STOP: Puppytime!

So, I have been very blog neglectful all week.  I have several hundred unread blogposts in my reader, comments I haven't responded to, and I'm getting sick.  It's just been a really hectic week and I'm getting ready to flit away to see my newest niece (and my sibs and I haven't been together at the same time in over 5 years!).

But one of the things that completely distracted me was a sweet little puppy, who had chewed through a leash and escaped her home!  She had no tags or microchip, so really, we were fostering her with intent to find her a loving new home.  But last night, her family found a sign, and there was a joyful (if slightly bittersweet, for me) reunion!  But we have lot of pictures and videos, cause she was SO flipping adorable.

Hi, I'm cute and friendly and kind of lost, LOVE ME.

I'm Batman! Seriously, her ears are insane.  So expressive.

Doggie huddle.

She did totally awesome in the crate! 
She still likes to puppy chew and was really not housebroken, so sleep was crated.

5 minute refresher nap. I had forgotten how energetic puppies are.

Then play!  Mika's ball is getting a lot of action these days.

Then Sleeeeeep.

Then, to mix it up: chewing.

Puppy copies Blue.  Blue was totally over the whole puppy thing. 
And really got crotchety about sharing her toys.

She was just such a pretty pretty sweet puppy.  We shall miss her, but she's back with her family!

As a side note: Please make sure your pets are tagged and MICROCHIPPED!  Microchipping is cheap and it means if your pet gets out without a collar, animal control or a vet can scan them and get them back to you.  One of the first things we did was take her to a vet to see if she was chipped.  Please please please, give your beloved companions the best shot possible to come home to you!

Ohhh, I'm a favorite thing!

Thanks to Sunshine and Chaucer for picking me (and my Vday skull and rose door).  I know I should find joy in myself blahblahblah, but honestly?  It feels super nice when someone likes what I'm doing.  When people comment and say nice things about me, it makes my cold, black heart swell three times it's size.

Thrift Store Scores!

So, last weekend, we went thrifting.  Well, we only went to one thrift store, and then checked out some of the insane pawn shops near us that we've always mean to check out, but never do.

I admit, I tend to stay away from pawn shops cause I imagine them populated entirely by tears and stolen goods.  What I discovered was that it's not just tears and hot goods, but also practically retail priced!  I was kind of surprised just how expensive some stuff was.  The video games were often more expensive than if I ordered them from Amazon.  They did have a small camping toilet for just $20. While I can get with reusing and thrifting almost anything, it turns out I have a boundary.  A butt-based boundary. No panties, no toilets.  I'm gonna price a few tools, but with the possible exception of the wet tile cutter, I suspect I'll stick with goods of known provenience.

But I totally scored at the thrift store!  For your viewing pleasure:

Big ole mirrow! Only $5.98! 
I had to corral panties in the hallway to take this picture.The things I do for this blog.
My current plan is to paint this an aqua/teal blue.  I think it's going to live in the hallway,
but it might also go in my very orange dining room.  I might also end up embellishing the frame,
or at least adding to it's silhouette.

Brass sconces. $1.19 ea.
Either a coat of spray paint or hitting it with brasso and trying to deplate it to a silver color. 
The candle holder parts are also sort of removable, so these might become
trays rather than sconces.  I keep wanting to type "scones".  MMMM baked goods.

Silver trays.  .69/.99 The circle is actually fairly heavy weight and in good shape.  The oval that I apparently failed to take a picture of is a little lighter weight and dinged up. The circle I dunno, but seriously, 69 cents? You knew I was gonna buy that mess.  The oval I'm considering turning into a chalkboard.

3 glass trays!  My pricey pieces at 1.98 ea.  I'm not sure what era they are but...

...I'm really hoping that's an ashtray and not a utensil rest.  Because seriously, that's funny.

And not a thrift store find, but how I like to close picture posts, my dog!

Blue edging into classic J dog position. 
Her thought bubble: Why do all of my naps get interrupted by bright lights?

Linkups:

Meta: My first spam comment! And some pictures

Ok, it's totally silly, but I'm actually kind of excited...I got my very first spam comment!

Not to mention, I'd set some goals for my blogging, and they've been kind of blow out of the water for the quarter, let alone the month already!  Guess I was aiming really low.  Now the rest of the month is about making killer posts about awesome stuff and beating December's page views.

So this post isn't totally pointless and silly, and to kill time until I can share my exciting personal news with the world, some photos!

Blue and I doing some of our favorite things. 
Also, don't judge, this is a work in progress people.

3 out of 4 dogs!  Why isn't Mika in this shot?  Too big to fit in the frame!

Mika and Blue getting to know each other's assholes.  I might have been
snorting Xanax at this point, because doggie intros stress me out.

I love that Blue and Emma will not only share a couch, but finally actually
sit near each other.  Major breakthrough!  Oh, btw, Blue (far left) is the
only dog that actually lives with me.

We might have played dress up with Mika.  In our defense, it was really cold out.

S. got artsy with the candle shot!

The Great Raccoon Incident and/or Debacle

Poor little guy, just wanted to get away from us.

So, a few years, back, let's say mid-May 2008, we had what we call 'The Great Raccoon Incident'.

There was a night time tangling, and the next day, I sent this email out to my neighborhood listserv:

Hello All,
We were foolish enough to leave our door open last night (a mistake that we feel pretty schooled on right now), and we had a nocturnal visitor.  Sadly, our dog noticed first, and tangled with said beastie.

I do not recommend separating dog/raccoon pairing while naked and sleepy.

The raccoon cornered itself under some furniture, and after some wishy/washyness, I called 911 b/c I have to admit, I have NO IDEA if angry, hurt beast is considered an emergency.  Big shout out to Stephanie at 911, who had the most soothing voice ever, and got animal control for us.  And Chris from animal control, who despite getting roused from bed was cheerful about the whole thing.

Unfortunately, by the time Chris arrived, the raccoon ran out the back.  I say unfortunately because even thought I was pretty happy to have it out of the house, it was clearly injured from the fight.  And since they don't have the raccoon, we're taking our dog in for a rabies booster.

Anyway, long story even longer: If you see an injured raccoon in the neighborhood, please call animal control.  If it's injuries were worse than we realized, and you find it's body, please call animal control rather than disposing of it yourself, as I'd like to have it tested for rabies.

Oh, and if you are silly like us: close your doors and doggie doors at night!

Thanks!
 A&S
{our address} 

Blue with a party hat, getting a rabies booster.

A friend kindly pointed out that I had told everyone:

1. We sleep naked
2. We didn't just have our back door unlocked, but wide open
3. Our address

Like this, only silver
and way less intimidating.

Of course, not included in the story was the fact that S. was doped up on Nyquil and basically useless, that when the ungodly yowling of Blue and the raccoon 'rasslin woke us up, my first instinct to protect us was to shriek and then grab something.  That 'something' ended up being a small djembe drum.  Have you ever tried to wield one as a weapon?  Not recommended.

In fact, we stood there, me with drum in hand, S. mostly just bearing extreme befuddlement, and watched the two animals knock into the kitchen door and it slowly slam shut.  Blocking the egress.  S.  did manage to get a hold of Blue and pull her off the raccoon.  But it was a total stand off.  S. holding a very riled up dog, me with my drum, the raccoon with a serious case of crazy eyes and no way out.

The raccoon dashed away from the kitchen, and under some furniture in the dining room.  I had no idea the horrifying noises that raccoons make.   We threw open the kitchen door, and created a blocking tunnel of  boxes to try and convince the raccoon to flee.  Which, of course, it only did about 5 mins before animal control showed up.

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