What Happened to Sunday?

I always know the days of the week. Mommy helps us keep track of them. It starts at 5 AM on Mondays. LuLu is the first one up and she wakes up hungry. She starts barking and when Mommy doesn't budge, LuLu pokes Mommy's arm over and over until Mommy gets up.

"Uch!" Mommy says. "LuLu, are you serious? You really want me to get up this early on Monday morning?" That is when we find out it is Monday. The same thing happens on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Then comes Friday. Mommy doesn't grumble and growl on Fridays. As soon as LuLu barks, Mommy jumps right up and goes in the kitchen to get our breakfast. She is smiling and happy and she sings while she gets ready for work.

"Today is Fridays, my darlings. I get off work early, so I will be home early and I will be home the next two days. Do you know why?" Of course, after all these years we know why. We just can't answer Mommy's question because we can't talk! She always forgets that. And so she answers her own question. I will be home the next two days because it's the weekend. I don't work on Saturdays and Sundays. Isn't that great! I will be home with you for two whole days."

Mommy is so happy and so are we, even though on Saturdays Mommy doesn't spend time playing with us. Oh, she takes us on our potty walks, but that's about all. She stretches out on the sofa and sleeps -- for hours. Then she gets up and eats and goes right back to sleep -- for hours again. She sleeps and eats the day away. I am surprised she doesn't eat while she's sleeping. Oh well, at least we aren't home alone.

After Saturday comes Sunday -- my favorite day. Mommy takes me out -- just me. I get to go with Mommy and LuLu and Izzy get to stay home. Mommy says I am the only one who knows how to behave so I am the only one who gets to go with her. I am so proud of myself every time Mommy says that. We usually go to the Home to visit my friends. I wait for Sunday to come all week.

This week was no different. I try to wait fast to make the days go by faster, but it doesn't work. When it was finally 5 AM on Sunday, LuLu was still asleep. I poked her in the arm and whispered, "Lulu, it is 5 AM. Aren't you hungry? Go get Mommy." For some reason, Mommy will only get up for LuLu. LuLu did it and we got breakfast. Now all I had to do was wait for Mommy to shower and get dressed and then we could go.

I waited and waited and waited some more. Mommy stayed on that sofa and didn't move. I sat by the door and cried. "Mommy," I said in Dog Language. "What are you doing? I know today is Sunday. Get up, Mommy. Please. I really want to go by-by in the car with you." She can't speak Dog Language, but she does understand.

"Oh, Ethel Frances, you sweet, smart dog. You know today is Sunday. I am sorry but I just can't go out today because I don't feel good. I think I just have to stay home today and rest. I hope you know what I am saying. We will have to wait until next week. OK, baby?"

Wow! I already waited a whole week and now I have to wait another week. I was not happy. I was also not happy that Mommy felt bad. Since I can't talk with words, I told Mommy I understood her the best I could. I ran over to her, wagging my tail, and gave her a big, wet kiss. She gave me a big hug and said, "Thank you for understanding, Ethel Frances. I love you."

I Didn't Know Dogs Erupt -- Did You?

I like to learn and so does Mommy. One day we were watching a TV show about volcanoes. I didn't understand everything, but I did learn the word erupt. It means to force something out suddenly. We watched a volcano erupt and saw lava and ashes pouring out from the top of a mountain. I liked watching it on TV, but I wouldn't want to be near it.

I didn't think much about the volcano after the TV show was over, but a few days later I heard Mommy talking to herself. At first I didn't really pay attention because Mommy talks to herself pretty often. I did start paying attention, though, when I heard Mommy say "erupt." I got nervous. What was she saying? What erupted? Is there a volcano near our house? Was lava going to get me while I was going for a walk? While I was imagining scary thoughts about what was erupting, I heard Mommy say, "Oh my gosh! It looks like Izzy erupted in her crate! What a mess! How am I ever going to clean it all up?"

Izzy erupted? Did she learn a new trick? Did lava and ashes come out of her? I walked over to her crate and found out what made Mommy talk to herself. I hate to be gross, but I want to write this down. Maybe if Mommy reads it in a few days she will laugh. Here's what happened. Izzy erupted from her butt. Ewww. There was poop on every place in her crate!

"Come here, Izzy. Don't touch the floor. Don't touch anything!" Mommy didn't let Izzy run out of the crate to greet her. She picked Izzy up and carried her outside. All the while, she was talking. "Oh, Izzy. What a mess. Is there any place on you that doesn't have poop? I have to find a clean place to pick you up. Oh, here are two places on your sides. This is so gross."

Mommy carefully picked Izzy up and carried her outside to go potty. I doubt that there was anything left inside of her. Mommy picked her up again and carried her upstairs. LuLu and I followed. Izzy ended up in the bathtub. Mommy scrubbed her, rinsed her, and scrubbed her until she didn't stink anymore. Mommy was a little happier. She said, "Izzy, I don't know what happened. You never go potty in your crate. Well, almost never. I hope you aren't sick. Let me rinse off the shampoo and we'll see if you are clean." Mommy rinsed Izzy and smiled. "You can come out now, Izzy. You smell so good and your fur is soft and silky."

Izzy took a towel to Mommy and Mommy dried her. Izzy likes that. When Mommy finished drying her, Izzy started racing through house, rubbing against the carpet and the furniture. She was having a great time. Mommy went downstairs to the crate and started talking to herself again. "Well," she said, "I cleaned the dog. How in the world am I going to clean the crate? It is disgusting." She stood there thinking and then said, "Ah ha! I know what to do." Izzy, LuLu, and I were very interested in what Mommy was saying and doing. Mommy picked up the crate and took it upstairs to the bathtub. We all followed.

While Mommy was cleaning the crate, she said, "Izzy! I found out why you erupted. Look at this." Mommy pointed to a flat piece of plastic that goes on a bag of bread to keep it fresh. She also pointed out a piece of a stick, and several chunks of pine cone. "When are you ever going to stop eating this kind of stuff. You should only eat food and treats that I give you. Do you understand?"

Mommy was using bleach to clean the crate and the bathtub. It started smelling bad, so we went downstairs. Izzy said to LuLu and me, "Sisters, I do understand that I shouldn't eat plastic and wood. I understand that I shouldn't eat pine cones, too. I don't even know why I eat that stuff. I am sad to say, though, that I will probably do it again. I will probably eat Mommy's socks again, too. I don't know why I break Mommy's rules. I will try harder to be good, like you two."

Izzy went running through the house again and LuLu and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Then we both said at the same time, "I don't know what is wrong with that dog. She is lucky she is so cute and sweet or Mommy might give her away." Mommy came downstairs and guess what she said? She said to LuLu and me, "Girls, I don't know what is wrong with that dog. She is lucky she is so cute and sweet or I might give her away."

We have heard Mommy say that about Izzy about a million times. We know Mommy loves Izzy too much and will keep her forever, even when she erupts.

Izzy Strikes Again

Mommy was not happy this week. It all started last weekend. Mommy was taking a nap on the sofa. Izzy was napping on Mommy; LuLu was napping on the other sofa; and, I was napping upstairs. We don't have carpet on our floor because of LuLu, but that's another story. The house was very quiet and all of a sudden,we heard something hit the floor. The rule in my house is if something hits the floor, it belongs to the dogs. Usually that means whenever food hits the floor, but Izzy will eat anything.

One of the lenses in Mommy's glasses popped out while Mommy was asleep. My sisters and I ran to Mommy, hoping that she had dropped food on the floor. Unfortunately, it was just her lens. LuLu and I were disappointed, but Izzy wasn't. She grabbed that lens as fast as she could, jumped on the sofa, and started chomping away on it.

I guess the noise of Izzy's teeth on glass woke Mommy up. She suddenly jumped up, looked around, and saw Izzy on the sofa. "Izzy!," she cried out. "What do you have? What do you have? What is it?" She was running towards Izzy and then came to a screeching halt. Mommy said, "Why can't I see? What is wrong with my eyes. Why is everything so blurry?" Mommy talks out loud, asking questions from time to time, even though she knows we can't answer. I wondeer why she does that.

Anyway, Mommy put her hand up to her glasses and felt a hole where the lens is supposed to be. "Oh no! My glasses!" She ran to Izzy and started asking her questions. "Izzy, do you have my lens? Do you? You do! I see it hanging out of your mouth. Izzy, DROP IT! Oh my gosh, Izzy, you drop it right now! Do you hear me?" Of course Izzy heard her. I think all of Olney heard her, she was screaming so loudly. Izzy was not going to drop that lens. In fact, she smiled at Mommy.

Mommy ran and got the Dustbuster. Izzy is afraid of it and Mommy knows it. Mommy also knows that turning it on and putting it near Izzy will scare her. Then Izzy will drop whatever she has. Sure enough, Mommy turned it on, placed it by Izzy's face, and Izzy spit out the lens. Mommy picked it up and looked at it. She cried out, "Izzy! How am I supposed to see now? Look at your teeth marks all over this lens! You better stop laughing because it is NOT funny!"

After that, all week long, my sisters and I heard Mommy say, "Izzy! What is your problem? I don't understand you? Why do you do things like this? You are lucky you are so sweet or you would be living someplace else." You would be surprised at how many times Mommy repeated herself. To tell truth, I agree with Mommy. I just got a little tired of hearing it over and over, day after day. Well, she changed her tune on Thursday.

Every day when Mommy gets home from work, she always says, "Girls, Mommy's home! Come here so I can kiss you." Thursday, Mommy threw the door open and said, "Thanks a lot, Izzy, you rotten dog!" My sisters and I were shocked. LuLu usually takes a toy to Mommy when she gets home, but not that day. I usually start barking with joy, but not that day. We just stared at Mommy, waiting to hear why she was so upset. "Isabel Victoria, I just ordered a new lens. Do you know what it costs? $172.50! I should make you get a job to pay for it, Izzy. I also think Isabel is too cute of a name for you. I am going to call you Isabrat until I get over being angry. I really hope if you ever think about chewing something that isn't yours, you will think about this week. I hope you remember how much money I had to pay to fix the glasses that you ruined. I just might not have enough money to buy you treats!"

Mommy closed and locked the door, put her purse down, and came in our room and gave us all big hugs and a bunch of kisses. "Izzy," she said, "I just hope one day you will learn how to be a good girl from your sisters. I love you all. Let's go outside for a walk."

I am glad Mommy got over being upset. We are happier when Mommy is happy. Mommy looked at Izzy and said, "My daddy used to say, 'I always love you, but I don't always like you.' That's how I feel right now." I learned something new on Thursday. I learned that Mommy loves Izzy, even when Izzy is naughty.

Uh Oh! It's That Time of Year Again

Last week, the annual chaos started. Mommy was cleaning like crazy. She took all of the cushions off of the furniture and vacuumed the sofas. She vacuumed all of the cushions, too. She swept the floors, then vacuumed them, and then mopped them with a steam mop. Then she went crazy in the kitchen. She pulled the refrigerator and the stove into the middle of the room so she could clean under them. Then she cleaned inside of them. Mommy cleaned places that I didn't even know existed.

The whole time she cleaned, she complained. "Oy," she whined. "Ach," she kvetched. (I just learned the word kvetch. It means complain and whine. I am proud of myself for using a word that I just learned). Then Mommy used a word that explained her mood and her cleaning.

"Girls. Come here, please. I have to tell you something important. No more eating cookies in the living room. I just finished getting it ready for Passover." When we heard Mommy say Passover, we looked at each other and nodded our heads. Mommy left the room and LuLu, Izzy, and I had a nice conversation about Passover. We love Passover even though all the cleaning and cooking makes Mommy grumpy. Then we remembered that we would have two Seders at our house.

Mommy would start cooking days before Passover even started. She is a good cook and we knew our guests would feed us from the table. We would get leftovers, too! At the Seders, everybody takes turns reading the story of Passover and they sing lots of songs. Mommy brings out a bag of little toys and everyone takes something to play with at the table. I am not sure why, but there are lots and lots of frogs in that bag.

LuLu, Izzy, and I love Passover food and we love having guests at our Seders. We agreed, though, that our favorite thing about Passover is that Mommy doesn't go to work at the beginning and end of Passover. She stays home with us. We love when Mommy stays home with us, even when she is grumpy!

Play Date with Valentina

Yesterday, I had a play date with Valentina.  Mommy tagged along and visited with Valentina's mommy and grandma, Anita and Sophie.  I was glad Mommy had someone  to keep her occupied while Valentina and I were playing.

Most of the time, Valentina and I meet up at Sophie's house.  I like to push Sophie's door open just wide enough for my nose.  All of a sudden, Valentina runs to the door to greet me.  Then I push open the door and run in.   Anita always rearranges the furniture in the room to give us a big area to play. That is exactly what happened yesterday.  After Anita rearranged the room, Valentina and I started running in circles.  She tried to grab my ear while I was trying to grab her leg.  Sometimes we don't pay attention to where we are running and we run into each other.  Sometimes we crash into Sophie's chair -- while she is sitting in it!  We got scared the first time we did that.  We were afraid that we hurt Sophie.  We didn't.  Sophie looked at us and started laughing.  What a relief!  We sure do have fun!

When we got tired and settled down a little, Sophie asked, "Does anyone want a banana?"  I was first in line and Valentina was right beside me.  I love bananas.  Sophie didn't want her hands to get slimy from my drool so she handed the banana to Mommy.  Valentina and I followed the banana.  All of the people were laughing, but I am not exactly sure why.  Mommy looked at us and said, "Sit, girls."  We wanted that banana and sat before Mommy even finished saying it.  Valentina got the first piece.  I didn't mind because I knew Mommy would give me the next piece.  I was right!  Mommy went back and forth  between me and Valentina until the banana was all gone.

All of that sitting and the sugar from the banana got us up and running again.  After a few minutes, Anita called me over to her.  I excused myself from playing because Mommy taught me how to have good manners.  I promised Valentina that I would be right back. Guess what?  I found out that I didn't have to say anything to Valentina because we both got to Anita at the same time.  Anita gave us big hugs and we went back to playing.

I guess Mommy and the ladies ran out of things to talk about because they were starting to bother us.  Mommy said, "Valentina, come."  Valentina excused herself because she has good manners, too. She didn't have to do that because we both got to my mommy at the same time.  Mommy gave us big hugs.  She, Anita, and Sophie were laughing.  I said to Valentina, "Do you know what is so funny?"  She shook her head and said she didn't.  Then Anita called me again.  Just as we both got to her (even though she only called me) I heard Mommy say, "These girls are so funny  It's all or nothing with them."

I had to stop and think about that for a minute.  I realized that Mommy meant that if someone called one dog, they got both of us.  I asked Valentina if she thought that is what Mommy meant, and she agreed.  We also agreed that we were jealous of each other when our mommies were involved.  Valentina was jealous when Anita hugged me, but she didn't mind so much if Anita hugged Valentina, too.  I was jealous when my mommy hugged Valentina, but I didn't mind so much if she hugged me, too.

I wonder if it is all or nothing with our mommies.  If I could talk I would say, "Anita, come."  If Mommy came, too, I would have my answer!  Even though I sometimes get jealous of Valentina, she is my best friend.  I hope we have another play date soon!

LuLu and Lynn

Yesterday, after breakfast, Mommy said, "Girls, guess what?  Lynn is coming to visit today.  Isn't that exciting!"  I've know Lynn since I was a baby.  I was so excited that I ran around in circles, wagging my tail as hard as I could.  Izzy started screaming because she was excited, too.  LuLu is afraid of everyone so she started shaking.

When Lynn got here, Mommy gave her a big hug.  Izzy started screaming again, and LuLu started running back and forth.  I waited, patiently, until it got a little quieter.  Lynn gave me a big hug and scratched my back.  It felt so good.

Everyone knows and understands that LuLu is afraid of people.  When people come to the house, she usually runs upstairs and stays there until they leave.  She didn't run upstairs when Lynn came.  Mommy sat on the big sofa and Lynn sat across from her on the little sofa.  To our surprise, LuLu sat on the sofa next to Mommy.  After a few minutes, LuLu felt safe enough to lie down.

While Lynn and Mommy were talking, Lynn sat on the the floor.  She slowly eased her way across the floor, moving closer and closer to LuLu.  LuLu got nervous.  She sat straight up.  Her eyes bugged out.  But, she didn't jump down and run upstairs.  Lynn didn't want to scare LuLu, but she did want LuLu to trust her.  Izzy has to be in the middle of everything so she was on Lynn's lap.

Lynn played with Izzy and reached out and touched LuLu's paw.  Lynn played with Izzy some more.  Then she reached out and put her hand on LuLu's leg.  After a little while, Lynn was actually petting LuLu's head and then her back.  LuLu was nervous, but she trusted Lynn!  She didn't hide behind Mommy and she didn't run upstairs.

I sat and watched the whole time.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  Lynn and Mommy praised LuLu and told her they were proud of her.  LuLu looked at me and gave me a big smile.  She was proud of herself, too!  It might seem like a little thing, that LuLu let someone touch her, but actually it's huge.  Maybe one day, Lulu will trust all of our friends and family.

To Eat or Not To Eat - Off the Floor

My sisters and I know that Mommy works very hard.  She works hard at her job and she works hard at home.  We know this because she tells us, especially when we do something naughty and messy.  We hear, "What is wrong with you girls?  I work very hard all day and then I have to clean up after you!  That is hard work too."

We don’t like to upset Mommy.  We decided to try very hard not to make messes.  We also decided to help clean up Mommy’s messes.  Every time Mommy drops or spills food, we rush over to clean it up.  Sometimes we are lucky and happy when Mommy spills something delicious.

Mommy and I went to the Home the other day.  We were visiting our friends in their big living room.  Mommy was talking to Gary and he was scratching my back.  I was too relaxed to stand so I lay down.  I noticed things on the floor that I didn't notice when I was standing.  I said to myself, "Ethel Frances, it would be a big help to clean up the things on the floor."  I stretched out my neck with my mouth open and just as I was going to grab it, I heard Mommy's voice.

"Ethel Frances!  No!  Leave it!"

I certainly was surprised at Mommy's reaction.  I can't talk with words, but I have other ways to express myself.  I stood up and hung my head down.  I made my tail droop and I drew my eyebrows together.  I stared at Mommy, right into her eyes.  If I could talk, I would have said, "Mommy, what is the problem?  I just wanted to be helpful.  Why are you so upset?"

A few minutes later,  I saw something else on the floor.  I tried to get it, but the same thing happened.  Mommy scolded me and I was sad.  Mommy looked at me, right in my eyes.  She said, "Ethel Frances, you are such a smart girl.  You can't talk, but you told me with your body language that you are sad and confused."

She sat on the floor and gave me a tight hug and a bunch of kisses.  She said, "I know you were trying to be helpful by eating things off of the floor.  The floors here look clean, but the things on the floor are not always food.  That is why I don't want you to eat whatever you find here.  I am proud of you for trying to help.  You can help clean the floors at home whenever you want, but not here.  OK, honey?"

I kissed Mommy's face from her chin to her hair and I wagged my tail as fast as I could.  Mommy knew I understood.  She gave me another hug and a handful of cereal.  I was looking forward to going home to clean the floor.  Maybe tonight Mommy will spill ice cream!