another year, another tax return

This past weekend, Kelly and I did our taxes. This year, we did them using a software product and e-filing the returns. This was a first, as I did them manually the previous two years. It was also the first year we ever itemized, and the first year that we got a refund! We’ll probably end up using it to build our fence. Of course, I’d rather have had the money all last year, but that’s okay…we’ll just adjust the W-4 and move on.

However, after last year’s fun, I’m just happy that the returns were accepted and that we’re done with it for another year.

London’s favorite toys

In descending order, by name:

5. “Squid”: One of the Kong Wubba things that’s kinda fleecy. It looked like a four-tentacled squid to me, so that’s what it became. He likes chewing on it when he’s a little more wound down.

4. “Candy Rope”: A multi-faceted toy combining a rope loop, a hard plastic connector, a tennis ball, and a frayed section of rope. You’ve seen it in some of the pictures I’ve posted. I named it candy rope because it’s a Christmas toy, and it’s got the color scheme of a red, green, and white candy cane. He likes chewing the frayed part between his side teeth.

3. “Frog”: A squeaky frog. So named because he has another frog named Kermit already (it’s his crate sleeping toy). Used to have a rubber tongue, but it doesn’t now!

2. The purple food holder: I don’t really have a name for this one yet. It’s this high on the list because he’s figured out that we often put food in it. It’s one of those that’s supposed to release food intermittently as the dog plays with it, but it seems to drop most everything at one time. Of course, London doesn’t mind this “feature” at all.

And number 1:

1. Sticks: Oh, my gosh, he loves sticks. It almost makes me wonder why we bought any toys for him in the first place. Just bring a wide variety of woods (pine for that satisfying crunch between your jaws; hickory for durability and hardness, etc.), and he’d be good to go.

This list, of course, does not count items that we do not consider toys, such as our shoes, jackets, couch cushions, blankets, recliner levers, leashes, plants, table legs…

first vet visit

We decided that we’d take London to see a vet for a kind of “get-to-know-you” session. This way, we figured, he wouldn’t just equate the vet with shots and other bad things.

Kelly took him in today. As part of the process, he was weighed. You know how much the little porker weighs? 14.3 pounds! I think that those early accidental overfeedings did their job. This isn’t to say that he’s fat. I still see his ribs, and I can see his waist from above, so I know that we’re not overfeeding him. Plus, he wolfs down the food in approximately 24.8 seconds when we do feed him, so it’s not as if he’s decided he’s had enough.

One thing that I do wish is that we could play outside with him more. Having the rug helps, but not being able to just run outside with him without worrying about him getting into danger makes it tough to give him the good playtime he probably needs. But we’ll be getting a fence soon enough, I guess…

New London pics

Here’s some more pics, with commentary from London himself.


I like sleeping on daddy…


Then again, two laps are better than one…


EXTREME CLOSEUP!


I pity the fool who tries to take this away from me. That’s right, person to my left. I see you.

new London pics and some tails…tales

His real name is third on the list of things we call him; “Buddy” is second: First? “Leave it.”

Oh, I thought it said “hog food”, not “dog food”: I had been feeding London a cup of food per feeding time, and worrying that he wasn’t eating it all. Thankfully, my wife, who can read better than I, noticed that the cup of food was per day, not per feeding time.

In other news, the sun is hot and water is wet: puppies and wood floors get along like water and oil.

Cheap labor is nice: he’s developed a habit of taking sticks, leaves, you name it to the base of the deck stairs.

We’re hoping for six hours sleep between the two of us tonight: he doesn’t like his crate, which will be referred to the rest of this post as That Which Must Not Be Named. Whimpering and crying goes on for at least 20 minutes after insertion into TWMNBN, with the record so far being over an hour. That being said, he has been getting better already.

All right, enough of that. On to the pictures!


No, he didn’t fall right after this picture was taken.


“Like Mike…if I could be like Mike…”


He likes to wedge himself into places.


“Mine…all mine!”

London’s here!

He’s here! We picked him up this morning. Last week he was 8 lbs., 12 oz. So he’s probably close to 10 lbs now. He’s proud of himself, isn’t he?

scary

Last night, Kelly and I went shopping for groceries and pet supplies.

  • Amount spent on groceries: $136
  • Amount spent on pet supplies: $210
  • Amount of money spent on dog food: $0

Yeah, I know that a lot of it was one-time purchases, but still…

post-sbxlii notes

One of the better Super Bowls I’ve seen. Much more of a defensive struggle than most. But it had some great plays, too (Eli Manning’s Houdini act and Tyree’s circus catch has to go down as one of the greatest plays in the history of the Super Bowl). Pretty entertaining to watch.

I felt a little bad for the Patriots. We might never see an NFL team go undefeated again. This was about as close to that as we might ever get. It’s a shame they couldn’t complete the journey tonight, but give the Giants (especially their defense) credit. I know Manning got MVP, but I would have given it to one of the Giants’ DL. Just about any of them deserved it. They made the Patriot OL look ridiculous, and this was a unit that had performed, as a group, about as flawlessly as could be asked.

It was a lot of fun to watch in glorious HD. Makes me look forward to being able to do it on our own set one of these days.

Oh, and my favorite commercial? Probably the two E-Trade baby ones. But on the whole I was pretty disappointed by the commercials.

last weekend without a pup

We’re at my sister and brother-in-law’s house this weekend. After this, we’ll probably be staying at home for a while because London won’t be ready for trips (and we probably won’t be ready to take him!)

We’re going to a minor league hockey game tonight. I haven’t been to one in years, but I’m a hockey fan anyway, and it’s pretty fun to go. According to my sister, they’re really good tickets – right by the boards. So it should be a good time.

self-aggrandization defined

I like the Super Bowl as much as anyone, but isn’t it funny that it’s like the only event that uses Roman numerals to state which in the series it is? How would this work in other areas of life?

“My wife turns XXVI this year.”
“Happy III’d anniversary, honey!”
“Wow, is it really the LXXI’th National Peanut Festival this year?”

Actually, it does provide a little fun watching people who normally have nothing to do with Roman numerals do mental gyrations to figure out exactly which number it is this year.