What's in a blog name?

I've been racking my brain as to what to name my "professional" blog.  It's been crazy!  I can't figure it out.  This whole topic goes with my last post.  All of my funny material...or personal material goes under this blog and it was easy to come up with this name....but, seriously folks. I have to be respectful....and responsible. lol
I've gone as far as to thinking I need to take off pics of me from this blog, so that noone could really identify me and out me. What's a girl to do when she lives a double life? haha.

Anyway, I was reading my friend Miss Doxie's blog...she got married! In a cemetary.  Really. It was beautiful!
It gave me an idea....we will see what I do with that idea.

"Not family friendly...or employer friendly"

I have to wonder if writing under the name that I do, is really a smart thing.  Yesterday I was having coffee and working at my favorite Uptown Coffeehouse in Howell, MI when my friend JT Pederson walks in.  As we begin to chat about the ups and downs of looking for work, he suggests that I should really think about setting up a blog for myself.  Ummm....I have one for myself and for my crazy friends to check on me once in a while.  My response was "I have one, but it is personal....not by anymeans Employer friendly, I wouldn't want the employer to get the wrong idea".  With that said....I remember back to when my dear blogging friend Miss Doxie, from Atlanta, an attorney and soon to be Senator's wife got OUTTED by some co-workers to the other attorneys.  She was horrified and stopped blogging for months.
The thing is, while I am a teacher....and I do enjoy life....I like my life and find the silly things in it to share with my friends....why wouldn't I want to share?  So, then that brings me back to this blog vs. a "professional employer friendly blog".....I hardly have time with all my social media writing to keep up with that one, do I really think I can keep up with two?  I guess we can look at my trackrecord with the wiener dogs to come up with an answer.

Blog I will....but, I'm not gaurenteeing it will be potty trained in 2 weeks.

Another year: Review

Review of 2010 Post: 2010 vs. 2011
Well, Holy Wiener Dogs! It's been so long since I've posted. About a year to be exact. I stopped posting when my father, Pappa Cakes was diagnosed with advanced stages of Colon and Liver Cancer. It's been a year of fighting for his life and I'm so damn proud of him. Everyday he gets up and goes to work...even though he is 78 and retired. There's been good and bad days, but I wouldn't trade spending the time with him for the World! It's been a huge year of change.


Little did I know I was about to enter into a "serious" relationship and now I'm sitting in a new house, with a new dog, new car, and a new almost to be hubby.

Yes, I still have my 2 wieners....Fritz and Kraut...they are both getting older. Fritz is gray and Kraut finally decided to be a big dog and is housebroken. We tease that he is part special ed....but, this year he has come into his own. I'm a proud momma.

Which reminds me....Momma Cakes' cancer is still there, but she is doing fantastic....Multiple Myeloma is a tough bone and blood cancer...but, she is a trooper and takes the best care of Pappa Cakes as possible.

More posts will ensue....to explain the new characters in my life.

*Still dreaming of living next to the ocean and teaching on the waves!*
 
Last Post of 2010:
Holy Wiener Dogs, once again.  I read through my post from around the same time last year and can honestly say...while not much has changed...a lot has changed!
1- PappaCakes is still giving cancer a fight.  Although, all year he went thru chemo treatments, the cancer has finally won out.  He is on an experimental treatment that we were told has a slight chance to help.  He is more tired and frail, and my mother is pushing him to eat, but there is a clear change for him and I'm not looking forward to facing 2011 when it comes to my parents health issues.
2- My MommaCakes cancer has come back and she is on a chemo-like pill, that is not experimental and she has slowed down some also.  But, she takes care of my dad, and he takes care of her.  What I don't get is how the insurance company only covering a part of the cost.  At $10,000 a month out of pocket....we are lucky my parents can afford the drug.
3- I still have my wiener, Fritz and wiener, Kraut....but, what I didn't expect this year was that we'd also take on a girl wiener, Gretchen.  She needed a home, is as timid as can be and is hard to train.  Not sure what I'm going to do with her, but she is becoming part of the family with her sweet (but quirky) personality.
4- 2010 started great with a new job offer, which I took and went gang-busters with it...until, the owner spent all the start up money and I was laid off in July.  Disappointed because of the poor management skill of the owner and feeling defeated (by not finding a full-time teaching job) I continued to be unemployed.  Although I am proud of the amount of progress and knowledge I did learn with that defunct company. I have a certain name for my now ex-boss, but decided not to publish it) *jerkface* I have used some of my talket to pick up a freelance writing job for an online newspaper (Hartland.Patch.com), a couple bloggin jobs for local business', and am entertaining an offer from a large newspaper for staff writer. Life could be worse. I'm doing another thing that I love, writing.
5- An online newspaper has offered me my own weekly column and I think I'm going to take it since I have no other prospects, other than going back to the University to become a Principal.  Yes! Me a principal!  You didn't read it wrong.
6- Aside from all the above, I moved into a larger house in March and sold my city house in August....taking an $86K hit on what I paid for it.  But, the house I live in now is on 23 acres, with a woods, creek and fields. The birds, deer and coyotes run freely through the property and the dogs love not having to be on a leash and no fences.
Oh, and I guess there is also the news that I got engaged.  I'm in no big hurry to get married, so it kinda slips my mind....but, I am living with him and it has been a huge adjustment from single to not single.  I sometimes wonder about my decisions....but, what can ya say? If you don't try it out, you'll never know.
 
In the back of my mind, I think about the years down the road, when I'm ready to move back to California, and what kind of adjustment that will be for my fiance.  I know that I really don't have a whole lot holding me here in Michigan, unless I come up with a job.  So, the path I will take in 5 to 10 years may be one that the jury will be out on...for a while. But, this is where I'm at and I'm going to live a happy postive life until those decisions need to be made.
 
The upcoming year, I'm expecting some ups and downs.  But, the one thing I know I can count on is the wieners keeping me company no matter what happens!
Happy New Year Everyone!

Monday Nite Lock-up and Lock-out

All Monday was spent observing and nuturing our newest wiener-girl, Gretchen.  Today was an easier day, but we are still waiting for her to get used to the household...it's going to take time.  The boys have been accepting her into the pack and Fritz even began trying to play with her.

Around 8pm, I begin to start getting the dogs ready for bed.  Tonight I put all the crates in the sparebedroom, icluding their blankets & toys.  Fritz and Kraut are used to this routine....and it's the first time for Gretchen.  Everynight I have to grab Kraut and pick him up, like a kid...and tuck him into his crate.  Tonight was no different.  And Fritz runs for his crate with the mere mention of "bed".  I placed Kraut in first, Fritz jumps in and I placed Gretchen in her new safe home.

All was good...until Gretchen started to cry....I hadn't heard a peep out of her, until now!  So, back I go...in to quiet her down...when I turn the doorknob and realize that it was locked.  Opps.

So, I get the screw driver out, no luck.   I wiggle the hell out of the knob, no luck.  I get the paperclip out...and nope.  How hard can it be to use a paperclip?  Dammit.  I took a FB rest...and then went back to the paperclip...after about what seemed like and eternity...I popped the lock out.  YAY!

All was good at the House of Cakes, Goose and Weiners...once again.

I mastered the paperclip....fb'd that it was not "User" error...it was most definitely a lock malfunction (hey, it worked for Janet)...and the wieners were freed...well, almost free. lol

Life as a wiener momma......

It was just an email...I could've ignored it....

The gang of wieners!~

It was a quiet overcast, foggy morning in Michigan....I checked my emails early.  4 years ago I had purchased a long-haired doxie from a woman up in Gladwin, MI...Kraut.  Now, Kraut and I have had our issues...but, once I figured out that he would be the kid on the bus licking the windows...I began to understand him better...and since then, we've been best of friends.  Well, that woman sent me an email asking me if I would consider another doxie.  As if two wieners weren't enough...ha...after seeing the pics,  my response was that I'd think about it.  I sent PappaGoose a pic of the pup's that I liked and his response "I like the girl"..."she is adorable".  That's all it took...off I went on an adventure to save another doxie from the ultimate sleep.

We drove 3 hours north...and I found out that my 10 year old step-son never shuts up...seriously! I even went as far as asking him "Do you ever stop talking?"  Sounds kinda rude....but, omg....soooo annoying.  Then we laughed.
After a couple stops taking pics, and one unfortunate accident of slamming one's hand in the door...

They love their step-monster!

we got to the wiener dog farm.  I was happy to get there to see the puppies.  I felt bad because Kandy has soooo many wieners and more on the way.  I'm not a big advocate for breeders that keep having puppies before the one's they have are in forever homes, but what can I say.  It's how Kandy makes her living...I just wish she had fewer adults and liters.  Since winter will be soon, I think she panicked and decided to give away the older pups. I can't even imagine the doc bills or food bills. 
When we pulled up, we could see that there was a total gangle of wieners waiting for us....

Anyway, there were two that I was interested in.  A girl, and a boy:

I fell in love with both...the boy was sooooo outgoing, but I was afraid of how big his paws were...and that we'd have a totally male dominated household!

So, I chose to bring home the girl.  She is extremely shy and timid...which makes me nervous.  But, since I'm unemployed...I guess I can put some extra effort into bringing her out of her shell!

We got home and PappaGoose totally fell in love with her...and totally felt defeated by me being a wiener-dog girl! lol

Welcome home Gretchen!  I think in time...you will be running this house just like your momma. haha

Michigan Wild Life....

Backing up in time....what do you get a woman that has everything she needs?  Apparently, the Best-sis-in-law EVER...gets a petting zoo in her livingroom! 

It was a great day! Kim "The Birthday Girl" was surprised...and I made a new Kanga-friend!

Babysitting My Big Brother

Yes, I have a brother. He is 10 years older than me and he is the best brother ever....his name is Stanley...and yes, I was going to name my newest wiener dog Stanley! That's another story though.
So, Stanley and his wife just returned home from vaca. They went to Lake Superior...one of the most amazing places on this earth. They collected all sorts of agates, shipwreck thingys and driftwood. Very cool stuff. As he was telling me about his black bear encounter, he also told me that he hurt his back clearing some woods at their home. They live in a 4K square foot log home, that looks more like a lodge than anything. It's pretty cool. After my visit I left and forgot about his back.
That was until on Monday, he didn't show up to work....Stanley is never sick...and so, I knew it was not good.
Monday was a fiasco...it took them an hour to get him into the truck at the Chiropractors office...and then a couple hours to get him inside the house. We all thought he should go to the ER, but apparently if you pay for health insurance, you don't always have to use it...which I think is assanine. But, whatever.
Tuesday morning, I went to plant MORE garlic, when I got the call to come babysit Stanley, while Kim went to work....so, I go to their house to find him on the floor. I didn't expect that. I'm not so good with being a nurse....we all know that from me taking care of Great Grams. She loved me...and I adored her...and she endured my clumsiness and modesty. ha.
He was happy to see me, as he layed flat on thier greatroom floor. I had taken a can of Campbell's soup from my mothers, if all else fails, chicken noodle soup will make everything better right? So, I made him soup and sat there with him. It was nice, it had been a long time since we had lunch and I had never had to babysit him!
After lunch, he decided to have a smoke....something that is not viewed as "good" in our family. After he was done, we both heard the bell on the door....it was Mother! BUSTED.....smoking! Bad, bad....I at that point decided it was time to leave. I left Stanley and our Mother there alone....I wonder if he got grounded for smoking? :)