Paw Time with Houdini

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Hello my sweet dear friends.  I hope that your week has been exciting and great.  There are lots of things going on here this week at the Hotel Thompson.

One thing was – coughs – I was in trouble last weekend.  Okay, I’ll admit it.  I’ve been in trouble for this for some time but mom really was upset with me last weekend.  You see, when I was younger – don’t laugh – when I was younger and in my teething stage, I might have chewed some zippers off of mom’s pillows on her new sofa.  Might is a strong word because no one really saw me but mom told me if she needed to take bite marks for comparison she would so I fessed up.  I did it.  All five of them in fact – barks!  Well, last weekend mom sewed each one back to the way it was suppose to be.  And yes, mom might have poked herself while sewing several times and given me looks.  Of course, I tried to give her my cutest not me look mommy.  So there is a firm rule set in stone now here at the Hotel Thompson – no touchy the pillows Houdini.  Can you believe she used my name like that?  Hangs head low.

And we have visitors this week.  Two friends that mom/dad went and met last year are in our area again visiting.  Mom has taken some time off of the worky place so they can all play together.  You do realize that this means trouble right?  Cause I just know they may need bail money this week… and probably next week because they are all going out of town for a couple of days and leaving all of us.

Oh I shouldn’t say “all” of us because a certain oinker – not mentioning names – has went to camp this week and all of next week.  Why?  So mom/dad could have fun with these friends – which I will tell you about later with some pictures. You see the purr things – they can take care of themselves.  And me well I can take care of myself but Nana will watch me a couple of days next week.  Bacon well he’s like a little kid as mom described it.  He doesn’t take being by himself too well and Nana can’t watch him while she has her hands full with me and her two pooches.  So, mom/dad called the farm where Bacon went to camp last year.  They have other anipals that Bacon had a blast with and that’s where he gets to go for his adventure.  So, I’m sure he will have a blast.  I hope so anyway.  He did bring his computer so don’t fear about his correspondence.

And friends let’s talk about something that I keep seeing on the television all day long.  Something that mom/dad and even Bacon have talked about.  The presidential election.  Shakes my doggy head.

Does anyone really enjoy all of this arguing and calling names?  I really don’t.  Why can’t we all just get along?

I’ve come up with a solution.  Since people running are called politicians and we can’t really trust anything they say – barks!  Why don’t I run for president?  I think I have just about the same qualifications – you think?  And look – mom took this picture of me over the weekend.  Don’t you think it screams “Houdini for President”.

And of course, with that being said I have to leave you with another priceless Jokes with daddy video.  The man does need to go out and play with others more.  Shaking my head.  Enjoy my friends.   I hope you had a wonderful week as well.  Happy weekend!

 

Paw Time with Houdini

Hello my sweet friends.  It’s been a couple of weeks since my last check in here from the Hotel Thompson.  We are ALL so glad the renovation is over here.  It was amazing and I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the before and after pictures as well as mom’s breakdown of the different phases.  I tell you that mother of mine is a scheduler… and a juggler.  She kept us all on a strict schedule.  Have you see the television shows where they don’t show the home owner the after until it’s finished?  That’s what mom/dad did to us anipals here.  We all got shipped up the street to Nana’s to spend the night the day of the floor installation.  The last thing we remember is the carpet and linoleum.  So that Friday after the furniture was delivered, mom came and got us from Nana’s.  OMD!  Once we got inside of the Hotel Thompson, us anipals couldn’t believe it!  It was so new and different.  We all thought we were at the wrong house for a bit.  So many different changes.  We anipals went around and of course had to check things out and mark our territories.  So many new things to try out!

Then it happened.  Mom told us that we had to be careful of the new flooring and furniture.  And of course, daddy put the baby gate back up blocking us from the kitchen.  That baby gate is because of Bacon – don’t tell him I told you that.  That pig – rolls doggy eyes – he knows how to open the freezer so he can’t go in there anymore.  Since he can’t go in there, we can’t go in there.  Of course, the cats jump the fence but I’m too little.  But when I did get to go in the kitchen to check things out – WOW!  I ran and ran and ran around that kitchen island so many times that I got dizzy.  It’s so neat!

And of course my favorite piece of furniture is the couch.  All of those big puffy pillows – I was in pooch heaven.  My personal challenge is to see how many I can knock on the floor before mom/dad realize what I’m doing – barks!  And mom’s chaise – WOW!  That thing is like a bed for a queen – which my mommy is – 🙂  She keeps this comfy Chinese blankie on it that she wraps up in when she is on it.  The other day, I jumped up with her.  Yep – see the picture.  It was so comfy!  And are you wondering what my shirt says?  It’s one of my favorites – of course my brother Bacon doesn’t like it but I think that’s what makes it even funnier.  The shirt says, “I like bacon on my bacon”.  Funny huh?

Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well.  Happy weekend!

 

Renovation – Phase I

Hello all!  This is Bacon’s mom here.  I wanted to break down the entire renovation and share our experience of ups and downs throughout the process.  Today is Phase I which includes the start of everything.  Our house was cluttered.  Pure and simple it was.  We have been here 16 LONG years and throughout those years, we have had many surgeries, illnesses and taking care of family members that some things taken second – like the house unfortunately 😦

I was having a couple of weeks of feeling good physically. One never knows how long these days last when you have rheumatoid arthritis.  So when I told the hub unit I was ready to do it, he couldn’t believe me.  We made an appointment with the floor guy first.  We *had* to get rid of this awful carpet that had seen way better days.

The appointment was made 3/28/2015 with the flooring peeps.  They came out and we went over all of the measurements and looked at the different types of flooring that was available.  My husband gave me full reign over the remodeling so I picked a tan flooring.  We signed the paperwork and picked the date of 4/16/2015 for installation. This gave us a little under three weeks to de-clutter, purge and get the house in shape for the floor.  No small feat with what we had to work with as you can see from the pictures.

This same date, we went furniture shopping.  A joyful occasion to most… except me.  I despise shopping for anything.  The most important factor was that whatever we picked the hub had to LOVE his sofa.  I personally wanted something in the way of an oversized chair with an ottoman, etc – something that would be absolutely comfortable when I came home from work at the end of the day.  We went to a company called American Signature Furniture and picked out a sofa, an oversized chair, an ottoman and an electric fireplace mantle.  Sounds like heaven huh?  We expressed several times that the furniture had to be delivered on 4/17/2015, the day after the floor installation.

Now as you can see from these pictures of the living room, there was a LOT to clean.  I basically wanted to clear out everything and start fresh.  But in order to get to the bare basics, I had to de-clutter and separate items into (1) Keep; (2) Donate; and (3) Junk.  Just looking at the pictures you can tell that it was an overwhelming feat to start.  If anyone is in the same position as we were, two words – BABY STEPS.  I had a calendar and every night when I came home from work and on the weekends, we hit a different spot.  Slowly, things started going away.  AND, you know what we learned from all of this?  Letting go can be medicinal and therapeutic.  We made three trips alone to the Goodwill donation center down the street in the first couple of days.  I know that our garbage collection company probably thought what are they up to because we had loads of stuff we threw away.  Phase I took us the longest to get through – 9 days.

And then came the date that we asked Salvation Army to come to the house on 4/9/2015.  They actually had to make two trips because we gave it all away:  sofa, love seat, entertainment center, china cabinet, hutch, kitchen table, six chairs, rugs.

After they left, we cleaned more and started making a pile of trash.  On 4/11/2015, we had 1-800 Got Junk to come out to the house.  This junk company will come to your house and pick up your trash.  According to how much you have to fill their truck, is how much they charge you.  We had scheduled them to come out on this date between 3:30-5:30pm.  To our advantage, they were running late so (1) we got to pick up and clean more and (2) the later they were we got a discount – which is always a great thing in my book.

The company *finally* got at the Hotel Thompson around 8:30PM – which they had been calling throughout the day to keep us aware of their schedule.  I never got upset with them and it was a good thing.  Other people had in their schedule.  They came to our house and gave us a $125.00 discount for waiting.  So it cost only $100.00 for them to come in, lift and take out our final junk.  A bargain in my book because by this time we were so over lifting.

Now our neighbors had been watching all of the activity happening at our house in the pass 9 days.  Word got back to us that we were moving which we laughed off.  Nope – we were just doing some MAJOR spring cleaning.  All of this work was Phase I – come back tomorrow for Phase II my friends 🙂

 

 

 

Don’t Mind Me

Piggy coming through – don’t mind me daddy. You just keep playing that Angry Bird game thingy that keeps you so entertained.  No problems here – nothing to see.  Just a piggy coming through around your back region.  Don’t worry.  I usually don’t get on your sofa – wanted to check it out.

Just checking for crumbs or anything good to eat up here.  I see the purr things doing this and thought I would try.  To tell you the truth.  I don’t know what the big deal is. There is nothing up here.  I mean zip.  But that’s okay. I licked the sofa arm a couple of times to make sure.  Don’t freak out if it’s a little wet.  It’s just a little bit of my piggy saliva – no biggie.  It will dry – I’m sure of it!

I’m going to jump down now off of this arm.  Maybe if you tie a rope around me, I can bungee jump.  Nope – you’re too busy?  Okay mom – put that camera down STAT and get.me.down.

 

7 Weeks of Weird

Okay I’m late to the band wagon.  What can I say.  I need to get out more, meet and greet more people.  That’s my goal for the rest of the year.  Let people know that moi – a mere pig – writes a blog.  Today, I noticed some of my friends with 7 weeks of weird in their blog.  I went to the source and made a new friend here.  I hope she accepts my friendship.  This is the neatest idea of 7 weeks of weird well since sliced bread… and peanut butter and jelly.  Who can get enough of that combination?  Snorts – now I’m hungry.  Great.

In today’s 7 weeks of weird, it focuses on “What is the weirdest habit/routine you have?”  I can do this.  My weirdest habit.  Don’t laugh okay.  This is something that I’ve never spoke of before.  When I eat my food out of my bowl.  I have to walk around my bowl while eating in a clockwise fashion.  I can’t just stop and eat.  I have to keep moving around my bowl.  It’s not like the food changes.  I just like the action of moving.  I think deep down I believe if I keep moving around the bowl (1) that’s exercise and I’m burning calories so I can eat more and (2) the bowl might sprout more food.  You never know – snorts.

My weird routine?  This one took some thinking.  I’ve come up with one that is intriguing and believe it or not, daddy helped me come up with it.  In the evenings after dinner, I like to sit on the sofa and cuddle with mommy.  I don’t want any help getting on the sofa.  I’m a big pig now.  I can do it myself.  BUT, I can only get up on the left side of mommy – never the right and never jump directly in her lap.  It has to be to the left and *I* have to do it myself.  If she helps, I will squeal and have a piggy tantrum so loud in protest that the house will shake here at the Hotel Thompson.

So, I hope these are two weird things that you didn’t know about moi – your friendly little pig with a blog.  I’m off to take a nap now.  Catch you on the downside.

 

Spring is Here – YAY!

So I saw this little jingle with the cute little kitty doing a dance and I thought, why not?  It is finally Spring and I am feeling so frisky – in a good way.  I don’t want you to start thinking of me like that.  Nope, no way, not going to happen.  I’m talking frisky as in wanting to run.  You see during the winter months, I have a tendency to just want to sleep and eat… kind of like a hibernation of sorts.  I just don’t feel like running – it’s way too cold for me.

So this weekend, I was on a roll.  I ran around the back yard in my magical kingdom.  I played with mom and we rolled around in the clovers.  We sat for a long time and basked in the sun.  We just ‘hung out’ together and had a great time.

Later in the day, daddy even got the grill out to cook some dinner.  I might have or might have not begged for some chicken.  Hey, it’s what I do.  And by the way, it was delicious.

But then later, we all went inside of the Hotel Thompson.

I remembered the picture of the kitty singing his song so I ran through the front room singing it too.. well what I thought was the words.  Can you believe when I did it, mom and dad almost fell off the sofa because they were laughing so hard?  The nerve of them, huh?  I can’t help it that I resemble my song.  You want to hear it too?  Okay, don’t laugh – pinky promise okay.  Here it goes:

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“I’m a little teapot short and stout;

Here is my handle, here is my … handle

Darn, I’m a sugar bowl.”.

 

Bashful is Back Home – YAY!

 Bashful made it back to the Hotel Thompson from Australia!  

We all stayed up really late last night talking about his travels and misadventures.  OMP (oh my pig)!  He had a blast down under.  And like Las Vegas, some things that happened in Australia stay in Australia if you know what I mean – winks winks.

You’re not going to accept that, are you?  You want the juicy details of his wicked time with Bimby while making his short silent movie Rockadile Dundee.  I’m sorry.

I can’t tell you any of the juicy details.  Bashful said that a gentlerock does not talk about his ladies.  aaaww – I raised that little pebble right!

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The little international rolling stone came home with some great treasures of his time spent with his host family.  The above left handed picture is Bashful in his suit that he wore to the wedding. What a handsome little guy!  He now refers to that suit as his 007 Rock Bond outfit.  What a riot!  He told me late last night that he wore his suit out one night when he took Bimby out for a date – 🙂

The picture to the right is of Bashful and his Australian outback hat.  What a looker!  And you see that item behind him?  That is a hand painted boomerang from Australia that came home with him.  I’ve already caught him throwing it around the house.  We’ve all learned how to duck really fast with that thing flying about.  And never fear about his cross eyed look in the picture.  I think he was slightly inebriated from the long flight home.  You know, they’ll serve anyone a drink these days in the happy air above.  I guess there is no ‘under age’ in the sky.

This picture to the left is of the other goodies that Bashful came home with that was in his luggage.  Stickers of all different things – Koala bears, snakes and Kangaroos.  Bashful told me that I could have some of them to put in our bedroom – I can’t wait to decorate my board.

And you know, they didn’t forget mom either.  See that fluffy pen in the picture?  It’s a Mickey Mouse pen!  It lights up when you write with it.  Mommy is in love with that pen.  I do believe she took it to the worky place so she can use/look at it every day.

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Fozziemom and company was even so nice to send the purr things some treats.  Trust me, those little vultures jumped on that bag like it was crack!

And talking about crack – snorts.  See that can to the left beside the Koala pouch, Bashful is hooked on that stuff!  Mom/dad tried some last night and gave me a small bite.  OMP (oh my pig!).  It is GOOD!  No wonder that little Bashful couldn’t stay out of it.  It’s peppermint glory.

And you’re probably wondering about that Koala pouch.  It is the cutest little thing that zips up.  There was something amazing in that little pouch.  I’m getting too ahead of myself so you’ll have to wait for what it was. I promise to tell you.

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And of course, we have to show a picture of the intellectual Bashful with his glasses on and sporting his hat.  Can you believe he went to bed last night wearing that?  And yes, he used his specks when he was reading to us out loud about his adventures in his travel log.

Can you believe that we also had a slide show of his side trip to Sydney?  Oh gracious – it was a hoot.  He visited so many places while down under.  I think we will be hearing about his tales for some time to come.

But, we are talking about the international rolling stone – my Bashful.  He will be home for a couple of more days and then he is off to his next host family and his next adventure.  Where will it be?  Only me and the next host family will know.

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But before he hops that plane, we had to take some family pictures of the “Rock Clan”.  There they all are on their sofa in their bedroom getting to know each other.

From left to right, they are:

Princess Coralena (from Hawaii), Mannie (from France), Virginia (from Virginia), Bashful and wait a minute – who is that?

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May I introduce you to the newest member of the Hotel Thompson.  This is Rockelle from Australia.  She is in this picture wearing Bashful’s Australian hat and wait – what is that?  She is siding up with Bashful and they are a twosome?!  Stop the presses – Bashful came home with a girlfriend?!  And they know how to grow them in Australia.  She has the cutest little accent and look at that purple eyeshadow.  She has so woo’ed the little guy.

And you’re probably wondering about how Princess Coralena must be feeling about this.  Well, let’s just say there’s going to be a rock fight about whose rock Bashful really is.  I can feel it in my bones.  But Bashful, he’s a young tyke.  He needs to experience life right now.  He can always settle down when he hangs up his travel boots, right?

So, to Fozziemom and clan – thank you so much for hosting a great time for the little fellow.  I know he had an awesome time and will always cherish his memories with you in Australia.  You were great.

But the bottom question remains – where will Bashful end up next?

 

New Furniture Possibility

Mom and dad have been talking about needing new furniture. I thought I would be helpful and surf the net to see what I could find for them. You know something that we could all like that would fit in. Something that would remind them of me. Something that would let people know who is in charge around here. I think I found the perfect couch for the front room. I looks really comfortable and somewhat familiar. Can’t put my snout on it. What do you think?

 

My Favorite Position –

I love my mommy.  When she comes home at night, the fun begins.  I’m not saying that I don’t have fun with dad during the day.  It’s just that she’s my mommy.  I greet her at the front door and she *always* stops right there, bends over and pets my little head.  I snort at her.  Sometimes, she will snort back.  It’s so funny when she does this! 

She then puts her things down and we go into the kitchen together.  I watch as she fixes my dinner of piggy chow and salad.  After I eat, she puts me in my room for my meditation time while she and dad eat their dinner. 

Afterwards, I come out and oversee her doing the dishes. Then we land in the front room playing with each other.  Sometimes we play chase and sometimes she sits with me on the floor.  Last night, I went over to her feet and fell down stretching out.  Of course, mommy always has a camera handy and took my picture.  Yep that’s me and Mr. Blankie.  Look at all of that hair I have.  Some people say it’s unusual for me to have that much fur.  I don’t know anything different. 

After I got done laying on the floor, I got a little cold.  So, I jumped on the couch with mom.  She wraps me up with everything and pets me while we snuggle.  I know – I know.  I’m a little spoiled.  But isn’t that what great pets are for?  LOL

Have you ever seen a pig all comfy and snuggly on a couch?  Heck, for that matter do you know of any other spoiled piglets out there?  I like to think of myself as a one of a kind.  I’m special that way. 

Here’s hoping you have a fantastic hump day –

happy Wednesday!

 

There’s No Room

Most times in the afternoons and on the weekends you will find me all cozy next to my mommy on our sofa watching television.  It’s our time for mommy piggy bonding.  This weekend, it was no different. 

Shaking head.  Sweet daddy just doesn’t have a clue about boundaries though.  I had to teach him this weekend.  Let me explain the set up for you.  In our front room, there are two couches, a big one that daddy sits on and a smaller one that me and mommy inhabit.

This weekend, daddy thought he would try and sit on our sofa with me and mommy.  I did a double take.  I mean come on dad, you’re moving in on my territory… please recognize. Snort giggles. 

 

I barked at him.  He didn’t get the message. 

I snorted at him.  He didn’t get the message. 

I even growled at him.  He still didn’t get the message. 

This led me to my last resort. 

I took my powerful snout and starting to push daddy off my couch.  I know – it was a last resort.  He didn’t get any of my earlier messages so a pig had to do what a pig had to do.  He chuckled and got the message.  He left my territory and went back to his playpen.  I snuggled back up to my mommy, got comfortable, smiled and went back to sleep.  Our couch is not big enough for the daddy, just us.  He has to learn his boundaries.  LOL