"Come to my store!" exalted my daughter, pulling me up the stairs. I obliged, wondering which of my possessions she was going to try to sell back to me this time. That one has always been possessed of an entrepreneurial spirit. " I have bracelets," she said, gesturing to an array of beaded items she had crafted using the bead kit she got for her birthday. "And neck-a-laces," picking up a pair of Mardi Gras beads she inherited at some point. I picked up a bracelet. "How much?" I ... Read more »
Archives for November 2011
Keep off the grass
A couple of months ago, we started having problems with our sprinklers. Because we live in what is basically the desert, this means that within one month most of our backyard was dead. Not that the grass was ever in great shape to start with, I suppose. Anyway, we are slowly trying to put it back together, starting with two little patches of what has been dirt for a very long time but was at one point grass. For now, it is again. "Do NOT," my husband said, "under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES let ... Read more »
Rug Doctor Saves the Day (and a mini giveaway)
Welcome back! Hope everyone here in the States had a lovely Thanksgiving. And in celebration of that and all the work it took the rest of the weekend to put the place back together, a post about cleaning products, something with which all pet owners are all too familiar. I bought my car six years ago. Six years ago, I was obsessed with the idea of a black car with a beige interior. Sleek. Contemporary. Gorgeous. Six years ago, I was also very naive, with a nine month old who had yet to start ... Read more »
Black Friday Wishlist
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and managed to keep the pets away from all the good stuff! :) And now- da da duuuh.... let the holiday insanity commence! You can't pay me to go to the mall today. I don't care how good the sale is, it's not enough for me to deal with the scary elbow-y masses and the disheveled store racks and the fisticuffs in the parking lot. Plus, my sister is out visiting, and she has her shih tzu with her, and I think I need to get some pictures of her dog while ... Read more »
Wordless Wednesday: Happy Thanksgiving!
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My Type: Strong, Silent and Hairy
I went to the gym this morning, although it's not my favorite thing to do, because I know I need to accumulate a little exercise karma in advance of all the pigging out that's going to be happening tomorrow. Such is life. I joined the Y this year, giving up my 24 Hour membership for a variety of reasons: The Y has lots of stuff for kids The 24 Hour has been overrun by Pauly D wannbes who hog all the machines and are generally totally obnoxious If there's one thing the Y has going for ... Read more »
Thanksgiving Food Dos and Don’ts for your pet
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days in the veterinary ER, which should surprise none of you. The very first Thanksgiving I had Emmett, he dug the turkey carcass out of the trash and settled down for a little leftovers. Luckily he left a disgusting trail of grease from the kitchen, across the living room and up the (carpeted) stairs so I managed to find him before he did too much damage, but Thanksgiving is a time of excess and gluttony for all of us, and for pets unaccustomed to the ... Read more »
Thankful: Amazon Kindle Fire Giveaway!
I am super-duper excited for today's giveaway. You see, I've been thinking about all the things I am thankful for, and there's a lot- my family, my health, my dogs. And all of you, because you guys are what makes all this carpal tunnel stuff worthwhile. You put up with zombie apocalypses and cheer me up when even Brody isn't doing the trick. So because I love you all, we decided to give away something super cool right before the holiday season. I don't have one yet, except for the one I'm ... Read more »
Sunday Shoutouts
It's a week of being thankful, and in that vein I'm reaching back into something I used to do regularly and make a Sunday post highlighting something great from around the web. Today, two large scale projects meant to bring more shelter pets into their forever homes: Home for the Holidays Iams' Home for the Holidays program has just surpassed the 6 million mark for number of pets who have been adopted since the program's inception in 1999. Way to go! They're still working on ... Read more »
Pawcurious photo gear
We like photography, and from time to time get questions about our photo gear. If your question isn't answered below, feel free to drop us a line. Photo Q&A: Q: What kind of camera do you use? A: We use Canon and Leica cameras. The Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 7D, Canon 30D, and the Leica D-LUX4. Below you'll find a more complete list of all the gear. Q: What kind of software do you use? A: We use Apple's Aperture 3 for photo post production, along with Nik Software's ... Read more »
Yawn – Photo of the Week
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It’s National Get a Pal for your Pet Day!
When I was on the Hope Telethon last weekend talking about pet health holiday tips, the reporter asked me (without warning) if I was going to be bringing home another pet from Helen Woodward. And I answered honestly. If it wouldn't cause a major rift in the household, I would. I can manage 4 pets, and we're at 3. If I can't get a Boston, I'm thinking maybe I could just sneak in another cat for Apollo. He's social, he likes friends. He'd like a pal. My husband remains unconvinced, of ... Read more »
Then there was the time my husband almost sold me for some goats
It's Friday, and I'm in the mood for some Africa. How 'bout you? I don't know where my footage of me being the bush pilot in the Serengeti went, so I've decided I'm just posting Africa posts all out of order while I try and find it, and oh well. That was what happened after we left chimp camp, though. I talked the pilot into letting me fly shotgun over the FREAKIN SERENGETI which might be the only thing that could have topped a chimp brushing by my legs. It was spectacular. Anyway, the ... Read more »
Faces of the Flood
It hasn't been in the news nearly enough, but there is a major disaster happening in Thailand right now. 20 of Thailand's 77 provinces have been hit by floods since July, affecting 1/5 of the country's population. In a county whose resources are already stretched thin, imagine the impact of this sort of natural disaster on the street dog population. In Bangkok alone, there are an estimated 60-70,000 stray dogs, and they are suffering greatly. Local organizations such as Soi Dog and Wildlife ... Read more »
Take a bite: Home Cooking and a BalanceIt Giveaway!
Lots of people like to cook for their pets, but most people don't do it every single day. Of those who do, most do so because they have to, a pet with kidney disease who also has food allergies and diabetes, that sort of thing. Occasionally there is the person who just likes to do it, like the chef who makes seared sea bass for his two incredibly spoiled schnauzers every day. I admire that dedication, which is significant. More common are people like me, those who do it every once in a while ... Read more »
YOU get a new car, and YOU get a new car…
I miss Oprah's favorite things show. That was the best show ever, and also how I ended up with a pile of things I never knew I HAD TO HAVE until Oprah said I had to have them. That is how I wound up with a quilted pink Burberry jacket six years ago, and I don't even like pink. Anyway. Giving stuff away is fun. I spent all day yesterday sorting through the giveaways to pick winners, and to make my life easier I'm listing them all here: Biscuits by Lambchop giveaway: Susan ... Read more »
Behind the scenes at a blogathon
Normally when I do these blogathons, I park myself on the couch with a pile of chocolate and a liter of coffee and just go for it. But this year, this year I decided to be ambitious. I will do my blogathon on location, I thought. Let's make it NUTS. The week before, I drove out to the Lions, Tigers and Bears sanctuary to verify they had working wifi. It was slow, but not too slow. Good enough for the blogathon, I figured. My friend Star and I hatched plans. We'll camp out in the bear ... Read more »
I am not a zombie
Though I am perilously close to feeling like one. Yeegads. When I am not so sleep deprived and my fingers are no longer curved into arthritic claws from typing a month's worth of posts in one day, I will give you the behind the scenes look at a blogathon that, for all intents and purposes, really did end up feeling like a real life apocalypse. There were cops and power outages and insanity and late night evacuations and everything. But it all worked out in the end, and we raised $1240 for Lions, ... Read more »