THANK YOU TOY and TAFFY!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
 

I cannot BEGIN to express in words my appreciation. We got our boxes today! They were the CUTEST boxes ever covered in pawprints! TAFFY baby, you did a GREAT job of making your mark on those boxes! Deb and Taffy your thoughtfulness was overwhelming! I laughed and I got teary eyed while opening our box! You covered every important part of my life! I am blown away and honored to have been your buddy!

I don't know if listing our presents would even do them justice, but here is a list of most of things we were honored with.

Fletcher and Dexter BOTH got a GREAT bag of goodies!
- TONS of toys, some of them water toys for the pool parties!! Wooo hooo, a stuffed alarm clock that ticks, stuffed squeaky flip flops, stuffed squeaky bones, , rope tennis ball toy, crinkle butterfly toys, small squeaky balls, squeaky baby blanket buddy, a fatigue fling n floss, inflatable puppy print beach balls
- TREATS, tons of treats!!! Yorkie Yummies stuffed into treat toys made for a happy night for my boys!!, yorkie yummies, vanilla doggy ice cream, chicken banana treats, an adorable treat container with paw prints, mix to make our own treats, yorgurt treats, portable water, treat and food bowls.
- A cozy fleecy blankie for each baby boy!
- A new leash for each boy
- A fun and GREAT shade tent for the boys to cool off in after the pool parties!
- Cool collars that you freeze and put on the dogs to cool them off (LOVE these!!)
- 2 egg babies, the dogs LOVE these
- The cutest bandanas in bright summer colors, and 2 Patriots bandanas with their names embroidered on them, sooooo adorable!!!!
- Placemats to keep the boys eating and drinking area clean! (I already put one down!!!)

For Mommy
(This was VERY emotional for me)
- TONS of personalized FUN things!
- A BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL engraved wood ornament in Memory or my precious baby Stuart, my puppy who died tragically at 5 months old in 2005. This touched my heart so much it brought tears to my eyes.
- Notepads and post it notes with my name on them
- an adorable tile with my boys pic on it
- a frame with a pic of my boys
- business cards with my boys pics on them and my name, address and phone number! soooo cute!!!
- a Yorkietalk mousepad with pawprints that says "It's time to take my mouse for a walk, so I can chat with friends on Yorkietalk."
- an adorable tee-shirt with a pic of Dex and Fletch that says I love Fletcher and Dexter
- the CUTEST canvas beach bag with the pic of Dexter and Fletcher,
- envelope labels with their pic on them
- an adorable yorkie magnetic bookmark (this is great, I love reading!)
- Fletcher magnets for the fridge soooo cute!
- Paula Dean magazine with lots of recipes for down south cooking
- A whole bunch of hand written recipes from Deb and Taffy, which I cannot wait to try cooking them all!!!!
- My doggy organizer book so I can put pics, facts and vet records nice and neat in 1 place! I LOVE this!!!
- K-cups!!!! OMG!! Lots of K-cups, coffee cups for the Keurig machine, WOW!!! (I love you!! hehe :) )

THEN another TEAR JERKER, these were special from Deb for me to give to my FIRST nephew who is due in July!
- A Bib that says I love my auntie, cause she spoils me rotten.
- a LOVE photo frame

Deb, you and Taffy seriously spoiled and touched me in a way I cannot explain. I hope that I got most if not everything that you stuffed in the most adorable way into those boxes! :) You made my year, I KNEW today was going to be a good day, I had NO idea HOW good!!!!

Right now I am feeling emotional, sentimental and overwhelmed! Deb, I hope Taffy and you will remain forever close as friends to Fletch, Dex and I. YT is a better place with you as a member! :) You're post about your 'buddy' now takes on a WHOLE new meaning to me. I wish I could express all that I feel right now! You made our first GE the most special, wonderful, positive and fun experience we could have wished for.

Lots of LOVE and HUGS! You're forever FRIEND!
Christina, Fletcher and Dexter!


I Hope this link works!!! TONS of pics below!
http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4f54553...&blogview=true

HOLY COW or should I say HOLY YORKIES :eek: you got soooo much stuff!! Your SB really spoiled you! Great job SB!!

WOW I've never seen so much STUFF!!!!!!! What a thoughtful buddy you had! Great job SB! :)

Girlfriend, as soon as I started "researching" you through your old posts, I knew you would be a "forever" friend. I like your optimism and outlook on life. Plus, I really enjoyed reading your responses to people with your compassionate words.

Very early I read about your loss of your precious Stuart and although I was afraid it would make you a bit sad, I knew I could not omit him from your gift because he is still very much a part of you.

I think you knew early on that I was your SB because I didn't do very good at the hints. I hoped that having Robin mail some of the cards from another state helped mix it up a bit. Imagine my surprise when I read about the cookies she baked and sent you! LOL...I really don't bake...those were from her!

Plus, the tv show I thought about was "Murder She Wrote" with the character Jessica Fletcher. (I had no idea there had been a show named Fletcher!) Told you my brain was wired weird. You did get the clue that the name Fletcher reminded Taffy of Fetch.

However, and I hope you're in a laughing mood because those placemats you think I sent? They were the part I stuffed the box with so that stuff wouldn't shift around. Hmmm...Christina...hmmm...those are reusable (NEW) pee pads...LOL That's what I was hoping wouldn't offend you!

I'm so glad you liked the stuff. I can't tell you how much fun I had getting it together for you. It really got fun when I mailed a bunch of stuff to Robin in KY for her to help me disguise my botched clues! (Thanks, Robin!) Plus, Admin helped, too. They were very sweet to pass along things I needed you to know.

I hope you enjoy it all. I couldn't stand the thought of both boys not getting stuff so that's why they both got their own bags! You made it easy, you know, since they don't do clothes and bows because I would have had trouble picking those out.

I have loved your photo of both boys looking up ever since you posted it some time ago. When I made the connection that those were your two Yorkies, I felt like I had struck gold. I absolutely loved having that printed on stuff because I love the photo so much!

Enjoy your weekend and think of us when you sip a relaxing cup of coffee...LOL. I learned alot while doing this because I had never ever heard of these kind of coffees!

Yay Debbie and Taffy did a wonderful job! It looks like the boys had a WONDERFUL time and they will have a LOT to keep them busy for a long while! :D

Wowwie!!! How did she ever fit all that stuff in the box. Such a generous sb. I dont blame you for being emotional and teary, shoot it made me that way not just seeing your gifts but the deep thoughtfulness behind them. Way to go SB you outdid yourself.

Hahahahah placemats/peepads...................bout fell off my chair again tonight.......What a wonderful ge buddy you are. Such thoughtfulness.

Awwwww...

I wrote the reply before I saw the Smilebox. It was adorable!

I have absolutely fallen in love with that program. You did a great job using it and I haven't seen that template before either. I'm still in the process of learning my way around the Smilebox site.

I'm so glad you liked the stuff. It was a joyful experience fixing it for you.

PEE PADS!!!! Deb I am laughing sooo hard! Ok, so I had an idea that you might have used pee pads to 'pad' your box, but I have never seen a reusable one in my life!!!! HAHAHA WELL I love them and they are PERFECT 'placemats' for under the boys water and food bowls! :) At least now I know I can wash and reuse them! That is just too funny!

I hope you enjoy the slide show of us opening your gifts, it was quite the busy few hours here at my house and we all had sooo much fun!! My boyfriend took the pics while I worked to open gifts for my nosey boys! :) They are now EXHAUSTED and ready to crash! I opened the blankets and put them on the couch for them! Since we are just getting to eat dinner now though, they want nothing but to stare up at me with those big sleepy brown eyes and ask for food in their own way! They are such good boys and usually they go right to the kitchen when we eat, but Im not enforcing tonight! :)

Thank you again and again, and you'll get more thanks again and again. I am so glad you love that pic of my boys! I do too, actually a very good friend of mine who is taking photography classes came over to shoot pics of my boys, but they were not in the mood to cooperate, so I had a treat and that is the pic she snapped and I fell in love with it. They look like beautiful angels in that pic! :) (I did submit it for the yorkie calendar this year!)

Deb, you did trick me and I was never 100% SURE it was YOU. I had to keep eliminating others from my 'list' and then I finally gave up keeping track and let it be, it was more fun to get your hints cards and those sweet graduation cards for me and postcards of of the boys and the ones of Fletch! I am not sure who Robin is, but THANK YOU also!! THANK you for the cookies!!!! Fletcher LOVED them!!! :) You have VERY little personal info about yourself out there, like your real name or your home state is NOWHERE! So that threw me! I couldn't tell for sure! Your GREAT gift concluded my GREAT day (see my post from earlier today). :) :)

With that, I have to go lay on the couch with my boys and relax now! I will be back tomorrow I hope! Have a GREAT GREAT weekend! :)

LOL...I may not can write clues but...

After I visited your page for the first time and saw that it recorded me as a visitor there, I had to go visit everyone's page to disguise my tracks.

Then...just before you got the first teaser card, I realized that you could match it easily by looking at where I was from. I even had the town listed! So...probably on the very same day you got that first card...I changed it from TN to USA...LOL...

Then I had to go back and mess with the zip code since I knew you'd look at the postmark...LOL

I really had it well-planned at first...LOL

Then I gave it away with the clues. Oh boy, I really do need remedial hint writing! Anyway, Robin helped me tremendously by mailing all those last cards (and her cookies) out for me.

LOL...then I misinterpreted when you graduate from college and got the whole internet congratulating you on your graduation. Boy...talk about a comedy of errors around that time.

I'm sooooo glad you have a good sense of humor!

One of the funniest things has been trying to straighten my husband out on who Taffy's buddy was. When he heard NH, he started in again with "I thought she lived in KY" I practically had his head spinning trying to explain it all.

And the pee pads? You shouldn't doubt I consider you a friend because only a friend would tell you what your placemats really are...LOL One thing about it...they are waterproof IF you put the plaid side up. Otherwise the water will roll off them.

I have to ask though because there were two things I couldn't recall repacking when I changed out the box...one was Fletcher's Patriots bandanna which I saw did make it (I think you thread them on a collar) but did you get a ball cap with the same logo as your t-shirt? If you didn't (and Linda, you're going to love this...LOL), it means that it's somewhere in my messy house and I haven't seen it since I packed up the box. However, I really do not remember packing it at all! If you didn't get it, I'll start seriously looking because it must still be here!)

LOL.....by the way...I can't "make" anything so my attempt at making you something were the recipe cards. I picked some of my favorite and easiest ones.

Let me know about the ball cap because I sure don't want to mess up the mess if I did send it...LOL

OMGoodness!! You can open up a pet store!! lol:D Geeze...SB...you really know how to spoil one lucky pup!

OMG....That was sooooooooooo much stuff!!! Your buddy did a great job!!!

Your buddy was awesome!!!!!!! Fletcher and Dexter both got sooooo spoiled!!!!!

Oh yes, Fletcher Dexter and Mommy all got spoiled rotten!

Dexter has decided his new favorite toy is this little squeaky stuffed bone, its a small bone but has 2 sqeakers (I think he's in one of the pics with it)! It is definately HIS toy now for sure! He walks around with it whining and trying to bury it in the couch, his bed, my bed LOL

Deb, I didn't see a ball cap in the box but maybe I missed something??? We were pretty thorough in making sure I listed everything so I don't think there is a baseball hat. You are too funny!

The peepad/placemat is still making me laugh, every time I walk into the kitchen! haha I had no idea it was a peepad! Its just too cute! I put it plaid side up under their water and food bowls. You have no idea how well this will work out, they like to dig in their water bowl sometimes and I come home to water EVERYWHERE! (ok Im reaching here so you'll all stop laughing at me! LOL)

Well, after all, I did send some of the prettiest pee pads...LOL

I'm still laughing at it, too.

Shoot, sounds like I'm going on a scavenger hunt. I've had this nagging feeling every since I "repacked" that I left out that ball cap. I just could not remember repacking it but I haven't seen it anywhere so that means it's either in a tissue pile or clothes pile or (and this "scares" me the most...LOL) the housekeepers put it up to be safe.

Oh boy, I'm still looking for the alarm clock that is "safe"...LOL...not that I really want to find it. Finally did find the digital camera and it was in the closet. If that's where your ball cap got placed, I may find it by the next GE...LOL.

Gee, I will get someone to see if it fell and got under the bed. I'd check but you'd next be sending me get well cards since if I ever did get up, I'd probably be on a stretcher...LOL... I'm not that sick...just that fat and out-of-shape plus any unusual movement causes a back spasm. Oh the joys of getting old.

Taffy doesn't understand why I keep laughing out loud because she's not doing any of her antics right now. Normally I'm laughing because of her crazy stunts but she is really puzzled. LOL...pee pads...LOL...I'm so glad you have a "healthy" sense of humor!

You are such a fun GE buddy! (And all along all the humor I could see that I sent was the "pup" tent...LOL)

Too late to edit but I have to share this...

I kept telling my husband that I was sending a "pup" tent and then I'd laugh. I cannot tell you the number of times this happened... I'd tell him that and he'd look at me very seriously and say, "That's what it's called."

Then I'd say, "But don't you see how funny that is? I'm sending a "pup" tent to dogs!"

There is no telling how many times we had that conversation over the past couple of weeks. I'd just crack up and he'd just shake his head. Sometimes we could use a translator...LOL

wowwwwwww what a great sb -- that brought tears to my eyes the memory ornament - so nice and thoughtful

Woo Hoo...I found the ball cap and just as I imagined...when I wasn't looking for it!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...LOL...turns out my "memory" of unpacking it was wrong. It was still in the living room in its original box as shipped to me. The "memory" of packing it the first time was not true!

No wonder I couldn't find it when I searched the bedroom where I packed the GE box. (Had to move from the living room due to Taffy wanting to play with all the toys while I was trying to pack.)

Anyway, it will be on its way as soon as I make a trip to the post office some time next week. There's also a little toy I left out (and it was my favorite!) that I'll send IF I can find it. Oh boy, you're really discovering how I put things in safe places and then totally forget where I put them. I used to file stuff that way, too. At the time it makes so much sense.

Here's the scene about the toy LAST NIGHT... I commented how much I loved the new toy (it has a sound other than a squeak...LOL) and then I told Frank that I had gotten Taffy's secret buddy one, too. Then I gasped because I realized I hadn't sent it to Fletcher...grrrr.

Is it true that if you think you're getting dementia, you're really not? I've been trying to find some of those smaller stuffingless toys that I bought for Taffy for weeks now. She drags the long one around as her comfort toy so I bought the whole set of the little ones for her. I remember getting the order but then something else caught my attention and now I can't find the "safe" place I stashed them. Guess I know where Taffy gets her ADD, huh? Maybe I caught it from her...LOL

talk about spoiled...hehe

what a special sb you have...the boys look so entralled with all their new stuff. lol

Wow! and Wow!

That box is over the top! What an awesome SB!

You can tell that she really enjoyed shopping for you! Everything is so special for you!

OH I know, it was a truely amazing experience! :)

TOY you are sooo funny! You will just keep finding stuff around to send out! HAHA Can't wait to see the cap and the toy now, you've piqued my curiousity about it making a noise that is not a squeaker! hhhmmm I love the alarm clock toy that ticks instead of squeaks!

You know, I already has that clock before I found out that your state "boasts" of being the home state of the guy who invented the alarm clock. Who knew...LOL

Makes a good story though...wish I could tell you I searched for the clock after I found out the fact...LOL

Since you brought it up...LOL

I just found the original letter I wrote to your Yorkie before I even knew who I had. I changed the direction of our box a bit when I found out certain things about Fletcher (had to make it more manly...plus, I couldn't have sweet little Taffy dreaming about a sleep-over with your boy Yorkie!) as you may notice BUT

Now that he has discovered peanut butter and "tolerates" it, I may just add a bit of suspense by publishing the letter in this post and let you wait in suspense wondering what in the world I am sending you in the package with your ball cap...LOL

Let's spice up your Monday a bit, shall we? LOL

Some of the items did come in your GE already so you'll just have to wonder what in the world the other things could possibly be! I'll send them in the box this week with the cap. LOL...you're such fun to tease!

Dear Yorkie Buddy,
Yesterday my Mommy told me that you were going to be my new buddy. I think I must have been thinking about that when I went to sleep. Last night I dreamed we had a play date and it started by you spending the night at my house!
The day began when the nasty alarm clock started its noise. It woke both of us up and we were still sleepy because we had woofed and arfed all night. Anyway, we were excited about the day ahead so we stayed awake. Mommy helped us get dressed and we were ready for our day of fun.
We started to go outside but Mommy made us come back in to eat breakfast. Then she made us put on flip flops so we wouldn’t bruise our paw on a rock. We switched them though so we each had on one of each color. We thought we were really cool…arf, arf, arf.
We played with our bicycles for a little while and played tag and did races. It was lots of fun. Mommy came outside for a minute and gave us a treat. Woof, woof…yummy!
We played some more and then we decided to ask Daddy to go with us on a hike. We both wanted to explore that field behind the house. He said we first had to get Mommy to pack a lunch because we might get hungry and thirsty on our adventure.
Soon we were on our way. We saw some bugs and some crunchy flies on the weeds. He told us their name but I forgot. Then you saw something red. Daddy said it was a strawberry and he let us eat it. Woof, woof, woof…it was really good!
We chased some more bugs and then got to eat our packed lunch. We were so tired we nearly fell asleep in our water…arf, arf, arf!
I don't know what happened after that because the noisy telephone burst my dream bubble. Everyone wondered why I lazed around all day but I was just dog tired after playing all night…arf, arf, arf!
Your new buddy,
Taffy

Hmmm...the original letter did have spaces between paragraphs...LOL

Oh well, not everything translates when copied and pasted, I guess.


LOL...now maybe your Monday will have a bit more fun sprinkled on it...LOL

Thank you all so much -- what a delightful read! Debbie, I think you have to win first prize for the most thoughtfully put together gift package of all time. So many personalized gifts showing how much you really found out about your buddy. Fletcher, Dexter and Christina all were well spoiled and so obviously thankful for all you did it made my day reading and looking at the pics! You guys are the best! Thanks again for starting my day on YT in a most positive and endearing way!

LOL, Debra!

I just told Christina in a PM that I'm glad I can finally talk "to" her. I felt like a stalker this past month...LOL

Deb, not only are you thoughtful but you are hysterical! I swear if Taffy could talk, oh the things we'd all learn about you! hhhhmmmmmm You are probably lucky she can't!! :) Have you thought about writing children's books? I think you'd be really really good at it with your creative mind!

I should mention and I don't think I did (ooppss) that EVERYTHING in my box was wrapped and packaged in little things with paw prints all over them! It was soooo adorable! tissue paper, gift bags, beach balls, little boxes, little cloth bags! It was soooo adorable! Deb put her heart into this GE! I am grateful to have been her buddy and all her GE buddies going forward will be lucky people! :)

Aha...you've touched my secret passion and desire...

I've always wanted to write a book!

And although I taught junior high math most of my career, I did have one year as an elementary librarian where I worked with K-8 grade students. I was thankful I got to use that certification at least one year before I moved into administration.

Sad but true...taking that administrative position made it possible for me to retire after my 30 years. Had I stayed in the classroom or library, I would never have been able to financially retire at age 52. It was bittersweet though. Our life's plan generally makes sense as we look backwards. Had I still been teaching math, I'd never have left the classroom to be an supervisor and write grants for the system.

Had all that not happened, I wouldn't have been available when my Mother needed me to be her caregiver. Because I had retired, I was able to help her stay in her home as she wished even though I had to learn some "nursing" skills. I would not trade those days for anything.

As much as I love math, I also love the beauty of language and words. So....there is bound to be a book inside me somewhere...LOL