Job Aspirations?

I figure that if things don't work out for me at my current job, I can always apply to the TSA (Traffic Safety Administration) as a professional Cheeto Sniffer. I had this package all picked out on Christmas Eve. Problem was that it didn't say "To Mary-Margaret" on it. It was for my Cousin Cade. We negotiated a bit and he let me open it for him.



Notice how I only took off the wrapping paper but I left the bag of Cheetos intact? Cade and I both share a love of Cheetos, me ever since my Auntie Dee (Shadow's mom) sent me a baggie full for my birthday. I was rewarded for my efforts and let me tell YOUUUUU, it was absolutely worth it.

Heavenly!

MMOB

Round One! (The Day After Christmas)

Here's me and Sammy the Cat playing "tag". Auntie Sissie thinks that Sammy doesn't like me but that's silly. EVERYBODY likes me. I think. Er....I hope? Well, anyway, me and Sammy are having fun. See?

All that chat and stuff in the background is Mom and AuntieSissie talking about sales and shopping, and maybe a little of my Cousin Carter, too. We had a house full of family, I tell YOUUUUU!

The Challenge and The Tease came before round one.

Here's the Challenge - note how I try to negotiate peacefully with my opponent? She isn't interested, apparently.



Here's the Tease:



We're both being like....way cool, you know? Neither of us wants to show our hand.

Love,

MM

My Mom and the "Cousins"

 
Here's me and my cousin Sophie (Sophia Maria Teresa Alphonso Alberghetti). We are BFFFF (Best Female Fur Friends Forever). We met at about 6:15AM on 12/24. Long story but...oh heck, I'll tell you.

First off, it's pretty snowy stormy in the middle of the country. So our plane is delayed maybe an hour 'til 7:35PM. About 6:00PM Mom reaches for her cell phone at the airport and realizes she left it at Aladdin's Park and Ride. She gets a lady named Scarlett to watch our carry on, grabs MEEEEEEEEE and RACES out of the terminal back to where the bus let us off. She flags down another Aladdin bus and the driver speeds back to the parking lot. Mom hops off and runs to the car, grabs the cell phone and jumps back on the bus (where she left me, I might add!), hands the driver a really nice tip and he takes us right back to the airport. We skid into the gate at 6:45PM, out of breath but in time to board. Between you and me, I never saw Mom move so fast in my whole life.

OK...back to meeting Sophie. So our plane lands about 1:22AM and we get our luggage off the carousel, go outside (brrrrrr!) and NO AUNTIE SISSIE. "Uh oh", Mom says, and gets out her cell phone. There are three messages on it, the first one saying "Uh...this isn't good news, but my car broke down and I'm waiting for Joel to come and get me!". Mom calls Auntie Sissie and finds out she's about 39 miles out of town, freezing, with both Cade (who wore a jacket) and Randy (who thought he'd be sitting in a warm car and only wore a T-shirt). This would be a good time to mention they live about 110 miles from the airport, I think. Mom offered to get a hotel and worry about hooking up with them later, but Auntie Sissie and Joel said "No way!", and they picked us up a couple of hours later. We waited in a "park and ride" building across the street from the terminal for a couple of hours and let me tell YOUUUUUU. It's pretty scary being all by ourselves which we were for about an hour after the other two people left. Plus, Mom expected me to use my piddle pad right there smack in the middle of the waiting area ...like hello? Strangers could walk in and see me? Uh....I don't THEEEEENK so!! I have manners, you know.

About 3:45AM we looked up and saw Auntie Sissie come in the door. She helped us with our luggage and we all jammed into a little Hyundai. That would be 3 grown ups, 3 children and ONE SMALL DOG in a teensy five person car (we probably coulda gotten a ticket for that, huh?). We got to know each other pretty well, I might add. It was icy and snowy and really REALLLY cold so it took a while to get to Auntie Sissie's house. The door opened and WOO HOO! Sophie and I were nose to nose....both of us said "YIKES!" at the same time. But from then on we were everly the best of friends.



I'll tell you more later.

Love and kisses,

Mary-Margaret

Christmas Fun & My Uncle Rudy's Title

Everybody went out to Macaroni Grill for dinner except MEEEE and my Uncle Rudy. Not to worry, though. We'd rather have chicken. Noodles aren't my cuisine of choice.

Then they all came back to MY house and we opened pressies. Here's Mom with probably one of her favorite gifts: Pictures of her grandkids (also my cousins) Cailin and Clancy.


My cousin, Cailin, already tipped off my Mom that she wanted navy blue Converse sneakers with NO laces. It's really kewl to wear shoes like that these days.

We got my cousin, Clancy, a "Blue Man Group" percussion set. It's so neat-o. He can even put his mp3 player in it and play along. I think he'll have a lot of fun with that.



Oh yeah. Here's me in my new Christmas sweater. Help! I've turned into an Ewok! Arrrrrrgggh! (Just kidding. I love it. Hoodies are SOOOO in style these days!)

Duke Rudy the Possible of Fiddlehope in the Marsh Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

When I told my Uncle Jason and Auntie C that I was a titled aristocrat, they thought for SURE my Uncle Rudy would be, too. See?

And My Uncle Jason is

Earl Jason the Subversive of Fiddlehope in the Marsh Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

and Auntie C is

Her Royal Highness Colleen the Fifteenth of Bartonhurst in the River Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Oh this is so much fun. I bet all my relatives and friends have titles, too. What's yours??

Love, Mary-Margaret

We Puttered About Today!

Ran more "ear ends" in the morning, me cozily nestled into my Outward Hound side sling. Truly it's not bad unless I want to look at something behind me. Then it gets a bit awkward. Or "Awk-weird". Like Mom goes "Awk!" and I get "Weird". (Yorkie humor...don't worry if you don't get it!) Picture is of sling to give you idea of what it's like, but that's not me or Mom, if you want to know.

Parking was difficult. Mom circles these lots like buzzards over road kill. "Aha!", she says, as she pulls into a non-space. "Huh?", I say? And she explains that the space would have been clearly marked if the landscapers hadn't covered half of it with a heap of mud, which our 4-wheel drive CR-V has absolutely no trouble pulling into and onto, granted maybe at a 30 degree tilt. So we are parked and we trot into "The Mall", me dangling merrily at her side.

The only negative about the side sling is that my nose is only at about Mom's hip level. People think I'm part of her purse until I smile at them from under all that leather. Then they say "Awww...look at the puppy. What's IT's name?".
"Mary-Margaret O'Brien", Mom tells them.
"Is it a boy or a girl?", and Mom has to bite her tongue to keep from saying something non-Christmassy. So she pauses for a moment and lifts an eyebrow while they reconsider the question. Er...yeah, people! And how many boys do you know named Mary-Margaret?? HMMMMMMMM???

Also I have trouble seeing over countertops, and occasionally I get jostled into the side of a display case, but still...it IS comfortable for the most part.

Later we went to Miss Cathleen's to get Mom's nails done. Again, no walk for me and she almost forgot my water. I think the newness of our relationship is waning a bit.
Ah well....such is life. Cathleen is pretty busy over the holidays. I suppose I'll forgive her. I truly DO like her a lot when she's not so rushed.

Later, guys!

Love, Mary-Margaret

Snorfels and Scarves

Today was my bordatella (sp?) booster. The vet puts drops up your nose and.....helloooo, people? They go right back out on the examination table. Mom asked what the point was if they just got snorted back out again. Dr. Gindi (say "Yindi") said only one teensy drop had to make it in my nose for it to work. Still, today I got TWO kerchiefs to wear. I picked out the red one with little snowmen on it. (sorry, no picture...not my fault!) And then I got another one for being so good about my snorfels. It's light blue with more little snowmen. Kewl, huh?

This afternoon about maybe 4:00 we got a call from a lost person. Mom gave her directions and it was a good thing she did. She delivered the everly most beautiful basket of plants from Mom's friends Pat, Shelly, Carolyn, Elaine and Dee. They're also my "aunties". Anyway, it had maybe five or six different kinds of green plants, AND a really pretty little red bird with feathers and everything (not alive) sitting in the middle. It was very fresh and moist, still. Mom kept the florist's card for future use. They all said they were thinking about us. They're sad my Grandma is gone, too, and they wanted to share that with us. Wasn't that nice?

Lots of people commented on my Grandpa playing his harmonica. Mom belongs to some Yorkie Mom's groups and the ladies were very complimentary. Did I mention that a lady in Grandpa's apartment building even told Mom that she thought my Grandpa was the "cutest man in the building"? Yup! She did.

G'night for now.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Grandpapa's Christmas Wish

My Grandma went to the Rainbow Bridge on November 27, just three weeks ago. My Grandpapa really misses her a lot. Every Christmas they would put out a tiny little Christmas tree that was given to him by HIS grandmother...his "Baba"...and my Grandpapa would get his harmonica and play "Silent Night" for my Grandma.

Tonight, he celebrated his Christmas wish to my Grandma like he has been doing for over a half a century. I know my Grandma was with us, because we felt happy and sad and full of love all at the same time. I told Mom that I wanted to share his Christmas wish with you. I really love my Grandpapa and the beautiful memories of my Grandma.

We all miss her very much, too.

Love and kisses, Mary-Margaret

My very good friend, Jami....

Jami and I are friends. Ok...I am HER friend, anyway. She's a Chihuahua and she's pretty grumpy. So far she's had two litters of pups and they've been re-homed. I like that term "rehomed". Jami is not a mother type person. She growls sorta really low in the throat just enough to say "Back off, Dude" when somebody gets near.

Mom tells me that I shouldn't take it personally. It's not like the Barkley twins - Bella and Bonnie - down the hall. They yap at EVERYTHING, but then you gotta understand. They're Maltese, and Maltese kids are just like that. No, with Jami I think it's because she doesn't know how to be friends or get along. She didn't get to go to Puppy School like I did.

I told her dad, my Uncle Fidel, that I'd mentor her. Yup. I would do that for my good friend, Jami. She really has a good heart, I think.

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS: See what I mean? Jami is like totally everly so standoffish (another word I like), but it's hard to make friends unless you know how to BE a friend. :o)

Yawn....!!!

Ho Hum. Guess where I got to go today? Hmmmmmm? Come on....guess! It's everly so MUCH fun. Oh, excuse me...do I sound just a tad sarcastic? Golly...I wonder why?
We've moved our work week around so Mom and me can have Tuesday off to go to Santa Monica and see Grandpapa, which is fine with me. He gives me ice cream (steak, stew, scrambled eggs, etc), you know. But today is Saturday and here we are, doing billing and payroll and...oh? You noticed I'M not doing anything? MY POINT EXACTLY!!!

Now you see why I wanted to stay HOME this morning. I tried to tell the Mom person and she just kept saying "Come on and quit fooling around, Mary-Margaret!". At least I could have laid out in the sunshine and watched the grass grow at home.

The pictures are from Mom's new cell phone. She got tired of always having to put it on speaker just to hear someone. It got so that people would ask "Are we on speaker?" before they'd start talking to her. She has a little pink thingy she wears on her ear, too, so she can have her hands free to cuddle me. Also, on the plus side, this new one has a 1.3 megapixel camera and it DOES bring out my cheekbones, don'tcha think?

Love, Mary-Margaret "Ho Hum" O'Brien

Me and Dierdre

My very good friend, Mr. Mercer, came in to see me today and he brought his daughter, Dierdre, with him. She's helping out a bit at the office. Too bad she wants to be an accountant. Personally, I think she'd make a great attorney.

She's very observant, you know. She could tell immediately that I wanted a belly rub. Oh gosh, that felt good. And then, as she was leaving, she very politely told Mom that she thought I was throwing up under her desk. Which I was, actually. A few times. Musta been someone I tasted? Or something I ate, maybe.

Blegh. I hate it when I do that. Really takes the wind out of my sails. Fortunately for me I don't have to clean it up. I feel ok now ...ate about half my dinner. No dessert, though. I think my gravy days are over and it's back to health food again. Mom's being overly cautious tonight.

Tomorrow, I get beautified at Miss Marilyn's. I think I'll ask for green and red ribbons for Christmas. Yup!

Love,

Mary-Margaret (urp!) O'Brien

A Taste of "Pawlitics"!!

Ohmygoodness. We've been on the run for the past few days what with working really late on Monday, going to Santa Monica to help my Grandpapa Tuesday, and meeting Auntie Vicki at The Pantry in Los Angeles for brunch today. I absolutely got to know the nicest man in the parking lot when we were leaving. He told me he used to have a mother and three daughter Yorkies and they all lived to be about 22 years old. "Whoooooooooa!!", I said.
"What did you feed them?", Mom asked..

"You don't want to know", said the nice man. And he asked how much I weighed and my name and then he told me his name and we even snuggled and kissed and stuff. My mom and Auntie Vicki tried to talk to him a little bit but mostly it was just him and MEEEEEEEEEEEE!! Aunt Vicki got a picture of him and me cuddling, too. Mom's battery went out on her camera! Some investigator, huh?

Oh...his name? You wanna know who I hang with? HMMMMMMM????? Richard "Dick" Riordan (he says it like "Reardon"), former mayor of Los Angeles and....ta daaaaaaaaaa....the owner of The Pantry AND now also owner of Mort's Deli in Pacific Palisades. (I heard he owns Gladstones4Fish but I'm not a fish person except for Chilean Sea Bass with Mango Chutney....but I digress!). I tell YOUUUUUUUUUUUU. It was really nice going TO The Pantry, but even nicer getting to taste Mr. Riordan, who said I can call him Dick. I've tasted people all over the country but my friend, Dick, is everly the best tasting person in the whole wide world (not including my GrandPapa, of course!) Yup!!

FYI - Wouldn't you know it? Aunt Vicki caught me discussing Dick's recent run for California Governor with him. I was simply expressing my thoughts on his opposition. A man that tastes THAT good, in my opinion, would have made a great Governor.....or....whoaaaaaaa...! Maybe President? I've heard the Republicans are looking for a strong candidate to break out of the pack. Just a thought but....what if the political parties had a "cook-off" instead of a debate? I'd be happy to be a judge. You can tell a good candidate by the way they work in a kitchen.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

PS - Mom said to tell you all that if you ever get to Los Angeles and The Pantry, get their coleslaw. It's FABULOUS!! Even for breakfast! He's got my vote!!!

My very good friend Lorenza

  This is the card my very good friend Lorenza from Mexico sent me. I think she's definitely got the spirit of Christmas in her. Doesn't she look like she knows how to have fun? Hmmmmmm??

MMOB

PS: I think I have about gotten 60 cards so far. We sent out maybe 110 today. Well, tomorrow, actually because we have to put the stamps on and mail them. I hope you will let us know when you get yours.

PPS - I am absolutely HOOKED on vanilla ice cream. Thanks, Grandpapa, for introducing me to that epicurian delight. Mom had to buy low fat "light" for me. Also she's making noise about me having to finish my dinner first. Like...that makes no sense. If I eat all my dinner I have no room for ice cream. Ya see?

Sending Christmas Cards!

Oh gosh! Thank goodness my mom knows what to do. She's been working all morning on helping me with my Christmas Card list. Wow!! I've never gotten any Christmas Cards before. This is sort of overwhelming to me. Thank goodness my mom has thumbs. We're about half-way through our list and have added even more pups to it. I hope I don't leave anyone out. If I do, it's Mom's fault. I'd NEVER leave anyone off. Nope! Not me. I just LOVE Christmas, don't you?

Cheery Mousemas to all.....

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Personal Hygiene

Mom is very VERY proud of me. Yesterday, Aunt Sonia came out of the work room and suggested (very politely) to Mom that she might replace my piddle pad. One sniff later, Mom totally agreed with her. So out with the old, in with the new. I even got to go out to my most favorite ground cover by the parking lot when Mom went to the dumpster.

Unfortunately for me, Mom was in a hurry and rushed me back to the office before I was ready. I...um...er....hadn't quite finished with my most serious business and here was this nice, fresh piddle pad without even ONE spot on it. I felt sorta bad but (to put it gently) what goes in must come out. So I finished up my stuff...(you know what I mean?)....and then picked up the corner of my piddle pad and very daintily covered the little pile. Hey....I'm neat, you know.

Mom goes back in the work room and "hmmphs" because she thought she'd flattened out the whole pad. She picked up the corner to lay it straight and started laughing. "Sonia?", she said. "You could just TELL me that there was something on the pad!".
"Huh? What are you talking about?", said Sonia. "I didn't touch it!"
And she came back to admire my handiwork, too.

Then they both looked at MEEEEE. Well? What could I say? I just sorta grinned and shrugged while Mom made a little package out of it, tossed it in the outside garbage, and laid down another clean pad.

Apparently she doesn't give me credit for being totally housebroken AND considerate, too.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

PS - No pictures taken or published due to the graphic nature of the potential content.

Understanding about life!

You know about that picture I put up on my blog? A couple of ladies kinda thought maybe it wasn't a good idea. So I explained it like ...like....this.

Me and my mom thought it was really beautiful...the lighting, the flowers, and mostly my Grandpapa saying "good bye" for the last time. The combination of love and sadness in his eyes pretty much summed up 67 years of marriage, four kids, at least six grandchildren (but I could be off one or two), five great grandchildren and definitely one grand dog. Maybe more grand dogs and cats, but mostly MEEEEE!

We all have pictures taken when we're born, birthdays, weddings, holidays....why not of the last celebration of our lives?

That's what me and Mom think, anyway. Besides...if you want to know the real scoop, my Grandma wasn't in that box, anyhow. Just her body. Her soul is still all wrapped around us and will probably be that way for a long time to come. Like Mom told her 6 year old grandson (and MY cousin), Carter: "Her batteries ran out!" and for him to think of a balloon after you let the air out. The balloon just lays there, but the air from inside is still all around you. And then Carter understood that the part of Grandma he loved wasn't laying in the coffin. It surrounded him for always instead.

Yup. Even I understand that.

Love and puppy licks...

Mary-Margaret "The Philosopher" O'Brien

Yogurt and IceCream and Steak...Oh My!!

I have to tell you that my diet has really gone to heck over the past week. But not necessarily in a bad way, you know? First off, I was pretty hungry by Thursday night. Wednesday, I'd only had a little piece of a breaded chicken cutlet on the plane with the bread part taken off. Thursday we were out at the Enterprise Fish House in Santa Monica and I could NOT stand it a minute longer. So I spoke up. Mom tried to "shush" me but I was HUNGRY. You cannot "shush" a hungry Yorkette.

Wow....I'm probably the only pup on the West Coast that has ever had Chilean Sea Bass with Mango Chutney. And I have to tell you, it was really GOOD. Later that night my Grandpapa snuck me a bowl of vanilla ice cream. (..urp...!)

The next morning he made me scrambled eggs with a bit of sweet onion, just like he used to make my Grandma. I was in heaven. That's about when I decided to put in for a transfer. Oh yeah! Yum! Then I had my chicken from Bob's Market on Ocean Park, and then on Sunday I got sirloin steak, medium rare, diced in little pieces.

Tonight Mrs. Shaima came by the office and brought frozen yogurt. Me and Mom had vanilla with raspberry swirl, and Mrs. Shaima had chocolate malt and chocolate peanut butter. She told me I can't have chocolate. I still don't know why. She says it's poison, but humans eat it all the time and you don't see them dropping like flies. Nope.

Mom says to enjoy it while I can because it's not healthy for me to eat this way on a regular basis. Like, hello? She's having all this weird stuff and she's on MEEEEE about it? Tonight we shared some cashews. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind.

Mom keeps wanting to pick up the phone and call Grandma. Then she remembers that the only way she can talk to her is if I write in my diary. Lucky she has me, huh?

Love and kisses...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

PS: Aunt Leslie told Mom she thinks that the picture of my Grandpapa saying goodbye to my Grandma is morbid. Me and Mom think it's really beautiful and touching. What do you think? MMOB

Grandma - Saying "Goodbye"

 
Remember my Grandma as the beautiful lady she was and always will be. I miss you already and I promise that I will keep writing every day so you will never have to wonder what I'm doing again. We are very best friends, you and I. Someday I'll catch up with to you while you're on your forever journey and we can be together while we wait for the rest of the "fambly". You just do your special whistle and I'll find you, ok?

I love you...........

Everly yours forever,

Your Grand Dog, Mary-Margaret

We're HOME HOME HOME!!!

OHMYGAWSH! We got back today from Santa Monica and I have PILES of Christmas cards. To MEEEEE!! Mom might have one or two from her vendors, but the rest are MINE MINE MINE. We bought some in Pennsylvania to send to my friends and, if we don't get it done by this weekend, we'll do it then. I think I have about 120 to send out. Yup. That sounds right.

I'll tell you more later. Mom's about ready to fall asleep. It's been a weird month. But I'll be writing for my Grandpa now, AND for my Grandma. I figure she can still read my email from where she is, don't you think?

Thank you everybody for your good wishes and your sympathy. It really means a lot to both me AND my mom.

Love you....

Mary-Margaret

My Grandma.....I love you!!

My GrandPapa called Mom last night to tell her that my Grandma is gone. My Mom is very very sad, and she says it's like there's a huge hole in her heart. She cries a little, then she remembers stuff...the good times, the silly times, and she starts to smile. But then she worries about my GrandPapa being all alone, and who now has a broken heart. Her parents were married for 67 years almost.

She says it's easier for her to have me tell you about my Grandma. She feels so bad that she can't be with my GrandPapa right now because we're in Pennsylvania and he's in California, but we both will be with him when we get home. Me and my Grandma had a very special relationship. Whenever I got sorta distracted by cats or chipmunks or supper and I'd forget to write in my diary, my Grandma would call my mom and ask "How is Mary-Margaret today?" and "What is Mary-Margaret doing? Why hasn't she written?". Mostly all the time, though, she'd tell Mom how really lucky she was to have MEEE. Yup!

I think I really helped my Grandma and my Mom get closer in the past couple of years, you know? People sort of take each other for granted, and figure that if they don't say something today, there's always tomorrow. Because of MEEEE, my Mom and my Grandma really talked a lot in the past few months. They even understood things about each other that confused them for so many years (You know how it is with mothers and daughters?). Most important, though, the very last words they said to each other yesterday afternoon was "I love you!". And there wasn't any more either one could have said.

God please help my Grandma meet up with my Aunt Rose at the bridge, so they can keep each other company on their forever journey.

I love you, Grandma, and I'm going to keep on writing in my diary. That way, you'll always know what I'm up to, and I'll always be thinking about you, too.

Love you forever and ever...

Mary-Margaret

Dominating the BATHROBE!

Dunno what it is about the blue bathrobe but it is absolutely begging me to dominate it. I've given it a couple of shots, usually when I'm on the bed and it's laying there without Mom inside it, and I just get scolded. "Mary-Margaret! Stop humping my bathrobe!". Then, this morning, during our coffee time (her coffee, me looking for chipmunks) I felt this overwhelming compulsion to grab the bathrobe with Mom IN IT!! See?

Well, I can't help it. Maybe it's the color...the smell. Something. Honestly, I've never felt this way about a piece of cloth before. I'm so ashamed. Should I get professional help?

Love, Mary-Margaret

Rain, Rain...Go Away!

This is what it looks like outside my back door today. Big sissy Momma dressed me in my "Squirrel Master" shirt and clipped me to a long leash. So I go outside and do my stuff and SHE stays under the eaves next to the house, all dry and stuff. I really don't mind the rain all that much, and I tried to get her to take me for a little walk to check on the cats next door, but no dice. Uh uh...nope. I can make about a 12-foot diameter circle which isn't bad, but it sure takes the fun out of my morning business.

BTW, I should be in line for a hefty raise in my allowance. I've been absolutely exemplary in using my piddle pads. Yup. I've got one in my private bathroom, and one in Mom's. I don't even tell her about it any more. I just wait for her to say "Oh, Mary-Margaret. What a GOOOD GOOOOOOOD puppy you are!", and then I go and get cuddles.

Life is good.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Finding my level of Cozyness!

I have this nifty day bed at my other house. It's got a mattress...ok, PILLOW...and the rest of the bed is lined with faux sherpa. Trust me when I tell you it gets just a little chilly around here. Like it was 23 when we landed in Philly (that's my way of saying "Philadelphia", you know!) and I tell YOUUU...I made the fastest potty stop in history at my special patch of grass at the Budget car rental place. Brrrrr!!! At home, though, I figured a pillow is just like a thick comforter. So that's what I do. Yup! Works great.

I LOVE Pennsylvania. Really! It feels and smells just like Christmas is supposed to.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Maddie and Owen

I am so glad to be friends with Maddie and Owen of Wayne, New Jersey. I am sooooo good. I guessed Maggie's name. She was wearing a sweat shirt jacket with "Cheerleader" and "Maddie" embroidered on it. I pretty much decided that "Cheerleader" is not a name but a title. Her brother was a little more difficult. He had lots of stuff on his jacket but nothing with a name. He's into hockey and like Wayne Gretzky. His hat, however, said "Goofy" on it. I kinda guessed his name wasn't that and so he told me what if was. It's Owen.

I love airports. I get to meet everly so many people from absolutely so many places. And I make lots of friends, too. I personally met and got petted by the pilot and the co-pilot, all the flight attendants, and especially my very own attendant who kept coming by to make sure I was ok. I slept the whole way, actually. Except when Mom was trying to get her feet warm and stuck one into my personal space. Eeeyeww.

Oh oh oh...and you know what? I really learned a lot from my last trip and this time when Mom put out my piddle pad in the Ladies' room and said "Go pee pee, Mary-Margaret!", I did it right away without fooling around even a little. TWO TIMES! She said she's very proud of me. And when my personal flight attendant commented that I was probably hoping for a nice place to pee, my mom told him that I used the Ladies room, just like all the grown ups. He was very very impressed. And he patted me again. He tastes very good, I must say. I hope I get him again.

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Mary-Margaret the Contrite of Bumpstead under Carpet Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Shopping for CHRISTMAS!!

Me and Mom are shopping for Christmas already. Seems like we just finished with last year, huh? I still have my sweater from last year and it fits just fine now. I hope the lights still twinkle on the Christmas tree on the back of it.

The lady across the street already has her house all done up and so do our next door neighbors. Oh, I just LOVE Christmas, don't you? With all the pretty lights and decorations, and singing. Yup. I get to go to Auntie Melissa's house. Well, really she's my sister if you want to be technical, but she's so old that I call her "Auntie", see? No no....not Auntie C - that's Colleen. She's old, too, and she's also my sister, for reals!

So I have a cousin named Sophie who's a Miniature Schnauzer and another cat cousin named Samurai Radio. Oooooh! I am SOOOO excited to meet them.

Love and Puppy Hugs...

Mary-Margaret

PS - Please keep your paws together for my Grandma. We think it's helping a little, except she didn't go get her hair done today, and she NEVER misses getting her hair done. Nope! So we're just praying harder! MM

Paws together for my Grandma, Please?

My Grandma isn't feeling too good. Me and my mom are really worried about her. She's sleeping a lot, mostly. And that's not good, even for a pup. Gotta wake up to play and to eat and to....um...you know.

Would you all please put your paws together for my Grandma? That she gets over whatever it is she's got, and that she feels back to her old self again real soon? Uh...I don't mean OLD self....I mean the self she was before she got sick...you know. That self.

I know my mom's heart is really heavy right now, and she feels really helpless because she lives so far away. Prayers .... especially the Yorkie Prayer Circle type (which isn't just for Yorkies but for all pups and kitties)...usually do a great job.

Thanks, everyone.

Mary-Margaret

My Dogtor and MEEEEE

  This is "Minou Minou", the kitty who works at my dogtor's office. She's nice, I guess. Doesn't talk much and mostly just ignores me. I'm thinking maybe she doesn't speak English...or Dog, for that matter. "Minou Minou" means "kitty kitty" in French, they told me. So maybe she speaks only French? Dunno...don' care...she seems kinda stuck up. Won't play "chase" at all.
  Ahhh...here is a picture of me after Dr. Gindi (pronounced "Yindi") gave me a new scarf for Thanksgiving. Notice it matches my bow? Hmmmmmm???

 
I wore it all day and got lots of compliments on it. Maybe orange isn't such a bad color for me as long as it's mixed with other colors. What do you think?
 This is Dr. Gindi. I really like her. This is the second time I got to see her and she says that I am absolutely PERFECT. Really! Mom asked if I was a bit chubby and she said "No!", that I am just right for my build. She can sorta feel my ribs but not too much, so I'm not too skinny and not too fat. My ears are good, my heart and lungs are good. The only downside to seeing the dogtor was that I saw "Dr. Doolittle" the night before. Remember the part where the vet takes Lucky's temperature and the thermometer gets lost up Lucky's.....er....(ahem?)....rear end? Yeah...exactly! That's not something that's easily forgotten. I was a bit tense, but it was fine. I gritted my teeth and took it like a soldier. It was 102.3° - perfect for a small Yorkette.
 
This is my new friend "Jude". He's only a few weeks old and already he's as big as me. Here I'm teaching him good manners and how to get acquainted properly with another pup. He's a fast learner. Before I left he even played tag with me for a while.

Hope you all have a really great Thanksgiving if I don't talk to you before. Have lots of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie and enjoy your time with your family. Isn't that what holidays are all about, anyway? Being with your family no matter what? Yup.

Love, Mary-Margaret

OHMYGAWSH! Another Award!!!

Wow! Check out my "Awards" over in the right margin. Golly! I can't believe it!!

Thank you to my very good friend, Chloe, who lives in Malaga, Spain. I am honored and humbled by your thoughfulness and generousity. But truly, this award does not belong to me alone. (ahem?)

(crinkle....unwrap....rip...crackle)<-----[unfolding speech prepared just in case]

First, let me thank my mother who has spent long hours taking dictation and typing for me. She is my inspiration and the love of my life. And Greg and Brooke who so untire-ingly manage and encourage us pups to participate in "Dogs with Blogs", and Opy and Charlie who talked me into joining. Then, I should thank my friends from Dogs with Blogs, especially Chloe, who has ......

Huh? What's that? Oh...er....(blush)...Mom's pointing to her watch and mouthing "WRAP IT UP, Mary-Margaret. This ISN'T the Oscars!!". Well, my goodness. It's not like I get awards every day, you know.

Sheesh!

(speaking quickly!)....and THANKYOUTOALLTHERESTOFYOU, YOUKNOWWHOYOUARE!!!

Hmmph!

"Mine...mine....MINE!!!"

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS: Mom? Do I have to share?

Mom's getting a cold....

....and she's coughing and honking all over the place. Sheesh. I'll be lucky if I don't catch it. I'm trying not to touch anything she touches, and I go outside and walk through the wet grass to wash my paws off. She's got some syrupy looking stuff that smells funny. I tell YOUUU..you wouldn't catch ME drinking that stuff. Nope. Ooops....gotta run. I'm not supposed to be able to type....and I don't want her to expect ME to keep up my own blog. I know she likes to feel needed.

See you later. (Here, Mom. Take a tissue!)

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Nurse Pup" O'Brien

Pet Peeves

My personal "pet peeves":

Someone asking Mom (about me) "What is IT??"

Also...."What's IT's NAME?"

Then, when she says "HER name is MARY-MARGARET O'BRIEN", they say "Is it a boy or a girl?".

Silly humans would do better to bark than to talk. Would keep them from looking silly to us pups, don'tcha think???

MMOB

Our Office Fambly Party

Oh boy! Was Mom surprised or what? I tell YOUUUU....she almost started to cry. Really, she did. Me and Sonia planned a surprise party for her with her Office Fambly. Sonia got the cake with Mom's name on it in really pretty purple icing. It was a marble cake and just right for sharing.

I didn't want to wait until after lunch and made it perfectly clear that, as soon as I saw the napkins, plates and forks, it was TIME TO PAR-TAAAAAY!
Well??? What's taking you guys so LONG to open that cake box? Hmmmmmmm??? Sonia figured I'd keep busy with the box of forks. Yeah...!! That only took maybe 10 seconds to open. I LOVE CAKE!!
Er......Sonia? Putting the forks up on the high shelf is NOT going to keep me from getting into the action.

But the rest of the people said after lunch was fine with them. Hmmmmph! So I waited. And then Auntie Debbie from across the hall came in and she and Sonia sang a really lovely duet of "Happy Birthday to YOUUUUU!". Mom got all pink in the cheeks because that's the first time in a gazillion years that anyone has sung that to her.

Michael and Derreck came by and said "Happy Birthday"; Fidel came in and had some cake and said "Happy Birthday"; Mary-Ann-From-Down-the-Hall came in after she went to the dentist and said "Happy Birthday" and had cake. Julie, the attorney, came in and said "Happy Birthday" and had cake. Then Mom took the last piece home and had it for dinner.....with ice cream.

I had a couple of helpings of the cake part without the frosting. Debbie from Across-the-Hall said I didn't need a sugar high to get MEEEEEE through the day. The cake part is my favorite anyhow. Mom's other daughters, Melissa and Colleen, both called to say "Happy Birthday", and so did my Grandma and GrandPapa. All in all, it was a really nice day.

Mary-Margaret "Let them eat cake!" O'Brien

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

She sorta forgot it was today until the news came on TV, and it said "November 15, 2007". "I know that date", she said. And she thought a bit. "OHMYGAWD", she gasped. "It's my birthday!". Hey, trust me on this. I didn't forget.

I don't have a lot to offer, you know. First off, I whispered in her ear, "Grrreet urrrp?". Then I hopped onto her back and sorta massaged her shoulders, gently of course, before curling up into the small of her back. "Mmmmfffff...", she mumbled, "Where's my kisses?". I gave her plenty of those until she got out of bed. But the next thing I did was skippity-do into the bathroom and squat on my piddle pad. Oh sure, I could have gone outside like I always do but it wouldn't be "celebratory" and this way she knew it was special. For her.

I also let her have her morning bagel in peace. I sat right next to her and just watched her eat breakfast and did NOT ask for anything. Nope! Not a bit. Still, she offered a couple of dollops of cream cheese (which I LOVE!) and I very graciously accepted.

It's only 7:45AM right now and so far, she's having a great birthday. I aim to keep it that way, too!

Love, Mary-Margaret

My FAVORITE things!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Feather pillows and old fashioned hand-made quilts. Yup. Those are MY favorite things, especially when I'm nestled comfy-like all in the middle of them. Oh sure, I miss my other "fambly", but I'm everly so glad to be home. Mom says it's good for folks who love each other 24/7 to be apart a little bit because it's so good to get back together again.

Another favorite thing is this: Us pups like to race through the early morning grass, sniffing here and there to see who's been by to visit, and then diving back into our warm, cozy house through our personal door, and hopping into our mom's laps. Yup. And mine always says stuff like "Eeeeyeeeewwww, Mary-Margaret!! Your feet are WET!!!". Hmmmm...well, yeah? And your point is what???

See ya later....

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Alpinehorns!! In case you wanted to know!

Mom went to the Hofbrau Haus in Munich. She says it's a big "Biergarten" (which is weird because she doesn't drink anything more than water, usually, but I digress...!)

Yikes. I never heard an Alpinehorn before. Big and loud, huh? I figured I'd let my mom put one of these up for me, too. You know....thinking about it.....if I had an Alpinehorn and a cat came into my back yard, and I knew how to blow on the Alpinehorn (or got "someone" to blow it for me? Hint? Hint?), imagine the fun I'd have. (hehehehehehe)

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Yodel-ay-he-hoo!" O'Brien

Vacation Vacation!

Yup. That's the way things are around here. Mom is still walking around like a robot and going "Ow..ow...ow!". We couldn't even get into the office today because she says she needs a vacation from her vacation. Hmmmph. If you ask me, it's because I didn't go along to look out for her. Somebody has to remind her to take a rest once in a while, you know? Well, that would be MEEEEEEE!

Good news, though! I did get a half of a turkey weenie for snack this afternoon. I guess she got tired of me telling her what a great time I had at Auntie Lynda's house with all my new fambly and friends. Never hurts to lay a little guilt, I say. I noticed she also bought some cheese. Now, I don't know if that's for me or not, but I intend to find out in a few minutes. Yup. I do enjoy my cheese, too!

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Take me with you" O'Brien

Rothenburg, Germany

(double click pictures to see the details)



Picture #1: My Auntie Colleen at the gate to Rothenburg.














Picture #2: Here's what the town looks like. Mom says it reminds her of those little Christmas villages that Aunt Susie (the human one) used to set up every year. See Colleen on the left hand side wearing sunglasses?





























Picture #3: All the stores are decorated for Christmas. They all look like this one. This is where my Mom and Auntie C met "Au Coeur". He was wearing a camoflauge jacket. Kewl, huh?


Picture #4: This is what the river valley looks like over the city wall. The whole city has a big wall around it to protect it from the bad guys. Sentries used to walk on top of the walls to help keep the city safe.












Picture #5: And here is another picture of the Roman style bridge over the river. Mom told me that this city was her very most favorite of all. She would really like to take me there someday just to walk around and check out all the stores and go shopping. Yup. I'd like that too.

Do you know that people take there dogs absolutely everywhere with them? Even into restaurants? Really! They do!



Something I know - there are over 1200 kinds of sausages made in Germany! Yum! Too bad airport security doesn't allow sausages, dontcha think?

MMOB

Mom's HOME HOME HOME!!!

She's HOME!! She's HOME!! Oh, I missed her a little bit, I guess, but mostly I had a whole FAMBLY of pups to play with..all MY size. There was Pixie, Twinkie, Furball, Roxie and Max. Mostly me and Max played a lot. He's a 6 month old pug and I got to "mentor" him in the proper way to play. There were also two kids, Macy and Caden, and their parents, Mandi and Kyle. I pretty much followed Lynda around, but also had special relationships with both Cort and Kyle. They're both really nice!!

Max even swiped one of my biscuits once and so I hid the other UNDER my piddle pad and just watched him. Oooo..he's so smart. He actually found it after a bit and ran away. But then I got to chase him all through the house. I had the everly best time at "camp" ever. It was like "Puppy School" 24/7. Wheeeeee!

When Mom came to the door to pick me up, I hopped into her arms and gave her a gazillion licks and cuddles. Lynda said I was absolutely perfect and NEVER piddled in the house. Her hubby, Cort, said he was thinking of leaving Lynda and running off with MEEEE. Silly man. I am committed to my relationship with Mom and would NEVER leave her. EVER!

Only thing is, when I got ready to leave everybody said how much they'd miss me. So I decided to leave my scent under the pool table for them. Auntie Lynda just laughed at me and Mom did the Dr. Phil thing, saying "Mary-Margaret!! What ARE you thinking?". Well, it seems obvious to me. I want them to remember me forever. Lynda told Mom to leave it and she'd mop up later. Not like it was a lot, but enough to say "Mary-Margaret was here!", ya know?

There are lots of Yorkies in Germany and Austria. She met Merlin, and Au Coeur, and Gina (and some others she can't remember names of). They were all over 10 pounds and had their whole tail. And they all had little coats. Merlin even had his name embroidered on his red fleece jacket.

As far as getting me a present, the sausages she WAS going to bring me (she says?) never would have cleared the customs people. She even had to throw her yummy German apple away. I wouldn't have minded a T-shirt but she said she couldn't find any my size. Besides, I think having my Mom back was the very best present anyway. Really, I do.

We snuggled and cuddled and kissed all night long when we weren't nestled against each other snoring.

PS - My Auntie Shelly wanted to know how come Mom didn't take MEEEE. Mom says that if 12 hours on a trans-Atlantic flight is torture for a human, there's NO way she'd subject me to such misery. Don'cha just love her for that? She could hardly walk last night and is still a bit shaky and sore today, too. AND...the worst, she says. Despite all that walking she gained FOUR pounds. Probably because of her quest to find the world's most perfect Apple Struedel. Ya think??


Love you guys....

Mom's going through withdrawal.

Hi. It's me, MM's mom.

I can't stand it. I am so miserable without her. Life is just not the same. No wet feet jumping on my bare legs.....nobody using me for a springboard. No puppy licks.... no snoring. I even had dinner without being asked to share even once. And who's going to tell me when the cats sneak into our planter bed? And however will I wake up without someone pouncing on my sleeping body?

Withdrawal pains are awful, I tell you. We kissed and hugged goodbye at 5:00pm, and she didn't take her eyes off me until her Auntie Lynda rounded the corner and she couldn't see me anymore. I keep reaching for the phone to call Lynda just to make sure my little girl is all right and stopping just before I start to punch in the number. I certainly hope she's handling this separation better than I am. I've been going through her baby pictures. Here she is at nine weeks old.


You won't hear from either of us for a few days. Don't worry. She'll be fine, I'm sure. You know how kids are. I miss her sooooo much already.

Later...

Michele, Mary-Margaret's Mom

Orange is NOT my color!!

(double click on photos to enlarge)

All day long I'm getting stuff like "Oh, is she getting bigger?" and "My how she's grown!". Like I'm NOT any bigger or fatter or anything. It's this PUMPKIN colored shirt, I tell you. That, and I really need a hair cut. It's just fluff. I'm not an ORANGE person. Maybe next year I can be a ghost or something. Sheesh!

Here's me all freshly brushed and dressed up. The hat is a bit much but I'll grit my teeth and try to stay neat for a while to keep my Mom happy.

Gianna heard I was here in costume and she wanted to come play with me. Which is fine. Actually, more than fine. We visited for long time (in dog years) and I got cuddled a lot. Gianna is four and one of my very best friends. She's a pirate. You know why? Aw...sure you do! OK OK...it's a "Johnny Depp" thing. She's a big fan of his and wanted to be a pirate just like "Johnny Depp".
Ding dong...the hat is GONE. You can tell by the look on my face I'm glad to be rid of it.(Yes, I AM sticking my tongue out, but Gianna can't see me! I didn't want to seem rude!)
Oh crud. The hat is coming back at me. Gianna has decided that I'm supposed to wear the hat. I will let her put it back on. But I tell you, the minute she's gone it comes back off.
One of my most favorite people is Miss Cathleen. No tummy lotion today but I got lots of cuddles from Gina and Crystal, two of Miss Cathleen's clients. Crystal does make up on the pretend dead people at the Temecula Haunted House. I wish I could go. It really sounds like fun.
Good way to end a fun day, dontcha think? Getting a belly rub and falling asleep in Mary-Ann's lap. Ahhhh yes. She knows what a puppy likes.

Hope you all had a great Halloween. I sure did.

Love ya....

Mary-Margaret

My very FIRST bouquet!!

See the roses in my cart? Wow...that was SOOO unexpected. Here's how it came down:

Me and Mom were waiting to check out of Albertson's tonight and so I was kinda visiting with everyone. This really neat lady named Kristen, who was very bee-yoo-ti-ful and probably could have taken First Prize in a People Show (if they had those)...a real pedigreed type of lady. Oh, well anyway, we were visiting and I was explaining to her that "No, I'm not a Toto dog. That would be a Cairn terrier. I'm a Yorkshire Terrier, you see!" And so on, and we sort of hit it off. Mom talked to her a little bit, too. We're chatting with the courtesy clerk on the way out and WHOOOAAAA!!! Kristen comes back and puts a whole bouquet of roses in our basket and says "This is for YOUUUU!".

Mom sorta goes "Huh? How Come?" (which probably wasn't the most politically correct thing to say), while I said "Why, THANK you very much", and just sort of swoooooooned to the smell of those absolutely everly so gorgeous FOURTEEN roses, all white and red and all for MEEEEEE! Kristen says that not enough people do something nice for someone else for no reason, so that's how come I got the roses. OK...well, maybe Mom got them too. I don't mind sharing, you know. Besides, it would have been harder for ME to put them in water than it was for Mom.

Earlier this morning we ran some "Ear-ends" (dunno, but that's what she calls it when we go here and there). We went to a place called BatteriesPlus to get a spare for her camera (Oh, lucky me!...Do I sound a bit sarcastic? Hmmmmm?). Anyhow, I am making friends with Casey, the store manager, and sheesh! Here comes the camera again.

Looks a bit weird, huh? Well you'd think the old girl would know how to fix the shutter speed on it by now, after owning it for at least four years, but nooooo! That's why I think this picture looks so funny. Maybe she was just being jiggly, but all I know is it takes a real long time from when she hits the button until the flash goes off. Whatever. Gives me time to close my eyes and turn my back on her. I got caught off guard in this picture.

That was our day in addition to the usual...meeting and greeting clients, napping, sniffing.....napping! Oh, and I definitely check out skater boy pants now. Mostly trying to figure out just what keeps them from falling down. I'll let you know when I find the answer.

Love ya,

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Something is happening here!

"What it is ain't egg-zack-tully clear. "

Mom keeps talking about Pixie and Twinkie and Furball. She has her suitcase open and full of clothes. I don't want to leave her side. I woke up with a rash on my tummy. Did I mention I get hives when I get stressed? Yup. I do.

I've been...oh...ok, I'll come right out and tell you....! I've been behaving strangely. Even like this morning I raced downstairs and made a statement on the carpet and went back upstairs...."deet de doooo"...like nothing happened. And when she saw it...oh, I was SOOO ashamed but not really, you know? Like I wanted to express myself and I didn't have any crayons??

So then we get the morning stuff all sorted out and Mom takes her shower and when she comes out, there I am all setting up camp in her suitcase. Like I'm telling you, no body goes ANYWHERE without MEEEEE, Miss Mary-Margaret O'Brien.
Yup. I pretty much understand stuff like "Ohhhh...I'm gonna miss you SOOOO much", and "You're going to have SOOOO much fun at camp with Pixie, Twinkie and Furball". Tonight she actually cooked up a whole pan of chicken breasts with garlic powder and chopped them up and put them in zippy baggies. Then she popped them in the freezer. Smelled pretty good, too. I can feel it coming and I don't LIKE it at all.

On a positive note, I got some of that chicken tonight for dinner and it's yummy. And wherever she's going, she's going to miss me at least as much as I'll miss her. That's a fact.

I'll keep you posted, but if you don't hear from me for a while it's not MY choice. The last time I got sent "to camp" I ended up sorting laundry at my Auntie C's place, and hanging out with my Uncle Rudy.

Mary-Margaret