Memorial Day thoughts

Thinking of my Grandma today and remembering her with love. It doesn't seem like she left us over 2 1/2 years ago. Mom still talks to her and so do I.

We're both just awful today. Have all kinds of plans on things to do but get all worn out just thinking about them. In our minds, we've washed windows, dusted and vacuumed. In reality we did a load of laundry and spent a lot of time on uploading video to my YouTube site. Today we uploaded six videos of that Deepwater Horizon "oil spill". I think it's more like Mother Earth got "knifed" and is bleeding to death, but what do I know?

On the positive side, despite the news media, there have been a lot worse disasters. For example, back on June 3 1979, the Ixtoc I (a 2-mile deep exploratory well) blew out and it wasn't stopped until March 1980. It lost 140 million gallons by the time it was plugged. And back in 1991 in Kuwait the war caused 520 millions to spill. There's a map here that shows how many spills were reported per year back to 1967 (1 spill). In 1994 there were 101 spills; in 1998 there were 117. Check it out, Grandpa. Click on the pink link.

So much for today. We pretended we were on a picnic and had hotdogs for lunch. I know I'm not supposed to eat those things but...oh, Dog! They are mmmm-mmm-GOOD!!

Hope your Memorial Day was a relaxing time for reflection and for visiting silently with your departed loved ones.

Everly yours...

Mary-Margaret

PS - Yes, I had my hair done on Friday and I'm wearing a patriotic red, white and blue bow. I haven't even tried to take it out yet. I'm waiting until June (which is tomorrow).

Offshore Oil Rigs and Government?

Hello, everybody. Mom's cold is almost gone and my leg is better every day. We did some cleaning today and then we started looking up information on offshore oil rigs.

How come, you ask? Well, we keep hearing about that Deepwater Horizon rig and all the oil that's polluting the Gulf of Mexico, so we wanted to see just how those wells were made in the first place. Anatomy of an Offshore Rig. Totally fascinating, especially the guided tour of the Elgin-Franklin rig and it's accomodations. And the Girrasol off the coast of Angola is pretty deep, probably closer to the Deepwater Horizon in statistics. The site is French, but the lectures are in English.

And then we wanted to learn more about this particular oil spill, especially after we found out that's it's not nearly as big as the one in Kuwait in 1991 (520 million gallons). And Exxon-Valdez was actually one of the smallest of the major spills, with Campeche Bay (Mexico), Brittany (France) and Cornwall (England)considerably larger. One of today's articles suggested "cronyism". Huh? In our government? Pshaw and perish the thought, right? Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill . (click on the pink link, Grandpa, so you can read about it, ok?)

Personally, I think the current "administration" thinks us American puppies and people are really stupid and that we'll believe anything they try to sell...er, I mean TELL....us. The stuff we learned today, along with the government's own site regarding similar incidents just reinforces our opinion. In the left hand menu click on "10 Famous Spills".

Oh yes. And here is a Live Feed of the Gulf Oil Spill which doesn't look like anything is moving but you can see a dark cloud, a light, bubbles....maybe even fish....if you watch for a while. I think I saw a crab until it all exploded again and got dark. Note: Around 10:00PM we saw the robots approach and try to fix the leak. We could even read the names of the manufacturers of the equipment. One of the units had "Titanic" written on it. The cameras change position so sometimes you see action, other times you just see bubbles.

From your reporter on the ground,

In Temecula, CA...

This is Mary-Margaret O'Brien signing off.

Back in my groove...almost!

My leg is still a bit out of whack, but I'm using my good old Yorkie ingenuity to compensate for it. I have been able to get on the couch, on Mom's chair AND on her bed. What I do is this: I get a tiny bit of lift out of my right leg, and then I grab whatever I want to get on with my forearms (Yes, Yorkies have "arms"), and I use my arms to pull myself up. I know...I know. I'm not supposed to jump. Well, lifting myself up with my arms isn't exactly jumping, is it? You should see my biceps (and triceps and forceps)!! Yesssssssssssss!!

Next thing I did which both surprised my mom and an Albertson's shopper: I said my "Hellos", wagged my tail and smiled at the shopper, and then I said "ARF!!" really pretty loudly. Whoa...that sure surprised the ladies. At first Mom said "Mary-Margaret! That wasn't nice!", but then all of a sudden she realized that I was protecting her.

The other shopper was in a type of assistive device that is sort of like a scooter, but she puts one knee in it and pushes herself with her other leg...sort of like I would in my condition. I'd never seen anything like this before and I'm very aware of unusual things because of my Homeland Security studies. So I warned both Mom that there was a weird thing scooting along the floor and I also told the shopper to "Beware..Mary-Margaret on the lookout!".

Both Mom and the lady told me how good I was to watch out for my mom like that. Seriously, I think my mom was most surprised, though. She made some comment like "It's about time you did your job!". (Hmmmph! I ALWAYS do my job, woman!)

I am Mary-Margaret...hear me ROAR!!

Kisses and snuggles...

Mary-Margaret "Iron Dog" O'Brien

Our American Idol!

We like to listen to the contestants on "American Idol" before they were contestants. That helps us make up our minds about who we're going to vote for.



After listening to Crystal Bowersox singing one of her own compositions, and hearing her soul splayed open in this particular song, we wanted to share it with you, too. We got misty eyes and even goose-pimplies hearing her sing from her heart.

God bless Crystal Bowersox. Please let us keep her around for many more years. We think of her as one of your messengers, reminding us how fragile life is and how important it is to say "I love you" to your family and friends as often as you can.

Kisses...

Mary-Margaret "MamaSox Fan" O'Brien

Dan Dugmore, Carole King and James Taylor

Woo hoo! My VERY good friend, MaryElizabeth Dugmore, has the excellent opportunity to get good seats and maybe even a back stage pass at the Carole King and James Taylor concert tonight in Nashville. I guess it helps a little to be married to a former member of the band, Dan Dugmore , ya think?

MaryElizabeth is one of God's angels here on earth. She runs the Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue in Chapmansboro, TN. If it weren't for MaryElizabeth or YTNR a lot of pups wouldn't get the medical treatment they need to live a full life, or help in finding their "forever homes".

DUGMORE'S ESPERANSA OF TAPYOCA


God bless MaryElizabeth and her pup, Esperansa of Tapyoca. Esperansa has had some health problems lately and the Yorkie Prayer Circle has been in full swing for the past few days praying that Esperansa and MaryElizabeth will have many more memories to make together. So far, Yorkie Prayers are working and Esperansa is bouncing back like a young pup. We know God does everything according to his plan, but we're glad that listening to Yorkie Prayers is a part of his plan, too.

Oh yes...and God bless Nashville, TN. The people suffered a great flood when the banks of the Cumberland River crested back on May 4, 2010 and caused possibly the greatest natural disaster (aside from hurricanes) in American history. Lots of people don't know about it because the people of Nashville didn't make a fuss, or demand help from the Government, or whine about their losses. They all pitched in and took care of their own without a whimper. Take a look at The 2010 Flood of Nashville, TN .

It's good to be a Yorkie!

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS: I got up on the couch again today all by myself. I don' need no stinkin' help!!

I can do it MYSELF!

Ever since that little problem with my left knee my mom is totally freaking about me jumping or doing anything. If I want to get on the couch or the bed, I crouch on the floor and count "an' a one...an' a two..." and then I sigh. Mom says "Mary-Margaret! You are NOT allowed to jump!", and she comes over and says "Do you want some help?". I roll my eyes and say, "Not really, thank you. I can do it myself!", but she just ignores me and I get a lift up.

Last night she was all cozy in her big leather chair and all engrossed in something on TV. It took a few tries but I actually made it up on the couch ALL BY MYSELF. Wow...was she surprised. I'm not all better, and I'm still pretty stingy about how much I use my left leg, but I'm getting there.

Yorkies are very determined pups.

Love, Mary-Margaret

PS: Mom's still feeling lousy, but at least her fever is down some. She'll give it this weekend and then maybe go see the doctor on Monday if she's not over this gunk.

My Knee is Out!

Sheesh! Just when you think everything that can happen has, something else surprises us.

My left knee was just fine when I was little, until my groomer who was sort of new at grooming, twisted my leg. Maybe that just exacerbated (Mom told me how to spell it) an existing problem, maybe not. But ever since then sometimes I have a hitch to my step, sort of like Walter Brennan did on "The Real McCoys". Anyway, maybe I jumped off the bed on it and twisted it. I don't remember exactly what happened but that was the day before yesterday, and I can't walk on it or straighten it out or put any weight on it.

If it's not better by this weekend, we'll get my leg x-rayed and see what the doctor has to say. If I have to have it repaired surgically it'll cost about $3000.00. Seems a lot for such a tiny knee, doesn't it? Mom tells me not to worry, though. She says that we'll find a way somehow.

Meanwhile, if I want up on the couch or the bed, I sit there and make a squeaking sound, which translates to "Please help me?", and she comes over and picks me up to put me wherever I want to be. And if I want down, even though I can do this myself, she says that I have to ask for help, too. No jumping or climbing stairs or anything like that. Not fun at all.

Mom's still sick...Shannon's getting sick. Everybody's got a problem around here. We have to keep the business going, though. So Shannon is working this morning and Mom and me will go in this afternoon for a while. Clients first, is my motto. Always "Clients first!".

Things will be ok, though. They always are.

Bye for now...

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Gimpy Girl" O'Brien

News update for Grandpa!

Most of you guys know that my Grandpa is almost 90, doesn't hear well, and has absolutely no idea how to read an email. He has an icon on his desktop that links him to my blog. So lots of times I'm just telling him stuff but it's not really all that important to be like "Breaking News" or anything. It's just how my mom and I communicate with him.

Mom is still not feeling up to snuff. As a matter of fact, if "snuff" were feeling maybe just ok, she's way below "snuff". She stayed home from work today and I figured, "Oh boy! Snacks!". Nope. She's not hungry and she's no fun at all. She thought maybe she'd go to the office but nobody wanted her spreading her germs there so she stayed home all day.

This afternoon she realized that I had absolutely NO chicken, and only ONE helping of kibble left. She called my Aunt Margie and begged a favor off her. So Aunt Margie, being the kind person she is, got me a fresh chicken at Vons....and some tea, honey, orange juice and Robitussin DM for Mom. Oh yum (I said), and then I ate ALL my dinner just in case someone else had some ideas about that.

Mom groaned a bit, coughed some more, and then took a healthy swig (2 teaspoons) of her pink medicine. I hope it helps her some. Sounds to me like her cold moved into her chest and she's really feeling bad. Tomorrow, if she's not better, I'm going to absolutely insist that she go see her doctor. This is SO not like her. She's been immunized against just about everything except rabies and bordatella, so I don't know what she's got.

Back to my Aunt Margie. She held out the Vons bag at arms' length and told Mom to pay her later, that she didn't even want to come in the house. I sure hope I don't catch anything. And I hope Mom remembers to get me more kibble tomorrow.

Oh, yes.....and Lord? Please make Mom better really fast because I love her!! That's the most important thing of all.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Typing all by myself tonight!

This isn't easy without thumbs. And spelling isn't my strong point, being home schooled as I am. You don't know how much you need thumbs until you want to hit the space bar. (sigh)

Here's the thing, Grandpa. Mom's not feeling up to snuff. She thinks she caught a cold or something even though she does everything possible to avoid hacking, sneezing or sniffling people. She hates crowds and gets the heebie-jeebies if she even thinks about going to a Mall.

Maybe it's my fault. I kiss everyone. Maybe it's me that got a germ and passed it on to Mom. She found a sticky burr in her hair when she was showering this morning. "Good GOD, Mary-Margaret!", she said, as she plucked it out and washed it down the drain. Then she coughed some more and lifted her eyebrow at me.

We went to work and did billing. It's something we HAVE to do so we can get paid and then we can pay people, so they can pay people. You know how it is, right? It only took about 4 hours which is pretty good time, actually.

So now she's telling me that I'm so good at doing my own typing that I can handle it from now on. Hello? I've been at this for HOURS already, and have said really nothing of great importance.

Oh...except that Hashi, my sweet boyfriend, wrote me and put my heart at ease. He is totally committed to me and said I needn't worry. We can't figure out why our Commanding Officer, Col. Minnie Mouse, has the idea that he belongs to her. Maybe she's getting on in years and has him confused with someone else? Hmmmmm....maybe that's it. My sweet Hashimoomoo would NEVER step out on me. Nope. He's my man.

It's supper time. I have to go now. I love you always and forever, Grandpa and Hashi. My two main men, aside from my Uncle Rudy who I also love with all my heart.

OK...bye for now. Oh...um...I can abbreviate that I guess as "BBL" or "BFN" or....

Aaaaack! G'night!

MMOB

PS: My Auntie C has a new baby named "Levi". He's a white and grey kitten, maybe 13 weeks old, and he has a pink nose and pink feet (on the bottom, I mean). I can't WAIT to meet him in person. I just LOVE babies.

Standing by my man.....

Please comment on MY BOYFRIEND's photo. The most comments wins a prize (I think). Still....I am so in LOVE with him that I want everybody to see him. Ahhhhh, be still my heart. Vote for HASHIMOTO . <-- (left click to see my guy and comment/vote for him)



Colonel Minnie Mouse (of the Yorkie Brigade) has been flirting with MY man, too. Well, I don't stand for that. Nope! And I told her so, despite her being my superior in the service. We've fought shoulder to shoulder in many battles, but this time it's personal.



Hashi and I have been engaged for...hmmmm...I guess it's about two years now. Ever since we first met at a truck stop in Mira Loma. It was LOVE at first sight! Oh my Hashi....I will fight for you whenever and wherever I must. I just never expected my commanding officer to be the one I had to draw my claws on. I wonder how they do this in the human troops overseas?

To Hashimoomoo, my heart - I love you always and forever and will be true to you no matter what, I swear. It's not easy for you being a long distance trucker, what with all those cheesy chesty Chihuahuas wagging their behinds for you at every truck stop. And you do live in New Jersey while I'm here in California, but thanks to the internet we stay in touch. Some day, we'll be together again. Maybe in June?

Kisses to my sweet Hashi....

Mary-Margaret

Happy Talk!

The very best part of my job as Ambassador for the Yorkie Nation is meeting and greeting people.

Today we were in line at Bank of America. Two humans in front of me was a baby, maybe about a year and a half old. He was getting pretty fussy and squirmy and was very much NOT happy about having to wait. His mom was flustered not knowing what to do when....ta daaaaaaaaaaa!! Mary-Margaret to the rescue.

I gave him my most winning smile and he smiled back, just a little. I could tell he was trying to decide if he should keep smiling or if he should fuss some more. So I winked at him. He smiled again. Then, we started visiting. It's a thing that pups and babies do with their eyes. We communicate without words. I'd look at him and smile, and he'd look back. We kept this up for a bit and then we'd both start laughing. Then he reached out for me, and I let him touch me and then I pulled back. A pup doesn't want to seem to eager on the first touch, you know.

We kept this up for a while and then his mom started talking to my mom, while me and the baby were doing our own thing. Mostly his mom wanted to know where I had my hair done because she had a poodle who was very particular about who gave it haircuts.

Finally, a window opened up and the baby left. Then one opened up for me and Mom. Everybody took care of business. On the way out, we walked over to our car with the baby and his mom and gave them one of Miss Marilyn's business cards. Maybe the poodle can hang out with me and Madison sometime. And I can play with the baby some more.

I just love being an Ambassador. I was born for public service.

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Hello Hello!

Nothin' goin' on....just checking in to say "Hi!". Everybody I know has allergies and their eyes are itchy and watery and they're sneezing and their noses are running. It's even been hinted to MEEEE that I should carry a hanky in my pocket. Hello people? I don't have pockets?

Mom says that I can get a back pack if I want. She's seen them on the internet. Now that would be something kewl, right? A backpack?

Meanwhile, I will have to use tissue or the couch...or.....Mom's sleeve.

(snark)

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Here's looking achoo!" O'Brien

I LOVE the MARKET!!

I have so many friends there. You probably know most of them. You know....the butcher and the baker (who give me treats), the customer service lady who gives me back rubs, and all the checkers who always say "Hello, Mary-Margaret! How are you today?". It's just the friendliest place in town!

One of my most favorite things to do is get a ride in the cart. I won't call it the "baby seat", though. It's really for persons of small stature who otherwise might get stepped on, ok? OKAY???

This picture is of me getting a ride from Alyssa, one of my most favorite courtesy clerks. Gosh...there are so many of them, practically falling all over themselves to push little me out to our car. Oh yeah! Life is good.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. Me and Mom stayed in and rented "Avatar", and saw it twice. It was very VERY good. Mom thought it was a bit analogical as to the current state of world affairs but she wouldn't get into it with me. She knows I don't like "pawlitics".

Love...

Mary-Margaret

My new neighbor, Mia

Hector from next door FINALLY brought his new pup over to meet me. She has potential, but she's just a little kid. "Play..? Play..? Play...?" is the ONLY word she knows so far. Aaaaaaack. I've never heard anyone bark so loud for so long without stopping. I tried very hard to be polite. Here's Hector trying to get me and Mia introduced.



My ball! Hector found MY soccer ball. Not that I play with it all that much. There's still not ONE tooth mark on it, but it's MINE! It rolled under Mom's desk and I figured that was my signal to follow it. "Bark...bark...bark...!", without a rest. I need an aspirin. I think you can tell by the look on my face that I'm truly at the end of my patience. I thought I was going to have a meltdown.

Shortly thereafter, I gave little Miss Mia her first lesson in Etiquette. A little trick I learned when I taught at Puppy School. Patience....patience....and then, ever so slowly, curl upper lip and snap! "Rrrr..rrrr...ruff!", I said, and she got pretty much ok after that. Only thing was her dad thought she might have to go to the powder room, so they left. I'm sure we'll be friends someday. She's Zeus' little sister (rest his soul). Hector gave us a whole bunch of pictures of Zeus and me when I was a baby (before Zeus accidently stepped on me and I learned to keep my distance). I'll show you the pictures tomorrow.

This afternoon we went to Miss Cathleen's for my monthly visit. Mom gets a pedicure and I get mango coconut smelling lotion applied to my stomach, paws and feet. Oh, it makes me feel so beautiful. Then, Miss Cathleen takes me for a private walk wherever I want to go while Mom's toes dry. I just LOVE Miss Cathleen.



On the way home we saw a really low flying, slow flying plane. Mom said it looked like and old DC-3 from back in the 40's or 50's. "That's nice", I said, trying to be polite. Then when we started up our hill, here comes another one. Hey! Those really ARE slow. It's almost like they are standing still in the air. We had time to get out our Droid and adjust it for a close up. Kewl picture, huh?

Tomorrow is Friday. I am so looking forward to the weekend. Just me and Mom, I guess. I'll try to plan something special for us to celebrate Mother's Day. Maybe I can get her to order us a celebratory dinner for pick up from one of her favorite restaurants. I'll have to use my powers of concentration. I'd better start now, too. Now where do they have Maine lobster.........?

Love to all...

Mary-Margaret

PS: I forgot to mention that Mom's water bottle which was totally full when she put it IN her purse was almost empty when she took it out. Wallet, checkbooks, Droid, identification, pens, external hard drive....everything....in water. She fished the stuff out, dried it as best she could, and then poured her purse out in the parking lot. She didn't use any bad words, either, which makes me very proud of her.

Ansel Adams is not dead!!

My cousin, Cailin who is 12, was probably drawing before she was a year old. She is VERY artistic and we are everly so amazed at her abilities. She continues to surprise us. Each drawing, painting and photograph is perfectly set up and balanced. This is her most recent and we're sharing it with her permission.

She's preserving these moments in time - the triumphs and conflicts, the joy and the frustrations - for generations to come.

(Mom helped me with the words. I was pretty speechless and could only think "KEWL!!", but then English is a second language with me.)

You rock, Cailin!

Love,

Mary-Margaret

PS - Left click the photograph to enlarge it.

Happy Belated Birthday to Aunt Jackie!

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my Aunt Jackie. I'm not going to tell you how old she is, so don't ask. I only have four fingerettes on each paw, and four toelets on each of my feets, so can't count that high.

She wasn't home when my Grandpa called her yesterday to play "Happy Birthday" on his harmonica for her. That's a fambly tradition and everybody appreciates it everly so much. Jackie asked my mom who asked MEEEEE to tell him "Thank You!" and she's sorry she missed it, but she was back East somewhere (not sure where) and that she had a very nice dinner in Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay. Hmmmm....I wonder if they had lobster? My most favorite. I think I'll ask for some for my birthday, too.

PS - I wish we were in Pennsylvania so we could have driven down to meet them for dinner. It's only a couple of hours to Baltimore, you know!!

Love and Happiness to all...

Mary-Margaret

"Pup-date" to Diary:

Dear Diary - Sorry for going so long without writing in you. Mom said I needed to do an update, but I told her I'd rather do a "PUP-date". (Yorkie humor here)

Last Saturday we drove over the hill to visit my Uncle Rudy and his family. That would be my cousins Cailin and Clancy and my mom's daughter, Colleen. Clancy was pitching for his baseball team, the Yankees, and we had to cheer. He's awesome. The "Yankees" won the "Dodgers" 11 to 5. It was very exciting and I sat on the bleachers or on Mom's lap. Yayyyy!!! Go, Clancy!


(Doesn't he look "pro"??)

Then we went for pizza. Mom didn't take my little wheelie-cart with her so I had to sit on the floor under the table. Ew. The floor is the FLOOR!! Not my choice at first. Then I found some little scraplets of food which made up for my mortification. I sat very nicely and didn't fuss or anything. You'd have thought that maybe someone would have given me some pizza or pepperoni, right? Wrong! "It's not good for you", I'm told. "Phooey!", I say back and pout just a little.

Back at Colleen's we listened to Clancy play "Hallelujah" on the piano. He's excellent at that, too. AND...guess what he wants to be someday? A doctor! And it's not because it's a good job for the money, but because he wants to help people. He's a very good human being with a very good heart.

Cailin and her friend, Gianna, went with us to the game but they went hiking. She's very good about checking back with us, and she takes her cell phone with her all the time. She absolutely loves to take pictures and she's very artistic. I'll ask her if we can post some of her work here, but Mom says I can't do it without her permission.

It got dark faster than we thought it would so we spent the night at Colleen's. Clancy was at a sleep-over at his friend's house so we got his bed. Mmmmmm....very comfortable. I didn't want to get up, actually.

The only thing that I'm not happy about is getting carsick on the way to Uncle Rudy's. Nobody noticed. I barfed very quietly, but if "somebody" were paying attention like they should have they'd have noticed I was a bit green. There are a lot of twisty turns on the Ortega Highway. Anyway, when we got to Uncle Rudy's house, Colleen noticed my feet were wet a little bit. Mostly I missed my car seat and got the biggest part of the yucky mess on the passenger seat of our car. Mom cleaned it up right away, but when we got back into the car to go home her nose got all wrinkly and she said "Eeyeww..puppy barf!". Well? What do you want me to do about it, huh?

When we got home she actually cleaned out her car of all the receipts and trash that accumulates there. She got some Clorox non-bleach spray cleaner and scrubbed the seats. Then we went to the market for some spray odor eliminator, left the windows and sun-roof open all night and in the morning it was back to normal, pretty much.

Maybe the next time I tell her I'm feeling a little sick she'll pull over? Hmmmmm??

That's it for the weekend.

Catch you later...

Love,

Mary-Margaret