Bits&Pieces

Hello, Old Girl

Chippie's back. Just for a short week. Oh, she's a sweet old girl. Just wanted to share a shot. She has nothing to say for herself. She's old. And she's got some napping to do.

We're bringin' Chippie back…yeah

Them other dogs don't know how to act…yeah.

Okay, she's not actually HERE quite yet, but she will be here later on today for a stay through the weekend, as the lovely Smith family have need to be away for a few days.

I'm so excited, I don't think I'll be able to any work done today!

I've got it all planned out! We'll hang out and I'll talk a lot, and pet her incessantly, and she'll sleep. It's going to be GREAT!

I realize it seems that I should probably bite the bullet and get a dog of my own. But I know I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility just yet. All around me, people have these great dogs, and seem to be managing just fine. But me? Not ready. Not just yet.

Now if you'll forgive me, I  have to go start sterilizing Chip's drinking water.

thank you, chipina…and paul

She goes home next week, and I will be in Utah all week, and not present for the hand off. I could get all sentimental here, but I'm trying to save critical typing for work-related functions. Instead, I offer my photographic tribute to a very fine dog that I wish we would have been smart enough to have bred while she was here. Imagine those puppies!

I'm guessing, though…it would have had to have been an immaculate birth, but who knows…Chippie really is THAT good.

Thanks, Tim and Ann. Please don't be alarmed to find me loitering in your yard.

I'm relatively harmless.

Download farewell_chipina.mov

We love you, Chippie. You're a very good dog.

Farm dog

Easter Sunday. Down at the farm in Southern Minnesota. Chip the dog meets the cows. Chases down the resident peacock. And, makes friends with a 9-month-old poodle/beagle cross named Gordie. What a fun day for a dog, huh?

Seriously. Watching Chip run around the farm made me a) nervous and b) happy, because she totally forgot she was 11. I've never actually seen her in a flat-out run. It was pretty cool. Except that she was so tired last night when we got home, she refused to go outside one last time to use the...bathroom. Oh Chippie…we loves you, yes we do…oh, yes we do...

The other cool thing about this Easter was that the Easter Bunny brought Cole a CD, and that CD is part of Cole's newest musical thing. Want to take a guess who the band is?

I realize the George is a bit of a stretch, but look at Paul. Dude nailed that one. John's a bit Harry Potter-esque (um, because that actually IS Harry Potter, duh), and Ringo's pretty dead on too. Cole drew the beard on Ringo, for authenticity.

The CD? Yellow Submarine. Cole's favorite song is Hey Bulldog. We listened to a different Beatles CD on Saturday morning, during our weekend cleaning extravaganza (a new thing we've been trying for the past few months, and these words actually came from my husband's lips: "This maintaining thing really works!") and as I'm singing along to Paperback Writer, I'm thinking, "Seriously? How can it sound THIS fresh, all these years later?"

So…if you got you some Beatles…crank it up. And here's one from Coley, for you…

It's not just me, either

Everyone loves Chippy. But Cole has an agenda.

The reason he's feeding Chip in this shot is because he wants a lizard of some sort. I'm really a bit hazy on it, because every time he mentions the word "newt" or "iguana" my thoughts completely glaze over with the knowledge that I'm going to have to break his little heart eventually. Why? Ain't no lizard gonna be livin' in my house. Not happening. (I hope Coley doesn't decide that today, of all days, is the day he's going to start reading Mom's blog. And Aidan, don't you tell him I have no plans to ever get him a lizard! Remember, your birthday is tomorrow....right? That's what I thought.)

So he's been trying to prove that he can care for a pet. Ergo, the reason he is feeding Chip. That effort lasted two days. If it were up to Coleman, Chippy would be starving right now. And here's the fact: if he can't spend three-and-a-half minutes giving Chip her tasty morsels of deliciousness, he's not going to handle a lizard living in his room.

IN OTHER NEWS:
1. Thanks, Max. For cutting my hair, removing the mullet tails and restoring my inner peace.

2. Day three of sugar detox and I'm fairly certain I would sell one of my children for a little can of full strength Sprite.

3. I am reading the newest CK idea book, Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking, and I gotta say, good book. Great stuff by Jessica Sprague and many other talented scrapbookers who make me want to embrace the hybrid girl in my soul. Serious. It's good stuff, man.

4. Did I mention I got my hair cut?

chip waxes philosophic...

Dear Beloved Family,

It seems there've been some requests for direct updates from me…so while the Lady is off drinking her weird, hot dark water, and grumbling about "I didn't sign up to be a maid" while picking up soft, nice smelling things off the floor, I thought I'd dash off a quick note to let you know how I'm doing.

I'm doing fine.

I was surprised to learn that so many of the Lady's blog readers thought I was a boy dog. Hmmm. I don't think I look overly masculine, but you know how humans are. They think we all look alike. That always makes me chuckle. I guess if you're not sniffing butts, it's considerably harder to tell.

The snow has been great! Every time I go out, it gets all caked into my fur, and the Lady finally realized: you just have to wait until it melts out.

I've had a little time to myself this weekend. The Lady and the Man left for a good stretch of time. Something about a Pete Yorn concert. I overheard her talking yesterday morning. She said it was good, but that it was "no Park City, Utah show." Not as intimate. Too many people. And apparently she doesn't like people all that much. Which probably explains her attachment to me.

If only I could get across how the butt sniffing can really help you sort out who's who and how they stack up. Not only that, but sniffing, in general, shows you how to tell the flowers from the weeds. Helps you find the best places to pee, too.

Until next time…

Chip "I am female dog" Smith

see how the canine blends with her environment…

I realize that haven't included letters from Chip in a while, but she's been busy rec-creating, and sleeping, and being loved on. She doesn't have time to blog. I mean…come on! She's b-u-s-y.

And mostly, I had to post a new pic because I didn't really need to see that disturbing shot of me and Pete (taken later on tonight) because the proportions of my head were so wrong.

For the benefit of you non-Minnesotans, we did, in fact, get the storm of the week of the century. Holy snowblowers (and do I wish I had one about now? Um, yes) we got us some snow. Poor Chip can't even find a low enough ground level to drop the kids off at the....snow. I kept telling the kids to go out and make some snow angels.…just to give Chippie a poop pad. No such luck. So out I'll go later on and get horizontal in the snow. Sigh. Pet ownership is so hard.

In good news…the Pete Yorn tour bus made it to town. I know this because a) I stalk well, and b) he has a blog. Part of the state highway system were shut down over night. You know, that can wreak havoc on tour buses. But lo…the band blogged from Minneapolis. And they're here. Safe and sound.

In preparation for tonight's extravaganza, I just downloaded the Aqualung album, (see link at left) because they were good in Utah, and I'm guessing they'll be good tonight. Very nice music for working and chilling out.

Happy weekends. I'll tell Pete you all said, "Hi."

Chip sounds off, Week 6

Dear Family,

How are you all? Well? I thoroughly enjoyed the Powerpoint you sent to my host family. Nice to see the kids. Your weather seems a bit nicer than what we are currently having. And speaking of weather, it seems that when the temperature drops to a certain level, the Lady no longer feels the need to take me for a walk. No matter how excited and playful I am at the bus stop, she cheerfully says, "Okay, Chippie....too cold to walk today." It's as if she's turned a blind eye to the fact that I am covered with fur.

Of course the Lady informed you of the face swelling incident. I myself am not certain why my lips and nose filled up with extra fluid, but it was really cool to go the the Vet again, minus the shot. It seems like I got extra attention at home, as well. Bonus for me.

The Lady dissappeared for a while last week, and I was left alone during the day. Don't tell  her this, but it was kind of nice to not have the running commentary all day long: chippie, this is Neil Finn...do you LOVE it? i know you love it. do you like my hair short? it really IS working, isn't it, yes……yes, chippie. You are a GOOOOOD dog. OH—you'll LOVE this song. This is also by Neil....yes...can you say "neil?" GOOOOD doggie!"

But I have to say, I missed her while she was away, and have assumed my spot again, on the floor of the office, on a nice cushy kennel pad. Needless to say, I miss and love you all. But from what I can guage, they are taking really good care of me.

Love,
Chipina Lucille

Letter from Chip, Week 3

Dearest Family,

Another week has past since you all left, and so far, I feel like I'm managing okay. The new family is smelling better to me every day, and that's a big relief. You know how disconcerting new smelling families can be, especially to an older dog. But I digress…

The biggest news of the week was that the Girl hooked my leash up to the jump ring that holds my collar tags in place instead of the collar ring, and when she opened the door as we were headed out to the bus stop, I saw the man who lives across the alley from our house and wanted to smell him, so I bolted out the door and BOOM! the jump ring broke, and the tags popped off and into the snow. The lady managed to find the rabies tag, but…we are still digging through the snow to find my id tag. I tried to explain to them I wasn't planning to wander off, but I'm not sure they would believe me at this point. They are looking at me with a bit more suspiscion...almost as if i tried to lose the tags. Silly humans.

Other than that, I've been out for a walk every morning, and the Lady keeps yelling, "HEEL, HEEL" and every time she does, I look back at her for a moment, and then keep right on exploring the sidewalks. It's great to get out in the fresh air! The Lady was telling the Man something about her arm feeling like it was out of it's pocket....or socket? Something like that. Again, I just like walking.

The Lady has also been near her computer constantly all week. I don't understand what she is talking about all day long, but I am assuming sometimes she is not very happy with whatever is going on with the computer. I hear words that she only says around the Boy and the Girl when she's really mad. And something about, "I don't need this kind of stress..."

But me? I just lay on the floor and take it all in stride. Because she always takes a few minutes to scratch me and make me feel like she's really glad I'm here.

Like I said, she is smelling better to me every day. I think it's because she wears the same jeans everyday. It's all working out.

Give me love to Ellie Ann, Michael and Ida.

Yours truly,
Chip

Letter from Chip, week 2

[ed note: each week, while Chip's family is in Costa Rica, I promised they would receive a photo and letter from Chip, so they would be able to keep tabs and guage her general well being. Of course, being a blogger, I decided to make the emails public. Nice. Hey Tim and Anne! Love your dog! Keep in mind, this is not my dog, but I LOVE her all the same. Also, this photo is NOT the actual photo that accompanied the email. In case you're wondering. I just thought it was a nice shot.]

Dear Family,

This week, i found a new comfy place to sleep: the girl's bedroom floor. And that is where you see me laying in this photo.

The people I am staying with seem to be very obsessed with a sadly out-of-date video game system and some game called Super Mario brothers. They play it every night in the girl's room. I don't mind. Except when they lose and they yell very loudly.

I went for a couple of walks, and have been accompanying the boy and the girl to the bus stop in the mornings. I have been barking at the neighbor cats, and pooping in the same spot in the backyard, which really seems to make the lady happy.

They seem to like me a lot. Maybe too much. But I don't mind. It will do just fine until all of you return home. I actually overheard the lady tell a different lady named Leslie that they were thinking of dyeing my fur black and pretending not to know all of you when you return home. Just so you are aware, if this does occur, do not be fooled. It IS me.

Today, the people are actually leaving town for one night, and one of the man's coffee shop employees is coming over to stay with me and keep me company until the people come back tomorrow at around 5 p.m.

Maybe I can get a little peace and quiet?

Give my love to Ellie Ann, Michael and Ida.

Signed,
Chip

p.s. they are coming up with silly nicknames for me, like, "Chip dip dippity do" and "Chippy McScratchy". HELP!