Bullet Post

1. I got a Fitbit for Christmas from Chris's parents (I asked for it, just FYI. They don't think I need to get in shape.) I think it's awesome, but then I put it on my jeans one day instead of my bra and I WASHED IT. Luckily, so far it's working but I'll grab the receipt just in case it starts acting up. Also, I feel bad for my poor little flower shrinking when I sit down at my desk everyday for work. 

2. It wasn't too cold and windy out today, so I brought the kids outside to play. Elise speeds around the yard like a little bullet and I realize how hard winter is on her in our tiny little space.  I've been trying to take some time everyday and play with them. There are so many things I can be doing in the house at any given time and I don't always make toys the priority. But right now, we have so many new ones that it would be a good habit to develop. 

3. I went to Ikea last week to finally use the gift card I got the year before and the silverware set I needed to buy was out of stock. So I consoled myself with some meatballs and a new pillow. And .99 plastic containers.

4. Hunter ran away on Christmas Eve.  It was all my fault, because I let him out to go pee and I forgot to let him back in. I even commented to Chris about how strange it was that he isn't around, since he's been sleeping in Jacob's room on a foam couch. I had no idea the reason I didn't see him was because he was outside. Had I not gone into Jacob's room to turn off the computer, I wouldn't have realized he was gone until morning.  Chris drove around looking for him at midnight for almost an hour.  I left his bed outside, in hopes that he would find his way home, but we've always found him before so I wasn't sure he knew how to get home.  I woke up at 5 AM and checked outside and found him.  He was a bit chubby and he moved pretty stiffly from the cold, but he was home. 

5.  I love the holidays for the time off, but so much of it gets filled up with obligations. However, I did get to go see the Hobbit with Jacob and my aunt and uncle.  Jacob told Chris before we left that he "was going on a date with your wife." It was pretty special. 

Dumbo!

Hunter. Hunter. Hunter. You big dummy. This is what you get for trying to eat the trash.


Stuck in the lid. It's one of those trash cans with the little domed lid that has a two way flap and he stuck his head through. It popped off the flap and got stuck behind his ears. We were at dinner for a birthday and it was a few hours before we came home.

Jacob thought it was hilarious and Hunter just wanted it off. But he had to wait until I got some photographic proof of his silly predicament.

Hunter And Jacob

Staying at my mom's the past few days, we've been enjoying ample dog time. During the day, Hunter mostly stays outside so even though we're here daily, he doesn't get to spend much time with us. Mostly by his choosing as he thinks it's better to be outside here. Unlike when we have our own place, where he would like to be with me every single minute. This causes issues because he's bad dog here at my mom's. He digs holes and worms his body into the pig pen to eat their food. Hunter doesn't actually play with Jacob, unless Jacob is eating. Then Hunter is at least three feet away, waiting patiently for Jacob to be done, drool hanging from his mouth, anticipating being able to scope the floor once I get Jacob out of his chair. Jacob learned the other day that he can drop food into Hunter's mouth and we had to stop that nonsense RIGHT AWAY. The kid doesn't eat enough as it is, I don't need another reason for him to not eat the food I make. Although, somehow Jacob got a hold of the cup of chicken noodle soup I was going to feed him, and while my back was turned he dumped the contents onto the floor after taking a few noodles for himself. Hunter was more than willing to clean it up. And the only reason I know they did this? I found the empty container on the still damp floor.

I miss having Hunter around. Jacob loves to hang on Emma, much more than Hunter, but he's been known to play with Hunter the same way. Like tonight, when Jacob had a late nap and would normally be very crabby, he's happy playing in between the dogs as they lay on the floor in front of me, begging for snacks. Jacob can be rough with them, as he likes to poke their eyes, pull their ears, shove his finger into their nostrils. His favorite thing to do it run up to them and quickly pound his hands onto their backs as they try to sleep. Fortunately, we have very good dogs and the most they do is get up and move away. They must not be smart enough to move into a different room, one with no lights on. But I am thankful for my dog babysitters. Sheesh, it's the only way I'm going to get to post anything at all tonight. So it might as well be a big thank you to Hunter and Emma for putting up with the Squawly Thing.

They have come a long way from this:




This was in Alabama and it's blurry but it's still a photo of the two of them!

Watching Hunter

Jacob showed an interest in Hunter the other day. However, Hunter was chewing a bone and could care less. I'm more impressed with the fact that 1) I put Jacob on the floor and he was happy and 2) Hunter didn't try to lick or step on Squally Thing.

Like Starbursts In My Heart

Jacob has developed the most wicked case of the grins. His happiest times come right after waking up or after nursing. But occasionally, he has unexpected bouts of smiley time. CS took this picture right after we took a walk. Jacob does so well with the strolled. Usually he spits out the binky and just enjoys the ride. Hunter, on the other hand, really hates that he has to compete with the stroller now. Can I not just let him run in front of it so he can be first? Maybe I could just let him off the leash entirely so he can go into everyone's yard and eat cat poop. And he wonders why I won't let him lick the baby.

A Boy And His Dog

Jacob: Has no idea what's going on.
Hunter: Would like Squally Thing off him if he's not allowed to lick him.

Hunter

Hunter did quite well with the introduction of Squally Thing, as he likes to refer to Jacob. When we came home from the hospital, it was late at night and everyone was in bed. Hunter came out to greet us and he was quite interested in smelling me but he didn't notice the car seat right away. CS set the seat down and let Hunt come close. He got really still and intense, trying to get as close as possible. He was so focused that I was worried he was going to spazz out and bark in the Jacob's face. He didn't, but he might wish he had now.

The poor dog. He used to be such a parasite, following from room to room. Now he goes to bed on his own, usually before I do. He occasionally comes near me when I have the baby, but generally picks someone else to find affection. He even sits on the other side of the table when we have dinner, choosing to be close to Uncle Abe rather than me. Or he wanders around the kitchen, acting like he doesn't understand "lay down."

Oh, he must know I'm writing about him, as he just decided to come lay next to me. CS also has the baby, which could be the other thing.

However, he has done one very, very stupid thing. He ran away. Really, it's not his fault. Abe had him out in the garage while he worked on his bike and he didn't pay very close attention to Hunter and he decided to take the heck off. I'm not sure how long he was gone, Abe certainly doesn't know. I wandered out to see where he was and SURPRISE! Dog was gone. We called for him, and everyone but me went off to search. CS found him down the road about five minutes later. And boy did he smell good! Like skunk! And dead things! Hunt was so happy!

And then he got a bath. Oooh, bummer. But first we had to get pet wash. So he had to stay outside, where the flies thought he smelled good too. It reminded me of Pigpen from Peanuts.

So not only did he smell awful and earn himself a few nights outside, he also broke his tail. BROKE. TAIL. How does a dog break his tail? We'll never know. He was acting funny a day later, not sitting down normally and not wagging his tail. CS took him to the vet and they determined that he probably dislocated it and needed to have a shot, anti-biotics and pain pills. He's fine now, and that's good because I keep forgetting to give him his pills.

The Best He Can

Hunter has been very tolerant of allowing us to place things on his nose before getting a treat. I actually had nothing to do with his willingness to hold still while a treat was placed directly onto his snout. A man at Brakes Plus in Pueblo can take the credit for that. I was waiting for my car to be serviced and a man who was waiting in the room with me placed one of Hunt's rawhides on his nose and got him to hold still. (I used to take Hunter with me because my uncle runs the Brakes Plus and he likes dogs.) Ever since then, Hunter will allow you to place a snack on his nose and hold his head steady until you move your hands far enough away from him to flick it off and gobble it up. I think the fact that he was able to stand like this for so long was because the object on his head is not as appetizing as a succulent piece of chicken or left over cheese. Don't get me wrong, he loves to rip up water bottles but that's a process and he's really tired right now from following Abe around like a little leach.

Maybe You Aren't Stalkers?

Here's a picture of 25 weeks. I haven't taken 26 weeks yet, plus it takes a long time to load. I still hate iPhoto. I wonder if I can snatch up some program at work to put on here for photo editing. I know I saw books about CS3 just lying around in someone's cart so there must be discs somewhere!

Anyways, maybe some of you don't follow my belly postings on Facebook or MySpace, so this is for you.
















Also, you can see the dog! The very tired dog who played fetch at the lake two days in a row and would really like to go to bed now. Maybe you could rub some balm into his paws, too. They are a little sore from the gravel. And check him for ticks!

Hey Momma!

"I'm fooking Lassie, Momma! I'll help you."

Hunter has taken to "helping" us shut the garage door when we go there for the trash cans. It's an old-fashioned type door that opens toward you, then up above you. So when I'm pulling it down, Hunter jumps up about halfway and pushes down. He says he's "fooking Lassie."

I love having the yard we have with him. The front yard is completely fenced in, so he can sit at the front door and watch the street before him without fear of him bolting after something. The backyard is not completely fenced in but the driveway makes it a little harder for him to run after someone on the street. There is a huge rock wall on one side that prevents him from getting to the neighbor's house and Hunt seems content to just follow CS around as he goes from the boat to the garage. Or he eats grass in the backyard. Who knows, he's weird.

I'm trying to teach him to "kiss the baby" when he comes up to me while I'm laying down on my right side in the evenings as the baby has a kick-fest. So far, he's not buying this "baby" thing. He would rather throw his stuffed crab in my face. But in the mornings, he's a little more docile and we have rare, touching moments like this:






The Beast and the Belly

Why The Windows In My Car Are Now Set To Child-Proof

The other day I was driving around Globe with Hunt hanging out the window and we happened upon a very steep hill. So steep that when I stopped at the stop sign, my car immediately began to roll backwards when I took my foot off the brake to press the gas. My car made a clunky noise in protest to getting across the intersection and we made it through when I realized the next street was a dead end. So I swerved to get the car into the first driveway I can turn around it and when I get there I turn my head to make sure no one is behind me and I see Hunter. With his head being rolled up in the window.

Click, Lock, Drop

I lost my keys this morning.

Funny thing about that?

Losing my keys has been the "worst thing that could happen to me" since I've moved down here. Mostly because there is no way I can break into my house if I lock the dead bolt. No entry through windows like at my house at home. Hell, these windows don't open in the slightest (fire hazard?). Also, I have no spare key to my car here. I lose that and I have no vehicle.

So I was a tad bit worried this morning at the gym when I discovered that I didn't leave them in the front seat like I thought I had when I couldn't find them in my pocket on my walk. They weren't on the street. They weren't inside the gym. Just vanished. Usually, when Hunt and I start a walk, he gets all excited and holds the leash in his mouth and bounces all around me, and I get into it with him and we hop down the street for a bit before settling into a nice pace. I thought maybe my keys got jounced out during all the hopping, but they weren't on the street. One nice man from aerobics class offered to help me look, and we took off jogging down the street to an empty field I walk through to let Hunter do his business. As we are searching in the weeds, a couple walks past and they are holding my keys hostage. Turns out they found them on the ground by the gym, realized they belonged to me, and continued on their walk in hopes that they would pass me to return them. Hurrah! Then nice aerobic man and I jogged back to the gym. So this morning, I had 45 minutes of "Weight Lifting to Music" followed by a (bouncy) 1 mile walk, then a 1 mile jog. I feel bad for Hunter , mostly, because he stayed in the car while I went to look the the keys and he missed out on the jogging.

Also, the car alarm was blaring because it doesn't like it when you unlock the doors from the outside.

A Horrible Thing

Hunter and I took a walk this morning. Just like we do every morning. Same route as always. We were walking down a semi-busy street. It doesn't have bad traffic, but it's nearly impossible at 8 AM to have no cars driving past you as you walk down the road. Here in Hobbs, there aren't many dogs around. People keep them penned up in backyards, and that's only about 5 of the 100 houses I walk by every morning. This morning, as we walked down the road, I saw someones little lapdog playing in a yard with another dog, or possibly a cat. I've seen this dog before, it belongs to an older woman who lives in one of the 5 houses on that side of the street. The houses are clumped together, littered with broken cars, junk, and a few signs warning trespassers. It's not a very welcoming part of the neighborhood. I have only seen that woman and her dog out once, and that one time, her dog did choose to follow us barking down the sidewalk for a while. But this morning, the dog was outside her fence, alone. Hunt and I were walking on the opposite side of the street and I thought that would deter the dog from crossing over to us. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The dog decided to step out into the street and barrel toward us just as a car came rushing by. There was no time for the car to stop. Or swerve. I couldn't do anything to prevent it. What's worse, is that I could do nothing to help. The car that hit the dog didn't stop. Neither did the other three cars that came by right after. I couldn't let Hunt get close to it and there was no place to tie him up. No one was around, and I couldn't figure out how to get to the woman's house. I didn't know what to do. I had just seen a horrible thing and no one could help me. I eventually walked away because I simply didn't how to help. I was afraid of finding the woman, afraid she would be mad at me for her dog's death. When I finally walked away, I just broke down crying. I couldn't even get the dog off the road because I couldn't let my dog go for fear that he would get hurt or just be annoying while I moved the dog away. I wanted to be home so I could call my mom. I called the Police as well, and asked them if they could send Animal Control to the house and take care of it, and I found out that someone already called it in.

I felt so bad. I still feel bad. I know it's not my fault. That I didn't cause that dog to chase us, nor was there anything I could have done differently. But I will never forget the sounds I heard when it happened and the way the poor dog died before my eyes. I've seen animals die, but never like this. This was violent and done to a pet. Not to livestock raised for food and done with as much humanity as possible. I feel bad for the woman who lost her dog, even if it's an animal I pretty much despise. Maybe, hopefully, next time will end happily. And the lesson I learn is: Never let your pets run loose.

Puffy Puppykins!

My brother called me yesterday around lunch time to tell me that Hunter's face was very swollen. He was acting normal but his snout and eyes were very puffy. I called my vet and they said to bring him in that afternoon. My normal vet is at least an hour away, so I called every place in town to get him in that afternoon. My last choice said I could bring him in at 2:30. I dislike them because they advocate spaying and neutering your pets too young and I disagree with that. It is not healthy! Anyways, they were the only vet in town that could take us. (Seriously? That's just weird.) So my brother brings Hunter to me at work, and he is a complete FAT FACE. His eyes were like bulgy golf balls and his snout looked just like those pictures where the animals head is seventy times larger than the body. He was happy as could be, though. Just slightly misshapen. And his snuffing around sounded a little different. The vet determined that it probably wasn't a snake bite, as they leave puncture wounds. So that left bad spider bite, or bee sting. Two shots later, and a $60 bill, he's no longer puffy. The swelling went down rather quickly after he got the medicine, and he was back to his annoying, demanding self. I brought him back to work with me where he was quite unhappy to not be allowed to run and play with the kids around him. And why couldn't he sit on my lap and whine? Surprisingly, he chilled the heck out when I started putting books away. He decided not to keep his head out the window on the way home, opting instead for my lap. He's still a bit mopey this morning, but it was quite an eventful day for him yesterday. Maybe he will learn that bees are NOT for eating. Somehow, I doubt it.

Notes From The Couch

Not a whole lot has happened in the past week. I've been on the couch, drinking liquid Coden every four hours, and watching many hours of TV. It's kind of relaxing, except when I try to eat something sharp and I'm reminded that I can't! I got so sick of eating sugary foods: yogurt, popsicles, juice, peaches, applesauce. I got my hands on some Miso soup and that was just what I needed. Salt! The pain meds worked really well, which may be a bad thing because it lead me to eating some pizza and maybe a few chips when I felt really good. Don't worry, I chewed it really well.

Hunter hasn't been the happy bundle of joy I thought he would be since I have been home for so many hours in the past few days. He ran away at least once a day, coming back extremely fat and bulgy. Stinky too. One night, he ran away in the middle of a rain storm and when he finally came back two hours later, he was quite wet and unhappy. We made him lay on a blanket on the floor and that cause the whiniest episode of his life. It was his own damn fault he ran away and we let him back inside, dried him off and put him on a nice blanket. But no, he wanted to be on my lap on the couch. Fat chance, Mister Hunt.

JBelle asked me this morning "where you tonsils?" She doesn't quite get why I'm sick. She knows my tonsils are gone, but she wants to know why the Dr. did that to me. Gramma told her he threw my tonsils in the trash, and she came really close to opening the cupboards to look for them. Now if that's not redneck, I don't know what is.

Hunty Boy Turns Two! Part Two-The Second Year

Hunter is a funny boy. This plastic jar holds his toys. But he discovered that it was a lot of fun to chew on, and also stick his head into and bump into the furniture. Ok, maybe I just thought it was fun to watch him bump into the furniture.
















He could also be convinced into almost any situation. I flipped my mattress one day, and it took little persuasion to get him into the middle and bam, dog sandwich.

















Emma was horrified at the dog antlers. Hunter? Doesn't even know they are on his head.















He likes to sleep in awkward positions. Usually curled into an impossible ball on your lap, but sometimes just hanging off the couch.















He likes stuffed animals. Even the non-squeak kind. They sleep with him. Or rather, he sleeps on them.














When I'm gone, my mom likes to ask him "Where's your momma?" and he runs to the door to look for me. (sometimes he does this even when I'm sitting in the same room, possibly telling him to look for his momma) But he does love his momma. Last night, I had a dream about BB showing up to see me at the bar and I woke up to Hunter crawling up the bed along my body to rest his head on my pillow right next to me. If that's not love, then I don't know what love is!

Hunty Boy Turns Two! Part One-The First Year

Hunter turned two yesterday, he was born April 25th, 2005. He was seven weeks old when I got him, so that makes it the first week of June that I got him. He had a huge litter, and one of every color. The runt was black, and so cute. Hunter had very distinctive markings on his face and chest. His other Chocolate brother was very heavy. Also, I paid WAY too much for him because he is unpapered, but purebred. Maybe. My vet seems to think that since he has such light markings that he could be part Lab, part something else because dogs can have two daddies. His mother was such a tramp.

This was the second day I had him. He was so tiny. See his light eyebrows and band on his chest. They are still there, and they get blond in the summer time!















I love this picture because he has green eyes. That bowl he's sitting in? Months later became his food bowl. It also gave him pimples! -















This means he has good hips. It also makes him look like a frog and I like that!
















Here we are, establishing dominancy. Bad dog owner, Jess.
















Here we are having fun on the porch after work. I always rushed home to be with him, I felt so bad leaving him alone in the bathroom, and I was so glad when he was big enough to stay outside with the girls.
















He's only four months in this picture. He just keeps getting bigger.

What Can I Say?

Not a whole lot lately. My voice tends to fade in the evening time to a hoarse whisper, and I wake up in the morning with next to nothing. Afternoons aren't too bad. I need to be chewing gum or taking sips of water constantly. I'm really glad to be going ot the Doctor on Wednesday. That's really going to help me right now. With my luck, my tonsils will probably return to normal size and there will be no sign of any infection or disease.

I had a late night and an early morning today, made worse by not taking a nap in the afternoon. I finally showered at 2 pm, when I had great expectations of going to Ross for some shopping. Unfortunately, I sat down on the couch after I got ready and I fell asleep for two hours. Now, I keep finding myself staring at the TV, where Pirates of the Caribbean is playing, and I can't seem to keep my mouth shut out of wonder. I love taking naps, but I hate when I can't get myself out of the nap funk. Not that Pirates isn't a kick-ass movie to watch wide eyed with wonder. But when I find myself gaping in awe at the supercharged V8 juice commercial, I know something is off.

Earlier, Hunter was standing in front of me and making a very squeaky, high pitch whine. He does that to me a lot, when he feels I'm not paying him proper attention while I'm doing things like getting dressed, blow drying my hair, and being generally occupied with a task. Times when I'm doing nothing and I want him to cuddle with me, he seems to be sleeping in another room with his precious stuffed animals. He's also decided that our bed is mostly his and he is entitled to sleeping horizontally across it. Never mind that he is as long as the bed is wide. And that he chooses to sleep in the very center of it. Of course this means that I am now sleeping in a little ball at the top of the bed. No wonder I sleep so well after he goes outside at 5 AM. If my room was bigger, he would totally be sleeping on his own bed...on the floor!

JBelle was surprisingly sweet to me this weekend. Generally, she chooses Gramma to be her source of comfort and cuddle but this weekend she let me hold and smoosh on her. It could be that I am spending more time with her, now that I'm not occupied on the weekends with other things, things less important than her much to my dismay. We went to a cookout on Saturday afternoon, hosted by her mother's boyfriend. When we went to leave, JBelle said to me "I don't want you to go. I want to go with you to gamma's house,' in a very sad, whiny voice. She's never done that to me before, as she's generally esctatic to be with her mother again. It made it very hard to put her down and leave the party. It would have helped if she would have thown a block at my head like she had been all afternoon.

Bark, Bark

Last night, after I got home from working at the bar, I took the last Benadryl in the house that my mom left out for me. I've been suffering through constant draining of my head, sore throat, and coughing due to some nasty ass allergies that are resistant to Claritin. It's actually so bad that I've had a terrible time sleeping, thus the need for Benadryl. And I slept SO WELL. I didn't even wake up till my alarm went off. I love mornings like that.

Mornings I do not love are ones where I have to go find my large Lab o'Lovin and punish his chubby belly. We've been having huge problems keeping Hunty in the yard. At this point, I'm not sure how he's getting out. We've put up taller fencing on two sides, some electric fencing around the bottom of one side, and the other side has two layers of fence. He's still getting out. I think he may be jumping the back fence and getting to the field for freedom now. This morning when I got up, I let Emma in but there was no Hunter in the yard. I shouted for him, in my nice scratchy, almost non-existent voice. I see no brown blur coming to me. I hear barking. So I brush my teeth, put in my contacts, put on shorts and a tee shirt. I can tell it's Hunter barking, and he's in someones barn or garage. As I walk down the street, the barking gets louder as I come to the barn. Our neighbors have a bloodhound, not a mean one, but not a very nice one either. I'm not looking forward to having to step on to her territory to retrieve my dog. I'm also worried that he's gotten himself trapped somehow and possibly gnawing off his legs in between barks. I approach the door to the shed, and see Hunter's back end. I said, "Hunter. Come." and he turns around and runs to me like I may have just saved his life. Right in front of him is Peaches, the blood hound, and she clearly was not going to let him past her. So I saved him from a possible beating from Peaches. However, he still got punished and is now tied up to the back porch. I'm not letting my baby get killed because he's too stupid to look for cars. And I'd really like the binge eating to stop. It's not an attractive look. I like my Labs to look more like dogs and less like barrels.

Hello Poohbear!

Hi guys! I mean, DD! Hi! I know you've been busy with law, Dunc, and other things you do on your own time, but I'm sure you've checked my page and you're probably sick of my Open Letter. Hmm, me too.

Anyways. I have been out drinking a lot. I do that a lot now. It may be why I'm beginning to notice that my stomach is looking different these days and I'm not sure I like it. So I took up running to combat the effects of all the shots I'm taking. Last night I took five, but I ran almost a mile and I also walked for two. See, I am battling the bulge.

I went to a concert last night with the DPH, and it was pretty kick-ass. We had a table right up front with space to dance. And dance we did, in between the shot taking and the picture taking. Apparently, I am a fish. Evidence lies not only in my ability to drink 1 beer, 2 mixed drinks, 2 jager bombs, 2 red headed sluts, and 1 raspberry lemon drop but also in the many pics of my fish face. Unfortunately, I also met some guy. Usually I meet lots of guys and do a pretty good job of treating them like I am not interested. Because I am not. I am not interested. But sometimes, after a few drinks, I forget that I am not interested and some persistent idiot snatches me up. They then proceed to compel me into dancing with them, or taking shots, or having general conversation. All these things that I am capable of avoiding when sober. Sadly, last night I was not sober and found myself with a boyfriend. A kiss you on the cheek when he leaves the room boyfriend. Now, I had me one of those not long ago. And I liked him. But I do not like it when a boy whose name I could not remember, who also has a fucking lhasa apso with a little bed in his bedroom, and a pom pom ski hat on, kisses my cheek. It may have helped his case had he not been a terrible kisser, but sadly the little dog may be my one and only deal breaker that I will follow through on even if the boy is charming, cute, well dressed, melt in your mouth yummy. If my dog is bigger than yours, I'm going to say goodnight now. (Which leaves out everyone except the Great Dane dog owners, and that's exactly the kind of dog I want next so call me!)

Speaking of dogs, Hunter made me laugh out loud for a good five minutes last night. He's been getting out of the yard, so we put up a nice electric fence to keep him in. When I got home last night (at 4:45) I let Hunter out so I could sleep in peace. I got all comfy in bed, closed my eyes, and hear "eipp eipp ow eippp...scramble on porch...WOOF." Ya'll, Hunter got SHOCKED. And serves him right. I told him not to touch it.