The Eagle has Landed

Or, taken off? Either way, Cora took her first steps on Monday! Yea Cora! Video to following sometime (maybe).

What Hath Morgan Wrought?

I guess Morgan and I had our first (and hopefully only) big adventure of her visit. Curly and The Guy were just getting into their plans for finishing the stairs to the basement. Curly was covered in paint and The Guy was doing all the grunt work that Curly didn't want to do. When The Guy came up the stairs to get a putty knife, he looked out the door and ruined all of our fun.

Morgan and I found a toad. Well, I guess we actually had to go looking for it. It was sort-of buried in the flower bed. We couldn't play with it there so Morgan and I decided to move it (and a little of the flower bed, too) into the yard. I was just
tapping it with my nose and making it jump. No big deal. Morgan had to take things a little too far. I think she licked it. She didn't hurt it, she just licked it. But that made her foam at the mouth. Of course, The Guy panicked and Curly had to see what was going on. She did a quick search on this interweb-thing and found out that toad-licking can be serious. I think you would have to eat a two pound Bufo toad, but none the less, since she didn't know what kind of toad this was, Curly wasn't taking any chances.

I guess the toxin the toad exudes is very sticky and when you lick it, it gets stuck to your teeth, tongue, and gums. It's a neurotoxin, so from what I can gather, it's not good. The recommendation is to thoroughly rinse the mouth of the toad-licker. So that's what Curly and The Guy did. Morgan. Flipped. Out.

Curly tried her best to hold her, but Morgan is very bendy and wiggly and determined. Curly couldn't hold her so The Guy had to (and let me tell you, boy, was he a happy camper). He held her very tightly and Curly took the hose and rinsed her mouth out. Then she rubbed her gums and teeth and rinsed some more. I guess it was sort of like going to the dentist when they tell you to open your mouth and they squirt water in and tell you to swish. Except with alot more water pressure. And Curly's whole hand in your mouth. The Guy was soaked since Morgan is so bendy. He also was covered in had a little black dog fur on him.

So, long story short, Morgan is okay. She didn't show any of the scary poisoning symptoms. The toad was tiny and she didn't eat it. Curly's Twin should not freak out. Morgan is at Curly's where anything goes and everything's fine. Hey, I like that slogan!

Also, notice that when I caught Morgan eating my food, I didn't eat her.


When she saw me she was startled and denied the whole thing!


I've added an (out-of-focus) picture of The Infant for good measure...


...and a really focused picture of me!

Yes, I Do Still Blog

It's just that I am very tired lately. With Curly back at work, that means getting out of bed alot earlier than I'd prefer and with The Guy working until 7:00pm three days a week that doesn't leave me much time for this wonderful creative outlet. Heck, I haven't even had a bath since the move to this house. I did get some sort of cleansing in the back yard for all the world to see. Talk about humiliating. I'm a dog. I'm supposed to lick my own tail, er nubbin', clean and she stands me out in the yard and caresses me while using a pink bottle of Herbal Essence. I was already neutered once, what else can she do to me? Oh yeah, and there was that time that Curly had the worst idea she's ever had when she tried to give me a shower. We won't go into that since I'm still suffering the effects of PTSD. But no, really, I haven't even had time to bathe (appropriately) in the last 5 months (really - I don't stink. Really.).

As busy as I am and Curly still has time to come home and whine about giving up her prep period and teaching four blocks every day. She needs to just suck it up. It was her choice and from what I can tell, she has good classes, so what is there to complain about? So what if she's at school before 7:00am each morning and has kids there before school and during lunch getting help. And don't get me started about finishing up the basement. It's not like she had to put up drywall, paint, put up trim, replace stairs, and patch the walls. So what if she has to have all the details finished in the next week, including painting the (very high) stairwell, so that the carpet can be laid.

So what is Curly whining about? Look at what I do around here (especially this week - I have to be a good host for Morgan), and yet I still found time to write this blog post. As soon as my life gets a little more back to normal I'll be posting more. Now I'm off to edit more pictures of The Infant and figure out new ways to open the French doors.

Happy 10 Months!

Curly used to do photo shoots with me. Now all of her camera time is devoted to The Infant. Oh well, I guess she probably is a little more photogenic. Curly went back to work last week and things just haven't been the same. It's so peaceful! The Infant is staying with Grandma E 2.0 again and of course The Guy works late, so I'm here all alone (not really, I'm just being dramatic. Cassie is still here).

So Curly told me yesterday that cousin Morgan is coming to stay for 10 days. Oh boy. When she was here this weekend she kept swatting me like a cat. How embarrassing. And no, I was not poking her trying to provoke her. Why would Curly even say such things. I promise I'll be on my best behavior while she's here. I won't teach her any bad tricks like Duke taught me while he was staying here. Anyway, since he left I've only dug in the flowerbed once, and Curly has no proof that it was actually me.

Working hard to finish the basement

I've been helping The Humans paint the basement (well, helping in my own way since I'm afraid to go down the stairs) and just been very busy this summer with The Infant so I haven't posted like I should, and for that, I apologize. They're now realizing that summer is coming to an end and are crazily trying to finish the basement before football season.

To give you a quick summary...

1. The Infant has 6 teeth
2. She says "Da" and "Mum"
3. The Humans left me for a week and went to the beach. The Infant loved the water and sand.
4. The Infant is eating "puffs" and is about to try some more human food. I've sampled to puffs when she's thrown them off of the highchair.
5. When The Humans went to the beach, Cassie stayed with me (she's living here anyway. Oh, did I forget to mention that?) and she brought my first-cousin-once-removed, Duke. I didn't eat him.
6. The Infant is a terror in her walker. She chases me around the house with a demonic laugh. I'm lucky I still have my achilles tendons intact (do dogs have those?).
7. The Humans and extended family took me and The Infant to the camp over July 4th weekend. It was so cold we were all wearing sweatshirts with hoods. The Humans, I mean.
8. The Infant doesn't wear shoes. Ever. This fall/winter will be tough for her.
9. The Infant has entered a screaming/shrieking phase. We'll hope it's short.
10. Whenever I walk by, The Infant expects a kiss. She opens her mouth in preparation. See.

Busy painting...

...but here's some pictures of The Infant in all her beach glory (except the first one - it was taken in the yard). Enjoy!

Any Port(-able highchair) in a Storm

So, how much can it rain this spring? I guess a whole lot! I didn't like the thunder so much and I knew Curly wouldn't let anything happen to The Infant so I stayed close by. As close as I possibly could.

The Infant really loves a bath. I mean really, truly LOVES a bath. Check out this video of her in the bath tub about a week ago. It was her first time in the big bathtub. She's back in her little one, for now. She was able to splash all of the water out of her little tub both yesterday and today. I hope she always likes water this much. Did I mention she has tooth number two? Oh, I didn't? Well, she does.



Back to the storm. There was alot of excitement tonight - Curly's softball game was canceled and Granddaddy came up to check out the basement. While he was here a tree fell across a power line just down the street and caught on fire. You can see the smoke in the picture in the upper left region. There really was an awful lot of rain as this video shows. The Infant would've loved to be outside playing in it. I, on the other hand, was perfectly content INSIDE and under Curly's feet.

I really have no other reason to post the following pictures, other than that I just really like them. I sure hope that Curly gets the camera that she's been wanting. It will be a Christmas present but she might get it soon. I really hope so since The Infant is only this age (or any age) once. Also, this link contains one last pointless video of The Infant trying to stuff The Cat in the Hat's butt into her mouth. I personally (canineally?) think a video of ME trying to stuff a cat's butt into my mouth would be much more entertaining.

I'm still here...

...somewhere. I just haven't gotten around to unpacking myself yet. See ya again soon.

Did I forget to mention...

Did I forget to mention that The Infant's first tooth popped through on Saturday morning? Yeah, I guess I did. What a weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Check out The Infant on Mother's Day (I think she changed clothes about five times that day!)!

Six years old. And I've been with The Humans for five. Hard to believe, but true. Curly did cook me two all-beef hot dogs for my special day. I can't believe she remembered. Also, the fence is coming along nicely. Maybe one day I'll be able to frolic and play again. Until then, I'll lay on their bed and sleep.

So, twitpic won't work from my phone since The Humans are too cheap to spring for a data plan, but here is the picture I wanted to upload:

That's Curly's leg in all it's strawberried glory. The Guy thought that it would be okay to remind her that she's no longer seventeen. FYI - It's not okay.


And finally, The Infant had her dedication last Sunday. She thought she was getting a bath so she was pretty stoked. When she found out that's not exactly what was happening, she fell asleep (but not until after Granddaddy and Curly's Twin sang).

Today, however, was a little traumatic, too; The Infant got stung by a wasp. There was a little panic and aimless driving but for the most part everyone was fairly calm. She's okay and got to eat a popsicle to boot. She also had some benadryl which helped the swelling but maybe more importantly it counteracted the sugar in the popsicle she ate at 8:00pm!

A Quick Update

So, things did get worse. Serv-Pro came to check things out and the walls are wet. The carpet is ruined and has to be removed. Tomorrow they will come back and remove the rest of the carpet and cut into the walls. They'll probably have to finish removing the bottoms of the walls on Monday (it's a REALLY big basement). There you have it.

You Really Wouldn't Believe It

No, really, you wouldn't. But it's true. Every last word.

The Humans came home from work on Friday and The Guy picked up the moving truck. The Guy, Grandma E. 2.0, Skinny, and Alex started packing the truck. Curly's Twin was watching The Infant. After Curly got home they took the first load up to the new house and stacked it in the basement (great idea, right? Keep it out of the way and all). The Infant went to Skinny and The Voice's house for the night.

Saturday morning Curly and The Guy were up bright and early and started loading the truck again. Granddaddy, The Voice, Alex, Wayne, Shellie, Hayden, Jill, and Papa and Mama Matheny were all there to help load things. Mama, Papa, and Jill took breakable things and The Infant's stuff in their van to keep it clean. Grandma E 2.0 came up a little later, but she definitely didn't miss a beat. Once she got there we really got going. When The Humans got to the new house, Scott and Sarah were just leaving and Skinny, The Infant, Cassie, and Meg were waiting on us at the new house. From what I hear, that truck got unloaded very quickly. Again, most things were taken to the basement, you know, to get them out of the way.

The Humans went back to the house and filled the truck a second time and unloaded it at the new house. They started unpacking and this time remembered to bring me along. Not much really got done that first night - there was just too much to do and no one knew where to start. Curly, The Guy, and I stayed at the new house on Saturday night and The Infant stayed with Skinny and The Voice again. For some reason Curly and The Guy just laid a mattress down in The Infant's new room and we slept there. I really wanted to go somewhere else (I'm not sure where - just anywhere else), but Curly and The Guy weren't up for it. What was I to do? I cried all night so that if I couldn't sleep they couldn't either.

Sunday was more of the same; Curly, The Guy, The Voice, Skinny, Granddaddy, Grandma E. 2.0, and Curly's Twin did more packing and unpacking (still putting things in the basement). They did get the bed set up for me to sleep in on Sunday night, which was a relief. The Infant spent her first night in the house on Sunday.

Monday morning is when the fun really started! The Guy went downstairs to check the sump-pump after all of the rain. It was working but the drain in the floor was backing up a little so he came upstairs to get Curly. They went back downstairs and when they got to the basement the power went out. Yep, 6:00am pitch-black, in a basement with no windows and stuff piled everywhere. No electricity means no sump-pump. After finding their way back upstairs, Curly used the cell phone (that they didn't need in case of emergency) to call for backup. Grandma E. 2.0 and Granddaddy had to go to Curly's Twin's house to get the generator (that we didn't need right away because, really, the house probably isn't going to flood). Skinny and The Voice showed up, too and so did Papa. They got the generator up and running fairly quickly, but in that short amount of time about 60% of the basement got wet. Amazingly none of their stuff (you know, all that stuff stacked in the basement for safe-keeping) got ruined. They had to stack and restack all their worldly possessions a couple of times, but that really was a blessing.

Coincidently, Grandma E. 2.0 still had all of her carpet cleaning stuff in the basement from where she had just cleaned the carpet for me. As soon as the power was restored (about 10:00) Grandma E 2.0 and Granddaddy started sucking all of the water out of the carpet. I was assigned to guard The Infant while she slept on Curly and The Guy's bed. Talk about a long day! After moving on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and then re-moving everything, and then removing all that water they were all pooped. I, of course, didn't get my naps and finally slept good on Monday night.

So, I do have to give props to The Guy. He really is visionary. He pushed for the generator. He pushed for the cell phone. He pushed for the dehumidifier. What a Guy! You were right. We were all wrong. There, I've said it. In print. For all the world to see.

So do you believe it? They moved in and then the house floods the next day. Apparently they narrowly missed this once before (by three days) about five years ago. Nothing got ruined (except maybe the carpet). It's all true. So depressingly true. I guess in the whole grand scheme of things it's really not a big deal. It's just a little annoying because my fence has been put on hold. Oh well. Maybe they'll get it finished next week.

The Infant's First House (and my second)

So, it's all official - The Guy bought me a new house on Wednesday! We're not living there yet and I haven't even seen it yet, but I hear it's pretty nice. The plan is for us all to be living there next weekend. Sort of. I suppose it's really best that we're not moving this weekend because Curly is scheduled to work After-prom on Saturday night. She would be a bear to work with the following morning. I don't even want to imagine it! I guess this house should be closed around the middle of May. Everything seems to be going smoothly (too smoothly) and everyone is really excited. Except, I guess, The Infant. I think she would be excited but she doesn't exactly understand what's going on. She's just happy to eat her peaches and poop. I'd be happy to do that, too. Speaking of poop, she tries prunes for the first time tomorrow. Watch out, Grandma!

Also tomorrow, The Guy and Curly are going to go buy the stuff to build me a small fenced area in which to do my business. I guess they'll use a wireless electric fence to let me run and play in when they're outside with me, and put me in this pen when they're not outside. They keep telling everyone that they're afraid to just use the fence because they don't want to meet the new neighbors by returning any dead dogs. Now, I'm not exactly sure what they're implying, but it doesn't sound pleasant.

When Curly and The Infant came home from Grandma's house they went for a walk. Of course I didn't get to go, but they did let me take a few pictures of The Infant in all her Spring-time glory. I hope you enjoy the nearly-six-month-old. Hopefully soon I can get some video of her pulling up and standing. Also, like I promised, I'll get some Easter pictures up, too. I need to download them from Grandma and Granddaddy's camera and Grandma's not all too keen on me using her new camera. Hummpf. I wonder why?

What's for dinner?

Hmmm... I wonder what I should have for dinner?


Maybe lamb...


or beef...


or pork...


or chicken!


Turns out I got green beans instead.


Bummer.