A Holy War

Last weekend, while I was raking leaves and leaping into them, the dogs were at loose ends.  Everyone was in the yard, but nobody wanted to play!  What kind of world were we living in, anyway?  Who do I talk to about this?  IF I HAD TWO THUMBS AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE I WOULD WRITE MY SENATOR ABOUT THIS.

And then they found the Holy Grail of Sticks.

The Battle of Stick raged for years, dragging on as bleak days became endless, cold nights.

Pax was called just twice, once when they dropped it in some leaves and briefly could not find it, and a second time because, well, even in wartime, butts need to be scratched.

Finally, at long last, a victor emerged:

And so began the process of reconstruction for this poor, war-torn land.

Mo' Pets, Mo' Problems

One of the reasons I've been playing absentee from the internet lately is because every single one of our dogs has had health problems.  All of them.  All three.  Thing 1 injured her leg and had to be carried up and down stairs (Thing 1 weighs 45 lbs and has long, gangly legs).  Thing 2 required a million billion expensive vaccinations for things we never had to deal with in the mountains (no heart worm!  no parasites!  only fleas and ticks in July and August!), and the series of shots left her tired, achy, and nauseous.  Thing 3 had ear infections in BOTH ears which resulted in nerve damage and partial paralysis to the right side of her face (she can no long close that eye and has a perpetual head tilt), and during the treatment we stumbled across a heart murmur which, one very expensive trip to the pet cardiologist later, we learned would require agressive treatment.

His Highness the Cat just has hairballs.

But everyone is up and about again these days, though Summer remains a little tilted.  We spent all day raking leaves and playing with sticks in the yard, and I actually remembered to grab my camera!  Those will go up soon.

Comic by clever Canadian Ryan Pequin.

what's salt and pepper without cumin?

I've begun work in earnest, which I'm discovering means that I have no time for anything else except for sleeping.  It's a little discouraging, but that's probably only because I haven't been paid yet.  Once that kicks in?  Yeah, I'll be fine.  Here are some things from the last couple weeks.

The weekend before I started training, Adam and Catherine came to my neck of the woods to hike a bit in Great Falls Park.  This delightful muppet and I joined them.  The falls were as high as I'd ever seen them, after the insane amounts of rain we'd had.

You didn't think you'd get away without food, did you?  It wouldn't be a Kelly blog if it weren't about food and dogs.  I actually made this right in the middle of my first week of work--we didn't eat until 9 pm, but it was worth it.

PW's Sour Cream Enchiladas (incorrectly made--which, this being me, of course means I accidentally added too much cheese) and some seasoned black beans.  This was a yummy, cheesy, cumin-y meal and just looking at these photos is making me miss the part of my life when I was eating it.  Mmm, cumin.

ps:

HIMYM, anyone?

The Roster

Since moving back here in May, I have been unemployed.  The combination of unlimited free time and almost no money has meant that I have spent most of my time in my parents' house (woo yeah adulthood!), primarily cooking, but also making close, almost scientific, observations of my dogs.  Since (I am thrilled to say) that as of tomorrow I will no longer be unemployed, I thought I would take this opportunity to sum up my findings.

Name: Leilani Moose
Breed: Black Lab/Norwegian Elkhound Mix
Age: 4
Status: Alpha
Nicknames: Thing 1, Lani, Lani Moose, Lei-lei, Sweet Girl, Moose-moose, Twitchy Witchy Girl
Favourite Thing: Growling suspiciously at children and small rodents
Nemesis: That Damn Chipmunk
Greatest Fear: That she'll have to spend the rest of her life with these numbskulls
Claim to Fame: Systematically disemboweling stuffed animals and scattering their limbs throughout the house

Name: Vista Pocahontas
Breed: Cocktail of various black dogs and probably also an antelope
Age: 2
Status: Beta
Nicknames: Thing 2, Vizzy, Vishnu, The Crazy One
Favourite Thing: You
Nemesis: "What did Lani say? What? The chipmunk? MINE IS TOTALLY ALSO THE CHIPMUNK"
Greatest Fear: That you will go away and she will never see you again
Claim to Fame: Can leap upwards of 4 feet in a single bound

Name: Summer Tangerine
Breed: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Age: 6
Status: Potato

Nicknames: Thing 3, Summer Bummer, The Dumb One, Doofus, The Little One, Little Face

Favourite Thing: Eating tissues

Nemesis: The Cat

Greatest Fear: Storm drains

Claim to Fame: Communicates in a peculiar language consisting of snorts and sneezes

warming my pillow

Every night I come upstairs, turn on my bedroom light, and this is what I find.  This is not my dog.  My dog has given me over for my mom (I don't blame her; I'd probably make the same choice if it came to it), and isn't interested in hanging out with me.  Not that I think this dog (who belongs to my brother) is actually interested in quality time.  Mostly I think she just wants her own bed.

It's okay, Dog.  I hear ya.

lani's morning

Inspired by Buster, Lani decided she wanted to share her day with you.

This is me, Leilani.  This is my bed.  It's in Mom's* room.  This is where I sleep at night.

This is also my bed.  I sleep here in the mornings and sometimes at night, too.  I let Mom share it.  Next to the bed is my window.  It helps me guard the house very well.  I am a good guard dog.

This is my chair.  These windows also help me guard the house.  I am usually here.  Mom sits at the desk, and Summer hides underneath.  Summer is my sister, kind of.  She's a little silly.

Sometimes Sam uses my chair.  He is not a guard dog like me, but he likes to watch the birds.  Sometimes we watch birds together.  Sam is my brother, kind of.  He is the best cat ever.

This is really Sam's chair.  Actually, all the chairs are mine, but I don't like this one.  So I let Sam use it.

This is me with Mom.  She asked for my help on her blog, so I am helping.  My other mom is here, too, also helping.

These are things I do in the morning, usually.  I hope your day is happy.


*Lani is actually my brother's dog, but for the sake of simplicity she calls me "Mom"