That's A Horse Of A Different Color!

Toads, Dogs, and Monsoons.

To those of you not here in Arizona, it is monsoon season. This morning we awoke to find 7 toads swimming in our pool! Well, 7 toads+4 dogs = a VERY interesting morning!

I was woken up by Aaron telling me I "gotta see this"... so I grabbed my video camera and here we go!
Toad-tastic 1
I apologize for the swear words, it was early, and you know us Musumeci's... we have mouths like truck drivers! (oh, and my mother on her Blackberry (crackberry) yakking away).
Toad-tastic 2

Then, we decided to let Posh and Paisley out, and more fun to come!
Toad-tastic 3

Then, we let the boys (Mardi and Stitch) out. Much to our surprise, Paisley was the most assertive dog, or as I called her, a "bad ass"...
Toad-tastic 4


The outcome of this event is this:
Paisley started nipping at all the toads any chance she got and eventually we thought she was tripping
on toad skin, so we got them in the house quickly, and rinsed her mouth off. After about an hour, the dogs had to go to the bathroom, and we let them out. Paisley SWAN DOVE into the pool and started attacking the toads. I then decided to put my swimsuit on and get a bucket and fish out 7 toads. All in all, a day I will never forget!

We think this is the type of toad it is... a Sonoran Desert Toad.

Needless to say, it was a Toad-tastic Tuesday!

A Victim of Disorganized Thinking...

I truly feel like I am in limbo. I feel like everything in my life has to fall into a specific place and then BAM, it will all go as planned.
I knew by me returning how early from my internship, that I would have to endure life without certain things. 1. a car. I have to wait until my loan $$$ comes in so I can get a car. A GOOD car. A car that will last me, AWHILE. 2. a home. Getting into our condo isn't as easy as it seemed, and we are still on the fence about painting the walls, possibly re doing the carpet, and buying a refridgerator. I commend those couples that can redo a home without a single argument, but Aaron and I are too strong headed to agree on every single thing. So, hopefully, but the end of August, all my ducks will be in a row. HOPEFULLY.

In other news, a few weeks ago we celebrated my moms birthday. She didn't want any gifts, so I decided to get her the most adorable cupcake cake! I went to the Frys up in North Scottsdale and asked them if they could make a margarita, and they said, "maybe". Well, when I picked it up the day of the party, I squealed in excitement and almost kissed the cake lady! It was perfect! I recommend that Frys now, and trust me, I have used REAL cake decorators, like Ace of Cakes style, and Frys was just as impressive. See for yourself!

In other news, Louie is back with his mom and dad, and I miss him already. He is the cutest snuggler and I miss his ant eater nose and his morning wrestling. Louie, come back to visit anytime. Mardi and Stitch are very happy to have Aaron and I all to themselves once again. Spoiled dogs!

Diva Stitch living the rough life

My mom with Louie, the ultimate cuddle bug

So, hopefully, my next blog will be all about my new car and my new fridge and me no longer being a victim of disorganized thinking. Sometimes, if only I could click my heels together and everything in my life would magically fall into place...

Because of the wonderful things (s)he does...

When I grow up I will…

Splurge on: expensive face creams cause I don't want Botox and am afraid of needles

Understand: my boyfriends' religion, Judaism.

Sleep: on a schedule.

Read: a newspaper. not nytimes.com. but a real honest to goodness newspaper.

Own: a home with a pool, please. Or if not a pool, near a beach.

Collect: out of print childrens books.

Eat: more organically, and maybe eat food from a garden I will have, (that Aaron will tend to, since he is more of a green thumb than I.)

Purchase: fancy olives at Whole Foods every time I go in from the olive bar. Just to snack on while I shop. (I envy those people). Oh, and good wine, not just when its on sale.

Rent: a summer home in a place different than where I live, so a few weeks a year I can immerse myself in a different way of life.

Give: lots of money to the humane society and to Planned Parenthood, my two favorite charities.

Avoid: negative people

Destroy: hate, so my future kids won't have to deal with racism, or homophobia, or anti-semites, etc.

Retain: my sense of humor.

Fear: nothing

Enjoy: my family cause you don't know what you got til its gone.

Laugh: a hundred times more than I already do, and not just at Seinfeld, but at REAL life.

Resemble: my mother and then even my grandmother. I have some pretty good genes.

Drink: the GOOD wine.

Grasp: spirituality.

I'll Get You My Pretty, and Your Little Dog Too!

Dogs, Dads, and Day to Day

I think it's the fact that didn't have a dog growing up that I have two of my own now. It wasn't until we move to Arizona when I was 13 years old that my parents allowed Fran and I to have a dog. Posh is now 12 years old and still doing really well. She is partially blind in both eyes, and have some benign tumors, but she is still in excellent health.

Posh and Paisley In San Diego

About 6 years ago, Aaron bought me Paisley. At the time, the condo I was living in in California was being renovated so it was hard to keep Paisley in my condo all day, and I didn't feel that she was safe with construction workers coming in and out. So, I say she "divorced" me and moved in with my mom and dad. And Paisley loves Posh, they are two peas in a pod, and a true bond I could never break.

So, after Hurricane Katrina, Aaron and I heard about all these dogs coming to the Arizona Humane Society needing homes. I think we both looked at each other and knew that we always wanted to be parents. Dogs parents, that is!

Mardi (as in Mardi Gras) was our first. He was found floating in the water, with a swelled collar and swam to a life boat. He had a huge gash in his neck from the collar and a few scrapes, but he was fine. The Humane Society said he was about 6 months-1 year when we adopted him.

Stitch we adopted about a month later. His mother was rescued and pregnant with him and died after delivering her litter. I guess that a dog not having a mother isn't good, because they don't get the right amount of nutrition and have difficulties bonding.

For now, having Mardi and Stitch is just perfect. But, for Hannukah this past year, we got Aaron's parents a mini doxie puppy named Louie! He is so cute and sweet and mischievous. We are now dog sitting for him while Aarons' parents are in New York visiting and  have to say, I will be very sad to say good bye when he leaves! He is only 8 months old and I love having a puppy in the house again. The other dogs are so set in their ways that it is fun to have a hyper, playful puppy getting into trouble again. He is so hilarious!

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day! I am lucky to have a dad, a grampa, a great non-in law (Aaron's dad, my Harvey) and two awesome uncles, so I feel very privileged to have all these great "dads" around me. We spent the day at my grammas house, outside on their nice patio, and my mom mad her famous ribs.

I am on this "old photos" kick. I have been scanning my old pictures and putting them on websites so it is easier to share/save/store them. I am slowly joining the 21st century! Upon my treasure hunt, I found this picture! It is 25 years old and I send it to my dad and two uncles on Fathers Day! Can we say Holy Beards???

My 4th of July was pretty uneventful. My mom, Aaron and I went to Flagstaff and we OFFICIALLY moved everything out of FLAGSTAFF! Woohoo!!! No more a Flagstaffian! We put everything in our condo in the garage, but still have work to do in the condo before we move back in. When we rented it out, the guy who lived there, lets just say, didn't take the BEST care of it. So, we need a new fridge, and I could like to get the carpets cleaned and get the place repainted. Baby steps I guess. I will post photos of the progress.

Have a great remainder of your summer!