My Xmas Newsletter 2007

Arrrrooooo, it’s me, Scout – the better half of the Thorniley Dogs (never mind Max)! 2007 has been an exciting year for us! Mom and Dad have been so busy that I’m quite sure they have not fulfilled their quota of long walks, table scraps, keeping Max, away from me and most of all what every mighty shiba wants: attention!

Dad has been doing his standard construction around the house. This keeps me on edge from marauding drywall dust and screeching noises from the garage. They finished the most important room in the house for me and that was food central, a kitchen with a large island and some skylights for my tanning pleasure. My friends and I enjoy gathering in the kitchen and this includes my newest canine friend, Zoha. She belongs to our neighbors, Tom and Kasia, from Poland and she only understands polish. I don’t usually like other dogs but Max and Zoha are okay unlike those monsters in my neighborhood, the two St. Bernard’s, nothing saintly about them! They dared to attack me and Zoha, frightening her for a while but I was okay.

What’s that? Did mom and dad abandon us to go gallivant around the world? Why yes, of course… They went snowmobiling in our ‘great’ state of Michigan and for the first time, the trails were covered with snow, not mud! They had to go a long way to find snow, somewhere past a bridge called Mighty Mac in a place called Muninsing. And what did they get for the long journey? While snowmobiling they ran out of gas, not once but twice. The first time, dad had to siphon gas out of his friend’s machine using his mouth. And poor mom, she almost made it to a gas station. At least she didn’t crash into any icy lakes or snow drifts like past years! I keep them telling them Max & I are good luck charms and they need to take us along. Somehow, I don’t think the Holiday Inn agrees.

Next they went south to Mexico with those crazy friends of dad’s. They rode chicken buses with the locals late at night from Playa del Carmen and took a moped around Cozumel Island. While in Cozumel, Dad fulfilled his lifelong dream of snorkeling with the Miss Universe contestants there for a pageant. Mom beat him by getting to talk to them in the buff in the changing room. They 4-wheeled through sandy jungles and mom zip-lined backwards over a lake with alligators chomping at the air below her (the poor men who had to catch her when she crashed at the other side). Dad rappelled down a cliff while mom cried in fear until she was finally thrown off, on a rope of course. And did they bring us any Taco Bell Chihuahuas to eat, you ask? Nope….

Then they took an October trip to London & Paris with Grandpa including a chunnel train ride. They saw some ancient roman ruins in a town called Bath. Bath, boy am I ever glad I didn’t make that trip… In Paris, they went to some little man - Napoleon’s resting place, a WWII museum, the train station with impressionist paintings, the Versailles palace and the Eiffel tower that’s everywhere in our house on walls. I’m not sure why they want such an eye-full. Grandpa was happy to see Paris for the first time but he was awfully tired afterwards. Max & I were just happy to have them home again but did enjoy walks 3x a day with our favorite cousin, Lynn.

Dad finished the dining & laundry rooms this fall complete with a gas fireplace and old-time hanging oil lamp. We hosted a nice thanksgiving dinner in a room big enough to allow me and Max to hang out under the table and still be able to dive for falling turkey parts. We enjoyed our dog walks too by running after rabbits. Max got hit by skunk spray a few times when he went to scrap with them. We learned what coyotes, Canadian geese, deer and groundhogs are and why we are kept locked inside from them. I fell in the pool a few times too many and refuse to sun on the pool deck anymore. Time to go make Mom walk me now! Merry, Merry Christmas to you and yours! Ho, ho, ho arrrrroooo…. Yours Truly, Scout.