Cabbies, Service Dogs and Unneccesary Angst

For us?  Happens all the time in Boston and New York.  At Logan Airport, the security folks even had us wait OUTSIDE the line for a "special cab," and it took over 2 hours to find a cab to take us home to Cambridge.  They could care less if I was a service dog.  They did, however, charge us $20 more, because I sat with CL during the 10 minute drive home.

CL is not looking forward to returning to Boston in a wheelchair.  If they refuse service to a working dog, wonder how the cabbies at Logan Airport will treat a working dog and a woman living life on wheels?

Eastern Snow Days

This time, last year...spinach soup...Pink sweaters...And, my very first adventure in snow!Stay safe and warm, our furry (and not-so-furry) friends and family on the East Coast!

Oh. My.

Crazy lady is missing Boston and Cambridge, these days. Between this:-- and this:

She is itching to spend more time with her East Coast gays (don't ask). Me? Not so much. Now, don't get me wrong-- I adore those boys. They treat me like the Queen I truly am-- treats, walks, play dates with fluff balls, and "pretty talk." No amount of gorgeous and spandex can make up for the biting cold, though:

What I am missing

Do you see this picture?Does the area look familiar? Like, oh, I don't know-- my favorite place for morning walks?Huh. Tom Cruise and his family could be cooing over my beautiful self, right now. Life is not fair.

"Oh God, is this taking a movie, again?"

Home Sweet Home

Ah, California...don't get me wrong, Cambridge is a nice place to visit. I even learned to love the snow, uptight people, Haar-vaard snarkiness, and freaky dog rules. I especially enjoyed visiting children's hospitals the past month. Crazy lady would read from her Delores & Hannah series, and I would snuggle with the kids. But, there's nothing like coming home:I spent at least 2 hours sniffing the property, and warning Bambi away from the fence line. United did a wonderful job, this time-- they even gave me water and a bathroom break, when we arrived at SFO! Crazy lady suspects that the new animal policy is the reason for their excellent care. I suspect they feared the wrath of crazy lady. Regardless, it was an uneventful trip, and we're home!

Happy Birthday Popeye!

One year ago, Popeye entered our lives and the amazing care of my foster mamma, Judy. Crazy lady likes to call him the Little Dude because he reminds her of a sneaky cowboy hangin' out at a whorehouse. She has no idea what prompts this image of Popeye in her mind-- but do you see why I call her crazy lady?There's a great article about Popeye and Judy in the newspaper here. You can also read more about Popeye on his web site and blog. Here's a picture of Popeye with some visitors from Taiwan last year:He has since had surgery to remove his paralyzed legs, and he is a demon in his wheelchair! You should definitely check out his videos. He is simply AMAZING.

Oh well, we leave for California in the wee hours of Sunday morning. See you on the West Coast!

Giant bootilicious

Crazy lady has an idea. I'm a working dog. She says, "as soon as we get your bee-hind in California next week, we are starting you on a diet." She plans to teach me to cook, like this silly dog:

Yeah, apparently Wild Dingo was correct-- I've gained weight. I now carry 35 lbs on my delicate frame! I'm chunky, with a humongous booty. Crazy lady refuses to perpetuate the stereotype of "fat people having fat dogs." She's putting me on a California diet. Guess what? I'm putting her on a diet, too! No reason why I should be the only miserable, skinny bitch in this relationship...Say goodbye to my giant booty!

Rain, frogs and snuggle

Crazy lady was feeling a little under the weather (pun intended!) today. She canceled her Maine readings and watched me collect frogs and snuggle in the windowsill. Lovely, huh? I admit-- I have an amazing frog collection! Crazy lady will try and put them in my toy box; but I always find & reclaim them, for my windowsill. Overall, today was an uneventful and mellow day in Cambridge. Just me & the frogs & a sleepy crazy lady...

Sleepytime

10 hours at an author's bbq, 2 hours at the dog park, and an immediate crash from exhaustion, as soon as we came home today:I always leave time to crawl over to crazy lady, for an evening snuggle on the bed:
Who knew that a once shy and reticent dog could beg for affection?

Chillin'

Every week, crazy lady drags me to Connecticut. While she works with an award-winning coach on fine-tuning her narrative prose, I hang out with the coach's "rat dogs," aka hoards of mini poodles that roam wooded acres. After our trip yesterday, we detoured to the park, and crazy lady found her camera at the bottom of her backpack. Whew! What a relief to get away from those damn poodles. We haven't had a moment to chill out, in weeks. Yesterday was our "moment."
I think the Princess misses spending time with us. We returned home to find this photo in our inbox:

Happy 4th from Boston!

Here's the free Boston Pops concert and fireworks from previous years:

Fire! BBQ!

During the week of insane travel, crazy lady went to her brother's for a family BBQ. She managed to seriously burn the ribs:She loves to barbecue-- and, I know she's an awesome cook-- but wow. What a hot mess (haha). When she opened the grill and discovered that they were ON FIRE, Max told her, "don't open the grill. You add oxygen, which feeds the fire. Can I hold the tongs?" She moved the flaming ribs to a plate and handed her eight-year-old nephew the tongs. She figured he might have better luck with the food. The surprising thing? They actually ate the ribs!Humans. They'll eat anything...
Well, we are off to Connecticut and the "Cape" this week. You probably won't hear from us for another week or so. This time, crazy lady hopes to take plenty of pictures of my adventures at the beach. Bye!

Baby Bambi

We ran into this newborn critter, during our early morning walk in the woods today:I wore my e-collar, and only required 1 small zap to return to crazy lady on the trail. She had no idea what I was "hunting" until I walked her back to the baby deer, for another look. As soon as she saw the deer, crazy lady warned me to "leave it," and she said "let's go." Darn it. The compulsion to obey was greater than my desire to hunt. I was really hoping for a morning snack. I whined and barked, but followed crazy lady on the trail. She said that she is very proud of my restraint-- and very happy that I was trained to avert disaster. Crazy lady still has flashbacks to my smiling, bloody face, the last time we ran into Bambi.

Museum Adventures

Finals are done! Woo hoo! Crazy lady, the Princess and her mom spent the day at the Museum of Science. I stayed home while they played in the Discovery Room nature domes:The Princess practiced her outstanding engineering skills (after all, it runs in the family...):Isn't the final masterpiece beautiful?Then, the Princess had pizza for lunch:Overall, it was a fabulous day! I missed spending time with the family, but it gave me a chance to chill out and rest. Tomorrow? We're off to Fresh Pond for swimming and hiking!

Pure Joy and Happiness (Bye Echo!)

My best friend Echo is leaving for the wilds of Maine with her family. Her family spends the summer overseeing Camp Vega, an amazing adventure for girls. Echo gets to spend her time laying in the sun, swimming in the lake, playing with the kids, and tussling with her brother. Me? I'll be sun bathing, wrestling at the dog park, and playing with kids in Cambridge. Crazy lady is hoping that we can visit Echo and her family during the summer, but it depends on schedules. Sigh...crazy lady and her schedules... We had our last play date this morning. Do you see my butt in the air? I had just spotted Echo in the park:Crazy lady describes my reaction to Echo and her family as "pure joy and happiness." I jump up and down, whine, and run to greet them:Here we are, wrestling:And for folks who don't believe that I enjoy the company of humans? Here I am, saying "hello" to Echo's dad:Bye Echo! Have a wonderful time in Maine. We will miss you and your family-- but I can't wait to see you in December!