Artie's First PetSmart Visit

Art, Nov. 12, 2013

Artie says: Auntie Martha took Mom and me to the dog park on Bath Rd. There was another cattledog/BC cross there, a female, named Cookie.  She doesn't like people, her dad said, but boy, she wanted me to play with her!  She barked at me and play-bowed at me and chased me and THEN (when she was pooped) I chased HER!!  Mwah!

There were some other doggies there too, we were all about the same size!  I had fun!

The black doggie's owner was really freaked out because she thought I was hurting her dog, but the black dog jumped on me hard and grabbed my tail!  Ouch!  She was very bossy!  She also had a toy which Mom told me I could NOT have.  I didn't grumble, I just put my mouth on her neck by her face then she stopped being stupid and we were friends.  I think she might have been more like the puppies we had.

Mom is pretty smart and she listens because she can't always see stuff. She whistled for me the minute she heard the other dog's barking and noises become different and I ran to her.  Mom told me I didn't need to fix it. But the black doggie's mom must not know doggie language as good as the other dog parents did!  So she took the black doggie away.

Mom kept walking around the park's edge so I would go and check on her and bump her leg with my nose. That's how I tell Mom something or let her know that I'm there. It was too cold for the humans to stand still but some of them were.

Then Auntie took me and Mom to this store with lots of smells!  OMG!  Mom said it was called PetSmart.  I've never been there before!  I got cookies from the people that worked there.  I took them very nicely!! There were other dogs there but Mom kept telling me how good I was (with her Happy Voice) even though she didn't have ANY treats with her!!!  I didn't even get silly with that one dog that screamed-barked when it saw me!  Wow, what a noise!!!

Then I got some french fries and when we got home home, Mom gave me and Elke a half a hamburger.  Why ELKE got part of the hamburger for staying home is beyond me.

No pictures (Mom forgot her phone) and no food...except the hamburger!
Mom said I was reallllly good!

(Mom adds: I have this dog for almost 2 years and just now I'm taking him to PetSmart??  He WAS realllly good. I'm glad I've been learning about dog body language.  All of the other owners seemed really nice and savvy, which is very pleasant. There was the black mix, the cattledog cross and 3 tan mixes.  I'm thinking that bumping thing Artie does might come in handy and that I could reward that behavior.  I'm just not sure how that would come in handy.)

Since When Is "Hot" An Insult?

I have a wonderful Spousal Unit who compliments me so well.  I am so lucky.  He will tell me I'm pretty etc and "hot."  I think he is crazy but so am I!

Now, I saw a comment on a friend's FB page by a MAN who said, "What kind of jerk calls a woman that (hot)?"  Really?

Let me tell you...at some point in a woman's life when she ain't 20 or 30 or even (dare I say it) 40, she'd probably kill if some younger guy said she was hot. I have to say, I'm almost hitting a big-0 age and the thought of some younger, good looking guy saying that to me makes me...well....it's very nice.  I also think he's probably delusional.

At this point in my life, "Hot" means I did my makeup (spackle??) right, the lighting was extremely good, he needed glasses (and a goodly distance) and my Spanx channeled a 50's era girdle with a a Scotty voice, "I'm giving her all I got, Cap'n!"

Just sayin'.

As long as it's sincere, "Hot" is a very nice compliment!

"Can We Count On Your Vote?"

It's that time of year when you get calls from the political folks running locally. 
Guy Calling For New Mayoral Candidate, Don What's-His-Hoogie: (After the intro, during which I didn't hang up. Go figure.) 
Guy: What do you think needs improvement that So-and-So can address.
Mia (not missing a beat): More. Bike. Lanes. 
Guy: That's great to know. Anything else?
Mia: The dog park needs a lot of work. It's a mud pit. I'm very grateful they have one but it's like "Let's pick the crappiest place to put it."
Guy: Thank you so much, that's something to work on.
Mia: Oh, yeah.....And please finish that stupid-a**ed thing on State Rd. (Which is usually Number One on everyone's hit parade of Things To Bitch About Locally.)
You see where MY Priorities are!