Corn Dog

I remember being a little girl, practicing my latest tap routine in my Meamama's (that's what I called my maternal grandmother) kitchen and asking her to join in. Sometimes she would. Other times she would tell me that her corns were hurting her, and she wouldn't. Back then I wasn't sure what she meant. Were these imaginary friends shaped as corn cobs? Is that what she called her toes? Did her false teeth hurt? I really didn't know and I didn't bother to ask.

For the last six months, Seka has been hobbling around as a pesky little pebble grew on her back right pad. For the most part it didn't bother her while she ran in the soft grass in the back yard or walked around on the carpeted areas of the house. But if we walked on the concrete during our morning walks, route was cut very short and the whole event involved more hopping on three legs than actual walking. All of these are classic signs of corns, so after some close inspection, my suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't big and I tried to keep it soft by rubbing Bag Balm on it nightly, but the darn thing took on a life of its own and as of last week, it was nearly the size of the entire pad.


Handsome Dr. Slappy told me to get out the emery board and sand down the corn as it grew to keep it flush with the pad, which we've done. But last week, while I put off house work, I noticed that the darn corn was starting to peel off. In fact, I could run the edge of the tweezers around half of the circumference of the corn. She's let me pick at it and pick at it and it gets a little looser every day, but I'm a little concerned about picking it off completely. So, I'm trying to lift it off a little bit every day so it will heal underneath and continue to loosen up.

She definitely doesn't like me messing with her toe, but she tolerates it. She hasn't come right out and turned down an offer to tap dance with me yet, but I really don't want to wait until its hurting her so badly that she declines any potential future invitations.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holidays offer a lot of fun traditions. Shopping. Presents. Consuming more sweets in a weeks time than you have all year. It's all a part of December that most everyone looks forward to, myself included. But for me, the best part of the holiday is making the daily trip to the mailbox, ignoring the bills and opening our holiday cards.

Now pretty much everybody we know has children (the two-legged kind). So, we get a lot of photo cards. Pictures of adorable kids, dressed in holiday finery, posed perfectly for the camera. Then you have the family group shots, where they are all dressed similarly, or at least they are color coordinated. And because dad had to be in the shot, the dress is casual.

My favorite shot this year is from our friends Adam and Kathy's son Simon. He looks like a child model. It helps when mommy is a photographer, but WOW! Check out that little bum!

No one has totally embarrassed themselves... yet. No one dressed up like the Grinch or an entire family in reindeer antlers, but it's bound to happen. There's still a couple of days left until the 25th. I'm sure they will all get a laugh out of the e-card they will get from our family on Christmas, which will include complete and total greyhound degradation. I'm just not sure what pose to go for. I continue to take lots of shots every day because I can't get the light right inside the house. I hope Santa isn't a greyhound. I'm sure he would think I've been very naughty forcing GBD to dress up like a deer and an elf (not to mention the naked photos people across the world will soon be hanging on their walls). Don't worry, she got plenty of treats in the process. Not like she helped clean the house or anything.

Oh, in the good news category. Charlotte was adopted this weekend by a nice family in Atlanta who recently lost one of their greyhounds. They have experience with shy pups and she will have a new greyhound brother to play with. It sounds like a perfect fit and I know she will be very happy. Merry Christmas, Charlotte. I'm so glad you will have a forever family of your own this Christmas. We will have a new foster in our house the week of January 5!

Puppy Envy

I've admitted it before, and she proved it true once again this weekend. Seka is a dog snob. She has nothing to do with any other breed of dog other than a greyhound. It is almost as if she doesn't recognize them as dogs, just as another furry thing that somehow exists in the universe and should never invade her space.

I'm not suggesting she's mean. She'll stand there and let every little dog jump up and inspect what's going on in her mouth. I've seen a whole litter of kittens use her tail as a toy, with teeth and claws extended while she just lays there. And she tends to watch the other big dogs at the dog park wrestle and chase, while she fetches her ball and steers clear of drool from "the others."

But this weekend one of those furry aliens invaded our home and needless to say Seka wasn't all that thrilled, but in true Seka style, she got over pretty quickly. We babysat our friend Ashley's nine-week-old mini-Pomeranian puppy over the weekend. His name is Prince Bailey, totally appropriate if you ask me. He looks like a cross between an Ewok, bunny rabbit and one of those Furbies that were popular in the early 1990s. No matter what you call him, he was darn cute.

We played for a few hours in the floor, while Seka safely watched from her favorite chair. He found the toy basket and dragged out every toy Seka has, every one of which was bigger than he was. I have to admit it was impressive to watch him drag around Seka's Kong which out weighed him by about 3 lbs. Every time Seka wanted to get down to get water or go out, she would look at me or Kev and wait until we picked up the little guy so he wouldn't chase her skinny legs, nip at her tail or accidentally get stepped on.

While Bailey was taking an afternoon nap on Saturday, we went to the local SEGA meet-n-greet. We showed up for the last hour since the darn corn on Seka's back foot is giving her trouble again and standing on hard floors gets hard after three hours for her. Most everyone had left due to the crummy weather, but she hung out with handsome Binder and met some nice families and educated people and how perfect greyhounds are. She even bought Bailey a Kong his own size - I mean any good Southern host buys a gift for their guest to make their stay more comfortable.

While Bailey Boy is super cute and a really good dog, a small dose of a puppy is all I needed. I haven't been around a puppy in a long time, but I haven't forgotten how much work they are. Whew! I'll take my couch potato any day. Someone hit that snooze button.

PS: Eagles are State Champs again. And App State are National Champs again. Great football weekend!

Religion

We live in the Bible belt. Every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night the churches in our town are full of faithful followers. The first question you're asked when you move to town is, "What church do ya'll go to?" It's just one of the ways they size you up to decide if they will associate with you or not. If you tell them you're Catholic, they back away slowly.

But whether you sit in the front or back pew, the one religion that everyone in the South can agree on is football. High school and college football to be specific. And this Friday night is a huge football night for my both of my Alma maters: Northside High School and Appalachian State University.

Northside High School is going for back-to-back state AAAA state championships. After a stunning comeback last week in the Georgia Dome, we travel to Waycross (the swamp) to play Ware County. It will be a good game and Kev and I will join some 10,000 Northside faithful in the 3.5 hour trip tomorrow for the game.

Also playing tomorrow night is Appalachian State University, who is going for an unprecedented back-to-back-to-back (that's right, three in a row) I-AA National titles. My sister will be there, texting us updates, while we provide her with updates on the high school game. It was a hard decision to make, but she'll have the family spirit there, while we cheer on the Eagles.

Even Seka loves her football. Hail Mary!

Everyone Loves a Parade - Even Greyhounds

Small towns in the South are stereotypically known for many things:
• Friendly, slow talking people who are somehow totally comfortable telling complete strangers embarrassing stories about their kinfolk.

• Amazing "home cooking" restaurants where it is perfectly acceptable to unbutton your pants to make yourself more comfortable.

• Having a church on every corner, and many times the same denomination is right across the street from one another - a sign that there was a feud at some point in the history of that church.

Living in one of these small, Southern towns, I know that all of these things are true. I'm guilty of indulging in some of these pleasures myself once in awhile.

But it is never officially the holiday season in a small town until the annual Christmas Parade. They still call it that here. To hell with being PC, I guess. And a small town Christmas Parade really celebrates the best part of living in a small town - beauty pageants.

While there were maybe 4 or 5 actual floats in the parade on Saturday, the parade was full of convertible cars with Little Miss Dogwoods and Teen Miss Cherry Blossoms perched on top. In the South, we have beauty pageants that crown the queen of every vegetable, fruit, nut, flower or season that could possibly exist. And those queens range in age from 1 day old to 101 years old. If you're breathing, can put on a ruffled dress, put a bow in your hair, and manage to look somewhat cute in your momma's eyes, you're qualified. As the winner of one of those pageants, you get to ride in the Christmas parade! Besides the crown, that's really all you get, so you better enjoy it.

The one thing I'm not clear about is why the Georgia Forestry Commission made their queen dress up like Smokey the Bear for this year's parade? (see the picture above). It says a lot, doesn't it?

Now, to be fair - I entered a pageant or two myself during my teen years. I even somehow won my school's highly coveted Miss Northside pageant in 1993. And I rode on the back of a convertible in the Warner Robins Christmas Parade proudly, in my crown and sash. Those puff sleeves are totally awesome aren't they? So clearly, I am not a pageant hater. It's just a way of life here. So if you can't beat them, join them!

I'm already planning for the SEGA's entry for next year. We'll all walk our dogs and dress them up as various dog pageant winners. I must work on a crown for Seka immediately.

Wooly Worms are Our Friends

As a kid I tried to make all animals my pet that didn't have a collar, leash and a human attached to it. This would include the unusual types like, earthworms, caterpillars, frogs, turtles and the praying mantis that lived on our front porch every summer. 

Of all the childhood "pets" I claimed, I loved my wooly worms the most. Maybe it was because I could only find them in Boone, NC? Maybe it was because they looked like tiny, prickly porcupines, just friendlier? I don't know, but to this day I'm still fascinated by them. So you can imagine how excited I was to see a wooly worm crossing the Greenway Trail as Seka and I were walking a couple of weeks ago. I scooped him up (sexing wooly worms is very technical, ya know) and took him along for the rest of our journey.  He crawled all over my arm and vest and when we stopped to rest, Seka had to see what mom was so excited about. She could care less. So, I made her pose for photos with our friend the wooly worm.

Greyhound Crittoure

I'm glad that there's no date and time stamp on this photo so I can
lie and tell you that it was taken at a department store at noon on
black Friday. But it was more like 7 am. And I had been shopping for
two hours. Yes. I am a nut job.

But through my blurred vision I saw this awesome box, of what I
thought was perfume with clever marketing for dog lovers, but after I
did a little research it is actually a fragrance designed for canines.
While I can't imagine any greyhound owner using such a thing on their
dog, I have to admit that the box and the advertising is awesome. What am I saying? Seka
is a total princess. Maybe Santa will leave it in her stocking.

What I really want to know is how many women, or men for that matter,
mistakenly bought the crittoure perfume instead of the coutoure
perfume as a gift for their loved one this year?

Gobble Gobble

Need I say more? Happy Thanksgiving!

GreytBlack Utopia

Have you ever noticed that different areas of the country lend itself to different breeds of dogs? When you're on the coast you see a lot of labs and other types of "water loving" dogs enjoying a romp in the surf. While I was in NYC on business this past week, everywhere I turned there were small dogs of every shape and size. And during our long weekend stay in one of my favorite places in the world, there are a lot of what I call "mountain" dogs - huskies, GSDs, blue tick hounds, bird dogs, etc.

It made me start thinking, where do greyhounds fit into this stereotypical map of dogs? I guess somewhere warm is a start. Just imagine a location where you can walk down the street and pass other greyhound owners walking their pride and joy. Where you can talk about a greyhound's special qualities and not answer silly questions about the breed. Where all the designer dog stores in the town had a bigger selection of martingale collars and snoods than tiny little coats and sweaters. The dog park would have flat open spaces, safe for running and playing, with a sandy under surface that is easy on greyhound paws. Then in the center of the park there would be a mini track for fun runs - no starting box of course. Of course there would be a sign on the front gate, Dogs 30mph and Over Only Please.

While it would be fantastic to have other greyhound lovers all in such close proximity, I kind of like being different. I like standing out. I like the attention Seka gets when we're out walking or go through a drive through. I like that she's not like all the other dogs people see day in and day out. I think Seka likes it too. So I guess greyhound utopia isn't for us.

BTW: Here's Seka's contribution to NoPoYoDoToMo. Not sure that Omo will be impressed. Seka is not really proud of her bum, however from this angle it looks like she has plenty of junk in her trunk. She's wearing her new snood in this photo, which she rocked all weekend in NC. This picture just cracks me up the more I look at it.

Sad Week for the GBD

We lost our Nomie kitty on Thursday. It was sad and sudden. She fought. We fought. Our vets fought. Everyone fought to keep our tiny girl alive, but it was just too much for her.


Later on I'll write more about everything that happened when I feel up to it. Right now I'm just trying to focus on the good memories. Here are some of my favorite photos of my darling green-eyed girl.



She was the runt of a litter of kittens born in our garage on April 1, 2002. I held her just hours after she was born. She was the most curious of the litter, despite her size and we knew she would be the one we would keep. We named her Nomie after Nomar Garciaparra, who played for the Red Sox at the time. She was a tough little girl.



She loved to lay on my lap every day while I worked. I used to take her to our downtown office and let her run around the office and look out the big windows. She loved watching the cars from that vantage point. She was a hunter of lizards and could catch flies and moths that would make Mr. Miyagi proud. She even fought in an online kitten war, even though she didn't really do all that well.



She loved her sister Boo the most, despite her smelly bum. They slept together every night, and most of the day too. She loved her kitten tower and looking out the windows at the birds in the bird feeders. She really loved our new house.



We will miss you Nomie cat. There's an empty place in our hearts and our home that can't be replaced.



Godspeed, Nomie.

Steeplechase 2007 - We're Faster than the Horses, but We Didn't Embarass Them

Greyhounds are the second fastest land mammal, behind the cheetah. I believe that they may also be the most magnetic as well. After walking the girls though the thousands of people tailgating in the infield at the 2007 Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens this weekend, it was certainly obvious that there must be some excessive gravitational pull associated with their DNA, genes, or molecular structure, as everyone we passed had to make a comment, ask us a question or stop us to pet them.

We were Steeplechase virgins. The SEGA folks have been going for years, showing off our former racers to the thousands of race fans that are there to take in the long day of sunshine, obscenely large brimmed women's hats and a lot of adult beverages. It's like a mini-derby in Georgia where the upper crust and crumbs can both enjoy the day. SEGA sets up a tent with information on adopting retired racers, set up a few ex-pens with our dogs lounging in the sun and of course have a spread of food for us to consume, along with a few adult beverages. We really draw quite a crowd (I'm convinced it's in their molecular structure. No other dog draws this kind of attention) and I'm sure that we will adopt at least two, if not more dogs from our Steeplechase meet-n-greet.

Here are the best questions asked during the day in no particular order:

1. Are those dobermans? No Do they have doberman in them? No, they are greyhounds. Are you sure, because they really look like dobermans, especially that one. No, we're sure.

2. Aren't all greyhounds gray? We had two fawn, two brindle, and two black ones there, all clearly labeled greyhounds.

3. That's got to be a lurcher. No, but that's an impressive statement to make, considering I have no idea what one looks like in person.

4. I bet they run all the time. I wouldn't be able to exercise them enough if I had one. If you only knew how I have to beg sometimes for Seka to get up off the sofa.

5. I'd love to have a greyhound puppy. Uh, I don't think I'd survive a greyhound puppy. But maybe I'm wrong and you'd love to have your entire house redecorated by the Tasmanian Devil.

Seka completely enjoyed the day, getting more love and attention from complete strangers than she ever has in her entire life. Charlotte wasn't so sure what the heck was going on and stuck close to mom and dad most of the day, but she carefully selected a few people to meet and greet and they got to give her love. The chosen few, so to speak.

She's become incredibly nervous in the car and we've noticed a lot of drooling and significant nose dripping, not to mention some super smelly emissions coming from her when we're in the car. This is a new thing and she did it again today when she went to grandma's house today for a visit. I'm going to start giving her Rescue Remedy before each trip and see if that won't cure some of the nerves before making a trip to the vet for something a little more substantial. I'm afraid by the time we get to North Carolina in a couple of weeks the girls will be swimming in the back seat of the Honda.

Spooky Cobwebs

This spider has been hanging out by our garage entryway for weeks now. My husband wants to kill it. I prefer to think of her as natural bug repellent and forbid him to knock her down. Besides, I'm just waiting for the day that she writes some incredible message in the web or all of a sudden the Virgin Mary appears in the middle and we get our 15 minutes of fame on the local news. Then again, we'd probably have a lot of people from all over lined up to see the Blessed Virgin in the web, and it might require me to tidy the house. And I don't know if it's really all that appropriate to charge people to see miracles of the sort. So, scratch that. I'll settle for her to just write cool messages to me instead.

I had a couple of e-mails asking about Charlotte's name after I disclosed Seka's name origin in my last post. Charlotte's racing name was Daydreaming. She ran just a couple of schooling races at a track in Kansas, but just never had the drive to run at the track. She is pretty spooky. Maybe that's why her first family named her Cobweb. When we took her to the kennel on the day SEGA took her in, we decided that it might be hard to adopt her out with a name like Cobweb. She really didn't come to it anyway (but really, do any of them). We decided that a sweet name that reminded us of spider webs (or cobwebs) was Charlotte (Charlotte's Web - get it?) and that's where she got her name. She's pictured here with our fat Boo Radley kitty.

As I write this it is the top of the 8th inning and the Red Sox lead the Rockies 4 to 1. GO SOX!

What's In a Name?

We went to eat at one of my favorite burger joints - Steak n Shake - the other night on a whim. We crated the girls with their kongs and off we went for a romantic meal of chili and fries (yum). Well, we got there and a couple of things immediately reminded us of our girls at home.

The waitress' name was Charlotte, although she pronounced it in some other way - like the accent was all in the wrong place. I did check her name tag twice and it was spelled the normal way. I wish I could have recorded the way she said it.

While checking out the on-table advertising, we noticed the use of the word MILKSHAKES spelled backward on a table tent advertising spooky Halloween milkshakes. SEKA-HSKLIM! Ok, so it's a reach. But when you have a dog whose name is never spelled out on the gift store pencils at the museum after a field trip, you develop a keen eye for spotting her name on anything. Even now I wish I had snagged the darn table tent and slipped in in my purse!

I have no idea what Seka's name means. The only reference I can find to the name via Google search is a porn star from the early 1980s named Seka. According to Wikipedia, she was very popular in her day - she even appeared on Oprah in 1986! In her biography it says "She later adopted the screen name Seka from a Serbo-Croatian term of endearment for a little girl, similar to "little sweetheart" or "little darling." That fits our Seka just fine. But I guess since she is a porn dog, it also fits that we're both nude in a calendar!

Check out the girls' new coats! I saw them and had to get them. It's so hard to find Red Sox stuff that fits them. I got them from Amy over at WarmWaggs. They are fantastically made and the price is great. Plus, Amy is SUPER nice. Check out her coats on E-bay and order one for your chilly hound today.

Here's Kevin with both of them celebrating the Red Sox win over the Indians and preparing to cheer them on over the Rockies in the World Series. Go Sox!

Our Very First Yappy Hour

We had a crowd of greyhound lovers and Greymates calendar fans at today's yappy hour/media event at the Five Season's Brewery in Atlanta. Many wanted to have their calendars autographed and pawtographed by the Greymates themselves, (there were 10 of us who were in attendance today). It was a lot of fun and we caused quite a scene. We caused many customers from inside the restaurant to come outside and check out what was going on. I mean, who could resist 20+ well-behaved greyhounds lounging around while their owners eat - well that at posters of naked women plastered around the beer garden?

There were greyhounds of all shapes and sizes there today. Some that were newly adopted and out on their very first SEGA outing with their forever family. Others were there shopping for a forever home. Some were there to get extra pets and love, like this strapping chap that saddled up next to me for most of the afternoon.

Others had the chance to show off their tricks they have been working on like this handsome boy (I'm so bad at names, but I do love that his collar perfectly matches his fawn coloring.). I asked Seka to take some notes (she's hopeless at tricks) but she was much more interested in the treats they had than watching how he earned them.



Seka loved hanging out with other Greymate men, Tuck (in bow tie below), Walter (handsome 13 yo brindle) and Canoe (not pictured). Interesting that she hung out with all the boys today. Maybe it was their bow ties? What a flirt. Beautiful white and fawn Ginger (pictured with Walter below) found her way over to our table to flirt with the boys too. The bow ties made those boys simply irresistible.



As far as two-legged friends go, Seka enjoyed spending time today with her favorite photographer, Starr (thanks for the free babysitting, I'll return the favor someday). And her favorite designer Kimberly.



Back on the home front, Charlotte hung out all day with Dad watching football and cheering on the Patriots to a big win over Dallas today. Seka was worn out after her long day meeting and greeting all her fans. So she joined in all the laziness at the house. And I managed to find room in the chair to grab a 20 minute nap. The girls are still napping as I write this, four hours later. Oh, to be a greyhound!

A Little Naughty

I knit. No, I'm not 75 years old. I just happen to come from a very crafty family. My mother can sew anything. My father was a master wood craftsman. My sister can bake and decorate an incredible cake - not to mention makes the best homemade icing. YUM! And then there's me. I quilt, knit, paint, and try my hand at making any kind of little doo dad I think looks interesting in a craft magazine. My college roommates called me Martha Stewart, before Martha was cool. They also sent me sympathy cards when she went to jail, but I digress.

What does this have to do with greyhounds? This...

Charlotte has yet to figure out how to tell the difference between my yarn and one of her toys. This is the fourth or fifth skein that she has picked out of the project basket and artfully pulled apart. And she's so sneaky and quiet about it, it's amazing. I can't blame her. It looks like a lot of fun to pull apart and decorate the living room with it. Seka has destroyed her share of yarn too in her - some to the point of no return.

Oh and for those of you who knit and are anxiously awaiting your Ravelry invites, mine arrived today after two months of going to the darn invite checker at least twice a week. My screen name is greytblackdog, so find me on there and say hi. In fact, there's a lot of gals who blog about greyhounds and knitting out there. Check out my sidebar if you don't believe me. Enough knitting talk, that's for my other blog.

Born to Run

Just wanted to share the AWESOME photos I just purchased of the two girls running in the Blur of Fur at Greyfest on Saturday. These are a little low in resolution here, but you can see how happy the girls are to be running at full tilt. There were so many great photos of them I had a hard time deciding which ones to get, but these two were my favorite.

Seka at 42 mph


Charlotte at 44 mph

Charlotte - Day 28, I must be dreaming

Charlotte's racing name was Daydreaming. Several times today I believe she looked up and me and asked me to pinch her, just to make she she wasn't dreaming as we attended SEGC/SEGA's annual Greyfest. To say that Charlotte and Seka had the time of their lives today, would be an understatement.

We had an early start for our two-hour drive to Newnan for the festival, which I didn't think would be a problem for Charlotte. She is usually up early and ready and raring to go. A total morning girl, which Seka isn't all that fond of. Maybe it was the fact that mom and dad were up until 2a watching the Red Sox beat the Angles with a walk-off home run by Manny in the bottom of the 9th, but neither of the girls wanted to get up this morning and get going.

Kevin and I were a little concerned about Charlotte being too scared to really enjoy her time at the farm today, but she totally proved us wrong. The ex-pen test we did in the living room earlier in the week scared her to death, but today, she jumped right in like a champ. She and Seka looked so cute in their matching scarves that my mom made for them and by the end of the day, when we walked away from the ex-pen and came back and it looked like we might let them out, they had a happy tail fight they were BOTH so excited to see us.

Greyfest really is an extremely special time each year. The connection the greyhound community has is amazing and the dogs themselves seem to have a special connection - as if they all know each other somehow on the racing circuit and are happy to see each other again, now that they are not competitors that is.

I loved waiting in the Blur of Fur line with both of the girls hearing proud owners talk about how nervous they were to see their dogs run. I have to admit, Kevin and I were as well. I loved manning the sign up sheets for the greyhound contests for the morning, hearing people decide whether or not their dog would have a chance at the longest nose or softest fur. Don't worry, I will not report any stage moms to Dr. Phil. They are our fuzzy children who carry our love and our pride with them at all times.

Speaking of Blur of Fur - Charlotte ran 44 mph and Seka improved on her time from last year and ran 42 mph.

Thanks to those of you who read our blog and found us at Greyfest. It is always cool to know that someone is actually reading what you're putting out there. Seka always loves the extra pats and Charlotte is learning to like the attention (well, tolerate it right now).

Like many other attendees, our car ride home was a quiet one. Our evening has been one of watching both girls rest and dream of their day at the farm. How can we tell? When they both fall asleep with smiles on their faces, where else have they been all day but greyhound paradise!

Charlotte, Day Fifteen - girls in love

Well, Kevin and I both knew that we would love whatever dog we took in to foster. That wasn't very hard to predict. Since I was old enough to catch just about any animal, I found a way to make it mine. Cats, dogs, bugs, worms (hey Oscar the Grouch had a pet one, why couldn't I). My dad used to called me Elly May. My husband calls me Dr. Doolittle.

What we didn't expect was for Seka to love our foster just as much as we do. I've never seen this side of our girl. Until now, she could be classified as a dog snob. She's not antisocial, she just comes off as if she somehow knows her breed is superior to all other dogs we encounter and she doesn't have time for them. No rough housing. No drooling. No jumping. No wrestling. No tug-of-war. That is for all other dogs at the dog park to partake in. Seka hangs back with mom and dad, waiting for us to throw the ball so she can show all the other canines the speed that they will never be able to achieve. I'm not sure where she gets the superiority complex (it's not from her racing record). Maybe I've told her she's the most beautiful girl in the world one too many times.

Now that Charlotte is opening up and becoming a bit more comfortable, I've witnessed the girls playing in the backyard like puppies. PUPPIES! Charlotte on her back - all four feet in the air - with Seka on top of her, mouthing and wrestling like they were litter mates. Seka rarely play bows. This week I've seen both of them chasing each other, play bowing, playing hide and seek behind the hot tub. It's been a riot.

So a warning to all of you potential fosters out there. You may be able to prepare yourself and your heart when you take one in, knowing it will be hard to let the foster pupper go when it is time. But think about how you're going to explain it to your fur baby. I've got to figure this one out!

Charlotte, Day Eleven - I can play

Charlotte can play. She really can play. She has been practicing for a few days alone. I could hear her squeaking on a toy in the living room while I was in the kitchen cooking or eating and it was killing me not to sneak in there and watch her, but I knew she would show me when she was ready. I just kept bringing the stuffies and squeakers outside with us every time we went out to play. And yesterday, she decided to come out of her shell and I happened to have the camera with me. And of course I couldn't leave Seka out of the shot either (that's her running for .1 seconds). Who doesn't love watching a happy dog play! Enjoy!

Charlotte - Day Seven, tunder really stinks

It's official - Charlotte hates thunder. HATES IT. I've noticed the following pattern in just the last couple of days:

She becomes a little weather dog hours before a storm comes in, ears perking up at every noise. Then, the pacing begins as she looks out every window searching for something that I cannot hear or see and nothing seems to calm her down. Then as the first rumbles of thunder are heard in the distance, the whimpering and shaking begins. As the storm gets closer, the real crying begins and she suddenly wants to become a lap dog (as seen here, please excuse the laundry). It's not enough to be close to you if the storm is bad. She wants to be in your lap and NOTHING will stop her.

Since the real weather man predicted that the weather was going to be really bad here on Thursday and Friday, and grandma was coming over to dog sit on Friday night because we were at Chastain Park seeing Stevie Wonder (yes, it was AWESOME), I decided to give her some Rescue Remedy (or Drama Drops as I like to call them). They don't work for Seka very well, but they really seemed to help Charlotte quite a bit. She still cried through the storm, but the shaking was minimal and she didn't tackle anyone. So, the good news is the thunder phobia seems to be manageable. We're still working on the slick floors and playing with toys though.