Happy Birthday, Grandma and Elvis!

Today is January 8th!! This is my Grandma's birthday AND Elvis Presley's. Grandma would have been 89 years old today. Elvis would have been 76. I am bowing my head in honor of the memory of both of these great humans.



My Grandma was the youngest of seven (or eight, depending on who's counting) kids. Let's see. There was Sherman, Ted, John, Emma Jane, Esther, Maurice, Robert, and Ruth (my Grandma). Robert went to live someplace else when he was pretty little because some people thought he needed special care and nobody talked about him after that. Grandma Ruth was the youngest and pretty much ignored by her older brothers and sisters, except for "Maury", but he was a boy and usually playing with other boys or helping out on the farm. When she was little she used to play all by herself like she was Tarzan and she'd swing from trees. Sometimes she'd run around their farm house in Burlington Junction, Missouri, and yell out her name to no one in particular - "I AM RUTH GARNET WARE! I AM RUTH GARNET WARE!".

She married my Grandpa when she was only 18 years old, graduated from Woodbury College in Los Angeles, and then spent the rest of her life being a good mother (one daughter and three sons) and a good wife. She and my mom never quite got the art of communication down very well, so when I was adopted by my mom I had the idea of writing to my Grandma every day about my life through my Diary which I put on the internet. I figured that way Grandma and Mom could understand each other better if they went through a third person (third pup, in this case!). And it worked out really well.

When Grandma left life as we know it on November 27, 2007, Grandpa started reading my diary. It helps him feel closer to my mom and to Grandma, too. It makes him get that warm fuzzy feeling of being part of a loving family to know what his children, his grandchildren and grand doggy are up to day by day. He and my mom picked up right where they left off sixty years earlier and they talk on the phone every night at 7:00PM, too, just to say "I love you!". That's important to say to people you care about, you know!!

About Elvis, we think if he and my Grandma ever meet in that other world, she'll have a few things to say about the way he lived his life and he'll be a better man for it.



Since today is Saturday and it's a little overcast and chilly outside I decided to sleep in. Apparently that's NOT acceptable to some people who pull back the covers and shove a camera in other people's faces!! I told her to go away and leave me alone!!

Grandma..I know you're reading this from wherever you are! I love you and miss you and I'm sending you big schloppy schlurps. Happy Birthday!!

Hugs and kisses from your Grand Doggy...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Grandpa's Lights are Out!

Poor Grandpa. He called a little early tonight to say he had no electricity and all his lights were out. Mom's first thought was "did he remember to pay his bill?". Yes...he did. He says everyone's lights are out and the whole building is dark and there's NO electricity. Good thing he's on the 2nd floor instead of the 20th, huh?

He said he has two candles going. Again...Mom gets all worried and says she hopes that they're placed on non-combustible surfaces. Big words for a little dog. Roughly translated, I think she means she hopes he doesn't burn the building down. He assured her that the candles were placed on porcelain surfaces so we shouldn't worry.

Mom called the Southern California Edison company and the computer said they didn't know about any outages. This could be interesting. She made a report anyway. After all, it's not just my Grandpa but hundreds or thousands of people. It's a pretty big building.

Reporting from Temecula, California...

Your roving reporter on the ground...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

PS: Update as of Friday, 1/7/2011 at 8:07AM: The Edison Company called...um...the COMPUTER called, I mean.....and it said that there had been a power outage in our area (meaning Grandpa's area) and it apologizes for any inconvenience, and to press 1 if the power is back on. We pressed 1 and the computer apologized again and then hung up on us. How rude!! Computers are now apologizing to humans? HAH!!!

Happy New Year!!

I wore my everly most FAVORITE dress today. Western style with fringe all around and even little turquoise beads and some silver stuff. It was given to me by my fiance, Hashimoto the Shih Tsu, at the Delaware Valley Yorkshire Terrier Club show in Reading, PA last year. Does he have good taste or what, I ask you??



Mom got nutsy with her camera after we left the bank where I got oodles of compliments from absolutely everyone in there. She thinks it went to my head....say WHAT? I am humble, modest, and not one to toot my own horn, if you will. I admit it...I am beautiful and stylish, but definitely NOT conceited even a tiny bit. Not me.



After we got home I went O-U-T and checked out the back yard. Sometimes it's just nice to sit on the patio and meditate about things, you know? Us pups learn about meditation in Dogology 101. My Uncle Nick used to have a really big dog almost like a St. Bernard, and he taught her to meditate before she ate. So he'd place a piece of steak or other yummy thing on her nose and she'd have to sit there until he'd tell her it was ok to eat. She must have been a very patient dog, which I am not. I can't imagine a piece of steak staying in my bowl very long, let alone staying on my nose.



I'm just listening to my neighborhood and looking at our new neighbor's patio light arrangement. It went up around Christmas time but it's only white and blue bulbs so me and Mom figured maybe it was in honor of Hanukkah, but it's still up. So who knows, huh? It it's still up in February we'll send you a picture.

To my Grandpapa whom I love everly so much and miss him and I wish I could see him soon, Thank You for being my Grandpa and for other little things you do that we appreciate like staying in touch every day. You know what I mean. (schlurp!)

Love and kisses....

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Christmas 2010

This is what it looked like on December 22, 2010. The dry creek behind our office was almost overflowing. Chunks of the bank on the other side kept dropping into the raging torrent. A few more days of this and the parking lot on the other side will be floating downstream, cars and all.











Here's my Christmas at my cousins' house:

What a wonderful day! Family, friends, food.....and a new cousin, Bunny Lucille!



This is Clancy. He's 13 now. No, he doesn't have a pony tail. That's the back of Cailin's head. She's standing behind him, but it does sort of look like he has long hair that way, don't you think?









Electronics keep kids and other relatives occupied in the living room while I hang out in the kitchen hoping someone will let ME taste the food. That last picture is my Aunt Joelle (Uncle Jason's sister), Cailin and Clancy. Cailin got a Kindle for Christmas and she can play games on it AND read books.

I got a really neat T-shirt for Christmas. It's white and has sleeves (for cold weather) and says "I WOOF you!" on the back. I LOVE it. I also got a chocolate (the kind I can eat) pretzel. I would definitely win a pretzel eating contest. "Now you see it...now you don't!" is my mantra.

Merry Christmas to all....

Mary-Margaret

I LOVE Christmas Cards!!

This is from my very good friend, Lisa Bryant. I wanted to show her how much I appreciated her card. First thing I do with a card is "READ" it!!




Then, I taste it (the only signature I recognize is taste!) and I truly digest the meaning of the writing inside. A got a little piece of the card stuck to my tongue and you can see I was able to dislodge it successfully.





And here you see that I truly enjoyed the entire card. Yum!

Thank you, Lisa and family. Mom says "Thank you!", too. She was able to put all the little pieces in the envelope so I could "read" it again later.

Happy New Year, everyone!!

Love, Mary-Margaret

Rain, rain! Go away...! (or ET Phone Home)

Here's me, all hunkered down in my carseat. I know it's dangerous to drive in the rain and even though I have a carseat I brace myself with my hand, in case Mom has to come to a fast stop.






Even better, I skootch down in my car seat so I'm protected on all sides in case of an accident. Problem is, I can't see out all that well.








Oh, heck. Hoodie on, protective mesh all around. I'll poke my head up a little to see what's going on. Mom starts laughing at me, saying "ET...Phone Home!". Who's ET again??????

I think I'll ignore her. Not nice to sniggle at my expense, I say. I never say a word when she wakes up in the morning with her hair sticking out every which way. Nope! Not me.

I was just kidding about wanting the rain to go away. Actually, I think it's kinda kewl. All sorts of new smells to enjoy.

Love to all..


Mary-Margaret

Christmas Miracles

This started to put Mom in the Christmas spirit for the first time this year. This was sent to us by our good friend Bobbie who is a rescue lady. It's one of the nicest Christmas videos ever.

Thank you, Bobbie.

Wishing everyone peace and goodwill ...

Mary-Margaret

Seeing Santa or "Thumbthings" not right here!

Every year we go "see Santa". Some years are better than others. This year, I could tell right off that he was an imposter. See if you can spot the biggest giveaway. I am FIVE now...and I've seen a few "Santas" in my life. I'm very discriminating in my Santa tastes.




Rascal and Yogi were waiting their turn to give the imposter their Christmas lists.








Mater, the pit bull, was squirming to get away from "Santa", too. I should add that Mater was very polite and seemed to be attracted to me. I was flattered, but I told him I already had a boyfriend.









He tried to "make nice" with me while his elves were fussing with the camera and the printer, but I just turned by back to him. Everyone kept asking what I was upset about, and if I could have, I would have told them "Check out the left thumb?".



One elf asked Mom to approve my picture before they put it into the frame. Mom scrinched up her nose when she noticed that the pup wearing my dress had a green and red bow on, was black and white, and was very tiny. "That's NOT Mary-Margaret!", she said. "That's Bella!". I helps to know everyone's name. THIS is Bella. She's only eleven weeks old. We have the same designer.

I made friends with Annie and Pugsley while we waited in line.



Out in front of Petco there were so many pups and kittens in cages. I felt really guilty about my lot in life. I was one of the lucky ones. I got adopted when I was just a baby and me and my mom are totally committed to each other. Some kids aren't so lucky, and their humans can't or won't take proper care of them. They give them to a rescue place, like "LEAF" (Lake Elsinore Animal Friends) where maybe they'll be adopted. Maybe? I don't want to think about the alternative.

Me and Mom don't need anything for Christmas. Really! If you want to do something nice, go buy a bag of kibble or cat food and take it to your local shelter. Take some of those old blankets that you've been meaning to get rid of. Or towels. I put all my baby clothes in a bag and we're going to take them to LEAF. We'll call next week and see what else they can use.

Hoping you all have a happy Holiday season, and that you truly enjoy the gift of giving.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Meeting old friends...and Santa, too!

Remember my teacher, Miss Lois? Back from when I was a young puppy in school? Well, guess who I ran into at Miss Marilyn's Puppy Day Spa, hmmmmm? Yup! It's Miss Lois and her two pups, Oliver (the black one), and Kinsey (the brown one). They go to Miss Marilyn's, too.

I got to play with all my friends today AND with Oliver and Kinsey. We really got along well even though they're just a tad bigger than me. Madison was feeling a bit under the weather which makes me sad. She's taking steroids for her "condition" (I don't think I should discuss other people's or Pup's medical conditions here out of courtesy to them), but it's affecting her figure. She used to be really slim and proud of it, and now she's rounder than I am. I love her for who she is inside, though, not how she looks. We took a long time saying good-bye today. We didn't really want to leave each other, that's what good friends we are.



Here's me after being styled. I decided to look slightly down and to one side instead of directly at the camera. I learn this stuff from people in my family and I think they have something there. Yup! I like how this picture turned out. My hair ribbon is bright Christmas green to match the ribbons on my new Christmas dress (on sale at Vons for only $7.99). Mom says maybe we can go see Santa tomorrow. I hope we get one whose shins don't show and who has a beard that stays in one place. Maybe Petco? I liked their Santa from a couple of years ago when I went there with my Uncle Rudy. He was like the real thing.

About Mom...in case you were wondering...her face is still throbbing and she's popping those pain pills every four hours. She takes the antibiotics every 6 hours. The swelling is pretty localized now, but the pain won't go away. Monday is when she gets her root canal. Big whoopeee, she says.

Sorry to bore you. I know I should be writing about MY life and not my mom's but she's a pretty big part of my life AND she's the one who feeds me, drives me around, and changes channels on the TV for me. I figured I'd give her a paragraph tonight for anyone who cared.

That's it for now. Thank Dog it's Friday!!

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Mom is smiling here!

Believe it or not this is about half the size that her head was this morning. She's feeling everly so much better. This morning tears were just flowing down her cheeks and she couldn't even talk. Dr. Bishay drained the abscess and she was fine for a couple of hours and then it got even worse, so she went back and he unplugged it and it's staying unplugged until Monday when she gets her root canal.

Between pain pills, antibiotics and swishing salt water in her mouth she might just be all better pretty soon. Tonight she plans on making up for all the sleep she lost last night.

In case you forgot, this is what she looked like a few days ago. Note the symmetry? Color? Eyes going in same direction?



Love you Grandpa. Talk to you tomorrow, ok?

Your Grand-doggy and Field Agent in Temecula...

Mary-Margaret

PS - Every body has bad picture days. Here's mine (posted to make my mom feel a little better):

Dear Grandpa...

Hello! It's ME, Mary-Margaret!!

Mom asked me to write you and tell you that she can't talk. She has a really bad abscess in her #6 eye tooth and it is pretty much swollen all the way up to her eye socket and she can't smile or anything. She says not to worry because she has an appointment with her regular dentist tomorrow, and her emergency dentist took an xray and gave her a prescription for some antibiotics and now she's home and on pain pills, too. So she's quiet AND loopy. As long as she doesn't forget to feed me my supper I can live with it.

I probably shouldn't mention this now but....the dentist and both ladies in the dentist's office asked my mom "Where's Mary-Margaret?". Yeah...that's the truth. They knew me but not my mom. One lady even said if mom had just told her that she was Mary-Margaret's mom, they'd know right away who they were going to see.

So...there you have it. She says to say "sorry" about not being able to talk but that you'll understand and maybe even sympathize a little bit with her predicament. Maybe. I do. I'm being very good and loving and not bugging her.

Oh yes...and I should tell you that the garage door is being weird again, but it's got a really long guarantee so she's going to call the garage door company to come out and fix it. It "hiccups" and stops before it opens or closes, and she has to hit the button over and over before it finally does what she wants it to. Stoopid door.

She's going to go sit in her chair and try to stop hurting now. She just put a bunch of ice cubes into a wet wash cloth and she's holding it on her face. I don't think tonight is a good night to hop into her lap and ask her to share her supper, do you?

We love you, Grandpa.

Your Grand-doggy...

Mary-Margaret

Little Jordan and Rescue Ink

Every life is a miracle. God bless little Jordan! And God bless the people at Rescue Ink!

Amen

Mary-Margaret

The Holidays are HERE!

I got my first Holiday card yesterday. It was addressed to "Mary-Margaret O'Brien and Michele Dawn". I noticed whose name was first but I was polite enough not to mention it out loud. It was from my friends, Abbey Mia, Harper and Piper Leshnower in Brighton, New York. And from their Mom, Elaine.

When Mom helped open the envelope she didn't even have to read it to me. I recognized the "writing" right away and grabbed it. "Mine, Mine, MINE!" (I said) and I carried it all around our office.

It's so nice to have friends who take the time to sent unexpected greeting cards that just brighten up our days.

Thank you, Leshnowers!

Love,

Mary-Margaret

PS: Mom says "Thanks!" too.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!!

Acktchully, it was yesterday. He is NINETY years old now. We first went to Sears to get him some trousers but didn't guess his size right. And he didn't like the material so we had to take them back. We also got him a sweater vest, and personally....I thought he looked rather snazzy in an argyle knit but he says he prefers plain things. So that went back too.



Me and Mom took him to the Enterprise Fish Company for dinner. Now I can tell you first hand that they make a really great steak. I don't eat prawns but I'm told those were really good, too. We got a really nice picture of my Grandpa. He sure doesn't look ninety to me. FYI, that's 630 in dog years.

We went back to his apartment and his good friend Elizabeth (who gets called "Honey") brought him some yummy looking stuff on a skewer. I think it was strawberries and brownies. And she brought him a card. She's everly so nice to him. We're glad he has such a good friend living next door to him. And my Auntie "C" called to wish him a happy birthday while we were there. His family means a whole lot to him and he's really happy to know that he's cared about.

Then we went to my Uncle Mike and Aunt Janet's in Beverly Hills. We got to see pictures of their trip to Humboldt and it's just beautiful. I'd like to go there someday. Mom and Aunt Janet kept yawning but not from the pictures. They both had a long day. So everybody went to bed and it rained pretty hard on and off through the night.

This morning Uncle Mike and Aunt Janet took me and Mom to Starbuck's in Culver City. There's a lot of fine looking pups around there. One chihuahua kept scoping me out but I stayed pretty aloof. I'm not looking for love, just so you know.

We drove home and got there about 1:45PM, after checking our mail boxes in Murrieta and Temecula. Then we went to our house and got comfy and napped. I am pretty adept at napping by design; Mom just dozes off without planning to. She needs more practice.

Happy Day after your birthday, Grandpa! I love you!!

Mary-Margaret

Dear Grandpa...

Today Mom finally fixed her tool drawer. It was the bottom drawer in a stack of four on the left of her dishwasher. After maybe FOURTEEN YEARS, she took all the stuff out of it, and set it up on the counter, and completely took it apart into five pieces: The front, the back, two sides and a bottom. She got out her hammer and the glue, and started straightening nails, banging on it and gluing it and taping it and .....ta daaaa....it's like new.

You ask how it got broken in the first place? Hmmmmmmm? Well, it's like this. When a six year old kid wants to climb up to a high cupboard and he's not the kind of kid that asks for help, he gets creative and makes stairs out of drawers. I wasn't born yet, and she won't tell me which kid it was, but....if it was 14 years ago and the kid was 6 at the time, that would make him 20 now. Recognize anyone, Mr. Randy Roo?

Oops...I wasn't supposed to tell you.

Oh well...

Love,

Mary-Margaret

National Debt Clock

Visit the U.S. National Debt Clock


Mom was talking to Melissa's friend Theresa tonight and they were trying to figure out the National Debt and exactly WHO we owed it to. I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep. I don't count dollars and cents. I count kibbles and chicken parts. For me there's nothing else.

If you keep refreshing the page the debt figures change. Scary, huh? We go deeper in debt by $4.15 billion a day. Man, what I could do with $$ like that. I'd put all the Puppy Mills out of business and make sure every fur baby had a good home. And a Frisbee in every dog house. That's what I'd do.

Kisses...

Mary-Margaret

Ups 'n Downs

A couple of days ago I was "arfing" at the door. I heard people go by and I wanted to be polite and say "Hello! Please come in and make yourselves at home!". By the time pokey Mom got to the door they were just leaving the hallway. I raced down the hall as fast as I could and darted out the door.

"YOU GET BACK HERE!", I hear my roommate/partner/mom yell. You'd think she'd know that does no good by now, but she tries. She's running down the hall and gets out the double doors just as the elevator door starts to close. Yup! That's me in the elevator, just sitting there alongside a lady I hadn't met yet. Well, you know what they say...a friend is just a stranger you haven't been introduced to yet!

The lady says "Hey!". I look up at her and smile. She says "You don't belong in here!". Oh yes I do (I thought) and stood my ground. Meanwhile, the "momster" is saying "Get out of there!" and I'm not budging. I know my rights.

Bottom line - between the two ladies I am no longer on the elevator and I'm being scooped up and carried back to my office. So NOT fair, I think. But it's not over yet.

We get almost back to the office and we hear the phone ring. By this time I'm back on the ground walking along, sniffing here and there. Mom throws open the door and dives for the phone thinking I'm right there. (hehehhehe!)

A while later, Hector and his pup, Maxie, walk into the office. I'm happily playing with Maya and mentoring her on how to get along with others. Mom's still yakking on the phone so Hector just waits. Mom hangs up and thanks him for dropping by. He looks at her sort of funny and says that he didn't mind at all. He just wanted to let me into our office since he didn't think I was supposed to be outside our door.



This is my friend Maxie!!

"OHMYGAWSH!", says my mom. Then she narrows her eyes at me and says "You little stinker!". I just give her my everly most winning smile. What can I say at this point? I love adventure. She is (in my opinion), overprotective and stifling. I am (in HER opinion) an unruly teenager.

Yeah yeah (I think). "What-everrrrrrrr!!"

Kisses and hugs...

Mary-Margaret

Monday Morning Meeting

My very good friend, Kitty, was waiting for me at his usual spot. Mom rolled down my window so we could visit.

I spent a long time "talking" to him, telling him the news of our neighborhood, and about my new neighbor. Kitty was very polite and just listened without interrupting.

We've known each other for a very long time...like maybe years. Nothing like having good friends around.

Have a great week, everybody.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Friday Fun!

I have been VERY good ever since my adventure last Wednesday. Really, I have. So I got to go see the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile this afternoon. It looks like a very big hot dog on wheels. They wanted to let me go ON the thing but I was just as happy looking at it. Mom got a picture of me and two weenie elves or whatever they're called. They were very nice but honestly, can you imagine? There were NO treats at all. Not one teenie weenie weinie. And I apologize. That's not one of my most flattering poses. If you double click on the picture you'll see what I mean. How unladylike, I ask you? Arrggghh!



In the market I saw some of my old friends. One of them even got a pup after finding out that we can be helper dogs, too. She got herself a Papillon named "Elvis" and she's absolutely over the moon in love with him. Most impressive was that she remembered my name...sort of. She called me "Margaret", which is better than most people do. And there was another helper dog in the market who was a puffy white toy Poodle. We're everywhere.

We're glad it's Friday. Mom says she's sick of tests. Next time the doctor asks her how she feels, she'll just say "Fine!" and that'll be it. Yup!

Love and schlurps...

Mary-Margaret

Mary-Margaret's Excellent Adventure!

Mom went to the dentist this morning and I was NOT invited. The NERVE, I say. She was only gone for maybe an hour and I didn't have much time to express my feelings anywhere in the house(darn, darn....double DARN!).

She says we have to go to work but first she's going to take out the trash. She told me to "Stay, Mary-Margaret!", which I usually do but ...like, she didn't deserve any consideration from me. She opened the door, I ducked under the big, black trash bag (while she thought I was still sitting in the kitchen), and then I made a run for it.

Out the open garage door, down the driveway, and down the sidewalk. Mom dumped the garbage into the can and took off after me, huffing and puffing and yelling "YOU STOP!", "SIT!", "STAY". I'd let her get about 10 feet from me and then I'd give her a big grin and keep on going. Wheeeee! This is fun, I said. I do so love the game of "chase". Well? I get bored all by myself, you know!

We did that a few times and she finally (DOH!!) got the message. Yelling at me and calling me "Little Stinker", and "Shithead" is NOT going to bring me back. About 2 houses down, just past our mailbox on a post, she stops and sort of squats down. This is unexpected, so I hear her out.

"Good puppy!", she says. "Mommy LOVES you!" and "Do you want a treat? Or maybe some scratchies?". Hmmmmmm (I say). "Scratchies" does sound good. So I start walking very slowly back to her. She gets up and slowly starts walking back to me. I let her pick me up and we giver each other kisses.

There's some old saying about catching more flies with honey, and I think that applies here in my case. The idea of scratchies and treats was a lot more appealing than being yelled at, don't you think?

PS - I don't think I've EVER called her "Shithead" in either English OR Doglish. How rude, huh? Next time, I might go all the way to the corner and see how she likes it.

Love,

Mary-Margaret