It's not the Souper Bowl :(

Hey, I know what happened. I mean it's not like I'm blind and deaf, right? Just because I happen to live my life closer to the ground than those who walk around on two legs doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on in their world. My sister, Izzi, told me all about the Superbowl and I was very excited. Out of my skin excited. Jump on and off the couch like a madwoman excited.

Then, she explained to me a couple of things that dampened my excitement (although, thankfully, it did not go away altogether).

First of all, it was "Superbowl" as in "a bowl that is super" or something like that. And, not "Soup er bowl", which I thought it was and since there was a word in that that I understood (soup) and soup means food and food means that my belly gets full, I was wicked excited (Izzi tells me that those of us who live around here use that word, and it doesn't mean something bad like the wolves and witches that I've heard stories about). So, then I realized what everyone was talking about was NOT food. Since it wasn't about food, I didn't know what it was about (my entire life revolves around food: sniffing for it, eating it, taking it away from my sister, begging for it, looking for more of it, pretending earrings are edible...those sorts of things).

And, second, there was no real "bowl" in it, which is too bad because I thought we were going to get another dish along with our dry food and water. Maybe a dish of whipped cream? Or lamb treats? I couldn't wait, but then - like I said - Izzi explained that there was no real "bowl," which was disappointing, but since I have a very short attention spa ... hey where did that slipper come from...hold on, I need to attack it. Where was I? Oh, right, short attention span, I "let it go" pretty quickly.

But...

Izzi explained to me what it was all about and how there was maybe even going to be some extra food because it was some kind of special football game, I got exited. And, the more I thought about maybe having extra food because of football, the more excited I got about the Superbowl. And, so, I grabbed my little red football and ran around with it and then I would drop it and someone would throw it and I'd pretend that I was a football player and I would run after it and I would grab it and I would run and run and run with it and then I would drop it and it would be thrown again and I ran more and more. Whew! I was pretty tired after all that exercise and just wanted to take a nap. And, eat. But, it wasn't dinner time yet, so I just took a nap.

I always thought that I was maybe a "tight end" but my mama looked at me with the football and told me that I would make a good "line backer". I don't know what that is, but if my mama thinks I can do it, then I CAN DO IT. But, first, a nap.

And, then when I woke up it was dark outside I could hear that there was something strange and special going on in the house. I smelled smells that I never smelled before in my whole life. I think that there was something sweet cooking on the stove and there was also something sour. And, the strangest part was that I think they were mixing with each other and that was just wild!

And, so there was special food in the house and the football game started and I wasn't really planning on watching it. Mostly because I don't know the rules, but also because I heard that if I watch too much TV, I might get fat, and I like my slim figure, so I avoid TV mostly. Except for the Puppy Bowl, which I'm looking forward to when we all watch it soon.

And, then there was some new food and the football game and I was sitting on a lap so that I could be nice and toasty and then there was something that I think was crying and I felt bad so I started to lick faces of anyone who was crying, which was mostly just that one person.

And, then it was bed time and I had a full belly and I went right to sleep and forgot all about the Superbowl. But, Izzi told me that there is another one next year and I'm really excited except I don't know what "a year" is.

But, maybe next time, there will be soup.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf,
Rozi

My first snow!

First of all, I want you to know that this is Rozi doing the dictation today. My sister, Izzi, is busy sleeping, so I snuck over and started to whisper some things to our scribe so that I could get my thoughts down before Izzi wakes up. She's a great sister, but sometimes she hogs all the words in this blog. I guess that's okay, since sometimes I hog all the food on our plates. But, every now and then, I like to tell people how I'm feeling about the world in general, and this is one of those days.

The first thing I want to talk about is the snow. I know that Izzi has had her thoughts about it put on this blog many times, but - then again - she's been through three winters now, and this is my first. I have to say that I absolutely love the snow!!!! The first time there was snow was a few months ago, and there was so much of it that sometimes the lights when out and it melted pretty quick any way and so what with the lights going off and the noise and cracking of branches in our yard, I didn't realize that "snow" was a thing.

But, then, last Tuesday the first snow of the year happened and I loved running around trying to eat it all before it hit the ground. I thought that someone was throwing lots and lots of food down from the sky, and I was so happy to eat it. It felt so good in my mouth and going down to my belly, but it didn't make me less hungry. But, I will say that it was fun to eat and I think that I lost a few milligrams of weight with all the running around. I suppose it's like when people eat celery: eating something takes more energy than the food adds to you, so it's a net loss. So - just thinking out loud now - if I kept eating snow, I would soon disappear, having lost all my body weight. So, it's a good thing that I stopped, I guess.

And, then, the other day there was even more snow. This time, I was in the house when it happened, so I didn't eat too much of it. But, I did like looking outside at all the white outside our house. It was so pretty.

And, then, someone (I think it was mama) left the door open! And, when no one was looking, I scooted outside and explored the snow, and I ate some more as it was coming down and I got a little wet. And, then I came back inside and no one knew that I'd been outside, so I didn't get into any trouble. Which could only mean one possible thing to do: try it again, but with more boldness.

So, I went out the door, and trotted around the house and came up on the porch in the back and when I did I could see my sister on the couch and because I blended in with the snow (I thought) I was invisible, so I didn't think anyone saw me. I was smiling (as much as a puppy can) because I was not only outside, but I was outside in the snow (!), and I was doing something that I wasn't supposed to be doing! So, it was like a triple header of joy for me. But, I wasn't as invisible as I thought that I was, so I got caught and brought into the house and before I knew it, the front door was closed and so I couldn't go outside any more by myself :(

But, that didn't mean that I was stuck in the house, because I got to go outside later in the day and run around in a circle. It was a little slippery, but it was fun and felt funny on my paws. I tried to run around, but I slipped (more than I did yesterday) and when it was time to come in, it was hard for me to get up the stairs, because I'm still not used to this white slipperyness. Sister's much better at it than I am, so maybe some day I'll be good in the snow.

But, until then, I'll just try to sneak out whenever I can and have another adventure soon.

Oh, and I should say that because the Patriots are playing an important football game today, my name for the day is "Gronk" and sister's name for the day is "Welka"! And, I found a great red football and I love playing with it, just like my football heroes do.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf
Rozi (without Izzi!)

Rozi Has a Confession…

Well, it's the holidays....a time for family and friends. A time to look within ourselves to understand why we do what we do. A time to face up to the fact that we're not the beings that we had hoped to be. And, sometimes, it's a time to admit that we have a problem. For me, today is that day.

Photo by Ben

Hi. My name is Rozi, and I'm an addict.
[Hello, Rozi.]
I guess that I've know that I've had some sort of problem every since I was a puppy. Back then, it seemed that we were all so carefree. We'd run around and jump over each other and pretty much kill time until it was time for dinner (which, I might add, was always on our birth mother...get it?). We'd rassle and we'd nip at each other, and it was probably back then that I should have realized that I had this ... this ... this thing inside of me that made me unable to stop things that I knew, deep down, were bad for me. At that time, it was just not being able to stop nipping at the tails of my sister and my cousins (sorry, Tink). I know that it was wrong of me to behave that way, and even though a part of me knew that I should act otherwise, I just couldn't. But, to be fair, the others in my litter weren't much different, so I didn't stand out and I didn't think about seeking help.
Time passed, and I ended up in this wonderful household with my new sister Izzi and my favorite person (my mama) and those impulses seemed to pass. For a while. It wasn't long before my inner self started to come through. Started with my not being able to control my playing in the house. I'd find something (a scarf; a slipper) that was minding its own business and I'd drag it across the floor, unable to stop myself. I don't know what I was thinking: that it would come to life and be a playmate, filling a void within my soul (oh, wait, I had Izzi as a playmate, so that's probably not it)? Looking for the attention that I no longer had (oh, wait, I had a ton more attention here than I did with my birth mother and dozens of cousins)? Well, whatever it was, I found that I just could not stop once I started. One time, mama came home to find that half the mitten bucket was emptied and strewn all over the floor. And, another time, some of my addictive behaviour was clear when people walked into the bathroom after a night in which I was obsessed with finding out how many pulls it took to get to the cardboard of a toilet paper roll.
But, this behavior was - as the professionals would say - an entry level "drug". It was a portend of things to come.
And, by "things to come," I mean food. Although, it's more accurate to say that my obsession with food came with me when I moved into this family. For some reason, I just can't seem to get enough food and it feels like no matter how much I eat, I'm always hungry. For instance, when it's time for dinner, I find that I not only vacuum up the food that mama has given me, but I often eat what was put out for Izzi. I love my sister, but I still can't help myself. And, if I'm in the kitchen and food is dropped on the floor, I rush to suck it up before anyone has a chance to move it out of the way. Also, as do most addicts like me, have a (literal) nose for food: I can tell if a potato chip is being crunched across the room, or if cheese is being sliced a floor below me. And, I'm there: Rozi on the spot. I just can't seem to help myself.
But, lately, that eating disorder has taken and even darker turn: I eat things that aren't really food. I know that some people think that I have pica (look it up here), and maybe I do. Or, maybe I just like the feel and the taste of what others would consider "common household objects" like straight pins. Or pencils.
And, like I said, I just can't seem to help myself.
But, today, I felt a new urge taking over, one that I was just not able to shake. I became a drug addict. There, I said it. I was wondering what it would be like to have some 'magic elixir' in my body, one that wasn't as tasty or filling as food, but one that I thought would change who I was. I found a discrete way to have a little of a drug and before I had a chance to see what it would do to me...mama found out!!! She called the doctor who told her what to watch for and she did and boy was she worried. But, I'm fine now; I really didn't have much of the drug. And, y'know, I'm realizing that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Especially since I heard mama talking about "rushing  me to the emergency room" and "making me throw up" and "having me drink Hydrogen Peroxide. Icky. I don't know what Hydrogen Peroxide is (aside from its being H2O2) but I don't want any of that.
So, I am standing (well, more like lying...well more like sprawled out on the couch dictating) here to tell you that I am going to "just say no" the next time I have the opportunity to have a drug. I know that I'm just a little girl and I want to have my whole life ahead of me. So, I'm quitting, cold rotisserie chicken.
But, I don't think I'm ready to stop eating whatever falls on the floor, or that I'm ready to stop running around like a crazy girl and pulling mittens and scarves and slippers through the house.
All that is for another day. Like, maybe April Fools?
Arf, Arf, Arf, Yip,
Rozi

Hanukkah!

So, we're right in the middle of the "Jewish Festival of Lights," which is the first time for Rozi (and the third time for Izzi). And, we have to say that we find the entire holiday fun, but terribly exhausting.

First, there's the presents: even though we haven't gotten any "real" presents so far, we think that we might be getting one very very soon. But, before we talk about that, we should tell you about the presents that we have been - um - involved with. So, other people in the house have been getting gifts for the holiday (none of them were food, but more about that later, too), and these gifts have been wrapped up in some colorful paper and sometimes they have papers or other things in them for some reason (all we know is that the boxes don't rattle very much when the paper is inside, but we're not sure why. We're dogs with small brains, remember?). And, when these gifts are opened, there are boxes and colored papers and other paper all over the place that we can play with. Not that (for Rozi) this is different than any other day, but it's one way that we girls like to celebrate the holiday.

Now, as for gifts for the two of us: so far - like we've said - there have not been any. But, we think that we may get something tonight, because we heard the people talking and we think there's a special gift for us, something that is made for dogs and not just something that was left on the floor (like a slipper) that we can turn into a play thing. So, we're sort of excited about this, because we like when people give us things. Although, we most like it when the things that people give us are food.

Which brings us to the next part of Hanukkah that we love: the latkes!Rozi didn't know what they were but she loved them, and so does Izzi, who's had a couple of years of experience with these amazing treats. They're like very fluffy potato chips and both of us love potato chips, so.... And, they're also delicious when you put sour cream on them, even though we don't get the sour cream too often. But, when we do, we think it's just great. So, for the last couple of nights, our mama has cooked these great potato treats and we've had some of them. Izzi knows that there are six more nights of Hanukkah, but Rozi doesn't, and neither of us know how many more nights we'll get this great new treat.

The final thing that we like about Hanukkah is that there are candles that are lit every night. Now, we girls are afraid of fire because we don't understand it, but when the candles are lit and everyone sings or says the prayers, we like the way it feels.

Anyway, you can see why we're so tired, even though it's only been two days. It takes a lot of energy to play with the colored paper and boxes, and to try to get our heads unstuck from slippers (Rozi) or to chase the critters who want to be part of the Hanukkah celebration out of the back yard (Izzi). So, we're fortunate to have a little "down time" before everything starts again in just a little while.
 

Oh, and we also wanted to tell you that Rozi has decided that she's tired of having a poor basic knowledge of the world around her. And, neither Rozi nor Izzi is really interested in watching the History or Science or Discovery channel, and neither one knows how to type questions into Google. So, Rozi has taken it upon herself to dig into the available reading material in the house. She has, quiet literally, been devouring a huge volume that she found on the floor. Oh, sure the words are small and the pages are big, but that didn't get in the way of our Rozi swallowing as much of it as she could. Sure, the down side is that her fur around her mouth turned a pretty shade of red (and some people thought that it had something to do with blood!), but it's from the long hours she's spent with her book. For now, it's been decided that the book should go to a higher shelf so that there's more of it at a later time. But, Rozi is pretty excited to be ingesting so much so quickly.

Anyway, we need to get back to our naps, because we heard that tonight they're going to spin a dreidel, which either means that a wooden top is going to be given centrifugal motion and dropped on the floor, or it means that someone is going to put treats into our spinny toy that you can fill with lamb treats! Either way, we need to save up our energy.

So, Happy Happy Hanukkah to everyone!

Yip, Yip, Yip, Arf,
Izzi and Rozi

My County

Howdy, pardner. Mah name is Izzi and I'm the sheriff 'round these parts. I've been patrolling this county for about two and one half years. Yup, that's an awful long time. My territory runs from the trees at the right of the driveway to the tree between this county and the next one (which I call the "blue county") in front, and from the trees and stone wall on my left to the bushes on my right, and as far back as the county goes (which is, I should point out, to the edge of the enchanted forest, where I'm not allowed to go; not after that incident with the electricity that came down from above and ran through my body..nosir, not gonna try that 'un again).

 
My job is to protect the residents of this county from outsiders and varmints. I'm good at both; see for yourself. If you ever were to step foot into this county, you'd see that we have four residents and no varmints living here, so I think you could say that I do a durned rootin' tootin' good job of it (if I do say so myself). Better 'n the black cat that's the sheriff of the "blue county"; I see her wandering over into this county lots of the time, and I know for a fact that varmints in her county go there because they ain't afeared of her.

So, my day is mostly spent patrolling the front part of the county. I set myself up in my southern office, on the back of a formerly white couch. I say "formerly" because at some point in the poor object's life time, it faded a bit. Which, I should add, is a good thing, since if it was still white, I'd blend in too much and don't know whether I'd be as effective as shooing away trespassers. Anyhoo, I sit in my "office" watching the highway that runs across the property, and when a trespasser walks into the county, I commence to a-barking and a-yippin’ to a fare-the-well. It only takes me about 25 seconds to get the outsider to move outside of this county, and never ever never come back. If there's another sheriff on a leash that's dragging some trespasser along with him, I bark even louder, since it's important that the other sheriffs know who's the boss around here. And, I don't know what else you may have heard, but it's absolutely positively a falsehood to say that I sleep on the job. Sure, to the untrained eye, I may look to have both eyes closed, but I assure you that this is far from the truth.

Oh, I should also be tellin' you that I don't do this job alone anymore. Oh, sure, I'm still pretty spry and can bark with the best of 'em, but a few months ago, the townspeople voted to expand the law enforcement in these here parts, and one day, they gave me a deputy. She's a good deputy and even though we had our differences when she first started to patrol, we've found a way to bury them for the good of the county. It's usually me who's on patrol, watching the highway as I rest in my office. 

So, anyway, my deputy (Deputy Rozi) comes along with me on the back-of-the couch patrols. Her main territory, though, is the window next to the door that leads inside the county's mansion. When we see someone moving down our highway, I commence a-yippin' and Deputy Rozi commences a-barkin' and pretty soon, that no-good trespassers has passed this county without a how-d'-ya-do.

Sometimes, there'll be a drop of supplies for the county: sometimes boxes, sometimes thin white envelopes, delivered by prob'ly the pony express, since the drop off happens and the delivery person speeds away. Deputy Rozi and I are sure to have out "drop it and move along" voices working at a fever pitch when this happens, and it works great; we have not ever let one of these delivery folk into our county for more than a few seconds, and not into this mansion ever.

But, it's not all "shooing" people along. We also have to carefully sniff out everyone who enters this mansion, making sure that they don't carry any concealed food. It's a shame that otherwise good folk will try to sneak food into our home (without offering us some) but we do our best; there are just two of us. Sometimes we keep a-barkin' and a-yippin' long after the intruder has entered, just to be sure that they're on their toes. And, for good measure, we bark at them a second time if they've gone somewhere within the mansion and appear in our office again. Good fun!
It's also not only keeping trespassers movin' along. I also have the responsibility of making sure varmints don't enter our county. We've been perticularly plagued by giant rats with fluffy tails who seem to enjoy running out of the enchanted forest and into our county.  If I see them, I try to run out to attack them, but there are usually two problems with this strategy: (1) there are times where there's no one to open the big glass doors that protect us from the rain and the wind and the sleet and the cold, and since I don't have opposable thumbs, I am left to whine at the varmints and (2) them varmints is fast. I sprint out of the mansion and toward them at breakneck speed, a-barkin' and a-yippin' as I go. But, they're into another county or maybe even another state pretty fast. One time, I saw one of 'em run up a tree. Up a tree, if you can believe it!
So, that's the life of the Sheriff (and Deputy) of this here county. This county that Deputy Rozi and I love and protect. Our home, the County of 47 Coolidge Avenue.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf

(Sheriff) Izzi & (Deputy) Rozi

"The Mystery of the Ringing Bells": An Izzi & Rozi Mystery

The two girl detectives are resting, recovering from a long night of debauchery. Well, "debauchery" is, indeed, a relative term, and for the two girls, Izzi and her sister Rozi, it meant (respectively) refusing to play "pup tent"; and jumping up and back down from the bench area of their sleeping quarters before chewing on a variety of human clothing. But, that was hours ago, and now the two girls are resting, awaiting their next adventure, with dreams of their most recent one (the thrilling "The Mystery of the Missing Breakfast") and the one from yesterday morning ("The Mystery of the Other Dogs on the Bike Path") still rolling in their heads.

As they lay drowsily on their Headquarters (Rozi on the cushions, Izzi on the top of the couch, befitting her status in the detective agency as its most senior member and founder), the sun beating down on them, Izzi began to stir and sniff the air. She knew that something was up; a mystery was afoot. She roused herself, still somewhat in the middle of a dream about "lamb treats" and "belly rubs"...a dream that felt so real that she had trouble realizing that it was just that: a dream. But, now, suddenly there was a change in the air. It wasn't the smell of the fresh-baked cookies; that aroma had been in the air since early this morning. And, it wasn't the noises coming from within the house; those were common and - besides - had been investigated months ago in "The Mystery of the Knock on the Door".

No, there was something insidious in the air; something that had been on and off for months and to which there was still not solution. Izzi realized that she had awoken directly into: "The Mystery of the Ringing Bells". It occurred to her that it was time to get to the bottom of this mystery, since it seemed to happen every Sunday, and at about the same time every Sunday (10:30AM in human time, give or take). And, now, having an assistant (even one as - um - mentally challenged as her sister) could be just what she needed to unlock the box that held the secret to this mystery (metaphorically, of course. If there really was a box, they'd have had trouble opening it, and if there were a key inside, Rozi would very likely eat it).

The noise had begun and the sound of clanging bells rang through the house. Izzi jumped off the couch and ran to the front door to collect clues, Rozi at her side. After a thorough analysis of the little window next to the door, Izzi (and Rozi) concluded that it had nothing to do with the noise, but barked at it for a while just to be sure.

The pair then sped through the dining room, barely missing the thick legs of the table, legs that had been there for years, but which both girls forgot all about, what with their somewhat limited intellectual capacities. But, they carried on, and were soon in the room with windows for walls, one of the girl detectives' favorite locations for detectiving because it gave them a view of so much of the surrounding area. Izzi, in particular, reminisced about "The Mystery of the Squirrel in my Backyard" and "The Mystery of the Other Squirrel in my Backyard" as the entered the room, feel scrabbling on the wood. Izzi jumped onto a footstool for a better view of the noise, and began barking at it in an effort to determine its source. Rozi followed, hip checking her sister in a way that would have made Zdeno Chara proud, and joined in with her sister in using their not-at-all supernatural power of barking at something until it stopped. Or picked them up, depending on the situation.

After several minutes of putting all their effort into finding out what was making this mysterious noise, the girls decided to double their efforts and came relatively close to hitting an Ella Fitzgerald-like high note that could have (had the conditions been better and the glass thinner) shattered windows. But, their efforts were futile in the face (or, better: ear) of the unrelenting ringing.

To an unbiased observer, the fight went something like this: Yip. Clang. Yip Yip. Clang. YIP Yip. Clang. Yi Clang Clang CLANG p. YipYipYIPYipYIP. Et cetera. The noise of the fight swelled, filling the house with the mayhem and the girls with exhaustion. After ten or so minutes, they finally succeeded in defeating the noise, but continued their audial assault (just to be sure they'd vanquished their foe, and also because they were barking so loudly they didn't hear the end of the bells).

Exhaused, but disappointed they had not found the source of the mystery, the girls rested (by which I mean that Izzi laid down on the footstool like a lady, while Rozi sprawled out on the carpet, appearing to an unbiased observer as if she's fallen from a great height and collapsed into a rag of a dog).

They knew that they had not heard the last of their foe, and Izzi began to scheme about a way to determine how to find out who this nefarious evildoer was, knowing that she had (roughly) 168 hours to come up with a plan.

And, so another Sunday morning for the girl detectives slipped through their paws, but they were both heartened that they had yet another mystery appear unexpectedly: "The Mystery of the Dog Who Ran Away Again and Had to Be Chased Down the Street Until She Was Caught in Front of the Church and So Was Grounded for the Rest of the Day".

And, so, they slept.

Yip, Arf, Arf, Yip
Izzi & Rozi

Thanksgiving 2011

Hello, all of our fan. I know that you’re wondering how we spent our Thanksgiving holiday, so we wanted to post this message to tell you all about the good time that we had. And (spoiler alert!) there was an incident that we'll comment on later on.

So, the vacation started out early on Wednesday morning as we all piled into mama's car before it was light outside. We both took a quick tour of the backyard, since we knew that we'd be cooped up for a while as we headed toward the Big Apple. It should be noted here that Izzi has been to NYC many times, but little Rozi made only one trip (without her sister!) but was excited to get back to the City. The weather was awful as we left our home: dark, rainy, and windy. We were both a little scared, but we knew that mama wanted us to be brave, and - besides - it would not have been a good idea to crawl up her back onto her shoulders (and maybe cover her face) while she was concentrating. Trucks whipped by us and we felt like we were in the middle of a tidal wave!

The weather started getting rough, the tiny car was tossed. If not for the courage of our fearless mom, our Honda would be lost. Our Honda would be lost. But, we digress.

Soon (but not too soon) the sun rose and even though the rain continued, mama told everyone that the driving was a little easier. We stopped at a Starbucks (of course!) to get drinks and for the two of us to stretch our legs (and - y'know - take care of the bathroom thing). Izzi was a good girl about it, but Rozi didn't do anything but walk around. So, when we got back in the car, mama told us that Izzi could stay free but Rozi was going to be put into her little portable blue apartment. Rozi cried for a while, then forgot why she was crying and went to sleep.

Before we knew it, New York City was on the horizon! It was a longer than usual ride, but we all made it safe and sound and we got to see Grammy! We were so excited to be out of the car that we ran around the room a few times. Well, Rozi ran around and also crawled on her belly. Izzi was more ladylike, wandering around and sniffing all the familiar smells. Since Rozi had never been to Grammy's before, this was all new. We went outside for a short walk on the dog path, but then were back inside to rest.

In the night time, people came over to visit, and Rozi finally met Rachel and see her mom, Elisa, again. And, we also met Rachel's  friend Libby. Grammy had lots of friends for us to meet, and we behaved really well with all those new people. The best part for both of us was getting some yummy chicken that someone got us from Whole Foods (Izzi was happy that it was organic and raised cruelty-free; Rozi was happy she had food).

By the time everyone left, we were pretty tired. But, mama made us walk through the streets to our hotel, where we had a really big room to run around it. There was a small room just for us, but we never got to sleep in it or play in it (more about that later). When mama went out to get some ice cream, we were sad and we cried, but she came back with some and we got to have ice cream in our New York hotel room! What puppy doesn't dream of this? It was great!

Then, we went to sleep and when we woke up, we had to go to a new room that was even bigger that our room! And, it had a gigantic humongous enormous patio that we ran around and ran around. We're too little to be able to look over railings, but it seemed to us (from the air pressure; Izzi is very sensitive to such things) that we were 24 floors above the ground. And, since the weather was nice, we got to run and run until we were tired. When we were, we came inside, and pretty soon Grammy and Evan came to visit us. And, when they left, we got to meet another new friend: Josie! (Oh, and her daddy, Andrew, who wasn't as much fun or as cute as Josie.) 

Josie fed us Cheerios and played with us, which was fun. Then, we walked back to Grammy's and stayed there for a while. Soon, it was time for a car ride and Josie and her dad took our mama and us to Thanksgiving at Ricky and Elisa and Rachel's. We had so much food and fun there! But - and here's the part that upset us - we were accused of being complainers and dog-centric (Izzi) and a jewel thief (Rozi). See the slanders about us below:

 

Well, fortunately for us, we didn't see any of this until the next day, so our fun wasn't dampened, not one bit. We ate and we ran around and we got taken for walks in the neighborhood and generally had a great time. It was Rozi's first Thanksgiving and she loved it! We met so many new people and Izzi got to say “hello” to some old friends. We met so many people that we even got tired of barking at everyone! Oh, and when Richard came in, he was surprised and wanted to know if there were two of us, or if he was seeing double!

We went back to our room afterwards and then it was time to start planning our trip back. We stayed at Grammy's for most of the day, and then in the night time we packed up and headed home. We were sad to leave New York, but we had such a good time that we weren't completely sad. We got home pretty quickly (mama is a good driver) and we got to smell our "home" smells and run around our rooms and jump on our couches and just have a great return to our house.

We're excited about our next visit to New York and can't wait to see everyone again. Except, of course, that guy who libeled us and who will soon be getting a visit from our legal counsel.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf,
Izzi & Rozi