CNY is Here!

For the past couple of days, the Mommas have been very very busy. They were running around shoving things into the oven and dragging out delicious smelling cookies. Of course, I was armed with my exceptionally sharp palate in order to make sure they were edible.

A load of peanut cookies

But it wasn't all rainbows and cookies. They took to putting up some red dangly stuff on the ceiling, to which I protested loudly at first, but soon learned they were harmless so I let it go. A girl's gotta pick her battles! Then they put these red little paper envelopes called 'ang pows' on what used to be the Christmas tree. To top it all off, they gave the house a thorough cleaning, and SOMEHOW decided that I needed a thorough cleaning too! Ugh.

Turns out, they were getting ready for Chinese New Year! The Mommas get all teary eyed and nostalgic, because Momma-1 brought me home around CNY last year. I was greeted to my new home by loads of crackers and fireworks. This year was no different! Fireworks and loud booming noises galore during Chinese New Year Eve. The Mommas were relived I'm not the barky type when the noise pollution began. I just run into my crate and cower in there until it all stops! The Mommas just laugh at me when I do that. They can be so mean!

Momma-1 insisted that I did my level best to look festive too. She picked off a pretty little ornament and tucked it into my collar. I thought it was a nice new toy, because it swishes about and is so much fun to jump around and catch! It's like an endless game of fetch, except I don't have to give back the ball. The Mommas began to worry that I'd chew it into oblivion so they took it off after a while. *sigh* It was fun while it lasted.

Despite the fact that this time of the year is noisy, hot, and my walks have become shorter and more erratic because everyone is out most of the time, I'm still very fond of this holiday. The sound of fireworks brings me back to the day I began to share my life with my human pack.

Greeting Momma-2 at the door

And the cookies of course! Seeing as there's no such thing as free cookies in this household, I had to do a few sit stays (which occasionally melt into a down) and an assortment of tricks to get my cookies' worth. I'm practically a street performer, with what they make me do. I should take to the streets with a sign that says "Will play dead for liver treats".

Waiting patiently for my peanut cookie and a piece of egg tart

It's practically begging, really! I have a three stage step to getting what you want through begging. First the 'pretty please', followed by the 'if I could just lick it', topping it off with 'OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE!!!'. Here's a blurry illustration of the progression. Works like a charm (most of the time)!

I was even nice enough to share my bounty with Puppy, my neighbour/sister.

Yes, she is a big doggie now but she was a puppy once!

Her tale is a bit of a damper to tell, so I'll keep this story for another day. For now, we feast and indulge in the abundance of leftovers during this prosperous time of the year.

Happy Chinese New Year!