A Time to Play

Hi! It's me! (Not many photos today; Mom is knee deep in her mosaics.) She said her cousins asked about me at the family get-together, so I thought I'd tell y'all what I've been up to. Mainly, I've been growing! I'm 6 months old, and I weigh almost 8 pounds. I don't eat much, especially since it got so hot outside, but I've got Mom feeding me peoples food one bite at a time, and she keeps organic puppy chow and filtered water down all the time. She says I'll grow a little more but not much. Geesh! I was sure hopin' I'd get big enough to reach those door knobs......

I've started liking people, a lot, no matter who shows up at our door. Back when I was a li'l kid, like last month, I thought everybody was here to steal the peanut butter, and I'd bark and growl at them till they went away, but now I know they just came to play with me! Well, most of 'em do, but like the guy who came to look at the carpet and the ones who hang out with Dad in his shop, not so much. And then there are the ones like Shawn......when he came for supper, he got down on the floor and let me give him kisses and threw the ball for me and rewarded me with Cheerios! Only trouble is, they always leave.

I am not loving this Arkansas summer, though! Excuse me! Whose idea was this? I mean if you're butt nekkid, or close to it, this 100 degree heat and humidity might be almost bearable, but you try playing out there in a double-layered fur coat and see how much you love the good ol' summer time! Dad says it will only get worse thru September, so I'm stickin' indoors, except for quick trips out to do my business. In the mornings, the dew is so heavy that I come back lookin' like a drowned rat, so I mostly play in the backyard in the evenings after the sun has set. You just wait till winter. You guys will be sitting around shivering, and I'll be the one all toasty and rearin' to go!

Dad didn't stay mad about the little bit of tinkle on the bed, and I've been sleeping with them a lot! It's my most favoritest thing! I start out at the foot of the bed, being all nice and quiet and chewing on Mickey Mouse, but towards morning, I get a little bored, and whenever one of them moves or makes noise, I think maybe they want to play! So I move up and kiss them on the face, but usually they say, "No, Marley!" all grumpy like. And then it's just me and ol' Mick again, all alone in the dark. People sure are serious about their sleep.

Mom is still tryin' to leash train me. I get Cherrios for not biting it, but mostly I bite it and roll up in it. A Shih Tzu will do whatever you ask him to..............as long as that's what he was planning to do anyway. Well, it's almost time for Dad to come home. He only works 2 days a week, but he's my best play buddy, so I miss him really, really bad! When I hear his truck pull into the garage, I go bonkers......I think that's him! Omigosh! Omigosh! See ya!