Tag - It's Not Just for Squealing Kids on a Playground

No, it's also for grown people whose kids don't even play tag on the playground anymore. And by tag, naturally, I mean the kind that people play on the internet, where no running is involved. (However, basic counting {as in through lists of rules, etc.} and "hiding" behind one's e-device screen are requisite.)

Enough beating around the mulberry bush, though.

Two of my pet blog friends (Jennifer at My Brown Newfies and Kim at CindyLu's Muse) tagged me in a 20-facts game on Instagram. Now that I'm tagged, I'm supposed to post this badge (on Instagram) and follow the directions.

Except most everyone I know on Instagram has already been tagged. Which is why I'm bringing the game here. Well, that and I never post anything (on the blog) about myself, really, and I guess I feel like coming out of the shadows of my pets...just for today. So don't blink.

I think I'm ready.

Oh, but wait! The first 10 things I'm sharing are actually answers to questions that Jenny (at Vulpe's Adventures in Manchester) asked when she so generously passed me a Liebster (which I guess means "dearest" in German) Award. :) Now, I've seen blogging "awards" get crazy (being passed over and over again through the same circles of people), so I generally try not to add links to the chain. BUT, I love Jenny's clever questions so much, that I can't wait to answer them! 

So, here they are (answers to Jenny's Q's, plus 10 of my own)...

Elizabeth's 20 Facts

1. The first movie that really scared me (as in full-on tears) was The Wizard of Oz (the wicked witch looking into her glass ball). I also cried (cross my heart) at the sight of Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones doing a (70s) TV performance. 
2. My first live concert was Shaun Cassidy (late 70s). I was LITTLE. :)
3. My favorite sauce is...well, melted butter? On popcorn.
4. I was born in Greensboro, NC and live in the Richmond, VA metro area. 
5. The best (material) gift I've ever received is impossible for me to name. Sorry! When I was little, getting pop rocks was (at the time) the best gift ever! 
6. No, I do not do my dream job. (shhh!) But, I'm not sure being a sketch writer for Live from My House, It's Saturday Night (with Eight Pets & Three Kids)! is a dream that has a chance of ever coming true. ;)
7. I would like to retire to...Wait, how exactly does one retire when one doesn't have a regular paying job? 
8. The last book I read was Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett. (Yes, I liked it.)
9. My #1 celebrity crush is James Spader (The Blacklist), followed by James McAvoy (Tom Lefroy, Becoming Jane), followed by Alan Rickman (Snape, among other characters). I could go on. :)
10. My favorite guilty pleasure is letting Jon Farleigh and Dewi lick me on the face. Except I don't feel guilty about it. 
11. I greatly dislike having my picture taken. Especially when I'm taking it. 
    
    
    
    
    
    Note: This will not be the start of something new.
12. I attended the U.S. Naval Academy (in Annapolis, MD) my freshman year of college. 
13. I don't do well taking orders and think most arbitrary rules should be broken. (oops)
14. With the exception of my time in Annapolis, I've never (in my life) been without a pet cat.
15. When I was in elementary school, I wrote lots of skits and recruited my siblings, friends and pets (cat) to act the parts. One involved robot aliens and florescent, black lighting. 
16. After recently (a few months ago) stumbling across Stephen King's 2nd-ever twitter tweet:
    

    On Twitter at last, and can't think of a thing to say. Some writer I turned out to be.
    — Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 6, 2013

    I replied: "'Boo,' maybe?" (Sadly, he never acknowledged my suggestion. I still love him, though. But, not in a Misery way or anything.)
17. I can fold my left wrist nearly in half, touching my thumb to my forearm. 
18. The only sport I ever enjoyed competing in was swimming. 
19. I can burp on command.
20. I've never been snow skiing.

And NOW, I'm gonna tag some people who have blogs, but whom I don't know on Instagram. Because this is a fun game! (And I already told you, I don't know enough people on Instagram.☺)

Take it away (if you wish)!

Something Wagging This Way Comes

A Tail of Two Cardis

Tales and Tails

Talking Dogs at For Love of a Dog

Bringing up Bella

Peggy's Pet Place

The Lazy Pit Bull

Heart Like a Dog

Pawsitively Pets

Molly the Wally

The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Oz the Terrier

Cattywumpus

A Filly's Best Friend

The World According to Garth Riley

Dawg Business

Beagles and Bargains

Well Minded

Pooch Smooches

And if I didn't "tag" you here (or on Instagram), but you want to be tagged, take the badge and JUST DO IT! (I totally would.)

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Brothers and Balls

Brothers can say the darnedest things...

I'll have you know, my brother would have totally said that to me (if we were dogs). And besides, how else was Wilson gonna get the ball away from Jimmy? ☺

(Thank you, Taryn {blogger at A Tail of Two Cardis}, for once again loaning me your fur boys to model my tacky "outfits"! Their expressions are priceless!)

If you'd like me to consider a photo of your pet(s) for a tacky cardigan, just post it to the Facebook page!

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Odd Schoolyard Games, Explained

So, did anyone ever play Red Rover as a kid? You know, where a bunch of kids make two lines facing each other, then one side yells out, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Tommy (for example) right over!" And then Tommy runs over and tries to bust through the locked arms of the opposing team/line? (Well, if not, it's a real game, OK? I played it as a kid, and I'm lucky I didn't get my arm ripped out of the socket, but that's not the point.)

How about the "telephone" game? Where kids get in a line/circle, and the first person whispers a message to the next, and then the message gets passed down the line until it reaches the last person, who then reports (what's left of) it out loud to the group?

Yeah, well no one knows the true origins of either of these (odd) games. I, however, have a theory...

Red drover? A corgi? Get it??? (You know it could've happened!)

P.S. That red "Rover" in the clover? It's 13-week-old Jon Farleigh (in a tape crown), about 15 minutes after he became a permanent member of my family. ♥

If you'd like me to consider your pet(s) photo for a tacky cardigan, just post it to the Facebook page!

We've Been Blog Tagged and Pretty Soon, Will Have No Secrets Left to Tell

I like the kind of tag that doesn't require one to get up out of one's chair...or count backwards from behind a tree...or run face-first into a spider web in the dark.

I think I'm in luck. :)

So there's a game of blog tag making its way around, and we must be slow because we got tagged twice: first by Ellen at Pupperoos and next by Hawk at BrownDog CBR.

That means we're "It."

"It" blogs are required to answer the following nine (highly personal) questions (about themselves and/or pets - blogger's choice).

Here goes:

1. Describe yourself in 7(-ish) words.

• Jon Farleigh - fluffy, serious, devoted, heart-throb, fast, tightly wound, people-lover
• Dewi - happy, beautifully marked, vocal, energetic, snuggler, comedian, demanding
• Me - introspective, animal nut, creative, soft-spoken, driven, family-oriented, vocabulary-challenged (all rolled up into just-plain-old not right)

2. What keeps you up at night?

• Me - not much this week
• Dewi - nothing, ever
• Jon Farleigh - nothing (if crated)
  If not crated, this:  
  

  

  Lulabelle: I can't help that I'm irresistible.

3. Who would you most like to be?

• Me - I gotta be me
• Jon Farleigh - Jon Farleigh with thumbs
• Dewi - Jon Farleigh's best friend

4. What are you wearing right now?

• Me - jeans, striped shirt over a tank and flip-flops
• Jon Farleigh - his fur and a disgruntled face
• Dewi - his fur and a chill face

5. What scares you?

• Me - (see below)
  

  

  sand crabs (via Panoramio)

• Jon Farleigh - (see below) 
  

  

  Eva

• Dewi - (see below)
  

  

  Eva

  

  balloons

  

  Youngest Child's massager

6. The best and worst of blogging?

• Me - Best is meeting friends. Worst is too much sitting (but yet I complain about tag).
• Jon Farleigh & Dewi - Best is meeting friends. Worst is too much sitting.

7. Last website visited? Pupparoos

8. One thing you would change about yourself?

• Me - I'd like to cook like Pioneer Woman.
• Jon Farleigh - nothing 
• Dewi - nothing

9. Slankets (aka Snuggies, Snuzzles)?  Hmmm, you mean these?

Okay, then the answer is YES! 

P.S. Blankets with sleeves are soooo NOT the same as plain blankets. Not even close.
(I might have a problem.)

* * * * *

And now, it's our turn to tag a few other blogs (who might not have been tagged yet - we can't really be sure, though). You can play if you feel like it. 

• Life with The Horde
• Life by Pets
• Whisker Messages from a Church Cat
• Darby & Pumpkin Daily
• Little Dogs on Long Leashes
• A Filly's Best Friend
• The Daily Dog Blog

If I didn't tag you and you want to play, just say I tagged you and DO IT! :)

Have a snuggly weekend!

Happiness is...playing fetch!

Oh yes, it's Dewi's day. :)

And Dewi loves to fetch (and repeat, and repeat, and repeat...) just as much as Jon Farleigh loves to try and tug the toy Dewi is currently fetching. :)

So here you have it: Dewi's fetching bliss.

"Ahem. Why is your hand not moving?"

"Teasing is rude."

"It's MINE!"

"MooooOOOooooM!!"

*****

And if you have two minutes to kill, here's a video of the boys in action, including a tandem retrieve toward the end. (BUT! Seems that I shot the video -- with my nifty new 1080 HD- and stereo-capable camera -- in portrait mode. Oops! And clearly - or I wouldn't be telling you this - I don't know how to rotate it. Soooo, if you watch the video, please be prepared to cock your head - or rotate your viewing device - 90 degrees. Yes, I'm aware posting sideways videos is tacky. Please accept it and move on.)

Dewi and Jon Farleigh Fetching the Same Rope

But wait! There's more!

I took Dewi outside today to try and get some fetch "action" shots with the Nikon (I promise not to mention the camera again - in about six months - or whenever). :)

Before you judge the camera, however, please know that since my other camera had the slowest shutter speed on earth, I rarely ever tried to take action shots with it; therefore, I suck at taking action shots. I expect I'll get better with practice. :)

All photos, but the last one, were taken in bright sun using the Sport scene mode. I also experimented with continuous shooting (holding down the shutter release button - usually forgetting to focus on Dewi first).  

Go, Dewi!

"Just give me a minute to catch my breath, kay?"

:^)

Happiness is...a tug rope!

Aside from eating (and maybe being glued to my side), this is Jon Farleigh's favorite thing in the world to do:

 "Play, please?"

Ready, set...

TUUUUUUUGG!!!!!!

DOH????

Blisssssss :)

What's your dog's favorite game to play?

*****

BTW, this might be the first in a series of "Happiness is..." posts. Could be fun going around with my camera trying to catch the dogs (and cats) in the act of bliss. ;)