Bringing home the baby!!!

Hailing from Miami, Manitoba, weighing in at a whopping 2.5 pounds, measuring maybe four inches at the shoulder, she's the beast with the razor sharp teeth, THE MONSTER PUUUUUUUGGGG.......STEEEEEELLLLLLLLLAAAAAA!

Stella's finally here! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!

She is so much smaller than I thought she would be - in fact, she's TINY. Guinness looks like a giant compared to her. She is doing quite well, eating like a machine, defending herself against her big brother and sleeping quietly - at least this afternoon. It was a rough night. She woke me up whimpering every two hours or so and then it would take about an hour to get her back to sleep. I guess it is much like a baby at night, but at least with a baby they stay in one place, they don't run around like a crazy person and they don't leave "Puppy Spots" all over the carpet. I think I have gone through a half can of Spot Shot and a roll of paper towels in just 15 hours. Ugh.

Well, there she is. The new addition. I'll post more pictures later. She is sleeping right now and I could use a nap too!

Bring it!

What a good night. Stacey and Tams came over. We drank coffee ate Jeanne's marble cake with vanilla ice cream and played Wii sports!!! I boxed Tams into oblivion (heh heh), but Stacers remains the undefeated World Lightweight Champion of the World...okay, not the world, but she rocked the Wii Sports boxing!

They are leaving for Oakville, ON next weekend and I am so grateful they set aside one of their last few evenings left to spend with me! They are both Graphic Designers just like me, but Stacers is living her dream and studying Animation at Sheridan in Toronto. Her passion and motivation are absolutely amazing and she busts her butt everyday to get what she wants. You go Stacers! Pretty much the best ever!!!!!!!

Their visit last night made me realize how awesome it is to be blessed with good friends. You know, the kind of friends you can be away from for a while but when you see them again, it's like you never left. You just pick up where you left off and it's like nothing changed. Kinda like family - friends that become your family. These are the type of friends who never make you feel guilty, who celebrate your achievements with you and overlook your shortcomings. They always find ways to make you feel celebrated, appreciated and genuinely cared for. Over the years I have been so fortunate to have gained a circle of these friends who I carry with me all the time -my people. There's one from Elementary school, a couple from Junior High and High School and a few from my "adult" life. (Am I an adult? Really? No, I'm gonna fight it! I will never grow up! I don't wanna and you can't make me!) I don't know if these people know how truly important they have been and are to me, how they helped me to become me. You know who you are so here it is - THANK YOU! Ahhh...good good "MY PEOPLE" those who are not me, but are like me and that I love so much!

Speaking of my people, tomorrow marks the beginning of a couple of insane and stupid-busy weeks! My parent's (and my Beagle-brother Murphy) are coming in from Saskatchewan tomorrow. My cousin is getting married next Saturday so there is much to do. We are going to help my Aunt make all the tortes and cakes for one heck of a dessert table -mocha torte, schmoo torte, cheesecakes, cinammon torte - I am gaining weight thinking about it. She caters specialty desserts and since it is her daughter's wedding, she is going all out sweet crazy! My mom's brother and his family are coming in on Wednesday to stay with Mikey and I too, so in total, we will have 6 adults, 2 cousins, 2 dogs, the dust bunnies I didn't have time to clean and one full liquor cabinet! ACK! Oh yeah, and I have to find time to go to work all week too! My parents leave next Monday, I have one day to catch my breath and then it's time to bring our baby STELLA home!!!!! Sheesh, if anyone has some extra sanity to lend me, please forward it on!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And she will be known as....

Meet Stella. She is 5 weeks old. She is a fawn Pug.

What's so cool about Stella (I mean besides the fact that she is super-duper cute and she is a Pug)?

SHE IS OURS and the newest addition to the Pug Life family!

Yes, meet our new baby! We don't have her yet as she is too young to leave her Mommy Pug. She was born on July 10th and we get to bring her home on the 29th!!!! Whoop-whoop!

Now everyone, of course, thinks Stella is beyond cute . She is a fuzzy-wuzzy rolly-polley ball of happiness that I can't wait to hold and cuddle and play with. BUT, when I inform anyone that she now belongs to Mikey and I, the reaction is usually "WHAT! WHY? ARE YOU CRAZY?!". I guess I am a little bit crazy...okay, more than a little bit. But, like Dr. Leo Buscaglia said, "...and if you think I'm crazy, that's wonderful, because when you think I'm crazy, that gives me lots of leeway for behavior."

So crazy it is. When Mikey and I brought Guinness home, it was (in no particular order as I was sleep deprived and can't remember how it all went down) days and days of sleepless nights, whining, cleaning "puggy spots" on the carpet, feeding, chasing, lots of "No Puggy! NO!", more cleaning of "puggy spots" worrying, teaching, training, crying (lack of sleep and frustration) and a few trips to the vet. Yes, all this as well as one pair of brand-new boots, a pair of sandals, two pairs of glasses and various other "chewed beyond repair" items.

Along with all those frustrations and trying puppy times came tons of puppy kisses, belly-laughs (he is such a clown), tail wags, cuddling on the couch and infinite amounts of unconditional love and company. It worked out. Plus, he is there going crazy, wagging his tail and waiting for kisses every night when we get home. Ahhh, The Pug makes me happy!

It was this total uncontrolled excitement upon arriving home every night that made us realize something...The Pug was lonely. He sat in the window when we drove away in the morning and I felt so bad because there he was, alone...no one to play with or curl up to take an afternoon nap with in the warm sun. The Pug needed company. And what's two Puggies when you already have one? I know...more insanity, but also more love, more laughs and above all more company.

So there's the why, what and are you crazy of it all.

I am crazy -have always been and always will be. The only difference now is one word - Stella.

Shower Pug

Shower Pug.
Shower Pug.
Does whatever a Shower Pug does.


The Pug wanted in the shower, so we put him in.

He really was happy...after he got out!

No Pugs were harmed in the making of this Perfect Puggy Shot.

Time to stop

How is it that it is Saturday already? It seems like the past 2 weeks have flown by and I don't know where they went. The worst part is that when I took The Pug out for a walk the other evening, there it was...the smell of fall. Dread. It was that smell of damp and cold mixed with grass clippings and transforming leaves. It's only August, but it has changed. Maybe it is just the "Back to School" fliers and the fall clothing in the stores, but I can feel it. Soon, jean capris and thin t-shirts will be replaced by long jeans and zippy-up hoodies. I'll fight it, I hate wearing socks.

It was this feeling of fall-ness that made me think that I should probably take some pictures of my brightly blooming flower bed before it started to fade. As I was taking a shot of one of my "caterpillar" flowers (I think it is a type of Salvia, but they really do look like rainbow caterpillars living in my garden) I saw this grasshopper taking a rest there. I looked closer and was amazed by the detail on his huge legs as well as on his back and head. It is so amazing what you find when you are looking through a camera lens....just the things you normally pass by and never "see". I moved in closer and got this awesome shot of him just hangin out....resting. I watched him sit there for ten minutes or so, rotating his head, rubbing his front legs along the sides of his large face and stretching out his super-powered legs. It was peaceful. Maybe when they said "Take time to stop and smell the flowers", what they actually meant was take time to stop and watch the grasshopper who is resting and enjoying sunning himself on your flowers.

Time just goes too fast. I find that life is just so fast paced now. You work long hours, you run to appointments, to the bank, for groceries, you spend time fulfilling obligations to things you have to do and not things you want to do. And then, when you finally stop to take inventory, days, weeks, months or maybe even years have passed and you can't remember where they went. You look around and realize that the things you wanted to be doing have gone undone. Look around...piles of books have gone unread, canvases that should be alive with color are blank, coffees and dinners with friends are left for when there is time and we aren't any better off. You hop from thing to thing stretching and giving and being pulled thin, all the time wishing for some YOU time.

STOP

Just stop it. Take it, take the time now. Do the things you WANT to be doing. Of course there are those things we have to do, like "make the doughnuts" to "bring home the bacon" (or Beggin Strips as The Pug would like to think) but there are so many ways to become un-busy to enjoy some YOU time. I know, this sounds somewhat selfish, but The Givers continue to give and The Takers will always be there to take whatever The Givers are willing to give. In other words, if you don't take care of yourself, no one will. Be a bit selfish! Read the book, go for the coffee or dinner date with the friend and make time for you.

Grasshopper. Soak in the sun. Hop. Hop. STOP!

Don't eat these flowers

I am at home today. Stupid, stupid summer colds! I HATE them. You are soooo unbelievealbly tired, yet when you lay down to sleep you can't. Then you cough...and cough...and cough...and cough some more and if you are one of the REALLY lucky ones, you cough so hard you make sick! Mmmmmm.....yummy. I can't smell, I can't taste, I can't breathe, I can't think and I can't sleep. Brutal.

While wallowing in my feverish self-pity party, I wondered what the common cold virus looked like anyway. Was it ugly and green? Did it have horns? Maybe it looked like No Heart from Care Bears or the Purple Pie Man from Strawberry Shortcake? Thanks to the good old internet, I found out. It isn't mean or nasty, grey or pointy, but rather pretty teals, blues, yellows and greens all balanced in to a crystal-like symmetry. It reminded me of a flower centre of some sort. I decided to see what it would look like if I put some petals on it...pretty no? Hard to think that this colorful fun little thing is making me so miserable. At least it made for some good art inspiration and a nice blog header.

The Pug is on the couch doing what he does best, and after a cup of Green Tea, I think I will join him. Right now, Maury is probably in the process of revealing that someone "Is.........NOT THE FATHER" and I think that his genre of mindless smut T.V. might just put me to sleep.

Ahhhhh.....choo!