The Top Five

If you know absolutely nothing about me, you won't know that we got a dog 10 months ago. If we have met for even two minutes, I am quite sure that I squeezed our dog into the conversation. Mags is the most precious thing ever, and has turned me into a rule breaking, money spending, lying to keep him out of trouble, Momma. Below is a list of things I swore I would never do for any pet. In fact, if you did these things, I probably made fun of you (behind your back, in a southern manner, of course.) But Mags has wiggled his way deep into our hearts and it doesn't look like things will be changing anytime soon.

The Top Five:

5. When you show me pictures of your child, I will pull out my phone to show you pictures of my dog. Eating. Sleeping. Panting.Walking. His first haircut. His first treat. His new collar. Him on the couch, even though he's not supposed to be up there. Each picture is cuter than the last, and it is necessary for you to see ALL of them. I got fussed at for taking this one...because I was driving. (Can't help it - it looked like he was smiling!)

Headed to the dog park. 

4. Mags is fancy. When he gets groomed, we pay just over what I pay for a haircut, and 4 times the amount that Mike pays for a haircut at SuperCuts. The first time Mags went to the salon, I noted the relaxing blueberry facial available for the low price of $43. And I considered it. (It didn't happen. I decided there was no way I could reasonably explain that expense to my husband without both myself and the dog ending up on the streets.)

Summer cut.

3. I buy doggie ice cream. They sell it at the pet store, as well as the grocery store. It is more expensive than the generic brand ice cream sandwiches Mike and I get for a treat. On the same note, I recently asked the guy behind the counter at Ben & Jerry's whether they sold doggie ice cream. When he began laughing at me, I defended myself by explaining that Einstein Bagels offers special doggie bagels, and the company might increase their capital gain by exploring this angle. The cashier did not care whether Ben and Jerry's increases their profits and continued laughing at me. Mike's response: "Jenny. They are hippies, but they are not THAT extreme." A loss for Ben & Jerry's, I say. Don't come crying to me when we follow up on that idea!

This is organic blueberry frozen yogurt. Nothing but the best!

2. If Mags is sleeping a lot or acting different in any way, I take him to the vet. I worry that he has kennel cough, pneumonia, heartworms...? In my defense, we did have a small scare a few months after we got our sweet dog. I took him in because he had been sleeping a lot, and the vet told me he might have cancer. He started back peddling when I began crying and asking questions about the success rate of  using chemo on dogs. I waited anxiously by the phone for 2 days until the lab called to confirm that my dog had not been given a death sentence. Mags has had a lot of medical visits though: X rays for hip dysplasia, antibiotics and eye drops for one infection, cough drops and cough medicine for another. He is due for a vaccine - I am quite sure the vet will find something else we should be concerned with.

1. Mags does not like to go outside when it rains. I do not enjoy getting wet either, but my bathroom is not our backyard. For awhile when it rained, either Mike or I would find a little "surprise" waiting for us in the guest room. One day when Mike was particularly irritated with Mags' stubborn behavior, I heard myself saying, "Would you want to sit in the rain to go to the bathroom? Don't get mad at him - he just doesn't want to get wet!" Sorry Mags-y, I tried. The dog has since learned that the guest bedroom is not a alternate bathroom.

This could be an ad for Diet Coke and Coors Light.. I hope we had just gone to Sam's.

*Bonus*
I wanted to make a top 10 list, but this post was getting too long.

In the event that we have to board Mags, he stays in a suite. Now, we don't upgrade to the deluxe package that offers a television showing Lassie and other canine shows (that would just be silly.) But. Our pup is not locked in a cramped crate with a roomful of other dogs. The suite is sound proof so that our Mags-y doesn't become stressed from other dogs barking. The "hotel" provides a little bed, but we bring his own things so that he feels right at home. Finally, there are 24 hour cameras throughout the facility so that we can watch our child dog on our phones.

If the way one treats their dog is highly correlated with the way they treat their children, we may be in trouble. :-) For now, he makes us happy and we want him to be happy. If it starts to look like I need to pick up a second job, maybe we will reevaluate our priorities.

I took this video the day that I brought Mags home. Sorry it is sideways - with my technical skills, it is a miracle that it is even uploaded.

 Please excuse the screeching, high pitched voice. And no, I didn't realize it was possible to use the word "precious" that many times either.

Still Here!

Y'all. I have missed you! I love writing and it makes me sad when I feel like I am too busy to sit down and catch up. I have been off since Thursday and found that I am much more productive around the homestead when silly work doesn't get in the way. I am able to catch up on cleaning, shopping and reading, and quite honestly, I think I am much more fun to be around. I love vacation Jenny!

Yes, we have been busy with work and school, but we have gotten to do a little bit of relaxing as well. Mike and I went to Hilton Head, SC to meet his family and celebrate a friend's beautiful wedding. I love seeing my sweet niece and nephew, and Mags even got to experience the beach! Do you like his new summer collar? He's very stylish.

If you haven't heard this story, Mike decided to drive cross country on our 3rd anniversary so that our dog could run in the sand. It was less expensive than boarding him, and we loved having him there, but I like my story telling better. The bad part was when I had to go back to work for a week while Mike and Mags lounged on the beach, at the pool and ate an excessive amount of seafood. I was jealous and  to be honest, I didn't handle it very well. Sadly, my phone has broken twice since then, so I lost the multiple pictures Mike sent of them doing all the lounging. It's probably for the best, but I'm sorry you can't see them.

We celebrated our third anniversary! Yay! All downhill from here :-)

The weekend after the beach, my sisters, Mike and myself met my parents in Baltimore for a special birthday celebration. When my father previously asked my mother what she wanted to do for her birthday (go on a tropical vacation? Travel to Europe?) my sweet momma simply said, "I want my family to be together." Well. Your wish is our command. My father decided the best way for us all to meet up was at...a Red Sox game. Actually two. Mom traded the second one for a massage, and we spent the weekend visiting and eating. It was so fun and entirely too short.

I hate this picture, but it is the only one of all 6 of us. We are all disproportionate heights and I  have a weird comb over thing going on. Fun times though!

These two celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary just a few weeks later. Love them. Don't they look like a couple of teenagers?

So that was vacation. A few days after returning from Baltimore I was talking to my mom during our usual morning chat. She alerted me to the fact that our cat, Torti, was not doing well. Sweet Torti, whom I named 22 years ago after my favorite food, Tortellini, was winding down. We got her from the pound when I was ten, and allowed us to become that family with three cats. (I had friends who had to take allergy medicine before they could come over.) Anyway, Torts was the last survivor and had become a fixture at my parents house. As you can imagine, my parents were very upset. They were concerned that they were going to have to put her down, and were having a hard time thinking about making that decision. Of course, that was the day that Mike was supposed to drive back through Birmingham on his way home to Dallas. After a lot of discussion, we decided that Mike should stay at the beach one more day. This would give my parents time to begin dealing with their loss.

Torti didn't die. They didn't end up putting her down and Mike was still scheduled to drive through Birmingham. At some point, he had to come home (or at least send my dog!) So, Mike rang the doorbell of my parent's house three hours after my mom had discovered Torti's body curled up in the basement. My dad was working that evening, so it was just mom, Mike and the corpse. Sound morbid? Mike ended up digging the grave in the backyard. Just another day....

Again - a horrible picture. She was super cute and we miss her.
 Those are not my feet.

So, my husband and my dog returned to Dallas. Mike came home with a cold, which we didn't think much about, but he also had a bite on his leg.We still aren't sure what kind of bite it was and really didn't care once it turned super red and hot. Mike was complaining of aching joints and pain, and being the loving wife that I am, I told him to take some Ibuprofen and get moving. The next day his fever was 102. He felt awful. I was convinced that Mike had either Lyme Disease or West Nile. He finally went to the doctor, who prescribed antibiotics, pain medication and gave him a tetanus shot. That doc had no idea what the hell was going on. Luckily, one of those treatments worked, the fever broke and we are all healthy and happy.

Well, that pretty much sums up life here at the Cherbonneau's! We are looking forward to meeting my parents down at the coast over Labor Day, but don't have anything else planned. I'm sure something will pop up - it always does.

This picture was taken when I was investigating Mike's bug bite.

Hope you and your families had a wonderful and relaxing Independence Day!