All sorts of excitement!

I'm afraid that if I keep starting posts with "Mom is such a slacker" that I'm going to just sound like a broken record. "Broken record." Teehee. Raise your hands if you've never seen a record before! Oh. That includes me. What is a record? Maybe Dennis knows...

Anyhoo, let's just accept as a postulate that Mom is a slacker. No proof is needed, and it doesn't need to be stated again. Okay? Okay. Let's move on.

First. Mom thinks that maybe she should change TaiChi's name to Lazarus. Because she's back to eating 2-3 meals a day with vigor. Obviously, anyone who is as old as Methuselah TaiChi is always day-by-day, but given what was going on a week ago, Mom thinks that TaiChi returned from the brink yet again. Which, of course, is very exciting for all of us! However, I think if Mom changes TaiChi's name now, everyone might get confused (especially since Mom seems to have a tough enough time getting our names right... I mean, I've been called 'Abby' on more than one occasion. Mom says it is genetic, but as usual, I have no idea what' she's talking about. Maybe Granny and Grandpa can shed a little light on that...), so I think TaiChi will remain TaiChi. Just so Mom's brain doesn't explode.


Now, on to the whole "school" thing. Hello!!! If someone (Mom!!!) had told me that there would be turkey hotdogs there, I would have insisted that I started school A Long Time Ago. I mean, I can deal with A LOT for turkey hotdogs. And the teacher? She suggested that Mom go buy some turkey hotdogs as special treats, so I totally like this teacher!!! Class itself was actually kind of fun (I got a toy to play with, as well as the turkey hotdog pieces, so that right there makes it a winner!). There is one other doggie in my class, an 8 month old terrier of some sort named Bella. She came with her whole entourage, including her two human brothers and her mom. The first 45 minutes of the class was spent doing stuff where I was supposed to focus on Mom rather than all the other Very Interesting stuff in the room. Our class is in one of the storage rooms for PetCo, so there are big pallets of bags of dog food, and treats and stuffies, and people come in and out of the room getting stuff, so it was Very Hard to focus on Mom. (But the turkey hotdogs really helped!) But, once I figured out that Mom was The Source of the turkey hotdogs, things went pretty well. Then, for the next part of the class, we did a 'socialization' exercise. Which seemed to consist of walking around PetCo and me meeting some other doggies. Mom seemed to be happy with how I dealt with the other doggies in the store. Then, at the very end, Bella and I went back into the room and we got to run around while the humans talked about "homework". I haven't seen Mom hitting the books, but Mom and I have been doing some stuff that involves turkey hotdogs (and other treats). I don't want Mom to get in trouble at the next class, so I hope that Mom is doing her homework, too!

Mom apologizes for no pictures, but she says that I have to be a little calmer before she can manage me, the turkey hotdogs and the camera. Hmmph. I wonder what she means by that.

Now, on to the next order of business. Pressies!!!

Mom actually feels guilty about this next part, but I keep telling her "better late than never".

TaiChi and I got a box from Mango yesterday, and Mom let us check it out...

But Mom said before we opened the box from Mango, we had another box to open.

Another box?!? Apparently Mom was part of Twix's Paw-It-Forward back in November (!), and a box arrived while we were in southern Utah, and because Mom wanted to get pictures, she wanted to wait until she had the time where she could devote a post to it, and things got busier, and, well, to make a long story short, we still had another box to open!

Abby offered to help me give Mom a guilt trip about waiting so long. (Twix even included a Christmas card - which should tell you How Long we've been waiting to open this!)

(Mom feels totally guilty now. This look gets her every time!)

Anyway, it was Well Worth the Wait!!! The box was jam-packed full of goodies!

A Most Excellent package!!! Thanks, Twix!

Needless to say, Abby generously "helped" me test out the goodies.


So even though it too us For Ever to get this box opened and the pictures posted, Thank You So Much, Twix!!!! You are the bestest!!!!

Now, we have to live up to our part of the bargain; the first 3 people who want to be part of the 'Paw-it-Forward' should leave a comment, and Mom will get in touch with you, and will send you a box of goodies; then, when you open your goodies, post pictures, and invite others to play.

Thanks again, and thanks for your patience, Twix!!!!

Mom says that we'll get the box from Mango opened in the next day or two; Abby and TaiChi have been sucking up a ton of Mom's time, and she seems to be tired all the time, so she's slow on getting posts done, and on following on other bloggies. Hopefully in time Mom can catch up on her sleep soon, and get back on track.

I think Abby is finally settling down for the night, so I'm going to nap while I can!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Updates, and School and Stuff

First, Mom wants to let everyone know that TaiChi actually ate real food today. Mom roasted a chicken for dinner, and TaiChi mooched chicken off Dad and Mom. (And Mom's tough. Dad's a softie when it comes to getting parts of his dinner, but Mom's a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to feeding us off her plate. But even Mom fed TaiChi, and she snarfed it right up.) Needless to say, Mom and Dad are both thrilled. Not wanting to upset her stomach, Mom's going easy, she'll give TaiChi more real food tomorrow once she's certain that TaiChi's stomach is okay. Mom will keep supplementing TaiChi's diet with the Nutri-Cal because TaiChi can use all the calories she can get, but for now, Mom and Dad are thrilled that The Little Old Lady is interested in food again. She's also up and moving around a little bit more (hey, it's all relative), which is cool.

Next. Yesterday was The Little Monster's first Puppy Class. I am not sure why Abby is going school to learn to be a puppy, because it seems to me that Abby already has the puppy thing down, but what do I know? I mean, I didn't get to go to Puppy School.... I learned the old fashioned way...

Here's me. I totally had the puppy thing down at an early age!

And then here's the Little Monster, who clearly needs to learn how to be a puppy.

Mom says she sees a family resemblance, but not me. I don't see it At All. Nope. Not at all!

*ahem*

Anyhoo, Abby's first day of Puppy Class was Saturday, and Mom was kind of bummed that Abby was the only puppy there. However, I guess they have other puppy classes, and they will set up a group "play date" once a week so Abby can get socialized. Mom is threatening to bring me to this, as well. Just because I'm a wee bit anti-social, she's going to inflict a mess of puppies on me?!? I don't know about this...

Sorry, kiddo, but you need to learn how to be around other dogs. Oh, and if you didn't know, you are starting obedience classes tomorrow. Because not only are you anti-social, but you lack some, ah, basic skills.

MOM! You are kidding, right?!?

Nope. Buck up. You are both going to school. Time for you both to become edjumacated!

Hmm. I'm not so sure about this. But I guess I'll keep you posted. School. Me. Hmphh.

And double hmphh. But... When Abby came home from Puppy School, Mom brought home some new treats, so maybe I could live with the school thing if it means more treats for me.... The classes are through PetCo, so, of course, it's awfully easy to pick up more treats/toys after class....

Okay, since this school thing now has me all worried, I'm going to have to console myself with playing tug-of-war with The Little Monster.


Heehee. I may be a goofball, but I'll still bigger than she is!

And finally, a comfortably resting TaiChi. Notice how she has "borrowed" one of our toys as a pillow. She is clearly still In Charge. :-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona