Goldstock Bound!

Well, we almost have the car packed. The boys are ready for a fun-filled weekend at Goldstock!!! Thanks to a lot of friends, Travis has already raised $373 for his campaign for Sweetest Boy!

I will be entering Travis in the Olympics. I think he is going to medal in either Dock Diving or Righteous Retriever since jumping and running are his best traits.

I will be sure to get a full pictorial update up as soon as I can when I get home. I am still on dial up. Comcast is being installed on Tuesday.

Happy Labor Day everyone and THANK YOU to everyone who $Voted$ for Travis!

What to do.....

You are playing with your ball and lovingly carrying it around in your mouth. You are really thirsty. You don't want to put your ball down to take a drink. Oh, what to do......

Well, I'll tell you what Travis does, he drops the ball into his water bowl, drinks and then removes the ball, with water running out of it all over the place. It's funny to see him bobbing for the ball when the dish is realy full!

Hellions Photo Shoot

On Monday, I headed into the 'Burgh for a photo shoot with my team. The league is putting together a calendar and each team was assigned two months. The Hellions got March, since we are green and one other fall month. We planned to meet on 32nd Street in the Strip District.

The site was really cool. It was under a railroad bridge along the river. We used part of the structure, which was rusted with peeling paint. The sky that evening was gorgeous. I took some candids during the shoot. I can't wait to see the outcome!!!

Computer Issues

Well, I am having them once again! Back in December, all of a sudden, my DSL quit working. My ISP was able to ping my modem and everything looked fine, but I couldn't pull anything up. So they sent me a new modem. Still nothing. My ISP sent a technician. Nothing. So finally Windstream sent a tech. She couldn't get it to work either, iniatially. I then heard her on the phone. She then came out of my office and was all "It works" like it was working all this time. I am not stupid. I know she had someone fix something on their end when she called.

Fast forward to last Tuesday, it quit again. Same story. Same bullshit. Finally on Saturday, I was able to connect, however the DSL connection is SLOW, slower than dial up AND, I can't pull up 65% of websites. Sites like yahoo, google, paypal, ebay, mapques, hotmail, all the big ones, I can't pull up. I have to dial up to do that. I am on dial up now, because that is the only way to post to my blog.

I have decided, that after over ten years, I am leaving my ISP and telling Windstream to suck the big one. I only kept a phone line to keep my ISP. Well, after going a week with no call back. Then staying home all day, yesterday, waiting for them to call back, like they promised twice, I am finished.

I know it's the lesser of two evils, but we are going to go with Comcast. In my area, those are the two choices. It sucks that I will have a new email address after all this time and I have to work on moving my websites. It will be worth it in the long run. Some businesses just don't appreciate loyal customers. After awhile, it is no longer loyalty, it's downight abuse.

I hope to be posting regularly soon!

The End of the Doughnut

Tomorrow morning, Travis gets his stitches out of his nether region. The ones in his eyelid, are self-dissolving. So, as of tomorrow, he will no longer have to wear his Soft Collar, which we've lovingly named "The Doughnut".

Travis didn't seem to mind wearing The Doughnut. He figured out how to take it off. When I wasn't at home to supervise him, to ensure that he wasn't chewing his stitches, I would put it on. As soon as I would get home, he would promptly take it off and carry it around in his mouth. He's a smart little stinker!

I think I may just put it on him every now and then, just for shits and giggles. He looks like a little camouflage flower!!

Postcards From the Edge!

I will admit, I am horrible about getting the mail at the salon. It's not like it's a hard task, I just hate going to the mailbox. Usually, when I walk out there I get honked at by truckers or hooted at by passersby. I guess they don't get to see much on Route 66. So, I usually resort to getting my mail about once a month.

I got the mail this weekend and was pleasantly surprised to see a postcard from Otto, aka Ref-Holio. He was in Lincoln, NE for his wife, Lisa's, figure roller skating national competition and visited the National Museum of Roller Skating. They apparently had a whole section on Roller Derby. The postcard features legend, Ann Cavello and Betty Boyd battling it out in 1950. It's funny to see them skating without helmets and elbow pads.

Recently, Mr. Bruises and I were talking and I told him when I retire from derby, I want to become a ref. Mr. Bruises then said that his favorite ref is Ref-Holio, because of his name. I will admit, I didn't totally get the name, probably because I wasn't a Bevis and Butthead fan. Mr. Bruises quickly educated me in all things Bevis and Butthead including "Corn-Holio" which is where Otto got his name. NOW, I totally understand the shirt up over his head and him throwing toilet paper all around!!!

I've said it before and will say it again, everyone needs an Otto in their life!! Thanks Otto!

Thank heavens for the Neti Pot!

I've been battling a sinus headache for days. I finally broke out the Neti Pot this morning and thank goodness I did. Relief was felt almost instantly.

This little magic lantern, looking thing, is the best thing since sliced bread! I found out about this little gem from my BFF Gail in Montana.

You fill it up with lukewarm water and add a saline packet to it. You then put the spout in one nostril, lean your head to the side and tilt it forward. The water will run into your nostril and come out the other nostril. The stuff that it brings out with is is just nasty. You then blow your nose and do the same with the other nostril.

Thank you Gail and thank you Neti Pot!!!

Vote for Travis!!

Travis will be attending Goldstock Labor Day weekend. He is running for Sweetest Boy. Votes are dead presidents! I plan to go into Goldstock with his Voting Can stuffed!!! Travis' votes will be going to Golden Friends Rescue Fund, which is the fund that was started due to his rescue.

TRAVIS' STORY

Travis was found on an Amish farm at 10 weeks of age being housed in a guinea pig cage. His eight siblings didn't survive, his mama didn't produce enough milk. An angel by the name of Pam Patton, a fellow member of the Golden Friends Forum found him. She informed all the forum members and we quickly raised the $300 that the farmer wanted for the puppy.

Nick and I decided to adopt Travis and reimbursed the Forum for his cost. It was then that the Golden Friends Rescue Fund was formed so that we didn't have to scramble for funds whenever we found another dog in need.

Please help Travis earn the honor of Sweetest Boy! In turn, you will be helping other Golden Retrievers like Travis!

Vote for Travis here and get a FREE "BUTT"on!

The soft collar finally came!

A week before Travis' surgery, I ordered him a soft collar so that he wouldn't have to wear an Elizabethan Collar (cone). With him having eye surgery and getting neutered, I needed to not only keep him from licking his stitches but also keep him from pawing at his eye.

Well, four days AFTER surgery and 11 days AFTER ordering, it finally came in the mail. Since he had destroyed the foam one I made for him, I left him collarless on Friday only to find his stitches red from licking when I got home. I was happy to finally see the soft collar as well.

This is a great product! It does everything I needed it to do. It is also very sturdy and pretty much Travis destructible proof! I would recommend, however, if anyone is going to purchase one of these to go with a distributor instead of ordering directly. This company was slow to ship and did not return my four phone calls and two emails. VERY poor customer service, in my opinion.

Riley shows what he thinks of Travis getting all this attention!!

Travis is progressing

Travis is healing quite nicely. Yesterday, was my first day back to work. I was concerned about Travis getting riled up during the day and wrestling with Riley or jumping on the bed. So I decided to segregate the house and them.

The plan was to have the baby gate separate the house, letting Riley enjoy the back part since he loves to sleep on the bed and put Travis in the front, where there wasn't much for him to get into trouble with. So, I got the baby gate in place, dogs are segregated and nosing each other over the gate. I go to change my clothes and when I turned around, Travis was behind me. HE JUMPED THE GATE with his stitches! Holy crap!

I took the gate down and told them to behave themselves while I was at work and closed the bedroom doors so he couldn't jump on the beds. I am telling you, this dog is going to medal in dock diving at Goldstock. He jumped that gate without a running start with stitches where his goodies used to be. I've been checking the area constantly, it looks fine. I was so worried that he would rip something or pull stitches loose. STINKER!!!

I finally feel I can post a photo here. I just wished I would have taken the photo this morning BEFORE I put his eye salve on. The salve always makes it look so yucky, but it makes it feel better for him. It's healing nice. All the crusty stuff and old blood is finally cleaned off. The stitches look nice. The hemotoma is still there, going down slowly. But all in all, I think he looks great for three days after surgery.

Don't you just LOVE his Golden Spirit??!?

The patient is resting comfortably.

Travis got neutered and had his eye surgery on Monday. His left, lower eye lid curled in, causing the little eyelash hairs to rub on his eye. They had to cut the extra skin off and do a tuck to pull the skin tight so that the eyelid would lay flat like it should.

I was warned before I picked him up that it was worse than the originally thought and that he was pretty swollen. He also developed a large hematoma on the lid, so he was pretty rough looking. I was told to put cold compresses on the eye to help reduce the swelling and that it would look better in a couple of days.

I won't post a photo of him here yet, it's too graphic. I am posting, however, a great photo of him resting with his compress on. I just feel so bad when I look at him. I know it's going to give him more comfort in the long run, but it just sucks to see him like this!

Signs

On our way to the Flea Market in Ohio Sunday, we spied this Adult establishment. We then saw the sign next door in protest to said establishment. We made a mental note to stop on the way home for photos.

Notice that the store totally welcomes tractor trailer drivers. They even have a special entrance for them as well as parking accommodations.

Glitter Toes for Golden Retrievers Fundraiser!

Glitter Toes to help Golden Retrievers!!

One day only! Monday, August 18, just in time for BACK TO SCHOOL!!

Travis will be attending Goldstock this year, which is a huge fundraiser for Golden Retriever Rescue and he will be running for Sweetest Boy. You vote with dollars. I would like to go into the event with his voting can totally stuffed, which I am allowed to do!

Get our famous Glitter Toes for the awesome price of

$30 (That's a $5 discount)

Every penny of this goes into Travis' vote box!

The Purple Pinkie is not normally open on Mondays, however, I will be providing my services for this exclusive event that day!

To book your time slot, please email me at rsk@arm-tek.net

The Purple Pinkie will gladly take your check or cash. Sorry, but we don't accept credit or debit cards.

Here's the deal on Glitter Toes:

• Pure glitter encased between two layers of gel.
  
• Glitter Toes will last 4-6 weeks depending on how rough you are on your toes.
  
• They need to be filed to shorten, don't cut them!
  
• We have over 30 colors to choose from!

The Purple Pinkie
345 Main Street
Ford City, PA 16226
www.arm-tek.net/~rsk/page21.html

All things PURPLE!

In Rhonda's world, everything is purple. I live in a purple house. I wear purple all the time. I wear purple sunglasses. I skate on purple skates and wear a purple helmet. I own a salon called The Purple Pinkie.

I about flipped out when I saw purple peppers this weekend!!! I have no clue how they grew them purple, but can I just say how awesome I think that is? Now I want purple bananas and beans!

The Dolls Rock the Crashbah!

Congratulations to The Wrecking Dolls, they defeated The Slumber Party Slashers last night and earned themselves a spot in the Championship. The Battle Royale will be held on September 20 and The Dolls will take on The Bitch Doctors for the second league title.

I really felt that Scary Schiavo and Tower of Terror (Pictured hugging Madame Abagael) played an awesome game. I found myself continually yelling their name, reacting to their play.

Congratulations to the rookies, who played their first bout. Auntie Establishment, Iron City Pounder, Mission Impassable and Oxy Cotton Candy for the Dolls and Paula Maul-U and Shocker for the Slashers. Those sitting on the Dolls side were treated to bags of cotton candy, in honor of Oxy's debut. She not only jammed for the Dolls, but she performed the National Anthem with her sister, playing the violin and viola.

Be sure to catch the Championship!

Photo courtesy of Cameo Steph

I'm gonna miss these days!

It's starting to feel cooler in the mornings and evening now. I hate to admit it, but fall is nipping on our heels. I haven't even begun to enjoy my summer yet, so I am sad to see fall come.

The other morning, as I was on potty duty with the boys, I saw this beautiful spiderweb that was sparkling with morning dew. I was lucky enough to get a good shot of it!

Summer, I am going to miss you!

Mr. Bruises is expecting!

Mr. Bruises has an uncanny knack for doing things he shouldn't. He likes to go down the up lanes in parking lots, stuff like that. So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when we pulled into a Rite Aid that he said "And, YES I am parking here". It was at that point I saw the sign. So, I made him pose so that all the preggo women of the world will see his face and take out their hormonal frustrations on him when they see him!
Oh, and he is due in December!

Kennywood and large women!

Can I tell you how funny it is that someone found my blog by googling "will Kennywood rides fit large women". I totally laughed out loud at that. Nothing like taking a whole blog and coming up with that conclusion! So, what did I do, I went to google and did it for myself. My blog is the third listing!! Way too funny!!

Travis goes to PetSmart!

Well, night three of Mission: Crateless Travis was a smashing success! Mr. Bruises was home and came to bed last. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night and thought that he must have put Travis in his crate since there wasn't a dog in bed with us. Riley was laying in his bed beside me. Well, at 6, I got licked on the nose! It' was Travis.

He managed to go back to sleep until 7:30. No accidents! WHOO HOOO! He's such a big boy. As a reward, I decided to take him to PetSmart since I wanted to look for a padded, fabric Elizabethan collar for his surgery.

He was so excited when we pulled in. I think he remembered coming to class here. He was so excited to smell everything and he started perusing the toy aisle. We picked out a toy for Riley, then one for Travis. We then went and got another Easy Walk Harness since Travis was wearing Riley's and they would both need them for their trip to Goldstock. We picked up a few other odds and ends.

While shopping, we encountered some customers. Travis jumped on two kids, ignoring my scolding. He tried to do the same on some other people. I worked with him some more and he finally remembered his training that we don't jump!
As we were waiting in line to check out, Travis was sitting and being so good, who came around the corner, but Miss Lisa!!!! I was hoping to run into her so that she could see how much Travis had grown. He of course snagged some treats from her.

We then completed our trip by going through the Starbuck's drive thru and Travis got a Puppy Latte (Whipped cream in a Starbuck's Dixie cup with a dog biscuit in it).

I'm gonna eat your face!

Couldn't you just eat this face??!? This is Matthew, the second child of my BFF Sue With the Big Boobs. I got to spend some time with him this weekend at my other BFF's wedding picnic.

Now, I am the first to admit that I am allergic to children, but this little guy is hard to resist. Well, I guess I should say that I am allergic to most children, you know the majority of which are let to run loose everywhere, including nail salons. I do, however, have a fondness for the well-behaved cuties that actually have good parenting now a days.

Anyway, I didn't bite him. I did, however, gag like crazy when he spit up!

I'm a BIG boy now!

Last night was attempt two at Mission Crateless Travis. The first attempt was disastrous as Travis tried to get Mr. Bruises to play ball with him at 2 and 3 am. Mr. Bruises does NOT have a sense of humor in the middle of the night and is downright crabby.

Needless to say, Travis was put in his crate. He got a taste of freedom, though, so for the first time, he protested being in his crate. He barked and barked until Mr. Bruises got up and slammed the bedroom door closed. Did I mention that not only is he crabby that he has no patience?

So, Mr. Bruises was away last night and I attempted Mission Crateless Travis again and I would say that "I" had success! See I am not crabby and I have patience. When he attempted to play ball at 4 am this morning, I told him to go back to sleep and he listened. Then at 6 he was ready to get up and I told him that we get up at 7. I am pleased to say that he had no accidents either.

Now, with Mr. Bruises coming home tonight, we will see if we can do this again. I guess it's not Mr. Bruises tossing and turning and getting up three times in the night to pee that is getting Travis all confused, huh?

Travis goes to the vet today for his physical before his neutering and eye tuck. He has a condition where his one eyelid curls in toward the eyeball. I am going to have them try to do both at the same time. I am hoping to get this all done and have him healed before our trip to Goldstock this year!

All in all, Travis is growing up and becoming a big boy. He does have a long way to go before he is at Riley's level. Riley is the PERFECT dog!!!!!!! Riley is doing some great work with his little brother!

Another year!

I am now officially serving year 16 of a life sentence! Seriously, Happy Anniversary, Mr. Bruises! Look at us making out in the back of our "Bitchin' Camero!"