Disney World

Well,,, we are back from Disney and guess what? I FORGOT MY STUPID CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So,,,, to see some really great pics you can visit my sister's blog at www.jenandbrandonsblog.blogspot.com I almost cried when I realized I left my camera. Anyway...we are home and EXHAUSTED from such a long weekend. We had a great time and Willow is in LOVE with Cinderella! It was so sweet being with her on her very first trip to Disney Wolrd.

This is what's going on.

Well, today is Wednesday. Bill left today for more upgrade training in ATL. (isnt he done YET?) I leave for Orlando (where I will meet my family) on Friday morning. We are all taking Willow to meet Mickey and Minnie for the very first time. Let's just say that she is VERY excited. Since Bill is in training, he wont get to meet up with us until Sunday. Then we all leave and head home on Monday. We will spend Christmas together this year at home, just the two of us. With Bill in training, he wanted to limit the amout of holiday travel as much as possible so he can focus on his studying as much as possible.
We had our in-office Christmas party today. Way too much food. I'm so food from grazing all day I could yak! We also had our office dinner on Monday night at Bonefish. It was WONDERFUl!!! The food (as always) was GREAT. It was really nice sitting down with everyone and talking about things OTHER than work! Oh by the way, if you like creme Brulee' Bonefish has a KILLER one...... I dreamt about it that night! :)
Our pet sitter comes on Friday. A little nervous about this one. She seems really sweet but she has a big job cut out for her. I worry that the dogs wont eat much while we are gone. I guess we will find out.
Other than all that, there's not much of anything else going on here. I am really excited about spending time with my whole family this weekend. It will be My Dad, Mom, Brother, Willow, Lia (Willow's mom) Jen, Brandon, myself and Bill on Sun. It will be the first time in years that we have all taken a trip together.
That's it for now. I will post pics from the trip when we get back.

Lucy likes to do yardwork

Not much going on..........

Well,,, other than Bill training,,, we really havent had much else going on. Everything has been put aside until he completes his training. But here is what's going on in my little world. Darcy bit Duke,, left a big gash in his leg, it's healing nicely. Lucy was scheduled to have surgery on Wednesday (was getting spayed) but she snuck a big drink of water the morning of and that is a big no no for the anesthesia. So that was rescheduled until monday the 10th. Case is on a diet. He has gotten to be pretty plump in his olden days and beleive it or not the old guy will be 8 in Feb! I would like to see him loose about 4 lbs. He's pretty round these days. Darcy is good,,, I think she has arthritis cause sometimes she moves so slow especially in the morning after a long nights sleep. Once she gets moving, she's good but it usually takes her a few minutes. Last but not least, me. I'm good. Work is good. Slow, but good. Bill and I plan to take a trip when he is done with training to celebrate. Snow skiing, Paris, The Bahamas are a few ideas. We also got a brochure recently in the mail for the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, might have to go and check that out. I hear its nice. Oh yeah, Bill's first exam (oral) is today, scheduled for 1:00 EST. Wish him luck and keep your fingers crossed. I have a special meal planned for him tomorrow night. Chicken Parm, grilled asparagus and some fab desert I havent decided on yet. I will decided on dessert later. All homemade from yours truly! Till next time. Ciao! or later Mon' :)

Training Update for Bill

Week two and so far so good. He should have that fourth stripe and his scrambled eggs before we all know it! Don't ask! But it's a good thing. :)
More to come.

Another Success!

This is Patrick. Another one of my rescues that has been living with my my volunteer foster mom, Terri for about 6 weeks now or so. Tonight, he went to his new family who I am so thrilled about. A mom and daughter who live together out on the beach. They love Patrick and I am confident they will give him a GREAT home. Terri cried when he left and ofcourse that made me cry. Bitter sweet. Terri has grown very attached to him, but she was glad to see that his new family are so sweet and accepting of Patrick.

How could you not just love that sweet little face!


Patrick with his new mom.
Patrick with his new sister.
Patrick leaving with his new family. Bye Patrick! We will miss you. We hope to see you again one of these days! :)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Yes, We are one of those that can't wait to put up their Christmas tree. Actually, it's mostly me that can't wait. Bill would have probably done it next week if it were up to him. We have bought our Christmas tree from Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Corwin since we moved here in 2005. Fellow Michiganders to Bill. Very sweet (hard working) older couple. We learned something new about them today. They raise reindeer! His male is worth about $ 10,000 and his female about $3,500. They currently have 10! Cool huh?


Once we got to the tree lot, it took us about thirty minutes to pick out the "one". For some reason, it's like picking out the next member of your family (if we ever actually do that). In a sense, it will be a member of our family for the next month huh? I do have to water the dang thing right? :) We didn't name him at first, but I have since decided to call him "tree". Fitting isn't it??
When we found "tree" Ernie the tree man was busy helping another customer. I asked Bill if he would guard "tree" so no one else would claim him. Here is Bill "guarding" Tree! :)
And me, petting "Tree". Hello "Tree"! Tree is now fully decorated in his new home. I should have posted a pic of him all done up. I will get one up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of friends and family who keep up with our Blog, we would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I heard on the "Today Show" that the average american will consume 5000 calories tomorrow,,,, I thought I was going to vomitwhen I heard that. That's so sick. I also saw Paula Deen FRY cranberry sauce yesterday and that was equally disgusting...... so with that,,,, happy eating and what every you do,,, don't vomit! :) (from over eating that is). Love- Jo &Bill

Reality Check

Well, Bill left for Captain training today. It did not dawn on me that his days of flying as a First Officer are officially over until I saw the above image. I came home from work, walked into one of our guest rooms that Bill uses as his office and I saw his FO cap with his wings and epaullettes sitting there. To me, it looked very strange becuase he flew his last trip as an FO last week and I didnt realize it until now. A part of me felt sad, I'm not real sure why becuase this upgrade will be a very good thing for both of us. So now, it's back to training which will last 6 weeks or so. Then sitting reserve in Atlanta living at the grace of crew scheduling (the pilots call them "screw" scheduling cause,, well you get the picture) and working his way back up the seniority ladder. A long yet rewarding process this has been for Bill. I'm so proud of him and for those of you that know us well, know that this has been a LONG time coming for him. We are not real sure what his schedule will be like for the next couple of weeks, but for now it is Monday thru Friday in class, which means we will have saturdays together for now cause he will have to leave on Sunday afternoons to make sure he gets there in time. I miss him already, but I am also very excited for him!

Crazy Lucy!

Either she HATES being short, or she wanted to get a rise out of Bill and I. She has been getting up on this table lately and she KNOWS she is not supposed to be up there. I am afraid she is going to jump off and get hurt. I could not help but get a couple of pics cause it was just too funny!! :) Dont her front two feet in the first pic make her look like a seal? haha!!!

Update on Baxter

For the latest update on Baxter, please visit Jen and Brandon's blog. THere is a link from our blog listed over to the left under "frineds".

Update on Baxter

I just got off the phone with Jen and they are optimistic that Baxter might get to come home Monday or so. The attending physician (after her examination) did say that Baxter is not paralized. THANK GOODNESS! He is however, having trouble even standing on his own, and this is probably due to some swelling in the brain along with a herniated disc? He may still need surgery and that is what Jen and Brandon are waiting on now. He is in an MRI now, and will find out something as soon as he gets out of his MRI. If it is determined that no surgery is needed, Baxter will be sent home with a sling to help him get back on track as his leags learn to walk again. He will probably need help going to the bathroom and the sling will help with that. I am so happy with this news and we will all remain hopeful that Baxter can return home happy and healthy.
More to come.

Jennifer and Brandon need your prayers!

I am posting this post on behalf of Jennifer and Brandon. Today started out as a beautiful day. Brandon got in last night from Birmingham. We all had plans to take our dogs to an event that Jennifer's work is sponsoring called "Barking by the Bay". An annual event put on by the Bay County Humane Society. Long jump contest, frisbee throwing, vendors, food, etc! When we got there we were walking around, enjoying the events and later on Brandon decided to throw the frisbee with Baxter. Baxter collided with another dog and he yelped REALLY loud and immediately fell down or just layed down on his side. We all knew he was hurt, we just didnt know the extent of his injury. I ran to get Jen and Brandon's truck. I drove it across the lawn so the guys could load Baxter in the back. We got him to a local vet in town and Dr. Laroux examined him and decided pretty quickly that he needed to go to University of FLorida Vet Hospital or Auburn University. She was guessing a head/neck or spinal injury. She did some routine tests,, poking, prying, pulling type of thing and said she couldnt really do much more there. She did give him a fast acting aniti-inflamatory injection, but right now Jen and Brandon are driving Baxter to Gainsville to the Univerysity of FLorida Veterinary Hospital. Jen are Brandon are okay, but they sure could use some crossed fingers and lots of prayers. Baxter is sleeping and Brandon is in the back laying right beside him. Baxter is not in pain, but he is unable to move his hind legs. I, myself, believe in miracles and I KNOW that there are angels in that vehicle with them! Please pray and keep them in your thoughts,, those you that know Jen and B, know how much they love Baxter and Dougan! This has been very tough for both of them. We LOVE you Baxter, and we need you to hurry home!

Halloween Pics

I'm trying to convince Jen that this hair color looked really good on her... I call it the "skunk"look,,, I wonder if we can find anyone here in PC to actually do this for her? :)
So,,, what do you all think of my pumpkin? Yes! I carved this all by my little self and I have to say,, I was a little impressed! It took a long time, but it was pretty easy.
How about this little cutie? I have no idea who she is, she was just one of the trick or treaters that showed up at our house....... I asked her mom if I could take her picture. :)

Florida VS Georgia- Jacksonville, Fl

Our very first Florida-Georgia game. It was raining when we got there, but much thanks to Mike and Krystal for bring the tent!
Bill staying dry under the tent.
Deb and her cowboy hat. Prety cute! Giddy up!

. Group shot. All 16 of us.
Krystal, Stephanie, and Melinda stuffing their bras with liquor filled ziploc baggies to take into the stadium! I must say,, all the hubbies were liking the newly enhanced boobs :)
Alberta and Albert! I LOVE them!

Walking into the stadium.
Mike Gilbert and Melinda Conrad.

Bill and Brad on the escalator, going to our seats on the club level
Jenna and me

YUK! Look at all that Red and Black........The only reason I even like Red and Black is because their mascot Uga 27 is so dang cute!

All that cheering from Jennifer Ott still didn't help us. Nice job anyway, Jennifer!

We had really great seats, 3rd row, right at about the 45 yard line or so.
Deb and I. I have popcorn in my mouth.Dad and Deb.
Tom's friend Brad, me and Tom (bill's brother)

Post game party,,, me being silly
Jenna and Jennifer up to no good.
Deb, Melinda and Krystal up to no good as well.Bill Jr and Bill Sr.

Mike showing Brad who knows what.


I have to say, I knew it was going to be a long day, but Bill and I had such a great time. I can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks again Dad and Deb for everything! It was a blast. I have to thank Brad Hilton for making my smile muscles hurt,,,,I, along with everyone else, could not stop laughing on the way home. Kick it!!! :)

The guys, hanging out!

Getting ready for the game!
He'll do anything to be like his dad! :)

The Circus is in town,,,, and I'm NOT happy!

Well, the Cole Brothers Circus rolled into town early this morning to set up for their weekend full of shows. So, I (we) have got some work to do. My sister, myself and Terri( Terri helps me with my Dogs Deserve Better Work) are all heading down after work to protest the circus and the HORRIBLE things they do to the Elephants (along with all the other animals they have performing in this horrible show). So many people pay good money to see these shows while they are totally unaware of what goes on behind the scenes of how these animals are trained. It's very sad and if you have the strength, go to www.circuses.com to learn more. It's a NIGHTMARE!! :(

Lucy has this thing for really large sticks!

She walked around the yard on Sunday with this stick for what seemed like forever. It really was funny!
She acts like a really big dog,,,,, this stick really was longer than she was!

Mommy and Darcy

What a sweet face she has! She's my big girl! :)

Red Tide Update

Believe it or not, there is a toll free number that you can call to get updates throughout the state of Florida for this red tide crap. Yeah, well, I just called it to see if there was red tide present today in Gulf County where we were with the dogs and there have been reports of people with breathing problems and eye/throat irritations. The level of the bacteria present was low to moderate. All of the dogs got in the water today and I am sleeping with only one eye closed tonight, you can bet your bottom that Im not letting them out of my sight for the next 24 hours! Great... here comes the drama queen!

Bath Time

The only thing I hate about going to the beach is that the dogs get so dirty and they all have to have a bath right when we get home......it's a LOT of work bathing four dogs. Bill and I have worked out a great buddy system on this and we have gotten it down pretty good~

Lucy's First Trip to the Beach

Well,,, today was Lucy's firt trip to the beach,,, to say the least, she had a great time! Look at her ears,,, they are covered in sand!! :) She even went swimming and even though her legs are so short,,,, she is a great little swimmer!

She had a lot of fun running around everywhere. Even though some people here let their dogs run free on the beach, always keep ours on the leash. I'm just to scared that Duke is gonna chase a sea gull right into the road or something.

Bloodshot eyes!

Dang! Now there's a beautiful dog... all 88lbs of him!

We had fun but it is not EASY taking four dogs to the beach!

The car ride home is always pretty peaceful because they are always sooooo pooped! Case doesn't look very comfortable does he?

If you look closely, you can see a tear rolling out of her left eye,,,,, she was so sad to leave the beach she actually cried! I am not joking,, I wiped the tear from her eye with her towel. Okay, maybe it was from the salt water. :)

Darcy is always the first one asleep on the way home.

Nite nite~

When we first got to the beach, we almost left when we saw all the dead fish and sea snakes from the Red Tide last week. Then we looked at the water and saw no signs of the Red Tide and we also saw people swimming,, so we stayed and even let the dogs swim too,,, I was nervous at first though because I didn't want them getting sick. But everything was fine!

The dogs kept trying to smell the fist,, Darcy even managed to pick one up! I almost threw up!

Yucky Dead fish! Everywhere!