Brody the Devil Dog

Yes, our second store opened. Because of annoying delays, we opened late on December 3rd. It was a very busy December at both stores, and the staff at the new store is so new that Brandon had to work long hours to get it all done. One night, I drove out to help him and we didn't get home until about 11 p.m. When we finally got home, exhausted and ready for bed, we found that Brody (the puppy) had opened the door from the laundry room and all the dogs had been OUT WILD IN THE HOUSE!

Talk about disaster! Every single stuffed Christmas decoration was shredded. Even the three-foot Santa that stands by the door! Shredded. Ripped up. Demolished. Broken and chewed up ornaments. Shattered glass from ornaments everywhere. Potpourri strewn about and ground into the carpet, all the pillows off the couches, hair and scratch marks on the couches, three different pee spots, and a big pile of poop in the dining room. It looked like we had been robbed! Even the drawers of the coffee table were pulled out! How does that happen?

The worst thing was that we were both exhausted. Poor Brandon looked like he'd been hit by a truck! So I sent him to bed and started the big clean up. When I was telling my mom, she said, "So, did you call the pound to take Brody back?"

I told Brandon we should change his name to Lucifer. He's so naughty.

I forgot to tell you that under the tree was a package from my friend Cindy. On top of the package was a bag of chocolate ornaments. When the dogs got out, all that was left was the bag and bits of the foil! So guess what I came home to the NEXT day? Diarrhea in the laundry room all over the rug and tile. Yuck. At least neither of them died.

We wanted to go to Prescott for Christmas for a couple of days, but every boarding place we called said they'd been booked for months. I guess we should have thought ahead. We had places for Daisy and Ellie, but I can't really ask anyone to take Brody if I want them to be my friends afterward...

So, that's my life right now. Recovering from busy times at the stores, traffic school today (just as torturous as you might expect), and a naughty puppy ruling my life. Good thing he's cute!

Bazooka Bubble Gum Song

Just taught my class this song today. They LOVE it.

HP7

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What a great book! I LOVE LOVE LOVED it! A very satisfying end to a phenomenal series. If you haven't finished it yet, DO NOT READ ON...

Things I loved:
1. Deathly Hallows -- not a place! What a creative and fun story line. I liked how the search for the hallows played against the search for the horcruxes and ended up being the test of character.
2. The reappearance of all the characters! Everyone from every book appeared in this one and they all seemed to get what was coming to them -- good or bad!
3. Neville. He has always bugged me, but in this book, he really stepped up to the plate. His parents would be proud. (See #6 below.)
4. Snape's story. We knew why he was fixated on Harry as James's son, but now the whole storyline with Lily got us thinking.
5. Answers from Dumbledore! I was so mad at him in book 6. Now I know why he did what he did. I especially liked his admission that he was not perfect, but a selfish man who loved getting all the attention. Very interesting.

My questions:
1. What happened to all the teenaged angst that was so prevalent in book 6? Ron loves Hermione and Harry loves Ginny and Joanie loves Chachie, right? There were a couple of mentions of Harry and Ginny, but Ron and Hermione spent the entire book together and didn't act like they were more than friends except for one extremely minor scene in the end(and a couple of compliments in the beginning).
2. How did Neville get the sword of Griffindor? Am I missing some connection between him and the goblin?
3. I find it unbelievable that Harry would say the taboo name of Voldemort, resulting in their capture. No way.
4. Poor Hedwig. Why?
5. No new magic! I was bored with the same old thing each time! If it wasn't Expelliarmus, it was Stupefy! If it wasn't hiding under the cloak, it was using Polyjuice! I have to admit, I wanted a little more creative magic! I don't know how I expected them to know any more than they did in the last book though...they didn't go to school this year!
6. Why didn't Neville get to finish off Beatrix Lestrange? Maybe that would have been unrealistic, but it would have been the greatest revenge.

About the epilogue:
1. I can't decide if I think it's cheesy or not. I love the characters so much that I was happy to read about them in the future. However, it was so contrived, with revelations coming through strained dialogue. Maybe JK just wrote it to avoid having to answer the inevitable interview question: Do Harry and Ginny end up together? How about Ron and Hermione?
2. We know Harry and Ginny have two boys: James and Albus Severus. What is James's middle name? My guess is Sirius. Also, their girl is Lily. What's her middle name?
3. They saved Draco's life! And his mom saved Harry's! I think their long-standing feud would be lessened by the experience (and the healing effects of 19 years). I found Ron's bitterness toward his child hard to believe.

That's all I'm thinking about right now.
Maybe more later.

I did something really stupid...

I got a puppy.
A brand-new puppy.
Not potty-trained.
Does not sleep through the night.
I might as well have a newborn baby!

But look how cute he is!

What's his name? We can't decide between Rocket and Brody. He seems to answer better to Brody.

Google Results...

My friend Amanda said that the new fun thing to do is google your name with the phrase "looks like" and see what funny thing comes up. For example, if your name were Fred, you would google: Fred looks like

Well, here goes:

Her coworker Marcie looks like an outcast from the 70's with that hairdoo and glasses

and

Brandon looks like a 20pound emo punk in an ugly Superman wannabe suit

Magic Coin

At every restaurant, the
beaming faces of
bus boys and
servers and
children
would gaze, mesmerized,
as my dad made the magic coin
disappear from his hand.
The coin swirled and swirled,
around and around,
teasing his palm.

And then it was gone,
each finger lifting
to show nothing.

And now he is gone,
but unlike his magic coin,
he will not reappear
to delight the crowd once more.

How are you like bread?

• You're crusty on the outside, soft and vulnerable on the inside
• People avoid you like you're evil (or full of carbs)
• You really hold it all together (like lunch meat and stuff)
• You're everyone's favorite part of the meal
• You like to loaf around (sorry, just couldn't resist...)
• You're soft and doughy (because of all the loafing...)

I am the Pack Leader

The Dog Whisperer has changed my life. I think Cesar Millan is my new best friend.
I've been obsessed with TiVoing all episodes of the show, and have been watching nothing else. I think I'm almost caught up on all three seasons now. Meanwhile, I've been annoying everyone around me by spewing forth "the wisdom of Cesar."
Since he says basically the same things over and over again, I have taken to repeating them and applying them to unrelated situations. My favorite parts of the show:
• Daddy the pit bull, possibly the coolest pit bull alive
• Predicting what type of Jeep Cesar will arrive in (can you say product placement?)
• Rules, boundaries & limitations...in that order
• Calm-assertive AND calm-submissive (both are good)
• Learning to bite your dog before he can bite you first
• Blue polo shirts in EVERY episode (can't the dog whisperer afford a wardrobe whisperer?)
• Cesar imitating the facial expressions and actions of the dogs (SO funny)
• Me imitating Cesar (even funnier)

So besides being quite entertained, I can now better control the dogs in my life as well as the sixth graders. I learned to be the pack leader -- calm assertive (insert goofy facial expression here).