I’m not doing very well, am I?

It seems that when my life isn’t fraught with irritations, I have nothing to say.

I could have written a post hours ago, but instead I ambled through other peoples blogs, and now I’m wondering if I’ll get around to posting today.

Oh, and I’ve been playing! See? Scroll down! See, my new clock! And I did a nice button for my Guestmap! (Which, BTW, you haven’t yet all marked! Go on…, right now)

I was going to add a cute tiger that jumps about too, but the BH cursed when he saw it and started telling me how much these type of things irritate him. So no tiger. Like no book shelves. And no puppy. (You’ll have to excuse me, those comments will only make sense to the BH. Well, you too, now that I’ve said that ;o))

And I’m not really being fair.

I will have a proper bookcase one day. And ‘Operation Get-a-Puppy’ has began, with a better than expected response. Maybe you could use my comment box to explain to the BH why books and puppies are so important? (That’d be everyone except Moxie, who can just stay quiet about Trixie’s habits).

I’ve started Operation Get-a-Puppy because Ryker, our Labrador, is getting old. He’s nearly eleven, and is possibly deaf with bad eyesight (I say possibly because, well, he’s a Labrador, and you can never be sure if they’re just ignoring you).

Ryker had his booster this week and the vet reckons he’s developing arthritis. Apparently it shouldn’t develop too quickly and Ryker will be fine, if he takes the painkillers we’ve been given. Forevermore. At twenty quid a month. And at that price you can bet the dog’ll be with us for the next decade.

So I’m not too worried, but I figure the Puppy Campaign could be long and slow, so I’d better start now. And saving! We'll have to save! Have you seen how much Labrador puppies cost these days?!! Ooo, on second thoughts I’ll drop this topic as unhelpful to the cause.

But I am hoping the BH will fold within a year or two and we can get a puppy when Ryker’s still around to help train. Ever since he’s grown up Ryker’s been such a good dog. But there wasn't another dog about when we got him, and he was frigging nightmare puppy. I won’t bother regaling you with the individual stories; I’ll just provide a list:

Flip flops (every pair we owned)
TV controls
Video controls
Camcorder
Back seat of car
Two seat belts
Two lino floors
Two sash windows
Five door frames
Dog cage
Knickers galore (this ISN’T uncommon! But always embarrassing, and taught me to pick up my laundry)

And on the bright side, Ryker never mastered wallpaper stripping which my previous dog managed with ease.

And I’ve just remembered the first night we had him, he pulled on the toaster cord and ended up with a bloodied head. Yep, Ryker was a card! It’s what memories are made of, and I’m up for doing it again! Of course the BH could satisfy my broody tendencies another way, but kids take so much longer to learn the rules and the names require more thought. And it’d take a miracle.

Dingbat’s hanging on in there too! Though I have warned the children his time is short. J started crying and asked if we’d get a new Dingbat, when I said no her wails increased and she told me she’d miss him. I pointed out he hadn’t gone yet and she could go and whistle with him. By the time she’d walked across the room to his cage, she’d forgotten why she was bothering and went to see if Miffy was on TV yet. Dingbat didn’t look too distraught.

But P said something odd when I was talking about pets dying. He mentioned that a boy in his class had had to bury his cat. I nodded and said everything dies when it gets old, but apparently this cat wasn’t old, just a kitten really. And then P went on to say Jake’s mother (Jake being the boy at school) hadn’t meant to kill it, as she thought it would get out the way when the lawnmower started up. WTF? Could this be for real?!