Merrylog

It made me laugh, which is why I’m sharing – doesn’t she look like the CEO of a bank or something equally, ridiculously serious with this pose and lighting? I have a funny pug.

Have a super-duper weekend folks. I’ll be in MUCH better shape personally once I get through month-end! Publishing once a month does tend to back-load your work into the last week of the month!

I can’t seem to get the princess to “smile” at our new place very easily, no matter how long we play (and granted, we don’t play for as long any more, since she keeps forgetting where she’s put the ball), but I got smile after smile out of her this weekend. I think she missed her grandparents. :)

Here’s a slightly better shot that shows how teeny and tiny the little princess was when I brought her home. This was taken about two weeks after she came home with me, during her first visit with her Grandma and Grandpa. (That’s me in the photo – I think my mom is the one behind the camera.) So tiny! She was born June 6, and this was taken the second week of October, so just four months old. Awww.

Ah, yes, the princess about to engage in one of her favorite pasttimes… eating. Her Grandma (that’s her hand in the photo) spoils the baby rotten and makes sure that she cuts the carrots for her meal extra small (she’s got a tiny mouth, my mom reminds me) and always mixes in the yogurt with everything else, stirring well (I usually just glop it on top – the dog does not care, but you won’t convince my very-cute mom about that).

Afterwards, the princess gets called over to Grandma so mom can wipe her face (and neck, and gosh knows what else) clean of yogurt. Because she’s a pug and not the cleanest eater on the planet. Yogurt, mind you, that she wouldn’t get all over her if she could delicately lick off a big glob of it from the top of her dish, but what do I know? :) Grandmas know best!

We visited my folks this past weekend, and Merry had a great time playing with her Grandma and Grandpa. As you can see, she enjoys rolling over for treats (that’s a green bean in my Dad’s hand) much more when there’s cozy carpet underneath!

I’ve heard your requests for Merry puppy photos, and am working on hunting them down. I did not shoot much digitally in those days (nor was I very a good photographer!) but I do have an album of prints I’ll try and scan later this week to share a few puppy photos. However, to tide you all over until then, here’s one of her taken just a few days after she came home with me (she was four months old). As you can see her little head is only a little bigger than the rope toy at that point! :)

Let me tell you a secret: I LOVE hoods on dogs. Given the sheer volume of pet products I’ve reviewed in my lifetime, you’d think I’d have developed a bigger love for the non-hooded style too, but it’s never happened. Add a hood, I instantly like the thing better. And that goes double for winter coats. Scarves just don’t work on this particular pug so wearing a hoodie always means she has more fabric around her neck and in my weird mind, that means she’s warmer.

Yes, I’m crazy. Shh, don’t tell anyone! It’s our secret!

You know, Merry really never was a big “talker”. She’s more vocal now that she’s blind, of course – especially when playing fetch in the house. (Sometimes I long for earplugs.) But she never really did the kinds of vocalizations I’ve seen with other dogs – all kinds of pips and sounds.

Does your pooch “talk”? Did you teach them this, or do they just do it naturally?

One of the things I love the very very most about this new place is the fact that we’re surrounded by parks and parkettes and other little patches of wonderfulness. We have a good-sized park across the street, three parkettes within a one minute walk of the house, another good sized park two minutes from our house, and two HUGE parks within a 20 minute walk of the house. It’s like dog owner heaven. Merry is starting to learn how to just roam around rather than walking in a straight line, and it’s great to see her get a little more freedom.

Do you guys take parks into consideration when you choose a place to live?

When you rub her belly just right, she sticks her legs out… like this, pushing up against ANYTHING she can find to push up against. Snicker. It’s so durn cute! This was the belly presented to me this morning for a good rubbing.

As you can see, I complied with her request. :)

I remember being single during this time of the year and promising myself that NEXT year I’d invite all of my friends over to watch the goriest horror movie imaginable followed by greasy, garlicky, falls-all-over-the-plate anti-date food. The way this season always seems to target single people and make them feel like less than worthwhile because they haven’t paired off like the Ark… well, it sucks. And untrue.

That said, I feel very lucky that this year I get to celebrate V-day tonight with my husband, and on Sunday night as a "date night" with my hubby and two teenage stepkids.

If you are planning to celebrate, have fun this weekend. If you aren’t – relax. All the red and pink and unrelenting commercial in your facenessis nearly over, promise! :)