Oh, brother! Those chihuahuas! I forgot how relentless those little monsters can be. I thought I made some progress with them yesterday, encouraging them to sit in my lap and allow themselves to be petted. Which they would do, only to jump down to engage with some distraction, return, look at me as if they'd never seen me before in their tiny lives, and start barking all over again!
It's actually not even the barking that bothers me, so much as the snarling. And the pulling on my clothing. My dad keeps trying to convince me that they're harmlessly nipping, but there's a visceral human reaction to an animal coming at you, growling, with teeth bared. You can't help but be a little tense!
They remind me of piranhas, roiling the water around a leg of lamb until all that's left is a stripped bone.
Anyway, I'll continue to work on them when I go back to my dad's house in a few days. For now, I'm at my mom's, which is a chihuahua-free-zone.
I'm trying to help her with some more photo scanning, one of my main occupations when I spend time here. She has mountains of pictures that we're trying to whittle down to a manageable stockpile and organize in some way. We have so many, in stacks and envelopes and tucked haphazardly in albums, that we can't even look at them. A common family problem, I'm sure.
You may remember that my mom is selling our family home. At least, in theory. It's been on the market since April but we've seen no real activity. No one has come to view it. Mom says that's partly because the realtor is being very selective about showing only to buyers who have financing, but still -- doesn't it seem like somebody should have come through by now? I think it's very strange and last night had a talk with mom about whether she needs to change realtors, or enlist more help.
(Photo: A water vending machine in Lutz, near my dad's house.)
I think a new set of eyes might help, at least I hope so. Have fun scanning and give my best to your mom.
ReplyDeleteWell, keep both your legs on your next visit to your Father's house!
ReplyDeleteI feel your mother's pain. Our house has been on the market since April as well and we've had three people come to look. I would be devastated if no one had come. We are changing realtors as I type, now whether or not it will make a difference remains to be seen. If I were her I would definitely look for another realtor. Can she get out of her contract with her present realtor?
I don't think that's how realtors work. Yeah. She needs to change.
ReplyDeleteI would hate those dogs. You know I would.
I would hate the dogs as well. I stayed at my husband's aunt's house once, and they not only had three largish dogs who kept putting their paws on me and barking, they also had a little bird they let free in the house - a green thing, perhaps a parakeet? - and it shat everywhere! Including on the toilet seat. Yuck!
ReplyDeleteOh the little dogs - I think I would start feeling homicidal after a while!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you about the realtor. There really should be more activity. It's a beautiful house. And, along with everyone else here, I'm sure those dogs would drive me crazy too.
ReplyDeleteYou've reminded me that I have a picture scanning project ahead of me too. I actually thinned the lot by quite a bit when I moved but now I need to scan what is left.
Now that you've mentioned it, chihuahuas must be distantly related to piranhas. Makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWe (or rather my man) have been scanning pictures for the last 5 years, just started on the slides, all these rectangular boxes will one day be gone (she hopes). But it's a BIG job, all that stirring up of memories and when was that? etc. How nice of you to help.
I had to laugh at your comparison to piranhas. my current battle with the little dog is about the jumping and nipping.
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of something I read recently about smarter and less smart dogs. There is a scale of some kind by which to rate them. At the top are those breeds who can "get" a command after only a couple of repetitions. At the bottom are those who might get it after fifty tries. Chihuahuas were in that group. So it's not your imagination - those little guys DON'T REMEMBER YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteYour mom has a good helper for the picture culling. I find it hard to part with any pictures, but the stacks are taking up too much room. How many blurry duplicates of unidentifiable people does a person actually need?
In all my life I've never ever been able to understand why someone would own a chihuahua other than to annoy everyone else. The scanning project scares me. I have photos collected from my mom and her three sisters. They span back to the depression (the photos and the sisters/mom)so there are tons. I keep telling myself they have historical value...my mom was 97 when she passed away and saw loads of history. Looking through them, they also have hysterical value. This will be a project for retirement!
ReplyDeleteEven though you are a dog person, you must feel like sinking the boot into those yapping dogs. My Mum also has her villa unit for sale. It has been on the market for nearly 7 weeks and she has only had 5 viewings. She is already worried so I don't know whether telling her of your Mum's lack of response after 4 months will make her feel better or more despaired. Good luck with getting through the photo scanning. It is a difficult task deciding which photos to keep as they all seem precious to us. Someone on Pinterest said to only keep the best photos that show the occasion for which they were taken, or that show the person at a certain age, then either give the rest to one of the photo's subject or to another family member. However if you are scanning most of them to be saved on a digital medium you can afford to be ruthless as there is a backup for future generations.
ReplyDeleteArctic water and penguins. Heh, heh, heh.
ReplyDeleteAnd yapping chihuahuas - one of the better days in my life occurred when, after three years, two of these dogs who lived in the apartment below and barked endlessly, finally left with their owner when her relationship broke up.
And yes, I think your mother should be searching out a different realtor.
Ms Soup