Isn't It Ironic?

Every year about this time, Target sells dog costumes. You may recall last year's purchase from the clearance rack in the days after Halloween; this year, I saw a couple of perfect costumes for Holly and didn't want to risk them disappearing. Holly was not too pleased with this idea.

The first costume I got was a princess dress - Holly's official name is Princess Holly (a long story), and she certainly believes that she should be treated like royalty, so I thought the dress was appropriate. She was curious why I had the camera out,

and investigated her costume thoroughly.

She was none too pleased when I started to put the costume on her, though. The sleeves of the dress went over her legs, which she did not care for. That, and the bodice was a bit tight.

Once the costume was on, she decided to pretend to be a starfish, sticking her legs out and flattening herself against the floor so she didn't have to move. (I wonder if Target makes starfish costumes...)Yeah...not a happy dog. I took the costume off of her after the photo shoot, but she still shunned me until I gave her a potato chip.After a bit of research, I determined that Target didn't make starfish costumes, but they made something much cooler - squirrel suits. I bought one later that week, and tried it on her this past weekend when I was there. Those of you who know Holly's obsession with squirrel-chasing will appreciate the irony of her being dressed as her prey. And surprisingly, she seemed to like this costume better than the princess dress. We started with the headpiece, which fastened under her neck like a collar (likely why she didn't freak out when I put it on).

Next, I put on the body part. This one fastened more like a cape and didn't restrict her legs, so she didn't seem to hate it nearly as much as the last one.
The costume was very cute - it had little squirrel arms on the front, holding an acorn,
and a fluffy, bushy tail.

No starfish-acting in this costume, although she did hide under the kitchen table after a few minutes. I think she thought she'd get steak if she did so.

After a few minutes, though, we took the costume off. But little does she know that it may make a reappearance when I'm there this weekend...perhaps I can get a picture of her with the costume and with a squirrel in the background. She'll be so excited!

In 1492, Columbus Rearranged His Living Room

Thanks to Christopher Columbus, today was one of those glorious federal holidays that we get and no one else does. Since most of my local friends are either working today or had other plans, and I have to teach swim lessons tonight, I used the day to do some of the cleaning I've been procrastinating for...well, let's just say a little while.

Among the tasks completed today was the rearrangement of my living room. I'd been pondering this for awhile, but finally had the time and energy to do something about it. Below, a before and after look at the room from a few angles.

View #1, before:

View #1, after:

View #2, before:

View #2, after:

View #3, before:

View #3, after:

I'm rather pleased with the change. It seems to open up the room more, at least from the direction of my chair. The space between the ottoman and the coffee table is a bit tight, but not unreasonably so, and the doorway to outside is far more open. The TV looks a lot smaller in the vastness of the window, but that could be easily fixed by buying a bigger TV (donations accepted). And I figure if I get sick of it, I can pretend that the room is dressed up as another room for Halloween, and move it back in November :-).