Hawaii, part 1

Recently, my mom took my measurements and made a custom shirt for me. I was a bit surprised at this, because she doesn't know how to sew. After enduring several pin pricks, she had fitted me in a Hawaiian print shirt!

Then came the real surprise - WE WERE GOING TO HAWAII!

Our first stop was Waikiki in Oahu. Here's the view from our hotel balcony. Check out that gorgeous sunset!

And a view of the downtown scene - can't wait to check it out later! It's a little bit windy so I'm holding on tight out here!

Next, we visited the Byodo-In Temple, a replica of a 900-year-old temple in Kyoto, Japan. The original temple was built without the use of nails - amazing, huh! It's a technique called sashimono. Grooves are carved into the wood in order to bind pieces together.

This temple was beautifully maintained with sand gardens, a really serene place to just think.

You could also buy a small bag of pellets and feed the koi fish. There were some really friendly birds also that would eat out of your paw.

The temple sits in front of a stunning mountain backdrop! The tropical clouds move in and out of here quickly, so the view is constantly changing.

We are just getting started on our Hawaii tour, so check back for part 2 of our trip!

Boxers or briefs?

I received a package from my friend Sandy a couple weeks ago.

He also sent along a postcard with salmonberries on the front. Sandy wrote that he got these boxers sometime ago for a Bob T. Bear challenge and thought I might like them.

I was beary intrigued, as I have never had boxers before. I looked inside.

And there they were - a pair of BearBoxers.

I had never seen such a thing before in my life. But now I felt conflicted, as I had to struggle with my feelings of disdain for pants and related clothing.

Would I be brave enough to try them on?

Well, here goes nothing. Give me one moment please.

Uh, hello? Are you still there? This is a bit embarrassing. Should I come out? It's not that often that I walk around in underwear.

Ok, what do you think?

The fit is comfortable, more comfortable than pants. And I can definitely see myself lounging around in them.

I will say... I rather like them!

Thank you beary much, Sandy, for these boxers!

Beary belated mail post

Hey everyone, wow... is this post late or what? I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog posts, or should I say, my SECRETARY has a lot of work to do!

But better late than never (I think)... so here are some things I've received since... CHRISTMAS! 😦

First up is a postcard from my friend Fritzel. Fritzel lives in Germany. Guten tag, danke!

Next is a letter from Sprinkles the Traveling Bear. It's a card with the late and great Chester the dog. Chester was an awesome dog and will be missed.

And finally a card from Sandy... wait a second, is that Ooogie on the postcard? Sandy went to Mexico around Christmas time and had a great trip!

Thanks for all the postcards everyone! And I'll post soon about updates with me, including why I'm wearing a Hawaiian shirt...

Valentine's Day

 Hello everyone! Yes, I know this post is a bit late, but I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Did you eat some good chocolate and candy?

I got this cool PEZ candy dispenser for Valentine's Day. It looks like me, don't you think?

It comes with 3 rolls of PEZ candy also!

So you just slide the candy in there, and lift the teddy bear's head back when you want to eat one.

And for interesting PEZ dispenser facts, did you know...

• PEZ candies were not intended to be candies, but as mints for an alternative to smoking. It was created in Vienna in 1927 by Eduard Haas III and had a peppermint flavor, or pfefferminz. Take the first, middle, and last letters of the word and you get PEZ! The first PEZ dispensers were made to resemble cigarette lighters.
•  the world's largest PEZ dispenser is 94 inches tall, weights 85 pounds, and holds 6,480 PEZ candies?

Alright, have a great week everyone!

Catching up!

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in a while! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, followed by a Merry Christmas, and finally a Happy New Year!

Let's catch up on a few things, shall we?

But first, check out this cool jersey I'm wearing. My friend Droopy got it for me after our hometown heroes, the Houston Astros, won the World Series in November! CHAMPS, YEAH!

I also have quite a bit of mail to catch up on. I got these cool Halloween cards from Jerry and Ben and a gift card from Starbucks as a prize for my entry in their annual Halloween contest. I also got a card from Sandy with a Halloween hamster on it. Beary cool!

Next, I got some holiday cards from Little Fox, Jerry and Ben, and Sandy. We sent out cards too, but we were cutting it close so they may have been a little delayed (again, looking for new secretary in 2023).

Thanks for all the mail, everyone! Snail mail is the best. :)

Halloween 2022

 Hi everyone, I'm a few days late with this post, but I wanted to share my entry to Jerry and Ben's 12th Annual Halloween Contest.

I could have been a superhero... an astronaut... a firefighter... but no... I was not any of those things. My mom thought it would funny if I were an... OOMPA LOOMPA from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I am cringing a bit right now, to be honest. This is kind of embarrassing... why would I ever agree to --

Oh, chocolate? Oh that's right.

Chocolate Wonka bars do come with this gig. Ok, maybe this is a pretty good gig after all.

Thanks to Jerry and Ben for hosting this contest! And congrats to all the winners!

I'll leave you with a song from the movie...

Mosaic kit

Hey everyone, I've got my craft apron on, so that means we are crafting today!

Today I'm going to make a mosaic of a bee with this cute little kit. It has been sitting around for months and I FINALLY get to make it today.

So I'll first lay out all the materials on some newspaper and see what we've got. A mold, some glass pieces, and a bag of cement.

Next, I'll trace around the mold on the newspaper.

This is to make it easier when arranging the mosaic tiles, so now I have an idea of how I want to lay out the pieces.

And now, for the messy part... mixing the cement. I'll leave this to my mom who is mixing it with gloves. I don't want cement on my fur.

We carefully pour the cement into the mold.

Then, we arrange the tiles on the cement. (Editor's note: Multiple attempts were required for this step and it got very messy).

I think it turned out great! I'm going to let it dry overnight.

Have you made a mosaic before?