Outnumbered

We're soon to be outnumbered, the Husband and I. As I've been struggling to make space for my (larger) self on the couch between two sleeping mutts, or when I rush to feed the mutts while cooking for the Husband and me, or when I have to rouse two snuggly mutts off the bed so I can find room for the plethora of pillows now required for me to sleep... Well, I'm realizing that we're running out of space, out of hands, and out of the majority.

The giant dog children and the tiny human child will be three... and we are just two. 

We Do Not Always Sleep With Dogs

When I was looking through photos of the puppies the other day I noticed 1) we have a ridiculous number of photos of our dogs, and 2) that Husband really likes taking photos of the puppies and I snuggling together. In case anyone else finds themselves with overly loving, snuggly dogs, I wanted to share so you felt less alone.

These are just a few that I found (what, this is my blog and I can withhold all the ones with weird drool and not enough clothing if I want to). It was fun to see all of the changes in the last three years--starting with my old house, to the Husband's house when I first moved in, to now.

Loki and the Ball

I stole these pictures off of the Husband's phone. He and the Loki dog seem to love nothing more than playing catch (well, Loki loves to catch balls and Husband likes to catch the catch on film). The last two are my favorites.

A Perfect View

The puppies love sitting out on the hot tub in the evenings. It's out on a landing outside our bedroom and looks as though it's on the roof of our house. I often find Loki laying with his head hanging over the edge of the roof, looking at... something. Lyla likes to spy on the squirrels.

Just wait puppies. Only a few more months and it will be cool enough for me to actually sit IN the hot tub. Then you'll be out of luck. 

A Summer Walk

I like taking walks. I never used to, but when I got a wiggling bundle of energy named Loki I started walking--every day. At first it was really hot and he used to plop down in any puddle of water he could find or try to escape into the neighbor's sprinklers. And then it was really cold and we'd bundle up and get sopping wet and come home and cuddle until we warmed up.

When Husband and I first started dating Loki was the entire focus of my life outside work* so we spent many a date walking. My house is in an old part of town so we'd walk through old tree-lined streets looking at the architecture and landscaping and talking about houses we'd like to have someday. I loved that we could walk, and talk, and hold hands.

Then we got married and I learned that Husband hates walking. Really. Can't stand it. Fusses every time anyone says the word "walk" and pouts whenever we start out. We live in a not-nearly-as-nice part of town now and there's not as much to look out.

But sometimes, just sometimes, we go out of town and we walk, and talk, and hold hands. And it's nice.

*long story. Maybe I'll get there someday. 

Puppies and Puddles

Lyla Lou had a bath tonight. Which she hates.

That may or may not have been the reason for the giant* puddle of pee on Husband's side of the bed that we found when heading to sleep.

But I guarantee that led to us sleeping here.






*and by giant I mean great lakes quantities of urine. Huge. Epic. I wouldn't have guessed she could hold that much.

Friday Flutter: Dogs

A Friday collection of some fun Etsy items I found that make me think of my puppies.

 Custom dog silhouette by Happy Thought

 Dog nose imprint by Rock My World Inc

A beautiful lapiz paw print that was cut for me by Tom at Harnessed Earth

 Adorable dachshund chasing its tail in this ring by Mooshy Gooshies

Puppy love enamel ring by Marmar (Husband once bought me the necklace that matches this)

Just Living

I have absolutely nothing exciting going on right now. And nothing to say.*  I've worked the last two weekends, I've been annoyed at the dogs and the husband, the house needs to be cleaned, jewelry needs to be photographed, and there are literally no plates or bowls in the cupboard. And all I want to do is sit down and finish the book I'm reading. Ugh.

But here is a picture of the place we go to walk the mutts. Loki likes nothing better than to chase tennis balls around until they're horribly slobbery and gross. Although normally terribly clumsy, he makes some fantastic leaps to capture the elusive ball. I tried to catch them on my iphone and this was the best I could get--and of course, it was the one where he missed the ball. Silly dog.

*Truly. Husband has been amazed at the quietness. 

Taking My Mule for a Walk

We walked down to the store this afternoon. It was hot and sticky today so we decided Loki could carry the loot. It's hard to get him to stay still for pictures, but doesn't he look hilarious? We're in training for summer camping trips.

Breakfast at the Lake

This weekend as I was snuggling with Husband in the morning, he asked if I wanted to get up and walk the dogs. If you don't know my husband you may not be as surprised as I was at the question. He loves our dogs (I think) but he bitches and moans about them constantly... especially their incessant need for TONS of exercise.

On the way to the lake we drove through Starbucks to pick up coffee and oatmeal as a special indulgence (not because it's necessarily good, but because it involved no cooking or cleanup). Halfway around the lake we stopped to eat on a little bench overlooking the water.

a 'Stache

In the interest of torturing my dogs as much as they torture me, wouldn't this be ridiculously fun?

I'm sure my dogs would only chew the ends, thus depriving me of the fun of taking pictures of them with a mustache. But still.

Photo via the Blah, Blah, Blahg, via muttropolis

A puppy gift

My family loves to buy and give gifts. We make a big deal out of Christmas presents and agonize over finding or making just the right things. I received many lovely gifts this year and gave many wonderful ones away (at least, I think they were wonderful).

But my favorite gift this year was from my husband and our two big puppies. In addition to the Clarisonic I've been lusting after for awhile now, he bought me this necklace. It's adorable, no? And it looks quite like our puppies (one is a pointer/dane mix and the other a pointer/pit bull mix--we really aren't sure about either but that's our best guess).

And the most endearing part? Husband off-handedly informing me that both puppies approved when he showed it to them. Yes, we love our dogs. And yes, they get to sniff approve Christmas gifts. And yes, my husband is adorable too.

Naked, I'm Naked!

Ok, not really. But it feels like it.

My very excited puppy Loki jumped into the car to see his sister who he missed after being separated from her for the Christmas holiday (long story involving several vet visits and rapidly changed Christmas plans). He tipped over Husband's mocha onto my iPhone--which we didn't notice for a few minutes. It seemed to clean up fine and the phone worked ok. Until it died because it would no longer charge or connect to the computer.

As with all Apple products, it's cheaper to replace than repair. Ugh.

My new 32 gig 3GS iPhone will be much nicer than my 8 gig 3G phone. And since I bought a refurbished one it was less than a new phone and less than the repair would have cost.

But still. I won't have it until sometime tomorrow and I keep reaching for it. Listen to music at work--oh, nope. Text my sister--oh, nope. Call Husband--oh, nope. Facebook? nope. Check the time. Hmmm, I must have a watch somewhere...  I knew I used my phone a lot, but I didn't realize it was quite THIS bad.

I'd like to be zen and remind myself that this is a nice break from my technological life and how blessed I am to not have to be tied to my phone. But that's not really working for me. Instead, I simply hope to not have a phone-related meltdown until it arrives tomorrow!

Edit: Phone has arrived, been restored with previous phone's settings and life is good. It wasn't actually as painful as I thought it would be, though I am glad to have it back.

A Puppy Thanksgiving

The puppies had an excellent Thanksgiving, I'm sure. It started early--the day before Thanksgiving, in fact--with the devouring of an entire bag of hard-to-find potato rolls. It continued on the thankful day with spilled food, dropped splashes and hidden nibbles from cooking hands (yes, we wash our hands--a lot). The day after it got really good when the big puppy stole the entire giant pear tart off the counter and demolished it. The little puppy felt bad about that. The second we arrived back home she was cowering and apologizing... we didn't even know what for yet!

Then, yesterday the puppies got to frolic in the snowy mountains while we looked for Christmas trees. Such good new smells. And then! Those smells came home as the tree went up and nifty smelling ornaments were put on display. I'm sure they can't wait to steal the ornaments and pee on the tree.

And best of all, people were around for days and days. No lonely days. No banishment to the cold outdoors for hours at a time. 

What a joyous weekend this Thanksgiving was--for a couple of rascally puppies!