Wordless Wednesday: Beam Me Up

Rita met her first cat.

This is my sister's cat, Topi. He's very sweet. I think this pic looks like he's going to put a tractor beam on me and beam me up. (Either that or use some sort of death ray to blast Rita to smithereens...)

Monday Mischief: Rita's Valentine

I saw on the news today that the National Retail Federation estimates that American's will spend $850 million on their pets this Valentine's Day. Just for fun, I looked up what the NRF estimated last year for pet spending and it was a mere $562M. Holy Woof, that's  BIG jump - more than a 50% increase (63% to be exact).

Since I spent zero on Rita last year for Valentine's Day, I guess I'll spend 63% more on her this year too. Yep, still zero.

But don't worry, Rita has her very own Valentine, Rocket, and he looks out for her on Valentine's Day. Last year he sent her this fine monkey hat:

And you can see how much she loved it!

Mirth Watch Thursday: Does Your Pup Want Roadside Assistance?

With it being that huge all-American sporting event this past Sunday that SO many people tuned in to watch, I figured I better do a post about it. That's right - I'm talking about Puppy Bowl. Did you watch?

I confess we watched the Super Bowl (which was finally a good game for once, blackouts not withstanding) and DVR'd the Puppy Bowl. Although I have to give it to the Super Bowl for being a little more exciting in the 4th quarter, I preferred the Puppy Bowl MVP:

Wordless Wednesday: Just Bee(s)

Today, instead of our usual photo(s) for Wordless Wednesday, I've got a video. A dogless video, though. Sorry...(come back tomorrow for doggy video goodness).

You can't actually see the main subject, but hopefully you can hear them:

That's the tree in our front yard. When the hubs went out to get the paper on Saturday morning, he came back in and said, "Come look at this tree." I said, "It's lovely. I can see it through the window." "No, I mean, come listen to this tree." It was actually a wee bit scary, since I've seen swarms of bees flying over the house before - as pictured below:

This is actually taken from inside - I'm not out there w/ them. Thank heaven!

I had JUST come in the house and closed the back sliding glass door, which had previously been standing wide open. I almost had a houseful of unwanted visitors. I like bees, but nobody likes unannounced visitors. (Do they?) Luckily on Saturday, they happily stayed in the tree all day and never tried to come in.

(As usual - I intended to be wordless, but that didn't happen... Maybe next time.)

Happy slightly-less-wordy Wednesday!

Monday Mischief: The Case of the Missing Bone

Rita's Nylabone had been missing for weeks.

This is said bone:

Rita's well-loved Nylabone

Mirth Watch Thursday: What Dog Are You?

Today's post is not so much "mirthful" as just plain fun. Dogster.com has posted a quiz where you can find out What Dog Breed Are You? Just click on the link and go through the 10 or so questions. (Note that they do ask for your email at the end, but swear they won't give it out. I have an email I use for this sorta thing...)

Some of the questions, at least in my twisted mind, don't have exactly the right answer option available, but just pick the closest one. I was surprised how accurate this test seemed to be!

For example, here's are a couple of the questions:

It's finally Friday after a long, hard week of work. Time for Yappy Hour with friends. Your order is:

Water. I’m hydrating. I’ve got a trail run tomorrow.

Gimme your top-shelf vodka. Rocks.

Lime and salt me. I'll have a tequila.

What beers do you have on tap?

A glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Pretty and pink. A Cosmo.

Coke please. I'm keeping my wits about me tonight.

My answer would really be a margarita, which is close but at the same time very different from a shot of tequila (!), so I went with a cosmo. The "pretty and pink" part worried me. I figured they'd decide I was a white fluffy purse-dog with a big pink bow. (Not that there's anything wrong with that... That's just not me.)

Here's another:

You're invited to a Howloween party, costume required. You:

Rent a get-up that isn’t too silly or embarrassing.

Pull an all-nighter on the eve of the party and make your costume—a masterpiece if you do say so yourself.

Throw together a last-minute outfit, knowing people will dig it no matter what.

Show up as a glittery, feather boa-wearing version of yourself.

Pull out your trusty flight attendant or scout leader costume. Heck, everyone loved it last year.

I would never pull an all-nighter. I'm way too organized for that. (I thought my organizational skills would mean I would end up being a Border Collie.) I chose the 2nd option, because I would make my costume - and it would be a masterpiece, IIDSSM. I would make it weeks in advance though. And then, the night of the party, I'd realize I'd rather stay home in my PJs and come down with a "headache" and be unable to attend.

If you are fairly anti-social, like me, you might find several of the questions don't have exactly the answer option you're looking for - but just go with the closest.

Okay - so, here's me:

I never would have thought "German Shepherd" for me. I think of them as very self-assured and fairly bad-assed. (Things I am not...) And the "likely professions" they list couldn't be further from my sit-in-front-of-a-computer-all-day ways, BUT... here is the description they give of a German Shepherd-type (emphasis is theirs):

German Shepherd

The Perfectionist
Doggedly dedicated to getting the job done, you don't let silly little distractions get in the way of putting in a full day's work. And after you come home, chowing down on a little grub and taking a little catnap is all it takes to get you up and at 'em for round two, whatever that may entail. Your dogma emphasizes the importance of hard work, and you swim laps around your dog-paddling, time-wasting co-workers. Your cleverness leads to you often being entrusted with some pretty important tasks, which you are always more than happy to sink your canines into. You really dig being outdoors and love a bit of exercise, but you draw the line at the ridiculous stuff, choosing a game of beach volleyball over Pilates in the park any day.

Wow, yes. That's me for sure. I'm a total perfectionist and I do work hard and dig being outdoors. And have never done Pilates (although I'd chose a hike, not beach volleyball).

And this part: you swim laps around your dog-paddling, time-wasting co-workers really kills me. I don't want to slag off my former co-workers, but, just as an example, when I had a "real office job" my Indian name was: Works With Idiots. (The hub's was Swims With Squids. But that's another story...)

Since Rita is part German Shepherd, I guess that's why we get along so well!

Anyway - take the test! Let me know what you are!

Wordless Wednesday: The Never-ending Deck Story

Remember way back in October when I posted the beginning "rubble"-stage photo of our backyard reno? At that time, we thought the project would be done by Christmas. At this point, I'd be happy if it was done by Valentine's Day. Sigh.

Anyway, at least we have boards on the deck now, so Rita can sun herself when the workers aren't there (standing around, gabbing). As you can see in the photo, the edging isn't done yet, and we still have no steps. Some day....

Maybe by the summer I'll have "after" pictures to share! (All I can say is, thank heaven it's a fixed cost contract and not "time and materials"!)

Happy (mostly) Wordless Wednesday!