4 posts tagged “maggie”
Shortly after my niece was born, my parents drove down to Milwaukee to adopt Bauer for a few weeks while Sunshine and Mrs. Sunshine got settled in with the little one, and while Mrs. Sunshine recovered from giving brith. Being in the 'Sau this week, I took it upon myself to tire Bauer out, with the outcome that my arms ache from endless games of fetch and tug-of-war, and Bauer considers me his personal play-toy. Maggie gamely tries to keep up, and did well for the first two days, but today, after we returned to the puppy park, she retreated to her bed and did not move for about four hours. Whereupon Bauer seemed to say, "Now that we've got the old girl tired out, how about you throw this wet stuffed animal for me for another hour or so? Or, we can fight over it. Would you like that? What I am saying is I never tire out, and your efforts have only made me stronger." And then we played tug of war until my arms fell off. I now must type with my toes.
Not only did I get to hang out with my family this weekend, I got to hang out with my brother's crazy dog, Bauer. After four days with him around, I can pretty much tell you I'd vote for him. He's a solid dog, a dog's dog. Bauer made a few promises and kept them, by golly:
- I promise to bark loudly and at apparently nothing.
- I promise that not a minute will go by without play time.
- I promise a slobbery tennis ball or stuffed animal in every lap.
- I promise that whatever I can't hump, I'll rip to shreds
- I promise to clear the room with my sulferous farts, especially when you have company
- I promise that when I finally lie down, it will be in the most inconvenient spot for all concerned.
It's so funny to see a real "DOG" next to our Perfect Dog, Maggie. Bauer barks and bounces and farts and slobbers and does everything you'd expect from a dog. Maggie tiptoes around the house, occasionally uttering a koan. She has the golden retriever trick of getting you to pet her just by nudging your hand, but she doesn't have any of the annoying habits of goldens, like jumping on people or rolling in a dead fish carcass. Maggie is like a baby that sleeps through the night, or a toddler that potty-trains herself. Bauer is that difficult child that you love even when he's acting like a shithead. You can't help it, because even though he farts in the livingroom and growls at you for getting too near him while he's eating, he'll then do something like curl up right next to you when you're watching TV, and then lick your hand as if to say, "I like you lots. Just thought you should know."
Well, it's time I wrote something of substance here. This week, I've been low-key -- Pineapple was in Boston and M's brother was visiting, so she spent a lot of time with her family on the farm, and I've been moping about my car. K-Jo came over a few times to cheer both of us up (she's bummed about a research job) and it worked, I thought -- particularily as we perfected the Mayor walk. Also, it's been unpleasantly hot and humid. I had to get up early each morning for training, so in general I was a little tired. But now, my work schedule changes and I can wake up at a more palatable hour.
Anyway, I've snapped out of my moping about my car. At least she met an eventful end. My story has reached the vestiges of my family and come back to me with exciting variations (my favorite being when my cousin called me to say that his mom told him that I was practically swept down the Mississippi). Compared to that, my actual story is kinda tame: I was driving (slowly because of the torrential downpour) and the waterlevel on the road rose in a matter of seconds from "puddle" to "Lake Superior." I momentarily lost control of my car -- my engine stopped -- and then my car found ground again. After two minutes, two of my (female) coworkers stopped and helped me push my car up an embankment, since it was still sitting in about three feet of water.
As we were doing this, I'd like to note that all the macho guys who we've caught ogling us in turn only drove by gaping at us as three "weak" women pushed my boat of a car along the road. So much for chivalry! My feminism has only strengthened from this experience -- next time a man complains that my breed won't "let" him be chivalrous, I'll remind him that it's not about "letting" anyone do anything, it's about being decent when the situation calls for it. The girls who helped me -- one is an epileptic and the other has a bad limp from when her foot was crushed in a bad car accident two years ago. But they stopped and helped me and now I have at least two friends at work. .
What else? Well, after the accident, my parents came with the Honda (and my sweet and wonderful Maggie-dog, who cheered me right up). Pineapple made turkey burgers and I made hummus, and we treated it like a real visit. My parents are wonderful about everything -- I have use of the Honda indefinitely, though I plan to have my own car by October. By then, I'll be off the "new-hire" probation for both Kaplan and the Guide and I'll be in a more solid position. I plan on using the same insurance agent, mostly because Progressive was totally awesome through the whole procedure and gave me more for the total than I expected, but also in part because my insurance agent turned out to be a lot younger and cuter than I expected. When he told me to call him when I got a new car, I thought, "Maybe you'll hear from me SOONER." Rarr.
Well, more to come. I want to upload pics from my up-north trip and tell tales about that -- it was a really fun weekend. But for now, I must lunch and retrieve Pineapple from the airport.
Yesterday, after leaving work, I got a call from the temp agency informing me that the consulting firm was letting everyone go due to low call volume. I felt pretty low about it, and K-Jo came over with chocolate to soothe my jobless heart. This morning, I got another call from the agency and they lined up another job for me starting Monday -- this one with a little more job security (longer, possible hire). It's clearly not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I'm broke and need more than just the tutoring job (which doesn't start training until the 29th anyway). The pay is damn decent and it's actually closer than the other job. I'll take it!
I'll miss the Tailor and B.J. Novak-look-alike. Le sigh.
That in mind, I'm heading up to the northwoods until Sunday. I'll be playing with my dog and canoing and playing on the lake and did I mention I get to see my dog? Who wouldn't run to see this as often as possible?
If you can resist that, you have a heart of coal.
