MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SANTA'S ELF, CODY....

Hey, all....This sure is a quiet blog considering this is the WALTERS family. Usually you can't get a word in edgewise. I guess everyone is busy getting ready for x-mas. May, I am getting totally hooked on the lolcat website. I loved the one you posted. Well, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Love, Mindy

more animals

Sign Of The Times?

Yesterday, in broad daylight, my car was stolen out of my driveway in plain view of at least three of my ten neighbors. In addition, the thieves entered our pickup truck and removed a GPS nav, a laptop and a printer all while we both were home, without the neighbors saying a word.

The 911 call to the police department upon noticing the theft, resulted in a wait of 5 hours for a patrol car to arrive to take a report.

Inside the stolen car was a cell phone. The thieves bagan using the phone last night. This morning, I called my provider to have the incoming calls to that cell phone forwarded to my other phone. This afternoon, I received calls from people saying that they got a call from that phone and were returning the call not knowing that the calls to that number were being forwarded to me.

One of the persons that called was a 17 year old girl whjo informed me that the thief, a kid named Reinel, had called her and said that he was on his way to her house and should be there in an hour. With her living in Fairfield, CA and the theft occuring in Vallejo, CA where I live, I called the Vallejo PD and told them where the thief and the car would be....they told me "there's nothing we can do, car thefts are not high on our priority list." So I called Fairfield PD and told them the same thing. But due to the large volume of "hot" calls they were currently dealing with, they did not have a car to send to the address where the stolen car and the thief would be.

So all in all, be it the nature of and sign of times to come, or the fact that we presently live in a lawless society with little or no police protection, the thief, my car and it's contents are still out there driving around while the aggreived sits and wonders what's next.

Hmmmmmm, what a wonderful world in which we live.

Other than that, all is well!

training Max

Max is so CUUUTE! and he's kinda big- or is he just fluffy? Where did you get him? I want to glom on him! Does he shed? I could get you a furminator for Xmas :-)

And of course Tyson is charming, too, in a slightly less fluffy way :- ) A friend of mine has a 4-lb dog named Tyson, they would make a great pair.

FYI- my housemate Sydney is a dog trainer, and she was telling me that Ceasar Milan's methods are actually outdated and considered to be unnecessarily frightening for the dog. There are more effective and humane ways (even Oprah doesn't use him anymore). Sydney loaned me a training video that I am mailing to you today, so try it out. Basically it is clicker-training, and you can research that on the intertubes (what Lolcats calls the internet :-) one of the best being Karen Pryor. That lady on "Me or the Dog" is pretty good too, but I don't remember what she uses for training.Clickers are not the only way to go, but they are simple and effective and positive.

This blog has gone to the DOGS!

I guess it was bound to happen. So with my burning desire to be one of the pack (no pun intended) here's a pic or two of Tyson, our 110 lb. American Staffordshire Terrier, more commonly known as a pit bull. Although he insists on eating anything left on the kitchen counter, including plastic wrappers, when we're asleep, he's a great dog that keeps the burglars away.

Bay Area Christmas

It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with 60+ degree temps and sunsets like this one but we're trying.

By the way, for those of you who are unaware, this is Kathy, my latest (and hopefully last....fingers crossed) love interest. Being a good 'ol fashioned midwestern girl, she appears to have the skills necessary to tame my wildness (we'll see about that one...haha).

Finally got invited.....geez, talk about low man on the totem pole!

Hey, I'm somebody now! Ye Haw!

Everybody -- say hello to
Max. This is the newest addition to our family. He is a registered Cocker Spaniel -- 10 months old.

Being so young, he still chew on stuff -- so far, my slippers, two pair of my good shoes, one TV remote, Tom's glasses

He has had no discipline in the past but we are working on it. Luckily, we have been watching Ceasar, The Dog Whisperer, so Tom can get him down on the floor flat, and hold him for a while, and that settles him down for a little bit.

He has fallen in love with Aunt Helen and when I took him over there last night, he would not leave her alone -- jumping and chewing and humping her leg -- so I finally had to take him home.

But he WILL learn in time -- if I can make it through it.

Carson said he looked on the internet and it said that Cockers are good companions for children and the "elderly." Guess that put us in our place.

Thanksgiving at mom and dads!

Here is a pic of most of the gang on Thanksgiving!