Things that amaze me

Thing I love

Happy Birthday Layla-girl!

Our Layla-girl is two years old today. Jimmy is on his way home for the party!




Reggie shared my new Padre hat with her. Is Jimmy home yet?

A view from my office

Leo put French doors on my office last year.


If I could only get help making the bed...

A ghost story

The past few nights have been blanketed with a thick and wet marine layer. Underneath the mist, run all the nocturnal animals which live in the green belt next to the house. Their smell and the rustling of the leaves as they pass by, drives the dogs crazy, eliciting barking and growling from the bed. I get a little nerved up when Ella lets out a howl and all three dogs run to the door in an effort to scare away the boogie man. Last night, the coyote were barking outside my window. I checked to make sure the dogs were in their beds and fell into a nervous sleep.

In the middle of the night, I heard the shower running. Being the confident and fearless woman I am, I hid under the covers and tried to figure out what was going on. Within seconds, a medium size missile covered with wet dog hair hit the comforter. Reggie the explorer, can now turn on his own shower.

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

Like everyone I know, I needed a hot bath after a long day. I managed to find my bubble bath and nice warm towel. Yippee!
8:05pm
I settled into my bath and let the worries of the day melt away.
This is my view from the bathtub.



8:07pm
Ella, always worried that I might sneak out of the house without her, came to check on me. She understands the concept of baths and has no interest in coming very close to the water. She provided me with a little facial of dog slobber and settled into a little nap next to the tub. This way I can not get away.


8:09pm
Swingin' Reggie came around the corner and he could not believe his eyes. What is going on! Little Reggie got so caught up in the experience and he took a flying leap and landed in the tub.

The calming effect of the bath began to fade with all of the splashing. Sadly, the aromatherapy gave way (almost immediately) to the smell of wet dog. Ella started barking at Reggie..."Get out of there...don't you know it is wet."

8:10pm
Then, my Layla sauntered in to the bathroom to investigate the noise. She has quite a swagger these days and spends most of her waking hours trying to be the queen dog. Just for fun, she started wrestling with Reggie who was now dripping on the floor. Sorry Dora.

Amazingly, I got out, feeling quite a bit better.

Am I a good dog mother?-assurances needed and provided

Yesterday, I took Reggie to the vet to have his manly surgery and check out a little bleeding in him mouth. A couple days ago, in the midst of dog play, Reggie caught his baby tooth on Layla's collar. There was yelping and some pain that slowed him down for about 30 seconds. It looked as though his bottom baby tooth was pulled out or broken off.

After an emergency call to Leo, I was assured that I was a good mother and calling the vet was the best strategy. Note: Leo, who is trying in the middle of a La Jolla remodel and is trying to finish the bids for several other jobs, still takes my calls. Amazing!

Unbelievably and in my time of emergency, my vet has taken the day off. So I thought I would call the person I helped put through dental school. It seemed like a good plan. Rick, who is the best human dentist I know, was sympathetic but not quite up on the latest treatment for emergency dog dentistry.....jeez. What did we pay for at UCLA? He did make that point that Reggie was going to be under anesthesia in a couple of days and the vet could determine if there was a problem while he was a sleep.

Fast forward to yesterday. I took Reggie into the vet the morning and waited for a call. While waiting, I was reminded of the reason that I thought I could handle a third dog. Ella and Layla were amazingly good, laying at my feet most of the day while I worked in my office. The only sounds were humming of the Roomba and an occasionally bark from Layla who was chasing a bad dog in her dreams. My hair brushed laid on the floor with nobody to chew it. It ends up that my decision making process was not as “crazy” as almost everyone (except my mother and Christie) claimed over the last month.

Speaking of my mother, I have to say that she has been fantastic in helping me with my wild bunch. I know she loves dogs as much as I do, but I did not realize that the love extended to being knocked down when they greet her on our Monday visits or vacuuming the rug after they dig up her potted plan or remaking her bed after they take nap on her bed after a wrestling match. I love her even more for her patience and the fresh bowls of water she puts out for the dogs to step in.

The vet finally called and left a message that she wanted to speak to me when I came in to pick up Reggie. Oh no… I was going to get the bad mother speech. Leo had offered to go with me to pick up the groggy dog, so I really could not secretly blame him and no one believes that Jimmy does anything bad. This was it- I had to face the music.

First, Reggie did fine through the man surgery. Leo, who is always so strong in times of stress, looked a little pale during the description of the surgery. Second, the reason I did not see anything wrong with Reggie’s tooth immediately after the accident was that I was looking at the wrong tooth. He shattered his upper canine (baby) tooth. The vet x-rayed the tooth and performed a doggy tooth extraction. The meeting with us was to inform us that she unable to get the entire tooth out without damaging the adult tooth. She assured me that the dog had not been in pain over the last few days and I was not a bad mother. She did suggest with a smile that we should have a standing appointment. I could not tell if I was laughing or crying as a pulled out my checkbook.