Wishing You A Yule That's Cool!

I thought I'd share our Christmas card with you all today. I got the idea for the card, based on the immortal words of Louis Armstrong, last year while I was listening to Christmas carols.

Less-Wordy Wednesday: A Prickly Heart & A Pup

In Monday's post I mentioned we went hiking last week in red-rock country (Sedona to be exact). On one of our hikes, I noticed a heart-shaped cactus...

Darling Pigs & Dirty Paws

We took Rita on a little hiking vacation last week.

On one hike, we saw three javelina, which, according to Wikipedia, are also called peccaries or "skunk pigs". They were super cute, and Rita was pretty excited about the bit of piggy mischief!

A Bear, a "Book Gram," and #12DaysofKolsNotes

A while back, I wrote about the one bear in my mom's collection that was "Rita's" - she would run and snag it every time we went to Mom's because she knew she was allowed to play with it.

Wordless Wednesday: She Just Wakes Up This Way

Why do people say someone's a "dog" if they think that person's unattractive? Makes no sense. Dogs are gorgeous!

I mean, siriusly. No makeup, no hair product. No weird sheet creases across her face. She just wakes up this beautiful!

A Moveable Feast With a Side of Mischief

I hope all of you in the States had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was very nice, if a bit complicated logistically.

Because my mom is in rehab (following a hospital visit, not for drug abuse!) about 75 minutes away and could only get sprung for 4 hours, we had to have a "moveable feast," which included Rita of course... and some mischief on her part.

Monday Mischief: Grooming on the Go

Rita is apparently blowing her summer undercoat out at the moment. She normally sheds a good bit all year long, but now it's just nutty. There are little clumps of fur coming out on her haunches and butt.

It's not her favorite thing to get brushed, so the dog-daddy has been trying to sneak a little brushing in here and there each time she stops on a walk to sniff or eat grass.

"Stop brushing me and let me graze!"

Wordless Wed. - When You Ask the Dogs If They're Ready

READY??

They look ready to me!

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Thank you for letting me be wordy! You can check out all the blogs in the hop here.

Works On The Dog-Daddy Every Time!

Pretty much all Rita has to do to get a treat out of the hubs is to stand there with her head in the pantry where we store the treats.

Okay, The Dog Snuggles Sometimes

Last week, I said Rita's not huge on cuddling, but my sis reminded me of this other sweet photo of Rita and Reg almost having a cuddle a previous time that Reg stayed with us:

What Does the Dog Think When You're Sick?

I've had a terrible cold for almost a week now - the worst cold I've had in a while. Rita has been very sympathetic. And very interested in my chicken soup lunches. (Actually, maybe she wasn't sympathetic. Maybe she was thinking, "She's in a weakened state. I can probably take her and score that chicken soup!)

Speaking of Nuttiness... Cuddles & Close Ups

In my last post, I wrote about "nuttiness triggers." Today we have more nuttiness! I finally got around to pulling pics off my big camera, and I found these pics of Reggie's recent stay that I'd forgotten about.

Rita was minding her own biz in her usual spot on the couch in my office. 

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!

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

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!

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!"