R&W

R&W came to visit not too long ago; up from Patterson, California. They stayed for a nice long weekend and since Special K isn't very mobile these days, we took it easy and just caught up on stuff. Very good to see them. I'm happy that they get to spend their retirement as road warriors and getting to see so much of the country (yes, my eyes are green - some day our turn will come), but Lord, I miss them. Now they're thinking of relocating to Reno, NV (actually, a small town north of Reno - Dayton, I think they said). At least that's closer; would make for a nice drive. Love those road trips!

Company for Giz

We're having company this weekend; a little guy named Hugh (a pug/beagle mix). Very excited to see how the Giz reacts. He loves to play with other dogs his size when we take him to the park - the larger ones kind of freak him out a little, although if they're friendly, he comes around and will play just as well with them, too.

I certainly hope our Gizmo will be gentleman about sharing his space and his mamas. He's so sweet natured, though - I just know this is going to be a success.

Delft Blue

For my dad's birthday, my aunt (his younger sister) offered to either fly him to Holland for a visit or a cruise to Alaska. He chose the cruise - been wanting to do that for years, but Mum never cared to go. So she came week before last and they left a week ago Sunday, returning this Sunday past. They had a good time. And she's so sweet - every time she comes, she brings us "kids" something; this time, she brought me these: Aren't they gorgeous? I love anything blue and white; always have, so it's a no-brainer that I would love Delft Blue pottery. And I've been wanting a new canister set - was getting tired of my Coke ones. Thank you, Tante!!!

In February, she brought me the cutest shopping bag - also in Delft Blue style. I need to get a shot of that up here. I know these pics aren't terrific, but not bad for a camera phone.

Happy now, Miss T? :) I'll try to get better with this blog. The original intent, which was my weight loss journey, seems to have fallen to the wayside. I've gained back about 50 lbs. Not happy, but apparently, not willing to deal with getting it back off. It's on a back burner. I'm still way better off than I once was, and I can still fit into a lot of my new clothing, but I need to get back on the stick and at least get it back under 200. I was so happy there - not sure how I could have let this happen.

Girls just wanna have fun!

Product launch party - yes, they actually invited Issaquah employees this time; not just sales folks, although we didn't get the goodie bag :( This was at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle - had a good time. Special K got tipsy! So rare lol and so fun :)

Meet our new boy - Gizmo

My heart had such a hurt when we had to send Sparks on. I was determined that we would not get another canine companion for quite a long time, if ever. One question I would like answered when (if!) I hit the Pearly Gates - why did You not make it so they last as long as we do? What is with this 12 - 16 years crap? To totally love some being so completely and unconditionally, as they do you, to have to let them go so soon after you get them all entangled in your life. Totally not cool.

Special K, as grieving therapy, was looking through the petfinders and craigslist sites, looking at all the available pups out there. She knew I didn't want another - she was of the same mind. Then we found this one. This is Gizmo. A 5-year old Westie Special K found on craigslist. On the Wednesday after Sparks left us. It was if he sent this one to us, saying "here's the boy you thought you were getting when you took me." I answered the ad; agreed to a meet and greet at a park close by on the following Saturday. In my heart, I thought, no dice - there isn't any replacement for Sparks.

So we go to the park on Saturday. And we meet "Yayo" and his little family. They have a 2 1/2 year terror, she was going back to school as well as working full time and they decided they could "no longer care" for "Yayo." I asked what Yayo meant (they're Asian - I figured it was a word for something), but she said she just made it up. Long story short (I know; too late); we loved him and he seemed to like us.

So we took him home. His birthday is February 9, 2006. His pedigree papers say so. They also say his birth name was Gizmo yada yada yada something Westie. Gizmo isn't much of an improvement over Yayo, but it kinda sounds the same and that's what we've been calling him. The name has grown me, much as Sparky had (he came with that name; didn't like it either. I always wanted a Westie named Sebastian or Basil; something a little more sophisticated, as that's how I picture the breed - not Three Stooges kinda names lol But I have to admit; they fit better than the ones I wanted).

He came with issues - like drinking copious amounts of water and peeing everywhere. And pooping. Everywhere. Inside. Should have had a clue when she handed me his leash, his medical and birth/purchase records, a toy and two pee pads. I thought it odd; no bed, no crate, no food bowl, no left-over dog food. Pee pads. Uh, huh. Found out why. But then she also shared that they kept him crated during the day while they were at work and at night while they slept. That's two-thirds of the day.

Because of these issues, we decided to crate him too, while we were at work. Monday, I came home on my lunch to let him out and to romp with him, give him some water and some lovin'. Tuesday, same thing. But when I went to put him back into the crate, I noticed the fluffy towel I had in there was shoved to the back, so I reached in to pull it forward and, ewwwwww, it was soaked.

I've always read and heard that dogs won't mess where they're confined. Not true. That towel was soaked in urine. No wonder the bottom half of this dog is yellow. He was made to sit in his own urine every day. Poor guy. We were so worried with the amount of water he was drinking and the amount he was peeing that we took him to the vet to have him checked out. Had blood work done. Urine and stool analysis; we figured if he had diabetes or some other disease, we couldn't afford to keep him. We wouldn't give him back to the family as we had agreed if we decided we weren't going to keep him, though - I'm thinking how they "cared" for him was border-line abuse. We would have surrendered him up to the NW Westie Rescue folks.

Never came to that, though - he got a clean bill of health. It's all in his head. Because it appeared they limited his access to water. And after a week, we noticed the drinking slowed down. So of course, the peeing did, too. He figured out that water was plentiful and always available, so he doesn't need to drink it like it's going out of style. Plus, he's so smart and we've been working hard to get him outside every chance we could. Here we are, almost 3 weeks later, and he's pretty much house trained. We leave two pee pads out for him, just in case, but he hasn't pooped in the house in over a week. He does get up in the night to go pee, but now he pees on the pad. Such a good, smart boy.

And he is the total opposite of Sparks - very affectionate (almost too much - always wants your lap if you're sitting), very alert, very active. Such a joy. Not that Sparks wasn't - just in a very different way. And he seems very happy with us - probably very grateful we have no rugrats in the house (while at the park that first day, we saw the toddler yank at his ears, kick him in the ribs and the mother told us that he kept trying to ride the dog like a pony, so yeah, I'd say he's real happy there are no little ones in our house.) He's a keeper. One thing that tells me that Sparks sent Gizmo to us - when I went to the craigslist ad to respond to it a second time (they didn't answer the first one); I noted that their ad was posted on March 7th.

That's the day Sparks left us.