Thoughts from the Dapper Dachshund

Hey everyone. It's me, Oscar. My mom said that I could start posting a few thoughts that I have. As you can see, I got a new toy today. I was really, really excited when mom let me get it out of the shopping bag. I love to do that! What I don't like is when mom tries to take my new toy away. I can't believe that she fusses at me for doing what I am supposed to do. Seek and destroy that annoying squeaker thing. I make it my mission to find and remove that and any stuffing from the toy. And I must say that I am pretty good at it. I already ate the body off this dangerous frog in about two minutes with my razor sharp teeth. GRRR! That frog didn't want to mess with me. Now I am guarding it with my life by laying on top of it while I dictate my thoughts to mom to write down for me. She is sooo annoying. How dare she try to take my toy away!

Anyways, I guess that today has been a decent day. If only those stupid puppies would leave me alone. They wake me up at the crack of dawn. Don't they know that I sleep until at least 10:30 and get up when I am ready to? I don't need both of those mutts jumping on me and chewing on my ear first thing and sticking their whole muzzle in my mouth when I yawn.  I feel bad about having to growl at them, but I am what I am....a grumpy old man. They should respect their elders. But revenge is mine! They got locked up while mom went to check on Aunt Nicole at the hospital, so I got plenty of couch/sleep time ALL to myself. I walked by their gate just to taunt them. I even give them my best Hannibal Lector impression. "Don't get to close to the glass, Clarise" it's pretty hilarious! But at the end of the day, I guess I do like them just a little. Especially that little Oscar Junior. He is a lot like me. He likes to snuggle with me under the blanket, so I guess I can tolerate him.

Uh-oh...gotta run. I hear someone outside. Got to get back to my guarding duties!!

It was that UPS guy. Man do I hate him!! I gave him a few of my best barks and he ran away. Ok, now I am exhausted. Gotta go rest for a few hours!


Oscar

Picture Perfect

In a few days I will have a new "hobby" of sorts. I finally broke down and bought a new camera. I wanted to get one at Christmas, but Joseph and I decided to wait until we had a better reason to get one. (aka kids) But sometimes decisions can be changed! I guess I got the jolt to finally buy it after being surrounded by 15+ cameras this past Sunday. My friend, Ursula Page, (http://www.ursulapagephotography.com/) who took some photographs of us with our three dogs this past October contacted me and asked if me and Joseph would be willing to be the models for a get-together of local photographers. We were the bride and groom couple, so it was fun having a reason to put my dress back on and get dressed up. Joseph wasn't as thrilled, but he loves me and thankfully would do just about anything for me (and he did!). Hopefully I will have some pictures soon to show from the shoot.

Anyways, back to the camera. I am super excited about it. I have always hated taking pictures with my point and shoot digital camera, because let's face it, they just don't take the kind of photos that I like to see. So I purchased this:

Nikon D90 Camera

I have been eyeing this camera for months now. I also purchased this while I was at it:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF lens

There are some more lenses that I want, but those will have to wait, since they are a bit more expensive. But I figured that this lens would get me started and I can get some practice in before I go all out lens-crazy!!

So now that I will have a new toy, maybe it will motivate me to blog a little bit more often, since I will have some beautiful photos to share!! Happy shooting!

A Little Bit of Everything

I know, I said I was going to do better about blogging. I just never think about it now that I'm not stuck in front of a computer all day!! A few weeks ago, we got a little bit of snow right here in Thomasville. It wasn't a whole bunch, but it was enough to make this Florida girl happy!

It was too bad that it started really snowing just before dark, so the pictures didn't turn out too well. JR and Brutus got to go out and experience the snow. Oscar, in typical fashion, refused to go outside in the wet and cold and chose to watch from the window instead.

Let's see, Stacey and I also went with our dads to the car show this February. It was freezing (again) but we had a great time having some quality time with our dads, while the moms stayed back in Thomasville for a little retail therapy.

Here is Stacey standing by a Chevelle just like my father had when he was in high school.

Stacey and Uncle Brett (and big hair) taking in the sights.

A Diamond in the Ruff........No, Really.

This week has started out with a bang, and not a good one. The drama all started on Sunday night. I was happily sitting in our new chair (see pic) watching the Grammy's when I looked to the floor to see my two devils dachshunds on the rug chewing on something small. I didn't give it much thought, since I had just given them a bone. And it is a practice of Brutus' to steal anything of JR's. So I just thought they were fighting over the last piece. WRONG! After they finished with what they were doing, Brutus moved up to the couch, in closer viewing range to me. (as you can see in the layout of the living room photo) I noticed that he was trying to eat something. He was smacking really loudly, so I told him to stop, which he did. Then I saw it. In slow motion. Falling out of his mouth........my diamond earring. I have to admit, I totally freaked out. Then I had to look for the other one. I had taken them off and placed them on the end table. As far to the edge away from the couch as possible. But when I looked, it wasn't there either. Yeah, one of the pups had eaten it. But which one? Will the earring hurt them? What do I do? So I called the vet and he told me to give them peroxide and hopefully they will just throw it back up. (gross, I know) So some peroxide and alot of puke later, no earring. Wonderful. So, I had to take both pups to the vet for xrays to see who was the earring bandit (or if they had just lost the earring somewhere in the house). As it turned out, our little billy goat, JR was the culprit. There was my beautiful earring, sitting smack dab in the middle of his colon. Lovely, just lovely. So now, I am just waiting and watching like a hawk for my poor little diamond to make it out of my little ruff. This could only happen to me! And if anyone has watched Marley and Me, its not a fun job to find your jewelry. However, unlike Marley, my little JR WILL NOT get the honor of being buried with my earring!!! So now when I sing "How much is that doggie in the window" to the pups, I know now, a whole lot!!! I guess JR thinks that he is trying to smuggle precious jewels across the border!! Welcome to the craziness that is my life!

Quick Weekend Project

Since being unemployed, I have had time to complete several little projects that needed to be done. Especially since we got new furniture after Christmas, I have had to do some major color changing around the house. More on that later. In an attempt to not go crazy from boredom, I decided that since my mother brought my sewing machine from the house (new curtain project) that I would use it for more than just decorating. My goal is to make a quilt. My grandmother gave me pieces of one that she had started and just never felt like finishing. So I want to finish it. But before that happens, I need a little bit of practice. It has been forever since I had sewn anything. I think this dragon costume for Oscar (see post below) was the last thing I made. So I decided to make the puppies a mini-quilt. You can see it below. I picked up the supplies at Jo-Ann's and it is actually for a baby blanket. I had all of the fabric. All you had to do was measure, cut, and sew. Pretty simple!

All the fabric had a dog theme, so I thought it would be perfect for the little babies!! Here they are enjoying their new blanket!

Oscar's Dragon Costume

Click here to view these pictures larger

And the Award for Worst Blogger Goes to........

ME!!! Sorry folks that I have been MIA for such a long time. I have lots to share about projects and whats been going on here. So hopefully, I will get my groove thing on and get to blogging again on a regular basis!!