Long Overdue Thank You!

I have received some awards, and would like to thank the people who gave them to me (finally). I have learned that being a blogger made me part of a big, giant, always-growing blogging family of friends, and I LOVE that. If you are reading this and you would like to share any of my awards, please grab the badge and go for it. If you don’t do awards, and would just like to share a smile, see something different, or learn something new – take a minute to visit these special blogs.

My friends at Collies of the Meadow awarded me the Blog of the Year Award. I could add another star to my former badge, if Mom could figure out how. Those collies make so much mischief, they may have stolen the stars. (Ginger is like that, sometimes…) To see the rules for this award, click here.

My friend at Another Boomer Blog gave me the Sunshine Award. She always shows me interesting, unusual photographs (sometimes with Duke, Lou, or Augie). She has such a great eye. Click here to see my answers to the Sunshine questions.

My deep-thinking, profound friend at Wiley’s Wisdom surprised me with a new award, that I never had before. Leave it to Wiley to dig up something brand new – The  WordPress Family Blogging Award. Since then, I have also been awarded this honor by SIX more of my cyberfriends. That proves that this is a big family and it keeps growing and growing! Thanks to Granny and Little B. at AngelsWhisper, Chelsea at JennyMac Book Blog, the whole zoo at DogDaz, Buddy, Basil, Nutty, and Nibbles at Hutch A Good Life, Savannah at Savannah’s Paw Tracks and Sue at Kid-Lit Reviews. You all bring us tons of smiles and giggles and great information.

Thanks, friends! xoxo

Five Word Friday

Today’s five words are about important parts.

1. Eyes. When my eye opens, it can look out for danger and treats and toys ….and mischief. When a story opens, it determines whether a reader will continue reading or say, “Whatever…” and go on to something else.

2. Nose. My nose is always on the move – twitching and sniffing and nudging all day. It tells me where my friends are, and helps me find crumbs on the floor, treats in Mom’s pocket, and goose poop. Yum. A story has to keep moving, too. Every single word has to make something happen otherwise, it’s gotta go.

3. Nails. Nails are a problem for me. It’s not just the two-tone colors of them, but also the fact that they keep growing. A story needs to have a problem, and the problem has to keep growing, too. The characters have to spend the whole story trying to make it better, but the problem has to get worse….just like my nails.

4. Ear. My ears stay alert, in case I hear any of my favorite words: dinner, treat, car, out, park, go-get-it, wanna-go, bacon, and kisses. Words in a story need to be playful and sound smooth. They need to tell the story, but show more than tell.

5. Tail. My tail has a mind of its own. It smacks Mom in the face, wags when I see friends, and hides underneath me when I’m afraid. The tail end of a story needs to wrap up what happened, and make the readers feel good.

All those parts (and about ten million more – including a lot of heart) need to fit together just right to make a perfect story. Or a perfect dog.

Inspirational Quote of the Week

“No more hurting people. Peace.”

~Martin Richard~

‘Nuff said…..

I Am NOT a Jedi

Renn is a brave, little boy spending some not-so-fun time at the hospital this week. Mom and I are writing a special blog post today just for him. You can read about Renn at The Brain of a Jedi.

Mom’s author friend, Susanna Leonard Hill has  links to lots more well wishes for Renn on her blog. Take a look, and while you’re at it, send along some prayers and happy thoughts for a tough, smart little Jedi and his family.

Mom is afraid of Jedi warriors (No, she’s not. I am…). In fact, she’s afraid of warriors of all kinds (No, she’s not. I am…). Light sabers scare her (No, they don’t. They scare me…). And forget about Darth Vader’s voice. She’s terrified of that guy (No, she’s not. I am…).

So, we’ll have to work with what we have. My cuteness!!

Here I am dancing like a cute ballerina.

If you want to see how smart I am, here I am solving a problem while looking cute.

If you’ve never seen a dog eat Cheerios, watch how cute I am using my Cheerios machine.

And if you need a laugh, watch me tame the laughing mechanical dog (still while looking cute).

And when it’s time to sleep, stop by my booth for the cutest kiss you can get for a nickel…

Hang in there, buddy! xoxo

Take-My-Picture-Tuesday

We had an awesome snowstorm, last week. Mom took me for a lot of walks, and each time we went out, it got deeper and deeper.  Here I am trudging through the snow.

It was almost up to my my belly, but not quite. That would’ve scared me! It was deep enough to make walking slow and difficult, but FUN!

Mom is working on two new stories at once. She’s in deep, just like I was. Each day she works for a little while on one of the stories and then she works a little while on the other one. It’s slow and it’s difficult, but she’s having fun. That’s because being an author is a blast! It’s just like being a dog in the snow!

Hidden in the Blizzard

We had a blizzard this weekend.

The snow got really high, the wind blew really hard, and it was really cold. Even though I wore my heaviest jacket, I had to run around in a lot of circles to keep warm. And when the snow was deep enough to touch my belly, I wanted to come inside right away!

The 1st inch…

The 9th inch…

I couldn’t sniff the grass, because it was covered with snow. So I sniffed the snow instead. And guess what I found! An empty potato chip bag. It was hidden under the snow! Mom said the word, “Leave it.” before I could investigate and possibly taste some frozen potato chip crumbs, but it was an exciting find, anyway. In the morning, I tried to find the bag again, But the snow was too deep and I couldn’t even breathe in there.

Sometimes, Mom has a blizzard of ideas. But sometimes, her ideas are hidden. They’re not under the snow, or frozen, but they are buried in the back of her brain. When she studies at her online writing class, the hidden ideas start to pop out of her head. Mom says, “I’ve never tried that before.” and “That’s why this part wasn’t working.” and “Stop barking at the snowblower!”

Five Word Friday

Today I will ask 5 questions that have had me thinking lately.

1. Why is coffee so magical?

I think coffee makes people smart. Whenever Mom sits down to write, she always puts a cup of coffee next to the computer. I think it magically helps her brain.

2. Is a laundry basket a bed?

Bed is a good place to read books. Mom reads books a lot. A laundry basket is a good place to sleep. At least until Mom says, “OUT!”

3. Can a light chase away monsters in the dark?

When Mom writes about monsters, dragons, dinosaurs, or cats, I am afraid. I am also afraid of the dark. And balloons. And the golf cart. And pumpkins. And street signs. And soccer players. And….

4. Is a dog head good medicine for a sore knee?

This is how I help Mom when her knee hurts. I help her with her writing, too, mostly by staring at her when she’s trying to work.

5. If a chair is not pushed all the way under the table, is it OK to climb up and eat cake out of the box? I love cake.

Speaking of cake and coffee… Thanks to our friends at DogDaz for inviting us to coffee and our friends at Bumpy Road to Bubba and Angels Whisper for including us in their coffee party.  Definitely take a visit to their blogs, if you haven’t already. Also, we will include ALL our blog buddies in our coffee party, so feel free to take the badge and answer the questions if you’d like to join us.

1) How many cups of coffee per day? Mom has 2 or 3. I have as many slurps as I can beg, borrow, or steal.

2) What is your favorite caffeine delivery system? Mom likes her Keurig. I like when she leaves her cup on the table and doesn’t push in her chair.

3) What was your best cup of coffee?  They are all perfect.

4) What was your worst cup of coffee? No such thing. Even the stale, strong coffee in the teacher’s lounge at Mom’s old school, was delicious to her.

5) What does your favorite mug say? Mom’s favorite has a c-c-c-cat on it.

6) How do you take your coffee? Cream and sugar – very light and very sweet, just like me!

7) When was your first cup? Mom drank coffee flavored milk when she was little. My first taste was the morning after Mom found me at the rescue event.

8) Have you ever gone on a coffee tea date? We’re on one right now!

Mmmmm….

Editing and Enhancement

Mom finished her January story for 12×12. Whew! That was the closest she ever came to the end of the month.  Her story is a first, first, FIRST draft, and it will need a LOT of editing before it sees the light of day.  Mom said, “You have to start somewhere.” and “Writing it is the first step.” and “Do NOT eat the hat!”

Soon (Eventually), Mom will look closely at her January story and fix it up till it’s ready to show her writing group named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid. She said, “I’ll probably have to cut about 100 words.” and “I’ll streamline the dialog.” and “The ending needs lots of work.”

Bob said my picture didn’t need too much work. I guess that’s because of my extreme cuteness.  Check here to see Bob’s comments about what he did to it. Also look here to see more of Bob’s work, or here to enter his Sunday Frameable Keepers Challenge.

Mom said the new picture is brighter and sharper and my fur and the teddy bear’s fur look fluffier.  Thanks, Bob! 

Here I am enhanced!

The original is on the left and the enhanced version is on the right. Cute and even CUTER!

I guess because of my super cuteness, my friends at DogDaz gave me the Super Sweet Blogging Award this week. I’ll keep it displayed on my Awards page.  Thanks, DogDaz!

Take-My-Picture-Tuesday

Mom’s friend Bob at Northwest Photographer is an artist. He is crazy-skilled at taking pictures, and goes around to a lot of places getting amazing shots of animals and scenery and all sorts of wonderful things….including a cat named Jack! Bob is having a challenge called Frameable Keepers every Sunday at his blog. He wants to see photos that you’d love to see framed, and then he will fix them up so they look perfect.

I have begged and begged Mom to submit a picture of me. She says I can’t compete with all that beauty. That’s a good thing, ….right? I think it means I’m ….um…extra-pretty….??? And she should give me bacon….???

Anyway, I finally talked her into it, so here I am.

I hope Bob will work on my picture and make me look even cuter.  (Can I GET any cuter??)  He’ll fix and figure and change and correct and enhance and elevate.

Each time Mom finishes a story, she ALWAYS works on it some more, like Bob does with his pictures. I think she’s trying to make her stories even cuter, like me. She rephrases and revises and cuts and clips and elaborates and embellishes. When mom thinks her picture is frameable, then she’ll talk about it at her writing group and maybe submit it.

I wonder what she’ll do when my picture is frameable…. She framed this one, so I guess anything can happen!

By the way, check my Awards Page to see my newest bling. It’s the Shine On Award from our friends at Angels Whisper. Thanks, A.W.!

Birthday!

Today is my birthday! 

I’m SIX years old.  I think that is the perfect age.  Mom agrees.  She says if I could go to school, I’d be a first grader, and would be learning to read. How fun would THAT be?  Then, I would help Mom with her writing work.  Sometimes, she writes stories that are perfect for first graders, but they’re not books, yet.  It’s just as well, since I can’t read yet.

To celebrate my birthday, I will have treats,

and I’ll finally get to play with my new birthday hedgehog, which has been hidden in the closet. 

I knew about the hedgehog, because I picked it out at Petco last week.  It’s been a looong wait, but I am sure it will be a blast to bite it and throw it and catch it and lick it and cuddle with it.

Mom says, “Writers are experts at waiting.” and “We have to wait for our big break. And then wait for our big break again!” and “Don’t break your new toy!”

I don’t know about Mom, but I’m tired of waiting!

REALLY tired of waiting.  Let’s party!!