So, it is New Years Eve. We are doing nothing! LOL We are hanging around doing nothing at all. We could have gone to the club for the dinner thing they are having there. Or perhaps hanger 949 where they are having a concert with Tops in Blue performing. We are going to watch a movie and drink ourselves into 2006 at home alone. This is what four years of marriage can do to a couple. We aren't upset though. We had an awesome Christmas and I cannot believe it is already over.
Now before I tell you about our Christmas with Sandy and Sean let me fill you in on a few things. Our dog Wendy is sensitive. From what I have read on the net , she is submissive. We thought she was defective when we were potty training her. She would go outside to use the bathroom, however you would say something like 'want a cookie?', and she would squat and piddle. We of course would tell her she was a 'bad dog' and this would result in more piddle. She did this at the store when we bought her, but we thought it was because she was still a puppy. Well, after many months of these stressful encounters, I decided she must have a leak in her pipes, if you know what I mean. I looked online and discovered it is a behavioral thing. If I stand and look down at her and say anything she squats and piddles. She is submitting to me to show respect. It goes back to a dog pack thing. So while scolding her was making it worse, the poor pooch didn't even know she was doing anything. Our problem is under control now, and the fact that we know how to keep her from submitting has made her more comfortable with us all around. We can play with her and do normal doggie- human things. However, when people come over it takes a little bit of time for her to get use to them and keep her from submitting to them . Usually when people enter the house they look down and say, 'awe, hello puppy', and she squats and piddles to show them she is bowing down to them. (It seems sweet doesn't it? she is always trying to please others). It took a while for her to get used to Melissa K. The main thing is to crouch down to their level and pet the under the chin. This really works! ( I was so impressed that it does) And if she does do something that deserves a 'bad girl' we can't look her in the eye. So, now that you know this I can tell you about Christmas....
Well, I had to work on Fri the 23rd but after work I ran home, picked up Dave and we headed up to the train station. We got there a few minutes after they arrived and I am sure they must have been nervous we would never show up. LOL It was really cold I felt so bad. We took them home and they met Wendy with a little piddle at the door to greet them. We sat and caught up a bit, Wendy trying to play the entire time. Dave tried to keep her distracted with a treat ball. Well, she was excited running around and she ended up throwing up on Sean's foot. It was really sick and from what Sean said it smelt bad. LOL It was so embarrassing! Luckily Wendy ate it, almost before we realized what was happening. That was also gross beyond words but make the cleanup a little easier. LOL
So the next day started out reasonably well. I don't remember when exactly this happen, but Sean was sitting on the love seat with Wendy and Sandy came up and was petting Wendy. Wendy thought she would be respectful and she peed on Sean. This was her way of telling them she likes them, however you can see how these messages are sometimes forgotten during the clean up for a person she has peed on . Really Sean should consider this a compliment she thinks you are the Top Dawg!
Well, Wendy did alright the rest of the visit. She tried to get as much love and attention as she could. Most of these attempts are annoying and bother some. There was one morning when Sean was sleeping in and Sandy wanted him to wake up. SO she sent Wendy in to do the job. She thought that task was to submit again so she piddled. This has to do with when the sleep in the cave the Top Dawg sleeps higher than the other dogs.
So, those are the 'the dog almost ruined Christmas' stories. Now we can talk about the normal and best parts of Christmas.
On Christmas Eve we went to the grocery store off base that we love so much. I guess the store was nicer than China's stores. We went to Cheese Roll for lunch. Which was so good. (Dave and I hadn't eaten there since the time Dave accidentally ordered 100 cheese rolls instead of five. Woof!!) After Cheese roll we went home, we had planned on watching Christmas movies and ordering Pizza which is our tradition. Melissa Koza came over and it was so fun. We spent the evening in the kitchen baking. We make the pecan pie (which sandy make the crust for and I will be eternally grateful to her for doing that). I showed Sandy how to make the cranberries. I made banana bread to give to my coworker for Christmas. We made Dave's sweet potato casserole. The most exciting part was making the Pumpkin spice roll. It was really easy and it was so nice to have Melissa there since she is such a pro at making pumpkin roll. After we finished baking all of Christmas dinner stuff, we made the breakfast casserole that we were to have the next morning. It is so good and it is really convenient since I could bake it the night before and then in the morning I tossed it back in the oven to heat it up while we were opening gifts. ( I'll post the recipe soon) After all of that baking we only had time to watch one Christmas movie, the classic National Lampoon Christmas Vacation of course.
Christmas Morning I woke up stuffed the bird and sent her in the oven then went back to bed. We woke up around ten and opened gifts. After all of that ripping and tearing, ohhing and aahhing we were hungry so we dug into the breakfast bake. By the time Melissa came over at around two the table was set and the meal was ready to be finished up. It was so nice to have two girls with me in the kitchen helping. It was so great! We got dinner on the table around three but it was nearly late since Koza brought over this amazing spinach and artichoke dip which we could barely tear ourselves away from to finish cooking and take everything out of the oven. LOL
Dinner was great! Desert was good and we had such a great time spending the holiday with family and such a great friend. I don't think we could ever go back to spending Christmas alone again after having such a great time this year.
The week that followed Christmas we mostly spent going around checking out the places nearby. We went to shimoda mall and another mall in hatchinohe. We were in search of an ipod and a couple of nice digital cameras. Our search ended in two camera purchases from the Base Exchange. We love our new camera and the great news is that it had a neck strap so I wont be responsible for breaking this one.
We really enjoyed having Sandy and Sean here. We hope they had a good time despite the barf and piddle. LOL Well, I don't want to be written until next year(ha its 1109 pm nearly 2006) so you will have to get any other details from the Haleys. We hope all of you had a nice Christmas too. We wish you a wonderful and safe 2006.
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