Road Trip! SD to SD

As I mentioned last week, my siblings, my one sis-in-law, and I all met up in Oacoma, South Dakota to bury my mom beside my dad's ashes. Two of my sisters and I drove - from San Diego to South Dakota - in two days, which seemed like a bad idea on the start of day two, but we had a lot of stuff to bring!

On the whole trip, this was the only dog I got to love on - a carved wooden dog.

Pretty Sure The Dog Thought I Adandoned Her

I was away last week on a road trip with two of my sisters.

Beautiful weather for a road trip!

Who's The Top Dog?

Birthday Donations Update: I wanted to thank everyone who wished Rita a happy birthday the other day. I'd said I'd donate $1 to Baja Animal Sanctuary (where Rita came from) for every comment. Well, I decided to include my replies to everyone's comments, which put the tally at 98. Woot! I rounded up to $100 and sent a check off to BAS, so thanks everypawdy!

Now back to our regularly scheduled post...

Frequent readers will remember Rita's cousin Reggie came to stay with us for two weeks last month.

While organizing the gazillion photos I took while he was here, I noticed these two similar shots from different days:

"Scout"ing Out Some Fun Over The Fourth

Hope all our American readers had a lovely long weekend! And hope your pups weren't too upset about the fireworks!

A patriotic pup with red, white, and blue flowers

Dog On A Log In The Fog, Post-Jog

Okay, not really "foggy" but "marine layer" doesn't rhyme.

Are you impressed with my wordlessness?!

Can you come up with more "og" words? I'm all agog to see if you can!

Wish Rita a Happy Bday; Help a Dog in Need!

Last Thursday* was Rita's fifth birthday. To celebrate, for every person who comments wishing her a happy birthday we'll donate $1** to Baja Animal Sanctuary, the rescue in Mexico where we got Rita.

We've been celebrating Rita's b-day all week, culminating with today's donation-fest. It's what my friends and I always call a "Hanukkah Birthday." (What would be really great would be a "Ramadan Birthday"!) Hmmm. Just remembered Hanukkah is 8 days, and we're only celebrating Rita for 7 days. Guess this is technically her "Hanukkah -1 Birthday."

On her actual bday, we went to the beach:

What's On The Telly? Dog Don't Care; He Watches It All

As you know, Reg stayed with us for two weeks recently.

Man, that dog watches a lot of TV! He loves everything - dramas, dancing, sports, cartoons, the news... even commercials.

Here he is watching Peaky Blinders. Not sure if he could understand their heavy Irish accents or not. We certainly can't, so we turn on the captions, so maybe he was paying such close attention because he had to read along like we do.

The Opposite of Bitey-Face

Last week I shared a lot of bitey-face photos, which is mostly what's been going on around here since Reg came to stay with us for two weeks. This week I thought I'd share the opposite of bitey-face: the much-less-often-captured-but-just-as-cute Snuggle Sessions. (Note: sessions are generally brief since Rita ain't much of a snuggler.)

This is Rita's spot on the sofa - the corner of it beside me. Reg would often insert himself between the two of us. Here he is, resting his head on Rita's haunch. (Say it with me: "Awwww.")

Wordless Wednesday: Bitey-Face-Palooza!

Reggie is here! We're dog sitting him while his pawrents are away for 2 weeks.

Pics To Make You Wanna Go To Maui. Like, Now.

Last week I told you about Rita's adventures at the gulag spa while the hubs and I were in Maui. Today I thought I'd share some pics from our trip.

We love Maui and have been several times as it's a not-tooooo-long, non-stop flight from San Diego. And it's so relaxing there!

Here is the view from the lanai at the condo we rented. (If the view alone doesn't make you relax, doesn't the word lanai? So much more serene sounding than balcony.)

We're Worriers. So, Yeah, We Asked for Proof of Life

I took a blogging break last week because we went to Maui for vacation. If we go somewhere that Rita can't join us, she stays with my sis, brother-in-law, and Reggie. She loves them all and they take great care of her, so we have no worries.

Except when we do worry... Which is often for me.

I can't help it - I've always been a worrier and I always will be one. I have this very terrible habit of always imagining the worst - not because I really think that's going to happen, but because I have to let my mind go there for a minute, just to see what the "worst" might be.

So, off we went last Saturday to Maui, secure in the knowledge that Rita would be well taken care of. I snapped this pic as we were leaving. As you can see, Rita looks completely unconcerned about this!

"Oh, you're leaving? Oh. Okay. Whatevs. See ya'!"

Making Our Walking Routine Less Routine

I/we take Rita for a walk pretty much every single morning. We have a lovely 'hood, with lots of different routes that we can take, but still... sometimes you need a change.

So, lately - maybe once every other week - Rita and I hop in the car and drive down to the next 'hood. It's fun because Rita gets to sniff new things, and I get to see new things. (And, since I started running again recently, it's especially good since it's flat, while our 'hood is super hilly!)

Sometimes I find pretty new places to pose Rita...

The Fur Flew, But Everyone Was Happy

Rita doesn't like to get brushed. (I don't understand why. The Kong "Zoom Groom" we use looks as if it would feel like a massage. Plus you end up cooler and lighter afterward. What's not to like??)

Sometimes the hubs brings the brush along on walks, so he can quickly sneak in two or three strokes when she stops to sniff something. But this weekend, she was completely distracted by a lizard in the bushes, so he went to work on her!

Zen Dog

Last year, I gave the hubs this zen dog:

Why I Do Laundry When It Rains

Last Friday, it rained all day. And I spent most of the day doing laundry. It took me a while to remember why I'm so conditioned to think rain = laundry: It's because we lived in Bermuda for 7 years.

Did I ever tell y'all that? I don't think I did, so today I'll share a little bit about Bermuda life. Don't worry - there will be dog pics. (Apologies though: I didn't have a great camera back then, and the images here are snapped with my phone from my photo album. There are some lovely photos of Bermuda on their tourism Pinterest page.)

There are many interesting things about Bermuda, but today I'm focusing on the roofs. Yes, the roofs. They're very pretty - a nice, crisp white, which looks lovely against the greenery of the island and the bright colors of the houses themselves.

Pastel-colored house, white roof, lush landscape? Yep, that's Bermuda!

A Doggy and a Foggy Beach

Certain beaches here in San Diego let you bring your leashed dog in the morning or early evening. Because we are lazy (that includes Rita!) we often don't get up early enough to get to the beach and still have plenty of time for a good walk, but today we managed to get up and at 'em early.

It was really foggy today so I thought about skipping it, but we went for it.

A Dog Named Trixie

If you've been around the blog a while, you know my mom passed away in December. While going through her things, my one sister found 9 letters that my dad had sent to his parents during WWII.

Spring Roll

Sorry this is a bit blurry, but you get the idea...

It Didn't Change My Life, But It Does Spark Joy

I confess, I haven't been writing lately. I've got a book over half done, but it doesn't "spark joy" at the moment.

So, what have I been doing? Well, I spent weeks "Kondo'ing" my house.

My Kondo'd T-shirts

Does Your Dog Have Friends?

Rita has two good friends, Reg...

Wordless Wednesday: Surf's Up

We've had a lot of wind and some choppy surf here in San Diego lately.