One for the money, two for the show

OK, it is possibly the largest social event of the calendar year in the Saint Louis metropolitan area. That's right folks, three, count'em, three animal rescue groups are banding together to put on an evening of action packed, dynamic fun, at the MOUSE RACES!!
There'll be gambling, there'll be beer, there'll be wild, wacky games, and I have it on good authority, there'll be dancing girls. Well, if they feel like it, that is.
Anyway, it is for a great cause, and it is a good time. Plus, it is just fiendish how those little mice tune up their cars for the races...

I'll take some potatoes and gravy with that

So, I have a new foster. Ostensibly, Linda has pre-named her Isabelle. Fat chance, Linda. This dog is built like a furry bowling ball, and is as cute as can be. Oh queen of the the dog chow, I christen thee "Pork Chop".
Plus she likes the name and comes when called by it. Vinnie of course hates her, but he'll get over it.

She seems to be housebroken, and for a dog as chubby as she is, she's pretty laid back about dinner. I've had to hand feed her so far. I'm wondering if she has some sort of issue with sticking her face in the bowl...I'll try a bigger dish tonight.

Also, I Let her sleep on the bed, as she was pacing down on the floor-and mild-mannered Simon never minds more canine company (unlike Vinnie, who probably resents me being on the bed, let alone any other dogs!)


Anyway, I'll come up with something less insensitive for a name, but for the next week or so, it fits!

Welcome to the pack, Pork Chop!!

Simon and Liza/Rosie

 

Two of my favorite little friends romping in the snow, pre-Christmas. These two are trouble!

(re) Start Me Up

Ok, so that's a wrap on 2010...
At this time last year, I was preparing the launch of the great weight loss campaign, and the official year end results were...54lbs gone. In and of itself, that seems like a good number, and I suppose it is. Though it has to be said, I had actually got about 70lbs off at one point, so over the last four months I regressed. BUT (and you knew there would be a "but"), I had actually regressed to only 48lbs lost, so I am trending properly again.

So, the new year is off with a bang, this year's resolution (last year being the first time I ever made one, which was "I will finish the year in better shape than I started it"-and I did!) is very closely tied to last year's. It is...to increase my weekly exercise by 50%. Last year I swam 30 minutes a day, five days a week. This year it is to get the equivalent of 45 minutes a day in. Anything more than that will be considered a welcome bonus. I'm not expecting to repeat the 50lb weight loss, as I think that is too aggressive, but hopefully another 35-40 or so this year, and by the time I welcome the BIG 5-0 in March of 2012, maybe (just maybe) I can be at something approaching what I would ideally like to be.

Anyway, all in all it was a good year. I made and lost a great furry friend, improved the house by leaps and bounds, and continued to learn that the song was right. You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.

Maybe.

Onward, 2011...

And so it goes

Short one tonight. Just the observation that insomnia sucks. Even with my darth vader mask. Oh well, maybe another twenty or thirty games of free cell will do it...

Goodbye, sweetheart

This morning, the first day of winter, 2010, I had to say goodbye to my little white angel. Karli's hips and back finally betrayed her, and in a cruel surprise, led to her demise before her cancerous tumors.

I had a few people today tell me how lucky she was to have had a home that cared for her so much, blah blah blah, after what appears to have been a brutal and taxing existence. And I appreciate those kind thoughts and words. But, I keep thinking about it, and I don't see it that way. It seems more appropriate to thank Karli for blessing me with five months of her life. She did me the favor by being here, by being the completely trusting, and loving little dog she was. I will miss her. Will? Shit, I already do.

Winter Wonderland

Today was the first really nasty day of winter. It truly was a blustery day, Winnie-The-Pooh.
But, that doesn't mean everything was bad. I discovered that my senior citizen dog, that I got in July likes the snow. She enjoyed a nice waddle around, and a good lay in it.
And my outdoor decorations took on a whole new look with the snow. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but the reindeer in the snow looks pretty darn good!

Release the Kraken!

My latest love affair is with rum, and as such, I have recently remembered an old line from a song. Written by the great Ray Davies, it was actually a rumble against taxation, and just what the British government was doing. And as he was moaning about needing to take exile and avoid the poisonous rates, he wrote this...
"Goodbye champagne and the caviar set, I wanna slum and drink all of the rum I can get, I'm away, I'm away in a foreign land"

I'd link to it, but I'm afraid it is a little too obscure for You Tube. A sample from Amazon, perhaps?

Anyway, if you care to download the song, it's only 99 cents, and is, if nothing else, a cheery finger poppin' tune. And you can enjoy it over a mojito, rum and coke, or god bless us all, a little egg nog with rum. Go about 50-50 for diet purposes, eh?

Something to smile about

Damon Gough, better known as 'Badly Drawn Boy' has to have the market cornered on whimsy. The tunes bounce, the words are playful, I mean, how brilliant is "Ipso facto, using up your oxygen, you know I'm shallow, calling out for extra help ,you've got to let me in or let me out" with the little 'dee doo dee dee" keyboard bits. If this song can't make you smile, you really are just a miserable so and so.
Something To Talk About


And as long as I'm enjoying that, I have to line up Paul Carrack doing "I Need You". One of the cleverest little choruses going..."I need you like a shark needs to shoot" Never fails to make me grin.

Hazy Shade Of Winter

Just in time for the winter weather, ladies and gentlemen, the bar is OPEN! It has been fully restocked, it now features the telescoping tv, the sound is great, the furniture comfy, and the fireplace inviting.
If I haven't seen you in awhile stop in for a drink, if I have seen you recently and you want to stop in anyway, bring something to eat will ya, I got the booze!

Egg noggily yours,
Me