It was Trina's idea...and oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's start this off with a beautiful, serene picture of Jamaica - because that's where this blog will end and begin today. Ahhhhh, isn't that nice? Keep this image in your mind... Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday, isn't it. This year it was just me, mom and Robert. So that meant way less cooking, not dressing up, and sitting at our tv dinner stands watching football! How can that be a bad thing? And of course, Smokey is ever present watching us eat...

We are babysitting the fun and fearless female, Lulu. She is in one of my previous blogs - I LOVE HER. She is the only hound I would babysit for the holiday. Here she is with Smoke in the backyard after a nice run!

And of course, this is the "after" picture :)

And to the thing Trina thought would be cool and awesome! So, apparantly I was standing in contaminated sand one of the nights we were watching the sun set in Jamaica. Those of us on the beach were getting tore up! I had 2 bites on the top of my left foot that were still there when I got home from the trip. So, just to give you TMI, I always wash my feet when I shower - the tops, the bottom, in between the toes -- ya know, ya gotta do it, man - when I dry them, I admit I don't tend to look at them. But this past Sunday I looked down and saw something totally freaky! I mean, I couldn't even have sex with Robert I was so freaked out! I went to the doc that Monday and she told me I was bit by something alright - a damn infected larvae from the contaminated sand! And there was a WORM in my foot! The soil was contaminated by dog and cat feces - and it dawned on me, I saw a couple of strays on the beach and I actually fed a stray cat at one of the restaurants. I flipped - and you know, Trina being my scientist friend, she was one of the first people I contacted. And you know Trina, what grosses out the regular person, as a scientist and researcher she was like "awesome, Lin" - its one of the reasons I love her, man! So without further ado...oh yeah, and give me credit for the awesome pedicure...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

It was Trina's idea...and oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving!

Every 'Ting, is Gonna Be Alright....

Just look at this sunset. I have to tell ya, living in Cali for 12 years made me realize how much I love a sunset on the beach....but do you know where this sunset is?!?!?!!??!?!?

So, Robert and I have been married 10 years on September 25th. I personally felt it was the perfect reason to take a pretty decent vacation. I asked if he would go to Europe and that was a no go. We had been to Antigua and loved it, so we decided to hit the Carribean. I researched it to death - that's what paralegals do :) And to be quite honest, not many people raved about Jamaica, so I dropped it from the list...so I checked out Turks & Caicos, St. Lucia, Aruba, you name it. But ya know, the Carribean is gonna be gorgeous no matter where you go, right? One of my attorneys raved about this resort in Negril - but I was way skeptical - but she is a world traveler and I respect her opinion - so, what the hell did we have to lose, right? Let me just say, its the PEOPLE of Jamaica that make it worth the trip. I have never met such happy people - thrilled to be alive - grateful for everything they have. And the service and treatment we got was second to none. We stayed at Couples in Negril - I highly recommend it. Without further ado....

A beautiful sunset from Rick's Cafe. Yeah, its a tourist place, but well worth the hour or 2 you spend there drinking and watching the guys diving, watching the "lifeguards" sitting on the side of the rocks burnin' one, and the sunsets from there are awesome.

They had lots of free things to do. We did the catermaran, which seriously, is just the most awesome Booze Cruise you can take :)

I could post a million pics of the sunsets, views from every direction, but I won't bore you. Just wanted to show a teeny bit of the amazing time Robert and I had celebrating our marriage :)

Happy Anniversary Baby, I got you on my mind...

Before I get into anything, here is an amazing sun rise from this morning in Kill Devil Hills, NC.

So, Robert and I used to live in Los Angeles. Had we stayed there, I don't know that we would have gotten married. I mean, Cali is a common law and community property State - and we knew we weren't going to have kids, so why bother, right? But, we couldn't take the "life" anymore and decided to head East - to Richmond, where one of my brothers lives. So of course, my Catholic guilt combined with moving to what I considered the Bible belt, prompted us to run off to Vegas. We were married on September 25, 1999 - and drove across the country the following Friday with our stuff and my cat Grimmy and landed in Richmond. This past Friday we drove to the Outer Banks to party and relax for 4 days. I LOVE the OBX. My family has been vacationing there for 25 years - and its the last place my entire family vacationed together before my Dad passed away. So I have very sentimental feelings for it.

But without further ado...here is the wonderful man I married sitting in some big honkin' chair in Manteo! (And for those of you who don't know Robert, he's 6 ' 4" and about 230 lbs., so this chair is huge!)

It was raining in Virginia when we left - but once we got to Chesapeake we didn't see any rain again until Saturday night - which, hey, by 9:00 p.m., we were headed back to the condo. It was overcast and low 70's on Friday which was perfect for us!!!!

Saturday was partly sunny but really windy (duh, its the OBX) so thats when we headed over to Manteo and walked around. By Sunday, it was rockin'! We probably met every local in town - we tend to attract the alcoholics and the drug pushers, but hey, whatta ya gonna do! Or really, what does that say about the way we look that we would attract those kinds of people, ha,ha. But we had a great time - we're thankful that after 10 years of marriage and being together for 15 years, we still enjoy each others company and we are still madly in love.

Her name was Lola, she was a dancer....

So, I get the call last weekend from Trina that a little 2 1/2 year old brindle female was being returned after 5 months - and she needed my house - which means, BOOTCAMP! The adopters claimed Lola couldn't be housebroken (keeping in mind they had named her Kiyona, which I hated, and Lola was close enough that she would respond). She was peeing in the house, peeing in the crate, peeing when they put the leash on her, you name it. So I got in my best Dog Whisperer mode and opened my house to her. The bottom line is, this family had made her a very insecure little girl. Lola understood nothing - she didn't even know how to "come" - she didn't know how to walk on the leash. She never peed when I put her on the leash - she didn't have 99% of the issues with me that they had claimed they had. I'm gone 10 hours a day so I knew that would be a challenge for her in the crate. The bottom line is, and what my gut was telling me after 2 days of peeing in the crate, she had anxiety. The minute we would close the door and leave for work she would bark and go off! So this weekend we quit putting her in the crate - she is even sleeping downstairs on the couch with Smokey. We left her yesterday for several hours and she was fine. Obviously, the big test will be Monday when I leave her for 6 hours and come home at lunch to assess the situation. She's a gorgeous little girl - totally cat safe - full of vim and vigor.

2 Meatheads and a Little Lady...and daggone it, I'm 45 today!

Isn't this the most gorgeous little girl! This is LuLu - we've been babysitting her for a few days to help out Trina. And while I'm partial to the male houndies, I'm totally smitten with her! She's gorgeous, fun, fearless, frisky, and unbelievably well behaved. Thank God she isn't available for adoption! Her daddy will be here to pick her up in about a half hour - I'm a little heartbroken! And she and Smokey have had the best time together.

This was the 3 dog night. Very interesting for me and Robert because I've never had more than two hounds in the house at a time. Seriously, I think I could have 5 in the house - piece of cake! Robert would disagree with me on that :)

So, once LuLu gets picked up, I'm off to go shopping, take a work out class, and have a nice little nap before going out for my Birthday dinner.

I love Lucy

So we're babysitting Dash again this week. He is a goober just like Smokey! Lazy and wants to eat - that's all they require in life! He does like to bark, oh, about every 2 hours in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I'm less than rested these days. But I adore him ;) But now on to Lucy....

This is my baby girl Lucy - I need to give her some props, as she rarely makes it on to this blog! I found Lucy about 4 years ago on a street corner in downtown Richmond - she was only 4 weeks old, huddled up against a Times Dispatch box - I thought she was a rat at first! She came to me at a time when my girl Grimmy was dying of oral cancer. LuLu was an amazing comfort during that time - she's my miracle kitty :)

M&G's and a play date for Smokey...and oh yeah, a little 80's metal reunion

Here are a few pics of the 80's bands of Charleston getting together to raise money for a fellow guitarist who passed away. It was very surreal for me. The pic of me on stage is with musicians that I played with in 3 different bands - Black Widow, Silent Knight, and Steel Rose. The drummer, Chuck, and one of the guitrists, Jay, and I have not been on stage together in 23 years! Being on stage is the best freakin' thing in the whole wide world - I could so fall into the trap of being in a band again! Moving on....

Butler can't believe I came home with another dog!

I think this picture of a Greyhound play date speaks for itself. (Smokey and Brady)

Anyway, we had our first M&G at the PetSmart in our neck of the woods today. It went really well considering it was hot and muggy - although the hounds would probably tell you differently! Lots of people stopped by and asked questions and I feel like this is another good area to spread the word about how awesome Greyhounds are.

I need to get it together...

Yes, the big 80's Metal Reunion happened - and you can catch my YouTube video by searching "Billfest" then looking for "Another Thing Comin'" performed by Steel Rose, Black Widow and Silent Knight. I will post all kinds of pictures in the next few days. It was very surreal and made me somewhat melancholy to see people that had such an impact on my life when I was in my 20's. I will be 45 in August - and while I'm happy to be aging, it still hurts somewhat to let go of such a wonderful past that was surrounded by some of the best musicians I have ever known. On the Greyhound front, we babysat Dash last week - the big goof snuck upstairs, grabbed a bag of cat food, and proceeded to munch on it in the master bedroom :) We loved having him - he has an open invitation to come stay with us whenever he wants. The Bro-Mance between Smokey and Butler is heating up - or I should say, its heating up for Butler - I will post that picture very soon. Butler is my Katrina kitty that thinks he owns the place. And while he pretends to be irritated by Smokey, we seem to be catching him rubbing up on Smokey and sleeping near him :)

The return of Heavy Metal

So, for those of you who don't know, I was the lead singer of a heavy metal band for 16 years. What a life! About 100 of us are gathering in Charleston, WV to hold a concert and fundraiser for a fellow musician who passed away recently. It should be very interesting to see these people after 25 years - all of these men had hair longer than mine, and actually, they wore more make up than I ever did!!!! So, be prepared for the pictures to be posted when I get back. Here is a pic of the band back in the day - can you tell which one is me, the girl?!?!?!?!

This is Urban 30 minutes after he arrived at my house! No pacing, no panting, just "where's the couch, lady?!?!?"

Smokey is LAZY!!! This is how much fun he is on a Friday night!!

So, please ignore me looking like a slug. But this is the famous Skiddy Urban. He is a snuggler and a lover - and obviously learned the joys of the couch on his way to me! For those of you who have been following his story, this is one special hound. He came to me because his new mommy has 3 cats and they wanted to make sure he was not interested in them. Well, he was!!! But, for 2 days my cats Butler and Chloe gave him a full frontal assault of the cat world and with a little bit of correction, he totally ignores them now. It's not to say that in the mornings when he's feeling frisky he doesn't run up to Butler with his tail wagging and gives him a good sniff! If I were looking to adopt a second hound, Urban would be the one. But with Smokey, 3 cats, and the fact I foster for GPA and Hickory Hill, it's just not in the cards right now.

The beginning...

So, I've FINALLY started a blog - kinda like I finally got a DVR last month. The hope is to take you on Greyhound travels with my boy Smokey - as well as hounds we foster or babysit. And I will include the rescue group where I am a Board Member - Hickory Hill K-9 Rescue out of Ashland, Virginia. I'm at work, so the fun will begin when I get home and can start posting some pictures. The picture you see here is Smokey and my defiant male kitty, Butler. Butler is a Hurricane Katrina survivor - he was my one and only feline foster failure. He is a little runt - weighs all of about 6 lbs., but when I have a foster he refuses to give up any of his territory. Little does he know that he is the greatest cat tester in the world! For those who have been following the journey of Skiddy Urban, he is at my house until his adoption this Friday - yay!!!!!! And oh do we love him! If we were going to adopt another hound, hands down he would be the one! He needed a couple of days to learn that the kitty cats are to be left alone, but now he is totally fine with them. I will be posting pictures very soon...