Dear Grandpa..

Boy, you sleep soundly. Melissa tried to call you about 11:00Am this morning and it just rang and rang. She was very worried about you. The last time she called and you weren't there she got Grandma's voice on the answering machine. This time she got nothing. We told her you slept in and probably just didn't hear the phone, and that the answering machine was broken.

(at least, I hope that's what was going on!)

Today we got out a couple of letters, and we finished the 1099s and popped them into the mail. We paid a bunch of bills and did a little bit of collections. It was a very long and busy day. Tomorrow, though, we should be able to dive right into our "do immediately" pile and get that done for our clients.

So much for today. I'm in trouble again, this time for barking. Well, good grief! I'm a DOG. That's what dogs do, right? I get sort of lonesome when Mom's all busy doing paper work and I like to have her open the hall door and put the "doggie gate" (I'm too BIG to call it a baby gate) up. Then I see people...lots of people..and I have to say "Hello!" to absolutely everyone, which drives Mom crazy. All the time she's going "Be quiet, Mary-Margaret!", and sometimes she gets downright rude with me and says "SHUT UP, Mary-Margaret!". I ignore her for the most part. I know she'll forgive me later.

I like to nap on Mom's desk at home. Sometimes I have a little gas (like tonight) and I am very dainty and lady-like about letting it seep out slowly. Unfortunately, though, it's pretty lethal and I get woken up with "EEEEYEEEEWWW....Gross! GOOD GOD, MARY-MARGARET!!", and then I'm picked up and plunked on the floor. Tonight I just shrugged my shoulders and crawled into my kennel to continue gassing the Momster at my leisure. (heh heh heh)

Love you lots,

Mary-Margaret

What I've Been Doing!!

Dear Grandpa - It's been about a week since I've had time to breathe even. Here's what I've been doing, starting with the everly MOST important:

1) I've found my calling. As Lt. Chaplain of the Yorkie Brigade, I found myself becoming more and more interested in studying words of inspiration written by God, Buddha, Allah, and men such as Kahlil Gibran, Rudyard Kipling, Steve Allen and others. A little over a week ago I opened the Yorkie Brigade Chapel on Yahoo Groups and my congregation now numbers 26 Yorkie persons and pups.

2) This morning was my very first mini-sermon, actually more like a "thought for the day". My goal was to post something inspirational, like words to live by. The words are in English (as opposed to Doglish, which is very difficult for humans to learn). My secretary (your daughter, my mom) posted it at 9:01PST so it would be the first post that the East coast members of my "chapel" would see this morning. So far, so good. I think everyone liked it.

3) This was my presentation at Chapel this morning:

Good Morning and Welcome to the YorkieBrigade Chapel, a place where all are
equally welcome; a place we can share our prayers and provide support and
encouragement for each other.

I'm your Chaplain for today, and I'd like to open with something that St.
Francis once said:

"Those who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of
compassion and pity will deal likewise with their fellow man."

We are all brought together by our mutual love of Yorkies and by the love OF
our Yorkies. I would venture to say there's not a human here today that
wouldn't be willing to go to the ends of the earth for not only their
Yorkie, but for any Yorkie in need.

We agreed that our Sunday services should provide something that we could
all think about...we could reflect upon...and we could keep in our hearts to
enlighten our spirits.

With that in mind, I would like to share St. Francis of Assisi's prayer with
you all:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to
console; To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Saint Francis of Assisi
-- The Patron Saint of Animals

Bless us, Oh Lord, and help us to strive to live as St. Francis lived, and
to remember to be as we wish others to be.

Amen

Doughnuts and coffee in the lobby courtesy of the Ladies' Guild. Don't
forget to pick up your links and photos on the way out. Bingo and Potluck in
the Great Hall next Thursday at seven.

Remember: The group that "Prays together, Stays together!".

4) Nobody threw any vegetables or rotten fruit at me, they stayed for the whole service and said "Thank you!", so I guess I did ok. Mom's getting sort of inspired by the research she's doing for me. No matter what religion anybody is, or even if they don't believe in a power higher than themselves, I'm hoping to enlighten everydoggie and everybody with thought-provoking words of wisdom. Maybe next week I'll use something from the Dalai Lama (the man in Tibet) not to be confused with the Delhi Llama (imported to India from Peru), or maybe somebody else.

5) We are going to work at the office today. Deadline (says Mom) for the 1099's to go out is tomorrow. We don't want to miss that. Already people are wanting to get their taxes done.

6) Our house is CLEAN! Christine is a miracle lady. She came on Wednesday and deep-cleaned stuff. Everything smells so nice. She is going to arrange for a carpet shampoo person to come in and spiff up the carpets. I know that would really make Mom happy. I've been in a contest trying to win Mom a Bissell carpet shampooer with 12 brushes. So far I've gotten a lot of votes, but not as many as Steve the Cat or Zoe Marie Spumoni (also a cat) in the first week. The next week I got trounced by a Cavalier spaniel and a rabbit. This week hasn't ended yet but there's a kangaroo running competition with me along with about 20,000 others. I suppose we'll just have to go BUY a darn 12-brush shampooer. We have one that pushes hot water and shampoo stuff through the rug but no brushes (also a Bissell).

7) If anyone wants to vote up until next Tuesday when voting closes, I'm number 29400. The link to my entry is at Vote for Mary-Margaret

8) Mom says to tell you that she's sorry she's so exhausted when you call but between running a business, doing investigative work, and helping me establish my "chapel" it's pretty overwhelming. Oh...well, don't tell her I said this, but you know she is getting a bit creaky in the joints. People don't last forever...they kind of wear out like anything else.

I think that's about it, Grandpa. Hope you have a good time at Mike and Janet's tonight. Janet is such a good cook and a great hostess. I do miss hanging out in her kitchen. It's been a couple of months ever since your birthday last November. And I really miss you, too.

Love and kisses,

Your Grand Doggy...

Mary-Margaret

STEAMED!!!

Winston, the King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, got TWO THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND
SEVENTY votes. How could this happen?

"We are the Yorkies....That is our name. We'll keep on voting 'til we win the
game!!"

(Where are the Dancing Chihuahuas when you need them??)

OK, Team! That's at least 310 votes daily. Can we do it? After serious rest
and recuperation from Round 1 I'm back in the running for Round 3. It's bad
enough to be outdone by cats, but a rabbit? A RABBIT??? (snort)

Vote for Mary-Margaret

Competitively yours,

Mary-Margaret

Mary-Margaret OBrien

Mary-Margaret OBrien

A BEAUTIFUL day in the Neighborhood!

Fallbrook, CA this morning around 11:00AM...maybe mid 70's...clear skies...puffy clouds...! Fallbrook smells like a bouquet of fresh flowers to me. I just love this place.

We were at a nursery that grows all kinds of plants and flowers for shipment to other nurseries all over the country, but driving along Reche Canyon long past the nursery there lingered an amazing scent...aroma....perfume. I was absolutely mesmerized and everly close to heaven. Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!

Love and blessings...

Mary-Margaret

Piper

Piper

Mom and I both thank you for your support last week. We garnered 161 votes which seemed a lot until we saw the winners. Stevie & Zoe Spumoni, both cats, got 1310 and 1104 votes, respectively. This week, we're voting for Piper. If she gets in the finals this week, & next week we can place another Yorkie & theNEXT week....then maybe we have a chance to designate a donation for a YORKIE group. GO YORKIES!!

Shellackedly yours...

Mary-Margaret

Piper

Piper

Mom and I both thank you for your support last week. We garnered 161 votes which seemed a lot until we saw the winners. Stevie & Zoe Spumoni, both cats, got 1310 and 1104 votes, respectively. This week, we're voting for Piper. If she gets in the finals this week, & next week we can place another Yorkie & theNEXT week....then maybe we have a chance to designate a donation for a YORKIE group. GO YORKIES!!

Shellackedly yours...

Mary-Margaret

Martin Luther King Day or Stop the Renegade BREEDERS

Where I was born: Elkland, Missouri - Rippee Kennels aka T&J Kennels

This makes me so very sad. I bet if I didn't have an inguinal hernia when I was born the kennel would have kept ME for breeding. This report was last written about a year after I was shipped off to California, operated on, and thrown into a pet store window where I was lucky enough to meet my mom when I was only nine weeks old.

Want to see what a report on a PUPPY MILL looks like? Where my birth mother and birth father lived? I wonder if they made it out of there or if I'm now technically an orphan, figuratively speaking. Poor "Mom" and "Dad". Did I even have brothers or sisters? Hutches, piles of poop, flies...food on the floor....no water....oh, I can't go on. You must read for yourselves.

T & J Kennels which stands for Tom and Jean Rippee, my parents' jailers.

Once my mom called Mrs. Rippee and asked if my birth mother, Sissy's TooToo, was still there. They didn't even know who she was exactly. I wonder if my birth certificate is even real or if that's made up?

My heart is breaking for all the pups who come into the world like so much chattel. Sold into slavery...shackled and chained....oh, the WOE of it all.

Celebrate advocates of freedom today with the recognition of Martin Luther King's birthday, and celebrate the eventual freedom of all God's creatures from bondage and mistreatment.

"We shall over come.....!!" (sniff....!)

Underground Railroad Survivor...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien,
Free Free Free At Last!!

Mary-Margaret O'Brie

Mary-Margaret O'Brie

See what happens when humans don't allow enough room for pups to write their name? Instead of Mary-Margaret O'Brien, I'm now "Mary-Margaret O'Brie", otherwise known as "The Big Cheese".

(snicker)

Love, Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Tucker piano Dec 7'2010.wmv

Dear Grandpa....

Mom says I should write you and tell you what's happening in my life. Mostly nothing too exciting. Friday I got to go to Miss Marilyn's Puppy Day Spa (she calls it Prime Cuts) and got a bath, got my hair styled, my nails done, my teeth brushed and I got to play with my friends Abby (a Bichon Frise), Shadow (a black poodle), Zak and Chelsea (Maltese), and my very BFF Madison. Madison is feeling much better now, if you're wondering. Remember I told you she was taking steroids for a little medical condition she had? They worked pretty much and she's finally "deflating".

Last night I went out for my "before bedtime" squat and figured the night was perfect for going on safari. After about 10 minutes Mom's yelling "Get in here, young lady!" and I'm not hearing her. Nope....I can't hear her so I don't have to do what she says. She gets out her high-powered 3-C battery flashlight and scans the entire yard, slope and side yards. No Mary-Margaret. She yells some more, and I still don't hear her. She says "Fine! Stay out in the cold all night. I'm going to bed!", and she slams the screen shut but leaves the slider open.

I'm ok, I think...my personal door is still accessible. I play some more but it's no fun if there's no one looking for you. Even my good friend Pooka next door has gone inside. I give up and hop into the house, wet feet and all, and I go upstairs. "Nice of you to come in, Mary-Margaret, "oo widdle chit 'ed!" (she mumbles the last part). Huh? What's that again? Did I hear her call me a "little shit head"?? She curls her lip at me. I very nicely ask her to pick me up. She does and then she squeals, "Eeeeeyeeeeeeeeeeeewwww! Your feet are wet!". "Hah!", (I think). "One for the little shit head, zero for Mom! I win tonight!"

I love my life!!

Mary-Margaret, Squirrel and Mouse Hunter

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Mary-Margaret O'Brie

The winner gets to pick what legitimate charity they want Bissell to donate to AND...ta daaa...most important to my mom is that she might win a Bissell Pet Vacuum. I think I'd sleep better at night if she won that, too.

Please vote for me? All you have to do is sign up and then log on with your email address once a day and vote. Woo hoo!

Love,

Mary-Margaret

Happy Birthday, Grandma and Elvis!

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



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

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

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

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



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

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

Hugs and kisses from your Grand Doggy...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

Grandpa's Lights are Out!

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

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

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

Reporting from Temecula, California...

Your roving reporter on the ground...

Mary-Margaret O'Brien

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

Happy New Year!!

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



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



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



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

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

Love and kisses....

Mary-Margaret O'Brien