FIRST SIGN OF SPRING

Last Sunday was the first day of Spring. My backyard is still sparse
despite the Daffodils that are starting to bloom. My Tulips and
Hyacinths are sprouting buds but no flowers as of yet. By summer we
should have a beautiful yard once again. Unbeknownst to Mimi, dad
purchased a outdoor playset last night. She had been really wanting
one ever since we moved up here to Maple Valley. She wore me down and
I was able to talk dad into getting a small wooden playset. I was
partially wanting to get it for myself as I was looking down the road
to what is in store for me with our next chili pepper.

MY ANGEL'S BACK

After a week of yadda, yadda, yadda's, roiling of the eyeballs, then
there were the "Oh yeah you are" when I resigned as her laundry lady,
sprinkled with a bit of profanity, Mimi has learned her lesson I am
happy to announce.

ROUGH WATERS

Not only did the tsunami hit the country of Japan but it hit here at our house as well. How can someone with such an angelic face and so small be soooo EVIL?! And to think that we are going for chili pepper #2. Am I a gluten for punishment or what?

For the most part Mimi is a really good kid but man oh man did she give me a run for the money this week.

All week long it has been the snotty attitude. Also I must mention the lies has started. I then tell the kid that she is not a good liar. She always gets caught so she may as well give it up.

Then when I told her that I am going to quit folding her clothes since I found her clean clothes all piled up on her closet floor and strewn about her room, the girl says with the snide remark "yeah, you are. You're going to fold my clothes" I think not. Then there was the "so what's?!" sprinkled with several "damn's"

By yesterday I was soooo through with the kid and I brought out the big guns. All electronics were taken away, you know, tv, computer, DSi's, Wii's, CD player, MP3 player, DVD, walkie talkie, yup, I think that's about it. Then the even bigger gun came out when the girl had a total meltdown about the electronics being taken away........no birthday/sleepover at Erin's tomorrow night. The plan is also for her to take Erin's present over to the house and explain to Erin WHY she is not able to join in the fun.

Then came last night when the invite to Kate & Ethan's party came. Mimi opened it up this morning and I explained to her that if this nasty attitude keeps up, she will miss out on that party too. No skin off of my nose.

My angel is back. Need I say more?

KAMIS

That's the boy's name. Truth be told I like "Gordo" better. The owner just now come to pick him up and asked what she could do to repay us. The only thing I told her was to....."GET HIM CHIPPED!!!" Of course I said it in the nicest way that I could.

The woman said that her co-workers chastised her for not doing it yet. She said that she was afraid to hurt him. Let's see......hmmmm...... a little bit of discomfort and being able to find your family pet should he/she escape OR not getting him/her chipped and not being able to find your family pet should he/she escape. BEEP!!! I choose the little discomfort of a shot. That's all it is. The chip is the size of a rice grain and is given in a shot form. Butch had his done when he lost his huevos.

Especially up here in western Washington where we have the high winds quite often especially during the Fall season and this year it came along with the rain season as well.

That's how Kamis got away. We had the rain/wind the other day and he got loose. The woman said her co-workers asked if Kamis has a license to which she answered "yes". Then they asked "WHERE IS THE LICENSE?" She answered "On his harness, hanging up in the house." Doh!

HOUSE GUEST

As you have seen in our earlier blog, I found a big black Pug roaming our neighborhood last Tuesday. It was a cold and rainy day that day. Being the animal lover that I am, I just could not leave him out there all by himself and so I brought him in.

We started to call him "Gordo". No reason, it just seemed to fit him and his personality. He is well trained and well fed. Just the sweetest dog you could have. Butch loves to play with him and Stanley likes it because both dogs leave him alone.

Well.... yesterday I had Gordo checked and he is not chipped. I also went around the neighborhood putting up posters including the school. I also brought him to the school when I went to pick Mimi up from school, there are always so many kids wanting to pet the dogs. Girls especially. I asked everyone if they knew this particular black Pug to which they all said "No".

So ok, we go home and Gordo spends another night at the Putney household. I just could not bear to bring him to the animal shelter. At the same time Mimi was working on dad trying to get him to say "yes" into keeping him in case the owner doesn't show up.

This morning Mimi says to me "Dad says we have too many dogs already. IT'S ONLY 2! What's up with that???"

Around 10 this morning I recieved a phone call from another Glacier Park mom and she said that she saw me at the school yesterday with the Pug and she recognized him but did not think anything of it till this morning. She said that Gordo belongs to her neighbor and the other day when it was really rainny and windy as you have seen my umbrella in our previous blog, well....that was when the gate blew open and Gordo left his home.

Lucky for him he ended up here what with no license, collar or chip. Hopefully the owner will call me today.

When I shared the news with dad, he said that Mimi was wearing him down and he is just about to give in to her. Which is big because he is not much of a dog person like I am but Butch is worming his way into dad's heart too.

ST. NICK

Mimi still believes in Santa. I hope that we can keep this up at least until Mei Mei is old enough to understand. In truth, there really is a Santa and his name is..............dad. At least that is that way for us.

This morning I asked the girl if her room was clean and she answered "Yes". Went to her walk - in closet and there they all were.........her clean clothes all in a pile and everywhere else. Just all strewn about.

That is the moment I resigned as her clean-up mom. I told the girl that from now on I will wash her clothes but it is up to her to fold them and put them away. If she doesn't then they will get wrinkled and that will be the way she will wear them to school and everywhere else.

I also informed the child that if she continues to yell and scream "NO!!!" (which flies out of her mouth real fast these days) and phone call will be put into S.C. and he will have to skip out on bringing her presents this year and only bring them for her Mei Mei.

A phone call was put in to S.C. at his workshop this morning much to Mimi's dismay.

ANIMAL LOVER

On the way home yesterday, I saw this dog wandering my street. Being the animal lover that I am, I just had to bring him home and try to find out who he belongs to. So far my search has reached a dead end.

He had no license, no collar and is not chipped as I have found out today. I would say that the only bad thing about him is that he snorts loud and often. Other than that he is just the most sweetest, gentlest dog there is. He and Butch get along swimmingly and he leaves Stanley alone. Another nice thing about having him here is that Butch also leaves Stanley alone. "Gordo" as he has become to be known keeps Butch company. However he is quite a bit bigger than Butch so he tries to push Butch out of the way. He is way heavier than Butch too which may be why he snorts/snores so much. While here, he is on a diet.

Hopefully we will be able to find his rightful owners. So far I have posted his picture on facebook and all around the neighborhood.