Most people have a favorite gift every year after Christmas, but this year my favorite gift is one we gave. On a whim, Brent and I bought a puppy for his mom. She has had a rough couple of years. She and Brent's dad were divorced after 20+ years of marriage and, if that weren't hard enough, she had to put both dogs down within a year of each other. One was an 18 year old toy poodle and the other a 14 year old standard poodle. Brent and I were out shopping the Saturday before Christmas and saw a black toy poodle that we knew she'd love (and hoped would be a new companion for her now drastically different life). So, we bought him and he stayed with us from Saturday until Wednesday when we saw Brent's mom. I always thought Fred was small (a 18 lb miniature schnauzer) until we brought the puppy home. We called the puppy "Tiny" because he was and because we wanted Brent's mom to name him since it was going to be her dog.
Tiny was about 4" tall.
Tiny in the bathroom sink:
Tiny in Brent's lunchbox:
Fred being jealous of Tiny:
Puppy on pleo:
We weren't 100% sure that she would want to have to train a new puppy as it does take a lot of work and patience, but she cried tears of joy on Christmas Eve as soon as she realized it was for her and not ours. I was so happy she liked him. She wanted to name him something "Christmasy" since he was a Christmas gift.
She thought of Buddy Holly, Kringle, Cane (as in "candy"), Garland, and whole mess of other silly ones. I called her late Wed night after we arrived at my mom and dad's house and asked her what she thought of "Ralphie" from "A Christmas Story" and it stuck. Tiny is now Ralphie.
For some reason, Fred seems more relaxed at home now that Tiny, I mean Ralphie, is gone. What is that dog going to do if we have a baby?! Selfish.
Ralphie is so cute! I'm guessing Fred will be very jealous and bark a lot if you have a baby because my friend with a new baby has a white miniature schnauzer and she barks constantly!
Our two boxers thought he was a tasty piece of pocket lint... :) Not a poodle person, but he was pretty cute and very soft! And I'm glad he went over well.
re: question...
The popup is to encourage you to be honest with your feedback. They want you to know that there's nothing the seller can do to you if you leave bad feedback. That's good... as long as it's an honest buyer. Sadly not all are. :(
And no, if no or only some star categories are completed, it's just not averaged in.
We're doing Baby's Journey Through the Bible in the baby class, some material that Terra wrote in the 3 & 4 year old class, and Our Spiritual Heritage in the K-2 and 3rd through 5th classes. VERY exciting! :) We cleaned all the classrooms out, and put up all the decorations for the new material. I'll have to send you pictures. :)
RE: the singing, if you're talking about what I think you're talking about, the singing is in Portage, IN on Jan. 23rd. I don't know the time, but they're supposed to be sending flyers out. They got the Sumphonia supplements recently, and so they're doing an area-wide singing to sing some of their favorites. :)
Somehow I missed your most recent comment ... weird. Anyway, we're definitely planning to go - if y'all want a place to crash for the night after the singing, or even if you want to drive up here and then ride the rest of the way in with us, too, that'd be cool. Matt's going to be one of the songleaders, so we'll definitely be there. :)
I don't know why but some phrases and sayings really crack me up. I don't mean ones that are supposed to be funny, but rather perfectly average words or figures of speech. Example: to "mash" the button. Instance used: the bank teller asked me to mash the button on the left to send the tube with my deposit. This particular one is usually used in the south.
Which one mashed my funny button today, you ask?
"Wolfing"
As in, "wolfing down a whole pizza in one sitting."
Every time I hear someone say that I giggle. Wolfing... Hehehe!
We stared in confusion at a lady in a store while in S. IN who asked if we needed a "buggie" (sp?) We finally realized she meant a shopping cart. Weird!!
"Buggy" is also my personal favorite! When I worked at Target in KY I used to think it was so funny every time someone called their shopping cart a buggy.
I always call my shopping cart a buggy - my MIL laughs at me every time. The first time I said it, she was totally confused - had NO IDEA what I was talking about!
I am doing really well! Keeping very busy, though. Jon (my brother) and I just got back from a couple day stay at the Diestelkamp's (Andy and Karen) which was very enjoyable. I certainly do miss your face! Hopefully, I will have the chance to update soon. Love you!!
I would say that I am a pretty ecclectic person when it comes to music. I like most genres. I enjoy new and old, fast and slow, serious and fun, and the friends I spend time with like the same wide variety (maybe more so than me).
However, I have never been a country music lover. Maybe since I have never lived in the south?... Anyway, there are very few country songs I like. And this is surprising to me because the ones I do like, I LOVE. I don't listen to country radio so the ones I find I like are usually "old news." BUT, I must say,as I was home for Thanksgiving my sister had a couple on her iPod that were really cool.
Have you heard: Heidi Newfield's "Johnny and June" OR
Taylor Swift's "Love Story"
Ha. I love country music... and bluegrass. My family does too. I always tell people that I didn't even know another form of music existed until I was in the 2nd grade.
I do like country music, but I rarely listen to it anymore. We are usually listening to kid music in the car these days. However my bro-in-law played a song for me last week that I really liked. It was called "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. Have you heard it?
Seriously, though, I like a little bit of everything. I keep hearing about "Johnny and June," but have yet to actually *hear* the song. I'll have to do that!
I stole the idea for this post from her. I guess her family talked over Thanksgiving about what bathtubs full of different things would feel like.
SO...if you could take a bath in ANYTHING besides water, what would you choose? (Disclaimer: This bath is not meant to make you clean or smell good, just to feel neat. Additionally, things like a bathtub full of $100 bills from which you could keep the $ are not allowed.)
Baths already discussed include:
1)Sparkling grape juice
2)Small metal ball bearings
3)Jello
4)Powdered sugar
5)Cooked spaghetti
6)mashed potatoes
wow i am trying to come up with something creative but anything i think of has sort of the same consistency as something already listed...i shall return later lol :)
Glitter, velveeta mac & cheese shells, alpaca fur, flocking (mmmm- like room-temp snow)...man this is kinda fun! :) I had a dream about you last night. For some reason I was standing in line wih my parents wearing my dad's sweaty cowboy hat which was too big and you adjusted it to be straight and I turned around and it was you with freckles painted on your face. Weird huh?
Oh, not a real baby - fabric wadded up in a blanket. And the story behind the broom beating... well, William Hay sometimes acts up and Maria feels she needs to correct him!
thanks! I think she's pretty too. Interesting post...I've never really though about that. I think I would like the powdered sugar though, it is so soft. Maybe hot bath towels that wouldn't get cold?
I've always said I would like to fill a swimming pool with banana pudding and eat my way out. But this is slightly different. Still my answer though. Yes, I"ve been busy, and uninspired... our break is from Dec. 23rd - January 4th. It couldn't come too soon...
OK, I'm totally not a gross out person, but a lot of these have me literally cringing!! Mashed potatoes?? Banana pudding?!?!?!? What is wrong with you people??
Lately I have seen a lot of...."interesting" tattoos, including inside a person's ear. I am not a tattoo person, I would never get one, and I don't find them attractive on others. However, I don't think I would necessarily consider them sinful.
Additionally, it seems some employers have become lax about restricitons on them. I work in a pretty "professional" environment and even here you will see them occasioanlly on a person's chest (if they are wearing a low cut top) or back (if their shirt is too short and they bend over) or arm.
FedEx, I have noticed, seems to be tightening their rules. Over the summer, our delivery person began wearing long-sleeved shirts for this reason. He said it was a "new" rule.
How do you feel about tattoos? Are they still unprofessional? Are they allowed in your workplace? Are they sinful? Discuss.
I've seen some that are frightening (arms covered in satanic symbols) that I would say are sinful. I've seen others that are tasteful and cute (small decorative heart on your ankle) that I think are fine and do not compromise professionalism. As in most things, it's depends how far you take it.
They must be covered by sleeves at the small hospital where I work. When I worked at the jail, I gave a lot of Tb skin tests, and it was very unusual to see an arm not covered in tatoos. What was always funny to me were the inmates who would freak out over the tiny needle for their Tb skin test, and yet their arms, chests, necks would be covered in tatoos!
I think in some ways it depends on your motivations for getting a tattoo - especially in the past, they were a symbol of rebellion. Are you getting a tattoo to call attention to yourself? Of course, that leaves the issue up to each person's individual motives which can't really be judged by a casual observer. Can't say I'm interested in one...always thought it would look bad on my saggy 90 year-old skin someday!
I don't think I would ever get one, but I don't think they're necessarily sinful. I agree that some could be sinful, depending on what kind of a design you choose. I think it is wise for professionals to keep them covered. I don't know if you remember or not, but my bro-in-law wasn't allowed to wear a wedding ring at his first job (it was a factory job) and so he had my sister's name tattooed on his ring finger. From a distance it looks like he is wearing a ring, but up close you can see the letters of her name. I think it's kind of cool.
