I know it’s been a very long time since I last posted and I’m fairly certain it will be a very long time for me to post again– but, it’s the thought that counts, right?
At the very least I have several good reasons why I haven’t updated:
1.)
I own this. I have officially become a homeowner. I’m not very good at it right now (made a few mistakes already) but I guess that’s all part of the learning experience. My learning experience started as soon as I tried buying anything at all. I originally put an offer in on a different house and had it fall through. Had a pre-approval that was later rescinded due to an error on my bank’s part (did I mention I had a new purchase agreement?) and then several weeks passed, with more and more issues arising and the future looking more bleak for me to begin my journey as a homeowner.
Obviously, things finally came though, but not before I had to get a lawyer involved, got an ulcer and made a very long list of people I will never work with again if I can help it. Now I’m here and for the most part, it’s pretty exciting that I have a house to call my own and have say over.
2.) I welcomed a new baby into my family, here in my new house. This is my beautiful Harlequin Great Dane, Hank. I found out about Hank by pure chance, working at the pet store– I met a family who was fostering puppies– I met one one of Hank’s brothers at the time– and over the course of a few weeks, got to meet the rest of the family. Hank’s mom had been found stray and pregnant. Believed to be a puppy mill escapee, the family took her in and nursed her back to health. She was a Great Dane, but with puppies she weighed 79lbs, without she weight 59. Even as a female Dane, she was clearly underweight and very unhappy with life, to the point she had to be sent to a Great Dane rescue when the puppies were old enough, because she didn’t like men and she didn’t like children.
Because I had met the family before anyone else who had an interest, I was given first choice of the puppies. Hank had made an impression on my Mom and I, so home he came. He was 8 weeks old at the time of that picture– He’s only just 4 months now. He’s more this size now:
As of Friday, the 27th, he weighs 41.2lbs. He seriously doesn’t have a clue how huge he is. It’s hard sometimes, to remember that he’s barely 4 months old given how huge he is. He eats 3 cups of his food, three times a day– I have to try to buy his food ahead, just because he eats so much. Honestly, it’s a joy to have him, even when he’s naughty (though I might not think it at the time). My only fear for him is how short a life span Great Danes have. If he makes it over 7 years old, he’ll be considered an old man. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about the breed, that I wanted the experience for myself. I may not be able to not have a Great Dane, after this.
Faith’s opinion of him is slightly less appreciative than mine… Even though he seems to be quite taken with her.
In fact, I’d say her opinion is rather low…
My old lady has gotten over how cute puppies can be.
3.) Since moving in, I’ve been able to convert at least one of my basement rooms into a happy place for my piggies (I hope to get the other one ready for Baxter & Watson soon), of which I now have three:
The baby, Sammahdi (or Maddi).
I feel much better about things now, now that they have a big space to stretch their legs and get to know each other, without living on top of one another. They already seem so much happier then they were and I don’t have that guilt that I’m making their lives suck. I really do love them so much and this makes me truly joyful to see them popcorning around, wheeking happily.
4.) Although I am currently still working both of my jobs, I have just opened (technically, I guess) my in-home business. Which is really a variety of things, just to get something that might strike someone’s fancy. I am offering violin lessons and tutoring (since I became an Orton-Gillingham certified tutor back in September AND, Guinea Pig Salon services.
I know, that must sound ridiculous, but they’re all things I’m good at and to be honest, I have had customers at the store call to see if there is a groomer that will deal with their Pig. Not all Guinea Pigs are sweet when it comes to their maintenance. Dharma is pretty freaking cute, but try cutting her nails and she will turn into a crazed lunatic. If I can potentially offer help for fellow Guinea Pig lovers while being able to pay for groceries or a tank of gas, then I see it as a win for everyone.
As for the lessons and tutoring– I want to maintain my skills and I enjoyed teaching when I did it in high school. I’d like the opportunity again, hopefully, somewhere there’s a kid who wants someone to teach them and also be understanding that practicing 20 hours a day, is hardly a kid’s dream. I like working one on one with kids, something that I’ve had the privilege of doing at my full time job. Now that I have the space to offer any of these things from my home, I’m hoping I’ll get takers.
So that’s what’s been going on here. And those are my excuses for not updating sooner. Had nothing to do with being lazy, or under-motivated to type up an entire blog post… Nooooo. We’ll just stick with that.
Anyway, I will not promise to be faithful in updating this, as usual. However, I will try harder. It’s not like I can say I’m too busy living at my parents’ house!
Mystic has been here a week and although there have been a few tense moments, so far it seems to be going fairly well. She really is a sweet dog– Honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better personality from a newbie. She’s desperate to please everyone and she hasn’t caused any trouble.
She makes no sense as a dog. She’s squat, short-legged, Husky-tailed, Lab-colored and a head that’s twice as big as any I’ve seen. And yet I think she’s one of the sweetest faces, ever.
She was hoping to get this:
ow.
She’s been here a week and most days I wonder if she ever wasn’t:
For anyone following the blog– you may remember this post. About a week ago, we discovered that Paisley’s mom, Mystic had found her way back to a shelter after being adopted, returned and lost many times in the last almost 2 years. This last family had discovered too late that she is an energetic, intense dog and rather than returning her to the shelter (which they will ALL happily do, no questions asked), they listed her on Craigslist and gave her away. Which explains how they “don’t remember” who they gave her to.
Because of her connection to us and the fact her life has sucked this far, I took it upon myself to convince my Dad she needed to come live with us. He was resistant, as usual, but “Operation: Save Paisley’s Mom” was in full force. I am perfectly comfortable stooping to begging when it comes to saving lives. When it appeared Dad was immovable to her sad story, I stepped up my game. This included a kidnapped phone, a quick contact edit and a personalized ringtone, concluding in a phone call that lead to Mystic finally finding her way home with us.
Today, Mom and I traveled back to PAWS & More (she had been transferred back a few days ago), where she met Faith and Luka. We waited with bated breath, hoping that she would get along with them both enough to come home. Luckily, she did! It was heartwarming to see that, despite being shipped off and returned and dumped so many times, she still appears to be in good spirits and very loving. She does look like she wasn’t treated very well and she’s trying to please everyone, even though our expectations are simply for her to listen as best she can.
It amazes me how much of Paisley I see in her. From her tail, soft fur, to the way her tongue lolls out of her mouth. I look in her eyes and I see Paisley. I know she isn’t Paisley, and that was never the point of me wanting to adopt her. I wanted to give her a home that was stable and loving, where she would never have to worry about someone kicking her out, or leaving her behind. We at least understand what kind of personality and energy level she’s bound to have. In fact, we discovered pretty quickly what kind of energy level she has, as she figured out how to get the front door open almost 20 minutes after she got here. Running after someone for the first time in a very long time, definitely brought back memories.
I’m really glad she has a microchip. I’m sure we’ll be seeing that again.
I’m happy she’s happy now :0)
I have a car!!!
I'm so glad I have a car!!!
Oddly familiar...
I took a picture of Paisley, Christmas before last that looks just like this... Clearly she's family...
She was actually a very good car rider. She was quiet and kept to herself in the back seat. She wagged the whole way home and stared into passing cars as though she were telling them she had her own and was going home. She really is a sweet girl, even if she does need to work on her manners.
She handled all of this really well, even if she doesn't understand why we're doing it... AGAIN.
He likes the scratching...
And then he fell asleep against my pop bottle...
I really hope they get along. It’ll be good if they do.
Hopefully I’ll have time to get real pictures of her soon. I’m just happy she’s here now.
I got busy, life kept going, I didn’t update, so shoot me.
I’m here now.
So here we go:
Watson:
Is doing WONDERFULLY! Less than a week after the surgery, the vet said she would be healed enough for me to start letting she and Baxter hang out. I was a little surprised by that, but after looking at the surgery site, her fur was already growing back in and it was little more than a scab. That was exciting news and to be perfectly honest, I feel like she’s mellowed out quite a lot. I still wouldn’t stick my hand in her cage and poke her, but she doesn’t freak out as easily and she is actually quite snuggly now.
Baxter & Watson Meeting:
I didn’t actually get any shots of them getting together, since I was too busy chaperoning, but I did get some cute pictures of Baxter anyway.
Yes... I'm on the couch.
Still on the couch...
And now I bathe.
As for their date– It went pretty well. Baxter’s still a little forward with Watson, but at least now we can be sure there will be no baby-making. I think they like each other a lot, so I can only hope to get the money together quickly so they can live together. I think it will go well.
Valentine’s Day:
Let me make it clear– I hate Valentine’s Day. I think it’s overrated, over-advertised and I’ve had relationships that didn’t go as I had hoped start on it, so I’m always happy to see it gone. The only enjoyable part for me, is half-priced candy afterwords. However, my Mom seems to have caught the ‘crafty-plague’ and the last few holidays, we’ve done more in the way of crafty or baking to acknowledge them. Apparently this included Valentine’s Day. So she bought all these supplies and things and I showed up. The weekend before, we sat down and made about a billion (felt like a billion) little chocolate cherries and brownies and then glitterfied some plastic heart containers for those really nasty conversation hearts– What? They taste like chalk!– For her coworkers and the little ones I work with. The house is still covered in glitter from that incident. Although the glitter didn’t stick as well as we had hoped, they turned out pretty well.
I think everything turned out all right– Her coworkers enjoyed them and so did the kids– and I guess a few couples need to go into therapy because of the fights that ensued after tasting the chocolates.
Dad got to be involved, even though he hadn’t intended to, when we discovered one of our canister’s lids had inconveniently become stuck and wouldn’t come loose– especially when it was needed at the time:
We'll try anything around here...
Now it was a quest...
Ta da! THAT took ten minutes longer than it should have.
Ah, the spoils of battle.
It was a valiant victory. Against powdered sugar.
Of course, while we were working hard, there were some people that were hardly working.
Sorry about the quality, at the beginning. I was using my new camera and I still have a ways to go at being proficient, so it took me a while to get it into focus. :0/
He was howling for a variety of reasons (not just us winding him up) but the fact that not only had he been banished from the kitchen- but that his plan of rolling ALL of his new tennis balls under the gate and into the kitchen had failed in making him unbanished. So not only was he still banished, he had also lost of all his tennis balls. Which, let’s be fair, is a travesty.
When he finally DID become unbanished:
He found a really fun game to play! All by himself! He was so proud. He does this, will just start doing something completely odd and out of the blue and act like he’s done it forever.
I don’t get him sometimes, I’m just glad he’s happy.
Well, I think that’s all I have in me for an update. Not a whole lot has happened on the home front and I’m days away from finishing my undergraduate, so I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on anything that’s not school related until Wednesday afternoon. That makes me overjoyed– not.
My phone has a lot of photos on it. Mostly of my pets. Or things regarding my pets. Or stuff that my pets would like.
I have a life. I promise.
Unfortunately, I have yet to purchase a memory card for my phone, so I have a limited amount of space, that means I have to save what I want and delete the rest. Figured, I took them, might as well share them, so here’s a little trip down photo lane:
Anybody who thought this was for me-- clearly hasn't met my Guinea Pigs...
"I'm not on the couch, I'm not on the couch, I'm not on the couch"
Our dearest Mickey... Luka did love thee-- Perhaps too much.
I was studying and she wasn't happy-- So she watched TV.
This evening, little fuzzy bratface decided he was going to help himself to my dinner. I set my plate down– He pulled my hot beef sandwich off. And then made a break for it.
Had to tackle him to get it back, because if I wasn’t going to enjoy it, neither was he. I am honestly perplexed by how perplexed he was that he was banished to his kennel. Seriously– You don’t steal a girl’s dinner and get away with it.
I’ll give him props for confidence, but there’s no denying his boldness is a bit over the top.
Then again... Make him mad...
DEMON!!
He's such a brat...
In other news: (since it’s not surprising Luka’s a thieving lunatic)
I’m trying to grow a mini Bonsai! We were at Barnes & Noble on Sunday and when I was checking out I noticed one of those little gift set things they have the front. Totally a splurge and probably a horrible idea, but I want to try anyway. These little seeds are supposed to grow into a form of mini Bonsai with berries! The set comes with a wee little scissors and a teeny pot, so I’m excited to see what happens.
Of course, I tend to kill things, so nothing might happen, or something might happen and then blackened, wilting death may happen, but I guess that’s a risk. I just think it might be fun and if I can keep it alive, it might be therapeutic to trim it. I’ll try to update what’s going on with it. Currently, the seeds are in the refrigerator for the next seven days… They must like the cold. Anyway, by the end of the week, maybe I’ll start growing something.
Well, we had another Christmas come and go today. It was also Luka’s very fist Christmas extravaganza and let me tell you– He handled it like he knew what it was all along.
We started the celebration yesterday, by making Snickerdoodles and Banana Bread, both of which turned out quite nicely. Surprisingly enough, Luka actually acted like a little gentleman and didn’t need to be kicked out but once– simply because he has a tendency to lay down right behind you. Good for knowing where he is, bad for not tripping on your face.
Can you... Just. Dwop whatever dat is pwease?
He was very interested in what we were doing and was also pleased with the scents that were being emitted by our oven.
All of these were our presents, but there were probably twice as many dog presents earlier.
Yeah, Faith is going in for the kill...
Faith waits for no one apparently and went immediately for the smelliest present she could find.
And then try to open them before anyone else can have some.
But Luka learned quickly...
And learned effectively...
And voila-- Happy Puppy...
Verrrrry Happy.
Faith-- Meet Faith...
You can’t really tell in the photo, but the toy does look like Faith, in a tug toy kind of way.
HALP! SHE HAZ DE PWESENTS!
So he got a monkey.
Sharing???
Nahhhh.
It was a good Christmas– The puppies were happy, the other assorted animals were happy and all of the presents I gave seemed to go over well. I love Christmas and I’m always sad to see it go– but, there’s always next year to look forward to and more shopping to stress over :0) I can listen to Christmas music for little while longer and then it’s off to whatever holiday comes next… Easter? President’s Day? Who knows.
Anyway, all of us here at the Doggy Bloggy wish you the best of the rest of this beautiful holiday and the happiest of New Years (I actually have plans! Wha-whut-whut?!). Also, whatever weather occurs, we hope it isn’t overwhelming, as winter weather often is!
Merry Christmas one and all. Faith, the gang and I hope everyone has a pleasant and spirited holiday and that 2011 starts out wonderfully.
I’ll post photos later about our own celebration and what and alllll the toys the fuzzy faces got. Because, frankly– They got way more than the rest of us.
So, today was my birthday! I turned 23 at 6:37 pm this evening– and no, I don’t feel any older. It was a lazy day, I got to sleep in for the first time in a long time, it was lovely. I got to snuggle with my Faithy and do my own thing before my mother got done with work and we went to lunch at Olive Garden. It was surprisingly good! My parents got me some lovely presents and then we all came home and napped, because frankly, the weather has been dreary and we’ve all been working too hard. I had a final symphony concert to play in for my college tonight, so that took a little bit of time, but it was a good day overall and we made it through the weather, since we’re also currently under a blizzard warning.
I guess we’re going to be getting around 6 inches between now and 6pm tomorrow. I’ll believe it when I see it.
The other thing that happened this past week was I got my new camera! I’ve been wanting a Nikon D90 since forever and my Mom was able to find a deal for me to buy the package I wanted, so now I have one! I haven’t had a whole lot of time to play with it, since the class I’m in right now, is particularly homework heavy. But, today was my birthday and I had my homework done, so nuhhhhh!
Thanks to that, I went outside and shot some pictures:
Very first photo I took with my new camera!! He looks thrilled.
Third picture I took... Still not happy.
Action Shot!
Butt shot
He had snow on his face. Of course, it was only after all of these photos that I realized I have a movement setting on my camera, so I could have caught a few photos of him bounding after Faith around the yard. Maybe some other time. Would have been nice to see before we got a million inches of snow, but at least I’ll be able to catch his reaction to feet of snow, rather than the powdering we got a few days ago. And maybe he’ll do more than this:
One of these days she’s just going to eat him.
Well, gotta go eat my cheesecake, I am the birthday girl after all!
Until then,
Yes, yes, Thanksgiving was last Thursday… You all must know by now I’m not very good at timely updating.
Whatever. How do you like the new layout? I wanted to make it Christmas-ee since Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. Not for the presents (don’t get me wrong, I love presents!) but that it seems like, for one month out of the year, people are cheerful and good to each other. Maybe I’ve idealized it. Maybe it’s the Christmas carols. I just like that Christmas is a time of celebration and family. I look forward to it every year and all the traditions my family has to go with it.
I’m a little worried my Greenery Theme is gone for good, since WordPress seems to have phased it out of their theme options, but I downloaded the CSS file from the original designer’s site, so hopefully, if I decide to go back to it once the holidays are over, I can. The trees and the grassy meadow in the header just always said “Faith” to me, so that’s why I chose it for her blog. I digress.
On to Thanksgiving!
Because Luka is still young and working on the potty training, we asked my Aunt if we could bring him along. She’s been an animal lover for as long as I can remember and understands their importance to us, so I don’t think it was ever going to be a negative. Faith had to stay home and even though I felt guilty, she got enough Busy Bones to make her life complete for the day and really, it was probably a much needed rest from needle sharp puppy teeth anyway.
So we packed him in the car, bringing things for puppy to chew on that weren’t still being paid off and headed for the Thanksgiving feast awaiting us. Luckily he was actually very good and only had to stop for a potty break once.
I gotz wotz of toyz annnd Iz vewy good!
When we got to my Aunt’s house, we walked in, Luka in my arms and the reaction was much like I had just had baby… I can only hope the reaction is like that when I do have a baby (and that said baby isn’t quite as fuzzy). Of course, I understand their enthusiasm, I can’t help but scoop him up and kiss him until starts struggling to get away from all the affection!
We kept him on a leash while we were there, just to be sure he 1.) Couldn’t destroy my Aunt’s always immaculate house 2.) He didn’t somehow MESS on my Aunt’s always immaculate house 3.) Just generally prevent any chaos he could rain down upon my Aunt’s always immaculate house.
He waited patiently while we ate our delicious meal, very happy to receive his own kibble when the time came and was actually quite patient when my little cousin’s decided they wanted to play with him. Some with a little more love than others!
I don't think Luka realized what had just happened...
He took a shine to most of them and was quite happy people wanted to take the time to squeak his toys and roughhouse with him. Most of them wanted to help take him out on his potty breaks as well, which, if they would come do that while he’s at home so I could focus on homework or other things that require my attention, would be wonderful.
You would not believe how often I’ve been looking at him, look down to read a paragraph from my textbooks, only to look up to see him making a puddle. >.<
I wuv it when people pway wif me!!
He was the life of the party!
You haz mah Duckee…
But, no messes were to be had at Thanksgiving and the car ride back was lovely as a certain someone was dead tired from playing so hard– He actually fell asleep on my lap all the way home.
I can’t say I didn’t love every moment of the snuggling.
Because the next day he was right back to his old self!
Despite all of his current faults, I still love him. He does try, sometimes, but in typical Husky fashion, not very hard!
But still cute...
I suppose I should call it a night for the blog, got a few things to finish up for class and then I’ve noticed I should probably start the “Epic Cage Clean out of the Week”… Not to mention, Evie’s having a hey-day rolling around in her ball. She keeps smacking my door, like she’s going on a trip… It just never ends around here!
I welcomed a new baby into my family, here in my new house. This is my beautiful Harlequin Great Dane, Hank. I found out about Hank by pure chance, working at the pet store– I met a family who was fostering puppies– I met one one of Hank’s brothers at the time– and over the course of a few weeks, got to meet the rest of the family. Hank’s mom had been found stray and pregnant. Believed to be a puppy mill escapee, the family took her in and nursed her back to health. She was a Great Dane, but with puppies she weighed 79lbs, without she weight 59. Even as a female Dane, she was clearly underweight and very unhappy with life, to the point she had to be sent to a Great Dane rescue when the puppies were old enough, because she didn’t like men and she didn’t like children.
As of Friday, the 27th, he weighs 41.2lbs. He seriously doesn’t have a clue how huge he is. It’s hard sometimes, to remember that he’s barely 4 months old given how huge he is. He eats 3 cups of his food, three times a day– I have to try to buy his food ahead, just because he eats so much. Honestly, it’s a joy to have him, even when he’s naughty (though I might not think it at the time). My only fear for him is how short a life span Great Danes have. If he makes it over 7 years old, he’ll be considered an old man. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about the breed, that I wanted the experience for myself. I may not be able to not have a Great Dane, after this.
In fact, I’d say her opinion is rather low…
My old lady has gotten over how cute puppies can be.
The baby, Sammahdi (or Maddi).
The Doggy Bloggy 