Christmas night wasn’t the best around here. As of last night we have another dog “boarding.” I’ve seen Bogie (actually, I have smelled him) come here from time to time to be groom. This time he didn’t leave. After he got here last night he was so nervous he had “intestinal upset” in the house. Mom got that cleaned up only to find that the groom room was flooding from all the rain. Mom and my brother Adam spent a lot of time with a mop, towels and a shop vac trying to get up all the water. It was coming in as fast as they worked, so Mom finally quit and went to bed.
Today was better. All the water had mysteriously disappeared from the groom room floor, sort of like it had never happened. Weird, huh?And so, with her work space once again usable, Mom groomed Bogie. She was careful to keep her voice soft and sweet so she didn’t upset him. She figured this out this afternoon after she yelled, “Stop!” when he was about to step on a big spider and, as if on cue, liquid poo squirted out of his butt. We have gone through a lot of paper towels so far this weekend.
Here’s the thing though. Gracie does not like Bogie. I actually heard my sweet little friend growl at him – several times. He bounces around like a Tigger dog and just doesn’t know when to quit. Hey, Noodle, you feeling my pain, sweetie?
Mom decided to open Bogie’s new can of tennis balls and try to wear him out a little. The ground is very soggy and muddy, so they played in the house. I even grabbed the ball away from him once!
Bogie had a ball! Bogie has taken over the couch.
Bogie won’t eat, not even with meatloaf and other good stuff crumbled up in his food. However, he tried to stick his head in my food bowl and it was my turn to growl. At least he understands what “grrrrrrr” means. OK, so he is probably a nice dog, but he is just so obnoxious. Gracie and I have decided to just stay away from him.
Gracie decided her kennel was the safest place right now.Anywhere but where Bogie is.
I think that if Bogie keeps refusing to eat all the wonderful food in his bowl, Mom should just give it to me. After all, isn’t wasting food a sin? I know there’s something about poor hungry dogs somewhere in the world, not having enough to eat, who would love to have this food. It only seems right that someone should eat this food, and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be me. If you agree, put up your paw! Anyhow, Bogie Wogie is here until New Years Eve…pray for me to survive!
Why, Mom, why? Just because I growled a little bit at some people at work on Tuesday…I didn’t think you meant it when you said Gracie would come Thursday if I did that!
I laughed this morning when Mom tossed Gracy into the tub before work and gave her a good bath. I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t stop to think what that might mean. Yep, she went to work with us. I was not at all happy about that. She rode in my car, she ate my food, she drank my special water and she got all the attention that should have been mine. I growled every time someone pet her instead of me. Mom says I am my own worst enemy. I don’t know what that means. The pastor’s 8 year old daughter was there today and she played with Gracie and took her outside and took her in the pastor’s office to watch a show together. Then she thought she could be all nicey-nice with me after that huge betrayal. I wasn’t having any of it. Dad stopped by and Gracie thought she could have all his attention too. I was so upset that I managed to get out the door and took off. Mom had Gracie on a leash and was holding the door open for Dad to move some big stuff into the church, so she couldn’t exactly chase after me. She took Gracie to her office, hollered for Dad, and by the time they got outside to look for me I had decided to return, since it was drizzling rain. Mom was so mad she swatted me with the leash as I tore up the stairs. It hurt my feelings more than anything, and I knew I was in deep trouble now. Mom had a lot of work to get done, which meant that I only got a short lecture this time.
By the time we got in the car to head home Mom was in a better mood, the sun was shining and I didn’t even care if I had to share the front seat with Gracie. I’ve been thinking, and I realize that I have to change my attitude to keep my job as the church dog. I think it will be a better night. I hope it’s just me and Mom going to work tomorrow.
Love and kisses to all. May the Lord be with you. (I am practicing.)
Let’s see, where was I in recollecting my first experiences as Toto. Ah, yes, we had just met my now Auntie Jen.
Auntie Jen and cousin Piper
In theater, there is something called a green room. It is where the cast can sit and rest between scenes, but most especially between the first and second act. I usually showed up about 15 minutes before the show started since I didn’t need makeup or wardrobe. It would be just in time to warm up my voice with everyone, as I previously posted. Besides, it was fun to see the stage manager sigh with relief every time I walked tore through the back stage door. One evening as I ran toward the warm-up room I smelled, then saw, someone walk in with baked goods and place them in the green room. During the entire play I couldn’t stop thinking about that. Now let me mention that as unlikely as it may seem, there are a few scenes that I am simply not supposed to be in, such as when Uncle Henry and Auntie Em can’t find me or My Dorothy after the tornado. It was during one such scene that I could no longer control my urge to eat those baked goods. Unfortunately, they were on the far side of the stage. Sure, I could have taken the long way around behind the back curtain. Bwahahaha! Who are we kidding? Even I know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and that line took me straight across the stage. Like a good quarterback (my peeps brother Andrew watches a lot of football so I understand a bit of it), I made it through the first line of defense as I exited the stage, intent on my goal. The second line of defense closed in on me just before I could round the corner and devour what was calling me to it like a siren song. So I didn’t get my baked goods and Auntie Em was mad at me. 😦 Mom wasn’t very happy with me either, but gave me points for speed and determination. Points? She could have just given me baked goods.
I ran so fast everything became blurry. (reenaction)
In June I posted some Memory Mondays about my time as Toto. If you missed them, you can read them here. I was going to tell you all about winning my Annie Award, but that is included in the June post, too. I guess Mommy’s name is also on the award because she was my stage director.
Mom actually made a schedule of when I was supposed to be on stage with cues and stage sides to enter and exit. If you are interested, you can see it here.
2nd Production of the Wizard of Oz (WOZ):
Early in 2010 I got called to star once again as Toto in a WOZ production at a convention center called the Colonnade in a town called Fort Oglethorpe in North Georgia. I blogged about it at the time, also. Go ahead, click the link, it is safe. I got left out of the playbill, if you can believe that! I mean, who leaves the star out of the program? I wasn’t too happy about it, but Mom was steamed!
This time the director didn’t have a plan for what scenes I could be in or how much I could be on stage. Having had some experience at this, Mom called the shots for me. She let me go on stage a lot more, but not when it would have hurt the story line. She still had my playbook all marked up with when and where I was to enter and exit. Apparently, direction and routine appeal to her as much as they do to me.
I didn’t understand why there were long gaps between each scene as the sets were changed. At one such time I was with Kandis the Dorothy behind the curtain, bored with waiting and peeking out to see what I could see. Suddenly I spotted my Auntie Jen in the audience! I glanced back at Kandis, who was distracted with texting, and made my break. For the first and last time in my career I forgot the stage actor rules and tore down the stairs and into the middle of the audience, leaping right into Auntie Jen’s lap. I was wiggling all over, wagging my tail and even gave her a hug. She was beaming. I could feel the happiness radiating off of her. People in the seats near her were asking if I was her dog. “No,” she replied, “this is my niece.” ❤
We went to the Star Awards ceremony, which was held at the Colonnade. I fully expected to get another award, but those people forgot all about me – again. I made my point by running up on stage while Kandis (Dorothy) was singing Over the Rainbow. Would you believe she had her eyes closed and didn’t even see me! So I trotted backstage, lickity split, where they were setting up the food for after the awards. If I wasn’t going to get an award, I sure was going to get something out of being there. I came back out as she was finishing the song and this time I know she had to have seen me because people were chuckling. When she looked down, I slipped her and went back to the food. She came after me, though, and acted so very glad I was there. We went to the lobby and she wanted me to run with her and play with her, but I just wasn’t into it. I was a bit bummed, no award and all, and I just wanted to get back to the food.
When the play was over, I did a final blog about it.
“Stay tuned” as they say, “for my final Oz blog the first Monday is January!” Great story! Great pictures! It is all about me!”
We headed home on Wednesday morning and drove about nine hours before stopping at our new friend, Baymont Hotel in Metropolis, IL. While Dad was checking out of Baymont on Thanksgiving morning, I decided I would drive for a while. Dad came back and said, “No.”
Can someone please work the pedals for me?
It seemed that we had already escaped the cold of NW Indiana as it was already 60 degrees at 8:00 in the morning.
Superschnauzer
So, instead of getting right on the Interstate, we decided to look around. Everyone seemed to still be asleep as we cruised by old, but well-kept homes, to the city’s small downtown. We saw a giant statue of Superman and lots of gift shops. If the name Metropolis sounds familiar, it is because it is the home of Superman, as well as…
Since we work at a Methodist Church, and since Mom and Dad didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get home, Dad took a shot of us in front of the Methodist Church across from the city’s newspaper, the Planet. The church was founded in 1853! We sent the picture of us as well as one of the plaque with the information about the church to our friend, Pastor Evelyn, to say Happy Thanksgiving.
She took my kibble away.I’m so bored.
We finally got back on the road. My food dish was in the back seat, and it contained only dry kibble. In protest, I used my nose to try turning over the bowl. Mom told me to stop, so I tried harder. More loudly, she again told me to stop, so I tried even harder. She kept getting louder and so did my efforts until Dad broke out laughing at us both. At that, Mom reached back and removed my bowl of crap food from the back seat.
We finally made it back home in time to cook steak and squash for Thanksgiving supper. I sat at the table with my peeps and had a bit for myself. I can hardly wait for Christmas…Riley and my peep brother Andrew are coming home and I bet there will be lots of good food!
Dad picked us up at the church and we left for the North right after work on Thursday. We drove a few hours before stopping at a different hotel than we usually use. Mom said it was a lot less expensive and it wouldn’t hurt to try it. It’s name was Baymont. We used to stay at the one called Holiday Inn Express. Our Baymont room had one of those beds as big as Kansas. It was so big I could sleep in it all night without even touching anyone. So I took advantage of that and curled up in the bend of my Dad’s legs.
In the morning I waited in the room while Mom went out to hunt a chicken so I could have my usual on-a-trip scrambled eggs. Apparently Metropolis, Illinois doesn’t have chickens because she came back empty-handed. We all piled back in the car and a couple of hours down the road stopped at one of my favorite places. You guessed it – Mickey D’s! Mommy got out a bowl and poured some kibble, and green peas in it, then topped it with lots of scrambled eggs. Hallelujah, someone must have found a chicken.
For lunch, Mommy and I had hot dogs.
For me? Let me taste it.OMD! I want it!Bring that hot dog back here!Tripsss…mmmm…..gooood.
After my hot dog, I got really thirsty.
It started snowing about 30 minute before we got to Grandma Jean’s house. Thankfully, it hadn’t started sticking on the road yet and we pulled safely into her garage before the blizzard hit. More on that and my visit later.
Riddle: What does a rag + a gauze pad + duck tape + a baby sock + safety pins=?
NO MORE COLLAR OF SHAME
Dad took me for my wonderful acupuncture treatment today. Dr Karen, who is my favorite vet in the whole world, said the wound where my nail was removed was slightly infected. She put me on antibiotics which also doubled as the second round of antibiotics for the bacteria giving me bad breath. Dad said we couldn’t drive all the way to Illinois with my breath like that. My BFF Dr. Karen also said I could lick my wound a little and it would be ok, but not a lot. I am like a sugar addict with a bowl of frosting when I start licking. A little is never enough.
Mom knows how much I hate the lampshade thingie, so she thought up this scheme to make it easy to change out the dressing without me losing all the hair on my right lower leg. Yes, she has had to cut the hair from the duck tape every time she changed the dressing, which she claims is why she started making me wear the dreaded e-collar. Mom permanently (well, it sure does seem permanent) attached a soft rag around my leg just above the knee with white duck tape. Then she pulled a pink striped baby sock that she found at the Dollar Tree (2 sets of 2 sock for $1 – go wild Mom!) over the gauze square that she had placed around the toe end of my foot. Then she pulled the baby sock up to the rag and safety pinned it in place. Now all she has to do is unpin the sock to change the gauze. I got it off in the first hour when Mom used regular paper tape to attach the rag to my hair. So we are back to white duck tape. Or is it duct tape? Franklin, will you weigh in on this? Franklin?
So, a trip to Illinois. Dad’s rude comment was the first and last I have heard about a trip. I love trips. My Grandma Sandy lives in Illinois. I will let you know more when I get the low-down.
If you are squeamish about b-l-o-o-d, then skip the parts I tell you to skip. Remember, I warned you.
I have been getting treated for my left hip having dysplasia. B12 shots, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, all good. I was starting to feel much better and not even limping, then I started limping on my right foot and licking it incessantly. Mom couldn’t see anything wrong with it, but we both knew it hurt or I wouldn’t be licking it. Finally, she saw that my middle toenail was jutting out at an odd angle. She trimmed it back a little so it wasn’t hitting the floor when I walked and that helped, but not enough. Alert, skip the next paragraph if you are faint of heart (FoH).
This morning started out with me tracking blood all over the kitchen floor. Other places too, but no one noticed until I hit the white tile floor.
You FoH people can start reading again.
Mom put a cheap, disposable plastic glove over my foot, then tied a cheap green bandana – that I refused to wear around my neck – around the glove. She called the new vet and we got the first appointment of the day. I was in the car about 3 seconds before I had that horrible glove-bandana contraption off and was back to licking it. Pretty soon not only my breath but the whole car smelled like blood. Oops, sorry, forgot to give the warning.
We got the the vet’s office and a different doctor, Dr. Smith, saw me. Let me add here that when Mom saw the vet tech walk in the room with the glass stick, Mom said, “No, I don’t think Lexi will need her temperature taken today. Let’s try to keep this a good place for her to come.” Yay, Mommy! While we waited for the vet to come in, Mom explained to me that he might have to do something that would hurt a lot, but it would be quick and my foot wouldn’t hurt any more after that.
This next part might be a bit much for you FoH folks. Just sayin’, proceed at your own risk. Hey, there’s a nice picture at the bottom!
The doc examined my nail and told Mom it was only hanging on by a thread, or the quick, or something like that, and he would have to pull it off. Mom said he could get her from the waiting room when he was done and she deserted me. I knew she was waiting to hear my scream, so I just gritted my teeth and didn’t make a sound. I waited for my revenge, which came as soon as the vet let go of my foot. I shook it as hard as I could and blood sprayed all over the entire room. Ha, ha, ha. That’ll teach them. They had to clean everything before they could go get Mom and tell her I was ready to go.
OK, you FoH folks. You can finish reading now.
I went to work with my foot all bandaged up. They even put a little no-slip pad on the bottom to keep me from, well, from slipping. Tonight Mom had to take it off to check it and re-wrap it. She didn’t do as good of a job, but I guess that’s cause they are professionals. She even lost the tape sometime between removing the old wrap, spraying cold water on my poor foot to remove the dried b-l-o-o-d, towel drying it, and wrapping it again. Now I have a layer of gauze, a layer of vet wrap, and a layer of white duck tape. Sheesh.
I have had three sessions of acupuncture and B12 shots for my hip. Since my last visit, I have been running around like a puppy, up and down stairs and all over the place. Until today. I woke up hurting. Mom called the vet and Dad is taking me Wednesday morning for another treatment. I don’t mind going to this vet. They are super nice to me and feed me so many treats I don’t even notice what they are doing. In the meantime, I got another hydrotherapy (bath in the jetted tub) and a buffered aspirin. Mom sat in the tub with me and said she was very proud because I didn’t even shake this time. I just have tomorrow to get through until I get some more relief with the acupuncture.
Now, about Memory Monday. Since several of you expressed your delight in reading about my times as Lexi-Toto, and since I never tire of thinking about it, I have decided to share more stories of those years. My career spanned three productions over the period of eight years.
As I’ve mention, the first production – the one in Chattanooga at the Theatre Centre – was my favorite. Here are some of my first thoughts about the experience, posted during that time.
A local bakery donated biscuits in the shape of hot dogs with a hole in the center so that a stick could be put through them. You know, so it would look like a hot dog being roasted over a campfire. Mr. Marvel would lower the stick while he was talking with My Dorothy and I would run and pull the hot dog biscuit off the stick. The audience loved it. Then Mr. Marvel always chuckled and said, “What’s a sausage between two friends?” Or something like that. One time I was still chewing when My Dorothy grabbed me up into her arms and swung sharply around to try to head back home before the tornado. That was right when I was opening my mouth to chew, and pieces sprayed all over stage. In a subsequent scene I made sure to clean the stage!
It wasn’t all fun and games and treats. There were those dreaded flying monkeys. When they started screeching and flying – yes flying – at me I would run as fast as I could across the stage, heading for my kennel dressing room. Most of the time Mom would catch me and hand me over. Traitor! Didn’t she know those monkeys were terrifying? At least I was compensated each time with an extra treat from the head monkey, who had to run back out on the stage with me when the scene changed. That’s when everyone found out I wasn’t a water breed. When the wicked witch told him to take me and throw me in the river, he would always fumble and I would leap from his arms and, this time, make it straight into my kennel dressing room.
Sunday afternoons were fun shows. There were always lots of little people and they adored me. After the show, folks were allowed to come up and have their picture taken with some of the cast. They could ask for who they wanted in the picture with them, such as Toto, or Dorothy and Toto, or the Lion and Toto or the Tin Man and Toto or the Scarecrow and Toto or Glenda and Toto. They usually asked for My Dorothy and Toto. Even then I loved having my picture taken! That’s how we met my Auntie Jen. The story goes something like this: Jen saw my picture in the newspaper and said, “How did Piper’s picture get in the paper?” When she read the article she found out that my cousin Piper and I came from the same breeder. She e-mailed the breeder and got my Mom’s e-mail address. They started corresponding like that until my almost Auntie Jen came to see me perform. It was an instant friendship between us all, and we are now all family. Isn’t that super neat? I don’t know why people think you have to be born into a family to BE family. After all, both my Mom and I were adopted and we couldn’t be more family! Same with my Auntie Jen…I love my Auntie Jen.
I think that’s all I can tell you for now. My hip is starting to hurt again and I need to rest. Next time I will tell you about receiving the Annie Award, about attending other plays at the theater, and maybe even about my second time playing Toto, two years later. I’ll have some pictures to show you, too. In the meantime, if you get lost, just remember to follow the yellow brick road.
Mom ordered the spider on Amazon.com. She thought it would be bigger. Great, a bigger spider. (Yes, I understand sarcasm.)
We picked up The Boy and went to the church where we work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There was a Festival in the parking lot. The Boy had a lot of fun.
I was scheduled to be the prop in the truck bed at the Trunk or Treat. Mom was going to drape a big spider web and put me under it. Thankfully, she couldn’t find the web she wanted. Plus, she saw how much fun I was having at the Festival. So she had pitty on me and didn’t make me wear this dreadful thing. Instead, I got to lay in the truck with the spider and the candy. Everyone came by and said how pretty I was while they took away my candy, piece by piece.
At first I wasn’t too sure about this spider next to me. Hoping I wouldn’t end up wearing it.We made peace. It stays there and I stay here.
Apparently Mom forgets to lock the house door. We came home from work Wednesday and this was what was waiting for us:
“Gracie”
She is still here two days later. She was afraid of me even though I have been very nice. I even wagged my tail at her. She has slept in my our bed the last two nights. She drinks my special water. It is hard, but I am still being nice. She is starting to warm up to me, even to the point of invading my personal space…as in her nose in my face. I hope she leaves soon. I just get rid of one, and another appears. *sigh*
Tonight after work Mom groomed me and bathed me. Then she took me up to the big, heart-shaped tub in her bathroom and stood me in it. Then she plugged up the drain and turned on the water. It kept getting deeper and deeper. Finally, my feet floated off the bottom and I panicked. I tried to claw my way out – you should see Mom’s foot – while my heart was beating double-time.
“They drown old dogs!” I kept thinking as I kept trying to live. “Why didn’t anyone tell me that they drown old dogs?”
Finally, through the panic, I heard Mom using her soothing voice encouraging me to be calm and felt her hands holding me up. My heart rate started slowing back to normal and I found I could just barely touch the bottom. After I had settled down, Mom pushed a button that made the water swirl around me. “Hmmm,” I thought, “This feels pretty good with the water just warm enough that I can barely feel it except for it swirling around my body.”
We are hoping this will help my hip.
She told Dad she plans to do this again tomorrow. I hope I remember how good it felt and don’t get afraid again, especially now that I know that nobody is trying to drown me.
At St. Timothy’s where Mom and I work three days a week there are a man, Joe, and his wonderful wife, Anne. Anne loves me and fusses over me every Wednesday when I see her after her yoga class. Joe used to be my friend. Then today happened. It started out innocent enough with him popping his head in my our office and saying, “Hey Amy – that’s my Mom’s other name – there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. I had to coax Lexi to follow me back to the church the other day.” Now imagine Mom furrowing her brow and looking very puzzled. Joe continues, “I was working across the street and saw her hoofing down the sidewalk toward the rental house. She was even on the road for a bit. So I came over and got her to follow me back.” At this point imagine Mom aka Amy throwing her hand across her heart and gaping like a fish out of water. I have always had the run of the church so I can go visit whomever I want. Mom has only caught me outside once when the kitchen door got left open and I was sunning myself in the grass. Caught me is the operative phrase here. I think I am now on restriction, whatever that is. Who would have thought my ex-friend Joe was such a big snitch!
We left work early to go to my appointment at a new vet. Everyone was very nice to me there, and no one stuck a glass stick up my patootie. I’ve even lost a few more ounces. The vet’s name is Karen, which I found out when she came in the room and she and Mom started talking like old friends. I guess that is because they worked together long before I was born and were very glad to see each other again. The vet tech is Angela. I especially like Angela: she fed me tiny pieces of treats while I stood on the table. It was so great that I didn’t even notice what was happening to me.
Lexi the Pin Cushion I’m in a sticky situation here.
I know everyone has been waiting to find out how my weekend went after all the build-up. On Friday I discovered that the air vent under my kitchen chair tastes really good.
Yummy! I hope my tongue doesn’t get stuck.
It did rain on Saturday, so we slept in before going to my Auntie Jen’s to visit and help with the yard sale which was now a garage sale. Mom sold enough to cover the gas there and home, but that was all. The day was more about visiting with good friends. I was happy to see my schnauzer cousin Piper, my enthusiasm only dampened when we all got left while Mom and Auntie Jen went wedding dress shopping. Piper is going to have a new Daddy. I tried to tell him how great that is, but he insisted he already loved his Daddy-to-be and didn’t need to be told. I hate it when Piper acts like he knows as much as me.
Mommy couldn’t talk Dad out of helping with the preparations at church on Sunday, but they compromised. The Boy stayed overnight with us, and me and him and Mom met Dad down at the church so we could all go to Rocktoberfest together.
See Dad holding me? He used me for a prop during his first announcements. I get no respect. Hey, maybe this will be the picture for the billboards next year! The weather was perfect – no rain and temperatures in the high sixties and low seventies. I walked the trails and read everybody’s stories. We went really slow so that I didn’t have to miss much. Back at the pavilion I barked at Mom until she picked me up and danced with me. I love to dance, even if it is with Mom holding me in her arms. Lots of people spoke to me and pet me. I was very popular. I decided I didn’t want any beer today, but cleaned up all the food that got dropped on the floor and in the grass and bushes. I got a bit bored toward the end of the day so I decided to sing from the sidelines with the band. I would have joined them up front, except Mom had a good hold on my leash. When the song was done the band members tipped their hats and thanked me for the solo.
Because I had done such a good job singing, several children came over to pet me. One boy who was maybe seven or eight years old seemed hesitant to touch me. So what did I do? I climbed in his lap, pushed him over onto his back and stood on him. When he rolled to the side I climbed back on him. Then he rolled to the other side and I did the same thing. He was smiling and started laughing because he figured out I was playing a game with him. He was no longer afraid. Mission accomplished.
Yep it was a great end to a good day and a fun weekend. Tomorrow I am going to work with Mommy to the church on the hill. After that we are going to a different vet for a consultation. This vet practice does something called holistic medicine, stuff like cold laser therapy and acupuncture. I would be up for a nice massage…
It’s been a busy weekend and I am ready for my night-night treat and bed. Sweet dreams to all.
Me and Mom are home by ourselves, and not much is happening. My Dad plays in a big band called Sweet Georgia Sound. They are playing at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain tonight. It is Daddy’s favorite “gig.” He plays his sax, which Mom says is worth more than our car, but I’m not sure that is saying much. Sometimes he will know one of the ladies in the audience, and she will ask him to dance with her. That’s because he teaches ballroom dance and is a good dancer. I used to help teach too, but no one ever asks me to dance! I really need to get out more. It is all home or work for me.
Dad is in the front next to my friend Cathy (who has moved up North). He is the only one still wearing his tux coat.
Tomorrow Mommy is taking me to my bestest friend Jen’s house to see my schnauzer cousin Piper (and his adopted sister Ella) while she and Auntie Jen have a yard sale. It’s going to be a fun day. Then, if Mom can talk Dad into not going to his church to help the A/V team before he goes to Rock City on Sunday, we are going with him to Rocktober Fest. I love to go to Rocktober Fest. There is music and dancing and my favorite beer. Most of all there are lots of people who drop pieces of bratwurst and potatoes. There are trails to explore and so many smells to smell. Sometimes Mom picks me up and twirls me around the floor. Sometimes people come up and ask to pet me and I pretend that I like it so Mom and Dad will bring me back.
Daddy teaching polka. That’s my bestest friend Jen in the foreground holding some unknown child who is way too young to learn to dance. Jen is in costume, too.
Daddy’s picture was in the promotional material this year. I am going to ask Mommy to take lots of pictures of me at Rocktoberfest and maybe they will use my picture on the billboard next year.
Three years ago my-ex-brother who moved away and deserted us Riley usurped my place at Rocktoberfest. He met a girl whose name was – you guessed it – Riley. Her shirt says Smile and it looks like that’s what they are both doing.
Riley (L) and Riley (R)
Uh, oh, it just stared storming, so the yard sale may be off (again). They – and my bestest friend Jentry – have been trying to do this for three weeks. I might get to sleep in after all…
I am Lexi, the yard sale, polka dancing schnauzer.
My most wonderful boyfriend, Noodle, who is the handsomest Schnoodle in the world, nominated me for the Blogger Recognition Award. I love awards! Thank you, Noodle!
Now, according to the rules, I must explain how my blog started. Mom used to post stories of my life from time-to-time on the website Dogster. Dogster was then bought out by another company, who wanted to do away with all the blogs and just run articles and stuff like that. There was a huge uprising from both the Dogster and Catster communities and they eventually decided that was a very bad idea. In the meantime, Mom was afraid she would lose everything she had written, so she decided to download it all and turn it into a book, now available on Amazon. Then she thought, “Well, there’s still a lot going on, so I need to start a new blog just for Lexi.” That is when, with the help of my Dad, she created this blog.
I have made so many friends with my blog, I am very happy Mommy helps me with it. She went back and loaded all of my blogs from Dogster in chronological order and then started new entries. Noodle was my first new friend. He commented on my December 2014 blog. In February he asked me to be his Valentine and we have been a couple ever since. I so love to hear from all my other new friends too.
Now I need to nominate 15 other bloggers. Because so many of my friends were Noodle’s friends first, he has already nominated many who I would have chosen. So here goes:
That’s all the blogs I can think of that Mom and I read or follow, other than the ones Noodle already listed. Listing any more would be dishonest, so we are going with honest over following the rules. *sigh*
The rules also say I have to give advise to new bloggers. Pictures. Everyone loves pictures. What’s the saying? Oh yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words, that’s it, isn’t it? Pictures, yes.
Now for The Rules:
Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. Do some digging if you must! Find those blogs. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.
Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. Thank whoever nominated you, and provide a link to their blog. List who you’ve nominated in the post.
Make sure to also attach the award itself! (You can do this by right-clicking, saving, and uploading the image above).
Comment on each blog and let them know you’ve nominated them. Provide a link to the award post you created.
Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing! (It happens LOL).
Note: You can decline the award if you don’t feel up to doing the above, but remember—you have to earn it by doing the work! 🙂
I was laying around the house thinking about all the fun I had as Lexi-Toto in the local productions of the Wizard of Oz. To kick things off, we all attended the Annie Awards (like the Oscars, only at our local theater) in 2006. This is where I first met lots of the people I would be working with. A couple of people asked why I (a dog) was there, but as soon as they heard I was going to play Toto, they welcomed me to their ranks. It was a formal affair, so Dad made me wear a tux collar and bow tie. It matched Mom’s red dress! Don’t they look like proud parents? I still had a few months before the play opened to grow out my hair for the Toto look.
Annie Awards Reception 2006
Here are pictures of me with my Dorothy from the first production in 2006 and the third one in 2014. You can probably see where I put on a pound or two in those eight years. Dorothy #3 used to grunt every time she picked me up. Mom said she was sorry about the extra weight, but that she wouldn’t be able to grunt like that during the live play. BOL
2006 with my first and favorite Dorothy2014 with my last Dorothy
I must admit, I do look and feel better since I recently lost some weight on my green bean and carrot diet.
There was a lot of publicity surrounding the production at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre. Sometimes during our six weeks of rehearsals my Dorothy and I had to stop to have our pictures made for the newspaper and playbills.
Publicity shot 2006
For this picture, Mommy hid a piece of cake under my Dorothy’s right shoe. When she realized how focused I am when there is food involved, my Dorothy started rubbing hot dogs on her skin and hiding treats in her socks. See why I loved her so much? It certainly kept me with her – at least most of the time, as you will soon see.
The play ran for six weeks and I reported for duty every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon. I would arrive in time for warm ups. I would run to the room where I could hear everyone singing, “Doe, ray, me, fah, sew, lah, me, doe,” and scratch at the door until someone opened it and let me in. I would run to the front row and do warm ups with the cast. “Aroooo, arrrr, woof, woof!” I was so good that everyone would laugh with joy. Then we would all sing warm ups together again and everyone would laugh again. It was so much fun!
There were two distinct episodes when hot dogs in the socks did not keep me with my Dorothy. The first week on stage, I realized I could run down the stairs behind the good witch, Glenda, and visit with the audience. I had a limited amount of time so I visited quickly with just the first row, letting them know I was glad they had come. Then I tore up the opposite set of stairs and across the stage to stand next to my Dorothy in time for Glenda to point at me and ask, “Is this the witch?” Even though I never, ever missed my cue, this whole thing made Mom and my Dorothy a bit nervous, so Glenda started blocking my exit stairs with her big skirt. Drat.
A little further along into the production I realized the Wicked Witch of the West was sneaking across the back part of the stage while Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Lion were near the front of the stage, discussing which way to go. Since not much else was happening, I thought it would be great fun to chase and bark at the Wicked Witch. She kept waving her hand and stage-whispering, “Shoo, shoo” at me. Later I found out that my Dorothy and her friends weren’t supposed to know the Wicked Witch was there, which explained why they only looked from side to side while saying things like, “Is that Toto barking?” and “Where is Toto? Do you hear him?” The audience laughed so hard that I kept doing it every night.
I have lots more stories, but my brain is a bit tired from all this remembering, so I will share more next time. Is it supper time yet?
My days are rarely dull. Sometimes it is hard work to keep them interesting, but I give it my best shot. Historically, I stay home with Dad on Mondays, and I feel like he needs to use that time to interact with me. You know, leave his office and give me treats, let me out, let me in, feed me, give me treats, etcetera. (I just learned that word, etcetera, and think it is pretty nifty.) Unfortunately, Dad disagrees, and so has been begging politely asking Mom to take me with her on Mondays as well. This Monday I thought he was going to fall on his knees and actually beg. “Please, please take her,” he said. Etcetera. So she did. Staff lunch and meeting are on Mondays. Nobody saved me a chair. So I had to sit on the floor and complain. Arrrrr. Arrrr. Arurrr. Etcetera. Each time a little louder. Finally, Mom asked Philip if he was done with his salad. “That dog’s not going to eat salad,” he said with a bit of incredulity in his voice. “Watch,” said Mom. I ate most of it and licked the rest of the lettuce clean and left it on the floor. I guess Mom felt it fit within the limits of my diet. Speaking of diet, I have lost 1.5 pounds. I can’t feel proud of that, since it was through forced starvation. Etcetera.
That was Monday. Tuesday my peeps brother Andrew and Jentry and the boy and also Riley came over and ate pizza with us. Did I mention Jentry and the boy bought a house and moved out, mostly. Well, mostly because I still see them a lot and some of their stuff is still here. Riley came in and gave me a polite nose to nose touch. I didn’t realize at the time it was his way of saying goodbye. He and Andrew are moving to another state called North Carolina.
Wednesday held even more surprises. Mom helped me into the car to go to work – my hip is worse – and I found myself on a fancy-looking new seat cover. Mom said it is to help me not slide around like I do on the leather. The colors are so bright that they reflect on my hair. It was at this point that she also noticed that I needed a bath. Grrrr. Dad commented that he felt like we now owned a Gremlin. Huh?
So off we go to work – or so I thought. Instead, we pulled into the drive through at the drug store where Mom got medicine and I got a milk bone treat. Mom must have forgotten about my diet since she let me have it. Then it was off to work for real. As soon as we got there, Mom opened the pills she had just bought and gave me one tucked into my wet food that she had so thoughtfully brought along. The adequin shots haven’t helped yet and I can barely put any weight on my back left leg. She explained that the pill was to help with the pain in my hip. Mom texted Dad to inform him that I wouldn’t be driving today since the instructions on the medicine bottle said it could cause drowsiness and to refrain from driving. Dad answered that I shouldn’t be allowed to operate heavy equipment, either. “No problem,” Mom wrote back. “She never does.” Like she ever lets me drive, BOL! Drowsiness…
When I wasn’t engaging in power naps, I felt much more like my old self and ran around with that joie de vivre that marks my life in general. Zzzzzzz. Etcetera.
Two more surprises awaited me when we got home. Dad bought canned green beans just for me. Some of them along with their juice went on my kibble at dinner tonight. Now that’s a diet! Yum! Then I found out that Riley had been here while Andrew packed all his stuff into a big U-Haul truck. My dear little brother left me a goodbye present.
Can you see it, right there in the ray of sunshine on the carpet in the front room? He knows I used to steal them from him, and this time he gave it to me. Maybe he is a good dog after all. *wipes tear*
OH NO, Mom’s got the comb and I just heard the word bath. Gotta’ go!
Mommy loves September – it is her favorite month. She asked me to share some of the fun things that have happened in Septembers past. In pictures, here we go!
Mommy made a new outfit for Rocktober Fest and wanted a German dog in the picture to make it authentic. I don’t like being held, and I especially don’t like being hugged.Not to be outdone, Dad donned his authentic lederhosen AND held a schnauzer (me again).
I love staying at hotels. This one was on the way to Wisconsin. Dad was busy on the phone and not paying any attention to me.Once again I get picked up for a picture. We stayed at a B&B in Appleton, WI. Daddy used to own this house.
I liked walking down to the river at the B&B. I love all the new smells.
I hope you enjoyed my little trip down a September memory lane. What’s your favorite month?
I'm Dalton, a Rat terrier mix and I came here in Sept, 2017, I was rescued from Hurricane Harvey. My birthday is 8-20-2016. My Gotcha Day is 8-27-2017. And I am Benji, a terrier mix of unknown origin. MY Birthday is June 6, 2018, and my Gotcha Day is Dec 28, 2018. I also was a rescue from a different part of Texas. We also have Angel MrJackFreckles, (2-5-2018); and also we have Angel Minko, (6-18-2017); and Angel Pipo, (11-3-2020);There are also Angels Groucho, Simba, Suki, & Toki. We meezers used to be known as WeBeesSiameezers. We'e all from Michigan, Dalton and Benji both came here from Texas, as rescues..
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 