Kunoichi: Doggie Ninja

So, secret time, I actually like going to ballparks. If I didn’t, it would have REALLY SUCKED to go to as many softball games as I have (some people were raised in barns, I was raised in a ballpark). I have an affinity for ballpark style foods. I have my patterns (at Jordan-Hare it’s always a hot dog, big drink, and a frozen lemonade, because, well, it’s hot and they’re tasty, but that’s football, it doesn’t count as ballpark food really). But my real love when it comes to ball park food is funnel cakes*. Sometimes they sell them at amusement parks (yes, I know the closest place to the entrace at Islands of Adventure to get one) and carnivals.

But I have other reasons, one of which being it’s pretty relaxing. At least, when kids aren’t blowing horns at you that kind of make them sound more like a dying moose.  There are usually people willing to make a fool of themselves for free tickets to a game that cost me .22 to get into (school supply night FTW!). And oh yeah, fireworks!

Last year I bought a new camera for our trip to Mexico. It turned out some BEAUTIFUL pictures, but one of the first places I took it to was to a ballgame on the 4th of July. After playing with the settings so much I don’t remember how to get it back, I got decent pictures. Shortly thereafter I found the fireworks setting. D’oh!

Friday’s game was my redemption. I got some excellent pictures now that I know about that and burst mode. Now, if I can just start remembering to take pictures of myself at some of these events, maybe my facebook profile picture wouldn’t have snow in it…in August.

Click the picture for the whole set. Keep in mind I was playing with some settings and they don’t release all the fireworks at once, so some are better than others.

And if you are wondering: Ichi’s good. We had a power outage last  night that made things a little difficult getting her into her leash, but otherwise, just fine. Also, thanks to her dorky “mom”, she’s thoroughly enjoying her scooby snacks.

*if buying me food at a ballpark and I’ve already had a funnel cake or they are out, the following foods may be offered as a substitute: hot dog, hot pretzel, big gigantic thing of popcorn, massive pixie sticks, large pickles, sour straws, cheese sticks, pizza, and last but not least, dipping dots. Keep in mind I like to have as many different foods as possible, therefore, unless it’s 0.25 hot dog day, pick something I haven’t eaten yet. If you bring me nachos with melted cheese, you do not know me at all.

It’s coming along. It would probably be infinitely speedier if Ichi would calm down a bit. Last night was one of the few times I knew what she wanted, but alas, I know my dog and even if I had acted upon that, it wouldn’t have worked. There are just certain things ya notice (one of them being that she will not, for any reason, cross the concrete drainage area of the lake at the complex). And she’s gone back to not eating when it’s been laid out for her, too stuck on play time.

Speaking of playtime, that’s exactly what she thought we were having while I was scanning stuff yesterday. I guess she doesn’t realize that it’s not a flatbed scanner and I don’t have to wait a million years for the completion of one document. She attempted to chew on everything in retaliation. I gave her squeaky toys, bones, anything I could think of….but she wanted none of it. She wanted what she wanted and would accept no substitutes. It felt quite like a temper tantrum. More on another of her temper tantrums later. Scansnap now.

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First off, I’m truly sorry there are no pictures of her adventures on Wednesday, but she shook it all off before I could get the camera. Black fur + white snow = adorable. 

Wednesday it snowed here. That was the first time I’ve seen snow since Dubya was inaugurated (2nd time). Needless to say, I got up from my desk and walked around in it for about a second while at work…and so did most of my friends. Nothing stuck though. But Ichi did get a chance to demonstrate her weather knowledge from Ohio. Other than being a little confused as to the presence of the snow, she was unaffected.

Yesterday was probably the best day since she stayed with my parents. She is starting to get back on our schedule and we only had one accident. And for ONCE I can say with absolute certainty that it was not my fault, it was hers. See, I put bells on the doorknob Wednesday and we hit them every time we go out. Smart thing that she is, she instantly picked it up. So last night she hit the bells. I got up, got my jacket, the leash and the harness and went to get her ready. At the sight of the harness, she suddenly decided she’d rather play and she took off doing a modified Shiba 500 around the living room. Middle of the race is where we had our only accident of the day. I was ready to take her out but something was up with her. After that, the harness stayed on all the time.

But, not only did we have 1/4 of the accidents that we’ve been having since we got back, and are getting better with the whole schedule thing, but it’s clear that she KNOWS she’s to go outside. There was also less biting of me yesterday because I kept the rawhide in constant supply. So it seems like we’re calming down a bit.

Tomorrow she has an appointment to be boarded, groomed, and vaccinated while I go to the Foo Fighters concert. HOWEVER…and that’s a huge however…it’s supposed to snow basically tonight through Sunday morning. The concert is in Birmingham and they are supposed to get twice as much as we are. So, potentially no concert and potentially a shut in weekend. If you know anything about Alabama and snow…you know that snow here is not an expected thing EVER and that if I went to walmart right now, there would probably not be any milk or bread left. And I’m still amused at all the people on the news that are like “I’m good, I have a microwave, hot chocolate and soup”….uh huh….that’s so gonna help if the power goes out, which is actually more the concern and need for bread. Should ichi and I get stuck inside, I have a fireplace, hot water heater on gas heat, lots of candles, blankets, cereal, dog food, chips, little debbie cakes, laptop batteries, Nintendo DS. We should be fine. My dislike of milk and sandwiches always help me out in these situations.