Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now it's time to haul out the Christmas decorations and start the Christmas shopping!
I wasn't one of the brave shoppers (that's what I'll call the people who headed out on Thursday evening or early Friday morning to get a good deal *wink wink*). Instead, I was all nice and cozy under my blankets in our RV in my dad's backyard. We did venture out later on in the day, but it wasn't that bad.
Now that the 2011 holiday season has officially started, I thought that I would share some comic relief to you, my faithful readers!
I figured that now that we've all had some "quality family time" and have "gobbled 'til we wobbled", that we could probably use a good laugh or two (or maybe even more). That being said, here are some things that I thought I'd share because I thought they were cute or funny. I hope you enjoy!
For my readers who are deer hunters:
And finally:
Do you have any funny cartoons or pictures to share? If so, just let me know, and I just might use them in my next "funny" post...and of course give credit where credit is due!
One night, while surfing the site, "Craigslist", Brett stumbled upon a listing for an 8 month old Merle Great Dane. You're probably asking yourself, "Yeah, so what?"
Well, here's your answer. For the last couple of years, Brett and I have been interested in getting a dog, but for various reasons had held off. We had decided that when we finally did get a dog, that we would want a Merle Great Dane. Brett had a Harlequin Great Dane (the ones that look like Dalmatians), and I grew up around St. Bernards pretty much my whole life. Needless to say, we've both been around big dogs and knew what to expect in a Great Dane. We just didn't expect to find one like we did.
Anyway, back to my original topic of how we got the dog. I responded to the listing for this dog (at the time, we didn't know his name), and the next day got a reply from the person who had him. She said that he was still available and gave us what she would want for him, etc. I told her that I would need to discuss it with Brett and get back to her. Brett and I discussed it, and decided that we wanted him. I sent a reply back to the owner, but didn't hear back from her for a few days. By then, the Craigslist listing had been removed. Brett and I had pretty much figured that someone else had shown interest in this dog, and that he wasn't available anymore. I was devastated!
Fast forward to Sunday, October 30th, and I receive an e-mail from the lady telling us that he's still available. I didn't see this e-mail until October 31st though. When I finally did see it, I immediately told Brett. I was so excited and I think Brett was as well! I called the lady, and told her we were definitely interested and got more details on this dog. Come to find out, he's crate trained, neutered, and very loving. Oh, and his name? Charlie! Charlie was located just past Mt. Vernon, Illinois, which is just about a two hour drive from us. We made arrangements to go get Charlie that afternoon.
Early on Halloween afternoon, Brett and I loaded up in our bus, and headed north to get the newest member of our family. We were both excited and unsure about how things would go. We didn't know if Charlie would warm up to us or not.
We finally arrived at our destination shortly after 2:30pm. We met Charlie and instantly fell in love with him! He was nervous, but still let us pet him and get acquainted with him before we loaded him up to bring him back to his new home.
Once loaded in the bus, he kind of paced back and forth for a bit before settling down in the floor by my chair and curling up in a ball.
Before heading home, we made a couple of stops. We stopped first at my Aunt Gayle's house to drop off some things that I had picked up for her. She and my Uncle Jerry loved on Charlie, and he enjoyed it.
We then headed to my mom's house for a couple of reasons.
I know better than to not stop when I'm in the area to see my mom!
She had candy, and who can't say "no" to candy?
We wanted her to meet her "Granddog".
After visiting with my mom, and her getting to love on Charlie, we decided to head home, because it was getting late (it was now approaching 6pm). However, before we left, Brett went out to where my grandpa had housed his two St. Bernards (Bruzer and Gebe) before he passed away, and my mom found them new homes. Out there, Brett was able to find some nice sized dog bowls. Once again, we loaded up on the bus, told my mom "goodbye" and were on the road again.
We realized that we didn't have any food for Charlie, so we made a quick stop at Sam's Club in Marion to get some food. We figured that a big dog like Charlie would eat a lot, and we'd get a good deal on food at Sam's. While Brett went inside to get food, I stayed in the bus with Charlie. He didn't really have anything to do with me, he just paced back and forth looking out the window at the people passing by and every once in a while looking out the window for Brett. It was so cute!
Finally, Brett came out of the store, and we were really on our way home now.
Fast forward to today (November 15th), and I am happy to report that Charlie has adjusted quite well to us and his surroundings here. He's kind of made friends with the neighbors' Basset Hounds, Otis and Etta, and is a good guard dog when someone knocks on our door.
We have bought him a few toys, and he loves to play "Fetch" with Brett. He even does tricks! We knew when we picked him up, that he could "speak" and "shake", but we didn't know what else. Since we've had him, he's mastered "speak", "shake", and is getting better at "sit". We've started working on "lay down" and he's learning pretty quickly. He's also pretty good about telling us when he needs to go outside to do his "business".
In the little time that we've had him, he's been such a joy to us, entertaining us everyday with his antics.
Don't worry readers, I know that I wouldn't be a good "parent" if I didn't have pictures to show, so I've included some (of the many that we've taken so far) of him. I'm also including a video of Charlie and Brett playing "Fetch".
Charlie Curled Up on the Way Home -- 10/31/11
Charlie Resting -- 10/31/11
Charlie Waiting on Brett to Come out of Sam's With Food! -- 10/31/11
Charlie Enjoying Some "Outside" Time -- 11/1/11
Charlie & Brett at PetSmart -- 11/1/11
Charlie Checking Out Brett & the Camera -- 11/3/11
And now for the link to the video. Yes, our floor is kind of slick (it's laminate), otherwise, Charlie would be going much faster, I'm sure!
We are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and we will be taking Charlie with us. He's already got a "running date" with my dad during Thanksgiving weekend. I don't know who is more excited....my dad who used to run with his St. Bernard, Brutus until Brutus passed away last year, or Charlie!
I will be sure to post more pictures and stories about Charlie in the future, as well as an update on Ollie. Ollie has kind of made himself scarce since Charlie moved in, though!!
I've noticed that in the last few years, retailers are stocking the shelves with Christmas merchandise sooner and sooner each year. This year, for example, I saw Christmas items out on shelves in some stores where Halloween stuff was just around the corner. To me, that's just crazy!
No wonder by the time Christmas gets here, we're ready to "Deck our neighbor or the person who cut us off in the parking lot" instead of "Deck the Halls"!!
These days, we're simply not given the opportunity to enjoy Halloween or Thanksgiving without having the thought of Christmas shopping or planning the menu for Christmas dinner.
I was talking to one of my friends who works retail, and she told me that her store is already playing Christmas music and has been for a couple of weeks now. I was shocked! That's just crazy!! Again, no wonder by the time the magical holiday rolls around, we're tired of hearing the songs about Santa and his reindeer or the Christ Child!
So you're probably asking yourself, "When is a good time to start decorating or seeing Christmas decorations in stores?" In my opinion, either right before Thanksgiving (like the week before or a couple of days before) or right after Christmas. This gives us enough time to get over Halloween and Thanksgiving before having to start thinking about Christmas.
Now, don't get me wrong...I'm NOT against starting Christmas shopping early. We've already bought a few items (which is unusual for us) and have a good idea what everybody else is getting. Shopping for gifts is different (in my opinion) than decorating and cranking out the Christmas tunes.
Do you agree with me or disagree? When do YOU think a good time is for retailers and us, the consumers to start decorating and get into the holiday spirit?
I'd love to hear different opinions on this subject!
In closing, let me leave you with a humorous illustration that I found.
If you don't hear from me before Thanksgiving, have a good one...and don't forget to "Gobble 'Til Ya Wobble"!!
