T'was the day after Christmas and...

We had our Christmas party at the store on Friday. We snacked on veggies, chips and dips all day and had bagels and lox for lunch. For dinner, we had spiral sliced ham, baked potatoes, green beans and peach pie for dessert. The highlight of the day was awards presented to Lenny for Outstanding Employee of the Year, Jill for her outstanding work as an instructor (and vault organizer), and to Pam as the best Wire Wrap Instructor in Apache Junction!

Our Christmas Day was a quiet one. I used the morning to catch up on some much needed house cleaning and did some mending, while Mike slept in (that's HIS holiday tradition ).

We went to brunch at our usual Chinese buffet, then came home and watched TV (mostly Dr. Who marathon) and I did more cleaning. The furkids "helped", especially Biggs, who was "guarding" the trash bags from the rest of the crew. I'd have probably finished hours earlier if it wasn't for having to dance around the dachshunds under foot! Mike played with the pups for a while and then took a nap.

When he woke up, dinner was ready - ham, turkey (no-flavor-to-it roasted turkey breast - remind self not to get one of those again), cranberries and carrots. I forgot to grab the canned olives and the 2 leftover baked potatoes from the store, and forgot to get rolls when I picked up the other supplies at the grocery store. I had planned to make a quick, pick up the last stuff trip to Wal-Mart on Friday evening, and discovered that everyone had closed at 8pm, instead of 10pm.

After dinner, more TV and I worked on my jeans patchwork quilt. I finished the top this morning - it's big enough to cover the sofa! Now, I've got to get cushions done. I just hope I have enough jeans to get all 8 of them finished!

Now, we're back to work, where it's quiet today - except for the football game. Everyone must be standing in line making exchanges, or shopping for the after Christmas bargains!

GO PACKERS!

Marshall, Marshall, Marshall - with apologies to Marsha Brady

It's long past time to introduce the final 2 pack members at Weller's Wild Wiener Ranch. We've stopped doing rescue, but these two wound up joining our herd anyway.

We added a Great Dane/Basset Hound mix just after Thanksgiving. He looks like a low-rider Great Dane. We call him Biggs, because, compared to the dachsies, he IS big. He weighs about 45+ lbs and is not quite 2 years old. He is black with grey dapple markings and is a BIG PUPPY! He thinks he's a miniature Chihuahua puppy and acts like it. Not funny when he comes barreling into the house and brushes past you! He was kept outside, wasn't socialized and didn't know his real name (Charlie), so we've been trying to teach him how to live with people. He's learning, but he's got a very LLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGG learning curve! It's always a Hallmark moment when Biggs greets Mike when we come home from the store. He clears the arm of the sofa and hits Mike like a freight train! Then, it's non-stop kisses until bed time. The good part about Biggs is that he doesn't drool like a Great Dane, so they aren't slobbery kisses!

Our sofa had a small (quarter sized) hole where Scooter had nibbled it. One of the first days that Biggs stayed home with the rest of the herd, we came home to find the hole was GONE! Of course, so was the entire length of the fabric on the back of the sofa! He's chewed up a couple of cushions from the sofa, another cushion from the chair, a leather chair at the store and the corner of another chair. We've been buying Bitter Apple as a deterrent - every morning, I do our "leave stuff alone" routine. I grab Biggs cheeks, stare in his face and growl, "DON'T CHEW ON STUFF". Then I spray the furniture with the Bitter Apple while he (and the other dogs) watch, chanting, "No - NO - NO - NO!!!" as I spray. Most of the times it works, but not always. Until it does, the sofa is not going to get replaced!

Then we come to the subject of this post - Marshall. His full name is Marshall Tucker Longhorn, though we usually just call him Marshall. He's also known as Marshy, Martian Mellon, Marsh mellow and "You little ratfink"! Marshall is a red, mini, smooth coated dachshund who weighs about 10 lbs soaking wet. He joined the family about 2 weeks after Biggs did. He'd had 3 families in 3 weeks and had separation anxiety. We brought him to the store for 2 weeks and he finally settled in. Nowadays, he and Biggs are partners in crime. One of their favorite heists is for Biggs to grab the toilet paper and take it outside, Marshall joins him and has a great time shredding the toilet paper - the patio winds up looking like a snow storm!

Marshal and Biggs are best buddies - inseparable, as the photo shows. Marshall is older by 6 months and he absolutely adores his "little" (as in younger) brother! Biggs loves Marshall - they play and Marshall will chew on Biggs from nose to tail and the big doof just lets him do it.