November 1, 2015

The Dog's Nuttiness Trigger

Does your dog have a "nuttiness trigger"? You know... where one minute they're just walking along like a normal pooch, and then they hit that trigger and suddenly they're romping and bouncing and running like a nut??

With Rita it's getting her feet wet. When we're out on a walk and she walks through a puddle, we yell "Wet feet!" and she starts spazzing out. She often suddenly takes off running, dragging me behind.

With our angel Bailey it was "loose dirt." Don't ask me why.
Angel Bailey
We'd be on a hike and Bailey would just be trooping along on the packed dirt trail, and suddenly we'd hit an odd patch of sand or soft, loose dirt, and she'd turn into an absolute banana. We'd always yell, "Loose dirt!"

To this day, we still yell, "Loose dirt!" every time we hit a patch of sand on a hike, and up until today, Rita has just looked back at us like we're crazy.

But today, for some reason she channeled her angel sister and had a little spazz attack when she hit a big patch of sand on our hiking trail.

She immediately started digging furiously...

... she bounced around to try from another angle...
She's just a blur here!
...and grabbed a stick to try and bury.

Our little nut job. What a goofball. She reminded us so much of our Bailey today.
Love the splayed toes and the dirt all over her nose.
Is there anything similar that makes your dog get all nutty?

Thanks to My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief! Visit My Brown Newfies to see the other blogs in the hop!



October 27, 2015

An Introvert Comes Out of the Cave

Yesterday you might have seen a post I shared on Facebook. It was an essay I wrote on "6 Marketing Tips for Introverts" posted on the We Heart Writing site.

Well, sometimes it's good for introverts to come out of the writing cave and network with other writers, so that's what I did TWICE this weekend. (Okay, that's big for me! Twice, people. I put on makeup and everything.)

First of all, on Friday I met up with my local writing pals, Liz Fenton (of Liz & Lisa fame) and Dee DeTarsio. We always have a lot of fun when we get together.
Liz, me & Dee. Photo courtesy of the gorgeous Dee DeTarsio

October 25, 2015

An Impromptu Take-Your-Dog-to-Work Day

Recently the Dog-Daddy had to go in to the office to pick up a report on the weekend, so we took Rita along with us for a little Take-Your-Dog-to-Work Day. Since she doesn't always like strange men, it's best to go on a day when no one else will be there, rather than on the real TYDtW Day!

She had a good time checking out where the heck Daddy goes for such long stretches of time every weekday!

October 20, 2015

A Book's Birthday - In Pictures

I thought I'd share with y'all some of the highlights of today, my new book's birthday, and let you know what Pub Day is like!

To start your book's birthday, you wake up all excited that your book is out. But your dog is all like "Whatever. Can we play? Can we go for a walk? Let's do SOMETHING!"
"Whatevs, Momma!"

October 18, 2015

Attention Walmart Shoppers: A Giveaway! #GetHouseTrained

Tuesday is the big day - the official launch of HOUSE TRAINED! (Eeek!)

Apparently it's already on some shelves though at Walmart, because Rebekah from My Rotten Dogs sent me this:
Photo credit: Rebekah, My Rotten Dogs

October 13, 2015

Me at Parties. Yes, I'm *That* Person

This weekend we had a party for my mom's 90th (!) birthday. Her kids (all 6 of us!), most of her grandkids (only 1 was missing), and one great-grandkid were there. Also two sets of neighbors that we lived by for years when I was growing up were there.

And do you want to see the only pics I took? There's this one of my "great-nephew", Frank, gettin' some lovin' from the hubs:

October 11, 2015

The Trees Say "Fall"; The Thermometer... Not So Much

We've been having what the weatherman calls "unseasonably warm" weather in San Diego recently. (I would call it "grossly hot." Or another phrase that would need censoring.) It was in the 90s on Saturday, even here at the coast, so we had to cut our usual morning walk pretty short.
Ice cubes in the water bottle keeps us both cooler!