Happy Merry Holidays!

I was having a pretty crap week. Bad times at work, messed up my pumpkin bread on the domestic front. Wondered if I was good at anything, hid under the covers for about an hour crying, whole nine yards. (yes I realize that's not a sentence) Then it all started with a text from my dear friend Tim Lewis simply telling me to check my work email Then I read said wonderful email from Tim that stated the following: 

 "Over the last couple of years, my roommate and I cooked up a Thanksgiving meal for anyone who had no place to go for the holiday. I’ve moved into my own place now, but I’d still like to celebrate with a feast. ...... If you can’t make it for food, is anyone interested in playing Turkey Bowl football on Thanksgiving morning?...  I’d really like to keep the holiday tradition alive in Spokane"

I screamed and danced around like an idiot while Missy barked at me and tried to bite at my ankle to get me to stop. Oh I was thrilled. I LOVE Thanksgiving. I LOVE football. and I LOVE the kick off to Christmas. It was the BEST. Email. Ever.

And then I woke up to another great surprise.....

Happy Merry Holidays everyone! :)

A Series of Firsts

I've been a bad dog mom lately with my dog blog slacking... sorry about that. ((Oh, and this one is pretty gross))

The Missaroo never ceases to amaze me. In one day she had two firsts, but before we get there here's a little background.....

My schedule keeps me on my toes and the Missaroo guessing when I'm going to be home. She's been upset, bouncing off the walls, and overall unhappy. I'm pretty use to the throw up three days a week. I've come to expect it and when it doesn't happen its like, well, the BEST. Day. Ever. Yep.

This latest round of puky mcpukerson was actually surprising for two reasons.

One: She managed to somehow projectile vomit ((didn't know dogs could do that)) and it landed outside her crate. Awesome.

Two: She then managed to STEP in her own vomit on the way out of the crate and of course her immediate reaction was to JUMP on me. EW! GA-ROSS! I actually screamed and ran away from her for half a second. What a great mom I'll make huh? I wiped her down, myself down (yes in that order) took her potty, and then cleaned up the crate and the nearby carpet.

Oh the Missaroo. NEVER, and I do mean EVER a dull moment. Who needs TV when I've got projectile dog vomit? But you know what, I really wouldn't have it any other way.

Love you shmooie, even when you reek of vomit.

Oh No You Didn't!

Missy's freak outs, puking episodes, and overall behavior have gotten progressively worse over the course of my changed schedule, class load, and overall all dog mom busyness. Last night I had just about had it. I decided to leave her out of the crate because I felt bad. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG move mom. She went into my purse, pulled out my Ipod headphones and ATE THEM!!!! AH!

I yelled. I hardly ever really raise my voice at the Missaroo. But when I walked in the door completely exhausted and just home from my three hour class the last thing in the world I needed was something chewed beyond repair. This came on the heels of two days worth of mass amounts of dog throw up everywhere.

And I can't even begin to tell you how so unlike the Missaroo that was. I'm always telling people how great she is about not chewing on things that don't belong to her. But this isn't normal Miss, this is pissed Miss. She's a teenager acting out.

I of course had one of those melt down dog mom moments. I didn't know if I should stay mad at her all night or cuddle with her, because she really did it because she has too much energy right now and not enough attention from mom. I almost texted my only friend left in Spokane to tell him,  "I would make the world's worst mom." I didn't but I thought it. I can't even handle being a dog mom sometimes. I'm really at my wits end when it comes to her this quarter. I'm in the home stretch and there is also a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to getting my work schedule back in order too. BUT then the holidays will be here and that will go up in the air again.

I'm really not sure what the moral of the story is this time. Missy won't be left to roam free for a very long time. And it will always be something. I'm 25 and I live like it. And by that I don't mean party on Wayne, I mean I don't own a home with a yard and work 9-5 at the job I'm going to be at for the rest of my life. Hopefully Miss and I can get through this rough patch. Any suggestions on how to get her behavior and my sanity back on track would be greatly appreciated.

Wake Up Call

My mom tells be to "be careful" so much that I stopped taking her seriously. She always says things like "I worry about your safety dolly." She can't see me when she says this over the phone but I roll my eyes and ignore her plea. I usually have some smart butt comment for her like "darn I was planning on running in and out of traffic tonight." I consider the South Hill the safest place to live in all of Spokane. Sure I walk Missy at night, but I do it down a busy street where there are always people around. I've never not felt safe. Well that has all changed.

Monday night around 6pm a woman was sexually assaulted here on the Hill. It happened blocks away from where I live, work, and walk my dog. It happened along that same busy street I felt oh, so safe walking down. It was a wake up call.

I've never been one to live my life in fear. I have many irrational fears, but they've never actually stopped me from doing anything. But this time it will make me much more cautious than any words my mom could have told me over the phone.  As I walked along that street yesterday, it was noon by the way, I thought of what I would do if approached by a stranger with a knife. I've started carrying Missy's poop bag like a weapon, that's for sure. I'm not really sure it would hurt, but if that bag broke I'm sure that man would have some sort of reaction to being covered in dog poop and I thought it might give us enough time to run, scream, or a combination of the two. I also think I'm going to train Missy to eat hot dogs. You can't be too careful right? Right!

Finally Fun

I took Missaroo somewhere fun yesterday for what felt like the first time in forever. We still didn't manage to even make it off the hill, but Manito Park is so beautiful and massive you really don't need to. I'm pretty sure every time we go there we take a different and new path. Missy loves the fact she can run in the grass, over leaves, through brush, and click across the pavement. It is always an adventure. It was great to see her exploring a new world outside of our little neighborhood. We didn't spend all day there this time like we have in the past, mostly because it was so dang cold out, but we were there just long enough for the adventure to put a smile on our faces. I'm glad I made the executive decision to push everything else to the side yesterday morning in order to hop on over to the park. Finally, some fun for the Missaroo!

Puky Rears Her Ugly Little Head Again

There really is no greeting quite like coming home from a 12 hour shift on election night to discover dog throw up all over Missy's crate. Now don't worry, Missy was not in said crate for 12 hours. I asked if I could leave work for 15 minutes in order to take her out to go to the bathroom. ((The perks of living across the street from work)) It was a little after seven when I took her outside and that was the first time I discovered the throw up. I didn't have the heart to put her BACK IN a crate full of doggie puke, so she spent the next four hours roaming free in the apartment. I knew what was awaiting me when I arrived home a few minutes before midnight, in fact it probably made me a little bit more grumpy.

Not that I blame the Missaroo AT ALL. Nor do I ever think it's her fault. I always blame my work schedule and ultimately, myself. This is the fourth time she's thrown up in two weeks. I've gone from working my normal ten hour weekend shifts and nightside during the week, to weekends and morning show. Which means instead of leaving my apartment at 2:20 every afternoon, I scurry out the door at 3:55am instead. But then, when she finally seemed to be getting use to that, I left yesterday before noon. She freaked and threw up.

This has been a constant thing with Missy. For those of you who might be new to the blog, Miss was found abandoned. She didn't show signs of physical abuse, but the emotional scars seem to be lasting a lifetime. In fact, within a few days of adopting her the vet told me she was too attached to me and I needed to get her socialized. Missy knew that I wanted her, and she hoped that wouldn't ever change. Lucky for her, it won't.

I can't imagine Miss being in a home without order, to do lists, calenders, and schedules. For all of those things that might drive men away, it's what keeps the Miss sane. She thrives on schedules, order, and routine. So do I. I don't mine working at all hours of the day ((OK that's not entirely true)) but it's much harder on Miss. In fact, I LOVE election night. It's like my second favorite news holiday to work next to Selection Sunday. Now it's over and I'll have to spend some quality time with my Shmoo to try and get her back on track. I've had enough of the puker for awhile.

Happy Halloweenie!

I know we are a day late, but Halloween weekend was quite the whirlwind for me. I worked my usu weekend shift plus fit in time to check out a really cool decked out house and attend a going away/costume party for one of my co-workers. But that's OK because Missy isn 't too big on Halloween to begin with. She doesn't really know what to make of all the people in costume wandering around her street. ((and yes they are her streets, don't you know?)) She was a little shell shocked. It's like she didn't know if she should bark or be excited or both. Needless to say she didn't dress up and we cut our walk short. We stayed inside where it was nice and warm and went to bed instead. BUT Saturday I sure had a good time.......

Happy Halloweenie!