Wrigley's Snuggie

Ever see that commercial for the Snuggie? While it looks cute and cozy on the women and children, the men wearing it look like child molesters. Anyway, Wrigs would like to demonstrate his version of the Snuggie with his Blankie. He's been swaddled up in it every night since it's been in the teens and 20's. And he's able to stick his arms through so he can still partake in every day tasks.


Like knitting:


Or sipping his evening Scotch on the Rocks (Chumley got him hooked on these):


Or reading his Christmas stories:


And texting:

Wrigs texts his lady friends all day long that he now has Carpawl tunnel syndrome. Thankfully I switched his plan to unlimited.

A happy ending

This is the little sweet heart that hit the window. Thankfully, not as hard as the last bird but still, he was pretty shaken up. He was shivering quite a bit, so I bundled him in a soft towel and kept him warm for about 15 minutes. Then he hopped right onto my arm, looked at me for a bit, pooped, then hopped up to my shoulder where he sat for about 2 more minutes before fluttering off into the snowy sky. I think he's going to be ok.



Wrigs kept watch and was happy to see him fly away safely through the trees.



All is back to normal.



And the snow is still coming down.

Post from Wrigs

"Hi Karen, Wrigs here. I think Mommy needs to come back and visit and get another one of these warm caps from your cute little shop in Poulsbo!"

" 'cause I'm not giving this one back!"

PSA on falling down

Even though it wasn't raining on my morning walk with Wrigs, the ground was still very wet and slick. Some of the sidewalks are moss covered and even with treaded shoes, it's still VERY slippery. Wrigs saw a squirrel (aka "the enemy" as Wrigs likes to call them) and tried to bolt off the sidewalk to chase. He couldn't get leverage and ended up falling face first in mud. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. He's totally fine of course, but both his front legs splayed out to the sides and then quickly tucked into his chest, all in one swift move as he nose dived into the mud. I am laughing about it again now as I type because it was just so damn funny.

Wrigs wasn't the only one who humiliated himself this morning. While walking downhill, I slipped but caught myself before hitting the ground but when I threw my hands out to stop my fall I launched Wrig's poo bag in a backward toss and it came within centimeters of hitting me in the face! A neighbor (thank GOD, not the one we threw poo at) saw me do this as he was leaving for work and I'm sure it looked as though I was purposely trying to smack myself in the face with the steaming bag of shit.

I'm very lucky I didn't fall because I could have easily suffered a broken limb or worse. For those of you living in a slippery, slimey climate, just be careful walking, running, jogging, etc. This is the time of year people are rushing to get everything done and maybe don't take those extra precautions when running from place to place. But if you're going to fall I hope you do so carefully and with grace. And without a bag of poo in your hand.

Wrigley's Animal Adventures

We took Wrigs to the Dog Park the other day, which is unlike any other dog park we've ever seen. It's like doggy Disney Land on Crack. KBL, I wish that Achilles and Milo lived close so they could come to this park. They would absolutely LOVE it! And so would my friend Deb's dog, Bentley, aka Bento Bean!

Here's Wrigs greeting some fellow furry friends:



Walking to doggy beach, meeting a pup along the way:



Time to clean off everyone's muddy paws:

And here are some more of his pals:

(I don't know their actual names but I'm going to make them up based on how they look)

"Dwight" and "Mushroom"

"Sigmund"

"Chauncey"

"Mr. Bojangles"

Check out Chauncey the warden, keeping everyone in check at the dog wash station.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Wrigley's Animal Adventures:

Love at first sight, Wrigs meets his dream girl.

Wrigley the lap dog.

Wrigley Ramblings

I walked Wrigs this morning and this woman randomly stops us on the street (which is not unusual) and begins to shower Wrigs with kisses and pets, which he willingly accepts. We're casually making small talk and then she starts to massage Wrigs back and hind quarters. I'm thinking this is kind of getting weird and the woman says, "He eats too many Cheerios." I said jokingly, "Well that's why we're on our walk." And then she says, "Someone needs a diet!" Seriously? Did you just call my dog fat? If we're gonna start throwing insults then you need to get your teeth fixed. And you know what else??? Maybe if it didn't RAIN 14 DAYS STRAIGHT we'd all be out getting more exercise you crazy toothless RAIN LOVER!!! I didn't say any of that of course, I just smiled pleasantly and thanked her for her unsolicited observation on my dog. Crazy bitch.

Then while on the same walk just a few blocks later this woman comes up and greets Wrigs all excited and animated so he starts to jump up on her. I say, "No jump!" She looks at me and says all teacher like, "Instead of saying 'No Jump' tell him 'Good Sit' when he sits. Use positive reinforcement when training a dog." WTF are we in Pet Smart??? And how the hell did I make it past 30 without this KNOW IT ALL in my life?? Next time, don't run up to my dog like you've just won the f*cking lottery and perhaps he will "GOOD SIT" for you.

What's with all the Dog Whisperers in this town???

Here's another sad Wrigs pic from the other day, while watching the rain drops fall. His chin is resting on the window ledge. He knows how to play the pathetic card a bit too well.

Who does Depression Hurt?

Everyone.

Including the Dog.

Poor Wrigs is miserable. He refuses to go outside unless I walk/drag him which is not a very good idea considering how slick it is from this nonstop rain. He misses going to the park, chasing his balls and romping around in the dry grass with his pals. And sure as sh*t,
So. Do. I.

But it makes me more upset to see him sad.


He just sits by the window and watches the rain...


I walked away from the computer for a while and when I came back this was playing. Looks like Wrigs needs the silly pills too.

Goldens in Love

This morning on my walk with Wrigs we spotted another Golden walking with its momma across a very busy street. Wrigs of course stopped and refused to move another step and then wagged his tail so hard that it looked like it hurt. The other Golden then sits down and stares over at Wrigs and refuses to move as well. The momma starts trying to pull and tug and this dog wasn't going to budge. I thought about crossing but it was not in a designated cross walk area and there were too many cars and busses whizzing by so I didn't think that would be smart. But it was really cute for those few moments to watch Wrigs and this other Golden stare at each other across this busy city street. It was love at first sight.

When I finally got Wrigs to move he kept turning back to look at his lover (who could be male or female, we're cool either way) and he/she made a few turns of the head to look back at Wrigs. At least this time, Wrigs held off on taking a huge dump but did so once we turned the corner. He's growing into a fine young gentleman.

I hope we see them again.

frozen tid bits

I'm sorting through my box of unmentionables and I leave the bedroom for a few minutes and return to this:

That would be my strapless bra insert inside of Wrig's mouth. He now has a new toy. I'll throw some granny panties for Chum to play with so he's not left out.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon touring Open Houses in Queen Anne. One thing I noticed upon entering each home was that they were soooo warm! I couldn't believe how nice it felt to walk into a home and actually be able to take off your hat, scarf, gloves, etc. I made this comment to one of the showing agents and explained to him that the house we are renting is FREEZING all the time. He asked where it was and I told him and he knew exactly the house we were in and said that it's been on the market for about a year and he has shown it to several clients and that has been the biggest complaint! He said even in the warmer months, the house was still uncomfortably cold. As I type this right now my hands are are starting to tingle. For shits and giggles I took a photograph of the heater that I carry around with me that registers room temperature. He is the temp in the bathroom:


And here is the temp in what was going to be my Craft room/Guest room but decided that it's too uncomfortable for any human or beast to spend more than 7 seconds in here:


Wrigs has been so cold that he lets me bundle him up in his blanket.

He says, "Welcome back KBL!!"

And now for some warmth...

We spent Saturday afternoon with Karen, Gregg and David. We had such a great time and they were fantastic hosts and showed us their adorable, picturesque town. Wrigs even got a glimpse of Latte, their big fuzzy outdoor cat, but Latte was not as keen to make friends right away. He had to be pried from the deck and put inside. Poor guy! But it was quite entertaining to watch Gregg carry Latte like a sack of potatoes into the house. I'm sure many of you have seen the beautiful pictures Karen has posted of her neighborhood and views. They are even more breathtaking in person. Truly a house filled with and surrounded by love and warmth!!!

And for those of you who have been reading blogs for a while, do you know who I saw outside a coffee shop??? Liz from As The Tumor Turns. Crazy thing, this blogging world isn't it?

Karen and I went into this cute little bakery to get some dog treats for Wrigs and we both had a moment of hysterics. Here was their "Fresh Fruit" display at the bakery:


What do you think? Fail blog worthy???

Last night my girlfriend and I were WWW (webcamming with wine) and this is what happened as a result:

Her showing me some yoga poses because Tom told us we were going to get hunch backs from the way we were sitting. Her screen froze on this pose and it made me laugh soooo hard:


Then I was telling her how dirty my hair is (what riveting conversations!) and that I could pull out strands and they would just stick straight out. And here's exhibit A:


She was telling me to "phone home" after this.

Ok, the room has now warmed up to a balmy 58 degrees so I'm going to attempt a shower and a shampoo! Too bad these heaters aren't waterproof.

How "not" to meet your new neighbors

Tom and I were taking Wrigs for a brisk walk around the neighborhood. Tom thinks it's funny after Wrigs poops to try and lob his poo bag at my head while we're walking. He's hit me with it once before and even though I think it's disgusting and obnoxious, I can't stop laughing while he does it. I'll run several feet ahead and Tom will launch the poo bag high in the air trying to get it to land on my head. He pinged me a couple times in the leg and back and if I'm quick enough I can grab the bag and launch it back at him. I hit him in the chest then he threw it back at me and it wiffed the side of my face. My last launch was solid but he bobbed his head out of the way and the bag soared over the fence into our next door neighbor's yard. Tom is out there right now trying to scoop it up with a rake or pole of some sort.

I hope to God the neighbor's aren't home and don't see him doing this. How do you explain this one?!?

no need for an exterminator

Wrigley gobbles up the carpenter ants.

All I have to do is point and say "ANT!" and away he goes.

It's protein right?

We just returned home from a dinner with friends in town from NYC. It was fun. I much prefer a 10 minute drive home after a night out on the town than a 1.5 hour drive. Benefits of living in the city.

I'm mad at Tom because he organized our hall closet and only put 2 coats in there for me but jammed in 9 for himself!! NOT FAIR!

I have a charity truck coming at 7:30 tomorrow morning and I have to get stuff organized and put into boxes. I really wish I would have done this prior to moving.

Good night!

Celeb Sighting in Seattle

This morning I walked Wrigs to the local coffee/waffle shop up the street and while sipping my coffee in walks Tom Skerritt. Funny how I move outside of LA and have a celeb sighting. On his way out he pet Wrigs and said something sweet to him but I couldn't hear because I was still inside staying warm. I didn't have a chance to snap a photo, which probably wouldn't have turned out great anyway. I'll leave the Paparazzi shots to the Experts.

p.s. We have Carpenter Ants in this house. I fricking LOVE it here!!!!!

An adjustment for all

Is it 9:30 at night or in the morning? I can't f*cking tell.

It's seriously dark, like night time. If I were a bat, this would be glorious.

It's so dark, that I mistook a prescription codeine for my daily vitamin this morning. Woopsie. It's not all bad.

Something is leaking as I type. It could be our washing machine. We just finally got the pipe fixed. It was leaking when we tried to connect the washer. It's now supposed to be fixed but I hear water dripping. Actually it's more like a lightly running faucet. We have no dryer because our dryer is gas and this house has no gas line. So I am currently washing a load of towels and have no idea what the hell I'm going to do to dry them. Can't exactly hang them outside like I used to do back home.

We also have no microwave. I should rephrase that. We have no working microwave. The microwave here is just for looks. I thought the owner of the house was kidding when she told us that. Only the "popcorn" button works. Living without a microwave and a dryer is a royal pain in the ass.

The one I really feel badly for is Wrigley. Due to space constraints the poor guy eats and drinks right next to Chumley's shit box. I couldn't imagine eating my breakfast in the bathroom next to Tom while he's on the crapper. I wish there was some other place I could move his bowls. It's also been a challenge letting Wrigley outside to do his business. The area he has to poop and pee is very small and what has happened on more than one occasion is that he ends up back stepping into his poop and then rushes back into the house smearing it all over the floor and furniture. I went completely ape shit on him and I feel bad because I know it's not his fault but I just really miss the way things used to be.

Some lifestyle adjustments I've made since living here:

I shower about every other day (give or take a day). And I wash my hair twice a week. Our house is way too cold to bathe anymore than that. And shaving my legs is now a thing of the past.

I drink roughly the same amount, I just start earlier in the day. But I end up going to bed earlier so it's not like I'm drinking a whole lot more than I used to.

I wear a hat and scarf at all times in and out of this house. The heat runs constantly but it doesn't seem to warm up at all.

I don't go outside when it's drizzling. I'm already starting to feel like a hermit.

Our neighborhood is really cute, big huge trees, the lake or sound or bay or whatever it's called is just a few blocks away. My sister and I walked around town quite a bit and got lost. We ended up in a not so desirable area. When we finally got out of there and realized where we were, there was my house, just one street away from where that area starts. We will be activating our alarm system this week.

I feel so completely out of my element.

Wrigley for Sale

(pic taken from the garage sale last weekend)

I'm too tired to think, type, inhale/exahale so I thought I'd just post a pic of Wrigs from our garage sale. He wasn't amused. I put stickers on all of us, I was $14.00, my next door neighbors, aged 10 and 7 were $14,000 and Free. I forgot I had my $14.00 price tag on my shirt later in the day when I walked Wrigs around the neighborhood. Got a few offers but no takers.

My brain and body have officially shut down...

How much is that doggie in the garage?

This afternoon Wrigley and I took a short walk around the neighborhood. We stumbled upon a garage sale down the street so of course he wanted to stop in and take a look. Wrigs was very good (i.e. he didn't pick up anything and run like a bat outta hell with it) but when people would greet him he'd wag his tail so hard that he almost knocked over a few lower placed items. He found a cool spot in the garage to lay down (frog legged of course) and was smothered with hugs and kisses from one of the boys who lived there. I left the two of them loving on each other and putzed around to the other side of the garage. There were a few other people milling about and when they saw Wrigley instantly they gushed over him. Then one older woman says, "Oh is he for sale?" I thought that was cute because he just sort of plopped himself right into the middle of the garage so he did in fact look like an item on display. The family hosting the sale said, "No, he's not our dog, just a customer." And then the woman replies, "But he's got a $20 sticker on his tail." I headed over to see what she meant and there stuck to the side of Wrigley's fuzzy tail was a $20 price tag. I tried to pull it off but he kept wagging it non-stop so I just left it on. And now it's a few hours later and it's still there.

I took this with my camera phone so it's not very clear...
WRIGLEY FOR SALE!

The Hungry Hippo

Wrigs and I headed out for our morning walk around the lake and decided to make a pit stop at the coffee shop for a little caffeine pick me up. The place was swamped, the line was out the door and all the outside tables were cramped and filled with people and pets so I thought we'd come back another time. The place is usually crowded on the weekends but then I realized it was Father's Day (shouldn't I be sad about this?) so there was an abundance of Dad's sitting at the tables with their hyperactive children while their wives stood in line to order and treat their husbands to an annual breakfast. The tables were packed so closely together that I didn't think I was going to be able to fit through them with Wrigley. We started to turn the other way when this lady starts clapping and in a sing songy type voice says, "Ohhhh!! Puppy! Puppy! I want to see the puppy!" I turn around and she's looking right at Wrigley, still clapping her hands, and I say, "You mean this guy?" (who's pushing about 90 lbs and is hardly ever mistaken for a puppy.)

So Wrigs and I sort of snake our way between the tables to head over to this overly excited puppy lover. Another family stops us en route and 2 of their kids (probably preschool aged) start hugging his neck and patting his head. He loves the attention and is behaving so well, not jumping up or knocking anyone down, so I tell him he's a good boy. They have another little one in a stroller that is probably 1 maybe?? It didn't have much hair and I honestly couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but this baby person was eating cheerios and chopped up bananas on a tray attached to the stroller that was just about at Wrigley's eye level. Or should I say mouth level because just as we were about to leave he licked up a few cheerios right off the baby's tray. I scolded him and apologized profusely and the family couldn't have been nicer and said "Oh that's ok, we have a Lab at home that does it all the time." By now the 1 year old is cackling and shoving a baby sized fist of smushed bananas into Wrigley's mouth. I wanted to say "He/she is so cute!" But I didn't, instead I just sort of giggled along with them and then pulled Wrigley away. Note to parents: If you have a child who looks unisex, can you please not dress them in green?

We finally make it over to the clapping woman and she just lavishes Wrigley with hugs and kisses. She is letting him lick her face and I'm silently cringing because I can see some chunks of banana goop stuck to the back of his lips. She asks what his name is and when I tell her she says, "Wrrriiiigleeeeey!!!" in a very drawn out high pitched voice which sends him over the edge with excitement. Once anyone says his name he can't control himself and starts to wag and wiggle his entire body. She continues to say his name and then he jumps up and puts his paws on her shoulders and smothers her with more kisses. The woman was probably one of the biggest animal lovers I've ever seen because she is hugging him and telling him that she loves him and they are both sharing a special moment.

I pull Wrigley off this kind woman and tell him that we've got to say goodbye and she reaches down for one last hug and he instantly turns his head towards the table and swipes a piece of toast right off her plate. It's gone in 2 chomps. Again I'm apologizing and the family with the 3 kids are watching and snickering. The woman was also very kind and said that she was done eating anyway so it was no big deal. We say our goodbyes and once we make it through the maze of tables, an older man, probably in his mid 80's says, "He sure is hungry!" So apparently he witnessed Wrigley's eating frenzy from afar. Gotta love the animal lovers!

Tom and another Blond

Just a typical day, driving from one errand to the next, when all of the sudden I think I spot my husband's car up ahead.
I speed up to get closer and realize, Yep that's definitely him. But wait a second...I don't think he's alone. It looks like he's got some blond in the car with him!
So I high tail it up alongside him and by golly I was right! He and this gorgeous blond are toolin' around town together. Look at the two of them - smiling and laughing, having a ball.
Well...two can play at this game. "Chumley?? Want to go for a ride?"

Then there's this guy

who is the total opposite of Chum. Wrigley could not be more sweet and loving in the morning.

Sometimes we let him come up in bed with us. You'd think this was an everyday routine because he instantly plops his head on the pillow and wants to sleep. He'll put his paw on my neck and will keep nudging me until I rub his elbows. He loves his elbows rubbed. You can see in this photo he has bedroom eyes. He's such a lover boy.

Wrigley McButter

This is what is settling in my dog's stomach right now. He ate the butter (still wrapped in paper) right off the counter when I went to take the trash outside. When I came back into the kitchen he would side glance at me and avoid direct eye contact while he kept licking his lips and swallowing. At first I didn't realize what he had gotten into but then when I got my toast out of the world's greatest toaster I discovered the butter was missing. I quickly searched online and not surprisingly many other dogs have consumed sticks of butter (and much worse!). I was to expect an explosion of runny diarrhea and perhaps some vomiting. What fun! I took him outside and watched for about an hour and nothing. Now we're back inside and another hour has passed and so has a LOT of gas. I'm thinking the butter is making it's way through his intestinal tract as I type. I think he has a bit of a tummy ache because he's breathing kind of heavy and I can hear some gurgles and squeaks coming from his belly. But I don't doubt if given the opportunity, he'd do it all over again!