A Small Sampling of Kendal's Joys

You did good, Princess Kendal.
Thank you for blessing my life with your friendship.

Dance On My Friends

Hi everybody!

It's me, Princess Kendal.



I know I haven't written very much lately. It's been hard, because Laura has been real busy, and I need her to help me type. Plus I've been tired. But I wanted to write to you all one last time.

First I want to say: I'm not really upset about the roller derby. I don't like it when Laura is away from me, but I know she loves her roller derby, and I want her to be happy. So I guess I love it too.



I didn't get to meet many of Laura's derby people but I know they must be good people because Laura loves them (and Laura has high standards!). I think it's going to be okay that I won't be around to protect Laura anymore because I have seen pictures of those derby girls. They are fierce! They will do a good job protecting Laura for me.



Second: I know I haven't got to see most of you very much since moving to the Booming Metropolis. Laura says that's because the BM is so far away from everyone. That's why she hates it here. But I haven't hated it.





I've missed my friends, but I've liked having all of my family together.



And I've liked it when my friends came to visit me here.



(Especially last month when my bestie Claire came to visit me for TWO WHOLE DAYS!)





Anyhow... Laura is able to travel better than me, so maybe she will be able to visit you all more now.

Laura and I have had a good run at things, haven't we?















I've tried real hard to be brave and strong and to do a good job of looking after Laura. But I'm tired now.



I think I've done the best that I can.

Laura says it is okay for me to say goodbye now. She was sad when she said it. But Laura's really smart, and I know she wouldn't lie to me. So it must be true.

So goodbye.



Be good to one another. Don't get so stressed out by life's craziness that you miss all the joy in simple things.



When you think of me, remember me dancing.



All my love,
Princess Kendal, Wonder Dog
June 12, 2013

We Are Not Amused

Ever since Friday, Laura has been haunting the Canada Post web site, tracking the status of some parcel. Over and over and over again. Every hour she was on that page. By this morning, it was every ten minutes.

Laura doesn't have time to do that. She has so much work to do on her computer. (I hardly ever get to use it anymore!) She doesn't have time to just be reloading the same page over and over, watching the transit of some box from Vancouver to the Booming Metropolis. And yet she did.

I figured this parcel had to have something really special inside of it. Like maybe apples. Or some peanut butter so Laura could make me my favourite yummy peanut butter cookies. Or maybe a nice fuzzy blanket for my bed, which would feel nice when I rub my face against it. (Not like these boring old sheets Laura keeps putting on my bed now.)

Well... that parcel finally arrived this morning, and do you know what was inside of it?



That's right. No apples. No peanut butter. No nice fuzzy blanket. Just more of those nasty shoes with wheels on them. And also:



There was nothing for me in that box at all! That whole big box was just full to the brim of roller derby gear!

Laura already had roller derby gear!



I try not to complain. Really I do. Laura is my friend, and I want her to be happy, and I know that she loves this roller derby stuff. But Laura is supposed to be my friend too! She's supposed to want to spend time with me! And I hardly ever get to see her anymore.

First it was practices. Three times a week. Then she started doing this thing called "NSOing" for some other league. That was only once a month at first. But then she started NSOing for another league and now it's almost every week! Then there's the fund-raising. And the community service. And the parties (which I don't get invited to!) And the scrimmages. And have you seen this:



What is Laura wearing in that picture? Laura hates pink! She HATES it. ESPECIALLY baby pink! Laura would never wear pink--until some roller derby people ask her to do it. Then she just throws it on like it's no big deal.

I would never make Laura wear pink.

Please come back to me Laura.



I miss you.

Human FAQ

What I want to know is this: Why do humans ask questions when they don't care to know what the answer its?

For instance: Tonight Laura was cooking something in the kitchen, and it smelled very good, so I decided to go and see what was up.

Laura saw me and she said, "Princess Kendal, how's it going?"

I told her it would be going a whole lot better if she would share what she was cooking with me. But Laura just smiled and turned back to her pan and didn't give me any!

Then there are all the times that I go to Laura to tell her that it's dinner time. I stand right in front of her and give her my very best "it's dinnertime" look.

But humans have trouble with looks. Laura doesn't always understand what I mean. Still, she recognizes that I want something. So she says, "Princess Kendal, what can I do for you?"

And I tell her very clearly, "You could get me my dinner."

I don't just rely on The Look. And neither do I rely on telepathy. (Humans have trouble with that sometimes too.) No, I am very clear. I explain myself using full body language and the proper choreography and everything. I know that Laura understands my answer.

Still, she just smiles and says, "You're cute, Princess Kendal. Cheeky, but cute." And then she goes on about her business like we never had the conversation at all!

Laura's pretty smart for a human, so I don't think it's a lack of understanding. It's more of a willful oblivion. But why ask the question at all if you're not going to respond appropriately to the answer?

When It's Good to Let Them See You Sweat

Hi everybody!

The weather has been up and down again here, which has made my snow all icy again. Now the snow has such a hard icy crust on top of it, I don't even sink into the deepest snow. I cannot roll around in it or rub my face in it. I'm even afraid to rub my belly on it, because it is so slippery: what if I couldn't stand up again? Still, I have to go out in the yard every day to make sure it is okay. What is a Princess to do?

My brother Ashton, when he was alive, told me never to show any weakness. Don't let them know that you're afraid. Ashton was pretty smart. He had some good ideas. But I don't think he was always right about this one.

For example, many of you know how much I love to play towel games. Well, lately Laura has been very busy, so we don't always get to play towel games, even when I've really been outside. We still play every night at bedtime, though.

Usually at the end of the day I am very tired. (It is hard work being a Princess.) And usually I am already in bed long before Laura decides that it is bed time. And then she wants me to get up to go outside with her before she goes to bed! I always make sure to let her know what an imposition this is. Then Laura says:

"Come on, Princess Kendal. Come outside with me one last time. Then we can play towel games!"

See how that works? If I am too eager to go outside, Laura thinks I will be happy to just go outside and then come back in again and let her go right back to her computer without playing towel games first. But if I make like I don't want to go outside, then Laura will promise me towel games as an incentive to get me to go!

So this morning, when we went outside and it was all icy, I made sure to let Laura know just how nervous I was about slip-sliding away on top of all of that scary ice. And Laura said:

"Come on, Princess Kendal. You can do it. Be a brave girl for Laura. Then we can play towel games!"

And I got Laura to play towel games with me at six o'clock in the morning!

They're Back!

Even though I was sad and lonely on Friday night, I stayed in Laura's and my room all night and did a good job guarding it so that it would be safe when Laura got back home. And when I woke up from my morning nap on Saturday, there was Laura sitting right beside me!

I was faithful to my snow too. Even when there was only a tiny patch of it left in our yard, I went outside and played with it and told it that I loved it. And my faith was rewarded! It finally turned cold again Friday night, and the snow stopped melting. And Saturday afternoon when Laura and I went out to play, look at what we found:



All of my beautiful snow came back!



Weeeee!



Life is good.

All Alone

Everyone has left me.

All my beautiful snow is melting away. My snow that I worked so hard to make sure it knew I appreciated it.

Even when it turned icy and hard, when it was scary to walk on and my toes fell through into sharp holes that hurt my little paw pads, I still went out every day to play with the snow.



Even when it turned wet and slushy, I let it know how much I loved it.



Slushy snow is fun to play in too, and it shouldn't be left out just because it is a little wet.



But it didn't do any good. All of my beautiful snow is leaving me anyway.



Even Laura has left me. I moved my bed from my special, safe spot under the kitchen table to be in her room so I could help her with her writing, and she still went away.

"I'll be back soon, Princess Kendal," she always says to me. "Don't be sad."

But when is soon? It's bed time already and she's not here! And why does she have to leave me at all? She's always saying how wonderful and good I am.



Please come back! Snow? Laura? I'm here. I'm waiting.