Blogville Emergency Drill -- Snowed in!

Attention, Blogville! This is Emergency Services Manager Casey calling a Blogville Emergency Drill! Today's theme is TRAPPED! 

Sometimes you end up trapped in your own home due to weather or other disasters. For you northerners, you might get snowed in and can't leave your house. Fur others of us, we might get stuck in our homes because of a hurricane or a tornado or something like that. So it's very impawtant if you live in an area where you might get stuck in your house for whatever reason that you PREPARE and have a PLAN in place!

To PREPARE, make sure that your home is stocked with all the impawtant things you'll need:
1. Food and water for everyone in the family, including all pets! Take stock of what you have and pretend you have to prepare and eat it without any electricity, just in case you lose power. It's no good having a big supply of canned food all ready to go and THEN remembering that you only have an electric can-opener!
2. Battery- or crank-operated radios, so you can keep on top of weather reports.
3. Alternative light sources. Battery-operated lights are safer than candles, but make sure that you have plenty of batteries. If you do decide to use candles, make sure they're on a stable surface where they won't be accidentally knocked over and not near anything else that might catch fire.
4. Alternative heat sources. If you have a generator, make sure it's in good repair and you have plenty of fuel for it. If you have a fireplace, have fuel handy. If you don't have either, have lots of blankies! 
5. Medicine. A basic first-aid kit is a good idea, especially if you might be trapped for a hurricane or tornado disaster. Also make sure that you have extras of any prescription medications that anyone in the family takes.

Once you're PREPARED, you can set your PLAN in place when your trapped emergency starts.
1. Check your supplies regularly. Rotate food, water, and medication to make sure everything is fresh.
2. Know where you're going to bunker down, if possible, and keep your supplies handy. All of our emergency supplies are in the same closet where we hide from tornadoes, so we have them right on hand in case we get stuck. If you're snowed in, pick a room to congregate in so you don't have to waste energy heating more. Close off unused rooms to preserve heat.
3. Know how to get out! If you might get snowed in, keep your snow removal equipment in repair and ready. If you're more in danger of hurricanes, tornadoes, or other disasters, keep in mind that you might have to get through a lot of debris to get out. Spare towels and blankets can be used to protect hands, feet, and paws if you need to dig out or walk over dangerous surfaces.
4. Figure out a way to communicate with the outside world! If you're in a disaster where you're going to need help getting out, you need to make sure people know you're in there! Emergency flares, flashlights, or even just bright cloth you can make into flags can all be used to signal to emergency personnel that you're in need of help. Don't count on being able to use your cell phone!

Remember that humans can panic in times of emergency. Walk them through the PREPARATION and PLAN so they know what they're doing and don't have to think how to react when an emergency comes. And when disaster strikes, be there to keep them calm and give them lots of snuggles and reassuring kisses. 

This is the end of your Blogville Emergency Drill. Thank you!

Sorry!

Sorry to everyone that Jessie and I have been so quiet lately. Momma has been busy lately trying to keep us all healthy and start to get us all ready for the Renny-sauce faire she works at in the spring. Can you believe she even furgot to give us our breakfast this morning???? We may waste away to nothing by the time she comes home at lunch.

I'm so disappointed in you, Momma. 

BUT we did get to hang out with Auntie and all our cousins this weekend, so that was lots of fun. And we'll be settling into a good routine soon, so that'll keep Momma remembering impawtant stuff.

"Feed your doggies every morning" is one of the big ones, you know!

Anyway, this morning Mayor Arty unveiled Blogville's new Portrait Hall, featuring pawtratis of our past Mayors. How exciting! The Pawtrait Hall will be housed at Blogville's Administration page, where you can also read all about your City Council members and the impawtant jobs they do around Blogville. What an active, involved community we have! I'm proud to be a citizen of Blogville and a member of the City Council.

Proud to serve!

Tune in for more impawtant Blogville events coming soon!


PeeS: We DID get fed! Momma left for a very early lunch so she could come home and feed us. We're still discussing how best to punish her for the oversight, but we can think much more clearly now that we're not so hungry!

Pupdate

I wanted to update everyone on my big visit yesterday to the cardiologist! It was mighty interesting. Momma and I went to this grreat waiting room that had all sorts of interesting scents around it. I got to meet a few more people who fussed over how amazing I am and how friendly I am and how cute my little nubbin wiggle is. Well DUH! I mean, hasn't EVERYONE heard that by now??

Anyway, the new dogtor listened to my heart a lot and did some fancy tests to watch my heart. I didn't like that one very much. I had to lay on a table in a REALLY weird position while the dogtor rubbed goo on my chest. It was only okay because Momma stayed right by my head and told me it was.

When it was all over, the dogtor told Momma that I have something called boxer cardiomyopathy. That's a genetic disease that's common in boxers -- I guess that's why they named it after us! Anyway, if it's not treated, it could be kinda skeery, like my heart would just stop working. Yikes! BUT we caught it super early thanks to my pawesome dogtor, so I should be okay. I have to take pills every morning and night, which I'm not thrilled about, ya know? But that should keep my heart beating a-okay, so it's worth it.

Mommas don't take news as well as we do, so she's been holding me a lot and snuggling close. I like that a LOT! I wonder if I can use this to score some extra treats?

PeeS:

We also found out last night that my former foster sister Tiana died suddenly. She was the sweetest little girl with a mile-long tongue, and everyone who met her fell in love with her. She joined her brother Harley at the Bridge. Momma's favorite memory of Tia is her meet & greet with her new family and she and Harley just started kissing each other the minute they met and didn't let up the whole visit.

We smile picturing Tia and Harley's happy reunion at the Bridge. And we know Cinderella and Pumba met her too, to have a former fosters reunion. Enjoy all the couches up there, Tia! We still love you.

Does size matter?

Apparently today is National Measure Your Feet Day. Okay, Momma, get out the ruler, I'm ready!

But I have to wonder....does it really matter what size your feet are? Mine are just the right size to lend a comforting paw.

To hold my toys good and secure...

They're just the right size to stretch out OR curl up when I sleep.

Yeah, furget about the ruler, Momma. I think my feet are pawfect!

What a surprise!

Thanks for all the POTP for Momma's worry about my heart. I'll see the dogtor early next week about it, and that should reassure her.

But I don't mind getting skeery doctor warnings if I get a pawesome surprise like the one I got last night. The doorbell rang and...

"My Boy! My Boy, My Boy, I missed you, My Boy!!!"

Yup, My Boy and his wife Auntie Jess came for a special visit!

The Jesses, with bonus Pidge 

We all like My Boy because he's a true pack member. He's MY Boy, of course, but I share.

"Enough of that, Jessie. Remember whose Boy he is."

We posed for our traditional pictures.

And then a nice little family shot. We all got up there on our own to pose, even Pidge! Momma didn't ask us or anything.

 Yup, it was a pretty grreat visit! But you know, no matter how amazing My Boy is, my heart still belongs to my Momma.

Rhythm and blues

What's that song, "I got rhythm, I got music"? I went to visit all my friends at the dogtor yesterday -- they just LOVE having me there to cuddle all over! So I got in my cuddles and kisses and belly scratches like usual, then got about sixty million cookies from the dogtor herself. She knows how to win over a dog's heart, doesn't she??

 "Uh, why did the cookies stop?"

Then Momma shoved my jaw open -- VERY bad-mannered! -- and showed the dogtor a little growth I have on my gums. Nothing to worry about, but it needs to come off and get biopsied just to make sure. But then the dogtor listened to my heart and said "Hmm." (That's never a good sign.)

It turns out I have a bit of an arrhythmia with my heart, meaning it's beating a little irregularly. That could mean nothing much, or it could mean more of a heart problem. We have to figure out which is which before I have surgery on my gums, because bad heart + anesthesia = bad! I think everyone's just overreacting, but if you could spare a few crossed paws, I'd appreciate it. For Momma's sake.


Quick pupdate! Momma gots a call from the dogtor this morning, and she said I have the bloodwork of a puppy! So that's a good sign. I still have to see the specialist to check on my heart, but everything else is fine and dandy.

Visitors!

I really love those "holiday" thingies that mean Momma stays home from work and cuddles us all day long. We had one on Monday, but there was an EXTRA surprise!

Can you identify those legs? BOL! It's AUNTIE!! She came all the way up to visit us, instead of us going down to see her.

Some of Momma's other friends came, like Miss Caryl here, who knows how to snuggle a pup best. I told her she can come back anytime!

They stayed ALL DAY, and I got to snuggle with everybody. It was the best!

An impawtant question

As you all know by now, the Doodz are hosting a totally pawesome Valentine's Day dance!

I wasn't sure what to do this year, because I still miss my sweet Ciara. I thought about having Yente Ruby set me up, but I'm not sure I'm ready for another girlfuriend. Then a thought occurred to me!

Dear Hailey,

I know you are missing your Easy, and this Valentine's Day will be hard on you as your furst Blogville event without him.So I thought we could go together as furiends. I am a true Southern gentledog, and we'll have a nice time together. So what do you say? Will you go to the K-oss dance with me????

Casey

Have you heard the news?

OMD, have you heard? The Doodz are throwing a big VALENTINE'S DAY bash!!

This is going to be so much fun! Jessie is already talking about finding a new dress for the pawty. Lucky girl -- SHE has a steady boyfriend! I miss my sweet Ciara. Maybe Yente Ruby can find me a good date!

Wordless Wednesday

Go home, weather, you're drunk!

Here in Texas, we're used to some pretty kerazy weather. But Momma says this winter has been nuts even for Texas. This is us this weekend:

SNOW!! Not much for most of you guys, but for Texas, it was a LOT! It was also in the low 20s, which is pawsitively frigid for us. We spent the whole weekend bundled up.

Now the rest of the week, it's supposed to be in the upper 60s and even 70s!! It's bizarre, furiends. I think Mother Nature has been drinking a little too much of that leftover New Year's champagne!

Throwback Thursday

Since I told the story yesterday of Pigeon, I thought I'd share a picture of how things USED to look at our house. These were taken within just a few days of my coming home. The kitties were NOT sure what to make of me. They spent a lot of time hanging out on the top of the refrigerator...

While I waited super-patiently for them to come down and play!

There and Back Again: A Pigeon's Tale

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Momma. She wasn't MY momma yet, but she would be. She lived in a tall tower in a far-off place called Chicago with her kitty Scribbles, studying all the day long so she could be a lawyer.

Then one day, when she was back in the glorious state of Texas visiting her pawrents for Christmas, her momma mentioned that there was a stray cat hanging around. The-lady-who-would-be-Grandma said she was worried for the kitty because there were buzzards in the area hurting cats and small dogs. Well, that worried Momma too, and she went out to visit the cute little orange kitty who had a purr that just wouldn't stop. Momma fell in love with her right away, but she couldn't come to live with the-lady-who-would-be-Grandma because they were allergic to kitties.

While Momma was visiting, she had a big fight with a friend and got very sad, so the-lady-who-would-be-Grandma brought the kitty inside and said "I think you need cat therapy." It was just what Momma needed, since her kitty was all the way back in Chicago and couldn't help her feel better. Well, after cuddling up with that purr for a long time, Momma knew that she couldn't possibly leave that sweet kitty out to the buzzards.

 BUT Momma couldn't take her home to Chicago, because her room in the tower was TINY and over-full with just her and Scribbles. But then came a rescue -- Momma's brother's girlfriend missed HER cats, who lived with her momma in another state, but she didn't want to take on the commitment of a full-time kitty. So she offered to take the sweet orange kitty for a few months until Momma finished her studying and came back to Texas.

The sweet little orange kitty was given several names at furst. Momma liked Lipstick from a book she'd read, and she tried Penny, and a few other things. But none of them fit. Then she heard her brother calling the kitty "Pidge" because her nonstop purring sounded just like a pigeon cooing. It was pawfect -- the sweet little kitty officially became Pigeon!

Eventually Pigeon came to live with Momma, once Momma and Scribbles were back in Texas, She lived in a few little apartments with them, then Momma bought a great big house for them to spread out in . . . AND with even enough room for a DOG or two!

Pigeon has always been the cat with the purr that wouldn't quit. She's more aloof and stereotypically feline in attitude, while Momma always called Scribbles a dog in a cat's body. But she looooves to snuggle with Momma, she loves hanging out in high places, and she finally decided she kinda loves her canine siblings too.

 I'm so glad the-lady-who-would-be-Grandma brought you in for cat therapy fourteen years ago, Pigeon! Happy happy 15th birthday -- and here's to many more!

Not ready for 2017

Hit the snooze button a few more times, Jessie.

PeeS:

Happy birthday to my sissy Pigeon! We'll share pics of all her birthday treats tomorrow.