Well, isn't that a fine Holiday Spirit

Mommy and Mulligan, and by extension, me, have been evicted from the OTHER neighborhood. Yep. Seeing as how Mulligan got into that little to-do last week, apparently it went round about that neighborhood pretty darn fast. Guess those well-manicured women didn't have enough Holiday Soirees to fill their time. Or perhaps that is what they talked about at their Galas. To get to THAT neighborhood, one must drive, or walk, through our 'hood. It's not like we live in a "hovel" or a "cabin" or anything. We have flush toilets (4 to be exact) and electricity and the lads even wear shoes. We went on a walk and Mom was accosted by a woman in a XL SUV. She informed Mom that the white dog (Mulligan) was a Vicious Animal and it was quite obvious from her tone that neither Mom nor her shelter dogs were welcome to traverse into that subdivision anymore.

Dear Mr. Hoover

Dear Mr. Hoover,
Thank you for making such a fine quality Steam Vac. Whew. Dad was planning to roast me and Mulligan and serve us up for our post-Christmas guests with a side of Yorkshire Pudding. Lucky for us your Steam Vac removed ALL the Green Sugar Sprinkles stain from the carpet.
Happy Holidays to you and all the Hoover family, Pennie

Snow Day!

Yea! It's a snow day! Too bad for the oldest lad, though. He had 5:30 am swim practice this morning. At 5:10 he pushed me out of my warm, warm spot in his bed, into Mom and Dad's room. Then he left. At 5:25 the call came (our school district has a phone notification system; Mom has it set for the earliest possible setting due to early practices.) Dad called the Lad immediately. Poor Oldest Lad and most of the Varsity Swim Team, including the Coach, were already at the school preparing to dive in the pool. Oldest lad said &*@^ and %$#@ but the Coach had practice anyway since the team was already there. Fortunately, the parents responsible for providing breakfast for the morning practicers had not breached their responsibilities and the swimmers had their usual bagels, bananas and orange juice.

Then the Oldest Lad came home and we played in the Snow! I shivered and shook with cold but I am no wimp dog like Mulligan who sat in the garage and pouted.

I further enjoyed my snow day when Little Lad left the pantry door open and Mulligan and I feasted on bags of Cheeze Its that were in quick-grab reach before Mom noticed the door was open.

Good thing I don't get to vote

Oldest Lad created a giant blow dart gun from a length of PVC pipe for his "Dart Wars" game that he was playing at school. Unfortunately he was killed in an ambush at the local Skyline Chili Parlor and he was the last of his team. The good news was that the Foam Dart Injury was not fatal and the Lad was able to eat his meal, drive home and return to school the next day without incident.

With no use left for his Foam Dart Blow Gun, the lad started creating other uses for it. He discovered it is especially useful for tormenting younger brothers. There is nothing like being totally engrossed in a Video game when a foam dart hits the side of the neck from close range. Mulli and I were hit with our fair share of foam darts as well, especially during the initial perfection of this weapon of teen destruction.

Next the Oldest Lad discovered the PVC pipe Blow Dart Gun was perfect as a giant Spit Ball Blower.

This was my personal favorite! I tuned in to this new game immediately. The lad chews up a nice big spit ball and blows it at me, I try to catch it, and then I chew it up. It is almost as good a treat as a snotty kleenex.

For a few minutes last night, the Oldest Lad, Mom, and I were watching "Larry King Live" as he interviewed Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. Oldest Lad blew a big spit ball for me. I missed and the wad landed on the TV screen. It stuck! And amazingly, it stuck on the TV screen right where Mitt Romney's mouth was. Yep, there Mitt Romney was being interviewed by Larry King with a ginormous Spit Ball hanging out of his mouth. That wad eventually fell off, and I ate it.

The Oldest Lad then blew another big Spit Ball for me. This one headed for the TV as well. I missed. It landed on the screen and stuck. This time, it landed right in Larry King's eye. Larry King conducted the rest of his interview with a huge Spit Ball hanging onto the outside of his over-sized glasses.

Since I can't vote, these Spit Balls in no way reflect any kind of endorsement for any candidate.

Valentines's Tag

I have been tagged by my Jelly in a new Valentine Day's tag. With all this cold weather I need to get my blood going! Mulligan can't play tag because he gets too wound up, but I am a good sport. I love to play tag with the neighborhood boys before the school bus comes.

If you have been tagged by one of your pals , then you should create a diary entry that lists 5 of your special wishes for Valentine's Day! Follow that with the names of 5 of your Dogster pals. Then, go and "tag" each of these 5 pals with either a p-mail or rosette! Gotcha!!!!! Sure a great way to share
Valentine Fun!

My 5 Valentine Wishes are....

1. I wish that Mulligan would just give up and let me have Mom's lap without us having to fight it out each time.
2. I would like to go to school with Middle Lad and Little Lad, including riding the school bus, eating lunch, and of course recess!
3. I wish those stupid squirrels would slow down and let me catch one of them and show them a thing or two about building squirrel condos in MY trees.
4. I would like Mom to take all the blankets in the house and lay them on the floors and the chairs and the couch so that wherever I go I have a nice comfy spot to nap.
5. I would like to have less "monitoring." It really limits the amount of mischief that I can get into.
Oh, and I am thankful that Mom is out of the Dog-House. She made fleece blankets for: Oldest Lad, Middle Lad, Little Lad. Then for two of her nieces. Then she even made a fleece blanket from some remnants, (ssh don't tell Mulligan it was from remnants) for Mulligan and me. OK, that leaves out Dad. He was feeling seriously left out. But last night Mom made a fleece blanket for Dad. It's a surprize when he comes home from his business trip.

My Pals that I'm tagging are:
Bodhi
Tico el Bandito
Ringo
Koopie

I hate swimmers

I used to like swimmers. I like the way the swimmers smell. I like the salty taste of their skin. I like the soft clothes that swimmers wear: sweat pants and sweatshirts and thick socks with moccasins or flip flops.

Now I hate swimmers.

At 6:30 tonight Mom left the house with:
2 pans of brownies
1 pan of Revel bar cookies
a double batch of made from scratch chocolate chip cookies
2 loaves of garlic bread

At 8:30 tonight Mom returned home with:
small crumbs.

And I wasn't even invited.

Glad to be of service, Dad

On the back porch there is a hot tub that doesn't work. It was here when the family moved in and it dates back to the early 80s. It worked for a while, but it isn't worth fixing anymore. It takes up a lot of room on the back porch and is set down into the floor of the porch.

For my first remodeling project of the back porch, I installed my own doggie door. This gives Mulli and I free entrance to the back porch where we can then see in to watch what is going on inside the house. I sit on top the picnic table, my royal throne. Mulligan paws at the sliding doors and howls "let me in!"

My second remodeling project is that I have been peeling away the vinyl outer cover to the lid of the hot tub. It is one on my many outdoor projects, like gardening and digging up the sprinkler system.

Dad has decided that since I have been working so hard on peeling away the vinyl cover to the hot tub lid that instead of being a 2009 project, now the Back Porch Get-Rid-of-the-Hot-Tub-Altogether Project is going to be a Summer 2008 Project! Yea! Thanks to me we get a WHOLE NEW FLOOR FOR THE BACK PORCH since there will be a big Octagonal hole in the floor once the hot tub is gone.

I am glad to be of service, Dad. Anytime, really.

No Way Is He Leaving Me for Some Woman!

The setting: Mom rubbed a large piece of skin off her finger as she was preparing dinner. Oldest lad was handy and under Mom's direction, finished preparing the meal: Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole with Chicken.

Pennie: "Wow, Mulligan, isn't that amazing! Oldest Lad can make a Roux and a Bechamel!"

Mulligan: "Pennie! You are so easily-amused! Just stay out of the bathroom for Dogness sake."

Pennie rolls her eyes. "You are such a male, Mulligan. I mean a White Sauce. Oldest Lad made a white sauce for the cheese sauce. For the broccoli cheese chicken rice casserole. The casserole we tried so hard to get our paws on."

Mulligan: "So what's the deal? Oldest Lad is a great cook. Brownies, snickerdoodles, cake, chili, he can cook a lot of things. Wait a minute you DON"T GET IT, do you?"

Pennie, perking up her ears: "Get what?"

Mulligan: "That the Oldest Lad is going to make a great Wife some day. I mean a great catch. He can cook. Some woman is going to snatch him up once she figures out he can cook. And do laundry."

Pennie: "OH NO! No WOMAN is taking away MY OLDEST LAD. He is MINE! Good Cook or not. Remember that chunk of ear I removed from you? Well some woman who tries to take Oldest Lad from me is gonna lose a lot more than a piece of her ear."

Pennie stalks off to plot. Mulligan continues to stare at the refrigerator in the hopes of some casserole.

Hair Scare!

Last night I was watching a "Malcolm in the Middle" rerun with Mulligan and Mom and Dad. A STRANGE MAN Walked Right Into Our House Through The Back Door. Yes, I got up and barked at this Stranger ferociously. Lazy A$$ Mulligan, just sat and WAGGED HIS TAIL and then Greeted this Stranger.

I ran over and Smelled this Stranger. He smelled familiar. I tasted him. His skin tasted familiar. He spoke. He even sounded familiar.

It was Oldest Lad.

But Who Says Dogs are Color Blind?

Oldest Lad left the house with swim team hair. It was a vague silvery color. It used to be brown but over the course of the swim season it had turned a different color. Women sit in salons and pay lots of money for that odd nameless shade. Really all they have to do is swim for several hours each day.

When Oldest Lad came home last night his hair was Bleach Blond. He did not look at all like MY Oldest Lad who had left just a few hours before. I was quite nervous the rest of the night.

Why didn't Mulligan prepare me for this strange Swim Team ritual?

Long Jump

I think with the proper coaching Little Lad may be headed toward a career in the Long Jump.

He is young and has not yet obtained any sense of modesty, not there is much around here with so many males; Mom seems to be the only one interested in the term.

After his shower he chose to scamper back to his room, completely naked, walking on his hands and his feet, which leaves to the imagination what body part was flying in the air. I chose that moment, as Personal Hygeine Pennie, to Goose the Lad, exactly in the center of the Highest Point. I do indeed have rather a cold, wet nose.

Wow, I never knew how far a 46 pound human could fly.