Ho Ho Ho!

This blog has been shamefully left alone for too long. I apologize to anyone still checking it and will try my best not to let it happen again. I still get tons of inquiries as to how our large and in charge "mahogany flash" is doing. LOL.

Kirby is fine as always and is, in every sense of the word, sheer JOY itself. There is nothing that does not delight her big love-filled heart.

Today I am smiling especially wide because we took her to Petsmart to see Santa for the second time in her young life. Last year she was just 6 months old and already too big for Santa's lap. He had to get on the floor with her...



So today we took her back to Petsmart and Santa REMEMBERED her from last year. Everyone, as always, was overjoyed to see her. We love our local Petsmart.

Anyway, as we were posing her I realized...hmm...same Santa Claus, but...does he look a little SMALLER? Or is Kirby really that much bigger? LOL.

Yeah...she's THAT much bigger. Here is our Christmas baby:



There is nothing Christmasy about joy and love when you experience it all year round with a dog like this in your life. Look at that smile. :-)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Best Friends, for sure

We had a bit of a scare last week: Hemi, our littlest kitty and Kirby's best pal, was panting uncontrollably for no apparent reason. I called the vet and they wanted me to rush her in, so we tucked her in the cat carrier and whisked her away.

It turns out it was nothing. They checked her for tumors, took her temperature, and x-rayed her to be safe. Nothing wrong with her. The assumption is that she got a hold of something that bit her...like a bug, which is totally like Hemi because she's my little bug hunter.

When I brought her back home, Kevin informed me that Kirby was an absolute mess while we were gone. She cried...she paced...she wanted to know what was wrong with her little buddy.

This friendship is absolutely adorable to me. Hemi was a whopping 6 pounds when we brought Kirby home. Thanks to lots of laying around in the sun on the window sills, Hemi weighed in at 10 pounds at the vet's office. But she's still a very tiny kitty...with a big round belly. If only there were cat sized treadmills.

When I pulled up in the driveway with Hemi in the car, Kirby was looking out the window at me with a decidedly upset expression on her furry face. I brought the cat carrier in the house, laid it down, and unzipped the front to let a very indignant Hemi out of her prison. She sprung out of it, meowing incessantly, and ran forward a few steps. Then she heard Kirby whine a little and she turned...and walked right up to Kirby and rubbed her head under Kirby's chin. "Hello, friend...I'm back. Thanks for worrying about me."

Kirby towers over little Hemi. Hemi, with her tail sticking straight up, can walk under Kirby and not touch the top of her tail to Kirby's tummy. But when she wants to express her love for her giant friend, Hemi stands up on her hind legs and rubs her little head under Kirby's chin. And we can always tell when she's done it...because her head is usually wet with drool. LOL.

These two sleep near each other, they look out for each other, and they even play together. They are true pals...and I think our little scare brought them even closer together. Today Kirby had a bit of an upset tummy and got sick (I won't elaborate, as it's gross). Hemi followed Kirby around, chirping like a little worried bird, fretting over why Kirby wasn't well. Once Kirby felt better and laid down, Hemi took up watch on the ottoman where she had a good view of her friend. Then they both fell asleep and I sat in the chair, grinning at them both like the big sucker that I am.

Pals.

Happy Birthday, Kirby Sue!!!!

Hey everyone!

Kirby officially turned one year old on Friday. We had a little party for her and she REALLY enjoyed herself. Let's just say she had a full belly and had fun with her toys. LOL.

Here is the highlight video: CLICK HERE

Joy, joy, joy!

It's 8:30 am and I've just dropped Kirby off at Doggie Day Camp at Petsmart. The Texas summer weather is now officially too much for Miss Kirby. It is too hot for our baby to play outside anymore, so I took her for some air conditioned play time at Petsmart. They put all the big doggies in a room together with an attendant and let 'em go crazy. She will LOVE that.

This is her first time at Doggie Day Camp and the Petsmart staff had to evaluate her to make sure she's social. (snicker!) This is the most social dog I've ever seen in my lifetime. LOL. She passed with flying colors, of course. The girls at the front counter jokingly told her "Kirby, I think you need to be more social..."

Now that I'm home without her, the cats are looking at me as if to say "Where's our dog?" Well, Hemi and Caesar look like they're asking that. Sarah looks as if she's saying "GOOD! You finally got rid of the 100 pound drool machine!" Sarah has never liked doggies...she only tolerates them.

Since it's her first time at Doggie Day Camp, I'm going to go back at 10:30 am to pick her up. That way the car won't be super hot when she gets in it. And she'll be tuckered out for sure. LOL.

When they came around the counter to get her, she didn't even look back at me. She was so excited to be somewhere she just went along with them. What a little boob. "Mommy? Who's Mommy?? Let's GO!"

What a weenie. :-)

Sleeping dogs

Miss Kirby has been extra cute in the sleep department lately.

Just today, she was playing with the polar bear that Santa brought her for Christmas last year...she was still in her post dog park playtime euphoria. :) All of a sudden Kevin and I look down and she's passed out on the floor, wrapped around her bear...sleeping sweetly. How adorable is this.

Bouncing

I have been remiss in keeping up the Kirby blog. I've been looking for jobs, going on interviews, and trying to avoid financial destruction. LOL. We're doing okay right now, so I have a minute to write.

I was home alone the other day and let Kirby out in the backyard for a while, as I often do. She usually walks along the fence line first and sniffs the permimeter of the yard...then disappears to smell every blade of grass. LOL. So I was doing dishes in the kitchen and turned around to see this flash of mahogany and white fur FLY by the sliding door. LOL. I stood there a minute and she came back the other way. She was BOUNCING. I've never seen anything like it...it was nothing but pure JOY. She was bouncing around the yard, running one way and then the other...with a giant fire log in her mouth. LOL.

We have a woodpile in the backyard, of course, because we have cold winters and enjoy having a fire in the fireplace. Kirby imagines that the woodpile is actually her toy bin. While smaller doggies have to limit themselves to play with tiny sticks, our gentle giant knows no boundaries. Stick? pffft! A firelog is her fetch toy. LOL. She goes over to that pile and sniffs them all out like she's shoe shopping at Macy's. Then she picks her favorite and starts bouncing.

I smile ear to ear everytime she does it. I stop what I'm doing and I just watch her. It's the best description of pure joy I can think of. That's our Kirby...the joyous one.

Kirby the philanthropist

Caesar the cat, "big" brother to our darling Kirby, is seen checking out his new fort...made possible by the generosity of one very drooly, large and in charge Miss Kirby. I am constantly in awe of the good natured, giving heart that Kirby has. You might think that a dog can't be generous, giving, and kind...but you would be wrong. My Kirby is proof positive. Not sold yet? Well, just listen!

First, let me just say...I'm the first to admit that I'm not a great homemaker. I'm not Martha Stewart. I'm not even close. I leave dishes in the sink almost every night, there are usually dirty clothes on my bedroom floor...and I always leave the vacuum out somewhere. In her infinite wisdom, Miss Kirby decided that my life would be better if I learned how to put things away and be more tidy...so she set about teaching me a valuable lesson. She chewed through the cord on my vacuum cleaner two weeks ago to teach me that I should put things away when I'm done with them.

I was upset that she felt I had to learn this lesson, but it was a cheapy $50 vacuum from Walmart. I went out the next day and bought a new version of the same cheapy vacuum and all was well.

Much to Kirby's delight, whenever I have to purchase something that comes in a big box I always turn the box into a kitty fort for our three cats. I seal the box up with packing tape and use a steak knife to cut doors and windows in it...they love it. The box for the new cheapy was no exception. Everyone loved it - including Kirby. She watched her kitty friends darting in and out of the box with the cutest curious tilt to her head. For the life of her, she can't fathom what's so fun about hiding in boxes. She'd much rather toss a ball around the yard or play fetch with her squeaky toy with her Daddy and me. Hiding in boxes? Silly cats.

However, it obviously got Kirby to thinking...if one cheapy vacuum box makes my kitties so happy...TWO boxes will make them twice as happy! How do I know this? Because, as it turns out, I didn't learn the lesson Kirby tried to teach me...and neither did my husband. I woke up yesterday morning to find that Kirby had not only chewed through the cord on the new cheapy, but also chewed through the cord on hubby's Shop Vac.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I was absolutely furious when I found the chewed, drool covered cords. And then I realized...I really only have myself to blame. How many people do the same stupid thing over and over again and expect a different result? (Here's the part where I raise my hand sheepishly).

I returned from Walmart this afternoon with a new new cheapy in the back of my car. I put it together and sealed the box back up...then performed another surgery to install the doors and windows that the kitties will love to play in. I used packing tape to connect the two boxes so that they have a really awesome "L" shaped fort. And I threw their mousy toys inside. Kirby watched the entire process with thinly veiled pride. She was quite proud of her efforts to secure an uber fort for her kitty friends and they are quite grateful to have such a thoughtful "little" sister. I can hear them rolling around in it as I write this.

And Miss Kirby? She's upstairs in our home office with my hubby and me...laying on her love seat and chewing happily on her squeaky toy, joyously basking in the genius of her master plan of philanthropy and the fact that Mommy has finally learned her lesson.

The vacuum is in the hall closet where it belongs. :-)