One of the biggest problems with super busy months (like December) is that sooo many things happen, and there's no time to settle down and contemplate (or blog) any of it.
So, we're going to do a type of photo journal this morning, trying to get a couple of stories out there.
The first is called "Cooperation".
So, wait - WHY are we sitting here?
Shhhh....just be patient cat, and trust me. They will come.
Dude! How did she KNOW? Hmmm...what else does she know?! I could be in big trouble.
The cooperation continued, much to our dismay. Their next group effort was a planned attack at 5am on a Saturday morning! I don't know how they did it, but I'm convinced they counted to three together using animal ESP and both pounced on the bed at the same time. Koshka jumped right onto Jim's chest and Zuzu slammed her nose into my face. Jim grabbed the cat, threw her out of the bedroom, and slammed the door. He gave Zuzu a glare, and crawled back into bed. I just sat there and tried to breath again. The house stayed quiet until almost 7:30 that morning!
"Another visit from Nana and Pop Pop"
If anyone in the world could come close to Tressa as one of Zuzu's favorites, it would have to be Pop Pop. They returned last weekend for the Army/Navy game that was being held in D.C. this year.
Waiting for the school bus together. (Yup - she can train more than just a cat!)
One of their favorite games is playing tag, running around the house in circles. I happened to have my phone handy for this one, so we have a little low quality video to back it up.
"Torturing Animals"
This is how we torture the dog and squirrels at the same time. It would be too easy to simply feed the wild animals, we have to make them work for it. The dog is not allowed outside if the squirrel is eating, so it tortures poor Zuzu as well.
Yes. It is indeed, corn, on a bungee!
"New Veterinarian"
Nana came with us to our new veterinarian. It's right at the end of our street, so we got to walk there, which is super convenient. It's big and clean and pretty, and they charge me too much money, but I really like it. I had taken Koshka there before, but it was Zuzu's first time since I was waiting to use up everything I had already paid for at Banfield before I changed. (I'm cheap like that!)
Zuzu is still afraid of the scale. It took a lot of tugging and sweet-talking to get her onto the moving platform, but she weighed in at 85 lbs.
Her vet was Dr. Berkshire, who was really nice and really pretty and likes big dogs and just moved to DC from the west coast. She spent a lot of time with Zuzu and even let her lean up against me while she was checking her out. Eventually, she even got Zuzu to walk forward to her some.
She said that Zu's weight was perfect, because she thinks it's always better to keep dogs lean. She didn't harass me about not getting her spayed and even talked about breeding and showing. She recommended that I don't wait much longer to get Zuzu into her first conformation show because she said that Zu and I both need to learn how to behave in shows while she is still young.
She did say that she wanted me to watch one of her front ankles that seemed to bend in farther than the other. She said it might have just been the way that she was standing, or it could just be some uneven growing, but to keep an eye on it.
Zuzu got her Bordetella shot and some more heartworm pills, and we headed out. We go back in March.
"Army Navy Football"
Our family has been a longtime supporter of Army football, no matter how bad the season. It's pretty easy to understand that once you realize that five of us attended West Point. In fact, my dad is so old that I'm pretty sure he's one of the first graduates ever! ;)
So it should also be easy to understand that if the game is being played in Washington, DC, that some of us would gather to attend.
See, the buttons prove that he's been to a lot of games.
With all of that in mind, it should also be easy to understand that our animals MUST be fans as well.
Doesn't she look beautiful in her Army scarf?
I think she was more proud wearing that around than she was wearing her birthday scarf. And she got even more compliments on it! There are a few military people that live in our neighborhood and now they all want beautiful scarves for their doggies too. (Of course, Zuzu's Golden Retriever friend's parents weren't agreeing with me that it had to say Army. Some silly people think their dogs should wear scarves that say Navy. Why would anyone do that to a harmless animal? Oh, the shame, the SHAME!)
Zuzu had her biggest challenge ever that Saturday though. She had to stay home alone for quite a long time. The local high school football team made it to the State Championship game that weekend, so the neighbor girl that we were going to ask to let her out for us had to go perform in the band as a flag girl. We left late so we missed the pregame activities, and took her on an extra long walk that morning, but she was still alone from noon until after 10pm. Not that I will ever ask her to do that again for us, but she was perfect! She got another long walk when we got home.
She paid me back the next day though. As I was cleaning up the house, I put stuff on the stairs to bring up to the bedroom and left it there for a few minutes. When I got back, she was in the dining room, happily eating my little black purse that I bring to formals. It was DESTROYED! :( I guess she wasn't ready to forgive me after all.
"The Fire"
We had fireplaces in California, but it was never quite cold enough to light one. So, when Jim stoked up our first fire on Sunday night, it was fun to watch Zuzu's reaction. She watched it for quite a while before she settled down.
"What IS this sorcery?!"
It might be dark magic, but so far, I'm okay with it!
