The Lily Pad - a follow up

I've got some explaining to do. Actually, I simply need to set the record straight about my recent stay at my gal pal, Lily's, pad while Momma and Stew were in SoDak. In a previous post about my visit to Lily's, I erroneously stated that Lily's handler, Julie, covers her furniture in plastic. Truth be told, the furniture covers are actually comfortable flannel sheets that can be easily removed when human visitors come calling. Apparently, I've confused Julie for the 80-yr old crazy cat lady who lives across the street from us. It's an easy mistake because only old people cover their furniture, right? Regardless, I apologize to Julie unreservably for my faux pas (or is it faux paw?). Please read more about my stay at Lily's Pad at her blog:

http://lily-in-minneapolis.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-guy.html

The crazy old lady across the street often invites Stew and Claire over for coffee and vanilla wafers. I'm told by Stew that her furniture is covered in floral-patterned plastic and the house reeks of a mixture of cat pee, moth balls and split pea soup. Personally, I don't much care for the cat lady, but not for the obvious reason. No, what makes me the most uncomfortable about her is her left eye. It's locked in place staring slightly to her left, plus it bulges farther out of her head than her right eye. So, whenever she bends down to pet me, I can't help but eyeball her eyeball. It's very disconcerting.

Anyway, while I truly appreciated and enjoyed my visit to Lily's (where I am allowed AND encouraged to lie on the couch), I'm still not sure Julie is the best influence on my Momma. Allow me to explain. A few weeks ago, Momma and I headed to a dog park where we met up with Lily & Julie and Aunt Dee (Rosemount) & Remmy. Apparently a license is required for entering this park, and temporary licenses are available (you self-pay for it and stick the license inside your windshield). I don't have documented proof, but I'm ALMOST certain Julie told Momma, "don't worry about it... they never check." Well, I'm not sure who "they" are, but "they" supposedly carry some weight around this park. So after blatantly disobeying park rules, we all headed down the trail to run through the grass and frolic in the big open meadow. On a side note, let me just say Momma looks sort of uncomfortable when she frolics. I'm not sure why; she just does. Perhaps she's just not the frolicking type. Maybe she's never been taught how to frolic. Who knows? So anyway, after we frolicked for a good couple hours, we all headed back to our vehicles... where Officer Goodbody was awaiting our return. Officer Goodbody is employed by the Dakota County Park Police Department, and he wasn't very pleased with Momma's brazen disregard for the park's rule of law. Besides, there are basically only two park rules: 1) purchase a license before entering, and 2) pick up your poop before leaving. So, it's easy to see why Officer Goodbody would be so perturbed at Momma. But, luckily for Momma, she's quite adept at batting an eyelash or two. She might be a poor frolicker, but she's one helluva flirter. I was a good 10 yards away from her conversation with Officer Goodbody, but at one point I swear I saw Momma lift Claire and say, "Here... look at my baby... her name is Claire... isn't she precious? You wouldn't give me a ticket in front of Claire now would you?" To save face, Officer Goodbody issued Momma a warning citation. And as we drove away past Officer Goodbody's truck, Momma gave him a wave and a big smile... then she turned to me and said, "what a sucker!"

Note: Julie did not actually encourage Momma to break the law. Momma did so on her own accord. But, blaming Julie for it makes the story better don't ya think? I love you, Julie!