Wordless Wednesday: FAIL!

Heh. Sorry. Sometimes I slip back into Lolcat-speak. And for those of you who have no idea what I just said, all I'm try to say is that this is going to be a Wordful Wednesday...

Okay. So, when you last visited, I was being chased over a cliff by wild horses, imminent death by trampling or being dashed against the rocks below*ahem* Mom was trying to get the House With Wheels packed up, emptied of perishables, and cleaned while also getting the Box on Wheels packed with clothes, dog toys, computers, guitars, food, and space for crates for TaiChi and Bufus, space for me, and of course, space for Mom and Dad.

*whew* I'm tired just making that list!

Anyway, Mom was kinda busy, so I fell behind on my bloggies. Again. C'est la vie.

While Mom was working hard, I was busy showing Dad that I am still a lap dog.

Besides, someone had to supervise, right?!?

Anyhoo, Mom somehow managed the Herculean tasks set before her, and once Dad got the House With Wheels stored in its indoor storage space, we were on our way back to Park City. TaiChi very quickly decided that she didn't like being in a crate in the back of the Jeep, and wanted to ride with Mom. So, Bufus got back in the big crate (and he traveled really well; he only had a couple of mishaps, and that was only because he didn't have a litter box handy - but he didn't barf even once!) and TaiChi rode where Mom's feet were supposed to go.

Don't ask me where Mom's feet ended up - it was a little unclear (although you can see one braced on the side of the door in that picture). Especially when TaiChi stretched out and fell asleep right in the spot where Mom feet would have gone. I kinda get the sense that Mom was twisted up like a pretzel so TaiChi could be comfortable, but that could be Mom just whining...

Me? I had two-thirds of the back seat, and was generally pretty good. Except that when Mom snacked on some beef jerky, I didn't get any because I was in the, well, back seat.


But Dad had everything packed really well so nothing fell on me, and when I sat up I had a great view, and I could curl up a nap on the seat when the scenery bored me.

And in no time (well, 5 hours, but who's counting? Other than me, that is) we were back in the land of the ice and snow Park City, and the House Without Wheels.

Snow! Actually, this snow stuff is a little mystifying, as there is a 'track' cut in the back yard, because apparently we get So Much Snow that if there wasn't a track, the snow would be over my head, and I would have a tough time doing zoomies in the back yard. Uh-huh. We'll see.


But in the meantime, I am getting used to this snow stuff.

And then this morning? Mom and Dad were supposed to go "skiing" (something that involves sliding on sticks, and most certainly does not involve me; I have already lodged a protest, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears). But a spanner was thrown in the works when they woke up and it was snowing.

I know, I know. From what I have read about this skiing thing, snow is a good thing. But Dad was saying something about having to clear the snow off the driveway before they could leave the house (or, alternatively, leave it, and since it is supposed to snow all day, hope that they could get back up the driveway after skiing - something that seemed unlikely with the amount of snow we are supposed to get). Then Mom and Dad were also discussing the fact that having their first day on skis after a season's hiatus be in flat light, new snow, and snowing all day, and with holiday crowds was Not Their Idea of Fun. So they went back to bed.

And, I went and checked out the start of this snow storm.



This stuff could be sort of fun!!! And yes, it is still snowing, and is supposed to continue all day!

Of course, I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, Mom has a few Christmas presents to open. And I know that there is at least one box there that has My Name on it!!!!

So, get cracking, Mom!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, The Snow Dog

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas (and/or Happy Holidays) Everyone!

All of my Christmas presents are up at the House Without Wheels because Mom didn't want to have too much stuff to pack in the car for the drive home, other than TaiChi, Bufus and myself.

So.... I have spent the holiday in most engaging pursuits. (Well, okay, one pursuit. I just pursued it a lot of times!)



I LOVE Christmas football!!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

Heehee. Rather than Mom making me wear the silly Santa hat, I made her wear it!!! And whew! I'm worn out from this football stuff. Nap time!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, Wide Receiver-in-Training

Mom's a Slacker, but I'm Trying to Catch Up Anyway

Mom has been too busy to update for me, so blame her, not me! However, I'm not too upset with her, because when it comes to priorities, she has decided that playing ball with me (even if she throws like a girl - which means that Dad feels guilty and comes out and plays with me, too) is more important than updating the bloggy. And I wholeheartedly agree with her.

So, I have been getting in lots of chasing after things, and hiking,

and napping, and well, general hanging out.

Mom and Dad have been taking advantage of the nice weather (in the 50s) and have been bye-sickle-ing a bunch.

They are trying to squeeze in as much of this bye-sickle-ing as possible, because we are going to be going back to the House Without Wheels in about a week, and then they won't be able to bye-sickle until all the snow melts. Which sort of doesn't make sense; get in lots of bye-sickle-ing in preparation for not bye-sickle-ing. Okay. Whatever makes them happy!

Since we are going to store the House With Wheels down south here, Mom has started the process of cleaning out the fridge, doing laundry, stowing stuff, figuring what goes to the House Without Wheels, and how it is going to get there, as we will be traveling home in the Box On Wheels, and with me sitting in a back seat, and TaiChi and Bufus both in separate crates, there isn't going to be a ton of extra space. Especially since I'd like to be able to stretch out on the drive home. Luckily it's only 4 hours or so.

So, Mom has been busy with that, cutting down on her bloggy-following time. She has also been frantically trying to finish the annual calendar, in the hopes that it will arrive to all the interested parties somewhere before the New Year. She has been all anxious about boiling down all of last year's pictures into 49 pictures. I can see how this would be tough, as there are So Many fantabulous pictures of me, and Mom has to include pictures of TaiChi and Bufus, as well.

I mean, really, when you've got hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of ME, I can see how it would be stressful to pick a representative few. Especially since Mom feels obligated to include a few pictures of the car racing stuff each year. But, I'll have you all know that this year the calendar is very heavily loaded toward us, and not so much on Mom and Dad! (As it should be, I might add.)

Mom also had to hurry up and finish a special present for Grannie, so she could mail it in the hopes that it would get the North Carolina in time for Santy Claws to put it under the tree.

So she has been busy, and apologizes for not being able to help me keep up on bloggies. But she's doing her best.

In the meantime, Happy Solstice! May your fire burn bright!
*kissey face*
-Fiona, the doggie with the slacker Mom

PeeEss: OOOOHHH!!!! I forgot the Most Important News!!!! #$%@#$^ Secretary. She should keep notes, so I remember everything! My little sister was born about 2 weeks ago. When we get back to the House Without Wheels, Mom and Dad are going to go see her (well, technically go pick her out, but whatever). And in less than two months, I'm going to be a Big Sister. This actually makes me sort of nervous. But I'm still excited to be a Role Model. And it sounds like Abby (that's her name) is going to have her work cut out for her. Mom is already investigating puppy classes and obedience training, and all those things that I managed to skip. Heehee! Of course, Mom keeps saying that Abby is going to be a "Good Dog", but since I have no idea what that phrase means, I'm just ignoring her!

Wordless Wednesday: Zion National Park

Pee Ess: Brutus, my equally uber-geek Mom knew that she had some Star Wars stuff in there, but since she also had a veiled reference to Dr. Who, she could just play fast and loose with intergalactic travel!

Fiona’s Shore Leave, Or, a bad imitation of one of Dennis’ adventures*

Warning. This entry is only for the super-nerdy of you. The rest of you should just move along. There is nothing to see here. And certainly no reason to look upon me as someone who might show up to a Star Trek convention. I’m just saying. Seriously. Unless you have ever uttered the words “live long and prosper”, you should just keep going. And you probably might just want to keep going, anyway.)

As you may (or may not) know, the Enterprise (aka The House With Wheels) had planned shore leave on a warm, sunny planet, like Vulcan. (Although I didn’t bring my pointy ears with me, so I’m not sure how well I would have been accepted by the natives. But I digress.)

Instead, we seemed to have ended up on the ice planet of Hoth.
With no tauntauns, I might add, as Indiana Jones seems to have gotten there first.


The Enterprise (aka The House With Wheels) was not exactly designed for ice planets. This is why most captains and crews take their starships to warmer climes when the snow starts to fall. But not us.

Finding ourselves on Hoth, we have been forced to rely on emergency power to keep the life support systems from freezing up. Because as you can see, engineering was having a bit of a problem dealing with the weather:


Mr. Scott suggested that we use extra insulation. (Gee, ya think, Scotty? And they call you a miracle worker?!?)


Captain Kirk, in his ever-helpful manner, suggested that Scotty try something else. I stood in disbelief. If this is how the Enterprise is really run, I think I’d better see if Captain Picard is available next time.


But Scotty got the life support system problem sorted out, eventually.


However, since we have been using emergency fuel to keep life support going, Scotty needed to try to get full power back. Since Captain Kirk decided that it was the perfect time to strike a dramatic pose, I decided to actually be useful and get us some fuel. Because the Enterprise runs on diesel, after all….

Anyhoo, when it was all said and done, life support systems returned to normal, we had full power again, and enough fuel to take us to the edges of the galaxy. And, it looks as though our planetary climate might improve. Maybe.

And now, I'll go boldly where no dog has gone before: into hiding for even being involved in this "adventure".

Translation for those of you who have No Idea What I’m Talking About: It’s been much colder than usual in southern Utah – most natives tell us this is the coldest they have seen it in ages. Yeah, lovely. We insulated our water hose, but were still having problems with the spigot outside freezing, so after some help from one of the maintenance guys, we got it unthawed and insulated. It has been down in the teens at night, though, so Mom and Dad have been letting the faucets drip just a bit so the outside pipes don’t freeze in spite of the insulation.

The House With Wheels has a thing called an ‘Aqua-Hot’ which run on diesel, and provides the heat for the furnace, as well as hot water, and keeps the pipes/tanks inside the coach from freezing up. Because it runs on diesel, and well, it has been really cold, we have been running it pretty continuously . Which means that we’ve been burning diesel. We didn’t come in with a full tank, because we didn’t expect it to be this cold and have to run the heat this much. As it was, we began to get low on diesel. First, Mom tried bringing in some diesel in 5 gallon cans, but 15 gallons (we have 3 cans) doesn’t exactly make a dent in a 150 gallon tank. So Dad got smart and found a fuel company that would send out a small tanker truck. They came today and filled us up – 100 gallons worth! Most of the RVs in the park have propane heaters, and have external tanks, but the few other big coaches like ours that run on diesel have been having the same problem with running low on fuel, and the tanker truck guy handed out cards, as others have been employing the 5 gallon gas can technique. So, we have water, we have fuel, and we are toasty warm. It is just too bad that it is icky outside, because I’d really like to go hiking! In the meantime, I’ll settle for playing ball with Mom and Dad.

*With apologies to all parties involved, especially Dennis, for being remotely associated with this fiasco, even it is only because he is mentioned in the title...

Oh! And duh! I totally forgot to include the picture of refueling of the Enterprise by the fuel company...

Snow!

Now I know that Mom and Dad came to Southern Utah to get away from 'mud season' before the ski season starts in earnest. (Ski resorts are open back home, but the conditions aren't optimal yet.) But.... We had a Big Storm come through here.

At first it just looked like it was going to rain/sleet. BORING!

(This was taken out the front door; these are our neighbors.)

But then it turned to snow, and was much more interesting!

So I got Mom to take me outside. But it is tough to do snow zoomies on a leash.

Not that I didn't try, mind you!


Then Mom complained that I was trying to pull her arm out of its socket or something to that effect, so I had to stop. But... she did take me out later and threw (if you can call it that... no offense Mom, but you throw like a girl) the football for me, so I got to zoom around in the snow with no leash on. But she didn't get any pictures because she was attempting to throw the ball and keep an eye on me while Dad stayed warm and dry in the House With Wheels.

Anyhoo... Here's a final snow shot. (For now; Mom and Dad are talking about driving into Zion National Park and getting pictures of the snow up there.)

Happy snow days!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

If it's Saturday, it must be FOOTBALL!!!

Mom has been a little under the weather (don't worry, from the way she snores at night, I think it is just a cold and she's taking all sorts of stuff for it, so I am sure she will be better soon), so I haven't been hiking as much, but I have been playing football with Dad every day.

You'll want to click on these pictures to biggify them to get the whole experience!

I know I'm far away in this one, but I wanted you to see the play area I've got, as well as the backdrop; biggify and you'll see my intensity as I cut off the ball.

Now, half the fun of playing football is not giving the ball back to Dad after I bring it to him.

It allows me to practice my ballet moves.

It also allows me to fly.

Yep. Fly!

Because I am The Amazing Flying Fiona! (Again, biggify for best results!)

All fours off the ground, flying after the ball!

I find that levitating down onto the ball is a very useful technique for stopping it.


Of course, focus on the initial throw is also a key to my success. (What success? Uh. Not losing the football under the picnic tables....)


As is a good launch...


Heehee. I SO love this game!
Happy Football Saturday!

*kissey face*
-Fiona