LOOK!! AN ACTUAL NEW POST!!

I cannot believe the pups are a month old already. The time is just going way too quickly because even though they are a ton of work at this point, it just kills me to think of them leaving. Only two boys don't have their new fur-ever homes yet.

And of course I will share a couple of pics and a hilarious video. Seriously, take the 3 minutes to watch the video. Super cute and funny.

This little blue ribboned boy is going to my daughter. His name is Zero after the dog from Nightmare Before Christmas. He's quite the spoiled baby already.

I got my new Nail It magazine the other day and found out a mani that I had submitted for consideration in the fall/Halloween mani section was used this time around.

I don't even need to tell you which one it is because I'm sure you recognize the hand pose. LOL

They also used the first mani of mine they ever used, a fancy french, on one of their advertising pages for the 4th time. AND someone else mentioned me in a picture of their mani that was inspired by the fancy french. Pretty much made my day!

For the past couple of years I've had the Droid 4 phone which I bought on eBay when my Droid 3 fell into the pool because I'm a genius. It's been on its way out for awhile, but it killed me to have to part with it because it had a slide out full keyboard. As someone who types for a living, I have always been very attached to having a slide out keyboard. Everyone is obvi too cool for that now, so they don't make phones that have that anymore.

It was very difficult for me to choose a new one, but I finally had to suck it up and just have a touch screen keypad. I got the Samsung Galaxy S5 last week. Once my hubby explained and showed my the Swype feature, I completely fell in love with it. The pictures and videos it takes are amazeballs.

So amazeballs, in fact, that it actually shows purples and lavenders as purples and lavenders. Not as some blue-toned nonsense. I took pics of this mani at home with my camera as I normally do, and as usual, the color was a problem. I took this pic at work with the phone, and I was surprised to see that it was actually the correct color.

This mani is actually a fail even though it doesn't look like it. I had done my base with China Glaze Agent Lavender. My plan was to stamp with two different coordinating colors.  After I did that based, I used the LeaLac LLC-A stamp plate and stamped the flowers with both China Glaze Fade into Hue and American Apparel Mount Royal.

As you can see, the lighter stamp under the dark stamp didn't show up. Luckily it still managed to look okay enough that I didn't try to start over.

My time is way too limited at this point in time. I have to try to plan doing anything nail related to times when I'm "hoping" the puppies will be asleep for at least a couple of hours.

This wonderful new phone did do one very, very bad thing that will take me forever to fix.  I was sitting on the deck trying to take hummingbird videos, and my phone told me my memory was too full. Um...excuse me? I just got the damn thing! 

So as I'm looking through the pics on it trying to figure out what, if anything, I'm willing to delete, I come across a Picasa album that appears to have almost my entire catalog of nail pics along with pics of Griffin. That's weird, since I don't even have Picasa on my laptop. So I go through and delete every.single.nail picture and just leave the pics of Griff.

And a little while later I look at the blog, and the pictures are all gone. WTF. Evidently something with the blog is connected to Picasa. How that then made it connected to my phone is beyond me, but now I have to painstakingly go back and try to re-add all of my pictures. Over 200 of them. Just thinking about it again makes me want to throw myself on the floor in a full-on two year old temper tantrum. I have a memory card coming that should be here in a couple of days, and Kev said he'll see if he can fix it, but something tells me it's not going to work. 

 

I really need to soak off my nails and then reapply them. I need to time it out so that they'll need replacing around the 10th or 11th of September, because on September 13th we are leaving for a week for a much needed vacay in Cancun. Of course I want my nails to look good for that!
Puppies are cute, but they have absolutely no regard for anything else I may want to do around here. The only thing I have to keep up with is washing the kitchen floor which is now getting done three to four times a day. I'm really happy right now that I have a steam mop floor cleaner.

DAINTY

Oh, boy. It's amazing how fast the puppies change from day to day. I swear they get more comical with each passing minute. They are really starting to get into people and now come to us with those little tails wagging. Lovin' it!  It's also hilarious to watch them with Tinlee when they are at the milk bar. Last night they were all perfectly lined up, and their tails were going so fast they were vibrating. Again...cuteness overload.

They are also really starting to pee like pro's. Everywhere. Hopefully they'll learn to use the potty box pretty soon.

I did manage to soak off my nails and redo them Sunday night. It meant getting to bed way too late, but it had to be done.

I seldom manage to do a white base that I'm satisfied with, but even though it was late and therefore a risk to even attempt it, I just really wanted it.

I started out with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure White Out and was happy I got it to go on evenly, but it did take me 3 coats to do it. I wanted to stamp navy blue over it. I used CQ Deep Blue Sea which, on its own, actually is navy blue. Unfortunately, that did not translate well as a stamping polish so I got this kind of pale navy-ish blue design using the 12-52 plate that I got from Ali Express.

All in all, I'm calling it a success.  I still have it on today. Last night a few people were over to see the puppies so I didn't have time to take it off. But I'm not mad at it at all. It still looks good today, and I really like the daintiness of it.

Because I'm nothing if not "dainty". (snort)

DISAPPOINTED ON A COUPLE LEVELS

Let me make one thing clear; these puppies are a G.D. blast and a half. My brain could explode from cuteness at any given moment of the day, and I feel like my camera has become a permanent attachment because every time I look, they are either laying cute or doing something cuter.

Here's some proof.

This light blue ribbon boy is Zero, my daughter's pup. Apparently he is a contortionist. How that position is comfortable is known only to him.

 I bought this 22 inch stuffed dog on eBay. It is a ginormous hit!

So yeah....cuteness overload.

After 3 weeks, though, I'm missing having nail time. I'm very disappointed to just be posting a plain mani. The horror!! And after I took this one off, I painted them plain again to go out for our anniversary on Friday. It's so boring I didn't even bother taking a pic of that one.

I did feel the need to share this one. It's I Love Nail Polish's (ILNP) Washing Ashore. It's sold as one of the multichromes.

I'm calling bullshit in a big way. It looks nothing like their swatches on their website.  That being said, it is a gorgeous color. 

But multichrome? No way in hell. It's not even a duochrome. I looked at it in every possible light source around. You name it; I tried it. I even put my hand under water in my sinks AND in my pool.  Let's call it what it is, ILNP....blue. A very pretty shade of blue, but it's blue.

And therein lies my second disappointment.  I love a multi or duo chrome madly and have been very happy with the others I've gotten from them. I'm calling this one a fail, ILNP. A big ol' fashioned fail.

Luckily I liked the color enough to wear it for a bunch of days. On my days off I've been very lucky that the weather has been awesome, so all of my spare time has been completely eaten up by the pool and the puppies. And that puppy time is only going to get more hectic now that they are 3 weeks old.

Since my Facebook page is public, if you want to see cute-ass puppy videos, hop on over there. Just do a search for Diane Moran Graham, and it'll take you to my personal page. The videos are all short, and they are all simply too cute for words. 

And of course they are still being streamed live on my Ustream channel, "Tinlee's Golden Retriever Pups".  The live stream will become much more fun to watch very soon, as I'll be letting them play outside of the pen more and will bring them outside for their first taste of the outdoors before too long.

All in all, while I do miss doing my nails constantly, puppy time still trumps nail time. I only have them for 6 more weeks, and one of those weeks I'll be in Cancun missing them. The week after we come home, they'll all be going to their fur-ever homes.

Well, maybe they will be. I still have 2 boys and 1 girl looking for someone to love them besides me and Kev.

WATER DECALS - KILL ME

Oh, boy. The puppies are growing so fast. They are 2 weeks old already, and I don't think I like that. Something tells me my time with them is going to go way too quickly. Parting with them is going to be full of sorrow, and not the "parting is such sweet" thing.

It's really hard picking out pictures to post here because I have a lot to choose from, and they are all frickin' adorable. I'm sorry if some of you don't want to see them, but I'm of the belief that if you can honestly say you don't think puppies are cute even if you don't necessarily like dogs....well, you suck at life and pretty much have no soul. Just sayin'.

 

 

 

 And yes, I do already have my "Golden Smile".

Come on! When is the last time you saw such cuteness? Be jealous; I see it every day.

I think it was Saturday when I took the time to do my nails. And when I say "time", I mean a shit-ton of time. And after all that time, I hate these full water decals. Since they did take so long, I figured I'd better get some wear time out of them, so they are still on right now. Gross. It makes me saddy-pants because I think the design is actually pretty. It does have a hummingbird, which is why I bought them in the first place. One thing I will give them credit for is wear time. They are still as craptastically perfect as when I did them.

These things were a royal pain, and the Queen is not impressed. First off, I suck at doing anything that requires me to cut things to size. I just find that really difficult.

So here they are. They are disastrous at the cuticle line, and come hell or high water, these bitches are coming off tonight even if I just have time to do a plain old paint job. 

I had several different full design water decals on my eBay watch list. There are just soooo many pretty ones! Unfortunately, even though they are dirt cheap, they aren't worth the effort. If I included my application time in the price, I figure these little ditties cost about $8,000.  So they have now been removed from the watch list.

On the other hand, if someone wants me to apply them on their fingers, I'll be happy to do it.

I could really use 8 grand.

YAWNING

Wow. I am so glad I had today off. It's the first day I've been home alone for something like ten days. And I'm a person that needs time alone to stay sane.

Unfortunately I spent it with a headache, and that sucks. So it was one of those lame-ass wasted days where I spent part of it dozing off and on, not really accomplishing much.  The only things I did were clean the puppy pen and make cookies.

I did get more sleep last night. The puppies only got me up one time, which was awesome! I look forward to the day when I can permanently go back to sleeping in my actual bedroom.

I won't kill you with a ton of pictures (and believe me, I could), but I will post a couple along with this YouTube clip to see a cute bit I caught yesterday.

So  yeah, I do have to post a few actual pictures.

It's so amazing to watch their little personalities develop, even at only 9 days old. I think a couple of them are going to be hell on wheels.

I also did find time to do a mani the other night. I just made sure to do it while Kev was still here because you just know those puppies would have needed something while my nails were wet if he hadn't been here.

One of things I like about the Sally Hansen Color Foils is that they dry really, really fast. This one is Minted Metal. Then I just did a quick stamping with Square Hue Patty's Pint and DRK-A plate.

Now I'm off to clean the puppy pen again. In typical form, I cleaned it and 15 minutes later one or more of the brats made a mess. My washing machine is really getting a workout trying to keep up.

Those little gold bundles are worth every second. I don't even want to think about them leaving to go to their forever homes 8 weeks from now.

Tears will flow.

MIXED EMOTIONS KIND OF DAY

What a week last week was. Between the new pups, Tyler in town all week and Griff's birthday on Saturday, it was a lot busier than it usually is in my household. Tyler is heading back to Illinois today and Kev goes back to work tomorrow. It's going to be weird being alone.

I'd say it's going to be "quiet", but that just isn't the case with the 7 puppies. Lordie, they can make some racket! I'm anxious for their eyes to open so when they wander off they can find their way back to Tinlee. If it weren't for the fact that we are constantly rescuing them, I wouldn't feel the need to stay in the living room 24/7.  I'm a complete basket case thinking about having to leave them for work tomorrow. It'll help knowing I can watch them from the puppy cam, and I know they'll be fine because they are big enough to not get smothered by mom, but still....

I can't believe they are already a week old. I don't know if I like that. I have a feeling that 8 weeks is going to go by wayyyy to quickly, and I'll have to send them home with other people. I won't like it. At all. The owner of Tinlee's brother already has her plane ticket booked to come up on September 25th to pick up her girl. We've become great friends since I got Tinlee and she got Taylor, so it's going to be awesome meeting her in real life and having her at my house for a day. Plus it's a wonderful feeling knowing that the pup is going somewhere that I know she will be loved and spoiled rotten.

Sadly, amidst all of the good, fun stuff that's happening, I was saddened to learn of one old friend passing away yesterday after a battle with cancer. I also learned of another good friend from way back when that passed this morning.  They were both completely wonderful people, and it breaks my heart that they have been taken way too soon from their families.  Sometimes life just isn't fair at all.

As for nails, geez! I've been having a hard time thinking of things to do! Evidently I am no longer capable of doing a successful water marble, which is really pissing me off. I think I've tried on three separate occasions where I've given up on it. Maybe I don't have the patience I used to have, but I do think I've been giving up quicker on those. I used to spend hours to get them done. Since I had finally gotten pretty proficient at doing them, it's annoying as hell to feel like I'm a newbie at it again.

Luckily I at least have that new DRK plate to play with.  

This Julep Nan is an odd color. I don't know if it's red or a weird shade of orange. It kind of caught my attention amidst my reds because it doesn't quite fit in as red, but it also doesn't seem to fit in the orange drawers. What a dilemma!! 

Whatever it is, I used it along with the DRK D stamp and some black to do this little number. Didn't love it; didn't hate it. There just isn't anything special about it.

That's sort of how I've been feeling about every mani I've been doing. I guess I'm in a summer slump or something. 

Even if I snap out of the slump, those cute little golden colored bundles will be taking up my time....instead of golden colored nail polish.

BLUE FOR GRIFFIN

Wow. Newborn puppies are exhausting! I didn't realize when I got myself into this that it truly was like having a real baby. Sleeping at night is still intermittent, and I've spent the last two nights on the couch trying to sleep, "trying" being the operative word in this sentence.

Not only is the not sleeping difficult, leaving the house is also problematic. Today was Griffin's 4th birthday party, and since I don't dare leave them alone yet, Kev and I went to the party in shifts. Geez, at least with a human baby you can pack the diaper bag and go.

I was nervous just taking a shower today after Kev had gone for his party shift. This has got to get easier, right? Luckily the cuteness makes up for a whole lot of inconvenience.

 I mean, seriously....just look at those faces!!

Griffin was very specific this year about his color scheme for his birthday. Blue and black. He wanted 10 blue presents from his grampa; he wanted a blue and black semi truck cake; and he wanted his Gramma Diane to do blue and black nails.

 

You'd actually be surprised how much he takes notice of things like my nails. It's pretty hilarious. Very often he asks to see them and then says, "Oh, those are really cute, Gramma". He also happens to think my Coach purse is very cute. The kid is hilarious and owns my heart.

So of course I had to do my nails last night with blue and black. And when I got to the party, I got an "Oh my gosh! Those are cool, Gramma!"  So yeah....if the kid asks for specific nails, he's gonna' get 'em.

I went with my favorite light blue, Zoya Blu. I grabbed my American Apparel black to stamp with, and I used my brand spankin' new DRK-D plate. Since Ninja Polish is no longer, I kind of figured I would never get another DRK plate. Even when Ninja was still around, the D plates only came as rulers. You couldn't get all the designs on one big plate like the others. I didn't want to buy them that way.

One of my nail buds posted a link a couple of weeks ago that showed the full DRK-D designs on one plate. I wasn't even aware before that you could buy directly from DRK. Duh. Why I  never thought to check into that before is beyond me. At any rate, I bought it immediately. And if they make an E, F or any other letter of the alphabet, I'm getting those, too! I just love them!

Now I am going to change the blanket in the puppy pen. Again. I seem to be doing a lot of that. My washing machine is going to get a real workout in the next two months.