To Market...To Market

I LOVE LOVE LOVE going to the market. Von's or Albertson's, but mostly I like Albertson's. Oh yeah!

Mom pulls into a parking space and turns off the car. She says, "Are you ready, Mary-Margaret?", and I give her a big grin and lift my arms up so she can pick me up. She carries me to where the carts are but she doesn't let me sit down until she's lined my seat with newspaper. She says that there's no way to tell what kind of kid sat there before and she doesn't want me to get any germs.

First we go into the door by the Deli. Some of my very good friends in the Deli say hello to me and, if it's pretty quiet, they come over and give me a taste of something good, like roast beef or turkey or chicken.

Next, we go by the bakery. That's the place Mom buys my birthday cakes and they know me very well. They give me a piece of a cookie which I take, remembering to say "Thank you!". Then when we're wheeling down the cheese aisle I spit it out. Between you and me, I don't care much for cookies. Except maybe I like chocolate chip without the chocolate part. Mom says pups are allergic to chocolate and I don't want to test that theory.

At the butchers counter, if there's sample of something, the butcherette (she's a lady) will give me one. I have to remind her to make it into tiny pieces for me. Otherwise, I hork the whole thing up and Mom has to break it up, all gooey from horking, so I can properly enjoy it. She always has to go wash her hands or the butcher will give her a paper towel. I don't mind the goo, but I'm a dog. We LIVE for gooey stuff.

Up and down the aisles we go. I just sit in my seat very quietly the whole time. People stop and tell me how good I am. They seem everly so amazed that I don't hop up and down and make noises, but I am very well brought up and would NEVER do that.

When we get into the check out aisle I start looking for Janet. Janet is my oldest and most favorite friend of all. I've known her since I was only nine weeks old. We have a special bond. Anyway, I turn around in my seat so that I am facing the Customer Service counter. My rear end hangs a bit over through the leg hole, leaving plenty of room for me to "wag". I'm so excited but I keep very quiet until Janet spies me. Then we both go crazy for each other, hugging and licking and petting and....well, suffice to say we've been told to "get a room".

I do so love my other friends too. There's Betsy, and Rosie and Brent (he's the manager), and ...gosh, I can't remember all their names off-paw, but there's lots of them. I know that I'm not allowed to stand up in the cart because (I'm told) I "might fall out on my head". I do the next best thing and sit up like a "big girl", which means...how can I explain...sort of like a meercat or prairie dog. You know? Upright? With my fingerettes holding onto the back of the kid seat?

We go to the market maybe every two or three days. It's almost as exciting as going to the bank and seeing my personal banker, Gina, who gives me duck jerky. Mom tells me that, for a pup, I have quite a social circle. I guess I do, but I absolutely love people. Yup! That's a fact!

Have a great weekend.

Love and kisses....

Mary-Margaret

The Gardener Cometh!!

On Monday Mr. Brewster (our gardener) finished up the fertilizer, topsoil and grass seed. Then he adjusted the sprinkler to go off about 10 minutes before I wake up and go out to take care of my morning "business". Ahhhh....my kind of guy. Well, just think about it: Fertilizer + dirt + water = a puppy's delight!



Yeah....see? It's not MY fault my "roommate" has a lot of white space on her quilt. Nope. And I DO have to dry my feet someplace, right?



Wanna make somethin' out of it? Huh? Do ya??

M-MOB

PS: Oh yes...and I wanted to tell you about my purpose here on earth. I am a messenger of God and he has given me the power to know who needs my services the most. Today, we went to get Mom's hair cut. Delaney, the girl up front, was acting all smiley and normal, but I knew something was hurting her heart. I smiled at her...I wagged my tail really enthusiastically, so much that I almost fell out of my car seat...and I reached for her. She brought me water. Yes yes...it was delicious water. I'd take a sip, and then I'd kiss her hand. She started to soften up a bit. I got petted...but I needed to do something more for her. Mom told her she could hold me if she wanted to. I got picked up and I snuggled her, and loved on her and gave her as many puppy kisses as I could without getting her all yucky.

You know what? I was right. Her family had to send their dog to the Rainbow Bridge this morning, and she was really sad inside. You see, us pups KNOW this stuff. Nobody has to tell us. That's what we're here for. To give you unconditional love even when you don't know you need it. I always feel really good when I get to love on someone that needs me. Yup! I do!

PPS: Note: Devil + Angel = MEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Loving my carseat!!

Here's me on the way into the garage. I'm looking around for any rogue cats.























And here's me, not wanting to get out of my carseat. We're in the garage and Mom's trying to lift me out and I am arguing with her. I LOVE my carseat! I could ride for absolutely ever!




I like the idea of being a "biker babe". Black leather and a Harley and I'm ready to hit the road. Woo hoo!

Mary-Margaret

Monday traffic

When I was a baby I absolutely HATED stopping in traffic. I'd "talk" and make all kinds of noise until we'd start moving again. Mom would say "It's a RED light, Mary-Margaret!", as if that explained it all. Then she'd point and say "Now it's GREEN...we can GO!". Uh huh. Sure. They all look the same to me, you know.

Now that I'm grown up I'm used to these inconveniences, and I take advantage of our "stop" time to check out the people in the cars next to me, sometimes striking up a conversation until the light changes. Other times, I make a note of the landmarks just in case I end up walking home by myself.

Today when we left the office there were absolutely TONS of fire engines going down our street and the street on the other side of the creek. It sounded like a really BIG problem was happening, but we don't know what. One of the fire engines stopped on the bridge that goes over the creek, which is now pretty full of water. We're hoping that nobody fell in.

That's it from your reporter on the ground in Temecula, CA

Signing off, this is Mary-Margaret O'Brien!

Sunday the 21st of February

My goodness, has it been a whole six days since I wrote in my diary? My apologies to my readers. I'm getting older, so time goes faster.

That's true, you know. When you're a human child and Christmas is two weeks away, doesn't that seem like ages and ages? But when you're all grown up and Christmas is two weeks away, you get all hurried and stressed and say you just don't have time...or not enough time. Mom calls it "Flying faster toward the sun!". Too "zen" for me.

Whatever...I'm just a dog. I live maybe 12-15 years, give or take a few. I have a pretty good grasp on what matters in life so I don't stress about much. Oh, maybe if it's time to brush my teeth (which I absolutely HATE), or take a bath or if supper is late being laid down, of if there's a cat in my back yard....THEN I stress. FYI, I had a bath AND a teeth brushing today, too, and I was just fine.

I think maybe I'm teaching my mom a few things about life. Yesterday she finally cleaned out her sock drawer. She tossed most of the socks, too, especially beige and olive drab ones. They weren't even hers. They belonged to Papa John, and he's been gone about 20 years now. But they were in "good as new" shape and ...you know my mom. She even lined the drawer in a cheery paper with pastel baby hands and feet on it, probably left over from some baby shower gift that she'd finished wrapping years ago. It worked and it makes her happy.

We worked on posting an album of "Family Favorites" to her Facebook page. Now that was fun AND time consuming. She still has about 14 years of pictures to sort through that she took prior to getting a digital camera in 2004. That shouldn't be too bad, though. She has them all in a flowered box organized by date. We spend a lot of time remembering good times and smiling. (NOTE: I don't know anybody that makes a habit of taking pictures during bad times, do you?)

So...that's it for today. We mostly hung out doing piddly stuff. It's been a good weekend.

PS - We went to Von's instead of Albertson's. Now THEY know how to treat a steady customer. Blanca in the Deli department went straight for the thin sliced Prima Taglia Prime Rib @ $10.49 a pound for MY treat. YUM!! Mom got samples, too, (which I made her share) and she agreed with me so much that she bought some for lunches.

Love you all.......

Mary-Margaret

Hey, Batter..batter...batter...Bat!

What is brown, hangs upside down, and has ears and a tail? No, it is NOT a donkey bungee jumping off the Golden Gate bridge.







Hint - Mom thought it was a giant moth. Guess again?










I knew it all the time. I'm the big game hunter in my office building. I can spot lizards from 30 paces. We have a BAT sleeping over the doorway in our hall. Poor Mom! She cringed and and speed-walked all the way to the other end of the hall to get out her cell phone camera. Then, she tippy-toed all the way back to take a picture. She's everly so considerate. You think maybe she just wanted our little bat to have an uninterrupted nap?

My guess would be she didn't want it to wake up and bare it's little fangs at her. I told her it's just like Mickey Mouse playing Dracula, but she's not buying that. I would protect her. Yup! I'd do an Ozzie Osborne for her. "Rowww...rrrr!!" I'm up on my rabies and all that.

So...after taking a couple of (shhhh!) pictures, we left quietly, opening the door everly so slowly so as not to rattle our resident bat from Dreamland. I sang (silently, of cours) "Fangs....for the memories....", and laughed all the way down the elevator to the parking lot.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

SHAME on some PEOPLE!!

Mom went out to breakfast with one of her friends this morning. While they were at the restaurant, Margie's daughter Becky and grand-daughter Abby dropped by. They were on their way to sell Girl Scout cookies at Ralph's. Becky said there was a little brown dog locked into a car with no windows rolled down. It's a warm day today, maybe in the 70's. (NOTE - Dog in picture is not same as little brown dog in car)

Ashley, our server, told the Manager who called Animal Control. She said that Animal Control will take the doggie and the people will have to pay a fine to get it back. When Mom and Margie left, the doggie was still in the car and it was getting hotter. Margie went back into the restaurant and found the owners of the Green Mitsubishi. They said they were just leaving and pretty much ignored Margie, who was absolutely LIVID by then.

Mom sat in the parking lot next to the car and got a bottle of water out of a case she keeps in the back of her car. Maybe 20 minutes later when the stoopid humans still didn't come out she wrote a note reminding them to leave windows open and please consider their dog's comfort. She was going to leave it, but decided instead to hand it to them personally.

Mom walked back into the restaurant and found the people (who by this time were getting a little uncomfortable ...but who cares, huh? Their DOG was uncomfortable, too!!). The man said "We already have water in the car", and gave the water back to Mom. She said "Are you sure you don't want this? It's cool...and your poor doggie is getting pretty hot!". "No", said the man and he grinned like Joe Biden when cornered with a direct question.

Mom went back to the parking lot and the teenage boy who was with the stoopid humans came out and rescued the pup. Well, good gosh!! They're all lucky Mom, Margie and the other ladies didn't bash in the window....which they would have pretty quick, too! A small crowd was gathering...the emotions were tense. Nobody was going to let that poor dog suffer much longer.

What's the matter with stoopid people who get pets and treat them like" stuffies", huh? We have feelings...we need to have fresh air, water and food and love and.....people who CARE about us.

Doggies of the world....UNITE!! Rally the troops! Stage a "sit in"!! I think we need to march in front of the offending human's houses with our parents and carry big signs that say "UNFAIR!!" and "P.O.U.T." (that's "Pups Opposed to Unfair Treatment").

Protest and leave your "detritus*" on their lawns to remind them of our political pawsition in this matter.

Militantly yours,

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

*PS - Mom learned a new word a couple of days ago and was looking for a place to use it in a sentence. Personally, I would have just said "poop", but that's me.



Oh yeah...LOL....and "she who shall not be named" bought a box of Lemonade Shortbread Girl Scout cookies. She KNOWS how I feel about that since we're both trying to lose weight. But who can resist those Girl Scout cookies, hmmmmm???

At Miss Cathleen's Place...Bellissima!!

This is me on my chair by the front door. I've already had a couple of walks, played in the newly sprouted clover, and checked outside for any new smells. Miss Cathleen (Mom's manicurist) ALWAYS knows what I like. And for this reason ONLY, I absolutely refused to potty before we got to her shop. I wanted to save my stuff for Miss Cathleen.

The first minute after we got there I was at the door, making "wwwrrrufff" noises and making it known that it was time for me to go. Miss Cathleen thought I was very cute and thoughtful for waiting for her to take me out. Mom just shot me a look that said ....well, I guess that she admired me for my intelligence and devotion? Something like that, I'm sure.

And here's me sitting on the step on the side of the foot spa, waiting for the ladies to finish up. It's just my size and this is where I lie down after my belly rubs. Miss Cathleen also has a very special bowl just for my water. It's a thing just between Cathleen and meeeeee! Unfortunately, today my mom poured HER water into it and I refused to drink. I think next time she'll remember that I do not like ice water from a bottle. I prefer room temperature tap water.

You probably know already how much Miss Cathleen and I love each other. We've been the bestest of friends ever since I was nine weeks old. Good friends and family who love you are the everly most precious things in the whole world.

I'm blessed.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Rats & Mice!!

Humans are everly so dependent on technology. My mom was in a MAJOR funk today. Our TimeWarner high-speed super-duper internet connect went "splat". The repairman was late. The TV went out and so did the phone, leaving her nothing but a bright purple Razr phone which is falling apart, but works if you stand really close to the back door and hold it together really tight.

The good news is the house got vacuumed, some laundry got done, some dusting...the kitchen got cleaned. And then....? She is bored to death and starts to read her "Son of a Witch" book that she keeps forgetting about.

Repairman finally gets here and wants to know if I will jump on him. He says it's against his company policy. Mom says "No" and I say "Yes" at the same time. We compromise. I get to jump twice and then I'm only allowed to sniff his shoes. Nothing of interest there. No dogs or cats at his house. So I get bored, too.

We watched a bit of "Maury" for the brief time the TV worked. Then we watched some "I Love Lucy" until the TV gave out again.

Here's the thing, according to the Repairman: Something is wrong with the cable from the street to the house. He tried to "pull it through" but it got hung up and now we have a work crew showing in up five to ten days. Lucky for us, though, that the Repairman managed to fix us up temporarily so we could check our email.

How would we EVER live without email, phones and television again? I don't think so. Nope!!

Love, Mary-Margaret

Quantum Mechanics

Sunday is usually my day for napping, either at home or at the office. The LAST thing on my mind is physics, especially quantum mechanics and classical physics. I also like being read to while I'm falling asleep. So what do I get today? Hmmmmmm? Here's a hint: My GrandPapa is a writer, too. Yup! Papers by George M Safonov and The Photon Non-Photon Universe.

Ahhhh....yes. Nothing like a good read to put a puppy to sleep.

(yawwwwwwwwwnnnn!)

Mary-Margaret

Temecula process server Murrieta process server Riverside process server Professional process management Fission Electric Cell Project Neutron Flux Cavity Reactor

Nazi Weapon of Mass Destruction? Huh?

Here's some information about my GrandPapa's friend and colleague, Arnold Kramish. Click on his name, Grandpapa. He's quite a prolific writer. On that page there's a whole list of his works.

One book really has Mom intrigued. It's called "The Griffin - Paul Rosbaud and the Nazi Atomic Bomb That Never Was" . This is the LA Times review from back in 1987. Wow! Now why would the USA and UK make up something like the Nazis having an atomic bomb if they didn't? Is this the same as having "weapons of mass destruction" only 60 years earlier during World War II?? Is this a trend? How come we never heard about it before?

Sorry, readers. Now I'm getting "pawlitical". I only wanted to show Grandpa where he could learn about what his old friend is up to these days. Just doing another "Pup-lic" service announcement.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Pssst? Mom? Can we get that book? Can we? Can we?

Hut-two-three...ARF!!

As you know already one of my passions is charity work. This month, in particular, it's the YORKSHIRE TERRIER NATIONAL RESCUE in Chapmansboro, Tennessee.

As Lt. Chaplain of the Yorkie Brigade, I encourage my fellow troops to keep their spirits high and their eyes on our goal.

The "tromp tromp tromp" of tiny feet marching in cadence. Hut-two-three-arf! Singing as we march...

"We are the YORKIES...the MIGHTY FIGHTY YORKIES!!...We are the favorites...We will win the race!"

The gap is closing and we are overtaking the opposition. Today we are only 1.15% behind the Golden Retrievers.

As Colonel Mouse (affectionately called "Minnie" by her close friends) once said "We WILL Prevail!" (although this statement has erroneously been attributed to other pawlitical figures like Bush, Roosevelt and so on). It was at the Battle of York by Lake Ontario back in April of 1813 that we first heard this battle cry. The Americans won THIS battle only because the Golden's in the Glengarry Light Infantry got lost in the woods while on tree-sniffing duty. Canada claims to have won the War of 1812 and (I'm told) on paper it's hard to tell WHO really won. But give a few puppies some paper on the floor and it's hard to tell one puddle from another, too. Did you know York is now called Toronto? But I digress......

(drum roll...bugles....)

CHARGE!!!

PLEASE VOTE!!! <---- click on link, enter "Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue" in "TN" (for Tennessee).

Thank you.

Mary-Margaret O'Brien
Lt. Chaplain
Yorkie Brigade

My Day at the Spa!

Hurry ..hurry! We get up early and drive to my personal stylist's house. Miss Marilyn's Puppy Day Spa. Madison, another Yorkette, is there waiting for me. You know...my BFF? So we start talking and playing and pretty soon Charlie, a Bichon Frise, arrives. He's everly so handsome. He mostly just stares and stares at me. Madison says she thinks he has a crush. Maybe...dunno! Not interested in boys yet.

So the three of us are hangin' out just chillin'...and this guy, Sago (a black Pomeranian), comes in all loopy with dilated pupils in his eyes. He is mentally on another planet, I tell you. He's just sorta limp with a goofy smile on his face and every so often his eyes roll back in his head. The three of us think he's pretty funny.

Mom comes to pick me up about 12:15. She takes a look at Sago and asks Marilyn what kind of rug he is. Huh? (I say) and I look at Sago. Too funny. He's laying on the table and he has so much hair he looks like a bath mat, except for his head. Mom notices his eyes are going in different directions, so she asks Marilyn what's wrong with him. Marilyn explains that he's really hyper and jumps all over the place, so his mom gives him tranquilizers. Hmmmm! Mom says maybe he took one too many, and Sago starts grinning again, but his eyes are still going opposite each other.

Charlie keeps jumping up and down, absolutely BEGGING Mom to take him home. Mom even gets kind of embarassed. She bends down and Charlie plants a big wet kiss on her. Um...she says "Oh, I love you too, Charlie, but I can't take you home!". He keeps on hopping (and hoping, too) but no! He stays at Marilyn's.

I have a pink bow today. I LOVE pink. Right now it's kind of wet, as is the rest of me. Hey! I'm a dog, guys. When I get home from the office after a long day, the first thing I want is to go out. Yes, it's raining. So big deal. Into every life a little rain must fall. I go out, do my stuff and decide that since it's not totally dark yet, I'll sit by the fence between my yard and the kid next door...what's his name? It'll come to me. Oh yeah! "Pooka" (but I call him "Pooky" sometimes).

I hear "SUP-PERRRRR!!!", one of my most favorite words. I go racing into the house all soggy and hungry and wolf it all up. YUM! Chicken and duck kibble. Then I jump into Mom's lap and dry my feet. She goes "Eeeeyeeew!" and I know I've made her day.

All in all, a VERY good day for me. Hope yours was fine, too!

Love, Mary-Margaret

TEN POINT THREE!!

Can you believe it? So much for all my holiday treats. Between appetizers, entrees and dessert, and between the holidays and today, I have gained almost ONE pound. To you, that's not much. But to me? That's about 10%...TEN PERCENT..of my body weight.

How depressing. Mom says we will be going on walks and cutting back and all kinds of other awful things, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. UGH!!

How do I know about my weight? Besides my clothes not fitting right? Ohhhhh....maybe because I went to the doctor today for a booster shot and bordatella. They weighed me. Even after I took off my collar and tags, I weighed 10.3.

(sigh)

Mary-Margaret "2 x 4" O'Brien

R.I.P. Scarlett and Mollie

What a sad week this has been. My very good friend Scarlett was suddenly taken ill on a couple of days ago and she passed on to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. She was a young, vibrant Yorkette, not quite 9 years old, with her whole future ahead of her. She was active with her family and friends, and recently attended the YTNR Yorkie Ball in Tennessee with her mom, Connie, and some of our other friends. She is survived by her brothers Rhett and Hashimoto, and her parents, John and Connie Lamanteer.

Mollie was a senior pup, 17 years old, but it was still everly so hard to say goodbye to her. Her mom is my fashion designer, Yvonne Tolley, and my heart is grieving with Yvonne and her family today.

Mollie Tolley
























Scarlett Lamanteer



Please pray with me that Scarlett and Mollie are playing together at the Rainbow Bridge, and also pray that their families get through this terribly sad time in their lives.

Thank you.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

PS - I might add that Hashi (Scarlett's brother) is also my boyfriend but we decided to keep it casual since he lives almost 3000 miles away. Still.....every so often, the steam iron will hiss. Hashi knows what I mean.