Snowy Saturday

Good 'ol Iowa winter weekend - rain turning to snow on Saturday; blizzard conditions and bitter cold on Sunday.  Pretty typical December weekend.  Yuk!

We have been busy this week at Grandpa Bailey's Spoiled Dog Kennel.  We have had a full house of dogs with Barney, Max and Kinnick.  They have been good overall but do require a good amount of time.  We also were planning the Christmas Party.  The party was last night.  It seemed to be a good date since everyone was going to be here and it was next to the last night. Barney and Max leave on Sunday.

All week, Barney and Max have found a sleeping buddy with my current wife.  She seems to get along with them a lot better than me.  I tend to toss and turn which can't happen when those two have you pinned in bed.  She doesn't move much so doesn't feel confined like me.  Everyone has fallen into a morning routine.  Kinnick wakes me and requires his 15 minutes of tummy rubs and stretches.  Next, we get up and let Barney out of his room.  I get the French Roast brewing, the two boys go out for a morning pee.  I serve up their breakfast at which time Max joins us to eat.  Barney and Max go back to bed for another hour or so.  Kinnick hits the couch and I read the paper.  Pretty darn boring routine, don't you think.

I brought up the Christmas decorations from the basement.  All of the boys pitched in to help with the decorating.  Kinnick helped hang the stockings over the fireplace.  Barney helped move the snack bowl to make room for the Christmas tree.  I think he had a few samples in the process.  Max tried to help with the tree decorations but just couldn't get the hang of it.  He had trouble grabbing them since he doesn't have a wee wee toe.  He gave me some good advice about where to hang things though.  Everything was in place for last night's party.

Last night we started the evening with cocktails and a social hour.  The pugs played tug of war with their monkey stuffy. They ran all over the house having a raucous good time.  Kinnick kept teasing me with his rope.  We tugged and pulled.  He would tease me with the rope, then run away with a twinkle in his eye.  We sat down to a buffet.  The pugs had a bowl of lamb & rice nuggets; Kinnick chose the Big Dog mix with calcium.  Fresh bowls of water were supplied and they partook frequently. 

After the meal, we gathered in the family room.  I played some traditional Christmas songs.  We all joined in singing/howling.  The pugs and Kinnick make a pretty good trio.  In front of the fireplace, we gathered in a circle to play a couple of games.  First, we played the right/left game.  You are probably familiar with this game.  Someone reads a story which contains several uses of the words "right" and "left".  Each of us has a gift.  Every time one of those words is spoken, a gift is passed the direction stated.  Well, let's just say that things got rather chaotic.  We had gifts going every direction, a few of them had bite marks on them. When done, we opened the gifts.  Some were forgettable, some were real keepers. 

Next we played "Dirty Santa".  In this game, the gifts are put in the middle of the group.  Each member draws a number which is his playing order in the game.  Number one picks a gift, opens it and shows it to everyone. Number two has the choice of taking Number One's gift or picking a new one from the pile. Number 1 would then select another gift.  And so it goes.  It can get down right "dirty".  My current wife, Sue, was number one.  She got a bag of rawhide chews.  Kinnick was number 2.  Of course, he took the rawhide chews.  Sue picked another gift which turned out to be a poop bags. Max was number 3.  He took a gift which turned out to be a cute little squirrel stuffy.  That caught Barney's eye.  I was number 4 and took a gift. It was a small flashlight.  Barney was last, he took the stuffy from Max.  Max opened a gift.  It was a rawhide bone which he was happy with.  Finally, my current wife, being number one, decided that she would like my flashlight.  She gladly gave me the poop bags with instructions on using them in the morning.  Jackpot - poop bags!  Yeah, boy do I like this game or what?  Winners and losers - you can decide

We ended the evening with puppy ice cream treats and eggnog. 

Reflecting upon last evening today with my French Roast, I decided it was really a good time.  Let it snow outside.  Inside we are lounging, playing and napping after a wonderful evening.  TA!