Deploying my stealth cookie radars

Did I hear the magic scrattle of a cookie bag somewhere in the house??

Hang on - let me deploy my stealth cookie radar sensing equipment - right radar up.......swiveling and fine tuning yes - and now the left one - dang that support system isn't too good  but wait - wait - wait - it's up !!!!!!  Now I just need to  track, locate and crunch!!!!!!!!!  Houston we have a target lock!

PS : (Scrattle is the combination of the words scratching and rattling and is what you do when you get to the bottom of the cookie or chip bag - it is also the noise you hear if there is a mouse running around you house - scrattling noises)

What was she thinking?????

Really - as if it isn't bad enough that I have fight for MY Dad's attentions when the Dweebs are around I now have to contend with Dad's new obsession hobby - a train set that Mom got him Christmas!  Mom thought it would be good to give Dad something to do (as if patting and loving me wasn't enough!!!!) and she thought maybe it would get him away from the TV and the internet (Dad is a news JUNKIE) Yeah !!!! How well is that working out for you Mom - now he spends ALL his time looking at train stuff on the internet and watching the DVD's on how to build a train layout!!!!!!!

In the meantime what does POOR Reilly do????? - lays under the stupid table with the stupid train on.... looking all neglected and sad - I am sure this warrants another bone or two as compensation and what about MY WALKIES!  Now Mom being the artistic one - she has started the design with the tunnel up at the end, a mountain and lakes and she spent ALOT of yesterday putting together a little kit house (seems Dad's fingers are too fat to do it - gawoof gawoof!).  We will be showing updates over the following month as we go - we are in the design and building phase at the moment. Eventually it will be all covered with grass and and other scenery stuff and you won't see any of the construction work. Mom says we are doing the train layout the old fashioned way (which really means the cheap way) and we are going to build all our own stuffies to go on it.

Guilt brings such rewards!

Those pleading eyes, the 'how could you leave me' looks, the CONSTANT sighs, that snuffling at the cupboard where the treats are kept - yep it finally worked. GUILT - GLORIOUS GUILT !!!!!

Mom went out to do a bit of shopping this morning and came home with a WHOLE rack of beef ribs - just for us!!!! Dog oh Dog.....now this is what I am barking about - in fact maybe Mom should go away more often!

Some of you wondered why you hadn't seen much of Dweeb  #1  (Jackson) lately - he went to Tennessee with his Mom for Christmas and from what we hear - he didn't like it much. He wouldn't eat for days and stuck to his Mom like glue! Of coarse now he is back and being his normal Dorky Dweeb self again.

W.T.D Wednesday

What The Dog - is what I say. As if being left at home wasn't bad enough - can you believe Mom didn't bring a back a single treat!!!!!  Oh yeah - she says she went in all the 'boutique dog stores' "Doglishious" "Dogology" "Puppy Power" and such but they mainly had clothes (mostly pink) and very generic treats and toys the kind she won't buy for us. One store didn't even know what bully sticks were when she asked if they had any!!!!   Dogology in Fredricksberg -  had doggie strollers that you could rent by the hour ($25) for when you poochie got tired of walking and you could have you photo taken by them with your dog in front of a cowboy scene for $125!!!

As if getting no treats wasn't bad enough -  she then had the nerve to tell me that the hotel they stayed at ( a Hilton Garden Inn ) allowed doggies!!!  She said it cost an extra $75 a night to have a doggie there but it didn't seem to stop people as she counted at least 20 doggies and most people had 2 dogs with them.  Admitted they were mainly chihuahuas and small breed dogs although there were two beagles in matching green coats there.


It gets worse though - cause then she told me how they went for a walk along the River Walk in San Antonio and about all the dogies she met and PATTED along the way.  W.T.D. MOM!!!! Mom said she loved the River Walk although she says would be a bit worried when it is really busy as someone could easily knock you into the river.  She thought it was funny to see the restaurants had provided blankets for everyone who wanted to sit outside because it was sooooooo cold - (67 degrees).

Can you believe it !!!

Mom & Dad went on vacation without me - they are back home now though and was I ever glad to see them!!!   I was left alone with the Dweebs and "IT'S Mom" - a fate worse then death in my opinion-- while they were away!

Seems like Dad hasn't seen his brother in 10 years and had a hankering to go see him and meet his niece who he also hasn't seen since she was just a puppy a few months old. She is now an old puppy of 12!  Why I couldn't go with them I don't know....I am Dad's puppy and surely his brother would want to meet me too?????

Anyway - they had to drive all the way to some place called TEXAS - to San Antonio. Because Mom can't sit for very long it took them 2 days to drive there.  May I point out that I would of been very happy in the car for two days. I hear they had lots of stops and I would surely enjoyed that and all the new smells!

Now Mom had some weird idea that TEXAS would be full of long horn cattle, oil wells and peoples wearing big hats and boots.  She can report that she didn't she ANY of that and was somewhat disappointed.  She can also report the traffic was TERRIBLE. Basically it was bumper to bumper all the way from Little Rock to San Antanio and it frazzled her nerves and upset her tummy greatly!  Now see is she had taken me - her THERAPY dog with her... I would have helped keep her calm but NOOOOOOOOO I got left at home!!!!!

On their way they stopped in Dallas to go have a look around University of Texas - it was all pretty quiet given it was vacation time but Mom was SUPER happy when they stumbled upon an English Pub that served English food. It was called the Dog & Duck Pub and Mom was able to get her beloved Sheperds Pie and Dad got Bangers and Mash.  Bangers are an English sausage - not all peppery like the American ones and he loved them.
 

Sarcastic Sunday

I HATE THE IPAD!!!!!!!!!!  I just thought I would go against the mass consensus and share the real truth about this useless piece of shit technology. Here are some of top reasons others - commonly referred to geeks - also don't like it. (Note: a quick search found 53,000 " why I hate the iPad comments!) I should mention I have had my iPad over 6 months now and hate it more every day!

1. You can’t initialize your iPad unless you have a computer.
2. AND an iTunes account.
3. My ability to personalize the device (it is MINE, right?) is extremely limited.
4. Many of the apps can’t be personalized (what if don’t LIKE brown for my calendar)?
5. It does not support flash.
6. It does not support Java.
7. It has no USB ports.
8. Memory is limited.
9. It can only do one thing at a time.
10. There is no BACK button.
11. There is only one way to do most things.
12. You can’t put anything on it, except through iTunes.
13. You can’t take anything off, except through iTunes.
14. There are many things you can’t readily save elsewhere AT ALL.

For me personally I would also add.......
1.  Try using it to blog.....good grief!
If you want to add a photo to your post it is near impossible and trying to put the photo where you want it ....forget about it! And it won't even show you the whole screen in blogger!

2. Trying to edit anything will just about make you bald (from pulling your hair out in frustration). This constant having to correct the stupid auto correct, having to hide the keyboard so you can go back in a paragraph ....flicking between screens constantly to get to numbers and symbols.....ahhhhhhh it is no wonder my furs is falling out.

3. The touch screen is so rough on the paws......half the time I have to paw at something 2-3 times to get anything to appear even using the expensive stylus dad bought me doesn't help.

4. Don't even get me started on the browser safari another piece of crap useless technology

5. Basically the only thing it is good for is making your blood pressure go up and for playing games on it....so if you thinking about getting one of these......we would recommend you think twice about it and get something more windows based.

We got snow for Christmas!

Late last night it started snowing and it snowed most the night - we couldn't think of a better present on Christmas day!  Can you believe it though - dad got up this morning and thought one of us had pee'ed on the carpet because there was spots of wet all over the place. He was confused why it was just spots though  - then he realized we had been outside playing in the snow and we had bought it inside on our coats !   Really Dad - we can't believe you would even think that - WE haven't pee'ed inside for since we were puppies!!!!!

A Christmas Thank You

Merry Christmas Every Furbaby and their Mom and Dads.

I got to open my present from Ranger this morning and dog oh dog am I one spoiled and happy boy. Me - I really loved the treats but Mom - she LOVED that Ranger's Mom had made me my own special place mat for my food dishes. We can not thank Ranger and his Mom enough for making my Christmas special.

Denny also got his present from Addie and as you will see he was being a bit of a scardy cat as we opened his presents. He is such a Dweeb!!!!  He really did love them all - once he got to use to them and we LOVED the special mat Addie's Mom made for Denny too. Thank you both Ranger and Addie for making our Christmas special. (Other Dweeb - Jackson - is off in Tennessee with his mom so no video of him)

Musing on Monday #2

This morning something very strange happened - all the Christmas cards and decorations were gone - put away. We asked Mom if it was because we were naughty - she smiled sadly - big tears in her eyes and said NO - that we are one of the few good things this Christmas.

Mom sat on the floor with us giving us big hugs cuddles and said that even though this is a time of joy and happiness, love and what should be peace on earth - there is a huge section of the population around the world that do not feel way and there is also a small section of people who find it to be one of the most painful and depressing times of the year - and that is what my Mom is feeling.

Mom knows there is no reason she should feel this way and that she is incredibly lucky for she has a home, food in the cupboards, the bills are paid and she has warm clothes to wear. She knows Dad and us boys love her beyond words and that we would do anything to make her happy...but sadly at this time of year she just feels and overwhelming numbness and sadness.

Mom knows there are many people who feel this way and that they often alone and go un-noticed, she knows there are many who would gladly swap places with her in an instant and that tonight and for many nights to come there will be people with no-one, sleeping under an over pass or anywhere they can find out of the wind and cold. She thinks of the people who lost everything in the recent storms, the families that lost there beloved and precious children and this morning the firefighters who lost their lives from yet another gunman who shot them as they went to help put out a house fire. Mom thinks about all those who are sick, those who will die tomorrow on the roads, in hospital or for what ever reason.  Mom thinks way to much on everything sometimes .....and it makes her heart sad.

So this Christmas we ask that you spend a few minutes during Christmas day and REALLY give thanks for all you have, the loved ones around you, the roof over your head, the food on your table and to remember a simple message - "there but for the grace of God - go I".

Merry Christmas to all the furbabies and their folks and please give each other extra special hugs and cuddles ..........not just tomorrow but everyday.

A Mom Update

A few weeks ago Mom went to have a a Barium Test to see if they could find what is causing her to be nauseous all the time - it found she had some 'webbing' in the esophagus and they weren't sure what it was so today she had to go have a scope with a little camera on it put down her throat and stomach. The webbing turned out to be just a bit of scar tissue but what they did find was 4 ulcers. 3 of them are small and there is one larger one that is bleeding. The doctor has given her some special medicine that she has to take four times a day and he hopes that will help with the ulcers and also the nausea.

He did talk her about not getting stressed, watching what she eats and to getting plenty of exercise - we can definitely help with the exercise and the eating part (we will happily eat what she can't!)  but the Mom isn't sure about the stress thing as she is not at all a stressy type person - in fact one of her lectures told her once if she didn't see Mom blink occasionally she would think she is was a mannequin - that how calm and quiet she is. We did make sure Mom got some exercise the other day when we took her to the park - can you believe she said it made her sad because it is all bleak looking!!!!!  Oh Mom - if only you could smell all the wonderful smells you wouldn't think it was bleak at all.

Dweeb-Cousin has his own blog

You may remember some weeks back I mentioned we have a new Dweeb in our family - thankfully NOT living with us. I guess you could ...and come to think of it I WILL - call him "The Dweeb-Cousin" Max has been adopted and is now living in Wisconsin with his two Moms. Of coarse he just had to have a blog like mine.....what a copy cat Dweeb-Cousin is. He doesn't have any followers yet so if you can call on by and welcome him to dogville it would be much appreciated.

http://handsomemax.blogspot.com/

Now his Mom Tara - she is helping him with his blog as he can't blog by himself (unlike ME) and he hasn't got the side bar thingy to let people follow him yet - but I sent her a message and hopefully she will have that added in today. (Note - she has added it in now)

Do you think Dweeb-Cousin is getting spoiled - check out the size of that bone!  We hear he is also having a pawsome time playing in the snow at the moment - send some our way Dweeb-Cousin!

What to do with all those Christmas Cards?

We were going to keep this until after Christmas but of coarse LOTS of Christmas stuff (stickers, paper etc are on sale now  - so we figured it would be good to give everyone their shopping list so they get started on it.

Now many of you joined in Jazzi's pawsome Christmas card swap this year (Thanks Jazzi's Mom for all the hard work she did on that) - but what to do with all those cards after Christmas is the question?  Well here is a simple idea that will let you use them to make a special Christmas Photo Book out of them.

What you will need

All your old Christmas cards
Some Christmas stickers if you have some - but you can print them for free online too. All the craft stores have them on sale now and you can get them at Walmart too.
Some Christmas printable pages - like a Letter to Santa, some puzzles etc  (just search "free Christmas printables" on google images - there are gazillions of them.
Some bits of old Christmas wrapping paper to make the blank pages look pretty
A hole punch - what ever kind you have will work
Some Binder rings - you can get these at any office supply shop or walmart
Some glue and sticky tape
Some ribbon cut in 6" lengths - it is optional - I just think it makes the rings look pretty
Some scissors
1 piece of heavy cardboard to make the back of the book. What I did was made it the same size as the BIGGEST card I had - which I used as the front cover.
Photos you have collected over the last year

How to
1.Start at the back of the book with the sheet of cardboard. Punch 3 or 4 holes in it for the binder rings depending how many you want to use.
2.Pop the open rings in place and use these as a guide for the holes you punch in the cards
3.Stagger the cards from top to bottom as you keep adding adding them
4.Add in some blank pages or some printables you have found
5.Use the biggest card you have as the front cover.
6.Close the rings and then start decorating and adding your photos.
7.Add some ribbon to the ring binders and you are done.

Here is an example of the one we made from last years cards. I made the entire thing yesterday afternoon so it doesn't take long to put one together.

Cards

We just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all the wonderful furbies (and their assistants) who sent us all these wonderful cards. We have read each and everyone and given them a good sniffing too. So far our tally is 80 to us a 2 for Mom an Dad. 

Mom will have a really easy little project for everyone after Christmas - a way to use and keep all your cards in a clever way. 

Musing On Monday #1

Now some of my newer followers may not know what an educated dog I am - Reilly Cowspotdog Ph.D (Perfectly Hairy Dog) or Professor of Dog as I prefer to be called.

Now like many Moms my Mom has been quite upset and struggled to make any sense of  the events of last week when all the children and teachers left this world at the hand of a disturbed young man.

And although what I told mom doesn't lessen the impact of the day or the tragedy that day will forever be for all those involved - it did help her put it in perspective.  After A LOT of research this is what I found out. (Please note the figures vary greatly from site to site but being an educated dog I stuck to the government sites where we "HOPE" the information in more likely to be correct. So here goes.......

1,500 people a day (of all ages)  die from cancer - just in the USA
110 people a day (of all ages) die in car accidents - just in the USA
1,200 die from smoking and smoking related diseases a day - just in the USA
2,200 people a day die from heart attacks/strokes and heart related diseases - Just in the USA
27 people a day (of all ages) die from gun shots - Just in the USA

The are many more such statistics that cover all kinds of diseases, accidents and violence - but they usually occur as a single occurrence with only family and close friends to grieve - mention of them in the media is very rarely given unless they are famous. So this Christmas I think we should all take the time to remember ALL those who will not share Christmas with us this year - the everyday people, the moms, dads, kids, grandparents, other relatives and friends. Whether it is a senseless mass killing or a single unknown statistic - they ALL deserve our thoughts and prayers.

My turn - my turn

It's my turn today to wear the silly hat but you know what - I don't mind at all because it was also my turn to get a package from Addi in the Christmas Gift Exchange. 

I was getting a bit worried cause I didn't have a present and Weilly said it was because I am such a bad boy and that I was on Santa Paws naughty list. But he was WRONG because now I do have a pressie under the tree and I am NOT a naughty boy.

Mom told us about the little boys and girls that crossed the rainbow bridge yesterday - words can not express adequately how sad we ALL feel but our thoughts and prayers go to everyone involved.

You've got to be dogging?

Do I even remotely look like I am enjoying wearing this STUPID hat - BAH HUMBUG to the Christmas spirit - well maybe a little Jack Daniels Eggnog would be okay! And what gives with that fat little dude in the scarf and hat - don't know what he is smiling for - he looks just as stupid in that hat of his.

Really - I am thinking we all need to get together and put our paws down - no more wearing silly hats, or costumes or anything that makes us look undogified! We are canine domesticus - hear us bark!!!! 

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

We are starting to feel some Christmas spirit - but not sure about this whole hat thing!

The Porky Dorky

Dweeb #2 has been having some wheezing and snoring problems of late so his Mom took him off the vets for a check up. 

Seems Dweebs biggest problem is his weight - he's 17 pounds of Porky Dorky and now is on a STRICT diet.

Of coarse...... I just couldn't resist giving the Dweeb a new name - so let me introduce you all to PORKY DORKY.

gawoof gawoof gawoof!!!!!!

What gives?

 I am stepping on my soapbox once again.

Word verification sucks!!!  And the new word verification sucks even more! If you can read the numbers on the first one - good for you and your guess is as good as mine if that is a 'u' or a 'v' on the second one. For people with dyslexia this "prove you are not a robot" makes life annoying to say the least. On average I have to click though 4-5 different ones before I can find one I can read and even then I rarely get it right. As much as I hate to admit it - I don't visit peeps with word verification turned on as much - simply because it drives me crazy!






And really - there is no need for this word verification - you can just changes your settings to "comment moderation - ALWAYS".  That way you can see the posts BEFORE they are posted - delete the ones you don't like and post the ones you do. Blogger does an awesome job of filtering out spam automatically for you and I am lucky if I get 1 a week that slips through.

Here is what I have my setting done like......Okay stepping down off my soapbox now - but feel free to share this info with others :)

Look who's smirkin now!

So I saw the smallest Dweeb or "IT" as I still prefer to call him got his present first and was pretty chuffed about it. But look who got the BIGGEST present today!!!!!! Moi, me the BIG DOG gets the BIG present! All is not well though as "SHE WHO IS MEAN" as I will be calling her now - otherwise previously known as Mom - will NOT I repeat will NOT let me open my present until Christmas!!!! I am pretty sure I am starting to see some green Grinch coloring to her skin. Oh I nearly forgot - a BIG thank you to Ranger for my present - he is my pawsome little Christmas swap buddy.

Maybe it is Mom sickies making her that color though - she is off to the hospital tomorrow to have a barium scan done to see if they can figure out what is making her nauseous all the time and why she can't eat. Some power of the paw might help her if you have a bit to spare.