Carolyn Holm

Hey Mom,
We all got together today. For a meeting.
Winston

Dear Winston,
That sounds serious. Are you sure it wasn’t just to hang out?
Love, Carolyn

Hey Mom,
No. We had something to discuss. And they’re making me do the hard part.
Winston

Dear Winston,
That doesn’t sound fair. But I’m sure you’ll rise to the occasion.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
We have something to tell you. We want you to stop vacuuming.
Winston

Dear Winston, 
Just today or forever?
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
There’s a CHOICE?
Winston

Dear Winston,
Not really.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
Now I’m confused.
Winston

Dear Winston,
I’m sorry, I’m just messing with you. The answer is no and no. No stopping. No stopping today, no stopping forever.
Love, Carolyn

Hey Mom
Poppy says you mess with us a lot. But I like messy stuff, so that’s ok. But we really hate the vacuum.
Winston

Dear Winston,
I know you do, sweetie, but if I didn’t vacuum, we’d be living in a huge nest of fur.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
That sounds AWESOME!!!!!
Winston

Dear Winston,
I knew the moment I wrote that, I’d made a tactical mistake. Let me rephrase that. If I didn’t vacuum, I’d need to find homes for all of you because we could no longer live here choking in fur.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
That’s HORRIFYING!!!
Winston

Dear Winston,
Yep, all that fur. Mostly blonde. Poppy really wins the Output Award.
Love, Carolyn

Hey Mom,
Award? There’s an award? You’re confusing me again. 
Winston

Dear Winston,
Sorry. There is no award. It’s just that most of the fur is Poppy’s. But you boys contribute a fair amount yourselves. Dark gray from Puffin, white fluff from his belly, shiny seal brown hairs from you. It’s an impressive daily haul.
Love, Carolyn

Hey Mom,
There’s also some very very very long silver hairs. What animal is that?!!!
Winston

Dear Winston,
That’s me! 
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
YOU!!! You shed fur too? I thought maybe it was from the Demon Dog.
Winston

Dear Winston,
The who???
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
Musso. Puffin and I call him the Demon Dog. Some of the house fur is from him.
Winston

Dear Winston,
Demon Dog, that’s hilarious. He’s about as demonic as a kitten. Wait, I take that back, kittens can be demonic. Puffin was definitely demonic when he was a youngster. But Musso is about as demonic as a perky little spring lamb.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
I’ve never met a lamb. But Musso stares at us. Puffin says that’s demonic.
Winston

Dear Winston,
Musso stares because he is fascinated by you. He thinks cats are exotic.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
He’d better stop. Puffin doesn’t like the staring. And you should tell him to stop shedding in our house. So the vacuuming can stop.
Winston

Dear Winston,
Whoa, you boys are getting tough! Well, calm down. Musso isn’t here all the time. He’s a visiting dog. And he is a tiny dog with very short hair. He weighs only ten pounds, you doofus. You weigh more than he does. He’s not making much of a contribution to the vacuum load.
Love, Carolyn

Mom,
Well, whatev’s. Meanwhile Puffin wants to know if you’ll be finished vacuuming soon, and which room it will be safe to move to next.
Winston

Dear Winston,
You boys can move back to the bedroom. I’m finished there. Go on, run, run, RUN! Run for your lives!!! I’m turning the vacuum cleaner on now!
Love, Carolyn

– 

A note to our readers…

Poppy, Winston, and Puffin are looking forward to sharing their weekly correspondence with you! Each week one of them is featured here, all based upon actual conversations. And yes, you can get the week’s post conveniently in your email every Friday by subscribing in the subscriber box at the top of this page. (If you are reading this in an email, go to blog.carolynholm.com to subscribe.) If you have already subscribed, multiple paws are raised to salute you!