My mother, bless her heart, cracks me up. Now that Boo is home, too, the two of them are quite the pair, so I'm going to have to wait until they get home to properly ask the meaning of this, but...

When Mom leaves town, she always puts Hercules in a very nice kennel. I've used the place before, and it's definitely approved by me. Still, there are prices to consider and quick-set dates that come up, this weekend being one of them.

Both Mom and Boo wanted to go to a wedding for a girl that used to live locally and whose fam was really close to all of us. Her older brother used to come "borrow" Tiger's Eye when he got bored. Yeah. Both older brothers helped us move into this shack for free pizza. Oh, yeah. Love these guys! So, the wedding was on. Problem is, my sister's due date is rapidly approaching, so it was a toss-up as to whether they'd go or not.

They decided to go for it, which meant a rather expensive kennel bill, weekend delivery, getting him out on a Sunday afternoon, etc.

Now, there are only a few reasons Herky's never been an overnight guest here before:

Um, how should I say this? Herky came with his own overnight bag. This dog is definitely loved. Not only that, Mom figured he'd eat about three meals. Good. Good. She divvied them up, three equal parts, in baggies. Yep. With an address label on each of them.

Okay, now who's to say that Boo wasn't in on this, but that just makes me giggle and scratch my head. How much postage does a dog require? He's a Basset hound, if that matters.

I'm happy to report the boys are getting along famously, although Mr. Purr throws a hissy once in a while. The puppies aren't playing nose-rear tag all over the house. When he arrived yesterday, I let Herky in to get acclimated to the environment and put Alex outside for a while, and it seemed to work. Alex has never considered the house his territory, anyway; the yard is quite a different story. Besides, he knows that the real threat in this house is Mr. Purr. This is his territory, and all know it and tremble, if you're not human. Okay, sometimes if you're human. Mr. Purr's just like that.

Psst. Don't tell Mom, but I supplemented Herky's diet. He loves mac-n-cheese and Alex shared his pizza crusts with him. I gave him the second bag of dog chow/muesli mix about 5:00 a.m., but I'm keeping the third and final baggie in case I need the label for returning Herky to sender.

**UPDATE**

I spoke to my sister, Boo, about the address labels.  She kind of laughed and said that Mom has baggies already ready-to-go for the kennel, just fill and send in his overnight bag.  Herky's welcome back any time.  I know Mr. Purr is less than enthused but, other than him refusing to come down from his perch, we just had another dog in the house.  Herky, who's getting in older middle age, does not like our front step.  He looked at me like he wanted me to carry him, and I told Boo about that, too.  She mentioned that my mother probably would have.  Next time, I know, but with encouragement, he negotiated that step just fine.