Big Boy!

In honor of Mr. Woodstock being three-and-a-half months old this week, I figured it's time for another puppy update!

Sometimes having a baby is extremely frustrating. But I think J.D. and I are getting there..... we finally purchased him a crate and when I go to work in the mornings I put him in the crate for a couple of hours. I make sure he's eaten and done his business first, of course. The reasoning behind crate training is that they're like a den which is totally naturally for dogs in the wild. Puppies like to have their own special "rooms" too, and wouldn't dare going where they sleep. Unless they have accidents... but the way to ensure accidents don't happen is by limiting the number of hours they spend in there until they're old enough to control the bladder for several hours.

Well, Woody isn't there yet, but he's been doing really well with the cage. He's not quite comfortable sleeping in it still, so I keep letting him in my bed. But now that he's perfected the whole sleep for nine hours thing, it's ok. And he's cut down on his nipping habits.

....Which is due to the ginormous bag of rawhide chews we purchased for him. While he used to have horribly bad habits of chewing on the wall corners, table legs, rugs, and worst of all - my hands - he's almost cut that down by 75 percent just from gnawing on rawhide throughout the day. I'm thinking about upgrading him to pig's ears in the near future - more meaty and tasty (for dogs, I think they're repulsive).

But he is doing well. He's a good boy. He's learning to go outside and sometimes barks to be let out. It's slow, but it's a process. I just love him to death though :)

Here are some pictures from our walk yesterday - when we ran into the largest beast of a cat I've ever seen in my life. It's some special 30-lb. breed and apparently cost the woman who bought him $2,000!! Who likes cats that much?!?!

Woodstock sure didn't. Freaked him out. Bear in mind he's more than half of his full-grown wight. At seven pounds, he's very close to the 12 pounds his daddy weighs. It's ok though, he's a little sissy boy :)
"Mmmmm, lunch." Woodstock can't even look at Big Boy (the cat's name), and instead is shunning him.

Me and my little Bubba :)

It's always so hard saying goodbye to this little guy every morning when I go to work!

Being a puppy mommy is exhausting!

First off, let me say that I am in love with my dog! He's so tiny and so cute and warmed up to us really quickly. I feel bad though, because he whines when I'm not in the same room as him and whenever I'm around, has to stand right on my feet so I won't leave him. This is something having to do with him being uprooted from his family and is probably sort of in shock. I would be too if someone bigger than me took me away from my home.

But he was a really good boy all day yesterday! On the drive home he cuddled up with me and slept part of the way or licked me the other part. The entire hour drive he did not once get car sick or cry.

When we made it home he passed out and napped for a bit, but I didn't want him using up all his sleep in the day instead of at night. So I coaxed him out to play a little later and the little guy wouldn't stop! Woodstock was 2-for-2 when he ran halfway across the room to use the puppy pad several times to relieve himself! So I know that he's paper trained at least, but I can't for the life of me get him to go outside. This morning as soon as I woke up I took him and for 10 minutes he did nothing but run around and play, or lay down in the dirt. As soon as we came back inside, he went on his pad.

But the biggest struggle, and this will come with time, was sleeping. He won't sleep in his bed. He cries when I'm in my bed and he's on the floor. I tried to let him cry it out, but it kept getting louder and louder. Everything I've read says to let the dog cry because he'll learn soon enough that he has to sleep on the floor. If you pick him up, he'll come to expect it. So I would let him snuggle with me for 15 minutes until he got sleepy, then I put him in his own bed. That would last for about 45 minutes before the cycle repeated itself.

But I had to work this morning and I was up until 4:30 a.m. and decided f-it, I needed to sleep. So I let him in bed for about two hours. I'm thinking about keeping his bed in the bathroom tonight and ignoring the cries this time (I know crates are an option, but they're $100+ everywhere I've looked! I don't know if that's worth it for the few weeks/months of training).

My other problem is that he won't eat. I thought maybe the bowl was too big for him, but that's not the case. He won't take treats (reward for going on the puppy pad) and he won't eat crushed up food. I'm hoping this, too, is due to anxiety/nervousness about the move and that in a few days he'll be back to eating again. Today's Woodstock's first vet trip, so wish me luck!

Is it nap time yet...?

Meet Woody!

Woodstock comes home on SUNDAY!! And since no one else is going to request to see more photos of a dog that's already been sold, the breeder sent me all the photos she's taken of him.

He's so tiny and adorable! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! :)

I'm Ready!

I'm ready for one of these little guys :)

The meeting with the breeder went well last night. We actually met up in Sacramento near some little frozen yogurt shop and a giant Target shopping center. Turns out, someone had already come by and swooped up Walker, so the only long haired puppy left was Gracie (the one I originally liked!). And WOW, I can't even begin to express how much cuter she is in person than in that photo.... and I also didn't expect her to be soooo tiny! And sooooo adorable :)

So the meeting went fairly well. The one small problem is that I fell in love with her! I say problem because some other woman expressed interest in Gracie before us, and she has another dog. So she wanted Gracie to meet her dog and see how they interact, etc. Apparently that meeting went pretty well too, but she has to call her husband (he's on the road) and see if he'll be ok with another puppy. They're supposed to call the breeder back today or tomorrow with the decision.

I'm crossing my fingers exceptionally hard he says no. Because if that's a no-go..... we're next in line!!!!!! Well, we would be once we get back from our basketball road trips this weekend. And I know what you're thinking, J.D. and I travel a lot with our sports.

But I compared our schedules for the rest of the year, and we are both gone at the same time during ONE trip.... May 21-23. So that's a long time from now! And there'd always be someone home with the puppy every weekend!

I'm so excited about this. We even got some minor supplies at Target last night to puppy-proof the house (no actual dog supplies yet, probably waiting until we finally have one).

As I've been saying the past few days.... I really hope this works out!!! (But in the event that it doesn't, she has another litter of puppies about two weeks old right now, that will be ready to come home in March, so we'd be first on the list for those babies!) We also found another breeder in Sacramento with pups ready to take home in three weeks and she has this little guy I've started eyeing (who looks sort of like this, but younger):

Basically, a puppy is in our near future.... I hope :)

"1,000 people freezing their butts off to worship a rat"

Groundhog's Day. A very strange American tradition on this day. Even weirder is France's La Chandeleur, jour des crêpes, celebrating today's Catholic holiday (note: I am not Catholic, so I don't know a whole lot about this one).

But the saying goes in France on crêpe day, people should start the morning holding a coin in their writing hand and with the opposite hand, flip a crêpe into the air (in a pan, obviously). If you can successfully manage to flip the crêpe back into the pan, opposite side up, you will have great luck and prosperity throughout the new year. Unfortunately, I never actually was able to celebrate this tradition when I was living in France a few years back. But I did get to partake in a lot of neat festivities.

What's your tradition today?

Apparently I'll be celebrating Groundhog Day by checking out.... wait for it...... a "groundhound" as they're affectionately called. (Get it, because dachshunds have such stumpy legs and are hound dogs?)

Dog breeder lady finally got back to me last night!! Apparently some other couple wanted the female, Gracie, and they went to go meet with her yesterday. But now they aren't sure which they prefer - the female or the male. We had our sites set on the male, Walker, but honestly, I think both are super adorable and would be quite happy (UNDERSTATEMENT) with either! So today we're just going up for the scouting report.

Honestly though, this couldn't have been any better timing. I had given up the thought of hearing back last night, so I started sorting through adoption websites, farther breeders, foster homes, kennels, anything I could find in this area. The other breeders are asking for MUCH higher prices, almost more than anyone else I've looked at across the country. And most of the adoption/foster clubs pretty much find new homes as soon as they place ads up online. That route is extremely competitive too, as every dog needed to be applied for before even seeing it or talking to its current "owner." I was getting so disheartened in my search since J.D.'s now finally ready for a dog..... I couldn't find one we liked!

But now, maybe the road's downhill from here? I'll let you know after tonight! Not to get ahead of myself, but in taking some good advice, if we like what we see tonight we're heading straight to Target to get the place ready in anticipation for a new little friend early next week :)

Kinda sore...

Ever since I started working full time, I've been looking for ways to work out here! My one problem is that running is almost out of the question because I don't wake up early enough to go before work, summers are pass-out-hot here and I work until it's super dark during at night during the winter and I refuse to go alone.

So I've tried the 24 Hour Fitness near me, but it's kind of sketch. And ended up costing me a lot of money I wasn't willing to spend on something I could essentially do for free if I had the motivation. Which is why I got pretty excited about all my Wii workout games that I got for Christmas. But I ran into yet another problem - I go on the road often and I work so late sometimes that when I come home I just want to veg out or read or not get all sweaty and nasty so I'm taking two-to-three showers a day.

So yesterday, I found a solution to my almost year-long problem now: I work in an athletics department! Our athletes have a strength and conditioning coach and a weight room accessible virtually 24/7. And during the lunch hour, those athletes don't have scheduled training sessions!

During our "lunch break" yesterday, a couple of co-workers, some softball coaches and I all made our way down to the weight room for a lunch sesh with the conditioning coach, who is essentially serving as our personal trainer for the time being!

What we're going to aim to do two times a week is TRX Suspension Training. What that is, is basically a pulley device with handles and stirrups designed for various workouts that use your body's weight naturally in resistance against your workout positions. He has them attached to taller weight machines, so we have our own personal workout spaces. And MAN is that a workout! We were all dripping after just an hour with it yesterday.


But the best part - still haven't reached it yet! - is that Tony's making up circuits and reps specifically for us! Starting off slowly and introducing more and more elements as we progress. Yesterday we started with squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups and leg curls. All that happened after 15 minutes on stationary bicycles and plank exercises to warm up our cores.

Only one day and I'm already super sore - but in a good way! I'm actually pretty excited to keep this up because a.) I want to tone up! and b.) this doesn't take away ANY time in my day. I can come home and do whatever I want, guilt free without that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I need to exercise today :)

Now back to the dog front... I'm not sure it's going to work out :( and I'm super super bummed about that. As soon as I emailed the lady about her dogs, she happily gave me her phone number and told me she'd love to meet with me. But when I brought up the prospect of heading up to see all the dogs this weekend, she hadn't responded to my email in two days. So I figured I'd give her a call when I got off work last night - after all, she did give me her phone number - and still no response. Who doesn't answer their cell phone these days?!

I just want a puppy, is that too much to ask?!?! Wish me luck......

The Best Soup I Ever Ate

I may be a little late in getting back to Mira's post on the same subject, but that's because I've been racking my brain in order to try to answer this question.

What is the best soup I ever ate?

Well, I've had tons and tons of soups, from creamy veloutés at prix fixé menus in Europe, to bread bowl clam chowders on San Francisco's Pier 29. But my all time favorite, and this is no joke, is Andersen's Pea Soup. Andersen's is a homey little pit stop off Highway 101 just north of Santa Barbara that started out as a Danish-owned ranch in the 1920s.


Today, they have a front novelty gift shop and a welcoming large back dining room. It almost feels as if you've driven right off the highway and into someone's home.

But their signature split pea soup is so hearty and warm and salty delicious! A few of us piled into our friend's car one rainy winter day down in Santa Barbara and took a break from studying for finals to make the 30 minute drive north up to Buellton, Calif. Our goal was simply to taste this famous pea soup.

But the best part was that it could be enjoyed in a flaky, buttery bowl made out of sourdough bread! It was heavenly. They put enormous chunks of salty ham, and I hear the giant hambone that the soup starts out with is by no means light on salt. Furthermore, the blended soupy texture is wonderfully smooth and then accented by pea chunks that seem to dissolve in your mouth.

That, my friends, is the best soup I ever ate.

In other news, J.D. and I might be heading up to Jackson, Calif., on Sunday (my day off) to check out...... the puppy in my last post! Her name is Gracie and she's so adorable. They're close to 15 weeks old, so I imagine they've had all their shots and are at least paper trained. The woman who breeds the dogs has four her age - two long haired and two smooth coats - and then she has an entire litter of brand new puppies who won't be ready to leave until March.

This one's Walker, the male who's available now.... so cute!!! 'm hoping one maybe speaks to me this weekend..... :) Wish me luck!

I realllllllly want to be a Mommy :(

Like right now. I'm tired of waiting!!!!

Whoa, whoa, chill out. Before you jump to any conclusions.... I'm talking about adopting a puppy.

But, again. Space is limited in our house and dating a boy who's never had pets before does not easily lend to immediately getting a puppy. I have the money and space for a small indoor dog. So I feel like I've been waiting long enough. I've wanted one ever since I finished college in 2007. But it is a big responsibility, and I didn't really think I could have handled it until I got a place of my own this May. So for the past five months I've been yearning for a puppy of my own.

And it's getting so hard. I feel like no matter where I look, everyone has a dog!! I'm so pathetic, I sometimes strategically make sure my evening walks are past the dog park near my house, and smile at other peoples' puppies and try to imagine myself in there with one too.

It's kind of like that feeling when you know you're hopelessly single and it seems like everyone around you is in a happy relationship. Well, I'm hopelessly puppy-less and everyone's getting a new dog!!

See examples from the past four weeks:

My parents' new dog, Lilly

My college roommate's new dog, Pip

My friend Brian's new dog, Buster

I think this is the most jealous I've ever been in my life! It's also killing me to turn away THREE of my friends who in the past month have known people looking for homes for puppies a friend of a friend had.

Maybe when I move and get a job with free nights and weekends and a house with a yard. Sigh....

I can't stop, THEY'RE SO CUTE!

See the previous posting, if you haven't already vomited in your mouth. My love for long-haired miniature dachschunds continues. And my favorites are the dapple dachschunds (the ones that look like aussie shepherds, etc.)

Since I've been gone...

I'm moved, partially settled, partially avoiding it. I have a new office which is almost entirely settled. I enrolled in a gym membership (that I've used twice in a week, wow it's going to take some getting back into, but I have run nearly 4 miles in that span). I went to a bridal shower and I'll be at the wedding this weekend.... in TAHOE and we'll be staying in Reno, Nevada, so watch out gambling! I visited my sister in Newport Beach again. I'm planning a bridal shower/bachelorette party, and I'm finalizing other vacation plans for the summer.

But most importantly, I played with PUPPIES. And it's really making me ache for one so badly. I really miss my dog and I'd like to get one of my own. But two things stand in my way: first our condo is tiny and the backyard is even smaller, and secondly my evil boyfriend doesn't like dogs. How is that even possible?! But I think I'll keep working on it and maybe one day in the (semi-near?) future, I'll work on phasing in a small dog that's condo-compatible.

But these are the ones I saw at the pet store and absolutely fell in love. Over and over again. Then my heart was broken when we had to leave.... empty-handed.

Pomeranian

Long-haired Daschund

And because it's ADORABLE.....

It's not fair. I really want one!!! They were only $200... I could totally afford that :-(