a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Party Done, Dogs Aren't

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Party Done, Dogs Aren't

SUMMARY: The advantage of having people over is that you clean up!
The back yard now looks SO much nicer than it has in a while, because I spent hours and hours over a couple of weeks getting things organized, trimmed, ready for summer, put away, and so on. (Plus the tree trimmers coming through a couple of weeks back and getting rid of all that dead wood helped tremendously.)

This is why I should have parties more often.

The blackberry sorbet was, as always, astonishingly delicious, the friends were good, the weather was pretty much perfect--not too cold for sorbet, not so hot as to make us uncomfortable.

The only thing that didn't work well is the fact that my dogs are so dang bad about bringing toys for people to throw. I have to send them repeated graved invitations every day when we go out into the yard. It's not that they don't WANT the toy thrown. It's just that Tika prefers to prove that she can get it and then wait for me or Boost to do something with the toy (and I refuse unless she brings it back). And Boost gets tired of bringing it back and then always having Tika--Ms. Dominant Dog--get it first when it's thrown.

But, even when Boost DOES get it, she brings it back about 20 feet away, drops it, and stares at it, waiting for someone to throw it.

Oddly enough, this does not get a lot of action from party guests sitting in their chairs on the patio chatting cheerily with their neighbors. So the dogs are not completely worn out. (Jake used to be the superhero of retrieval. Nothing deterred him from dropping the toy at people's feet endlessely.) But at least they were on their feet pretty much all day from around 1:00 until just now (8:00) following me and/or the guests around, so that should hold them anyway.

Oh, and I saw Toy Story 3 this morning. I cried at the end (it was happy but sad at the same time, you know?) and then I laughed at the further end in the credits. But I also got the lump in my throat when the family dog--who was a bouncing crazy fun little guy in the earlier movie(s) showed up old and gray and barely mobile. Dang dogs. Movie was well worth seeing, and the 3-D was nicely done, not gratuitous.

4 comments:

  1. No spilling blackberry sorbet slush? Excellent! No tripping over dogs or toys and dropping edibles? Good job! LOL Sounds like a fun party! Bet the dogs made you pay later though.

    I want to go see Toy Story III. I haven't seen any of the others but I guess all the promo has me intrigued...I'll have to go alone as husband wouldn't be caught dead...ah well.

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  2. Too bad husband won't go. They are good stories, well told, funny for an adult audience, too. Kids like them but for an entirely different reason. Don't know why some adults think that animation can't make good films. I think you'd like it more more if you saw the 1st 2 (rent them)--continuing characters and some lines that are funnier given then earlier films--but I also think that probably the opening sequence gives you a good step into the story and I think the stuff is funny enough to stand on its own.

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  3. P.S. Yep I wasn't physically clumsy at all, but I forgot a few things that were kind of important. Ah, well, no disasters--actually it was fine.

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