Episcopalians!

Yeah, the Episcopalians came over yesterday, and they brought big bottles o'drink. Naturally, nobody shared with me. "Not for Poppies," they all said, as they began to get silly. But we certainly don't want anyone sharing with The Boy because a few months ago, and quite by accident, we discovered he is a Mean Drunk. So I'm okay with Not for Poppies if it means Not for The Boy, too.

Anyway, I got some snuggle time on the couch, which was quite nice. For some reason, though, The Typist doesn't want me licking the guests. Go figure. She just doesn't know how yummy guests can be.

Front-yarding it

So, yesterday while The Alpha was completely in charge of our place, he showed up out front with a load of bricks. He let me and The Boy out to come help, only this time "come help" didn't mean look in the box with the little flag on the side, it meant watch him dig in the dirt and rearrange bricks around the tree for an hour. The Boy, I think, kept expecting squirrels, but those squirrels know better. I'm glad we now both know better than to go out in the road. Well, most of the time.

Because when The Alpha brought The Typist home from wherever she'd been all night and day, she was very excited to see the new bricks (yeah, I don't get it, either). But then The Boy ran out in the road and she was very excited about that, too, except in the other kind of way. The "NO" kind of way. But it's okay, because no cars came along. Still, he'd better watch it.

What's a Maris?

A Maris is a little thumb-haver. She fed me and The Boy, so she can't be all that bad, but she made me a little nervous at times. I really appreciated The Alpha explaining my hip problem to her, and that what I was trying to tell her was do-not-touch-me-back-there-where-I'm-not-all-there. Because after that, things were lots better! She's a fair amount of fun, that Maris.

Word got back around that she told her grandmother the next day, "MeMe, I was so excited to play with their dogs that I got a little out of control. But, they really loved playing with me." I'm not sure I'd go that far, but we did have a really nice time.

I Resolve...

Okay, yeah, I'm behind, but what does a dog know about New Year's Resolutions?

I resolve to:

• keep on chewin'.
• not gain any more weight. (I don't want to look like Uncle Ren.)
• sun myself whenever I see sun for sunning in.
• actually catch The Boy when I chase him around the living room, just once, to prove I can.
• be tolerant of human toddlers.
• remember that "crate" means the black wiry thing, not the spot where said thing used to be.
• create opportunities for love. (As if my very existence doesn't do that already.)

The Typist's big resolution is to "Live the Question." Whatever that means.