Road trip, part II

Tomorrow my mom and I are leaving NJ and heading back to Alabama. I will be sad to leave my cousins but I do love a good road trip. We'll be back to blogging more regularly on Monday!

Tug and Chase

My cousin Carrie is so much fun. We play Tug and Chase all day!

WFT?!?!?!!

There is a TREE in the living room. As the esteemed Joseph Stains and his slightly less eminent brother Tanner Dorkelson would say, Wirehaired Fox Terrier?!?!?!?!?!

SNOW!!!

OMDOG GUYS THERE IS FLUFFY WHITE STUFF ON THE GROUND!

I am doing zoomies like crazy!

We made it!

Even though my mom wouldn't let me drive, we made fast time and arrived in New Jersey yesterday evening. The night before we stayed in a place called a hotel and it was so much fun. I want my mom to put two beds in her room at home so I can jump from one to another.

My dog cousins and I are getting along pretty well. Phoebe has stolen all my toys, but Mom says she'll get them back for me when we leave. Carrie is pretty fun, but every once in a while she has to get in my face and tell me I'm the number three dog in this house. As long as I stay number one dog at home that's fine with me. I think my cat cousin is pretty neat but he doesn't understand the zoomies.

My grandpa who I had never met before is super fun and sneaks me all sorts of tastes of peanut butter and cheese!

Road trip!

Our big road trip starts tomorrow morning, so my mom has been running around like crazy talking about lists and packing and cleaning. I helped her out with the last part by taking my toys out of that basket she must have mistakenly put them in. Anyway, she says we'll be ready to start out bright and early. I am getting excited to see my grandparents, uncle, and dog and cat cousins!

We'll be back on the blog once we reach our destination. In the meantime, be Have and get lots of treats.

Arrested!

What I'm about to tell you may be shocking. Last night, I was arrested. I had my mug shot taken:

I was charged with willful destruction of my mom's shirt. The police took 27 8x10 color glossy photos to be used as evidence:

I was framed. Framed, I say!

Mom's little helper

We still have a few more days before we leave on our trip (on Saturday) but Mom has been busy trying to get us all ready. I've been a big help. For example, I helped mom make the bed:

She is so lucky to have me.

Getting ready to hit the road

What's up, dog bloggerinis? Not a whole lot of blog-worthy excitement around here. Mom has been pretty busy getting us ready to take a big road trip for Christmas (whatever that is). She just folded up my crate and took it out to make sure it would fit in the Fit (it did, although she had to fold down half the back seat). She's also gotten about elebenty books on CD from the library for the drive. I saw that one of them is about a C-A-T that lived in a library and I'm not sure I'll let her listen to that.

This morning we went to the V-E-T so I could get my parvo shot and lots of hugs and kisses from all the nice people at the V-E-T. I know some doggies don't like to go to the V-E-T but I love to go be admired by them, especially all the cute girls who work there. The last time I had my parvo shot I was in the slammer waiting for my furever home, which made my mom a little leaky to think about.

Life is good.

Getting into the Christmas spirit

I'm not really sure what this Christmas thing is (I was in the slammer last Christmas) but I am spirited at all times. Here I am helping Mom wrap presents:

My new BFF!

OMDOG my mom's friend Mitch went to Colorado and brought back two bison bones just for ME! Mitch is my new best friend forever, well... at least my new best human friend forever.

Me? No, I know nothing about how that happened.

What? No, I have no idea how the Coke Zero got spilled all over the laptop keyboard. I was, uh... right over here when it happened. You know, you really shouldn't have had your beverage near the computer anyway. Or left the room while the bottle was open. You don't even like Coke Zero!

(Note from Mom: The blame is mine on this one. Do me a favor - if you have a laptop blogging machine, get a cover for the keyboard so this doesn't happen to you. The good news is that the hard drive of the computer is fine so I haven't lost any data, but the guts of the computer will probably need to be repaired. We have a backup blogging machine and though it is old, it turns out to be able to handle the camera just fine, so don't worry, we'll still be around while we figure out what to do about the laptop.)

Sad news

Sad news, my friends. My primary blogging machine had a bit of a mishap, so until Mom gets that sorted out I'm likely to be updating a bit less and without fresh photos. Do you suppose Santa Paws can give her a hand getting up back on the information superhighway?

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

Today (and everyday) I am thankful that I found my mom (even though she can be a turkey sometimes) and my furever home!

Today (and everyday) I am thankful for the rescue groups that help animals find their furever homes.

Today (and everyday) I am thankful that Mom found us a nice house to live in, even if it isn't on the beach and doesn't have a lake in the backyard.

Today (and everyday) I am thankful that I have wonderful friends.

Silly things moms say

So last night while my mom (the philistine) was undoing my mixed media fiber arts installation and winding the yarn back into boring ball shape (I love balls, but yarn is more fun in its non-ball form) I got a little tired. I decided to find a comfy place to rest:

When my mom came in for bed she screeched, "You're on my side of the bed!"
As if! Mom should realize that my side of the bed is wherever I happen to be the most comfortable.

My mad knitting skillz

My work is too avant garde for Mom to understand.

Sunday snapshots

More Christmas, whatever that is

Mom keeps talking about Christmas and how it's not really that far away and how she'd better get her butt in gear knitting all the presents she has planned, yadda yadda yadda. I'm wondering, "What's Christmas?" All I know is that last December I was in the slammer wondering if I'd ever find a furever home.

Anyway, Mom says that this Christmas thing will be extra fun because we're going to take a road trip to New Jersey and visit my grandparents, my Uncle Alex, and most exciting of all, my canine cousins Phoebe and Carrie! Do you think Mom will let me share the driving with her? It's a long way from Alabama to New Jersey, after all, and she's a slowpoke driver.

But before we get to go on our trip, we have a few things to take care of here. We ordered our Christmas cards yesterday, and since we didn't end up using the picture of us we got taken at the pet store, Mom says I can show it to you now:


Mom's such a Doofus, LOL!

Mom is knitting a bunch of stuff for presents and I helped her with some of the yarn. My work made her scream with delight! My work was so good she even agreed to teach me some HBO words.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, whatever that is.

Mom went out all day on Saturday and when she came home she smelled like other dogs, a cat, and even BIRDS! Where was she? Taking holiday pictures.

I was grouchy about this but then she told me that some of the animals she took pictures of don't have furever homes yet. Here are some of the ARF Kennel Crew with Santa. I bet they asked him for a furever home!

This lovely lady is Sweet Potato. Isn't it funny to see a dog wearing a cat sweater?


And speaking of cats, this fellow is named Clark.


This little guy is Rory.


Cooper is a bit of a wiggleworm.


Here are PJ and Timio. Mom met them when she took pictures at the ARFanage this summer and she can't believe how much less timid they are now.

Sunday snapshots - Zoomies edition!

The case of the transported knives

Lately, strange things have been afoot. Mom keeps finding clean knives on the sofa. How odd!

I offered my investigative services. Surveillance was established and pretty soon the culprit was caught:


Oh, dear. This is going to get me in a bit of trouble.

Is this weird?

Hey dog bloggerinis,

My mom and I have a question for you. I have a habit of going up to my mom and putting my very front teeth next to her arm and nibbling - think of how Tom Hanks ate the baby corn in Big. I think this is a totally endearing and adorable trait, but Mom says it's annoying. Do any of you do anything similar?

Lazy Mom

Mom has been neglecting me. She spends all her time watching THIS:
Video clips at Ustream
and knitting THESE.

OK, I have to admit those puppies are pretty cute, and Mom says the hats are for something called Christmas, and that for Christmas we are going to take a ROAD TRIP to NJ where I can see my grandparents, my uncle, and my COUSINS Phoebe and Carrie. So I guess I'll let her slide, for now.

Yipes!

Yipes! Sorry for that unscheduled blogging hiatus. It was caused by a combination of busy-ness and lazyness (on the part of my secretary).

This morning, Mom and I went to get our Christmas picture taken. We got one taken without Santa because he was on a break and it was the only way we would get out of there in time for Mom to get to work (yes, on a Sunday). I thought it was pretty exciting and on the way out of the store tried my hardest to knock over a table of cookies and punch. Mom was so embarrassed.

We don't have the picture yet but we hope we can use it for our Christmas card. I'm sure I look very handsome but there's no telling about Mom. She's really good at making Doofus-faces when a camera is around.

A Mini Tour

I've really enjoyed the neighborhood tours that Big Pupi and Sophie Brador have done recently, so this afternoon I convinced Mom that we should do a tour. The area right around our house isn't very exciting (it looks like a subdivision) so I suggested that we go over to campus so I could show you some of my favorite spots. We did this... but there was a speck of dust on the lens of the camera and most of the photos have a big blotch on them. So here's a MINI tour.

This is me greeting the University of South Alabama mascot, the jaguar.

There is this handsome jaguar statue, and two mascots that come to sporting and other special events: Southpaw and Miss Pawla. (They used to have a real jaguar but she retired to a wildlife preserve after someone forgot to lock her cage after cleaning and she got out.)

Last year Southpaw won a best mascot contest conducted during March Madness by the Chicago Tribune, probably due to mass voting spurred on by daily email reminders from the public relations office. Unfortunately, the Jaguar basketball team didn't make it past the first round, which totally screwed my Mom's bracket. LOL.

Here I am on the steps of Alumni Hall:

This picture is just here because I am so handsome, don't you think?

This is the sign in front of the building my Mom works in.

The building is actually called the University Library, because there are several other libraries on campus, but they still have this dumb sign that reminds Mom of John Belushi's sweatshirt in Animal House.

Well, that's not much of a tour so please accept a raincheck. I'll remind Mom to clean the camera lens next time. What a doofus!

Happy Howloween!

Hi guys! Happy Howloween! How do you like my costume?

What do you mean, "What costume?"

I can't believe you don't recognize me.

I am none other than the famous SOPHIE BRADOR!

Make up your mind, Mom!

I was doing zoomies around the house earlier and Mom told me to calm down, so I went to sleep on my sofa:

And then Mom comes along and sticks a camera in my face!

Sheesh! Didn't you just tell me to calm down?
I think I handled the situation with aplomb:

7 Things

7 Things I Plan to Do Before I Die:

1. See snow
2. Ride in a motorcycle sidecar
3. Go kayaking with Mom
4. Get my own computer
5. Become the Jaguar spirit dog and dance with the Prowlers at halftime
6. Watch a baseball game at Fenway Park (from Section K-9)
7. Get mom to put an ocean in the backyard so I can swim everyday

7 Things I Do Now:

1. Sleep
2. Play
3. Dance
4. Blog
5. Chew
6. Help Mom cook
7. Help Mom knit

7 Things I Can't Do:

1. Drive
2. Open the fridge
3. Order my own pizza
4. Reproduce
5. Eat pork or corn
6. Open the peanut butter jar
7. Drink beer

7 Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex:

1. I
2. LOVE
3. EVERYONE
4. !
5. !
6. !
7. !

7 Things I Say Most Often:

1. OHHAI!
2. Play?
3. Play!
4. Treat?
5. Treat!
6. Yawn!
7. ILOVEYOU!

7 Celebrities I Admire:

1. Josh Beckett
2. Sophie Brador
3. Big Pupi
4. Jon Stewart
5. Michael Phelps
6. Kermit the Frog
7. Tina Fey

Hey Mom!

How about you stop hogging the blogging machine?!?

Halloween Decorations

The lovely Ruby suggested that we post some pictures of our Halloween decorations. Well, Mom and I have been working on some Halloween crafts.

Here is our front door. It has ghost garlands on it! We made them from freezer paper the way you would make paper dolls. Mom got the idea from this blog, where you can find instructions and templates.



We don't have our pumpkin yet, but once we get it, we'll put it on the doorstep along with some ghost votives:



These were made with tissue paper, construction paper, ModPodge, and empty jars. Again, this idea is from Skip to My Lou.

What do you think, should we use one of these carving templates when we get our pumpkin? What could be more scary? (Mom's afraid that her pumpkin might get smashed.)

A solution to the economic crisis

While catching up on my reading today I came across this video in which Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones propose a solution to the current economic crisis. Please take a minute and watch it:

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

What I want to know is, are big puppies also part of the solution? If so, where should I go to get my smoochies on with Ms. Portman?

Action shots

Sometimes my mom has to work weekends, because that's often when students need help at the library. Since she worked Saturday, she gets to spend today at home with me. I think it works out pretty well.

The weather here has actually started to feel a bit like fall. It's been sunny but much cooler - today's high temperature is expected to be 75F. Since it's so nice out we've been doing a lot of playing in the backyard and Mom took some pictures. Since she had to throw the toys and take the pictures they are a little blurrier than she would like, but I think they show my blazing speed!









I'm not very good about giving my toy BACK to Mom after I retrieve it, so she alternates between my frisbee and my rope ball.

It's nice to relax with a chew bone after a round of play:


I hope you are enjoying nice weather too!

Sunday snapshot

Helping Mom cook. I sure hope I get some of that tomato sauce!

Topsy turvy

Whoops! I got myself in trouble again.

See, when my mom is at work I chillax in my crate. When my mom leaves in the morning and at lunch time, I usually get something in my Kong to play with in my crate. So after lunch today my mom leaned into my crate to pick up my Kong, and, well...

I PUSHED HER INTO THE CRATE.

Her butt was right there in front of me. I only meant to sniff it, I swear! How was I to know she had such poor balance and would go toppling right over into my crate?! OMDOG IT WAS SO FUNNY! Mom was in my crate! I was tempted to close the door on her, but figured I was in enough trouble already.

Misbehavin',

Beckett

Buzzkill

I was excited to share all the new words I learned during last night's baseball game, but my mom said if I repeated any of them I would get my mouth washed out with soap.

So here is a picture of me inspecting my mom's knitting:

I got skillz!

My mom has this annoying habit of putting all my toys in a basket. Seriously, Mom? Toys don't belong in a basket, that's just silly.

Toys belong in a place of honor, like the bed:


Aren't I a helpful boy?

I also help put away groceries:


I garden:


and I cook:


Mom is so lucky to have me.

I want a trampoline!

Mom, can I have a trampoline? Pleeeeeeeeaaaasssseee????

Sunday Snapshot

A conversation with Beckett

How was your day?


Oh, really?


They didn't!


That's good, then.


I agree.