Manic Monday: I Can't Make This Sh#T Up.

There's a sex toy for dogs. No, I'm not kidding. I was browsing the Huffington Post's "Stupid Products" section when I came across it.

This has to be a joke, I thought. I turned to my trusty Google, and sure enough, it exist.

Behold, the Hotdoll:

The Huffington Post has an illustrated version:

The Hotdoll site has a lovely video naming the apparatus's attributes: curves, fluidity, contemporary, stability, and audacity. Why audacity? For it's back opening, of course. Like I said, I can't make this up. The Hotdoll is the first of its kind (imagine that!), created by the French for the maximum comfort of your pet.

The Hotdoll is only 149 Euros, or 200 American dollars. What a steal! Best of all? You can get the spare silicon part for only $20 bucks. Cause you know your boy will wear it out after a while ...

The spare part.

I would LOVE to know how many of these have been sold. The website has a community link with 20 customers listing their dogs and "companions," all with names, of course.

What do you think? Too over the top? Are you laughing yet?

Manic Monday: Randomness and Awards

I know the artist used the wrong form of "you're" in the pic. But it was too funny not to use.

I've been tagged! Rachel Harrie is hosting the Writer's Platform Building Campaign, and the wonderful Tiffany White has tagged me.

Rules: You must be tagged by someone; list 10 random facts about yourself; tag four more people.

I don't know if I can come up with 10 random facts that are actually interesting, but here goes!

1) The first TV shows I remember watching were Dallas and Hill Street Blues. I knew both the theme songs at the age of four. Guess that's where I get my love of dramatics and crime, lol.

2) I didn't watch Sesame Street until I was an adult and had my own child.

3) My earliest childhood memory is going under anesthesia to get tubes in my ears. I remember seeing myself cowering in a corner through a long tunnel. I was two.

4) I loved Little House on the Praire and used to pretend to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. I had old dresses my grandma gave me, and my aunt Donna even made me a calico skirt.

5) The first story I ever wrote was about New Kids on the Block. Don't laugh. I didn't know it was called fan fiction way back then. I still have the notebook, and the writing I thought was gold is pretty crappy. But hey, I was 12.

6) In 1986, my dad and I watched Michael Jordan score 63 points against the Celtics. I've been a diehard fan ever since. Bulls games were an event in our house, especially during the playoffs. Some of my best memories with my dad are watching those games. I was lucky enough to see Michael play twice, once in old Chicago Stadium (I actually have a piece of the old floor, a red section), and in Indianapolis.

7) My first Hollywood crush was Kirk Cameron. It was this poster that did it.

8) My current celebrity crush is Chris Hemsworth. Seriously. Look at the man.

9) I absolutely believe ghosts, spirits, etc. because of personal experience.

10) The summer of my sophomore year of high school, our band and chorus traveled to Washington, D.C. I was chosen to participate in the daily wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Standing at the tomb hearing Taps played was one of the most moving moments of my life. The link is from this year and not my experience, but the ritual is the same. Our group walked the new wreath out to be exchanged with the old one.

Now, I get to tag four new bloggers and friends. This is tough because there are so many! Catie Rhodes, Annie Boreson, Kelly Hashway, and Angela Wallace, you're up!

Saving a baby mouse...the highlight of my vacation

We're vacationing in Deer River, Minnesota, for the week. Lots of fishing and way too much eating. I didn't plan on doing any blog posts, but I had to share the story of Lucky the mouse.

On Saturday, my sister Kelly put her boat into the lake and a big mouse promptly scurried out. She couldn't catch her, and the mouse disappeared underneath a bench.

Oh well, on to the fishing, right?

Yesterday afternoon I went out with her and my other sister, as well as my husband and some others. Kelly jumps into the boat and sits down, and what does she see? A tiny weeny baby mouse laying on its side. We thought it was dead at first, but he was just really cold. Kelly snuggled him into her hand, and we tried to get him to go back under the bench where we think the mother's nest is.

No dice.

The men said to throw him into the lake and put him out of his misery since he was so little, but we couldn't do that. He'd survived this long, so I named him Lucky. My sisters and I had no clue how to get him to eat, so we stopped at a gas station (remember, we're way out in the boonies) looking for an eye dropper or anything we could use to put milk in. Best thing we could find was an antifreeze tester, fresh out of the bag. We cut off the tube part of it and tried to use the tester as a syringe, but the opening was still too big. Finally I put some milk into the crevice of my sister's palm and all of the sudden we hear this lapping noise. He'd ate out of her hand!

We made him a little nest out of paper towels in an empty Mountain Dew box, and he's made it through 24 hours. The milk we left in a little Gatorade lid was gone this morning, and we are seeing little mouse droppings around, so we're excited he's eating.

Best thing about it? He's totally spoiled! By this morning, he'd already started getting excited when he heard voices and wants to be picked up. He loves to snuggle into your palm and sleep, and he doesn't like to be ignored. I went to check on him this afternoon, and he was buried under his towels. I said something, and the mound of towels started to shake. There he was, scurrying out of the towels and climbing to the top, SQUEAKING! I almost died! He kept trying to climb out of the box (thankfully it's too deep, and he's still too little), so I finally took him out. He snuggled right into my hand and fell asleep.

We're trying not to get too attached since he's so little, but everyone has been holding him and passing around, and Kelly has already said she's going to have to take him home with her.

Let's hope sweet Lucky continues to have a good week!

Brag Post

We're having beautiful weather today, and everyone is outside enjoying it. Our four-year-old Golden Retriever, Toby, is no exception. He's an amazing dog, great with the kids, and although I'm biased, I think he's pretty damned gorgeous.

Hope everyone is having a great summer day!