If you’ve ever known the joys of owning a beagle, you know that the breed comes with all kinds of eccentricities and baggage that show themselves just often enough to keep you in line and remind you who’s really in charge. When Roxie was a puppy, a friend of mine took care of her for a weekend while we were camping, and upon our return said to me, “She’s just cute enough that all of your friends will want to watch her…ONCE.” Roxie has electrocuted herself once. She has been skunked once. She has escaped from the back yard around five times (including the time she was discovered running down…
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Fool(ed)
I was at work yesterday when my boss was having a conversation with a client about the client’s beagle. “Melisa has a beagle,” my boss told her. “You do?” asked the client. “Is your dog stubborn?” “Oh my goodness. Don’t get me started,” I replied, before, well, getting started. After we exchanged a few “my beagle is a troublemaker” stories, my boss asked, “How old is Roxie again?” That’s when it hit me. Her birthday had been on Wednesday, and it totally slipped my mind. “She turned seven yesterday! Oh my gosh. I’ve never missed a birthday!” I spent the next forty-five minutes before leaving for home feeling guilty for…
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Here’s What I Know.
I am in the middle of manuscript-editing craziness, hence the lack of regular posting. My brain is on fire ninety-nine percent of the time, my house is a mess, and even with my mad skillz in multi-tasking I don’t feel like I’m getting anything done at all. Well, except for the editing part, which is THE most important thing at the moment since I have a deadline, so I guess I will rejoice in that victory for the moment! Due to the job at hand, the days seem to bleed into one another and time flies. In the interest of lowering an anchor for a moment, I thought I’d make…
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Lazy Is As Lazy Does
Jim and I went out for our first snowshoeing workout of the season yesterday. I decided to bring Roxie with us because she hasn’t gotten too much exercise lately, the temperature outside wasn’t too cold, and I thought we’d really tire her out by taking her out into the deep (for her, a beagle) snow. I’ve taken her out with me (by myself) several times in the past couple of years, and I practically had to drag her home because she was so tired. Hmm. This year, unfortunately for us, because she’s no dum-dum, she figured out that snowshoeing would be easier–and more enjoyable–for her if she just trotted behind…
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The Finals Countdown
The older boy is smack dab in the middle of finals, and preparing to come home for winter break at the end of the week. He has had a particularly heavy class load in his first semester; none of the class subjects would have been overly difficult for him individually, but these classes grouped together provided a tremendous amount of weekly hours full of papers and projects to complete. It all exploded yesterday, apparently. He turned in his final art project–an assignment of epic proportions which had him apparently feeling very hostile about the color yellow, as he indicated in a Facebook status–on Monday, and was busily working on the…
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Another Hanukkah Tradition Lives On…
My dog is not stupid. In fact, the way her brain works, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a whole other life that I don’t know about: maybe a doggie husband, a couple of puppies? I got an unexpected reminder of how smart she really is today, when she carried on her sixth annual Hanukkah tradition of locating the gelt* (chocolate coins**) I had hidden (from her), and eating them, but not before she took off the wrappers. (Do you know how difficult it is for a human to take those wrappers off sometimes???) Here’s the deal. I had the gelt in a Target bag (YES! Target sells gelt…
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Happy Halloween, Scallywags!
©2010 Suburban Scrawl
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Getting Some Shut-Eye
One of my favorite walking routes is a black-topped path through a huge park not far from my house. The path is not a straight one; it gently winds in pleasant curves around the natural landscaping, helping to create an enjoyably scenic journey for those who wish to travel from one end of the park to the other. On Monday, which was a gloriously beautiful fall day around here (before the gusty winds and coldness hit), Roxie and I headed out to walk there. The sun was shining, the tree branches full of yellow-to-orange-to-red (and some still green) leaves were gently swaying back and forth in the light breeze, and…
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The Eyes Have It
Even though some people would try and convince you otherwise, dogs can’t talk. Our first beagle, the late, great Bijoux, communicated pretty well with us in her own way. WE thought so, anyway. When she had to go outside, she would sit at the back door and bark once, or if it was more of an emergency situation, two or three times. If she was hungry, she would sit near her bowl and, you guessed it, bark. Roxie has more–how can I put this?–intense communication skills. Sometimes she barks while sitting in the vicinity of the door or her bowl, just like Bijoux did, but usually her cues are non-verbal.…
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Everybody’s Happy It’s Friday, And I Mean EVERYBODY.
Roxie, in the kitchen. (Note the tail action.) Taken w/ my cell phone because it was handy at that moment. Happy Friday, all! ©2010 Suburban Scrawl