Keep It Simple

Saturday, November 22, 2008
Well, that's the idea, anyway and it all makes perfect sense to me. Now I have to see if the
furry ones agree and catch on to the plan. I love to go through those magazines that show the
perfectly "decorated" homes with the beautiful colors with everything thought out and in order. However, I've chosen to have animals and there is only so much of that that I can do or
want to do. I've really always been the kind of person who enjoys throwing things out and clearing my "space"....the cool new HDTV way of referring to a room or house.

So, a decision has been made. No longer do I have to labor over any decisions about a "custom rug" for the kitchen that perfectly blends with the countertops. My dogs just use it as a
place to go to the bathroom anyway!!

FREEDOM!! I get to just go to Target and get whatever they have. I've completely sworn off Walmart....it's just way too insane in there, for me. So, I believe that "if Target doesn't have it, I don't need it." Whew!

I ripped up all the plastic that was covering my custom kitchen rug/giant pee pad and removed it to the garage. That will give Bella and Petie the idea to go in there when it's raining...hopefully.

I mopped the kitchen, especially the "bathroom" part with Lysol and Clorox and now it smells inhabitable again. Then I lined up real, what they call, doggie "pee pads" in a smaller area....and
according to the books, anyway, they are supposed to get it............as in GO HERE! So, we shall see :) 12:30PM

Bella HATES to go outside other than to eat and use the bathroom but I, her "Pack Leader," have been taking her out a little and she has been coming along for the ride and is
adjusting alright. Sometimes she is so cute and just gets real close to me and sits down and I give her a big hug. I have a call in to my lawyer....I'm leaving EVERYTHING TO BELLA! Just
kidding ...but she is adorable :)

So, we were out in the front yard and there were dogs all over the place. The lady across the street just rescued a dog from Mexico and managed to get it in the country. She found it on
the beach and it was covered with fleas and ticks and she scooped it up, took it to the vet, dealt with the proper authorities to get the dog here and now it is the sweetest, healthiest most happy little thing, just scampering all around the yard. I think Bella will eventually come to enjoy this time outside and enjoy her canine neighbors.

OK, gotta get busy putting up some Christmas decorations. My son John is coming home from Washington for the first time in ten months and I want him to get a warm, happy feeling when
he sees his home again. Of course, his biggest Welcome Home will be Bella and he said he already loves her. Can't wait!!! I miss that boy!!!! :) It will be great for me, John and Michael
and all our animals to be together again. Life is good :) 6:00PM

Have been gone a couple of times today for a little over an hour each time. Bella goes on the pads on the kitchen floor!! That's so great! Now I can just change those and mop the tile
when needed and we don't have to live in a home that smells like the shelter!! Yeah!

She likes to turn over the garbage can when I'm gone, though, so I've decided I'm going to let her. I'll just put it next to the sink and make sure it's full of just papers and things and let her assert herself. She'll think she's really doing something and telling me how she feels about me
leaving, she'll continue to tinkle on the "pee pads" hopefully and all will be well....I hope.

Maybe she will eventually loose all the separation anxiety but if she needs to turn over the garbage can full of paper, I can so live with that! :)

REMINDER TO SELF:
I hope I can remember how it came to pass that Bella tinkles on the "pee pads." Here's what happened. She was so sick and just couldn't make it outside, so she went on my custom round
rug that perfectly blended with my counter tops and for which I payed way too much money and never will again. Then I put the "pee pads" all over the rug so the urine wouldn't
soak into the rub anymore. I steam cleaned the rug and did everything I could to loose the
urine smell. Then after about 6 weeks, I got fed up with the whole rug thing and by that time there was a habit of her and Petie both going to the bathroom there, so I took up the rug,
and just left the "pee pads" and the connection was made...by Bella anyway. Not so sure about Petie but I'm hoping so.

Now the rug is in the garage. I'll drive over it a lot with my car, the dogs can still smell the urine and poop on it so hopefully, when it's raining outside and I don't want to walk
them and they refuse to go out, I can just let them in the garage and they will go there!! That is the plan and the hope, anyway. We shall see.

Then, when the smell gets too bad, I'll take my power hose, pour some lysol and soap all over my expensive, custom rug and blast it to smitherines! Then we will start all over. The End.

11:20PM
Bella is so great to hug! She's a real presence...I think about 72 pounds the last time she was weighed. Petie is only 6 pounds so that's not a lot to grab on to! However, he's great to
snuggle up to at night when we are sleeping.

Bella really didn't know much about hugs when she first got here. I don't know that she had ever really had a hug. Now she loves them! She will turn her head in this cute little flirty way
and start wagging her tail and get down on the ground on her side and look at me with those beautiful brown eyes. I give her lots of hugs and kisses and a tummy rub and she is just as
happy as can be. She is just adorable.

I never thought I could love another dog in the same way that I loved our Golden Retriever, Currie, but I think Bella is one of those dogs. I guess it's because of all that we have been
through together in terms of her illnesses and recovery and her sad history. She and Currie would have just loved each other. They are so much alike.

Very soon, I am going to include a picture of Currie and tell you all about her. She was another angel....nothing but sweetness and light. I still miss her. I've been very blessed in my life to have known so many wonderful animals.

I hope the American Indians are right when they say the animals we have known will advocate for us when we die and are hoping to join God in Heaven. I might have a chance if that is the way it is....that and the Mercy of Christ.
God Bless All The Animals