Ten on...eh, whatever.

1. Christmas is one week away and I have...let's see...NONE of my shopping done. Wait, that's not entirely true, Brandon has his gifts...but he bought those himself. I tell myself that I work best under pressure, when in reality, I'm not sure I know how else to work. Guess we know what I'll be doing this weekend.

2. Brandon and I drove one of our shelter transports to New Hampshire last weekend. We made it all the way to Knoxville on Friday before finding out that NH had its worst ice storm in 30 years the night before. That added a bit of excitement to the trip...along with that nervous tic I developed back in "Winter Storm '93". We ran into a bit of heavy snow overnight Friday night in Pennsylvania, but by the time we arrived in NH Saturday morning, the roads were perfectly fine. That's certainly NOT to say it had warmed up.

In case you can't make out the temperature gauge on the dash display...it was 19*. At almost 11am. When we were unloading 33 dogs. Oh and pay no attention to the fact that Brandon was driving 80mph...the roads really were clear...I promise!

The scenery was beautiful, but dear GOD it was cold!

3. In addition to the 33 shelter dogs we transported, we also placed our last foster puppy Laverne with a great family out of Connecticut. Laverne is currently learning all about snow...and with another storm predicted for her area tomorrow, she should be getting her fill!

4. We also had the bright idea to add an extra night on to the transport, to make a little vacation out of it. Neither of us had ever been to Washington, DC so Saturday we drove south to Maryland and stayed just outside of the city. We spent Sunday BOOKING it around the National Mall! Of course that was after almost an hour of trying to figure out where to park the gigantic van we were driving. Finally, a police officer pointed out (after several others blew us off) that meter parking on weekends is unrestricted. How's THIS for a parking spot??



5. We had decided beforehand a few things we wanted to see: the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. That would have been a LOT to do in an average day, much less one in which 36 of the prior 48 hours had been spent driving.

The Washington Monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial:

A small part of the WWII Memorial:

The Korean War Memorial:


The Vietnam Memorial. God there were a LOT of names on that wall:



6. I mentioned a post or two ago about a HUGE Wally announcement...and I'm getting pretty damn impatient. The "announcement" was supposed to be available this week, but I've yet to find it. I'm thisclose to losing it on the next Books-a-Million employee who tells me I don't know what I'm talking about!!


7. We had two great weekends of Santa Paws photos and raised just over $700! I took Ralphie since this is his first "real" Christmas. He was NOT impressed with Santa. At all.



Sorry Santa, I'm outta here!



8. We also had an amazing flyball tournament the first weekend of December - all the proceeds were dontated to animal rescue groups/shelters and we raised $4,950!!

9. We found out last week that my brother's 11yo dog Maxine has bladder cancer. I'm not even close to ready to discuss it...I'm heartbroken. She's the sweetest gal ever.

10. Daisy is a 1yo Lab-mix who really, really, really needs your help - check out her FirstGiving page at: http://www.firstgiving.com/help4daisy

Ten on Tuesday

1. It's beyond me why anyone likes puppies. Laverne is wearing my ass out. And she has a fetish for toilet paper. We've lost at least three rolls now - they were turned into confetti by her little needle teeth.

2. It's beyond me why anyone like Labs younger than 5yo. Riley (the Lab formerly known as Motley - long story) is wearing my ass out. Are you noticing a theme here? He's 2yo and while he does crate well (thank GOD!) he never. sits. still. And the amount of poop put out by an 85lb dog...yikes!

3. Speaking of Riley, I've had to add yet another vet clinic to my "You'll never see another red cent of mine" list. Really...what is it about me and heartworm treatments that makes clinics want to hassel me? There was a mix-up on THEIR end and they were quite ugly to ME about it. In the end they apologized to my rescue director (never bothered to call and apologize to ME) and I'm the one who gets to pick Riley up tomorrow. Yeah, that'll be fun. I'm sure they're looking forward to my coming back in. And rightfully so. I'm not as docile as I used to be.

4. We're getting cable AND high-speed internet at home tomorrow. Yes, I realize it's almost 2009, but we gave up our cable more than five years ago. Honestly, I couldn't care less about having either, but Brandon is tired of living in the dark ages of local channels and dial-up internet.

5. We have an incredible flyball tournament coming up this weekend in Talladega - 43 teams!! That's twice as many as usual and all the profits from the weekend will go to two animal rescue charities!

6. One of our usual "awards" is a big MilkBone decorated with almond bark and sprinkles. Since I can do those at home on my own time, I'm usually the one making up all the bones. 43 teams x 6 dogs per team x 2 days = 516 freaking bones to make!! I started Saturday afternoon during THE ballgame and was able to knock out 100...so only 416 to go. Oy.

7. THE ballgame. What can I really say about THE ballgame. THE team. THE coach. THE #1 ranking in THE nation. That's all I'll say for now...because THE thought of the second game coming up this Saturday is sort of making my stomach hurt.

8. Christmas cards...do I even attempt photo cards or just suck it up and buy the boxed version again?

9. A new picture of Lula, the little gal we found on the interstate in Gadsden a few weeks ago. She's hoping for a home for the holidays!

10. Great...Brandon just called to tell me that he found a dead mouse in our attic when he was pulling the Christmas decorations down. Not only do I not LIKE mice, I can only imagine what my dogs would do if they saw one in the house! Remember the scene in Christmas Vacation (fabulous movie by the way!) with the squirrel and the Rottweiler named Snot? Yeah...that's what I envision.