Good Job, Reilly & Camille! And Cam, You Don't Have To Worry About Ri Taking "Santa Ducky" From You

Camille has been a comfort to especially "Mimi" during the difficult time in which she, "Auntie Nicole", and "Mom-Mom" are mourning the passing of "Great Mom-Mom", as has been Reilly to everyone relatively equally (though "Auntie Michelle" is taking the passing the hardest. As for  "Mom-Mom", she got the special treatment of having Reilly wanting to comfort her so much on the night of the passing, that she refused to leave "Mom-Mom"'s side and was very close to biting "Auntie Michelle" when "Auntie Michelle" tried to take her "potty" before "night nights" time.).

This isn't to mention that they behaved very well and went into their crates when "Mom-Mom" et. al. left to go to "Great Mom-Mom"'s funeral and celebration of life, and they greeted the mourners eagerly when they got home. Nonetheless, they did devote some attention to their own matters: namely, Reilly focused on stealing all of the affection from Camille, and Camille focused on guarding "Santa Ducky" (a Christmas gift and a new favorite toy of hers) to the point of giving Reilly looks of suspicion even when Reilly was all the way on the couch and she was on the chair—and after she growled at Reilly last night just for being within the vicinity of her and "Santa Ducky" (Cam, don't worry about Ri taking "Santa Ducky" from you!).

Update: Here are a few photos of Cam with "Santa Ducky" and one photo of poor Ri getting suspicious eyes from her (Cam already had a suspicious mind!).

#WoofWednesday & Early #ThrowbackThursday: "Great Mom-Mom" (ז״ל) Was One Of the First People To Meet Reilly

"Momma" forgot about that until she went through pictures on her Facebook timeline to find pictures of "Great Mom-Mom" (ז״ל), whom (as "Momma" and Reilly believe, and as "Great Mom-Mom" believed) "went to see Jesus" on Christmas Eve—as "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" explained to Reilly (with "Great Mom-Mom" and "Mom-Mom" on July 4th of 2014) and Camille (whom never got to meet "Great Mom-Mom" ☹)







"Great Mom-Mom" actually met Reilly two days after Reilly came home:




Reilly couldn't be left alone in her crate yet, and that day was "Great Mom-Mom"'s 87th birthday; so, Reilly came along for a visit.









Reilly was "rei"-markably behaved, meanwhile!

Reilly & Camille the Empathetic Great-Grandpuppies & Mourners Among Those Of Tzion v'Yerushalayim

Exactly two years ago from yesterday, Reilly showed empathy during another difficult situation and thus proved that she's the same empath as ever. In this case, though, the situation is ongoing and even more severe, which Reilly seems to sense because she's been also quite mournful for the past hour. As for the situation itself, it's that Reilly's"Great Mom-Mom"—as "Momma" has explained to her—"is going to see Jesus very soon" (and "Momma" makes no secret of the fact that she's a Jewish Christian. Anyway..).

Reilly seems to understand this as much as puppies can understand this kind of situation. Meanwhile, she along with Camille has been a comfort to her "Auntie Michelle"/Camille's "Mimi", and both of them comforted "Auntie Michelle"/"Mimi" by licking her tears last night and mourning with her—as well as with "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" and "Mom-Mom".

By the way, "Great Mom-Mom" told "Mom-Mom" to say "Hi" to her "great-grandpuppies" when "Mom-Mom" stated that she would send her pictures of her "great-grandchildren" and explained that she was referring to her "great-grandpuppies". For "Great Mom-Mom", this is significant because she had a different attitude toward puppies before, as she was as a farm kid and was mostly around working pups as opposed to companion pups.

Re A Matter About Which I've Posted On Facebook And Twitter In the Past Few Days

Since the time is sadly closer, I might as well just say it: my mom's mom has metastasized Lung Cancer that metastasized to her liver and bones, and she was admitted to the hospital a week ago tomorrow. They thought that Pneumonia and Shingles were the cause of her severe pain (and, oh man, was she in pain when I talked to her the night before!). They ran tests on Friday only to find that a spot on her liver and (as she told me) something "on the lungs", and then (according to one of my uncles or aunts) the "really bad" tests results showed that she has cancer that they somehow caught way too late.

She is under hospice care and has only days to weeks to live; and my own hope, truth be told, is that she dies on New Year's Eve if she has to go so soon, since that is my late maternal grandfather's (her first husband's) birthday (She even requested to be buried with "something of his" that he had passed down to their children when he passed away in 1974; and that was the first time that she was widowed, by the way 😢. She remarried in 1979 and was widowed again in 2004. She's also had other losses and sufferings throughout her 91 years, and now she has to endure terminal Lung Cancer 😢.)

Please pray that she goes in her sleep (since that what's she wanted) and/or surrounded by loved ones when she goes. She is sleeping more and more lately as well as eating and drinking less due to severe pain. She has been ready to go for a long time, even before her Lung Cancer diagnosis.
PS To loved ones (family and friends): please call and/or visit her if you can; and please pray for her. Also, as she once told my sister, "Never start smoking" (although she knows that Michelle would never smoke), and she quit cold turkey at 77 years and after 55 years of smoking. She even mentioned something about it to Mom today.

PPS May Yehovah comfort us among the mourners of Tzion v'Yerushalayim, and may her memory be for a blessing when & after she passes. For those whom want her Hebrew name, meanwhile, since she is of Jewish ancestry (although she does has gentile ancestry as well): Miriam Eliora bat Yochanahn Chaim* v'Miriam Margolit**. ***

*(ben Gdaliya ben Binyamin Yochanahn v'Natan'elah)

**(bat Yochanahn Toma v'Eliora)

*** Her dad (his everyday name having been John Carroll Pundt, z"l) was a son of George August Pundt (z"l) and Jewish especially on his paternal grandma's side (And her Hebrew name would've likely been Natan'elah bat Shlomo v'Amalia was she given one. Her everyday name was Dorothea "Dora" Lehr Pundt the daughter of Frederich and Amalia Gunther Lehr.). As for her maternal heritage, I'm pretty sure that she had Crypto-Jewish heritage on at least her mom's paternal grandfather's side, which is another discussion for another time.

Also, I've done family and other research; so:

• Even though she is religiously Catholic (as were her parents), she in my opinion (especially since she believes in a Jewish man as the Messiah) should have the honor of her Hebrew name (notwithstanding that she knew most about her Irish and German heritage, and nothing about her Jewish heritage until I found out about it and brought it up. Her dad, from what I understand, did know about it and never told her about it, which is a long discussion.).
• I could not find a suitable Hebrew equivalent for "August" or for her maternal grandmother's middle name, "Agnes". Her father's Hebrew would've likely been "Binyamin Yochanahn" for "William John", and his mother was an Elizabeth Müller Pundt the daughter of a Johann Conrad Müller and Margarete Siedenburg Pundt, both of Jewish ancestry. Again, long discussion.

Almost Three Years Since...

Reilly's second Christmas and Camille's first Christmas happened! Can you believe it? How time passes...and "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" might be getting just a little verklempt by thinking about Christmas 2018 will be Reilly's fifth Christmas and Camille's fourth!

Poll On Twitter: "Should FoxNews fire those such as Ann Coulter, Tomi Lahren, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson?"

PS This poll surprisingly received quite a few responses already!

Should @FoxNews fire those such as Ann Coulter, Tomi Lahren, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson?

— N.V. Mara Czarnecki (@Nickidewbear) December 13, 2018

PPS:

My thinking is this: if enough people #answer this #poll & give @foxnews an #idea of whether those such as Ann Coulter are assets or liabilities to them, maybe they & @newscorp will be forced to take action in re Ann Coulter & their other controversial employees & contributors. https://t.co/TBTTXUOSZ9

— N.V. Mara Czarnecki (@Nickidewbear) December 13, 2018

A Reminder From Reilly (and "Momma")

PS The New Moon was sighted on December 8th. Thus, throughout both the Hebrew month of Tevet 5778 as well as the Gregorian month of December 2018, Reilly and "Momma" ask everyone to recommit themselves to the cause of human rights for all humans—including pet owners whom have disabilities.

PPS So, the card's a little late on the East Coast. Still...

#SentimentalSunday & Somewhat Offbeat: What "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" Loves About Walks & Other Thoughts

"Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" loves when she gets to see and meet friends of Reilly and Camille as well as tell Reilly and Camille that she got to see their friends and let them sniff her hands when they greet her at the gate. Not too long ago, for example, she finally met one of Reilly's and Camille's elusive friends known as "Solo", and she of course told Reilly and Camille that she finally met him and let them sniff her hand to confirm that she met Solo. In that instance as well, by the way, she let them confirm that she had seen other friends of theirs, including Shelby.

She also gets to meet potential future friends of theirs as well as well as let those potential future friends sniff her hands—and of course let their current friends sniff their hands! Of course (as she has, as she recalls having, blogged about before), she also runs into friends and acquaintances of theirs whom can get ambivalent and think—as she can tell—thoughts like, "She's been around that jealous Reilly" or "She gave scritches to Reilly—does this mean that Reilly's around and going to come of the blue to give me a hard time?"

After all, Reilly has developed a reputation among her compatriots (or should "Momma" say "com-pup-triots?) as a jealous type!

At least Reilly has the hope of (כ״י״י) seeing (or at least sniffing the scents of) both human, canine, and other friends quite often as well as, for instance being able to get scritches and thoughts toward her and prayers on her behalf when she's enduring hard times. "Momma" doesn't often have that partly because she can't get out as much—let alone to be able to walk Reilly herself, or at least have someone help her care for and be a better "Momma" to Reilly and not give her a hard time about (as she's explained to Reilly) being "not as fast or strong as" others and being not as good of a "Momma" as she could be because of her Cerebral Palsy, Depression, etc..

Reilly and "Momma" Remember...

A Special Card From Reilly (and "Momma")

As a puppy with White Shaker Syndrome and a Maltese underbite as well as a "Momma" with Cerebral Palsy and other conditions, Reilly thanks Former President & First Lady Bush 41 (ז״ל) especially for signing the Americans With Disabilities Act into law!

#MaltipooMonday: "Auntie Nicole" Fell, And...

She scared Camille as she accidentally lunged forward at her and then caused what "Mom-Mom" described as what must've been "an earthquake" to her. So, she literally had unintentional insult added to her injury, which occurred right as she turned to the right and hit the area between her hip and her upper leg (or maybe it was, as "Mom-Mom" told her, her hip—she can't exactly tell what that area's called. Either way, she fell enough to cause an apparent "earthquake" throughout the family room and leave a bruise where she fell.).

Then culminated the next part in the whole incident. That part included "Auntie Nicole" having left Camille scared as well as "Momma" having scared Reilly, Reilly wanting to go outside because of how scared she was, Camille having to pee to the point at which she could be said to have literally had the pee scared of her, "Auntie Nicole" having to put Camille on her lap while she still was harnessed and leashed because she would've run away otherwise, and the same "Auntie Nicole" sitting her furniece on her lap to explain to her that she was just walking toward her to give her a kiss on the head and not trying to hurt her.

Meanwhile, both Camille (who was shaking as she sat on "Auntie Nicole"'s lap as "Auntie Nicole" was trying to comfort her and explain what happened) and Reilly (who avoided "Momma" for quite a while) took some time to be convinced that they were not going to be lunged at by "Auntie Nicole"/"Momma".

Early Hanukkah 5778 and Belated National Mutt Day 2018 Card

PS: 1) "Momma" and Reilly get an extra day of Hanukkah, since Hanukkah begins this evening. 2) This card affected OCD/Anxiety, too—thus, part of why it's late.

A Really-Important Reminder From Reilly And Camille

#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.