I JUST Woke Up....

...and you'd think she'd have SOME respect. SHE hasn't even had her coffee yet but she has the camera in my face. Maybe she's getting even with me for last night's little dip in the water bowl?

(yawn)

Mary-Margaret

Like...I was maybe a Labrador or...

a Spaniel or something in a previous life? I just LOOOOOVVVVE water. So far I haven't been swimming, but I think Mom's gonna buy me a play pool. Oh I do so HOPE that she does. I practice in my water bowl. Stroke stroke stroke breeeeeeathe....only all the water goes on the floor.

I act like I'm really thirsty and just puppy-eye my mom to death so she fills my upstairs water bowl to the brim. I start leisurely lapping it up until she goes in the other room and then whoooppppeeeee! I pick up this supposedly "untippable" water bowl, turn it all the ways upside down and splash around in it. I mean, like...what's the big deal? The floor is tile and all? So why is Mom yelling at me?

Like I KNOW what the word "NOOOOO!" means, but now she's getting all red in the face and her eyes are bugging out at me. I hop onto the bed just to get out of her way. I mean if she faints or something I don't want her landing on MEEEE. But she just goes and gets MY towel and tosses it on the floor and glares at me. Then she stomps off muttering "I just don't know WHAT is the MATTER with you, Mary-Margaret".

Hmmmm? Maybe if I had my own pool to play in I wouldn't try to swim in my "untippable" water bowl?

Oops. Here she comes again. Next thing I'll be getting my own computer maybe?

Love, Mary-Margaret

SIX POINT FOUR POUNDS....

....and growing. Gosh! I mean, I wanted to be big and all, but I just got two new outfits. I really like them, too. I don't WANT to outgrow them already. I think I'm big enough. I'm eight and one half months old. I don't think I'll be growing much more, do you?

Puppy School was pretty kick-back today. Only five of us showed up, and three were Shih Tzus: Maximus (Max for short), PeeWee, and Pepper. Samantha, the black lab, was there, and me. Then Miss Heather let Wyatt out for a bit. He's like about 55 pounds, and might be Australian Shepherd mixed with a few other things. He's really cool and we have fun playing sometimes. Mostly I played with Pepper and Max, though. Max likes to wrestle like I do. Pepper likes to get more personal and I'm not into that. I nip at him to remind him when he forgets.

Then Mom took me home because it was way too hot to leave me in the car while she went to the market. Good News! She bought chicken again. Thank goodness. I guess I might want to eat that canned stuff in a real emergency, but ugh! That would be like humans eating Dinty Moore beef stew out of the can. Or Spam. blegh!

Have a great weekend. I know I will.

Love, Mary-Margaret

From "gneat" to "gnarly"

This is me getting ready for work in the morning. See how neat my hair is?

This is me in the afternoon at Puppy School, getting Pepper to flip on his back for me. See how my hair looks now? (hee hee hee)

PS: Yuck. Mom bought some new canned stuff for me at the pet store. One was turkey and duck, one was Chicken Pot pie, one was some wild game thing, and then there was Chicken Soup for the Puppy. Where DOES she come up with this stuff? I tried the Pot Pie thing. Actually real chunks of chicken in there, and some peas and carrots and things. Still...for what she paid I would have preferred fresh roast chicken like I always have. Maybe the ants will get it. Blegh!!
Love, Mary-Margaret

What a great day!!

First, I get to wear one of my new outfits. This one came with bloomers but some "bloomin' twit" had holes only just for my legs and tail. What was mom supposed to do? Help me undress every time I had to go "out"?? We decided to leave the bloomers at home. :o)

Then Star dropped by for a surprise play date. We had the absolutely best of times. As a treat, we got liver flavored Charlee Bears and my mom even gave HER mom a baggie full of them to take home. Star is just one of my very best ever friends. I wish Sarabi lived closer to me so we could have play dates, too. :o(

And THEN Mrs. Graff came by with more papers for Mom to route out for service. I like this picture of Mrs. Graff and me everly so much better, don't you? She has such a pretty smile, I think. I'm practicing mine, but so far it's a struggle. But if my Uncle Sneakers could do it, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually.

And NOW it's time for Puppy School and what is Mom doing? Hmmmm? Oh big surprise. She's still working. She didn't leave her desk until about 4:15PM which meant I only got a half hour of Puppy School. But that's ok. Only five kids showed up so I got some good one-on-one time with everyone. I sort of got into it with Toby because he wants to ...well, let me put it this way. I'm NOT that kind of girl, if you know what I mean.

Hope you all have as good a day as I did yesterday.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Mrs. Graff stopped by....

...and I have to tell YOUUU! I just love her. She talks to me, and holds me and cuddles me. She's the type of person that really should have a Yorkshire Terrier. But she has really big pups at home, and they're way to big to play rock-a-bye puppy with. (sigh)

Mom tried to take a picture of me and Mrs. Graff, but I wiggled as usual. Honest? It's like my motor is in high rev mode. I just cannot absolutely sit still for even a second unless I'm sleeping. It's either "on" or "off" with me.

I'll post the picture here but already Mom has asked her to come by and have another one taken. Well, that...and to bring some copies of some papers by, but to me the picture is the most important thing.

Love, Mary-Margaret

It musta been sumthin I ate!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, my poor tummy. Fidel calls it the "Bubblies"; Mom calls it the "Trots". A lady on one of moms lists calls it the "Scoots". Whateverrrrrr. It was awful. Mom was pretty green on Saturday and that's when it started for me, too. We talked about it and think maybe it was that chicken we had Friday night. (urp)

I've managed to make it to my piddle pad most of the time with only a teensy miss here and there, so Mom doesn't have a lot of mopping up to do. She took me to see Dr. V today. Oh, I just love Dr. V SOOO much, and I got to see a couple of Miss Letty's finches. They're all grown up and on their own, but when Miss Letty whistles for them they fly right up to her. They think she's their mom, you know.

My temperature was normal and I forgot to act sick. But Dr V is doing a couple of little tests just in case. She gave me some doggie stuff like Pepto-Bismol and told Mom to give it to me twice a day until it's gone. I thought I was better tonight, but after dinner I had the "Bubblies" again, so it's a good thing we got checked. I got to see Dolly, my Yorkie friend, and Luke, that new kid from Puppy School. They were both getting check ups, too.

You know what? Miss Letty says she thinks they're going to get a Yorkie just like me. Even Dr. Hill (that's her husband) likes Yorkies, but Benelli and Mordecai and (oh gosh) I think it's Rosie but I'm not sure. They're all big dogs. Miss Letty just wants a baby in her house. And what better choice could she make, I ask you??

Mom's friend from a professional list she's on just got her baby Yorkie and named her "Molly". And here's her picture. I think she's just the cutest baby ever. Mom says she looks just like I did when I was a baby.

When I see these little kids it makes me want a little brother or sister. I'll have to see if Mom will go for it. We have a good thing going but gosh, I don't want to be an only child for my whole life, you know?

I'll work on her.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Memorial Day and Making up for Sunday

Dear Diary: Sunday started out sort of lazy but after Mom made a list of things to do we got busy. She says the problem is remembering what needs to be done when she has time to do it. So we went to the office and opened mail, got gas, made a serve, went to Petsmart, and then to Longs Drugs. I get to ride in the kiddie seat of the carts and I'm very quiet. People always seem so surprised when they actually notice I'm there.

Petsmart is one of my favorite places. Yesterday we went for Piddle Pads and "untippable" water bowls. Mom bought three of them in designer colors to match her decor but she's returning them. (hee hee hee) "Untippable" is NOT in my vocabulary.

I also got two new outfits since Mom says I've outgrown most of my old clothes. Mom's going to take them to Puppy School for some of the new kids who don't have clothes yet. Both are in pink, my favorite color. Mom almost bought me a hat to match one of the outfits but I talked her out of it. I like my hair JUST THE WAY IT IS. We compromised a bit, though, and I let her buy me some colored hair clips. (sigh) Another 12 clips to make disappear, but such is my life.

Whatever Mom had the other day, I had last night. Maybe it was a "little boog" or something. But at least I had the decency to take care of it on my piddle pad and then NOT get back into bed with Mom. I slept on my cushion in the bottom of the TV cabinet and when Mom woke up she checked me out. Then she held my rear end under a stream of warm water and dried me with a fluffy towel. She's thoughtful that way, you know. And she never gets mad at me unless I do something on purpose like when I'm miffed with her. She just cuddles me and says "Oh, you poor little thing!", and stuff like that. Then I threw up this morning, but after that I feel absolutely POSITIVELY fine fine FINE!. I think this is a "Memorial Day", don't you?

I'll try to write more later. Have a really great day, everyone! :o)

Love, Mary-Margaret

We're going into the office today to work on bank statements.

Common Sense 101

First thing you need to know is NOT to eat something you find in the freezer if you can't remember when you put it there.

Mom sure learns stuff the hard way. I mean, it's not as if she doesn't say to me all the time "No, Mary-Margaret. Dried earthworms are NOT snack food", and stuff like that. So she finds this yummy looking canneloni thingy and doesn't remember putting it there and fires it up with the microwave anyway. Not two hours later, she's looking a bit green and excusing herself from my Puppy Class a few times.

I was getting worried about her so I hung around outside the door waiting for her to come out. Then I didn't leave her side until we got home. She's still feeling a bit "punk", so I'm being everly so thoughtful and staying out of her way.

Samantha, the black lab, came back to puppy class and I had to have a very serious heart-to-heart with her. She's just GOT to realize she's about 10 times my size and when she comes galooping over to me, I'm going to duck and flatten myself on the concrete. Also, Dolly and I had a bit of a tiff, but nothing serious. She's just a baby and I have to remind her how to play nice. Poor Pepper wants his mom when the big guys start their woofing. He huddles into her blouse until the class settles down, and then he comes to play with me. I really get along well with Pepper and Java. Java mostly played with the bigger kids, though. Java gets along well with everyone, too.

Oh..I have to go look after my mom again. See you later.

Love, Mary-Margaret

My Day at the Spa

I love going to Miss Patty's Country Kennels. All the girls treat me everly so nicely, and I get my hair and nails done. Then Mom and I go through Siggy's Drive-thru. We get a scrambled egg and bacon (crisp) breakfast sandwich on ever so lightly toasted sour dough with mayo, lettuce and tomato. Back at the office, Mom cuts up the egg and bacon from one half the sandwich and puts it into my office lunch bowl. YUMMMM!! It's the absolutely most best sandwich ever. The downside of Groomer Day is that she just HAS to take a picture of me. I HATE having my picture taken. She says I look like Fu Man Chu here, and I'm only missing the beanie.



So fine, she's right. That picture is pretty bad. Here's my compromise picture. I still look like I'm Oriental, but at least you can see my eyes. Miss Jenny was my groomer today and Mom left a list of do's and dont's. I have to say Miss Jenny did a great job. It took actually a few minutes to muss my top knot, and maybe an hour to get the clip out of it. I probably could have destroyed that darn clip if Sonia hadn't made me drop it. Still, one less clip in the world is NOT a bad thing.

PS: Did I mention that I am SIX POINT THREE POUNDS NOW?? Woo hoo. If I keep getting bigger, maybe Mom will let me go outside and play by myself. Maybe I'm too big to worry about owls and hawks now? Maybe?

G'night, everybody.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Arrrghhh! Don King, indeed!

Thank goodness I'm going to Miss Patty's Country Kennels today. Enough with the wisecracks, Mom!!

Sincerely miffed,

Mary-Margaret

Who is Don King?

And why does Mom laugh and say I remind her of him? Gosh. I just took out two blue hair clips and a pony holder and my hair was sticking straight up. Soooo?

I was a mentor again today, this time to a new kid - Luke - who is half German Shepherd/half Collie, Pepper and Lila. Dolly, the Oripei, and Toby played together. Poor Java tried to get a drink of water and Benelli was in a rotten mood, so Java got nipped. Miss Letty knows what to do, though, and it wasn't long before Java was back mixing it up with the crowd again.

I'm sorry I didn't write yesterday. Grandma even called Mom tonight to make sure I was ok. It's just that we worked late and got home just in time to watch the East coast feed of "Lost", and when that was over, we watched "American Idol". I'm glad Taylor won. He has hair just like mine. :o)

Good night, everyone.

Love, Mary-Margaret

I've been insulted...

...or at least I think I have. Mom said "Phew...you STINK, Mary-Margaret!", so I got a shower this morning. Well, gosh. I mean, what's a puppy to do? I play, I roll in the grass and in the plants outside my office. I root around in the trash. I play in the piles of dirty laundry. I wouldn't have used the word "stink" in that tone. I might have said something like "Oh, my GOOOOOODness, you are most fragrant today", you know?? I'm very polite!!

Anyway, here's a picture of me after my shower, with conditioner and everything. I even got a blow-dry, and pretty blue barrettes. Mom says I'm a lot silkier now, and maybe I'm not a "woolie" after all. Maybe I just needed a good bath.

Love,

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Monday again!

Monday just keeps comin'. Every 7 days and we do Monday again. Today, we rushed about getting ready for a hearing. I'm not allowed to go inside the court so Mom took me home and I babysat myself again. She was suing someone for not paying her and it was pretty "slam-dunk", she says. Good thing I watch basketball, so I know that's good.

Then she comes back for me and we go work some more. Back to the office, then out in the field. One of her "servees" even said "hi" to me, and said to Mom, "I see you have your partner with you again". Partner - I kind of like that. Makes me pretty proud. Maybe I can get my own business card?

Oh yes. Before I forget I want to tell you. My Auntie Leslie is in LOVE with "Jack the Cat" and has made his picture her screen-saver. I very thoughtfully gave Auntie Leslie Jack-the-Cat's pouch number (E-070) in case she wanted to send him a little something. It's so nice to have my Aunties and Uncles on an overnight courier route, don'cha think?

Have a great day, everyone.

Love, Mary-Margaret

I babysat myself this morning...

...while Mom met her friend, Margie, for breakfast. They do that a couple of times a month. Before, I'd wait patiently in my carseat. Now, Mom says I'm old enough to stay alone for a couple of hours at a time. I guess I am a big girl but, as soon as I hear that garage door open, I skedaddle right into the kitchen so that I'm the first thing she sees when she walks in. I really miss her a lot and I leap into her arms and hang on really REALLY tight for a while.

After a bit, we went out and she worked. Then we went into the office for a few hours. There, I'm either sitting on Mom's shoulder looking out the window or napping in my office bed. She might have to work, but it's MY day off.

Really, it IS!!

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS: Grandma thinks Jack the Cat is really cute but that he deserves a more sophisticated name. Mom thinks he's a "Mortimer". Personally, I think Jack's a good name for him. Besides, HE picked it out, so it must be right.

My Friends at Puppy School

Toward the end of puppy school yesterday, things settled down quite a bit. Poor Peaches was told that he has graduated and shouldn't have to return. I know that upset him quite a bit. Miss Letty will call Peaches' mom and have a talk with her. Then, Bentley left. See, here's the thing! Bentley and Peaches are pretty agressive, so it gets the other kids going. Peaches likes to stir stuff up and then he hops on the nearest lap, including MY mom's. Bentley is probably ready to have his "little surgery", but his parents are moving to Hawaii and don't think it's important right now.

This picture is of my good friend Java (at the top), Toby (boxer-shar pei), and Dolly (Oripei, which means she's half shar pei and half pug). And see? They're all playing really nice together. We all get along so well usually. I was busy with a new kid, Pepper. Pepper is a little Shih Tzu and looks almost identical to my old friend, Moses. He was kind of shy and needed a mentor. That's what Miss Letty says I am. A mentor. Doesn't that sound important? I just get along with everybody and make them feel right at home. That's my job.

Sincerely,
Mary-Margaret O'Brien
Teacher's Aide and Mentor

More "Jack the Cat" pictures

Here's how LITTLE Jack the Cat is compared to my Uncle Rudy.
Here's Jack the Cat playing all by his little lonesome on the stairs at his house. I hope he knows how lucky he is to be adopted by my Auntie C and Uncle Jason. He's got it absolutely MADE for life now.

PS: Mom wants to know how Auntie C can keep her carpet so clean with two kids, two cats, one dog, a tarantula, and Lord knows what else lives there? She can't even keep hers clean with just MEEEEE!

Hugs and kisses to everyone, especially "Jack the Cat"

Mary-Margaret

Jack the Cat...Finally!

At last. A picture of my new cousin/nephew whateverrr. Oh, I just LOVE him. I can't wait to meet him in person.

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever? And that's a compliment, what with him being a cat and all.
Already I can see that my cousins, Cailin and Clancy, are quite taken with Jack. JJJJJ..aaaaack! I guess it's not that hard to say except for the JJJJJ part. Hard to get my tongue against the roof of my mouth to say it. So for now, I'll just call him "Aaaaack". I can do that. Really, I can.

Love, Mary-Margaret

English is becoming my primary..

..language, at last. I can understand some of what Mom says. Like, for example, she had to go out on a "serve" so she said (in hushed tones) "Sonia? Would you mind babysitting for a bit"? I heard "baby sitting" and I just knew what was next. So I ran over to the door, with my leash, and sat right there. No one goes ANYWHERE with out me. Uh uh!!

Mom doesn't mind, really, unless it's warm out. Then she doesn't like to leave me in the car and I get to go serve papers with her too. I like that part. I am always very polite and people are very nice to me. I think I help Mom in her job. I guess she thinks so, too, 'cause she says "Nice job, Mary-Margaret!!". And she rubs my ears just where I like it.

We went home early today. Mom says her head was fuzzy and she really needed to take a rest. She hasn't really had a day off for maybe eight days straight, and the one day she did take she spent on the freeway taking me to visit my Grandma and GrandPapa. It wasn't like she got much rest at all. And then before that, she said she couldn't remember the last day she got to herself. She says it's ok, though. When you have your own business, you may be your own boss in one sense, but you actually answer to all of your clients, so it's like having hundreds of bosses instead of one. She wouldn't have it any other way, either.

I'm just glad to be there for her to cuddle and hug when she gets stressed. Today I was very good..except for the kibbles on the carpet. I don't know what's the matter with me, but I just can't help myself. Later, I even talked Mom into staying outside and just watching the birds and feeling the breeze on her face and smelling the flowers. Worked for me, anyway. I think she enjoyed the moment, too.

Tomorrow, we go out in the field again, and Sunday we do bank statements. At least we always have a reason to get up in the morning. That's a plus.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Kitty Cat CATch-up!

My new cousin/nephew politely informed Auntie C that his name is "Jack", and not "Gus". She says he's doing well and learning how to drink from a bowl. Auntie C uses a syringe to feed him when he's not blowing bubbles into his dish with his nose. He's just a baby and these things take time, you know. Auntie says she'll send me pictures tonight and I'll share with you, Dear Diary. I can't WAIT to meet him. Yes, I think "Jack" is a good name, don't you?

Love, Auntie Mary-Margaret