I bet you have no idea how much I like my dog, on account of I hardly ever talk about her. Haaaaaaaaaaaa! The dog is a constant source of amusement. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. She's just funny. Plus, she doesn't have the stomach bug! Or any chronic diseases or developmental impairments! Basically, up until recently, the very worst thing about her is that she thinks a good way to remind you to feed her is to weave around your feet and step directly in front of you until you fall over. Now everyone in the house associates a twisted ankle with KIBBLE O'CLOCK, thanks to her. She's a...
I may have mentioned before that sometimes there's a dog at Hippie School; the director was bringing her almost every day, for a while. This dog and Monkey immediately became the best of friends, because Monkey loves animals and Star is a saintly paragon of patience when it comes to children flinging themselves all over her. It was reported to me on more than one occasion that when Monkey was having a difficult time, either he would spontaneously go bury his face in Star or she would go to him and sit on his feet. (It must be noted here that Licorice is also very patient with Monkey, but at...
My father sent me an interesting email this evening, on account of I apparently haven't blogged for three days and he's concerned that I may have died. I didn't, of course. I have merely been sucked into a maelstrom of holiday frivolity, which basically means I have been overseeing cousin relations in-between eating everything that isn't nailed down. Also, my nephews got an Xbox Kinect. So, um, I have been busy smoking Chickadee at Just Dance. HA! Anyway, we continue to be impressed with how well the dog is adjusting to the various craziness---different house, extra kids, people coming and...
So the first day we were here, Zoey peed ALL THE TIME. Talk to her nicely? Pee. Speak to her sternly? Pee. Ignore her? PEE! And along with the incessant piddling, we had her leaping atop Licorice at every possible opportunity, and Licorice spending a lot of time making adorable little cranky-snarly sounds to try to tell Zoey to back off. The second day, I guess my dad found a little cork and Zoey stopped peeing everywhere. She only spent half the day pouncing all over Licorice, and much time was spent with both dogs lazing in front of the stove, roasting their tender underbellies. Eventually...
So the kids went off on their adventure and then Otto and I loaded up the car while Licorice nervously paced my office. By the time we scooped up Her Furriness to put her in the travel crate, she was so relieved to not be left behind that she seemed to totally forget that she hates riding in the car. We drove and drove and drove and drove, and we listened to a lot of "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" and ate a lot of snacks, and when we pulled up at my folks' house the next day, Licorice was all, "I LOVE ROAD TRIPS!" I am certain this had nothing to do with the potato chips I kept poking into the...
Without compromising the privacy of the underlings in my household, I can tell you that the three little ones 'round here have VERY different reactions to impending travel. It's funny, really, to watch them all exhibit such different behavior. An interesting anthropological study, you might say. Because there's that whole nature/nurture thing, plus two of the three share DNA, yet they could not be more striking in the various reactions they have. And I, of course, just have to deal with it all. With a smile. When I can manage it. So, yes: The kids head off for vacation with their dad, today,...
Yesterday was the last day of Hippie School for an entire WEEK, because it turns out that hippies take their vacation breaks pretty seriously. The kids had already had a wild field trip day on Thursday, so yesterday was more of a "regular" day. As I puttered around my office yesterday afternoon, I thought that I might finally grant one of Monkey's most fervent wishes. "Why don't you ever bring Licorice when you pick me up??" he always demands, as if I am specifically leaving the dog at home to agitate him. The truth is that due to our carpool arrangements, I only do pickup a couple of times...
The GOOD news is that I found a deal on a huge sack of Sour Patch Kids (mmmmm... Sour Patch Kids) and it took less convincing than I thought it might to talk the kids into us all staying in last night. I know that probably makes me some sort of Halloween Scrooge, but whatever. I gave them each their own bowl of candy and everyone seemed happy and it just seemed easier. The BAD news is that the dog really and truly hates us, now. Or at least she did until I gave her some peanut butter this morning. Which I guess cancels out the hate. But I'm putting some pics below the fold so that you can...
As I noted last month, Licorice enjoys her time out on safari now that the fence is complete and she can roam around in relative freedom, inside a contained area. It had gotten to where she spent only a napping hour or so indoors with me, during the day, and spent the remainder of her daylight hours either 1) outside doing lord knows what, 2) hurling herself at my office door as a subtle hint that she wished to head out, or 3) standing next to my chair whining until I opened the damn door. I'll admit, I was a little saddened that just laying on the floor of my office was no longer sufficient...
