Cheering Myself Up

Well, late this afternoon, my day took a turn for the crappy. Finding out you have a flat tire in the parking lot an hour before you get off work will do that. Thank God for Fix-a-Flat.

Anyway, I'm going to try and relax and get unstressed the rest of the evening. So, here's a funny picture to cheer myself up. Maybe it will make you smile too. I present to you...

The Cavernous Maw of Betty!

(Click for larger view...if you dare!)

Pet Blogging

I'm sick of all the heavy subjects and turmoil of this week. So, I'm going to do something more lighthearted -- pet blogging.

I've never posted a picture of my cat Felix. It's hard to get a good picture of him because he never wants to look at the camera. He has really beautiful eyes, but you can't really tell from these pictures. (As always, click pictures for a larger view.)

Felix is a polydactyl cat. He used to be blacker than he is now. I need to scan in some pictures from when he was younger. He's about fifteen years old and he definitely looks like an old man. He still seems pretty healthy, though, although the last time I took him for his shots and a checkup, they found the beginnings of urinary tract disease. However, he's very finicky and it's very hard to get him to eat the special urinary tract health cat food.

The last time I took him to the vet, I had to sedate him. And even sedated, he still managed to scratch the vet. And the previous two times I took him to the vet, he pooped all over the examination table. Yes, he can be a very bad kitty.

I had a cockatiel for a few months last year, but I sold her because my mother and I just aren't bird people. Plus, I've had parakeets in the past and have had nothing but bad luck with them. I sold her to a bird lover who could give her a much better home. In fact, it was the lady who bought her that informed me that the bird was female. When my Mom and sister bought the bird (to cheer me up after Coco passed away), they were told that she was a young bird and that she was probably a male. I called her Monkeyboy because she reminded me of a little monkey. When I found out she was a female, I shortened the name to Monkey. Anyway, here are some pictures I took of Monkey when I had her:

My dog Betty and Felix get along pretty good. Felix used to snuggle with Coco on chilly mornings and he started doing the same thing with Betty. Felix likes to go in Betty's crate and lay next to her sometimes. I tried getting pictures of this several times, but Betty would always jump up and run out, which would cause Felix to do the same. However, one morning, I managed to shut the door to the crate before they could jump up:

Here's one more of Betty with a squeaky ball:

Betty loves her toys! :-)

Black (Lab) Betty

I'm in a better mood now, so here is today's moment of zen:

(Click picture for large, ultra-cute size.)

Even though she's not a baby, I think she conforms to the 13th Rule of Cuteness.

Me? A Photographer?

I've always been terrible at taking pictures. But, I got a digital camera recently because I figured that if I messed up a shot, I would know it right away and I could try again until I was successful. So, here is one of my better attempts. Yes, it's a lilac rose from my rose garden (the rose is called a Sterling Silver):

(Click image for larger view.)