Sadie asks... Is it really Spring?

So, March 20th was the first day of spring. Sadie is upset because Fri - Sat we received 6 more inches of snow. It has been pretty warm lately, so this came as a shock to all Madison. Well, thank goodness Lancer likes the snow. He want to go out every ten minutes and play. Which is fine by me.... then he will stop counter surfing for paper towels and tupperware containers. It is a little frustrating with 4 dogs, trying to keep the house clean, working 40+ hours a week, re-doing the office, getting quotes for a new fence, windows and siding. But, I guess this is part of the excitement that I have been craving lately.



We re-decorated/organized our office this weekend. We painted, put up a new light fixture, put up shelves and containers for organization. I must say now that it is finished, it looks really great! I am very happy with it....A is too. The dogs were not very happy though. While we were working in the office, they destroyed a dog bed, a few paper towels, ate a bag of dog treats and finished off a bag a dog food that was sitting on the counter. Well, I guess it was mostly Lancer with his trusty sidekick Parker.



Speaking of Parker, he gets snipped on Wednesday and then off to his new home a week later! :) We are happy, as he is getting increasing naughty. He is 14 weeks old. There have also been inquiries about Lancer and Bert, but no visits yet. They are both great dogs. Bert just needs some TLC and no younger dogs - they annoy him, especially Lancer. And Lancer needs some other dogs to exercises with him. Don't get me wrong, Lancer and Parker are like two peas in a pod, but as soon as Parker goes home, I take it that Lancer may need more things to do around here.



Happy Spring!

Not by the hair of my footie, foot, foot

So, I think that I keep a pretty clean house, most of the time. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the clutter and the mess. Right now I have 4 dogs and my house isn't that big. And most of my house is hardwood and ceramic tile. So.... my floors tend to collect alot of boxer hair bunnies in the corners and under furniture. So, the other day I was walking around and my foot was bothering me. I looked in my slipper - nothing. I looked in my sock - nothing. So I looked at my foot - a HAIR! Again!?! I had a hair stuck in the bottom of my foot like a sliver. This has happened before where I had to get the tweezers to get a boxer hair out of the heel of me foot. Isn't that skin supposed to be really rough? Well, it is but somehow I still manage to step on that hair that is partially sticking up and it hurts.

In other news, yesterday Parker got squished. Lancer was playing a little rough and pounced on Parker and hurt him pretty bad. Parker whined and whined and couldn't be moved without a series of OWWW! squeaks. He was panting, lethargic and he slept for 3 hours straight after the incident. So I got all scared and decided to take him to the Emergency Vet. Well, I feel really bad before I even take him knowing that it could be nothing, but spend big bucks because it is after hours. So we get ready to leave and I scoop up Parker and no squeaks. I put him in the car, no squeaks. Then we go to the vet - no sueaks, he is so happy to see everyone - making me look like an extra big dufus because he doesn't look hurt at all. BUT, then he started limping. So, ok, at least I dodn't overreact TOO much. The Dr. checked him out and he does have a sprain/bruising on his left shoulder and possibly left hip. The Dr. prescribed some pain meds. Parker is doing just fine now, but I would have never been able to forgive myself if I went to bed last night w/o the trip to the vet and Parker would have really been injured.

Then today - Lancer broke out of the room were were keeping him while at work. We tried crating him but he broke out of the Varikennel 3 times in 5 minutes. So we gated him in the hallway with 2 baby gates and a large crate. He broke out, pooped, knocked Sadie's doggie dish off the counter and ate what was left of her breakfast. We are really hoping that he didn't eat any peices of broken glass! I will have to keep an eye on him. Tonight I went out and bought some zip ties to try and repair our largest crate which is a little beat up. Hopefully we can try crating Lancer in the big crate tomorrow. I know that his last foster mom said that he can't be crated, but I have had luck in the past crating some dogs who escaped for about 1 week, then were fine. I hope I make it through this time!!

Busy Rescue Week for Me!

So, this has been a pretty exciting week. Wednesday I took off work and headed up to a fundraiser in Appleotn for rescue. My friend and her Boxer LadyBug accompanied me. I am so happy they were able to come, as I very much enjoy their company. On the way we stopped and picked up Lucy, a 4 1/2 month old white deaf Boxer puppy to bring with us to the event, and my friend will be fostering Lucy as well to help out another friend. Everyone at the event LOVED miss Lucy and all the Boxers, we all had a great time. It was really worth it to go up to Appleton, as the company which hosted the event was able to raise quite a bit if money for us. But, it was a long day!

I took Parker to the Vet on Thursday to get his distemper booster. He was a great puppy at the vet. He has been getting SOOO big. I can't believe that I will be taking him to get neutered a week from Wed. Poor guy - he is cyptorchid. Oh well - one cute little nut is better that 2, I guess. Then, hopefully a week after the neuter he will go to his new home. I will miss him, but I will be glad, as he is only going to get more naughty as he gets older.

Then Saturday morning I drove to OshKosh and closed down our rescue booth at the Oshkosh Family Pet Expo. We had a nice turn out and hopefully the very cute Rhett will have some inquiries, as he was a VERY well behaved Boxer and really represented the breed at the event. Instead of driving back to Madison, my friend Alabaster mom invited me to crash at her place. It was great, I got dinner, cookies, breakfast, a bed with 2 awesome Boxers and a nice night to spend quality time with my friend. Then, driving home today I picked up Lancer (shown above). He is a young deaf male Boxer who was being fostered by a friend who was having a rough week. So we are maxed out here. We have our girl Sadie, Bert, Parker and Lancer. Just about an hour ago, FINALLY, we were able to introduce Lancer and Bert. They were the last to meet and so far it is going OK. I am happy - I was worried for a little bit.

I think all they do at home when I am gone is sleep!

Between a few weekends ago in Chicago, last weekend in Door County, Wed in Appleton and this weekend in Oshkosh and GB, I am burnt out on driving! I can't wait to spend a weekend at home. I am going to work on some house projects and I am excited to have Friday off work. A has tomorrow off for some other house projects that we are working on, so it will be nice to have Lancer hang out with the other dogs for a whole day before we both have to go back to work and leave him for 8 hours.

What fun!

So I had a really great weekend. I got a break from the puppy, I drank a few bottles of wine, I got to have lunch at Red Robin, twice, I bought a really awesome purse and I was able to spend quality time with some of my GABR friends. Oh and I took a picture of my friend touching her tongue to her nose.
We drove up to Door County on Friday afternoon, did some shopping, saw a movie, went in the hot tub and then relax. We met more friends on Sat and had lunch, hung out and did lots of eating and more hot tubbing and stayed up real late, for me anyway. I got home at 6pm on Sunday - it was a long weekend, but I had alot of fun. I bought a purse - a purse that I have had my eye on for 3 years. I love it.... I am very glad I bought it.

So, when I came home, I cleaned up and found like 3 puppy pee spots in the house. I guess A just didn't take notice of Parker peeing all over the place. So much for the house training here.

I didn't want to go to work today, But it wasn't so bad. I am looking forward to Wednesday, My friend and I are driving to GB for a GABR fundraiser for the day, It will be fun.

I have been tagged!

My great friend Alabaster mom tagged me, so here goes....

10 years ago:
I was in my sophomore year of college living in an apartment in downtown Chicago with 3 friends. I was half way through graduating with a major in biological sciences with a minor in Chemistry. The three most beloved people in my life were still alive, my grandpa, great-grandma and my Dad.

5 Things on my to do list today were:
1) Go to the vet and pick up Panacur for Bert - he has hookworms. The guy can't catch a break.
2) Hit the ATM for the weekend
3) Wash my car
4) Go shopping at Trader Joes
5) Pick up a crate for the pooper at my friend's house

Everything was accomplished except the car wash.

Things I would do if I were suddenly a Billionaire:
1) Pay off all my bills and all my mom's and brother's bills
2) Donate lots of money to animal related non-profits
3) Adopt many children
4) Take care of my family
5) Give back to my community financially

3 of my bad habits:
1) Not folding or putting clothes away after they are washed
2) Not eating leftovers if it is more that 2 days old
3) Biting my cuticles

Jobs I've had:
1) Ticket booth girl at the local movie theater
2) Teller at a bank
3) Waitress at Bakers Square
4) Hostess, fountain girl and waitress at Ed Debevic's
5) Cocktail waitress saturday nights a a downtown Chicago Bar
6) Administrative assistant at the department of Neuro surgery at the University of IL at Chicago
7) Microbiologist at a shampoo manufacturer and a contract testing lab
8) Microbiology Manager at a Pharmaceutical Company
9) Camel Cigarette girl at Chicago NightClubs

5 Things people don't know about me:
1) I am applying to grad school to get my MBA
2) I love pilates, but hate working out - except biking outdoors
3) I hate driving, even though my volunteer work requires alot of driving
4) I have a hard time staying up past 10pm most days
5) I miss living near my family in Chicago

I do not have anyone to tag....

Spring? I am ready for you! (So are the Boxers)

Puppy Paws are so cute

I am very happy that it is slowly getting warmer. This weekend is daylight savings time - Spring Forward, if you will. I am very excited to go outside with the dogs, instead of watching from the sliding doors. So, I am sure you are dying to know what's going on in the life of Parker the puppy. Well, he had a busy weekend. In the past 2 weeks he has met 20+ people (including a few kids) and about 8 dogs, besides the dogs here and at his birth home. He has been one very busy puppy. I also found out on a few car trips that he gets car sick. He puked 3 times in one car ride. That was pleasant. Well, I did some experimenting and figured out that he doesn't get sick when the heat is not on, or low. When the heat is jacked up he barfs. I don't really blame him, except that I thought he was cold, thats why the heat was always on full blast. Well, now I have another thing to add to the information form for the new family.


Also - Parker the puppy has been increasingly more annoying at night. We used to keep him on the floor in our bedroom and he would do OK. We would have to get up 2-3 times a night to let him outside to potty, or else we would have to clean it up on the floor. Well, I sleep on the side of the bed where the dogs have their beds, so he never potties on my side :) only on A's. That's funny - well it was for awhile until he got really frustrated, as did I, so we started crating him at night. That was not very pleasant. Have you recently heard a puppy scream his head off, bloody murder?!? I was surprised the cops didn't show up. So we went back to having him sleep on the floor. He did OK. We are still working with him, thats for sure. We did start crating him during the day while we are at work. Well, the crate does not have a bottom right now (Humphrey destroyed it) and so I placed a plastic bag under the crate and then as the liner a thick throw rug (half destroyed by Humphrey). Well, that was a huge mistake as we came home to plastic bag pieces all over the place. I won't do that again. The carpet is pretty much destroyed in the dog room anyway.

In other news, I am looking forward to placing him, then I can do some spring cleaning around the house. New carpet in the dog room, some fresh paint and some other stuff. We are going to ride the wave and re-finance so that we can get $$ to get all new windows, a 6ft privacy fence, more insulation, new siding, a new water softener, and some other stuff, if we do not run out of $$. I think we are planing on staying here a good long time, whatever life has in store, we are ready.