A New Member to the Family...

Hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends.

As most of you (in the USA) are crawling into bed sated on turkey and all the trimmings I am getting ready to start mine in the morning. Got my cake baked today and it is a whopper. It made too much to put into the three loaf pans like I had planned so I had to bake it in a 13x9 pan. I almost screwed it up. It called for 1 cup of crushed pineapple and I just threw the whole (20 oz) can in without looking at the recipe. So it took a little longer to bake to get done but it sure smells gooooooood.

Now I can share with you the reason I took a 6 hour trip last Saturday. I went to pick up a Mini Schnauzer puppy for my oldest daughter. I am so anxious for her to get here tomorrow to see her reaction. It is a total surprise Christmas present. She has an Australian Shepherd that is 13 years old. The Ausie had some problems a couple of weeks ago with some weird fleas and is partially paralyzed. When the troubles started her fiance called and asked if I would get her a puppy for Christmas. I had already thought of it and had it in the makings at that time. My daughter has wanted a Schnauzer for several years so this is the opportune time to make that wish come true.

The week I've had with the puppy has been a real experience. My dogs hate her!!!! They feel that Mommy has forsaken them and even though I'm not giving the pup a whole lot of love (so she won't bond with me) they think I don't love them any more. The first night I put the puppy in a crate and she cried and howled ALL night long. Boy, was my butt dragging the next day. The crate is now on the porch out of the way because I just couldn't spend another night like that. It's also been a real joy watching the pup learn and grow in just a week. When I brought her home she was having a hard time walking around and I think that was because she'd been in a cage all her life and never had a lot of room to walk around. It didn't take her long to learn that she had a lot of area to walk around and she finally learned how to run. She takes off across the floor and still has a little problem and ends up tumbling "ass over tea kettle" as my great grandmother used to say. And she finally learned how to "follow the feet", "follow the feet", "follow the feet." I've gotten pretty good at getting her outside to tinkle but am having a hard time timing her poopy cycle. I know it's supposed to be after she eats but she isn't doing it like she is supposed to. Thank goodness that won't be my responsibility after tomorrow.

Guess I'd better hit the sack so I can get my bird stuffed and in the oven on time tomorrow.