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Winter Solstice in Southern California...78degF.
Today's blog is for all those folks not living in LA...a couple of people I know have traveled back East to spend Christmas with family.  I
can only anxiously wait for their return from the beach.

Another wintery day in Manhattan Beach...ahhh I so miss work since I started my vacation last week.  I missed work so much that I decided to meet up with my co-workers for lunch at the beach...they are still hard at work til the very end! Here they are, the slackers!  Shh...I think they're taking a long lunch today!  Toby was very happy to join them at Uncle Bill's for some brunch.

As we waited for our table, Scott sighted his favorite TV character from "Lost"! Apparently, Terry O'Quinn was waiting to eat at Uncle Bill's too...(click on photo to see a close-up of him.)  Kim and Toby agreed to be my photo decoy so I can get a picture of him in the background for Scott.

After we were seated, Terry O'Quinn got seated right behing me!  So I agreed to be a decoy for Scott to take a picture of his back.  Toby's wagging tail kept hitting him throughout the entire meal!  He was a good sport though, even wanted to give Toby his left-over bacon!!

Unfortunately for Toby, I declined Terry's bacon!  But I did take a picture of his check after they left.  I just wanted to see what his signature looks like! Click on photo to see enlarged image.

You'd think we were done with the celebrity sightings...but apparently Wednesdays are good days to be out and about...

Amanda Bearse of TV's "Married with Children" fame was seated right next to our table!! She was dining alone but was on the phone the entire meal. After lunch, my sad little co-workers piled into Wade's car and headed back to work.  I decided to take Toby for a walk along The Strand...It was a beautiful 78 degrees and peaceful with unusually high surf.

Toby and I sat on a bench and contemplated on the meaning of life as we stared at sea gulls flying overhead and strong waves crashing into Manhattan Beach pier... After playing with another Golden Retriever named Jesse, we strolled back to my car and headed off away from the sunset... Wishing you were here...

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The cutest Christmas song ever...it's my favorite Christmas song!  It just puts a huge smile on my face whenever I listen to it. :-) 

Christmas is Going to the Dogs -- Eels  

Get off your sled and go to bed
Don't you ever tire?
Throw a bone, I'm finally home
Curled up by the fire
Snow is falling from the sky like ashes from an urn
Sweet dreams, my little one
Now it's my turn

Well, Christmas is going to the dogs
We'd rather have chew toys than Yule logs
And things aren't looking very good, it's true
So I'll just lay here and chew

Now, when I sleep I like to dream
Of rabbits in the snow
Jumping right into my jaws
From their rabbit hole

Take one home and set him down right next to your shoes
Wake up to a big surprise
My gift to you

And Christmas is going to the dogs
We'd rather have chew toys than Yule logs
And things aren't looking very good, it's true
So I'll just lay here and chew

And Christmas is going to the dogs
We're scarfing down the turkey and eggnog
And things aren't looking very good, it's true
So I'll just lay here and chew
So I'll just stay here and chew...

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I normally don't buy Toby Chrismas presents for a couple of reasons.  First, I really don't think Toby knows nor cares that it's Christmas, he only knows that mommy doesn't have to work and have to take him to the beach a lot.  Second, he usually gets a lot of gifts from his "aunts" and "uncles."  But I'm thinking that this year, I will buy Toby a new collar and leash for Christmas!  I found this beautiful collar and lead online at Muttropolis.   Unfortunately, they only have it in red, brown, and black.  The brown is a yucky brown and I don't think black looks good on Toby.  I think the red will look great on him, but I was worried that when people see Toby with a red collar, they will assume that he is a girl.  I already get a lot of strangers telling me what a pretty girl Toby is!  I wish they would make the collar in a bold blue!

But my friend Kim tells me that at dog rescues they use pink collars to designate girl dogs and red collars to designate boy dogs!  She has a picture to prove it too! So I think I will get Toby the red collar and lead.  I'll post a picture of him in the new collar once I get it.

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Dec. 17, I am 33 today.

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I was at Starbuck's again, yet another afternoon break from work, and saw this adorable coffee cup and saucer ornament.  I had to have it, of course.  It's really cute, it's the size of a regular ornament.  I also got one for my friend Eftyhia...she used to be my afternoon-coffee-mate at UCLA when I was in graduate school.   Toby also got a Christmas gift from his cousin Tigger from San Francisco.  It's a cute poop bag holder in the shape of a bone!  But I think in the end, mommy will be using this more than Toby. It's been sooooo cold in the evenings lately that I've been "turning on' my fireplace every night.  Though it does not have the nice wood smell of a real fireplace, it still makes my home all warm and cozy.  Notice the two stockings above the fireplace...though I've not put anything in them yet...much to Toby's dismay.

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Last night, as I was watching my favorite show Iron Chef and getting ready to sleep, Toby decided to drag his XL bed pillow out of his
crate and started to do the unspeakable to it!  He had not done that since he was neutered over a year ago!  It must be the
holidays...and yes, this one will be a picture-less blog...