Pooped.

Hazel and I spent the first part of the week at my parent's house in Columbus, GA. This is where Hazel was born. One of Hazel's brothers, Amos, her Mama, Mae, the oldest dog in the world, Nick, and the little yappy dog, Solo live there too. It is a dog's paradise.

I always roll the windows down the minute we enter my parent's neighborhood. The breeze plays with our hair, familiar smells tease our noses. I swear its 10 degrees warmer and the sun is ever so slightly brighter. Both our tails are wagging. As we pull into the driveway Hazel is literally bouncing off the walls and ceiling of my little car. Its all I can do to safely park and extract myself before she explodes out of the backseat and into DOGGIE WORLD!! We love to be home.

This week at doggie world, the animals swam in the lake, chased squirrels, chewed on sticks, wrassled, and licked stuff. Hazel learned how to open my parent's front door by jumping up and pawing at the handle. And if the door is locked (because we humans are wise to her little trick) Amos will ring the doorbell. No kidding. They are quite a team!

Other than the dogs, my 4 sisters, Mama, Daddy, Grandmother, 2 Aunts and 2 nieces were home. Why, you ask? Check back with me tomorrow or the next day and you shall discover the answer to your query........

ps. the fabulous picture was taken by my friend , the lovely and talented artist Sam B. George.

What is this? Some kind of FAIRY MAGIC?

I have never seen anything like this in my life. Over the weekend I hiked Ruffner Mountain with my friend, Carrie, and my dog, Hazel. It was a frosty 32 degrees (thank you, Patagonia, for 5 years of retail experience and free long johns.) and were all having a lovely time. We had reached the highest elevation, tracing the spine of the mountain top, when I looked down the path and noticed white whispy things wrapped around the base of these tall dried up goldenrod-looking-plants. I thought to myself, "now why would someone tie plastic bags to the bottom of those weeds? Litter Bugs! Where's Captain Planet when ya need him?" I think Carrie was thinking the same thing because she suddenly bent down to one and said, "its ICE."

me: huh?

carrie: yeah, ice.

me: HUH?

hazel:....crunch.....crunch......crunch
(Hazel LOVES ice)

I grabbed my camera and started taking millions of pictures. Have you ever seen this before? Is this a miracle? Carrie and I deduced that the goldenrod-type-weed-plant must have become saturated with all the rain last week. Then, as the frosty air blew into town and the weeds began to freeze, water slowly seeped out and froze into these mind blowing formations. I am amazed. And SO great full to have seen this.

Oh no! Watch out for Hazel.....

CHOMP.

And I went back to mountain yesterday to take even more pics- I just can't get enough! I'll probably post them soon..... Happy Wednesday!

GAH. when is she gonna stop talking about her DOG?

Hmmmmmmm. long time no write. What have I been doing, you ask? Well. It goes a little something like this....

5:30 wake up!
5:45 take Hazel for a walk to wear her little puppy bootie out.
6:30 shower and stuff
7:30 go to work
12:30 home to give Hazel a wee wee break and a quick smootchie
1:30 back to work
5:00 home to play with Hazel and wear her out again before...
7:00 class!
8:15 back home for some dinner and maybe see the hubs (but maybe not cause he's working on a movie this month)
9:30 finally sleeping.
(3:30am possibly waking up for a midnight wee wee break with Hazel- tiny puppy bladders! aaaagggghhh!)

so thats my life. heres the stuff i don't do since Hazel came into our lives...

1. grocery shopping- not that i did that before Hazel got here, no, that was Clarke's job. But since he started work on this film (which i haven't really even written about and will do so in the near future) he doesn't even have time to brush his teeth. So thats become my job. (not the teeth brushing- the grocery shopping) So we have been eating alot of takeout and fast food. you can't go to the grocery store with a puppy. and you can't leave a puppy at home unattended. we crate her during the work day, but once i get home she is ready to play! so, no, i don't go to the grocery store.
2. run various errands - like going to the bank, buying stamps, clothes shopping, hair cutting.... nope. those don't get done either. not enough time in the day. I do go to PetSmart and PetCo and PetWorld to purchase a new chewie toy at least once a week, because, of course, i can take Hazel there. So my dog and my cats do still eat good food and have sufficient toys on which to chew or claw or bat about. Clarke and i however stick to crap food and have no new toys on which to chew or claw or bat about.
3. visit my friends- I'm not sure i have friends anymore. Except for Hazel.
4. sleep- i don't sleep that much due to mid night wee breaks and early mornig walk-abouts. But that part is getting better. As she gets older her bladder has to get bigger, right? And I know she can't maintain this level of energy for the rest of her life, right? Ye GADS, I hope I'm right.

I'm being a little dramatic (as usual). I do still have a few friends and I did find time to grocery shop last tuesday. And I have to say that I am seriously enjoying my walks with Hazel- shes just so darn cute and smart and sweet- she brings out the best in everyone she meets- how do dogs do that? Having a dog has changed my life for the better. And this puppy stage doesn't last forever. (right?) So I am enjoying every moment with my sweet Hazel. And as soon as Clarke wraps on this shoot, we can have fresh veggies again on a regular basis :)

Side note: I'm doing something creative this weekend! I've got 2 cans of saddle brown spray paint, and 1 can of sunshine yellow paint and I have been ITCHING to get messy! Expect to see a few Fabulous pictures later next week....

I know, I know, I should change the name of my blog to "A Fabulous Animal"

Here I am, blogging about ANOTHER of my furry friends! When will I ever regain my focus and start talking about design again? As soon as I stop acquiring and losing and acquiring animals.... I am still missing my sweet Hampton- and no, this is NOT a replacement- but we do have a new member of our little family....

Introducing...

HAZEL!!!!

She's 9 weeks old and a total sweetie. I'm wrapped around her little paw, She's the apple of my eye, She had me at "hello". And she keeps me up all night crying and asking to get out of her kennel. So I'm a little tired, and alot in love with my new dog, Hazel.