HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. While most of the country is experiencing some type of dreary winter weather, I thought I'd be nice and let everyone know what the diva was thinking:

1.  First, WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!  I received an e-mail from Dick, who is the creator, owner, and one man machine behind the website, "Dick's Diana Ross Website!"  I am still WOW!  Dick's website, which is on my blog roll, is THE website for fans of Miss Ross.  This man knows his Miss Ross history and is constantly providing updates on the lady's past, present and future career.  His website is a huge inspiration for my wayward ramblings.  Thank you Dick for the inspiration and e-mail.  Now, yall go read his website .. after you finish reading mine of course!

2.  OK, in case you did not know, the diva finally got cable this Christmas after a 2+ year hiatus.  The hiatus was due to moving, and then just being lazy.  Besides, I could always watch shows on you tube, etc.  But all of that is over ………. "Operation Repo," all the "Housewives, " "Tabatha's Salon Makeover," "Kell On Earth," Food Network, etc, here I come!  I now add to this mix, Mr. Andy Cohen [pictured above].  I am loving me some Andy!  He pulls no punches and states what everybody is really thinking .. hello, Taylor Swift singing with Stevie Nicks!  I've added Andy's blog to the roll.

You know, after re-reading the above paragraph, I realize I'm probably addicted to Bravo TV and will soon need intervention.

3.  THIS IS IT or That Was That!  OK, I finally saw MJ's THIS IS IT.  I know that I am going against the grain, but I was underwhelmed and hit the fast forward button a few times.  On a positive note, I was amazed by how good he still sounded live.  Proof that the man could still truly SANG!  However, you know me, I have some questions ……………..

-Did anyone notice how big his hands were?  Especially when he wore those tight coats.  What was with his hair?  Real or a wig, couldn't the man afford some barrettes or hair scrunchies to get those stringy bangs out of his face?  And to top if off, take off the sunglasses!  You are in a production meeting with regular light.

-Everyone acted like they were grateful he even showed up to rehease.  Or that he agreed to sing.  Why?  The man was badly in debt and needed a big hit.

-The dancers, musicians, producers, costumers, and lady at the snack table kept going on and on about MJ being an artistic genius.  This is where I beg to differ.  From OFF THE WALL to BAD, yes.  But the work after that, no.  He was performing the same dance steps, same themes, same, same, same.  You want an entertainer, you look for MJ or Miss Ross.  You want growing artistic vision, you look for Madonna.  You want to see an expensive show, when you should have just stayed home and listened to the CD, you look for Britney.  You want the VOICE, you …….. Sorry, got off track there. 

And finally for this blog entry …….. Per Miss Gina's Request

Last night, I received some never-ending grief from Miss "It's Always Negative 50 Degrees" Gina for not writing about Mr. Roscoe.  Therefore, for his legions of fans [all 10 of them] and Miss Gina, I took a picture tonight of Mister Man laid out on his pillow in the computer room.  That will be two doggie cookies Gina!

Showtime Synergy! 

HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. It has been a busy weekend of par-tays, par-tays, and more par-tays!

First, this past Friday, 12/11, was Mr. Roscoe's second birthday!!  My little man is growing up!!  For the past few weeks, Mr. Man and I have been getting up way to early, in order to walk 2.5 miles with my boss.  Well, when Roscoe and I arrived at my boss's home on Friday, there was a surprise birthday party!

Roscoe's birthday is on the same day as my friend, JT's beagle, Doobie [who also turned 2].  So Roscoe and Doobie were each given a "rope monkey" [wrapped I'll have you know] and a peanut butter lollipop!

My little guy is now 2 .. we are either going into the terrible twos or the twisted teens depending on how a dog ages.

Later that night, my parents were having there annual Christmas open house.  The divine Miss Gina [who gave Mr. R a great squeaky "Christmas Tree Light" for his birthday] graciously accepted my offer to attend the party as my guest.  The place was packed for a while there.  Of course, everybody just loved Miss Gina, while I had trouble remembering which face went with which name.

The next night, it was off to my office Christmas party held at my boss' home.  Great food – I ate so many of those deep fried, cream cheese filled, jalopeno poppers!  Damn those things were good!  Unlike previous years, we did not start pumping the music.  Alas, the dance floor was not brought to Duluth! 

And here we are on Sunday night, December 13th!  Less than 12 days until Christmas, but more urgently, less than 7 days until I throw my own open house!  What was I thinking ??

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice …….. 

HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. I want to send a HUGE shout out to the Divine Miss Anne, who Miss Gina, Miss Peggy and myself took out for a birthday dinner tonight.  Food, drink, dessert, great conversation and laughs were had by all.  Of course we can't go ANYWHERE with Miss Gina without some sort of DRAMA.  Apparently Gina wanted a dish that Longhorn [our restaurant of choice tonight] was advertising on tv, but could not be ordered.  Our waitress quickly dissolved into tears, the company headquarters was contacted, and we ultimately interrupted the president of Longhorns while he was having dinner at Outback. 

Guess who is having a guest for the weekend??  Roscoe's friend and my second favorite pug, Mr. Peabody!!

Peabody is actually one of my boss's dogs who I watched a few times before Mr. R arrived.  

When I brought Peabody home today, Roscoe starts doing his little dance, "Peabody, Peabody, friends forever remember?"  Peabody walks past him, as if to say, "Yeah, yeah let's not get all up in my face."  Roscoe just continued to spazz. 

Carrie, Carrie, Carrie .. you are seriously in need of a QUEEN PLEASE reality check.  Earlier this week, I watched Carrie go on Sean Hannity and The Today Show to state with a "straight" [pun intended] face that she only made the solo sex recording one time, and sent it to her boyfriend when she was 17.  And of course this was the biggest mistake, she never said she was perfect, and she threw down some attitude on THE VIEW!

Fast forward to Friday, and now there is news that Miss Former California not only made more than one recording, but sent them to several people when she was in her 20's!!

And still, no one is talking about our current Miss USA, Kristen Dalton from North Carolina!  You know Miss Thang is not too happy!

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice …….. 

HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. It has been almost a week since my last post.  BAD Miss Ross!  BAD Miss Ross!  But, I have an excuse, .. work has been wearing my supermodel who turned their celebrity into a non-existent singing career OUT!!  Hear that Naomi Campbell??

Anywhoo, I know it is time to get back on the blogging wagon.  And I want to start off by giving a HUGE SHOUT OUT to my new neighborhood friends, "THE HACKBERRY GIRLS!"  HAYYYYY to Gina, Anne, Cindy, Peggy and honorary Hackberry, Diana!  Of course, Gina had to give me some lip about not mentioning the Fourth of July party the Hackberrys threw a few weeks ago.  Just who do these ladies think they are??  All that and a bag of chips .. Cool Ranch Doritos??  Soooo .. Yes, the ladies threw a great Fourth party, that was actually held on the third.  Apparently, I live in a town that likes to defy nature and celebrate our nation on a date different from the rest of the U.S.A.!  Once again, a huge HAYYYYY to the Hackberrys!

As you can see the photo above, Mr. Man is relaxing after a busy morning of get up daddy, go out, eat breakfast, get back into bed with daddy, continue the destruction of one of his new toys, back out again, and then an afternoon treat!

QUESTION! .. and I know that I have talked about this before, but not sure if I have shared on the blog, but how many of your neighbors or acquaintances know you due to your pet and not your name?  I have met so many of my neighbors due to Mr. Man's nightly walks.  This has been a great way to meet my neighbors, but, now I am known more as .. "Hey, there's Roscoe!  Hey Roscoe!  And hey to YOU.  Yes, YOU, who are holding Roscoe's leash.  I know YOU have a name and probably a soul, but what is it?"

Yes, my identity has been reduced to, "hey there's that guy that walks Roscoe," or "hey, that's Roscoe's owner."  No wonder Judy was so ready to get rid of Toto after returning from OZ!  But I love my Mr. Bossy Pants!

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice …….. 

HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. I have started taking Roscoe to the dog park every couple of days.  I like the fact that he can run, run, and run .. ie the dog park tires Mr. Man OUT!  While watching and following Roscoe, I've made a few observations that I would like to share with the class:

1.  For some reason, small dogs [ie .. teacup size] feel this overwhelming need to bark whenever another dog or person comes within "their" space.  WHY??  There are 15 various dogs running around, but Fe-Fe has to tell everyone to "talk to the hand."

2.  You have owners like me, who trail behind their dogs just to make sure there on no fights on the school yard.  And then you have others who grab a seat, start reading their book or get on the cell phone.  And if their dog is involved in a throwdown, the only action is to yell across the yard, "Ray-Ray be nice!  Ray-Ray play nice!"  Lady, Ray-Ray is laying on top of another dog, and growling if anyone comes near.

3.  Even though the park has an "doggie" water fountain, it is never operational.  Therefore, I always bring a bottle of cold water and bowl for Mr. R.  If another dog comes along and starts drinking from the bowl, no problem, the water is for everyone.  However, I have actually seen owners push other dogs away from water bowls they place on the ground.  Lady, your dog just spent five minutes smelling every other dog's butt in the park .. we can all share the Evian.

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice …….. 

HAYYYYY!!  OK …….. Another Roscoe adventure, or the case of the over protective owner.  You decide.  Last Wednesday night, Roscoe swallowed some piece of plastic that I am almost certain he picked up from outside.  

I had just brought him in from our nightly walk, and went to laundry room.  I knew he was behind me, and then heard him go up the steps.  Next thing I knew, he was throwing up yellow bile.  This was followed by a few more spit ups, one of which contained the piece of plastic.  I checked all his toys, but nothing was missing.  Most of his toys are usually just the husk of some stuffed dog toy.  By the first day, I generally have to remove all the stuffing since he chewed into the head, feet and stomachs of these poor animals.  Do you know how weird it is to constantly see a stuffed pig with only eye, and you know they are thinking, "you let him do this to me!"  For the rest of the night, he just laid beside me .. but I would be too, after throwing up six or seven times.

When I came home for lunch the next day, he acted better, but still sluggish.  He did not want to play with Mr. Rabbit or the Kong ball, just lay around and watch Daddy eat lunch.  Now I knew this was not like Roscoe, so I began to worry.  Back at work, I mentioned his behavior to a co-worker, who stated, "its better to be safe than sorry," so I called the vet.

We drive up up the vet and he is already excited!  Can't wait to get inside, can't wait to be fawned over by the vet assistants.  This was not the same dog four hours ago!  "Oh, Roscoe aren't you so handsome, …. aren't you so cute … come and look at this little pug."  Of course, I barely get a hello, while Roscoe works the runway down to his examining room, tail just a waggin.  I know he's thinking, "Who me? … I'm cute? … I try to be modest."  Now I want to throw up!

Once we get into the examining room and the vet comes in, I begin telling her why we are supposed to be needing medical attention.  Meanwhile, Roscoe is just licking the vet's hand and face, tail a waggin!  She checks his mouth, temperature, and belly .. but finds nothing wrong, only that Roscoe needs to lose a few pounds.

Loose a few pounds??  I'm thinking, "lady look here, my dog only eats dog food 99% of the time, goes for lengthy walks every evening, his food is measured out, etc.  Who are you to judge?  When was last time you looked at yourself in the mirror naked?"  But I kept these thoughts to myself.

End result …….. an over protective parent paying a $106.00 vet bill!

Meanwhile. back at the Hall of Justice …….. 

HAYYYYY!!  OK ……. Mr. Roscoe has taken over the post today, and would like some feedback to his two questions:

1.  Any recommendations for a brand of dog toys that are long lasting, and will not be chewed apart within 2 days?  For example, the toy that Mr. R has in the picture above, is the THIRD one he has gone through [fortunately I found 4 on sale at Kroger]!  I have a stack of doggie "animal skins," since the squeakers and stuffing had to be removed after he tore the toys apart.

And rubber balls or heavy ropes are not much better.  Mr. R is not a big dog, and his teeth are pretty small, but I have not found a toy that he can't destroy quickly.

2.  What do you use for treats / snacks?  I've been using small Milk Bones, but the vet gave me a lecture that these are high in calories.  I also use Denta-Styx, which he really enjoys.  I'm not that big a fan of Snausages or Pup-Peroni, due to the smell.

Any ideas or suggestions on what you do with your Mr. or Miss Bow Wow?

Meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice ……..