Rischa's Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, not totally wordless. I did want to say I'm not trying to take credit for this idea. I've seen many bloggers doing a Wordless Wednesday and have no idea where it originated. K...back to being wordless.

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

The Most Random Blog Post EVER

There was only one day left of the 30 Days of Tumblr thing that I wanted to do and it was a Random day. So I guess this takes me back to blogging as usual. I would have posted the "Random" day two weeks ago, but I had a headache and migraines for about a week the day after the last post. Also, Joel was off work and there was yard work going on and I'm taking a class, and, and, and I could keep going with the excuses, but they'd be no more interesting to you than they are to me. They're of NO interest to me, by the way.

So today was a long one. I had to go into Orlando to see my Rheumy, who was a complete asshole as usual. Seriously, he's such a jerk. Joel met him for the first time today and the first thing he said to me after we walked out was how big of a douche he was to me. Joel said he wanted to say something, but he knows I have to keep seeing him until my GOOD Rheumy takes our insurance again. Then I had the pleasure of lab work. Nothing new, but never fun, either. I have to have tests every 6 weeks because of the RA meds I'm on. Anyway, after that we went grocery shopping. Then got home, realized we forgot some stuff, and went BACK to the grocery store. Then Joel grilled Bratwurst while I made fries. They weren't exactly healthy, but oh...so yummy!

I don't have much else I feel like talking about at the moment, so here are some cell photos of the fellas doing yard work. I was the supervisor. LOL Then some random stuff after that...

...and the treat for their hard work was...

 A little treat my coffee gave me a few days ago...Aww...a ♥

...and then a little treat from the sunset...
 
  

Yeah, I know. I already posted some of these on FB and Twitter.

Here's one I haven't shown. Lacey says hello blog hoppers!

...and like the caption on it says, PenPen & Dad...

...she stands this way as much as any human... 
 
  Enough photos for you? It's enough for me!

I'm off to bed. I think I fell asleep somewhere between the first photo and here, so I might as well go to bed, right?

♥xoxo♥

Rischa

PS. Look at my blog's brand new "Like" button for Facebook! Do you like me? Click it!

PPS. Sorry about the unedited photos. How lazy of me, right? At least I posted SOMETHING! Done is better than perfect. That's my new motto.

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 18 — Something random.

Day 18 — Something random.

Oh goodness. The "Something Random" option would show up on a day that I have ZIP going on, wouldn't it? I mean NOTHING! We've all 3 taken naps today and the most exciting thing I've done was step on the scale. That's always a fun moment in the day, isn't it? Ha! I lost another pound, though, so it wasn't terrible.

Anyway, so since I have nothing exciting to yap about today I'll show off some of the photos I've been taking with the new Hipstamatic app on my phone. It ages your photos according to what film, lens and flash choices you make. I think my favorites are the John S Lens, the Ina's 1969 Film, and the Dreampop flash. There are LOTS of possibilities! I've always enjoyed aging my photos in Photoshop, but this takes out all of those steps. Check out what some of the folks on Flickr have done with theirs!

Flickr Hipstamatic Search

And now here are some of my photos from the past couple of days worth of play.

  

See how fun? It takes what would be an ordinary photo and makes it vintage and fun!

Best 2 bucks I've ever spent!

xo

Rischa

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 13 — A fictional book

Day 13 — A fictional book

I tried to post this last night and lost everything I had typed. I gave up and told myself it wasn't worth worrying over, so here it is a day late.

Since it does not say, "Day 13 — A fictional book THAT YOU HAVE READ" I'll be sharing a fictional book that I'd LIKE to read.

Water For Elephants

 

Short and sweet! See you tomorrow for Day 14. (Which actually should be 15, but I'm not doing 2 in 1 day. That'd put me at 3 blog entries for today!)

xoxo

Rischa

Snnnnnaaaaake!

I totally and completely forgot that Joel and I took photos of that snake that was in our garage a few weeks ago. I even promised on my blog to show the photos and never did. Sorry! So here he is in all his pissed off glory.

Click to see it open to a larger image.

He was NOT a happy camper that we disturbed his slumber. Well, not we as in ME. I stayed as far away as I could while still snapping shots of him with my point and shoot cam. I wish I'd have had my Nikon ready, but the fellas were not waiting on me to dig out my good cam just to take photos while they stood out there on snake patrol. I don't blame them. Joel said he's a black snake. I don't care if he's a rainbow colored snake that sings show tunes, he's gotta get the *bleep* outta my house!

More Childhood Photos

A few more childhood photos...

I thought I was pretty friggin' special in my leotard, penny loafers, folded knee socks and pig tails.

"My Bookoo hat is too big, Mom! But am I cute?"

Don't know what a Bookoo hat is? It's a hat a guy named Bookoo gives you. Or maybe it's spelled Buku? Anyway, you get it.

M-m-mom, my t-t-t-toes are f-f-f-froze...

The red leotard was popular... 
 

"I don't think I got it quite even"

I think my Mom probably cried privately when I did this to myself. I KNOW I cried buckets.

Contrary to what you might be thinking about me and my oddities by now, I was pretty good at attracting friends back then. (Sorry Kristy! Don't hate me. Half my photos have you in them.)

...and here's me with one of my furry friends again. I have had a lot of furry and feathered friends over the years. This one's name was Boy George I believe.

I was quite a little trouble maker...

I'm sure you all have had ENOUGH of me by now.

Thanks for stopping by! <3 
  
 
 
  

Retro Me - Childhood Photos

I've been slaving away at my desk trying to get some old photos scanned. Digitizing a million photos takes a minute or two. Sheesh! I don't know if it'll ever be done. Anywho, I thought I'd share my photographic proof that I've always been a nerd at heart.

Let's start with "Monkey See, Monkey Do"...

Then let's visit, "Mom, why isn't the kitty breathing" shall we?

..and I can't leave out, "Dude, what the hell am I wearing?"

I'll close the post with something sweet. My pony, Butterscotch.

I loved that pony SO much.

 
 
 
 I'll post a few more later. That's enough of The Wayback Machine for now.