A Tale for All Hallows Eve (Well, Really a Brag for All Hallows Eve)

The Petco where Mumma has a part-time job was having their annual Halloween contest this past Saturday.   Since getting this part-time job I haven't been able to do any of the Saturday fun activities that I used to with the kids.  But I was determined to find a way to enter them in this contest.

Luckily Grammy agreed to be bribed into going to my house and picking up the hounds and bringing them to Petco so they could be entered.  As many of you may already have suspected, they were entered as a small flock of sheep thanks to the lovely costumes that we got from Etsy.

There were an awful lot of cute costumes in the contest including a family (mom, dad, kids and two dogs) all dressed as superheroes.  As they started announcing the winners, I was hopeful but nervous.  When most creative costume went to someone else, I thought that we'd missed out.  But then they announced the grand prize winner!

Was it us?  Did we win something edible?

Victory Lap!

And here's the loot (the well-chewed marrow bone was NOT part of our winnings)

Throwback Thursday - In Honor of Marrow Bone Day

Thursdays are marrow bone day in our house.  Instead of the boring old rawhide chew for snack, the kids get a nice raw frozen marrow bone.  In honor of that momentous occasion we post a video of Blue from last Thursday.  Typically they'll work on their bones for an hour or more, but don't worry, this video has been condensed through the magic of the Hyperlapse app and you'll only waste 30 seconds of your life watching it.

It Ain't Like It Used to Be

I had read a blog entry on Tales and Tails recently that talked about the familiar phenomenon (at least for greyhound parents) of being unable to go in public with the hounds without being stopped every few feet by the general public.  Mrs. Taleteller was mentioning how just about everyone she encountered talked about how they had never seen a real live greyhound before. 

Back when Mumma first got Girly Girl and then Blue, it was mostly that way for us in Maine as well.  No one had seen one and everyone was amazed by them.  Even the questions we encountered about greyhounds were pretty similar to Mrs. Taletellers experience and we really liked her idea about getting a card made up that covers the most common ones.  It’s been more than 7 years now since my first greyhound and I must say that our local rescues are doing a pretty good job with PR because for some time now, we have met far fewer people who have never seen a greyhound. 

Most people we meet have seen and touched a live greyhound.  And more and more, they tell us that they own a greyhound, owned a greyhound, their cousin, sister, mother owns a greyhound, or they live next door to someone who owns a greyhound.  This has been an interesting change for us and certainly brings hope for the future of greyhounds.  I made a comment to this effect on the Tales and Tails blog.

Still I wasn’t prepared for what happened the very next night.  Mumma is refinancing her mortgage thanks to an offer from the mortgage company that was too good to be refused.  Our closing was scheduled for the night after our comment on the blog.  The mortgage company had engaged two notaries to come to my house at 7p in the evening when it was convenient for me and conduct the closing.  That alone blew my mind. 

The two notaries presented themselves at my door at 7p as advertised.  They stepped inside and both caught sight of Blue and Bettina at the same time.  I heard, “OH LOOK GREYHOUNDS!  We have an Italian greyhound now and we had a full size greyhound a little while ago.  We just love them.  They’re the best breed ever.”  And it went on from there to a full discussion of the merits of greyhounds while I signed 2 pounds worth of documents.  They even mentioned that mine wasn’t the first house they had gone to for a closing where they had encountered greyhounds. 

After the papers were signed, they took their leave absolutely covered in greyhound hair and nose snooshies.  Blue and Bettina, having extracted the maximum amount of attention from our visitors, were both contentedly napping.   I stood there shaking my head in amazement.  I had just lowered my house payment by more than $100 a month and these strangers from out of nowhere were greyhound fanatics like me.  It sure ain’t what it used to be!

The Last Lesson

It has been 4 years today since you left me.  You have now been gone from me longer than you spent with me.  Yet I have thought of you, felt your absence and missed you terribly every one of those 1460 days.  I still marvel at the impact one small brindle hound has had on the life of a most unworthy human.  If it is at all possible that I am a better person now it is due to the things you taught me.

I never dreamt I could love something more than I loved myself.  And I never dreamt that your absence could still hurt so badly.  On our last day together I told you that it was ok to go.  That Mumma would be OK.  I think you knew I was lying.  My sweet girl, I still wait every day to be OK. 

 

The last lesson you’ve taught me is that true love never dies.

Girly Girl

2/15/2003-10/12/2010

Forever Mumma’s Sweet Pea

Six and Sassy

Bettina, the Crown Regent of Fussypants, had a birthday yesterday.  She turned six years old.  While she's calmed down a bit since she joined us at two years old, her Diva skills have increased exponentially.

Say now...could that be for moi?  Enchante!

Oh HELLS no!  That is MINE.  ALL MINE.

Why is there always a dorky hat involved?

First I'm going to deal with this cookie, THEN I'm going to deal with this hat.

Am I going to get one more cookie to grow on?  That's tradition right?