Chock Full of Cute.

Belle is now happily wreaking havoc at my parents' house.  She is adorable but apparently has quite a bold personality with very little fear.  She has already decided that whatever Shelby does is what she should do -- where she should sleep, lay, eat, play.  And, she also seems to think Shelby should pay attention to her all the time.

And, should Shelby ignore Belle, Belle is willing to make do and just turn Shelby herself into a chew toy.

My mom said that after filming this video she both rescued Shelby from those sharp little puppy teeth (even though Shelby apparently has no nerve endings in her tail and it didn't bother her) and rescued the puppy from herself as she was close to choking a bit on her mouthful of Shelby hair.

Wild and Crazy.

My Saturday night:

That's right, I colored.

I actually passed on going out to dinner and drinks in favor of staying home, doing some work and coloring.  And, I gave myself a blister sharpening all of my colored pencils.  Totally worth it.

Two-fer.

My mom is a funny woman.

She shares my sentiment that I've been working too hard lately.  Because she lives in Colorado there is not a lot that she can do to help.  However, she was not about to let distance stop her from trying.  She told me that I would receive two packages that would make me feel better but they had to be opened together.

The woman knows me well.  There are two things from being a kid that to this day I still like and find relaxing:  playing on the swings and coloring.  And, because my mom is never one to miss an opportunity, she made her present a two-fer:

Upside down but:
The Field Guide to  North American Wildflowers, an American Wildflowers coloring book and colored pencils!
Well played, mom, well played.

That's right, coloring and education.  I no longer can complain about her attempts to teach me about flowers.  Any failure from  here on out is totally my fault.

Goofy.

This entry is further proof of two things:

1.)  Shelby is a happy, goofy dog.  This is her at a scent class.  My mom had been taking her to agility classes for the past year or so but her arthritis put an end to that.  To keep her engaged, she started taking her to a scent class.  I was pretty certain it would be a stunning failure and she'd end up class dunce because this dog just does not seem to have a good sniffer. She can never find her ball in the grass or, even worse, food dropped on the ground for her.  But, as it turns out, she is the star of the class and from this picture, seems to love it.

2.)  I have nothing to talk about in my own life.  Not to complain but I have been working 10+ hours a day for over the past month.  I just don't have much I want to remember from my own life right now.  I did just book a flight in two weeks to go visit my family, Shelby, the new puppy and go see a YSL exhibit at the Denver art museum.

Puppy Cam.

I think it is a good barometer of a person if they do not like puppies or kittens.  Or, really, any baby, fuzzy animal.  I can understand that some people are scared of their grown version due to bad experiences or whatnot but the baby version is nothing but wriggly, fuzzy, goofy happiness. (However, in my estimation, it is totally rational and normal not to like snakes, baby or otherwise.)

Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I usually request that KWW send me a puppy picture, as he seems to have a stock pile of them.  Currently, I have something even better: the puppy cam is back!  For a couple years probably, somewhere on the west coast, the breeder of a shiba inu has streamed a webcam of puppies whenever they have a litter.  I believe this is their fourth.  I just love it.  Even now when the puppies are still so young their eyes aren't open yet and spend most of their time sleeping, they are super adorable.  I like to keep it on in the background, checking in for a dose of puppy goodness throughout the day.

Even better than the puppy cam, I learned that my parents are getting a puppy in two weeks.  They were trying to decide between adopting a grown dog or doing the work of raising a puppy.  I thought they had decided on grown dog but they zigged and will soon be the proud owners of a yellow lab puppy they have decided to name Belle.  For the past twenty years or so, every dog they have owned has been a B name: Buffy, Beau, Bart, and now Belle.  (I ruined their streak by giving them a Shelby, although I try to shoehorn her in by spelling her name Shel-B.)  Before they knew if they would end up with a male or female, they actually went online to look at baby names, picking Belle and Baron for potential names.  Now, they are puppy-planning and proofing their house, even though they know that labs are chewers and at least a couple things are going to get destroyed.  A totally worthwhile trade for the little ball of happiness Belle will be.  I told my parents that I was coming back to visit the dogs.  Not us?  No, the dogs.  I need some puppy time!