Sunday, March 22, 2009

101 Places

I saw this on Lisa and Ellie's blog and had to do it. Lets see if Watty has been to 101 places in 8 months.
1. KSDS
2. Marriott hotel
3. IHOP
4. Uncle Tad's house
5. Dr. Held's office(vet many times)
6. Dr. Katz
7. Dr. Westbrook
8. Dr. Council
9. Physical Therapy
10. Methodist Hospital
11. Tomball Hospital
12. Willowbrook mall
13. Wal mart
14. Desirae's apartment
15. Hobby Center(legally blonde the musical)
16. Toyota Center(hockey games)
17. The Wheelchair Shop
18. Moody Gardens
19. Joes Crab Shack
20. Reliant Stadium
21. Reliant Center
22. Reliant Arena
23. Dad's office
24. Brother's apartment
25. Uncle Clifton's house
26. Petsmart
27. Dollar store
28. Micheal's
29. Target
30. Hasta La Pasta
31. Portrait Innovations
32. Kemah Boardwalk
33. Movie Tavern
34. King Palace
35. Luby's
36. Olive Garden
37. Around the neighborhood
38. Texas Renaissance Festival
39. Gringo's
40. Goodson's cafe
41. Ponchos

We aren't at 101 but I bet by the end of the year we will be.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

An Update

An update on the horse from the rodeo. I found out yesterday that his leg shattered. He landed on one leg and it snapped like a tree branch. My physical therapist works with the cowboys and was down there and he said he saw and heard the leg snap. He said by the time they got the horse in the stall in the back the vet had a syringe in hand and put the guy down immediately. He was a pretty horse too. My pt said he was worth $50,000 and I was stunned when he said that. He also said a calf got his neck snapped during the calf roping a few nights ago. It is interesting how much I am learning from him. I still love the rodeo but I guess I never really realized how rough it gets on animals and the cowboys.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Forgot

I forgot to talk about Kanye the turkey. When I got Watty I was told he was frightened by a turkey at a fair. Since I was at the livestock show I wanted to see what his reaction was going to be being that he is older. I know it kind of sounds mean but I just wanted to see. Well I found the turkey and he was HUGE but he was behind two fence and the fence were off set so he couldn't look through the slats. Oh well maybe next time ;).

Monday, March 16, 2009

Rain, Cold, Cowboys & Josh Turner

Saturday Watty and I went back to the rodeo to see the cute and sexy(ahhhh) Josh Turner. This time dad took me. No he didn't want to go and see a cute and sexy man but he was sweet and my stand in for Olivia. On Wednesday last week Olivia got really sick and was out so dad said he would take me since I already had tickets. Saturday turned out to be rainy and cold. A cold front had came in on Wednesday(do you see a pattern) and was to be in the 40s on Saturday. Luckily when we were outside it was either drizzling or sprinkling. Dad did help take Watty to the bathroom twice when it was raining. Love ya dad. At the Houston rodeo its spread out that you are probably walking 10 miles(probably over exaggerating) by the time you sit to watch the rodeo. Dad and I went to try and see the horses but it was to much trouble to watch so we went and saw the llamas and alpacas. As we were going down one aisle Watkins got real interested. He was ok until one stood up and came towards him. He then barked. A lady behind us thought it was cute and started laughing. I told Watty it was ok and it wasn't gonna hurt him as we walked. That didn't pacify him. The second time he barked a few more times and then all of a sudden we have all of the llamas watching us. It was actually pretty funny but I decided we better leave. We decided too head to the livestock show part two(horses were in one area and the livestock and booths were in another) to go watch some of the sheep dog trials. Pretty neat, I was waiting for Watty to bark when the dog herded the sheep our way. He didn't he was just very interested.
As we were walking through the exhibitors we ran across a booth called Watkins Health & Wellness. It is a family business and their last names happen to be Watkins. I just had to take a picture with Watty with one of their signs. When we first got to the booth their was a guy saying he talked to Mr. Watkins way back when. I thought that was pretty neat.
This is the kids part of the carnival that I really have never gone through.
One of the many llamas they had. You even could rent a llama, for what I have know clue.

During the team roping pretty much every team missed the calf/steer. Only two teams caught the calf/steer.

Bronc and bareback riding were good. There was one horse that feel after 3 seconds and had to be taken back immediately to get check out. When he went to get up his front leg was bent and he hobbled out of the arena.
One of the three bull fighters, one is even a retired preacher which I think is pretty neat.

Bull riding

Barrel racing

Chuck wagon races

Mutton busting is a new rodeo event for the Houston Rodeo. Mutton busting is for kids 4-6 years old. They put helmets and pads on and are then placed on the back of a lamb. It is the cutest thing to watch these lambs run for their lives with a kid on their back. Each child gets a trophy and the one that "rides" the longest gets a belt buckle.

my favorite picture
Josh's concert was awesome. He has such a deep voice and gorgeous smile. During the concert he introduced his band and when he got to his wife(yes his wife is in the band and she came a band member after they met and married) he said the sweetest thing. He said "Jennifer is not fat she is pregnant but I don't know how that happened because all we do is kiss." I love the last part, it shows his sense of humor.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

8 Crazy(hectic) Months

Yep that's right I have had Watkins 8 months today. I can't believe it. It feels like I just got him yesterday. This month has been busy. On Valentines day we went and saw Legally Blonde the Musical which was Watty's first play and he did great. We were a little worried he might bark when Bruiser barked but he just slept. The following weekend Lisa and Ellie came for a visit and we had a jam packed weekend. We went to Walmart, out to eat, Moody Gardens, Ellie went to see the ocean, we went on walks, and we went to a hockey game. Watty was knocked out for a few days after they left. Last week the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo started and my friend and I decided last minute to go to opening night and see Rascal Flatts. We three had a blast. Watty was a great ambassador for KSDS. He didn't like the fireworks though. We even met a team from CCI. Taylor 3 and Watty are buddies already. We also went to the rodeo today and saw Josh Turner. Oh yeah, Watty also decided he wanted to see what fabric and quilt batting tasted like. He swallowed about a rectangle about the size of 18"x4". I wasn't able to grab it out of his mouth fast enough that he had the pleasure of drinking peroxide to make him through it up. Luckily it all came up within an hour and a half of eating it. Busy, busy, busy month.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Watkins is up to bat

Watkins is trying to either out do Shocker or do all of the medical problems in the first year. This afternoon he decided to stick his head in the trash can mom uses to through away her quilt material she has cut off and take some. I tried to get him to give it to me but he was running all over the house. You guessed it; he ate it. He ate two 18" strips of muslin and batting and the other strip was maybe a foot long. The strips were about 1/2" to 1" wide. We grabbed him and headed to the vets and luckily they were able to make him vomit and all of it came out. What am I gonna do with my trouble maker. Oh yeah he has a new name now....Chewy(thanks Ian).

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Whats in a name?

Since a few other blogger's have done this with their dog's names and also theirs I thought I'd join in on the fun.

Watkins:
  • Origin is Old English and German(2 different meanings)
  • English meaning is Son of Walter
  • German meaning is powerful warrior, army ruler
  • Not common as a first name; mostly a surname
  • It derives from the pre7th century Anglo-Saxon and Germanic personal name Walter from Waldhar, meaning "people-rule"
  • Very popular with the Normans, who introduced it into the British Isles after the famous Conquest of England in 1066
  • Watkin first appears as a personal name, an example being Watkin, the son of Henry Balistariust', in the domestic register of King Henry 3rd (1216 - 1272)
  • From the 1920 US Census records there were between 471-939 families that had Watkins as a last name
  • In 1990 Watkins was ranked #174 in popularity of last names
  • New York has a racetrack name Watkins Glen
Karen
  • Origin is Greek/Danish
  • Meaning is Pure Maiden
  • Used in Danish, English and Norwegian speaking countries
  • Karen is the Danish form of Katherine
  • Karen is also the name of the an ethnic group that lives in Eastern Myanmar and Thailand
  • Famous bearers include singer Karen Carpenter, model Karen Elson and author Karen Blixen
  • In Armenian, it is a masculine name
I was going to do Shocker's name also but I found stuff that I should not put on here. Also it came up with Silk the Shocker so I decided not to put the definition of Shocker. We all know it means a sweet black lab ;)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Rodeo and Rascal Flatts

Tuesday Olivia and I went to opening night at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Tuesday night was a spur-of-the-moment night. Monday we decided we were gonna go. See we already have tickets to see Josh Turner on the 14. Since its hard to be spontaneous for me I had a blast Tuesday night. I really never get to be spontaneous. Watkins went with us and he did marvelous. I had lots of people saying how well behaved he was and they wished they could take their dog out. We even met a team from Canine Companion for Independence.

While we were walking around in the livestock show kids had stuffed animals they had won at the carnival and were swinging them around. Watty thought they were trying to play with him so he heard a lot of those are not yours. We did see a booth that was selling dog things so he got a few bandannas there including a "cowboy" bandanna. In the booth there was a basket full of toys for big dogs and on the table there was a box of toys for little dogs; well Watty bypassed the basket and piked out a small yellow lab dog he wanted. When Olivia asked him to give he gave it to her right away(we have had problems of him playing keep away) so because he was being so good I got it for him. He loves that thing. On our we to the rodeo we ran into Howdy who is the HLSR mascot. Watty loved him. Everyone was laughing at his reaction to Howdy.
His reaction was completely different when he saw the horse below. It took me a minute to figure out why and what he was barking at.
I didn't get pictures of the rodeo. I will get some on the 14 I promise. I did get tons of pictures and a few videos of Rascal Flatts.Life is a Highway was one of their first songs(also it is Watty's theme song, I know I am corny)

This is what we actually saw from our seats. We did the smart thing and took pictures of the big screen(hehehe) and they came out awesome if I don't say so myself.


Song: Me and My Gang