Why Are Dog Models Always Boys?

I have an extreme love for all things Beagle.

Every year I ask for (and get) a For The Love Of Beagles calendar to hang on our kitchen wall. It's the one I use to plan meals and schedules. Not only does it have a big picture of a Beagle for every month, it has a smaller picture and some sort of doggy quote.

I love turning the page to a new month to read the quote!

I do not love turning the page to see, yet again, a boy dog posed to show all his glory. It seems like every page I looked at for this year's calendar showed a boy dog! I was going to not mention how February's dog was particularly show offish, but my daughter say it and said, "gross."

I put a sticky note over part of the dog and asked if that was better. It was not.

Every year I also get a Beagle pocket calendar for my purse. I write my work hours and things I need to remember when I'm out and about. Last year's calendar was filled with cute puppies and this years is full of boy dogs and crazy eyes.

I like boy dogs. I do! Without boy Beagles, we wouldn't have any baby Beagles. But for the love of Pete, why can't the photographers use some girl dogs?

Although, Emma does do quite a bit of what we affectionately call "porn sitting". You get the picture. It's not just boy Beagles who have a propensity for showing off their glory!

Valentine's Day Postscript

When my husband came out of our bedroom Valentine's Day morning, he was dressed and wearing his boots. He kissed me good morning and went right outside.

I thought he must have woken up thinking about the truck he and our son are rebuilding, or maybe wanted to check out something on his BSA project.

I was stunned when he came back in with roses, candy and a card!

He said, "Happy Valentine's Day, babe."

I said, "When did you do this? I wasn't expecting anything."

He said, "Friday night. And I knew you weren't expecting it."

I said, "I don't have anything for you!" (By now I was crying a little because it was so unexpected, so romantic, so him....I was so happy!)

He said, "You let me sleep in. That was the best!"

It's amazing to me how well we know each other, sometimes better than the other person thinks. I didn't know how much I wanted roses until I saw them and he didn't know how much he wanted sleep until he woke up late. It was a truly wonderful Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In the past 19 years of Valentine's Days, my husband and I have learned one important thing: Valentine's Day is not anything important!

It's just a day where EVERYONE is supposed to celebrate love. The restaurants are crowded, the card aisle are a mess, and candy is so deliciously tempting.

On our first Valentine's Day, my husband brought flowers to school for me, but I was home sick! He came over after school to visit me, and I remember sitting there worried to death that I would have to blow my nose while he was there. Besides the fact that blowing my nose is something I prefer to do in private, it is a romance killer!

The second one was our super failed trip to Vancouver, BC, which we were just laughing and talking about yesterday, and our kids said they'd all ready heard that story. Several times in fact. So I will forgo the retelling of it!

So we know, Valentine's Day isn't all it's cracked up to be. We are those super sappy people who tend to celebrate love all year long. I currently have two love cards on my shelf that my husband brought home in recent weeks, just because he felt like it.

Today my big plan is to make a pot of spaghetti, possibly splurge on a loaf of good sourdough bread, and just relax. Try to watch one of our 3 DVR'd Saturday Night Live shows. Nothing too special.

But I think my husband will tell you, the best thing that I did to celebrate this Love Day, is happening right now. He is sleeping in and I am up with three dogs, one daughter and a darn good pot of coffee.

He deserves a day where he isn't the guy in charge of mornings!

To my sleeping husband, the guy I have loved being with for 19 Valentine's Days, I hope you ignore that dog scratching at your door, the dog making a growling noise, the puppy running up and down the stairs and the daughter watching 'The Wedding Singer'. Sleep in!

I love you!!!

How's It Hanging?

Over or under?

In my opinion, and frankly, that's the only one that counts, toilet paper should be hung with the paper hanging over. It's the most logical way!

It's never really been an issue in our house. I've always hung it over, and so has my husband. The kids seem to not know how to replace a roll. It's also felt like I was the only one who replaced a roll.

Not so anymore! Some mystery helper has started putting new rolls up. Thank you! I haven't said anything before, but the rolls are being hung UNDER! Yes. Under. That means the paper is touching the wall. I'm the first to admit our bathroom is not the best part of our clean house. With four adult size people using one bathroom for all business, showering and mirror related activities, it gets more than it's share of use. And since I do not wash the walls more than once a year (it's more of a Lysol wipe down anyway) I do not want my toilet paper to touch the wall.

It's a quirk I have. Like never using the first square of toilet paper in a public restroom. Who knows who has touched that before me?

Is this TMI? Sorry! Back to the real story!

So the tp is being hung under. I didn't switch it over. Chalk it up to two parts lazy, one part not wanting to hurt the feelings of whomever gifted us with a new roll. But I dreaded going into the bathroom, to the wrong way roll of paper!

Then, half way through a roll, it was turned over. What a relief! To whomever did the turning: thank you! I appreciate you as much as I appreciate the person who decided to not set the new roll of tp on top of the empty tube.

A Question For The Ages

If you have a prosthetic foot, one that looked just like a doll foot only man size, the question to ask yourself is do you really need to wear a shoe?

After all, your prosthetic foot won't care if it steps in a mud puddle or on a bumble bee. It is plastic of some sort. It's shoe like....

All I can say is I have seen what it looks like to have one shoe on and one prosthetic foot unshod. It is startling. Shocking. Actually, it freaked me out for a second. I'd just watched this older fellow jump out of his truck, and thought it was weird that he was wearing two different colored shoes. Then the realization that I was looking at molded toes on the peachy colored shoe.

I just think the answer is yes. Yes, you really do need to wear a shoe in shoe appropriate settings. Such as a rainy day in the Puget Sound when you are walking in a parking lot.

Let's just say, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service applies to everyone.