The Ladder

So this winter, I learned a thing or two about ladders.

First off, they can be a bit scary.

Second, if you go up a step or two, it is not a bad idea to go back down – gives one perspective and a bit more confidence when trying to make it to the top.

And sometimes, while on the journey, one should take a break and look around…assess the situations, evaluate the surroundings and really think about if you want to get to the top and what such an accomplishment might mean to ones self-esteem, self-worth…blah blah blah:

Well anyhow, anyone who knows me knows I AM A CLIMBER!  And just as a bit of a reminder:  https://montanamomentstrn.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/temp-treewalker/

Here are some more pictures showing my abilities.

The big trees are relatively easy (see the end of the video below) but these little branches are a bit tougher:

But motivation is a key driver.   Getting up on this little twig offered me a pretty good view of Hawkeye (the sight for sore eyes Husky that lives behind us – I definitely see why Montana had a thing for him…).

But once I reached the top and understood what a cool view it was from the top of the ladder I couldn’t stop running up and down every chance I could…of course the take home message here is that it is also important to be grounded and visit the lower levels every so often…otherwise one’s perspective can get pretty darned warped.

 

Tempi “the tree-walking” “ladder climbing” Super Dog!

 

 

Time to come back down to solid ground….

 

On this day…

This is Sammy here.

Just wanted to take a moment to reflect on what happened 13 yrs ago today.

But first, let me tell you how today started.  So it was about 2 AM and I got this restless feeling.  I started pacing and doing my post-surgery huffing noises.  This got Tempi activated.  She took to walking down the stairs.  This in turn woke up our parents.  They are a bit on the alert when she starts downstairs in the night since we have had more than one instance when her biorythms were thrown off resulting in accidents in the dining room. But in her defense (which I don’t always support) these instances were simply due to the fact that the doors to the outside were closed so she couldn’t get to her normal spots.  Dad was able to get out of bed and try and get her outside in time…which he did…but it wasn’t her that was all farklempt.  It was me!  So after Dad and the Tempest returned to bed I continued my pacing.  Every once in a while I’d lay down for a second or two but then got back to the back and forth.  Finally, after 15 minutes or so, Dad got up again and helped me downstairs and out to the back yard.   But he was missing the point.  When I woke up at 2 AM I looked at the calendar hanging  in our room (thanks NM grandparents!) and realized this was an important anniversary.  But as I said, he (Dad) didn’t catch on but carted me back upstairs after I went outside and did a little biological functioning…if you know what I mean.

So…are you wondering why today is relevant to who I am?

Well it turns out that it was 13 years ago that my parents and MI grandparents took a drive to Dekalb, IL to pick up Ornery (aka Banshee) and Little Boy (aka Sambuca) from our adoptive parents.

So what prompted this addition to their family from 2 cats and the 2 people????

Well it was a picture similar to this:

But in the original on-line version it was Banshee, myself and our other sister who had just been adopted.  The aforementioned picture prompted our Dad to say: “look out kittens, your life is about to change.”

This was a very prophetic statement.

So, on this date 13 yrs ago, my parents put my grandparents in a car, drove to DeKalb, got introduced to Banshee and me (which included a spastic romp through our foster mother’s house, over my grandparents laps as they sat on the couch and that was just the first lap around the living room!  After my parents (now in shock) signed off on the adoption papers we got into a car where Banshee tried her darnedest to not puke on Mom (who was covered with towels) while I sat on my grandmothers’s lap and used my patented grin to win both of their hearts forever (and I really did try to stop my caterwauling early in the drive)…Dad and Pa just sat in the front seat oblivious to everything as they drove the 90+ minutes to our new home.  It was this time on my Grandmother’s lap that saved me during the skunk episode.

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You should have heard me when I first got in the car… woo eee my bark worked then!

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Interesting aside.  During that first weekend, Banshee had an accident or two on the living room rug…what is it with my sisters (?)…and I got right in her face and told her a thing or two.  That was when I knew I had found my forever home because my Grandpa accurately translated my admonishment:  “Don’t screw it up for us.  We don’t want them to send us away.   Did you not see the great backyard!”

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The next morning I wasn’t so sure about the place:

But then after we escaped that crate, chewed up some things (aka dining room table, banister, a few crates, a fence or two, etc.), romped around the backyard some more, and most importantly got fed TWICE a day (!) I knew I was right and this was the place to live out the rest of our pre-college time…unfortunately Banshee (and then Montana) were fast learners.

It IS great to be alive.

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Sambuca

 

P.S. – did I mention our great-grandfather (on my maternal father’s side) was also from DeKalb!!!  Certain things are immutable.

Hashtag : Trouble

Trouble with a Capitol T like Tempi!

I claim it as my Hashtag…whatever that means.  I can’t do the whole thing with my fingers but with four legs I can accomplish the same effect!  So its #TempiTrouble.

So why bring this up now?  Well, my parents left Sam and I alone this weekend with our pet sitters.  Prior to leaving my mom set this up:

In case you can’t see the bag on the counter here is a close up:

I’ll let you read the details if you want but the bag was entitled “The Tempest DISASTER Control Kit.”

Apparently they didn’t think I could behave for two nights without them.

Not sure where they would have gotten that idea.

But since they did I felt it was my duty to oblige:

Did I mention I am allowed out of my crate for part of the day?  This happened a week or so ago and I have been such a good girl.  Everyday when they get home I would welcome them home with a big smile, wag of the tail and an expression of pure pride that I was such a good dog.   My parents would award me with a lot of pets and verbal praise.   I may not have mentioned this either but Sammy and I are separated by one of those darn gates that he is so afraid of.   This is because my parents don’t have faith that I won’t pick on him throughout the day so I am in the dog room and he gets the rest of the house…which is total waste since he doesn’t even want to go upstairs by himself.

Anyhow, when they got home they found these notes:

Here are some close ups:

So now that they are home I can uncross my hashtag paws and relax while I prepare for the Sweet Sixteen.

Did I mention that my parents went to Indy to watch the Michigan basketball team win their first two games in the Big Dance?  This was quite exciting for them but Sammy and I were completely left out of all the drama.

Go Blue!

Tempi

PS – you might remember that last time I showed you how Sammy was playing with the hose and spraying water all over the backyard.  He is such the jokester…which reminds me of the Michigan basketball coach who also is a bit of a prankster especially after the airplane accident the team thankfully survived a week or so ago.  Talk about putting things into perspective.

Like Montana always said…it’s great to be alive!

 

Spring Cleaning

The last few weeks my parents have started undertaking a bit of spring cleaning (even though spring technically is still a week or so away).  This included moving the couch – the results are shown in the first clip of the attached video.  Of course, I did my part while Sammy just continued to cause problems for the whole household and forced us to have to invest in a new nozzle for our hose.

The most ridiculous part of this whole exercise is the big winter (yes I said WINTER) storm that hit us over the past few days.  This was quite exciting for me and Sammy (maybe I’ll get the scribe to edit the videos of me frolicking in the snow for  a future blog).  But the fact that snow is being tracked in throughout our house on their boots when they return form our walks is not helping with the whole cleanliness of our house :).

Tempest

P.S.  This is Sammy… in case it is not obvious, I was FRAMED with that hose…

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