Bulldogs

Well, the holiday weekend is upon me and I find myself curled up with the latest edition of Bulldogs, a magazine from the popular dog series. Tillie is my very first bulldog, and I have to say she is really something. She is a mini bulldog, which means she is 35 lbs full grown instead of the 50+ lbs she would normally be. As far as I know the AKC does not recognize this as a breed, as they say it is still a bit new. My trainer wasn't too happy with her at first, calling her a designer breed. But Tillie has won her over as far as the soleful eyes and the loving personality is concerned. The thing with Tillie is, that more than any other dog in my life, I can read her like a book. Now many of you will say no big deal right. I mean when you dog wants you to throw the ball, he brings it to you. Or if he wants out, they go sit by the door. But I do not mean this type of communication. It is like I read her mind. This is very strange for me. Okay, for example, the other day she was just sitting on the couch chewing on her ball( as usual), I was puttering around with dinner as I had my inlaws over so I was not so focused on Tillie. I do not know why, but at a given moment, I looked over to her. She had stopped chewing the ball and was just looking at me. Her face had a funny twist to it. ( If you have ever had the pleasure of keeping company with a bulldog, you know what I mean, this is very normal) and yet, this was different. I stopped, and walked to the front room and grabbed her lease, I said nothing. Tillie was right behind me and she stretched her neck out( as best a bulldog can) for me to put the leash on. I opened the door and she frantically took me outside. She had to poop. I mean, HAD to. No passing go, collecting $200 bucks. She never drags me, for the most part, bulldogs like to sonder, waddle, or bounce a bit. NOT THIS TIME. But this was so weird, how did I know to get the leash and take her out. Her signal to me for this is like most dogs, to sit at the door. She is just so fun and funny. I really get a kick out of her. I love dogs, but Tillie is really different. Bulldogs are discribed as doing what is needed but with as little effort is necessary. If Tillie barks, she barks just 3 times, and then looks to me, as if to say " Mom, you gunna check that out?" I taught her to go limp, when I point a finger at her and say"bang!" I am sure, if you love dogs, you have seen this done. Most dogs, like a Australian cattle dog, or a Benji type, the legs just seem to fly out from under the dog and they are dead, dead, until the owner says" good dog" or whatever. AHHHH, but Tillie is a Bulldog, and Bulldogs do things differently. If you say "Bang" to Tillie, she may fall over dead, but it is not the way I have discribed. She will stagger, throw her head in the air, and give a Norma Desmond performance like you have never seen before. OR, she will just sit there and stare at me. If I am showing off to my friends, and she does the Latter, I just say" what happened, I must've loaded blanks, and reload my gun, and then she falls. Crazy!! She continually amazes me. She will not go to sleep in my presence. I have heard from many a Bulldog owner, that Bulldogs take the art of Napping to new heights. If my husband takes Tillie to visit friends or family, she will pass out on the floor like a normal dog and sleep for a bit. Never with me, it is as though she worries that she is going to miss something or that I need watching.( Now that I think of it, she is mostly likely right) So she will stay up until she is so drunk with the need to sleep, that she staggers and falls down, yet she will still not give in. I call this the Disneyland syndrome, if you have kids you know what I mean by that. Kids will just not allow themselves a nap, and will push hard to stay up because they are at Disneyland, and will not miss anything. Then they pass out on the way home in the car. So when I see this happening, I have to tell her it is time for a nap and she toddles off to a crate I keep next to our bed and waits for me to close the door. She is usually snoring before I get the latch shut. Bulldogs are terrific at snoring as well, and I love that . When my husband was in the hospital last year( heart surgery) he kept asking me to go home instead of staying with him at the hospital. I could not sleep, Tillie was staying with friends and my husband was in the hospital, my house was quiet like a tomb, NO Snoring, I was miserable. Finally, when my husband said I could stay, he said the nurses and doctors who came in and out that first night could not believe how I slept through all the lights going on and off and the prodding of my husband. If they had only asked me, I would have told them I had not slept in days.
Have a lovely holiday, here's hoping it is as fun filled as mine is turning out to be.

Disney Cruise- Panama Canal

Yes, once again dear friends, I am off thru the Panama Canal. Disney Cruise ship the Magic will wisk us away for 16 glorious days. I plan to let you know how things are going all the way thru my trip.
I am looking forward to this. I leave in May. Most of you know me, and also know that with my ton of hair no hat has fit me until now. I have just gotten a Tilley hat as a gift and it FITS!!!! I cannot even believe it. This hat is really the big cheese of hats. I never dreamed one would fit me, but it does. These hats float, and do not fly off you head. You even get a place to sign you name and leave a number so that it can be returned. ( yeah, like that is going to happen) You really look cool in this hat, even me. I look like I am ready for a safari. One of the things I will get to do on this cruise is go to Puerta Vallarta. I have never been. Well, here, I get slide on this pulley type rig, 250 ft in the air and 1000 ft long, thru a rain forest. AND repel down a mountain along side a waterfall. I have never done anything like this, so I am really pumped. As a sculptor, you do spend a lot of time working alone under a hot light. This is my passion, but I love an adventure. I hope you will join me from May 10 to 25, and see how I do.

where did I go?

hi all,
Today, I have decided to let you all comment and contact me, if you wish. My first blog entry was a test to see if I could even figure this whole blog thing out.
I have been so very busy with my crazy colorful life. For those of you who know me, nuf said.
I built a big foot(yeti) for a demo, and it took me to Indiana, where the temps were so cold, snow would not even visit. I am a California native, and this was the first time I had experienced this.
whoa!!!! My lungs froze right away, and the wind cut through my six layers of clothes so fast, I felt like I was wearing a bikini. (Okay, now. Maybe this is the wrong visual to give you.) Anyway, dog, that was cold. I am now home and my lovely Tillie, is continually thrusting her tennis ball in my side so I will stop writing long(throw ball) enough to toss it. This is the Only toy she likes. ...
And likes.....and likes..... and( throw)likes.
I am going to try to continue, to be a good girl and write more often. I hope you will write me back. For those of you who do not know of me. Give me a google search, I am even in Wickopedia. So I must be somebody.
I Also promise to update my bio. For now here are the cliff notes. I am a Foster farms chicken.
The passanger. I have played this character for over 15 years and I love it. I created the original designs of the birds for the Charecter shop. My dear friend Rick, has continued to design various versions of the birds for commercial after commercial and is a wingman for my chicken.
(more on that later if you wish). I was an imagineer for Walt Disney from 1987 til 1997, and I have been a collectable artist for the company for some time now. Soon hopefully, I will have a website(in progress) for you all to check out. For now Google me, and you will probably learn way more about me then you want.
Okay, tillie has pushed her slimey tennis ball in my side so much, I am now soaked to the skin....ewww. Guess I better go shower now. I think I will take that ball with me. yeah, like that is gunna help.