you don't have to eat all those darn cookies!!!

My caddie is gone....

It's hard to explain the connection a person gets to their car. I'm sure everyone has had it...had a car they loved and drove a long time and actually felt like it was another appendage. This was the second Caddie STS I have owned. The first was a 1992, white with tan interior. This one, a 1997, was Diamond white with neutral interior. Same style, both white, same seating and no one knew I got a new car. I have always tried to take good care of my cars and this one was still in excellent condition with low mileage. Even though I just got the BMW I really didn't need a new car, what we needed was something that fit living in the country and carrying loads of groceries or dogs around. I tried to talk Gerry into giving up his 1995 rusty Dodge Ram and to drive the BMW and I would keep the Caddie. But he is a man and he needs a grunt mobile, hence a 'Truck'.

So I cleaned up the car and parked it in our front yard. A week later a man came and looked at it then called and made a date for the next day to test drive it. He and his wife came, they saw, they fell in love and they left a deposit. I tried to talk them into thinking about it for a few days in hopes Gerry's truck would die and we would be foreced to keep the Caddie but alas his truck is still going and now my car is gone. On Thanksgiving Eve the new owners came with a $7000.00 check and drove the old TENDR to her new garage.

I am sad and I will miss this old gal...she was a very good car.

An update on the license plate choices. I am transfering TENDR to the BMW since that plate is paid for for another year. Then next November I will check to see if MCKYLVR is still available and hang TENDR here in my office amid my other memories.

GETTING CLOSER TO A WINNER!

Oh boy...the choices are narrowing down. Nephew Rob may have picked the winner and Rob it is availiable. MCKYLVR. I was leaning toward TNDRHART since I have had TENDR forever but I do like Rob's suggestion. One other one that was available is LVSDOGS and since we have 5 dogs that is a given. Only thing that concerns me on that choice is I don't want anyone confusing my 4-legged pets with the Browns football team which is nicknamed the Dawgs.

And Tammi, your suggest is available but I just can't see myself driving around town with this vanity plate.

On that note......I am done blogging for tonight. LOL

LOOKING FOR IDEAS!

Gerry had to work today but before he left he came into our bedroom and asked if he could take the Beemer to work and show it off since I am not allowed to drive today. I'm telling you, he is LA LA over this car. I still think he should sell his truck and take this one. His Baby Boomerness is showing! I really think he would sell his truck and his Alfa to claim this new car. :)

Now I am looking for a new Vanity Plate. The one I currently have had for the last 10 years is TENDR on a Pet Lover license plate. I thought perhaps something Disney related would be a nice change. For the last couple of days Gerry and I have been playing on the OPLATES.com site trying different ideas. If I keep my Pet Lover plate I can only use 6 letters but if I use a standard plate I can use 7 letters. I am looking for ideas from all of you. 6 or 7 letters, either Disney related or Dog related. A few of the ones that did work were:

LUVDIZ

DIZWRD

WDIZNY

DEESX3

TENDRS

TNDHRT

WDWNUT

WDIZNET

LUVS PUP

PUPYCAR

TENDRX3

TNDRHRT

Okay family and friends...can you come up with any other ideas or do you like one of the above listed?

The winner of the chosen license plate gets a free drive in the new Beemer....if you can get the keys away from Gerry. ;)

GLAD THAT'S OVER!!

My Best Advice: BE PREPARED!

5 lbs of you know what went down the drain. That is the only good thing I can say about this experience. Although I did take everyone's advice on how to make the procedure easier and it all worked. If you need to have a colonoscopy remember the following:
1. Ask to take the pill option, it is much easier and you don't have to drink the Great Salt Lake.
2. Buy several different clear things to drink for variety.
3. Get Aloe lotion toilet paper.
4. Find Diaper Whipes for Sensitive skin.
5. Keep Vaseline on the back of the toilet.
6. Have on hand a heating pad to hold on your tummy and to keep warm cause as you are doing the prep it tends to give you the shivers.

When we arrived at the office this morning the nurse asked me how it went and other then some cramping I felt fine. No soreness anywhere. The test went easy, an IV, some drugs to knock you out for 15 minutes and then wakie, wakie! Doctor said everything was fine other then the diverticulitis pocket so I need to eat more fiber and if I have any more trouble we will deal with that bridge when and if the time comes. Surgery is not something I want - so I intend to start chewing on our half dead tree in the back yard, daily. :)

Doctor said I'll see you in 10 years. Yea!!

Off to breakfast, then home to bed to nap and catch up on the sleep I missed last night and today is a new clean day. ;)

New Wheels

What can I say......we are another day older and deeper in debt, like all people in the USA. Gerry and I have been discussing new cars for the last couple of years. Even though both of our vehicles are still in good running order they are 95 and 97 models. Our biggest fear is that they should both go out of commission at the same time and create a double car payment which would be impossible to deal with. We have been thinking about trading in my Caddie for a small SUV. So the last month or so we have been seriously narrowing down our choices. We looked at brand new Toyota Highlanders and Nissan Muranos and a couple other variations on the theme. We looked at the prices and I walked away with my hand on my heart repeating the Jewish comment "Oy Vay" and wondering how anyone can afford $40,000 for a new car? Well since I am not one to buy a new car we started looking at certified used cars and we found one that Gerry started drooling over and I liked the size, color, price and incentives that the dealership was offering. And guess what....is it NOT white! LOL
This is a 2004 BMW X3 with only 21,000 miles on it and the certification keeps the warranty going for another 3 years. What ya think? :)

We should be able to pick it up Monday which is also my prep for the colonoscopy day. I figure while I am sitting in the bathroom reading a book all day Gerry will be out cruising the country side.

Know anyone who is interested in buying my good old beautiful Caddie?

Roto Rooting

Well, it's official, the CT scan shows diverticulitis for sure and they promptly scheduled a colonoscopy for me on Tuesday morning, Nov 6th. I am already having nightmares about the procedure and the prep that goes with this test. I told the doctor the crap they make you drink to clean out the colon for this test makes me throw up so he has ordered pills instead of bottles of The Great Salt Lake to drink. Here is a link to what I have to look forward to: Colonoscopy Prep

I am planning on weighing myself next Sunday morning, then again Tuesday after the test to see just how full of crap I really am. Anyone wanna guess how much weight I lose? Please take note I was born with brown eyes.

Run here, Run There! Shop till I drop!

Life in this house the last month has been non stop and sleep deprived. I thought when you got older life got easier, oh was I wrong. Starting with Gerry's Mom breaking her hip 6 weeks ago kept us busy running back and forth visiting her at the hospital and therapy and baby sitting her dog for 3 weeks. She is doing well and is back home now, but the running is still going strong. Three times a week in therapy and those in-between doctor visits makes me want to trade in my gas guzzling high test eating car for a hydro/eco/electric bike with a side car. Gerry is still in Cardio Rehab and tries to get in his therapy visits three times a week and I on a rare occasion get a chance to do my pool therapy. I've been back and forth to the doctor myself the last couple of weeks with pain and a diagnosed bout of diverticulitis and have a CT Scan scheduled for Tuesday morning with a colonoscopy planned in the near future. The worst part of these tests is the prepping before they are done. I really think it is a way for the doctors to get even with their patients by making them drink undrinkable fluids that either make you upchuck in the kitchen sink while trying to swallow unpalatable crap before the tests and then after the tests either giving you uncontrollable diarrhea or constipation that requires a stick of TNT shoved you know where to release the pressure. Wish me luck that I don't embarrass myself while all this crap is going on. :)

This last week was spent cleaning the house for two days in preparation for a progressive dinner on Monday night with the neighbors. Susan made appetizers, I did the entree, (stuffed shells) and Jeanie served dessert. Tuesday evening I was out with 5 friends to a Ladies Only evening at Hartville Collectibles where they served a delicious dinner, gave out door prizes then allowed after shopping with a 20% discount throughout the gallery to entice everyone to go into debt for the Holidays early. Yep, I bought a couple Disney Jim Shore pieces to add to my growing collection. Wednesday night was dog school night. Thursday night Barb and Sharon were here for our first official Support meeting for dieters are us. Friday was double duty day in the beauty shop due to me taking the day off Saturday to get those new Jim Shore pieces signed by the artist himself. Jim Shore is an amazing artist and an even more amazing person. He is so nice and takes time visiting with every person who has come to his event. I would buy his artistry because he is so nice even if he didn't do Disney goodies. :) Here is the piece I am trying to find now. It was only sold at Disney World and I am waiting for a call back from there to see if they still have one available. Isn't it beautiful? :)

When I was finished playing with Jim Shore and his goodies I went upstairs to the Thomas Kinkade Gallery to see the just released Disney World painting entitled, "A New Day at the Cinderella Castle". Only one word comes to mind when seeing this painting. WOW!!! For Disney lovers like myself....well....only time will tell if this shows up in our house. Gerry has not seen this painting up close yet but the day he saw Disneyland's 50th Anniversary painting by Thomas Kinkade he shouted, "I gotta have it!". As you see from the earlier posts, 'We Got It'. I do hope my nieces and nephews take note of all the collectibles they are going to be stuck with when we are gone. Course you have to take any dogs we have at that time too or the deal is off. ;)

That's all I have to report for this go round. Please keep me in your thoughts this next couple of weeks as I go through these test and that whatever is wrong with me a simple pill can fix it. :)

Everything is done but the details! :)

Gerry finished painting the walls in the living room last weekend. His day off this week he got the floor almost done. A few more pieces in the bottom of the closet and the rest of the shoe molding applied, and a few nails to cover and this project will be done. He thinks one more day off will be enough to finish the job. Hows it look to you? :)
The walls are painted Butte Rock, a nice taupe color that goes well next to the dark furniture and the pretty wood floor. The accent colors, the burgundy above the angled fireplace wall and on the two smaller walls along with the everygreen wall around the door blend with the colors in the furniture and the window treatments. Take a look around.....

Yeppers, you do see Mickey. We debated on putting him back up but since our entire house is Disney decorated and we love Mickey and even more important seeing him makes us smile, we hung him back up...to look over all of us. :)

A decorator friend of mine told me anywhere the walls meet in a corner you can change colors. As you can see we made the dramatic choice and have a really bold area on the inside of our front door. The one wall looks a bit redder then it is due to the sun coming in the window but my photography is not as good as Tammi's so when she visits next I'll have her do her magic and take some true color photos for me. :::Hint, hint, Tammi::::

As the room moves around you can see we tried to keep the same theme going to tie the entire space together but yet still designate the different areas. Living room, hallway, dining room which you can't see in these photos, kitchen, and sun nook.

And back again to the French doors that lead out to the back yard. Sundance lounging on the floor watches me taking pictures and is waiting patiently for her supper.

Gerry put felt on the bottom of all the furniture so it would not scratch the new floor. Tis nice when I sweep cause the furniture slides easily out of the way but when Sundance and Winston come tearing into the house from outside and fly across the floor to jump on the couch, I am glad there is a wall to prevent the couch from landing on our front porch. The best part of this is the ease in cleaning. Ten minutes and I have the entire area of hard floors sweep and if any of the wood needs mopped, that can also be done in 10 minutes. The only bad thing to this hard wood flooring is the fact there isn't any carpet to catch the hairs and now we can see just how much Sundance sheds. Well at least all the hairs amass along the edges from them running through the house creating a breeze.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing Gerry's handiwork. Wonder what project Gerry will do next? :)

A Quick Flooring Update

Well, the floor isn't done yet and the painting is still unfinished. Since Gerry's vacation ended without the floor being finished he is having a very hard time finding the time to work on this project. The Post Office rules our lives and with Gerry working 6 days a week, it doesn't leave much time to complete the job. But we still have hope it will be done within the next couple of weeks. Gerry is still cutting wood and fitting it all together and once that is done he will rent the nail gun and install the rest of the flooring. After that...the walls will get their coat of color and the furniture will finally be moved back into the living room.

The dogs are sliding all over the place. Do you think they will eventually learn to stop running in the house and 'Take It Outside'? :)

Phew, here we are 10 days after the start of redoing the floor. A week ago Monday, August 27th, Gerry took up the old carpet and pad. The carpet came up quickly and easily. The pad was held down with thousands of staples that Gerry had to hand pull each one out of the floor. Here is Sundance wondering, "Where did the soft stuff go?" A rude awakening is coming to the 4-legged kids cause now they have nothing to give them traction while chasing each other through and around the house.

We had to move the big furniture from one side of the living room to the other because it was too big to move anywhere else and too heavy to move far.

On with the show! The first couple of rows are installed. The corners next to the fireplace took a couple of hours or measuring and cutting and gluing till they were right. As you can see Gerry is laying the wood on a bias, parallel with the fireplace. He has to lay out the wood before cutting and installing so the joints don't run into each other and for the variance in color to be mixed nicely. Gerry also painted the end wall where the big furniture goes, the rest of the walls will be painted when the floor is finished and we are not on a time limit in returning the rented nail gun.

Proof Gerry is installing..... Can you imagine a man who in April had a heart attack and a double by-pass surgery now, just a few months later, installing 650 sq. ft. of hard wood floor? He is amazing!!

The living room is done....here is the front door showing where Gerry took up the old wood and replaced it with the new. Looking Good!!!

Gerry had to go back to work today. His week vacation ended and the floor is not done. He has the front hall almost done and started on the 45 degree turn to the next hallway. His plan is to cut and fit all the boards in place then rent the nail gun one more time on his next day off and complete installing the floor. Neither of us had any idea this was going to take so long or be so back breaking for Gerry.

Amid all this construction, last Friday Gerry's mom was at the grocery store picking out an onion when her hip bone broke and down she went. Ambulance took her to the hospital, surgery to replace her hip happened on Saturday. She will be moved to a therapy facility either today or tomorrow for two weeks. We are baby sitting her dog Jackie so now we have 6 dogs having nervous break downs from all the noise and disruption. I am growing more gray hair and tripping over an additional dog as I walk around the house....but such is life and it comes at you fast. :)

Major Remodeling

The one thing I learned in the last 5 years is.....5 dogs and light carpet do not mix! The last two years we have had a contract with Stanley Steamer to come 5 times a year to clean my living room carpet. Usually within a week of the cleaning we have a rain storm or a snow storm which creates mud. Mud then accumulates on the feet of 5 dogs. 5 x 4 = 20 wet and dirty paws running in the dog door usually dragging a tree limb or clumps of grass with them.

Gerry and I have been in our dream home for 5 years come this November. Take a look at our home inside and out at this web site. This is our builders site who sent a photographer to claim his rights to the building of our home. Even though Gerry and I designed our home with a $50.00 software program and supervised every day what was happening with the construction of our home, the builder wants his share of the credit. I think I saw Nathan at our house 3 times during those six months. http://www.glickconstruction.com/ranchmodel1.htm (The last picture in that group of 12 is not our house...someone stuck in a ringer. ) The photos on this site were taken about a year after the house was finished, since then we have painted, wallpapered and highlighted with our personal touches. I will take some pictures to show you the latest in our decorating in my next posting.

Last week Gerry and I were walking through a store clearance area at Hartville Hardware where we found 15 boxes of butterscotch colored solid oak flooring with a 25 year warranty on the finish. I looked at Gerry with puppy dog pleading eyes and asked if it was possible to rip up all that light carpet and put down hard wood floors that I could just sweep or mop up any dirt that gets carried in from our 4 legged kids. This has been something we have talked about for the last couple of years and with the 1/2 price sale it looked like the time was right to step up to the plate and ripe out a credit card. Alas there was not enough wood for the entire job, but the store was also having a sale on ordered wood so another 13 boxes and we are ready to make a major change.

So are a couple of photos of the before....

This coming week will be trying to find places to move the furniture to while we redo the floors and the following week will be painting the walls, taking up the old carpet and putting down the new hard wood floors. The wood you see in front of the door will be replaced so it matches the rest of the room but the natural maple floor in the kitchen and dinning room will remain the same.

So, wish us luck in our remodeling and say a little prayer that I don't need to take any of my dogs to doggie psychiatrists to over come the fear they develop from listening to a week of a power nail gun going off constantly. I already warned the neighbors that it would not be Gerry shooting bullets at his adoring wife. ;)

New photos coming soon.......

The Busted Balloon Fest

Today is Monday, the day after my long awaited passion of viewing the hot air balloons at the HOF festival events. I am walking around with my lower lip dragging on the floor from disappointment. This entire last month we had zero rain. Long hot dry days where we were watering our plants to keep them alive every other night and watching the spider webs being built on the lawn mowers. With all this dryness it NEVER occurred to me there would be a problem with lift offs this year. Well....Mother Nature had other ideas.

The balloons were scheduled to lift off Friday night.......X that, it rained. They were scheduled to lift off early Saturday morning for the balloon race.....X that, it rained. Saturday evening lift off??? Nope, tornado warnings ruined that plan. Sunday morning, another chance of lift off for the races......X that. Yes it stayed dry but from all the previous rain the fog was thick as the proverbial pea soup.

The Glow on Saturday night happened but the only one I saw glowing was this one from the newspaper.

On Saturday and Sunday morning they have speciality balloons on the Stark Campus grounds blowing up to the delighted spectators. These are scheduled to start at 6:30 AM and it keeps the fans occupied waiting for the words, It's a go! By 8:00 AM we are walking back to the car discussing where we will have breakfast while the balloons deflate behind us.

Pout, pout.....there is always next year. 365 days away. Pout, Pout!

http://www.cantonrep.com/hof/

The ribs burn off is this coming weekend...along with the parade. The weather girls says dry and hot all week but rain is expected for the weekend. My plans are to start reading Harry Potter and forget about getting up early. :)

Meet my kids!

OK, now that I almost have this blogging figured out I will try a second post. Because the name of my Blog site is Gone To The Dogs, I thought I should introduce you to the name sakes of this page. Upper left is Bailey, she is a 14 year old Yorkie-Poo. Bailey is dealing with some health issues currently but we are doing all we can to keep her healthy.

Top right is Brewster, a 4 years old rescued Jack Russel mix that is the clown of the house. Every time I look at him he makes me laugh with his antics.

Bottom is Kelsey, another rescue. She is a 7 year old Cocka-Poo. Kelsey is our guard dog that sits on the back of the couch and barks at everything. A bunny rabbit, a leaf blowing in the wind, sometimes even her own reflection. The only thing she doesn't bark at are people coming to the front door. Those she wags her tail and and greets with enthusiasm. Some watch dog. ;)

Here is Gerry playing with his girl Sundance. Sundance is a 3 year old Golden who has her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certificate so she can go 'a visiting. She is a great therapy dog and I hope to be able to certify her soon with a TDI (Therapy Dog International) degree. Nothing she likes more then lots of petting and attention.

Our latest rescue is Winston. He is 2 years old and as near as we can guess a Jack Russell-Chihuahua, which makes his a Jackawowwa. :)

Here I am Christmas of '06 with the entire pack. Gerry was working that day earning the money to feed our kids. :)

I currently help at a dog training school, http://www.canineactionsports.com/ where I am the office manager. I love helping out cause I get to train my dogs and play with everyone else's dog.

My First Attempt at Blogging

Here we are in our favorite place on earth, Disney World. My hubby Gerry took me there the first time on our 20th anniversary. We will be married 32 years this coming August and in the last twelve years we have visited Disney World 9 times. I think I created a monster when I gave Gerry the ultimatum of Disney or Divorce shortly before our 20th anniversary. :)

If we were big lottery winners we would take our five dogs and move there permanently. :)