Puzzled

Before we forget, as we say in dog years: Happy 14091!

We've made it through another fun year, and we both decided to celebrate by having a 'girls day out' at our local spa. Now, frequent readers of our exploits know that we really don't enjoy our day of beauty as much as others might. In fact, our feelings were hurt a little when our mama strapped a shaker of milk, a scoop of ice cream, and a banana to us, so that our shaking turned it into a banana milkshake by the time we arrived! (And, she didn't even give us any!)

But, to be honest, the visit wasn't horrible. We love the people who help us look beautiful, and we're really happy that they put the two of us in one cage so that we have each other to talk to in between bouts of hair-pulling, snipping, and nail clipping. And, the day did go by sort of quickly, and when we were done, we didn't have to wait very long to get our chauffeur to pick us up.

And, although we tend to be modest, we have to say that we really look beautiful now. Look for yourself:

Izzi's new 'do

Rozi post-spa day

Also, we now both smell really really good, which our mama told us. And, even though Rozi's feelings were hurt when our mama compared her aroma to that of the pipes that run underneath Boston, carrying who-knows-what to Deer Island, the fact that we now smell so clean makes each of us happy.

So, we look ahead to another year of relaxing in the sun, cuddling with our family, and eating. Ah, life!

Oh, and we also want to say that we're getting smarter and smarter, which I know is very difficult for you to imagine, since we're known for our intelligence (okay, so Rozi's still struggling with how to make it up the entire flight of stairs without losing momentum, but that's an aberration, which we suggest you just look up - as we would - if you don't know it). Our primary example of our expanding brains is our assistance with today's New York Times crossword puzzle.

Usually, while the puzzle is being done, we just sit around providing emotional support. But, we really don't want to butt in (and, when you're talking about "butting in", you're really talking about Roz...oh, we probably should make that kind of pun in a 'family' blog) because we feel that it's important that a challenge like the Times' puzzle be met head-on by whomever is working through it. We do, from time to time, walk across the keyboard while the puzzle is in process, occasionally putting a well-placed paw on the keyboard to nudge. Not too often, but every now and then.

And, today turned out to be one of those "now and then" days.

Well, today we could not help ourselves. As the puzzle was being filled in (and, you'll excuse us, but it seemed that the pace with which the puzzle was being completed was terrible slow. And, yet, we decided to just sit and let the process take care of itself), we hit upon the fact that 91 across was very familiar to us. It was seven letters and the clue was "Breed of dog or cat". Well, despite our best intention to keep quiet and let the puzzle be struggled with in silence, we could not.

Rozi began by whimpering as the middle section of the grid was being filled in, but her whimpers were largely ignored. So, Izzi decided that it was necessary to move to the next level by barking softly. Still, the squares remained unfilled and so we both decided to just sit back and wait for some of the "down" clues to be filled in. Soon, we could see that "_AL_E_E" was apparent, and thought that would be enough of a push. And, yet. And, yet, there was still some consternation (we may not understand every word in the language you people speak, but we know a mumble of consternation when we hear it).

Izzi's barking started up anew, and of course, that led Rozi to decide to chime in. (As an aside, we should point out that our voices, when combined, are melodious and in tune, and perhaps some day we will talk about our musical skills. But, that's for another day). We thought that 124 Across ("Stroke"), which was quickly filled in as "PET" would help. Nope. Or 44-down ("Cat's dogs" = "PAW"). Nope. And, even though it bothered us, we figured that by the time 59 down was hit ("Vet, at times"), still nothing (and, believe us, "SPAYER" made us quiver a little).

So, it came time for us to finish it off, so Izzi moved to the computer and pushed a paw down on the letter "M" and even though it was at at time that the pointer was elsewhere on the grid, it was enough. Soon (but, still, not soon enough) the word "M-A-L-T-E-S-E" was in the grid, and we could just relax.

Now, we're not saying that we'll help every day, but we're kind of proud of ourselves that not only were we in the puzzle itself, but that we were able to help out to get the puzzle done.

And, now, we need to rest.

Arf, Yip, Arf, Yip,
Izzi & Rozi