Well, so much for that!

I had every good intention of blogging at least once a week this year.  Ha! What was I thinking?  That I might actually have time to blog?  Silly, silly me.  Here it is Feb. 1st already and I've posted exactly ONCE so far this year.

January was busy month.  I did a LOT of visits with Kona, committed to working more with Lucas (aka Squirt) on his manners (he is a work in progress) and so much more.  I visited with some old friends, had a wonderful spa day with one of my besties, surprised another of my besties for her birthday, made a quick trip to Vegas, went to a bridal fair with Bear, had lunch with a couple of different friends on different days, attended the funeral of the father of an old friend, went to a couple of dog events, saw a movie or three, fell down and nearly knocked my teeth our, worked on wedding stuff, worked some gold parties and fundraisers,went on a super cool scavenger hunt, and so much more.  No wonder I didn't get the chance to blog!

But here I am now, so no hard feelings, right?  Here are some photos from the month just to keep you in the loop.

I won a couple hundred bucks on this spin!

 Nice fat lip, huh?

 Silk flowers arrangements we made for Bear's Bridal shower.

 Hard at work and having a blast!

 I got an "UP" by Jawbone, and it monitors how much I sleep (or in my case how much I don't sleep!)

Nothing more fun than surprising someone you love!

 We got most of the invitations out!

 Hanging with Syl and Bear at a bridal fair.  Lots of good ideas, and goodies to taste and drink test!

Playing with the pups- first pool fun on the year.

 Visits and more visits!

 If he were only as well behaved as he looks.  Haha!

Enjoying an evening out (doing a super fun scavenger hunt) and enjoying a walking tour of our lovely city. 

You Tubing It.

If you are FaceBook with me, you probably already know that back on April 11th I created a page for Kona.  It's called "Kona The Love Sponge." I'm not sure what exactly possessed me to do it, but it's been a TON of fun, and the page gains daily "likes".  Earlier this week we passed the 7000 mark, which I thought was pretty cool for only having the page for 2 months.

The page is narrated from Kona's point of view, and is 99% just about him - his day to day antics, therapy work, and interactions with the other dogs.  It's a blast to get the comments from folks all over the world who have stumbled across his page and seem to thoroughly enjoy it. 

Anyway...Since bringing the new little fella into the house I've been making a few short videos. Nothing great - just short, cute snippets.  (I've also created Kona's very own You Tube channel - I know, I know....I'm nuts.)

Here are the couple I've made so far. 

And the best one so far- in my opinion,

I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy making them.  Please feel free to share them with anyone you think might enjoy seeing them too.

"Busy" indeed!

Today's photo-a-day challenge prompt is the word "busy" which seems incredibly appropriate considering I've been too busy to post since last Friday!  I have been keeping up with my photo challenge though, just not posting here. 

I've been so busy, in fact, that is completely slipped my mind that last month, on the 6th, was my 5 year Blog-iversary!  WOW! How did that come up so quick?  Yup, just as I was posting about being a SLACKER, I hit the 5 year mark. Kinda crazy, right?

So, let's see, where were we...okie dokie, we'll play a little catch-up on the prompts for the last couple of days. 

Saturday's prompt was "view from your bed" - you can see here the view out my bedroom window...dog toys anyone?

Sunday's prompt was "water" - I couldn't decide which of these I like better - so I cheated and posted them both. 



Monday's prompt was "alone"


Tuesday's prompt was "your favorite color" - here is what I posted, with a little explanation. Photo-a-day challenge, prompt for today was "your favorite color." On most days I would probably answer this with a post of something pink or purple (they tie in my book) but today the colors that ring "favorite" to me are the colors of our country's flag.

 As I mentioned, today's prompt was "busy" - I have so many to choose from...Today Kona and I participated in a heath fair. We were there for about 4 hours, and we were very busy.

 He's over all of this picture taking stuff...bring on the petting!

Ah, much better.

 Holding hands with random women? That's my boy...

 Enjoying the company of some other terrific teams.

Yesterday we were at the VA Hospital for a Volunteer luncheon.  We received a special pin in recognition of our 500+ hours of volunteering there over the last couple of years. It was very cool!

 Such.A.Ham.

 

On Monday we were at the VA for our normal Monday visit. Sometimes Kona likes to stop and smell the roses...or in this case, the ivy.  

My boy is always happy after his therapy visits. I think he smiles as much as the people we visit!

So that's it for tonight...busy enough for you?  Whew! Tomorrow's prompt is "hello" - I wonder what the day, and the prompt will bring.

Gigi in the "middle"

Today's prompt for the photo-a-day challenge was "in the middle."

"Oh, this will be easy," I thought to myself.  Just grab the pups, my camera, and a couple of little treats, and snap away. Easy, peasy, right? 

Ha! Well, apparently, Jill (aka Gigi) had some other ideas.

Here is the progression of the photos I took - with commentary by Jill herself.

You want to take our picture? Go ahead Mom... but I'm NOT going to smile.  

 Hey, why is it that KONA always gets to be in the middle?  I don't care that he is the "only" boy now, and he doesn't know what the word "golden" really means...I mean seriously Mom, look at his fur!  I'm turning my back on him in protest.

 Well, we are mixing up the order a bit, but I'm still not happy...why is HARLEY in the middle now? Just cause she is the oldest of the bunch? Whatever...I'm still going to give you my pouty face.

 Are you serious? Another one with HIM in the middle? Fine, I'll give you my "best" side.  So there!

 What? My turn for the middle?  OK, I'll turn around.

 There, now I'm finally smiling.  I like being the important one too ya know!

God Made a Dog

I saw this on a friend's Facebook page and just loved it. I bet you will too.

Zoom Room Video!

This was my project for the afternoon.

On the Job with Kona

Kona and I had a busy week of visits last week. We were at the VA three times! 

We got to see one of our favorite friends - Officer Dave.

 We also got to say hello to a veteran's service dog.  This little gal, named Daffy, looked like she could be Kona's little sister.  She was a real sweetheart.  

 Kona can be SUCH a flirt! 

  

 The more hands on him, the better! 

Kona was "guarding" the entrance to the hospice ward. He wanted to be sure that anyone that came by got some furry TLC.

We visited with lots of great friends this week too! 

On Monday our crew was (from left to right) Bella, the Goldendoodle, Max the Labradoodle, Kona, my English Cream Golden, Caleb, another Goldendoodle, Miss America, a Golden Retriever and Annabella Twinkletoes, a Boxer. 

Wednesdays visits are smaller with only Kona, and Brutus. Brutus is a beautiful Golden/Lab mix. These two make a great team. They are known around the VA as "Ebony and Ivory"

Friday we had quite the variety of pups. We had Spartan the Yellow Lab, "Baby" Jake, the Bull Mastive, Annabella Twinkletoes the Boxer again, Happy the Golden, Murphy Brown the Mini Poodle, Kona, and Ginger Rogers, another Golden.  Needless to say, people get a MAJOR kick out of seeing Baby Jake and Murphy Brown walking next to each other. We like to joke that they are "twins"! 

Serious Business

Kona takes his therapy visits very seriously. Can't you tell?

He's watching intently for anyone who walks in that might have a spare hand to pet him with...

 "Kona, sit nicely for the camera..."

"Hey, can you look this way please?"

 "How about a smile?"

 We got to visit with Cheryl Cox, the Mayor of Chula Vista. Still that serious look on his face. No mess'in around when is comes to elected officials...

But it was all smiles when we stopped by G-Ma's house on the way home. 

 I don't know who was happier to see who!