Beagle Mafia

Sooo I have a lot to say but right now I am nursing a 3 month old beagle puppy back to health. Literally syringe feeding her. I am confined to my spare bedroom as to not spread her germies to my own herd. I smell like snots, puppy breathe and vicks.

So last night this conversation transpires with my child:

Last night Capo and I were laying on our stomachs on the bed reading something together on line. I had on a night gown with my boy boxer shorts. Capo was in his normal t shirt and shorts.

The Boy comes by and says "you guys are not going to "connect" are you?

We are like huh?

The Boy says "Dont pretend you dont know what that means, cmon Mom".

At this point Capo and I really had no clue. And then it dawned on me what he was talking about.

Me: "do you mean sex ?" (Capo as this point is chewing his nails and not at all comfortable talking about this with a 7 year old)

The Boy is all giggly "yes mom"

Me: "so what do you mean by connect then?"

The Boy: "well the boy penis and the girl's vagina connect and they kiss"

Me: "why yes that is correct."

The Boywalks away.....

Mike: "I need a Xanax after that"

I get more giggly about Capo being so prude about talking about it. His mom literally never talked with him about and up until he knocked me up, I dont think she ever thought he was having sex at 25.

Thank God January is behind us. What a month and I hope its not any indication on the how the year will pan out. Alas, January managed to end on a good note.

On the rescue front, Mr A( who was brought back as damaged goods) is actually back to his returnee who BEGGED us back for him. Long story but we think his owner was overwhelmed and not quite ready for the responsibility and of course, absence always makes the heart grow fonder. In most circumstances we would have not given it another shot but this time, we did. Our fingers are crossed that this will be the final time Mr A is shifted around.

We are also officially INCORPORATED! Paper are filed, sealed and delivered. Last week I opened our bank account. Now to work on our non for profit status. That is our next step to be officially official. Oh what a feeling!

On a personal front, we had a situation that was very touch and go but per usual, God came through and brought us out victorious. Other than that The Boy is back to back with football and baseball so pretty much we live at one field or the other for the next month or so.

In 24 days, we leave for our cruise and let me tell you I CANT WAIT! Its going to be a much needed forced relief. The one vacation where my phone/email will be rendered useless. Forced relaxation is exactly what the doctor has ordered. We have never been and I hope we like it. We are doing the Disney cruise and hope that we like it enough to go Royal Caribbeans' Oasis of the Sea just Capo and I. For some reason I have always been leery of cruising and not sure if I will like it but I am optimistic.

My dad and step mom are suppose to come and visit which is always very exciting. Michael loves to have family come into town to spend time with. Its also nice to show everyone a slice of our world here at Casa Beagle. Never a dull moment for sure.

Other than that, I am reading a lot and joined Paperback Swap and Good Reads. I needed to do something for just me. If I am not reading in my spare time, I am playing Mario Wii with the family. Hoping to beat this damn addicting game soon. All in all, just enjoying life, plugging through, cutting out people who are toxic and enjoying those are who bring something to the table so to speak.

I feel a season shifting in our lives and I am ready for the ride. I know it will get bumpy but I feel more secure in how I am, my marriage, my relationship with my son and my calling here on Earth. I want to hear Him say as I enter those pearly white gates of heaven"well done my faithful servant". I strive to make the judgements last just a few short minutes and the praises to last hours.

This is our Old Man beagle sleeping on The Boy's new Pottery Barn comfy chair.



This picture represents a peaceful relaxing day Capo and I had last week. We stayed in our pj's all day, played Mario on the Wii(which is highly addictive for people like me who are totally anti video games), Capo made breakfast, we baked a cake and then I made dinner. I completed the relaxing day with a cozy Bathos Lush Bath. If you dont know....you better ask somebody.

Also in the corner you see a book. Same Kind of Different As Me was one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life. It is a MUST read.....


This would be my bible, pen and notebook. Keys to spiritual success per my pastor! Every year I change what version I use. Last year I used a comparative Mama Jaffee bible that broke my back to carry around. This year I went simply NIV.


This is my Old Lady beagle. I found a walking buddy here in my neighborhood. We started walking 2 miles 3-4 times a week. I have been alternating the dogs to see who can handle the walk. I decided to take Old Lady and she was pooped at the end. She went straight to the water bowl and then found the nearest bed she could hop into. Doesnt it look like she is saying "hey mom, really was that necessary?"


Today this is my pretty Bassetude Girl. She is a hound with a quite an attitude about her. Lets put it this way, she is lucky she is so damn cute.....This is the way she sits on the couch, such a lady.

In other events, Mr P who was returned as damaged goods, is going to his new home tomorrow. I think this time around we found his forever home. They just loved him and he them. He cried at the door when they left. Capo really doesnt want to give him up but.....

Also Ms B is going to meet a potential adopter on Monday. I have had Ms. B since June. We pretty much thought we would be her forever home unless we found a special person who wanted to adopt her. I am not sure I can give her up at this point but I will at least give this lady a chance. Ms. B is a special beagle. Chocolate in color, doesnt like children, doesnt really care for other dogs although she likes their company and she takes a long time to warm up to people. Like for say 3 weeks she peed and pooped in my house not because she wasnt potty trained but because she was so traumatized by being dumped off at the shelter by her previous owner who tossed her out after having a set of twins. I promised Ms. B we would NEVER allow that to happen to her again. Hence my hesitation on adopting her out. Besides we are quite in love with our chocolate beagle. The only reason I am considering is because she would love more attention instead of sharing us with the herd. We shall see.

Two Sunday's ago, Candy Bar Dog got out of the yard. Something he has not done in about a year. You see he was a rescue from Hurricane Katrina and use to get out all the time. He had a very strong hunting background. Candy Bar Dog was also not a beagle but a Treeing Walker Hound. A few weekends ago he got out of our fence and actually took Ms Q with him. Thankfully, she came back after I frantically called for her. This was also the start of the 12 days hard freeze we had here. With Candy Bar Dog's arthritis and old age, I was so worried he would die. We left the garage open, called the shelters, searched the neighborhood, posted on the HOA etc. Nothing.

Then I had this urge to google the main road we live off and his breed and the word LOST. Low and behold someone posted finding a dog of his breed, age etc on that road. They left no phone number and there was no way to reply to their posting. I goggled their username and somehow found their phone number. Capo says I should be a PI.

I spoke to the people who found him and he didnt spend one single night out in the cold, they found him that Sunday night and kept him safe, warm and fed. We made arrangement to pick him the following day.

We got a call a few hours before and they were just over the moon about him and wanted to see if we wanted them to adopt him. I explained to them Capo's allergies and the fact he lives in our pool bathroom. Yes, beagles and bassets do not aggravate his allergies but for some reason Candy Bar Dog dander is toxic to Capo. These people have no allergies to him and were able to let him roam their house and give him bounds of love and attention. Their one year old thought he was hilarious because of how tall he was. They have 3 pugs. The father took him to work with him for the 4 days after they found him and would continue to do so.

After lots of talks and thoughts and having to convince The Boy that it would be a better life, we went ahead and allowed them to adopt him. We checked out their house, they signed a contract and just today I switched over his micro chip info. :cry

One of the hardest things we ever did and still feel like abandoners. They live close by and said we could visit anytime. They also want to foster for us and attend the adoption events. No matter what, he comes back here if they cant keep him. Still very hard after 5 years of tending to this dog just to turn him over. We know its is in his best interest but still we feel bad. :sad

Sorry for the novel but it felt good to type out.

I am committed to Project 365. Every day I will take a picture and post it(as long as my photo of the day is not our faces) otherwise those post will be on facebook etc. The purpose is to catalog your daily life for 365 days. Pretty big commitment but I think it will be fun and keep me on my toes.

Yesterday's photo was actually part of 365. Today's photo is about my project of the day which happens to be organizing my recipes. I have 46413132 recipes and I have gotten very lazy about keeping track of where I put them. I am tired of fumbling through shrews of paper looking for something to help arrange our weekly menus. Yesterday in Sam's Club I found this handy dandy recipe keeper. I was inspired to clean up my act so here I sit, hour 2 organizing this chaos.


My other project of the day is finding our lost walker hound. He is a known escape artist but has not gotten out of the yard in over a year until this morning. He also brought along Ms. Q which totally set me in a frenzy. He is street smart but Ms. Q is just a pup. Thankfully she decided that it was in her best interest to get her tail back in the yard and stay where its warm, there is food and water. Now she sits in time out for the rest of the day. I am not a very happy mommy.

I am concerned about her brother. He is much older now and has the onset of arthritis and its just too cold for him to be out gallivanting. Not to mention his collar slipped off as well. So he is a collarless, old, poor soul wandering around the woods somewhere hoping to tree whatever prey he can find. We looked all we could, now we just leave the garage cracked hoping he will return. He is notorious for returning but I still worry.

A new beginning and a fresh start. The holiday chaos is over. We have traveled 1,000 miles and back. We had loads of family time and now back to the grind.

We shut down the rescue world for about 3 weeks and will resume on Monday. Already have a full waiting list of beagle intakes to weed through. I made a decision that we would not be adopting beagles as "gifts". That usually ends in a for sure phone call to take the dog back, the gift didnt go over well. Soo we all had a nice break from rescue world. We have one particular beagle who has 19 applications on her. We have been delayed on adopting her. Her poor foster parents have to weed through all these applications and decide who the right fit will be. It always a blessing to have people fighting over a beagle, I guess.

One of our return beagles finally found her forever home last week. I made it VERY clear to her new adopters that this would have to be her final destination and before we were called to take her back, I expected trainers and the whole bit to be involved first. The family was head over heels for her and agreed to whatever needed to be done so they could have her. Needless to say, its been about a week and she is doing just fine. They love her to the moon and back. I was assured, we would NOT be getting her back again. I can not tell how much of a relief that is. Its not so much taking her back but about her well being. She is beagle basset mix and she gets herself attached very quickly and I did not want to see her bounced back again. So we celebrate. Mrs L, I can say with certainty has found her forever home.

To every up in the rescue world, there is always a down. I also received a call about 2 days before I was going out of town that Mr P(who happens to be Capo's favorite rescue) is also coming back. Apparently one of their children has a severe case of ADHD and therapists are coming into the home weekly. Mr P is acting out and the family doesnt have the time to focus on him anymore. So per usual when people want to get rid of anything extra on their plate, the dog is the first to go. Makes me sick really. Luckily for Mr P, he always has a home here and I know without a doubt it wont be long before he finds his real forever home.

We rang in the New Year at church. Pastors preached an unbelievable message, I almost felt like this message was totally directed at me. I have been holding on to some grudges and my resolution this year is to break that. I dont have room in my life to deal with ugliness that some people bring out in me. While I have no plans to make amends or deal with these people, I can forgive and move on. This year its all about progress.

When I think about this past year in review, it kind of resembled a heart rate monitor. Many up and downs and at many times, I thought I may need some CPR. But, I made it this far and I have no doubts anymore about certain areas of my life. This year I will continue to climb my mountains and will not think about going back down. Up is the only direction.

I leave you with an adorable picture of Mr ATB. I turned around to fold this basket of blankets and found this: Who needs a dog bed, pffftttttt