Wow — Another Blog Award! Snorkie Thanks!

Hi All,

Opie and Opie’s Mom here!

We just won an award from Oscar the Pooch. First of all, thank you, thank you and thank you!

Just like Oscar, we love winning awards. The best part of course is that we get to highlight some of our favorite blogs and generate some great readership for these worthy bloggers. So here are the rules for accepting the VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD.

To accept the award I must share seven interesting facts about us, and pass the award on to 15 new or newly discovered bloggers. It helps that there are two of us that contribute to this award. Readers will get to learn some interesting things about each other.

So here are our seven interesting facts.

1. Opie is a midnight prowler. He sleeps most of the day even though we try and wear him out by playing and giving him walks. Nevertheless, sometime between 1-3 AM, he roams the house, his little nails clicking on the hardwood floor. He peers out the window and if we’re lucky DOESN’T see anything. If we are unlucky and a hapless raccoon, opossum or cat is traversing the yard, then we have to hear ALL about it. We know he’s just trying to keep us safe. He is our knight in shining armor! And just like a knight he’s a little noisy!
   

   
   

    

2. Opie is still a picky eater. We changed from his Innova kibble to Natural Balance Duck and Potato, but we may have to make another shift. He’s not eating that now. It has to be doctored significantly with that duck and potato pasty stuff, left over hamburger or chicken breast. He dislikes all fruit and veggies. No carrot sticks for him. They say that dogs are supposed to be omnivores. However, Opie is a card carrying member of Carnivores R Us. Meat is his idol!
   

   He flings kibble from his bowl as if it has cooties. I’m looking at his mostly full bowl right now. It was served to him at about 7:30AM. He hasn’t taken a bite and yes, he’s had a good BM. I hope that wasn’t too TMI for you all, but we’re all pet blogger here, right? Our day sometimes revolve around our furrever friends potty habits.
   

    

3. Our boys treat Opie like a third brother, but one who doesn’t say smart alecky things, hog the Xbox or emit foul humors as a joke. He’s their sweet little brother. His biggest complaint is that they tend to wake him up in the daytime to give him belly rubs and scratch behind his ears and balance a stuffed squirrel on his head.
   

   
   

   Poor long suffering puppy!
   

    

4. Now about me – I am originally from Dallas, Texas, but I now live in sunny Southern California. I love both my states, but California has Texas beat as far as I’m concerned regarding weather. I can’t stand the heat. I’m not as broken up about the June Gloom as some of my Angelino friends. I love sunshine, but I’m not complaining about 68 degrees. Just not gonna do it! I’ve lived here since about 1985. My husband took me to all the tourist spots. The only place I haven’t been is Universal studios. The lines are daunting! I am duly daunted! I’ll have to skip the whole King Kong experience!
   

    

5. Like Oscar’s mom, I’m a bookworm as well. I was an English major in college and loved it. I’ve read tons and tons of so called “good” literature, but now I like my junk literature. I love a fast paced adventure, and yes, I love women’s’ fiction. (Romance Novels!) I once took a friend to a Romance Writers of America meeting. I entertained ideas of writing my own novel. Result – she became an officer of the local RWA chapter and got 2-3 of her novels published. Me – years later I write a pet blog. LOL! Maybe one day I’ll write that great novel. I think the main character will have a dog, probably a Snorkie! I do read outside my genre. My boys read voraciously and my 13 year old is reading way above his level. (Sorry parental brag!) He recommends books to me all the time. I read all of the Susan Collins books (Hunger Games, etc) on his recommendation. I must say he has great taste. ( Oops, did I brag again, sorry) My eight year old is reading Catching Fire right now. (It’s just a statement of fact, not a brag, right?) Oh well, you’ve figured it out. I’m a proud mama! No apologies!
   

    

6. By profession, I am an attorney, but I don’t practice anymore. Lawyers generally annoy me. LOL! I teach at an online University. I love this job because it allows me to do two things I love most in the world — Raise my boys and be completely involved in all aspects of their lives and teach. I come from a long line of teachers. My entire family teaches or has taught in the past. I tried to escape my fate by going to law school and practicing law, but I soon discovered that my true calling is telling people what to do teaching. I’ve taught Contracts, Torts, Civil litigation, and Legal Ethics courses. Currently, I’m teaching a study skills course. I actually like this one better than the legal subject matter courses, because it will help a student interested any subject area excel. So, if my legal studies students decide to become dentists, or accountants, or anything else, then what I’m teaching them is completely relevant. Since I kind of did the old switcheroo with professions, I am highly sensitive to promoting that possibility for others. If you don’t like what you do, stop doing it and do something else. It’s simple, but of course, it’s hard too!
   

    

7. Before I had Opie, I hadn’t had a dog since I was 15 years old. I had two dogs then – Prince, a German Shepherd Collie mix, and Zsa-Zsa, a poodle. Prince was the sweetest most affectionate dog you could imagine. He loved everyone. He was a lousy guard dog. He’d roll over for a belly rub for anyone. Yes, anyone! Even a guy with a mask and black clothing trying to break into the house. Zsa-Zsa had the temperament her name implies. She’d bite the hand that fed her, hide under the couch and poop in your shoe on basic principle. She was famous for jumping on the dining room table and eating my T-bone steak and then growling territorially about it. She was a great dog! A true character. I love Opie, but having him has made me miss his predecessors more than I have in the intervening years. I suppose it’s because I know so much more now about dogs than I did before. I wish I could go back in time and take Prince to the dog park and play fetch, break Zsa Zsa of all her bad habits and take her to the dog park too. Give them all better food and more treats! Now, I get to put all my new good knowledge into “raising” Opie.
   

   
   

   Prince looked just like this.
   

   The Collie part of him made him a little bit smaller than a regular sized GSD.
   

   He was a big old softy. His teeth were just for show.
   

   
   

   Zsa-Zsa looked like this, but she didn’t spend much time outside. She preferred her spot under my mothers chair. She had GSD tooth envy. Her teeth were not just for show. She believed in sharpening them on human flesh at every opportunity. She was a character!
   

   A real bad a—!
   

    

Well, that’s it for me! Now here are 15 great blogs for you guys to check out! 15 blogs I’m giving this award to! I didn’t put them in any particular order. They all have their charm. These are all blogs that I follow and visit pretty regularly. Some are newish and some are not so new, but I like them. I think you will too! Enjoy!

And the Fifteen ( 15) Winners

of the Versatile Blogger Award

Are…

• Sheltie Times
  
• Yukie the Dog Blog
  
• Snoopy’s Dog Blog
  
• Happy Bark Days
  
• Roxy the Travelling Dog
  
• Sugar the Golden Retriever
  
• Tiffy’s World
  
• Bocci’s Beefs
  
• Richmond Pet Lovers
  
• Everyday Adventures in Havachon Heaven
  
• Life with Lulu and Wally Too
  
• Daley’s Dog Years
  
• Two French Bull Dogs
  
• Bart the Dumpster Dog
  
• I am Santa A Miniature Schnauzer