Welcome my friends to our weekly issue of Journey with Friends. This is a time that we come together for support, for encouragement, for fellowship – all with one single goal in mind – to live better. Welcome to our journey to share our goals and our accomplishments and our disappointments and frustrations.
Together we can do this!
Oh friends – how was your week/weekend? In the words of my pig son, “Oh my piggy heavens!” I admit that we didn’t make the best of food choices last week. I tried to stay on plan the best I could do but it was one of those weeks that you chased to keep up with. Can you relate? And I knew the weekend was going to be busy. There were so many errands to run. When you think about it, it’s unfair how we get two days of the weekend that is meant for rest from your work week but is used to play catch up with errands. And then you have to work five days. Tsk-tsk so unfair in my book – LOL.
So Saturday, we hit the door running. We had a few things planned that somehow ended in snowballing into a cluster of errands. I’m not sure how that happened. But the list of things to do kept growing and growing like kudzu here in the south. First off on the list, to get my hair cut and colored. There is nothing like getting pampered with a cut/color and just having some time to yourself. Of course, my cut and color turning into several hours but that gave me time to work on my to-do list on my phone. But, I do like the results. I feel younger, more relaxed and more me. Afterwards, can you believe we went Christmas shopping and finished? Yes we did. Now that deserved a drink and trust me, mommy got one…or two.
I know it was the marathon from the day before that did it. Sunday morning I felt like a zombie trying to move in bed. Oh my! It hurt to even move my toes. Finally after some slow moving, I did succeed in getting up and dressed. The goal for this day was to have a quiet breakfast with the hub unit at one of our local places. We walked out to the Jeep and guess what. The Jeep was feeling it too. One of the tires on the Jeep was barely filled with air. It might have been during this time that I lowered my head and thought, “Why me? Why today”.
That’s how our Sunday plans got changed. Instead of breakfast that we wanted, it was to our local Sam’s Warehouse to get tires installed. So while waiting for our Jeep, we had the breakfast of champions at the Sam’s snack bar… pizza. At least the hub unit was thrilled. And at least 2.5 hours later, we left with nice tires… amazing how a Jeep runs with full tires.
Hello my sweet friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know we did here at the Hotel Thompson. Heck, it was just plain awesome having mom home from the worky place. Did we eat too much here? Barks! Nah – do you believe that? It was like an all day food paradise. We had a blast!
And today – what do we have planned for today? Aaww – I have plans for me – for Petsmart. All of those toys – All of that food – All of those treats.
I think I can get mom to go… I think. I’ve left so many notes laying around the Hotel Thompson. I even hid all of my food and clothes to make her think that I have nothing left. That way, she thinks I need everything STAT.
And the other anipals, they gave me their lists of what they want and need. So, I’m good. I think they are going to persuade mom/dad too of a much needed trip to our toy store… I mean Petsmart. Wish us luck my friends.
Oh and to keep you held over, mom/dad did buy me a toy a couple of weeks ago. Oh my dog!! Mom says that I might love that toy a little much. What do you think?
Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well. Happy weekend!
HA – BARKS! Mommy said that this was the cutest tail that she has even seen – barks with puppy laughter. Sorry Bacon and daddy – I gotta cute butt – what can I say?! Okay I have to admit that in this picture, daddy had my upmost attention. You can tell by the way I’m standing – the position of my cute tail and my one ear standing up. Daddy was actually giving me a treat. Just ignore dad’s holey shirt – barks! Mommy says that his around the house shirt only. And you know, this pooch will take as many and any kind of treats he can get.
And Bacon take notice of my t-shirt. HA! I know – I know. I probably should not have gotten it but it was so darn cute. And I gotta pick on my bro – if I don’t, who will, right? Okay maybe Hemi will by slapping him on his hiney with his huge paw – now *that* is something I never get tired of watching. Talk about amusement here around the Hotel Thompson.
And today is an awesome day my friends. Do you know what today is? I mean more than just being the obvious Friday? Today is the last day at work for my mom. She starts her holiday when she leaves work today. YES – DO A LITTLE DANCE – HAPPY DANCE. Nine entire days with having mommy at the Hotel Thompson. I’m so excited I may wee myself!
Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well. Happy weekend!
WHO do I need to talk to my friends? This weather is horrible. It has been raining so much that I’m not sure which of us is more done with, me, mom, dad or Bacon. And to top it off, it’s cold. Not freezing cold but chilly willy for this little camper. I’ll tell you a secret of how cold it is – come closer – some days I don’t even get out of my onesie – that’s how cold it is. Can you imagine?!
And one night this week, mom came home from the worky place and was cold and tired. After she put on her onsie, she cuddled up on her chaise to relax. I drug my lobster bed all the way from my bedroom to the fireplace. Then I jumped on the chaise with mom to watch the fire. She laughed cause she was like all of that work and I’m going to sit with mom now? Nah, I’m a smart doggie. I was letting the fire from the fireplace take the chill off my bed and make it all nice and toasty for me. See, who’s the smart one now huh? After a few minutes, I went and got in that toasty bed. I was so snug and warm!
Hopefully, it’s suppose to be a pretty weekend here – cold but no rain – so maybe I can go out with mom/dad for a ride. I feel a field trip to the local pet store coming on for me. I haven’t destroyed any pillows in a while – barks!
Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well. Happy weekend!
Barks my friends! Another week gone and tomorrow is the BIG day – HALLOWEEN! We can’t wait. We are going to celebrate the way mom did when growing up. We are all going to bundle up in the big bed with popcorn and watch scary movies. I think we are all excited just to be together. I’m sure we will all be snoring before the first show ends – barks!
But I did dress up in my costume. Our local pet store had a dress up party and I went last night. It was so much fun! I got to strut myself around in my Captain America outfit and be a Super Hero for a while. They had puppy treats and treat bags for anipals that I got to bring home. Score one for the little puppy huh? This is a picture that mom took of me in my outfit. If you look closely, I’m smiling and you can see my teeth. Dad says I’m Captain America but mom says with those two front teeth showing, I could be VAMPIRE Captain America – BARKS! Mom/dad say we have lots of errands to do this weekend. One of those errands they say I have to go with them. The way they said it, it didn’t sound good. I’m thinking this weekend might be the V.E.T. thing they keep spelling out around me. They don’t understand that us anipals know these key important words that they like to spell. I’m hoping I’m wrong about the V.E.T. but the way daddy keeps saying it with a grin in his voice, I don’t think so. I’ll keep you posted.
And my friends, I have a special treat for you today. All of us anipals and even the rock clan have been working on a project to help end 31 Days of Spook. We put together a little something and we hope that you enjoy it my friends.
Happy Monday my friends! Hope everyone had a delicious and wonderful weekend. I got to run a bit in the back of the Hotel Thompson. You can *almost* taste fall in the weather here. I ran, jumped around, ate some grass – it was interesting – and chased mom for a while. This will hold me until fall/winter is over – snorts with piggy laughter. Almost time for my winter hibernation – I can feel it starting in my bones.
Houdini had his spa day on Saturday. It’s like he knows when his spa day is. He got daddy up at the crack of dawn and then played during breakfast. Daddy kept fussing at him to eat something and he was like, “Nope, I’m good”. Snorts – silly guy. Daddy dressed him in his pirate attire and that’s what he had on when he got dropped off at doggy spa. The peeps there thought he was so hilarious. I would have paid to see him ‘walking the plank’ into the bubble bath… wouldn’t you?
Mom and dad then did errands. Mom doesn’t get to do any during the week because of the worky place so on the weekends sometimes her schedule can be full just running here/there. First they dropped Houdini off, then had breakfast and then it was off to the doctor’s facility. Mom/dad got their flu shots and mom got her blood work done. Thank goodness mom is on her DIEt full time now. She tells daddy that it takes her a couple of weeks to slowly ‘ease’ into the situation. I guess that kind of makes sense to me. But to help her out, daddy is going to have this dinner table installed at the Hotel Thompson. Too much?
Oh my friends. Have you ever had one of those weekends where you did so very much that you finally just prayed for Monday to get here STAT because of being tired? Can you relate? Mom and dad had one of those weekends. Mom was already feeling slightly under the weather with her flare up. But Sunday night, she could barely walk. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So this is what those two humans of mine did.
Saturday – They got up for breakfast early and tried a new restaurant. Yes mom took pictures that I will post soon. They looked good too. After breakfast, they had to go to Kaiser to pick up some prescriptions. Then mom finally got her nails done – which was long needed. Then they went to Petsmart. Trust me, all of us anipals here at the Hotel Thompson wanted to go to Petsmart. But mom/dad said we couldn’t go because they were running all errands this morning before coming home to crash… which mom did 🙂 So after Petsmart and doing what dad said was ‘buying them out’ – rolls piggy eyes, they went to Wally World – Walmart for those that know the place. Daddy then got a haircut and afterwards, he and mom looked around for some things they needed. So, you see mom/dad did a LOT of walking all over the place. Which normally wouldn’t be bad but with mom’s current flare up situation, it wasn’t good. They left the house this morning around 8AM and didn’t get back home until way after 2PM. Then they had to unload the Jeep and put everything up. That’s a lot of work. With mommy not feeling too well lately, daddy wanted to go someone special for their date night tonight. So they left the house again at 4PM to go to a restaurant that is about 35 miles away.. not just any restaurant though. They have crab legs 🙂 Yum…. not that they brought me any back tonight – snorts.
Sunday – They got up for round 2 of shopping and getting errands done. They got up and went to a local place for breakfast – Cracker Barrel. Afterwards they had to go to a home improvement store named Lowes. Mom had some stuff she needed to return and they had pick up light bulbs and air filters for the Hotel Thompson. Of course, one things leads to another and the next thing they know they have a buggy full of stuff. But some of the things they found my friends – Oh my piggy heavens. I’ll share with you on another post on that – my parents are too hilarious! After dropping off these items at the Hotel Thompson, mom and dad wanted to go to another Wally World location to see if they had something they wanted that the other store didn’t… so off they went again. Not only did they find some things they were looking for but of course they found some more stuff. Did I mention that mommy *hates* shopping? She does. She can’t stand it. So she waits and makes lists and then tries to get everything at once. Silly mom huh?
Afterwards, it was time to do the monthly shopping so off they went to Kroger. Once there, they had to pick up some other medicines they had filled at their pharmacy. Then the major shopping for the Hotel Thompson. And did I mention that mom is a HUGE coupon shopper? She tells us anipals that she has to be so she can’t keep us accustomed to the way we are living. I don’t get it – do you? Mommy keeps up with her grocery list on her iPhone – there is actually an ap for that – snorts. So when we are out of something, she adds it to the list for the next trip. She also keeps up with her coupons on her iPhone. Mom says the one thing about shopping with coupons is organization and that it takes time. So they were at the grocery store for over two hours! Daddy told mommy at one time that just because they have room in the Jeep now doesn’t mean she had to fill him to the rim in this one trip – snorts – silly daddy. But then daddy also said that thank goodness they had Casper the new Jeep because everything they got would NOT have fit into Albert the Smart car. See all of the stuff in the back of Casper. You want to take a gander of the cost? Now mom/dad grocery shop majorly every 2-3 months. They will go every other week just to get milk and bread. The total cost of this shopping spree came out to be $178.00 – she then handed the cashier all of her coupons and told him to ‘make it rain savings’. Snorts – that’s my mommy. After mom’s coupons and such, it came down to a final price of $127.00 – mom said even the cashier was shocked and amazed at that. All of this for two somewhat adults, one pooch, two purr things and of course me who daddy says eats like a small child – snorts.
Then they came home to unload everything. Now mom has a great conclusion to this. She says, you shop all over the store and put things in your buggy. Then you have to unload everything at the register to be rung up. Then you have to load everything in your car to take home. Then you get home and have to take everything into the house and THEN put everything up. What a crap play huh? But daddy knew that mommy wasn’t feeling to good so he parked her in the kitchen and he brought everything into the house for her… aaww – that was sweet. Mom put everything up and crashed on the couch afterwards.
There she was medicated trying to get some rest while waiting for my Auntie Tina and cousins Savannah and Maverick to make it home. See they are visiting for a couple of days and was due to arrive at Nanas Sunday night. Mom finally got the call and her and dad then went to pick them all up for dinner. They went to a great pizza place and talked, laughed and got caught up. Afterwards, Auntie Tina and my cousins came to the Hotel Thompson to visit all of us anipals. That was great fun! We are all older now and loved the extra attention. And a certain piggy may or may not have done some cute things for that extra attention – just sayin’ . When they were done visiting, mom took them and Houdini up to Nana’s for a short visit. She was only there for a little over 30 minutes and then came home. After doing the medicines, for the week, she crashed pretty hard. Who cards that it was only 7PM, right?
So you see, we are all kind of excited that this past weekend is done. Completed. Over. Finished. All but one little itsy bitsy thing. What you ask? Snorts – I’m glad you asked. Tonight mom/dad are taking Houdini to a new groomer. This should be fun. Their appointment is at 6PM, right after mom’s work. Houdini doesn’t know yet. I’ll keep you posted on the results my friends. And one little question, is it the weekend yet? Snorts
Hope you had a wonderful weekend my friends. We spent the weekend catching up on a lot of things that mom has let go since her arthritis has been flaring up. There was haircuts, nails, grocery shopping, Houdini had to go to the spa and other errands that had to be done. As daddy says, ‘”It was about time too.” And yep, I finally got me some Animal Crackers. I was thrilled with that!
Over the weekend, we were watching a special on television that piqued our interest. It was a special on weddings and the new venues of where to get married. There is still the traditional way of getting married in a church. But there are so many different venues now. For instance, did you know that when mom/dad got married they got married in an upscale steakhouse. They rented out the banquet room, invited 60 of their closest family/friends that thought they would never get married and had the wedding. Following the wedding, they had a sit down dinner at the restaurant and they gave the option of steak, chicken, shrimp or salmon. That’s another thing that’s kind of part of the past – sit down dinners. Nowadays, people go for finger foods and buffets. But a steakhouse wedding was awesome. You have doubts don’t you? I thought you might so here is a picture of mom/dad from their wedding day at the restaurant.
But do you want to hear about a new venue that people are picking for their wedding? This one totally blows my piggy mind. It really does and I’m sure yours too. People are opting to have their weddings in funeral homes. I was what are they thinking. Then they explained. There is room for plenty of parking and the facilities usually have huge rooms inside for the wedding. I guess you would just want to make sure that your special day doesn’t coincide with someone’s departing.
Now the question is could you get married in a funeral home? Where did you get married?
HAPPY WEEKEND my dear friends. Do you have anything planned? What are you doing? I think we have errands to run tomorrow. I’m going to see if I can persuade mom if I can tag along for some of them. It should be a blast. So if you see a little blue Smart car in a drive thru or on the road somewhere, check the back for me. I’ll be the piggy oinking and snorting. I would wave but you know I have short legs – snorts.
But I do want to leave you with something to think about this weekend. I saw this in the kitchen the other day and snagged a picture. Mommy said it was milk. Let me tell you something – I want to see the size of the cow that filled these little cups with milk. OMP (oh my pig!) Do you see the size of this milk bottle? That’s about the right size of it too in the picture. Was it a mini-cow? And how long did it take to fill those cups? Remind me that I don’t want *that* job.
Oh my friends – just a little reminder today this Saturday as you are out and about running errands. Please be careful of hitchhikers. One never knows who they really might be… an escaped inmate.. a murderer.. a rouge clown..
Miniature pot bellied pig and friends - Bacon, Houdini, Hemi and all of the Rock Clan with Journalist Rocky the Squirrel all out looking for adventures from the Hotel Thompson.
hit the door running. We had a few things planned that somehow ended in snowballing into a cluster of errands. I’m not sure how that happened. But the list of things to do kept growing and growing like kudzu here in the south. First off on the list, to get my hair cut and colored. There is nothing like getting pampered with a cut/color and just having some time to yourself. Of course, my cut and color turning into several hours but that gave me time to work on my to-do list on my phone. But, I do like the results. I feel younger, more relaxed and more me. Afterwards, can you believe we went Christmas shopping and finished? Yes we did. Now that deserved a drink and trust me, mommy got one…or two.
Happy Monday my friends! Hope everyone had a delicious and wonderful weekend. I got to run a bit in the back of the Hotel Thompson. You can *almost* taste fall in the weather here. I ran, jumped around, ate some grass – it was interesting – and chased mom for a while. This will hold me until fall/winter is over – snorts with piggy laughter. Almost time for my winter hibernation – I can feel it starting in my bones.
up at the crack of dawn and then played during breakfast. Daddy kept fussing at him to eat something and he was like, “Nope, I’m good”. Snorts – silly guy. Daddy dressed him in his pirate attire and that’s what he had on when he got dropped off at doggy spa. The peeps there thought he was so hilarious. I would have paid to see him ‘walking the plank’ into the bubble bath… wouldn’t you?
Saturday
they went to Petsmart. Trust me, all of us anipals here at the Hotel Thompson wanted to go to Petsmart. But mom/dad said we couldn’t go because they were running all errands this morning before coming home to crash… which mom did 🙂 So after Petsmart and doing what dad said was ‘buying them out’ – rolls piggy eyes, they went to Wally World – Walmart for those that know the place. Daddy then got a haircut and afterwards, he and mom looked around for some things they needed. So, you see mom/dad did a LOT of walking all over the place. Which normally wouldn’t be bad but with mom’s current flare up situation, it wasn’t good. They left the house this morning around 8AM and didn’t get back home until way after 2PM. Then they had to unload the Jeep and put everything up. That’s a lot of work. With mommy not feeling too well lately, daddy wanted to go someone special for their date night tonight. So they left the house again at 4PM to go to a restaurant that is about 35 miles away.. not just any restaurant though. They have crab legs 🙂 Yum…. not that they brought me any back tonight – snorts.
Sunday
e call and her and dad then went to pick them all up for dinner. They went to a great pizza place and talked, laughed and got caught up. Afterwards, Auntie Tina and my cousins came to the Hotel Thompson to visit all of us anipals. That was great fun! We are all older now and loved the extra attention. And a certain piggy may or may not have done some cute things for that extra attention – just sayin’ . When they were done visiting, mom took them and Houdini up to Nana’s for a short visit. She was only there for a little over 30 minutes and then came home. After doing the medicines, for the week, she crashed pretty hard. Who cards that it was only 7PM, right?
Piglove 