I've been taking pictures again!  The puppies are five weeks old and will all be sold by next weekend.....sigh....

They're little cuties, for sure!  I have opened up the puppy yard to them today, but so far they're a little leary of taking that first step outside.  Seems with every litter they seem so timid at this age and within a coupla days just blossom and start to romp and play inside and out.  I was hoping they would get their courage up today and play outside in the warm sunshine, but we'll see.  It might take them a day or two. 

I'll be taking them to be groomed sometime this next week and of course, will have to take more pictures, lol.  I'll be sure and post them when I do.  Meanwhile, I have more chores to do, so adios for now!  Love to all!

Pup

p.s.  Ginger got a new Boston Terrier puppy today and emailed these pictures to me.  Is that not the cutest little thing you've ever seen?  Her name is "Bailey".

October 16, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Why Aren’t We Shocked?
By BOB HERBERT
“Who needs a brain when you have these?” (message on an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt for young women)

In the recent shootings at an Amish schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania and a large public high school in Colorado, the killers went out of their way to
separate the girls from the boys, and then deliberately attacked only the
girls.

Ten girls were shot and five killed at the Amish school. One girl was killed
and a number of others were molested in the Colorado attack.

In the widespread coverage that followed these crimes, very little was made of the fact that only girls were targeted. Imagine if a gunman had gone into a school, separated the kids up on the basis of race or religion, and then shot only the black kids. Or only the white kids. Or only the Jews.

There would have been thunderous outrage. The country would have first
recoiled in horror, and then mobilized in an effort to eradicate that kind
of murderous bigotry. There would have been calls for action and reflection.  And the attack would have been seen for what it really was: a hate crime.

None of that occurred because these were just girls, and we have become so accustomed to living in a society saturated with misogyny that violence
against females is more or less to be expected. Stories about the rape,
murder and mutilation of women and girls are staples of the news, as
familiar to us as weather forecasts. The startling aspect of the
Pennsylvania attack was that this terrible thing happened at a school in
Amish country, not that it happened to girls.

The disrespectful, degrading, contemptuous treatment of women is so
pervasive and so mainstream that it has just about lost its ability to
shock. Guys at sporting events and other public venues have shown no qualms about raising an insistent chant to nearby women to show their breasts. An ad for a major long-distance telephone carrier shows three apparently naked women holding a billing statement from a competitor. The text asks, “When was the last time you got screwed?”

An ad for Clinique moisturizing lotion shows a woman’s face with the lotion spattered across it to simulate the climactic shot of a porn video.

We have a problem. Staggering amounts of violence are unleashed on women every day, and there is no escaping the fact that in the most sensational stories, large segments of the population are titillated by that violence.  We’ve been watching the sexualized image of the murdered 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey for 10 years. JonBenet is dead. Her mother is dead. And we’re still watching the video of this poor child prancing in lipstick and high heels.

What have we learned since then? That there’s big money to be made from thongs, spandex tops and sexy makeovers for little girls. In a misogynistic culture, it’s never too early to drill into the minds of girls that what really matters is their appearance and their ability to please men sexually.

A girl or woman is sexually assaulted every couple of minutes or so in the
U.S. The number of seriously battered wives and girlfriends is far beyond
the ability of any agency to count. We’re all implicated in this carnage
because the relentless violence against women and girls is linked at its
core to the wider society’s casual willingness to dehumanize women and
girls, to see them first and foremost as sexual vessels — objects — and
never, ever as the equals of men.

“Once you dehumanize somebody, everything is possible,” said Taina
Bien-Aimé, executive director of the women’s advocacy group Equality Now.

That was never clearer than in some of the extreme forms of pornography that have spread like nuclear waste across mainstream America. Forget the embarrassed, inhibited raincoat crowd of the old days. Now Mr. Solid Citizen can come home, log on to this $7 billion mega-industry and get his kicks watching real women being beaten and sexually assaulted on Web sites with names like “Ravished Bride” and “Rough Sex — Where Whores Get Owned.”

Then, of course, there’s gangsta rap, and the video games where the players themselves get to maul and molest women, the rise of pimp culture (the Academy Award-winning song this year was “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”), and on and on.

You’re deluded if you think this is all about fun and games. It’s all part
of a devastating continuum of misogyny that at its farthest extreme touches
down in places like the one-room Amish schoolhouse in normally quiet Nickel Mines, Pa.

I just received this in the agency email and wanted to pass it along.  I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one that has noticed this growing trend.  But I'd like to go one further....

I am increasingly aware that more and more women are allowing their exploitation, probably for monetary purposes, but I cringe to think that these women are so ignorant or uninformed that they blindly let this happen.

I made myself watch the Howard Stern show once because I wanted to know just what others saw in this hideous excuse for entertainment.  What truly shocked me was not only the expoitation that this idiot subjected women to on his show, but, more so that there were actually women actively subjecting themselves to the ogling, sexual drivel this dirtly old man dishes out and prides himself in.  I wanted to shout at the woman on this particular episode that I didn't appreciate womankind as a whole being represented in this manner.

And the question; "Why is this man still on the air and why aren't women outraged?" still haunts me.  Am I wrong in thinking that we women are partially responsible in the dehumanization of our gender?  

In my mind, those who allow themselves to be publicly exploited are directly responsible.  And those of us that don't speak out are responsible too.  

What do you think?  

Pup (On her soap box)

We've had a case of major trepidation this past week since LaQuinta and Sally have both come in "season" and have been fenced off seperately with Buster and Peanut.  We've seen alot of sniffing and interest on the part of both male dogs, but no definite "activity".

Finally I spotted Buster and Sally hopelessly "entangled" yesterday morning, so that served to lessen the trepidation slightly, but we were both nervous about Peanut and LaQuinta, wondering if the "deed" would actually ever get done.  This is Peanut's first opportunity to participate in any "carnal activity" and so far, LaQuinta was snarling at him every time he tried to "put his moves on her".  (Gee, keeping this on a GP rating level is challenging, ya know?)  At one point this past week, I even commented to Ice that maybe we should change Peanut's name to "Caboose" because everywhere LaQuinta went, he was directly behind her with his nose.....uh....well, you get the picture.

Anyway, Ice left for his morning errands a while ago, but came right back to the door and beckoned me out onto the side porch and pointed to the back yard....and there they were!  Peanut and LaQuinta hopelessly entangled in said "carnal activity".

Well, you might have mistaken me for a cheerleader at that moment, because with both my thumbs pointed up, I was shouting "Way to go, Peanut!!!!!" and I'm sure the neighbors were thinking I'd lost my mind, lol.  I even considered grabbing the camera before I came to my senses. 

I know, I hear some of you muttering, "she really needs to get a life", and that's okay.  Cuz no matter what anybody thinks, I'm proud of our little boy Peanut and can't wait to see his puppies.  He's been through so much since we got him over a year ago and doggone it, he deserves a piece of the action, don't ya think?  lol

Okay, I'll shut up now and leave you all to wonder if that crazy lady on Schnauzer Lane has finally "gone to the dogs" crazy.  lol

WAY TO GO, PEANUT!!!!

THAT'S MY BOY!!

Maybe I should offer him a cigarette, ya think?

Now, I'm gonna concentrate on NOT thinking about the fact that I could possibly be delivering two litters of puppies on Christmas Day!  God help me!  lol

Love to all!

The proud Pupster

I've really enjoyed this weekend and wish it would go on for a few more days.  Ice's music variety is wafting around the corner and surrounding me here at my perch and I could listen to it for hours and hours.  Too bad it's too close to bedtime to do that.  Once again....if wishes were horses, right?

Prissy's pups are growing so fast!  They're three weeks old and it's hard to believe they will be leaving us in just three more weeks.  They're so sweet and cuddly!

Here is the smallest male, then the other two males and finally the female:

They look so much alike that it's hard to tell them apart.  I can't wait til they're big enough to romp and play out in the puppy yard.  I always get all scratched up from the sharp little teeth and claws, but it's worth it.

Poor Junior has the run of the house along with Sugar, but he chooses to spend all his time outside and in the kennel because Sally and LaQuinta are both in heat and he thinks he might "get lucky", lol.  But he can't get to either of them since they are fenced in with Buster and Peanut.  Poor Junior....

Meanwhile, Sugar is bored because it's raining and she has nobody to play with, so she has kept us hopping all day.  I swear, I don't know how she gets to all these things that she isn't supposed to have.  Everytime we think everything is secure, her devious little mind figures out how to get to something else.  She got Ice's road atlas earlier and had several states shredded in the living room floor before I discovered her deed.  I have a flower swag that is on one of the living room side tables that she got earlier today, so I placed it on top of the dining room table.  Well........you guessed it....I caught her with it again a few minutes ago.  I fear it's damaged beyond repair and the little stinker is still roaming the house to see what her next challenge is.  Did I mention we love her to pieces?  lol  She just streaked though here with one of her toys, so maybe she's run out of "off limit" items finally.  I can hope, anyway.

I haven't been much in the mood for blogging lately and the stress of the job has really had me in a blue funk.  Now I'll be doing two jobs until after the first of the year, but that will still be easier than the work situation as it's been for months.  However, I have to get the entire agency ready for re-certification in December, so I'll be working my butt off for the next few months.  I think, if I'm still sane, I'll take the entire month of January off......oh wait, I can't do that.  I'll be hiring and training for the office manager position by then.  Hey, do any of you want a great job?  Let me know....

I think I'll shut up my useless drivel and get around to visit everybody.  Catch you all later!  Love to all!

Pup