Spring for Mr. Nelson

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, Mr. Nelson got a spring haircut the other day. (I tried to say that in a calm way so none of you would be alarmed). Poor Mr. Nelson! (That IS alarm)!It is so sad that his groomer is Missy Linda. She is not trained to do this---which is obvious when one sees him. Tio Kane asked Missy Linda if she was trying to make him look like a hedgehog---a round body on stick legs!

It all started one recent afternoon when Missy Linda finally started trying to get out the mats and fur that is shedding from underneath his hair. He is weird in that his fur never comes off by itself. Missy Linda said with Missy Button and Mr. Puck, there would be clumps of fur everywhere, but that's not how it is with Mr. Nelson. His fur kind of lets loose from his skin, or it just loosens, and then just stays there. It is hard to get it combed on out. Add to that the fact that Mr. Nelson HATES to be brushed and runs away to hide when he even sees a brush, and the problems become obvious.

So anyway, things got out of hand (which is fairly routine when Missy Linda is involved), and, now, Mr. Nelson does look a lot like a hedgehog if viewed from the side or back. He looks kind of all right (!) if seen straight on from the exact front!

I think Mr. Nelson is going to have a long couple of weeks until his "coif" grows out some. And, sadly, he is still subjected to brushing episodes in order to get out the rest of the fur, but he is taking things somewhat better-----Hey, look! A squirrel!

Nearly One Month

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, here is an example of how hard it is for me to get computer time for writing to you all: Missy Viktoria Sharon Ledgerwood was born nearly a month ago, and this is the first time I've said, "Welcome to the world. Missy Viktoria! We are glad you are here."

She was born on March 26, to Missy Danka and Mr. Ron Ledgerwood in Guam. We know that they are over the moon happy (and a little delirious from sleep deprivation)!

I think that a little girl who gets to live on a tropical island should have a pretty darn good time, don't you?

Quiet

Hello most humans and many others,

It has been eerily quiet around here for the last few days. It is getting near the end of the school year for Missy Linda and Tio Kane, and they have had their big papers due. I think that Tio Kane's most important one is due sometime today because he has been on the computer for a few days, and he told Missy Linda that she is not allowed to say one word to him when he is at the computer. I will guarantee you that is a nearly impossible feat for her! So far she seems to be complying though. Maybe she should get a little prize or something.

It might be easier for Missy Linda to actually keep quiet these days because she seems to be slightly worn down. The new manager has arrived at the store, and that means quite a few changes for her. For one thing, she is working more hours, but they still don't allow her to be full time. There is a lot of drama going on between the other supervisor and the new manager, which wears on everyone. Missy Linda says she is definitely looking for a better job, so if any of you all know of anything. . .

Deteriorating

Hello most humans and many others,

Please help me to get out of here somehow! Missy Linda is going absolutely bonkers- - -and she wants to take all of us with her! From what I see on television, I think it's really good that she doesn't have guns.

Evidently, things are not good at her job these days. I'm not sure exactly what she means, but she says, "Conditions are deteriorating in the gulag."

As it turns out, she may have a point this time. All of a sudden, her boss is taking early retirement after thirty-six years with the company. He says, "One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch."

The bad apple is the new district manager who arrived last fall, I believe. In addition to Missy Linda's boss, two other store managers in OKC have suddenly quit. Missy Linda says she thinks that can't be coincidence- - -three at once!

Perhaps you should keep an eye on the news for awhile to make sure she hasn't done something worthy of BREAKING NEWS!

Softball Season

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, it seems that in the human sports area for children, it is now softball and baseball season. Missy Ryley has had two softball T-ball games so far. Her team is called the Green Machine- - -whatever that means. Even Tio Kane went to her game last night. Missy Linda was glad she was able to get off work to go also. Missy Linda was upset because last year, she was able to go to only one game. This year she is hoping to go to a lot of them.

I heard that Missy Ryley looked super cute in her catcher's get-up- - -except that you can't really see her with all that gear! She is great at stepping up to home plate to take care of business. I hope I get to see her play sometime, but Missy Linda says I probably can't dress properly to attend a ball game, but I know that is just an excuse!

Dodging a Bullet

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, I am lucky to be able to talk to you all today! It has been a circus around here lately. (What else is new?)

Missy Linda has been unhappy with her job, squared. (Again, what else is new?) She said that she almost quit yesterday, but that she realized she needed to wait until she has an alternate job. Whew! That was close! Even though she makes a piddly paddly amount of money, I am even less likely to get any new dresses or get to go any place if she is not working!

I don't really understand her problems about her job except the part about not getting paid much. It seems that the other day she asked her boss to let her off on Thursday nights so that she could go to Missy Ryley's softball games. She says her "punishment" is that she has to work two days instead of one, except that it is only three or four hours at a time.

You should have seen her throwing a fit when she was telling Tio Kane about how she has to call the district manager at the end of each shift and tell him how many of certain things they have sold! Then he asks why she thinks that they didn't sell more and what she can do to sell more. Things like that seem to send Missy Linda into some kind of a colossal snit that I can't even describe! I can only hope that she does not act at work like she acts at home.

Excuses, Excuses!

Hello most humans and many others,

Well, it seems that right now is what Tio Kane and Missy Linda call mid-terms, so that is the excuse they are giving me for no computer time this week. They say they have "papers due,"and they have to do "research." I don't really know enough about college to refute their claims, but I still think they just use some of that "work" for an excuse to hog the computer. They aren't fooling me for a minute!

When Missy Linda is at work, Tio Kane takes over. He even reads newspapers and magazines online! I thought I was a part of this family, too. . .at least, that's what they tell me to keep me quiet. I am on to their tricks; I just haven't figured out what to do about it.

I have heard that next week is spring break. Missy Linda has already informed me that she has a take home test due the Monday after that, and a term paper due in short order. I know that she doesn't work on assignments until the last minute: she is not fooling me!

Reality

Hello most humans and many others,

I can tell everyone that I am officially tired of listening to Charlie Sheen's rants. They seem to be on every channel all the time. Missy Linda and Tio Kane each have on lots of news shows all the time. Even if they aren't actually watching the TV, it is on, and I can't get away from it (no legs or feet, remember?). I would have hoped that there would be more real news ON THE NEWS!

I think craziness is seeping through the TV sometimes, and Missy Linda is catching it. That's the last thing we need around this house, believe me! Here's what I have to witness around here: For pajamas, Missy Linda wears Tshirts that are too stained or ripped or too nearly worn out to be seen by anyone (and they shouldn't be seen by me, for sure!). Add to these, some pajama pants of various prints. The patterns on the pants have no relationship of any kind to the colors or patterns of the tops. Also, most of the pants are that length that looks so stupid, halfway between the knees and ankles. Then add to the vision that the pants are huge! Sometimes she also wears black socks- - -just like some old geezer with his sandles.

One day when Missy Linda looked particularly disturbing- - -or disturbed, she went up to Tio Kane, who was innocently eating his cereal, and she said, "Kane, I can't imagine why anyone could possibly leave this, can you?" Tio Kane spit milk all over the newspaper!

Not a Good Listener

Hello most humans and many others,

It seems that I have become Missy Linda's confidante. This is a job that I do not want and did not ask for. However, since I cannot just walk away, I am forced to listen while she talks and talks and talks. She seems to work out her problems out loud, and I am forced to be a party to the whole process.

Right now, she is driving me crazy about things that are happening at work. Since she is now a supervisor, she can't decide if she needs to talk to the boss about a certain other supervisor's behavior. Some of the other employees want Missy Linda to speak to the boss on their behalf as well as for herself. Everyone who works with this person has to work extra hard to take up the slack she causes. It gets overwhelming after a while. No one has the energy to do another persons's work as well as her own. "No one at that place gets paid enough to do that," Missy Linda whines.

I just want to be left out of her paltry little human problems! I am too furiouw that I was not allowed to have an Oscar party this year!

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away

Hello most humans and many others,

I guess Missy Linda wasn't paying attention to the weather dudes and gals. She says she knew it was going to rain, but she didn't expect this much. She is glad, glad, glad that it finally did happen though, and that it's more than she expected. We needed it and much more.

Mr. Nelson was surprised and very unhappy though. He is hiding upstairs because it has been thundering. He did go outside to potty during a break in the noise and when the rain wasn't coming down hard. He doesn't mind getting wet because it doesn't get down to his skin. Missy Linda gets annoyed because he can't help but get things in the house wet. He does stop as soon as he gets inside to get dried off some, but doesn't like for it to take too long.

There is still going to be a battle with the mud on his feet, though, even if he stops to get his feet wiped. He runs back and forth by the back fence so much that he has literally worn ruts. It looks like a track used for biking or racing of some kind, Missy Linda says. It is going to be hard to get any grass to grow back there this spring because it has, so far, been impossible to keep Mr. Nelson away from anywhere in the yard that he wants to be. Last summer, he pretty much killed Missy Linda's sad attempt at a flower bed because that's where he wanted to play. I guess Mr. Nelson is more important than grass.