And no, I don’t mean the rain, which caught us unaware this morning, as I walked my beasts in my pajamas.  Hard to believe that just a few days ago I was too hot to type, and now I am wearing a sweater.  Summer in Vancouver is such a tease!

Why just yesterday we were playing Flying Squirrel in the late afternoon sun.  Well, until it landed in the overhead power wires.

That was indeed a bit of a pisser.

MOOOOMMMMMM!  You SSSSUUUUUUCK!!  Get it DOOOOOWWWWNNNN!

I knocked it down again with Wootie’s beloved Fifa.

But in racing to get it first, Wootie misjudged its trajectory and overshot his landing.

Which left an opening for The Speeding Bullet to snag it and, in an effort to evade The Persistent Devilry AKA Race,

Dexter disappeared under my sun lounge with the Squirrel, and made Mad Teeth™ at the world at large.

This game: also a pisser.

Don’t let him fool you – he’s put in his Happy Face, but as you can see, there’s an angry squint hiding behind his smiles.

Just like there is a Bastard Devil hiding behind Race’s cutepuppy face.

Today he chewed off the other strap on the mate to my favourite shoe he ate last week.  Oh well, at least they match now.  But piss on him, the evil monkey!  MEGAN would never have eaten my shoes.

That’s right!  But you abandoned me, and I live with my new sister Ally now, and neither of us are eating anyone’s shoes.  Your loss, suckah.

Harumph.  I am glad she is so happy though.  I wonder if they would trade her for Race?  I have not put a lot of effort into Race in the week I have had him, but I have managed to put a fairly reliable recall on him, and also he has learned to sit or stand for pets and affection – when he rolls over on his back, I stop touching him.  When he starts biting at my arms and hands, I walk away.  He is catching on and trying very hard to just stand still and wag his tail so he gets happy rubs.  But it’s exhausting, because every interaction is a lesson, and I’m a lazy person who just wants to ruffle his ears and scritch his chest.  Bad, lazy Food Lady.

Actually, I am not that lazy, just tired and busy.  My stepdad has his own business doing home renovations, and sometimes he throws some work my way when he needs an extra pair of hands, so this week I spent some time painting the exterior of a condo building’s trim, and some ceilings, and helping him with some other stuff.  He’s a good reno dude, and the more work he gets the more work I get!  So if you need home renos done in the Lower Mainland, message me for his contact info ;-)

The problem is, years of carrying a heavy camera around, and sitting at a computer editing and typing, has given me repetitive strain issues in my wrists.  When I overdo it, they complain loudly.  And after a week of awkward painting, I was really looking forward to having a wrist-free weekend by Friday afternoon.  Alas, I forgot that I also had to work Saturday!

I was doing test-shots at the dress rehearsal for the Paws 2 Dance Gala performance coming to The Bell Center for the Performing Arts this November.  They had their dress rehearsal Saturday and I went by to figure out where I needed to be for good photos, and what gear I need to get good shots (the conclusion:  I need better gear!)

It looks like the performance will be a lot of fun and visually really interesting – they are performing with Kiters, which is something I have never seen before, but looks really fascinating.  You should check it out!

I scolded my now *screaming* wrists for being total pussies when I went to meet TDBCR alumni Gus for his photo shoot.  Gus is about 12 years old, and in June he suffered a fibrocartilaginous embolism (like a stroke) while out with his dogwalker, that paralyzed him.  His adopters were determined that Gus would walk again though, and after weeks of therapy, acupuncture and the best care a dog could ever have, Mr. Gus is back up and at ‘em!

Look at him go!

If Gus can overcome a stroke and total paralysis, surely I can overcome a little wrist pain.  Gus agrees.

Come on soldier!  Throw my ball!  Stop whining and work through your pain!

Well he doesn’t have to be so BOSSY about it!  Yeesh!

But here’s the REAL pisser.

And I mean this literally.  Donut has started peeing on my dog beds, which makes me Very Very Unhappy.  There are now two beds, one of them very expensive, sitting out on the porch stinking up the outdoors, and waiting for me to clean them.  Can anyone recommend a cat-pee removal product that WORKS?  I’ve washed them in the regular washing machine, with all manners of cleaning agents, but she keeps peeing in the same spots so it’s obviously not working.  I need something really effective.  Please share your successful cleaning agents with me!  Alternatively, if you would like Donut to pee on dog beds in your house, send me your address and I will mail her to you.  In pieces, if you prefer, to save on shipping.

*grumble*