Reilly Let "Momma" Takes Some Pictures For Once In A While

To be fair, "Mom-Mom" was playfully staring down Reilly from a distance—and Reilly must've gotten either afraid or bored, and thus turned to "Momma" for help or becoming unbored:

"Momma" grants that these photos are flip phone-taken pictures, and that she was trying to catch Reilly staring at "Mom-Mom" before she turned around. Nonetheless, Reilly actually let "Momma" get some pictures of her. Meanwhile, "Auntie Nicole" must've taken these pictures of Camille shortly before she tried to teach Camille to "lie down" yesterday—by the way, Camille knows "Catch" as well!

Reilly Makes An Effort To Find At Least Leftover Treats This Time

Reilly again shied away from Camille, though she at least tried to find the treats that Camille may have left. She may have even gotten one, although "Momma" is not sure if she did—she was licking her lips at one point, though..

Incidentally, at least Camille and Reilly neither have weird toys nor could even probably navigate the box in the one toy—Camille would just chew it, or at least try to chew it—and it's quite a big box for a small puppy to carry, anyway.

A Weird Toy That "Momma" Saw While She Browsed Online, And Moving Camille Upstairs Because...

According to Camille's "Mimi", Camille's safety was at risk—Camille messed with Reiser and got "grrr"ed—cranky Reilly (partly again due to Momma) let her know that she was not having any morning shenanigans. Camille came back downstairs by the time that "Auntie Nicole" came downstairs, though.

As for the weird toy...as much as "Momma" can see that Barkshop is having fun with it, it seems weird unless a dog owner's suitor or significant other is proposing something and bought it for both the owner to be creatively surprised and the puppy to have something afterwards—or perhaps for the puppy to find the ring or whatever else it is for the owner*. The same goes for the "Molly's Mistletoe" toy: weird, since mistletoe carries a romantic significance, and especially likely to confuse the not-so-smart puppy.

*Maybe that wouldn't be a bad gift from someone whom'd have Reilly find a ring for "Momma".

Scared Reilly Doesn't Even Try To Play "Find The Treats In the Blankie" Now! At Least...

She was able to snuggle with "Froggie" when she and Camille were napping—whoever gave "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" her paw first got Froggie, and Reilly surprisingly gave "Momma" her paw—"Auntie Nicole" thought that Camille would want to snuggle with "Froggie", though she ended up snuggling with "Buddy" when "Auntie Nicole" gave her a toy to snuggle.

Reilly also later got treats because she was too scared to even be near Camille during "Find The Treats In the Blankie"—despite "Momma"'s/"Auntie Nicole"'s coaxing to try to get Reilly to play ("Go ahead"; "You're okay", etc.) and admonitions to Camille to share.

Camille quite often gets jealously possessive of treats and toys like "Froggie".

Don't let her innocent face fool you.

Reilly snuggled with "Froggie" when "Momma" put "Froggie" under her arm.

Camille preferred to chew on "Buddy" and only sort of snuggle with him
(The toys are assigned genders if they're toys like "Froggie" and "Buddy".). 

Camille Fights Back And A Wondering That "Momma" Has

Camille let jealous Reilly know that she was not having it. Two instances stick out:

1. When Reilly tried to get possessive and block Camille from getting further affection, Camille growled at her and let her know that she could have affection from Reilly's "Momma", "Auntie Nicole", too.
2. As "Auntie Michelle" reported, Camille stood up to Reilly when Reilly tried to block Camille from interacting with her own sister Shelby.

Incidentally, "Momma" thinks that someone may have been romantically jealous like that over "Momma" once—and it baffles "Momma" why even Reilly as a "dogter" would be grateful for her "Momma", let alone that there may actually be some chance that "Momma" will ever have a helpmate and a "Daddy" for Reilly—especially since "Momma" has disabilities and Reilly so far seems to have not been an incentive for any potential guy for "Momma".

Jealous Reilly Is Jealous...And She Lets Camille Know When She's Jealous

When Reilly and Camille went to greet "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" and came up to her yesterday morning, Reilly got jealous enough for "Mom-Mom" to have to take Camille out of "Auntie Nicole"'s room for Camille's safety—"Reilly! No, no! We don't do that!"

Reilly later attempted to keep Camille from getting on "Momma"'s/"Auntie Nicole"'s lap, and she otherwise attempted to keep "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" from paying attention to Camille throughout the day—and "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" had to use one of the common phrases which Reilly's human family has to use all of the time: "Reilly, I can love two puppies."

Wait Until Hanukkah & Christmas, and What Reilly & "Momma" Want For Christmas

Even though Reilly was overwhelmed on Thanksgiving, the jury is out on Hanukkah and Christmas. For the past two Hanukkot and Christmases, she did well (😢—"Momma"'s baby's growing. She'll be three human years—and 32.3 dog years—exactly three months after Christmas, and she'll always be "Momma"'s puppy—and a puppy's always a puppy, whether a baby puppy or an adult puppy. 😢—"Momma"'s tearing up again.).

"Momma"'s not exactly sure if Reilly was okay with the nerot shel Hanukkah, though she did well overall. However, she merely tolerated the Hanukkah and Christmas cards for the first ones.

"Momma" made the card using Powerpoint.

"Mom-Mom" took this photo.

Reilly was grinchy about regular pictures on Christmas Eve, too.

As far as Christmas, Reilly liked the treats and toys—and she was heartbreakingly heartbroken and sad when "Momma" had to throw her donut-shaped toy—which was one of her favorite toys—away ("Donut has to go bye-bye". Poor Reilly was whimpering and whining in a gentle and "Please don't throw 'Donut' away" way. Incidentally, "Donut" was replaced with a squeaky-wheel toy named "Speedy".).

Reilly will then want the same kind of gifts for this Hanukkah and Christmas—e.g., treats, toys, family presence. As for "Momma", she wants a God-given gift for herself and Reilly—and Reilly would certainly be a gift in turn, though whether "Momma" would be may be questionable.


PS As "Auntie Nicole" was typing this, she gasped and dropped her mouse because she thought that she saw a bug crawling on her phone—and Camille looked at "Auntie Nicole" with a "What's going on?" and an "Are you okay"? expression.

With The Overwhelmed Reilly Calming Down...

Thanksgiving went much more smoothly—and since she had to be put in her crate during her human family's Thanksgiving dinner, anyway, she (as "Mom-Mom" and "Auntie Michelle" reported) calmed down in her crate (her little space).

Overall, Thanksgiving wasn't too shabby; and it even included Reilly's and Camille's reactions to "A Christmas Story".

Overwhelmed On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was going peacefully until the oven gave off a tiny smell of smoke from being cleaned. The sequence:

1. "Mom-Mom" thought that Reilly saw and sniffed something outside.
2. "Momma" then thought that Reilly wanted to play with "Mom-Mom".
3. Then "Momma" figured out that Reilly was afraid of the smokey smell—"Mom-Mom" agreed with "Momma".
4. "Auntie Michelle" had to take Reilly upstairs—and off of "Momma"'s lap—for a few moments—though not before Camille gave Reilly a kiss and comforted her.
5. "Auntie Nicole" held Camille on her lap until "Mimi" came back.
6. "Mom-Mom" gave Reilly a calming treat and tried to comfort her.
7. Nothing but massages from "Auntie Michelle" have worked for Reilly—even being on "Momma"'s lap and anti-anxiety music haven't worked.
8. Camille is wondering what's happening.
9. "Auntie Michelle" now is rocking Reilly like one would rock a human baby—and actually holding Reilly over one arm is working best, and "as Auntie Michelle" is taking Reilly upstairs to fully calm her.
10. Camille is looking to the hallway and turning to look at "Mom-Mom" to try to figure out what's up with Reilly, and "Mom-Mom" is reassuring Camille that "[Reilly's] okay."

"Who Made This Mess? Was That You? Was That You?"—And Camille Ringled!

When "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" was upstairs, she heard "Mom-Mom" ask Reilly and Camille, "Who made this mess? Was this you? Was that you?"

As "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" found out, why the laugh-provoking admonishment occurred had to do with two puppies whom went into the bathroom and tore up the bathroom trash, and—as "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" has experienced when they've gotten into the bathroom trash before—left it on the hallway carpet. She also found that Camille betrayed herself as the ringleader by giving the guiltiest looks that she could give—and she also heard Reilly's barks of protest against incrimination. Reilly, of course, gave "Momma" an "Uh-oh; I'm in trouble" look when "Momma"—whom later gave Reilly a talk—got downstairs.

Imagine if there'd been more people around to see Reilly's and Camille's antics! 

Yet, They Never Believe "Momma" Until "Momma" Persists In Getting Them To Pet Reilly

Granted that "Mom-Mom" worked from home today and was holding Reilly on her lap. Still, Reilly did exactly as "Momma" said that she would—she let the home-improvement contractors pet her and gave them kisses. Reilly also barks because she hates when people leave in fact, Reilly is gregarious to the point at which she licked the spaying team as she came out of the anesthesia!

By the way, if God wills and "Mom-Mom" allows, Reilly and "Momma" would love to have family, friends, and others—including whomever Reilly's "Daddy" is or might be—to come over and meet and/or visit with Reilly on Thanksgiving! Maybe there'll even be venison 😉!

In all seriousness, Reilly would love to meet and regreet people. As for Camille, even though she did let one other person pet her today, she usually misses only "Mom-Mom", her "Mimi", Shelby, and a pitbull mix in her neighborhood (in a platonic way, mind you; though as for Camille's "Auntie Nicole" quietly wonders if Cam's platonic song of lament would ever apply to her and and Reilly's "Daddy" in another way—"Momma" definitely gets verklempt and bazorgt about Reilly not having a "Daddy" and herself not having a helpmate around the holidays).

Meanwhile, Cam is becoming more than just Jewishly emotive—and she's always Jewishly emotive (despite that there's apparently no Yiddish word for "emoter"—and thus no farklenervort for "Auntie Nicole"'s "plimenitse"—although she does call her "puppeleh", semi Yinglish for "little puppy",).

Another Instance When Barking Was Good On Ri's & Cam's Part

This time, the instance involved a creature that makes the doberman that once ran down the street look like a Maltipoo—that creature happened to be a buck, and a huge back at that! Of course, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" exclaimed "Holy ****!" when she saw him—he also walked up the street and behind a neighbor's house like it was nobody's business!

Had someone shot that buck, Reilly and Camille could've had venison with their "num nums" or as separate treats for a week! As was the case, though, the buck just went about his business—and as "Momma" types, Reilly is going on a walk with her cousin in tow and working-from-home "Mom-Mom" being the puppy ("dog") walker (and "dogs" are just really adult puppies).

(Incidentally, if only "Momma" had her eventual helpmate and Reilly's eventual "Daddy" in her and Reilly's lives—to be able to walk with Ri on one of her walks and to not walk alone on the weekends, e.g., would be incredibly nice—maybe even a Thanksgiving miracle will happen, and "Momma" will have something for which to be thankful like she hasn't been able to have in a long time—not to mention that Reilly, being a Matrilineal Poo[dle], would probably love to go on a hunt for venison someday if God willed.)

Somewhat Offbeat: Poor Reilly Is Exhausted Because Of "Momma" Dealing With A Difficult Time, Etc.

As "Momma" continues to deal with life closing in on her and Reilly, Reilly is being affected again—poor baby! Contrary to what "Mom-Mom" alleges, the case isn't that "Momma" doesn't care about Reilly—the case is actually that she does care about Reilly and wants a "Daddy" for Reilly and a helpmate for Reilly.

As she has written:

"Then have people wonder why you sit up alone at night thinking about both your future and poor Ri's future, despite that you should be taking Reilly back upstairs and going "night nights"—and you're amazed that even reading at night doesn't always help you fall asleep or sleep well enough, and you also know that Reilly's patiently waiting for you to finish reading before turning the reading light off affects her to be a little more sleepy during the day."

She was able to figure out that exhaustion is affecting Reilly and was affecting her to, as Mom-Mom stated in regards to how Reilly was affected to, have "been acting funny this morning." Mom-Mom, of course, lectured her when she figured why Reilly was "acting funny"—which had nothing to do with the uncooked quinoa noodle that she ate and refused to drop yesterday.

Meanwhile, part of why "Momma" is exhausted, etc. is because she feels that someone who could be Reilly's future "Daddy" may be—so to speak—sending her funny signals right now, and she just wants to know what he's thinking—is he going to be Reilly's "Daddy" in the future, and does he even want to be Reilly's "Daddy" and "Momma"'s helpmate?

"Momma" and Reilly are also not getting any younger—in fact, Thanksgiving falls right in between when "Momma" will be 26 ⅚ years old and Reilly 2⅔ years old—not to mention that "Momma" doesn't want to end up with the kind of disappointment and heartbreak that Gwen Ifill (of blessed memory) had:

"Ifill never married not had any children. When asked about in 2008, she still seemed hopeful. 'I don't know why I'm not married,' she told TIME. 'I just know I will be, so I don't sweat it.'" 

"Sadly she never got the chance to fulfill that wish. She died on Monday - just two days before she was scheduled to receive a prestigious award, the John Chancellor Award, at a Columbia University ceremony, reports."

She also feels like a female equivalent of Nick Carraway, whom F. Scott Fitzgerald made to have his full birthday in September (with no connection to Reilly's half birthday, of course):

"After a moment Tom got up and began wrapping the unopened bottle of whiskey in the towel.

'Want any of this stuff? Jordan? . . . Nick?

"I didn’t answer.

“'Nick?' He asked again.

“'What?

“'Want any?”

“'No . . . I just remembered that to-day’s my birthday.'

"I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous, menacing road of a new decade...

"Thirty — the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning hair." 

Amazingly, "Momma" hasn't died of exhaustion and loneliness yet—and even more amazingly (and miraculously), Reilly hasn't died due to her "Momma"-affected exhaustion—maybe there's hope for "Momma" and Reilly. 

Offbeat: The Ring That "Momma" Wore When She Met Reilly

""Are you Reilly?" Mom asked Reilly this and fell in love with her firstborn "granddogter" immediately...To answer "Mom-Mom"'s question and assuage her dreads, Reilly ended up licking the ring on "Momma"'s right ring finger! To confirm her answer when they went into Joyce's house to get to know Reilly better, etc., she crawled up from "Momma"'s lap to her face and licked her face."

Just this weekend, "Momma" ended up finding the ring on the kitchen table, where "Auntie Michelle" had put it after she found it.

Incidentally, if only "Momma" had a different kind of ring on her left hand maybe by Hanukkah or Christmas (or at least some time soon, anyway), God willing; and, God willing, if Reilly's "Daddy" is who "Momma" thinks (or at least hopes) that he is.

"Auntie Michelle" took this picture of Reilly, who's in "Momma"'s lap,

ibid.

Perhaps "Auntie Michelle" and "Momma" contributed to Reilly's flouting of the camera,

ibid.

ibid. Incidentally, you do sometimes wish that they were that little again—or at least 8-9 weeks old. Reilly came home on May 24, 2014; and she was born on March 25, 2014—so, Reilly came home when she was almost nine weeks old and almost a month after she met her human family.

The ring today

Part Of Why Reilly Was Fixed, And A Donation In Honor Of "Momma" From Reilly's Future "Daddy"?

Right in between BCA Month and the month in which many notoriously buy puppies as gifts that they end up returning to the pet stores*, breeders**, and shelters, Movember/No-Shave November (herein "No-Shave Movember") comfortably takes its place as much as Reilly comfortably takes her place wherever she likes whenever she gets the chance to choose her own spot.

Along with the just-concluded BCA Month and the upcoming Caveat-Empuprum*** Season, No-Shave Movember serves to remind aspiring and current puppy owners of one big thing: non-breeding puppies (including non-breeding adult puppies) need to be spayed and neutred—after all, puppies are at risk for cancers, too—and puppy owners can prevent their non-breeding puppies from having any significant cancer risk by spaying and neutering them.

That's part of why Reilly was fixed: having her uterus and ovaries removed, Reilly was free to live the life of Reilly without "Momma" (and everyone else) worrying about her possibilities of having mammary, ovary, and other cancers—after all, Reilly's "Momma" worries enough about herself being at risk for the human equivalents of the cancers that non-spayed female canines—besides, "Momma" inherently has Jewish worry regarding her "dogter" (not to mention that "Momma"'s primary cancer risks are due to whatever BRCA mutation stereotypically passed down through her Ashkenazi bloodline—and evidenced itself in Reilly's "Pop-Pop"'s ongoing Chron's Diease, late "Great Pop-Pop"'s battles with Colon Cancer and fatal Myelodysplasic Leukemia, and "cousin" Katherine's death due to Breast Cancer).

Speaking of cancer-related matters, meanwhile, "Momma" recently received a surprise card saying that someone had donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in honor of her—and the card did not have the honor-bestowing donor's name or a message on the bottom. Perhaps the anonymous honorer of Reilly's "Momma"—who clearly knows Reilly's and "Momma"'s address—is Reilly's future "Daddy" 😊? Since—as "Momma" checked online—one can put his or her name and a message in the card, "Momma" is pretty sure that someone else would've written a message and put his or her name to let her know who he or she is.

Even if the mysterious donor isn't Reilly's eventual "Daddy", "Momma" and Reilly thank him or her—and if the donor is Reilly's to-be "Daddy" , "Momma" thanks Reilly's "Daddy" both personally and on behalf of gregarious and empathetic Reilly ❤️.

("Momma" suspects that the donor is whom she hopes might be Reilly's future "Daddy", by the way.)




* At least some of which actually don't use puppy mills
** Whom will be proud that the families at least gave the puppies chances to find better homes, as opposed to in-name-only breeders whom will only resent losses of profits
*** Em-pup-rum, in case you didn't get the pun

Offbeat: Logistics, Logistics. In Other Words...

How will "Momma" flee from a Trump regime if she has to do so? Unless God stops Trump, anyone of Trump's ilk, and anyone worse than Trump, "Momma" will have to flee with Reilly—already, the situation in the United States is similar to it what was for, e.g.,'Jewish schoolchildren in the 1930s:

"'There have been reports that Trump's presidential win was announced at school today amidst chants of "white power." That white students referred to other races as their slaves, and at some points even spit on those students. I think we should all have a chat tonight with our students, whether they were participating, appalled bystanders, or victims. This whole situation is absolutely horrible.'"

Even getting barky Reilly to not inadvertently lead Trump's cronies to Reilly and "Momma" will be hard. Whatever "Auntie Michelle" does with herself and Camille is her business, meanwhile—"Momma" can speak only for herself and Reilly. As for "Momma", she is fleeing if she has to do so lest she and/or Reilly get hurt—and other Jews have endured that their pets were hurt in Anti-Semitic attacks. For example:

"Between mid-1933 and the early 1940s, the Nazi regime passed dozens of laws and decrees that eroded the rights of Jews in Germany. Some were seemingly insignificant, such as an April 1935 edict banning Jews from flying the German flag; or a February 1942 order prohibiting Jews from owning pets."

"April 3[, 1936]

"The Reich Veterinarians Law expels Jews from the profession." 

One can sadly guarantee that pets were taken from Jews by force and/or even murdered right in front of them, and "Momma" is not risking that Reilly would be taken from her and murdered.

Meanwhile, Reilly has definitely endured as "Momma" has had increased fatigue, mental-illness flareups, and other issues due to dread of how bad the Trump regime will be if God does not stop Trump—there've even been nights when "Momma" and Reilly haven't gone "night nights" until close to dawn, and Reilly hasn't really been able to resume the nightly sleeping that she was doing while she was waiting for "Momma" to wrap up.

Offbeat: "Momma" and Reilly, And Other Jewish Pet Owners And Their Pets

As "Momma" dreaded, the Second Kristallnacht did occur—even if it's not on a mass scale, it's happened in Philadelphia and going to happen elsewhere if people continue to close their eyes to how dangerous Trump and his ardent supporters are. 

Even more shamefully, a misguided Facebook friend has a Facebook friend whom wrote the following (One can see on his public profile that he lives there, by the way.):

"I live in Upper Darby, PA which is right outside of Philadelphia. I'm happy Trump won. I'm a conservative. I think Obama messed up. Black or white idc what he is he messed up. Hopefully Trump can fix it."

To be fair, he wrote this before "Momma" shared the article regarding the incident and asked, "Are you happy now?" Nonetheless, this isn't nothing that wasn't out there. 

Also, "Momma" and Reilly have loved ones in the Philadelphia Area—and "Momma" hopes that the ones whom aren't related to her would take her and her Reilly in if they could and had to do so. Other Jewish pet owners and their pets are in positions similar to that of "Momma" and Reilly, especially if they have disabilities like Cerebral Palsy and mental illnesses like Depression. 

Fellow pet owner Anne Frank and her cat Moortje were in the same kind of position years ago—that is, Anne Frank had to consider Moortje when she and her family had to go into the Secret Annex, pretending that they had fled to Switzerland and leaving a note on their kitchen table in which they claimed such. 

At the same time, Peter van Pels and his cat Mushi were able to stay together until Peter and the rest of the people in the Secret Annex were betrayed by two Dutch people (not their shelterers) and kidnapped from the Annex by the Getaspo:

"After they were arrested, the cat was still there. It did not run away. But the cat did not feel at home anymore. It missed Peter. But one day the office cleaner asked if she could take the cat. She took Mushi and gave the cat a new home."

For her own part, "Momma" would be like Peter and could not leave Reilly behind—in fact, Reilly is a part of why "Momma" is still alive. 

This remains one of "Momma"'s favorite pictures.