A weekend of purging

Spring cleaning is apparently happening a tad late in the Miller house this year. No closet is currently safe. I think the realization that we'll soon be acquiring a bunch of baby stuff is fueling this task.

While on this mission, I realized I have never gone through Macintosh and Chip's toys. Ummm...holy geez. Let's just say they are a tad spoiled.

Chip showing off part of his stash:
The donation pile for the local no-kill animal shelter:

The donation pile is about 40% of the toy collection. I don't think I realized how out of control it was. Before Chip was rescued, he never had toys – so I know the craziness started when we adopted him. Toys became a part of birthdays, holidays, when Brent and I traveled and also just because.

I think it's safe to say Macintosh and Chip will be getting treats in their stockings this year.

Summer fixes

Well, it's not an exciting photo, but with the money we just dropped on a new a/c, there's no way it wasn't going to get photographed.

Another issue we have each summer is Chip's allergies. Westies are itchy dogs by nature, but this year his itching and fur biting hit a new level that the Benadryl wouldn't cure. Once we discovered a huge amount of scabbing around his lower back/tail – we knew it was time for a new game plan. After a trip to the vet, that game plan included an embarrassing hair cut. Chip doesn't seem to mind his butt being on display though.

Meet Pengy Wengy

Macintosh may play with many toys throughout the day, but there's only 1 toy he brings to bed at night - Pengy Wengy.


Does anyone else have a pet that does this? I've never seen anything like it.

(As for the name, well, that's because of our penguin toy surplus. Each one got a name, so we could keep track of them. You guys have seen my penguin tree, none of this should be surprising).

snOMG 2011

Like many of you, we were hit with snOMG 2011. It was quite the blizzard, but being snowed in for 2 days did give me the opportunity to finish the dreaded kitchen cabinets. And since luck is on my side, I managed to miscount the hardware needed – so I was taunted with not truly being done. Awesome. (My kitchen should be clean tomorrow, so pictures to come soon).

Macintosh definitely enjoyed snOMG, but Chip refused to venture past the area Brent shoveled for him.

Goodbye holiday decor

Note to self: The more Christmas trees you acquire to decorate, the longer the packing "experience" will take you. Oh, and it's not a fun experience.


But thankfully, I am now done.


And I'm sure it was all because of Chip's amazing supervising skills.

The weather outside is frightful

But it's okay, because my dogs now have scarves!


Macintosh is sporting a Kansas scarf, and Chip is modeling a Kansas State one.

I got them from Bow Wow Wow. I first saw this vendor at Strutt With Your Mutt, and I've been hooked ever since. Technically, these are supposed to be one of their Christmas presents, but I've always been bad at that whole waiting thing.

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Bag Count 2010: 22

Halloween

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween. I'm not a huge fan of the holiday myself, but I do enjoy handing out candy. It was a rather busy night with 121 trick-or-treaters.

I am all about dressing up my dogs though.

Chip the banana:
Macintosh the hot dog (in a hallway):

Car talk

It's been a little crazy in the Miller household.

On Thursday, I drove 90 minutes each way to pick up Louie, a homeless Westie, who shacked up with us for 2 nights. Then today, Brent and I made the 3-hour journey each way to Omaha, so Mr. Louie could be placed into foster care with a volunteer of Little White Dog Rescue. And at the last minute, we transported another dog to a foster home in Omaha as well.

Our car ride companions:

Macintosh:
Chip:
Louie:
Zelda:

Macintosh is 5!

My big guy is 5 today. I can't believe it.

Closet facelift

I love having a finished basement; the only issue is the lack of storage.

In the first house, the basement wasn't finished – so it was 100% storage. In the current house, well, it's basically the exact opposite.

So where did everything that didn't fit in the storage area end up? The third bedroom:


Yeah, it's slightly embarrassing. But I didn't want to pack up all my extra accessories, so I didn't have a lot of options. Until I remember the closet in the guest bedroom:

The closet now:


I'm really happy with how it turned out. Brent and I just used the cheap ClosetMaid gear, and quickly discovered that while it's the cheapest – it still cost a good chunk of $$. It was totally worth it though, because now the third bedroom is crap free.

While organizing everything, I found my cat ears. I decided to put them on Macintosh – he wasn't a fan.

Happy Birthday Chip!

My little guy turned 4 today. I can't believe it's been more than 3 years since we rescued him.

The Upstairs – Chapter 5 (Art for the office)

My recent projects have been making art for the office and catching up on sleep. Both have been equally entertaining.

I have always loved this painting that I did:

I call it "The Amazing Things You Can Do With Painter's Tape." :)

In the old house it was in the living room, and in this house I really wanted it above the fireplace, but it was too big...literally. Because I still wanted it in the house somewhere, I decided to switch some colors to make it work in the office.

This isn't the first time I've altered this painting, or in fact any painting I've done. In fact, probably the majority of them have received a color change here or there. This is a great way to get customized art on the oh-so-important budget. Just be patient though, because doing color changes is really boring stuff.

So boring, this was Macintosh while I was painting:

After 2 evenings of glamorous paint touch-ups, it's done:

If you are interested in making something like this, how's how:
- Paint the entire canvas black (or whatever color you want the lines to be)
- Use painter's tape (remember, use a name brand like Scotch or Frog), to determine the square sizes
- Paint various colors into the squares
- Once dry, peel the tape off
- Use more tape for any touch ups you have

As for supplies, I go cheap on both paint and brushes. I use the Americana paint you get for $.99 at craft stores. As for brushes, I like the cheap value packs at Hobby Lobby a lot better than at Michaels. Several of my Hobby Lobby cheap-o brushes I've had since high school, where with the Michaels' brushes, I'm lucky if they last a week.

My favorite is the 25-pack Hobby lobby carries for $6.99:

Happy painting! If anyone ends up doing this painting, I would love to see it. :)

Spend-It Friday

Before I changed work locations, I had never been to a HomeGoods. Now, I work 5 minutes away from one, and have been there more times than I can count.

So what did I do on my lunch break today? Go to HomeGoods.

Did I buy something? Duh. Honestly, I'm surprised I only bought one thing.

What did I buy? A new mirror for the living room, to replace the old mirror I bought at HomeGoods several months ago. ::Hangs head in shame::

Although, I must admit, while I love the older mirror – it's just not working for that space – it's too small. And well, the new mirror is the mirror of my dreams, and it was worth it making my design-spending fund basically zero. And I already have a new place in mind for the old mirror, so problem solved.

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In other news: Brent spent some money today as well. We got a new TV for the master. We'd been wanting a flat screen for in there, but were trying to hold out. Apparently, our current TV had other plans though and crapped out on us.

Helpful hint: If you ever go to Office Max, label maker tape is not in the label section, which I find very confusing. I spent way too long walking around in that store.

In Macintosh news: His test results came back, and my big guy has a very under-active thyroid. More testing will have to be done on this, and he'll most likely be on medication for the rest of his life. We are just so lucky to have caught this when we did though, because hypoactive thyroid can kill dogs at an early age.

As for all the vomiting that lead Macintosh to get the blood testing in the first place, still a mystery. He is now on a medication to treat acid reflex. If this works, awesome and mystery solved. If he isn't better in a week, he goes in for x-rays.

Seriously, thank God for pet insurance. I would be poor without it.

One Door Down

I'm not going to lie – last weekend was no good.

Macintosh had to go in for some blood work on Friday and the results were supposed to come in on Monday. All I could think about were potential what-ifs, so I busied myself with more painting.

I started working on the handrail and the upstairs hallway. I decided to do the most difficult door first – the linen closet door. All the doors in my house are 6-paneled except for the closet doors – those have vented panels on the top (I know that description is terrible, but that's really all I've got).

Saturday:
Sunday:
Then I moved on into the family room. Since the carpet was ripped out, the trim was in desperate need of some paint – so I started my beige to white journey in there as well.

Side note: As for Macintosh's results, I'm still waiting. The lab messed up and left his blood in the cold for too long – so Macintosh and I got to go in again for more blood work. My poor big guy. I should hear something tomorrow though.

New Years Table

I was excited for New Years Eve for many reasons – but one was to finally break in my dining room table and some wedding gifts we received 2.5 years ago.

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In other news, I've been busy putting away Christmas ornaments while Macintosh supervises.


See you again in 11 months, penguins.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday cards are done

...and almost all written.

This year we wanted to go back to the photographer who took them last year, but I had to cancel my appointment because I was sick. Schedules got a little crazy after that, so this weekend I had my mom come over and take some pictures. Hopefully, Brent and I can get professional pictures taken this spring.

Butt Shot

This is seriously what my dogs do all day once I'm home.

Dog Bed Approved

After Tuesday's massacre, new beds have been bought (thank you Gordmans), and Chip approves.

Looks Like Somebody Gets a New Bed

My parent's Westie, Toby, was over today while their house is being painted – and let's just say he was a busy boy. I came home to find Macintosh's dog bed upside down in the bedroom doorway with foam everywhere.


Looks like Macintosh is getting a new dog bed. Well, after my parent's house is done being painted and beds are safe from Toby.

Chip's bed will be in a safe place tomorrow.