Giggs' Diggs

I've Switched!

2007-12-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

I got bored with the blog layout over here and I managed to screw up my template by farting around with it's HTML. I wanted to be able to change the header easily and as often as I feel like so I don't get too bored with the blog -it's an ordeal to do this on Blogger involving photoshop and HTML... too much effort... So... I switched over to WordPress so I can do just that, since they make it easy!

The new blog has all the same content, minus my videos. They'll be joining us shortly once I get motivated to put them all on the new blog. For some reason they wouldn't import. BAH!

Anyway, start visiting us over at WordPress instead because that's where I'll be updating from now on (don't forget to bookmark us!). I'll keep the Blogger profile for commenting purposes only.

Our new blog:
http://giggsdiggs.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Blog Issues

2007-12-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks! I was screwing around with the blog and I've made a mess. Whoops!

I was thinking of switching over to another blog site but everything imported funny and I'm not sure if I feel like changing it, so I may stay put here. Plus none of my videos seemed to go over!

Pooey! Hang tight and please ignore any 'weirdness' for the next couple days or so.

Rebel Without A Clue

2007-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

Since starting up obedience classes again, we've noticed that Giggs seems, at times, to be resisting. His behavior seems to get worse before it gets better.

For example, after breakfast one morning, someone got into some mischief before he came back upstairs. This is what I found later on that morning when I returned downstairs...

Exhibit A:

On a side note: don't you love how
micro suede upholstery
shows bum prints?

Exhibit B:

We will keep going to obedience classes until Giggs learns some manners!

You will assimilate little pug! Bend to my will!

Things To Do With Your Pug When He's Being A Pest While You Try To Fold Laundry

2007-11-26T23:35:00.000-08:00

Put him up on top of the laundry hamper:

Put him in the laundry basket:

Christmas Decorations!

2007-11-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

We spent Sunday afternoon putting up our Christmas decorations! My mom and dad came over to help us and then we had dinner. I made this soup. I also added a half pack of bacon to it since it needed to be used up. It was really good and everyone liked it. I'm asking Santa for a hand blender so I can use it to make soups creamy. I don't mind chunky, but Tony prefers creamy.

Once everything is tidied up and we've got everything just right, I'll take pictures of some of our decorations to show everyone. We need a bigger house at Christmas time to fit all the decorations! We're not using a bunch of things because we just don't have the room! Hopefully Tony will get the outside lights up this week and then we'll be ready to go!

Next on the list is Christmas cards! We bought a whole bunch on clearance after Christmas last year in order to use them this year and save some moolah. Too bad that only works if you don't forget that you did that! DOH! We just bought Christmas cards last month and only remembered our stash from last year when we discovered them with the decorations yesterday. I now have a plethora of Christmas cards...

So who wants a Christmas card?! Seriously. I'm not just trying to use them all :) If I can manage it on time, they may also include a picture of Giggs with Santa Claus.

It Really Was Only A Matter Of Time...

2007-11-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

My hurricane candle holder thing is no longer :(
That's a picture of it taken at our old condo.

Tony was trying to grab the dog, who wasn't listening and instead decided that 'catch me' was more fun.

Man lunges to grab pug as he 'pug runs' past, pug dodges and side-swipes the candle thing. BIG LOUD crash followed by even louder cursing.

Girl is upstairs 'indisposed' (yeah, that's right, I'm not afraid to say so), is shocked by the commotion and yelling 'what happened?' ASAP she runs downstairs (don't worry, I took time to wash my hands) to see a big mess of broken glass in the living room/dining room. Pug is already shut in 'time out'/safe from Tony out-of-sight bathroom (oh yeah, safe from the glass too).

Girl cleans up broken glass mess and decides she may as well vacuum the rest of the house (it's 9pm) and ends up missing her swimming class partly because she thinks it's a good idea to remain at home. Otherwise, the pug would probably have been in time out all night.

I should have known, it's had several close calls already -Giggs knocked the nine foot bamboo tree onto it and it survived! Not so lucky this time. Now I have to find a glass replacement for the darn thing.

New Food

2007-11-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

I was gonna participate in Shannon's PhoBloDays but I kept forgetting my camera and even when I had it with me I forgot to actually take pictures with it. Blah! Twenty-six and senile. That would be my personal bumper sticker if I had one.

Anyway, one thing I did do this weekend, was take Giggs to the groomers to get his nails trimmed and his bum glands squeezed. What fun for them! (And him)

We talked a little to the groomer lady about bum glands and how often they should be done, etc. She says the less, the better. I think she just doesn't like doing them...

Giggs' glands were full and she got a good amount out of them but doesn't recommend having them done more often than every three months or so. Well, we just had them done about a month ago and they were already full again! Now what?!

The trouble is, Giggs doesn't exhibit any signs of anal-glad-fullness. He doesn't drag his bum on the floor and he can't reach to lick or chew himself down there (I'm glad for that!) so we can't tell when they're getting full until he starts to become 'fragrant'. He also juiced on Tony's shirt one day while he was sitting on his lap which made him really popular.

The solution...

The groomer lady said that the glands should be expressed a little bit every time Giggs poops, but because most people feed their dogs kibble, all the fiber in it makes bowel movements very easy and the dog doesn't have to push it out and therefore don't express their glands. So we decided to check into a raw diet more seriously since it's technically a more natural diet for dogs to be on anyway. So off we trotted to our favorite shop Bone Appetit to restock on flossies, cookies, and inquire about the raw food they sell.

In the end we decided that Giggs will get his kibble in the morning like usual and raw food for his evening meal. We feed him Innova kibble, which is a high quality protein-based kibble and has all his vitamins and stuff in it so he'll still get the benefits of that, plus now he'll also get the benefits of the raw diet in the evenings.

The raw food is made by a company in our province and it costs just under $14 for the chicken and that's 24 meals. It comes in a pack of six frozen 1 lb 'pucks', each of which provides 4 meals for a dog his size. We may have to play with that, if he starts to lose weight, then each puck would be 3 meals -totaling 18 meals. All I have to do is thaw a puck in the fridge overnight and we've got dinner for the next 4 days!

The meals come in chicken, beef, buffalo, rabbit, fish, duck, pheasant, and lamb. Each is also mixed with various veggies, and ground up bone or calcium carbonate (beef, lamb, and buffalo) for a complete meal. Chicken is the cheapest and the prices range depending on the type of meat used. I made sure to check that the chicken isn't mass-produced steroid GMO two-headed chicken and it's not. It's not certified organic, but it's grain fed chicken from Albertan Hutterite farms.

Giggs' poops are now pretty much 1/3 their former size, WAY less smelly, and are a lot firmer, so hopefully no more bum problems. Even his after-kibble poop has completely changed. He LOVES his new food and so far no problems with it. I just feed him dinner on a plate so it can go right into the dishwasher and he still gets his morning kibble in his regular bowl.

The owner of the store has two large dogs that get the raw food for dinner and he said that his dogs leaned-out quite a bit, but didn't lose any weight. They lost fat and gained muscle mass and are a lot more energetic. I wonder if I could find a similar diet for humans...

La Bachelorette Par-tay

2007-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

My Saturday was pretty much monopolized by my friend Kim's wedding shower and bachelorette party (not that I minded). I thought the shower started at 2:30 but when I re-read the invitation, it said NOON! Therefore, we missed out on taking Giggs to the SPCA fundraiser :(

I had a very busy week so I was very disorganized and hadn't yet bought Kim a shower gift. My friend Aimee was in town for the festivities (she lives in Whistler) and she needed to buy a gift too, so we met at the mall.

We went together on a gift and got Kim a fancy hair-dryer off her registry. Aimee also informed me that I needed to bring a white t-shirt for the party after the shower. I somehow didn't get that email from the organizer so I didn't have one of those either.

After searching the entire bloody mall for cheap white t-shirts, we finally found some (2 for $15). At this point we didn't know if we'd be writing on them or whatever so we wanted cheap ones!

I am not ashamed to say that we were now running so short on time, I had to wrap the gift in the mall food court and I didn't have scissors. It was interesting, but when I folded the edges of the paper, you couldn't tell and the gift looked normal. Tony told me it looked 'dollar store'. Sweet. Thanks hun.

After a quick bite I headed up to Kim's parents where the shower was being held. We played some fun games, had eats, and Kim had to earn her gifts by correctly answering questions about herself that her fiance had answered ahead of time. It was pretty funny hearing the responses and I think he knew her better than she knew herself.

After the shower we all dressed in white t-shirts and most of us were already wearing jeans. We each got our own blue hard hat that said 'Kim's Krew' on it and Kim had a pink one that said 'Bride' as well as a tool belt with several goodies in it. (Kim's fiance is in construction).

Then we headed off to receive lap dance lessons. That is the thing to do for bachelorette parties these days. I've been twice now. Tony (jokingly) complains that he has yet to reap the benefits of these lessons but trust me, I am highly uncoordinated and it does NOT look very sexy.

Mostly we all fumbled our way through the routine and tried not to die laughing while we practiced on each other. It's quite the bonding experience to lap dance practice on your friend. I think companies should try it as an ice-breaker or team-building exercise during corporate retreats.

This is the bride Kim and her sister at the studio (they also offer pole dancing classes, the latest fitness craze):

Then we paraded Kim around downtown for a bit to embarrass her and made her do shots at the pub. We stopped at the fire hall for pictures with the firemen -a regular Saturday night for them I'm sure, since they already had several picture pose ideas in mind. I forgot my camera in the car :(

Then it was off to a Greek restaurant for dinner. This is my favorite Greek restaurant in town, and on Saturday nights they have a belly dancer. She showed the wedding party some moves.

After dinner we all headed up to Big White to one of the bridesmaid's ski cabin for the evening. There were drinking games, more drinking games, music and dancing, and a very hot hot tub.

Here are various pictures that aren't too embarrassing:

Me and Aimee, post drinking games.

Polishing off the last of the Sourpuss.
I don't recommend martinis for drinking games,
by the way.

Kim, Me, and Aimee.
We all met in university in the teaching program.

The old-school SnoopDog on the stereo
gave rise to this behavior.
Notice that everyone has removed the
insides of their hard-hats by this point
in order to wear them sideways.

Brianne found a lovely snowsuit in the closet.

The next morning we cooked breakfast, cleaned up and then headed home. We had good times! When I got home, I found both my boys still in bed! Long night for them too.

Check Out My New Secretary...

2007-11-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

He's Got A Cute Bum

His desk is a bit messy and disorganized. I should really talk to him about that.

Homes For The Holidays

2007-11-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

The tour was super fun this year! Last year we were a bit disappointed and I'm guessing a lot of other people were too, because they really stepped it up this year. The tour is done as a fund raiser for the Rotary Centre for the Arts so we like to support it, plus it's a fun way to kick off the Christmas season! Tony and I took my mom and dad with us for a fun family outing.

Here's a rundown of how the tour works.

This year there were six homes on the tour. Last year there was a few more but I think less is more in this case. It didn't take as long, and the decorations were more concentrated in each home. The thing I did miss this year was that there were only two homes with little shops set up in the garage! Every other year I've been there has always been something at each house for you to blow money on. Either decorations or goodies to eat, and even mulled wine! There were NO goodies this year! BAH!

They don't allow cameras in the homes, for good reason, so I could only take pictures of the outsides of the homes from the street. It was dark and I had to lighten these in photoshop so bear with me.

Home number one is a new house that is the family home of a local contractor.

It was decorated really nicely and it had a little shop in the basement. I bought this wall sconce/candle holder there.

I also fell in love with the cutest wrought iron reindeer tea light holders and napkin rings. I should have bought them then but this was our first home and I was trying to pace myself. I didn't know that there were only two stores! I'll go buy them at the retail store sometime this month and I'll post them then.

Home number two was actually a heritage church. My picture does not do it justice. To get the whole thing, I would have had to stand out on a busy road, which I wasn't about to do in the dark.

To get married here, you have to book a year or more in advance. The Heritage Society had an information booth set up here and there was also another shop set up inside one of the wings. I didn't buy anything here though because everything I liked was pretty expensive and too big. It would have taken up too much room in the car.

Home number three belongs to my friend's aunt. It's a cute little farm house that's done up heritage style. So cute! They have several buildings on their property and they run this one as a bed and breakfast I believe.

Home number four was the show home in a very expensive residential development in town called Woodland Hills. It costs at least 3 million dollars to build there. The views are amazing and each home comes completely landscaped with the option of an infinity pool with a swim-up bar! Sign me up! This home will go on the market for about 6-7 million! It's actually three buildings and has garage space for 18 cars, a guest house, and a spa/fitness building. It also has the infinity pool, little creek, and a pond. My pictures do it no justice, this is only part of the main building.

Inside is a gourmet kitchen, library, home theater, wine cellar, billiards/game room, etc., etc. The garage building houses a guest house on top and the garage itself is two levels below that. It's a 'gentleman's garage' and actually looks like a sports bar inside with a bathroom, TV's, bar, and a poker table! I could go on and on but I won't.

House number five is in the 'master planned' neighborhood of Kettle Valley. I think it's a bit crowded and refer to it as the 'land of the Stepford wives', but that's just me. The homes are pretty nice though. This home had the most outdoor decorations. Lots of greenery, it smelled so good!

Our final home was actually a condo (loft) downtown. It was decorated old Hollywood style with lots of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn pictures. It was ALL black and white, even the Christmas tree was black! Not my style at all but a lot of people liked it.

That's it with the lights on the top floor. It has a rooftop patio.

Then we all went to the Rotary Centre for the Arts to a wine reception. The centre was also filled with lots of artists selling their work. I bought a silver necklace from a lady I like to visit at the farmers' market.

The reception was ok. You gave them your ticket for a glass of wine and there were crackers and cheese and fruit plates to snack from. They had some men's a capella group performing and they were LOUD! The whole point of a reception is for people to chat! They should have had a piano player or a string quartet instead as background music. WTF! We couldn't hear ourselves think! We left after about half and hour and went for coffee, then headed home.

It was a pretty fun night and now I'm ready to decorate my house!

I've Waited a Whole Year for This...

2007-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my city's annual Homes for the Holidays tour! It's like Shannon's Bloggy Parade of Homes: Christmas Edition -but in real life! It's a fund raiser for an artistic society in town. They choose a number of homes, volunteered by the homeowners of course, and decorate them all up for Christmas. You have to buy a ticket and then you can tour the homes. It sells out every year. It's great for Christmas ideas and it starts to get us in the Christmas mood.

Each home also usually has a store set up in the garage (where they dump you out) so you can buy decorations, goodies, etc. The homes are also usually pretty spectacular! Lately, developers of expensive neighborhoods have been volunteering their show home to get advertising out there. I don't mind, they're gorgeous! Our dream neighborhood show home is on the tour this year! I've seen this house like three times already but not decorated for Christmas!

You get a bag at your first house to put your shoes in and carry them around while you tour inside and no cameras are allowed :(

I guess they don't want people 'casing' their homes...

I'll try and sneak some pictures of the outsides of the homes with the lights and everything.

There's also a big wine and appetizer event after the Friday night tour (we paid an extra $10) at 9pm so we'll go to that too. I'm pretty excited! There's also a Saturday day tour, Saturday night tour, and Sunday day tour. Why people want to go during the day is beyond me, you can't see the lights on the outsides of the houses very well.

Saturday, we take Giggs to get his picture with Santa Claus at an SPCA fund raiser, then I'm off to a bridal shower and stagette for my friend Kim. We're all going up to Big White (the ski hill) to stay in a condo there overnight. I'm looking forward to the hot tub! My good friend Aimee is coming from Whistler for the event! She'll be here tonight and she's bringing Peekay!

I should have some good pics and stories on Sunday for ya!

MEME Time!

2007-11-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

From Shannon, Lisa, Alfred's Mom, and Punchy...

Play along if you’d like. Leave me a comment so I can go read your answers.

1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? A bar of Dove & Body Shop Mango Bodywash

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No :(

3. What would you change about your living room? Make it bigger so we could get a nice big coffee table in there to play games on and put appies and drinks on. It seems we never use our living room when company's over. Swap the fireplace for a gas one (ours is electric) although I'd keep the mantle.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean, I ran it last night and haven't put them away yet.

5. What is in your fridge? Apples, pears, grapes, squash, peppers, carrots, leftover salad, avocados, snap peas, cucumber, tomatoes, lots of condiments, canolis, almond milk, juice, eggs, cheese...

6. White or wheat bread? Sprouted grain bread and flax bread.

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? A serving tray and our ginormous booze cabinet. I think Tony was a bartender in a previous life.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? It's a metallic sort of blue/green with a dark brown and light brown print of some sort of plant.

9. How many plants are in your home? 3 real bamboo plants (1 large and 2 small) and 2 fake bamboo trees and another fake tree of some sort. I can't keep anything but bamboo alive and we seem to like the look of it.

10. Is your bed made right now? No, don't tell Tony. He's the one who always makes it. It bothers him to have an unmade bed whereas I could care less, I'm just getting back into it again.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Neither, I'm addicted to Lysol and Clorox wipes. I use KaBoom in our showers.

12. Is your closet organized? There's a method to the madness but nobody knows but me. See for yourself.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? We have a couple small ones, one is a red LED. We also have a HUGE mag light, it's black and very heavy. It'd make a great club.

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic more at home? Always glass. I can't stand plastic!

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Nope too sugary to have kicking around the house. I make myself go out for that stuff.

16. If you have garage, is it cluttered? We have a tandem garage that runs the length of our townhouse, which means we park one in front of the other. The far end has massive storage racks, which are FULL of stuff. It's on racks at least...

17. Curtains or blinds? Neither! We have to order blinds, which I may dress up somehow. It's all about the $$$. Right now we are the neighborhood exhibitionists LOL!

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? Lately, 2 for some reason. Usually 1.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? Nope, I'm a big girl.

20. How often do you vacuum? OMG! I feel like a slob! Everyone else's I've read is WAY more than me! Once a week -maybe! Our carpet and tile are good at camouflaging pug fur.

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Electric, but my dentist tells me I should switch from a spin head (oral-B) to a Sonicare brush. Expensive! I haven't done it yet.

22. What color is your toothbrush? White with blue features.

23. Do you have welcome mat on your front porch? Two. One at the bottom of the stairs (rubber that looks like wrought iron) and another fall-type one at the door.

24. What is in your oven right now? Oven racks. I can't store things in my oven, it pisses me off when I have to take stuff out of it to use it. Where do you put the stuff?

25. Is there anything under your bed? Stuff that Giggs has dragged under it: slippers, toys. Also lots of pug fur.

26. Chore you hate the most? All of them.

27. What retro items are in your home? We have an old orange pleather foot stool from the 70's.

28. Do you have a separate room you use as an office? Yes. It is our command center for taking over the world MUAHAHA!

29. How many mirrors are in your home? 4. One in each bathroom and one standing mirror in the bedroom.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Haha! We spend it too fast.

31. What color are your walls? Various shades of greens, browns, and one red.

32. What does your home smell like right now? Wet pug. Giggs just got a bath.

33. Favorite candle scent? I like seasonal spicy candles and I only really like candles in the Fall and Winter.

34. What kind of pickles are in your refrigerator right now? Dill pickles.

35. Ever been on your roof? Not this one.

36. Do you own a stereo? Yeah, a Boxing Day special we use for background music at parties and when we cook.

37. How many TV’s do you have? Just one and there's no TV on it. It only gets used for DVD's and video games.

38. How many phones? Lots! 2 cell phones, one home phone with three handsets, and one office phone with two lines, plus a fax line.

39. Do you have a housekeeper? He doesn't listen to me very well.

40. What style do you decorate in? Contemporary?

41. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? I prefer solid but a simple non-imposing print is ok.

42. Is there a smoke detector in your home? One on each floor. I'm good at 'testing' the one in the kitchen.

I Just Finished This Novel

2007-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

I finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini last night and I have to say it's a fabulous book! It was recommended by a good friend of Tony's mom so I bought it on Sunday while we were at Costco. I was immersed! I love reading novels that I can learn from (historical and political events and other cultures). It's been made into a movie, so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

If you want to learn more about it, click HERE.

I'm going to go get this author's second book A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I Love It When...

2007-11-05T16:39:00.001-08:00

I am awakened out of sleep at 4am by the sounds of Giggs' lurching stomach. Cleaning up pug puke at that time of night while trying to fend off the pug (who is trying to eat his own barf) makes me cranky.

Tony got to stay in the warm bed and went immediately back to sleep.

I'm moving Giggs' bed to Tony's side of the room.

Cold Update

2007-11-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that Giggs finishes his medication today and he is symptom-free. No more sneezing, reverse-sneezing, and goopy watery eyes. I'm so glad he's better, I felt so bad for him. We ended up missing our Halloween pug meet and last week's obedience class (bummer), but at least he's better now.

New Obsession

2007-11-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm getting pretty good at Dance Dance revolution (I'm getting A's and B's on Basic level so very soon I'll be moving up to Intermediate!). But last Sunday something else grabbed my attention (and $100 from my bank account)...

GUITAR HERO III for Wii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE IT!!!

And I love the fact that this is also a game that Tony enjoys. He's actually way better at it than I am (must be all his years of piano training). I highly recommend this game to everyone, it's good times.

My friend also bought it and she's gonna bring her guitar over so we can battle and start a co-op career!

Now if only I could hook it up so that I could play Guitar Hero while dancing on my DDR pad... I figure that's enough training to become the next big pop star. I'd be so much better than Britney is these days, I can lip-sync too ya know. I just need a power team of record producers backing me. Know any?

Hello Ladies!

2007-11-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had a ladies' party last Friday night so I thought Giggs had better dress up a little to impress the guests. He was pretty pumped to have ten women all to himself all evening.

HOWL-O-WEEN Decorations

2007-11-01T08:54:00.001-07:00

Shannon hosted another Bloggy Parade of Homes Halloween Edition, so here are our decorations -better late than never!

INSIDE: Nothing much. I bought some little gourds and put them around the house, etc.

This guy was supposed to hang on a door knob but
someone took it as a chew toy for himself.

OUTSIDE: LOTS more decorations :)

My cauldron lights up red and it sputters water
and makes smoke!

This tombstone has a sensor and it screams and flashes
and makes spooky noises when someone walks by.

What you can't see are the two fog machines, strobe light, and the purple lights on the deck railing.

PUMPKINS!

THE LITTLE MONSTER -I mean owl:

Someone was trying to eat the fake spider webs.

And for all this decorating... We had eight kids! Thats it! What a let down! It was like waiting around for the Great Pumpkin to show!

Pay It Forward Update

2007-10-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

A very big thank you to Norman and his Woman for the sweet card and gorgeous scarf! It's so soft and I love the knit pattern you used to make it, it's really neat (looks complicated!) I picked it up at the post office yesterday and I opened it in the car and wore it all day!

Giggs loved giving it the sniff over when I got home (it must have been Norman's special touch -I wonder if he sent a secret message to Giggs...) and then he got his head stuck in the envelope. I wish I had a picture of that.

Doozy, your gift from me should be arriving shortly, but don't put any pictures or anything up cuz everyone else is getting a similar gift and the Americans will be waiting a while longer for theirs. Look for a Canadian 2 for 1 pizza box. lol! Don't worry, they're new and never had pizza in them. I wouldn't send a stinky, greasy gift :) At least not to anyone I like.

Speaking of Health...

2007-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

So funny and yet sadly, so true:

I got the video HERE. It's an informative blog on a lot of political and health issues for those who care about such things.

Phew! It's Just A Cold!

2007-10-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

Giggs saw the vet Thursday and I'm happy to announce that he's just got a cold. Apparently it's going around right now and he probably caught it at either the dog park, the doggy store we usually go to, or at obedience classes. Unfortunately, he's highly contagious and he can't go out again until his symptoms go away. That means possibly no obedience this Tuesday and it also means possibly no Halloween Pug Meet this Monday! That would be horrible! I hope his meds work fast and he gets better really quick!

The vet also told me that the Bordetella (Kennel Cough) vaccination is like a flu shot for dogs and covers only a certain number of strains of the virus. Since viruses are always mutating, he can still get sick. Why bother then! Geez!

If we had let this 'cold' go unchecked, it could have traveled into his upper respiratory tract (right now it's just in his sinuses) and essentially we would be left with Kennel Cough. The first think the vet asked me was if he had been coughing. Thankfully, no. Giggs is just sneezing, snorting, and reverse sneezing a lot. He's congested, the poor thing, with runny nose and eyes. He also asked how his appetite was and I laughed. If he wasn't eating, I would have brought him in the very same day! I would be super worried if this pug didn't want food!

I also asked the vet to check his trachea (which he was actually in the process of doing when I asked). I'm paranoid, but I worried that he may have been hurt by his collar -he's fine. I also got the vet to check his eyes. Remember when I posted about his smaller, odd-shaped pupil? Well, it's nothing to worry about. His eyes are both fine! Oh yeah, his temperature was normal too *snicker, snicker*.

I think I may have bombarded the vet with too many questions, but I feel compelled to ask. He's the expert I know, but it's my job as a good pug mama to ask all the questions and point out anything I see. Just to make sure everything is gone over thoroughly. We don't want to overlook anything, after all.

So what to do you do with a sick pet?

You torment them with Halloween decorations!

In Response to Norman's Letter to Canadaland...

2007-10-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Dear USA-land,

Why do your customs labels have to be so darn huge, forcing me to use a box WAY too big? Is it really necessary to divulge so much information about such a small package? I'm not mailing scary white powder... It does not tick... It is not BC organic, shall we say... It is a loving gift, made with my own two hands!

I think $46 CAD (x3) is a bit much to pay for a small package (isn't that like $150 USD now?). I may just deliver it myself for that price and at least get a vacation out of it. And it's not just the crazy Postes Canada! UPS is gouging too! I blame NAFTA!!!

Maybe I'll try the Greyhound and see what they say... So far, only the Vancouver-ite on my Pay-It-Forward list is going to get anything anytime soon.

Would a picture of the gift be sufficient? Maybe I'll send it in pieces? Curses for making a heavy gift!

I Survived (barely)

2007-10-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

OK, rule number one for cleansing: DO NOT start your cleanse with a hangover! That's getting off on a bad foot! Although fasting is easier because the thought of food makes you ill... tradeoff, I guess, but still not fun.

The three days of only drinking apple juice was the easy part. It kept hunger at bay fairly well and I like apple juice so it wasn't so bad. Drinking dissolved Epsom salts on the third day was not so good. VERY bitter and also a natural laxative -good times!

The WORST was drinking a cup of olive oil mixed with a cup of grapefruit juice before bed on the third day. SOOOOOOOOOOO GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Almost barfed. Then I had to go to bed and lay on my right side all night. Now I have a sore neck.

At 6am on the fourth day (today) I had to drink more Epsom salts. Now I barf. I couldn't stop burping up olive oil taste. SOOOOOOOOOOO GROSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Then more Epsom salts at 8am. More natural laxative! Yay! Plus, a detox/my neck is wonky headache!

All day long I go to the bathroom......... There has been nothing solid in me for almost 4 whole days........ I won't say anymore.

I did NOT like day 3 and 4 of this cleanse AT ALL! But it worked. I was dropping gallstones all day today. I know, cuz they float (TMI, I know.) I didn't save any and no pictures (lol).

I hope I don't have to do this again anytime soon. Tony did it with me this time. He's such a champ! It's nice to have a buddy to commiserate with during all the unpleasantness. I don't think he'll do it again though.

To top off all the lovely pooping and vomiting that's been going on around here, Giggs has a cold. I phoned the vet and they told me to bring him in if his eyes get goopy (sinus infection) but I might just bring him in anyway. His eyes are all watery and he's snotting and sneezing (way more than is usual) and I've noticed he's had some nose mucus/boogers. He sounds totally congested, poor thing. Please don't let it be allergies!!!!

I HATE Cleansing!!

2007-10-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

more later...

Self-Inflicted Injuries

2007-10-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun time this Saturday night. We went to a friend's house for a get-together and then hit the town. You know you've had a good time when you mistakenly hail a pizza delivery guy thinking he's a cab and he gives you a ride home anyway! (Me and Tony.)

Unfortunately, I had too much fun and was a total write-off on Sunday. It made starting my gall bladder cleanse a bit easier though. I have to fast for three days and all I get is water and apple juice! Trust me, I did not want to see food on Sunday, so day one was easy. Yesterday was hard, last night I couldn't fall asleep because I was fantasizing about food. I was planning the menu for a party I'm having for the ladies this Friday -bad idea.

I am also covered in various injuries from Saturday night. Bruises here and there. The worst of which, is in my mouth! Tony and I are standing in the health food store yesterday getting more organic apple juice (yay.) when he says, 'OMG what's wrong with your mouth?!' I pulled out my pocket mirror and the inside of my bottom lip and my bottom gums are all BLACK! It seriously looks so gross and now it's spreading!

Our dentist is one building over from the store so I tromp in and ask if he can squeeze me in quickly and I showed the receptionist my mouth. She's kinda like 'ew', but manages to squish me in. The dentist said I must have bashed my face at some point and it's probably a broken vessel that's pooled under the skin. It'll take 1-2 weeks to clear up and if it doesn't, I have to come back and see him again.

I tried to get some pictures to show but they're just not working out.

You'd think I'd remember 'bashing' my face at some point, but I don't. Tony said I fell up the stairs pretty hard when we got home and may have done it then. All I remember is crawling up the stairs and laying on the floor playing with Giggs when he greeted us. Apparently, I love him and Tony a heck of a lot. Then I loved the big porcelain telephone for a long time...

It'll be a while before I do this again.

Of course I always say that.

For All The Moms

2007-10-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Giggs In His New Seat

2007-10-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Twelve hours of driving is no fun for anyone! At least he was comfortable in his new car seat...

Tony too.

OOPS!

2007-10-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

So yesterday, I'm writing that post about our trip when I'm like, 'something smells like it's burning'. Tony comes upstairs shortly after and I ask him if he smells something burning. He replies by asking if I left anything on the stove. I go, 'no -OH SHIT! YES!'

Crap! I left a pot of water on the stove and boiled that sucker dry! The bottom came detached from the (cheap) pot and was kinda stuck to the stove surface. I took the pot outside and put it on the cement at the bottom of the deck stairs. Then, with some metal tongs and a wooden spoon that kept igniting, I managed to pick up the pot bottom and get that outside as well.

The senile shouldn't leave things on in the kitchen. I'd hate to have to call the fire department. That would be embarrassing. Although I do hear those firemen can be pretty cute...

Our Thanksgiving Trip

2007-10-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Over Thanksgiving, we went to visit Tony's brother and family up in Northern BC. It's about a twelve hour drive from here, so it's quite the undertaking to do the drive in one day -especially with a hyperactive pug!

In order to make the trip a bit more pleasurable for little Giggs, we splurged $165 on a doggy car booster seat.

Let me tell you, it was WORTH EVERY PENNY! Giggs was able to sit up high and see out the window. He loved being on the level with everyone! He was a total champ the whole way there and back. He just mellowed right out and slept, or chewed his bully stick, or just chilled and watched the scenery.

Whenever we stopped for food or gas I took him for a quick potty walk and gave him some water, although he hardly drank any. For some reason he doesn't really drink much when we travel, but I guess that's a good thing since it's fewer potty breaks.

Our trip up was pretty crammed because we picked up a Step 2 play kitchen for Tony's niece (she's two). It's one of her Christmas presents. The box took up 2/3 of the cargo area of our rover! We also took Tony's other brother (Uncle Steve) with us, so we had three adults and a pug crammed in with our luggage and a big toy box! Good thing we didn't take the Mini! We were way less cramped on the trip home.

Tony, Giggs, and I stayed in a hotel (fishing lodge) which was ok. We wanted somewhere close to Jim and Sara's house that would allow dogs and have internet access. Unfortunately, our laptop was being a shit and wouldn't connect to their wireless for some reason -hence, no updates for you.

Giggs was on his best behavior and didn't try to mark in the hotel room or in Jim and Sara's house even once! Even when we left him in the hotel for a little bit while we went for breakfast one morning. The rest of the time, he came with us to Jim and Sara's house and played in the backyard with their dog Trooper, or inside with Amelia when it got too cold out.

Here are some pictures we took when we went for a hike. We hiked for two hours and Giggs made it the whole way!

We hiked down to a lake and then back up again.
That's Steve, Me, Giggs, and Trooper taking a break.
It was WINDY down by the lake!

Giggs wouldn't really drink because of the waves.

Amelia during a playground break.

Amelia and her papa (Jim).

When we got back in the car Giggs didn't last two minutes before he crashed out. He was one tired little pug! He loved every minute of the hike and all the outdoor forest smells. I'm just glad we didn't run into any bears! There was LOTS of bear poop along the way!

Unfortunately, these are the only pictures we managed to take. I'm going to go poach Uncle Steve's facebook, he got some good ones of Giggs in his car seat. Then I'll do an additional post.

Oh Yeah!!!

2007-10-13T18:35:00.001-07:00

I just got Dance Dance Revolution for my Wii!!! I am super PUMPED to dance dance my ass off!!!

NB: I will probably not look as glamorous as the girls on the cover since I am not that coordinated. I just try not to fall over. Bah! It's still fun and a workout to boot!

Now if only there was Guitar Hero for Wii... I'd be set!

I will try not to neglect the blog -I don't want PALBWAATHRODCBWDTPTHHWPQ after me. I can't afford to have Giggs destroying any more of my stuff!

Quick Update

2007-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I hope all you Canadians had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We went out of town Saturday morning and didn't get back until last night (Wed.), so I'm behind in my blog reading (work too).

I'll do a proper update later on how Giggs was such a little champ this weekend!

A Girl Of Many Names

2007-10-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

From Punchy:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Misty Mini

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Espresso Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): C-Bac

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Otter

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Marie Kamloops

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Bacch

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Black Latte

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers): Lorne Jerome or Pat Jerry since that's what they go by

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Lilac Chocolate

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ): Anne Paul

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Peatman Prague

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Christmas Lilac

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Nectarine Slippery

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Muffin Oak

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”): The Blogging Sunshine Tour

Leave a comment if you play so I can read yours!

He Is Very, Very Sneaky

2007-10-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

We have a problem. Well, mostly Tony has a problem, but since we are supposed to be a united parenting/pugenting front, I have to go along with this one since Tony feels so strongly about it.

The problem is Giggs can't tell the difference between leather couches and fabric couches. (Hey, I said he was sneaky -not smart.)

Giggs is allowed on the upstairs fabric couch but not on the downstairs leather couches (and chair). The trouble is, when we're not home, Mr. Giggs likes to lounge upon the leather. I think he likes to look out the windows, plus the couches are pretty cushy -we all know how pugs will seek out the most comfortable lounging place in the house like they were born to be in/on it. There is a window beside the upstairs fabric couch, but apparently, that window is not satisfactory, nor is the couch as cushy.

To help with this problem we purchased some X-Mats. They're covered in spikes (approved by the SPCA -don't worry) and are uncomfortable to be on. We placed them across the couch cushions to prevent Giggs from enjoying the forbidden leather. That's the plan anyway.

We bought four, two for each couch. The problem is, we need five because Giggs is sneaky and clever. He figured out the first day that, on the larger couch, he can just push one of the X-Mats over, which leaves him just enough room to lounge.

This REALLY pissed Tony off because Giggs is so stubborn (hmm, sounds like someone else I know) and too smart for the X-Mat. I swear he has some secret power battle with Giggs, who is his arch nemesis when it comes to dog training.

I thought it was kind of funny.

Giggs needs to start obeying the household rules or at least smarten up and cover up any evidence. I'm kinda tired of saving his hide, it's causing unrest in my otherwise happy relationship.

And We Wonder Why Giggs Has Issues...

2007-10-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

I did not do this to him. Although I did laugh a lot and even took some video:

Giggs' Halloween Costume

2007-10-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've got to order a Halloween costume for Giggs ASAP but I'm not sure what he should be! Our October Pug meet is a dress-up occasion so I've got to act fast! Plus I want to have him dressed for the big day, I'm so excited to get trick-or-treaters this year!

Maybe you guys can help me out. Let me know what you think:

Crocodile:

Penguin:

Owl:

Football Player (blue or red):

So? Which one (or two) do you think would be best? The football player would definitely suit his bulldozer personality but I can't make up my mind!

Pug-A-Day

2007-09-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Giggs is the September 27th pug on Roy and Gwen's Pug-A-Day website!

Click HERE to go vote for Giggs!

My New Winter Coat (The Second)

2007-09-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

The second? you ask. Well let me tell you why...

I was eyeing this winter coat in a shop window beside our second favorite coffee shop for a while, so we bought it. I always wait way too late each year to get a coat and then I can never find anything I really truly like because everything good is gone! I brought it home, and since it not near cold enough to wear, I laid it on the window bench in our bedroom. Keep in mind, it had never been worn and the tags were still attached.

On Sunday, Tony's out-of-town cousins came to stay for the night, so we BBQ-ed and drank LOTS of wine. (No, I didn't spill wine on it.) They brought their very large dog, Charlie, who is a sweetie and got along fairly well with Giggs. Trouble is, a townhouse is way too small for a pug and a 100lb dog to play chase in. (No, the dogs didn't knock wine onto it.)

In order to prevent the destruction of our home, the dogs had to do a separation tag-team visiting program, where one dog would be downstairs for a bit, and the other dog would be upstairs in a bedroom for a bit, then we'd switch. Charlie was marvelous, no problems there. Giggs, on the other hand does not like to be isolated and only gets shut up when he's in time out, and it's usually in our smallest bathroom where the least damage can occur. I thought that since he was being put away for more than five minutes at a time, the bathroom would be cruel. So we put Giggs upstairs in our bedroom where he has his bed, a water dish, and several toys. I also threw in a bullystick for good measure. There, back to merry-making!

I'm not sure when the incident occurred since he was in the bedroom for about three 'shifts', but at the end of the night, just before bed, I noticed something horribly wrong. (Giggs was fine although he had a close brush with death...) Giggs had pulled everything off the window bench and PEED ON MY NEW COAT!!!!!! (Cue freak-out and death threats on Giggs' life.)

I'm pretty choked, I've had lots to drink, so I decide to fix the problem. I'm going to wash it right away! I check the wash instructions, spray it, and throw it in the washer on delicate (as per the instructions on the tag) and I set the water temperature to cold. Then I went to bed.

Next morning, I haul the coat out of the washer and hang it to dry when I notice...

IT SHRUNK!!!

It is now a child-sized coat and I never even had the chance to wear it! The lining is all bunchy because the outer part shrunk so much! I was mad at Giggs and mad at myself for even attempting to wash it rather than take it to the cleaners the next day and let them deal with it. The tag should have said 'dry clean only' as far as I'm concerned, so I'm taking it up with the company. (I'll leave the wine part out -wine and laundry don't mix -and the fact that Giggs peed on it.)

In the meantime, Tony took me to get another one to cheer me up, and before they all sell out. That's why it's 'the second'. I hope I can get reimbursed, or at least a credit, for the first one.

By the way, Giggs wasn't in the doghouse for very long. How can I stay mad at this face?

Tony's Birthday! (Belated)

2007-09-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

...and other random stuff I haven't posted about yet.

Last Friday (Sept. 14) was Tony's birthday! We went out for dinner with a group of friends and family, then headed back to our place for drinks and birthday cake. I don't have any pictures to share (I will tell you the reason for that in a bit) but I managed to get a couple off Tony's brother Steve.

Tony's brother Jim, Tony, Me
We got the back room at the restaurant
since we had almost 20 people.

The birthday boy with his cupcake cake!
It's shaped and decorated like a soccer ball out of 24 cupcakes.
You can try and find out how old he is by counting the candles lol!

This is the gift I got for Tony.
It's a silver money clip I ordered from Tiffany's.
It came gift-wrapped in the little blue box with white bow, so pretty!

The party lasted at our place until almost 3am! Tony had a really good time and it was a special treat that his brother Jim was here because he lives about 12 hours drive north of us.

I, however, did NOT have a good time! I had to leave the restaurant early and spent the rest of the night upstairs on the couch watching my Sex and the City DVDs. Why would I miss the party? It turns out, I've been having problems with my gall bladder and I was having a gall stone attack or whatever they call it. That means SEVERE abdominal cramping from about 7pm to after 3am! It sucked! It happened a few times the weekend prior to this (really bad on the Sunday) so I saw the doctor on the Monday who told me it was probably a virus and prescribed me some pain meds which, I didn't bother to get since it went away.

When I got the same thing again a few days later, I was thinking bullshit this is a virus! It came on an hour after eating a fatty burger and fries. I should have gone in to the emergency room, but it was Tony's birthday and I didn't want to ruin his fun time, so I sucked it up.

I saw a holistic practitioner yesterday and she confirmed it is my gall bladder (the duct is completely blocked!) and she's got me on a program to clean it up. I'll let you know how I am at the end of a month's time. Meanwhile, I've been avoiding fatty foods like the plague, but that's probably a blessing. I've been ok since Friday, but my abdomen is still very sensitive to the touch although the cramping hasn't come back.

This also explains why I've been feeling so lethargic lately. I've had very little energy and I'm tired a lot, most likely because my digestive system is totally whack right now!

Don't worry, I didn't spend the party by myself. My good friends Sharley and Lindsay kept me company on the couch (and Giggs too!) and Tony checked in all the time to see how I was doing.

A Little Tip For Ya...

2007-09-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

When being crafty, a little research goes a long way to save time, money and frustration. Be sure to research BEFORE you start NOT in the middle of the project, after you've bought all the wrong stuff and are wondering why nothing is working as planned.

'Pay it Forward' gifts are coming... eventually...

Pug Zits & Other Concerns

2007-09-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

Giggs has been getting puggy pimples quite often recently but not in the usual places. He's had the odd one on his lip/snout area before and I'm told that can happen, but lately he's been getting them around his eyes. He had one on his right eye that went away pretty quickly, then he got two on his left eye, one on the upper lid and one on the lower. They're now almost gone too and none of them seemed to bother him.

The thing is, I also just noticed a couple under his chin that are quite large. I can't tell if they're pug zits or reddish moles since he's not that cooperative at getting checked out.

We haven't changed his hygiene routine, he's still getting bathed every couple weeks and still has his regular ear and wrinkle cleaning. He also eats out of stainless steel dishes. When I bath him, I don't really shampoo his face, maybe that's why?

Since this is a paranoid about Giggs' health post, I'll add another recent concern. I noticed his left pupil is smaller and a different shape than his right one (I can tell when it's sunny out). Both pupils are reactive to light and when they're wide open they're the same size and shape. The difference only appears when they're constricted. Should I be concerned? I'm emailing my breeder to see if she's ever seen this before. Let me know your thoughts about the eye pupil and the pug zits.

Loss of a Pet :(

2007-09-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

NOT Giggs!

This morning, Tony discovered that our fish had died. He was a blue and purple Beta (aka Siamese Fighting Fish) named Toulouse le Poisson. Toulouse was our first pet together. We got him two years ago, so I guess that's a long life for a little fish.

Toulouse had some problems with his health after we moved about nine months ago, but he pulled through when we were pretty sure he wouldn't make it. Old age took him from what I can tell.

He liked to swim inside his little house and sleep on his plant. He would say hello by puffing up at us when we looked in his bowl and talked to him. We're pretty bummed.

Giggs didn't know his little-big brother very well, so he's not too concerned. I feel bad that I don't even have a picture to post of him (not like I'm gonna take one NOW).

Rest in peace little Toulouse, we'll miss your presence on the kitchen counter.

Haha! Nagging Works!

2007-09-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Alright! I've got FOUR people for my 'Pay It Forward' exchange! Technically, two are tradesies and two are fresh... good enough for me! I'll be contacting all of you for addresses and color preferences shortly.

Thanks for playing!

So...

2007-09-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Kara signed up for my 'Pay It Forward' exchange!! Wooooo hooooo!

Kara's going to get a fabulous hand-made gift, which she will proudly display on her blog, and everyone else is going to go, "Man, what a fabulous hand-made gift! I wish I signed up for Christine's 'Pay It Forward' exchange! Sigh."

Don't be that sad left-out person.

I still need two more.

Go on.

Sign up.

I Made Pie!

2007-08-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

I got a box of peaches because, well, they grow here and they're good, but didn't know what to do with them. I needed to make something or they would go bad before we could eat them. So I made peach-raspberry pies!

This is my very first pie attempt ever, so I'm pretty sure this baby is not winning the blue ribbon at the fair or anything (especially since I didn't technically make the pastry part) but it was pretty dang yummy. We ate half of one last night and this baby is going into the freezer for now. I also made a crisp out of the extra pie filling. I was a MACHINE last night. Martha-frickin'-robot-Stewart!

Now the oven needs to be cleaned and a cookie sheet thoroughly soaked because the rookie pie baker filled the pies with a little too much juice.

Now, wouldn't you like a hand-made gift from someone who bakes a pie like this on the first try?! Sign up for my 'Pay It Forward'... (two posts down)

In other news:

We have a new BUSY BUDDY!!!!! They raised the price on them and now it's the best 7 bucks I ever spent (well 12, if you count the first one that we lost). Giggs actually lost his new one last night until I found it trickily wedged behind the couch leg. It was a close one I tell ya! Tony was convinced that he was eating them. I think we would've noticed some purple stuff in his poop...

Doesn't it kind of look like he's chewing
on a creepy baboon's butt?

Water Park Fun

2007-08-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Tony's brother and his family came to visit a couple weekends back and we got to spend some time with them. We hadn't seen Tony's niece in a while and oh my has she grown! We went to our neighborhood water park one afternoon. The weather was a little cloudy and it wasn't super hot, so we brought Giggs along too!

Amelia (2 yrs old)

Giggs would have nothing to do with the water.
I don't think he was allowed in there anyway.

We decided to kill some time by taking some action shots of Giggs running. Our camera has an infinity feature where it can take repeated pictures. Great for catching fast little pugs!

Ready... Set... GO!

This last one is a bit blurry -but that's cuz he's so FAST!
We left his leash on because we don't trust him completely
as he's starting to explore is independence (more on that later).

I was a bit worried that Giggs would be too much for Amelia and he'd scare her, or knock her over, or try to chew on her. I know that he LOVES kids and always does full-on butt-wiggles whenever he sees one. But I always hold onto him when kids come to pet him (just in case). Amelia has a big dog at home so she's used to dogs, which helped. Anyway, Giggs was so good with her! I am so proud of my little guy! They chased each other and he didn't jump up on her at all! He licked her a lot but didn't nip or nibble and whenever she had enough of him she would push him away (although he wouldn't really leave her alone).

Tony, Steve, and I babysat Amelia one evening while her parents (Jim & Sara) were at a wedding reception. We made it a team effort but I'm the one who ended up changing all the diapers -funny how that works... It went really well, mainly because we are in the 'whatever the kid wants to stay happy' realm of babysitters. I tell ya, I never watched so much Little Bear and Dora the Explorer in my entire life and hope I don't have to ever again.

When Jim and Sara dropped Amelia off for the evening she was cranky and didn't want to say goodbye to mom and dad. She just wanted to see Giggs. So we bring her inside and and she starts SCREECHING with delight. (She sounded something like a Nazgul from Lord of the Rings.) This got Giggs into a full-out pug-run and then he started howling at her! I've only ever heard him howl once as a puppy and I think it was just a bark gone wrong. It was so cute! Her screeching and him woo-wooing... I think Jim got it on video. I'll have to ask for a copy and will definitely post it!

Ok, now go sign up on my 'Pay it Forward' game! Or I'll have to invent 'Pay it Back' in order to play. lol. Seriously. Sign up. I mean it. Don't make me resort to bribes.

Pay It Forward (second attempt)

2007-08-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

OK! I've joined the fun of the 'Pay It Forward' exchange from Norman's blog! Here's how it works:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join in the exchange. You will receive your gift within 30 days and the only thing you have to do in return is Pay It Forward by doing the same on your blog!

Now this is my second time posting this because no one has signed up! I'm not that bad at making things, really!

SALAMI!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

First off, Giggs says thanks for all the birthday wishes, he had a fabulous time. When my internet is not being super snail slow I'll upload some video. I'm too impatient to sit here and wait for it right now. Instead, I bring you, "The Night of the SALAMI!" aka "The Salami Incident" aka "Christine- Parties- It- Up- With -Her- Cousins- and- Drinks- WAY- Too- Much".

For those who know me, the 'Salami Incident' came as really no big surprise. I can be a little rambunctious when I've had a lot to drink -especially if there is also RedBull involved -oh how I love those glorious JagerBombs! Anyway, here's how the story goes, illustrated along the way with pictures courtesy of my second cousins Lorraine and Kathalene.

Lorraine & Kathalene

The setting is Kamloops, BC. We're in town for my Nana's (great-grandma's) 90th birthday party/family reunion. After dinner, a few glasses of wine, and some of Gramma's orange gin slushy stuff we discovered in the freezer, the cousins are getting a bit antsy and talk arises of 'going out'. (Dun-dun-dunnnnn!) After we rallied the troops and commandeered a vehicle (Kathalene & Lorraine's dad's truck), we headed out on the town. Most of us have never hit the town in Kamloops before so my cousin who lives there (Tanya) and her finance (Theo) showed us to a pub that turns into a nightclub after 10pm.

Theo & Tanya

We relax on the rooftop patio for a bit and I drank some martinis. After a while, we moved downstairs to the second floor (there's three floors) where there's a dance floor and some comfy chairs and a bar. I drink some more and we do some JagerBomb shots at the bar and by now I'm HAMMERED.

That's the 'I'm hammered and looking for
mischief' face.

Here's where I think it would be fun to dance. The dance floor is in front of a bunch of floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the street, which I proceed to open and hang/yell out of until a bouncer showed up to ruin my fun. OK plan B. I grab some guy's bike helmet and put it on and dance around.

Lookin' sa-weeeeeeeet!

Cute dress huh? Good thing I act like a lady!

That opening comes in handy!
After my cousin opened it for me.
I was in the dark for a while because
I couldn't figure it out.

Helmet hair!

So now that we've established how wasted I am, you can better understand what happened next...

We decided to leave to get a bite to eat so we all pile back into the truck (it seats six). Don't worry, Kathalene drove and she was not drinking. It's about 1-1:30 am-ish and we head to the McDonald's drive thru because we're all needing some grease by this point to help reduce the looming morning hangover. Here is when the salami incident occurred...

We're sitting in the drive thru at the window waiting for our stuff and drunk Christine gets fidgety. 'Oh look! There's a sliding window back here! It opens and I can fit through it!' I crawl -IN A DRESS!(there's unflattering pictures, which I won't show) -through the back window of the truck cab and into the box. In the truck box is a bag of golf clubs! I grab a three wood and practice my swing for a bit. Then I discover the COOLER! And in it there's a container of salami slices!

Ooooooh! Salami!

Now it's a well known fact that I enjoy throwing food when I'm drunk (The Cake-in-the-Light Incident) so I think it's funny that salami, when thrown correctly, sticks to the McDonald's sign. Hahahahaha! I'm having a great time. I figure it would be funny to throw salami at the car parked behind us in the drive thru. SO I DO! It lands on the hood of a white Miata near the antenna. I'm laughing my ASS off by this point but the driver of the car was NOT -although his passenger was laughing too.

The guy whips out his cell phone and while death-glaring me, makes a phone call. I'm now thinkin' 'Uh-oh!' and crawl back through the cab window into the truck again. Our food arrives and we drive off, headed back to my Aunt's house (Tanya & Theo's place) where we're staying. We're on the road for less than five minutes when we pass a police cruiser going the other direction... Next thing we know, the cruiser is pulling a u-turn and his lights are on -CRAP!

We turn onto my Aunt's street and pull over -just three houses down from the safety of the driveway! There ends up being FOUR police cars and FIVE officers! The guy in the Miata called the cops on me! They had an APB out for the truck!

They were in fact, responding to a possible drunk driver report, but upon seeing that Kathalene was not drinking and driving, they just took my name and information for the salami-throwing (which I initially tried to pin on my cousin Tanya). And no, the police officer said he was NOT going to call me after I gave him my number (Tony gave me a whack on the leg for that one). They didn't accept Theo's offer of a chicken McNugget either. The police officers at the truck windows could barely keep straight faces and they knew my Uncle Darren (Tanya's dad -an RCMP officer) so they let us go after a bit.

Then we went on our merry way and had our McDonald's picnic on the front lawn at about 1:30am, and went to bed.

I wasn't feeling so hot the next morning and I sure got sassed by all the relatives during breakfast at Gramma's -Uncle Darren (RCMP) had heard about it by that point. But overall, this was great bonding time with the cousins and next time we see each other we can all laugh about the 'Salami Incident'.

Happy 1st Birthday Giggs!

2007-08-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Giggs' first birthday! He spent the day getting spoiled rotten! Here's a picture and recap of his day. I'll upload some video clips tomorrow.

A stunned birthday boy in his new birthday duds:
He can't believe what's in front of his eyes...

Birthday dinner and dessert!

A chicken/other stuff cupcake from the doggy store
with peanut butter icing -added by mama.
And a cookie from his friend Tango!
Carnage:

When Giggs really likes a treat (and whenever he gets something new)
he runs around the house with it whining like he's not sure what to do.
As soon as he got his special cookie, he booked it upstairs.

Side view of the new birthday shirt:

Posing with his papa and some of his birthday haul
(The snake has three squeakers in it -2 in the tail.)
We tried to get him a new Busy Buddy too
but the shop is out until next week.

Ice cream downtown:

Pug about town:

Giggs got loads of attention from people during our walk-about downtown. His shirt was a big hit but I took it off after a bit because he was a little hot. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and is now crashed out at my feet. The little guy had a big day filled with fun and lots of treats.

We have a pug meet next Tuesday evening so I'm thinking of bringing a cake for all the little puggers so Giggs can celebrate with all his friends! (The cupcake we got today was a sample of a big cake -I have to order soon!)

TRAGEDY: Busy Buddy Is LOST!!!!!!!

2007-08-17T07:55:00.001-07:00

I can't find the miracle toy anywhere! Looking for it is driving me insane! Where could a little pug hide something so well? I've looked EVERYWHERE! It's been lost for over a week, so I'm guessing even Giggs doesn't know where it went. I'm gonna have to go get another one... it's the only thing that occupies him for long periods without pestering me while I try to work.

Look how sad and forlorn he is! 'I miss my Busy Buddy so bad mama! It hurts me inside.'

Poor little guy :(

Coffee Pug

2007-08-17T07:51:00.001-07:00

Giggs loves to go anywhere, especially for a walk-about downtown and a coffee break! He enjoys meeting lots of new people and getting lots of pets and bum scratches. The last time we took him for coffee he was such a little ham! There were two girls at the next table who were probably in their early twenties, and Giggs was workin' it! He's turning into a little babe magnet! Tony's brother (Uncle Steve) wants to borrow him to meet girls. Anyway, here are some coffee pug pics:

You gonna share that?

See how parched I am!

Kay, I'll just wait right here and stare at you 'till you change your mind.

When Mama Gets Home From A Baby Shower...

2007-08-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

I tell ya, putting a diaper on a pug is no easy feat! Oh yah! That's my new haircut too. I have to do an official picture sometime.

I'm Messy

2007-08-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

CONFESSION: Does this seem odd to you? When it comes to bedroom neatness, Tony is a neat-nick and I am a SLOB! I HATE putting my clothes away and making the bed. Tony insists on both. I figure, I'm just gonna get back into bed again so why make it? And I prefer to pile my clothing on a chair or some sort of surface rather than fold it and put it away. I really don't need a closet -shelves or counter tops would be ideal.

Oh yes, I have pictures! I really cracked myself up taking these yesterday. Please note that my side doesn't always look like this. It was especially bad because I was looking for something the other day and I was in a hurry and had a bit of a spaz (hence the drawer in the middle of the floor). BUT! I do have to say that the one thing Tony and I are really good at is getting rid of unworn clothing. Each season we go through everything and give whatever hasn't been worn in a year, or whatever we don't like anymore, to the Salvation Army.

Ok here's the big reveal of my messiness...

Tony's closet:

My closet:
Note all the hangers without clothes on them.

It spreads out too:

Am I sick in the head that this makes me laugh?
I think I have a hanger aversion -maybe I need therapy?

Tony's night table:

Mine:

Don't worry, I cleaned it all up yesterday and now my stuff is as pristine as Tony's (for now). Poor guy, maybe he needs a support group to deal with my messiness. The bedroom is my only problem area though (I figure I CAN shut the door). I am definitely the clean freak when it comes to the rest of the house (the parts people can see). I hope I haven't repulsed anyone too much. Anyone else have a messiness confession?

Best Five Bucks I Ever Spent!

2007-08-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

In order to help solve the pain-in-the-butt-pug-while-I'm-trying-to-work syndrome, we purchased this little goody:

It's a Busy Buddy toy and it works VERY well. The little prong-things make it more challenging and the treats don't just fall out like they do with his other-red- toy-that-is-similar. Plus, we don't have to buy special treats to go inside it because his regular ones work great.

Giggs LOVES it!

He pushes it around with his face and chases it into all
sorts of amusing little nooks and crannies:

The lovely pink ambiance in this room is courtesy of the pink
sheet we have hanging in the window. We STILL don't have
blinds so we're using the hillbilly-approach to window
fashions in some rooms.

The only thing we have to watch for is that he doesn't lose it under any furniture and then scratch the *bleep* out of it trying to dig it out. Or transfer his chewing frenzy to the DOOR of our office like he's doing now ARRRRGGGG!!!!!

Someone is now in time-out.

Anyway, I figure he burns all the calories he gets from the treats and then some -three little treats equal hours of activity.

The toy came in handy keeping Giggs busy this past weekend at my relatives'. We drove to Gramma's for my Nana's (great grandma's) 90th birthday/family reunion. Goods times were had with my cousins. More about the now infamous 'Salami Incident' and the police once I get my hands on some pictures...

Hammerhead Pug

2007-08-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

(a close relative of the shark variety)

Tony and I are both working from home and sometimes Giggs can be demanding, expecting attention while we try to get work done. His plethora of toys and chewies is sometimes insufficient and he feels the urge to tug at my pant leg or stare at me (you know that stare). He always seems to bug ME and Tony is somehow off the hook and I don't know why, maybe he's better at ignoring Giggs. In an effort to distract the pug, I sometimes give him things to destroy. This keeps him occupied for about fifteen whole minutes! We have yet to see the effects of all this paper consumption, but so far the pug is as regular and normal as ever. He is working quite well as a paper shredder and we're thinking of employing him part-time actually. I think we can get away with paying him in treats and bullysticks. We'll just have to implement a good clean-up-after-yourself training program...

As you can see, he loves his work and dives into it with enthusiasm! Yes, that is evil upper-management snickering in the background.

He does great work, wouldn't you say?

Puppy Peekay

2007-08-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some puppy pictures of Giggs' new bud Peekay. Peekay is a Shiba Inu puppy and he belongs to my friend Aimee. She just got him last Saturday from the breeder and is visiting here for the week before she goes back home with the puppy. He's just two months old and very cute. We first met him downtown last Saturday night. He was tuckered out so she carried him the whole time, but we didn't get very far because people kept stopping us to check him out and ooh and aww. Giggs was a bit jealous having his thunder stolen by the little furball.

Peekay came over to our house to play Tuesday night and we got to puppy sit him for a while because Aimee had to attend to a family member at the hospital. He was wide awake this time and he made LOTS of noise telling Giggs where to go! Peekay is pretty bossy, but Giggs doesn't mind, he's just happy to have someone to play with. Peekay kept stealing Giggs' toys and getting all possessive with them -I don't think Giggs even noticed. They got along pretty well after a bit and enjoyed chasing each other around ALL NIGHT. They were both pretty tired the next day.

Here's some pictures of the chaos:

Here's a size comparison:

Peekay enjoying Giggs' toys:

Whooohoo! Second base!

Wrastlin' in Peekay's house:

Tipping the house over...

Messy pups:

One tired pup:

Mama, did I break him? He's not moving.

Aimee said she had to wake Peekay up Wednesday morning at 8am (he normally gets up at 6am). Giggs slept a lot yesterday too. I'm pretty proud of him for playing so nicely with the puppy and especially for not attempting to pee on him.

July Pug Meet

2007-07-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Our July pug meet was Saturday at the dog beach! Giggs got to spend some time swimming, which is not his favorite activity these days. I'm hoping it grows on him because a water-loving dog is so much fun. I want to be able to take him to the beach with me and go out on the big air mattress, and it kinda helps if he likes the water. Anyway, most of the time spent in the water this Saturday was to keep him wet and cool, meaning I would put him in the water and he would swim straight for shore. Then I would let him play for a while until his next 'dip'. On to the pictures!

If left to his own devices, this is as far as
Giggs will venture into the water:

Giggs' puggle friend Tango let us try her life jacket.
We were hoping it would give him confidence:

He looks thrilled.

A kiss from mama to help:

Made it!

Giggs made a new friend. Five month old Irwin.
Irwin digs orange:

A water treadmill:

Tango had to leave so we gave her life jacket
back and Giggs spent the rest of the time
swimming without.

Shake it baby!

Some on land action -Giggs sandwich:

That's Giggs pinning down Pearl and
yup, you guessed it, Irwin sneaking
up from behind.

Sherman, our organizer's pug, thinks he's part lab:

He spent the whole time in the water! I didn't
think I'd ever see a pug swim so well.
Let alone retrieve tennis balls!

Mission accomplished! Tired pug:

It was a fun way to spend the morning.
I think we'll do it again soon.

2007-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Pug Meet & New Puppy!

A fun weekend is ahead of us! We have a pug meet tomorrow AT THE BEACH! Giggs is going to learn to swim! He doesn't know this yet...

AND my friend Aimee, from Whistler, is coming to visit this weekend and she's picking up her Shiba Inu puppy while she's here! Yay! His name is Peekay and he and Giggs are going to be great friends!

Stay tuned for lots of cute puppy pictures! We're gonna bust out the big camera for this weekend!

Gettin' Political

2007-07-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

If you're a Canadian PLEASE check out this link regarding the North American Union and TELL people about it! It's happening on August 20-21 and very few Canadians know about it.

http://www.realitycheck.typepad.com/

I've known about this issue for some time but I had no idea about this upcoming Security and Prosperity Leaders Summit. Apparently very few Canadians do as the general media is not announcing it for some reason (wonder why?). Our government shouldn't be allowed to sneak behind our backs like this!

More links:
http://www.canadians.org/media/DI/2007/11-July-07.html

If you want to DO SOMETHING about it, here are some options:
http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/summit/August20.html

Email the Prime Minister:
Pre-written:
http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/summit/August20.html
Write your own:
http://www.canadians.org/wordwarriors/letter.html

This is BULLSHIT! Canada is NOT a fascist state! We have democracy, so let's use it!

Apparently, in order to direct a film these days...

2007-07-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

you don't even need to read the book it's supposed to be about!

In order to avoid a lengthy rant, that is all I'm going to say right now.

2007-07-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

Lots O Company!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently! We've had lots of company in the past week and a half (darn our hide-a-bed and spare room)! My parents are also away for a month (on the trip I was also supposed to go on...) so we've been keeping tabs on my littlest sis (18 yrs old).

We had a gong show of a BBQ here at the house last night and I think there's pictures so I may post some later with an update of our goings on -or I'll just make some shit up.

Summer time here is usually very busy with out of town company because everyone wants to visit here in the summer. I haven't even been to the beach yet! Arrgggghhh!

More coming soon!

Ice Cream!!!!!!

2007-06-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Winston was concerned that Giggs doesn't get to come out on the town with us often enough. Don't worry Winston, Giggs gets attention almost 24/7. If he's left at home it's only for a maximum of 3-4 hours. If we're planning on being gone longer than that, Giggs goes to Dogzies. We try to make sure that he gets out of the house with us every day. We either go for a walk through the neighbourhood bird sanctuary, or downtown by the lake in city park, or out to coffee, or the dog park, or Dogzies. Giggs also comes to Tony's soccer game every Tuesday night where he gets to play with his buddies Lacey the dalmatian and/or Oscar the pug.

Here's a couple pictures and a video of our last city park/downtown outing last Thursday when we went to watch uncle Steve play beach volleyball. Then we went and got some ice cream! They give free baby cones so we got one for Giggs.

The trouble where we live is it's VERY hot during the summer months (we're a desert climate) and Giggs can only make it out with us early in the morning or after dinner time and sometimes it's even too hot then. We relish cloudy days at the dog park! There is a dog beach that I think we'll try out so we can keep him wet and cool. The trouble with that place however, is that it's very open and Giggs doesn't listen well enough to be off leash in open areas that aren't fenced.

My Saturday

2007-06-25T21:35:00.001-07:00

Friday was a very long day and it turned out that Saturday was even longer! However, it was all play and no work versus Friday's all work and no play. I documented most of the day like I was supposed to, but then we went out on the town and I was kinda drunk and drunk Christine + camera = lost or broken camera and therefore sad Christine. So no party pics, sorry. Anyway... here's everything else:

Giggs woke me up at about 9am-ish.

It was my turn to get up with him
so I let him out and fed him.
This is his Doggy Potty:

When Giggs gets fed we ask him:
"Where's your manners?"
and he lies down and waits until we say
"ok" before diving in (literally).

I had breakfast:

Then I had to get ready for Erin's wedding.
Too rushed to take pictures since
we had to be there before 10:30.
Tony and me at the wedding:

(We both got sun burnt!)
The happy couple:

The ladies:

It was an early wedding with a
standing reception immediately following
the ceremony so we left around 2ish.

Went home to change and
play with Giggs before going out for a bit.
Picked up some groceries:

We stopped for an early dinner where
I had a chicken pesto panini and salad:

Then back to our favorite place for
coffee and some newspaper reading!

We were home by 6pm because
we had some friends over for drinks.
Steve and Jay (the only people I took
a picture of):

Here's where the picture taking kinda ended...

We ended up going to another friend's place for more bevies and some poker. Then we took a cab to a club downtown. It was a pretty fun night except when we couldn't get a cab after leaving the club so we had to WALK our asses back to our friend's place! We did have some good hot dogs though. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Street meat! I got to bed around 3am Sunday morning.

My Friday Continued...

2007-06-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

We went out to run some errands.

We stopped at the soccer store:

The mall:

Quick bite to eat:

Coffee at our favorite place.
(We do this pretty much every day)

Put gas in the car:

Came home at fed Giggs his dinner.

Took Giggs for a walk:

Cleaned all three bathrooms. (Tony vacuumed)

Did some laundry:

Re-wrapped my friend Erin's wedding gift.
I thought it was out of Giggs' reach the
first time I did it.

Had a glass of wine and did my toes for
the wedding tomorrow. Giggs helped.

Got to bed -FINALLY! (1am!)

LONG DAY!

My Friday -Part I

2007-06-25T10:23:00.001-07:00

I've hopped on board with Shannon's idea of photo-blogging two days of our lives. So here is my Friday, June 22. This is try number two since blogger wouldn't show my pics for some reason. I'm going to break the post up into two sections to see if that helps.

Up at 9am, little later than usual.

Giggs saying good morning:

Breakfast:

Cleaned up the kitchen because
I was too lazy to do it last night.

Went to the gym:

Stopped to get some office stuff:

Checked email and read blogs:

Made lunch: soup, cabbage salad,
kiwi, grapes, and mango.

Finally finished cleaning and organizing
the disaster that is our upstairs.
We got a new office suite and had to
switch rooms. Our house was chaos since
Wednesday!

Took a shower:

Continued in next post...

lolpugz

2007-06-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Here Norman, I made some for your new site:

More Pug Funnies

2007-06-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge

This is what playing fetch with Giggs is like. I swear he has ADHD. We joke that he needs a helmet just like Mike Myers' character 'Phillip the Hyper Hypo'. Phillip is totally the human-child version of Giggs. lol! The quality of the video is quite grainy but if you look closely, you can see the masking tape across the front of his hockey helmet. You can't see it, but it reads: Phillip. Check out the video here.

I Present to You... Bongo Pug!

2007-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting Facts About Giggs

2007-06-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

I deleted the last post since Youtube is being lame and won't play my video. I'll try again another time.

Since everyone else is doing it... Here's nine interesting facts (idiosyncrasies) about the little monster:

1. When Giggs gets excited about something (breakfast, walkies, car ride) he spins in tight little circles on the spot and ALWAYS clockwise. That's why we joke that he's like Zoolander and 'can't turn left'.

2. Giggs gets impatient with me when I take too long to get ready in the bathroom and especially when I do my makeup. He yips, barks, whines, and paws at me until I focus my attention back to him.

3. He gets jealous of the laptop. I'll sometimes lie on the couch with the laptop on my stomach while I read blogs and Giggs will climb onto my chest (ouch!) and park himself right there facing me, blocking the laptop, and will put his face in mine.

4. Every morning and most nights Giggs does the 'whack-a-pug' dance along all edges of our bed. We call it this because all we can see is his little face popping up in different spots along the bed and it reminds me of that 'Whack-A-Mole' game at arcades. We don't actually whack him although it's a good thing he can't jump up on the bed or Tony just might. Big No-No.

5. When we ask for certain toys by name, Giggs will go get them. He retrieves Goose, Skully, Beaver, and Stick (bullystick) and sometimes Squirrel. He loves to play tug and fetch with his stuffies but has no interest whatsoever in balls (unless they're attached to another dog -yes he's still gay).

6. Giggs used to be really good in the car but now he whines whenever we take him somewhere, but will be good and sleep on the way home (if we're lucky).

7. He LOVES homeless people, pan-handlers, and basically any other people that creep me out on the street. This can put me at unease because I am the type of person who will cross the street to avoid these sort of people while Giggs will try to crawl into their laps! Though it is neat how he always makes even the scariest people smile with his full body wag. It makes me feel good that he can help these people forget their problems for a short time and also proves just how non-judgmental dogs are.

8. Giggs has learned to roll-over but will try to cheat by spinning on his butt in a circle or by rolling on one side and then back up again without the 'over' part. He can only roll one way -to his right -I'm seeing a pattern here. We can also get him to do several rolls in a row across the room.

9. Giggs can go poop on demand when we tell him to 'Give 'er'. This stemmed from the saying 'Give 'er shit'. We made it family friendly (G rated).

There you go! Some info on Giggs' little bits of weirdness.

He's Starting to Figure it Out...

2007-06-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

Mama, I'm too hot!

Good thing it's supposed to rain for the next couple days. Our house was getting WAY too hot for the puglet. Unfortunately, we can't get central air installed until next month! AHHHHH! Tony and I declined the AC upgrade on our townhouse because we were told that people weren't happy with the builder's choice of unit. Little did we know that they therefore didn't even bother to rough it in! Now we not only need an AC unit installed, but also all the electrical and pipes (and whatever else it needs) installed FROM SCRATCH! $$$ Not to mention that's why it's going to take so long. If everything were roughed in, all we'd need is the unit, which is the easy part. Talk about leaving it to the last minute. But who honestly thinks about this stuff in the winter time? I'm not looking forward to fighting with strata to have holes cut into the building. That's a whole other battle!

Hah Hah!

2007-06-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

I get this comic emailed to me everyday and I wait with baited breath until he features the pug again. Today was my lucky day!

click to enlarge

Celebrity Look-a-like

2007-05-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'd have to say Giggs looks like...

Mike Myers!

2007-05-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

Abducted by Aliens!

Ok, I've just been really, really lazy. I've been keeping up on my blog reading, just not my blog writing. I have pics and stuff but I'll post them later and fill ya'll in on what's been going on around here. I have to organize my thoughts first; we have been busy (I swear)! The weather has also been pretty darn nice so sitting inside on the computer hasn't been all that attractive right now. We sure do need to get some AC for the little guy though, it's getting HOT!

Coming soon (in no particular order):

Cousin Fest '07 pictures and update -we were gone for 6 days
Giggs' visit with Gramma & Grampa, Auntie Dana, and cousin Jack
Pictures of Giggs' new duds
May Pug Meet pics
House stuff
New job

ASAP I promise!

I Don't Know About You...

2007-05-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

but I sure ain't gettin' on that horse!

Thanks Uncle Cheese!

2007-05-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

Giggs' Uncle Steve (who we call Uncle Cheese, since that's what his human niece calls him) bought Giggs a new shirt while he was away in Victoria. It's from Old Navy and it's a bit big on him (men just don't know how to size things). It's a stellar colour though and I just found out today that Winston has the same one! They could be twins! Except Giggs' is the 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' size too huge. We'll see if my mom can alter it so it fits him. Right now he's modelling it gansta style!

Collar down = business casual

Collar up = party time!

Look at his face in these pictures! Isn't my boy such a versatile model? Just like Zoolander! The first one is 'magnum', by the way. Can't you just feel the intenseness of his stare?!

The following clips are the exact reason why our model is being held (pinned) by Tony:

It's pretty entertaining to put it on him now since he pretty much runs out of it. He gets all tangled up and trips on it, pretty cute. Even cuter is when he wiggles out if it except it catches on his curly little tail so he then chases the shirt until he can pull it off or it falls off. SO FUN :)

Mangey Mutt!

2007-05-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

According to the vet, Giggs has Demodectic mange. Poor little guy. It's not serious, apparently all dogs have these mites that occur naturally in their hair follicles in low number. If the dog is stressed or their immunity gets low, then these opportunistic little mites can cause problems. Apparently, a few breeds of dog are more prone than others (Pug being one of them). I first noticed a patch on Giggs after his neutering, so maybe that stress is what brought it out. Anyway, we caught it early and he's just got two isolated little spots. The vet gave us antibiotics for ten days and that should clear it up. She also recommended a specific heartworm medication that will help prevent future outbreaks. The poor little guy had to have the areas scraped so she could do an analysis for diagnosis. They have to scrape pretty deep and it looked like he had two little road rash patches! They're fine today though.

This diagnosis isn't so bad, the other option was 'hot spots' (I can't remember the scientific name) and those are caused by allergies. Then we would have had to figure out what exactly caused the reaction etc. NOT fun. SO GLAD we don't have to do that!

So $211 later, the boy should be as good as new! ($100 was for his heartworm stuff that we start on next month.) Still cheaper than glasses or braces for human kids! Yay for fur-kids!

Being Sick SUCKS!

2007-04-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

I am just now caught up on my email and blog reading, finally! I caught a cold last week and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday feeling crappy. Why is it when I get sick, it is guaranteed to be on a weekend? I've been stressed lately about lots of stuff so I guess I was open to getting hit with something. I feel better today (off the cold meds at least) but I still can't breathe through my nose or smell anything. LMizzle, the following snippet is for you, regarding your April 25 post:

Tony and I went shopping at the mall on Saturday for some new duds since it's been a while and we have a wedding to attend next weekend. (I know I said I was sick, but I still dragged myself out to shop.) We had just finished up in Guess and were headed out the door when Tony decided to take a peek at some of their watches. So the salesguy opens the case and is showing Tony some watches, blah, blah, when I let a fart slip! It was silent (thank god!) and no one seemed to notice so I acted all casual. After we left the store, Tony says something like, "Holy crap! Someone let out the nastiest fart in the Guess store!" And proceeds to describe just HOW nasty it was etc. He looks at me and I can't keep a straight face, so I admit it was me. Tony then goes, "Wow! I can't believe that was you!" I'm like, "Dude! I have no sense of smell right now!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry!!!!!" Then I got the giggles. It was pretty embarrassing though because the salesguy MUST have smelled it too! At least no one said anything at the time or I would have DIED!

I spent Saturday night on the couch with Giggs while Tony went out with the gang. I was feeling too crappy to go. Plus, Tony shrunk my very favoritest pair of jeans and I was bummed to boot. They've never seen the dryer and I thought Tony understood that... apparently not. He feels bad though, so we're gonna look for new jeans this week. I was kind of relieved that he shrunk them because I was having an "I'm too fat for my jeans!" attack. Then he fessed up. (Or maybe he's just saying he shrunk them...)

Giggs has a strange rash thingy that's bugging me. I first noticed it on his inner right elbow. It doesn't bother him at all so I thought maybe he was developing a callus. It's pink, the size of an ovoid quarter, but it's scaly and the hair is gone. Now I've noticed the exact same thing on his right butt cheek. The skin is also flaky. Again, he is not bothered by it. I think it's time for a vet appointment just in case. Anyone else seen something like this on their dog?

Interview Questions From AM

2007-04-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

1. You find out you've won the BIG lottery. How do you spend the first 24 hours?

I'd spend a couple hours frozen, slack-jawed, trying to comprehend what just happened. Then I'd recheck my ticket a few dozen times. Then I'd tell Tony and my parents and have them recheck my ticket. After that, I'd dance around like a crazy person and then we'd head to the travel agent's to book a trip for the whole family.

2. If life were really like a box of chocolates, what chocolate are you on now?

I'm on the kind of chocolate that has a the best filling ever BUT I can't bite into it so I have to wait for the chocolate covering to melt in its own time before I can get to the filling. Not that the chocolate covering isn't good (it is very good) but I'm getting tired of waiting to taste that filling but still trying to appreciate the chocolate for what it is as well. Make sense?

3. What reality game show (Survivor, Big Brother, etc.) do you have the best chance of winning and why?

The Amazing Race!!!! OMG I LOVE that show! I could win because I don't have to kiss up to anyone and it doesn't matter if people like me or not because there's no voting people off. I also love to travel, I'm a machine in airports, and I'd do pretty much any task (skydive, bungee, swimming, etc.) plus, when I get into the travel-mode zone, there's no stopping me. When Tony and I travel by car, the only time we stop is for gas (cuz we have to) so you'd better be peeing at that time! We're total point A to point B ASAP people! My sense of direction is the pits but that's where Tony comes in handy because he's like a human GPS. Between the two of us, we'd kick ass! (And I'm pretty sure we could work together well enough to not hate each other in the end.)

4. What was your favorite tv show back in high school? Why do you think it was your favorite?

Hmmm... I didn't have cable. My best friend and I were really into home improvement/decorating shows like Trading Spaces and shows like A Dating Story and A Wedding Story on TLC. I think we were obsessed with these types of shows because we could get ideas to dream about and plan our futures. Throw in some Ellen, SNL, and some Much Music (basically Canadian MTV) and that sums it up I guess. I played a lot of sports and I worked in a video store so I mostly watched movies.

5. Tell us about your High School Prom. How did you get ready? Did you go out to dinner? Did you have a good time?

Well, I was on the grad committee at my high school which was a smaller school (grad class of approx. 200) and we were like the planning nazis. I'd say Prom was well done because we made sure of it. The event was held at the biggest hotel in town, in one of the ballrooms. My friend's parents had a timeshare there so all my closest girlfriends (four of us) got a suite at the hotel. We had a sleepover there the night before and we went to the pool, did face masks, gossiped, etc. then used the suite to get ready the next day. My friend's sister is a professional make-up artist (she was going to school for it at the time) so she helped us all with our make-up. Then we took pictures together and our dates met us there with the limo and we took more pictures in the lobby. The limo then took us all to a mountain viewpoint, the beach, and a winery to take pictures as a group with some nice scenery. After that, we got dropped off back at the hotel for the festivities. We did a 'grand march' with all the grads and then had a grad class photo taken in the park. Then there was a great big dinner and dance and speeches, etc. in the ballroom with our parents and teachers. After the Prom part was over, we got changed in our suite and then went to the after party (bush party). My boyfriend borrowed my parents' minivan and he was our designated driver. (He graduated the year before, so he wasn't missing out.) We left the party at sunrise -that would kill me know if I stayed out that late and we did it several times that year. I'd say I had a good time.

Thanks AM! Good questions! If anyone else wants to play, comment and I'll ask you five questions!

(Almost) New Toy!

2007-04-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Not for Giggs, but for his Mama! I actually got my new toy back in February but haven't posted about it yet. Mostly because I've been too disorganized to get any pictures while the toy is clean. Gotta love rainy spring weather. Instead, I've ripped some pictures off the internet.

Here it is...

2006 Mini Cooper S Checkmate Edition!

Since it's a 2006 model and had 14,000 km on it (I think that's like 6,000 miles-ish) and was a head office car that they took to shows and stuff, I got a good deal. Yay! I *heart* my Mini! It hauls ass and Giggs looks really cute in it :) Vroom! Vroom!

Runaway

2007-04-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Tony and I came home the other day to find this waiting at the top of the stairs: (this is where Giggs usually greets us)

What are you doing Giggs?

You left me alone AGAIN!
I'm running away from home.

Goofy Guys

2007-04-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Some on you may have noticed Giggs' shaved legs in the last post's pics. The vet did this when he was neutered. Tony and I figured we'd better take advantage of the situation and take some 'like father, like son' pictures.

For as long as Tony can remember, he's had no hair on that part of his shins. It's either genetic or due to the fact that he puts his socks on funny and has worn the hair off over time (my theory). Or maybe from his soccer shin guards. Isn't that funny? I had to take the picture close up so you can see the lack of hair (and because someone was in their undies). I tell ya, I'm jealous of those smooth little patches. I need to know the secret so I can do it to MY legs!

Here's how Giggs sits when he's waiting for us to get out of bed or if he's waiting to go to bed:

He has a total aversion to putting his bum on the ground and will sit on anything he can to keep it elevated. If we're out for a walk and we stop for a bit to talk to someone, he'll sit on my foot. He sits on my foot a lot in obedience class too. Probably doesn't look so good on me. I think it's cute.

That's A Negative Ghostrider, The Pattern Is Full

2007-04-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

It appears that Giggs' new favorite toy is the goose he got for Easter. Being as creative as I am, all Giggs' toys are named based on what they are. For example, the beaver is 'Beaver', the bunny is 'Bun-bun', and the goose is 'Goose'. You get the idea. Tony complained the other night that Giggs' toys' names were lame. So I needed to come up with better names for the new toys. The goose stayed as 'Goose' but the mouse toy ('Mousie') that he also got for Easter got changed to 'Maverick'. I don't know, it just came to me (Top Gun). I think that Giggs really wants to be Maverick though because he and Goose have been inseparable. I can even say, "Where's Goose?" to Giggs, and he will trot off and return with Goose. He's already learned Goose's name and he's only had him a few days! Giggs even brought Goose into his little den/bed area behind the full-length mirror last night when he went to sleep. Awwwwwwww!

I've had some fun with this and I've been calling Giggs 'Maverick' and quoting the one line (see title) that I remember from the movie (Top Gun). I'm learning more quotes here so this should get interesting.

Tony thinks the situation is cute because it looks like we have a 'bird dog', since Giggs is constantly running around with this goose in his mouth. I didn't know pugs could be bird dogs but apparently Giggs thinks otherwise. Maybe Grampa will take him hunting next year? He's already got the camo jacket.

The Easter Puggy Couldn't Make It

2007-04-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

But Pugerina Showed Up!

This is what happens in my family when the relatives have had a few drinks and are looking for some entertainment...

No -I did it to him. My little cousin offered her blue tutu to Giggs and how could I possibly resist?! I couldn't find bunny ears for him anywhere so the tutu just had to do.

Giggs had a fun Easter Sunday. We drove a couple hours to visit relatives in a different town (my Gramma and Grampa and Aunts and Uncles on my mom's side). Giggs had only met my littlest cousin and aunt so far so everyone else was new. He was quite the hit and very entertaining as you can see.

Giggs was a super good boy in the car both there and back and he was well-behaved the whole day (although very excited). He got along well with his cousin Bart (shepherd-boxer cross) or Bart put up with Giggs very well, I should say. Bart is huge but a big softy.

The boy also managed to score lots of new toys (goose stuffy, mouse stuffy, & 3 squirrels that go in a stump) and doggy treats and even a couple little pieces of turkey. Then he threw up last night after Tony and I went to bed. I guess we indulged him a little too much or it was too much car ride. Or it could have been all the empty beer bottles he was licking for last traces of beer in the neck. What a charmer. He sure is a party pug I tell ya!

Happy Easter everyone!

Busy, busy, busy!

2007-04-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is over (has been for two weeks now) and I'm back at work. Things have been pretty busy around here...

Anyway, that's my excuse for not posting very often. Let's see... what do I have to talk about..? Hmmm... OH YAH! How about the fact that since we've had Giggs neutered, he's turned into THE SPAWN OF SATAN!!!

Yes, that's right, things are pretty much the opposite of what we had envisioned. We are now going backwards and losing all the lovely housebreaking progress we thought we had made.

Since being neutered, Giggs has:

1) peed in the house THREE times (twice, right in front of me without even asking to go out!)

2) started destroying things when we leave him home alone (never an issue before).

So far he has gotten into my work bag (which, was up out of his reach -or so I thought) and trashed the contents inside. AND he has decided to unleash his wrath on our most expensive fake bamboo tree. He climbs up onto the couch and strips the tree of its branches.

I was also cleaning the house today and wiping pug boogers off the walls and stuff and I noticed some dried up pee drops on the inside of the front door at about Giggs' pee pee height. Don't know when that happened.

Oh yes! I almost forgot!

3) The carpet incident that I recently posted about.

AND...........

4) Today he got into the garbage and spread it all over the stairs. My bad for leaving it at the top of the stairs to take to the garage and walking away to do something else. The lovely part about this: I had just emptied the vacuum canister into said garbage bag... I can't even bathe the little bugger yet since his stitches haven't entirely dissolved from his surgery. Sorry, my wrath overrode the urge to take cute pictures of a pug with a dusty face. The delinquent pug then spent 10 to 20 (minutes) in the joint (bathroom) while I got to clean up -AGAIN.

Do you think he's lashing out at us for removing his testicles?

Princess Pug

2007-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

I've seen those plastic pug piggy banks (or should I say 'puggy' banks) on a few of your blogs out there. I also have one -bought almost two years ago now, long before I was even close to getting a real pug. I named it Princess and had to be content with it until my fairy godmother could come and turn it into a real pug.

Princess lives on a bookshelf in the spare/tv room and after I got Giggs, I emptied Princess of his (yes, that's right -his) change and used him to freak out the real dog. Giggs LOVES Princess and goes all wiggy when we bring him out. We play with Princess and make him act like a real dog to get Giggs going. Giggs will go all mental and do his pug run and try to play with Princess. We also found out today, that if we pet Princess and praise him in front of Giggs (while ignoring Giggs) he gets pretty jealous. I don't think the authorities will ever let us keep children. Either that or they'll have some pretty big psychologist bills one day.

Some of you may notice that his purple bandanna is missing.
Giggs took care of that long ago.

Whenever Giggs feels the urge to whoop Princess' butt he pulls Princess down off the bookshelf and chews/chases him around the room growling and barking at him as he goes. It's mostly trash talk so I let it slide. Well, the other night, Princess was at the bottom of the stairs on the main floor. It turns out Giggs kicked Princess' butt all the way down the stairs from the top floor. This is what went down...

All Is Well

2007-03-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Giggs' neuter surgery went well and he's doing just fine! He was pretty lethargic when we picked him up and most of last night, but he ate his dinner (just a little slower than normal -he breathed) and happily chewed on his bully stick most of the evening. He's getting lots of chewies and things right now to keep him stationary and occupied but he's back to his old rambunctious self today so the bribery is only partially working.

He looks like a goof right now with a shaved patch on each forearm/leg. We opted for an IV during surgery to keep him hydrated and to help flush the anesthesia out of his system, but they couldn't hit a vein and didn't want to poke him full of holes trying to get one (hence, a shaved patch on each arm/leg). There are other shaved 'regions' too but at least they're harder to see. The good thing is that he can't reach 'down there' to lick himself so he probably won't need a 'satellite dish'. I am slightly disappointed that I won't have any pictures of that but I feel better for him. I guess I could always just go get one for pictures if I felt like it. We also had him micro chipped since his tattoo is not legible anymore.

I guess maybe as revenge for removing his balls, Giggs has decided to trash the carpet! Arggghhhh! There's this little tuft of carpet loop that sticks up a but higher than the rest and he's discovered it! I just looked over and he's pulling it up and making a hole! Crap! I thought he had his bully stick! BAD PUG!

Ok, I've used super glue and a chopstick to fix the carpet and it looks normal again from standing height. Thanks to my mom for that helpful tip. (Giggs did the same thing at their house on a carpet seam.)

Well people, it looks like he is making a full recovery. I'm just glad he didn't discover that carpet loop while home alone or I would have had a WAY bigger hole to deal with. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the destruction, I was too concerned with fixing it before he went for round two.

2007-03-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Is The Big 'N' Day!

Just a quick pop in to say that Giggs gets the big snip on Tuesday (27th). Wish us luck and a speedy recovery!

Seven Months Old

2007-03-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Since I missed posting about Giggs turning six months old, I am going to do seven months today. It's amazing how much he's grown and changed since we first got him! We just love this little guy so much and I can't imagine not having him around. I love how every time I come home, there's a little black face staring down the stairs at me as I come through the door. Then he bursts into wiggle-fits-of-joy to see me again. Not much compares to the unconditional love of a dog.

Speaking of love, Giggs got mad at us this morning and left a 'statement' downstairs for us. (Three 'statements', actually.) Tony got up to let him out and fed him, then came back to bed. I guess we took too long getting up and he was choked at us. Usually he tells us when he needs out, but not a word this time -and he left three separate piles! What a brat! Oh well, no harm done and everyone is happy now. Tony is going golfing with his brother this afternoon so Giggs and I are going to check out the dog park. I also want to go get some 'Lonely Planet' books at Chapters.

Anyway, I've got company coming to stay with us a couple nights (until Friday) so probably won't post until then. Wow, two whole days. Here's a video I took of the boy yesterday, getting some lovin' from his mama whilst laying in a patch of sun.

So Long, Giggle-berries!

2007-03-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Giggs Loses His Figs

Due to his bulldog-ish elbows and a couple other little things, Giggs will not be shown. Instead, my ugly little duckling will be sent to the vet to have his manhood removed. In actuality, I'm very pleased with this outcome and he is still VERY cute and all we had hoped for plus more. The breeder said he is much more rambunctious than their other dogs but I love his crazy personality! We're also very pleased with his colouring. He's got the nice honey/apricot colour in his coat and it's beautiful.

Obedience went well last night, but Giggs still refuses to lay down all the way. His little bum stays in the air and I can't force it down either. Giggs also decided yesterday that it would be a good idea to try and mark on ME! The little shit raised his leg to me at least five times yesterday! Twice at the breeder's house and another few times during obedience! Luckily, he was out of ammo by this point, and his aim is pretty lousy anyway, so he didn't actually get me. Still, I'm not impressed with this turn of events. Maybe there was something on my jeans? Regardless, he is going to become a non-marking (I hope) eunuch! I can't wait. Hopefully we can get him in ASAP, I am making the call today! Hmmm, maybe the Vienna Boys' Choir is looking for a mascot?

My little cousin (Monica -8 yrs) and aunt came to visit yesterday and Monica got to meet Giggs for the first time. It was pretty cute, only he wouldn't settle down long enough for her to actually pet him. Giggs LOVES kids and he gets so excited when he gets to meet any. Monica came bearing gifts for Giggs since they had just been to the mall before coming over. It was a very sweet gesture and Giggs loves his new toy monster truck. He also got some treats -little bone-shaped biscuits with one end dipped in blue icing(?) with sprinkles. He really likes those too and Monica fed him lots. Unfortunately, his monster truck toy is already strewn around the room in pieces. That shows just how much he loves it.

Tasty monster truck!

The back wheels were the first to go.
They were gone within minutes
of receiving the toy.

It's cute how they look like little dumbbells.
Giggs worked on his 'pipes' last night.

The stuffing is by far, the best part of all!

Pug Meet! (Giggs is Gay)

2007-03-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday's Pug Meet was super fun and we made some new pug friends! The weather was chilly but dry so lots of people and pugs came out to play. The dog park was really busy in general and we basically took over the small dog section of the park for a good hour and a half.

My little boy, it turns out, is only interested in other boy dogs right now. He could care less about the 'ladies' at this point and was quite happy only playing with (and being violated by) a puggle named Brutus. Giggs and Brutus only had eyes for each other and Giggs wouldn't play with any of the other dogs until Brutus left. Now let me tell you a little something about Brutus. Brutus is the dog park pervert. All he does is run around and violate other dogs. Brutus and another older pug named Oscar violated poor Giggs the whole time! Here's the kicker: Giggs ENJOYED every minute of it! He didn't even try to get away! (Not that he could have -his t-shirt worked against him there.)

Giggs is also very interested in other boy dogs' 'parts' and what they taste like. It's pretty disgusting and embarrassing and we're hoping it's a phase. However, if our boy does end up going that way, we will still love and support him and I'll even get him a little rainbow t-shirt. Let's just say that everyone had a good laugh. I'm very thankful that Brutus the puggle is not part of our group and only happened to be at the park that day by chance. His owner did nothing to curb the violating either, which irked me.

After Brutus left, Giggs played with the other pugs and continued to have a fun G-rated time. Mama was thankful for that.

Love triangle between Brutus, Giggs, and Oscar.

Giggs being violated by Brutus AND Oscar.

Giggs and his boyfriend Brutus.
Yes, Giggs is going for Brutus' you-know-what.
Lovely.

A cute Boxer pup came to play. He was all legs and feet!

Sherman, who belongs to Holly, our organizer.
Sherman does LOTS of cute tricks.
My favorite: 'howl like a coyote'

My happy little boy
(who is confused about his sexual preference.)
At least we hadn't planned on studding him out
-he prefers being the dog park bitch.

So Excited!

2007-03-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

OMG I'm so excited!!!!! Today I discovered (and signed up for) a local pug meetup group AND, there is a meet this Saturday at a local dog park!!! Finally, we will meet some other pugs and have a rip-snortin' time (literally). I will be sure to bring my camera and get lots of pictures to post here on the blog. Yay! I've been so envious of all of you who get to attend regular pug meetups. I was just whining to Tony the other day about how I wished we had a group here in town, etc. Now my wish has come true! There are nineteen members in the group so we should make lots of new friends! They've only had one official meet before this one (in December) so hopefully the group will grow and grow!

We took Giggs to a dog park near our place twice this week. There wasn't anyone there the first time, but today Giggs got to play with a labradoodle for a bit, which was fun for him. He loves to run around and pee on everything and anything he wants without mama yelling at him! I can't wait to see him interact with other pugs on Saturday.

We had our first obedience session on Monday night and I'm proud to say that Giggs was one of the better behaved dogs. (That doesn't say much for the other dogs though.) Giggs, a bulldog puppy, and a pit bull-looking-thing were the only three dogs not pulling around and barking like lunatics. I'm so glad Giggs isn't a yappy dog. He barks a bit at home when he hears noises or someone is at the door, and that's it! And I don't mind that he barks when he hears stuff at home, I think it's a good thing. He'll let out a couple little gruff barks -it's kind of cute seeing him act all tough.

Anyway, back to obedience. There was a two-year-old mini schnauzer there that whined THE WHOLE TIME. It was the super high-pitched crazy whine too. SO annoying! Pretty much all the other dogs, except Giggs and the other two I mentioned above, were whining and barking, and jumping all over the place. My baby was an angel compared to them! That is, until he just started attacking my hand to get at his treat rather than do the command to receive it. He's a go-getter, that's for sure. Apparently waiting for the treat takes too darn long!

The one thing that irked me though, was the fact that the trainer we signed up with (Ruth) was absent. Her sister directed the class for this session and Ruth will be back next week. Ruth knows her stuff. She breeds and trains German Shepherds as drug dogs etc. and she exudes this ALPHA-ness that dogs totally respond to. Her sister on the other hand... not so much. I got the impression that she didn't know what she was doing and she wasn't confident at all. I hope Ruth is there for the other seven sessions or I'll be bitter. The main thing I want to learn is how to get Giggs to respond to me as an alpha. Right now I'm just his buddy/chew toy. He'll follow me around all day over Tony but he only really listens to Tony. Tony has to intervene when Giggs is being bad and not listening to me. I just don't have the intimidation factor. I'm workin' on it but it's hard not to coddle my little pumpkin. He's just so sweet and I'm a total sucker. Ruth will whip us (me) into shape! (I think she's scary.)

How The Tough Pugs Play Fetch

2007-03-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

Such A Bad Blogger

2007-03-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm like the WORST blogger EVER!! I have been in a blogging funk but I am breaking that funk tonight!

What have I been doing? NOTHING! That's the problem, and the fact that work is taking up all my blogging time.

The breeder still has to come look at Giggs and decide if he's show-worthy so no news on that front. I start obedience classes with him this week so I'm excited for that. Although something tells me I'm going to have the ADHD low-achieving fur kid. It will probably go something like this:

Me: Giggs, sit! Giggs... SIT!
Giggs: Oooooh! Something shiny!
Me: Giggs! Come! Get back here!
Giggs: Ooooooh! Poop to eat!
Me: *banging head on wall*

I will update on his progress. I will also probably have a few drinks after class.

Anyway, here's some CUTENESS for ya!

I can totally see this picture in a nature documentary...
'The noble pug is a master stair climber. He pauses to sniff the air for treats.'

Can we play?

This next little series of pictures is adorable!
Giggs ripped the throat of his elephant stuffy open
and spread the carnage all over the place.
He was in his glory!

BUSTED!

Just act natural...

Ho hum!

Are they still watching me?

I'm innocent! The elephant exploded on its own, I swear!

This face will get me off the hook!

Puppy eyes! (Notice the evidence stuck to his face.)

Yup! That's my boy! Isn't he the cutest?! He's so much fun :)

Not Much to Say

2007-02-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well I'm back at work full time right now so nothing really exciting is going on at the moment. I'm gonna be working a lot more from now on because I now have another rather large monthly payment to deal with. More on that later.

Giggs' breeder's partner (if that makes any sense) is coming to look at him tonight or tomorrow to decide if they will show him. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. If they decide not to, for whatever reason, I won't be terribly upset. I WILL be marching his little butt straight to the vet however to get the big snip! He's learned how to mark and I'm NOT thrilled. We can't take him anywhere without him peeing on everything!

My weekend was pretty dull. I missed my soccer game on Friday night, we were in bed at 9:30 pm!! I'm talking under the covers, asleep! Party Animals I tell ya!! We've both been pretty bagged lately and fighting colds off and on. I think it was much needed. Saturday, we met my parents downtown and we took the dogs for a walk. We even let Giggs run off leash a bit since we knew he'd just follow Jack and Jack listens very well. Then we went out for coffee. On Sunday we went to our friends' place where they hosted an Oscar party. It was great until the power went out and we missed almost two hours of the show. Chasing a little pug, who tries to mark everything, around a dark apartment is an interesting and not-so-fun challenge.

Since I'm extremely bored and I've never really done one of these before...

From Alfred's Mom and Ragus Pug:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My middle name (Marie) is after my Nana (great grandma).

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Can't remember.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's ok.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Bologna (gross, I know). You can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the girl. (That's what Tony says when I eat it.)

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Giggs the fur kid. THAT'S IT!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? How much am I paying? lol

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Never. lol

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Skydive yes, but not bungee. Couldn't do the bouncing back up part. One way is good either up or down, just not both.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Anything that mom wouldn't buy when I was a kid. Sugar and red dye number 4, here I come!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Depends if I can get my foot out or not.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Does stubborn count?

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Anything with chocolate and/or coffee flavoring.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their demeanor.

15. RED OR PINK? -RED!

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I worry too much.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Right now, my girl friends. We're all spread out. It's hard to keep in touch.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING ? Blue jeans and beige slippers.

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Boston cream donut.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Giggs' snoring.

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Bright, bright blue. Like the sky in summer.

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Tony's cologne, lilacs, fruity citrus shower gel.

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE ? My sister's boyfriend. He called my cell phone by mistake.

24.PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I sniped it off Ragus Pug's blog.

25. HAIR COLOR? Dark dark brown.

26. EYE COLOUR? Brown

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yup.

28. FAVORITE FOOD? Japanese! (mmm sashimi!)

29.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? This is embarrassing... Reno 911... Not my choice.

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Pinky purple-y with beige writing on it.

32. SUMMER OR WINTER . Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

33. HUGS OR Kisses? Both! Although it does depend where they're coming from.

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Something light so I don't feel grossly overstuffed. Since I usually eat too much at dinner.

35. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? -??

36. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? -??

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Sadly, I am between books right now.

38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have one.

39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST? The Oscars (lame).

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND? The ocean, little birds chirping, music.

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones baby!

42. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Seoul, Korea.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Is this supposed to be G rated?

44. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Any.

Bath Pictures!

2007-02-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

The pug was licking his legs a lot a few days ago, so we gave him a bath! This is not his first bath with us unfortunately, I did that one by myself and therefore had no one to take pictures. This time I got Tony to take some though.

Giggs is surprisingly good in the tub. I wouldn't say he loves getting bathed, but he doesn't freak out and try to escape. (My last dog was a sheltie and man, baths were a nightmare!) After the bath, he runs around like a maniac rubbing on things and tries to attack the blow dryer. It's pretty entertaining, I'll get it on video next time.

Getting soaked:

Shampoo is tasty:

Humph! My feets is wet!

Shake, shake, shake!

Lemme outta here already!

All clean!

Notice how scraggly mommy looks in this picture, hmmm...

I tried to keep his head and ears dry but he kept turning into the sprayer stream. Silly, pug! And did he ever shed like crazy after this!! I'm glad I did it the night before I cleaned the house.

Lazy Bum

2007-02-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

That pretty much describes me the past two or three weeks. I haven't been working much other than on some side projects at home. I'm booked to work the next two weeks at the same school I was contracted at before Christmas break and I'm dreading it already. That's the problem with being lazy, it's hard to break the cycle. I'm absolutely bagged for a few days while I try to get back into a routine. I'm sure the pug will miss me because he'll have to sit in Tony's office while he works all day, instead of playing with me and following me around.

My Valentine's gift from Tony doesn't really help my situation either. I want to stay home and play with my new Nintendo Wii!! There is a Zelda game to conquer people! How will I be able to spend hours at work when I need to be at home saving Hyrule!! My talents are so wasted at work! *sigh*

Anywho... Now that I've proven what a nerd I am, here are a couple vids of the boys playing last night. And I wonder why the pug attacks my hands when I try to play with him. Hmmmm...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

I really, really, really wanted to get a video of Giggs kissing his own reflection to honor the occasion but alas, the narcissistic Casanova would not cooperate for the camera. Perhaps another time. He was doing it on Sunday morning but I was in bed and did not have the camera handy :(

Instead, here are some ACTION SHOTS of Giggs with his BFF (as Winston would say). Giggs' BFF happens to be a stuffed squeaky beaver. Yes, we make lots of jokes about Giggs and the beaver as you can imagine ;)

So from Giggs and his beaver, to you and yours,
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

2007-02-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

It's All Good!

Hurray! The video works now! Youtube is my friend again and no chickens were harmed ;)

&%#$&^)*!!!!

2007-02-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

Stupid, dumb, no good, &#$*^&&^ Youtube!!!! It says my video is "no longer available" when I try to play it!!

I'll leave it up for now in case the Youtube gods change their minds!! I'm gonna go sacrifice a chicken or something in the meantime to try and appease them...

Muahaha! I Have Outsmarted It!

2007-02-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

The video that I wanted to post last week now meets Youtube's size requirement!

This video was taken by our friend Ryan when he came over for dinner last Monday. Giggs was being a pain in the butt while we were trying to eat so I had to use some distraction tactics...

Vet Visit & Ear Taping

2007-02-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today Giggs went to the vet to get his Kennel Cough vaccine. Now we can start obedience classes on Sunday. We found out he weighs 14.8 lbs!! The vet said he wasn't overweight per se, but he's got a tad bit extra that we don't want him to grow up with. I thought that his coat had just gotten a little thicker... We simply can't cut back on treats! We're obedience training and it's all about the bribery right now! I think I'll try to take him out for more exercise instead. The weather's been crummy so our walks are pretty much not happenin' right now. Bad mommy!

We also taped his left ear today since it's creasing funny in the back. It causes the ear to sit up higher and appear smaller than the other one and since he's being shown we want him to look his prettiest. Thanks to Urban Pug and their simple ear taping instructions. I did it myself as Tony held him. Poor little Giggs has to look like a dork for a week but at least it doesn't seem to bother him (yet). I just hope it takes and we don't have to repeat the procedure.

Here is a picture of his gibble-y ear:

Oh the tortures I endure! Please pity me!