Fraidy Dog

It's official.

I have the most afraid dog in Dothan...no make that Alabama. My dog Benny is scared of everything. Everything!

We rescued Benny from the Humane Society when we first moved to Dothan a couple of years ago. Well, I rescued Benny and brought him home, hoping Brannon wouldn't turn the poor pup down. I knew he wouldn't. Brannon is a sucker for distressed things, especially cute dogs. And Benny was a mess. We didn't even know he was a full-bred poodle until we took him to the beauty shop and had his matted, overgrown hair all cut off. Poor puppy. He was so hideous he was cute. His stinky hair hung over his eyes and covered his entire face. He had to be so hot since it was mid-summer when we adopted him.

We weren't sure what type of dog Benny was going to turn out to be. Was he going to chew up our house? Pee everywhere? Bark all night? Try to climb in our bed in the middle-of-the-night? Nope. Benny did none of these things. In fact, he did nothing. He didn't bark. He didn't play. He didn't chew on bones or beg for treats. He would just sit there, sometimes staring at the wall, and he would follow at my heel everywhere I went. He always looked so sad and depressed. One night before going to bed, Brannon was trying to swat a fly that was buzzing around our house all day. The fly landed on the window right above Benny's bed, and when Brannon grabbed the fly swatter to kill the fly, Benny coward and ran under the bed. There were other such scenarios that led us to the conclusion that Benny was not only severely neglected, he was abused. He is still deathly afraid of anything that resembles rolled up newspapers, bats, etc.

You wouldn't know Benny was this way if you know him now. He begs for treats, loves bones, prances around in excitement, loves to cuddle, loves to play, and LOVES to chase squirrels. Squirrels are Benny's life. And he LOVES to run. I swear Brannon and I would be rich if we allowed him to race - he's that fast.

Anyway, although Benny is a different - and much happier - dog today, he is still afraid of EVERYTHING. We have learned that Benny is afraid of:

• Baseball caps and people who wear them
• paper
• books - He wouldn't sit in the passenger seat of my car because I had books on the floorboard.
• Mary Ellen's boogie picker (you know, that suction thingy you use to get boogies out...when you're a mom, you can publicly say "boogies".)
• Marshmallows - Don't ask
• Baby toys - all of them
• Thunder
• Rain
• Sprinklers
• Any pool of water
• Mail
• Anything out of place, like if there is something sitting on our back steps, he will not go outside until we move it.
• Cade - Brannon's friend who is over quite often, and yet Benny thinks he is the devil.

This is just a sample of what Benny is afraid of. The list could be longer and it seems to grow everyday. We can't help but laugh at his behavior, especially when Cade comes over. Benny will run and hide underneath our bed, sometimes for hours, until the coast is clear of Cade. I think Cade was Benny's former owner, and apparently he chased him with fly swatters and marshmallows.

Poor pup.

We love him anyway, even when we can't pull him out from underneath our bed.

Mission Impossible

I recently joined the Facebook club and the networking that followed has been tremendous. I have caught up with more people in the past two days than I have in the past decade, mostly with people from my high school years. I have found myself laughing so hard at stories from my teenage past - mostly of me being nerdy and sooooo awkward. I was not a cool teenager, but a goofy, doofy one, and so what - I was still awesome in my own right. And I was funny and had some funny times with my funny friends.

I have to share one story I recalled that had me in stitches today. It involves my carpool buddy Jenn. Jenn lived two houses down the street from me and would catch a ride to school with me so she wouldn't have to stand out in the ice cold winter air in knee-high socks and that ugly, wool catholic skirt waiting for the short bus. Yes, our school bus was literally short because Jenn and I lived in an area where there weren't many students to pick up, and yes, our school skirts were ugly and very ITCHY! It was awful when my car broke down (and that happened often) because standing out in the snow bare-legged is not my idea of fun times. I remember hugging my backpack for extra warmth, praying to see that ugly yellow school bus turn the corner.

Anyway, Jenn was very brave to ride to school with me, not because I was a horrible driver, but because my car was not the coolest, to say the least. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10 of car coolness, mine would be a negative 4. I'm surprised Jenn didn't ask me to drop her off before we reached school grounds. Ha. Okay, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't even that ugly. It was just a used Ford that I bought from my mom for $1. Thanks moms!

Well, the funny part (to me and Jenn anyway) was when we got on a "Mission Impossible" theme song kick. I somehow had a cassette tape with the theme song to Mission Impossible on it. We would turn the music up full blast and act out in slow motion to the music. We would pretend that we were saving someone from the side of the street, for example, or half-hanging out the Ford window pretending to be heroes - all doing this in slow motion like in a movie trailer. And yes, we did this while driving. I can't stop laughing. It was hysterical. You probably had to be there to watch us act out these scenarios, but they were funny. Trust me. I don't even know how we got started on it. I mean, how do you start this. It was probably me because I often did weird things or let my bizarre humor fly with little regard to who was watching. It is just awesome when someone shares that same sense of humor, or at least gets it!

Jenn and I did such things to many different songs, too. It was like we had a song-of-the-month to act out. We should of been actresses Jenn. Then we would be rich. Oh well, we'll have to settle for Mission Impossible memories.

Ha

P.s. Jenn told me today that she has moved up substantailly in regards to her car, considering she didn't HAVE ONE in high school.

Say "Cheese"

We have photos from Mary Ellen's 7 month session with Mark Broadway Photography to share with you! The link is www.pictage.com/509849. I keep trying to figure out how to download some pics to place on my blog posts from the web, but I'm too impatient to stop and truly try it. I'll learn one of these days.

I hope you enjoy the pics. I know we had a blast with Jeannie and Mark taking them! I just love this couple and believe that Mark is so talented and creative in what he does. There is no real staging or dramatic set-up, and everything is done in your home - or wherever you want. They will hop in a van and go to the park, the beach, your grandma's house, or wherever your little heart desires. Most of Mary Ellen's pictures in this session were taken with her sitting on her rocking chair or outside with her baby pool behind her! Her baby pool! And they turned out fantastic. Mark and Jeannie are both so down-to-earth, sweet and funny! You know I need funny - and by funny I mean that they laugh at my jokes, so to me, they are funny. Ha. But seriously, they make you feel very comfortable in front of the camera. They simply want you to be you. Mark said that when Mary Ellen begins to walk, he'll just let her play and run free and snap photos. This is what captures your child - not the posing.

Anyway, I know I'm going on and on. I'm just very pleased at the relationship we have established with Mark and Jeannie and I am happy with what they deliver. I don't feel like I'm "just another client." I feel like they enjoy taking pictures of our family.

Isn't it wonderful when we come across sincerity like this, especially when we live in a world of "me, me, me?"

Just thought I share.

Love you all!