She is most certainly NOT a dog, although I’m not really sure what she is. A two-legged, chocolate-eating, situationally grumpy but often friendly animal. And she’s letting me take the hot seat today and answer questions for Ask Away Friday.
Are you ready to hear about me – Athena? I’m often silent on this blog, the way that Cassidy, Scarlet and Des are – although they’ve all had their say. In fact, you might not even know they’re real. The only friend to ever meet ALL three of them in the same room is Ilene, of Hippie Chick Granola. I like granola. I stole some of Tamara’s Blend once, and the real Tamara was pretty pissed because of the chocolate factor. Little did she know, I ignored the chocolate and went for the pretzels.
Enough about me, though. Well more about me, but later. For now I want to introduce my super-adorable partner this week – Hannah, of The Mad Mommy fame. She’s a real sport for agreeing to my weird questions. We plan to hang out one day.
#AskAwayFriday was created by the amazing Penny from Real Housewife of Caroline County and Amber from Bold Fit Mom, as a way to connect with other bloggers with a great Q & A session of 10 questions and 10 answers, between two bloggers! This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know others while allowing others to get to know you and of course there is also the added bonus of making great friends along the way which is one of the best parts of this online world! Ask me if you want to swap!
Tiffany from Mrs. Tee Love Life Laughter,
Christy from Uplifting Families,
Stacey from This Momma’s Ramblings
and
Echo from The Mad Mommy
Don’t forget to read Hannah’s answers to my questions HERE. And here are my answers to her questions:
1. What did you think when Cassidy first brought you into the house?
I was really nervous! I hadn’t had a fantastic start to life and I had gotten quite comfortable with my lovely foster family. Suddenly I was put in a truck for hours..days…without even peeing. Once. So then the truck arrived at some place that smelled like fantastically greasy hamburgers (I’m from Alabama – definitely not unfamiliar with the smell of grills) and this man in a long black coat was standing there and smiling. He looked as nervous as I felt. I wanted to make him feel better so I peed all over his coat. Vermont was COLD, and I wanted to warm him up. Then he drove me to this strange house with these kinda adorable but strange people. One of the bigger ones had a camera and she just looked at me. Her eyes were so big. She just looked at me. Then a slow smile spread across her lips. And I looked at her. And I smiled. Then one of the smaller, adorable ones took me in her arms on the couch. She talked to me and held me. That’s when I knew where I was. Home.
2. You live on a lot of land (I’m totally jealous) have you ever wondered off?
Umm.. only once or twice.. a day. The thing is that I’m a lot more sneaky and smart than I appear and sometimes I’ll be gardening with the family and they’ll all be immersed in something boring – like tomatoes – and I’ll run off. I generally just wander around the four acres but I get myself in a lot of good trouble. During the winter, we got about 100 inches of snow. It was so high and I’m so light that I learned how to jump over the fence of the yard from the top of the snow. When the snow melted, I realized I could STILL perform my superpower. So it’s been.. fun. The skunk incident? Not as fun. My family didn’t really hug me for a week. That doesn’t really stop me from.. you know.. going back to the area where I got sprayed and rolling in the oil. I also roll in deer poop! And I really love getting porcupine quills stuck in my nose. Daily. I’m awesome.
3. Where is your favorite spot in the house?
It used to be Mama’s spot in bed, but I got sick of being kicked off all the time. And after the skunk incident, I wasn’t allowed on the bed for awhile. I really like nooks and couches and ottomans and most of all – SUNBEAMS!
4. Which one of your humans drops the most food on the ground?
Oh, I don’t even think you would need to ask if you met my family! It’s this one:
5. Who or what is your doggy nemesis?
Hmm.. good question. I’m pretty awesome with all humans. Each one gets my undivided attention and I will treat every human I know like they’re the only human I know. (don’t tell them I said that) I am thinking maybe it’s the skunk. Or the porcupine. I stick my head in his hole daily but I can’t quite get him. I do get his quills in my nose! On the other hand, the skunk really got me. He got me good. I do want revenge. Or to be friends with him. I can’t decide which. Speaking of which, do you smell that? Do you hear that? He’s around. I just know it! The cats are worthless at catching him. SKUNK!!!! brb…
1. What did you first think when Cassidy brought Athena home?
I was confused and apprehensive, but also ridiculously happy. He’s full of surprises! I knew something was up just that day because he had left so early for “work” and wasn’t on Google Chat and then came back home so soon. I honestly had no idea what he was bringing out of that car! My first thought was that she was adorable but I wanted to know everything about her.
2. What is your favorite thing to do with her?
Definitely the dog park! It’s great exercise for me and I can let her go off leash. She will come back to check on me periodically and will always come when called. That’s a far cry from how she behaves at home actually!
3. Hannah is often my road-dog on short errands, does Athena right with you in the car? How does she sit? Hannah sits in the front seat or in Shelby’s car-seat!
She’s great in the car! Her favorite seat is the passenger seat as my co-pilot. It was actually really sad when it started getting too warm out to bring her everywhere because she would look so hopeful when I reached for the keys but the heat is no joke!
4. How does Athena handle things like thunder and fireworks?
She does really well! I’ve never seen any kind of reaction to them. My childhood dog would hide in the hamper closet! And Cassidy’s old dog, Stormy, would hide in the closet and once ate my favorite pair of shoes during fireworks on July 4th!
5. Tell me the absolute best Athena memory, not including her coming home!
I have one! It was last summer during our annual trip to Cape Cod, and her first time with all of us there. We had NO idea how she’d react. It took a bit but one day we went to the quiet bay and played in tidal pools. She held back but she does take care of her family so after the fourth one of us (probably Des) went into the water, she couldn’t resist and began swimming around us. Later we found little “islands” because of the low tides, and she would swim from one island to another and gently nose each one of us – the four of us. Her family. I went out pretty deep at one point and I could hear gentle splashes as she followed me in the water to make sure I was ok. I fell madly in love with her that day. I took photos, of course.
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I love that AAF went to the dogs this week. And actually read this with Elsa on my lap, who looked like she would have been happy to be friends with both Athena and Hannah, too. Seriously though, I think I would have cried if Elsa got skunked. You are my hero for even living through that!! Have a great holiday weekend, my friend 😉
Aw! Elsa can hang out anytime. I’ll make sure it’s a non-skunk day. Shudder.
It was horrible! I wouldn’t wish it on most.
Have a great weekend! I’ll be closer to you, which is nice.
Totally clicked the link and thought “why on earth is she calling herself a dog??”
I didn’t realize Athena was such a stinker…pun intended 🙂 Love this post…have a great weekend!
ha! I was deceiving with that title.
She is SUCH a stinker right now. She’s away, though, and I miss her.
What a creative Ask Away Friday post! Your dog is adorable. We don’t have any pets, yet.
Thanks! She’s so much fun. I miss her because she’s at the beach house right now and I’m not!
I loved letting our pups swap and Hannah says she needs to meet and play with Athena! I know they would love each other! Thanks for doing this with us!
I loved this swap too! I can’t wait to sit back and read what Hannah had to say. Thank you!
You know I can’t resist a good dog post (or a cat one for that matter either). This was adorable. And my dogs keep trying to make friends with skunks too…sorry state of affairs. I’m hoping once this year was enough. They’ve been skunked so many times, you’d think they’d learn. Maybe its our fault for having black and white cats and they think they are similar?
I can’t believe this has happened to you more than once!! When does the smell go away? It’s been a week and a half and a TON of baths and it’s still faintly there!
My cat is black and white too!
Such pretty dogs. I am not really a dog person, but my husband and Natalie LOVE dogs.
I’m not a cat person, and wouldn’t you know – I’m totally in love with our cat, Dinah. Don’t tell anyone!
Adorable, I was really imagining Athena talking too:)
hahahah, she does!
Loved this, Tamara and Athena! It’s always interesting to get a dog’s perspective! We rarely get your thoughts so thank you for that, Athena. It was nice to get to know you!
Great Ask Away, Tamara! So cute and fab photos! I’m off to Mad Mommy now 🙂
Athena has so much to say, you know?
Thanks for enjoying it! As well as The Mad Mommy’s post!
This is the coolest post, Tamara! I was hoping that we would get to know a little more about Athena, and we learned about two adorable dogs. They have much in common! They both like activity by themselves and with their families, and maybe just a little bit of mischief. I’m pretty convinced that our two stars of this blog were actually doing all the talking for themselves!
Yes, I hope Athena and Hannah get to meet one day! They are so loved.
I have Madison here with me commenting on every single photo. She’s doing a running commentary lol. I’m loving this and think that I might have to link up with Shadow one day so he can have his turn on the blog, or maybe even Kitty. She’s gotten so much bigger since we got her as a baby and she’s enjoying slapping Shadow around. 🙂
That’s so cute about Madison! I’m sure Dinah would love to talk to Kitty. And Athena would love to interview Shadow and see what it’s like to be a full husky. Athena is only half a husky!
Oh heck. I’ve officially been sucked into the cute-puppy vortex. There is no escape. There is no turning back. The vortex is for infinity.
Nope, you’re in it. You’re in it for life. Pop popcorn.
This was so sweet! Ouch, porcupine quills?! Man, you really live out in the country! 😉 (Granted, I live in a chicken-friendly city. Though that’s not quite the same as a wild porcupine!) Athena seems like a sweet dog, I hope I get to meet her some day 🙂
Oh yes. We live in a forest within a city, so it’s.. weird. Porcupine quills in one direction and trendy brunch in the other!
I do hope you meet her! Come by anytime!
Oh my gosh how sweet. Your Athena, reminds me of my Zoe. All we have here are lizards, no porcupines, but she is a fierce lizard chaser! I remember the first time she came home smelling like a skunk. We lived in Montana and she free ranged a lot, because we had no fence.EEEW, there is no product that works to get rid of that skunkie smell.
Lizards! At least she doesn’t chase porcupines!
It’s so true about the skunk smell… nothing works except time.
Your dog looks like Sir Didymus in that first picture! (I am making the assumption here that you know what I’m talking about because you are very cool 🙂 )
HA! I TOTALLY know what you mean and it’s one of my favorite childhood movies.
Athena was meant to be in your family for many reasons – but number one is the fact that she’s SO photogenic! What a beautiful dog she is. And obviously super smart – except for the skunk chasing! Hope you have a great 3 day weekend!
She is SO photogenic – you’re right. She’s more so than the kids. I’m always surprised by it.
And I’m laughing about the skunk.. I don’t even think she’s learned her lesson.
I love everything about this post! Athena, it’s nice to hear your perspective. My dog, Kailua, totally understands the skunk thing. Humans don’t get it, I guess. Tamara, that husky looks just like my Kona. I think I’ve told you that before. Sigh.
Aw.. Stormy and Kona. That’s right. It’s so sad. Cassidy had her for nearly 16 years!
nice shoots!!!
but sorry i’m not a dog person, i’m allergic with the fur
Thanks!
And that’s ok – I’m not a cat person, although we do have a cat. My daughter wished for one.
Aw this was such a sweet post! Sorry the little doggie can’t sleep on Mama’s bed, but after anything skunk-related I can totally understand! Have a great long weekend, Tamara!
It’s been ten days and she’s still a bit smelly! I’ll let her sleep with me now, though.
Athena makes me want a dog! Except that I’m not sure I’m ready… I still miss my Chief although I don’t miss his hair being absolutely everywhere. Such a creative post – I adore the photos! Especially at the beach. Awesome!
It’s tough. I didn’t think we’d be ready either but now I can’t imagine that we ever wouldn’t have her!
Even the cat, I’ll grudgingly admit.
Ha – I love that the dogs got to speak! and boy Athena, do leave that porcupine alone! our dog got over 60 quills over her entire face, neck and chest! twice. And I am sure she would have gone back for a 3rd time if we did not remove the porcupine ourselves! (relocated safely)
I remember my aunt had this yellow lab that would swim out behind us whenever we went out in the boat. she’d paddle along until we felt so sorry for her that we’d just pull her into the boat. the times we were in a canoe: not fun with a big yellow dog!
60 quills!!!! Holy cow!
Also – relocated a porcupine! Umm.. how do you do that? Gloves? Prayers?
would you believe BBQ tongs!!! like, really long ones meant for a campfire. LOL
That’s.. amazing. I bow to you!
Okay, that dog is so cute!!!! I’m dying!
Melanie @ meandmr.com
heh, thanks! She’s such a gush. She’s my baby.
Hey Athena! So nice to meet you and so glad you could join us for AAF! I learned so much about you like the fact you were from Alabama, and the fact that you are a smarty pants (in the good way)!
Athena here to say “thank you!” I’m very smart even though my mom is second-guessing that because of the skunk incident.
In my defense, I really just wanted the attention.
What a cute AAF! So many adorable doggy pictures! My dogs have never eaten my shoes, but one used to love eating my lip balm.
Well hey – Scarlet loves eating lip balm too!!!
I was trying to get into an organization back in college when the org leader asked me to write an article in a dog’s point of view. I was quite challenged to do the job so I have to say I love your answers as Athena. I can imagine him being the star of a movie. He’s one of those talking dogs. Well.. Hehehe
ha! That does sound hard. I only skated on the surface here but it was fun. If I was really getting into her mind, I’d probably talk about bacon a lot.
I love Athena as a guest blogger! So sweet, but poor thing got skunk’d…so traumatizing! If Coconut took over my blog, I’m afraid no one would want me to come back. LOL
haha! I can’t imagine that’s true. Athena was just very chatty on my blog the other day. Today? She’s sleeping lazily in the 90 degree day.
Beautiful photos, as always!! Love getting lost in them. Makes me want to go play with my puppy! <3 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Me too! Athena and I were apart all weekend and the reunion was so sweet.
That beach looks GORGEOUS!? Where on Earth is that again? The beaches here are sad and soooooo infested with human bodies and disgustingness it’s not worth going. I prefer pools around here. It’s really sad. :'( I don’t know why but when it comes to beaches I love calm and peaceful – limited bodies and activity.. so you can enjoy the water and what’s before you. Otherwise it’s a lot of internal yelling “why are you in my spot?” “what’s happening why are there kids running in EVERY direction towards and at me?” “WHY DOES THE BEACH SEEM SO SMALL” “WHERE DO ALL THESE TOYS COME FROM?” “WHY IS THERE FOOD IN THE SAND?!” – it’s never ending panic mode. Lol. Even yesterday, Mario’s friend was at the pool and left because there was a bunch of Ghandu’s (you can email me for elaboration on my prejudicial terminology – I have several) at his pool and Mario asked if the water turned brown and he’s like “I swear it did, the guy was cleaning his feet in the water” LMFAO. Omg I died. I think there’s a special place for us in hell. Anyways.. Love your dog, when I meet her she’s going to learn what “forced cuddle time” is – Waffle has learned the hard way. LOL. Give me love willingly or I will take it with kisses and faux play traps. It’s Memorial Day weekend and I’m still sore from this wisdom teeth extraction from Wednesday.. I’ve been so out of it. It’s been a week off work it’s heaven -it’s a break from my life. Time to straighten this afro poof. 🙂 Have a great Memorial Day Weekend Tam Tam! -Iva
ha.. I really think I might have to email you for elaboration there!
You need to come to New England immediately. The beach is in Cape Cod and they are all beautiful there and free of too many.. bodies. As you say!!
Wisdom teeth! Yikes!! I was just thinking today about when I had mine done.
LOl email me lady 😛 ugh I do need to – I’m trying to plan things for later on this year.. Sometime between Sept-Nov.. I do remember you pointed out October is the best time to go up there so that’s my goal! 🙂 I will keep you posted. First I owe my sister in New Jersey a visit since she purchased a home last year. 🙂 Woop! Late June – let’s meet lol
October is magical here! We have lousy springs and lousy summers and lousy winters, but fall is pretty much guaranteed.
This was so sweet and cute. I loved hearing Athena answer the questions!! I learned so much about her! And the photos from Cape Cod are gorgeous.
Thank you! Cassidy was just at Cape Cod this weekend and it made me miss it that much more.
I wish that we had a dog park near us. I’m sure our dog would love that.
Ours is very big but it’s been on the news lately because they want to turn the land into something else. Yikes! We shall see.
what a great story about your dog. I have not taken our dog to a dog park.
Thanks! We’re lucky to have a good dog park in the area but I don’t get there much in the winter or summer so I feel badly!
I’m glad no human was calling themselves a dog, I was kind of confused! I love the dog park near us so do my pups. They are so spoiled, we go often!
haha, didn’t want to confuse you!! I just felt like Athena deserved a blog post.
Glad you enjoy the dog park too!
Sweet story. I think it’s great for kids to have a mascot.
I think so too! I love that – mascot. My daughter takes great care of the dog and the cat, although the cat is afraid of her. She’s been warming up.
Animals (dogs and cats) add such a wonderful dimension to families. And this dog here is cute and a real star.
Thanks!! She is quite the cutie and has a great personality.
Aw what cute photos. Plus what a sweet story.
Thank you! We are so happy we adopted her.
This post made my day. I’m headed to the BlogPaws pet blogger conference in Nashville and my dog and i salute you. Beautiful dogs.
Aww! I salute you!!! I want to go to BlogPaws (and Nashville, for that matter)
Enjoy!
What a cute dog. Guess all fur babies love their mommy’s bed. The best spot in the house
Mine is there right now, in fact!
I saw this in my inbox, and I thought- “Oh goodness, what on EARTH?” And NOW I get the title!! SO fun!!! I just loved ‘hearing from Athena!” I just love that you fell in love with her and you took to having a dog so beautifully!! That Cassidy… just love how he rolls!!
ha! I didn’t mean to trick everyone about the title. My titles just come to me and they’re often weird.
Cassidy has a certain style, doesn’t he?
Aw, so many sweet photos here as well! What a cutie! I love our dog, but I don’t consider myself a dog person- I’ve always been more of a cat person (the opposite of my husband haha)
That’s funny! We have a cat too and I am your opposite – a dog person. I have to confess that I’m starting to really love the cat, though. She sleeps with me. I mean, how could I not? My heart would have to be made of stone.
Wow. Your family is so talented even the dog can write. Amazing. Not surprising. But amazing.
You are too kind! One day I hope you’ll come over for dinner and meet Athena and Lindsay and even Han Solo.
I enjoyed seeing all the dogs! My husband and I are huge dog lovers!
I have always loved dogs. I love that my kids get to grow up with one. And who knows – maybe another someday..
This is adorable. Athena seems like such a sweetheart (a spitfire, but a sweetheart!)
Heh – yes. Both of those things for sure!
I love this AAF…Athena is so sweet!! My dog is very protective of me and my son as well…even at the dog park he never strays too far from us.
That’s great. At home she tends to wander, but never off the property. Although “the property” has skunks and porcupines so sometimes it’s not so great!
Athena is such a beautiful dog! The whole porcupine and skunk thing cracks me up. You would think she’d figure it out at some point, right? Fingers crossed she figures it out soon enough…
I mean.. I hope so. Maybe? haha. I just wish we had moose on our property.
Athena is gorgeous and she has a rad name! Can I say rad still? My furbaby loves to bask in the sun. He is quite picky about what he puts in his mouth though, unlike most dogs. Fancy pants.
XOXO
I think I still say rad to, so I say yes! You definitely can.
That’s cool about your dog! A weird thing about Athena is that she grazes. With my old dogs, you would feed them and they’d scarf it down. Rinse and repeat. With Athena, you put our her food and she enjoys a little at a time all day.
Athena, you are so amazing and full of spunk! It is definitely good to protect such a wonderful family that will love you forever. Tamara, Athena is so very pretty! Definitely looks very comfortable posing for your camera! Have a great week and this swap was amazing!
Thank you! We love her so much. She’s a great dog and very, very photogenic.
Maybe Athena wants to pair up with Diesel??
haha! Who wouldn’t??
What a great dog!
She’s the best! Well, you know.
I’m not really a dog person, but I admire them from afar! Athena is such a pretty dog and what a personality!!
She has a great personality and just enough spunk. Although today she ran away and went through a mud puddle so she’s on my naughty list.
Getting sprayed by a skunk sounds really bad. Especially, if your human family can’t stand the smell of you. This was a neat idea for an AAF swap. You’ll have to do one for the cats 🙂
This is Dog with a Blog done right. I think you might have a spinoff here, Tamara. Athena (like) … hell, what rhymes with Athena? Hyena? Argentina?