We Are SO Excited

Welcome (almost) Home!

We are all so happy about your homecoming. I tried to document it:

First I spoke with the guys and I maybe should have given them a hint.

But Groundy gets it

We hope you have safe and easy travels and will all be inside waiting for you!

Love
A, G, P & B

*Disclaimer: do not read into my being in the kitchen for during those interviews.

On Winn Dixie

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Because of Winn Dixie.

I don't think I was adequately emotionally prepared for BOWD.

I knew it was about a dog. But still. When I saw that face.

I was really mad at Jeff Daniels for being so uncool about everything. Tell her something about her mom, Jeff. Don't call the pound, Jeff. Stop trying to make church funny, Jeff. None of it was working.
....But he won me over when he explained WD's reaction to the thunder storm as a "pathological fear." I should have seen that as foreshadowing, btw.

The character named Amanda also bummed me out, but she turned out okay.

In fact, everyone turned out okay!

LOVED the librarian and her sadness candy.

(Though I question her choice of Gone with the Wind for Gloria.)

LOVED the party

 LOVED the pet store with geese, goats and a tiny pig!

I did NOT love it when WD ran away during the party. Okay. I know he was only gone for a few hours--but still. Also, did not love Gloria's immediate reaction of "don't be rude to your party guests" "let it go" attitude. What the heck, Gloria???

Overall, it was a real tear jerker and there may have been moments of hugging Groundhog while crying. Hogs was also moved--I'm pretty sure.

Finally, this movie contained one of my favorite dialogues of all time. Because I too have been to parties without pickles and they were the worst.

---------------------------
Now back to real life. Grammy is in the the garden and Tammy is coming in a few hours.

G at the Pump Room

This morning, I finally took Groundy with me to see the girls. I should note right away that there are no photos of this event. This is not because I didn't take any, rather that half of them are a frantic blur and the other are of my bed--under which Smidge was hiding.

G was beyond beyond excited about this adventure and true to form, she knew exactly where we were going when we rounded the corner on my block. She practically dragged me to the door of my apartment (which is extra funny considering I'd always assumed she was excited to see me there and I was clearly already with her--maybe she's been excited to see Lu?).

When I unlocked the door, S looked at me as though I'd arrived with 10 running vacuums. G's tail was wagging wildly and S bolted. The conversation was probably something like this:

Groundhog: HELLO NEW BEST FRIEND--LET ME LOVE YOU!!!!
Smidge:--------

G's feelings couldn't be hurt for long because my apartment is SO exciting. She went running around smelling everything, delighting in the leftover yuks and, of course, Lu. This whole time Lu was in her red throne just glaring sassily. G stuck her sweet face right into L's and L started making a mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr noise BUT she never hissed or swatted or bristled.

I fed Lu her fresh yuks while Hogs supervised and then went to try and coax the chicken out of hiding.

Poor S was making these pathetic weird squeaky noises and audibly panting but she crawled from under the bed and let me hold her next to G who was momentarily very still and gentle.

All in all, it was a grand experiment that I will retry tomorrow.

Otherwise, today has been warm and humid and LOOKS a lot like rain.

I am finally going to watch Winn Dixie and will report back.

If the rain holds off, G and I might try Carl's again tonight.

And now: a random cat pics because let's face it, a post is no fun without pictures.

I love this sweet sleepy guy.

B is content to cuddle with any part of my person--including, I guess, my foot.

Between Storms

Last night we had some big storms and woke up to a rainy morning, so the pets stayed in again, but the rest of the day has been pretty adventurous.

B spent a long time on the back porch acting skittish and intense. I went out to investigate and found him hunting a large beetle. Afterwards he posed like this for an hour.

He was so proud of himself and is currently snuggling my foot whilst chewing on the power cord to my computer.

Miss G, while not as itchy pants, was looking a little raggedy. So, I seized the opportunity while terrible neighbor was out, to bathe her in the driveway. She was SUCH a sweet girl and stood still the whole time. She only shook out once in my face and after her bath, I let her chase the hose water for a little while. She loved it and is now looking, feeling and (most importantly) smelling a whole lot better.

Here's her glamor shot while she was drying on the back porch

Finally, the other day we ran out of kitty treats, so I picked up some basic Whiskas Temptations from Giant, to tide us over until I got nicer ones later in the week, but oh man: P is OBSESSED with the ones I brought home. They are "milk filled" and he loses his mind and sense of decorum every time I give him a few. He will dart in front of both G and B and steal theirs before they know what's happened.

A big happy day for everyone in between some nice thunderstorms.

Guess Who Got Her Video Working?

Highlights:
B winks at the camera around 24 seconds in
P makes a very sweet noise

Midnight TV Madness

Here's a chilling little tale:

Last night (this morning) around 2am, I heard voices murmuring in the family room. I sat right up and tried to wake up enough to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. P was sleeping by my side, G was fast asleep next to the bed and B was in the hall stretched out on the big dog bed--none of the pets seemed at all bothered by what I was hearing.

I crept out into the hall and there was definitely a loud conversation happening downstairs. At this point, all 3 pets began to stir and assume (wrongly) that it was first morning. They were swarming my ankles and running up and down the first three steps.

Then, I heard the familiar jingle of the Stanley Steemer commercial.

The remote control was next to the TV and yet, the TV was on, on a different channel than I had been watching, and with a significantly louder volume.

You guys,  I am not sure what BooHoo is trying to tell me, but I am certain that I don't love it.

In all fairness, this brand of haunting is much less messy than the time he exploded the champagne bottle all over the pantry, but still....not great.

Another Lazy Weekend

For some reason it didn't occur to me that there would be fireworks on Saturday night, too. There were. We spent much of the night in the same arrangement as Friday--with G sticking close to me and P sticking close to G.

Overall, it's been a very sleepy and lazy weekend. Yesterday morning Grammy came by to work on the garden some and Groundy was VERY well-monitored. She got lots of treats (G, not Grammy) and pets, but stayed inside with me for most of the gardening.

In the afternoon, we took a walk with Tippy. I went over to get him and spent a good long time calling him and getting more and more nervous when he didn't come from wherever he was hiding before I remembered that he's deaf. Finally, I found him sleeping upstairs. Both dogs were very polite on our little stroll around the neighborhood and put a herd of barking corgis to shame.

Yesterday was so so nice and cool. I even left the door to the back porch open for most of the early morning. Purrcy and Bilbo were beside themselves, and even though they could now come and go as they pleased, they still liked to reowwww and creep by the window respectively.

This morning P caught yet another bird and left it on the roof of the van. It took some fancy tricks, but I got it down. If you're keeping track, that's: 3 birds, 1 snake and a creature. I never did find the creature again after I saw him carrying it around. I sort of hope I never do (actually, I entirely hope it).

P is such a smart guy, that I think the last bird was actually a gift for you all. He knows you'll come home in the van and was hoping to leave it there as a surprise--sorry for ruining his plan...

Cozy after another stressful night

Also, Ghog is SIGNIFICANTLY less itchy. I would even say she is just normal-for-her itchy and is shedding only a normal amount, too. I am so happy that she seems more comfortable.

We hope you guys had a great time in Ireland! Fáilte ar ais!