Fetch with Ms. Fiona

As I'm getting ready to move (TOMORROW!!!) and am in the midst of packing stuff I've also had to start saying my goodbyes to my fuzzy wonder girl. I was thinking I would go to the beach yesterday to kind of celebrate my last day of summer, but instead I thought I should take Fiona swimming so I could get some nice time with her. She had a blast, lots of fetching, rolling in the dirt, and sniffing things. The stick you actually see her carrying had to have been at least 6 feet (it was significantly taller than me). I had been throwing her puny, manageable sized sticks in the water but she saw this one and she decided she had to have it. Since it was so long I had to throw it for her "jav-huck" style (our family expression for when you toss something like a javelin, whether out of frustration with the object or necessity). After getting Ms. Naughty Pants thoroughly exhausted I took her back home (where I soon found I had some leech removal to do, ick!) and we rested up lying in the hammock. Perfect day (except for the leech)!

Miss Fi's antics

Fiona and I have had a lot of fun lately. It was just her and I for a couple days and we got to run some errands around town. I didn't know if she was allowed in a music store with me, so I left her in the car (it was pouring rain and chilly so there was no concern of overheating) but before I got in the store a man went in with a HUGE snake wrapped around her neck. At that point I was half freaked out about the snake and half tempted to take Fi into the store and if they said she wasn't allowed I would make an argument along the lines of "adorable friendly dogs are not allowed in the store but icky and creepy snakes are?!?!" I was a big wuss though, so Fiona stayed in the car, and I sold back some Cd's in a hurry to avoid possible reptile attack. After that we went to my favorite bookstore in the Old Port where dogs ARE allowed (among one of the many reasons why Longfellow's Book Store in Portland is fantastic!). Unfortunately Fi did not like Portland, the parking garage had her a little weirded out, as did the elevator when we went to visit Ali. Since she was such a trooper (this was after our run the day before which ended up being in torrential rain, thunder and lightening, smart huh?) I took her back home to play in her kiddie pool and then hang out in our sweats and read trashy magazines.

Dog days of summer?

While it hasn't quite reached the dog days of summer yet, I often find myself getting the summer blues, luckily for me I have little Miss Wigglesworth to keep me company (when she's not busy stealing and eating a whole stick of butter or getting ticks in my bed!!) and I thought I'd share the love for anyone else who may be stressed. Please note that pictures of Fiona playing in her kiddie pool will be coming soon.

Not feeling herself

This is her more serious "philosophical face" it's about as contemplative as you can expect from someone who drinks from the toilet. This is her pouty face, I think she has the puppy dog eyes down to a science.

I think Fiona is upset about my new job, and how it prevents me from spending the whole day rubbing her tummy and letting her in and out. She's also trying to figure out how many of her people are supposed to be at home (all the coming and going seems to upset her and she'd like it if we all just stayed put). Last night she didn't even eat her dinner till I came home at ten, which means a full bowl of food was sitting there for five hours in front of the dog who normally woofs down all her food in five seconds. Poor pup, maybe she's just sick of the democratic primaries and wants it to be decided once and for all. Either way, I'm hoping it's nothing a trip to the lake and a slim jim can't fix.

Meet the staff

Perhaps it is time I introduce everyone to the Assistant Editor for "Lulu Abroad." While her travel experience is limited to field trips to Back Bay for running, she is a very insightful editor and I find her comments indispensable. As you can see here, she is often exhausted by her own writing genius and her office is located on a fluffy bed by my computer. While she prefers Ms. Fiona, she has also been known to answer to Misses Wigglesworth, Trouble, Sausage Face, Monkey, and "Oh no, what were you just doing." Ms. Fiona has already been featured in a previous post that focused on her running prowess.

A fuzzy distraction

This is our dog Fiona. She loves to go running and we love to wear her out since she's a big ball of trouble otherwise. Do you think I should tell her that dogs don't need to wear sneakers?