Mimi is my sister's Chihuahua. My sister says she's my Chihuahua. I know she is not mine, because MY dog, Dandie, is an angel...the perfect addition to any family. Mimi is a terror in doggy form. We like to call her Satana...as in the doggy spawn of Satan.

Mimi is N-A-U-G-H-T-Y!!! She brings new meaning to this word. She goes to the bathroom in the house whenever she feels like it. She gets her nose in to EVERYTHING! She climbs up on the kitchen table (coffee table, window sills, bathtub...whatever you leave open) and rummages through things. Today Jen called me and said that Mimi dragged an entire bag of garbage out of Jen's bath tub (where she hid it so that Mimi would not get in to it), knocking over a gallon sized shampoo bottle all over the floor.

Mimi is also dog aggressive. She has tried to take down a neighborhood pit bull. She fights with the neighbors cocker spaniel through the fence. She has terrorized any poor foster dog that we dare to bring in to our loving home.

Mimi's biggest problem is that she eats things. Bad things...EXPENSIVE things!

Things Mimi has eaten:

• A hair brush (the day after we said we'd adopt her...cost us $1000 for emergency surgery, to find out she had already passed it).
• Too many shoes to count...including Jen's $70 shoes and $150 shoes, and 3 of my Ann Taylor flip flops...all in the same day
• My underwear
• Dryer Sheats
• The bathroom garbage
• A prescription bottle (thankfully empty)
• A box of tic-tacs...including the plastic box
• Cherry Menthol Cough Drops
• Numerous cd cases
• Bandaids
• Poop (GROSS!)
• 12 oz of Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark (this almost killed her last week)
• And the list goes on.

One day Mimi might find herself out on the streets. We will tie her belongings to a stick with a bandana and send her on her merry way. But for now, we keep working with her and loving her. We are taking her to Doggy Boot Camp in a couple of weeks to work on her behavior and teaching her boundaries.

People (my Dad especially) ask why we don't feed her to a shark or "accidentally" leave the door open. We cannot explain why we love her so much. She's like the old nursery ryhme...When she is good...she is very very good. But when she is bad...she is horrid! But seriously, how can you not love her when you wake up to this.....

It is currently 32 degrees in Utah, with a light snow that has been falling all day. 32 is actually warm. It was a high of 20 this weekend, with a low of 8 degrees.

But on Thursday I will be in sunny California, where it is a high of 70 degrees. Yes, that's right...Disneyland is finally here! My sister and I have been talking about going to Disneyland for her birthday for the last few years. Thanks to Get Away Today, we decided this is the year!

We are going with Jen's friends Amy and Judy. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I have not been to Disneyland since my junior year of high school when I went with my ward in Pleasanton, CA. Sadly, this was almost 20 years ago. Yikes, I am old!

Updates to come next week...and if you see Micky or Minnie in the mean time, tell them I'm on my way!!!

Today is December 25, 2008. In most of the world it is Christmas. At my parents' house in California it is just Thursday. Grandpa is in the hospital so we are not celebrating until he gets home. We visited with him in his hospital room for a few hours this morning, and will go back again later tonight.

So instead of a wonderful blog about Christmas and the mounds of presents that I have received, I am making a list of things that I enjoy at my parents' house.

1. 400 thread count sheets (I also like to sneak in to my parents bed to nap on their 600 thread counts!)
2. No snow!
3. Cookies...everywhere you look. Trifle dish on the counter? Check! Bag on the island? Of course! Stashed in between the boxes and boxes of crackers in the pantry? Giddy up!
4. My mom's new Christmas tree...as she says, it is dripping with ornaments.
5. Don't want to get up to turn the lights (fan, Christmas tree, driveway lights, you name it) on or off? No worries...they are all on REMOTE CONTROL!!!
6. Gloriously fluffy pillows
7. Dad's A-Maze-ing cooking. I have been here for a day and have gained 30 lbs.
8. Going through the stacks of Christmas cards that mom receives from old friends and family
9. Snuggling on the couch and having mom tickle my back/arm/feet/whatever area of my body that I can trick her into touching
10. Getting to visit with Grandma and Grandpa for maybe the last time (though we've been saying that for 5 years now)
11. Books, books and more books
12. Love

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Winter has finally arrived in Utah. Perhaps finally is not the right word. Finally is a word that has the sound of Joyous expectation ie Christmas is finally here! I should change it to say Winter has arrived in Utah, damn it! (sorry Mom...and Emily).

We had a big snow storm this weekend, and temps dropped to the 30's and 20's. The low on Wednesday is 14. Last night I went to my car to deliver dinner to my friend that had surgery, and my back door wouldn't open. Why you ask? It was frozen shut. Yep, FROZEN SHUT! Come on people! We live in Utah, not Alaska! It's not like we can see Russia from our back yards!

I was tempted to force the door open, but suddenly I was reminded of when I lived in Connecticut (another state in the Arctic Tundra) and the front door to my car was frozen shut. I forced it open (because I was late to work as usual). Then when I went to close it, it would not latch. I had forced the lock open and it was still frozen! So I had to make the 40 minute drive to work, holding the door shut with my left hand (crying the whole time) and driving with my right hand. I should probably mention that my car was a stick shift. Yeah, hard to drive that with one hand. It was TERRIBLE. So after this painful memory, I decided to just walk around to the other side of the car and open the passenger side door. It worked! Yay! Crisis averted!

Instead of being crabby about the cold, I am trying to think of the good things about winter. Christmas is the most obvious. Not only does it bring Joy and reflection on Jesus' birth...it also brings the opportunity to decorate our yards! Woo Hoo! On one side of our walkway we have a penguin playground surrounded by snowflake lights. On the other side we have a snowman conga line (no they are not really doing the conga, but wouldn't that be cool!). Delicious goodies are also a plus for winter. I LOVE the hot cocoa at 7-11. This probably sounds white trashy, but it is delicious! They have flavor shots that you can add, plus mini marshmallows and creamers! I usually just add cinnamon and the mini marshmallows. On a good day they have chocolate marshmallows! MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Winter also brings cute sweaters (perfect for hiding the pudge from a fore mentioned goodies) and fuzzy hats. Mittens and Christmas lights at the Temple....sing alongs, parties with friends, and vacation days from work. Things are looking up! I can see the bright side of winter. This should keep me happy for a while....or at least until the next time I have to shovel the back deck so the dogs will go potty (which unfortunately will be tomorrow).

Stupid Socks

I hate socks. They make my feet feel dry and confined. I am a toe wiggler. Socks makes it difficult to do so, especially in shoes. Why can't I wear flip flops all year long? Yes, they make my back hurt, but they are so comfy!

I try to trick myself in to liking socks by buying cute ones. Stripes, flowers, polka dots (though no crazy halloween socks or those things that are like gloves that you put each toe in it's own space...GROSS!). Today I am wearing some very cute and soft yellow socks with tan, blue and white stripes. You would think the socks would want to do their job...keep my feet warm and dry. But no! They are revolting...perhaps going on strike? Wanting for a better job than to protect my smelly tootsies?

My cute yellow socks are actually rejecting my feet. The reason that I know this is because they are trying to escape. When I put them on this morning they seemed calm and relaxed. Eager to please. Comforting even. However, as I walked to my office, the plan was executed. The socks immediately began creeping down my ankles, to my heels, and then to the middle of my foot! I think they knew that my shoes were not in on the plan, because there they stayed. In the middle of my foot, hiding beneath my arch, like little cottony cowards.

So I gave them some reprieve. I took my shoes off and am now working in just my sock feet. But soon I'm going to have to go to the bathroom, and sadly it will all begin again.