Time seems to have no significant meaning for me these days.  Time flies as I age and the seasons change with an alarming switfness and though the days fly by, there are other events or eras that seem to pass very slowly.
It seems crazy to me that the baby is only three weeks old because she is such a part of our lives that it’s like she has always been with us.  Yet, I can see how she has changed so much already.  As we stare down the Labor Day weekend and the traditional end of summer I, on one hand, want to observe that another season has flown by and is in the books, but it seems as if it was ages ago that we first broke ground for the pool.  Was that just this summer?  Well, yes, it was and we have been this long with nothing but a dirt patch surrounding the pool and dust clouds to be kicked up by a zooming Pit Bull type doggie.  Actually, that isn’t quite accurate.  Kevin has worked tirelessly to finish the brick edging and the lava rock mulch surrounding the pool area.  We are just beginning to re-landscape and are about to start editing and rearranging plants.
To that fact, I am happy to bid adieu.  Today I have received the most welcomed news that our sod is in and the piggy can commence a-wallowing this evening.

This is the view from the gate.

This would be between the pool and the house from the patio.  I can’t wait to go home and sit on the grass!

What’s that I hear, you say the weekend is near?

I love to play tug and my favorite toys have ropes; plain braided ropes, rope loops, ropes on a tire, you get the idea.  Last weekend, Mama and I went to Tractor Supply and she bought me a special rope toy…a jolly ball!  Boy do I love my jolly ball.

I can play jolly ball with Mom and Dad or I can play all by myself, which is so much fun!

My Daddy is fun to play with because he is a boy like me and we play like boys together.  Mama is fun to play with, too, but she is a girl and I have to be careful when I play with her.  When we play tug, I can only use my Fat Mouth and I can’t use my paws.  I like to hook my arms around the rope for extra leverage, but I don’t do that with Mama.  I’ve learned that if I do that, she stops playing with me.  I also give her the rope when I want her to play with me.  I like to shove it in her hands, or on her leg, or in her booty if she is walking away, but I like to make Daddy chase me if he wants to play tug.  I’m really fast…watch me zoom!

…and zoom!

…and zoom!

….and zoom!

Bye bye.

With the arrival of the new baby, there have been more visitors to our house than usual.  Last week, my sister and her kids came to help Asia with the baby and to enjoy the pool a bit.  Our house is generally a pretty quiet zone, so four additional people, one of whom has zoomie matchbox cars, can be pretty stimulating to a puppy.  Fortunately, my sister has three dogs of her own, and for the most part, everything went exceedingly well. (Aside from her waving her hands in the air and dancing though the kitchen, singing, “I know, I know, I have to ignore the dog!”

For two and a half days Ray got to play by the pool with the kids and watch Disney while still getting to enjoy a little quiet time when it was needed.  His sitter still came to take him on his scheduled noon break for the sake of consistency which is important.  But how much did Ray enjoy himself?

Miko

Today is National Black Cat Awareness Day and since our black cat(s) past and present are some of the most special kitties we’ve had, we are dedicating today to Miko and to Jazz-man.
A few fun facts:
When we went to Animal Care, we were there to adopt a different black cat, but Miko jumped in my lap and snuffled my face so intently, that I wasn’t about to leave without him.

Miko and Jazz before him are our only cats who do not run and hide when strangers are around.  In fact, they both are more than willing to be adored by all.

Miko “owns” everything, including the baby.  No other cat  is allowed to linger in her room without Miko’s permission.

Miko purrs over nearly everything and loves to be told how beautiful he is.

Miko is our fattest cat and our pickiest eater.

Jazz was an outside cat but once was feeling poorly.  He came inside, laid on the sofa for three or four days and then got up and resumed life outside.

The Jazz-man often went walk-about.  (He was not neutered-I know, I know)  He was usually gone for about two weeks at a time but once he left for nine months.  He came back just a few weeks before we were to move to another part of the state.  He was skinny and tired and was sitting at the foot of our steps, as if waiting to see if he was still welcomed.  He was.  Our prodigal son was back. 

I had been known to pull over to the side of the road and call “Jazz man” at any black cat I saw.

Jazz used to sit on the picnic table outside our neighbor’s window and look in.  Our neighbor was named Tom so we had a peeping Tom tom peeping at Tom.

I love having a black cat in residence.

The baby has been home for a week now, and while we’ve been working with Ray on Positive Conditioned Emotional Responses to her smells and sounds, Ray has been working on his antler chews, hanging with monkey and just basking in the all around awesomeness that comes with being Ray-Ray.


My antler, my monkey, and me.

How well did it go?  What you can’t see in the pictures is that Jae was actually sitting on the coffee table and Ray basically ignored the cat and the baby.  Actually, I’d call it more of showing a polite interest while respecting everyone’s personal space.

To say that I’ve had an amazing August would be an understatment and with today being my birthday, I’ve felt incredibly spoiled with all of the well wishes, flowers, cupcakes and support I’ve received.  Lest all of that go to my head, I humbly submit the following.

Ray has been a growing machine since Day One, and I’m constantly amazed at how big he seems to get, daily.  One thing that hasn’t changed, is that he has had this “baggy pajama haunch” forever.

Crappy photos courtesy of my sister’s iphone.

I’m pretty sure he will grow into it, so I’ve never thought too much about it until last night my sister noticed his “big butt” was exactly the same as my big butt.  I think the comment was, “You know how you’re all butt and nothing else?” 

The worst part?  Before taking the picture, my sister kept telling me to remove the wedgie to which I replied, “I don’t have one, that is all butt in there!”

Yeah, not one of my more glamorous moments, good thing Clinton Kelly didn’t see me.

Oh well.

Yes, last week was Baby week in honor of my beautiful daughter giving birth to her beautiful daughter.

Ray has been awesome and I couldn’t be more proud of him as well.  We’ve been conditioning him with jackpot treats when the baby cries, though she doesn’t cry much.  Even when she does, her amazing parents are right there in a flash to take care of her.  I did notice one day over the weekend, I was watching TV and Ray was busy with a bully stick or kong and seeping through the edge of our noise was the sound of the baby crying.  When the sound finally registered with Ray, he sat up and seemed to wait for his treats. 

I love this little boy.

The fact that I hate (hate, hate, hate) this picture of myself should tell you how much I love this little (big!) block head.  This guy is definitely not playing for the DINOS team. (Although if he did, I would certainly respect that.)
Every morning when I get him up, we have a cuddle time for a few minutes which is one of the best parts of the day.  He stretches and downward dogs himself out of the crate, staggers over to me and flumps against me as we fall cuddling to the floor.  Hugs, belly rubs and lots of kisses ensue until he is awake enough to where he’s ready to go outside for his morning toilette.

Do you have a special morning routine?

Ah, the end of Baby Week…or is it really just the beginning?  We’ve been preparing, we’ve been practising, and today is the big day.

Look who is coming home today.  We will be taking the utmost care in introductions and only be doing so when everyone is calm, happy and relaxed. 

So, no guesses on the earlier name posts?  Ok, the day two post has been updated with links to reveal identities, but if you want a hint, we’re looking at nearly all defenders, one Bear and three Ravens.

The musical reference?  Lola, of course, so the Ray in this case would be Ray Davies.

Finally, the $25 donation will be going not to a Rescue or Shelter as previously noted.  Of course, no one other than family members actually guessed the names correctly and in light of our own little miracle baby we are making the donation to Sawyer, whose Auntie is the head of Smiling K9’s.

Have a great weekend, everyone.