The Fairy Princess

  Here's me all dressed up. I sure felt elegant. Really royal. But after an hour or so I stripped it all off and ran about in my birthday suit. Felt good, too.

But to humor my mom, I stayed everly so still in the car, inside the bank (I made a lot of new friends today) and for a while at work. Then, I put my feet down and said "enough". Still, I wanted you to see me in costume before I got all mussed.

Love, Mary-Margaret 

Fairy Princess costume

 
Here's me as a "Fairy Princess" I just put this thing on. It was a bit big so Mom used safety pins. I felt everly so elegant. But an hour of elegance is about all I can stand. You know what I mean.

Love,

Mary-Margaret 

Mary-Margaret, "Fairy Princess"

Oh gosh! I couldn't WAIT to get dressed up. Mom helped me get my costume on and ....oh rats, guess what? I'm only a "small", not a "medium", so we had to pin my dress up. And my hat? We had to double the strap twice through the loops. But the result was pretty good.

See? This is MEEEEEE in my Halloween costume. My first ever Halloween. How do I look? I'm in my car seat on the way to work and even though Mom took some other pictures, I couldn't wait to share with you. Good thing, I might add.

After going to the bank and showing my costume off, we got to the office and I got so tired of tripping over my skirt, and of the hat falling over my eyes, that I just decided to get undressed. Yup. Right then and there, off it came. It's laying sort of on and off the bottom shelf of the etagiere (bookshelf) so at least our customers will know we celebrate Halloween.

Trick or treat?

Love, Mary-Margaret

Bellissima!

Today was Mom's facial at "Bellissima!", Miss Cathleen's shop. She's been looking forward to it all week. Miss Cathleen takes such good care of her and she kinda relaxes so much I can't tell if she's alive or not. We got there early so I spent time getting to know Crystal, another one of Miss Cathleen's clients, before we went into the little dark room with the nice smells.
Here's me waiting for Mom to go home. See how much of a lady I am? Chairs are for clients and I figure I'm not only a client but a special friend, too. Today, I was so everly quiet that Miss Cathleen kept checking on me to see what I was doing. After she was done with Mom, I got my walk. She says I run really fast and made her do four whole laps in the parking lot.

Tonight, I'm really tired. I'm on the desk under the desk lamp. It's kind of bright and I've figured out how to turn it off. I just lean on the little button and "poof", it's all dark. I doze off and then my tummy gurgles and wakes me up. Every so often Mom sniffs and says "Eeeeyeeeww.....do you have to go out?", but I just roll over and skootch myself into another position. I really don't have to do anything at all except sleep right now. She'll live through it. She's had a lot of practice, thanks to me, and I tell YOUUUU! Odiferous smells do NOT cause permanent brain damage nor cause one's nostrils to wither and die.

Fragrant regards,

Mary-Margaret

Daylight Savings OVERRRR!!

Got to sleep in an extra hour - sort of. We went to bed early and woke up at the usual time except it was an hour earlier. Got it? Oh, well. (yawn) So I went out and checked for cats. All clear. Reported back to headquarters "No cats". The Officer in Command (Mom) said she was going out for a bit and would be back later, and to "Babysit the birds and take phone messages!". I babysat pretty well, and the phone didn't ring, so I did a good job.

Then we piled into the car and went to work. Mom did, anyway. I crawled into my office bed for a snooze. Babysitting can be tiring. Peanut Page's mom and human sister came to the office so I said "Hello!". Peanut stayed home today. We came home, had lunch and shared some cashews. Although the way Mom shares is like ten for her, one for me. It's ok, though. I hear cashews are fattening. (hee hee)

Going to go watch some scary sci-fi movie and then "Desperate Housewives". It IS SUNDAAAAAY! Hope you all had a good weekend. Only two more days to Halloween.

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Boo!" O'Brien

Bird Watching

Saturday! Whoop de do! Pretty dull except some sun bathing, a bath and some bird watching. Here's me hopping up and down to visit with my bird brother, Kal. He's the only one that's nice to me. Every morning we say "Hello" to each other. Even though we speak different languages, Kal speaks bird and I speak dog, we sort of understand that we are related, both being adopted and all. Sort of like Madonna and her family, except Mom doesn't look like Madonna and...oh, here I go, blabbing on again.

This is me after my bath and blow dry. I really enjoy those showers with Mom. Except I get shampooed first and then wrapped up in the towel and tossed out of the nice warm shower. She says it's hard for her to shower with me watching. If you ask me, she's just afraid I'll hog all the water. Well, that, and I kind of get in her way. Then, when she gets out and towels off, I get to sit in her lap while I get blow dried. That part I like except for tangles, not that I have many. But every so often the comb tugs a bit and I say "Yipe!" and she says "Oh, don't be a baby, Mary-Margaret!". And that's how it goes.

I'm not sure what we're going to do next. Maybe some laundry? Maybe go to the store for more chicken...I hope? You can tell Mom needs to vacuum around the bird cage, too. We get to sleep an hour later tomorrow because it's the end of daylight savings time. I'm looking forward to that.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Friday - I Got Pizza

Pizza for lunch! Oh boy. But Margie and Mom were pretty stingy with stuff. Like I'd get cheese or sausage, but you think I'd get a whole piece? Nope! Mom was afraid it might upset my stomach. I barfed earlier, but nothing of note. Probably some birdseed. I don't seem to digest that very well.

Tonight, I had chicken. My most favorite, don't you know? Sliced and diced on a saucer. Yum!! Then we started to watch a movie about a cheetah. It was called "Duma" and is about an absolutely HUGE kitty that can growl. I liked it fine, but Mom couldn't stand to see the part where the cat chases the ostrich. I didn't mind it. Duma didn't catch the ostrich, but he did find a nest of eggs and that's what the boy and the man had for dinner. Duma had his own egg raw.

OK...let's see. I made lots of new friends today. Even nice Mr. McGill from next door came over and visited a whole lot with me. He really wanted a notary but then I guess I totally charmed him and he didn't want to leave. I have that effect on some people, I'm told. The only problem really was when a lady came in to bring us a service and I was snooping through her purse. I found a nifty piece of paper that just begged to be shredded. Uh oh! It had the defendant's address on it. Fortunately for me our client liked me, and liked putting together jigsaw puzzles. So it all worked out well.

So that's my day. How was yours? Hmmmmmmm??

Love and puppy kisses,

Mary-Margaret "two by four" O'Brien

(PS - I think I'm gaining weight again. I'm more square and solid than ever before. Mom said right to my face "Oh, Mary-Margaret! I think you'll make a good doorstop!". Was that nice of her? I don't think so. But she does tend to kid me a bit. Maybe it was just a joke?)

The Cabazon Fire

Mom won't let me go outside. The fire is probably 30 or 40 miles away but the air is really thick with smoke. We accidently left our sun roof open and the inside of our car had pieces of ash all over.

So far, four firemen and one Yorkie have died, but that's all I know right now. Lots of things are burned up, and it makes me really sad for all the little animals, and the children and families of the brave firemen. This picture is looking directly into the sun which is setting in the west behind the hills of De Luz, only a mile away. You can barely see the hills.

Prayer group? Please please pray for all the creatures that this fire will affect? All this happened because some kids thought it would be fun to start a fire. An animal would never do this....only a human.

Sadly yours,

Mary-Margaret

Oleanders are bad news...

..or so I'm told. This morning while I was doing my early morning sniffathon in the back yard I noticed a really pretty flower just laying there. The next door neighbor has these trees with red flowers on them, and I was thinking that might be a nice present for Mom. So I fiddled around with it and got it somewhat loose from the spider web it was entangled with, and marched right back into the house with the flower dangling off my chin hairs from the spider web.

All of a sudden I didn't feel so hot. I went upstairs to find a ray of sunshine to lay in, and just stretched out. Then I started urping a bit. Then, oh wow. I threw up. No red flower or anything nasty, but Mom kept an eye on me, saying stuff like "Oh, poor Mary-Margaret, are you feeling a bit punk today?". I even threw up on her new comforter. She just rolled her eyes and told me that she'd waited two years to put it on her bed because she was worried about dog-barf, and finally loosened up about it last month, and here I go and I'm her worst nightmare. She didn't tell me about the "nightmare" part because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. Anyway, I think she got it all mopped up ok.

Then, she takes me into the bathroom and gives me a fresh bowl of water, and washes my face with a cool cloth. I have to admit that I liked the attention, but I also think I'll stay away from pretty red flowers from now on.

I played with my piggy a lot today. Mrs. Mercer came by with some work and hurried through it so she'd have time to play with me. She liked my piggy, too. It's my most favorite toy now. I put it in my bed and had a nap today with all my babies and toys. I'm a pretty lucky little girl, I think.

Miss Patti came to see me (not the groomer, but the court lady) and we had a good time visiting. A couple of other clients came by, too. Mom says she thinks they come to see me more than her. She's silly. We each have a job to do. Mine is to keep people mellow, and hers is to take away the burden of their problems. It works.

OK...time for bed. G'night everybody.

Love, Mary-Margaret O'Brien
Therapy Dog

PS - Mom's trying to decide on the color of my vest. At the airport, they said I should be wearing yellow, but I kind of like the blue. Any suggestions?

My response to Cat letter

As you can see, I responded immediately to Aunt Leslie's suggestion about leaving cats alone. I will consider her suggestion, but ohhhhhhhhhh....I really do love my hobby. I make love, not war. Cats are ok, I guess, but they really DO need to be taught some manners and I AM the one to do it. I think. Do you?

Love, Mary-Margaret

My Special Courier Bag

Me and my Auntie Leslie have a special pouch that we can send stuff to each other in. I thought she didn't love me anymore, especially 'cause she thinks I don't like cats. You know, she has so many cats and raccoons, I don't even think SHE knows how many she has. Oh, and she has a bunny...who eats computer cables. But, still, she loves it.
So first, you see my new squeaky piggy. I LOVE my piggy. I drag it around by the nose. I'm sure I can find room for it in my bed. Probably. If I skootch a couple of my babies over a bit.

Aunt Leslie sent me a letter, too. It said "Please leave the cats alone" (or something like that). I can't remember exactly. I got carried away shredding it, and I guess you could say, I truly digested her words. I know Mom got a picture of it when I was finished, but maybe she needs to delete some stuff from her phone because it didn't get here. Maybe tomorrow.

Thank you, Auntie Leslie. XOXOXOX to you, too! (lick lick)

Love, Mary-Margaret "I LOVE CATS" O'Brien

Break time!

Really, I work hard. I'm the back up receptionist and when Sonia isn't here, someone (ahem?) has to greet the clients. This is a picture of me taking a little break from my responsibilities.

OOOOOOHHHHH! (hee hee) Sarabi can't have rawhide anymore so her mum was looking for a substitute? And one of my yorkie pals suggested Bully Sticks but I never heard of that. So I got my mom to click on the link. After I got done blushing and revived Mom, I got to thinking. I guess there truly is a use for everything. Really there is. Think of the fertilizer king, Bandini? Well, I wonder what you'd call the guy who figured out what to do with these? Hmmmmmm?

I got a pouch from Auntie Leslie today with a nifty surprise .... And a letter. When I get home, Mom'll download the pictures and you can see exactly what I thought of her letter. (I LOVE you, Auntie Leslie!!).

Kisses and licks...

Mary-Margaret

Yanking Mom's Chain

Ohhhhhhhhhh....LOL....I get such a kick out of yanking her chain. Making Mom crazy. Honest! She's such an easy mark.

First off, I have to tell you that I was absolutely perfect today. I slept in, got up, ate some bird seed and threw up, went outside to visit my friends (the Cat Family), and was everly so good all day long. I was so good, I couldn't stand myself.

After dinner, just before the Bachelor comes on, which me and Mom watch, I finally got to go outside. Of course I raced up the hill, arfing (friendly like...I'm not a mean dog, Auntie Leslie) and after a bit, Mom says "Come on in". Hah, I said. She says "Bedtime", and I keep going. She says "Charlee Bear", then she does the door slam thing, then the garage thing, then the trash can thing. Nothing inspired me to alter my course. Except one thing.

It gets reeeeeeaaalllly quiet. Then I hear her say in a very calm voice: "Mary-Margaret! Come!", and that's it. Huh? I look at her and there she is, just standing on the walkway looking right at me. I flit around for a sec....still nothing. She's like a statue, glaring me down. Oh fine, I think. She's really serious! So I walk (not run, mind you, but walk) right to her. I get about 6 feet away and stop. She says "Good girl. Come in now!". So I did, and guess what? I get rewarded with a Charlee Bear.

I think it's just a communication thing. I like to play, and let's face it. She's not as young as she used to be. But you know what I did? Hmmmmm? I went straight upstairs and waited for her. Then, when we settled down to watch Lorenzo Borghese and his potential brides to be, I got real lovey-dovey. Oh gosh, I just wanted to kiss my Mom all over. You know she's ticklish on the bottom of her feet? She goes "eeeyeewww, Mary-Margaret!", but I just switch feet. She hides them under the covers, but I burrow under like a gopher and get right to it. Then I play with her hands. I chomp on her thumbs and fingers, gently of course. She hides them under her back, and I scratch her sides to get at them. I grab her hand and try to pull her with me. Sometimes, I just FEEEEEEEL the love and I can't hold back. You know what I mean? (PS - I also had to go some serious "out", but ended up using the piddle pad in my private bathroom. OK...so maybe it was 50% love and 50% desperation? But if she thinks all that was "love", I'm not going to burst her bubble!)

After a bit of that, I curl up in the comforter and watch the "ladies" embarrass themselves all over Lorenzo. Hmmmmph! He can't even speak Italian, but he seems like a really nice guy. Mom and me pretty much agree that it should either be Jennifer or Sadie. Good riddance to that Desiree person.

OK...that's it for tonight. Just wanted to share that I had the warm-fuzzies tonight, and I think I need to set my Auntie Leslie straight. I DO sort of like Cats. Even my cousin Mo is a cat, and my cousin Jack. It's just a game. Sort of like tag or hide-n-seek. I just like to WIN sometimes, you know??

Peace! Love! God bless us all!

Mary-Margaret "Feel the Love" O'Brien

Hello! I'm a "CAT"-a-holic!

Oh gawd....I confess. I AM obsessed. I need help. First off, I get left alone while Mom goes out to breakfast. Then, we go work work work. It's way after billing day and we've got to get those bills out. I am very "respectful", keeping in mind Mom's comment yesterday. I'm quiet, only barking "Hello!" at Peanut Page, the attorney's chihuahua. OK...and maybe I flipped on my back a few times for Peanut and we kissed each other a bit, but that doesn't make me cheap.

We get home, I go out and race around, clearing the yard of cats and letting everyone in the neighborhood know I'm baaa-aaack! Then, Mom calls me in for dinner and I inhale it. Then I go back out, do my doggie duties, and come back in for "Desperate Housewives" (we get the East Coast feed at 6:00PM).

I'm just laying there on the back of the big comfy leather chair and I see this CAT .(gasp)..IN MY YARD...cruising around with no thought to it being MY territory. It was hopping on it's hind legs, playing ...dancing....you know, what CATS do. Then another cat appears on the very top of the cedar fence. It lays there and tells the younger cat to jump up. I am going crazy. Oh please please LET ME OUT, but Mom says "No, Mary-Margaret! No more!". The young cat leaps onto a fence post and shimmies up to the top. Now they BOTH just lay there, LOOKING at me...helplessly, foolishly barking my head off. I feel so ashamed.

I run over to the slider and I'm arfing and crying and scratching on the glass, and she will NOT let me out. I run in circles...first to her, then the glass ... then back to Mom .. then to the glass. I'm hysterical. But Mom says "No. You may NOT go outside!". It's like a knife to my heart. Finally, I go and hop up on her and then I go to bounce off her stomach back to the floor, but she catches my foot and we struggle. Of course, she wins. I get put on a "time out" (see my Puppy School days for a description of a "time out"). Ohhhhhhhhhhh...by now, I am sobbing. This is SOOOOO NOT FAIR.

I'm crushed, and my spirit is dampened, and my heart hurts from the sadness. All I want is a CAT, and I'm being asked to quit "cold turkey"? Is that reasonable, I ask YOUUUU????

I'm dictating this from my scrunched up pile of dish towels under the desk lamp where I'm trying to go to sleep in the hopes that this day will soon pass. My eyes are half open and my breathing is still steady. I haven't broken into sweats yet, but I'm sure that would be next except I've heard dogs don't perspire. I keep thinking "Cats cats cats and MORE cats". It's so painful. (sigh)

One day at a time, I keep telling myself. As of about 9:00PM tonight I will be cat-free for almost 24 hours.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Yayyyyyy for Sarabi and the Prayer Circle

High five, you guys. Nice job, prayer circle. We're batting 1000 to date. Must be something special about the way Yorkies pray, don't ya think? (see comments on "Ohmygawsh..." below).

Love, Mary-Margaret

Ohmygawsh! Prayer Circle needs YOU!!

Sarabi's mom just called MY mom and Sarabi needs our prayers. They worked so well last time we just got an encore. Sarabi was chewing on a rawhide bone and ...oh golly...a piece broke off and lodged in her esophhhhhh....esoph.....her throat. She's at the Doctor's now, and they're going to knock her out and try to get it out without surgery, but it that doesn't work, then they need our help.

OK, Gang! Paws up...paws together...now PRAY!

We are one awesome source of Yorkie power.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Mothers can be a pain

I just don't know what's going on. I can't seem to get along with my Mom today. She says I'm an incorrigible (whatever that means) teenager. So, I can't help it. I don't need to be told what to do. I want to chase cats. She says I have a weird obsession. I do NOT. I don't even have a toy box, and Lord knows I have no obsessions, valuable OR weird.

So there are these cats on the downslope. Whenever I look over the wall I can SEEEEEE them. Little eyeballs staring back. So I bark...just saying hello, mind you. And this goes on for a bit. Then Mom goes "Suppertime, Mary-Margaret", and I go inside, wolf it down and race back out to play again. I do this for a while, then Mom says "Mary-Margaret! Time to come in!". Thing is, I don't WANT to.

She does all her tricks, like slamming the garage door, saying "chicken" in a sugary voice, and "Charlee Bears", but I do NOT want to come in. She comes out after me and I duck through her legs, racing up the slope and down the slope. I'm having the best time ever. And she pulls a new trick out of her bag.

She goes out into the garage, and then out the side door. She turns her back to me and says, pretty loudly "Oh, my. What do we have HERE, Mary-Margaret? Trash cans? And what's in them, I wonder?". OK...she's got my attention. I wander over and she says "Oh, good girl". And the next thing you know, I'm in the garage with her, and the side door is shut.

She opens the door into the kitchen, but ...hee hee...she forgot to close the slider over my doggie door. I go in and whoosh right back out again. "YOU STOP THAT, MARY-MARGARET", she says. So we go through the whole routine with the trash again. Yes...I admit it. I fell for it again. Only THIS time, she remembers to close my doggie door and I am TRAPPED. I sulk a bit, but she makes up to me with a Charlee Bear. Only I have to "sit", "stay", "down"...you know the drill. I don't mind, but it's an "alpha" thing. I like having the last word.

So then she says I don't respect her. I DOOOOO! I really do, but she thinks just because I use her to climb on the back of the chair, and find her stomach rather springy to leap off on the way down...I would think that might be a compliment? But NOOOOOOO. She just says "Ow ow ow, Mary-Margaret. You STOP that!".

So you can see, it's been that kind of day. Even earlier when we were at the office, and I was trying to get her attention by standing between her knees and scratching her stomach, it was "OW OW OW". Then she decided to clamp my head between her knees like a vise. I STILL have a headache from that one.

OK...rant over. I'm sure things will be fine in the morning. I know she doesn't think so sometimes, but I really DO love her. I just need to express myself, you know?

Love, Mary-Margaret

Whoooo....MEEEEE?

You already know how much I love to help Mom clean the bird cage, right? Do you know why? Hmmmmmm??
Like maybe I'm sort of hoping for a little something to come my way? Like a sunflower seed, a dried date or a peanut? Maybe even a little bird brother or sister to "kiss"?? I wait.....and I wait! (But hee hee... I have a secret!)
She says "Mary-Margaret, you stay OUT of the trash bag!". Uh huh....I know all that, and I also know that if she doesn't see me I won't get in trouble. So she goes and washes out the bird's water cups and when she comes back, I'm just sitting there....deet de doooo...... And then she says..."You hold still, Mary-Margaret. I want this for evidence". Always the investigator, she is, but I know I'm clean. Er.....right? Oh, drat!! Got one caught on my right eyebrow and I missed it. Darn darn darn!! Double click on the last picture to see it really good. But it was fun to try and maybe NEXT time, I'll get all the way inside before I get caught. Don't know what it IS about birdy poop papers that fascinates me so!

Love,

Mary-Margaret "Birdy Lou II" O'Brien

(PS - My Auntie C is "Birdy Lou from Kalamazoo" already, so I have to be Birdy Lou II)

We are Busy Busy Busy!

For the past few weeks Mom was noticing that work was pretty slow. It's NEVER been this slow in October for as long as she can remember. Even my pouch was empty half the time. But this week it's like everyone wants stuff done NOW, if not sooner. She's getting a bit overwhelmed, and I play it safe by staying out of her way.

We've even had to turn work down because we don't have enough people to do it. So mostly today, I just entertained myself. I waited a couple of hours before flipping my water bowl over. Usually, I do it within the first five minutes, but I felt like dragging it out. I went through a few wastebaskets looking for granola bar wrappers, and had some success. Mostly I just napped until it was time to go.

I know....boring boring boring. Sorry, y'all. But that's just the way it was today. And we have to work all weekend to catch up. That doesn't seem fair, but thats the way things go, you know?

Mom's starting to nod off and I'm pretty much useless, too. We'll talk more later, dear Diary.

Love, Mary-Margaret

Chilly Nights and Silky Comforters

One thing I REALLY like about the weather is that it's a bit nippy at night. Mom's got a silk comforter (or it looks and feels like silk - can't tell these days) which is everly so soft. Sooooo...instead of burrowing under the covers and cuddling with Mom like I used to, I get under the flap of the comforter. It's sooooooooooooo cozy and tickles my nose, and feels soooo good on my toes.
But the absolute truth, if you want to know, is that I can sleep just about anywhere. Like here's me on Mom's desk at night before we go to bed. She had folded some dish towels and I figured, oh what the heck...they look comfy. So I skootched them up together to make a nest and next thing you know, I'm out like a light.
Here's me, ready to leave for work after a really good night's sleep.

Love,

Mary Margaret "Snork" O'Brien