Winner, winner, chicken dinner!! (or dog food... again)

Did you guys know that Maggie is the luckiest little puggle in the world?? A few months ago, Maggie (who is a proud member of the Puggle Posse) won a new dog bowl from Mr Puggle. We watched the video and thought, surely there is a different puggle named Maggie, my little Maggie has never won anything! Well, she was the winner!!

And, she is so lucky that she got some goods for her sister as well! Mr Puggle sent us TWO dog bowls and even setup a store full of Sadie and Maggie swag. Yep, Christmas gifts are already purchased and it's only May!

Here are the girls, enjoying their new bowls! Thanks Mr Puggle!! And if you are jealous of these amazing personalized bowls, get in touch with Mr Puggle's mom, she is amazing at this stuff!

Slooooow... progress?

Has it really been a month since we started diggin' in the back yard?!?! The crazy spring weather in Colorado played a part in the delays, but man is this taking a looong time. Here are some pictures of the progress. I really hope to have everything done next week at this time. Maybe a Memorial Day BBQ should be in the works??

Here is the backyard, with the new fence and GRASS! It looks like a different yard. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but the previous owners did some weird stuff in the yard. Basically, they buried their yard with 4 inches of dirt. When my landscaper started tilling up the dirt, they found rocks cemented together under the first layer of dirt, an extra sidewalk, and lots of landscape fabric. Fun. Just a bit more clean up and some trees and this part will be looking good!
And the front yard! I think the grass looks so nice compared to the crazy groundcover that was there! In the mulch, we will be putting some plants in, see below...

And another shot of the front yard. Much better.

And last but not least, here are a few of the plants that will soon be in the front yard! The guy is actually put them in right now as I type this.

So progress is happening, just a little slowly, but what else is new! I have come to expect seriously long delays when doing anything around this house.

Operation Cleanup the Chaos

Well folks, there is something to blog about again... Starting today, the landscaping is getting an overhaul. The jist of the makeover is basically to remove all the chaos that has accumulated over the neglected years and replace with easy to maintain grass including a sprinkler system!!

Here is the "before".

Starting in the front:
There are at least 5 different types of ground cover, plus grass in this mess. Scraping all of it out will be step 1!

The hardest decision was what to do with the area between the sidewalk and the street. I almost went with rocks, but I just couldn't do it. The new plan is grass with some flagstone pathways to the street.
And to keep you from getting bored I talked my little models, Sadie and Maggie, into getting into the pictures!
Last Friday, the demolition actually started with the removal of some sidewalks in the back yard. Gotta think about tricks to keep the pets in the yard when the back fence gets ripped out!

Here is Sadie, getting ready to see some changes on her favorite part of the yard.

Keeping the grass and the dog, all else will change.

Even the deck will get overhauled. How many dogs can you find in this picture??

Aside from the landscaping, there are just a few other updates to mention. I have a roommate!! Woot! Jill makes my life more fun and gives me someone to watch Millionaire Matchmaker with, someone to drink on the deck with, and someone to motivate me to pick up more and get organized, and she even vaccuums!! I'm so lucky that she wanted to move in!

This is the most random tagging I have ever seen. Who tags my garage with the word LOVE! that's just non-sense. And super annoying.

And one last picture. I've seen this little face in the window so many times, I can't keep count. I wanted you all to see it to, isn't she cute?

I'm so ready for the summer! Bring it on!

And save the date for a May Day party - May 1st - assuming the landscaping is done, which it should be! It will be a little house welcoming for Jill and (hopefully) an enjoy the landscaping party.

Snuggle Puppies

Dogs, dogs, dogs... Sure seems like my life revolves around these two bundles of fur!

I have come to the realization that my dogs love their comfort. I am constantly amused by how well they seek out the most comfortable places they can find and hunker down. Here are a few pictures that are no exception.

Ah Sadie, could you get any more comfy?

I swear it looks like she is smiling in this picture!

And Maggie, laying on a bed on a bed! I found this old bed of hers and washed it. It was sitting on my bed and she decided to snuggle down!

"Yes, I know I am too big for this bed. No, I don't care."

And just for a little size comparison, here is Maggie in the same green bed when she was about 3 months old:

Wow has she grown!

Right now, Sadie is snoring away on a bed in my office and Maggie is outside looking in the window at me. I love my doggies!

My Heartbreakers

This is the last day for the Bronco Blue blog... I do indeed have the blues, but tomorrow I will suck it up and move on...

6 months ago, I would have been pleased to know that the Broncos would finish 8-8... But then the Broncos did the unthinkable and won 6 games in a row! Since the AFL-NFL merger, only 2 teams started 6-0 and issed the playoffs. Now there are three teams with that distinction. And I think it is important to point out that we missed the playoffs by TWO games, not just one so that makes me sad too.

I had perfect attendance this season for the first time in my life and there were some highlights for sure! For starters, I have to say that the weather this season was INCREDIBLE!!! The coldest game was Oct 11th against the Patriots where I think the high was near 30 degrees. Even the Thanksgiving day, Dec 20th and Jan 3rd games were in the high 30s or low 40s! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect season from that respect!

I got to see the team wear their tradition blue uniforms:
And my personal favorite, their orange jerseys:

And for a couple of games they wore these AWESOME throw back jerseys! I almost didn't recognize the team in yellow and brown, and for more than one reason!

While I didn't necessarily have a favorite game, I would have to say the super-close-until-the-final-seconds Oct 4th Cowboys game (win of course) was one of the standouts. The weather was amazing and I got to sit with three of my favorite people!
Look!!! I'm wearing flip flops!!

One of the other highlights of the season was getting to spend so much time with my BFF. Over the past few years, I was missing her a ton and it was great that we got to share so many Bronco games and amazing memories! I can't believe I don't have a single picture of us, but I'll be sure to take more next year!

So, I am almost ready to close down the season that could have been. I am still anxious to hear about the offseason and the amazing coaching decisions yet to come (right?) but until next August, I will find some other passion besides the Broncos. It was a roller coaster ride of a season to be sure.

Upgrade, Oh Yeah!

The Broncos broke my TV. No seriously, my TV died during the Bronco game on Sunday and I am not sure I can blame it!! I'm glad we have a little over a week to get ready for Monday Night against the Steelers with 40% chance of snow!!!

I've been wanting to get a new TV for a while, and I knew mine was starting to flake out. A few times during each viewing session, the screen would just turn itself off. Sound still worked, but the screen went black. Turning the TV off and on solved the problem so there wasn't a reason to buy a new TV. Until Sunday.

Here is my "small" old TV:

And here is the new 47" with a picture of Michael Phelps on it that I bought at Sam's:

Unbelievable difference. In the past 12 months, I have wasted approximately $240 on HDTV. I had no idea that football players looked that detailed when you pay Comcast for HDTV because my TV wasn't big enough for the details. After some half hearted Halloween cleaning, I spent the evening giggling at how close everything was and otherwise enjoying my new toy.

No comparison, right?And for my girl-power story of the day, let me tell you one other part! So, the TV weighs about 61lbs according to the box. And about 90lbs with the box included. I got this sucker into my house and set up ALL-BY-MY-SELF!!! I almost called to see if I could borrow Mike, but then the engineer in me took over and I did it!! Let's just say the couch helped a bunch!

My only other thought??

Maybe I should have gone bigger!

Happy Birthday Puggle!

This morning, I'm especially happy that 2 years ago today a litter of little puggles was born, just in time for Christmas 2007.

Here's my Maggie telling all of you how old she is. We did it three times so you can see that, of course, she really understands all this.

Anything for a treat mom!

Love her!

Go Broncos!!

Last year, I couldn't WAIT for Bronco season. I knew that it meant I would be just about done with 6 months of renovations and on my way to having a new (old) house! This year, I am still excited about Bronco season (that's not news) but I am also, finally, feeling settled in my house. Stuff has it's place and I am planning my next projects!! I keep going back and forth on what I want to do next, but I think the yard needs attention the most. Time to start some real planning!
But, this post is about the Broncos :) hehe!

I had so much fun at the Bronco game. Everything was perfect - the weather (yes, alot can change in Colorado in less than 24 hours); the energy; the WIN; and of course having good company. I got to bring a friend that was in town visiting to the game - he had never been to an NFL game, and I think he is a Bronco fan now!

Turnovers (and then touchdowns) on the 10 are exciting when the action is on the south side of the field:And this picture shows why the 90's were so amazing (ha! I include Terrell here. He is still my favorite Bronco of all time). Welcome to the Ring of Fame Shannon Sharpe!
And please don't cry - you're making me cry:

I would have taken more pictures, but I had a lot of beer (it was hot and I needed to keep drinking cool fluids) and forgot about my camera!! Oh well, only 12 days until the next Bronco home game! Bring on Tony Romo! But first, the Raiders - where are my Raider Haters at??

My Lap Dogs!

I was going to do a post all about my Broncos and the things that I actually liked about the game on Sunday (specifically the defense, welcome to Denver Brian Dawkins, and my fantasy kicker Matt Prater), but I'll stick to dogs this week since I have a couple of cute pics in the camera that need to be shared!!

Here is my favorite 8 year old lab... She should be in calendars, maybe I will make my own calendar this year, hmmm... Friends and family, you now know what your Christmas gift will be!! Calendars of Sadie and Maggie!!
Maggie doesn't usually go in her cage without a treat, but the other day, she went straight in. Sadie was a little confused too. It was a one time thing, she hasn't done it since :)

She does like to sleep in her beds, does this look comfortable to any one??

This is her favorite spot to sleep. She is such a little lap dog!! If I'm laying on the couch, I can usually count on Maggie to come lay on my lap.

Oh that's right, I have TWO lap dogs. Here is my Sadie on a different day laying in Maggie's "spot".

And on yet another occassion, I ended up with BOTH dogs on my lap. This picture isn't great because it is from my CrapBerry, but it was all I had handy without moving the dogs. You can see Sadie on the left and Maggie on the right.

And Sadie and Maggie have asked to have a Halloween party again this year! Save the date, Oct 31st at our house. I am planning to clean up the garage and have either beer pong or flip cup (or both?!?!) so plan on it.

Maggie, Speak!

We've been working on this trick for a while... Finally Maggie can reliably speak on command. Cracks me up every time.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!!

It's Bronco Season!!!

And I think I might be the only person in Denver that is still pumped about the Broncos...

Here is what Season Tickets look like!! This year, I was smart enough to take a picture before ripping the first tickets out - go me! It's the 50th Anniversary of the Broncos this year and some of the tickets look extra cool - like the brown/tan ticket for when the Broncos did the unthinkable in 1960 and beat the Boston Patriots (look it up, cool story). Ok, the brief story is the Broncos were a po-dunk (sp?) first season team that got less press coverage than the School of Mines football team (OMG, right?). In their first season, they only won three games, but one of them was against the Boston Patriots who were as good then as they were in 2007. Maybe there will be some 1960s magic in Denver on Oct 11th and we can beat the Patriots again??First game! And it didn't rain, was about 70 degrees outside, couldn't have been more perfect football weather!!
Anne and I may have had a cocktail (or 2?) before the game and when we got to our seats, there were these awesome paper helmets. We wore them long enough for a couple pictures. They were hot - don't know how players stand real helmets...
Yes, we were those people. But only for like 10 minutes... :)
The hardest part of the game? No, not the score board... This:
I'm still sad that Cutler is not a Bronco and the game made it real. I can't bring myself to rename my fish, so I think I will have to draft Cutler on my fantasy team and keep rooting for him, just a little. Hey, I always liked Griese (ps played for the Bears and was briefly on my fantasy team) and Plummer after they left the Broncos so cut me some slack!

And for any of you that think my enthusiasm for the Broncos will be any less if they only manage to win one game this year, let me remind you of something... For four years, every Saturday in the fall, I painted my finger nails blue, half the time drove for 3-6 hours each way, put on a cute little blue skirt and a pony tail and cheered for the School of Mines football team. In four years, I saw them win 9 games. Yes, the total games won in four years was NINE. They played 11 games a year, so that means I saw them lose 35 times. And I still cheered for them every Saturday. My Junior year, they won ONE game and were even beat 70-3 (or something ridiculous like that) at home and still I was there. My love for the Broncos is at least on par for my love of the Orediggers. Take that.

And if anyone wants my prediction, I actually think the second half of the season will be very different from the first half, like last year, only the opposite. I think the talent and coaching will start to click and the Broncos will win a respectable amount of games. And I'll be there cheering for them no matter what. ORANGE AND BLUE.

Slumber Party!!

I know, it's been a while... I just bought a new camera (I bought one not that long ago, but it broke on my 30th b-day). Hopefully I can post more pics of the most adorable pair of dogs around! And I still need to post the finished pics of the basement, so I'll get to that soon!

On Saturday night, Nicki and Chip ended up staying overnight for a friends wedding, so Denny came over for a slumber party. I tried my best to get a picture of all three dogs together...

Maggie and Sadie are total camera hams, but all I caught of Denny the first time was his tail.
Almost caught all of him the second try...

Third try was the best I could do, but then I cut half of Sadie out of the picture! Guess it wasn't meant to be. But the dogs had so much fun playing together. They stayed up late and woke up early just to play. I needed a nap today!! Notice how Sadie is looking at the camera in EVERY picture?? I have her trained ;)

Maggie loved being on the couch because then her head was at the same level as Denny's. And then she could launch off the couch right onto his head! It was really funny.
Sadie was the first one out. Leave the playing to the 2 year olds (btw, Happy B-Day Denny!)
And one other thing my "good" dog did... I've blogged before about how Maggie likes to dig in her bed. Well, now she is digging in MY bed!! To be fair, these sheets had seen better days, but they are by far the most comfy sheets I own. Darn puggle.

Bronco season is upon us! I'm excited to have Season Tickets again. If anyone wants to come to a game with me, let me know!!! First game is next Sunday night when Cutler and the Bears come to town, preseason style.

I didn't get laid off today...

And I'm trying to be really hard to be happy about it.

I've been planning to be laid off for the last few weeks and was really looking forward to it. Now I don't get 7.6 months of pay check for 0 days of work. Darn.

Oh well, gotta make the best of it!

Sadie's Birthday, A Wedding and Visitors!!

I seem to be on a monthly posting pattern - sorry about that. I really need to buy a new camera because the one I have doesn't work very well, it's bulky and I just don't really like it so I never have it with me! Fortunately my sister was in town for the last week and she had her camera and took some fun pictures!!

Turns out, dogs can get their learners permit to drive when they turn 8 years old. Not before that, of course because dogs have to reach a certain maturity level before they can learn to operate heavy machinery! Lucky for me, Sadie turned 8 on July 8th so now she is my driver!!

She's still trying to figure out how to put the car in reverse without thumbs, so sometimes I have to take over the wheel. When I do, she recruits her sister (Maggie) and her cousin (Ted) to make sure I am driving properly.

Speaking of an 8 year old dog, I can't believe my Sadie is getting so old! I was in Longmont and I found a dog bakery with a Pup-Pie, so I got her that as a b-day cake.

Don't worry, she shared!!
My sister came into town on July 4th and we got to spend just over a week together! It was an awesome time, and I can't believe we got along so well the entire week! She is on a biz trip to NYC right now, so I get to experience the joys of 3 dogs for the next two weeks!! Ted is so tiny, I'm afraid I might lose him, or sit on him!!

Our 2nd cousin got married on the 11th in Colorado Springs and my sister and I decided to have our own little photo shoot at the reception. There are lots more pictures, but these two are my favs.Oh the hotness. We always seem to have a hard time take a good shot of the two of us, but I really like this one! Miss you sister!!!
For those of you keeping track, my company is announcing layoffs on Wednesday. I find out my fate at 10am!! I'll probably post to Facebook with my status and maybe I'll even post a quick blog note. Fingers crossed for funemployment!!