Dog day weekend

With Momma, Claire and Stew out of town for the weekend -- not to mention the cease fire agreement between me and the Kenmore vacuum -- I didn't have much to do this weekend except lie around the house. The postal carrier lobbied a brief, unsuccessful attack on Saturday that I hardly noticed. I was sleeping in the back bedroom on my doggie bed when I heard someone attempting to drop a dirty bomb in the mail slot. I thwarted the attack by running to the front door while barking. I caught a glimpse of the mail carrier darting across the lawn toward the neighbor's house. As Dubya would say, "mission accomplished!"
Friday evening, Aunt Karen came over to dog sit me. I took her for a mutt strut around the neighborhood before we retired in front of the TV for the night. I was hoping to tire her out so I could pounce on the new sofa and call it my bed for the night. Prior to our departure, I presented Aunt Karen with my zen ball (aka tennis ball) in an attempt to charm her into a game of Fetch! (nothing tires out a human faster than a relentless, never-ending game of Fetch!). Unfortunately, she wasn't interested in playing and preferred to simply go for a walk. Later, I discovered that Aunt Karen is quite the night owl, and I passed out before I could make my assault on the sofa. I woke up on my doggie bed with the bitter taste of defeat in my mouth (tastes a bit like lemon-pepper chicken that's been sitting out on the counter for too long). I spent most of Saturday home alone reviewing my failed strategy over and over so as not to make the same mistakes next time. If only Dubya had done the same while back on his ranch in Crawford...


Saturday evening, Aunt Julie and cousin Lily the Beagle came over so Lily could bark some sense into the border collie next door. Regrettably, it didn't work. The border collie continues to run figure-8's in her backyard while barking non-stop whenever she sees me. I like to antagonize her further by running laps in my backyard. It seems to really anger her, plus I get a little exercise, so it's a win-win for me. After Julie and Lily left, I spent the remainder of the evening patroling the house awaiting my family's arrival home.


After Momma, Claire and Stew arrived home, I sat down with Stew to get a complete report of their trip. He muttered something about his back hurting before he threw me the digital camera. I downloaded the photos and will post a couple here. Since Claire's demanding her lunch, I don't have time to make a lot of comments about the photos. Besides, isn't a picture worth a thousand words? One of them shows Claire, Momma, Grandma Helen, and Great Grandma Florence. Another one shows Claire with her new friend, Anna Gross (Anna is wearing her new boots!). Momma and Stew finally got to go visit Anna and her mommy, Jennifer (also known as "JB"), after what seems like a very long time. JB presented Claire with a bunch of books, a DVD, and an animal puzzle. And JB's sister, Megan, also got Claire Walter the Farting Dog: Trouble at the Yard Sale. So now, Claire has a couple of the Walter books to read (she got the original Walter book from Aunt Susan and Uncle Kermit). Finally, Claire got to meet Zoe, who belongs to Anna and JB. Claire tells me Zoe is quite friendly and really likes to be petted. Who doesn't, right?