Dirtshoe Blog

Mya has been tested a lot lately.

We had chili right before Thanksgiving. Mya loves chili.

She waited oh so patiently just in case some chili might fall on the floor. It helps to touch the person who is eating so they won’t forget you are there. I think that’s her strategy anyway.

I’m calling this one … Dog Waiting For Chili.

Then before Christmas we hosted a Tastefully Simple Party. It’s like a Tupperware party, but it’s for food. My friend Angee has these parties and she came in and whipped up a bunch of dips, breads and cakes. There was a big spread of food.

And, there was one guest who was particularly interested in the products that were offered.

I’m pretty sure it was Mya who ordered all beer bread and chocolate cake.

The week after Christmas has always been my time to go home for the holidays. This year, I asked Nathan and his mom to join me in heading to Southeastern Oklahoma. It was a pilgrimage of sorts. Nathan’s mom lived in Lawrence, Kansas when Nathan and I got married at a very convenient location just south of Austin, Texas on an unusually warm Monday evening in October. So, his mom had never met my family, nor had she visited the southeastern corner of our great state.  I found a pet-friendly cabin at Hugo Lake State Park. We loaded up Mya and told Annie we were sorry but we couldn’t afford to pay for damages if she went with us — and we headed south.

First off, the cabin was great. I highly recommend them. For around the cost of a hotel room, we had a two-bedroom house right on the lake. This was the front deck.

Shortly after, I saw the sunset and I began to unwind.

Then my family arrived and chaos ensued. I’m in love with my cousin’s kiddos. I love them like my own. And, I’m happy to report they were all blessed with very healthy and active lungs. They are loud! They also move so fast they are kinda blurry to me sometimes. Mya spent the entire evening on a leash because we knew she would join right in with the kids.

It was Jack’s 6th birthday, so Lindsey brought a cake. He had help from his cousins in making a wish and blowing out his candles. Jack’s the one in the middle. This picture makes me laugh.

The next night we had a much quieter evening with all the adults in my family. My grandmother, who is recovering from a stroke, is pretty speedy these days, but she’s not so fast that she’s a blur. It was great to see everyone at any volume or speed.

Nathan and Mya spent some time outside. I can tell you that Mya is now fully socialized!

The lake was also beautiful in the morning.

We then headed out to Broken Bow on our way home. It just didn’t seem right to drag Christi all the way down to Southeastern Oklahoma and not take her to Broken Bow. So we did. I forget how pretty it is there.

We also visited Girls Gone Wine. We did a wine tasting and I was very impressed. It’s a great place and the wine was great. My cousin Le’ met us there and was the perfect hostess. She’s kind of amazing.

I practiced restraint and did not taste everything on the menu. Plus, I was about to drive over a mountain. So, I took a bottle home for New Years Eve, instead!

We took part of the Talimena Drive home. It’s a National Scenic Byway right here in the great state of Oklahoma! It’s really pretty and quite amazing. It’s prettier in the fall when the leaves are changing, but we still enjoyed seeing the mountains.

We had a great time. But, you know who was really ready to be back home?

Mya is a great traveling dog. She likes the open road.

I do too.

This is my half-hearted attempt to show some holiday spirit.

This Charlie Brown Tree is by far my favorite holiday decoration ever. It’s understated. It’s simple. It’s a little tacky. It’s easy to pack away.

It’s no secret among my closest friends and family that I struggle to get excited about the holiday season. I prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas because it’s a really nice relaxed dinner and I don’t have to worry about gifts. Plus, in my neck of the woods, we always got out of school for a week during Thanksgiving for Deer Season.

My strategy for Christmas never changes. From December 1st until December 23rd, I walk around in some kind of haze, blinking wildly at the twinkle lights, cursing the radio for playing silly songs about jingle bells, and avoiding department stores at all cost. I pretend like Christmas is not going to happen. What’s that? Who? When? Whatchu talkin’ bout Willis?

Then, on December 23rd, I panic. My left brain kicks in, I make a detailed list and head into the fray like a bulldog. I actually am a bulldog — high school mascot — go dawgs! I then spend 30 minutes wrapping, tying ribbons and ripping apart tissue paper like a madwoman and I am victorious! I scoff at those Black Friday shoppers with their $100 flat panel tv’s.

Then, I tell myself that next year will be different. I’ll start early. I’ll face Christmas like an adult. I won’t pretend it isn’t going to happen. But, deep down I’m afraid I’ll always be a last minute Christmas shopper.

Woke up early this morning at my friends’ house near my hometown.

This is not my friend’s house. It’s what we affectionately call — The Bunk House. I think I want to move into the bunkhouse and live forever. I can just picture Nathan in a pair of overalls sitting in that rocking chair watching the sun come up.

I think this contraption is for practicing your bullriding skills. If you have any. I know I do. Well, in my mind, I have bullriding skills. Does that count?

This is probably a little more my speed.

Actually, this is more my speed — a nice relaxing porch swing. I’ll sit here and practice my mad bullriding skills in my mind.

Hey bully bully … are you scared?

Just for the record, I did not see any mules as I took my early morning walk. And, no bulls were injured in the making of this blog post. However, I did see some grumpy, sleepy cowboys head out to feed cows.

Me, I’m off to break my grandmother out of her nursing home jail and then I’m heading to deer camp. Wish me luck!

As I have mentioned in recent posts, we adopted a new puppy to keep Annie company. Her name is Mya and she has stolen my heart for sure. And, Nathan? Forget about it! He’s in love with her.

I have never adopted a dog from a shelter. However, we do consider Annie to be a rescue dog. Here’s why. Dog’s that grow up on a working ranch environment such as “hunting hogs” — as her brothers a sisters are doing right this very minute — well, their life expectancy isn’t too long. That’s just a fact. The other reason we consider Annie to be a rescue dog is that we are pretty sure that another pet owner would not have tolerated her — thus, she would have ended up in a shelter or worse. So, each day Nathan and I look at each other with eyes that are full of pain and suffering caused from extreme doggie misbehavior, we know that we are saving Annie’s life.

So, we decided to adopt a shelter dog this time. Let me just say that I will never again buy a dog and I will forever be a crusader to encourage those looking for a great pet to GO TO THE SHELTER! There are so many great puppies there. It’s also very inexpensive. Mya cost us $25 (it’s usually $50, but they often run specials) and our vet gave her a free check up since she was from the shelter. And, she was spayed!!

I try not to preach on this blog, but I do encourage you to check out your local shelter. Our shelter in Oklahoma City is open seven days a week (here’s the link) and they have every kind of dog (and cat) imaginable. I was on the hunt for a Border Collie or Heeler mix. I had my eye on a Red Heeler mix from the website and when we saw her, she was acting like Annie’s long-lost twin sister. I sure hope someone adopted her, but I knew that we couldn’t handle two Annie’s. We need balance. Just a few doggie-doors down from the Red Heeler, Nathan found a sweet little puppy who stood still, licked his hand and looked at him with big pleading eyes that seemed to say, “take me home.”

I have always been adamant that I would never own a Rottweiler or Pit Bull. No way! So, I was relieved to see that this puppy named Mya was a Boxer. She and Nathan headed into the play room and I went to talk to the lady up front. She told me there were four other rooms that we had not gone into. I went back to check on Nathan and Mya and they had fallen in love. So, I finished up the paperwork and we left with our new “Boxer” puppy who looks just like a Pit Bull. Yes, I was tricked. About three-quarters into things, the lady mentioned that she was a Pit Bull mix. By that time, we didn’t  even care.

Annie, true to character, acted like a complete jerk for several days. Now they are inseparable. They still fuss, but nothing too bad.

This is Annie complaining about Mya. She was not very happy at first.

The funny part is, we took Mya to the vet and he agrees. She’s not much of a Boxer. But, he does think she is Pit Bull and Border Collie. Either way, I will just think of her as a sweetheart because she is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever known. We love Annie, but sweet isn’t really an adjective that could be used to describe her. Mya has brought a little bit of balance to our world.

Here is a great article about why it’s good to adopt from the shelter.

But, this happy face is reason enough for me!

And, if anyone has any of those Cesar Millan dog training books or videos we are in the market for some .

It’s no secret to my close friends that I love Twitter. Recently I found that I can scroll back through all my Twitter pics. Here are a few of my favorites. My Iphone camera is the worst, but I still love to look at where we were and what we were doing.

I like to post pictures of delicious drinks I have.

Or, delicious drinks I may have in the future.

I’ve captured a few rare moments of Annie being nice and relaxed.

I often like to post headlines from my small hometown paper. You just can’t make this stuff up! I look forward to reading the headlines each week. If you read the text, you’ll see that he had some Crown Royal around noon.

And, when you get a chance to take a picture of pink cowboy boots, you gotta take it.

Occasionally, I post pictures of bands I see. I don’t know who most of these guys are, but I know that’s Dustin Welch on the end. Drew Smith is in the middle and he sang a song that said something about Elephants in the room that I loved. Plus, my friend Roy and I took a cab to this show in Austin and the cab driver got lost and we had to give him directions. All those memories from one blurry photo.

And Twitter is a great place to announce you have a new four-legged, sweetheart in the family.