Christmas Bonita

I know it is a little early...but here is Santa Beagle. She would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

Bogota Video

Hail storm

Here are a few pictures of what Bogota looked like yesterday. Ken and I were on this very road, but we were there for the very beginning of the storm. The whole way home, Ken and I kept saying, "If we only had a video camera, no one will believe this." I must point out that we witnessed the storm not out of stupidity, but because the day was beautiful until about ten minutes before the storm started. People who were trapped in their cars were actually treated for hypothermia because they were dressed for a summer day. For the first time since we lived here, our snow tires were very useful.

Happy Halloween

This Saturday Bonita attended the local dog bakery's Halloween Costume contest. Her are some of Bonita's friends all dressed for the occasion. For participating Bonita got lots of great treats, a week's supply of dog food, and her picture posted in the bakery.

Underdog!!!!

I admit this dog's costume was much better then Bonita's. We were jealous.

Happy Halloweener!

An Afghan Unicorn

A fearful Hula Girl

Bonita's Diet Plan

Bonita and I are slightly discouraged that no one has joined the Bonita in Bogotá Great Weight Loss Challenge. Although this guarantees my ultimate success, I am still highly disappointed. Bonita has even threatened to sign up many of her favorite grandmothers, aunts, and uncles. Hint Hint...
Bonita would also like to point out that Russian cats are even invited to join!

Bonita?

Once again it is time for GUESS THAT OBJECT!!!

Todays object....

Is it a dog or is it a pillow???



or is it a pillow dog???

Bonita's diet plan

Since moving to Colombia, Ken and I have repeatedly said that Colombia has caused us to lose weight. We have explained that food contains no preservatives, beef is free range, fruits are cheep, the dog makes us walk, we bike every weekend, walking is our major source of transportation. I could continue this list of explanations, but in the end...I've gained almost 30 pounds since we moved to Colombia. That is equivalent to almost two Bonitas. I'm chubby!!! To add insult to injury every Colombian woman weighs approximately 80 pounds (give or take 25 pounds). This means that I look like I might have ate a Colombian. I promise I haven't, but I have probably consumed several free range steers.
Well after having denied that I'm chunky, I am now finally excepting my fate as a porky American. Ken and I have joined a gym. I am happy to report that I am officially 9 pounds lighter. WOOHOO!!! Only one more pound and I have lost half a Bonita.
In celebration I am starting the "Bonita in Bogota great weight loss challenge". I'm sure you are asking...How can I join? All you have to do is comment to this post. Write down your starting weight (you don't have to post it), and start working your behind off. The person who loses the most weight by December 25th wins a free Bonita.... HAHA, In Ken's dreams! They get their choice of a massage (spa of their choice), fifty dollars, or manicure and pedicure (spa of their choice).

Bad Blogger

So how do you exactly know you have been a blogger sphere misfit?
1. You forget your blog password and ID
2. No one reads your blog anymore
3. Your dog threatens to start blogging herself (an ugly ugly idea)
4. Your sister-in-law has created almost 15 entries while you have created...0

You get the picture...I'll stop there...I admit I am a horrible horrible member of the blog community. but I am attempting to mend my ways.

Birthday Bonita

Bonita would like to wish a very happy birthday to her Uncle Paul and Grandpa Don!

HAHAHA...Roller Derby

I have to point out that I was not having a roller derby with dogs. The last time Bonita and I tried to skate together, my life flashed before my eyes multiple times. We have since retired the idea of roller blading with Bonita.

Instead, we were participating in ciclovia. I'm adding these pictures for proof.

HaHa...Grandma Charlotte!!!

Dog Park

Our final outing on our weekly ciclovia outing is the dog park. Bonita had a get time today. She is possibly one of the most popular dogs, simply because she shares her water dish with her friends.

Below is Simon, the retriever, Pepita, Bonita's best friend, Lorenzo, Bonita's boyfriend, and Bonita, drinking the last little bit of water.

McDonalds

In Bogota we have several familiar restaurants. These include Hard Rock Cafe, Fridays, KFC, Ponderosa, Dunkn' Donuts, Baskin Robins, and every one's favorite McDonalds. While we were at the park I decided to take a picture at McDonalds. I have to admit that we eat there on occasion. But only to remember what American food tastes like. The best part is that you serve yourself all the pickles and jalapenos that you want. (Both of which are not a favorite of local Colombians.)

Horses in the Park

Bonita is back in cyberspace after a short hiatus. (The downfall of working full time.) Anyways, we have quite a few posts to catch up on.
Currently in Park 93, they are having a horse show. Each horse statue is up for sale, and will eventually be spread all over Bogota. This is similar to the dinosaurs that they had in Pittsburgh several years ago. The horses will be replacing butterfly statues that are spread throughout the city currently.

Here are a few pictures of us with our favorite horses.

This one was decorated with mosaic tiles.

The white horse was sliced apart and then put back together.I thought it was really neat.

This horse reminded me a lot of the Trojan horse.

This is just one part of the horse display, they are arranged around the entire park.

Here is Bonita's favorite horse at the display.

Finally, no horse show could be complete without a beagle riding a horse. Bonita is not very happy because she wanted to ride the blue horse with wings.

The Weekend

This weekend was very sad for Bonita....Her dog park was turned into a food festival. I'm not sure what part of dog park makes a food festival appetizing, but we were there both days. The festival consisted of booths from every restaurant in town. They were then arranged by food type. We had steak sandwiches from the Argentinian food section, which were absolutely wonderful. We also had dessert, pizza, ice cream, and various other foods.

Bonita the Performer

Bonita and I have been hard at work teaching and learning puppy "tricks". So far Bonita has mastered "sit", and "lay down". She performs these commands one right after the other. It is an amazing feat, especially for a dog who is a member of a "stubborn" breed. Apparently I am more stubborn then Bonita when it comes to teaching. Bonita's father has informed me that "sit" and "lay down" are easy commands, and that he won't be impressed until Bonita follows the command "stay".

All I have to say, is that "sit" and "lay down" has taken me 8 months... "stay" will probably take 8 years.


The below photograph is proof that Bonita is trained...She is enjoying her treat after following the command "lay down". This is for those of you who believe that the best way to train a beagle is to "cut it's tail off just below it's ears".

Fashion Show

Here is the long awaited fashion show...

In this photo Bonita is sporting her Disney World Attire. Doesn't her face just say..."Please Grandma Joan can I go to Disney World too?"

In her next photo, Bonita is wearing a pink sweater with a fur collar... She would like to give a special shout out to Grandma Charlotte for this beautiful outfit.




The last photo is of Bonita and her best friend Andrea. Andrea was in the process of organizing, and Bonita was more interested in having her belly rubbed. Needless to say, Andrea didn't get much organizing done yesterday.

Back to Blogging

Bonita's blog had to take a short break while I was busy visiting the US. Many people have asked what Bonita did while I was away...the following was what greeted me on our living room floor.

This is the first toy that Bonita has ever destroyed. I was shocked! I couldn't believe that she was capable of doing such a mean thing to poor alligator, especially under the watchful eye of her father. His explanation was, that Bonita had a lot more free time while I was away.

Other then munching on beloved toys, Bonita still enjoyed time at the dog park, and her daily play time with her puppy nanny.

Bonita appears to love all her new gifts from the US. All of her toys have been played with, and her clothes have been modeled. She left for the nanny's with her new metallic pink rhinestone collar. I'm sure all the other dogs are jealous. When Bonita returns from the Nanny I'll post a photo presentation of Bonita's fashion show. There will be a picture of something special for everyone.

Ciclovia

Bonita's favorite day of the week is Sunday because it is Ciclovia in all of Bogota. During Ciclovia, various streets are closed to traffic, and only open to bikes, joggers, walkers, and pets. Temporary bike stands are opened along the street to service bikes. There are also food stands and special bicycle traffic police. I think it is possibly one of the most organized events I have witnessed since moving to Colombia.



Our participation normally includes a walk to one of our favorite breakfast spots and a trip to the dog park. At the dog park Bonita has a group of regular playmates that includes two beagles, a chow chow, a Jack Russell , and any other dog walking by. This is a picture of Bonita happily playing with a dog four times her size.



You can barely see Bonita in this picture, but I promise she is there. When we finally broke up the fun, Bonita was covered from head to tail in golden retriever slobber.

Colombian Independence Day

Yesterday our Blog was quiet in honor of Colombian Independence Day. I was looking forward to a day full of parades and fireworks. Oddly I was mistaken. Apparently, we live in the wrong part of town for such festivities. So, instead we celebrated by watching Transformers.
I must say that I was surprised by how entertaining Transformers was. I was also surprised by my knowledge of the 1980s transformers. I actually knew more then some of the guys we were with.

Identify the Insect

Here in Bogota our local mall decorates with a new theme each month. the decorations are VERY elaborate. At Christmas it snowed Styrofoam pellets, in January the mall was decorated by giant strawberries, June was a technology show to celebrate Father's Day. This month it is an exhibit on Colombian insects. Below is my favorite picture... A GIANT praying mantis.

At this point in the blog, I was planning on having you guess which was the gigantic plaster bug, and which was just Bonita dressed like a bug. Apparently Bonita had a different plan. The following is the results of Bonita's post redesign...

The following face and personality is what we refer to as shark dog. Little is left unbitten in the wake of "SHARK DOG".

The time lapse of these photographs is possibly 30 seconds at the most. And until Bonita removed part of her wing, I was optimistically hoping to get a good picture of insect Bonita.

When all the carnage was finished, Bonita returned to the joy of licking her stitches...Tuesday can not come soon enough!

Update on Cone Head

For those of you who are concerned about Bonita's cone head future, I would like to assure you that Bonita is wearing her e-collar voluntarily. Every time she licks her stitches, she volunteers to wear her e-collar for an hour. It was not long before Bonita realized the connection between licking and e-collar wearing. So then she decided that she would hide under our bed and lick her stitches. This discovery lead to Bonita volunteering to wear her e-collar most of the time.


On Tuesday, Nestor, our driver, will be taking Bonita to get her stitches removed. Trust me when I say that the trip to the vet will be much more traumatic for Nestor then Bonita. After that, Bonita has an e-collar free future.

Here is Bonita being caught in the act. She is not very good at hiding.

Big News in Bogota

Today was a very exciting day for everyone here. I received a call around lunch time, that Colegio Gran Bretana has decided to name me the Head of the Department of Exceptional Needs. Although Bonita could care less about my promotion, the extra money will go a long way toward maintaining Bonita's posh lifestyle. It will also be a great boost for my resume.

For those of you who are not familiar with my new job, I am currently the Nursery-year 13 learning support teacher.

This is my new office.

Bonita's Cone

Bonita had surgery last Saturday to prevent the spreading of baby Bonitas throughout the world. Bonita is happily recovering. She is spending most of her time sleeping, yelping for attention, and relaxing on the couch.

The following are pictures of Bonita around the house, doing beagly things.

First Post

Well... Today is the big day...it finally happened...I have became a blogger. I have entered the relm of the Texasdevils http://www.texasdevilsinrussia.blogspot.com/ . Bonita now has her very own blog. As you can tell from her nap, she is very excited!