The Goofy-Pluto puzzle

I noticed the other day that there's a bit of weirdness on my dogs' bag of treats. A cartoon dog cowboy, standing upright and decked out in cowboy gear including shirt, pants, and a hat, is holding up a freshly grilled piece of chicken...while another dog, who is NOT attired and is on all fours, eyes the meat and licks its lips. So, um, yeah, I'm puzzled by this, just as many have been puzzled by the Goofy versus Pluto mystery. Why is one like a person, and one is like...a dog? Hmmm....

Out for a stroll

Pete, the dogs, and I went for a stroll on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day, and I hadn't been walking for a while (the last time was during our camping trip). I had a great time, although I really got tired about 2/3 of the way into the walk. Baby Jack was pressing on my bladder, I was tired, and my legs were itching like mad—ever get that weird itchiness? It happens to me after I shave sometimes, especially when I used to go running (not doing that now, lol!).

Anyhow, I think I was a bit whiny, and Pete felt bad because I was uncomfortable. (Him: "You're tired? Really?" Me: "Uh, yeah! I'm lugging around an extra 30 pounds here!") But it was cute because we ran into some of his friends, and he was proudly showing off my big belly and telling everyone how happy he was to have his son on the way. So it was worth any discomfort to me to be out in the sunshine with my hubby and dogs, enjoying the vivid colors and warm sun, and stretching my (achy) legs a bit.

Poopy girl

Poor Adora's been having some digestive issues lately. She's her same ol' spunky self, but her tummy isn't feeling all that great. She ate some steak bones on Friday night, and hasn't been eating the same since then. Hopefully things will stabilize, and she'll be back to her usual food-loving self.

A bad case of the dropsies, or, a benefit of having dogs

I have been incredibly clumsy lately, and, as with everything I don't want to take the blame for, I'm blaming this on my pregnant state. As with the peas the other day, I somehow magically flung a dog bowl full of chicken and broccoli soup onto the floor during a recent lunch. I don't even know what happened, because the bowls weren't that full, and Spanky's food made it to the floor still in its container. But when I went to put Adora's dish down, it instead flew out of my hand and (of course) landed upside down, soup everywhere. I quickly looked around and started grabbing paper towels, but Adora was one step ahead of me. She cleaned that floor up like a good little Hoover (Hoogestraat) should, and Spanky even came in after her to do some light spot cleaning. I was left with a slightly sticky, wet floor, which was easily cleaned with moistened paper towels and dish soap. Everyone benefited from my channeling of Dick Van Dyke (as Pete likes to call me during my clumsier moments), which is how it should be, right?

Surrounded by dogs

Roxie, our old landlord's dog, is staying with us for the next several days, and Adora isn't exactly being the gracious hostess she should be. She has been herding poor Roxie everywhere, nipping at her mouth and using body checks to keep her coralled. Adora has even tried to eat Roxie's food, which Roxie thoughtfully overlooked. Note the literally high-ranking position Adora put herself in outside while Pete was exercising the dogs. Queen of the Roost, indeed!



If you saw Roxie in person, you'd think she'd be the aggressor, since she's a big Rottweiler and looks rather imposing. But no, it's our little circus bear Adora who's being the dominant one, with Spanky a distant third in the temporary pack ranking (of course, we humans are first and second in the pack, with mama-to-be being top dog, hee hee). Spanky doesn't seem to care what Roxie does, as long as he's reassured he's still loved with lots of petting and cuddling.

This is going to be a loooong weekend....

Going crazy in quarantine

Pete and I are in the middle of painting our dining room and kitchen floors, which means everyone has to be quarantined to the living room.



The dining room/kitchen has been sealed off, and in order to get anything from those rooms—food, paper towels, a drink—you have to go out the front door, walk around the house, and enter through the sliding doors, providing that particular layer of paint is dry.



And if you need anything from upstairs–our bedroom suite—the same thing applies. All of our stuff from the dining room/kitchen has been shoved into our living room, including my drawing desk, the huge Magic Chef 1000 stove, and other assorted goodies.



So not only are Pete and I stuck in the living room, but we're crammed in there with a bunch of stuff that we're tripping over AND all four animals are also trapped underfoot with us. At night, Pete and I have to crowd into a twin-size spare bed to sleep (or he sleeps on the couch and I take the bed), and of course the animals all pile in there with us, making it extra cozy (i.e., crowded).



One day of this? Not a problem, I can handle it. But six days of this? I am going insane. We sealed off the rooms on Saturday night, and the final coat of sealer won't be dry enough to release the hounds (and cats) on until Friday. I can sorta understand how someone in a small prison cell must feel. I hate my house being turned upside down, dirty from construction, cluttered from renovating, and stinking of paint fumes. I know it's for a good cause, but I don't think I can stand much more of this.



Yeah—that's our mini vintage Frigidaire fridge in our living room, which you have to walk around to get to the couches.



The cats seem confused and restless, and are constantly getting into it with the dogs. That's my drawing desk that Miss Dollie is sitting on, which has been shoved behind one of the couches. And that's the Magic Chef in the background, which is an enormous stove, but much more so when it's sharing a tiny space with three couches, a fridge, a table, a tv, two people, two dogs, and two cats. Ugh.



The dogs are absolutely bored out of their skulls, as I am. They stare longingly outside all day, wishing they could be anywhere else. And the bummer of it all?



Pete's car is still broken down, so he's been taking my beloved CR-V to work every day. We have him take the car, because otherwise I have to drive to and from his work twice a day, wasting gas and adding miles to my car. So I'm trapped at home in the living room, AND I can't go anywhere besides walking around my neighborhood. And it's been raining like crazy around here this past week, so daily walks have been out of the question.

Hopefully this will be worth all the discomfort, although I'm panicking because we are hosting a Father's Day party on Sunday and I haven't been able to clean the house. Either I can't access certain parts of it, or we're all stuck in one spot and things just will get messed up again. So I'll be doing a marathon cleaning session Friday–Saturday, with a final move of the furniture on Sunday morning, just to be sure the paint is dry. Sigh....

Slow day

Hey, everyone, how are you? I've been feeling really, really tired and sluggish for the last few days, so I've been a bit absent from my posting duties. To remedy my stupor, I've taken the laptop outside to work on my freelance project (and maybe squeeze in a little blogging and surfing). I figured I should enjoy the beautiful weather before the rains come AGAIN tomorrow, and get some usage out of my lonely patio furniture, which hasn't seen many sunny days lately.



And we're also in the middle of painting the dining room/kitchen floors (robin's egg blue, so very lovely!), so avoiding the fumes has been a big motivator for going outside. The doggies are keeping me company and getting some fresh air too. Hopefully I'll be back to my energetic self tomorrow.



And thanks for all of you who expressed your concern and good wishes regarding Dollie. She did indeed come home, albeit a bit late (a day and half later), which is really unusual for her, hence my freaking out. In true cat fashion, she simply strolled up to Pete in the backyard and acted like nothing had happened (he grabbed her quickly so she couldn't change her mind). I was thrilled to have her back, and she's up to her old antics again, running around like a maniac and climbing on every surface imaginable.

Dollie, come home

Our spunky and chunky little cat Dollie (the one in the banner for this blog) has run away, and I'm very sad about it. Last time I saw her was yesterday morning at 5:30 a.m., when the dogs dashed outside to chase her up into a tree. She later came down and ran off, and I haven't seen her since. She's very affectionate and friendly, so I worry someone's taken her in without checking to see who she belongs to (she's microchipped but lost her collar). And she's not an "outdoor" cat, but prefers to stay inside, except for the occasional trips out on the patio or up a nearby tree. I've been walking from open doors to open windows in the house, calling her over and over, with Max at my side, "helping" me look.



Anyhow, I hope she comes home soon. It's rainy and cold outside, and everyone seems lonely without her.

What a watchdog!

Yesterday Pete, the dogs, and I were driving home on 88, and we happened to be driving alongside one of those Invisible Fence–type trucks. There was a giant photo of a chocolate lab on the side that look a lot like the image on the van above, probably a good 6 feet tall.

I suddenly saw Adora intensely staring out the window at the dog picture on the truck as we drove along, and pointed this out to Pete. When he turned around to watch her, she had started growling at the giant dog and would have probably started barking if we hadn't passed the truck.



Pete and I laughed a long time about this, but Adora was all business. Thank God we were all safe from the mean, giant dog on the highway, thanks to her!

Bad Dodo!

This is the scene I came home to the other day. Adora (a.k.a. Dodo) had gotten upset that I was gone for a few hours and decided to chew up one of the living room pillows. Lucky for her it was only a cheap $3 pillow from IKEA...and she is lucky that I'm such a patient and forgiving mama.



Bad Dodo.

Dollie vs. a bowl of cherries

If you are a photographer and have pets like me, you know that you often get "helpers" that "assist" you in your photo shoots. They tend to move stuff around for you or pose in your shot to help you focus. Sometimes the ensuing photograph is better than the intended original, but often you get a blurry mess. Other times you get something interesting or even worthy of saving. In any event, you have a laugh at your furry children's antics.



Such was the case this past weekend. I had bought some cherries at Target and decided, on a whim, to take some photos. And since our dining room floor is still unpainted, I thought the white bowl and red cherries would look pretty with the blue-green-brown floorboards in the background. I set the bowl on the floor and started to take pictures, snapping off a few somewhat blurry but colorful images.



I was just getting into it when a furry head popped into view in front of my camera lens. Dollie (the cat in my blog banner, for those of you new to this blog) had somehow caught wind of this impromptu photo session and decided to help herself to one of the cherries. She picked one out of the bowl with her little monkey paw (I swear she has opposable thumbs) and started to play a game of cherry soccer, Dollie-style. I just sat back and watched her for a while, snapping a few pix but mainly enjoying this burst of spontaneous game play. She played with her little "ball" for quite some time, until it was either squishy from being batted about or eaten by one of the dogs (Adora likes cherries, we've discovered).



Later on, the bowl of cherries was sitting on our enamel table in the kitchen, and Dollie decided to play some more. She hopped up on the table, took another cherry out of the bowl, jumped onto the floor with it in her paw, and started playing soccer again. I had to laugh and watch her again, since she obviously was having fun and was oblivious to the world around her as she played. Dollie partially hid inside a plastic bag at one point, using it as a sort of blind, and repeatedly pounced on the hapless cherry. Another tactic was to send the cherry flying under and around the construction equipment in the dining room, whereafter she'd chase the little missile and intercept it in different ways. This game play is not unusual behavior for Dollie, but it always surprises and delights me. Max is a much calmer, more relaxed cat, and very rarely plays at all, but Dollie is full of mischeif.



What a weird, weird cat.

Red Stripe + Gyro = Two Hungry Dogs

Not so much hungry for the Red Stripe, although I'm sure Adora would give it a try. (Note the scrubbed wooden kitchen floor they're standing on. I only have like 20 square feet of intense scrubbing to go. Sigh....)

This is what it's like for me when I eat a meal at home ALL THE TIME. I'm always surrounded by the animals salivating and begging. Even the cats join in.

Adora—future model?

I'm reminded of the painting "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" for some reason...

A typical week night routine

Pete snuggling with the doggies—they love their papa and fight over the prime spot on him, near his face



Watching tv shows about Hitler or guns or tanks or murderers (and What Not to Wear, if Chris gets control of the remote)—here a show about Hitler is the show of choice



Chris blogging, Facebooking, or working out (mostly doing the former to avoid the latter)—note the kitty paw prints all over the laptop keyboard



That's all I got today. Feeling a bit tired, but upbeat. Happy Friday!

Mama Dodo (a.k.a. Adora)

Sometimes my pets are just so darn cute, without even trying...

Busy Bones...

...the pacifiers for dogs. Ah, peace and quiet!

Happy Thoughts—Day 5

My furry children. Life would not be as happy without them, and I know this is true, because Pete and I lived without pets (except the fish) for the first few years we were together. And let me tell you, I was always lonely for the poke of a wet nose, the touch of a furry paw, and the warm and happy lick from a happy dog. They truly make us happy, and remind us of the simple things in life.

"And they call it puppy love..."

A good motivating factor for getting your dog spayed is to watch her and your (neutered) male dog run around the house for hours, humping each other, sniffing each others' hoo-has, and whimpering in sexual frustration as they knock magazines off the table and generally tear up the house.



Adora wasn't fixed when we got her, and it's been something we have to do that's just been on the back burner with our recent wedding and all, but that magical time is here again. And it's an almost disturbing site to watch them, since Adora and Spanky normally act as brother and sister, fighting over bones and our affection, teasing each other, and getting annoyed when the other one sits on their face (that would be Adora sitting on Spanky's face). I get a weird sensation when all this goes on, as if I'm watching siblings chasing each other, and I end up feeling thoroughly weirded out.

I can't say that the recent episode when Pete and I tackled Adora in that McDonald's parking lot last weekend to put her little Pup'sters doggy diaper on her while children pointed and mothers looked on, horrified, was any less of a motivating factor. And I do admit I tire of taking Adora aside after she has once again torn off her plastic britches and explaining to her that she needs to keep them on, because mama doesn't take her underpants off and sit on all the furniture when she has her period, now does she?

I'm making an appointment for Adora today.

Photo of the Week: "Drowned Rats"

In honor of all the wet, dreary weather (and slushy weather to come this weekend), I thought I'd post this image of our dogs, Spanky and Adora. This was taken after they had gone on a two-hour walk with Pete through the woods, hills, and streets of Warrenville. They had an absolute blast with him, but it rained almost the entire time, so the three of them came back totally soaked. Did it bother them at all? Not one bit. In fact, they were all gleeful and happy when they came crashing into the nice warm and dry house, getting mud and leaves all over the place, Pete included. Of course I tsked tsked and grumbled about the mess, but I found it hard to stop smiling at my three adventurers.

Hope this weekend finds you having a thrilling time doing whatever it is you love!

Happy birthday, Adora!

How could I forget? Today is my Dodo's third birthday! I just realized it when I sleepily looked at the calendar on my wall here at work! So of course I had to do an emergency post and let the world know it's my girl's birthday. She's going to get quite the treat tonight in celebration. Boy, they grow up so fast, don't they? (sniff)

(Pix from my old cell phone)