Travis has given up his water bottle for a much larger iced tea bottle. Actually, I gave both boys a bottle, but Travis just have to have it all, so he took Riley's bottle too. Watch as he tries to get BOTH bottles in his mouth at one time!
So, if you are SNOW over it. If you are sick of your kids being home all week. If you want to stab everyone with an icicle. Then you are most likely experiencing your second snow storm in five days. I swear, the only ones enjoying all of this snow are my dogs. Watch this video and it will warm your cold, pissed-off, sick of all of this snow, heart!
Final measurement at 8:30 am on Saturday was 25 1/4 inches. Holy Bejesus!
Well, I've been doing so good this year. Usually my blahs come about three to four weeks before Christmas and climax with the holiday. This year, they didn't come. I blamed it on the unseasonably warm weather. Cold, snowy weather always makes me cranky, especially when I have static in my hair and my skin feels like it will itch itself off of my body.
Well, my blahs set in last night. Last night was the most joyless Christmas Eve I've ever had. It started out good. Riley went to work with me and we sold gift certificates. BFF Jill stopped and we swapped gifts. I got a Letang bobble head, Racing Nuns and a purple Snuggie. All three of those gifts made me smile and laugh in some way. Riley and I then headed to Kibuk Cycle Sales to see Mr. Bruises and crew and participate in their holiday party for the staff and customers. Everyone was jolly there as well.
Then came the downslide, I headed to the nursing home to visit my mom. We went to her room with her gifts and her name was no longer on the door. Her bed was empty. An aid saw my confusion and told me that they moved her. No explanation why. She proceeds to take me to a whole other unit and I find where my mom is. I walk in and she's having a breathing treatment and she doesn't look good. She seems confused when I ask her if she wants presents. She says no. I ask why and she says because she has nothing to give me. I explain that that is okay and we would really like to give her some presents.
I start to ask her when and why she moved. She said she moved about a week ago, while I was returning from vacation and in the midst of non-stop work for the Snowball and the holiday. I asked why and she said it was because she has an infected finger. She holds it up and it is disgusting. It wasn't even wrapped. I don't know if she has MRSA or what and no one could seem to tell me. It was Christmas Eve so I am going to look for answers on Monday.
First, I want to know why the hell no one told me that they moved her. I mean I am not only her only child, I am her POA for everything. Second, why the hell did no one inform me of her infected finger. I mean really, they call me when they change a dosage on one of her meds, which I could really give two shits about and something important like a move because of an infected finger, I get no call. Needless to say, I am pissed. Then, I get all depressed seeing my mom like that. Even worse than normal. That's when all the blahs hit me all at once.
We had a nice visit and Riley seemed to enjoy seeing her as much as she enjoyed seeing him. She opened her gifts, I got her two outfits, a new fleece blanket for dialysis and a big tin, filled with her favorite candy. Normally, she would have dug right into that candy. She smiled and thanked me and set it beside her bed.
We headed home after that and I started to immediately make the pie, dessert and cole slaw for dinner the next day. Mr. Bruises insists on having a full Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas. Why? Because his mother always did that. You know what? Nancy HATED doing that second dinner. How do I know? Because I was the one that always cooked with her. We both hated doing all that work again. Me especially since I just work my ass off non stop for weeks. So, last year I put my foot down and told him if he wanted it, he will cook it. Well that was a disaster last year. Looks like I will be doing most of the work this year as well.
All I wanted to do last night was eat a little, drink a little, watch The Hangover and play Rock Band. I sat alone until 10, when Tammy came down. Mr. Bruises came home from church about 30 minutes later. I am Catholic. I don't go to church, long story for another post. I have a big problem with people who go to church once a year and Mr. Bruises and his dad fall into that category. I take that back, they go twice a year. Christmas and Easter.
So we did get to watch the movie and it was awesome. I went to bed right after that. I was just physically and emotionally exhausted.
I know that I really should be happy with the things that I have, but sometimes it is just so hard to get past the things I no longer have and Christmas really brings it all back.
Merry Christmas everyone. Hug your loved ones and keep them close.
I swear that the boys have switched bodies on me ala Freaky Friday. Travis, my little naughty boy has suddenly become an angel and Riley, my angel has suddenly become my naughty boy. Look at this photo! Riley is on the couch! You see Mr. Bruises did a lot to stop him, he's laying right there with him. Neither boys are allowed on the furniture.
Monday, when I took Riley to the vet, as we pulled into the parking lot, he started howling like a hound dog. I am talking it sounded like I had slammed his tail in the door and driven the 10 minutes to the vet with it still in the door. I blame this all on Mr. Bruises' parents dog, a beagle-basset hound mix, who went to the bridge a few years ago. Stormy had the most God awful bark and Riley learned it. It is quite embarrassing when he does it because you usually don't hear a sound like that coming from a Golden Retriever. He usually does it at home when he knows my father in law has come home. NOW, he is doing it in public!
Yesterday, I took the boys to get groomed. When I went to pick them up, the groomer told me that she noticed a huge difference in Travis this time, that he wasn't as excitable and jumpy. She said he jumped right up on the table and she didn't even have to use the head harness, he just stood there and let her groom him. I asked how Riley did, since the last time he got a little snippy when it came to the nail clipping. She said, wait for it.......wait for it......wait for it.......HE GAVE HER A BLOODY NOSE! OMG! my angel started thrashing when it was nail clipping time and she head butted her and gave her a bloody nose! Never in my life would I ever think that my precious Riley would draw blood on someone.
I don't know what these two did, but I want it to stop. I want my boys back. I want my angel Riley and I want my mischievous little naught boy Travis. Now I just have to figure out how to switch them back and quickly. They are going to Aunt Tammy's house for "vacation" in T minus twenty four hours!
Well, I've gotten all of the Christmas presents that I bought, wrapped. It's no surprise that Riley and Travis have the most presents. They were the first presents bought too. I guess I am not finished shopping, I totally didn't get Kallie, Chip or Jeffrey anything. Shhhh don't tell them, they will never know!
How about this for a photo? Travis looks possessed.
Now that Travis has hit the two year mark, he has settled down quite a bit. Now, I am not saying that he is an angel, because he's not. He's still the same mischievous little boy, just on a smaller scale now.
Riley, on the other hand is still the angel. He's trained so well and is just so good, he's had seven years to perfect his awesomeness!
I always seem to get the best photos of Riley. I just seem to have a knack for taking photos of him with his tongue out. Last night, I got this awesome shot of Riley. He was on the bed and in mid kiss. His tongue always looks so freakishly long.
I've been saying for some time now, that I was going to sleep with a camera under my pillow so that I can prove what an utter bed hog Travis is. Well last night, I finally did it.
Each night when we go to bed, Riley lays at the bottom of our queen sized bed. Travis then comes up and when he is told "Off", he just pulls dead weight and plops down between Mr. Bruises and I. He won't leave.
Eventually Riley gets warm and moves to his bed on the floor. Travis then moves to the bottom of the bed. Through the night, he gets very comfy. He literally stretches as much as he can. Usually, he ends up horizontal, to our vertical.
As these photos prove, he's very comfy. Remember that Mr. Bruises is to the left and I am to the right.
This photo shows how he has clearly shoved me pretty much off of the bed. My lower legs and feet aren't even on the bed.
I think we need a bigger bed, but I was told that even if we did get one, nothing will change, there will just be more open space in the middle.
Last night, Mr. Bruises and I were watching the news. Travis was in the living room with us and we realized that Riley was missing. I went back to our bedroom and this is what I found, Riley and Kallie already tucked in bed snoozing.
I guess they were going to bed early so that they could secure their spots in the bed. As you can see, we have a queen sized bed. With two 70 plus pound goldens, a cat and two humans, our bed is ridiculously small!
We've considered getting a king or California king for awhile now. The problem with that idea is that we would have to eliminate a piece of furniture. We don't have a lot of closet space as it is, so the two dressers that we have are needed. I guess we could just have the bed up against the wall, however I like to be able to walk around the bed, it makes changing the linens easier.
I have two, really expensive, therapeutic doggie beds on the floor and a kitty bed on our head board that are going unused. I really think that these animals think that this is "their" bed and they let us sleep with them!
Fall is upon us. It is a beautiful time of year, yet it means winter is coming. I hate winter with a passion. I want to live in CA and Mr. Bruises wants to live in FL. We compromise and stay here in PA. Some compromise.
Since both of our fathers spent Father's Day with other people's children, Mr. Bruises and I decided to spend it together with our boys. Travis and I took Mr. Bruises and Riley to his new swimming hole that we found. We had an awesome time.
Travis had a great time, fetching ball after ball! I swear that dog never tires!
Riley, who is famous for being one of the only golden retrievers that I know that doesn't like water actually got in the creek on his own. I think he was inspired by Travis. Riley only went in until the water touched 
his belly.
We did manage to hold Travis and let Riley fetch a ball or two.
What a wonderful afternoon it was for all of us. We are going to try to do it on a regular basis!
BFF Jill and I took Travis on a hike in Crooked Creek park this weekend. We found a really great, private swimming hole for Travis. Travis had a ball! He would have swam all day if I would have let him.
Travis is my outdoors dog. He listens really well. I was able to have him off leash on the trail. Riley, on the other hand, hates the outdoors. He stayed home in bed, in the air conditioning and didn't really seem to mind that Travis was getting an outing.
When we got home, I gave Travis a bath, in the yard, with the garden hose. He just stood there and let me do it. Riley runs when he sees the hose. Later, Travis was still a little wet and he let me blow dry his fur. Again, Riley would have run for the hills.
Riley and Travis are such different dogs. I love it. I have the best of both worlds!
After I got home from derby practice last night, we had a little birthday party for Riley. I stopped and got a very small yellow cake. After we sang to him and helped him blow his candle out, I cut the cake into four and Mr. Bruises, both dogs and I each had a piece. Travis ate his in one bite, never even chewing it. Riley wasn't much better, I think he chewed once.
Riley got a stuffed zebra for his birthday. Please don't feel bad for Travis. Even though he looks devastated in this photo, he got his own toy, even though it wasn't his birthday. In true Travis fashion, within 10 minutes, he had BOTH toys and was hogging them.
I am a big fan of birthdays! I always have been. Mr. Bruises, however, has put the kabosh to that for me, though, when it comes to Riley. Today is Riley's seventh birthday. That puts him at 49 in people years. He is officially older than us.
You know, Mr. Bruises has a point. After a certain point, it's no longer fun to celebrate a beloved pets birthday. It's just one year closer to heart break. I can't imagine the day we no longer have this wonderful, golden creature in our lives.
But wait! Now our sorry-ass moods have gotten the pretty boy down! Enough of that! It's time to put on our dancing shoes and celebrate with a hamburger birthday cake with mashed potato icing! It's time to celebrate life, not pending death!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday, Rye Pie!
Sunday, I get a call from Mr. Bruises, he is at the motocross track, saying that he crashed and was heading to the hospital just to get checked out. It seems as though he was going over a little jump, trying to go around someone and when he crested the top of the jump, his bike jumped out of gear. He went down and his arm was pushed into his side and he fractured two ribs. The bike, doesn't have a scratch.
Mr. Bruises is 44 years old. He's been riding since he could walk. This is his FIRST crash ever with any type of injury. I remember when I first met him, he has a couple of scars on his face and I was all impressed that they were race injuries. Later I found out that he is just clumsy and that they were all caused by tripping over a fan in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.
Well, he is in a lot of pain. I can totally sympathize. However, he is a total bugger, fighting me on everything to do with his recovery. Trying to say I am overdosing him by giving him two pain pills when the prescription says one to two every four hours. He won't eat, but he has to eat to take his Motrin. Then he complains because he has an upset stomach. Well, if you ate, you wouldn't have the upset stomach. Then he says he don't want to eat because he is just sitting, doing nothing and can't burn it off. WTF? I am certain that this boy was a woman in a former life. He worries about his weight more than anyone I know.
The goldens have totally dumped me for him. He's been sleeping in the Lay-Z-Boy, so I get the bed all to myself. Literally. I wake up in the morning and I am alone. Everyone is with him, even the cat. Geez.
The other night, I offered to make the ultimate wifely sacrifice. I offered to wipe his butt. Those of you knowing me and my gag reflex will appreciate this selfless gesture. Luckily, he was able to take care of that business on his own.
I don't know how long he is going to be out of commission, but I finally feel comfortable going to work and leaving him alone. They say three weeks of bad pain and six weeks to heal.
Now as for these goldies. Don't they realize that I not only purchase their kibble, but I hand it out as well. I better be getting me some snuggles or they will be on a hunger strike with their father!
Hi everyone! It's Riley, guest blogging today. I got to do something today, I've never done before, something that Mom has been talking about doing for years! I got to go to work with her today! See, today was Take Your Child to Work Day. Since Mom doesn't have two legged kids, and since the newspaper made a big deal about her having four legged kids, she decided she should take me to work with her instead!
She was real sneaky about it too. I was in my normal position, laying in the bathroom doorway, pouting, while she was getting ready for work. When it was time for Travis and I to go potty for the last time before she left for work, I noticed that I smelled peanut butter when I came back in. I was a little miffed when I realized that Travis was getting a Kong with peanut butter in it. I was about to pout some more, when Mom opened the door, leading to the basement. Oh boy! I was getting to go in the car without Travis!
Mom gave me an official tour of the salon when we arrived. I then went to work being the official greeter for the day. Boy, word got around fast that I was at the salon. Ford City is a small town and in no time, people were coming in with treats for me! Mom said that those are tips! One nice lady was early and actually took me outside for my break. I only got in trouble once when I was barking at the tractor trailer trucks going down the road.
All in all, salon work is tiring. I am now qualified to become a WalMart greeter. I think I will stick to being a dog, though. I hope that next year Travis is still a douchebag so that he has to stay home and I get to go to work again!
XOXO Riley
