murray landed us in jail

Well, okay, not really, but it wasn't for lack of trying. We were out for our last walk of the evening around midnight when two guys on bikes came around the corner. As they approached us, I realized they were police officers and breathed a sigh of relief. Murray, on the other hand, didn't care who they were, he just wanted a piece of them. So, there I was trying to get control of my little snarling puppy, who was on the end of a 16-foot leash, and there were the cops not a foot past the end of it. Lucky for Murray, they didn't take him too seriously. They just road by saying, "look at that big attack dog...hahaha." If they only knew.

In other related news, my friend Kathy also tried to get me arrested...for drunk and disorderly conduct this time. Though, I guess they can't really arrest you for being drunk on laughter.

We were at her house last Sunday evening just finishing playing a game when she asked, "What should we do next?" While I and her other friend were himming and hawing, Kathy got it into her head that she wanted to do something Halloween-ish. Mind you, it was nearly 8pm, on a Sunday, and anything that was happening on that day was pretty much over. That's when she decided we should get something to put in our hair and walk down the main street of a local town. Friend #2 bailed on the idea, but I was game. What else does a 40-something single female have to do on a Sunday night?

After about the 4th store, we were starting to lose hope that we'd ever find what we were looking for. It was only 3 days before Halloween, after all, and all the good stuff was long gone. But then we happened upon a K-Mart and found the only two remaining hair bands with bats attached to springy things in the entire state of New Jersey (see picture of the strange lady to the left).

We parked the car and made our way to Main Street on foot, giggling all the way. Our first encounter was with a couple hidden in a piazza-like alcove outside a restaurant. They were too busy playing kissy-face to even notice us. We continued on and finally reached our destination, Main Street USA...bright lights, large sidewalks, stores on either side of the road. And practically no people. Ugh. How disappointing.

We decided to walk a block or two anyway, because then at least we could say we accomplished our mission...a boring one, but one nonetheless. That's when we spotted him, a man walking towards us. Finally, someone was gonna see us with our springy bat thingies on our heads. And he didn't disappoint. "Nice costumes, ladies" he said as he walked on by. A fit of giggles ensued. He just made our night. It caused us to become more daring.

"C'mon, let's go into that Starbucks over there," I said to Kathy. "Umm, ok" she replied enthusiastically (NOT). I only had to pry her fingers a little off the door to get her to go inside. We stepped up to the counter to place our order, and no one even batted an eye (no pun intended) at what was atop our heads, not even the bunch of teenagers milling around. Though, I'm sure at least one of them took a picture of us with their cell phone, which will make an appearance on their My Space page as what they will never be caught doing when they reach our age.

We sat outside enjoying our Pumpkin Lattes and giggling over the silliness of the night. It'll definitely stay in our memory banks longer than if we had just stayed at her house playing another game or watching a video. Lesson learned: Act silly...it brings you joy.

road rallying

Our local AAA recently held their second road rally as a fundraiser for a great charity. Unfortunately, I was not able to go on the day of the event, but they were nice enough to email me the directions. And so, on the spur of the moment yesterday, I called Mom and asked if she wanted to join me and Murray for our own personal road rally. She did.

My car, apparently, did not.

On the way to pick Mom up, my car started making a funny sound whenever I put my foot on the gas after being at a stop. Once we arrived at her place, Mom was kind enough to let us use her car, and we set off for our adventure. It was a gorgeous day, and we drove around for over 4 hours, covering 60-some miles while looking for signs along the way to answer some questions, and stopping at some historic places and parks.

Our third destination was Estell Manor Park, where we got to see the remains of a glass factory that was operated from 1825-1877. It's also where Murray got to see his first turtle, a snapper according to one of the passersby. I haven't seen a turtle in years, and Mom hadn't seen one of that color before. And Murray...well, he would've liked not to have seen it.

Murray was walking towards me when all of a sudden something moved in front of him. He jumped straight up in the air in fright and then ran to me for protection, but it was only a few seconds before he got his courage back and went after that little rock-like creature, as can be seen in the following video. You'll have to use your imagination to hear his barking, as my digital camera doesn't have sound.



We really enjoyed all the places they had us go to, which included an old school, a church and cemetery dedicated in 1792, the glass factory mentioned above, a veteran's cemetery, a furnace where they made ammunition for the War of 1812, and an old village.

Here are some more pictures from our trip. Remember to click 'em to big 'em.

play date

I got done work early today, and Disco was looking bored, so I borrowed him for a play date with Murray. We're still in the middle of it, and they're having a blast. We spent a good chunk of the time out back, me on my lap top looking for jobs, while they ran their little hearts out. Here's a picture of them during one of their rest sessions:


I was surprised at how Murray reacted to Disco coming to his house. He gave up his toys without a fight and just sat there looking at Disco, like in this picture:


Though, there were a couple times that Disco chased after Murray, which he just loves, and I'd say he could outrace most dogs. Of course, most dogs get bored with the chase if they have no chance of catching their intended target, and so they just give up, like in this video (where they're also trying to trip yours truly):

my child never did that before

I was watching a PBS show the other night about two people who took "incorrigible" dogs from a shelter and showed that their disposition could be changed by training them to be working dogs. The woman, who was training a bearded collie named Herbie to be a sheep dog, said something that could well fit my little Murray: "He's a really smart dog, but the problem with that is that he can pick up bad habits just as quickly as he can good ones."

Now, I'm not saying Murray is a brainiac. He doesn't instantly learn things I'm trying to teach him. Though, he has managed to train me pretty darn well, like how to drop whatever I'm doing to throw his toy for him. All he has to do is drop it at my feet and give me that look, and I'm off to do his bidding. So, who's the smarter of the two? :/

My family was teasing me last night that I was turning into one of those mothers who thinks their child can do no wrong, or at least, he didn't until he started hanging out with their child. I guess that could be because I've gotten into the habit of saying that Murray didn't do that until he saw one of their dogs doing it. Okay, guilty as charged. Well, except I don't think Murray is a little angel. Just ask him how many times I've yelled at him since he's moved in as evidence.

Here's an example of Murray picking up one of his cousin's behaviors: Mom's dog Oscar will excitedly bark and look back and forth between you and the door to get you to take him outside. I fall for it every time, and sometimes he was out only 5 minutes before I got there. Well, now Murray has picked up on this little trick, but he's added his own twist to it. He barks at me whenever I'm taking too long to do what he wants (e.g., take him for a ride to visit Oscar).

Mind you, all of this is a two-way street, because Murray's cousins are now doing things that they didn't do before meeting him either...lol. For instance, Oscar has taken to opening his mouth wide and placing it around my puppy's neck to wrangle him in. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was aiming to kill my dog. But knowing what a gentle dog Oscar is, we didn't panic at the first sight of him doing this behavior. It's his way of calming Murray down, and believe it or not, Murray loves it.

The thing is, with any of these behaviors, they're kinda cute when they're doing it, so you go along with it, which enforces the behavior, and they keep repeating it. That's when you've got trouble on your hands, because while you may not mind it when it's just the two of you, or even with close family members, it may become an annoyance when guests are over or when you go visit them in their home.

Don't know if there's any answer to this dilemma. Who wants a dog who's 100% perfect all the time? After all, it's these quirky behaviors that give them their personality, and it's that personality that makes them so special to you and brings much joy and laughter into your life.

Talking about joy and laughter, this is Christine's little guy, Disco, acting as if he's conducting a board meeting or something:

rites of passage

Last night, we celebrated all the October birthdays in our family, and there are lots of them within a week of each other. Well, actually, four at last count. Mom made us spaghetti and meatballs, which my OLDest sister, Kathy, couldn't resist telling me, a vegetarian, just how good the meatballs really really were. I'll stick with my buttered and cheesed spaghetti, thank you very much :)

After our bellies were full, we moved into the living room to open presents, and oh, how many there were. By one of her gifts, I could see that my niece, Christine, would love to turn me into one of those people. You know the kind - the ones who dress their dogs up and paint their toe nails purple (sorry, Maria, just had to throw that in there...hahaha). This is what she got me for Murray, who so nicely modeled it later in the evening:

Apparently, Murray doesn't want to be one of those dogs either, as the entire time I was trying to take pictures of him in the costume, he kept trying to grab it with his teeth to get it off of him. And even after I took it off and put it on top of the table, he wasn't satisfied. He jumped up and grabbed the outfit from the table and tried to hide the offending object. Speaking of which, I just glanced down, and guess what is now sitting at my feet? That same pumpkin outfit. Guess Murray's still trying to get rid of it. Either that or he's changed his mind and is asking me to put it back on him...lol.

After presents, it was time for some yummy cake and ice cream. Ever try to sing the Happy Birthday song with four names in it? It ain't easy. Luckily, I only had to sing three, since I'm one of the birthday people (smile). Here's a picture of the cake. We'll just pretend it says "and Ed" at the bottom of it (poor guy, he gets lost between us three sisters).

the boys

This is a picture of Murray with two of his cousins, Disco (a havanese) and Oscar (a shepherd mix). They were a bit of a handful trying to get them to pose for this picture. Thank goodness for photo-editing software (*smile*).

Earlier in the evening, it was a real doggie party, as there was one more cousin there named Charlie (a lhasa apso), and the three little ones were so close in size and coloring that I was afraid I was gonna take the wrong dog home. They all got along rather well, but I have to say, people who have more than two dogs living with them at one time really have to be a little nutty, especially if they are full of energy, like these guys can be.

I wonder how many other families bring their dogs along to visit their family members. We mainly do it when we meet up at Mom's house. I might have started the tradition when I first moved out of my parents' house and adopted a cat named Sunny. I used to bring him and his litter box with me, mostly because I felt guilty leaving him alone after already working an 8-hour day. That only lasted a short while, as I eventually adopted a kitty companion for him. Later on, though, I adopted a puppy named Brandy and started taking her with me to Mom & Pop's, and it's been that way with every new addition to our family ever since. The dogs look forward to playing with each other, but they like going home for some rest afterwards too. As do we...lol.

enjoying the outdoors

I discovered while sitting out with Murray last week that one of my neighbors has wireless connection that I can get into, but only while I'm sitting outside, which is what I'm doing right this instant. Lucky for me, Summer has decided to make a return visit, so I get to take advantage of the warm weather and wireless connection at the same time. And while I'm playing on my laptop, Murray gets to do whatever he wants, within a 30-foot radius, that is. It's a win-win combination, and it frees me from the guilt of half-heartedly paying attention to him when I'm on the computer in the house :)

There's a section of grass in my backyard that the squirrels and bunnies must spend an awful lot of time in, because Murray can't get enough of sniffing around. His nose is so far down in the grass that a lot of the time, I'm lucky if I can see his eyes. The scent is so addictive to him that he gets distracted quite easily when I'm trying to throw the stick around for him, which defeats the purpose of me taking him out there...to tire him out.

Since I'm still looking for permanent employment, Murray and I have been spending a lot of our afternoons like this. Even though I'd much rather have a steady income, it's kinda nice to be able to enjoy this time together, and I'm managing to scrape by, not that I'll be able to do that long term, but for right now, it's okay. I've had a couple good interviews, one of which is right here in town, which I'm really hoping for, for Murray's sake as well as my own. Unfortunately, they're dragging their feet in the decision-making process, which every company I've applied to seems to be doing. At least I've had a lot more calls for interviews and the like, so it's just a matter of time before I get something. Here's hoping anyway.

Ohhhh, a squirrel has decided to mess with Murray's head, so I best go protect him from himself. He's determined to get tied around a tree with no escape.

---

Feel free to leave a comment, even if it's just to say hi. You don't even have to use your real name. I get bored with no comments, and I could very easily decide to pull this blog for lack of them. It wouldn't be the first time...lol. Okay, seriously, that's not a threat to those who I know keep popping their head in, but really, I'd love to hear from you. So, hit the little comment button below. It's not as scary as it might seem :)

the boss man takes a ride

Little 'ol Murray is as cute as can be, except he still has some bad habits and is picking up some new ones each day. For instance, from hanging around Oscar so much, he's noticed that Oscar gets results when he barks, so he's decided to start barking himself. Now, this isn't just when a dog walks by. Oh noooooooo. It's when he thinks I'm taking too long in heading towards the back door to take him out, or like today, after we were driving for awhile in the car, he barked to tell me to put down the window. That was the first time he did that, and it made me jump out of my seat a bit. Of course, I obeyed, 'cause hey, that's what I do. But he's got another think coming if he tries this bullying around in the middle of winter. I'm all for keeping the peace, but I'm more for keeping my arse warm :)