Rischa's Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

Introducing Sheldon

Hello blog hoppers! It's my pleasure to introduce you to our newest family member, Sheldon.

We affectionately refer to him as Sheldon Pooper. You know, like Sheldon Cooper? We won't be putting "Pooper" on his paperwork, of course, but it's sort of a nickname. Any suggestions for a middle name for him? My Mom saw him and said he's a "Longfellow", so maybe Longfellow? I don't know. We'll see. I thought Bazinga would be cute as a middle name because that's sort of a catch phrase of Sheldon Cooper's, but I don't know if many people would get that. Plus, Joel has already started calling his....umm....poop.....bazingas. lol We're an odd bunch around here. Save your breath...we're aware.

We decided to add to our family because Lacey is getting quite old and Penny needs a friend that's able to run around and play with her like Lacey used to do. So far Penny is accepting of him for the most part. She could do without him trying to steal her chew toys, but we'll work on that. She's getting better about his presence each day. Here's a video of the two of them enjoying the new toys we bought them. Sheldon REALLY loves his, as you can see in the vid. He "claims" things he loves. Like my hand, Joel's hand, our legs, all toys, and anything else he can straddle. He's ALL boy.

 

He's doing very well with his potty training. Surprisingly well, actually. We take him outside and he knows exactly what to do. We're usually only out there for about a minute total. Seriously! And he's only 8.5 weeks old! The little bazingas take a little longer to walk out. Still, though, not long at all. I have him on a tight schedule, just like we did with PenPen. Here it is in case you're in need of a schedule:

6am - Bring out to elimination area

6:10 - Breakfast in crate

6:30 - Longer Walk Play time Socialize to kitchen Crate

11am - Bring out to elimination area

11:15 - Feed in crate

11:30 - Walk

12:00 - Crate

3pm - Walk Play Crate

5pm - Bring out to elimination area

5:10 - Feed in crate

5:30 - Walk Play, kitchen time Crate

7-8pm - Bring out to elimination area Optional play and kitchen time

10-11pm - Bring out to elimination area Crate for night

I found the schedule HERE.

He's not really fond of his crate, but he's warming up to it fast. Maybe because the first night or two he slept in Mom and Dad's bed. I know, I know...we shouldn't do that. But we were just so in love with him. I quickly realized, just as I did when PenPen was that age, that Mom needs REAL sleep and that can't happen with a wiggly pup sleeping on her neck. The schedule has been great for all of us. He is actually picking up on it quicker than his Mommy. He starts stirring right around the time he's supposed to get out of his crate.

He's eating very well. I have to separate him and Penny during his breakfast, lunch, and dinner, though. Penny would wolf down his puppy food in a snap if I didn't put up the divider in the kitchen.

And before you say to me, "You should have adopted a shelter dog"....I know. We thought this would be better for Penny, though. We talked about it and thought she might be territorial with an adult dog. You'd have to know Penny. So we didn't want to adopt an adult only to have to return him. I'm positive we made the right choice. If we didn't have other fur kids we'd certainly have adopted a shelter dog.

We chose a breeder in Lakeland. Here's her web site address: www.MiniLoves.com And here is Sheldon with the breeder.

Here are a few more photos...

This one is less than 10 seconds after we left the breeder's house.

He snuggled with me in one of the blankets I made for him shortly after I plucked him out of my hair. He must have loved the blanket. He slept a lot of the way home. It was an hour and a half ride.

Here he is on the first day home enjoying more lap time with Mommy.

This was earlier this evening. They were both chewing on bully sticks. I don't usually keep these things around, but those sharp teeth of his need a little dulling. lol He's very much a chewer.

...and a few more....

I'm particularly proud of snagging this one...

Sorry some of these are sideways. I had to rush toward the end of this post as it's time for Little Man to wake up and go outside. Then we'll have our last play time for the night. Also, most of these photos are cell phone shots, so forgive the low quality.

Hugs and smooches,

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 25 — Your day, in great detail.

Day 25 — Your day, in great detail.

Oh boy! You get to read about my oh-so-exciting day! Lucky you!

Ha! In case your sarcasm meter is broken, that was sarcasm. My day is seriously lacking in any excitement. I started this Sunday by sleeping late. I woke to the sound of my finches yelling at one another. I dragged myself out of the bed, did my lady's room business (hey, it says detailed), and promptly laid down for a few more minutes before deciding to face the day. Less than 5 minutes later I heard PenPen sniffing and whining under the door because she knew I had been up. I opened the door to greet the spoiled ones and have them lick my toes. Joel let them outside so I could get a little peace. I laid down on the couch as I STILL wasn't awake enough to make myself something to eat. I laid there for a couple of minutes until the dogs wanted back inside. After all, it's hot out there. So Joel lets them back inside and I go make myself some cheese grits. This seems to be my go-to meal when I'm dead tired. I didn't sleep a wink last night because of the head ache mentioned in my last post. I'm feeling a little better today, but the head ache persists a little bit. It's better, though, so that's something.

Hey! You there! Wake up! My day isn't over yet!

So I sit down at my desk, take my meds, and eat my meal while I go through mail to see if there's anything important. The only good emails I had were from Christa. I always look forward to her mail in the morning. She usually does her mail after I'm snoozing, so I wake up to her new mail. So after bathing, getting dressed, making coffee, making tea for the fellas, and cleaning a little bit I sat down to answer mail from Christa. She's the only one that emails me anything good any more. The rest is just junk or Facebook notifications. Why did everyone give up emailing? BTW, one of her emails was to let me know she has a new blog. Check it out and leave her some comment love to welcome her to the blogging world, why don't ya? So I started replying to her mail and got interrupted a few times. Joel called me from the store and I had to tend to the aforementioned Tea making so it wouldn't boil over. Hmm...what else. Oh, I took a photo with my phone and emailed it to Christa. It was an inside thing, so it's none of your beeswax. Then I made Kolby some lunch. He had leftovers from last night. We had BBQ'd boneless ribs and shrimp with cheesy rice and baby peas. I then came back to replying to mail. I also took a few minutes to look around at some blogs and a YouTube video or two. I then made myself a second cup of coffee and washed some colored cloths. I'm waiting on them to finish so I can put them in the dryer.

That's about all I can remember or STAND to tell you about. How friggin' dull can you get, eh? I see tomorrow is supposed to be me telling you about my week. The next day is to tell you about my month. Then the next one is to tell you about my YEAR! Holy crap?! Is there anyone out there that's THAT damn bored? No! I won't be doing those! I would fall asleep writing it and YOU all would skip it all together I bet! And I wouldn't blame you one bit!

So I guess I'll have a few random days to make up for the skipping of the boring details of my week/month/year. You are welcome. LOL

I think I'll go read for a while. Both of the fellas are playing games. Kolby's on World of Warcraft and Joel's bought a new game for the PS3.

See ya all tomorrow!

xo

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 23 — A YouTube video.

Day 23 — A YouTube video.

How can you not love Simon's Cat videos? I chose this one because A) It's the newest one and B) Joel and I have started quoting it. You see the part where the cat is triumphant? It's at 1:06. He throws his paws in the air and says, "Meow"? Well, when Joel or myself do something we believe to be triumphant we're now throwing our hands up and quoting Simon's Cat. I didn't say we were cool. I never said that. We're total dorks and proud of that fact.

Enjoy the vid.

xo

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 3

Day 03 — A television program you watch too much.

I don't think I watch any TV program TOO much, but I'm sure my family probably disagrees. If I were to choose one that I could lessen my viewing on it would be Roseanne. I have loved that show forever and always will. I don't know the year it went off the air for new episodes, but it's on a lot of channels now in syndication. I watch it every night on TV Land and any other time I happen to catch it on. I've seen every episode at least 10 times and never get tired of it. I have a few shows that are similar. Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond, Golden Girls, and Seinfeld come to mind. I also watch shows that haven't gone off the air. I've watched Days Of Our Lives since I came out of the womb and will watch it until they make the stupid decision to cancel it. I wouldn't say I watch that too much, though, because I only watch new episodes and don't watch them over and over again. So the answer is ROSEANNE, for sure.

I love her! She's such a smartass.

XXOO

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 2

Day 2: A movie you want to see?

My first thought was to say I wanted to see Alice In Wonderland because it's the most RECENT movie that has come out that I'd love to see. So if it's a movie that's still in theaters that I have to choose, then it's that.

I've been wanting to see a movie that came out a while ago, though, that's no longer in theaters and STILL haven't. The movie is, Inglorious Bastards. Quintin Tarantino makes such interesting, and different, films I think. I know that sounds odd since it has been out for a long time and it isn't exactly a "chick" movie. It's a war movie. It just really looks like an interesting one to me, though. Maybe because Brad Pitt is in it? I love it when he plays a dark or somewhat comical role. I loved him in Snatch, Fight Club and Burn Before Reading. Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, either.

So, to simplify my answer, here's a trailer of the movie I'm choosing for Day 2's question:

Kind of dark, eh?

See you all tomorrow for Day 3!

XXOO

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 1

I've seen Tumblr mentioned on blogs, but I have no idea what it is, so don't ask me. I'm clueless. I think it has something to do with blogging, but....that's all I know. I have so many online things going on I don't even want to look into it because I'd probably want to sign up. Ha!

The reason I bring Tumblr up at all is because I saw that Willowing is doing something called "30 Days of Tumblr" over on her blog. It looks like a fun way to get me blogging on a daily basis again. So here are the daily questions:

Day 01 — A newly discovered song.
Day 02 — A movie you want to see.
Day 03 — A television program you watch too much.
Day 04 — A good book.
Day 05 — Quote of the Day.
Day 06 — Something random.
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy.
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad.
Day 09 — A photo you took.
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago.
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently.
Day 12 — Something random.
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book.
Day 15 — Something that is currently over-rated.
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Something random.
Day 19 — A talent of yours.
Day 20 — A hobby of yours.
Day 21 — A pair of shoes.
Day 22 — A website.
Day 23 — A YouTube video.
Day 24 — Something random.
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail.
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail.
Day 27 — This month, in great detail.
Day 28 — This year, in great detail.
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days.
Day 30 — Something random.

It's time to get started with the FIRST DAY.

DAY 01: A Newly Discovered Song

I was planning to put up the "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish" video just because it's what seems to always be stuck in my head lately. (And now yours, too, probably...sorry) However, I figured that wouldn't endear me to anyone. LOL So here's a REALLY great song by a band that I'm sure a lot of you have heard of because of the Sock Monkey commercial. It's actually a car commercial, but to ME it's the Sock Monkey commercial. I like the song featured in the commercial, too, but Joel and I both recently discovered that we love all of their others, as well. This is my favorite.

The Heavy - Sixteen

Since I know there are people who have no idea what Sock Monkey commercial I'm referring to, here's THAT video, too.

Okay, so that's day 1. Any takers on how long I'll keep this up?

xxoo

Rischa

Amazon, Videos, & Classes

First up: Videos! I've been thinking of doing Vlogs instead of typing out my thoughts here at the ole blog. I like watching vlogs and I'm guessing I'm not alone in that. It's more interesting to actually SEE the person and put a face with the rambles rather than having to read their writing and visualize what they're wearing. Hehe...teasing a little there. Well we are a bunch of lazy Americans, right? That's what everyone keeps saying about Americans is that we're lazy, right? Ha! I don't believe that shit and neither should you, but it does come to mind when talking about watching vids over actually using your noggin to read something. Even so, I'm doing the videos. Oh, and you don't have to be American to watch them. That was just me being silly. It might not be soon as I really need to learn to make more interesting videos. I have only made 1 so far and it's far from professional. It's pretty low budget looking, actually. I enjoyed it very much, though. I think what I'll do is use my YouTube channel and embed it here soit will generate some of the traffic from YT to here, as well. I'll do the same for the art blog IF I ever am able to get back into my creating. I miss it SO badly. It feels like I'm losin' my skills...however few they may have been.

Which brings me to my next topic. A new Portraits class. Ahh...Aren't I good at tying these meaningless paragraphs together? I'm patting myself on the back as we speak. Anywho, I had told myself I wasn't taking any more classes for a while. And really I haven't, but this one particular class will be lots of help to me I believe. It's a portraits class. I really enjoy doing portraits. I specifically like doing folk art, prim style portraits. I think it's my favorite thing to do. If you're unfamiliar with what I mean, have a look at Rachel, who I completed months ago.

 

She embodies my taste more than anything else I've done. She's simple, folksy, primitive looking, and it was fun to do. I have lots to learn, though. I'm not going to pick apart my above work because I do love her as she is, but I see things that could be improved or changed if I knew other techniques. I don't think I will ever be to the point where I don't want to learn how to do something more effectively. I would be bored if I got to that point. So I will more than likely continue to take classes and buy books.

Hehehe...I did it again. I added that last sentence in the previous paragraph JUST so I could go on to this paragraph and show you my new books from Amazon.

The Creative License

 

& the one I'm looking MOST forward to...

Altered Surfaces

 

I looked through Altered Surfaces while at Michaels and wanted to get it so badly that day. I knew it would be cheaper on Amazon, though, so I waited. It's a short book, but it's packed with info from what I've seen of it at the store. I got a couple of other books, too, but they're not that exciting. Just a couple of diet books and a cookbook. Oh, and 2 Moleskines which I'm looking forward to filling with portraits and which will be "Altered Surfaces" very soon.

I almost forgot to do my little bit of bragging. I've been making sales at my CafePress shop. It's a bit surprising to me that I've made sales there since I've yet to even advertise, but hey...I'll take it! Hehe

'til next time peeps!

Hilarious Animal Video

Mom just sent me this hilarious video. It's of animals that have made themselves drunk from eating fermented fruit. Check it out....

 

I Heart Twitter

Why EVERYONE should Tweet!

www.Twitter.com

Follow me @Rischa ;-)

I just uploaded some photos via Twitter. Check 'em out while you're there!

Sleepwalking Dog.....CRAZY!

All 3 of our dogs move their feet as if they're walking or running in their sleep, but it's only tiny movements. Sometimes the movements are a bit bigger and they may even growl or whine a bit. I always gently wake them when I see them growling or whining because I feel bad for them. I know...I"m a little nuts and overboard with the protecting my pups thing, but....I love them! So anyway, I'm guessing it's pretty normal to see little movements when doggies sleep. THIS video, however, blows my mind! I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or tell his owner to start padding their walls!

 

I told you it was crazy! Have you ever seen such a thing?

\m/. (>.<) .\m/