It's a bird....it's a plane....no...it's just me running down the street in my skivies!

I now know why people spend thousands of dollars on vet bills for their dogs. I hang my head in shame when I say......I used to be one of those people that would stare at pet owners in bafflement when they say they payed ungodly amounts to have their pets treated at the vet. I mean it's JUST a dog.....right??!! I....and the rest of my family.....have in the last 5 months fallen completely & madly in love with our little Gracie and so have reluctantly succumbed to this money pit of madness. She's just the cutest damn thing you ever saw. But besides that....we've already paid an arm and a leg for Gracie and so I feel we're already financially invested. There's no turning back now.

So a couple weeks ago I decided that it was time to invest further.....this decision came one night after I let her out to go potty....oh my God....did I just say potty....ugh.....and my darling dog decided to go chasing after something. She was running in the middle of the street in the pitch black of night (we have no street lights)....I was in my pajamas....and thinking that if a car drives down the street they'll never see her so I was running down the middle of the street in the hopes that they'd see me in my skivees and come to a screeching halt. I chased after her to almost the end of our block before finally catching her. Thank God for all this marathon training....6 months ago I would have made it 3 houses before saying.... "to Hell with it ....sianara pup"! That was it. We need an electric fence.

Then, 3 days ago, Justin's friend who lives one block over on the busiest street in our sub came waltzing over with our dog in his arms to tell us that Gracie had been in front of their house in the street. Apparently my kids who had been told to let Gracie out to go potty a half hour prior to this had forgotten about her....needless to say....Gracie wandered off.

This brings me to today's highlight....had Invisible Fence come out to give us their shpeel....I'm sold. No more standing in the cold rain waiting for Gracie to sniff out her spot....and then praying she won't make me chase her. In 1 month she will be electronically fenced in.....yahoo!

So, to all my neighbors....put your binoculars away...there will be no more nightly comedy shows!

It's all an act!

My darling daughter has been labeled as "shy"....she's slow to warm up to people and tends to "assume the position" with her head buried in my thighs when someone she doesn't know tries to talk to her. I discovered last week that this "shyness" that she displays has been an act all along! She's smarter than I gave her credit for! For several months now there is a gymnastics coach at our gym that is always saying "Hi Smurfette"...but Smurfette immediately assumes the position. Last week the coach says..."Smurfette....why won't you say "hi" to me....one of these days I'll get you to say "hi" ". So when the coach left the room ....Smurfette's head emerges from my thighs and she sneaks a peak from the corner of her eye to make sure she has indeed left the room.....

me: "Smurfette, when someone says hi to you...you should say "hi" back...you're not being very nice....you're going to hurt her feelings."

Smurfette: "Nahhhh......I won't hurt her feelings.......she thinks I'm cute."

I truly believe that this "shy" act has all along been her way of cranking up the "cuteness factor"......where on earth does she get this from......