05.23.2009 Home

I made it safe and sound to my parent's homestead on Thursday evening. It was a long, long trip. Probably about 11.5 hours total with several pit stops plus a warning ticket from a friendly Department of Public Safety Officer. Pearl did not sleep until about Austin. She was ridiculous. She was tired but could not find a comfortable place to sleep. I have the cutest picture on my cell phone of her and Baby sleeping in the passenger seat. I will post when I get back to El Paso.

Yesterday spent the day of "work"... my old job you know. I didn't do a whole lot. Answered the phone and checked the mail mainly. I did run into town to get my tires rotated as well as a couple of errands. My mom and I saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was cute and very enjoyable. Definately a great movies for kids and adults... a nice movie to take the whole family. Grade: B+

Today we haven't done much of anything. My mom and I went to town for lunch and groceries. My aunt and uncle arrived a little while ago and we are now awaiting a dinner of hamburgers to be ready.

Initially my plan was to drive home to El Paso tomorrow so I would have some down time on Monday before returning to work on Tuesday. I really didn't want to drive home on Monday since the trip is so long and exhausting and then go to work on Tuesday. But with my aunt and uncle just getting here this evening, I am thinking of staying here tomorrow instead of driving home. Not that we have anything planned but just to spend a little more time with family.

Pearl is loving being back here. She has the freedom to run all over the place plus playing with all the other dogs. She is definately exhausted at the end of the day and sleeps the night through. Course I am a little mad at Pearl this evening as she rolled in something dead today. I didn't discover this until we took a little drive and she wanted to be right in my face. Nice. If it wasn't something dead, it would have been cow manure. Not a nice aroma either way!

I hope on my return trip to El Paso, I can get through Fredericksburg early enough. I think the peaches are in season and I want to pick some up. I wasn't early enough on my trip down on Thursday and everything was closed. Doesn't Peach Cider sound delish!

05.18.2009 Pearl in Pictures

Bad cell pictures of a bad dog named Pearl.
Pearl getting her nap on.

My new hat that I shall name Pearl.

Pearl lounging on my lap looking up at me while she is on her back. Ridiculous!

05.18.2009 Pearl

So I am getting ready for a road trip home this long holiday weekend. I am taking off from work Thursday and Friday so it really will be a long weekend. As you know it is at least an 11 hour trip one way from El Paso to College Station, Texas. I don't believe I have told the story of Pearl on my last trip home.

My plan was to gas up the night before (as well as load) so all I had to do was take off in the morning. Of course that didn't happen. I went home and planned to gas up when I got something to eat for dinner. Needless to say I didn't go out again once I was home. So that left gassing up in the morning. At the end of my street there is a 7-11 and the cross street is an extremely busy street. I stop at 7-11 and before I even am out of the car (the unfamiliar rental from the last trip), Pearl is out of the car and doesn't know what to do. There are a gabillion smells that need to be smelled. And Pearl does not mind let alone come to me when called. I am chasing her all over the parking lot. Pearl starts chasing cars up the busy street. She is smelling everything. Finally I am at my wits end, my nerves are shot, and I am at the point of tears. With no help of any the strangers staring at me, I was finally able to grab Pearl by her harness. Luckily I had her harness on her. Once I caught her, I became furious. She got a good smack on the heinie and then I felt pretty bad for getting so upset with her. She rode the rest of the trip as well as the return trip with not only her harness but her leash as well. I warned her not to choke herself because I wasn't going to be in any hurry to loosen up her leash. She must have heeded my warning because she didn't get caught up on anything in the car. On the road trip back, she tried her escape routine once again. And that leash was a lifesaver as I was able to step on it as she ran out the car.

After my road trip, I was convinced Pearl and I were making a trip to an obedience school. That hasn't materialized yet but I did take a suggestion from one of my co-workers and invest in a seat belt type thingy. I went to Petsmart this afternoon and bought this thing that hooks to Pearl's harness and to the seatbelt. It will severely restrict her movement in the car. She will be able to move but probably just stay in the backseat. We'll see how this works. As the headrests in the backseat as well as the door lock knobs are chewed up due to Pearl's wild abandonment, limiting her mobility isn't going to do any more harm.

Keep your fingers crossed!

(Picture of Pearl waiting for her Whataburger order this past Sunday morning.)