Misadventures in Playing with my Dogs

After work yesterday, all I wanted to do was watch Sports Night streaming on Netflix. To start from the beginning, I have recently accepted that I have a thing for Aaron Sorkin.  It all started with a show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.  I LOVED that show.  But, it only lasted one season--side note: this also began my love/hate relationship with NBC. 

I didn't think much about Sorkin again for several years.  Actually, it wasn't until last year to be exact.  See my favorite movie of the 2010 was The Social Network, screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.  I recognized the love I had for that movie.  It was the same I had for Studio 60. 

So, I did the next logical thing anyone my age would do.  I Googled him.  I come to find out that Sorkin also wrote A Few Good Men. Interesting. I already knew about West Wing.  But then, I see he wrote one of my favorite movies that I've loved for years, The American President.  When I was a teenager, I used to watch this movie over and over again. 

This weekend we saw Moneyball.  I've wanted to see this movie since the first time I saw the preview.  And yes, I wanted to see it even though I am a loyal NY Yankees fan.  I love me some true stories.  Well, this movie was terrific and then, as the credits rolled, I saw why I enjoyed it so much. "Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin" Of course.

Now, I'm hooked and determined to watch anything his name is tied to, starting with Sports Night, a show I've always read really good things about.

This is where the misadventure starts:

As I was sitting down to put it on, Nikki started crying.  She wanted me to play with her.  Fair enough.  I grabbed my camera (See Below) and went outside with the girls. We played frisbee until the girls were pooped.  We turned around to go inside and [please pause for drama effect] the door was locked. Awesome. All I brought outside with me was my trusty camera which in the case, does NOT make phone calls.

I walked around to the garage and was able to open it this time (you may remember this time when I locked myself out and COULDN'T open the garage).  Walked over to wear I thought the key was hidden, but quickly realized I had NO idea wear it was hidden.  I poked around my husband's stuff for a little bit, quickly noticing some little animal droppings.  Terrified that if I moved anything something would jump out at me, I barely disrupted anything.  Defeated, I walked back into the backyard and continued playing with the girls.

After playing with them for another 10 minutes or so, I realized Hubby could either be home any minute or he could just be leaving work--he's in a very busy time at work, so when he gets home has been pretty unpredictable.  I didn't want to be stuck outside if he hadn't left work yet.  So, braless and barefoot, I walked to my neighbors house, whom I barely know and really have only met twice for about 2 minutes each time.

First, while standing at their door waiting for them to answer, I got eaten alive by mosquitoes.  Since we have our yard sprayed, I forget how serious the mosquitoes are.  Then she came to the door and immediately started telling me how she was going to come over and get me. Whaaat? Didn't realize we were friends and that there'd ever be a reason to come get me (a post is definitely coming about my neighborhood and how no one talks/knows each other here). Okay.

So I asked to use her phone. Her husband never greeted  me. Her kids seem sweet but they were never introduced to me.  And I stand there, in all my braless glory, calling my husband (thank goodness I have his number memorized), while she stands there and anxiously waits for me to hang up.

See, she was "coming over to get me" because she was just about finished turning her house into a haunted house.  Last year, while decorating for Halloween, I met her in our front yard.  She told me how she converts part of the house into a haunted house for her daughter's birthday party every year.  I thought that was pretty cool.  She said that she'd come get me to see it when it was done but I didn't see her again until Christmas.

Then my neighbor began walking me through her haunted house.  She had black garbage bags hanging from the walls and all these scary props.  As we walked further in, it got darker and darker. And I realized, I don't know this woman from a hole in the wall.  Just because you're living next to someone doesn't mean that they're good people.

I've seen the 'Burbs.

I've seen that Shia LaBeouf remake about the neighbor who is a serial killer.

Even Dexter has neighbors.

I could very well never come out of this "haunted house". Fantastic. All the ways I make sure I protect myself and lecture Hubby on how he fails, I've just walked into a trap...

How could I do this to myself?

What about all the things I've never gotten to do?

I'm still young with my entire life ahead of me!

I have no one to blame by myself! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Then we came out the other end and my panic subsided.  I guess the haunted house works.  Man, was I scared.

She let me go, although not without having me volunteer for our local historic society.  That woman's good. I have to say.  And away I went, just as I came, braless, barefoot, and getting eaten by mosquitoes.

In the end, I didn't get to watch Sports Night, but did get some quality time in with the girls.  Silver lining:  I got some cute pics while we were locked out. ENJOY!

Playing before we realized we were locked out.

How can you resist Stella's smiling?

 While locked out, we played until Nikki was pooped.

This little girl loves her frisbee, so it sure takes a lot to get her to that point.

After I realized we were locked out and I went to the neighbors house.

"Hey, Mom. Where are you going? We'll keep playing if you want."

<3

It's Barely Lunchtime & I'm Already Over Today

So, BIG NEWS! I told my husband that this blog exists.  Yes, for the last two weeks, I didn't tell him because I planned to use this as an outlet for when I'm frustrated with him--he's very sensitive and I would never hear the end of it if he read anything less than flattering about himself--and of course, his mother. Now, we haven't touched upon that issue but that most certainly will be a big one.  Maybe one day, when I have the energy to write about the hurtful things that have happened to me over the last 10 years.  Let's just say, those of you reading this may be a fan, but she is NOT a fan of me.  This has little to do with me and more to do with the fact that I "stole her only son." Oh, Cheeses!

Anyway, to get to why my Friday--undoubtedly the best day of the week--has shaped up to be one I can't wait to be over.  I had a few things to do this morning before I began work.  My dog, Nikki, had to go for her 2nd shot for a vaccination. Well, she was supposed to go Tuesday but I didn't know that until Tuesday.  Side note: Apparently the Reminder call from my vet comes on the same day the shot is due. Awesome. Anyway, I have two dogs, and I love them a lot <--- Bit of an understatement.  So when I have to take one of them to the vet, that means one of them has to stay behind.  So in my best effort to trick Stella, I filled her bone with peanut butter, grabbed my purse, and scurried out the door where Nikki was waiting for me. Not until I closed the door tightly behind me did I think, Are my keys in my purse? But as soon as I thought it, I knew the answer.

So, my keys and Stella were in the house and purse, cell phone and Nikki were outside with me. While I still had that bad gut feeling, I knew there was nothing to worry about. My husband has a spare key hidden in the garage. So I walk around to the front of the garage, type in the code, press Enter, and NOTHING. Oh, I must have thought of the wrong code. So I tried another one. NOTHING. This is a joke, right? Maybe I'm on Candid Camera (THROWBACK. For those of you younger than me, that's like Punk'd only without Ashton Kutcher and his celebrity friends). So I look at Nikki and she's just wagging her tail at me. She's precious. I try a couple of more times and still nothing.

 File photo. This is Stella asking, 

"Hey, why aren't you guys in here? 

Or even better, why aren't I out there playing with you two?"

I walk back to the yard where my purse is and call my husband. I must have the code wrong and besides, I was going to have to call him anyway because I have no idea where the key's hidden once in the garage. He spits out the same code back to me that I already tried. Uh, oh. I try several more times. My fake nails begin hurting because of the way I'm jabbing them into the numbers. NOTHING.

Thank goodness, last year, we were late getting home one night and asked AMAZING friends of ours to let the dogs out. To do this, we walked them through getting in the garage and getting the key. When all was said and done, I told them to keep the key. We had plenty of extras and it was just the better bet.  So I called her up, she had one strange looking key on her ring that she couldn't identify and over she came. To save our day.

It was the right key. Wouldn't that be an awful twist if after I call my friend to come over before work to let me in the house, she makes the trip to find out it's not the key at all? I guess that experience could have been worse.

So away we went to the vet. Nikki hopped into the car completely unsuspecting. She's so sweet and it kills me when she gets excited to go out but really we're going to the vet. We get to the vet, and there's a beautiful dog already in the waiting room. I ask the owner if it's okay to approach. She says of course. The dogs start sniffing each other--seems to be going well. And then BAM! I have no idea what happened but they ended up in a scuffle. I wouldn't say a fight but still. I could have done without this. We pull them apart. They go in the back.

When we get called, Nikki is terrified. She shakes like a leaf. I have no idea why. She's been scared since the very first time I ever brought her. She gets a couple of shots but other than that she barely gets touched. When she was 3 months old and just 20 lbs, I brought her for her checkup when we first adopted her. She was on the table because she was so little then. She LITERALLY leaped into my arms. I was holding her like a baby that's being burped. If you haven't figured it out, she's a bit of a Mama's girl.

So she gets her booster for the vaccination and away we go. She gets in the car lays down (usually she begs for the window to be opened) with her back to me. She's mad at me. Now, if you think I'm crazy, I assure you, Nikki is just like her Mama (me). She wears all her feelings right on her face. She was mad at me and this was her telling me she wasn't speaking to me. It just breaks my heart.

File photo.  This is a shot of Nikki after the first time I took a long weekend to NJ.

Notice her expression, she is MAD that I left her.

You can't tell me this girl doesn't know how to express her feelings.

We get back home. I barely make it in time for my 10 o'clock call. And then my workday is finally beginning.  I've busted my hump all week and I'm just NOT in the mood for it today. It would have been nice when my friend opened my door if I could have just walked right passed her and gotten right back into bed.

Well, here's hoping to a better weekend... TGIF