I Spy A Dachshund

DO YOU?

There is the pattern on the sofa, the crocheted afghan, an NFL football throw and a lap quilt.

They work nicely to blend with the colors in my puppy, she is stealth doggie!

You can pick her out by her pink collar.

Dad's gift for Valentine's Day [yeah, we don't celebrate, but a pink color for the dog?

I think Pooldad made a liar out of me this year.

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Anyway, Spottie had a long day. Her buddy Doohicky [the spastic min-pin] came to visit for the afternoon.

Yes, we are dog sitting again. :)

eta: yes, I can spell collar. No my dog is obviously not pink in color, heee. It was late. I was hopped up on Strawberry pie and whipped topping. What can I say?

Haircuts and Bananas

Everyone [but Momma] had their hair cut this weekend. Usually a yawn fest, but one was pretty dramatic so I thought I would put it up for posterity.

This is our oldest.

Before:

During:

12" of Love

After:
She remarked that she can't believe how light her head is now that it is all gone.
It is an adorable haircut and the first time she has had bangs since third grade!

And finally: I posted this because when I opened our mailbox today I had to laugh out loud [see the postage? $1.51 from Maine!] I was sent a plastic banana in the mail, naked. No box, nothing. I know some of the other swappers sent things like a jar of peanut butter and a pair of socks.

I sent a $1 fake silver tray. The guys at the post office loved it!

Just so you don't think I am cheap - we had to purchase something at the $1 store and try to get the post office to mail it. It wasn't supposed to be valuable in case it was "lost"/stolen, hence I am now the proud owner of a plastic banana.
Spot doesn't seem real thrilled with it tho'.

Did I Forget to Mention....

I was gifted with Leg Warmers?

[I posted the first picture after Gail's comment :D...Spot was not happy. Hee!]

Leaning Tower of Treeza, Doohicky and the Spot

Merry Christmas fellow bloggers! Weehaaaaaaa! It has been a busy few days and I thought I should pop back in to write a few lines before I disappear into the wonder that is Christmas.

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This is the "Leaning Tower of Treeza". Sigh. Unless I put up the tree, tie it down, put the lights on and then let the family loose to decorate we ultimately end up with a tree that (1. ) Falls over at least three times and (2. ) leans at dangerous angles. The stories! The horrors!

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This is due to the fact that on the list of things that Pooldad CAN do - putting up a tree and securing it is not one of those things he is capable of in any way, shape or form. We don't know why - and obviously not a deal breaker, but......

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I take the lumps - because I have been feeling a might poorly and he did try. Bless his heart he does try. I must say the tree leans - and is damn near dead - ooooooh....wait for it -tangent - Pooldad THREW AWAY our artificial tree. Huh? He neglected to mention it until I had asked him about it nine times between December 1st and December 9th. I was so miffed [he threw out our TREE? who does that? I still haven't gotten a reason, but I suspect it has something to do with the tree being a "gift" from my Mom - HEY! two tangents in one. It really is Christmas!]

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Anyway, I was pretty mad and I asked him to please to go.now.to.the.local.grocery.store.and.buy.me.a.tree. So for $30 [pretty nice for the tree] we now have the Leaning Tower of Treeza in our home and we all collectively hold our breath while walking through the living room. That is solely from fear the thing will crash, again!
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This weekend the youngest and Pooldad were responsible for puppy sitting a lil' ball of fire named Peanut. She is a min-pin. I couldn't remember her name [Hi Susan (waves!) - love you - but the name Peanut? Does not fit your dog.] So I called her Doohicky. Pooldad just sat back, resigned, shaking his head and called her Whirling Dervish [which REALLY fits]. Have any of you ever been around one of these lil' gazelle like pups? They are crazy tiny, with long legs and speed to rival a greyhound. They are something else!

Heehee - see? even the Spot thought so. Spot didn't quite know what to make of her new friend. They made fast buddies [amazing!], but our low to the ground, short legged and quite sturdy Spottie just couldn't keep up. I have never seen my doggy pant INSIDE our home in the middle of winter, but Doohicky just about wore her out jumping, leaping and bounding from piece of furniture to piece of furniture. It was wild and a heck of a lot of fun. It also made me realize that one doggy was enough for us right now. Whew! I forgot to add: This pup was a little sweetheart and I wouldn't mind owning one. She was great - but it was a lot of action for our sedate lil' home :D.

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All our Christmas shopping is done - btw, did you know it is absolutely possible, if you have a list, to spend $330 in Target in no less then 10 minutes? It is...we did it. :D Thank goodness for the lists, knowing the layout and the ability to run really fast! [True story] Hey! In our defense we thought Target was open until midnight, so Pooldad and I went to the local Mexican restaurant to have a nosh and well, by then it was 10:45 and Target actually closed at 11:00 pm! EEEEK! Done, bought and wrapped. I am so ahead of the game this year. For once. In FOREVER! Which makes me squee in happiness. I am not going to be wrapping on Christmas Eve - for the first time in, yes, FOREVER!

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I will probably be back in the next few days because we are staying home, home, home for the holidays. Yippeee!

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The family [and anyone of y'all that is cruising through] is welcome to visit us in VA, at any time, because we are not leaving and will have a bunch of great food, desserts and libations. Let it be so.

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My biggest hugs and best love to y'all. I love you guys. Merry Christmas.

Spot O' Kindness

I received this cookie cutter in the mail today. Look familiar? Yep - that is a replica of the useless lump that is [at present] alive and happy, sleeping on my feet. [For those that aren't familiar yet, you will be, that is our dacshund Spot. Spot the Dot or Spoootie. Take your pick]
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Why Skippy, where on earth did such a treasure come from? You ask....
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My Tadpoles, let me explain. So fascinating.....

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I am a member of swap-bot. We swap postcards, ATCs, letters, lists, recipes, homemade projects, etc. In one of my swaps I met a nice lady named Aunt B. Aunt B and I swapped votive candles. She read my profile and discovered I didn't know how to make pie crust. Yes, baker fail, hush up! She was kind enough to send me a recipe for pie crust. I thought it was such a thoughtful, neat extra that I mailed her back a thank you note. That usually isn't done - as you have already swapped with eachother and we rate our partners on the site which is the "thank you" - but she was so touched to receive a snail mail thank you note - she dug through her stash of cookie cutters and found SPOT. Who knew they made useless dachsie cookie cutters? [The cookie cutter isn't useless, the dog...really...the dog is, but loved, I swear!] Aunt B. had one and sent me it along with a recipe to compliment the cutter.

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Sometimes you just sit back in your chair and think "Wow, someone thinks of me. I AM special." Aunt B made me feel like that today. She didn't have to dig this cookie cutter up and send it along with a recipe and note that said "Thinking of you". I only know her from one swap - but I knew after the first swap we would be friends.
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Aunt B. loves to sew, so I am sending along a couple of thimbles I bought for my Grandma. I have them now because my Grandma has been gone for 13 years. I miss her and she was so wonderful.

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The thimbles are purely decorative, but Aunt B reminds me of the kind heart my Grandma had and it makes me happy that she might understand that she is special too, at least to me.

Okay, Let's Make this Fun...

Spot says HEY!

And she asks "Did you vote?"

Notice she is looking at YOU?

She is saying:

"You better vote.

GO VOTE!"

So to make it a bit more interesting let's play -

Pick one of the following:

- Why did I delete my original blog?

- Who was my stalker? [Let's hope that stays past tense.]

- What has the past year been like for the SkippyFamily?

- Who is glad I finally posted a mug shot of myself? [weren't you all seriously wondering what I looked like?]

- Why does it say "I Make Soap"?

- Who is bored? [raise your hand!]

It will take me a while to get this up and running again as I did actually and completely delete my other blog [dedacted because Yvo is my bestest pal] and as you can tell it was probably due to a nasty little stalker. Now that we have that issue under control I thought I would come back to the blogger world and get back in touch with everyone.

There hasn't been a day that has gone by in the past year that I haven't said "Oh I need to blog about that!" or thought "Wow, I need to voice my opinion. Where's my blog?" Only to sigh and realize that, nope, no blog and no outlet.

I missed it.

I also missed all of my favorites. I will be doing my best to recreate my blogroll as it is so much easier to click from one's own blog to read your favorites then it is to type in the sites and surf from others [Hi Marni! I do this everyday!] Also I am getting tired of trying to remember how to spell "feisty" as in my pal Yvo's site who is awesome over at her two blogs. The link is to her restaurant reviews [do NOT go in there hungry, her pics are awesome - well except for the spinach - but you will be sorry if you read her blog on an empty stomach]. Check her profile for the bento boxes she creates. So delicious and inspiring!

Those lovely ladies are just a mere wisp of my total blogroll. If you come here and I don't have you listed just email me and I will make sure to add you. I also found a few new ones that make me laugh, think and feel creative. I cannot wait to share.

I will leave you with a quote, a tip and a picture for today:

QUOTE: "Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I most need it."

TIP: We only had two trick o' treaters. Hence I have 93 gazillion candy bars leftover. I chopped up 8 bite sized snickers bars and mixed them in a boxed, chocolate cake mix and made a bundt cake. Wow. That was good. Since you don't ice a bundt cake [we don't] the candy more than makes up for the missing calories ;)

The PICTURE posted up top - can anyone tell me how to post a picture somewhere else then at the top of a post? I either forgot or never had the ability. Yes, I know you know which one it is.

Cut this girl some slack, will you?

Yep. Skippy here and I am back.

Tomorrow: Recipe Wednesday and I will answer one of those questions posed above.