SANTO CIELO, NON CI CREDO…OR OH, MY GOODNESS…A MIRACLE, WE MUST HAVE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN!

These things simply DO NOT happen at the Italian Post Office…to enter and find only a handful of people?? Unheard of!!!!
These post offices, are places of penance that make one wish they could trade with such trifles as childbirth, root canals or bamboo shoots driven into your fingernails…waterboarding wouldn’t even qualify for comparison; I compare them to Hades where only Jesus Resurrected can get you out of, Jazzy refers to them as Purgatory, as it is a place of suffering and sweating,
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday Jazzi and I went to the Flumini Post Office to buy stamps and mail three letters, (yes you do go to the P.O. to buy and mail letters here, other methods are not always reliable)! In true delicatessen style we took our little number, number 89, and with horror we realized that they were serving number 70! I suggested that we walk 50-100 yards to the veggie guy and come back, so maybe we would be closer to being served. Walked leisurely, came back…they were serving no.71!!! Jazzi and I looked at each other…smiled…and walked right out! By that time plan B looked very attractive, so we went to the Tabacchino, were on can buy anything from hard liquor to stamps…. IF THEY HAVE THEM!!!! Of course they did not have them, maybe in two days or so…
So today, since I had to visit that lovely place again to pay my electric bill (yes, you pay all kinds of bills at the P.O.)! We fortified ourselves with positive thoughts, tightened our belts and went through those dreaded doors to find…. a miracle we cried in chorus! Only a handful of people…we better enjoy it since I’m sure this is a Haley’s comet type event…

I’M GOING FOR A SWIM…

Mommy and Jazzi are finally getting the idea…I LIKE SWIMMING! So they are starting to take me to the beach a few times a week, they throw the dumbbell or the ball, and I jump in the water like a gazelle, seek…zero in on it, and retrieve it…I’m so good at it!!!!
I still have not learned to give the dumbbell back so they can throw it again, I know I should, but there is a devilish streak in me that make me want to play tug-of-war, and I hold on to it in the hope that they will fight me for it.
They also have a strange notion that I should pace myself and not play too hard…poppycock; I don’t mind sleeping two days straight to get my achy body back in shape, just as long as I have fun, fun, and fun!!! Enjoy now pay later, isn’t that the rule?
Well this Monday the 22, they thought I had had enough playing…I disagreed…they were waiting around not throwing anything and ready to put the leash on me and go…I had other thoughts…so…I jumped in the water and went for a swim!!! Then I jumped again and went for another swim!!! When I finally was good and ready I let them put the leash on, well actually I think they tricked me into getting close to them and somehow that leash ended up on my neck, so we walked back to Tony’s and then home. I am still sleeping all that fun off, but my dreams are full of warm blue water holding me up as I walk around looking, and finding the dumbbell!!

A MAN MAY TOIL FROM SUN TO SUN...BUT A DOBIE'S WORK IS NEVER DONE! OR "HE SAID, SHE SAID"!

Cooper, I know I can vent with you about this, with three kids to take care of, you have it even harder than me, so I know you understand.
Everyday it is such a hard task to get mommy up!!!! The sun is high in the sky, and I start my day and fulfill my responsibilities. I scratch the crate's door, whine, make as much noise as I can....

Rupert, it's not the sun, it's the moon, for pete sake it's 5:45 let me sleeeep!

Finally I get her up, she opens the door so that I can relieve myself, she feeds me, hmm! that ACANA food is really yummy, but then ....she lays down again...all my work was for nought!!!

OK Rupert, you are fed, let me sleep a little longer! Have mercy, I am on vacation after all!!

I have got to use my noodle in order to fulfill my duties...let's see... usually she's on me in a flash when I grab mentionables...and unmentionables, and run to the yard, or chew them in the sofa. She runs after me with her eyes still only half way open.... I give her a good run for her money,... I got her up now...oh no!, she yells at me of all things, and goes back to bed!


Rupert, this is NO! You do not chew mommy's slippers and Jazzi's flip-flops! Bad boy!
I need sleep, my kingdom for a few more hours! Pleeeeseee!

I's 8am, it took me two full hours, but finally I have fulfilled my duties and I can reep the rewards of a job well done. I must tell you though, and I know you understand, that it has drained me, I am thorougly exhausted! With the ounce or two of energy left in me I'll jump on the sofa and finally relax! Ahh! The joys and satisfactions of a job well done!

OK, This is my lot in life, it not a lot, but it's a life, I will unglue my eyes, drown my sorrows in some extra strong espresso, and seat in the veranda until my senses kick in and I am conscious again. It would not be quite as bad if I did not have to look at that rascal sleeping like an angel on the sofa!

HEY, COOPER! LOOK AT ME.... I CAN WALK ON WATER!!!

Today was a beautiful day, I did my usual stuff in the morning (more about that in another post), and in the afternoon, just when I thought that mommy and Jazzi forgot about my walk, they took the leash out, and I knew good things were about to happen. I always enjoy going around the neighborhood and visiting friend and foes alike, but my best walks are to uncle Tony's house, there is so much to do there, not the least visiting Riva my little cousin (or something).
She is a little hard to read and I still don't know if she wants to be my friend, but I'm all for it...you know how social I am! Well, uncle Tony was not in, I sniffed around his gate to make sure, so we kept going towards "the vasca" which is their little beach; at this point I knew it would really be fun! The vasca is a small stony beach, which it is not full of people so I can run free...and boy did I ever!


At first it was as usual, just going in and out retrieving the ball and dumbell, but at one point someone threw the ball very far and I decided to go and get it anyway, it is fun feeling the water all around you as you walk on the sand or the stones, but this time something new happened...all of the sudden the stones were not there anymore!!!! Oops! Slight moment of indecision...little concern... but then I realized....I CAN WALK ON WATER!!!! I'm up there with Peter and his Boss..but unlike him I kept the faith and kept going!! Mommy was filming me, but unfortunately she messed something up and the movie was canceled, all we have are a few pictures of this fantastic moment.

You should have heard mommy screaming ,with a southern accent "My baby boy is swimming", she was besides herself!. Of course she had plenty of reasons to be busting her buttons, my style was flawless, my retrieving perfect, I was not afraid to stick my head in the water to grab the ball, and no matter how far they thew it, my courage never failed and I was on that ball like fleas on dogs. Also, I have it from reliable sources, that my beloved predecessors Talley and Rufus never learned to swim, and that is another reason for mommy's joy. I can't wait to go swimming again, I think that is going to be my favorite sport!

I AM EXHAUSTED!!!!

Goodness these Sardinian beaches really take it out of you!!!
It is 11:45, and I can't peel myself off the sofa. I woke mommy up at the crack of dawn because I was hungry...and because that is the thing to do, but after I ate I felt tired so I jumped on the sofa for a nap and here I am still....
Yesterday mommy and Jazzi decided to take me to the "Budda" beach, behind the Sigma supermarket. It was early evening, with a warm wind blowing, the beach was almost deserted so they let me loose, what a wonderful feeling to run free in the soft sand, the air had a salty taste, and the waves were high and noisy. I went in right away because I know now that the sea is fun, and ran my legs off going in and out, biting the waves, eating dry sea plants and having a ball!!! I could have played all night but mommy paced me because she knows that I am a puppy and have no sense to know when I am tired.

.....And boy, was she right!!! That air, the wind, the water....I am pooped!

Here I am with Jazzi, running free.

Catching my breath, while feeling the fresh water in my paws.

Playing with Jazzi, she throws the ball and I run and get it

where is it? I know she threw the ball here...where?...where?

This is fun!
Ahhh! that fresh smell, that nice salty breeze!

Should I go further? Ohh, it looks like such fun! I can't wait until they take me further out and I learn to swim. My fur feels so refreshed and soft, every time I shake white stuff falls off of me, and my nose is covered with it....and it is fuuunnnn!