Jasper

   I know that like a lot of parents, I tend to speak a lot about my babies, however in my case, my "children" are of the furry, four legged flavor.  I often find myself countering someone's funny tales and anecdotes about their kiddos with my own about my pups and kitties.  To the non-pet lover this may not seem like any sort of comparison, but to those of us who love our furry babies, oh trust me, it compares.
   Now, really the reason for this blog today is to talk about my precious Jasper.  I know, it's shitty of me to write about just one of my furry babies, but unless one of them breaks into my lap top, I don't think we have to worry about any real jealousy here.
   The reason why I am singling out Jasper is because I believe Jasper was truly sent to me as a gift.  I needed him in my life and he found us.  Literally.  When we first saw Jasper he was just so fucking adorable with his big ass ears and jumping all over my mom's neighbor, we didn't think anything of it.  Then we found out he was *gasp* an abandoned puppy.  We couldn't just leave him so we took him to the vet to check and see if this adorable little baby was micro chipped.  He was not.  We put an ad in the paper, no one claimed him after 2 weeks.  I didn't even want him at first, no matter how fucking cute he was because he was a destructive little asshole who ruined a bunch of shit AND chewed through my laptop cord.  I was livid.
   CW, however was pretty adamant about wanting to keep the little bugger so, we did. We got him fixed and micro chipped and boom!  He was ours.  Now, almost 4 years later he has become one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned.  I love him to pieces and he makes my heart melt daily.  With his breed it is said that:

"The ACD [Australian Cattle Dog] needs to be handled firmly yet fairly, and it is totally loyal and obedient to its master, and it's a one-person dog." -http://www.terrificpets.com/dog_breeds/Australian_Cattle_Dog.asp

   I happen to be the lucky one that Jasper chose to be his person.   Not to say that Jasper doesn't love CW tons but let's just say, if he had to chose one of us to save from a burning building, adios, Honey!
   Not only is Jasper a really good companion to me, but I have managed to train him to be somewhat of a service dog.  How?  or Why?  You might ask.  Well, you see Jasper is insanely smart and I swear he knows what I'm saying most of the time, and he's very easy to train.  I have some health issues where it hurts to move sometimes of it hurts to bend (I've blogged about 'em before) and my immune system is shitty due to my health crap so sometimes I'm not 100% and when I'm doing things around the house like laundry or hell, sometimes even if I'm not if I'm just knitting or crocheting and I drop something I might need help because when I bend down to get something I get shooting pain and then it fucking sucks.  So I just call Jasper and boom, he picks up whatever I need.  Sometimes I don't even need to call him, he hears something hit the floor and he's there to pick it up.  He's that damn good.
   Not only does he do that but he also breaks up cat fights, he throws away trash, he takes things to my husband in a different room or brings things to me from my husband in a different room. He helps make up the bed, he alerts us to when the older dogs have to go outside to potty.  He helps put away his toys (he has tons of them too), he'll watch movies/tv with you, he'll help pick up laundry, sometimes, he'll even sing a song with you.  He's such an amazing dog.  I'm lucky and blessed to have him.   I'm not saying that my other furry babies aren't special they are, they are very special, but Jasper, Jasper goes that extra mile to make sure that his two legged Momma is feeling okay and if I'm not, he does whatever he can to make sure that he can make me better.  I'm so thankful my hubby talked me into keeping him.

A Little Here and There...

So yesterday on my lunch break, I went to visit CW and as I was waiting in line, there was the cutest frickin coffee cup:

why yes, I am still in bed, thankyouverymuch.

And I was like "OMG!" and CW was like, "I know, I was going to get you one, but didn't know if you wanted another coffee cup."  Of course I was like, "OOOOOOH YEAH!" So he was like, "Grab one, they're only $3," but I get a 10% so NYAH :)  

Then his boss was like, "I can't believe you talked her into buying a cup."
He said, "The cup sold itself."

It really did.  

So.   I have a new coffee cup.  I'm really excited about it.  It's the little things.  Also, Since I have two monthly mail subscriptions which cost a total of $20 we decided to get CW one too, this one is to Loot Crate.  It's a gamer/geek subscription, which he says is for both of us because I'm a geek :) but really, it's for him. His name is on the membership card :) I'm frickin excited about my damn birchbox and glam bag.  I can't wait for them to come in the mail.  It's like Christmas every month.  I feel like a kid.  

So aside from the flu of death I had last week, I feel a lot better this week, so that means I get to visit my nephews :)  I'm happy.  

Hispanicah/Festivus/Christmas

  As a lot of people who know me know, my parents and I started a tradition when I was about 13 years old where we open a small present a few days before Christmas.  Over the years it has evolved into a week long celebration that we have dubbed "Hispanicah." Why? Well, because we're hispanic and we thought it was fitting.  It starts the week before Christmas eve and for those 7 days we each take turns giving small gifts and having snacks and spending time together.
  I love it.  Yesterday we spent the last day of Hispanicah celebrating Christmas with my aunts, uncle, cousins and two grandmas.  We had a turkey dinner and it was amazing.  Not only that, my uncle and aunt made the most amazing posole I've ever had.  I mean... it was soooo effing amazing that I was stuffed to the point of being sick and still opted to eat another bowl because it was so effing yummy.
  I had such a great time yesterday.  I loved spending it with my family.  It was just awesome.  I got some great gifts and had a great time.
  Not only do I have my little family's wonderful tradition of Hispanicah, I now have the amazing tradition of Festivus that my wonderful friend, @atknitsend introduced me to.  It's a holiday for the creative.  I got my present from her today and it was partially open when the mailman delivered it to my door, so I figured, what the hey... and opened it to make sure everything was okay :) and I received the most amazing socks and yarn and shawlette!  I'm in love with everything!!!  I'm wearing the socks as we speak...  I'm so happy.  My heart is super smiling now.
  I love my family.  I love my friends.  I love my fur babies.  I love my honey bunny boo. I'm one lucky and blessed girl.

P.S.
If everyone could please keep my mom's dog Mayhem in your thoughts and prayers and send positive vibes our way, it would be greatly appreciated.  Please don't ask questions at this time, I don't want to talk about it, I just want to know that we have people thinking about and praying for this amazingly loving great dane/puppy/giant lap dog.

Thankful Thursday: Furry Edition

  I still have a little less than an hour left of this Thankful Thursday (it's 11:17PM here in New Mexico as I type) and although I meant to write this earlier, (life got in the way) I still would like to take a moment and just say what I am thankful for today.
   This blog is mostly dedicated to my furry babies.  You see, when I was younger all I wanted in life was to be a mom.  That seriously was the one thing I wanted, to get married and have 3-4 kids.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and have dinner ready and pack lunches, or maybe homeschool my kids... who knows... I had lots of different ideas.  Well, life doesn't always happen how we want it to or how we vision it when we are younger.  I think I wanted a big family when I was younger because I was an only child, not that I disliked being an only child, but I would have loved having someone to bond with and fight with and do all that sibling stuff with...
   So as I became older and had issues with my ovaries and now with my blood I have come to accept the fact that having a child is not in my cards.  I'm fine with that.  Really, I am.  I actually started to come to terms with this idea when I was about 19 and just knew that I would never be able to have a child.  Sometimes you get these feelings that you know are true.  This was even before my ovaries became the pain in the well, abdominal area that they are.  The blood stuff just seals the deal with any ideas I may have had of trying any attempts at whatever.
   With this knowledge, I put all my love and motherly instinct toward my furry babies.  They make me so happy and they give me so much joy.  Some people say they can't fill the void of a child, well, they must be doing something wrong because my furbabies are amazing and they must be doing something right.
   I've had Chucky for 10 years now and he's been making me smile since day one.  I remember the first night I met him, it was love.  Since then, he's been my baby.  He's my little cat-dog and I love it.  We have our little rituals that haven't really changed much in the last 10 years even with CW moving in 4 years ago.  Chucky is still king of this house and doesn't let any of the other animals forget.  :)
   Our cats make me smile.  I love when they cuddle up with us when we sleep or when we walk in the kitchen and they walk around our legs and meow at us.  Even when they shred our furniture, it's not a big deal.  The joys they bring is much bigger than the destruction they do.  I love watching them look out the windows and make chirping noises at birds or chase strings or lasers... Everything.
   Our pups... Ah yes... they are so much of a blessing as well, how can I not be thankful for them?  When I feel like shit, they all lay with me and seem to know that makes me feel better.  I love how Jasper is so protective of me and how he watches TV and is so smart.  I love how Wallo never leaves my side when I'm home.  I love how weird Patchik is and how much she loves me and will cuddle up with me all the time and seems to want only me and not CW.  I just love how these dogs look at me with such depth and make me question whether or not they were once a human who has been reincarnated or a long lost pet from the past who has come back to me.  These furry babies have my everything.  They have made my life better, they have made me better.  They have made me happy because I have them, they give me many more reasons to fight for life.  They give me reasons to smile.  For all of this, I am thankful on this Thankful Thursday.

Thankful Thursday

   Today is the first day of November and when I woke up this morning I had a lot going through my head.  Mostly, it was about how thankful I am for many things.  I guess that tends to happen around this time with Thanksgiving hanging around in the air.

   I really do have a lot to be thankful for.  First and foremost, my dad is here and he is getting better every day.  I don't know what I would have done had I lost him.  

   I have my mom who just is amazing and makes me realize how lucky I am to have her in my life.  I don't know a lot of people who have such special relationships with their moms in the fashion that I do, so I know that this is one thing to be very thankful for.

   I have the most amazing bestie a gal could ask for.  She is so loving and giving and always there for me, it makes me just so proud to have her in my life.  I love every part of her and her family.  Her boys have such a huge spot in my heart, it's ridiculous.  I love her honey and her sister and her parents... everything.  She loves me despite my flaws and never faults me for having them. That right there is friendship.

   I also have been blessed with new friendships in my lovely tweeps :) you guys all know who you are.  I love you all, you all make me feel so special and I miss you guys, can't wait till I get a better phone to communicate more.  

   Kim and Cherub have been great long distance snail mail pals.  I am so thankful for that.  XoXo

   I'm thankful for my new job and for CW's new job, I love having him working so close to me.  I'm thankful for us having two working vehicles.  

   I'm thankful for my nephews.  My new nephew, Skyler who was born in February and my older nephew Hayden, his big brother.  I'm thankful for my step-son Christian, he's growing into a fine young man.  I'm thankful for my amazing sister in law Melicia and my brother in laws, Tony and Ian.  My Ma and Pa in Law... Essentially, my family who makes me feel so happy when I'm around them.

   And of course, I'm so thankful for the most amazing husband in the world. Without him, I would be empty.  My life would not be complete, I would not smile as often as I do and I would not have a warm home, I would just live in a cold house.  Marrying my best friend was probably one of the smartest things I could have ever done.

I've re-joined the employed masses!

   So, after being out of work for almost a year, I finally got a job!  I started Monday and I love it.  However, on the shitty side I caught a crappy cold last Thursday and had to spend all weekend in bed and I still have yet to fully recover almost a week later.  I sound like Chandler Bing's dad.  SEXY.
   I go to bed at 10 every night and wake up at 5 every morning.  It's weird to be on such a schedule but I think the cold medicine helps with the passing out.  Jasper follows me around in the mornings and tries to entice me to stay home with his stuffed animals and cute face.  I know his cute ass misses me.  I miss my furry babies too, but damnit, I can't wait to have an actual paycheck!  CW and I are so broke we can barely afford to pay attention.  We're living on love :)
   My stupid cold put me out of commission for a few days so, I wasn't able to work on projects, which sucked ass.  I'm pretty much done with an order, I just need to take pictures but they come out best in natural light and today's light was overcast when I got home from work because it was rainy.  HOORAY for the rain!  Boo for the lighting :(
   So, that's why I've been so quiet on the interwebs lately, I've been recovering from deathcold and WORKING!  HUZZAH!!!  Once I get over this deathcold thing, I'm sure I'll be better at managing things, but for now all I do is rest, rest, rest when I'm home.  You all (the few who read this) are in my thoughts!

Dogs Like Treats... in ABUNDANCE

WARNING: If you haven't seen Last night's episode of True Blood or Magic Mike and you don't want "spoilers" don't read today's post.  Just letting you know in advance.  :)

   This morning on our way out the door I told our dogs "If when I get home there are NO cushions on the floor, you guys will get an ABUNDANCE of cookies. I'm serious you guys I'm tired of this shit, but I mean ABUNDANCE of COOKIES!" CW nodded his head and said, "all they heard was blahblahblah cushions blahblahblah cookies blahblahblah shit blahblahblah cookies." I said, "Not Jasper." he shrugged and said "True."  I know you may be wondering why I said this "speech" to the dogs, but they are notorious for knocking down the couch cushions and now my couches look like they belong in either a college kid's rented apartment or a crackhouse because they are completely ripped up and shitty looking because of the dogs having a rave every time we leave the house.

As we get in the car I said, "Jasper understands because he's super smart."
"Yeah, he has the vocabulary of a preschooler."
"Yeah, he's a genius."
"He's the alpha now."
"Yeah and he runs around with a 6-pack looking all greasy and manly like Alcide."
-in an over exaggerated Batman ala Christian Bale voice- "And he talks like Batman when he's all hopped up on V."
"Why you gotta hate on Alcide?"
"Why you gotta see his penis?"
"It's not like I knew they showed his penis in Magic Mike." (I'm not complaining though)

And ever since I saw Magic Mike... CW hates Alcide now from  True Blood when he used to like him.  It's not my fault that he's really tall, has curly hair and huge muscles. I'm just saying... CW has curly hair is a helluva lot taller than me and his broad ex-gymnast shoulders are totally what had me melting... I kind of have a type... what can I say?

Oh! P.S.  The dogs were good.  They got an abundance of cookies and they seriously knew the moment I opened the door what they were getting because all of their asses were waiting by the dog treat door with smiles.  :)  So maybe Jasper isn't the only genius.

Dogs, Dogs, Do- SQUIRREL!

   Okay, so I know I haven't really been funny lately (if you ever though I was semi funny) I've just been kinda writing mindlessly and quickly for that matter just to say, "hey, I'm still blogging, I'm not a total asshole."  Although, I reread my last blog and was like, WTF was that?  I know I'm pretty incoherent sometimes (I blame bipolar) but it for the most part made like no sense.  This time, I'm going to TRY to stick to making some sort of sense.
   As some people know, I've been spending a lot of time with my dad after his heart surgery because of this, I'm tired as fuck.  HOWEVER, I have been hit by the creative bug.  I have been doing a lot of stuff with graphs and crochet.  I have a shit ton of fun creating.  With this type of crochet I get to also add in another one of my favorite types of art, which is drawing.  CW gets a kick out of seeing things that I draw then crochet.  I just have fun doing it all.  I also like the whole editing as I go.  It's pretty cool to be like, "this doesn't work." erase, then problem solve... I love it.
   I also taught my mom how to make granny squares.  It's pretty cool to watch her do something other than random crochet.  I like her random designs but I also like to see her follow a bit of a pattern.  This shows her how important counting is in crochet.  She's fast too.  I love it.  She reminds me of Ofie in Waking Up in the Land of Glitter by Kathy Cano-Murillo (the speed crochet part, nothing else).  She's not making multi colored granny squares yet, but still, bad ass.
   I've missed my dogs.  I rarely get to see them except for a few hours in the evenings.  Then, they are a bit clingy.  I give them a buncha treats.  CW says they're on diets and I need to stop, "but they're babies!" I retort, "No, they're fat and old."  He says.  He's right, but I miss them and I want them to be happy.
   This morning when I came to pick CW up (I woke up early to be with my dad) Jasper was jumping at the front door trying to get to me but CW wouldn't let him and I stood back and just waiting and my heart broke a little because I wanted to hug him before I left again for another few hours, so CW opened the front door and Jasper was so happy, he made my heart smile.  I was in a good mood for the entire morning.  Not that I don't find my parents' dogs endearing, but they aren't my precious babies.
   In fact, Mischief (the name fit perfectly this morning), my parents' one year old rottie pup dug a huge frickin hole in the back yard and when I looked outside to let them back in and saw half her body in the hole, my jaw dropped.  I went outside and just sat on the bistro set for a few minutes to take it all in and she came up to me with a muddy face (it rained last night) and wiped it all over my maxi dress.  So I went back inside and put on my flip flops and the little brat had the nerve to jump on the back door.  I sighed a bit as I went back out and grabbed a shovel, she usually barks at my mom and fights with my mom whenever my mom grabs a shovel, rake, broom or any kind of yard work tool so I was worried, but I had no problems.  I'm also a little more dominating over Mischief than my mom is, so I guess I can understand why Mischief did nothing.  She did kind of lay in her hole as protest but as I threw dirt in her hole, she moved.  It took a lot of frickin dirt in the damn heat PLUS it was humid today too!  This desert rat is NOT used to humidity.  I covered the hole, stomped it down with the shovel AND my feet.  She looked at me with her big brown eyes filled with sadness and then wanted back inside.  I do NOT feel bad.
   I covered the hole because although it's not my yard, I didn't want my ma to have to deal with it after having to be at work all day.  I'm not always a complete asshole.
   So now I'm home, my furry ones are asleep.  Yes, I gave them a treat when I came in.  My Jasper lays at my feet as I type.  They say his with his breed, once they pick someone, that's the person they are devoted to for life.  I'm lucky he picked me.  Granted, I didn't even want to keep the little shit, he was SO destructive when he was a puppy, he chewed my laptop cord, our front bathroom door, our rugs, our couch, our front bathroom wall... but in the end, he was worth it and I'm glad CW talked me into keeping him.  He completes our family really well.

Spending QT with My Furry Babies

   This morning I was taking my beloved to go pick up the truck from my parents' house and before we were leaving the dogs were being so cute.  It was almost as though they were begging me not to leave.  Okay, I get it guys, I've been gone a lot.  Even my autistic dog (I'll explain) was acting super cute and loving which is completely out of character for her.
   I know it seems weird, but my dog exhibits signs of autism.  I'll write about it and how I came to this conclusion in another blog, another time later.
   I explained to the dogs that I'd be right back and true to my word, I came right back.  The house didn't look like a rave happened while I was gone all of 13 minutes either like it did on Tuesday, so that was a good thing.  I gave my furry babies treats for being good and now they are taking naps on our king size bed. Yes, it is our bed.  My beloved and I got a larger bed when our dogs couldn't fit comfortably on our full size bed with us when we added a 3rd dog to our family 3 years ago.  I don't know who does that.  Seriously.
   My parents dogs are great.  They are super effing cute and fun to hang out with, but they aren't my dogs.  My dogs listen to me, my parents' dogs don't.  Granted, I understand they are still puppy-ish, but I'm used to my dogs coming when they are called and my super psychotically smart Jasper who knows how to help make the frickin bed and throws trash in a trash can (I have witness who can vouch for these tasks).
   Besides, who wouldn't want to spend the day with these faces?

 Wallo being innocent.

Patchik being sweet.

Jasper playing with his beloved yarn barf.

   

The Ugly Bag and a Pet Bow

   Today I need something distracting.  I think I may paint.  Yesterday I sewed a bag and crocheted a pet bow.  The bag was ok.  I think it's kind of ugly because of the fabric I used.  I will tell you why I used this fabric.  For one, I was testing out this pattern.  I've never made anything like it, so I didn't want to fuck it all up and waste good fabric and two, I don't really have much "good" fabric.
  I did however finish the bag, it came out like I wanted and I was pretty proud of my ugly bag.  CW said it looks like a Little House on the Prairie bag or something because of the fabric.

I had to remove the quilt to take the pic because I thought camouflage would offset the prairieness of it.  :) AND NO, your eyes do NOT deceive you... Those are pleats on the bag.  I'm still kind of a novice seamstress, so I was a little worried about doing pleats, but they weren't too bad.  There you have it, there's my ugly bag.  

  Also, the pet bows, which I'm thinking about adding to my Etsy shop, I TRIED SO EFFING HARD to get my damn dog to take a good pic for me but she started to sit pretty and lean back and look sad and look away... and out of like 20... this was what I got... 

Yeah, she looks pretty frickin cute.  My tubby Jasper is too tubby for this size bow and Wallo, well, she started making a weird face when I put the camera on her... she was fine otherwise.

Waiting for my new circular needles!

I haven't really written much lately.  The reason for that is because I've been obsessed with trying to re-learn how to knit again.  You see, I missed knitting and after not doing it for so long, my brain was like, uh what?
   It really wasn't like hopping back on a bicycle (although I'm sure my brain would be like, uh what? on that aspect too).  I'm so used to crocheting that I had to get used to the mechanics of knitting again.  Not only that, I was trying something completely different on knitting than what I had before when I knit, circular needles.  I'd never tried them before.  See, I'm a SUPER basic knitter.  Not even knit 1 purl 1.  More like knit knit knit... I never really got past the simple learning aspect.  I'm like not even in knitting 101, more like knitting for dumbasses.  So over the last few days I've been slowly working with the cheapass circular needles I bought off ebay for like $2 (you SERIOUSLY get what you pay for) and I made a couple of beanie-ish things.  The first thing I did was really loose and my dog, Jasper saw it and just wanted it, so I gave it to him (he loves yarn toys) so after he and I had a game of tug o war with it, it's not really anything more than a headband like thing now (he ripped the top with his teefs).  HOWEVER, the second thing I made was pretty cute.  I made it with my friend in mind who is currently with child.  So since she's having a fall babeh, I thought about a pumpkin!  and created this:

Since I created that, I thought, hmmmm I wonder if I could do my boobies like this too?  So I made a boobie, but that's when my cheapie circular needles started going icky on me AFTER ONLY THREE projects.  :(  Well, I asked my beloved what he thought about me ordering a nice set of circular needles from KnitPicks (interchangeable try me set!) and he thought it was a good idea, so I used some of the lasts of our reserved birthday money and ordered em.  

   So my boobie beanie was CLOSE to what I'd want my boobies to look like, I'm almost there.  I did it in weird colors so I wouldn't waste my good boob yarn and you guessed it, Jasper saw the boobie and wanted that too... This one, he wouldn't play tug o' war with.  Weird dog.