Big B

Well, because Mikey wants to meet me of course! And he’s laid on a little flattery, happens to live in the home of my 2nd favortite NBA team, mentioned Iverson so it appears that he might know something about basketball & has wild pipe dreams about starting a handwritten revolution!! haha

Mostly Mikey seems laid back, intelligent, well versed and well travelled… Someone I could have the all important discussion with…

Who did really invent the glue that goes on the back of the stickies that we are starting our handwritten revolution on?

Well, (among other things) I am always told that I seem to “have it together” haha and I always feel like if I just get one more thing (or 43 more things) accomplished THEN! I will definitely have it together.

I guess, truly, life is a work in progress and the sooner I realize that the fun is in the journey the sooner the destination will cease to be quite so important. (Considering the destination is death, no? haha)

“For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.” Souza

not only is she pretty darn funny – i was reading what she has to say and i must admit she seems pretty well “together” too. not only that, we seem to have some common goals….and who better to talk to???

K, why is it that every recent picture I have of me is with Tammie? haha We must be excellent friends indeed!

So, this morning around 9am, Staley (my Chocolate Lab/Staffordshire cross) paws me to tell me it’s time to wake up, I’m bored, I’m tired of chasing the cat and I have to take a leak… I roll out of bed dreaming of coffee and we put our collective paws on the windowsill to check the weather. Surprisingly, it’s not raining although it’s still grey and cold… I decide we are going to get some coffee and head to the dog park for a morning of puppy fun.

Poor Staley-dog has been a little neglected this week… It was my weekend to work last weekend and instead of getting puppy sat at Grandpa’s house which is very fun indeed, he had to spend Monday with a strange guy and a strange dog that bore striking resemblance to his chew toy… Grandpa is on vacation for a month, so we have had to desperately find alternative arrangements. There is of course the usual social engagements, then I ended up with a terrible cold which meant a quick pee for puppy and I was either off to work or back to bed with a gallon of Dayquil and 6 boxes of Kleenex…

So, time for a little puppy fun! Off we go to the dog park where we are greeted by the coffee lady’s friendly hound.. It’s rather slow this morning at the park, it’s cold and wet and no one wants to come out… But there are a few other mongrels for Staley-dog to play with. We meet a nice Japanese couple with some kind of terrier cross named Kikomikolala or something and they play tag for a bit… We mill around, mutually chasing a tennis ball where we run into a big Rottweiler who Staley is instantly attached to, seeing as he reminds him very much of his deceased best friend Angus. We wag our collective tails in a sad goodbye to the Rottweiler and head out in search of someone else to play with…

Staley’s running and running… ears laid back by the wind, lips flapping like a Staffy, tail wagging happily like a Lab.. it reminds me of why I love the little cat chaser…

Now, keep in mind Staley is a big dog, around 90lbs and a bit of a tank… But he is extremely friendly and a very, very sucky boy. He just needs lots of exercise or he gets to be a bit of a hyper handful, which generally results in the cats getting a little more exercise then perhaps they had been planning for the mid afternoon. Staley is not an aggressive dog by any means and has developed this strange habit of just laying down in the middle of the dog park when he sees another dog coming. It’s just an act of submission. The other dog mills over, gives Staley a sniff and now it’s play time.

A Border Collie type dog comes barreling towards Staley with his severely overweight owner lumbering slowly towards us in the distance. This dog is barking and chasing Staley something fierce. It’s not your usual fun dog park recreation but just sheer bullying. Staley doesn’t even have even have a chance to pull his “lay down and wait” move, he’s on the run… This other dog is barking and nipping and chasing and biting and snarling and Staley is getting a little scared… but he is a big dog and the dog in pursuit is smaller, if Staley has had enough, I’m sure he could tell the other dog so. The owner and his six spare tires catches up to us and starts yelling at his dog, “Oreo! Oreo!” I figure he is yelling at his dog to play nicer or stop barking or behave or any of the above. I tell the owner it’s ok, Staley needs the run anyway, and it’s fine. Sometimes, dogs just need to be dogs. Staley by now, is trying to hide between my legs, all 90 pounds of sucky baby of him and this other owner says, “Yah, sure but I didn’t know if your dog was a Staffordshire.” I reply, “Oh yes, he is half and the other half Lab.” Quite proud of my handsome little man’s lineage.

The man yells some obscenities and starts grumbling about people at the dog park and their aggressive dogs and I should keep my Staffordshire away from his sweet mongrel, all the while this Oreo has his teeth bared, is snarling and biting and barking his head off. Staley’s between my legs crying like a schoolgirl and this guy is absolutely bent about me and my big nasty Staffordshire. Which, by the way are natural nannies and notoriously good family dogs. But inbreeding and trailer life often leads to a diminished mental capacity whereby one assumes a Staffordshire and a Pit Bull are the same thing. Fatty and Oreo leave grumbling and barking and taking their Sunday morning sunshine with them..

Staley is laying on his belly in the wet grass with his paws over his eyes, rubbing his face crying. He won’t fetch the ball, he won’t run around and he doesn’t even want a treat. I finally convince him we should a least go for a walk… He shakes it off and we mill about for a bit and decide to head home…

He’s at home now, sleeping… poor little guy…

Leaves his mummy to get locked in a closet by drug dealers for four months, has to move to a new home where he finds his best friend Angus… then off to my house which isn’t that fun due to the lack of yard and the presence of cats but is tolerable only because of regular visits to the park and daycare and Grandpa’s house! Then Angus heads for the Rainbow Bridge at 10 months due to a heart attack and now that he’s not a puppy anymore, and looks just a little different then every other Chocolate Lab out there he’s getting pigeonholed.

So, to the guy at the dog park… I’m really sorry you are old and fat and cranky and more than likely boring as hell. I’m sorry you don’t have a wife that wants to join you on a Sunday morning for a walk in the park with your maladjusted, cranky pooch. If I were you, I’d be bitter too. And I would do my best to take Oreo out and make sure we spread unhappiness wherever we went. So, I just wanted to let you know, you did a really great job today.

Maybe Staley dog will have better luck tomorrow at the park…

Give your puppy a kiss today… unless of course his name is Oreo and he might bite your lips off but you’d never know because seeing as he is a herding dog you would assume that he would naturally be friendly.

A sad day for puppies when there is no joy at the dog park…

I guess discrimination even supersedes the boundaries of species…

And how, oh how did you manage to succeed at “worry less”. I’ve anticpated that as a life long lesson…

He’s clearly from the forest… Sweet like Pooh Bear, Smart like Rabbit, Logical like Owl, Fun like Tigger, Thoughtful like Eyeore, Handsome like Christopher, and Attentive like Piglet.