#FluffyFriday & #FoxyFriday (No; Really...)

The bratheads saw their newfound friend again—twice! Well, he or she may not exactly be a friend, though they did bark at him or her—"Reilly like a banshee" and Camille "like a copycat", "Mom-Mom" told "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole"—and the second time was when they barked as "Mom-Mom" described how they barked. Why did they bark more the second time than they barked the first time, though? Well, "Auntie Nicole" suspects that especially Camille may have actually been angry at the fox for not sharing his or her...if one will...leftovers that he or she came to pick up in a neighbor's yard...

Those leftovers happened to be a lapin sans tête, and Camille—perhaps partly because she has a French name and is ¾ Poodle 😉—has frequently barked at lapins, whereas as Reilly has not barked at them (notwithstanding that, like Camille, she'd like to chase them if she could do so). So, for her to be angry that the fox would not share—not to mention that he or she caused the neighbor to frightenedly scream as he or she jumped over the fence with the remains of his or her catch en bouche—would make sense.

PS Moments like these are part of why "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" would like "Mom-Mom" and "Auntie Michelle"/"Mimi" to at least walk with them when they walk Reilly and Camille, even though she can't walk Reilly (yet, anyway. "Mom-Mom" did once suggest that maybe "Momma" could someday walk Reilly if she can put her leash loop on the handle of the rollator). 

Re the Apparently-Abusive and -Otherwise-Evil Pet Owners: For God's Love, Really...

If you see an abandoned and/or otherwise abused, or deceased pet, consider that he or she could be or could've been be lost (e.g., escaped from a backyard and with concerned owners looking for him or her) or stolen. Please have him or checked for a microchip and/or a collar, and/or otherwise try to locate his or her potential owners. e.g., A couple in Pennsylvania was wrongly accused of abandoning their four-year-old Shitzu by putting him in a crate and having him freeze to death. In the Facebook post re that matter, one of the couples' neighbors said that they recognized his "I LOVE LONG WALKS" collar and were "devastated".

Same with other apparently-neglected/abused pets: the owner(s) might have disabilities (including invisible illnesses) and be unable to care for the pets, all while (s)he gets or they get demonized instead of have somebody to help him/her/them care for them. Please for God's love, don't bar those of us with disabilities like Depression, OCD/Anxiety (which can bring about hoarding), ADD, and Cerebral Palsy (all of which I have) from owning pets. Don't especially the "Adopt; Don't Shop" types demonize people with disabilities enough, and notwithstanding that our medical providers—e.g., my physiatrist at the time—recommend that I don't adopt—and my physiatrist had her reasons for doing so. By the way, she is now a researcher at NIH—and where are you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types in life?—and I mean besides sitting behind your computers, marching on the streets, and/or doing something else at God knows where to spread more ableism, assuming that everyone can and/or should adopt (and not that you've ever really considered us people; but hey.)

Also, you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types of course demonize legitimate breeders by conflating them with puppy millers partly or even entirely because of your ableism—and you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types who are also people with disabilities are hypocrites and obviously self-hating PWDs—and I know that PWDs, let alone "Adopt; Don't Shop" types whom are PWDs, are not immune to ableism especially since society has tried to ingrain it into us since the time that the first person who had a somehow-noticable disability existed, and you're still supposed to try to fight both ableism and intra-ableism instead of buy into it.

Speaking of buying and adopting instead of shopping, maybe you "Adopt; Don't Shop" types should—if you can—try to adopt attitudes that involve critical thinking, compassion, and empathy—none of which anybody can buy, since critical thinking is an acquired skill and values such as compassion and empathy are learned (not to mention that, e.g., especially quite a few rich and famous "Adopt; Don't Shop" types don't have those values in the first place, anyway—no matter how much they fake that they do, particularly when it comes to us PWDs and the other less fortunate among us.)

PS Having Reilly (See below.) has saved me from having my life taken by Depression—and were Reilly not in my life, I would've died from starvation due to oversleeping (since I naturally wouldn't have been awake and thus able to eat)—and Reilly is one of the reasons that I am alive in the first place.

"FO-OX!"

So begins a not-too-unusual Woof Wednesday a la casa de Reily y Camila. Of course, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" had a usual myoclonus flareup. "Mom-Mom", on the other hand, considered the situation another emergency-bark one, and she considered it correctly: she saw a fox walking down the sidewalk across from the window.

Obviously then, that Reilly's and Camille's barking translated to "FO-OX!" clicked. At least the fox just walked on his or her way, though, and didn't even think to jump over or find a way to get under the fence. After all, Reilly and Camille weren't going to let him or her get any birdies or squirrels that were at the birdfeeder, and he or she would have to go elsewhere despite how cold and windy his or her den's environment might've been.

(Incidentally, "Auntie Nicole" just had another myclonous flareup as she finished up typing because somebody named Camille barked loudly enough to cause her to flinch!)

A #GivingTuesday Reminder

#MaltipooMonday and #MemoryMonday: Sleepy & Not-Exactly-Happy Cam...

On the day after Thanksgiving, and...



Yesterday, when Reilly was literally smiling as she snuggled with "Mom-Mom" while Cam was also happily relaxing.

#MaltipooMonday: Somebody Named Camille Has Developed Another Habit of Reilly, Which Is That...

She shows Reilly-style jealously! Once incident of a display of jealousy that particularly sticks out in "Auntie Nicole"'s/"Momma"'s mind is when she came over to her and started giving her kisses when she was paying attention to Reilly. As for how "Auntie Nicole"/"Momma" reacted, she could tell that she was jealous, too, and tallied that as one more jealously-display incident of late!

Originally On Quora: If I Had A Child With Diplegic Spastia...

Truth be told, I’d honestly not hold my breath and expect his or her father to stay or otherwise not abuse him or her especially because he or she has DSCP. I’m honestly surprised at the previous answers, as I honestly expected to see the same ableist and when-push-actually-comes-to-shove—with the answerers, though, I’m not holding my breath, as saying that you wouldn’t be ableist is a lot different than actually having a child with any disability—let alone DSCP—and seeing if you mean that you won’t be ableist.

With 28 years of DSCP after a neonatal stroke due to premature birth, I am not trying to be funny or ugly—though plenty of people in my life have ugily tried to amuse themselves at my expense.

Originally On LinkedIn With Some Edits Here: No Shoes...That's a Problem, With Or Without Feet

"I have no shoes, and I'd complain about that. Then I saw a man with no feet."

That apparently-wise piece of advice angers me to no end. As I posted when I saw that proverb surface again, it was in the form of a comment on a Facebook picture that illustrated an equally-unwise piece of advice: basically, shut up and don't complain about what you don't have, especially since quite a few have less than you. I therefore finally voiced my take on Facebook, since I as a person with mental illnesses and other conditions have had enough of the "no shoes" proverb:

This is beyond short sighted, and here's what I stated about it on my personal Facebook timeline:"As a person with disabilities, I can tell you that there are 😲 invisible disabilities, including MS, Lupus, and 😨 mental illnesses. Also, some people with visible physical disabilities can 😱walk to some extent 🤯 (I know; right? 🙄)

"PS The man who has no shoes...may end up with no feet because he doesn't have shoes."Also, the man may have no shoes because he may, for all that anyone knows, just may have Schizophrenia that is severe enough to the point at which he cannot work to have money for buying shoes; and somewhere along the line, he became convinced that his Schizophrenia and thus inability to work is not as debilitating as, for example, losing feet due to a childhood disease or being born without feet. Someone might have told him:

"'Be thankful for what you have. Perspective is everything. You can walk. Just walk to a homeless shelter for God's sake and let them help you...'"

"This despite that a homeless shelter once told him, 'We don't accept Schizophrenics like you.'

"By the way, he can't afford medication that will help him manage his Schizophrenia and be able to hold a job.

"PS Using people with visible physical disabilities to diminish people with invisible disabilities, and vice versa, is ableist: we are not pawns for able-bodied and non-illness-afflicted people to try to get their foolish arguments across.

~The page creator and moderator"

Also by the way, why (for instance) do you think that the Nazis forced their victims to either give up their shoes or wear ones that hurt their feet? To teach them a proverb? Or perhaps cause them to (for example) have infected feet that would cause them to have sepsis and/or gangrene. 

Think before you consider a piece of advice to be wise, let alone timelessly wise just because it's been given for millennia in some or another form. While you think, remember those whom apparently-wise-although-foolish advice especially affected: remember those such as Holocaust victims whom lost their feet and could never walk again (let alone have livelihoods and start new lives) even if they did survive, and non-surviving Holocaust victims (z"l) whom died due to infected feet that became infected when their either wore shoes that caused their feet to blister or didn't have shoes at all. Also remember those with invisible illnesses whom were murdered in the T4 Program (such as my distant cousin Magdalena Rusznak, z"l, whom was murdered because she had Schizophrenia, although she was also Anti-Semitically murdered) and those with invisible illnesses such as PTSD that caused them to have agoraphobia wherever they could find to live (and thus had no chances to have livelihoods and start new lives).

Happy Thanksgiving 2018 From "Momma" and Reilly! PS...

Look at the photos from right to left to get what was happening.

#TimeTravelTuesday: Heroine Of the Weekend

So, Camille was barking at squirrels or a person—or perhaps a fellow pup—or so "Auntie Nicole" thought that she was. Once "Auntie Nicole" came downstairs, though, "Mom-Mom" told her the actual story—one of a heroine canine named Camille Dominique, whom used an (according to "Mom-Mom") "emergency bark" to alert her to a kitty on the prowls for (as Camille understands birds to be) "birdies" at the birdfeeder.

The story goes as follows:

Camille let out an "emergency bark" to alert "Mom-Mom" to a black-and-white kitty whom was prowling for birdies at the birdfeeder. "Mom-Mom" therefore ran over to see why Camille was barking like a klipeh and saw the kitty, and she opened the window to let her bark that kitty away from the birdfeeder. For once in a while, then, she actually appreciated her barking.

As for Camille, she likely had at least one of the following motives:

1. She did not want that kitty to mess with her birdies—whether it was because she wanted to watch her birdies, protect them, or not let the kitty get what she herself would get would "Mom-Mom" and "Mimi" let her do.
2. She wanted to get that kitty—perhaps because she doesn't like kitties for all that "Auntie Nicole" knows.
3. She actually wanted to befriend the kitty (notwithstanding that her jealous cousin would not have let her do so).
4. She found the kitty to be an amusing—and even exciting—sight.

Motives One, Two, and Four are the most-probable motives in any case, meanwhile, since Camille is—obviously—a puppy (and the ancient puppy-kitty rivalry could exist between her and the kitty in question), and a mostly-Poodle Maltipoo at that—thus, her barky and raring-for-a-hunt instincts seem to have come out in her.

PS Just as puppies are puppies regardless of what age they get to be, kitties are kitties regardless of their ages—and Camille's archrival (and clearly-arching rival) was, from what "Auntie Nicole" gathers, an (all-ready-to-pounce) adult kitty (whom, from what she recalls "Mom-Mom" telling her, was even swatting or clawing at some of the birdies!).

Okay; So "Momma" Says The Following A Little Late On Reilly's Behalf. Still...

PS Yes; "Momma" has told Reilly about her adoptive (and "Momma"'s own biological) roots. Also, Google Translate is a handy tool 🙂. By the way, notice how four of the American flag's stars connect, and one can highlight the colors of Poland's flag in various places—thus, how Polish Jews and Poles can be highlighted as an essential part of America's fabric.

100th Veterans' Day Anniversary Card From Reilly

Most Of the Post-Grooming Photos After Reilly's & Camille's Thanksgiving-Time Grooming

By the way, Camille (according to her "Mimi") somehow got her bow off beforehand.

The other images were either in "Creative Shot" settings (For a #MemoryMonday post, maybe 🙂), too dark to see, or unable to be uploaded or some reason.

#WoofWednesday, Part One: Reilly And Halloween Costumes

That is all.

(The other two parts, Yehovah willing, will be posted as #ThrowbackThursday throwbacks to #WoofWednesday.).

With "Creative Shot" settings: wow; bienvenido a una observancia tardía del Día de Los Muertos.

And, yes, there are videos (titled "Reilly In On-Sale Halloween Costumes" and published on YouTube)—of which Reilly, not her "Mom-Mom" or "Momma"'s aide, is the focus (as "Momma" has to explain whenever cameraphobic "Mom-Mom" takes a picture or records a video of Reilly with her in it; and she doesn't think that the aide would mind, since Reilly is the focus.)